#some trippy and weird thoughts brought to you by my weird brain <3

[anosci]

(256-270 albums etc that I’ve listened to this year, copied from twitter) (now with art. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19])

names and thoughts below cut

256/ BLÆRG - Solace Vertex (2016) feel a little like a groovier kind of chrome cylinder. unfolding perhaps. "The Dodecahedonist" ez standout. love the spacious vibes.

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257/ VA - Nocturnal Edge 3 (2023) this. is trippy. psy without the trance. check out the bass in "Reina"! the dist in "bizarre invention" god damn "yag si urowak" will rinse your brain. it feels a bit like how breakcore felt when the genre was new to me.

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258/ Juggernaut - Immortal (2023) some mixtures of adjacent clubby genres honestly pretty cool even if it doesn't entirely vibe with me. the one track that really stands out to me is "Invoke", for how it brings the guitars. its kinda like an alt reality retro infected mushroom

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259/ Super Shrimp - Popcorn Shrimp (2023) (listening first track) oh this is silly. yeah its a playful little thing. imo there are two reasons to tune in: "It's So For You" for a bit of a juke throwback and "leaves" for its soft beauty. that one's my favorite, ez.

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260/ VA - Atelier Tunes vol.5 (2023) a variety of clubby tunes. "condemnation!!" stands out to me. nice vocaloid tune with the DISTEST BEAT. good shit! i admire the plucky flavor that "Angelic Mirage Field" brought to (ostensibly) dnb

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261/ C-Show - C-Show House Collection Vol.1 (2023) houzzzzzzzz "Let It Drop" touches all the fun bases: M1, sax, wob. that's prolly my fav track but its all around good vibes in here

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262/ icesawder - 新生生活DREAM (2023) i love the attitude in this. it's loud. it packs a punch. the coring of my breaks in "axex" :') the massive chords in "abrandnew…" !!! the push-pull in "dori-min" :O this whole album is a standout among M3-51 imo. banger after banger

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263/ Phasma - H-N Label Sampler (2023) this brings some 00sidm-ish clicky beats + floating pads rly not what i was expecting from "hype nation" but it's lovely "AxSQ" like cmon. this could be from merck. "New Pattern (Phasma Remix)" sounds like smth youd hear on warp today.

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264/ VA - Aquarium (2023) lush tunes with a smooth future sound. the mix of soundscapes (plinky arps, big bass, orch stac, and pitched vox) in "Wastmundia" stands out as a sweet fav to me. even tho dnb lol "Orca" has a really cool vibe. fresh. "Challenger" is… fzgx if i may.

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265/ 7mai - Colorful Palette : Gray (2023) rly shiny and bright tunes! "Pearl" is so good. SU vibes in a cool cool way. piano & midtempo beats. ez fav of the bunch "CUTE-Mythology" is a close second but like. u cant beat that sweet piano sheen

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266/ Aice room - IT's U (2023) the last two tracks here are where its at. "Miss U" clicks with me idk why. its good ok lol but then "Need U" goes hard. also specific shoutout to the mingling of the chord textures and melody at 34s

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267/ Current Value - Beneath the Sonics (2023) challenging my "i dont like dnb" stance with rly good sound design and nrg. "Monster" god damb also…. whatever tf you call that wonky vibe in "Against". A+ fav

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268/ Nathan Micay - To The God Named Dream (2023) really weird: this reaches into trance vibes (and timbres) that i just dont like. but only sometimes. "Fangs" is very much my personal highlight: cool vox! call and response! breaks! "It’s Recess Everywhere" runnerup

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269/ Aphex Twin - London 19.08.23 (2023) 3 new tracks out of nowhere! "Soog E" is simple but effective at grabbing a sort of analog afx feel. analord feel? fav. "Body Pads" is wacky for its tonality, close 2nd fav. that only leaves 1 other track lol. its alright. a lil empty imo

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270/ SDEM - IIRC (2019) "i want more like autechre" and this delivers while being its own thing. kinda wish "Kaelie" weren't so high pitched bc its good otherwise "Pranging" is def my fav here, despite "Usens" being the bangeringest.

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next page

[tombxsweetxtomb]

3/1/23 - 1

I’m working tonight. I slept for 13-14 hours today before my shift. I guess I was tired; I must of needed it. I had one long continuous dream. Every time I woke up I was in the same dream. It was really trippy. I was an alien. Well really I was human but on a different planet so technically an alien to them. Like so much happened during that dream people thought I was beautiful, I traveled their planet, I fell in love, and I had to fight in the AI arena. It was so weird. Yesterday I went out with my FWB M. I booked us an escape room at escape ventures by UCF. I didn’t realize I had been there before but that place is amazing. I did outage there with Chris and Aaron, its the room that is in complete darkness. We did the neighborhood watch game. This room was similar in that the game really started before we even entered the room. When we checked in the GM told us there would be an actor who came in and out. I asked if there would be any jumbo scares and he asked if we were aware it was a scary room. I said that was fine and he said they could tone it down but I was like noooo its fine. The GM told us to count to 30, grab our sleeping bags, and that our sleep over would be at the green door down the hall number 64. So we went and knocked. The red door next to it opened. The GM was dressed in a new outfit a sweater vest. He said we must of gotten the wrong door for the sleep over. When we went in it looked like a normal 80’s living room for the most part. The guy said he had a fun night planed while our parents were out searching for the missing kids. He told us to go ahead and roll out our sleeping bags and pick our spots. It was our first clue. There were board games out but he had locked up the video games because they “rot your brain” lol. After a minute or two of being in the room a door in the ceiling opened and a cup on a sting dropped though. It was Riley the neighbor who wasn’t allowed to come to the sleepover. He was our clue system. It was so cool. The sleeping bags had symbols that coincided with the beanie babies on the wall and a positional lock. There was a puzzle where we had to go through his laundry and they gave us this grabber and I realized that he had thrown some cloths over a hanging light and a shelf. There was also a pill puzzle where we had to put them in order then look at his family photos to figure out which pill he needed. Then took the number off the bottle allied it and got a combination from it. The board games were a puzzle too. The closet opened to show an order and around the room each game had a piece that gave us a number. Once we got into the video games there was a cool puzzle where we had to hit the right buttons on the controller to open something. Eventually he (the GM) came back and he was like oh you kids are really nosy. You got into all my stuff (clothes were everywhere) I said you’re kind of messy dude we were just trying to help with your laundry. He also said oh I thought we weren’t getting into the video games to which I said kids will be kids. He brought in some candy and a CD. He had music posters all over. The CD was NSYNC and there was a poster for that band. So I went over to it and the poster had a hollow back. When you peel back the tape there is a key pad. So the candy boxes gave us the code. A portion of the wall popped open to his creepy basement. There was a manikin under a tarp with letters on it. We found Barbie’s with body parts missing to tell us which letters to use. That helped us un lock a crate to move it away from the wall. At which point Riley told us that the guy was coming back and that we better hid. So we had to crawl into the tunnel and i pulled the crate to close it off. You could hear the guy walking through the rooms looking for us then he left again. We started doing the puzzle in the crawl space and they gave us these little scooter boards so we could slide through the puzzle instead of crawling.

[in-superbloom]

okay so. i never really did a review (feels weird to call it a review tho so let's say a very opinionated essay that's totally the opposite of what college taught me) for wfttwtaf but i never really know how to do that for any album, doesn't matter how much it makes me feel feelings, bc i simply can't write about my own emotions in cohesive thoughts ✌🏻😔

so instead, i let my brain do this thing he usually does when i listen to an album that leaves an effect on me, which is pretty much just creating visuals for the songs bc apparently my feelings translate better into images/vibes rather than words lmao but since i am unfortunately not skilled to drawn/paint/created actual visual stuff, i just wrote them so i'm gonna leave them here bc why not <3

i just really love when music (art in general, but especially music for me) makes your mind run wild & be so inspired that you can't help but create something based on that feeling <3 a great example of that is the amount of art everyone here (on tumblr!sos verse, but also tumblr & the internet in general) create based on other peoples' art & i just *clenches fists* really love that 💜

anyways !! if you're reading this, i hope this makes sense to you & if you wanna chat about the album, my mail box is always open 💜

• track one: starting line – like the mv, but he's running like he's trying to get away from something, always looking behind his shoulder, stumbling on things/people on the streets. also maybe not flying?;

• track two: saigon – then he reaches a tiny but unique/eye-catching door, gets intrigued & enters. he has to go downstairs through a dark and narrow corridor, he hears muffled music coming down there. he reaches the door & the music is now clear, it looks like there are disco balls everywhere ((pink, blue and purple bc ofc)), the place is packed with people dancing & just vibing™. he goes to the dancefloor, but soon it gets overwhelming so he tries to reach a wall or the other end of the club, but he can't. the more he walks, the furthest he feels from the walls. everything has a psychedelic look, also some of those trippy effects he used on motion, and no one seems to notice/ care about him. this goes on until the end of the song, then he finally finds a door ((not the one he came from)) and opens it;

• track three: motion – he expects to find a street, but instead he's inside a room. it's a bit dark, all he sees are shadows, but then suddenly everything turns into an explosion of colors ((when the songs picks up in the beginning)), all dancing in front of him, making him feel lost & dizzy. he keeps walking, but every now and them he stumbles on something ((random things like animals or weird props or stuff that aren't supposed to be alive, but are)). he admires everything with a childlike wonder, touches things and then they turn into something else, or change form/shape/color. in the end, he's distracted looking at something and then falls like the floor reached an end;

• track four: place in me – he fell right there where he is in the mv/visualizer, it goes on like that;

• track five: baby blue – make it look like he fell asleep after the end of place in me, so he's very confused when he wakes up & it looks like the place is falling apart, like end of the world type ((like the lamentis thingy on loki)). things are exploding & he can see another planet very close to the one where he is. it's a bit scary but it's a breathtaking view nonetheless. he's mesmerized, but also kinda already accepted his fate? he's not trying to run to find a shelter/salvation or anything, just watching it all fall apart. at the end, he stops, turns around & looks at the path that he was walking ((full of nature things colored in every shade of blue and also glittery dust)) and he's just admiring it when he's hit by a big rock maybe? or a moon, who knows;

• track six: repeat – he's throw away to somewhere that's not collapsing, it looks like a pathway in the woods? but like, no florest too near, and it's sunny but not too warm, and the path is filled with green grass and flowers. he lands in a place that looks like a field but not quite. and then after walking for a while, he finds himself, but another version of him. maybe a younger one or an older one or both? like, they both just stop and stare at each other and kinda do this lil dance of trying to touch the other & watching the other, both a lil frightened but completely intrigued. maybe the older version of him? ooooh maybe it starts with an older version, but then every time present luke gets distracted by something else or turns around for a second, the other luke is getting younger, until he's just a lil kid. the ending is the mini luke offering his hand for present luke to grab, so he can lead him to a house that was near where they were. ((or maybe mini luke makes him run after him));

• track seven: mum – luke enters the house & immediately recognizes it as the house he grew up in. every step he takes, a wall or an object or a room brings a memory & it plays it out like a hologram. lots of memories. then in the guitar solo part, he finds a guitar in the room where he used to play the most when he was a kid ((maybe some cool&cute effects going around him, representing the sound coming from the guitar)). before the solo ends, you can see a shadow in the threshold of the door, and when he finished the guitar solo, luke turns around and smiles, getting up to hug the person ((it's his mum)) but maybe you never actually see her face?;

• track eight: slip away – he steps out of his childhood house and enters this big dark room. there's only a lil blue light coming from the very center of the room. when he gets closer to it, he sees it's a lil star, who looks very scared. as soon as she notices him ((he tries to reach her)) she runs out of the door on the other side of the room. he's worried&intrigued so he follows her, but when he opens the door, he immediately falls, this time he's in what looks like the clouds ((blue hues ofc but clearer ones, not as dark shades like the ones in place in me & baby blue)), and soon he finds out he can "swim" through them. he does that for a while until he sees the lil star and tries to follow her again. this goes on until he finally gets close to her, but when he touches her, she literally slips from his grasp bc he's being teleported again ((but make it look like she's the portal));

• track nine: diamonds – it starts with a close up on the water maybe? and then the camera keeps getting higher & suddenly he falls into it and soon the camera follows. he's distorted for a bit, especially when he notices he's already too deep into the water, away from the surface. then he tries to swim to the surface, but there's a bunch of things?? or like weird and mean seapeople maybe? trying to drag him down ((kinda like that scene on harry potter & the goblet of fire)). he tries his best to fight them, but what gets him away from them is a group of nice seapeople who came to his rescue. then they all swim away from the place they were ((also maybe slip in some diamonds or things that look like them around there?));

• track ten: a beautiful dream – he reaches a lil city? under water with the help of the nice seapeople & then there's this piano on the ground ((maybe covered in seaweed and stuff like that)) and he's immediately drawn to it. he plays/sings the song ((maybe like the guitar effects in mum, the sounds coming from the piano affect the place around him even tho it looks like he barely notices it)). when the song is finishing, he notices a white light coming from the surface. he looks at it & then follows it;

• track eleven: bloodline – then he's getting out of the water? at some beach perhaps? he's slowly getting out of the water & there's this beautiful sunrise behind him. he's singing along, looking like he just came out of a battle but at the same time he's in peace with himself, looking not exactly happy but relieved. he's walking on the beach, making his way home but he's not in a hurry. then in that lil bit in the end of the song, he gets out of the frame after looking straight to the camera maybe?? and the camera focuses on the sunrise and then everything goes black;

• track twelve: comedown – he wakes up in a bed ((like, this is him waking up from all these dreams)) & he's slightly confused bc the dreams felt so real, but he's feeling better & not so lost anymore. he goes out in a walk that maybe shows every place he was in his dreams? but like, this time you see what they really are bc every place in his dreams was inspired by a real location/thing, just reimagined. but like, he doesn't enter anywhere, he's just walking & you can see the places on both sides of the street. like, it's clearly a set up location but it's just representative. maybe you can see some of his friends/family at some of these locations or maybe they're all together in one place? but they don't look at him, they're just talking&laughing with each other. he looks happy, at ease & he's smiling, wearing a yellow or gold shirt. in the end, he reaches a cliffside maybe? somewhere that leads you to think that he'll go through another portal, but then he suddenly stops, looks down at the cliffside and crouches down bc he saw the lil blue star from slip away but it's now a necklace. he picks it up, with a small&easy smile and then looks at the camera, gives a bigger, real smile, gets up and turns around, going back to where his friends&family are, but the camera stays there, just watching him go.

// now some notes bc i love to over explain myself //

• the "water" one was supposed to be slip away, but alison @bandsanitizer was talking about a beautiful dream these days & said that something about the song reminds her of a sonar-like sound & the idea of searching for something, so that got me thinking about the ocean & relating it to this song and it also makes a lot of sense with what the album represents in my mind, so it made me change that. thank you for that miss alison, it's always a pleasure to read your thoughts 😌💜

• & it also fitted well with the “i can't fight the bloodline living in the seams back home” line from bloodline, so i wanted that one to be related to the water as well bc that's all i can think about when i hear that lyric;

• something in common that appears in every single one: an object or something related to time, since it's the big common theme on the whole album;

• in each song he's wearing the same outfit he wore in the starting line mv (white tee + black pants + converse) but in each one of them, that red shirt is in a different color;

• i had the visuals from starting line to mum very clear in my head on my first listen of the album, but i only truly finished writing all of this yesterday bc i wanna listen to halsey's new album and see if my brain does this thing again, but i wanted to finish wfttwtaf first <3

& that's it bc i already talked too much for a day lmao if you read all of this, you're a true hero & i love you <3 have a nice day 💛

[nodesiretogrowup]

alright, round 2

Quack Pack!:

Damn, they just throw you into the sitcom. I love it. All the overacting and over the top poses/reactions are great

Dewey’s entrance is great

Is the bear the one from the last episode?

“I’ve shenaned-once, I’ll shenan-again” BEAUTIFUL

And then he just one-legged hops up the stairs backwards

I liked the Della and Louie are both wearing green. It’s a cute thing to tie them together

ON THE MOOOOOOOOON

Louie totally did this scheme with Dewey in Della’s place at some point

The fact that Scrooge stops to entertain the idea is great

 “We’ve got about...30 mins” I love when shows make allusions to the actual runtime

Beakley and Webby had the BEST ENTRANCE! They must have seen the Lady Gaga halftime show

That dangerous agent stuff is probably gonna come back. Next week is the spy episode so...

“I’m not a spy” I wonder how that worked in the plot of the fake show. Did Beakley do spy stuff? It just doesn’t make sense for a sitcom

From the get-go Huey could tell things were off

WHY DID DONALD HAVE TO MAKE SUCH A SEXY FACE AT THE CAMERA?! I DON’T WANT TO HAVE A CRUSH ON DONALD! CURSE THE DT CREW FOR MAKING DONALD HOT! AND THE SEXY VOICE!

I wish they had just used the Quack Pack intro for the theme this episode

I want Launchpad’s band to somehow exist. I liked the girl’s design a lot

INTRODUCING DELLA!

“QUACK PACK WAS TAPED IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE.” Oh 90s sitcoms

When you rewatch the episode you can see they foreshadowed the twist. Donald looks directly into the camera an awful lot for someone that doesn’t know there even is a camera

Knox Quackington? Even for a show full of punny names, that is a ridiculous name

His outfit looks more “ace reporter” than “eccentric photographer”

“He’s a spy” Do you think Gene was trying to pretend to be a spy for the wacky misunderstanding of the episode in-universe or he just didn’t know how photographers act?

“YOU’RE SO SMALL! But so STRONG!” Webby has probably killed a man

The screen wipes are GREAT, though that feels more like an anime thing than sitcom. Sitcom scene wipes usually were establishing shots of the house they live in or the city. I’ve watched far too much tv

Louie’s lie speil was great and solid logic

“Time is money, kids, and I’d rather spend time because it’s not money” Inspirational

Donald sure cares a lot about the lighting. How would he know the office had the best lighting, hmmmmm

Something about that hand movement makes me think 90s but I’m not sure why

Dewey doing the dance that the triplets do in Mr. Duck Steps Out is cute

The blank pages made me think about how people can’t read in their dreams

“On the moon we had this old saying-always check your pockets” To be fair, that is good advice

Poor Huey just CAN’T catch a break! First he hallucinates a talking guidebook (THAT BURNS TO DEATH AND COMES BACK AS A GHOST) now reality is SHATTERING BEFORE HIM. Yeah...this season’s gonna do a number on this kid. Hopefully he gets a break next week

“Since when are YOU a hairstylist?” “SINCE THE INTERNET” Now THAT is a quarantine MOOD right there 

So we learn later that SHABOOEY is Gene’s catchphrase, is Dewey saying it because he’s being controlled by Gene in that moment? 

Donald looks into the camera again

SOMEONE HELP THIS CHILD! HIS WORLD IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL

THE FUCKING PEP COMMERCIAL! GOD IT WAS SO 90S AND BEAUTIFUL!! I NEED THE SONG TO BE RELEASED! 

Maybe because it was a soda ad in a Disney Afternoon-based show, but the commercial made me think of Coo-Coo Cola from Rescue Rangers

Ducktales-the ONLY Disney show with an in-universe “and you’re watching Disney Channel”

I love Huey dearly but....it’s really fun watching him MCFRICKIN LOSE IT

Dewey can’t throw...because he’s a theatre kid

Donald looks at the camera again

Louie’s wipe DEFINITELY looks like something out of an anime. Is Louie secretly a weeb? I mean he is in a different show

Gene doing his best not to break character. A true thespian through and through

“Yo” *all the ladies cheer*

All of the sudden BAM Launchpad has a band. Is he the Uncle Jesse?

I love that we don’t get to hear them play

“Trapped in a mystical prison that’s constantly laughing at us” I call that my brain :’)

“WHO ARE THOSE LITTLE GUYS?”

“I figured if anyone would crack, it’d be Dewey” Huey seems WAY more likely to snap imho

“But that was from soul-crushing loneliness” Della, you wanna talk about that? With a professional perhaps?

“We need some wacky hijinks!”

“HOW DID I GET HERE? WHY AM I DANCING?” Huey gets SO MANY great lines this episode

And once again we have Donald looking directly into the camera

“Cute girl stuff” Della probably went around with a meat tenderizer as a kid, so it’s normal

Goofy seemed to be aware of the cheering. HMMMMMMM

AAAAAAAAAAAAND.....GOOF TROOP POSE

I’ve been calling DT17 Goofy Chibi Goofy because of how short he is compared to how he normally looks. They probably made him shorter so he and Donald fit in a single frame easier. I know a lot of the boarders/animators for the show have a hard time doing scenes with Launchpad and the kids because of how MASSIVE he is compared to the kids

Goofy knew something was different about Donald. HMMMMMMM

The way Don delivers the line “You CAN help” has a weird inflection, at least to me

I want Goofy thinking to become a meme and people put random sounds over it like those are Goofy’s thoughts

That face-slap was loud

AND DONALD LOOKS INTO THE CAMERA LIKE HE’S ON THE OFFICE

Where was Dewey that whole time? He kind of just...disappears for a bit

Oh Launchpad, you MAJESTIC himbo. And Gene smiles, too cute

“Getting the lid off that peanut butter jar was an adventure” In that household it probably could have

Donald using Louie and Della’s names when he could have just said you broke your mom’s vase or something like that

You look pretty nervous there, Donny-boy

“I don’t mean the last episode” Good, because you kinda lost your mind in the last episode

Wow, flashbacking is TRIPPY

“EVERYONE, TILT YOUR HEAD TO THE LEFT THEN SCRATCH YOUR CHIN” So that’s how you do it

“We should really get back to the plot, I mean problem”

Why don’t you want to flashback, DONALD?

lol Goofy does it too even though he wasn’t present for that event

Gene’s just blankly staring in the background

“REMINISCE HARDER” What you tell yourself as you take a test and are trying to remember what you studied

Yay, the journal is brought up!

“How many lamps did this jerk have?” Excellent question

Webby looks INSANE and Huey FULLY SUPPORTS HER

DONALD HAS PTSD AND NEEDS HELP

I feel like Gene took some MAJOR liberties with Donald’s wish. When I think normal family problems I don’t think of sitcoms. In fact that is the FURTHEST THING from what I think of as normal. Then again Gene is played by Urkel, so that might be his normal

Speaking of, does Gene know that they are all ALREADY in a tv show? How far does this rabbit hole go?

“EVERYONE STOP CATCHPHRASING!” “Is ‘I’m not a spy’ seriously my catchphrase?” You deserve better, Beakley

Of COURSE Dewey’s cool with it...because he’s a theatre kid

DEAR LORD, SOMEONE HELP THIS MAN!

Gene just trying to sneak out. I don’t think he wanted to deal with all that family drama

“HOW MANY MORE SECRETS DOES THIS AGENT HAVE?!” Oh Launchpad. Next week you’ll learn all about secrets and agents and secret agents

Gene feels like what would happen if all of Genie’s pop culture references were limited to the 90s. I LOVE IT

“AGES! The long ago year of 1990!” Well I feel old (born in 91). His eyes after he says it are just AMAZING

Gene being so knowledgeable about what makes great tv is hilarious. Clearly he should have directed the Darkwing movie lol

Seriously though, this really gives us a good look at Donald’s psyche. The guy just wants his family to be safe. But it’s even deeper than that. He wants to be normal, which includes him having a voice that’s easier for people to understand. He’s got a lot of baggage and trauma that needs to be dealt with, mainly how he views himself. Like, fuck

The HURT you see in Della’s eyes when Donald talks about why he likes it there BROKE ME

Huey’s line about adventuring being who they are got me teary eyed

Goofy just shrugs as he walks out

Of course Launchpad was gonna get the multiple dates plot. We’re ALL thirsty for some Launchpad

“Probably at least 3 seasons, plus spinoffs, and I assume they’ll reboot the show eventually.” Lines like this make me think Gene is very aware he is in a tv show

WHY THE FUCK WERE THE AUDIENCE HUMANS?! IS GENE AWARE THAT HUMANS EXIST AND ARE WATCHING THE VERY SHOW HE’S ON?! WHAT IS REAL ANYMORE?!

 “HORRIBLE, FLESH-FACED MONSTERS!” Not gonna argue with that

Dewey is SUCH a drama queen

I don’t like how Scrooge called Gene genie. He told you his name, there’s no need to be rude

POGS

Ok the study date girl kinda reminds me of Laura from Family Matters, but that might just be because Urkel is there lol

How old is Launchpad supposed to BE in the sitcom? I don’t think a 30-something is going on many study dates

“You all seem real nice, I feel bad about the mix-up” LAUNCHPAD YOU BEAUTIFUL HIMBO

OH GOD THE LAURA DUCK IN THE BACKGROUND. JESUS

Beakley and Della telling the dates to find themselves and to be independent SLAYED ME. I was NOT expecting that!

“AH, MY PET SNAKE!” “Louie why would you have this?” “THIS IS A POORLY CONCEIVED STORYLINE!” “Eh, everyone’s a critic.” Louie’s right though, DEWEY would be the one with an exotic pet. Or any pet

Tiny Johnny and Randy

WHY ARE THE HUMAN KIDS’ PROPORTIONS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE ADULTS?! THEY HAVE GIANT FUCKING HEADS!

 PUT SOME PEP IN YOUR STEP

The ENTIRE SCENE of Goofy and Donald together was SO HEARTWARMING and something we could NEVER GET before this series!  Having Donald and Goofy talk about being parents is WONDERFUL! It’s something we’ve never seen before with these characters. Donald just wants to be normal and Goofy giving a beautiful speech about how there really is no normal so enjoy the candid moments in life. I LEGIT CRIED

OF COURSE Goofy would have the wallet overflowing with pictures, he is THAT DAD. Seeing Max was great. I thought we might see PJ but I SQUEE’D when they showed the picture of Max and Roxanne! I hope they show up for real later on

We get a hint at the OTHER twist here with Goofy actively encouraging Donald to put things back to normal while everyone else that aren’t the Duck family are trying to keep them there

Also, Goofy’s ears have bones

DON’T MESS WITH DONALD’S FAMILY. It will NOT end well for you

Goofy just starts snapping pics, like the true photographer he is

SAX TIME

“LET’S GET QUACKING” It’s no “I AM THE STORM” but still good

AVENGERS CAMERA SPIN

“A lamp in a lamp?” I can’t tell if that is BRILLIANT or lazy. Or BRILLIANTLY LAZY

“YA HA HA HOOOOWIIIIIEEEEE” It wouldn’t be a proper Goofy cameo without the yell

The scorpions got bored and left

 “The sound of no one laughing never sounded SO GOOD”

“BEST EPISODE EVER!” Definitely in my top 5

“Gawrsh, that’s sweet.” *does a cute wave* “Wait, Goofy was really here this whole time?”

Ok, but where was Goofy before then? Did Gene poof him away from something important? I WANT ANSWERS!

I bet they had this bit so people wouldn’t freakout like they did with Darkwing

I love Launchpad just being confused and waving at Goofy. He’s never met the dude before so it’s understandable. But I NEED they to have a proper interaction. THING OF THE PROPERTY DAMAGE!

“Magic’s got NOTHIN’ on a big name guest star” YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN A SHOW!

Lowkey want that Goofy lava lamp

The little Maxes flying over Goofy’s head...ADORABLE

PLEASE TELL ME THEY GOT GOOFY HOME SAFE

Donald using his last wish on the picture made me tear up. He could have had ANYTHING. He could have wished for a normal voice. But he used it for a family memory

Donald and Beakley both looked into the camera for the picture. WHILE FIGHTING DEMON HUMANS.

I can’t lie, THIS was the episode I was most excited for even before we got the premiere date. I was excited for the 90s cheesiness. Then we found out Goofy was gonna be in it and I got even more excited. Goofy is one of my faves, especially Dad Goofy. I was expecting it to be balls-to-the-wall insanity nonstop but they got me in the feels too. I want more of this Goofy and Donald. The two of them being single parents who lost someone close to them. Like I said earlier, this episode is in my top 5 for sure.

[friendlyneighborhoodborg]

Marc Appreciation Week 2019| Day 6: Collab| “Working Together”

Okay, this is actually late.  It is past midnight, technically Day 7.

I am actually posting Day 7 later today, hopefully before the week is out.

Anyway here’s the 6th day, and the only chapter in the dumpster fire to actually follow the prompt given.

Disclaimers were in Day 1.

Chapters:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

AO3 Link

(~3200 biddling words.  Why do I do this to myself?)

           Marc didn’t know what he was.  Today was weird: he didn’t feel girly anymore after last night, but at the same time he didn’t think the “he” suited him today.  He realized this must have been what Alix was talking about before, about non-binary gender.

           Being something that wasn’t a boy or a girl was trippy.  Marc had felt it before, probably, but knowing what it was (which felt obvious now, considering… well, everything he was currently feeling) made it… something.  For all the words he knew, he couldn’t peg one for the experience.

           It occurred that he ought to have been surprised by how quickly he had taken to reconsidering his pronouns.  But then, that’s what his gender did, didn’t it?  Didn’t he always know that his gender did that?  Hadn’t that been such a large source of his anxiety for years?

          And now he was just rolling with it.

          That morning, he had glanced at himself in a mirror, per his usual routine.  His old adjectives, “Not him again” and “Could be worse” were absent this time.  Instead, he had felt heavy.  Overdressed, perhaps, only in his own skin.

          But he could live with that.

          It still stank, because French didn’t have a third-gender pronoun.  That meant that, regardless of his actual self, he had to use male pronouns.

          So, he comfortably got dressed, did up his face in a way he thought would suit him, and left for school.

          Something was different that afternoon.  Alix wasn’t in for some reason, which automatically meant the art teacher (he still kept forgetting his name) was more relaxed.  Juleka and Rose were separated, for once.  Rose was sitting in a corner, feverishly scribbling down notes in her pad.  Juleka was in the opposite corner, reading a horror novel, and her ankle was shackled to a protruding pipe.

          He approached Juleka cautiously, eyeing her restraints warily. “Did, uh…” He glanced up at the teacher, making sure he wasn’t listening.  “Did Alix tell you?”

          “Yeah, she got your text.”  Juleka glanced up meaningfully at her girlfriend, by herself in the corner. “Lucky someone in this club has their head on straight.”

          Marc chuckled.  “I don’t know if we can say that, there’s like one straight person in this club.”

          Juleka smiled for a second, then went back to reading her book. “And where was she, huh?  Crazy overworked, fixing up stuff our last class rep neglected.  Notice she couldn’t drop by all week?”  She calmly flipped the page she was on.  “Once again, Chloé got us into another fine mess that Marinette’s gotta pull us out of.  Again.”

          “What?” said Marc.  “No, I meant… wait, Marinette’s straight?”

          The musician shrugged.  “So she claims.  It is impolite to assume.”  As normal, her expression and tone betrayed little.

          “Biggest shock of my week,” was Marc’s jested reply.  “But I was talking about Nathaniel.”

          “Hm?  Oh yeah.” She pulled up one hand to do finger-quotes.  “‘Straight.’  That’s definitely an adjective that can describe him.  Marc, have you seen the way he draws Chat Noir?”

          “Of course, what about it?”

          “Well, maybe you’re both blinded by the superhero’s skintight leather, but the boy is not that ripped.”

          Rose hummed loudly.  Juleka glanced up at her.

          “I’m not trying to push anything, unlike some people,” she protested.  “I’m merely pointing out that he should have already noticed by now, in a manner he will not pick up on for purposes of dramatic irony.”

          “What’s going on?” he asked. “And what’s with you two?”  He looked at the chain.  “And… that?”

          “She’s on probation,” explained Juleka.  “Until she realizes what she did was wrong.”

          “Probation of what?”

          “Getting to run my hands through that soft, dark hair,” Rose replied for her, rubbing her fingers over the pages of her lyrics.  “Holding her close to me, closing my eyes and breathing in her clove-scented perfume.  Feeling the warmth of a heart matched beat-for-beat with mine.”

          Marc looked back at Juleka.  She was nose-deep in her book, but her forehead was sweating, her knuckles were white, and she refused to look anywhere near where Rose was sitting.

          “Is that why you’ve chained yourself to this pipe?”

          Juleka whimpered a little before answering.  “It’s funny, in a tragic sort of way.”

          “So, what’s holding Rose back?”

          “Pity, mostly.”

          “This isn’t about the makeup thing, is it?” questioned the writer.  “I don’t blame Rose for anything that happened.  I mean, it worked out, sort of.”

          “Yeah, no thanks to me,” sniffed the poet. “If I’d have known…”

          “Hey.”  He approached her and offered his hand.  “Hindsight is 20/20.”

          “Still.”  She rubbed the brimming tears from her eyes.  “I was such an idiot, and you had to go through all of that because of me.”

          “You’re still the first one who listened.  Let’s be honest, that could have gone a lot worse.”

          “I overreacted.”  She looked down and continued to write, though it was mostly an excuse to avoid Marc’s eyes. “I thought I knew what was happening, and I thought I could help.  I was wrong to try and do it by myself without seeing a second opinion.”  Sniffing, she closed the notebook.  “I’m sorry.”

          “Oh…” groaned Juleka.  “So close, Rose.  Come on, I know you can do it.”

          “Do what?”

          “We aren’t be allowed to touch each other until she figures out exactly where she went wrong.  She’s got most of it, but I’m not allowed to tell her the last one.”

          “Okay, but why are you doing,” he gestured wildly at both girls, “this?”

          “Because I don’t have the key and Rose is really trying, bless her.”

          He looked between the two of them a few times, both of them equally miserable.  “I get the feeling this wasn’t your guys’ arrangement.”

          “It was Alix’s,” admitted Juleka.  “We both went along with it.  The chain was my idea, though.  It’s the cruelest and most elaborate punishment ever devised, who do you think dreamt it up?”

          “I mean,” Marc disputed, “I wouldn’t have pegged her specifically.”  Particularly not after their little heart-to-heart yesterday.

          “Never tick off someone with a small body-mass-to-temper ratio,” Rose advised.  “Especially if everyone in her family is an ancient history buff.”

          “What’s that got to—”

          “Look, she knows a little something about torture.”

          “Ah,” Marc commented, thoroughly confused and only pretending to understand.  “You two look like you’re busy, I’ll leave you to it.”

          He quietly took his seat at the back of the room, leaving the two to sort out their issues in peace.

           All things considered, life was pretty good.

          So why was Marc still feeling so anxious?

          Nathaniel crept in through the door with his head down, answering the question.

           “Nathaniel,” Juleka said.  “Unlock me.  I need to go use the bathroom.”

           “Sure thing.”  Nath approached her, holding something else up.  “Brought your headphones, too, you left them in class.”

           “It won’t work.  She’s stuck in my head.”

Rose cast a saddened, dramatic gaze towards the writer in the back. “Pray you don’t become like us, Marc.”

           Marc blushed.  Of course Rose figured it out.  She probably told Juleka, too.

           Yet another thing to watch out for.

           ‘Wait, so is Nathaniel straight or not?’

           Nathaniel joined him at their usual table once Juleka had been freed.  “Hey.”

           “You know,” Marc bet, “one has to wonder if that’s some sort of metaphor for something.”

           The artist burst out laughing, but quickly shut himself up when he realized he was making noise.  “Yeah,” he confessed.  “Probably. But they’re good for each other. Rose helps Juleka’s self-esteem, Juleka keeps Rose grounded.”

           “Yeah.  They really are kinda fun to write.  Speaking of…”

           “Right!  Back to work.”

           “If we end off our comic there, Rose is never going to forgive us.”

           “I know,” expressed Nathaniel, glancing over at the person in question.  She was the only other student who hadn’t gone home yet.  Volume up high in her earbuds, she wasn’t even looking at them. “But this story is way too interesting for one issue.  With a cliffhanger like that, she’ll keep breathing down our necks to make more.”  He blushed, realizing he had gotten ahead of himself.  “I mean, if you’re okay with… I’ve really liked working with you and I want to—”

           “Yes!” Marc blurted with a blush of his own.  “I mean, um, yes.  I would… I would love to keep working with you.”

           “Okay.”  He turned his attention back to the work.  “So, if we end the issue with Princess Fragrance’s reveal, then that’s going to take a full-page panel.”  He drew a border inside another blank page.  “Right, so we’ve got that planned out.  Now to just get cracking on those last few pages.”  He surveyed the pages of blank boxes in front of him, each with a little note of what went in each.  “And we know what has to be said at each bit, so if you want to edit specific dialogue, now’s the time to do that.”

           “Cool.  I’ll get on top of that.”

           Marc’s brain suddenly took a dive, and he hastily tried to delete the previous sentence from his brain.

           Each of them had the plans for everything, so they didn’t see a reason to talk much, a silence Marc respected even if he himself wasn’t comfortable with it.  If it made Nathaniel more comfortable, he could swing that.

           His brain needed to stop it immediately with the double-entendres.

           The two of them worked for another few minutes, with only the sound of their pens scratching their paper.

           Nathan, surprisingly, was the one who broke the silence.  “So… last night you were a girl.”

           Marc exhaled nervously.  He wasn’t wrong, but it still felt weird to acknowledge the elephant in the room.  “Uh, yeah.”

           “Earlier yesterday you were a boy.”

           “Yep.”

           “So…”  Nath bit his lip, which Marc had to avert his gaze from.  “I don’t want to just assume, in case I get it wrong.  What are you now?”

           Marc had been stewing this over while he worked. Truth be told, he found he didn’t actually care as much today.  He knew he wasn’t a boy, and he wasn’t a girl, but… he wasn’t really much of anything else either.

           “I don’t think I’m anything right now.”

           “Really?”

          “Nothing, right now.”  He shrugged.  “I’m just… nothing.”

          “How does that work?”

          “Search me.”  He shrugged once again.  “I don’t have much of a gender today, I guess.”

          “So…” Nathaniel paused.  “It’s like there’s no… asterisks.”

          “Asterisks?”

          Nath winced.  “Sorry. I was trying to be poetic, y’know, like you?  You have this great, flowing… your words are just, they click.  Does that make sense?  It probably doesn’t make sense, forget I said anything.”

          Marc smiled at the compliment, going back to his journal.  “They’re just words.”

          “They’re not, though, alright?” he declared.  “They’re not just words, they’re you! The way you get words to line up, only you can do it that way.  You’re so… smart, and creative, and… your writing style is just great.”

          “Th-thanks.”

          “I mean that.”  Nathan looked away, holding his arm sheepishly.  “You’re great, you’re really…”  He shut his eyes.  “Forget it.”

           Marc blinked.  “What was that?”

           “Never mind.  Where you at?  Panel 9-g, the security guard is revealed to be possessed, Ghostlight comes out, and we need a good, punchy line to start the fight with.”

           “No…”  Marc closed his journal.  “This can wait.  What were you going to say?”

           “Nothing important.”

           “I doubt that.”  He reached over the table and took his hand.  “Nath, whatever it is, it’s important.  You want to say it, say it.”

           Nathaniel blushed.  His mouth opened and closed, flopping like a fish, and he started to sweat.

           Marc looked down and realized oh wait, he was actually holding Nath’s hand.  He instantly let go, which seemed to shock Nath back into coherency.

           “I can’t,” he told him.

           “You can’t?”

           “No,” he restated.  “I’ll just mess it up, just forget it.”

           “I’ll listen.”  This gave the author pause.  “I’ve been keeping up with you for the last week.  I’ll understand what you’re trying to say.”

           His face had determination etched into it. He opened his mouth and began.

           “Oh!” Rose said suddenly, breaking his momentum. “Look at the time, I have to… go make an excuse.”  She scooched off of her seat and sashayed out the door.  “I’ll leave you two alone,” she called back, leaving the door ajar.

           Both collaborators stared after her.  The art teacher glanced in her direction, then he, too, left the room.

Nathaniel and Marc were alone.  Nathan, only a little deterred, summoned back what little courage he had left.

“You…”  He stopped. “You’re my friend, right Marc?”

           “Yeah,” was the immediate, nodding answer.  “I hope so, anyway.”

           “And… I’m your friend, right?”

           “Of course.”

           “You… you’re so much of a better person than I am.” The boy gulped.  “No matter… who you are.  And today, it’s like… I’m so glad I get to see you happy.”

          “Uh…”  Marc nodded again in appreciation. “Thanks.”

          “I mean, look at you, you’re happier, even if you’re still the same person who’s come in to help me with this stupid thing—”

          “Nathan, it’s not stupid—”

          “It is, though, and sometimes it feels like we’re the only people here who care about it.  Only now you’ve changed, and you’re so much more relaxed now, and… And it’s good for you, right?  You get to be so much more confident.  Like just now, when you said you had no gender, you said it and you were sure.”

          “I’m still not really sure.”

          “You sounded sure, and that’s better than I can do.  With pretty much anything.  I’m not strong or witty, but you are. There’s just so many little things, here and there, and I can’t concentrate right.  There’s just so many things about—”

          The sudden halt from the speed at which Nathaniel had been talking gave Marc whiplash.

          Marc looked at him, expecting him to finish what he was saying.

          “I can’t…” he mumbled.   “Just… that’s it, then.  I don’t know how I was going to end that.”

          “You feeling okay, Nathan?” queried Marc.  “I don’t think I’ve heard you talk so much in one go.”

          “It’s…nothing.”  Nath took a deep breath.  “I’ve been trying to… think of things I wanted to say—”  He got out of his seat, turning away.  “Never mind, it’s stupid.”

          “No,” Marc stated, standing up behind him.  “You’re not.  If you need to say something, just say it.”

          “I think—”

          “Go on.”

          “I think you’re—” Nathaniel swallowed his tongue and hunched over, covering his mouth.

          “Nath!”  Marc rushed to his aid.  “Breathe slowly, okay?  Are you alright?  You look like you’re going to puke.”

          “I didn’t say anything, just…”  Nath’s voice broke.  “Please, just drop it, I don’t wanna…”

          Marc couldn’t believe it.  Nathaniel, whose creativity knew no bounds, was censoring himself.

          That could not happen.

          And Marc needed to know.

          “What if I don’t want to drop it?”

           “Marc, please…”

           “What if I don’t want you to be afraid to talk to me? What would you say if you could talk to me?”  He looked into his icy-blue eyes, piercing through with his warmth.  “What if you were about to say what I thought you were going to say?  What if it’s that important that I hear how that sentence was going to end?”  He snatched Nath’s hands from where they had covered his mouth and cradled them in his own. “And what if, by some miracle, I cared about how you felt and what you thought?”

           Nath stared back at him, and both of them reeled from the shock of Marc’s outburst.

           Then Nathaniel slowly started shaking his head.

           “Don’t do this… don’t do that to me,” he murmured. “Stop doing that, you’re going to just regret it.”

           Marc tightened his grip.  “Just say what you wanted to.  Stop putting up all these filters in your head.”  He grasped at something.  “Do the thing about the asterisks.  What did you mean by that?”

          Nath took a deep breath and tried.  “Well… right now, you’re… no gender.  No asterisks.  No added stress.  You’re just… Marc.  Pure Marc.” He scowled.  “I mean… that’s not good, is it, that’s not clever.  Cause you’re not just genderless, are you?”  He wrenched his hands from Marc’s ironclad grip. “Look, you could be a girl and I’d… you’d still be you.  Same for if you end up a boy.  You just get to be you.  And… I like it when you’re you.”  He stopped, looking to Marc for criticism.

           After a moment, Marc smiled warmly.  “That was pretty poetic.”

           “Y-you do it so much better than me.”

           They both smiled.

           “C-can I—” Nath gulped, shutting himself down.

           “What?”

           “N-nothing.”  He shook where he stood.  “Forget it.”

           “No chance.”  Marc wasn’t sure where this courage was coming from, but he didn’t shake it away.  “You don’t have to filter yourself.  I won’t judge anything you say from here on out, you hear me?  It’s the least I can do for what you and Alix have done for me.”

           Nathaniel drew closer suddenly, his hand touched Marc’s cheek, and their lips barely touched.  For a single half-second, their lips brushed against one another, and then Nathan drew back like Marc was a burning stove.

           Both creators were left in a state of shock.

           “Oh… my… God.”  Marc gaped.  “You…”

           “Cute,” Nathaniel muttered.  “I was gonna say cute.  Before.”  He looked down.  “I’m… sorry, I’ll just…”  He made his way to his bag, tripped on a chair, and started to bolt for the door.

           Seeing Nathan start to panic and run away triggered something in him.  He suddenly found a good reason to raise his voice.

           Nathaniel had given him strength.  Now he had to return the favor.

           “Hey, get back here!” Marc called out, and the artist stopped. “I’ve had a crush on you for over a full month now.  You get a do-over.”  Marc surged forward, turned him back around, and kissed him again, this time much more solidly.

           A few seconds passed and they separated.  “You have a crush on me?” Nath said, confused.

           Marc laughed a little at his expense.  “There were times, even just this week, where something you did just completely killed me, stone dead.”

           Nath blinked.  “Do you want to go out sometime?”

          “You see, this is what I’m talking about.”  He pulled him close and hugged him tightly.  “Son of a gun, yes, but don’t give me heart attacks like that.”

          Nath’s arms awkwardly returned the embrace.  “I, uh… I’ve never had a… an actual date before. What’s the, uhm… protocol, here?”

           “Are you serious?”

           “Half-serious.”

           “Well don’t worry.  It’ll be a learning experience for the both of us.”

           We have always belonged together!

           Nathaniel tore away from the embrace, turning sharply towards the door.  “Rose, what the hell!?”

           The little pink devil held the phone up high, volume turned all the way up.  We will always belong together!  Just keep moving on!

           “Sorry,” Rose giggled.  “My hand slipped.”

           The collaborators looked at each other.  Nodding a silent agreement, they chased after Rose together.

Okay.  I don’t have much else to say right now, so... *shuffles away*.

[girljeeproad]

Can you help me understand what caused the pants shortage at the Grammys?

Monday mornings in the office certainly have their moments with respect to getting the ole brain switch to ‘on’ when you get into the office after being off for a couple of days, having been spoiled over the weekend by some flat-out amazing 70-75 degree sunny weather in February, of all months. Y’all know what I’m talking about. This Monday morning was one of those mornings where – as an example – you kick it off thinking to yourself, “Self. I have got some pep in my step this fine Monday morning which is most excellent,” but then you are abruptly thrown into the “nope, this is just another case of the Mondays” as you are mid-conversation with a colleague about ‘tomorrow’ which you for sure think is Wednesday. Well tomorrow isn’t Wednesday, it’s Tuesday. Dammit. That’s a real-time example, folks. That was my Monday morning. And as my work colleague kindly said, “Sarah, tomorrow is not Wednesday” and promptly followed that up with, “off to a rough start today” I had already started to playback the last 12ish hours to find the source of my Monday morning foggy-brain syndrome. After taking a beat, I realized exactly what the issue was. I was still completely perplexed by the Beyoncé performance at the 59th annual Grammy Awards.

Yep. My brain was still trying to process the sights and sounds of the ‘biggest night in music.’ I only have a Fire TV, I kicked cable out of my house over a year ago because I’m too cheap, so I don’t have regular network TV. Meaning that I had to go out of my way to catch the Grammys. I enjoy and listen to all kinds of music and have always been a fan of the Grammys and other similar awards shows; I like the variety of performances (although I candidly think the association has gotten a little out of hand with all of the absurd collabs) more so than the awards (which is great considering they award like 90% of the Grammys out earlier in the day at the pre-Grammy Grammy ceremony – the logic of that is absolutely baffling to me, but hey, that’s the biz for ya I guess).   I just simply like to be entertained. This year’s Grammys certainly didn’t disappoint for many reasons; whether you watched it or not, it was utterly entertaining in many ways. Here’s a recap.

The Opener: Adele, Hello  If you caught the Grammys last year, Adele performed a song off her 25 album (I think it was All I Ask – an Adele-style piano ballad) and had some out-of-her-control technical issues with the audio.

Quick back story – We hadn’t see or heard from her in years, but she was coming off of a major and highly anticipated album drop (25) in late 2015 (after the 2016 Grammy submission deadline) and a huge, ridiculously ridiculous, mega-hit in Hello. I’m sure you have heard it at least once – voluntarily or involuntarily. At the very least, you hopefully saw the mega-hilarious SNL Thanksgiving skit about the song. Please you tube that and watch it repeatedly – it is hysterical the first time and the 400th time.

Anyways, her performance at the 2016 Grammys was her first in several years so it was super hyped-up.   And the second mic in the piano fell over, and all we heard was the sound of piano strings completely taking over her more than likely flawless performance. Props to her as she kept on singing because it was live and well, what was she going to do, grab the mic out of the piano and chuck it into the audiencein a fit of diva rage? No. She’s a professional. I felt so bad for her, as did the vast majority of humans who were watching I’m sure.   Fairly certain it did not impact her sales though. Phew.

So opening the 2017 Grammys with her ridiculously ridiculous mega hit was her big chance at a little redemption (not that she really needed it in my opinion). It’s not your typical opening gig – obvi. It’s Adele. The Adele. She’s out of control talented. She’s got major pipes; the kind that gives you goosies. That song is killer. It’s outrageously excellent. And she nailed it. All she was missing was a Lady Gaga-Super Bowl-style mic drop at the end. Maybe next time.

The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk, I Feel It Coming  All I have to say is what a difference a hair makes. I mean a year. What a difference a year makes. The Weeknd has been on a roll and it looks like his success finally landed him a stylist, or at a minimum a hairdresser. I don’t know if you recall last year, when he took the Grammys stage with a hairstyle like I’ve never seen before. It looked like the hand from a walker in the Walking Dead coming out of his head. It was, well it was certainly original. Thank goodness he has a phenomenal voice because that hairstyle alone could have easily landed him in a lifetime of toothpaste commercial jingles versus global vocal fame. But, the man got himself a haircut. Turns out he’s quite attractive when there isn’t a weird hand or tree thing protruding from his head. His voice is still superb. And he was joined, apparently in a come back of their own, by Daft Punk or as I like to call them, those two robot looking dudes whose skill set I’ve not quite nailed down yet but hey they look cool. Pretty solid performance I thought – ended up being one of my favorites. Daft Punk tinkering on the pink podium things…now that was some next-level action.  For sure.

2016 Grammys Hair

2017 Grammys Hair

those two robot looking dudes and their pink podiums

John Travolta  It seems the networks have learned their lesson on allowing John Travolta to read from the teleprompter. You know, since he has proven he is incapable of doing it successfully. And also considering he has a history of being a bit of a loose cannon when there’s a camera nearby. Google him introducing Idina Menzel (the gal who brought that catchy Frozen number Let It Go to the homes of Frozen-obsessed tiny humans) at the Oscars a few years back. Adele Dazeem, anyone? It explains A LOT. I bet those cue cards he snatched from his coat pocket make a whole lot more sense now.

Twenty One Pilots Acceptance Speech  Why? Just why? Seriously, where are your pants? This is the Grammys. It’s formal wear, like black-tie formal.   Not formal wear, pants optional. They just took their pants off. Poor Sturgill Simpson got a view and performance he did not plan to get while attending the Grammys. At least we were blessed with a precious story that maybe semi-justified the lack of pants. Precious and borderline unsettling – why are people just watching the Grammys in their delicates? That’s odd, right? Frankly, the dude with the yellow hair seemed very uncomfortable – like he had a “bro I was joking about the pants thing and I didn’t prep for this” look on his face the whole time. But really, put your pants back on; it’s the Grammys not the MTV awards or VMAs or whatever that nightmare of the scantily clad is called.

James Corden (The Host) Put your pants on!!! Good lord. I mean I get the need for the host/comedian to make fun of Twenty One Pilots’ pants-free acceptance speech. They were easy targets. But again, put your pants back on!

Ed Sheeran, Shape Your Body  Ed Sheeran is another exceptionally talented artist. And he took the stage – with his pants on – and reminded us how utterly talented he is by playing a very stripped-down (pun intended) version of his hit tune. It was one of my favorite performances of the show. I believe he played 3 instruments all by himself. Ridiculous. What a show-off.

Kelsea Ballerini & Lukas Graham collab  First, why? Second, that’s fine if you want to put together a collaboration from two seemingly random artists from very different genres, but for all of us at home – please mix a better mash-up of their songs so it at least sounds decent. Third, as a fan of all music – country music included – give those country music folks a little stage time! They work just as hard as the other genres! Yes, Carrie and Keith had a great performance earlier in the show, but at least give the country artists that are tossed in the collabs 50% of the time. Seven Years is a really great song, but poor Ballerini barely got any of her song squeezed into that mash-up. At least they both had pants on.

Beyoncé – A very very pregnant-with-twins Beyoncé Before I go on, I must say that I like Beyoncé. I think she’s very talented and her voice is ridiculously stunning. To sum up, I am a fan. And I was looking forward to the performance, just like I was looking forward to Adele (in case that wasn’t made clear earlier). That being said… What. The. Hell. Was. That? I honestly had no words. Which is fitting, since she used so few words during the 7-minute long performance. I was for the most part confused; I had no idea what I was watching. It was one of those things where I really wanted to like it but I just didn’t get it – it was a little trippy. I do get that it was directly tied to the style of the album.

It was reported after the fact as a breathtaking medley of 2 tunes from her Lemonade album (a ballsy, cutting edge album that was arguably worthy of the top award of the night), which I found utterly hilarious since I think she only sang for a total of maybe a minute, give or take (and it was fabulous when she did, especially when she went into Sand Castles). Can we really call it a medley when there is so little singing? And it is safe to say that we all have different definitions of breathtaking. Call me a traditionalist, but I want to hear people singing.

But props to Queen B for even doing a performance at all. If it were me, I’d have sat that one out, and said thanks but no thanks Grammy association, I’ve got two buns in the oven and my cankles are out of control. But B doesn’t get cankles (that lucky B). And she gave us a golden performance. Literally. I remain perplexed by the performance.  It threw me off my Monday morning game today. Totes obvi. *Side note – great speech*

Bruno Mars, That’s What I Like I just need to know what material their pants were made out of. They looked like they’d be extremely hot to wear, much less dance in. I was sweating just watching that performance (which was solid). But again, at least they all had pants on. I suppose any remarks of such a trivial matter like textiles can be overshadowed by the fact they were wearing pants on a night where apparently pants were optional.

Alicia Keys & Maren Morris collab  So Alicia Keys is on her kick about not wearing any make-up. Which I can respect, as one who does not wear make-up. I mean I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do with it if I owned any. Anyways, she’s been going strong on this no make-up thing for quite some time (like a year or so I think – imagine the money she has saved). So in knowing that, did anyone else lay issue with the fact that while she sported a make-up free visage, she had obviously glittered up her girls for the performance. Or it was residual glitter from the glitter onesie she was rocking. Either way, isn’t that make-up? And Maren Morris. Stellar vocals. But, just when you think we had moved past Pantless Sunday at the Grammys, Maren, too, forgot her pants. Both ladies had mad pipes, but we still came up short on the pants. Pantless Sunday at the Grammys continues.

George Michael Tribute by Adele  Well her first performance was basically flawless. This one was not. But rather than continue the song as she had to in 2016 when we were all serenaded by mic-ed up piano strings (not her fault), Adele said well f-it so what if it’s live TV and well, literally drops an f-bomb on live TV, apologies for missing the mark on the song, and asks for a re-do. Her re-do was essentially flawless and once again she was back to giving us all goosies.

I’m sure the network was less than pleased by the extension, but let’s be honest…they always go way over time AND they gave Beyoncé roughly 7 minutes to sing next to nothing. So it’s really a wash, right? I was not familiar with the song Fast Love, and some local critics felt it was overly somber (guys, it’s a tribute to a well-known artist who died on Christmas day, it can be somber) – I didn’t mind it at all; I just wish I knew the song. As an aside – she did give the backstory for the tribute and the song choice during a backstage interview after the show for those who want to hear it. But two thumbs up for the mulligan. If anything, it made the pants optional show a little more interesting and less about…well, less about pants.

Chance The Rapper  I like his story. I did not like his baseball hat. It’s the Grammys, leave the ball caps at home. His enthusiasm, however, made up for the wardrobe gaffe. And. AND. He was wearing pants!! They were borderline clam-diggers, but dammit they were pants.

Metallica feat. Lady Gaga  Super bizarre. Perhaps the success of her Super Bowl performance has gone to her head. Or perhaps the pop-rocker turned vixen extraordinaire just cashed her Super Bowl check and stopped caring for the night. Either way, pantless (yep – you heard me – she was in cut-off ‘shorts’, the term ‘shorts’ being used very loosely) crowd surfing both seemed and looked like not the best idea. And for the love of Pete, turn the mikes on. It’s Metallica. How else are we to hear the loud, raging vocals if the mic isn’t on. The Metallica frontman looked pretty pissed as he chucked his guitar off the side stage at the end of the performance. Way to be, Grammys. Way to be.

Sturgill Simpson  Damn. Go buy that album folks; it is excellent. One of my favorite performances of the night by far. That being said, Dwight Yoakam came off as a little terrifying in the intro. In his defense, he did get accidentally whacked on the back of the head by the two dudes that took off their pants near the top of the show. I’m certain that wasn’t intentional.

Celine Dion  Cannot express how old it made me feel when she said she won Song of the Year for My Heart Will Go On 18 years ago. Ouch.

Welp, I’m 5 pages in on this recap and I missed a couple of the late performances (I have a bedtime), so I’m going to do a quick wrap up on the 2017 Grammys:

Favorite Performances:

Adele, Hello

The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk

Ed Sheeran, Shape Your Body

Sturgill Simpson

Most Confusing Performance:

Queen B

Best Acceptance Speeches:

Adele for Album of the Year

Beyoncé

Number of Pantless Sunday Situations:

4

Pantless Sunday – round 1

Pantless Sunday – round 2

Pantless Sunday – round 3

Pantless Sunday + Crowd Surfing = Not the best idea ever

Suggestions for Future Grammys:

Make sure the microphones are turned on.

Give Beyoncé an Album of the Year Grammy.

Don’t forget about Country Music – they sing good too (grammar error intentional)

Bring some random awards to prime time, like Best Comedy Album or Songwriter of the Year or Best Children’s Album – mix it up and let them perform!

Trends that Need Not Continue at the 2018 Grammys:

Pantless Sunday

Can you help me understand what caused the pants shortage at the Grammys? Can you help me understand what caused the pants shortage at the Grammys? Monday mornings in the office certainly have their moments with respect to getting the ole brain switch to ‘on’ when you get into the office after being off for a couple of days, having been spoiled over the weekend by some flat-out amazing 70-75 degree sunny weather in February, of all months.