#25 years on and group photos of alt bands still have That Look

[mauvecardigans]

nothing like scrolling instagram in 2024 and getting jumpscared by sum41 releasing a new album

[quicksilversquared]

How To Fake A Marriage Ch. 30

(let’s see if I can get this up before the internet goes again)

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(AO3) (FF.net)

Adrien was concerned.

As winter turned to spring, Marinette had been contacted by more bands (as well as the occasional individual singer) as different rock and alt metal groups discovered that Jagged Stone's album art designer was a talented fashion designer as well. It was good for Marinette, of course- she was going to have one really impressive resume after this- but spring runway was also coming up, and it resulted in one very stressed Marinette as she worked to stay on top of the requests while still keeping up with her work at Madam Rosalie's.

And because Adrien had been wrapped up in his own concerns about finishing the projects, papers, and tests he had for his classes plus getting his applications in and interviewing for summer internships, he had taken far too long to catch on to just how much work Marinette was taking on . It hadn't helped that she had moved her sewing setup back to her apartment after Ben came over for dinner back in February. Since he had been working hard on papers and she hadn't wanted to distract him, she had just kept it over there and spent her evenings after dinner and before bed working in her apartment, unless she was working on album art or doing concept sketches.

He had thought that she maybe was pushing herself so hard because she had a long wait list formed and she didn't want any of the bands dropping her because they had to wait too long for their turn to come up, but that wasn't it.

There weren't any bands that had been wait listed. Marinette had accepted them all (well, all of the ones that agreed to her pricing), and so she had an insanely long list of in-progress commissions that nearly all had deadlines coming up in the coming weeks.

"Bug, you don't have a full time job and a couple commissions on the side," Adrien said in utter disbelief late Sunday evening- or, rather, Sunday night, when Marinette should have already been getting ready for bed, considering how early she was going to have to wake up the next morning to get ready for the Fashion Week runway- as he looked at Marinette's spreadsheet of commissions and the progress and due dates for each one. "This is two full-time jobs plus some, what with the spring runway this week. And you still have spring photoshoots at work after that. How on earth did you even find the time to make the heat pack for Plagg?"

"It got out of hand," Marinette admitted. She looked utterly stressed as she looked at the list of commissions on her computer screen. "I just... they're famous people, you know? Or on their way to getting famous. They're visible. And the styles are something I haven't had the chance to do at Madam Rosalie's place, really, and they have so many fun ideas... I just didn't want to turn anyone down and miss out on that exposure."

"And Plagg?"

Marinette finally smiled, just for a moment. It wasn't even a quarter as bright as her usual smiles. "I did his bag right before bed one night, when I was too tired to do a good enough job on the commissions. It was just a matter of sewing a few straight seams and pinning the fabric right so that the rice wouldn't get under the needle." A pause. "Also, his whining was annoying."

"Most of these people would have been willing to wait a bit for their commissions, I think," Adrien said, trying not to laugh at that last comment. His eyes scanned down the list. It was very organized, he had to admit, with notes on sizes and measurements and themes and links to other sheets with more information. Thankfully there were quite a few that were close to being done, but they also had due dates that were coming up really soon. "How often are you getting contacted? With real requests, I mean. Not individual weirdos that have no idea what it would cost."

Marinette worried her lip as she thought about it. "Every couple weeks, maybe? It's just that there was a whole slew of them after Jagged Stone's album release that I had to put off working on until after Christmas, and there was that article about the outfits I designed for those other groups that got me more attention again, and I'm still working on finishing up everything for those ones. If I just had a break in the requests I would be able to catch up and then be working on commissions at a decent pace and be able to actually enjoy them again, but that's just not happening!"

"Buginette." Adrien rested his hands on Marinette's shoulders and tugged her into a hug. Part of him wanted to get frustrated with her- she should have known better than to take on so much work- but getting frustrated wouldn't help anything. Or anyone. Besides, there were better ways of expressing the same sentiment without being an arse about it, and the last thing Marinette needed right now was any sort of fight. "Love, that's when you tell new people that you're busy. Or if someone you're working with is requesting more pieces, you tell them it's going to have to wait. You put them down on your lovely spreadsheet as on the waiting list, and then contact them once you've caught up and had a little break. You'll do your best work for them then."

Marinette was still not entirely convinced, Adrien could tell. She was scanning her spreadsheet with a worried look on her face.

"You're right," she admitted after several more seconds of silence. She let out a huffy breath. "I just- we always heard in school about how it's hard to break into the fashion industry and that even to get hired by a company can be hard because designers are a dime a dozen, it seems, and I didn't want my chance to slip past me."

Adrien could understand that fear, honestly. He had seen the pile of applications on his father's desk before- and those were the ones that had already made it past several rounds of eliminations. There were a lot of strong candidates, and even people who graduated in the top of their class in university weren't guaranteed to get a position.

Still, Adrien didn't think that Marinette had to worry about that- and no, he wasn't just being biased. Marinette was crazy talented, and she had an impressive resume to back her up, even as young as she was.

Stepping to the side and crouching so that he was looking Marinette in the eye, Adrien put his hands on her shoulders so he could get her full attention. "Bug. Listen to me. You've already broken into the fashion industry. You'll have three years of interning at Rosalie on your resume, plus all of the stuff for Jagged, plus all of this stuff that you have right now. If people are asking after you to the point that you're getting overworked, you are solid in the fashion industry." He gave her shoulders a little shake for emphasis before sliding one hand up to cup her cheek. "But if you overwork yourself like this, you know the quality is going to suffer. It's better to put people on a wait list and work at your own speed than it is to churn out things that aren't original and aren't you and end up falling out of favor because of that. If people want a Marinette Original, they can wait. That's how the fashion industry works."

"I guess." Still, Marinette looked overwhelmed as she looked from Adrien to her spreadsheet. "And I can start putting people on a wait list now, but what about the commissions I already have lined up? I don't know any of the people on here well enough to ask if I could push their due dates back. And it's just so much work, I don't know how I'll get them all done by the deadlines."

Adrien had to think about it for several moments. It didn't take long before a plan started forming in his head.

"How about this- instead of having to cut off by our normal time, I can finish with my homework then or during the day and then come over and help you however I can?" Adrien suggested. "You said you had rivets to put in on some things, right? If you just mark with, like, chalk where you want them pounded in, I could do that. And I can sort out finished pieces into which commissions they belong to, and get shipping labels printed, and stuff like that. I can't sew, obviously, but if you think of anything I can do to help..."

Marinette looked slightly distressed at that. "But Adrien! You have your own stuff to do, with your papers and your midterms and-"

"My papers are largely done, they just need some editing. I'm going to have Ben look at them tomorrow for grammar and spelling and word choice, so I won't have to do that, and then I'll have a few days to go back and make sure that I have everything just the way I want it." Adrien rubbed Marinette's back, working at the tense muscles in her shoulders. "And one of my tests was yesterday, and then I only have two more for midterms. Most of my classes don't really do midterms at this point. They have tests when they want to have tests. I can handle it."

"That would help," Marinette admitted. She sent a slightly rueful look at the pile of finished clothes on her couch. "There's stuff from four or five commissions there and I know they're there- I check off each outfit once I finish it- but I just don't have the time to sort it out."

"Do you have a sheet with descriptions of which outfits are meant to be in each order?"

Marinette pointed to a folder sitting on the low table next to the couch. "Yeah, in there. There should be copies of the designs attached to each one, too."

Adrien headed over to pick up the folder. It was thick, and when he opened it he found a packet for each of Marinette's commissions. There were a dozen of them, all with multiple pieces. That surprised Adrien a bit, considering that none of them had ever worked with Marinette before and she didn't exactly have a site or anything online with photos of her past work. A couple had cover art commissions as well, and from what he could tell, only one of them had that part of their order completely finished- though once again, there were a quite a few that were nearly done, only needing a round of requested revisions.

It was a lot.

Adrien sorted through the pile as the sewing machine whirred furiously in the background. Marinette was right when she had said that there was stuff from several different commissions all mixed together- only instead of four or five commissions, there were eight. Tikki found sticky notes for him to stick to each pile of outfits, and Adrien wrote down the customer's name, what pieces were in each order, and checked off each piece that he had found and put in the pile. What was still needed was written on a different colored sticky note and put on top of the pile.

Slowly but surely, the couch was becoming much more organized.

"This one says that it just needs one more piece before it's complete," Adrien reported after everything was sorted out into neat stacks, flipping through one packet of commission information to double-check. "It looks like a fairly basic tank top, except with some screen printing."

Marinette perked up and the sewing machine's whirring slowed to a stop. "Really?"

"It looks like it, yeah." Adrien handed over the packet. "I've found the two skirts and one completed top. It just needs this one shirt and then it'll be ready to go."

"I think I was waiting to do the screen printing all at once, since I have a bunch to do among all of my commissions and it's more efficient to do it all in one go," Marinette said, scanning the page. "But yeah, I should maybe do that this weekend and I can get a bunch of stuff checked off. Is it supposed to be sunny then?"

Adrien blinked, puzzled- what did the weather have to do with anything?- but checked his phone anyway. Maybe she just needed the sun for the shirts to dry or something. "Yeah, it'll be sunny, for once. At least that's what they think right now. Why?"

"I gotta set the screens in the sun," Marinette explained, which... yeah, honestly, that really didn't explain anything at all. Adrien was still very much confused. "I should have most of the materials for screen printing, but I just have to make the screens themselves. And- oh, if I'm gonna make all of the screens at once, I'll actually need to make more frames. Shoot, and I don't have the time to pick up more materials, and the copy shop is never open when I'm off and it's always packed during lunch and-"

"If you tell me what you need, I can pick up the stuff for the frames and the other materials, and whatever you need from the copy shop, I can run all of those errands," Adrien told her immediately, before she could get too far into one of her panic spirals. "I can go whenever, I just need a list and where to buy stuff. And for the screen printing- do you sew your own shirts for that?"

Marinette shook her head, looking marginally less frantic. "No, I just ordered some pre-sewn ones that I'll print on. Even if it only takes an hour to sew a shirt like that, I have so many orders for them that it would just take forever." Marinette pointed at an unopened box wedged in the corner of the room with a pile of papers sitting on top. A closer look told Adrien that it was the name of each commission, the color and size of the base shirt, and what design was meant to be printed on it. Once again, Marinette had absolutely impeccable organization. "I should check and make sure they're all there, probably, and get them sorted out with their commission sheets, but I don't have the time."

"I can check on that, too," Adrien piped up. He slipped up behind her and hugged her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Are you feeling better about everything now?"

"Better," Marinette agreed. She twisted around to kiss him. "Not perfect, because there's still a lot to do and I feel really stupid for letting it get to this point... but I think I might focus on the little stuff this week, all of the easy commissions and finishing up the orders that just have one piece left and finishing the pieces I have mostly completed and then doing album cover revisions. Once I have all of that done, then I think I'll have a better view of what I really have left to do." She glanced over at her laptop and the spreadsheet on it and let out a sigh. "I might end up having to email some of my customers and asking to push back the completion date a little bit. I've been scrambling so much lately that I just keep hopping from one piece to another because I see the due date and just freak out, and start working on one of their pieces, then see the due date for another and switch again."

"That sounds like a plan," Adrien agreed. He straightened up and glanced around the room. There were four in-progress pieces on the mannequins, and what looked like a couple others sitting around on the floor and on Marinette's kitchen counter. Just by standing here he was starting to feel overwhelmed. "Then you can finish orders and get those pieces cleared out of here so you aren't being buried under an avalanche of clothes. It won't feel quite so overwhelming then."

Marinette nodded in agreement, biting her lip as she glanced back at her computer. "Yeah. And I suppose I can bring my tablet along to Fashion Week and work on the cover art stuff between runways, too. I've got some requested changes to finish up and then a couple complete ones to design. Or maybe it's just one complete one left to design, I don't remember." She reached over, scrolling through her list of commissions. Red, yellow and green boxes told her what was finished, what was in-progress, and what was still woefully untouched. There were way too many yellow and red-coded boxes for Adrien's liking, and he was sure that she felt the same. "I still have to go in every day and go to other presentations and runways for inspiration, but there's enough downtime between stuff that I can probably get some work done. And I could bring my sketchbook and work on some of the preliminary sketches that I still have to do once the covers are finished up. And then I could take a day or two off to catch up, too, maybe, after Fashion Week is over. Or maybe not. It depends on what we have to do at work."

Adrien nodded. He couldn't say that he entirely liked the plan- Marinette was going to be working herself to the bone with barely a moment to catch her breath, and that wasn't healthy- but if she overworked herself now, then hopefully she would get enough done that she wouldn't be keeping herself awake stressing over the unfinished commissions with their ever-looming due dates. And with his tests and paper due dates more spread out this semester than ever before and Ben's help in keeping him on top of his coursework, he should be able to help Marinette without falling behind in his own studies.

Besides, even if he hadn't admitted it to himself fully, Adrien was far ahead of schedule on the essays. His early push meant that his 'rough drafts' were more like fully completed papers at this point, and he probably wasn't going to need to do much editing between when he got the graded draft back and when the final copy was due.

Hopefully, at least. Barring some complete disaster.

"Are you almost done with that piece?" Adrien asked as Marinette turned back to the jacket she was working on. "Because I can understand wanting to finish it, but it's late and you have to get up early for Fashion Week. And you actually have to be awake for that."

"I want to get one more seam done, and then it'll be at a good stopping point," Marinette decided after a pause. "And then I'll be over- unless you want me to sleep over here so I don't wake you up when I get up?"

Adrien shook his head. If Marinette slept over in her apartment, then there would be no way of knowing if she had actually slept. He would rather deal with being woken up briefly when Marinette's alarm went off early in the morning than have her make the last-minute decision to stay up even later to finish a piece and not know. "I'd rather sleep next to you like normal. How long do you think you'll be?"

"Five minutes, tops."

"Sounds good." As he turned to leave, Adrien paused. "Oh, and one thing... Marinette?"

Marinette looked over at him, eyes wide. "Yeah?"

"Everything will work out, I promise. We're Ladybug and Chat Noir, after all." He grinned at her, and was pleased to see her smile back. It was a little muted, but it was a start. "Together, we can do anything."

  For the first time in nearly two weeks, Marinette found that she could actually focus entirely on what she was doing at work. She didn't find her mind floating back to the piles of unfinished commissions sitting in her apartment, or fretting over everything she had to do.

Even if she hadn't made nearly as much progress as she wanted to over the weekend- well, she had had ridiculous expectations in the first place. She had done a good bit of work, and now that Adrien had caught on to her problem, he was solidly on her side. He had managed to get the messy pile of commissions sorted out and organized so that she had a better idea of what she had left to do, and together they had come up with a plan for her going forward.

Well, maybe she had come up with most of the plan, but Adrien's presence and willingness to help had settled the jittery nerves in her stomach and cleared her mind so that she could actually focus. The mountain of commissions to finish didn't seem so insurmountable now that she had Chat Noir at her side and a plan in her mind.

And that focus was needed as Marinette helped models change clothes quickly and got them back out onto the runway. The work was fast-paced and needed all of her attention to make sure the right collars were popped and everything was tucked in in the right places and no wrinkles were visible. Once the last model went through and headed out to the runway, a sigh ran through the changing area and there was a distinct drop in tension. Seconds later, though, everyone pulled themselves back together to start steering models back to their area so they could get changed back into their street clothes and all of the outfits could be packed up and sent back to the office.

Once the last of the things from Madam Rosalie's show were packed up, Marinette snagged her bag and followed her coworkers out of backstage and towards the first of the shows that she had wanted to see. As she walked, she pulled out the wrap that Adrien had made for her- best boyfriend ever, honestly- and dug in hungrily.

"Oh, I'm jealous," Sarah said, eying the wrap. "I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and that's it. I can't cook all that well."

"When did you find the time to put that together, even?" Emily wanted to know, partway through her own turkey sandwich. "I thought you said that you were super-busy with commissions to do, too."

Marinette swallowed her bite and then grinned. "Yeah, I've been swamped," she agreed. "So Adrien has been doing most of the cooking, and he made this for me. He's an absolute godsend."

"D'you think I could bribe him to pack a lunch for me for the rest of the week?" Sarah joked. "I kid, I kid," she added before Marinette had time to think about it. "I should have time to make a proper meal to pack tonight. But that really does look good."

They worked their way through the crowd and into the largest of the runway areas. Once they got into their seats, Marinette wasted no time in polishing off her wrap and pulling out her commissions sketchbook. She wanted to get at least three of her designs cleaned up today, preferably more. Then she could submit all of her sketches to that particular client for approval, and then they would get back to her in probably two to three days, and then she would have to carve out the time to go to the fabric shop and get the materials that she needed, and then-

Her thoughts had started to race again as she tried to feel out a timeline for the commission. Only a sharp jabbing at her side pulled Marinette out of her thoughts, and she looked down to see one of Tikki's eyes peering out of her bag, clearly frowning at her. Marinette let out a breath and tried to calm her racing thoughts.

She was going to try to clean up several sketches today and get them ready to submit for approval. Once she got home, she was going to send the sketches off for approval and finish up the jacket she had been working on and then turn her attention to the mostly-finished pieces. Only once she had her mannequins cleared would she start anything new. If Adrien had any time free, she would have him start to put together the frames for the screen printing.

All she had to do was keep a level head and not start panicking.

As the day wore on, the side of Marinette's hand slowly darkened with smudged graphite. She cleaned up rough sketches while waiting for shows to start, scribbled out ideas to use at Madam Rosalie's during runways, and even got a few new commissions sketches very roughly sketched out. Her hand was starting to ache from being clenched around her pencil for so long by the time she left the Fashion Week grounds and headed home.

"You look productive," Adrien said with a laugh after they pulled apart from their welcome-home kiss and he spotted her grey-smudged hand. "How's your hand doing?"

Marinette wriggled her fingers, trying to loosen them up. "It hurts, but I should still be able to sew with no problem. I might use my quilting gloves, though, just so my hands don't cramp up."

She didn't miss Adrien's concerned glance at her hands, nor the way he immediately reached out to gently massage them. She stepped closer, letting him continue to work at her hands until they were back to feeling relatively normal.

How Marinette had somehow gotten the Absolute Best Boyfriend In The World she didn't know, but she wasn't complaining.

"Let's have dinner first before you do any sewing again," Adrien suggested, steering Marinette towards the table. "I made soup and sandwiches. How was your day?"

Dinner went by all too fast, and then Adrien took care of the dishes while Marinette headed over to her apartment to get pictures of all of her cleaned-up sketches taken and sent before she sat down to finish up the jacket. It would need some snaps and other bling on it later, but she was practically finished with the sewing.

"Is that pile done and ready to sort?"

Marinette glanced up from where she was sewing the pockets in the jacket. Adrien was pointing to a more-or-less neatly stacked pile of jackets and pants and tops on the kitchen counter. She had to think for a moment- why were those pieces over there?- before it clicked.

"Those all need hardware," Marinette explained. "Studs and rivets and snaps and eyelets. It's easiest to do them all at once, I've found, instead of getting all of my tools out and doing one piece at a time." She had marked them all with a marker (dark for the few light pieces, white for the dark ones) with where the studs were meant to go, so she wouldn't have to refer back to the drawings for each one. Like with the screen printing shirts, each one had the commission name on it and the kind of studs (number and size) written on a slip of paper and pinned to the piece.

Technically, it had been Tikki that had been the one to come up with the idea of labeling the pieces like that and it had also been Tikki who wrote up each slip of paper so Marinette didn't have to take the time to do it herself, but Marinette couldn't deny that it was a fantastic idea.

"Aha." Adrien regarded the pile as Marinette turned back to her jacket. "So is that stuff I could potentially do?"

Marinette bit her lip and thought about it. Part of her wanted to say no, because she would have to take the time to teach Adrien how to put things in correctly so that they wouldn't mess up the pieces, but the more reasonable side said yes, please. Adrien was smart and could pick things up quickly, and once he learned how to do the hardware, that would probably be several hours of work off of her shoulders in return for what in all honesty would probably just be a ten-minute demo.

"I'll teach you tomorrow how to do some of the studs," Marinette promised. Those had the fewest tools involved and were the easiest of the hardware pieces to put in. "But for tonight... do you think you could put together some screen printing frames? The wood and the tools are in the hall closet, and there should be an instruction packet there, too."

Adrien nodded and bounded towards the closet. Minutes later, the first frame was halfway assembled on the kitchen floor. Half an hour after that, and several completed frames were lined up next to the fridge as Adrien worked on making several smaller and one larger frame from the remaining wood. Marinette had finished what she could on the jacket and added it to the pile in the kitchen before starting work on a pair of pants.

"Okay, I think it's bedtime," Adrien announced two hours later. Marinette looked over to see him stretching, his t-shirt rising up to expose a thin line of stomach. "Unless you had something else you wanted to get done tonight?"

Marinette blinked and glanced over at the time on her phone. It was definitely later than she had thought. Clearly she had kind of zoned out while sewing. "Oh! Yeah, that's probably a good idea. But, uh..."

She wanted to keep going, in all honesty. She could feel like she was making progress, and she couldn't do that if she went to bed. But Tikki was staring at her from across the room, clearly disapproving of Marinette's desire to just ignore reasonable bedtimes in favor of working.

(Plagg was also there, only he was napping, happily curled up on the heat pad Marinette had made for him. She never got disapproving looks from him.)

"I just wish I had made more visible progress," Marinette admitted. "These pants are almost done, since I had them already started before, and I got the jacket ready for studding but it was already mostly there. And I still have so much to do."

"One day at a time, Bug," Adrien reminded her. He waited until she switched off her sewing machine and then pulled her up off of her chair. "And if you want, I can pick up whatever other materials you need for the screen printing stuff tomorrow. That'll be another thing checked off your list."

Marinette lit up at the reminder. "Yeah! I just need- wait a moment, I need to check something." She hurried to her computer and pulled up the spreadsheet that she had made for all of her screen-printed shirt orders. "I should need six more of the average-sized frames, and the inks, and-" She scrambled for a blank piece of paper and started scribbling down a list, trying to remember what she had and hadn't already bought. Since she had gotten the materials for the first set of commissions, it was just a matter of remembering which ones she hadn't bought stuff for.

Well. It was probably better to overestimate rather than underestimate. Presumably she would get enough orders going forward that she would use everything up long before she had to go back to Paris and if not... well, she had coworkers who could probably use the supplies.

"I think that's all the information you'll need for the fabric ink," Marinette said after several minutes of scribbling. "Any questions, just text me. And I think I should have enough fabric to put on all of the frames, even with six more. And I'll need the pattern transparencies to do the printing at all." She let out a small huff as she eyed the boxes of shirts to be inked. Adrien had sorted them out and thankfully they were all present and in both the correct colors and sizes (though there had been a few terrifying minutes when they thought that she was over a dozen shirts short, before she realized that there was a second box of shirts stashed in the hall closet), but it was yet another pile reminding her of how incredibly far behind she had gotten. When Marinette had initially set the due dates up she had thought that she was being ridiculously generous with the timeline and that the far-out due dates would give her plenty of wriggle room, but now those deadlines were almost here and all she had to show for her work were a million half-finished projects around the room.

"Do you have a flash drive or something with all of the transparency files on it?" Adrien asked, pulling her attention back from her mental berating. "I can run that errand tomorrow, too. I only have two classes to go to and an hour and a half meeting with Ben, so I'll have plenty of time."

Adrien was definitely the Best Boyfriend Ever.

The week continued in a blur of work. Tuesday evening, Adrien finished building the frames and then he and Marinette worked together to get the fabric properly stretched and attached. He had gotten everything that Marinette had asked for during the day, which meant that the screen printing stuff would be all ready to go later in the week. In the evening, Adrien cut lengths of chain for accents on some of the pieces and pressed in studs on a couple of the pieces sitting in the kitchen, which meant that Marinette could sew the liners in and count those pieces as done.

(The best part? Since she had already sewn the liners, putting them in didn't take long at all and Marinette got to feel super-productive as she finished off three jackets in one night. And, making the day even better, they got the news that Alya had gotten past the second round of cuts and her entry had gone on to the proper judges to see.)

During the day, Marinette worked on finishing up requested revisions on album covers in between runway shows, sending them off as she finished and waiting for a confirmation email in return that would allow her to either check the piece off for good or send her back to do a couple more tweaks. Even with all of the stress that she had been under when designing the pieces, Marinette had to admit that she was proud of them. The artwork had turned out wonderfully, and she had managed to push herself with some of the design elements, too. They showed a range of techniques and varied from minimalistic to intricately detailed.

Thursday evening found Marinette still furiously sewing and Adrien pressing in yet more studs in a very decorated jacket. He spent the entire evening working on the piece and Marinette noticed him making a face and shaking out his fingers every so often, especially as it got later.

She felt bad about asking him for his help, she really did- so many studs in a short period of time really made the fingers sore-but he had saved her a solid twenty hours of work so far (two jackets OR two tops OR eight to ten pairs of pants and skirts- her mind started, and Marinette shushed it), and he could ask her for something else to do if he so desired, or even go back to doing his own work.

Speaking of which...

"Are you sure you don't have studying to be doing?" Marinette asked, letting her sewing machine slow to a stop before swinging around to look at Adrien. She wouldn't put it past him to focus too much on her stuff just to be kind, even if he had work of his own. "You've been spending all of your evenings over here. I thought you had papers to write."

"Wrote 'em during the day," Adrien said cheerfully. "And did my studying during the day, too."

"And that's enough?"

"For right now, yes. I don't think I could do it forever, though." He worried his lip, just a bit. She didn't miss it, even though he was clearly trying to hide it so he wouldn't worry her. "And I'll have to take at least one evening to study next week, since I'll have an exam and two papers to finish. And then I have two exams the week before break, and one after."

Marinette nodded. She would probably be done with everything that Adrien could help with by that point anyway. "Take off whatever time you need, really. You've been a huge help." She gestured at the neat piles of clothes stacked and labeled on the couch and at the printing screens, piled neatly on the kitchen counter. "I couldn't have gotten this far without you. I would still be scrambling and panicking myself into a knot." She smiled up at him as he came over to wrap her up in a hug. "I've been able to focus so much better since we came up with the plan to get everything finished."

Adrien just grinned and buried his face in her neck.

"I've managed to get all of my designs finalized and approved," Marinette continued. "And I got revisions done for several album covers and those have been submitted, so I'm waiting to hear back from the last of those. And the one cover that I hadn't gotten a first draft of yet- it's maybe a third of the way done. I'll have to work on that and get it done- well, not this weekend, since I have to finish up a bunch of orders first, but next week at least, so I can get it submitted for critique."

Marinette also sincerely hoped that none of the other people who had had her do revisions needed any more changes. Being able to check all of them off would be a huge relief.

"So how are the studs different than the other hardware you mentioned?" Adrien asked after another minute. He released her from the hug and straightened back up, stretching and twisting to get the aches out of his back. "You said they were easier?"

"Yeah, the others need more than just the one poking tool," Marinette explained. "And they have two pieces that lock together from opposite sides of the fabric. It usually takes a couple tries to get it right." It wasn't that the studs were hard, exactly, just different. There were more steps and more tools, but not that many more. She was sure that Adrien wouldn't have any problems.

"I'm sure I'll pick it up," Adrien assured her. "I might be slower than you at it, but..."

Marinette pulled him back down for a kiss. "That's fine. As long as it gets done, the time doesn't matter. I wouldn't be able to do this without you."

She wasn't even exaggerating. Adrien had been focused on whatever task she gave to him to do, working hard to finish the job. Between the errands he had run, the organizing he had done, his work on the frames, and all of the hardware...

Yeah, it was a lot. It added up quickly.

"Well, then I should get back to work," Adrien told her. "I'm almost done with the jacket, and then it'll be ready for you again."

"No rush," Marinette assured him. She turned back to her machine and started sewing again. The machine hummed, needle a silver blur as it worked its way up the seam, one stitch at a time. "I certainly have enough to do in the meantime."

[bangsmusicandentertainment]

BUSH AND +LIVE DELIVER POWERFUL PERFORMANCES AT THE ROXY THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES

PRIVATE TOUR LAUNCH EVENT BOTH BANDS ARE CO-HEADLINING THIS SUMMER'S TOUR OF ARENAS AND OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATERSIN CELEBRATION OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF ICONIC ALBUMSSIXTEEN STONE AND THROWING COPPER ALT-IMATE HITS-PACKED SUMMER TOUR KICKS OFF JUNE 6 IN MASHANTUCKET 

Tickets On Sale To General Public Starting Today, Friday, March 15th at LiveNation.com  It was a big night for rock when seminal rock bands BUSH and +LIVE+ tore the roof of the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles (March 12) at a private event pegged to the recent announcement that both groups will co-headline arenas and amphitheatres this summer. The ALT-IMATE Tour will see these two iconic acts celebrating the 25th anniversary of their respective landmark albums Sixteen Stone andThrowing Copper. Special guest Our Lady Peace will join on all dates. Produced by Live Nation, this hits-packed road show will hit arenas and outdoor amphitheaters in 33 cities across the country, kicking off June 6th in Mashantucket, CT with stops in Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta and more before wrapping September 8thin Rochester, MI at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre. The jam-packed event at the Roxy drew radio station KROQ contest winners, media and tastemakers, with both bands performing powerful sets with songs from Throwing Copper and Sixteen Stone and more hits from their respective bodies of work. Photos for your use are HERE. (Photo credit: Maria Jose Govea for Live Nation.) "Bush is a great band and Gavin is a super passionate singer and performer.  I'm really looking forward to spending the summer with them," said +LIVE+ frontman Ed Kowalczyk. "I know the fans are going to get one hell of a show." "We are thrilled to be touring this summer with LIVE," says BUSH frontman Gavin Rossdale. "The wealth and depth of songs from both bands should provide a great night of music. Looking forward to seeing you all this summer." Released in 1994 and fueled by blockbuster No. 1 singles "Lightning Crashes," "Selling The Drama," "Glycerine," "Comedown" and "Machinehead," breakthrough albums Throwing Copper and Sixteen Stone sold more than 20 million albums combined. Both were spotlighted on Rolling Stone's list, "1994: The 40 Best Records From Mainstream Alternative's Greatest Year," and remain timeless favorites, thanks to radio staples that include "Everything Zen," "Little Things," "I Alone" and "All Over You." "Sixteen Stone propelled us onto the musical landscape," says Rossdale. "Those songs have found a way into the soundtrack of people's lives and that is the highest compliment available. We've continued to make music that resonates with people." "It's an amazing feeling to know that these songs still resonate so profoundly with people," says Kowalczyk."And I still totally get off on celebrating this music with them. With Throwing Copper, we were taking on big things with a big sound.  Love, truth, birth, death, philosophy, religion, spirituality...we were asking the perennial questions and poking around for answers with this massive and dynamic sound. It attracted people from all over the world. We were inviting them to imagine that rock and roll could be a valid forum for exploring these types of things...we built it and they came." Tickets go on sale LiveNation.com.^ (^Tickets for the August 6th Los Angeles show at the Greek Theatre are on sale NOW HERE.)

BUSH and +LIVE+ The ALT-IMATE Tour 2019 Dates:Thursday, June 06, 2019Mashantucket, CTFoxwoods Resort Casino - The Grand Theater* Friday, June 07, 2019Atlantic City, NJHard Rock Live at Etess Arena Saturday, June 08, 2019Burlington, Ontario, CanadaSpencer Smith Park - Sound of Music Festival* Tuesday, June 11, 2019Boston, MARockland Trust Bank Pavilion Thursday, June 13, 2019Gilford, NHBank of New Hampshire Pavilion Friday, June 14, 2019Canandaigua, NYConstellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center: CMAC Saturday, June 15, 2019Holmdel, NJPNC Bank Arts Center Friday, July 26, 2019Appleton, WINeuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium* Saturday, July 27, 2019Council Bluffs, IAStir Cove at Harrah's Casino* Sunday, July 28, 2019Kansas City, MOStarlight Theatre Tuesday, July 30, 2019New Orleans, LABold Sphere Music at Champions Square Friday, August 02, 2019Wichita, KSHartman Arena Saturday, August 03, 2019Denver, COFillmore Auditorium Tuesday, August 06, 2019Los Angeles, CAGreek Theatre^ Wednesday, August 07, 2019Concord, CAConcord Pavilion Friday, August 09, 2019Tuolumne, CABlack Oak Casino - West Side Pavilion* Saturday, August 10, 2019Costa Mesa, CAOC Fair* Sunday, August 11, 2019Tucson, AZAVA Casino* Wednesday, August 14, 2019Rogers, ARWalmart AMP Friday, August 16, 2019Tampa, FLMIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre Saturday, August 17, 2019Miami, FLBayfront Park Amphitheater Sunday, August 18, 2019Jacksonville, FLDaily's Place Tuesday, August 20, 2019Atlanta, GACadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park Friday, August 23, 2019Essex Junction, VTChamplain Valley Expo* Saturday, August 24, 2019Baltimore, MDMECU Pavilion Sunday, August 25, 2019Pittsburgh, PAStage AE* Tuesday, August 27, 2019Allentown, PAThe Great Allentown Fair Thursday, August 29, 2019Wantagh, NYNorthwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Friday, August 30, 2019Bethel, NYBethel Woods Center for the Arts Wednesday, September 04, 2019Dayton, OHThe Rose Music Center at The Heights Friday, September 06, 2019Tinley Park, ILHollywood Casino Amphitheatre Saturday, September 07, 2019Allegan, MIAllegan County Fair* Sunday, September 08, 2019Rochester, MIMeadow Brook Amphitheatre

[thereviewsarein]

15 Things Music Lovers Can do While Quarantined to Celebrate Music, Have Fun, and Support Artists

For ten years in a row from 2010 to 2019, I wrote a post called the March Madness Widow(er) Survival Guide and shared tips for folks who didn’t care about college basketball but had a partner that was all the way into the madness. I was set to do the same thing this year. However, in 2020 there is no March Madness but there is a quarantine.

So, we’re shifting gears and making due by taking some of the ideas from the old series and adding in some new ideas and giving everything a new shine and creating a list of 15 ideas that you can jump into while you’re at home and not going to concerts or meet and greets or any of the other great things that we are all sadly missing.

I want to point out that we aren’t taking COVID-19 lightly by putting this post together or by keeping it lighthearted. We hope that each and every one of you reading this remains healthy and safe and is ready to rock when things get back to normal.

And we hope you keep listening to and loving music non-stop until then too!

If you’re ready, we’re ready. Let’s go!

The Music Lovers Quarantine Survival Guide

1) Listen to your favourite albums front-to-back.

We love playlists and variety and being able to bounce from artist to artist at a moment’s notice – BUT there’s still something super fantastic about putting a great album on and listening to it from front to back.

We suggest picking one or two albums per day/night and letting them play all the way through from start to finish. And if you really love it – hit play again.

If you’re having trouble choosing an album, here are four that I highly recommend. Enjoy!

2) Create playlists with friends.

You can do this a couple of ways… the important thing is there’s really no wrong way to do it.

You can start a collaborative playlist on Spotify and invite people to add songs and rearrange the order and what have you.

You can put up a post on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter asking people to recommend songs for you to add to a playlist – and then build a playlist with all of those recommended songs.

You can even get in a private group chat with friends and turn it into some sort of game where you all pitch songs to each other and make jokes and discover new songs and enjoy each other and the music.

3) Discover podcasts by musicians / about music.

There’s a podcast about everything, and usually more than one. And guess what, music is no different!

Check out these five recommendations and give ‘em a listen while you do chores or eat dinner or go for a walk or whatever else you’ve got going on. (All recommendations available on Spotify)

🎙️ Music Exists with Chuck Klosterman and Chris Ryan 🎙️ The Show (Hosts Amy Aust and Scotty Kipfer) 🎙️ Walking The Floor with Chris Shiflett 🎙️ Geeks And Beats (Hosts Alan Cross and Michael Hainsworth) 🎙️ Questlove Supreme

And stay tuned, maybe we’ll have a podcast someday!

4) Watch concerts and festival sets.

YouTube is filled with festival sets and Netflix has concert specials and really there is no shortage of awesome footage and content featuring live music and great crowds. Is it the same as being at a show live and in person? Of course not, but it ain’t bad.

5) Binge live music performance videos.

If you don’t have time for a full concert experience, go for the YouTube model of one song at a time!

If you’ve already got favourites, like when Nick Nurse joined Arkells in Toronto for Signed, Sealed, Delivered (as an example), revisit them and play ‘em loud. If you are looking for new videos, just type the artist’s name and live into the YouTube search bar and see what you get!

6) Watch live stream performances from bands on Facebook and YouTube.

Some artists who can’t be on the road at this time have started setting up live performances via live stream so that fans can still hear them play and they can show everyone their talent and energy. It’s a very cool idea that allows for live music to exist in a time when it feels like it’s been taken away for a little while.

Check out your favourite artists to see if they’ve got anything planned, and when you do see an artist you love getting ready to go live, share the stream so that other people can tune in too.

7) Order albums and merch online, directly from artist websites.

Here’s another way that you can support artists while they aren’t able to play shows and collect cheques – buy some gear.

Hit the online shops of artists you love (especially emerging and indie artists) and see what they’ve got for sale. Need some new CDs for the car? Get ‘em. Love that t-shirt design? Order now. Ooh, would that vinyl look great in your collection and sound great on your record player? Better not pass it up!

These sales are going to help a lot of bands stay afloat, pay the rent, and be prepared to hit the road when we’re able to get back to some sort of normal. We know every purchase will be appreciated.

8) Take selfies in your favourite musician merch and include the link to where you got it in your post.

Here’s a follow-up for that last one. When your order arrives (or if you’ve already got some cool merch that you love) snap a photo and tag the artist and link to their online store so that other fans see what they should be buying.

Every little bit helps get eyes on the product and the music and the artists.

9) Share stream and YouTube channel links from your favourite artists with your friends to help everyone discover new music.

This one is easy, and we highly recommend it. Whether you’ve got cash to buy some t-shirts or you don’t. Whether you pay for Spotify or Apple or Amazon Music or you don’t. None of that matters here, all you have to do is go to your favourite artist’s website and copy the link to their YouTube or Spotify channel and then put that in a Facebook post or a Tweet and tell other people it’s awesome and that they should listen.

Heck, you can pick a new artist and do it every day. Challenge your friends too. No duplication, get as many recommendations out into the world as possible!

10) Read a music book.

Reading doesn’t always come to mind when we’re talking about music, but when you need a quiet moment or you’re getting ready to go to bed, etc. a good book is still hard to beat.

Check out these music-related biographies and autobiographies and a book about Big Shiny Tunes that we highly recommend.

🎶 Reba: My Story (by Reba McEntire and Tom Carter) 🎶 It’s A Long Story: My Life (by Willie Nelson) 🎶 Waylon: Tales of my Outlaw Dad (by Terry Jennings) 🎶 Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter (by Loretta Lynn) 🎶 Me (by Elton John) 🎶 Life (by Keith Richards) 🎶 I, Bificus (by Bif Naked) 🎶 David Bowie: A Life (by Dylan Jones) 🎶 Feeding My Mother: Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as My Mom Lives with Memory Loss (by Jann Arden) 🎶 Shine: How a MuchMusic Compilation Came to Define Canadian Alternative Music and Sell a Zillion Copies (by Mark Teo)

11) Have a lip sync battle.

If you live with a roommate or a partner or you’ve got great neighbours (and nobody is sick), get some snacks and drinks out and have a Lip Sync Battle.

You need like 4 things to pull this off.

1. YouTube or Spotify ready to play the songs. 2. Open and clear space for performances. 3. Some time for participants to choose songs and prepare themselves. 4. Two or more willing players.

Have fun!

12) Watch some music documentaries.

There are some amazing music docs out in the world and available on streaming services if you want to watch them (and you should).

Here are 10 suggestions that you can watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video in Canada. (as of March 15, 2020)

🎵 Woodstock, Three Days That Defined A Generation * 🎵 Gaga: Five Foot Two * 🎵 Miss Americana * 🎵 27 Gone Too Soon * 🎵 Homecoming, A Film By Beyonce* 🎵 A Fat Wreck ^ 🎵 Sound City ^ 🎵 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down A Dream ^ 🎵 Slash: Raised on the Sunset Strip ^ 🎵 Jonas Brothers, Chasing Happiness ^

* = Netflix ^ = Amazon Prime Video

13) Have a solo dance party.

Pour a glass of wine or mix a drink or grab a beer and turn up some awesome 80s jams or put on Dance Mix ‘93 or whatever makes you move – and dance like no one’s watching. Because they aren’t. Because we’re all in quarantine.

14) Discover new music.

Check out the new release playlists on your favourite streaming services, look for recommendations from friends and social media, just keep your eyes and ears open for new songs and artists that you just might fall in love with.

15) Take care of yourself and the people around you.

Be smart. Be safe. Stay healthy. Don’t take risks that you don’t need to take. We’re in a difficult time with a lot of uncertainty and fear and anxiety and questions – and that is a crappy recipe, but it’s what we’ve got. And while it can be tempting to pretend that we’re immune or invincible or get all YOLO in a situation like this, we hope you do your best to just follow the recommendations of the people who know what’s going on (as well as anyone does) and stay safe and keep vulnerable people safe at the same time.

Thank you.

The Music Lovers Quarantine Survival Guide 15 Things Music Lovers Can do While Quarantined to Celebrate Music, Have Fun, and Support Artists…

[halloweendailynews]

The comics that will be available during Halloween ComicFest 2019 this October were officially revealed today, including 19 full size and nine mini comics, featuring Batman, Spider-Man, Boba Fett, Ghost-rider, the kid-slasher parody Junior High Horrors (pictured above), and many more.

Read on for the full press release and the complete list of 2019 titles, and then enjoy browsing through our photo gallery of all the Halloween comic covers coming your way for the 8th annual Halloween ComicFest.

This year, Halloween ComicFest (HCF) features a whole new selection of 28 comic book titles for the industry’s most anticipated fall event taking place Saturday, October 26, 2019 at participating comic shops worldwide.

Of the 28 titles available, 19 are Full Size and 9 are Mini Comics for fans to pick up and enjoy. All will be available for free at participating comic shops on Saturday, October 26th, with the Mini Comics also available for purchase in packs of 25 for $4.99 at the beginning of October—a perfect item to give to trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

“This year’s Halloween ComicFest is poised to be bigger and better than last year!” said Halloween ComicFest spokesperson Ashton Greenwood. “The comics available this year are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes, from the all-ages Mini Comics featuring popular properties like Archie, DC Superhero Girls, Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, and Pokémon, while the Full-Size Comics feature well-known characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, Boba Fett, Iron Man, and Batman. Halloween ComicFest is the perfect time to discover the wonders of comic shops and experience them as premiere destinations for Halloween fun!”

Read on for the complete listing of all Halloween ComicFest 2019 comics and our gallery of the covers for each.

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST 2019 FULL SIZE COMICS AfterShock Comics | Dark Red #1 Halloween ComicFest B&W Edition – Charles “Chip” Ipswich isn’t one of those coastal elites with a liberal arts degree and a job at a social media start-up who knows where all the best brunch places are… No, Chip is one of the “forgotten men.” He lives in a rural area in the middle of the country where Jesus still has a place at the dinner table and where factories ship jobs to Calcutta. Chip is also a vampire. Stuck working the last shift at a gas station, Chip is lonely and bored…and then his dull, bleak life is turned upside down when SHE comes to town. SPECIAL BLACK AND WHITE REPRINT. Tim Seeley (BRLLIANT TRASH) and Corin Howell bring you a contemporary and horrifying tale of vampirism in the heart of America — one that’ll make you jump right out of your boots. Aspen Comics | Aspen Mascots and the Portals of Doom – When Wormier and Griff accidentally open multiples portals from another dimension, the Aspen Mascots must band together to stop their own doppelgängers from wreaking havoc in our world! In this new jam-packed activity-coloring book featuring Aspen’s most popular critters and oddities, readers must solve puzzles, mazes and more in order to finish the story and save the planet! Benitez Productions | Lady Mechanika: La Dama de la Muerte – After suffering a tragic loss, Lady Mechanika takes a trip to a small Mexican village just in time for their Día de los Muertos celebration. But the festivities turn truly deadly after the arrival of the Jinetes del Infierno, the mythical Hell Riders! Includes the first chapter of the Lady Mechanika Day of the Dead special, collected in the La Dama de la Muerte TPB.  Dark Horse Comics | House of Fear: Attack of the Killer Snowmen! – A group of kids throwing around a football on a pleasant winter afternoon are suddenly set upon by snowmen with jagged grins and twisted limbs instead of cute button eyes and corncob pipes. They’ll need to think quick in order to defeat these frozen foes! A spooky scare for young readers!House of Fearis the perfect comic for monster hunters young and old. DC Comics | DCeased #1 HCF Special Editon – A mysterious techno-virus has been released on Earth, infecting 600 million people and turning them instantly into violent, monstrous engines of destruction.The heroes of the DCU are caught completely unprepared for a pandemic of this magnitude and struggle to save their loved ones first…but what happens to the World’s Greatest Heroes if the world ends?New York Times best-selling writer Tom Taylor (INJUSTICE) returns with a terrifying new tale and is joined by artists Trevor Hairsine (LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT) and Stefano Gaudiano (The Walking Dead). DC Comics | The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid / Black Canary: Ignite HCF Special Edition IDW Publishing | Sonic the Hedgehog #1 HCF Edition Keenspot Entertainment | Junior High Horrors Halloween Special – Halloween is here! But Mikey, the boy that’s always ready to dress to impress, has changed his tune and wants nothing to do with costumes this year. The gang gets together to change his mind, but will they succeed? This original story drawn by series creator Rob Potchak is the perfect jumping on point for anyone wanting to see why Robert Kirkman may have said this All-Ages Horror Parody was “Awesome!” This comic also features dyslexic reader friendly fonts, a first in the industry! Kodansha Comics | Tales of Berseria Preivew & Other Game Manga Mad Cave Studios | Battlecats: Halloween ComicFest Special Marvel Comics | Ghost Rider: King of Hell #1 Marvel Comics | Iron Man: Road to Iron Man 2020 Marvel Comics | Miles Morales: Spider-Man #0 Marvel Comics | Star Wars: Boba Fett #1 Random House Children’s Books | Doodleville/ Aster and the Accidental Magic Exclusive First Look Source Point Press | The Adventures of Cthulhu Jr. and Dastardly Dirk Vertical Comics | Bakemonogatari (Monster Tale) Exclusive HCF Edition VIZ Media | The Drifting Classroom/ Smashed YouNeek Studios | Iyanu: Child of Wonder

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST 2019 MINI COMICS Albatross Funnybooks | Spook House – A spooky book for kids of all ages! This Albatross Funnybooks anthology features works by William Stout, Eric Powell and Gideon Kendall! American Mythology | Under Dog Halloween Hijinks – There’s no need to fear! Underdog is here! Its an extra special Halloween treat as we present a mini comic adventure of everyone’s favorite superhound, Underdog! We’ll have you singing the Underdog theme as you trick or treat this year, “Speed of lightning, roar of thunder, fighting all who rob or plunder, Underdog!”  Don’t let Simon Bar Sinister ruin your holiday, join us for Underdog hijinks this Halloween season! Archie Comics | Archie’s Madhouse Magic – Get ready for magic and mischief in this fun collection of Halloween stories! Archie and everyone’s favorite teenage witch, Sabrina, are proud to present two enchanting and bewitching tales from Archie’s Magical Madhouse–sure to leave you spellbound! BOOM! Studios | Just Beyond: Horror at Happy Landings – THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WOODS. Family camping trips are already a drag for Annie and Parker, especially with their cousin Clark tagging along, but when strange things start happening, they’ll discover startling secrets out of this world! When a pair of Martian siblings find themselves stranded on Earth, they must take over Annie and Parker’s bodies to retrieve the tracker that can signal Mars to bring them home. Can the Martians make it home safe, or will they be forced to become Annie and Parker forever? DC Comics | DC Superhero Girls: At Metropolis High Halloween ComicFest Special Edition – When Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Bumblebee, and Zatanna are continually late to class because of their crime-fighting, they are sentenced to finding an after-school club for a whole week … or else they’ll be suspended!But finding a club is not as easy as it looks, and when the girls keep finding themselves kicked out of the clubs they like, they must think outside of the box and go outside their comfort zones to avoid suspension. This first chapter from the DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: AT METROPOLIS HIGH graphic novel is perfect for ages 6-10 and a great entry point into the DC Universe. Golden Apple Books | Blastosaurus Halloween Special IDW Publishing | Usagi Yojimbo HCF Mini Comic Papercutz | The Loud House: “A Very LOUD Halloween” VIZ Media | Pokémon Adventures

(Click an image to enlarge and view in gallery browser.)

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  For more Halloween news, follow @HalloweenDaily.

Halloween ComicFest 2019 Comics Announced The comics that will be available during Halloween ComicFest 2019 this October were officially revealed today, including 19 full size and nine mini comics, featuring Batman, Spider-Man, Boba Fett, Ghost-rider, the kid-slasher parody…

[purplesurveys]

206

Crush/Sigficicant Other/Whatever Survey

1: Do they drink coffee? Yes but it was more so in high school. Nowadays she only drinks it when she has a long night ahead for work.

2: Are they left or right handed? Right handed.

3: How do they do their hair? Facial hair? (If they have it) She never brushes it, which is unfair because her hair is just naturally nice. She’s never done any work to it other than haircuts, and she’s afraid to dye it because it could always damage her hair.

4: What’s their favorite animal? She is a dog person just like me. :)

5: What is their relationship status? With me.

6: What is their favorite band/singer? It changes all the time but right now she is allllll about St. Vincent. We share a Spotify account so I see the music history, and that’s all she ever listens to. I don’t know about bands but I know she has a soft spot for alt-J and The xx.

7: Are they more a cat or dog person? See number 4.

8: What does their laugh sound like? I can’t describe it to you perfectly but most of the time it makes me laugh as well.

9: Do they know multiple languages? Which ones? Sure. She knows English and is decent in Filipino. She was raised to speak in the former though so her Filipino is not as good as everyone else’s, but mastered enough to help her survive in the country haha.

10: How old are they? How old are you? We are both 19.

11: One word that describes them. Driven.

12: Do they have any pets? Yes. There’s Harley who is a Lhasa Apso, and then 3 or 4 more dogs at the back of the house. I’ve never met them because apparently they aren’t as well-behaved and are restless towards strangers, unlike Harley.

13: What is their favorite TV show? I don’t think she has one...she’s super indecisive and hates being asked about favorites.

14: What is their favorite movie? Again, I’ve stopped asking her her favorites because she could never give me a direct answer. The closest to her favorite movie is probably Carol.

15: What car do they drive? Her dad is in the car buy-and-sell industry so her car changes every few months. She currently has a Honda CR-V.

16: What ethnicity and/or nationality are they? Asian. She’s Filipino, with very little Turkish blood left.

17: Where did you meet them? Mutual friends. My friend invited me to have lunch with her friend, who was also bringing Gab. We were the ones who ended up being the closest. Technically, I’ve known her since we were four.

18: What was your first meeting like? I was iffy about her at the beginning since I knew she was one of the cool kids from grade school and I didn’t want to associate myself with that. Still, she seemed different from all the other shallow people from that group and we hit it off right off the bat.

19: What is their zodiac sign? Are your signs compatible? I don’t believe in horoscopes, although she is a Gemini.

20: What month is their birthday? June.

21: What is your favorite outfit on them? Well I mean she’d look wonderful in everything but I really like her in dresses. She hates wearing stuff that hugs her figure, but to me it’s all the more reason to be amazed with her when she does wear them.

22: Are they good texters? She’s a bad replier only very occasionally. Generally I get a text back quickly.

23: Your favorite feature about their appearance. Her eyes.

24: Your favorite thing about their personality. She’s very understanding. 

25: Do they make you laugh? Yes all the time.

26: Do you make them laugh? Fortunately.

27: Are they good huggers/kissers? The best.

28: What is your favorite “flaw” that they have? She is the most forgetful person I know, and it always makes for constantly fresh conversations. :) I’d tell her a story for the fifth time but she’d always genuinely forget and listen intently as if it were the first time she was hearing it.

29: Are they nice to strangers? Yes, she’s very social and approachable. She’s good with that.

30: What is the funniest thing they have ever said? Idk she uses memes a lot though so maybe one of the times she used one with perfect timing.

31: Saddest? That’s not my story to tell.

32: Weirdest? Gabie is generally weird so 8 out of 10 things she says falls under that category.

33: Cutest? She surprised me after school once by driving to my house with my favorite fast food. I’m a sucker for the small things. I also loved when she made a scrapbook for me.

34: Ever dreamt about them? What happened in the dream? Yes. The vivid ones that have stayed with me are rather dark, she kept on getting shot and dying and there was a brief period last year when that was the plot I got every night. The rest are just weird scenarios with her that I easily forget.

35: How tall are they? How tall are you? She’s probably like 5′3″ or 5′4″. I may be 5′1″.

36: Do they have a booty? The best one.

37: What are their hobbies? She loves anything related to cameras/cinema. Taking photos, making films, editing the short films, conceptualizing stories to turn into films, experimenting with camera techniques, etc.

38: What are their talents? ^ All of those. Also she is generally good at anything she’s asked to do or she has tried to do...it’s natural to her and everyone finds it unfair.

39: What would your dream date be with them? Staying out all night taking a walk and chatting and maybe spending time at a restaurant that stays open beyond midnight :) Always have been a night owl, so that would be the dream.

40: Does anyone know about your crush/love? Everyone knows, we are very open about it.

41: What do you guys have in common? We are total opposites on everything but have common ground on being a dog person and important social issues like sexism, homophobia, abortion, etc., which are really the things that matter in the long run.

42: Do they go to the gym? She’s had phases where she’s super motivated to go on a diet and start working out but they’ve all fizzled out.

43: Do they go by their given name? Yeah but she uses a nickname since Gabriela is too long.

44: What is their favorite color? Black.

45: How far apart do you live from them? About 45 minutes. She lives up a mountain so it takes longer driving up.

46: What song reminds you of them? The entire indie music genre reminds me of her.

47: Do they listen to a lot of music? She used to listen to a very wide range, but I know right now she sticks to her favorite–the main one being St. Vincent.

48: What do they smell like? Everything good in this world.

49: If they were in a book (protagonist or antagonist or supporting character, up to you) how would the writer describe them? Too lazy rn.

50: How often do you see them? Our usual is 2-3 days a week. On school breaks it could be 4-5 days.

51: The last text message they sent you? It was an argument so too personal to share here heh.

52: The last thing they said to you in person? "I love you,” she was getting out of my car to go back to her dorm.

53: What is the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you in front of them? I had a really bad case of trichotillomania before...when I nearly plucked my entire left eyebrow off, I had classmates who laughed at me in front of her. She was more than understanding, but it was still humiliating.

54: Do they have any tattoos or piercings? She has her ears pierced, but nothing else. She does want to get tattoos.

55: What color are their eyes? Dark brown.

56: What is their clothing style? I dunno, casual? Head bitch in charge? I don’t think it falls under any category.

57: What is one thing that makes them really special? She’s a keeper. 58: Will you tell your crush your feelings? I have, twice.

59: How long did you know them before you started falling for them? She was a good friend for two years. I knew her for 12.

60: Was there a defining moment when you knew you liked them? Nope, it was a thing that just happened slowly.

[houstonlocalus-blog]

Deja Vu: The Best of The Week

J Cole, Photo: Live Nation

  Well, we survived another week of heat, rain, and everything in between. This week we have a ton of entertainment options that will have our city being visited by the likes of J Cole, Boyfriend and The Avett Brothers, while locals like Trillblazers, Mockingbird Brother and many more will fill in the gaps. Houston, here’s how to spend the following seven days.

  On Wednesday, you can get going over at Walter’s for the experimental drone noise of Proud Father. The electronic sounds of this New Orleans-based, all-tape producer are a trip and something to behold, and his latest, Open Marriage Proud/Father Split, is pretty mesmerizing. Cloud Head will be on as direct support while the intense punk of Houston’s Cop Warmth will go on beforehand. The electronica of Andrew Sainz will get the all-ages show started with doors at 8 pm and a measly $8 cover.

  Thursday you could begin at Rudyard’s, where you can catch the return of Houston comic Al Bahmani. Al B is a guy with plenty of stories to tell, so it only makes sense that he’d return to Houston from Los Angeles to record his first proper release. He’ll have some heavy hitters on the show with him, as the always funny comedy of Slim Bloodworth will be on as feature act while the hilarious antics of Warren Wright will serve as host. The 21 & up show has doors at 8 pm and tickets for $7 or two for $10.

  Kap G, Photo: Atlantic Records

  The studio in Warehouse Live will bring the celebrated bilingual hip hop of Atlanta’s Kap G to town. G has been making a name for himself since he dropped his 2012 single, “Tatted Like Amigos,” and since then he’s made quite the name for himself as a solid performer. His latest, SupaJefe, from this year, proves he has plenty of swag as well. The hip hop of J.R. Donato will be on hand as direct support and opener for the all-ages show with doors at 8 pm and tickets between $15 and $20.

  Upstairs at White Oak Music Hall, the “mysterious raunchy feminist” sounds of Boyfriend will swing through town. The New Orleans-native-turned-LA-transplant has been on a tear for a minute now, and her live shows are always a trip. Her latest release, this year’s Next, definitely shows off how solid she is as a rapper and producer. The punk of Houston’s Giant Kitty will get things started as only they can as direct support and openers for the all-ages show with doors at 8 pm and tickets for $10.

  Mockingbird Brother, Photo: Nikki Machacek

  Red Light at Springbok will bring the catchy sounds of LA’s Warbly Jets over to the upstairs venue. These guys are upbeat, their music is a mix of electro-pop and catchy jams, and their latest single, “4th Coming Bomb,” should make you want to get down. The emo energy of Houston three piece Mockingbird Brother will be on as direct support and openers for the 21 & up show with doors at 8 pm and a $10 cover.

  Friday you could get started over at Smart Financial Center when The Avett Brothers bring their catchy and infectious folky pop to the Sugarland venue. These guys are always worth making it out for, if it’s your thing, and their latest chart topping release, True Sadness, from last year, is pretty strong. The rescheduled date from last year doesn’t have word of support or openers, but that could change. The all-ages show has doors at 6:30 pm and tickets between $49.50 and $69.50.

  Of course, I’d guess that many of you would be heading to Toyota Center to catch the hip hop jams of J. Cole. The German-born and North Carolina-raised rapper has definitely blown up since his last set here, and his new album, 4 Your Eyez Only, from last year, has plenty of pop surrounding it. The highly energetic sounds of Anderson .Paak will get things started for the all-ages show with doors at 7 pm and tickets between $29.50 and $125.50.

  Kiki Maroon, Photo: July St. Juniper

  The studio at Warehouse Live will have another edition of The Burly Q Lounge from Houston’s Kiki Maroon. The vaudeville-inspired show, that often features comedy, music and burlesque, will feature the likes of Dallas’ Confetti Eddie, Bethany Summersizzle, Nikki Knockout and more alongside a list of local performers. The seated 18 & up show has doors at 7 pm and tickets for $25.

  The Heights Theater has a set from Old 97’s founder and accomplished solo act, Rhett Miller. Miller has always made some of the most intriguing and all around compelling tunes in music. His live shows are the type not to be missed, and his latest release, The Traveller, from 2015, is pretty epic. Austin’s Charlie Sexton will bring his twang on board as opener and direct support for the all-ages evening with doors at 7:30 pm and tickets between $22 and $34.

  Trillblazers, Photo: Jordan Asinas

  At Walter’s you could get groovy when the Southern experimental sounds of Knoxville’s White Gregg performs. This band has nuances of acts like Man Or Astroman coupled with the art rock of bands like XTC, while still offering up something new and fresh. Their latest release, Nice Spread, from 2015, is a pretty intriguing album. The trippy electronic sounds of Houston’s Trillblazers will provide direct support, while the indie rock of Mother Ghost will get things going. The all-ages show has doors at 8 pm and tickets for $8.

  Rudyard’s will help celebrate 25 years for Houston’s Poor Dumb Bastards when the band swings by to perform. Of course, if you’ve never seen these guys, then you don’t know how being creative with duct tape can create a new look. Back in the day, this band did everything that was considered off limits, and yet they still keep going. The leather-motorcycle-punk of The Velostacks will be on as direct support, while Hell’s Engine will get things started for the 21 & up show with doors at 9 pm with an $8 cover.

  On Saturday, you might want to swing by Mucky Duck for one of two live sets from Texas’ Max Stalling, as he’ll record both for a new live album. While Stalling’s acoustic sets have become a fan favorite, you may not know his contemporary country sound. His last release, Banquet, from 2015, was one of the better new country albums I have heard. The 21 & up shows are at 7 and 9:30 pm, and both have tickets between $20 and $22.

  At House of Blues, the always popular mix of blues rock and conjunto of Texas trio Los Lonely Boys will perform in the big room. These guys are much more than their hit track “Heaven,” and their live shows are a cross between fun and funky. The soulful funk rock of Austin’s Jackie Venson will open the all-ages show with doors at 7:30 pm and tickets between $25 and $59.

  Ak’chamel, Photo: Terry Suprean

  The always-intriguing-and-hard-to-drop-into-a-genre sounds of Ak’chamel will be over at Rudyard’s in celebration of their new album release. That album, the recently dropped Death Chants, takes the listener further down the rabbit hole in the universe of distant chants and gypsy sounds that this sometimes-duo-and-sometimes-five-piece band creates. I can’t tell you what you’ll see from them other than that it will be like nothing else you’ll see in a good while. The psych krautrock of Houston’s Unified Space will be on beforehand, while Bodyfat will open up the 21 & up show with doors at 8 pm and a $5 cover.

  Rockefeller’s will host the return of Houston’s Spain Colored Orange. While I say return, it’s not that band really went anywhere, but rather started playing a lot less. The live show from these guys put on is always a good time, and their last album, Sneaky Like A Villain, from 2009, still sounds as fresh as it did when it was released. There’s no word of support or openers, but that could change on the all-ages show with doors at 8 pm and a $10 cover.

  Housing Crash, Photo: Ozge Kal

  Avant Garden hosts a barn burner of post rock and more when My Twilight Pilot headlines a set.  The shoe gaze group never lets down anyone who catches them perform.  They’ll have direct support from alt rockers The Thief And The Architect while the experimental indie rock of Pasadena’s Super Robot Party will perform prior.  The punk of Uffizi will also be on the bill, as will Turkey’s Housing Crash who will get the evening started.  The 21 & up show has doors at 8 pm and a measly $5 cover.

  At 809 Pierce, you could get down to the sounds of Santa Muerte. They’re described as some true noise makers, so if that’s your thing, then you should check them out.  LEDEF of House of Kenzo will be on as direct support, while Majia Records residents Anitra, NNOA, and Tearz will get things started. The BYOB show has doors at 10 pm and a $10 cover.

  On Sunday,  House of Blues will bring the R & B soul of New Orleans’ PJ Morton to town. Of course, you may know Morton from his regular gig as a keyboardist in the band Maroon 5, but you should know that his solo work is everything Maroon 5 wished that they were. His latest release, Gumbo, has him teetering between ’70s soul and modern pop like no one else going. The urban big band sounds of MAJOR. will be on as direct support and opener for the all-ages show with doors at 7 pm and a $20 cover.

  The alt pop soul of Austin’s Swimming With Bears will be in the studio at Warehouse Live. At first listen, you might not place too much importance on these guys. But around the one minute mark on their EP, last year’s Swimming With Bears, you should fall for what they’re doing. The ambient indie rock of Houston’s Mourning Bliss will be on as direct support and Anchor, the Mammoth will open the all-ages show with doors at 7 pm and tickets between $8 and $10.

  The Fixx, Photo: United Talent Agency

  Monday you could head to the big barn at Dosey Doe to catch London-based ’80s new wave rockers, The Fixx. These guys seemed to dominate the charts back in the day with hits like “One Thing Leads To Another” and “Saved By Zero,” plus you’d be shocked how solid their live sets still are. Their last release was 2012’s Beautiful Friction, which sounded fresh for a band that’s been around as long as they are. The all-ages show has dinner served from 5 pm to 6:30 pm, which is included in your ticket price between $68 and $108.

  That’s about all that’s happening around town. No matter what you decide to do, please remember that drinking responsibly and acting like a well-adjusted adult is what’s best for everyone.

  Deja Vu: The Best of The Week this is a repost