#I am becoming far too informed about bass/guitars

[spicyraeman]

SHAR's favorite bassist and the most interesting girl in the world

[violetarks]

Just A Game: Nope

Anime: My Hero Academia (SMAU)

LEVEL DOWN | MENU | LEVEL UP

A few hours later, he came around with some sushi.

Kaminari went to the bathroom and as he passed the hallway window, he noticed Shinso getting out of his car. So he raced back to warn Y/N.

She stood there for a few moments before taking a deep breath in. She said she would talk to him. It stunned everyone.

Judging by the last time she faced a conflict like this, the way she acted now was way different. She didn't want to ignore the problem, she wanted to face it. It was unusual for her to do so.

Kaminari offered to come. He was worried for Y/N. Everyone there was. But he felt his heart heave the most when she said she wanted to talk to him. Although, Y/N still insisted on going alone.

"What are you doing here, Shinso?" Y/N asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shinsos stopped on his tracks. He wasn't even inside yet and she was in front of him. "I... was gonna' drop off some lunch because you seemed a little out of it during our texts." He claimed, holding a bento box, "Are you okay?"

Y/N tilted her head to the side and mumbled out, "I'm fine. Although I was wondering when your part in Uraraka's video comes up." She watched as he stiffened in his shoes. "Because I watched the full 45 minute thing, and you were nowhere to be found."

"My parts were probably cut out." He told her, shrugging his shoulders, "Don't worry about it, I don't do much."

Y/N squinted at him before clenching the fabric of her shirt. "That's a lie, Shinso." She stated, "I talked to Uraraka. She said you had nothing to do with the video. And that you weren't even filming with them."

Shinso froze. He didn't think she'd go so far. But she did and now he was found out. "Okay..." He sighed out, dropping his shoulders into a slouch, "I'm... I wasn't in the video and I didn't help... I'm sorry, Y/N."

"Why did you lie to me?" She asked, lofting her head up to stare him in the eyes.

"Because I..." He started, but found himself struggling to finish. Todoroki's words rang in his head. 'You have to tell the truth to some of us'. Why did that stop him now?

"Because I didn't want you to know why I really missed out on our date."

"And why did you miss out on our date?"

A part of them wanted to be thrilled for announcing that it was officially a date, to the both of them. But they couldn't right now.

"I... drank too much coffee the night before because I wanted to make sure which one I liked before going out with you." Shinso stated. It felt like a weight off of his chest, but he knew just admitting this wouldn't make things any better.

No matter what, that little part of him wanted for Y/N to never know the real reason he don't make it to their date. Or maybe for her to forget now that she knows. Maybe it was his pride or his insecurity.

She only grit her teeth and pinched the bridge of her nose. On the inside, she found it kind of cute that he was going so far. But that doesn't mean lying was okay for that.

"Shinso, why are you keeping secrets from me?" She huffed out.

"Why not?" He retorts, his defenses pulling up, "Why should I always tell you the truth?"

This was his barrier. He'd become snarky and sarcastic in times when he was freaking the Hell out, like now. His mind was screaming at him for doing this whilst his mouth kept ratting off whatever bullshit he thought of. It was horrible and he knew full well that it was.

She was shocked. She took a step forward to him. "I thought we were finally getting somewhere, Shinso..." She mumbled out to him, blinking her eyes, "I really wanted to get to know you. Maybe we could've been friends or—..."

Shinso's heart was beating so fast at what she was saying. It's been weeks since they met. Shinso would be lying if he said his YouTube history wasn't filled of her videos and best stream moments. He adored her. Even from the start. His first 'research' task was when they went to the shops together. He liked how she seemed like a normal person and not some big time streamer. She was amazing and he knew that from the start.

Getting to know Y/N was like a very hard game that only few dare to play. You have to get passed her jokes and Daisuke talk to see that she's actually very caring and wants to please everyone. Under that, she was hard-working and driven. And beneath that, she was insecure of letting people in.

He could tell by the fact that she became so wary and walled in after he didn't show for their date. It took a while to break those walls down.

They had texted for weeks after that and he simply made it back to his respawn point where Y/N would make jokes about Daisuke being her child. He could go in with another life.

"I don't know if this is just a game to you, but this is my life, Shinso." Y/N stated, pulling Shinso out of his gaming thoughts, "I... really wanted to let you in. But not anymore."

Shinso could feel his embarrassed anger piling up. He didn't want the dam to break but it most definitely did. "You only wanted me in my life because you think I'm pretty, Y/N." He told her.

"That's not true!" She called out, feeling even more offended now.

"You don't know anything about me." He claimed, waving a hand in the air, "You only like me because you think I'm hot. Name one thing about me. Go on."

She looked angered by his statement, like she wanted to pound his face in. But when Y/N relaxed a little, she released her fists at her sides. She looked up to Shinso, furrowed brows.

"No. I don't want to name the things I know about you." She said lowly. She stepped forward, jabbing a finger into Shinso's chest harshly.

"Because fuck you, Shinso. I thought I knew you enough to say you were a good person, but now I see that I really don't know who the Hell you are. And if this is you, then I don't want to."

With that, she turned away and shut the door behind her. Looking up, she saw Jirou, Kaminari, Kirishima and Bakugou standing there. They most definitely were eavesdropping.

They didn't say a word, only making their way back up to the studio.

"Get off your phone, Y/N."

She looked up from her screen, seeing Bakugou standing in front of her. He had his hands on his hips, one of them with his drum sticks encased inside. He looked irritated and strict, making Y/N sigh and place her device back on the couch. She was going through her silly text messages with Shinso.

It had been two hours since he left, Y/N declaring that she didn't want anything to do with someone who wouldn't tell her the truth.

"Right, right, I gotta' focus." She said, rummaging through the piles of papers that had lyrics written on them, "I can't get distracted anymore!"

They were all pre-written, half of them Jirou's and a quarter each for both Y/N and Kaminari. Some of them were absolute shit, written at 4 AM with alcohol running through their systems. Others were well-written but only half done, abandoned as soon as another idea popped into their head. Only few were great and finished.

"Still mad about Shinso?" Kaminari asks from apposite her, sitting on the floor with his electric guitar on his lap.

Y/N nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." She responded quietly back, trying to re-read the sentence over again, "But that doesn't matter anymore. We're working on a video. I can't let you guys take all the work."

They all exchanged looks before Y/N grabbed her drink from the table. As she sipped, Bakugou clicked his tongue and stood up from his spot on the couch, moving to the drum set.

"That bastard doesn't deserve it." He claims, twirling the drum sticks in between his fingers, "He should've just told you the fucking truth from the start."

Y/N had reached out to Uraraka as soon as she realised that Shinso had lied. She asked the brunette if he was in the video at all, and she asked for the truth. Uraraka did tell her the truth. That Shinso wasn't a part of the video. At all. She also apologised for the things he did. Y/N said it wasn't her fault and that she didn't need to apologise.

"What's so great about him anyway?" Jirou questioned, tuning her bass guitar.

Y/N blinked a fee times at her. "He's just... so calm and I felt loose around him, like with you guys." She admitted, playing with the corner of the paper in her hand, "It was like he went out of his way just to talk to me. It was nice."

The smile she wore soon fell. Because she realised she was smiling. And needed to stop.

"I guess not anymore." She mumbled out, placing her hand on the table, "If he has to lie about filming a video as an excuse."

Everyone noticed how down she was. Usually when she was upset, they'd play games and stuff to help her. She would even play Minecraft, it was relaxing. Kaminari once deleted a whole lot of footage for an upcoming video and got Y/N to calm down by building her a flower garden in her world.

But she refused this time. She didn't want anyone to see how badly Shinso affected her. It was horrible. But she wanted to work.

"Maybe if we liked each other some more, then this wouldn't have happened." She whispers to herself.

Kirishima eyes a stack of papers. "Hey, what about this one?" He asked, trying to pull her out of her thoughts, "Have you done this one yet?"

Y/N plucked the paper out of his hands. She then shook her head upon reading it. "Nope. I haven't." She informed them, passing around the paper to Jirou, "Me and Jirou worked on it but we can't get the third verse right."

Once Kaminari got the paper, he gasped and searched for another one. "Wait, wait, wait!" He shouted out, waving the lyrics in the air, "I've got something perfect for this!"

He shoved the stack of papers into Y/N's lap. She chuckled, reading through them, "Wow, Denki, these are great. I bet we can use them for this song." She stood up and walked over to the other electric guitar. "Katsuki, can you follow along? Jirou has bass line and I have main plucking."

Bakugou nodded his head, ready to play.

The air seemed better now that she was distracted. Everyone silently cheered for Kirishima, thanking him for finding a solution to this unspoken problem.

They started playing, Bakugou falling in line with the drumming and Jirou teaching Kaminari the base chords.

Kaminari said the lyrics he wrote didn't quite suit his voice, which is why he dropped the song after getting to the chorus. He has asked Bakugou to sing it and he refused. He said he'd kill him if he asked again. So Kaminari asked Kirishima, who sheepishly accepted after the blonde assured him that his voice fit perfectly.

"Y/N, you doing okay?" Kaminari asked, hand on his hip, "You seem more tired than usual."

She waved her hand. "I keep messing up the plucking. It's freaking hard to keep it in line while singing." She sighed out, stretching her fingers out.

"Why don't I play the plucking while you sing?" Kirishima offered, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood by Bakugou, "You sing the chorus' and the first and second verse. So I can play the rest to take it off your hands. Easy."

Y/N smiled, looking at him with a grateful gaze. "That'd be great, Eijiro. Thank you." She said, handing him the electric guitar. As she began teaching him the chords and the plucking, Jirou, Kaminari and Bakugou stood by.

"Really brings you back, huh?" Kaminari said, staring at them. They all looked so happy.

"Yeah. Back in high school, when all this was just a pipe dream." Jirou laughed quietly, shaking her head. She would've never dreamed of having her own studio.

Bakugou hardened his glance at Y/N. "Should've kept her safe." He told them.

Jirou and Kaminari shared a look.

"There's only so much we can do for her. She's bound to fight for herself at some point. Y/N's strong."

Fun Fact: Y/N and Jirou have a bunch of things they've worked on. Jirou's played alongside her in many video games, sometimes with Mina too. And Y/N's featured in many of Jirou's songs. 'On Board Bebop' is Y/N's most recent project that her fans begged her to make with Jirou featured, which is a pile of songs she wrote with her passion and emotions. That's because the way 'Cowboy Bebop' ended made Y/N feel different than she was before she watched it.

TAGS: @just-some-stars @freyafolkvangr @headfirst-halo @wotsitgirl @falling4fandoms @katsuki-bakuhoee @adorable-punk-superheroes @firecet @ouijaeater15 @swoonhui @thegalxe @caitff @camry-orphanaccount @angelofdarkness1020 @someweirdshitman @jazzylove

[kingofthewilderwest]

"#just because you have a bias about certain socioeconomic groups which tend to listen to country doesn't mean" // Yup. I tend to side-eye folks who are like "I like all kinds of music except country and [Insert a genre of music usually associated with Black creators like rap and hip hop]" You're not slick, ppl. I know what you're saying.

^^^^^^^^^ You hit the nail on the head.

It’s racial bias. It’s socioeconomic bias. It’s bias against people groups who have less respect and say in society.

From my tags on this post:

#don’t get me started on a long rant of the progressive side of country music and what’s been progressive FOR DECADES#from times near its BEGINNInGS#through the modern age#just because you have a bias about certain socioeconomic groups which tend to listen to country doesn’t mean#that that’s actually what the genre is or who the artists are#I could go for a LONNNNG time about this#a LONG time#some of the best protest songs I know of today’s current political situation#are country#or have like ya’ll forgotten about the folk revival#of the 1960s#or…#gahghfnfddhgnghfngh#I AM GAY AND I LISTEN TO COUNTRY#NYEH!!!!

Now. I understand disinterest in a genre because it’s not your aesthetic, but when people express their feelings for country, R&B, hip-hop, etc. …the dialogue isn’t casual “It’s not my thing.” The dialogue is a hateful, passionate retaliation.

Other genres aren’t treated like this. It’s normalized and encouraged to hate on country and rap. These genres are systematically treated with less respect and that disrespect culturally arose because these genres are associated with less-respected demographics. 

(Country music is associated with people of low socioeconomic status, for people who aren’t explicitly aware.)

Anecdotally: I’ve caught something interesting about anti-country music sentiment. Many people tell me they can’t stand the “twang.” Half the time, I’ve noticed that their internalized definition of “twang” isn’t the vocal technique; it’s that they can’t stand the presence of a Southern accent. And hooboy does that have TONS of sociocultural bias issues. As a linguist, I’ve read endless sociolinguistic studies about how Southern dialects are treated as “lesser,” and how speakers of the dialect are automatically judged to be less intelligent, etc. It’s not good, folks.

Sometimes, to help friends get out of their anti-country mindset, I’ve “tricked” them into liking country. See, genres like bluegrass grew closely out of Scots-Irish folk music. Often, we’re playing the same tunes on both sides of the Atlantic. So I play a few instrumentals, my friend goes, “Oh! I love Celtic music

The biases against those demographics color how people view the music. There’s endless things that can be said about hip-hop bias, holy shit. I won’t focus on that today because I don’t believe I am qualified to be a spokesman. Someone who understands that genre better, and other genres associated with the African-American community, and is African-American, would be a better human to listen to than me. I defer to their knowledge and experience. It’s hella important to understand what bias has been reflected against those genres.

But there’s just as much bias against country music, against another demographic. And I’ve found it wild how it gets treated on places like tumblr, which wants to stand up for underprivileged groups, but somewhat inaccurately associates country music as “anti-gay conservative evil white person music” rather than music of people historically of lower socioeconomic status.

Yes, some of the demographic that listens to country music or plays country music are bad apples. But like… thinking the music is JUST THAT is a huge disservice to what country actually is and who the music artists actually are.

The history of country music is one giant collaborative melting pot of people from many different cultural backgrounds. Broad West African influence. Mexican influence. Italian influence. German influence. Scots-Irish influence. Cherokee influence. More. Early record labels like OKEH foolishly separated “hillbilly music” (presumably white folk music) from “rhythm and blues” (presumably Black folk music) without understanding the constant racial, demographic, regional, and cultural cross-pollination that occurred between the musicians from country music’s origins. And while there ARE certain issues in country music’s past and present, and we can’t let those issues go forgotten, that’s far from the whole story. We shouldn’t romanticize issues, but we should acknowledge that this music genre has given us major strides too.

Country music is the banjo, brought from Africa, combined with the mandolin, brought from Italy, combined with the fiddle, brought from Ireland, combined with the guitar and the dobro and the accordion and the upright bass and the electric guitar and the electric bass and whatever instruments you want to put in there.

Country music is African-American musicians like DeFord Bailey, the first radio star ever introduced on the Grand Ole Opry (THE most revered country music hub out there), blues harmonica performer, playing to crowds decades before segregation was de-legalized. He toured with white Opry musicians who treated him as one of their own. It’s soul music genre pioneer Ray Charles producing a studio album entirely dedicated to country music hits like “Hey Good Lookin’” from Hank Williams. It’s country star Charley Pride, who despite the racism against him in the 1960s rose to fame and made audiences fall in love with his beautiful voice. It’s the African-American musicians who inspired many commercial country stars, like Arnold Shultz influencing Bill Monroe and the railroad workers inspiring Jimmie Rodgers.

Country music is stars like Johnny Rodriguez and Rick Treviño, singing country music in Spanish, and using obvious Latin flavors in the genre.

Country music is filled with badass women like the ladies who STARTED THE GENRE ROLLING IN THE FIRST PLACE, Sara Carter and Mother Maybelle Carter (whose guitar style is hugely influential to this day) and Maybelle’s daughters Helen, June, and Anita; the first female music manager in the music industry, Louise Scruggs; songwriters like Felice Bryant and Loretta Lynn; the most awarded female artist in Grammy history Alison Krauss; and powerhouses like Dolly Parton who stepped out of an over-controlling entertainer’s shadow to become a badass in all things like supporting the LGBTQ community, contributing to pro-transgender films ahead of their time, and starring in sex worker positive productions like “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

Country music is filled with activism. Johnny Cash showed a heart for those forgotten by society. He toured many times in prisons. Cash especially was an activist for Native American rights. He toured with Native American songwriters so audiences could hear their own words (I’ve been trying to find names but I’m having difficulties re-finding that information, so my apologies for not giving names of those who deserve to be mentioned). Cash released albums dedicated to exposing past and present injustices against the Native American people. He went on tours specifically to Native American reservations. 

And it’s not just Johnny Cash!

Country music is many stars from the Grand Ole Opry banding together to release AIDS benefit albums - big names like Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart, aurgh I’m too lazy to write them all, PEOPLE.

Country music is Earl Scruggs and his sons playing at the Vietnam War Protests.

Country music is tied in with the fucking folk revival of the 1960s, which was deep in left-wing activism and the Civil Rights Movement. Folk singers sang traditional Appalachian and English ballads alongside their own compositions, topical pieces protesting the current political situation. You can call one artist “folk” or “Americana” and another one “country,” but the influences were intermingling, and it’s why we have Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez and John Denver and Pete Seeger owning a banjo that says, “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”

Dammit, I have a full BOOK that discusses country music and political ties. 

There’s another book out there, which I haven’t read, that discusses the relationship between country music and the queer community, and how bias against country music is NOT as reflective of the listening demographic as we stereotype. I’ll take the word of one reviewer who said:

[Nadine Hubbs] explores country music lyrics, presenting a great deal of evidence suggesting that working class America is not inherently homophobic, but that as middle class cultural taste has changed to include formal acceptance of homosexuality, this process has included pinning homophobic ideas on the working class.

Country music is lyrics like this 1975 controversial song “The Pill”:

You wined me and dined meWhen I was your girlPromised if I’d be your wifeYou’d show me the worldBut all I’ve seen of this old worldIs a bed and a doctor billI’m tearing down your brooder house‘Cause now I’ve got the pillAll these years I’ve stayed at homeWhile you had all your funAnd every year that’s gone byAnother baby’s comeThere’s a-gonna be some changes madeRight here on nursery hillYou’ve set this chicken your last time‘Cause now I’ve got the pill

Country music is lyrics like this 2013 song that feels as relevant than ever:

If crooks are in charge, should we let them pick our pockets?If we don’t want trouble, should we not try to stop it?We could just sink into the quicksand slavery we’re born inBut fighting endless wars for greedy liars is getting pretty boringThey think they got us trained, so we’ll think we’re living freeIf we got time and money for junk food and TVBut it’s plain honest people never stand a chance of winning electionsThey just let us pick which liars take our rights away for our own protectionThe corporate propaganda paralyzes us with fearDestroying our ability to trustFear keeps us fighting with each other over scrapsStarving to death in the dustOrganized religion really helps you submitBut the meek are inheriting the short end of the stickFear surrounds compassion like a layer of moldAnd weakens our defenses so we’re too weak to be boldLife could be heaven, but this corrupted systemTakes away our rights, expects us not to miss themThe middle class is shrinking while the lower class growsIf we don’t wake up soon, we’ll have no class left to lose

Country music is Christians themselves criticizing the hypocritical Evangelical culture in the USA for the bullshit hatefulness stewing inside it:

Every house has got a Bible and a loaded gunWe got preachers and politicians‘Round here it’s kinda hard to tell which oneIs gonna do more talkin’ with a crooked tongue

And as that one post I just reblogged shows, there’s MANY queer country musicians out there producing explicitly pro-LGBTQ+ music.

I’m brushing over so much. I’m sorry for the simplification that goes with me doing such a pass-by overview. I’m sorry I’m focusing more on history than the present (I know more about the 1920s-1960s eras, so I’m talking from my strong suit). I hope the information is at least strong enough to get my point across.

There are definitely listeners and artists in country music who are uber-conservative white hateful Christians. Yes. I know why country music gets associated with that. But.

Country music is not ABOUT this uber-conservative white hateful Christian side. The genre is not “polluted”. It is a thousand voices from a thousand perspectives of people from many backgrounds and beliefs. And many of those thousand voices are old traditional songs that came from Black communities, or were composed by Mexican-Americans, or were performed by folk artists as part of a protest for equal rights. 

(Note: I’m *NOT* saying all Christians are bad or that different political angles don’t have merits. I’m Christian myself! And you don’t know my political party. I’m just trying to get the point across that country music isn’t ENTRENCHED in one questionable demographic.)

You don’t have to like country music. It doesn’t have to be your aesthetic. But if you find it fun to get in on society’s popular country hate roasting… please rethink this. The reason country music has been hated from its roots is because it’s associated with the socioeconomically disadvantaged.

I’m with you 100%, Ashley. When someone says they like all genres “except country music and rap,” I get a little leery. I used to be one of those people when I was younger. I had to learn to grow past those biases. But once I did, I realized there was so much I was hating on that I didn’t understand. Now, I hope I can help people overcome their own biases, such as ones they don’t realize they’ve had - for things like music.

Hi ya’lls. I’m queer and I love country.

P.S. If anyone has anything to add or correct, please feel free to add on! I’m doing my best but I do not know everything and would be happy to learn more, too!

[doomedandstoned]

A Talk With BREATH, Portland’s New Meditative Doom Metal Duo

~By Billy Goate~

Illustrations by Tyler Wintermute

We're used to doom metal being, well, rather dark and sinister, but can it be meditative too? OM, the famous Al Cisneros side project, proved that yes, it can. Other acts, such as the celebrated UK band Bong, the New Brunswick trio Zaum followed (with Italy's Ufomammut, Finland's Dark Buddha Rising, and Ukraine's Bomg being just a step away with their generous, if often louder, landscapes).

Then I encountered doom metal yoga in Portland, and all bets were off.

Last month, Doomed & Stoned introduced you to another band you can add to your short list, whether listening in your Savasana stance ("corpse pose"), getting your groove on at work, or doing a little wake 'n bake to start the day.

This is BREATH from the City of Roses and on February 5th, all mysteries will be revealed as the meditative doom duo brings us their debut LP, 'Primeval Transmissions' (2021) on Desert Records.

Their music "is informed by adventures leaving the comforts of what was known behind. Going into unknown woods sometimes figuratively and some literal. With heavy melodically driven grooves their Meditation Doom will take you to secluded caves, and totemic vision quests'' (band bio).

Over the weekend, I traded words with Steven O'Kelly (bass guitar, vox) and Ian Caton (drums, percussion) recently to get to know this new name in the Pacific Northwest heavy underground. Doomed & Stoned also takes this opportunity to share a new visualizer with you for Breath's latest single, "Observer."

Breath - Observer

What themes and concepts does Breath explore musically and lyrically?

Peering into rituals meant to transcend the physical world. Initiations into the varied mystery schools like Orphism or Druidry I find very powerful. The Shamanistic role being so selfless putting themselves through extreme trials, shedding their previous self to protect their people by communication with spirit.

These things have lots of weight with sacrifice, and knowledge seeking from traditions nearly lost to time. Our sound aims to reflect that weight through the way we use the bass guitar and drums. I think a theme of meditation informs a lot of the riffs with spaciousness and transformation.

Who are your musical influences?

Foundationally, Black Sabbath is a center pillar. My first record being a Sabbath compilation by Earmark. I appreciate the balance they find between settled songs like "Orchid" leading into its counterpart "Lord of this World."  Grails’ Burning Off Impurities is such a vehicle that I would get lost in through the whole record. Melting boundaries of East and West with Zak Riles’ classical guitar and the crushing drum work by Emil Amos.

That brings me to Om, which is an important band to me that struck a chord all the way through from the music to aesthetic. Every show I’ve been to is like I’ve snuck into a temple ceremony, and leave feeling light on my feet and blissfully ringing eardrums. "On the Mountain at Dawn" is the heaviest song to me, with this immediacy and undeniable flow like the strong current of a river.

Photographs by Marissa Caldarelli

What sort of gear do you guys perform and record with?

Ian: DW Performance series Drum kit with Maple shells. Remo heads and Aquarian Kick Drum head. Zildjian K cymbals.

Steven: 4003 Rickenbacker bass guitar. Electric Amp Innovations Power Unit 180. Ampeg 8x10 speaker cabinet. Geezer Butler Cry Baby bass wah. MXR bass compressor. Ernie Ball VP Jr. Electro Harmonix Freeze. Deluxe Bass Big Muff. Also, Shure SM 58 and VE-20 Boss Vocal Performer.

You've mentioned gaining inspiration from solitary walks in the woods. What does the Oregon outdoors mean to you and how does it stir your creative processes?

When I first tried meditation, I was given this palm sized booklet by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu on breathwork as the entrance to a practice. Feeling and visualizing blue water filling and then leaving the well of your lungs. The band like our actual breath is a lifeblood for me. Making music and lyrics I can easily and gladly lose myself in. That practice I believe is responsible for shaping our sound.

Sometimes I feel a sort of unspoken conversation with the trees that surround, lots of times getting most lyrical ideas during these hikes. Boundaries are fluid in this space, and by its very nature puts my mind out of whatever box it might’ve been in before. Wilderness here has lots of personalities through wind, rain, and sun. For me, watching trees come alive moving in the wind or the quiet calm after a rain breeds deep reflection. Nature is a mirror.

What's the biggest epiphany or the strangest thing that you've experienced while being surrounded by Mother Nature?

On a summer day at Mt. Tabor in East Portland sitting in a secluded grassy opening circled by trees, I had the most psychedelic out of body experience without the aid of eating anything. High through trance, I came to the plants and tree’s awareness of me and I them. Like they knew my name.

Many of your tracks tell a story. Are these original tales or based upon the band's own mythos?

Whether I identify with an archetype or am retelling an experience I had, All the lyrics have roots in my real life even if themes might be far flung from our time.

Primeval Transmissions by Breath

Give us a walk through your new record, track by track, if you will.

Track 1   Starting with "Evocation," it’s a mixture of Shamanistic ritual and the effects meditation can have in clearing hurdles of adversity. I had been reading a book on Druid Lore and their equivalents around the world. Then I discovered Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams and was completely spellbound. Seeing cave paintings perfectly intact, it’s entrance hidden by a rock slide before Roman times in France. This painted a visual counterpart to my reading and was consumed with the world it represented. Hallucinogenic trance, their soul migrating to the spirit world through the rising smoke of the fire lighting cave art meant to dance with flickering flame. Taking on an animal guide and returning anew.

Track 2   "Dwarka" at its roots is a story about confrontation with otherworldly phenomena. There’s two personalities to it. At first the ominous impending arrival and, the character coming to grips with what he’s witnessed. The nature of the main riff reflects the enormity of space, and what might be out there. I feel like the energy of the song mirrors how the witness felt, getting heavier as the night becomes more harrowing.

Track 3   "Observer" bridges my love of Eastern music like Ravi Shankar and Baris Manco with metal accents. It’s the journey your mind can take through meditation, simply focusing on your breath and how it can lead to intensity. Mainly one riff building and transforming over the course of Observer. The lyrics are a recording of Sri Swami Satchidananda leading Hatha Yoga, an important teacher for me.

Track 4   "Battle for Harmonic Balance" is centered around the ancient mystery schools of the left and right Eye of Horus. Invoking themes of renewal like the Akhet, a Sun rising between two mountains. Heaviness from the beginning reflecting the weight of importance Egypt holds to me, being a cornerstone of our past. The riff deconstructs towards the end, aligning the song like the Sphinx during the Equinox. Facing East to summon the Sun once more. "Halls of Amenti" is the realm of the Gods, where the Sun goes at night. An ethereal ceremony exchanging distortion and drums for the hypnotic beat of a Shaker and deep Bass guitar.

Track 5   The reprise to "Evocation" is a continuation of the Shaman’s trek across the razor’s edge. With this offering without lyrics we convey the obstacles, lulls, and successful return starting with the similar ritual beginning as its first chapter. This is followed by a call and response conversation between drums and bass guitar. Floating in the ether until finding his way alongside the totemic animal guide culminating at the end, returning to body like the tide returns out to Sea.

Follow The Band

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[heavenknowsffs]

The Song Remains the Same | Destiel

Rating: T

Chapters: 5/?

Words (so far):  11,489

Summary: 

Alternate Universe Dean and Sam Winchester where John died at the beginning of the story and the boys were adopted by a loving family. Sam goes off to law school and ends up meeting Eileen whereas Dean learns guitar and follows his passion for music into the road becoming a roadie for the band The Pretty Reckless where he meets Cas.

Read on AO3

Chap. 1: Waiting For A Friend

Dean wakes up, cranky as usual. He gets down from his bunker, puts on some black jeans and a black t-shirt. He starts walking down the bus, saying a small hello to everyone he passes, getting his shoes and a shirt on the way out. That's how tour life is: busy, from the moment you wake up until you go back to sleep.

 As Dean steps out of the bus he sees some of his co-workers and friends chatting, smoking, or drinking coffee near the venue. Dean walks inside the building and finds Alejandra, the tour manager, setting up signs to where everything is. He mumbled a quick "Morning" as he thought "I need to get some coffee, fast". Fortunately for him, Alejandra had already set up the signs for the bar area and he quickly found some coffee to ease his morning moodiness. He knew this was the quiet part of the job, only having small moments of rest throughout the day. Dean walks around, familiarizing himself with tonight's venue, looking at the stage, crew members already up and ready, looks up where each area is, and starts to mentally note everything while finishing his coffee. This is the little routine he has, in a place where things change every second. After the coffee, already feeling a bit more awake and cheery, he decided to go outside and join the others before the craze of the load-in would start. Finding his way outside he saw Penny, the photographer, standing outside the bus, gear in hand, getting ready to out and capture the tour life. "Morning sunshine" - Dean said in a friendly way, they had been together on tour for quite some time and he liked that small woman. She was very similar to him in terms of personality so they got along well. She was wearing a crew jacket that seemed too big for her small figure. Her red hair shone with the sunlight hitting her back while she was putting batteries in the camera. She looked up, recognizing Dean's voice, stating playfully: "I see you've had your coffee." Dean gave her a you-got-me smile and, seeing her ready the gear, asked "Getting ready already? Isn't it early?" "Not really.. You took more time than you thought in your little morning tradition. The Load-In is about to start, I want to capture some backstage stuff." "Well, I better get going too then, happy captures!" "I'll visit you later. I want to photograph the band's gear." Already walking back inside Dean yelled, "I'll be waiting." Dean walks past the trucks and sees the local crew ready to start unloading them. He finds the guitar area and gets ready to set everything up in its place. Starting to see some crew members pushing huge black plywood hard cases with aluminum sides, he rushed over and asked what they were carrying. "Amps" "That way", he pointed. Right after, two men were pushing a set of boxes, similar to the last one but a slightly different shape and division. They affirmed "Guitars", and Dean immediately took over them, pushing the box back to his area. Some other gear came around and he helped the crew members assort each box to its designated areas as fast as possible. Dean was a guitar tech on tour, a part of the tour crew, he was responsible for everything to do with guitars and bass guitars since his co-worker had decided to step away from tour world. Fortunately for Dean, a substitute was set to come up on tour to help him with the bass part. He hadn't much information about whoever was coming but he just hoped they wouldn't be a pain since living with 20 different people on a very small space would become hell, and he liked the crewmates in his bus so far. He was thinking of this as he organized each instrument, pedalboard, amplifier, and other gear inside his station so he could start doing the harder work. He's reading the band's setlist, choosing the guitars (and basses) for each song, preparing to tune them and restring each of them when he hears a deep but calm voice say "Hello, Dean". Confused, he looks back and sees a handsome man, about the same height as him, with mesmerizing blue eyes and dark hair, looking at him expectedly like he was waiting for something. "Who are you?", Dean questions, still confused. "I'm Castiel" "Castiel? What kind of a name is that?" "My.. father.. was a very religious man." Dean gives him a puzzled look. "Castiel was the name of an angel." He brushes it off but finds himself thinking "Well he got that one right." and blushes a little, immediately turning to the guitars again so Castiel doesn't see it. "So what do you need?" he manages to say while starting to string a bright red guitar, trying to sound casual. "They told me you were in charge of the basses." "You replacing Nick?", Dean suddenly turns back to Castiel, sounding too eager. When Castiel stares clueless, Dean quickly explains, "Nick was the bass tech, he used to help me manage this station, I've been waiting for months for someone." "Well I don't know if I'm staying yet but I hope so", he sounds excited to be there and Dean reminisces about himself some years back, when he had that same passion and drive to get into touring. Not that he wants to leave, but it's nice to see someone excited to not have much of a personal life. "Alright let's get you started then! First of all, you gotta lose the trenchcoat, man" Castiel seems a bit hurt from the comment and Dean quickly defends himself, "Not that it looks bad on you... It's just... we gotta be invisible, we can't go around wearing flashing outfits on the job" "Oh.. I know. It's just.. I didn't have a dark coat and it was a bit chilly out." he promptly removes the trenchcoat, setting it aside, and Dean notices how well defined he is behind the plain black shirt he's wearing underneath. "He just got in and you're already drooling over the man get a grip on yourself Dean.", he thought. Castiel starts helping Dean out, he has visibly had some experience before even though Dean has to help him in a few things and correct him in others, which is normal because every band is different. "You have some experience, huh?" "Yeah, I've been working locally. This is my first big gig though.", Castiel answers happily. "Why did your friend Nick leave?" Dean thinks of Nick, a funny guy who loved the job, not so much it seemed... "He went off to live with his partner." "Partner?" Oh oh... "I can't believe the guy's homophobic... just now I started to like him.", Dean thought. Out loud, though, he said "Yeah their partner is non-binary. You got a problem with that?" Castiel noticed he must have done something wrong and said, "No. I am utterly indifferent to sexual orientation. I'm sorry if I said something wrong." Dean was still taken aback but, upon seeing Castiel's face, he knew the guy wasn't bad after all. "Yeah don't worry about it. Anyway... Nick decided to step out to build a family or something. A bunch of bullshit if you ask me. I loved the guy, we were pretty good friends, but leaving this? All of this? For a normal life? It doesn't make any sense to me. Yeah this life is hard and we travel a lot but I mean.. I always manage to spend time with Sammy and my parents every time we go through town. Hell, I even get holidays and stuff. And we talk on the phone almost every day so it's not that bad you know?" Dean beamed when he said the words "This. All of this" and his eyes showed how much he loved his family, even though one might think differently the way he talked about being on tour. Castiel thought he was a beautiful man right when he saw him but after this hearty confession, he started to believe Dean was a very good person, which made him even more attractive. The guitars were strung, the amps were ready and the pedals were plugged in so they had a small pause before Soundcheck. Castiel was about to go get some coffee and ask Dean if he wanted something from the cafeteria when Dean got a facetime call. "You mind if I answer this?" Castiel assented with his head. "Hey! How's my girl?" Dean answered happily. Castiel saw a redheaded woman on the phone and felt bad for glancing over. He saw that she was very beautiful. "I just got some very exciting news!" Dean looked at the woman intently, waiting for her to reveal the news. "I'm gonna be doing merch for The Pretty Reckless" "Awesome! So where you joining us?", Dean seemed very happy with the news, he started walking away towards the stage to check if something was happening while still talking to the woman excitedly but always paying attention to everything surrounding him, something he had picked up from touring so many years. Castiel felt a little disappointed, he thought Dean was handsome and that his gaydar had picked something up but turns out it was wrong. "Better that way... Never good to mix dating with work anyway right?" he was thinking to himself, polishing some basses and Dean suddenly came back. "Hey! That was Charlie, she's joining us in Seattle." Before Castiel had the chance to ask who Charlie was Dean started picking stuff up while saying "Let's go, time for Soundcheck." As they reach the stage, instruments in hand, they notice the sound techs on stage talking to walkie-talkies, presumably to those in Control Room. Dean says hello to everyone as he hands the guitars to be plugged in and watched Cas copy his movements proficiently. They both get backstage and see the band get up, the lead singer and guitarist greet Dean as they get to their positions. The band plays a few songs, stopping sometimes for adjustments and start playing around with each other and the crew members. Castiel thinks to himself this is exactly where he wants to be and hopes he gets to stay long-term. Dean comes back from the stage and they wait until soundcheck is over to go get something to eat. In the bar area, they find Penny again, who Dean introduces to Castiel. "Hey, Penny! This is Cas, he's the new bass tech. Cas, this is Penny, the photographer." Castiel greets her in a friendly manner and notices Dean called him... Cas? He likes it, it's good to know he's making a good impression on his new co-worker. The afternoon passes quickly between lunch, photo ops with Penny in the guitar station, playing guitar before the show, helping around other crew members when they're not very busy on their end, even talking to the bands to see if they need anything extra for any song. Soon it's time to open doors and the merch stands fill with fans as they wait for the opening act. As the show starts, Dean signals Castiel to focus on his artists, looking for something that could go wrong and be ready to step in. They stand backstage the entire show warming up instruments, getting on stage changing them over, listening to the music, making sure everything goes as planned. Penny comes over sometimes for a couple of shots; the sound and light techs are around too; , the Production Manager observes the fire, smoke, and confetti; the lighting and sound director in front house make sure no one gets hurt and everything looks and sounds amazing. The show ends, the fans start to leave and Dean shoots a well-done look at Cas. The crew starts to pack things up as soon as the fans leave, reversing the Load-In process. Cas and Dean pack up everything in their respective boxes commenting on how good the show was and how well Cas fixed that bass problem without no one in the crowd noticing and how Dean thought he might actually stay permanently if he keeps doing well. After everyone helping load the trucks, there's time to chill a bit. Dean usually goes back to the bus and watches a movie in his bunker, since Penny usually edits the photos at that time and he doesn't have much company until later on the night. This time, since Cas is new he takes the chance to walk around and show him everything there is to see in the bus, explaining there's a bunk on top of his ("I don't like heights, that's why I chose the bottom one") where he can stay. Dean also gives him a tour of the bus, showing him the common area, introducing him to all the crew members on their bus. ("Penny doesn't stay in this bus?", Castiel asked curiously. "She likes to fly, I prefer to stay on the ground.") Later on, Cas gets a text from the Band Manager telling him to meet in the cafeteria. Dean decides to walk there with him, see if Penny is done editing, and wants to get a drink. The cafeteria is packed with everyone working the show, local and touring, hanging out having a few laughs. Dean finds Penny with Kevin, the videographer, and joins them while Cas goes off to find the Band Manager. The Band Manager is a simple, sociable man, who hired Cas through a friend. He was talking with Alejandra and Frank (Production Manager) at the left end of the cafeteria when he saw Castiel. "Hey! You got my message." Castiel was nervous walking up to Michael, he was highly talked of in the music business and this was a big job after all so being requested after the Load-Off was concerning to him. Michael cast him aside, a drink in his hand, the other on Cas' shoulder. "Listen, I liked your performance tonight! I noticed that bass problem and how promptly you solved it, I think this is great for Dean and takes a great load off him. He hasn't gone home for a while and family means a lot to him so I wanted to hire someone soon long-term to be able to help him on the road, do you think you can handle that?" Castiel couldn't believe what was being asked of him. Of course he could handle it, this was his dream for so long, ever since he got his first gig after his father left him. "I want nothing more." "Great! We'll keep you working with Dean for a couple more shows and then I'll send him home for a few days so you'll take over the whole station for two shows. Dean won't like it so let me be the one to tell him." Castiel complied, feeling festive, and went back to find Dean, still with Penny and Kevin (whom Dean had told him about). Recognizing the grin on his face, Penny greeted "Hi chuckles! What are we celebrating?" grabbing a whiskey bottle. "I'm staying on tour!"

Notes: 

Okay so here is the first chapter! I made this one as a way to introduce the reader to Dean's (alternate) world and how he's living in this story, and I thought I'd make him meet Cas in this one so it wouldn't be too technical or boring for you guys. I hope the language used is accessible for everyone, if there's something you missed I'll be glad to explain what things are in the comments. I don't write much and I'm also not a native English speaker but I had this idea in my head and really wanted to try it out. If no one reads it at least it's taking my mind off things, but if you do read it I hope you enjoyed it <3

[svmmerdays]

( 01 / muse 2 / cis male & he/him ) contrary to what the campers might tell you, that’s not timothee chalamet. that’s kc thain! this is their 6th year working here and they’re a counselor. they’re 23, and i just found out during ice breakers they’re a sagittarius. at first they might seem pretty oblivious, but they’re actually really creative. when they have down time, you can usually catch them getting high on the roof. try to get to know them for yourself this summer!

MEET THE MUN.  i expect i’ll be able to solve a lot of my problems once my baby brain falls out & my adult brain grows in

hello all, my name is pepper and i have never been on time for anything in my life skjsdkj i feel like all my intros start that way but it’s simply a fact, i cannot tell time. that said i just got off from work so !!! this time i have a bit of an excuse. but omg Anyways, i am v excited for this rp, like i’ve already said in the gc,,, your girls never been to camp so i am LIVING FOR THIS! a bit about me ~cAmP tHEMED~ kinda, i have never actually gone camping but i really wanna go glamping one time so hit me up if you’re interested, whenever i am in the wilderness bugs like to try to fly directly into my eyes and idk why although i do have a theory i was an exterminator in a past life or something and now they’re getting their revenge for the their fallen ancestors yk?? i hate marshmallows because when i was like six some girl told me that gelatin was made of horse hooves and i believed her and i have not really eaten a marshmallow since with the exception of the one time i microwaved a smore in my microwave when i was like eight? but then again when i was really young i used to think god looked like king triton so i’m a gullible hoe y’all i’ll believe anything. but okay i think that’s enough, moving on to the man of the hour, kronk child thain!

BIO. what do people do when they’re not stoned?  drug tw !

 kc was an accident. and honestly, he was probably a bit too aware of that way too early. to start, when kc was conceived kc’s father was married to his mother’s best friend. and well, that’s not usually the kind of thing that you do on purpose. furthermore kc was conceived in a bounce house at his half older brother’s first birthday party. again, not the kind of thing you plan. you might ask how and why kc knows this information, and that would be the third reason why kc knows with absolute surety he was an accident. because his mother has been telling him all of this frankly intimate and scarring information with absolutely no shame pretty much from the moment kc could comprehend the words coming out of her mouth, and honestly likely before that. and well, that isn’t exactly the behavior of a woman who planned to have kids is it. at least not in kc’s mind. 

frankly moira thain has been treating kc like more than a pet than a son pretty much from the moment kc can remember. she didn’t treat him badly by any means. she just wasn’t really a mom. she was a weird older friend who whined until kc made her breakfast and left for days on end to go to music festivals. she was the kind of friend who teased you ruthlessly rather than offering any good advice and embarrassed you just for fun. the kind of friend who shrugged when you asked them for help with your homework and who none of your other friends (or their parents) really liked. honestly, she was kind of a bad friend if kc was honest but he doesn’t know what else to compare her to. for a long, long time his mother, as unusual as she was, was all he had. that was until kc was about seven and he didn’t even have that anymore. 

when kc was seven a lot of shit went down at once. to start, his mother nearly overdosed, and that was the big thing. it was a traumatizing experience overall as that kind of thing would be for a seven year old, but kc would like to think he handled it like a champ. called the police, made sure his mother didn’t choke on her own vomit, and all that. but CPS was called and kc was promptly shipped out to live with a father had never met, which went as well as could be expected (refer to how and when kc was conceived above). kc stayed with them for all of six months, but well, all kc really had to do was breathe to completely ruin their marriage. even if kace was a bit dull at times even he understood that. so he wasn’t surprised when 'the boys trip’ his father took him on ended up just being a complicated ruse to dump him at his grandfather’s house for as long as he could get away with. considering it was near the end of the school year, it was a while.

now at that point as you can imagine kc was pretty drained emotionally. his mother was officially in rehab. his dad didn’t want him around. his stepmother and half siblings treated him like some kind of leper. and all of this happened within less than a year. that’s a lot for anyone to take let alone a seven year old. little kc was filled to the brim with a lot of emotions he didn’t know what to do with so for the most part he had shut down. barely spoke unless spoken to. very rarely smiled or expressed any sort of emotion really. his grandfather played a big part in fixing that. 

grandpa thain lived in a cottage in the forest and worked for a camp not too far from his cabin. he dealt with the upkeep of the grounds during the school year as well as some handyman duties when needed. and for the most part he dragged his grandson along with him as his ‘assistant’. which mostly meant that kc pulled out the weeds his grandfather told him to or passed him the tools he asked for. just simple things like that. but to kc’s surprise he really liked it. he also really liked living with his grandfather in the middle of nowhere and being able to hear the birds in the morning or take naps in fields. 

kc’s father paid for his first summer at dagwood. his half siblings came to the camp as well, in fact they had been coming longer than kc had. however, at the end of the summer, unlike his eager half siblings, kc didn’t want to leave again. dagwood had become this safe have for him of sorts, a place where he was slowly able to heal at his own pace, and he knew the moment he went back to his father’s house he would be returning to an environment he was unwanted. his grandfather made it so he didn’t have to return at all by offering to take kc in permanently. 

it took some time and a lot of legal paperwork but kc’s grandfather ended up becoming his legal guardian. his grandfather home schooled him to the best of his capability during the school year, and during the summer’s kc attended camp dagwood and helped out his grandfather in whatever way he could. he continued to do so even after he turned eighteen, even going as far as to help out in between the online art school classes that he decided to take on a whim. his grandfather regretfully had to retire from dagwood, after working every day since the camps opening day. he retired with a lot of pride and kc is really proud of him honestly, and he has every plan to take his grandfather’s place once he gets promoted from counsellor. his grandfather insists that he doesn’t need to, and that he wants kc to do whatever he wants to do but kc is too stubborn and loyal to hear any of it. he’s determined to continue the legacy his grandfather is so proud of, and stay at the place that brought him so much comfort and peace, even though honestly it’s probably not the best thing for him. it’s honestly probably time for kc to move on to bigger and better things but he hasn’t realized that yet so until then, dagwood it is. 

PERSONALITY. me as a hotel receptionist: *greets guests by playing hotel california but cutting it off right before they say california*

LOYAL. listen if you’re kc’s friend he would die for you and that’s just a fact. he is honestly loyal to fault. he will screw himself over for his friends because he’s dumb. theyt won’t even ask him to do it! he’ll do it anyways! he’s a fool 

STUBBORN. not in an obvious way like generally kc is very flexible, go with the flow? will generally not hold an opinion in most arguments and is pretty happy to follow rather than lead. but when it comes to things that kc is passionate about?? oof. a bulldozer couldn’t move him. he’s a pain in the ass.

OBLIVIOUS. he’s a fool. kc will be the last one to know about his own damn feelings. kc will be the last one to know about anyone else’ feelings too. it could be so obvious. SO SO DAMN OBVIOUS, and yet kc??? has no idea. he’s that scene from juno where juno’s like ‘i like you’ and michael cera’s like ‘as a friend?’ jkdsdjk

CREATIVE. the only thing kc’s good at is creating things. he can make pretty much anything if he puts his mind to it. probably makes his own clothes honestly. can mend and repair yours. just as a weird brain tbh, if you ever want a different perspective on something go to kc because he’ll say something so wild sdjkdfkj 

COMPASSIONATE. a kind boy tbh. wouldn’t hurt a fly. catches spiders in his hands and takes them outside. is a vegetarian. will listen to your problems any time and at least offer help even if he has no idea what to do. 

LAZY. will fall asleep standing up with his eyes open. has fallen asleep on buses and ended up in different states. is terrible when it comes to getting up in the morning. eats his breakfast half asleep every day. like he’s a hard worker when it comes down to it, but if the options are playing with the campers or taking a nap in a warm patch of sun kc knows what he’s choosing... honestly kc is good with little kids but he would vastly prefer his grandfathers job, cause his gramps just worked by himself for the most part, and working with kids is so much more exhausting rip. 

HEADCANNONS. you’re in her dms im daydreaming about her on public transport we are not the same. 

loves all branches of art honestly, is also a big fan of music. can play the guitar, the drums and bass, all skills he mostly picked up on his own while being home schooled by his grandfather. tends to be rather humble about it but he’s actually pretty talented. will play the acoustic guitar by the campfire, is one hundred percent that guy 

when doing art activity counselling kc has the energy of that one pottery guy from tiktok always. like that’s kc straight up. 

has a bunch of tattoos that are mostly doodles that he made himself, sometimes doodles his friends have made too if he likes them enough. will put pretty much anything on body and tends to think of it as his canvas. wants to be that old man covered head to toe in tats by the time he’s ninety. 

has been stung by wasps on fourteen different occasions over the years. literally kc has been stung every summer since he’s come here and it’s pretty much tradition at this point. like he hates it, but if too long goes by without him being stung he starts to get paranoid. 

loves to climb things like trees and buildings. chills out in the branches/on top of roofs a LOT. would be the guy to fall asleep in a hammock and get a mustache drawn on his face by the campers. honestly that has probably happened. 

jewish! kc’s religion wasn’t really a big part of his life when he was living with his mother but by the time he moved in with his grandfather that changed. they go to the synagogue together and everything even if it’s a bit out of the way. 

might be narcoleptic honestly. is sleeping 99% of the time. if you don’t know where kc is check his bed tbh

will never tell anyone what kc stands for honestly, he thinks it’s amusing for people to guess. will answer to any version of k____ c____ you call him though. also accepts kace which is just a nickname for a pair of initials but skjsdm still he will answer to it 

a hard worker even if he doesn’t look it. weirdly functional while working high? kc is one of those people who you never know is high cause he just acts as he normally does for the most part. 

that said he is the most focused and like alert when drawing or painting or doing anything with his hands. takes his art incredibly seriously. has probably drawn up a mural for the camp, and literally stayed up three days and three nights to do it. very talented but doesn’t really think he’s talented enough to do anything with it? could get into art school if he tried, but he’s too loyal to ever leave his grandfather or the camp behind to do it. 

very good at wood working surprisingly. this boy will make you a sexy ass chair. honestly kc is one of the those frustrating people who like you show him how to do something creative one time and he’s got it, his brain has tapped into it, he remembers. but don’t worry, give him one math problem and he completely shuts down sdkjsdjk 

hates wearing shoes. will take his shoes off the moment he has the opportunity. straight up leaves his shoes places and then’ll be like ??? fuck where did i put those ??? 

can cook surprisingly well. makes bomb weed brownies but like just in general kace makes good food. always forgets to grocery shop until his fridge is empty though

dresses like a hippie. his general aesthetic makes it look like he was in nineties movie. wears wire rimmed glasses because they were his grandfather’s and he’s too broke to buy new frames. most hipsters see him and are like !!! cause they think he’s one of them but kc knows nothing about movies or coffee or like... anything but art really so they’re pretty quickly disappointed. 

used to have hella long hair when he was younger, like he was usually picked on for looking kind of girly because of it. didn’t really care that much, or at least convinced himself he didn’t really care that much eventually. was glad when he got home schooled though cause at least then he didn’t have to deal with that anymore, 

has a scar through his eyebrow from when he fell out of a tree his first summer. 

has several ear piercings. 

i forgot to mention, kc’s mother used to be a drug dealer before her overdose but he doesn’t really know what she does now. he doesn’t talk to her very often but he talks to his dad even less. whenever his mom contacts him it’s cause she’s gotten out of rehab and needs money. kc will usually give it to her because he’s soft. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS.  it takes me 3-7 business days to process my feelings

i am so tired so we’re doing this in a blob but i would love LOVE some exes from summers past, some ex flings, his first bf/gf, idk his first kiss would also be cool, someone who hates him like maybe an enemy or an old rival of some sort? an old stupid rivalry from when they were campers that they still can’t let go of now? just sayin. uh, an fwb or ewb situation maybe, another childhood friend would be cute, an opposites attract situation like i would love for kc to have a dynamic with someone who really has their shit together yk like completely different from his sleepy ass, a smoking buddy maybe! a family friend! godsibling! first love! someone who kc accidentally set on fire with a flaming marshmallow when they were thirteen! anything and everything please and thank you. 

[millie1536]

Maternal Instinct

Jane has spent so much time talking about being a mother that it has become her whole identity. Part 2 of 10

Jane was a mother.

That’s what people saw when they looked at her. It was just who she was. It was all she talked about for ten hours each week after all. So why did it feel like she couldn’t connect with Izzy?

Sure, the girl was timid and she had met Anne and Kitty before any of the others, but she had also formed a rather strong bond with Bessie, one of the most closed off people Jane knew. What was she missing?

When Jane woke up to her alarm at eight o’clock on her day off she cursed herself for forgetting to turn off the alarm the night before. Then she had an idea. The other’s would be getting up soon and if Kitty and Anne were up then Izzy would be up too. Jane was going to use her day off to get to know the kid.

 “Be good for Jane, alright Ma Bichette?” Anne ruffled Izzy’s hair as the group prepared to leave.

“Alright.” Izzy nodded, wriggling away from Anne and smoothing out her hair. Izzy could tell Anne was worried about leaving. She and Jane had never been left alone together, and even though Izzy trusted her she was still a bit shy with Jane.

“I’ll have my phone on me so let me know if anything happens, yeah?” Joan said, having pulled Jane away from the rest of the group.

“Are you allowed to do that?” Jane asked sceptically.

“Well, no. but I can sit it on my keyboard on silent and I’ll see if you text me. It’ll be fine, I did the same thing when Maggie was sick.” Joan shrugged.

“Okay, thank you.” Jane smiled, wrapping her arms around the music director and holding her tight.

 After the other had left Izzy had gone straight up to her room and closed the door. Despite sleeping with Anne and Kitty the room next to theirs was still hers. It had been Kathrine’s when they first moved in but she quickly moved into Anne’s room and so when Izzy came to live with them they gave the room to her. Although she didn’t sleep in it the queens thought it would be nice for her to have her own space. There was a bed in there that overtime had become overrun with soft toys and blankets, a large desk covered in sketchbooks and pencils, the walls were slowly being hidden by hundreds of drawings and in one corner sat a bass and a guitar.

Jane decided to leave the girl to her own devices for a few hours but eventually it was getting close to lunch time.

“Izzy?” Jane knocked on the door.

“Yeah?” Came the reply, Jane relaxed at the informal reply. When Izzy had first come to stay she had been quiet, formal and far too polite but as time passed she had begun to relax.

“I was wondering if you wanted to help me make lunch. I thought we could make pizza.” Jane laughed a little when she head the sound of a chair falling over and Izzy running to the door.

“With lots of cheese?” was the first thing Izzy said upon opening the door.

“As much as you want.” Jane nodded.

 Jane had already laid everything out in the kitchen. The pizza bases, the sauce and all the possible toppings she could find.

“Can I have olives on mine?” Izzy asked, eyeing the jar of large black olives.

“You can have whatever you want on yours.” Jane said, handing her the jar of olives, “Just don’t expect me to have any if you put pineapple on it.”

“But it’s so good! And juicy and sweet.” Izzy protested.

They took their time making the pizzas. Jane kept hers rather simple, just some tomato, cheese and mushrooms. Izzy however, seemed to get a bit too excited. By the end of it she had piled ham, cheese, olives, pineapple, mushrooms and kidney beans on top of hers.

“I don’t think that’s going to cook very well.” Jane warned as she put the pizzas into the ovens.

“It’ll be fine.” Izzy waved a hand in Jane’s direction, “As long as the cheese melts it’ll still taste good.

“Alright, well these are going to take a little while. Would you like to watch something?” Izzy’s eyes grew wide.

“Can we watch The Flash?” Jane agreed, despite knowing very little about the show. Thankfully Izzy didn’t seem to mind answering questions.

“Why is her office covered in sticky notes?” was one of the first questions Jane had.

“Technically it’s more of a lab than an office, but anyway. It’s how she and Killer Frost talk to each other.” Izzy explained.

“But aren’t they the same person?” Jane figured that this was as good a way as any to bond with the kid.

“Not really. Killer Frost is Caitlin’s alter-ego. It’s like, they share a body but when one of them is awake the other is asleep.” Jane nodded.

“But what about the other two? Do they have alter-egos?”

“Barry and Cisco? No.” Izzy shook her head. “They got their powers from the dark matter released from the particle accelerator when it exploded, it mutated their DNA. Whereas Killer Frost has been with Caitlin since she was a kid, because her dad performed an experiment on her to stop her developing the same disease he had.” Izzy told a bewildered Jane.

“Okay, yeah I think I get it. Kind of.” Jane nodded slowly as she tried to wrap her mind around what Izzy had just told her. A few minutes later and the pizzas were ready. Jane laughed a little when Izzy tried to pick hers up only to have all the toppings fall off.

“Eh, whatever.” Izzy shrugged, “It’s messier and more fun this way anyway.” The two continued to watch the show. Or rather Izzy watched and Jane sat there eating and trying to work out what was happening.

“Wait, who’s Khione?” Jane asked, the rate at which characters came and went was a little overwhelming.

“Khione is what Caitlin’s dad called Killer Frost. He named her after the Greek goddess of snow.”

“So where did Killer Frost come from?” Jane scrunched up her eyebrows, there were too many names.

“In one season the villain, Zoom, is from another earth and that’s where Barry and Cisco first met Killer frost except it was Earth-2 Killer Frost and then when Caitlin’s powers started manifesting she decided to use the name too.”

“Right.” Jane said, deciding that it was easier to just stop asking questions.

The rest on the afternoon passed rather quietly. With Izzy watching TV and Jane trying to make heads or tails of what was going on. Eventually Jane pulled out a book and began to read while Izzy continued watching shoes about people in costumes saving the world.

It wasn’t unusual for Jane to get lost in her reading. It was like the rest of the world melted away and the only thing left was the story on the page. So it’s really no surprise that she jumped a little at the sudden weight on her lap. Looking down she saw that Izzy had curled up beside her under a blanket, her head resting on Jane’s legs.

“Tired?” Jane asked gently, closing her book.

“What?” Izzy looked up at her, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to I just…” Izzy scrambled back up into a sitting position and pressed herself against the arm of the couch, trying to give Jane as much space as she could.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind.”

“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Izzy rushed her words as she jumped up from the couch and ran back upstairs, Jane heard the bedroom door slam closed behind her

 “I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong?” Sighed Jane as she and Catherine sat in the loungeroom that night, everybody else having gone to be.

“You aren’t doing anything wrong.” Catherine tried to assure her, “She’s still adjusting, these things take time.” “But she and Anne clicked so quickly. I get her and Kitty, and even her and Bessie, but Anne? She and Izzy just seem so different.”

“I don’t know, Jane. Maybe it’s because Anne was with Kitty when they first met Izzy?”

“Maybe.” Jane muttered. “I just feel so useless.” Jane slumped back against the couch.

“What do you mean?” Catherine asked, moving to sit beside the other woman.

“The kid needs a mother and yet here I am unable to do anything to help her.” Suddenly everything fell into place for Catherine. The way Jane had been watching Izzy and Anne’s interactions, her attempts to get to know the girl.

“I, uh…” Catherine wasn’t sure how she could say this without hurting Jane, “I know you miss Edward but Izzy isn’t him. You can’t expect her to suddenly see you as her mother. I know you just want to help her, we all do, but I don’t think any of us are ever going to be her mother, not in her eyes. Kitty and Maggie may have become her older sisters of sorts but I think that the rest of us are more like aunts than anything else.” Catherine gave Jane’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Jane sighed again, “I’m going to go to bed now I think.” She told Catherine before heading to her room to get ready.

 Aunt.

That word continued to spin through her mind as she tried to sleep. She knew she couldn’t force Izzy to see her as a mother figure but a part of her craved to be just that. It’s who she was. It was her identity. If she wasn’t a mother than what was she?

Perhaps Catherine was wrong. Perhaps Izzy had just panicked. That had to be it. She was just scared. She didn’t know how to have a mother. Jane would just have to be patient with her.

As Jane drifted off to sleep her thoughts were of the young girl a few meters down the hall.

“Goodnight, my little snow goddess.”

[lickthemagaindeacy]

Hiii! I recently just fell in love with Queen and I think they are absolutely amazing and I love how hilarious and adorable they all are with each other. I just have one question: I can never find anything really where Brian and Deaky are being cute and talking about each other. Is there some animosity there? Just wondering. Thanks!

Oh wow this a GREAT ask. I actually feel quite honored that you came to ask me about this!

First of all, hi!! Welcome to the Royal Family!! Always great to have new Queenies on board.

So, the short answer to this is, yes. There was a bit. But allow me to elaborate.

I think from the beginning, John and Brian were never as close with each other as they were with Freddie or Roger. John was introduced to Roger and Brian at a club through a mutual friend, and John and Roger hit it off right away. They shared a lot of the same interests; cars, music, science fiction, movies. They are also the youngest, so they were immediately buddies. Once John joined Queen, Freddie felt the need to sort of be John's "band mom", for lack of a better term. John was always incredibly shy around new people and crowds, so Freddie sort of became John's voice, and tried to kind of protect him from some of the crazier aspects of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Now, although they got along and worked fine together professionally, and respected each other as musicians, I don't think Brian and John quite had that close of a connection.

However, when John found those old radio parts and built his home made amp in 1972, he brought it to Brian and immediately Brian started experimenting with it and various other equipment. The Deacy Amp was responsible for a lot of the layering and tone and such that became an integral part of Queen's sound. Take a listen, for example, to Brian's song "Good Company". He was able to create the illusion of a string ensemble by layering the Red Special through the Deacy Amp. There's a great article on it here. Brian still has and uses the original Deacy Amp.

As time went on, John started to become more involved in the decision making and songwriting processes. He started joining arguments. He became more confident in himself and his place in the band. With that comes more friction between these four very strong personalities. It's important to understand that the four members of Queen had vastly different songwriting styles and musical tastes. Roger is a very punk rock style drummer. Brian, for the most part, has that sound that leans from prog rock into metal, with his occasional foray into folk style. John is a funk master. He was all about funk, Motown, and disco. One of his favorite groups was Cream. Freddie loved his fantasy songs, and was very into pulling classical piano and opera sound into his songs.

The point where this all comes to a head is on their 1982 album Hot Space. You can look up critical reviews of this album, most of them will say that it was very "self indulgent" of Queen, and it strayed very far from their "usual sound" (which is saying a lot for a band whose sound had already been all over the place. For the love of cheese, their biggest album to date was called A Night At The Opera, which spanned from music hall to folk songs to seaside ditties to love ballads. I digress.) Now I've heard lots of different takes on this. Apparently the recording of Hot Space was a tense time, but it was all around a bad time in Brian's life in general, for personal and professional reasons. He and Roger were fairly opposed to the idea of a disco album. The Game had already featured a lot of funk style, and they'd broken their one rule and used synthesizers. Roger and Brian wanted to return more to their prog rock roots. Freddie and John, however, were really pushing for more exploration into these styles and genres. They wanted to move with the times. It's been said that at some point in all of this, John and Brian came to a head and had the worst fight they'd ever had. This, supposedly, was the birth of "Back Chat". I don't know that it's been confirmed, but listening to it, it's really difficult to think that Deacy wrote it about anybody but Brian and their difficulties, especially with the line, "You stand so tall, you don't frighten me at all". The song just screams frustration. It's also said that they argued about whether Brian should put a guitar solo in it (Deacy apparently didn't want one).

However, they seem to have pulled through this just fine. They went on tour shortly after the album was released, and "Staying Power", which is the first track on Hot Space, became really popular during that tour. Brian can now, it seems, look back on it with no ill will.

During recording for The Works and A Kind of Magic, and their subsequent tours, for the most part, they seemed to be back to the professional rapport they'd had before. Roger and John did a lot of the public appearances and gave interviews. Freddie, I believe, was working a lot on his solo work. Brian was dealing with the dissolution of his marriage (but that's a whole other can of worms.) But Queen as a whole was back in tip-top shape. There are even a few shared moments on stage between John and Brian. One in particular I can think of is them teaming up to harass Freddie a little at one show when he made them wait to start the next song so could get his water.

During Freddie's final years, and the making of The Miracle and Innuendo, they all seemed to really pull together after taking a small hiatus from working together. Those two albums were on a much higher level than most of the work they'd done in the 80's. They were back in the swing of things. John was even more confident snd more willing to give interviews.

Brian, as well as Freddie's long term partner Jim Hutton, said that John wasn't around all that much toward the end, as Freddie's illness was really quite difficult for him to deal with. And, supposedly, when finishing Made In Heaven, there was a bit more tension as they all argued over how to finish this album without their voice of reason. But when you've just lost your best friend to an illness that no one seems to even want to understand, you're bound to lash out even at those closest to you.

Now, Brian speaks about John with nothing but respect, appreciation and admiration. He always, I believe, had that respect and awe for Deacy as a bassist and musician. He talks often of how lyrical and melodic John was on bass, and how much of a powerhouse he and Rog were as a rhythm section. He has spoken of how John is still a part of the business side of Queen, and how he always informs John of what they are doing. He doesn't always get an answer about things, but he keeps John in the loop. And there's also a tweet floating around out there where he said that John's songs are still good!!

So in conclusion, yes, there was some tension, but not any more than there was in the rest of the band (there are some.stories there, too. They fought so hard some times they'd start throwing things), but I think the reason we don't see as much interaction between Brian and John is simply because, while they were friends and bandmates, they didn't have the same close relationship with each other as they did with Freddie or Roger, which is neither good nor bad. It just is. They still spent 20 years as half of an absolute musical power group, were able to create amazing music together and spend so much time in close quarters without killing each other or walking away from the band.

Also, have this. I think it's cute.

(Oh god I'm sorry this got so long. Also if anyone would like to add/correct any of this, please feel free. I am definitely NOT the last authority on this!)

[chuuulip]

Favorite Record

Chapter Two

This is posted for Hannah’s @kentuckybarnes 3k Writing Challenge

Shout out to the lovelies @bucky-at-bedtime for beta’ing this and @mychemicalimagines for giving me feedback too hehe.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Warning: I guess nothing?

Summary: You never fond of Natasha taste in music but you always giving it a try, but maybe you had enough.

Chapter one

The chilly October day in New York City didn’t bother you as you strolled along the brownstone line street in Manhattan, in fact, you were quite fond of it. Class has been a mess but you were excited to visit the pediatric hospital today. Stark Industries will host their annual charity in the hospital, something that you have adored for years.

The vibration of your phone caught your attention. You sweep the screen to the right when you saw the caller id. “Pumpkin, where are you?” You can hear your dad’s voice in a busy room full of background noise.

“I’m somewhere in Manhattan I guess. What’s wrong?”

“Weren't you supposed to arrive like 30 minutes ago? Your mom’s a bit worried right now. You know how she is after your accident”

“Oh, mom is in town? When did she arrive?” you walk a bit faster now.

“Like 2 hours ago. She said she missed her baby. Can you be here in 20? The guests are already in the hospital.”

“Okay! I’ll hail a cab now.”

The ride to the hospital is pretty fast since the traffic wasn’t so bad. You are greeted by some Halloween decorations when you enter the hospital. However, you can’t help but grin at the scary cute tidbits that adorn the hallway. Helping to decorate the hospital was a fun thing to do. You occupied yourself by selecting lots of balloons and knick-knacks to liven up the hall weeks ago. Your dad, Tony Stark has been working on advancing medical technology in the past couple years and this kind of event is always in his must to do list.

“Pumpkin!” A petite woman with a strawberry blonde hair were rushing to you. “Hi, mother.” She embraces you tightly which you returned eagerly. “My baby! Oh, I missed you so much.” She retreads and pinches your cheeks, a habit she always had since you are a baby. Her pastel blue blazer was a contrast from your mustard sweater and indigo jeans. “Mother stop it!” you laugh at her. Your mom takes pity on you and stops her attack.

“So how’s your wrist? Your dad said it’s getting better. I hope your school didn’t interfere with its full recovery.”

“It’s actually pretty great Mother, but the final recital kind of put me on pins and needle.”

“Just don’t push yourself too hard ok pumpkin?”

“Promise!”  Your mother finally let go and drag you to meet the small crowd at the front.

Since lots of nurses and volunteers were also wearing a costume, you can’t help but to live up to your nickname and join the rest of the people in the hospital. The bright orange bodysuit has that cute black jack-o-lantern face, far away from creepy. The costume also came together with a little cute stem cap that thankfully fit you. To make the appearance more appealing, you let the cap sit a bit to the right side of your head, strands of hair on the side of your face were let loose so the half up double braid still intact.

The small basket in your left hand was full of greeting cards from the Stark Tech staff, that you plan on hand deliver soon. Other baskets on the table near the fake ghost sweets, was created by people from across the country. Last month you get a bit carried away with Stark Tech Instagram post and upload a ‘special greeting cards’ for the kids in the pediatric hospital in New York City. Your aim was an extra smile to the kids with the cards and Halloween theme goody bag. Fortunately, it becomes a huge success to boost the fundraiser and you never been happier.

“Gentleman, thank you for coming today despite the busy schedule.”

“It’s nothing, Mr. Stark. I am happy we can participate in this charity”

You were immediately drawn to that distinctive low baritone voice. A glimpse of a brown hair took neatly in a low bun. The brushed plaid long flannel with port wine color with the sleeves roll up, display that notable bassist hands of Bucky. You arched your eyebrow curiously, how in the world does your father know Bucky Barnes and his band? Did Natasha tell your father about them? With a long sigh, you unlocked your phone and texted her.

“Yes sir, it’s a pleasure to be here. We love to do this kind of show as much as we can.” The blonde tall man known as Steve was talking to your father. “As long as we are in town, our manager definitely will arrange the schedule.”

“Thank you, Captain. I, for sure, will invite your band again.”

”The Instagram post on Stark Tech account was great. I immediately asked the gang to participate not only with greeting cards.” Bucky chuckles “we want to do more.”

“Oh yeah about that post, it’s my daughter actually.” Tony beams at that. “She’s been helping the PR since last year. She is here somewhere.” you immediately ducked behind a nurse when your father, start looking your way.

“Hmm strange, I just saw here near the table.” Tony’s left eyebrow furrowed, thumb and index finger on his chin, try once again looking for you. ”Anyway, the small stages are yours.” Tony clapped his hands on Bucky’s shoulder and retreat to talk with other parents and a kid who was wearing a ninja turtle costume.

The stage was actually a small area in the front of the hall. There sat a guitar and bass acoustic with three microphones and three performance stools. A small amplifier sat next to the left stool and a black cajon box drum situated to the far right

Because not all the kids and parents can join the rest of the kids in the hall, The Howler promised to visit the kids in their rooms and serenade them.

The kids, their parents, volunteers, and nurses apparently ready to watch The Howler. The band just released a new song for a Superhero movie called ‘Live to Rise’. The song became an immediate number one hit on Billboard 200 and i-tunes, a rare circumstance for a rock alternative band in this EDM era.

Bucky, Steve, Sam, and Clint were already sat on their position. The acoustic version of their songs has that unbelievable tone that sat well with the non-boisterous audience they usually have. Despite your hate towards Bucky, you can’t help but appreciate their performance.

A brush to your right shoulder didn’t go unnoticed but the fact that you know who is it made you loosen up.

“Hi… didn't expect to see you here.”

“Hi Scott.” You smile at him. “neither did I.”

“Nice costume, by the way, Cassie needs to buy this one.” His eyes can’t help but admire your costume.

“Dad, who is the pretty pumpkin?” a chirp of girly voice beside Scott made you sneak a peek.

“Oh, this is my daughter Cassie.”

“Hi, Cassie.” Scott introduced you to his daughter and explaining why he doesn’t go on stage with the others. You immediately offer a costume for Cassie and some strolling visiting the kids if she is interested.

“Our soldier was heartbroken when you slammed the door in front of his face.”

You suddenly tensed “Soldier? I am not sure I have any idea what this is all about?” suddenly the hem of your pumpkin costume is more interesting than the other things happen in the hall.

A small laugh escapes from Scott but your attention was distracted by the music of the next song. Bucky blue-grey eyes suddenly met yours, a startling display on his face, although he suddenly recovered and smiled. The need to flee is intense but it doesn't deter you from looking his way.

Bucky left hands dance around the mahogany neck between the frets of his acoustic bass, but his eyes never leave you. Right fingers slapping, alternate with the thumbing and plucking across the strings, generate that clean tone with volume. To the common listener, the melody of his bass might be overshadowed by Clint’s guitar, but not for you.

Sure, you have seen Bucky playing the bass before, live, but now seeing the acoustic bass been played with such precision, those odd sensations pull you back again. The music finally comes to an end and it freaks you out a little bit, unwilling to talk to the man yet.

“Cassie, what about we visit the kids and give them the cards and the goody bags?” a sneaky look at the stage gives you a glance on what Bucky’s doing.

“I can borrow you some Captain Marvel costume or a Unicorn.” Slowly and calculated, you are ready to escape from the hall.

“Daddy, can I go with her?” Cassie jumps a bit, excited to dress as Captain Marvel.

“Yes Jellybean. Don’t go too long, uncle Bucky might want to meet her.”

***

The hectic Monday had never been Bucky’s favorite, but he will do anything to get the forgiveness he is fighting for.

He thought he would finally get to talk to the woman he so stupidly dishonored. When he saw you at the hospital, he can’t help but trying to show off a little bit of his skill – stupid, he knows. After the performance, he even asked Steve for a break because he was determined to find you. Unfortunately, the lucky stars aren’t on Bucky’s side and he was once again left disappointed.

The chilly November in New York was always the same but Bucky absolutely loved the colors before it turns all white and wet because of the snow. The south street on the central park was adorned with a beautiful color. Not only it has the yellow ginko and gray birch leaves, but this part of the street also has red black cherry and pin oak leaves as well as an orange leaves of tupelo trees. Unable to resist capturing the scenery, Bucky starts doing an Instagram live, things he rarely did because he usually just post things like pictures of shows, his bandmate or his instrument. After fifteen minutes of walking through central park, Bucky finally arrives in the west street, his destination.

At first, Bucky had an appointment with Natasha but it’s actually an excuse of his intention to meet you. Eventually, Natasha gave in and giving Bucky information on what class you have today. To be honest there is a slight of agitation on Bucky’s, afraid of to be dismissed and branded as a bit of a stalker by you. But, when he reminds himself of the thing he said to you, he seriously wants to reflect on his wrong and apologize sincerely.

“Excuse me, I am looking for someone.” Bucky meets a man with a blue button-up and khakis pants. He doesn’t look old, probably in his mid or late thirty. Bucky gives him your name and showing the picture from Natasha’s Instagram.

“You are looking for Monet?” he asks Bucky curios.

“Monet?” Bucky confused.

“Yes, Monet. She is in the class, you just need to turn to the left.” The man checking his watch and look at Bucky again. “Class will be over in a minute, you need to hurry if you want to meet her. She has an appointment with Prof. Pierce.”

“Thank you, sir?”

“Rumlow, Brock Rumlow.” Bucky shakes Brock hand and dashed to the classroom quickly. To his disappointment, everyone seems already finished and only several students stay in class. With a defeated sigh, Bucky exits the class and walks through the corridor. For a second he thinks he sees a familiar silhouette at the far end of the hall and when the figure turns around, Bucky’s eyes meet yours. He watched as your eyes widened in shock and you hurriedly ran to an open door that Bucky’s assumed is the professor’s office.

***

“Malyshka, when will you stop being childish?”

“What?” you eyeing Natasha, hurt with her accusation. ”What is this about Nat?”

“Remember Bucky?” you groaned at Natasha when she said that.

“Sestra please, that was months ago.”

“I know, I know.” Natasha walks and sat at the bed beside you. “But don’t you think it will be better if you appreciate his effort to apologize? or better, let him apologize.”

“He never tries to apologize.”

“The thing is you didn’t let him try, don’t you?” Nat arched her eyebrow.

“How did you even know this?” you pout at Natasha.

“Well, he called me yesterday when you pull that latest escape from the class. Not to mention when you slammed the door in front of him.” Natasha added when looking at you, waiting for an excuse.

Along sighed escaped for you when you recalled what happened that Saturday night.

A Saturday night well spent, that’s might be the correct term the night. Especially before the so-called arrogant someone, knock on Natasha brownstone house.

Since Friday afternoon, Natasha has been dragging you out from your cave – your bedroom. The first week of the new semester has been difficult for you. Although the elective class on liberal arts and history wasn’t that hard, coming back after a year break definitely, taking a toll on your performance.

Natasha has been very supportive since you take a break from school last year. She always tried to include you in her so-called socializing activity, because she believed that you are too naïve and need more exposure to the wild ride.

Here you are at the cute brownstone that she shared with her roommate Maria. Maria is an art curator at a museum in New York but now is out of town visiting her boyfriend.

Friday night has been spent hopping from bar to bar with Nat. Saturday morning you spent quite some time in central park. The lake and the bridge is your favorite spot to spend the day for hours. That evening, Natasha initiates to just spend time at her home. Binge watched Netflix and eating pizza.

Your stomach growls loudly and your check the clock, noticing that the pizza is over 10 minutes late.

You heard a knock on the door and check the clock on the wall again. The pizza guy arrived 15 minutes late. Running from the couch, your hand immediately reached out the knob and open the door.

The view behind the door or more correctly, the person, wasn’t someone you had hoped to see. You stare at him wide-eyed. Never in your life, did you envision to meet the douchewagon again. Without further ado, you slammed the door in front of him. You winced when the door frame rattle slightly, it seems you slammed it too hard.

“Where is the pizza?” Natasha curious when you are coming back empty-handed.

“Uhh…no. It’s not the pizza guy. It’s just someone knocking on the wrong door.” You avoid looking her in the eyes, because if you don’t, she will instantly know that you’re lying to her, immediately. Sometimes you think that Natasha will be better as a spy than a ballerina.

“It’s not my fault! When he arrives at your house unannounced, I freaked out.” You explained to Natasha, although it also wasn’t a lie.

“Malyska will you let him apologized next time?”

“Sestra, why is it so important for me to forgive Bucky? I know that Clint is your boyfriend…” you winked at Natasha. “but, this has anything to do with me forgiving him or him apologizing.”

“It is important because you are my best friend and my sister and Bucky is my dumb cousin, but I also love him.”

“Your what?” you gasp in shock surprise. “Why did I never know this? Nat, I thought you don’t have any family in the state.” You can’t believe that Natasha didn’t mention her family. You have been friends for ages, and she knows almost everything about you and your small family of four.

“Well…I just knew this recently when I celebrate my nana 80th birthday two years ago in upper east. Apparently, my aunt moved to the state after she finished her school and married Bucky’s dad who is an American.”

“Ok. You don’t have any obligation to tell me anything. I mean I might believe the rumors that your family is a mafia back in Russia.”  A wide smile spread on your face and Natasha can’t help but giggling back at and throwing a pillow at you.

“Malyska, please give him a chance to explain himself. And he said he will do anything to gain your forgiveness so you might take advantage of that.” Natasha smiles mischievously at you and you can’t help but grin back at her.

***

[suziechism]

If you have not yet heard it, this is my current single, Socio out now on all platforms. This is a really exciting track for me, as it is a change of pace from the rock music I have been writing/performing for the last 8 years, and is one of my first production projects. Although it skews pop, I was inspired by hip hop from the 80s and 90s when selecting synth and guitar tones (both performed by me,) and was obsessing over the simple, yet thoughtful percussion in old Snoop Dogg and Dre songs. I had full creative control over this sucker, as it was recorded mostly in my home in Nashville (back ground vocals and percussion added at my next-but-previous home in East LA a few months later.) The song is a series of mishaps gone right, from the horrendous topic of a Sociopath itself, to the fact that my shoulder had recently become dislocated when I wrote it leaving me unable to write on my usual instrument. In fact, I had one arm in a sling most of the time then, and could not work at all; I borrowed a friends old Juno out of boredom. His Juno had keys that did not work, which decided the progression of chords. I was incredibly blessed to have Chuck Bartels of the Sturgill Simpson band come in to play bass on the track, and it took him about ten minutes total. -He is a super funky Detroit cat, and I paid him in tacos for the session. The engineer on this song, Paul Cossette, did not particularly like concept of sound I was going for, but was supportive in connecting the dots for my wild ideas, including our attempt to rope in Frank Romano on guitar. -Frank currently plays for Rob Thomas, but was ideal for this song because he played the ever-iconic intro riff on P. Diddy’s “I Need a Girl Pt. 2″ I was SO pumped, but he was ultimately unable to be a part of the project, and I took over the responsibility of guitar. The whistle sound was the first time I recorded my new Behringer D, a Model D clone that is accessible in price. The song was mixed by F. Reid Shippen (Robot Lemon) and mastered by Dan Bacigalupi at Infrasonic Sound. The song has been marked “explicit” on Spotify, although the lyric in question says “take me home and fun me, make me think I’m lucky.”

This is an interesting write for me, because it is lyrically very matter-of-fact, rather than my usual hemorrhaging of emotion. I was very detached from the subject, likely due to the trauma involved in having been manipulated by someone with sociopathic behavior. The song really tells the story, but does not even begin to touch the layers of intricate, impressive, detailed deception (and ueventually harassment) that was involved in dating a sociopath. -The term “web of lies” COULD NOT BE more accurate. In retrospect, dismissing the millions (not an exaggerated estimate) of red flags that lined the road I was too-far down was a direct correlation to my lack of self-respect/love, but it was in no way my fault. I loved this man as much as I was capable of loving another human at that time in my life, and thought loving him despite his transgressions was a sign of love itself. In fact, he seemed to have a knack for finding women who doubted themselves; victims by definition, absolutely. He told me many times “I love that you are hot and you don't know it!” Later I realized that is what he is looking for, people who don’t see in themselves what other people perhaps do. I dated him for 5 of the 8 years that I lived in Nashville, and can count 11 people off the top of my head that reached out to me during that time to inform me that they were also dating my boyfriend. I found out later I was not the main squeeze, as he had been with someone from his home town since high school or shortly after. I was convinced that we lived together; he came and went 3-4/7 (sometimes more) days a week, sighting out of town rehearsals/shows and late night radio gigs as explanation for the remaining time we were apart. He was on another lease at an apartment, and had set up an extended-stay rate at a motel he used frequently as well. Because most of the women who contacted me were from WILDLY opposite walks of life than the world of music he and I had in common, or they were too young for the story to even be comprehendible for me, he talked his way out of any and everything. It wasn't until I faced him in a court room and saw the knee-jerk, untrue pathological responses in real time that I understood just how good this manipulator was. He was protecting his empire of bullshit.

Every morning he would crouch on the ground near the side of the bed and watch me sleep a while before kissing me goodbye, and would tell me I am his favorite girl; I didn't realize what he meant. What an asshole. I can’t remember quite how he phrased it, which is an incredible sign of healing, but the last-straw girl showed me a screenshot of their conversation in which he used this cutesy inside joke of ours to greet her. He was caught. Does he get sociopath bonus points for using the love I taught him on other people, or did he forget which girl receives which script? My long-term band Moseley had recently disbanded (lol get it?) and I had rehearsals for my FIRST show for my new band that day. I circled the house like a fishing bobber in an old cartoon, the tunnel closing in on my vision but my legs increasing in speed, pacing. When my bassist arrived, I had no words and was shaking uncontrollably. I didn’t have to tell him (but of course I did,) he just knew; everybody knew. -those damned snake eyes gave him away to everyone but me, where I just saw pain. The culprit was conveniently tucked away at a camp ground performing at Forecastle Festival with his band. I didn't think there was any chance I would get through my first performance with SUP, but it is the only technically perfect show I have ever played, to date. A scorned bitch is her most radiant.

I made it abundantly clear that I was not to be contacted, but Jabroni found a different phone to call from every day. EVERY day. He left voicemails to the tune of “call me back when you’re done whoring around East Nashville, you dumb cunt,” and “you’re so fucking stupid, if you believe this child over me,” “you’re so stupid no one will marry you,” he flooded my emails and texts messages. Occasionally I would write back some poetic, winded essay about the minutes within the hours within the days within the months that this had been going on and draining me of my everything, hoping it would make the man feel something for once and that he would stop the torture. He did not hear me. He sat outside my house regularly, where I could not stay unless I knew his band was on the road, for months and months. My dog sitter saw him looking in my windows. He left notes on my door. He threatened to disrupt me at work, so I found a new job immediately. There were trinkets (like drum keys, -he is a drummer) that I would find, strategically so that I knew he had been there. There were burner phones purchased, and bands being paid in radio time to do his dirty work for him. I was not the only woman being treated this way. Ultimately, this person damn-near rewired my brain to think up was down, and he most definitely ruined the next relationship I attempted. He loved to let me know he knew where I had eaten that day, or who I had been with. I used to have a recurring dream that I would sit down to eat in my kitchen, and that my foot would kick human flesh under the table, where he was hiding in the fetal position silently. I got bangs for the first time in twenty years as camouflage.

My temporary restraining order ended when he, in court, told the judge that I had been calling him and begging him to come over, that I wanted to get back together. That restraining order would have prevented this post, and this song, from existing. I remember watching the judge browse lunch menus on her computer while I gave my testimony, about forty minutes before she shamed me for my “dishonesty” and wasting the court’s time. He told all of Nashville he took me to court for blackmailing him. I don't think about him hardly ever, his memory replaced by someone capable of having my best interest at heart, -a concept so foreign to me that I thrash like a caged animal when presented with it. I thought of him while reading the Ryan Adams expose (his hero in all things, oddly enough,) THE SIMILARITIES ARE UNCANNY. I thought of him recently as I booked a trip to visit Nashville, when it flashed across my mind like a news ticker that HE STILL LIVES THERE! and that I did not want him to know the dates I would be traveling, or that I was coming at all!, for fear he could look up the flight schedules from LA-->BNA and it would all begin again. This is not normal, and this is not okay.

I wrote this song for the other women affected by this man or anyone like him, in retribution for the millions of times I am sure he denied my existence. I EXISTED. WE HAPPENED. HE CANNOT TALK HIS WAY OUT OF WHAT I LIVED THROUGH; I WAS THERE. One of my favorite lyrics I have ever written is in this song: “I kept hoping you would trust my love, enough to tell the truth if just for once.” One sentence to explain it all. As more truths have been uncovered, it is a bit bizarre how many of my songs predicted details that I had no way of knowing at the time; the female intuition is an earthly superpower that cannot be paralleled and should be trusted at all costs. How someone treats you is not a reflection of  YOUR ability to love, and as big as you can dream, I hope you dream of love and never stop chasing your dreams.

[cjostrander]

Devin Townsend: Ziltoid the Omniscient

Hey guys! i didnt get you last week due to training and likely won’t get you next week since my girlfriend graduates with her Bachelor’s degree from AIC. So today i can going to tackle a new artist i downloaded. His Z2 album was up for an anniversary review but since it’s technically a sequel album and i’m new to him i am playing it safe and going with the first of the two concept albums first. Expect this musician to be very over the top in terms of production with the goal of achieving an overall powerful sound, It is more comedy based as well so; expect a lot of audio segments in it. Long story short for the album concept; it’s an alien coming to earth for coffee; finds that it sucks and invades Earth in response. hopefully this is a smooth listen but let’s see where it goes!

ZTO: We start off with a pretty triumphant opening track full of choir based vocals aggressive guitar riffs with powerful drum beats. The growl vocals are decent and help create an interesting show of aggression to new fans before the audio segment arrives to delivers the alien conquerer’s request for black coffee. It’s barely over a minute so i won’t score it but it sets the tone quickly for the odd comedic factor and the show of aggression in the instrumentals. 0/0

By Your Command: The first gradeable track is an 8 minute long number. It begins with a decent instrumental opening that shows rather strongly produced keys combined with powerful riffs and aggressive drum bashing. The vocals are pretty muffled by the production value but for the most part you can make out what he is saying. This should appeal fairly well to fans of aggressive growling but the high clean vocals will change things up and show an interesting change up i dynamic for a first time listen. Because of the smothering at times it becomes a bit hard to get into the concept but for a live performance i could see it coming off fairly decently considering that this guy is known for putting very high production value into his live shows. Gotta give the guy props for making his own label to release his music since it provides a lot of risk to him financially but allows him to express himself and grow more honestly as an artist. It does create issues for criticism since he writes and nearly performs most of his work like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails’ but as i said; it gives the listener a sense of honesty from the listener. This track does do well to showcase some interesting technicality in both the instrumental and production side of things. I actually see the audio segments as adding a fair value to the song otherwise the lengthy instrumentals would run the risk of getting boring after awhile and from what i’ve gotten; this guy does not write short albums by any means!  8/10

Ziltoidia Attaxx!!: This track is a little more straightforward in terms of length at just under 4 minutes long. It begins pretty quickly with Ziltoid calling on his forces to attack Earth. The instrumentals move quickly with little need for a warm up and deliver some very nice headbanging instrumentals. It definitely works well to infuse a nice sense of aggression for the listener to build some adrenaline to. The vocals are very hard to make out due to their presence in the background but their aggressively raw texture mixes well with the blast instrumentals to create an interesting show of force for the listener to be hammered with. Despite the very high production that on other other albums would be viewed as excessive; since he flaunts it very bluntly from the start i can actually find myself to dig this album pretty strongly. It is certainly interesting for a work out so far; so hopefully the album keeps things fresh for the listener remain engaged by because it will certainly be an invested listen the first time around. 8.5/10

Solar Winds: By two seconds this is the longest song on the album at nearly 10 minutes long. Holy fuck i hope this is a mind blowing listen to review lol. I would have like 3 songs done by the time that wraps up ha ha. It starts off with a decent softer instrumental opening that builds up a nice bit of tension and allows vocal segments to help add to the concept with a bit of dry humor as well. It introduces a hero by the name of Captain Spectacular and Devin utilizes some softer vocal harmonies to build the song up into an interesting show of theatrics. The bass gives the backing vocals a nice layering for Devin to infuse further high notes for the listener to be engaged by. It does feel a hair over the top but being a 10 minute long track this lengthy build up is written interestingly to explain the album’s story further if the listener is paying attention. As a guitar player i cannot knock the guy at all since he pretty much plays everything with the section of the programmed drums and it manages to fit together fairly well. The aggressive elements showcase nicely and may shape this up to be a track to stand out stronger from the previous ones. Not that the others were less memorable but this album so far has an interesting knack to lead into another song without you noticing if you arent careful. 8.5/10

Hyperdrive: Well so far it looks like with the exception of track 9 everything is under six minutes and a few are interlude tracks; so the rest of this album should breeze by a little quicker for you if it is feeling like too much. This next track begins with a decent fade in set up by the ending audio segment of the last track. It uses distortion to fade into an rather soothing yet fairly energetic instrumental segment. It creates a nice melody to balance Devin’s smooth harmonies. It will help to ease things up a bit for a listener that is just getting to understand the musical mindset of Devin Townsend. He infuses some growl vocals that will graduate amp up the instrumentals and give the listener a nice degree of adrenaline to pump to while still having some atmospheric melodies to lose ones self under.  As a middle track i certainly have to give him props because its clearly a heavily complex work in a manners of things but still eases things down a bit without boring the listener this far into the album. 9/10

N9: We begin with a little more tension than the last song brought and instead bring back a sense of chaotic conflict compared to the peaceful nature of the last track. It uses layered vocal harmonies to give the instrumentals an airy touch that makes you still feel like you are zooming around in space. Some aggressive growls are tossed under the mix to add to the fullness of the song without drawing any intended focus onto them. The vocals manage to bring out a surprising sense of emotion from the instrumentals that will be energizing yet soothing for the listener to appreciate. It shifts into a nicely chaotic but calculated set of guitar riffs that really showcase the tension going on at this stage of the conflict; which i can only assume is a space battle between Ziltoid and Captain Spectacular. It definitely has a little length to it but boy does it bring substance to the listener whether they want it or not lol 9/10

Planet Smasher: The guitars start off with a rather tense strum which showcase a catchy rhythm segment that would get a live audience engaged very easily. The concept starting off is basically Ziltoid giving orders to his subordinates to bring in a super weapon for combat. It brings a nice sense of tension that makes this lengthy dialogue worth sitting through, The very low growl vocals definitely make a nice dungeon monster format that shows that Captain Spectacular is getting ready to fight a very powerful being, Devin;s usual high scream vocals are very aggressive but clean and easy to understand; which only adds to the clearness of presenting the concept to the listener. I gotta give him props for actually paying heavy attention to the concept and not leaving the listener to try and guess what the tracks are contributing to the overall story. You do have to pay attention and listen to the album in order obviously; but it’s very easy to get where things are going with each track. That certainly makes this album a very surprisingly interesting listen, 9/10

Omnidimensional Creator: This interlude track is surprisingly under a minute long and informs the listener of Ziltoid’s failure to get the Planet smasher on his side and moving onto his next  plan which involves some stoner hippie/surf guy. Sounds about right. 0/0

Color Your World: This is the other track that is just under ten minutes long and begins with a very blunt show of aggressive riffs before Devin arrives with clean high notes for the listener to be engaged by. It gives off a slight holistic feeling that shifts things slightly from aggressive screams to some a bit more positive but equally as powerful. It then brings back some very compelling growl vocals that are interesting and mesh with the blast instrumentals to really get the listener in the mood to head bang. It does get a little carried away with the rawness of the heavy segments but it shifts back to some melodic interlude segments to ease things up. The melodic guitars will be a nice refreshing portion to wind the listener down a bit before some very beautifully emotional vocals arrive to further enthrall the listener. Gotta give him props for being skilled at both aggressive growl vocals and heavily risky high vocal melodies. It shows a very talented range for him and is making his work surprisingly more interesting to review than i initially thought it would be. I was expecting to be overwhelmed by each track due to the heavy production value; but this album so far has been flowing by with relative ease and would make for an interesting show to see being played live as a whole. 9.5/10

The Greys: This likely finale track begins with a strong guitar opening and very emotionally compelling vocal harmonies in the background. You can’t really make out what he is saying but it brings forth a sense of emotional power that is ideal for this stage of the album. As he slowly weaves the song the instrumentals move with compelling speed to fill any gaps that you could think of without overwhelming the listener with excess. This one is easier to find yourself zoning out to a bit more than the other tracks but considering that it is the finale track it is understandable. 7/10

Tall Latte: This outro track concludes the finale with essentially an employee at a coffee store waking from a slumber and dealing with a rush. Assuming that it simply means the whole story was a stoner dream but you take what will from it. 0/0

Overall album rating: 8.6/10

Well; that was a surpringly worthwhile album to review. I figured get this one done so that i could tackle the anniversary album; but it was actually a solid entry album into Devin Townsend’s  music style. I cant speak for how easy it will appeal to the average listener since it clearly is too complex to be mainstream; but it’s still a very nice surprise to come across. I hope you guys enjoy this album and  i’ll probably crank out the second half (which is a double album technically so expect two more album reviews in total) next time when i have a good amount of time put aside. Sleep well everyone and check this guy out!

*Reviewer’s Pick*

[harrisonstories]

RTE Radio 2 Ireland - BP Fallon interview with George Harrison (18 Oct. 1987)

Photo by: Brian Roylance, Genesis Publications

This is an interview I’ve edited and uploaded to youtube because it’s quite long, and it was in two parts, so I’ve combined them together. You’ll notice at about 14:52 there’s a slight jump in the conversation which is where the second part begins. 

I really love this interview. It’s one of - if not my favourite interview he ever did. I strongly suggest you give it a listen. Similarly to the Swedish Fan Club Tape, George is extremely calm and open, and Irish DJ BP Fallon asks refreshing questions. BP Fallon has himself had an interesting life, and at one point worked at Apple for Derek Taylor (You can also see him miming the bass in the Instant Karma Top of the Pops video). I’m guessing this related to why George felt relaxed. I hope you enjoy it.

Below I’ve included the written version of this interview by BP Fallon for The Sunday Tribune. It has some information not available in the audio (not sure if it simply wasn’t recorded, or if there’s another version which includes the full conversation):

"Sometimes it feels like another world, another life, some previous incarnation," George Harrison says. "I view it a bit through a haze but, y'know, people don't ever stop talking about it so it's hard to got too much distance between myself and The Beatles." 

George Harrison doesn't mind that, not anymore. "I used to," he admits. "I used to not like it at all. I wanted to be free of it. Now I've learned to live with it. And also, don't forget, there was a period when The Beatles split up and there were all kind of court cases and bad vibes and stuff and that left a bad taste in the mouth for a while but after the years it's all cleared up, everybody's friends again." 

He's sitting in a little office in the house owned by his company Handmade Films, just off Cadogan Square in Knightsbridge in London, a few streets behind Harrods. Fourty-four-years old this man is, he has a bit of a beard and his shortish hair is swept back and there are new lines on his face. He drinks coffee and smokes ciggies and when you sit talking to the geezer you can't help but feel warmth for him. 

As one of John, Paul, George And Ringo, The Fab Four, as a member of the most popular, the most inventive, the most influential rock group of all time, he has gone through one of the strangest trips ever. They were Gods once, The Beatles. And sitting here now, George Harrison comes across as a normal bloke.

He was born in Liverpool, the fourth child of Harold and Louse Harrison. George's father was a bus driver - before that, he had been a ship's steward on the White Star Line for ten years and from one of his travels in America had returned with an old wind-up gramophone and records by bluesman and yodeller Jimmie Rodgers and country singer Hank Williams. Young George was smitten. He listened to skiffle, people like Lonnie Donegan and songs about the Rock Island Line. And then he heard Elvis Presley singing Hearbreak Hotel. "It came out of somebody's radio," George Harrison says, gazing out the window at the autumn light fading behind the trees, "and it lodged itself in the back of my head. It's been there ever since." 

At the age of 13, for £3, he bought his first guitar. Two years later, Paul McCartney introduced George to his friend John Lennon (George - "this snotty-nosed kid" as Lennon recalled). George joined John and Paul in their skiffle group The Quarreymen. In 1962, when George was 19, John, Paul, George and their new drummer Ringo Starr made their first record together. It was a fresh-sounding bluesey pop record called Love Me Do and they now called themselves The Beatles.

They changed the world, these four Scouse moptops making new noises and singing about wanting to hold your hand and about walruses and about revolution and all you need is love. 

And for eight years The Beatles were bigger than Jesus.

For a while, The Beatles - at very least by example - endorsed smoking dope and taking LSD. John, Paul and George were each busted at least once for breaking the cannabis laws. "A lot of the stuff that happened..." - and then George brings himself up to the present tense - that happens, it's just like when Prohibition was on. If they make a big deal about stuff it becomes bigger than it actually is. In moderation... you have to have moderation in everything. The worst drug of all is alcohol... it actually kills more people then heroin." He says he was fortunate as a kid to see a film about the trumpet player Chet Baker, about Baker's heroin addiction, "and that and maybe something else made me aware that this thing was just too much. 

"Of course, the other things, the psychedelic drugs, are much different because they don't put your body in a stupour, they sort of..." and now he's laughing... "they sort of catapult you out into the universe. It's a totally different perspective." Then his voice is serious again. "These things obviously can be very dangerous too. I'd hate to have some right now because I don't think I could handle it. It just gives you too many things to think about all at once."

Love and peace went out the bathroom window when The Beatles split in 1970, with Paul McCartney publicly announcing he had left. George says he realised The Beatles weren't shaking a couple of years before that. "Everyone was just getting all uptight with each other. The new wives were coming in and, y'know, living under the piano and there was no privacy anymore for us as far as the group was concerned in what was normally the only privacy we ever had, the four of us when we got into a studio. And we'd just grown away from each other. One time or another every one of us left that group before we finally stopped." 

George left during the making of what would be Let It Be. Ringo left another time "and went on holiday, and John was always wanting to leave and Paul too. You know, it was too much pressure and we'd been through those years. It was just too much.”

He emphasises that the remaining three Beatles are good pals, now. "Paul and I went through a shaky period but we're okay, now. All the old aggravations have passed a long time ago. There's no reason not to be friends."

By 1971 George Harrison was the most successful solo Beatle, with his triple album All Things Must Pass and the enormous hit My Sweet Lord. Four years later his single Ding Dong Ding Dong - a record even worse than McCartney's Mary Had A Little Lamb - was the first release by a solo Beatle to fail to enter the charts. Several years later a court ordered him to pay £260,000 damages for plagiarising the Chiffons' song he's So Fine with My Sweet Lord. That Harrison had modeled My Sweet Lord on another song, the gospel Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, was bad enough. That he had to pay the money to his former manager Allen Klein - "a looney who didn't take care of business" George describes him now- because Klein had scooped up the publishing of He's So Fine... that rubbed salt into the wound. 

His career and also his marriage to his first wife Patti Boyd were in pieces. Patti had gone to live with George's close pal Eric Clapton, who had written Layla about his best friend's wife. George started drinking heavily, contracting a serious liver complaint that his friends feared might be the end of him. 

George's chum Eric Idle had found it impossible to raise the necessary finance to make the Monty Python film Life Of Brian, so George chipped in with half the required money, £2,250,000. It turned out to be one of the best investments George had ever made, reaping a profit of more than £30,000,000. Since then, Harrison and his film company Handmade Films have scored with another Monty Python film The Meaning Of Life - banned in Ireland - and delivered films like Time Bandits and Mona Lisa as well as Shanghai Express, a disaster for its stars Sean Penn and Madonna and its producer Harrison. But what the heck. George isn't short of a few shekels.

In 1978, George married Olivia Trinidad Arias, a 27-year-old who had been born in Mexico and had been working as a secretary in A&M Records in Los Angeles. George's health had been desperate. He was fading away. Olivia contacted the Chinese acupuncturist Dr. Zion Yu and within weeks of treatment George had regained his energy and his spirit. 

They have a nine-year-old son named Dhani - the Indian for wealthy - and the other day he asked his father to make him up a cassette of Chuck Berry songs. After George appeared at the Prince's Trust concert in London five months ago with Ringo, Eric Clapton and Elton John, Dhani came backstage. George had sung his own Beatle compositions While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes The Sun. "I asked him 'What did you think?' and he said 'Uh, you were alright Dad, but why didn't you do Chuck Berry songs like Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny Be Good and Rock'n'Roll Music?'" 

He has a new LP out any day now, his first in five years. It's called Cloud Nine. "Have you heard the album?" he asks solicitously. "No? I'll see if someone's got a copy." George Harrison wanders off, and returns with a young woman who says "It's a bootleg I taped from the CD." George flips the cassette into the music system and spins it through, looking for a specific track. "I think you might like this one," he says in his dry Liverpudlian drawl, settling himself into another chair as he watches for reactions. 

Ringo's drums with cellos straight from Lennon's I Am The Walrus lead into George singing with fondness for former Beatle times. It's a track that could fit on a Beatle record and it's called When We Was Fab. "Fab... but it's all over now baby blue" George sings, and at the end there's sitar sounds like George cosmicing out on Sgt. Pepper. It's... well, fab.

When John Lennon was murdered in 1980, George Harrison didn't suddenly lock himself away from the world in his Gothic mansion. Near the riverside town of Henley-On-Thames, this bizarre 70-roomed palace called Friar Park was remodeled a century ago by the eccentric Sir Frankie Crisp and is set in 33 acres of parkland with three lakes with secret stepping stones so one can appear to walk on water, underground caves linked by a river and a reproduction of the Alps that includes a perfect 100 foot high replica of the Matterhorn. George was already in hiding.

"I was already trying to hold onto some sort of privacy. I think everyone needs to have a bit of space, y'know. I mean, if you were just being mobbed and on the TV and that all your life you just turn into a loony, and long before John got shot I was already just digging in the garden, planting trees and just trying not to go on television, just having a bit of peace. 

"But what it did, it affected me probably like anyone who loved John and who grew up with him and his music. And it was a very sad thing and, um, it didn't make me feel..." Harrison's voice trails off, and for a moment his eyes look away and he's lost in private thoughts. He looks back. " It made me wonder about ever gettin' into situations where there's fans, although at the time you can't blame fans for that. There's one loony in every crowd, I suppose. But I go on living normally. I don't panic unnecessarily."

There was talk that for Live Aid Paul, George, Ringo and Julian Lennon might let it Beatle together, but George dismisses any idea of reunions. "I don't think we'll play together. The Beatles certainly can't play again and I think it's best left as it is, y'know." 

Long before Live Aid, George Harrison's Concerts For Bangladesh raised £45,000,000 for the starving. He didn't appear at Live Aid but says if he'd known more about it "maybe I would have done it but they did alright without me." George talks at length about the planet, his concerns about destruction. Last year he participated in an anti-nuclear rally in Trafalgar Square, and he's a member of the ecological organisation Greenpeace. "I love those people because they go out and actually do it. I mean, if it wasn't me that's the kind of thing I'd like to be, out there on a ship getting harpooned by Russians and Japanese."

At the turn of the Seventies, George became a benefactor to the Hare Krishna movement. He not only made records with them and talked about them publicly but also forked out a quarter of a million pounds to buy them a 15-room Elizabethan mansion with 17 acres of land. 

Since then, George's friend His Divine Grace Guru Bhaktivechanta Swami, the leader and founder of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness, who was 77 when they met, has died. George feels that some of the remaining Krishnas have at times abused his patronage, and he cites letters from people who wrote saying that they were hassled at airports by devotees using Harrison's name. 

Nevertheless, he still subscribes to "the Swami's ancient Vedic way of having God consciousness. The technique of chanting, just like the monks and Christians, they do it too really but it's just using beads and chanting these ancient mantras... they do have great affect. I wouldn't knock them at all. I am always a bit dubious about organisations and since the swami died it does seem to be chaotic, with all kinds of guys thinking they're the gurus. To me, it's not important to be a guru, it's more important just to be, to learn humility." And George still chants. "I've still got my bag of beads and they're really groovy now, all polished up."

Is he a happy chap? "Yeah, I'm okay. Sometimes I get depressed. It's a constant battle, isn't it? You have to consciously make an effort to be happy and considering everything, I've come along quite nicely. There's always room for improvement but, um, I have a laugh and I feel quite good about things." He believes in reincarnation. "The only reason we're actually in these bodies is to learn and develop love of God and liberate our souls from this round and round, the Memphis Blues." He reckons he'll come back again. "Well," he says laughing, "by the look of things I'll probably have to... but I'd like to give it a pass one of these incarnations!"

And, George Harrison, what would you like to be remembered for? 

He pauses. "I don't know... I don't know." And then he smiles and looks you directly in the eyes and you see the face of a man still searching, still looking to extend his gentle vision for all time. He'd like to be remembered, he finally says, "just as somebody who's not bad, not that bad”... 

"That'll do, yeah."

Fair play to you, George.

[tales-from-exo-planet]

ALMATY | PATHCODES VOL. II

ACT I. “crew love”

Length - 4,473

Mood - nostalgic, coolin’

Pairing - Jongdae x Reader

“Say what you mean You ain't gotta play games with me So automatic, you know so automatic Say what you mean You ain't gotta fake sh*t with me So automatic, no so automatic”

“Automatic” by The Bonfyre

__________________

“Are you flying into Arizona still or-”

You knew that _______ (Arizona OG Reader) had discussed plans with MQ just this morning and asked that he confirmed then with Chanyeol as soon as possible.

Why she decided not to mention plans to Chanyeol herself you weren’t sure since you all met in the lobby of Minseok’s resort following your day of rest before traveling back to your respective home offices.

Maybe she had only deferred to MQ since the two of you planned to leave earlier that morning but decided to sleep in and catch a later flight.

But regardless of the reason, you watched Chanyeol, the mysterious man who had a knack for reappearing.

He was just as long limbed, bowed, and agilely muscular as he had been when you met him in passing years ago at Feinbäckerei.

Like many at your university, you’d heard from classmates about a local student run bakery whose menu changed based on the seasons.

The student body was abuzz with the news each week and you were curious as to why no one shared the same story even twice a month.

Figuring that this was a place you had to experience once, you took the metro following one of your evening seminars following behind a twittering trail of animated classmates as they hurried through the front door just as the “library” packed up and the settings shifted, with the aid of a the same students who had been quietly studying, as if an unnatural retrograding force of Mother Nature personified had altered the balance of the seasons.

You managed to order a plate of buchtel and watched the magic of the evening unfold.

How could students have organized something so seamless?

What kind of mastermind put this event together?

After finishing your plate you ordered a glass of ice wine and milled about the oak tables of students gathered together whispering together throughout numbers before exploding in whooping cheers and thunderous applause amid clinking of proper wine glasses and forks tapping on porcelain dessert plates.

You recognized the way students organized themselves in packs separated by universities and regions, realizing that this had become a focal hangout regardless of university affiliation.

You remembered the last set of the evening, a gangly rouge cheeked towering boy with a mop of messy curls stepped forward to the mic, the shoulders of his hoodie slipping off of his bare shoulders as he spoke, “mic check, check, ch-ch-ch-check.”

His associates, gangly but squat where he was tall, manned their keyboards, drums, electric bass guitars and synths nodding once in approval.

You raised your eyes at their aloof stares into the crowd, and stopped mid circulation of the place to hold up the wall near the glass case where more precious buchtel could be seen amongst the assortment of desserts.

The tower turned to his left picking up his guitar, and picked up his electric guitar, fitting the strap over and down across his shoulders until he was comfortable.

You looked around at the crowd seeing that they reflected the unbothered gaze of the mute band, continuing to chatter amongst themselves quietly as if there was no one there.

The tower slightly cocked his head again to his left and the drummer kicked into gear at a zinging speed, the tower and the bass guitarist following suit their fingers sliding from the top of their instruments’ necks to its core.

You jolted at the screams of appreciation that erupted from the crowd as if they had been waiting to be electrified, and suddenly the entirety of the place was on its feet chasing the tempo of the riotous troupe.

“Different advertisements worked for different crowds we were trying to bring in. For the musicians it was the flyers, the general crowd were told by word of mouth and social media. We have patrons just casually walking by and entering too,” someone was saying in an excited voice somewhere far from the howling and stomping happening in front of you.

You turned into the hall behind you, placing your glass pitifully empty of ice wine on the counter of the glass dessert case to your right as you made your way towards the animated voices.

“Do we have all of the data we need on each of those outlets?”

“How was I supposed to keep data if you changed one of the methods at the last minute and are just now telling me about it?” A voice angrily retorted. “I’m not a mind reader.”

“It’s nothing to be so personally afflicted by,” mediated a calmer voice but you heard a grunt nonetheless from the angry voice who had just sounded.

You neared the open door of the kitchen, knocking as you came into the light of the room.

They turned towards you from where they stood at the silver cooking table, their laptops and notebooks neatly placed in front as placemats for the eight of them seated there.

“Excuse me, are you lost?” The angry voice asked of you once again, his eyebrow raised in particular annoyance at your sudden appearance.

“Hi, I’m ______,” you smiled genially, unabashed at the way they stared at you.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help wandering around the place. I was curious about who put this event together. I’ve been hearing about this place all week and I’m amazed at what’s going on here especially since I don’t recognize any of you from my university,” you looked around at them all as they were seated there watching you.

“And…? Why are you back here? What do you want? We’re busy,” the angry voice had some very angry eyes too.

“Currently I’m studying international law and this venture interests me from a sociological perspective. I understand we are from opposing schools and obviously are individually engaged in unique studies but if there is a place for someone with my background, I want to be part of it,” you answered simply, looking directly at the source of the angry voice paired with an equally irate gaze.

A brighter voice answered you after a moment of stunned silence.

He walked forward from the head of the table, extending a hand to you. He had rolled back the sleeves of his pressed white button down, his tie painted with smiley faces sporting sardonic grins, pulled aside of its alignment.

“I am Minseok. I am happy to meet you _______ and appreciate your admiration of our little school project. I am curious about how your background as you say can be of use,” he was so handsome with his glittering toothy smile and his downturned ice blue eyes.

Holding your hand in his, he turned and acknowledged each member of the table.

“That’s _______ (Arizona OG Reader), also from a neighboring university, and these two associates of mine are also from my program, _______ (Berlin Reader) and-” in your mind you couldn’t stop yourself from saying “Angry Eyes” in place of his name when Minseok mentioned it. It just fit.

_______ (Berlin Reader) and _______ (Arizona OG Reader) both nodded to you, their smiles gracious as they moved their laptops and notebooks aside and made space for you between them on the opposite of Angry Eyes at the head of the table.

As you took your seat, and pulled out your notebook from your seminar, the girl named _______ (Berlin Reader) leaned into you whispering, “welcome.”

———

You looked at Minseok now where he stood beside your tight band, and gauged the degrees of separation that had built between you all as you stood in the present. So very far from that kitchen round table and that initial kind whisper of welcome.  

Minseok stood amongst you as he had stood leader then and looked at each of you in familiar affection before settling his unyielding gaze on _______ (Lyon Reader) feeling a chilled current whip through the swirling air as you watched him wait for her to acknowledge him.

What does he want…?

After bidding sweet _______ (Lyon Reader) goodbye, you turned in arm with _______ (Arizona OG Reader) to go, pausing mid motion at that warbling baritone calling out to your friend. She turned over her shoulder, holding tightly to you.

“I am going to spend a weekend with ______, and then I’ll head back. MQ said he’ll meet you there before he goes out of town,” Fiammetta revealed, her tone bored as she informed Chanyeol. His honey brown eyes widened in surprise as he listened to her.

“Oh...I’ll see you then. Safe travels ladies,” he stepped back carefully from you both as if he heard the intention behind her rebuff, “not now please.”

You watched Chanyeol go, following behind Baekhyun who waited for him within the airport sliding doors.

You took another glance back at _______ (Lyon Reader) who watched him there, a sudden socially pleasant smile gracing her mouth that had been set in uncertainty just a moment before.

Love is powerful in its ability to disarm.

Love can redirect as well as it can guide.

And the tremors of doubt in love can sever and destroy even the most faithful to its source.

As she turned to Minseok who began to speak to her in ebullient soft tones, you pulled tighter to _______ (Arizona OG Reader), bringing her away.

She stiffened at your sudden movement but went with you when she turned and looked at the expression of mischievousness on your face.

“What’s all that about with Chanyeol? Why didn’t you tell him where you were going? What has he done to annoy you this time?” You asked, watching as her own eyes widened at your brash questions.

You almost laughed aloud at her expression. Surely she knew better than to expect you to not ask outright.

“Why do I have to tell him where I’m going? I’ve never had to tell him before. It’s just...kind of annoying to be so close in contact all the time now-”

“Kid brother annoying or annoying that you like it?” You asked, watching her turn it over in her mind.

“Can’t they do anything without us babysitting? Though I’m not sure he’s a kid brother anyway…” she tsked laughing with you as you suddenly laughed at her.

“Oh hush,” she blushed pulling away from you but you held on to her as you went your way into the airport.

————

“I always come here for provisions if I’m staying in for the weekend,” you said to _______ (Arizona OG Reader) as you passed through the market, looking over the fresh produce within the stalls.

“The fruit looks like it’s bulging. Goodness it looks so delicious. It can’t be winter time, can it?” She asked, eyeing the crates of fresh plump blackberries:

You placed your selections of assorted fruits, and fresh fish,  in your carts and hurried along to the cashier.

“And you’re only a block or two from this? Goodness I love Almaty,” _______ (Arizona OG Reader) said, falling in step beside you after wrapping her hair and shoulders to step out into the light mist.

“Mhm. Just about a block or two,” you said, adjusting your bag and purse as you waited for her.

You walked together as leisurely as you could in the light mist passing by the open shops along the way, graciously moving to the side as chittering elderly couples and chattering young parents and their children passed alongside you both heading to the market you had just left.

“Hey honey, we’re home!” You called as you entered with _______ (Arizona OG Reader) on your heels heading straight for the kitchen to wash your wares.

“I got the rest of the assembly love if you want to get comfortable,” you said to her after she helped you wash the last of the fruits.

“It’s so heavenly here _____. You could never get me out of here,” _______ (Arizona OG Reader) said as she walked down the earthen stairs into the den just beyond your kitchen island where you assembled your buffet for the afternoon.

You joined her on your suede couch proudly parading the tray of provisions in front of you both but dissolved into laughter the moment you saw the look on _______’s (Arizona OG Reader) face once she saw your chess board.

“It’s time for a rematch,” she declared, eyebrows raised in challenge as you poured a glass of chapoutier belleruche for you both before taking a seat and rolling up your own sleeves.

“Best of three?” You agreed as you munched on a fleshy grape.

“Mhm! But what should we- yes! Have you heard their latest EP?” She exclaimed as you turned in the middle of her sentence to wheel your vinyl cart from its nested place beside the record player until it was beside you where you sat on the couch opposite _______ (Arizona OG Reader) who reclined on your loveseat.

She popped up at the sight of the embossed vinyl cover you offered her, reaching over the tempered glass coffee table where your acrylic chess set had been placed.

You turned the record over in your hands to the A side and positioned the needle, the neo soul tune rippling throughout your heated den.

She took a sip of the chapoutier belleruche as she reclined on your love seat, a hedonistic smile curling at her lips as she cradled the vinyl.

“Those were the days,” she murmured sipping leisurely from her glass before you poured both her and yourself another glass.

“We were a wild bunch for awhile...we had such dreams then,” you reminisced along with her, wrapping yourself around one of the pillows there your mother had stitched from your father’s work shirts.

“How is it being here now though? I know it was hard for you then and I’m sorry I couldn’t come-” you shook your head at the apology away that she offered again. When you first reconnected she had said something similar but shorter as you had to shift focus quickly into the multitude of tasks _______ (Berlin Reader) and Minseok had demanded. But finally here together she meant to discuss it further but didn’t mind not talking about it now. You were at peace after all.

“No one knew how long we had. I’m glad I came back for him and got to see him. I’m sorry that we all lost touch over the years and just went our separate ways but that’s how it goes. I mean I didn’t get to be there for you when-” and like you she shook her head, her sensual smile borne of the homey atmosphere of warmth, alcohol, soul, and chess splitting to reveal a slight regretful frown at the mention of that broken engagement she never wanted to discuss at length, an intimacy you and so few were allowed.

“It’s like we just faded back into our own lives and all the promises we made just…” you made a flimsy gesture with your hand as the next song succeeded the first.

She sighed heavily, tipping her head back as she took another sip.

“I feel like I’ve just been going and going for years. Just moving and working and it’s been fun. For the most part,” she whispered, as she eyed the bottle that was half as full as it had been when you both sat down.

She looked to you and you nodded, and so she reached forward, tipping her glass slightly to gather more of the wine before pouring you some as well.

“But this, this business venture. This is incredible, _______ . It’s like the whole world is our playground,” she sighed again as she reclined, finally making her move along the board.

You eyed your options across the board, answering in kind, “it’s sinful how invincible it felt reuniting with you all over the past year. This board covers so many fields, so many outlets for creativity. There is so much potential here...it’s too good to be true.”

She waited until you moved and then leaned forward, swaying slightly as she made her approach.

“It is too good to be true. The Pathcodes are a fairytale. It’s the global empire companies dream of becoming,” She inhaled the last dregs of her glass and you followed her lead, hearing yourself beginning to hum along in time with the keyboard as you reclined again.

“From an orphan to a billionaire leading our merry empire, Minseok has had the Cinderella tale to beat all tales,” You mused, turning on your side with your father’s pillow clutched to your chest to watch her next move as she leaned forward, considering.

You picked up a couple grapes while you waited.

“Do you think it’ll last though? I mean...yea it’s been a great year but this is a different group of people than we started with then,” she stated simply, nodding to you when she’d considered all of her options and made her advance.

You thought back to the group you knew, the eclectic multidisciplinary gathering of students within the greater Berlin area, and reflected on who had now arrived in the present.

“Why do you mean do I think it will last? Minseok is just as ruthless as he was then. He almost got himself and the rest of us arrested for carrying on with his social experiment even after the semester was over because we were not legally operating in that abandoned building,” You chuckled at the memory but _______ (Arizona OG Reader) tilted her chin to the side as she eyed you.

Get real.

“Do you think the board is really going to last? The event was spectacular yes. Our gains have been phenomenal. Public interest and approval is solid. Our community partnerships are growing. But will we all last? It’s a lot of work and the wear and tear is starting to show...you heard what I heard…” she inclined her head towards you in a knowing way.

“Well, I mean we talked about that while we were there. I...I don’t know. I couldn't have imagined this empire coming from what we started back then. We were not there in our minds. We would have kept the little library going and actually legally set everything up as it should have been, but that was peanuts compared to what we are doing now. And it could never have been possible without the team that we have now. I honestly feel like that goes without saying,” you added finally eyeing your moment of opportunity.

You dived forward moving the acrylic piece just so, winning a begrudging groan from _______ (Arizona OG Reader).

“But do you think everyone will stick around? I don’t know everyone as well as I know some-”

“Chanyeol for instance,” you quipped and she rolled her eyes at you.

“Stop,” she tried not to laugh, but you could see the room turning in her eyes. She was happily buzzed, and peachy though clearly still in control of her expressions.

You reached for the bottle to pour again.

“I just mentioned a name,” you shrugged innocently and she snorted at your attempts to feign indifference.

“It’s the way you said it. It’s so ridiculous. It just happened once,” she sighed, gathering her hair from her neck as she gathered it into a bun atop her head. As soon as she removed her hands, her hair tumbled from the top of her head allowing her a brief moment of cool respite from where the barrel curls were sticking to her neck.

She popped some cool grapes in her mouth.

“I don’t know if the entire board will last but it happens you know? We all have lives, don’t we? I say we just allow it to be fun for as long as we can and then-”

“Minseok is serious about world domination though. Can’t you tell? We talked about him being an orphan and his trust he’d been left as a child after he completed boarding school in Berlin but he’s earned beyond what was left to him. I don’t see someone that hungry ever stopping no matter what’s going on around him. And I’m not sure everyone has decided on this being their life’s work the way that he has. We have a varied group of people giving their time to this. People have children now, some are married, some are still dating...I just...can we depend on this board to keep going? Is this a real thing?” She popped a couple more grapes in her mouth, munching thoughtfully as she thought of a winning counter to your move.

She sighed as she gracefully moved from the loveseat to sit upon the furred floor rug beneath the glass coffee table.  

You thought about the people you had met, considering what they revealed about themselves and the truths they didn’t realize that they displayed.

Commitment to a dream even if it didn’t belong to you was not something you were new to. For you, your word was your bond, it was your life’s blood. You were dependable, and consistent. The same young woman who stepped into the kitchen of that abandoned building transformed into an after hours library cafe was the same woman now who navigated the global system of rules and regulations that kept the livelihoods of your board’s reputation clean.

“I think we’ll have to consider it with _______ (Berlin Reader). I know that this would be something important to her to discuss as well,” you said watching _______ (Arizona OG Reader) as an idea dawned on her mid thought.

Your phone suddenly chimes on your island counter.

“Oh boo! I don’t want to work,” you muttered into your pillow, turning away into the couch at the familiar tune.

“If they call again, I’ll answer for you and tell them just that,” she said rising from her perch to walk to your kitchen island where she grabbed your phone.

You waited for her to set it down on the coffee table in front of you before picking it up to look at the missed call.

“Oh it’s Jong-dae,” you announced, sitting up as she sat down again upon the furred floor rug.

Quickly you dialed him back, placing the phone to your ear as you gazed at the board.

“Hello ____,” you heard him smile after the first ring and you found yourself smiling as well hearing a cheeky laugh from _______ (Arizona OG Reader).

“Hey, so you’re settled back in then? How was the dinner?” You asked, tossing the other pillow beside you at _______’s (Arizona OG Reader) head when she wasn’t looking.

“Ah it went well. Thank you so much for recommending that venue for the listening party. It was perfect,” it sounded like he had company. You heard a faucet softly going and a slight whisper followed by glasses clinking in the background.

“Ah I’m so happy to hear that. That’s wonderful. But was it a bad time to call you back? It sounds like you’re busy?” You inquired but you heard him cover the phone for a moment as he spoke to his company. It sounded like he said he would be right back.

“Oh no, it’s fine. It’s just…” you heard slippered feet quickly padding away from the sound of the faucet, and a door snap open and closed.

“So how are things going there eh? Isn’t this date number…three?” You asked, chuckling as Jong-dae chuckled too at your mention of his company. From the volume of his laugh, you knew you were right.

“Yes she came to the listening party also just this afternoon. I decided to invite her over for dinner and to try that recipe you recommended too,” he lowered his voice considerably though he was far from his company you imagined.

“Oh? Well I hope you brought the right spice you know? Since you’re trying that recipe out anyway. She must be something special if you’re pulling out that recipe,” you teased and he laughed good naturedly at your prodding.

_______ (Arizona OG Reader) watched you as you listened to Jongdae tell you again about the diplomat’s daughter whom he was courting after a chance meeting at your embassy office a couple months prior.

You had fallen in a comfortable friendship with him since stepping into your advisory role, and found Jong-dae a handsome breath of fresh air that you were delighted to work with.

He was a peculiar albeit alluring combination of artist and intellectual being that he was both socially conscious and a rock and roll soloist.

In him you’d made a fast friend that you trusted almost immediately. There was something so pleasant about being in his presence, and listening to him speak that found you on the phone or within each other’s presence for hours at a time allowing the day to just slip from you.

But even he was someone, _______ (Berlin Reader) had warned you, that needed to be guided away from his natural tendencies for the protection of this joint venture you and _______ (Arizona OG Reader) had just been privately discussing.

It felt ridiculous as _______ (Arizona OG Reader) would put it to play the “older sister” role but somehow for Jong-dae you truly didn’t mind and felt that he was truly thankful to you, playing up his “younger brother” role.

“Ah, _____ noona, I learned it well since you showed it to me no? Don’t you believe I can pull it off?” He whined, slipping back into his familiar mother tongue whose nuances you could easily follow.

You rolled your eyes, waving _______ (Arizona OG Reader) on as she waited for you to make your move.

“But last time you cooked for me, you used too much spice and you weren’t trying to impress anyone then. I’m just reminding you. It’s not all about the hip work to catch a lady you know,” you heard _______ (Arizona OG Reader) spluttering wine into her glass as Jong-dae broke into a coughing fit.

“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t say that and just go now,” he choked into the phone and you laughed as you said goodbye throwing in a “be responsible!” to him before he hung up, beaming as you placed the phone down.

“Why do you tease people so much ______? Goodness,” _______ (Arizona OG Reader) coughed again, patting her chest dry with her napkin where the wine had spilled onto her chest.

“Come on! I have older brothers. It’s just what we do. It’s how I grew up. I feel like it’s an experience to be shared. And look you’re still here,” you said, taking another sip from your glass.

I hope we’ll all still be here you thought suddenly contemplative as your phone chimed again.

[the-real-compucat]

Wow, it’s been a while: looking back at Origins

First of all, if anybody still reads content here: hi! Sorry I kinda left you all in the dark. I’ve been busy working on other projects, and this Tumblr fell by the wayside. Its purpose become less relevant as I’ve progressed, to be quite frank. Nevertheless, it’s still here, and as long as it’s still here, I’ll still eventually have something to write. 

Before I launch into the rest of this post, what’ve I been up to in the years I’ve been gone? For one, college happened. I’ve still got lots of work as always, but it’s now on my own schedule and towards my own goals: liberating, in a way. (A side benefit: transferring my musically creative mindset into the kitchen produces delicious results. :-) I’ve also picked up another project that’s taken up a lot of my time: linux-wiiu. (Essentially, we’re working on a proper port of Linux to the Wii U; a development release is currently available for download. Check it out, if you like!)

I’m still an active musician and producer, don’t worry! I recently released “Standing On The Edge Of Time” (a J-rock piece that completely rips off the style of anime openings) and am currently working on something called “Reign Of The Dark”. (Spoiler alert: Eurobeat is fun to write.) I’ve got some other ideas in the works too. Knowing a bit more guitar (and a lot more bass) has certainly helped.

Anyway, on to the main reason I’ve returned to ramble and muse.

Just over two years ago, I released Origins, the first (and so far, only) album I have ever released. Earlier tonight, I went back for the first time in a while, sat down, and properly listened to it the entire way through. For the first time, I’ve stopped cringing like I always used to when I’d listen and inevitably hear the endless mistakes and areas I could have improved upon. Instead, I found myself seeing past me’s work in a more admirable light. (Wow, that got deep fast.) Here’s what I mean:

Overall, everything on this album was really exploratory and unafraid. I didn’t know enough about audio engineering to know what I was doing wrong, and so I just threw myself at the task of writing an album without stopping to think. In doing so, I was able to look past most of the trouble of professional-quality perfection, especially in sound design; I simply wasn’t able to see it! This allowed me to concentrate all my abilities as pure creative energy; as a result, beginning producer me was able to create a full 7 track EP in 9 months.

Something about past me was able to take rough inspirations and transform them into full-on musical ideas. I’m still trying to figure out what that was. According to my old notes, my inspirations for each track were:

Isle Genesis: make a track at all

Prelude (The Denizens): Elton John-style piano, carefree/happy/fun. (I seem to remember Animal Crossing’s simple theme having something to do with it too...)

Soul Scream: somebody asked me to write a YouTube channel jingle

Isle Genesis reprise: total ripoff of James Cronin’s “Dead Horses” album: his title track has a solo reprise of the main melody halfway through the album, and I thought I’d try that idea. (Great album, by the way.)

Deity Duel: wrote an energetic hook, but needed to flesh it out. Heard trance producer JayB do a rock remix of some video game song...immediately thought “a rhythm guitar would sound cool here”

Aftermath: listened to a ton of electro jams by Jouni Ollila’s BURG project and wanted to copy the general style.

Reunion: “hey, most of this album kinda maps out the story for a roleplay project I’m part of...why not extrapolate a bit and have two characters reunite in a fanfiction ending?” The two lead instruments symbolize two different characters from that old RP, actually.

Listening now, instead of hearing all the shortcomings, I’m beginning to appreciate just how wild it was that I could come up with this many ideas and just lay them down on tape, no questions asked. Sure, they could use some polish. You know what, though? I’m liking them more and more just as they are: it’s like a little time capsule of the raw excitement I had back then.

I should take a second to mention something else. I’m not sure if I’ve publicly talked about this before, but Isle Genesis was written during a time in my life when I was involved with a role-play community writing project called Islands of Origin. As the roleplay’s world was fleshed out, I started to draw parallels between my ideas and the theoretical backstory of the fictional world; in return, I noticed the world’s backstory shaping my ideas. I suppose I started to write a concept album without even realizing it, now that I think about it. Islands of Origin gave Isle Genesis a purpose and direction.

Besides the fact that obsessive perfectionist me can now hear the finer mistakes I make, this is probably the reason I *still* haven’t been able to release the 2nd album I’ve challenged myself to write every year since. I’ve just been sketching ideas with no real topic or overall backbone. This should have been more obvious to me earlier: it’s one of the entire reasons I love the Pet Sounds album by the Beach Boys! Pet Sounds was one of the first albums (to my knowledge) that served as a logical progression of music, rather than a collection of hit singles. 

Is there a conclusion to this ramble? I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll form a grand plan for my second album. I’ll likely just as soon get rid of it. I’m really not sure what this all means.

I’m certain of one thing, though: for the first time in a long while, I truly enjoyed listening to Origins. Maybe I should make some music to top it.

Time to write that second album.

A bit of logistics: I’m not sure how much (if at all) this Tumblr will be used in the future. I’ll always release my major works on all major platforms as CompuCat; I’ll also continue to use my SoundCloud page as a more informal release platform for ideas and works-in-progress. If anybody’s still reading here, though: seriously, thanks. I never thought anybody would still be paying any attention here. I’ll be back with more music....eventually. :)

[white-poppie]

Hello! I was wondering if maybe you did matchups/ships? And if so, can I have one with a male Naruto character?

Appearance: I’m a 27 year old black woman with locs that I sometimes put crystals in. I sort of have both a hippie and alt style but I also like dressing up sort of bougie. I’ve been compared to a fairy as far as my features go since I have high cheekbones, look young for my age, feminine with sharpish features and expressive eyes. I take pride in my appearance (not in a vain way) because I believe it’s a form of self love and self care.

Personality: I’m an INFP and fit almost all the stereotypes that go with it but I don’t like for people to see me sad or angry. I’m sort of reserved while I feel you out but after that, I can become talkative. I’m super chill on the outside despite me having adhd and I’m generally friendly to everyone which can get me in trouble sometimes when it’s looked at as flirting. I don’t have crushes that often but when I do I’m super into him until I see we’re not getting anywhere and I’m cool with being friends with him if I feel like things are taking too long to come into fruition. That being said I can be really impatient and easily bored when it comes to romance but with just about everything else I’m pretty levelheaded and think things through. I’m usually the friend that throws parties or plans trips or hang outs. Im pretty independent too and travel a lot alone. I can talk to anyone but I have to recharge and sometimes that can take days or weeks of me being alone. I’m really bad about standing up for myself but I stand up for others easily and hate intolerance.

Interests: I love listening to music, I play bass guitar, love traveling and experiencing other cultures. I also like collecting crystals, being in nature, being around animals, reading and crocheting. I also spend a lot of time reflecting on how to be a better person. Depending on the vibe and who I’m with I can be a partner or a homebody.

Thank you so much!

Hello ma'am! I am so sorry to inform you that this event has been closed. I feel bad that you took so much time and effort to write this. I would LOVE to do a matchup, but that would just confuse the others. I would dedicate whatever next fic I will write to you as recompensation. Kindly forgive me for the inconvenience I have caused.

Hope you have an amazing day <3

(To anyone else reading this: THIS EVENT IS CLOSED before requesting in any event matchup kindly check my master list which has been pinned and you will find all the details required. Kindly do not send any more pairing rqs. However, the normal fic rqs are always open and I would be grateful if you send normal fic requests.)

[black-arcana]

KRYPTERIA – AND THEN SHE CAME

Interview with AND THEN SHE CAME

Interview conducted Feb. 28, 2021 by Dan Locke

AND THEN SHE CAME Ji-In Cho (lead vocals), Olli Singer (guitars), Frank Stumvoll (bass guitar) und S.C. Kuschnerus (drums).

Ji-In, you are German-Korean. What is your upbringing?

JI-IN: Hello Dan, thanks for having us. My parents are both from Korea. They met in Germany where they married and started a family. I was therefore raised in a Korean manner in a German environment. You can imagine that this did not make for an easy upbringing or childhood. But it gave me the benefit of getting to know both cultures and maybe even the opportunity to combine what’s best of them.

How did you discover music?

JI-IN: I don’t remember a specific moment in my life. I remember our home as a home of music. My parents liked to sing or play guitar or piano and I remember dancing a lot to their favorite music. I am also told that I was singing all day long to songs I heard on the radio or tunes that I made up myself. So I guess that was the time where music became my inspiration.

How did you start to write music?

JI-IN: I wrote my first song when I was six years old. I always loved animals and I couldn’t understand why my father went fishing. When he came back with his haul I was very sad and refused to eat the fish. So I wrote my first song about not hurting fish.

Describe your music.

JI-IN: Well, I definitely didn’t write any more fish songs (laughs). On a more serious note, I can’t sit down and plan my songwriting ahead of time. Instead, I am more the spontaneous type who gives in to impulses, emotions, and inspirations from all around me. I try to channel those ideas, pictures, tunes, and feelings into my songwriting.

What was your first performance like?

JI-IN: If you mean my very first performance in my life, I played Maria, the mother of Jesus, in elementary school. I remember my first stage fright. After it was over I was very proud and I knew that I wanted to be on stage again.

What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?

JI-IN: It was called “I go fishing”. And no, I did not record it back then as a young girl but today I wish I had. It would be a nice memory to share with my future grandkids.

You started off in Become One a German Boy/Girl pop band, and then you were cast onto the German reality television show “Fame Academy”. Tell me about the time on the show?

JI-IN: Right after my studies at the Cologne University for Music and Dance where I was trained as a classical musician I suddenly got tossed into the pop business. As a participant in the German television show ‚Fame Academy,’ I endured three competitive months of singing, dancing, and acting. Every week we had to prepare live acts for the elimination show that was recorded and broadcasted from a studio set every Saturday night. In the end, I won the competition together with five colleagues of mine. We formed the band Become One and went on tour for a year. This is how I received my very first recording contract with a major label. It was a very stressful and emotional time in which I learned a lot about the reality of the music business.

You have appeared with the likes of Phil Collins, Sarah Connor, B3 and Ricky Martin. Did any of these artists give you any words of wisdom about the music business?

JI-IN: There were so many things to learn and to experience during the show. The personal time with the visiting stars was too brief for any chitchat or personal talk, though. However, I did spend some time with Lionel Richie during a show event that featured all ‚Fame Academy‘ winners from many participating countries. He said to me then that we should never give up if we really feel the need to be an artist. I think about his words every once in a while and to me they still ring true.

Let’s turn our focus to And Then She Came now. Guys, describe the band’s music.

KUSCH: It’s hard-driving drums, heavy guitars and intense singing galore. It’s Rock, it’s Metal, there are quite a few alternative vibes but also some pretty catchy hooks involved, too. Lyrically we tend to steer clear of your traditional boy-meets-girl topics, but rather go for a more sociopolitical approach. Let’s say there’s not a whole lot of stand-by-your-man stuff with this band.

How does the songwriting process work between the four of you?

KUSCH: Well, everybody chimes in with different creative ideas as we are lucky to have four very imaginative musicians in this band who all write and arrange. We try not to limit ourselves and instead toy around with all our combined influences and delusions. But apart from that, there is no clear-cut recipe as to how we create our songs. In Shecameville there’s a new adventure every day (laughs).

Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association?

FRANK: We do. All four of us are members of GEMA which basically is the German equivalent to your ASCAP.

What makes a good songwriter?

JI-IN: In my opinion, there is no strict recipe. I know there are some songwriters who have fixed methods and procedures but that approach does not work for me. I have to feel free in the creative process and do not like to be limited in any way. In the end, the only thing that matters is the outcome. I think a good songwriter is able to somehow touch the listeners with his or her music.

KUSCH: I agree in the sense that a good songwriter knows how to connect with his or her core audience first and foremost. So even though the songs may not be all that good you’re obviously still doing something right and are considered successful at your craft. Now, a great or even transcendent songwriter is able to touch people beyond any genre confines. That’s when the likelihood we deem it ‚good‘ music increases significantly. But you can’t underestimate the importance of the performance itself and also whether a given song gets a chance to be heard. If „Bohemian Rhapsody“ hadn’t been a hit, would it be a lesser song? I don’t think so. There are probably thousands of gems out there that never got a proper forum.

You used to be in the band Krypteria. Why did you change up the band?

KUSCH: In 2012, following a killer Asian tour, Ji-In was about to become a Mom so we unanimously decided to put Krypteria on hold for an indefinite time. Then one day our bass player Frank was asked to create the soundtrack for a German-American movie. But instead of taking on this task all by himself, he brought in Ji-In, Olli, and myself. The creative process took on a life of its own, and all of a sudden we found ourselves working on songs for a full-fledged Rock album. Now, even though And Then She Came started out as just a movie soundtrack project, we just had to go on. Why? Well, I guess we’re just unable to get rid of each other even after all those years, aren’t we?

How did you first establish your band back in 2004?

KUSCH: The three original guys in Krypteria first had a band together in the Nineties and despite not working together all the time we never quite lost contact. So when the idea of starting something new came up in 2004 all we needed was an outstanding vocalist. Preferably a vocalist with a knack for energetic performances while not showing any signs of lead singers’ disease. Ji-In, who we had met during a studio session a year prior to that, fit that bill just perfectly so we asked her if she was interested in jumping aboard, and fortunately, she was. Then Olli was brought into the fold in early 2010 so the four of us have been working together for more than a decade now albeit under two different names.

Krypteria’s single “Liberatio” was used as part of a charity campaign to aid the Tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. What is the musical difference between Krypteria and And Then She Came?

JI-IN: And Then She Came is much rougher and it’s more about the synergy of organic rock instruments and electronic elements. We like to think that we still have good melodies, though. That’s really important to each of us.

KUSCH: The main difference between Krypteria and And Then She Came might indeed be the edgier and less theatrical touch that is particularly evident in the arrangements and our individual performances. I guess thanks to said more organic approach we were able to again turn it up a good notch in terms of sonic intensity, depth, and the overall vibe right off the bat compared to our prior releases.

What else did you change compared to your time with Krypteria?

JI-IN: We consciously made the choice to release our albums by ourselves. Yes, it may be tough sometimes because of the extra work and responsibility this kind of independence and freedom entails. Especially for a lot of stuff that, at least on the surface, has little to do with making music. That said, it’s a tremendous opportunity to shape our future as a band as we see fit. And as Kusch likes to say, if we screw up, then at least we’ll die by our own sword.

How did you come up with the name?

JI-IN: Actually, we chose And Then She Came because we wanted people to think, to find their own interpretation as far as the meaning of the name is concerned. Just as there is never only one point of view or one universal truth, there are many possible interpretations for this name. Sometimes it’s very funny how just one headline can lead to different background stories in one’s head. Even with all the information out there you still have to come to your own conclusion. That’s why we found And Then She Came as a name very interesting. For instance, I naturally think about the name in a totally different way than some men do (winks).

Do you think that your old fans will follow your new band?

JI-IN: I really hope our fans from back then continue to find us and are happy that we are back even though it’s with a different kind of music. And I really, really hope that they like our new sounds and songs.

Tell me about your debut album?

OLLI: You could call it the beginning of our creative rollercoaster ride. It felt like all the unused creative energy was suddenly breaking through. This and the fact that ATSC actually started as a studio film score project is probably the reason for the enormous amount of different colors in our music. Now, after the release of our second album „Kaosystematic“ and being in the middle of the process of writing new material for our third album, I can clearly say that starting this journey is the best thing we have ever done so far.

How was it to work with Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz and guitarist Jen Majura of Evanescence?

KUSCH: Well, we’ve known Alissa for a number of years now, and not only is she a killer performer, but she is an amazing soul as well. See, she’s a pro’s pro. She’s a warrior, she has to be. But as a friend, she is super sweet and she doesn’t mind going that extra mile. When we asked her if she was interested in adding that signature beast mode intensity of hers to our song „Five Billion Lies“ she didn’t even blink. Now, Jen, we have known for way over ten years, and it’s always great meeting her at a festival, a show, or a music fair. She’s such a sweetheart and an awesome guitarist, and we’re so proud of her for hitting it big with Evanescence. Her guitar solo on our song „Spit It Out“ is nothing short of spectacular. It’s amazing musicianship, creative cleverness and a fistful of good-natured cheekiness all rolled into one. Beautiful!

What is your favorite video of all time you have created?

FRANK: My favorite ATSC video is our 2018 tour movie „As The Lights Go Down“ in its entirety. It brings back great memories of a fun tour.

KUSCH: Good call! Aside from that for me, it’s a close call between “As The Battle Rages On“, “Sick Of You“ and “Public Enemy #1“. That said I like the respective messages behind „Perfect As You Are“, both the video and the tour version.

OLLI: Definitely “Perfect As You Are“. Actually, we did two videos for this song. It was an extremely demanding shoot, cause I literally switched positions constantly. Between performing and directing there was no minute of rest. But it was absolutely worth it. I really enjoyed Ji-In’s playfulness in her role as ‚Korean Marylin Monroe‘. Yet the second version is my favorite. It takes the original message of the song and projects it onto the ATSC team as a family. It is still heartwarming for me to see our crew’s performance in front of the camera during the whole video. We love you guys!

What are your feelings about streaming music?

FRANK: While streaming is very convenient and fast, for us musicians there is no significant advantage in my opinion. Granted, your work is available to more potential listeners, but the net is being flooded with new digital content ever since streaming took over, so making a name for yourself is even more difficult than it used to be. Also, the artists merely receive breadcrumbs for creating the fuel these platforms run on. You simply cannot support yourself through streaming. That’s why all the bands have to make their money on the road. It’s a vicious cycle. The author and performer should get a fair share of the profits when their music is being streamed, similar to what we had in the past with mechanical releases. The only winner in this so far is the big media companies.

If you couldn’t do music what would you like to be doing?

KUSCH: Too scary! So in true Rock musician’s spirit, I’d probably choose denial and stick with something along the lines of ‚damn the torpedoes‘ or ‚the best is yet to come instead.

Digital vs. vinyl?

FRANK: That’s a good question. It depends on your preferences and maybe your age. Back in the days I really liked listening to one side of vinyl on constant repeat while closely studying the sleeve. It made me feel like I was a part of it. Digital made everything easy, you can carry the whole world of music and movies on your cell phone. But can you really develop a deeper connection to the work a musician put so much time and dedication into? Maybe that’s why vinyl has been making a steady comeback recently?

What is the mental health situation of the World?

OLLI: Over the years we met a lot of people all over the world. And with many of them, we became close friends. It is heartbreaking how they all tell the same. Egoism seems to be overtaking everywhere. And this started already long before the pandemic. There are so many challenges for us as a species in order to build a better and safer future. For us, for our children, and for our planet and its entire ecosystem. But unfortunately, people always find reasons why they themselves don’t have to act. Ultimately this egoism leads to most of our problems we as human beings have to deal with these days.

What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what does that song mean to you?

OLLI: “Where Do We Go From Here?“ from our first album. Not only because it was the first song we ever played in front of an audience. But also because it sounds like a good headline for every single day of the last year.

KUSCH: In times of turmoil it can’t hurt to put on „What a wonderful world“ or John Lennon’s „Imagine“. With so much deception, aggression, and us-against-them in the world right now a healthy dose of positivity is what we need. And even if you don’t agree with everything Lennon said or did you really must be an all-out asshole to not share the hope that someday the world actually will live as one.

Do you feel the Covid-19 virus is going to affect the music business in the future?

FRANK: No doubt about it, as it is currently killing the whole industry. All touring activities unexpectedly got frozen, and there’s no telling when we will be allowed to return to our every day’s work. Nobody knows what will happen and who will still be in business when it finally starts to return to some sort of normalcy. But there will be a very different musical landscape for all of us, I fear. More like a “new normal” similar to what transpired after the 9/11 attacks.

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

OLLI: Learning. A lot about myself and my very own abilities to stay strong in order to be there for my family. It has been a tough year and it still is. But love and hope keeps me going. My thoughts are with the people who lost a loved one. But in the end I am sure that we can come out stronger than we have been before. For sure that will be the case with ATSC. Somehow we are growing together even more. But I guess that is what artists are like. Make them eat shit and they deal with it in their own ways. Nonetheless it’s a tough fight for our and our families’ existence. I can already say that this is obvious when you listen to our new material.

Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?

FRANK: I’ve been running a lot lately, more than ever before actually.

OLLI: Not a new one. But I had much more time for my biggest passion besides the music. I am an outdoor guy. I even live between lakes, forests and mountains. So whenever I can, I just grab my backpack and vanish into the wilderness for a couple of days. You can’t find me at home, in a tourbus or in a studio? Try looking somewhere in the wilderness. But maybe you wanna bring a thermal imaging camera. Stealth as stealth can be!

KUSCH: For me it’s more and more long walks in nature, minus the vanishing. Also I had the chance to follow the NFL season more closely than I had been able to recently. Plus, the lockdowns we’ve had over here allowed me to work on some old gear I still had sitting around. And while this is all nice I can’t wait to go on the road, meet people and enjoy the overall experience again. I really miss it.

95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and use their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?

OLLI: I am a huge movie addict. So streaming platforms became a good alternative to me. Especially since I am spending a lot of time on the road. Carrying a DVD collection wherever I go wouldn’t be realistic at all. But to be honest I don’t have a favorite channel. Each one has its strengths. And yes, I have subscribed to probably every one of the known platforms (laughs).

How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?

KUSCH: Well, doing an interview with UnRated sure is one excellent opportunity to reconnect.

What about Holographic concerts in our living room?

KUSCH: Do we really need less incentive to get out of the house and interact with actual human beings? Or even more technology for that matter? Take Autotune or what CGI does to movies. What was created as tools to support the arts is now dominating them. For example, given the choice between 1982’s ‚The Thing‘ and what was supposed to be its prequel from 2011 I’ll pick Carpenter’s movie any day. Same with real-life concerts in actual venues with actual people on, behind, and in front of the stage.

How do you stay healthy while touring?

FRANK: Living on a tour bus and in venues for weeks at a time is obviously very different compared to being home. You need to get ready way before you go on tour and there surely are many ways to prepare.

My personal one is I run every other day. Now once a tour has started there’s always a big party happening on the bus after the shows with great loud music and you get your booze for the night. Come to think of it, maybe this is my personal way to stay not-so healthy while touring (laughs).

Is pay-to-play still a thing? Now pay-to-play also means things like playlist on the internet?

KUSCH: Well, I don’t know about the internet but in the touring business it is. That said, in Europe, it’s more that you pay your share of production, transportation or catering costs, things you actually benefit from. So it’s not like you dole out cash just to be allowed to perform in a support slot. At least we never had to.

Any new music coming up in the new year?

FRANK: Due to the situation surrounding the pandemic everything’s in limbo. But as soon as scheduling any concerts and tours make sense again, our third album will be out right away, be it this year or early in 2022. This band is never short on inspiration, after all within the first three years of our existence we’ve released two studio albums, a live album, a live DVD, and a tour movie. So naturally, we are writing all the time, exchanging ideas. If this Covid thing lingers on any longer we may end up with a total of 500 new songs. Good luck to us trying to decide which of these will make the record (laughs).

Anything you would like to say in closing?

KUSCH: Enjoy life cause it might well be the only one you have. And stay safe and sane out there cause we want our friends and fans to be healthy, so we will get to see you on tour at some point. For those of you who haven’t listened to And The She Came go and give our music a shot, you might actually dig it. And come and see us live if you can, but make sure to stick around after the show cause we’d love to get to know you better. And bring a friend or twenty (laughs).

JI-IN: Yes, we can’t wait to get out and meet you guys, and feed off your energy on stage. In the meantime take good care of yourself everybody!