#i think its going to be a more recent original like Mayday

[starfall-calamity]

You so right mr jash I am losing my shit omg

Also also also Jash himself drew the hand on the cover!!!

[zero-max]

I keep forgetting I can post here but, I've recently been toying around with the idea of making some Miles centric au content, so here's what I've cooked up recently.

- Miles gets yeeted through the collider during the first Kingpin fight, and ends up stranded in a bizarre subsection of the spiderverse commonly known a the void (it kinda looks like the hologram Miguel showed Miles but on a larger scale)

- He's trapped in void the for the better part of 2 years (he's 16 instead of 15 during the main events of atsv now so everyone's aged up a tad and everything happens way letter than in canon)

-He ends up running into a being that refers to itself as "The System", a glorified sentient supercomputer created in the wake of the spiderverse to monitor it and protect it (so like what spidey hq does but to a terrifying degree) and contains knowledge related to the creation of the spiderverse and the origins of the spiderman mythos

- Miles winds up working for The System in an attempt to find a way home, and learns how to repair dimensional rifts, how to travel through different dimensions without using a watch and a handful of other things to make his dimension hopping shenanigans less painful

- He's still bitten here, so Miles gets all his cool spidey powers with some neat upgrades courtesy of the The System

- 1610 Peter doesn't die here so he takes over for Miles and helps Peter B and the others get home and stop Kingpin. Peter is constantly thinking about what happened to Miles and feels super guilty about letting him die (thankfully he's not but he doesn't know that)

- Peter ends ups working for Miguel (Migs is not too happy about it but he has to admit Peters good at what he does) and has frequent teams up with Peter B when he's not taking care of Mayday

- Miles pulls some vigilante shit in order to please The System, and ends up leaving the void semi frequently at it's request, since the spiderverse has been a bit more unstable than normal

- He remains pretty elusive for the first couple of months, mostly showing up near the end of fights to deal the finishing blow and leaves the anomalies for Miguel and co to deal with

- The System hates Miguel and his team believing they're meddling with things they shouldn't be and fucking up the spiderverse in the process (in reality The System really doesn't deal with any of the problems Miguel's team does opting out for only dealing with problems it deems worth its time)

- The whole Spot thing still happens, but Peter takes the fault this time and Gwen has to help him sort things out but by the time she tracks The Spot down he's already gone

- Miles saw the whole thing and it's by this point he's getting real sick of putting up with The Systems bs so he decides to find spider hq and help them stop The Spot on his own without it's help

- The Mumbattan fight is basically the same only Peter's there, but Miles shows up once the fights over to close the rift in Pav's dimension and is promptly dragged to spidey hq

- From there he's taken straight to Miguel who demands to know who he is and what's he's been doing hopping from dimension to dimension and getting in there way

- Miles doesn't explain much (he's looking worse for ware after fixing the dimensional rift) simply telling him they have the same goal and that he can help him defeat The Spot and stabilize their dimensions

That's about the most I have as far as concrete plot points go but, I'll potentially make a separate post that goes into more detail about Miles, The System and anything else I think is worth mentioning.

[californiaroadtoad]

Rule of law.

While everyone continues to argue about whether or not Donald Trump belongs on the ballot, or if he should be elected whether or not he should be allowed to serve, permit me to offer another view of this.

Back in 2000, we had one of the most contentious elections in recent history, that of George W. Bush and Al Gore. (Disclosure: in 2000, I lightly held my nose and went with Bush, thinking at the time, he was the better candidate. History, of course, will judge people like me harshly, as it should. Or do I need to remind anyone of the statement that we had Saddam Hussein dead to rights, that he had WMDs? How’d that turn out?) Gore campaigned on a number of issues, critical among them was that when Social Security was first established, all funds were supposed to be held in trust, a “lock box” as he phrased it. It wasn’t supposed to have gone into the General Fund as is presently the case, with promises of payment when people came of age. (And don’t give me this nonsensical argument that the Democrats are solely responsible for this. That’s an outright lie, since it’s been rare for either party in power to have an absolute lock on Congress. Enough Republicans went along with it to make it happen.) Had Gore’s plan gone into effect, it might not have put Social Security in solvency, but it would have pressed matters closer to that goal. (Today, Republicans want to eliminate Social Security.)

Just a reminder that the state which served as the linchpin in this was Florida, with just under 600 votes separating the two candidates. While Gore originally conceded, when it became clear that the margin between the two candidates was closer than expected, Gore did what he should have done and rescinded the concession until an accurate and fair recount could be completed.

There have been some serious questions whether it was an accurate or fair recount. Granted, Bush’s brother, Jeb, was Governor, and the campaign director in Florida for Gore was Bob Butterworth, the Attorney General. But the real concern for someone like me was Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who was later recorded as saying she saw it as a duty from God to ensure Bush got elected.

That’s not a red flag. That’s a Mayday Parade.

First and foremost, Harris’ job as Secretary of State was to ensure fair and lawful elections. That was it. If she wanted to serve her God, then her first responsibility was to make damned sure elections were honest, and not to favor one candidate over another. (The media, for some reason, seemed to focus on how much makeup Harris wore, particularly before the cameras. I guess it’s just me, but I seem to think that something like that is a matter best settled between the Secretary of State and her dermatologist, some talking head on CNN.)

Florida had more than a few criticisms leveled at it, particularly from the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights. These included efforts to freeze out voters of color, especially those in predominantly Black communities, which right there should have prompted a Congressional investigation into what happened. (It might have redeemed Congress for its idiocy in trying to figure out if President Clinton benefited from being hoovered while Yasser Arafat waited outside the Oval Office for a discussion of Peace Talks in the Middle East.) This was far more important than any “pregnant” or “hanging” chads during the recount, and even if Bush had won after an investigation, it would have bolstered the integrity of American elections. (See the USCCR report here: https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/vote2000/report/exesum.htm .)

Still with all of the irregularities, with the fight over whether or not absentee ballots should have been counted, (yes, they should have, regardless of the margins), with questions of the role of Katherine Harris, Gore did something that should have been a message to everyone in political life in America.

He said, “It’s time for me to go.”

Time has shown us that Gore and Lieberman did the right thing in vigorously defending the Constitutionality of their case. They did the right thing in discussing and arguing about the vote and voter irregularities in Florida. You might not like it, but they didn’t simply have a right to argue the matter, it was their Constitutional responsibility as American citizens and as leaders in American politics. Most of us accepted this, because the Constitution says it’s our right.

Trump, the “stable genius,” should have learned from this. Had he said, “I concede,” and left the stage, he could have laid claim to higher ground. Since he made it clear he intended to run again, people would have been hard pressed to argue the point: he’d conceded the loss to his opponent, Joe Biden, and like Grover Cleveland, he’d have returned to face the voters again. I wouldn’t have voted for him, (I’ve never supported him, and never will), but at least those who did could in some way be considered loyal, at least to the nation.

Instead, we had a mob of “Chairborne Rangers,” many of whom were armed, attacking the United States Capitol, resulting in the death of Brian Sicknick on the 6th, and the suicides of four other responding officers. (Claims that the mob was unarmed don’t hold water after law enforcement officials found caches of weapons on the Capitol’s grounds.) Ashli Babbitt and three other attackers died as a result of the attack. 174 officers were injured, with 15 being hospitalized, according to Wikipedia.

While this was characterized as a “mob attack,” the reality is that for the most part, it was planned. The goal was to overthrow the lawful and duly established government of the United States.

The number of injuries and deaths as a result of Gore’s loss in 2000: 0.

Gore insisted on the peaceful transfer of power. Trump did not.

There are multiple parties who are responsible for this: Newt Gingrich with his “win at all costs” strategy did much to inflame this. In spite of his statesmanlike book’s thesis, To Renew America, his goal was not negotiated, discussed, or even rationally argued. Rather, Gingrich outside of the bookshops advocated that Republicans brawl their way to the top. It was a view that was preceded by Pat Buchanan, (who famously told an aide that he never wanted to hear how someone in the media was a friend: Buchanan asserted they were always the enemy, according to Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes.) I can go on, including Lee Atwater, and a number of others, but I think the point’s been made. The very idea of a peaceful transfer of power became Anathema to a great many of Trump’s supporters, as they made baseless claims regarding Qanon, (proven false, and the “Q” in question had a dubious background himself), Pizzagate, and “stopping the steal,” which all went along with the continued racist and false claims that Barack Obama hadn’t been born in the US, long ago disproved by his Birth Certificate.

(A friend had lived in Hawaii at the time, and she took the time to go to the State Records office in Honolulu. She paid her dollar, took her chances, and posted online Obama’s Birth Certificate. I learned two things: first, he was born in Hawaii. Citizen. Second, DAMN, that was one big kid! No wonder he’s an only child!)

Just on this point alone, Trump does not belong in office. He never should have been elected in the first place, and he shouldn’t be returned to office now. EVERYONE who participated in the riot on January 6th, 2021 should be in prison, and those who have been convicted so far should be doing far more time than most of them have been sentenced to. The right to keep and bear arms, critical to the nation’s defense, did NOT give these people to attack our nation’s capital, ever. Supporting Trump is a more passive attack on the nation, but it’s still an attack. To support a man who called our nation’s veterans “Suckers and Losers” is shameful, and those who would support that will ultimately owe everyone they’ve slandered with that sobriquet a genuine apology, regardless of their own status status regarding the nation’s service.

You don’t have to like Biden. You should be questioning his policies and proposals as a citizen of the nation. But Biden has at the very least subscribed to the Rule of Law. Trump denounces this, claims no one can hold him to account for his actions under the law, and is doing all he can to undermine the rule of law. The man is a demonstrated acolyte of Roy Cohn, who amplified the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and ultimately destroyed the lives of American citizens whose sole crime was disagreeing with those in authority, which was their Constitutional right. (I don’t believe there were anywhere near as many Marxists in American Government as Tailgunner Joe claimed, which right there should have cemented his position, and the positions of those who backed him, as being far more Unamerican than Gus Hall.)

Trump should not serve, never should have served, and is not qualified to serve. He recited his oath of office with his fingers crossed behind his back. Al Gore, when it was clear there were irregularities in the 2000 election, acted in a lawful manner, and upheld the Constitution. Trump has already declared that once he’s elected again, he will shred the Constitution. Biden’s demonstrated he will uphold it.

That the Senate did not convict is due to Senator Mitch McConnell, not the facts. McConnell should have been expelled for his actions, and Trump convicted. We cannot change history, but we can at least acknowledge the former – and never should have been – President is not fit to serve.

[ibroughtyoumybullets]

You said not to ask so please ignore this if you don't want to explain, but could you elaborate on your March 19th / May 1st theory? thanks!

ahfkafhksfh yeah no problem. its not a theory its just ... brain worms that have taken a specific shape but thats not new this is just the latest form. under a cut because i hate like. getting peoples hopes up over something ive entirely made up

greentext format but make it wordy

> i think frank has been like. suspicious lately. i dont know how to explain it beyond that. he’s done a LOT of press-but-not-press in the last month or so. sure, he’s definitely bored and stuck in his house like the rest of us, and he had a new EP come out, and the EP is technically the reason for the press. but it also ... isnt. like the bulk of it has been AFTER the EP came out, and none of it has been wholly focused on the EP. and to me, at least, it feels like, i dont know, easing the band back into public consciousness thru a press circuit without the band ACTUALLY doing a press circuit because MCR been pretty hard and fast about the ‘we dont need or want ur press’ when it comes to the reunion. 

> continuing off the last one, in the ... jim ward interview he did, i think? one of the more recent ones, at least - he got asked about his writing process and mentioned working with gerard in present tense. very very likely it meant nothing at all, but also like ... i dont trust him LOL part of me thinks it was on purpose. Im just suspicious of him after the broken clock thing. 

> not only did frank mention working with gerard in the present tense, for Months now, but especially during his recent mini press tour, frank has been really vague but consistent in talking about working with people on music remotely. id have to go looking for it and i dont feel like it, but it’s been something along the lines of ‘working with new people And people you know’. suspitcheous. 

> ONTO GERARD. Gerard like never uses social media. but then a couple days ago he pops up to mention franks EP (which is sweet) and makes sure to sign it so its like, obviously not something his social media manager wrote up for him. and in that post he mentions being down in the lab. and LORD KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK THAT MEANS besides the fact that he’s working on something. but hey, its gerard, when isnt he. 

> But Gerard’s also doing that charity stream on the 2nd. and we havent seen gerard in MONTHS. since august, maybe? and he’s not just speaking, hes PERFORMING. besides the shrine show, the last time he performed was for the muppet charity thing with ray in 2016, and before that, it was the last hes alien leg in 2015. None of us even expected him to perform when it got announced - it had to be confirmed by the event organizers. and that just ... pings something in my brain, same as franks little press tour. It’s gerard emerging from his cave, Being A Musician, you know? 

> SPEAKING of the last time we saw gerard, he teased us back in the summer by mentioning that he has something he’s been working on thats not comic book related that he cant talk about. maybe its a fucking line of hot sauces or a tripp collaboration. 

> Or maybe its music. 

> this is where we depart from reality a little bit more: 

> this has been trotted out again and again on here as a talking point, and i dither between agreeing with it or not, but: MCR spent two years planning their return. they had a plan, for whatever the fuck was supposed to happen - even if all that was supposed to happen was the tour. 

> and their plan got pissed on, doused in gasoline, set on fire, extinguished, and thrown into the mouth of a lion. But They Had A Plan. And theyve been fucking radio silent except the hipdot collab, and before that, rescheduling shows. I ASSUME their almost-year of silence has been them, in part, reformulating their plan. Changing whatever it was going to be to fit the new timeline, or making a back up plan in case things get worse. 

> But the original plan had them all free - as far as we know - after november of 2020. so they wouldnt have had active MCR stuff happening for the national anthem comic book release, the electric century album + comic release, the you look like death tua comic release. But those things still happened, because they didnt require having to be in the real world where the plague is. 

> so, what the worms hinge on, is that whatever the New Plan Is, Whatever They Are Doing Now, it involves waiting until all their obligations and projects that SHOULDNT have interfered with MCR stuff - but had to the potential to because of covid - ended. 

> and thats now. thats the next couple weeks. you look like death just finished up, mikeys album and comic are out, and national anthem finishes up in like a week in a half. 

> and then theres nothing (that we know of) until the rescheduled shows happen, or *knocks thrice on wood* they have to reschedule again. 

> and this is where we really enter crazy town:

> so i was thinking about all of these things, and the imagery / themeing for the return (what little we got of it) and how a year ago everybody was pulling out the wheel of the year trying to figure out what they would do next, and when. 

> and March 20th (i know i said march 19th originally, i’ll get into that) is Ostara. 

> if youre not vaguely witchy, its basically a festival for the spring equinox. light and dark are in balance, yadda yadda yadda. and i could go into full on insane depth about the black and white aspects of the return, the witchiness of an offering + a summoning but i wont. it boils down to: its the closest festival to when all of MCR’s calendars are clear as far as we know, and its almost a year to date of when they had to reschedule the shows. 

> and March 19th is a Friday. which is new music release day. Ostara / the equinox are technically on saturday, but its at 5am on saturday morning so ... technicalities. 

> so the worms in my brain say new single on march 19th. or Something on march 19th. or 20th. one of those days. 

> and the worms in my brain also say MCR are a bunch of cruel little shits, and theyre gonna make us wait before they give us anything substantial. 

> so we move to May 1st. 

> May 1st is also known as May Day, also known as Beltane. (We’re back to the wheel of the year for this one) Its the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. And its a Saturday. which is NOT new music release day - but hey, its close enough. 

> may day is also like, similar to halloween / samhain in that the veil is supposed to be thinner on those days, and i think theres a connection the imagery and over-all plan wise between coming back on halloween, and possibly doing something on mayday. i dont think they just came back on halloween as a birthday present to frank. 

> so second single on may day, or album? or announcement that theres gonna BE an album? maybe they wont give us a single on ostara but just tease us with something. i dont know. but i think theres something here. 

> im aware this was a lot of words and i basically gave you nothing, but i can only give you what the worms give to me. 

> sorry for being the way i am. hope this helped. 

[renaroo]

Resonance (1/15)

Disclaimer: Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and associated characters are the creative property of Marvel Comics. Into the Spider-Verse and associated characters are creative property of Sony Pictures. Both of these things and neither of them are true, all I ask is to not be sued. Warnings: Teen Angst, Pregnancy, Mourning Pairings: PeterxMJ in many forms Rating: T Synopsis: Miles Morales is the brand new Spider-Man with all the responsibilities, burdens, and heartache therein. With the crowds being harder to please and his rogues gallery looking more formidible by each day, Miles doubts his competency as the one and only Spider-Man. At first, he looks to his predecessor’s support group for advice, and what he ends up getting is a lot more complications. 

A/N: I have been a Spider-Man fan since birth, all owed to my dad and uncle who were the family comic book nerds and collectors long before I came around. I grew up on the adventures of Peter Parker and, when I was old enough to buy my own comics, I was obsessed with following more members of the spider-family from Mayday Parker to Anya Corazon. But in the last decade or so, my interest in really writing or drawing for the Spiders was put on the backburner. 

Into the Spider-Verse reignited my love, though, and it’s become one of my favorite movies as well as responsible for making me a full Spider-fan again. I knew I wanted to pay tribute to that and just what a fantastic job the movie did, but I wasn’t sure what story I wanted to tell until recently. 

So I hope this is an enjoyable ride for you guys, I’ve been having a blast writing it. It’s going to be a long one! Let’s hope I can keep to a Friday Updates schedule~

Chapter One: The Real Deal

Every morning for the last month had started the same.

His alarm sounded, he groaned in rhythm to its blaring, turned over, fumbled with his phone, and turned it off. Then, just before he could gently float back into sleep, the alarm in the bunk beneath him would sound off and a hand would slap the baseboard to encourage him to get a move on.

Miles appreciated, but also hated, that his roommate had taken the news about him being Spider-Man so well.

“Okay,” Ganke Lee said, fully awake as he slid from his mattress to his computer chair, smoothly sliding across their dorm floor toward his desk. He listed off the assignments that both of them had due for the day, things that Miles should have completed the night before. Checking them in the morning kept his grades from slipping due to his nighttime adventures. And the moment Miles good sleepily assert that they were all done, Ganke would turn on the four monitors to his desk.

The glare of the light was always enough to force Miles into dawning acceptance that Ganke wasn’t letting up.

He stretched, nursed any wounds or bruises, then leap with extra-human flexibility and athleticism from the top bunk to the dressers on the other side of the room.

In the early days, Ganke would have excitedly taken it in. A month after, Ganke wasn’t even looking Miles’ direction.

“Okay,” Ganke said again, turning in his chair to present Miles with a map for his morning run as Spider-Man. “If you do this in thirty minutes, you’ll have time for a shower.”

Miles murmured incoherently, slipping into the legs of his suit before he even glanced at the map. Once he did, he dropped his shoulders and threw back his head. “Man! You’ve gotta be kidding me! Yancy Street? I always run into something on Yancy Street. And when I run into things on Yancy Street, I won’t be back in thirty minutes, are you kidding?”

“And then it’ll look great that the new Spider-Man is doing good before eight in the morning on everyone’s commutes,” Ganke pointed out knowingly. “Not to mention, hard to find out that the new Spider-Man is a student at Brooklyn Visions Academy if he’s spotted thirty minutes away before school starts.”

Pulling on the rest of his suit and reaching for his mask, Miles hesitated. He looked intently at Ganke for a moment. “You know, I’ve been Spider-Man for over a month now,” he said. “How long do you think they’ll still be calling me the new Spider-Man? When do I just become the Spider-Man?”

Ganke pulled a pained expression and tilted his head. “You sure you want that? To be the Spider-Man already?”

No, Miles didn’t want it. But it was a thought that was already nagging him.

Sighing, Miles looked from his mask to Ganke’s mask. “Yancy Street and back? You’re killing me with these morning workouts, man.”

With his mask pulled on, Miles ran for the window that Ganke eagerly sprung open.

“Wouldn’t be a workout if it wasn’t hard!” Ganke encouraged him all the way out of the building.

The moment the wind rushed against his face, the haze of sleep and morning dreariness left Miles’ body. Every muscle, every bone was in motion, flying into the air. He breathed in Brooklyn and then, with his web-shooters at the ready, shot toward the nearest building with confidence.

After a month, the motion Peter — but not that Peter — taught him was already second nature.

Aim with the hips, look where you want it to hit, double-tap to release, thwip it out again, swing, release, thwip—

He could have swung through the entire city, but he had grown warier of the overuse of his web-shooters after a few weekends of just that attitude. There was nothing more aggravating than being low on the web fluid than being low on it when he needed them. And Ganke was still experimenting with the formula they obtained, insisting his batches were still too unreliable compared to what Miles could pick up at the Parker household.

And, somewhat cowardly, Miles had gone out of his way to avoid being in the Parker household more than absolutely necessary in his month as Spider-Man.

Miles utilized his newly enhanced athleticism to land at the top of a building and hit the ground running. His feet carried him quicker than they ever have in his life before, and he hadn’t even broken out in sweat yet.

Whenever he did grow his backbone again and heads to Ms. Parker’s house, he was going to thank her for the extremely breathable fabric she has made his suit from. Then again, that might broach the topic of how she didn’t build the suit for him. She built it for the original Spider-Man.

Her nephew. The Spider-Man who died a hero before Miles had even an inkling of his own potential.

When the next building over was too tall for Miles to simply leap to its roof, Miles exercised his wall-crawling.

His fingers and toes locked adhesively to the surfaces of the buildings and he shimmied across.

Strangely enough, the crawling had been the most bizarre bodily sensation for Miles as he continued stretching his spider-legs, so to speak. Swinging and leaping were challenges that had grown into thrills. But crawling had made his body contort and move repeatedly in a way that felt so unfamiliar to jumping or walking.

Ganke has suggested he watch videos of real spiders crawling, but that sounded too weird even for Miles.

He wondered if any of the other Spider-People had felt this way about crawling. It was a question that would be worth asking if he ever got the chance.

More than anything else, though, wall-crawling ate more into his morning run’s allotted time than running or swinging did. As a result, it was the thing that needed his practice the most and happened to get it the least on most mornings.

The moment Miles was out of his comfort zone, out of the Brooklyn limits, he changed tactics and shifts to swinging again.

He was under half of his time and has already reached Yancy Street. If he had any luck, he could have turned around then and there, called the morning successful, and headed back to Brooklyn Visions Academy without anyone the wiser.

Spider luck true to form, there was a disturbance on Yancy Street. A hold up in a deli, but Miles was quick to take care of it.

Rather, the new Spider-Man is quick to take care of it.

He even figured, since he had wall crawled a good amount of his travel, he could spare the extra web fluid on thwips for each of the gunmen’s mouths. Just to avoid the general annoyance factor.

And while Miles would go to his grave confidently declaring that the best delis in the city were found in Brooklyn, he traitorously accepted the Yancy Street deli owner’s offer of a breakfast burrito to go.

Its aluminum foil shined at him with the early morning sunlight as Miles got back onto his rooftop trail and beckoned him to slow down, take a break, and breathe in the sweet aromas.

He was working out so much as Spider-Man, he had to have doubled his calories over the month, so the breakfast burrito wasn’t going to set him back so far as meals were concerned.

After a few savory moments with the burrito, his wristwatch went off, forcing Miles to realize that he was off his time and there was almost no way he was going to have time for a shower when he got back.

“Aw, man,” he groaned, gripping to his burrito in one hand while lining up with his next building. Aim with the hips.

To further show off just how much he had mastered the art of swinging, Miles made it the rest of the way to the academy one-handed, finishing each bite of his burrito along the way.

He also made it a point to land on the recycling bend and toss the foil, pose with a kid from Brooklyn Middle for a selfie, and backflip over traffic before swinging the rest of his way to school.

Miles scaled the walls, found the custodial closet window Ganke had strategically unlocked for him and dressed for his day in less than thirty seconds.

He smelled like sweat and breakfast burritos by the time he emerged into the hallway and raced toward his first class of the day. But Miles also figured that there were few first-year boys who didn’t have similar smells to them anyway.

Deep down, at least, he knew he had the excuse of being the new Spider-Man.

And that was nearly enough satisfaction on its own to let him pass through the day.

Ganke’s schedule was an A-block compared to Miles’ own B-block, with their only real intersecting class throughout the week being chemistry. It made their rendezvous much tighter two out of the five days, kept mostly to the hallways and cafeteria.

Yet, even with those constraints, Ganke’s presence had become instrumental to Miles’ day functioning.

“There’s a pop quiz in Schaffer’s pre-calc,” Ganke informed him, taking a look at the leftover web shooter fluid.

“What, really?” Miles asked in disbelief, he looked down at his books. He hadn’t even grabbed his pre-calc. “I’m doing fine in there. Shaky on the sine and cosine stuff, but you’ll never get me off my tangents.”

For a moment, it seemed like Ganke hadn’t heard him, forcing Miles to laugh at his own joke. Then Ganke looked up over his glasses with one brow raised. “Seriously?”

“I’m seriously good with pre-calc,” Miles assured him. “Though you sure you’re not going to get locked up in nerd prison for letting lowly ol’ me know about a pop quiz?”

“Why? Everyone whispers warnings about quizzes around here, have since the first day,” Ganke shrugged.

“Oh,” Miles expressed, glancing off. It was still difficult to be confronted with the fact that he had not made friends at the school despite his mother’s encouragement and his mild lies to his father about doing just that. He swallowed dryly. “Well, thanks for breaking the nerd code for me.”

“You’re going to have to replace these probably by tomorrow,” Ganke warned him.

“We’ve got chem lab tomorrow, we could make some together while Doc Kuranja isn’t looking,” Miles offered. “You said you had some ideas.”

“Are you kidding? We still don’t know if my use of the regular formula is stable or not yet!” Ganke squeaked back. “I don’t want them to blow on you or harden on you or—“

Miles pulled a face, noticing that Ganke’s word choice and hyperventilating was drawing some unwarranted attention. He held up his hands and motioned for Ganke to lower. “Dude, chill! It was just a suggestion. I’ve still got, y’know, my contact. My person.”

Finally, Ganke breathed easier. “Sorry. I just don’t want to kill Spider-Man.”

Flinching slightly, Miles glanced off. “Yeah, I get that.”

“Here,” Ganke said, handing back the web-shooters. “For your, uh, web person.”

“Right,” Miles said, quickly storing the shooters away in the backpack he had put on over his chest. He shuffled them toward the back of the mess he had shoved in, crunching and scraping other unknowns within the bag’s depths.

“I’ll catch you at lunch, good luck on your pre-calculus not-so-pop quiz,” Ganke said after an intense scan of his watch. He didn’t wave, didn’t wait for Miles’ reply. He just took off in the direction of the language arts wing and left Miles slightly off balance.

“Yeah, sure, man,” Miles called after him, though it appeared to be on deaf ears.

He waited a moment before walking toward the math wing himself, thinking over his recent lessons. Each angle, each parabola, though, always came back to web-swinging across the city, to his gravity and momentum. It was the only thing he could think about.

Lucky for him, unlike in English, it translated fairly well to the material.

When he finished up pre-calculus and headed for lunch, Miles actually felt very good about everything that had gone on in his day, missing a morning shower notwithstanding.

And, strangely, lunch was more pleasurable and something to look forward to when he knew for a fact that he would have someone else sitting with him.

What he was less prepared for, however, was the ever-present call of his other responsibilities.

The moment it was three-fifteen and the final bells for the day rang, Miles could feel the vibrations of his phone in his pocket.

While other students walked to the commons, out to the plaza, or just to their dorms to get started on another night full of work, Miles stood and answered his phone.

“Mami?” he answered the call, same as every other school day, and proceeded to start a thirty-minute conversation.

The only times they were shorter were when his mom was on call at work and had to be pulled away. If she were at home, like she was that day, she was willing to stretch the call for an hour. It was easier for her to do that by, every ten minutes or so, pawning the phone off to Miles’ dad who rattled on about work and the weather and occasionally a semi-positive story about the new Spider-Man.

It was more than a little tiresome.

Miles still had things to check off on his list of a regular day — schoolwork and artwork and some new training plan Ganke had tried to sell him the night before. It felt like every moment of phone time was cutting into that.

But the urgency of getting off the phone grew more immediate when he passed through the main corridor and saw the crowds of other students gathered, staring up at the big monitor screen.

Hesitating, Miles walked back and missed whatever story his mother was in the middle of telling as he watched the breaking news alert.

Massive robbery taking place in Brooklyn, costumed robber shooting electricity everywhere and cackling maniacally, there was a need for the new Spider-Man.

At the same time he could hear his father shuffling around and shouting something on the other end of the phone, Miles began racing out of the commons area. “Mami! Sorry, something just came up, I’ve gotta go! Playing, uh, chess after school! ¡Te amo! ¡Hasta luego!”

“Miles—“ his mother began to argue but Miles hung up on her, fully knowing he would get an earful from it later.

The moment he was out of the school and ducking into an alley, Miles was shuffling through his mess of a backpack. Toward the bottom, barely hidden beneath assignments and art books, was Miles’ already sweaty suit and his web-shooters.

“Man, I have got to get organized,” he noted to himself.

Once he had his suit, changing was a quick matter. He even had his mask on before his phone went off again, that time with the default setting picture of a dinosaur signaling Ganke. Miles was quick to answer.

“Dude,” Ganke’s voice came through clearly.

“I saw! I’m on the way!” Miles informed him, stuffing his uniform sloppily into his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders.

“Do you know who that is?” Ganke asked.

“Know who who is?” Miles asked, already using his free hand and his feet to climb up the side of the school for greater height.

“The bank robber, it’s the old Spider-Man’s villain,” Ganke explained hurriedly. “But I think it’s different? Electro.”

“Electro for electricity, clever,” Miles said, reaching the top of the building and rotating so that his back was to the wall. He looked forward, aimed with his hips, set his eyes on the target.

“Yeah, but it’s different,” Ganke insisted. “It might be a different person.”

“Ganke, call me back after and we’ll talk about it, I promise! Right now I’ve gotta get going so I need both hands,” Miles informed him.

“No you don’t, you had a burrito on your way back this morning,” Ganke argued. “This is important, Spider-Man.”

“It might be a different dude in the mask, that puts Electricity-o and me on the same foot. I’ve got this, Ganke, I’m not as big of a dummy as you thought I was when we got roomed together, remember?” Miles groaned. He shot the web shooter and kicked off from the school. “Catch me on the news!”

He swung through the city, mindlessly putting his phone back into his backpack midair, then used both arms to swing.

Beneath him, Miles could hear the awes and supportive shouts of the citizens below.

There was still mourning, still We Love You P.P. signs throughout the city, but in the past month, there was more hope, more relief as Miles swung through the streets. Because New York needed Spider-Man again.

And Miles felt rewarded and assured to be that guy. The guy.

It fueled him to go faster, to prove himself and all the faith the other Spider-People had shown in him the last month.

Because the specifics of the bank and Electro weren’t part of the routine, but the new Spider-Man was — Miles being there for his city was as routine and in his bones by that point as the suit itself.

He was so full of confidence as he came across the bank, he barely flinched when the front wall’s brick and glass were blown out by an explosive flash. Miles steadied himself, resting against the walls as he waited for a clear view of Electro to come out.

And Electro did, bright greens and yellows of the suit visible from streets away.

What Miles wasn’t expecting was for the rest of her figure. “Okay,” he said, tilting his head, “maybe Ganke did have more to let me know before I hung up. Because I never remember Electro looking like that on the news.”

Police cars filed in, sirens blaring, and immediately jumped out of their cars, guns at the ready.

With a smirk, Electro slung a duffle bag over her shoulder with one hand then slung the freehand outward toward all of the vehicles.

Electricity poured from her fingertips and sent most of the vehicles flying back.

“I’ve got this!” Miles rallied himself as he leaped from his perch.

With the push of his legs, Miles sent his body flying at an incline toward the police officers. Toward the arc of his descent, he used his web-shooters to rapid-fire aim at the chest of each of the officers in trouble. The moment he had made web contact with their chests, he aimed his left web shooter for the top of the bank building and grabbed onto both sets of lines.

His own body the fulcrum, Miles twisted into a swing and hoisted the leveraged officers up with him. It was enough force to lift all of them out of danger and to pull up with Miles’ swing.

There were a number of yells, but no one was around the police cars as they crashed or exploded against the electric propulsions of Electro.

For her part, Electro seemed to have subscribed to the cool guys don’t look at explosions school of thought and was beginning to walk confidently down the street before Miles interrupted her plans. She quickly turned on her heels and locked her sights on Miles.

“Well, I was wondering when I’d get a chance to swing at the new little bug on the streets,” she growled.

“Wow, never been called a bug before!” Miles scoffed, landing on the other side of the street and putting down the officers with him. Most of them seemed dazed if not outright ready to vomit from the experience. “Don’t worry, officers, I’ve got this!”

Confidently, Miles turned on his heels only to be sent flying back.

The pain was immense. Arguably the worst pain he’d felt since taking on Kingpin nearly a month ago. His every muscle and sinew jerked violently against him. Nothing was listening to his brain’s directions and, worst of all, his brain felt as though it had been lit on fire.

He was on his back on the sidewalk before his lungs could expand again. They crackled at the rush of air and Miles felt as though his heart was seizing in his chest.

His fingers and toes were curled as his arms began to somewhat listen to him again. He pushed through the pain, trying to uncurl every joint and move them. Finger by finger, toe by toe. There was a smell of burning rubber that was getting harder and harder to ignore as well as a terrible pain in his back.

“Spider-Man!”

“GET UP!”

“She’s coming!”

“Oh my god!”

His ears felt muffled but, somewhat obtusely, Miles could feel the warnings he was getting. None, though, was louder than the Spider-Sense blaring into every nerve, every vibration in his body. He coughed through another painful breath and beat his clenched fist on the ground.

“No matter what, always get back up!” he berated himself. “No matter how many times I get hit, I always get back up!”

Two green, insulated boots came to a stop right in front of Miles on the sidewalk just as his vision began to clear. When he visually traced them upward, he saw the slick greens and yellows of the suit and, most aggravating of all, the shiny toothed grin of Electro.

“Cute motto, bug,” she joked. Slowly, she drew up one hand, the fingers ungloved as she put two together and formed a gun to point at him. “Can’t get up when you’re dead.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Miles sassed back before holding up his right web shooter and shooting it straight onto her hand, insulating it with a massive glove of web. THWIP.

“What the—“ Electro sputtered, stepping back in surprise.

She was attempting to reground herself, but Miles was on his feet and shooting another dose of web fluid onto her knees, tying her legs together. THWIP.

“Why you—“ THWIP.

He shot another web over her mouth, causing her to roar, albeit muffled.

Grinning underneath his mask, Miles aimed his left web shooter for her exposed hand.

TH—

The sputtering noise caught Miles by surprise, and he looked down at his web shooter as he attempted a second time. It didn’t even make a noise, just compressed air wheezing through. “Uh-oh,” he muttered, looking to his right hand as it did the same.

He was out, and he had shown off with the web-shooters before covering Electro’s other available hand.

As Miles looked back, he could see Electro using her free hand to rip off the web from her mouth. A dangerous look grew on her face as she took the same freehand and pointed right for Miles’ chest.

“Hey, kid, ever been around a bug zapper?” she asked cockily just before lighting Miles up.

If the first blast of electricity had been painful, Miles was sent into another world by the second blast. He was thrown back, hitting into the bricks of the opposing building. His entire body seized up and sent him crumpling to the ground. He folded over his stomach and let out a pained groan.

His entire body was painful and throbbing as he lifted his head up just enough and watched Electro walking away with ease.

“Oh, well,” she called in a sing-song voice, “wonder if the real Spider-Man would’ve given me a workout.”

It took some time, and the assistance of two of the officers he had saved earlier, but Miles got back up.

As much as the shock from Electro had stung, the embarrassment and the words stung even more.

Not to mention the embarrassment of having to use his invisibility to walk back to the school without his web-shooters to rely on.

He had a bad feeling, after a month of being Spider-Man, things were not about to get easier for him.

[yexiu]

Who are your favorite female heroes from Marvel and DC?? I’m looking for good wimins contents

oooh i have a lot!! but why does my brain always go blank when i get these asks 😅

for marvel:

XI’AN COY MANH!!! new mutants original run good...also that one run of astonishing x-men she was in? liu i think

sue storm!! i have a whole f4 reading list linked here

anya corazon! order here

same with mayday parker

kamala khan is a great starting point for marvel and she’s been in some really good books! i have a general order for her here. its kinda outdated tho so i would add the current champions run and the magnificent ms. marvel too

ororo munroe! try greg pak’s storm solo i remember really liking it. and wilson (?)’s x-men v4 is good too

felicia hardy! spider-man & black cat: the evil men do is a good mini

monet st. croix! x-men v4 again lmao

mary jane watson.....i really like her in the lee/romita run but straczynski writes a fantastic mj too

jennifer walters...big gf. i’m blanking on which run of hers was my fav...i think it was the tamaki one?

for dc:

CASS CAIN!!! read her batgirl run and the outsiders run coming out rn!!

obviously diana!! personally rucka’s runs are my fav ever!! i suggest reading the hiketeia too

mari mccabe (vixen)!! try orlando’s justice league of america

mera had a pretty decent miniseries out recently and i’ve heard good things about her graphic novel!

renee montoya! try gotham central for her

loma shade!! shade the changing girl and then shade the changing woman

linda park....my momther....try waid’s wally flash run for her

courtney whitmore! jsa 2007 is so much fun

cassie sandsmark too...original young justice is good

thats all thats coming to mind rn.....will update later if i remember more

[traincat]

Marvel denying Peter his kid... and Marvel not letting Johnny have a kid... makes me want to punt Marvel.

I think it’s a really interesting phenomenon that’s happened to both of them but in wildly different ways – which makes sense, they’re both former teen heroes who have aged into adulthood but who Marvel is reluctant to let truly grow up, like the similarly wildly different ways their respective marriages ended. (Which like, Johnny’s marriage had other problems besides editorial, but that’s a whole other eighteen thousand word post.) But both of Johnny’s “you’re going to be a father haha psyche” plots involve manipulation/abuse – the first time it comes up is right before/during the Lyja reveal when Lyja’s true identity is about to get blown, after she’s already threatened to have her and Johnny move out of the Baxter Building, then she admits she wasn’t pregnant as she’s “dying”, then she comes back, claims the baby is real, forces Johnny to burn down ESU to save his life, then there’s the egg she claims is their baby but was actually a monster that almost ate them all, like, that’s just a lot on its own.

(Fantastic Four #389) Then there’s Fantastic Four Annual 2010, where he and a civilian woman are drugged and she’s artificially inseminated with his child by Psycho Woman, who was living in Johnny’s brain. (For the record, I think Aimee, the potential mother, makes the best decision for herself at the end of the issue by jumping through a time portal to try and stop everything before it happens (comics), but it’s still a sad ending note for Johnny “Wants Kids More Than Anything” Storm.) So combined with the rest of Johnny’s history, there’s a lot to unpack there, whereas I think Peter’s cases of child loss are more typical stories, for the value of saying anything reality warping and supervillains is typical. (imho they’re also way more tragic, in part because they’re very real, in the way the egg baby never is.)

(Peter Parker #75) Peter and Mary Jane lose their baby daughter due to the machinations of Norman Osborn. (I do feel like there has been a push in recent years to kind of gloss over that this happened, especially with one throwaway line about children during One Moment in Time, but it happened, Marvel! If you’re going to kill Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s baby in main continuity, you stick to your guns and commit to the ramifications of your tragedy!) In House of M, Peter’s married to Gwen and they have a young son in the altered reality, and who Peter, as one of the few who maintained their memories of House of M, greatly mourned when the world was put back the way it was.

(House of M and Son of M)

Then there’s Sarah and Gabriel Stacy. I’ve spoken before about the dubious canonicity of Sins Past, a controversial storyline that establishes that Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn had two children together, and my thoughts on it remain the same (that I think it’s a well written bad comic that shouldn’t be in continuity but also that it doesn’t like, matter, when aside from two storylines most comics going forward ignore it), but I think it’s important to note that the originally Gabriel and Sarah Stacy were supposed to be Peter’s children, before Marvel decided that having adult children would age the character too much. (Never mind that they were actually like, 7. Never mind also that apparently having infant children would “age him too much” as well. He’s thirty, Marvel.) Gabriel and Sarah were also raised believing Peter was their father, and that within Sins Past Gwen states that she wants Peter to raise her children as their father. So that’s messy, to say the least, and a more metatextual way of denying Peter Parker fatherhood than either Mayday or Richie Parker, but I thought I’d remark on it anyway. Peter definitely tried to be Sarah’s father.

(Spectacular v2 Spider-Man #23. This is not a good comic, but still.)

Anyway, yeah! It’s depressing that fatherhood is something that clearly means a lot to both of these characters, and for largely editorial reasons it’s something that is repeatedly denied to them. I’d like to believe that, current status aside, since neither Spider-Man nor the Fantastic Four have traditionally been stagnant books in terms of character status, that we’ll get there eventually, but Peter’s history in that department to say the least is deeply tinged with tragedy, and Johnny’s fits into larger patterns of abuse he’s suffered. That there are famously well-performing comic titles (Spider-Girl and Renew Your Vows) featuring Peter’s daughters is a good indicator. 

[thepoppunkdays]

Slam Dunk Festival 2020 First Announcement

Set to return after the festival’s biggest year yet, Slam Dunk Festival have announced the first wave of bands for 2020, welcoming UK rock titans Don Broco as the first headliner revealed for next year’s highly anticipated alternative instalment.

With an incomparable charismatic mix of 80s pop inflections and the hardest-hitting riffs on daytime radio, Don Broco’s powerful party-starting tunes have taken the Bedfordian four-piece to astronomical heights. No strangers to Slam Dunk Festival, Don Broco have delivered colossal anthems from their compelling catalogue: ‘Priorities’, ‘Automatic’ and ‘Technology’ in constant career-defining appearances. Enjoying sold-out shows on their UK arena run following the release of their first 2019 track ‘Half Man Half God’, Don Broco continued to unleash their high-octane performances on their most recent run of shows in Asia before surprising fans with dynamic single ‘Action’. Currently powering across the US on their first-ever North American headline tour, Don Broco’s upcoming headline performance at Slam Dunk, set to be their exclusive festival appearance of 2020, will be one of the most anticipated live dates in the next year.

On their headline performance, Don Broco say; “We bloody love Slam Dunk so it’s a massive honour to be asked to headline next year! Right from our early EP days we’ve always had the best time at Slammy D. It was our first proper festival booking way back when and since we’ve played slots throughout the years on pretty much all the stages, most recently a very surreal performance for us the year before last playing to sea of Rob face masks on the main stage. With this being our first ever festival headline we will certainly be making it a show to remember.”

Slam Dunk Festival Director, Ben Ray says; “2019 was a big year for us, with the festival moving to fully outdoor sites. It was a massive success so I’m pleased that we are returning to them. Don Broco headlining is pretty special for me as they are the definition of a homegrown band! They first played in 2011 on the new bands stage and have risen through the ranks to the top of the bill!”

In a mega pop-punk billing, Slam Dunk 2020 is set to welcome Pure Noise powerhouses State Champs, Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell & co in The Wonder Years, singalong saviours Mayday Parade, beatdown kings Four Year Strong, Illinois front-runners Knuckle Puck and Long Island punks Bayside. Godfathers of punk-pop Motion City Soundtrack promise an unmissable return to their legendary form when they reunite on UK soil, exclusively to Slam Dunk.

Mayday Parade’s Alex Garcia says: “We’re extremely excited to be coming to England for Slam Dunk Festival. It’s been too long since we’ve played it and it’s definitely one of the most fun festivals to be a part of from the crowd’s energy to the after parties. Not to mention we love touring the UK! ”

Four Year Strong’s Joe Weiss says: “The UK has always been one of our favourite places to play and we can’t wait to come back to Slam Dunk Festival”

Anthony Raneri of Bayside says:

“Can’t wait to get to Slam Dunk again this year. We were able to do it once before and I love that it’s carved out it’s own place as a punk rock institution in a country that’s pretty crowded with festivals”

Teasing the Slam Dunk’s heavier side and poised to deliver the performance of the summer at Leeds and Hatfield are Fearless favourites Ice Nine Kills, metalcore master crafters Issues and Australian alt-rockers House Like Houses.

Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills says: “After this current sold-out headlining tour of the UK, I can’t think of a better way to return next year than on Slam Dunk….”

Issues says: “It’s so exciting to be back at Slam Dunk! We’re going all in!”

A rite of passage for lovers of the alternative, Slam Dunk returns once again as a key date in the festival calendar. Slam Dunk Festival North will take place on Saturday 23rd May 2020 at Temple Newsam and Slam Dunk South will take place on Sunday 24th May at Hatfield Park. Tickets go on sale Friday 27th September at 10am.

In a monumental move, last year saw Slam Dunk operate as a fully green field festival, shifting away from its urban beginnings as Slam Dunk North made its debut at Leeds Temple Newsam site, joining Slam Dunk South in a park location as it enjoyed its second year at Hatfield Park. Celebrating ten years since the first Slam Dunk South date, 2020’s May Bank Holiday weekend is the only place to catch the world’s very best alternative music.

TICKET INFORMATION Tickets go on sale Friday 27th September at 10am.

Prices range from £59 for a limited number of early bird tickets up to VIP tickets at £99.

Please visit www.slamdunkfestival.com for more info and to buy tickets.

Slam Dunk Festival 2020 First Announcement was originally published on The Pop Punk Days

[dutterman]

2016 Favorite Performances

Patti Smith

This was a show I had anticipated for the past couple of years as Patti Smith has been touring, performing her Horses album in its entirety to celebrate its 40 year release. I bought these tickets in February for a December 30th date in Chicago, which also happened to be Patti Smith’s 70th birthday. This was my second time going to the Riviera. I had initially managed a second row seat, but ended up moving back a little way, still quite far up. I was totally blown away and inspired like I thought I would be. They started the show performing Horses with a Gloria reprise at the end before playing other favorites and covers, including Power To The People which featured Michael Stipe and Patti Smith’s daughter making a guest appearance. This was definitely a bucket-list concert for me and ever grateful to have seen Patti Smith perform live.

Metric

This year, Metric had released their Pagans In Vegas album, their first since 2012’s Synthetica. I last saw Metric at Lollapalooza in 2012, so I was super excited to see them again as they are one of my all-time favorite bands. This was a totally breathtaking 2 hour performance featuring music from their last three albums although they opened up with IOU! A few of the songs were intro’d with teasers of songs from their first album. I was second row for this show, center stage.

Thelma And The Sleaze

I grew up listening to a lot of hard rock music in the 1970s. One of my favorite bands growing up was Heart. The lineup of Heart in the 70s is still my very favorite with such amazing guitar work. One of my fondest memories of Heart is their live cover of Kike Dee’s “I’ve Got The Music In Me”. I’ve seen Thelma And The Sleaze quite a few times the past couple of years. Thelma and the Sleaze is the conceptual brainwork of guitarist Lauren Gilbert, known to a lot as “LG”. This outstanding band, fronted by LG has this Alison Moss sultry stage-presence and Angus Young authority, combined with a comedic wit like that of Bette Midler. “I’ve Got The Music In Me” comes to mind when I see LG perform live. What was really spectacular about seeing them this year was their 29 day, 31 show tour of Nashville, entitled the “Kandyland Tour” in which they played a show every day for the month of February. I was fortunate to catch one of those shows at the Mayday Brewery in Murfreesboro. The other great thing this year was them going on a month-long tour with Eagles of Death Metal, in which they played to some bigger audiences and was actually a dream of Chase’s (the drummer) to play The Vogue one day. It was also indicative of a hard-working band making a breakthrough to larger audiences. A documentary has been created detailing the Kandyland Tour and will be available soon.

Belly

I never got to see Belly perform live when they first came out. The only band I went to see perform in the 90s were Rush and Primus, so I was super excited when it was announced that Belly would perform a reunion tour. Belly’s two albums are two that really stuck with me from the 90s alternative bands and still listen to them to this day. The band was absolutely spot on and had a very exciting crowd. They split the show into two sets. The funny thing was that Morrissey was playing night one of Riot Fest that night, and they thanked the crowd for weighing their options.

Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes

This is the band that I saw the most times this year! They were a new favorite of mine in 2015 and still are a whole lot of fun to watch. One of the more fascinating things about this band is wondering what outfits or costumes they’re going to wear. I actually tried to dress up as Davey in one of the shows this year, which my alter-ego sidekick Ramona Rabbid came with me (that’s another story). Their setlist also tends to be as unpredictable as their stage costumes. Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes puts on a very intense and highly entertaining 30 minutes of a totally unpredictable setlist and really gets the crowd going.

Boner City

I actually happened to be introduced to this band via Abby from Mr Clit and ended up getting to see them perform live for the first time at the Wilterfest in Cincinatti. I have since seen them two other times and will see them again in Louisville toward the end of January 2017 alongside one of my local favorites, Dope Sweater. Boner City is a fast-paced, non-stop punk ride that takes the crowd with them.

Well Hung Heart

I saw this amazing band in Indianapolis with a really stacked local lineup and to me is the best overall show of the entire year. Well Hung Heart is a hard rock band with an amazing guitar player and blue-haired bundle of energy singer who has one of the most powerful voices I’ve ever heard. Robin Davey’s guitar playing is among the best I’ve ever seen and seems to have a diverse genre background. Greta’s singing is very powerful, yet tender at times and is able to fire up the audience.

Gazebos

I saw this band on a moment’s notice when I decided to see Shannon and the Clams on a show-day decision. This band has an early 80s rock/pop sound about them that would remind you of a cross between Blondie and The Pretenders. Shannon Perry has a really interesting voice and her on-stage performance makes you think she’s had a background in theater. TV Coahran masters that guitar style and even reminded me of Pete Townsend with his one-piece jumpsuit.

SERVICE

SERVICE is a new band in Indianapolis with a line up consisting of veteran members from various well-known bands. The first show I saw with them was a very intense start-to-finish 6 song set that just left you totally blown away. Additionally, the performance was recorded and turned out really well. Jilly is an amazing vocalist and performer with her screeching and sternness. She is usually all over the stage and in the audience. Matt plays some incredibly complex guitar and makes some pretty incredible sounds. Sharlene plays both guitar and keyboards along with background vocals and typically sits in on drums for the last song of their set. Johhny and Russel round out the band on bass and drums. Saw these guys on a couple of other dates and hope to catch them again in 2017.

Butthole

Butthole was a pleasant surprise the first time I saw them at part of LG’s Bitchfest show. They are a hilariously talented group who puts on an energetic and entertaining show similar to what I get out of the B-52s. They are a lot like a art-ounk band, much like some of my other favorite art-punk bands like Boner City, The Christmas Bride and Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes.

Powell

This is a highly talented band that plays very tight. These guys are all brothers, so it’s no wonder that they are so tight and talented as they’ve been playing together for years. This was punk rock night, but after listening to their album (and hearing their cover of the Beatles’ “Heavy”), I knew there was more to them than the hard rock show they put on. Just overall a very professional sounding band that puts on a good show.

Wolf Alice

Just got into this band this past year. Sort of 90s alternative with not as much edge. Caught them at Lollapalooza for a quick, but effective 45 minute set. These guys sound great and have amazing songs and have a great fan following.

Killmama

Got to see this amazing band from Florida at Punk Rock Night Indianapolis get things going in a big way. Sophie plays drums and sings soulful southern blues. Rob has amazing raw guitar sound and really reminds me a lot of Rodger Fisher from the early Heart days. The cool thing about their shows is that they bring on a guest drummer out of the audience to play drums on their song Bad Rep

Moseley

I was really glad to catch this all-women power trio again this year. They played a couple of regional dates and was able to catch them in Chicago during Lollapalooza. I also go to see them open up the show for Stone Cold Cherry at Marathon Music Works in Nashville.

Dope Sweater

Dope Sweater is a highly energetic punk band local to Terre Haute. Originally starting out as a two-piece band nearly two years ago, Anthony and Austin have grown the band to four members and have gone on a few regional shows. Hailing from the Sweater Lounge, Dope Sweater started a great and loyal following that has spilled over. Dope Sweater plays like on the verge of rattling apart and destroying the whole thing. Their music roots and influence seem a lot more deeply rooted than what I typically see in punk bands. Dope Sweater really charges the crowd and pulls the best out of them and leaves people in shock.

Dasher

I happened to catch Dasher opening up for Aka Nayo and Screaming Females. This local band from Bloomington is primarily the concept of Kylee K, front-woman on drums and vocals. She had a prior incarnation of the band in Atlanta before relocating to Bloomington in the past year. Like Screaming Females, Dasher plays a very loud set, and doing so, Kylee has to play the drums very hard to be heard. The guitar work of this band is very hauntingly amazing. For an opening band, they can really serve to get the crowd really wound up. They recently had the opportunity to open for Coathangers in their home state of Georgia.

Eliot Bigger

This band is an amazingly talented and well-versed band. Eliot Bigger’s guitar work is among the best I’ve ever seen and really remind me of a cross between Toto and Supertramp. Backed by a very solid bass and drums, their songs revolve around progressive rock breakdowns and change-ups that demand your full attention. Combine that with the flawless mastery of guitar work and you’ll walk away from this band stunned.

  Some Kind Of Nightmare

Some Kind Of Nightmare is a punk band based out of San Diego who tours nearly non-stop. Originally hailing from Ohio, Chy and Molly quit their full-time jobs and decided to tour full-time. They have traveled cross the country several times over since they took on the punk rock road life. Molly over the past year has been a tremendous source of inspiration as she successfully overcame a bout of breast cancer and has been advocating, particularly with the younger audiences to be mindful of their bodies and their health. Some Kind Of Nightmare plays a highly intense, start-to-finish show and are highly polished in perfecting their live show. You walk away from this band feeling charged and inspired.

War On Women

Screaming Females

    Overall Shows List

1/2/16 Johnny Vomit, The Dockers, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, ASD (5th Quarter Lounge) 1/7/16 Riot Shield, Pickwick Commons, Ares, Fight To Remain (Cruft House Terradise) 1/9/16 Black Cat Rebellion, Werewolf with a Shotgun, Dead Set Ready, Misunderstood (Melody Inn) 1/15/15 Veles, Dope Sweater, Bad Fiction, Laser Boogie Suicide (Sweater Lounge, WTH) 1/23/16 The Nerve (Stephens Inn) 1/30/16 The Flying Jacksons (The Verve) 2/12/16 Carter, Soft Bodies, Sallow, Isidro, Thelma And The Sleaze (Mayday Brewery Murfreesboro) 2/13/16 Well Hung Heart, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, KillMama, Think Tank (Melody Inn PRN) 2/26/16 The Ragbirds (The Verve) 2/27/16 Dope Sweater, Phallic Tendrils, Four Percent (Sweater Lounge WTH) 2/27/16 There Are Ghosts, Memetics, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes (State Street Pub) 2/28/16 Mariahill, Rebuild & Rebound, Welcome Home, Rest Assured, Riot Shield (Terradise White House) 3/5/16 Metric w/ Joywave (Egyptian Room Indianapolis) 3/5/16 The Lickers, The Yavin 4 (Melody Inn PRN) 3/7/16 Chad Hates George, Stufy The Sidekick, Chatterbox and the Latter Day Satanists, 4 Percent, Dope Sweater (Terre Haute) 3/10/16 Killmama, Ramona Deflowered, We Should Leave This Tree (St Louis) 3/19/16 Charles Walker Band (The Verve) 3/25/16 Punkfest 2016 Day 1: Dear Darla, Enstrangers, The Functional Citizens, Bare Knuckle Hooligans, Hell’s Orphans, Think Tank, The Elixirs, The Slappies, Dangerbird, Stackhouse (5th Quarter) 3/26/16 Gazebos, NoBunny, Shannon and the Clams (Off Broadway St Louis) 4/1/16 Moseley, Black Stone Cherry, Devour The Day (Marathon Music Works Nashville) 4/8/16 Weakness, Birdie Hearse, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Hot Tramps (The Comet Cincinatti) 4/9/16 The Fuck Off And Dies, Worriers, The Lippies (Blueberry Hill St Louis) 4/15/16 Rush Archives, Van Wholen (The Walnut Room Denver) 4/23/16 Sidewalk Chalk (The Verve) 4/29/16 The Nerve (The Verve) 4/30/16 Hannah Aldridge (The Verve) 5/5/16 Thelma And The Sleaze, Black Tar Heroines, Eshe Bhairavi (Hangar 9 Carbondale) 5/6/16 Dope Sweater, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, The Transylvania Hell Sounds, Jig, The Orchard Keepers (Hoosier Dome) 5/14/16 Pop Up Safety Baby (Juggerland Studios Rosedale) 5/14/16 SERVICE, Open Sex Duo, Caldwell/Tester (State Street Pub Indy) 5/21/16 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash with Parasites, Think Tank, The Whoremones (PRN Indy) 5/25/16 Screaming Females, Aye Nako, Dasher (The Bishop Bloomington) 5/27/16 Eagles Of Death Metal, Thelma And The Sleaze (The Vogue Indianapolis) 6/4/16 Dope Sweater, Video Grave, We Got None, Darkle (Sweater Lounge) 6/4/16 Stackhouse, Tiger Sex, Public Animal Number Nine (Punk Rock Night Indy) 6/11/16 HTTP Prodigy (spoken word), Meeker, Unnatural Selection, We Got None, The Wichita Massacre (TH) 6/21/16 Worriers, Mikey Erg, Fraidykat, Junior July, Mannequin, TBA, Serious Shit (The Void Bloomington) 6/23/16 Subject To Change, Max Grogan, Meeker, We Got None, Better Off Blind, Aaron Norris, Pop Up Safety Baby (A Place In Time WTH) 6/25/16 Amuse, Metric Units, Misunderstood, Ego Slip (Hi-Fi Indy) 7/1/16 Ross Hickam, Anthony Cottom, When All Kept Echoing, We Got None, Unnatural Selection, Dope Sweater (Couch Studios TH) 7/2/16 manners, please, Pillars, Chemical Envy, Goblin King (Bent Rail Brewery Indy) 7/2/16 Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Flamingo Nosebleed, City Mouse, Special Victims Unit (PRN Indy) 7/9/16 Dope Sweater, Lucy Furr, South Side Flea Market, The 4% (Sweater Lounge) 7/12/16 Daikaiju, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Phunkbot, AnnFrankDux, Bad Fiction (Hoosier Dome) 7/22/16 – 7/24/16 Plan-It-X Fest: Dakota Floyd, Double Jinx, Ugly Lovers, The Ancient Gods, Crescent Ulmer, Dog Years, Julia Eff, Sir Deja Doog and the Caskettes, The Minor Kind, Corn Palace, Drawing Water, Amy O, Terror Pigeon, Nice Try, Dogbreth, Your Heart Breaks, Ghost Mice, Super Famicom, Mitch The Champ, Cutting Room Floor, Garrett Walters, Amy Bruce Spaceshow, Femignome, Cottontail, Wet Brain, Madeline Adams, CALYX, Nutter, Nostradogmus, Junior July, The Homewreckers, Full Sun, Little Waist, Dasher, Toys That Kill, Shellshag, The Max Levine Ensemble (Stable Studios Spencer)

Lollapalooza July 28-31 Autolux, Cloves, Melanie Martinez, Wavves, Daughter, Last Shadow Puppets, Haelos, Modern Baseball, The Struts, Alessia Cara, Wolf Alice, The Strumbellas, Chairlift, The Joy Formidable, The Front Bottoms, Big Grams, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, FIDLAR, Halsey, Silversun Pickups, HAIM, Die Antwoord (Chicago)

7/29/16 Moseley, The Dirty Creeps, Mr Russia (Red Line Tap Chicago) 8/5/16 900 Bars, Potential?, Aaron Norris, Cloud Gavin, Native Tongue, Bottlerocket Platoon (Couch Studios) 8/7/16 Trash Can, Some Kind Of Nightmare, Misunderstood, The Slappies (Melody Inn Indy) 8/12/16 Stackhouse, The Orchard Keepers, Heartland Heretics (5th Quarter Lounge) 8/18/16 SERVICE, LUNG, SPANDRELS (Melody Inn Indy) 8/19/16 Cup Check, Unnatural Selection, Subject To Change, Safe Bet, Bedrooms, Riot Shield, From Cities Above (Couch Studios) 8/28/16 LG+Friends, Butthole, Reality Something, Helen of Coi (Meal Ticket Nashville) 9/2/16 manners, please, Modern Motion, Eliot Bigger, There Are Ghosts (Melody Inn Indy) 9/3/16 Some Kind Of Nightmare, Rest Assured, Subject To Change, Dope Sweater, Welcome Home, Steven Deeds (Terradise Cruft House) 9/8/16 SERVICE, The Icks, Yonatan Gat (The Hi-Fi Indy) 9/9/16 Clint Breeze & The Groove, Scanlines, Eliot Bigger (White Rabbit Cabaret) 9/17/16 Belly (Vic Theater Chicago) 9/18/16 RiotFest Day Three, Juliette Lewis and the Licks, War On Women, Deftones (Chicago) 9/23/16 222 WitFest: Hammered with Jesus, K.L.A.N., Saint Pickle, Lazy Ass Destroyer, Tiger Sex, EVOLVE, Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Vampire Weekend At Bernie’s, Boner City (Witler on the 8s Cincinatti) 9/30/16 Jesus Crust, Videograve, Dope Sweater, Lucy Furr, Small Arms Fire (Hoosier Dome Indy) 10/1/16 db Cooper (Verve) 10/2/16 Rewinder, Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes (Thunderbird Indy) 10/7/16 Dead Party, Plans (Couch Studios) 10/16/16 Pravada, SERVICE, Matthais Young (Indy CD & Vinyl) 10/20/16 Boner City, The Christmas Bride, Tycoon$ Of Teen (Kaiju Louisville) 10/22/16 Better Off Blind, David Goodier, Rafael from House Cats, Pop Up Safety Baby (Garage Fest TH) 10/23/16 Mal Blum, Full Sun, Wylie, Bloodlines (The Void Bloomington) 10/28/16 Aaron Norris, From Cities Above, Beyond The Grid, Unnatural Selection, (Couch Studios TH) 10/28/16 Rocky Horror Picture Show 8:00 (Community Theater Terre Haute) 10/29/16 Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Dope Sweater, Video Grave, Process My Office, Dana Skully (Dream Fortress) 11/4/16 Chloe Greenberg, Monty & Patrick, Kendall Lynn Murphy (Couch Studios TH) 11/11/16 Dead Party, Pop Up Safety Baby (Veterans Day) 11/12/16 Heartland Heretics, Orchard Keepers, Powell (Punk Rock Night Indy) 11/19/16 Sky So Dark, Dasher (The Void Bloomington) 11/20/16 Barb Wire Dolls, The Lickers, Smokes (Melody Inn Indy) 11/23/16 Pop Up Safety Baby, Bear Foote Jackson, The Nerve (The Verve) 12/2/16 Thelma and The Sleaze, Evan P. Donohue, Teddy and the Rough Riders, Quichenight (Charlie Bob’s Nashville) 12/4/16 Some Kind Of Nightmare, Dead Party, Misunderstood, Unholy UFO (Couch Studios) 12/9/16 Arcadia, Ripped From The Roots (The FOXHOLE) 12/15/16 Bathroom Laws, Blood Planet, Tycoon$ of Teen, Beach Daze, Ghost Teeth (Spinelli’s Louisville) 12/30/16 Patti Smith (Riviera Theater Chicago)

261 Total bands

Most Impressive Guitar Work (more than one guitar player)

War On Women Eliot Bigger Full Sun

Most Entertaining

Butthole Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes Fuck Off And Dies Boner City The Christmas Brides The Ragbirds Daikaiju Joywave Phunkbot

Favorite Band Vocals

Greta Valenti (Well Hung Heart) Sophie P (Killmama) Ivy Miller (Special Victims Unit) Amanda Pavel (Think Tank) Princess Jesus (Sky So Dark)

Favorite Singer/Songwriter

Hannah Aldridge Spandrels Monty Hack Chloe Greenberg Garrett Walters Stufy

Favorite Duos

Pop Up Safety Baby Killmama Lung Ripped From The Roots Sheepish

Hardest Working Bands

Barb Wire Dolls Some Kind of Nightmare Thelma and the Sleaze

Most Watched Bands

Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes Dope Sweater Thelma And The Sleaze Some Kind Of Nightmare Moseley SERVICE

Favorite Drummers

Michael Coffey (Pop Up Safety Baby) Evan Tanner (War On Women) William Boswell (Phunkbot) Abby Hairston (Moseley) Kylee Kimbrough (Dasher)

Favorite Guitarist

Robin Davey (Well Hung Heart)

Most impressive Bass

Wet Brain Orchard Keepers Pop Up Safety Baby Phunkbot

Best Cover Song

HAIM – I Would Die 4 U (Prince) Tycoon$ of Teen – River Deep, Mountain High (Tina Turner) Powell – She’s So Heavy (The Beatles) Evan P Donahue – Send My A Postcard (Shocking Blue) Gazebos – There Are Worse Things I Could Do (Grease)

Favorite Overall Show

Well Hung Heart, Mr Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Think Tank, Killmama No Bunny, Gazebos, Shannon and the Clams Metric, Joywave Daikaiju, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, Phunkbot, AnnFrankDux, Bad Fiction Boner City, Tycoon$ of Teen, The Christmas Bride

  2016 Top Live Shows 2016 Favorite Performances Patti Smith This was a show I had anticipated for the past couple of years as Patti Smith has been touring, performing her Horses album in its entirety to celebrate its 40 year release.