#not a single miss on the album I’m still obsessed

[sungwanns]

I’m your poet, I’m your pain 🔮💘

[bluetimeombre]

Cowboy like me! ▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 0:10

Your band has a new single out and a certain actor stars in the music video. Sparks fly just as high as rumours.

[i get so bored in work so I get so inspired to just write a bunch of thing i wish I was doing instead of sitting around. I’m still thinking of how to end ‘call it what you want to’ but enjoy this for now. In this I’ve used the last dinner party as a reference cause hello?! Obsessed, but ur band is called 15screens- idk I made it up]

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 0:10

liked by… yourusername, tomblyth, florencepugh & oliviarodrigo

15screens: ‘cowboy like me’ music video out now!!! Staring the cowboy himself Tom Blyth!!

895k likes 501k comments

user: FINALL6!!!!

user: omg it’s gonna be iconic

user: my favourite band and favourite actor?!

user: omg!! Omg!!! Ahhhhh!

user: the drought is over

user: they’re feeding us!!

user: NEW ALBUM WHEN

user: cowboy like me is such an underrated track of yours

user: tom is so hot as a cowboy I actually can’t

user: I can’t tell who I’d rather be in the music video, tomblyth or yourusername

tomblyth: thank you so much for having me! An honour

15screens: come back anytime

user: I’m shipping, I’m shipping

user: did everyone see yourusername and tomblyth in the music video!!!! So hot

user: best girl band in history

liked by… 15screens, tomblyth, emmalouisecorrin, tchalamet & rachelzegler

yourusername: cowboy like me!! Feast your eyes

tagged: tomblyth

982k likes 561k comments

user: feasting my eyes i am

user: miss GURL

user: best music video ever

user: excUSE ME?! The part where your in a field just casually undressing ONTOP of the TOM BLYTH

user: you know what they say, save a horse…

user: nobody has ever looked so good in a cowboy hat 😍😍

user: tom blyth is a lucky man

user: the CHEMISTRY

user: ur so hot together

user: she never misses

user: the last pic

user: hotttt

tomblyth: 🤠

user: tom 😭😭😭

user: all I’m saying is they’d be the hottest couple out there

liked by… yourusername, 15screens, rachelzegler & hunterschafer

tomblyth: cowboy like me music video, out now. What a wonderful experience, thank you so much 15 screens for having me

1m likes 766k comments

user: omg!!

user: what’s cookin good looking

user: the crossover we didn’t know we needed

user: he is so hot

user: suddenly I’m into cowboys

user: I’ll ride you like a horse

user: the last picture!! They’re so cute

user: they look so good together

user: I never thought, in this day and age I’d be shipping yourusername and tomblyth

user: so unbelievably hot

user: I need the song injected into my bloodstream

user: gnawing at the iron bars of my enclosure

user: I’m barking rn

user: not to be horny on main but I’m horny

liked by… tomblyth, 15screens, zendaya & Jacobelordi

yourusername: let them eat cake, she said

650k likes 300k comments

user: miss gurl?!????

user: TOM?!

user: I knew it!!

user: it’s been a month and I still haven’t recovered from cowboy like me music video

user: is this their announcement

user: save a horse, ride a cowboy

user: it’s happening!!!

user: I’m dead

user: THATS DEFINITELY TOM HE LIKED

user: confirm it so I can die happy

user: mother is mothering

user: she ate

user: so hot

user: a bisexual dilemma

liked by… 15screens, rachelzegler, joshuandresrivera & yourusername

tomblyth: soft launch?

tagged: yourusername

1.3m likes 889k comments

user: WHAT!

user: I don’t think tom knows what soft launch is

user: this is the hardest of all launches!!!

user: I knew it!!

user: NOOO I WANT TO BE THERE

user: I’m in love

user: parents!

user: she’s so hot

user: they’re gonna rule the world

user: this has cleared my acne and got me good grades

user: YEYYAYAY

user: that should be me! Holding your hand, that should be me making you laugh

user: tom- babe, that’s not what soft launch is

user: I didn’t know I needed this until now

user: and all to think it was because of that music video

liked by… yourusername, tomblyth, zendaya & oliviarodrigo

15screens: ‘The greatest’ out now, featuring blonde tom blyth (because yourusername begged him to go blonde and he’s whipped)

884k likes 651k comments

user: ONG again!

user: another one!

user: 15screens are officialy the biggest fans of tomblyth and yourusername

user: BLONDE IS BACK

user: yourusername Doing gods work

user: he’s so in love with her

user: he’s whipped Omg hahahahha

user: 15 screens is officially gonna be a Fanpage dedicated ti them

user: everyone say thank you yourusername

[yvesdot]

["Gimme More"] is a song about surveillance in the guise of a song about sex, showing you how it feels when the two topics are entwined—a pole-dance number for the panopticon. “They want more?” she gasps over the beat’s zombified thud and the creepy oohs and ahhs of the spectral background choir. “I’ll give them more,” she promises, whispering it like a threat.

[...] A synth on the fritz, an animal shriek, and the slap of a bag of quarters on the folding counter of Hell’s only late-night laundromat: so begins Blackout’s second single, “Piece of Me,” the coolest song of Britney Spears’ career. “I’m Miss American Dream since I was 17,” she sneers, her voice thrown and refracted, sinking through Auto-Tune ooze into a beat from Bloodshy & Avant, the Swedish duo who’d helped her win her first Grammy for “Toxic” in 2004. You could simplify the song as a piece about the obliteration of selfhood as the cost of mega-fame, its decayed sound paired perfectly with its rotten subject matter. But that description makes it sound like Spears would play the victim. Instead she rolls her eyes, already bored with your obsession. “Piece of Me” is among the great works of American art about fame. But at the 2:08 mark, it becomes a masterpiece as Spears’ voice glitches, stutters, and doubles over the throb of a synth line as elegant as the 2000’s iciest grime. It is rightfully here that the careers of Charli XCX and PC Music begin, with music that still sounds like the future of pop 17 years later. Most critics at the time attributed Blackout’s radical sound to the non-Britney Spears names among its credits, where she is listed as executive producer. (“She has done almost nothing, in the recording studio or outside it, to convince fans that Blackout is really hers, or really her,” wrote Kelefa Sanneh in a New York Times review.) But in ways that anticipate Kanye West’s Yeezus six years later—the treatment of the human voice, the purpose behind each sound—such an alarming album on fame’s shattering potential could be made only by this artist at this moment.

[sad-boys-book-club]

"&" Ampersand - A Literary Companion: Eve & Paradise Lost

Hey everyone!

Let’s continue feeding my unhealthy obsession with Bastille by diving into the literary companion I created for “&”. Today, we’re talking about the second track: Eve & Paradise Lost. (Now that the album is out, I can finally follow the tracklist properly!)

In case you missed it, here’s my post about Intros & Narrators.

Before we jump into the book picks for this song, I want to apologize for the delay in writing this. I’ve had some family stuff going on, moved houses and also wanted to make sure I had read both books before recommending them.

Actually, I plan to take some time to go over the whole list of stories I’ve picked—I want to read them all thoroughly so I know exactly what I’m recommending to you all (some of them, I've already read, but I want to revisit them as well).

Now, let’s talk about the song. I find it fascinating to see a male songwriter like Dan taking on a woman’s perspective for a project that explores different stories. The official statement about the song stood out to me: “This song is about the burdens of loving women cruelly made to feel blame and shame from the dawn of time.” It’s clear Dan’s an artist who engages with feminist writings, and that’s something I truly appreciate—especially given how rare it is in the music industry, particularly for someone who presents as a straight, white male.

Cat Bohannon — Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

The title character from the song. Probably the most cited figure from the Bible. A staple in paintings and literature for the past two thousand years. The first sinner. Eve remains a pillar of the Western collective imagination, her meaning changing a lot throughout the decades. From the representation of female sexual desire, scapegoating her for condemning the entire human race to death by eating the forbidden fruit (can you tell I went to Catholic school?), to being seen as the first example of female rage in the face of oppression. She embodies the complexities of womanhood—temptation, sin, and defiance—all wrapped into a single character.

Cat Bohannon’s book couldn’t be further from this. With a PhD from Columbia in the evolution of narrative, Bohannon explores why, in an age when we often see medical and science knowledge as some sort of truth, we still somehow have a very male-centric view of the human body.

By reexamining all the different potential Eves we have in the history of human evolution—that’s how she chooses to call all the ‘hypothetical female ancestors’ in our shared Homo sapiens lineage—, Bohannon urges us to reconsider and reshape our understanding of how our knowledge of the human body has often ignored half the world’s population.

As someone who enjoys reading non-fiction books (happy to share a few of my all-time favorites in the comments to whoever is interested), I found this book a really insightful, at times infuriating, eye-opening view into how sad it is that, for much of documented history, women have been seen as just men with breasts and wombs bolted on. The author is especially conscious of how sex (influenced by chromosomes, physiology, and hormones) and gender (how we identify, behave in our environment, and interact with one another) are not the same thing. She often adds notes to point out how science ignoring the female body and all its narratives has even worse consequences for trans and nonbinary folks, which I found really well-done and necessary in today’s age.

I picked this book as a companion to the song mainly because of the “rolled your eyes at pain you'll never comprehend” line, but I think it is a solid read on its own. I certainly learned a lot about my own body during the 15 hours I listened to the audiobook.

John Milton — Paradise Lost

So, Paradise Lost—the epic poem that pops up on pretty much every English Lit syllabus. Quick and snappy plot summary before we dive in: It’s a 12-part epic that covers Satan’s dramatic fall from Heaven, the creation of Adam and Eve, their blissful (but short-lived) days in Eden, the infamous temptation, and their ultimate eviction from paradise. Along the way, there’s a war in Heaven (didn’t exactly keep me on the edge of my seat), plus some deep philosophical chats between Raphael and Adam about creation, God, and, well, everything. It’s basically theological fanfiction (I mean it in the most neutral way possible).

Milton, being the good Puritan he was, used these stories to dig into free will, predestination, and conscience. It’s hard not to see Satan as a rebel leader and God as the authority figure, especially when you remember Milton was writing during the English Civil War. 

The poem was widely known but highly controversial and criticized during Milton’s lifetime, however, during the Romantic period, poets like Shelley and Byron “reclaimed” Milton’s Satan as a tragic antihero figure.

Anyway, I had to dig out my old uni notes (and hit up some audiobooks) to brush up on Eve’s role in this whole mess. And let me tell you, there’s a lot to unpack. Mainly because: a) as is often the case with old poetry, there’s a lot to read between the lines; b) classics come with a million different interpretations, and c) there are a few different versions, depending on the edition you read, so it’s easy to get lost in the variations of text, footnotes, and commentaries. (And also d) I won’t lie, it’s a slow, heavy read. At times, I had to resort to the audiobook just to get through some of the passages!)

Here’s what stood out this time around: Eve’s role is seriously hard to pin down, as Milton's relation to gender politics has been scrutinized since, well, pretty much since it was published in the 17th century. (Yeah, I had to pull out good old Google Scholar, watch some lectures on YouTube, and, of course, dive into Muses: An Ampersand Podcast—thanks, Dan and, mostly, Emma.)

What I really enjoyed was reading some modern articles that analyze Eve’s character through the lens of feminism which ties into the song’s exploration of blame and shame—no Wild World pun intended.

First of all, when Eve is introduced to Adam in Paradise Lost, Milton has her momentarily distracted by her own reflection in a pool of water, a subtle but significant parallel to the myth of Narcissus (hint hint). It’s an early indication of how susceptible to being misled she will be later on. But it also plays into this idea that her curiosity and desire—whether for knowledge or just, you know, herself—are somehow “dangerous.”

Now, Eve gets the blame for the Fall because she’s tempted by Satan to snack on the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Sure, she’s tricked, but let’s not pretend it’s all the serpent’s fault—once the idea is planted, it’s Eve who talks herself (and Adam) into it. That shows some sense of agency on her part, right? She wasn’t just a passive, helpless victim; she wanted to prove herself, to be tested, and she took action.

Milton is giving her a bit of credit for having a mind of her own, even if it’s wrapped up in this narrative of downfall. Eve’s curiosity and independence—qualities we might admire today—become her so-called "fatal flaws" here. So, yes, the story punishes female agency, but it’s undeniably there. And in a world where women were (and still are) often written as powerless, it’s refreshing to see Eve at least take some control, even if the outcome is a bit... unfortunate.

Now, let’s be real, this whole negative portrayal of Eve isn’t shocking. Milton was writing in a time where misogyny was baked into pretty much everything (which, sadly, isn’t all that different from now). Eve’s agency and sexuality are framed as the ultimate cautionary tale: women’s sexuality and agency are seen as inherently dangerous and something that inevitably leads to moral fallings.

But despite it all, towards the later part of Paradise Lost, Eve does get a kind of redemption arc. I came across one scholar who referred to the concept of felix culpa, a phrase in Catholic tradition meaning "happy fault" or "blessed fall." Eve might be responsible for humanity’s downfall, but her actions also set the stage for the coming of Christ, making her "mistake" a necessary part of the larger divine plan. It’s a bit of a paradox—how can something so disastrous lead to something so positive?—but the idea is that certain misfortunes can eventually lead to greater good.

Milton leans into this in Book 12, where Adam says:

"O goodness infinite, Goodness immense! That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good; more wonderful Than that which creation first brought forth, Light out of Darkness!"

So, in a roundabout way, Eve’s fall isn’t all doom and gloom—she’s the necessary catalyst that sets God's plan into motion. In fact, scholars have started to reframe Eve’s role in Paradise Lost as something more empowering than it initially appears. Traditionally, Eve’s been seen as the ultimate cautionary tale, blamed for humanity’s fall and cast as a symbol of female weakness and danger. But if you look closely, there’s something subversive in the way she’s actually the mover of the entire plot.

Eve isn’t just sitting around passively following orders—she actively makes the decision to eat the fruit, which, yes, brings about the fall, but it’s also what triggers the eventual coming of Christ and the possibility of redemption. Without her action, we’d all be hanging out in Eden, stuck in a static, sheltered existence. In a way, this is Eve taking control of her fate, making a choice, even if it’s framed as "wrong."

Plus, while Milton definitely punishes Eve, her agency is undeniable. Adam is kind of an afterthought in the whole thing—Eve is the one who steps outside the box, embraces curiosity, and disrupts the status quo. To modern feminist readers, that kind of defiance (even if it’s punished) reflects the strength of a woman asserting her independence. Raphael even calls her "the mother of humankind," acknowledging her dual role. She is both chaos and creation—a symbol of disruption but also the source of life. So, in a way, Eve’s choice is what makes humanity... well, human.

I like how in the song, there’s also a sense of Eve having an agency and a mind of her own. The chorus highlights Eve’s struggle with the idea of being “made for” Adam—“When they say I was made for you... made from you”—and the frustration of biting her tongue, which relates to how her love for Adam intertwines with her need for independence.

That’s it for this post! I’ll be back soon with more book picks for the next track. Let me know if you’ve read these or if you have any thoughts!

Feel free to share your thoughts and any other book suggestions as well!

With love,

Cat

[askbrozone]

OFFICIAL BRO ZONE INTERVIEW:

Interviewer: Bro Zone! So good to see all back together after twenty years of being apart! How does it feel?

Floyd: nerve wracking but it’s awesome to be together again

Interviewer: I mean this isn’t only just a band reunion, it’s a family reunion-literally!

John Dory: yep, haven’t spoken to each other in 2 decades and now here we are again!

Interviewer: was getting the band back together something you all decided easily or what was the process?

Floyd: Well it was just because of that whole thing going on in mount rageous with the twins, but then you know as the months went on and we hung out more we where all kind of like-man I really missed making music together

Clay: yeah and then Queen Poppy came to us like “hey do you wanna perform for your fans, ? Let them know you’re together again, theres a lot fans here that have been fans since the 90’s” and we couldn’t say no of course and performing again on stage on vacay island was just so, Exhilarating, I had that exact same feeling when we where in mount rageous doing the perfect family harmony, just like “man I’ve really missed this” the energy, the cheering

Interviewer: speaking of the Queen-Branch!

Branch: ha yeah

Interviewer: Cutest couple ever, I mean, pop star and queen of pop? What could be better

Branch: it really is something huh?

Interviewer: did she know at all?

Branch: nope, but to be fair, I didn’t tell anyone at all

Interviewer: you also recently revealed that you’re in another majorly famous boy group, Kismet, and you where the beloved hidden fifth member! How did you manage to keep that a secret?

Branch: honestly, I have no idea, pure luck to be honest

Interviewer: so branch has been out saving the world and being a pop star. What about everyone else? Floyd I know you’ve toured and released some solo music

Floyd: yep! Probably won’t be anything for a bit while we work on our stuff as a group bit hopefully I can find time to get new solo stuff in

Clay: Princess Viva and I where co running a group of pop trolls who hadn’t made it through the tunnels during the escape

Interviewer: so what’s you relationship with the princess?

Clay: announcing it here for the first time by the way-we’re actually engaged

Interviewer: Wow congrats!! So seems like you two have the same type

Branch: haha yeah, took me by surprise when I found out him and viva had been dating

Interviewer: and Bruce-the heartthrob, first to start a family?

Bruce: haha yeah! 15 years together…13 kids

Interviewer: how did you stumble upon the island? I mean it outside of trollstopia right?

Bruce: yeah it’s on an island…i just, walked you know? Just kept walking until I made it to the ocean then I traveled across until I found an island which so happened to be vacay island and I’ve lived there ever since

Interviewer: John Dory-I think besides Clay the least is known about your whereabouts, what have you been up to?

John Dory: living off the grid man-Hiking, surviving the wild

Interviewer: is it weird going from that to this?

John Dory: extremely

Interviewer: I’ve noticed compared to your interviews twenty something years ago, you aren’t speaking as much as back then

John Dory: yeah, I learned that I need to give my brothers a chance to speak instead of speaking for them

Floyd: he’s growing

Interviewer: of course I’ve gotta ask-is there an album in the works? Maybe a tour?

John Dory: no tour yet, we want Floyd healed up 100% but hopefully soon we can

Branch: but we can say we do have something else cooking in the studio, But I can say along with that we will be releasing our song Family that we performed at our reunion show as a proper studio single coming very soon

Interviewer: well I’m super excited and I know all your fans are excited as well-are you guys surprised that your fans from 1993-1999 are still here obsessed

Clay: oh definitely, I thought we would’ve faded out by now but we got to the village and the reaction was insane-and all the fans singing along and cheering for us at the show was wild

Bruce: yes, and we want to say thank you to the fans for never giving up on us even when we gave up on each other

Floyd: we promise to make everyone proud with our new music and the new era of BroZone

Interviewer: well thank you all for taking the time to speak with me today

John Dory: thank you for having us!

Interviewer: and I will be making sure I get tickets to every show

[seraphirism]

Hello, 🐈‍⬛anon is here!!

Sadly, I don't have really an opportunity and mental strength to give akuneko enough time, work's taking a lot from me☹️I still didn't even read the Butler's Wedding Party, I'm so far from the fresh events, gosh... I guess I'll have to force myself to catch up otherwise I'm scared that I won't be able to do so and the game will be closed by the time I'll have enough time (sorry for the dark thought I just was scarred by how Senjuushi was closed TWICE and I didn't had enough time to at least read the main story😭)

Anyway, I'm really hyped up for the Sanrio Collab Halloween!! Very interested to know what happened that sanrio pookies suddenly came to the world of our butler pookies (is it bc the third ultimate bbgirl of this title Bellen woke up?/j)

hii, 🐈‍⬛–anon (*^▽^*)!! hope you’ve been doing well!

I totally get it. since the summer event (the cruise one) i haven’t been too active as well 😭 i just login from at least once in two-days so i can collect enough gems (the ones needed to unlock memories of the butlers in the album).

and I’d say many of the events are filler content with lore dropped in small bits. they’re not extremely connected so you wouldn’t be missing out on much if you read the recent events for now and leave the previous ones.

god, don’t scare me, 🐈‍⬛–anon 😱 aknk won’t end it’s services ✨ it’s doing very well (like its always on top 15 or above in rankings) so it should be very unlikely (devs, please don’t think about it 🙏)

you played senjyushi too?! I played it as well \(//∇//)\, not the older one but the Rhodoknight one that ended its services this year. it put me in such a slump when it ended its services. i knew it wasn’t doing the best (it was literally 31 in ranking 😭) but god i loved it too much.

i started playing it a month after the new game launched. what got me into it was Snider 😔💖

I have gotten obsessed with fictional characters from time to time (quite a few i can name) but very few can hold a candle to how i liked Snider ✨ (i read his entire affection story from the older game and my obsession became deeper.)

i literally had every single card of his besides his Halloween card (the purple themed one) + his first anniversary card. i didn’t spent a dime on the game but I grinded hard enough to have all his cards, unlock all event stories of his + anything with him. plus, of course besides Snider, i loved UK’s faction, Kathariste and France’s faction a lot 💞!

I didn’t get to read the last few updates of the main story either 😭 i read till the introduction of the third part of the main story right before the bomb dropped for Like-two—and then they announced EOS and it made me so depressed. Senjyushi R was the reason i tried to learn japanese—it was my favourite game. before senjyushi, afterl!fe had also ended its services so senjyushi was another blow to me.

but I’m glad it’s getting a switch release! better something than nothing! as much as i regret the fact that the story will end and i won’t ever get see Mark, Like-two, Jitte, George, Snider, Enfield and so many more characters again with new content again, I’ll have to satiate myself with what i have 😔

i literally started akuneko because i didn’t have another game to obsess over after senjyushi. i also left akuneko two years ago because i wasn’t able to focus on senjyushi with akuneko 😭 it’s my rebound partner.

back to akuneko, I’m excited as well for the collab! I’ll read the event story in the weekend if i can make time. silent hill 2 remake was released too so I also want to play that (or at least watch the play through 🌫️)

you know, you’ve stated the best reason for sanrio pookies coming into the aknk world—it’s the awakening of the ultimate baby-girl, Bellen. I’m not accepting the reason the writers will choose in the event story—the actual reason in my heart will always be the awakening of Bellen 💞

[pagegirlintraining]

Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @skibasyndrome 🫶🏼

Last song I listened to: Dom sa! by Veronica Maggio. Nothing like Swedish pop music to make the heat more bearable.

Currently watching: Technically Dead Boy Detectives (missing the final episode still) but the sudden urge to finish Gåsmamman has disrupted that plan.

Sweet/savoury/spicy: To quote Sabrina Carpenter: “Notice I didn’t call [the album] short and spicy? Because I like sweet things better.”

Relationship status: single and eating Pringles (that is how that saying goes right🙃).

Current obsession: not just current, but YR.

Favorite colour: Forest green.

Last movie: Probably Burlesque I think. For… reasons.

Currently reading: In the Crowd by @gulliblelemon for fic and book wise some niche as hell regional crime novel called Elwenfels.

Last googled: Molly fish pictures.

Currently working on: getting a full-time job, something for Simon’s month and something else for Simon’s month.

No idea who has already done this but I’m gonna tag with zero pressure @ishotforthestars @gulliblelemon and @iwouldnevergetintofanfic

[tecceran]

Hi Tech!!! For the music ask game, 1, 9, 10, and/or 23 :D

hello fish!! thank you for the ask!! <3

also i’m doing two for all of these because i’m indecisive, want to talk about more music, and then i can do one pjsk/vocaloid related and one otherwise. and they’re in whack order because that’s the order i answered them in.

(also strap in, this got long lol)

★ 10: A song that makes you sad

▸ one more light - linkin park

just the fact that the whole message of the song seems to be “stay alive. there’s always someone out there that cares for you. *i* care for you.” but knowing the circumstances of chester bennington’s death, this song always hits me particularly hard.

▸ cinema - ayase (YOASOBI) - performed by vivid bad squad

right off the bat had to put cinema. the blorbo feels are real. every time i read the lyrics while listening to it i want to cry (or i do cry). akito shinonome what have you done to me. (told me there’s always hope is what he did. look at him. he gave me bittersweet hope.)

★ 23:A song that you think everybody should listen to

to me there’s two ways to read this prompt. “i think everybody should listen to this because i’m obsessed with it” and then there’s “i think this is a good song for everybody to listen to”

first option ▸ “ÅMARA (the great intelligence)” - sasakure.UK!!!!!!!

i have fallen in love with the otherworldly sound and the sci-fi/post-future visuals of the MV. also miku and kaito just sound beautiful. i do appreciate very realistic vsyth tuning, but i also really like when composers lean in to the inherent electronic sound to produce something that feels incomplete when sung by humans. however i would say the MV calls for a minor body horror warning and an eye contact warning!

second option ▸ “a symptom of being human” - shinedown

shinedown is a solidly “dad rock” band, but because of my dad it’s very special to me. also i am a huge sucker for any song that’s message is “we’re all human. we’re all a little weird, but we’re all still people.“ even if it’s a little cringe i still always love it. i think everyone feels at some point like they’re somehow different than everyone else, an alien, an outsider, broken somehow. so i love any song that says “that’s OK. we have differences. but we are all still humans, and we all deserve to find happiness and peace of mind because of that.”

★ 1: A song you like with a color in the title

▸ white rabbit - egypt central

gonna be honest, i don’t know anything else by this band. think this is kinda their one big hit

▸ close to gray / infinitely grey / kagirinaku haiiro e - surii - performed by nightcord at 25:00 / 25-ji, nightcord de.

shinonome siblings’ comms never miss let me tell you. they’re also literally both me. like i relate to ena in many ways. both shinonomes mean so much to me </3

★ 9: A song that makes you happy

▸ upside down - set it off

this song is like whatever the reverse of personification is for a silly little guy. it’s a little dumb and dorky but the stupidly upbeat protagonist never fails to make me smile because it’s so hilariously optimistic. i know a lot of set it off fans (at least the ones i know irl) prefer their heavier albums (and i’m really happy with the singles they’ve been putting out since they got away from that label) but upside down always feels to me like the band themself wanted to experiment more with making lighter music, rather than them being pushed that direction by the label (which i feel happened somewhat with elsewhere)

▸ wah wah world - giga and mitchie m - performed by hatsune miku, minori hanasato, and azusawa kohane

this song is also very silly and fun. it perfectly fits minori and kohane to me. two cute girls with a lot of determination and a bit of an “edgy” side! it’s also way better than sekai (the song). sorry but it’s true idk how it happened

[allnightlongzine]

“How I Discovered My Chemical Romance 15 Years After the Rest of the World”

May 25, 2020 | Scott Raymer | concertcrap.com

To obsess or not to obsess.  That is the question.  My apologies to Shakespeare. I tend to lack focus in many aspects of my life.  Bouncing back and forth between learning a foreign language, playing guitar, photography, and many other endeavors. However, when it comes to music I can become obsessed and fixated on a single artist, song, or album.  I mostly ignore radio and have a habit of listening to a single artist for months or sometimes years while ignoring others.  I have gone from the Beatles��to Olivia Newton-John to Duran Duran to Green Day to Amy Grant to Sum 41 to the Sick Puppies back to Green Day.  The result is that I miss out on a lot of great music unless I manage to catch something on TV, due to not paying attention.

Sometimes it can take me years to discover a band.  This happened recently.  Around six months ago I started seeing all this chatter on Facebook about this band called My Chemical Romance.  My Chemical Who? The name triggered some deep memories making me think that maybe I had heard the name before. A quick search of Apple Music displayed a long list of songs by the band. The first song on the list was “Welcome to The Black Parade”. I clicked on the song title and began listening to see why people were so excited about this band.  It started off with a slow piano intro, followed by some mellow vocals by Gerard Way, which gradually increased in intensity.  I was rapidly losing interest and the finger was just getting ready to swipe the app closed when at 1:48 into the song, Ray Toro and Frank Iero’s guitars kicked in. My finger instantly pulled away from my phone.  I started listening intently and by the time Way got to “And through it all, the rise and fall, The Bodies in the streets” I was hooked.

Moving down the list brought songs like “Teenagers”, “Helena”, and “I’m Not OK”.  Even though I am long past my teenage years and missed the Emo movement by a couple of decades, these are all songs that I can still relate to and which take me back to life as a depressed, harassed, bullied, suicidal tempted teenager.  Some of us never truly become OK. When I got to “Famous Last Words”, I was totally blown away and my obsession began.

One of the things I find interesting about the great bands is how they transform and evolve. I saw this in both of my favorite bands, the Beatles and Green Day.  The Beatles first US album Meet The Beatles was raw and packed full of energy, but with musicianship which was somewhat lackluster. As they progressed from album to album, you could hear the music getting more and more polished; the lyrics getting more complex; culminating in their concept album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Green Day displayed a similar evolution going from Kerplunk to Dookie to their rock opera American Idiot, with Billie Joe Armstrong transforming his guitar abilities all along the way.

I feel My Chemical Romance’s evolution was more dramatic than either The Beatles or Green Day.  It’s relatively easy to classify both the latter band’s music without much debate.  However, there is no consensus on My Chemical Romance.  Each of their four studio albums, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, The Black Parade, and Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys are each unique and show Way and the band transitioning from punk to emo/post-hardcore to pop-punk with a half-dozen other genres thrown in the mix.  It was as if the band purposely hit the reset button attempting to reinvent themselves with each album.

Not only did the band reinvent themselves with their music, but also with their look.  Way changed his appearance throughout the band’s dash through the first decade of the new millennium.   Going from a dark emo goth in Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, to a Sgt Pepperish platinum blonde look for The Black Parade, to pop punkish red hair for Danger Days.  This change symbolizes what I admire most about the band; a constant changing flux of identity. It is hard to get bored with a band that is always striving to do something different. A band not content with where they are now but being in constant pursuit of what they can become.

It’s been seven years since we last saw the band.  I can’t wait to see want the next evolution will bring.  This is no longer a band of restless youths.  It is a band now composed of husbands and fathers, hitting middle age in a new decade.  How will this influence the direction of the music?  We will have to wait and see.  All I know is that of my litany of musical obsessions, this one may be the hardest one to overcome. Ten years from now I may still be listening to the band, looking back, and wondering what happened in the rest of the music world.

[didnt-hear-cold-as-you-live]

I think Olivia is more popular with teens/18-20 year olds which makes sense, like she’s targeted more to that age group than us in our mid-late 20s right? I worked at a children’s psych hospital on the adolescent units and all the kids were OBSESSED with Olivia it was cute tbh. They’d always ask to listen to I thought Sour was hit or miss but I know I would’ve loved the whole thing if I was a little younger when it came out. Im excited to see growth from her I’m hoping this new album is better

Well so when I lived in Montana is when SOUR dropped, and most of the people around me at that point who I worked with had moved there on summer break from college or doing a gap year, like age 18-22. we all LOVED Sour, like I was very very very immersed in that demo and she was all we talked about and listened to the whole summer. I still am in touch with most of these people and idt a single one of them has thought about OR since then - so while you are right I think the attention span on it has dwindled significantly even so

[irambleaboutthings]

Taylor Swift and the characterisation of “female rage”: A chronology from 1989 to Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (finished)

With miss T Swizzle you never know what to expect when she announces new music. At least after everything we went through in 2020, with the release of two unannounced masterpieces in Folklore and Evermore, the style, stories and theme of new music is no longer as predictable as it might have been with prior releases. I’m not one to complain, the opposite in fact. Midnights is a nuanced and personal look in the rear mirror, full of reflections of past wins, failures, longings and a recognition of hurts caused and received. What happens when a scorned woman, who previously has tried to handle her anger in a dignified way, decides to cut all bonds and unleash her anger? Let’s take a look.

Choosing a starting point for this analysis is tricky. Swift, though barley in her thirties, has by now had a longstanding career and written extensively about her own life. Her first three albums will not be considered, since this analysis will manly focus on female rage in adult women. During the creation of her first three albums Swift was not yet a full grown adult. Red will also not be considered, since even though she by then was in her early twenties, according to my personal opinon she was not yet recognised as an adult by the media. Let’s instead start with 1989.

1989

Her rebirth as a pop star was the first time Swift started to show her teeth. The album’s lead single, Shake it off, is a masterclass in feigning a cool composure and bracing against sharp tongues and daggers thrown in ones direction. But, in Swift’s case, art didn’t imitate life. Tweeting with few filters and criticising the media for their unhealthy obsession with her romantic life was a first step towards showing that, no, she might not actually “shake it off”, and instead building a growing resentment. Her song Blank Space is another example of using humour to cope with the fact that you’re regularly dragged through the mud for public enjoyment and an everloning thirst for scandals. Still, the anger portrayed in this era was more of a tongue-i-cheek style. “Look at me, I’m being slutshamed on the daily but I’m cool and will make a funky little music video about this. I’m so relaxed and calm about this, and I have no trouble sleeping at night.” This essence of not caring was slowly being dismantled by Swift herself while performing at the Grammy museum. Swift uses words such as “obsession” and “insulting” to describe the situation around everyones interest in whom she might or might not date. This slow admission of her not being “cool with it” takes us to her next burst of creation, Reputation.

Reputation

Flying high and shining brighter than ever before ended for Swift during her 1989-era when Snakegate came around and soured the perception of the previously squeaky clean star. Deciding to make the best of the situation Swift ran with the aesthetic of snakes, betrayal and backstabs and created Reputation. Though manly an album about fling in love and beginning a stable relationship away from the scrutiny of the media, Reputation still rekindles the scorned feelings of being thrown to the wolves in-front of an applauding audience. The lead single Look what you made me do oozes with withheld anger, that is still played of through humour and sarcasm. Hiding behind self-irony instead of actually lashing out. Using karma as the harshest threat against those who scorned her and surrounding herself with snakes in the song’s music video creates a caricature of anger, instead of “the real deal”. Similarly the song I did something bad plays more on the concept of her anger, which is apparent, but still played off in a partially ironic way. Choosing to illustrate the essence of her rage against narratives in the media concerning her, being burned like a witch, and possible lovers using her as a ticket to fame and attention, with sounds of machine guns rattling softly diminishes the values of her feelings and softens the blow for her listeners. Using humour, and sugar coating reality, is a commonly used tactic to cope with feeling which aren’t pretty, nor accepted in a societal context. Might this have been the reason why she, during this era, choose to focus on interacting with her fans through extensive touring instead of having a strong presence in the media ?

[carnavoyeur]

Hey idk if your asks work anymore but I was wondering about QotSA and what album I should listen to. I've only heard a couple of their songs and was considering of just doing a listen to their discography.

Asks work, thank god!! Sorry for the info dump. <3

I’m always a fan of starting at the beginning :) Each album feels very unique from one another, but they all sound like QotSA, if that makes sense. The two albums I listened to before really getting into them were Songs for the Deaf (every single fan and I would recommend this one) and Era Vulgaris (underrated, apparently the most divisive before Villains, and my favorite). If I had to recommend a top three to listen to though, I would say their self-titled, Songs for the Deaf, and …Like Clockwork.

A little rundown of each album and then my faves from them under the read more:

Queens of the Stone Age (1998) is quintessential desert rock; it’s sludgy, heavy, and has likely taken psychedelics in the last hour. Like, every stoner QotSA fan I know is obsessed with this album. It’s an excellent blueprint for every follow up album. Josh Homme has his hands basically everywhere on this, from vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, and also producer. favorites: Spiders and Vinegaroons, You Can't Quit Me Baby, Regular John

Rated R (2000) is my least favorite lmao and also a favorite of the stoners. Heavy rock with punk influences, and very much a stoner rock album. This is one of two vocally collaborative albums, featuring bassist Nick Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan (RIP grunge king). I don't have a lot to say other than I don't like 2/3 of the songs Nick sings on. favorites: In the Fade, Better Living Through Chemistry, The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret

Songs for the Deaf (2002) is just, the Queens of album of all time. It's what really solidified them as a mainstay in modern rock. It's a concept album of flipping through radio stations while driving out into the desert. Similar genre-wise to Rated R, but significantly better and stronger. This is the second album to have collaborative vocals, still featuring Nick and Mark. I don't like 3/4 of the songs Nick sings on, but the songs themselves work with the album and don't ruin the fluidity of it for me. Also, drums by Dave Grohl. That's a highlight in and of itself. favorites: God Is in the Radio, The Sky is Fallin', A Song for the Deaf

Lullabies to Paralyze (2005) has a lot of bluesy undertones, and is also just? kind of horny? It plays with the concept of like, children's fairy tales as a way to deal with the Problems™️. It's definitely darker but not like, in a way that's inaccessible and super uncomfortable. This was a bit of a slow grower on me. I love it, though, and it's overall pretty solid. Features the first full contributions from guitarist Troy van Leeuwen and drummer Joey Castillo. favorites: I Never Came, Someone's in the Wolf, Burn the Witch

Era Vulgaris (2007) is. Is. I saw someone refer to this the meth album, and I can't even disagree. It has a lot of bite to it, is more experimental (especially with electronics), and draws inspiration from all sorts of genres. It's considered """less easily accessible""" sound-wise but I think that's just a skill issue on everyone else's part. favorites: Misfit Love, Suture Up Your Future, I'm Designer

...Like Clockwork (2013) would probably be their magnum opus, in my opinion. There was a long stretch between albums because of Josh's health issues, which has influenced a lot of these tracks. It has the first full features of guitarist/keyboardist Dean Fertita and bassist Michael Shuman (my beloveds <3). Thematically dark, has the most amount of guest backing vocalists, and one of the most favorites: Smooth Sailing, Keep Your Eyes Peeled, I Appear Missing

Villains (2017) is so so divisive because of the more obviously stronger pop vibes. It's still a rock album, but it's one of the more dancier ones. This is the only album not produced by Josh, who brought in Mark Ronson. There is a noticeable difference in the way this album is mixed from the others, but I don't care about it personally. First full feature of drummer Jon Theodore. favorites: Head Like a Haunted House, Hideaway, The Way You Used to Do

In Times New Roman... (2023), the Divorce Album™️. Josh went through a crazy divorce, and uh, yeah, you definitely feel it in this. This one is the end of a trilogy and does encompass the sounds and themes of ...Like Clockwork and Villains really well, but with a lot of reminders of earlier albums. It's more guitar-driven and doesn't have any real slow down songs like previous albums. favorites: Sicily, Made to Parade, Straight Jacket Fitting

So yeah!! Like I said, chronology is always a good way to listen and I'd say that's a good choice, but if any of these stick out more to you, check them out first!! My personal top three are Era Vulgaris, In Times New Roman..., and self-titled. I would also recommend listening to Them Crooked Vultures, which was fronted by Josh with Dave on drums and John Paul Jones on bass.

[sammyunhinged]

Yesterday I opened my 1D twt stan account for the first time in 18 months. That’s generally about how long I go between bouts of obsession, at least for the last 4 years that’s been the case. Last year it was Louis’ doc. I hate what it is this year.

I found 1D kind of late. It was 2014. The Steal my Girl mv had just been released. I was 13 years old and up to that moment I’d rejected 1D because they were “too popular”. I don’t remember the exact order of events but it took mere hours to fall in love with every single one of them.

I’ve been a Louis girl from the start but back in 2015 Liam was my close second. I’ve seen people say recent that Liam was no one’s favorite but that’s not true. Gods, I loved him so much. If my twt stan account was anything it was dedicated to Lilo. I waited up every night to see if they had a water fight during their concert that night. I screamed over any small interaction on stage between them since the band went on hiatus. They were my everything. My love for Liam didn’t diminish through everything. I went to his pandemic concerts. I still to this day have his insta and twt notifs on. His TikToks continued to bring me joy.

I’m not big on cancel culture. Anyone who knows me knows that I am too empathetic and have too positive a view on people’s ability to grow and change to participate. But I’m also a victim of abuse. When the news about Liam’s behavior came out I was quick to criticize, rescind my support, and raly behind Maya. Everything she’s said lately has and her book have touched me. I know what it is like to want to help someone and love them, and for them to hurt you in return. His actions are inexcusable. Addiction and mental health do not excuse how you hurt the people around you. That will always remain true and fuck you to anyone blaming Maya or the other women speaking out.

When I learned Liam died yesterday, my immediate reaction was sobs and tears and devastation. The teenager in me is still heartbroken. Yet, the adult in me immediately tried to put up walls. I texted my family calling him a bad person and used recent events to try and protect myself.

Thirty hours later I think I have clearer eyes, though they are red and still wet with tears.

Liam was complicated. He was a father who loved his son. A man who manipulated and used women. An artist and a singer and an addict. He was extraordinarily generous to his fans when they met him on the street, no matter how tired or broken he looked he was always kind. He was an abuser and he was abused. He never failed to give to charity and to support those in need. He had an ego and struggled not being in the limelight. He made people laugh and brought them so much comfort. He said things about 1D that made a lot of people very angry. He unconditionally supported every member of the band. These are all truths about Liam Payne. One part doesn’t negate the existence of another. He was complicated.

I will miss him for all the joy he brought me. I’ll miss his silly TikToks and his music and the fact that Louis would have to yell as him on twt and in comments to get him to answer the phone. I’m grieving the person I loved so dearly though he never knew me. I’m grieving for the father and the artist and the brother and son that he was. I am mourning that we never got his second album, which he was so proud of. I am mourning the fact he never got healing here on earth and wasn’t ever able to make amends and apologize for his wrongs as I so hoped would happen.

Liam, I love you. I miss you. I hope that you have found peace. I hope your family and friends will be able to think of you and be happy again one day. I hope Maya and every single person you ever hurt can find healing even without closure.

[that-darn-clown]

The Entire Mc!Maxx Document In One Convenient Place

Basic info

He/him. Transhet. Asexual. Thinks he might be aromantic due to trauma (knows he’s asexual due to trauma) and that’s valid and chill

Gray lagomorph anthro (doesn’t like to disclose if he’s a rabbit, hare, etc.)

Goes to raves often

Is polyamorous but has not been in a relationship with anyone since his previous ex, as she was very emotionally and physically abusive. Also see above aro questioning.

His right ear has a scar and tissue missing

His favorite movie is Better Living Through Circuitry

His favorite shows are Ren and Stimpy, Ahh Real Monsters, and The Real Ghostbusters

His favorite food is Sonic Tater Tots

He would…

Wear skirts

Adopt a kid

Be polyam

Only wear odd socks. No socks are paired in his sock drawer, he just picks two

Lock the door obsessively. (Locks, unlocks, locks, unlocks, locks)

This is both based on that one scene in Moral Orel and my grandfather, who locks a door and then tugs on the handle and says “This door is locked.” I can demonstrate it easier than I can write it. That’s what I imagine Maxx does.

Sit on countertops

Only like fruit candy, no chocolate

Make at least one single kandi every day

Try to give away at least one full armful of kandi at each rave

Not drink enough water

Want to pick up knitting but not be able to for various reasons (price/availability of material, shaky/hurt hands, focus, etc.)

Skate pretty often

Be totally obsessed with space. Like his THING is space. Has a telescope with stickers all over it. Glow in the dark stars on his ceiling.

Eat hot chip and lie

Dreams

Maxx has a lot of recurring dreams. A lot of them are about Miki. One he can't stop having is him being unable to talk and Miki just keeps insulting him. Saying she's glad she bit his ear, saying she hates him, etc. And he can't say anything. He just cries silently. Then a one to one recreation of when he packed up and left. Then he wakes up with tears streaming down his face.

He doesn’t have any other recurring dreams per se, but he has some recurring themes (hehe dream and theme rhyme. Dream theme. Themes in his dreams. THEMMMMMME DREEEEEEAM.) A lot of nightmares where he just can’t seem to fix something, like he keeps losing an item or someone’s mad at him and he just can’t say the right thing. His good dreams are usually about being in a place he likes. Or that his parents are back and in his life. (He had a dream one time that he introduced Dandy to his parents and woke up and started sobbing because it could never be real.)

He dreams a lot about when he was a girl. When he was a kid he was really feminine, loved dolls and makeup and drawing girls in pretty dresses. He still thinks of himself as a feminine guy, but sometimes those dreams make him a little sad. They also might make him sad from seeing his parents, not just dysphoria.

Fluffy things

He loves cuddling. Loves it so much. It’s got it all: warmth, someone he loves, hand holding, etc. etc.

He walks around the house in skirts all the time. He wears them out too, but when he’s home he’s ALWAYS in a skirt.

He’s polyam, but not in a romantic relationship right now. He needs some time with just him and Dandy (see also questioning aromantic)

His favorite edm genre is happy hardcore (I’m projecting a bit, but I’m allowed to do that)

Watches Ren and Stimpy while making kandi, he has the whole show on DVD. He loves cartoons, especially 90s cartoons (the real ghostbusters and ahh real monsters are his favorites besides ren and stimpy)

Stopped biting his nails AND WE’RE ALL REALLY PROUD OF HIM.

He’d hold hands if you asked, even if he didn’t know you very well.

REALLY GOOD HUGGER

He only uses physical media: cds, dvds, etc. He burns CDs for his friends a lot, usually of his mixes. He loves raves that are album releases so he can buy the cd there. He only watches shows on dvd, it's a fun challenge for him to try to find the whole box set or get as much of a series as possible.

Sits/lays on the floor and sometimes Dandy comes over and sits on his back 

Gets the zoomies and does that thing rabbits do when they do a little hoppy dance (It’s called a binky)

Has to cut a tail hole out of all of his pants because there are very few anthros where he lives and he likes kandi kid clothes. He also makes his own pants with tail hole included to avoid having to slice up clothes lol.

He makes a lot of bed sheet pants since those are popular in the scene and makes tail holes in them.

Gets itchy and scratches his ear with his foot. He’s very embarrassed about it but it’s very cute. It is about the scar tissue though which is not as cool.

Bro can and will kick the snot out of you.

Other folks

Owly (xe/xyr)

Definitely a faery stereotype, very bubbly and fun

Will just be in Maxx’s living room when he wakes up. Just like, eating his food and stuff. Maxx has given xyr express permission for xyr to do this.

Was one of Maxx’s first rave buddies, also was sort of the impetus to Maxx leaving Miki (He thought “oh this is how you’re supposed to feel about a girl. Why have I spent so long not feeling this way about Miki?”)

Their relationship is really close to a qpr but Owly is completely oblivious to any forms of a relationship that can’t be defined by a cup color at a sorority party (see below.) Xe probably thinks it’s just one of those things where xe gets drunk and wants to kiss everyone. It’s not that.

Has a belly button piercing

Spent MONTHS learning sign language for Gnurl

Identifies as a girl but uses exclusively xe/xyr because xe stole those pronouns from a human and they’re all xe can use. Someone tries to use she/her and their fingers and toes switch places (fingers on feet and toes on hands.) Owly has no idea why this happens but it makes xyr laugh so xe doesn’t try to change it.

Gnurl (they/she)

Non verbal! Sometimes uses AAC usually uses sign language

Trans the femme :) 

Found Maxx in the woods after he left Miki. She was just like “Hey is anyone gonna take that?” and then didn’t wait for a response.

They like Maxx because he’s quiet. He’ll sit next to her making kandi and just silently slide singles onto their wrist every now and then.

Collects stickers

Other folks (ships)

Gnurly (Gnurl and Owly)

Current favorite. 

They are so cute together they are so perfect I love them so much.

Owly is so loud, Gnurl did NOT like xyr at first. Over time she found that Owly was actually really nice to have around because xe could do all the talking and socializing.

They are the only ones with amatonormative sexualities so I can draw them [REDACTED]

Gnaxx (Gnurl and Maxx)

They’ve been friends longer than even Maxx and Dandy (not much longer, but still)

Gnurl is very caring, Maxx DESPERATELY needs that

If you like fluff and comfort this is your guy.

Mowly (Maxx and Owly)

Not romantic no matter how hard you try. Screw you.

They are in a qpr. They have no idea.

Probably share drinks a lot. IDK why just the vibe I get (headcanoning stuff for my OWN characters.)

BUGS BUNNY AND DAFFY DUCK VIBES

Mownurl (Maxx and Owly and Gnurl)

EPIC CROSSOVER

Get polyculed lol

They lay on top of each other all the time

Gnurl holding both of them on their shoulders imagine this with me will you.

Maxx being completely oblivious to Gnurl and Owly [REDACTED] thinks they are just really close and thinks that’s awesome :) he’s like “man they sleep in the same bed a lot. And make a lot of noise some nights. Interesting I am sure it is nothing :)”

Owly will spread out on them while sitting on the couch. Xyr head in Gnurls lap and xyr butt on Maxx’s lap and xyr legs hanging off the arm of the couch. 

They all share one brain cell and No One Is Using It.

Bios for site

Maxx

A gray rabbit anthro. He’s a kandi kid and a farmer by trade. His parents passed away at a young age and his siblings left him to fend for himself. His ex-girlfriend was abusive and bit his right ear, Maxx ran away and found his friend Dandy. Dandy took him in and the rest is history. He loves to spin poi and trade kandi, and has slowly been learning to DJ through an acquaintance. He’s in a qpr with Dandy and has been planning on asking Owly to join their qpr.

He/him. Transhet. Asexual. Thinks he might be aromantic due to trauma (knows he’s asexual due to trauma) and that’s valid and chill

Goes to raves often

Is polyamorous but has not been in a relationship with anyone since his previous ex, as she was very emotionally and physically abusive. Also see above aro questioning.

His favorite movie is Better Living Through Circuitry

His favorite shows are Ren and Stimpy, Ahh Real Monsters, and The Real Ghostbusters

His favorite food is Sonic Tater Tots

Owly

A bubbly and fun faery. Xe’s a kandi kid and often spends the night with Maxx. Xe has a loving family who take care of xyr and whom xe works with at a nearby healthcare center. Xe’s been friends with Maxx and Gnurl for a very long time, having met both of them at a rave and immediately getting attached. Xe’s kind of reserved unless xe’s at a rave or with xyr friends, where xe tends to let xyrself go and not be so high strung.

Will just be in Maxx’s living room when he wakes up. Just like, eating his food and stuff. Maxx has given xyr express permission for xyr to do this.

Was one of Maxx’s first rave buddies, also was sort of the impetus to Maxx leaving Miki (He thought “oh this is how you’re supposed to feel about a girl. Why have I spent so long not feeling this way about Miki?”)

Has a belly button piercing

Spent MONTHS learning sign language for Gnurl

Identifies as a girl but uses exclusively xe/xyr because xe stole those pronouns from a human and they’re all xe can use. Someone tries to use she/her and their fingers and toes switch places (fingers on feet and toes on hands.) Owly has no idea why this happens but it makes xyr laugh so xe doesn’t try to change it.

Gnurl

A strong and silent orc. She’s a junglist and uses an AAC or sign language to communicate. They found Maxx when he ran away from Miki, his ex, and brought him to Dandy, since Dandy was one of the few people in the village that accepted Gnurl. Gnurl and Owly are very close, as Owly will stand up for xyr friends no matter what and Gnurl is often discriminated against. Although quiet she is a fierce friend and very talented at carpentry, which is their job.

Non verbal! Sometimes uses AAC usually uses sign language

Trans the femme :) 

Found Maxx in the woods after he left Miki. She was just like “Hey is anyone gonna take that?” and then didn’t wait for a response.

They like Maxx because he’s quiet. He’ll sit next to her making kandi and just silently slide singles onto their wrist every now and then.

Collects stickers

I write??? 

(Nothing is canon to the lore, all for funsies and characterization. It’s kind of a non-canon oneshot.)

“Ugh Owly!! I told you I need fifteen flyers, not fifty!!” Maxx exclaimed.

Owly prodded, “I know that Maxx-” xe lifted the screen on the screen printer to reveal the finished product: number 50 of the flyers. “-but you never know when you’ll need extras. Who knows how many people will want to come to the kandi party?”

Maxx was a little stressed out. It had only been a month since Dandy left and he hadn’t given himself time to process it. To make matters more overwhelming, he had already planned to set up a booth and give out flyers at Game On, the biggest rave he had ever been to.

He had been planning a kandi party with a few of his faery friends, and… well they could get a little carried away. They contacted the people hosting Game On and managed to convince them to let Maxx set up a whole booth with information about his party. He didn’t want to think about what strings they might have pulled in order to get the people in charge to let him do this.

Maxx spun around at the sound of a hammer and nails. “Hey! Please wait to assemble the booth until we get there, okay?” His orc friend Gnurl sat down the hammer, a bit sad that they would have to wait a whole 4 hours. Maxx had only had to stop them about 7 times.

“Okay everyone, listen up,” Maxx barked, “make sure we have everything, let’s check the list.

“Flyers?”

A response from Owly: “Check!”

“Materials for the booth?”

A thumbs up from Gnurl

“Pamphlets?”

A response from all four of the faeries: “Check!”

“Stocked backpacks?”

Finally, a response from everyone: “Check!”

“Alrighty, let’s head over to Game On, everyone!” Maxx was so excited that he gave a small squeak, it was the first time this actually felt like a reality. He grabbed his bag stocked with water, snacks, vix, and his poi and headed out, his entourage following closely behind.

It took them an hour to get there, and then half an hour finding the entrance. It didn’t take a ton of digging since it was such a big venue: a huge ravine that could maybe fit 800 people. Maxx was in awe and could barely hear his friends over the excited thumping of his own heart. The stage for the DJ was set up and the speakers were massive, there were a couple booths towards the back of the venue as well. Maxx surveyed them while his friends chatted with the managers. One of the booths was chock full of album release CDs for a DJ named Crit~whistle, who seemed pretty cool.

“Maxx, come on over!” Owly shouted. His heart started beating faster as he joined his friends and the manager of the venue, Robin, who went by Rob. He leaned down to shake her hand. “Hey Maxx! Welcome to the GameOn family. We’re still setting up and the party should start around sundown. Grab some glow sticks over there, they go quick! Thanks again for setting up your booth with us, it’s nice to have some kandi kids here, it’s mostly techno snobs unfortunately.” She finished shaking his hand as soon as she finished talking and then left to help with the lighting system. Maxx couldn’t get a single word in, but he was okay with that since he was certain that if he did it wouldn’t come out quite right. Rob was fast and sharp, no one got in her way because she simply didn’t let them.

Maxx went to the bowl of glow sticks and shoveled a few into his bag, making sure to get as many different colors as possible. While he was there he checked his bag to make sure he had everything. Water bottle, kandi bag for blind trades, beads string and scissors, flyers, rave id with photon light attached, wallet, and now about ten glow sticks.

When the booth was all done Maxx and Owly sat out of the way of the workers, got out the beads, and started on the kandi. Gnurl promptly flopped down next to Maxx and laid down with their head on Maxx's bag, inevitably cracking a couple glow sticks. She signed “sorry,” and Maxx responded that there was nothing to be sorry for.

Everyone was used to Gnurl using sign language and her aac, so it was odd to see a few workers there look a bit surprised at Gnurl signing. Owly shot them a nasty look and laid xyr head down on Gnurl’s lap. Maxx sighed as he was now unable to reach his water bottle in his bag, now under BOTH of his friends.

Every time that Maxx finished a single it went in the random bucket, a large tub for people to grab a random free single out of. Maxx decided it was a good promo for the kandi party. If he was being completely honest he had never even been to a kandi party, much less hosted one, so he was sort of flying by the seat of his pants. He knew the gist: that it was a party for kandi kids only, to be able to trade and make kandi together, and that he was gonna have Owly DJ there. That last part wasn’t necessary for a kandi party, but it was a necessity for Maxx as he didn’t have the funds to pay a “real” DJ, but he was fine with owing Owly a few favors.

Maxx finally got the courage to disrupt both of his friends to get his water bottle and made sure to leave it where he could get to it. The party was about to start allowing folks into the venue, and Maxx had to stay hydrated tonight. It was gonna be a long night. As patrons started to trickle in he gently pushed Gnurl and then Owly off of his lap and set the kandi bucket on the counter. He straightened the pamphlets and flyers into neat rectangles and watched as junglists and b-boys walked right past his booth. There would be HHC DJs here, right? Why were there no kandi kids yet? Ugh, it really was going to be a long night.

A few faery kandi kids walked in and excitedly took pamphlets, one of them was a friend of Owly’s and they talked for what felt like ages. They took about three singles each to add to their already massive amount of kandi. One took a flyer at Owly’s request and seemed to make a note of the date, which excited Maxx. Maybe he should just let Owly do this! The faeries left the booth and headed closer to the stage, their perfect hair trailing behind just right.

Maxx was always fascinated by faery kandi kids, since their kandi was always top of the line; every party he went to he found a faery kandi kid with even crazier kandi than the last. And it wasn’t just kandi, they had the most intricate light up clothes, glow sticks that never went dead, faery dust “glitter” that glowed all night, hair that stood just right throughout the whole party, and every faery looked better than the last. And they were always so nice to him, Maxx just tended to surround himself with faeries at every party he went to. Of course this party would be different, he would have to stay back at the vendors the whole time. He threw in some earplugs as the announcer got up on stage and sat back on the stool that Gnurl made him, ready for the music to just start already.

The first DJ started to spin and Maxx sat back and vibed for a bit. He’d get up and spin some poi soon but this DJ was more junglist and as much as he loved jungle, it didn’t really inspire him to spin poi. So he just watched all the junglists dance and sat handing out a few flyers for his party.

He had originally planned for it to be at his house, but the more pamphlets and flyers he handed out, the more worried he became. Looks like he was gonna have to book a venue anyways, there went more money down the (rabbit) hole. He wasn’t too worried about the money since it wasn’t going to be a free party, but it was the principle of the thing. Sure he was excited to have so many people interested and it was awesome to talk to so many like minded people, but he had never gotten this much attention before and it was stressing him out just a little bit.

“Owly?”

“Maxx, go, chill out. You know I’ve got this handled!”

“Ough I can’t thank you enough.”

Maxx stepped out from the booth and walked to a mostly empty space and got out his poi to spin a little. It always cleared his mind to flow, no matter what kind of flow it was. Just getting out there and moving with the music lowered his stress automatically, especially since there was so much room here at GameOn. Just a few minutes into spinning there was a DJ change, which Maxx took as his cue to move back to the vendors. He picked up a cd by DJ Crit~whistle while he was walking back to his own booth since he knew he was an HHC DJ, and that piqued his interest.

By the time he had returned to the booth, all of the flyers were gone and Owly was manually adding info to the pamphlets for the faeries that were interested. Maxx almost teared up, he had no idea that so many people would be interested in something he put together. He ran up to Owly and glomped xyr.

“Owly. Oh. My. Gawrsh. I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing here.”

“Maaaaaaxx you’re so welcome, loveyyy!” Owly droned out before xe spun around and, clearly far gone, kissed Maxx directly on the mouth. Maxx stood stunned for a bit while Owly went back to handing out pamphlets like nothing happened. Once Maxx came back down to earth he just started making more singles for the kandi bucket, throwing in a few doubles this time since there was clearly a high demand. Gnurl would occasionally finish one and throw it in the bucket as well. As the night went on and the sun began to peek over the horizon, the kandi bucket was completely empty except for about ten singles Maxx gave to the GameOn crew after most of the party kids left.

“Well!” Maxx began tiredly, “Let’s start packing up, everyone. Gnurl, handle breaking down the booth. Owly, since all of the pamphlets are gone there’s not much for you to do unless you want a head start back to my place.”

Owly laid xyr head on Maxx’s shoulder and, as he often did, he lifted Owly up in his arms and grabbed his backpack in the other hand. Owly clung to him and got comfortable for the long trek back to the house. But before they could make any steps towards the exit, Maxx found Rob to quickly thank her for everything. One 15 minute and very one-sided conversation later, they were on their way back to homebase.

Upon arrival Maxx found that he had lost a chapstick, but it was almost out anyway so it really didn’t matter since everything else was intact and accounted for. He had dumped Owly on the couch and xe grabbed a water bottle that was already sitting on the side table. Maxx and Owly then shed off their kandi they had collected over the night in a pile in the middle of the floor, which Maxx entrusted Owly with putting away since xe was much more tidy than he was. They had combined their kandi collection years ago, and it lived in a rubbermaid tub in the hallway closet, neatly divided between kandi they had made and kandi they hadn’t made. Owly really cared about stuff like that, and Maxx was grateful.

[chorusfm]

31 Years Later: How Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Broken’ Blurs the Line of Fiction and Reality for a Terrifying Experience

What was the first movie that disturbed you? The movie that got under your skin so bad its images haunted your nightmares. A movie where the mention of its title makes you shudder and cringe. A good movie, but you never want to watch it again. Being a huge horror fan, blood and gore doesn’t shock me much. My idea of cozy is curling up with my dog and watching a good horror movie, like The Exorcist. Very few movies scare or disturb me. But when I stumble upon a movie that truly shakes me or disgusts me, it’s something I never forget. For me, one of those movies is Nine Inch Nails’ Broken. Released in 1993 by Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor and Coil’s Peter Christopherson, the movie is a companion piece to the 1992 Broken EP. The record was a response to Reznor’s then-label TVT and former boss Steve Gottlieb. After the success of 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine the label pressured Reznor to create a similar album. Wanting to re-create the success of that album, TVT refused to release anything else Reznor gave them. Not wanting to compromise his music, Reznor demanded his contract be terminated; his request was ignored. This didn’t stop Reznor. Instead, he recorded his next project in secret under various pseudonyms to avoid interference from the label. The music was markedly different from Reznor’s debut album. This was harsh, aggressive, ugly, and intense. There were no catchy songs and radio-friendly singles here. Reznor knew the label would hate it, but that was the point. Reznor and TVT finally reached an agreement in 1992 that allowed Nine Inch Nails to sign to a different label, while TVT still profited from a small number of sales. Freed from his contact, Reznor presented Broken to Interscope Records, who offered him a new record deal, complete artistic freedom, and his own record company: Nothing Records. Along with the EP, Reznor envisioned a short film centered around the songs and linking them together visually. He teamed up with Christopherson to make the Broken movie. Featuring the EP’s music videos, the movie is shot like an amateur snuff film where an unsuspecting victim is kidnapped, forced to watch the videos, tortured, and killed by a masked assailant. Christopherson intended the piece to be “a commentary on the existence of snuff movies and people’s obsession with them.” The movie was so violent, repulsive, and in poor taste, that Reznor changed his mind and decided against releasing it. But before shelving it, he shared the tape amongst his friends with certain parts edited out to identify the source of any leaks if they happened. It didn’t take long for poorly dubbed versions to be circulated in the underground scene. So, who leaked it? Reznor pins it on the Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes. And so, the legend of the Broken movie was born. You didn’t know if it actually existed. It was this mysterious, elusive tape many people claimed to have seen, but few could find unless you stumbled upon it in an obscure video store. It only added to Nine Inch Nails’ mythos. Reznor was already infamous for recording in the house where the Tate-LaBianca murders took Place. He was making films as well? Stories about the tape’s existence would be passed throughout the music scene for years adding to the legend of the movie that was so despicable even Reznor refused to release it. When the internet exploded, it continued to be passed around via peer-to-peer networks. Still, many people hadn’t seen it until a strange incident in 2006. A DVD version of the film was uploaded onto The Pirate Bay by an unknown user called seed0. It even included the oft-missing “Help Me I’m In Hell” video. Many suspected Reznor was behind the leak considering the movie’s high quality and hints he dropped about its release. On his blog The Spiral, Reznor wrote “Happy Holidays! This one is a guilt-free download. (shhhh – I didn’t say that out loud). If you know what I’m talking… https://chorus.fm/features/31-years-later-how-nine-inch-nails-broken-blurs-the-line-of-fiction-and-reality-for-a-terrifying-experience/

[ajoytobeheld]

Gareth Campesinos!' records of 2010

December 2nd, 2010

And so, the moment I’ve been waiting for, my 12 albums for 2010. That averages at one a month </justification for exceeding ten>

I was intending to do this in order of preference, but the late arrival of Kanye convinced me otherwise. Right now I can’t see that I like an album from this year more than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but 12 months ago I’d have said the same about Perfume Genius’ Learning. Making a snap decision now could only cause me to cause some horrific injustice like, oooh, I dunno, suggesting the Marina And The Diamonds record is better than Kanye. Idiocy.

I cannot write about music, so please forgive these descriptions, they’re just to break up the pics, like.

So, in no particular order…

Psychorama – Bathcrones

Bright melodies bubbling atop and overflowing from slow motion beats. All sheets of synth noise and groove. An oddly uplifting record, kinda like a crack of light under the doorframe of a darkened room.

Love King – The Dream

The-Dream’s written some of modern chart music’s biggest hits (Umbrella, Single Ladies) but his solo records show an intelligence and degree of concept that very few people would expect. Dark, self obsessed stuff hidden behind MASSIVE TUNES. Our generation’s Michael Jackson, I tell you.

Carve Out The Face Of My God – Infinite Body

The most melodic shoegazy/ambient record I can recall hearing. Released on No Age’s Post Present Medium record label, this drone is modern day classical music if you ask me.

Autre Ne Veut – Autre Ne Veut

Like every annoying ten-minute trend this year, but with actual worth behind it, a set of bollocks and falsetto. Nostalgic, twisted pop-songs to make your head whir and your eyes cry ice cubes. This is one of my absolute favourites.

Blue Water White Death – Blue Water White Death

Starring Jamie Stewart and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg, this, for me, harks back to La Foret era Xiu Xiu. Centred around acoustic instrumentation and eerie, threatening mantras.

LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus – LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus

Massively succesful year for Zola Jesus’ Nika Roza, whose Stridulum EP has seen her break into a world that I could never have imagined (though am so pleased to see her in). However this, her work with Pocahaunted’s Amanda Brown is my favourite of hers from this year. Mesmerising, minor key and dub tinged, this is pretty trippy stuff.

Dagger Paths – Forest Swords

So happy that this is receiving a late push from the likes of Pitchfork. Wirral producer Matthew Barnes is a gentleman, and produces music like nothing I can recall exactly hearing before. His cover of Aaliyah’s ‘If Your Girl’ may well be my track of the year (actually, no, that’s The-Dreams F.I.L.A., but still).

Suburban Tours – Rangers

Like early Ariel Pink, but less annoying (to my ears). Every AM radio song of the 80s recorded to cassette and played atop of each other over a melted car stereo. But sad, very sad.

Learning – Perfume Genius

The most delicate and tortured music I’ve heard since the highest (or is that lowest) points of This Mortal Coil. Just a beautiful man and his demons sat aside a piano. I’ve gone on about this record enough that if I’ve not convinced you by now, I’m sure I never will.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West

There are no words.

Mare – Julian Lynch

Hazy, folky pop songs made ‘difficult’. Soothing and rewarding.

New Love – Former Ghosts

Industrial, hyper emotional tales of the heart and soul from the composer of my favourite album of 2009. This second full length pays even more attention to detail and space. Somehow more pop and more brutal than before.

Needless to say, I’m excited for all the upcoming End Of Year Lists from certain publications, to see what brilliant stuff I’ve missed out on this year. And maybe yours too?