#this is about the beth may stuff from today

[moonlightkitties]

Arthur Morgan x Reader Part Three

𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓂𝒾𝒹𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒱𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑒. Part One

Part Two

You started shooting once Harley threw you a gun. Glass shattered all around you as the men that were outside shot inside. You let out a hiss as glass pierced your face. You kept shooting, and heard the men either fall over dead or retreat back to the woods. You let out a sigh of relief and looked over at Harley, who was on the other side of the room.

"Do you think that's all of them?" you asked him and he looked out "No" he sighed "There coming back with more" he stood up and beckoned you over "You need to leave, take one of my horses from the barn and leave" you were about to protest but he cut you off "Please" he begged "Leave and don't look back, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" you asked, still hesitate about leaving him to fend for himself.

"I'm sure" he told you firmly and opened the back door. You snuck towards the barn and grabbed the first horse you could see, a black and white mare.

You mounted her and put her into a trot. You could hear people following you so you turned around and tried shooting them. You shot some but still more were following you. You changed courses and rode deeper into the woods and didn't stop until you saw civilization.

You hoped no one would recognize you since you were wanted but then you remember that the government thinks you're dead. You guide the horse into town and shiver. It was the middle of May but the weather was acting like it was the middle of January. Snow would defiantly be moving in soon.

You hitched your horse in front of a hotel and since you had a few dollars you walked in to rent a room for the night.

"Is there anything you need?" the inn keeper asked "A room for the night, please" you said, putting a $1.00 bill on the counter. The keeper nodded "Up the stairs, first door on the right" he tells you, handing you a room key.

You thanked him and made your way up the stairs and found the room. Once you unlocked it and put the key on the counter you practically fell on the bed, exhausted. Once your head hit the pillow you fell right asleep.

You awoke with the bright sun bearing down on your face. You let out a huff of annoyance but figured it was time for you to get up anyways.

You brushed your hair out with your hands since all your stuff, including the rest of your money, was back at camp with the others.

You made it a priority to find Arthur and the others no matter what.

You missed him, his smell, the way he would hold you, kiss you, just being there beside you made you happy.

You missed the others as much too.

Javier's singing and his guitar playing, late night talks with Karen, reading with Mary-Beth, Hosea worrying about you, you even missed Ms. Grimshaw griping on you to get your chores done.

You felt confident and ready to go out and look for them today...until you looked out the window and saw that it was snowing. You mentally swore and your confident feeling went away.

Still, you needed to get more supplies and money.

And what's the best way to find money?

By stealing it of course!

There was a saloon you remembered seeing on your way to the hotel so you told yourself to remind you to go in there tonight and see if there was some drunk men you could steal off of.

You made your way down to the hotel lobby and put the room key on the front desk before leaving. You checked your satchel and found you had at least five dollars. It wasn't a lot but it would most definitely help you survive for a few days.

You made your way to the general store to buy a few things to eat.

You stole a few things too, duh.

It felt weird stealing food because you haven't had a reason too since forever.

The first time you stole something was when you were thirteen, your parents got killed by thieves and you had no where to go. You stole a few things a food from a general store and that's when you bumped into Hosea. He pretended like he was your father and told the lawmen that "It wouldn't happen again."

It happened again, loads of times after that. Hosea brought you to camp and right when you met Arthur you both became best friends, he was fourteen at the time and like yours, his parents were also killed.

You both stole anything the both of you could get yours hands on, stage coaches, home steads, stores, anything that had money inside, you and Arthur stole.

The shop keeper greeted you and when he wasn't looking you stuffed a few things in your satchel. Sure it was petty theft but it was the only thing you knew to do to survive.

After a few hours of stealing, you headed into the saloon, it was small but a basic saloon you would find in the west.

You order a whiskey and got to drinking. The alcohol burned your throat as you drank but you pushed the feeling away. After a few drinks you forgot why you were in the saloon in the first place. Your mind was hazy and you couldn't even keep yourself up.

You groaned as you forced yourself to get up from the bar counter, walking outside in the freezing cold snowy weather. This was awful, you were freezing and you didn't even know where you were going.

You spend at least five minutes standing in the snow storm, dazed and drunk out of your mind until you found yourself mounting your horse and riding into the middle of no where.

[littlewomenpodcast]

Little Women Inspirations: Friedrich Schiller (With Hejar Sinem) Part 1

Introduction

Hello everybody, my name is Niina and welcome to the Little Woman Podcast. Today's comment shoutout goes to @rainbowmilk1996RainbowMilk1996, who left this insightful comment. ”Jo also doesn't really like writing for the Weekly Volcano, she's only doing it for the money and it doesn't even pay well. She's probably lying to herself and saying Everything is fine. I am giving Beth the luxuries I want to give her and she is happy. I am happy. But when Fritz gives his opinions on sensationalism, she realizes what she is doing and stops. Considering the movies don't really talk about what Jo is actually writing about. I can't remember off the top of my head, but murder is mentioned. It can't exactly be all pretty stuff. It is easy to think that Fritz is a generous snob. He is not. People were less desensitized in the 1860s and 70s than in 2022. Fritz is less a genre snob and more not wanting people, specifically children, scared at a formative age.

End quote. When the book Jo is in New York, she actually has two editors. The first editor wants her to write sensationalism. Stories that Jo herself calls trash. The second editor only wants her to write moralistic tales, which is not something that Jo is that into either and it is Friedrich who helps her to find her own way of writing. Why the filmmakers don't show this conflict that Jo has with her editors? And kinda portray Friedrich in a bad light when in the book it is the opposite? That is a very good question.

My today's guest is really an expert on this field. We have talked a lot in this podcast how Louisa May Alcott loved German culture and German writers and now for the first time I have a guest from Germany.

Her name is Sinem and Sinem is here today to talk to us about Louisa May Alcott’s adoration to Goethe and Friedrich Schiller and how we can see the effects of these two writers in Friedrich Bhaer's character and in general in Louisa May Alcott’s novels. If you guys wish to get episode transcripts of this podcast, you can head over to my Gumroad site at at littlewomen.gumroad.com. I have tons of new stuff uploaded there. This is Little Women Podcast, Friedrich Schiller and Goethe, Alcott’s literal heroes.

Episode Transcript

Sinem: Hello, I'm Sinem. I really love Little Women and I also really love the chapters that involve Friedrich and Jo. I was born in Germany. I really love the way Friedrich talks in the novels and yes, I also love this chapter we're going to analyze.

Niina: Yes, I love it too. It's one of my favorites and I also think it's very romantic for everybody who says that Jo and Friedrich aren't romantic. I recommend reading that chapter again. I think the problem is, is that it's not really in the adaptations, but it's so good, it should be there.

Sinem: Yes, definitely. I think mostly in the movies or adaptations I've watched, mostly it’s like Friedrich goes to visit Jo and then that's the end, it's like only one day, whereas in the

novels, it continues. Their partnership continues. Even at the home, not only in New York, but it's also where Jo lives, they have this extreme and powerful bond and it only grows as the longer he stays there.

Niina: Even when Jo leaves New York, they have continued writing letters and I think you can only see that in some of the TV versions, because in the movies you just see them arguing and then they stop communicating, which is really weird, because that doesn't happen in the book at all. Some of the TV shows, they do show that they continue writing these letters and when Friedrich comes to Concord, he's actually there for two weeks or something, courting her.

Sinem: I actually have to say that I really like this chapter, really and I also think it is very important that Louisa May Alcott decided that even when they were apart, they continued writing letters to each other and in the chapter before, Jo reads a letter from Friedrich and she's like, oh, if only he would come and it's like a wish come true to her.

Niina: Exactly. It's this secret wish that she has, that he would return back her life.

Sinem: Yes, and I also think it's very important, because Jo literally craves her company in this chapter, but the thing is, she has her mother with her and also her father, but she even says that she wants to try all kinds of love that exists. She isn't really satisfied any longer with only the love of her mother, of her parents or of her sisters.

Niina: The previous chapter is called All Alone, there's really this long monologue, that she has about how lonely she is and how she longs to find love and I think she says that her heart is so elastic and she would like to try what romantic love feels like. This is such a misunderstood part about Little Women. We have discussed about this before, that people really do not seem to read the book at all when they talk about Jo wanting to be independent or whatever.

Sinem: Yes, and to be honest, I think, even if you are person, a woman, but she already has a partner, it doesn't make them not independent. I mean, relationships can enrich people, and that is the same with Jo, infatuation enriches her, but she still has her independence, and they live together in a very beautiful harmony.

Niina: Yes, and if Jo would have married Laurie, that's when she would have lost her independence completely.

Sinem: I think because Laurie was demanding at that time. You have to take care of me, you are the mother to me, you will take care of me 24 hours a day, and when I'm angry, you will do whatever I want you to, etc. I also think in this chapter, she completely forgets to compare Friedrich to Laurie, and I think it's also a funny thing, because she has idealized Laurie very much, but in the end, she stayed true to herself, and she fell in love with Friedrich, because he is the right man for her. Laurie at that time was not a man. He himself states it in that chapter.

Niina: Also, in this chapter, there is an apology from Laurie, which I find very feminist-thing for Louisa to write, but like we have discussed in this podcast, and you and I have discussed this in our private discussions, this is one of those things that is not in the adaptations either, because Laurie is so incredibly idealized. I think the only version where Laurie apologizes to Jo is the BBC series from 1970s, and most people have not even heard from it, so I am very glad that I get to discuss about the chapter Surprises with you today, because I think this is a completely overlooked chapter.

Sinem: I agree. I also think this chapter is very important for the growth of Laurie, because we have seen him evolving and growing and improving, but this is the climax, because he not only acknowledges his mistakes to himself in the others chapters, but he also acknowledges them to Jo, when he says, I was making a mistake at that time, and I'm sorry, because I think it is, like you said, first of all, very feminist to acknowledge it, that he forced her to be in some things she was not, but it is also very important, because I don't think in many adaptations you don't really see his growth, and it's actually very sad, like there is kind of an apology, I guess, but it doesn't really feel right, because then again in the movies, he never did anything wrong.

[final-girl96]

Broke World: Chapter Thirty-Two

Daryl was coming out of the woods carrying a couple squirrels when I finally made it to his tent. “The hell do ya want?” He grumbled. I sighed and walked closer to him. He sat down on a log he set up in front of the small fire he made and started to dress the squirrels. “I just wanted to see if you were alright.” He scoffed, not looking up at me. “Like you fucking care.” I rolled my eyes letting a scuff out myself. “Of course I fucking, Daryl! Jesus christ, what the fuck is wrong with you? Are you seriously still pissed at me after all these years?”

He didn't say anything, just continued to gut the squirrel in his hand. “Look, Daryl, I have always cared about you. I've thought about you over the years. Thought about what you've been up to and how you were doing. Wouldn't you say that us finding each other at the end of the world is maybe fate?” Daryl laughed, like actually laughed. “No such thing as fate. This ain't no damn Fairy tale. Now leave me the hell alone!” I felt the burning of tears form behind my eyes so I turned around and went back down to the house. Fuck him.

When I got back down to the house Glenn and Rick were packing up Carol's Cherokee. “What's going on?” I asked. Glenn turned to look at me. “Hershel disappeared. We're going into town to get him,” he said. I nodded my head, “I'll come with you guys. Just in case,” I said. Rick nodded, “Yeah, alright. Go get your stuff.” I jogged over to my tent, grabbed an extra magazine for my gun, grabbed my backpack and stuffed a couple bottles of water into it, checking to make sure my first aid kit was still inside.

I opened the front pocket to shove a couple protein bars inside, because you never know what might happen, and saw my badge. I pulled it out and looked at the pendant I had slipped onto the chain I used for my badge. The necklace Daryl had gotten me all those years ago had gotten broken when I was trying to take a suspect down. I was lucky that I found the small pendant. I had slipped it on the chain so it laid behind the badge. I figured it would be safer that way. And then that way It was always with me. I put it back in the pocket with the protein bars, zipped it, and quickly went back to the car and got into the back seat.

It only took about twenty minutes to get into town. It was one of those towns where everyone knows everyone and their business, or at least used to. We parked outside the bar that Maggie said Hershel used to go to when he had a drinking problem back in the day. We got out of the car and headed for the doors to the bar. Hershel sat inside on a stool at the bar, glass of untouched whiskey in his hand. “Maggie send you?” He asked without looking at who it was. “She's just worried is all,” Rick told him.

Rick tried to talk to Hershel; to get him to come back to the farm. He was having a hard time with the whole figuring out that people weren't just sick. He blamed himself for Beth, which I haven't mentioned. Beth collapsed earlier from being in such shock over what had happened at the barn. Hershel still didn't move even after Rick told him what had happened. He asked if Maggie was with her and that was it.

After being there for about ten minutes, two men walked in. One of them was a big fat dude who looked me up and down with a smirk as soon as his eyes landed on me. Dave and Tony, Tony is the fat creep that won't stop looking at my tits. “I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people,” Glenn said, smiling.

“Rick Grimes.”

”How about you, pal?” Tony asked Hershel. “Have one?” He asked, nodding towards the liquor. “I just quit, “ Hershel said. “You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend.” Hershel made eye contact with him. None of us were too trusting of the two strangers. “His name's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them,” Glenn said. “I'm truly sorry to hear that. To better days and new friends,and to our dead, may they be in a better place,” Tony said. He looked over at me next and smiled. “How about you, doll? What's your name?” I stared at him for a few long minutes debating if I really wanted to give him my name. “Yn.”

He smiled and looked me up and down. I wanted to crawl out of my fucking skin at this point. He noticed Rick staring at him and he looked down. “Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop,” Dave said, picking up the pistol he had set on the table. “I'm a cop and so is she,” Rick told him. “I'm Technically a detective but whatever,” I mumbled. Dave nodded his head, not letting his smile drop. “This one was already dead.”

“You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia,” Hershel said, changing the subject. “It feels like we're a long way from anywhere,” Dave said. Well, what drove you south?” I asked. His eyes flicked over to me. “Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 pounds in sweat alone down here.” Tony scoffed, “I wish.”

“No, first it was D.C. I heard there

might be some kind of refugee camp,but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways,

into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing. One guy told us there was the Coast Guard sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands. The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country in Kansas, Nebraska.”

“Nebraska?” Glenn asked. “Low population, lots of guns,” Dave cleared up. “Kind of makes sense,” Glenn said. “Ever been to Nebraska, kid? There's a reason they call 'em fly-over states. How about you guys?”

“Fort Benning, eventually,” Rick said.

“I hate to piss in your cornflakes, Officer, but we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains,” Dave told us. Glenn looked surprised and disappointed. “Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?”

“Sadly, I am. The ugly truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep.” Tony then chipped in his two cents. “If you sleep.” Dave nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?” He asked. The four of us didn't say anything, just looked at him until Rick finally said, “Not really.”

[gavindna]

Shout out to Beth may for the best copy pasta ever 😭😭😭 (under more)

IS THAT A VERY BIG DICK 📏🍆IN UR POCKET 👖or ARE U JUST TAKING A STAND🕴️👏 FOR DEMOCR-ASSY?? 🍑 November 5th - ‼️🚨 It's ERECTION DAY! 🥖🌭 IT'S BEEN A LONG HARD CUM-PAIN 🥵😫 BUT NOW IT'S TIME TO PROVE THIS CUNTry 💪 ISN'T JUST FOR DAMP VIRGINS 💧🤷🏻‍♂️ AND FASCISTS!! IF YOU CARE ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS OR WOMEN'S WRONGS 😈😏 AND BELIEVE THAT MOTHER IS MOTHERING 💅🏻 AND WANT COACH 🏈 TO BE UR DADDY 😖👋🍑 THEN U BETTER FILL THE HOLE 👉🏻🥧 NEXT TO KAMALA & TIM AND STUFF 🧸 YOUR BALLOT IN DA BOX! 📦 MAYBE YOU'RE A rePUBElican 🙈 WHO'S DONE SUCKING DONALD'S HOG? 🤤 WIPE THAT PATHETIC CARROT JUICE JIZZ 🐍🍦 OFF YOUR MOUTH BC IT'S CUNTry 🌮 OVER PARTY, BB!! YOU'RE A VOTE SLUT 🥵 TODAY AND WE NEED TO PENETRATE 👉🏻👌🏻 THAT glASS 🍎 CEILING FOR THE FIRST WOMAN TO PRESIDE OVER THE wHOLE 🍩USA!!! THOUGH WE MAY CUM 😫 FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND BACKSHOTS 😛🍆💥WE CAN UNITE FOR A BETTER FUTURE WITH MORE CUMMIES!! 😋 YOU DIDN'T JUST FALL OUT OF A cocoNUT 🥥💦 TREE AFTER ALL! YOUR VOTE MATTERS LIKE A TIGHT ASS 🤭🍑 THAT NEEDS TO BE FILLED ⛲️♋️ WITH YOUR SEXY CHOICES 🙀🙌✨BECAUSE YOUR VOTE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IS THE BIGGEST THRUST 😮🤰🏻INTO A MORE PROGRESSIVE FUTURE!! LET'S SPANK 👋 THE PATRIARCHY 👬🍑 AND HOPE TRUMP DROPS OUT LIKE A SLIPPERY LIMP DICK 🍝. VOTE FOR THOSE WHO CAN MAKE US MOAN 😩💦 LIKE NEVER BEFORE!! SEND THIS TO 🔟 FRIENDS DOING THEIR CIVIC BOOTY! IF YOU GET 🔟 BACK YOU GET FOUR YEARS OF GOOD CUMMIES! GET 0️⃣ BACK AND YOU HAVE TO STROKE IT AT FOUR SEASONS TOTAL LANDSCAPING 🫵🫡

[pbandjesse]

I am so tired right now. I was so social today and while it was nice to have people over, I really could have used a nap.

I went to sleep pretty quickly after I posted last night and I slept pretty well. I wasn't feeling amazing but it was fine.

My internal clock is very good and I woke up 3 minutes before my alarm went off. I would wash my face and got dressed. I wanted to be out of the bathroom so I wasn't holding up Evan and Noelle. Who would wake up soon after me.

I went downstairs to say good morning to James, after greeting our guests. James had gone kayaking this morning and was making us cornbread for breakfast. I was excited for cornbread.

I would pick up some stuff and put things away. And James would start making coffee and things for Evan and Noelle. We had an hour to hang out. Enjoyed James's fabulous cornbread with butter and blackberry jam. They used more butter in the batter this time and it was such a nice consistency.

Evan and Noelle had to leave at 9. They would actually leave a few minutes after that. I was sad to see them go so early but they had to go pick up a roasted pig for a party. I understood. We are all so busy but I really appreciated them making the trip. And I hope we hang out again really soon.

After hugs all around James would walk them out. I laid on the couch for a few minutes. But pretty quickly went outside to sit on the porch swing. I had sat out there for a few minutes first thing this morning but it was just nice to lay down with a pillow and blanket while the sun wasn't on that side of the building yet.

James would come out to give me a kiss. They went to stretch and get themselves ready for a 30 mile bike ride with Beth (from the museum) and her husband. They are training for a longer tour and this was going to be a lot of uphill. I would wish them luck before they headed out.

I would spend the 4 or so hours doing little things. I did some knitting. I laid out a few of my projects today to try and map out what I will need to make to finish them. My puff quilt is still only half way done. I want to finish these two smaller projects ASAP. And I need to get my temperature blanket up to date soon. It's nice to have all these projects going. And it's nice to have a plan to finish them.

I would pull out our Ren fair stuff and started thinking about my costume for this year. I have decided I need a simple linen apron. Something with thin strings. I may end up making it myself but we will see what I can come up with.

I would rest for a while. Sometimes inside. Sometimes outside. Crabcake and Sweetp were enjoying the nice weather. Once the sun came to the backyard I would come back inside. I tried to eat lunch but it hurt my stomach really bad. I would have a popsicle. A grape one. And I just focused really hard on being hydrated today. Putting a coffee lid on my water bottle helped a lot. I think being dehydrated has exacerbated how bad I've felt. So I am making a very big effort, even though I'm finding it very hard.

I would take a bath at 11am. I was feeling weirdly itchy and my skin was very dry. So a nice bath and scrub and nice lotion after made me feel a lot more like a person.

I would spend a little time putting things away and making outfits for the week. I was in a good mood.

Jorge would text me to check in about visiting. I let them know that James was planning to be home around 2 so to aim for then. They said that was perfect. They would do laundry, since they are flying back to Spain tomorrow.

I would rest on the couch. I almost fell asleep but I didn't have enough time to actually nap. And pretty quickly Jorge was knocking on the door.

It was really nice to have him over. I showed him the whole house. And we would hang out on the couch until James got home. James was exhausted. It was a tough ride! But they had fun. And would go clean off.

We would talk about camp and Spain and books and art. Video games. Life. James would pull out the bucket grill and made is hot dogs for lunch.

I was doing really good keeping it together. Eating was very slow. And I was just enjoying the company and chatting. James would show us a trailer for a video game about a detective frog and we would end up buying it. Maybe I'll play that later this week.

Eventually James would leave to go do laundry. Said goodbye to Jorge and wished him luck on his travel home. And then me and Jorge spent the next hour or so talking about AI as a tool, modern and contemporary art and how so often you have to spend time and research to really understand what they were trying to say with their work, and about books and authors we love. I told him about Karen Russel and her short stories and how much they impacted me. It was just really a lovely afternoon.

I was getting tired though and Jorge had a dinner to go to. So after showing him my current knitting stuff he would call an Uber and headed home. Big hugs and well wished all around.

I was proud of myself for not feeling sick but apparently I just held it together until then. I would pretty quickly fall apart.

I took my medicine and drank water and laid down but would just end up quickly crying until James got home.

They would put the laundry away and came and gave me a cuddle. And then went to enjoy their evening in the kitchen.

They need me a potato dish for dinner. And then jumped into Angel food cake and pasta making. Since the angel food cake needs egg whites and the pasta needs the tools, it's kind of perfect to make together. I am very excited for the angel food cakes. They made them for me a lot last year and they are so nice. Way better then the ones from the store, which almost are always to dry or sharp tasting. It will be a really nice treat for tomorrow.

And tomorrow I have work! I'm doing low ropes at camp for the highschool that comes their first week of freshman year and their last week of senior year. I always like working with this group. And the groups are supposed to be really small tomorrow. But I think it'll be fun. And hopefully I feel good and can just be positive. I am going to just really focus on having a good day. And then coming home to take a nap.

I am going to go get ready for sleep now. I hope to just get a lot of rest and feel great tomorrow. I hope you all have a great night. Stay safe, wash your hands. Until tomorrow.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Soo Emily's music video "B or C for effort" was released today and I got some Beth vibes from the video, especially when she wakes up under the tree and stuff. Maybe there's also something else I missed. Didn't really look much into the lyrics either yet.

Anyway, she literally just posted this on her IG stories and oh my!

I was initially like "wait what is NDE", so I googled it and I was like ohh, but then I was like OHHHHH. Definitely feels like she's hinting at something, who knows what that might be😂

Yeah this definitely made me 😱😱😱.

If you watch the video, it most definitely implies that the whole thing is a dream sequence. Like, she literally falls asleep at the beginning and wakes up at the end. (The TDer in me wants to compare that to her waking up at Grady, but I won't.)

So, for Emily to claim that it's a near death experience is super random.

As for the lyrics, it's mostly about a romantic relationship that didn't pan out. She basically says she hopes they both come back stronger from the heartache and that a "lesson is learned for the next one." To use one of the TWD writer's words, it sounds to me like this relationship had some sort of "underlying toxicity." That's what they said about Daryl and Leah. My point is that everything Emily says in this song could be applied to Daryl and Leah.

And I don't mean at all that she wrote it about them. Rather, I think it may be a hint that, like Daryl, when we see Beth again, she will have grown and have had relationships that turned really toxic. They both have, because obviously those weren't soulmate relationships. But now, the "next one" WILL be the soulmate relationship, because they'll find each other again.

At least that's how I've got it worked out in my TD-obsessed head and I'm sticking to it. 😉Thanks Nonny. Can't wait for tomorrow's episode of DD to drop. Xoxo! 🍁🍂���

[canary0]

July 21st - Dracula 2023

(A/N: Stuff that happens in later chapters.)

The Diary of Miss Mina Murray

It's been a few days since I had time to make an entry. Our arrival was busy, and a happy one. When we landed at the airport, we were surprised to see Mr. Hawkins waiting for us outside of customs, despite his arthritis flaring up, and he brought us to his home in Exeter, not far from our apartment.

We had dinner together, and after a lovely meal, he came out of the blue with something unexpected.

He said, "Jonathan, Mina. Let's drink to your health and your upcoming wedding, that you two may have all the happiness and prosperity the world can offer. I've known you both since you were children, and it's been my privilege to watch your grow into adulthood. I don't have any children myself, and I hope you will take it with good spirit when I say that I look at you both as my own. I'd like to invite you to move in here - I have more than enough space, and you will need more than your apartment. You can consider it a preliminary step in some ways - I've left you both everything in my will."

Jonathan took his hands and was too overwhelmed to speak for a moment before he uttered his deep gratitude. I could see tears in his eyes, and I cried as well. We've been busy setting up our room and establishing ourselves, as well as ending the lease at our old apartment. It took a lot out of Jonathan in his current health.

However, finally, we packed up and took the train out to Whitby. It's the first day since his leaving the hospital that he's been able to go out without an N95 mask, per Dr. Stankiewicz's orders, and I don't know if it's that or the sea air, but it seems to have invigorated Jonathan. He looks better recovered than he has since I've seen him, with color in his cheeks and the circles under his eyes are less heavy. I'm so glad.

Lucy was effusively happy to see us, immediately hugging both of us. We were finally introduced to Lucy's "curly-haired man", Arthur Holmwood, a laconic but kind sort of person with a quiet dignity to him. He and Jonathan are getting along well, and he's promised to introduce us to friends of his that are in the area currently.

At some point during the conversation, I admitted that since our intended wedding was relatively small and I was so busy, I hadn't had time to get some of the basics arranged, like cake, dress, etc. She was absolutely (affectionately) appalled, and insisted that we would be starting tomorrow. I admit, I'm excited.

For today, Jonathan, Lucy, and I took a walk, heading up to an old abbey on a cliffside, where there were a couple of benches and a beautiful view. Jonathan was enraptured with it and took several photos with my camera - we still need to replace his phone and computer after they were... lost.

(Photo from Beth Ellin, Jul 12, 2019, https://www.visitwhitby.com/blog/199-whitby-abbey-steps/)

(A/N: I might use Dr. Stankiewicz more later, since she treated Jonathan for acute Vampire Nonsense first, and it may not be the first case of Vampire Nonsense she's dealt with. Plus, she knows the history of the disappearance cases. OC, I suppose, but hopefully not an obnoxious one. One of my favorite character beats is a doctor who is REALLY INTENSE about the Hippocratic Oath.)

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (12-18 May 2024)

the fucking contempt that dripped from his voice!

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 Tea and No Sympathy (who_la_hoop) - 70K, drarry - enjoyable enough, set 2 yrs post war, draco gets stuck in a time loop & learns some things

😊 That's What You Get For Waking Up In Vegas (Oh_i_swear & ThePirateStorm) - 96K, shrunkyclunks - cute & entertaining - ymmv depending on your threshold for lots of britishisms in the dialogue of two ostensibly american guys + highly unrealistic kid behavior

😊 head above water (yourblues) - 91K, hocky rpf, started almost too slow burn for me since I don't know the characters involved but well written & compelling enough that I wanted to know & then about halfway thru I was fully in

😍 This, You Protect (Infinite Coffee & Protection Detail #1) (owlet) - 64K, recovering WS Stucky, one of the preeminent classics in the Stucky fandom featuring Cat Eleanor, The Olds, grilled cheeses and sheep pj pants.

💖💖 +56K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Kelly, the Well-Meaning and Very Confused Barista (chaya) - MCU: barbershop quartet, 6K - "An outside observer confuses the 'barbershop quartet' as one woman with a really bad habit for cheating. Complete fluff." - I really love a well-done outsider POV

and now you will not be alone any more (pocky_slash) - X-Men: cherik, 5K - "Erik gives driving, sewing, and cooking lessons, soothes nightmares, bolsters self-esteem, and still can't figure out why Charles keeps smiling at him like that." - love stories where Erik's like a feral cat that accidentally domesticates itself without realizing it

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Girls5eva - s1, e2

That '90s Show - s1, e1-2

The Unicorn - s1, e1-2

QI - series U, e9-15

Murdoch Mysteries - s16, e21

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s10, e3

Dead Boy Detectives - s1, e1

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Ragenarok (Part 1)" (s21, e19)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Only Cowgirls Get the Blues" (s16, e19)

Doctor Who - s1 (series 14), e3

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Musée Mécanique

Re: Dracula - May 12: What Manner of Man is This

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - To the Moon and Back with Rebecca Boyle

Shedunnit - Bonus: The Chalet School

The Sporkful - Bringing Georgia O’Keeffe To Life With Her Recipes

99% Invisible #581 - It's Howdy Doody Time!

Decoder Ring - How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat

WikiHole - Nathan Lane (with Zach Woods, Jeff Hiller and Katie Dippold)

Under the Influence - The Gong Show: Ads That Could Never (Ever) Run Today

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum

WikiHole - Patrick J Adams (with Bowen Yang, Mary Beth Barone and Marie Faustin

Points North - The Legend of Heike's Tombs

The Allusionist - 194. Word Play 4: Good Grids

Pop Culture Happy Hour - I Saw the TV Glow is weird and transfixing

Switched on Pop - Is pop music just fast food? (with Gastropod)

The Fandom Show - 29: The Golden Girls (with Tricia Black)

Dinner’s on Me - Zachary Quinto

99% Invisible #582 - Rocket Man

Vibe Check - Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud

Re: Dracula - May 15: Lizard Fashion

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Looking to the past and future of Black Twitter

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Underwater Sculpture Gardens

Welcome to Night Vale #248 - Mother Lauren

The Fandom Show - (NEW) Doctor Who

Re: Dracula - May 16: This Man Belongs to Me

Wild Card - Why Chris Pine gave up on being perfect

Wild Card - Chris Pine on performing the role of "movie star" + more Issa Rae (Wild Card+)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Gabbing Goblins with Colin Dickey

Dinner’s on Me - Harry Shum Jr.

Persuasion by Jane Austen - Persuasion 1. | Meet the Elliots

The Fandom Show - Our Flag Means Death

Short Wave - Scientists Reveal Mysterious Origin of Baobab Trees, Rafiki's Home in 'The Lion King'

Dear Prudence - My Mom Forgot to Take Her Medicine and “Accidentally” Made Racist Remarks. Help!

It's Been a Minute - Bumble & the trap of modern dating; plus, living ethically in COVID's aftermath

Endless Thread - Catfish for dinner

Strong Songs - "Easter Theatre" by XTC

Dinner’s on Me - Danielle Brooks

Re: Dracula - May 18: It was No Dream

99% Invisible - The Power Broker #05: Brandy Zadrozny

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Maya Hawke

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Sweetheart Soul

The Romantics Radio • Familiar

The Essential Survivor [Survivor] {2014}

My Supermix

AM In The A.M.: '70s Pop Morning

"Beach Baby" [First Class] radio

[willothewispwisteriadawn]

Yapper anon is BACK Who all do you think will/won't return for the remaster? Meghan Martin we know is returning because of her post on Insta (Cant wait for more Jess. She deserved more screen time). Brett Dalton got a lot of screen time as Mike, so I can see him coming back if they are rewriting storylines that involve him OR if he says yes (He is a whole dad so idk). Galadriel Stineman is pretty much confirmed imo because she posted about it and talks about UD frequently. Noah Fleiss doesn't act anymore but I heard he may be coming back for the remaster! Jordan Fisher, I'm unsure about and from what I know he has a whole family now and is mainly acting on Broadway so if he has free-time I could see him maybe returning, especially since Emily's actress probably is according to what Ballisitc Moon posted. Ella Lentini also posted about it so I see her returning due to the lack of Hannah/Beth we get. Hayden Panettiere I could see coming back for voicing lines or if they change scenes. As for Rami Malek, I see a lot of ppl on reddit saying they don't believe he will return because of his status as an actor. Though I am keeping my hopes low I don't think Rami wouldn't return for that reason. He has talked a lot about how he tries to stay humble and how he is grateful for all the opportunities that led him to where he is today. I don't think he would mind doing at least voice lines.

What do you think?

Hi! Sorry it took me a bit to get to this.

I basically just agree with everything you’ve talked about. These are the things I’ve thought about too.

Yup, Meaghan Martin is confirmed, which is great! If they have new stuff for Ashley, then Galadriel Stineman is definitely back. She loved being in Until Dawn. She’s mentioned really wanting to be in the film and shared/spoke about the remake trailer. And I agree that I think Ella Lentini is very likely. Those are the people I see still talking about being in it and commenting on what’s happening in the community.

Brett Dalton, Jordan Fisher, Nichole Sakura, and Hayden Panettiere seem of about medium likeliness to me. I don’t know of any specific indication that they would be against it, so we’ll just have to see there. Lol, Jordan Fisher is such a nerd. He posts stuff about anime and games and D&D in his story all the time. I get the vibe that he’d enjoy coming back. But who knows about his performance schedule? (Though whatever they do need to record from him is probably brief!)

Noah Fleiss is pretty inactive. To my knowledge, he hasn’t been in anything since 2018 and may just be happy doing whatever he’s doing and being with his family. But there’s also currently no public statement about him being against more acting or that he wouldn’t do it! There was also a clip briefly up on Ballistic Moon’s instagram that showed mocap actors who looked like him and Nichole Sakura (I had to do a double take, but I’m not actually sure that it was). So that’s cool!

Rami Malek…. Everyone is so interested in him! 😂 it is wild how much he’s done in the years since Until Dawn. Winning an Oscar is pretty impressive, and he’s been in more Oscar awarded movies since (I’m still cackling about them introducing a ‘Dr. Hill’ in Oppenheimer, and Rami Malek of all people standing up). I really don’t know though! I do think he seems maybe less likely than the others, but I also am not in the “no way, no how” camp.

I can’t wait to see!

[idv-news-boi]

//Facts about Laurence//

I looked through very old reblogged prompts and decided to do justice myself and answer the ones i preferred :DD

Laurence tends to act around differently depending on the people he is with. He's equally patient to anyone, BUT EXTREMELY patient to kids and younger people.

Heck, i think depending who is who, Laurence would behave differently at a rate that seems,,, tolerable, sometimes not always entirely that way/IH. He is very patient and sweet talking around Beth, looking honest and sincere when it comes to Pearce, happy and bubbly around Angeline, obedient and flirty around Angel, etc.

Laurence looks like he can be a leader! Well, he can. He won't mind to step in, but in reality, he's not the true leader in his book,,, *looks at how Laurence follows orders from Hana and Sastre only*

Is a bit of a challenge to get Laurence embarrassed ngl, like, he has lack of shame sometimes or looks like he's too silly oblivious to care/ih. Probably when someone suddenly asks him to do something extremely intimate on them, that's indeed embarrassing -

Some people may not know but when the words go like this, it means he's using his radio voice. (At first, o thought the voice would come from his headpiece, but is actually a natural ability of his since he's very connected to radios in his past life,,,)

Laurence does coin tricks, and a few card tricks like neatly shuffling and moving his commander cards, he has lots of them underneath his sleeve,,,

Laurence often treats himself by eating a lot of food- also travel and have an adventure! Getting treated by someone? No chance, but he'll let a friend do it a few times if you have fun that way.

Laurence is very used to sleeping by himself in one bed like a big man/IH. Doesn't mind to share a bed with someone, he won't be a bother(he'll just shift once in a while but lever hit your or crush you in your sleep lol). He loves camping, and usually sleeps just fine when camping djfbnfnf

When Laurence says "I have a bad day today,,,", Akihiko just knows that it means "nothing eventful has happened today" or "only messed up crap happened in the news"-

Laurence is an honest man, but he tends to miss certain parts of the truth intentionally. So he gives white lies,,, There are very times where he does lie(especially gaslight) for good,,, like how he would say to a kid that he added candy in the energy veggie drink, but is actually just fruit to make it sweeter with the veggies/ih

Laurence practices a bit of Catholic. Though, he only prays before eating when is formal dinner. He believes that there's one god out there, and only does it to feel okay and feel like there's faith. He technically knows that he'll just go off somewhere once being turned into petals and then wither into nothing when he passes away permanently.

He does take vacation, which is traveling around the world and touching grass. chill/IH.

You think he's a fashionista, but he's just a simple person who likes to think about cool stuff,,,, sometimes silly stuff like mismatched socks every morning/ih

Words that will make his day better... Mmm... To be honest, actions would make him feel better pretty often, like seeing you drink water today :)

[minwilder]

time for a totally self-indulgent roundup of

ten albums that changed my brain chemistry forever!

with commentary! i tried to avoid repeating bands/artists just for some variation here. okay, let's go:

#10: We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong—Sharon Van Etten

this was one of the better products of covid. sharon van etten is insanely talented. also this was sort of the look i was going for when i chopped my hair off later that year; i did not look nearly as cool as she did

the vibe: haunted house after a wildfire

uncontested favourite: come back—sometimes it's just cathartic to scream COME BAAAAAAAAAAACK. you know

unexpected bop: headspace—not the vibe i usually go for, but i like her use of lyric repetition, and that particularly stands out in this song

honourable mention: darkness fades—she has VOCAL RANGE. when this comes on and i'm singing in the car i have some trouble keeping up

notable skip: mistakes

#9: Bloom—Beach House

there are no bad beach house albums, but i have to give preference to the one that got me into beach house. some people would argue that depression cherry is their defining album. as much as i adore beyond love and PPP, it's not.

the vibe: your life is changing very rapidly and you're also a little bit stoned

uncontested favourite: on the sea—it's rare that a beach house song feels peaceful, and i enjoy feeling like i'm floating off in a wooden box somewhere like those guys from madagascar but under a very red sunset. it also might be about dying. i'm not sure

unexpected bop: the hours—this one has more of a jolt of energy than the others, i think

honourable mention: myth—one of the few songs my best friend and i agree that we love, and the first song by this band i ever heard

notable skip: irene

#8: The News Today—Carry Hatchet

chris larkin, absolute icon. incredible actor, talented musician, and, by all accounts (including mine), a really lovely person. this is quite literally a very quiet album, but well worth turning up the volume a few notches.

the vibe: acoustic storm warning

uncontested favourite: eternal night—evocative of that one person from your high school who got married too soon and missed out on some stuff. the last verse particularly is so good

unexpected bop: the only one to blame—i don't know who he dueted with here (i could probably look it up, but i'm lazy) but their voices blend so well

honourable mention: no words—a good instrumental can tie together an album (see: anna ransom's tides EP) and this one fits exactly where it's supposed to

notable skip: no skips!!! this is a no skip album!!!!!

#7: Expert In A Dying Field—The Beths

i'm sorry to say i only just recently got into the beths—around this time last year, i think—but they've definitely made an impression in a short amount of time.

the vibe: getting over a breakup by going jogging

uncontested favourite: keep the distance (demo)—ONLY BECAUSE THERE'S NO OTHER VERSION??? why would they do this to me. good news is the demo version slaps

unexpected bop: when you know you know—you know you know you know you know you know you know you know (etc etc)!!!!!

honourable mention: i want to listen—filed under songs to play right before you get sucked into the christmas music vortex

notable skip: silence is golden

#6: This Empty Northern Hemisphere—Gregory Alan Isakov

now this is an album that aligns with my usual taste. music to play when you're sad but you've got a shift at work so you just hang out in the back room and throw dog food bags around with one earbud in and yeah okay i might be describing an overly specific experience

the vibe: wandering the woods at dusk hoping to befriend a wolf

uncontested favourite: master & a hound—re: woods, dusk, dog food bag depression

unexpected bop: evelyn—there's just something really catchy about it. i tried not to like this one. i lost

honourable mention: big black car—i mean, sorry, this is The iconic song from this album and i can't not say something about it

notable skip: virginia may

#5: I Am Easy To Find—The National

it's somewhat troublesome that i can classify phases of my life going back SEVERAL years by "what mintack fic was i writing at the time." on this occasion, it was january of 2021, and i was quarantining for two weeks in a dorm room with nothing to do but drink the endless cranberry juice they dropped off at my door, watch the insurrection news unfold on twitter, write my mintack wilds au, and listen to i am easy to find over and over.

the vibe: distilled loneliness

uncontested favourite: i am easy to find—simple, but utterly wrenching under the right circumstances

unexpected bop: where is her head—i! think! i'm! hitting! a! wall! i think! i'm hitting a wall!

honourable mention: not in kansas—another one i can sing word for word but i still don't understand some of the references. it goes off though which is what matters

notable skip: underwater

#4: Becalmyounglovers—Bowerbirds

i LOVE this album. it's just, like…fun. fresh. happy. sad. hopeful! regretful! it's great. no notes. i'd maybe change one lyric in the entire album because i don't think they need to talk about hashtags

the vibe: frolicking in the american south

uncontested favourite: all this rain—i initially latched onto this one because it fit the vibes of a book i love but it's just so so good. one of my top ten songs ever for sure

unexpected bop: pennies—there's just something about new connections and starting over and inherent optimism

honourable mention: revel revel—solely for didn't i want it bad enough? maybe i wasn't scared enough. i don't know why that line hit so hard but it did

notable skip: no skip album!!!!!!!!!!!

#3: How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?—Big Red Machine

oooh my god i love a collaboration. i LOVE a collaboration. and they got at least like a dozen fucking excellent artists together for this. bonus points for putting taylor swift on a song where you can barely tell she's there. not because i dislike her i just think it's funny

the vibe: you're throwing a party but it's more group commiseration hours and no one is going to have fun

uncontested favourite: phoenix—how does the wheel not turn hour on hour on hour!!!! fleet foxes came through with this one

unexpected bop: mimi—i will never not listen to this one when it plays. i'm not a music expert, i don't know what weird shit they did with the tempo, but i love the chorus cutting in on that unexpected beat

honourable mention: the ghost of cincinnati—iirc this is the one where they made aaron dessner sing the whole thing alone which is not his usual deal and it was so so worth it. i've never been to cincinnati but i'm nodding along like i know what the hell he's talking about

notable skip: easy to sabotage

#2: Heiress—Novo Amor & Ed Tullett/Lowswimmer

truly one of the albums of ALL TIME. this changed my entire outlook on music in high school. it's the perfect mix of both of these artists—heartfelt, ambiguous, and deeply metaphorical. i think if i mapped these songs out on paper somehow i could draw the lines where ed and ali's contributions meet. this album was taken off streaming for 0.2 seconds and i panicked and bought the vinyl because i couldn't find a CD and i had no intention of losing it forever

the vibe: swimming in cold water but enjoying the numbness in your limbs

uncontested favourite: terraform—another book-associated song i grew deeply attached to. and you can't listen to it without the song that comes after it, freehand. they're a set. do not separate

unexpected bop: anatome—once again i like to test the limits of my vocal range

honourable mention: vantablack—the chorus is a bit of a tongue-twister but that's the fun of it i think

notable skip: no skips. no shuffling. i listen start to finish as intended

#1: Transatlanticism—Death Cab for Cutie

to absolutely no one's surprise…

the vibe: late summer yearning

uncontested favourite: a lack of color—oh my godddd oh my GOD what crack did they put in this song!!!!!

second uncontested favourite: i'm going to break my own rules because passenger seat deserves recognition too

unexpected bop: death of an interior decorator—i was torn between this and the sound of settling but i just really love this one. it's such a sweet-sounding song for such a hopeless character

honourable mention: title and registration—okay, so this is the part where i admit that an enormous chunk of my personality is because i found this band through this song through a kabby (the 100) modern au fic. if you want to read it it's called tabula rasa. of course the song is incredible on its own but i feel obligated to share that

notable skip: no skips. NO skips. skip under penalty of death. if you put a gun to my head i would concede that we looked like giants is at the bottom of the list but i still love it

and that's it! if you read this entire thing, why! hope you enjoyed my incoherent rambling

[rabbitechoes]

there were some really stellar albums this month, but also some ones that broke my brain. the Beth Gibbons album could end up being my album of the year though, such a beautiful record. all in all, a pretty decent month for new albums and stuff!!! also, rest in peace Steve Albini!!! to check out my thoughts on some of the songs that dropped this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons

🥇 BEST ALBUM OF THE MONTH

◇ released: May 17, 2024 ◇ genre: chamber folk

It’s been over ten years since we’ve gotten a new full-length project featuring Beth Gibbons. The vocalist of Portishead has been relatively quiet over the last decade or so, occasionally popping up as a feature here and there. Most notably on Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers where she provided a great vocal performance on the track “Mother I Sober.” Anticipation for a new Portishead album, or even a Gibbons solo work, has never not been high, but that feature sort of reignited things. Two years later, she finally announced Lives Outgrown and it immediately became one of my most anticipated records of the year. This is her debut solo album, but she comes into it with a wealth of experience. She’s been one of the most singular vocalists for decades now, her crooning is immediately recognizable as hers and hers alone. 

This also marks a departure from a lot of the trip hop, electronic, and rock stylings of Portishead, exchanged in favor of a warm chamber folk sound with other elements masterfully implemented into the mix. It provides the perfect backdrop to Gibbons’ musings on life, grief, change, and the passing of time. She’s been writing this record for over a decade and, if you weren’t aware, a lot can happen in a decade. Her writing here is beautiful, as are her vocals of course. She captures so many of those complex feelings perfectly. She doesn’t have all the answers, none of us do, but she’s using the music as a means of finding something. It’s a bit of a lofty comparison, but it reminds me of Karma by Pharoah Sanders in a way. Of course, they��re very different in sound and style, but they’re both about using music to search for something deeper. Something that may or may not be able to be found, but they’re gonna try. They’re gonna take us along for that ride and I, for one, am very grateful. 

There’s not a single wasted second on Lives Outgrown. Every moment, even the quieter ones, is rewarding. These lush, largely acoustic arrangements suck you in, as does her often drawn-out vocal delivery. She emphasizes everything just right, in a way that makes you hang onto every word that comes next. A great example is on the lead single, “Floating on a Moment.” The way she adds a little extra flair to certain words is just mesmerizing. As is the chorus which is one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard all year. Gibbons belting out “All we have is here and now” is life-affirming. Former Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris provides percussion on a number of the songs here and his contributions are so valuable. His drumming has this weighty weightlessness to it. It’s so present, but it’s also light. Not abrasive in the slightest. The way it tracks under the acoustic guitar, the soft strings, and Gibbons’ vocals on the opener “Tell Me Who You Are Today” is amazing. They’re even more present on “Burden of Life,” they’re like thunder rumbling in the distance. That track is another one of her strongest lyrical moments. It’s nostalgic, almost eerily so. She ruminates on generational love presumably as both a mother and a daughter, she’s a very private person but her own description of the record cites motherhood as one of the main themes. It reads as if she’s grieving over the loss of someone in her family or perhaps her past self. She ends the song by singing “And the times never right / When you’re losing a soul.” Whether that be her own or not, it’s an incredibly moving piece. We’re all subject to the passing of time and we change no matter if we’re ready for it or not.

“Rewind” brings some new elements to the instrumentation. It mixes some subtle Krautrock elements which are such a nice touch. “Reaching Out” expands on that even further to an almost haunting degree. Her thin, floating vocals sound like they’re all around you. Not coming from one place in particular, but circling around you. It has Gibbons proclaiming that she needs someone’s love to “Silence all [her] shame.” It’s the most vulnerable she’s been across the whole project. The next track “Oceans” has her singing “I’ll dive into the ocean / On the floor I’ll gather my pride.” It’s like she’s trying to dust herself off. “Beyond the Sun” is the biggest left-turn here musically. It’s some of the wildest instrumentation on the record with the instrumental bridge having almost this blend of Western and Flamenco music that’s so wild, yet so amazing. Her vocal delivery on the outro makes it sound like she’s on a sinking ship. Despite the gratefulness always present in her voice, it’s very chaotic. This fades into the serene sounds of the outro “Whispering Love.” It has one of those arrangements that makes you feel like you’re walking outside on a Spring day with perfect weather, colorful birds flying overhead, and the grass is the perfect shade of green. Gibbons, likewise, sounds at peace. She sings “Oh, whispering love / Come to me, when you can.” She’s not demanding anything, she’s resigned. Finding some sort of peace or hope despite the ups and downs life throws at you.

Lives Outgrown is a gorgeous, rich record that I’m still picking apart after multiple listens. It’s one of Gibbons’ finest works across her career, ranking comfortably alongside the classics she made with Portishead. It’s one of the most beautiful and moving albums of the decade thus far. Everything is just so well-crafted and perfectly arranged. I’m just absolutely spellbound by this release. It exceeded all of my expectations and more. I can see myself loving this even more over the coming months or even the next few years. This is an album that sticks with you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Here in the Pitch - Jessica Pratt

◇ released: May 3, 2024 ◇ genres: singer-songwriter, folk, brill building, bossa nova

After a 5 year absence following 2019’s Quiet Signs, Jessica Pratt has returned with Here in the Pitch and it makes a strong case for being her best record yet. The elusive singer-songwriter has such a singular sound. No one, that I’m aware of, sounds like Pratt. Other artists might use similar sounds, wispy vocals and minimal instrumentation, but no one does it the way she does. She makes very dreamy folk music. The instrumentation is vivid and precise, but her vocals are simultaneously right next to you and in the other room. Her fingerpicking guitar is at the center of it all, she’s added different splashes of instrumentation over the years, but that remains the same. Here in the Pitch is the biggest departure from that sound thus far, but it still sounds so uniquely Pratt. 

Every arrangement here is so delicate. The lead single “Life Is” is a great example of that. It makes use of mellotrons, a bass guitar, drums, and even a glockenspiel. It doesn’t sound like something you would consider grand, but compared to Pratt’s previous work it most certainly is. She sounds like an ethereal lounge singer. Another big surprise on this record is how Pratt incorporates elements from bossa nova into her sound. It’s flowing all throughout the album. From the saxophone and percussion on “Better Hate,” to the guitar playing on “Get Your Head Out,” and pretty much everything about “By Hook or by Crook,” it’s clear Pratt took heavy inspiration from the genre. A lot of it is indebted to Mauro Refosco’s tasteful percussion work across the record. I expected the vocals on the album to be great, and they are, but I was even more impressed than I thought I would be. It helps that these songs have the strongest melodies of any of Pratt’s records, but the way she delivers them is just heavenly. It’s hard to predict where she’ll go, but she gently guides you along with her. 

The song that blew me away the most was “Empire Never Knows” which is by and large a piano ballad, but it’s probably the clearest we’ve ever heard Pratt. The melody here is just sublime and she uses a backmasking effect on some of the vocals in between some of the lines in the final verse which was a big surprise. It reminds me of something from Carrie & Lowell-era Sufjan. The instrumental outro of the song is another big highlight and displays another one of the album’s strengths. She isn’t afraid to let things breathe. Despite the album not being super long, every moment feels realized to its best conclusion. The album’s closer “The Last Year” shows this as well. It sounds the most like Pratt’s previous work, shifting focus back to Pratt and her guitar. The verses end with about a minute left to the song, the rest of the runtime is Pratt harmonizing alongside the guitar and piano. Just a lovely moment, one that you just get sucked into. Despite being a little over a minute long, it feels like a lifetime in the best way possible.

It’s interesting how two of my favorite albums of the year take heavy inspiration from 60s music but put a dreamy twist on it, this album and Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee, but I’m certainly not complaining. Unlike Diamond Jubilee, Here in the Pitch is short, but sweet. It’s the biggest progression of Pratt’s sound yet and maybe the best she’s ever sounded. Everything just feels so natural, so comfortable. Excited to hear which direction she takes her sound next.

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Fearless Movement - Kamasi Washington

◇ released: May 3, 2024 ◇ genres: spiritual jazz, jazz fusion

Kamasi Washington has had this sort of dignified vibe to him since his sprawling triple album The Epic back in 2015. He could be the chillest guy on the face of the planet, but he just has the aura of a real “serious” musician. His music justifies it too. He’s on another level when it comes to modern jazz, one of the few newer artists in the genre who feels like a big deal. Fearless Movement is an apt title for the saxophonist’s fifth studio album. His incredible musicianship is still on display here, but greater emphasis is put on movement. These compositions feel so much more free-spirited. It’s not a massive multi-part experience like his previous two records, it’s just Washington making some damn good tracks. He describes the album, in a non-literal sense, as his “dance album” and that makes complete sense. There is a real groove to a lot of these tracks, everything feels so alive. This is also an incredibly collaborative effort. Guest musicians on the album include Parliament-Funkadelic bandleader George Clinton, Thundercat, and André 3000. They all play their parts very well, as does Washington, in making this an absolutely joyous listen.

This album is a great mix of old and new for Washington. If you’re looking for some killer spiritual jazz and jazz fusion, there is plenty here to satisfy. The opener “Lesanu” is one of the most intricate tracks in his catalog. It sounds so all-encompassing. “Dream State” has great flute contributions from André 3000. The way his flute and Washington’s saxophones pair alongside each other is just magical. “The Garden Path” was released as a single all the way back in 2022 and it still remains one of my favorite tracks of his. I loved it even more in the context of the album. The wildest moments on the album come when Washington mixes jazz with other genres like soul, rap, and funk. For your soul fix, Washington teams up with Patrice Quinn, DJ Battlecat, and Brandon Coleman for a cover of Zapp’s 1986 track “Computer Love.” I wasn’t aware of the Zapp track, I only know Kraftwerk’s song of the same name, but the version on this album rips. For rap, “Asha the First” features some cool verses from Taj and Ras Austin, but they’re very much outshined by Thundercat’s contributions on bass and the chorus. Thundercat’s delivery of the “Now my heart is freeeeee!” line in the chorus is just so cathartic. Funk fans will be the most pleased as this album is full of infectious grooves around every corner. It’s clear he was very inspired by funk rhythms and it comes through in these pieces. Most blatantly on “Get Lit” which features vocals from George Clinton and some rap verses from D Smoke. You can hear that Washington and crew had so much fun making these songs. It’s eclectic and a bold next step for him, but it’s all anchored by the superb musicianship on display here.

The album ends, ironically, with the song entitled “Prologue.” This was the lead single to the record, and it feels like a perfect start to this new chapter of his career and a perfect ending to the record as well. It’s a great indication of what this album is all about and what to look forward to from him in the future. Washington sounds unrestrained across this project which begets some of the brightest moments in his catalog thus far. He’s ready to explore new things with his sound and Fearless Movement is a wonderful jumping-off point. 

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Night Reign - Arooj Aftab

◇ released: May 31, 2024 ◇ genre: chamber folk, chamber jazz

Night Reign is one of those albums I could never imagine playing when it’s bright outside. It’s so nocturnal as if you’re sitting on the beach at night watching the waves slowly move in and out. It’s one of those records that’s perfect for pondering. It lulls you into this meditative state as Arooj Aftab’s smooth vocals guide you along. The instrumentation also pairs wonderfully. This blend of folk and jazz makes for a mesmerizing listen. Every arrangement here is just so gorgeous. Aftab isn’t afraid to let things breathe, and let things build up to a satisfying conclusion. Very rarely does that strategy not work as intended. Like on the instrumental bridge to the opener “Aey Nehin” as the soft-plucked harp notes falter behind the plodding guitar while the upright bass adds the exact amount of depth the song calls for. Night Reign is full of stunning moments like that.

Aftab sings and occasionally writes in both Urdu and English across the record. I tried my best at translating a lot of the Urdu lyrics on the record, to inconsistent levels of success, but from what I can gather these songs are all very bittersweet. She sings as if she’s holding on to every moment, knowing that everything is fleeting, and it makes for such a compelling listen. The instrumentation, like I mentioned earlier, does the same. Like the wading arrangement on the track “Whiskey.” As she sings about being ready to fall in love with someone, every movement musically is felt. It’s one of the songs where Aftab has sole songwriting credit and it shows how vivid of a lyricist she is. One of the more intense moments on the record comes with Aftab’s collaboration with Moor Mother on the track “Bolo Na.” The arrangement here has an edge to it that a lot of the other tracks don’t have, mainly due to the song’s bassline. Moor Mothers’ intense poetry strikes a chord here as it usually tends to do. It’s an interesting mix of styles that pays off wonderfully.

This was my first Arooj Aftab album and after hearing this, I need to go back and explore her previous work. I really can’t get enough of how this album sounds in every capacity. As someone who is a sucker for some upright bass, especially, this album is like heaven to me. I’m also absolutely spellbound by Aftab’s vocals here. I couldn’t imagine anyone else over these songs. Beautiful record, please give Night Reign your full attention on a dark night or a rainy day.

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HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - Billie Eilish

◇ released: May 17, 2024 ◇ genre: alt-pop

If you’ve been keeping up with my reviews, you would know that I haven’t been very ecstatic about the current state of pop music. Maybe I’m just growing more cynical than I thought, but no album this year from a major pop star has truly grabbed me – until now. Billie Eilish has been one of the few pop stars over the last few years that you can count on. She makes music that sounds and feels like a real person made it. I believe she believes in the songs she makes. That rings true more than ever on HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. This sounds like the natural evolution of her sound. Eilish and her brother FINNEAS strip things down a bit from her last few efforts. The quirkiness of her debut and the theatricality of Happier Than Ever are toned down considerably here. Traded in favor of more organic arrangements, with some electronic elements thrown in here and there, paired with incredibly strong songwriting. 

The opener, “SKINNY,” absolutely floored me on first listen. It features some of the finest melodies I’ve heard all year and that lush chorus is chill-inducing. That bridge leading into the instrumental outro is one of the highlights of her entire discography up to this point with those gorgeous string arrangements. Amazing opener to the record, although I was worried that brilliance wouldn’t carry over to the more upbeat tunes. “LUNCH” proved me wrong very fast. That fuzzy guitar provides the perfect edge to one of Eilish’s most lovestruck cuts. This could prove to be the biggest hit on the album too, it’s just so catchy. One of the key lyrical themes on the record is Eilish’s sexuality. A subject that has been under intense scrutiny, not just by creepy old dudes and your garden-variety bigots, but also by, hopefully, well-meaning queer allies who accused Eilish multiple times of “queerbaiting.” This record is Eilish controlling her own narrative. She touches on the risks and rewards of “[opening] up the door.” as she sings on “CHIHIRO.” Also on the jubilation of falling in love like on the aforementioned “LUNCH.” As she also does, with even more elation, on the chorus of “BIRDS OF A FEATHER.” Her writing and, just as importantly, how rich these songs sound are cathartic presumably not just for Eilish, but for the listener as well.

On my initial listen to the album, the latter half let me down just a bit. “WILDFLOWER” is a nice acoustic ballad, but I didn’t find it to be one of the strongest tracks here. I still don’t, but I do love the instrumentation on it. “THE GREATEST” is a folky track that can plod along a bit, but the payoff is absolutely worth it. The bridge is one of the most explosive moments on the record as she belts out her frustrations at this unrequited love. I absolutely adore “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE.” It has one of my favorite vocal performances of hers and it has some of the strongest hooks I’ve heard all year. Then, out of nowhere, the second part of the song kicks in and she dives straight into some crazy electropop. Never would’ve expected that, but it works so well. “THE DINER” is another track that has big hit potential, but in the context of the album it falls a bit short after the crazy heights of the previous track. It’s still a good cut though.

The album ends on an incredibly high note with the song “BLUE.” It’s a gorgeous track that ties together the lyrical themes of the record and brings them to a nice conclusion. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is a great album. It provides new layers to Eilish’s songwriting and it offers some of the most substantial music from the pop-sphere this year. There’s a beating heart to these tracks which makes them so easy to latch onto. I’ll be surprised if another major pop release this year will be as good as this.

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You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To - Knocked Loose

◇ released: May 10, 2024 ◇ genre: metalcore

Not too long ago I listened to Knocked Loose’s A Tear in the Fabric of Life EP and loved it, which was pretty surprising. Metalcore isn’t my go-to genre and whenever I do love something I hear from it, it usually isn’t immediate. I just clicked with this band right away, so I was excited to dive into this new record. You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is amazing. It’s a nonstop barrage of dissonant guitar riffs and scorched-Earth vocals. Every song just barges into the next with little time for a reprieve unless you physically pause the music. It’s uncompromising in the best way. “Thirst” and “Piece By Piece” kick off the album in explosive fashion. I love that heavy breakdown toward the end of the latter, it’s just one of those “oh, wow” moments. “Take Me Home” is a lot more atmospheric than the other cuts here, but it doesn’t break up the album’s flow. It also has one of the darkest, heaviest instrumental outros to any track here. The only thing close to a “breather,” is the intro to the closing track “Sit & Mourn.” Even still, there’s this uneasy tension surrounding it. You know, as the rest of this record has shown you, that something crazy is about to happen so when it all finally erupts it’s just so rewarding. The band displays excellent musicianship and songwriting ability across this album. They’re masters at building tension and making you feel uneasy, not in a way that makes you want to retreat, but in a way that pulls you in. I really enjoyed this album. Not only does it make me want to dive into more of Knocked Loose’s back catalog but also more of the metalcore genre in general. It’s such an album experience, I couldn’t imagine listening to these songs outside of it. If you’re in the market for a very cohesive and relentlessly loud record, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is for you.

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Anniversary - Adeem the Artist

◇ released: May 3, 2024 ◇ genres: alt-country, americana, singer-songwriter

I’ve been on the Adeem the Artist train since 2021’s Cast-Iron Pansexual. Bad cover art aside (the vinyl one is MUCH better), it was a refreshing, intimate country album that had something to say. As was the follow-up White Trash Revelry which had a greater focus on deconstructing and analyzing the American South’s and country music’s often disgusting short-comings throughout history. It’s not an abandonment of the ship though. They love the South and they love country music. If you love something, you want it to get better. Their music is an interesting balance of introspection, personal discovery, and razor-sharp analysis of their surroundings. Anniversary is no different and while the dive into more commercial country and Americana sounds keep some of these songs from reaching their full potential, their writing is still as strong as ever. 

Anniversary is largely about love and parenthood with those occasional detours into some biting political commentary. “Nancy” is one of their finest songs. It sounds so exciting and the scandalous nature of the lyrical content comes through in the music, it’s just so playfully promiscuous. Their lyrics often have this spontaneous wordiness that makes it hard to imagine them fitting into a satisfying melody, but they usually make it work very well. “Part & Parcel,” “Rotations,” and “Night Sweats” all touch on the themes of parenthood and they made me realize that this a point of view I rarely engage with. Not out of any conceited effort, just by coincidence I guess. It was refreshing and touching. “Rotations” is easily one of the sweetest songs in their catalog with very tasteful instrumentation and a chorus that even gets me a little teary-eyed. “Night Sweats” has Adeem giving their perspective as a parent witnessing the ongoing atrocities happening in Palestine. It’s one of their finest moments as a songwriter. It sounds so immediate like they knew they had to get this message out through the music. If you’re looking for more commentary tracks like that, “Nightmare” and “White Mule, Black Man” have you covered. The former tackles religious hypocrisy over some fiery Americana and the latter is a stripped-down, powerful indictment of Knoxville’s racist history, another one of their finest moments. “One Night Stand” is a bit more lighthearted and it sounds like the queer country radio hit I didn’t know I needed. It’s also a great example of how Adeem can write really catchy songs, that hook is incredible. It uses the more commercial sound to its benefit more than any other track here. “Socialite Blues” is the craziest moment on the album as Adeem swaggers and sways all over a honky tonk anthem about being in love. I want more crazy stuff like this from them.

The instrumentation across the album, as I said earlier, leaves a little to be desired. It’s all very tasteful and well done, but a lot of it veers a bit too heavily into some of the played-out tropes of the genre. Despite that, their writing is as sharp as ever, maybe even sharper. Anniversary is another exciting release from one of my favorite country artists going today. I’m always eager to hear what Adeem does next.

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Almighty So 2 - Chief Keef

◇ released: May 10, 2024 ◇ genres: chicago drill, hardcore hip hop

A little over ten years after the original, highly influential, mixtape and after a year of pushbacks and delays, Chief Keef has finally released Almighty So 2. I can’t claim to be a Sosa connoisseur, although I do love the original Almighty So tape, but his impact on hip hop is undeniable. His music at the turn of the 2010s defined the decade. It was a precursor to many of the trends that dominated the era. He was also very young like he was 17 when “Love Sosa” dropped. As someone who hasn’t heard a lot of his work past 2013 or so, I was very curious to hear how his sound has progressed after all this time. Luckily, despite a few weaker cuts, Almighty So 2 is a pretty strong release. A “return to form” isn’t the right phrase for this album because it sort of feels like a new beginning for him. 

The intro track samples “O Fortuna” and has him rapping “ Bitch, I'm Almighty, I'll shoot you with my mighty gun” over the epic, orchestral beat. It sounds so unserious but in the best way possible. A lot of the beats on this project have that orchestral twist to them and I love it. He also sounds very aware of his influence, leading to some really funny moments. Like on “Drifting Away” where he pokes fun at Kanye, who playfully proclaimed he invented drill on his “Like That” remix, by saying “Chief Sosa made drill, Kanye think he did too” and then in the final chorus and the outro he says the song has a “Kanye ass beat.” Amid the intense rap beef over the last month or so, it’s nice just to hear more lighthearted disses. Same with the “Jesus Skit” which has him throwing shots at Drake, Chris Brown, and Vic Mensa among others. The song following, “Jesus,” is one of the most aggressive tracks here and it’s a nice change of pace. Another massive highlight here is “1,2,3” which is one of his best tracks pretty handily. It has Chief Keef doing what he does best over one of the best beats I’ve heard all year. The level of quality could be a bit more consistent across this project, but the good stuff is really good. 

“Believe” is one of the most personal tracks in his discography and it’s also my favorite track on the album. He reflects on his upbringing, fatherhood, relationships with the women in his life, and his career up to this point. It’s beautiful and poignant, a detour I wasn’t expecting on this album. Ideally, Almighty So 2 will mark a new beginning for Chief Keef. He can still make the bangers he became known for, but he’s much smarter now. Much older than he was when the original tape dropped, but he’s still so young, not even 30 yet which is crazy considering “Love Sosa” seems so long ago. I’m very hopeful that we continue to get more good music from Sosa in the years to come.

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Dark Times - Vince Staples

◇ released: May 24, 2024 ◇ genres: west coast hip hop, conscious hip hop

There’s always been a bit of a darkness to Vince Staples’ projects, but a lot of the time wacky beats and upbeat delivery offset it. He’s been progressively getting more serious album after album over the last few years. His self-titled record and RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART were the most introspective Staples had gotten thus far. Even still, the latter had a collab with DJ Mustard so it’s not all doom and gloom. Dark Times, if the title and cover art didn’t suggest, is Staples diving headfirst into those themes and exploring them both lyrically and through the album’s production. Staples has an incredible ear for good beats and production, see his 2016 record Big Fish Theory for the most definitive proof of that, and that’s no different on this album. That brilliance goes beyond the aforementioned wacky beats as Dark Times sounds very organic on nearly every level – it’s the most grounded Staples project by far. It sounds like the album Staples needed to make right now. A dissection of his mindset during these … dark times.

After a serene intro with birds chirping, the magnificent soulful beat of “Black&Blue” kicks in. The album cycles producers throughout, this one can be attributed to Alex Goose and Michael Ozowuru. I really do adore this beat, but what makes the track even better is Staples’ lyricism as he laments, among other things, that money doesn’t solve everything. Another interesting lyrical theme throughout the album is the idea of a heaven or a hell and how it pertains to morality. He asks in the second verse “To the Heavens above, is it a mansion for thugs? / Where did Tupac and 'em go?” The way he questions these things is through a very spiritual lens which I find interesting. He touches on it a bit more in the song “Government Cheese” as he raps “Everybody gotta die, only question, is it Hell or in the sky, yeah.” This song also features a subtle sample of the beat from “Blue Suede,” one of the biggest songs from his early years, and it’s a really nice touch thematically since the song’s main focus is on his poor upbringing in Long Beach. “Shame On The Devil” has him analyzing his romantic life and his success over the years, but those religious themes are very much present on this track. During the second verse, he reveals a very crucial aspect of the album’s themes as he claims that “only the heavens can judge” people. Staples believes he isn’t in the position of making that judgment call on what is ultimately ��good” and “evil.” He wrestles with it, but he places it above him. It’s not the most satisfying conclusion to the album’s narrative, albeit a loose one, but Staples really shines as a lyricist across this project.

The rest of the record continues Staples’ reflections, introspections, and frustrations despite his successes over the years. “Étouffée” has Vince detailing his frustrations with his label and his fans, lamenting how they want “2015 Vince” back. “Justin” has a very light, floaty beat as he raps about meeting and quickly getting his heartbroken. The strongest moment on the back half of the album is “Little Homies.” It has Vince almost racing through these verses while also offering some advice to the ones that come after him. It’s shaky but in a super compelling way. That sort of applies to the whole record too. Staples doesn’t have the answers, but he has questions, thoughts, and feelings that he needed to get out on record. I would say that this makes for his best record since Big Fish Theory, but it also feels like a transitional album. Excited to hear what Staples does next.

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To All Trains - Shellac

◇ released: May 17, 2024 ◇ genres: post-hardcore, noise rock

It’s impossible for a review of To All Trains not to double as a eulogy for Steve Albini. A little over a week prior to the release of the noise rock band’s first record in 10 years, Albini passed away suddenly due to a heart attack. You can’t understate his influence on the state of not just noise rock, but rock music in general. He was a pioneer, no one was making records that sounded like his whether he was in front of the mic or behind the boards. His work with Big Black in the 80s changed noise rock forever and the band’s debut Atomizer makes a strong case for being the best record in the genre. His producing work on records like the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, The Jesus Lizard’s Goat, and Nirvana’s In Utero significantly changed how rock music sounded. That’s just naming a few, by the way, his credits list is miles and miles long. He helped to usher out the suffocating pomp and glamor that plagued the big rock music of the 1980s. Everything sounded so real, you could hear and feel everything in his recordings. Albini was also a very controversial figure, in ways that I don’t really care to defend at all. He was an edgelord, to put it mildly. In the interest of fairness, Albini in recent years has lamented some of the things he said and did. He seemed to be in a different mindset than he was back in the '80s and early '90s, but he still stuck to his “punk ethos” pretty staunchly. He had a specific view of how records should be made and produced. For instance, he never took royalties from the albums he worked on so as not to take more money out of the artist’s pockets. Albini was a prickly character with stubborn sensibilities and, in many ways, that’s what made him one of the best to ever do it. Those qualities came through in his work all the time as well.

This leads me to this new Shellac record. The band’s first in 10 years. Admittedly, in the grand scope of Albini’s work, I’m not super familiar with Shellac. I tend to lean more towards Big Black, but that could change as I dig deeper into their albums. I only heard At Action Park soon after I heard the news of his passing and that album is brilliant. A lot of the hallmarks of Albini’s sound are present in Shellac. Those jagged rhythms that almost chastise you for listening, those weighty drums, Albini’s misanthropic and bratty vocals, it’s all here and it’s all uniquely his own. The guitar tone on this record is so nasty. It sounds like it’s smoking, about to catch fire, on the opener “Wsod.” It’s just such a gritty sound, unpleasant in the best way. One of my favorite tracks here is “Chick New Wave” which has Albini proclaiming that he is “Through with music from dudes.” It reads almost ironic when you look at who made this record, but it’s playful and it has some of the band’s best performances. I adore Todd Trainer’s drumming, on the whole record, but on this song in particular. “Wednesday” has this ominous vibe to it. Shellac’s songs don’t build or payoff in the way other songs do which makes it all the more anxiety-inducing. It’s also a great showcase for Bob Weston’s bass which sounds so gross (a compliment). “I Don’t Fear Hell” is pretty handily my favorite song on the record. The band is firing on all cylinders, their best work across the album for sure. Albini sings in what could vaguely be described as the song’s chorus “When this is over / Leap in my grave like the arms of a lover / If there's a heaven, I hope they're having fun / Cause if there’s a hell, I'm gonna know everyone.” It’s a fucking awesome way to close out your final album.   Some of the songs on To All Trains don’t leave too much of a lasting impact, but it’s easy to overlook that. Even without the context of Albini’s passing, this album sounds like old friends getting back together to make some kickass tunes one more time. There are still some strong highlights here and it feels like a fitting finale to Albini’s career overall. It’s not flashy or anything, it’s just a damn fine rock record.

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Ten Fold - Yaya Bey

◇ released: May 10, 2024 ◇ genres: neo-soul, contemporary r&b

It’s always exciting when an album has a ton of character to it and Ten Fold is one of those albums. Yaya Bey sounds so self-assured and it comes through in these short, but sweet R&B cuts. Despite being almost 40 minutes in length this album flies past you. This works both in the album's favor and against it. So many great ideas are spread across the album’s 16 tracks, but they’re gone far too soon. “crying through my teeth” opens the album with Bey’s dreamy vocals and also features a laidback rap verse from her. It shows some of her strengths very well, but again, it ends with potential left on the table. If you want to look at things from a glass-half-full perspective, you could just appreciate all the great moments here despite their brevity. From the glass-half-empty perspective, you could lament that the bulk of these songs never reach their full potential. It might be a cop-out answer, but I don’t know where I land. Ten Fold is a very nice listen and I would be the biggest liar of all time if I said I didn’t enjoy my time with it, but it also has the potential to be so much more.

Bey is the star of the show here for certain. This is her second “high-profile” project and she carries herself as if she’s a household name. Her singing has weight to it and that remains true for her occasional rap verses. Like on “sir princess bad bitch” where she just sounds so cool rapping over this light, breezy beat. Her singing on “slow dancing in the kitchen” is just a joy. It’s like the music just flows through her. Still, there’s meat left on the bone. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my favorite tracks on the record are the two that go beyond the 3-minute mark. “chasing the bus” is another sunny R&B song with a killer bassline and gorgeous vocals. “yvette’s cooking show” opens with a voice recording of a conversation she had with her father, the late Grand Daddy I.U., before shifting into her powerful vocals over a lo-fi beat. 

The voice recordings of her father appear all over the record and I only pieced together after a couple of listens that this album was, in many ways, an exploration of grief. The brief nature of these songs could make you view them as diary entries of sorts. I appreciate the concept and it makes Ten Fold a much more compelling album than I originally believed, but I still feel like the bulk of the material on this album ended before it reached a more satisfying conclusion. Of course, that’s all from a listener’s perspective. If Bey was satisfied with them, that counts for something. On the whole, it’s a good look at an incredibly talented artist bound to reach even greater heights.

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empathogen - WILLOW

◇ released: May 3, 2024 ◇ genres: indie rock, art pop, jazz pop

Willow Smith’s career over the last few years has been filled with numerous peaks and valleys. She shocked everyone back in 2021 with the track “transparent soul” which showed her diving head first into the pop-punk world to surprisingly great results. The album that song was featured on, lately i feel EVERYTHING, was good, but ultimately underwhelming. Then in 2022, she dropped two generational stinker collab singles with both Machine Gun Kelly and YUNGBLUD. However, she closed out the year with some more great singles that were then attached to another underwhelming album. Despite the frequent disappointments, it was obvious that she had a ton of talent. She had the potential to make a truly great album. empathogen isn’t that record, I don’t believe, but it is a massive step in the right direction.

The two singles leading up to this record had me very excited, cautiously so, but still. The lead single “symptom of life” had Willow going places she had never gone before. It sounded so weird with those crazy piano arpeggios and weird vocal harmonies. Never expected something like this from her, it’s one of her best easily and it still stands out on the record. The next single, and the album’s closer, “big feelings” (sorry i’m not doing the spaced-out letters thing) was also very good. It’s basically a straight-up jazz-rock song and I love it. The jazz influence across the entire album is really cool. “the fear is not real” is less jazzy in instrumentation, but more in the song’s structure. As is “no words 1 & 2” which is, well, a wordless track with some vocal riffing over some frenetic rhythms. Willow holds her own throughout most of the record, but I often find her to be the least interesting part of these tracks. Not really helped by the fact that some of the hooks and choruses don’t strike as hard as they should. Like on “pain for fun,” a soft-rock duet with St. Vincent, which just doesn’t match the energy of the rest of the record and ends up falling a bit flat. This album also is pretty short and I feel like some tracks sort of waste too much time. Short tracks like “ancient girl,” “down,” and “‘i know that face’” aren’t bad, but on a brief album every minute is precious and they don’t really add much. 

Despite some lulls here and there, empathogen is Willow’s boldest record to date. It’s her strongest set of material thus far and many of these songs are gonna be in rotation for me for quite a while. With some fine-tuning and further experimentation, I feel like her next album will be a big one. For now, let’s hope and pray another shitty collab single isn’t on the horizon.

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A Dream Is All We Know - The Lemon Twigs

◇ released: May 3, 2024 ◇ genres: pop rock, sunshine pop

I’ve always perceived The Lemon Twigs, very cynically, as one of those bands that oldhead classic rock dudes say is their favorite new band so they don’t look like a total snob who only listens to music made before 1980. The D’Addario brothers take heavily from the well of 60s psychedelic rock/pop and package them for a new era. I have to say, they’re very good at it. They clearly have a grasp of this sound and they highlight the little quirks that make the best stuff in these genres as good as they are. They’re also very talented songwriters. These are all well-written, catchy songs, especially the opener “My Golden Years.” It showcases the band’s knack for good harmonies and the bridge on this track is my favorite moment across the entire record. However, throughout the full album, I started to grow a bit tired of this sound. I can see how some would fully embrace it, but to me, it just feels a bit too gimmicky. They stick to tradition almost to a fault.

I feel like an asshole not fully loving this record because it is so whimsical. Everything is so bright and sunny, and the melodies and instrumentation are so lush and cheerful. It’s like I’m raining on their parade. There’s still a handful of songs here that I think are really good. The aforementioned great pop songwriting of “My Golden Years,” the sublime, Brian Wilson-inspired harmonies of “In the Eyes of the Girl,” and “Ember Days” sounds very much like a Simon & Garfunkel song with some baroque elements. Actually, I feel like most of these songs would all be pretty decent and fun to listen to in isolation. It’s just across the album it wears thin for me. The Twigs are excellent songwriters and musicians, that’s for sure, I just find it difficult to fully embrace them. Still, A Dream Is All We Know is definitely worth a listen.

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Stampede Vol. 1 - Orville Peck

◇ released: May 10, 2024 ◇ genres: contemporary country, country pop

Masked country star Orville Peck has released the first volume of his Stampede duets project. Unfortunately, this new EP contains some of Peck’s weakest material yet. About half of the songs here are covers. He’s a good curator, the songs he chose are good songs to cover (for the most part), but they never really reach the heights of the originals or Peck’s previous material. I was ambivalent, yet a bit appreciative, when Peck released the lead single to this EP. A cover of the Ned Sublette-penned “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” with Willie Nelson, whose cover of the song back in 2006 made the song gain prominence. It’s fine. All of the covers on this EP never excel beyond fine. Some fall very flat, like Peck and Elton John’s rendition of “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” a classic in the latter’s catalog, but here it sounds so much less rough around the edges. It loses so much of the charm the original had. The best cuts here are the non-covers. Like “The Hurtin’ Kind,” a duet with country group Midland, which is a sleek cut with a really solid melody. 

Stampede: Vol. 1 is pleasant enough to throw on in the background, but it doesn’t mark a big progression in Peck’s sound or artistry like I think it should. He’s coming off of two really good records and, while I’m sure this project was fun to make, Stampede doesn’t seem like the next best step for him. We’ll see if I’m proven wrong, I hope I am!

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Clancy - Twenty One Pilots

◇ released: May 24, 2024 ◇ genres: alt-pop, indie rock

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Twenty One Pilots. In fact, I actively dislike a majority of their music and yet, for some reason, I keep giving them second chances. Everything they do, even the relative bright spots in their catalog, have this overbearing layer of triteness to them. The duo is ambitious in nearly every facet of their artistry except the most important part, the music they put on record. Their last few albums, bar 2021’s Scaled and Icy, have been sprawling concept albums set in this fictional world they’ve created and dealt with themes of mental health, suicide, religion, and a whole bunch of stuff like that. It’s a cool concept and with the right execution it could make for a stellar run of albums, but even in their best moments, Twenty One Pilots never seem to nail the execution. Unfortunately, despite some decent moments, Clancy is no different. It’s not their worst effort by any means, but it might be their most infuriating. After all this time, the band still can’t help but give in to their worst instincts as songwriters and, despite some of the exciting moments on the singles leading up to the record, they stay in their comfort zone musically. I’m beginning to think these flaws are just fundamental aspects of their music.

To be a little bit more positive, the two opening tracks are some of the band’s best. “Overcompensate” has a soaring chorus and while the rap verses from Tyler Joseph don’t hit for me, a common complaint that pertains to this record and the band’s previous efforts, the positives far outweigh the negatives. That chorus has been stuck in my head for days. “Next Semester” is perhaps the best the duo has ever sounded. Upon first listen, I wasn’t too impressed. I was being a bit too cynical, but hearing it in the context of the record made it click for me. It shows them getting out of their comfort zone, and trying something different and it pays off tremendously. It’s just excellent songwriting on every level. The verses rip hard and the chorus is one of the best I’ve heard all year. Josh Dun’s drumming on this song, and the whole record, is fantastic. He’s almost too good for these songs. “Next Semester” is a blessing and a curse for Clancy because it’s far and away the best song here. No song comes close to its brilliance, painfully so. This is just me, but whenever Joseph starts rapping, I tune him out entirely. His bars are boring and his delivery is irritating. Haven’t been able to take him seriously since he delivered the line “I wasn't raised in the hood / But I know a thing or two about pain and darkness” on “Lane Boy” from the Blurryface album. So imagine how loud I audibly groaned when “Backslide” played after the band’s best moment.   The highest praise I can give to Clancy outside of those two tracks is that it’s listenable. A majority of the cuts here don’t make me want to crawl out of my own skin which is better than some of their other albums, namely Vessel. Other moments close to highlights include “Midwest Indigo,” “Navigating,” and the closer “Paladin Strait.” Apparently, this marks the end of this series of concept albums, and if there was ever a time for them to reinvent themselves, NOW is the time.

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Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa

◇ released: May 3, 2024 ◇ genre: dance-pop

Dua Lipa’s last album Future Nostalgia remains one of the finest pop albums of the decade. No shortage of great hooks, melodies, vocal performances, and production on that record – about as good as a mainstream pop album can get these days. It was the perfect slingshot to send Lipa into the stratosphere so she could reach even greater heights. It brings me great sadness to report that the follow-up Radical Optimism is anything but said greater heights. All of the great craft and star power is gone, traded in favor of painfully generic hooks and shockingly dull performances. I know Lipa has it in her to make absolute bangers, what happened here?

The songwriting here, for the most part, is pop music at its most tedious. Empty, vacuous, and grand. Despite that, the album starts off decently. I find the hook on “End of an Era” to be a bit irritating, but it’s a fine opener, especially with that funky house sound. “Houdini” and “Training Season” didn’t wow me as singles leading up to the album, but I found myself enjoying them way more here. These songs actually make her sound like one of the world’s biggest pop stars. The former is far and away the most well-crafted song here. This album’s sound is heavily indebted to Kevin Parker of Tame Impala and you can definitely hear it, his hallmarks are all over the place. His contributions are pretty good, but good production work alone does not make a good pop album. The album takes a more introspective approach to its lyrical themes towards the midway point, and that could be an interesting change of pace if these songs just weren’t so dull. “These Walls” has one of the lamest choruses I’ve heard all year, it’s so anticlimactic. The ending of the chorus where Lipa sings “Oh, if these walls could talk / They'd tell us to break up,” falls so frustratingly flat. Was there not a more creative way to convey this? Lipa’s vocals and lyricism here are just so non-specific to her. Even when the album gets a bit more sensitive, there’s nothing that makes this hers and hers alone. The weakest stretch on the album comes with the three tracks before the closer, specifically “Anything for Love” and “Maria.” They feel like such massive steps backward for her like she’s being thrown into sounds that were cliche years ago. At least the album’s closer is pretty decent, but at that point I was already too disappointed to care.

This album is competently crafted. It has good production, big choruses, and some slower moments to feign depth, but it’s all just so sterile. Assembly line pop music, Lipa is just here to get the job done.  I still herald Future Nostalgia as one of the finest pop albums in years, rife with hit singles that are still in rotation four years later.  I don’t foresee smash hits like “Levitating” or “Don’t Stop Now” anywhere on Radical Optimism and it might just be due to a lack of trying. 

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Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense

◇ released: May 17, 2024 ◇ genre: new wave, pop rock

To preface this review, I am a massive Talking Heads fan. I consider many of their records to be among my favorites of all time. Stop Making Sense especially, both the live album and the concert film itself, which this tribute album commemorates in dubious fashion. I had very low expectations heading into this, but I decided to give it a chance. The only singles that moved me leading up to the album were Paramore’s version of “Burning Down the House” and, surprisingly, Teezo Touchdown’s version of “Making Flippy Floppy.” The former sounds like the band actually wanted to be a part of this and the latter sticks so close to the original that I can at least fein some enjoyment. Having trudged my way through the whole thing, those really are the only two tracks that stick out. Everyone’s Getting Involved is decent at best, irritating at worst, and often just plain lifeless. Which, certainly when you’re paying tribute to one of the most frenetic bands of all time, is a crucial error.

Some of the artist/song pairings on this release are just baffling. Who in their right mind thought Kevin Abstract should cover “Once in a Lifetime?” The funniest thing is, the cover is absolutely worse than you could imagine. Abstract strips the life out of the song and waters down one of the most wild choruses in new wave history to the musical equivalent of a wet fart. It’s just a disaster on every level. As is girl in red’s version of “Girlfriend is Better” which butchers the personality present in the original. Nearly everyone here sounds asleep at the wheel. BADBADNOTGOOD and Norah Jones’ version of “This Must Be the Place” is pleasant enough, but again, it feels like no one is putting in the effort they should. Lorde’s cover of the Talking Heads’ cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” just sounds awkward, just a misguided effort. I have to give some props to Miley Cyrus for her take on “Psycho Killer,” it isn’t particularly good, but she at least sounds confident in it. To put it simply, the bar on this record is incredibly low. Everyone’s Getting Involved doesn’t have the fun air a tribute album should, instead it just feels tedious and an afterthought to everyone involved in the process of putting this thing together.

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Valedictorian - ian

4202 ,71 yaM :desaeler ◇ ??? :serneg ◇

here is my review .

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psssst. i made a discord server ... if u wanna join here's the invite https://discord.gg/rsHMenTU see u there and thank u for reading :3

[denimbex1986]

'I just saw Oppenheimer with a Los Alamos lab crowd, and I’m immensely glad this film is out and witnessed by so many. It was a part of our national history that I think almost everyone in my generation knew of, but that many young people today don’t know much about… and as citizens we need to know this story. It becomes clear to me when I talk to young scientists how forgotten it is: sometimes in conversation with people with Ivy League educations, PhDs, when they learn I’m from Los Alamos, I in turn discover they have never heard of Los Alamos before, and don’t have a clue what it is/was. The movie is a powerful telling of this crucial part of who we are, who we have become. We need this understanding.

Obama articulated a vision to work towards a world without nuclear weapons, but since Trump it is not even a topic of discussion politically anymore. When the INF treaty ended and we withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal under Trump, there was a spurt of news at the time that ended in barely a political ripple. Nuclear disarmament is not an issue that ever makes it to lists of what voters are concerned about, this as we are continuing to expand and update our arsenal. The New START treaty was continued, but offers the earth, us, too little. We do not seem to have the will to ask for more.

Oppenheimer’s story is filled with pathos, a life burdened by deepest sorrow imaginable tangled with brilliance. The question of how to live a moral life when confronted with options he faced is soul breaking. This is also true for Hans Bethe, who continued in the H bomb projects because he felt it would give him a voice in treaty and arms negotiations. It did. For example I think he helped negotiate the INF, but at what price? And despite his efforts to curb it, the nuclear arms race ran right past him.

Oppenheimer’s pre-war physics laid the foundation for understanding the death of stars and black holes, as was brought out in the film, but to me Bethe’s work was even more astonishing, foundational work for the realization that _all_ larger atoms, the very stuff of us, was born in the nuclear reactions of stars. “We are star dust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon, and we’ve got to find our way back to the garden…” Bethe got the Nobel for that work. I’ve stumbled through those old papers with awe, understanding what I could manage, for the joy of it.

My dad had met Oppenheimer, they had one conversation and my Dad witnessed his sorrow. I’m not sure of the year but it was after Oppy was blacklisted. But earlier, their paths had crossed in a very different way. After 3 years of fighting in the living hell of the Philippines in the Pacific Theater, on Aug. 6th, 1945, my dad was headed on a ship to take part in the land invasion of Japan. He was sure his death awaited him. Instead, Hiroshima. Then Nagasaki. Then Dad came home.

I had one brief and very sweet encounter with Hans Bethe 30 years ago; we met hiking the Camp May trail, he was very old, on his own, leaning heavily on his walking stick, some miles in. An ancient sage. He was delighted by baby Max, my son, who was riding in my back pack: old-man-and-baby flirtations ensued, Hans with twinkling eyes. The bit of irony there was we were walking with my friend Kazu, a Japanese physicist, who knew him; my friend had gone to school in Hiroshima, and had a deeply personal understanding of the costs. Still, he knew and honored the man Hans Bethe.

But also, I’ve walked the halls where Bethe and Oppy walked, their paths through the woods. Bethe had led T-division, the division which was my scientific home of 30 years. In 2021 I received the Los Alamos Medal, our highest scientific award at LANL, and to me the medal is charged with the knowledge it was first created to honor Bethe in 2001. For me it is electric with sorrow, but also with a fierce pride in that connection.

I’ve sat with a picture of Hans Bethe in my study for 20 years now, alongside the pictures of my family… It was a beautiful gift from a LANL photographer who had taken the portrait, when I saw it laying on his desk one day long ago he gave it to me. This is because from all I’ve read, I deeply admired him. Hans, like Oppy, lived a life where the question of how to live a good and just life was complicated by choices where treacherous monsters lurked on whatever path they took. Hans was a German Jew who had fled the Nazis; he carried the weight of experience into the Manhattan Project.

Hans wrote this plea in 1995, when he was 88:

“I am one of the few remaining such senior persons alive. Looking back at the half century since that time, I feel the most intense relief that these weapons have not been used since World War II, mixed with the horror that tens of thousands of such weapons have been built since that time one hundred times more than any of us at Los Alamos could ever have imagined.

“Today we are rightly in an era of disarmament and dismantlement of nuclear weapons. But in some countries nuclear weapons development still continues. Whether and when the various Nations of the world can agree to stop this is uncertain. But individual scientists can still influence this process by withholding their skills. Accordingly, I call on all scientists in all countries to cease and desist from work creating, developing, improving, and manufacturing further nuclear weapons; and, for that matter, other weapons of potential mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons.”

Some little things I would have changed in the movie if I could have:

It was my understanding that the scene with the apple is not established fact, I was glad to read just now that Oppenheimer’s grandson objected to its inclusion for that reason.

I wish they had not used Georgia O’Keefe’s Pedernal as a stand-in backdrop for Los Alamos. Apparently, God gave Pedernal to Georgia once she had painted it enough … or so she said. Pedernal also belongs to the memory of the people who lived along the Rio Chama under its shadow for the 10,000 years before Georgia set foot there. Los Alamos is just as beautiful in its own way, and the place itself has a has a part in this story, and the landscape owns a part of this story. The finger mesas reaching out from the Jemez Mountains into the Rio Grande Valley. It was Los Alamos that Oppy loved and chose.

The movie got us so close to the story of the Downwinders, the people exposed to the radiation from the Trinity test — you could almost hear them stirring beyond the horizon the morning of the test. The movie captures the extreme political pressure to test quickly, and the storm and the winds the day of the test; they had a break in weather, and the denotation went forward. But they didn’t give us even a sentence to remember the downwinders by, or articulate the concerns the movie had begun to reveal.

Oppy’s daughter and brother Frank were also both blacklisted. I don’t think the movie could have easily captured that, but there was such a high cost to his family, it bears reflection. The communist charges against Oppenheimer were used against his daughter 15 years later by the FBI, and she lost her translator’s job at the UN. She ultimately committed suicide.'

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Norman's Social Media in February

Hey Everyone! I have a few posts that are kind of random conversations between me and my peeps, mentioning random symbols and revolving around social media posts from the past month. I'm going to try and post them this week, just to get them posted. Just know that they're a few weeks old. I probably won't post about this past week's social media until next week. 😁

@galadrieljones:

Also I stopped by today to share that Norman posted a story of him driving in a car past the Eiffel Tower, which is shining a massive spotlight over Paris. He’s definitely still there!

(Twdmusicboxmystery: he's posted a LOT of pics of the Eiffel Tower over the past month. Don't know if he just thinks it's awesome (cuz it is) or if he's hinting at something.)

This was also included in the story:

o.yuuri96 is an Osaka based dealer for motorcycle clothing and accessories. I’m thinking they may do costume and props for Daryl.

@wdway:

I was going to ask what I was looking at? I recognized some of it as being motorcycle parts, but I wasn't sure of the overall meaning. Thanks for clearing it up.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I would have thought Norman was over his candy crush obsession, but apparently not.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I do notice that the first pic talks about things getting tricky and being your "wingman." It's something Shane called Daryl in S2. So, this could be a cloaked TWD reference. Not that it's terribly specific, but I'm sure things will get "tricky" at some point in the spinoff. 😊

@galadrieljones:

Norman is adding to his story

Ooh that one with the Norman face photoshopped on the girl is signed “martinaTWD” which makes me think it’s a fan art

He’s also posting the Eiffel Tower so much!!

@Galadrieljones:

Guys some really interesting posts in Norman’s story today:

First one has a bunch of boxes, look like pizza boxes? With writing I haven’t examined yet. They are labeled with “A” or “B.”

We have railroad tracks and a young person flipping off the camera

Then a quote about love from George Orwell with a woman catching a star…?

The boxes seem to be related to make-up for the show. They say “Raise the Dead”

Could that be the title of the spin-off…?

Idk this was an interesting one! There were more posts. These tho were the most mysterious I thought.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I also wanted to mention the pictures you put above, @galadrieljones. I noticed the one that looks like pizzas but didn’t get a chance to take a closer look. They’re definitely makeup stuff. They all either say, “Daryl scar transfers” “injury transfers” or “suture transfers” (medical). One says “Camille wrist injury transfer.”

Can’t help but think of Beth with that one. Would love to think that Camille is a code name for Beth. Probably not, but one can hope. Really loved the others you posted as well. At least the black and white drawing (with the stripped zombie shirt) and the one of the cop holding back traffic so the cat can cross the road, he’s posted before.

I know bc I’ve taken screenshots of them before. I don’t know if that’s just bc he likes them or if he’s hinting at something. I don’t know what it would be, but cat = Daryl and cops = Grady, so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@galadrieljones:

Good call on the makeup boxes. I definitely didn’t look close enough to see a mention of a wrist injury. That’s super interesting.

@wdway:

@galadrieljones:

Thank you! It is the title!?

@wdway:

Just read this article about an hour ago and it relates to the boxes and possible name of the spinoff. But most the article is a repeat of what we already know.

@galadrieljones:

That is a very interesting title …

@wdway:

I did think it was interesting that the box has A's and B's on them.

So you're saying that after Norman has been quiet for so long now there's an abundance of strange post.

@galadrieljones:

Yep. This one is especially interesting because there’s a direct reference to the spin-off, plus some interesting quotes about love. Raise the Dead. Is that not exactly what we are hoping for?

Here is another of the posts. It seems to be a fan art? Not sure but it reminded me of your stripes theory, @wdway. Perhaps it is to do with Paris.

A couple more. It’s a big story. He posted that praying mantis again.

@wdway:

What I've been hoping for is Norman saying, "watch my spin-off. You'll see Beth! She's been alive this whole time! It's our love story! With a plot about fast, smart walkers! TD is the smartest and best part of TWD fandom. Emily and I will be promoting the spin-off all summer. The spin-off will premiere in October all your questions will be answered in Fear and the Maggie and Negan spinoff. Would that be too much to ask for, hope for? Just joking! Sarcastically.

@galadrieljones:

I agree. Hot and lovable weirdo lol.

“TD is the smartest and best part of TWD fandom!” That is definitely the dream lolol

@galadrieljones:

In the meantime, another wolf reference in Norman’s story today. I have seen this movie. It’s about the Wind River Indian reservation in Wyoming.

So both Native American and wolf references

@wdway:

I think I watched this movie last year. I was good. This might also be a nod to the actor (can't remember his name) who had an accident recently that almost and probably should have killed him. You know what? Maybe that's what the hint is about. The story about someone who survived something that seemed unsurvival.

@galadrieljones:

Oh, right. Jeremy Renner. And I liked the movie too!!

@wdway:

Yes, Jeremy Renner. As much as he's been in the news lately you would think I would remember but then again it's me.

@galadrieljones:

Jon Bernthal is also in the movie.

@wdway:

It wasn't an expensive movie, no special effects or anything like that but it has a good story to it.

I had forgotten that. That does have a tie to TWD then.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah I like this movie too. It was good. Jon Bernthal was a nice guy in it. Very un-Shane. I like the ties you both found.

@galadrieljones:

Norman’s story today, the Arc de Triomphe, seems a view from the backseat?

[welcometomyweird]

Let’s Do The Time Warp Again!

I’ve been re-listening to a lot of older episodes of Astonishing Legends. Today, I was listening to an episode dealing with the phenomenon of missing time. Of course, it got me thinking back because I have had my own experiences with wonky time. (Honestly, if it’s Fortean, I have encountered it at some point. I’m a magnet for this stuff.) 

My most perplexing experience with weird time happened in about 2002 or 2003 at a friend’s house which is also a magnet for all things bizarre. The house is very much a liminal space, both in a physical and metaphysical sense. It’s on the line between two cities (or very close to) and it’s either situated at the convergence of lay lines or there’s a limestone or quartz deposit or something under the house that seems to generate energy for the most woo-woo stuff you can imagine. I’ve had a number of weird experiences there, but this is the only time when we seem to have departed this reality for an extended period of time and dropped back in with absolutely no recall of what happened in those missing hours. 

It was late spring, I believe. I had gone with my best friend, Beth (tragically, no longer with us) to visit our friend Rachel at her home where literally anything is possible. We got to the house somewhere between noon and 1pm. As usual, we brought food and the three of us sat in the living room for what only seemed to be about an hour, maybe and hour and a half. However, when we looked at the time on the cable box, it was a little after 8pm. The three of us then spent another hour or so trying to figure out what the hell happened to those missing hours because we KNEW that we hadn’t been there that long.

Yes, I know that time flies when you’re having fun and anyone who knows me and my friends knows that it doesn’t take very long for the giggles to start. I used to go to the gym with another friend and it was real easy for us to lose track of time and end up working out for 90 minutes rather than our usual 45. Losing small amounts of time like that is completely normal . We all do it. Losing several hours? Not so much. To this day, I still have no idea what happened. 

This, of course, wasn’t my only dance with weird time warps, it’s just the one that scares me the most. Not knowing what may have happened in those missing hours is really uncomfortable. I’m not going to say “It was aliens” because I don’t believe that, but I don’t have any real solid explanation for what did happen. And for those wondering if we were drinking or puffing on African laughing grass, the answer is no. I’m allergic to cannabis and not much of a drinker and my friends are real respectful of that. Nor were there more illicit substances involved. My ONLY vice is caffeine. 

My other brushes with weird time went the other way. It was almost like I went through a time rift and managed to get where I was going far sooner than should have been possible. The first time it happened, I was by myself. My mom and I were working at the same coffee shop, but we worked different shifts. I didn’t drive, so the walk between work and home took 20 to 25 minutes. On this particular day, I wasn’t due to work for another 2 hours, so I hadn’t even gotten ready to leave. Mom called the house and asked if I could come in early. I asked how early and she said “Now”. She then explained that one of our co-workers had passed out behind the counter, was unconscious and there was an ambulance on the way. Coming from a performing arts background, getting changed into my work clothes in under 3 minutes wasn’t out of the norm. Getting from our home to work in 5 minutes absolutely was. Mom asked how I got there so fast and I honestly had no idea. I still don’t. 

The second time, mom was with me. The background story is way too long, so I’ll sum it up as well as I can. Mom and I had gotten together with friends in Boston. The train ride between Beverly and Boston is around 40 minutes. My father had had a medical emergency that required hospitalization while we were gone. When mom found out, we cut our day short and headed back to the train station. The train ride back only took about 10 or 15 minutes. Again, can’t really explain how that happened.

Getting theoretical, if we accept that time is not linear (which I do), then that could possibly explain these time warps. It could also very well explain deja vu and residual hauntings. And it’s really not all that modern a concept. I have a book by Stephen Blamires called “Magic of the Celtic Otherworld” in which the author discusses some of the beliefs of the pre-Christian Irish Celts. In his book, Blamires explains that the Irish didn’t see time as something linear. They believed the past, present and future were happening at the same time and very often the timelines crossed or sideswiped each other. (Could Celtic knotwork be their “written” record of this belief?) In the words of the Tenth Doctor “It’s really a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.” 

It is possible that in those latter cases, the crisis factor could also play a role. Much like the adrenaline rush that makes it possible for a 115 pound woman to lift a car off of a toddler, maybe that same fight or flight response had a more metaphysical effect and opened a rift in the fabric of time. Honestly, I don’t know. I have no answers. All I know is what I’ve experienced. 

The missing time is always going to bother me. I have huge chunks of memory of my childhood missing. I remember talking to an acquaintance about that and she suggested that it could mean I was sexually abused and I blocked the memories. I quipped that it could also mean I was abducted by aliens. While her theory may actually hold some water with regard to the missing chunks of my childhood, it doesn’t explain the missing time my friends and I experienced together. And, no, I will not be undergoing recovered memory therapy. That’s how the Satanic Panic really got started. I’m not messing with that nonsense. 

So, that’s me and my strange relationship to time. Like I said, if it’s Fortean, it will inevitably find me. If you’re looking for Sasquatch (or more properly, relict hominoids), just bring me with you. Brown Mountain Lights in North Carolina? I’m not much for hiking, but for the right people, I’ll do it (cough... Micah Hanks). If I can get Mothman Festival booked for one of my clients, he’ll probably put in an actual appearance. At this point in my life, absolutely nothing will surprise me. 

[tellingittash]

Hey everyone! So today I decided to make another #bookstagram post to talk about “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. “Little Women” is a semi-autobiographical novel that begins during the American Civil War and centers on the fictional March family, specially in the lives and times of the four daughters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. It’s technically two books in one, and those two books were originally a serialized story. Each chapter is a little vignette that progresses the story of this family, and I loved most of these little stories. The story as a whole has highs and lows, at times making me laugh out loud and almost cry in the teachers lounge. A couple parts were more uninteresting, but those were pretty few in my opinion. It’s not going to be for everyone, especially people who like novels to be more speculative (Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.) but I liked it. I thought that it was a very emotional story that came from true experience and I liked it as art. It’s definitely a children’s novel, but it had things even for me to ponder, especially about marriage and work and writing and family and so on. And I especially liked noticing the religious and literary references to things like “Pilgrim’s Progress” and the Transcendentalist movement, which came out of Unitarianism, which came out of Christianity, which came out of Judaism, etc. Anyway, I would highly recommend this book to people who like woman centric stories. Good stuff all around. https://www.instagram.com/p/CoJIYaJMMy2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=