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5secondsofdrama · 4 years

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Just gotta say it's nice to find fans who are OG and also a similar age to the boys cos fr I feel like the majority of the fam are like 14-16 (18 tops) and I'm out here the same age as the boys like ... Ahaha. And I do think it gives a different pov of their music to be their same age. Like, SGFG is my favourite, but ofc it is "immature". Nonetheless, a good half of the SGFG songs they could still perform today and it wouldn't sound weird for a mid 20s to perform (eg SOAU, V, OS, C22) 1/?

Like, dgmw, I adore JBH, but it's whole vibe is so teenage that I would have thought they would have dropped playing her by now (likewise with SKH...) Heck, even their early stuff they could still play and it not be weird (the exception of the obvious being like 18, KMKM, LB) but fan faves like WAYF or IYDK I don't think would be weird for them to play. They could also change the songs up a bit, too to make them sound more mature. Idk, it seems a waste if they plan to shift fully away. 2/?

They have a catalogue of what, over 100 songs? And seem to want to move away from all their early stuff when so much could still be played today. Yb is a great album, it's matured and you still have alot of SGFG (and even their 2014 EPs) vibes in there. So I'd say it's objectively my fave as I can understand the direction they took to mature to get there. CALM however I can't stand. It feels so try hard. I'm all forcreative expression but honestly can't stand the tinny RnB mix acoustic style 3/?

The mainstream complaint of the boys back in the day was that they were a boy band who were try hards to not be and to be punk rock when they aren't punks cos they don't have that edge to their attitude that punks do. But now they're very obviously trying sooo hard to be mainstream people don't seem to pick up on that. The whole RnB vibe when let's be real, it doesn't suit who they are at all. 4/?

Last one I swear sorry but I was just thinking about all this before I went to sleep aha. They claimed CALM was genre bending when it just doesn't work to be (while Yb was more so and actually worked) and also as tho that's unique to them when you have artists like Post Malone, YUNGBLUD and MGK out here executing genre bending incredibly well but that blatantly isn't their aim, they just make music they enjoy. Wish 5SOS could just reflect and do the same instead of being try hards.

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Ok so, I think this last one goes with this grouping but I’m not sure? It’s not numbered and I technically already answered it but I’m throwing it in here anyways.

There are a lot of younger fans, I try not to judge them too much bc I was pretty young when I started listening to the guys, even tho I’m closer to their age. This being said there are definitely 15 year old fans out there being super problematic and immature on twt and everywhere else. The fandom was toxic way back when too tho, and there are people in their 30s, and mid twenties out here acting like immature disrespectful brats. You can find 16 y/os who are respectful of others, they may still have some growing up to do but I don’t think it’s fair to group alll younger fans into one category and all older fans into another. As I mentioned there are some pretty poorly behaved older fans out there, who flaunt their behaviour, as immature as it is. I think overall maturity is majorly lacking across all facets of the fandom. You’re lucky when you can find small pockets of it.

When we were on ST people liked to call us all sorts of names and sent us hate. And would turn around and say that we were so immature and hateful to Sierra. Reality is that we’ve never stooped that low, and we never will. We don’t post hate, we don’t send it and we don’t promote it.

As for age changing how people experience music, I tend to agree with you. There are certain songs that are attached to young experiences of mine. I think self-titled is the most immature, Amnesia makes me think about my high school heartbreak. I can’t relate it to my current life at all. I don’t really think SGFG is that immature, a part from the name. I think they just had a lot of other influences. I disagree that JBH has a teenage vibe to it. I would say for songs like Money, SKH, and Hey Everybody, or Gotta Get Out, Social Casualty, Reject etc. But JBH has more of an undercurrent of mental health than a need to break free of social constraints put in place by school and parents.

I fully agree that they should play more of their old stuff they have some amazing lock ass songs. Ones that didn’t become massive hits, but the majority of people that buy their records and come to their shows are fans that have been around awhile. They have it in their head they need to appeal to a bigger audience. Whether that’s a then thing or that’s soemthing management is imposing we can’t be sure. I feel like overtime they’ve grown less appreciative of the fans.

People have said if they didn’t evolve their sound they wouldn’t have survived, and I think some evolution is important but I don’t know that an outright complete genre switch is necessary for them to remain successful. Youngblood was a change from their punk pop roots, which we embraced and it was good but it was different. Why they felt the need to entirely shift from that seems so strange to me, and almost unnecessary? Maybe they are having an identity crisis. Even if they had stayed pop punk forever I think they would have been fine. As you mentioned the fanbase was always so strong behind them and a lot of the fans will blindly buy whatever they put out. I’m glad we got YB, I don’t understand why they could have just evolved form their rather than doing whatever the hell they did. Overall, I agree with a lot of what you had to say. And if also like to add I miss the punk vibe and the damn lip ring, grumble.

#red replies #ask #anon #08/22/2020

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rgr-pop · 4 years

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Re: canvassing for Bernie. I guess mostly advice on being effective. I went canvassing in Va before Super Tuesday and felt pretty ineffective, we used the minivan app which just showed us dem voters which makes sense right before the election but I’m wondering if I should widen the net going forward? Idk I’d be canvassing in md and wv thanks in advance you truly are the only smart person on this site

i actually did not have the best experience today, but some of my friends did. my friend the one from flint who went on msnbc to tell chris hayes he didn't vote for hillary because he's from flint, he had a really good day and he felt really good about everything. he gave me some good points, which i will share with you in a second. the reason you didn't feel effective in VA is because everyone in VA is a CIA asset and you shouldn't internalize that. i'm thrilled that you get to talk to people in WV and I think policy and talking points are really going to be on your side, and the people are going to be cool as hell (even if they are not-already bernard voters).

i think bernard kinda fucked over michigan in a few ways this year (no beef but it's true), but i am lucky because my city has some extremely experienced campaign people, and i have never really had to experience doing canvassing for any kind of campaign that wasn't run by them, so i was kind of confused about how little direction you were given. they keep asking me to do higher-up stuff like drawing up the voter lists and strategizing and hosting canvasses, but i keep being like, put me on the doors dude that's where i belong. (my palestinian libra dirtbag is exactly the same, he did like three turfs today lol.) i can probably ask my campaign people for tips if you feel like you don't have any guidance.

since we're so close to election day, we'd normally be only targeting likely/confirmed voters to get out the vote, but because things are so crazy, we're also hitting up voters identified as undecided or previously soft-opponent or i think even independent and we're actually still trying to change minds. this is not super usual but it's crisis time! so, to answer your question, i would say i think you should widen the net, especially in WV. the dem voter problem isn't a huge issue where i am because people in lansing flint and detroit are literally just always democrats no matter what, but in other states i think it's more nuanced.

most of the following advice pertains to actually talking to people, but it should cover the range of voters you may encounter. i think i feel the least effective when i "fail" to engage people in a conversation, so i recommend talking to them in more open-ended ways. i share some of our script down below, but in general i like to ask people questions to draw them in, rather than telling people what we're about. get them to talk about themselves, and they will remember bernie sanders as the candidate that listened. i swear to god that works.

today they gave me a sheet (i gave it to a new girl so i can't remember exactly, but) that focused on swinging those voters. it's still "don't shittalk opponent" territory but it's a list of ways to explicitly contrast sanders and biden on the policies, and it made me realize that we're extremely lucky to be put in this position because those contrasts are stark, and they are convincing to poor people in particular.

what's interesting is that i'm no longer leaning into medicare for all to do my arguing, and i think that's gonna make me more effective. obviously bernie is stronger (literally: strongest) on this issue, but the messaging around biden's work on the ACA and his recent dodging about the issue doesn't help us convince anybody. healthcare is the most important thing on the table but it remains inscrutable: i would say dig into it with voters only if they bring it up as an issue that matters to them, or if they're healthcare workers (non-doctor probably), or if you are going to talk about an experience of your own. when you do talk about healthcare, especially in WV, remember bernie's position on medical debt. this is one of his clearest contrasts with biden. make sure you're familiar with biden's history with bankruptcy and debt, because i'd be willing to bet that that's something that's gonna resonate with WV and MD voters.

the trade deals and NAFTA are, simply, the most important thing to talk about at this point, and imo (based on the critical states, michigan most of all) that's what's going to win us this election, if we talk to people about it. hillary clinton lost the election because she did NAFTA--simple as that. biden, too, did NAFTA, but the thing about him--as i'm sure you're noticing--is that people seem to forget absolutely everything about him, and no one knows that he did NAFTA. joe biden is behind loads of policy that was outright bad for industrial workers and ruined lives. it is simply enough to argue "bernie sanders did not do NAFTA" but you'll want to look into his trade deal positions and history, contrast these with both biden and trump. if you're worried about the xenophobic underbelly of this problem, frame it as exactly what it is: a position that resists giving corporations free reign to do whatever they want, to abandon communities, and stomp all over workers.

look over some of bernie's positions on unions and labor in general. neither of the states you are going to are strongly right-to-work states right now, but where i live that's a really important thing. both biden and bernie, interestingly, have proposed a ban on right-to-work laws (it rules that we are in a place where this was mainstream for candidates, but it remains to be seen who will actually pursue this! the literal birthplace of the UAW went right-to-work while biden was VP soooo.) bernie also wants to end at-will employment and has a slate of proposal to strengthen unions. you should tell this to almost everyone. biden claims to support many similar plans, but he has not historically been especially strong in these areas, and his plans are generally less encompassing.

you should be prepared to confront concerns that bernie's strong environmental positions will hurt workers in WV. talk to people about a "just transition" and really emphasize the point that industry, and coal companies in particular, have been empowered to come and go as they please without any consequences. bernard's plans in general are job creators, and the idea is to bring sustainable--as in, sticking--jobs to appalachia and the rust belt, as well as universal healthcare for people made sick by their jobs. universal healthcare is an engine for jobs.

the war in iraq, support for veterans, and social security are extremely huge issues for poor people, probably specifically in WV.

you will also talk to another major electorate: people who just want to beat trump. this is advice from the msnbc friend, who knows: give them all the bernie beats trump lines. only bernie beats trump. convince them that biden will have all the same problems hillary clinton had against trump. if they bring up the alleged low youth turnout on super tuesday, remind them that the south has particular voter suppression issues that impact young and college voters, and that thus far young people actually have been turning out in the north and west. and the youth turnout on super tuesday was still higher than average! remind them that a democrat without the so-called youth vote has never beat a republican in the general in this century. most importantly, remind them that because of our flawed electoral system, you could win every single person on the west coast, but you're essentially never going to win the election if you can't win macomb county, michigan. and macomb county, michigan is full of working class voters who were really hurt by the policies of joe biden and hillary clinton and, increasingly, donald trump, and they are interested in bernie sanders, and it's life or death for them. tell them you have a friend in michigan who has seen this first hand :). (hoping march tenth bears this out for us lol.)

gonna round out the hard issues section here by suggesting you read this, which i think is pretty convincing: https://newrepublic.com/article/156819/rebooting-bernie-sanders

today i talked to a guy who said, "bernie sanders, i think i heard obama likes him." and i said, yep, bernie worked really hard to pass some of obama's best policies. and that's true :)

in general, the sanders campaign relies really heavily on the "bernie story," the personal narrative. i think it probably works. it really works for me, because i can talk to people about the stuff that isn't just the green new deal and loan forgiveness--although you will definitely also end up talking to educated people who will need to be reminded that bernie sanders wants to forgive their loans and joe biden wants them to be saddled with them until the end of time. remember to talk to people about where you work and where you live. work and homes is the most important thing to absolutely everyone. tell them you have a teacher friend lol. talk to people about other people you've met. tell other people's stories.

in case you need guidance in this area, try a script that looks something like this (sorry if this is condescending and you already have seen the scripts, but i kind of modify them based on my strengths as a canvasser):

i'm so and so and i'm with the bernard sanders campaign and we're out reminding people to vote on [date].

do you plan on voting? do you know who you're voting for? can we count on you to vote for bernie? [remind people of the stakes of the election, it's gonna be a close one, talk to your friends and family.] [then get them to think about their election day plan: do you know where your polling location is? what time are you going? do you have transportation?] [try to have support info available for them if they do not have these things. if they're worrying about not being able to get off work, commiserate/be empathetic and don't blame.] [let them know how they can get involved in the campaign.]

if they say they are not voting, sometimes you can respect that (shoutout to jehovah's witness), but if they're on your list, they're probably registered, so you can ask them what kind of issues prevent them from voting. a lot of people will tell you that voting is stupid. you should agree with them (they are right). remind them that you would not normally be canvassing for a democratic candidate or any presidential candidate. you're working with tons of people who never canvassed, or maybe never even voted before. this is the first time in my entire life that i had the opportunity to vote for a candidate that addressed the issues that weigh on me on a day to day basis. a major candidate that hates the two party system and refuses to submit to democratic party nonsense. who has a plan that might actually work. a candidate that has a plan to make everybody's life better, even people who aren't out here canvassing for him. poor people. remind them that bernie sanders is the strongest candidate among non- and first-time voters! this area is a strength of mine because all of this is 100% true for me. i hate electoral politics and i hate the democratic party! if they have other reasons for not voting, see if you have any info that can help them. also remind them that this is a close race, an uphill battle, a difficult fight, and their vote is going to REALLY make a difference. but if we try, we will win.

if they say they "think" they know who they're voting for, they're probably thinking about someone else. you'd be surprised--i am so surprised--how many people have no idea, even up til they get to the polls, or they change their mind last minute. try to prepare a few sentences that are really personal but probably relatable that they can chew on. mine looks something like this: i'm from flint michigan and i've seen the way the government has started to let companies get away with absolutely anything, abandon families that have worked for them for generations, and weaken unions. i want fair wages, fair taxes and for companies to be accountable to their workers and the communities that make them run & make them rich, and that's the bernie sanders platform, and i fear joe biden's ideas are moving us in the same direction that we're already moving. my husband's family worked for GM for four generations but we can't get jobs in flint much less find a place to live. being from flint, and in my own working life, i've watched the power of unions just totally erode. i myself am in a teacher's union and just recently, for the first time in my life,i feel like we can move in a direction where workers have real power in their workplace. especially watching teachers and support staff rally behind sanders, or these huge strikes. sometimes here i also say something about schools! etc.! ! sometimes that's all you get, but sometimes people want to hear more! in either case, this will stick with them.

if they say they are undecided, ask them what kind of issues motivate them to vote, or ask them what they think about sanders. refer to all of the above, but don't argue, use bernie's positions to add to what they are saying, be a good empathetic active listener etc. but also make sure they know that you have shared experiences, agree with them. 99% of the time their issues will be better addressed by bernie, if they are working class people. sometimes they will reveal that they are nervous to vote for sanders. remind them of the size and energy of the base, and the electability arguments listed above. one of the reasons we want to canvass is to remind people--especially in conservative communities, where their neighbors may not even be voting in this primary--that it's okay and in fact very popular to vote for bernie, and we're competitive, and if we make it to the general we're gonna win. but it's not going to be easy [talk to your friends and family get involved go online etc.]

if they are leaning biden but undecided, sometimes it's fine to ask them why, ask them for a pitch. you can tell them that you agree, and that we have had a really strong contest this year, and maybe in another year biden would have been the strongest choice, but bernie's just better in all these areas, etc.

please lmk if you want more ideas! i'll try to take a picture of some of our documents tomorrow when i'm out.

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johannesviii · 4 years

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Top 12 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2014

The “least good” of the three best years of the 2010s. This is still a top 12. Because I can, and I will.

I know. People also call it a bad year. And I think they’re wrong.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

New job, which is the one I still have currently. Also, I discovered Doctor Who in December 2013 and you know exactly what happened in 2014 because I dived head first into the extended universe as soon as I finished New Who and I’ve never really recovered since then. The end of the year was highly stressful, with my cat being sick, my father needing a very dangerous surgical intervention, and me being so stressed out I was basically unable to sleep for days. Might explain why there’s a lot of cute songs on this list, I needed cute stuff.

That year wasn’t very generous in good albums from bands I liked. Epica released The Quantum Enigma, and it was okay, Within Temptation had Hydra, and it was also okay, and Coldplay had the very underrated (in my opinion at least) Ghost Stories, a mostly melancholic album full of bittersweet post-breakup songs. So I’m left with no choice but to declare The Birthday Massacre’s album Superstition my album of the year for 2014. They had stayed at a consistent level since Pins And Needles so I wasn’t expecting anything better from them, but boy do they delivered. Here is Divide, it’s about a subterranean world and it might be a metaphor but as you know I’m very literal-minded! Here’s Beyond, about a lady falling in love with a strange woman who might be some sort of fae or supernatural entity!! I love most of the album and there’s only one subpar song on it. I know they’ll never get a crossover hit but they’d deserve it so much. Look at the state of the world. We’re so ready for a new mainstream wave of energetic, angsty, weird music. Just bring it on.

There’s only one non-elligible song that truely pisses me off this time, and it’s Traffic Girl by Indochine, another single from their Black City Parade album. It’s about a policewoman in North Korea who has to wave and smile at non existant traffic all day long and the song presents her as a modern hero. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album and I’m so mad it didn’t make the French year-end list.

Here’s a list of honorable menti-holy shit why is this list so long

Albatraoz (AronChupa) - Riiiiiight at the limit between catchy and annoying. But it’s blissfully short.

Chandelier (Sia) - I would like this more if it wasn’t that painful to listen to, I swear.

Magic in the Air (Magic System) - Insert my usual comment about these guys and their fun & happy songs.

Un Jour Au Mauvais Endroit (Calogero) - Great music, good lyrics. It’s still Calogero and I tend to dislike how overdramatic he usually is. Not enough to ruin that one song for me though.

Je Garde le Sourire (Black M) - This isn’t the last time he’s gonna appear in this post.

Prayer In C (Lilly Wood & The Prick) - A bit repetitive but in a good way.

Budapest (Georges Ezra) - A bit repetitive but in a good way 2, the return but in a completely different genre.

The Monster (Eminem & Rihanna) - We’ve now entered the songs which I considered putting on the list, and yeah, there’s a lot of them even if this is a top 12. “Bad year for pop music”. Yeah. Right.

Addicted To You (Avicii) - This is good, and the music video is great, and I want to stop feeling emotional about Avicii. Please.

Don’t Tell Em (Jeremih) - I. Uh. What the f█ck. Okay. There’s no way I can justify this. I simply adore this beat even if the lyrics are really, really bad. It’s just visually stunning and I really wish the song itself was better.

Photomaton (Jabberwocky) - I don’t think this would have charted without the success of Kavinsky the previous year. But still. Wonderful stuff. Well deserved.

Madame Pavoshko (Black M) - This was on the first version of the list but in the end I really had no room left for it. It’s a song about a guy telling his old teacher he made it in life despite the fact she labelled him a hopeless case at school. With such a premise, it could be an angry song, but no, it’s upbeat, sarcastic and fun. Wonderful stuff.

Le Graal (Kyo) - Kyo? Wait, you mean the embarrassing emo guys from my 2002 and 2003 lists? These guys?? They were back on the charts after ten years?? And suddenly everyone thought it was cool to like them again?? Including me??? Sounds fake but okay

Turn Down For What (DJ Snake) - The last cut. Stim music at its finest, sharp, aggressive and colorful. Everything I ever wanted from a hit song.

Well, that was long. Here’s the actual list.

12 - Wake Me Up (Avicii)

US: #22 / FR: Not on the list

“So wake me up when it’s all over, when I’m wiser and I’m older” should make no sense. You can’t get wiser if you’re asleep. At least that’s what I would probably say if I didn’t feel this. There’s a lot of times in my life I wished I could be switched off and woken up a couple of years later and be like “hello I’m back, I feel better now, what did I miss”. I totally get it.

The only reason this song is so low on the list is the drop. I don’t like it very much. The rest is damn good.

11 - Boom Clap (Charlie XCX)

US: #34 / FR: #84

Boom! Boom! Boom! CLAP. That song got me after its first seconds. Love its atmosphere, very cotton candy-like, very fluffy, with a sharp voice. Doesn’t work well if you listen to it on a loop, though, and that’s the only negative thing I can say against it.

10 - Stay The Night (Zedd)

US: #94 / FR: Not on the list

This on the other hand works very well on repeat and that drop is golden. I’m afraid I don’t have anything very interesting to say about it. It stayed on my playlist from 2014 to summer 2019, though, so that’s an impressive feat.

9 - Rather Be (Clean Bandit)

US: #41 / FR: #18

Several critics I follow have commented this song is 1) mostly meaningless 2) too perfect to say anything about it and I agree. It’s also too perfect to be really passionate about it, unfortunately, but still, very, very good stuff.

8 - Magic (Coldplay)

US: Not on the list / FR: #66

You already know I don’t really like lowkey emotional songs and I also hate the first act of Coldplay’s career, so why on earth did I like Ghost Stories so much and why is Magic making me feel so emotional, you ask? Well it’s because the music itself isn’t bland. It’s lowkey but rich, dense and colourful, and it works much better than whatever they were doing before with their slow boring songs. Also, I really struggle with dramatic vocal performances on quiet emotional songs (which is why I tend to have issues with Adele’s voice on some of her stuff), and here the balance is just ideal. Soft colors, soft textures, soft voice, this is like a colorful plushie you’ve lost for years and just found in the attic and it brings you to tears. I adore it.

Also the part of the lyrics that goes “And if you were to ask me / After all that we've been through / Still believe in magic? / Oh yes I do”, that makes me want to hug someone and never let go.

7 - Waves (Mr Probz)

US: Not on the list / FR: #15

This is completely hypnotic. It’s perfect to drive, to walk, to draw. to sit on a bench and look at the trees. It’s just wave after wave of pastel colors with a good beat and it washes away your anxiety slowly but surely. Therapeutic and beautiful without ever feeling bland. Wonderful stuff.

6 - Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson)

US: Not on the list (#1 on the 2015 year-end list) / FR: #3

Everyone loved it and I wasn’t an exception. You all know it and I’ve got nothing new or interesting to say about it. A ton of fun. Love the lyrics.

5 - Sur Ma Route (Black M)

US: Not on the list / FR: #7

If you’re wondering what’s going on in this picture, the guy is parodying a lot of famous movies or series in the music video. It’s a simple but super energetic song about trying to trace your own road in life and all the problems you encounter and how you can’t always count on people you thought were your friends. It’s very propulsive and motivating and it’s my favorite song from that guy even though he made a lot of good songs. Just great stuff. Check it out if you’ve never heard it.

Speaking of being on your own...

4 - Ain’t It Fun (Paramore)

US: #47 / FR: Not on the list

I miss hearing that kind of thing on the radio and yes, I’m aware that makes me sound like an old idiot. Oh how I wish this had been released in 2010 when I just started to work, that would have been perfect. I know the song is supposed to be sarcastic with the whole “ain’t it fun being on your own” angle, but yeah, when your life wasn’t great before, it’s actually liberating to “live in the real world”, even if it sucks at times, even if it’s difficult and you have responsibilities and all.

Also the music video is super cute. Love it.

3 - Pompeii (Bastille)

US: #12 / FR: Not on the list

I’m honestly surprised this is only #3 on this list considering how much I loved this one back when it came out, and don’t get me wrong, it’s still a song I love to this day, just... a bit less. Maybe it’s because of overplay? I’m not exactly sure considering #1 was also played very often and I never ever got tired of it. And it’s well written, and it’s not every day that you hear a song about two dead people talking about the wrath of the gods after their city was engulfed in ash.

So yeah. Not sure what happened there. I hope this band is eventually gonna have another hit like this one. Bastille, more of Pompeii and less of Happier, please.

2 - Dangerous (David Guetta)

US: Not on the list / FR: #8

A few months ago I heard Memories by Maroon 5 and I was instantly filled with a truely disproportionate amount of rage for such a bland pop song. See, I love it when music uses well-known classical tunes and completely changes their context and tone, but Memories doesn’t do any of that, it’s just the Pachelbel canon with some bad lyrics on top. So yeah, it’s a pet peeve.

Dangerous, on the other hand, is a song mixing a small loop of Toccata & Fugue in D minor and it basically uses it as an ominous pseudo-police siren in a song about illegally cruising a car with your possibly criminal, possibly gangster crush and not knowing if you’re scared, in love or feeling the thrill of adventure, or all of that at once. I. Love this damn song.

When the only bad thing I have to say about a song talking about driving at night way too fast is “eh this isn’t as good as Kavinsky”, you know you’ve found gold.

1 - A Sky Full of Stars (Coldplay & Avicii)

US: #51 / FR: #9

As much as I love Dangerous, there wasn’t any doubt about what would top this list. I’ve spent about ten lists explaining how my appreciation of Coldplay kept growing over time and four lists explaining how much I loved Avicii, and this song is the best of both worlds. The first time I heard it, I was driving and, no joke, I was so overwhelmed I had to park my car to properly concentrate on the song.

One day I will have to paint this song to explain how fantastic it looks and I’d have to use purple, china blue and pink watercolor inks and basically paint a psychedelic night sky full of little lights and yeah, this is basically another of these songs that are deeply satisfying on a synesthetic level, and it joins this very select club with the blue song called “Blue”, the song full of bright flashes called “Lights” and the song that looks like gentle pulsing lights called “Fireflies”. I’m trying (and failing) to learn how to play it on the piano. I know the chords, and I suck, but I’m very determined.

On top of that deeply satisfying visual, there’s the soft vocals so specific of the Ghost Stories album, and the very simple, very cute lyrics, and I simply hear “'Cause you're a sky, 'cause you're a sky full of stars, I'm gonna give you my heart” and I die instantly. This is high quality musical fluff. Come to think of it, this list is full of it, and this is the Ultimate Fluffy Song. One fluff to rule them all.

Sidenote, considering I fell into the DW audios right when this song came out, that’s one of my theme songs for Eight and Charley. Because of course it is.

Next up: The beginning of a progressive drop in quality but you wouldn’t be able to tell considering how long this list of honorable mentions is

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #eye contact tw

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jawnjendes · 5 years

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i could use something good | shawn mendes

university au, shawn x goth gf

AN: this is their First Date and its nearly 4k words and i gave myself emotions so and a bitch is TIREDT so TAKE THIS BLEASE n let me know what u think pls i need it

!!!!also!!!! should i give this bitch a name? should the goth gf be called something other than goth gf??? let me know if u have any name suggestions!

!!!ANOTHER also!!!! i made a playlist!!! its a fuck ton of whiplash! i spent 3 days on it!! enjoy!!

masterlist | series playlist

“If I didn’t know you,” said Stella, who was at my bedroom doorway, “I wouldn’t think you were going on a date with a guy like Shawn Mendes.”

She wasn’t wrong. I was decked out in a long black button up, ripped black jeans, and black Vans. However, I had the decency to keep my makeup colorful. Who doesn’t love bright red eyeshadow, thick wings, and a nude lip? Besides, all black clothing and bright eyeshadow was all I had for the moment. These days, I barely found time for washing my clothes or makeup brushes. My glamorous office job and homework was getting quite demanding. I was surprised I found time to see Shawn on the weekend.

I say that as if I wasn’t putting off psych homework. The last time I did this was for some fuckboy who didn’t care about my grades… or me at all. How did I know it was going to be different this time? Usually, I can tell when someone wants to hook up and leave it at that, but I have spoken to Shawn as many times as I can count on one hand, and I couldn’t detect any of that. Must be a good actor. Maybe he’s done this before.

“Maybe I’ve lost my mind,” I said, more to myself than to Stella.

She heard and responded anyway. “Losing your mind is staying in bed for a whole twenty four hours. You’re getting back into the swing of things, so even if this date goes bad, the interaction is good for you. This is normal for our age.”

Again, she’s not wrong. My antidepressant prescription was finally refilled, so the fog in my head was starting to clear up. It was just way too easy to slip back into isolation. My self destructive tendencies were just being done out of habit at this point.

“When was the last time you went on a date?” Stella asked.

I blew out a sigh and thought about it as I applied lip gloss over my nude lipstick. I was hardly the type to go on an actual date. “Shit, I don’t know. Before college, I think.”

“So you were seventeen?”

“No! I started college late. I was probably eighteen, almost nineteen.”

“That’s still about three years.”

“Well, chances are neither of us are really taking this thing seriously,” I said, putting my lip products into my purse. “He didn’t ask me on a date. He just wanted to hang out.”

Stella clicked her tongue and folded her arms. “So you’re just gonna go get laid?”

“No. I’m past that part of life.”

“So it’s a date.”

“No.”

She was more confused than I was by the time Shawn had texted me. He asked to come up to the dorm, so I gave him the floor and number. According to Stella, I was either definitely getting laid or my man friend was a real gentlemen. I wasn’t sure which one I was more nervous about.

“Should I answer the door?” Stella asked, bouncing on her feet. “So I can tell him that you’re almost ready, and then you can make a dramatic entrance, and he’ll be like ‘you look… wow.’ Y’know the way guys do!” She said all of that very fast.

“And then I say ‘you don’t look too bad yourself,’” I said, amused. “What universe is this?”

We both laughed, but then we were cut off by a knock on the door. Stella looked at my with a grin so wide her dimples came out. I tried to match her enthusiasm.

“I’ll get it,” she said, turning on her heel towards the front door.

“No, I will!” I snapped, suddenly frantic. I pushed past her to answer the door.

“No, you have to make your dramatic entrance!”

“I don’t have to!”

We bickered as we got closer to the door. Mind you, it was five steps from my bedroom. I pretty much slapped Stella’s hand out of the way as she reached for the doorknob, and I knocked her out of the way with my hip. At the last second, she stood behind the door as I opened it.

I smiled wide at Shawn, who had been waiting for thirty seconds too long. He was in a white button up, black skinny jeans, and black boots. Tall and handsome as ever. It’s always the handsome ones that’ll get you. What are the chances I was falling into another fuckboy trap?

He returned the smile, probably acting like he didn’t hear me tackle my roommate. “Hey, you ready?”

I nodded like a lovesick puppy. This was quite unlike me, if you don’t think about the times I was easily swayed by various guys who gave zero fucks. Oh god, am I easy?

Stella was hopping like a bunny from behind the door. I shot her one last glance before stepping out of the dorm and into the hallway.

No one was around to see or feel the awkward air of me walking next to Shawn. It was obvious that we were… into each other? But it was still, for lack of a better phrase, the first date and I was unbelievably aware of that. Just by appearance alone, Shawn and I didn’t look like people who would typically hang out with each other.

Shawn walked with a type of confidence I could only dream to have. People noticed him, people wanted to be friends with him. There was just something about him that draws you in, and it drew in my broody ass.

I walked with my shoulders hunched, my hood up, and my head down. I tried not to be noticed, and I was pretty sure it worked. Strangers in class who tried to talk to me were always caught off guard by my black lipstick and dark eyeliner, like it’s never been done before. I was a little unapproachable, and I didn’t intend for it to be that way.

“So before we go,” Shawn said, “you got any allergies or dietary restrictions I should know about? ‘Cause we’re gonna go eat.”

Okay… doesn’t seem like a hook up situation. I was also surprised he had the decency to ask. The only reason why my face felt hot was because I actually had an answer.

“You ready? ‘Cause it’s a decent sized list,” I told him. Then, I named all the restaurants I couldn’t eat at because I’ve gotten sick from the food. “Also, I can’t have anything spicy, or anything that’s super processed and dripping with grease.”

I didn’t love explaining this to people, but it was necessary. I prefer not being sick, especially on a date. It’s a long story.

“Alright, coffee it is,” Shawn concluded.

We ended up going to the place he and Camila performed at a couple weeks ago. It was much less crowded in broad daylight. Shawn ordered some passion fruit whatever, and I stuck with jasmine tea. I insisted on paying for myself, but nah, I was invited here or whatever.

“Where do you wanna sit?” Shawn asked when we had our drinks.

I wordlessly went for the table at the far corner of the shop. The place was quite small, so we weren’t exactly away from everyone else. From here, I could see the entrance, and the string of customers that would come and go. The bathrooms were also right next to where we sat, so I could make an impromptu escape if needed.

“Away from the sun, eh?” Shawn joked. “As expected.”

If this date was going to consist of goth jokes I swear-

“So how’s your day goin’?” I asked, keeping a smile on my face.

“The usual. I worked, went to class.”

I nodded, playing with my steaming to-go cup. “You said you work at a flower shop, right? What’s that like?”

“Oh, I love it.” Shawn sat up in his seat. “I love the different types of flowers we got. There’s one, a chaenomeles, or a flowering quince - beautiful, one of my favorites.”

The way he talked about being surrounded by pretty plants four times a week was entrancing. He was really into it. He went into detail about arranging flowers down to the vase they went in. He knew his stuff and he loved every bit of it. Damn it, he’s passionate. I like passion in a guy. Damn it.

“So you do the arrangements and you deliver them?” I asked. Listen, I wanted to know more about him and for him to know less about me.

“Pretty much. Although, I’ve been delivering to a lot of funerals lately. That’s probably more your neck of the woods, right?” He smirked.

I scoffed. “Oh yeah, the girl who wears all black must love attending funerals, huh?” I sat back and sipped my tea. “It’s quite the opposite actually, even though I’ll admit, I look like I love death and dying.”

Shawn tilted his head, curious. “Is that not what being a goth is?”

“I wouldn’t know ‘cause I’m not a goth.” A smile almost grew on my face, but I stayed neutral.

Silence fell between us, and I looked down at my cup. I could feel Shawn’s brown eyes on me, and one glance at his face showed me a charming, boyish smile. He knew I knew something, and he was quietly coaxing it out of me.

And it worked.

“Okay, fine!” I said, scooting forward and placing my elbows on the table. “Goths are merely aware of how short and fragile human life is. We-” I cleared my throat, “They acknowledge and accept the fact that we’re all going to mcfreaking die one day.”

Shawn nodded. “Okay, I see. So they’re not afraid of dying?”

“Depends on the person,” I replied. “They’re incredibly aware of the dark side of things - obviously. But they know of the light too. Light and dark, life and death. But anyone can have that mindset, really. So I would say being goth is finding beauty in the dark.”

“So what makes you not one of them?”

I thought for a moment. Yeah, I was fascinated by things that deviated the mainstream. I thought about death more than I’d like to admit. I wore skulls and black lace and dark makeup, but that shouldn’t be a reason to put me in a box. I knew I wasn’t going to stay like this forever. I just never labeled myself as what others labeled me as.

“I forgot where the beauty was,” I finally answered.

That made Shawn smile. He finally got a sliver of what I just might come with. He didn’t say anything either, he just sank into the moment, and it felt like he wanted me to be there with him.

My eyes went around the coffee shop, trying to find a way to change the topic. More people were starting to enter the vicinity. It was getting less chill and more hectic. Then I looked at the table top. We both had our hands around our cups. I found Shawn’s bird tattoo on his hand, something that made him just a little more attractive.

“So what does your tattoo mean?” I asked.

His response had me floored. “Which one? I’ve got five of them.”

Damn it.

“I guess all of them,” I replied, a smile creeping up on my face.

All five of his tattoos were special and deep. Each one gave me more reasons to not ghost him after this was over. Shawn really loved this city. He really loved his family. He loved his mother so much.

“You really love music, huh?” I mused, looking at the beautiful guitar tattoo on his forearm.

“More than anything,” he replied.

“More than flowers?”

“A hundred percent. Playing music is all I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Tell me why that made me genuinely smile. Tell me why that was so goddamn attractive.

I asked him what his favorite songs were to play, and he had a list of sweet love songs I had listened to at a different point in time. He loved writing songs about love, and he revealed he hasn’t been in a proper serious relationship before. Neither had I. Shawn was a year younger than me, so his reasoning was from just that, being young.

Part of me wished that was also my reason.

After talking to Shawn for over an hour, we fell into a silence much less awkward than when we were walking out of my dorm building. I was stuck wondering how a soft, sunshine-y boy like him could find interest in a stone cold storm like me. I wondered, but I didn’t want to tap out just yet.

Once the coffee shop was too crowded, we went out to the street. This part of downtown was still unfamiliar, but I didn’t mind this time. I was talking to a cute boy. A soft boy. This wasn’t a normal occurrence for me.

“What are you thinking about?” Shawn asked me as we strolled down the street.

I was staring at the ground. I really didn’t know what to say. We spent the last hour sharing our thoughts and whatnot, why does he need more? I merely shrugged.

“Alright, well I have another question,” he said. “What made you agree to this date?”

Oh fuck it is date.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But after spending some time with you, I can say… you’re… charming? And, kind?” I chuckled. “I don’t really talk about things like that so explicitly.”

He looked at me for a second. “Okay, well I do. I asked Stella about you after I saw you at my set. All I’ve wanted to do is to get to know you. You’re just really cool, and really mysterious. It’s kinda drawing me in.”

This had to be a trap somehow. Shawn couldn’t possibly have genuine interest in me. He was all softness and joy, and I was all stormy and bitter. This couldn’t be real.

“I… awesome,” I mumbled, trying to hide my giddiness. Yeah, I was in disbelief, but how often is a guy like that so upfront about his feelings? That is, if he wasn’t lying about any of this.

“You haven’t told me enough about you, honey,” he said.

I glanced at him, placing my hands in my sweater pockets. So he noticed my questioning. “Well, you kinda got it figured out. I’m a girl who likes wearing black.”

“That’s it, eh? Come on, don’t be shy.”

Shyness wasn’t what I would have called it.

“What do you wanna know?” I asked sheepishly.

“Hmm… something crazy that’s happened to you.”

Honestly, it’s just as bad as the word, “everything.” But at least I had something to think about. The craziest thing I did was move countries at the age of nineteen, but it was only crazy in the eyes of my relatives, which was a lot of people. Does that count?

“I got my wisdom teeth out when I was seventeen,” I said casually. “That’s about as crazy as I get. When I was hopped up on drugs, I was telling my mom a tale of a chosen hero who on adventures all over the kingdom.”

Shawn chuckled. “Really?”

“Yeah. My mom recorded it, because she got really into it. She thought I was gonna be the next JK Rowling or something. But when I watched it back, I realized I was just talking about the Legend of Zelda series.”

“Insane. You’re insane.”

We walked a lap around the block, talking about nothing, and then we got back to Shawn’s car. I felt a thrill in my bones I couldn’t explain. I was trying to keep a cheesy grin off my face. I had to keep up my composed exterior.

“So have you been having fun?” Shawn asked when we were inside the vehicle.

“Definitely,” I replied simply.

He looked at me with a smile, and then he was pressing buttons on the radio. “Connect your phone. I wanna hear what you’re listening to.”

I quickly opened the Spotify app and changed the song I was last listening to. Why? It was one of Shawn’s songs. It was too soon for him to know that I was growing fond of his music. Instead, I chose a fairly popular Halsey song, and it played on the speakers.

“Oh, nice,” Shawn said, and he was singing along in seconds.

It got less nice as I listened to the lyrics. This song reminded me of a harder time. That’s probably why I didn’t listen to it for so long.

“You know I’m the one who put you up there

I don’t know why”

Cool way to finish a first date.

I stared out the window and stayed quiet, letting this dumb song swallow me whole. Flashbacks hit me before I could try to stop them. Backseat of my car. Weeks of silence. Feelings like you’re underwater. It made my insides go cold.

“You really get into it, eh?” Shawn asked halfway through the song.

The sound of his voice startled me, but I didn’t jump. I blinked a few times, coming back to present day. I’m in another man’s car. We’re in a different time period.

“Yeah,” I said. “A good song can alter my mood so quickly, I wonder if it’s normal.”

“Oh, I know the feeling. But I also think it has to do with the memories associated with the song.”

Once Halsey finished her song, a slow rock tune played. It was far less triggering, and it had a mile long title.

“She’s the Prettiest Girl at the Party and She Can Prove It with a Solid Right Hook,” I read off my phone. “That’s a banger.”

The following conversation about music helped ground me again. I knew Shawn was passionate about it, but music is the real love of his life. He was looking at the road as he drove, but he had a sparkle in his eyes that shone through the dark. Sometimes he was the flower delivery guy and the singer at a wedding. Sometimes he was the guy who played guitar at a house party.

Shawn was that guy.

We listened to several more of my favorite songs, most of which were symphonic metal. Some of them were lyrically dark, the type that compelled people to do that head tilt and ask “are you okay?” in that voice. Shawn just asked if I wanted to rethink not calling myself a goth, to which I played a Little Mix song to put that shit to rest.

“Oh, Woman Like Me?” he said, surprised. “Didn’t see that one coming.”

“There are many sides of me, my dear,” I told him. We were getting closer to campus, which meant the date was almost over. “You’ve only seen one.”

“Hopefully you’ll let me see more.” He pulled into the parking lot and stopped in an empty space in front of the main building. “So what level am I on now?”

I was shocked he remembered that. But if we’re being real here…

“Two.”

He chuckled. “Two, eh?”

“Yup.”

He hummed. He was looking at me again, and now I was looking at him. His eyes were still sparkling in that stupid cute way, and it was getting me weak.

“This might be the first time you’ve made direct eye contact with me,” he said softly.

“It’s because you’re cute and it confuses me,” I admitted, maintaining the eye contact. There, boy, another little sliver of my feelings.

That stupid charming smile appeared on Shawn’s stupid cute face. He quirked his eyebrows once and licked his lips. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his mouth… This is bad.

“Well, you’re beautiful and it doesn’t confuse me at all,” he said, his voice getting low. You know, that voice that tells you something is going to happen. “In fact, it’s made things more clear.”

I felt myself getting even weaker. My heart was pounding, not just in my chest, but in my ears and my legs and the bottom of my feet. My stomach was turning over in a way that I wasn’t used to. My body was gravitating towards Shawn before my brain could process it.

“I really like your eyeshadow,” he said softly, doing the same motion.

“Thanks,” I breathed out.

Our faces were an inch apart. I got an intoxicating whiff of his cologne. I was teetering on the edge of just diving headfirst, but I had to be strong.

“I don’t kiss on the first date.”

We stayed in that position for a second. Shawn was the one to lean back first.

“Okay, that’s okay. I understand,” he said. He wasn’t smiling anymore.

It was easy to tell my rejection got to him. I didn’t want to leave knowing he was disappointed. I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t like him. I had been more aloof than I’d like to admit on this entire date, so maybe he was getting the wrong idea.

“So we should go on another date,” I told him, touching his arm, “and maybe I’ll kiss you then.” I smiled hopefully.

That was what he needed to perk up again. “Yeah, definitely. I’m looking forward to it.”

I nodded. “Okay. Alright. I’ll text you, or something. I’m gonna awkwardly leave now.”

He chuckled. “Alright. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

I had my purse and my phone on me, and I placed my hand on the door handle. But I stayed in that position for a minute. It was long enough to be weird. Was I really going to leave knowing that we really wanted to kiss each other?

“Ah, fuck it,” I said with a shrug, and then I was turning back to Shawn.

I would have hoisted myself over the center console if he didn’t meet me halfway. Shawn leaned in as quickly as I did, and his lips were pressing onto mine. It was much softer than I had anticipated, and I only realized it when Shawn placed a hand on the side of my face, gently cupping my chin.

My hand went around his wrist as we gently broke apart. It was only a split second of breathing time before I pulled him in for another. I softly took his bottom lip into my mouth, resisting the urge to just pounce on him completely.

Shawn moved his hand to the back of my neck, trying to pull me closer. Tongues and teeth began to clash, and it only made me grab onto his clean button up. Would it be a bad idea to spend some time in the backseat? We were practically leaning over the center console, moving back and forth like one was going to top the other.

But again… I had to be strong.

We broke apart, panting. My fingers stroked his cheek, and his hand found its way into my hair. I felt his quick breathing on my upper lip, and it only made me want to kiss him again.

“I have to go,” I told him.

But he leaned in again, kissing me once more. “Alright.”

“Alright,” I repeated breathlessly. Then I kissed him again, only for both of us to laugh softly.

“So what level am I at now?” Shawn asked with a cheeky grin.

I returned the smile. “Two and a half.”

“Oh, really? I’d say I’m at level four.”

“Nope. Two and a half. But it’s like I said, we’ll go on another date and see what happens.”

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurb #fourtristattoosspring #shawn mendes smut #shawn x goth gf #deadass tho im so fuckin tiredt #blease validate me i need i

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cjostrander · 6 years

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Fall Out Boy: Mania

Hello everyone! Today i am going to scratch another promo review and decided to do the latest album from Fall Out Boy. I’ve been learning towards wanting to scratch off their other album Save Rock n’ Roll since it is due for an anniversary review; but a promo review theme won out. This is a relatively short album from them at just over a half hour long and features them continuing to develop their current comeback pop sound that they shifted to with their Save Rock n Roll release. I found it to be a pretty interesting work to round out this sound before venturing into a different direction potentially. Let’s begin and see where it takes us.

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea: The album starts off with a quick electronic bass drum bash and takes little time in getting the album up to a strong dance energy. The rhythm component is pretty engaging and will add to the dance structure of it. Patrick’s vocals are pretty smooth even though they are very heavy on the electronic autotune which at times is a positive and harsh negative in his singing. The lyrics are very entertaining to follow along to while the instrumentals focus on a strict supporting role to him. The inclusion of swearing changes things up a little bit and shows them shifting emphasis on being a complete mainstream product. The electronica usage makes for effective interludes and will help to provide a strong sense of length to this song that would fit well for a live performance as well as a night time club scene. 8.5/10

The Last of the Real Ones (single): This first single begins with a soothing key melody that continues to leave the listener in a solid state of dance. The vocals arrive with a nice sense of catchiness; though of course i will knock the heavy auto tune throughout the album when focused on. The chorus is very energetic yet reserved and pours a nice balance of refined power in Patrick’s delivery. The lyrics are a lot more basic than the last song so don’t expect this one to have as much substance in that area than the last song. It is still pretty easy to follow along to and enjoy; so i would see little issue in continuing on in the album. The other notion from past listens is that the flow of this album would be suitable for a full album performance if they chose. 8/10

Hold Me Tight or Don’t (single): This next single begins with soft whistling and electronic loops beginning before drums arrive to give the song a fresher island pop like feeling. It works decently and does showcase them experimenting in a tasteful manner. The mixing however is turned down a fair bit so it doesn’t have the force in sound that the last two songs had. It definitely focuses them on a different section of pop than they normally dabble in which will be a hit or miss for fans. I think it is a decent approach from them since it will keep the album from getting stale and predictable; with the added bonus of fitting very easy into a mainstream concert setting (tv awards show or something). 7.5/10

Wilson (Experience Mistakes) (single): This next single which showcases that the band still has major label support three albums into their comeback; begins with audio samples and soothing loops which will put a listener into a very relaxed feeling. The vocals have a very atmospheric vibe and the autotune is a lot more balanced on this song than the first two songs. The chorus has a very strong sense of power that will be perfect for wooing a live audience. The lyrics are very strongly written and will provide heavy substance for the listener to follow along to at an easygoing rate. This is definitely one of the stronger songs on the album that features more freshness for the band’s sound and with the further inclusion of swears shows their less dominant focus on mainstream politeness. 8.5/10

Church: This song starts off with low bell rings from an organ and Patrick arrives with a soft and low gospel delivery before signaling for the bass and drums to establish a modest rhythm. Backing female gospel vocals work nicely to support Patrick while he delivers some rather interesting lyrics to follow along to. His voice is very smooth in pacing and general tone which avoids overdoing his high notes. The electronic effects are use to a balance degree to further fit with a gospel feeling in the song and helps to keep a theme going without trying to beat it into the listener’s ears. I would note this as another interesting experiment from the band that fits with the album flow and could possibly be pulled off well live with they were ambitious and theatrical enough with it’s live aspects. 8/10

Heaven’s Gate: This second half of the album continues with the gospel tone of the last song but takes it into a very deep piano ballad tone. Patrick uses this song to really showcase his vocal abilities since he is very much alone on this one with minimal instrumental support. The lyrics are decent and slow moving which will provide a soothing effect on the listener; though over-focusing on them would cause them to feel drawn and lose their interest rather quickly. Other than that i think it would of been better off place towards the end of the album in order to not slow things down too much for the listener but they still have a few more energetic songs to hopefully keep some life in the album. 7/10

Champion (single): This next single is going to be more typical style Fall Out Boy that will be comparable to their last two albums in case the more experimental stuff on here was too far out there for older fans. It begins with a simple electronic opening before Patrick arrives with a small sense of swagger in his voice. The drum beat provides a simple but effective rhythm while the guitars infuse some effects into the background to prop Patrick up a bit further. The chorus goes by very well with a sense of empowerment that will reflect well on a live show and mainstream radio. Patrick does toy around with a rapping like vocal style that works at decently for the flow of the song without appearing to showcase that effort. I will note that like i said earlier; it is a standard Fall Out Boy hit and because of that; is enjoyable but predictable and very simple to come across on the album. 7.5/10

Sunshine Riptide: Patrick brings back a heavy dose of auto tune to create a more rap centric style for his voice. The bass and drums create a rather interesting rasta style that will either be a hit or miss for the listener. They do feature a guest rapper by the name of Burna Boy which performs actually rather well in the song and pretty much could of easily made this song’s style his very own if he was more prominent throughout it. I can definitely say that for only being a half hour long this getting to be a very lengthy album listen from them; though it definitely is intended for a late night atmosphere in order to really appreciate. 7/10

Young and Menace (single): This final single begins with a slow fade in before Patrick’s low vocals set forth to establish a soft sense of tension in the mix. The lyrics are very interesting to follow along to and Patrick’s voice has a very catchy tone to it that resonates nicely off of the drum loops. The chorus is comprised of strong vocal loops and dubstep electronica. I know that this was heavily bashed when it was first released but i actually view this experiment to be one of the strongest on the album. It has its ups and downs of course but this is easily one of the songs to listen to during a rough breeze through in order to get the gist of the album’s sound. 7.5/10

Bishops Knife Trick: This finale piece begins with a very soothing key echo that perfects establishes an atmosphere of farewell. Patrick’s vocal delivery meshes with it nicely and creates a very soothing quality for the listener to unwind to blissfully. The instrumentals liven up slight which provides for some life in the album before it closes. The ambient nature of it too is a nice experiment for the band to test out since it could very easily lose momentum like other songs did on the album but it manages to push through with relative ease. I don’t think that i would of made it four and a half minutes long since it runs the risk of getting the point across to the listener too early on. Other than that; it is a suitable way to close out the album. 8/10

Overall album rating: 7.8/10

Now i definitely do enjoy this album but note that it signals the band approaching the limits of their current sound. They do experiment heavily on here which makes it an interesting album to come across but even then it is predictable in that regard and losing life as the album progresses. It is very easy going which i’m sure is intended and will make for a very good choice to unwind to at night. Due to its soft approach it makes you wonder what anybody other than Patrick does on the album. Obviously you can hear the instruments blended in but there is so much electronica used that they are starting to fall into Maroon 5′s problem where it is hard to distinguish which is an actual band member performance and a computer. Hopefully their next album either changes directions a bit or returns to the blended pop rock energy of their last two albums; which are very well done by the way. I’ve gotta head out now but that’s one more album off of my promo list for you guys. My next one will probably return to an older anniversary review since i gotta start scratching off at least one of them this month before we get closer to the holidays.

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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Why Do Republicans Like Donald Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-do-republicans-like-donald-trump/

Why Do Republicans Like Donald Trump

We Need Somebody Who’ll Finally Get Tough On Foreign Policy

Why Do So Many Republicans Like Donald Trump?

Well, there’s no doubt that Trump talks a tough game when it comes to other countries â he sort of makes it sound like the world will just roll over in front of him, exposing its collective belly for him to scratch. You may remember when he insisted that he’d bring oil prices down by swearing at OPEC leaders back in 2011, when he was teasing a possible 2012 run. Here’s what he told a Las Vegas audience, as detailed by Mother Jones.

We have nobody in Washington that sits back and said, you’re not going to raise that f***ing price.

He also had a simple message for China, saying “listen you motherf****rs, we’re going to tax you 25 percent!” This is in keeping with the general level of seriousness he seems to apply to his prognostications â he also insists that if he’s elected, he’ll force the Mexican government to finance a border wall, and that’s still nowhere near the most antagonistic component of his far-right immigration plan.

If you’re the kind of person who wants some more strident red lines in international negotiations, say â to try to secure those ever-elusive “better deals” that some conservatives have been harping on lately â that’s fine, even if we might disagree. But be forewarned: what Trump’s putting out there is little more than presumptuous bombast, so don’t be shocked if that ridiculous wall idea never comes to fruition.

Why Do Trump Voters Believe His Lies It’s Not Because They’re Stupid

The cornerstones of President Trumps campaign were promises to appeal Obamacare and ban Muslims from the US. It took Trump less than 70 days to fail on both promises.

And yet, despite his epic fails, lies and incompetence, Trumps base supports him like theyre spanx and hes Marie Osmond. What explains this loyalty? Science has the answer.

Have a look at this puzzle.

Which drawing best illustrates the correct mechanics and structure of a bicycle?

How you answer will help explain the loyalty of Trump voters. Ill explain in just a bit. But first

What I wanted to know is WTF!?

How can two people look at President Trump and have such polar opposite observations? To find out, I conducted an experiment. I set up a fake account and joined more than 50 pro-Trump Facebook groups. I created a meme that said: What do you like about President Trump, then I shared it.

I got more than a thousand responses in 24 hours and the things people wrote most is that they like Trump because hes not a politician hes a real American not corrupted by Washington, and beholden to no one.

The next most common response was that Trump believes in God.

This was followed in near equal measure by Trump Loves America, he keeps his promises, that hes a good businessman, that he cant be bought, and that he tells the truth.

OK. So, one of them is true! Trump is not a politician. One could go either wayhis love for America.

I got nearly 700 responses.

WATCH NOW:

Opinionthe Gop Needs Women And Centrist Voters Ousting Cheney Only Nets Them Trump Loyalists

More important, experts say, are the shifting demographics of those neighborhoods. “Suburbs are simply far more diverse than they used to be,” a FiveThirtyEight analysis explains. “Suburbs have also become increasingly well-educated, and that may actually better explain why so many suburbs and exurbs are turning blue.” Both communities of color and Americans with higher education tend to vote Democratic combine those factors and you have a recipe for major electoral shifts.

And there’s no indication that shift is reversing. Recent polling from Harvard’s Kennedy School shows Biden dominating the suburbs, where 6 in 10 voters view the president favorably. Biden and Democrats’ lead in suburbs is such an existential threat to the GOP that Georgia Republicans have collapsed into infighting over how suburbs once represented by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich are now reliably Democratic bulwarks.

The Call for American Renewal is also hoping to recapture the support of women who have been fleeing the GOP since Trump’s first campaign. That may be harder than they think, too. Though it’s possible the group could restore some of the ground Trump lost to women, who went nearly 6-in-10 for Biden, Republicans have been losing women voters for years.

Mild dissatisfaction with Trump isnt the same as political courage. Most prominent Republicans have publicly aligned with Trump even as voter support erodes.

Poll Results Are Fake Unless Theyre Good Trump Says

During his speech at the Dallas convention Sunday night, Trump said he only would have believed the results of CPACs straw poll if they were his favor, Business Insider reported.

Now, if its bad, I just say its fake, the former president told the crowd, reported Insider. If its good, I say thats the most accurate poll, perhaps ever.

In the past, Trump has decried similar things he doesnt like as false, like referring to unfavorable media coverage as fake news.

A Large Share Of Republicans Want Trump To Remain Head Of The Party Cnbc Survey Shows

A CNBC survey conducted in the days before former President Donald Trump‘s impeachment trial finds a large share of Republicans want him to remain head of their party, but a majority of Americans want him out of politics.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows 54% of Americans want Trump “to remove himself from politics entirely.” That was the sentiment of 81% of Democrats and 47% of Independents, but only 26% of Republicans.

When it comes to Republicans, 74% want him to stay active in some way, including 48% who want him to remain head of the Republican Party, 11% who want him to start a third party, and 12% who say he should remain active in politics but not as head of any party.

“If we’re talking about Donald Trump’s future, at the moment, the survey shows he still has this strong core support within his own party who really want him to continue to be their leader,” said Jay Campbell, a partner with Hart Research and the Democratic pollster for the survey.

But Micah Roberts, the survey’s Republican pollster, and a partner with Public Opinion Strategies, emphasized the change from when Trump was president. Polls before the election regularly showed Trump with GOP approval ratings around 90%, meaning at least some Republicans have defected from Trump.

Republicans Cant Understand Democrats

Only one in four Republican voters felt that most or almost all Democratic voters sincerely believed they were voting in the best interests of the country. Rather, many Republicans told us that Democratic voters were brainwashed by the propaganda of the mainstream media, or voting solely in their self-interest to preserve undeserved welfare and food stamp benefits.

We asked every Republican in the sample to do their best to imagine that they were a Democrat and sincerely believed that the Democratic Party was best for the country. We asked them to explain their support for the Democratic Party as an actual Democratic voter might. For example, a 64-year-old strong Republican man from Illinois surmised that Democrats want to help the poor, save Social Security, and tax the rich.

But most had trouble looking at the world through Democratic eyes. Typical was a a 59-year-old Floridian who wrote I dont want to work and I want cradle to grave assistance. In other words, Mommy! Indeed, roughly one in six Republican voters answered in the persona of a Democratic voter who is motivated free college, free health care, free welfare, and so on. They see Democrats as voting in order to get free stuff without having to work for it was extremely common roughly one in six Republican voters used the word free in the their answers, whereas no real Democratic voters in our sample answered this way.

Trumps Role As Republican Party Leader Is Becoming Stronger

This weekends CPAC straw poll results showed that Trumps popularity along with DeSantis in the Republican Party has grown in the last six months, according to Forbes.

In February, only 55% of attendees of a similar CPAC event in Orlando, Florida, said they wanted Trump to lead the ticket in 2024, Forbes reported.

If Trump stayed in political retirement, or at least stayed off the presidential primary ballot in 2024, DeSantis lead the poll with 43% attending Republicans choosing him in Februarys hypothetical presidential primary.

Inside the newsroom: Words matter, including the hateful Murder the media

He Appeals To Rural Voters

More than any other group, Americas rural people have been disempowered and abandoned due to the policies pushed by urban elites. Theyve seen their jobs evaporate and their local culture obliterated, only to be replaced by a Walmart and McDonalds in every town. They also realize that most of the media and academia see them as ignorant and backwards and laughable. instead, Trump treats them with respect. If you look at an electoral map of 2016, Clinton won all the urban areas and Trump won all of the rural ones. Thats because he was the first politician in memory who didnt sneer at them.

Hes Nationalist Rather Than Globalist

Why Do People Act Like Black Conservatives Don’t Exist? | NBC News

He realizes that the ex-factory worker in Ohio lost his job because it was sent to Malaysia. He knows that some banker in Brussels is more interested in increasing his stock portfolio than whether doing so will render huge swaths of the American heartland jobless and pill-addicted. He cares more about what a homeowner in Iowa thinks about him than what some sneering cosmopolite at a Parisian cocktail party thinks.

Emboldened ‘unchanged’ Trump Looks To Re

Across the party as a whole, an NBC News poll released late last month found, a majority of Republicans considered themselves supporters of the GOP, compared to just 44 percent who supported Trump above all, the first time that has been the case since July 2019.

But mild dissatisfaction with Trump isn’t the same as political courage. Most prominent Republicans have publicly aligned with Trump even as voter support erodes, and they’re buckled in for the long haul. That creates the opening for more traditional Republicans to toy with forming a new party but it’s a slim one.

Why Does Donald Trump Still Seem To Hold Sway Over The Republican Party

Why after leading the Republican Party during a period when it lost its majority in the US House of Representatives and the Senate and its power in the White House does former president Donald Trump still seem to hold the Grand Old Party of Lincoln and Reagan in his thrall?

For US politics watchers, who on the weekend watched on as 43 Republican senators voted to acquit Trump of an act of reckless incitement played out in front of the cameras, that is the $64,000 question.

Or rather, it’s the 74,222,593-vote question.

That is the record number of Americans who voted for Donald Trump last November more than has been cast for any previous president. Unfortunately for them, an even greater number 81,281,502 voted for his rival, now-President Joe Biden.

As much as anything else, those numbers sum up the quandary Republicans find themselves in.

They have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections, and only remain competitive because older white voters, who tend to be more likely to support conservative candidates, also tend to vote in greater numbers in a non-compulsory electoral system.

Those same voters are also the most likely to cast a ballot in next year’s house and senate primaries, and the next midterm elections in November 2022 which will again determine who holds power in congress. They are the voters who initially flocked to Donald Trump.

All The Republicans Who Wont Support Trump

Numerous top G.O.P. officials have said publicly or privately that they will not be backing the presidents re-election. Some have even endorsed Joe Biden. Heres a look at where they all stand.

Follow our latest coverage of the Biden vs. Trump 2020 election here.

As November draws nearer, some current and former Republican officials have begun to break ranks with the rest of their party, saying in public and private conversations that they will not support President Trump in his re-election. A number have even said that they will be voting for his Democratic opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

As Mr. Trumps political standing has slipped, fueled by his failures in handling the coronavirus pandemic and by the economic recession, some Republicans have found it easier to publicly renounce their backing.

Here is a running list of those who have said they will support Mr. Biden in the fall, those who simply wont support Mr. Trump, and those who have hinted they may not back the president.

List Of Republicans Who Opposed The Donald Trump 2016 Presidential Campaign

This article is part of a series about

This is a list of Republicans and conservatives who announced their opposition to the election of Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican Party nominee and eventual winner of the election, as the President of the United States. It also includes former Republicans who left the party due to their opposition to Trump and as well as Republicans who endorsed a different candidate. It includes Republican presidential primary election candidates that announced opposition to Trump as the nominee. Some of the Republicans on this list threw their support to Trump after he won the presidential election, while many of them continue to oppose Trump. Offices listed are those held at the time of the 2016 election.

Why Do Evangelical Christians Love Trump

To many, it seems hypocritical that Christians who have long touted family values could rally around a thrice-married man who was accused by several women of sexual assault.

White evangelical support for Donald Trump has long puzzled observers. To many, it seems hypocritical that Christians who have long touted family values could rally around a thrice-married man who was accused by several women of sexual assault. Scholars have commented on his crassness, defined by historian Walter G. Moss as a lack refinement, tact, sensitivity, taste or delicacy. Others have observed how he has broken rules of civil political engagement.

But in my research on evangelical masculinity, I have found that Trumps leadership style aligns closely with a rugged ideal of Christian manhood championed by evangelicals for more than half a century.

As I show in my book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, conservative evangelicals embraced the ideal of a masculine protector in the 1960s and 1970s in order to confront the perceived threats of communism and feminism.

Believing that the feminist rejection of macho masculinity left the nation in peril, conservative white evangelicals promoted a testosterone-fueled vision of Christian manhood. In their view, America needed strong men to defend Christian America on the battlefields of Vietnam and to reassert order on the home front.

Why it Matters

How I Do My Work

The Baffling Continued Support For Donald Trump Explained

Donald Trump has, by almost any measure, been the worst president in U.S. history, or at least within the memory of people living in 2020. But for some reason, he has remained popular with a sizable segment of Americans. While Joe Biden defeated him in the presidential election, 74 million Americans voted for Trump, and a large percentage of Republicans, like Trump himself, are denying that he actually lost the election. So why do Trumps diehard fans stay that way?

Yes, hes made some people happy with his tax cuts and appointments of right-wing judges, and he is beloved by white supremacists and conspiracy theorists, but he has downplayed a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 276,000 Americans and caused an economic crash. One would think his personal style, bullying, and insults would alienate many people. Yet his approval ratings have remained stable at around 40 percent for most of his presidency, and the 40 percent cant all be fringe elements. What could possibly account for the continued unwavering support of Trump loyalists?

I think that there are a number of things at play, crosscurrents, if you will, said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president for policy and political affairs at the Human Rights Campaign.

Winterhof likewise said she observed a decline in enthusiasm among voters who were counting on Trump for positive change and agreed that Biden was better positioned than Clinton among voters overall.

Opinionwe Want To Hear What You Think Please Submit A Letter To The Editor

The history of American third parties doesn’t offer much hope. Last year, Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen garnered just 1.2 percent of the vote in a typical third-party showing. In fact, no third-party candidate has achieved a double-digit popular vote total since Ross Perot in 1992, and data trends indicate that popular support for third parties has been in steady decline since then.

And even if the GOP 2.0 secures a marquee name like former Ohio Gov. John Kasich or Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah to champion its message, the role would likely be as a political spoiler rather than a serious candidate: Even former President Theodore Roosevelt, at the time one of the most popular figures in American culture, barely surpassed a quarter of the popular vote and garnered just 88 electoral votes in an iconic third-party campaign in 1912. No one on the Call for American Renewal bench commands anything near Roosevelt’s profile and platform.

That hasn’t stopped disaffected Republicans from setting their sights on fence-sitting “Biden Republicans” mostly suburban moderates who broke with Trump but remain aligned with GOP ideas like small government that have gone extinct in the post-Trump GOP. Those voters were largely responsible for Trump’s upset victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016, while Biden returned formerly right-leaning suburbs to the Democratic column to help power his 2020 win.

Taking The Perspective Of Others Proved To Be Really Hard

Why LGBTQ Republicans Hate The Party’s Platform But Like Donald Trump

The divide in the United States is wide, and one indication of that is how difficult our question proved for many thoughtful citizens. A 77-year-old Republican woman from Pennsylvania was typical of the voters who struggled with this question, telling us, This is really hard for me to even try to think like a devilcrat!, I am sorry but I in all honesty cannot answer this question. I cannot even wrap my mind around any reason they would be good for this country.

Similarly, a 53-year-old Republican from Virginia said, I honestly cannot even pretend to be a Democrat and try to come up with anything positive at all, but, I guess they would vote Democrat because they are illegal immigrants and they are promised many benefits to voting for that party. Also, just to follow what others are doing. And third would be just because they hate Trump so much. The picture she paints of the typical Democratic voter being an immigrant, who goes along with their party or simply hates Trump will seem like a strange caricature to most Democratic voters. But her answer seems to lack the animus of many.

Democrats struggled just as much as Republicans. A 33-year-old woman from California told said, i really am going to have a hard time doing this but then offered that Republicans are morally right as in values, going to protect us from terrorest and immigrants, going to create jobs.

He Says He Wants To Make America Great Again

Aided by global finance and a compliant press, Americas middle and working classes have been sold down the river. Nearly all of the manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas, and what jobs remain here have seen their wages pushed down due to unrestrained immigration. America, once the shining light of the world, became a country ashamed of itself and that felt obligated to apologize to the rest of the world for being more successful than other countries. Something is deeply wrong when someone feels obligated to apologize for winningafter all, you never see that in sports. Trump wants to return us to a better time when people bragged about being American instead of apologizing for it

What Americans Really Think

Social scientists and psychologists believe that people subscribe to conspiracy theories for the simple reason that these theories often tend to validate their views of the world. Republicans believe all kinds of things about President Obama, and many liberals believe similar theories about President George W. Bush.

“For both liberals and conservatives, for everybody, there’s just this tendency to want to believe things that fit our worldview as we believe it,” said Joanne Miller, a political scientist the University of Minnesota and one of the authors of the new study. “Both liberals and conservatives are subject to that. It’s a human tendency to want to believe what we believe.”

In particular, conspiracy theories offer a simple explanation, with an identifiable villain, for the complicated reality of modern politics. That simplicity is appealing.

Miller and her collaborators — Christina Farhart and Colorado State University’s Kyle Saunders — used data from surveys of Americans who were asked whether they thought statements about politicians and public figures were true.

A few conspiracy theories were on the list. Four were designed to suss out conservative respondents:

that Obama was born outside the United States;

that his health-care reform established “death panels;”

that global warming was a hoax

and that Saddam Hussein was involved in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

There were four more theories for the other side:

Why Do Republicans Continue To Support Trump Despite Years Of Scandal

It was late September last year when a whistleblower complaint revealed that President Trump had tried to force the Ukrainian government to investigate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Within moments the scandal captured headlines. What followed was months of back and forth as Republicans supported the president while the Democrats used their political capital to get him impeached.

But this was not the first time or the last time the president was caught in the middle of a scandal. Since the impeachment trial that followed the Ukraine incident, episodes from The New York Times uncovering unsavory details from President Trumps tax returns, to his questionable dismissal of multiple Inspectors General, to his refusal to clearly condemn white supremacists have all sparked widespread media attention and partisan fighting in 2020.

Although with his polls dropping, some Republicans may finally be distancing themselves from the President, the question has been regularly asked the past four years: why do the Republicans continue to support the President despite these troubling charges being leveled at him? And, what is it that the Democrats stand to gain from repeated allegations?

In addition to demonstrating how polarization accelerates scandals, the paper also found that:

Republicans Think Democrats Always Cheat

The Republican strategy has several sources of motivation, but the most important is a widely shared belief that Democrats in large cities i.e., racial minorities engage in systematic vote fraud, election after election. We win because of our ideas, we lose elections because they cheat us, insisted Senator Lindsey Graham on Fox News last night. The Bush administration pursued phantasmal vote fraud allegations, firing prosecutors for failing to uncover evidence of the schemes Republicans insisted were happening under their noses. In 2008, even a Republican as civic-minded as John McCain accused ACORN, a voter-registration group, of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.

The persistent failure to produce evidence of mass-scale vote fraud has not discouraged Republicans from believing in its existence. The failure to expose it merely proves how well-hidden the conspiracy is. Republicans may despair of their chances of proving Trumps vote-fraud charges in open court, but many of them believe his wild lies reflect a deeper truth.

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Not Your Destiny: Chapter 11

Marked Book 1: Not Your Destiny

Chapter 11

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Ángel spends Friday on the road. There are enough calls for trouble that he’s constantly out, sometimes with Luca by his side. He changes four tires before lunch, and jump starts three cars and a delivery truck. He swings by the mall twice, fighting through thick holiday traffic that seems far busier than it ought to be on work day. He gets into one argument that needs to be cleared up by mall security before the guy will leave Ángel alone; it’s not his fault that his truck is blocking the parking lot aisle while he gets yet another car going right after lunch.

By three, he’s hiding in the back, slumped into one of the chairs, wheeled into a corner with the lights out. Gabi walks in and flicks the lights on, and Ángel winces, puts a hand up.

“Oh, you’re in here. That explains why the truck’s here.” She drops a stack of paperwork on the table. “Tony’s whining about the fact that you took Luca out on no less than six calls today, and Luca’s grumbling about people in general. What’s your preferred whine for the day?”

“I’m tired, the grease is never coming out from under my fingernails, and I have to go back to the mall after work.” Ángel rubs his hand across his forehead. At least his hands are mostly clean, and he’s pretty sure he’s not leaving grease streaks behind. He could be wrong. “Tanner’s picking me up tonight because I’ve still got gifts to get, and if I don’t get something nice for Maritsa’s tía, Abuela will be disappointed although it’s possible I might just skip that. Besides, now Hayley wants to get something for Tanner, and I’m assuming vice versa. Today is Emerson’s last day of school before break, and he says he hasn’t done any shopping.”

Ángel’s a little concerned about taking Emerson into a place that’s going to be noisy and chaotic, but both Tanner and Emerson swear he’ll be fine. And Tanner’s already overprotective enough.

“I’ve got a few things left to get,” Gabi muses. “Luca’s always got things to get, but he schedules all his time with his friends after Christmas so he can hit the sales. And I would absolutely bet that Tony’s put off everything so far.”

“You have my sympathy if you’re thinking of going anywhere near the mall tonight,” Ángel says dryly.

Gabi laughs, pats his shoulder. “We’re going with you,” she clarifies. “Let Tanner know that we’ll meet them there around five thirty. We’ll make Tony drive.”

The phone rings, and Gabi picks it up, singing out the greeting for Mollicone’s. Ten minutes later, Ángel’s back in the tow truck, and an hour later he’s pulling into the garage with fresh grease streaking his skin, and a thick blot of oil across his forehead.

He’s busy right up until they close at five. Luca wedges into the bathroom with him, as they scrub the grease from their skin, and compare the way the ridges of their fingerprints are still dark. They stay there, trying more techniques to get rid of the grease, until Tony claims the space for himself.

Tony drives a serviceable SUV, nothing like what Ángel expects after Cleto’s rebuilt Camaro and the modded compact that Luca drives. It looks like something a mom drove off the lot a few years ago, completely unmodified, unchanged from its original purpose.

Luca and Gabi climb into the back seat, leaving the front for Ángel. He sits down, and Tony looks over at him, silent, brows drawn and furrowed. Ángel reaches for the seatbelt, breaks away from Tony’s gaze to buckle in, then crosses his arms and tries not to sink down in the seat. “Gabi invited me,” he mutters, and Gabi fails to choke back laughter in the back.

Ángel can see them in the mirror, the way that Luca claps his hand over Gabi’s mouth. He rolls his eyes, glances at Tony instead.

Tony’s hands rest on the steering wheel. From this distance, and with Tony mostly still for the moment, Ángel can make out the words inked inside his left forearm: There is nothing more important than those you love by blood and bone and heart. Howl for home.

Ángel smiles slightly. Now that he’s seen the lyrics, he recognizes them. “Howl For Your Heart,” he says, and Tony’s gaze shifts to him again as he starts the car.

“Not a lot of people know it.” Tony twists his wrist, lowering his hand for a moment before he brings it back up and rests it on the wheel. “She’s not mainstream.”

“She’s on college radio,” Ángel points out. “And she goes to PHU. I’ve heard her perform. She’s good. I like most of what she does. She does this thing where she makes a point with her words, where she talks about things a lot of people don’t like to put out there in the light. Like Talent. Or sexuality.”

“Yeah.” Tony goes silent, licks his lips as if to taste the words he doesn’t say.

“What’s the rest of your ink? And is it only on your arms?” Ángel isn’t sure if it’s too personal to poke at, but he’s curious. This is actual ink, not a soulmark. It’s interesting, and a safe topic as far as he’s concerned. As long as Tony agrees.

“I have a pair of crossed arrows on my back,” Tony says. “Between the shoulder-blades. The pattern on my right arm is whatever I want it to be. Whatever I feel like adding. Most of it’s just design. It doesn’t really mean anything.” He lifts his hand from the steering wheel, rotates his arm slightly in the space between them, showing Ángel both the inside and outside.

Ángel wants to reach out and grab his hand, hold him still long enough to take a good look, but Tony’s driving and that wouldn’t be safe. He spots something that looks like a series of circles and crescents down the line of his inner forearm, and something else that looks like a bird in flight on the inside of his wrist. The back is decorated in intricate swirls, with occasional jagged geometrics, and a black rose just beneath the elbow.

“Cool,” Ángel says, and Tony rests his hand on the steering wheel again. “Do the arrows mean anything?” He hesitates, gestures at Tony. “The ones on your back.”

“History. Family.” Tony’s jaw is tight, and there’s a soft noise from the back seat. Ángel glances up at the mirror, and Gabi’s expression is just as shuttered as Tony’s.

“I won’t pry.”

“Don’t lie,” Luca says easily. “You’ll pry. You’re just learning which things you can pry into and actually get an answer.”

“Probably true.” Ángel’s curious, and he’s never been one to let a thing go. But he can wait, too. He’s more patient than he acts, and he wonders if they’ll warm up enough to let him in on the secrets.

It’s one thing to be told you’re part of the family, after all. It’s another thing to be allowed to see the skeletons stashed in the closets.

The line of cars outside the mall stretches down the street, creeping along. It’s even worse now than it was during the day, but at least this time Ángel’s not worried about someone creeping too close to the tow hitch on the back of the truck. The only spaces left in the lot are on the far edges, and Ángel already has three texts from Hayley asking when they’ll get there and where they should meet before they’re even parked.

Just got here. Meet us at the food court, in front of the Tex Mex place.

Ángel could use a snack after a long day. Might as well kill two birds with one stone. He stuffs the phone in his pocket as they start walking toward the mall. “Food court. Hayley’s there with Tanner and Emerson.” At the curious looks, he adds, “Tanner’s little brother.”

“Kids.” Gabi smacks Tony’s chest. “You need to get presents for Zita’s kids. Because I’m betting you haven’t been able to figure out what to do with them yet.”

Tony shoves his hands in his pockets, shrugs. “Stuffed animals? Something noisy that’ll piss Zita off?”

“She’ll get revenge. You really don’t want to do that,” Luca mutters. “I like it when she feeds us. Please don’t piss her off.”

Tony grumbles, and Gabi knocks into him as they walk. Ángel feels a little awkward, like he’s intruding on a family moment, then Luca drops an arm around his shoulder and drags him closer, so they all walk together.

Hayley waves as they approach, bouncing on her toes, sparks all around her. Emerson lifts a hand, then goes back to focusing on the taco he’s holding, trying not drip as he bites into it. Ángel introduces everyone, finishing just as Tanner comes back and hands a bag to Ángel.

Two tacos with everything. His usual snack, ever since they were old enough to be dropped off to hang out at the mall all day on a Saturday. They don’t hold a candle to the home-cooked meals Abuela makes, but at the same time, they’re a different taste of childhood. And exactly what he needs.

Ángel crams one into his mouth, bright bubbles popping just on the edge of his vision. He turns in time to see Emerson explaining something quickly to Gabi, bubbles bright around his head. He frowns at the number of them, at the way they seem to bob in time with the Christmas music playing over the loudspeakers.

“Tanner,” he says quietly, waiting until Tanner glances over. “Is Emerson okay?”

“He says he is, but crowds aren’t really his thing.” Tanner’s worry furrows his brow. “Dude, I can’t tell him he can’t be at the mall; he won’t listen. He’s fourteen. He’s started insisting on shit. But we’ll keep an eye on him.”

Ángel is pretty sure that Emerson’s been making his opinions known for a lot longer, but he’s not going to argue with Tanner over it.

“How do we want to do this? Who’s shopping for who, here?” Luca asks. “Me, I’m as done as it gets before Christmas. Anyone I don’t have a physical gift for gets a playlist.” He gives Ángel a look, and Ángel wonders just what’s going to be playing in the car after Christmas.

“Tony needs presents for Zita’s kids,” Gabi offers.

“I need something for Tanner,” Hayley says quietly, her smile tight and rueful. She glances at Tanner; as he touches her shoulder, her smile eases into something more natural.

“I need something for Hayley,” Tanner says, “so obviously we’re splitting up.”

Luca tucks Tanner’s hand into the crook of his arm. “I’m coming with you, because I don’t know what kind of taste you have, but I can save you from doing anything embarrassing.”

Gabi doesn’t bother to try to hide her laughter. Neither does Emerson.

Tony rolls his eyes. “Fine. Hayley can help me figure out something for the kids.”

“Don’t say you want her help because she’s a girl,” Gabi warns.

“I want her help because she’s been helping Zita with the kids,” Tony mutters dryly. “For fuck’s sake, Gabi. Go with Luca and Tanner. I know you want to.”

“Fine, you take Ángel and Hayley, and I’ll get to keep talking to Emerson because Tanner’s overprotective.” Gabi pushes Ángel. It’s strong enough that he wavers, bumping up against Tony, who steadies him on his feet. “We’ll meet up in an hour and switch things up.”

Ángel catches Tanner’s eye, tries to make sure he’s okay with it. When Tanner nods, and Emerson starts chatting with Gabi again, Ángel shifts his attention to Tony and Hayley. “I guess it’s just the three of us.”

Hayley frowns at Tony. She starts walking; Ángel catches up quickly and touches her elbow to guide her since she has no idea how the mall is laid out. “You’re Zita’s brother, right?” Hayley finally asks.

“The oldest of the boys,” Tony confirms. His expression shutters as Hayley’s gaze slips over him. Arms crossed, he returns her look evenly.

“She’s not checking you out,” Ángel mumbles. “That’s just Hayley.”

“What?” Hayley stops, rocks back on her heels, then runs a step catch up with them again. She puts her hands on his forearm, pulling back sharply when he moves sideways, away from her. “Oh, sorry, I mean. I didn’t mean to do that. Touch you. Or act like I’m checking you out. I mean. Ángel’s my ex-boyfriend. And I might be kind of thinking about dating Tanner—we’re soulmates, so it’s all pretty complicated. I was just curious. And you’ve got cool ink, and you kind of look like Zita only way more imposing. Do you always scowl?”

Ángel rubs a hand across his mouth, trying not to laugh.

“Zita says you’re the serious one, although she also said that Mollicones aren’t really friendly. She thought the kids might be friendlier if they hang out with me more, but they already seemed really friendly? We went out, and they like talking to people, and don’t worry, I checked with Zita first and she said it’s okay, as long as we keep an eye on them.” Hayley winds down, hands falling as the speech ends. She twists her fingers, as if she doesn’t know what to do with them. “I like the kids. They’re pretty cute. And I don’t think Zita’s unfriendly at all. And Gabi seems nice. She was nice when we went out. I didn’t really see you while we were at Antigone. You were there, right?”

Tony licks his lip, jaw tight for a moment. “I was there. I even danced.”

Hayley’s eyebrows go up. “You did? I didn’t see that. Although it was pretty packed on the dance floor, which is probably why—” She cuts off abruptly, gaze flicking to Ángel.

“I was also drunk,” Ángel replies blandly. “We can say it. Ángel was drunk, and dancing with strangers, and doesn’t know who his soulmate is. In other words, I screwed up.”

Tony grunts softly, and Ángel can’t tell if it’s meant to be judging or sympathetic.

Probably judging.

He lets the subject drop, and Tony doesn’t seem inclined to bring it up again. Hayley huffs, and plays with sparks across her fingertips for a moment, before she spots the sign for Great Little Minds.

“Oh!” She claps her hands together, reaches for Tony’s hand and doesn’t let go as she tugs at him. “This is the best store. You’ll find something wonderful for the kids here.”

Ángel hangs back, because he wants to see this. Hayley has her fingers tangled with Tony’s as she drags him into the store. He can hear Tony’s protest that the kids are too young, but Hayley manages to get him into the back area, with science toys for toddlers, and Tony goes quiet.

There’s a display full of forensic kits in the front, and Ángel lingers, looking at them. Then he spots the temporary tattoo maker off to one side, and he picks it up, curious how it works. It looks like a sticker printer, only the ink and paper are different. There’s an instruction book on the counter; Ángel picks it up to skim through it. In the end, it seems like a lot of work—it’s black and white only, and the instructions include touch-ups to the image once it adheres to the skin, as well as how to add color, and use a fixative. But it’s still interesting, and certainly a unique take on a toy.

“Come outside.” Hayley wraps her hand around the meat of his arm and pulls, and Ángel goes with her. Tony stands in line behind four other people, with what looks like half the toddler stock in his arms.

“Is there a reason you’re dragging me out of the store? Maybe I wanted to buy that,” Ángel protests. Not that he would. He doesn’t have a lot of money, and he’s not spending what he’s got on a toy, but it was interesting. And if they can make one to sell, he must be able to DIY it if he goes looking. He pulls his phone out, sends a text to the group chat with Tanner and Hayley: Remind me to look up methods for printing temporary tattoos. It could be fun, right?

Hayley frowns, glances at her phone. “Did you just text me after yelling at me?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve texted you while standing next to you,” he points out. He glances back at the store, and Tony’s still in line, with only three people ahead of him now. “What was so urgent?”

“Oh. I.” Hayley licks her lips, rocks back on her heels. She fiddles with a strand of hair, makes a face. “I still have no idea what to get for Tanner. I mean, I briefly considered getting him a paper airplane book. One of those ones that has a hundred different pages because I thought he’d actually be really into that, but it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I’m supposed to get him. Since there’s that whole maybe kind of dating thing going on.”

“You kissed,” Ángel says plainly. “You’re dating. It’s not going to offend me if you say you’re dating my best friend.”

“Are you really over it?”

She’s too good, and they’re too close for him to lie. “No,” he says quietly. “But I’m dealing with it. So you want some kind of a romantic gift?”

“I want something that means something,” she says. “And while paper airplanes might say hey I think you’re an adorable goofball, they don’t really say anything meaningful or give the idea that I know him in any way. Does he like superheroes? Or movies? Or cars?” She glances back at the store. “No wait, Tony likes cars. Tanner just seems to be happy he has a truck to drive and didn’t really care about the Camaro or anything. That Camaro was actually pretty cool, wasn’t it? I mean, it’ll be better when it gets that one part painted, but—”

She stops as Ángel touches her cheek.

“Go get the paper airplane book,” Ángel says. He leans down, forehead to forehead, and breathes deep for a moment to get her to breathe with him. “Tanner will love it, and you can still get him something else. We’ll find something fun.”

“Okay.” Hayley inhales, exhales on a long, low breath. “Okay. I’ll do that. Superheroes?”

“Not superheroes.” Ángel nudges, and she heads for the store.

He knows exactly what Hayley should give Tanner, but she doesn’t have to buy it. It’s already in a box, not yet wrapped, buried in one of Ángel’s bags back at the house. Ángel can find something else, because at this point, he’d pretty sure Tanner would love anything Ángel did.

But a stethoscope? A good one, that he’s going to need when he goes to medical school in two years, and that he can use next summer when he’s volunteering at the hospital? That’ll cement Hayley’s place in Tanner’s heart.

And Ángel knows that he can help Hayley come up with the idea on her own. She and Tanner have been hanging out together non-stop. Hayley just needs to step back and process long enough to figure it out.

And this is what his life is: helping his best friends get together.

When he looks again, Hayley’s in line, a large book clutched to her chest, and Tony’s coming out with three bags. Ángel snorts. “Did you buy one of everything?”

“Shut up,” Tony mutters. “Zita doesn’t let me get a lot for them. She doesn’t want them to be spoiled. So I had fun, and I can blame it on Hayley.” When he blinks, the gruff expression is replaced by innocence, and it makes Ángel laugh all over again.

“Devious. I like it.”

It’s going to be a bit before Hayley’s done, so Ángel offers to take one of Tony’s bags. He isn’t surprised when Tony refuses, and they stand in silence while waiting.

“What shopping do you need to do?” Tony finally asks, just as Hayley puts the book on the counter, and starts digging for her wallet.

“I don’t actually need anything. Well,” Ángel corrects himself. “I should get something for Maritsa’s tía, but I might ask Hayley’s help with that. And I have this whole other group of people who just decided to invade my life, but at the same time, my car’s dead and my job is going to pay for my car, so I don’t really have money. I think I should make cookies or something. Joey’d love that.”

“Joey?”

“My step mother. She thinks I trash the kitchen when I cook.” Ángel pastes on an expression of innocence. “Not true, and I do clean up.”

“I think they’d like cookies,” Tony says quietly, and then Hayley’s there, with the book in her hands, shoving it at Ángel.

It is a really cool book. Tanner’s going to love it.

They meander around the mall for a bit, looking in shops. Ángel lingers in the shop that sells crystals and other foci, while Hayley pokes through the magnets, and Tony hovers by the door, expression twisted with discomfort. They start walking back to the food court when Ángel’s phone buzzes with an incoming text into the group chat.

Emerson’s not feeling well. I need to get out of here.

Shit.

We’ll meet you at the food court again, Ángel sends back. He shares the text with Tony to explain.

When they gather together again, Emerson’s sitting in a plastic chair, the bubbles around his ears a violently silverish pink. Gabi sits across from him, her hands moving as she speaks quietly, and Emerson nods slowly at her words.

“He’s getting a headache,” Tanner says, lips pressed tight together. “It could just be a headache.”

“Or it could be an oncoming seizure, I get it.” Ángel looks to Luca and Tony. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Thanks for giving me a ride over and shopping with us. Did you guys have any luck?”

Luca smirks. “So much luck.”

“I found a few good gifts,” Tanner says, cheeks flushed and warm.

“Good, then you can help me bake,” Ángel tells him. “I need gifts and I’m broke.”

“Does anyone want to catch a movie while we’re here?” Gabi asks. “I mean, we’re here and all. Hayley? Ángel?”

Hayley chews on her lip, gaze darting from Gabi to Emerson to Ángel to Tanner. “I’m… I’m going home with Tanner and Emerson,” she says. “Like, just in case.”

“Ángel?”

“I’ll go with them, too.”

“Dude, no.” Tanner shakes his head, claps Ángel’s shoulder. “Hayley’ll be there, and we’ll get Emerson home and that’s pretty much it. He’ll take his meds and sleep probably, and maybe we’ll watch a movie there or something.”

In other words, Tanner wants alone time with Hayley.

Okay.

Ángel grits his teeth. “You could drop me off—”

“Great, we’ll bring Ángel home after the movie, or maybe after dinner,” Gabi says. She bounces out of her chair, winds her arm around Ángel’s arms and tugs him close. “I get to pick the movie. You can pick where we eat after, and please make it real food, because Luca always just wants to get sundaes for dinner.”

“There is nothing wrong with ice cream for dinner,” Luca protests.

“You need protein,” Gabi and Tony say in chorus, Tony far more seriously than Gabi. She smirks, and Tony rolls his eyes.

It still doesn’t feel right, like he’s shirking best friend duties. But if he follows Tanner, then he gets in the way. Kind of fucked either way.

“I’ll be fine.” Emerson manages to get close enough to hug Ángel, pat him on the back before he stands on his own, slightly wobbly. “It’s probably just a headache. I’m okay.”

A bright gold bubble pops loudly, the sound dissonant and in conflict with the constant Christmas music from the speakers.

“We’ll be okay. Stay,” Tanner instructs.

Ángel hesitates, but then they’re walking away, and he’d look ridiculous if he tried to run after them.

“So, what’s wrong with the kid? He seems nice, but the older one watches him like a hawk,” Luca says.

“Seizures.” Ángel doesn’t want to go into too many personal details, but this much seems okay. “It’s part of his Talent. It creates synapse jumps in his brain, so when the bubbles pop up, they can cause seizures. And anything that triggers them—noise, crowds—is a bad idea. He’s got stuff he can do to minimize it—seizure meds, and some rituals—but it’s never perfect. He’s been doing better.”

He doesn’t want to think about whether this might mean changing Emerson’s plans for high school. Ángel really hopes it doesn’t come to that. He wants Emerson to live the normal life that he’s been hungering for.

Gabi looks at Tony, and Ángel feels like he might as well not be there between them. Gabi raises an eyebrow, and Tony grunts softly.

Luca touches Gabi on the shoulder, then Ángel. “Come on. Let’s go. Ángel, consider tonight my Christmas present to you. I’m taking you out—dinner and a movie on me—and it’s not even a date!”

[ Previous | First | Next ]

#welcome to phu #welcometophu #not your destiny #phu marked #marked

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moonlitmyth-archive · 7 years

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Any number with a 4 in it ^^

super detailed questions | accepting

I’ve been sitting on this forever because I had to think really hard about a lot of them. orz Under a cut for length.

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents?

So this is where I fess up to the silly headcanon @murdermayhemandjack and I developed which is that Margaret and Jack are twins (yeah I’m pretty sure everyone figured that out on the 13th but hey here’s your official announcement). So uh. Let’s just… She likes to think about her parents as little as possible. She’ll occasionally tell stories about them, but nine out of ten times, it’s the idealized version of events and she pictures generic fairy tale parents rather than her own.

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal?

This woman’s entire life revolves around food. To single out a memory about food would be like asking her to pick a favorite child. (it’s Carina)

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress?

She doesn’t sleep much; usually she gets home from work a little after midnight, she putters around for a couple hours, then sleeps in a couple fits. She’s usually up around nine, although if she has enough trouble sleeping, she’ll get up anytime she wakes up and it’s after about 5:30. I don’t think there was exactly a lot of mattress variety in the 18th century, so I can’t really speak to firmness. She doesn’t snore unless she’s run herself absolutely ragged and crashed despite herself. (And if you try to tell her she did, she will argue you all the way to Hell.)

34. What is their body type? How tall are they? Do they like their body?

answered here. She sees to reason to dislike her body, yay for not growing up with the unrealistic beauty standards imposed by the mainstream media!

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert?

She’s pretty damn alert. You would swear she has eyes not only in the back of her head, but the sides, too. She drinks alcohol depressants more often than coffee stimulants.

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship?

Demisexual. The best way to snag her attention: be a little mysterious without being self-conscious about it. Make her curious. She’s definitely more attracted to personality than looks; she’ll acknowledge/notice someone is attractive, but won’t actually be attracted to them until they’ve done something to actually intrigue her. In a partner, she desperately needs someone who can be her match in multiple departments, a true partner. She needs someone who will let her take care of them, but call her on it when she turns into a mother hen; someone who makes her laugh, but is also down for in-depth philosophical debates as casual dinner conversation; someone who can exist in her space without disrupting it; someone who will show her a little bit of the world at a time and be at peace with the fact that she will always end up landbound in the end; someone who will argue, but know that it’s not serious.

42. What are their goals? What would they sacrifice anything for? What is their secret ambition?

I don’t know that she has any specific long term aspirations beyond just living a good life and not taking it for granted. I’ve said this before, but she would rip the world to shreds if it meant saving Carina. That mama wolf runs deep.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people?

Nah. She’s just indifferent. She does go to church early most Sunday mornings, but it’s just because she likes the quiet community rather than any particular devotion to god. She has no qualms with anyone who is religious, and she’ll even humor people assuming she is if it makes interacting with them easier, because she just doesn’t really think it matters all that much.

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most?

Summer - but only because Hector usually hangs around during hurricane season. She actually abhors the heat. (Meg you live in the tropics what did you expect) She loves rainstorms, the louder and darker, the better; her favorite night is one where she’s sitting there in bed at midnight listening to rain pound on the roof and watching the room light up from lightning strikes. She will bitch night and day about that stagnant, oppressive feeling of the air not moving before a thunderstorm, though.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves?

I’d like to think she sees herself mostly the same way other people say her; she is The Mom Friend and that’s the end of it. She probably doesn’t have quite as rosy a view of herself as other people do of her, but then, other people aren’t usually party to the 24/7 snarkfest going on inside her head, and only the nice stuff usually makes it out of her mouth.

46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves?

She’s good at reading people, so she tends to tailor first impressions whenever possible. In the Duchess, she is absolutely in her element, and she’ll adopt different tactics with different people, depending on what she thinks they’ll respond the best to. Anywhere else in public, she puts up that Polite Wall as a guard against just about anything, and for the most part it works; when she meets new people, they think she’s just this nice lady who owns a tavern, which is more or less what she wants people to think of her. She typically introduces herself with just her first name, or first name and Smyth if she has to; the only time she’s ever introduced herself as Margaret Barbossa is when she thinks it might work in her favor, which is somewhat of a rare occurrence, lbr. (also spoilers: no, Smyth is not her real name.)

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event?

She has a love-hate relationship with this kind of thing. While she likes organizing events, she doesn’t especially enjoy attending them. She does like dressing up, but not when it’s for the benefit of someone else’s sensibilities, so she ends up being really quietly resentful anytime she has to dress up for anything else. She tends to chitchat and at least look like she’s enjoying herself (#that cocktail personality), but she’ll take any excuse to duck out early.

48. Do they enjoy any parties? If so what kind? Do they organise the party or just turn up? How do they act? What if they didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend?

She likes small parties. She won’t go to a party unless it’s being hosted by someone she knows, or unless she’s the plus one for someone she knows REALLY well (Jack, Hector, Ariel (@fiercelioness , Carina)

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them?

She doesn’t really get attached to things; actually, she gets all squirrelly when people give her gifts because she’s just like “wehh what do i do with this /arm flailing”. She values her wedding ring for obvious reasons, and any of her journals, and that’s. About it. She generally doesn’t carry stuff with her, but she wears that ring literally 24/7, she sleeps with it on, is2g.

#Anonymous #asks #headcanons #about margaret

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heatherrdavis1 · 4 years

Text

Bitcoin Price Pumping! Get Ready for Infinite Money Printing! [Unbelievable]

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Today in crypto bitcoin is maintaining strong price momentum. But can it last or are we in for more price pain. The U.S. stimulus package gets held up by Congress thanks to of course disgusting corruption in the government. The Federal Reserve keeps doubling down on infinite money printing and the FDIC wants to assure you that your money is safe in the bank. The crypto lurk. This is where you subscribe. All of the hottest and all of the latest happening out there in the wild land of crypto and beyond. Before we turn over to the charts. If you are new to crypto then you need. Check out my course crypto currency explained. I will show you all of the basics how to buy send in-store bitcoin and a theorem as well as teach you the top resources and tips that you need to know for success in crypto investing. There is a link down below where you can learn more OK now over to the charts. So we are moving closer and closer to the monthly close for bitcoin and of course we do have to wait for this candle to actually close to be valid but I just wanted to underline really the insane demand that we saw for bitcoin at the 4000 and the 5000 dollar levels we just look at that monthly candle right now is forming up that is a three thousand dollar Wick that is showing massive support from buyers has happened there are a lot of people out there who are bullish on the future of Bitcoin especially at those price points obviously let’s see how this month closes out but definitely curious to see how it is shaping up now over on the weekly we are still sitting nicely above that 200 week moving average. Now a lot could change in the next few days but let’s hope that the momentum that we are seeing does continue that we close a nice green candle over the 200 week moving average that would definitely be a bullish sign for the recovery of the market over on the daily we just got a third bounce on the key trend line that has been forming up. Now this line of support on the daily I’m looking at this is a critical level right now a break below this line would send the price back into a definitely more bearish zone so let’s watch for six thousand dollars as a holding line on the daily for bitcoin right now although a wick down to around fifty-nine hundred that would not actually invalidate this since that level of right around fifty-nine hundred has in the short term set itself up as a good price line for bitcoin to hold up. But also we do have some strong historical moments when the price found support right around the fifty-nine hundred dollar level. But I do think that we could see this uptrend continuing for a while but do just remember that although the charts are looking relatively bullish at the moment that as this crisis grinds on we could definitely have more panic moments in store and of course that equates into more moments of price pain. So do be aware of that. Also if you are looking for a great place to trade Bitcoin futures and too long into short the market then check out by bit if you sign up using the link down below then you can actually get up to ninety dollars in trading bonuses by bit is of course a high-risk high reward margin trading platform and it is only for experienced traders, by the way, it’s not just bitcoin that is up at the moment the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered more than two thousand points on Tuesday soaring to its largest one-day percentage gain since 1933. Wowsers gold also had a really good day as well. In fact gold has been having a great week. Overall right along with bitcoin gold is up around twelve point five percent in just the last few days proving that even in times of great uncertainty that there is massive opportunity out there in the markets. In fact gold is in red hot demand right now especially the real stuff with gold and even silver dealers around the world reporting shortages as they are unable to keep up with the demand from retail consumers walking in and trying to buy physical gold and silver. OK. Now onto the first big story of the day the stimulus deal in the United States has stalled in Congress really no surprise there to be honest. But we do have a new price tag for that package. Just have a quick listen to this video here fun by the way will be overseen by an oversight board and an inspector general. It will be completely transparent so the total package share comes to roughly six trillion dollars 2 trillion direct assistance roughly 4 trillion in federal reserve lending power again. It will be the largest mainstream financial package in the history of United States liquidity and cash for families small businesses individuals unemployed to keep this thing going. Six trillion dollars six frickin trillion. That is wild. Remember this is not coming from like a government savings account. No no no far from the U.S. is actually twenty-three trillion dollars in debt. And this is not from tax revenues. No, the U.S. collects far less than that annually and already runs at a very large deficit meaning that of course that they collect less in taxes than the government is spending meaning that they are borrowing to spend every year. This is new money being created and new money that is being flooded in to the financial system. Also, this bill will likely be one of the biggest handouts ever to corporate America lobbyists. They are working overtime in DC right now to make sure they get their little slice of the free money pie. Even if 500 billion dollars goes to regular Americans. Just remember that that is basically just a small bribe to play Kate the masses. Corporations they are gonna get way more every major industry right now they have their hand out for as much as they can get. Man screw these corrupt politicians they’re always just so ready to get down on their knees to please their corporate masters. It’s gross. Seriously in the middle of a pandemic. Instead of acting decisively to help regular people the politicians are slowing down the process in order to make sure that every corporate lobbyist has their chance to get a piece of the pie. This is payday for these guys. It’s absolutely sickening. But this is what politicians do. They take bribes and then they do favors for people on the other end. This is inaction. Public health be damned. Now up next are two very interesting stories that I want to share with you that have come up in just the last few days the first one is a short clip from the Federal Reserve’s let’s have a little peek at that real quick. Everything that the Fed has done this past week as essentially flooding the system with money. Yes exactly. And there’s no end to your ability to do that. There is no end to our ability to do that. Is the Fed just going to print money. That’s literally what Congress has told us to do. That’s the authority that they’ve given us to print money and provide liquidity into the financial system and that’s how we do it. We created electronically and then we can also print it with the Treasury Department printed so that you can get money out of your A.T.M. your A.T.M. is safe your banks are safe. There’s enough cash in the financial system and there’s an infinite amount of cash at the Federal Reserve. We will do whatever we need to do to make sure that there’s enough cash in the banking system. That guy did not misspeak. You heard that right. Infinite money as if the six trillion dollars wasn’t enough already in six trillion. That’s a startling amount of money but that’s just the beginning. Amount of money. These guys are sociopaths. They are literally ready and willing to print any wealth that is stored in dollars into absolute oblivion. Your dollars sitting in a bank account earning 0.01 percent interest. That’s cute. Really. That’s nice isn’t it. Inflation is about to rob you blind. And just as a bit of extra icing on the cake. Just who is being tapped by Secretary of Treasury Stephen mutations who help oversee these bailouts. Well it’s none other than our good friends over at Goldman Sachs. Oh man oh man I swear. Life it is the real comedy I couldn’t write this stuff if I tried. It’s so absurd. This is like putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse. The central banks. They are all promising unlimited quantitative easing. There will be no end to the money printing. There will be no end to the buying of corporate bonds and that that is seriously sick. By the way you’re going to have the government out there the Federal Reserve stop stepping in and actually buying these junk corporate bonds. The system is a total joke. This crisis could spell real trouble for the dollar and other major fiat currencies. We may be finally entering that early stage of hyper Bitcoin possession because we might of course be entering the first stages of hyperinflation for the world’s most important fiat currencies. The Federal Reserve has promised infinite money. The Bank of England they have said that they will put up unlimited quantities of money and the European Central Bank. They have also said that there are no limits that they won’t go to in defense of the euro and the U.S. the U.S. deficit will likely be over three trillion dollars this year meaning that there will also be on ending debt. Now how long until the U.S. has 30 trillion dollars in debt. How long until the debt owed by the U.S. government goes over the yearly tax income for the government. What will the answer be to such absolutely insurmountable debt? Well, it’s going to be the same answer that there always is. Print more money print money to ensure corporate profits. Print money to cover the debt. Print money to fix the problems caused by printing money. That’s the only answer. It’s crazy. I am so happy that I hold bitcoin when I see news stories like this. It’s just wow. Wow. And I did promise you a second story sluts started off with this nice little video here from our good friends over at the f d I see. This is what I would like you to take away from this. Your money’s safe at the banks. The last thing you should be doing is pulling your money out of the banks now thinking that it’s going to be safe for someplace else. You don’t want to be walking around with large wads of cash and you suddenly don’t want to be hoarding cash in your mattress. It didn’t pan out well for so many people. And I will tell you this. No depositor has lost a penny of their insured deposits since 1933 when the FDIC was created. So if you’re talking about having your money in a safe place please keep it in an FDIC insured bank. First off the food is up with that cheesy music man. Nothing says like lack of confidence like that she’s music anyway. This is the FDIC telling you to please please don’t take your money out of the bank. It really makes you feel like you want to take all your money out of the bank after listen to something like that, doesn’t it? Look a bank run. It can happen. I don’t want these things to happen but it’s a possibility they have happened and lots of other countries around the world many in just last couple of years. There is no reason to think that the USA is immune from having these things happen. Also, I’ve had a lot of people asking about the FDIC since my video the other day where I said that the FDIC only covers around 1 percent of U.S. bank deposits. Now although I have actually covered this topic before in previous videos I do need to of course member personally to that since I last discussed it some months ago many new people have come into crypto. And of course many new people have come to the channel in general so here are the numbers for you so you can understand what a joke the FDIC actually is. So the FDIC currently has a little more than 100 hundred billion dollars in its insurance fund. Sounds like a lot of money right. So that means they can cover 400000 people who hold 250000 dollars in their bank account. That sounds pretty good but then you need to realize that the total amount of U.S. bank deposits is around nine point five trillion dollars and the total of these deposits that are insured by the FDIC season may maybe around six trillion or so you take him and you do the math there but something doesn’t seem to add up to me. How does one hundred billion cover six trillion or even nine point five trillion also remains to be seen? What if any role the FDIC would play if the U.S. actually allows banks to do bank balance. These are now legal in almost every country the USA included after they did the bank balance in Cyprus and there are no bankers that were hung in the town square. I think the elites looked at themselves and decided well I guess that’s cool and normal so we should probably do that again in the future. Put that under our caps as a tool used for later a bank bail in case you’re not familiar is where the bank takes money from your account to cover their losses. Cash is a risk. Yes, it is true. It is true that you can get robbed in your home. You have bunch of cash sitting your house or that actually a cop in the USA can rob you on the way home from the bank because remember having cash makes you a criminal. And only criminals have cash. Insane logic but that the logic applied in civil asset forfeiture is by cops. But banks are not as safe as they are made out to be. Now, look maybe you don’t need to worry since the Federal Reserve will probably just print the other few trillion dollars if needed to cover the U.S. bank deposits. If banks in the U.S. actually do fail if the helicopter money being thrown out to them in terms of the stimulus and bailouts doesn’t just say the banks anyway but assuming that the FDIC is some kind of a safety blanket during a Black Swan it just isn’t. It really isn’t. We will always think that these bad things that can only happen to someone else somewhere else and that they can’t happen to us that multi-hour lines to withdraw a few dollars from the bank that only happens in faraway places. It can happen anywhere to anyone at any time. The system is super fragile and it is massively corrupt and rotten. This is what has happened and been proven to us in places like Argentina and India and Lebanon. Capital controls can and will be implanted by banks they have proven they are willing to do it. You will be restricted from accessing your money. The banks they have every right to do this and they will do it if they deem it necessary. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Perfect Storm is here for bitcoin central banks they are printing on limited money-making hyperinflation and increasing reality for the world’s most prominent fiat currencies. Rates are going to zero or they are going to negative everywhere during this crisis. Capital controls are becoming increasingly likely. The banks are already begging people not to take their money out of the banks because reality is they don’t have it thanks to fractional reserve banking and the bitcoin having less than 50 days away. Tick tock mother Deckers it’s common man is common. These are the times to separate the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls. The believers will buy and hold Bitcoin the believers probably already do hold Bitcoin. Bitcoin remains as it always has a permission list. Decentralized Swiss bank in your pocket. No bail-ins no unelected clowns printing trillions more just solid simple economics and digital scarcity. In times like this I am definitely happy to be a bitcoin holder. But of course, those are just my two sit whooshes. You will let me know what you think about any of today’s news stories down below in the comment section. Do you think that 6 trillion is going to be the final number for the stimulus package? Or are we going to see 10 trillion 20 trillion. These numbers sound insane but 6 trillion is a crazy no man totally crazy so I’d love to know Europe about that down below. Will we see even more trillions being thrown into the dumpster fire of the economy or not. Love to know your opinion on that of course. Thank you so much watching today’s video. Hope that you’re staying safe that you’re staying healthy that you’re keeping a positive attitude through all of this craziness that we see going on out there. Make sure to hit that like button if you did enjoy today’s video and subscribe to the channel. If you’re new around here long live the blockchain and piece out the next time.

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scottmapess · 4 years

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Bitcoin Price Pumping! Get Ready for Infinite Money Printing! [Unbelievable]

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The post Bitcoin Price Pumping! Get Ready for Infinite Money Printing! [Unbelievable] appeared first on Cryptosharks.net.

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/get-ready-for-infinite-money-printing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bitcoin-price-pumping-get-ready-for-infinite-money-printing-unbelievable source https://cryptosharks1.blogspot.com/2020/03/bitcoin-price-pumping-get-ready-for.html

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jeffrmayhugh · 4 years

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Bitcoin Price Pumping! Get Ready for Infinite Money Printing! [Unbelievable]

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

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cryptosharks1 · 4 years

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Bitcoin Price Pumping! Get Ready for Infinite Money Printing! [Unbelievable]

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

The post Bitcoin Price Pumping! Get Ready for Infinite Money Printing! [Unbelievable] appeared first on Cryptosharks.net.

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inevitablebliss-with-arial-blog · 6 years

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youtube

Just like you can feed your mind properly, you can also nourish your mind properly. I'll tell you how to nourish your mind properly and how to prevent brain garbage.

So how to properly nourish your mind? Some self-care tips on how to take care of your mind and on how to stay in higher vibrations.

Let's take a look at a few important factors.

1. The News The news is usually a bunch of brain garbage because it's often very negative, sensationalist and let's be honest: we don't even know whether it's true what these news channels are feeding us!

You might of course also find a news channel that's independent and more positively oriented.

But for me personally, it has worked fine to not make any effort to take in news anymore for a few years now.

2. Television Yesss such a lot of brain garbage on the mainstream tv channels! How do these shows enhance your life?

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with entertainment an sich, but you can also choose entertainment that also enriches your life for the rest of your life. Like for example choosing a high vibe nature documentary that makes you marvel at the wonders of this planet. Or watching a beautiful movie that centers around important human values like courage and love.

Now that's nourishing to your mind and keeps your frequency high.

So how do these mainstream tv shows enhance your life?

Quite usually they just don't.

PLUS: they might include a lot of toxic stuff like being completely centered around competition, which might make you feel stressed or less than others. Or they include toxic stuff like a lot of swearing, negative worldviews, anger, or unrespectful jokes.

PLUS: there are all these advertisements on the television all the time. So annoying and tiring to your mind. Please, give yourself a break!

Now that's brain garbage.

I have been happy for the last 5 years or so to not have a TV. I can recommend you do the same.

3. Music (and Books & Movies) Music is another big one. It has such an impact on our mental well-being. It even has an impact on plants. Plants have been shown to grow better with Mozart and worse with metal.

Every kind of music has a certain vibe. Depending on the melodies and instruments and rhythms, and depending on the lyrics.

What kind of vibe does the music have that you usually listen to? Angry? Sad? Happy?

Is the singer going on about how angry he is that his girlfriend cheated on him? Give yourself a break.

Is the singer going on about how sad she is that he left her? Give yourself a break.

Or is the singer celebrating life is their songs? Keep listening!

Most important here is that you keep in mind that you can use your own heart to feel whether certain music is uplifting you, or dragging your down. So use your own discernment and choose wisely.

Same for books, same for movies.

4. Friends & Conversations

Friends also have a huge impact on the well-being of your mind.

Do you hang out with people who have a very negative outlook on life? Are your friends gossiping a lot? Do they complain about life?

I have two tips for you. 1: See if you can make the conversations you're having with people more positive. See if you can be the uplifting person. Choose happy topics, share a positive outlook, talk about what you're grateful for, tell others about the good you see in them.

And 2: Spend less time with the people who make you feel drained, and spend more time with the people who make you feel happy.

5. Your House You spend a lot of time in your house. Every single day. So why not make it a nice and nourishing place for yourself?

Make sure that your house is cleaned up. If your house is messy, this will drain your energy because you keep registering it all the time, and that's just tiring and depressing. I know most people don't like to organize and clean their house, but exactly the moment you're feeling bad is a great moment to clean up your house because it will quite likely make you feel much better to do so.

Cleaning up your house is such an act of self-care! And since it will make you feel better every time you do it, you might even start liking it!

Choose the colours of your house wisely. Do you have a lot of grey, black, and brown colors? This might have a depressing influence on you. Color psychology teaches us that every color has an influence on our psyche. Choose colors for your walls and furniture that makes you feel good. Blue, for example, is calming. Whereas yellow might make your feel sunny inside.

It's important to realize that

Your house can be your work of art!

If you give it love, that's what it will radiate back to you.

It's up to you to start becoming more aware of what effect ALL the daily input has on your mind. Can you change it around to make it more nourishing?

Music Credits:

Artist: PC-ONE Pipe Choir Title intro song: Ignite_To_Light From the album SGONS Creative Commons Attribution License

Artist: Nicolai Heidlas CC BY 3.0 Title Outro song: Wings

#nourish your mind #how to nourish your mind #self-care #love your mind #love the mind #prevent brain garbage #avoic toxicity in your life #high vibe

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chpkns · 6 years

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BEST ALBUMS 2017

2017. Great year for music. Weird/terrible year for mostly everything else. You know how this works... let’s go.

Hon. Mentions: Mura Masa - Mura Masa; Everything Now - Arcade Fire; Teenage Emotions - Lil Yachty; Antisocialites - Alvvays; Ti Amo - Phoenix; Humanz - Gorillaz; Harry Styles - Harry Styles; Good for You - Amine; All American Made - Margo Price; This Old Dog - Mac Demarco’ Pleasure - Feist; Life Without Sound - Cloud Nothings; Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples; Aromanticism - Moses Sumney; Culture - Migos; More Life - Drake; Something To Tell You - HAIM; Hug of Thunder - Broken Social Scene; City of No Reply - Amber Coffman; Ctrl - SZA; Now That The Light Is Fading - Maggie Rogers; Blue Chips 7000 - Action Bronson; The Wild - Rural Alberta Advantage; American Teen - Khalid; Reputation - Taylor Swift; Run The Jewels 3 - Run The Jewels; Process - Sampha; Japandroids - Near to the Wild Heart of Life; Rainbow - Kesha

10) Half-Light - Rostam

Two things pushed the former Vampire Weekender’s debut solo album into my top ten, despite its shortcomings (that garbled dialogue section on ‘When’ almost lost it for me)... (1) I’m an all time sucker for Vampire Weekend, and this album at its best moments sounds like the very best parts of Modern Vampires, (2) BIKE DREAM. The glimmering centrepiece of a lead single might be the single best song of 2017. Although the rest of the album doesn’t quite match Bike Dream’s energy, it is airy and delightful in its own way. While Half-Light misses the boldness of a frontman like Ezra Koenig (busy with his own vanity projects at the moment) or any of the superstars that Rostam Batmanglij has worked with since parting ways with VW (Frank Ocean, Hamilton Leithauser, Carly Rae Jepsen, among others), there is an undeniable charm to the tentativeness of Rostam’s voice as he takes centre stage for the first time. A worthy solo debut.

Highlights: Bike Dream, Gwan, When, Wood, Thatch Snow

9) Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1 - Calvin Harris

Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 is the Scottish DJ’s first Post-Swift album and the closest thing 2017 had to an official summer soundtrack. Harris reinvented himself, trading in the club for the beach and teaming up with a cadre of collaborators from established hip-hop stars (Migos, Pharell, Nicki Minaj) and rising stars (Khalid, Lil Yachty and Toronto’s own Jessie Reyez). Harris displays his talents as curator on Funk Wav Bounces, matching each track to just the right combination of guest artists with often inspired combinations (Frank Ocean and Migos on Slide, Kehlani and Lil Yachty on Faking It). And despite the varied cast, it maintains a consistent sound throughout -much moreso than its chief rival and closest contemporary in the summer collaboration album field this year, DJ Khaled’s wildly inconsistent and gloriously self-indulgent Grateful. FWB sounds exactly like its title - a collection of tropical jams sure to keep any backyard BBQ bumpin’.

Highlights: Slide (ft. Frank Ocean and Migos), Rollin (ft. Future and Khalid), Prayers Up (ft. Travis Scott and A-Trak), Faking It (ft. Kehlani and Lil Yachty)

8) Dirty Projectors - Dirty Projectors

2017′s self-titled Dirty Projectors release could not be more different from 2012′s Swing Lo Magellan. Most notable, of course, is the absence of Amber Coffman. Not just for her vocals, but for the fact that Dave Longstreth seemingly crafted the entire album around her breakup with him and the band (although he swears it isn’t as autobiographical as it sounds). There’s almost a chutzpah to Longstreth titling the Coffman-less album “Dirty Projectors” as if to put his own stamp on the meaning of the band (as he quotes KISS’ Gene Simmons: “a band is a brand”). Listening to the album, you can hear Longstreth working through the emotions of the breakup in real time, from bitterness, to regret, to resignedness and ultimately, resolution. Longstreth seems to have evolved the Projectors’ sound in his years since Swing Lo, having spent time collaborating with more mainstream pop and hip-hop artists. Dirty Projectors the album sheds the acoustic jam band aesthetic for tightly produced, electronic beats and vocal distortions. The result is a complex and eminently enjoyable album that delivers surprises on every track.

Highlights: Keep Your Name, Up In Hudson, Little Bubble, Cool Your Heart (ft. Dawn Richard)

7) Melodrama - Lorde

It’s amazing to think Ella Yelich-O’Connor is only 21 years old. Whereas Pure Heroine, released when she was 16, was a quintessential teen pop record, Melodrama, her second album, is a testament to newfound maturity. The New Zealander has done some growing up since she sang about “getting on [her] first plane” on Heroine, and it shows through the lyrical and musical diversity of this album. Melodrama ranges from anthems (Supercut, Green Light), to bangers (the Tove Lo co-written Homemade Dynamite) to ballads (Liability) all the while retaining an authenticity and unique weirdness to its songwriting. The lead track, Green Light, stands out as a particularly ambitious piece of songwriting. In less skilled hands, it might collapse under its own weight, but Lorde makes it work. The refrain on Liability of “you’re a little much for me, you’re a liability” and the image of “one girl, swaying alone, stroking her cheek” is just so good. Melodrama is a beautiful, complex pop album that solidifies Lorde’s place well above the majority of mainstream mass produced blandness.

Highlights: Green Light, Homemade Dynamite, Liability, The Louvre

6) Freudian - Daniel Caesar

Toronto’s own Daniel Caesar’s debut album, Freudian, quickly became one of my most played records of 2017. Caesar’s mix of jazz, gospel and R&B is such easy listening I’ve often put it on while working and forgotten to change playlists before the album loops several times over. No one will accuse Freudian of being a high energy party record, but damn is it ever chill. Caesar’s silky smooth vocals, slipping effortlessly in and out of falsetto and floating effortlessly over the instrumental arrangements, are reminiscent of early Frank Ocean with a coolness harkens back to Love Below era Andre 3000. Freudian’s bucking of trap-influenced R&B trend for a more traditional sound comes out sounding modern and innovative. The obvious gospel influences make Caesar sound closer to Chance the Rapper than his fellow 6-natives Drake and the Weeknd. If Freudian is any indication, Daniel Caesar will be helping define Toronto’s sound for a long time to come.

Highlights: Get You (ft. Kali Uchis), Best Part (ft. H.E.R.), We Find Love, Transform (ft. Charlotte Day Wilson)

5) DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

New Kung Fu Kenny! It’s even a shock to me that there ended up only being one true hip-hop record on this top ten (and we’re not really counting Calvin Harris as a rap album, are we? I didn’t think so.) But if there had to be only one, it had to be Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick is in rarefied, Kanye West type company in being able to say both that DAMN. might be his worst album, but still a bona fide classic. DAMN. embraces more of a mainstream hip-hop sound (complete with the faux mixtape DJ ad libs) than either of his last two offerings, To Pimp a Butterfly and untitled, unmastered. And while it fails to match the thematic unity of Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City, it still bangs. My first impression of DAMN. was that it sounded like if Kendrick made a Drake album (and made it look sexy)... and that ain’t a bad thing. Under the more commercially tuned exterior is the same incendiary social commentary we’ve come to expect from Kendrick. Turning his sights on Fox News critics, flexing about his friendship with Obama, and somehow making U2 seem cool in 2017 are all things that Kendrick does on DAMN. Another entry in K-dot’s epic canon.

Highlights: DNA., LOYALTY. (ft. Rihanna), HUMBLE., GOD.

4) Colter Wall - Colter Wall

My favourite country record of 2017. Speedy Creek’s own Colter Wall (the son of soon-to-be former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall) is only 22, but you wouldn’t know it listening to this album. Wall’s deep, gravelly voice, layered over a stripped-down accompaniment feels as classic country as it gets. The starkness of the songs creates a barroom feel and leaves you to focus on the storytelling in his lyrics. Thirteen Silver Dollars tells the tale of an unfortunate drunken encounter with an RCMP officer. Kate McCannon is a classic western murder/love ballad. You Look To Yours rattles off a series of rejections by women in bars (and warns the listener “don’t trust no politicians”, showing that Colter Wall isn’t just a chip off the old block). Nashville producer Dave Cobb, who also worked on recent albums from the likes of Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton - all leading disciples of the neo-traditionalist movement in alt-country - lends his talents to Wall’s debut release. The increasingly unlistenable quality of mainstream radio country may make one want to pour out a bottle of Thunderbird on music row, but Colter Wall shows us that the saving grace may come in the form of a prairie kid from up north.

Highlights: Thirteen Silver Dollars, Motorcycle, Kate McCannon, You Look To Yours

3) Turn Out The Lights - Julien Baker

The sophomore record from Tennessee singer-songwriter Julien Baker is not exactly a “feel good” album. At times, it feels downright depressing. The visceral quality and the rawness of the emotion in these songs just kept me coming back to this album. There is a realness and an intimacy that runs deep through the album. Turn Out The Lights deals with weighty stuff - addiction, mental health, loneliness, self-doubt - but with an undeniable beauty to the way Baker’s voice and lyrics layers over the piano and guitar. Woodwinds and violin accompaniments add to the richness on a few tracks but for the most part, the sparse palette of Baker’s voice, guitar and piano is enough to get the devastating point across. Baker’s voice, especially, has a haunting and beautiful quality that helps convey the gut wrenching emotion in her lyrics. There’s a hope, too, shining out behind the darkness. On Hurt Less, Baker moves from not wearing seatbelts because “I didn’t see the point in trying to save myself” to finding a reason in someone else to start buckling up. On another standout song, Appointments, Baker closes on a refrain of “Maybe it's all gonna turn out all right / Oh, I know that it's not, but I have to believe that it is.” Moments like that show that Turn Out The Lights isn’t the collection of sad songs it seems at first blush, but a celebration of the little moments of hope that help us get through the darkness.

Highlights: Appointments, Turn Out The Lights, Televangelist, Hurt Less

2) A Deeper Understanding - The War On Drugs

One word to describe this album: Big. I first listened to A Deeper Understanding on a float plane ride crossing the Georgia Strait from Vancouver island to the mainland on a sunny day. I can’t think of a better soundtrack for that than this. A Deeper Understanding is all soaring guitar, wailing synths and beating drums, perfect for tearing down a highway on a summer day, windows open to the wind. The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel has perfected his 80′s rock sound from 2014′s epic Lost In The Dream, tuning it perfectly to his Dire Straits-meets-Springsteen vocals. Every part of A Deeper Understanding feels finely tuned and crafted - you can feel the obsessiveness of Granduciel’s arrangements as the songs unfold. The songs themselves, mostly dwelling on loss and longing but against an undeniably upbeat musical background, are a strange contradiction that somehow never sounds wrong. It’s impossible to get through the guitar or organ riff sections on Nothing To Find without nodding a head or tapping a foot. The sonic grandeur, the “bigness”, of A Deeper Understanding is ultimately its greatest strength. Granduciel is painting landscapes here, not portraits. The influences are clear: Springsteen, Petty, Knopfler. If you think rock and roll is dead, you’re not listening to The War on Drugs.

Highlights: Up All Night, Holding On, Nothing To Find, Clean Living

1) American Dream - LCD Soundsystem

I never understood the backlash that LCD Soundsystem faced for coming out of retirement. Sometimes, an honest intention to hang up your skates is what it takes to bring out your best work (see, for example, Jay-Z’s The Black Album). American Dream, my favourite album of 2017, should solidify LCD’s comeback as a “good thing” once and for all. It would be one thing if a band kept churning out new, increasingly mediocre material (like later seasons of The Simpsons), but with American Dream, James Murphy and co. have done something truly great. American Dream is a brilliant, electric, synth-pop odyssey from start to finish. Recurring LCD themes like commentary on the state of popular music (lamenting on tonite that ‘everybody’s singing the same songs’) are prominent, but Murphy ruminates on personal topics like his divorce, missed opportunities (Black Screen lingers on Murphy’s failed chance to work more closely with David Bowie on his final album) and friendships lost. The most stunning track on the album, how do you sleep, is a pulsating, 9 minute take down of Murphy’s former collaborator Tim Goldsworthy - essentially a diss track - and it’s savage. The ‘drop’ at around the 3:30 mark is right about where I realized this album was something special. What finally sold me on American Dream as my album of the year was seeing it played live. LCD are probably one of, if not the, best live acts we have and this album truly bangs in person. At the centre of it all is Murphy, the unlikeliest front man, unshaven and drinking expensive wine in a grubby t-shirt. A rockstar with a dad bod. A bizarro light-side-of-the-force version of Steve Bannon. The American Dream incarnate if there ever was one. James Murphy is all of us, and none of us at the same time. Normal, but exceptional at the same time. This album is all exceptional. It’s the best of 2017.

Highlights: oh baby, how do you sleep, tonite, call the police

SPECIAL RETROSPECTIVE

Now that I’ve been doing this a few years, I wanted to look back at my top albums of the decade so far...

2010: The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

2011: Take Care - Drake

2012: Channel Orange - Frank Ocean

2013: Yeezus - Kanye West

2014: Our Love - Caribou

2015: Art Angels - Grimes

2016: Coloring Book - Chance The Rapper

2017: American Dream - LCD Soundsystem

All in all a very solid and defensible selection of albums. I don’t want to second guess myself too much, and I would still ride or die for any of these choices, but if I’d change one or two, it might be to flip Yeezus for Modern Vampires in the City in 2013, or swap the Caribou for RTJ2 in 2014... which are just albums that have stuck with me more over time.

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