#jeff kinney what the fuck are you doing

[madame-mongoose]

What the gleep!!! Follow me for cool art!!!

#jeff kinney what the fuck are you doing #what do you MEAN NO LAYERS #this is fucking me up SO BAD

[boysbeloving]

okay so i've watched 11 episodes of LITA in 3 days and have much thoughts/comments to share

this post is technically for @skamskada (coz you would just NOT stop sending me pics of payu person in my DMs [♥️] and that's what made me finally watch the show....and...this would be too long for our chats lol) but all y'all can give it a try too! <3

the payu-rain arc opening credit song is really good actually... i....quite like it

payu person's voice is so soft and nice and sweet!!!!

YOU DID NOT WARN ME ABOUT THE CRINGEFEST THAT IS PAYU SINGING TO RAIN IN THE KITCHEN!!! i fast forwarded that section....i just couldn't sit through it good god....come to think of it, i skipped zee singing in cutie pie the series too...i just couldn't take it lol..second hand embarrassment is too strong... (i love when nunew sang in the series...also..it made sense in the plot..and he has an angelic voice...umm...same with nanon in bad buddy...i didn't cringe at his singing...and ofc jeff and barcode were also fine in kp....all these guys are singers irl anyway and them singing fit the plot of their respective series....but i don't think i'd be able to handle anyone else singing in bl series) payu person sings well though! maybe if he has uploaded some covers etc on youtube i could listen to those??!! does he sing sing?

what was the whole kidnapping plot?? i was laughing at it a bit lol

also...unpopular opinion maybe but i feel payu person needs some more acting practice when it comes to emotions like anger or frustration, etc. he...seemed to struggle to convey it convincingly with his eyes and dialogue delivery and body language...but this is a personal opinion

rain person acts well! he's got all emotions pat down...and he portrays cuteness and annoyingness very convincingly

PAYU'S HAAAAAIIIIRRRRRR....just...PAYU'S HAAAAAIIIIRRRRRR

OMG PAI-SKY IS SOOOOOOO GOOOOOODDDDDD LIKE WTF EVEN???!!!!

i LOVE the storyline....the actors are BRILLIANT and they look so good together????!!!! i enjoy their chemistry

sky person acts SO well....whenever he's triggered i can't stop myself from crying i feel A LOT for him :(((( and i LOVE it when he's not giving any fucks to Pai lol! and when he turns it on OMG IT IS MOTHERFUCKING ON

i love sky person's eyes <3 they are.....such a pretty colour...esp when the sunlight hits them in the scene where pai-sky are by the side of the road after they've had breakfast (me being struck by sky person's eye colour reminded me of me being struck by brian kinney's [or gale harold actually lol] eyes in the light...and ....it intrigued me so much! i also ABSOLUTELY love misha's and jensen's respective eye colours and cillian murphy's eyes too uuuufff AND luca marinelli's eyes...wowoowowwow)

the sex scenes were AWESOME!!! the moans, the dialogue, the looks, the MOVEMENTS, brilliant brilliant brilliant! very very special shoutout to 2 lines: a) payu saying "i'll make you the best rider" in episode 6 sex scene and b) sky saying "p'pai hurry up" in episode 11 sex scene....THE WAY THESE DIALOGUES WERE DELIVERED AND THE NEEEEEEDDDDD DRIPPING FROM EVERY SYLLABLE UUUUFFFFF (i have gone back and listened to these 2 lines in particular many many times...they just do it for me)

ngl i'm very invested in the pai-sky storyline but if a short scene of payu-rain comes in the episode i'm suddenly hit by how much i miss seeing them!

i really like the actor who plays Sig...he generally plays comic relief characters? he was in cutie pie too...I REALLY LIKE HIM....it seems he improvises a lot and is very competent at it...he can pick up on the energy of the scene and the dynamics of the characters and fits himself into it SO WELL (and sometimes also takes the lead in navigating a scene...like the thread tying ceremony) not intrusive but also leaves a lasting impression....also..his face is nice :) if i'm not wrong i think he's starring in an upcoming sci-fi bl as a lead! good for him...well deserved <3

i like the siblings....payu's brother saifah and pai's younger siblings too...they're sweet

the sound editing of the series is....so bad! omg i can hear every movement of the shirt and sometimes the voices get low and sometimes loud like what is happening oh no..it's annoying :(

as an armpit enthusiast (among others) i'm also very disappointed by the lack of armpit exposure...i have found only 3 scenes with decent full armpit exposure...i'm hoping this will get rectified in the remaining episodes (how many are there in total anyway? 14?)

i haven't watched any reality content of the LITA boys but you've told me time and again that payu person is really cute.....<333

i'll maybe slowly make my way through all that stuff...i think i'll enjoy watching all of them

#love in the air #love in the air the series #lita #bl drama #bl series

[stina-is-a-punk-rocker]

jacqueline wilson’s ‘love lessons’

tw: abuse, pedophilia, characters making Bad Decisions, long unnecessary spiel about my childhood like I’m running a recipe blog

It’s funny how loads of the authors who helped shaped me into the vaguely humanoid being I am today have names beginning with the letter ‘J’; Judy Blume, Jeff Kinney, John Green, J.K. Rowling (yikes, I know) … and Jacqueline Wilson.

I’ve never owned a Jacqueline Wilson book of my own; they were always borrowed from a friend, or from a friend of a friend, or from a friend of a cousin- you get the gist. Her books, for me, come with an entire aesthetic: something reminiscent of yard sales, and reading under the covers with a flashlight, and being lulled into a false sense of security by the deceptively innocent Nick Sharratt illustration on the cover until someone’s best friend gets mowed over.

So I knew what I was getting into when I picked up Love Lessons. I knew this was going to be Fucked Up; and boy, was I right.

(Here’s the part where I warn you about spoilers.)

From an abusive dad to creepy child predator teachers to slut-shaming and victim blaming, this book has it all.

The main character is Prudence ‘Prue’ King, who is homeschooled at the beginning of the book, along with her sister, Grace. Their parents remain rooted in the early twentieth century, and are very strict about- well, everything. No TV, no computers, not a single mobile phone in the house; their clothing worse than the orphans’ from Annie; and their father remains distinctly distrustful of modern institutions like the school and the hospital; and so on, and so forth.

Daddy King suffers a stroke, and has to be taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, Mrs. King (a floppy, spineless woman who lives in fear and awe of her, frankly horrid, husband) sends the girls to school, behind the then invalid Mr. King’s back. Cue Prue and Grace being the freakshows of the school, with their strange clothing and overbearing mother.

Grace manages to make friends, but Prue remains alone. The kids are dicks, the teachers are dicks… well, all of them but one. And that’s the art teacher, Mr. Raxberry (I just couldn’t get over that name; it seems like something you’d name a mythical plant from Pixie Hollow or some shit. I’m assuming it isn’t an actual name, since the spelling & grammar check on my computer doesn’t seem to recognize it), or Rax, as he’s called.

Oh, yeah; Prudence’s favorite subject in school is art, and she’s a whiz at it. This is relevant, because reasons.

And here’s where stuff gets murky. Prue develops a crush on Rax- which is perfectly normal. I’m definitely no stranger to it; I’ve had crushes on my teachers, my mum admitted she used to think one of her professors was cute. And yeah, as I grew older, I grew out of those crushes and now have a markedly more refined taste in men (unless he’s 5’ 7’’, born in ’97 and named Bang Chan, I don’t want him); and my mum married my dad, so I’m assuming she did, too. Admittedly, now that my dad teaches at a university, it’s icky to think that there might be students who have crushes on him- but I digress.

My point is, loads of us have liked our teachers. But I doubt the majority of us have acted on it.

And Prue actively showing her interest in Rax isn’t the worst part. That’s a spot reserved for Rax reciprocating her feelings.

Guess Ezra Fitz and Ms. Grundy (yes, I watched Riverdale; please don’t cancel me) have a new addition to the Creep Club.

The age of consent in the UK is 16, if I’m not mistaken. Prue is 14. She’s just barely become a teenager, and she’s being preyed upon.

Because that is what Rax is. He’s a predator; he preys upon this vulnerable girl who’s never been in a relationship before- hell, she’s never even had friends- her father’s abusive, so she obviously doesn’t have the best experience when it comes to men- she’s unpopular at school, with the students and staff alike- and he lures her in. I don’t care how bloody nice he is to Sarah, or what a good dad he is (well, he’s really not, seeing as he cheated on the mother of his children WITH A BLOODY FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD)- the guy’s a fucking pedophile.

I was staunchly stuck at a yellow light with him; like, sure, maybe Prue thinks he’s flirting with her- maybe she’s looking at this all wrong, she doesn’t know how relationships work- see, he drew a picture of Sarah, too, in his secret notebook- Prue’s just reading into this too much- up until he says he loves her.

Dude. Humbert fucking Humbert. She’s fourteen, for Christ’s sake, and you’re married. You have two children. She’s a child. She’s probably closer to your son’s age than she is to yours.

(This is the part where I bury my head in my pillow. And scream. Extensively, and with passion.)

The book does make some genuinely good commentary on slut-shaming and victim blaming and abusive parenting. And on one hand, I can see why so many people find issue with the romanticization of the when I kissed the teacher trope- but I can defend it, too.

The book is in Prue’s perspective. She thinks she’s in love with Rax, so obviously, she’s not going to throw in some valuable moral at the end- because she’s too young and inexperienced to think otherwise. And sadly, there are loads of instances of child abuse that go unreported because the victims just don’t know better.

What I have issue with is how the school dealt with it, ultimately. Prudence, a child, has to deal with the consequences of the actions of a literal child predator. Sure, Rax ‘clears his name’ by cooking up some bullshit story about how it was only a crush and he didn’t encourage it, but you’d think other adults would know better and, oh, I dunno- dig deeper into it, instead of blaming it on a child?

“She says you told Mr. Raxberry you loved him and he held you in his arms and fondled you.”

Which Prudence denies, because, again, she doesn’t know better. She then goes on to say that they did nothing wrong. To which the adult speaking to her, in this case, the principal, Miss Wilmott, goes on to say:

“I’m not sure that’s entirely true… I feel that there are some aspects of your friendship that could be considered inappropriate.”

FYI, lady, he kissed her- multiple times (not that kissing her once makes him any more redeemable), and told her he loved her, and admitted to fantasizing about running away with her and leaving his family behind. Fun fact: do you know Prudence is underage?

You’d think that Miss Wilmott would maybe give this whole fiasco a favorable ending, but it turns out she listens to school gossip;

“I haven’t been at all happy with your attitude. You don’t seem to understand how to behave in school. I’ve heard tales of unsuitable underwear and then a silly romance with one of the boys in your class. I feel that in the space of a few short weeks you’ve made rather a bad name for yourself… I don’t know whether you intend to be deliberately insolent but you certainly come across as an unpleasantly opinionated and arrogant girl… I can’t help feeling that you’ll be much better off elsewhere. I shall try hard to engineer a suitable transfer to another school.”

And then she comes out with this gem:

“If you won’t leave, then I shall have to ensure that Mr. Raxberry finds another position.”

“No, you can’t do that! He’s a brilliant teacher.”

“You should have thought of that before you started acting in this ridiculous and precocious manner. If I were another kind of headteacher, I would have Mr. Raxberry instantly suspended. There could even be a court case. He would not only lose his job, he could find himself in very serious trouble. Did you ever stop to think about that?”

Girlboss, gaslight and gatekeep. The fucking trifecta.

Also, by ‘another kind of headteacher’, does she mean the kind of headteacher WHO DOESN’T LET CHILD PREDATORS ROAM FREELY WITHIN THEIR HALLS?

This bitch is out here blaming a child, a literal child, for the crimes of an adult man.

The only time Prue seems aware of the fact that Mr. Raxberry is actually a very shit person is her immediate thoughts that follow after she tells Miss Wilmott she’ll take the fall;

I so wanted to save darling Rax- and yet why hadn’t he wanted to save me? Had he told Miss Wilmott it was all my fault, that I’d got a ridiculous crush on him, that I’d made ludicrous advances to him? … I wanted to tell this horrible, patronizing woman how hungrily he’d kissed me, but I couldn’t do it. I loved him. I had to help him.

NO, SWEETHEART; YOU MOST DEFINITELY DO NOT.

And maybe I’m going overboard with all these excerpts, but here’s what Rax has to tell Prue, after school, following her expulsion:

“I let her think the worst of you, the best of me, just to save my skin. I said it was ridiculous talking about a love affair between us. I said you simply had a crush on me, and that I was just trying to be kind… You were brave enough to stand up to me and force me to acknowledge the truth… I love you… That’s why I had to take a risk and see you this one last time. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t care… Every night when I close my eyes, I’ll think of us together in this car and how badly I wanted to drive off with you. I’ll imagine us walking hand in hand at the water’s edge… I wish I wasn’t such a coward.”

(I burrow into the pillow further. I’m trying to suffocate myself.)

And that’s where I think Wilson went wrong. Sure, Prudence getting expelled for something that was completely out of her hands is unfair, and horrible, but it’s real. That shit can happen.

What’s bad is showing Rax in a positive light after all that. If only Wilson had written Rax to not be the Romeo he thinks he is. Make him ignore Prudence, throw her under the bus in front of her face, instead of this star-crossed lovers bullshit it’s made out to be. Show your younger audience that Rax is not a good man. I’ve got a little over two weeks left for my twentieth; I can see why this is unacceptable. But I was a little younger than Prue when I watched Pretty Little Liars, and my only gripe with Aria dating Ezra was that Noel Kahn was so much cuter.

It shows when you scroll down the Goodreads reviews; you’ve got adults giving it one or two stars, and teenagers giving it four or five, with their biggest complaints being, “but Toby was cuter!!!”

Other non-pedophilia related complaints regarding the book include: Prudence being unlikable- which I didn’t really notice, considering she reacted to some people way better than I would’ve, even at 19 (which probably says a lot more about me than it does about Prue, but oh well). Still, Prudence obviously isn’t the most prudent of people- and again, she’s fourteen. Look me in eye and tell me you weren’t an arsehole at that age (unless you’re fourteen now, in which case, I assure you that you’ll look back on yourself someday and go ‘wtf was I thinking’). Bringing up Toby’s dyslexia in an argument was low, though.

There were people who thought the Kings’ almost-Amish lifestyle was exaggerated and unrealistic, but I assure you, it may very well be real. There are 8 billion people on the world- it’s fair to assume that several of them are complete weirdos.

Grace was a sweet character, and I adored her with every fiber of my being. As were her friends Iggy and Figgy. Honestly, I would’ve loved a book about Iggy, Figgy and Piggy’s (mis)adventures too.

#love lessons #jacqueline wilson #teacher #teacher crush #teacher x student #anti ezria #ezria #pretty little liars #aria montgomery #ezra fitz #when i kissed the teacher #book review #books

[the-replacemints]

tagged by @westerberg 🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

who was your first favourite artist? queen

who are your current favourites? rn im back into my glam rock phase so ive had mott the hoople, david bowie, t rex, etc playing. last week i was in a riot grrrl phase

are you into musicals? which ones/why not? i love anything andrew lloyd webber. specifically, phantom of the opera is my faaaaaavorite musical of all time

are there songs you consider so special you only listen to them very rarely? yes, but its because they make me cry if i listen to them too much. this will be our year by the zombies is one of them

what’s your preferred way of listening to music? (time of day, medium, situation) oh i have music playing all day long, from dawn till dusk baby (or more accurately until i fall asleep), ill mostly use spotify unless i know i have the album i wanna listen to on cd

what would you say is the most niche music you listen to? forgive me for being pretentious but i do enjoy mathrock

what’s your favourite music related movie/tv show that’s not a musical? when i was younger i really liked across the universe, a few years ago i loooved bohemian rhapsody, currently though i think ill have to pick 10 things i hate about you (i watched it for the first time a few weeks ago and im absolutely obsessed)

albums or playlists? depends on my mood

favourite albums? this is a long long list so ill close my eyes and pick at random:

hunky dory - david bowie

at your birthday party - steppenwolf

electric warrior - t rex

all the young dudes - mott the hoople

queen II - queen

jar of flies - alice in chains

pressure chief - cake

for all my sisters - the cribs

grace - jeff buckley

etc etc etc

is there an artist you're trying to get into? sleater-kinney, i binged most of their discography a few weeks ago and i like their first 2 albums the best i think. also pj harvey, she gives me maaaaajor jeff buckley vibes i think ill like her

whose music do you find overhyped? ough, i dont wanna stir up drama, but ill just say rhymes with maylor mift

what’s an underrated song? mambo sun by t rex!!!!!!!! everyone go listen to mambo sun RIGHT NOW!!!!!! but also the entire album of angst in my pants by sparks

what’s a thing a bunch of songs do that you love every time? when theres a goooood loooong drawn out build up right before the chorus, iron maiden does this a lot, like it builds and builds, the drums the bass the guitar and ur anticipation and excitement builds up to and its sooooo good, we dont get enough good builds in music anymore

what song is better acoustic? got me wrong by alice in chains (go listen to it on their mtv live album)

what's the worst song of all time? jump by van halen, HEAR ME OUT i love van halen i was obsessed with van halen in highschool, but jump just FUCKING SUCKS

do you put individual songs on repeat? if so, for how long and how often? all the fucking time, yesterday i had star star by the rolling stones on repeat for like an hour, but the longest i had a song on repeat this year was richie tozier by ok otter, i think i played it for 5 days straight (got 600+ plays)

do you make your own playlists? if so, what’s your most entertaining playlist title? i think my most interesting playlist title is "nosebleed trigger remix speed edition" (one of my genre whiplash playlists) followed closely by "i almost drank hand sanitizer again cuz it was next to my water bottle" (a playlist of music thats like new wave alt rock permanent wave indie type stuff, genuinely no clue how to characterize it)

headphones or earbuds? both, headphones if im walking around, earbuds if im sitting somewhere

do you always sing the lead vocal or do you harmonize sometimes? if im just singing it, ill harmonize, but if im like screaming singing i do lead vocal (see: its no game pt 1 by david bowie)

a musical confession? i really despise the way that modern indie rock has become so commercialized, it takes away from the whole point of indie rock which is being independent

tagging @ninekings @little-rimbaud @frusci if u guys wanna do it <3

#tag game #tagged #music tag

[mxbitters]

what did poptropica survival island do to me as a kid.  so much.  imagine being like 10 and like just getting off spy island for the 497th time like fuck yeah and then you see the new island and youre loke >:0 cool and suddenly you’re being timed to survive in the wilderness and then some old rich guy takes you to his home and oh “NO TOMFOOLERY IN THE TROPHY ROOM” and oh btw when you finally escape you’re hunted for sport like.. jeff kinney, you king, what the fuck 

[youcanblogifyouwantto]

Biff’s Year in Music

2020 what can I say… I feel like this meme summed up the first half of it pretty well.

https://cheezburger.com/12209157/ant-man-meme-gives-a-recap-of-all-the-horrors-of-2020-so-far

Then to top it off this last week my son developed a spontaneous pneumothorax which basically is a collapsing of his lung for no apparent reason other than he is a tall thin white adolescent. To make matters worse he is 18 and COVID is raging in all the hospitals.  Thankfully my wife is an RN and should have been a lawyer as she was able to argue her way into staying with him.  Good thing she did because one the doctors fucked up so bad she gave him another Pneumothorax by turning a valve a wrong way.  Needless to say it has been a very rough year and especially rough week for me and my family.  Music has been and always will be the only constant positive release for me.  2020 had some great music and being home for almost an entire year now has led to a lot of music consumption.  The only other thing I did almost as much as listen to music was drink and cook food to match what I was drinking.  I’ve always loved beer and wine and dabbled in Whiskey but this year was the year of the cocktail for me.  I would discover a new alcohol type and then plan crazy elaborate dinners that cocktail would either be an aperitif of digestif for. Fun yes, healthy? …That is yet to be determined. I did take up running again to counter the amount I was drinking and eating and I would say that I have consistently worked out more this year than any other year so my liver might be fucked but my heart and lungs are strong.

So to start it off, this year saw releases from some of my all-time favorite musicians that I found nice and good even but never clicked or haven’t yet.  I had been eagerly anticipating Matt Berninger’s solo release all year and I dig it but strangely not enough to return to it unless I purposely tell myself to.  The same goes for Bright Eyes, Real Estate, Sylavan Esso, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever minus Cars in Space (I played the shit out of that song), Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Car Seat Headrest, Dirty Projectors, Sufjan Stevens, Laura Marling (on first listen I thought easy top for the year then Fiona Apple came out and I haven’t returned to Laura Marling since), Damien Jurado, Jason Isbell, Neil Young (Homegrown had a special place in my heart for a month but again haven’t returned since August), Future Islands, Kevin Morby, and Busta Rhymes. All of these albums I do not hate or even dislike in fact some I liked a lot at first but just didn’t have staying power.  The following list are albums I loved that some stayed all year in rotation. Not in particular order but kinda like a Coachella poster if it’s near the top it’s one of my favorites of the year. I can be very longwinded on paper and very brief in person so I will try my antisocial tendencies to describe these albums. I will say for the most part the albums that hit this year are like comfort food music for my soul.

Waxahatchee  - St. Cloud – Home, comfort, introspective

Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher – Witty, production, great voice

Run The Jewels – RTJ4  - best running album ever. My favorite from these guys and best rap album I’ve heard in a while.

Jeff Tweedy – Love is the King. Maybe blasphemy but I like better than Warm. Perfect example of music comfort food. His biography is great too and so is the Summer teeth deluxe reissue.

Fleet Foxes – Shore – Beautiful, peaceful everything I needed from them and more. Side note Helplessness Blues was the first album review I ever wrote for ATR and I’m so glad I found those guys! Thank you for continuing the tradition.

Jeff Rosenstock – NO DREAM There was some good punk rock this year but this was the best also great running music. Rosenstock is now my go to for punk

Taylor Swift- Folk Lore- Story Telling, Sweater music, more music comfort food. And now Evermore continues the greatness. Dorothea might be my favorite track from both records. If you would have told me a Taylor Swift album would be in my tops for the year a couple of years ago I would have laughed you out of my face and now she has two albums in my tops. 2020 is one crazy year!

The Avalanches- We Will Always Love You- I’ve loved every single and was waiting for this to drop before posting this.  Well Worth the wait. I like it better than the Gorillaz release and that is saying a lot. It’s hard to have this many spot on features and keep a cohesive vibe! Johnny Marr meets MGMT is another need more of this collab.

Loma  - Don’t Shy Away- If 2020 could be articulated through music disorienting but also working from home has some perks. Good balance of weird and comfort

Adrienne Leckner – Songs- She writes great songs and performs them immaculately

Muzz- ST – The last show I went to before shutdown was Morrissey with Interpol opening and I forgot how much I love Bank’s voice.  This album is highly underrated in my opinion especially Evergreen.

Gorillaz –Song Machine – Best since Demon Days and Robert Smith/Damon Albarn Collab was never anything I thought I needed but now want more of. When Tony Allen died I went through a deep Tony Allen dive that was quite enjoyable. Great Drummer!

Dinner party – ST – The title explains it better than I can

Against All Logic – 2017-2019 – Kelly Lee Owens and this were the only electronica to stay all year both great running albums and If you can’t do it good do it hard is worth the price of admission alone

Hamilton Leithhauser- The Loves of your life- I love this man and I loved the walkmen. I feel he for me is like Frank Sinatra was for my mom. Not as sweet as a voice but can sing the hell out of a song.

Walter Martin – The world at Night- Another Walkmen member, this is another comfort food album it just feels right in my soul

Ka – Descendants Of Cain – Criminally underrated for too long this dude paints lyrical mood pictures like GZA.

Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately – Beautiful Authentic Elegant

Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters  - Lyrically and sonically slays me. You have to like spoken word and weird rhythm texture but she nails both of those.

Bonny Light Horseman- ST – Great folk indie I just knew this was an album for me on first listen

Rose city band - Summerlong – Best new discovery, feeds my jam band meets indie soul

Strokes - The New Abnormal – I don’t know why this didn’t get more love? I loved it and The Adults are Talking is top five best Strokes songs.

Pinegrove- Marigold – More indie comfort food music

Bartees Strange – Live Forever – Second best new discovery. This dude is all over the place but in a good way. If you like this check out his singles where he covers many National songs.

Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song- My Friend Antony described this better than I can at the current moment. Inner songs indeed.

The Killers – Imploding the Mirage- Most surprised album of the year, I’ve never been a big Killers fan but this one just wrapped it hooks inside me and didn’t let go all year

Young Jesus – Welcome to Conceptual Beach- Avant-garde or experimental music stretches me in ways that are very good for my soul and this one was such an album

My Morning Jacket – Waterfall II – Took a trip up to Humboldt in Early August and this was the soundtrack of the trip. Very much needed social distance return to nature vacation.

Hum- Inlet – I rocked out to this many a summer early fall evening sitting on my dock fishing and drinking beer.

Haim- Women in Music Pt. III – Best Haim yet and yes they are maturing into great song writers

Nation of Language- Introduction, Presence – Third best new discovery.. My friend Spencer at Shadows and Noise (a blog I’ve contributed to on occasion) accurately describes this album nicely. My wife loves Depeche Mode, New Order, and Erasure so this album is a new version of that genre that she and I can love together.

Coriky- ST – Half of Fugazi with a female drummer that sounds like classic Sleater Kinney in fact Fugazi meets Sleater Kinney is how I would describe this and that can’t be wrong!

EP’s Singles

James Blake- Before (Great marriage of his old and new)

Kruangbin & Leon Bridges- Texas Sun

Local Natives – Sour Lemon

Radio Dept – The Absence of Birds

Leon Bridges – Sweeter

Tom Berlin – Projections

Father John Misty – To S/ To R

Rostam- Unfold you

 Mank is one of the only great movies of 2020!

[allyourkayfabefriends]

Top 10 Albums of 2019

Good morning everyone! I can’t believe it’s a whole new fuckin’ decade. 2019 was a great year for music, while a lot of my old favorites put out some lackluster releases (*cough cough* Sleater-Kinney, Weezer), newer and younger bands that I also love really stepped up to the plate and put out what ended up being my favorite records this year, we’ll get to that soon though. First let’s start with some

Honorable Mentions: Avey Tare - Cows on Hourglass Pond Angel Olsen - All Mirrors Jeff Rosenstock - Thanks, Sorry! Big Thief - U.F.O.F. Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center Chris Farren - Born Hot

10. Big Thief - Two Hands

Big Thief have consistently blown me away this decade in making really vibrant, urgent, and important music. Their sophomore effort, Capacity, is probably one of my favorite albums of the past ten years. The unique way that the guitars, bass, drums and vocals all blend with each other make the folk rock they develop seem so spellbinding. After the ethereal UFOF from May of this year, Big Thief came crashing back down to earth with Two Hands, and I love the way the band makes themselves feel so close and intimate, playing together in a mostly live setting (while UFOF involved a lot of effects and overdubs). There’s a range of musical emotions at play here from pounding out one of their longest and most aggressive songs “Not”, which might be my favorite song of the year, to quickly follow up that track with a quiet, haunting ballad “Wolf”. What an effective back-to-back. Big Thief proved this year that they’re a damn important band, and I’m glad I’m listening.

9. Black Midi - Schlagenheim

At first, I wasn’t exactly sure what black midi was, or what they were doing. I saw lots of people on Twitter either hyping them up, or making fun of the hype by making absurd jokes about them. It seems however, the band is in on the joke, wearing huge cowboy hats on stage, meshing two or three different graphic design styles together for their promo materials, and then when I saw them in November, the singer kept quoting a line or two from “Stronger” by Kanye West, eventually throwing it into their closer “bmbmbm”. I finally tapped into their sound by checking out their live video for their song “Ducter” and Pitchfork Festival, and was instantly captivated by how different yet familiar their sound was. It was clear that as musicians, they were super tight and together, while at the same time going on crazy tangents. Each time I revisited this album I found something refreshing and new that I think a lot of other post-punk/whatever bands are too afraid to do. I’m excited to see how these guys grow and evolve since they’re so young, but I’m glad I got to be in on the ground floor.

8. Stella Donnelly - Beware of the Dogs

I’m not sure what exactly led me to check this album out, but after I listened to it I realized my friend Anne had put two songs from it in a playlist she made me earlier in the year (thanks Anne if you read this). Right when the first song came on, I was instantly entranced by Stella’s sweet, upbeat voice combined with a twee-adjacent instrumentals and lyrics about womanhood, feminism and shitty men that undercut everything else. This record is really vital, and is catchy and sugary-sweet enough that it kept me coming back for more, each time appreciating Stella’s message more and more. 

7. Strange Ranger - Remembering the Rockets

Strange Ranger had been, for me at least, a band that I was the only one not getting. I checked out their first two records earlier this year, they’re sprawling, epic and dreamy, but nothing about them really made me want to revisit them. Then I decided to check out this record, and it seems that they distilled everything they had been going for and made it more accessible. This record at times feels like it’s taken directly from a hazy alt-rock band’s studio from 1998. Somewhere between Smashing Pumpkins, blur and The Rentals. It’s sweet and dreamy while also getting a little noisy and weird at times. I’m glad something finally clicked for me with this band, now I gotta go get the rest to click.

6. Deerhunter - Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?

Full disclosure, Deerhunter have become one of the most important bands in my life this past year, which is probably why this record is here (not a lot of people liked it and I can understand why), but this album definitely was a grower. After delving into their past few releases from this decade (Monomania, Fading Frontier) this album seemed like the next logical step. It’s clear cut and probably the least dreamy Deerhunter have ever sounded, but it’s not without reason. Bradford’s musings on the highlight “What Happens to People?” is a lament about modern life, and trying to search for a point, and the production brings everything clear and upfront so the band and the listener can ponder these things together. Definitely rewarded multiple listens.

5. Laura Stevenson - The Big Freeze

Laura has easily become one of my favorite solo artists over the past year or so. At first, in the context of being pals with one of my all-time favorite punk artists, Jeff Rosenstock, it was hard for me to wrap my head around someone’s music who was so soft, sensitive and reserved as Laura’s was. However when I booked her to play at a small cafe across the street from my school last December (shout out to the Parlor), it was incredible to see her in her own element. Here, she played at least 4 or 5 songs that are on The Big Freeze, which stands as a monument to Laura’s songwriting, she recorded this album in her childhood home, which only adds to the intimacy that she’s creating here. Listen to Laura Stevenson.

4. Mannequin Pussy - Patience

Mannequin Pussy have become one of my favorite bands over the past couple years. Their 2016 record Romantic was one I came to late but found hard to put down once I started listening, often listening to it twice in a row. Here, Patience builds on everything that made Romantic great and brings it to the next level. Drunk II stands as a testament to a new era of epic breakup songs (see also, Night Shift by Lucy Dacus). The personal highlight for me was “Fear/+/Desire”, and of course seeing them live in their hometown of Philly was incredible. Such an important band!!

3. Tyler, the Creator - IGOR

I’m pretty sure that Tyler’s 2017 Scum Fuck Flower Boy was a tribute to a relationship, and IGOR is the breakup. With Pinkerton being my favorite album ever, I have an affinity for breakup albums. IGOR flows so well and the message and idea is super cohesive, so of course I listened to it all the way through a bunch. I really liked the production and beats he used here too, they were grimy and lo-fi which made the whole effort feel that much more raw. Tyler has really grown into his own into a mature artist who uses the album form to tell a really compelling story, I really loved this record.

2. DUMP HIM - Dykes to Watch Out For

Watching DUMP HIM grow into the vital and fierce punk band we all deserve has been a pleasure to watch, and it all comes together so clearly on DTWOF. The production brings all the ripping guitar solos, excellent drum fills and amazing bass work to the front, as well as Jac and Mattie’s laments on trauma, community and being queer in today’s world. This is a really great and important record, go listen to it!

1. Prince Daddy & The Hyena - Cosmic Thrill Seekers

Prince Daddy have become one of my favorite bands to follow in the past 4 or so years. Their first two records were addicting, but this record feels transcendent, most certainly worth the almost 3 year wait. This record feels like what Weezer’s abandoned Songs From the Black Hole would’ve ended up like, but even better and touching upon vital themes of mental illness, love and friendship. This album is nothing short of epic, and I love it so much. Here’s to a better 2020!

#me

[sinceileftyoublog]

Newport Folk Festival: 7/26-7/28

Brandi Carlile and Dolly Parton sing “I Will Always Love You”

BY MICHAEL KINGSBAKER

Another Newport Folk Festival has come and gone, and yes, it still is the greatest music festival in the world, and it is still my favorite weekend of the year. This year, for the first time in its 60-year history, the festival had an all female-led Saturday night headliner, arguably had its two biggest appearances to date, covered an entire masterpiece album, premiered the biggest female country supergroup ever, and finally found the heir apparent to Pete Seeger on what would be his 100th birth year.

After Pete Seeger passed away in 2014, a gaping hole was left at the Newport Folk Festival. Seeger had been around the festival since its inception, and while festival producer Jay Sweet has captained the ship incredibly since taking over in 2008, the question has remained: Who would hold the seat that Seeger did for years? The musical ambassador of the people and of the music of the Newport Folk Festival? That question was answered loud and clear this year, as Brandi Carlile cemented her rightful seat. Last year was a precursor, when she performed from her Grammy Award-winning album By the Way, I Forgive You and guest performed with Mumford and Sons and during the Change is Gonna Come set. This year, she got handed the keys to the car and packed a Saturday night headlining slot full of talent from the past and present, culminating in a 5-song set from none other than Dolly Parton. Now, Jay Sweet has pulled some pretty big acts during his 12 years on the festival, but he didn’t pull Dolly--Brandi did! She also premiered her new country super group The Highwomen, an all-female answer to The Highwaymen. The former’s reworking of the latter’s namesake song absolutely took my breath away (and was just released), and then Carlile closed out her weekend singing Pete Seeger's classic song "If I Had a Hammer" with Alynda Segarra from Hurray For The Riff Raff.

Overall, this year’s festival was fiercely female, showcasing talents from multiple generations from Parton and Judy Collins, Sheryl Crow, and Linda Perry to Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, Maggie Rogers, and Yola. The collaboration sets, which really gained steam with the Dylan 65' Revisited set 3 years ago, continued this year and actually tripled, with the Saturday night All-Female Collaboration, along with a last minute addition of a complete cover of Graham Nash's "Song for Beginners" led by Kyle Craft with an all-star cast of Newport favorites. Finally, on Sunday, Pete Seeger was celebrated with set entitled "If I Had a Song" where audiences were given song books with which to sing along. It opened with Jim James singing “The Rainbow Connection” with perhaps the second biggest star to ever appear at the Newport Folk Festival in Kermit the Frog. I was also pleased to see that Our Native Daughters were asked to participate in the Seeger Celebration, singing the Seeger tune "If You Miss Me at The Back of The Bus" and joining Mavis Staples and Hozier for "Keep Your Eyes on The Prize". Two years ago, for the SPEAK OUT set at Newport (intended to be a platform for artists to speak out about issues of our times), I was critical of the set’s lack of diversity. I noted that both Rhiannon Giddens and Alynda Segarra gave the most topical and stirring performances of that festival but were absent at that finale. Well, this year, they both hit the stage and had their voices heard with songs of protest to make up for lost time.

It's good to know this incredible festival is in good hands and has its ears open. I'm already looking forward to next July. Until then, here's a few photos to pass the time.

Newport is always a place to make discoveries. Saturday morning, the audience was woken up to the raucous duo of Illiterate Light.

Liz Cooper & The Stampede bent over backwards (literally) to electrify the audience at the Quad on Friday with their psychedelic soundscape.

Recent Tony Award winner Anais Mitchell and The Milk Carton Kids at The Harbor Stage, singing Graham Nash's "Simple Man" as part of the Songs for Beginners set.

After a last minute dropout from Noname due to illness, Festival producer Jay Sweet was left with a hole at the Harbor Stage on Saturday. After tweeting about the brilliance of Graham Nash's album Songs for Beginners and the responses it garnered, an idea sparked. A supergroup of Newport faithful led by Kyle Craft, including Hiss Golden Messenger, Lake Street Dive, Amy Ray, The Tallest Man on Earth, and more played the album from start to end. I think we may have just started a new Newport tradition--might I suggest Neil Young's Harvest next year?

Lukas Nelson and The Promise of The Real rocked the Quad Stage on Friday, closing the set with a rendition of Neil Young's "Rockin’ in the Free World" but slowed things down with reminders to Turn Off the News (Build a Garden), and song about an ex named Georgia that made performing with his father singing "Georgia On My Mind" every night a little tricky.

British singer-songwriter Yola was everywhere at the Newport Folk Festival, performing her own set at the Harbor stage as well as at the Quad with both The Highwomen and Dawes. Here, she takes the stage at the Fort during The Collaboration with the First Ladies of Bluegrass covering The Eurythmics’ "Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves".

After appearing last year as a guest to Mumford & Sons and others, this year, Maggie Rogers got the Fort stage all to herself to dance in and out of her sound equipment and share her debut album Heard It in a Past Life with Newport.

Every year, there's an act that brings Quad to its feet and doesn't let them sit back down. This year, Jupiter & Okwess invited everyone to fill in the fire lanes, and a 45-minute dance party ensued, capping off with a collaboration with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Phosporescent returned to the Quad stage with hypnotic grooves and chill vibes, keeping all the heads bobbing inside the old fort.

I'm With Her returned, bringing their sweet blend of harmonies bridging old-time music to the present, including covers of The Vampire Weekend and Joni Mitchell.

This year was all about the women, and the fellas came to support. Jason Isbell, who generally headlines festivals like these, wasn't even given a microphone. Here, Amanda Shires (who happens to be his wife) allows him to share a few thoughts as they introduced a song they co-wrote, "If She Ever Leaves Me", dubbed the first gay country song, which was sung moments later by Brandi Carlile.

Each year, the festival producer comes out to the early birds waiting for the gates to open to welcome them back and remind them to BE PRESENT, BE KIND, BE OPEN, and BE TOGETHER. There isn't a place in the world that's easier to do those four things.

It's always fun to see what surprise guests will show up to the festival that aren't officially listed. This year’s guests included Jim James, Kermit The Frog, Dolly Parton, James Taylor...you know that this list might end up being bigger than the actual lineup. Here's surprise guest Tallest Man on Earth, who joined both the Songs for Beginners set as well as The Cooks in the Kitchen.

Hozier returned for his 3rd appearance, singing a duet with Mavis Staples for their song "Nina Cried Power". He also gave over the stage to Brandi Carlile during his set for her to sing her hit “The Joke”. Here, he joins with Lake Street Dive for a cover of Sly & The Family Stone’s "Everyday People".

Jade Bird had her own solo set at The Fort stage but joined in on The Collaboration, seen here singing "What's Up" with Linda Perry and Brandi Carlile.

Phil Cook has become a regular staple at the festival. His love and respect for the musicians and the music played at the festival has endeared himself to both fans and musicians alike. For his set, Cooks in the Kitchen, Phil, who always seems up for a collaboration, was joined by his brother Brad as well as Tallest Man on The Earth’s Kristian Matsson, Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls, and Anais Mitchell.

Molly Tuttle, who had her own set with guitarist Billy Strings, joined The First Ladies of Bluegrass, Courtney Marie Andrews, and others for a cover of “Big Yellow Taxi” at the Collaboration Set Saturday.

Just a man, his guitar, and a huge open stage. Jeff Tweedy charmed the audience at the Fort on Saturday claiming he wanted to "hug you with his sad shit."

Rhiannon Giddens returned to the Newport Folk Festival with the most powerful and gut-wrenching set of the festival, joined by Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell to form the group Our Native Daughters, singing songs addressing American historical issues that have influenced the identity of black women. This marked only their 6th live performance, performing in Connecticut a week earlier for the first time. Emotions were overflowing both on stage and in the audience, as each artist (each of whom played multiple instruments) took turns singing songs of sorrow, hope, anger, and joy. It was an experience like no other at the festival.

Linda Perry leading a sing along of "What's Up" at The Collaboration, asking the audience to sing so high, "I wanna touch the fucking stars!" Later, she was on Facebook Live for the introduction of Dolly Parton.

There was a bit of a 90's renaissance at this year’s festival with appearances from Amy Ray, Linda Perry, and former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. Sheryl Crow, who had her own set at the Fort on Friday and later joined The Highwomen that day at the Quad, got in on the fun at The Collaboration on Saturday, performing "If It Makes You Happy" with Maren Morris and "Strong Enough" with Maggie Rogers and Yola.

Newport always does a great job of honoring those who led the way. This year, we saw Judy Collins hit many stages and share stories about a young Bob Dylan writing “Mr. Tambourine Man” on her porch, as well as recalling Stephen Stills singing her "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", to which she replied "It's a good song, but it won't get me back." Here, she shares the story of a friend discovering Joni Mitchell and bringing her "Both Sides Now", which was sung moments later with Brandi Carlile.

Couples take in the If I Had A Song set at sunset on Sunday, which included a duet from Kermit the Frog and Jim James as well as a serenade to Judy Collins from Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes), Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats), and James Mercer (The Shins), singing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”.

Newport Folk Festival marked the inaugural performance of The Highwomen. Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby, here joined by Yola, opened their set to a powerful reworking of “The Highwaymen”, made famous by Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash. The Highwomen’s version, written by Carlile, Shires, and Jimmy Webb (the original songwriter) honors the stories of courageous female revolutionaries and includes an additional 5th verse:

  "We are The Highwomen / Singing stories still untold / We carry the sons, you can only hold / We are the daughters of the silent generations / You sent our hearts to die alone in foreign nations / It may return to us as tiny drops of rain / But we will still remain.”

A stage full of Newport Folk ladies, including Brandi Carlile, Rachael Price, Maggie Rogers, and Sheryl Crow, bow down to the one and only Dolly Parton. I've seen Roger Waters, Jack White, My Morning Jacket, Jackson Browne, Beck, Levon Helm, and Mumford & Sons headline the Festival. This was the biggest of all the Saturday night headliners.

#newport folk festival #live music #brandi carlile #dolly parton #illiterate light #liz cooper & the stampede #anais mitchell #the milk carton kids #lukas nelson and promise of the real #yola #maggie rogers #jupiter & okwess #phosphorescent #i'm with her #amanda shires #tallest man on earth #hozier #lake street dive #jade bird #phil cook #molly tuttle #jeff tweedy #our native daughters #rhiannon giddens #linda perry #sheryl crow #judy collins #the highwomen #maren morris #natalie hemby

[rohirric-hunter]

Guys. Guys. The most unspeakably glorious thing happened to me yesterday.

Some of you may be aware that I am employed at a certain national chain of book retail stores, the name of which I am omitting for reasons which will shortly become clear. Within these book retail stores, I specialize in children’s literature. There are few activities in life so rewarding as hooking up a child with a book they’ll enjoy. On the other side, there are few activities in live so arduous as hooking an adult who is only nominally involved in said child’s life with a book they hope the child will enjoy. (Seriously. If you don’t know what the kid likes to read, just buy a fucking gift card. No, it isn’t “impersonal”.)

Yesterday I was alone in the children’s section, and there were no customers except this old lady who already had an armful of random Professional Looking Papers and Trump Books (I couldn’t be bothered to notice which ones), which really tells you everything you need to know about what I expected this interaction to be like. As per company policy, however, I approached the customer and politely asked her if I could help her find anything. The following conversation was the best fucking thing to ever happen to me.

“No, I’m just looking” she said, and then immediately added, “Yes. I’m looking for a gift for my six-year-old niece. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Yeah,” I said. “What kind of thing does she like to read?”

“I don’t know,” she said. (Ah, I don’t know. The antithesis of gift buying. The phrase muttered to retail employees to herald the arrival of blandly pretty lighthouse figurines with the unique power to summon thankful smiles that are both vaguely irritated and simultaneously confused. Why people think I can help them choose a book for a friend or family member with no clue as to what sort of thing that person enjoys is one of life’s great mysteries.) “She’s above her reading level, though. At least third grade.” (Everyone says that, in those exact words. I can count on one hand the number of customers I have had who have not said that.) “Can’t you just show me what’s popular for six-year-olds?”

More interested in getting this woman to leave, now, than anything else, I began recommending titles with all the enthusiasm of a mermaid trying to reach the nearest Red Box by dragging herself there with her hands. I very quickly ran out of titles that could truly be called “popular” and moved on to anything and everything a six-year-old had asked me for in the past week. Kate DiCamillo, Jeff Kinney, Rana Telgemeier, D’Aulaires mythologies, American Girl books, and Nancy Drew mysteries all flew through both our hands and were rejected at once. The Boxcar Children didn’t interest her, the Little House series was out of date, Dork Diaries was too girly. Magic Tree House was too easy, the Jedi Academy series was too hard, and also not girly enough. (”I’m buying for a girl,” she reminded me, shoving The Principal Strikes Back back into my hands.)

The abruptly enforced culmination of this stream of suggestions came in the form of Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle, an excellent and highly recommended title of wild fun for all kids except the ones that have been taught from a very young age to abhor the impossible. I handed the book to her and said, “This is a very good one. I really liked it when I was a kid. It’s the first in --”

I don’t think she heard me, but it doesn’t really matter because she would have interrupted anyway, I think. She opened the book to a random page and glanced at it, long enough, perhaps, to see that the paper and ink quality were scaled to the relatively inexpensive price point of the book, but certainly not long enough to determine, for example, the average number of syllables per word. “This is too hard,” she snapped, shoving the book back toward me. I didn’t take it. “I’m buying for a six-year-old.” And then. Then, she made her fatal mistake. “What did you read when you were six?”

It’s worth noting, at this point, that Beverly Cleary was a well-loved and highly valued part of my personal library at age six. Not, obviously, that she would have believed me had I told her that. She’d made it abundantly clear by now that she was simply one of those people who periodically suffers from an intoxicating need to make demands and then deem the results insufficient, and, nearing the end of what must have been a very long life, had at some point (likely very recently, given the apparent density of her skull), discovered that displaying this behavior toward family and friends tends to alienate them, and thus chose to take advantage of customer service rules to get her fix from retail employees. If she was going to buy anything at all that day (aside, of course, from her myopic Trump Books), it certainly wasn’t going to be because I had recommended it, a revelation which I took with perhaps a bit more freedom than I strictly should have. So when she uttered those damning words, “What did you read when you were six?” my entire life culminated toward a certain moment. I could see it ahead of me and just out of reach, the two of us for once united on a train with defective brakes barreling toward a tree that had fallen over the tracks at the base of a hill, adrenaline surging through our veins instead of blood, hair standing on end and breath stolen from our lungs. Only she didn’t know it yet.

The Lord of the Rings isn’t in the children’s section, obviously. (The Hobbit is, but that’s a whole other story.) The Lord of the Rings is, in fact, almost on the other side of the store, at the farthest end of the science fiction aisle. There are only two sections that are further away from the children’s section. This is important because when I said, “Oh, sure,” and indicated that she should follow me, she not only followed me out of the children’s department, she followed me across the entire store, past young adult fiction, past normal fiction, and through part of the toy section without once questioning what I was doing. She followed me into the science fiction aisle, all the way down to the end, and then stood there, realization slowly dawning on her face (quickly commandeered by horror) as I crouched down and picked up a leatherbound collection of The Lord of the Rings from the bottom shelf. I held it out to her. She didn’t take it.

“I really enjoyed this one,” I said. “It really helped me form a sense of identity and figure out right and wrong.”

I made probably a hundred bucks during my shift yesterday (before tax). A hundred dollars that pale in comparison to the sense of satisfaction I got from the look on this woman’s face. Imagine someone discovering that a cat has pooped on their bed, but there’s a pair of scissors embedded in it and the poop is actually made of chocolate. Also they do not own a cat and their house has been locked up all day. You might get something loosely approximating the expression this woman blessed me with. Whether or not she believed me, I don’t know. I also don’t care. She said nothing. She simply turned around, still holding The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and walked away in silence.

I don’t know whether she bought it or not, but I had no copies of that book to reshelve at close that night.

#retail #it was so fucking funny #bookstore #the lord of the rings #the mouse and the motorcycle #also for the record the mouse and the motorcycle is just a really good book for anyone aged 5-10 #its not super hard but the story is great

[doctornerdington]

“Have you ever...” (kinda) bookish questionnaire

Reblog with your answers and tag five people you’d like to do this. Or not. We don’t really like rules. :) 

1. Have you ever won a giveaway? If so, what did you win? Answer: A book-related giveaway? I don’t think so? I won a bike once, though, in some kind of active commute challenge. That was nice.   2. Have you ever met a celebrity? And which celebrity would you most like to meet? Answer: I met Stephen Fry when he wasn’t very well. I don’t think he’d slept for a couple of days. He was still lovely, though, as you might expect. I met Kathleen Edwards, who might be a bit of a celebrity in some circles? Ummmm. Jeff Kinney, recently, which THRILLED the children. Alissa York. VEDA HILLE (that was super exciting for me). Lots of minor Canadian literary and musical celebrities from my days at the alt weekly.  Who would I like to meet? I think... Charlotte Bronte. Or living -- Sarah Waters.  3. Have you ever read a generally beloved book and hated it? Answer: Haha. HAHAHAHA. Yes. Loads. Dickens. FUCKING DICKENS. I’m a Victorianist and I hate Dickens. Those American 60s druggie counter-culture jerks. I hate them. I hate most of Swift. I fucking hate Wuthering Heights, but I do regret it. I hate almost every Russian novel I’ve ever tried to read, which is terrible because I’m Russian, but. No. No. Dostoevsky, no. Stop.  4. Have you ever been told you resemble a celebrity? Answer: Gyllenhaal? The girl one.  5. Have you ever read a book someone else loved just to be closer to them? Answer: SO OFTEN. Also, if I ever rec a book to you, I probably love you at least a little bit.   I tag ALL my bookish followers! That’s... quite a lot of you. :) 

#memes #book memes

[90simaginesandfanfics]

Cradle Broken Glass - Chapter Twenty Three

Layla sat in the corner of the living room, surrounded by people, and yet feeling absolutely alone. Phil was in the corner, smoking and laughing with Jerry Cantrell. Mike was making the rounds with shot glasses and offering people copious amounts of alcohol. Stone, Chris, Layne and Matt were on the sofas laughing and telling stories. Ben was, much like herself, sat in a corner and pondering the world, except he looked mildly happy and was conversing when necessary. Mike Starr, Sean Kinney and Kim Thayil were casually smoking joints in the kitchen, and everyone seemed to be having a good time, except her. Jeff and Eddie hadn’t arrived yet, and she was biting her nails in absolute fear of when they did. He hated her, and she couldn’t blame him. She was a fat and ugly submissive housewife who didn’t have a backbone, who had decided to play with his feelings. Why wouldn’t he hate her? Just as Layla was starting to set herself off into another self-induced breakdown, the buzzer on the door went off, and Mike buzzed whoever was downstairs in. She breathed in and out heavily, trying to prepare herself for what was going to happen. The minute they walked in, the whole apartment went up in cheers and welcomes, all except from her and Phil from their respective places. Eddie was holding beers while Jeff was holding packets of chips, pretzels and snacks. She stayed in her corner, wallowing in her surroundings and feeling completely helpless to the situation.

She raised her eyes and was met with ocean blue ones from across the room. But just as quickly as they met, the pair across the room broke its gaze and focused on the others in the apartment, confirming to Layla that he hated her now. Jeff made his way over and placed a small kiss on her cheek, leaning over her leg and being careful not to bash it. Her broken leg had healed up good, but it was still sore when she put too much pressure on it. Layla stayed where she was, and after another hour or so, everything went back to how it was before they arrived. The only difference was that she felt a little bit more uncomfortable and inadequate, if that was even possible.

*****

“Layls, come on we’re playing poker.” Phil called her over to the table. The guys had set up a game of poker by moving the table in the dining room to fit in between the sofas, and Chris was currently dealing a hand. The Alice guys had all left by now, and so had Kim and Ben. The remaining guys were all huddled around the table, waiting for her to take her place and play. She wasn’t in the mood, and had been avoiding human contact as much as possible the whole night. This wasn’t her idea of fun. But she didn’t want to ruin Mike’s night and she knew they would all be concerned if she moped around anymore. She took her place in between Phil and Jeff, and the game started.

After 30 minutes, even though she had put up a strong game, she had put out, and so had a majority of everyone else. The only people left were Phil, Eddie and Matt.

“I raise you twenty.” Said Matt, looking confident in his actions. She silently laughed at him, since he should know better than to act cocky when you’re playing a game that relies on bluff. After another two minutes, Matt soon realised the error of his mistake and was also out, leaving only Eddie and Phil behind. Layla felt stifled as the tension rose between the two. She could Phil tense beside her whenever Eddie made a move, and the look that Eddie was giving Phil would be enough to make any sane person run away scared. She wasn’t the only one, as all the other guys had quieted down and were staring at the two of them, watching their every move with anticipation. She knew they all wanted Eddie to win, and even though she knew she shouldn’t, she did too.

“I see your fifty and I raise you two hundred.” Said Phil out of nowhere. Layla’s head swing around, completely confused as to why he would think he could get away with betting that much, it wasn’t like they could afford to give away as much money as possible. But she was more concerned about Eddie. 200 dollars was the type of money he wished he could have, and she knew he would never be able to afford it. She looked at him and his eyes met hers. She silently begged him to just give up and not raise his bet, but he simply looked away, and didn’t meet her eyes again. Phil was sending him a cocky grin, like he knew he couldn’t afford it. And that’s when Layla realised why Phil wanted to go to the party. He wanted to humiliate and cheat Eddie out of money. Phil had been playing poker since he could talk, and she saw him beat people out of money countless times, usually by cheating. She knew this wouldn’t be any different. But Eddie’s next actions shocked her and the whole table when he simply nodded and agreed to it. She couldn’t help but curse him out in her head, how stupid did he have to be to take the bet? She knew Phil was a great poker play, and knew Eddie would have to pay him, she felt sick even thinking about it.

“Okay, Phil, you put your cards down first.” Stone said, cutting the tension with his voice. Phil sent Eddie a victorious grin and then spread his cards down on the table in front of him, proud like a fucking peacock. Layla leaned over to look at his cards. Full house. Shit. Shit. Shit

Everyone turned to Eddie, and Layla’s heart broke when she saw the look on his face, and her resentment for her boyfriend grew all the more. Phil’s grin grew.

But her head turned back to Eddie when he stood up from the table and leaned over to Phil’s side. He leaned down, and next to Phil’s pile of cards, placed his down on the table, and then leaned back into his chair.

“I believe you owe me some money.” Eddie said with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. Layla looked at his cards. Royal flush. Holy Shit.

Everyone around the table started to laugh and cheer Eddie and give Phil sympathetic yet snide smiles. Layla couldn’t help but be so fucking happy at what had just happened, but within two seconds, the smile on her face disappeared, as Phil slammed his hand down on the table and caused everyone to go silent.

“You piece of shit, how the fuck did you win that. You’re a fucking cheater, and I’m not paying you fuck all.” Phil screamed across the table. Everyone stood up, and were standing between the two as to diffuse the situation. She knew Phil had cheated, and couldn’t understand how Eddie had still managed to beat him and win his money. That’s two possessions he’s taken from Phil without him realising, Layla thought sarcastically. Chris had managed to calm the situation down, until the shit hit the fan.

“Phil, just sit the fuck down, you’re just jealous of Eddie. We all fucking know it. You wanna be like him, and you’re not, so just deal with it.” Jeff said, trying to take Layla’s boyfriend down a peg or two. But rather than explode like he usually did, Phil started to laugh smugly, looking between both Jeff and Eddie and then turning to the latter.

“Wait, do you honestly think I’m jealous of you?” Phil continued to laugh, and Layla couldn’t help but feel sick. Eddie looked down and turned his body, starting to walk away.

“Why would I be jealous of you Ed?” He continued sarcastically, and Eddie stopped walking, still facing away.

“Why would I be jealous of you? I could be just like you if I wanted. Hey, maybe if my daddy left me and my step-daddy beat me I would have turned out like you. A worthless cunt.” Phil finished, and everyone stood still. Layla was paralysed with shock.

But while everyone stood silent and looked on in horror, Eddie turned his whole body around and with superhuman force, swung his fist and hit Phil in the jaw, the sound piercing through the silence. And within nanoseconds, Eddie’s fist collided again and again into Phil’s face as they both fell to the floor and started to beat the shit out of each other. Layla screamed and tried to pull Eddie off of Phil, not wanting this to become any more violent than it already was. But as she was pulling at them both, Eddie’s elbow collided with her face and extreme pain shot through her nose. Chris and Matt started to help her and soon, both men were being held back, Phil by Stone and Jeff, and Eddie by Matt, Chris and Mike. She reached up and felt liquid falling down her chin, and pulled her hand away, only to examine the red liquid that was pouring from her nose. She looked at her boyfriend and noticed that his face was completely pummelled and that he probably wouldn’t be able to leave the house for a while due to his condition. She couldn’t help but be thankful towards Eddie for doing that. She looked towards him and he was breathing heavily and glaring at Phil, but as his eyes met hers, they softened and extreme guilt flooded his irises as he examined the damage done to her own face.

She felt trapped and she hated what had just happened and what had been happening for a while. It was silent in the apartment, so silent you could hear a pin drop. All of the guys were breathing heavily, with Phil looking like he was going to pass out. Interrupting the silence, Eddie grabbed his jacket that was draped across one of the sofas and stormed out the door, slamming it shut as he did. No one spoke, and tension began to fill the room once again.

“Fucking asshole.” Phil whispered under his breath, and Layla turned her whole body around to face him. This was it. He had crossed the line. No matter how much she let him dominate her, she fucking hated seeing him try to abuse others.

“NO. YOU’RE THE FUCKING ASSHOLE!” She screamed at him, and everyone in the room looked at her in shock, while her boyfriend looked at her with uncontrollable rage. He stepped towards her in a menacing way, but for once, nothing happened, as Chris and Jeff grabbed him and forced him to stay where he was. He was looking at her with a deep wrath, but for once she maintained eye contact and gave him the most hateful glare she could summon, finally standing up to him. Once she did, he started to laugh, and shrugged the guys’ hands off of him.

“What? You wanna be with that bum musician? Go on then Layls. I could have the whole of Seattle if I wanted, but for some reason I always come back to your fat ass. And you always come back to me, because you know no one will ever want you. Especially not someone like him.” He spat out at her with venom, and the rest of the guys were alert for any violence that was sure to erupt. Mike came to stand in between them.

“I’m going to say this as politely as possible, and I really hope you understand Phil.” Mike said and put his hand on Phil’s chest, pushing him back a bit and further away from Layla.

“You are going to leave my house and never come back. You are going to go home without Layla. You are never going to come near her or anyone else again, otherwise I’m sure Eddie wouldn’t mind repeating what just happened. You are going to let her move out and you are going to fuck off out of her life. And most importantly, you are going to be a worthless cunt, unlike Eddie, and you’re going to die alone.” Mike finished, and Layla’s heart swelled with love for him. Phil looked in between her and Mike, and then around the room to the rest of the guys who looked like they wanted to beat the shit out of him even more. Silently, he walked towards the door and opened it, only turning back to flash Layla a look of remorse, before he left completely. She could breathe again.

*****

Well what do ya’ll think about that then. What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter. Will Layla go after Phil or Eddie?

#eddie vedder #Eddie Vedder Fanfic #eddie vedder fanfiction #Pearl Jam #pearl jam fanfic #pearl jam fanfiction #grunge #grunge fanfic #grunge fanfiction #imagine #imagines #oneshot #cradle broken glass #fanfiction #fanfic #90s #soundgarden #alice in chains #nirvana

[lesbeanflowers]

I was tagged by @englishtealarry you the real mvp :)

1. Nicknames? -Amai

2. Gender? - Female

3. Star Sign? - Gemini (on the cusp of Taurus)

4. Height? - 5’6-5’7

5. Time? - 9:49pm

6. Birthday? - May 24th

7. Favourite bands/groups? — *cracks knuckles* One Direction, Green Day, Paramore, The National, The Avett Brothers, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Queen, Led Zepplin, Coldplay, Earth Wind and Fire, DJ Khaled, Vulfpeck, Superfruit, Pentatonix, Bleachers, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, HOMESHAKE, The O’Jays, Oasis, Gorillaz, Jackson Five, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, Sleater Kinney, Mumford & Sons, Weezer, Blink 182, Panic! At The Disco, Kings of Leon, Five For Fighting, Walk The Moon, Nirvana, Radiohead, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Vampire Weekend, Linkin Park, System of a Down, Taco Cat, Diet Cig, Nice As Fuck, Lorde, The Internet, OFWGKTA, The Temptations, Funkadelic, Cameo, Lumineers, The Head & The Heart, The 1975, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Clash, The Smiths, The Sex Pistols, Beastie Boys, Talking Heads, TLC, En Vogue, Xscape, LTD, fun., Aerosmith, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Groove Theory, The Fugees, The Brand New Heavies, Arctic Monkeys, DNCE, Fleet Foxes, The Frames, My Chemical Romance, Boyz II Men, The Velvet Underground, Tegan and Sara, Mariana’s Trench, The Supremes, She & Him, Foo Fighters. The list goes on

8. Favourite solo artists? - Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam, Beyoncé, Chance The Rapper, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Kesha, Dua Lipa, Troye Sivan, Halsey, Lana Del Rey, SZA, Prince, Beck, Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Frank Ocean, Michael Jackson, Kehlani, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Common, Kanye West, Mac Demarco, Zayn, Ed Sheeran, Tyler The Creator, Pink Guy/Joji, Rich Chigga, Willow, Angel Haze, Mary Lambert, Hayley Kiyoko, Maggie Rogers, Kevin Garrett, Aaliyah, Alicia Keys, PJ Morton, Jill Scott, MIKA, Marvin Gaye, Drake, Nicki Minaj, David Bowie, Chaka Khan, Mariah Carey, P!nk, Britney Spears, Sia, Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, Glen Hansard, Nora Jones, D’Angelo, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake, Musiqsoulchild, Anthony Hamilton, Amel Larreuix, Alice Smith, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, George Michael, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Father John Misty, Bon Iver, LCD Soundsystem, Noname, Tupac, Notorious BIG, Lil Peep, DRAM, Bruno Mars, Tom Waits, Mitski, Gabe Gundacker (yes, the vine dude). The list goes on

*shameless plug: I know I’ve probably said this but I’m obsessed with music and music sharing so follow me on Spotify @Amai Zackery

9. Song stuck in my head? - Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue

10. Last movie you watched? - Free State of Jones

11. Last show you watched? - Liv and Maddie lol

12. When did you create your blog? — I’ve had Tumblr since Jan. 2012 but I got locked out of my old account so I’ve been with this one since May 2016

13. What do I post?- Larry, 1D, ot4, ot5, memes, animals, Carmilla, Supercorp, Runaways, The Bold Type, literally any other TV show I️ become obsessed with or am interested in watching, any movies I️ become obsessed with or am interested in watching, my fave music or things I️ wanna listen to, any books I’m really into or wanna read, gay stuff, writing, art rec, aesthetic, celebrities, anything I wanna save for later

14. Last thing I googled? — The Fresh Prince of Bel Air lyrics

15. Do you have any other blogs? — yeah but it’s really bad and inactive sooo uh

16. Do you get asks? — Every now and then

17. Why did you choose your url? — I’m lesbian and I like flowers

18. Following? — around 1300?

19. Followers? — 715

20. Favourite colours? — Orange, blue, yellow, red, pastel pink

21. Average hours of sleep? — weekdays: 6-7 hrs, weekends/breaks: 4-8.5 hrs

22. Lucky number? — 5, 18, 24

23. Instruments? — piano, guitar, ukulele, and I sing

24. What am I wearing - Black glasses, black Coldplay Parachute album shirt, dark brown/blue/black flannel, black leather-bomberish jacket, some blue socks patterned in other colors, and black converse

25. How many blankets do I sleep with? - three

26. Dream job? — actress/writer alongside singer-songwriter/musician alongside graphic novelist/animator

27. Dream vacation? — Japan, London, Italy, Spain, France, Portland (Maine and Oregon), San Francisco, Boston, Greece, Ireland

28. Favorite food? — Fries, bacon, jalapeños, cheese, bread, green beans, broccoli

29. Nationality? — Black And Japanese American

30. Favourite song? — I literally can’t choose my favorite of all time but for now I’m gonna go with Bad 4 Us by Superfruit

Now I tag @drowningfangirl @sapphicatthedisco @jealousofthem @four-eyed-feminist @the-nerd-punk and anyone else who wants to partake :))

#tag #me #music

[arcanelucario]

4, 30, 42

4. What are you looking forward to?

I suppose currently I’m looking forward to Christmas cuz I’ll be getting the new Pokemon games (Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon) and Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 which I haven’t been able to get yet. I guess I’m also looking forward to the return of Annie in AoT because what the actual fuck Isayama you’re hurting me here what have you done with my baby.

30. Favourite tv show(s)

Well, if you include anime in this then Pokemon, because shut up I don’t care what you think. No but I’m like 3 years old the fuck do I know. But as for live action stuff my favourite show is Parks & Recreation. It’s just so funny and light hearted and has an amazing cast, and I’ve watched it a bajillion times. 5/7 would recommend.

42. Favourite book(s)

Ugh…I don’t really like books. Never been one for reading. I mean I’ll read comics and manga and fanfiction, but books have never been my thing. I have read some though, obviously, so there are some that I do like. I guess my favourite book that I’ve read is probably Joel McHale’s memoir/autobiography Thanks for the Money: How to Use My Life Story to Become the Best Joel McHale You Can Be, but in terms of actual books I guess I enjoyed reading Holes by Louis Sachar and Stig of the Dump by Clive King. I also remember liking the books from the The Hardy Boys series. I can’t really remember any of the other books I’ve read. My lack of book reading probably explains why I’m so dumb and why my fics use the same words over and over. Edit: Don’t know how I forgot but I also love the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. And I guess I like some John Green books, and I enjoyed reading the first Jurassic Park book. And does the Scott Pilgrim series count? I know it’s graphic novels but I like those too

Thanks for the ask, Pickalily (or insert real name here, I don’t know what it is. I’m assuming it’s Lily since Pickalily has lily in it?).

[romantic-kumquats]

Old Roderick Heffley- A Nickelodeon Girls Parody

Hello, 20th Century Fox

Hi, sorry to disturb you post production

I have a serious inquiry directed towards Jeff Kinney

My question is WHAT THE FUCKA RE YOU DOING?

You know y’all used to have a fire Roderick

When I watch a movie, I’m trying to see my favorite Roderick

Jasper Jordan? Atom from Adoration? Oh my God

And now all you got is this Charlie Wright

Bruh, I’m not a moron

I’m not trying to look at this guy and get aroused

Now I can’t watch Diary of a Wimpy kid with a finger in my vag anymore

Now I’m fucking upset

This is some fucking bullshit

Jeff Kinney

Bring the old Roderick back

I need the old Roderick, I need the old Roderick

The new guy you’re trying is wack

Jeff Kinney

I’m just trying to sexually function

But now this that you made this big blunder

My orgasms will suffer

Jeff fucking Kinney (Kinney)

This ain’t a fucking game shit

I wanna watch a movie

with my hand on my clit

I wanna see my Heffley

Not fucking this shit

Return Devon Bostik

Or you gon get it bitch

Oh Devon, Oh Devon

I don’t care if you are a distraction

As long as you given me action

And cameras gon’ film the reaction

Your band gonna join in,

And lick me a good one

Old Roderick Heffley

Can’t live without him (whew)

Old Roderick Heffley

I know I’m not too hefty

I can put you in a coma

Have brunch hella deftly (fancy)

My puss put you in a coffin

All night screaming and tossing

Loded Diaper?

I’d be your candy striper

Devon Bostik’s my rock

And y’all better not gawk

You can find me in his bed

Sucking on that cock

Devon B, you’re a little bit crazy

But I’d still have your babies (whew)

Go down like a bitch with the rabies

Y’all can’t save me Uh, a little bit a weed, hard liquor for the ladies

Got me feeling like a young Jeff Kinney from the 80’s

With a game designer dream and no black Mercedes

I’m playing with the balls like Brady (ay)

Fuck off with the shitty new Roderick with his stupid shit

I wanna see the one with a body fit

And I don’t want to be the one to be a little bitch about it

But I’m just saying what everybody is thinking (hahahahaha)

Where’s that Bostik at?

Jeff Kinney why you ruining your business?

You realize I’d probably buy your movie if you keep all the cast

And the ratings all stable

Cuz I ain’t tryin to see new Roderick looking unable

Cuz I’m not into that Wright boy

I’m not trying to see that shit (c'mon man) The guy I have sexualized is between being 20 and 30

(Disclaimer!)

I’m just saying you should switch back Roderick

So I can watch after 10:30 (30!) Jeff Kinney

Bring the old Roderick back

I need the old Roderick, I need the old Roderick

I need the old Roderick back

I love you Jeff Kinney, just please bring him back

#not my roderick #nickelodeon girls #this is vulgar im sorry #lord