#and my other favourite song from Beat The Champ! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xuramory · 5 months

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╰╮𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘 - chapter one ┆in the sweltering aftermath of a motocross mishap, ┆Nick finds himself at the mercy of both scorching sand and ┆the judgmental gazes of a woman smeared with grease. ┆✶ :: genre — ( romance ) ┆✶ :: word count — ( 865 ) ╭╯ :: content warning — ( X ) ╰୧ :: song — ( middy titty )

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Sweat trickled down his forehead as he groaned heavily. Nick could feel his body protest and ache as he pushed himself to roll on his back, settling into the scorching sand. The sun glared into his eyes when he flicked the visor of the helmet up. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea, he kept his eyes closed instead, concentrating on his breathing in hopes that it would decrease the pain that was flowing through his body.

The broken down motocross bike beside him hummed with the same amount of pain. The paint was scratched and damaged and the metal was dented with a few broken pieces. Nick didn’t like that. He groggily pulled his helmet off, taking a deep breath of fresh air that didn’t smell like his sweat or breakfast for the first time in an hour. He was reminded with how close the bike course was to the beach with every grain of salt he inhaled.

“What a pity, she was very beautiful too.” Nick opened his eyes to see his group of friends had gathered around his dirt bike, examining the effects from the crash. Nick rolled his eyes, attempting to sit up. “Woah there, sun ball. Take it easy.” Terry helped him up, an entertained smile on his face.

“I thought I said you weren’t ready, champ.” The older-class-man scolded, nudging Nick’s arm with a deep chuckle. The brunette draped an arm around Nick’s shoulders turning him to look at the bike. “It was a good try though, bottoms up.”

Nick shook his head, running his dirty gloves through his hair. “Well, you ready to take this baby on her first doctor’s appointment?” Terry hauled the broken bike up on its wheels.

──────────────────── · 𖥸 · ───────────────────

“Hey, ‘Naki! It’s your favourite customer!” Now changed into their casual attire, Terry had taken it upon himself to transport Nick and his bike in his truck to the mechanic workshop nearby.

The older boy was greeted by the other mechanics who passed by, patting on his back and head. “keep your greasy hands out of my hair, I actually put a lot if effort into it.” The brunette swatted them away. He didn’t waist anymore time walking into the workshop where cars were being maintained and fixed left and right. “There you are, ‘Naki.” Nick watched as Terry pulled the edge of a skateboard from under a car, pulling the girl who was laying under there was well. “You missed me?”

The girl with coffee hair gave a glare. Her dirtied face was indicating she could use a break to wash up. Her mouth was holding onto a wrench while her two hands worked on wires. It was always surprising to see a woman like her in a place as filthy and masculine as this. “Whatever you have it better be good. You give me another FineLine and I’ll beat your ass.”

“Okay okay, chill.” Terry chuckled nervously. “Nick, this is Anaki. You’ll be seeing her a lot more often,”

“—Yes I will," Nick blurted out without even realizing.

The two third parties looked at him quietly, one judging and the other confused. “I mean, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry. I’ve just— I’ve never met a woman who was into mechanics,” The blond nervously corrected himself.

“Okay? . . . Well, . . . Why don’t you wash up I’ll show you what I have,” Terry clapped his hands, cutting the awkward silence short, giving a polite smile to the girl laying on the floor. “Give me a minute— Someone take over!” The brunette called before she stood up, walking off.

──────────────────── · 𖥸 · ───────────────────

“What am I dealing with here?” Nick couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. Now that she had wipes her face clean with a rag he could see the features of her face clearly. Her lips, her nose, her cheeks, her warm beige skin, or her hazel eyes. Her chocolate hair was tied in a bun, which Nick thought was made of silk despite working in the humid weather all day in a dirty environment.

She was really pretty, that was for sure.

Terry had brought her to his truck, opening the tailgate. He gestured to the beaten up bike. The green and blue paint job was scratched, the seat was impaired with wooden sticks, the front wheel was dented and the back tire had deflated.

“A VK19, where did you get this? More importantly, were you trying to commit suicide with this?” Anaki rolled up her sleeves, pulling the bike closer to herself, examining it. “My mom got it for me.” was the answer she got from Nick. “Well your mom knows her stuff. There’s only a hundred of these, you’re one lucky guy.”

“So? . . . you in?” Terry already knew the answer to his question as he watched Anaki pull the bike put of the trunk and onto the ground. “Go register it in the main office, I’ll call you in a week or so.”

Nick watched as she dragged his bike away. Terry narrowed his eyes at the blond, nudging his shoulder to snap him out of his daydream. “If you don’t leave your number, she’s not going to call you.” “I get to give her my number.” Nick whistled as he scurried off quickly. Terry was left there, confused out of his mind. No way a ball of sunshine wanted a grey cloud.

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notquiteaghost · 9 months

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Hi! I was wondering if you had any recommendations for where to start getting into the mountain goats? What little I've listened to by them was incredibly good and made me feel things I can't put into words, so I want to listen to more, I just don't really know where to start. They've got so many songs! Which is a good thing, I love listening to music, it just also means that working out which songs to listen to next is hard.

i wld say, if you remember which songs you've heard & liked, then listen to the albums they're on. and, also, the jordan lake sessions were recorded when they couldn't tour cuz of the pandemic, and are recordings of gigs except the only actual audience of those gigs was the recording equipment. from my memory, they've more newer stuff than older, but they're a good discography grab bag imo

my personal Absolute Favourite songs, if you want a very simple starting point: heel turn 2, amy a.k.a spent gladiator, golden boy, deuteronomy 2:10, rain in soho, almost every door, until olympius returns, dark in here, bleed out

okay that was the tl;dr. now i am gonna infodump a bit

you can split tmg into (rough) stylistic eras: songs for patronius through to all hail west texas is the boombox era, and the majority of these songs are just john darnielle with a guitar; tallahassee through to transcendental youth is early full band, and include more instruments and actual studio recordings; beat the champ to now is later full band/the post-matt douglas era, and Holy Shit There's Woodwind Now

an important thing to note is very early tmg was all cassettes and EPs (as in actual extended play 7" vinyls), and they were then gathered into CD compilations, and only the CD compilations are on spotify (and i assume other streaming services). not all earliest tmg is on those compilations; some early tmg is just not on streaming services. if you really, really dig early tmg and want as much as you can get, you will probably need to do a small crime. this is okay; it's your only option, tmg are aware it's your only option.

another important thing to note is all tmg albums are somewhere on the concept album scale. probably the most concept album is tallahassee, which is about the alpha couple, two fucked up people who should get divorced and very much do not get divorced. but if you are into Songs With Narrative, i v much recommend looking up liner notes (tmg wiki has them) and also the annotated mountain goats (this only covers up to 2017).

also! people record tmg gigs and post those recordings online! some of those people have such good recording equipment their recordings are indistinguishable from a professional live album; best way to find these is to sort that collection by all-time views. there's a decent chunk of tours recorded. these are also a good discog grab bag

and, finally, my Official Album Recommendations:

tallahassee, as mentioned, is about two people in a deeply toxic relationship. there are more alpha couple songs than just this album (annotated tmg has a list under 'series'), but if you've heard 'no children' and liked it then you shld listen to all of tallahassee

transcendental youth is about suicidal ideation and the kinds of people who live with it; the sunset tree is about growing up with an angry man in your house; beat the champ is also about growing up with an angry man in your house but now using professional wrestling as an allegory/framing device; bleed out is about violent desperation and desperate violence, with 70s & 80s action movies as an allegory/framing device; all eternals deck is about a fictional tarot deck and, again, surviving terrible things.

#asks #tmg #sorry if this is overwhelming and thus not helpful #really you can't go wrong by just picking an album at random and listening to it on repeat #but. ive loved this band for coming up to a decade. i am incapable of being succinct

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the-dankfarrik · 1 year

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🎶✨️when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favourite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️

Not me taking a day to answer from riding the high of being someone's fave follower. @littledragonlady

My taste in songs switch up a lot, but my top 5 songs right now is probably...

1. 富士山下 (Under Mount Fuji) :: Eason Chan Link

A Classic Canto song as in, you hear it a lot at tea places since you are old enough to go to tea places. Describes an unwilling break-up and the futility of holding onto a love that cannot be in the most soothing tone possible and POV half of the still heartbroken relationship. Sweater weather eat your heart out we are talking about windbreakers that are falling apart and comparing clinging onto the one we love to the impossibility of possessing a volcano

cw. suicide mention in the song.

2. Baby До свидания (Baby, Farewell) :: Zhou Shen Link / 有可能的夜晚 (Night of Possibilities) :: Zhou Shen Link

Tied for second favourite. Shen Shen is one of my favourite singers by far by the quality of his voice alone, and he has to go add an incredible language and voice -work range. The ‘letting go’ of Baby До свидания and his voice going rougher hits hard every time. And I can never listen to 有可能的夜晚’s “If I can love only one person, may I get the chance to become yours”* In his angelic voice without wanting to scream because! the begging! The giving your entire self for a glimmer of a chance!!! The allowing the other to hold your entire fate in their hands!! his voice!!!

Shen Shen also did a cover of 富士山下 alongside Cantopop singer Le Keqin. Different Version with Lyrics (Edit, watched it and the lyrics are...not really that accurate, I will make a version of it soon, this is driving me to make posts)

3. Parla piu piano (Speak Softly) :: Roberto Alagna version, Speakeasy Swing Band Version

I have both on my playlist, one is upbeat and clandestine love affair, the other is sneaking out to a secret garden at night. Either way, impeccable vibes.

4. 齐天 (Equalling Heaven) :: Hua Chenyu Link (Has subtitles)

imo 10/10 hands down one of the best songs about a monkey with a god complex trying to beat everyone into submission and philosophically thinking about the futility of life I have ever heard. Also I am pretty sure the only one on that topic I’ve ever heard. The rapping, the singing, the wailing???? I can’t even translate this rap properly so I am not going to try but “ 什么人命天定我说天命由心 /我要这山断不了来路/ 我要这水挡不住归途 /我要天地都为我让步/ 我棒尖一點山崩地裂 / 你拈花一笑落霞滿天 / 哭過笑過愛過恨過痴過嗔過 / 有什麼放不下 /我要這荒誕的規矩/ 当作个闹剧给结束 ”My god. MY GOD. I know this is a whole ass paragraph my god.

Hua Hua is also ridiculously good at singing about people with god complexes and 4000 yr old regrets. The song about the drunk lonely hero is also 10/10. Man just has a voice for being lonely and refusing to give up after giving up your life for power ig.

5. Lose yourself :: Eminem Link

Look man this is the most hype song made to get the blood and adrenaline pumping before a presentation or a during a race. I don’t make the rules.

bonus: Okay Okay the best most upbeat song in my playlist for the sad times, which is decently often. Champs-Elysee by Joe Dassin. The best thing I got out of learning French for 7 years.

*rough translation, the sentiment is much more vulnerable

#Wow this really shows how absolutely asian I am huh #cw suicide #look look its not my fault I half my playlist is zhou shen HE IS THAT GOOD OKAY #like usually I don't stan singers for the quality of their voice but #exception that proves the rule I guess #ask #farrik speaks

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tthankstoyou · 2 years

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ana, wifey beloved!! hi hope your week is going as lovely as u are, ok if I may ask, what are some of your ~favourite~ or most iconic live performances by a musical artist 👀 also ily 💖

hello wifey I apologize for getting to this so late <3 ily too icon

this is such a good question!!! I honestly don't usually pay attention to live performances, BUT I think my all time fav would have to be lady gaga's 2009 vma's performance of paparazzi. she saw, she came, she conquered. one of the most iconic pop culture moments in all of history

I also really love the version of cornelia street thats live from paris. its just so beautiful. im a cornelia street stan and absolutely love it with all my heart, and somehow the live version made me love it even more

I saw an acoustic set by the band state champs a few years ago and that has stuck with me. def a personal favorite when it comes to live shows I've seen in person. literally crying looking at the vids I recorded of it

also an iconic love show is the cure's in orange. not to be that annoying girl who's like 'I was born in the wrong generation' but watching the show makes me wish I was born earlier so I could've attended it <3

and I can't leave out lana del rey's performance of blue jeans on snl!!!! no performance done on snl will ever be able to beat that. her breathe control.... amazing. her voice.... like an angel. probably her best performance to date. no other artist would has the balls to drop a shakira impression mid song, but lana did it. because she's what? sickening. (also 'no puhlease' reminds me of rachel berry's 'pleek'). she literally was like "oh, snl's a sketch comedy show? hold my bag"

#asks #myle

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heyyyharry · 4 years

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Harry thinks Y/N and the kids forgot his birthday

(a blurb from the Flatmate Series)

A little late to the party but I hope it's good 😅

Word count: 2.2k

It was Harry’s birthday. And he was excited.

He had been waiting for this day since the last birthday, and even though no one in his family had mentioned it in weeks, he knew they had something big for him as always.

Last year, he had woken up with a cake in the face. It wasn’t pleasant to get icing in your nostrils, but he had been so happy. The kids had made him lovely cards and his wife had made him a special breakfast. They had gone to a restaurant to celebrate with some of his close friends and the day had ended with mind-blowing sex.

He knew today would be different as Y/N and the kids tend to get creative when it came to surprises, but when he woke up and went downstairs, Y/N was running around the living room.

“Goddamn it!”

“Little Ria might have misplaced it somewhere, Mrs. Styles,” said the butler as Y/N plopped down on the sofa with her head in her hand.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.

“Good morning, Mr. Styles,” the butler said.

Y/N exhaled sharply as she looked up at him. “Ria took my favourite pearl necklace and now we can’t find it.”

“You have so many pretty necklaces though.”

“But I love the pearl one!” she exclaimed and got up. “Never mind. I’ll just wear something else.”

The butler nodded and told Y/N the chauffeur was waiting for her outside. He left, and Harry followed his wife into the kitchen. He felt a little let down that he didn’t wake up to a cake in his face, but he told himself they probably had other plans for him.

“The kids left for school already?” he asked, looking at the empty plates in the sink.

“Yup. They were upset that you couldn’t drive them today but I told them daddy needed a few more hours of sleep.” She pressed her lips into a smile, grabbed a banana and came to kiss his cheek.

“Wait, are you going to work now?” he asked when she headed for the door. Y/N stopped there and turned her head, arching an eyebrow.

“It’s presentation day, remember?”

No, it’s my birthday!

He gave a shrug, and she rolled her eyes. “Our clients are flying here from Italy. If this all works out, millions of dollars will flow into our bank. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck, babe!” Harry shouted once his wife had left the room.

“Have fun at work!” she said from the living room, and then he heard the front door slam shut.

He stood there for a moment to let reality sink in. So he didn’t get a surprise just yet and nobody seemed to remember his birthday. Don’t worry, he told himself, it’s all part of their plan. They want you to think so.

Taking a deep breath, he came to the fridge to get some eggs and make his own breakfast.

“Rob! Where are all the eggs?!”

The butler immediately poked his head into the room. “I forgot to tell you that Ria and Jas ate the last ones this morning.”

“One egg, Rob!” Harry aggressively lifted a finger as he clenched his jaw. “One egg is all I ask for. We have a pool and a freaking gym and there’s no egg in the fridge!”

“We have other—”

“Never mind. I’m not hungry.” He breathed and marched out of the kitchen. “Get the car ready for me in an hour.”

Harry’s assistant bought him a cake and everyone at the company threw a little party for him, which was nice. He hadn’t received a single phone call or even a birthday text from anyone else, so now he knew this wasn’t some alternate universe in which it wasn’t his birthday. Unfortunately, it didn’t make him feel any better.

He came home early that night with a bottle of wine and a big bouquet of flowers from his co-workers. He still hoped that his family had a big birthday plan for him, but just to be sure, he had to walk in with this bottle and bouquet just to remind his wife of something she might have forgotten.

For all those years they had been together, he didn’t want to believe Y/N would forget his birthday. Niall had forgotten once, but Y/N never did. So he told himself to keep his hopes up as he entered the house and said hello to Rob the butler. It was awfully quiet. His house was usually full of laughter or screams because Ria and Jasper were never quiet, but now it was as if everyone he loved had evaporated somehow.

He was relieved to find his wife in the kitchen, making dinner. She was dressed down and humming her new favourite song. At this point, he really started to believe that she didn’t remember.

“You’re home, babe!” she said happily as he placed the wine bottle on the kitchen table. “Oh my god, are those for me!”

“Uh--”

“Thanks, love!” She grabbed the flowers from him before pulling him in for a kiss. He didn’t remember the last time he’d been this sad, but now his heart was broken.

“Where are the kids?” he asked.

“Ria’s having a sleepover with Marie from school, and Ben and Nam took Jas to the mall.”

“Oh…” The corners of his mouth lowered as his forehead puckered up.

Still ignorant, Y/N cupped his face and brushed the tips of their noses together. “I have a surprise for you.”

As soon as Harry heard those words, his eyes lit up as his heart skipped a beat. He looked around when she pulled away, expecting Ria and Jasper to jump out and scream “happy birthday, daddy” as his wife took out a big cake from the fridge. But no.

She opened the fridge door and he slumped as his heart fell to the bottom of his chest. There was no cake.

“What am I looking at?” he asked, making her chuckle.

“I bought a lot of eggs for ya! Rob said you were upset because we were out of eggs.”

“That was the surprise?!”

“Well, not really.” She shrugged and closed the fridge, still grinning from ear to ear. “I also got those Italians to sign the contract. They loved your wife’s ideas because she is a motherfucking champ!”

“I’m going to bed.”

His response made her smile drop. She raised both eyebrows. “It’s only 7 PM, dear.”

“I’m tired,” he mumbled, turning around. “It’s been a shit day anyway…”

“Okay. Good night, babe!” Y/N shouted from the kitchen as if it wasn’t obvious that Harry was upset. Though disappointed, he didn’t say anything else and headed upstairs.

He felt like that eighteen-year-old boy who got mad at his flatmate every time his feelings got hurt, even though most the time, she didn’t know what she’d done wrong. He could’ve told her, but then she would feel bad, and he didn’t want her to feel bad. But now he was feeling bad.

“Birthday my ass,” Harry mumbled to himself as he lay down and shut his eyes. He just wanted to drift off and forgot about this day, just like everyone else had.

Harry stirred awake as he heard a bang on his bedroom door. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms only to see that it was almost 9 PM.

“Jas?” he asked, but there was no answer.

He was about to lie back down when he heard a knock. The shadow outside the door moved as he took the second guess, “Y/N, is that you, honey?”

Still no answer. There was another knock and the shadow dashed away. Confused and nervous, he got out of bed and walked barefoot to the door. He thought his little son was just messing with him, but when he opened the door to the hallway, he found a piece of paper taped on the wall. It was an awkward drawing of a stickman with brown curly hair, a party hat on, and an arrow pointing to him with the word #1 DADDY.

Is it finally happening or am I dreaming? Harry thought when he saw the clues his little one had left for him. He followed the glitter sprinkled on the floor. The staircase was dark and the light switch didn’t work, so he watched his step as he carefully came downstairs.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

The light came on as his friends cheered loudly. The kids jumped right on him, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto his back. It was painful, but he was too happy to bother. He burst out laughing as Ria and Jasper showered his face with kisses.

“Daddy, daddy, happy birthday!” Ria said as she and Jas took his arm and helped him sit up straight. He got back on his feet and picked Jas up while Ria was hugging his legs.

“Wow, guys.” He chuckled, shaking his head and looking at everyone. All the people he loved were there in his living room, and Y/N emerged from the kitchen with a birthday cake.

“I made the cake, daddy!” Jas told him.

“Liar! Mummy did!” Ria scolded her brother, making everyone laugh.

“I helped!” Jas pouted. “Ria wasted so many eggs that mummy had to buy some more!”

Ria rolled her eyes and tugged at Harry’s shirt so he would look at her. “The cake is ugly but it’s delicious, daddy. I tasted it five minutes ago!”

“Aww, my loves,” Harry said as he pretended to sob and the kids immediately hugged him.

“Daddy, don’t cry!”

“We love you!”

Y/N cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up and saw her holding up the cake with a smirk. “I know you hate the birthday song, so just make a wish. My hands are dying.”

Smiling, he kissed her forehead and shut his eyes to make a wish before blowing out the candle. He had the same wish every year, it was for their family to always be together and happy like this. He guessed it always came true.

“Did you think we forgot your birthday?” Niall asked.

“I did forget!” Trix raised her hand, making the others groan and facepalm themselves.

“Well, I was going to send you a birthday message before Y/N added me to the group chat,” Liam said.

“Group chat?” Harry looked at his wife, who tightened her arms around his waist.

“Yup, Niall, Layla, and I have been planning this day since two weeks ago,” she said.

“We were supposed to be here when you got home, but someone,” Ben shot Layla a glare, “made the rest of us delay the plan so she wouldn’t miss the party.”

“Excuse me!” Layla gasped as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, “I was in Milan, my flight got delayed. I couldn’t teleport here.”

“You went to Milan?!” Ria brightened. “Did you buy anything for me, aunt Layla?”

“Ria!” Y/N scolded the little girl who crossed her arms and pouted, but when Layla winked at her, she punched the air in excitement.

Harry chuckled as he pulled his wife close and pecked her on the cheek.

“Were you upset when you thought we didn’t remember?” she asked.

“No, not at all,” he said. It was obviously a lie. Y/N knew it, but she didn’t ask and laid her head on his shoulder.

“Daddy, I wanna show you my present!”

“Me too!”

Harry put Jas down so he could race his sister into the kitchen. They returned a minute later, all out of breath, each holding a different item. Harry got down on his knees as Jas came up to him with a little card with silly doodles on it.

“Happy Birbday! Best...dab in the word,” he read the misspelt words written in capital letters, making everyone ‘aww’ed and Jas scrunched up his face as he turned to Ria, who was tittering into her palm.

“You lied to me! You said it was correct!”

“My turn!” Ria ignored her brother and stepped forward to give Harry a colourful pearl necklace. It took him a moment to realise she had coloured each pearl with a different colour.

“Is that--” Y/N froze for a second. “Is that my pearl necklace?”

“No, your pearl necklace has pearls’ colour! This one has rainbow colours!” Ria said as she hid behind Harry’s back to avoid her mother’s rage, but Y/N only exhaled into her palm and gave her husband a smile.

Harry turned back to Ria as he put the necklace on and did a funny pose. “How do I look?”

“Prettier than mummy!” Ria threw her hands in the air, making Y/N scoff and playfully hit her bum.

“Gosh, this is so cute.” Niall turned to his wife. “I expect more than this for my birthday.”

“You already have me,” Layla said, not looking at him. “I’m the best present you could ever have.”

Seeing the look on Niall’s face, Nam dissolved into laughter and patted the poor guy on the back. “At least you tried, mate. At least you tried.”

“Can we pop the champagne now?” Louis asked and everybody cheered. Ria immediately rushed to Layla to ask about Milan, while Jas wasted not time to grab a plate and wait for Gemma to get him a piece of cake.

Harry turned back to his wife, holding her hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you so much. I can’t say it enough, love.”

“I have one more present for you,” she mumbled against his lips, trailing her finger across his chest. “I can’t wait for you to ‘unwrap’ it in the bedroom.”

“Fuck. I can’t wait.” He chuckled, kissing her throat. This was by far the best birthday ever.

#flatmate!harry #harry styles fluff #ceo!harry #dad!harry #husband!harry #harry styles one shot #harry styles one shots #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles writing #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles series #harry styles

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fairylynel · 4 years

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Lapis Re:LiGHTS - Anime Review

I started watching this since the art style is so beautiful and cute. I have always had a weakness for Magical Girls anime, but this one has the Idol aspect mixed with it.

Contains Spoilers

The main character of this show is Tiara Victoria Lex Waleland (voiced by Yukari Anzai who also worked on Happy Sugar Life and Release the Spyce), an extremely long name that, as everyone can guess, means that this girl is actually royalty. She’s one of the princesses of the Waleland kingdom, along with her sister, Eliza (voiced by Kana Anazawa who also worked on Angel Beats! and Deadman Wonderland). Against her older sister wishes, Tiara runs away from her home and joins the Flora Girls' High School, a magical school where students work in groups. It has some similarities to, for example, Hogwarts when it comes the evaluation system. You earn points if you do well in classes and lose them when you do poorly - and of course, after you lose too many, you are expelled. It’s mandatory in this high school that the students work in groups and earn the points together, going up (or down) in the ranking system.

This show has, like all idol anime, several girl groups that the viewer can adore (seven groups to be precise). So, of course, Tiara joins a group where her childhood friend, Rosetta (voiced by Risa Kubota who has also worked on Konohana Kitan and Ongeki), an extremely clumsy and fiery tiny girl called Lavie (voiced by Live Mukai who has also worked on Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu), a more stern girl called Ashley (voiced by Iori Saeki who has also worked on Nekopara and Uma Musume: Pretty Derby) and the bookworm Lynette (voiced by Mizuki Yamamoto).

All these girls have pretty standart and stereotypical personalities, but they are all extremely loveable, I absolutely enjoyed seeing Lavie and Ashley argue with each other, while Tiara and Rosetta bonded over their family backgrouds and memories, plus Lynette (even though she didn’t have a counterpart, per say) had enough interactions with everyone, while being important to the plot at the same time. I was afraid her character would be forgotten, but she was extremely charming since the beginning. Moreover, it was super refreshing to see the girls interact with the other groups and forming friendships with each other; it was genuinely refreshing to see, for example, Lynette become close to Ratura (voiced by Yukimi Hayase) and bond over their love for the group Ray.

Each group eventually becomes an Orchestra, a group that sings for the town’s people so a big quantity of mana can be stored in one of the biggest buildings of the school. It doesn’t hurt the people who are listening, despite my concerns in the first episodes, it is just a way to enjoy music.

Moving on to the groups then:

There are 7 in total:

LiGHTS - Tiara, Rosetta, Lavie, Ashley and Lynette. They become an Orchestra since they were in risk of being expelled due to having very little points among them. Their songs in the show have been 私たちのSTARTRAIL (in this particular song, all of the groups are present, but it’s mostly sung by LiGHTS) and Planetarium. It’s the pop style kind of group, their songs tend to appeal to everyone. These songs are, respectively, the Opening song for the anime and the Ending.

IV KLORE (and my favourite group so far) - Emilia, the daughter of a succubus, having the ability to drain the people who touch her of their energy (voiced by Hazuki Hoshino), Alpha, a magic doll that serves Emilia (voiced by Tomomi Mineuchi who has also worked on Slow Start and The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 2), Salsa, a werewolf (voiced by Yuu Sasahara who has also worked on Ochikobore Fruit Tart and Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san) and Garnet, a ghost (voiced by Youko Nakayama). This group shows up quite early in the show, having an episode dedicated to Garnet as she joins IV KLORE later on. This group has no human members, all of them either being half-human or fully mystical creatures. They’re music is really enjoyable, having a bit of a darker tone when compared to everyone else. In the show, they sing two songs - Midnight Sapphire and Forbidden Fairytale.

KonoHana wa Otome - Kaede, the younger sister (voiced by Yuuko Oono who has also worked on Konohana Kitan and Ongaku Shoujo), Nadeshiko, the middle sister (voiced by Rina Honizumi who has also worked on Hug tto! Precure and Plunderer) and Tsubaki, the oldest (voiced by Arisa Suzuki who has also worked on New Game!! and Butlers: Chitose Momotose Monogatari). In the anime, they sing two songs - Karakure＊Night Fever and Inochi Mijikashi, Ryouran Otome. This group mixes traditional japanese music with the rock concept, making this group my second favourite. Their songs are absolutely delicious. In the episode that is dedicated to this group, we see Kaede and Nadeshiko fighting over their musical concept, the middle sister wanting to mix rock music with the traditional. The viewer can see Nadeshiko struggling to keep the relationship with Kaede, while the youngest struggles with the fear of failure of not being able to perform both concepts well enough. It was a really cute episode and it was really fun to see the three of them, even though Tsubaki doesn’t seem to interact much with the other Orchestras, with the other girls and seeing them establish friendships with them.

Sugar Pockets - Ratura (voiced by Yukimi Hayase), Champe (voiced by Seika Hirose) and Maryberry (voiced by Hikaru Akao who has also worked on Assault Lily: Bouquet and Runway de Waratte). This is, in my opinion, the weakes group in terms of their songs. They do this cutesy, soft performances and when compared to the other groups, they lack individuality. Other than that, the characters are pretty loveable as well. Ratura is seen quite often as she and Lynette become close friends as the show goes on and Maryberry becomes less and less shy and more eager to perform with her friends. Champe is probably the most forgetful of them all, but still a very cute character. They perform two songs in the show - Wagama Caramelize and Chat Noir.

Sadistic★Candy - Angelica (voiced by Yuuka Amemiya) and Lucifer (voiced by Risae Matsuda who has also worked on Keijo!!!!!!!! and Love Live! Sunshine!! ).This group is the one that makes Sugar Pockets look boring, in my opinion. This Orchestra also has a happy, sweet kind of concept, but their chaotic personality and energy makes them stand out quite a lot. They performed two songs as well - Positive★Paradise and Are Many Chance!!! . Not only that, but when it comes to the plot, Angelica was also part of the popular group Ray, however her personality at that time now embarasses her and she is a more serious person, despite her childish self still coming out when arguing with Lucifer.

supernova - Yue (voiced by Yuu Sakuragi who has also worked on), Millefeuille (voiced by Saeko Oku) and Fiona (voiced by Haruka Itou who has also worked on Omoi no Kakera).This is one of the most popular groups when Tiara joins the school. The members are all students in high ranks and they are used in several episodes to show how the hierarchy in this high school works. Their personalities and friendships aren’t shown as much as everyone else, what the viewer will learn the most about them is Yue’s hatred for Tiara and that Millefeuille works a bit like an older sister for both of them, often keeping Fiona in place. Their songs, despite being good, aren’t my favourites from all of them. They go for a more mature concept with their outfits and sounds, but it feels a bit “noisy” in the chorus. They perform two songs - Ao no Shoudou and RISE.

Ray - Eliza, Chloe (voiced by Yoshino Nanjou who has also worked on Akuma no Riddle and Love Live! School Idol Project), Angers (voiced by Yuuka Amemiya) , Camilla (voiced by Sumire Uesaka who has also worked on Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! and Musaigen no Phantom World) and Yuzuriha (voiced by Ayane Sakura who has also worked on BanG Dream! and My Hero Academia). I really don’t have much of an opinion about this group as they aren’t really active anymore. I do enjoy their backstories quite a lot and I honestly hope that, if there is a second season, that these girls can get a little bit more screen time. Eliza, Tiara’s older sister, is now uncapable of singing, if she does, she might lose her voice. She was the one who asked Chloe, the now chair of the board at school despite her yound age, to put Tiara in a group that would be easily expelled. Angers became Angelica and changed her personality completely, going from a cute, soft and a bit ridiculous girl to a more serious one. Camilla was known as the Ray’s Immaculate Prince, but barely anything is shown about her besides the fact that she was a vampire that was extremely popular amongst her classmates. And then there is my favourite, Yuzuriha, a lesbian who loves to flirt with girls and spends her time in the school’s cabaret - which, by the way, the viewer can see that Champe works there as well (maybe Champe is a wlw as well?). Yuzuriha is the funniest of the group and I definitely enjoyed some representation even if a bit weird. The only issue I see with her in the anime is that her sexuality is used as a personality trait, but even so, so little is shown from the group itself that I didn’t really mind it. She was called the Graceful Dancing Princess as she was a great dancer.

The plot starts with LiGHTs struggling with the little points they have and trying to find ways to not be expelled, the viewer can see them in class and joining a group with all the other Orchestras (except Sadistic★Candy) to fight some supernatural monster that was lurking around in a forest close to the high school (it was actually Garnet, completely unaware that she was dead and didn’t know others saw her as a ghost). While they try their best to not have to leave the school, eventually they just aren’t able to have enough points and are forced to leave. From this moment forward, it’s revealed that several monsters are coming towards the high school and that all the Orchestras need to work together, so they can gather mana enough fromt he audience and protect the town. As this is going on, Ray’s backstory is revealed and LiGHTs still managed to save the day in the end.

I really enjoyed the show and the episode where Garnet joins IV KLORE was my favourite by far. The writers did a good job when it comes to allow the viewer to know the characters well, without feeling overwhelmed with so many of them. Truth be told, Champe, Camilla and even Lucifer don’t really have much screen time, but the writers still managed to make them interesting enough to not be completely forgotten. Other than that, I liked most of the songs and even those that weren’t my type were still fun to watch the Orchestras perform.

Rating: 7/10

#chisaijosei speaks #anime review #review #Lapis Re:LiGHTS - Anime Review #Lapis Re:LiGHTs #lapis relights #anime

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spirit-shroud · 4 years

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Hop

well of course, gotta write about the sunshine boy,, i hope the formatting worked bc this got lengthy very fast

from this ask meme

favorite thing about them - hes so,,, excited about everything!! everything is cool and awesome and dialed up to 11!! and hes so nice! he cares about his best friend + brother + sonia! he wants to help people and put a lot of good into the world!!

least favorite thing about them - i don’t think i have like. a least favourite thing honestly? which isnt to say i think hes by any means a perfect character it’s just that like. it all comes together and just makes. hop. that’s him. lengthy list of flaws and existential depression included.

i guess the closest thing is the fact that we can’t hug him in canon but that’s not really like… a hop character issue. that’s just me and my silent protagonist not being good at comfort words

favorite line - he says a lot of things tbh but the line that specifically shook me to my core and made me have to lay down for awhile was when you beat him in the slumbering weald post-game n he just looks at you, smiling no less, just like “I didn’t expect there to be such a gap between you and me, mate”

bc that’s like. when it’s finally like ‘yeah my dreams are crushed and i really have no chance of ever breaking out of my brother’s shadow, and now i have my best friend’s shadow i’m living in, too’

when i tell you, here and now, that i just saved the game, closed it, and laid on the floor for about ten minutes both times i got to that part, i am Not Joking With You. there are witnesses.

brOTP - i think he, marnie, and protag should all be best friends and go on fun adventures together, like going to an aquarium or riding the wyndon hurricane or bothering piers or having wooloo herding contests or playing mediocre video games or something

in the literal bro sense i also think milo and piers, who are certified Older Brothers, should step in and adopt this child since leon is always far too busy to really like. be that person for him, y’know? do you think hop knows how to ride a bike? i don’t think he does.

OTP - i havent like. actively participated in shipping for like. five years? i dont know man. sometimes i see a fan art of him holding hands w gloria or victor or marnie and im just like “oh cute and good.” my only ship with hop that i have Opinions about is him getting adequate therapy and positive attention from his friends

nOTP - hop + bede together,,,, like. it’s a valid ship bc enemies to lovers can be written well but i just really don’t think beetroot got Enough Redemption that we’ve seen so far. he’s still a rude cotton swab at the end + he like. directly contributed to a lot of hop’s emotional problems in the game and even outside of like. how either character is written, i just. don’t think they’d be good. i don’t like ships that’d fight a lot / have hurt each other in the past w/o it being like. properly made up for, y’feel?

random headcanon - hop is trans and there’s nothing you can do about it. and probably a huge nerd. this child roleplays on the [pokemon equivalent of neopets] forums. i think he’d like star trek. he has Thoughts and Opinions about baking competitions despite not being good at baking. he’d have a tumblr that he started just bc one of his pals has one but then he’d be like ‘oh this is neat actually’ n have an untagged disaster of a blog that’s everything from like. gardening tips to vague personal posts/conversations with mutuals to reblogging whatever show he got into last. the only tagged posts he has are his photo collection of wooloo. he’s mutuals with that feral news reporter girl from the live action movie.

unpopular opinion - i think this is actually a popular opinion but he should’ve started a galar division of the pokemon rangers. do you think that boy has the attention span to read? let alone study, for like. years???? even with the help of cool older sister sonia??? he literally has a regional god he can just like. ride places and a solid understanding of how to navigate the wild area. the fact that he’s just like ‘well. i couldn’t become champ and i’m not ride or die for an aesthetic enough to become a gym leader. better grab a lab coat’ is LAME. he’ll do a good job at being a professor too obvi but like. >:T we could’ve had it all

song i associate with them - i got two here bc i like music and think abt hop a lot -��“King and Lionheart” by Of Monsters and Men and ”Easier” by SIAMES

i also have a full playlist of songs i think he’d listen to but it isn’t complete still bc im lazy as hell but just know in your heart that it’s out there

favorite picture of them

definitely this one. i, too, toss my hands up in surrender at the mildest accusation of being Suspicious

tldr: hop deserves better

#kc takes questions

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evergreenreviews · 6 years

Text

Top 20 Songs of 2017

Spotify Playlist

Long post under the cut

20. ‘Laps Around A Picture Frame’ - Broadside

In my AOTY post, and throughout this year, I commended Broadside on their ability to write fun, upbeat songs, so it surprised me that ‘Laps Around A Picture Frame’, one of the album’s darker tracks, ended up making this list. This song is more interesting - both musically and lyrically - than a lot of Broadside’s other work, and it still really stands out to me as a fantastic piece of songwriting.

19. ‘There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back’ - Shawn Mendes

If I had any sort of shame whatsoever, Shawn Mendes would be my guilty pleasure. As it stands, I unabashedly love his music, particularly this song. It’s considerably less depressing than pretty much everything else he’s ever written, and it’s an unbelievably fun and catchy song. I dare you to listen to ‘There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back’ without at least tapping your foot.

18. ‘Guilty Melody’ - ROAM

ROAM has got to be one of my favourite current pop punk bands, and I remained loyal to them despite the disaster that was Backbone. That loyalty paid off because their second LP, Great Heights and Nosedives, is full to the brim with great jams, none more so than ‘Guilty Melody’. Although the two singles that came out before this one were also really good, this track was the one that restored my faith in ROAM. It’s pretty much a perfect pop punk song, with an unerringly catchy tune, solid lyricism, and a vast improvement in singing ability from both vocalists.

17. ‘The Line’ - Foo Fighters

Although Concrete and Gold was generally a disappointment, ‘The Line’ is an absolutely fantastic soft rock song. It’s super laidback and chill, the melody is simple, which to me (as someone who knows nothing about rock instrumentation) seems to complement the slightly more intricate instrumental parts, and it sounds more like Foo Fighters than anything else off this record.

16. ‘The Last Of The Real Ones’ - Fall Out Boy

While I will readily admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Fall Out Boy’s new sound, this song is brilliant. It’s a great electro-rock anthem while remaining a recognisably Fall Out Boy song. The keyboard part works perfectly under the melody, which is simultaneously very simple but also quite interesting. I also love the contrast between the anthemic chorus and comparatively relaxed verses.

15. ‘One Foot’ - Walk The Moon

After being absent for a year or so, Walk The Moon returned in September with this indie pop bop. ‘One Foot’ has all the hallmarks of a classic WTM song - it’s super upbeat and very catchy with a solid melody and instrumental and synth parts that work perfectly underneath the vocal line. While it may not be the next ‘Shut Up And Dance’, it’s a fantastic pop song and the perfect tune for Walk The Moon to return with.

14. ‘All My Friends (feat. State Champs)’ - Hoodie Allen

It may surprise you to see a hip-hop song on this list - I feel the same way - but this song is just too good not to include. While ‘All My Friends’ may not be Hoodie’s best song, the way he and State Champs manage to blend their very different sounds is incredible and works surprisingly well. From the hip-hop beat during the verses to the almost breakdown in the bridge and the build-up to the explosive last chorus, every aspect of this song ties in wonderfully with the others and creates a very interesting and very fun song.

13. ‘Scatter My Ashes Along The Coast Or Don’t’ - Seaway

While I’d be hard pressed to pick a favourite song off Vacation, ‘Scatter My Ashes...’ would definitely be in the top three. It’s a ridiculously fun song, with some not so fun lyrics hidden under the upbeat melody and catchy riffs. It also features Caleb Shomo of Beartooth on a fantastic guest vocals spot. His voice works so well on this song and complements the Seaway boys’ perfectly, and it really just gives the track that extra boost.

12. ‘The Man’ - The Killers

I’ve never really listened to The Killers that much, and I think I only listened to this song in the first place because of Brandon Flower’s bicep in the thumbnail for the music video on YouTube. But thank god for that because ‘The Man’ very rapidly became one of my favourite songs. It’s got a lyrical theme that I’ve never seen before, as the band explores what it means to be a “man”, and it’s all laid over a funky 70s-esque disco beat with a fantastic melody.

11. ‘Hearts Don’t Break Around Here’ - Ed Sheeran

This may be a slightly sappy choice, but I’ll admit that I love a good romantic ballad, and by God if ‘Hearts Don’t Break Around Here’ isn’t exactly that. I feel like this song didn’t get the credit it deserved and was kind of brushed aside in favour of ‘Perfect’ but from day one this was my favourite track off Divide. It’s a perfect relaxed, stripped back, typical Ed Sheeran love song with very simple instrumentation and a gorgeous vocal melody that I can’t help but sing along to.

10. ‘Bad Behavior’ - The Maine

Lovely Little Lonely is made up of wall to wall jams, and none more so than lead single ‘Bad Behavior’. It’s an irresistibly fun song, that you can’t help but dance along to, and it’s impossible not to smile when you’re listening to it. It’s an incredible pop rock song, with that alternative edge that The Maine do so well. You might worry that after 10 years they would’ve stagnated, but this song is proof that The Maine are better than they’ve ever been.

9. ‘On My Own’ - Niall Horan

On an album full of beautiful ballads and acoustic slow jams, ‘On My Own’ stands out as the most upbeat song of the lot. It’s an Irish folk influenced anthem for the happily single, about having fun by yourself when you’re young. It may not be Niall’s strongest vocal performance on Flicker, but it shows the diversity in his writing and provides a welcome interlude from all the slower songs on the album. It’s another song that you just can’t help but nod along to, and perfectly blends the style of pop rock on One Direction’s later albums and the folk and country influences of Niall’s solo work.

8. ‘Soap’ - As It Is

This is arguably one of the most musically diverse and interesting pop punk songs of the decade. ‘Soap’ is a spooky, sinister, slightly aggressive track which is totally unexpected of As It Is. It probably wouldn’t sound out of place on a gothic horror movie soundtrack and is a fascinating take on the genre. The vocal performances from both singers are fantastic, with Patty effortlessly transitioning from the subdued verses to the almost screamed choruses. The guitars in the intro perfectly set the tone for the rest of the song, and the rumbling bass sounds incredible under everything else. ‘Soap’ is, without a doubt, the standout track from January’s okay. and possibly As It Is’ discography in general.

7. ‘Drowned In Gold’ - Boston Manor

This is a very late addition to this list, seeing as it only came out earlier this month, but in the space of 24 hours it had already pushed its way up to this position. I reviewed ‘Drowned In Gold’ when it was released, and all of the sentiments in that post still ring true today. The “choose life” lyrical structure of the verses is still one of the most interesting writing techniques I’ve heard in a while and I really can’t get over the creepy sound Boston Manor manages to create with the instruments in this track, and the musical progress they’ve made in the past year.

6. ‘Hurt’ - Trophy Eyes

This is probably the most depressing song on this list, and easily one of the most emotionally evocative. ‘Hurt’ is Trophy Eyes’ first release since their album Chemical Miracle last year, and you can tell they’ve put that year to good use with immense improvements across the board. The most noticeable improvement is John’s vocals. As far as I can remember (correct me if I’m wrong), this is the first song on which he’s only done clean vocals, and he sounds better than I ever imagined he could. ‘Hurt’ almost has a kind of stadium rock type vibe to it, and I, for one, love it.

5. ‘Praying’ - Kesha

‘Praying’ is the eagerly anticipated comeback track from beleaguered pop icon Kesha, and the perfect song to show not only how she’s progressed as an artist, but also the struggles she’s faced the past few years. The song alludes to her legal battle with her producer, but it is mostly a song about personal growth and overcoming your struggles. It’s a beautiful stripped back, piano-laden ballad which really lets Kesha’s immense vocal talent take the spotlight. ‘Praying’ is an incredibly powerful song, which has the ability to draw a huge amount of emotion from its listeners - if you haven’t cried listening to this song, you’re probably not human.

4. ‘Gone’ - Knuckle Puck

I don’t think it’s any secret that I love Knuckle Puck, but if you’ve been following this blog for a while and read my review of Shapeshifter, it’s also no secret that I wasn’t its biggest fan. However, I absolutely adore ‘Gone’. It may just be because it was the first thing to follow the hugely disappointing Calendar Days/Indecisive release earlier this year, or it may be because it’s a brilliant song. It has attitude and a certain aggressiveness that I love. It’s got the lyricism we’ve come to know and love from KP, and it’s unbelievably catchy. The duel vocalism works amazingly on this track and the slightly dotted rhythm in the guitar riff provides another interesting layer to the instrumentation.

3. ‘Atlantic’ - Grayscale

I can honestly say that this song has been the soundtrack to my 2017. Grayscale very quickly became one of my favourite bands this year, and their album Adornment was even my Album of the Year. ‘Atlantic’ is definitely what one could refer to as an anthem, with a powerful chorus that contrasts perfectly with the relatively chill verses and bridge. It’s a very mature sounding song, showcasing a writing ability far beyond what one would expect of such a young band, although there are a couple of very minor issues in the vocal line. But overall, this song is a brilliant piece of writing that I can imagine aging very well.

2. ‘Out Of It’ - The Story So Far

The excitement that I felt when this song dropped truly cannot be expressed in words. I still feel the same excitement every time 'Out Of It’ comes on, and I don’t think I’ve skipped it once since adding it to my playlist. It doesn’t stray too far from the classic TSSF sound, and probably wouldn’t sound out of place on The Story So Far. I love the change in rhythm between the verses and choruses, which isn’t something I’ve really seen that much in this type of music, and the punchy tune is just perfect for the attitude of the song. It’s just a shame Parker Cannon still can’t annunciate his words properly.

1. ‘In Bloom’ - Neck Deep

From the day ‘In Bloom’ was released I knew it would be in competition for my favourite song of this year. After listening to it maybe 4 or 5 times in a row, it was promptly named my favourite Neck Deep song and I stand by that decision. It’s the most musically interesting song they have released, and it’s so unique from the rest of their work. It showcases so well the improvement Ben has made in his vocal performance over the past couple of years - did anyone see that high note coming? - as well as the progress that the band has made as a whole in terms of their songwriting ability.

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placetobenation · 5 years

Link

Back in June 2013 the Place to Be Nation invaded the information super-highway with the launch of the website you are visiting just now. Since then a back catalogue has grown to include thousands of podcasts and written pieces, some of which you might have missed and it is my arduous task pleasure to go through the archives and bring you some of the highlights of PTBN through the years.

This weeks podcast is an audio anniversary for Jennifer and Mirandia as Geek & Sassy #1 hit the PTBN POP feed in this week in 2016. In this episode our wonderful hosts give a brief introduction to their new audience and how they developed their geekiness, followed by about their favourite TV shows, and how they think some were cancelled far too early. To find out where they rank Doctor Who and Harry Potter in their Top 5 Fandom discussion, or to see who they picked as their Nerd Eye Candy of the Moment, click here to listen.

And while you’re listening to Geek & Sassy #1, take a trip down memory lane with JT Rozerro and Chris Jordan as they bring us Part 1 of their look at wrestling video games in We Miss The 90s. Together they discuss the good, the bad, and the King of the Ring of video games from both the WWF and WCW in the first part of the decade and give their rankings on their favourites.

JT: Hey Jen… I mean Andy… Or Cowboy? Wait who the hell are you? Regardless you look like someone that played a lot of wrestling video games in the early 90s, so you want to hang around and chat it up with me?

Chris: Who the hell am I? Let me introduce myself.

Chris.

Now that introductions are out of the way, I would be glad to hang out and talk about wrestling games. It’s probably the only genre of gaming that I’m familiar with. It wasn’t uncommon to find a young me, unshowered and surrounded by empty containers of Cup O’Noodles, trying to land a Macho Man elbow on an evil, beaten Hulk Hogan. I can’t recall how many games I played back in the day. It probably goes back to the Nintendo era.

JT: Hey Chris! Unshowered is the best way to game, I would assume. That’s what I am told anyway.

I certainly dove into wrestling video games through Nintendo first and foremost. I have one game we we will start with and then I am going to pull one out the NAHSTALGIA BIN in a moment.

First up… WrestleMania Challenge! I remember this game very vividly. I remember renting it and sitting in my basement and playing on a very old, barely working TV. But I remember loving it.

It had some great theme music, a solid roster and… Rick Rude with short hair! It also had my personal favorite of the day, Brutus Beefcake. The game was interesting because it was centered mainly around the Ultimate Warrior instead of Hulk Hogan (1990, natch).

You remember this gem? Was it a gem?

Chris: A gem?? WrestleMania Challenge? I don’t think so, dude. I will admit, though, that it was a step up from the previous WrestleMania game. The roster was pretty stacked with eight whole Superstars. Guys like Hogan, Warrior, Boss Man, Andre the Giant, Jim Duggan, Brutus Beefcake, Randy Savage and Rick Rude.

However, I remember being disappointed in some aspects of this game. The theme music was there, but it was more like 8-bit versions of elevator renditions of their theme music.

JT: Yes it was terrible. I lied.

But… I was a theme music junkie and it wasn’t as readily available then as it is now, so you took whatever you could get. I loved theme songs so much that I made my mother call WWF headquarters to see if they would sell a cassette of them for me. She did. They didn’t. I was crestfallen. Crest. Fallen.

However… Let us switch promotions briefly to discuss WORLD. CHAMPIONSHIP. WRESTLING.

My favorite game of the very early part of the decade. It was unique and had some different stuff from what the WWF games offered, mainly that you chose your moveset before every match. Plus the roster was loaded… Sting! Flair! Steamboat! Rick Steiner! Road Warriors! THE GAMESMASTER!

I rented this one over and over and over…

Ever have the experience here? If not what was next in your canon?

Chris: I remember the WCW game very well. I also rented the hell out of that one. Not only could you select the wrestlers’ moveset, but they also had finishers, which was the first time I played a game that grasped that concept. The WWF games at that point, from what I remember, didn’t really incorporate finishers and yes the roster was also pretty cool at the time. DR. DEATH(!!), Eddie Gilbert. It had Rick Steiner, but not Scott Steiner which I found disappointing at the time, because I was hoping to pull off a Frankensteiner, the coolest move in wrestling back then.

Interesting thing is that the Road Warriors were on the cover, but they were on the WWF roster by the time I got my hands on this one.

I used to bring this back to the video store where I rented it, and then re-rent it. It got me in trouble with this one older kid at the store one time because I re-rented it in front of him, and he threatened to roll me for it and not return it, jacking up my mom’s rental account with bogus late fees.

JT: Ha! That is an awesome story. And it is a legit threat! That would have sucked man. Did you back down? I hope not…

Yes that was a mindfuck for sure, especially since I didn’t really watch NWA/WCW until 1992, so I was playing with a roster I didn’t have great knowledge of at all. The theme music of the game itself was pretty pimp though.

So, Genesis comes out and with it we get Super WrestleMania. I stayed loyal to NES but my good buddy Jim had it so I got to sample this game but don’t remember much about it. Eventually it came out for SNES too, but I was behind the curve on that. Did you ever dabble into the land of Sega?

Chris: I actually invited the kid back to my place to give it a whirl, then we ducked into a Woolworths where I ditched him and ran home before he knew what was up. He didn’t know where I lived and I didn’t really want him over anyway.

Yeah, Sega Genesis was awesome. I tried Super WrestleMania for Genesis, and the first thing I noticed was that the wrestlers had finishers, whereas the SNES version did not. One of the reasons why I picked up a Genesis, really. My favorite Genesis wrestling game, however, was Royal Rumble. The theme music was all there, the roster was stacked with guys like Hogan, Savage, Undertaker, IRS, Rick Martel, Razor Ramon, Jim Duggan, Crush. By the time I acquired this game, I was of legal drinking age (19 in Canada). My friend, Craig, and I would get into some beers and play video games on the weekends.

One time we teamed up with myself as Savage and Craig as Hogan, and we would go into tag tournament mode. I found myself knocked out on the mat, with one of the opponents also knocked down next to me. Craig, as Hogan, went to hit a legdrop on the opponent, and he nailed ME with it instead! We have no idea how that happened. Needless to say, as marks, we turned it into an angle and would fight each other the next match. Good times!

JT: Woolworths! We need to do 90s malls and department stores in a future installment of this for sure. And good, screw him. It is your right to renew!

I did like Genesis but I was Nintendo through and through and couldn’t be swayed. Royal Rumble was really awesome and Josh Richer and I would have some real battles. Rumble matches felt like they could go on for hours in that game. It was also frustrating that Genesis and SNES had slightly different rosters:

Genesis had Martel, IRS, Duggan, Shango and Hogan!

SNES had Flair, Perfect, DiBiase, Yokozuna and Tatanka!

I liked having Flair and Perfect but I really wanted Hogan and Shango… Papa Fucking Shango in a video game! Baller. Plus the Model’s theme sounded great in that game.

Also frustrating was that on the box for SNES, Mr. Perfect had on his black tights from Survivor Series 1992 but I could never figure out how to get them to appear in the game. Drove me nuts.

I want to circle back to NES and Steel Cage Challenge. The graphics seemed to take a step back but the cage match gimmick was neat plus it featured The Mountie’s theme in MIDI form. I have a good story about renting this game, but first… Any memories of it?

Chris: About the different rosters for SNES/Genesis Royal Rumble: I was a little miffed that the Genesis version never had Mr. Perfect, as he was my #1 guy at the time. My friend, the aforementioned Craig, had both a SNES and a Sega Genesis because he let his pimp hand do the talking like that. I also enjoyed the Royal Rumble match feature that you, as a player, could come back as another guy if you were eliminated…except when you came back as Duggan.

Anyway, on to Steel Cage Challenge. Yes, I remember this game also. I rented this for the NES console many time in my quest to be champ. One note about my gaming skills: I’m not skilled. Where it would take someone a couple hours to beat a game, there were games that I could never beat. Choosing Bret Hart, I would struggle to barely beat guys after the third match in championship mode. One guy that always beat me was The Undertaker. This was the first WWF game to feature a cage match, so i was pretty stoked for it.

You’re right on The Mountie theme. Classic mark out music.

JT: Yes being able to re-enter the Rumble was pretty clutch. To me that was the first game with a ton of replayability (that a word?) and I squeezed every ounce out of it.

I was so psyched for Steel Cage Challenge when it came out. Having that generation of stars in a game was neat and the cage just added to it all.

The day it came out, as soon as I got to my grandparents’ house after school, I called The Movie Center to ask if it was in stock. When the girl answered she said “The Movie Center, Phoenix”. After she confirmed I asked my mother to stop at the Movie Center on the way home to pick it up. Well, we get there and they don’t have it. Apparently there were two Movie Centers and the one I had called was in the Phoenix section of town. I thought Phoenix was that girl’s name. Of course, being 12 and desperately wanting to play this game, I lost my shit and my poor mom drove back across town so I could get it. And I played the shit out of it and eventually bought it. It was a lot of fun, even if IRS’ theme music was just a typewriter clicking and clacking over and over during the match. Looking back, I know the game sucked hard but whatever it was great the time.

Before we go fully into the next generation games for SNES and Genesis, I wanted to toss two more rare ones out there to see if you ever experienced them:

King of the Ring for NES Rage in the Cage for Sega CD

CJ: Your mom was pretty cool to drag you to the other side of town for a wrestling game. I come from a small town and my mom would have made me walk or take my bike. She was NOT cool. And Phoenix is a good name for a girl. It limits her career choices down to stripper or porn star, so it should be easier to decide what to do with her life.

King of the Ring for NES is one that I can remember playing. Rage in the Cage for Sega CD however…I have to hearken back to my friend Craig again. This guy had all the cool stuff back then. He had Sega CD and Rage in the Cage was one I can remember playing at his house. I thought it was cool immediately with the Fink doing intros and short videos. Any game with Kamala in it was kick-ass. That loading time, though. I can remember the game freezing a few times. One time, Craig was one win away from the championship and it froze on him. He started going all Ric Flair on us, dropping elbows like a lunatic.

JT: King of the Ring came out very late in 1993 and got lost in the shuffle because most people had moved on to the next generation consoles. It had a cool roster though: Hogan, Savage, Bret Hart, Undertaker, Michaels, Ramon, Bigelow, Yokozuna, Perfect, Luger (as Narcissist!) and YOU! That is right, our first, albeit very rudimentary, CAW! Plus you could do a tournament, which was cool. My buddy Jim had it and I played it out of pity when I went over his house but eventually he stepped up to Genesis and that was that.

I can’t believe you played Rage in the Cage! We would stare at that magazine ad with jealous eyes, unable to process that such an awesome looking game was just impossible for us to ever play. Kamala! The Nasty Boys! CAGES! CDs? Mind blowing.

OK, we can now dive fully into SNES. We need to talk about Raw, which was a kick ass Christmas gift in 1994, but first… did you ever play WCW SuperBrawl? The KB Toys in the Warwick Mall had it in the discount bin for all eternity and I would always stare at it but never pulled the trigger on the $15 or so it would cost to bring it home. You ever get to play that one? And did you have Raw for SNES? Or were you solely Genesis?

Chris: You know something? I cannot recall the SuperBrawl game, which is weird because my friends and I were HUGE wrestling geeks and how this one got past us, I don’t know. I wasn’t too big on SNES, as I was Genesis-centric. You know another genre of game I was fond of was baseball, and I had the Genesis for another reason: World Series Baseball. But aside from the original NES, Genesis was the only other system I owned.

Now Raw was a game that I played. Again, Friday nights at Craig’s were filled with nothing but wrestling games, wrestling tapes, and backyard wrestling. Our mutual friend Leon tried to make me submit with his figure-four leglock, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Anyway, Raw was a kick-ass game, with my favorite character being Doink, because he had that top rope Whoopee Cushion. But this game also had The 1-2-3 Kid, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, Diesel and the late, great Owen Hart! Again, Royal Rumble mode was the best for me, as I had no skill to beat anybody, but could also sneak someone over the top rope if I needed to. That was me: the cheap shot artist.

Did you have a favorite character?

JT: I bet SuperBrawl is still in that bin in front of KB in Heaven.

Yeah Raw had a loaded roster for sure and again the ability to park on the character pages and listen to the themes was big for me. I would dub the themes to cassette and use them for entrance music for my Hasbro figures or my wrestling buddy matches.

The game also had a nice array of finishing moves and stood out for including Luna Vachon, who I believe was the first female competitor involved in one of these games. Was it weird that they had male vs. female violence in a kids’ game in 1994? Doesn’t really fit the profile. Are they saying she isn’t a woman? Michaels and Diesel were my jam in 94, so I definitely favored using them.

Apparently there was a Genesis MegaDrive version that had Gorilla Monsoon (!) and Stephanie Wiand (!!) doing commentary instead of McMahon and Lawler. How bizarre.

A year later we radically take a left turn and are gifted WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. With games like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat all the rage, WMTAG was much more in your face and…zany? I guess zany. There were exaggerated movements and crazy finishers (Doink’s hand buzzer says hi!) and Vince McMahon screaming (THAT’S GOTTA HURT!) and… it was surprisingly a ton of fun to play. The moves were crisp and the action was non stop. Plus the graphics were pretty great and the details were super sharp. Even though it had a limited roster and even less match options it had great playability and I wasted many hours on it. Did you enjoy this game as much as I did? Or am I in a silo here?

Chris: Recording the themes from the video game for your action figures just shows proof of your hardcore wrestling love. That sounds awesome **coughnerdcough** Oh, who am I kidding? I used to put on weekly shows and PPV cards with my younger brother’s action figures all he time.

Now that you mention it, I totally forgot about the inclusion of Luna in the Raw game. Of course, I would never pick her because I was sexist. I had no issue with hitting her over the head with a weapon, with equal rights and all that. That was definitely the first selectable female character, however. Also, this was the first game where some characters could win with a roll-up. No recollection of a rival’s theme music playing just before said roll-up, though. While we’re on it, I seem to remember that the Sega 32X version included Kwang. I only remember this because my hardcore console-collecting friend Craig informed me of this over the phone one day, which made me do a spit take, literally. YooHoo everywhere. Never got a visual confirmation of that Kwang, however (he really was).

Now Wrestlemanial The Arcade Game is legendary among me and my friends because I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT!! I refused to play it. It had taken my love of wrestling and turned it into an over-the-top, cartoonish display of comic proportions. It was still real to me, dammit, before that was even a phrase to coin! You had Doink pull out a HUGE mallet to hit over the opponent’s head, Bam Bam Bigelow’s fists actually WERE fists of fire! I couldn’t stand it because I wanted realism out of my fake sport. Was that too much to ask for?

JT: Kwang is such a random inclusion. There was nobody else left on the 1994 roster they could have swapped in? Jeff Jarrett even? Sparky Plugg? Bob Backlund! Weird.

It breaks my heart that you hate WMTAG so much! It was nutty but super fun and those graphics? Straight fire.

Ok, so I am thinking we can draw the line in the sand here and spin off a second part that covers the back end of the decade and the next gen consoles like PlayStation and Nintendo 64. Before we go, I have two asks:

– Give me your closing thoughts on the first half of the decade in wrestling video games – Rank all the ones we discussed based on your love and memories, not based on their actual quality as a game

And… one more… who was your favorite character to be out of all these games?

Chris: So for me, looking back at the early part of the 90s, I can say that the games for the most part were not that great, but they were AT THE TIME! It was easy to get stoked for certain wrestlers appearing in the games, the gradual improvement of the theme music and the improvement of the graphics with each console. The downside early on basically came down to moveset and the lack of finishers. We tend to get nostalgic, but really, would any of us go back and play them now on any kind of serious gaming level?

Ranking the games, for me, begins with my #1: Royal Rumble for Sega Genesis.

2. WWF Raw for Sega Genesis 3. WCW Wrestling for NES 4. WWF Steel Cage Challenge for NES 5. WWF Rage in the Cage for Sega CD 6. WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game

This is just the games I played and my enjoyment level of them. My favorite character was Randy Savage all the way. I just wish that Mr. Perfect was in the Genesis version of Royal Rumble, or I would have gone in that direction.

JT: Agreed. Looking back, these games were sort of a hot mess, but at the time they were so cutting edge and amazing to play. The themes and variety of characters are what always sucked me in. They really did make the leap with those next gen games, especially Royal Rumble.

My list is as follows, and is pretty similar to yours:

1) WWF Royal Rumble for SNES 2) WWF Raw for SNES 3) WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game for SNES 4) WCW Wrestling for NES 5) WWF Super WrestleMania for SNES 6) WWF WrestleMania Challenge for NES 7) WWF Steel Cage Challenge for NES (TAKE THAT MOM!)

Looks like Royal Rumble reigns supreme!

OK, we shall part ways for now and soon return to look at the new wave of games for the next set of consoles. We will be back even sooner with a whole new topic. Until then…REJECTED! THAT’S GOTTA HURT! PIN HIM! PIN HIM! PIN HIM! YOU HAVE TO GIVE CREDIT TO… CHRIS JORDAN!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

0 notes

grapsandclaps · 5 years

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GRAPS AND CLAPS REVIEWS - FUTURESHOCK UPROAR 105

Hello and welcome everyone to this edition of substitute Graps and Claps, Andrew Gibney here filling in for The Man with the Massive Clap, Andy Ogden, as FutureShock Wrestling moves down from the Guild Hall to Stockport Town Hall for Uproar 105.

In true Graps and Claps fashion, and not like the last time when I was off the beer, we had to kick the day off with a visit to one of Manchester’s many excellent bars in the Northern Quarter. I picked Northern Monk, fast becoming one of my favourites, a pop-up takeover by Honest Burger sweetened the deal.

Quick bus down from north Manchester and within 30 minutes I was sat with a glass of 6% Premiere IPA by Interboro. I’m on a personal mission to log 1000 unique beers on the Untapped app before my 40th birthday. This was no.387 - I need to average around 5 a week to make it. It’s going to be tough, but fun to try and do it.

A fruity sour called Farewell Tangerina (5.7%) by Northern Monk followed the delicious burger and then it was time to head to Manchester Piccadilly.

On the way to the train Ipicked up a can of Meantime IPA from the Co-op, just to keep me hydrated on the way to Stockport.On the train I meet fellow Manc graps fan Tom and his mate Callihan and convinced them to join me at the Petersgate Tap - a bar frequented by the Ogden’s, but I’d never manage to make it myself, so I was happy to find a quick 30 minutes to pop in. I picked the Runaway Bourbon and Gingerbread Stout. A solid 7.2%. It was boozy with hints of gingerbread, although not the best of the day - that went to the Tangerina - it did exactly what it said on the tin.

Then it was up to the Town Hall, and it was clear the weather reports were correct.There was a Hurricane coming through. Moved down from the smaller Guild Hall, this was FutureShock’s first show at the Town Hall since the Uproar 100 back in May 2018 and it felt like there was already a bigger crowd in attendance for the arrival of a former WWE superstar.

Soner Dursun, the man who took PAC close in FS’s last show, kicked things off against local boy turned bad, JJ Webb, with these two meeting for the first time.Webb had been a fan-favourite until his recent turn at Tapped III and the more experienced Turkish Wolf was here to teach him a lesson.

A back-and-forth match took a while to get going, which is expected when there’s no real reason for a feud, but it picked up when the Stockport resident dodged Dursun’s frog splash and smartly turned it into a single-leg Boston crab.

JJ had the upper-hand, also hitting his spinning clothesline after catapulting himself off the ropes, but it would quickly turned when Dursun intercepted JJ on the top rope and hit a Canadian Destroyer before finishing the match with his trademark frog splash for the pin.

Outraged, JJ didn’t go back through the curtain, but took his position behind the merch tables, murmuring to himself, visibly annoyed by the outcome.

Current title contender Henry T. Grodd finished another backshift at Kevin Webster’s garage to take on Tyson T-Bone in a classic big lads wrestling match. It went back and forth, lots of heavy-hitting and suplexes and clotheslines.

Safe to say there was never going to be much finesse to this encounter and it came to a head when Grodd threw T-Bone shoulder first into the ring post and then met him full on with a spear for the victory.

Everyone had hoped Grodd could be someone with a good chance of taking the title belt off Cyanid… sorry, ITV’s The Monster Crater, so this was a welcome win, if not the most pleasing on the eye.

Since the departure of the Queen Bees from the FutureShock landscape, we have been waiting for a challenger to step up and give Lana Austin a proper fight.

Alexis Falcon and Taonga made their presence felt during the recent Tapped show, attacking Lana and her friend Hollie and then a singles match in Prestwick saw Falcon get involved as Hollie was beaten by her partner-in-crime. Now Lana would have a chance to get her hands on Alexis, putting her belt on the line to sweeten the deal.

The Champ had control for most of the match, with the newly red-headed Falcon struggling to get control of Austin. Only when Taonga interfered was she able to get theupper-hand. Eventually Hollie had enough and took the fight to Taonga, this spilled out to the back, leaving the title match a fair one-on-one… or so we thought.

At this time, JJ Webb, who still hadn’t left, started moving closer to the ring, it was clear, he wasn’t just here to admire the wrestling. Moving ringside, first Webb grabbed Alexis’ feet, placing on to the ropes to break up a pin. No one was quite sure what was going on, then for a second time he got involved, grabbing Lana’s legs, distracting the champ, then as she turned around, Falcon hit her flush in the temple with a kick to the head and swooped down to pin the champ for the 1-2-3.

JJ Webb jumped into the ring, holding the hand up of the new champion. They walked up the steps to the back. Seemingly FutureShock has the making of a new power couple.To end the first half, we had an exciting six-man tag match between Big Joe and Deadly Damon Leigh (Big & Brave), with the enforcer Thomas Wolfe against The Young Guns - Ethan Allen and Luke Jacobs with former WWE Cruiserweight champion, The Hurricane.

Just like most matches with Big Joe or DDL, the crowd chants take over the initial few minutes, with Gregory Helms encouraging the crowd to keep the ‘Chicken Little’ song going, leading to one of DDL’s best lines and why he’s one of the best character wrestlers in the UK.

“It’s almost like that chant is a direct contradiction of our tag team.”

It was madness and brilliance in equal measure. The Young Guns showing why they are one of the hottest tag teams in the UK - doing in front of Progress owner, Jim Smallman too - but there was only one way this was going to end.At the third attempt he hit the Hurri-choke slam on Big Joe and the capacity crowd cheered massively as the referee counted to three. Handing Big & Brave their first defeat of the year.

With the opportunity to have your picture taken with Helms, the interval was the longest we’ve seen in FutureShock for some time. Scores of people queuing up for their moment.

Eventually, we get to the second half and it starts with a cracker. CJ Banks v Joey Hayes for the Adrenaline championship.

This was the fourth match of the series between the two and this time we would get a finish. The first ended in a draw when a very technical affair breached the 15-minute time-limit at Uproar 104.Then at Tapped III, another great match finished without a victor as both men pinned each other at the same time.

Last month at Underground 31, Chris Ridgeway was thrown into the mix, given a title shot, but it was the ‘hard as fuck’ man from Cumbria who tapped out to Hayes, not Banks, so now we had a two out of three falls match in Stockport to decide who was the better man.

It was the champ who picked up the first fall after about 10 minutes, hitting the Hayes cutter for the pin. At this point I predicted there would be a quick fall to tie it up and like a broken clock which is correct twice a day, I was right.

With referee James Greenwood squeezed into the corner, Hayes jumped up into the turnbuckle to protect the ref, but with his back to his opponent, Banks kicked the champ in the unmentionables - family friendly show folks - then hit Hayes with a running knee to pick up the pinfall. 1-1

Everything to play for, the pressure rammped up and there was a feeling we might get a second new champ of the night, especially when Banks hit a second flying knee square on Hayes jaw, but just as the challenger attempted the pin, ‘That Man’ rolled Banks over and locked in his version of the crossface, this time, with nowhere left to go, Banks taps.

This was a quick build since Banks debut in January, but through four shows it was a

good story built purely in the ring between two excellent wrestlers. Hopefully it’s not the end of these two together in the ring down the road. Although it does feel a bit wasted not having Banks handed the belt, so we could extend it with Hayes chasing the heel.

Teased back in January, now was the time to see FutureShockTag Champions Chris Egan and Danny Hope take on the NXT UK Tag Champions, the Grizzled Young Veterans, Zack Gibson and James Drake.

A really good tag match this. Back and forward, both teams had the moments of gaining upper-hand, showcasing the local champs could hang with the WWE pair.

GYV were in control for the majority and it looked like it was over when Drake hit the 450 splash, but Egan kicked out. Then when Gibson had both men in a double Shankley Gates, again it looked over, but once again, the unlikely duo managed to escape. Then Hope hit Drake with a suplex off the top rope, as Egan lands an diving elbow from the opposite corner, but as Pete the ref is about to hit the three count, Gibson pulls him out of the ring.

Outraged and confused, the GYV use this to their advantage and hit Ticket to Ride to pick up the victory.

Speaking to Taff after the show, he made a very good point about Drake and how the Blackpool native is probably one of the smoothest in-ring UK talents around right now.

Everything he tries, he hits and hits seamlessly, there are no obvious weaknesses to what he does and he’s the perfect partner and foil to Gibson. Although I’m not sure how much he got paid to say this so I’d include it. It would be good to see both guys work some shows as single competitors again.

Hopefully something for the future.

Now, for the main event, and the FutureShock championship match. The Monster Crater, our champion, against the winner of the legacy tournament and hometown favourite, John McGregor.

After beating Ashton Smith at Tapped it was the former champions who claimed ‘Just John’ didn’t have what it takes to beat Crater and the champ would hurt him. For the first 10 (felt like 30) minutes of the match the NXT UK wrestler was right.

A massive powerbomb, and various huge clotheslines across John’s chest, like he was trying to tenderise meat with his massive shovel hands, softened John up.

After another devastating side back-breaker followed by 3/4 clotheslines, it felt like it was over, but with Crater playing to the crowd, gesturing “is this all you’ve got”, ironically the same question we’ve been asking the champ since he beat Smith for the belt, we knew a turn was coming.

John mounted a comeback and after getting the monster down to one-knee he hit a Famouser and a glimmer of hope entered the town hall.

Without Joey Hayes to protect him this time, referee James was squashed in the corner, but the distraction helped John hit a running spike DDT, but with no one to count, the chance of victory was gone.

Crater got back to his feet and hit a chokeslam, but with the referee still down Grodd appeared from the back to race into the ring and hit the champ with a spear.

This was his chance, and with James’ eyes open, McGregor covered, but Crater kicked out at 2 and 3/4s.It looked like his chance was gone. WoS monster hit another chokeslam, followed this time by a gargantuan bodyslam, 1….2…. NO. John somehow kicked out and the whole building was shocked.

With one last push, John got up, launched himself off the second turnbuckle and planted Crater with another swinging spike DDT…

1…..2…..3

AND NEW….

Friends and family rushed into the ring to congratulate the new champion, as did wrestlers from the back.

Finally the curse of cyanide has been lifted and the FutureShock Faithful left the Town Hall with a huge sense of relief.

As the people were leaving the venue with broad smiles, two matches were announced for Uproar 106 in May, the first would be Grod v Crater, IN A STEEL CAGE.

And while you have the cage and the massive room to hold it, you may as well take full advantage, so due to Gibson’s actions in the tag man, Grizzled Young Veterans will face Egan and Hope, also in the cage.

And with that the night was over and time to head home.

I hope you enjoyed my coverage of FutureShock Uproar 105, it will be available on demand later in the week and you can follow me on Twitter @gibney_a

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littlemisseightysixed · 7 years

Text

The Alphabet Game!

Alphabet Tag Game

I was tagged by the wonderful @olivieblake! and @ariel-riddle<3

rules: answer the questions in a new post and tag 20 blogs (I am honestly not sure I even know 10 people)

a - age: 18! :)

b - birthplace: Virginia

c - current time: 4:45 pm

d - drink you had last: I was actual double fisting Lemonade and Water at the same time, I know, I am the most attractive person alive.

e - easiest person to talk to: Pulling this one straight from Olivie, Definitely myself. Sometimes when I take my annual cross country road trip from Virginia to California I will pull down the mirror and have a full on conversation with myself... I wish I was kidding. Other than that, definitely my mom. <3

f - favorite song: At this moment? Entirety of Bastille’s Wild World discography which has inspired my current Dramione fic I am working on. Though I have been listening to No Sense by Shere Khan (Theo James from Divergent), Hot Thoughts by Spoon, and Oh No! by Marina and The Diamonds (Definitely reminds me of Hermione)

g - grossest memory: Oh geez... I am not sure... When I was a little kid I was running down this little sidewalk that runs into the grass (it leads up to the neighborhood Graveyard that has been there since The Civil War) and I was running down it barefoot. I tripped, and well, my whole big toe’s toenail came completely off. I was a champ though! Didn’t even cry! Though in the process of that the entire portion of skin that was on top of my knee cap came off also which was still fine, didn’t shed a tear, until my mom sprayed this antiseptic stuff directly onto it. *shudders* I can still remember that pain to this day.

h - horror yes or no: It really depends on what type it is. I enjoy psychological horror for the most part, though I feel like my mother “ruined” horror movies for me, ever since I was young she would always remind me things were fake and they weren’t real, which essentially built up my immunity I suppose haha.

i - in love? With Tom Felton? Yes. With Draco and Theo in all of Olivie’s fan fics? Yes. In my current personal life, there isn’t anyone. I was hurt really bad by someone who I though genuinely cared for me, guess I was wrong. Though in the end it ended up being a good thing. It gave me time to focus on myself and want to beat him in a number of things. (Hes a published writer... *rolls eyes into the back of my head*)

j - jealous of people? Currently? Not really, at least not the malicious kind. I am a bit envious of some of the followings my favourite authors/accounts have but I am so happy for them, they deserve it! Though I can get jealous in the not so friendly way... one of my faults. I acknowledge it though!

k - killed someone? Does in my mind count? Some people just make me want to throttle them.

l - love at first sight or should i walk past again? You can definitely walk past again ;) Though I do believe that being physically attractive is a bonus (Which is normally what love at first sight has to deal with) unless you got a big brain and intellect to match that fine ass... keep on walking. <3

m - middle name: Elizabeth

n - number of siblings: I am an only child, more than enough attitude and sass for my parents to handle. Though, my parents did try for six years to have a kid and well, they got stuck with me!

o - one wish: Meet all of my favourite authors! Both Fan Fic authors and Original Work authors! I wouldn’t mind to have my own original work published either... *Cough* *Cough*

p - person i called last: My mom <3

q - question you’re always asked: What the hell is wrong with you? Also, “Did that hurt?”

r - reason to smile: My pug Jack, Dramione fan art/fan fiction, my family, the fact I won Young The Giant tickets, and that I just got my cap and gown for graduation!

s - song you last sang: Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars

t - time you woke up: 6:30 am. I rolled over, looked at my phone, contemplated getting up for school, went back to sleep. I ended up going into school late.

u - underwear color: Black

v - vacation: last one was when I went on my annual roadtrip, from Manassas, Virginia to San Diego, California. Route 1 and 101 were breathtaking.

w - worst habit: Yikes. I mean its not really a habit.. but I can get really hangry. Bless everyone in my life who can put up with that insane amount of bitchiness that can only be quenched by Chipotle bowls, chicken salads, and whatever else that is nearby that I can inhale. Oh actually I do have a habit. Procrastination ahahahaha. Or Starting something and not finishing it. Will not be the case with my stories though xx

x - xrays: Never had one. Though if we are talking about xrays of the soul.. stop trying to analyze me! I kid... sort of.

y - your favourite food: Chinese maybe? I don’t know, I really love Mexican food too (I am half so I may be a little bias...) Oooo or a California Burrito.. too hard!

z - zodiac sign: Scorpio I am not fancy enough to know my moon and sun rising </3 please send help.

Tagging @pierrej92 @colubrina @vexedbuckbeak @salazars @ship-master @rosevtyler @mrbenzedrine89 @freya-ishtar @provocative-envy

@nympcdora @remusprongsandprefectsnogging @trjwizard @aeryastark @ssimsass @queenkhaleesistark @targayrens That will have to do.

#Personal Information #Dramione #Fan Fiction #Writer #Author #Alphabet Game #olivieblake #jackwhitesgirl

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thesinglesjukebox · 5 years

Video

youtube

CARDI B - PRESS

[6.00]

"Cardi don't need more press", apparently, but surely a little coverage from her favourite independent singles blog can't hurt...

Katherine St Asaph: I'm sure I'll change my mind after hearing her next splashy pop feature, but absolutely relentless Cardi might be my favorite Cardi. [8]

Andy Hutchins: Pugilism is one of Cardi's fortes, and keyboard savants Slade Da Monsta and Key Wane outfit her with some stunning ring-walk music on "Press," with plinking alien transmission synths and a squashed organ that befit their flyweight champ. And when the snares start rattling, this sounds like a wonderful inversion of the Lex Luger trap sound that stomped so a thousand imitators could walk, run, slouch, and so forth. But Cardi's not really going anywhere, exactly, just shadowboxing the same targets and talking the same shit as ever, and the gunshot sounds that punctuate the hook are distressingly generic for a song that strives to be more. A better prelude than entrée. [5]

Alfred Soto: On realizing that Cardi wasn't covering Paul McCartney's burbling High Reagan wonder, I settled for a manifesto no different in its sanctimony than comparable efforts released from Elvis Costello and Madonna to New Kids on the Block and The Smiths, even if it's more exuberant in its vituperative spirit. Like "Money," "Press" entertains the troops with the artist's tried-and-true while she prepares for the next phase -- if she's got one. This time 'round I savor the pronunciation of "ding DOOOOONG" and a vocal attack that's like a pistol, ahem, pressed into your gut. [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: This is so ugly and unmusical that it turns those seeming disadvantages into strengths -- the fact that you're listening at all translates into an argument for Cardi's magnetism. "Press" is not likely to have the same earwormy quality of Cardi's prior hits -- I don't think sorority girls will be rapping along to it a year and a half on from its release -- but it's certainly a memorable work of pop mythmaking. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: The indomitable largeness of the production prompts Cardi to up the ante in order to be heard, with the result being that this sounds more like a losing struggle for dominance than a haughty proclamation of one. It's as if she's in a shouting match with the beat itself, and it makes this record sound oddly insular despite its outward-facing subject matter. The parts where the beat drops out are placed seemingly haphazardly throughout, without the satisfying build-up that's needed in order to make the release enjoyable. The only thing here that remotely qualifies as "subtle" is when she briefly imitates Offset's flow, which should maybe serve as a warning sign of diminishing returns ahead. [3]

Iris Xie: Cardi B, I'm convinced that you could murder me anytime, and I'll die gladly and willingly. However, if I was the subject of "Press," I should know that whatever I did definitely deserved receiving her ire, and whoever Cardi B is pissed about should fucking run for their life. The opening bars sound like slowed-down mutations of The Nightmare on Elm Street, It, and The Twilight Zone theme songs, followed quickly by crouching beats and hostile snare drums as merciful warnings. Cardi B only gives you a few brief seconds before, whoops, you've been sent to another dimension. It is a joy to witness this, because in "Bodak Yellow," her easygoing, sexy, infectious demeanor thinly veils her coiled, simmering preparedness to smash faces to the ground. There is no such buffer in "Press." Other people talk a big game, but Cardi B has a playful-but-forceful presence that is deeply in tune with her desire to never suffer disrespect and to know exactly where to hit them with all of her abandon. Her attempts aren't always successful; the chorus surprisingly needs a slightly deeper mockery and a bit more variance in its cadence to match the ugly venom of the verses, which diminishes a song whose short runtime means every line is a valuable currency. Fortunately, this misstep is quickly smoothed over with the final burst of "pop up, guess who, bitch?" that blends her presence with the twofold horrors of jump scares and gunshots. Still, she hasn't always been this daring; her 2016 track "I Gotta Hurt You" shows hesitation, where the tiny bit of malice gets hidden by goofy EDM trappings. Here though, Cardi B's wit chameleons to reflect that danger, with the lyric "ding dong! must be the whip that I ordered" displaying her keenness to Amazon Prime whoever disrespects her. (Also unintentionally, this line may be prime as a new meme, utterly destined for queers on Twitter ready to spring "she has a big strap" and "please step on me" references.) Her last repeat of "press, press, press" at the end is more successful in expressing a sly mockery that dissolves into a careless apathy. As for me, I've been craving songs that exhibit a willingness to play, exert power, and dive into dangerous, malicious moods, like f(x)'s "Red Light", because since I've been looking for better examples of art willing to fully tap into its dark side, I've noticed how often potentially great songs tiptoe that edge but never make the leap. Case in point, "Press," even with its faults, is what I wished TSwift did with "Look What You Made Me Do." There, our maligned heroine needed to stop hiding behind the goofy melodies, lyrics, and passivity in order to assert her glorious potential as a full-blown Dark!Taylor. Both stars have such incisive intelligence and are terrifying in their precise perception, but Cardi B is willing to do what Taylor didn't and takes her punchback at the press all the way to the edge -- making better art for it. Her readiness to be that candid, combined with her skill, makes Cardi B a standout. She reminds us that, often, there's literally nothing to lose beside ourselves in expressing our honest feelings, and that it's worth the risk, as long as you do the work (and edit afterward.) So, to those hesitant, what the hell are you worried about? [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Cardi B #rap #hip hop #music #music review #writing

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alexrflores-blog · 6 years

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INTERVIEW WITH BROADSIDE - “WE’RE GOOFY GUYS BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE’RE ALSO WEIRD DEEP ARTSY GUYS.”

Last night in London, Broadside had their first headline show and it sold out. I interviewed them before their show about their recent album, “Paradise”, projects outside of the band (including Dorian announcing something) and, comparing their band to McDonald's and sour cake.

So today is the beginning of your first UK headliner, how are you feeling?Ollie: I’m excited, it’s going to be a good time, a nice sweaty time. Dorian: Tonight is sold out which is cool and tomorrow night is apparently sold out too which is really neat. It’s kind of cool that we did a smaller venue just because the intimate setting and being able to have a room packed and have the energy up the whole time is really sick.

Yeah, today is quite a small venue but are there any other places in the UK you want to headline that are bigger? Pat: I want to headline The Underworld Ollie: Yeah I want to sell it out The Underworld is definitely one of those venue that everyone loves Ollie: It’s not too posh and it’s real as well. It’s just a really well-rounded place. Pat: It’s just shitty enough to not make it the high end of shitty Dorian: Exactly, the perfect amount of shitty. It’s in a nice location too. True, since it’s in the middle of Camden. It's close to Temple Of Seitan too which is always great. Pat: Oh yeah, now that’s there too! Ollie: Oooooohh baby, I love food. And cyber dog is wild.Dorian: How do I get a job a dancing? Ollie: You don’t even paint your finger nails black you’re definitely not getting the job there.Dorian: Oh man!

Last week was your first time playing Slam Dunk, how did that go? Pat: It was an experience. We’ve played warped tour before and a bunch of festivals but this was another level Dorian: The same thing that happen to us during the first time we played warped tour happened to us at slam dunk but just a lot more. We expected maybe 40 people to sing a word or three and then a sea of people were there and we were just like “Why are you here? State Champs are on in 20 minutes, seriously, what are you doing here?” Ollie: I paid them all to be there. Nobody’s a fan of music, people get payed to show up. Trust me. Dorian: That’s right, going to concerts is their job.Is that all bands or just you guys because nobody likes your music? Pat: It’s true for us at least Ollie: Just the best bands. I can’t speak for anyone other than us and Marilyn Manson but that’s the case for both of us.When are you paying me for being at your gigs then? Dorian: We already paid you, what are you talking about?

How was Slam Dunk comparable to playing Warped Tour two years ago? Did you pay people to go to your sets there too? Dorian: Well now I’m curious as to how warped tour is going to go because Slam Dunk is going to be hard to beat. That was absolutely insanity. So, I think as of now, as far as festivals go that’s been the best. Pat: It will be easier to compare once we do Warped this year because we’ve grown in the two years it’s been since we’ve done Warped so it will be interesting to see how it goes after this. Moving on to talking about your album “Paradise”, there was a theme in the lyrics about perseverance. Was that something you had in mind before you started writing? Ollie: With this album we wanted to write a poppy and uplifting sounding album but put some serious songs in there too. That’s just how Broadside is. We’re goofy guys but at the end of the day we’re also weird deep artsy guys. So we were just trying to put both efforts into that and we wanted to write an album for the people who care about us and that would directly relate to them. Obviously not everyone’s in a band and not everyone’s saying shit that people want to hear. They’re just saying things that are safe so we wanted to write an album that sonically is fun but if people want to dive past that, there’s substance there. Pat: Also, I think the poppy aspect of it will make it easier for people to listen to but the more they do, they’ll be like “Oh I’ll read the lyrics instead of just listening without paying attention” Dorian: It’s a trick. Like cake that’s sour on the inside. Ollie: We’re like McDonalds. It’s red and you’re like “OH MCDONALDS!” but then you feel miserable after. That’s what we are. Pat: What???I think that’s just you Ollie. Dorian: Yeah, you’re happy when you’re eating it but then sad when you’re done. Ollie: Yeah see, he gets it. Read a book Pat.

The last song on Paradise, “I Love You, I Love you. It’s Disgusting”, is completely different to anything else you’ve released. How did that come about? Ollie: I like cute stuff, I like couples I love romance I like the beach, and I had a ukulele lying around my apartment. I’ve always wanted to write a love song and I thought it would be cute to have a sort of beachy love song. People find elements of our music as “their” love songs but I Love You is a true love song in its purity. It’s just a straight up “hey man I’m in love and I’m feeling good” which is also the type of song that people end up regretting later. I listen to a lot of my favourite bands who say, “yeah I wrote this song about my ex-wife and now im fucking miserable and everyone loves it”. But you know what? “I Love You I Love You. It’s Disgusting” is CUTE… for now. Dorian: That was a lot of fun to write and it was cool because it was outside of our element because we always stick to guitars and “vroom vroom” noises so it was cool to slow down and mess with new chords and ideas.

Do you think you’ll have more songs like that on next album like that, or stick to you “vroom vroom” sound? Ollie: That’s a good question. I think we’re still trying to figure that out. Dorian: It will change the second we start writing. We love different styles and sounds every five seconds so we’ll see where we end up. Although, the new stuff we’re doing is also outside of our comfort zone a little bit and we’re excited about that.

Ollie has his solo project, Baxxter, and also writes outside of the band. Dorian and Pat, do you think you’ll end up doing something separate too or will you concentrate on Broadside? Pat: I’m going to put all my efforts into broadside because I’m not creative enough to think of anything else. Dorian: that’s not true. You came up with a smart way to hang the banner up just now.

You can be a professional banner hanger! Pat: …but that would be for the band. Dorian: This is also for the band, but you do have creative ways to wrangle everyone’s thoughts and say “hey guys, here’s a simple solution”. We’re all like “hey we should do this” “we should go here” “let’s go visit the Eiffel Tower” and Pat’s like “hey, here’s a list of things we’ll do. Pick.” Ollie: I can always count on Pat when I’m hungry and I’m like “Pat, tell them we need to eat”. And he’s like “HEY we need to go fucking eat. It’s feeding time, Ollie’s a baby”. Pat’s really funny too. So what I’m getting here is that you can be a personal assistant and a comedian. Pat: Yeah so no, I don’t think I’ll do anything else. Dorian: Well actually, I’m the vocalist of another band now. It’s with a bunch of friends because they ran into a situation, so I said I’d fill in and it ended up pretty cool. We’re dropping a single in three days

Oh really? What genre will that be? Dorian: it’s pretty, pop-punk stuff. Pat: I think it sounds like All Time Low Dorian: Does it? It sounds like all time low then, Sweet. But yeah, it’s cinematic stuff and it’s cool because when we started working with those guys it opened everyone’s mind into different directions because it provides different perspectives on areas that we can take this band as well. Like with Ollie’s solo stuff, we’ve started incorporating ideas from that into this band to experiment and become better creatives.So now Pat can hang banners for your band too. Maybe you can have Broadside headline with Baxxter and Dorian’s new band as support acts.

Ollie: Honestly that’s not a bad idea, we’ll have a lot of fun but we’ll just be really tired. Pat: I’ll tell you what, you guys can open and I’ll do a comedy set, and THEN broadside. Yeah fuck every other band. Ollie: Yeah it will just be us, we can kick out the rest of the band because they’re irrelevant. Pat: No, Jeff can do sound and Dom will do merch. Dorian: Jeff can do sound and pyro for your comedy set. So other than your comedy tour, what’s happening after you leave the UK?Dorian: We’re going to do some writing so we’re pretty excited about that and then we have warped tour coming up. Very stoked about that. We have something lined up for the fall so we’ll see how that goes and then we’ll hit up the studio. I’m looking forward to that! Are there any last words you want to say quickly?Ollie: Make our band famous. Pat: If anyone knows how to equate people in a crowd to merch sold, let us know. Hit us up in the comments below but on a serious note, thank you for all the support. Ollie: sorry for joking so much but at the same time, it’s much better to joke than to cry. Dorian: I’ll also like to specifically thank London for being the first show we’ve ever headlined. We’ve never headlined a tour before which is crazy to think about, but we sold out our favourite city on planet earth so thank you for all the love and support.

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thepermanentrainpress · 6 years

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THE PERMANENT RAIN PRESS INTERVIEW WITH YOUNG CULTURE

Young Culture is a pop punk four-piece hailing from Albany, NY. Founded in 2016, they already have an impressive amount of tours and shows under their belt—and they’re only progressing from there. Their debut album You was released back in 2016, followed by a couple of singles and then their EP, Blue, this past November. Currently, Young Culture is dedicating their time to writing new music and touring; they’ve just gotten out of the studio with progressed, more mature material to look forward to. We caught up with the group on their current tour with Belmont to discuss aesthetic, touring, jobs, and conspiracies.

Young Culture is not one to sleep on.

What’s the meaning behind the name Young Culture?

Gabe: When we were trying to think of a name for the band, it took a really long time because we wanted to make sure it was something that we could be proud of and something that we could have a good explanation for. So Alex and I made lists of band names that were words that we really liked... and both of ours had the words young and culture on them. We were always the youngest in the scene and we were always playing with older bands.

Alex: It came to us and we were like this makes sense—and this is what it is. It’s a vibe.

Most memorable show you’ve played so far?

Gabe: We just did our last hometown show to like 200 kids—it just blew my mind. That was after a coast to coast tour and it was freaking awesome. But this is definitely the most memorable tour so far. Every show has been great and we’ve been able to meet so many people and make a ton of new friends. Belmont is so fun to hang out with and play shows with so as far as shows go, the Albany show, but for tours this is definitely the most memorable tour.

Alex: Definitely the most memorable tour so far, and we love the boys in Belmont. Even though they’re a bunch of narcs.

How have you been staying sane on tour? Alex: We’re all really good friends and we all know what bugs each other, so we do it really easily. Just get enough sleep, drink enough water, drink enough booze and you’re fine honestly!

Gabe: Our whole team, as a band and our manager, is great. We all work really well together, and if one of us is bugging another person we can snap out of it in like a second. It’s pretty easy when you’re in a bunch of new cities, too.

What have you been listening to on the road?

Gabe: We’ve been listening to a lot of The Maine Alex: A lot of Transit Gabe: Bhad Bhabie, the ‘cash me outside’ girl Alex: The Band Camino, The 1975 Gabe: New State Champs, new Homesafe

What’s your favourite song to play live?

Alex: Mine is “Bloom.” Gabe: “Smooth,” it’s fun and people vibe with it. Alex: Any song that people seem like they’re having the most fun to is my favourite!

youtube

What bands do you draw inspiration from?

Alex: Gabe and I have a lot of similar inspiration, and we’re probably the main songwriters, so I’d say a lot of early Fall Out Boy, The Starting Line... The 1975 because they’re my favourites.

Gabe: It’s crazy because when we look at a band and ourselves as a band it’s not even music that we try to take inspiration from—it’s aesthetic. The 1975 found their vibe and it’s so sick; I think that’s what we want for Young Culture. Something where you can listen to something, or even see something, and be like “that’s Young Culture.” We try and have a big, bold music statement and visual statement, even on social media and stuff like that. We want it to be very original and very our own.

When you’re not on the road what do you guys do?

Alex: I’m a waiter back home; it sucks. All I do is try and think about when the next time we’re going on tour is, and writing new music. Gabe: I was a barista, I got fired.

Why’d you get fired?

Gabe: I took time off for this tour and they were like, “this isn’t really working out.” I was like “okay, well I’m going to go on the tour regardless so…” I used to work a lot but now I don’t work at all, so just work on music; go to the gym. I make a lot of beats and we do that type of thing together. Skateboard.

How is it working with Derek from State Champs?

Gabe: Derek’s the man. We’re both from Albany. We grew up watching State Champs become State Champs, and our old bands have played with Champs and stuff like that, so we kind of knew Derek. So when we were doing our first record he got involved with the producing side of it; it was a business relationship at first but now it’s like... that dude is one of my best friends. He’s awesome and cares about Young Culture and our well-being more than anything. It’d be weird doing a record without him.

What’s your favourite conspiracy theory?

Alex: Yo! Thats been huge on this tour! Holy shit. Gabe: We’ve all been talking about conspiracies most of this tour. There’s this one about Mattress Firm. I swear to god, I think we were in South Dakota and I was like “yo Troy! Mattress Firm!” Then we look across the street and there was another one right fucking there! Like, why!? Honestly crazy. It has to be real. Alex: My favourite conspiracy right now… remember when that Malaysian aircraft crashed, did you ever see that tweet? Where it’s all the letters and it’s like CRAZY. That’s going to make no sense over paper, but there’s some crazy conspiracies going on over here. Gabe: 9/11 is a huge one too. Alex: Yeah, no we’re all about that.

Dogs or cats?

Alex: Dogs. Gabe: Cats. I’m allergic to both but I like cats. Alex: Dogs will come up to you and they wanna fuck wit chu. But most cats won’t. Final answer for Young Culture is dogs.

What can we expect from you in the future? Gabe: New music – we just got out of the studio in Toronto, actually. More shows. Alex: New single coming out, and more touring! Just want to get out to more people.

New sound?

Alex: More mature, we just keep writing and I’m just writing what I’m feeling right now. Gabe: We get older with every record, which is sick. Every time we’re in the studio we learn something new and we apply it to the next time we’re in the studio, so this new single is gonna be crazy.

What ice cream flavour would you be and why?

Gabe: Soft serve. Straight vanilla. On a cone. With sprinkles, rainbow style. During like, mid-July. Alex: I’m gonna just go soft serve vanilla because I’m just a plain OCD guy.

Written by: Jade Kenny Photo credit to: Mike Lerner

#Young Culture #Alex Magnan #Gabe Pietrafesa #music #interview #Jade #Blue #pop punk #The Permanent Rain Press #Bloom #Derek DiScanio #New York #Feature #The PR Press #youngculture #New York music

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