#steven has zero common sense

[spiderdreamer-blog]

Treasure Planet (2002)

The year 2002 was a weird time for the Disney animation studios, to put it mildly. After the legendary stretch of films that constituted the Disney Renaissance-The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King-the yearly animated offerings were still making money, but they largely weren’t outright phenomenons anymore. Worse, competition had arisen both within and without: Pixar had totally changed the game with 1995′s revolutionary Toy Story, but the fancy new CGI bells and whistles were making more money than the studio’s traditional 2D animation and seemingly had more staying power to boot. Former studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg had left to form DreamWorks with legends Steven Spielberg and David Geffen thanks to a highly publicized power struggle with CEO Michael Eisner after the 1994 death of company president Frank Wells. They were succeeding too, with 2001′s Shrek being a (ahem) monster hit in particular. Eisner’s grip on the Magic Kingdom was slipping after this and other costly blunders like the creation of Euro Disney/Disneyland Paris, and he knew it. In the middle of all this, one of the most expensive films in the company’s history, a passion project for directors Ron Clements and John Musker, was nearing the end of production: a sci-fi adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure novel Treasure Island. How does it hold up? Well, if you’re like me and grew up with this, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and The Road to El Dorado on loop, the answer is “I cannot be remotely objective about that”, but let’s get down into the nitty gritty on why this movie rules.

I suppose in one sense, I don’t necessarily have to offer a plot summary. If you’ve somehow gone your entire life without knowing the basics of Treasure Island and its myriad adaptations, I’d love to see the realtor quote on the rock you’re staying under. Disney itself is no stranger to the property as a studio. The book served as the basis for Walt’s first big swing into live action territory in 1950, and quite a good one at that in its surprisingly faithful rendering of Stevenson’s red-blooded adventure. Not the least of which was Robert Newton’s immediately iconic, gloriously hammy West Country accent-fied portrayal of Long John Silver; if you’ve ever wondered why movie pirates sound the way they do, he’s patient zero. And of course there’s Muppet Treasure Island, a childhood favorite that has a surprising amount in common with Planet in terms of some of its adaptation choices (namely, making Mr. Arrow a stern, professional sailor rather than the drunken layabout of the novel).

Where Planet benefits the most is the meta-knowledge one is bringing to the story and updating it to fit within the lines of a modern feature film. Structurally, it’s fairly faithful as we meet Jim Hawkins (Joseph Gordon Levitt, still most famous for 3rd Rock from the Sun at the time) at the Benbow Inn and he obtains the fabled treasure map from Billy Bones (Patrick McGoohan, giving us a great death rattle in about 2 minutes of screentime), thus prompting a treasure voyage. But even in this early stage, there are smart changes: Dr. Doppler (David Hyde Pierce) is a combination of Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney so we can cut down on characters, for instance.

And most crucially, rather than a pre-teen, Jim is now a teenaged delinquent whose father abandoned him and his mother Sarah (Laurie Metcalf); the thirst for adventure and Treasure Planet itself is established in a tooth-rottingly sweet prologue, but now we have extra context and motivation in addition to the destruction of the inn. Jim wants to make his mother proud and feel like he’s worth something. Then, when we get to the ship, not only do we get the great reinvention of Captain Smollet in Amelia (Emma Thompson at her Emma Thompson-iest), Silver (Brian Murray) too is enriched by foreknowledge. Silver’s treacherous intentions are laid bare within minutes of meeting him rather than saving that turn for Stevenson’s famous apple barrel scene. But this adds tension rather than subtract. Now we wonder less that Silver WILL turn mutinous and more what it means for his and Jim’s relationship; the apple barrel becomes a lightning rod. He becomes an even more intriguing character as a result, one of the few genuinely morally ambiguous villains in Disney’s history that makes some surprising choices by the end.

If there’s one arguable flaw in the adaptation, it’s the depiction of B.E.N. (Martin Short), a robotic take on Flint’s old crewmate Ben Gunn. He’s a clever idea conceptually, especially with the angle of his missing memory circuit that hides a deadly reveal, and I like his gangly CGI animation. But he fits into a trend Disney was leaning into in terms of trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was Robin Williams’ Genie in Aladdin where they hired big comedy actors to come in and riff as the sidekicks so that they could boost the trailers with funny bits and ensure the parents their kids wouldn’t be bored. Sometimes this worked out splendidly (Eddie Murphy’s Mushu in Mulan is as iconic as his Axel Foley or Donkey in Shrek, Rosie O’Donnell and Wayne Knight fit in shockingly well in Tarzan), other times...less so (hi gargoyles in Hunchback and Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis just doing Bob and Dave McKenzie again as the moose in Brother Bear). To be clear, there’s nothing outright wrong with the character as presented. I think Short is a deserved comedy legend who also really needs clear direction so he doesn’t get lost in a sea of hamminess, but this is certainly a better showing of his eager-to-please neuroses than the likes of The Pebble and the Penguin. And he only comes in at the third act point, so there’s less time for him to feel jarring. But he doesn’t feel strictly necessary in retrospect, especially when the movie is already funny in cleverer ways (”Well, uh... thank you. Thank you very much! Well, I have a lot of help to offer anatomically— amanamonically— as-astronomically face smack“), and we have a Designated Kid Appeal Merch Sidekick in the form of Morph. Two feels like pushing it.

Of course, even if the story had been merely okay instead of better than average, this would still be one of the most visually striking films the studio’s ever released. Taking cues from the Brandywine school of illustration, the colors are lush and rich, and the alien character designs are appropriately outsized on such a grand stage. The action scenes are clever and creative throughout, especially the escape from the inevitable mutiny and a nail-biting outrun-the-clock climax.  The CGI integration is a little easier to spot 20 years on, but the Deep Canvas process allows for all manner of imaginative spacefaring visuals, the Victorian-by-way-of-Star-Trek aesthetic (sailing ships in outer space is exactly the level of FUCKING AWESOME it needs to be), and especially Silver’s cyborg limbs married to his broad 2D frame.

Though it certainly helps when you have master animator Glen Keane supervising one of his best performances, marrying the subtlety and grace he’d achieved with characters like Aladdin and Tarzan with the bravado of his earlier villains like Ratigan or Sykes in Oliver & Company. Under his hands, Silver can go from garrulous and brash to quiet menace or reflection in the blink of an eye. John Ripa (recently co-director on Raya and the Last Dragon) has a tougher assignment with Jim considering he’s something of a straight man, but he rises to the occasion with touches like a ‘face mask’ adding to Jim’s brooding nature that gradually fades as he opens up emotionally. Ken Duncan adds another great heroine to his quiver after Megara and Jane in Amelia, especially with the cat-like features, and Sergio Pablos’ Doppler is frequently a comic highlight with his wild gestures and facial grimaces that anticipates the animator’s work on Klaus.

Things are equally great on the aural end. A year after his iconic work on Atlantis, James Newton Howard gives us another great old-school adventure score with Celtic/Gaelic influences that also gets rockin’ at points with electric guitars punctuating Jim’s most awesome moments. Yes, it’s very XTREEEME and 2002, no, I do not care. (YMMV more on John Rzeznik’s “I’m Still Here” musical montage, but I think it’s awesome) The voice cast is also well chosen in its mix of then-current-stars and more unusual talent. Levitt, as with Ripa’s animation, opts to underplay, but he’s far from flat and manages some moving moments of tenderness and anger. Murray, primarily a theater actor in life, goes for the opposite approach, marrying big theatrical emotions with Silver’s larger-than-life personality, but never loses sight of the character and is quite affecting in the film’s denoument. Pierce inevitably brings a bit of his Niles Crane to Doppler, but since that’s one of the best sitcom characters in history, I can hardly complain, and he gets the lion’s share of the film’s most memorable lines, including a priceless Star Trek shoutout. Thompson is stiff-upper-lip dry wit personified, and she gives an interesting tinge to a budding romance in the latter portions of the film. Metcalf only has a few key scenes, but builds an effective portrait of a struggling single mother within them; thanks to her, you really end up rooting for Jim and Sarah to make amends. Rounding out the numbers are Michael Wincott giving a scary-ass pirate filter to his iconic gravel-pit voice as the villainous Scroop (who gets a memorable spin on the typical Disney villain death-by-falling trope), Roscoe Lee Browne’s stentorian bass giving Arrow a do-not-fuck-with-this-guy dignity, and ringers like Corey Burton and Rodger Bumpass as a pair of robo-cops.

Treasure Planet’s story had a bit of a sad ending at first. Unlike the same year’s immediate hit Lilo & Stitch, it was a notorious flop financially, especially given how expensive it was to produce, and hastened the death of big 2D theatrical films at the studio who pioneered them. But it’s lived on admirably, and even with its flaws (I think we also could have done without the fart noises alien), I count it among my favorites. I miss this period of Disney theatrical animation, where strict formula gave way to experimentation and weirdness. We should do that again every so often.

#disney animated canon #treasure planet #reviews #media analysis

[lemariste]

Welcome to the Underground Library!

My name is Lumariste, or just Luma. And to put it simply, I'm a mere soul who has far too many ideas that have never seen the light, and I hope that can change here! Most of this is basic information, I will probably have to specify though...

--> Asian

--> Minor

--> She/they

--> Bi, but also Aroace

--> Artist

--> Writer

🌿 My Fanbases!

Anime, MCYT Lyn Lapid, PJSK, The Crane Wives, Artic Monkeys, Steven Universe, Omori, Slay the Princess, Hollow Knight, Childhood shows, Sam and Colby, the Try Guys, Animation YT, Indie Games in general really.

🌿 My DNI List...

Keep it simple, the regular things if you have any common sense. Consent is a must and if you break that boundary with me, there will be zero hesitation from me to kick you off of here.

NON-ART ACCOUNT! @deluluma

PJSK ACCOUNT! @lumin-scape

#introducton post #intro post #pinned intro #blog intro

[fleetwood-mac-andcheese]

My thoughts while watching Holes for the billionth time

It’s fucked up that the movie starts with all the supporting characters watching their friend attempt suicide

How long was Stanley’s trial and how short was Zero’s trial? Because we know that Zero got arrested the day after Stanley did, but he arrived at Camp Greenlake significantly earlier. Like, he knew Barfbag, he already had a nickname, people knew he liked to dig. How long was he there before Stanley showed up?

In the book when they sing the song, they howl on the word moon (it’s written “moo-oo-oon”) and I wish they did that in the movie

The Yelnatses screwed Stanley over by not getting him a lawyer. The little bits we see of his case prove they had no clue what they were doing. And when they eventually do get a lawyer, he’s let out almost immediately.

I love how Dr. Pendanski is written. He’s such a terrible person who has convinced himself and is trying to convince those around him that he is the nicest guy around. He fucking sucks and I love how he’s written and how Tim Blake Nelson plays him.

“Today’s menu: Chili, string beans, re-fried beans, garbanzo beans, green beans, and banana jello” — aren’t green beans and string beans the same thing?

The cinematic choices made in this movie are just *chef’s kiss*. The way they jump from timeline to timeline without ever losing pace is masterful

Eartha Kitt is flawless.

While Eartha Kitt is flawless, I want it noted that in the book, Madame Zeroni is described as a one legged Romani person (Sachar actually used the G slur) and Eartha Kitt is neither one-legged nor Romani.

Zero is the fastest digger in the camp, but they never really explain how big the camp is. Like, is he the fastest out of 25 people? 60 people, 140 people?

Just to revisit point 8, I fucking love Eartha Kitt

The yellow spotted lizards are such an excellent plot device

All the inmates are either A) mentally ill B) people of color or C) severely traumatized. But most of them are D) all of the above

When Squid throws out Stanley’s letter, catch Zero in the background with a pool cue ready to beat the shit out of that motherfucker

It’s weird that they show Sam as some kind of snake oil salesman when we know that his product actually works. The yellow spotted lizards won’t bite you if you’ve eaten his onions. Why claim they cure baldness or that Mary Lou is over 100 years old?

Zero back at it again ready to throw hands for Stanley, this time with a billiards ball

The fact that magnet got locked up for stealing a thousand dollar puppy

“You are here on account of one person. You know who that person is?” “Yeah, my no good, dirty rotten, pig-stealing, great great grandfather. That’s who it is”

Henry Winker provides such comedic levity

When Zero asks Stanley to teach him how to read and it’s such a nice moment of vulnerability, only to be shot down by Stanley. I just want to cry

What happens if someone actually dies at Camp Greenlake? Like, Zero and Stanley ran away and Barfbag got sent to the hospital, but they all survived. What would the protocol be if someone just dies while digging? Clearly there’s not a lot of oversight because Stanley can get away with Zero digging his hole, so what happens when one of those kids get overheated working all day in the Texas sun and just collapses in their hole one day and nobody thinks to check on them until the next day when the buzzards are all gathered around their corpse?

I’ve waited long enough to say this. Sigourney Weaver in this movie is one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. I fucking love her

Sam and Katherine. nuff said

“Well then I guess you’d be in a lot of trouble if your boat leaked.” *sobs*

Just casually reciting Edgar Allen Poe from memory as a way of professing my love to a woman I legally cannot be with due to racist laws forbidding interracial relationships.

I can’t help but remember that Scott Plank died during the post production of this movie. Respect to him and his ability to play such a good villain as Trout Walker

“No one ever says no to Trout Walker.” “I believe I just did.” SAY IT LOUDER, KATE!

Sam

I love that Kate’s MO came from a racist sheriff sexually harassing her

The sunflower seed thing reminds me of something that happened to me at RTC and it’s just a really nice moment for me

Stanley acting so casual by not doing the one thing he’s supposed to be doing

The look on Magnet’s face right before Stanley covers for him

I really want to know more about the Warden and Mr. Sir’s relationship

I also really want a bottle of that rattlesnake nail polish, but maybe that’s just me

I also really like that Sachar didn’t shy away from the racial implications of a white guy having a black guy do his labor for him. Then again, the whole story is an indictment of racism and the American prison system, so it makes sense he wouldn’t ignore that

The way Stanley gets so excited when Zero mentions that park. Like ‘oh, we have something in common. We used to go to the same park!’ and Zero just shuts it down with “I used to sleep in the tunnel next to the swing and bridge” Stanley may have been cursed, but he still had a home

Zero finally gets to throw hands on Stanley’s behalf. He’s been waiting to do that since point 14

Pendanski really is the shittiest

“No one cares about Hector Zeroni” “I do”

I love that Twitch was just instantly ready to help Stanley steal Mr. Sir’s car

What are the chances of Kate, Zero, and Stanley all finding Sam’s boat in the middle of the desert? And I know Kate probably spent years looking for it after the lake dried up and for Zero and Stanley it was destiny, but still

Zero, you gotta ration that sploosh

One more time for emphasis: I love Eartha Kitt

Kate dying and she hallucinates Sam, only to be snapped out of it by Trout Walker. Just Trout stopping them from being together one last time

“It hasn’t rained here since the day they killed Sam” and you think whatever deity made that happen is gonna let anyone in the Walker family end up with Kate Barlow’s fortune?

“I can’t leave without Hector.”

“Call my mom. Tell her I said I was sorry. Tell her Theodore said he was sorry” cue Small Steps

Justice reigns over the Walker family and rain falls over the Walker estate

I would love for someone to find out just how much that treasure chest was really worth. Can one of those theorist channels get on that, please?

Hector finding his mom is nothing short of heart-melting. I’m not crying, you’re crying

“Camp Greenlake was closed and the boys were released on time served and sent to real counselors” Wait, are you implying that forced labor is an unjust prison sentence? Someone better tell the prison industrial complex!

So what happened with Sweet Feet? Did they sit him down and explain the misunderstanding before or after signing him as the spokesperson for their product? He was the prosecution’s lead witness at Stanley’s trial, but nope! All is forgiven!

The soundtrack slaps

Point 53, however you have Shia Labeouf and Eartha Kitt in the same movie and you put which one of them on the soundtrack? Just wondering who made that call. Like, you layer ‘I Want To Be Evil’ or ‘Burned As A Witch’ over any of Kissing Kate Barlow’s scenes, it’d be perfect. But no, instead we get the dude from Even Stevens trying to rap.

#holes movie #holes by louis sachar #movie analysis #long post #Shia Labeouf #tw suicide #suicide tw #tw racism #racism tw #tw food #food tw #tw prison #prison tw #tw money #money tw #tw homelessness #homelessness tw #movies #Original #Jamie Talks

[theoriginalladya]

As Luck Would Have It (update) - Day 3 - Evening

Summary: What do a mini-Irish invasion, a murdered leprechaun, and an old flame have in common? Joker’s not amused by any of them.

~~~

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Male Shepard & Kaidan Alenko, Male Shepard & Abby Williams, Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Steven Hackett/Karin Chakwas, Steve Cortez/James Vega, Jack|Subject Zero/Samantha Traynor

Characters: Caleb Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Tadhg Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Niamh Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Kaidan Alenko, Karin Chakwas, Steven Hackett, Samantha Traynor, Jeff "Joker" Moreau, John Shepard, EDI, Ashley Williams, Zaeed Massani, Steve Cortez, James Vega, Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Bakara - Eve, Urdnot Grunt, Urdnot Wrex, Kasumi Goto, The Illusive Man - Jack Harper, Jacob Taylor, Kelly Chambers, Rahna, Brigit O'Halloran (OC), Jack|Subject Zero

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hallmark Movie AU, St. Patrick's Day, Past Relationship(s), Green Beer, bartending, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Shenanigans

Series: The Town of Norman

Chapter 8: Day 3 - Evening

Excerpt:

Jackie shrugged, contemplating the contents of their ‘fridge. “It’s a name.” Pulling out the jug of orange juice, he closed the door. “He said he and his sister are going to play at the park tomorrow.” Serious dark eyes looked up at her over the bright orange beverage. “Can I go play with them?”

“Of course.” Just Caleb had seemed like an attentive father, and Tadhg had been just as polite today as he’d been the other day, if a little less shy.

Jackie smiled and set the orange juice on the counter before starting his hunt for a glass. “Mr. Hackett will be there, too. Tadhg says they’re staying at his house.”

That made sense. Not in a larger picture sense, but Hackett had come into the diner today with the rambunctious crowd, and while Sam was always happy to see the sometimes broody older man out and about, it had surprised her to see him with so many people all at once.

Even at the Christmas pageant, sitting way up front, Hackett always had an air of someone who was a bit apart from those around him.

Taking her own turn at staring into the chilled depths of their ‘fridge, Sam asked, “Why is Tadhg staying with Mr. Hackett?”

“He says his dad knows Dr. Chakwas.”

But Jackie was friends with Hackett, so it would always be “Hackett’s house” in this family. “Got it.”

~~~

Read Full Chapter || Read from the Beginning || Read Series

Spotify Playlist

What started as an offer to lend out my Irish Shepard, Caleb, for some St. Patrick's Day shenanigans has turned into a full blown collaborative effort with @happychica, and I couldn't be more delighted! Thank you, my friend, for allowing Caleb, Tadhg, and Niamh into your sandbox to play! This has turned into such an amazing adventure, and we've only just gotten started! And huge thanks to @screwyouflightlieutenant for the fabulous commercial breaks! (I love these soooooooooo much!)

#As Luck Would Have It #chapter update #Mass Effect AU Fanfic #Mass Effect Fanfic #Collaborative fanfic #mass effect #Day 3 - Evening #happychica #screwyouflightlieutenant

[jocia92]

When Alma, an archaeologist who spends her days studying ancient worlds, agrees to test a humanoid robot designed to be the perfect mate, she does it unenthusiastically, mostly to appease her boss and help fund her studies. Played by Maren Eggert in the new film “I’m Your Man,” Alma is resistant to the charms of Tom, even though he is programmed to match her needs and desires. Also, he looks like Dan Stevens.   

Stevens, the British actor who rose to fame in “Downton Abbey” and has since starred in “Legion,” manages to capture Tom’s precise, programmed manner and his gradual transformation into someone more human that the audience can root for — even as we might worry that specimens like this might one day replace us.The German-language film, directed by Maria Schrader (“Unorthodox”) and released on Sept. 24, is set in Berlin. Stevens, who also speaks fluent German and French, was adopted as a baby, and he says he has always seen himself as something of an outsider, which has often informed the roles he has chosen.

Stevens spoke recently via Zoom about the character, artificial intelligence and dancing the rhumba. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Looking at your roles in “The Guest,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Legion,” “Night at the Museum” and now this, one wonders, are you, in fact, human? Seriously, though, is there something about these roles that draws you in or is there something about you that makes directors want you for these roles?

It’s funny how people start to see patterns in things not deliberate on my part. I’m certainly an odd human being, maybe that helps. They’re outsiders and outsiders make for very interesting roles.

Q. How do you try to get inside your character’s mind when he’s a constructed humanoid?

You’re still trying to get inside the process of the mind, looking at what Tom is thinking about. He’s a very mission-oriented character. It’s all programming, where he thinks, ‘This isn’t working, how can I change this behavior to make it function better.’ Tom tries traditional romantic routes with Alma, then realizes that’s not the way to go and takes another path.

Q. When he reorganizes her apartment, it’s so perfect and neat, which makes sense to a machine but her way was better for her, and a symbol of the messiness of our lives.

His version looked good for Instagram. But it’s not for Alma. He had learned according to a different set of rules. That’s common in human relationships. By making Tom a robot, we get to see those beats in any relationship — there’s an evolution in how we behave, how we think, how we learn from our other half. Charting that with Maria was great.

Q. You talk with your hands, but Tom is much more constrained. You also changed the way you carried your body, like the posture of your head and shoulders. How important was that?

Physical preparation is a big part of character discovery for me. There was constant discussion in pre-production about how much of a machine do we want to see in Tom at any given point and how much do we want to see him evolve, learning human mannerisms and characteristics.

The first time we see Tom he’s moving more robotically — he’s dancing the rhumba, which, I discovered while learning it, is a very precise dance. It feels almost robotic.

But Tom evolves. So we wanted to show that he started with pre-programmed mannerisms: He’d come into a room and put his hands on his hips because that’s what a guy does or sit on a sofa and just [Stevens demonstrates manspreading]. Why do we do these things? Why do we put our hand on our chin when we’re thinking, it makes no sense; it has zero contribution to the thought process but it’s what we do.

I think about those things anyway, so I was lucky to find a job that focused on that. The film is gently, or not so gently, suggesting how weird humans are.

Q. There are the things we know or understand and then the things we desire, sometimes despite what we know and understand. Alma really doesn’t want to fall for Tom. Are we all just suckers, but in the best way possible?

That’s definitely true where love is concerned — against your better judgment and all of your intellect, you’ll still fall for this person and there’s no logic behind that. What’s funny about the dynamic is that Tom’s the ultimate logician yet it’s a totally illogical relationship.  

Q. Unlike a movie like “Ex Machina,” “I’m Your Man” has a benevolent, almost humane view of these creations… even as it never lets us forget what makes our humanity so vital through Alma’s concerns and behavior. What’s your take on our future with humanoids?

That question has been around since we had any technology and taps into people’s fears about the future.

Technology is only as benevolent as the people who develop it make it, whether it’s an app or a humanoid. Usually, the things we’re afraid of turn out not to be the things we should have been worried about. When Twitter started, many people said, ‘This is a wonderful new democratic thing.’ There were some concerns, but I don’t think anyone dreamed of the problems it would cause.

There’s a scene in the movie with an angry guy in a crosswalk that reminds us that while we have this fear that humanoid robots will on us, we’re already doing that to ourselves just fine.

#ich bin dein mensch #i'm your man #dan stevens #the press-enterprise #interview #long post

[jgthirlwell]

2020 Year In Review

This year once again I invited some friends and colleagues to reflect on 2020

JG Thirlwell

Composer

Foetus Xordox Manorexia Steroid Maximus Venture Bros Archer

www.foetus.org

2020 was a troubling and disturbing year. I created a lot of music and experienced a lot of nights waking at 5am in a panic. I deeply missed the sacred experience of being able to see live music. In its absence of that I listened to a lot of music. It was difficult to whittle down this list but here are a lot of albums I enjoyed in 2020, in no particular order.

Le Grand Sbam Furvent (Dur Et Doux) John Elmquist’s HardArt Group I Own an Ion (900 Nurses) Roly Porter Kistvaen (Subtext) Liturgy Origin Of The Alimonies (YLYLCYN) Clark Kiri Variations (Throttle) Dai Kaht Dai Kaht I & II (Soleil Zeuhl) Chromb Le livre des merveilles (Dur Et Doux) Horse Lords The Common Task (Northern Spy) Ecker & Meultzer Carbon (Subtext) Insane Warrior Tendrils (RJ’s Electrical Connections) Jeff Parker Suite For Max Brown (International Anthem) Jacob Kirkegaard Opus Mors (Topos) Tristan Perich Drift Multiply (Nonesuch) Bec Plexus Sticklip (New Amsterdam) Vak Budo (Soleil Zeuhl) Merlin Nova BOO! (Bandcamp) The The Muscle OST (Cineola) Zombi 2020 (Relapse) Regis Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss (Downwards) Rival Consoles Articulation (Erased Tapes) Sarah Davachi Cantus, Descant (L.A.T.E.) Sufjan Stevens The Ascension (Asthmatic Kitty) Idles Ultra Mono (Partisan) Daedelus The Bittereindeers (Brainfeeder) Boris No (Bandcamp) Aksak Maboul Figures / Un peu de l’ame des bandits / Onze Danses Pour Cobattre La Migraine (Crammed) Noveller Arrow (Ba Da Bing) Felicia Atkinson Everything Evaporate (Shelter Press) Ital Tek Dream Boundary (Planet Mu) Author and Punisher Beastland (Relapse) Sparks A Steady Drip Drip Drip (BMG) Corima Amatarasu (Soleil Zeuhl) Code Orange Underneath (Roadrunner) Deerhoof Future Teenage Cave Artists /Silly Symphonies / To Be Surrounded../ Love Lore(Joyful Noise) Sote Moscels (Opal Tapes) Run The Jewels RTJ4 (Jewel Runners) Oranssi Pazuzu Mestarin Kynsi (Nuclear Blast) Master Boot Record Floppy Disk Overdrive (Metal Blade) Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith The Mosaic Of Transformation (Ghostly International) / Ears (Western Vinyl) Michael Gordon Acquanetta (Cantelope) Neom Arkana Temporis (Soleil Zeuhl) Rian Treanor Ataxia / File Under UK Metaplasm (Planet Mu) Helm Saturnalia (Alter) Ivvvo doG (Halcyon Veil) Robert Normandeau Figures (Empreintes Digitales) Ben Vida Reducing The Tempo To Zero (Shelter Press) Beatrice Dillon Workaround (Pan) Dan Deacon Mystic Familiar (Domino) Sea Oleena Weaving A Basket (Higher Plain Music) Elysian Fields Transience Of Life (Ojet) Rhapsody Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret (Magic Circle) Duma Duma (Nyege Nyege) Ulla Strauss Tumbling Towards a Wall / Seed (Bandcamp)

Honorable mentions Carl Stone Stolen Car (Unseen Worlds)  Nazar Guerilla (Hyperdub) Iwo Zaluski with the Children of Park Lane Primary School, Wembley The Remarkable Earth Making Machine (Trunk) Nahash Flowers Of The Revolution (SVBKVLT) Cindy Lee Whats Tonight To Eternity (Bandcamp) Insect Ark The Vanishing (Profound Lore) 33EMYBW Arthropods (SVBKVLT) Declan McKenna Zeroes (Tomplicated) Layma Azur Zeii (Bandcamp)

FILM TV Succession ZeroZeroZero Escape at Dannemora 1917 Small Axe : Five films by Steve McQueen Pirhanas Monos The Hater Better Call Saul

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Drew Daniel

Matmos, The Soft Pink Truth

an alphabet of 2020 recordings

Arca “KiCk i” BFTT “Intrusive / Obtrusive” clipping. “Visions of Bodies Being Burned” Duma “Duma” Eilbacher, Max “Metabolist Meter (Foster, Cottin, Caetani and a Fly)” Forbidden Colors “La Yeguada” GILA “Energy Demonstration” HiedraH Club de Baile “Bichote-K Bailable Vol. 2” Ian Power “Maintenance Hums” Jeff Carey “Index[off]” Kassel Jaeger “Meith” Laurie Anderson “Songs From the Bardo” Mukqs “Water Levels” Negativland “The World Will Decide” O’Rourke, Jim “Shutting Down Here” Perlesvaus “These Things Below with Those Above” Quicksails “Blue Rise” Rian Treanor “File Under UK Metaplasm” Slikback “///” Terminal Nation “Holocene Extinction” Ulcerate “Stare Into Death and Be Still” Various Artists “HAUS of ALTR” William Tyler “New Vanitas” Xyla “Ways” Y A S H A “Summations” :zoviet-france: “Châsse 2ᵉ”

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Sarah Lipstate  (Noveller)

With all live performances canceled, this was truly the year of demo videos and home studio recording for me. These are 10 pieces of gear that came out in 2020 that helped keep me feeling creative and inspired during lockdown. In no particular order:

EHX Oceans 12 Dual Stereo Reverb - The Oceans 12 ticks all the boxes for what I’m looking for in a great soundscaping reverb. I used the Shimmer and Reverse algorithms in conjunction a lot when I was composing music for a film score.

Chase Bliss Audio Blooper - While I don’t actually own a Blooper, I had the pleasure of borrowing one from Mike of Baranik Guitars after NAMM this year. He made an incredible Blooper-inspired guitar and I was completely charmed by them both. Chase Bliss always delivers pedals that push me creatively and the Blooper truly hits the mark.

Cooper FX Arcades - I love everything Cooper FX has released to-date so the opportunity to access those sounds in one pedal via plug-in cartridges is just awesome.

SolidGoldFX NU-33 - I was asked to do a demo of this pedal for its release and ended up being really charmed by this box’s approach to lo-fi nostalgia. I’ve used it a lot for film scoring and highly recommend adding it to your collection.

Demedash Effects T-120 DLX V2 - I LOVE a good tape echo and the T-120 Deluxe V2 ranks up there with the best I’ve tried. This pedal made its way to me this Christmas and I look forward to making some beautiful sounds with it in the new year.

Hologram Electronics Microcosm - The Microcosm is one of those pedals where you should fully read the manual before diving in but once you put in that initial effort you’ve got a massively powerful tool on your hands. It does glitch like no other. Definitely worth the homework

Azzam Bells MP019 - I discovered this unique instrument through a post on Reverb’s IG page and immediately looked it up and ordered one. These experimental percussion instruments are hand-made in Italy and they’re as beautiful visually as they are sonically. I used it for bowed cymbal and daxophone sounds on a film score and it was absolutely haunting.

Echopark Dual Harmonic Boost 2 - I love the control you have over dialing in the perfect amount of grit with these dual boost circuits. I use it a lot as a textural tool when I’m laying down drones or bringing in big distorted swells. It’s one of the most versatile overdrives in my collection and I love that.

Fender Parallel Universe Series Volume II Maverick Dorado - I was smitten with the Maverick Dorado when I first saw it at NAMM. It has a lot of the specs that I look for in a guitar and the body shape with the Mystic Pine finish just blew me away. I hope that I get to use it live soon.

Polyeffects Beebo - The Beebo is one of those pedals that I genuinely feel is smarter than I am. It’s like an entire computer in one small touchscreen box. I can’t claim to have mastered using it yet but the sounds that I have managed to get out of it so far have been brilliant. I’m looking forward to spending more time with this box in 2021

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HELM 2020 REVIEW

Let's get the bad stuff out the way first, 2020 was undoubtedly an awful year. I'm still not sure how to really respond to seeing a global pandemic bring the capital to its knees and everything I love and hold dear to a grinding halt. Our government fucked it's response, putting profit before people and killing tens of thousands. The Labour Party descended into farce with the newly elected leader Sir Keith revealing himself as a bland centrist with no opposition or ideas. On a personal level it sucked not being able to travel or see my friends in different parts of the world - or even the same country - who I am starting to miss a lot. However, I was fortunate enough to get through the year with my sanity intact. Music, art and culture once again being my main positive. I think I listened to more music than I have in any year ever. I read more books than I have done since I was a teenager probably. I also re-discovered the joys of walking long distances and am extremely thankful for living near a lot of incredible green spaces: Epping Forest, Walthamstow Wetlands, Walthamstow Marshes, Wanstead Park, Wanstead Flats...

Music. My favourite albums of the year.

Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi Wetware - Flail Raspberry Bulbs - Before The Age Of Mirrors Necrot - Mortal Rope Sect - The Great Flood Private World - Aleph Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never Pyrrhon - Abcess Time CS+Kreme - Snoopy Speaker Music - Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry Drew McDowall - Agalma Regis - Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss Nazar - Guerilla Zoviet France - Russian Heterodoxical Songs (and all the ZF reissues!!) Triple Negative - God Bless the Death Drive Permission - Organised People Suffer Actress - Karma & Desire Acolytes - Stress II The Gerogerigegege - >(decrescendo) Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills Flora Yin-Wong - Holy Palm Eiko Ishibashi - Hyakki Yagyo The The - See Without Being Seen Prurient - Casablanca Flamethrower Henning Christiansen - L’essere Umano Errabando La Voce Errabando Subdued - Over The Hills And Far Away Rian Treanor - File Under UK Metaplasm Komare - The Sense Of Hearing Shredded Nerve - Acts Of Betrayal Jesu - Terminus Autechre - SIGN Hey Colossus - Dances / Curses Sparkle Division - To Feel Embraced Mark Harwood - A Perfect Punctual Paradise Under My Own Name Still House Plants - Fast Edit The Bug & Dis Fig - In Blue Kommand - Terrorscape Haus Arafna - Asche Khthoniik Cerviiks - Æequiizoiikum Worm - Gloomlord Kraus - A Golden Brain Faceless Burial - Speciation

A shout-out to Jon Abby's AMPLIFY series on Bandcamp / Facebook, which I contributed a new piece of music to.

A shout out to the labels where most of the music I listened to seemed to come from:

The Trilogy Tapes Iron Bonehead Penultimate Press Dais La Vida Es Un Mus

Gigs. Despite live music being destroyed in 2020 I still saw a few unforgettable performances at the beginning of the year.

Graham Lambkin @ The ICA, London Puce Mary / JFK @ The Glove That Fits, London Demilich @ Finnfest, The Garage, London Container / PC World / National Unrest @ Venue MOT, London S.H.I.T / Asid / Chubby & The Gang @ Static Shock Festival, ExFed, London

Books I enjoyed. Most not published this year, but all read in 2020.

Joe Kennedy - Authentocrats David Balzer - Curationism Tom Mills - BBC: The Myth Of A Public Service Simon Morris - Consumer Guide: Special Edition Luke Turner - Out Of The Woods Various - Bad News For Labour Mike Wendling - Alt-Right Baited Area issues 1 & 2.

Film. Three good films I saw this year which I hadn't before.

Suspiria (Remake) Midsommar Cannibal Holocaust

Podcasts. I listened to a lot of these whilst walking.

We Don't Talk About The Weather Novara Media Tysky Sour & Novara FM Grounded with Louis Theroux System of Systems Red Scare loveline episodes Suite 212 NOISEXTRA Social Discipline CONTAIN

TV.

Didn't watch a huge amount and what I did was mostly trash. For some reason I rewatched both series' of This Life, a British drama from the late 90's about a group of young professionals house sharing and navigating their careers. Very cringey and has aged terribly, but it was perversely fascinating to revisit something from that time in the age of the pandemic. Following on from this I binge watched the entire series of Industry which was entertaining enough. A programme about a bunch of horny bankers with what felt like a confused ideology behind it. It seemed stuck between trying to criticise and glorify the culture around the industry, but also protect the industry itself from outside criticism by portraying anyone who may oppose as an insufferable wanker. Currently halfway through Succession which is OK. The Murdoch documentaries on the BBC were excellent and a rare respite from their descent into client journalism.

Thanks to anyone who listened to my music this year also. Best wishes to you all for 2021.

Luke Younger

http://hhelmm.com | http://alter.bandcamp.com

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Elliott Sharp

composer

1. My Nr. 1 lesson: patience. Whether it's bouncing through 30 seconds of severe turbulence at 39000 feet or slogging through 30 minutes of a interminable piece of concert music, one attribute I've tried to develop is the ability to see past the discrete and awaited ending, the exact framing of the immediate process, but put it into the context of a larger time frame. I've found that this year more than all others has demanded it. Breathing helps...

2. Books: revisiting old favorites from the realm of Thomas Pynchon and Philip K. Dick (both especially relevant), digging into John Lomax's portrait of Jelly Roll Morton, the works of Colson Whitehead, random things off of the shelf…

3. Composing: with touring off the table, I focused on that which needed to be written, some requested and commissioned, some spontaneously springing forth. Composing requires that one open the windows wide to the world, which at this moment brought in grief, terror, uncertainty, anxiety, visions of plague and pestilence and incipient fascism. Okay, now shut the window and get to work! How to process, translate, transform? The work can be a comfortable and obsessive cocoon once one learns to handle the radioactive materials and put them into the creativity reactor.

4. Beans! We have long been a fan in our house of the wide world of legumes but this year brought two stars to the front: the black bean and the red lentil. The black bean commands the lofty peaks but the seemingly infinite variations of dal surround it. Ginger, garlic, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne, onions, and olive oil form the basis then imagination builds.

5. Online teaching substituted for my canceled conduction of workshops in the Pyrenees Mountains of France. Between the participants and myself, we built a temporary but very congenial space online to share concepts and music. In addition, private lessons brought conversation and music with new friends in Germany, Italy, California, Australia, Illinois, Denmark, Pennsylvania, Spain, Florida, Brazil.

6. What started out as "stress baking" (before I even had heard of the term) soon became a frequent practice that yielded very edible results. The twins preferred the sweeter forays into banana bread and chocolate cake. I tried to find a balance between tried-and-true techniques and experiments in texture and taste with yeasted pumpernickels, multi-grains, and seed breads.

7. While not the same as performing 'live ', online gigs proved that it was possible to generate a surprising amount of adrenaline even without the pheromonal handshaking of a room filled with receptive ears. As a corollary, online recording collaborations with friends worldwide proved to be inspiring and a suitable substrate for sonic experimentation, exploration of new instruments, tunings, effects programming, structures. In these realms, shout-outs to Helene Breschand, Mike Cooper, Henry Kaiser, Tracie Morris, Mikel Banks, Dougie Bowne, Payton McDonald, Billy Martin, Colin Stetson, Jim O'Rourke, Scott Amendola, Roberto Zorzi, Jason Hoopes, Eric Mingus, Melanie Dyer, Dave Hofstra, Don McKenzie, Sergio Sorrentino, Veniero Rizzardi, Taylor Ho Bynum, Scott Fields, Bachir Attar, Karl Bruckmaier, Robbie Lee, Matthew Evan Taylor, Matteo Liberatore, Al Kaatz, David Barratt, Jessica Hallock, Kolin Zeinikov, Robbie Lee, Jeremy Nesse, James Ilgenfritz, Sergio Armaroli, Steve Piccolo, Sandy Ewen, David Weinstein, Jim Whittemore, Chris Vine, Werner Puntigam, William Schimmel.

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Daniel O’Sullivan

(Grumbling Fur, Guapo, Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses, Ulver, Sunn O))), Æthenor, Laniakea, Miracle, Mothlite, and This Is Not This Heat.)

Music Richard Youngs - Ein Klein Nein Alabaster DePlume - Instrumentals Hildegard von Bingen - O Nobilissima Viriditas Francisco de Penalosa - Missa Ave Maria Peregrina Carlo Gesualdo - Responsoria 1611 Dirty Projectors - Five EPs Sonic Boom - All Things Being Equal Brother Peter Broderick - Blackberry Richard Horowitz - Eros Of Arabia Duncan Trussell Family Hour Cocteau Twins in the bath

Books/comics Alexander Tucker - Entity Reunion II Derek Jarman - Chroma Stephen Harrod Buhner - Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm The Penguin Book Of Irish Poetry - edited by Patrick Crotty The Gospel Of Ramakrishna - translated by Swami Nikhilananda Lucretius - De Rerum Natura Plotinus - Enneads Ram Dass - Grist For The Mill Lisa Brown - Phantom Twin

Other Fasting / meditation / macrodosing Walks in freshly coppiced woodland (for the smell mainly). Plants / Foraging / Growing Traditional ferments Douglas Sirk movies Mandolorian Writing songs on the piano Rediscovery of Kenneth Graham via my kids

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Karl O’Connor (Regis)

01.Wolfgang Press - Unremembered, Remembered 02. Klara Lewis - Ingrid Live at Fylkingen 03. Jesu - Terminus 04. Dave Ball - Leeds Poly Demos 1979 05. Edwin Pouncey - Rated Sav X (the Savage Pencil Skratchbook) 06. The Bug - In Blue 07. New Order - Power,Corruption and Lies ( Writing Sessions  ) 08. JG Thirlwell and Simon Steensland - Oscillospira 09. FM Einheit and Andreas Ammer - Hammerschlag 10. Thurston Moore - By The Fire 11. Body Stuff - Body Stuff 3 12. Ann M Hogan - Honeysuckle Burials 13. Rob Halford - Confess (Autobiography)

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Caleb Braaten (Sacred Bones Records)

Shirley Collins Hearts Ease Dehd Flowers Of Devotion Duma Duma Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways Green-House Six Songs for Invisible Gardens John Jeffery Passage Drew McDowall Agalma Sweeping Promises Hunger For a Way Out Colter Wall Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs Woods Strange to Explain

My Favorite 90’s Nostalgia Movie Rewatches

Colors Ghost Dog Menace II Society The Player Rounders Safe Starship Troopers Trees Lounge Vampires Waiting For Guffman

Most Culturally Bankrupt Year : 1997

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Charlie Looker

(composer, Psalm Zero, Extra Life, Seaven Teares)

Ten Things That Didn’t Happen in 2020

1.  I didn’t write a ton of new music. Don’t get me wrong, I wrote some. I always do. But mostly I focused on my new YouTube channel, essays, and on getting old recordings released. I haven’t even been working a day-job so I thought I was going to write my next Ring Cycle, but I really didn’t find Covid inspiring.

2.  Trump wasn’t re-elected. Cool.

3. I didn’t lose anyone to Covid. I am, of course, profoundly grateful for this. But I feel pretty embarrassed remembering group-texting ten friends in March, “We are all going to see a loved one die. Every single one of us. Don’t kid yourselves”. I can get hysterical, and that was somewhat irresponsible of me.

4.  No revolution happened. I don’t mean to be smug or cynical, or to belittle anyone’s participation in the protests. But, as far as I can tell, nothing happened in 2020 that promises to reduce police brutality or human suffering of any kind. We’ll see. That burning Minneapolis police station was exciting to watch at the time, if only on an aesthetic level.

5.  I have a stack of unread books I bought this year, just staring at me, with nary a crease among them. These include:

Adorno and Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment (looks amazing, but I haven’t touched it) Marx, Grundrisse (it’s 1000 pages for fuck’s sake. Amazon also accidentally sent me two copies, and its double presence in the stack is just comical) Reza Negarestani, Intelligence and Spirit (the first 15 pages blew my mind, then my mind blew it off)

6.  I didn’t settle into living in LA. I moved here six months before Covid and I was just starting to cultivate some friendships and play shows. This was quashed and I still feel like I still live in New York. I still barely know the layout of the city here.

7.  No brand-new buzzy musical artists burst onto the scene, that I can recall. No new hyped micro-genre of the moment. There was just no way for there to be a hot new trend. I’d say that was refreshing, but it wasn’t.

8.  Tyson’s return was not awesome. Two minute rounds, ended in a draw. I’ve been getting way into boxing this past year. This fight was a bummer. I’m looking forward to Mayweather vs Logan Paul (LOL) because we know it’s comedy ahead of time.

9.  For three weeks in July, I didn’t do a single thing other than watch street fight compilations on YouTube and Worldstar. That’s just grim.

10.  There were no school shootings in March. Apparently, this was the first March with no school shootings since 2002. Not a single 7th grader got a hand job in March either. I cannot begin to imagine what it’s like to be a kid now.

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Chuck Bettis

https://chuckbettis.com

Other People's Music released this year:

Coil "Musick to Play in the Dark" (Dais)

Duma "s/t" (Nyege Nyege Tapes) Twig Harper "External Boundless Prison/ in 4 parts EP" (self-release) I.P.Y. (Ikue Mori, Phew, YoshimiO) "I.P.Y." (Tzadik) Kill Alters "A2B2 Live Stream 11/13/2020" (self-release) Krallice "Mass Cathexis" (self-release) Lust$ickPuppy "Cosmic Brownie" (self-release) Doug McKechnie "San Francisco Moog: 1968-72" (VG+ Records) Merlin Nova "Boo!" (self-release) Omrb "Milandthriust, The Graths of Mersh" (self-release) Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda "gi n ga" (self-release) Yoth Iria "Under His Sway" (Repulsive Echo) Wetware "Flail" (Dais)

My own music released this year:

collaborations

Chatter Blip "Microcosmopolitan" (Contour Editions) Matmos "The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form" (Thrill Jockey) Reverse Bullets  "Dreampop Dsyphoria" (self-release) Snake Union "live at Roulette" (self-release) Snake Union w/ Hisham Bharoocha, Bonnie Jones, Heejin Jang, Matthew Regula "Three Arrows" (Rat Route) Thomas Dimuzio "Balance" (Gench Music) YoshimiO & Chuck Bettis  "Live at the Stone" (Living Myth)

solo Chuck Bettis "Arc of Enlghtenment"  (Living Myth) Chuck Bettis "Motion Parallax"  (Living Myth)

compilation Various Artist "Polished Turds Vol.1" (Granpa)

Music Books read this year

"Intermediary Spaces" by Eliane Radigue/Julia Eckhardt (Umland) "Ennio Morricone In His Own Words" by Ennio Morricone/Alessandro De Rosa (Oxford University Press) "Free Jazz In Japan: A Personal History" by Soejima Teruto (Public Bath Press) "Rumors of Noizu: Hijokaidan and the Road to 2nd Damascus" by Kato David Hopkins (Public Bath Press)

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Maya Hardinge

(musician / artist)

list of things i liked this year

first ever solo road trip through new mexico and Texas right before lockdown experiencing manhattan with no cars on the road . having a car to escape in to nature. (which i craved so much) walks and bike rides with friends… FRIENDS! The web site ‘workaway’ that helped me feel that there were options for escape. playing games weekly on zoom during lock down teaching yoga weekly on zoom. Witnessing and being part of the BLM protests. witnessing and being part of the demise of T sitting on my couch at 6am drinking a cup of tea, appreciating my apt. making time to meditate. halloween without tourists .

some music I’ve bought and/or enjoyed this year Elvis Perkins-Black Coat Daughter Patricia Kokett -Soi soi Henning Christiansen - OP201 Bryce Hackford- Safe Svitlana Nianio and Oleksander - Snayesh yak? rozkazhy Brannten schnure - Sommer im Pfirsichhain Killing Joke - Nighttime David Shea - Tower of mirrors Shakey - Shakey Woodford halse tapes Coil - Musick to play in the dark

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BJ Nilsen

sound artist / composer

Work 2020

Despite Covid 19 lots of things actually did happen.

In Feburary I visited the only active nuclear plant in The Nederlands as part of my "Expanded Field Recording” project together with SML. In March revisited the Acousmonium at the Elevate Festival in Graz with an additional trip deep inside the Schlossberg recording old mining trains. In March and April I did two daily recording projects “Pending and Auditory Scenes” - both of Amsterdam during lockdown. In May did my first Zoom field recording workshop with the CAMP project. In June & July  two research trips in Waldviertel, Austria with Franz Pomassl. In August recorded bells and organs in 10 different churches around Amsterdam for Jacob Lekkerkerker. In September recorded Kali Malone at the Orgelpark in Amsterdam. Performed at Heart of Noise Festival in Innsbruck and A4 in Bratislava. Also went ice-skating for first time in 20? Years. In November and December I travelled to Jeju island to record field recordings for a project by Femke Herregraven for the Gwangju Biennale, commissioned for 2021. Did lots of gardening, released two tapes “Call it Philips, Eindoven” and “Zomer 2020” with Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson. NOW! Looking forward to 2021.

http://bjnilsen.info https://soundcloud.com/bjnilsen/sets/auditory-scenes-amsterdam

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Vicki Bennett

(People Like Us)

Negativland - True False https://negativland.com/products/truefalse-cd (this came out last year but is so THIS year) Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/rough-and-rowdy-ways/ The Soft Pink Truth - We from Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase https://thesoftpinktruth.bandcamp.com/album/shall-we-go-on-sinning-so-that-grace-may-increase Carl Stone - Stolen Car https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/stolen-car Porest - Sedimental Gurney https://porest.bandcamp.com/album/sedimental-gurney Matmos - The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form https://matmos.bandcamp.com/album/the-consuming-flame-open-exercises-in-group-form Domenique Dumont - Miniatures De Auto Rhythm https://antinoterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/atn044-domenique-dumont-miniatures-de-auto-rhythm The The - See Without Being Seen https://www.thethe.com/product/see-without-being-seen-cd/ Ciggy de la Noche - Hold Tight HMRC https://soundcloud.com/ciggydelanoche/hold-tight-hmrc Neil Cicierega - Mouth Dreams http://www.neilcic.com/mouthdreams/

and my details: http://peoplelikeus.org/ https://peoplelikeus-vickibennett.bandcamp.com/ pic: http://peoplelikeus.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Welcome-Abroad-promo3-2-scaled.jpg

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DJ Food

Music - Type 303 - Sticky Disco / Analogue Acidbath 7" (45 Live) The British Space Group - The Ley of the Land CD (Wyrd Britain) Squarepusher - Be Up A Hello LP / Warp 10 NTS mix (Warp) dgoHn - Undesignated Proximate (Modern Love) LF58 - Alterazione LP (Astral Industries) Robert Fripp - Music For Quiet Moments series (DGM) Run The Jewels - RTJ4 (BMG) Simf Onyx - Magenta Skyline / The Unresolved 7" (Delights) Luke Vibert - Modern Rave LP (Hypercolour) JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland - Oscillospira (Ipecac) Aural Design - Looking & Seeing 7" / DL (Russian Library) Luke Vibert - Rave Hop (Hypercolour) Clipping. with Christopher Fleeger - Double Live (Sub Pop) APAT - Terry Riley's 'In C' performed on Modular Synthesizer (YouTube) Field Lines Cartographer - The Spectral Isle LP (Castles In Space) Jane Weaver - The Revolution of Super Visions single (Fire Records) King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - K.G. LP (Flightless) Humanoid - Hed-Set - forthcoming on (De:tuned)

Film / TV - Inside No.9 (BBC) What We Do In The Shadows Season 2 (Netflix) Tales From The Loop (Amazon) Keith Haring - Street Art Boy (BBC) John Was Trying To Contact Aliens (Netflix) The Social Dilemma (Netflix) The Mandalorian (Season 2) (Disney+) Long Hot Summers - The Style Council documentary (Sky Arts) Zappa (Alex Winter)

Books / Comics / Magazines Confessions of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell (Profile books) The Often Wrong - Farel Dalrymple (Image Comics) Edwin Pouncey - Rated SavX (Strange Attractor Press) Jeffrey Lewis - Fuff (all issues - really late to the party on this one) Rian Hughes - XX - A Novel, Graphic (Picador) Cosey Fanni Tutti - Art, Sex, Music (Faber) Caza - Kris Kool (Passenger Press) Dan Lish - Egostrip Vol.1 Electronic Sound magazine Decorum - Jonathan Hickman & Mike Huddleston (Image) John Higgs - Stranger Than We Can Imagine Simon Halfon - Cover To Cover (Nemperor)

Very few exhibitions or shows this year for obvious reasons

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#JG Thirlwell #playlist #Drew Daniel #Matmos #the soft pink truth #Sarah Lipstate #noveller #helm #Daniel O’Sullivan #Guapo #Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses #This Is Not This Heat #Karl O’Connor #regis #Sacred Bones Records #Caleb Braaten #Charlie Looker #psalm zero #extra life #Chuck Bettis #snake union #Maya Hardinge #BJ Nilsen #Vicki Bennett #people like us #DJ Food #Elliott Sharp

[shinneth]

Spill the tea on Stevinel (just because I saw one for conniverse) And yes, I'm not on Anonymous. Because I'm a proud stevinel shipper and no one's going to stop me from loving it, also your blog is cool

And you know what? That’s the right attitude to have! People should be free to express what they ship without shielding themselves with anonymity. I don’t blame the people that do these days - antis are fucking dangerous people - but goddamn, people. It’s fiction. 

So I commend you for shipping Stevinel openly and proudly! Hard to believe it’s actually considered a bold and brave move just to be open and honest about harmless preferences these days. 

That said, I’m sorry it took so long to get to this. I felt you deserved an epic, given how unexpectedly successful my tirade on why Connverse is a shit ship with an undeserved golden reputation was...

But the truth is, even though I’m very much a Stevinel shipper, it’s definitely not my OTP.

And it’s very tricky for me to figure out how to spill the tea on Stevinel in a way that’s distinct from me doing the same with Stevidot.

Because, well, let’s face it: these two ships, beyond being very similar in nature, have also endured identical hardships from the fandom.

All the death threats Stevinel fans get from the raging antis for daring to ship something so “problematic/immoral/wrong/not Connverse”? 

Stevidot fans have been treated that exact same way for years. And still are. For the exact same reasons.

Both Stevinel and Stevidot shippers are valid, but the fandom constantly turns a blind eye to Rebecca Sugar’s husband who also worked on the show outright saying gem x human ships are FAIR GAME.

And also turn a blind eye to the recent interview where Sugar herself stated that the gems are more like AI - a conclusion I and many others deduced ages ago just by how gems are portrayed in the show. 

But by god, they’ll hang on Matt Burnett’s word that “grown gems” are a thing even though canon itself explicitly states that GEMS DON’T GROW.

Just like how despite Maya Petersen outright admitting that Aroace!Peridot is just her headcanon, people treat it like the fucking gospel now.

(no offense to anyone who’s committed to that particular headcanon - I just don’t really see it with Peridot in particular and it’s really fucking stupid to claim it’s 100% canon when the source herself explicitly said it wasn’t)

Well, it’s canon that Spinel kissed Steven and he didn’t turn into dust. And Steven was already well on his way down the path of self-destruction at this point in time; he would’ve gone monster whether this happened or not. 

Also, how often does a character get the “heart eyes” expression for just a platonic love?

If there was ever a scene where Connie or Steven had heart eyes, no doubt most of the pricks would scream “YES!!!! UNDENIABLE PROOF THAT THEY’RE IN LOVE!!!”

But when it’s Spinel, suddenly it doesn’t count? Really?

How convenient.

There’s also the stupid idiots who saw the conceptual development of Spinel in that movie artbook and saw some vague color keys during a conceptual stage and claimed that Spinel was “family” to Steven - which of course must mean “related” and therefore must make Stevinel an incestuous relationship! 

Which is bull. Also shit. It’s already common knowledge that gems don’t work that way. She was the designated playmate for Steven’s mother. Nothing more.

Of course, most gems who come in Steven’s orbit end up being sort of a family to him. 

But everyone seems to have this impression that a gem being part of Steven’s family means they become additional surrogate mom figures.

And yeah no, that’s dumb and wrong. Garnet and Pearl are really the only ones I’d consider actual “mom figures”. Amethyst’s more of a big sister. Everyone else can vary depending on perspective, but I’ve never seen any of the other gems as anything close to a motherly figure for Steven. Any time I see shit about Lapis or Peridot being regarded as “gem moms” to Steven, I laugh my ass off. They are so not moms or any kind of authoritative figure for Steven. Bismuth at best is more of the fun-loving aunt.

There are more roles in a family than just a paternal/maternal substitute. In fact, I believe Steven has considered Connie to be part of his family well before they hooked up in canon.

(as a side-note, I love how people who are allegedly SO squicked out by age gap ships totally pardon Connverse - you guys realize Connie was 14 in Future, right? Possibly 15 depending on the time scale? There’s gonna be a point in the relative near future where Steven is 18 and Connie isn’t - why don’t I hear you assholes angst about that “atrocity”, huh?)

I honestly do consider the CG B-Team as part of Steven’s family, but more in a loose sense. But by that same token, I consider Connie as part of the family in a similar manner. 

Especially since Spinel was shoved off to live with the Diamonds after the movie - and the Diamonds themselves have a very fucked-up relationship among themselves to the point where I honestly hesitate to put a familial label on it at all - it’s extra stupid to try and paint Stevinel as something with incestuous overtones when it clearly doesn’t. 

Spinel does happen to be a perfect representative of how full of shit antis are about age gaps, though. 

While Peridot’s age has always been left vague, we know she can’t be 5K or older due to being an Era 2 gem. Due to her utter lack of knowledge of Era 1 events (or being completely sold on the Diamonds’ propaganda) and her general inexperience with her own equipment - as well as her ability to quickly adapt to Earth - I always headcanoned Peridot as being especially young. Like, younger-than-Steven young. 

Mostly because Peri’s attitude reeks of Gen Z - also because it’d be nice for a change to have a gem who isn’t thousands of years old like literally every other noteworthy gem in the show. We need a representative of gemkind who hasn’t been around for ages. 

Of course, Spinel’s backstory proves that even if they went the boring route and made Peridot thousands of years old just like everybody else, it wouldn’t really mean much of anything. She’d be no less of a valid romantic option for Steven regardless of age.

Spinel is several thousands of years old, and the movie explicitly shows us what exactly that amounts to for a gem.

As I mentioned earlier, Sugar sees the gems more like AI. Spinel remaining in one spot for several millennnia, not moving an inch, not speaking to anyone, not seeing anything other than a gradually-deteriorating garden... yeah, and somehow, despite all that, Spinel’s still very childlike per her design. She had literally no room to mature or accrue life experience: Pink Diamond basically hit the pause button on her entire life.

Even though she’s several thousands of years old, through no fault of her own, Spinel’s mindset remained unchanged. It wasn’t until Steven inadvertently came into her life that she became twisted - understandably so after finally realizing she’d been abandoned by Pink. 

But she still didn’t completely lose her true self. Spinel realized on her own that Steven didn’t deserve to suffer just because his mom was a negligent asshole. She also came to understand on her own that unlike Pink, Steven truly cared for her no matter what shit she threw his way. 

Steven could give Spinel the care and attention she always deserved; something Pink totally denied her while deceiving her into wasting away with her abandoned playground. He could be the one to give Spinel the love she always deserved but was either denied or manipulated into believing she got. 

Honestly, this is more than enough to warrant building something more between these two. 

The age gap is irrelevant. The two have chemistry. They aren’t related.

(and honestly, this is fiction - these details are largely irrelevant in fiction anyway. I’m only bringing it up because it doesn’t take much research to find that every label the antis put on Stevinel is complete inaccurate Diamond propaganda bullshit)

Stevinel is FINE. Let people ship it if they want to!

Um... is that good enough?

Honestly, I’m not gonna lie: Stevinel’s pretty goddamned popular; so much that I’m a bit jealous of it. I enjoy the ship a lot, but I’ve been keeping it at arms-length all this time. I’m looking forward to when I can write my own brand of Stevinel interaction when I get to introduce her in my series, but that’s still a while to go. 

Also, there’s almost zero Peridot/Spinel material, let alone my Peridot/Steven/Spinel OT3. And Stevidot material is still hard to come by; I’m noticing Stevinel’s still quite a bit easier to find by comparison. 

So in a way, I feel many other unpopular ships deserve some tea-spilling sooner than Stevinel because Stevinel at least still has a sizable fanbase. Same can’t really be said for a lot of similar ships here...

A lot of this can apply to other Steven x gem ships, honestly. 

But I guess I haven’t been showing Stevinel much proper love due to my devotion to my superior SU-AU. I can only hope I can soon reach a point where I can have GA Spinel react to Steven, since their dynamic will be significantly different.

(and then one day I’ll finally make the Peridot/Steven/Spinel OT3 fic!!)

Until then, I can only hope I did Stevinel some justice here!

#answered asks #ryan-spinel #stevinel #stevidot #steven universe #spinel #su spinel #shipping #spill the tea #peridot #su peridot

[kingfallsamtranscripts2]

King Falls AM Episode Twenty: Referencing Aladdin Don’t Make It Right

King Falls AM Transcript

Episode 20: Referencing Aladdin Don’t Make It Right

Run time: 22:17

First Aired: Feb 15, 2016

Summary: Sammy & Ben get a quick update on the little ones off Route 72 and learn live on-air that not everyone had a great evening on the night of the Valentine’s Day Dance.

(For a list of characters and references from this episode see the end of this post)

[King Falls AM theme plays]

Troy: Hey folks, if you or anyone you know has any information on these hybrid werewolf slash human baby thingamagigs-

Sammy Stevens: Is that a technical term, Troy?

Ben Arnold: Can you please let Troy finish, Sammy, this is important!

Troy: Heh, thanks, little buddy.

Ben: Go on, Troy.

Troy: Well if you see those little beasts or have information on them you just got to let us know. Don’t harbor them, they could have the rabies and or the colic. And please don’t try to adopt while it’s in its human form, cause that ain’t gonna end up well. Just use your common sense and be safe.

Sammy: Thanks for calling in officially with police business and alerting the public to the issue.

Ben: Yeah, nice hearing from you on the job, Troy.

Troy: Whilst I’m still on official police biz, I’d like to make one more little statement if I could, fellas.

Ben: Dude, of course! The floor is yours!

Troy: Well the sheriff is a real foul mood regarding these hybrid wolf babies and what have you just running amok, and he wants to make it completely, perfectly, crystal clear that if anyone should have these animals or any other illegal animals in the city limits of King Falls, they will be apprehended and exterminated on site with extreme force of malice. King Falls is a zero tolerance town for any illegal animals of any kind, up to and including wolf-human hybrids.

Ben: So… uh (clears throat) you’re saying that anyone listening that may have access to a cute and cuddly but illegal animal should do… what?

Troy: Now I’m not talking to no one in particular, I mean this isn’t a warning, it’s just a fact. Sheriff Gunderson is making it a personal project to bring down any and all animals that shouldn’t be in town.

Sammy: But cats are fine, is that right, Troy?

Troy: No doubt about that. Ain’t nobody gonna get any cats while I’m patrolling the streets, friends.

Sammy: There you have it, folks. If you or anyone you know has any information on the werewolf puppies last heard from around Route 72 or any other illegal animals not allowed in the city, please contact the sheriff’s department at once.

Ben: (sounding strained) Thanks for the info, Troy.

Troy: All you listeners, you stay safe out there, alright?

Sammy: Thanks, Troy. We’ll talk to you soon, sir.

Troy: Roger that, Sammy.

[The sound of a phone hanging up]

Ben: (clearing throat) Well… that’s good information there, huh?

Sammy: Are you okay, Ben?

Ben: Yeah! You know, I’m just… I’m not a fan of the idea that Gunderson is sending out gangs of thugs to dispatch animals, man! Aren’t there real issues for law enforcement in this town? Last week, I saw old lady Turner jaywalking in front of the grocery store.

Sammy: So you’d rather Gunderson take down the organized jaywalking underbelly of King Falls?

Ben: No, I actually helped her cross the street, but the point is that this werewolf issue seems like an animal control issue! Let Ralf Harkins take care of this! Why are the police even involved, man?

Sammy: Your guess is as good as mine. Moving forward-

Ben: Yeah! Yeah, uh, moving forward we’ve got about thirty minutes of open calls lined up before acclaimed ebook author Kirk Sycamore- don’t judge this, Sammy- will be joining us to talk about his new book Dead Tom Turkey: The Perils of Uncooked Poultry.

Sammy: I’m sorry, what now?

Ben: I mean… it’s a thing. Undercooked anything can’t be good, right?

Sammy: I would assume, but seemingly that one sentence just covered everything you need to know. Cook it longer.

Ben: Then it might get dry. I don’t know man! Don’t look at me like that! Merv emailed and asked to book this guy. His book topped Beauregard’s King of King Falls, it’s got to be worth something, right?

Sammy: The perils of uncooked poultry.

Ben: In thirty minutes.

Sammy: I don’t know if I can hold this excitement in for thirty minutes, Ben. You must be bursting at the seams! Surely you’ve waited your entire journalistic career to talk about under-broiled birds.

Ben: Uh, if it makes this any better, apparently this is a novel, not an instructional guide.

Sammy: (outraged) That actually makes it worse! This is a fictional piece of work?!

Ben: Merv emailed this to us, Sammy.

Sammy: Listeners, please immediately stop what you’ve got going on and mark this down: I’m going to do my damndest to get you the info on Merv’s book of the month club. I’m on your side and I am fighting for you.

Ben: Merv, if you are listening, I do not need to be cc-ed on the email you are penning. 

Sammy: (laughs) You heard it folks, that’s coming up quickly, but until then we are taking your calls, King Falls. What would you like to talk about this evening, Ben?

Ben: Whatever’s clever. 

Sammy: Talking about whatever’s on your minds before what is sure to be a Pulitzer winning interview. 

Ben: It’ll be good- you’re making fun- but it’ll be good. 

Sammy: How could it not be? You heard our story, King Falls, now let’s hear yours. 

Ben: Give us a call at the station- 424-279-3858, or hit us up at the tweet machine!

Sammy: That’s @ kingfallsam and @ kingfallssammy respectively. Line seven you are on the air with King Falls AM. 

Pete Meyers: You’re saying to yourself: I don’t think Pete Meyers would listen to a show of this terrible quality, as handsome and as smart as he is. He’s probably watching Big Bang Theory or something. 

Sammy: That is exactly what I was thinking, Pete. 

Ben: Word for word, almost. 

Pete: Look, I don’t like talking to the two of you either. 

Ben: Yet you continue to call! And listen! And show up at events!

Pete: Ben if you don’t drop a little bass out of your voice I will roundhouse you right in the gullet the next time I see you. You hear me? I will skullf-(beep) your mom.

Ben: So now you’re threatening me? Do you hear this Sammy?

Sammy: (annoyed) Just hang up. 

Pete: (stammering) Whoa, wait, wait, alright? You know, I’m sorry. I’m a little emotional right now… I would never intentionally try to scuff up my lugs on your face, Ben. I apologize. 

Sammy: I don’t think that-

Ben: What’s the matter? Got a vampire not appreciating the hedge art you’ve been clipping into the bushes?

Pete: Well it’s kind of about him- did you say vampire?

Ben: (triumphantly) Knew it! Man, just fess up and tell everyone that your boss is a vamp!

Pete: Ben Arnold, I just bought domain to your name. And you know what? I’m going to fill up all the pages with babies and donkeys. What’s the world going to think of you? Some weirdo guy, making an internet site about babies and donkeys? Yeah, that’s right-

Ben: (all riled up) Oh yeah? Ooooooh, Pete! Why don’t you come down here, look me in the eyes, when you’re saying this huh? Huh?!

Sammy: Guys. 

Ben: Meanie!

Sammy: Guys! That’s enough. Pete, state your problem or move along. 

Pete: Alright, fine. I messed up big time. Worse than the time I dressed up as Edward Scissorhands for Halloween and ruined Mr. B’s hedges. Apparently I pushed a button or didn’t-really-push-a-button on a fancy thing… that’s beside the point. What I really want to know is- did you guys hear something funny on your station a week or two back?

Ben: Um, um, I’m hearing something stupid right now but I don’t know if that’s-

Pete: Come on, Ben! Be serious. I take you seriously- I almost respect you! Now, I heard a little something like maybe you guys got hijacked or something like that and I just wanted to know… you know, what’s up.

Ben: This again?

Sammy: Wait, Ben, we’ve heard this a few times actually. The shotgun guy said it, we’ve had a number of tweets about it. We don’t know anything about this but apparently another feed cut into ours about a month or so ago. 

Pete: Oh sh-(beep).

Ben: Watch your language, Pete.

Pete: Watch your… face, Ben.

Ben: Wait, what the hell are you and Beauregard up to? 

Pete: None of your damn business. 

Beauregard: (from the background of Pete’s call) Yard boy, what are you doing in this chamber without supervision?

Pete: Uhhhhhhh what? Uh, Mr. B, uh nothing!

Beauregard: Don’t act like an ignoramus around the transmorgrifier. 

[There are metallic clanks and scrapes in the background and the sound of metal pipes moving around. A whirring humming sound begins like a machine turning on which grows steadily louder]

Sammy: What the hell is going on over there? Pete?

Pete: You made me mess up again you butt smackers. 

Beauregard: Don’t just stand there all slack-jawed and drooling. Turn it off this instant. Celestia!

[The whirring cuts off and there is the sound of a call ending]

Ben: What the hell?

Sammy: Well, folks, this is a first for me that I believe an on air failed attempted felony will lead us right into break.

[Cheerful music starts as a commercial begins]

Ernie: Hey there! Ernie Salsado’s leather bound books ain’t your normal bookshop. Maybe you’re asking yourself: Ernie, whatever do you mean? What I mean is that Ernie Salsado’s leather bound books is more than just a hipster reading book nook. We don’t carry none of those cheap-ass paperback books or harlequin novels here, plus you sure as hell ain’t gonna find nothing to read on your I-pad kindle whositswhatsits. For what I understand it’s only first edition leather bound books and (???) up in this joint. Maybe you’re thinking you need to gussy up your place to impress some broad or you have a real need to make people think you got a bigger vocabulary than some Johnny come lately. Either way, Ernie’s got you covered. That’s a book joke! Ernie Salsado’s leather bound books- we got fancy books! F-(beep) you, pay me.

[King Falls AM rock music plays then fades out as the commercial break ends]

Sammy: Ernie Salsado’s leather bound books? There’s two of these stores here? I’ve never even heard of one of them until Rich McGuff! I don’t know what’s more surprising, Ernie’s entrepreneurial rise in the community or him almost making me forget what happened before the break…

Ben: I’m literally afraid to comment one way or another on this. 

Sammy: (amused) He is an intimidating specimen. 

Ben: (carefully and slowly) If he… likes to hear that, then, yes, you are right. If not, please don’t slander that gigantic human!

Sammy: Ha, no slander intended. We’re taking calls and counting down the seconds before we get a riveting interview with the man who some call the Dan Brown of bird related mysteries. 

Ben: Wow, they say that?

Sammy: No, they don’t! (laughs) The phone lines are still lit up, let’s take some calls.

Ben: Good evening, you’re live on King Falls AM. 

Greg Frickard: (smugly) Well look who decided to pick up the phone. 

Ben: (quickly) Um, let’s take another-

Greg: Hey, Sammy! I’ve got a topic of discussion. Let’s talk about how that co-host of yours is just gonna sit there all quiet and not even mention the fiasco he caused earlier this week at Granny Frickards!

Sammy: Greg? Is everything okay?

Greg: Oh, it’s not okay, Sammy. That- pardon my French- moron, that he would even-

[the sound of a call ending]

Ben: Whoops!

Sammy: Ha! 

Ben: Line five you are on with Sammy and Ben!

Sammy: Wow, it looks like you learned a thing or two from Chet, I see. 

Ben: Don’t know what you’re talking about!

Caller: Hello?

Sammy: So what happened at Frickard’s?

Caller: Are you talking to me?

Ben: Nothing happened to… let’s just-

Sammy: Not only are you my broadcast partner, I thought we were friends! 

Ben: Hey! We are friends! I just didn’t think to tell you that I happened to have dinner at Frickard’s earlier in the week.

Caller: Hellooo?

Sammy: Uh huh. This wouldn’t happen to be the same night Emily was on a business meeting with Greg, would it?

Ben: I really don’t recall but it might have been… that’s a good question. 

Sammy: You don’t recall going to your least favorite restaurant in town, which you never eat at, on the night of the King Falls Valentines Day Dance where your main squeeze-

Ben: Watch it.

Sammy: Where the girl you pine for-

Ben: Watch it!

Sammy: Where Emily Potter-

Ben: Thanks.

Sammy: Happened to be roped into a business meeting with Greg Frickard.

Ben: My mortal enemy. 

Sammy: Paid sponsor of King Falls AM. 

Ben: Whatever. 

Sammy: You don’t recall if that’s the night you dined at Granny Frickard’s?

Ben: Ehhhh it’s not really ringing any bells! 

Sammy: Maybe we should call Emily. 

Ben: Don’t do that!

Sammy: Things coming back to you now? 

Ben: Did- ugh… can I fill you in at break and not on the air?

Sammy: You’d better! You know, I’m a little sore that you didn’t tell me to begin with! And this was days ago! 

Ben: I’m sorry, man, it’s just it’s not the best story. Believe me.

Caller: Hello? Can we talk now?

Sammy and Ben: No!

[The sound of a call ending]

Sammy: The turkey guy is not sounding so bad right now.

Ben: Ha, why don’t we try… lucky line one, you’re on King Falls AM. 

Greg: Hey Ben Arrrnold! Why don’t you tell the whole friggin town about you showing your butt and ruining my business meeting with Emily Potter!

Ben: Greg, I really don’t wanna get into this. 

Greg: Ohh, you can’t talk in front of Sammy and the whole town- what’s the matter? Frog got your tongue?

Ben: That's not a saying. 

Greg: You sure didn’t have a problem causing a ruckus at the restaurant! In front of Granny no less!

Ben: Can we take another call, Sammy?

Sammy: Is this true, Ben?

Greg: You can’t deny it, Ben Arnold! I’ve got it on camera from multiple angles! You are a heathen.

Ben: Why do you have me making a scene on camera?

Sammy: Multiple angles?

Greg: I’d like to say it’s just the security cameras… but, if you must know, I hid a few cameras around the Froggery for my big night. 

Sammy: You call a business meeting your big night?

Greg: With Emily Potter I absolutely do! She is the most beautiful creature in King Falls!

Ben: So you admit that it was a date?

Greg: It was a business meeting with a gorgeous woman! Take it as you will!

Ben: You’re so creepy! God!

Greg: Oh, so it’s creepy. Wanting your gramma and your future children to see the moment their future mother and I fell in love? Recorded for prosperity forever. Probably. Classily edited to voice a man and everything. 

Ben: Yeah! It’s creepy!

Greg: (singing) I’ll make love to you! Like you want me to, oh baby hold me tight I will love you all through the night…

Sammy: That is really creepy, Greg.

Greg: You’re just a heathen. You don’t know what love is. What do you know? Tell them what you did, Ben!

Ben: I’m not getting into this on the air, Greg. Let’s just-

Greg: I am a paying sponsor of this show, Ben Arnold! Fess up, right now!

Ben: What are you gonna do, Greg?

Greg: So help me I’m gonna ask Granny- real nice- to pull your sponsorship money!

Sammy: Greg... are you crying?

Greg: (in a high pitched voice) No...

Ben: Hmm, so you’re threatening the show over a personal issue?

Sammy: Greg, we appreciate what you and Granny do for the show and the station-

Greg: I’m glad to see one of you does.

Sammy: But I’m not about to let you threaten taking money away from the station to pressure Ben into talking about something he doesn’t want to. Do what you got to do. 

Greg: Ha! Don’t think that I won’t wake up Granny right now!

Ben: You want to talk about this on air, Frickard?

Greg: Tell the people what you did. Just tell them!

Ben: Ugh, okay. So, I made a reservation for myself at the King Falls best f-(beep)-ing Froggery the same night as your video taped date with Emily. 

Greg: Keep going.

Ben: Jack-In-The-Box-Jesus, this is ridiculous. Sammy, I made a reservation and I made a scene! The end.

Greg: Details, heathen!

Sammy: Details would be nice here, Ben. 

Ben: So, uh, (clears throat) I got there right as Emily was sitting down. 

Greg: At a table right next to ours! He requested it!

Ben: That is also true. 

Sammy: Ah.

Ben: And that’s that! I watched Greg lose his mind. Nature took its course. 

Greg: He ordered every single flambé frog special on the menu.

Ben: Yeah? So?

Greg: Everybody who’s anybody knows that that’s the most romantic frog dish in the world! And you cleaned us out!

Ben: So what? You don’t need romance on a business meeting!

Greg: You ordered twenty of those things just for you!

Ben: And I paid for twenty! What’s your point?

Greg: My point? You didn’t even eat them! You brought in Chipotle!

Ben: Yeah, man! Cause frogs are gross!

Greg: You… you’re gross!

Ben: Oh yeah?

Greg: Yeah. You’re gross! A gross heathen and I… I hate you! I hate you! Ha! I said it. I hate you.

Sammy: Guys…

Ben: I’ll do you one better- I never liked you to begin with. You creep me out. 

Sammy: Ben…

Greg: Well, heh, that’s not what your mom says.

Ben: Don’t you bring my mom into this.

Greg: Your mother things I am a fine, upstanding, entrepreneur, and model citizen!

Ben: She’s an idiot then! Sorry mom.

Greg: Heathen!

Sammy: Guys! (Clears throat) Okay so you disturbed Greg’s meeting with Emily. You ordered food you didn’t eat. I-is that it?

Ben: Basically! He lost it because I was probably in the shot of his candid camera date!

Greg: I lost my temper, but you had it coming! You get Emily whenever you want and I schedule months in advance!

Ben: Yeah, and you did it during the Valentine's Day Dance. Just real messed up, man. You’re a stalker. 

Greg: Who showed up at whose date, Ben?

Ben: I was just having dinner at my favorite sponsor’s restaurant.

Greg: You don’t even like frogs!

Ben: Nobody does!

Greg: Why don’t you tell them how you got escorted off the premises?

Ben: You just did, idiot!

Sammy: If you were just eating, or not eating as the case may be, how did they have the grounds to toss you out of Granny Frickard’s?

Ben: Ugh. I- I may have started throwing tiny hush puppies in Greg’s general direction.

Greg: You, you, you may have? Pah-lease! You were pretending to be Nolan Ryan while you’re lobbing them at my head.

Ben: You had no right to kiss Emily’s hand!

Greg: Well you wouldn’t have even known if you weren’t, you know, stalking us to begin with!

Ben: Yeah? Well, uh, stay away from Emily!

Greg: Well I won’t have a problem doing that since she hates us both.

Sammy: I’m sorry, what’s that, Greg?

Ben: Can we move on… please.

Greg: Emily left in a huff and said she wasn’t a prize to be won. Totally thought she was roleplaying and I called her princess Jasmine… Which she also didn’t appreciate… 

Ben: Nice touch, dumbass. Referencing Aladdin don’t make it right.

Greg: It’s kind of ludicrous when you think about it. I mean, she is a prize to be one. She’s the trophiest of trophy wives to ever be trophy won!

Ben: She’s pretty mad, Sammy.

Sammy: It sounds like she kinda should be…

Ben: She probably hates me now, man. Stupid stunt…

Sammy: I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, Ben.

Greg: Oh yeah, she hates him big time. I mean, she hates us both, but it’s basically a win for me. She was only lukewarm to my intentions but she can’t stand Ben now. She’ll eventually come back around to the Frog Prince if, uh, he’s out of the picture.

Ben: Greg.

Greg: I’ll take your apology on air, Ben. But I would also like it written on a nice piece of cardstock so I can show it to Granny.

Ben: I sincerely hope that you catch a frog-based STD and die.

Greg: And I hope that you find another perfect woman to fall head over heels in love with, Ben, because you just struck out. You stuck out big time.

Ben: You’re an imbecile! Nobody likes eating frogs! It’s 2016, Greg! You’re gross!

Greg: Ha! Shows what you know. Some cultures consider frogs the poultry of the pond.

Ben: Literally no cultures say that!

Greg: Oh yeah? Well ask Kirk Sycamore when he comes on, he’ll show you.

Ben: I’m not asking anybody anything.

Sammy: Greg, I think it’s best if we part ways for the night.

Greg: Fine! No skin off my bubble butt! Later haters!

[The sound of a phone hanging up]

Sammy: I think-

Ben: Can we just go to commercial, Sammy? I just- I can’t right now.

Sammy: D-do you want to? Is that on schedule?

Ben: No! And, no… Ugh, just take a couple more calls before the bird man pops in.

Sammy: Lucky line one you’re live on-

Caller: Hi, Sammy. Hi, Ben…

Sammy: Good evening, Emily. I assume you’ve been listening.

Emily. I’ve been listening.

Sammy: You know what, let me put you on hold so you can talk to Ben off the air.

Emily: No! I’d like to talk to Ben on the air, if you don’t mind, Sammy.

Sammy: You know, I uh… Ben?

Ben: Uh, whatever you want, Emily.

Emily: Okay, you know I don’t hate you, Ben. Far, far from it.

Ben: I’m so sorry Emily. I just, I lost it sitting there, thinking that you were all alone with that creep and-

Emily: You acted like a real ass.

Ben: I know I did!

Emily: I’m not a child, Ben. When I told you that I would love to go to the dance with you, that was the truth. But when I also told you that I was a woman of my word and was going to honor my prior engagements, as stupid and contrived as they were, I meant that too.

Ben: I just-

Emily: You acted like an ass!

Ben: I know, but-

Emily: There’s no explanation that will make this better, Ben! You acted like a jealous boyfriend and I’m not sure if you know this, but you aren’t my boyfriend.

Ben: Can I just say-

Emily: Even if I wanted you to be before, you aren’t. So you have no right to act like this!

Ben: (Pausing) You wanted me to be your boyfriend?

Emily: Before the incident there was no doubt about it.

Ben: After?

Emily: I- I- uh- I can’t let my feelings override the fact that you treated me like a kid, Ben. I am a grown woman! I am a professional woman. I don’t need some white knight to save me from the likes of Greg! And while I appreciate the idea behind it, like I said to you and I said to Greg, I am a person! I have feelings! I’m not a prize to be won! 

Ben: I really messed this up, I’m… I’m sorry. Emily if you’ll just-

Emily: I just- I need some time to evaluate what the next step is. 

Ben: Because you hate me.

Emily: No! Bec- because I lo- I strongly strongly like, probably definitely on the verge of more. I mean, I was scared to death that you were hurt or worse during Lincoln’s revenge! But I was scared even more when I saw you acting like a high school bully during that meeting. 

Ben: You strongly strongly like me?

Emily: I do. But it’s, it’s gonna be a little bit before I can trust you to be okay with that.

Ben: I understand. 

Emily: But I… I wasn’t going to let another minute go by of you think that I hated you. Cause I don’t. But you really need to fix this.

Ben: And I will. I- I promise.

Emily: I hope so. (pause) Ah, goodnight, Sammy. Ben.

Sammy: Goodnight, Emily. We will talk soon.

Emily: I’m sure of it. Ah, I actually wanted to talk to you about being one of the library’s spring break speakers soon. I’ll send you an email.

Sammy: Oh, please do. Anything to get the kids back in the library after, you know, Lincoln’s revenge…

Emily: Thanks, Sammy. Goodnight, guys.

Ben: Hey- hey, Emily?

[The sound of a phone hanging up with a beeping that slowly fades out. The King Falls outro music and credits begin.]

References:

Nolan Ryan: a baseball pitcher.

The Big Bang Theory: A television show.

Edward Scissorhands: a charactor from an old fantasy movie by the same name about a man who had scissors for hands.

Harlequin novels: a trashy romance story.

Characters:

Sammy Stevens, Ben Arnold, Troy, Greg Frickard, Emily Potter, Pete Meyers, Beauregard, Ernie Salsado.

#king falls am #king falls am podcast #podcast #podcast transcript #transcript #king falls am transcript #king falls transcript #king falls podcast

[dovebuffy92]

https://www.fanbolt.com/113723/for-all-mankind-season-2-review-cold-war-friendships/

For All Mankind Season 2, created by Ronald D Moore, reveals that man’s journey to the moon both turns the Cold War piping hot and brings people with disparate points of view together. The second season takes place a decade later, in the 1980s.

Ed Baldwin is now the chief of the Astronaut office; his wife Karen owns The Outpost bar, and they have an adopted seventeen-year-old daughter, Vietnamese American Kelly. Ellen Wilson is about to return home from a long stint as the commander of the Jamestown Base on the moon to become a NASA administrator. Tracy Stevens is a super-star astronaut who wears fancy dresses on talk shows while her ex-husband Gordo drinks away his depression. Molly Cobb is secretly flooded with radiation on the moon after an hour outside during a solar storm rescuing Dutch astronaut Wubbo Johannes Ockels. After being benched for a decade, Danielle Poole is itching to go back to space. All the astronauts struggle to find their place in this new decade.

The sexual affair between Karen Baldwin and Danny Stevens makes zero sense. Karen and Ed’s marriage has been struggling since their eleven-year-old son Shane died in 1974. The fact that Ed was not home when Shane died nearly led to their divorce. They stayed together to raise their Kelly. Kelly is a senior in high school applying to the Naval Academy at Annapolis because she wants to be like her father. Ed has been staying home all these years because of his guilt over being on the moon during Shane’s car accident. Kelly and Karen permit him to return to the moon after seeing how eaten up he has been staying home all these years. Karen can’t deal with her husband risking his life for the Pathfinder Mission. She sells the Outpost Bar to Sam, so all of her tethers to her everyday life are cut away.

So, it does make sense that Karen has an affair, but with a stranger, not Danny. First off, Danny was best friends with her son Shane. Karen raised both boys since Danny’s parents Tracey and Gordo, are active astronauts. In the 1970s, Tracey could no longer stay home with her son after school because she started training. So, Karen and Danny have more of a mother-son relationship than a friendship. Secondly, Karen hasn’t shown any romantic attraction to the twenty-so-year-old young Naval Academy cadet for most of the season. Danny works as a part-time waiter at the Outpost, and he is only a couple of years older than her daughter Kelly, and he must remind her of Shane. If Ronald D. Moore wanted one big push to implode the Baldwin’s marriage, then she should have had an affair with a customer at the bar or just broke down over Ed returning to space. Danny’s crush on Karen makes sense, but not her feelings for him. Danny and Kelly having sex even one time is genuinely bizarre.

This season of For All Mankind dove deeper into the Cold War, the Apollo-Soyuz mission is a perfect vehicle for that exploration. The Apollo-Soyuz mission is based on an actual historical 1975 event that marked the end of the space race when the two modules docked together, and the Soviets and Americans shook hands. In the fictional and actual world, the mission is designed to promote peace between the Soviet Union and the United States. Throughout the second season, Danielle desperately tries to make the mission happen. As a Black woman, Danielle feels both the responsibility and desire to command a mission since she sacrificed her career to help Gordo hide his mental breakdown.

The Apollo-Soyuz is primarily a ceremonial mission but is her only opportunity for command. Danielle bonds with the cosmonauts over beer, burgers, cheers for lost comrades, pride over their space programs, and Laika, the Soviet dog who died sacrificing for the people she loved. Even though these cosmonauts and astronauts are supposed to be enemies, their common humanity wins out. Danielle puts up with being locked up in Star City, USSR. The Soviet Union officials kept the astronauts as hostages after a Soviet jet shot down a South Korean commercial airplane full of American passengers, including the head of NASA, Thomas Paine. The Soviets keep the astronaut’s prisoners to stop the Americans from retaliating. Calm heads win out. A secret agent lets her out after discussing how the mission could change the world. Apollo and Soyuz are stuck rotating Earth’s orbit when the modules finally launch because, supposedly, the Soviets have some mechanical error. The two crews speak together through the radios.

Meanwhile, the reasons for the delay become apparent, the American armed spacecraft Pathfinder and Soviet spacecraft Buran fly to the dark side of the moon, ready to launch missiles at each other if the other acts aggressively. The United States preps for a nuclear strike. Margo orders Danielle to land back on Earth, but she refuses. Instead, Apollo and Soyuz, against orders, conduct their mission of peace. They all shake each other’s hands after connecting the modules on national television. All of them are smiling in real celebration. Regan warms at the sights of the cosmonauts and astronauts shaking each other’s hands and calls for peace. Nuclear war is avoided. Moments of real friendship through collaboration can lead to understanding.

I would recommend For All Mankind Season 2 for lovers of alternative history and space program fans. The more extensive introduction of the Soviet Union this season explores the fundamental tensions of the cold war and the explosive “warm” space race that we narrowly avoided.

#tv review #tv reviews #apple tv plus #for all mankind #for all mankind season 2 #blogger #fanbolt #astronout #cosmonaut #soviet union #nasa #apollo #soyuz #danielle poole #gordo stevens #tracey stevens #molly cobb #karen baldwin #danny stevens #ed baldwin

[aion-rsa]

Sasquatch: Hulu Docuseries Director on Murder by Bigfoot

https://ift.tt/3ao8xI2

Some legends are so powerful they can never die, but they might be able to kill. That is a pervading idea behind Sasquatch, Hulu’s three-part murder-mystery documentary that explores a strange story of the famous cryptid tearing three men limb from limb on a pot farm in Northern California’s Emerald Triangle.

Fittingly premiering on April 20 a.k.a. the weed holiday “420” the series is told through the eyes of investigative journalist David Holthouse. A man who has built his career chasing monstrous humans, such as Neo-Nazis and sexual predators, Holthouse heard of these Bigfoot murders back in 1993 while laying low to avoid some gangs, and passing time working on the farms in the Redwoods. Now, nearly three decades later, he revisits the region to further uncover the truth behind the story.

Directed by Joshua Rofé (Lorena), and produced by Duplass Brothers Productions (Wild, Wild Country), Sasquatch is more than a monster hunt. It does dig into Bigfoot culture, and features interviews with notable squatcher James “Bobo” Fay (Finding Bigfoot), anatomy and anthropology researcher Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum — and even Bob Gimlin, one-half of the Patterson-Gimlin film, the most famous supposed Bigfoot video ever. But the series is likewise an exploration of the illegal marijuana trade in the Emerald Triangle. A haven to where the hippies of the 1960s counterculture once escaped, parts of the three counties that make up the triangle — Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino — have become off-the-grid zones where interlopers might vanish.

While a legend of a potentially killer Bigfoot looms large over the area, crossing the wrong character equally poses a mortal danger, and the documentary conveys that palpable human threat. In this way, Sasquatch is gripping, and full of shocking revelations as it takes the viewer on a journey that’s both an examination of cryptozoology and paranormal phenomena, and a true crime investigation.

Rofé joined Den of Geek for a Paranormal Pop Culture Hour to discuss the series, and how he became connected to Holthouse’s strange tale. In the following interview the director opens up about a childhood fear of the Jersey Devil, and how that fear was nothing compared to the frightening nature of some of the people he had to interview for Hulu’s Sasquatch.

Note: Quotes edited lightly for clarity and length

Den of Geek: There are weird parallels here with Lorena, the Lorena Bobbitt documentary, because you take something you assume people know a lot about, but they really only know part of the story.

Joshua Rofé: It’s interesting, my producing partner, Steven Berger, we sort of started to realize in the last couple of years, that our M.O. is we like a story about a household name, a word that is just part of common vernacular … where you come in with a totally preconceived notion. And by the end of it, hopefully, you will never think of that name or that word the same way again.

Why Sasquatch? Was it your own pre-existing fascination?

I grew up in New Jersey. When I was a kid, we’d go to day-camp in the summer, and it was in the Pine Barrens. I grew up terrified of the Jersey Devil. You’d have one or two sleepovers a summer, where you’re camping out, and [counselors] would take you to the old canteen, which is just an abandoned shed. You think, as a nine-year-old, that this is where the Jersey Devil resides. You grow up and sort of never think about that again but it’s still in your being.

Cut to February 2018. I’m making Lorena, and I have dinner with a buddy of mine, Zach Cregger. He’s one of the executive producers on this show. His parting words to me are, “By the way, you’ve got to listen to this podcast. You’re either going to love it, or you’re going to think I’m crazy for loving it, and it’s called Sasquatch Chronicles.”

Immediately, I just had no interest. Despite what I had been sort of terrified over as a kid, with the Jersey Devil, cryptids were just, at that moment in time, they were not something that I gave much thought to. And he said, “Just listen.” 

Read more

Culture

The Golden Age of Bigfoot Movies

By Jim Knipfel

What Sasquatch Chronicles is, is people calling up with their encounter stories. The next day, I listened to one episode. By the end of four days later, I’d listened to 11 episodes, and I was not hung-up on whether or not I believed the details of the stories. That was sort of irrelevant to me. What I was immediately taken by and really overwhelmed by was I sensed authentic, visceral fear as through-line with every story, from every caller.

I started to have this conversation with myself. Am I going to make a Sasquatch something? I can’t. I make social issue documentaries. My collaborators are going to laugh at me. And then I got to this point at the end of the week, where I said, “I’m going to make a Sasquatch-centric story. I don’t know if it’s a doc, I don’t know if it’s scripted, but this is amazing. And I’m going to do something.”

In the first episode of the documentary, you reveal David hasn’t told this story before. He has plenty of insane stories but kept this one in his back pocket. Why did he tell you about it now?

Keep in mind, David was working on Lorena with me at the time. I knew that in his experience as a gonzo journalist, he had seen and done a lot of crazy things. I sent him a text, and I just said, “Hey, I promise this is the craziest text I’m going to send you for the next five years. I want to find a murder mystery that’s somehow wrapped up in a Sasquatch story and pursue it as the next project.” He texted me right back. He said, “I love it. I got one. I’ll call you in five.” And then he proceeded to tell me that story from 1993, and here we are.

This is a murder investigation of sorts, and an exploration of this outlaw territory, but you begin with interviews from that Sasquatch community. Why did you find it was necessary to include them? You could just have gone straight to the territory where these murders took place.

If we were going to try and figure out what happened with this Sasquatch murder mystery, we needed to start at ground zero. And ground zero in many was, “Well, let’s understand Bigfoot culture. Let’s understand the history of Bigfoot.” Talking to people who can explain that very credibly, particularly in the Bigfoot community, and also talking to people who when they’re telling you about their experience … it feels authentic. You never for a second think, “Oh, this person is putting me on.” You know that they believe what they’re telling you … There’s a former cop in this who, when he relays his experience, I mean, this grown man is about to cry. He is terrified just recalling it, and it’s very tough to dismiss that.

Can you walk me through the unique challenges you faced as you filmed in this pretty dangerous Mendocino area?

All of the credit for that goes to David Holthouse. That’s his work, that’s his reporting, that’s his skillful and relentless development of sources, and frankly, putting himself in really dangerous situations when there was no camera present.

There’d be moments where we would be up there in Northern California, and maybe the next day was an interview with a Squatcher. Certainly, not somebody in the criminal underworld. [The crew] leaves the hotel, 8:00 AM, to get to somebody’s place. David, that night before, was going to meet a potential source, very much from that underworld and say, “Here’s where I’m going to be. If you don’t hear from me by this time, that’s bad.” 

I remember just sitting, wide awake till two, three in the morning, just waiting for that text message, “I’m out. I’m safe. I’m heading back to the hotel. I’m good.” So there was a lot of that, and then there was a lot of, when we were in the places that we were, sort of being overcome with this feeling of, “We better not overstay our welcome, because we’re not welcome here to begin with essentially.” And so, that was a new experience.

Do you think some of these folks up there in the Emerald Triangle, legitimately do believe in the existence of Sasquatch?

Absolutely. There are a ton of people up there who believe in the existence of Sasquatch, and they would base that on experiences they will tell you they’ve had. There’s a line David has in the show, where he talks about the belief in the supernatural up there, meaning Northern California, deep in those woods, running on a higher vibration.

You said that you hadn’t really previously experienced this kind of threat of danger with your work. Was this something that David tried to prep you for?

It was more conversation, sort of as a group, of, “Do we need security?” … Actually, you know what? I haven’t thought about this since it happened. We looked into hiring security. Nobody would go. Nobody would go, and it was something more or less like, if it’s going to go down, it’s going to go down.

I don’t remember David prepping us, so much as those conversations as a group, but I think everybody just understood. I think a big rule for me personally, and my crews, when we’re shooting docs is, somebody’s letting us in their home. Man, I don’t care if you have totally different political beliefs, I don’t care what. Someone’s letting us in their home. It’s like please and thank you, and take your shoes off, and be respectful. It was kind of that on steroids for this, which is, “Oh, and somebody might have an AR-15 in the bedroom, so everybody just behave yourself.”

…And the answers to our original question of, “What happened the day that these people claimed a Sasquatch murdered these people?” Well, some of those people were going to potentially hold the answers.

Let me backtrack a little bit to the hardcore Bigfoot stuff because you do talk to Bob Gimlin as well as Bob Hieronimus, who claims he was the guy in a Bigfoot suit. Did you walk away, finding one or the other slightly more reliable?

Oh, I don’t want to answer this one … I think there are going to be people who are going to believe both of these guys. These guys are in their eighties now, and — we’re going into very mild spoilers, but it’s one of my favorite things in the show, actually — there’s a real rivalry that is clearly decades old between the two of them, and it turns out they live down the street from each other, which is amazing. It’s a wild dynamic between the two of them, for sure. As surly as they get when they can be talking about each other, they’re both the nicest guys. They’re both the nicest guys, so welcoming, so thoughtful.

From that nine-year-old kid, camping in the Pine Barrens, terrified of the Jersey Devil, to now being on the other side of this three-part documentary, what is your takeaway about the power of legends?

Like you were saying, from being a kid who was afraid, camping in the Pine Barrens, to then listening to those stories on Sasquatch Chronicles, and hearing that visceral fear from these folks, to then making this and being in those woods — and feeling fear again. I think fear is a very powerful tool, and legends are often born out of people feeling afraid or wanting to make others feel afraid for specific reasons. And that’s where the real story lies, I think, a lot of times. I’m not coming down definitively on the existence of whatever or not, but people like to wield fear in the name of control. I think that’s where a lot of legends are born, and I personally find that endlessly fascinating.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Sasquatch, the three-part documentary directed and executive produced by Joshua Rofé, and produced by Duplass Brothers Productions is available to stream on Hulu now.

The post Sasquatch: Hulu Docuseries Director on Murder by Bigfoot appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3ek9B0D

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[littlemusicreviews]

200 Best Songs of the 2010s

200. Neon Indian – “Annie”

199. Hop Along – “Somewhere A Judge”

198. Empress Of – “Standard”

197. Mitski – “Townie”

196. The 1975 – “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)”

195. Jessica Mauboy (feat. Ludacris) – “Saturday Night”

194. Sheer Mag – “Worth The Tears”

193. The Range – “Florida”

192. Tove Lo – “Disco Tits”

191. Jamie xx (feat. Young Thug & Popcaan) – “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)

190. Florence + The Machine – “Queen Of Peace”

189. School ’94 – “Common Sense”

188. Majical Cloudz – “Heavy”

187. Years & Years – “All For You”

186. Sleigh Bells – “Sugarcane”

185. Britney Spears – “Man On The Moon”

184. Miike Snow – “Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)”

183. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”

182. Taylor Swift – “Cruel Summer”

181. Animal Collective – “FloriDada”

180. easyFun – “Blink”

179. Kacey Musgraves – “Dime Store Cowgirl”

178. Lykke Li – “Gunshot”

177. Lana Del Rey – “Ride”

176. Elliphant – “Not Ready”

175. Phoenix – “Chloroform”

174. Kim Petras – “Hillside Boys”

173. Natalia Kills – “Free”

172. Chelsea Wolfe – “After The Fall”

171. Sky Ferreira – “One”

170. Charli XCX – “You (Ha Ha Ha)”

169. CHAI – “Feel The Beat”

168. Lim Kim – “Awoo”

167. Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

166. Liz – “When I Rule The World”

165. Normani – “Motivation”

164. Teyana Taylor – “WTP”

163. Mac DeMarco – “Passing Out Pieces”

162. Sam Smith – “I’m Not The Only One”

161. Icona Pop – “Light Me Up”

160. Jessie J – “Domino”

159. Phantogram – “Don’t Move”

158. Miguel – “Adorn”

157. Susanne Sundfør – “White Foxes”

156. Kero Kero Bonito – “Picture This”

155. Crystal Castles – “Celestica”

154. Alexis Jordan – “Happiness”

153. Sharon Van Etten – “Your Love Is Killing Me”

152. Solange – “Losing You”

151. Washed Out – “All I Know”

150. Caribou – “Odessa”

149. Beyoncé – “XO”

148. Georgia – “About Work The Dancefloor”

147. Jamila Woods – “Blk Girl Soldier”

146. Empress Of – “When I’m With Him”

145. A$AP Rocky (feat. Skrillex) – “Wild For The Night”

144. Dreamtrak – “Odyssey, Pt. 2 (A. G. Cook Remix)”

143. SBTRKT (feat. Little Dragon) – “Wildfire”

142. Avril Lavigne – “What The Hell”

141. Cults – “Oh My God”

140. Alvvays – “Archie, Marry Me”

139. Kacey Musgraves – “Slow Burn”

138. James Blake (feat. Bon Iver) – “I Need A Forest Fire”

137. Charli XCX (feat. MØ) – “3AM (Pull Up)”

136. Sir Babygirl – “Pink Lite”

135. CEO – “Illuminata”

134. Katy Perry – “Teenage Dream”

133. Japanese Breakfast – “Rugged Country”

132. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Cut To The Feeling”

131. SOPHIE – “Bipp”

130. Charli XCX – “Vroom Vroom”

129. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”

128. A. G. Cook (feat. Hannah Diamond) – “Keri Baby”

127. Julianna Barwick – “Vow”

126. Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”

125. Hatchie – “Sleep”

124. Ke$ha – “Die Young”

123. Blanck Mass – “Please”

122. B.o.B (feat. Hayley Williams) – “Airplanes”

121. The Wonder Years – “Passing Through A Screen Door”

120. Sevdaliza – “Hubris”

119. Tobias Jesso Jr. – “How Could You Babe”

118. Kanye West (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) – “Monster”

117. Joanna Newsom – “Anecdotes”

116. Purity Ring – “Stranger Than Earth”

115. Vampire Weekend – “Unbearably White”

114. Local Natives – “Heavy Feet”

113. Last Dinosaurs – “Andy”

112. fun. – “Some Nights”

111. Danny Brown – “Ain’t It Funny”

110. Neon Indian – “Polish Girl”

109. Regina Spektor – “The Light”

108. Rhye – “Open”

107. Lana Del Rey – “Brooklyn Baby”

106. hellogoodbye – “Finding Something To Do”

105. Bruno Mars – “Just The Way You Are”

104. Bon Iver – “Holocene”

103. CHVRCHES – “Clearest Blue”

102. Mount Eerie – “Seaweed”

101. Fiona Apple – “Werewolf”

100. Edward Maya (feat. Vika Jigulina) – “Stereo Love”

99. How To Dress Well – “Words I Don’t Remember”

98. AlunaGeorge – “Your Drums, Your Love”

97. LIGHTS – “Banner”

96. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

95. Kendrick Lamar – “The Blacker The Berry”

94. Starfucker – “The White Of Noon”

93. Everything Everything – “Regret”

92. Two Door Cinema Club – “Undercover Martyn”

91. Bombay Bicycle Club – “Shuffle”

90. Marina & The Diamonds – “Oh No!”

89. Ed Sheeran – “Castle On The Hill”

88. Lykke Li – “Sadness Is A Blessing”

87. Julia Holter – “Feel You”

86. Real Estate – “Talking Backwards”

85. Tame Impala – “‘Cause I’m A Man”

84. Passion Pit – “Constant Conversations”

83. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – “PONPONPON”

82. Adele – “Someone Like You”

81. Calvin Harris – “Feel So Close”

80. You, Me, And Everyone We Know – “The Puzzle”

79. Waxahatchee – “8 Ball”

78. Grimes – “Artangels”

77. Florist – “Glowing Brightly”

76. Perfume Genius – “Mr. Peterson”

75. Sky Ferreira – “Werewolf (I Like You)”

74. Big Thief – “Forgotten Eyes”

73. Christine And The Queens – “iT”

72. Drake (feat. Rihanna) – “Take Care”

71. Autre Ne Veut – “Play By Play”

70. James Blake – “Retrograde”

69. Mitski – “Geyser”

68. Perfume Genius – “Hood”

67. Weyes Blood – “Movies”

66. Vanessa Carlton – “London”

65. Waxahatchee – “Air”

64. Crystal Castles – “Affection”

63. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”

62. Bombay Bicycle Club – “Home By Now”

61. Vampire Weekend – “White Sky”

60. Big Thief – “Mythological Beauty”

59. Ariana Grande (feat. Zedd) – “Break Free”

58. Marina & The Diamonds – “Froot”

57. Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”

56. Mayday Parade – “Stay”

55. Cee-Lo – “Fuck You”

54. Marina & The Diamonds – “Primadonna”

53. Sigur Rós – “Ísjaki”

52. Beach House – “Woo”

51. SZA – “Garden (Say It Like That)”

50. Wynter Gordon – “Dirty Talk”

49. Alt-J – “Breezeblocks”

48. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Want You In My Room”

47. Sky Ferreira – “Everything Is Embarrassing”

46. Ball Park Music – “It’s Nice To Be Alive”

45. Hundred Waters – “Wave To Anchor”

44. Florence + The Machine – “Never Let Me Go”

43. FKA twigs – “Cellophane”

42. Youth Lagoon – “Mute”

41. Ariana Grande – “Into You”

40. Of Monsters And Men – “Mountain Sound”

39. Björk – “Stonemilker”

38. Paramore – “Still Into You”

37. Future Islands – “Seasons (Waiting On You)”

36. Solange – “Cranes In The Sky”

35. Lorde – “Perfect Places”

34. Ball Park Music – “Coming Down”

33. Rihanna (feat. Drake) – “What’s My Name”

32. Perfume Genius – “Slip Away”

31. CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share”

30. SOPHIE – “Immaterial”

29. Vampire Weekend – “Hannah Hunt”

28. Sufjan Stevens – “John My Beloved”

27. A.A.L (Against All Logic) – “I Never Dream”

26. Deakin – “Good House”

25. Beach House – “Silver Soul”

24. ANOHNI – “Drone Bomb Me”

23. M83 – “Midnight City”

22. Sampha – “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano”

21. Lorde – “A World Alone”

20. Beach House – “Myth”

19. Sabrina Claudio – “Wanna Know”

18. Grimes – “Genesis”

17. Purity Ring – “Fineshrine”

16. The Wonder Years – “And Now I’m Nothing”

15. Beach House – “Sparks”

14. Hatchie – “Without A Blush”

13. Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

12. Rihanna (feat. Calvin Harris) – “We Found Love”

11. Alvvays – “In Undertow”

10. Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”

9. Frank Ocean – “Thinkin Bout You”

8. Beyoncé – “Countdown”

7. Lana Del Rey – “Born To Die”

6. Deerhunter – “Helicopter”

5. Azealia Banks (feat. Lazy Jay) – “212”

4. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Run Away With Me”

3. FKA twigs – “Two Weeks”

2. Sky Ferreira – “I Blame Myself”

1. Mitski – “Your Best American Girl”

#best songs of the 2010s #best of the 2010s #best songs #music review

[hecallsmehischild]

Recent Media Consumed

Shows

Green Eggs and Ham. Guys. Guys. GUY. I cannot sTrEsS iT eNoUgH that THIS is the Dr. Seuss adaptation everyone has been waiting for. THEY GOT HIS SOUL. THEY GOT HIS DESIGNS. THE SHOW MAKES YOU BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY PAID COMPETENT WRITERS WHO LOVE THE SOURCE. THE ANIMATION IS FLUID AND BEAUTIFUL. IT’S FUNNY. IT’S HEART WRENCHING. AND IT GIVES EVERYTHING REASONS, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, AND YES YOU CAN DEVELOP A BOOK LIKE THIS INTO A FULL NETFLIX SERIES WHEN YOU PAY THE WRITERS RIGHT. THE SOUNDTRACK EVEN, THE SOUNDTRACK. In conclusion this was amazing and I cannot WAIT for season 2. YEAH YOU HEARD ME, THERE’S A SESON 2 IN THE WORKS AND IT EVEN MAKES SENSE WHY.

Air TV. Re-watch. I think that not all of it makes sense, but it still yanks my heartstrings hard. I dropped it two points on my rating scale, but it’s still a good series to watch. And very painful. You don’t need to understand everything to get the feelz of this anime. Though some things made MORE sense this time since I knew that this anime was adapted from a visual novel dating sim. Certain plot structures, decisions, and even dialogue make perfect sense, but only in that context.

Chobits. I watched this anime once through in college and thought I was never coming back to this, but decided to go on a cringe fest together with Sergey, who watched it around the same time period but ditched it by the infamous “panties” episode. Funny thing is, both of us agree that it’s a lot better than we remember. Yes, it is fan service central, but if the show could stop squealing over boobs for ten seconds at a time, there’s a legitimately deep and tender love story here. But, you know, they won’t, so brace yourself to roll eyes or squirm every other minute.

John Mulaney (Kid Gorgeous at Radio City, The Comeback Kid, New In Town.) My favorite was New In Town. I like bits of each act, other bits made me sad for inexplicable reasons, but it was interesting to watch three acts by Tumblr’s darling.

Movies

Inception. Seen it once but man. It’s as good as I remember. Love the creativity of this.

Just Mercy. Deserves all the praise it’s getting. Beautiful. Painful. Though the conclusion I walk away with is still not “death penalty is bad” it’s “defense representation is busted and needs fixing.”

Turbo. I remember when I first saw this. It was one of those movies I was really unsure about since it just looked so… dumb. Took me by surprise in all the good ways, and it’s still good.

Books

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh (Audible). This is one of those books I have a hard time expressing my thoughts on. It’s hard. Painful to listen to. Fascinating. Shocking. A rogue sociologist spends six years getting to know the inner workings of a Chicago street gang? Definitely not my usual. But stunning. I hope, one day, this book sparks a solution for the problems this book lays open, both the obvious and subtler ones.

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Revised and Expanded edition) (Audible). I got a little thrown in chapter 3 when these guys cross referenced several events from Gang Leader for a Day and got some details… different? So I’m not sure about a couple of the details (the name of the gang was different and the fate of one member was different) but this book is fascinating and disturbing, and sheds a whole new light on the way people think and their motivations with questions like, how are the Klu Klux Klan similar to real estate agents? Or, what do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common? The chapter on names was very dry, to me, but aside from that chapter, economics has never been so interesting. Be prepared to either set your morality aside or be mortally offended, however. The authors do not care about morality or your feelings. They ask questions and seek answers. And while some of the conclusions deeply disturb me, I do admire a dedicated search for truth in spite of what people will think.

Games

Life is Strange 2 (chapter 5). So this is a great story, and I loved the details woven into all the endings. I still walked away melancholy and depressed. It’s a good game, but I feel the weight of the whole of it. Also, could have done without a few more of the cardboard cutouts. But. At least those weren’t the only types of character portrayals.

Inside. This has been on the list to do forever. The mechanics are very simple and you have very limited actions. Nothing is explained to you. You are dropped into a situation you do not understand and you just try to survive and figure out how to move forward. Fortunately there is an extremely forgiving death save system, so you lose pretty much zero progress whenever you die. You are merely taken back to right before the life-endangering situation began. The atmosphere is confusing, frightening, and dark. The story gets darker the further in you go. It’s a short game, but really good. Unfortunately we got the bad ending on the first playthrough, and have to go back and replay, finding all of the machines to break along the way, in order to get the good ending. The bad ending is horrific, let me tell you...

#child loves movies #child loves anime #n00b gamer child #child loves books

[xxkellsvixen19xx]

You are Michael's partner/one & only/second-in-charge. You & Outpost Michael have gotten into an argument regarding the selections & you've had enough of him having the last word. While he's away from your chamber, you pack up & secretly leave the bunker towards the next Outpost without a word of where you're going. Michael immediately senses your absence and ... how will he react to this? 🤔

Breach Michael x Reader

Word Count 1,895

A/N: absolutely loved this concept enjoyed working with it!

Requested by @master-langdon

It was a cold grey day in late November. The weather had changed overnight, when a backing wind brought a granite sky and the nuclear winter with it. It has officially been eighteen months since the bombs fell beginning the apocalypse.

Y/N stepped out of the carriage that had pulled up outside of Outpost 3. Looking around it could best be described as a scene out of a low budget horror movie, there was rarely much left that would pass as suitable much less look like an even remote possibility of surviving. To you it looked like ground zero and to be completely honest it left you with a rather superstitious feeling, hell it actual creeped you out.

Y/N and Michael arrived at outpost 3 it was the fourth one they have visited that actually had even.an inkling of any survivors. The first three outposts they has been either abandoned, destroyed or in the case of the output they visited in Syracuse New York the survivors had been massacred.

Y/N stood inside the main commons area a little later on. Michael glided across the floor im stealth like movement. The nervous faces of the survivors watched in anticipation

Michael spoke up piercing the dead silence that had fallen across the room. “My name is Langdon and I represent the Cooperative, I won't sugar coat the situation humanity is on the brink. My arrival here is critical to the future of your survival.”

When leadership from the Cooperative arrive it was a moment that caught everyone by surprise. Michael is Venable's superior within the Cooperative, she was unaware that a representative had any intentions of course unexpectedly, Michael stood in front of the fire in the commons area. He says the other outposts had been overrun — by what, he didn't specify — and that Outpost 3 is the only surviving beacon besides another mysterious "facility" that he now wants to whisk some of the survivors to.

The questions started firing out one after the other, where was this 'sanctuary. Was there enough food supplies tp last, ect.. ect. Michael turned his head cocking it to the side, he looked stoic showing no sign of commotion. “Classified!” He responded sharply. A few more questions were asked, each receiving that same answer.. “It should take a few days at the most to conduct my interviews and can inform everyone of the results shortly after.

Michael and Y/N had been involved in a relationship for years on both a professional level as well as personal. You served as a second in command to Michael as your role in the Cooperative. They both held in their possession ID cards that contain their signatures. Michael's saying"President" and yours "Chancellor" of the Cooperative, as well as having ID numbers, ranking numbers, and other coding. Your role being that it is second in command means that in the event that Michael that was unable to or not present to carry out the work of the Cooperative then you would act in his place.

There were times that you both equally worked together, but when Y/N and Michael started to pay visits to the outposts to conduct the interviews you noticed that Michael was adamant about doing these interviews himself. You tried on multiple occasions to offer your help because honestly you felt like why should one person be bogged down with all that work it's stressful. Michael often spent late hours either conducting interviews or he was going over files or emails in his laptop.

It wasn't uncommon for you to loiter around the passageways or close to his office door to hear that was discussed between him and the survivor being questioned at that time. Y/N paid attention and absorbed info that she retained to be able to formulate your own observation/opinion as well. Normally you two were able to talk to each other when it came to any matters pertaining to the Cooperative. Y/N and Michael had that dynamic where they could talk to one another, discuss options, offer insight and work together for results. You couldn't understand why Michael seemed to be keeping you 'in the dark’ when it came to the interviews and the information revolving around it. At first you didn't confront him about anything. You stayed pretty closed lipped, knowing that given time you would bring it up. Timing was everything when it came to approaching Michael with something Y/N know was viewed as controversial and or possibly sensitive.

Y/N at various points of time had the opportunity to gain enough info on each of the survivors of Outpost 3. You weren't certain who Michael in his opinion deemed as worthy to join you both at the sanctuary. Ultimately when it came to making choices you were known to think practically and logically. You took into consideration with each person their strengths, weaknesses, the positive and the negative.

Y/N approached Michael carefully, you happen to catch him in a halfway decent mood so you hoped that maybe that since you were discussing this that maybe it would be done so in a civilized manner. “I take it the interview process must be completed.” You observed. “Just about, got a few more to take place tomorrow evening. I may some in mind though but waiting to see after I complete the final ones though.” He responded not looking up from his laptop. You had paid careful attention to who he had already interviewed, you knew exactly when and who as most of the interviews took place when everyone was gathered in the commons area. You would watch as Mrs. Mead approached each party saying “Mr. Langdon wishes to speak with you.” The only two people left yet to be interviewed was Mallory (the grey) and Andre Dinah Stevens son.

You were vaguely curious as to who Michael had in mind or thought to be worthy. “Oh really… who are the possible viable candidates if you don't mind me asking.” You asked carefully silently hoping that he would answer. Michael paused momentarily to briefly look up at you, “Mrs St Pierre Vanderbilt and Gallant.” Your jaw dropped slightly and your eyes held a shocked expression. You just as quickly regained your composer praying that Michael hadn't witnessed your initial reaction of absolute shock. “I have been paying attention to the inhabitants here, just from witnessing actions, overhearing conversations ect it seems to me that Mr Campbell and Emily seem to be viable.” Out of those you have had the opportunity to observe as well as overhear conversations about that those two seemed pretty decent. They seemed level headed and out of those that were currently residing there they had the most common sense.

Michael let out an amused chuckle “When we begin our journey through the new world I would rather have people with experience. Not deal with two fairly wet behind the ear young adults.” You felt your anger rise, normally you and Michael could talk to each other, or at least discuss things maturely. You took a deep breath before you spoke again…”Michael..you might want to consider this. Others may have not acted with the best of intentions—and that you might not know the whole story.” Michael's eyes flushed red, he was definitely angry. Despite the fact that you appreciated this as tactfully as possible it was clear you still somehow managed to strike a nerve with you. There was clearly some difference of opinion, which is heartening, you did your best to hide your emotions from Michael.

You made a final attempt to try and discuss this with him. “I understand it can be a slight oversight..” Pausing for a moment you tried to approach this professionally. “Maybe you haven’t finished thinking this through, the whole selection process a surprise to you, or you want to get a clearer sense of what is going on,” Michael's eyes held yours in a stare that read quite defensive, “I know what I am doing Y/N just drop it!” You could see that your difference of opinion is based partly on the differing understandings of the purpose of the purpose at hand. You didn't say anything more, it seemed clear that Michael wasn't open minded enough to listen to your point of view on this.

The next day while Michael conducted the final two interviews you remained back in the suite packing your things. Michael seemed determined to handle the selection process in his own way here, you took it upon yourself to leave before him to the next outpost. You wanted to handle things professionally and fairly, Michael however seemed to make it personal. Later on that night Michael returned back to the suite, it had been a long day. He didn't completely notice it at first, at one point he caught sight of a dresser drawer that was open ajar. Michael immediately got the sense that something was off, he opened the drawer all the way it was completely empty. Michael looked through the rest of the drawers and your side of the armoire..bare empty everything of yours no longer there. You were gone. Michael had never been so confused in his whole entire life. He didn't understand, why, why had he allowed this to get to this point?

Michael needed to see Y/N again, to speak to her but he was faced with a simple conundrum: what should I do next? Email her? Would the Cooperative or anyone know of your where abouts? Michael could only blame himself, he had let a personal vendetta get in the way of not only a professional relationship but his feelings for Y/N.

Michael POV…

‘My beloved Y/N, you are the greatest thing in my life and it breaks my heart to see that I have hurt you. I hate knowing that I have upset you. The last thing I want to do is hurt your feelings and make you feel insuperior. To make you think that your opinions hold no value. You mean the world to me. You deserve so much better than this and I promise I will make this right, Please Y/N forgive me and I hope that I can prove that I mean it when I say that I am sorry.’

An encrypted email came through from Jeff Pfister, Y/N had left heading to outpost 8 in Phoenix Arizona. Michael wasted no time on packing up his things and heading that way. He was going to make this right with you no matter what it took, you were far to important to him professionally and personally to let it end this way.

Neither Michael nor Y/N depend on the other for their feelings of self worth- they know in their heart that they are just as valuable to the world as the other. Good looking, optimistic, and they spark a light in the world that people recognize that goes beyond a normal relationship.

They are the perfect power couple...one of them is flawed, the other makes up for their weaknesses in their strength. Together they are the epitome of what anyone would desire in a relationship. They encourage goodness in the world and make it a better place by being together.

#ahs #ahs apocalypse #michael langdon #cody fern #fan fiction

[franken-fan]

More Steven!!

This is a response for @im-bad-at-life in regards to this post.

Firstly, here are links to where I bought The Nightmare TV Special and the The Last Temptation comic book. I got both off of Amazon, and they were reasonably inexpensive.

I’m throwing the response under a read-more again because it’s long again!

Who is Alice to Steven? Through the albums, it is clear that Alice is restricted to the Nightmare realm (or whatever you want to call it). Steven has a very black and white view of morality, so I like to think of Alice as the dark half of Steven. Steven really wants to be a good person, so he tries to box away his negative thoughts and this becomes Alice, who is constantly trying to get Steven to give in to that part of himself. In that respect, Alice and the Showman are the same person. Thus, Steven really wouldn’t be “saving” Alice, per-say, but by giving into Alice, Steven would be letting him out of the proverbial box. But as I said, Steven’s morals are black and white. Since he has no grey area in his views, if Steven decides to entertain the thoughts and feelings of Alice, then Alice has full control. I’ve never seen the twin theory, and I honestly don’t quite like it. The line, “You’ve only lived a minute of your life,” to me refers to how young Steven was when his life fell apart since he’d be about 7 or 8 years old (though his age at the time of When Hell Comes Home is unknown). This could also mean that Steven realizes that any chance of having a normal life died when he was that child. There is also no other reference to a sibling in any of the albums, so I don’t really see how that could work, because if that was the intent, it would DEFINITELY have come up in multiple songs.

“Which” Steven is Wind-Up Toy written for/by? To me, Wind-Up Toy comes from the point of view of older Steven (see my timeline below). He’s old enough to be self-aware of what is happening to him in the hospital, and why (to an extent). He says that he’s lost in his nightmares, so he has to be at least old enough for the first Nightmare to have come and gone. He also has to be old enough for the death penalty to have been considered for him (per the lyric, “Warden wants to fry me”). I think the lines about his parents come from him trying to rationalize his situation. He’s probably trying to repress whatever happened between himself and his parents, so he believes that they just didn’t want him, rather than him having to face whatever terror is described in When Hell Comes Home.

Who is the Black Widow? As far as the Black Widow as a character, I’ve always interpreted him as a demon/Devil sort of entity. The character is sort of drifted over in the album and movie; spiders are a very common phobia, so I think that honestly he’s mostly there for the, “OooooOOOoooO ~scary~,” shock factor. Considering the amount of time between the two albums, I doubt that The Black Widow was written with the intention of foreshadowing, but there are certainly some tie-ins to Along Came A Spider, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the album was purposely written around this character. There’s the general disrespect for humanity, as well as references to being a master manipulator (which Spider certainly is, since he’s written to be one of those disarmingly charming killers). The line, “He sits upon his throne and picks at all the bones of his husbands and his wives he’s devoured,” all but confirms the cannibalism insinuated in the Spider album (again, if you’re taking that in the literal sense). Steven is a very flighty, timid character, so I’m sure that the experience with the Widow would likely haunt him for a very long time. I have many headcannons as to how the Widow character relates to Steven and Spider, but that in itself could be its own essay-length own post.

What is the timeline of the albums in relation to Steven? This is my personal timeline for Steven, based on how I’ve been interpreting the character:

The Last Temptation: I honestly have issues placing this album. Steven is a child in this album (and in the comic), so I see this as sort of his first encounter with his nightmares, and whatever entity (Alice? The Showman? The Black Widow?) is trying to woo him down whatever dark path it has planned for him. Steven thinks he’s won and then thinks nothing of it. The muttering and disembodied voices at the end of the last track suggest otherwise.

Welcome to My Nightmare: Steven’t first nightmare of considerable magnitude. His wife tries to wake him up too suddenly and it causes him to lash out in his sleep (Steven/Years Ago/The Awakening), then he flees in realization of what he’s done (Escape). The trauma of realizing what he’s done knocks him back into his mental age regression (to approximately the same age he was when he was still at the mercy of his father), so he doesn’t get very far in his escape and the authorities catch up with him.

Wind-Up Toy: A backstory for Steven as well as an update on where he is/where he’s been. Believes his parents to still be around, and confirms that he’s still in and out of his nightmares.

Goes to Hell: A continuation of his nightmares, most likely still hospitalized. Steven gives into the insidious entity of Alice in his nightmares, and goes from being the innocent, child-minded boy to what eventually becomes the Spider and escapes OR Steven gets totally lost in the part of his psyche that wants vengeance for all of the abuse he’s endure in his life and has the Spider nightmare (depending on your interpretation).

Along Came A Spider: The Spider plot line. Spider commits his crimes after escaping at the end of Goes to Hell and is captured, and the album is told from his point of view as a confession OR Steven is narrating his most violent nightmare, still being hospitalized. I like the idea of the last victim in this nightmare being the projection of his wife.

Welcome 2 My Nightmare: Spider escapes OR Steven is released. This nightmare is him looking over his life experiences, and he must know his death is coming because he so aggressively avoids falling asleep for one last time. Steven finally falls asleep after trying to stay awake on caffeine pills and shocking himself awake in the cold shower, so I think his whole system finally gave out from the stress (maybe a combination of caffeine overdose and hypothermia?). Someone gets to him in time to get him to a hospital, or at least an ambulance, because he dies on a monitor (Flatline).

Quick Answers:These are just answers so some of the “quick” questions posed in that response. Who is the voice at the end of Wind-Up Toy? Honestly, I don’t really know! It sounds like a child, for sure. As I like to view the song being written from the point of view of older Steven (in the hospital), I like to see that voice as being Steven’s younger self calling out to him. Disembodied voices are featured a lot in Steven songs (i.e. Years Ago, Steven, Wind-Up Toy, I Am the Spider, etc.), and I honestly think that it’s mostly for the creepy effect, if anything (which is nice because it leaves them open to interpretation). Could there be a connection to Ballad of Dwight Fry? Obviously, Dwight Fry predates Steven by a few years, but I do agree that the character in the song and Steven are eerily similar. It is very likely that Dwight Fry was the prequel/inspiration for the direction Steven’s character would take. What about DaDa? I have ALWAYS loved DaDa, and honestly YES, there are some spots on there that I personally think connect to Steven (mind you, this was the last of the” blackout” era albums, and Alice says he doesn’t even remember making or touring those albums, so if there was some connection there, it was probably unintentional). The three tracks that I always zero in on are Dada, Enough’s Enough (another look into Steven’s family life?), and Dyslexia (which talks about his world constantly “going upside-down”, seeing things “backwards”, and a potential love interest).

#ok so its not as long at the first one but still lmao #alice cooper #steven bby #sorry this took so long!! i had a take home exam last weekend that threw me off my game!

[unimpressedperson]

The "Twenties" Trouble

Hey fam, look who is back in the house. And today on my TED talk, let's discuss a huge matter to me: The Twenties Trouble (hehe bad pun alert, but I'm gonna spill a whole lot of Ts here, mama).

First question usually pointed out, or not so usually considering it's the first time I use that expression: What is "The Twenties Trouble"? Well, plain and simple as a fucking waterfall crushing your skull with all the pressure, aging is easy. You live years goofing around, catching colds and bees, rolling and scratching your knee on dirty streets, but there is one gap of time where the gravity suddenly fails for you, making the pressure from a whole world fall straight on your back.

Ten years exactly, that's how long TTT endures, from your 20s to 30s. It sounds dumb if you never paid a thought to age, but for most human beings becoming an adult is hard. You spend 7.299 days being young, wild and free, but in the moment clock beats midnight at your 20th birthday, you are no longer a teenager and everyone suddenly expects you to mature, grows into a proper adult, with a 9 to 5 job, or a different work scale, but gaining a whole lot of money. They expect you to find someone, engage and marry that person, buy a house and plan a family there. Everything within those 10 years ahead.

Reaching my 20s scares me. What if I am not mature enough? What if everything I lived so far worths shit? What if everything I learned and all knowledge I acquired isn't enough? What if I never find a job good enough to provide me with a satisfactory life? What if only these 10 more years aren't enough? What if I don't succeed? What if...

Well, failure is my worst phobia. Dealing with consequences of not reaching success in determined situations makes me feel ill, and it doubles, not only doubles but multiplies to ten that fear when "succeeding" is attached to "life". Oh Ma'am, nauseous and lightheaded, NAUSEOUS AND LIGHTHEADED.

It's TTT in a nutshell. The fear of becoming a 30 years old after failing at succeeding during my twenties.

Continuing, however, part of that pressure we put on those 10 years between 20 and 30 doesn't fall on us by itself, an outside factor has to help you creating and pulling it up. Someone always makes you paranoid about aging by asking simple, yet treacherous questions:

"How is your job?"

"Where is your boyfriend/girlfriend?"

"You're 20 now. Congratulations, now you are an adult."

"How much do you earn monthly?"

"Do you plan in having kids?"

"What do you mean when you say you're not with someone?"

"Oh, you didn't begin the college, yet."

Usually these question comes from an aunt or uncle you only see during holidays. Or a highly successful person, which somehow got rich and peaked at her/his twenties.

I believe that concept of succeeding during your twenties began a few centuries ago. It was perfectly justified during XVII century, when people died of common diseases we now cure with vaccines or even regular pills (if you got a flu back in then, uuuh gurl, people already dug your trench, cuz the chances of survival were pretty low), but nowadays our life expectation is way above 40s. Why should we feel pressured into conquering, marrying, having kids and living everything by our 30s, if we are expected to die over forty years later?

It makes zero sense to make young people develop ulcers caused by stress, only because they are prioritizing aspects of their lives other than reproducing and functioning like automatic machines.

Science already proved that people evolve and matures in a different rhythm. Everyone has a characteristic way learning and growing process, because no one is the same. Evolution takes time and patience. You can't learn to play piano from day to night, the same goes to personal growth.

You are going to bloom someday, maybe during your twenties, or after them. Why to bother rushing processes and being unhappy? Comparing your nurture to someone else's won't make you any good, since no flower grows at the pace. Sunflowers takes two months to fully flourish, whilst daisies takes six months. Pouring up them with toxic substances may affect that growing process or even kill it.

We are not different. Toxic thoughts won't nurture or bloom us.

If you are 19 and afraid of 20s, inhale and exhale, discover yourself before diving in an "adult life" you are not ready to experience. At least that's what I repeat to myself everyday.

Another fact: maturity has no definitive formula or result. You can consider yourself someone mature even wearing your Star Wars socks and watching Steven Universe, cuz your clothing choices won't affect how you deal with problems or go through life's challenges. Also, facing struggles alone won't make you stronger, sharing is caring, so filling yourself with every single problem without venting will only turn you into a miserable person.

Although what everyone says, becoming an adult has nothing to do with getting miserable. Adulthood can be fun and good, as long as you live a healthy life, both body and psychologically.

The end... or is it?

P:S now have a few pictures from my "mature socks"

#venting #growing up #post #ttt #the twenties trouble #midlife crisis at 19 #adult life #struggles #insecurity #bloom #nurture #tumblr #hashtag #socks #funny socks #yeah i do own a pair of socks with porgs and chewbaccas #i do love star wars #i ♡ star wars

[peachyteabuck]

vanilla

summary: after some heckling from clint and sam, you and steve discuss your kinks

pairing: sub!steve rogers x dom!reader

words:  3243 (oops)

trigger warnings: mentions of some really dirty stuff.

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

You were trying to find something to eat in your fridge, scanning the various tupperware containers for anything edible. You sighed deeply. It’s not that you weren’t hungry, it’s just that you weren’t hungry for anything you already had. Finally, you decide on a bowl of cereal and almond milk. You forgo walking all the way to the dining room table for simply eating at the counter, something your mother always scolded you for.

You were halfway through your second bowl when Clint and Sam came bursting out the elevator, followed by your boyfriend, a furiously blushing Steve Rogers.

“I can’t-” Clint stops in his tracks, clutching his stomach and almost falling to the floor.

Steve is still red in the face, and can barely get a word in before Sam interrupts him. You eat calmly, hoping the loud interaction quiets down soon. Those three could badger each other for hours, and right now, you weren’t having it.

“Seriously bro, c’mon! You really thought between nineteen-whatever and now, that sex would stay the same?” Sam is almost wheezing by the end.

You rolled your eyes, finally understanding what they were laughing at. Ever since Steve had discovered what PornHub was (which was about...three weeks ago, you had no idea how it’d taken him that long, honestly), they had been merciously teasing him.

You sighed, stood up, and used yourself as a physical barrier between your boyfriend and the others.

“Guys, leave him alone,” you scolded. “Don’t you two have training sessions with Nat?” You raised your eyebrows, daring them to disagree with you. In truth, you didn’t know what either of them had on their schedules today. And, in truth, you didn’t care. You just wanted them to stay off of Steve’s back. You know he got insecure about these things, as you’d imagine anyone would if they had to go through what he did.

They both gave out one last chuckle and scrambled their way out of the elevator. You and Natasha had worked closely throughout your time at for Stark Industries. They knew that even if they didn’t intend to spar with her, you would make it so (and maybe you whispered to Natasha to go extra hard on them, but just maybe).

You had worked with him (and a group of other therapists) extensively in an effort to get him acclimated to the 2010s, but sex, and everything in relation to it, didn’t make the cut. Maybe you thought it would be too awkward, maybe he thought it would be too awkward, maybe you were too busy explaining the anti-vaccination movement to him.

Either way, he was stuck on his own when it came to him, his dick, and what he did with it.

This also meant that you two had barely had sex in your eight month relationship. It wasn’t something you needed to have to be happy with a person, but it would...be appreciated. Still, you stuck by your man, and if he didn’t want to have sex, you didn’t have sex.

Additionally, Steve trusted you to answer any question he had (about anything he wanted to know) honestly, and to keep the conversations you had private.

So, when Steve came to your office during work hours, you didn’t really bat an eyelash. You were currently looking over some paperwork you could probably pass off to someone else, trying to figure out whether or not you should increase Bucky’s weekly therapy sessions.

Steve cleared his throat once, simply standing there, taking up almost the whole doorway. You looked up at him and smiled, inviting him to come in.

He knows the drill. He flips over the sign on your door from “COME IN!” to “DO NOT DISTURB,” and sits down on the overly plush couch across from you. You stay in your swivel chair, facing him.

“Sam and Clint asked you called me ‘daddy’ when we have…” Steve isn’t meeting your eyes as he speaks. Usually he’s pretty confident, or at least good at faking it.

Now he’s looking behind you, staring at the adornments on your desk. You know he’s looking at all of the pictures by the angle of his pupils.

His eyes catch on a few particular ones. Your childhood dog as a puppy, a picture of the skyline of your hometown.

You laugh a little, unable to contain it. It’s a desperate attempt to lighten the mood.

It doesn’t work.

“Do you want me to respond as a therapist with a PhD in trauma studies, or your loving and dedicated girlfriend?” you ask.

Steve meets your eyes now. He was just about done with the line of pictures and would’ve had to look up next. Your diplomas and awards are at an awkward angle, and he’s glad he doesn’t have to turn his neck like that.

He rambles. “I don’t know...you know I love you, right? Like, I really do. And I know we’re going slower than...than other people...but you understand, right? You understand that it’s not...it’s not because I don’t love you, it’s just...I just need…”

While he speaks, his chest rises and falls at a rapid rate. You go over to him, pulling his head to the crook in your neck.

Rubbing his back, you shush him. “I love you, too, babe…” he visibly exhales at that. “Listen, I love you, too. And I’m here for you. Don’t worry, if you want to wait, I’ll wait. I’m with you because I love you, not because I want a quick lay.”

He pulls away, smiling a little. “Thank you...let me, let me thank you…”

You’re about to protest, but he immediately stops you with one of those million-dollar smiles. “Not, I don’t mean like that...let me take you out on a date, to that restaurant you like?”

You bite your lip and smile. “That’d be great.”

The date is nice, just how everything with Steve is. That man is perfect, a ray of golden light illuminating your life.

You two speak the next morning at breakfast. You’re eating a bowl of cereal again, Steve is making an omelette. That fancy bastard.

A comforting silence falls over you two. The scrape of the whisk against the bowl, the chopping of vegetables, the sizzle of the pan.

Steve is the one who speaks first. He calls out your name softly.

“(Y/N), can I ask you a weird question?” Steve is still facing the stove. You can see his back muscles ripple through his worn pajama shirt.

You swallow the too-soggy cereal before you snap yourself back to reality. “Uh...sure.”

Steve clears his throat. “What does ‘vanilla’ mean?”

You’re shocked. You cough a little, causing half-eaten bites of your breakfast to shoot up your throat. This makes you cough viciously.

Steve turns around, going to make sure you’re okay. You can barely meet his eyes, even as you wave him off and assure him you’re fine.

You set your bowl in the sink, and hop back onto the counter.

You’re unsure of how to answer the question. It’s obvious he means vanilla in bed. It takes you a minute, but you figure brutal honesty is best, as it always is with him.

“It means,” you pause. He stares deep into your eyes. God, he’s so handsome. “It means...it means you’re not kinky.”

He turns back to the stove, turning it off. The omelette is burned a little due to your choking escapade. He still plates them before asking his next question.

“What does ‘kinky’ mean?” he takes a bite of the eggs. Chewing slowly, he watches your every move.

You speak slowly, carefully. You now understand why your parents were so awkward when you asked where babies come from.

“It means you like...you like a lot of different things in bed…” you chew your bottom lip. You have zero idea of the proper way to answer him. Explaining how much phones had changed, or what computers were, was easier than this.

“What do you mean…’a lot?’ Like, what are those things?” He asks. His voice is small, quiet. Anyone who was walking in from the common room would only be able to hear you.

In an effort to not lose your mind, you revert back to the way you taught everything to Steve: simple, small things first, then build up to more complicated ones.

Finger in the butt, and then suspension. Oral, then anal. Handjobs, then electrocution.

You take a deep breath before beginning. “There are some people who like to be...spanked...and there are people who like to spank…” Steve’s eyes are wide. He doesn’t say anything, though, so you continue. “There are also people who like to wear collars…”

After a while, Steve’s eyes go back to normal size. After going over the basics, you take his relaxed stance as a sign to go more in depth. “There are people who like to dominate, ‘dom’ for short and there are people who ‘sub,’ or take the submissive role. The dominate takes more authority, they’re in charge of the other person, or people. The submissive role is…”

You look him up and down. You’re standing now, he’s leaning against the counter. All of the food has been consumed, dirty dishes placed in the dishwasher.

You balance on your hands behind you. “Am I make sense? Should I slow down?”

Steve shakes his head. His talent for unwavering eye contact is unprecedented, and this time you’re the one who looks away. You shouldn’t do that, you’re a professional. You’re the one who explained to Steve the Civil Rights movement, both landmark Rodriguez Supreme Court cases, and  yoga pants.

This shouldn’t be this hard.

But here, in this kitchen, you’re not one of the best trauma specialists in the Western hemisphere. You’re not the woman with the PhD. You’re not the highly decorated therapist. You’re not a published author.

Here, in this kitchen, you are the girlfriend of Steven Grant Rogers. You are a flustered girl attempting to explain to your boyfriend how BDSM works.

Your conversation (which barely meets the threshold for one, since you’re doing ninety-nine percent of the talking) is only ended what feels like hours later when you get a text from Stark, asking you to meet him up in your office.

It’s that night when you’re about to go to bed that Steve finds you again. You’d assumed that, after what you had told him, that he would want time to process everything. So, you made your way back to your own apartment and got ready for bed.

You’re halfway through brushing your teeth when you hear a knock on the door. When you answer it, Steve is hunched over in the doorway. His face mirrors that of a kicked puppy.

You feel terrible.

“Did I do something wrong?” He mumbles.

Immediately, you melt. You feel so, so fucking bad.

“No,” you tell him. “Of course you didn’t.”

Steve sniffles. “Then why didn’t you come to my apartment after your meeting with Tony?”

“I thought you needed some time to process everything we talked about…” you answer honestly.

Steves shrugs. He doesn’t meet your eyes. He looks behind you again. This time, it’s not at pictures, but at your messy apartment. You practically moved into Steve’s, most of your clothes were there, most of your stuff was there, too. It was almost bare. It looked like you didn’t live there.

Truly, it was because you didn’t. Your heart and all your crap belonged with Steve and his crap.

He shakes his head. “No...I mean, I do, I need time to process, I need time to think about everything, I mean, you know this...how long, do you remember how long it took for me to figure out you weren’t lying about the water bottle industry?”

You laugh loudly at that, snorting a little.  It took him months to figure out you weren’t joking, there really were people who sold water in small containers that couldn’t be reused or recycled. Truthfully, you hadn’t used a single one since. “Yeah, that did take awhile.”

Steve sighs. Not the sigh you use when Tony refuses to see his therapist, or when Wanda steals your coffee cup from your hands. This sigh is loving, it’s relieved.

His hands come to cup your cheeks. They’re warm, firm. “Let me come in, or come up to mine. I’ll make you something, and we can take a hot bath, or whatever. I just don’t want to be not around you.”

You nod, wanting to be around him, too.

Later that night, you’re sitting in bed. He’s reading, you’re emailing back and forth with some magazine about an interview. The only sound in the room is music quietly coming from your phone on the right bedside table and your typing.

Steve is laying against pillows, while you sit upright at the end of the bed.

Just like before, Steve is the one to break the comfortable silence.

“Hey, (Y/N), you trust me, right?”

You don’t look up, thinking nothing of it. Steve, like anyone who’s been through one-sixteenth of what he has, needs a lot of reassurance. “Of course, babe,” you tell him.

His voice is more stern the second time. “(Y/N).”

You roll your eyes, but still don’t meet his. You’re not even sure what you’re looking at on your laptop screen at this point. “What?”

“Not like, ‘Oh, yeah, I can trust you not to cheat on me or murder me in my sleep.’ I mean, you do trust me?” Steve’s eyes burn into yours, and you can feel electricity dance across your skin. This must be how it feels to be struck by lightning.

Your face feels hot. You gnaw on your own lip in an attempt not to moan.

“Yeah,” your voice is just above a whisper. “Yeah...yeah, I trust...I trust you.”

Steve takes your now-closed laptop (When did you shut it? Did he close it? Did you close it?) and places it gingerly in its assigned drawer. Then he mutes your phone.

He remains laid back against the pillows and headboard, legs crossed languidly. You suddenly feel a cosmic pull to him.

Placing yourself on his lap, facing him, is the most erotic thing you’ve ever done. This really, truly, can’t get better...until it does.

“Tell me what you like…” Steve whispers it to you, but it feels it’s a megaphone in your ear. “Tell me your kinks.”

You bite your lip again, staring deep into his eyes. You’re speechless. Your jaw hangs open and your chest heaves as you desperately think of an answer.

“I...want..” is all you can choke out. Your words catch in your throat like a fly caught in a spiderweb.

Steve kisses from the edge of your shoulder to your earlobe. Once the line is finished, he sighs into your ear again. “Tell me everything (Y/N), leave nothing untold…”

You moan again. Fuck, You think. Take me now.

Taking a deep breath, you try to speak again. “I wanna fuck you. I wanna tie you up and wipe tears from your eyes while I deny you relief. I want to see big, strong Captain America reduced to a whimpering, begging mess…”

This time, Steve moans. It’s low in his throat. You want to leave bruises on his milky skin.

Steve’s eyes are screwed shut, his head leaning back. You feel his hard on through his sweatpants and your sleep shorts, which you’ve probably soaked through by now.

“Tell me more…” he manages to get out. “There’s more...there has to be more…”

You rub against him and sigh happily. “I wanna ride you, I wanna drip hot wax down your back...I wanna hear your cries of pain...I wanna ride your face until you cum just from giving me pleasure. I wanna...fuck, Steve, I wanna take care of you after, too. I wanna draw hot baths for you like you did for me and listen to your moans of pleasure as I wipe a warm washcloth across your body to clean the sweat and tears and cum off of you.”

He moans again. “Please...please that’s what I,  that’s what I want, too.”

You smile, kissing down the side of his face. Your body surges with confidence after every sweet moan reaches your ears. “All you gotta do is ask, baby…”

“God,” now his chest is heaving. You feel another shot of adrenaline, and with that, a shot of courage. Reducing a supersoldier to a whining mess is a hell of a drug.

You stop mouthing over his jugular. “Please what, baby? You gotta tell me what you want.”

Steve moans come from higher in his throat this time, and you can feel his dick twitch.

“I want…I want you to be in charge, fuck I remember the first day I met you, you were bossing Clint around, making him move stuff for you and telling him what to do. You scolded him when he dropped your shit and praised him when we did it the way you liked. Same day, you yelled at Tony to do something and he did it, just fucking did it, I’d never seen him do that before. It was, for fucking sure, the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

He doesn’t stop talking. For awhile in your early twenties, you were a sugar baby. You needed the money to pay for your path into social work. Once, a client paid off all of your student loans while you sucked his dick. That didn’t hold a candle to what was happening in front of your very eyes.

“Then after you started working with me, trying to get me used to everything, all you fucking did was boss me around. Told me what to do and where to go, always tell me the truth about stuff...the others, they skirted around bad stuff, but no, you didn’t. Told me everything. Once you came down to the gym to find Nat and me, and fuck, fuckfuckfuck, we were sparring and you complimented my stance. Almost fell to the floor right fucking there...right fucking there. God, I love you, I love you so much.”

You giggle, remembering exactly what he was talking about. That day, Natasha had a given you a file on Barnes that was incomplete. Whole sections of info was blocked out, obviously to keep someone without your level of clearance’s nose out of your patient’s business.

You went down to where FRIDAY had told you she was. You found her, just as Steve had said, sparring with him. He looked so good, sweaty and breathless. You had taken a leap, albeit an unprofessional one, and told him he looked nice. You thought he had interpreted it as sarcastic. Turns out, he knew exactly what you wanted.

You lean forward and press your lips to his, your noses brush. It’s not bruising, it’s beautiful, and loving, and sweet like nectar. You nuzzle forward and run your fingers through his hair, pulling a little. He moans and you smile devilishly.

“All we need is a safe word, and then we can get started.”

Steve smiles, too. His is more blissed out. He’s riding a high, and he never wants to come down.

You can say with certainty you don’t either.

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #marvel fanfiction #marvels the avengers #steven grant rogers #lukis writes stuff