#Gregg Re

[nothingunrealistic]

The sound of Billions, the television drama series about power and wealth in the world of high finance, is, in many ways, the sound of silence.

According to re-recording mixer, sound editor and sound designer Eric Hirsch, the mission of the Billions sound editorial and mix teams, who are based at Goldcrest Post in New York City, centers on a simple question. “What is the sound of nothing?” he says. “And how do we make it sound like nothing, but sound good?”

The answer? “It’s a rich palette of various unobtrusive things,” Hirsch says. “And every once in a while, there will be a sequence where it's a little bit more of a whiz-bang moment.”

[…]

Wall Street types value their peace and quiet, it seems. The Goldcrest team, together with the creators of Billions — Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin — plus executive producer Mike Harrop and showrunner/executive producer Beth Schacter, agreed on some basic sound design rules almost from the beginning. “Nobody’s got a phone; there's no such thing as a ringtone in this show. And you can’t hear anything from the other side of the office doors,” Swiatlowski says.

“These traders make a lot of money, and they can invest a lot of money into their offices,” he continues. “So, anytime you're in an office and the door closes, no sound is getting through. But the moment the door opens, we can hear some stuff. That makes it easy for us to prepare what the showrunners are going to want to hear in a scene and what they're not going to want to hear.”

Billions is a very talky show, so the focus is always on the dialogue, whatever else is going on in the background. “So it's about somehow managing to take anything that would interfere with the dialogue and mixing it in a fashion that you can hear it, but it doesn't compete,” Swiatlowski says. The show is mixed in 5.1, although there has been some discussion about Dolby Atmos for the future, he says.

Since many scenes take place in quiet, glass-walled offices, you might imagine that the production mixer would be challenged by reflections. “We have very controlled spaces. They do a lot of work on putting blankets over the glass, so it's not super reflective,” Swiatlowski reports. “And they will sometimes put a blanket above the actor to minimize the amount of pinging around.”

There are also plenty of scenes outside of the brokerage houses on the show, a number of them filmed in Manhattan, where the environment can’t be controlled. But very little looping is done, per the wishes of the showrunners, who would rather have noisier production dialogue than record ADR. “There are probably only 20 cues, at most, in an episode. We do as little looping as possible,” he says.

That said, there are times when ADR is needed: “Mostly it's just adding lines or fixing a story. If we can just squeeze in a word or syllable to fix up a moment, we'll do that.”

[…]

There is a lot of music in Billions. “The showrunners, particularly Brian Koppelman, have very specific tastes about needle drops, and they make liberal use of them,” Swiatlowski says. Indeed, the needle drops — previously produced songs not written for the score — have taken on a life of their own, spawning Spotify playlists of tracks by the likes of U2, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and Sly & the Family Stone as well as indie rock favorites from the Replacements, Pylon and Pixies that have featured on the show over the years.

“There are a lot of cues with very, very, very short spaces in between,” he continues. “Also, the score, by Brendan Angelides [also known as Eskmo], is just everywhere. It’s kind of aethereal, but that contributes something to the emotional nature of the scene.”

Much like the sound design, Hirsch says, the music should generally be subliminal. “It's not quite the sound of nothing, but it is sort of the same idea. You don't ever want to be thinking about it, but you want to be propelled by it.”

Their job is to make the words shine and have everything else support that, Swiatlowski stresses. But of course, when the script takes the action outside of the office environment, the Goldcrest crew can have a little fun. “Then we can get a little bit more creative with our ambiences and the things you hear.”

“One thing I found interesting is that there's the dialnorm level that we have to get to,” Hirsch says. “A lot of the time, people are having these very intense, whispered conversations. So we monitor at 77 dBSPL, a really low level, because we have to just crank the mix in order to get up to where it needs to be. And because there's so little other sound, the dialogue has to be really loud. That's been an interesting thing to figure out.”

[v1x3n]

M E E T A N D G R E E T

141 x reader ⸝⸝ navigation

୨୧ 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴 : you re-meet your old friend, johnny mctavish, but he changed - a lot - and he had brought a few friends with him, who are all part of a band!

୨୧ 𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘴 : fluff mostly - slight suggestive mentions near the end, awkward reader, nothing much!!

a scottish voice shouts above the raging music in the background, a voice you recognized. a voice that belonged to an old friend, Johnny mctavish. but what is strange is that he is with a bunch of other blokes.

a large man, not fat but built, he looms' down on you with an almost menacing stare. the only piece of him you can see is his eyes. The rest was covered by a skull balaclava, leather jacket, a skintight white t-shirt, gray baggy jeans and some spiky boots. his arms were crossed and he stood up like a brick wall, he was tall as well. he was scary if you were honest. you could see a slight black tattoo peaks out under his jacket. skeleton hands printed onto the gloves. you could see a chain leading into his white shirt, from how tight the top was you could clearly see the rounded rectangle metal through them. some type of necklace.

The man next to him was utterly gorgeous, he had large eyelashes and a little bit of stubble, his big brown eyes were luring you in - almost putting you under a spell. eyes trailing down to look at what he was wearing, he gave off more roadman, would stab you for a greggs, which was different from the man you just looked at. He wore black cargos and a gray jacket opened, showing a cropped black tank top underneath. all up his ear was done with silver piercings, he also had his belly button pierced - showing it off with the cropped shirt, a ring hung around his left nostril. a layered barbed wire necklace hung from his neck along with a black belly chain.

Then right in front of you were two guys, Johnny - your old friend and another man who looked much older than the rest, 5 maybe 7 years older than the others. He was smart though, he looked homely, he looked like he could be a settled down dad with a paid off mortgage. His warm smile could cheer up any day, his beard covering most of the bottom of his face, a white shirt covering his chest with the first few buttons undone, a silky black tie hovering on the shirt. He wore black jeans with a black belt. the handsome man had his right eyebrow pierced, other than that you couldn't see any other piercings. he didn't have any necklaces on, but his fingers were loaded with rings upon rings. on his left hand wore a pain silver one on his ring finger followed by a repetitive skull ring on his middle finger. his other hand had a thinner silver ring on his middle finger then a bone ring wrapped around his thumb.

"How are ya, lass?" the man in front of you says, snapping you out your little transe. Your old friend has changed quite a lot. He still had his silly mohawk - but it was currently a little longer, scraggly and it looked like he had been roughed up - and his stupid grin. some type of logo tattooed onto his right arm. you glance up at his face to really admire his details, a strong glare and a grown yet stubbily beard, your eyes trail down to his jaw which his stubble grew over, then down to his outfit. The man in front of you wore a cropped turtleneck tank top - Jesus - patchy cargos with a belt that held the baggy pair up, on the belt was a skull buckle. Unlike the other man who wore a cropped top, you could see Johnny's happy trail leading up to his belly button. your old friend wore some black bracelets around his wrists, johnny was definitely the most jeweled than the rest of them. around his neck was a collar - it wasn't a choker, definitely not, it was a collar. It couldn't help you think what type of kinky shit he was into. He had a septum pierced into his nose, along with a bar leading across his left ear, trailing down with a few other piercings across both ears.

"oh! I'm good! haven't seen you in so long!" you smile and quickly pull him into a hug, getting a whiff of his scent, you linger on his shoulder when he wraps his arms around you. It was kinda awkward with all his friends cucking but you chose to ignore them and focus on johnny. "How are you? you look... very different!" you choke out a laugh. obviously you weren't laughing at the style, just the change of how he used to dress.

"i look good though, divnt i?" he chuckles and a cough booms from behind him, the masked, you would say gentleman but he certainly doesn't look gentle. "hahh- yeah you do! it suits you!" you gleam and pull away from him, glancing at the other boys.

"Shite sorry, this is Simon," he points at the masked man, "kyle," the pretty guy smiles sweetly at you, "and john!" The father-like man tilts his head and grins. Johnny introduces you to the gang and they all say hi. Some voices are gruffier than the rest. "What are you here for!" you try to quietly shout over the music that slowly gets louder.

this stupid bar was a regular one you visited, you'd usually come here for the bands and occasionally the men. "We performed here earlier" the man, John said with a strong smile plastered on his face. "holy fuck! youre in a band, jj?!" you exclaim and grab onto johnny's hand.

"ye, me and these ballsacks made one together, want an autograph then, lass?" he mocks.

you laugh at him and look around at the other three brutes there, "ye four chat, i'll grab some beers" johnny says before waddling off. you gulp, looking up at the men and awkwardly smile, "sooo..." you mumble quietly.

"How do you know Johnny, sweetheart?" blushing slightly as the man, John, speaks to you. "oh! We were close friends like all our lives, went to primary and high school together" you sweetly smile as another of the men speaks, Kyle, his voice like honey whilst he looks down at you. his big brown eyes taking you all in, "how'd you two meet back then? he tricked you into bein' his mate like?" Kyle jokes.

you laugh quietly, "hah- no, uhm we were in class when we were six or seven maybe? and he sat next t' me, he gotten glue all over the table and all over himself - on the first day - so the teacher told me i had t' clean him up," you fumble with your hands, looking between simon and the rest whilst telling your story, "so i was angry at him because i couldn't play outside that day cause i had t' help him clean up. and he has been annoying me since" you let out a light laugh. you could say you two stuck together.

kyle and john chuckle whether simons eyes dont give off a tell for what emotion

"you his girlfriend, then?"

"what?" choking on air for a few seconds at the accusation. you couldn't deny that maybe you had a small thing for him in highschool but that was just confusing friendship with romance, so if you really think about it - no you didn't. "God, no! He's just a friend!" laughing slightly. the group hummed, it sounded like satisfaction.

"So no boyfriend?" Kyle confirms.

"Like at all?" an eyebrow raises, you look toward simon, who hasn't spoken yet, then towards kyle and john once more with your head slightly tilted. "erm, no, there's no boyfriend" the three of them nod.

A long awkward silence fills the bar, the only sound being the blasting music and people drunk in the background. god this was awkward, but soon johnny came back. four pints and your favorite drink. your smile coated with sugar as johnny gives you your drink, "thanks jj"

"No bother, Bonnie," he passes the other drinks out. you five quickly go find a small booth in the back to talk in, "so what were yous talkin boot?"

"jus slagging you off, Johnny" Kyle pipes up which makes you snicker and Johnny rolls his eyes. "right." he scoffs.

"I was telling them how we uhm met!" you smile and take a sip of your drink. Johnny does the make and hums, "the glue story?" a nod that signals a yes, "still not forgave you f' that, mind." you give him a jokenly glare, "it was years ago!" Johnny gasps, Kyle laughs whilst Simon's eyes flirt between the two of you. your eyes wander over to simon who has his mask ruffled up over his nose so he can drink his pint.

the masked man had a bit of stubble around his face, his lips were pinkish and god you were almost hypnotized, you couldn't see that much but it looked like a lot. he took small sips from his glass and you gaze up at his eyes which were intently looking st you, listening to each and every word you said. you gulp and quickly look away to see john, johnny and kyle talking about something. you could probably piece it all together but you were too panicked that simon had caught you staring. fuck, you didnt mean too stare for that long but you honestly hadnt expected him too look like that.

"oh, i forgot t' ask like what do yous all do in the band?" you look at them all.

"I'm the bassist and backing vocals!" Johnny peeps up, smiling widely. "drums." John hums, looking at you and taking a gulp of his pint. "guitar." Simon says, his voice gruffier - it sounded like exactly how he looked, strange. "I'm the vocalist and rhythm guitarist." Kyle smiles and winks at you.

"cool!" you smile, a finger circling your glass whilst you look between them all, "anythin i would've heard?"

"mayperhaps" Kyle grins, "here" he grumbles and pulls out his phone, showing you his band on spotify. you gasp, "oh my god! no way! My friends have talked about your band!"

the four men look at eachother, "really?" Johnny speaks. you nod as a reply, "i never really listened t' it tho.." muttering under your breath.

"Shame, you should. not t' brag but we are very good" johnny smirks, he looks you up and down, “so what you been up t’? Anythin’ fun?” you think for a second, what have you been up to? You had a few boyfriends, not anything that serious though, you uhhmm… What have you done? You sit there with your thoughts as a few of the guys look at you, they sip onto their beers as they patiently wait for a reply to Johnny's question. “Oh uhm i dunno” you hesitantly let out a slight laugh, “i moved around here and ermm… had a few jobs around the place. Right now I am working at some cafe a few blocks away” looking down at your lap, you were almost embarrassed that you were telling your old best friend, who's successful right now, that you were just working at a small cafe. It was not paid that much but you needed the job - you obviously weren't going to tell him, or any of them, that you were just getting by though.

“Oh you live round here?” John peeps up, keeping his eyes on you whilst he finishes off his pint. your eyes follow his hands as he slams his glass down. “Yeah, do yous?” Simon looks off to the side of the table, out to all the people in the bar. “No we are on a little tour right now, just around the uk” Kyle answers after gulping a large sip from his beer. “Oh! Okay!” you smile at them, “where have you been so far?” 

“Few places in London and well here, still going round though” you nod at Johnny's words. Lucky that you ran into them though, you had missed johnny and well his friends definitely weren't hard to look at. Wait wait wait, you couldnt think that, you barely knew them. They were a bunch of emos who have a band together, you only knew Johnny - and that was years ago. 

You and Johnny had stopped talking in college. Maybe you had grown apart, or something happened, perhaps it was something you had said? But long story short you and him stopped speaking, full stop. At the time you were heavily distracted by other things though so it hadnt hit you that hard, sometimes you would sit in your bed, going through old photos of you and him together. Then it would hit you hard, at that time you thought to yourself ‘yeah, i miss him’ but then you would distract yourself from that feeling. Another thing that would distract you was your boyfriend, you two had been together for quite a while actually. Johnny actually introduced you two together at the start of college, his name was Danny, but then you and Johnny stopped talking after hitting it off with danny. You would wonder if that was the reason you stopped talking, Danny, but that simply couldn't be it because he and Danny were friends, and why would jj stop talking to you just because you were dating someone? 

A voice snaps you out of your thoughts, “we should get going” a rough, gruff voice, one you only had heard once. Simon. You look up at him then your eyes trail around the table. All the drinks drank and everyone looked incredibly tired, “ah shite yeah, need t’ practise in the morning so got an early night” Kyle follows up. You nod at him, understandingly. 

“Oh okay” a disappointed hum comes from you, “bye then” you smile as the rest stand up. You stand up along with them and look at Johnny whilst he walks over to you, wrapping you into a tight hug. You could smell his cologne once more but this time he smelt more like alcohol than before. You bury your  head into the corner of his neck as his arms squeeze around you, his hands trailing down to your waist, Johnny pulls back and winks. “I'll hopefully see you again?” 

“Yeah..” you murmur, “here uhm i'll give you my number f’ if you're in town again?” you suggest, pulling out your phone and passing johnny it. Johnny quickly puts your number into his phone, he smiles.

They all say goodbye, Johnny pulls you into another long, tight hug and lets you go almost winded. Kyle puts a hand on your arm and lets it trail down your soft skin, telling you he hopes to see you later. John bends down to kiss your cheek whilst he chuckles lightly, saying it was nice to meet you before his eyes wander around your person - muttering that you should come to one of their concerts some time. But Simon only pulls his mask back over his face, back to the original position it was in. Simon's eyes look you up and down as he grumbles a small bye.

And with that you're left outside of the bar, watching them all walk off, yet something catches you off guard, Simon looks back and sees you staring once more. Embarrassing. His eyes almost glimmer, but then he looks forward once more. Scoffing as a bright blush covers your cheeks, fuck, you needed to get fucked cause you were stood looking at 3 strange men and your old bestfriend, blushing because you thought they were fit.

But luckily you would and could never act on your horny thoughts that spew in your mind because you would never see any of them again. Right? Riiight.

[yellowjacketsfashion]

The hunting knife is the “Brass Buck 120 Hunting Knife.”

For a Close Matches, there’s a couple of options available.

The picture on the left is of a a 3d printed knife replica on Etsy.

The image on the right is of a plastic “Scream” halloween prop knife that you can get at Halloween costume shops. It’s a close match because Fun Fact: the Buck knife in Yellowjackets is the same kind of knife as the one in the Scream franchise! The only real difference is the paint job but I think it would be fairly easy to repaint it.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Can you explain Jimmy Carter to an Australian

Jimmy Carter was president from 1977 to 1981. He lost re-election to Ronald Reagan in perhaps the downgrade of the century. Carter was traditionally ranked as one of our worst presidents, but that's kind of unfair, and recently some (including me) have begun to say he was underrated. I think sometimes he gets memefied into being more liberal than he actually was, but he was liberal, and he has a reputation for being more interested in peace that other US presidents. His foreign policy was mixed bag, but he did refuse to invade Iran during the hostage crisis, and I think that counts for something. The peaceful reputation is somewhat relevant to the contrast with Kissinger. The American hostages held in the embassy in Iran were released immediately after Ronald Reagan took office and Reagan fans like to claim this was because Reagan was so intimidating but Reagan didn't really do anything. The Ayatollah's government hated Carter personally because he let the deposed Shah of Iran come to the US for cancer treatment. Jimmy Carter is probably one of our best examples of a Christian president, except he's the kind of Christian who's like "peace is good and racism is bad" so the "America is a Christian country!!" people hate his guts lol.

He was also kind of chill in other ways; they called him the rock and roll president because he had some musicians campaigning for him, especially the Allman Brothers, who played a big role in his campaign. Also Gregg Allman smoked weed at the White House with Carter's son and Carter 100% knew about it.

For many years Carter's reputation has been "not a great president, but a great ex-president" because the Carter Foundation has done a lot of incredible humanitarian work, perhaps most notably nearly eradicating guinea worm, a parasitic disease. He was also personally building homes with Habitat for Humanity into his nineties. He's also known for being a peanut farmer before he got into politics. He was married to his wife Rosalynn who just died for 77 years. So he has kind of a sweet old man reputation.

He's also 99 years old, beat brain cancer once, and announced he was going into hospice, like, almost a year ago? It was a while ago, and yet he's still kicking. So that's kind of a meme too among the kind of nerd who follows these things (me).

So the tl;dr is two really old American politicians, one associated with peace and humanitarianism, one associated with war crimes.

[railwayhistorical]

The Allman Brothers Band

Re-posting this with some additional details...

When Gregg Allman (1947-2017) passed nearly seven years ago, I was driven to the negative archive to see if I had any decent shots of the man. I had attended at least two concerts in 1979, as I recall, which would put these images in the Enlightened Rouges time period. I was not thrilled with the quality of the negatives I found, but I was glad to have them nonetheless.

Gregg used his Hammond B-3 with Leslie speaker, of course, but what one sees above is an electric piano with “Hohner” printed thereon. In addition to Gregg, there are three other original members of the band playing during this time period—Dickey Betts, who can be seen playing his Gibson Les Paul, as well as both drummers: Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe) and Butch Trucks.

In the end, one can say that Gregg Allman certainly had an interesting life, with extreme highs and lows. Musically, he had a unique voice and wrote some very memorable songs. The band, which Gregg and his talented brother Duane formed in 1969, was extremely influential and enjoys a firm place in the history of rock and roll. Duane is often to be found on lists of "best guitarists" of course—he was an unusual talent, to be sure.

Three photographs by Richard Koenig.

The close-up of Gregg was taken in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on May 26th 1979. The other two: the Band from afar, with the second highlighting Dickey, were shot at Alpine Valley, near East Troy, Wisconsin, on August 18th 1979.

[nerds-yearbook]

Transformers the movie was released on August 8, 1986. Originally, G.I. Joe the movie was meant to be released first but was pushed back. Blowback from the Death of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullin) caused the producers to change the planned death of Duke (Michael Bell) in the G.I. Joe movie. Also, the commercial failure of the movie also down graded The G.I. Joe movie to straight to video/TV release. The movie was the final theatric roles of Orson Welles and Scatman Crothers. The human character Spike (Corey Burton) swore in the movie because they wanted a PG rating (The G.I. Joe movie had originally planned a scene of brief topless nudity to get their PG rating, but that was dropped somewhere in production). Seasons 1 and 2 were supposed to take place in the present, but the movie and season 3 were pushed forward 20 years in time to the year 2005. The movie not just killed off Optimus Prime, but also Ironhide (Cullen), Ratchet, Prowl (Michael Bell), Brawn (Burton), Wheeljack, Windcharger, Megatron (Frank Welker), Starscream (Christopher Collins/Chris Latta), Skywarp, Thundercracker, Shrapnel (Hal Rayle), Kickback (Clive Revill), Bombshell and (off screen) Huffer. The movie introduced Unicron (Welles), Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy), Arcee (Susan Blu), Ultra Magnus (Robert Stack), Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime (Judd Nelson), Springer (Neil Ross), Kup (Lionel Stander), Blurr (John Moschitta Jr), Wheelie, Cyclonus (Roger C Carmel), Scourge (Stan Jones), Kranix (Norman Alden), Arblus, Daniel Witwicky (David Mendenhall), the Lithones, the Shrikebats, the Sharkticons, the Quintessons, the Allicons, (the Mini-Cassettes) Eject, Rewind, (the Junkions) Wreck-Gar (Eric Idle), Junkyard, Scrapheap, Re-Cycle, Rubbish, Hazmat, Ashtray, Greasestain, Wasteoid Gamma, and Trashbin. The movie also included Astrotrain (Jack Angel), Scrapper, Swoop (both by Bell), Grimlock (Gregg Berger), Devastator (Arthur Burghardt), Shockwave (Burton), Jazz (Cruthers), Dirge (Bud Davis), Perceptor (Paul Eiding), Blitzwing (Ed Gilbert), Bumblebee (Dan Gilvezan), Blaster (Buster Jones), Cliffjumper (Casey Kasem), Laserbeak (Latta), Scavenger (Don Messick), Bonecrusher, Hook, Slag (all Ross), Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage (all Welker). Leonard Nimoy would return to the Transformers franchise in the live action reboot as the voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformer's Dark of the Moon. The sound track was very eclectic including the iconic "The Touch" by Stan Bush and "Dare to Be Stupid" by Weird Al Yankovic. The score was by Rocky IV composer Vince DiCola. While it underperformed and was controversial upon its release, the movie has since gone on to be a cult classic. ("Transformers: The Movie", Movie, Event)

[northwindow]

What are your favourite ever books

❤️ oof such a hard question! i have a strong recency bias, and almost never re-read anything. but here are some favorites:

the topeka school by ben lerner

the glass eye by jeannie vanasco

the idiot (and either/or) by elif batuman

pilgrim at tinker creek by annie dillard

amrita by banana yoshimoto

chilean poet by alejandro zambra

the outline trilogy by rachel cusk

dalva by jim harrison

shattered sonnets, love cards, and other off and back handed importunities by olena kalytiak davis

the wild iris by louise glück (goat— rip ❤️)

frank: sonnets by diane seuss

another country by james baldwin

hot milk by deborah levy

cassandra at the wedding by dorothy baker

pilgrim bell by kaveh akbar

the story of my teeth by valeria luiselli

motherhood by sheila heti

madness rack & honey by mary ruefle

the poetics of space by gaston bachelard

all of it singing by linda gregg

from from by monica youn

[deusvervewrites]

Foretell AU: I was re-reading the initial post of this AU and the bit about Midoriya being good at taking notes, which made me imagine that his handwriting is sorta like a doctor's handwriting because of how quick he makes them.

I was thinking this mostly because the other day I learned that it's not that doctors have bad handwriting, but that actually they write using an actual shorthand code that people in the fields of medicine and journalism use to make quick notes, it's called Gregg Shorthand.

Considering that he only has one hour per use of his Quirk before he loses those future vision, shorthand is actually an extremely useful skill for him to have, since any second he can save is another second he can gather information

[evengirlierballs]

What are your NITW headcanons?

I HAVE A LIST: 1. Gregg is trans and might realize that after they start living in bright harbour 2. Bea and Jackie are the best two characters to ship don't @ me. 3. The Janitor is a cryptid who just shows up to fix things when people are going through difficult transitions, hence is obsession with fixing doors. He's always helping people through thresholds of uncertainty 4. Germ is. 5. Gregg and angus will eventually break up/join a polycule after seeing what else is out there, since right now theyre the only gay boys in town to their knowledge. 6. Mae is Nonbinary (directly disproven in a statement by the creators, i simply do not care) 7. Gregg and Mae and Angus are all supposed to be fat characters!!!! I continue to re-iterate this and display it in my work. Most people dont have a problem with angus being fat but they will often draw gregg as a twink and mae as a female twink, but:

THIS BOY IS WIDER THAN HE IS TALL LIKE GOT DAMN how are people still pretending that he's a twinklet. all i have to say is NUH UH! and for mae, her clothes are often depitcted as too small and i just like the idea of her form matching gregg's as their connection is strong. 8. Gregg clearly prefers physical activites like skating, biking, smashing cars with bats, crossbowing, knife fighting, archery (etc) but I also totally feel like he's a nerd you know? like he'd totally have a fun night with angus and mae and bea playing DnD or something, He may not have always been into that stuff, but Angus would totally get him into it. 9. [SPOILERS AHEAD] I believe that obnoxious church group was part of the secret town cult. We never get to know all of who was a part of the conservative uncle cult, and what we do know about the members is vague at best. But, there's a small list of people i noticed who don't show up for the final day of the game before band practice, it could just be a coincidence, ya know, theyre just sleeping in or something, But i wouldn't be surprised if those shitheads who refused to house bruce bit it at the bottom of the well. For a while I also thought Bea's dad and Aunt Molly were part of the cult, but in the weird autumn edition, both of those characters are encountered during the final day/cutscene on mae's puter. 10. Mae's grandad and that older union dog lady (sasha? i think?) were totally slonkin' each other's shit silly style between/at protests. 11. If you smack gregg's knife enough times in the knife fight scene, it'll break! and he'll replace it with a much cooler orange knife. This isn't a headcanon, this is just a fun fact from me! Lar! 12. Angus is definitely the top, he's just soft about it. and gregg is just a hyperactive bottom. 13. In the scene where mae attends the party in the woods with her friends, The eternal idea of, "a douchebag with an acoustic guitar who does nothing but bring it to parties to play one song" is referenced. It is my personal headcanon that that guy is playing wonderwall. 14. my cat is currently trying to attack my butterflies hold on 15. When pastabilities opens, the gang will all get a delicious meal there, and it will be revealed that pastabilities has a local music night every tuesday, and as a result, Mae and Gregg convince bea and angus to finally play out, and they go to pastabilities to perform their first ever (mini) (unnoficial) (local) concert.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Is the original Vengeance of Moonknight run a good read?

Are you talking about the 2009 Vengeance of the Moon Knight: Shock and Awe by Gregg Hurwitz and Jerome Opena ?????

Oh boy.

You are asking me to review things out of order and ahead of schedule you naughty annon.

Trust me, I will review the heck out of this one.

If anything, the art alone is STUNNING. Opena went OFF.

It also involves a fantastic approach to his armor/outfit that works wonderfully. The colorists also went off on this series and the clash of warm and cold colors makes me very happy.

The bad guys? It takes place during a huge Osborn uprising in the comic timeline and Osborn sure is causing PROBLEMS.

It also involves another of my favorite heroes that Marvel tucks away and brings out once in a blue moon: The Sentry!

(We love Bob Reynolds in this house). He is often seen as the other side to Moon Knight. He embodies the light and sun and all that is good. He also has three sides to him (though it's not confirmed or cannon that he is a system with DID). He does have significant mental health issues as Bob/Sentry/Void.

As for the story itself….

Now the thing to know about Shock and Awe is that it takes place after the Huston/Benson run 2006-2009.

In the Huston run, we get a LOT of Marc dealing with Marc issues. Not to mention that time Marc faked his own death (again) and ran off to take care of business.

So him coming back is VENGENCE for all the shit that went down in the Huston/Benson run.

In Shock and Awe, we also are following Marvel Civil War (2006-2007) so the Avengers are also having a time and are licking their wounds and a little bitter… And Moon Knight is also a little bitter about the way that he was dismissed as too crazy to get involved…. But then again… so was Bob.

.......I'm getting way ahead of myself. IS THE STORY GOOD?

I haven't read it since at least 2010. Back then, just getting into Moon Knight, I ate it up. But there was also zero Moon Knight content out there so I'd have taken anything (ALMOST ANYTHING. No thank you Bendis/Bemis/Aaron) that was handed to me that vaguely looked like Moon Knight.

So younger me greatly enjoyed it. Has it stood up to time and the current understanding of Moon Knight? I don't know... I haven't started the re-read yet. So... Keep that in mind when I say YEAH I loved it! But I also know it had a LOT of problems.... like... a lot. But not nearly as bad as certain other runs....

It 100% treated Moon Knight's mental health as a big joke, you got a lot of violence and angry moody Marc, and anything with Avengers and Osborn is gonna get messy. ...BUT THE ART IS SO PRETTY.

...I'm sorry I can't answer your question well right now. I really need to get back into re-reading soon. My memory is absolute dog shit.

I'm taking January off from my re-reads for personal reasons and hope to get back in Feb or March.

[thesinglesjukebox]

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR - "MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR" (2001) (2024)

23 years on and this groove's still got some life in it...

[7.11]

Thomas Inskeep: Sophie Ellis-Bextor should've been the next Kylie — and for a couple years, almost was. Her 2001 debut album Read My Lips spun off a trio of top 3 singles in the UK, including this one, which has over time become her true classic. Dua Lipa's entire career was birthed in this single, the dictionary definition of ebullient dance-pop. (It's fitting that Lipa's "Houdini" is currently the most-played song on UK radio as this single is re-ascendant.) SEB has never gone anywhere: she's still making music, touring (based on her 2022 Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco (Live at the London Palladium), she still sounds great), and is now a DJ on BBC Radio 2. She just didn't become the massive pop star she deserved to be. Now, thanks to its placement in a climactic scene in Saltburn, her greatest single is getting its flowers, climbing back up to #2 in the UK (so far — my fingers are crossed it can make it that final notch higher). "Dancefloor" still sounds fresh, certainly fresher than the glut of '90s-sampling dance-pop dominating the UK charts. This single sparkles, SEB giving a knowing wink as she sings, especially on the line "gonna burn this goddamn house right down." She knows what she's doing here: making magic.   [10]

Edward Okulicz: I bought this on single back in 2002, which tells you something (other than that I am old): it was an irresistible bit of sparkly disco radio pop back in the day. Move it forward or backwards a few years and it might have been an indie rock song for someone else, a filter house record, or (gulp) a Ronan Keating record. Fortunately that never occurred, and it's a delight to see a classic gain new fans from age groups and territories that didn't get it on saturation rotation. Part of it's the solid song by Gregg Alexander, who at his best was a master craftsman of a much-maligned form. Another part of it's the much nimbler, slinky production compared to the rest of his soft-rock oeuvre. And a very, very large part of it is the Debbie-Harry-but-English pose of Ellis-Bextor, too cool to do anything but be filmed dancing from the waist up while she stomps her heel into your eardrums. "Murder" really has everything — a catchy chorus, the tinniest guitar solo ever, hooks that fall as much off the words as the melody — and so is perfect for every occasion, even a movie I am never, ever going to see.  [10]

Alfred Soto: Like the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent," waaayyyy too good for Saltburn — perhaps Emerald Fennell thought their incandescence would rub off on her as if it were glitter. Part of a vanished climate of French house-inspired crossover pop like Kylie Minogue's "Love at First Sight," Sophie Ellis-Bextor presages Katy B's regular-person anonymity: she surveys the strings and rhythm guitar licks like a party hostess keeping an eye on the band while sipping her prosecco. [8]

Alex Clifton: I haven't seen Saltburn and frankly have no interest in it, but this film has led to the Sophie Ellis-Bextor renaissance which is a net good for society. "Murder on the Dancefloor" is just brilliantly composed and produced; it feels as fresh today as it did twenty years ago. There are so many thrilling little moments from Ellis-Bextor's vocal delivery: the way her voice curves into "about your kiiiiiind," the little rasp in "there may be others," the little trill of "dancefloor" in the bridge. I feel so biased writing this review because I've literally been listening to this song since I was a kid, but I'm so jazzed about "Murder" finally receiving the love it deserves.  [10]

Ian Mathers: How can you not love pop music when it'll randomly do things like this, suddenly giving us a song to review from before the earliest days of the Jukebox, that is here purely because of its use in a movie that I have not seen but am informed was probably picked on the basis of Ellis-Bextor's plot arc in the music video. And if I'm not willing to go to bat for it quite as hard as I would for "Running Up That Hill," I did love "Murder on the Dancefloor" in 2001 and it still sounds great now. I don't find myself having any reaction more complicated than happiness at hearing it again and that particular joy of people liking something you like. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: If you told me this came out in 2021 and Emerald Fennell asked Sophie to use it in her movie set in 2001 because it was just that on point in depicting the time, I would agree. Then after taking out my phone, I'd be punched in the face and meekly give up my phone. Then, after watching you sprint into a nightclub, I'd immediately thank goodness you didn't ask for the passcode and run like hell for the closest subway. I am three stops from home before I remember this did not actually come out in 2021; there are other Sophie Ellis-Bextor songs and jailbreaking is a thing now. [10]

Leah Isobel: RIP Mark Fisher. You would've written a hell of a blog post about Saltburn. [7]

Mark Sinker: Necessary digression 1: heraldry as a science in Europe is roughly 900 years old, a bright and stylised easy-read guide, highly rule-bound and policed, to class and land and title — which is to say to material history (its jargon-field is still mostly words not otherwise used in the UK since the 14th century; even property law is less lousy with extinct Norman French terms). And like many very aged things, it has necessarily also passed through phases and fashions, as technologies of display arrive and depart. In fact the first inkling I had that I wasn’t going to get on with Saltburn was the typeface chosen for the title on-screen at the outset. It’s a font with a fairly specific ill-set ungainliness to it: it wants to have the weight of "pleasingly and weirdly old; not how we do things now," but it might just as well be some off-the-peg super-modern studio confection — or even (though I slightly doubt this) something custom-fashioned purely for the film. There’s no discernible care to the choice. Necessary digression 2: back in the late '70s when Peter Saville was busily and insouciantly borrowing from this or that actual-real document or design, of such-and-such era, part of the point was the severity of the decontextualisation — except there was a rigour to the carelessness. The item was being supplied with an iconicity (the very word) pulling you in towards whatever the item was that Factory Records was then placing on the market. The surface glamour of the original was to be funneled through in such a way that its weight amplified only the new relationship. In fact (in its stylised easy-read way) Saville’s work was ruthlessly the opposite of heraldry, so very good at managing the ambient melancholy that suffuses the wider Factory moment; all the blocks and counterspells necessary to conjure here beyond the end of creative time as the context for the music to have presence. Anyway, long story short (lol) Saltburn – which would love to believe it has accessed the aura, for example, of the cover of New Order’s Technique — is attempting to juggle the same double burden. It wants to conjure a play between the decontextualised pull of 24-hour-party-people hedonism and the real ineluctable unremovable weight of actual history and actual class and actual land and actual title. Except for its story to work it needs both dimensions (hedonism and weight; heraldry and careless scribble) to register, as Saville absolutely didn’t. No block, no counterspells, nothing to dampen the disturbances — so when poor old Sophie EB’s voice and poise are scalpeled out of their 20-year-old chart context and abruptly c/p-ed into whichever late-stage scene it is, well, here they are, as a clumsy synopsis (calculation, side-eye, dancing, death) the structure really shouldn’t require, in a role the song is the wrong mood (a faintly gauche trifle, a chirpy hustle) to deliver. The movie never works out where it gets its deep reveal from, or what shape its politics are (if politics is even a useful word here). Ill-set ungainliness all over again: the carelessness floods back into the borrowed adornment, and breaks it in pieces. I don’t even love this song that much but I hate how it gets what value it has so gracelessly driven out of it.  [2]

Jacob Satter: At the risk of killing the groove, this is a pretty boring choice for a manufactured revival track. Call me back when the kids discover "It's In Our Hands." [4]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I'm glad everyone's having fun here but the more I try to enjoy this — either on its own terms or as an icon of nostalgia — I get nothing. Unremarkable in any year. [4]

Lauren Gilbert: It was a [10] in 2001, it's still a [10] now. [10]

Katherine St. Asaph: The thing about it being 2024 is that in the intervening 20-plus years since "Murder on the Dancefloor" came out, approximately ninety million more disco-revival tracks came out. Some of them are by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, even. And so many of those tracks are smooth where this is stiff, magisterial where this is timid (and not in a winsome Katy B kind of way; Katy got better arrangements), charged where this is inert and just generally unmurderous. It's actually startling how inessential this sounds by comparison. [3]

Oliver Maier: Even as a youth, before my brain was burdened with indulgent critical vocabulary, I felt like this song just didn't work. I can't pin down whether "Murder" is knowingly a little chintzy (dare I say camp?) or if it's just cheap tat trying sincerely to sound boutique. Benefit of the doubt granted or not, Ellis-Bextor sounds like she's doing karaoke off the sofa. [4]

Michael Hong: When Ellis-Bextor pauses, it's easy, like a quick and graceful end to a conversation rather than the expectant response to her more spirited word choice. She's committed to this casualness, easily slipping away at the hint of a faux pas, which makes the occasional lingering word more charming. "About your kind," she sings, as if looking you up and down, wondering if she's got it wrong this time; the word "others" is trailed as if she's daring you to eliminate the competition. In that way, "you better not kill the groove," delivered with such nonchalance, becomes a fervid instruction. [7]

Will Adams: It's cute, Sophie is ever-charming, but there's real problem when you've got songs in your catalog with titles like "Bittersweet" and "Heartbreak Make Me a Dancer" that offer way more palpable drama than the one with the word "Murder." [5]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Every other line is threatening here. “Stay another song,” “Don’t think you’ll get away,” “You better not kill the groove.” Sophie Ellis-Bextor isn’t demanding fear, though. That’s what makes “Murder on the Dancefloor” so irresistible: she sounds like a friend, albeit one who’s deathly serious about having a good time. When you hear her, you believe it can be this good for you too. [8]

Taylor Alatorre: Wow. They were allowed to make these slick disco-pop reimaginings with actual guitar solos back then? We must retvrn. [8]

Tara Hillegeist: It feels like a time capsule from another era in pop music entirely, because it is. There was a time when Ellis-Bextor's stately, imperial, nigh-inhuman precision of a delivery felt like nothing so much as the edifice within which pop star royalty could be crowned, particularly in the world of UK pop; it's still hard, even now, to deny the simple pleasures of someone who knows what her job is and then executes it flawlessly. But it's been over two decades since this song originally bowed, and it must be said that it was the impact of songs like, yes, "Murder" itself that raised pop music's skill floor high enough that such icy professionalism now feels like the most tiresome part of it — Dua Lipa does this regularly, after all, and with equal anonymity. No, what saves it, and ensures the song remains nothing so much as a delightful diversion (conditions of its resurgence be damned, I say), are the sampled whoops that come in beneath the guitar solo; notwithstanding that such a slice of controlled disco can credit itself with having a guitar solo to begin with, but the canned hype is such a stupendously goofy touch. It humanizes the song instantly, stripping the archness of its artifice aside to reveal the awkward smile underneath. The moment passes, of course. But the smile lingers. [7]

Anna Katrina Lockwood: I've been waiting 20+ years for an opportunity to issue a dissertation on the songwriting genius of Gregg Alexander and by god am I ready. Though it's hard to imagine it in a different form, "Murder on the Dancefloor" was apparently a cast-off single for Alexander's New Radicals debut, replaced by the equally glorious "You Get What You Give" — like, imagine being such a talented songwriter that you can just cast off a song like this, knowing you've got an equally great one to replace it with! "Murder on the Dancefloor" is just perfection in Ellis-Bextor's hands, with a galaxy of terrific choices in its production to go along with the amazing melodic structure. I still can't help but burst out laughing at the initial vocal hit in the intro on occasion, a perfect, delicately harmonized coo of "Murder!," cutting through the disco instrumental setup occurring all around. It's as great a moment of pop songwriting as I'm aware of — setting the expectation of the song's vibe from the outset. Ellis-Bextor's lyrics are outstanding, cleverly arch but not too shiny, in the thick of it yet also gliding past suavely. The song is incredibly detailed, a carefully calibrated piece — it lopes by with a relaxed stride rather than a reckless dash, a well-tailored Savile Row suit as opposed to an H&M tunic, cut to the millimeter. Yet it's also very clearly of the disco, built for singing along, difficult to avoid dancing to when it comes on. It turns on its heel at moments' notice, with layers of melody playing off each other throughout. Matt Rowe's efforts in production also deserve notice — this song sounds great, so distinctive that it is still eminently listenable 23 years on. I honestly have not a single thing to criticize about "Murder on the Dancefloor," and it's been a long time that I've considered it to be one of the truly great pop songs of my lifetime. It feels like incredibly just desserts to see it garnering so much praise now.  [10]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[samasmith23]

Diving into The Abyss arc of Donny Cates' Venom!

I'm currently marathoning Donny Cates' Venom run in the "Venomnibus by Cates & Stegman" that I got as a birthday present this year. I re-read "The Abyss" arc published in Venom (2018) #9-12 just a few nights ago (which was the last arc from the run that I originally read back in 2019), and holy FREAKING crap... I had honestly forgotten just how effectively heavy and powerful this arc truly was!

When I first read this storyline back in 2019, it completely blew me away with its sheer amount of shocking twists and revelations, ranging from the backstory of a teenage Eddie Brock being involved in a drunk driving accident in which he ran over and killed a kid, but ultimately got off despite wanting to plead guilty due to Eddie's abusive father Carl Brock violently forcing him to plead innocent, to the revelation that his older sister Mary Brock and past experiences with cancer were actually false memories implanted by the symbiote in order to manipulate Eddie into staying with it, to the fact that he has a son named Dylan Brock who was accidentally conceived during that brief time his ex-wife Anne Weying bonded with Eddie's symbiote and briefly became "She-Venom" during the 90s miniseries Venom: Sinner Takes All.

But re-reading the story now I can look back and greatly appreciate the sheer amount of craft that's on display with Cates' writing in this arc, since he carefully foreshadows all of these plot twists all throughout the arc through subtle hints and double-meanings in the character's dialogue. Aside from the brilliant narrative subversion of fooling the reader into initially believing that Eddie is the kid who's run-over in the flashbacks before pulling to rug to reveal that in actuality Eddie was the one behind the wheel, the twist that Eddie's sister was simply a false memory was expertly foreshadowed through both Carl & Dylan being absolutely confused whenever Eddie mentioned the name "Mary."

Another that I really love about the drunk-driving backstory is how it not only recontextualizes Eddie’s motivations as both an anti-hero and as a supervillain. In regards to his anti-hero persona, Eddie's constant proclamations about wanting to "protect the innocent" were rather ill-defined back when the character received over a dozen miniseries' during the 90s. But here Cates' emphasizes how Eddie's guilt over accidentally killing a kid and being let off due to being manipulated by his abusive father has made him want to try to protect "real innocents" from people like himself. but also during his time as a villain pursuing Spider-Man. As for how this backstory recontextualizes Eddie's tenure as a Spider-Man villain, during in the original David Micheline era in which Venom first debuted, Eddie’s hatred for Spidey was connected to the classic Death of Jean DeWolfe storyline, wherein Eddie wrote a series of interviews for the Daily Globe with a man he believed to be the notorious serial killer, “the Sin Eater,” whilst hiding the killer’s true identity under the guise of “first amendment rights and protecting his journalistic source.” But Eddie was eventually forced to reveal his source’s identity due to mounting police pressure and the Sin Eater’s rising body-count, which led to Eddie outing the Sin Eater as Emil Gregg. But literally 30-minutes later it was revealed that Gregg was just a copycat, as Spidey caught the real Sin Eater who turned out to be policeman Stan Carter, which led to Eddie being fired and refusing to take responsibility for his own failures by projecting the blame onto Spider-Man. Additionally, the Micheline's Venom: Lethal Protector & Zeb Wells' Venom: Dark Origin miniseries highlighted how Eddie’s relationship with his estranged father partially influenced his writing of the Sin Eater interviews in an effort to bolster his reputation, but following his firing permanently destroyed any chances of reconciliation with Carl Brock.

And in those classic stories Eddie constantly proclaimed that he was “once an innocent whose life Spider-Man ruined,” even though his actions as a journalist were incredibly morally dubious and unethical. So the drunk driving backstory of Eddie being violently forced to plead innocent by his father and ultimately getting off? That only further fleshes out Eddie’s inability to accept responsibility and false projection of “innocence” onto himself during his villainous phase in those original stories, while also showing how much Eddie has grown since then by acknowledging that he’s not a “real innocent.”

Plus, there's also a strong thematic through-line in this arc about the nature of abusive relationships in the form of Eddie's co-dependent bond with the Venom Symbiote plus Carl's abusive behavior towards Eddie in the past & Dylan in the present day. Additionally, Cates also touches upon ideas of self-improvement and redemption, not only through the backstory of Eddie's motivation to "protect the innocent," but also through the story ending with Eddie deciding to raise Dylan himself after helping him escape Carl's influence, as well as the Venom symbiote willingly leaving Eddie & Dylan after the former denounces the symbiote's manipulative behavior, with the symbiote proclaiming that it's, "Trying... to... be... better... both... of... you... better... without... me..."

It shows that the key difference between Carl and both Eddie & the symbiote is that Venom at least acknowledges his past monstrous behavior and makes efforts to change unlike his coward of a father, thereby simultaneously allowing Eddie to overcome the demons of his past with his abusive father, as well as making the symbiote's later reunion with Eddie in Absolute Carnage more believable!

Like... hot dang! There's a reason why "The Abyss" arc in particular left such a lasting impression on me when I initially read the first 12-issues of Donny Cates' Venom series a few years ago! Not only does it still hold up phenomenally well from both a narrative and thematic standpoint, but it's gotten me even more excited to dive into the rest of Cates' Venom run and the corresponding Absolute Carnage and King In Black events, which will be my first time ever reading those stories!

However, I do have some thoughts regarding two minor points of contention about Cates' run as a whole and "The Abyss" arc in particular that I've encountered from toxic fandom spaces here on Tumblr that I also wanted to address, which I'll link to right here:

[pennysperfectpolls]

With one hour remaining

Here is the current list of submissions, remember having multiple submissions is a good thing here

If there’s a number after their name that’s how many times they’ve been submitted, np stands for no propaganda

1: Gregg Lee (night in the woods)

2: Liir Thropp (Wicked (Novel))

3: Arven (Pokémon) 3

4: Kyusaku Yumeno “Q” (Bungo Stray Dogs) 2

5: Kristen Applebees (Dimension 20: Fantasy High) np

6: The girl (fear and hunger)

7: Shane (Stardew Valley) np

8: Waluigi (super Mario)

9: Nahida (Genshin Impact)

10: Sachi Shinozaki (Corpse Party: Blood Drive)

11: Qiqi (genshin impact)

12: Rob (the amazing world of Gumball)

13: fred jones (scooby doo mystery incorporated) (that version specifically)

14: Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia)

15: Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX)

16: Harrowhark Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb) 3

17: Essek Thelyss (critical role) np

18: Adrien Agreste (Miraculous Ladybug) np

19: Hunter (The Owl House) np

20: Mafuyu Asahina (Project SEKAI)

21: Mashirao Ojiro (My Hero Academia)

22: Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)

23: Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou (Bocchi the Rock!)

24: Freminet (Genshin Impact) 3

25: Shilo Bathroy (Just Roll With It)

26: Shijima Tsukishima (Shimeji Simulation)

27: Nona (The Locked Tomb) 2

28: Isaac Moriah (The Binding of Isaac)

29: Dimitri alexandre blaiddyd (Fire emblem) 2

30: Angela (Lobotomy Corporation/ Library Of Ruina)

31: Natural Harmonia Gropius “N” (Pokémon) 2

32: Charger (Voidpets)

33: Eunyung Baek (No Home)

34: Riven (Winx Club)

35: The Being (The Dragon Prince)

36: The Collector (the owl house)

37: victorian child (the “This would kill a Victorian child” meme)

38: Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

39: Hypnos (Hades)

40: Marianne von Edmund (Fire Emblem)

41: Syaoran Li (Cardcaptor Sakura) np

42: Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakura) np

43: Luke (Obey Me) np

44: Ortho Shroud (twisted wonderland) np

45: Tony Tony Chopper (One Piece) np

46: Child Emperor (One Punch Man) np

47: Kenzie Martin (Parahumans)

48: Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)

49: Mizuki Okiura (AI: the Somnium Files)

50: Cody Hackins (Ace Attorney)

51: Chazz Princeton (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

52: Martin Blackwood (The Magnus Archives)

53: Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

54: Shin-Ah (Yona of the Dawn)

55: Kyoka Eden (Scarlet Nexus)

56: Kasane Randall (Scarlet Nexus)

57: Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

58: Emil Sinclair (Limbus Company)

59: Cove Holden (Our Life: Beginnings & Always)

60: Zuko (Avatar the Last Airbender)

61: Ashe Ubert (Fire Emblem 3 Houses)

62: Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) 2

63: Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

64: Zhang Chengling (Word of Honor)

65: Falst (Aurora Webcomic)

66: Venus (solarballs)

67: Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)

68: Rui Ayaki (Demon Slayer)

69: Gyutaro (Demon Slayer)

70: Blackmore (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

71: Gin Ibushi (Your Turn To Die)

72: Sirin (Honkai Impact 3rd)

73: Kai Satou (Your Turn To Die) np

74: Rio Ranger (Your Turn To Die) np

75: Hod (Lobotomy Corporation/ Library Of Ruina)

76: molly blyndeff (Epithet erased)

77: Mami Tomoe (madoka magica)

78: “Tails” miles prower (Sonic)

79: Pearl Fey (Ace Attorney) no

80: Lillie (Pokémon)

81: Jane Doe (Ride the cyclone)

82: Netzach (Lobotomy Corporation/Library Of Ruina) np

83: Chesed (Lobotomy Corporation/Library Of Ruina)

84: Gebura (Lobotomy Corporation/Library Of Ruina) np

85: Furina de Fontaine (Genshin Impact)

86: Natsuki Subaru (Re: Zero)

87: Sayo (I Need To Suck Blood Tonight)

88: Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler)

89: Kokichi Oma (Daganronpa V3)

90: hal 9000 (2001 a space odyssey)

[texas-gothic]

This situation with the border is being blown way out of proportion for what it is. Which is, of course, what Gregg Abbott, life long attention whore, wants it to be.

The SCOTUS did not say that Abbott had to stop putting down razor wire, only that he had to allow federal officers to remove it when they deem it necessary. In one stretch of park. Abbott is being deliberately inflammatory here in what is proving to be a very successful attempt to draw attention to himself.

This may or may not be because his party is planning to sabotage a border enforcement bill in the national congress. After all, outside of Donald Trump, Republican campaigns run on two things and two things only: fear mongering about immigrants, and fear mongering about urban crime. In Texas, those issues tend to melt into one issue, an issue near and dear to the job security of people like, big shocker, Greg Abbott and his cronies. And it's not going to do any of their re-election bids any favors if they've just allowed Biden to make himself look like the bad guy from Gangs of New York before they can.

All that being said, I loathe Greg Abbott in a way that only someone from urban Texas can, and I will be having very pleasant dreams about some absurd situation where Biden sends in the national guard to arrest him or something. Maybe a president with actual balls would do that, but it seems Genocide Joe can only find that kind of courage when it's little Palestinian children he's facing off against.

[ma-come-mai]

Chi ama la vita non riesce mai ad adeguarsi, subire, farsi comandare. Un essere umano che si adegua, che subisce, che si fa comandare, non è un essere umano. Sai cosa detesto? La vigliaccheria del popolo.

Il popolo! Il buon popolo che non ha mai colpa in quanto è povero ignorante innocente! Il buon popolo che va sempre assolto perché è sfruttato manipolato oppresso! Come se gli eserciti fossero composti solo da generali e da colonnelli! Come se a fare la guerra e a sparare sugli inermi e a distruggere le città fossero i capi di Stato Maggiore e basta! Come se ad accettare i re sul trono non fosse il popolo, come se a inchinarsi ai tiranni non fosse il popolo, come se ad eleggere i tiranni non fosse il popolo, come se a votare pei padroni non fosse il popolo! Come se la libertà si potesse assassinare senza il consenso del popolo, senza la vigliaccheria del popolo, senza il silenzio del popolo! Cosa vuol dire popolo? Chi è il popolo? Sono io il popolo! Sono i pochi che lottano e disubbidiscono, il popolo! Loro non sono popolo! Sono gregge, gregge, gregge!

Oriana Fallaci, «Un uomo»