#I originally wrote this on the 10th but yeah like I said it's the perfect timing

[eissaphir]

Me watching Repo for the first time: Yup, Luigi's a fun character

Me now:

[popculturebuffet]

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: The Last of the Clan McDuck!  Review “It Was Worth THE Dime”

This is one of my faviorite comic book stories of all time. Given i’m a massive comics nerd, for both books and strips, that is the highest praise I can give this wonderful, epic, beautifully drawn and deeply emotoinal story. I first discovered it in the local library that had the second volume, and found the rest online at a now long dead fan site. And while it took me longer than I care to admit to really dig into Duck Comics, and even now i’ve only scratched the surface, I can say without a doubt this story is the reason I’m so deeply attached to Scrooge as a character, and that I was excited as  I was for Ducktales 2017. This comic showed me just what Scrooge McDuck should be at his core as a character, and showed me what a wonderful character that is. So with all that glowing praise as you can guess i’ve been wanting to cover this for years, and even considered though back when I was more primarily a comic book reviewer last year. Any time i’ve reviewed stuff before now, i’ve considered it, and with Scrooge’s Sisters Hortense and Matilda presumably and definitely debuting on Ducktales soon, and it’s about damn time, the timing could not be better or clearer to dig into this utter triumph.  But before we can take a look at the story itself we naturally have to take a look at the man behind it: Writer and Artist Don Rosa. Don Rosa is easily one of the best Duck Comics writer out there, seen by many as only second to his own faviorite duck comics writer and God of Ducks, Carl Barks. For those 1 of you who do not know, Barks was the man who created pretty much everything in the duck universe comics wise and a bit in animation too: He created Daisy, Scrooge, Gladstone, Magica, The Beagle Boys, The Junior Woodchucks, Gyro, Little Bulb, Glomgold, Rockerduck, and the list goes on. While he didn’t make EVERY duck, he made so many that it’d be impossible to imagine either version of Ducktales being possible without him.  So of course Rosa was a fan and while he took up the family buisness, he was also an artist and duck comics fanboy on the side. So when, even if it meant a paycut, the opportunity to actually write and draw them came up, he lept at it and thus became one of their publishers go to guys, even if said publisher published the stories overseas where the Duck Comics are far more popular and still going to this day, and ironically where most duck comics printed nowadays get their stories from. Rosa was known for his meticous historical research and gorgeous art that he took his time drawing to get just perfect and showed on the page. The man has easily some of hte best and most detailed duck art around and I still haven’t found a duck artist that can match him.. and if you have or found one close i’d genuinely love to see that. He is a genuinely talented, spirited guy who was sadly mistreated by disney and that, coupled with tragically failing eyesight, eventually ended his career. He’s still around and I genuinely hope to meet him some day as he still does conventions.  The man is not without fault: I don’t get his hatred of superhero comics, as while I get them overshadowing funnybooks and that around the time of his career they were in decline, but it’s just as unfair to write off Superhero comics as mindless.  garbage as it is for people to write off the Duck Comics as “only for kids” and I genuinely wish he’d see that and see how the medium has evolved so much since then. I also grumble a bit as his refusal to allow anything besides barks into his bubble, and having to be forced to include fethry on the family tree, but that’s more personal preference. I like using as much material as you got. IT’s why i’ve wanted to, and hopefully will eventually get around to, write a sonic fanfic using bits of all the various universes that for legal, ken penders being an absolute waste of a human being, and sega being stupid reasons can’t be used anymore. I like taking everything in a franchise and putting it in a blender and it’s why I love the reboot. But there’s nothing wrong with taking things as is, not stepping on toes canon wise, but still being awesome. We’re just diffrent people and that’s okay.  And a lot of his fanboy showing actually lead to REALLY good things: Goldie O’Gilt was a one off character, and while used ocasoinally overseas, didn’t really pick up as a character again until a combination of Ducktales 87 and Rosa’s work with her, as he always loved the character, and fleshing her out lead to her being used more, and gaining a sizeable fandom. He also gained the Cablleros an even bigger fandom by giving them two stories of their own, and fleshing them out a bit more.  And this very comic is the peak of that, taking EVERY mention of scrooge’s past from various backstories to set up adventures, every tiny scrap, and to his credit going to both Barks Himself and various other Barks Experts Rosa was friends with to check his work, especially difficult given he likey had to find these stories in issue or pullt hem from disney archives, and complied it into one long epic that not only uses all this info effortlessly, but spins a compelling story that gives us a clear vision of what Scrooge should be, how he became the man he is, and how he lost himself only to find himself again with the help of three precocious boys and a cynical 30 something duck. So taint all bad is what i’m saying.  As for how this got started, thankfully rosa himself provided the origin story for this project in the back of the volume of his works that contained the first 7 chapters of life and times, as well as detailed notes for every chapter. At the time Rosa was working for Egmont, the big european publisher who handles Disney’s much larger european comics market, hence why most of his stories appeared years earlier in Europe before debuting here. The american publisher at the time , and an old friend of his, called Rosa with an idea: A 12 issue Maxi-Series focusing on Scrooge’s history, since at the time they were all the rage.. and really even today mini series are still a viable market and many indie titles just have several minis instead of an ongoing. So it wasn’t a bad idea, Rosa just simply offered a tweak: He’d tell his publisher at Egmont about the idea, and let her get a crack team of writers and artists to do this proper, and thus Disney could publish it for free once it was done and for no extra cost. Rosa gave his publisher a fax detaling both the idea and the fact that it needed to be done right, given to the best person possible, and done with the greatest care. She agreed.. and naturally handed it to him, as he admits he hoped. She made the right call, a legend was born and here we are.  One last bit before the read more and before I get to the first story itself at last: Since barks wrote a lot of side stories that fit into the canon, I COULD slot them in between chapters, but have instead chosen to review the original 12 part story as was, and do the various side stories and two epilogues, the utterly fantastic “Dream of a Life Time”, easiliy one of my faviorite comics ever, and the also really great “Letter From Home”, which will likely on some level be the basis for the upcoming at the time of this review “Battle for Castle McDuck!”, after completing the story. In other words i’m probably going to be at this for years. so join me under the read more won’t you as I begin the journey of a thousand miles with a single step as we look at the humble start of a legend. 

We begin, after a fun short teaser with present Day scrooge saying his past is no one’s buisness only to get hit with an oh yeah?,  with a scrap book title for the issue, something I want to bring up since while I got that’s what it was what I never got, and  must’ve glanced over when I first read rosa’s notes when I got this copy, was that it isn’t SCROOGE’S scrap book, but his sister Matilda’s who dutifully and happily catologued her brother’s adventures. It’s a really sweet moment.. and something that will hit VERY hard when we reach Chapter 11. If you haven’t read this story or heard of it.. .that’s this story’s equilvent of “Last Crash of the Sunchaser” and clearly Frank and Matt drew from that story a bit for it, but we can get more into the parallels when we get there. A smaller but fun note is that Rosa had specific coin drawing templates, for different indentions and what not he used, and used them for the coins in these intro bits. Yes he admitted he has a problem and yes that’s damn impressive anyway. 

It’s Scrooge’s 10th birthday, and his father Fergus has taken him up to see the family land, Dismal Downs to tell him of the mighty Clan McDuck and show him the ancestral lands, graveyards and Castle. He admits to having taken this long because the Clan McDuck currently lives in Glasgow so it’s kind of a long trip just to show your son “Hey look at the decay and rot that’s our ancestral homeland”. The Clan is on hard times, as a bad shipping deal, the backbone of a rather good barks story and I wont’ be interjecting for every barks reference as it’d get rather tiring though for what it’s worth Rosa provided tons of detailed footnotes in the back of each Fantagraphics collection, so good on him. Speaking of which though they do include 10 pages of Mc Duck family history that was supposed to open this story.. until Rosa’s editor wisely pointed out the story isn’t about them but scrooge and having read his roug draft, yeah.. there’s a good gag here and there, as well as “Dirty” Dingus McDuck, scrooge’s Grandpa and the reason Dewey is cursed with that middle name. Why anyone thought Dingus was a good name is beyond me, nor why Donald thought that was a good middle name back in 2009 is again, beyond me. Good on Don though for getting that past the censors.  But yeah with no money they can’t buy the land back and they were scared off it years ago by a mystical ghost dog, the hound of the whiskervilles. There is treasure in the castle, Sir Quackly’s gold, but he accidently sealed himself into a wall while sealing his treasure in there. Their interrupted by the town assholes, the Whiskervilles who have been grazing sheep on the land and are naturally behind the hound, using the sound of it to scare off Fergus once they realize he’s a McDuck. Because apparently you can keep a Scooby Doo style hoax up for Centuries if you don’t have meddling kids around. Who knew.  Back in Glasgow, we meet the rest of Scrooge’s family: His Uncle Jake, his sisters Matilda and Hortense, and his mother Downy. Jake hasn’t really been mentioned at all in Ducktales and I know next to nothing about him, which given I share a name with the guy you’d THINK I would. I mean I know a decent amount about this Jake. 

But nothing about who the hell Jake McDuck is or why he lives with his brother and his family. Here, you guys watch the dancing Jake, i’m going to probably do that for hours after this review is done, i’m going to go sort this out.  Okay one google and finding the Scrooge Mcduck wiki page on him, Jake shows up here likely because he was referenced in the story “A Christmas For Shacktown” and apparently borrowed from Scrooge and never paid it back. Otherwise.. there’s not a lot about him and unlike the rest of Scrooge’s family he really dosen’t do much that I can remember. Except like 2017 Scrooge, he apparently has become extremely long lived, as Scrooge and Donald STILL think he’s alive in the 1950′s.. and likely is STILL alive in some form in the Don Rosa stories, given his take place after Barks and thus in the 40′s and 50′s where Barks stories were set. Hence why unlike the Reboot, Scrooge isn’t inexpecilbly over 210. But Jake McDuck sure as heck is. Maybe this highlander is a highlander.. you know the movie and tv show type. Maybe someone cut off his head. That’s what i’m going with.

This does bring me to another point about this story: While Barks gave all of scrooge’s family their names, it’s where Rosa got them after all, it’s Rosa who really made them into characters. Fergus as a loving father ashamed his family legacy has fallen and wanting his son to do better than him, Downy as an equally loving wife and mother, Matilda as his sweet and caring sister and later her brother’s moral center, and Hortense.. well here she’s just a babbling baby but her character will become clear and glorious as we go. She is adorable here though and we do get some great bits with her.  Getting back to the plot now i’ve made my points, Jake is riled up wanting to understandably kick the Whiskerville’s asses with Scrooge, who even as a sweet innocent ten year old still has the family temper already, agreeing.. but Downy gently shoots them out pointing that two middle aged-ish men and a 10-year old just aren’t enough to fight an army of them and while she doesn’t mention it the fight would just tire them out for work and accomplish nothing as while it is the McDuck’s land the combination of the hound and the lack of money to move back means it’s pointless. She also mentions their younger brother Pothole, who went to America. This will be important later. 

Scrooge storms off and Fergus laments, in a scene that’s more painful the more I think about it, how his clan has fallen, with he and his brother lamenting their chances at glory are long gone.. but Fergus has hope his son can do better, and for his son’s birthday makes him a shoeshine kit in the hopes of inspiring him to greatness. This scene still resonates since many of us are poor, struggling and not doing so good money wise. I’m sure many parents have doubts and regrets about not being able to do more for their kid.

 Not only that but the story carefully avoids the trap of Fergus accidently being abusive by you know, pinning his family’s future on one 10 year old. While yes he is asking a lot of Scrooge, to restore their family name.. it’s very clear he mostly just wants his son to do better than him. Even if Scrooge was just slightly more successful, Fergus would likely be happy with that. He’s not using the legacy as a “This what you must be” like say the Gems in steven universe did for Steven with Rose’s Legacy, the kind where it sort of suffocates you till youc an make it your own. He’s just saying “this is what you can be” He believes his child can be great and simply once him to reach his full potetial and is simply giving him a means to hopefully do so, a simple home made shoe shine kit. While Jake scoffs, the narration notes the idea isn’t worth a dime.. it’s worth THE dime. The dime that would set Scrooge’s destiny in motion. 

The next morning, Fergus goes to check up on his son and his new buisness but Scroogey’s having no luck and about ready to just quit, the poor child. Also Matilda is dragging her baby sister around like a doll and it’s entirely precious as it is funny. 

But as for those Dorty Boots, Matilda wonders why her dad dosen’t just tell Scrooge that Burt the Ditch Digger is coming. Fergus tells her to quite and then explains his plan: he’s sending Burt to scrooge, with an American dime Fergus and Matilda found, to teach his son a lesson: By giving him a hard days work, he’ll teach him what hard work truly means.. and by having Burt “cheat” him with the American dime, it’ll give him the motivation to keep going and to nto be as wide eyed and trusting. It’s a well meaning if harsh lesson, and the kind you’d expect from 1900′s parenting and fits the origin well: Scrooge still earned his first money square, as he still did work.. but his getting cheated being a lesson dosen’t diminish what it taught scrooge, and helps flesh out what I talked about above, Fergus knowing his son has great potential he just needs inspiration to reach it. And instead of just telling him that he does a con job but it’s the 1900′s. This orign, and Fergus’ part in it would be entirely untouched in Ducktales 2017, the first scrooge based adaptation since this comic came out, and I bless them for it. Frank even said this comic was used as a bible by the writers and while theirs clear deviations, and we’ll get to that, they were mainly done for good reason, and it’s very clear that while scrooge’s history is very VERY diffrent in the reboot, the core of his past is still there. 

So the plan is on and young scrooge spends half an hour killing himself to get Burt’s shoes clean before getting his dime.. and realizing he’s been had, makes this proud decleration that will be the bedrock of his entire life and character. 

Scrooge being naturally stubborn as you can see takes his cheats a leson: There will always be hard honest work, and he will be there to do it and he’ll be tougher and sharper than anyone trying to cheat him out of his pay. Fergus’ plan has the intended effect, and Scrooge having learned a hard lesson now has the drive and determination we know him for. As for why it gives it to him.. I had to think on it a bit but it makes sense: For some a setback like this would make them quit.. for Scrooge it’s just proof he CAN find customers, he CAN do this job, or any at his hardest and instead takes this as a lesson to be prepared ot out think and outfight anyone who dares cheat him again, and to not earn his money by being the kind of guy who cheats a kid out of an honest days pay, but as a good honest duck like his father and his father before him. =He will make his money square so he can be the kind of person this seeming stranger SHOULD have been. Granted we’ll see Scrooge doesn’t end up as the best person at times but .. we’ll get there.  So with the fire inside turned from a spark into the flame Scrooge soon got to work, and by the next panel we see he’s eventually worked his stand up from a small box given to him by his dad, to a three seater shoeshining bench, who he wipes all at once by stretching one of his mother’s girldes over a light pole, a detail I didn’t get the first time around but now love. Naturally being a good kind boy much like his Nephews, Scrooge always gave his proud father a portion of his earnings, if with a full receipt for tax purposes. Because he’s still scrooge after all. His dad wonders he did too good a job while Hortense glxbit’s in agreement. 

As the years go on, a now tween Scrooge is eventually able to save up for a horse cart, and starts selling Fire Wood up in the city. He eventually realizes Peat, an earthy subtance found in bogs I only know about because I had to look it up for this review, is more profitable and with some snappy marketing moves into selling Peat for the rich instead, also showing the young lad already has a grasp of how to sell to obnoxious rich people. 

But while his business is booming, our young hero can’t resist visiting his family’s ancestral home and longing for it, hoping one day to have it for himself and in a nice show of how despite his temper and tenacity forged over the last few years he’s still at hear the kind, sweet optimistic lad he was just a few pages ago, he decides to tidy up the Clan’s Cemetary while he’s here. 

Unfortunately as proof that Donald and Della’s terrible luck comes from both sides of the family the Whiskervilles are sub-glomgold levels of human beings.. or Dogfaces in this case, and are digging up the McDuck Clan’s graves to hunt for treasure. Scrooge tries to simply do the smart thing and flee, but the asshole brigade catch sight of him and mistkaing him for a peat burgalar chase after him.. and spend WAY too much time and energy chasing a teenage boy over some fucking bog grass you clearly aren’t selling yourselves. I mean spare a thought for how dumb this is: They could easily sell of of that peat to put up a fence or chop down some trees to get the material if their really that concerned about someone getting in the bog. Then again this isn the 1800 and 1900′s where the child death toll was simply “Yes”, so they likely thought whose gonna notice one more dead child on our property?

Scrooge heads toward the castle and is gestured in by a friendly mystery duck who gladly shows him around and can tell he’s a McDuck just by look, showing the castle is still in glorious condition as the whiskervilles are too spooked to go in, hence why they didn’t chase Scrooge inside. I’d say being afraid of ghosts but not murdering a child is weird but these are the same guys who thought murdering a child was plan A. We’re not dealing with a brain trust is what i’m saying.  So the mystery duck shows Scroogey around, showing off some colorful stories about his ancestors recycled from that scrapped prologue I mentioned. THe mystery man, who brushes off Scrooge thinking he’s a McDuck asks Scrooge what he’s doing to restore the family glory and while Scrooge points out he’s already working on it, Mystery Duck points out he’s still missing something: He has the drive and the dream, but peat and shoeshining, while getting him good money for his family, aren’t the thing you can build a fortune or a future off of. He then points out where Scrooge’s dime comes from: America.. and that gives the boy the idea to head to the states. As for what he could possibly DO there to start, the mystery guy mentions his uncle pothole. So Scrooge has the dream, the drive.. and now a plan: Go to america, work for his uncle on the riverboats, and work his way up from there till he finds his fortune and restores his family name.  But while his future is settled, the present is still an issue and Scrooge wants to teach the child murder club a lesson and thus borrows, though MM wisely points out it’s all his property a horse and some armor, and stuffs the armor with peat. As for what his plan is.. welllll

That.. is fucking awesome. And far from the last fucking awesome moment in this thing. It also shows off even as not quite a teen yet, Scrooge is still a badass already, and while he doesn’t have his trademark strength or fighting skills quite yet, his ingenuity is already there.. and that will always trump both. The Whiskervilles run away and into some quicksand and Scrooge vows to return one day as laird and reclaim his family land. But that’s a story for a few chapters down the line. As for who the mystery duck is, he’s naturally Sir Quackely himself, or rather his ghost, who was simply guiding Scrooge and didn’t give him the treasure as simply handing him the money wouldnn’t restore their family’s good name or continue their bloodline now would it? 

For now Scrooge returns to work for a bit before finding his way to America: A cattleboat to New Orleans looking for a Cabin Boy. And so Scrooge bids farewell to his family. His Dad, feeling bad he can’t even give his boy shilling, gives him the family pocketwatch with jake pitching in with the family gold dentures. While Scrooge naturally refuses to sell the watch, he does plan to sell the teeth as soon as possible for good reason. We then get some sweet goodbyes with him, his sisters (With hortense uttering her first words to everyone’s astonishment) and loving mother as he wonders just what awaits him in America. 

And there he stands on the bow of a ship, heading for a new land, in New Orleans he can be a new man. And we’ll see just what kind of man he becomes as this series continues. For now this is the end of a chapter but the beginning of a lifetime. 

Final Thoughts on Last of the Clan McDuck:

This story is excellent. While there are even better chapters to come, this one is still one of the most memorable and most joyous, showing just how Scrooge became what he is, where some of his values come from, others will be instilled along the way , and beginning to flesh out his family. We see Scrooge’s love of wealth comes from starting from the bottom, growing up with a family that barely had anything and badly needed everything, but was loving and instilled fine morals in him. We also see a Scrooge far removed from the bitter old man he is in present day, an optimistic naïve young lad who only wants best for his family. It’s a nice stark contrast to who he’ll become, good and bad, and a nice way to both compare him to Huey Dewey and Louie and break your heart as his own hardens before briefly turning black later on.  The art, as is standard for this series and Rosa, is breathtaking, and the story isn’t lacking in good jokes, their just downplayed so the story itself can take center stage. There’s nothing really more to say: it’s an excellent start to an even more excellent tale and stands proud among an already stellar story as one of it’s finest outings. 

NEXT RAINBOW: Scrooge goes down to the mighty Missipi to work on the riverboats and meets one of his signature Rogue’s for the first time in their first form, as well as Gyro’s dad.. or grandpa.. or possibly both I don’t know his family tree. Point is, tune in next time for some riverboat hyjinks.  Until then if you’d like to comission an episode of any animated show, especially ducktales and the various other duck related disney shows, or another Duck Comics story you really like from Rosa, Barks or whoever you want really, I take commissions for 5 dollars a review, with 5 dollars off your full order when you put in for more than one episode or issue. You can also follow me on patreon.com/popculturebuffet and for just two bucks a month get access to polls (which i’ll start once we have at least three patreons), and my exclusive discord server. And if you liked this review be sure to reblog it to show off. My self promotion done until next time: There’s always another rainbow. 

[got2ghost-archive]

10 niche interests

i was tagged by @jlf23tumble for niche interests (I THINK? it was like a month ago) i somehow...... got to ten. 

1. this soriku manga that is kind of extremely dark and about riku’s possessiveness over sora that he literally lets sora’s pet chocobo get hunted by a stray cat so that sora will cry in his arms. i read this originally when i was like. 13 and it just stayed with me for my entire life! the power of stories! i love this entire mangaka’s work because she goes from them as childhood friends all the way up to dream drop distance where riku is much happier and realizes how wrong he was which is a RELIEF. i literally... consider her work canon. even tho it is not at all

2. this list is gonna just be about embarrassing things i have done and said in my life...... manip of jack and will from the pirates of the caribbean gif that was on photobucket i remember frantically searching drarry edits on photobucket dot com and somehow this will and jack MOVING MANIP appeared. i was not a huge pirates stan but there were very cool girls in elementary school that i wanted to be friends with that talked about it CONSTANTLY and bc i wanted to be involved in their convos i said “YEAH LIKE THAT TIME THAT JACK AND WILL KISSED” and addi, the cool girl, said “that never happened.” level of shame and exposing how gay i was 16/10.

3. every child has a movie they attach to and this was mine. i haven’t seen it in years but i’m very sure that the main artists did a lot of LSD. 

4. my comphet crush on skandar keynes who literally only acted in the narnia movies and then disappeared. 1) he looks like a lesbian but also 2) i wanted to look like that so it was mostly just gender envy

5. speaking of gender envy how i LITERALLY HAD AN OC THAT WAS JUST A MALE VERSION OF ME? this is combined with my obsession with mafia stuff as a teen? 

6. MAFIA STUFF.... I GUESS. i used to literally “cosplay” as stereotypical mafia shit. like white button downs + suspenders + fedoras and slacks. me and my friends would watch mafia movies and we all became disconcertingly good at doing new jersey accents that i still hold this talent today.

7. ALL OF THE MYTHOLOGY OF ARCHANGELS. i grew up in a very baptist state, first of all, so i was barely exposed to catholicism AND i grew up buddhist, so i have no idea how i became so enamored by archangels. i specifically the fall of lucifer! and the inherent eroticism of michael being the perfect model angel fighting with lucifer who loved god the most out of all the angels??????????????? DADDY ISSUES!

8. this is archangel related still. this song is incredibly beautiful and intense and passionate and the story goes that tartini was visited by the devil who played him this song and he woke up and wrote it as closely as he could, but he said that it couldn’t even capture a 10th of the actual song. ANYWAY. every time i listen to it i think about as lucifer’s lament being cast out of heaven and it’s SO GOOD AND YES! I HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL!

9. this list is UNEXPECTEDLY CHRISTIAN? how many times have i watched this movie? once. how many times have i listened to the soundtrack even tho it’s LITEARLLY christian rock? countless. i don’t know WHAT IT IS about switchfoot but it still remains as one of my most listened to albums and also mandy moore’s voice is just so sweet.

10. MCFLY. we’re ending on a boring one? it’s not too niche but basically if you aren’t british or were weirdly obsessed with lindsay lohan’s last movie before she dovetailed, just my luck, you’d never know about them! they did write a couple 1d songs as well, but they were my bandom for like. 3 years and i wrote fic and modded for mcflyslash on livejournal! 

i’m just gonna tag my wife @scottspack​ I WOULD LOVE! TO KNOW! 

and then tag some pals who i want 2 see this! @alienfuckeronmain​ @newleafover​ @pattern-pals​ @vibey-lesbian​

[valkerymillenia]

Hi, I asked about jason’s memory in my last ask in cbds. Thanks for answering. It made me wonder would jason gets flashes about his time with dick and the twins?I really admire your patience in writing your story. This is why i’ll fail as a writer, because i have absolutely no patience. I mean I would probably rush my story and that would make it turn bad.

Ok, so, no. At first Jason has no memory between his death and the Pit. Eventually though some things start to trigger pieces of memories that he doesn't really understand, his full memory takes quite a while to return and by then he's dug himself into too deep a hole.

Also, you sound EXACTLY like me when I started writing.

So I'mma ramble now. Feel free to ignore the boring story time beneath the cut but I promise it has a point, it's just bound to be long because I don't know what brevity is and when I'm sleep deprived I talk to much.

Before I started writing I always wanted to put stories down into words but I never ever considered writing books, I used to make elaborate fantasy worlds, characters and lives in my head that dragged on for weeks on end, slowly becoming more and more complex, it was pure escapism, but I never thought about writing those stories down precisely because I though "I'll never have the patience to develop this, I'll just rush it or quit halfway".

Then when I was in 10th grade there was a writing contest in my school and two of my cousins were teachers there and writers themselves and encouraged me to enter (there were 3 categories actually- teachers, 7th to 9th grade and 10th to 12th grade). I figured, why not?

The story had to be handwritten under a pseudonym with a 5 page limit (no word limit because it was handwritten, you just had to use standard test paper for 5 pages, and yes, this was normal because not everyone had access to a computer to type their work), it was fiction under the theme "stories of our people" and the judges were a panel of teachers and one famous writer (he had a very popular YA adventure series and some great mythology based novels, unfortunately he passed away a few years later).

Now, bear in mind 2 things. This was a school surrounded by forest in the hills of a small rural city but it was the biggest rural city around and all the other towns and villages sent their kids to high school there, the second thing to remember is that high school is mandatory education in my country so dropping out isn't really an option. Therefore we had hundreds of kids in the high school grades (somewhere between 600 and 800 kids, I think, there's less nowadays because the next town over grew immensely and has its own high school now).

You'd think kids wouldn't be interested in a writing competition but the author that was coming to judge was very popular at the time and, well, it was a high school in the middle of the woods in a small countryside town. Things were boring, ok? We didn't have a mall or a movie theater or anything, so when something popped up to break the boredom (or someone even remotely famous showed up) everyone jumped at it.

So a lot of people participated and me? I was just dragging my feet because "I didn't have the patience", I waited until the last two days before the deadline and poured out a story last minute with a shitty penname based on my mythology obsession (Valkery Thot, you can laugh about it nowadays but Thot was the Egyptian good of scribes and I was NERD).

The story was about two kids that never liked each other growing up even though they lived close to each other, they end up crossing paths on the same adventure to a local inaccessible waterfall we have here in the mountain, they were looking for treasure based on stories and maps from each of their grandfathers and find a cave together where they discover etchings left by said grandfathers and, long story short, the treasure was friendship.

(Sappy as hell, I know, but I was thinking the whole YA adventure mindframe, ok? Plus, it wasn't my preferred writing language, which is English, and I was 15 and literally improvised the whole thing last minute, didn't even draft anything, I just wrote it directly and barely proofread for typos.)

So I entered the contest last minute with no real hopes, it was just an experiment but it proceed to be way more entertaining than I though, without the pressure of actually wanting to win it was easier than I thought.

Award day came and we all gathered in this fancy huge auditorium we had, it was the fanciest part of the whole school but it still couldn't fit everyone in there, then again most students that came just wanted an excuse not to go to class that morning. Anyway...

One of my cousins won in the teacher category and I was all proud. I watched the 3 winners of the 7th to 9th grade category being awarded and started getting distracted (because unless I was drawing or stimming I had the attention span of a goldfish). Then the 10th to 12th grade category came and I was so distracted that they had to call me twice before I realized I'd won second place!

First place went to 12th grade boy that wrote a story called "The Message", very purple prose and perfect grammar, lovely story, but I digress.

Anyway, the famous author was the one to give me my prize and told me my story was very vivid, there were some typos but he was impressed by the creativity and the amount of action I packed into 5 pages while still giving it a satisfying ending. I barely grasped what the heck he was saying at the time because I still had this certainty that I bullshitted the whole thing last minute and couldn't even remember half of what I wrote but I asked him if he thought I "could be real writer someday" and he just said I already was a "real writer" because all it took to be a real writer was putting it it words, that and actually enjoying the world I made up.

It stuck with me. I didn't realize right away that that was my dream, that I wanted to be a novelist, I still wanted to be an artist and was stuck under all those expectations to choose a proper college path and career (I thought I could do law, AH! what was I thinking?!) but it really stuck with me and shortly after I started getting really deep into a side of fandom that I hadn't experienced before (because I never had much access to internet before that) and started to want to put my stories into words even if I never finished them, I still didn't think I had the patience or the originally.

A few years later I realized that when it comes to something I'm passionate about I do indeed have the patience, by age 12 I had already been writing long comprehensive character bios, story details, transcribed quotes, meta theories, summaries and collecting tons of info of all my favorite fandoms and not to share, just for fun (and probably OCD) this went on for years before I even found out that the internet had whole websites and encyclopedias for such things (not like today though but yeah), and it had never occurred to me the patience that that in itself required.

My first fics were atrocious! Mostly because I made A LOT of typos due to not being used to writing in English full time but my thoughts came more naturally in English and I didn't enjoy writing fiction in Portuguese anyway (poetry though? Absolutely), I also used extremely exaggerated plot points, be it drama, angst or romance. But people liked the stories for the content and not the accurate spelling so I kept at it. I never used to finish my fics back then, not due to lack of patience but mostly because I put too much pressure on myself to make a story perfect and would stop having fun.

When I started writing purely for fun and passion (and realized that not every story needed to be a novel length epic) that's when I started churning out my best (and ironically longest) stories and getting better and better.

I won't lie, having readers encouraging me was key, it's half of the fuel I need to keep going, outside interest is an incredible motivator, but mostly I just realized that the key to good writing is:

Less pressure + more passion = all the patience you need

This doesn't just apply to original work though, it's also about fanfic.

Holy crap, that was a lot of words just to sum everything up on that one bold sentence... See, I could never have written this much when I was in high school, that's also a matter of practicing until letting your thoughts out into writing becomes second nature but that's a whole other story.

Anyway... Thanks for the lovely message. It's the story of thing that means the world to me ❤️

(and PS- no, I haven't won any other contests since that one but I have published articles on magazines, no published novels yet though because I don't think my original ideas are ever good enough to follow through).

[miximax-hell]

...This should have been published the 10th of January. I queued it ages ago (back when my last post was published), but Tumblr farted and decided not to post it. Which is just fantastic. It’s not the first time it decides to screw up the queue, but it’s the first time it happens to me on this blog. So annoying. This means it’s coming a few days late, but I hope you all still had a fantastic EnYaga Day!

As I prepared for True EnYaga Day back in October, I found again this old doodle of mine--the base for what would later become the final design of EnYaga. I thought it might be fun to share it and use it as an excuse to talk about this subject AGAIN, and... that was good enough for me, really.

You guys know me and there’s probably very little reason to do so, but I have never really talked about the reasons behind this miximax, have I? Well, if there is a day to indulge in that, it’s EnYaga Day, so let’s get to it!

As usual, more under the cut.

Despite Tumblr’s betrayal, this does have a perk: I get to revise this post before it’s published, which is great, because I’m happy to report that things are better now than when I first wrote it. In the original version, I mentioned that my life at the time was a little... paused, so there wasn’t really a lot to say. Among the only news worth sharing, I sent an oil painting to a friend a couple of months ago and it arrived very fast and completely safe, so that was great! It was a Professor Layton-themed painting, but now that I don’t have it at home anymore, I’m tempted to make another one... (If I do, chances are more FudoLay content will arrive here swiftly after lol) Other than that, I’d just started my classes again, but I was still desperately looking for a job. At least, classes made me feel like I wasn’t completely wasting every single day, so I was more cheerful than I was during summer. (Funny, because my group of friends at uni used to say that they could only smile during summer, but I was pretty miserable during those months. ww;)

Thankfully, though, I can say I now have a job! And it’s great!! ...The conditions aren’t so great, but at least I’m back to work as a game designer. I’m learning so much and I feel very motivated to work, even if it’s technically a collaboration and I will only get money once the game is published--in other words, when the game starts bringing money our way. This is far from ideal, but I honestly had no other options and I’m having a blast working on this, so I hope something cool will come out of it! For now, I would ask you to keep your eyes on Eskema Games and maybe check out the company’s latest game, Delta Squad? I had absolutely NOTHING to do with that game because it was released way before I joined, but supporting it supports the company I work for, which always comes in handy! It also underperformed, so it could use all the love you guys can give it.

Also, let me quickly point something out: about a year ago, an anon asked me if i was going to include Danganronpa characters in this project. The question is here, in case anyone needs a reminder: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/181991994534/hey-there-since-youre-doing-miximaxs-with-game Well, I FINALLY got my hands on the DR Trilogy for PS4, so I’ll be looking into that and seeing what I can find! If that anon is still around, I hope I can make them happy.

But let’s cut to the chase already!

As I always make sure to clarify, yes, I do massively ship Endou and Yagami. But there’s thankfully much more to EnYaga (the miximax--if I need to talk about the ship again, I’ll just call it Endou x Yagami) than just “yeah, I ship them.” In order to understand the reasons behind this combination, though, we must venture into two very different subjects: what reasons there are to choose Yagami to begin with, and the life story of yours truly. I swear both are important to get the full picture, but I’ll keep the latter as brief and free of unnecessary information as possible, even if it’s definitely the longest and most complex part. So, without any further ado, let’s see what makes this miximax valid within the logic of this project.

A big chunk of what makes EnYaga work was explained exactly three years ago, here: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/131215636268/when-the-king-enters-the-room-the-world-stops-and

The tl;dr would be that Endou plays as a goalkeeper, but also as a libero! Being such radically different positions, it’s to be expected that he would need two different miximaxes, because it would be rather difficult to find an aura that improves his field skills (shooting power, speed, etc.) and his goalkeeping abilities at the same time. Thankfully, Yagami gives him the exact abilities a good libero needs to be able to excel--especially when that libero has the pressure of being part of most of the strong hissatsus the team can pull off. So, for more info on EnYaga’s powers, please check the link above. (And note that, of course, this miximax only marginally improves Endou’s goalkeeping capabilities.)

I have also talked in length about the relationship between Endou and Yagami, but here’s a very brief summary. During the in-game events of IE2, Endou gave Yagami hope when all she wanted was to die to atone for her sins, thus saving her life in the process. In return, she wanted to give him the strength to fight when he needed it most as a way to repay his kindness towards her.

Yagami’s innate abilities and the bond they share are the more logical reasons behind this miximax. There is, however, one extra reason to include this miximax in the project.

There have always been three main rules here when it comes to choosing auras:

1. Only characters that come from universes predominantly inhabited by humans (or very human-like creatures, like Zelda’s Hylians).

2. Only one character from every franchise, unless they are Level-5 franchises. In that case, I may use up to two per franchise. Examples of this are Danball Senki/Little Battlers eXperience (with Toramaru and Megane) and Professor Layton (with Fudou and Shishido).

3. One aura coming from every single (and proper) Inazuma Eleven game on the market. Those being Inazuma Eleven, IE2: Fire, IE2: Blizzard, IE3: Spark, IE3: Bomber, IE3: Ogre, IEGO: Light, IEGO: Dark, IEGO Chrono Stone: Raimei, IEGO Chrono Stone: Neppu, IEGO Galaxy: Supernova, IEGo Galaxy: Big Bang, Inazuma Eleven Strikers, IE Strikers 2012 XTreme, and IEGO Strikers 2013. I’m not counting Everyday, SD nor unreleased titles. So far, I have 7 out of 15.

From the beginning, I have wanted Endou to have nothing but Inazuma Eleven-only miximaxes. I mean, he’s the main character and all!

Needless to say, Yagami is part of the Inazuma Eleven miximaxes--in fact, she takes the IE2 Blizzard spot, if anyone is curious about that very specific detail. She is obviously a very predominant character in that game, having a relevant impact during the final match against The Genesis and even (spoiler alert for a 10 years old game) by injuring Kazemaru earlier, because he didn’t just leave like he did in the anime--Yagami sent him to the hospital when he started matching The Genesis’s power. Since she’s a main character in that game, and considering that many of the other important characters introduced in it become part of the teams that make up this project (such as Hiroto, Midorikawa and maaaybe Saginuma), Yagami was the perfect candidate. She was also arguably the strongest among the remaining main characters of IE2, and the only midfielder. Not to mention the bond she shares with Endou, which only rounds it all up even more.

So, as a brief summary, Yagami is an Inazuma Eleven character (which is exactly what I wanted for Endou) and a very strong player, she provides Endou with everything he would need to be a good libero (incredible speed, great shooting strength, being a midfielder and the stamina that inherently comes with it, powerful hissatsus, and so on), she shares a canonical bond with Endou, the contrast between their personalities is super interesting to explore, and there are reasons why even she would want him to take her power. He can hardly have it better! It makes a lot of sense, and it’s all heavily based on canon, so I don’t need to explain much in that regard. That’s always convenient.

But there is another side to all of this. My side.

I first started working on miximaxes with the idea of only making 4 or 5. I simply meant to give extra love to some of my favourite characters to make myself and a few friends happy. This never became a full-fledged project until my good friend Heather, who used to be on Tumblr under the username @ishidoshuuji, said she wanted to be able to reblog the Seitei x Yuuichi miximax I had drawn for her. In other words, this: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/129863262149/well-it-was-about-time-i-started-using-this-blog

Before that, miximax-hell used to be a private blog: one of those you can only check out if you have the password. I never thought ANY stranger would be interested in it, so why expose myself like that? It would only make me feel bad. I could have never imagined over a hundred people would follow me here, and even less so considering that only about 10 of my friends follow this blog. So I have to thank Heather because, even if 100 isn’t a big number at all here on Tumblr, I still appreciate each and every person who stops by and it’s helped me meet some incredibly lovely people.

Back to the subject, though. This story is directly linked to MamoDai’s. The important part of it was that EnYaga’s design isn’t mine, and so isn’t MamoDai: the former is completely not mine (even if, as the sketch above suggests, the concept was first doodled by me), while the latter was only partially mine. The thing, though, is that the same person made EnYaga and “collaborated” on the creation of MamoDai, which meant I let them into this very personal solo project twice. If you want to check out the full story, though, you can read it here: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/142160652319/you-should-have-seen-this-one-coming-come-on

As I was saying, miximax-hell is a solo project. It’s something for me to enjoy, for me to think about, for me to develop, for me to improve at designing character, and for me to decide on. I set the rules and I come up with suitable matches--or what I think are suitable matches, that is. ww I’m definitely open to suggestions if anyone is willing to share their thoughts with me, and fanart is always, always, ALWAYS welcome, of course, but I don’t borrow other people’s ideas nor designs. Not because those designs and ideas aren’t fantastic, nor because I’m not allowed to, but because the point of this blog is to have fun and improve my skills. If I don’t do it myself, it’s kind of pointless, so I prefer a bad design made by me over a great design by someone else. Also, if people were to check all of these things out, I wanted it to be because of my work, not because someone super well-known was part of it and people were desperate to get more content from them.

When I first came up with this project, though, someone very close to me wanted to be part of it. Not because they found it interesting per se, but simply because it was mine. I had previously declined an offer to join one of their projects because I lacked the necessary skill, so they wanted to join mine instead. And don’t get me wrong--I appreciate the interest even now! But, again, it beat the point and I had to refuse. Looking back, I’m very glad I didn’t give in, but I felt awful back then and this person must have felt really bad too.

That’s why I made that exception and suggested, “Hey, why don’t we create a miximax together?” That’s how MamoDai was born. But while the interest in working on MamoDai seemed... scarce, this person came up with and gave me something out of their own accord: the EnYaga miximax design I still use to this day.

Now, here’s the thing: EnYaga was a proper gift that person made for me, and I always honour gifts. If it had been a random doodle, like I have received others in the past, it would have ended there. But when someone puts true effort and time into making something especifically FOR ME, regardless of what happens between us later, I still treasure it forever. And this gift came from a person who, apparently, really wanted to be part of this project when I first came up with it, which, honestly, put me in a tight spot. The least I could do was accept this design, which I loved almost as much as I loved them, and incorporate it to my lineup.

EnYaga was going to happen regardless, because I was working on it myself, but this person beat me to it (with such incredible quality, too, which I would never be able to hold a candle to) and, after what I made them go through with my continuous rejections, I had to honour them somehow. It was my way of saying, “I can’t let you do this for me, but I deeply appreciate the thought.”

This person is now out of my life, though. This means that, honestly, I could just get rid of the design. They would never know, and I would be happier with something of my own even if it sucked in comparison. They would never feel offended either--not like they would even if they knew, because it’s obvious they don’t care about me anymore. It would be easy and 100% painless for all parties involved.

But EnYaga is a token of the bond we once shared and I treasure that, even though I don’t want anything to do with that person anymore. It portrays the fun and happy times, not the sad and bitter ending. Happiness is always something worth remembering, isn’t it? And maybe, just maybe, thanks to the wonderful people I’m close to and my eternal love towards Endou x Yagami, I might one day be able to completely forgive the bad and focus on the good, so I can smile when I look at EnYaga and think of this person. I look forward to a day when there isn’t an ounce of bitterness left in my heart (although I am one revengeful and spiteful piece of poo, so it might never happen). And for that possibility alone, it might be worth it to keep making this one exception and let this miximax be someone else’s. Especially now that I have DoYaga to call my own.

So that’s it, folks: not only do Endou and Yagami make for a sick combination in theory, but it’s also a miximax with deep sentimental value for me in so many different ways. So even if it had been someone else’s idea and the two characters were a terrible match in all senses, chances are I would have still kept it. Thank goodness it wasn’t the case. ww

And all because I didn’t finish the design fast enough on my own. May that be the lesson to learn from this: hurry the heck up, self.

[ezilyamuzed]

There’s no place like home - Part 8

Summary: The reader has had a unique gift all her life. While considering it a curse, she discovers the identity of her real father after her mothers passing. Journeying towards her new life, she finds herself thrown within the Winchester’s world. Is it her destiny?

Setting: End of season 13. This takes place after episode 13.18.

Warnings: Language. Some angst, fluff, drama- a typically SPN episode.  POV may switch after certain sections. 

A/N: I’ll apologize now, what you are about to read is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, at least it was for me. This was not all in my original plan, but I am happy it had happened. I’ve been rewatching the series and during this time I was on Season 5 where Jo and Ellen die, tears still coming although it was probably the 10th time I had watched it. Amazing how much character’s relationships can still make your heart break years after. I promise more interesting things are on the way. We aren’t even close to done.

Any grammatical mistakes are all my own, because I am human. Remember all comments and feedback are welcomed! If you want a tag in future posts regarding this series or other writings please send an ask! As always thank you for reading! Enjoy!

Sam and Dean had shifted glances to each other, their Adam’s apples bobbing as they swallowed hard, waiting to see who was going to answer your question of why they had brought up the men of letters. You stood there patiently waiting, leaning up against the end table with your arms crossed while watching the apprehension move between them.

“Well, guys? Why does some boy band called the Men of Letters matter?”

“You said a man and woman came to see you?” Dean questioned while raising his eyebrow.

“Yeah, some British guy. Ketchup or something,” you chuckled while trying to remember what it really was. 

Dean squeezed his eyes tight while shaking his head. “You mean Ketch?”

“Yeah that was it, and the girl was Campbell, like the soup. I guess I had food on the brain that day,” you laughed.

“Campbell?” Sam coaxed.

“Yeah, um Mary,” you said looking into his inquiring face. Flashes of your memory went through your head as you tried to recall the details. “She seemed a little uneasy being there… actually, her light was different like yours too.”

Sam and Dean stared back at each other again like they just witnessed a nuclear bomb go off in front of them and were frozen in place. Dean tilted his head slightly to Sam, encouraging him to speak first with his eyes. Sam gave an audible sigh and ran his hand through his hair before speaking.

“Mary Campbell is Mary Winchester, our mom.”

“And the dick with her is a part of the Men of Letters from over the Atlantic,” Dean included.

“We think that your grandfather was involved somehow, here in America,” Sam said while moving to grab the mahogany frame. “This is the outside of their bunker, their safe house if you will.”

You held up your hands to stop them. “Whoa. Back up there. Your mom? But she is…”

“Yeah not so much for a while now,” Dean interjected while sitting himself down on the end of the couch. “That’s a long story.”

“Are there any Winchester’s that stay dead?” you blurted while sitting yourself across from him in a steady recliner, feeling the tension radiating off of them by your words. You didn’t mean to say it, it just…came out. A lingering silence fulfilled the room before you spoke again. “So why do you think that is a picture of their safe house anyways. I mean it could be anywhere. It doesn’t exactly have ‘men of letters hideout shack’ written all over it.”

“Because we’ve seen it. We’ve been there. Hell, it’s our home,” Sam stated while moving to sit next to his brother. “The quote ‘There’s no place like home’ written on there, it’s a reference to the Wizard of Oz.”

“Yeah, so what? Next, you are going to tell me Dorothy is the leader,” you scoffed while shaking your head.

“Well she was definitely a part of it,” Dean replied while sitting himself back further into the cushions.

“Wait. Click your heels three times Dorothy? We’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy?”

“Her father, L. Frank Baum wrote the stories, he was a member during his lifetime. She was trapped when she had followed him into Oz, so he left clues in his writings for her.,” Sam informed you calmly. “A couple of years ago we released her from her spell with the Wicked Witch, and as far as I know she is still in Oz. Our friend Charlie would have been able to explain this all so much better.”

Charlie rang in your ears, completely erasing the absurdity you had just heard about the Land of Oz existing and one of your favorite childhood stories. The image of her smiling face lighting up the room forced itself into the forefront of your mind. 

“Charlie Bradbury,” you mumbled while moving your face towards the ground. Dean and Sam’s eyes shot at you in confusion to how you could have possibly known. Feeling their eyes on you, you raised your head to meet their stares while giving an audible exhale. You got up to grab the old photo album that you had frantically searched and found earlier. Flipping through the pages you found the one that you were looking for. Hesitating in your steps you watched their curiosity grow for their unspoken question. Walking over to them, you held it open to Sam’s reach.

“Like I had said before, I’ve heard about you two from others.”

Sam’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at the old Polaroids. There was Charlie, with her signature full body smile and you equally as happy. Both dirty like you had just been in a fight, but cheerful nonetheless with pride of accomplishment shining through.  Feeling his brother trying to see what you had given him, he leaned the book over. Dean gulped hard while focusing on the pictures, his eyes shifting furiously over the photos. 

“There was a ghost not too far from where I lived,” you quietly uttered. “She came in looking for information from my mom and found me instead. We took it out together. Honestly, given the circumstances, it was one of the best hunts of my life.”

“Y/N, Charlie…” Sam started to speak with sorrow in voice.

“You don’t have to tell me, Sam. I know what happens on the job,” you interrupted while giving him a tight-lipped nod. Watching Dean still steading his eyes over the pages. “There is more too that you should probably know. Turn back a couple pages.” 

You could feel the emotions from earlier rising again within you as you watched him turn back the pages, stopping when he saw the familiar faces. His mouth dropping in disbelief. 

“Ash,” he whispered while leaning the filled pages to Sam. “Jo. Ellen… How is this possible?”

“Ash is a long story,” you chuckled lowly while remembering your oldest friend. “Basically we were friends in high school and stayed in contact well after. He would help me out with cases and things like that. He was actually one of the few people who knew about me and what I saw. I met Jo and Ellen when I was looking for him, finding her took up permeant residency at the Roadhouse.”

You could feel the emotions trying to push through your eyes as you spoke but you shook them off, putting on your best fake smile you could muster. Sam sat completely still lost in his thoughts, looking out to nothing in front of him. Holding onto the album tight, Dean looked up to you, his glossy eyes meeting yours.

“Y/N…I’m sorry.”

You shook your head before speaking up again. “I know, I mean… I already know what had happened to Ash from Ellen afterward. I kind of figured whatever was going on wouldn’t take long to catch up to the rest.”

“They died fighting,” Sam uttered, breaking out of his thoughts.

You shifted in your seat, feeling anger you had suppressed running through your veins as he said it, screaming at you to avenge your fallen friends by taking down the causes that sat comfort on your couch in front of you.  Your gut and your heart advising you to allow yourself to just sit in the silence, remembering the lives of the fallen with them. You chose the latter, while Dean now was sifting through the album, looking to see if there was more. The old-aged open letter fell out into his lap. You went to say something but the words written on it had already caught his attention. His eyes scanning it over and over while his brows furrowed, before looking up to you in disbelief. 

“I guess I was supposed to meet you a long time ago,” you quietly answered his unspoken question while exhaling back into your chair. “I couldn’t open it. I couldn’t bring myself to… not until today.”

Your anger quickly boiling over that you had worked so hard to hold back. It wasn’t just at them though, it was at yourself. If you had only been brave enough to read a god damned letter, so many things could have changed. Jo and Ellen might still be alive. Charlie would be here. Your dad? You might have actually gotten to know your real father, not just going off of others words, but actually known him. If you would have just opened the god damn letter your whole world could have changed.

Dean had handed the letter over to a curious Sam while you felt your heart beating fast and your muscles tighten as the rage grew inside of you. “Y/N, if we would have known…”

“Known what Dean?” you snapped. “That the people you drag into all of your shit have their own friends and family that you throw into danger?”

The words fell out like vomit, you had no control over them as they spilled out. His face dropped and eyes widened like you had just twisted a knife into his gut.

 “You know what Dean? Save all of your apologies. I don’t want to hear them.”

“You listen here princess,” he yelled while standing straight up in his spot, face turning dark red in the heat of his rage. “That is a part of the damn job. They knew what they were getting into. Every single one of them. We tried to save but they made their choices. Don’t you dare put all of this on me.”

You could feel your breathing turn rapid as you clenched your fist to punch time right in his perfect jaw as he spoke. Looking into darkened his eyes you could see the anger, sadness, and self-hatred all mixed hiding away behind them. A sea of tears trying to escape. You saw the truth in them, not only had you blamed him, but he was still blaming himself. Your words had cut open a wound that time had not healed. You closed your eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to relax your muscles as it set in. 

“There is no point in this. In us yelling at each other,” you sighed, knowing that no matter what you did, the past could not be changed. Moving forward was the only option. “There have been tough choices that we all have made, that I know we all regret.” 

Sam and Dean both nodded their heads in agreement as you took in a deep breath and raised yourself to obtain another beer from the kitchen. Sam followed your lead, leaning on the counter while you popped the top off. He went to open his mouth to speak but you stopped him in his tracks.

“Not talking about it anymore Sam,” you said before taking a large gulp, downing almost half of the contents. You let out a low burp that made him quietly snicker, breaking the tension. “So what is up with the boy band you’re in? The lettermen.”

“The men of letters,” he corrected you as Dean walked in red-eyed, with an obvious tear stain on his cheek. He rubbed his face with both hands while Sam continued. “Basically there were like elite hunters. They complied almost every lore and spell book you could imagine.”

“Were?” you queried before taking another sip.

“Yeah, a bitch knight of hell, Abaddon, pretty much wiped out the membership in 1958,” Dean responded while grabbing for his own beer. “All that is really left is a few legacies, like Sam, me and well I guess now you too.”

“Our grandfather Henry Winchester was a member,” Sam added.

“Yeah, he was an alright guy. Kind of self-righteous,” Dean quipped. 

You pushed your head back in confusion, squinting your eyes to Dean. “He was? You just said she wiped them out.”

“Time travel spell,” Sam responded in seriousness. “He traveled to his next of kin in the future, escaping while luring her here.”

“Through the closet,” Dean chuckled while taking a sip of his beer.

“Anyways,” Sam continued. “He sacrificed himself to stop her, and that was just the beginning of a whole other mess.”

You stood there staring blankly at you beer bottle, frozen in your thoughts. Time traveling grandparents and demons. Resurrected parents. Secret hunters club. Fucking Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy, all things that were real and happened to them. You shook yourself out of your thoughts and finished your beer in a long gulp. 

“Well,” you clicked with your tongue as you pulled the empty bottle away from your lips. “I think you two would definitely be institutionalized if you ever admitted these things to other people.”

“Yeah, being honest usually gets us committed for a few days,” Sam laughed. You gave him a perplexed glare but shook it off instead of asking further questions. The clock behind him displaying the time that could not have possibly been right, making you jump to find your phone.

“Fuck what time is it?” you groaned while moving items out of your way in the search for it.

“It’s a little bit before 5,” Sam informed while looking at his watch.

“God damn time change,” you grunted. “Look, listen guys as much as I would love to sit here and have girl talk, I have less than two hours to get ready for a stupid faculty ball at the University. I also have no idea where half of the things I need are.”

“We can help you find them,” Sam offered, glancing over at his brother that looked lost in his thoughts.

“You really don’t…” you started to reply.

“We would be more than happy to,” Dean added, stopping you from speaking.

“Fine,” you breathed as you rolled your eyes and glanced at the boxes still full of miscellaneous contents behind him. “I need my curling iron, makeup, jewelry and black Manolo Blahnik’s.”

“What is a Manolo Blahnik?” Sam questioned in confusion.

“They’re high heeled shoes,” Dean informed while moving towards the living room. He turned himself back around once reaching an unopened box, meeting Sam and yours surprised stares. “What?”

“Nothing,” you scoffed as you walked past him to another box.

“So what exactly is this thing you are going to?” Sam asked while moving to his own spot amongst the stacks. 

“Basically a meet and greet amongst faculty members,” you answered while pulling away at the tape, revealing yet another box of books in front of you.

“Want some company,” Sam suggested. You gave him a puzzled look, questioning is motivations. “I mean being the new kid and not knowing anyone, might help to have friendly faces.”

You let out a short laugh, imagining yourself walking in with two handsome men head to toe in plaid and denim. “Unless you guys have a tux handy, I don’t think so.”

“I do,” Dean nonchalantly said while rummaging through his boxes contents of beauty products. 

“You do?” Sam and you questioned together in amazement.

“God how many bath beads and bombs do you have?”

________________________________________________________

“A lot. Now answer the question Dean,” Y/N commanded while folding her arms in front of her waiting for him to reply.

“What? So I have a tux in the car. You never know when you might need it for a case,” he answered while pulling out her curling iron from the bottom of the box. “One down.”

“And how often do you need a tux for a case?” she giggled while lifting and fumbling with another box to stifle through.

“You would be surprised,” he laughed, grabbing the box in Y/N’s hands to help her balance it. His eyes met hers in the motion as she mouthed a “thank you” that made his heart skip a beat. Just one look and he felt like a teenager again, sweaty and anxious about the future. What would ever become of this? Did she even feel something for him? Was he just wasting his time here?

That night, that amazing night that he found himself lying next to her, watching her chest rise and fall as she dreamed was one of the best moments he had in a long time. During the drive to her he played around with the thought of if things weren’t so complicated, for lack of a better word, he could see himself doing it every night. Just being with her. Hell, maybe the civilian life in a little house that he could escape the world with her in. 

While he pulled up to her house, he couldn’t help but smile at how it looked exactly as he imagined. The perfect spot for the perfect apple pie life. His smile fading as he remembered nothing about his life would ever be perfect. Not in this lifetime at least. The question of what the hell he was even trying to do or going to do shook up his nerves. He was actually grateful that Sam had been there or else he would have probably tucked in his tail and ran back home before even seeing her face again. 

She hadn’t been as spirited from the other night, maybe she had regretted everything that had happened. That thought made Dean sick to his stomach as he helped unpack the endless stacks of books. How drunk had she been? Did he take advantage of her? Oh God, did she want to gut him right where he stood? The worst possible thought flooded his mind until Sam snapped him out of it. The picture he held in his hands was so familiar like he had already seen it. When Sam spoke up he knew what he was looking at. Home. No place like it. 

His brother was looking to him for answers the same way he had all his life, only this time he didn’t have them. He knew what had to happen next, he had to find out what she knew. The world he wanted to keep away from her was breaking through. Her eyes searched for the details within her memories that only made the sickness in his stomach grow. His world had already met hers, and not only that his mother had brought it to her. As Sam and he spoke, he watched her carefully as she followed their words. Her eyes were searching for reason when she as questioned how it was her that she had brought it to her. A long story he did not want to talk about because the ending still frightened him. His mother could still be alive with Jack by her side in a world he may never be able to reach again. 

As a familiar name hit his ears his heart sank. Charlie. Although he had just seen her face in another world, it was not the real Charlie he had cared for, the one he was unable to protect. He could feel his heart beating faster as Y/N grabbed a book and shown his brother her past, one that included the bright smile on his friends face that he knew all too well as it still flashed in his memories. He felt his emotions burning inside of him, begging to come out when she told him to turn the pages. There they were, more of the family he had let down all those years ago. Ash, Ellen, and sweet Jo, the girl who sacrificed herself for him. His heart was now tearing into pieces.

A worn letter fell into his hands as he sat remembering, feeling the guilt that he tried to push back. Ash had sent her to them. If he had only known he would have found her one way or another if anything to honor his fallen friends' wishes for them to protect her. As he spoke he could see the anger inside of her push itself out as her words hit like acid. Out of instinct, he fought against them as his anger toward himself grew. He watched her face as his muscles tightened to attack her, she wasn’t scared. He saw it in her eyes, her anger still burning and seeing in his that he was as well. She could see it how it still haunted him, his past mistakes. The emotions in her eyes shifted as she watched him. She was still angry, but somehow she could read that he was too and she understood. Understood how the memories would keep him up at night, how given the job things happen to the ones you love, and how if he could take it all back, trading in his life for theirs he would. 

He watched her walk away with Sam following, a tear escaping down his cheek. How would she be able to forgive him when he could never forgive himself? He let out a deep sigh before following them. The subject already had changed as she asked more of her questions. Somehow she was able to push all the words that were said aside and allow herself to pretend that everything was normal. Nothing was nor ever would be normal, not with him around. 

Her smile gave him a sense of calm as they all spoke. She really was perfect. If there had been any chance at something more, surely all that had transpired erased them. Following her gaze to the clock, Dean knew he was running out of time he had with her. Sam offering for them to accompany her was his last shot before he knew she might be gone from him again. When she suggested that it was not going to happen unless they had a tux Dean jumped at his chance. This was it and he was not going to miss it.

“So what time should I be ready for our date?” Dean smiled coyly setting the box down from her grasp.

“Really, I’ll be fine,” she laughed as she tore through the tape to find her other lost items.

“Nonsense,” Dean stated. “You might need someone to carry you home after being bored to sleep all night.”

He watched as she rolled her eyes and chuckled, muttering a “fine” in defeat. He could feel his heart starting to beat faster, this was it. It was happening, and not only that he wouldn’t have Sam to lean on. No, it would just be her and him. The possibility of redemption from the past fueled him to work faster, tearing through the boxes and finding everything she needed. 

“Thanks,” she said while taking them from his hands. “There is an iron underneath the bathroom sink if you need it for your suit.”

Dean nodded as he looked over at Sam who had a smile raising in the corner of his mouth. This was the chance for Dean to find what he wanted, hell what he needed. There was no way he would let anything mess it up.

Y/N had disappeared into what Dean could only assume was her bedroom. He heard the water from a shower run as he went to Baby’s trunk for everything that he would need. While grabbing the garment bag that held the tux he glanced at all the tools that laid organized in front of him. Knives, guns, holy water, bombs and a whole lot of other tools he would usually reach for when going into the unknown. He shook his head as he pushed the trunk back shut. There was no need for any of it, at least not tonight.

After fixing himself in her bathroom mirror after changing, he walked out to have an approving nod from his brother that was short lived as Sam’s eyes moved to what was behind Dean. He turned his head and saw her standing there in a long low cut black dress with her hair falling on her shoulders in curls. Their eyes met as they both whispered that same word in unison, “Jesus”.

“Wait what?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Dean quickly replied as he pulled out Baby’s keys. “You ready to go.”

“Ah ah, Winchester, I do believe I said the next time I was driving,” she smiled while jiggling her keys in her hand.

Dean gave a low laugh while smiling as he followed her outside. He would do anything she told him to do to see her smile and tonight he would do exactly that. Butterflies now fluttering inside of him as they reached her car. She walked to the driver’s side making Dean move quickly on his feet.

“You know, as the guy I should at least drive,” he suggested while opening the door for her.

“No chance in hell Winchester,” she laughed before seating herself in.

Closing the door gently before walking himself around to the other side he felt his smile only growing wider. Nothing was going to ruin tonight. He wouldn’t let it. Everything was just going to be…perfect.

Keep reading to part nine here

Tags: @jaylarkson @waywardbaby @snffbeebee @iamabeautifulperson18 @19agbrown

[blackkudos]

Stuart Scott

Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on SportsCenter. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the network in its National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) coverage.

Scott grew up in North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began his career with various local television stations before joining ESPN in 1993. Although there were already accomplished African-American sportscasters, his blending of hip hop with sportscasting was unique for television. By 2008, he was a staple in ESPN's programming, and also began on ABC as lead host for their coverage of the NBA.

In 2007, Scott had an appendectomy and learned that his appendix was cancerous. After going into remission, he was again diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and 2013. Scott was honored at the ESPY Awards in 2014 with the Jimmy V Award for his fight against cancer, less than six months before his death in 2015 at the age of 49.

Early life

Stuart Orlando Scott was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 19, 1965 as the son of O. Ray and Jacqueline Scott. When he was 7, Scott and his family moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Scott had a brother named Stephen and two sisters named Susan and Synthia.

He attended Mount Tabor High School for 9th and 10th grade and then completed his last two years at Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, graduating in 1983. In high school, he was a captain of his football team, ran track, served as Vice President of the Student Council, and was the Sergeant at Arms of the school's Key Club. Scott was inducted into the Richard J. Reynolds High School Hall of Fame during a ceremony on February 6, 2015, which took place during the Reynolds/Mt. Tabor (the two high schools that Scott attended) basketball game.

He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was part of the on-air talent at WXYC. While at UNC, Scott also played wide receiver and defensive back on the football team. In 1987, Scott graduated from the UNC with a B.A. in speech communication. In 2001, Scott gave the commencement address at UNC where he implored graduates to celebrate diversity and recognize the power of communication.

Career

Following graduation, Scott worked as a news reporter and weekend sports anchor at WPDE-TV in Florence, South Carolina from 1987 until 1988. Scott came up with the phrase "as cool as the other side of the pillow" while working his first job at WPDE. After this, Scott worked as a news reporter at WRAL-TV 5 in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1988 until 1990. WRAL Sports anchor Jeff Gravley recalled there was a "natural bond" between Scott and the sports department. Gravley described his style as creative, gregarious and adding so much energy to the newsroom. Even after leaving, Scott still visited his former colleagues at WRAL and treated them like family.

From 1990 until 1993, Scott worked at WESH, an NBC affiliate in Orlando, Florida as a sports reporter and sports anchor. While at WESH, he met ESPN producer Gus Ramsey, who was beginning his own career. Ramsey said of Scott: "You knew the second he walked in the door that it was a pit stop, and that he was gonna be this big star somewhere someday. He went out and did a piece on the rodeo, and he nailed it just like he would nail the NBA Finals for ESPN." He earned first place honors from the Central Florida Press Club for a feature on rodeo.

ESPN

Al Jaffe, ESPN's vice president for talent, brought Scott to ESPN2 because they were looking for sportscasters who might appeal to a younger audience. Scott became one of the few African-American personalities who was not a former professional athlete. His first ESPN assignments were for SportsSmash, a short sportscast twice an hour on ESPN2's SportsNight program. After Keith Olbermann left SportsNight for ESPN's SportsCenter, Scott took his place in the anchor chair at SportsNight. After this, Scott was a regular on SportsCenter. At SportsCenter, Scott was frequently teamed with fellow anchors Steve Levy, Kenny Mayne, Dan Patrick, and most notably, Rich Eisen. Scott was a regular in the This is SportsCenter commercials.

In 2002, Scott was named studio host for the NBA on ESPN. He became lead host in 2008, when he also began at ABC in the same capacity for its NBA coverage, which included the NBA Finals. Additionally, Scott anchored SportsCenter's prime-time coverage from the site of NBA post-season games. From 1997 until 2014, he covered the league's finals. During the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, Scott did one-on-one interviews with Michael Jordan. When Monday Night Football moved to ESPN in 2006, Scott hosted on-site coverage, including Monday Night Countdown and post-game SportsCenter coverage. Scott previously appeared on NFL Primetime during the 1997 season, Monday Night Countdown from 2002 to 2005, and Sunday NFL Countdown from 1999 to 2001. Scott also covered the MLB playoffs and NCAA Final Four in 1995 for ESPN.

Scott appeared in each issue of ESPN the Magazine, with his Holla column. During his work at ESPN, he also interviewed Tiger Woods, Sammy Sosa, President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. As a part of the interview with President Barack Obama, Scott played in a one-on-one basketball game with the President. In 2004, per the request of U.S. troops, Scott and fellow SportsCenter co-anchors hosted a week of programs originating from Kuwait for ESPN's SportsCenter: Salute the Troops. He hosted a number of ESPN game and reality shows, including Stump the Schwab, Teammates, and Dream Job, and hosted David Blaine's Drowned Alive special. He hosted a special and only broadcast episode of America's Funniest Home Videos called AFV: The Sports Edition.

Style

While there were already successful African-American sportscasters, Scott blended hip-hop culture and sports in a way that had never been seen before on television. He talked in the same manner as fans would at home. ESPN director of news Vince Doria told ABC: "But Stuart spoke a much different language ... that appealed to a young demographic, particularly a young African-American demographic." Michael Wilbon wrote that Scott allowed his personality to infuse the coverage and his emotion to pour out.

Scott also integrated pop culture references into his reports. One commentator remembered his style: "he could go from evoking a Baptist preacher riffing during Sunday morning service ('Can I get a witness from the congregation?!'), to quoting Public Enemy frontman Chuck D ('Hear the drummer get WICKED!') In 1999, he was parodied on Saturday Night Live by Tim Meadows. Scott appeared in music videos with the rappers LL Cool J and Luke, and he was cited in "3 Peat", a Lil Wayne song that included the line: "Yeah, I got game like Stuart Scott, fresh out the ESPN shop." In a 2002 segment of NPR's On the Media, Scott revealed one approach to his anchoring duties: "Writing is better if it's kept simple. Every sentence doesn't need to have perfect noun/verb agreement. I've said 'ain't' on the air. Because I sometimes use 'ain't' when I'm talking."

As a result of his unique style, Scott and ESPN received a lot of hate mail from people who resented his color, his hip-hop style, or his generation. In a 2003 USA Today survey, Scott finished first in the question of which anchor should be voted off SportsCenter, but he also was second to Dan Patrick in the 'definitely keep him' voting. Jason Whitlock criticized Scott's use of Jay-Z's alternate nickname, "Jigga", at halftime of Monday Night Football as ridiculous and offensive. Scott never changed his style and ESPN stuck with him.

Catchphrases

Scott became well known for his use of catch phrases, following in the SportsCenter tradition begun by Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. He popularized the phrase booyah, which spread from sports into mainstream culture. Some of the catchphrases included:

"Boo-Yah!"

"Hallah"

"As cool as the other side of the pillow"

"He must be the bus driver cuz he was takin' him to school."

"Holla at a playa when you see him in the street!"

"Just call him butter 'cause he's on a roll"

"They Call Him the Windex Man 'Cause He's Always Cleaning the Glass"

"You Ain't Gotta Go Home, But You Gotta Get The Heck Outta Here."

"He Treats Him Like a Dog. Sit. Stay."

"And the Lord said you got to rise Up!"

"Make All the Kinfolk Proud ... Pookie, Ray Ray and Moesha"

"It's Your World, Kid ... The Rest of Us Are Still Paying Rent"

"Can I Get a Witness From the Congregation?"

"Doing It, Doing It, Doing It Well"

"See ... What Had Happened Was"

Legacy

ESPN president John Skipper said Scott's flair and style, which he used to talk about the athletes he was covering, "changed everything." Fellow ESPN Anchor, Stan Verrett, said he was a trailblazer: "not only because he was black – obviously black – but because of his style, his demeanor, his presentation. He did not shy away from the fact that he was a black man, and that allowed the rest of us who came along to just be ourselves." He became a role model for African-American sports journalists.

Personal life

Scott was married to Kimberly Scott from 1993 to 2007. They had two daughters together, Taelor and Sydni. Scott lived in Avon, Connecticut. At the time of his death, Scott was in a relationship with Kristin Spodobalski. During his Jimmy V Award speech, he told his teenage daughters: "Taelor and Sydni, I love you guys more than I will ever be able to express. You two are my heartbeat. I am standing on this stage here tonight because of you."

Eye injury

Scott was injured when he was hit in the face by a football during a New York Jets mini-camp on April 3, 2002, while filming a special for ESPN, a blow which damaged his cornea. He received surgery but afterwards suffered from ptosis, or drooping of the eyelid.

Appendectomy and cancer

After leaving Connecticut on a Sunday morning in 2007 for Monday Night Football in Pittsburgh, Scott had a stomachache. After the stomachache worsened, he went to the hospital instead of the game and later had his appendix removed. After testing the appendix, doctors learned that he had cancer. Two days later, he had surgery in New York that removed part of his colon and some of his lymph nodes near the appendix. After the surgery, they recommended preventive chemotherapy. By December, Scott—while undergoing chemotherapy—hosted Friday night ESPN NBA coverage and led the coverage of ABC's NBA Christmas Day studio show. Scott worked out while undergoing chemotherapy. Scott said of his experience with cancer at the time: "One of the coolest things about having cancer, and I know that sounds like an oxymoron, is meeting other people who've had to fight it. You have a bond. It's like a fraternity or sorority." When Scott returned to work and people knew of his cancer diagnosis, the well-wishers felt overbearing for him as he just wanted to talk about sports, not cancer.

The cancer returned in 2011, but it eventually went back into remission. He was again diagnosed with cancer on January 14, 2013. After chemo, Scott would do mixed martial arts and/or a P90X workout regimen. By 2014, he had undergone 58 infusions of chemotherapy and switched to chemotherapy pills. Scott also went under radiation and multiple surgeries as a part of his cancer treatment. Scott never wanted to know what stage of cancer he was in.

Jimmy V Award

On July 16, 2014, Scott was honored at the ESPY Awards, with the Jimmy V Award for his ongoing battle against cancer. He shared that he had 4 surgeries in 7 days in the week prior to his appearance, when he was suffering from liver complications and kidney failure. Scott told the audience, "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live." At the ESPYs, a video was also shown that included scenes of Scott from a clinic room at Johns Hopkins Hospital and other scenes from Scott's life fighting cancer. Scott ended the speech by calling his daughter up to the stage for a hug, "because I need one," and telling the audience to "have a great rest of your night, have a great rest of your life."

Death

On the morning of January 4, 2015, Scott died of cancer in his home in Avon, Connecticut, at the age of 49.

Tributes

ESPN announced: "Stuart Scott, a dedicated family man and one of ESPN's signature SportsCenter anchors, has died after a courageous and inspiring battle with cancer. He was 49." ESPN released a video obituary of Scott. Sports Illustrated called ESPN's video obituary a beautiful and moving tribute to a man who died "at the too-damn-young age of 49." Barack Obama paid tribute to Scott, saying:

I will miss Stuart Scott. Twenty years ago, Stuart helped usher in a new way to talk about our favorite teams and the day's best plays. For much of those twenty years, public service and campaigns have kept me from my family – but wherever I went, I could flip on the TV and Stu and his colleagues on SportsCenter were there. Over the years, he entertained us, and in the end, he inspired us – with courage and love. Michelle and I offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends, and colleagues.

A number of National Basketball Association athletes—current and former—paid tribute to Scott, including Stephen Curry, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jason Collins, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, James Worthy and others. A number of golfers paid tribute to Scott: Tiger Woods, Gary Player, David Duval, Lee Westwood, Blair O'Neal, Jane Park and others. Other athletes paid tribute including Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Jon Lester, Lance Armstrong, Barry Sanders, J. J. Watt, David Ortiz and Sheryl Swoopes. UNC basketball coach Roy Williams called him a "hero." Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said: "We lost a football game but we lost more this morning. I think one of the best members of the media I've ever dealt with, Stuart Scott, passed away."

Colleagues Hannah Storm and Rich Eisen gave on-air remembrances of Scott. On SportsCenter, Scott Van Pelt and Steve Levy said farewell to Scott and left a chair empty in his honor. Tom Jackson, Cris Carter, Chris Berman, Mike Ditka and Keyshawn Johnson from NFL Countdown shared their memories of Scott.

During Ernie Johnson, Jr.'s acceptance speech for his 2015 Sports Emmy Award for Best Studio Host, he gave his award to Scott's daughters, saying it "belongs with Stuart Scott". At the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards and at the 2015 ESPY Awards, Scott was included in the "in memoriam" segment, a rare honor for a sports broadcaster.

Filmography

He Got Game (1998)

Disney's The Kid (2000)

Drumline (2002)

Love Don't Cost A Thing (2003)

Mr. 3000 (2004)

Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)

The Game Plan (2007)

Enchanted (2007)

Just Wright (2010)

Television

Arli$$ (2000)

I Love the '80s (2002)

Soul Food (2003)

She Spies (2005)

I Love the '70s (2003)

One on One (2004)

Stump the Schwab (2004–06)

Dream Job (2004)

Teammates (2005)

I Love the '90s (2004)

I Love the Holidays (2005)

I Love Toys (2006)

Black to the Future (2009)

Publications

Scott, Stuart; Platt, Larry (2015). Every Day I Fight. Blue Rider Press. ISBN 978-0-399-17406-3. 

Wikipedia

[chuckprophet]

ANYWAY: The rubes. They are amazing. Legends. HUGE influence on me. Your mileage may vary. That’s the beauty of it all. Anyway, I cut and pasted some stuff about them here if you want to read on. I saw these guys like 25 times in high school. And I’m not some weirdo that loves 60’s Bubblegum/garage or whatever….  But they were inspiring like Jonathon - they laid it on the line… Every time. They could take a punch too. So, me and Tommy the guitarist. We wrote like 20 songs over the last 2 1/2 years… and now I am producing a record for ‘em…. Anyone who doesn't know their story, this fan doc is a good start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYzLnhGRlBo&t=704s Here they are today doing a one mic thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hD0sIDzY-E So yeah. Can all the original guys get together and catch lightening bugs in a bottle. They conjured up magic once upon a time. Can they do it again? They ended up broke and forgotten and doing lame stuff like singing the Revenge of the Nerds theme song…   There are few bands who’ve had stranger near careers. There's personal problems. And re-hab and lawsuits [Avril Lavigne] and there's even a redemptive third act where they get together and go to Japan and Spain and in some ways are bigger than ever. And POW! Back in the studio! It's a perfect story. Here’s some bullet points:    • Hit the top 40 with their cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now”    • Appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand    • Featured in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Television Special    • Scored the number 4 airplay record of the year in the UK 1978 with “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”    • Opened 56 shows for Elvis Costello and the Attractions Armed Forces Tour 1979 A couple days ago we had our first rehearsal. MORE HERE: I got the Rubes a deal with Yep Roc.  A real budget etc. And Tommy and I have written like 20 new songs… So, I am taking notes as we go and and sending these to a few folks who might find it all entertaining/interesting… whatevssssss… So, yesterday was the first time I got together with the band… Of course the band known as “the sickest band in show business“ were true to form as their bass player Al Chan has been out sick with a cold. But the band is energized. By the opportunity to make a real record. And are really up-beat. Very pro on so many levels. I went up to Sacramento- we rehearsed in Tommy's basement. [Jon, “Donno" the drummer and Tommy… and me. Literally knee-to-knee]  Just a couple guitars and Donno beating time with sticks on his knees. And we mowed through some 13 new songs and it was kind of amazing…   With Tommy at times breaking into these kind of Ferrante and Teicher versions where he'd play the melody on guitar as well as the chords…. Which kind of burns the melodies into our psyches. They had worked out three part harmonies to most of them and there were times when it just sounded like a record. There was some back in the day stories… About how they broke into the “Pepsi Generation“ song after antagonizing the crowd a little by singing the Archies Sugar Sugar - when they were opening for the Starship at Winterland. And got booed off the stage. [Jonathan Richman was in the crowd doing his Jughead dance and antagonizing the stoners in attendance-that didn’t help matters either] And how they literally were out on the sidewalk with their equipment when Grace Slick came to find them and said “you guys are cool. Don’t let anybody tell you what to do…“ She was no stranger to adversity. She loved them. It was heartfelt when they talked about how much that meant to them. I think they were pretty shook up getting booed off stage at Winterland. Not to mention Bill Graham getting up in their faces, “You’ll never work in this town again!!!” kind of thing. They also talked about being on tour with Elvis Costello when there was the “incident” with Bonnie Bramlet and Stephen Stills. How Elvis kept calling Stills “Steel Nose”. And finally when Elvis made the Ray Charles slur and how Bonnie Bramlet punched him. And the part I’ve never heard before was that Still's bodyguard took it further and dislocated Elvis’s shoulder. After that, the tour was getting death threats and there was even a sit down meeting where they discussed Elvis playing behind bulletproof glass. For real.   Yours, -CP

[go-go-ghost-ship]

Ok,a couple people requested I post the stuff I wrote up about my thoughts on the current Gunnerkrigg pages, so here it is. Be warned it’s kind of ramble-y and sloppy and probably a bit repetitive at times, but I originally wrote this just because I couldn't stop thinking about it and needed to get it out of my head. So, here you go, and feel 100% welcome to talk to me about it, whether you agree or not.

(Be warned, it IS like 3 pages long lol)

Gunnerkrigg Court thoughts, March 10th 2017 Chapter 61: Page 13

ok I need to get these out so i stop thinking about it lol

i think this is a good conversation for the characters to have, and I think from Red’s perspective it does sort of make sense. However, I feel like Red’s complaints aren’t entirely accurate here? (Note: points 1 and 2 are basically one giant combined point but oh well) 1. She’s acting like Annie forced her friends to do this, as if they dont have any free will of their own. Now, the two fairies were last minute recruits for the mission, but the other four were all pretty personally invested in the mission. It wasn’t just Annie’s mission at this point; it was also Kat’s, and Smitty’s, and Parley’s. Most of them had pretty personal attachments to this mission as well; Parley after the whole Coward Heart incident, and Kat because of the whole Diego/creator angle. I can’t think of one for Smitty, but he likes to help people out and he’s a medium himself, I’m sure this was something he WANTED to do as well. And I keep forgetting Robot was there with them since he only showed up for a brief period of time, but obviously we all know he’s invested in Jeanne. They’ve all been planning this for years, and they knew the dangers. We don’t really know at this point how well Annie warned the fairies how dangerous it would be, but I’m sure she gave them some warning, plus they HAVE met Jeanne before back when they met Annie for the first time. Also, if we’re going to blame whoever got everyone else involved in the mission, then along that line of thinking the blame should be on the Psychopomps, who asked Annie (a CHILD) to help. 2. The others chose to participate, had been helping to plan this mission for YEARS, and most had personal investments in the mission: Yeah, maybe the others getting involved was Annie’s doing, but like I said, most of them had a personal investment in the mission, and they all CHOSE to participate. Plus, we’ve already had a chapter about how Annie shouldn’t keep everything to herself, and that it can be good to get other people’s help (her convo with Jones during the control tower arc). Maybe she should’ve told the adults, but like I’ll say in another point down below, the Court is the reason Jeanne is down there in the first place. To tell someone loyal to the Court would’ve compromised the whole mission, and I think everyone’s agreed that it’s not right for Jeanne to be trapped down there against her will. There are a couple people they could trust, like Kat’s parents, Jones, and Eglamore, but I doubt any of them would've been okay with the kids doing this. I guess you could argue about whether or not they should’ve done this whole mission in the first place, and maybe they shouldn’t have, but 1) this IS a story, and they’ve been setting this up for a while, of course they’re gonna do it lol, 2) they’re trying to do what they think is right, and although we don’t know what the consequences of freeing Jeanne are just yet, I think we can all agree that it wasn’t right or fair what the Court did to Jeanne 3. Red’s acting like Annie wasn’t taking the mission seriously or something, when RED was the one messing around the most. She wasn’t even invited along, she just came cause Ayilu went. Ayilu almost got stabbed in the face because Red was the one distracting her. I feel like part of the root of why she’s saying all this is because she might not have reapplied just how dangerous the mission was, even if they had tried to explain it to her beforehand. Knowing her personality, she comes across as the kind of person who doesn’t realize somethings dangerous until its happening. I do however like that she's bringing this up, as I don’t like the idea of the faeries being these complete naive idiots who would be completely fine being put in danger cause they never realize the seriousness of a satiation. 4. Annie focused on Jeanne because she was dangerous and to complete their mission: Red says Annie just left Smitty there to bleed to death, but 1) leading Jeanne into the aether was their whole mission, and that’s what she was doing, and 2) Jeanne was the whole reason they were in danger. By getting her out of the way as quickly as possible, she removed the danger from her friends. It’s hard to care for someone who’s injured while you’re still getting attacked. 5. Even if they had gotten Smitty to a doctor, there’s no guarantee they would’ve been able to save him, plus he would’ve had to go into surgery and would’ve taken a while to recover. With the Psychopomps power, it was a guaranteed save with zero recovery time and no permanent injuries. Red says Annie made him wait in pain, but the psychopomps method was easily the quickest way to get rid of both the pain and the injury. 6. The group prepared as well as they could have, they can’t account for everything that could happen: Red could try and argue that maybe they didn’t prepare well enough for the mission, but honestly? They were pretty well prepared. I’m not sure they could’ve been much more prepared than they were. They can’t account for everything that could’ve happened, they just had to prepare their best and do what they could. 7. Getting in trouble with the Court could’ve compromised ALL of their safeties: Red says Annie didn't want to get in trouble, and while I don’t doubt some of Annie’s reluctance to take Smitty to the doctor was rooted in selfish reasons, she’s not the only one who would’ve gotten in trouble. And knowing the Court, the people who TRAPPED JEANNE DOWN THERE in the first place, it would’ve been more than just a week of detention. They could’ve all gotten kicked out (including Red and Ayilu!), plus the court probably didn't want Jeanne to be removed. They might’ve chosen someone else to replace her, and that someone could’ve easily come from Annie’s group. We know how capable the Court is of making inhumane and unethical decisions. Yes, Smitty’s safety (and everyone else’s safety as well) was the most important thing to this mission, and compromising it in order to save someone was definitely something they should do. However, like I said, letting the Court find out probably would’ve compromised ALL of their safeties. 8. Ayilu needs to speak up: i also really want Ayilu to say something? Red’s the one getting angry on her behalf, while Ayilu’s standing RIGHT THERE. I feel like she needs to speak up on her view of things. She’s her own person, she doesn’t need Red to speak for her. I want her to say something, regardless of whether she’s going to defend or attack Annie. 9. Annie is a bit selfish, but she’s also been put on the spot: I DO feel like Annie’s not making as good of an argument that she could, which could be a result of being put on the spot, but it also kind of shows that she might’ve been making her decisions based more on selfish reasons that truly logical ones. Which I do think is a good thing to be called out on; even though I mostly agree with what she did I agree for different reasons that than the ones she’s giving, and if she was only thinking about herself in these situations then it could lead to her making selfish decisions that I DONT agree with and that are objectively bad decisions. Even though I don’t agree with everything Red’s saying, I do think this is good for Annie to hear. I just don’t want it to end like this, I want some legitimate rebuttal to Red’s points.

I dont want the conclusion for this chapter to be that Annie’s a perfect, flawless angel that did nothing wrong, but I ALSO don’t want it to be that the entire mission was Annie’s fault and that she did everything wrong and she’s completely selfish, etc. I want her to grow and learn from it, and for her to realize what was at stake here, but I don’t want her to walk away form it thinking that she’s a terrible person, or for the others to think she's a terrible person. This situation is more complex than just “Annie’s perfect vs Annie’s terrible”, y’know? She might not’ve made all the best decisions, but she tried her best, and yes she has flaws but so do all the other characters. I don’t want Annie to leave this conversation thinking that she should never ask others for help ever again.

Some added info after March 13th, Chapter 61: Page 14:

It was very dangerous, tough mission they were all taking part in, against a ghost who has literally killed not only multiple creatures, but multiple escorts of the dead. And they, a group of teenagers, managed to complete the mission (one that more powerful, adult creatures failed at) without anyone actually dying or anyone becoming permanently injured from it. I’d say they did a pretty damn good job, Red. - At least Annie did manage to point out that Parley was personally invested in facing Jeanne, but Red didn’t really react to it. -Annie…Kat’s been working with you on this whole Jeanne thing for as long as you have. She was invested in it just like you, and she’s your best friend who loves you with her whole heart. You’re really gonna believe that you forced her to do this now? (Though I understand that it’s more of a guilt/self-doubt sort of thing going on here) -Ayilu still hasn’t said anything?? -At the very least, it seems like Red isn’t really acting super mad (based on her body language and facial expressions on this a page) so hopefully this won’t turn into a big fight or anything -And again with the whole ‘this was only what YOU wanted Annie’ shtick. Nevermind the fact that she, a CHILD, was personally asked by the magical escorts of the dead to help with this, or the fact that her friends have been working with her on this for years, or the fact that she doesn’t personally get anything out of this and really mainly did it because she thought it was the right thing to do. Nope, this was entirely Annie’s fault. Geez.

I’ll just say as a last note that the more I think about what Red’s saying, the more I disagree with her. However, I’ve always enjoyed Tom’s stories, and I have faith in him as a writer, plus at this point we’re really only nearing the middle of the chapter, so I’m hopeful that Red’s viewpoint is going to get challenged eventually. I think once the others from the mission show up they’ll be able to offer a rebuttal to Red’s point of view. Anyway, feel free to talk to me about any of this! I’m always down to talk about Gunnerkrigg Court.

[goftor-blog]

Vampira V

Maila Nurmi was the original Queen of the Modern Gothic. Vampira, her iconic macabre creation, influenced generations of filmmakers, musicians, artists and lifestylers. Sadly, she shuffled off her mortal coil on January 10th, 2008. She was aged 86.

A Finnish-born model and actress, Maila had posed for Man Ray, Vargas and Bernard of Hollywood before being discovered at a masquerade ball by a TV producer. Her pale-skin and tight black dress complete with black wig and long, haemorrhage-red fingernails were quite unique in 1953. A year later, she became the eponymous star of The Vampira Show bringing a distinctive mix of sex, horror and death.

As the world’s first TV horror host, Vampira’s sardonic wit and eye-popping hourglass-figure made her the ghoulish fantasy of guys and ghouls across the globe, despite appearing on a show that was only broadcast in LA. Every week the voluptuous vamp would unleash blood-curdling screams and utter puns in an exotic and alluring Marlene Dietrich-like drawl – ‘I am…Vampira. I hope you all had the good fortune to have had a terrible week.’

After her show was cancelled, Maila accepted a tiny fee to appear as the reanimated corpse bride in Plan 9 From Outer Space, a role in the unfairly dubbed ‘Worst Film of all Time’, but it was one that would ensure Vampira’s immortality in popular culture.

As a star in the Golden Age of Tinsletown, Maila gigged with Liberace, dated Orson Welles, was friends with Marlon Brando and formed a tremendous kinship with James Dean, whose spirit, she claimed, haunted her for six months after his death.

Even as lady in her eighties, she was an incredible bright spark, a feisty old dame and a terrific raconteur, recalling stories from the old days with childlike glee. Like her icons-in-crime Bela Lugosi and Ed Wood, Maila Nurmi died nearly penniless, but she left behind a legacy that will endure forever.

Here’s the article I wrote for Bizarre Magazine…

The Lady is a Vamp

I’m sat in Pioneer Chicken, a fast-food joint off Sunset Boulevard, deep in discussion with Vampira, the world’s first TV horror host. Maila Nurmi, the Finnish-born performer beneath the famous black wig and nails was a phenomenon in the nineteen-fifties. Her iconic gothic style, sardonic wit and eye-popping hourglass-figure made her the ghoulish fantasy of guys and ghouls across the globe, despite appearing on a show that was only broadcast to the Los Angeles area. Every week the voluptuous vamp would emerge from dry-ice studio fog to the sound of creepy organ music. She would unleash a blood-curdling scream and utter puns in an exotic, sexual, Marlene Dietrich-like drawl – “I am…Vampira. I hope you all had the good fortune to have had a terrible week."

But this is not simply an interview with a vampire. Conversing with Naila Nurmi means taking a voyeuristic journey through the lives of mythological cult icons of fifties Hollywood. It seems that Vampira’s finger was firmly on the jugular pulse of the tinsletown scene during the beat generation. Captivating tales with James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Elvis Presley pour from her octogenarian lips, memories recalled with intensity and insight.

Since Maila claims psychic capabilities, one can also add a touch of the paranormal to this Hollyweird concoction. She speaks of clairaudience, strange premonitions and visions. Most sensationally, it was such psychic sensitivity that found her haunted by the spirit of James Dean, whose death profoundly affected her.

She’s certainly one tough cookie though, that’s for sure – strongly opinionated and gutsy. Before international fame, back when she was modeling for the likes of Bernard of Hollywood, Vargas and a young Man Ray, she still wasn’t taking any crap from studio big shots. Even movie mogul Howard Hawks – who discovered Maila performing a skeleton striptease in a New York show – suffered the wrath of Vampira’s razor-witted tongue, despite having just turned Lauren Bacall into a household name.

“I thought he was stupid, so I tore up my contract,” she giggles, tucking into her rice. “I told him to kindly find a place for it in one of his numerous waste baskets.”

Yet in 1956, her outspoken manner caused her blacklisting from the system. Broke, she accepted a measly $200 to play the reanimated corpse-bride of Bela Lugosi in the trash sci-fi epic Plan 9 From Outer Space. Irony, for this movie cemented her position in popular culture and led to Tim Burton’s marvelous biopic of director Ed Wood, one that cast model Lisa Marie as Maila.

At eighty-three, she’s still hip and sharp like Vampira’s fingernails.

So how did your famous horror host role come about?

I decided I wanted to become an evangelist. I had to sponsor myself and I thought I needed $20,000. How could I do it? Well, television was just warping people’s minds, so I thought could do that – and they paid big. I thought I’d satirise soap operas, I’d take improbable people and make them do all these bourgeois things. Since Charles Addams had already done it in comic form, I wanted it to bring it to television. So that is why I made the dress, went to a masquerade ball and won first prize. They discovered me and that was the end of it. But Vampira wasn’t really acting. It was television, just a lot of hogwash.

What went wrong with the revival of Vampira in the early eighties and the subsequent launch of the Elvira character?

Well I was dealing with KTTV for three months and then they suddenly didn’t want me to come to the studio anymore. They eventually called me in to sign a contract and she was there (Cassandra Peterson). They had hired her without asking me.

So it was going to be the Vampira name?

It’s Vampira all together. She did the whole thing with the Rocky Horror people. They stole it. They stole $100 million dollars. She was in 51 markets at one time with 350 kinds of merchandise; milked my cupboard bare.

Did you successfully sue?

I sued for eight years but not successfully. Finally I ran out of money. To continue would have cost $60,000. I wrote to the judge and said, “I’m sorry, I have no money. I have to close the case.” So he charged them to pay all the expenses. That money was meant for animal welfare and she spent it on cocaine and red limousines. Boy has the devil got that bitch—it’s the devil in her blood. That slut was a big player in porno movies – she was trying to hide her background. They deemed it unwise to reveal that fact so they told her to make up stuff if she was asked. But she said, “Why make it up when it is written here?” She was pretending to be me. How dare she? She’s such a low-life, such a no talent. She’s so stupid and she has no sense of timing. No sense of humor; such a common slut that speaks Americanese. Nasal. Phlegmatic. You know, the limousines and the lovers and the houses—they can take all that. Initially they wanted me. I wouldn’t do it because I didn’t want Vampira to be anything but perfect. I certainly didn’t want it to be a streetwalker-slut like that. Angelina Jolie would be a good Vampira.

Didn’t Vampira lead you to James Dean?

With the character I had been handed the keys to the city. I wanted to see who’s who and so I attended a movie premiere. But all I could find was vapid identities, people of whom I had no interest, except for one fellow who was with Terry Moore. I thought “him, that’s the one with the tuxedo and the collar, the farm boy hair that wouldn’t stay down.” Twelve hours after, I was sitting in Googies, and Jimmy rode up on his motorcycle, the windows rattled and the rest was history. We were never apart again. We were best friends instantly, like psychic Siamese twins.

Was he openly gay to his friends?

No. As he said, “do I look like someone who would go through life with one hand tied behind my back?” That was a courageous statement in those days. Jimmy was primarily heterosexual but he used men sexually to get ahead, and if he saw someone he liked, he liked them. More often it was women, but maybe that was because he had never got the really pretty girls before. He had always got the ugly leftovers that nobody else wanted.

How much time did you spend with him?

Seventeen-hundred hours, every moment to treasure. But he was just a little boy in search of his mother. Everyone must have seen it, maybe not known what it was, not how to read it, but they saw the feeling. I was a little more psychic so I knew what it was. He had the impression she had abandoned him. But after, I found out she died of cancer and hadn’t abandoned him at all, but she did go away and leave him all alone in the world. He was an only child and it was impossible for him to relate to his father. The father had probably married his mother for her boobs or something and had nothing in common with her. She raised a boy whom she named after a poet, James Byron. And the father didn’t know poetry from a hole in the ground. He was a nice, practical, and sensible dentist.

Do you remember when you heard that James Dean had died?

Yeah I was at home with Tony Perkins (Psycho). Jack Simmons (actor in Rebel Without A Cause and friend of Dean) had just left to visit some lesbian whores that lived a block away. We knew we had to tell Jack before someone else did, but then we had to go tell Ursula (Andress), Jimmy’s ladylove. We drove up and I waited in the car because I didn’t really know her very well. It was in a dead end street, and now dark. Then suddenly, Marlon (Brando) appeared at the car – he had been hiding in the bushes. Ursula had called him in hysterics screaming, “They are trying to kill me. They’re threatening me. They think he killed himself because of me. I’m frightened! You have to come. I’m alone.” She would have used any device to get to Marlon at that time, even though she was trying to break up John Derek’s marriage. She wanted Marlon above all; she even bought the same car that he had. So he went, but looked in the windows first to be sure that she wasn’t putting him on and that she was really upset. Then Jack found him in the bushes. “Maila’s over there, in the hearse,” he said.(laughs) So he came over to offer condolences.

I heard that the spirit of James Dean visited you.

He visited a lot of people. He was very active. Now a lot of people made it up too I’m sure, but even people who weren’t psychic had experiences. He was that strong. Jimmy was following me around and was with me a lot of the time for the first six months. There would be an ashtray, I’d look and say “don’t anybody touch the ashtray, it’s gonna go up. That’s Jimmy’s sign that he’s here.” And it would go up!

Did you have psychic tendencies early on?

Yeah, I was very psychic in those days. My first husband Dean Eisner (writer of Dirty Harry and Play Misty For Me) and I lived in Laurel Canyon. He came home from work one day and said a story editor was writing a TV series about us. TV was very new and it was very easy to get anything you wanted done. He said they called it “Laurel Canyon”, but apparently sold it under the working title Bewitched. That was written about Dean Eisner and I. You see my mother was a witch. She wasn’t practicing, but she couldn’t help but be a witch. It was natural. It exuded from her, the very essence of her. And I was very psychic too.

Didn’t you share some strange, paranormal experiences with Marlon Brando?

We were sitting around and chatting in the dining room and Einstein had died just three weeks before. Marlon always had a wonderful portrait of Einstein on his headboard and sometimes he would just shove it in your face. Suddenly Marlon says, “There’s someone here. It’s Einstein. He has a message for us.” I was included in the message. “You young ones have to hurry up,” That’s what Einstein told Marlon, who wasn’t inventing it – he believed it. He may have seen it or heard it. The point is that Marlon really wanted to believe that he was a humanitarian, and Einstein was urging him to hurry up with his duties. Marlon was a very humane human being, though he didn’t know how to be humane with his own children. Some of his best friends despised him and said he was a brute and a beast and nothing in-between. He’s either the gentlest, noble of human beings or the coarsest and grossest. How do you like them apples?

What was your first introduction to any of the Ed Wood clan?

I was a young girl window-shopping on Hollywood Boulevard. I was bending low to see the detail of some shoes and someone whizzed around the corner on roller skates, almost bumped my fanny and crashed into me. “Pardon me,” said he, and “Pardon me,” said I. He was wearing an ascot and a beret. It was Bela Lugosi on roller skates. He was on his way to a cigar store.

Had you heard of Ed Wood before you met him?

Yes, because there had been an article in a newspaper, saying that he wanted to make a movie with Vampira. The nerve of him! This was before I was blacklisted. After, I had no money and I couldn’t get a job. A guy came and visited me and offered $200 to make this Ed Wood movie called Grave Robbers From Outer Space (later changed to Plan 9). I thought it was a good title at least. Oh boy! So I did it, and he came into my life right after then.

Did you find Ed Wood to be an intelligent guy?

No. But anyone who has become a phenomenon has a karmic current carrying them there. Nobody who is normal has such drive. That’s got to be driven by something larger than life. There was something there that I didn’t understand or respect because I was an intellectual snob, but it was there alright.

How did Ed Wood react when he heard you didn’t want to speak his words?

Paul Marco told him, so I don’t know. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but my God, I could not say those words. I wish I had them today because I threw them away. Do you know what jewels those lines must have been? I tried to say them, but I curdled my own blood. (laughs) They were awful!

Did you go to the premiere of Plan 9 From Outer Space?

Yeah. The theatre was full of people. I was backstage and I could see the images behind the screen. People were in the wings, dictating to me when to walk out, so that I was there on screen at the same time as I walked across stage. The audience booed, whistled and threw popcorn – they loved it! But I never actually got to see the film as I had to leave, then the film was banned in Los Angeles for 26 years. It never played here and Ed Wood never knew why. They hated him I guess or maybe it was because of me. But Criswell told me that the film played in a small theatre in New York for over a year and a half, with just standing room only all the time. When it was on the road in Indianapolis, even though it was pouring with rain, people queued around the block with newspapers over their heads. It was very popular. People knew it was Lugosi’s last film.

What kind of state of mind do you think Ed Wood have when he later made porn films?

He loved the porn. He was in his element. He would have been very unhappy if he had known he couldn’t have done porn again. He just kept writing them so fast. He’d write a whole pornographic book in just two days.

Did Tim Burton talk to you before he filmed the movie Ed Wood?

Yes. He introduced me to his stuffed bat. The film was accurate in some way but he wasn’t really trying to be accurate. It was a docu-drama. He was taking liberties, which he was entitled to do, but he got some of the essences correct—the ones that he should have retained. And then he embroidered a little. Johnny Depp is such a good actor and was believable as Ed Wood. Although it wasn’t exactly the same persona, his essence was there. The enthusiasm was so believable – such gung-ho enthusiasm.

Finally, is it right you had an encounter with Elvis before he became famous?

I went to Las Vegas with Liberace and met a19 year-old Elvis. I was there eating breakfast in the hotel and across the huge dining room in backlight – because the sun was shining through the windows – I could see three older men, smoking cigars, looking plump and eating. A tall, young, graceful man came in, and sat with them. Then on the intercom it said that somebody was wanted on the telephone. This young guy got up, and walked like Robert Mitchum. All I saw was his silhouette, that was it. So I paid my bill and walked past the men and said, “well congratulations, he’s going to be the biggest movie star in the world. I see he has tremendous magnetism.” ���Ah,” they said, “thank you.” (laughs). And I hadn’t yet seen Elvis’ face. But the next night when he opened, I went with Liberace and his whole family. A side curtain parted and this kid comes out alone. I had never seen someone boldly standing on a stage – supposedly a heterosexual male – wearing turquoise eye shadow and grinding his hips like that. I thought, “oh-my-god. What am I seeing? This music is great.” The orchestra, one by one put down their instruments. They crossed their arms and refused to play. The audience started booing, and they booed him off the stage. Then a voice said to me – and I wasn’t on any drugs – “go around the side of the hotel and in the back, there’s a swimming pool and you’ll find someone in a canary yellow jacket.” Now I hadn’t seen a jacket like that anywhere. But I went around and in the dark moonless night, far away I could see the double doors of the casino, golden with light. They opened and a figure came into the doorway. It was Elvis, wearing a canary yellow jacket. He looked confusedly into the darkness, so I said, “I’m over here.” We walked towards each other, sat down and talked. I told him that I was a performer and that what happened was absolutely awful. He said, “every night before I go on, I talk to God and he always answers me. But tonight he didn’t answer. When them curtains opened and I saw all those white heads and them glasses, I knew why.“ I told him I admired his courage and that they only did that because they’re sheep and they do as they think they are supposed to do. One person booed and so then they all did. They’ve never, ever seen anything like you and it frightened them. But, Life Magazine are going to discover you (because that’s what they did in those days) and they will kiss your shoes.” He said, “it’s coming out Thursday” and it did. I was thirty-three and he said to me, “I know you’re getting old and all, but if you’d like to come back after the show, I’d be proud to take you back to my bungalow.” (laughs) His hallowed words! And so Elvis went back to do a second show.

Many thanks to Joe Moe and Forry for their assistance with this interview.

(Photos and Words Copyright – Mark Berry)

Posted by Mark Berry – Photographer & Graphic Designer on 2007-05-31 00:12:36

Tagged: , mark berry , photography , maila nurmi , goth , vampire , legend , ed wood , plan 9 from outer space , bats , pioneer chicken , bizarre magazine , sfx , teeth , portrait , B/W , classic , cult personalities , cult , personality , famous , infamous , estoreric , fan culture , vampira , tv , television , horror , host , ghouls , ghoulies , terror , fear , hollywood , california , hot cherry , bristol , uk , us , based , los angeles , LA , www.hot-cherry.co.uk , photographer , designer , writer , سكس , topsense , imagicland

The post Vampira V appeared first on Good Info.

[kanralovesu]

Top 12 Anime Openings of 2018

There are too many pure “Top X Anime” lists and not enough love for the glorious opening credit sequences in anime! For this list I picked from any OP this year regardless of whether I watched the anime or not. There’s just too many anime to watch that I’d be screwing over so many good OPs if I only focused on shows I’ve watched. With that said here’s my top 12 anime OPs of 2018.

#12: Gegege no Kitaro [Song: Gegege no Kitarou]

https://youtu.be/vWTKaoi6UBE

A delightful little OP that oozes a mix of whimsy and horror. The characters that sing the OP (especially the frog) add that extra bit to push it over the top into being one of my favorite OPs this year.

#11: Aguu Genius Dolls [Song: prima dynamis]

https://youtu.be/PPg9yj3QILE

In 10th place is another horror OP but this one ditches the whimsy and goes all in on crazy wicked and horrific imagery, my favorite being the miniature lady tied up in strings being pulled out of another lady’s mouth. Yeah, this OP is insane and I love it, unlike the show itself which people seem to dislike. I can definitely see bits of jank in the character animations which are my least favorite part of this, but the rest of it easily makes up for it. Its also got a tune that will rival #1.

#10: Black Clover OP4 [Song: Guess who is Back]

https://youtu.be/cK9Z9Zcuso0

I’m never up to date on anime shonen besides My Hero, but I’m always up to date on the OPs and this is why. This is the kind of OP you jam to every time not only because of the music but how well the OP itself syncs to it. I absolutely love the stylistic slow motion used near the end!

#9: Pop Team Epic [Song: Pop Team Epic]

https://youtu.be/TmrosfxGifQ

What else can I say besides “It’s Pop Team Epic”. It has the same energetic, meme style of humor as the show which on its own wouldn’t put it far up this list, but its clever metaphors (like smashing the TV to break the 4th wall) bring it a step above.

#8: Uma Musume Pretty Derby [Song: Make Debut!]

https://youtu.be/nuuq0Ul_-_c

This is one where I haven’t watched the show at all, but the OP instantly got me hooked on the concept. A big part of this is the character animation and directing which clearly shows off the personalities of the girls. The backgrounds of shots are also packed with detail adding even more character to the character expressed by the foreground characters. This is the absolute peak of what “cute girls” anime should be doing in their OPs. Then after that’s done we still have a beautifully animated running sequence which perfects on what sports anime should be doing in their OPs. However, this is where my lack of knowledge of the series hinders me a bit because I can tell these shots have a deeper meaning to the rival characters presented but that’s the kind of information that becomes more clear as the series finishes. By the way having hidden info like that is a VERY good thing and you’ll only see more of that as we get further on.

#7: Happy Sugar Life [Song: One Room Sugar Life]

https://youtu.be/3QvZYI00voE

This is the best OP I’ve ever seen for the classic “cute on the surface dark underneath” type of anime. On a surface level evaluation you’ve got great sequences like the one starting at 0:35 where the song kicks into high gear, but on a deeper level its clear there is a lot of symbolism going on. Sweets and sugar are evocative of carnal pleasures that offer short terms gratification. The two girls themselves are represented by spiky gummy sweets which pays off at the end in a chilling way when one girl eats the sweet that represents the other.

#6: Wotaku: Love is Hard for an Otaku [Song: Fiction]

https://youtu.be/K3XCP-KMR68

The ending is hands down my favorite sequence from an OP this year with so much charm and style! Not only is it fun to look at but it also foreshadows the relationships by having each person start individually and then join together in a synchronized bit that symbolizes their chemistry. The rest of the OP doesn’t drag it feet either and offers some great characterization, especially in the beginning when it cuts between how each character outwardly portrays themselves and how their true hobbies. You also gotta love the references to both retro and new age gaming which I’m sure is an intentional choice.

#5: Devilman Crybaby [Song: Man Human]

Of course we’ve got to give credit to Devilman Crybaby on this list! This trippy delight has some amazing and imaginative imagery, but unlike Aguu Genius Dolls this one also focuses heavily on the transitions between things. My favorite example of this is when all the hands reaching up become an eye. There is clear thought not only into what is shown right that moment but how that thing will become the next thing in the most interesting way possible. This is also one OP that I will see myself re-analyzing upon finishing the series because I think there is clearly some hidden symbolism in there. The OP is just too deliberate to not be hiding something!

#4: Love is Like After the Rain [Song: Nostalgic Rainfall]

Starting our top 4 is an opening that I’ve actually already analyzed to great detail on my blog:

https://kanralovesu.tumblr.com/post/170873771493/after-the-rains-opening-how-hardship-brings-us

In summary, the OP’s imagery of rain, clouds, umbrellas, etc. all lead into the central idea that bad times can bring people together. This is illustrated beautifully when two rain drops combine and become a heart!

#3: Attack on Titan S3 OP1 [Song: Red Swan]

Attack on Titan has given us some of the best OPs in the history of anime which just makes it even harder for them to top themselves. When I first saw that this OP was taking a drastically different style than the older ones, I was skeptical, but in the end I fell in love with it. The best part is obviously where little Eren bumps into his older self. The whole theme of reflecting on your past and realizing how much you’ve changed is shown completely visually. You can see how the childlike wonder of the bright and colorful insert images is stripped away by the cold looks of Eren and his friends. Its one thing to show who a character is using the OP, but its a whole different level of skill showing how a character has changed using the OP.

#2: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5 [Song: Fighting Gold]

FIGHTING GOLD! Of course a new JoJo OP would impress but I’ll go ahead and say this is one of, if not my most favorite JoJo OP of all time! I love the visual motifs of chains and characters being trapped and then at the end they seemingly break free in what is of course the most amazing sequence in the OP. You just gotta sing along to this one! 

#1: Kokkoku [Song: Flashback]

Number 1 is none other than the jam itself: Flashback. This OP is absolutely incredible from its visuals to its music, but its also so much more than that. The imagery has clear purpose showing people’s hands forming hearts in front of stop signs and showing shadows twisting into the hands of a clock only to stop. There are also so many small spoilers hidden in plain sight. Near the beginning we get one shot of a clock pendulum swinging to reveal Shouko Majima and the near the end we get the same image but with Juri Yukawa and her dog connecting them as part of the same flashback. We also see Juri smash a heart as the beat drops and white lines fly out. At the beginning of the show this might seem completely stylistic but its actually a hint at her power to push you out of stopped time! A less obvious power showcase is in a single static shot of the grandfather who, if you look closely, is actually in two places at once showing that he can teleport. That shot isn’t even on screen for a second but they still put thought into it! This is masterful OP craftsmanship!

That rounds out this list of what I believe to be the top 12 anime OPs of 2018. I probably missed a good few OPs, but if its an consolation, this list is twice as long as the one I wrote down for 2017 which only had 5 I really thought were exceptional (That wasn’t posted on my blog but in case you’re curious it was Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu OP2, Twin Star Exorcists OP3, Re:Creators OP2, Konosuba OP2 and ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka). So what I’m trying to say is this was a fantastic year for anime OPs! With the OPs for next season already mostly out I can see next year is shaping up to be one of the best years for OPs yet so I’m looking forward to that!

Note: This is a reposting of my original list with 1 important addition because being the scatter brained nincompoop that I am, I forgot Fighting Gold! I know, I should have my OP license revoked for such a heinous mistake, so please forgive me Cruel Angel’s up above!

[sinceileftyoublog]

Night Shop Interview: Beautiful Strangers

Photo by Kevin Gossett

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“Drummer releases a solo album” is the type of thing that you classically joke about, but if anyone’s proving that angle to be exciting, it’s Justin Sullivan, who records as Night Shop. If you’ve listened to The Babies or Kevin Morby’s records, you’ve heard Sullivan behind the kit. On In The Break, out today via Woodsist/Mare Records (the latter is Morby’s label), he sings and plays guitar, too. 

Night Shop’s self-titled debut EP was released last February, and Sullivan wrote the songs for Break during the latter half of 2017. It was recorded in a studio in Burbank early February with help from many familiar faces: guitarist Meg Duffy of Hand Habits and Morby’s band, guitarist Will Ivy of Flat Worms (Sullivan drums for Flat Worms), Greta Morgan on piano, Anna St. Louis on vocals, Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) on bass, guitar, and engineering, and Drew Fischer on mixing duties. “It’s one of the few benefits of getting older,” Sullivan told me in July over the phone. “Your gang of friends is really talented.” Indeed, though the music of Night Shop embodies classic folk rock, the matter in which it came together is punk. “All of this stuff for me goes back to real core DIY punk principles,” Sullivan said. “Even though it doesn’t look or sound like that, it’s the same ethic.” In essence, Sullivan’s started a band with his friends, just like in high school.

Over the past year, Sullivan’s toured solo with Jaye Bartell, and he’s currently on tour with Waxahatchee and St. Louis. He then shares dates with Shannon Lay, including October 10th at Empty Bottle. “Playing solo wasn’t necessary the original idea,” he said. “It’s funny to have two elements-- I can’t really play the guitar, and I don’t have the greatest voice in the world. It’s funny to present the two elements on stage. Neither are 10/10. But I do feel comfortable getting up and playing at this point because I’ve done it for so long.” Despite the ethical commonality, Night Shop is still very different than something like Flat Worms from a musical standpoint. “There’s something really nice about getting up and playing quiet music,” Sullivan said.

Read the rest of my interview with Sullivan, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: How long has Night Shop been around?

Justin Sullivan: It feels really new. I probably didn’t even pick up a guitar to actually learn how to play till 2015. I probably wrote the songs that came out on the EP in late 2016. Having just played in so many bands in drums for so long, I was very concerned with songs. I always saw myself as someone to help shape the songs rather than just play drums. It’s kind of a weird combination. When I was younger, I would sing in bands, and I’d always write lyrics for a lot of my early bands. So some of it feels like stuff I’ve been doing for a long time, but some of it feels really new.

SILY: Did you help craft songs with Kevin Morby and The Babies?

JS: Yeah. That was always my thing. When I started playing with Kevin and Cassie [Ramone of The Babies]--they’re just such good songwriters--sometimes, what’s needed is no more additions. With Kevin, my role was often to be a cheerleader for his ideas. I’d be so excited to just work on the songs. A lot of times, though, what the songwriter needs is someone to be like, “No, that’s really good. We should definitely be playing that.”

SILY: Was there something you wanted to communicate about the project or yourself with your debut album?

JS: That’s a good question. Yeah, I think any time someone writes a song or shares a piece of art, they’re trying to communicate something about themselves. What I’ve heard before is that it’s much less direct than, “I want to say this thing about myself.” You’re almost sharing whatever weird thing comes out of the moment of creation rather than having an idea and thinking, “I definitely want to say this about myself.”

I guess it was just the feeling of when you’re doing something by yourself and writing something by yourself, it’s just an extension of whatever weird thoughts and feelings were going through you at the time. The magic of music is you share that moment with someone who hears and connects with it two years later. I love that. It’s really exciting. It’s something that excited me when I was young, and it still does. I think for sure there’s no five-point plan of things I was trying to express. More just a feeling.

SILY: How did the idea for “The One I Love”--the song and video--come to you?

JS: Last summer was a period I didn’t tour for a year, and I always had toured at least once during the calendar year. I took a very defined break from touring. It was a song where I was working from home every day, and I was working on music. It’s the excitement of driving to my local convenience store on a summer night and being really energized but kind of isolated. I wasn’t hanging out, wasn’t going out, didn’t have any romance. It’s the combination of being excited about seeing people in your neighborhood, in your grocery store or convenience store, and then coming home and having this excited feeling but nowhere to bring it. That song was converting the feeling into something when there was nowhere to put it. I got really into being home and got excited about the little things I would see in my neighborhood. The simplicity of that was more exciting to me than traveling around the world--I was super burnt out on that at that point.

There are a lot of feelings in that song. A lot of it is orienting why I make music, where the motivation is, and a lot of it comes from this appreciation and love for people. Romantic love, friendship, familial love--really orienting myself that’s where it’s coming from as opposed to other reasons why people make music.

The video is kind of just trying to create the world of that feeling. It was a very isolated time for me but I was super excited. Sometimes, being a hermit or being isolated has a negative connotation, but it was super energizing for me. I was touring or in the music scene for so long, it was cool to have this period where I was driving through the city alone and going to all these places alone. I was really thrilled by it, and I think it was a good chance to reflect and get some perspective on where I was coming from.

SILY: What’s the story behind “You Are The Beatles”?

JS: Oh, yeah. That to me was a pretty goofy song that I just liked. Kind of like what we were talking about earlier--just trying to share a feeling you had at a time. I was like, “I gotta get rid of that, it’s such a weird song.” [But then] I just sang that line, and thought, “I’d love if I heard a song called ‘You Are The Beatles’.” You’d be like, “What’s this song about?” I used to say that Jonathan Richman was a big influence, but it gets harder and harder to hear that. There are times where the innocence and exuberance of Jonathan Richman songs--it’s almost like rule-breaking how sweet it is. That really appeals to me. I kind of want to make room for things that feel a little silly or completely unmitigated romanticism. 

Basically, that song for me is literally a list of influences. Some are a little more buried. It’s also like a way of saying, “I love you. You’re the best. You’re the Beatles.” It’s like writing a love song but talking about the art that meant the most to me and the weird little influences.

SILY: I get what you’re saying with Jonathan Richman. We’re so conditioned to find something that’s darker and deeper and ironic, we think, “There’s something really weird behind this.” You listen to a song like that and think it’s totally sarcastic, but it’s actually radical in the fact that it’s not.

JS: For sure! I was thinking about “That Summer Feeling”, the Jonathan Richman song. It’s one of the darkest, most haunting--it’s so heavy. It’s crushing. I love that sort of paradox. Not to say the one I wrote is like that. It’s just a way of saying, “Well fuck it, that is what I want to say.”

SILY: “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed is like that, too.

JS: Dude! Exactly. I love that stuff. Just smuggling different things into different forms.

SILY: This might be off, but “If You Remember” reminds me a lot of “Via Chicago” by Wilco.

JS: Oh yeah. That’s not off. There was a point where I think I had already recorded and finished it and thought, “Oh, this kind of sounds like that Wilco song.” It’s definitely reminiscent of that song. Hopefully not too much so.

SILY: Not too much. It’s definitely got parts that are different. Just the initial repeated melody. Honestly, that could be an intentional or not intentional choice and it’s a good thing either way. It’s a great song. So is yours.

JS: Thanks, man. I try to spot check down the road to see if it’s anything else. Once it passes that test, it’s good to go. I haven’t thought about this one in a while, but I definitely had that moment where it was reminiscent of that Wilco song. But not so much like other stuff I’ve gotten rid of where I think, “This is just that.”

SILY: Like the stories of people dreaming a melody, waking up in the middle of the night and recording it, and waking up the next day and it’s just a well-known hit song.

JS: I wrote a song yesterday that’s basically Madonna’s “True Blue”. It’s the same thing. I can’t get away from it. It’s “True Blue” with a little Elton John “Crocodile Rock”. They both have that refrain. [sings] “True blue, baby I love you. We’re dancing all night to the crocodile rock.” So I try to get rid of stuff.

SILY: Would you ever keep it around to have it exist for you and some friends even if you don’t release it?

JS: I’m just at this period in my life where I write a song almost every day, or at least a melody, verse, or chorus that’s recorded real quick. So it’s just good to have all of it. Maybe some day things will find a way to rise to the surface. There might be a line from that song that ends up in a different song a year from now, so it’s good I lay it down. I don’t reject things out of hand. I nurture them along because you don’t know how it shows up. I could be in a band 10 years from now and be like, “Actually, if we played that song...”

The biggest thing I see from a lot of people that prevents them from sharing work is that there are 100 different reasons why you can talk yourself out of a song. It sounds too much like this, it’s not what you want to do, it’s too corny, you don’t have the skills to play it right, you don’t have a good voice. I’m really against that ethic. You might as well finish it and furthermore share it. If people don’t respond, you learn from that. But I think what prevents people is finding the reasons why they can’t do something.

SILY: What about the title track made you want to name the album after it?

JS: It’s a weird song but it’s the most representative of the philosophy of the time. It almost feels too literal, where I literally took a break from touring and wrote this record. But it’s not really what I meant from that. I’m really into this idea where moments I really think of in my life are separate from the dominant story of what’s going on at the time. So when you’re on your smoke break from your job--that’s what I remember about the jobs I’ve had. For me, working and then writing music in these off hours or off moments. It’s like when you go to a show and the best moment is when you talk to your friend outside. Just these little cracks I find to be the exciting moments of life. The moments after a show where there’s quiet in the band. Those are just really special moments of reflection and kind of what I remember when I think back to things. 

There are moments in romance when you haven’t figured out the story of what’s gonna happen yet. You haven’t literalized everything. That place you first occupy with someone where you don’t know what’s going on but it’s exciting and all you know. Those all came together for me in this way of a really interesting philosophy of life. There are moments where you wouldn’t consider what your life really is. When you’re on tour, those weird moments. There’s something special about them. Or life being defined by this romantic relationship but there are ones less obvious that are really special.

SILY: Tell me about the album art.

JS: I went downtown with my friend Abby Banks who took the photo. I really wanted to capture the sense from “The One I Love”. I really, really love convenience stores and all my diners. Honestly, the grocery store parking lot. These spaces where people are bumping up against each other that are aesthetically nondescript but very comforting. I guess I just wanted to get to that energy of feeling very isolated and alone but all the more appreciative of the energy of these communal places where different types of people come in and out. There’s an equalizing factor. There’s an equality to convenience stores or just some sort of leveling factor that I love and get a real energy out of. Especially in LA, where you could spend all your time mingling in certain places with certain people. Just trying to capture that excitement of the beauty of these places. Just the comfort of life and those feelings. The song to me is laying down the feeling of what’s going on. Everything is trying to match that.

SILY: What’s next for you?

JS: I’ve been playing in bands for literally 20 years, but all this stuff feels new and exciting. So I’m enjoying all these things I watched Kevin and Cassie do and was around for. Put a band together, try to play some shows in LA, and try to figure. I’m gonna try to go to Europe and the UK. 

Honestly, the most fun thing to me is when the band is building. You’re just figuring it out and problem solving. I’m in that right now. It keeps it exciting. I like doing this interview! This rules. I have a weird combination of having done this stuff for so long that I have these amazing friends to play on the record, but it’s also new and exciting. Which I think is important for anyone. It keeps these things feeling very genuine and honest. It prevents you from getting really jaded.

I’m also just gonna keep writing songs. Just keep doing the work. That’s the fun for me. I love the work of music and bands. I love building them. Just doing that every day.

SILY: Even logistical things that a lot of people have been doing for a while--either they’re jaded or like, “Alright, this PR cycle again. Have to figure out the tour.” You talk about it with passion and like you’re looking forward to it. That’s awesome.

JS: Believe me--I understand the burnout of certain things. Touring can be really tough. I get it all. But I’ve always wanted to figure out how to stay excited. If that’s your MO, you have to figure out a way to change things or keep doing that. My friends who I gravitate towards really know how to do it. We’re really lucky to be doing this stuff.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately that’s caught your attention?

JS: That’s a good question. I’m a guest on the Aquarium Drunkard radio show today. I’m one of those people who just listens to Billie Holiday every day. I get set on an artist and just indulge in that. So I’m like, “Man, I gotta find cool music to play!” I also go through phases where for 3 months I can’t find a book that grabs me and just keep starting different books. I’ve been reading this book called Why We Came To The City by Kristopher Jansma. I don’t know whether you’re familiar with A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s this pulverizing, award-winning book that was one of my favorite books from last year. Anyway, Why We Came To The City is like the Oasis to the Beatles’ A Little Life. But then you’re like--that’s not bad. Oasis is an amazing band. I read that on the last European tour. But right now I’m in a slump. I have a Paul Auster book I can’t get into. I’m in a dry stretch, but something will come around.