#aaron campbell was there too and he was so kind

[exploding-goobery]

Met Si Spurrier at Thought Bubble and he agreed with ALL my Constantine takes.

I have never been so liberated.

[fsokov]

Damn I'm in awe of your art, even your older drawings down the blog are extremely well done? They're all so moody, and in your recent work the anatomy and liveliness is rather exceptional- it's pretty inspiring to see

In short, hello your art is so cool

Thank you so much for those kind words, you just made my day! I was very into Hellblazer three years back and it was Aaron Campbell's art that inspired me. He's my favourite artist of all times... maybe you'll like his work too hehe

big hugs and hello to you too :D

[typingtess]

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 14 Rewatch:  “Let It Burn”

The basics:  The team investigates arson at a defense contractor that has the signature of an environmental activist.

Written by: Indira Gibson Wilson co-wrote, “The Frogman’s Daughter”, "Signs of Change" and “Hard for the Money” and was the sole writer for "Lost Soldier Down".  Gibson Wilson played the sleeping Michelle Hanna before Aunjanue Ellis showed up in season four.

Directed by:   Rick Tunell directed "Revenge Deferred", "Se Murio El Payaso", "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" and “Hard for the Money” (co-written by Indira Gibson Wilson).

Guest stars of note: Duncan Campbell returns as NCIS Special Agent Castor from “Of Value”; Justin Huen is Randall Perez.  He was Santo Perez in season two’s “Personal” as the man who shot Deeks.  Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as FBI Special Agent Summer Morehurst; Romi Dias as Denise Perez, Thal Gondim as Crystal Perez; Brian Leigh Smith as Bomb Tech Aaron Roberts; Rhomeyn Johnson as Terrell and Joe Corzo as Foreman/Michael Duncan

Our heroes:  Are all over the place with Kensi in DC, Callen locked in the office, Sam and Deeks teamed up and Rountree working with an old girlfriend.

What important things did we learn about: Callen:  Reading the Pembrooke file as part of his library day. Sam:   As a caretaker, he has to think about his father first. Kensi:  School trip with Rosa and 24-other 16-year old girls. Deeks:  Offered a trip to Costa Rica. Fatima:   Sent in the field because Callen had a library day. Rountree:  Dated a coworker at the FBI. Kilbride:  Keeping Callen on track.

What not so important things did we learn about: Callen:  Not training for a triathlon because he as common sense. Sam:    Training for a triathlon. Kensi:  OK with Deeks going to Costa Rica – she might go if he doesn’t. Deeks:  Not going to Costa Rica. Fatima:  Wants to know the Rountree-Summer story. Rountree:  Training for a triathlon and going to Costa Rica.  Kilbride:  Not sure Henrietta is Hetty’s first name.  Not sure he likes her either.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange?  In the Pembrooke file.

Who's down with OTP:   Deeks is trying to figure out a solo Costa Rico trip, worrying that probably won’t fly with the family at home.  Rountree has an ex in the FBI.

Who's down with BrOTP:  A little Sam-Deeks bonding about traveling away from your family and becoming a detective through videos.

Fashion review:   Callen wears a long sleeve medium blue lightweight hoodie.  Sam started the day in a wet suit and wore a black long-sleeve tee for most of the episode.  He was in a brown one at the end of the episode.  Deeks has a pale blue henley for most of the episode but a baby blue hoodie.  Fatima wears a light gray jacket over a white turtleneck.  Rountree started the day in a wet suit too with too, too tight swim trunks.  Wore a gunmetal grey pullover sweater once he was dressed.  The Admiral wore his uniform – dark blue suit, light blue dress shirt, blue tie.

Music: “From Fire” by Perta is used in the teaser.  Deeks is shooting in the range with The Mighty Mighty BossTones’s “The Punch Line” playing over the speakers.

Any notable cut scene:  Not today.

Quote:   Kilbride:  “We've all done things we regret.” Callen:  “Hetty doesn't seem to be the kind of person to regret much.” Kilbride:  “Don't kid yourself.  Now, she may put on a good front, but Hetty has enough regrets for all of us.  She has done things that most wouldn't to keep the rest of us safe.  Unfortunately, that comes with some very dark, ugly things that you carry with you to your grave.” Callen:  “Well, I'm not sure how indoctrinating children does much to keep people safe.” Kilbride:  “I don't know.  Seems to me you keep people safe every day.  So maybe some good did come of it.  Even if their methods were ethically and morally questionable.” Callen:  “If not reprehensible.” Kilbride:  “I don't always agree with her.  And I usually don't like the way she operates.  Hell, I'm not even sure I even like her most days.  But I damn well respect her.  Henrietta, and I'm sure that's not even her real name, Henrietta has dedicated her life to the greater good.  She has made mistakes along the way just like the rest of us.  But it was always done in the service of this country.” Callen:  “So, am I a mistake or a dark, ugly thing she has to carry to the grave?” Kilbride:  “Only you can decide that, Agent Callen.  But in my experience, the past is a place to learn from, not to live in.”

Anything else:  In the evening, a construction crew is working in a high rise office building.  Mostly drywall.  The foreman is shutting things down for the night.  The workers start toward the door taking their hardhats, tools and backpacks.  One worker stays behind.

The worker starts spreading something on the floor and pours an accelerant on it.  As he lights a good part of the office floor on fire, the foreman returns.  The two men fight until the firebug knocks out the foreman.  The firebug tries to drag the foreman to safety but the entire floor is about to be engulfed in flames.  Leaving the foreman behind, the firebug runs.  A symbol is burned into the floor.

Callen is reading the paper in the boat shed by the coffee table.  Sam comes in from a swim with Rountree in tow.  Sam is thirsty, Rountree is uncomfortable.  He didn’t want to wear anything under his wetsuit but Sam found him swim trunks in the office lost and found.  Rountree is worried they belong to Deeks but Sam jokes they are Fatima’s.

Training for a triathlon with Sam, Rountree wonders why Callen isn’t involved.  Callen explains he has common sense.  Sam disagrees – Callen is afraid of sharks.  Callen isn’t but starts messing with Rountree by mentioning “McMurtry” who was shark bait.  Sam joins in on the fun before showering.

At the firing range, Deeks is shooting and listening to really loud music.  The Admiral arrives, pleased that Deeks is joining him in making good use of the early hours at the office.  Kensi and Rosa are on a school trip which gave Deeks the ability to surf, workout and shoot early in the morning like he did “pre-kid.”  Not that he’s complaining.  The Admiral offers Deeks the chance to attend the NCIS Western Conference.  Honored, Deeks is grateful for the offer but thinks he needs to stay close to home.  He recommends one of the younger agents – perhaps Rountree would enjoy Branson and a river cruise.  Rountree will get the Admiral’s consideration but the conference will be held in Nosara, Costa Rica.  Deeks reconsiders – maybe Kensi would be okay with him leaving the family behind for a few days.  It’s a week so Deeks is torn.

Sam took a long shower and hopes there is some hot water for Rountree.  As Rountree is about to go into the shower area, Fatima and Callen pop up on the plasma.  Sam asks for Deeks who he is told is trying to run a “boondoggle” on Kensi.  Fatima asks for Rountree, who is in the still way too tight swim trunks.  Fatima asks if Rountree is wearing her shorts.  Just kidding, she tells Rountree – they’re Kensi’s.  Rountree hates everyone.

Fatima starts with the case – the fire.  Global West Ventures, the people who had the office space, are Navy defense contractors.  The symbol burned on the floor was the signature of an arsonist named Randall Perez - O and A – On Alert.  Rountree was familiar with Perez – he didn’t work his case but the FBI was “on alert” for years when it came to Perez.  Perez blew up an oil tanker years back.  Shut down the 405 for a week.

Sam asks about the fire.  The office space was under construction and the foreman, Michael Duncan, died in the blaze.  LAPD thinks Duncan saw the arsonist and the two men fought.  This would be the first time an “On Alert” fire caused a death.  Rountree sees another difference in the fires.  Perez went after companies he thought were hurting the environment.  This was a defense contractor – not the same thing. 

Sam suggest he and Rountree go to the crime scene.  Kilbride told Fatima he wants Rountree working the FBI Agent in-charge of the “On Alert” cases.  Sam should met the with FBI as well.  Callen asks what is his assignment from the Admiral.  The Admiral wants to see Callen in his office. 

Castor bring the FBI Agent in charge of the “On Alert” cases into the boat shed.  FBI Agent Summer Morehurst tells Sam her boss thinks highly of him but not to play Sam in pickleball.  Sam knows her boss – Rashid Perkins – and Rashid knows what Sam can do with a paddle in his hand.  Morehurst reviews Perez’s history for Sam.  He started as a non-violent activist who was creative in his protests.  Trained as an artist, Perez made sculptures out of the plastic straws he found in the ocean.  Sam asked when did Perez change.  After a number of arrests for disorderly conduct at more radical protests according to Morehurst.

In 2017, Perez started setting fires.  It took the FBI nearly a year to identify him.  When the FBI started to close in on Perez, he set nine fires over two months.  He fled to Mexico when the FBI got too close and has been a fugitive for three-years.  This is the first time Perez has resurfaced and Morehurst vows to catch him.

Just after Morehurst’s vow, a towel-clad Rountree walks into the boat shed’s main room.  He’s looking for his clothes.  Rountree and Morehurst call each other by their first name and being the world class investigator he is, Sam deduces the two know each other.  “You can say that,” they both reply simultaneously.

Knocking on Kilbride’s door, Callen has some opinions.  He gets that Rountree has a past with the FBI (oh, if he only knew) and he’s good with Rountree working with them.   Sam, however, does not need to be supervising Rountree’s debrief with the FBI.  “I’m sorry you miss your bunkie but this isn’t summer camp,” the Admiral replies.  Sam is working with Deeks, “poor devil.”  When Callen asks why, the Admiral tells him “that’s what I want.” 

While the Admiral believes it is healthy to question authority on occasion, he’s getting pissed off about it being a regular occurrence.  Passing Callen a large folder, Kilbride shares all he could find on Pembrooke.  Callen knows he overstepped and thanks Kilbride.  Kilbride tells him it isn’t a gift – just a way to keep Callen focused on the job and not a ghost from his past.  This puts a halt to Callen doing his own research.  Callen defends what he does on his own time and it does not impact his work.  The Admiral disagrees – they wouldn’t be having this conversation otherwise.  Calling it a “library day”, Callen is told to do his research in the office and is dismissed.

A properly dressed Rountree returns to the boat shed.  He asks if Agent Morehurst – Summer – set this up.  She knew he was working for NCIS.  Summer replies that if she wanted to see him, she would have called him.  Except she forgot that he doesn’t know how a phone works.  “Ouch, fair shot.”  Rountree apologizes but Summer says “we were a long time ago.”  Explaining that when they were dating, he was leaving the FBI, Jordyn was starting college – Rountree had a lot on her plate.  Fatima pops up on the screen but neither Rountree or Summer notice.  Still talking about their past – they were a couple for three months – Fatima really tries to make her presence known.  Rountree does introductions and it is all very uncomfortable.

Fatima found Perez’s sister, Denise.  She’s lived in the same house for 20-years in Gardena.  The FBI is aware of her.  Summer gets a call.  While she is dealing with the call, Fatima wants some gossip but Rountree shuts off the plasma.  A returning Summer tells Rountree her agents did some digging into the construction firm.  They are a well-run company – no major violations or complaints.  Thinking Perez may see his sister – and his daughter who is living with his sister – Rountree and Summer are having them brought in.

Finishing a call with Kensi, Sam ask Deeks about how he brought up the trip to Costa Rica.  Since Kensi is chaperoning 25 16-year olds in Washington DC, Deeks didn’t think this was the best time to bring up the trip.  Deeks asks Sam if he would go – now, with Raymond living with him.  Being a caregiver, Sam couldn’t go.  He needs to put Raymond’s needs first. 

At the crime scene, Sam sees some differences with Perez’s MO.  The fire was set much earlier in the evening.  Perez started his fires between 2AM and 4AM.  If the fire was started between 2AM and 4AM, foreman Michael Duncan would be alive.  The fire could have taken out the entire building.  Instead, it was limited to the one floor.  Sam wants to see the financials of Global West Ventures.  Make sure this isn’t a set-up for insurance money by using Perez’s signature to distract.

In the boat shed, Rountree is speaking with Crystal Perez, Randall’s daughter, with her Aunt Denise watching out for her.  Rountree is trying to be kind but the Denise talks about all the problems Crystal had in school when kids found out who her father was.  Crystal suffered enough.  Summer brings up that Randall Perez caused a lot of harm.  The FBI and NCIS want to stop him before he takes any more lives. 

Summer asks about Crystal’s life.  She’s a guide at a museum, planning to study being a curator in college.  Asked if she heard from her father, Denise jumps in saying that Crystal hasn’t heard from her father – “he’s dead to us.”  Crystal admits she has heard from her father.  

Denise is surprised and unhappy – Randall is dangerous.  Crystal explains that Randall is sorry – he left just as Crystal’s mother died.  He’s also sorry for what he did.  He’s considering turning himself in.  This catches Summer’s attention – does Crystal know where Randall lives?  She doesn’t.  They last spoke a month ago.  Rountree asks for Crystal’s cellphone number.

Fatima talks to Deeks – Global West Ventures is flush with cash.  The fire was not for the insurance money.  Sam is checking out the fire inspector’s report.  Thermite was used for the fire, something that is easy to make and transport.  Perez had his own recipe for thermite but tests will need to be run to see if the recipes match.  Nothing about Perez’s recipe was told to the public in the past – a copycat would not know the correct mixture.  Since thermite’s main components are iron oxide and aluminum powder used in bulk, only a few retailers would have them.  Finding where there they were purchased probably leads to the arsonist.

Callen is reading the Pembrooke files and having flashbacks to his oh so happy childhood.

Deeks is looking for footprints in the parking area behind the office building.  He’s a fan of Freaky Phil’s Forensics, leaving Sam worried that Deeks learned to be a detective on YouTube.  Sam is more interested in surveillance cameras while Deeks explains the thermite sticking to arsonist’s shoes if the shoes had deep grooves.  Sam finds some tire tracks while Deeks sees if a footprint belongs to the arsonist.  When the footprint catches fire, Deeks is pleased.  Based on the footprints and the tire tracks, the arsonist got in on the passenger’s side.  This is a two person job.  Since Perez always worked alone, this is looking like a copycat.

Kilbride catches Fatima listening in on Rountree and Summer.  She tries to explain “ghosting” to the Admiral, who knows what that is.  He’s more interested in a sit-rep than Rountree’s past.  A traffic cam caught the car leaving the parking area but the video is too grainy for facial-rec.  The plates belong to a dead man with a different car so that’s a dead end. 

More interesting was a number both the FBI and NCIS suspect belongs to Perez retrieved from Crystal’s phone.  As soon as she left the boat shed, Denise Perez called the same number so Denise has been in contact with her brother.  While the arson is likely the work of a copycat, Rountree and Summer are going to follow Denise to see if she leads them to Randall.  The Admiral tells Fatima to stop eavesdropping. 

Fatima has two stores that have the components needed for thermite with one making a large sale to a company called Core Dynamics two days earlier.  Core Dynamics has no certificate certifying it is a real business and the components were sent to an apartment building.  Sam and Deeks are on their way.

Denise Perez is in a public parking lot when Rountree and Summer pull in with the Land Rover.  Summer is annoyed – she wants to arrest Denise right way for lying to the FBI.  Rountree wants to see how things play out.  A man walks up to Denise’s car – she gets out to hug him.  It’s Randall Perez.  When Rountree and Summer approach, Randall runs and Rountree chases after him.  Denise tries to drive away only to turn around and try to take out Rountree using her car.  Randall Perez flees in his own vehicle.  Denise is under arrest.

At the apartment building, the manager explains he rents out garage space behind the building – www.parkyourauto.com.  Opening the garage that got the components delivery, there is no car but there is a lab set-up.  Sam sees a trip wire that would burn down the garage and cover the renter’s/arsonist’s tracks.  LAPD bomb squad is called.

Summer explains to Denise that she is facing life in jail for the attempted murder of a federal agent while helping a known fugitive escape.  Rountree thinks the judge would be lenient if Denise cooperates.  She’s not in the mood.  Randall did not set the fire.  He believes the FBI and NCIS are trying to pin it on him because of his past.  In his past, Randall believed he was doing the right thing – it is why Denise forgives him.  Rountree asks if Randall had an accomplice.  Two people were involved in the Global West Ventures fire.  Since Randall wasn’t involved with that fire, how could he have an accomplice?

Fatima joins Sam and Deeks as the bomb squad gives the garage the all-clear.  The IED attached to the trip wire probably wouldn’t have done much damage on its own but with all the accelerant in the garage, it likely would have taken out all the garages in the back of the apartment building.  Sam asks why Fatima is there and is told Kilbride sent her instead of Callen.  She has a piece of equipment – a mass spectrometer - that will analyze the thermite mix in the garage.

In the garage, Fatima asks Sam’s opinion of Summer.  Sam thinks she was nice until Rountree arrived.  Deeks is brought up to speed on the Rountree-Summer tea.  Fatima thinks it is like “When Harry Met Sally” mixed with “Love Jones” which means nothing to either Sam or Deeks.  She also says none of this is her fault – Rountree and Summer had their comms on.

The analysis matches the thermite mixture in the garage with Perez’s special recipe.  Deeks finds some maps of Los Angeles and a list of targets.  Global West Ventures was fifth on the list.   There is a health care company, an investment bank and a shoe manufacturer.  Fatima calls in the list to LAPD.

The Admiral has info for Sam and Deeks.  The dead man whose license plates were used in the arson is Christian Navarro.  The plates were cited in two-DUIs before he died.  The driver was Marco Navarro, Christian’s son and Deeks thinks is Perez’s accomplice.  Better news – the burner phone used by Randall to speak with Crystal and Denise was traced to a home in Echo Park.  Sam and Deeks are on their way.

At the Echo Park house, Deeks pretends to be a food deliveryman.  Perez runs and Deeks chases him through the house.  Sam is waiting at the back door.  A handcuffed Perez explains he has been trying to stop Marco Navarro.  He’s been looking for Marco Navarro.  Before he went on the run, Perez asked Navarro to store some of his explosives.  He thinks Navarro had his own mass spectrometer and figured out how to make his own explosives – Navarro is a smart man.  When he heard about the fire and the signature, he knew it had to be Navarro.

Saying they may believe him, Sam asks who would be Navarro’s accomplice.  Perez doesn’t know.  Navarro is a young, brash man who wants to change the world.  They were involved in many peaceful protests together.  He was family, lived with Perez.  When he figured out who Perez was, Navarro wanted to join him in the not-peaceful protests.  Perez pushed him away.  Asked if Denise knew Navarro, she did not.   She lived in a different part of town. 

Crystal knew Navarro, however.  He was like a big brother to her.  Sam checks with Rountree to see if Crystal had any contact with Navarro but Crystal turned off her phone.  She hasn’t been to work in a week – she quit.  Denise says this is not like Crystal at all.  Deeks asks if Crystal knew Navarro had Randall’s explosives.  She probably did but Randall tells Sam and Deeks that Crystal knew he also regrets what he did.  Deeks asks if he regrets what he did or regrets getting caught. 

In the boat shed, Summer tells Rountree that Crystal’s car was found.  A witness saw Crystal get into a car with a man who looks like Navarro.  The FBI is checking the area traffic cameras for license plates.  Denise told Rountree that Crystal didn’t mention having any new friends or changes in her life.  Summer is confused about the targets Sam and Deeks found – none of them have an environment connection.   Rountree thinks Navarro may have a different agenda than Randall Perez.

Back in Ops, Fatima found a connection to the companies on the list.   All of the companies are major donors to Senator Greg Garrett’s reelection campaign.  Sen. Garrett was responsible for killing an environmental bill in congress.  Navarro wanted the companies to pay.  Garrett is in Los Angeles to tour a warehouse that is part of an urban renewal project but the warehouse is not on the target list.  The warehouse isn’t the target, Rountree and Summer think, Garrett is.  They are going to meet Sam and Deeks at the warehouse.  Fatima is going to update the Senator’s team.

Rountree and Summer meet with Sam and Deeks at the warehouse.  The Senator’s team is evacuating the place but the worry is that Crystal and Navarro had an hour to lay down the thermite and accelerant.  Entering the building, there is no sign of anyone – Crystal, Navarro or Garrett.  Sam and Deeks come across Crystal as she’s spreading thermite outside the warehouse. 

Rountree and Summer find Garrett and his aides.  Navarro opens fire, hitting one of the aides.  Rountree goes after Navarro while Summer gets Garrett and his staff to safety. 

Sam tries to talk Crystal into surrendering as he and Deeks enter the warehouse.

Rountree and Navarro struggle for about a second.  Navarro is apprehended. 

Crystal lets Sam and Deeks walk far enough into the warehouse so she can circle behind them and light the place on fire.  Sam finds a fire extinguisher and puts out the fire.  Crystal, on the run, winds up cornered by Rountree and Summer.  Crystal tries to explain that “we” are not the criminals.  She threatens to set herself and her bag of thermite on fire but Summer talks her out of it.  Crystal is arrested. 

The Senator’s aide is on his way to the hospital but everyone is fine.  Deeks mentions wanting to be a fireman – “mostly for the calendar.” 

At the end of the day, a tired Deeks is complimented Admiral for a good day’s work.  The Senator’s aide only suffered a flesh wound and is doing well.  Deeks says that after “extensive consideration” he’s going to turn down the conference.  The Admiral thinks Kensi would be relieved.  No, Kensi was fine with Deeks going, even thought she’d go if he said no.  The Admiral agrees with Deeks’s decision.  Besides, next year’s conference is in Albuquerque – perfect for Deeks.  Rountree is going to Costa Rica instead.

In the boat shed, Randall and Crystal share a hug before both are taken away.  Summer found the Perez's farewells bittersweet.  The FBI coordinated the farewell and Rountree approves.  Since she saved his life, Summer thinks she’s owed about five IOUs by Rountree.  She’s also grateful that Rountree apologized.  Sam arrives – Summer, her boss and Sam are going to play some pickleball. 

Once Summer leaves, Sam talks about starting their triathlon training at 4:30AM.  Rountree is distracted by Summer’s departure.  Sam thinks Rountree thinks too much.  “Call that woman – call her.”  Rountree chases after Summer.

The Admiral and his large decanter of scotch visit Callen in the bullpen.  Callen has the Pembrooke paperwork all over his desk.  Callen asks if the Admiral reviewed the information in the file.  He did not – he just called in some favors to get what he could find.  “This is your story, Agent Callen.”  It isn’t the Admiral’s place to invade his privacy, though his door is open if Callen wants to talk.

Callen doesn’t talk, he instead shows Kilbride a black and white photo.  It is Hetty and Pembrooke.  The Admiral explains everyone has done things they regret.  “Hetty doesn’t regret much,” according to Callen.  Kilbride disagrees – “Hetty has enough regrets for all of us.”  She has done things to keep people safe.  Dark, ugly things she will likely take to her grave.  Callen asks how indoctrinating children keeps people safe.  The Admiral thinks Callen keeps people safe, if the methods were morally questionable.  The Admiral isn’t a Hetty fan but he respects her.  Hetty is all about the greater good and she made mistakes.  But the mistakes were in the service to her country.  Callen asks if he’s a mistake or a dark, ugly thing Hetty will carry to grave.   The Admiral says the past is something your learn from, not where you live.

What head canon can be formed from here:    A rather generic, and talky to be honest, episode until the very end.  Nothing here wouldn’t have worked in season one, season five or season nine, just switching around the agents. 

Not thrilled with the family reunion at the end.  The foreman doesn’t get to hug his daughter one last time.

The end was very well done.  A quiet scene, really well written and well-acted.  Well worth the ho-hum 55-minutes before it. 

The Rountree scene cut in “Glory of the Sea” really would have helped sell Rountree ghosting poor Summer. 

Hey Deeks – you are going to get a hotel room for the conference.  Take Kensi and Rosa, you surf in the morning, going to some meetings in the morning.  While everyone else goes play golf in the afternoon (I’ve been to my fair share of conferences), hang with the family on the beach.  Life’s good.

Episode number:   Episode eight of season 14.  This is episode number 310 overall.

[rouge-and-riddles]

Jupernatural Week Fics

@jupernaturalweek

[robairelover]

4Town headcanons⭐️

Disclaimer:This is my first time writing on tumblr, so I’d there’s any mistakes be free to share some nice criticism

Main headcanons

Robaire🎤

-His real name is Robert Joseph Laurent Bordeaux

-He’s 22 years of age

-He’s Haitian-Canadian

-A nepotism kid (well not really);his father is a music composer and mother a piano teacher

-He’s kind, Generous and humble;a perfect fit for the leader role

-He is very educated and loves learning new thing.

-a MAJOR perfectionist

Jesse🎨

-His full name is Thomas Jesse Campbell

-He’s 25(going on 26)

-He was born and raised in San Diego,California

-The heartthrob of the group

- flirts with everyone the fans, his band mates, the interviewers…

- He has 2 twin children; Ethan and Julia who are both 8 years old

-Adores painting just as much as he loves pottery

Taeyoung🕊

-His real name is Pak-Taeyoung

-He’s 20(the youngest member)

-Lived in Korea in his early childhood and moved to Canada when he was 13

-A sweetheart❤️ he’s the most adorable member of the band

-Very affectionate with the band members; he is not afraid to hug them or hold their hands

-Has a pet chihuahua named Chingu

-Has a 2 hour skincare routine and loves painting his nails and doing his makeup

Aaron T🧢

-His full name is Aaron Gabriel Torres

-He’s 21

-Chilean and Brazilian but was raised in Phoenix Airizona

-The prankster of the group.He loves playing pranks on other members and staff

-Talk so fast, to the point where no one can understand him

-Can never still still

-Does acro or skateboarding in his free time

Aaron Z🏀

-His full name is Aaron Raffaël Zeiler

-His mother is Vietnamese and his father is African American. He was raised in Chicago

-He’s 23

-He’s the sporty/mysterious bad boy, too cool for everyone and everything

-In reality is actually just super shy and dosent know to express his feelings

-He was gonna start playing basketball professionally but decided to turn to a more artistic side. He doesn’t regret it one bit.

-Was bullied for most of childhood due to this mix heritage and is a spokesperson against bullying (Got this idea from fitzs-br1dg3t)

____________________________________________

Tomorrow I’ll post part two of the general headcanon. And again it’s my first time writing so please tell me if there’s something wrong

[fipindustries]

i just want to talk about books i love

a list of my favourite childhood books. that is to say: books i read in my childhood, not necesarily children’s books. these are the books i read obsessively over and over until they were absolutely worn down and cracked. for ovbious reasons im not including harry potter into the mix

*journey to the center of the earth - jules verne 

i think every amab who was interested in books and sci fi read jules verne at some point in their lives. this was one of his most outlandish premises but the dry naturalist way in which he descrives the wonders the characters encounter and the dangers of survival they come across (beautifully rendered by  Édouard Riou) made me go back to it again and again.

*codex - lev grossman

turns out the guy who wrote the magicians did other things in his past as well. this book was fascinating to me because, out of all the books in this list, i think this is the one where no genre or supernatural elements occur. is about a banker who spends his first vacation in years unpacking and organizing the books of a private collection which leads him into an in depth quest to find one incredibly obscure middle age text that was lost to history. and yet lev manages to descrive all of this in such a wacky, whimsical tone than even descriptions of a guy playing a weird avant garde videogame are enthralling

*deception point - dan brown

i claimed time and again that dan brown is a sci fi writer trying to pretend he is a historical writer, this is the proof. this was the book he wrote before angels and demons, before he cemented himself with robert langdon forever. electoral drama, goberment conspiracies, cientific discoveries in the artic, weird near future sci fi tech, aaron sorkin level writing, dan brown second and last female protagonist, alien fossils trapped in meteorites. this book has everything

*amazing space - ann jeanette campbell

another thing related to space, the joke about how every kid when they reach age has to choose what they are going to bo obsessed with, dinosaurs - bugs - space. guess which one i choose. thanks to this book i passed most of my science tests with flying colors.

this is the one of three non fiction books in this list. one of those books that you dont really read sequentially but rather that you just jump all over the place, back and forth, finding weird little wonders wherever  you go. this was the book that introduced me to the concept of dark matter, neutron stars, the cosmic background radiation, quasars. it showed me that reality is way weirder than i expected and that there are truly strange things out there.

*the sorcerer’s companion - allan & elizabeth kronzenk

i said i wouldnt mention harry potter but i can’t not mention this. my first earnest introduction to the world of actual historical magic and myth as it was practisced in the real world. it showed me how magic actually looked in the past, how it worked, what were the actual beliefs, myths and superstitions of people and how they were far more eccentric and peculiar and off kilter than anything rowling could come up with.

it was the book that made me unironically practisce numerology and astrology and reading tea leaves when i was a kid. it was also the perfect gateway drug to the kind of weird shit alan moore would preach at me when i was a teenager/young adult. fantastic history lesson packaged in an endearing way

*between nothing and eternity - roberto pettinato

pettinato is a stand up comic from argentina, one i am fond of. this book collects random thoughts, long digressions, short stories, stand up sets and other tangential observations that the guy made across his carrer. an incredibly eclectic book that has way too much fun playing around with typography. it replicated in an eerie way (even though at the time i couldnt possibly have known) the feeling of scrolling on tumblr and coming across the effort posts and deranged shitposts made by your mutuals. another eerie thing is how pettinato’s writing style is so incredibly good at conveying his own speech patterns, you cannot help but read this book in his voice, never before or after speech, cadence, delivery, timing, emphasis and tone was so perfectly conveyed in writing.

*the warm-up battle - marcelo figueras

i said more than enough about this book already. my favourite book of all time.

*the girl who loved tom gordon - stephen king

one of kings lesser known books, also the first book by stephen king i ever read. and much like the tip of the iceberg, much like the smallest tendril from the great eldritch beast that reaches from beyond time into my mind, i was amazed and astounded by it without even suspecting that there was so much more where that came from.

this was probably the first book i ever read with a female protagonist. whats more, a female protagonist of my age. again, as someone who was socialized as a boy, i was surprised at how relatable, how close, how immediate the conection to her was. she did things in her mind that i thought only i did. now the title may make you think this is some cute teen romance book or whatever. its actually and incredibly raw and terrifying story of survival, about a girl who got lost in the woods for days and days with nothing but her portable radio (that i would picture as the little pink walkman i had as a kid) and the prescence of something wrong, following her in the woods

*lessons in fear - diana shaw

and while on the subject of female protagonists, this is a practically completly unkown little teen novel where you follow a teenage girl who decides to become a private investigator and find out who has been pulling (potentially lethal) pranks on the most hated teacher at school. yet another book that surprised me by how much i related to the female protagonist as a kid, specially considering it was probably the only book i ever read where menstruation is not only brought up as a thing that exists but on top of that is brought up in a completly non chalante way as in yeah, whatever, it happens, its really annoying, ugh, i forgot my tampons, what a drag. which blew my 11 year old mind

the paris enigma - pablo de santis

speaking of murder mystery, this is The murder mystery novel. the one muder mystery novel that is all murder mystery novels that have ever existed. the ultimate tribute to the genre. it’s set in the late 1800′s, the eiffel tower is about to be completed for the world’s fair and the great twelve detectives, a world spanning organization composed by the best detectives of the world, are getting together. with them there are their adlateres, their assistants, their watsons. among the adlateres we follow one kid, the most recent addition to the group, someone who grew up reading detective stories his entire life and now had to prove himself as a worthy addition to the team. much like worm is the ultimate superhero story and worth the candle is the ultimate rpg isekai, this one is the ultimate crime novel

_______________________________________________________________

extra material

honorary mentions, books that i only read once as a kid and yet they still had a profound impact on my mind:

*the words - jean paul sartre.

the guy talks about his childhood, i had this idea that the guy was a dense and complex philosopher but his writing ended up being very enjoyable and relatable

*the invention of morel - adolfo bioy casares

the proof that latin america could create some amazing science fiction

*the eight - katherine neville

im honestly surprised not more people are talking about this one. dan brown done right. or more precisely the davinci code is katherine neville done wrong

*the metamorphosis - franz kafka

i was surprised at how straight forward the concept was explored, it almost felt like speculative fiction

*trafalgar - angelica gorodischer

the other proof that argentina could create some amazing science fiction, and make it but gustingly funny

*blindness - jose saramago

yet another example in this list of a writer that i expected to be dense and incomprehensible and dull and yet surprised me at how straightforwardly it explored a genuenly fascinating idea

*locked room - paul auster

and this is the one book that breaks that trend. i have no idea what the hell this book is about. i remember it was faintly disturbing to read. it was the book that started my obsession with thoroughly filing and archiving everything i create

[blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms]

Chat- Hughie Campbell

 Pairing: Hughie Campbell x Reader (Platonic)

Characters: Hughie Campbell

Warnings: N/A

Request: N/A

Word Count: 420

Author: Aaron

Hughie dragged you into the alley by your collar and pushed you as far back as he could into the dark seclusion.

“Hey man, it’s me… I’m not trying to attack you or anything I was just asking how you’ve been doing.”

“Shhh.” Hughie held his finger tightly against your lip and stared down the alley towards the hundreds of people strolling across its mouth. “Keep your voice down, unless you want both of us to be a scorch on the sidewalk, I would suggest being quiet.” You held your hands up and pushed yourself off the cold brick wall of the diner.

“Right… okay. So anyway Hughie, how are you doing? By the looks of things, I would probably guess not too good but you never know.” His head darted back and forth against you and the small shard of light that bled into the alley.

“Me, what am I doing, I’m doing fine, sorry. Just have quite a lot going on at the moment, work and life you know how it is.” He brushed some of the rubble from your back and apologised for slamming you against the wall.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine, completely fine.”

“And Robin?” Hughie’s eyes glazed over, for a brief moment he seemed to lose all sense of where and who he was. “Hughie… do you need like a doctor or an ambulance or something? Are you high? I’ve seen plenty of people off their face since we finished high school and whereas you never struck me as the hard drug type, I don’t know it looks kind of familiar.”

“Robin, Robin is unfortunately no longer… listen y/n I can’t lie to you I don’t really have the time for this… this small talk bullshit. I am in the middle of the craziest shit. You know the seven? What am I saying EVERYBODY knows the seven? Well long story short Homelander is currently on a mission to try and blow my head clean off my fucking shoulders and I was on my way to meet my ex FBI buddy as we can figure out a way to kill him. Sorry for being rude but I don’t really have the time for the how’s the kids how’s the wife water cooler type of conversation. Send me a message on facebook, I’ll get to it.” He pulled his hood tightly over his head and briskly walked from the alley.

“I don’t have you on facebook!” You called out.

“Oh well!” Hughie shouted back.

[davidmann95]

Comics this week (1/27/2021)?

X-Men #17: I guess Hickman told his editors “yeah this issue’s relatively filler and is pretty much here to set up a single straightforward Checkov’s Gun for later, so I guess you can put whoever needs to work on it” so that’s how that happened.

Shang-Chi #5: A nice little mini, but I’m happy Yang’s moving on to my boys.

Avengers #41 (got this late from last week): That patented Aaron-brand Avengers nonsense I love, how I missed you.

Daredevil #26: ...huh. Don’t take that as a condemnation on my part, that’s simply my plain reaction to the developments of an issue of comics I enjoyed. Huh.

Stillwater #5 (ditto): SO THERE’S SOME REAL SHIT FOR OUR TIMES

The Department of Truth #5: Love me that looooore, baybeeeee

We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #5: I did have to stop a few pages in to refresh myself on a few names, but gosh can I not wait for acts two and three.

Future State: Aquaman #1: I figured this one could go either way since I’ve read some work by Brandon Thomas I vibed with and one or two that baffled me, so happy to say this one worked out really well. And very happy to be getting Sampere on Action soon.

Future State: Batman/Superman #1: I’ve seen folks unsurprisingly let down by this as a pretty straightforward World’s Finest teamup for Yang’s debut that for the most part could have just as easily taken place now, but the more I sit on this one the more it grows on me. There’s a sense of melancholy knowing this is probably Clark and Bruce’s last adventure together like this before what’s about to happen to each of them in this timeline, a tension they don’t know exists even as we can see their friendship start to fray that crucial bit - not because they’re at moral loggerheads, but because the changes in their lives are driving them in such different directions. I like the idea of a little slice of a ‘future’ event like this having a chapter set just long enough from now that the changes in motion are irreversible, but not far enough out yet to have visibly shaken things up permanently, and how that changes the tone of the characters’ adventures at the unknowing last point where they’re still recognizable. Anyway, high-falutin’ aside, it’s Yang and Oliver, of course it’s a very readable superhero comic even sans context.

Future State: Dark Detective #2: Very much enjoyed the fleshing-out here of Bruce’s new means and methods of operation, and the Red Hood backup works surprisingly well too (between this and DCeased, is DC making Jason Todd and Rose Wilson a thing?). My confidence in the upcoming Tamaki Detective increases accordingly.

Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #1: This is gonna disappoint a lot of folks, not because it’s anything less than really good, but because it’s ‘merely’ really good when it’s the Flintstones team reuniting for their big, basically continuity-free crack at Superman. Probably that’s in no small part because it feels like Russell modulating his voice a bit to prove he can play nice with the other books in the same way as his Sinestro one-shot awhile back. Still fine with me and still one of Future State’s better offerings, but not the clear home run it seemed at announcement.

Future State: Legion of Superheroes #1: Well THAT’S not who I was expecting the much-advertised traitor to be. Lots of cool details here I’m looking forward to seeing play out when the book proper returns.

Strange Adventures #8: I want Gerads on a Flash book and Shaner drawing as many forest landscapes as possible going forward.

Batman: The Adventures Continue #8: Pretty standalone after how #1-7 formed a loose arc, but this taps the best of BTAS’s treatment of its villains and is a nice little epilogue.

Batman: Black and White #2: 

* The King/Gerads Batman story is an extremely King/Gerads Batman story, in the best way.

* The Campbell Batman and Catwoman story plays with the format, such as it is, in the most amusing way of this mini so far or any of the preceding Batman: Black and White books I recall.

* The Hardman/Bechko joint is pretty and perfectly serviceable.

* The Weaver story I don’t even kind of get but it sure is lovely.

* The Aja story doesn’t live up to its art or its unique format, but it’s still David Aja drawing Batman so it’s fine.

* Love the Villalobos pinup, glad he’s still got the occasional DC gig even if he’s making his main comics home elsewhere these days.

The Other History of the DC Universe #2: It doesn’t blow the doors down in the same way as #1, but I don’t know that it could - it isn’t introducing the concept, and it’s juggling two characters with I believe much less defining history than the singular lead of the debut. Still a great comic, and it’s with this issue it hits me that in following B- and C-list characters specifically rather than your Green Lanterns or Cyborgs, the book gets to have its cake and eat it too by conveying a superheroic POV while still making them spectators to the biggest developments both world-shaking and culturally significant. And yes, very much looking forward to what Ridley will do with Superman in Red and Blue after the balancing act he continues to strike here, I feel like he could be to All-Star Superman what Snyder was to Morrison’s Batman in presenting what those books were getting at in a way the general audience can latch onto this time (though in this case probably with something a little more on the prestige side rather than a summer crossover).

[popwasabi]

“Westworld III” takes several steps forward...and several steps back (REVIEW)

Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Aaron Paul, Ed Harris, Vincent Cassel, Tessa Thompson, Thandie Newton

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Season three of HBO’s “Westworld” cleans up many of the issues season two had but ultimately falls short of season one’s loftier thematic ideas.

It’s cinematically sharper, it’s about as well paced and fun as the show has ever been and that on it’s own makes it worth watching and certainly worth continuing the series going forward but for fans hoping it might have something new to say in the vein of its hyper meta-textual and thematic commentary of the first season it may leave you disappointed.

Season three may have raised the stakes of the series with its pending (and frankly, all too timely) apocalyptic vibes going on in the story but it lowers the bar on its cerebral nature opting more for fast paced thrills over anything more profound or hadn’t said already.

That said, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it anyways for better…and worse.

“Westworld” season three picks up not too long after the events of season two as Dolores has infiltrated human society and begun working on her master plan to bring it all down. She has spared Bernard, who now spends his life as butcher outside the major cities but he often wonders where she is and when this apocalypse will begin. Meanwhile a veteran named Caleb spends his life doing the same mundane tasks and mercenary work everyday to make ends meet pondering his existence as he deals with his PTSD. He decides to break the cycle however when one day he finds Dolores shot in an alleyway and joins her on her quest to start a revolution.

“Westworld” is one of the few series that hooked me immediately with its first episode.

Where some series take their time to gain momentum before going into overdrive in their season finale, season one’s “The Original” grabbed my attention from the start with a combination of mystery, action, stellar acting, and the kind of cerebral humanist story-telling I expect and want from the cyberpunk genre.

As someone with a father who talked extensively about myth, theme, and got me to listen to old Joseph Campbell essays on CD  growing up, a series that explored story-telling on a meta level with a high octane LARP concept setting was everything someone like me could ask for in a science fiction series.

(Seriously, there was some compelling analytical story-telling dialogue in this series.)

So invested I was in this tale of synthetics gaining agency and humans exploring their own personal myth-making and what it said about themselves made me a huge fan early on, proudly proclaiming it to be the best show on HBO several years ago.

I was so certain this series was creatively the best thing on television at the time that I strongly considered getting a maze tattoo like that in the show to proclaim my brand-new fandom.

But knowing there was still more seasons on the horizon, I held off thinking I should probably see this through before doing anything that brash.

Well, a few years later I feel pretty good about that decision…

(Imagine how fans who named their newborns Daenerys or Khalessi feel right now...)

I remember thinking at the end of season one “Where can they possibly go from here still? Other LARP destinations in this cyberpunk world? A robot vs human war? How can the world expand?”

The problem is these thoughts did not really ask the most important question following that first season; “What more does it actually have to say?”

The first season is, in my opinion, a perfect season of television. It’s a brilliant take on the stories we tell ourselves, the choices we make that define us in our personal myths, and the exploration of our nature and how that relates to choice all while playing out this synthetic mystery plot. The entire first season pulls all these arcs and ideas together through characters like Bernard/Arnold, William/The Man in Black, and of course Dolores. They all, more or less, complete their arcs in that first season and there’s not really much needed to be said beyond that when you really think about it. If the series ended on Dolores murdering Ford and the Delos guests in the season finale that honestly would have been a perfect ambiguous ending to send the story off on.

(Kind of itss own meta commentary on the journey of a fan and an ever-increasingly cynical series...)

But because this is HBO, and “Game of Thrones” is no longer the driving force of premium TV, Westworld MUST continue because it’s the new cash cow for the channel. Whether or not writer/producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan really knew what they wanted to do following that first season is anybody’s guess but it’s hard not to see that they have struggled a bit since that point.

Season two is a mixed bag, where the characters literally feel like they’re going in circles. Plotlines get muddled, characters become hyper versions of themselves, and while certain ideas and episodes reached similar levels of brilliance that the first season had it still lacked the narrative sharpness of the first season and that has a lot to do with the characters having mostly no other driving force besides survival and simply getting to the next physical plot point.

It just didn’t have much more to say and frankly in a story about stories that’s pretty damn important.

(This episode from season 2 is still one of its best.)

To their credit, Joy and Nolan appear to rectify quite a few issues season two had with season three. Again, it’s faster, better paced, there’s a clearer destination at the end for its characters and not to mention a pretty compelling villain for this season’s plot in Serac played by the brilliant Vincent Cassell.

But it suffers ultimately the same problem; it has nothing truly new to say.

This is not to say the season is without any meaningful messages or metaphors. It’s quite critical of our hyper surveillance and information gathering state, might even be the best depiction to date on the broader implications and consequences of a world where we all have our personal information readily online to mined and plundered by big businesses and government. Caleb, played by the always great Aaron Paul, is a good avatar for the everyman who has grown jaded and disenfranchised by this system. Though he spends most of the season looking overly shocked and gape-jawed at just about everything, it’s hard not to feel empathy and a connection to this character as we are quite literally living in a bit of a cyberpunk hell as it is these days and treated just as much as expendable commodities right now.

(You fucking jackasses are arguing for the wrong things! You’re all being swindled and cheated for nothing! *photo “unrelated”*)

The season is generally best when the focus is on him, as the first episode delivers a strong start in the same way season one did.

Where the season begins to fall apart though is when quite literally the world “Westworld” inhabits begins to do so itself. Serac’s Rehobaum, which reminded me just a little too much of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s” Deep Thought, releasing all its data to the world and everyone discovering they’re basically all dangerous assholes is almost hilarious to me. 

Though the idea of hyper data controlling our every move is a good cyberpunk metaphor to jump off of, the way this bit is executed is a little over exaggerated and clumsy.

(Though it does deliver a pretty powerful scene regardless.)

This isn’t actually a tremendous problem with season three, but it doesn’t do much to add to what we already understand about the story; which is how narrative controls us and how important choices and free will is to that. All this is already told and expanded on in the first season through Dolores, all season three does it bring it to a macro level and put that onus on the humans instead of the hosts. The hosts were already a metaphor for humanity anyways so again the story in some ways hasn’t changed much since season one.

It's interesting to have the narrative of the hosts turned on the humans but thematically it feels redundant.

I’ll add that this isn’t the worst idea they could’ve gone with, it works in moving the physical aspect of the story forward for sure, and I wouldn’t even classify it as a bad one, but again the problem is the story has largely run out of new things to tell us.

We like stories because we want to learn some truth about ourselves, whether we want it to or not, and Anthony Hopkins’ Ford makes a great point of this in season one. This has been the purpose of myths and legends since the dawn of time and it’ll be no different even when the 37th Fast & Furious comes out in 40 years. You could argue that the message of Westworld deserves repeating or that it’s not important to the entertainment value it still provides, and you might be right. But for a series like this, that is so invested in what stories mean I don’t think it’s wrong to think there should be more to it than this.

(Maybe, I should’ve...)

Of course, there’s still plenty more to see out of “Westworld” for the foreseeable future as HBO won’t be canceling it anytime soon and certainly it’ll have its chance to still tackle more ideas and themes in the future but, at this point at least, it’s been less meaningful that its first season.

There are other problems too, namely Dolores constantly changing and unclear revolution plans and arcs resolved offscreen, certain side plots with other characters ultimately going nowhere, and a fairly predictable twist with Caleb, but this is the crux of the problem with the series as it stands now and the one worth mentioning the most.

(And Maeve, *sigh* oh Maeve...)

That said, season three really is a lot of fun despite my issues with the narrative. The pacing, as mentioned, is great from start to finish. I was never bored or disinterested during this season, despite its flaws, and the action bits are frankly better than they’ve ever been as the series goes full cyberpunk in parts with great robot on human and robot on robot action.

The cinematography is sharp and striking too as Jonathan Nolan shows he’s definitely Christopher’s brother with some beautiful, haunting shots of the future Los Angeles city Gotham-esque skyline set to Ramin Djawadi’s excellent cyberpunk score that gives the new season a more noire-ish feel that would make Vangelis and Hans Zimmer proud.

(In the future Los Angeles will be Singapore!)

The acting is still stellar of course. Though Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard is largely wasted in this season and his plot goes nowhere, his scene with Gina Torres in the finale is touching. Luke Hemsworth is dry as hell in a good way as Chief of Security turned personal buddy bodyguard to Bernard as Ashley Stubbs. Ed Harris is wicked and dastardly as always as William and of course Evan Rachel Wood is solid as the driving force of the series as Dolores.

(Out of context season 3 spoiler.)

The finale doesn’t leave much to say beyond a pending machine vs human war though which has been building up since the first season anyways. While I can see some possibilities for an interesting direction here, I can’t say I’m as intrigued as even the finale to season two left me.

In some ways, season one left me not too much unlike William going into season’s two and three; looking for additional meaning in something that wasn’t looking to tell me anything deeper, at least right now. Perhaps the maze just isn’t for me anymore but moving forward I’ll be lowering my expectations.

(Oh my God! Meta commentary on meta commentary! It’s meta-ception! I’m beginning to question the nature of my reality!!!)

“Westworld” remains a fun cyberpunk action series that can hold your attention span for an hour, and I think it’ll maintain that energy consistently going forward, but it might’ve been best left where it was when Dolores put a bullet in Ford’s brain.

I do hope it can regain some of its original spark at some point but until then…it doesn’t look like anything (deep) to me.

VERDICT:

3.5 out of 5

You said it, Marshawn...

[amandabe11man]

a VERY LONG post about Hell on Wheels

YEAH i forgot about this post in my drafts... it’s been like a year since i finished the show now and i feel i’ve barfed everything out into this post (that i can think of), so here it goes (you’ll have to shield your eyes after the spoiler warning if you don’t wanna be spoiled btw. i can’t seem to be able to add a read more-link...) :

SO... i finished watching “hell on wheels” at last, pm half a year since i started. it’s funny because i was under the impression that i’d sOMEHOW be able to binge all five seasons within just one month (reason: i wanted to watch it before my free trial on HBO’s website went out). honestly, that wouldn’t have been possible because it was a LOT more emotionally draining than you’d think at first glance... after being gutpunched three times in a row in season 4, any reasonable human would need a little break.

anyway, it feels-- weird. i’ve never been big on following tv-shows so i haven’t been able to relate to that feeling ppl describe once they’ve finished a show they’ve become so attached to, except NOW i can relate. the show’s not groundbreaking, it’s not perfect, but i’ve had a lot of fun. what a ride it’s been...

looking back, i’d say HOW’s biggest weakness is its tendency to forget or ignore certain plot points. i guess that’s not too weird, with such an arsenal of characters, but still, i find that’s what bugged me the most, if anything bugged me at all. for example--

[SPOILERS for those who might wanna watch it after seeing me go on abt it, idk]:

first off, what REALLY grinds my gears is how ezra dutson’s plotline was handled. it was set up perfectly in the beginning; having him escape from the swede (who promised him that, and i quote: “i’ll find you, ezra! i always do”), the original plan was obviously for ezra and the swede to “reunite” some time in the future so that ezra could tell everyone that the swede killed his parents, thus tying up loose ends and giving some closure to that whole arc. some might say this would’ve been too predictable, but i would rather have that predictable storyline than having it just end unceremoniously like it did, with ezra dying ACCIDENTALLY and off-screen by sidney snow’s hand, simply as a way to further bohannon’s pain and set the stage for ruth’s final arc. this might’ve been fine, if the writers had made it so that ezra actually, y’know, TOLD SOMEONE WHY HE’S AN ORPHAN TO BEGIN WITH. but they didn’t even give the viewer that form of closure, instead just deciding to use him as a plot device for the other characters’ increased angst... bohannon and the others were never even made aware of ezra’s last name, and this is all what bugs the everliving SHIT outta me: the only ones who know, or will EVER know, ezra’s full story is the swede and the viewer, tho after season 4′s end, ezra is never mentioned or acknowledged again-- not by bohannon, and not even by the swede. ezra went from convenient character with a PURPOSE to “nameless” orphan forgotten by history. thanks, writers...

then there’s the whole deal with campbell coming to town to reinforce The Law™, which wasn’t a bad arc, mind you-- campbell and his goons were the most infuriating little shits for a while there-- but the thing is; didn’t campbell LIE to his men about the president giving him the position as governor? i might’ve misunderstood it, but i’m PRETTY sure the president didn’t give him THAT much of an upstanding role, but that campbell just went ahead and took that position anyway? if that was indeed the case, then that’s another plot hole, cause nobody finds out about campbell’s possible trickery to become the governor. nobody rats him out, despite literally no one in “his” town liking him all that much, so they’d have no reason to protect his “secret”. (correct me if i’m wrong on this one though. i might be misremembering things)

then there’s the other pretty infuriating issue of bad guys never getting called out for doing bad shit (unless it’s the swede, who gets all the blame, all the time), for example:

major dick bongbendix(???idk he had a silly name like that) is presented VERY MUCH as a bad guy in the beginning. y’know, just casually beheading natives on all his missions and collecting those heads and taking them to the bar like a fucking nutcase-- those little details. he also seemed to believe in racial biology, so yeah, definitely not a good guy. but by the end, he’s been watered down into some quirky guy who’s ALMOST on friendly terms with the main characters. yeah, uh-- seems everyone (writers included) collectively forgot the whole public display of cut-off heads he had going on...

aaron hatch: started off as a guy too proud for his- or his family’s own good when he shot the police officer, BLAMED IT ON HIS FUCKING SON and then just kinda let bohannon hang the kid even though it was pretty obvious hatch was just shifting the blame away from himself. THEN he reappears with some other mormons and causes a full-on shootout in the town (probably getting some people killed, i don’t remember), TAKES EZRA (also a mormon) HOSTAGE SO THAT BOHANNON WILL COME WITH THEM WILLINGLY and passive aggressively forces bohannon to marry his daughter who bohannon knocked up. somewhere along the line, hatch’s bad side is just thrown to the wind, and bohannon at one point describes him as “a good man”. yeah, ABOUT THAT--

sean and mickey mcginnes: unlike the ones mentioned above, these two started out as seemingly decent dudes, but ended up pm as secondary villains in the end. however, like the ones mentioned above, they hardly face any consequences for whatever crap it was they did in boston, OR the fact that they killed and fucking mutilated/dismembered a man in cold blood (a man who WAS gonna kill them, yes, but HE did it because he thought they had killed his friend, which wasn’t a farfetched idea since mickey DID brag about killing the dude even though he didn’t actually do it). sure, they face their OWN demons as time goes on, they get ostracized, and they start losing faith in each other as well, which ends up with mickey killing sean before the latter can confess(?) his/their crimes. so, while sean was spineless and a creep, at least he thought about finally owning up to what he’d done in the end, whereas mickey lives on to keep doing shady shit, killing people, and getting increasingly more corrupt. he does end up pursuing new goals in the end, but it’s obvious he’s not happy about it anymore. that’s-- really all the comeuppance he ever gets, and the only one who knows about his shady businesses are pm just bohannon, durant and eva (also, personal gripe here-- they seemed to not settle for “just” tarring and feathering the swede and publicly humiliating him, but i’m pretty sure i recall mickey telling bohannon they were thinking about having the swede killed too. keep in mind, this was BEFORE the swede truly lost it and started killing people left and right. apparently, being kind of a douche about taxes is bad enough to warrant being tortured and cast out by the entire community... i’m obviously biased here, but still-- the mcginnes bros’ double standards are amazing to behold)

now that i’ve aired some of that out-- here are some highlights, according to me:

unexpected friendships, like that between eva and durant. i’d say the swede finding that stray dog and fawning all over him qualifies into this category too

durant and campbell fighting in the mud before finally coming to an agreement -- just- durant and his competitors being petty as fuck, honestly. it’s hilarious

bohannon trying to get through to elam by reminiscing about their friendship, especially since bohannon isn’t one to show his feelings often OR get sappy -- in fact, EVERY time bohannon loses his stoic facade is a good moment. when he was gonna bury elam and he just broke down completely for the first time since we were introduced to him... that shit had me in tears as well, but man was it a great scene

jimmy two-squaws

every time the swede opens his mouth (yes, even when he’s spouting some lies and bullshit like that)

ruth’s character development. i admit i didn’t like her at all in the beginning, idk something just felt off about her, but man did she ever grow on me. just-- how everyone kinda relied on her eventually, even though she’s only like in her 20′s or something... she still became a pillar of the community. bless ya, ruth :’ı -- also, her essentially adopting ezra was Pure as heck. I Lov it

the fact that this was the 1800′s and the only backlash the (openly) LGBT characters faced for it was pm just “yeah they’re a bit confused maybe but they’re not hurting anyone”. maybe that’s not very realistic but WHO GIVES A SHIT AMIRITE

mr tao just being a sweet old man

chang’s sunglasses, straight out of Django Unchained

mr toole’s complete heel-turn from racist POS to someone who sticks by his word to turn himself around. that shit was impressive coming from him, tbh

bohannon just calmly running into a buffalo by the train tracks

mei posing as a grown man instead of a boy (which is what she looks and sounds like, oml)

another thing i realized is that bohannon is a classic gary stu. there’s just no getting around that fact after seeing him being revered by most everyone he meets, how he’s somehow the only person able to build the railroad(s) fast and efficiently, and even wooing the literal PRESIDENT and becoming close friends with him-- all this despite his Bold and Brash personality. of course, there’s more to bohannon than these gary stu-symptoms, but i felt someone should bring it up, for the lulz

[pivitor]

My Top 10 Albums of 2019

2019 will go down, for me, as the year my beloved iPod died, and I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Spotify Premium. Thus, I listened to more new music in 2019 than I ever have before, and realized how much of it I found disposable. Bands I grew up loving put out mediocre efforts, new darlings grew in directions I wasn’t interested in following, but thank god, thank god there are still plenty of terrific musicians putting out work that resonates deep within my soul. Music is subjective, so I wouldn’t dare call this a “best of” list, but below are the ten new releases of 2019 that I listened to the most, vibed with the most, that just plain ol’ meant the most to me this year.

(PS: Don’t think too much about the exact order and ranking here. It changed multiple times even as I was writing this. What really matters is that all ten of these records rule)

10. Radar State -- Strays

Radar State are the Avengers of the early 2000s mid-west emo scene -- a band combining The Get Up Kids’ Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic, The Anniversary’s Josh Berwanger, and The Architects’ Adam Phillips into a single supergroup. Pryor has described the project as “just having fun with [his] friends,” and that dynamic shines through loud and clear in Strays. It’s like each member is pushing the next to just create the catchiest song they possibly can, and the competition leads to great results; Pryor favors fast and sloppy punk and Berwanger moody earworms that fuse themselves into your brain through sheer repetition, but it’s Suptic who fulfills that edict best with his shiny, addictive pop love songs. Radar State never quite hits the emotional highs of its members’ main projects, but that was never the point in the first place; Strays is just fun from front to back, and it’s an album I’ve returned to consistently throughout the entirety of 2019.

Highlights: Making Me Feel, Self-Hurt Guru, Artificial Love

9. The Early November -- Lilac

Lilac is an album about learning from your mistakes and making a conscious choice to be better, and it’s a theme, an ethos that truly defines this release on every level. The Early November originally planned to release Lilac back in 2018, but ended up scrapping the original recording and going back to the drawing board, knowing that they could do better, and funneling that ambition, all their lessons learned, into their most ambitious release outside of The Mother, The Maker, and the Path (“but less self-indulgent,” I say with love). Horns, piano, and a wide variety of tempos spice up the proceedings, and the lyrics are more raw and honest than ever, but Lilac’s greatest weapon is the vocals, which Ace Enders wields with virtuoso skill. He plays with different cadences and deliveries, giving every song a unique feel, moving from soft and pleasant (“Perfect Sphere [Bubble]”) to menacing (“My Weakness”), from the joy of “Ave Maria” to the cathartic, powerhouse vocal explosion of “Hit By A Car (Euphoria)” to the pure, crackling, barely contained emotional breakdown threatening to burst right out of the chorus of “Our Choice.” There’s no other vocalist out there quite like Ace Enders -- and no other record quite like Lilac.

Highlights: Hit By A Car (In Euphoria), Ave Maria, Comatose

8. Magazine Beach -- Sick Day (EP)

Most year-end lists probably overlooked this record, a debut four-song EP from a small DIY band released in mid-December, and man oh man are those critics missing out. Sick Day isn’t just the biggest and best musical surprise I received all year, but quite possibly the most fun I had listening to music in 2019. Seriously, I played this on loop probably two dozen times the day I discovered it, and spent that evening forcing friends to listen to it too. Magazine Beach’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics, gonzo riffs, and stunning background harmonies are combined with vocals whose flatter, sardonic tone initially masks, but soon reveals their perfect cadence and quick crackles of emotion; they’re as close to a perfect pop-punk package as I heard all year, with their quirky, relatable songs about flaky friends, overstuffed social calendars, and other mid-twenties challenges filling that gaping Modern-Baseball-You’re-Gonna-Miss-It-All-shaped hole in my heart. If this had released earlier in the year, and I’d had more time to see how long it truly stuck with me, it might have placed far, far higher on this list, but either way I look forward to carrying this album forward with me into 2020, and I look forward to following Magazine Beach’s future career closely. I think they could go places.

Highlight: Living Room

7. Masked Intruder -- III

It’s easy to look at Masked Intruder and think that they’re more of an act than a band, just because they’re so good at playing hardened-yet-harmless criminals on stage, at enchanting an audience with their antics and banter alone. Thankfully, they’re equally skilled as musicians as they are performers; III isn’t just quick content for their live shows, but an entertaining, addictive, artfully made pop-punk record in its own right. Okay, maybe pop-punk is a bit too restrictive a descripter -- between the doo-wop, call-and-response harmonies and the raging riffs and solos, III sometimes sounds like a modern spin on sixties rock and roll, which is something I did not know I needed but absolutely needed. The lyrics never break kayfabe, but there’s some real clever stuff going on beneath the surface of these silly crime-themed love songs; contrasting the creepiness of Blue’s romantic pursuits with the shenanigans of a typical radio love song shows how few differences there actually are between the two, how creepy the entire genre is when you stop to give it any thought. It’s thoughtful and subversive without ever being preachy, just one more spinning plate kept perfectly balanced in the act that is III.

Highlights: Not Fair, Maybe Even, I’m Free (At Last)

6. Martha -- Love Keeps Kicking

Martha’s secret weapon is the empathy and compassion their songs cultivate for their subjects. Love Keeps Kicking is an album largely about the way love can kick you when you’re down, yet throughout the album Martha never villainizes even the bad actors in relationships. “Into This” finds the narrator jerked around by a potential partner who just won’t clarify what they are to each other, but the song isn’t out to attack the partner, simply to get a solid answer. Likewise, “Love Keeps Kicking” lays out a myriad of detailed complaints about romance and relationships, not to insult, but simply to find a way to endure them. “Orange Juice” rues the way the narrator diluted their partner just by being with them, showing impressive (and heartbreaking) levels of self-awareness. That kind of emotional maturity and complexity makes the true love songs (“Sight For Sore Eyes,” “Wrestlemania VIII”) all the more joyous, and makes their social commentary (“Mini Was A Preteen Arsonist”) that much more effective. Martha are a wonderfully catchy, fun band filled with great harmonies and British twang, but it’s their earnest, compassionate storytelling that truly made me fall in love with them, and with Love Keeps Kicking.

Highlights: Wrestlemania VIII, Love Keeps Kicking, Orange Juice

5. Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties -- Routine Maintenance

Hot take (?) incoming: Dan Campbell is the best songwriter of our generation. I already sang his praises pretty thoroughly last year when discussing my favorite album of 2018, but Routine Maintenance is just further proof of this truth, almost Campbell flexing. The previous Aaron West record was a character study of the worst year of a man’s life, but Routine Maintenance expands Aaron’s world in terms of scope, characters, and themes, all to the project’s (and character’s) benefit. The record is a tale of redemption, taking Aaron from rock bottom to a new place of security, all through the power of friendship and community, the power of music, and the power of family, of fulfilling your responsibilities to them, of finding your role and your home wherever you are, with the people who care about you, with people you can make proud. They’re themes Campbell has been exploring throughout his entire career, but brought down to a more personal level, and somehow that makes them hit harder than ever, perhaps because it makes the way they can fit into any listener’s life that much clearer. I’ve cried listening to this album. I’ve cried hearing these songs live. There’s true, true catharsis on Routine Maintenance, and it’s because Campbell’s taken Aaron West on a real journey, and it’s one I feel blessed to have been able to follow.

Highlights: Runnin’ Toward the Light, Rosa & Reseda, Winter Coats

4. Pkew Pkew Pkew -- Optimal Lifestyles

Pkew Pkew Pkew’s 2016 self-titled debut was an album told solely in the present tense, not worried about the future, but simply about the drinks, pizza, skateboarding, and parties to be had right here, right now. It was a blisteringly fun, gang-vocals filled powerhouse of a record that solidified Pkew Pkew Pkew as one of my new favorite bands. Optimal Lifestyles, though, is an album that has started to look back, if only to question the present. Are they still content to be these same fun-loving, hard-drinking party guys? Ultimately, as proven by lyrics such as “Shred until you’re dead, or until you break your wrist again” and “We lead thirsty little lives, and all we want’s another,” the answer they come to is a resounding “yes,” but the journey they take to find that answer not only makes it feel earned, but opens Pkew Pkew Pkew to some exciting new songwriting avenues, be it the touching introspection of “Drinkin’ Days” or the surprisingly beautiful nostalgia of “Everything’s the Same” (or even the more raucous nostalgia of “Mt. Alb,” for that matter). Don’t let words like “introspection” and “beautiful” scare you, though -- The Boys still rock as hard as ever, as the wailing, chugging guitars and even a totally rockin’ saxophone solo fully attest to (though I do miss all the gang vocals). And I’d be remiss to not mention “I Wanna See A Wolf,” an absolute songwriting clinic. In only a minute and nineteen seconds, Pkew Pkew Pkew takes a simple statement -- “I wanna see a wolf” -- and unravels it until it reveals a song about longing for freedom from the careers that cage our lives, even when they’re our dream. I don’t know if Pkew Pkew Pkew could have written this song three years ago. Talk about growth.

Highlights: I Wanna See A Wolf, Point Break, Adult Party

3. The Get Up Kids -- Problems

After their most popular record -- 1999’s Something To Write Home About -- the Get Up Kids’ next three albums all went on to be incredibly divisive among their fans. While all three records showed significant creative growth, none really sounded like what came before (personally, I very much enjoyed two of those records -- sorry, There Are Rules -- but I guess I’m not most fans). Problems, though, sounds like the natural evolution of Something To Write Home About without ever feeling derivative of it -- it sounds more like “the Get Up Kids” than anything the Get Up Kids have released in over a decade, which is an incredibly exciting thing let me tell you. Yet, Problems still benefits from everything the band has learned in that time: there’s new introspection (“The Problem Is Me”), a wider storytelling scope (“Lou Barlow”), and a shift from wallowing in their own pain to examining the pain of others (“Satellite,” which Matt Pryor has said is based on one of his sons). Problems also manages to pack in absolute bangers like “Fairweather Friends,” sensitive, tender ballads like “The Advocate,” and mid-tempo jams like “Salina,” a guaranteed future Emo classic that threatens to dethrone the Kids’ own “Central Standard Time” as The Quintessential Emo Song. Problems is the synthesis of just about everything that has ever made the Get Up Kids special, and it not only makes for one of the year’s best albums, but one of the Get Up Kids’ best as well.

Highlights: Fairweather Friends, Lou Barlow, Salina

2. PUP -- Morbid Stuff

The A-Side of Morbid Stuff is perfect -- a legitimately flawless five song stretch of punk rock that continues to blow my mind almost ten months after its release. The unmistakable opening notes of “Morbid Stuff”; that irresistible background riff from the bridge returning in “Kids’” second chorus, combined with some of the most nihilisticly romantic lyrics I’ve ever heard; the raucous sing-along that is “Free At Last”; the purest, most undiluted diss-track of the year in “See You At Your Funeral”; and, finally, the best song of the year bar none, “Scorpion Hill,” a sonic journey through multiple musical genres, telling a story of uniquely American misery that legitimately moves me to tears. The B-Side doesn’t quite live up to these first five tracks -- there’s a couple stand-outs (“Bare Hands” needs to make it into a live set pronto), a couple songs more interesting in concept than execution (sorry, “Full Blown Meltdown”), and a few more perfectly fine, standard PUP tunes (and I swear I don’t mean that as an insult!) -- but, well, how could it ever really have anyway? All together, it still makes for an outrageously enjoyable album that reaches the upper echelons of what 2019’s new music had to offer. That PUP was not only such a terrific band right out of the gate, but has remained so this far into their career, makes me so, so happy.

Highlights: Scorpion Hill, Kids, Free At Last

1. The Menzingers -- Hello Exile

It took me a few listens -- and, truthfully, seeing it played live -- to truly crack this album. At first it was a bit too slow, the vocals a bit too filtered, but once it clicked, I lived and breathed Hello Exile and nothing else for months. The slightly slower pace gives the Menzingers a chance to play around with some new musical tricks, be it the back-and-forth opening or the fun background guitar melodies of “Strangers Forever” or the almost hypnotic vocal melodies in the choruses of “Portland” or “Hello Exile,” and they pay off with great effect. Lyrically the Menzingers are at the top of their game; tracks like “High School Friend” and “Strain Your Memory” are more adept than ever at painting stories that make you nostalgic for a life you never even lived, but absolutely feel like you have, and lines like “it only hurts til’ it doesn’t” hit your heart with sniper-like precision. “Anna” may be the quintessential Menzingers song, a tale of longing, love, and location that drove the entire scene into a frenzy that still hasn’t subsided. “Farewell Youth” is the best closing track the Menzingers have ever released, a song about grief in multiple forms that manages to find poignant takes on each and every one of them. I’m not yet sure whether Hello Exile is the beginning or the end of a chapter for the Menzingers, but either way, it’s clearly an essential and unmissable part of their story, and one I feel privileged to be able to experience.

Highlights: Anna, Strangers Forever, Farewell Youth

[fuckyeahqueermusic]

FY!QM’s Favorite Releases of 2019 Part 1

I know you were all waiting with bated breath for my annual list of favorite releases from the year and I apologize for the delay. December and January were trash months at my job and I had zero energy to write, but as of today that is all over! So as a gift to myself I finally finished writing this up. Let’s pretend I just had to think really really hard about my favorites and that’s why it took so long.

Part 1 is all the releases that I really liked, but either a.) are kinda honorable mention material or b.) I couldn’t think of a ton to write about it lol. They’re in no particular order because I do not care! You should go listen to all these! The usual disclaimer applies: these are just my favorite records from this year, I am no authority on what is the best and what isn’t, I just am an expert on what I like, and it’s this shit. All album titles link to my favorite song off of each record on bandcamp because I hate Spotify a lot even though I begrudgingly use it.

Part 2 will come out tomorrow because I really want to capitalize on the Super Bowl, y’know?

The Menzingers — Hello Exile I think it is safe to say at this point that The Menzingers is one of guitar music’s most consistently good acts. They are passionate sing-a-long creating machines, and with Hello Exile they gave us a new heap of them to yell along to at their shows. And having seen them play some of these live, I can confirm they are perfect for that setting.

My only criticism of Hello Exile might be that it doesn’t go anywhere unexpected, and the band is maybe a little too comfortable in the niche they’ve found for themselves. Though I guess there is something to be said for doing what you know and doing it incredibly well. But these guys are great songwriters, and I’d love to see them push themselves a little harder to evolve.

Empath  — Active Listening: Night on Earth I saw Empath open for Touche Amore and La Dispute a few months back and had no idea what to expect, but they fucking RIPPED and were far and away the best band on that bill (no offense to LD or TA. Actually maybe to LD; one of them had a fucking himalayan salt lamp sitting on their amp).

But anyways, Empath is fucking weird and chaotic and so much fucking fun, with bizarre synth textures, harsh guitar, and absolutely frantic drumming. And this album is all over the place, holding itself together with a through line of nature samples, bringing small moments of calm and a chance to breathe before everything comes crashing down again. I’d love to see them at a headlining show full of their fans, because this is music that deserves that kind of energy.

Catbite — S/T I love ska and I will never apologize. Catbite is one of the most exciting new ska bands out there. They’ve only been around for two years, but they’ve already found their niche and solidified their identity as a heavily second wave influenced band that grew up in the third wave, who are the forefront of the fourth. They’re the future of ska and I am so pumped to see them eventually get the full recognition they deserve in this genre.

Future Teens — Heartbreak Season I truly cannot believe “Frequent Crier” bops as hard as it does. This song about all the places to cry while you lament a relationship that ended years ago will have you dancing while you weep, and that pretty much sums up Future Teens’ whole deal. This album can gut you, but you’ll be so busy bopping along you won’t even mind.

Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties — Routine Maintenance  I know it’s cheating, but you should just read what Spencer wrote about this album; he put it perfectly. While I don’t immediately love this one as much as We Don’t Have Each Other (I love a divorce album and it is a top tier divorce album), it is the better record, and I’m so glad Aaron has started to figure out his new place in the world and that Dan Campbell is telling us his story.

Aly & AJ — Sanctuary  The cover of this EP is truly one of the worst album covers I have ever seen. I like to describe it to people as “naked opera gloves milk bath. Also they are SISTERS.” Every art direction decision they have made for this EP has been truly bonkers! But despite the horrendous, horrendous cover, Aly & AJ have come through with a tremendous set of jams once again! I am not sure how it happened, but between 2017’s Ten Years and this EP, they have become one of my favorite pop acts, creating mid-tempo synthy jam after mid-tempo synthy jam. They are far from reinventing the pop wheel, but they have figured out their niche and perfected it. If you haven’t listened to Aly & AJ since “Potential Break Up Song,” it’s time to dive back in, because you’ve been missing some of the most solid pop made in the 2010’s. (Also, they believe in evolution now it’s FINE). 

Sleater-Kinney — The Center Won’t Hold Okay, so this one is a cheat, because The Center Won’t Hold is not one of my favorite albums of the year, but the more time I spend with it, the more it has become my most respected album of the year.

I don’t really like this record, but I do think it is a great album. It is ambitious and surprising, a huge departure from their previous work, which critics and fans much smarter than me have examined at length. Sleater-Kinney could’ve easily crafted another album like No Cities To Love, which itself was an evolution from the sound they departed with on 2006’s The Woods, but it was an evolution that felt natural. It was easy to see point A to point B. With The Center Won’t Hold, point C is way on the other side of the map, and there is no easily discernible direct route. And while whatever is happening on this record isn’t totally my thing, I respect that they took a big swing. It’s a huge shame that it cost them Janet Weiss, though, and I don’t know if that is a loss they’ll ever truly recover from

[bipercabeth]

i love love loved your breakdown of Lover & i agree with so many aspects of it!! my favs are lover, paper rings, and cruel summer. the album makes me go absolutely feral at some of the lyrics and it’s so lovey dovey my heart can’t handle!! i was wondering what other artists or albums you really like???

oh man you have no idea what you signed up for with this question. i am taking this ask as an excuse to go fully music nerd up in here and i am doing so with no regrets. i’m gonna start with artists because there are a lot that i love that i can’t just pick one album or even a favorite. 

frank turner - i literally have a tattoo of his be more kind album art on my arm. he’s got an insanely diverse discography while still staying true to his punk rock roots and i think his evolution as an artist is so admirable. i’ve gone to a songwriting workshop he ran and it was the most eye opening experience. in may i went to his music festival in boston (lost evenings, look it up! he headlines every night, puts together a setlist of his favorite musicians, etc. it’s amazing) and it literally changed my life. every song of his has a point, and every single word drives that point home. his albums aren’t necessarily concept albums, but they’re all thematic and the songs drive home the point of the album as well. when i look at my playlist of favorite songs, his name pops up the most. 

bleachers - we knew this was coming. if u have looked at a single one of my posts about music, they always come back to bleachers, specifically dream of mickey mantle. jack antonoff is an incredible songwriter, performer, and producer. i can listen to a track and tell you if he worked on it. i am so ride or die for this man. bleachers has a unique style that i really can’t put my finger on with the exception of their heavy use of synths. seeing their set at riotfest was one of the highlights of whole ass life. their lyrics are sneakily profound, they don’t always hit you upon first listen. jack antonoff has absolutely mastered the art of simple songwriting and how to make the simplest lyrics absolute gut punches. 

okay i’m putting the rest under the cut bc i have a lot to say

julien baker - when people ask me to describe my music taste, i usually opt for saying “sad ladies with guitars” and that’s largely due to julien baker’s impact. she is unafraid in her exploration of her own suffering mental health, and it’s absolutely devastating, but it’s also so comforting. it’s the type of sad that tells you you’re not alone in your struggles, and i think that’s where her power is. it’s expression of her struggles without romanticizing them, and i think that’s incredibly important.

will varley - i got into him when he opened for the first frank turner show i went to and absolutely fell in love. best songwriter i have ever heard hands down. i need to give a few examples of my favorites because i do not have the words to describe his talent and do it justice. “Birth, death, weddings and wars / That's all we are good for / If all of the past was played as a song / Our lives are a beat of the drum” “Well playgrounds look like prisons the day after you leave school / And exes look like angels the day before they fall” “He got so many chains wrapped round his eyes that he cannot see / And he'd rather be blind than to realize he's never been free”. I could go on and on just quoting my favorite lines of his, but he’s so incredibly talented. it’s just him and his guitar onstage, but his albums have more production and instruments. very folk/bluegrass in sound. i would die for him. 

albums: 

punch // autoheart - this is such an emotionally diverse album, i always know i can find something to match my mood both tonally and lyrically. there are slow, melancholy songs like january and santa fe, bops like anniversary and moscow, hauntingly beautiful and profound songs like agoraphobia, and absolute gut punches like sailor song. i listen to autoheart’s other work, but this album is such a distinct work of art that i find myself gravitating towards it regardless. it’s one of the few albums among my favorites that isn’t a concept and doesn’t have a narrative, but i think that speaks to its strengths. 

sister cities // the wonder years - this is the one punk album that everyone i’ve introduced to it has liked regardless of their musical preferences. the lead singer’s vocals are absolutely INSANE (and just as good live) and his capacity for emotion is unparalleled. this album deals with a lot of guilt and baggage over the death of a loved one, and it encompasses every aspect of that on at least one song. it tells a clear story and every line works toward driving home the narrative, but never at the expense of honesty. this is a painfully honest album due to how specific it is, and how that specificity gives it universality. the wonder years also have mastered the artistic use of the word fuck, which i admire. there’s nothing wrong with just throwing fuck in a song for the fuck of it, but they write in a way that the word fuck is necessary to convey the emotion they’re trying to get across. “i drew a line in the sand with these worthless fucking hands,” “It's been over a year now / April turns into May / I barely stopped moving / I've been so fucking afraid,” etc. also i could write a whole essay on the ocean grew hands to hold me, but maybe another day. my favorite song on the album. perfect closer. they close their concerts with it and it’s PERFECT. also dan campbell (lead singer) said this is the song they’ve been trying to write since they started writing music and i cannot express how soft that makes me. 

routine maintenance // aaron west & the roaring twenties - the good thing is i don’t have to stop talking about dan campbell! aw&trt is his solo project, two concept albums about a man (aaron) who essentially has the worst two years of his life. the first one (we don’t have each other) covers him losing his dad, his wife miscarrying, and then leaving him. heavy shit. but THIS album is about him getting back on his feet, finding music, and eventually making his way back to his family. i have a soft spot for music about healing, and this hits that spot right on the mark. 

after the party // the menzingers - more punk! the menzingers are an incredible band, but i love after the party the most because of the narrative (can u tell i like albums that tell a story?). it’s about aging, nostalgia, and self-improvement, and all are really well done, especially in the song lookers. also mastered the artistic use of fuck (”i will fuck this up, i fucking know it”)

sing to me instead // ben platt - i already made a whole post about this

lover // taylor swift - listen i know i just did a breakdown of this too but it’s my favorite ts album okay

stranger in the alps // phoebe bridgers - similar to julien baker in how achingly sad some of the songs are, but phoebe’s music is just a little inexplicably softer. she explores topics other than mental health too, like toxic relationships, normal breakups, and a few abstract songs from another perspective. the album itself is less of a narrative, but there are common themes throughout it! 

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 19 August 2019

Quick Bits:

Aquaman #51 continues “Amnesty” as Aquaman, and now Aqualad, help the elder sea gods move in to their new home on Amnesty Island. There’s a lot of character building and reflection throughout this story and definitely feels like a calm before the storm hinted at by the cliffhanger and the “Year of the Villain” material. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles are continuing to deliver one of DC’s best comics.

| Published by DC Comics

Bad Reception #1 isn’t a bad start to this horror series fully written, illustrated, and lettered by Juan Doe. The title is a clever play on both concepts in the story of no connectivity to social media and on a wedding reception. Utilizing a highly publicized wedding event that’s being promoted as “off the grid” to potentially commit a murder (or whatever actually happens at the wedding or after) is an interesting hook.

| Published by AfterShock

Bettie Unbound #3 sends her to Mars this go around to land smack in the middle of a conflict. Things only seem to go downhill from there. Great art from Julius Ohta, Ellie Wright, and Sheelagh D.

| Published by Dynamite

Black Mask: Year of the Villain #1 gives us Luthor’s offer and gift to Black Mask from Tom Taylor, Cully Hamner, Dave Stewart, and Wes Abbott. It nicely gives us some insight into Black Mask’s childhood, before changing him into essentially a parallel to a Marvel villain. There’s also a bit of a new status quo for Batwoman.

| Published by DC Comics

Blade Runner 2019 #2 continues to be a wonderful ride from Michael Green, Mike Johnson, Andres Guinaldo, Marco Lesko, and Jim Campbell. This is still a wonderful exploration of the tone and feel of the Blade Runner franchise in an entirely different setting with different people. 

| Published by Titan

Bloodborne #14 is going to mess with you as “The Veil, Torn Asunder” continues and our protagonist this arc keeps breaking with reality. It’s disturbing and unnerving, perfect for this series. Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson’s art just seems to keep getting better and better here too.

| Published by Titan

Bronze Age Boogie #5 is fairly insane as this penultimate issue careens through the past with a rather nasty battle between humanity and the Martian forces. The artwork from Alberto Ponticelli and Giulia Brusco is incredible. The back-up featuring “Moon-Thing” this issue from Stuart Moore, Shawn Crystal, Lee Loughridge, and Rob Steen is also great.

| Published by Ahoy

Canto #3 has some more interesting twists and revelations as this beautiful fable continues to unfold from David M. Booher, Drew Zucker, Vittorio Astone, and Deron Bennett. Continuing to build the story on storytelling is wonderful and your perspective on the slavers might change.

| Published by IDW

Criminal #7 pushes “Cruel Summer” forward as we get Ricky Lawless’ perspective on Teeg and Jane’s relationship and how it, and pretty much everything else, is ruining his life. Very interesting development of Ricky’s youth as he becomes more and more of a jerk.

| Published by Image

Deadpool Annual #1 is a heartfelt and funny story as Deadpool explains why he’s better than Squirrel Girl from Dana Schwartz, Reilly Brown, Nelson DeCastro, Craig Yeung, Matt Herms, Guru-eFX, and Joe Sabino. Actually, it’s more about Deadpool helping a young kid deal with Nightmare, featuring a hilarious trip through Nightmare’s realm, and a horrifying realization. It’s also really nice to see Reilly Brown back at doing some Deadpool.

| Published by Marvel

Death’s Head #2 is more glorious madness as Death’s Head, “Vee”, Wiccan, and Hulkling try to work out who’s going to be parts or who’s going to face Dr. Evelyn Necker (the alternate reality doctor who made Death’s Head II and apparently eventually this upgrade Death’s Head V) from Tini Howard, Kei Zama, Felipe Sobreiro, and Travis Lanham, yes?

| Published by Marvel

Eve Stranger #3 gives us some deep revelations on Eve’s past, her parents, and how she came to live with Delilah. David Barnett, Philip Bond, Eva de la Cruz, Lee Loughridge, and Jane Heir continue to deliver a deeply funny thriller here.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Excellence #4 deals with the fallout of the battle between Spencer and Aaron. It’s nasty, and further reinforces just how much Spencer’s father is a jerk. It’s interesting as to how layered and complicated that Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett are making this world, and yet the key motivating factors are still some of the most simple, basic human interactions and how we hurt one another.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Fairlady #5 is a rough one to end this on. Don’t get me wrong, this story is great. Brian Schirmer, Claudia Balboni, Marissa Louise, Lesley Atlansky, and David Bowman deliver another interesting mystery with gorgeous art, and an interesting tie to a previous issue, but the build up for an even broader mystery hurts. It hints at possibilities that may never be answered because this series is now cancelled. Still, this was great while it lasted.

| Published by Image

Ghost Spider #1 is a direct continuation from the previous Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider series, from Seanan McGuire, Takeshi Miyazawa, Ian Herring, and Clayton Cowles. As Gwen moves to the 616 to go to school, I guess it makes sense to relaunch the series with a new number 1, but, as said, it’s still continuing on the same story with the same creative team. Thankfully it’s a great creative team and story, so it’s well worth picking up.

| Published by Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy #8 is heartbreaking. Donny Cates, Cory Smith, David Curiel, and Cory Petit continue “Faithless” as we learn what’s going on with Rocket. It ties together much of his past with his Guardians tales and his current condition. Very nice character moments.

| Published by Marvel

Hellboy and the BPRD: Saturn Returns #1 begins a new historical mini from Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Christopher Mitten, Brennan Wagner, and Clem Robins. This one’s set in 1975, but spans a wide time period as they discover more and more bodies. The mystery set up of who’s committing the murders is quite compelling, especially with the pseudo-occult drawings likely to have been drawn to give a misleading impression of the murders. But the real gold is in the character development, looking at how Liz Sherman is adjusting to some of her early years at the Bureau.

| Published by Dark Horse

History of the Marvel Universe #2 is again worth it alone for the absolutely stunning artwork from Javier Rodríguez and Álvaro López. Like the first issue, it’s a dry read, but it can be fascinating as Mark Waid, Rodríguez, López, and Joe Caramagna guide us through Marvel’s history.

| Published by Marvel

Killer Groove #4 is kind of messed up as everything practically goes to hell. I love the approach to flashbacks and hallucinations this issue, keeping the main characters in full colour while the rest are a grey wash. Really neat effect from Eoin Marron and Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by AfterShock

Last Stop on the Red Line #3 is still one of the most unique series on the stands, even as it gets weirder and more straight-forward as the secrets and truth start potentially sliding into place. The art from Sam Lotfi and John Rauch is incredible.

| Published by Dark Horse

Livewire #9 kicks off a new arc from Vita Ayala, Tana Ford, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Saida Temofonte, building on Amanda’s confrontation with PSEP and adding a new wrinkle on politics. It’s interesting to see the problem from the political perspective and addresses some of the issues that naturally arise from a government program sanctioned to abduct and murder children.

| Published by Valiant

Middlewest #10 introduces us to Abel’s grandfather and it goes about as well as you’d expect. More toxic masculinity, more “be a man” and “embrace your anger” nonsense, leaving Abel a confused and scared child. Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos are continuing to tell a very strong story here of abuse and survival in a magical realist way.

| Published by Image

Outpost Zero #12 asks some very important questions as it demonstrates that a portion of the colony certainly would rather keep their heads buried in the sand, ignoring the potential of alien life and secrets from their past, rather than confront possibilities of their future. Great character work here from Sean Kelley McKeever.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Pearl #12 concludes the series (for now at least) with some explosions, gun fights, and a new kind of order. Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos, and Joshua Reed have really been telling a compelling crime thriller here, offbeat and with some oblique humour, with impressive artwork.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Psi-Lords #3 is another beautifully illustrated issue by Renato Guedes. This series is worth it even just for the artwork. We also get further backstory on the genesis of the Psi-Lords and the Starwatchers and the reason for sending the “Astro-Friends” to the Gyre. And some may not be what they seem.

| Published by Valiant

Savage Sword of Conan #8 continues “Conan the Gambler” from Jim Zub, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia, and Travis Lanham. There’s a great build of tension as Conan plays his game of cards and a wonderful twist as we go into the finale next issue. Nice detail on the trump cards.

| Published by Marvel

Strayed #1 is a very strong debut from Carlos Giffoni, Juan Doe, and Matt Krotzer. It’s a rather interesting concept of harnessing communication with a cat who can astral project, coupled with the horrors of humanity colonizing alien worlds. Stunning artwork from Doe.

| Published by Dark Horse

Stronghold #5 is a very interesting conclusion to this series, giving more information on the true nature and history of Michael, and setting up the potential for more stories somewhere down the road. Gorgeous artwork from Ryan Kelly and Dee Cunniffe.

| Published by AfterShock

Superior Spider-Man #10 sees much of Otto’s past come back to haunt him as his identity as the former Doctor Octopus goes public and he searches for who is trying to ruin his new life as San Francisco’s Spider-Man. Very nice build on Spider-Geddon and the most nightmare inducing character from therein from Christos Gage, Mike Hawthorne, Wade von Grawbadger, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles.

| Published by Marvel

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #2 is another fun issue from Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn, and Clayton Cowles. We get more on Jimmy’s family, his legacy, and Superman’s secret super powers, but it also introduces the next sensation who should be lighting up the charts, Pawquaman.

| Published by DC Comics

Teen Titans #33 elaborates on Luthor’s offer to Lobo. We also get more on the current state of the team and on just how far, and rather villainous, Damian and Djinn’s actions are now in regards to how they’re dealing with criminals. Adam Glass has been taking the team down a dark road for a while now and I’m interested to see how this blows up.

| Published by DC Comics

Transformers ‘84 #0 is a bit of an oddity, reuniting the Regeneration One team of Simon Furman and Guido Guidi to celebrate the 35th anniversary. It’s a one-shot tale set in nebulous continuity detailing trying to discover the Ark in medieval Earth. Great art from Guidi and John-Paul Bove.

| Published by IDW

Valkyrie #2 is another great issue from Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, CAFU, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Sabino as Jane takes on Bullseye. It’s a pretty epic battle, beautifully illustrated, that looks like it’s going to have some interesting ramifications.

| Published by Marvel

Vampirella #2 is liable to divide people further on this new run as it leans heavier into sex & violence and reveals Vampirella’s therapist as a potential misogynist with very problematic diagnoses for mental conditions. I mean, I don’t think “crazy vampire bitch” is anywhere in the DSM-5. Great art from Ergün Gündüz, though.

| Published by Dynamite

The Weatherman vol. 2 #3 reveals more information about the virus plaguing Earth and sets up even more problems in the way of Nathan, Cross, and co.’s attempt to restore Nathan’s memories. Gorgeous artwork from Nathan Fox and Moreno Dinisio. 

| Published by Image

Other Highlights: Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #1, Batman #77, Daredevil #10, Faithless #5, Fearless #2, The Goon #4, Grumble #9, James Bond 007 #10, Jim Henson’s Beneath the Dark Crystal #12, Jughead’s Time Police #3, Lucifer #11, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #6, Marvel Comics Presents #8, New World, Powers of X #3, Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #3, The Ride: Burning Desire #3, Spider-Man: City at War #6, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #35, Star Wars: Tie Fighter #5, Star Wars Adventures #24, Tony Stark: Iron Man #15, Warlord of Mars Attacks #3, Wonder Woman: Come Back to Me #2

Recommended Collections: Age of X-Man: Marvelous X-Men, Age of X-Man: NextGen, Bloodborne - Volume 3: Song of Crows, Corto Maltese: The Early Years, The Curse of Brimstone - Volume 2: Ashes, Hawkeye: Private Eye, Klaus - Volume 1: How Santa Claus Began, Meet the Skrulls, Ophiucus, Saga Compendium - Volume 1, Spawn: Enemy of the State, Star Wars - Volume 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains, War of the Realms: Strikeforce, X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction

d. emerson eddy would like to be a mongoose dog.

[resurgence-rp]

cormac newman / 22 / he-him / student, psychology major / soul of achilles / thomas doherty

You never knew how to be subtle about what you wish. When your parents adopted you as a little child, you were sure you wanted to stay with them, so you made it happen. When you wanted to become a member of the football team in high school, you made it a reality as well; and when your mother told you you was never going to graduate if you kept behaving like a troublemaker, you proved her wrong. Whenever you’re sure of what you want, you take it; that’s the way it has been all your life. Son of not one, but two professors, anyone would believe you would be a more patient and collected individual. That couldn’t be more far from the truth. Since the beginning - and especially during your teenage years - you were extremely confrontational and not afraid of solving any conflict with physical violence if you felt it was required. Reckless, as if you had been born to punch your way through life. 

humble - kendrick lamar  hard times - paramore soul of a man - stark sands

Your ways didn’t really change once you grew up. You are a loyal friend and get along with pretty much anyone, but the moment someone does anything to ignite your temper you become a ticking time bomb. Not really knowing what you want to do with your life right now makes it even worse. You feel anxious, and a bit lost for the first time ever. To let off some steam, you started practising boxing along with one of your best friends, Aaron. Together, you want to create some kind of underground tournament where people can throw some punches and make some money. You are not sure that’s going to go anywhere, but at least it’s something you can do while you figure all the rest out. Nowadays, your goal is to discover who the owner of Cerberus is and try to persuade them to come on board with the business deal. This project has brought your determination back to life, and you feel like there’s nothing stopping you now.

Benjamin Paulson: Childhood friend, confused feelings

Valentine Wyght, Aaron Gunvaldsson: Best friends

Nina Campbell: Former school mate, feels like something’s going on

Palloma Anderson, Brenton Lefevre: Tense, used to bully

Rhiannon Hèbert, Vera Whittemore: Annoyance, thinks they’re too uptight

Harvey Parrish, Leonard Heidrich: Respects

[junker-town]

Our experts preview the top 25 men’s college basketball teams

This is everything you need to know about the top 25 teams in men’s college basketball.

The 2020-21 men’s basketball season gets underway on Wednesday, November 25, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on nationwide. The COVID-19 shutdowns began in March of this year as all postseason basketball — and then the rest of NCAA sports — were canceled en masse.

Well, we’re back, baby!

Kind of. There are already myriad teams that have paused their seasons due to outbreaks within their programs — including No. 2 Baylor, No. 12 Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Florida — causing some reshuffling of multi-team events or canceling season openers.

But we will have some men’s college basketball action starting, so we’re here to prepare you for the season. We reached out to the experts across our NCAA team communities to get the low-down on the 25 teams that are ranked in the 2020-21 preseason AP Poll.

Let’s get to it!

25. Michigan

Projected lineup: G Mike Smith, G Eli Brooks, F Franz Wagner, F Isaiah Livers, C Austin Davis

This should be a deeper team with an influx of young talent in the form of Juwan Howard’s first recruiting class (No. 1 in Big Ten, No. 15 nationally) and Chaundee Brown and Mike Smith entering the fold as immediately-eligible transfers. Smith and Eli Brooks will handle primary ballhandling duties, while fifth-year senior Austin Davis is expected to have an expanded role as freshman Hunter Dickinson comes along. What this team does still have is one of the best one-two punches in the Big Ten with Isaiah Livers and a still-ascending Franz Wagner, who was arguably Michigan’s best player at the tail end of last season. — Anthony Broome, Maize n Brew

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

24. Rutgers

Projected lineup: G Geo Baker, G Jacob Young, G Montez Mathis, F Ron Harper Jr., F Myles Johnson

Great expectations have arrived for the Scarlet Knights. After winning 20 regular season games for the first time in 37 years and producing a winning record in Big Ten play for the first time since joining the league, they have the potential to be even better this season. They are ranked in the preseason for the first time in 42 years. Six of the top eight contributors from last season return and they’ve added a top 40 recruiting class that includes 4-star big man Cliff Omoruyi, as well as 3-star wings Mawot Mag and Oskar Palmquist.

After finishing 6th nationally in defensive efficiency last season, their increased size and versatility give hope they may be even better on that end of the floor. The ceiling for this season will likely be determined by how much they improve offensively, particularly from the free throw line and three-point range. However, Baker is one of the best closing playmakers in the country and Harper Jr. is poised to become a star, giving the program the potential to have its best season since the Final Four run 44 years ago. — Aaron Breitman, On the Banks

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

23. Ohio State

Projected lineup: G CJ Walker, G Duane Washington Jr., F E.J. Liddell, F Kyle Young, F Justice Sueing

Having trouble keeping up with who currently plays basketball for Ohio State? Us too. The Buckeyes saw three players leave via transfer during the offseason and three others graduate, leaving a whopping five scholarships open for the taking. Chris Holtmann pulled in combo guard Jimmy Sotos from Bucknell and former Ivy League Player of the Year Seth Towns from Harvard, in addition to the freshman class of Zed Key, Eugene Brown, and Meechie Johnson. While there are still a few holdovers from last year’s team, it may take a little time for fans to get familiar with the new faces.

The main question for Ohio State this season will be the health of key contributors such as Towns, Kyle Young, and Justice Sueing. The Buckeyes have four players who are recovering from various surgeries (yikes), so how they hold up over the course of a full season will largely dictate OSU’s success in the Big Ten conference this season.

— Connor Lemons, Land-Grant Holy Land

Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images

22. UCLA

Projected lineup: G Tyger Campbell, G Johnny Juzang, G Chris Smith, F Jaime Jaquez, F Jalen Hill

Everyone’s back for UCLA, PLUS they receive the services of Johnny Juzang who received clearance to play immediately this season from the NCAA. The backcourt should be nearly impossible to defend against as such with Campbell who can penetrate on any defense in the country, Juzang who is probably the best pure shooter on the team and Smith, who spurned the NBA for another run at it with UCLA. Smith is a true guard who just so happens to stand 6’9 and averaged 13 points while making nearly 50% of his shots. Jaime Jaquez is a star-in-the-making and Jalen Hill may very well be the Pac-12’s best offensive rebounder. Add in the fact that Mick Cronin’s crew was the hottest team in basketball when the season was canceled last year, the fact that there’s 14 starts from last year sitting on the bench with David Singleton and also a top 75 recruit in Jaylen Clark waiting in the wings, and this team is afraid of no one, but everyone should be afraid of it.

— Cam Mellor, Bruins Nation

Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images

21. Florida State

Projected lineup: G Scottie Barnes, G MJ Walker, G RayQuan Evans, F Malik Osborne, F Balsa Koprivika

Sure, the defending ACC champions are the only team in the country forced to replace multiple lottery picks. And yes, they must also replace Trent Forrest, who left FSU having played in more wins (104) than any other player in school history.

But the ‘Noles still return seven guys who played at least 20 percent of the total possible minutes during last year’s 26-5 campaign, including 3 starters. Oh and FSU just happened to add a 5 star point guard (Scottie Barnes) and one of the top JUCO recruits in the country (Sardaar Calhoun). Leonard Hamilton’s squad is long, deep, athletic, and play with a chip on their shoulder—overlook them at your own risk.

— Matt Minnick, Tomahawk Nation

Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

20. Oregon

Projected lineup: G Will Richardson, G Chris Duarte, G Eric Williams Jr., F Eugene Omoruyi, C N’Faly Dante

Payton Pritchard may have graduated, but don’t expect the Ducks to drop off a lot from the squad that went 24-7 last season. Guards Will Richardson and Chris Duarte will be crucial for Dana Altman’s squad, and the Ducks bring four-star recruit Jalen Terry into the mix. KenPom expects the Oregon defense to improve (they finished the season No. 76 last season) but the offense to slip just a tad.

The Ducks are an extremely experienced team with nine players listed as upperclassmen on the roster. That said, Pritchard played 35.5 minutes per game (88.8% of available minutes) and Oregon will need someone to step up as the leader in the backcourt.

— Caroline Darney, SB Nation

Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

19. Texas

Projected lineup: G Matt Coleman, G Courtney Ramey, G Andrew Jones, F Greg Brown III, F Jericho Sims

After inheriting an experienced team from Rick Barnes in 2015-16, Shaka Smart has spent the ensuing seasons building an experienced roster. Now Texas has a senior point guard, returned every player from last year’s team, and added Brown, a high-flying top-10 prospect. Not only is this team Smart’s most experienced in years, it’s also his deepest and most talented group, which could finally mean a return to the pressing, fast-paced Havoc style that Smart used to make a Final Four appearance at VCU.

— Wescott Eberts, Burnt Orange Nation

Photo by Larry Placido/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

18. Arizona State

Projected lineup: G Remy Martin, G Alonzo Verge Jr., G Joshua Christopher, F Marcus Bagley, F Jalen Graham

This team is by far Bobby Hurley’s most talented since his arrival in Tempe. Associated Press preseason All-American Remy Martin decided to return for his senior season. He is joined by Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year Alonzo Verge as well as the highly touted freshmen Joshua Christopher and Marcus Bagley. Martin, Verge and Christopher certainly have the talent to make Arizona State “Guard U” again.

There’s a ton of depth on this team as well. Jalen Graham came on strong late last season. Taeshon Cherry and Jaelen House are both guys that contribute from the three-point line and on defense. Kimani Lawrence, Ohio State transfer Luther Muhammad, Portland State transfer Holland Woods all bring in a veteran presence too. Then there’s Pavlo Dziuba, a european freshman who as a pure athlete might be the most dynamic. There’s been a lot of buzz about the Sun Devils, and for good reason.

— Brady Vernon, House of Sparky

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

17. Houston

Projected lineup: G DeJon Jarreau, G Marcus Sasser, G Caleb Mills, G Quentin Grimes, F Justin Gorham

Houston returns all of the major players from a Cougars squad that went 23-8 last season. Redshirt sophomore Caleb Mills is a player to watch this season after leading his team with 13.2 points per game last year en route to being named to the AAC All-Freshman team. Fellow double-digit scorer Quentin Grimes (12.1 points per game) returns for Kelvin Sampson’s squad, and the Cougars add four-star recruit Tramon Mark to the mix.

Expect a high-flying offense that can make up for any deficiencies on the defensive end of the court.

— Caroline Darney, SB Nation

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

16. North Carolina

Projected lineup: G Caleb Love, G RJ Davis, G Leaky Black, F Garrison Brooks, F Day’Ron Sharpe

After an extremely disappointing 2019-2020 campaign, Roy Williams has reloaded his roster with a number of talented freshmen in hopes of returning things back to normal. The engine of this team is preseason ACC Player of the Year Garrison Brooks, and he will be surrounded with a lot more talent than last year in Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Walker Kessler. The big question will be whether or not this team will be able to gel together well enough to return to the NCAA tournament, but the odds of that happening look pretty good. Roy Williams certainly hasn’t let them forget what happened last season, and that may be more than enough motivation for this team to make a deep tournament run.

— Brandon Anderson, Tar Heel Blog

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images

15. West Virginia

Projected lineup: G Deuce McBride, G Taz Sherman, F Emmitt Matthews, F Derek Culver, C Oscar Tshiebwe

The Mountaineers enter the 2020 season with an exceptional combination of talent, size, depth, and experience, losing just one meaningful contributor from last year’s 21-10 squad and adding a trio of freshmen who are all expected to contribute right away. They feature arguably the best front court tandem in America in Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe, a rising star in guard Deuce McBride, and an abundance of length and depth on the wing.

The metrics like West Virginia, as well - the Mountaineers are currently No. 8 in KenPom, with the No. 12 adjusted offense and No. 7 adjusted defense. Considering everything they bring back they should again be among the nation’s best at rebounding (1st nationally in OREB in 2019, 5th in rebounding margin) and defending (15th in PPG allowed), and if the 3-point shooting improves as expected, this will be a battle-hardened unit that has everything needed to make a deep tournament run come March.

— Jordan Pinto, The Smoking Musket

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images

14. Texas Tech

Projected lineup: G Mac McClung, G Kyler Edwards, G Nimari Burnett, F Terrence Shannon Jr., F Marcus Santos-Silva

This is by far the deepest and most talented roster Chris Beard has coached in his five years at Texas Tech. The lineup mixes established veterans with highly touted freshmen and capable role players, not to mention one of the most dynamic backcourts in the country. It’ll take some time for the team to come together as a unit, and enduring the gauntlet that is the Big 12 Conference regular season schedule will test the Red Raiders on a weekly basis. But, with a top-5 coach in the country on the bench, this team has every tool it needs to make another deep postseason run.

— Zach Mason, Viva the Matadors

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

13. Michigan State

Projected lineup: G Rocket Watts, G Joshua Langford, G/F Aaron Henry, F Joey Hauser, F Marcus Bingham Jr.

Michigan State loses the Big Ten’s all-time leader in assists in Cassius Winston and versatile big man/defensive lockdown specialist Xavier Tillman, which hurts, but still returns a lot of talent. Joshua Langford makes his return after missing the past year-and-a-half due to a foot injury, and Joey Hauser finally gets his chance to play, after having to sit out a season following his transfer from Marquette. Aaron Henry will step into a leadership role with fellow captains Langford and Foster Loyer. MSU has a deep bench, with players like Malik Hall and Gabe Brown able to provide scoring and a spark in a hurry. The Spartans also bring in two true freshmen who could earn immediate playing time in guard AJ Hoggard and center Mady Sissoko.

The question marks come at point guard — will Rocket Watts — much more of a self shot creator than a facilitator — be able to transition to the point guard spot, or will he stick to the two-guard? And at center, the starting spot is up for grabs. Marcus Bingham Jr. likely has the first shot at it, with Sissoko challenging him, and Thomas Kithier and Julius Marble factoring into the rotation somewhere. While there isn’t quite as much hype for Tom Izzo’s squad this year, this Michigan State team is deep, talented, and will challenge for its fourth consecutive Big Ten title.

— Ryan O’Bleness, The Only Colors

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

12. Tennessee

Projected lineup: G Santiago Vescovi, G Keon Johnson, G Josiah-Jordan James, F Yves Pons, F John Fulkerson

Rick Barnes is ready for another run at an SEC title, now armed with a roster full of experience and elite prospects. Following breakout seasons, Fulkerson and Pons return to the post as seniors. Guards Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James enter year two after taking their lumps as freshmen last season. The real excitement here comes with the addition of five-star guards Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer. Oh, the Volunteers also have veteran point guard Victor Bailey Jr. eligible for depth and will add senior grad-transfer E.J. Anosike to the post for some added toughness. This team is deep and brings legitimate NBA talent to the table, the only question is how quickly those freshmen guards come along.

— Terry Lambert, Rocky Top Talk

Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images

11. Creighton

Projected lineup: G Marcus Zegarowski, G Mitchell Ballock, G Antwann Jones, F Damien Jefferson, F Christian Bishop

If there’s a team that’s going to challenge the Villanova Wildcats for Big East supremacy this season, it’s the Creighton Blue Jays. They return most of their major players from a team that finished 24-7 last season, led by point guard Marcus Zegarowski. The Blue Jays shot nearly 40% as a team from three last year and are projected as the No. 6 offense per KenPom.

Defensively there may be some questions to answer, but we should get a good glimpse at who Creighton is when they play Kansas on December 8.

— Caroline Darney, SB Nation

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

10. Kentucky

Projected lineup: G Devin Askew, G Brandon Boston, G Terrence Clarke, F Keion Brooks Jr., C Olivier Sarr

This Kentucky team has a little bit of everything, but one area they’ll stand out more than maybe anyone in college hoops is their ridiculous size and length. They have nine scholarship players at 6-foot-6+ and nine with a 6-foot-11+ wingspan. And they have the athleticism to go with it, so this has the potential to be one of John Calipari’s best rebounding and shot-blocking teams ever.

There will be the usual growing pains with only two scholarship players returning and nine newcomers, but they have all the tools to become a Final Four-caliber team come March. The key to becoming a team capable of winning it all is how good prized freshmen Terrence Clarke and Brandon Boston are come tourney time. That’s the usual big ‘if’ with Cal-coached teams. He always has elite freshmen in Lexington, though they don’t always hit their stride before being drafted into the NBA.

Clarke and Boston both have the potential to be All-Americans and top-10 NBA Draft picks in 2021. If they reach their potential this season, good luck stopping two 6-7 guards capable of scoring at all three levels with an all-conference big man in Olivier Sarr roaming the paint.

— Jason Marcum, A Sea of Blue

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

9. Duke

Projected lineup: G Jordan Goldwire, G Jeremy Roach, G Wendell Moore Jr., F Jalen Johnson, F Mathew Hurt

The 2020-21 edition of the Duke Blue Devils is a good mix of experience and new blood. They return players like Jordan Goldwire (Sr.), Joey Baker (Jr.), Matthew Hurt (So.), and Wendell Moore Jr. (So.) and add the No. 3 incoming class. Coach Krzyzewski brings four five-star recruits into the program in Jalen Johnson, Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward, and Mark Williams and two four-star players in Jaemyn Brakefield and Henry Coleman.

Expect the Blue Devils to have a top-10 defense on KenPom and compete for both the ACC and National Championships.

— Caroline Darney, SB Nation

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

8. Illinois

Projected lineup: G Trent Frazier, G Ayo Dosunmu, G Adam Miller, G Da’Monte Williams, C Kofi Cockburn

Simply put, Ayo and Kofi are back. That’s why the Illini are ranked the highest they’ve been in over a decade. Dosunmu averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a sophomore last year, and he’s already been named a preseason All-American for 2020-21. He’s the best closer in college basketball, and he’ll be the catalyst to Illinois’ success this year. Cockburn returns for his sophomore campaign after testing the NBA Draft waters as well this offseason. The Illini’s man in the middle was the difference maker down low that Brad Underwood’s program needed. All the 7-footer did last year was smash program records and average 13.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game en route to being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Surround those two with veteran role players (Frazier, Williams, Giorgi Bezhanishvili), a couple talented freshmen (Miller, Andre Curbelo) and some promising transfers (Austin Hutcherson, Jacob Grandison), and you have all the makings for what should be an exciting tournament run.

— Tristen Kissack, The Champaign Room

Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

7. Wisconsin

Projected lineup: G D’Mitrik Trice, G Brad Davison, F Aleem Ford, F Nate Reuvers, F Micah Potter

If you enjoyed last season’s Wisconsin Badgers basketball team I’ve got some good news for you! They, except for Brevin Pritzl, are all back and ready to make another run at a Big Ten title. The all-senior starting lineup is not something you see very often in modern college basketball, but the Badgers have one and even feature a senior as the first guard off the bench. This should be a fierce defensive team that has size down low and grit on the perimeter. The offense will be efficient and anyone in the starting five could be the leading scorer on any given night. In an ultra-competitive Big Ten, the Badgers should be in contention all season.

— Drew Hamm, Bucky’s 5th Quarter

Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images

6. Kansas

Projected lineup: G Marcus Garrett, G Bryce Thompson, G Ochai Agbaji, F Christian Braun, C David McCormack

The Jayhawks, along with Dayton and Florida State, are one of the squads you have to feel absolutely gutted for over losing the postseason this past spring. Kansas finished 28-3 on the season and hadn’t lost a game since January 11 before the rug was pulled out from underneath everyone. Big time names like Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike are gone, but Bill Self returns Ochai Agbaji and Marcus Garrett and adds five-star freshman Bryce Thompson.

This season, there shouldn’t be a huge drop off. They are preseason No. 5 on KenPom and will get two big tests early in the season with No. 1 Gonzaga on Thanksgiving and No. 10 Kentucky on December 1.

— Caroline Darney, SB Nation

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

5. Iowa

Projected lineup: G Connor McCaffery, G Jordan Bohannon, G CJ Fredrick, G Joe Wieskamp, C Luka Garza

The Iowa Hawkeyes will boast one of the best offenses in the country with a four-, sometimes five-, out lineup built around reigning consensus All-American Luka Garza. Bohannon returns after recovering from surgery in his hip to a group which has seven players (Joe Toussaint and Jack Nunge) with starting experience. The questions are two-fold for Iowa: 1) can the Hawks make strides on the defensive end with a deeper group in 2020-21 and 2) will it matter if everyone struggles to keep pace with this high-octane bunch?

— Harrison Starr, Black Heart Gold Pants

Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images

4. Virginia

Projected lineup: G Kihei Clark, G Casey Morsell, G Tomas Woldetensae, F Sam Hauser, F Jay Huff

The Virginia Cavaliers are still the reigning champions after no team was crowned in 2020. Bad news for everyone else: the Hoos are going to be good again. After a masterful coaching job that took a team with the No. 234 offense to a 23-7 record and second place finish in the ACC, Tony Bennett is getting some reinforcements on offense. Marquette transfer Sam Hauser is finally eligible and is an immediate scoring threat from anywhere on the court. Once you add in the steady hand of point guard Kihei Clark, the three-point shooting of Tomas Woldetensae, and the versatility of big man Jay Huff, you have something cooking.

Virginia will also have some new faces with Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Reece Beekman, and Carson McCorkle joining the fray. The 2020 incoming class — ranked No. 18 nationally per 247 — is Bennett’s best since the class that featured Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter, and Ty Jerome. Because I’m legally obligated to talk about the defense in a Virginia basketball post, just know that they should be very good once again. KenPom has them at No. 1 to start the season, but we’ll see if they’re a little rusty after the wacky offseason.

— Caroline Darney, Streaking the Lawn

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

3. Villanova

Projected lineup: G Collin Gillespie, G Justin Moore, G Bryan Antoine, F Jermaine Samuels, C Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

The big reason for the excitement? Villanova enters the season as a legitimate national title contender, eyeing its 3rd in five seasons. This team looks more like the 2016 champs (tough and deep across the board) than the 2018 champs (truly elite at the top-end). After only losing Saddiq Bey (admittedly a big loss) to the NBA, the ‘Cats are loaded with plenty of knowns - Collin Gillespie, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Justin Moore - who are All-Big East talents and will push for national honors. On top of that, throw in the exciting unknowns; Former 5-star guard Bryan Antoine is healthy and the redshirts are off guard Caleb Daniels and forward Eric Dixon. Daniels and Dixon have drawn rave reviews from the coaching staff, making this ‘Nova squad as deep as it is talented.

Even in a COVID-shortened season, the ‘Cats will test their title aspirations early and often with a schedule built for the fans. They could face fellow contender Baylor in the second game of the season and get another Top-25 test at Texas 10 days later. And that’s before the annual gauntlet of the Big East. After peaking right as last season was canceled, this team will have their eyes on the ultimate prize this Spring.

— Chris Lane, VU Hoops

Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

2. Baylor

Projected lineup: G Davion Mitchell, G Jared Butler, G MaCio Teague, F Mark Vital, F Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua

Get ready for the 2020-2021 Bears: Baylor opens the campaign ranked No. 1 on KenPom and the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Bears return four starters from last season’s likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Jared Butler is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, and Adam Flagler should slide in well to form the nation’s best backcourt. With Mitchell and Vital back—two finalists for the national defensive player of the year award—the Bears figure to be a monster to score against. You can make an argument for Gonzaga or Villanova, but the Bears should be the national title favorites.

— Kendall Kaut, Our Daily Bears

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

1. Gonzaga

Projected lineup: G Jalen Suggs, G Joel Ayayi, F Corey Kispert, F Anton Watson, C Drew Timme

By now you are probably aware that the AP preseason No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs are the most overrated preseason No. 1 in school history. If you can put aside your existing biases against the Zags, it is important to note that this is essentially the same team that finished the season last year ranked No. 2. Sure, losing Filip Petrusev hurts, but it doesn’t hurt at all when you can slot in future star Drew Timme and welcome the highest-rated recruiting class in school history, headlined by five-star PG Jalen Suggs. Oh yeah, Corey Kispert is also a preseason All-American. The Zags are loaded at every single position. If there was ever a year to bet on Mark Few finally getting that first national championship, this is it.

— Peter Woodburn, The Slipper Still Fits