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asterlark · 3 years ago

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ok. samwell college of music au. i wrote all four years let's go babey

eric bittle is this lovely southern tenor (sounds kinda like mitch grassi or ben j pierce) who posts covers (& sometimes originals, but always with neutral or no pronouns because he can't post anything that says he or him ☹) on his youtube channel and has major stage fright but is very talented; he also plays ukulele

he got into samwell college of music on a voice scholarship and his dad doesn’t exactly approve but eric was never the 6′2″ masculine football player he wanted anyway so why not go for his dreams

he auditions for the very competitive samwell men’s contemporary chorus (there’s like 20 choirs; chamber choir, jazz choir, a cappella groups (lax bros do a cappella), combined choirs, etc- smcc does contemporary pop/rock music) and while he’s very very nervous and shaky as he auditions, directors hall & murray see a lot of potential in him (with major grumbling from student director jack)

(the rest of this ridiculously long au under the cut)

the group is small, for a chorus, because the point of the group is not a wall of sound but a focus on all of the very talented guys’ voices coming together in these gorgeous harmonies and basically they’re like one of the best choruses on campus and all the male singers want in

so there’s jack zimmermann, who of course eric knows because everyone knows who he is, he’s the son of bob and alicia zimmermann, both incredibly talented and famous musicians, and basically those genes were in his favor because he’s mega fucking talented

(jack was supposed to sign a recording contract to be in a band with his best friend kent parson when he was 17 but something happened between them and the pressure was too much and jack overdosed on something- there’s so many rumors no one knows what’s real- and kent signed solo in LA & went on to win grammys for his albums about a mysterious ex and jack disappeared for a few years to be a counselor at a music camp and reappears at samwell, knocking everyone’s socks off again like he’d never left, except with a renewed vigor and intenseness that freaks everyone out)

jack is a contemporary writing & production major, freaky talented and sings like a modern day frank sinatra, and he plays like 20 instruments and can read music like breathing air and writes songs like if he stopped he’d die; his music is folksy and mournful and he plays all the instruments on his tracks himself- guitar, piano, strings, drums- it sounds like a full band but nope. just jack. he’s intense

“we all get nicknames in this choir,” justin informs eric on his first day, “we’re those kinda guys.” so he’s bitty, which he finds vaguely offensive (bc he’s not that short!) but still cute, & the rest of the group is introduced to him:

“shitty” knight (voice like colyer) is a musical education major and an enigma of a singer with this awesome, earthy, raspy voice that’s really interesting to listen to and a very.... unique style & look; he writes cheesy but shockingly good raps about social justice topics and he will sing-lecture you if you’ve said something offensive (he also plays banjo)

justin “ransom” oluransi is a music business & management major with an angelic voice you can’t help but listen to; he’s sultry and has an incredible range and does runs like nobody’s business (with a voice like daniel caesar or leslie odom jr UGH)

adam “holster” birkholtz is a voice performance major, wants to be on broadway and it’s all he ever goddamn talks about basically, he’s a belter and has a lot of charisma and starpower and he’ll charm the pants off of you within one note; can also play piano and irritates everyone constantly because his regular volume is like a level 11 (voice like the frontman of my brothers and i combined w/ x ambassadors lead singer)

larissa “lardo” duan is at the local art institute because performing arts is not her jam and she’d much rather paint; she’s a barista at annie’s and supervises open mic nights and keeps the annoying choir dudes from driving away all her patrons

“i’m not even in your dumbass choir,” she says when the group gave her her nickname. holster just told her that she was an honorary member and then started sing-shouting a song at her about how good she is

bitty’s first year is hard because he’s talented and he works hard but he shies away when anyone asks him to sing outside the group and like, he can sing to a camera by himself but being on a stage with everyone looking at you and the sole responsibility of the song on your shoulders is terrifying and no thanks

jack does not. understand this. he’s been performing practically since he came out of the womb and he doesn’t really get performance nerves (what he gets is anxiety about how he did after he gets off stage that follows him home and makes it so he can’t sleep) - so he bothers bitty about it constantly like “you just need practice, you just have to sing by yourself a lot and then you’ll get over it” which like.... that’s true but it’s also hella scary and bitty’s like “no thanks!!!!”

but jack’s annoying and intense so he makes bitty do open mic with him every saturday night and it’s going okay and bitty loves his choir and loves his school and these new friends he’s making and he finally feels comfortable enough to come out to them during his second term

then during their spring choral showcase at the end of his freshman year bitty has a solo and he’s worked really hard on it and he’s feeling good- okay he’s completely freaked out but he’s trying to feel good- but when he gets up on stage there’s so many people and the stage lights are so hot on his face and he flips out a little and maybe he passes out from anxiety and stress right on stage and it’s terrible and he’s so embarrassed and ashamed that he ruined their set at the showcase

of course jack blames himself because “we shouldn’t have given you a solo before you were ready, i misjudged it, i’m sorry” - and they all feel kinda bad bc holy fuck they didn’t know his stage fright was that bad like they didn’t know someone could pass out just by being anxious to sing

he practices all the time over the summer and goes to his local open mic at jack’s insistence and it actually helps a lot because instead of a sea of strangers judging him it’s a bunch of people he knows and they’re all smiling at him and when he finishes his song they cheer for him and it boosts his self-confidence a lot

his sophomore year they have three new members- chris ”chowder” chow (voice like ieuan), an excitable music education major with impressive rapping skills, derek "nursey" nurse (frank ocean or leon bridges type), a songwriting major who can also play violin and guitar, and will ”dex” poindexter (like tom west), a production & engineering major who tried out with chowder bc he needed moral support and didn't expect to get in but impressed the directors with his voice

the year’s going pretty good, bitty’s still pretty scared of singing alone but more confident now and the open mic nights with jack haven’t stopped, so he’s getting better. and one night they’re hanging out at annie’s after closing waiting for lardo to be done so they can walk her home, and bitty suggests that jack sing with him one of these nights, and jack says he doesn’t know any of bitty’s songs and bitty says they can write one together half jokingly but then jack is like “yes.” with that Intense Look

SO they get together a couple days later in jack’s room at the house they all live in together (bitty moved in at the beginning of the year after previous smcc member john johnson called him- how’d he get his number?- and told him he could take his room if he wanted), jack with his guitar and bitty with his ukulele, and it’s a little awkward until bitty says jack should play him one of his songs

and, okay, he doesn’t really know what to expect because the only music jack ever released to the public was that one single he did with kent parson when they were 17 so bitty doesn’t even know if he has anything to play him, but he does- he starts playing these soft, sad notes on the guitar and opens his mouth and sings about being lonely and scared and unsure, about false starts and shaky ground and not knowing where you stand with someone, about expectations and lying awake at night and wishing so hard you were someone else, and bitty watches him sing and just kind of... realizes he’s head over heels for this boy and internally Freaks Out a little

he tries to put that aside and they start to write this song, at first it’s weird because jack’s like “all your songs are love songs i can’t really relate to happy love songs” and bitty’s like “listen... i’ve never even had a boyfriend i just write a bunch of sappy love stuff because it’s not about me it’s about whoever’s listening to it, they’re gonna project their own experiences on my music anyway so it doesn’t matter if it’s my real life or not” and jack’s like “alright while fake af that’s smart and i respect you�� (what bitty doesn't say is that he writes about what he really wants which is to fall in love & be in a happy relationship)

they say they’re just gonna write this kinda vague sad song but they both secretly write lines about their actual lives so it ends up being really personal and real and raw for the both of them

they sing the song at open mic that saturday and the crowd at annie’s is never that big but they’ve never got a standing ovation here before, and some girl shouts “MAKE AN ALBUM” (it may or may not be lardo) and they both blush furiously and bitty’s like “... that was really nice, jack” and jack’s like “... yeah it was good good job you’re really getting some confidence out there nice work” (bitty: “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT AAAAH”)

around this time jack’s really thinking about what he’s gonna do when he’s done at samwell, talking with his parents and his agent and looking into different record companies and deciding if he wants to sign with anyone or possibly start his own company- the head of a small company called falcon records in rhode island has been talking to him a lot, and jack talks to bitty about how he thinks it’d be nice to start small, and the record exec georgia and the producer marty had both been really nice and welcoming, and bitty’s so happy for him but also just... sad that he won’t be around jack every day after he graduates

THEN at a haus party celebrating their win of a local choral competition, who shows up but none other than pop star kent parson to Ruin The Fun

bitty sees the way jack pales when kent walks in, notices them disappear upstairs together and feels a little sick worrying about jack but chalks it up to the highly alcoholic concoction shitty and lardo had cooked up but nonetheless decides he’s sick of the party and goes up to his room and hears.... a little too much

and YIKES he’s standing right there and kent parson, pop star, two-time grammy winner, is looking a little rumpled and staring right at him and he puts his hat on and clears his throat and snaps at jack- “hey. well. call me if you reconsider. but good luck with rhode island. ...i’m sure that’ll make your parents proud.” and jack’s shaking, and bitty doesn’t know what to do but jack goes back into his room and bitty’s just kind of standing there like What The Fuck

so.... he kind of stews over winter break but tries not to think about it too much and he and jack text a bit and jack tells him to practice and bitty’s like “oh, you” and jack’s like “im serious” and bitty’s like “>:( it’s christmas”

spring semester starts and they're doing well in competitions and they go to semifinals and then finals for a prestigious collegiate choir competition and the pressure is mounting but they all are so optimistic and really feel like they're on the same page and bitty’s confidence is better than ever and then.... they don't win

jack especially takes it very hard, but then he also has signing to worry about, which everyone helps him with and he decides to sign with falcon records and start work on an album after graduation

speaking of graduation, shitty and jack graduate and it's hard for them but harder for bitty who feels like he's losing jack in a way, he knows how intense jack gets when he's making music and it doesn't feel like he'll have any time for bitty anymore so when they say goodbye bitty goes back to the haus and listens to his and jack's song and just cries

but, like in canon, dadbob has words of wisdom to impart and jack has an "oh" moment and races across campus to kiss bitty

they get together and the next few months are spent with jack working nonstop on his album (which tbh, he'd had many of the songs written already so it's mostly recording and producing) and texting bitty constantly and coming to visit him and playing him demos of all the songs

jack also asks bitty if they can record the song they wrote together & have it as a bonus track on his album & bitty says of course, so when jack visits they set up an impromptu studio and record vocals in the guest bedroom and this deeply personal song they wrote before they were ever together means so much more to them now

and bitty is so happy but so scared and sad too because jack is playing him these songs telling him "they're all for you bits, & a lot of them are about you" and he just doesn't know how he's going to keep all this love inside even though it feels like jack's career is at stake

he tries to shove it down and stay strong though, especially since he's now an upperclassman and they're taking on new members- connor "whiskey" whisk (voice like finneas or the male singer in valley), a music business/ management major who seems to hate bitty's guts and tony "tango" tangredi (like chaz cardigan), a jazz composition major who astounds everybody with his endless questions but also his ridiculously impressive composition skills & naturally perfect pitch (he can also play saxophone??)

i want ford in this au so fuck it she is a composition major with dreams to write scores for musicals and she stars training as a barista at annie's (aka training to corral the smcc)

the pressure of it all proves to be a lot and bitty and jack have their hi, honey moment where bitty's like i can't be this deep in the closet!!! and so they tell the smcc and also jack's label that they're together and that eases things a bit

jack's album comes out to much critical acclaim and shouting in the groupchat ("#1 ON ITUNES BRAHHHHH!!!!!!!!") and several months later, when smcc has already been eliminated from choral competition in an earlier round, jack is nominated for SEVERAL grammys including best album, song of the year, and best new artist

when the time comes he takes his parents and bitty on the red carpet which, everyone keeps being like "who are you here with jack?" and he's like "my family and my good friend :)" and yes it is awkward

jack wins... all three awards. it's the comeback everyone is stoked to see and when his third win is announced, he and bitty are so elated that they kiss before he goes to accept the award

his speech is basically just "um... wow. thank you. i just kissed my boyfriend on live tv. this is amazing and i'm so humbled. i'd like to thank my boyfriend and georgia and marty and my parents and my friends and my boyfriend"

obviously the press has a FIELD DAY with this but bitty & jack are honestly vibing and so happy that it doesn't matter untiiiillll bitty's mom calls and he has to tell her "mama i'm gay and i'm going on tour with jack this summer okloveyoubye"

the last few months of bitty's junior year pass quickly and he's voted student director which is a huge honor considering how much he struggled with stage fright and confidence & how he'll now be stepping into ransom & holster's shoes

r&h and lardo all graduate (the smcc basically crashes the art school graduation and all scream when lardo gets her diploma lmao), which is a bittersweet occasion and they all do a bit of tearing up

that summer bitty goes on tour across the u.s. & canada with jack and his touring band (snowy is a bassist, tater is a drummer and poots does backing guitar, he also brings nursey to play violin on a few songs) as well as georgia who's there to manage logistics

and tour is so fun & chaotic with many bi and rainbow flags in the audience that end up thrown on stage and draped around jack's neck and they spend so many nights in the bus drinking and laughing and fooling around on the guitars and bitty's uke and exploring new cities bitty has never been to before and it's the freest bitty has felt in a long time

summer ends though, and jack leaves for the uk/europe leg of the tour, and with the new school year brings a few new members- river "bully" bullard (voice like gregory alan isakov), a music therapy major who draws his own cover art for his songs, lukas "louis" landmann (like jr jr), an electronic production and design major with a penchant for EDM, and johnathan "hops" hopper (like keiynan lonsdale), a film scoring major who wants to write music for movies and video games

bitty meets and befriends some of the other student directors- shruti, sd of the women’s contemporary chorus; sharon, sd of the chamber choir; and edgar, sd of jazz ensemble (even chad l., sd of the all-male a cappella group)

senior year passes similarly to the comic; coach visits and sees one of bitty’s competitions, jack comes to madison for christmas, smcc does well in competition and goes to regionals etc

however… bitty keeps putting off and putting off gathering the songs for his senior recital

he has a hard time doing that because he’s so focused on the group and making sure they’re performing well and as they advance in competition, everything else starts to fall away

eventually the rest of the smcc has to lock away his uke and change his youtube password and FORCE him to choose songs for it and start preparing because he cannot graduate without doing this recital and doing well on it

he chooses (of course) a beyonce song, a few of his own songs, an ellie goulding song, and an adele song

with all that his breath hitches and his hands shake before he goes on stage, he does really well and his voice instructor prof atley tears up a little in the audience as does his mom

meanwhile smcc goes to semifinals, then finals, of the national collegiate choral competition they participate in

and i imagine bitty faces somewhat less homophobia in this au because i mean, he’s in the performing arts, but i think it’s still there and he also faces a good amount of classism from richer students and performers who think they’re better because they had the resources and money to be performing professionally from a very young age, and he has been practicing via filming himself on a shitty camcorder and posting it to youtube

but they still get there! and the national finals are fucking HUGE and a big deal and a little overwhelming

bitty’s stage fright is Present because this is the biggest stage and the biggest stakes he's ever had and he has a big solo in one of their songs so if he fucks up, he fucks up a national championship for his whole group and school

luckily though, when he steps on the stage with his best friends and sees his boyfriend and family and smcc alums in the audience and they perform their first song, a high-energy pop medley that always gets the crowd going, everything seems to melt away and it's just him living in this moment and singing his heart out

when it gets to the next song and his solo, he forgets to be nervous and belts it out, getting screams of approval from the audience when he finishes

(dex and nursey do have a duet together that they had to practice for many long nights in the practice rooms alone but that's neither here nor there)

their time on stage seems to last both hours and no time at all and then they're done, the crowd gives them a standing ovation and it's at least 30% r&h & shitty's hooting and hollering and jack's enthusiastic clapping that makes bitty & the others beam with pride

then it's just waiting, giddy and nervous beyond belief in their green room, for the judging to be over

after what feels like forever they're back on stage, arms linked together waiting and hoping for their name to be called and it is, they win and it feels like years have built up to this moment, and bitty tears up because years ago when he was fainting from anxiety at having to perform in front of people he never could've imagined that he'd do this, that he'd be the student director that led them to a championship

they get the trophy and a ridiculous amount of flowers from their loved ones and they all are just in giddy disbelief that this is happening, they're national champs!!! they are the best choir boys in the nation!!

they come home and the rest of the school year passes by so quickly that it's very suddenly graduation and bitty can't believe his college career at samwell is over 😢

(he and ollie and wicky take pictures together, o&w talk about how excited they are to devote full time attention to their band & wedding planning and bitty's just like wait you're gay??)

bitty got plenty of offers from record companies but he likes his freedom of creativity and he has a built in fanbase from doing youtube all these years so he decides to make an album independently (jack helps him produce & master it 🥰)

when bitty's album comes out about a year later, full of bops about being gay and in love and having struggled but come out the other side more confident than ever, it doesn't get any grammy nominations- and he didn't expect or need that.

what it does do is it resonates. it makes the rounds in youtube and queer internet circles; people his age reach out to him saying this is the music they wish they had as a kid and kids reach out to him saying he's a role model and they're so glad to have his music to listen to. his album is written about as an underrated gem that shines with queer brilliance and is sure to start a party when it comes on.

his parents may not fully understand the road he's chosen for himself but they're still so proud and promote the album as hard as any of his loyal fans (especially the one country-inspired song on the album that he wrote and dedicated to them).

and jack, jack who saw this album from its infancy to its release date, who took the film photo that ended up being the album cover, who worked with bitty to make sure his vision was realized exactly how he wanted it to be, is proud beyond words.

jack starts using his semi-abandoned twitter again to tweet "stream [album name]" every day and bitty retweets them sometimes, with just a "this boy. ❤"

and they're happy. they're good. they have come so far and they are reaping the rewards of all the hard work they put in to make the music that they truly love.

the end :)

#check please #omgcp #samwell college of music au #mine #my writing #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #omgcp fic #check please fic #zimbits #uhh idk what else to tag #this fucking thing is like 4.1k words i'm-#i hope you enjoy it (and reblog it!) bc i've been working on this for literal years #i know i'll never actually write it as a longform fic so here's a bullet pt fic instead #pls let me know your thoughts i have so many things to say about this au

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keepwalkingmusic · 3 years ago

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Review: Colyer - Weird World

Review: Colyer – Weird World

Colyer, the eponymous project of musician Steven Colyer, has established a uniquely versatile sound. As a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, he wrote and recorded every element of his upcoming debut album. Words by S. Ben Ali Colyer released a beautiful new single last week and we’ve been eager on featuring it on Keep walking Music. From the first listen we didn’t stop…

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bomberlandia · 4 years ago

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Part II: Ranking Every Bomber Since 2015

We finish Ranking Every Bomber Since 2015 with the final stretch, a selection of players who were consistent, dominated, and held the team together through a pretty dark era for the club.

In Part II, we get into the meat of the rankings. Most of the names you’d expect to be here are here and the Top 20 is as you’d expect although no-one probably thought of Ridley before this year to be ranked among the likes of Dustin Fletcher and Dylan Shiel.

Enough with the prelude. Let’s see where things finished up.

Players Ranked from 38 to 1

38. Adam Cooney

37. Shaun McKernan

36. Patrick Ambrose

35. Mason Redman

34. Travis Colyer

33. Mitch Brown

32. Conor McKenna

31. Sam Draper

30. Jake Stringer

JR: If luck will let it be, Sam Draper will evolve into one of Essendon’s greatest ruckman and will become a Top 15 player. I hope I have not jinxed it. His first year was a real treat. Aggression is his friend. I wrote about Mitch Brown and how underrated he is and I sometimes have those feelings where I wish he was back at Essendon but then realize he plays one good game followed by three games where you don’t even know he exists.

DE: Some serviceable players here. McKenna was entering his prime, but having lived overseas myself I know how difficult it is to be so far from family and friends, so I sympathise with his need to return home. McKernan could have been anything, but again consistency was a killer. Could tear games apart, then be barely sighted the following week. Stringer is similar.

29. Kyle Langford

28. Heath Hocking

27. Jake Melksham

26. Ben Howlett

25. David Myers

24. Courtenay Dempsey

23. Michael Hibberd

22. Tom Bellchambers

JR: My favourite Hocking games were when he tagged a key midfielder, like a Chris Judd and would blanket them. He was a brute who loved to tackle inside the centre square and packs that formed around stoppages. He was disciplined and a defensive-minded trier during a time when the Bombers lacked defensive hard nuts. Probably cut with the same physical cloth as a Hardwick or Solomon.

DE: Hocking, Howlett and Bellchambers were warriors for us during difficult times. Myers had such potential, but for some reason never seemed to be in favour enough with his coaches. I felt he could have been a game-breaker like Isaac Smith at Hawthorn if given the opportunities. Dempsey was exciting to watch when he was up and about.

21. Orazio Fantasia

20. Martin Gleeson

19. Darcy Parish

18. Dylan Shiel

17. Dustin Fletcher

16. Jordan Ridley

JR: Fletcher will have greater stakes on other rankings we do. He was at the end of his career. Fantasia has been disappointing. He’s a weapon that possesses speed and goal-kicking sensibilities but not having a body that stands up to the rigours of AFL limits his progression in these rankings. Ridley went from unsighted to best and fairest winner in 12 months. He plays the game like a veteran which speaks to his calmness around the chaotic packs. Expect him to make inroads in years to come.

DE: The great Dustin Fletcher only falls down this list because he was at the tail end of his career. Otherwise, he’d be top-five. I reckon Gleeson was becoming a reliable and attacking defender before his injury, so hopefully he can regain his best form in 2021. Ridley will be top-five for years to come. Expect to see lots of kids, including my son Ernie, wearing No. 14 on their backs.

15. Adam Saad

14. James Kelly

13. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti

12. Devon Smith

11 Mark Baguely

JR: Kelly came out of retirement to play 40 games for Essendon during a raw period for the Bombers. He excelled in making good decisions across half back and had sublime skills. He was a mentor to the young core of kids. I think he gave the club more than the Bombers bargained for on and off the field. He left Geelong at the end of 2015, started in 2016 at Essendon and he’s still at Windy Hill.

DE: Baguely’s high ranking might surprise some, but I really rated him. I thought he gave his all for us over a long period, even if he did turn it over sometimes. If Walla can get fitter, I’d love to see him throwing his weight around in the centre square more often. With Fantasia departing, more pressure will come onto his strong shoulders. Kelly was another who earned his way into Bomber hearts for the role he played (on and off the field) during the dark days.

10. Brent Stanton

JR: Stanton was a whipping boy for all things that went wrong on the field. Played during a period where the Bombers just weren’t very good. I think we undervalued his metres gained and the run and carry he provided. Instead we think about the costly turnovers. People laughed when he was given the no.5 jumper. But he became a pivotal piece to the team, a long servant, and loyal player. And those things mean something.

DE: I’ve settled on 10th place for Stanton with some trepidation. He was a favourite with coaches and teammates, but was one of my most frustrating players to watch as I felt he turned the ball over far too often. In the modern game, however, a player’s ability to run seems to outweigh their skill deficiencies. He wore the beloved No. 5, which never sat comfortably with me. But there was no denying he gave his all for our club, for which he should be commended.

9. Joe Daniher

JR: Is Joe going to regret leaving? When I think of his time at Essendon there’s only a few things that come to mind – Anzac Day 2017, the All-Australian nod, and his screamers. What won’t be missed: his set shot routine and (often) poor body language. He only played 15 games in the last three years but when fit, he’s unstoppable. I think there’s always going to be debate and question marks on where Joe fits when pitted against other Bombers.

DE: Unimaginable to think Joe will not be wearing an Essendon guernsey anymore, given the family’s involvement. But since becoming injury-prone he’s been a huge disappointment and, in terms of on-field output, I’m fine with him leaving. At his peak, he could have been Buddy Franklin-like, but sitting on the fence while your teammate kicks for goal is embarrassing. Imagine if Roughy had done that at Hawthorn…Clarko would have sent him home to Leongatha! Thanks for your service, Joe, but thanks, too, for the salary cap room.

8. David Zaharakis

7. Cale Hooker

JR: Both players have been very good servants over a ten-year period – Zaharakis has played 217 games; Hooker 201 games. Zaharakis gets credit for being able to stay relevant, playing roles, and doing what the teams needs him to be. If this was my all-time favourite Essendon player’s list, Hooker would be higher. The fact he shares the backline with Hurley – a superstar- probably takes inches off his position on this list. His reported displeasure about Bellchambers not getting a farewell game and the joy he emits when he kicks a goal only shows how much he cares for the club. Hooksy is all-time.

DE: Zaka has at times been dynamic, with his outside run and good decision-making as good as any in the league. Hooker could have accepted a huge offer to joining Fremantle, but stuck by the club and deserves to see out his career a one-club player. Sometimes makes strange decisions, but overall has been a terrific defender (at times forward) for us over a long time. Forget the footage of him chasing Buddy – Hook has given his all for our club. What more can you ask of someone?

6. Andrew McGrath

5. Brendon Goddard

JR: Goddard was a proven elite weapon with deadly foot skills before he came to Essendon. His leadership proved valuable to rebuilding and supplements teams. I wrote about Andrew McGrath’s incredible rise this year for Bomberlandia and covered his journey to the draft for Sportsnet. The two things that stand out are his athleticism and his leadership. His work around the ball is now elite. He’s only 22.

DE: McGrath will lead this list in the near future. His 2020 season was outstanding and, to me, he was our number-one leader through a difficult period as he showed a will to want to carry his teammates to victory week after week. Certain to replace Dyson in the near future and hold the position for a long time. Goddard could rub people the wrong way, but he showed us all what type of attitude you need to be a winner. A victim of poor circumstances when he arrived, but led the team admirably.

4. Dyson Heppell

3. Michael Hurley

JR: Hurley is approaching 200 games (193) and his longevity has seen him become of the best defenders Essendon has ever produced. I still think about what would have happened if he stayed a forward. If you think of all the games the Bombers have played since 2015, Hurley has probably featured in the best in most of them. I reported on Heppell during his Gippsland Power days for the Pakenham Gazette. On the field he changed games, made good decisions and was gutsy. Most of all his teammates looked up to him. That continued when he joined Essendon.

DE: As a fellow Leongatha boy, have followed Dyson’s career closely. Popular with everyone, he’s been a decent leader during difficult times. But it’s time for a more ruthless skipper, like a Voss or a Hodge or a McGrath. Hopefully he can keep his body healthy for the rest of his career. Hurley has been a warrior for us, crashing packs and putting his body on the line year after year. At one point I felt he should be captain. Like Dyson, I hope he stays healthy and finishes his career in red and black.

2. Jobe Watson

JR: I thought Jobe would be too slow to play in the midfield but he proved me wrong. I thought he wasn’t elite enough and then he won a Brownlow. He spent his career proving people wrong. A stoic leader. Stood tall during the supplement’s saga which happened during the twilight of his career which makes him, as Dan put it, “one of the greats.”

DE: Jobe would have been No. 1, but he was at the end of his career when this list starts. One of the best of his generation, poorly treated during the dark days yet remained a strong leader throughout. If a Team of the Century was picked today, he’d be on the bench at least. One of the greats. That he emerged from his father’s shadow to carve out his own fine career is a testament to his determination.

1. Zach Merrett

JR: What else needs to be said about Zach Merrett? The fact everyone was up-in-arms during the trade period at the thought of him going to a club like Carlton or Collingwood, says a lot about who he is and what he stands for. He’s been super consistent and reliable for a five-year stretch during a time where the Bombers haven’t been easy to read. I can only see McGrath or Josh Dunkley (if the club gets him) as two players that could surpass Merrett. Until that happens, it’s Zach Merrett over everyone.

DE: While Zachy isn’t a game-breaker in the way a Patrick Dangerfield is at Geelong, he has undoubtedly been our most consistent player over the period in question. No frills, just gets the job done. But it shows our lack of top-end talent when Zach stands alone for the Bombers on league leaderboards for stats.

_______________________________________

Historian Dr Dan Eddy is the author of 12 books, including “King Richard” and “Always Striving.” A life-long Bomber supporter, you can follow him on Twitter @DanEddyBooks35 and read his sports books at www.daneddybooks.com.

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mrvdocks · 7 years ago

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Can you think of any songs that describe Cass/reader?

oooooh ok (sorry for the long post but definitely check these out)

angsty/emotional mood: somehow they always end up being angsty

fear of the water - syml

sunset - the xx

lost in your love - colyer

go solo - tom rosenthal

draw your swords - angus and julia stone

no angels - bastille

another love - tom odell

beautiful mess - kristian kostov

cherry/the blackest day - lana del rey

center of attention - jackson waters

literally any song by jaymes young

baby came home - the nbhd

comfortable - lauv

hurricane - fleurie

oceans - seafret

anchor - novo amor (THIS ONE please listen)

bloodsport - raleigh ritchie

killing me to love you - vancouver sleep clinic

i’m not human at all - sleepy party people

to the wonder - aqualung

x&y - coldplay

i was all over her - salvia path

idfc - blackbear

black flies - ben howard

kind of background music

give it up - black city lights

undisclosed desires - muse

gorgeous - x ambassadors

get you - daniel caesar

lethal - cloudeater

tighten up - the black keys

easier - mansionair

powerful - major lazer

right here - chase atlantic

paralyzed - mystery skulls

pink matter - frank ocean

ties - years & years

feel real - deptforth goth

ivory - movement

coming home - leon bridges (the one I based the fic of him hearing music in his head when he sees the reader)

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sehtoast · 6 months ago

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soooo…..ben’s thoughts on web weaver? IM SORRY THAT WAS LIKE MY FIRST THOUGH WHEN HE SHOWED UP 😭😭😭😭

Hehehee i love you for asking this anon! I’m not exactly sure yet how Ben would feel about webweaver since we’ve only seen him boof drugs and black out. With what we’ve seen of him, I think there’d be a healthy layer of disdain with perhaps a touch of sympathy that he’s such a mess. Like the sloppy coworker you can’t help but appreciate for their whimsy but also would love to keep a distance from since they’re so out of sorts. Extra hard on the keeping a distance bit since they're so parallel to one another given they're both arachnid-like supes and it wouldn't be hard to blend the cross streams in the public eye. In fact, now I wonder if I could play with some fun lore with my little in-verse JJ parody I've been cooking up in my head and have there be instances where Ben's reported as doing some wild shit but it was actually Webweaver, and maybe JJ has to do retractions-- idk, lots of fun to be had with these guys.

I do imagine Ben would go bonkers if he found out WW has an ass spinneret. Side note, is that his only spinneret???? How does this man swing from anything? Does he like.... swing from his ass? Do ass webs have the tensile strength to support the weight of a full grown human? Kind of baller, not gonna lie.

I think it’s funny to see him now and see what a hot mess he is after writing a fic where Homelander slaughters WW for trying to compete for Ben’s seat in The Seven. Seeing him now, I doubt he’d ever be a candidate 😂😂😂

#webweaver #the boys #ben colyer #oc #spidersona #the boys oc #homelander #sort of. i mean he's mentioned at least #ask #anon #i loved this question actually bc you've got my brain wondering if i can incorporate ww into my Tender Threads fic now

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flaggermuser · 2 months ago

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Along Came A Spider

1,163 words || AU, Tender Threads timeline, Patriot is her own warning, Fluff, Sex Mentioned, Sexual Language Used, Referenced Child Abuse, Patriot/The Deep, Patriot & Ben Colyer, Homelander/Ben Colyer ||

A little gift for @sehtoast <3 - I absolutely adore their OC, Ben Colyer, and writing for Ben is super fun!

Border by Saradika

“Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can.”

Ben peeks out from beneath the duvet as he feels weight settle beside him, his head sore and muddled. His gaze meets white fabric with silver stitching, and, for a moment, he shudders. Of all the members of the Seven, past and present, who could make him nervous, it was her.

“Hey, Benny boy!”

Patriot - Homelander’s female equivalent.

Yet, compared to her, Homelander is tame.

“Whatcha doing?”

Ben knows staying silent will not make her leave; however, he’s not in the mood to engage with anyone, especially her. Suddenly, he hears boots hitting the floor, and the duvet is wrestled away. Patriot settles beside him, her fingers interlaced behind her head while he turns away.

“So, what’s got you hiding in bed like a trapdoor?”

Trapdoor spider - clever.

“Nothing,” his voice is muffled.

“Liar,” she retorts. “The ONLY time you’re in bed during the day is with lover boy. And as he’s currently fuck knows where, there has to be a reason. So, spill it.”

He’s reluctant - she’s the most unhinged bitch he’s ever had the displeasure of meeting, but, for some God only knows the reason; she’s been strangely lovely to him. And she’s the only member of the Seven who knows about his relationship with Homelander.

“Things just aren’t great for me right now. I just want to be left alone.”

She laughs. More accurately - she cackles. “Well, that’s not happening. I’ve got nothing planned for this afternoon until Fishboy returns, and I hate being bored.”

He grimaces - he doesn’t need another reminder that she’s fucking The Deep. It’s bad enough their penthouses are right next to each other, so he has a horror of the ‘front row seat’ to hear them go at it. Her hand grips his shoulder, rocking him forcefully, not helping his state of mind.

“Tell me,” she sings.

Finally, he relents, and a sheer typhoon's worth of emotion bursts from him. His face is pressed into his pillow, muffling some of his words, but she has super hearing. Once he’s finished and the final few words fall from his lips, she’s got her arms around him, her body pressed against his back.

“Do you need me to laser their faces off?”

He knows she’s being 100% serious, so he vehemently shakes his head. She keeps hugging him, her head pressed against his.

“Do you want to watch some trashy horror movies and eat our combined body weight in ice cream? I can go to that place in Queens you like - Eddie's Sweet Shop?”

Why are you so nice to me? It’s unsettling.

It's a surreal experience.

Here Ben is, sitting on his couch and eating ice cream while watching trashy horror movies with Patriot. He’s wrapped up in blankets, nice and cosy, while she’s dressed more casually in incredibly short pyjama shorts and a skimpy tank top. There’s more skin than fabric.

No wonder The Deep likes her so much.

Although she’s cackling like a maniac at every gorey kill, it’s nice that she’s here and made an effort. There’s something rather sweet beneath the psychotic facade she wears almost daily.

Patriot is famous for being unpredictable - her mood changes almost every five minutes.

Many times, he passes someone on the 99th running for their lives while she stalks after them, her eyes glowing red, her jaw tensed, but the unsettling smile still on her lips.

“Everything okay there, Spidey?”

“Yeah,” Ben relaxes a little more. “Yeah, it is actually. Thank you for doing this.”

“No problem,” she grins. It’s rather toothy and nearly threatening, but his senses aren’t going off.

In fact, his senses haven’t gone off at all since she’s been here.

The other Seven members know nothing about Patriot; Ben muses that not even The Deep knows. But Ben and Homelander do, especially since Ben managed to do a little digging.

Patriot’s given name is Jolene Godwin, and, from the outside, it seems as if she had a normal childhood. But beneath the facade, it’s a familiar story: a little girl called Jane, locked away in a lab, experimented on only to be abandoned in favour of Homelander.

“I’m his replacement. He knew I existed, and he did nothing to save me. That’s why I hate him.”

“I have to go and use the little spider’s room,” she announces, getting up and walking away. “If I miss a kill, tell me how grizzly it was.”

Some time passes, and Patriot is still in the bathroom. Ben ponders whether to get up and check on her, partly out of concern for her but mostly out of concern for his bathroom. He doesn’t want her snooping through the drawers; he’s worried about what she might find.

His attention, however, is suddenly moved to his penthouse door opening and The Deep walking in. Spotting Ben on the couch, The Deep makes a beeline for him, clearly pissed off.

“Hey, Bro,” he tries to sound menacing. “Seems you’ve been having a cosy afternoon.”

“Yes, I have,” Ben replies, not even slightly intimated. “Something wrong?”

“Drop the act, bro,” The Deep folds his arms, glaring at Ben. “I know she’s here. You need to-“

“Is that an attitude I hear?”

The Deep’s face turns bright red like he’s been caught red-handed, while Ben averts his gaze. Patriot leans against the doorway with those doe eyes and a pout on her lips, her outfit somehow more skimpy than when she left for the bathroom.

“Why are you giving Ben a hard time? We’ve just been watching trashy horror films and eating ice cream,” she says sultrily, talking slow, decisive steps, sauntering towards The Deep. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

It’s like watching a car crash. Ben should look away, but his curiosity makes it difficult. She’s manipulative; that much is clear. However, she does it so artistically that Ben is amazed: puffing up her chest, running her perfectly manicured nails along his jaw, down his neck, and chest to fiddle with the V clasp.

“Wait, do you think that I’ve been in here? With Ben?” She cackles. “Of course not; I’ve only got eyes for my Lord of the Eight Seas. Now, why don’t you….”

Judging by The Deep’s facial expression, Ben is suddenly very pleased he doesn’t have super hearing. He can only wonder what it must be like for Homelander. It only takes a few minutes, and The Deep nearly trips over himself as he runs out of the penthouse. Patriot looks back over at Ben.

“Thank you for letting me spend time with you,” she smiles genuinely. “It was nice; we should do it again.”

“Yeah, we should,” Ben replies honestly before asking his next question. “You said he was Lord of the Eight Seas; I thought there were seven.”

“There are seven seas,” her smile turns into a grin. “The eighth one is my pussy.”

And just like that, Ben was traumatised for the rest of the day.

#the benlander agenda #homelander x oc #homelander #homelander fanfiction #the boys #the boys fanfic #homelander x reader #canon x oc #patriot x the deep #oc & oc #arachnophobia #tw arachnophobia #tw spiders #cw spiders

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rationedwell · 8 years ago

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@shutxemdown wanted new music, and i’m lazy so i’m posting it all here.

hellfire, barns courtney.

dark side, bishop briggs.

burn fast, bryce fox.

dust in your pocket, glass animals.

you’re the one that i want, lo-fang.

keep going, the revivalists.

anchor, novo amor.

david, noah gundersen.

there’s something dark, dustin kensrue.

revolver, vian izak.

afraid, no wyld.

hi-lo, bishop briggs.

gold, sir sly.

get up, tj stafford.

adrenaline, matt nathanson.

when you love someone, james tw.

happy accidents, saint motel.

red hot lights, moon taxi.

into the darkness, the phantoms.

hold on for your life, sam tinnesz.

halfway to hell, eliot summer.

sail away, ben hazelwood.

caves, haux.

bartholomew, the silent comedy.

darlin’, houndmouth.

high by the beach, modern space.

desperado, rihanna.

fml, k. flay.

#icanteven, the neighbourhood.

glory, jamie n commons.

oceans away, a r i z o n a .

the next right thing, seth glier.

when the truth hunts you down, sam tinnesz.

call me devil, friends in tokyo.

black car, leon else.

in the dark, reignwolf.

loud(y), lewis del mar.

watch me, the phantoms.

until the levee, joy williams.

difference maker, needtobreathe.

the safety dance, sleeping at last.

it don’t get better than this, royal deluxe.

family, noah gundersen.

dear god, lawless.

your future is not mine ( illangelo rmx ), daisy.

back to me, marian hill.

the drugs, mother mother.

shameless, tyler glenn.

nothing, locksley.

winning streak, glen hansard.

boy got it bad, kail baxley.

kansas city, the new basement tapes.

troublemaker, grizfolk.

tip of my tongue, the civil wars.

boris, lo-fang.

lunatics and slaves, sin shake sin.

crossfire pt. 2, stephen feat. talib kweli & killagraham.

can’t sleep, k. flay.

move, saint motel.

one time, marian hill.

crazy, james tw.

gold, chet faker.

deliverance, ry x.

reload, saint phnx.

i was wrong ( robin schulz rmx ), a r i z o n a .

whiskey please, whissell.

man or monster, sam tinnesz & zayde wolf.

hypnotic, zella day.

death song, bhi bhiman.

bad moon rising, the mynabirds.

long way down, robert delong.

set in stone, brandyn burnette.

all along the watchtower, jamie n commons.

the morning after, meg myers.

grown up, no wyld.

kill our way to heaven, michl.

pray ( empty gun ), bishop briggs.

bad habits, monsieur adi.

losing you, aquilo.

farewell nancy, ed harcourt.

trouble town, jake bugg.

honest songs, noah gundersen.

sedona, houndmouth.

out for you, colyer.

run devil run, crowder.

ready set let’s go, sam tinnesz.

fighting, saints of valory.

chasing twisters, delta rae.

comfort to you, cullah.

this is a war, the phantoms.

mightiest of guns, a.a. bondy.

devil on my back, stoney.

the mtn song, rayland baxter.

witching hour, dan owen.

trouble, ray lamontagne.

wolves without teeth, of monsters and men.

flow, shawn james.

lost, scared & tired, jared & the mill.

ride on / right on, phosphorescent.

push + pull, july talk.

halfway to nowhere, chelou.

wild horses, bishop briggs.

blood in the cut ( aire atlantica rmx ), k. flay.

trash, tyler glenn.

plans, oh wonder.

immortal, elley duhe.

i don’t love you, cruel youth.

used to, mutemath.

jungle ( great good fine ok rmx ), x ambassadors & jamie n commons

and even though i’m pretty sure everyone and their mom has heard this, I gotta add in:

the sound of silence, disturbed.

#;; i was gonna link them but uh #;; there's a lot of them #;; you got hands #— ᴏʀ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴜᴘ ᴀɴʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴅ ᴏғ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ғʀᴇᴇ ❜ ( ooc. )

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kansascityhappenings · 7 years ago

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Online support brewing for a Mark Hamill visit to Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. — There’s growing support online for Star Wars actor Mark Hamill to make a visit to Kansas.

In a reply to a Twitter comment on Monday, Hamill said Kansas was the one place he’d never visited – but wanted to.

Kansas

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) April 23, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Since the original post, a group of Kansas wheat farmers have offered to let the Luke Skywalker portrayer ride a combine during the wheat harvest. Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer even suggested a specific date:

We’d love to have you here! How does #MayThe4th sound?

— Dr. Jeff Colyer (@DrJeffColyer) April 23, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner included another bonus:

Look me up if you ever visit our great state !

I’ll let you drive my patrol car!#WhootWhoot

https://t.co/ripbrWms85

— Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) April 23, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Hamill didn’t explain on Twitter why he chose Kansas, or when (or even if) he plans to visit. If he does visit, he would be in good company: Harrison Ford, who plays Han Solo, regularly visits Wichita to have his airplane serviced.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2018/04/24/online-support-brewing-for-a-mark-hamill-visit-to-kansas/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/online-support-brewing-for-a-mark-hamill-visit-to-kansas/

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luxuryvehicle · 6 years ago

Text

LV #1: Nile Gibbs

Jon Colyer: Alright Nile, basic info. Let’s hear your full name, your date of birth and your hometown, where you hail from.

Nile Gibbs: My full name is Nile Duncan Gibbs. I was born in Seattle, Washington, but I grew up on Bainbridge Island, which is just across the water from Seattle. I’m 24 years old.

JC: Bainbridge Island, where is that?

NG: It’s like a ferry ride away from Seattle, 25 or 30 minutes. Just a small, small island, where you kind of know everyone. That’s where I grew up skating though, we would just take big weekend trips over to Seattle to skate the streets or the local indoor park, Innerspace.

JC: When do you first remember coming across skateboarding?

NG: Damn. I want to say I was like 11 years old. Even before I had moved over to Bainbridge… Actually, I was probably like seven or something, and we had gotten X-Games boards as a Christmas present or something, my brother and I. My mom was going to take us to the old Seaskate, the second one that was built. We get there and we were just so fearful that we ended up just skating across the street in these little tennis courts. I don’t even think we got on our boards; we were just in awe of older kids and adults skateboarding at the actual skatepark. It wasn’t until years later that I had a neighbor who I thought was cool or edgy or whatever, he like smoked cigs and could fuckin’ ollie and do tricks that I didn’t even know the names of. I was like “Damn, this could be cool to try this.” For my birthday when I turned 12 I asked for a fuckin’ Element Bamagram skateboard, I printed it out off the Internet and sent it to my grandma to ask her for it. On my birthday I ended up getting a hand-me-down board from my cousin Bergen, but I was so stoked.

JC: Who did you start skating with, who were the first people you met that skated?

NG: I had a few friends in middle school that skated, one of them, we had happened to be in the same class in elementary school, we became friends. He already could skateboard, knew how to skateboard, and he would give me all his old shoes and shit.

JC: Who was this?

NG: This was Manny (Dancel). He always had old Adio’s and shit. I had an idea of what skate shoes were, like Adio’s and the I-Path’s with the strap. He gave me those and I was like “Damn, Air Force I-Paths!”

JC: (Laughs)

NG: So it was just like, me, him and my older brother Jordan skated too. I think we picked it up around the same time; he got a board a little later. Along with his older friends that skated, we became a crew.

JC: So Manny skated before you?

NG: Yeah.

JC: But Jordan skated after you?

NG: Yeah, yeah. Manny could already ollie and shit. I remember him showing me how to jump down stairs. I would just roll off stairs, but he could actually ollie.

JC: So growing up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot, what would you do to cope with that?

NG: Fuck, it was crazy, we definitely took advantage of every dry day. And when it wasn’t dry we had this undercover area that we would go to. Fuckin’ seven days a week it seemed like, every day in the winter after school.

JC: That was the LGI?

NG: Yeah, at my high school (Editor’s Note: Bainbridge Island High School). After awhile people kind of knew us, like teachers and whoever on the school staff. We were already the rebellious kids throughout our school careers, so they knew we’d be skating after class. And we also had like an old gas station we could go to that we knew closed at 4:00 or 5:00 pm, we would wait for them to close. It was called Hockett and Olson.

JC: A gas station that closed at 5:00 pm?

NG: Yeah, and an auto body shop. It was literally as big as this room, the overhead area. But we could skate stationary flatground and the little curbs there. It was across the street from the apartments I lived in.

JC: So with you guys at the LGI seven days a week sometimes, did the teachers and the custodians and the security guards just sort of know who you were?

NG: Yeah them and typical small town folks, you know? The police? They knew us, all 10 of them or however many there were. There were times when we would get our boards taken and we wouldn’t really know how to get them back, we thought once they took them that was the end of it. It got to a point where we would just run away any time we saw a police officer.

JC: Of course.

NG: The town was so little that they would just meet us at the next spot or even get there before us. It would be a gamble whether they’d take our boards or just give us a slap on the wrist.

JC: How many people live on Bainbridge Island?

NG: I think the population is like 26,000 or something.

JC: Do you think that small town environment had an affect on the way that you skateboard now?

NG: It got me accustomed to being able to wake up early, say its dry in the morning but not at night. I’m a planner, it’s been awhile since I’ve planned anything, but when I’m skating all the time I have things planned out. Since I was 16 too, I’ve always been trying to hold a job, so I’ve also learned to skate around work.

JC: Outside of your friends, do you remember the stuff in magazines and videos back then that had an influence on you?

NG: Yeah, along with getting my first skateboard, the first two mags I ever got, I stole from the Safeway nearby where I lived. One was a Thrasher, it had Jamie Thomas on the cover barefoot, grinding a rail. (Editor’s Note: December 2006)

JC: Yup, King of the Road.

NG: Yup. And then the other one was… Skateboarder or something? Another mag that’s not in business anymore. But yeah, I stole that and it was just on from there. I thought Zero was the sickest. Jamie Thomas being The Chief and all. Even though none of that really influenced how I skated, I just thought those were like, the top-notch dudes. Same thing with Tony Hawk, I thought he was super sick, but I never really wished to skate any sort of ramp.

JC: Do you remember the first skate video you saw?

NG: My first video was a local Manik video, it was Splash or something. My friend Manny had the tape and he brought it over to watch. He had older brothers who skated and I think they were trying to show us what was out there, spot-wise. It was probably the year it came out or the year after. That video influenced me for sure. A few months later Josh Anderson, who was a local pro for Manik, ended up being the first pro skater I ever met, and he has a part in that video.

JC: When do you first remember filming tricks? Who was the first person that filmed you?

NG: Out there gettin’ it? Shit, since I was a fetus, nahm sayin’? I been making it happen!

JC: (Laughs)

NG: Nah fuck, its probably still on YouTube. It was an old Bainbridge High School edit, some dude named Kyle, who was originally from California, was filming us with like a tiny mini-DV camera as we skated this little drop. It was maybe two feet high, but we would do every trick off of it, meaning like pop shove, kickflip, heelflip. I want to say that I varial flipped it, and that trick made the cut for the video. Then I definitely would try to go skate with him and try to jump off stuff.

JC: At what point did James Lorimer enter the picture?

NG: Oh yeah, Janky (laughs). Probably like a year or two after I started skating I started seeing this kid who was just insanely good, and could skate both switch and regular. He was really good at both and I just thought that was insane. He would film videos himself and had videos he made on YouTube, so I would low key always watch those. I figured out he lived in the area, and his name was James.

JC: And he had just moved there?

NG: Yeah he had also come from California, San Diego. He was the new Cali kid coming into our scene. He knew how to skate flatground really well and that was such a big influence on me. Also filming, just going out trying to explore and film tricks. It was so crazy to think that I could hang out with dudes who were like, four or five years older than me. Especially back then, when I was like twelve, these dudes were almost adults to me, but that didn’t really matter because we were all just skating.

JC: Yeah?

NG: Yeah. But when I met James we pumped out like four or five video parts nahm sayin?

youtube

JC: (Laughs) Just to keep the timeline straight, what year was this?

NG: 2006 or something? I was 12 when he moved there, he was probably 15. Then after that I got to a point when I was about 16 or 17 when, I wasn’t like over skateboarding, but I was meeting new people and having other friends who definitely did not skateboard at all, so I kind of started doing other stuff. I have an addictive personality or whatever they call it, where you do one thing and get super into it. For me, that thing became basketball for like a year. I literally didn’t pick up my skateboard for one year.

JC: I definitely remember that year.

NG: Yeah, because I would see you guys! I would see you and James just fuckin’ skating the LGI or whatever, and try to duck.

JC: We asked you “When are you going to skate again?”

NG: James was probably a little more mean about it, he wanted to beat the shit out of me.

JC: Yeah, and at one point we asked you that and you just laughed and said “Never,” then you walked away.

NG: (Laughs) It helped too, because it disciplined me. Nothing is really handed to you, and nobody has to give you any chances either. So it’s like, just go out and get it yourself. Playing basketball on a high school level too, I got conditioned. I came back and I could ollie higher, jump over way more shit.

JC: Sick. I remember James calling me when you came back to skateboarding, he said you beat him at SKATE just trading off with just his board or something. Still doing nollie flips and tre flips and shit.

NG: Yeah! Something like that.

JC: Going backwards a little, were you already filming with Ben Ericson when you stepped away?

NG: Not really. But actually, when I was like, 14 or 15 or whatever, James met this guy that had nice camera gear and shit. He kept saying he was legit, really good at filming, just seemed cool too. He was like an older dude, a little older than us. I met him and then we didn’t really film until like exactly a year later. I met him in the summer when I was probably 14, then we didn’t film anything until the next summer. It’s funny that it took a whole year for us to actually go skate, because we essentially lived only two towns apart, and the scene wasn’t huge.

JC: You were probably the only person in that area at the time that was really trying to skate, and Ben was definitely the only person who was serious about shooting skating.

NG: Definitely, but people are busy. I didn’t have a car, so either Ben would drive out to pick me up, or James and I might spend two hours driving to a spot to meet him, before that maybe just take the bus. In that time, whether or not we got anything didn’t even really matter, it was more that we were just out there skateboarding. We had a goal, but nobody was enforcing any sort of deadline.

JC: So when did you become fully re-immersed in skateboarding after stepping away?

NG: Probably days after my last high school basketball game, so I was 18. I went to 35th North and bought a brand new complete board. The same dudes were working there that were there when I left skating. I love that place.

JC: And you were back in the streets?

NG: Yeah! Just picked right back up. I started filming with Ben right off the bat and was trying to get back to where I was before I quit.

JC: You filmed that little “Welcome Back” part with James too at that time?

NG: Yeah, we filmed that part, which was basically just me sort of getting everything back. Then when that was done I just sort of picked up where I left off with Ben, nobody even really knowing that I had quit. We had probably a good couple minutes of footage that I hadn’t even seen at the time. That stuff never saw the light of day, which I’m totally fine with. But I’m sure it shows the stages of me growing up too, at like 15 or 16.

JC: Now those clips are like eight or nine years old!

NG: Exactly, and the video took about seven years to come out anyway. You can see the progress, sometimes I have short hair, sometimes I have an afro, then a flat top. Skinny pants to slightly baggier pants…

JC: Purple Axions?

NG: Yeah! (Laughs) So many levels.

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JC: But like you said before, with Ben, it’s always more about the ritual of going skating and hanging out with your friends and exploring than it is about stacking clips at every session. I’m not surprised a video like that takes seven years to come out, but look at the finished product. Amazing.

NG: For sure.

JC: When did you move to Seattle from Bainbridge?

NG: It was kind of a weird time for me, because I was living with my brother and trying to finish high school. During my last summer before senior year I wanted to move out, because my brother was out of school already and it was getting too hectic at the place he lived. I decided to move out with a friend of mine, who then ended up having to go to jail over some stuff. He had a warrant that caught up to him and had to do jail time to straighten it out. It happened to be around the same time we had found a place, only the first or second month that we moved in. When he left I wasn’t really capable of paying enough money to hang on to the place alone, with no knowledge of when he might be out. On top of that, I had to start basketball with the new school year. So I broke the lease and ended up moving into my grandparent’s house in Seward Park, Seattle when I was 17, turning 18.

JC: But you were still going to Bainbridge High School at that point? Were you commuting to school?

NG: Yeah, so I commuted the whole year my senior year on the ferries. It wasn’t really bad at all. Essentially it’s a half-hour ferry ride and then about a 20 minute walk to school from there. It’s mellow.

JC: Was the school hooking you up with an Orca card or what?

NG: My grandma got me one, they might’ve been paying her back for it but I’m really not sure.

JC: You already mentioned this, but how did your initial connection with 35th North take place?

NG: When I was still really young, 15 or 16, I went in there for the first time. Before that, we had a skateshop very close to the ferry terminal in Seattle, Snowboard Connection. They eventually moved locations, making it inconvenient for me to shop there. Around the same time James and my other friends started telling me that 35th was the place to go in Seattle for boards, but it was further up from the ferry terminal on Capitol Hill. Anyway, the first time I went I was amazed by how sick it was. The owner, Tony, was there and really dope. Somehow he already knew that I was coming over from Bainbridge and taking the ferry, so he gave me a discount on the very first board I bought there.

JC: Did he know who you were?

NG: I guess so? From like Ben and James having YouTube videos or something. I think James and Manny were already going to 35th for boards so they probably mentioned me. I was 15, so that was right before the first time I did All-City. I’m sure Ben had said something as well, or showed him my footage to get me in the contest. Tony hooked me up with a deal though, not like I was sponsored or anything at the time, and he was just extremely friendly. I guess it was a blessing that Snowboard Connection moved (Laughs).

JC: What was the first time you did All-City Showdown? You did it quite a few times, what was your overall impression of the contest?

NG: I didn’t even really think of it as a contest at first. I was 16 the first time I did it, and it was on my birthday (September 2nd).

JC: That was probably the first time I had heard your name. Around that year of All-City was also the time I started commuting to 35th for boards from Poulsbo. Tony asked me about you the first time I came in the shop. I remember seeing your team’s footage on the All-City DVD and wondering how the hell I hadn’t met any of you guys yet. Not to mention I was blown away by Ben’s filming. He probably had some of the best looking clips in the whole contest, but he was just some dude from the boonies. When you think back on all your video projects while living in Seattle, which ones stand out?

NG: Back then I wasn’t even filming with a goal in mind. Like I said before, I wasn’t trying to get myself out there really. My thought process was more like “I want to go film, these dudes are cool, I’m into skating with these guys, I’m into these filmers, they’re just dope people, so I’m going to just film with them.” I just didn’t want to half-ass things really, have like a couple clips here and there. More like, why don’t I try to get as much footage as possible with like, these four or five dudes. You got 24 hours in a day, you have so much time to do anything you need to do. Go to work, try to get a clip before work or after work.

JC: Before the filmer goes to work? (Laughs)

NG: Exactly, and I didn’t have like a girlfriend or anything back then. The first real video “part” I had drop though was that sponsor me tape thing or “Homies” as James titled it. I really legitimately thought that that was what people did, they just upload their footage to YouTube and send their own footage to companies, like a mixtape. So that was kind of what I did, and then to make it a part we just added some fuckin’ music to it and called it a day.

JC: It’s good!

NG: Yeah, but a few months after that was when I took a break and wasn’t skating, so that’s pretty funny. I remember this though, on January 1, 2012 I wrote something on Facebook saying like “This year I’m going to skate more.” Like some New Year’s resolution bullshit, and then that was the year that I ended up not skating at all (laughs). It was New Year’s so I think I had been drinking the night before and just woke up and thought, “I’m going to do something better with myself.”

JC: Amazing.

NG: The video part that really stands out though as the first big one I had was The Outer Limits part, for sure. That was the first premiere I was really a part of, other than those All-City Showdown premieres. The dude who made that, Ben Ericson, is my favorite filmer in the Northwest. Just his vision and his talent are amazing.

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JC: Absolutely.

NG: After that, it was on. Like, “I’m just going to skate.” At that time too I wasn’t really on social media that much. I didn’t pay attention, so I didn’t see as much of what was going on in the skate scene, or realize that what I was doing was excessive.

JC: What do you mean?

NG: Like filming too much, dumping too much content on the Internet or Instagram without a purpose. It wasn’t like a company or anyone was asking me to do that. So I kind of changed my vision or my train of thought after that.

JC: We were filming a lot together during that point. We did Luxury Vehicle around the same time as Outer Limits, and then we immediately did that night part for Amigos Skateboards.

NG: That was sick though! Like a month later we had the premiere for Luxury Vehicle and I had a full part in that. Those dudes, too, like Dane (Barker), Ian (Wishart) and Michael (Bala), were more of the dudes who I was actually skating with every day at that point. Whereas with Outer Limits we had all already started to drift apart. That’s why Ben started to get serious I think, in his head he was like “Were not skating as much as we all were before, such-and-such isn’t even skating at all.”

JC: I do remember the point when you told me you felt that you needed to move on from that project, it had been X number of years and none of the footage had come out.

NG: That’s why Luxury Vehicle was important too. I took filming for that part very seriously, because we had a set deadline and we knew when it was coming out. I watched you book the premiere and shit and just knew it was coming. That was a fun time, another reason to bring the whole skate community together to watch a video.

JC: There are a lot of good memories in there.

NG: Yup. Then we moved in together in December of that year and just said “It’s the winter, it gets dark early, why don’t we try to make something all at night?”

JC: That came out in March or April of 2016, right as daylight savings time was ending and the days were getting longer.

NG: Yeah, just cranked it out in like four months. That was really my first time interacting much with security guards too, being able to try to just sneak a clip in here or there before you get a full boot.

JC: Then we moved right into Aggressors with kind of a new group of friends that were around, you were riding for Amigos for most of that?

NG: Yeah, I was out there repping the local brand. Amigos was so sick.

JC: I remember getting out of town a lot more around then too.

NG: We started taking lots of trips around the Northwest. Portland, Bellingham, Tacoma, just hungry to explore, see what else we could do besides skate the same downtown spots over and over.

JC: Then at what point did you start thinking of moving to California? And why San Francisco as opposed to Los Angeles or someplace else?

NG: Well we had to leave our living situation; we only signed a nine-month lease. I wasn’t getting burnt out on skating in Seattle, but maybe just burnt out with skating only in Seattle, if that makes sense. I always envisioned like, maybe moving to California for a while just to see what it had to offer. There was always something in the back of my mind like “Maybe you could do something more with skating down there.” But really, it was just to try out living a different life from where I was born and raised. I was still really young and didn’t really have any responsibilities besides just taking care of myself, so why not go? I didn’t ever really think of moving to San Francisco until I met Tony (Vitello) over at Thrasher. Tony at Thrasher and Tony (Croghan) at 35th North are good friends. Croghan knew I wanted to move to California and just sort of brought it forward to Tony Vitello, who said like “Yeah he could move to San Francisco and stay at such-and-such.”

JC: So that was enough for you to bolt?

NG: Yeah that was enough, and I had never been to San Francisco before that. I didn’t know anything about it, besides it being the mecca of street skateboarding, and I really didn’t even know what that meant. But then I stepped into Double Rock and saw Chico Brenes and Myles Silvas. It seemed so surreal.

JC: Was it always in the initial plan to stay?

NG: Well with him allowing me to stay at Double Rock I figured “Oh I’ll just stay down here for a couple months and then once the weather gets better in Seattle in, say May or April, I’ll move back.” I figured I’d pat myself on the back and go back to Seattle. I didn’t even necessarily think I’d be working down here or anything. I had saved up some money to couch surf, even though I really didn’t have any friends down here at all. Tony and my other friend Tet, those were the only dudes I even knew. One thing led to another and I’m still here. It’s been two years, a little over.

JC: How did you end up working for High Speed?

NG: When he told me I could stay at Double Rock, I actually had no idea that it was right across the street from the headquarters. I got there was just like “1303 Underwood Ave, that’s Thrasher right there!” It was kind of a struggle right when I first got down here because we (Editor’s Note: Nile and Ian Wishart) lived in a skatepark. There was no motivation to find a job because literally we would walk out of our room and just be in the skatepark. Then it turned into like “I’m gonna go skate with such-and-such instead of trying to go get a nine-to-five job over at the café.” But that could only last for so long, you know? All my money was going to shit, I had maybe a month left of savings and I decided to get a job at Whole Foods, and then I ended up finding a really shitty place with you…

JC: Yup.

NG: Then we got a slightly less shitty spot out in Glen Park. We let that run for a little bit and while that was all going on I was staying in touch with Tony (Vitello) on a friendly basis, hanging out or skating. Eventually he was like “Hey, I have some stuff you could do here and work part-time.” As soon as he said that I was down, I would rather do this than almost anything else I can think of. At first it was just little stuff like cleaning out a room or organizing books here and there, mags, shipping stuff out from the warehouse, whatever there was that would allow myself to stay longer within the mag, I wanted to do whatever I could do to help. Tony got the idea to start a skate store, a Thrasher store, and wanting me to be a part of it. At that point I knew I was definitely going to stay in San Francisco, if not for skateboarding just to be a part of that.

JC: You were basically their first staff member for 66 6th.

NG: Yeah. I don’t know, but I was for sure one of the first dudes Tony spoke to about potentially working there. I was just in awe, I was like “Holy shit, this could be something really sick.”

JC: How did you get involved with GX?

NG: I knew that Ryan (Garshell) lived out here and filmed all those videos and shit. I was always super into his work as well, I admired his filming and how he goes about putting out a lot of footage of really good dudes that skate in San Francisco. Like the second day of me going out skateboarding in the city I met Ryan and Al Davis and Brian De La. They were all hanging out with my friend Tet, who showed me around the city at first. The city is so small you just see a lot of dudes around. Ryan was working on a video, and the first time I got a clip with him he asked me if I wanted to put it towards that. From there we just started filming more stuff. At first he was like “I’m putting out a video at the end of the year,” which was four months away. Four months led to another year of filming.

JC: You guys went all over the place filming for Roll Up.

NG: Yeah we fuckin’… we went on an East Coast trip where we went to Philly and we went to New York. I had already been to New York City but I had never been to Philadelphia at all. It was super sick, I didn’t really get much there but there was fuckin’ 15 of us, it was so insane. Whether it was everyone trying to skate the same spot at once or just trying to get everyone out of the house and ready. A lot of the homies were definitely trying to go out and party and enjoy themselves. I don’t blame ‘em. We were out here across the country, gotta make the most of it.

JC: You had some clips in the video and people responded really well to them. People were singling you out on the SLAP forum as having some of their favorite clips in the video.

NG: I got a handful of clips nahm sayin? (Laughs) I didn’t imagine he would even use as much as he did just because he’s critical, which is good. Quality over quantity, there’s no reason to have an 80-minute video when it could be 40 minutes and speak to people just as well.

JC: One thing I remember from that premiere is that the whole video is super damaging. It’s just one insane clip after another. You stand there for 40 minutes but you’re just being pummeled by raw footage of insane hill bombs the entire time. It’s the exact opposite of watched “BLESSED” or something.

NG: Someone said they counted, and there are 45 hill bombs in the video. That made me wonder how many clips total made the cut. Like if it’s 100 clips total or something then the video is half hill bombs. But that’s fuckin’ SF.

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JC: Who’s your favorite roller to watch?

NG: Probably Matt Finley, that dude is super fun to watch. He has a good bag of flatground tricks. He wasn’t able to get out filming a bunch while I was around because he’s been injured a lot, so it was definitely magical every time I got to watch him skate. Jesse (Vieira) was definitely fuckin’ insane. Especially because he’s not only a risk taker, but also talented enough to really fuckin’ do all those crazy things. Imagine how much footage he must have had the will never see the light of day. That dude can skate whatever the hell you want him to skate or whatever the hell he wants to skate.

JC: Like Geoff Rowley.

NG: Yeah, Jesse was a beautiful sight to behold in the streets. As a person as well, beautiful.

JC: What’s up with the movie you’re in? How did you become a stunt double?

NG: Yeah lemme plug. The Last Black Man in San Francisco, out June 14, go see that shit! Nah, that was insane. Fuckin… just over skating at my local park, SoMa. It was one of those days that I wasn’t really expecting to skate at all, I think I had work in the afternoon. I was supposed to meet up with whoever and they bailed, so I ended up at the park for like 20, 30 minutes. There was no one there of course, it was pretty early in the day. This guy was there, on his phone talking about who-knows-what forever and just looking at me and everyone else at the park, just eyeing everyone. I was like “Who the fuck is this guy?” Eventually he like yells at me and tells me to come to the gate. I said what’s up and he was like “Yo were filming for this movie, you really fit the description of the main character who skateboards.” I had a flat top at the time and he asked me “Is there any way you could pat down your hair? Because the character doesn’t have much hair.” I told him that I could figure it out and I took his crumpled up business card. They needed me in just a couple weeks, the shoot was happening immediately. At the end of the conversation he was like “Oh by the way, we’ll pay you.”

JC: I would hope so.

NG: And then to persuade me he started listing off other skaters and actors in the movie: Daewon Song, Andy Roy, Danny Glover, Mike Epps. Soon after that I went over to his office and he told me the same thing again “You might have to cut your hair, let me see what your hair looks like patted down.” I told him I really wasn’t interested in cutting it unless they were going to pay me a decent amount of money. We came to an agreement on that, his initial offer was more than I thought he would be willing to pay. I ended up cutting my hair into a little-ass nappy ‘fro.

JC: Wow.

NG: Then when it came to start shooting, the script for what we would be doing wasn’t really all the way developed. It was all written, but it was extremely flexible. The other stunt double was a little bit older and wasn’t willing to do quite as much with skating, he wasn’t out there trying to bomb these sketchy-ass hills so they also had me doing some of his work. I was totally fine with that, but then it turned into like me being at work and them calling me like “Hey can you meet up within the next half hour? So-and-so isn’t able to perform this stunt and the last day to shoot this is today. We’ll pay you for a full days work!”

JC: Was it fun? Do you see a future in that for yourself?

NG: Honestly, it was so fun. Something I never thought I’d be able to do or experience. If there’s more work where that came from, sign me up. I’m down! I might have to go skate the park more often.

JC: Maybe you should just hang out at SoMa everyday.

NG: Psych!

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JC: What are your favorite things in the current state of skateboarding?

NG: Fuck dude, all those dudes from Europe, Atlantic Drift! It’s been awhile since they put anything out. That’s probably for the best, I’m sure they’re working on the next one. Nah but they put out some really good edits in the last couple years. The Isle video Vase is also one of my favorite videos of all time. I also love seeing new Ishod (Wair) footage. And he always pumps out clips on Instagram or whatever, even if its skatepark footage, I always love to see what he’s doing.

JC: What’s wack then? What stuff do you NOT like?

NG: Instagram is definitely the worst BEST thing there is. It’s like, you could use it in a good way, but in most cases it just oversaturates everything. It’s so easy and so convenient that it just makes everything so bland and excessive. It’s hard to keep your relevancy up or even stay up with consumption, let alone avoid all the bad shit that’s out there. Instagram is just the forefront of it all, you have all these fools trying to trend set and being super blatant about shit. Skatepark clips too, you have so many of them now and they’re so extreme. For me it’s like SoMa park footage, every time I see that on my feed I just scroll right past. You can only watch it so many times.

JC: We spoke on this subject a couple years ago, just on how approaches to social media use change over time. I used to think that posting a lot on Instagram, especially when I was trying to make my full-length videos, was a really good way to market myself, and my product. I think we can agree now that by posting less you’re actually making people care more. Unintentionally, by avoiding Instagram, you’re creating a bigger demand for your footage.

NG: It’s good to be mysterious. You definitely don’t have to put your personal life on the Internet. But if some lonely-ass kid in a small town with nobody to skate with or talk to about skating wants to use Instagram as a way to connect with skateboarding, I’d say that beats just being lonely and depressed. For the most part though, I just see people on there trying to glamourize their lives.

JC: Well said.

NG: I remember when you started deleting it off your phone to take breaks. I was wondering “Why would you even need to do that?” But now a couple years later I realize that you can start to depend on it as some source of pleasure.

JC: To wrap this up, who are your top five Seattle skaters?

NG: I mean, Cory Kennedy. He’s up there, he’s a hall of famer. I’d say Jordan Sanchez as well, I grew up admiring him, seeing him skate in Adidas and shit from the start of it all.

JC: The Campus Vulc?

NG: That shit just looked so sick. In terms of Seattle skate figures I always enjoyed dudes like Marshall (Reid) who seemed like they were in control of it all. He owned Manik and it seemed like the whole Manik vision came from him. I admire that. There’s also some kid I just heard about who’s on the come up right now. I think his last name is Gass?

JC: Never heard of him. (Laughs)

NG: He can skate, he’s kinda cool.

JC: One more.

NG: Brandon Taylor, he was super sick.

JC: How about Bay Area skaters?

NG: Chico is sick, 44 years young and still ripping. Al Davis if he’d stop getting hurt and skate more. Those dudes are older too, and with age comes responsibility. Also Drake Johnson, Jesse Vieira again, Matt Finley again, Simon Jensen too, he’s finally getting some shine.

JC: Last question: What’s going on with your knee?

NG: It’s fucked man. I partially tore my meniscus but I think there’s something else going on with it as well. After this third month of not skating it’s feeling pretty strong, but I’m getting a second opinion on it soon by another doctor who will hopefully tell me when I should be able to skate again. Right now they’re telling me it will be healed in another month.

JC: I’ve never known you to be a guy who takes much time off when you’re injured either. Usually you just push it the second you start feeling better.

NG: Ah, you know what? That reminds me, add Sean Greene to the list of my favorite Bay Area skaters. (Laughs) That dude is a fucking powerhouse. Fastest dude, best flatground, he’s not young either. 30 years old now, maybe 31. That whole GX crew is probably a lot older than people realize, San Francisco is a hard city to make it in if you’re not somewhat of a mature adult who can handle yourself. It’s an older city, for sure.

JC: Anything else?

NG: Well right now I’m fuckin’ unable to skate, so I’ve been looking forward to doing other things aside from skating. I think it’s so boring to be described as only a skateboarder, there’s more shit to do.

#Luxury Vehicle #Nile Gibbs #Skateboarding

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