#edit: shout out to the first people who saw the format of this all fucked up when i first posted

[paintpaintpaintman]

"A lot of people are relying on you to pull it together."

I've been sick and frustrated with art block, and yesterday had a fever-induced epiphany about what it would be like when the Lamb finds out the Goat is a "fainting goat".

Fainting goats don't actually faint. Rather, they have a disorder called myotonia congenita. To put this simply, myotonia congenita is a disorder where one is unable to relax their muscles quickly after a contraction, which happens to fainting goats when they are frightened and try to flee. These "faints" last for 10-20 seconds and cause no pain (you know, unless they fall off of or into something). It is an uncontrollable disorder for the Goat, as medication to control myotonia has yet to be invented. For this reason, the Goat is a pacifist, not because they are a coward, so to speak, but because they would die each time.

The Goat was not sacrificed-- they would have been! But their captors weren't expecting them to go completely stiff and fall over, which resulted in them falling off the side of the tall passage they were walking to see the Bishops, where their spine cracked and they met an untimely death. The Lamb's neck constantly hurts, and the Goat's back constantly burns. Oh, to be a dead bovid!!!

[alysemeadfad]

𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖔𝖓

Most would say its easy for a teenager to rebel at any point in time, but I find it hard to rebel in any way, most teens get tattoos, piercings, cut and dye their hair to rebel against their parents, but growing up with a mom who is tattooed, hair in fun dyed styles and piercings, I’m really just following in her footsteps she practically encourages. 

The only thing I rebel against is tidying my room and making cups of tea, cant really say I could start a world changing rebellion on that.

Rebellions i find important

1903–18 — Women’s Suffrage Movement The foundation of the Women’s Social and Political Union by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903 began a more militant phase of the call for votes for women, which had been growing through the end of the 19th century. The Suffragettes used militant tactics like vandalism, arson, bombing and hunger strikes, with one member committing public suicide by throwing herself under the King’s horse at a race in 1913. The movement was wound up when some women were enfranchised in the 1918 Representation of the People Act, before all women over 21 were given the vote in 1928.

Suffragette Vera Wentworth in 1909, and the dress by Vaquera that it inspired

Stonewall riots 28 Jun 1969 – 3 Jul 1969 The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

It is said that Marsha P. Johnson was the one who started the rebellion. Supposedly, throughout the bustle of the raid, Marsha threw a shot glass into a mirror and shouted, ” I got my civil rights!”.  With this inspiration and resistance against the police, other patrons began to follow.

Present day- Me Too movement.The Me Too movement, with variations of related local or international names, is a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment towards women, where people publicize allegations of sex crimes.

The Punk Rebellion

the punk involved no protests or riots, it impacted people, fashion, music, society and everything to be honest.

The punk subculture advocates a do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic. During the subculture's infancy members were almost all from a lower economic class, and had become tired of the affluence that was associated with popular rock music at the time. Punks would publish their own music or sign with small independent labels, in hopes to combat what they saw as a money hungry music industry. The DIY ethic is still popular with punks.ideology's of punks

Ideology

Punk political ideologies are mostly concerned with individual freedom and anti-establishment views. Common punk viewpoints include individual liberty, anti-authoritarianism, a DIY ethic, non-conformity, anti-collectivism, anti-corporatism, anti-government, direct action and not "selling out".

Some groups and individuals that self-identify as being a part of punk subculture hold right-wing views. The belief that such views are opposed to the original ethos of the punk subculture, and its history, has led to internal conflicts and an active push against such views being considered part of punk subculture at all. Two examples of this are an incident during the 2016 American Music Awards, where the band Green Day chanted anti-conservative, anti-racist, and anti-fascist messages, and an incident at a show by the Dropkick Murphys, when bassist and singer Ken Casey, tackled an individual for giving a nazi-style salute and later stated that nazis are not welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show. Band member Tim Brennan later reaffirmed this sentiment. The song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys has come to be considered an anti-nazi anthem.

VIV WESTWOOD

Rejecting the hippie ethos that was fashionable towards the end of the 1960s, Westwood and McLaren created clothes that referenced youth culture's recent past, selling rock'n'roll fashion in a shop unit at 430 King's Road in Chelsea. In 1974, the shop took on its most notorious identity: SEX, with Westwood and McLaren designing fetish wear that they sold to prostitutes, those with 'underground' sexual tastes, and young proto-punks brave enough to take a seriously edgy look out onto the street. The pair enjoyed shocking people, designing garments and shoes that referenced 'deviant' sexual practices, including rubber dresses and stilettos bristling with spikes.

How punk influenced me, because it influenced the world

My take on rebellion

Westwood inspired tights.

after watching a documentary on vivien westwood and the birth of the punk revolution i created some westwood inspired tights as a little spontaneous brainstorm, did not develop any further on the tights.

i used a pair of brand new white tights and put holes all in them, this is non conformist as if a regular pair of tights had a hole you would bin them as they were no good any more, but purposely putting holes in is quite rebellious in that aspect, i used sharpies to draw triggering symbols and words such as a swastikka and ‘punk fag’ .

crayon drawings

i used crayons to create these images as i thought it was a more rebellious medium and its created for kids so that is non conforming and it gives a rough diy finish look making it look slightly unfinished

i created a lesbian nun, this was a spur of the mind thought whats socially good and respected? a nun? whats the opposite of what a nun preaches, homo behavior. 

here i did a little barbie series drawing from observational on one and on another from mind and another from an image which i created by burning a barbie ehich is quite a rebellious act in a way. 

Collages

i decided to do some collages as its a way of just slapping ideas out in a visual format, my first one was using a fashion magazine and i realized this was the way to go so i printed some punk imagery and even used my own crayon drawings to create more collages.

photo shop

i wanted to mess with these collages more on a digital format so i put them in to photo shop to play with them and generate more ideas this was giving me a poster vibe which reminded me of punk posters.

 Final ideas

i used images from the new york trip to create a vision on photo shop, using a light of the american flag,sign posts, bins with posters on them.a clip art image of a chain and lock,street art and stickers i saw on poles in the street which is another form or street art which is quite rebellious as its not socially acceptable to vandalize and graffiti on public areas.

i took a few elements from the last board and included them in this vision board, i really wanted the main focus to be on the pipe that says “the rich killed nyc” i feel like it has a deep meaning behind it and it is quite rebellious as it reminded me of the punk rebellion in the uk as it was mostly lower class working people who used art, music and fashion to rebel against society and social constructs and actively non conform to the “rules” in a way. i also used a sticker that says jesus loves you and i crossed it out and wrote hate you over the loves you part as that is fitting to my rebellious visions.

in this board i again used “ the rich killed nyc” pipe as that’s my main surrounding element, i uses another pole with stickers on though you cant really tell what the stickers are, it just fits the aesthetic. i used a statue of liberty as she is known as a symbol of freedom, and along side it i used a photo of a photograph i saw in the modern art museum where this person had dyke tattooed on their neck which is a derogatory word to gay women, and that’s quite rebellious to take a bad word and own it by tattooing it on your body .

in this board i moved away from “the rich killed nyc” pipe as i felt i needed to come away from that one element for one board and to broaden my ideas. in this one i used a sky line image i took when on the ferry to liberty island, i changed the colour to black and white as the original colours of the image are quite blue and orangy, i used a sign post that says one way as it for some reason reminded me of like “one way to hell” or something and that there feels like there is no choice or individuality in the phrase “one way” . i used text over the sky line that says “the rotten apple” as new york city is known as the big apple and i thought, when i was there it did not remind me of a big fresh beautiful apple as the homeless people on the streets and the graffiti that has no artistic intent, so it was more of a rotten apple in a way. i used an image of the american flag i took on liberty island as i used an image of an american flag light, so i thought i could link back to that idea and use an actual flag, as its to represent freedom. i also used a art piece from the modern art gallery which was just a male mannequin wearing a bra which does not fit the social constrict of what men should wear there for its quite rebellious and opposite to the one way system. 

in my final board i included the american flag, a chain over it completely doing the opposite of what the flag means which is freedom, i used the bun that says don’t be afraid of anyone with an edited red paint drip on it which kind of looks like blood, i used text that says “ the rich killed nyc” as i loved that phrase bit i over used the pole in the other boards and i liked that my main message is that the rich killed nyc, i used an image of my dr martens that i took while my feet were up against a pole as i sat on a tube, showing anti social behavior basically which is stereo typically rebellious,and also dr martens were quite fashionable in the uk punk rebellion so i’m hinting to my idea that was inspired by the uk punk rebellion, and finally i have a set of traffic lights which are about order and control, the light is also on red which signifies danger, and the word stop which fits to my idea.

[shanethvarosa]

Music Review: 2020

My blog has been a lot of things over the years, but it did originate as something I used to publicly review music; especially in the Visual Kei scene. Since I began the blog so many years ago, I had actually been hired to review Visual Kei and J-Rock music for an actual website: VKH-Press.com, work I am very, very proud of to this day. However, with not much news to comment on or work to critique, I haven’t been as active. Plus, personal issues always seem to stand in my way. However, I always take the time to discuss my passions at the end of the year. There were so many incredible releases, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and so I wanted to take the time time to discuss my favorite releases and, maybe, the not-so-favorites as well. Quick shout out to Bastille’s Goosebumps EP and Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News LP as I did not get to listen to them before I wrote up my lists, but were still excellent releases. See my thoughts below! 

Overall, there were about 75 albums or groupings of albums I listened to this year and split them between various tiers. Starting with the bad tier, there were actually only ten albums listed here and mostly just because they were seemingly unnecessary collection albums. For example, another Satsuki collection? Rides in ReVellion releasing two greatest hits LPs after only five years of work? Beyonce releasing The Lion King: The Gift again? None of those felt like necessary releases. There weren’t many albums that really screamed bad to me this year, but I really could not stand Vanessa Carlton’s “Love is an Art” or Justin Bieber’s “Changes.” The only other albums on this tier were just underwhelming compared to what I know the artist is capable of, but the “best bad tier album,” in my view, was The 1975′s “Notes on a Conditional Form.” 

The mid-tier albums had all sorts of reasons for being only mid-tier. They weren’t quite bad or outright unnecessary, but are mostly by artists who put out work that was nowhere near the caliber of their usual work or were re-releases or other collection albums. For example, Tove Lo’s “Sunshine Kitty: Pawprint Edition” or Man With A Mission’s remixes/b-sides/covers albums. Nice to have with good quality music, but I wish we’d just have had brand new EPs or LPs. 

The good-tier albums were all really excellent releases, but didn’t hit home the way anything on the “God-Tier” list did. Here, I’d like to share a quick top ten: 

10. Taeyeon’s “Purpose: Repackage” & Japanese EP, “#GirlsSpkOut” 9. Charli XCX’s “How I’m Feeling Now” 8. Miyavi’s “Holy Nights” & “Holy Nights: 2020 Lockdown” 7. TK’s “Sainou” 6. PVRIS’s “Use Me” 5. Buck-Tick’s “Abracadabra” 4. Katy Perry’s “Smile” 3. Alicia Keys’ “Alicia” 2. Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” & “Club Future Nostalgia” 1. Ava Max’s “Heaven & Hell

Without furhter ado, though, the God Tier Top 25: 

25. Acme’s We Are Visual Kei: Essentially a collection album of several songs that were b-sides that never made a full-blown album. This LP was loaded with some of Acme’s best work and shows that they are going to be here for a long time, despite Div not quite working out. Recommended tracks: Mononoke Requiem, Gekiyama Celluloid, Houkago no Shiiku 

24. Alanis Morisette’s Such Pretty Forks in the Road: Admittedly, a huge fan in the 90′s and loved her cover of Seal’s Crazy. However, before this album I didn’t really listen to much of her body of work and I can see why today’s youth might not listen to this album. It is very “adult” insofar as it deals with her struggles in marriage, parenting, religion, etc. Her vocal performance is exceptional and her song writing remains some of the best in the business. Recommended tracks: Smiling, Nemesis, Reasons I Drink. 

23. Niall Horan’s Heartbreak Weather: Not my usual cup of tea, but for some reason Niall’s music makes me feel softer than normal. He’s very cute and charming and his words are always so romantic. It feels more genuine than the music made by other members of One Direction and kind-of reminds me of earlier Taylor Swift writing, but from a male perspective. Recommended Tracks: Put A Little Love On Me, Arms of a Stranger, Still. 

22. K/DA’s All Out: I don’t even really understand what this is, but I love it. There’s something to do with League of Legends? Cartoons? International pop stars? Whatever it is, I’m totally obsessed. These songs just completely slap. Recommended Tracks: The Baddest, More, Drum Go Dum. 

21. Darrell’s Brilliant Death: This might even “officially” be a single, but there’s enough content to market it as an album. Darrell is a band formed from the ashes of Deathgaze and Ai’s solo project. Who knows why Ai didn’t just continue after his solo album, Confusion, but he decided to go back to the band-format with confusingly-named Darrell. This album is then, incidentally, mostly Deathgaze covers. It brings the production into the new era and gives you a lot of nostalgic love for old hits. Recommended Tracks: Brilliant Death, Evoke the World, Abyss. 

20. Alice Nine’s Fuyajou Eden & Kuro to Wonderland: Neither album was particularly long, in fact these were glorified EPs that could’ve been merged to one two-sided LP, but in either case... Both albums had something really special to offer and felt like a true comeback after years of name changes and finally going back to their original, kanji-styled name. Recommended Tracks: Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-, Testament, Replica, Glow. 

19. Mucc’s Aku: This album felt very long in the making after a series of weird singles that didn’t feel like they were going anywhere. Ultimately, a lot of those singles did not make the album including my favorite one: Taboo. The resulting album, though, did feel very cohesive and thematic and even featured one of this year’s heavy hitters: Hazuki. Recommended Tracks: Aku -Justice-, Memai, Ameria. 

18. Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts: This person is absolutely one of my favorite people in music. I’m pretty sure they have comeout as genderfluid/non-binary, so I want to stick with safe pronouns, just in case. However, they’ve always been a favorite and as they’ve come out as such a champion for the LGBT, I love them even more. The album though gave me a lot of hype for something very 80′s rock, but didn’t quite give me what I expected. All in all, the music was fantastic, just a little off-beat from expectations. Recommended Tracks: Gimme What I Want, Angels Like You, WTF Do I Know. 

17. Rina Sawayama’s Sawayama: I didn’t expect to fall in love with this girl the way I did. My boyfriend recommended “STFU” to me as kind of a joke because the song discusses a lot of Asian racism that I’m always criticizing people in my life for falling into, but then the song was so bad ass I checked out the album. There were so many different types of music on it and she really did a good job with all of them. Then, with the deluxe edition coming out and the hardcore club banger “Lucid” being involved... Just really brought it all home. Recommended Tracks: Tokyo Love Hotel, Lucid, Fuck This World. 

16. Amber Liu’s X: This was just an EP, but every song on it was great. Amber Liu was from f(x), a K-Pop Icon Group, but she always seemed like the odd one out. She was such a tomboy, so silly and funny all the time, and didn’t really behave like other Korean idols. I mean, really, she isn’t actually even Korean. I believe she’s Chinese American. In either case, the EP really noted some of her own personal strugles in the business and also remaining pretty fun at parts too. I saw her live in Philly before COVID-19 and she was truly excellent. Recommended Tracks: Numb, Stay Calm, Other People. 

15. Blackpink’s The Album: Not much of an album at only 8 tracks, but that’s K-Pop for you. I bet next year I’ll be putting “Blackpink’s The Album: Repackage” on my top 25 list. The quality of the music was pretty dope though, all things considered. It was a very solid debut effort with all of their previous songs being somewhere in the same lane as this one. I still kind of believe they are a reminder of what 2NE1 could have been, but they’re doing well enough on their own. Recommended Tracks: Ice Cream, Lovesick Girls, Pretty Savage. 

14. Hazuki’s Year Over All: Kind of a weird way to word it, but Hazuki basically released two albums this year in different formats. His work with his band, Lynch., was pretty magnificent. I’m not one to usually dwell on a Lynch. album. Their singles or featured tracks are what I usually get into, but the actual album (Ultima) really did a good job of showing how versatile Hazuki can be. His solo album, Souen -Funeral-, was an entirely stripped down, gothic orchestral album of Lynch. covers and other J-Hard Rock artists. Hearing it done like this was almost transcendental. Recommended Tracks: Xero, Idol, Ray, D.A.R.K. 

13. Sam Smith’s Love Goes: They had me scared that their album wasn’t coming this year once they pushed it back, back in May. Then again, at the time, an album called “To Die For” was probably super tone deaf. In any case, literally every single released for this album had me in love. So, when they all got included in the final version, I was thrilled. Sam gave us a bonus song after the album as well, but I can see why that one didn’t get on. In any case, this is a huge step up from “The Thrill of it All,” which I didn’t really care for. Recommended Tracks: Another One, Dance (’Til You Love Someone Else), Forgive Myself. 

12. Troye Sivan’s In A Dream: I love this kid. He’s so gay and so not shy about it and it really makes me smile. The EP comes after his last LP, Bloom, where the title track basically talks about bottoming for the first time and this new EP deals with a few other queer issues over weirdly produced beats that just... make sense. Recommended tracks: Stud, In A Dream, Easy. 

11. Matenrou Opera’s Chronos: Unfortunately, this band just lost their guitarist again. Their original, Anzi, was basically the most consummate guitarist in the visual kei scene that wasn’t Hizaki and he left them. Their sound wasn’t quite right since and they seemed to just get it back with Chronos when Jay left them. I guess we’ll see what they do next, but I think Chronos could be their last great release. Recommended Tracks: Chronos, Silence, Reminiscence. 

10. BoA’s Better: A very recent release that hasn’t had much time for me to digest. This is strange for me to put it so high on my list for that reason, but BoA is one of my all time favorites. She never disappoints me. This album was no different. It wasn’t exactly up to par with “Woman” or “Watashi Kono Mama de Ii no Kana,” but it definitely gave us some new and very iconic Queen BoA bangers. Recommended Tracks: Cut Me Off, Start Over, Temptations. 

9. Kesha’s High Road: A semi-step down from Rainbow, only because a lot of the same melodic elements and, sometimes, even beats were used on this album too. However, her vocal performance was outstanding and she even gave us a new dirty-pop song with some interesting indie-pop tracks to go with it. Plus, who doesn’t love a Big Freedia feature? Recommended Tracks: Resentment, Raising Hell, Tonight. 

8. Lady Gaga’s Chromatica: Anyone who knows me knows I don’t really love Gaga anymore. After all the drama with Madonna and her experimentation with “Joanne” I didn’t think I’d ever like her music again. However, she definitely won back big points for me on Chromatica. It was finally fun, weird, dancey, and then simultaneously emotional and I was really able to get back into it. She’s always had the voice, but on this one it also showed us that she still has what made us love her. Recommended Tracks: Rain On Me, Plastic Doll, Enigma. 

7. Koda Kumi’s My Name Is... Angel + Monster: She is, very likely, my Japanese Pop Queen. She always makes these absolutely outlandish bangers of dance tracks that have such a great attitude and beat and when she released re(CORD)... last year? 2018? Who can remember... I thought she could never outdo herself. Then she released “Lucky Star” and I was floored. I was a bit disappointed when they were only to promote a “My Name Is...” collection album, but then, to my surprise, a full set of new tracks came out just after that just blew me entirely away. Guess the last 6 albums must be pretty great, huh? Recommended tracks: Killer Monster, Work It!, Alarm. 

6. Grimes’ Miss Anthropocene: I’ve never been a big fan of Grimes, but when Violence came out I was really looking forward to whatever album this was going to end up promoting. The song is actual fire, but then the LP ended up being some kind of experimental Gothic Pop with Asian Pop influences I never expected. I doubt I’ll ever find something she does this good ever again, but it was really a musical light in the darkness of this year. Recommended tracks: Darkseid, Delete Forever, Violence. 

5. Kylie Minogue’s Disco: Admittedly, my draw to Kylie has always been that she is like some kind of Australian Madonna. Madonna being one of my all time favorite artists... In fact, number 2 for all women I listen to, Kylie has some big shoes to fill with her sometimes generic pop that she puts out. However, I haven’t really truly loved a Kylie song since “Get Outta My Way” and then this album comes out filled with tracks to love for the rest of time. Recommended Tracks: Miss A Thing, Till You Love Somebody, Magic. 

4. Chanmina’s Notebook/Angel: I don’t have really any way of knowing how popular Chanmina is in Japan or if she is as popular in the Japanese Queer Scene as she should be, but god damn does she know what she’s doing. Her music is raunchy, bitchy, and condescending at it’s highest and deeply personal at it’s most mellow. There is no “lowest.” “Notebook” was a two-sided album and “Angel” a strong follow up EP, but all the recommended tracks are from “Notebook.” If you have not listened to “Picky”.... go do it now, I’ll wait. Recommended tracks: Picky, Baby, Lucy. 

3. The Weeknd’s After Hours: Incidentally, I got into The Weeknd after someone said something shitty about him here on Tumblr! I took their likely-valid criticism and went to check him out for myself and I gotta say, I love his work. The beats are literally always on point and his voice is like silk. This album provided more than a few iconic songs and I always can’t wait to see what he does next. Recommended Tracks: Alone Again, Heartless, Blinding Lights. 

2. Halsey’s Manic: The singles and features she did between Hopeless Fountain Kingdom and Manic gave me such insanely high hopes and I was not disappointed. HFK was a strong album of course, but this was near perfection for me. I think the production of this alt-pop album was the star of the show because it wasn’t all one way, there were heavy-bass songs, interesting piano riffs, striaght up punk rock, all of it. She really made an album quite like it’s namesake. Recommended Tracks: Ashley, Killing Boys, Still Learning. 

1. Dexcore’s Metempsychosis: A newcomer to the visual kei and death metal scene, they’ve been putting out single after single for years in preparation for their extemeley long and multidaceted debut album. With a total of about 33 songs, the entire second disc was rerecorded singles from their early days and some even got new lyrical treatment. The main series of songs were, of course, also totally flooring and all of the recommended tracks are the new ones. If you haven’t checked them out by now, you have to! Recommended tracks: Cibus, Scribble, Period.

[adultswim2021]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force #4: “Mayhem of the Mooninites” October 14, 2001 - 11:00 PM | S01E04

Two moon guys come down to earth and act like dicks in this SEMINAL-ASS Aqua Teen Hunger Force TV Episode. There are a handful of Adult Swim episodes that I loved so much and watched so much that I can barely watch them these days without it feeling like some weird out-of-reach facsimile of itself. I need to actively remind myself that this used to make me laugh uncontrollably until one day it’s effectiveness wore off thanks to repetition. With this episode Aqua Teen Hunger Force became truly awesome. This is also the first episode of the show to almost completely abandon it’s formula. Dr. Weird’s segment almost has nothing to do with the episode itself; The Mooninites are shown entering Earth’s atmosphere independently of Dr. Weird’s activities (rocking out with a wall of speakers). In fact, I didn’t even realize that the segment connected with the episode AT ALL until I sat down to write this review: we later find out the Mooninites have stolen Dr. Weird’s gear to give to shake to hush him up regarding their other petty crimes. I also believe there is no mention of the Aqua Teens being detectives. They are simply dealing with random aliens who’ve shown up to act like low-class dirtbags and be a bad influence on Meatwad. The Mooninites themselves are hilarious characters, and the voice of the green one (I know his name but I don’t feel like looking up how to spell it right now - SORRY). All they do is smoke and steal and flip birds. This was one of my few go-to episodes I’d show people to get them into Adult Swim. I had a tape that had this and the Feng Shui episode of Sealab on it that I’d sit many people down to force them to watch and appreciate. It usually worked. Anyway, this episode had a notable legacy because they did several Mooninites episodes after this, making them the most recurring guest characters of all. They tried to spin them off, but it didn’t work out so good. Hell, they were involved in a fucking bomb scare after a botched publicity stunt, for fuck’s sake (fun fact: I live two blocks away from a liquor store that has one of the Mooninite lite-brites from said incident! NEAT HUH?) MAIL BAG: shout out to the person who messaged me advising that I edit a previous bannable slur. I fixed it, and I’m hopefully safe. Here are some thoughts about Home Movies from Kon:

Some assorted thoughts on Home Movies UPN run: I actually watched almost the entire run of the show on UPN. I only missed one episode, The Art of the Sucker Punch, which is a pretty major episode in terms of character introductions. It's the first episode with Shannon, Walter and Perry, first time Duane has a speaking part. So I thought all those guys were invented just for Adult Swim (at least for the like two weeks before Adult Swim aired the UPN episodes)

Some major differences between Home Movies UPN run and Adult Swim run is that 1. the UPN ones are much more heavily improvised, and are in some ways funnier, and 2. not that Squigglevision ever looked great but the UPN run has much shittier animation. Some sort of Squiggietech breakthrough must have been discovered in 2000, shame they discontinued it right after. It would have been cool to get a full season of UPN-era Paula-starring improv-heavy episodes.

I do love the Adult Swim episodes though and I think the show retained its charm. For a long time, Director's Cut was my favorite episode of the series. That means for 4 out of the 6 shows on Adult Swim's premiere, the first episode I saw was my favorite (Sealab- Chickmate, Birdman- Bannon, Brak Show- War Next Door [saw this early at comic con]). I don't still think Director's Cut is the best Home Movies but for those other three, there's a solid argument to make for those first eps being best

One thing I’ve wanted to do with my currently-abandoned/notably-worse Simpsons blog is start reviewing mostly-90s cartoons that I deem “simpsons-esque” in some way; I just haven’t settled on a format yet. I think I will probably try to start that up relatively soon and have it include those UPN Home Movies (also pre-AS Space Ghost).

Anonymous writes:

Sorry I'm late on this one but I just had to tell you that I think the Marbles episode of Home Movies is really funny! Especially the song at the end which is a serious treat. Did you know that the episode was the inspiration for one of the most famous youtubers of all-time to call herself...Jenna Marbles. Awesome!

Wow. That IS awesome!

[faulty-writes]

Trade You A Kiss

Warning: Bakugo being himself. Extreme kissing and mentions of neck biting. 

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Pairing: BakuDeku (Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya) 

Izuku Midoriya could be called many things, especially if Bakugo was the one providing the nicknames. ‘NERD’ ‘DUMBASS’ and ‘DEKU’ seemed to be the top three things Kacchan enjoyed calling him. Though if Izuku was being fair, ‘DUMBASS’ was the general term Kacchan used for most anyone. But above all, there was one thing that Izuku was associated with. All Might. He was the dedicated fanboy. 

He had everything from All Might posters, to All Might dolls and bobbleheads, to All Might clothing and merchandise. He had bookmarked all his favorite All Might videos and such. Though there were a few pieces of rare All Might items that he couldn’t get his hands on or hope to even afford. It was a sad thing to know, but he managed just fine or so he thought. Though he was always a tad bit envious when it came to Kacchan. 

But even so, he had never remembered being so envious of a piece of clothing until he saw Kacchan walking down the street. His eyes widened as he recognized the black hoodie right away, it’s golden trim around the cuffs and the exclusive red embroidery on the sleeves that spelled out the initials A.M. for ‘All Might.’ Most importantly was the design on the front, this particular hoodie was part of a design contest around the time when All Might’s career first took off. 

Many had entered from what Izuku remembered reading, but in the end, a student from U.A. itself had won. Their design was simple, but it did the job. Across the front was All Might’s name spelled out in an edgy format and above the word ‘Might’ was a little chibi design of the number one hero himself. Only a few hundred hoodies were made as it was a limited edition, if you didn’t happen to get one it was unlikely you’d ever hope to have it in your possession. 

But there Kacchan was, walking along the sidewalk with that same unhappy expression he always wore. His back hunched and hands hidden in the pocket of his jeans. His spiky uneven blond hair poking out in every direction and those red eyes of his were slit. Sometimes Izuku wondered how Kacchan could be so angry all the time, wasn’t it exhausting? But that wasn’t the issue at the current moment. In fact, it was the furthest thing from Izuku’s mind.

“Kacchan!” Izuku called, chasing after the ticking timebomb himself. “HUH!?”  Bakugo turned, jaw clenched and an overall annoyed expression on his face as he saw it was Izuku who called his name. Though it was unmistakeable not to recognize the voice of that damned Deku. He pulled his hands out from his pockets and clenched them into tight fists. “YEAH? What do you want you DAMN DEKU?” Bakugo wasted no time in raising his voice, it didn’t matter who was around. 

Izuku stopped, panting softly though he was smiling. “Heh, s-sorry Kacchan, just um ...well that hoodie you’re wearing ...” He began but Bakugo cut him off, taking a step toward the smaller male. “YEAH!? What about it DUMBASS?!” Izuku swallowed, unable to stop himself from flinching at the volume of Kacchan’s voice. “Uh, n-nothing it’s just uh ...w-well isn’t that the super rare limited edition All Might hoodie? The one made just six months into his Pro Hero career?” Izuku questioned cheerfully. 

“Eh!?” Bakugo looked lost but also clearly annoyed at Izuku’s questions which truly meant nothing to him. “I don’t know what the HELL you’re talking about, you damned DEKU.” The words came out of his mouth with a loud hiss and Izuku took another step back, waving his arms like mad. “Ah Kacchan, calm down! It’s just ...I mean you really don’t know how rare that hoodie is?” Izuku questioned, pointing at the piece of clothing. 

Bakugo clenched his jaw tighter, his pearly whites showing. “Who the FUCK cares?! It’s a damned piece of clothing, you NERD!” Izuku swore he could see sparks emitting from those clenched hands, oh God maybe this was a bad idea. “I-It’s not just a piece of clothing Kacchan! It’s the rare All Might limited edition, one of a kin-mm!” Izuku nearly screamed when Bakugo grabbed his face. “Say ANOTHER damned word and I’ll ROAST your fucking FACE OFF!” Izuku swallowed, okay this was a bad idea. Confirmed. 

“K-Kacchan ...” He squeaked out, feeling those fingers dig into his skin, he was lucky he could even breath with how Bakugo was currently holding his face.”SHUT UP, YOU DAMNED NERD!”  He shouted, roughly swaying Izuku back and forth on his feet. Izuku was slightly tempted to his quirk but since they were in public, he decided against it. Wouldn’t smart to use One For All in a crowd. Instead, he reached up to wrap his fingers around Bakugo’s wrist. 

Digging his feet into the ground, Izuku pulled at Bakugo’s wrist though it didn’t seem to budge. Instead, he tried turning his head with the intent of breaking the blond’s grip. But Bakugo seemed to have a tight hold on him and Izuku could only turn his head a little, but it was enough to at least allow him to breathe properly. “Kacchan ...” He squeaked out, but Bakugo only narrowed his eyes. “SHUT UP, DEKU.” Izuku frowned, part of him was upset that Kacchan didn’t realize just how valuable the piece of clothing he wore was. 

“Why ...Kacchan. I was just admiring your hoodie an-” Bakugo growled, bringing his free hand up. Fingers separated and a few sparks came from his palm. “You don’t know how to LISTEN do you DUMBASS!?” Izuku groaned, at least he knew how to talk in a manner that didn’t involve screaming or threatening people. “You don’t know how lucky you are to have that hoodie Kacchan! I mean I’d ...I’d probably do anything for a rare piece of All Might merchandise like that.” Izuku confessed, his voice soft and a tad whiny. 

“Huh!?” Bakugo seemed confused by Izuku’s words and lowered his hand. However, it only took a few moments for him to smirk. “Oh yeah!?” Izuku didn’t like the chuckle that followed Kacchan’s words but was relieved when that hand released his face. But as always, moments of mercy were shortlived around Bakugo. “Ah!” Izuku let out a cry when instead, that same hand fisted into the collar of his shirt. 

“Kacchan!” Izuku cried when he pulled close, a soft blush comes to his face as he found himself just a mere inch away from Bakugo’s face. Cringing when he saw that twisted smile, that couldn’t be good. “Yeah!? You’ll do ANYTHING damned DEKU. HURRY UP THEN.” Izuku cried out when Bakugo began to drag him around the corner, stumbling on his feet. “Ah, Kacchan what are you doing!?” Izuku demanded before Bakugo slammed him into the nearest wall.

He wanted to struggle against the hands that now pinned him against the wall, but he knew it was no use and it wouldn’t be wise to pick a fight in an alleyway anyway. “What’s it look like ya idiot!?” Bakugo replied as he leaned close to Izuku’s face once again, taking pride as he watched the angry expression come over it. “I don’t know what ...what you’re trying to do Kacchan, but it’s not funny.” Bakugo chuckled in response, “Damn, you’re really fucking CLUELESS sometimes Deku.” 

Izuku raised his eyebrow, clearly beginning to feel annoyed at this point. “Clueless about what?” This all started because Kacchan just had to wear that All Might hoodie. His breath hitched when Bakugo leaned even closer, he could feel that hot breath against his lips. “You said you’d do anything for this damned USELESS hoodie. So prove it.” Izuku tried to ignore how fast his heart was beating, what was Kacchan doing? 

“P-Prove ...” Izuku stuttered out, feeling a blush come to his face. “That’s what I FUCKING said! Jesus, how many TIMES do I have to repeat MYSELF, damn IDIOT!” Izuku's blush deepened, Kacchan’s hot breath on his lips was certainly making his body react well. He glanced away, “What do you ...want me to do K-Kacchan ...” Bakugo growled in response and pressed his body against Izuku’s making sure he had absolutely no means of escape. 

“You want this stupid hoodie so bad, you’re gonna have to KISS me for it.” Izuku felt his heart skip a beat, his thoughts going wild. “W-W-What?” He stuttered out, wanting now more than ever to just disappear. He almost wished he had Togata’s quirk, that way he could go through the wall. But that was impossible at the current moment. He cried out when Bakugo’s hand fisted into his hair, forcing Izuku to tilt his head. 

“You know what I fucking said DUMBASS, so DO IT ALREADY and stop wasting my damn TIME.” Izuku could feel the palm of Bakugo’s hand heat up in his hair, more than likely ready to use his quirk if he didn’t hurry. Well, there was that hint and the fact that Bakugo was glaring down at him, his red pupils almost seemed hypnotizing. Izuku on the other hand nervously reached up. Placing his hands on Kacchan’s shoulders, slowly pushing himself onto his tippy toes. 

 He wasn’t sure what he was doing, he had never kissed anyone before and despite everything, even the fact that most of the class 1-A believed Midoriya would end up with Uraraka. Here he was, cornered by Kacchan himself and the only hope of release was by kissing the beast himself. When he pressed his lips against Bakugo’s, he closed his eyes. Awkwardly pulling himself closer to the blond, which caused his lips to push harder against Bakugo’s but Izuku made no effect to move or part his lips.  

He pulled away quickly, dropping his hands from Bakugo’s shoulders. “T-There ...happy ...now can I have the hood-” His words were halted when that hand grabbed his shirt collar again and a yelp escaped him as Bakugo pulled him up. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT you damn DEKU!? Can’t you do a DAMN thing RIGHT!?” Izuku frowned, well ...what more did he expect from Kacchan. Of course, he’d criticize him. When wasn’t he making fun of Izuku? 

“Sorry ...Kacchan. Can you let me go now? I’m not too sure ...if I want the hoodie anymore ...” Though it was a disappointment to not snatch the chance up, Izuku at the moment just wanted to put this awkward day behind him. “SHUT up you FUCKING NERD!” Bakugo growled and grabbed Izuku’s chin with his free hand, once again forcing his head up. “Let me show you how a real MAN does it! Pay attention, you might learn something, DUMBASS.” He grinned before slamming his mouth against Izuku’s. 

“Mm!” Izuku struggled against Bakugo’s grip, trying to squirm, kick. Do anything to escape, but it was clear that Bakugo wasn’t going to let him go until he was satisfied. His eyes widened when he felt Bakugo’s tongue force its way into his mouth. “Mm!” He tried crying out again, but his words were only mumbled as Bakugo’s tongue possessively lapped along the top of Izuku’s teeth and brushed against his own wet muscle. 

He heard Bakugo take a breath, dropping his hand from Izuku’s chin. A shiver ran down his spine as Bakugo’s hands began to travel down his sides, feeling Izuku’s every curve. He felt all rational thoughts begin to leave him as he melted into the pleasure Bakugo was giving him. He closed his eyes, moaning as their tongues began to dance with each other. It was such a weird sensation, but Izuku found himself enjoying it. 

“Ah!” He panted as Bakugo broke the kiss, lines of saliva connecting between their lips and Izuku felt some dribble down his chin. “K-Kacchan.” He spoke the other's name between his pants, his cheeks rosy and his lips swollen. The inside of his mouth tingled like mad and he could still taste Bakugo on his tongue. A growl sounded from the angry blond before he leaned over and latched his teeth onto Izuku’s neck. 

He cried out, his arms immediately wrapped themselves around Kacchan. One hand going up to run through that messy blond hair before taking hold of it. Bakugo growled against Izuku’s neck, sealing his lips around a section of skin in order to create a bruise. “Damned Deku ...making me do this ...” He growled once more and continued to bite along Izuku’s neck. “Ah ...K-Kacchan ...please ...” He could feel the bite marks pulsing, more than likely they’d be visible tomorrow. 

He almost wanted to whine when Bakugo pulled away, the sight of his friend with a flushed face and swollen lips was certainly something he wouldn’t forget anytime soon. “You happy now dumbass?!” Bakugo huffed and stepped away from Izuku. “Don’t tell ANYONE about this, got it!?” Don’t tell anyone? Who was there to tell and even if he did tell anyone, who would actually believe him? Izuku sighed, nodding in response. “Yeah ...okay Kacchan, I ...won’t tell anyone ...” His voice trailed off, his glance turning to the ground. 

 “Good, guess you can learn something Deku.” He heard Bakugo huff and begin to walk away, that is until Izuku realized something. “Hey ...wait Kacchan!” He kicked off the wall, once more trying to catch his old friend. Though Bakugo only gave a growl in response, turning on his feet. “What the hell is it!?” He demanded, causing Izuku to stop in his tracks.  “Uh well ...K-Kacchan um ...” Izuku felt his mouth go dry and brought his hands up, pushing his two index fingers together sheepishly. 

“Yeah? Spit it out already! I have places to be!” Izuku nodded. “Uh right! Um ...just uh the ...hoodie?” He questioned, looking at it with an almost longing gaze. “Eh!?” Bakugo followed Izuku’s glance, what was so damn special about a stupid hoodie anyway? “Pff, I said I’d give it to you if you kissed me. You didn’t, dumbass. So live with it!” He responded, the words coming out of his mouth with a hiss before he once again turned to resume walking. 

Izuku felt his world fall apart and a mortified expression came over him. His eyes lacked color and his jaw was hanging as low as it possibly could. But ...All Might ...this wasn’t fair! His thoughts were broken when he heard Bakugo stop again. “Hm?” He watched as the blond turned his head, eyes narrowed in Izuku’s direction. “I’ll let you try again you know ...” Wait ...what? Izuku tilted his head, clearly confused. 

Was Kacchan being nice or just kidding? He wasn’t sure but he was a little too afraid to ask so instead, he just nodded. “Come by my house later tonight and if your nerd ass does a better job, I’ll consider giving you this stupid hoodie you want so much. We got a deal, you damned DEKU?” Izuku took a step back and nodded once again. “Uh yeah, yeah! Thank you Kacchan!” He replied, giving the other a smile before watching them roll their eyes and walk away. 

Izuku felt his heart flutter and looked down at his hand before curling it into a fist. Yeah ...he’d try harder, even if it was just over a hoodie. But if he was being honest with himself, there was one thing he wanted more than that All Might hoodie and that was to feel Kacchan’s lips against his once more. That experience would be worth more than a thousand pieces of All MIght merchandise. 

[flamingo-writes]

Your Hands Only — Levi Ackerman x Reader

Multipart — [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Index]

Summary: The expedition outside the walls is about to begun, prejudice and uncertainty seem to drag you down at the beginning of the mission, however, things take a drastic change once a titan is chasing after you. 

Word Count: 3440 (slightly longer chapter, I got carried away writing ehehe)

A/N: I’d like to give a special shout out to @salty-levi . I was about to start editing this chapter to post it when I read their feedback and not only motivated me, they also made my day, so thank you a lot c: If you’d like to be tagged in this story whenever there’s a new chapter, let me know. Also don’t forget to leave feedback, is very well appreciated c: 

Warnings: swearing (I think all of my chapters have swearing in them, idk)

Life outside the walls was a complete mystery for you. And as you were well aware of it, it brought some sort of hopeful spark in Levi's stare. Your free day with Levi was perfect. Too perfect. You'd gotten to learn so much about each other, and one of those things you learned about him was about how he longed for a new age with no titans, where humanity can actually prosper in this vast world. He went as far as visualising himself opening a tea shop once this was all over. Something that warmed you beyond measure. A soldier, with the gift of being able to slaughter titans in a heartbeat, dreaming of having a quiet life with his tea shop.

He told you about the horrors and wonders that lied beyond the walls. That sense of freedom accompanied with uncertainty. Green lands and tall dense forest, as well as humanity's predators; titans. Last time you came across them it was certainly not a pleasant time. Staring practically into death's eyes, and you were lucky enough to slip away from that. It was awful. Just the memory made you get chills down your spine, reminding you how short life was. However, Levi's fascination for the outside ignited your heart with the same motivation that fuelled him to attack against titans.  With the difference that he knew how to fight them. "You save lives, you don't take them" Levi had once told you after you talked about joining the Survey Corps. He was reluctant to the idea of having you fight titans along with everyone else. He'd agreed to teach you how to use the ODM Gear along with how to use the blades. But not to fight them. It was important that you knew how to defend yourself from them, but going directly towards them to kill them put you at a greater risk. And Levi was well aware of how many people died while trying to kill their first titan. He didn't want to run those risks with your life at stake.   The Survey Corps gathered at the doors, ready to leave. Strategy and formation in mind. Erwin had gone over the plan briefly before parting; just in case. When you and Levi arrived, you felt everyone's stares on you two. It was no secret to the Corps that Levi had gotten a doctor to ride with them in the mission, but seeing it was you, it fuelled the rumours -which were no longer rumours- specially among the soldiers. Captain Levi had an affair with his doctor. Or so everyone liked to gossip. But it was much more complex than just an affair. For the last years, there wasn't even such thing, but undisclosed feelings.  And now, neither of you had the intention of keeping it a secret, and certainly, it wasn't going to be a casual thing. You didn't talk about it, but you knew you wanted to stay with Levi, and Levi knew he only wanted to be with you. Levi introduced you to his team, and gave them the instructions to keep you safe no matter what. Everyone saw you like a mythological creature. After all. you'd been able to steal the heart of a man, people didn't even know, had a heart.   Specially the only girl in the team; Petra. She'd gotten used to be the only woman riding in his squad. She pursued his approval and was quite proud of herself, not to mention the repressed feelings she had for him. Feelings she tried to deny herself when she first heard the rumours of Levi and his doctor. She glared at you jealously as Levi gave his instructions to his team. You weren't really aware of it since you had your heart on your throat about to jump out, making you terribly excited and terrified of going outside the walls for the first time. "Isn't it going to be a little bit...inconvenient...to have someone completely inexperienced with us in such an important mission?"  Petra asked sassily, as you made eye contact with her for the first time and realising she didn't like you. "Its inconvenient of you're not confident in your skills. You're supposed to be trained soldeirs, besides its not the first time you've been outside the walls, so act like it. We always have any form on inconvenient, it's your job to work past those obstacles, is it not?" Levi was no fool, and immediately picked up on Petra’s tone. Petra gulped her pried as her glare moved from yours to Levi's. She nodded as her eyes met his cold glare.   As Levi got on his horse, you mirrored him. Making sure your bag of supplies and materials was secured to the saddle. "We're going to get ourselves killed while trying keep Miss 'I'm not Levi's lover, I'm his doctor' alive" Petra whispered sourly. You felt repulsed by her whisper, making you feel unwanted and angry. But you swallowed it and thought about all the important things you had ahead, not letting this little thing get the best of you. However, Levi had listened too. And unlike you, he didn't have as much patience.   "What did you say?" Levi snapped in a low voice, as he turned around staring into Petra. The girl immediately felt her body turn stone cold, knowing Levi had heard to every word she just said.  That was a rhetorical question, she knew Levi wasn’t playing dumb, but he was trying to teach a lesson. "I-I...I-I'm sorry, Captai..." "Don't fucking apologise to me. Apologise to her. If I could hear you, so did she" he barked. "Next time, you better behave like the grown up you're supposed to be" "I'm sorry, Doctor..."  Petra whispered embarassed, feeling the pitty stares of all the team on her. "She's not a soldier" Levi snapped, staring at his team "But she is a doctor. She's perfectly well trained to attend emergencies. Since we lose a considerable number of soldiers in every expedition, the majority of them die on our way back to the walls, precisely because they don't receive proper medical attention. Let's face it, our first aid knowledge is quite mediocre, I've learned that thanks to her. That's why I brought her with us, so we lose a minimal number of soldiers. She may not be of much help while facing titans, but she will definitely save the lives of all those soldiers who end up wounded. You don't know if one day she'll be the one who saves your life, so I suggest to you..." he said his eyes piercing into Petra's  "...show her more respect, because you'll never know when your life is going to depend on her" "Yes sir" "And for the record. Quit listening to all that bullshit you hear. Gossip is so fucking annoying. People should learn to mind their own bloody business. As far as I know, none of you has even bothered to ask me directly what is going on, if you’re really that curious then ask me personally" his cold severe stare went from his subordinates, moving slowly until he met your eyes. Hos eyes on you had a gentler look in them, even apologetic. "I'm sorry you had to hear that" "It's alright...I don't really mind" "The fact that you don't mind doesn't make it alright. It was rude, and I want to apologise on her behalf" "Okay then, apology accepted" you muttered looking at him and then looking at Petra who looked utterly embarrassed, avoiding eye contact.

You all got in your positions, as time was getting shorter before you left the safety withing the walls. An awkward silence embraced all of the squad, making the tension almost palpable. Petra was blushing, feeling both terribly embarrassed and angry. 

However, one of the guys in Levi’s squad decided to break the uncomfortable silence. 

“Captain, may I ask, if everything that we had heard about you two is...as you said it, bullshit...then, what’s...if I’m not being nosey...what are you...are you just doctor and patient?” The guy asked awkwardly, making his partners chuckle under their breaths at his question.

“She’s my girlfriend. So no, it’s not a casual affair, and it isn’t something secret” Levi answered firmly without looking back. 

All of his team looked at him surprised. Surprised that a cold man like him could actually have feelings for someone. All of their stares moved from him to you, as you looked at him, wide eyed, surprised as much as everyone else. You felt yourself blush lightly. You never thought he’d be that straight forward with anyone who asked him about you two.

* It was indescribable the adrenaline you felt when you saw the first flares going up in the air. It was a different form of both excitement and fear. It was different. This was defying death by staring at it once again. Time was going stupidly fast, it was hard to keep track of everything that was happening all at once.  In the open field, seeing the Female Titan running in a strange matter, almost as if she was searching for something, as if she was looking for someone. By the time you reached the forest everything got worse. Not being able to fully see the titans in the distance made everything feel on edge. Behind any tree, a titan could appear at any given time. The tall tree’s making the horizon blurry. Levi followed Eren, and as the Female Titan got closer, Levi's team began using their ODM gear ready to fight the Titan.  As soon as they began leaving their horses, one of the guys in the team took you with him and placed you on a high branch of a tree. It was the same guy who had asked Levi about the both of you. "You better take her somewhere safe, if something happens to her he'll fucking kill you" 

You remembered hearing before you were taken to a safe spot. However, things didn’t get any better. It was heart crushing, seeing how the titan was taking one by one, making you feel helpless. She crushed them with such an ease, as if you were insects. It was a terrifying view, seeing how each one of those young soldiers died, along with your hope. * 

Time went by slowly, as tears dried on your cheeks, and the image of Levi’s squad being killed right before of your eyes kept playing inside your head. It was the last of your worries how you were going to get down of the tree, you were too terrified to even want to go back to the ground.

It didn't take long for you to spot someone in an ODM Gear slide by. You recognised Erwin and yelled his name, in an attempt to get some company, someone who could tell you it was all going to be alright. And there was no better person than Erwin at this moment. Being the great leader that he was, he could certainly help you calm down and get your head back in the game before you keep going forward. Erwin upon hearing your voice, he followed it until he found your  hiding place high in the tree. Such was your happiness from seeing a familiar face right after  living such shocking experience, you hugged Erwin, sobbing, explaining him what had happened. He hugged you back tightly, patting your back gently. Aside from being one of your most loyal patients, Erwin was your friend. He was one of the few friends you had, hence the fact that he was one of the closest people you had in your life. "It's alright, I'm here now" he said squeezing you tightly. "You're alright, and that's what matters. C'mon, the show must go on, Y/N" he said breaking the hug, holding your shoulders tightly as his blue eyes looked into yours. 

His eyes looked so serene and so calm, you envied him and his ability to keep calm in such a time. It was ironic, since you could focus perfectly while a patient was dying on you. But this felt different, and it was hard for you to keep your composure under this circumstances. * Levi and Mikasa headed towards the entrance to the Tall Forest, where the survivors rode back to the walls. After failing at capturing the Female Titan, they’d failed to get even the slightest piece of information. The only thing they got was injuries, and Levi a twisted ankle. Out of the forest, heading back to the walls, soldiers were riding their horses, other few soldiers walking. And a lot of wagons carrying those wounded soldiers who couldn't walk. Levi landed, feeling the sharp pain of his twisted ankle. He walked, trying to ignore the pain, and also trying to avoid putting all of his weight in his wounded foot. He walked towards the closest soldier, as they saluted him. "Captain" the soldier said. "Erwin was looking for you earlier" The soldier said, noticing the slight limp Levi had. "He's here?"  Levi questioned.

"He's with the doctor" the guy said pointing far in the distance. 

Levi’s eyes followed the soldier’s hand where he spotted Erwin riding his horse, and pulling another horse next to him. In front of Erwin was a wagon with a wounded soldier, and you sitting next to him, checking up the soldier’s wounds. He felt like he’d found something that he’d been desperately looking for, a sudden relieved. "She's alive" Levi sighed relaxed as he began walking towards the wagon.  "Captain, you're hurt..." The soldier added loudly as soon as Levi had turned around and started walking away. "It's nothing serious"  Levi answered. "You shouldn't be walking like that...” The soldier said, as Levi stopped and turned around, meeting the worried soldier’s eyes. “Here take my horse" The man got down of his horse and stretched his arm with the rein tightly in his hand, offering it to Levi. "Don't you need it?" Levi asked. "No, not really. I can walk” They exchanged stares for a while without saying anything. “Please” The soldier finally said as Levi agreed and walked towards the soldier. "Thank you" He said taking the rein, and mounting the horse. 

He exchanged stares with the soldier once again, and bowed his hand gratefully before he rode towards you and Erwin. The soldier nodded in response and watched him leave. 

"Captain Levi" Erwin greeted him when his  horse caught up with Erwin's. "Your team..." "I know. Their deaths will not be in vain" he said "How’s Y/N?" "She’s over there, she’s alright...One of your guys put her somewhere safe before they went after the Female Titan" Erwin jerked his head forward, a few feet ahead you were trying to stop a soldier's bleeding, focused on your work, you didn't see Levi next to Erwin. It wasn't until several minutes later, you managed to stop the bleeding.  You stayed a couple of minutes more with the soldier, checking his vital signs, until you were sure he was stable. When you looked up from your patient, you immediately noticed Levi who was looking at you. You hadn't heard anything of him, and feared that he was dead. And seeing him before you, safe and sound, made you feel like you could finally breathe again. You jumped off the wagon and walked towards him. Levi stopped his horse and got down as you reached him. You stopped a couple steps away from him, and looked at him as your eyes got filled with tears and your heart bolted in excitement. "You're alright" you said taking a step forward and hugging him tightly.  "I just hurt my ankle, but that can wait" he said breaking the hug, cupping your cheek with one of his hands "how about you?" "I'm alright...I-I'm sorry about your team...they...I'm very sorry" you mumbled. "It's alright” He sighed, resting his forehead against yours “Keep doing your magic..." "Levi, your ankle..." You whispered. "Other soldiers need you more right now. Once you're done with the emergencies you can check me up" He said. "Yessir"  "I'm so glad you're alive" he said kissing your forehead. "Now, go" you nodded obediently and walked towards Erwin who had your horse next to his.  * You were almost back in the walls when you went through all the serious wounded soldiers, just a few had died before you made it to them. But the number of deaths was lower that it usually was. It was all thanks to you. "Does it hurt much?" You said pressing your fingers tightly on Levi's swollen ankle, as both of you sat on a wagon with another wounded soldier with a broken leg. "Not much" "You sure? It is pretty swollen" You said meeting his eyes. "You know I can deal with pain perfectly well..." "I know, it can be dangerous you know?” You scolded him gently “You might as well end up hurting yourself even more because you're not that sensitive to pain" you sighed. "I can give you some anti-inflammatories and put on a bandage to give your ankle a little but more support...” You looked in your bag for bandages, and kept doing your work, as Levi watched you attentively as you bandaged his ankle, your touch delicate against his skin. “Rest” You told him once you finished. “I know you won't like to hear this but, you'll have to lay off for at least two weeks. Two long weeks without missions for you" 

You could tell from his stare that he wasn’t amused. He liked going out of the walls, see the green pastures, and endless horizon. And staying inside the walls made him feel homestuck and desperate. "Fine” He agreed bitterly “I have a question, though" "Hmm?" You hummed. "Will you be going to missions with the Survey Corps?" "You tell me, boss. Will I?" After all, Levi was your boss, so whether if you were going to keep attending the expeditions depended whatever he decided. "I told Erwin you'd be riding with my team, since they were the most trust worthy to keep you safe...the only one I'd trust to protect you is Erwin. It's up to him" Levi said as his eyes looked for Erwin in the crowd.  "We'll talk to him about it later, then" * After a debriefing, Levi stayed in Erwin's office after everyone had left. Levi told him about his injury and how he needed to rest for at least two weeks. He then asked about what was going to happen with you as the Survey Corp's doctor. "I reckon you don't like the idea of she being out there, exposed, without you watching over her?" Levi, however, didn't reply to Erwin's question. "It's up to her. If she wants to, she can keep going with us, if she does, I'll have her ride with me, so you can relax... I'll keep an eye on her...Although, we have to teach her how to use the ODM gear, preferably soon..." "So, let her decide?" Levi repeated. "Yes. Ask her tonight. Report back to me her answer. If she agrees to come with us, we'll have to start teaching her how to use the ODM gear right away. Lets say three days from today" "Alright" "Take care, Levi" Erwin said. “Rest” "I will, thanks Erwin" Levi said leaving the Chief’s office. * When Levi returned to his place from Erwin's office, he found you and Pascal sitting on the kitchen table, shoulder to shoulder, as he told you about his day in the library. He spoke excitedly about a new book on virology he found. Levi liked seeing you two together. In the beginning you'd look at him as if he was a puppy you were looking after, now you two easily passed as mother and son. The teenager looked at you with an expressive admiration as you looked at him lovingly. He felt jealous of the boy. Levi's childhood was definitely not the best, he certainly wished he had a better one. Just like Levi, Pascal lost his family, however, Pascal was blessed with a second chance of having a family, something Levi didn't.   "Levi!" Pascal stood up from his chair greeting him with a warm smile. "Welcome home" He hadn't seen Pascal since you two left for the mission, and being greeted by such warm smile made him feel cared for. Something not many people made him feel. Home...He thought as his gaze was fixed on the both of you. I’m home...

~

Tags:  @crazyliraz, @simplysushii, @inthefleshme, @brvakout,  @jadav5, 

[pancoleon]

Baccano Rewatch Rambling Commentary

So. due to having a long and fun talk about Baccano at MCM Manchester, I felt like rewatching the anime and OH BOY I forgot how the first episode goes, so I decided I might as well do (spoilery) commentary on here as I rewatch. Don’t expect anything written nicely or concisely, I do the numberwang, not the wordidoo.

This is the first 3 episodes and because I ramble like hell and I do reference the books, it’s a “Read More”. I apologize in advance, but “Short Form” has never been a thing I can manage. This is me essentially writing down what I say to myself while watching it. I added the formatting later, but I want to keep the rambling as in tact as possible, partly out of laziness and partly out of interest in looking back later and seeing what was going through my head.

Episode 1

I forgot just how much time is spent with the discussion between (Christ me, you literally saw this half an hour ago, how have you already forgotten her name!?) *Carol* (Thanks Baccano wiki, and by extension most likely thanks Rev) and Gustav St Germain. Looking back after reading the books, I like the fact that they used the paper explosion scene and would have loved to see that reappear later had they continued the anime. That would’ve been a nice scene of the anime doing a foreshadow of a scene to come while not making it blatantly so, and that final context would’ve probably put an extra spin on things. (Oh boy, it’s really clear I can’t write short sentences…)

The scenes foreshadowing Book 6 (Was it? I lose track. Either way, the Mist Wall book.) really hurt me. I’d have loved to see Christopher, Adele, (Heck, ALL THE HOMUNCULI) and Maria, along with seeing Ronnie just be Ronnie and fuckin’ be extra as hell with the help of essentially Omnipotent powers.

The sequence initially showing Firo... Y'know, I remember this properly, but I have to say I prefer the book version? In the books, it’s before he becomes immortal and he avoids getting hit by the knife in the first place. I feel that while how this scene was rewritten means it’s good for revealing his immortality, the books help show that he is rather suspicious as a character, which works well considering his discomfort from the fact that even after becoming immortal he is careful due to the knowledge that there *is* a way to kill him. Then again, I’m not a literary master and the change probably works considering the more carefree Firo you see in the show.

I like the setup for the Flying Pussyfoot (even if I’m sad the stuff being called in doesn’t pay off due to them not using Vino in the 1932 arc that *should* be Drugs and Dominoes). What you know from the first episode is:

that the train’s been swapped out do to an “accident”

there’s an assassin on there,

there’s immortals on there,

there’s bombs on there,

a bunch of corpses and a murderous guy with no arm and a woman he’s talking of killing litter the tracks (On an off hand note, I thought that Ladd actually killed Lua there when I initially watched Baccano),

and that the people that are leaving the train are the thieves mentioned earlier (who if you pay attention are probably immortal),

the immortal child (Funny how early it’s revealed that Czes is immortal in comparison to the books),

and a group of people of which the middle one seems to be in great pain.

You also know of an unknown figure reading an unknown message about finding someone, but that’s rather late in the story.

Point is, you are swiftly shown a lot of information you probably won’t piece everything together from, but will help give you one specific idea: Something bad happened on the Flying Pussyfoot and that (probably) included the supernatural.

Episode 2

Okay, I’ll now be writing as things happen, so I might remember names this time! And before I start, let me say this at least once. “Hah! Flying Pussyfoot is a silly name!”

I like the fact they left in the couple where the woman just calls stuff in advance.

I have to say, I am love with Isaac and Miria’s logic. “If we mine, we’re stealing from the earth!”. Along with that, the story of them being shouted at for panning for gold in other people’s land is something I want to hear more about. I’m being reminded that I damn well wish I knew more about Japanese Mythology to be able to directly pinpoint where Isaac went wrong.

Oh, and the letter from Ennis. I like how this directly implies than Ennis is not actually human without going “SHE’S A HUMONCULUS, NOT HUMAN” and then quickly makes you forget about that by having I&M start talking about this clearly means she wants a brother, rather than there having been previous people before her who were destroyed before she was created.

(Oh shit, this is gonna get looooooooong, I haven’t got past the I&M scene yet). This is followed by perfectly showing what I&M are like, by having them figure out how do to a train robbery. i.e not how you actually do one. And then I&M go to the train station, move past the Lemures, and then as they talk about the “Orchestra”, the camera zooms in on Rachel. If only the Dub hadn’t specified Vino’s gender, people might’ve thought she was Vino, that’s how the books spun it anyway. And then we get to Claire, who starts talking before coming on screen and has a conversation with Tony just before Tony gets murdered. It would have been nice if the other conductor got a couple lines here, but this does set up Claire’s anger at Tony being dead later on nicely.

Meanwhile, best panicking wreck of a leader, Jacuzzi Splot, explains what his group are doing on the train, namely stealing something. Then the anime moves focus from Nice to Czes, nicely implying that their aims/jobs are related. I’ll stop listing what happens now, but OH JEEZ I LOVE THE CUTS AND PANS AND FOCUS CHANGES. I don’t know much about cinematography, but this feels good to me. 

So to abridge a conversation: Nice: Why don’t you ask them? You might make some new friends. Jacuzzi: (Panics a bit) I don’t wanna. Nice then persuades Jacuzzi to go talk to Isaac and Miria. Not much meaning, but I just wanted to say, SAAAAAAME Jacuzzi. If not for @thingsarenotwholesome taking the place of Nice, I wouldn’t talk to a lot of people. but yeah, then Jacuzzi starts crying because he thinks he’s nothing but some delinquent. Props to I&M for supporting him in the only way they know: By being lovely, funny and acting ridiculously.

Some day Narita, I’d like to see how much of this is them faking it to avoid a bad topic and how much of it is their own joy in insanity. I just can’t accept “They’re a bit mad” with no other details, because even if Isaac routinely gets stuff wrong, he’s weirdly well read. I also love the fact that Jon and Fang spend their time calling out bullshit and commenting on what’s happening. It gives a nice contrast of the straight man, while not overpowering I&M and also properly showing what their influence on Jacuzzi is.

I like that the voice acting makes it clear that Czes struggled to say his own name. Clearly from the immortal thing. Good Dub there.

The Lemures in general feel much cultier than when I was reading the books. Perhaps because in the books the individual greed for immortality in the members is made clear before the operation starts, whereas this has them speak of their unwavering loyalty (yeah fucking right) to Huey Laforet, while the Conductor preaches about how this is all for the sake of freeing their “Glorious Leader”. Shame there’s a Claire on board.

Episode 3

And we start with poor Eve Genoard looking for Dallas, too bad some other poor person has him. [Edit Note: Look, you can’t expect me to remember every detail of the books perfectly, I barely remember what I had to eat most days]

 I love the Daily Days and their information based business model. The Runorata Goons just got to experience information based capitalism.

Well, I might have to source the music playing while Lua and Ladd are dancing. This is also the first scene where Lua doesn’t seem to only be some poor girl who was forced into something by Ladd, but someone who actually wants to be with Ladd.

I love Randy and Pecho, those glove burning fools. I’m also starting to realise how damn good this show is at giving you information in off-hand comments. From their short conversation we know they’re friends with Firo and that there’ll be a party, while also starting the fire that kickstarts the events of the Rolling Bootlegs.

Similarly, the anime then goes on to show that Firo is joining the Camorra as a Capo and that I&M are in town at the time. This is also why I’m writing so much, BECAUSE THEY MAKE SUCH GOOD USE OF THE TIME GIVEN. This reminds me though. Narratively, in the books, the hobo attempting to stab Firo happens just before the hat shop. I damn well wish we could properly place that scene somewhere chronologically in the show.  It could literally any time still during the depression after Firo becomes immortal.

The fight between Firo and Dallas' Gang really does show the fighting talent Firo has in an impressive way, which again makes Firo getting cut in episode 1 more frustrating.

And here is the first big change to Rolling Bootlegs! Firo does not have the time nor the bottles to swap about his wine with the immortality potion for the heck of it. I'm not sure how I feel about this change, but I will commend the 2016 Manga for keeping to the books on this. 

And then Jacuzzi finds the two corpses in the Conductors Wagon, which is surprising when you’re first watching considering we *know* the murderous conductor was using a gun, not sawing off people's faces.(Goddammit it Claire, kill cleaner) You could explain the second corpse as being the white suit we see get the uniform in the second episode, but if you’re looking at the corpses, the body with the face torn off is the one that looks like the Young Conductor, not the Lemure Conductor. This isn’t exactly important considering it’s revealed later, but i like that the detail can be seen. Hey, this anime is doing a better job at the Mystery genre than BBC’s Sherlock!

And at the end, with the faceoff in the Dinner Wagon, I'm calling it a night.

Well, I'll be posting this in the morning evening after as I'll be doing some formatting at my PC tomorrow, but it's midnight and I'm rather tired after MCM Manchester.

[gaudeixcc]

Peloton News – G17 tour – Halfway between the Sun and the Moon.

At least once a year for the last 6 years, we have been away on a cycling tour.

It all started with JT and I and a trip to Majorca.

Here’s a fact for you, long brushed under the carpet of time. I actually arranged most of the riding and routes on the first trip. Yep.. I did.

I Google-Earthed each route to make sure it was an actual road and not some farmer’s track. I mapped them, Garmin’d them and then sent them to JT.

All was well.

Some of the iconic long-time favourites were first born here. Col De Sa Batalla, the decent into Soller.

There were also a couple of howlers in there too. The strip in Magaluf… not my finest cartographical moment. JT trying his best to hide his ‘WTF-face’ as we glided down the main strip on a casual Saturday afternoon. Since this point, his patience his shortened considerably and his control-freakery at all things planning has well and truly taken a Japanese knott-weed grip on the roster.

I didn’t mind handing the planning gauntlet back in all honesty. It’s easy enough to do, but the absolute merciless hammering you get from the baying Peloton should you as much as put a wheel wrong takes what little shine there is off the whole process. That and the constant squeaky-wheel that is our diminutive friend, always asking for a progress update. He would see it as delegation…. But that would assume that some level of responsibility had passed to allow minor decision making…

‘Big assumption’ the little man would no doubt counter.

At times I’ve felt very much the beaten-wife…” I just do it to keep him happy… you know… for a quiet life and all that”

I say all that though… but I know that deep down… every member of the Peleton loves his ruthless efficiency at planning and organising. For most of the team, all that is required of you is to follow a list of instruction on what to pack (I mean, it’s like a professionally guided tour, it really is) and then turn up at an airport on the time written in the e-mail (plus numerous reminders).

Turn up, go where told, cycle, arrive home. Bosh. That’s it But, as long as Gaudeix are going on tour, JT will plan it and sanction the decisions, I’ll sort the caps and the shirts (for the Grande Tours) and then completely exaggerate everything via the printed word and everyone else will turn up and contribute to making these trips what they are… a great experience. Each and every one.

This edition of Peloton news will take a slight departure from the usual recounting of tour heroics.

Yes, I will be covering some of the big moments as we work through the following process…. however I feel a slight shift in format is required to keep things a little fresh.

‘Feedback… it’s the breakfast of champions’…well, so sayeth an old Peloton laggard…. a man who hasn’t edged his cycling beak out of the comfort of his nest (meringue?) for some time.

I couldn’t agree more.

In my stationary cupboard team (I’m proud of each and every one of them), we have deep and intensive feedback sessions…. Not so much your classical 360 degree feedback (i.e. the ‘to me, to you’ type session so favoured by many a progression management guru). No, I like to call mine the 180 sessions… I tell ‘em what I think… if they know what’s good for ‘em, they listen. Easy.

And so my little Peletonistas…. The price of a tour ticket is a seat at the 180 degree listening post. Pin ‘em back please, I feel wisdom a coming…

Dripping

Pros

·      Excellent preparation this year.

·      Did the most miles

·      Talked up his ‘yellow cap’ chances (more to follow on that subject)

·      Didn’t bonk

·      Looked like a giant in some photos

·      Has invented a new shade of pink (Dripink)

·      Didn’t crash

·      Shouted extra rides

Cons

·      ‘Yellow cap’ effort…. A little like that old Morecombe and Wise sketch… all the right clothes… just in the wrong order…

·      Still surging (although much enhanced ability means he now troubles those ahead as opposed to those behind)

·      Still saying a ‘hail Mary’ on every landing. “I always say it and we always land safely”… difficult to argue with… I’ll let Macca stew over the best way to explain correlation

·      Animal cruelty or butchering a pair of beautiful white leather Rapha shoes…. Which is the most morally disturbing?.. … answers stapled to a cat to the usual address please

JT

Pros

·      Got yellow (just).

·      Solid riding

·      Down-hill ability in marginally sketchy conditions was excellent. I watched whilst tailing him. Unusual.. but in mixed conditions, he’s too fast for me.

·      Booked the flights… did all the initial ride prep a couple of years back when he was in one of his awkward ‘between jobs’ situations…. You know the ones…. where he gets rumbled for extracting cash from a large corporate, then somehow manages to get even more cash from said corporate and then lands a promotion with another corporate… who export him to solve a problem (but still give him cash)… realise he ain’t letting go… and then…(it’s a strange noise if you’ve ever heard it)… the corporate just sighs… JT rubs one dry hand against t’other…. And the family moves on. (As an aside, I’m running a book on JT retiring at 50, golden handshake, golf handicap down to single figures, member of an exclusive club…. 3/1. I’m hedging that with an outside bet with the local bookies that sees him busted for snorting coke of the arse of a transsexual rent-person…8/1). Still… he asked for and took no credit for any of the planning this year…. but he deserved it. Well done sunshine.

Cons

·      He still likes to gently wake me at 3am by drinking 2 pints of water in a way you would imagine a parched elephant with a heavy cold might attack a half empty bath…. Seriously… I thought internal organs were going to felch from his nose…

·      People-tolerance levels still only marginally warmer than sub-zero

Damo

Pros

·      Every year we see a little bit more of the true cyclist. Crushingly consistent at the top of the pack

·      Nearly aced yellow as well as pink

·      Aced pink (not just a wrong righted from the year of JT’s catastrophic ‘we’re leaving the Euro’-type pronouncement either… )

·      Shoes

·      Bike

·      Bike

·      Bike

·      Cannondale

·      Bike

·      For Damo.. was surprisingly un-grumpy…and… rode back more than once for a straggler.

·      Bought me breakfast a few days later

·      Relentless replaying of the ‘red nose’ gag on Moley. It was a narrow bandwidth of attack, but it was superbly executed.

·      Cyclist mentality

Cons

·      Has a habit of being dismissive of exceptionally difficult rides. I remember Paris Roubaix… My Comment: “Fuck that was tough eh Damo… I ain’t doin that again…ever”……reply: “was alright.. I’d like to do the full route. It’s only as hard as you make it”.

·      A quiet Mr Sock this year

Macca

Pros

·      Well kitted out… as per…

·      New shit on his bike (it’s like a ‘where’s Wally’ game with Macca… we all know he’s got new shit going on…. But who can spot it?).

·      Consistent riding from the Robot

·      Bought me lunch and talked soothingly to me at the airport. Thank you Macca.

·      How the fuck can a man have that much time off work, not cycle and lose weight… I mean what the fuck…. If I had had a quarter of the ‘leisure time’ that our flying man has had… I would be the size of a house… even our old chum Amesy… he has to work 14 hour days just to keep his biscuit habit the right side of obsessive.

 I genuinely think Mark is half-man, half-machine. I’m going to have a chat with his roomy, Damo. I have a theory that when he goes to bed, he secretly plugs himself in to charge. You can bet your he’s got an Apple lightening connector…. Perish the thought that he would have something as vulgar as a kindle re-charging point.

A little like his over-sized iPhone charging case, Macca has additional spare batter capacity. We saw it a few years ago when he dressed all in white and revealed his penis to the world. (I say penis, on reflection I think we’ve found his charging point.)

Cons

·      Less tolerance than Trump (or should that be fewer, Mark?)

·      Has perfected the withering look (closely followed by the sarcastic smile). This little beauty is normally reserved for Dripping and I when we have the temerity to propose some sort of cycling knowledge… I mean… the very thought….

·      One of 2 people who constantly correct my grammatical meanderings. (In my view apostrophe’s should be used gushingly and with abandon)

Colchester Mac

Pros

·      Enthusiasm

·      Enthusiasm

·      Enthusiasm

·      Dug deep and rode consistently

·      Nearly witnessed our joint demise atop Stelvio… who’d have thunk it… both nearly killed by a motorcycle falling from the sky

Cons

·      Shouting 2 words and 2 words only at Italians (‘Bon journo’… I can still hear it at night when I listen to the wind on cold evenings)

·      Descending as if riding a tandem. Why have the safety of distance when you can have the knife-edge of proximity!

RTA

Pros

·      Very very nearly got Pink.

·      Very strong riding

·      Modest

·      Sacrificed the most difficult climb… one he would have aced.. to support Drip… top effort RTA and it didn’t go unnoticed.

Cons

·      Only one thing here to see folks…. The fake home-made Rapha shoe.

Moley

Pros

·      Took the stick from Damo with broad shoulders

·      Always smiling…

·      The seminal tour moment for me goes to Moley.  Day 3 had me looking deep into my soul… I’ve never crested a more difficult combination than Mortirollo followed immediately by Gavia. I genuinely think it took me near to my cycling edge of pain. But Moley… he laughed in the face of my anguish and he went deeper…. I’ve never seen a man so wracked by the utter effort and ensuing exhaustion… the day Moley crashed through the saloon doors atop Gavia, cowboy-style, slumped down in his seat…. Tears in his eyes, will live with me a long time….a truly heroic effort. No one worked harder that day.

·      Best bike bag by some margin

Cons

·      Starts talking about his chances of winning pink a good 6 months in advance

·      He has publically confused the sun with the moon. Tricky heavenly bodies to differentiate, admittedly. One a sphere of hot plasma, about 300,000 times the mass of the earth, accounting for 99.86% of the total mass of the solar system…. The other a debris strewn dead lifeless satellite with a reflectance marginally greater than asphalt…. I mean it’s a tough spot even with a sharp eye….

 And finally….. me

Pros

·      Didn’t fuck up the planning

Cons

·      Nowhere near enough mileage

·      Didn’t make nearly enough of the Moley ‘moon/sun-confusion’ moment

·      Nearly killed a man in a wheel chair along with the pensioner pushing him

  …and there we have it. Another one is under the belt and locked into the memories

My final reflection takes me back to Damo’s comment in the Alps a couple of years back….

‘Wherever you are, be there’..

When I ride in the mountains and I look up…I am always, always there. Always. The high mountains…..my favourite riding.

Tour selection for G18 will start shortly.

Ride safely my little fuckerettes….

Hoppo

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home Edition May 15, 2020 – S.C.O.O.B., CAPONE, CASTLE IN THE GROUND and more!

I have to admit that I’m getting a little weary of writing this weekly column covering movies that would barely have gotten a theatrical release BEFORE COVID, but I’m gonna do my best to stay motivated, even if it might be two months or more before we get any sort of theatrical experience again. I have a feeling this will be a shorter column than usual (Hallelujah!), and honestly, I really didn’t find any movie I liked enough to feature this week, so…

I wasn’t able to get the screener for Warner Bros’ new animated S.C.O.O.B. in time to review before this column sees the light of … inside people’s homes … on Wednesday, but the studio is taking the approach of Universal with its PVOD hit, Trolls World Tour. Hopefully, they won’t awaken the ire of AMC and the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) as Universal has, but this updated and animated origin story for Scooby Doo will be available to buy for $19.99 vs. renting for $14.99.

 If I do get a chance to watch before Friday, I’ll add a review here (so check back!), but I’m looking forward to seeing it, especially knowing it will include a few other Hanna Barbera characters like the Blue Falcon, voiced by Mark Wahlberg. (Plus Shaggy is voiced by Will Forte, who is always hilarious.) Oh, and the film is directed by Tom Cervone, who has produced and directed so many great TV cartoons, including Duck Dodgers and the Looney Tunes Show.

REVIEW: Check back soon!

Tom Hardy plays famed Chicago mobster Al Capone in Josh Trank’s CAPONE (Vertical), which follows Capone late in his life, after he’s been released from prison and is quarantined at his palatial Florida mansion where he slowly descends into dementia while the FBI tries to uncover where he’s hidden a huge amount of money that seems to have gone missing. I was rather mixed on this film, which I’m sure is gonna be seen as this year’s Gotti. I didn’t think Josh Trank, who famously fucked up the last Fantastic Four movie, does a bad job with the material, but it’s just not the greatest point in Capone’s life to make a movie about. I had been looking forward to seeing Tom Hardy as Capone, especially knowing what he puts into every role since I first saw him in Bronson, but I don’t think I needed to see him stumbling around and mumbling incoherently with a carrot in his mouth … and yes, he deliberately shits in his pants under questioning at one point in the movie and accidentally a few other times. (Anyone who has been through medical treatment, like for cancer, will realize that being unable to get to a bathroom fast enough is a recurring problem, particularly in dementia sufferers, so it’s a little infuriating this has become the #1 pejorative against the movie.)

For all of Hardy’s amazing performances over the years, his take on Capone during this part of his life just goes too far into trying to create authenticity by being even harder to understand than even his original Bane dialogue, and that’s a major problem. I’m not sure if he did this thinking that it might get him an Oscar nomination ala Gary Oldman in The Darkest Hour or other similar portrayals of real people. Again, he should be lucky if it isn’t compared to John Travolta in Gotti.

As far as the rest of the cast, Kyle MacLachlan has the biggest role as Capone’s most trusted confidante, while Noel Fisher plays his son. Blink and you’ll miss Matt Dillon, who isn’t in the movie very much other than one of its few sex scenes. I wanted to like Linda Cardellini as “Fonzo’s” wife Mae, but this was almost the exact same character she played in the Oscar-winning, Green Book, which most will know was one of my favorite movies that year. It’s almost like she’s being typecast as a classic Italian-American period housewife, which is disappointing. Ultimately, it’s a combination of weaker material and Hardy’s method-y performance that causes Capone’s downfall as a movie to be on par with the way the notorious gangster faded away both literally and mentally after being released from prison.

Alex Wolff and Imogen Poots star in Joey Klein’s CASTLE IN THE GROUND (Gravitas Ventures), Wolff playing Henry, a small-town teenager whose mother is fighting cancer. When he befriends his off-the-wall neighbor (Poots), he ends up getting dragged into her world of opioid addiction and violence.

I was generally unimpressed with this movie, since it seemed like another one of those twee indie films we frequently see at Tribeca – in fact, this premiered at Toronto last year. I feel like I should have liked this movie more, since I find Poots to be a fascinating actor, same with Wolff, but this one just doesn’t connect or come together at all. I didn’t find any of the characters particularly compelling, and Klein seems to be trying to jam in  a lot of different elements such as Henry’s Hassidic Jewishness into the movie, but that seems to be an unnecessary tangent that doesn’t fit into the overall narrative. Neve Campbell plays Henry’s mother, Rebecca, and I’m not sure I would have even recognized her if not for the press notes. Otherwise, I don’t have a ton to say about a movie that covers ground that’s been covered far better in many other indie movies. This one is quite forgettable and not really mandatory viewing.

Visual effects animator Eric Demeusy’s directorial debut, the sci-fi thriller PROXIMITY (Shout! Studios), stars Ryan Masson as Isaac, a young NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) scientist abducted by aliens, who becomes obsessed with finding proof of his journey when nobody believes him. It’s the feature debut from the award-winning VFX artist who has worked on Stranger Things and Game of Thrones, and actually, it’s not a bad little sci-fi movie. I mean, it isn’t small by any means, and it has pretty decent production values over all that makes it seem like Demeusy could be ready to direct bigger studio movies, although it does have some issues. I did enjoy that it’s a bit of a throwback to sci-fi movies of the ‘80s like War Games and Close Encounters, plus I’m always up for a decent alien abduction movie, and this one isn’t bad. I had some issues with the writing and the number of clichés pulled out, and it takes some adjusting to the inexperienced Masson and his low-key performance as the lead. (I will admit that the film drifts further and further away from those clichés as it goes along, particularly when it throws in some action and moves the story to Costa Rica.) My bigger problem was with the music, which tended to be so overblown, going between very loud and boisterous orchestral music (almost stock music, more suitable for a ‘50s sci-fi film) and cheesy pop songs. I’m sure these were intentional nods on Demeusy’s part, but it definitely takes the movie into the lamer territory we frequently see from Hollywood studio films and away from the cooler recent sci-fi films like Arrival and Annihilation. If you’re a fan of the sci-fi genre, you should be able to find things to like about Proximity. I’ll certainly be curious to see if Demeusy can use this as a calling card towards bigger things. You can find all the “Watch at Home” links on the Official Site.

Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña’s THE WOLF HOUSE (KimStim) was one of the press screenings I saw before everything went to hell. It’s a Chilean stop-motion animated film that puts a spin on the “Three Little Pigs,” tying it into the infamous torture colony, known as Colonia Dignidad, which had been imprisoning, torturing and killing dissidents under the Pinochet regime. It deals with a young woman named Maria who hides in a constantly evolving house in Southern Chile after escaping from German religious fanatics.  This was one of the last press screenings I saw before the NY theatrical shut down, and I found it infinitely fascinating and haunting as the filmmakers used an endless amount of media and formats to create the animation that flows between 2-and-3 dimensionality so easily you’ll often wonder how they did it. I’m not sure I was able to understand all of the political undertones so much, since I know every little about Chilean politics or history but it’s quite an accomplished achievement that is sure to astound fans of animation as an artform. The film is in Spanish and German, and there’s a fantastic introduction that explains how Chile’s European ex-pats contribute to the country’s community and how it differs from other neighboring countries. (This is also definitely more for an arthouse film than something to watch with the kids ala most Hollywood animated films.) Following its NY Premiere at Film at Lincoln Center’s “Neighboring Scenes” program earlier this year, The Wolf House will be available through Virtual Cinema for Anthology Film Archives in New York (where it was supposed to open in March) and the Laemmle theaters in L.A. You can see the full list of participating theaters and get links to watch the movie on the KimStim site.

Doc distributor Abramorama has created a new “mind body soul” imprint called Mangurama, and this week, they’re releasing a 10-part docu-series, The Road to Dharma – Riders of the Himalayas, with the first two episodes offered for free on Apple TV and Prime right now. It’s written, produced and directed by Adam Schomer, which follows a group of people who go on a motorcycle adventure across the cliffs of the Himalayas, led by a Himalayan Master who pushes them to face their own fears. You can learn more about this series at the Official Site.

Film at Lincoln Center continues its Virtual Cinema with another repertory addition with Nanni Moretti’s 1993 film Cara Diario (Film Movement) which played at the 32nd New York Film Festival. Moretti stars in the film himself as he goes on three journeys through Italy, the first on a scooter in Rome, musing on cinema and meeting Jennifer Beals. His next journey takes him and his friend, Renato Carpentieri, looking for a place to write a screenplay, and the third involves Moretti visiting doctors to get a skin rash diagnosed.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s begin with this week’s Netflix options, which includes the David Spade rom-com, THE WRONG MISSY, co-starring Lauren Lapkus as Missy and Sarah Chalke. The premise is that Spade’s character falls for a woman, whom he to his company’s corporate retreat, except that he sent the invite to the… wait for it… WRONG MISSY! Get it? Having just recently seen The Do-Over, I’m not sure how I feel about Spade still having a career thanks to his long-time pal, Adam Sandler, but I’ll probably give this a look when it streams starting Friday. Oh, yeah, and Rob Schneider is in this one, too.. not sure that’s a good or bad thing.

Although I’m way behind on catching up on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, I’m pretty excited about the longer form “make your own adventure” episode, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, which will include guests like Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm.

Hitting Amazon this week is Seberg (Amazon Prime Video), Benedict Andrews’ sadly-overlooked drama, starring Kristen Stewart as French New Wave star, Jean Seberg, as it deals with her involvement in J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI investigation of the Black Panthers in the late ‘60s due to her affair with activist Hakim Jamal, as played by Anthony Mackie. I feel like this movie really didn’t get the push it deserved when it was given a one-week theatrical last year and even less when it reopened earlier this year. This features some of Stewart’s best acting in my opinion, and love hearing about this little known story about American history.

Panama’s first-ever horror film Diablo Rojo PTY debuts on Amazon this week. The debut feature of Sol Moreno, the film deals with the Costa Rican and Panamanian folklore surrounding the legend of La Tuliveja, a cursed woman who drowned her own son and haunts the river where he died. It follows a “Diablo  Rojo” bus driver, his helper, a priest and two policemen who fall under a spell when they get lost in the Chiriqui jungle and have to survive the creatures the face on the road.

Probably the cable show I’m most excited about this week is TBS’s SNOWPIERCER show that will premiere on Sunday night. Based on the Bong Joon-ho adaptation of a French graphic novel, this sci-fi series about a miles-long train speeding through the frozen tundra the earth has some pretty awesome stars in Daveed Diggs, Jennifer Connelly, Lena Hall and many, many more.

Apparently, Hulu also has a new series debuting on Friday called The Great from one of the co-writers of The Favourite, but I haven’t received one Email about this, so yeah, Hulu needs to get better publicity, cause the one(s) they’re currently using kinda suck.

Also, don’t forget that the virtual Oxford Film Festival is still going on and in its fourth weekend of premiering new features and short films! This week’s offerings are Christopher Wesley Moore’s horror-thriller, A Stranger Among the Living, about a young teacher who has a premonition of a school shooting that stops it from happening until phantoms show up to make his omen come true. (Sounds very Final Destination to me, which is very cool!) Also, the “American Lens Narrative Shorts” will premiere with six shorts including a documentary short called “Dick Pics!” as well as the second block of “Fest Forward” shorts, and remember that all of these will have live Q&As, which is not something other virtual fests (like SXSW and Tribeca) have been doing. Most of these will only be available for a week so don’t miss some great filmmaking. You can get tickets for all these movies and their Q&As at Eventive, as well as watch some of previous week’s offerings.

Next week, more movies and shows not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[njawaidofficial]

'Survivor' Season 35 Player Profile: Meet Ben Driebergen

http://styleveryday.com/2017/09/04/survivor-season-35-player-profile-meet-ben-driebergen/

'Survivor' Season 35 Player Profile: Meet Ben Driebergen

Welcome to the Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers preseason! THR’s Josh Wigler reports from his exclusive visit to the show’s shooting location in Fiji, where he interviewed host Jeff Probst, as well as the 18 new castaways battling it out for the million dollar prize.

Click here to make sure you’re all caught up on our stories from the island, including our weekly podcast series “First One Out,” an in-depth look at all of the new players, culminating in an interview with the first person voted out of the season.

Third up on the Levu tribe: Ben Driebergen, employed at a grocery distribution center at the time of our interview, making his home on Heroes beach due to his past as a United States marine. Ben joined the marines in 2003, serving overseas in Iraq. 

“I was in the infantry and went over to Iraq and did what marines do best,” says Ben, his typically booming voice hitting a quieter tone when he talks about his time at war. “I was a good marine. I was good at my job. I was a company honor man out of boot camp and school, and loved what I did. Certain things happen. You lose friends. The marine corps was a good experience, but it was also a bad experience.”

When he returned home, the very word “home” became something of a flexible idea. Ben went around the country working a variety of jobs, from staking out land in Alaska to working as a bouncer to living in North Dakota to building fence in Wyoming and beyond. He eventually moved to Texas where he married his first wife at “a drive-through wedding,” with the best man and maid of honor sitting in the backseat of the car.

“The preacher came out through a Burger King drive-through window with the speakers and players, ‘Here Comes the Bride,'” Ben remembers. “I was like, ‘She’s right here! She’s right next to me!'”

Since then, Ben has remarried. He has two children: Wyatt, five years old, who was literally born to the tune of Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” and Gracie, who will be turning three years old during Ben’s time out on Season 35: “She’s a beautiful, healthy little baby girl, but she’s sassy as all hell, so she’s a Driebergen. We’re in for a world of hurt. The world is in for a world of hurt.”

For Ben, his world has started to heal, thanks to the formation of his family and the years he’s spent processing and living his life since returning from his service overseas: “You have to learn from it. It’s hard. You feel like you’re alone when you come back. Every marine and veteran who comes back from all that stuff has a lot on his or her plate. You have a foot in the grave and you don’t care about nothing. There’s help now that’s out there, but you kind of have to figure things out for yourself. Once you do, life is a lot better. Life is worth living after you get back.”

Listen to the podcast below to hear from Ben and the rest of his competitors in the first episode of our preseason series, “First One Out.”

Right now, Ben’s life has taken him to yet another new spot on the globe: Fiji, where he’s competing against 17 other players determined to become the Sole Survivor. Ben says he and his wife are religious viewers of the show every Wednesday night: “The kids go in our room and have movie night, while we have Survivor night. We break out the wine and we watch it. It’s awesome.” When he watches the show, Ben finds himself shouting at the television screen every time a castaway makes a bad move or gets tricked by another competitor.

“I’ll always be like, ‘I could do that! Oh, hell, don’t do that!’ I’ll coach it,” he says. “My wife said, ‘Make a video,’ just so she would stop hearing about it. She’s regretting it now! She started the ball [rolling]. She knew they would like me. She’s nervous. She’s at home with two kids by herself, and surviving in her own right. She’s kicking herself in the butt for telling me to make a video now.”

Now, it’s Ben’s turn to kick some butt, as he attempts to combine his experiences of surviving in hard conditions with the lessons learned from years of watching Survivor, every move fueled by one simple goal: giving his family a better life.

“Five years ago, six years ago, if you would have asked anyone who knew me if I would have a family, a house, two kids, a good job, and I’d be on Survivor? They would kick you in your shin,” he says. “You’re out of your mind. ‘No, not the Ben that I know.’ But my wife helped me out a lot, and I love her for that. She gave me two kids, and that’s why I’m out here. I’m out here for them. I’m out here for us.”

Watch the video below for more from Ben on why he’s going to win Survivor.

#Survivor profiles continue @THR Monday w/ a double-header. Up first: Ben Driebergen, here for one simple reason… https://t.co/Qcj5WsBpBn pic.twitter.com/4T3DP7kfR3

— Josh Wigler (@roundhoward) September 3, 2017

That’s Ben in his own words. But what does everyone else think? Over the course of these interviews, I showed the castaways pictures of each other from casting, to get their pre-game impressions of their future competitors. Read on for their takes on Ben.

Note: comments from the castaways have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mike Zahalsky (Urologist, Healers Tribe): Honestly, I think he’s the biggest threat in the game. 

Desiree Williams (Physical Therapist, Healers Tribe): I love that guy. He seems maybe ex-military. He’s fun and has a good energy.

JP Hilsabeck (Firefighter, Heroes Tribe): He’s got a military hat on, so I’m guessing he was in the military or something. I’ll probably get along with him great. 

Ashley Nolan (Lifeguard, Heroes Tribe): I like his hat. (Laughs.) He seems funny. He seems like he might have some kind of military background, and that actually excites me. He reminds me a little bit of a dating phase I went through. He reminds me exactly of the guy I dated, many years back, so that was the first thing that caught my eye from him. Like, I had to do a double take. Like, whoa! Flashback! But the military background, that might be a good person to align with. Because they’re generally used to uncomfortable situations, and inadequate weather, or inadequate just environments in general.

Chrissy Hofbeck (Actuary, Heroes Tribe): Oh, he’s so sweet! I love him. I call him the cowboy. He just looks like he’s joyful and loyal. He’s actually someone I hope is on my tribe.

Katrina Radke (Olympian, Heroes Tribe): He’s cool. You know, there was somebody at casting that looked like him, and I’m wondering if it’s the same guy, but he was sitting so far away I never really saw him close up. I think it’s a different guy. They’re so similar, I’m going, “Wow, they must be casting very close.” I think this might be a different guy.

Cole Medders (Wilderness Therapy Guide, Healers Tribe): He’s hilarious. He’s always like the goofy one in the middle. He strikes me as kind of clumsy sometimes, and just a good old country boy. He already has the cutoff t-shirt and super bad sunburn already, just right out the gate.

Ryan Ulrich (Bellhop, Hustlers Tribe): This man is very badly sunburnt right now, but he still looks great. He just seems like a good guy. He doesn’t seem like he’s from New Jersey! And it attracts me to him because of the difference we have. A lot of people say we could bond over commonalities, but sometimes you just want to find out more about another person’s culture and another’s person’s way of life. He seems pretty friendly. He seems like a guy who’s definitely going to try and build the shelter. And he’s definitely going to not be great at it, but he’s going to want to take charge, and if anybody else wants to take charge? That is fine by me!

Ali Elliott (Celebrity Assistant, Hustlers Tribe): He’s seems funny. I feel like we would get along. He seems very friendly. And he’s always [polite], like, “You go first.” He seems kinda like a gentleman. I think that, you know, because I did go to school in the south, I probably encountered a lot of people like him.

Patrick Bolton (Small Business Owner, Hustlers Tribe): You know, he’s an interesting character. I don’t know exactly what to think. He’s got tattoos all over him, which I don’t like to really judge off of tattoos. He’s got this little pinup doll on his lower calf, and then you can’t count them all — he’s covered in tats. But other than that, he seems like possibly a country guy, hardworking. Seems like a hardworking type of person. So that would probably lend to somebody good at camp. As far as challenges go, I don’t think he would be the most athletic. Doesn’t strike me as an athletic type. 

Devon Pinto (Surf Instructor, Hustlers Tribe): Classic, classic hick, definitely. Classic hick, full handle bar mustache like got all the hick tats, the pinup girl, the fucking Texas bull skull, all of that. It’s totally not my style, but as long as he has a good heart? I’ll get along with him just fine.

Watch the video below for an early look at what Ben’s victory speech might look like.

Mike Zahalsky (Urologist, Healers Tribe): Although he doesn’t look it, he’s very charismatic. He’s very charming. He’s very easy to talk to. People congregate to him. But he also has tattoos all over his body. And I believe that tattoos tell a story, and that his story from his tattoos are not necessarily the same story as the guy [who has] the nice little child on his arm tattoo. 

Joe Mena (Probation Officer, Healers Tribe): He’s the one that’s going to screw himself, I’m telling you. I like him because of his personality, but he’s extremely social and I think that’s going to backfire on him. He’s kind of too social with everyone, and I just feel it’s going to backfire on him a little bit.

Jessica Johnston (Nurse Practitioner, Healers Tribe): Let me tell you about him. If anyone’s going to play like a villain, it’s going to be him. He has tattoos on every extremity and on his wrist. I haven’t stalked him enough to get this, but it [looks like he] has an angel versus demon, or an angel and  a demon. Listen, I have to figure out what side of the fence is he playing on. Are we on the dark side or are we on the light side? I’m playing on the light, and I would hope to align myself with someone who is going to be a little rough.

Josh Wigler (Reporter, THR): You would like to be the angel and you would like to find your demon?

Jessica Johnston (Nurse Practitioner, Healers Tribe): I think every demon needs an angel. I’m going to be his, if he’ll let me.

Simone Nguyen (Diversity Associate, Hustlers Tribe): I love him. I love him. I’m going to try to align with him because he seems big and dopey and kind of doe-eyed. He wants to be a villain, but he doesn’t have it in him, you know what I mean? I think that he wants to think that he’s this badass guy but I think at heart, he’s a big softy. I think that’s why it’s going to be easy to pull at his heart strings.

Lauren Rimmer (Fisherman, Hustlers Tribe): God love him, is all I know. He’s going to be a go getter. I think he’s going to try too hard. I think he’s going to work himself into a hole. And it’s not that he’s going to intentionally do it. I just think looks like he wears his heart on his shoulder, and it might hurt him.

Alan Ball (NFL Player, Heroes Tribe): He’s a character. He’s a character. He kind of reminds me of somebody on The Voice. Do you watch The Voice? 

Josh Wigler (Reporter, THR): I do not.

Alan Ball (NFL Player, Heroes Tribe): Okay, so The Voice is kind of like… I can’t give it an analogy. He’s one of those guys who when you look at him, you’re expecting one thing. The way I watch him, he’s full of personality, a good sense of humor. The Voice is based on you not being able to see somebody, but hearing them. You can see him, but his personality speaks a lot louder than his look.

Roark Luskin (Social Worker, Healers Tribe): For me, I can’t decide. The problem is because we can’t talk, I don’t know if he’s like a Keith Nale, who’s going to get along with everybody, or Mike Holloway, who’s going to get along with everybody. And if it’s Mike Holloway, he’s gotta go. If it’s Keith Nale? He can hang.

Ben Driebergen (Marine, Heroes Tribe): You look around at all of these people, and they’re physical threats. Everybody here is strong, cut, both the men and the women. I used to have a six-pack, but now I have a beer gut. But I can still kick it! It’s going to be amazing. 

Click through the gallery below for photos of Ben and the rest of the Season 35 castaways.

Keep checking THR.com/Survivor for more coverage of the Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers preseason.

  Survivor

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