#i’m not perfect & i absolutely have my days but i do always try to harken back to these ideals

[stuckinapril]

i always resonate with everything you say. sometimes i feel like i’m too kind (this sounds corny but it’s true) and that i should hold myself back from performing acts of kindness because it feels like i’m doing too much. and i feel like everyone around me is uninterested in things like emotional intelligence, community, charity, empathy, and that i will never be able to let my guard down with others. everyone is so focused on themselves. even venting or asking for help is scary to me now. do you know what i mean? it’s nice to see how passionate you are about being honest and kind, it made me feel like i’m not alone and it gave me a bit of hope.

i 100% get what you mean!! and honestly you’re right. i would be lying to say i haven’t gotten burned before by people who don’t share my values, bc to them all the things you mentioned came second place (if that) to maintaining their own comfort. but the good news is holding true to this way of thinking really did help me attract and befriend people who’re more like me, who’re passionate about kindness and empathy and community and emotional intelligence.

it’s actually so funny that you mentioned this today bc i was literally explaining to a mutual of mine yesterday why tumblr matters so much to me—and it’s bc i’ve found more like-minded people through it than i ever have in my personal life. most of my friends are actually more or less my antithesis: cool, aloof, very willing to burn bridges and not all that interested in putting themselves in other people’s shoes. i definitely have some work to do—i feel like i give people too many chances and these attachment issues run deep lol—but it’s also nice to know that there are people out there who share my desire to weigh other people’s feelings in tandem with my own. please continue trying your best anon, i do not doubt that you will be rewarded for it in time <3 people like you truly are an inspiration to me

[sgtransformersdork]

Autobots

So there I am, wondering what to make a post about next, and I realized I haven't mentioned much about the Autobots. I made a couple posts about certain Autobots what feels like forever ago, but they feel outdated and a little clunky. So I'm writing some blurbs for the entire Autobot roster (except Ultra Magnus, I talked about him not too long ago, also he's not part of the Ark Crew). I'm still working on the characterizations, but I'm just getting my thoughts out. This is going to be a long one, so hang on to your afterburners.

Optimus Prime- Sadistic, narcissistic, tyrannical, and menacing. He began the war and intends to end it slowly killing every last Decepticon. He's not an idiot, but he tends to fixate on only one aspect: making a devastating impact. This likely harkens back to his days of activism against classism, making an impact big enough to make his opponents notice, and feel dread. Of course, he's long since become a dictator and a terrorist, causing almost the same disparities he fought against.

Rodimus- Living proof that 'conniving' does not mean 'intelligent'. He once agreed with Orion Pax's views, when he was known as Hot Rod. He moved through the Autobot ranks to become second in command (how is unknown), and altered his frame, becoming Rodimus. He became frustrated with Prime's leadership, thinking he could become a much better leader, thus starting his long history of coups. No one knows why he is still second in command, but it frustrates loyal Autobots to no end.

Elita One- Ever since the movement began, she has been there. She will always stand beside Prime, always combat their enemies, and never relinquish the oath she swore. She loves power, but prefers conquest, constantly lusting for battle. Despite being the reason for the fall of Tarn, Caminus, and numerous other territories, she's never satisfied unless she actively has something to conquer. She even has her own legion, known as Elita's Warriors. Some would suggest that she never wants the war to end, but they would be unwise to express this verbally.

Ratchet- In another life, he could've been a great medic, as he is highly skilled. However, he'd rather try to 'improve' his patients with unnecessary surgeries, and often doesn't take proper precautions. It's not entirely clear whether or not he realizes the suffering his patients go through, but it's very likely he doesn't care.

Wheeljack- Wheeljack is actually a good engineer, and he's far more level headed than other Autobots. Unfortunately, he works under Ratchet, and the poor mech has clearly had his mind broken after all those years of being forced to partake in gruesome experiments. And he has become more and more willing by the day.

Perceptor- A truly mad scientist, he has a twisted, sadistic mind, responsible for creating some of the Autobot's worst devices. Some part of him seems to realize how much suffering his creations cause, and yet, he doesn't care. As long as the Autobots need a mind like his, he will continue on this route. As of late, he's been trying to perfect what he calls 'living weapons'.

Bumblebee- It's said that if any Autobot makes a traitorous remark, Prime will know. Bumblebee is always listening and watching, only speaking when he needs to. Many Autobots loathe him, due to his nature as a snitch and a sycophant, but Bumblebee doesn't care. The only thing that matters is staying in a comfortable position that's not easy to lose.

Ironhide- As far as an Autobot goes, he's fairly mild tempered and level headed. Well, as much as you can be as a weapons expert. Of course, it'd be best to stay on his good side, as he does have a lot of weapons and a good aim.

Arcee- A deadly Autobot assassin, who doesn't care what it takes to eliminate a target. She's sacrificed multiple partners to get where she needs to be. She's liked by Optimus Prime, as she's deadly and efficient, but she doesn't seem to care much about having Prime's approval, she'd rather just have the freedom to kill whoever she wants.

Windblade- Originally from Caminus, she joined the Autobots after Elita One claimed the planet. She doesn't trust anyone, nor does she put anyone before herself. She despises the Autobots, likely due to the destruction of her home planet, but would rather be on the side with the upper servo. Despite her fighting skills, most Autobots often overlook her, due to the fact that she is a flight frame. (Optimus Prime despises flight frames, and by extension, many Autobots do as well).

Strongarm- Any Autobot that's known her for more than five minutes has heard the phrase 'frag the rules'. She may be a part of law enforcement, but she's worse than your average criminal, a great testament to Cybertron's twisted law enforcement. She hardly gives a damn about anything but enjoying herself and turning Decepticons to slag. Well, okay, she also deeply loves and defends her partner Windblade no matter the risk.

Skyfire- Despite his degree and scientific genius he's used for nothing more than a soldier and a carrier shuttle, and he resents this deeply. He's tried to be noticed for nine million years, but to no avail. He's quite manipulative, and a ruthless narcissist, with a dangerous silver tongue (metaphorical), intent to push himself to the top through any means necessary, with no regard for who he hurts. He also has a past with Starscream, something he's not willing to let go of.

Prowl- No Autobot really likes dealing with Prowl under most circumstances. He's wild, unpredictable and frequently follows his own ideas...regardless of whether or not it matches what he was ordered. His plans, despite seeming insane seem to work. Outside of battle, it's nearly impossible to deal with him. No Autobot wants anything to do with him, but they're completely fine with setting him on the Decepticons.

Sunstreaker- He knows his place in the Autobot ranks: he's nothing more than cannon fodder. He keeps out of the way, he follows orders, and doesn't let his morality (or whatever's left of it) get in the way. Truth be told, he only joined because his spark twin did.

Sideswipe- As a lowly Labor Class mech, he was willing to do anything to improve his life. Upon hearing about the Autobot movement, he jumped at the opportunity to sign up. But after all these years, it's broken him, causing him to become emotionless and drone-like. He just wants to shoot at Decepticons until this nightmare of a war ends, and get back to...well, not normal, but anything except for this.

Blurr- He's highly calculating, intelligent, and collected. He also has the ability to travel at high speeds, often confusing and distracting his enemies on the battlefield. Prime once regarded him as a great commander, but has since discarded him for 'better warriors'. Regardless, Blurr remains loyal, albeit slightly resentful.

Hound- Hound loves to cause fear in others, nothing gives him a thrill quite like seeing a terrified Decepticon, or hear their screams. Thanks to his ability of projection, he can create confusion and panic in his enemies. There's nothing worse to him than an enemy that can steel themselves against his projections.

Blaster- A communications officer, with similar abilities to Soundwave, such as picking up on frequencies, sonic powers, commanding a team of minicons, but there's a key difference: Blaster considers himself 'sophisticated'. He's a lover of Cybertronian music, (especially ballads), and absolutely despises Earth music. He has a rivalry with Soundwave, or at least he claims to.

Bulkhead- Once a member of the wreckers (that have long since disbanded), Bulkhead is an expert with causing destruction. Beyond that, he's dangerously calculating and intelligent. Despite his size, he's graceful, but also destructive when he needs to be.

Mirage- Mirage has always been a punching bag for his fellow Autobots, and he's well aware of this. He's always had the interesting ability to turn invisible, and often does so when he needs to flee. Due to constantly living in fear, he's always partially transparent. He's considered defecting, but he's too frightened to run to the 'losing side'.

[falcongumba]

Nick Grinder

Photo by Desmond White

Nick Grinder is a Trombonist and composer living in NYC by way of the Bay Area. In this first installment of the blog I wanted to interview someone that I know well, I met Nick in my first year of college back in 2009, we were roommates for three out of four years of school and I’ve played with him more times than I can remember, he’s also one of my best friends and an important peer in the community. So I didn’t have to do much research to feel prepared for this interview. 

Since moving to NYC, Nick has managed to maintain a busy schedule as a freelance trombonist and participate in an ever-growing list of ensembles, secure positions in Broadway orchestras, play in recording sessions. Most recently, he has started to get some notice for his own work: His most recent album, Farallon (in which I play guitar), has been very well received. 

I wanted to get some insight into Nick’s professional development in the last few years as well as into his creative process. 

JT: So Farallon has been well received, I know it was a lot of work for you over a few years to get it done. How does it feel now that you are on the other side and the outcome has been mostly positive? 

NG: It feels good. I was really happy with how everyone interpreted the music, and the studio experience was really relaxed and natural. Just the sound Chris at Big Orange Sheep (studio in Brooklyn) got was really beautiful, and sort of was a perfect match for the music if that makes sense. In a way, it almost informed how we played over those two days, and I think vice versa. I didn’t go into the album as being a motive piece on The Farallon islands, it was really just a collection of tunes I had written over the years that made the cut, so to speak. It feels good to have moved on from that music, as I think it will free me up to write more in the present. I think if we don’t have markers, it’s hard to move on as an artist. I find myself writing the same tune over and over if I don’t record or perform enough to get it out of my system.

JT: That makes sense, so in that regard, how do you see Farallon in contrast to Ten Minutes (Nick’s first release)? Do you see it as an expansion on stuff you were working on back then or a departure from it? 

NG: I think it’s....an evolution, and in a way, I think Farallon is much less compositionally complex, but a bit more cohesive. I thought back on Ten Minutes the other day, and how some of the tunes were actually pretty good, and more in the “jazz” idiom, whatever that means nowadays. Sometimes I feel that writing harmony can box in creativity in a way, partially because pianistic interpretations can harken back to so much other music. I feel harmonically, Ten Minutes was a bit more complex than Farallon, but Farallon is more open. Part of that was you, Juan, and the fact that the guitar is such a different instrument than piano and doesn’t dominate the texture as much. So, to answer your question...I think it’s an extension and evolution. For the next one, it would be nice to really change things up. We’ll see. I try not to have a directive like that when I create, or at least not listen to it so much. It can be a good spark to start writing, but once things flow, you have to follow that.

JT: Yeah that’s definitely true. I’m really envious of how pianists have this power of making everything sound fully orchestrated and just make so much color with harmony. But lately, I think that what I like about playing the guitar is sort of embracing that it won’t make everything sound as full as a piano but that in a lot of other ways it can kinda expand the scope of the music by just filling a variety of roles

NG: Yeah, I think it’s one of the real positives of guitar, and in a way, I’d imagine that while that is a bit more limiting, there’s probably more musical freedom in that. Kind of an interesting catch-22 maybe?

JT: Well your limitations are as much a part of what you end up making as your abilities, even if you play the piano.

I know you’ve always played the piano is this still the main way you write music? Can you tell me a bit about how that process works for you? I’ve played a lot of your tunes over the years but I’ve never actually seen how you compose. 

NG: Right, I don’t mean anything I’ve said as a dig on piano or piano players -  it’s just interesting as a concept as you said - too much freedom of choice can sometimes box one in. 

I write music any way that works....at the piano, at the trombone, or just with paper or Sibelius. Usually, I try to write harmonically complex music at the piano, just to hear and expand on what I’m hearing in that way, but that can sometimes be limited by my piano playing, and tendencies my piano playing has. I wrote the tune Farallon completely at the piano, and actually think it works better without any horns. My ear isn’t fantastic, so usually what I write on paper ends up being rhythmic ideas that I sus out on the horn or the piano. Sometimes I sing ideas into my phone on the train. Writing with Sibelius can be nice because you can hear what you write immediately, but the danger of that is you start writing for the computer - what sounds good on a machine might not sound good with people and vice versa.

I’ve definitely thought that something I wrote with Sibelius was the hippest shit ever, and after hearing people play it I realized something was missing, and I think it was sort of a casualty of that process.

JT: I understand that completely. It can be very convenient but that’s totally a risk of it. How do you think your own compositions have impacted your playing? Do you see these two things as being related? Are you writing to maybe expand what you can play on the horn or your horn playing is evolving because of what you write?

NG: I’d like to think it’s both. One of the things about writing outside of your instrument is that you have to learn what you wrote, which was the case for 5 Steps and some of the other note-y heads I’ve written. Rarely do I do those on the trombone. That head specifically was really hard for me to learn and ended up being a great thing to practice. I definitely remember writing harmony that I felt comfortable with improvising over, but it’s something I don’t consciously do often because I don’t feel I have a ton of skills in that arena I can showcase. Farallon, for example, is really difficult to improvise on, at least for me.  I really try to let the song do its thing when I’m writing it, and not impose my own will on it too much.

JT: That’s interesting, and it makes sense to me. One of the things that I love about the album is that it doesn’t seem like you wrote the music with the intent to “showcase” the trombone, or actually anyone else. That’s really mature and I don’t think you made a conscious effort to do that, am I wrong? 

NG: Thanks. That wasn’t intentional, but that also might have something to do with my relative lack of skills like that on the instrument...

JT: Oh Come on (laughs) You do make a living playing the Trombone…

NG: Ha, but the skills needed for that are different than the virtuosic stuff so many people are doing!

JT: Ok so that makes me wonder, how are you structuring your instrumental practice? what are some of the things you are going after in your playing? I know that it must be a difficult balance to find with all the different things that you have to do

NG: I’m thinking really broadly about my sound and when I attack the note and how clear that is - lining up my best sound with an attack that is in time, and clear. I do a lot of work relating to that with a metronome and tuner, and kind of just start from square one every day. Breathing, buzzing, long tones, slurs, those all help with that “prime directive” I have about time and attack.  There’s a lot of that sort of work needed with the trombone, at least I find that it helps. I am though, always trying to find ways to make that sort of maintenance musical - sometimes I start the day just improvising, really trying to feel what my chops require to be in a good place, to have that immediacy. Sometimes those are my best days on the horn. 

I need about 45 minutes to an hour to feel good for the day, and if I’m getting a good session in, I can do about 3-4 hours before I really need a break. A lot of that is exercises, scales, and patterns with a metronome and drone, and then improvising. I’ll take a tune or a set of changes through a few different keys and tempos, then work on Rochut or Bach. By then it will be about 3 hours, especially considering that I do a lot of similar exercises on bass trombone as well.

JT: The trombone is an instrument (just like any brass) that without that sense of keeping up with a regime of calisthenics your sort of starting baseline for just being able to play kinda goes away no? I remember a while back we were hanging with a saxophone player friend of ours and he was talking about all this advanced stuff he was working on, and you saying "I'm just trying to play in time man!" haha. I guess where I'm going with this is that in a way to me there's something really great and beautiful about that challenge of being confronted with the basics constantly, but I wonder if that's exhausting or mentally taxing for you and you wanna be working on some other stuff?

NG: Yeah, it absolutely is humbling and can be frustrating at times. And I think it was playing in tune! But playing in tune and in time is so challenging. When I came to New York I realized how dialed in older more experienced people was with just the “basics,” and how particular that sort of thing can be. I had a recording session a few months ago with some heavy people, I had no business being there really, and it happened to start at 7 am on a Sunday! From the first notes, the band of 18 people was just locked in. There was no question as to where time and pitch was, and I thought I was sticking out like a sore thumb. This was very “easy” music, but to play it at such a high level was really challenging. That instance is sort of a micro chasm for my attitude towards practicing. I sometimes go too far with “basics” stuff and feel I should be pushing myself more, at times, but the bread and butter of what I do I feel lay with that stuff.

JT: I understand that and, as an observer, I think that your work ethic in that regard is precisely why you’ve been finding yourself in so-called “places you have no business being in” more and more. I think that people know that you will take those things seriously even if you think that in some ways you are falling short. After all, we all want the music to sound great but finding people who are gonna take your project seriously and work at it is as important as finding someone who can play the music.

NG: I totally agree with what you’ve said. I think there’s a lot of luck and knowing when to talk and when not to talk. The whole thing about “not being an asshole” is really prescient! I remember talking to a really great musician about finding the right band, and he said it was so much more about finding that fit and people who care about your music than things like fame, etc. The more comfortable you are the better the music will sound. That’s what was so nice about being in the studio with you guys - it was really comfortable and while we got a ton done, it didn’t feel taxing because it was so relaxed and efficient.

JT: Same here. I wanted to ask you how you are managing all the different things you have to do these days? On top of being a busy freelancer, you have a pretty steady schedule on Broadway now. (The Broadway show Nick was playing, “Beautiful,” has since closed.)

NG: I’m trying to figure it out, but mostly still flying by the seat of my pants. The show has finally given a bit of financial stability, which is almost unheard of for freelance musician types, so I’m trying to capitalize on that to have designated creative time. I have managed to write a bit more since I got the show, and I have also been taking days off just to go hear music, which was something I was always felt too burnt out to do.  I still do everything I can to put creatively fulfilling gigs at the front and center, and I’m hoping that the show can actually help with that.  If I can get through every day having practiced, and through each week doing some creative listening/writing, I’ll be in a good place. That’s the goal for now with a lot of room for expansion.

JT: What are some of your goals for this next phase after this album? I know that you have some new music for a quartet that played recently

NG: I actually had a gig with interesting instrumentation shortly after we recorded the album - violin, flute, and trombone with rhythm section. I want to write some music for that group, and really get some orchestrations happening that highlight the “softer” iterations of the trombone, especially with mutes. There are so many different colors and textures one can get with mutes and other instruments.

And yes, we had a gig with a new quartet. That was a lot of fun. I might want to add a piano to that at some point, I’ve been hearing that for my next thing.

JT: That's great and I look forward to hearing all those projects. I think we did it! Unless you wanna add anything. But, I just wanted to say that it has been really great to see you grow and thrive over the years cause at this point you are one of the very few people I have around that I really came up with, very proud and happy for you!

NG: Man, thank you! I hope you know you have been a huge driver of creativity for me and an enormously positive influence on my music-making ever since we met. I think you’ve been like that for most people you’ve known who are musicians! So thank you for that. I admire your commitment to your sound and how you are always creating. It really is inspiring. 

There is one thing I’d like to add: The jazz world is very small, but even amongst its size, I worry we aren’t realizing how expensive it is to record and promote music, and how that can kind of skew who gets to make music and have it recognized. My relative success in the commercial field of music (and my willingness to accept massive amounts of credit card debt) really made the album a reality. So many truly amazing musicians and composers aren’t in that position, and their work really deserves to be heard. 

Releasing music is a massive amount of sacrifice and work no matter how much money you have, but I think it would behoove the art form and especially the gatekeepers of “fame/recognition” to consider even those recordings not on a label, not with a “big name” sideman and not in CD form. It’s understandable that there’s a ton of music to wade through, but there are stories that deserve to be heard and promoted that under the current model fall by the wayside. 

Ok, rant over. Thank you Juan!

JT: Yes!!! Amen and thank you. Love ya 

You can learn more about Nick on his website: https://www.nickgrinder.com/

Both of Nick’s releases are available in his Bandcamp page: https://nickgrinder.bandcamp.com/ 

[wiildflowers]

✵ ( lucas & aurora )

who spends hours putting up lights only to get tangled in them and storm off? i feel like this would be an aurora thing to do, bc she’s not used to doing stuff on her own and doesn’t realize how hard it is when you don’t have the staff magically put up decorations for you. ( she enjoys it - don’t get me wrong. she just gets frustrated and flustered sometimes, especially bc she likes things to be perfect and doesn’t like admitting to needing lucas to help her. )

who accidentally eats a whole box of christmas chocolates in one sitting? it’d have to be lucas. bc aurora is a little too self-conscious about her image and would have her mother’s voice in the back of her mind telling her to stop before she puts on too much weight. I’M SORRY

who insists on watching the cheesey hallmark christmas movies? oooh, okay so i don’t think either of them really watched hallmark christmas movies growing up. but i feel like aurora would be the one insisting on watching them, bc she secretly really enjoys the cheesey plots and how things always end up working out in the end. 

who insists on playing nothing but michael buble in the few days running up to christmas? aurora. she really likes his voice OKAY. she finds it soothing and likes the slightly updated version of christmas classics without going full modern.

who gets their presents wrapped at the mall so the other can’t go snooping oh gosh. i don’t think either of them do tbh. although lucas would have to hide the presents so that aurora doesn’t see bc she DOES go snooping. she just likes knowing that she won’t be upstaged. it’s a problem.

who insists on making snow angels? lucas, to bring out aurora’s inner kid who never got to act so undignified and she loves him for it. there’s definitely a lot of recreating childhood memories that they both never got to enjoy fully.

who puts christmas outfits on all the pets? lmao IDK i feel like aurora might for the aesthetic, especially if they were doing christmas pictures, but other than that i don’t think either one of them would. 

do they go to family’s or have a quiet day in? they 100% have a quiet day in bc aurora wouldn’t subject lucas to her family. if anything, they might hang out with a couple close friends, but i think they’d both enjoy each other’s company so much more and want to focus on creating their own traditions to paint over their not so happy childhoods.

who insists on wearing matching ugly christmas jumpers? oh my gosh, i feel like lucas might? bc it’s such a family thing to do and he never got to as a kid, so it would mean a lot to him. aurora would insist on them not being ugly though. bc nope, she can’t take that much. 

who waits up until midnight to give the other their present? i lowkey feel like this would be either of them bc they’re both so soft and would be super excited to see each other’s reaction to the gifts they got. so i think they’d make it a tradition even before they get together bc i can so see lucas sneaking in to exchange gifts with her the night before christmas bc he knows aurora will be expected to spend the day with her family but he wants to spend some time with her too and make sure she gets his gift in person. and they just continue that as they get older. mY HEART. 

who insists on hand-made presents only one year? LUCAS i’m sorry, i feel like this would so be something he does. especially since he’s so good with art and when he doesn’t have a ton of money and is trying to put himself through school, he wouldn’t want aurora to buy him something super expensive and then have to feel inadequate ( even though aurora would definitely feel the same in reverse bc all she got him was something that she bought and he made her something with his own two hands. ) 

who puts mistletoe on every door frame? i feel like they both would ( especially harkening back to that ask meme where he finally kisses her bc of mistletoe ) and it’d be a special thing for them bc it’s the first time they really admitted their feelings for each other. and I LOVE. 

who gets too drunk at the work christmas party and has to be picked up at 9:15pm? welp. i feel like this could be either one of them. lucas if aurora feels like she has to go to one of her parent’s parties and he’s absolutely miserable. aurora if they do something with noah and the band and he accidentally spikes her drink just to see her unwind and let loose a little ( and yes, he absolutely knows he’s in trouble with lucas for that. but he’s also not sorry )  

who gets angry and almost tells kids that santa isn’t real? oh my gosh. i can’t see this for either one of them to be honest, like there’s no way. i feel like they’re both good at containing their emotions and not leashing it out, especially not at kids.

[mattmercerbignaturals]

A Garden for Two Ch. 1 (2637 words)

“What happened to all the talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting like a team?” Weiss shook her head, clenching her fist.

             “Not a team led by you.” Her hands came to her sides as frustration welled up in her voice. “I’ve studied and trained and quite frankly, I deserve better.” She turned her back to her partner, crossing her arms. Ruby reached out with her hand, not knowing what she should say. She was trying! Wasn’t that enough? Ruby didn’t want to be named leader, it’s not her fault. “Ozpin made a mistake.” With that, Weiss walked off into the hall, taking all of Ruby’s fight with her.

             Ruby let her head hang low as she turned around and started off towards her dorm. I just want today to be over.  Being so focused on what she needed to do next, she didn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind her. Thankfully Headmaster Ozpin was paying attention and stopped just before the two could collide.

             “Hmmm, now that didn’t seem to go very well.” Ruby’s gaze found the floor as she wrung her hands.

             “Is she right?” She looked up at him, feeling tears starting to form. Don’t cry, please don’t cry. You can’t cry in front of the Headmaster! “Did you make a mistake?” The man gave a small chuckle before replying.

             “I think that remains to be seen.” Ruby felt her eyebrow tick upwards.

             “What do you mean?” He took a sip from his mug before replying.

             “I mean, it’s only been one day. Ms. Rose, I’ve made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment as leader to be one of them.” He leaned down, bringing himself to eye level with her. “Do you?”

             Do I? Yes. No. Maybe? I haven’t done anything right so far. But it has only been a day… I have no idea what I’m doing though! What if I don’t have what it takes to be a leader? What if I don’t have what it takes to be a Huntress at all? The headmaster had righted himself back to his full height before derailing her train of thought.

             “Being a Team Leader isn’t just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?” That makes sense, I guess. He turned away from her, staring out the window at the fractured moon as he gestured back to her with his mug.

             “You’ve been burdened with a daunting responsibility Ms. Rose. I advise you take some time to think about how you will uphold it.” Ruby opened her mouth to reply but the Headmaster was already walking away. He stopped and turned on his heel. “Might I recommend the gardens around the corner?” Ruby raised an eyebrow again. Beacon has gardens? I guess it makes sense, not everyone is going to be training or in class all the time. “It’s a place I’ve always found that has a way of… putting things into perspective.”

             Ruby shrugged but followed after the man. The walk was short and silent, but it let the silver-eyed reaper have a bit of time to think about the garden back at her home in Patch. Her mom used to love planting peonies and magnolias every year, she said they acted as a great de-stressor after being out hunting Grimm. Her dad asked once why they never planted roses, like her namesake. Summer laughed and said that roses were a bit too pretentious and pointy for her tastes. She’d spend hours out there every week, making sure that they all lined up just the way she wanted, that every one of them got the perfect amount of water and sunlight. They were always so colorful and fragrant, so full of life. Just like she was.

             When she died, so too did her garden. Ruby was too young to do anything about it, Yang had to double her roles as big sister and house mom. Dad still had to work and when he was home, he wasn’t concerned about plants. After the garden withered away, it was like Summer did too, making the pain of her loss all the worse. Every day, a petal would fall from the flowers, the stems would wilt just a tad more, and the soil would dry to near desert levels. One day though, several hours after a summer storm that left their yard a cluttered mess of broken sticks and muddy water, a single white peony sat in the middle of the garden, surrounded by rotting wood and decaying flowers.

             It was like her mother had been reincarnated and was telling them that sometimes, good things come out of the bad. With every storm, there came a rainbow. From that day on, Ruby tried to pick up where her mom left off, with her dad’s help. Yang pitched in when she could, but flowers were never something she took to all that well. Together they planted hundreds of flowers over the years. Magnolias to lilacs to jasmine to plumerias and everything in between. This year, she and her dad were set to plant sunflowers, but Headmaster Ozpin offered her a spot at Beacon with Yang and the flowers fell to the deep recesses of her mind.

             Rounding the corner with Headmaster Ozpin, they came face to face with a large glass domed room. Moonlight streamed in from up above, casting the world in a soft blue glow. There was a red brick pathway they led to the center of the room where a small stone area was nearly encircled by plants, flowers, and even a full sized Mistralian Maple Tree. Underneath the weeping scarlet leaves, sat a massive man in a short sleeved pale green robe with a pair of dark brown pants. His hair was shaved nearly to the scalp and his skin was lightly tanned.  His legs, easily the size of tree trunks, were folded under him and his eyes were closed. Hands big enough to encapsulate the world clasped together, attached to arms packed to the brim with thick cords of solid muscle. The headmaster seemed to recognize him.

             “Ahh, Mr. Daichi. I didn’t expect to find you here at this time of night.” The man opened his eyes and Ruby saw that they were the color of brown sugar, something that complimented his smile quite well.

             “Good evening Headmaster. I’m sorry if I’m intruding. I can be out of your way in a moment.” He made a move to get up but Ozpin shook his head after taking a sip from his mug.

             “You’re doing nothing of the sort, please continue.” The man, Mr. Daichi, inclined his head and lapsed back into his spot. Ozpin turned back to Ruby. “Do you see what I mean Ms. Rose? This is a truly peaceful place, perfect to collect one’s thoughts.” Ruby nodded as she looked around the room.

             “This place is amazing.” She was taking in as many of the flowers as possible. There was a patch of gorgeous red spider lilies to her right and soft purple hydrangeas across from them that looked stunning in the moonlight. Headmaster Ozpin hummed in agreement before gesturing to the man in the middle of the room.

             “You can thank Mr. Daichi here for much of this.” Mr. Daichi smiled softly again, his eyes still shut.

             “Thank you, Headmaster.” Ruby felt her eyes go wide. One person did all this!? This must’ve taken forever!

             “You did all this by yourself?” The man in pale green shook his head, looking up to her.  

             “Not exactly.” He chuckled, a sound like a stone rolling down a hill. “The groundskeeping crew does a wonderful job in their own right and my team helps me from time to time.”

             “Don’t be modest Mr. Daichi, this room wasn’t much before you started attending Beacon.” Wait, what?

             “Wait, he’s a student here!?” The Headmaster smiled and nodded.

             “Yes, he is.”

             “I’m a second year with Team CFVY. My name is Yatsuhashi Daichi, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He pushed himself to his feet, striding towards the pair. If Ruby thought he was massive when he was sitting down, he was positively immense at his full height. He was easily the largest person she’d ever met. Taller than her dad or uncle Qrow, even taller than Headmaster Ozpin himself, and easily twice as broad. Ruby looked at the massive hand in front of her, trying to reboot her mind. Shaking her head, she placed her hand in his, squeezing gently.

             “Ruby… uhh Rose. I’m Ruby Rose.” He chuckled into his other hand.

“It’s nice to meet you Ruby Rose.” He pulled his hand back before looking to the Headmaster. “Is there anything I can do for you both tonight or may I go back to my meditation?” The white-haired man was silent for a second as he took another sip from his mug.

             “Actually Mr. Daichi, there may be something you can do for us.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You see, Ms. Rose here is having some trouble getting acclimated to being a Team Leader.” His other eyebrow joined the first further up his head.

             “Oh, she’s a student here? I assumed, since she was so small, that she was your niece or maybe a potential student for next year.” Ruby stomped her foot, her face twisting into an angry frown.

             “I’m not that small! I’m just… still growing is all” Her mind harkened back to something her mother used to tell her about growing big and strong. “I drink milk.” She straightened her back and pointed to herself. Headmaster Ozpin gave a small laugh before nodding.

             “Yes, Ms. Rose here is indeed a student. Admitted two years early albeit, but a student nonetheless.” The larger man inclined his head towards Ruby.

             “I’m sorry then, I meant no offense. You must be very skilled to be accepted two years early.” Ruby began to falter. This is exactly what she didn’t want. She wasn’t special, she had normal knees!

             “What? No. I mean, I’m pretty good, I guess. But I’m just a normal girl with.” She lifted the hem of her skirt a bit. “Normal knees. See?” As soon as she did, she turned a deep scarlet. No no no no no! Now they both think I’m weird… stupid stupid stupid! A deep chuckle dragged her from her self-loathing and she looked to see Yatsuhashi wiping a tear from his eye.

             “Yes, I can see you have very normal knees.” The Headmaster smiled and nodded.

             “Indeed. Back to the matter at hand though. Maybe you can talk with her about how to be a good leader from the perspective of someone not in that position.” The larger man nodded.

             “I shall do my best.” He turned to Ruby. “Please, come sit with me.” He took her back to the place he was resting earlier as Headmaster Ozpin made his exit, claiming to have some paperwork to attend to. The massive student eased himself to the stone floor, gesturing for Ruby to sit across from him. He crossed his legs and Ruby did the same, her eyes travelling to the large tree that they sat under. It stood around fifteen feet high with a relatively thin trunk and drooping branches tipped with bright red leaves. He leaned back against the trunk with a soft sigh. “The Headmaster said you’re having trouble in your new position.” She nodded.

             “It’s just… I’ve never been a leader of, well, anything before. My partner hates me already, she might even try and get me removed from the spot, and I don’t know if I think that’s a bad idea.” She shifted, tucking her knees under her chin, staring at the stone. “It’s only been two days and I haven’t done anything right. I don’t know if I’m cut out for being a Leader.”

             “Ruby,” He paused. “May I call you Ruby?” She nodded and he accepted the action. “When you decided to become a Huntress, were you as good then as you are now?” She shook her head. “As I suspected. What makes you think you’ll be a great leader on your first day?” She shrugged. “Some people are naturally inclined to lead but others pick up things along the way and grow into the role. For example.” He pulled out his Scroll, tapping the screen and bringing up a stream of pictures. He paused on one and showed it to her. “Do you see that girl in the beret? That’s Coco Adel, my Team Leader.” Ruby studied the girl. She looks so cool! She could feel the confidence the girl had, even from just a picture. It was in everything. The flashy outfit, the subtle look from over the top of her sunglasses, her pose, the way her arms were draped over a girl with bunny ears and a boy with white eyes and red hair. Coco commanded the attention of all in view.

             “When Team CFVY was first formed, I found Coco to be…” His face contorted as he tried to find the words. “Insufferable.” Ruby cocked her head to the side.

             “What do you mean?” He slipped his Scroll back into the pocket it came from before folding his hands in his lap.

             “She was brash, arrogant, and bossy. She wanted all of us to follow her orders without question, we were more like objects to her than people. We let this go on for nearly two weeks. We didn’t want to be seen as a team that couldn’t stand together, so we went along with Coco all the while loathing her. It wasn’t until Velvet, the Faunus girl in the photo I showed you, put her foot down. She demanded input with what we did as a team and that we should all be treated with respect. Coco was stunned at first, she had thought she was doing all of that. But we sat her down and talked out our problems, we set boundaries and expressed our feelings. From that day on, things got exponentially better. We all came together as a proper team and now, I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.” He smiled at the memory, eyes glancing over to Ruby.

 “My point is, Coco was very much a bad leader in the beginning. She had to learn how to lead by getting input from her teammates, whether she wanted it or not.” Ruby chewed on his words for a while as silence reigned in the gardens.

 “So, you’re saying I should just ask them what I should do?” He gave a noncommittal shrug that caused Ruby to narrow her gaze at him.

 “I don’t think it could hurt.” Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment.

 “How do I do ask them?” He smiled, head tilted to the side.

 “I’m afraid I can’t be of much help with that but I’m sure you’ll think of something. Good luck, Ruby Rose.” With that, his eyes closed, and his breathing became near imperceptible. Any other questions died on her lips and the silver-eyed reaper pushed herself to her feet, brushing her skirt off. She stuck out a hand in front of her, holding it there for a full seven seconds before realizing that his eyes were closed. She stuttered out an apology before scurrying to the door she entered through.

 “Thanks, Natsu… Yansu-... Yatu-…?” She shook her head.  “Thank you!” In her wake, a string of rose petals littered the floor as the large man sat there, a content smile on his face.

  “Well, it’s not the worst misnaming I’ve ever heard.”

[shockfemme]

THE MOVIES MADE ME DO IT By Lorry Kikta

Those Richard Linklater Before movies ruined me forever. All this unlikely romance tied up in a handsome Ethan Hawke bow. It led me to believe that all things are never finished. I hold onto so many people, holographic distorted totems of a past that was painful, yet somehow transformed to endearing and wonderful with the glow of nostalgia...

In real life, has anyone ever really objected at the “speak now or forever hold your peace” part of the wedding ceremony? I haven’t even been to a wedding where that sentence was said, maybe to save everyone from an expensive stupid disaster. I have to admit that I have often times wished something like that would happen at a wedding I attended because weddings can sometimes be really damn boring and too long. If you know me and you’re reading this, of course I’m not talking about YOUR wedding.

Ultimately I wish that my stubborn memories would only highlight the negative aspects of certain people so I wouldn’t constantly wonder what this one person I kind of dated in 2004 is doing and whether or not he still “can't stop thinking of me” like he said on the phone six years ago. Or if the guy who got married is now divorced and if he is, what happened? Why do I care? I can only point to one source, a brain that was molded from a very early age by movies and television. I’m not attempting to be the Tipper Gore of the motion picture industry and blame movies for anything. I enjoy believing in fairy tales, until I get reminded continuously that they’re not reality.

Honestly, who cares? I love my boyfriend and we are in a solid relationship, but I have never been in a solid relationship prior to this one. I’ve always fallen in love with musicians that suffer from “emotional problems”. I’ve waited years for overgrown teenagers to come to the conclusion we were meant to be together forever.

It took me a very long time to realize that three types of movies exist for one sole purpose. There could absolutely be more but mostly these three. The teen movie or TV show where everyone is extremely mature and witty and everyone gets together with the unlikely objects of their affections (Pretty in Pink, Gossip Girl, etc. forever). Then there’s the romantic comedy where “the one who got away” returns and it’s all happy ever after (There’s Something About Mary, Reality Bites <Damn it Ethan Hawke>, etc.), or the one where the protagonist falls in love with someone who’s with someone else, and it never fails that this “someone else” is HORRIBLE (Titanic, Wedding Crashers, etc.)  

The sole purpose is (except in rare cases where these people actually lived these fantastic lives, in which case they can go fuck themselves, because really, ugh) the writer of the script regrets the way they handled a situation in their actual life. Well, this is my theory, but I think it’s pretty legit. I had this idea the other day when I started watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I mean, there is a lot of fantasy involved in that show, but what I picked up on is how intelligent and well put together these kids in the show are. There is a part where they’re all seated at Dr. Cerberus’ Bookstore and they’re debating whether or not David Cronenberg’s The Fly is about body dysmorphia or STD’s. I 100% can’t imagine having that conversation at 16. I was too busy trying to be the punkest person on Earth at that time and all I talked about was boys and which musical guest was going to be on Late Night With Conan O’Brien.  Did I just lead a different life than these people, or am I onto something here?

Now, let’s talk about “the one who got away.” I’ve had plenty of ones that got away and it’s probably a damn good thing that they ended up leaving and staying gone, and yet I still harken back to basically any Ethan Hawke movie from the 90’s and think, well, I should see what ole so and so is up to just so I can fulfill my cat-like curiosity and then dwell on it for one-hundred-thousand hours.

When I was growing up, my parents got divorced twice. Well once for real, and then the second time it was a common-law divorce. Additionally, my mom would often take back men she had previously written off because she wanted to give them a second chance. At some point in my teen years, I vowed I would “never” do that because I saw how it never ended up working out for my mom and seemed to be a waste of time.

However, I gave many people who probably didn’t deserve it multiple chances, maybe because it’s true we all turn into our parents, or because I believed that just like in Reality Bites, some Troy Dyer would come stand at the foot of my driveway and tell me he loves me after doing some gloriously fucked up thing that drove me to do something that is the equivalent of running up a huge phone bill with a psychic hotline. I never had the advent of a seemingly perfect Ben Stiller as Michael in my life, until recently.

It’s weird when you go through a certain amount of hoops to get into a relationship with someone. The beginnings of any romantic entanglement are so cinematic and lyrical, but I was never told how to stay in a relationship once you get into one. I grew up where all relationships ended abruptly or seemed alien and weird grown-up things that I didn’t care about. I thought that living with someone and being in love was the end-all-be-all of existence but guess what, that’s dumb. I was over 30 when I figured out this was not the case…. arrested development is not just the name of a band and a TV show, y’all. Relationships take work, and they don’t make problems disappear. They make them easier to deal with, but it’s not all wine and roses. There are some movies that touch on this reality, but not enough.

Instead of telling us how to stay in a long-term relationship, movies often teach us that if our partner has some quality that doesn’t live up to our expectations, some perfect hero is going to appear out of nowhere to rescue us from the bad choice we made. Hello, Billy Zane in Titanic!

The thing is, that in reality, Rose would’ve concocted this entire fantasy of Jack in her head, while staying right by Cal Hockley’s side and trying to remember how awesome it is to have a rich, handsome fiancé, even though he’s an asshole. Jack would have lived because he would’ve found the floating door. Rose and Cal would’ve got on the first lifeboats and they all would’ve lived miserably ever after. This story doesn’t win Academy Awards however. Also to touch on Wedding Crashers, in what world except for the fictional one set before us in this film would Owen Wilson get the girl over Bradley Cooper? Anyway….

Basically, movies are not typically touchstones on how to live your life, which I wish I could’ve figured out before I had so many failed relationships. There are some that are incredibly inspiring and have great messages, but more often than not, they’re fantasy scenarios that people wrote because that’s what they wish they could’ve done. If my theory is correct, I guess I have plenty of my own extremely unrealistic screenplays to write, so I’m going to go ahead and get to it.

[clippedwingsmusic]

Interview with Moontower

We were honored to sit down with Moontower as they usher “Season 1″ onto the virtual soundscape as well as the stage at The Echo last week! Keep reading to hear a bit more about their upcoming record(s) and some of the things that make their live shows some of the best you will ever see.

Based on healing and emotional color theory, orange is supposed to evoke joy and creativity. What feeling do you want your music to evoke in your fans?

Tom: That's spot on! I wish we could say that we did that on purpose. We chose orange more for the story. Orange juice and oranges are a huge part of the story that we want to tell. What we want to do with the oranges, the music, and the videos is create worlds for our fans to fall down like rabbit holes. Joy and creativity are definitely apart of that, but we wanted to handle these complex ideas through telling stories. Jacob: From the beginning of this project, we've always said that Moontower is something we're trying to push forward and is it's own entity- It's definitely greater than just the 3 of us. There's a whole amazing team behind this project and from day 1 the culture is that everybody gets to put their own mark on this project. If somebody is designing merch, we're not hawks over them. We obviously have a vision, but we bring on people who have amazing work and we want Moontower to stand for a home for creatives. What's really great is that we've gotten some of our fans to help design posters and merch- these people are amazing artists and it's been amazing to have fans help with merch and hopefully help with album covers. That description of the color orange is a perfect description for Moontower.

Your upcoming mini album is a told through the eyes of William Hollywood. Do you find it easier to write from someone else’s perspective, or was that a deliberate move to challenge yourself as writers?

Jacob: It's not necessarily through William's eyes. To explain William's roll, he came in and was inspired by the content of the songs to show his life through a visual narrative. The songs are all autobiographical about experiences that we've all had, but with him, he had had an incredibly similar childhood to the 3 of us who had all had similar childhoods growing up in suburbs in completely different parts of the country. We look up to artists like Arctic Monkeys and their new record "Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino", and I would love for us to get together and create a bunch of characters and write from their perspectives in the future. But personally, I have a lot of shit I need to say. I'm still young and I have a big ego, but we all write together. I do a lot of the writing while Tom and Devan handle most of the production, but it's not really Moontower music until we're all in the same room together. Tom is a big reason why this project is story based! I generally just pour all of my emotion into something and be all sad, then Tom helps me come through it and that it fits into the narrative of what we're doing. Devan writes beautifully abstract poetry so that will make it's way in there as well. Everyone brings an idea and puts their mark on it. So this isn't a story told "through" William, it's supplemented by another thing he brings to the table, and shows our story in a completely new way.

With the release of your album, you will also be releasing a sitcom soundtracked by each song on the album. Is this something that you will be continuing as you release more bodies of work in the future?

Tom: Definitely! Devan: We love concept-driven everything. Some of our favorite albums are all concepts. "Season 2" is in development. Tom: We're so stoked on "Season 2"! Jacob: The music we're already making for it has this maturity, where "Season 1" has a certain nostalgia harkening back to being in high school. "Season 2" has this maturity and rawness, and it's roughly about family dynamics. It's a little more serious.

How have you been breaking through the stigma associated with electronic-based music that the live performances always tend to be lackluster?

Tom: We, as a project, started out only performing live. We started playing in August of 2017 and we decided that we wanted to do this thing that was only original music and it was music you could only hear live. Devan: That lasted for about 8 months. Tom: It was almost 10 months before "William" went online, and we just played as much as we could at USC doing house parties, then house parties across the coast, then started playing venues. It was all around this idea that we wanted to build a world- do more than just put the audio out there. We want to tell stories and bring to life what we're trying to say and show you. There's no better way to do that than to forge a 1 to 1 connection with people, and live is the best way to do that. Although we do take a lot of pride in the music, the videos, our Instagram content, and our merch, it's all just business cards to bring you to our live show. We want Moontower to be as 3-Dimensional as our videos suggest it is. The live show is everything to us. Hopefully you find there to be no lack of luster. Devan: The other thing about the electronic element that’s cool is that there's all this tech out there. Tonight is based around a lot of projection mapping showing "Season 1", but it's like the Wild West out here in terms of software and programming. We drive ourselves crazy trying to get the vision we see in our heads physically there. Even separate from the music, at it's core, that is the electronic element of this band. Jacob: We just want to challenge ourselves always. I do get what you're saying though, we've all been to DJ sets where it's just the crowd yelling "Play 'Closer'!" The best DJ set I ever did was when Tom's laptop died and I just started spinning off of Spotify. People lost their minds! He had this whole set planned and I was like "Can I pretend that I'm DJ'ing?". I just played top 40 bangers and everyone said "This is the best DJ I've ever heard!". No one knew the difference. We were able to fool them, but we don't ever want people to think that's what a Moontower set is. We're not hiding our tracks. We don't have a drummer but you hear drums. It's fine! We're challenging ourselves to go above and beyond the technical boundaries in every stage of our career. We’re having projection mapping at The Echo when people don't tend to have that at this stage in their careers. We want to build just like Daft Punk's Coachella set when they took the entire set to build the LED pyramid or the Injustice set where they had wild lights- Tom: Or The Weeknd when he takes you on a spaceship, or Kendrick Lamar when he's on a floating stage. Jacob: With electronic music, or when you don't have a lot of live instruments on stage, you can do everything through computers and processing and you have the opportunity to build wild shit. So we're going to keep doing that! It's going to be the most energetic set you're coming to.

How do you balance building a narrative within your music while still being genuine with your fanbase?

Jacob: The narrative is us! It's our lives or the lives of people close to us. We think that stories become more timeless when you create characters to tell these stories through, or when you stumble upon William who's an actual person that has a similar vision to you. You can learn so much about us just by listening to the music and watching these videos. It just is our story. Devan: I think "Season 2" will be a good indication of us. In "Season 1", it's about a suburban love story, while "Season 2" is about family dynamics. There are so many stories. Every family is a little fucked up and has it's own charm. It's a beautiful disaster, and I think with "Season 2" getting out of the suburban love story and actually talking about shared experiences between the 3 of us, that will feel real. One of the things we learned at school was to only write about what you know. Tom: Thinking back, we have a member of our team named Helen, and she's been there since the 4th ever Moontower show, and she's never missed one since. Then after a while she came on the team and we love her to death. She's absolutely invaluable at this point. She was saying just yesterday that as someone who's seen this from the fan perspective, what she loves most is when she can see us on stage falling in love with our own music. I think that one of the ways we stay genuine is that we stand behind every single note and word and song. Everytime we play I'm just smiling like a motherfucker because I'm so stoked to be able to share the music and have a semblance of people caring. Jacob: When I say that I don't remember writing a song, there's hours and hours of small moments that go into getting a song past 90%, but I don't think we can tell you how we got to 90%. I don't really remember writing "William", but not in a 'I blacked out' kind of way, but truly you just get lost in the moment. After you get something to a point where you're so proud of it, and take it on stage and you're like "I can't believe I wrote this, this is awesome!". But it can be nerve wracking because you start wondering if you can write anything better than that. It's amazing.

A lot of live-oriented bands tend to have trouble translating their live energy into their recorded music, did you have this issue in the recording process for your record?

Tom: I'd say yeah. Jacob: But we do make everything with the live show in mind. Our goal honestly is to be better live than we are recorded. Tom: We work very hard to make the recordings the best that they can be, but we work hard to make the live shows better. There is something about the live show that we know is much more fun for us and for other people, and that's why everything else for us leads you to a live show. It's something that you can't capture when it's 107 dbz and you're knocking heads with your neighbor. But there's also super intimate moments, like in "Balcony Pt. 2" that would feel different after a party when it's 2AM and you're going home wasted versus coming to our show. Jacob: We advocate coming to our shows sad. Tom: Jacob wants to make you sad, I want to make you dance, and Devan wants to make you feel special. Devan: We've been sitting on "Season 1" for a while and it's been hard to tell people that it's coming when we don't know what the actual dates are but being able to listen back to some of these bounces that we've put time into is interesting. Listening back to the studio masters is different. Yes, the live show is "better", but there are some tones that feel very much in the moment in the studio, and those moments are what make the studio version worth listening to. Jacob: We may make something in the studio and can't touch it again, we may find a way to improve it live, etc. but we won't then say that the original is shit. It still came from an incredibly honest place and was the base of something better.

How do you feel visuals played into the creation and will continue to influence the life of Moontower as a whole?

Tom: We intend for Moontower to exist in seasons. Before we released anything, we played live a lot, and before we ever released a song, we released a video online called "Pilot". We knew from the very start that we didn't want to just be music. With that said, it isn't just about visuals. It's about branding, the stage, the merch, etc. For example, for "Season 2" we're writing a bunch of short stories to go along with each song, so if you want watch the video, you can. If you want to listen to the song, you can. If you want to read the story, you can. The idea is that everything we want to do is multi-dimensional and we think that we can do that, so we have the obligation to do that. Devan: We're very fortunate to have a team that shares their brilliance on things. For "Pilot", William came up to us and he didn't know what he wanted, but he found a pickaxe, forgot his shirt, and started filming. They didn't tell us anything, and just came back with this video. He said he was going to go pitch it to a bunch of production companies and get funding so we could film a whole season for the first record. We said "Who the fuck is going to pay for this?", because we thought it was awesome, our fans and friends did too, but suits won't like it. Lo and behold, it got greenlit and funded. And now we're looking forward to a long, illustrious friendship and many seasons! Tom: When I say that "we" have the ability to do stuff, I don't mean just the 3 of us. I mean our manager Carina, our production designer Fish, the whole production team, etc. Jacob: Our entire team has expanded in the past 3 months and that gives us the ability to reach more people and do bigger things. It's beautifully scary. We're gonna be all over the place, so we better figure out how to expand and take this all over the world.

Do you have any major goals for this new year/Where do you want to see yourselves at the end of 2019?

Jacob: Tour. It's all we care about. It's coming. We're not big on saying what's going to happen and what's not- Tom: We learned that the hard way that we need to not say something because it's all conjecture. Jacob: We will be everywhere at some point. We want to never leave the road except to come back and write more music then go back out again. It's the most beautiful way to meet people and see new places. It's everything to us. I want to be more aware of the people we share this earth with and ask them their favorite place to get pizza. I think you can tell a lot about someone by their favorite pizza spot.

https://thisismoontower.com/

Written by Ashton Carr

[razieltwelve]

Defiance (Final Rose)

It was not uncommon to find Empress Averia VII of the Arendelle Empire asleep at her desk in her study. In fact, it had become alarmingly common over the past several months as matters both military and political had begun to consume her attention. Another huge swarm of Grimm was approaching the edges of the galaxy, and despite the obvious threat it presented, both she and Weiss of the Schnee Mercantile Alliance were having difficulties gathering sufficient support.

Apparently, people had forgotten just how dangerous the Grimm could be. So many of them were confident that this swarm could be dealt with using existing military power. However, her Dia-Farron scientists had assured her that the approaching swarm was far large and more powerful than any swarm within the last century or so at the very least.

Naturally, there were those who worried about the empress over exerting herself, but she was the empress. What hope did they have of overruling her authority? After all, she’d posted imperial guards at the doors to her study specifically to deter any such attempts.

Luckily, there was someone with the authority required.

X     X     X

It was not often that the bearer of Saviour, Claire, could be seen striding through the halls of the imperial palace in her full dress uniform. The uniform in question harkened back to the modified uniform that was supposedly worn by Averia Yun-Farron of Remnant during formal occasions. Averia had served as the head of the royal guard, in addition to being the wife and consort of Queen Elsa.

Like many of her Yun-Farron relatives, Claire disliked wearing her dress uniform. It was extravagant and hardly perfect for fighting in. However, it was necessary for moments like these when she wished to throw her figurative weight around. She had been told of the empress’s lack of sleep and rest, and it had reached the point where she felt it necessary to intervene. The empire would not be well served if the empress collapsed performing her duties.

As she strode down the corridor, she was immediately aware of the four imperial guardsmen posted outside the doors of the empress’s study. They had undoubtedly been given orders to dissuade anyone from entering. 

“Stand aside,” Claire ordered.

“We have strict orders to prevent anyone disturbing the empress at this time,” one of the guardsmen replied. “And -”

Claire’s eyes narrowed, and she turned the infamous Farron Death Glare on the guardsman. To his credit, although he was about to throw up from terror, he made no move to retreat. Instead, he remained at his post. “Are you aware of the position I hold in the imperial guard, soldier?”

He gulped and nodded. “As the current generation’s bearer of Saviour, you are the titular head of the imperial guard.”

“Yes, now move.”

“But, ma’am, we have orders from the empress herself…”

“And in matters pertaining to the safety and security of the empress, my authority is absolute unless there is reason to doubt my loyalty or unless the empress herself strips me of that authority. For centuries, my predecessors have seen to the safety of the emperors and empresses of Arendelle. We have never before failed in our duty. Do you truly have the audacity to defy me on this matter?”

The guardsman stepped aside.

Claire made a mental note to commend the man later for his loyalty. That he had stood up to her for so long was a mark of courage. She stepped into the study, and her lips curled in distaste. The urge to start tidying up was almost too strong for her to ignore. There were piles of documents and other records scattered about. There were mugs of coffee and what appeared to be a half-eaten pizza on one table. And on the couch closest to Averia’s favourite desk was a blanket and a pillow.

Good grief. Averia was the ruler of the most powerful empire in the galaxy, and she was sleeping on a couch after working herself to exhaustion. If Jahne had been here, she would have slapped some sense into her, most likely literally. As it was, Claire would have to take extreme action. 

She spotted the empress slumped over her desk and strode over to her before simply yanking her up out of her chair and hoisting her up onto her shoulder. The empress was awake an instant later. Her Semblance roared to life, but Claire activated her own Semblance, the surge of Saviour’s power shattering the ice that the empress had already begun to gather.

“What are you doing?” Averia shrieked. “Put me down this instant, Claire! That is an order from your empress!”

“I’m afraid, you’re no longer in your right mind due to lack of sleep and rest, so I will be ignoring your orders.” Claire marched out of the room with Averia thrown over her shoulder. She ignored the looks of disbelief from the guardsmen and continued to make her way toward Averia’s private chambers. “You are going to get some proper rest in a proper bed for at least a day, Averia.”

“I am your empress and you will unhand me this second!”

“You are acting like a brat,” Claire shot back. “I’ve received reports about your behaviour. You’re grinding yourself to dust. You haven’t slept in your own bed for weeks. You take your meals in your study. Your own siblings haven’t seen or heard from you in days. They might not be willing to do this, but I am.”

“How dare you -”

“If you keep acting like a child, I will treat you like one.” Claire continued to march down the corridor, but she raised one hand threateningly as Averia continued to squirm.

“You wouldn’t dare -”

“Try me,” Claire replied flatly. “Just go ahead.”

Averia clamped her mouth shut. In many ways, Claire was the more indulgent of her two most loyal supporters and protectors, but when she threatened, it was never idly. In her childhood, Averia had, at times, acted a bit like a spoiled brat. Claire had not tolerated that behaviour at all. More than once, the two of them had gotten into brawls as Jahne had stood back and laughed while taking pictures.

“Good.” Claire’s voice softened as they reached Averia’s chambers. She wasted no time in simply going to the empress’s bedroom and throwing her onto the bed. “Get some sleep. The galaxy is not going to be wiped out in the next two days. You can’t help anybody if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

Averia considered trying to make a break for it. However, she decided not to. Claire was descended from Sigrid, the second daughter of Averia Yun-Farron and Elsa of Arendelle. And much like her pink-haired ancestors, Claire could be unbelievably overprotective, stubborn, and just plain impossible to negotiate with.

“I’m waiting,” Claire said, taking a chair and sitting down in it. “I’m not leaving until you go to sleep. If I do, you’ll just sneak out and keep working.”

“You’re seriously going to watch me sleep? Do you have any idea how creepy that is?”

“Averia, we grew up together. I’ve watched you sleep before. Besides, creepily overprotective is part of the whole Saviour thing. That’s why I’m technically the head of the imperial guard.” Claire scowled. “Now, stop talking and sleep.”

X     X     X

“Oh, shut up.”

Averia blinked and then opened her eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt better than she had in ages. She sat up to find Jahne teasing Claire. Of course, Jahne was there. The current bearer of Ragnarok could always be relied upon to appear when an opportunity to tease Claire became available.

“I can’t believe you carried her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes,” Jahne said, barely managing to speak through her laughter. “She’s going to have you executed. No, no. She’ll have you banished first and then executed.”

“Just shut up.” Claire scowled. “And look… you woke her up.”

“Hey there,” Jahne said, grinning. “Her Imperial Majesty looks like death warmed over. You definitely needed the time off.” She paused. “But, seriously, don’t banish Claire. We kind of need her to help fight off the Grimm.”

“Nobody is getting banished,” Averia muttered. “I… she was right.” She leaned back. “Now, if you two could get out, I’m going back to sleep.”

[aion-rsa]

Fall Guys Review: An Excellent Mix of Party Game and Battle Royale

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

If you’d told me at the beginning of lockdown that the perfect way to lift my spirits would be an online game made in the mold of TV shows like Takeshi’s Castle, Gladiators, and Total Wipeout, I wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, here I am, risking it all in the final stage of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, praying that a giant spinning hammer doesn’t smack me off this platform and keep me from the crown. Someone dressed as a pigeon may have just pipped me to the post, but that still hasn’t deterred me from diving back in.

Battle royales are so often about being patient, long, drawn-out matches, and thinking strategically. Fall Guys pleasantly forgoes almost all of that, instead choosing to focus on short, anarchy-filled bursts of play in which 60 players scramble over one another to be the last person standing. There are 24 colorful mini-games to take part in overall, with most offering a decent challenge. And while some are better than others, it’s hard to imagine Fall Guys not becoming your next party game addiction – especially since PS4 players get it free on PS Plus this month.

A lot of what makes Fall Guys a delight is just how charming the whole thing comes across. Each player is gifted their own Minion-esque character to personalize and make their own, which harkens back to the days when actual contestants of these TV shows would dress ridiculously in the hopes of getting noticed. New outfits are unlocked either through Kudos, in-game currency you accrue in stages, or any crowns you win. Pulling you back in is the cosmetics refresh every couple of hours. There is the ability to outright purchase costumes, patterns, and emotes from the in-game store, yet it’s entirely optional and is in no way invasive.

Combine this customization with an eye-popping color scheme that drenches everything in vibrant pink, blue, and yellow hues, and you can’t help but smile even when you get knocked out early. The beauty of failing in Fall Guys compared to other battle royales is that games never take longer than 3-5 rounds, and servers are so busy right now that it’s incredibly easy to jump back into another match within seconds. Such rampant popularity has unfortunately led to some server issues that saw me booted from a session a couple of times, but once you’re in a game, Fall Guys mostly runs buttery smooth.

If part of what turns you off about Fortnite and Apex Legends is that they’re difficult, Fall Guys has your back. Don’t get me wrong, you will fail and get frustrated when you’ve fallen off that one platform for the 100th time, yet the difference here is that everybody is in the same boat. Being successful in most of the mini-games always lies somewhere between being smart and lucky.

Release Date: Aug. 4, 2020 Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), PC Developer: Mediatonic Publisher: Devolver Digital Genre: Party Game

Speaking of which, while slamming up against 59 other players is fun, all of it would mean nothing without the 24 featured mini-games playable at launch. Split into four distinct categories — Race, Survive, Team, and Final round — most are inspired in some way by the campy TV shows Fall Guys takes cues from. Door Dash, for example, is a dead ringer for the fan-favorite round from Takeshi’s Castle, where reams of players must make their way from one end of the course to other, doing their best to avoid fake doors and bashing through real ones to the finish line.

Another game I enjoyed quite a lot was Fruit Chute, which is another Race type, only now you must run up a travellator as fast as possible while dodging oversized fruit being lobbed your way. You’d think that constantly being knocked off the racecourse would feel demoralizing, but the truth is that respawn times are so quick you’re already back in the action before you have a chance to complain. You’ll no doubt favor some mini-games over others, and the number of strategies available in each does play a part in that, yet it’s hard to complain when players are all on a level playing field.

In a competitive game like this, where movement and positioning can make or break your success, it’s important to maintain good control over your character. And though it would have been easy for developer Mediatonic to try and heighten Fall Guys’ potential comedy by making the handling purposefully awkward, the act of maneuvering your fall guy feels fair for the most part. Your basic three actions involve a simple jump, dive, and grab, the latter of which is only really needed in Team-based mini-games where you must gather more eggs than the opposing squad or be one of the last few players with a tail attached to your back.

Fall Guys seems purposefully built to forever dominate Twitch streams, YouTube Let’s Plays, and social media, mainly because it offers up enough calamitous humor and joy that it’s even fun to watch other players bumble their way towards the finish. The massive interest in the game may have led to a few glitches and bugs on the server side of things at launch, but in almost every other aspect Fall Guys absolutely delivers on its “party game meets battle royale premise.” I’m still yet to win a highly coveted crow at the time of writing, but I’m grinning from ear to ear trying.

The post Fall Guys Review: An Excellent Mix of Party Game and Battle Royale appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3iorYlP

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Surprise Girl 1984: Photographs, launch date, plot particulars, forged and extra

http://tinyurl.com/y4eujck6 She’s a Surprise. Overlook the invisible-jet-flying Surprise Girl from the delightfully tacky SuperFriends cartoon. Followers met a wholly new heroine within the 2017 blockbuster feature merely referred to as Surprise Girl. We have been ready for the sequel virtually since strolling out of the theater and can acquire information and views about it right here. The fundamentals: It is referred to as Surprise Girl 1984, and filming wrapped in December 2018. (Learn: Wonder Woman 1984 en español.) In early June 2019, precisely one 12 months earlier than the brand new movie is scheduled to open, director Patty Jenkins shared a surprising picture of star Gal Gadot in a shiny golden costume. Surprise Girl is rocking some severely 1980s armored shoulder pads, plus lengthy sleeves, her iconic bracelets, a excessive neck, and tall boots. Jenkins issued an apology for not attending San Diego Comedian-Con this 12 months, noting that the total promo marketing campaign for the movie will not start till December. However the brand new picture ought to soothe any fan upset over that. By now you’ve heard: WB isn’t going to Corridor H this 12 months. We’re so unhappy to overlook you there! And ready till Dec. to begin our official #WW84 marketing campaign in full–  However the reality is… we are able to simply… barely… wait… pic.twitter.com/QllFzhYRA6 — Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) June 5, 2019 The golden look could also be acquainted to comic-book readers. CNET sister site ComicBook.com notes that the brand new type seems to be a mixture of appears from the comics, together with the Golden Eagle armor that permits Surprise Girl to fly. In December 2018, Gadot thanked Jenkins, the character’s followers, and the almost 1,000 crew members “who got here to set day-after-day, giving all the things they’ve into our film.” View this post on Instagram We did it. Again!! And as much as the first time shooting Wonder Woman was amazing, this time was even more unique and special.. We shot in 4 very different locations in 3 countries, and I’m so soooo proud of the almost 1000 crew members who came to set every day, giving everything they have into our movie. Couldn’t ask for better partners on this.. I’m so lucky to have the one and only Patty Jenkins, as my director. She always has our backs, she gives us the wings to dare, and everyday she helped us find the most creative version of ourselves .. I am so grateful to call her my friend. And to our AMAZINGly talented cast who made every day enjoyable and fun, thank you! Honestly.. Words cannot describe this experience.. This journey was so demanding and challenging but we all came and did our very best every take, every day, putting our all out there and I’m so proud… Thank you universe for this opportunity. I love this character. And thank you to all of you for being the best fans in the world. It was you that made me push myself every day. I’m so happy and excited, can’t wait to share it with you in 2020! ❤️ Gal A publish shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Dec 23, 2018 at 9:35am PST Do not line up but to purchase tickets for the sequel. It was initially scheduled to come back out in November 2019, however again in October 2018, Gadot and Jenkins introduced the move to June 2020. Now they might be regretting that change. In Could 2019, Jenkins stated in a video interview that she’s simply screened the movie and longed to launch it immediately. “I am dying to launch this movie,” she stated. Patty Jenkins on Surprise Girl 1984. (She’s already screened an early model of the film!) (📸: vanzekin018) pic.twitter.com/KmlMoQHNNN — Surprise Girl Information (@WonderWoman84HQ) May 18, 2019 The newest In late April 2018, Jenkins wished Gadot a cheerful 34th birthday on Twitter, writing “I like you greater than phrases can say.” Yeah, yeah, that is all effectively and good, however we’re right here for the picture Jenkins shared, which seems to be from Surprise Girl 1984 and exhibits Gadot clad in crisp white trying over a bannister. Numerous media sources claimed the look is mimicking completely different eras. The Deseret News says it is a homage to the 1970s Lynda Carter Surprise Girl collection, whereas The Hollywood Reporter says that the look harkens again to a 1960s comedian storyline. Do not name the subsequent film a sequel. Producer Charles Roven told Vulture that director Jenkins is “decided that this film ought to be the subsequent iteration of Surprise Girl however not a sequel.” He notes that the film is ready in a totally completely different timeframe and tells a really completely different story than the unique.  The fundamentals So what do we all know thus far? We all know the sequel’s title will probably be Wonder Woman 1984, and it is set within the neon-splashed Reagan Period. Two photos released in June 2018 present Diana marveling at some very 1980s TV screens (J.R. Ewing!) and in a potential spoiler, Steve Trevor getting his shopping center on. (Is that this actually Steve? How can that be… by no means thoughts, it is the flicks.) And director Patty Jenkins could be very enthusiastic about one other character, the unidentified man performed by Pedro Pascal, star of Netflix present Narcos. On July 30, Jenkins tweeted out a photograph of Pascal with a loud tie and a few severe 1980s Ken doll hair, declaring she “cannot…cease…watching” the actor’s work. The character Pascal is enjoying continues to be a secret, although followers on Twitter guessed he is perhaps supervillain Maxwell Lord or, presumably, Vandal Savage.  Jenkins and Pascal labored collectively on the 2015 TV film Exposed. Game of Thrones followers will know Pascal for his position as dashing however doomed Oberyn Martell. At Comic-Con, attendees were treated to some new footage. You possibly can’t cease Surprise Girl. She’s coming again for a sequel. Warner Bros. With Gadot because the lead in Surprise Girl, the heroic Amazon lastly landed a full-on movie of her personal, and a few critics name it the perfect characteristic ever within the DC movie universe. (Batman v Superman must console itself with its shelf full of Razzies.) The movie was the third-highest-grossing movie of 2017, behind solely Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the live-action remake of Magnificence and the Beast. In mid-June 2018, Gadot released the first photo exhibiting her in costume for the sequel. She’s apparently landed herself a really 1980s curling iron, and the costume is trying shiny. And in late June, director Patty Jenkins launched a photograph of Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva, aka supervillain Cheetah, although Wiig is proven standing in a museum in a very-1980s outfit, not in full villain garb. (Minerva is an archaeologist within the comics, so the museum location is sensible.) Surprise Girl proved, as soon as and for all, that feminine superheroes can headline their very own film, if it is achieved effectively. Appears ridiculous this was ever a query, however as Deadline wrote, “there appeared (to be) a motive studios put capes totally on males, as a result of it was thought they have been the rabid fan base that camped out early and got here again usually and made big opening weekends.”  Welcome to the 21st century, filmmakers, the place women and men might be equally devoted followers of each female and male heroes. A sequel was inevitable, as a result of DC execs are not any dummies. Fans worried at first about whether or not director Patty Jenkins would return for the second movie, however she signed on in September 2017. Selection stories Jenkins will earn around $8 million to direct, produce and work on the script, which might make her the highest-paid feminine director of all time. Launch date, manufacturing information Surprise Girl 1984 is now scheduled for a June 5, 2020, launch, moved again from its unique December 2019 to keep away from competing with Star Wars: Episode IX. The title was confirmed by director Jenkins earlier this 12 months, so get out your jelly footwear and Members Solely jackets for the journey to the theater. Jenkins wrote the script with Geoff Johns, president and chief artistic officer of DC Comics, and screenwriter Dave Callaham. And in August 2018, phrase got here that Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer would score the film. Zimmer initially composed Surprise Girl’s theme music for her movie debut in Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice in 2016. As talked about above, star Gadot noted on Dec. 23, 2018, that filming had wrapped, after taking pictures in “four very completely different areas in Three nations.” Solid: Who’s who? Returning characters How is Steve again?!?? Warner Bros. Photos New faces Plot information, rumors and theories Do not be a Cheetah! Director Patty Jenkins confirmed on Twitter in March that Kristen Wiig will star as the supervillain Cheetah, calling Wiig “sensationally gifted.” Cheetah has lengthy been a nemesis of Surprise Girl, with 4 completely different incarnations since her 1943 debut. (In 2001, a man briefly took on the title of Cheetah, however the different three have been ladies.) Early Cheetahs have been simply ladies in costumes, however more moderen variations morph right into a human-cheetah hybrid and have enhanced energy and agility, plus lethal claws and fangs. Due to a photo Jenkins d in late June 2018, Wiig’s model of Cheetah seems to be archaeologist Dr. Barbara Minerva, however there’s additionally no want for the movie to stay intently to any comics story. Completely superior ’80s: We all know from the title that the film will probably be set in that absolutely tubular decade of the 1980s. Gnarly! But additionally, severe! Screenrant says the brand new film “will ship Diana in opposition to the forces of Soviet Union within the closing days of the Chilly Struggle.”  To be particular, the movie will probably be set in 1984, the 12 months of the Los Angeles Olympics. To get into the 1980s spirit, the forged additionally posed for a photograph that mimics the poster for John Hughes’ 1985 hit, The Breakfast Membership. Pining for Pine: Many followers puzzled if Chris Pine, who performed Steve Trevor within the first movie, could be again. Spoiler forward: He sacrificed himself within the first movie, so it might appear… tough. However something goes in comedian resurrections (simply ask thawed-out Captain America over at Marvel). And now that Jenkins has released a photo labeling it Trevor, we’re left to marvel precisely how he makes his return. Now enjoying: Watch this: High 5 methods ‘Surprise Girl’ saved the DC film universe 3:02 Right here comes the final: In October 2018, Robin Wright confirmed to Variety that she’s going to as soon as once more play Common Antiope within the sequel. (Spoiler: It’s going to should be in flashback or another twist as a result of the final sacrificed herself for Diana within the first movie.) “It should be an iconic time: somewhat Surprise Girl within the vortex of this motion,” Wright stated whereas discussing the state of ladies’s points as we speak. “And…Surprise Girl, who was created within the ’40s, what does she symbolize? Justice and equality and talking the reality. So to be part of that enhancement, as Surprise Girl’s basic, it is so nice.” Seventies celebrity: Till Gadot got here alongside, the enduring onscreen Surprise Girl was Lynda Carter, who starred within the 1970s tv collection. Might Carter make a cameo look within the sequel? In early 2018, Jenkins was requested about that. “We’ll see,” she told Entertainment Tonight’s Mary Hart. “Lynda is likely one of the dearest individuals to us, has been an important mentor and expensive pal. And we truly desperately tried to get her within the first one and we had the scheduling that could not work, so she’s all the time been part of our Surprise Girl household. We cannot say something but, however we actually — there is not any lack of making an attempt.” She’s coming to America: The primary movie was set in wartime Europe, however for this one, the star-spangled superhero is coming to the nice ol’ USA. “The story will happen within the US, which I believe is true,” Jenkins told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s Surprise Girl. She’s acquired to come back to America. It is time.” Cheetah, however no copycat: Jenkins told Entertainment Tonight the 2 movies will not march in lockstep. “We’re truly making a very completely different movie with a number of the identical … issues that we love, however (the sequel is) its personal film fully,” she stated.  Rumored Riz? There’s also a rumor that Riz Ahmed, star of HBO’s The Night Of, is being pursued for a job, based mostly on an announcement made by Jeff Sneider,  editor in chief of The Tracking Board, during a March podcast. Ahmed can be on this 12 months’s Venom, which can imply he is too busy to select up one other main superhero film. Dream come true: Indian actress Soundarya Sharma will play a job within the movie, The Hindu newspaper reported in August 2018. Whereas her position has not but been revealed, it sounds main. “This I can say is a ‘dream coming true’ state of affairs,”http://www.cnet.com/” the actor stated. “It is exhilarating to be part of such a larger-than-life character movie the place you get to play your dream position. I’ve all the time dreamt of enjoying such a personality.” Sharma is probably finest identified for starring within the 2017 Bollywood film Ranchi Diaries. She’s additionally studied dentistry, and that is the tooth. This piece was initially posted Could 9, 2018, and is up to date as new particulars come out. Culture: Your hub for all the things from movie and tv to music, comics, toys and sports activities. Movie magic: The secrets and techniques behind the scenes of your favourite movies and filmmakers. Source link

[aislesalmon]

In honor of season 4 being announced, have some Eight Precepts of Death headcanons that are probably dead wrong lmao

Deidoro: -He's actually insanely fucking smart. He was originally going to become a doctor; the stress of med school was what led him to start drinking. He became addicted, and it completely destroyed his life. He failed out of med school, his parents (whose high expectations of him didn't help his stress any) cut ties with him, and he couldn't hold down a steady job (having low-paying jobs when he could have been a doctor worsened his mental state, leading him to drink even more in a vicious cycle) and he ended up on the streets, stealing to survive and keep drinking. One day he stole from Toya, who stole back, but Deidoro was bale to use his quirk to steal again and get away. Toya reported back to Overhaul, who, impressed, tracked down and recruited Deidoro. -He joined Overhaul because he was swayed by his words of "curing the sick" - he views it as his last chance of fulfilling his dream of being a doctor who helps people. -He very quickly saw that what Overhaul was doing was wrong and far from helping or curing anyone, but he just drank more to forget it and kept working under him. -He isolated himself from the other Expendables, because he believes he is worse than them. While they were harmed by other people, which ruined their lives, he blames himself for not being able to handle the stress and becoming addicted to alcohol. He believes that they aren't worthless, but he is. -His quirk isn't just making people feel drunk - it's projecting his feelings onto those around him. He hoped to use it in his medical career, to relieve pain, induce calmness in patients and, if possible, project some of his health onto them, at least temporarily, if only just to keep people alive long enough to try and save them. We see it as him making everyone feel drunk because, well, he's always drunk when we see him. -His relationship with Shin is... complicated, to say the least. -He used to get mad when people thought him stupid, saying that his drunkenness didn't make him less intelligent, arguing that he used to be in med school. One day Overhaul overheard and asked, "Used to?" and that was the end of that. Now he's just internalized it, believing himself to be stupid after all. (Just imagine him doing Sayaka Miki's "I was stupid... so stupid" thing and that's how self-loathing and tragic this character is)

Tabe: -Is his first name Tabe or Soramitsu? I have no idea. This isn't a headcanon, I genuinely have no idea. -His mother was young and he was her first kid, while his father was much older and had a few kids from a previous marriage - all adults and moved out. These siblings don't know about him; his parents were always careful to hide him away whenever company came over due to how ashamed they were of him. -Holy shit child abuse. I hate to harken back to PMMM again, but I honestly picture a Sana Futaba situation with him, where his parents genuinely despised him and at first verbally abused him, then straight up ignored him and only left meals at his door. Finally, they kicked him out of the house and then abruptly moved away, and he has no idea where they are now. -Immune to diabetes, and probably a lot of other food-related conditions. Not that anyone ever cared to check. -Someone please give this man a hug and a lot of cookies

Toya: -I like @latrociniium's idea that he cut ties with his parents after his awful girlfriend cost him everything, because he felt guilty that he ignored their warnings and thought they must hate him. -They don't. They still love him and know about his arrest, and have tried to get in contact with him numerous times since then. He always turns them down out of shame, but they think he's mad at them for perceived failing as parents. They're worried sick and miss him terribly. -Jesus Christ you emo twink bird please talk to your fucking parents

Hari: -In love with Overhorse. 100%. Like that's absolutely why he follows him with such fanatic, unfailing loyalty. -If there's anyone in this world that Kai "Overhaul" Chewbacca truly cares for, it's him. -That being said, Kai isn't emotionally capable of returning Hari's feelings, at least to the same extent that Hari feels them. -Hates attention; perfectly content working in Kai's shadow. -I love the idea that after all the bullshit goes down, Hari and Shin overcome their jealousy of each other getting Kai's attention, and dump Kai "Uhaul" Chisaki to run off with each other instead. What's that image series of the two girls fighting over a guy while he tries to decide which one he wants, and then while he's deciding they ditch him and get together instead? Like that.

Shin: -Walking disaster holy fuck -I don't have many headcanons about his past; I kind of like it as a mystery. -"Emotions aren't required for an efficient mission", my ass. He's an emotional mess. That line is probably something Kai "Overhaul" El Chupacabra told him after one of his many emotional breakdowns. He's almost as bad as Toya with dumping his emotions on people without any prompting. Whiny as hell. -Honestly, I think of Shiapouf from HxH with regards to Shin. Guy with an overinflated sense of self-importance who tries to present himself as (and may honestly believe himself to be) the most rational of his group, but is actually super unstable and controlled by his emotions (also the whole yknow obsessive loyalty to an authority figure thing). -Kai, Hari, Toya and Shin make the Twink Squad.

Hekiji: -LOVELY MAN -Honestly I can't think of anything not included in @shaheii's portrayal. Just. Everything about that blog is absolutely perfect.

Kendou: -Again, can't think of anything else but @berserker-buzzard. A+, spot-on, flawless portrayal.

Joi: -JOI MY BELOVED. He might actually be my favorite out of the birds, which is saying something, because I love ALL the birds (except maybe Overrated - I mean Overhaul, oops). -Yet again, a specific rp blog dominates my headcanons - this time it's @carrionfeigned. Stay awesome.

Hojo: -I don't know much about this dude, but I love him and I want to know more! -I'm torn between thinking of him as a super quiet, aloof guy who fits his appearance, or a really unexpectedly goofy and/or sensitive dude who defies expectations. -Help him too. He needs it.

Rikiya: -Chaotic horny -That being said, sometimes he genuinely doesn't realize how creepy his words can be. Be patient with him. He's dumb. -What's with the Mexican wrestler mask. What's with his tiny head. Does his head even exist? How? That mask is so tiny. What the fuck

Kai: -Sociopath. That's it. He's an abusive sociopath and there's not much more to say. He grew up, after whatever the hell put him on the streets as a kid, with unending love and support from his adopted father, and still has no empathy, and desires to use others for his own purposes. -He doesn't actually love his adopted father. He thinks he does, but in reality, he feels that he owes his adopted father for taking him in, and wants to be even so he doesn't have to feel inferior to him anymore. I... don't really think Kai has the emotional capacity to truly love anyone, to be totally honest.

Old mafia boss: -I don't know if this contradicts canon, but he's alive, albeit in critical condition due to Kai putting him in a coma. That being said, the hospital he was taken to managed to undo Kai's work, and he eventually woke up. He's got a lot to say to Kai about deliberately disobeying his orders, disrespecting his wishes, and completely and utterly ruining his mafia, all while pretending it was in his name/what he would have wanted.