#joshua gibbs

[totheescapement]

Be Like the Past

You can’t just hate the present and long for the past, any more than you can make the future better by demanding of some nonexistent authority that they make it so. To make the future, you have to actually learn about the past, its glories and its follies alike, its conflicts and its contradictions. If we want to be like our forebears who successfully made it new, we have to, you know, be like them. We have to mine the incredibly rich resource of our past, and use that resource in whatever way we need to create new forms of art and politics, forms that are relevant to us. And then we have to hope that the future will treat us the same way, because then it will be alive. 

~Noah Millman, quoted by Alan Jacobs here

See also Josh Gibbs constant refrain: We learn history so that we can repeat it.

[dragonfruits02]

spy school memes. heavily inspired to make these by @pinwheel-plant

the apex predator one is not mine! its from pinterest :3

and the alexander hale wiki that’s just a picture of jawa is but a screenshot

[yourtwistedlies]

spy school memes

1 nothing = one more chance for alexander to buy some tea and find his keys

inspired by @dragonfruits02

[redheadedbrunette]

Any headcannons on the hale sisters? Or any of the spy school characters?

they're both incredibly jealous each other for the upbringing they got. trixie is jealous that erica got to be a part of the family legacy and be a hale in a way that, even if she were allowed to start training as a spy, she would never get to be. erica is jealous of trixie because she gets to forge her own identity outside of the spy business. because even though she's good at espionage and doesn't want that sense of identity taken away, she wishes that it could have been a choice, and more and more she's realizing the toll that it takes on her personal relationships and is wondering if it's really worth it.

erica was homeschooled for the entirety of her time leading up to her entrance at the academy, aside from the two weeks she attended second grade when trixie started kindergarten. it was around the time catherine and alexander's marriage was starting to fray at the edges, and they were hoping that if both girls were going to school, then catherine could spend more time working around the world because she felt obliged to stay at home with them when they were young. it went kind of horribly, and while erica herself didn't get into any fights (because she had been warned explicitly not to hurt any of her classmates), it was going pretty bad for her socially speaking and trixie had received no such warnings and was completely willing to release all of her feral energy and bite seven year olds who were being mean to her big sister. erica was pulled out almost right away and went back to homeschooling, and after her suspension was over, trixie went back and finished the year and started going to boarding school the next year. meanwhile, erica was just taken around with catherine most of the time and dropped back with alexander when catherine went on more involved missions and just did her schoolwork there.

[alexpeteronoja]

Not Dead Yet Season 1 Episode 1

Nell Stevens, a self-described disaster in the story, is broke and recently single. She is attempting to relaunch the life and profession she left behind about ten years ago. Nell begins receiving life advise from an odd (and dead) source when writing obituaries is the only employment she can find. Mp4 Download Not Dead Yet Season 1  720p 480p , Not Dead Yet Season 1 , x265 x264 , torrent , HD…

[sinceileftyoublog]

Aaron Frazer Interview: Implicit to Explicit

Photo by Rosie Cohe

BY JORDAN MAINZER

"The difference between Carole King and Westside Gunn...is a lot shorter than people realize," Aaron Frazer said to contextualize his second solo album Into The Blue (Dead Oceans). Reading that before I listened to the record for the first time had me primed for the unexpected. And while it's not an album that sounds like A$AP Rocky and Jessica Pratt--let alone a legendary folk singer and raw Griselda crew member--Into The Blue does demonstrate the genre-hopping prowess of a versatile singer-songwriter. Frazer, dealing with a breakup and a cross-country move from New York to Los Angeles, looked to his own record collection for comfort. He also returned to the exploratory mindset of his crate-digging past to make an album that captures heartbreak, transitions, ends, and new beginnings in all of their complexity.

Long before he was known as the falsetto singer and drummer of Durand Jones & The Indications, Frazer was a beatmaker, toying around with FL Studio (fka FruityLoops) as a teenager. He went on to study sound engineering at Indiana University, where The Indications were formed. While his records with The Indications as well as his solo debut Introducing..., the latter produced by Dan Auerbach, are clear contemporary takes on old-school soul, Into The Blue reveals Frazer's love for hip-hop. Co-producer Alex Goose (Freddie Gibbs, Madlib, Brockhampton) helped Frazer incorporate samples, from 60s teen pop music to 90's R&B, into his songs. Best, the samples are purposeful and tasteful. Opening track "Thinking Of You" takes the opening line from The Shades' "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Hey...it's him again...uh-oh!" to reintroduce Frazer and establish the modus operandi of Into The Blue. "Lonely nights like this, I still feel your kiss," Frazer sings over a swelling, lovelorn orchestra. "Fly Away" culls from the Hi-Five song of the same name in a coincidental bit of studio magic, where a song Frazer and Jungle's Lydia Kitto had been working on happened to follow the same chord progression as the 90's R&B classic that Goose had filed away for future sampling use.

Of course, for Frazer, sampling is just a more direct callback to the past than his normal, indirect cherry picking of blue-eyed soul. Into The Blue expands his horizons. The title track juxtaposes strings, breakbeats, and country western guitars. "I Don't Wanna Stay" employs a 5-piece string section to enhance the dramatic, cinematic flair of Frazer's storytelling. "Easy To Love", which does interpolate Kenix's disco classic "There's Never Been (No One Like You)", sports a four-on-the-floor drum beat and keyboard sprinkles for a slice of pure funk. And "Payback" takes a base of Northern soul-esque drum fills and handclaps and smothers them with whispered and lurking-to-shouting backing vocals and Nick Waterhouse's blistering guitar.

A few months ago, I spoke with Frazer over the phone. Calling from his apartment in Los Angeles, he discussed both the sonic inspirations and making of Into The Blue. He was also in the process of figuring out how to play the album live. Frazer had done a release show on June 28th, the day the album was released, something that he hadn't done since he was in college. "I forgot how much work goes into finishing an album rollout," Frazer said, "adding in the last little bits before release while also trying to perform not just passably, but well, for the first time in front of an audience who has only heard the record for a maximum of 18 hours." The answer on his current tour, including a stop Sunday at Thalia Hall? A 7-piece band, including Frazer behind the drum kits for a third of the show, switching places with his drummer/singer. It's still a challenge. "[Into The Blue is] a band album, but it's a production album, as well," Frazer said. "There are elements that need to be shifted in a live context...There are more voices on the record than I'm going to have on stage. I'm not going to have the string section. How are you getting to capture that psychedelic moment and dub basement soul in a live setting?"

Find out the answer on Sunday and read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: On Into The Blue, why did you decide to work with a different set of people than those whom you worked with on your first record?

Aaron Frazer: In some ways, it's a whole new set, but in [other] ways, it's a return to my normal workflow. On the strings and horns, those are all my friends from Brooklyn who I've been working with on the Durand Jones & The Indications records since 2018, with American Love Call. It's less that this was a new thing: When you work with Dan Auerbach, and he's in the producer role, you have access to his collaborators. They're legends who have played on cornerstone records of American music. It's amazing. When I do it myself, I like to work with my friends. This was a mix of my friends from New York and new friends that I had made in Los Angeles, which included Lydia Kitto and Joshua Lloyd from Jungle, [as well as] Nick Waterhouse. Also, because I had the opportunity to do whatever I wanted, I was also able to hit up people I had wanted to work with for a long time, like Cold Diamond & Mink.

SILY: You were dealing with material that was a bit more vulnerable than on past records. Was it a blessing to work with your friends, people you could be vulnerable around?

AF: This record is the sound of me navigating and processing the things happening in my life very much in real-time. Definitely, working with friends allows me a certain level of vulnerability. When I wrote "Into the Blue", the day I showed up for that session, I was honestly too bummed out to write anything. Maybe in another session, that wouldn't be okay, or I'd feel some sort of pressure to power through, but because they were my friends, I voiced that. There was no pressure, and we just listened to some records, and the records we were listening to wound up inspiring the original demo of "Into the Blue". So it's definitely a blessing to work with friends.

SILY: What records were you listening to?

AF: We all geek out over records that feel ghostly, so The Ink Spots, for example. "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" is the classic Ink Spots tune people know. Some of the Charlie Parker with Strings album has this big, classic Disney chorus. I don't mean Frozen, more the old school Disney.

SILY: Fluttery instrumentation.

AF: Some Hawaiian stuff has a lot of ghostly qualities. Eventually, we came to Ennio Morricone's stuff, which is very much in the through-line to Into the Blue and a thread throughout this record.

SILY: I wrote down the word "ghostly" the first time I listened to "I Don't Wanna Stay", with the five-piece string section and the backing vocal harmonies. Combined with the themes of the record in general--a dying or dead relationship--it fits. Was that interplay between theme and instrumentation at top of mind when making the record?

AF: Definitely. It felt like I was navigating a haunted house. It kind of feels like for me, this album is the sound of driving across the country, but having flashbacks to the life that I left.

SILY: I'm definitely intrigued by the use of samples, and I imagine working with Alex Goose spurred that. It doesn't seem like that different of an overall approach from what you were doing previously, the same way you might call back to a classic genre or sound. Sampling is just a little more specific.

AF: I grew up making hip-hop instrumentals. I downloaded a free version of FruityLoops, which is now called FL Studio. It now sounds more professional. The first beat I ever made was a loop of the intro of the song "Lullaby of Birdland", this great piano intro. I made it in Windows Movie Maker, which was on the computer. I've always been drawn to samples. At first, it was jazz samples, then soul samples. I started going to Goodwill in the dollar bin to look for stuff to sample when I was in high school. That's when I started to learn all these other types of music, looking for samples. Hip hop and sampling have been there early on in my musical career. The current approach that people know me for with The Indications and my solo stuff is referential, and I think that referencing is its own form of sampling. You sort of approximate rather than go directly to the source. You put your own spin on it. Working with Goose was really cool because not only do we both share an enthusiasm for eclecticism, but hip hop is a genre that brings disparate elements together. That's always who I have been as a music fan and music writer. Allowing hip hop production to be in the driver's seat allows me to bring that eclecticism back to the forefront, to shift the dial one click towards hip hop being explicit instead of implicit in my writing. I don't think it was a big transition for me. I feel like I've been doing it in one form or another my whole life.

SILY: Certain songs, like "Fly Away", seem to be built around the sample, whereas others are more interpolative, or the sample is just thrown in at the beginning. How did your songwriting process come about? Did you start with the sample, or come up with the song and later think, "I could add something in here."?

AF: The beginning of "Thinking of You", that vocal drop, we were just digging through some stuff, and we thought, "That would be so sick," so we just threw it in at the beginning. We didn't construct the song around it. "Fly Away" is an interesting one, because I have the demo, and it's me and Lydia--I have this piano progression that we played--and we wrote the song to the piano progression. When Lydia and I were at Goose's studio, he was flipping through some loops he had. Sometimes, he'll just chop up songs to file them away for future use. He had this Hi-Five loop, and I realized it was the same general chord movement as the song Lydia and I had put together. As he was playing this loop, I started singing this song down that Goose had never heard before, and Lydia was in on the background vocals with me. It was so funny to see Goose's reaction. His jaw dropped. He was like, "What is happening? How have you already written a song to this?" It was a bit of good luck and coincidence that the chord movements could wrap onto each other. It had already been a 90's R&B vibe, it was just divine timing to hit this 90's R&B loop and bring this implicit influence to an explicit place.

SILY: The first time I listened to it, that's exactly what stood out: the sample, yes, but the song sounds like you could hear it on a 90's R&B radio station.

AF: Mary J. Blige in the 90's made her career by taking soul samples and doing this neo soul approach to 70's soul samples. I feel like I inverted the ratio. I'm more inspired by 70's soul, but I applied it to 90's sampling.

SILY: What was your approach to sequencing the record?

AF: Sequencing is so important on a record like this. This is such an eclectic, sprawling record. I'm not doing death metal, or anything--it's all in its zone--but this album is the sound of my record collection. When it comes to food, sometimes the flavors that would work together, if eaten in the wrong order, don't taste good. Music is very much like that. You are a DJ. Two songs that are sick won't connect with people if you don't sequence it correctly. We tinkered around a lot with the--I almost said setlist, but that's kind of how it feels. We're DJs and trying to get that set together to feel good and not give you whiplash stylistically and show the authentic emotional journey I went on from New York to LA, from in a relationship to out of a relationship, from touring like crazy with a band to all of a sudden having a year off.

SILY: I noticed a lot of contrast in texture from one song to another, which is key in both albums and food! That ghostly quality is there throughout Into The Blue, but on a song like "Payback", Nick Waterhouse's guitars are so fuzzy and sharp.

AF: It's brash and bombastic. And then "Perfect Strangers" is the salmon sashimi of the record. It's subtle.

SILY: That one's just you on your guitar with background singers?

AF: There's a little bit of bass, but it's very minimal.

SILY: Are you the type of songwriter who is always writing even when you've just released a new album?

AF: There were maybe two weeks where I was feeling a bit of burnout. came out on June 28th, and on July 2nd, I flew to North Carolina to start working with The Indications on our 4th record, to start recording. That took a lot of caffeine to get me dialed back in. But I'm always hearing sounds where I'm like, "I want to do something like that!" Or little scraps come to me in the shower.

SILY: Are the sounds you're hearing, is that from you actively listening to music?

AF: I love clicking around YouTube until all the sidebar recommendations are 45 labels, and then I'm like, "Now I'm digging in." Instagram is an incredible discovery tool. It's crazy. Spotify's Discover Weekly is really cool. Thankfully, I also have friends who I tell, "Literally send me music any time of day or night." I might not respond if you text me at 2 A.M.--actually, I probably will be still awake--but I love getting recommendations from anywhere and everywhere.

SILY: Some people I talk to, when actively writing music, they really need to shut out all art. It sounds like you're the total opposite. You're a sponge.

AF: Yeah. [Ralph Waldo] Emerson coined "transparent eyeball." You have to see everything and let it pass through you. I will say that while I am a sponge, there's times for soaking in and times for wringing out. There's a bit of a reset period. Before I start wringing out again, I'm definitely in a soaking in period. But with The Indications, I'm having to soak in while finding a corner of my sponge self to wring out.

SILY: You're deft with metaphors! I can tell you're a songwriter.

AF: [laughs]

SILY: Is there anything else about the record I didn't ask about that you want to say?

AF: I feel very proud of the high-brow/low-brow [duality] of this record. "The Fool", the last track of the record, the drums, bass, and guitar are all one iPhone voice memo. It's fun to be at a point in my career where I've done this enough times to be grounded in my compass so I can be like, "Yeah, it's an iPhone voice memo, but it had magic to it, so I used it and tracked on top of it." I hope people listen to the full record. I think it's hard to pick any one song to represent what this album is. I tried to make it a full body of work.

SILY: It's funny that you mention high-brow/low-brow with "The Fool", because you have the low-brow with the iPhone, but in regard to the high-brow, Bryan Ponce's backing vocals remind me of a Greek chorus.

AF: It's exactly supposed to be that!

[defjux]

64 of my favorite Hip Hop releases of 2024 Anything outside of the top 20-30 the order doesn't really matter much, but I think all of these releases are dope and worth your time. I'll post another list soon with the rest of my favorite albums from this year in other genres, but the hip hop list is tradition for me at this point. Hopefully there's something new here for you to enjoy. I'm sure there's a few releases that went under the radar for me, so if anyone has suggestions i'm all ears. As always, the album titles below will have the bandcamp link/spotify url as a hyperlink if either are available. Oh yeah, feel free to let me know what your favorite albums of the year were, i'd like to know - any genre, it doesn't have to just be hip hop. Peace. Chart with Album Titles included

1. ELUCID - REVELATOR 2. Ka - The Thief Next To Jesus 3. AKAI SOLO - DREAMDROPDRAGON 4. Mach-Hammy - #RICHAXXHAITIAN 5. Cavalier - Different Type Time 6. The Fortunate Ones (Anwar HighSigh & Dr. Quandary) - RESIN 7. Armand Hammer - BLK LBL 8. Kenny Segal & K-The-I??? - Genuine Dexterity 9. ShrapKnel - Nobody Planning To Leave 10. Sunmundi & klwn cat - Lived and Born 11. Nakama - EMBERGO_ 12. Lee Scott - To Tame A Dead Horse 13. Dead Players - Faster Than the Speed of Death 14. Oliver The 2nd & Heather Grey - Desert Camo 15. Navy Blue - Memoirs in Armour 16. Nuse Tyrant - Juxtaposed Echoes 17. Phiik & Lungs - Carrot Season 18. Nickelus F - MMCHT 19. DJ Muggs & Raz Fresco - The Eternal Now 20. Joshua Virtue - Black Box: JOSHUA IS DEAD

21. Duncecap & Steel Tipped Dove - The Need To Know 22. Jak Tripper - The Wild Dark 23. Mary Sue - Voice Memos From A Winter In China 24. Midnight Sons - Money Has No Owners 25. Revival Season - Golden Age Of Self Snitching 26. JPEGMAFIA - I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU 27. Boldy James & Conductor Williams - Across The Tracks 28. Sasco - The Hottest Year on Record 29. yungmorpheus - WAKING UP AND CHOOSING VIOLENCE 30. Hester Valentine - Valenta 31. Deca & Deal. - Bough 32. Serengeti - KDIV 33. Mavi - Shadowbox 34. cunabear - What Dollar$ Can't Buy You 35. Rap Man Gavin & postureless - Memories, Dreams, Reflections 36. Sadistik & Maulskull - Oblivion Theater 37. Oddisee - And Yet Still 38. Roc Marciano - MARCIOLOGY 39. Noveliss & Hir-O - Cyberpunk Rhapsody 40. Tyler, the Creator - Chromakopia 41. Rich Jones & SINAI. - Sour Dub 42. Freddie Gibbs - You Only Die 1nce 43. Vince Staples - Dark Times 44. Javi Darko - DEATH OF AN IMMORTAL 45. bromethugzine - THUG ZINE issue 002: WORLD-SPIRIT 46. Teller Bank$ & Ed Glorious - The Pride & Glory 47. Nxworries - WHY LAWD? 48. Cavalier & Quelle Chris - Death Tape 2 49. R.A.P. Ferreira - The First Fist to Make Contact When We Dap 50. Lupe Fiasco - Samurai 51. Lt Headtrip X Bloodmoney Perez - EMBLEMS 52. Chuck Strangers - A Forsaken Lover's Plea 53. Daniel Son & Futurewave - BUSHMAN BODEGA 54. MIKE & Tony Seltzer - Pinball 55. Kendrick Lamar - GNX 56. Estee Nack - SYSTEMATICALLY WE WERE NEVER FREE 57. Ja'king the Divine - Children of the Scorned 58. Big Flowers x Messiah Musik - Save The Bees 59. Shape - Midnight Geometry 60. Sleep Sinatra & bloomcycle - Memory(ummm…) 61. Skyzoo - Keep Me Company 62. Common & Pete Rock - The Auditorium, Vol. 1 63. NAHreally & The Expert - BLIP 64. IMP - Idle Hands

[averokagejd]

THE NAMES ADDED TO JD+ FOR PEOPLE THAT DIDNT SEE ALL OF EM

24K Magic (P1): Eddie 24K Magic (P2): Jesse A Little Party (Alternate) (P1): Lawrence A Little Party (Alternate) (P2): Lisbeth A Little Party (Alternate) (P3): James Acceptable in the 80s: Heather All About That Bass: Nancy All You Gotta Do: Harmon Alphabet Song: Angel Gibbs Am I Wrong: Indigo Animals (P1): Dualis Animals (P2): Dualis (BUGGED) Animals (Extreme): Ravid Another One Bites The Dust (P1): Everett Stellar Another One Bites The Dust (P2): Emery Stellar Another One Bites The Dust (P3): Oscar Stellar Another One Bites The Dust (P4): Astrid Stellar Another One Bites (Alternate): Vic Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (P1): Poppy Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (P2): Daisy Automaton: U.N.I.T. Baby Girl: Rid Baby One More Time (P1): Barbara Baby One More Time (P2): Brittany Baby One More Time (P3): Betty Baby One More Time (P4): Brooke Baby Shark (P1): Pinkfong (BUGGED) Baby Shark (P2): Maris (BUGGED) Bad Guy: Blair Bad Guy (Billie Version): Billie Bad Habits: Lysander Bad Liar: Delilah Bad Romance (P1): Blanche Bad Romance (P2): Claire Obscure Bad Romance (P3): Bianca Bad Romance (Official Choreo): Daray Baiana: Orion Bailando (Enrique) (P1): Natalia Bailando (Enrique) (P2): Estevan Bailando (Paradisio): Summer Barbie Girl (P1): Dolly Barbie Girl (P2): Dan Beauty and a Beat: Joshua Beep Beep I’m A Sheep: Sheep Believer (P1): Doran Believer (P2): Mael Big Girl (You Are Beautiful): Bella Blue (Da Ba Dee): Da’blu Bonbon: Falka Boogie Wonderland (P1): Leigh Boogie Wonderland (P2): Uriel Boogie Wonderland (P3): Favian Boogie Wonderland (P4): Breeze Boogiesaurus: Boogiesaurus Born This Way (P1): Copper Born This Way (P1): Adameve Born This Way (P1): Silver Born This Way (Alternate): Isaac Born To Be Wild: Lycan Boys: Andrew Boys (Alternate): Harlem Cake By The Ocean: Hadri Cake By The Ocean (Alternate) (P1): Maren Cake By The Ocean (Alternate) (P2): Dylan Carmen (Overture) (P1): Azul Carmen (Overtune) (P2): Vermell Carnaval Boom: Allegra Cercavo Amore: Elvira Chandelier: Inane Chandelier (Alternate): Voidalys Cheap Thrills: Melody Cheap Thrills (Alternate) (P1): Preity Cheap Thrills (Alternate) (P2): Farhan Cheerleader (P1): Elio Cheerleader (P2): Lellani Cheerleader (P3): Leo Cheerleader (P4): Eleni Chiwawa (Alternate): Barbie C’mon (P1): Mia C’mon (P2): Panda Cola Song: Dulcie Cola Song (Alternate) (P1): Mashow Cola Song (Alternate) (P2): Lolli Cola Song (Alternate) (P3): Lico Cola Song (Alternate) (P4): Mintu Come On Eileen (P1): Eilidh Come On Eileen (P2): Seamairan Cool For The Summer: Vespera Cosmic Party: Goldie Crazy Little Thing Called Love (P1): Jackie Crazy Little Thing Called Love (P2): Ortiz Crucified (P1): Lady Mairwen Crucified (P2): Lord William Crucified (P3): Lady Odelia Crucified (P4): Liege Rosal Dagomba: Lightfire Dame Tu Cosita: Rana Dance Of The Miriltons (P1): Honey Dance Of The Miriltons (P2): Polly Dare to Live (P1): River Dare to Live (P2): Xia Dare to Live (P3): Galvin Dare to Live (P4): Primrose Diggin’ In The Dirt: Bryn Don’t Call Me Up: Petra Don’t Worry Be Happy (P1): Serge Don’t Worry Be Happy (P2): Franklin Don’t Worry Be Happy (P3): Jean-Michel Down By The Riverside: Faith Dragostea Din Tei (P1): Officer Relax Dragostea Din Tei (P2): Captain Catastrofa Dragostea Din Tei (P3): Para Chutist Dynamite (Taio) (P1): Richard Dynamite (Taio) (P2): Helen Dynamite (Taio) (P3): Mary Dynamite (Taio) (P4): Donald E.T.: Rusga’thors Epic Sirtaki (P1): Nikolaos Epic Sirtaki (P2): Kostas Epic Sirtaki (P3): Dimitris Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) (P1): Ser Aleksander Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) (P2): General Edward Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) (P3): Captain Walter Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) (P4): Lord Henry Feel So Right: Westley Fernando (P1): Agnetha Fernando (P2): Frida Fire On The Floor: Ember Fit But You Know It: Oliver Flash: Shalf Flying Carpet: Mahsa Funhouse: Folie Funkytown: Xooorgrott

(1/2)

[toriagamez]

meeting ceci in gibbs hill for a brunch & study date. ceci catches haven up on her college endeavors, mentioning the fact that she’s in a new healthy relationship with a guy named joshua.

<- | ->

[soda-gremlin]

Spy school goes wild was certainly...a book.

I don't know what the general consensus is about this book, but I feel like the two hours I spent reading that book were basically tossed down the drain.

I don't have the energy to be specific, but everything I expected this book to have, it didn't.

(Spoilers under the cut)

The "Murray and Ben getting stuck in the wilderness having to work together" thing (that the blurb actively advertised) was just a damn bit. It didn't even last a third of the book.

Stuart Gibbs said he would reveal Murray's backstory in this book. Guess what?? He doesn't have one. He was just a normal ass kid, and those two pages were just a tacked on message about "Evil isn't always a result of some tragic backstory 🤓 🤓 " No gray area, no ambiguity, no nuance, nothing. Just more "Murray's EVIL because he's BAD, Ben's GOOD because he's GOOD" And they also dragged Joshua into it too, saying that he didn't have a backstory either, as if that wasn't bad enough.

I know I'm delulu, but please tell me I'm not the only one who feels massively disappointed,,,

[crazycurly-77]

Bob (20/24)

This is written in the style of the series 24.

Events occur in real time.

Hour 20 of 24: 05:00 p.m. - 06:00 p.m.

05:02:41 p.m.

NCIS headquarters:

Within a short time, you had more or less instilled in Tony the knowledge he needed that, with a bit of luck, he would pass as a pilot.

Then you all changed clothes, which led to great astonishment, because the men looked stunning in their fine suits (Gibbs in black and DiNozzo in dark blue). Some of the ladies at the party will certainly turn around to look at them.

They had put you in a floor-length, tight, red and low-cut dress that was very sexy and fueled the men's imagination. Perfect for distracting the guards later.

“Wow, you look great. How about we go out to eat together after the event?” Tony asked you with a grin.

You were just about to answer when Gibbs came and gave him a head-slap. He also reprimanded him annoyed: “Stop hitting on my girlfriend.”

You couldn't help but laugh, but then Abby came and wired you up so that you could communicate with the two men in an emergency.

When she was finished, she grinned at DiNozzo and you and said: “Your names are Joshua and Kitty. In your role, first names are enough.”

“Joshua and Kitty? Are you serious?” asked Tony and Abby nodded enthusiastically.

05:12:31 p.m.

In the car on the way to the coast:

When Gibbs, Tony and you drove to the coast, you went over the plan and its procedure again in detail to clarify any questions.

The biggest question was whether you would even get there alive, because Gibbs drove at breakneck speed, as he usually did. But the more often you sat next to him in the car, the more you got used to his driving style.

Your approach once you were on the boat was clear. But you noticed a crucial detail: “The plan has a small flaw,” you said thoughtfully.

“And you’re only thinking of that now?!” Tony shouted in horror from the back seat.

“Which one?” Gibbs asked sullenly.

“I need a special helmet to fly the helicopter.”

“Why?” the investigator wanted to know.

“The visor has a special targeting for the defense and tracking systems,” you replied.

“Can it work without one?”

“It’ll be difficult, but yes.”

“Good,” said Gibbs and stepped on the brakes, because you had reached your provisional destination.

05:32:56 p.m.

On deck of the yacht:

The first guests arrived. All in a speedboat so that they could quickly flee again if necessary, because preparation was everything. And in this society you had to expect anything.

Each guest was greeted by the security staff with a “Welcome on board”. In addition, everyone was searched for weapons and these were taken into custody. Better safe than sorry.

05:41:23 p.m.

In the private rooms on the yacht:

The boss was standing in his dressing room and tying his bow tie when his right-hand man entered the room.

Looking at him over the mirror in front of him, he asked his subordinate critically: “How are things going?”

“The guests are coming,” the man answered routinely.

The boss turned to him, raised an eyebrow and asked critically: “Is everything prepared?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, then let's hope they're in a spending mood today!” the boss replied and laughed.

If everything went well, he would be even richer and therefore even more powerful at the end of the day.

05:48:34 p.m.

In the party room of the yacht:

The party room gradually filled up with the select guests. They were the henchmen of powerful bosses and their female companions, each one more beautiful than the last.

As soon as the gentlemen saw each other, old and new rivalries flared up between them, which will probably end in either a bidding war or a physical confrontation...or both. Who knew for sure?

05:51:53 p.m.

On the aft deck of the yacht:

Every guest was curious about the machine that was to be auctioned off in a short time and went out to take a look at it.

They couldn’t see much because the immediate area was cordoned off by guards.

This naturally caused speculation, along with the question: “It looks absolutely ordinary... is it a fake? Is it a trap?”

05:57:12 p.m. ... the clock was ticking…

-------------------------------------------

Here you will find the other chapters of this story.

Masterlist stories - Part 1 (finished ones)

Masterlist stories - Part 2 (finished/ongoing)

-------------------------------------------

[pinwheel-plant]

tumblr user pinwheel-plant’s SSGW Thoughts™️

(spoilers under the cut!)

— i like how svetlana is immediately part of the team, and alexander defending her from cyrus and the principal was nice :) he just loves pseudo-adopting kids (he’s trying his best)

— also erica feeling challenged by svetlana was so ?!(@&/&,!2!: because like OF COURSE!! She’s been raised to be The Best her whole personality is built off of being The Best so the second somebody is just as good as her (if not better in some areas) she FREAKS OUT (in her own erica way of course). auuugh i love her she has so many issues. cyrus hale you will pay

— its funny how half of Ben’s enemies are evil masterminds and the other half just Really Really hate this teenager for no reason (evil isn’t a reason!! you just hate this child!!!) (also he’s like 14 right. has he turned 15 yet??)

— second time murray’s been double crossed while on a plane with ben, can’t say it’s not deserved (he deserves it so bad)

— also I like how the locations in the front of each chapter are like, clearly Ben’s own thoughts bc they’re like “Somewhere in China (I think)” and then “Somewhere in China Africa” somebody get this boy a GPS

— murray is just evil because it’s funny 🙏🙏 we love villains/antags who are evil for the bit in this house, its very funny

— also the random Joshua lore drops?????? and others??? why does Murray know so much about the Hales. I mean it’s pretty obvious but he’s talking like they told him personally 😭

— I won’t ever stop talking about the alexander mention in that chapter btw. Murray just flat out says “yeah, most of us (bad guys) chose to be evil because we wanted to. We had great childhoods. And look at Alexander, his dad SUCKS and he still works for the good guys!” WHATTT YOU CANT JUST SAY THAT AND EXPECT ME TO BE NORMAL ABOUT IT

— trixie hale we love you and support you 🫶 maybe next book you can come on the mission (PLEASE PLEASE MR GIBBS LET TRIXIE DO SOMETHING ON THE MISSION)

— cyrus and mary pet names are crazy and i fully support alexander wanting to throw up . why would u say that 😭 in front of TWO GENERATIONS of your kids!!!!!!!

— more of the team starting to stand up to cyrus, please let this go somewhere i want them to ditch his ass!! it would be such a good character moment! also i hate him. but that’s not as important

— every time alexander says “haha catherine is sooo smart huh” i want to pick the two of them up and shake them . you can’t say that in front of the Number One Cathlex Enjoyer are you CRAZY!!!!! auuughhhhh i love them….. i remember when they first interacted in the series….i remember coping and thinking they’d get back together…but WHOS LAUGHING NOW‼️

— I love the team working together, svetlana fits in very well (it’s like a Normal vs. What’s Going On There dynamic where the normal people r ben, mike, zoe, svetlana and the WGOT people are All Of The Hales (minus Catherine she’s great 🫶)

— Alexander and Zoe working together…..need more of that dynamic!!! Immediately!! AND Alexander + Mike…. i need it all

— Ben is becoming more and more of a menace and i love it, but did u really have to go that far with Soren and the bees 😭😭 (he did)

— alexander knows something nobody else does ohh this book knows exactly what i want. i love it here

— how long do we think Murray’s gonna be in that jail, it has to be like a month tops right

— THE ENDING LETTER? CATHERINE? CATHERINE FOCUSED BOOK????? PLEASEEEE PLEASE I WANT TO SEE IT

and that’s all, im 100% gonna talk about this book more but those were all my first thoughts. spy school fandom we made it through another release 🙏

[fishyupmywishy]

I just read SSGW and I was…underwhelmed to say the least

SPOILERS

I mean, it was definitely a step up from SSGN considering Ben was now treated as the main character again rather than just the narrator

My main issue was with how Murray was treated in the book

I understand the Murray is more comic relief now than an actual well-rounded character,

And I also understand the Stuart Gibbs was trying to break stereotypes and tropes and whatever but he did it horribly wrong

Murray (and Joshua) being bad just because he’s bad is the most terrible thing I’ve ever read

And not even because it’s dumb and unrealistic by all accounts, but because it really nailed it down for me how the quality of the books went to absolute crap

I haven’t read the first book in quite some time but I remember the characters being much more…mature?? What I mean to say is, it was much more like an action novel than a comedy and now it’s just a joke

I did like the conflict between Erica and Svetlana which was completely one sided and lasted of a total of maybe 5 or 6 sentences but it was nice to see them bonding towards the end

And Murray tweaking after finding out Svetlana was Zoe’s girlfriend was kinda funny too lol

Overall I give the book a 5/10 and only because it was a step up for SSGN but not by much unfortunately :(

ALSO I miss Chip and Jawa I want them back😭

[hollywoodfamerp]

Hotel Adlon Kempinski

In the heart of Berlin, facing the Brandenburg Gate and only a few steps from the government district, you will find the legendary five-star luxury Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin. A total of 385 elegant rooms and suites, 3 top-tier restaurants, including Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer, which has been awarded with 2 Michelin stars, and a spacious spa meet the highest demands of every guest!

Under the cut is the roommates list. Couples have been roomed together and everyone else was randomized by a generator. If you have been roomed with another fc that you play, please message us politely and we will fix it asap! Roommates are subject to change due to unfollows, follows, activity check etc. so please like this post to keep up to date on any changes.

UPDATED 9/27 @ 7:20 PM EST

Demi Bennett (Rhea Ripley) - Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte Flair) 

Fergal Devitt - Renee Young

Hwang Hyunjin - Bang Chan

Sarah Paulson - Jessica Lange

Lee Know (Minho) - Lee Felix

Park Jinyoung - Lim Jaebeom

Awsten Knight - Miley Cyrus 

Kim Jisoo - Christian Yu

Choi Minho - Kim Ahyoung (Yura)

Tyler Hoechlin - Maura Higgins

Maika Monroe - Dylan O'Brien

Kim Mingyu - Sana Minatozaki 

Zoey Deutch - Geoff Wigington

Kelsea Ballerini - Joe Keery

Shay Mitchell - Andy Biersack

Zendaya - Timothee Chalamet

Vanessa Hudgens - Austin Butler

Dua Lipa - Maya Hawke

Yoo Siah (Yooa) - Kim Minjeong (Winter)

Xiao Dejun (Xiaojun) - Yoo Jimin (Karina) 

Min Yoongi - Kim Namjoon

Kim Hongjoong - Diamanté Quiava Valentin Harper (Saweetie)

Julianna Margulies - Cate Blanchett

Jung Yoonoh (Jaehyun) - Lee Taeyong

Jackson Wang - Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul (Ten)

Sebastian Stan - Margot Robbie

Colby Lopez (Seth Rollins) - Rebecca Quin (Becky Lynch)

Pamela Martinez (Bayley) - Mercedes Justine Varnado (Sasha Banks)

Lucas Wong - Kim Jungwoo 

Lee Taemin - Kim Jongin 

Tom Holland - Natalia Dyer

Akanishi Jin - Lee Sunmi

Mark Lee - Lee Donghyuck (Haechan)

Zoë Kravitz - Lili Reinhart

Beyoncé Knowles - Gong Yoo

Lupita Nyong'o -Tessa Thompson

Sarah Drew - Brett Tucker

Gareth Southgate - Kendall Jenner

Choi Soobin - Sofia Carson

Ryan Gosling - Cha Eunwoo

Jensen Ackles - Jonathan Good (Jon Moxley)

Hwang Yeji - Camila Morrone

Park Seonghwa - Romee Strijd

Lee Jeno - Louis Tomlinson

Jung Wooyoung - Mazz Murray

Byun Baekhyun  - Harry Kane

Choi San - Taylor Zakhar Perez

Olivia Rodrigo - Elizabeth Olsen

Hailey Baldwin - Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (Megan Thee Stallion)

Florence Pugh - Carrie Underwood

Selena Gomez - Anya Taylor-Joy

Liam Hemsworth - Kang Seulgi

Adelaine Kane  - Chace Crawford

Jang Gyuri - Molly-Mae Hague

Jessica Chastain - Ross Lynch

Sydney Sweeney - Park Seoham

Park Jihyo - Sam Claflin

Ben Feldman - America Ferrera

Taylor Momsen - Blake Lively

Bill Skarsgard - Jacob Elordi

Nicholas Galitzine - Mason Mount

Sabrina Carpenter - Jenna Ortega

Niall Horan - Ariana Grande

Kim Taehyung - Wong Kunhang (Hendery)

Samantha Gibb - Leati Joseph Anoa'i (Roman Reigns)

Joey King - Joshua Wong

Lauren Jauregui - Min Yoongi

Taylor Swift  - Naomi Scott

Lucy Hale - Emma Mackey

Jeon Jungkook - David Corenswet

Otto Wood - Madelyn Cline

Halle Bailey - Brittany Baker (Britt Baker)

Cillian Murphy - Chris Evans

Chris Hemsworth - Na Jaemin

Lily James – Glen Powell

Olivia Culpo - Danny Amendola 

Bruno Mars - Gigi Hadid

Josephine Skriver - Aaron Taylor Johnson

Harry Styles - Sofia Carson

Nick Jonas - Jennie Kim

[settledthingsstrange]

It is better to adore beautiful things in uncomfortable silence than to justify ugliness through a series of dazzling propositions.

Joshua Gibbs, from Love What Lasts, reviewed here

[maximiliano-aedo]

What could've been Animaze ..iNC during the 2010s

Talent pool (Note: any voice actor marked with * is union-only):

Steve Blum*

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn*

Crispin Freeman*

Kari Wahlgren*

Johnny Yong Bosch

Yuri Lowenthal*

Dave Wittenberg*

Roger Craig Smith*

Laura Bailey*

Travis Willingham*

Cherami Leigh

J.B. Blanc*

Sam Riegel*

Liam O'Brien*

Amy Kincaid*

Troy Baker*

Matthew Mercer

Joe Romersa*

Fleet Cooper*

Dyanne DiRosario*

Jennifer Love Hewitt*

Brian Hallisay*

Spike Spencer

Amanda Winn Lee*

Jaxon Lee*

Kyle Hebert

Ben Pronsky

Bob Buchholz

Richard Cansino

Murphy Dunne*

Carolyn Hennesy*

Jerry Gelb*

Adam Sholder

Ezra Weisz

Cristina Vee

Bryce Papenbrook

Michael Sorich

Richard Epcar

Ellyn Stern

Tony Oliver

Kirk Thornton

Lexi Ainsworth*

Aria Noelle Curzon

Grace Caroline Currey*

Michael Forest

Erik Davies

Adam Bobrow

Joshua Seth

Junie Hoang*

Kirk Baily*

Tom Fahn

Jonathan Fahn

Dorothy Elias-Fahn

Melissa Fahn

Stephen Apostolina*

René Rivera*

Deborah Sale Butler

Kevin Brief

Michael Gregory*

Riva Spier*

Cassandra Morris

Erica Mendez

Erika Harlacher

Erica Lindbeck

Marieve Herington

Kira Buckland

John Rubinstein*

Kim Matula*

Brittany Lauda

J. Grant Albrecht*

Michael McConnohie

Steve Bulen*

Dan Woren

Derek Stephen Prince

Wendee Lee

Edie Mirman

Jason C. Miller

Taliesin Jaffe*

John Snyder

Robbie Daymond

Ray Chase

Kaiji Tang

David Vincent

Christina Carlisi*

Christopher Corey Smith

Cindy Robinson

Rachel Robinson

Jessica Boone

Lauren Landa

Megan Hollingshead

Jalen K. Cassell

Doug Erholtz

Michelle Ruff

Gregory Cruz*

John Bishop*

Matt Kirkwood*

Lara Jill Miller*

Carol Stanzione

Steve Staley

Dave Mallow

Mona Marshall*

Darrel Guilbeau

Robert Martin Klein

Robert Axelrod

William Frederick Knight

Lex Lang

Sandy Fox

Joey Camen*

Randy McPherson*

Jad Mager

Richard Miro

Milton James

Anthony Pulcini

Douglas Rye

Patrick Seitz

Keith Silverstein

Jamieson Price

Skip Stellrecht*

Stoney Emshwiller*

G.K. Bowes

Alyss Henderson

Patricia Ja Lee

Peggy O'Neal

Carrie Savage

Melodee Spevack

Jennifer Alyx

Julie Ann Taylor

Sherry Lynn

Brad Venable

Christine Marie Cabanos

Greg Chun

LaGloria Scott

Steve Kramer

Melora Harte

Rebecca Forstadt*

Kyle McCarley

Mela Lee

Karen Strassman

Faye Mata

Laura Post

Kayla Carlyle*

Brina Palencia

Connor Gibbs

Brianne Siddall*

Barbara Goodson

Loy Edge

Jay Lerner

Jennie Kwan

Max Mittelman

Jessica Straus*

Alexis Tipton

Fryda Wolff

Michele Specht

J.D. Garfield

Debra Jean Rogers*

Julie Maddalena

Carrie Keranen

Tara Sands

Matthew Hustin

Cody MacKenzie

Bridget Hoffman*

Colleen O'Shaughnessey

Grant George

Jessica Gee

Jeff Nimoy*

Peter Lurie*

Brian Beacock

Paul St. Peter

Chris Jai Alex

Dan Lorge*

Ewan Chung*

Steve Cassling*

Philece Sampler

Stephanie Sheh

Sam Fontana

Ben Diskin

Juliana Donald*

Michael O'Keefe*

Christina Gallegos*

Tara Platt

Keith Anthony*

Beau Billingslea

David Lodge*

Kim Strauss

Eddie Jones*

William Bassett*

Kim Mai Guest*

Caitlin Glass

Hannah Alcorn

Ron Roggé*

Camille Chen*

Ethan Rains*

Yutaka Maseba*

Joe J. Thomas

Michael Sinterniklaas

Erin Fitzgerald

Joe Ochman

Marc Diraison

Xanthe Huynh

Brianna Knickerbocker

Dean Wein*

Michael McCarty*