#like her two fully produced and written minis are both so good in different ways

[asclepias0819]

NOTHINS EVER GON BE THE SAMEEEEEEE NOT WITHOUT UUUUU

[sparklelight3]

Hypothesis idea thingy for how Ash and Gou could get together (quickly dissolves into a poorly written fanfic because I’m a disaster)

So, I had a mental image of like a 2-3 ep. mini arc thing that ends with the two getting together. I apologize in advance for the fact that this gets progressively more and more detailed and eventually just becomes a semi fanfic. This is unedited btw, so enjoy that as well. 

Episode 1: Starts off with the two out on a mission like usual. Then we have another scene like in ep 3 where Ash just does something that completely astonishes Gou. They resolve the issue like they always do, but Gou is overall very flustered, even more so then usual. Ash could have like a dense Ash moment where he asks if Gou feels sick or something, Gou quickly denying it. Since it’s post ep 36, Ash takes note and dawns a concerned expression. Skip ahead a day or two, and Ash needs to go on a solo trip to Pallet Town for his mom’s birthday. This leaves Gou alone with his feelings for the first time in months. He has time to think about what happened on the last trip, and a couple other moments from past episodes might come up in his head as well. In this time, he fully realize that he’s in love. Koharu, who I image figured this out after her comment in ep 40 about Gou “becoming more and more like Ash”, notices that Gou’s been off. Prof. Sakuragi suddenly receives a big mission and informs Gou on it. Gou at first declines it since Ash isn’t here, but Koharu pipes in and volunteers to take Ash’s place. Gou’s thrown off by this, but accepts her request anyway. When asked, Koharu states that this mission interests her. The two have some small talk on the way there, leading up to Koharu asking Gou if he wants to talk about something, in which he denies. Koharu drops it for now, but picks it up later once they arrive. She eventually drives it out of him, and encourages Gou to tell Ash how he feels. After a bit more back and forth she comes up with a plan: once they get home, she’d have her dad find a local mission for him and Ash to go on alone. When Ash gets back, they go on said mission and Gou confesses to him. Flustered and annoyed, Gou agrees. They take care of the mission and head back. Ash hasn’t returned yet, giving them plenty of time to prepare. 

Ep 2 (technically optional, but not rlly fdgfdh): We get Ash’s side of the story. He heads out to Pallet Town solo to visit his mom for a few days for her birthday. Prof. Oak picks him up, and they drive through the country side. Ash looks longingly back as the city skyline vanishes behind the hilltops. Pikachu comes in for a nuzzle, which cheers him up. Oak drops him off at his house, in which Ash is greeted warmly by Delia. He hands her the gift he bought her. A flashback/ mental image could play of Gou leading him through a shopping mall said gift, making sure he doesn’t get lost or distracted. Pans back to Ash letting out a small giggle, dawning the same longing expression as before. Delia asks him what’s wrong, in which Ash breaks out of his gay daze and goes back to his chipper self. He enters the house exclaiming something along the lines of his mom’s cooking, or being excited about sleeping in his own bed again. Delia is still in the doorway, shooting a concerned/curious glance at her son. The entire episode contains moments like this where Ash recalls a moment with Gou, or expresses how his wishes Gou was there, and just thinking about him in general a lot.

Side note: I believe this is the same mindset that he had when he and Gou split up in the Darkest Day Arc. The difference here being that he’s in no immediate danger, distracting him from these thoughts. Anyway, I will now continue with my rambling esdtgdf.

Ash then goes around the town, heading up to Prof. Oak’s lab. He passes by some neighbors, waving hello here and there, possibly running into Gary as well. Gary might pick up on the gayness Ash is unknowingly producing, but says nothing on the matter; maybe a chuckle before heading off. Ash reunites with all his Pokemon. Once again, he starts to think about Gou and how much he’d enjoy meeting his Pokemon. At dinner that night, Delia asks him about his recent adventures. As Ash describes them, Delia picks up on how much he’s talking about Gou. She asks how Gou’s doing, in which Ash starts going off about how many Pokemon he’s caught and how much he has improved in battling. He possibly mentions the events in ep 40, once again dawning a face of longing. Delia notices and points out how much Ash cares about him, leading into a mom-tangent about how she hopes Gou’s keeping up his promise to look after him and that Ash better be taking care of himself and not getting into too much trouble, etc. The next couple days Ash spends more time with his Pokemon; battling with them, introducing his new ones to them, and telling them stories. Prof. Oak comes out to tell him that he’s getting a call from Prof. Kukui. The Alola gang give their greetings as they chat for a bit. Kiawe brings up Gou, asking if he’s stayed true to the claims he made during their battle. Ash once again goes off about Gou, expressing stuff like how Gou technically caught Eternatus, along with the whole Zacian and Zamazenta thing. The ep ends with Ash saying goodbye to his mom and heading back to the city. On the car ride, he makes claims of excitement over going back to the lab. They arrive at the bottom of the lab near the steps. Prof. Oak drops Ash off and says goodbye before heading back to Pallet. Ash enthusiastically runs up the stairs and slams open the door to the main lab area. He’s greeted by Prof. Sakuragi along with the lab staff.

Ep 3: Ep 3 picks up right off from the last ep. After saying hello to the Prof. and the staff, Ash quickly asks where Gou is. The Prof. informs him that Gou’s with the Pokemon, then proceeds to stop Ash as he instantly tries to run off. The Prof. explains to Ash the mission that Koharu had him find, stating that it’s heavily preferred if they could address it as soon as possible. THEN Ash runs off. We cut to Gou and Koharu in the Pokemon garden area (idk what that place is technically called). Koharu is reassuring Gou while they feed the Pokemon their morning meal. Ash soon comes running in, spots them, and waves them down. He mentions the mission and the two just about leave before Koharu stops them and goes inside to get something. She comes back out with a picnic basket, stating that they’ll be gone most of the day and they need to eat. She gives Gou a smug look. He blushes in both an embarrassed and flustered manner. We then get a couple scenes of them traveling out of the city and into the hillside. These would be similar scenes as in ep 46 where they’re traveling on the island, creating silly and gay moments in the process. Gou would naturally be very nervous and easily flustered. This catches Ash’s attention, harboring some concern on his end. Ash therefore becomes visibly more protective. The two eventually reach a clearing, an area they instantly recognize. They find themselves standing in a field of vibrant flowers, the same area that Lugia had dropped them off when they first met. Ash takes the picnic basket from Gou, stating that this was good a place as any for lunch. They setup the picnic that Koharu had put together, or at least, the best that these two idiots could manage on their own. Ash starts going in on the sandwiches that were packed. A flashback plays of Koharu suggesting that Gou should confess when they stopped for lunch. They release their Pokemon to wonder about as they eat; Lucario and Cinderace join them at the picnic. Cinderace (who’s in on this) notices how nervous Gou is and goes in for a hug to reassure him. He returns the hug and whispers a very quiet “thank you”. After letting go, Cinderace would motion for Lucario to follow. The two Pokemon walk out into the forest, leaving Ash and Gou alone. Gou asks him about his trip to try and ease into a conversation. Ash would briefly tell him about it, and ends stating that he’ll take Gou along with him next time. At that, he stares caringly into Gou’s eyes, dawning a smile. Gou then starts the beginning of a sentence, starting to heavily blush similarly to how he did at the end of ep 3. His words begin to stutter and his hands start to stim nervously. He finally gets it out, confessing his feelings. Ash is clearly taken aback, but not in a bad way. Then a wave of realization washes over him. He laughs softly under his breath, having a similar reaction as THAT scene in ep.40 where the clouds clear away from behind Gou, you know what I mean. Still paralleling that scene, Ash makes a similar statement along the lines of, “I really am an idiot, aren’t I? I mean, it took you telling me that for me to even realize that I have feelings for you,”. Something like that. Gou, who has been a mess this whole time, freezes at this and looks up at Ash. After a few moments of eye contact, they both burst into laughter over how big of a dumbass they each are. They calm down, Gou gently grabs onto Ash’s hand, and goes in for a quick and nervous pec on the lips. Ash doesn’t expect this, but accepts it happily; he gives Gou a big, caring smile of reassurance. Cinderace comes bolting in, tackling Gou to the ground in a big, prideful hug. Lucario walks in from behind them, giving Ash a sly little grin. A montage plays of them finishing up the mission, displaying their new habit of frequently holding hands and overall being very adorable. We then cut to the lab. It’s going on to twilight, and Koharu’s just getting home from school. She walks in and puts her stuff down before exclaiming how Ash and Gou aren’t back yet. Not having the chance to do so until now, Prof. Sakuragi asks her what this whole arranged mission thing was about anyways. Shortly after a quick explanation, Wanpachi/Yamper is heard barking outside the front door. Koharu jolts up, telling everyone to stay calm and to be supportive. The two boys walk through the door with a noisy Wanpachi barking and running around their legs. The first thing Koharu notices is the fact that their hands are intertwined. Glancing up, she’s met with a grinning Ash and a very exhausted but very happy Gou; he looks as if he could burst out crying at any moment. She lets out a sigh of relief, stating that she had told him he had nothing to worry about. The staff and Prof. start clapping and cheering in congratulations. The narrator starts talking, stating something along the lines of “they became boyfriends” as the show freezeframes on Ash giving Gou a kiss on the cheek.  AND THERE THAT IS. I apologize once again for the poorly written fanfic this became.  

[xenoredux]

The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 2: The Invasion

If you haven’t read episode 1 yet, you can do so here.

As mentioned before, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Animal and human injuries, firearms, other weapons, animal death, and just a whole lotta spilled blood. Basically if any form of violence upsets you, it’d be a good idea not to read ahead

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

HAVE FUN READING OR ELSE!!!

Everyone has just recovered from Daisuke's nasty fall when Gohei has a fall of his own. The old man's antics (and his drinking too lbr) have finally caught up to him, and he collapses in the snow. Before he slips away, Gohei's mind is filled not with the hurried voices of those around him but with images of Gin.

He imagines Gin fully grown, a silver clone of his father. Imaginary Gin is leaping across a gorge like he did while bird hunting, and once again he falls. Except this time as he falls he morphs into Riki, and a trail of blood follows him during his descent into the void below.

Gohei's eyes snap open, and he's greeted with the electric hum of hospital overhead lights. He's greeted by not just the harsh white walls and flurescent lighting, but by Daisuke and Gin, who Gohei realizes has grown substantially. Daisuke explains that the old timer bit shit and has been in a short coma, but he's under the care of Dr. Hidetoshi now. As if summoned, Hidetoshi enters the room, reassured Gohei that he'll be overseeing his care for the next few months, and allows the three the privacy he'd initially interrupted.

Gohei pouts in the way only elderly men can at the knowledge that he won't be able to haul ass outta here while flipping off the doctors again. He's too weak to get out of bed now. Daisuke promises him that he'll be taking Gin's training into his own hands.

Oldie McGee appreciatively places his hand on Daisuke's shoulder, then on Gin's head. He looks down at the dog, relieved to see he's still got silver brindle fur instead of the red from his dream. Gin licks his hand affectionately.

Daisuke is just about to leave and take Gin home when he notices something out of the corner of his eye. He turns a corner to find Hidetoshi's indoor archery range, cementing just how much disposable income the good doctor has. Hidetoshi fires an arrow right in the middle of the target across the room. The customized red, purple, and blue tail of the arrow bobs rapidly as it strikes the back wall.

Daisuke gapes in amazement. Hidetoshi laughs and tells the kid not to underestimate how powerful a bow can be. Daisuke enthusiastically grabs for the bow, and Hidetoshi allows him to, but soon the child finds he doesn't have enough arm strength to so much as pull the arrow back.

Daisuke is disheartened, but to make up for his abysmal performance, Hidetoshi says he'd like to show him something. He allows Daisuke and Gin into his office, which contains a multitude of taxidermied animals, photos of the man's hunting trips across the Western world, and a couple of dog beds. One of those beds contains John, and he smugly rises to meet everyone. John smirks as Gin stares at the photos of John adorning the walls, all of which showcase the dog sitting or lying beside a dead animal twice his size.

Hidetoshi elaborates on the adventures he's had with John, many of which he used a bow during. His face then falls as he explains something a lot less riveting: Gohei's meatsuit is too fucked for him to return to his old life. He'll never hunt again. He wouldn't be able to handle the physical strain. He will never get to kill Akakabuto.

Daisuke and Gin leave the hospital. Daisuke is struck with an existential crisis about what meaning Gohei's life will have now and how he'll never get to avenge Riki's death. Gin whines supportively, watching as Hidetoshi and John enter their car and leave. As soon as they're out of sight, Gin runs back into the archery range and snags up Hidetoshi's bow. His intention may have been to play fetch, or it may have been to stop the kid from crying, but Daisuke takes this as a sign that Gin and he will simply have to kill Akakabastard themselves.

For the next few months, Daisuke and Gin both work hella hard to improve their physical prowess. Daisuke jumps rope, goes for runs, lifts weights, and probably punches rocks or whatever it is body builders do. Meanwhile, Gin joins him on runs and, in his own time, makes an honest effort to leap across the rooftops of houses as if they were his mortal enemy: cliffs. The two boys do everything to get ripped shy of frequenting body builder forums and subreddits, and that's just because the internet isn't a thing yet.

The two have made amazing strides since they began their regimens. Daisuke has arms freaky large for a kid his age, and Gin, now just over a year old, has the most profound dog pecs anyone who hasn't experienced Ginga has ever seen. It's a good thing, too, because they'll need the strength. Though Akakabuto never truly rests, he's not the only thing frequenting the forests now. Winter will soon be over, which means that hibernation for the other bears will be over too.

One day Diasuke comes to Hidetoshi requesting to use his bow. Amused, Hidetoshi allows it. Daisuke finally manages to pull the arrow back and let 'er rip, hitting the target dead on. Hidetoshi is stunned. He knew Daisuke was tryna get beefed up, but he didn't expect the boy's self discipline to get him this far. He praises the boy for his achievement, and so does Gin. Gin and Daisuke have become inseparable outside of their individual training regimines, cementing their brohood more then ever before.

As Daisuke and Gin are walking home, they're met with a surprise. It's Gohei! The stubborn cuss has once again decided he's tired of waiting around inactive, and he commands Gin to come with him and hunt bears. But the ancient dude can barely chuff out the last few words before he collapses to his knees both real and artificial. He topples over, out cold.

Daisuke rushes to his side and tells Gin to retrieve Hidetoshi. Gin  understands because frankly he was gonna do that anyway, and he takes off like a rocket (or should I say a shooting star?) to find Doc. As Gin books it, Daisuke does the weirdest flex of all by lifting the old man unassisted.

Daisuke manages to carry Gohei halfway to the hospital when Gin arrives back with Hidetoshi. After some running around in a fuss, Doctor x Hunter has Gohei settled back into his own bed. The old man is murmuring something to himself about Akakabuto, but nobody pays it much mind. Hidetoshi thanks Daisuke for his help and allows him to go home - he'll stay beside the wacky ole spitfire tonight to make sure he doesn't get up to his old tricks again.

As Daisuke and Gin leave, Daisuke decides he's had enough. Tomorrow he and Gin are going into the forest and they're not coming back out until Akakabuto is Akakadead, Bro. Gin appreciates the conviction in the young man's voice, but shit dude, you sure?

Tomorrow arrives, as it usually does. Gin and Daisuke depart super early in the morning so the parentals don't notice. They only stop to borrow Hidetoshi's bow, taking care not to attract any attention. They've just entered the woods when their first roadblock presents itself.

The bridge across the river has been busted up. The heavy snow has begun melting into the now overflowing river beneath it, and the raging current finally did the shitty wooden walkway in. Now the two will have to go upstream to cross. Before they do, Gin pauses and snarls at something across the way. Daisuke notices several dark masses moving through the underbrush.

It's a mother bear and her two cubs, and it's instantly clear who their father is. Each twin bearbabe has a streak of dark, shiny red fur running from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Daisuke is certain the family is taking a field trip to Daddy Bear's territory, so he and Gin follow the bears alongside the stream as they make their way to the pass.

Having risen only a little later then Daisuke, Hidetoshi is having a lark of his own. He, John, and a few of his friends are all packed into his Jeep and heading into the forest. This trip isn't for pleasure, though. It seems as if some of Hidetoshi's friends' livestock has been mauled to death and stolen, and nobody wants to stand by and let that happen.

The men come across the same thing the two kiddos did, the busted up bridge, and groan in frustration. However, just before they can start heading to the other pass, Hidetoshi pulls out a rope and passes it to John.

He begins giving John commands in English, commands which I wish I could understand, and John jumps over the stream and secures the rope around a tree. Hidetoshi also uses this show-offy moment to teach us all a valuable lesson in being overprepared by producing a pulley from out his Jeep. The other men are having a hard time knowing what to do with this information, but at least they don't have to hike up a different trail.

A ways away, Daisuke and Gin have finally located Akakabuto's territory. They know this to be true because they've found a freshly plopped pile of bear poop. Daisuke has never been more afraid of a pile of shit before, his knees quaking and his breath quickening at the sight.

He decides now is the time to take a breather, so he and Gin settle beside a tree to have breakfast. But Daisuke's anxiety has given him a gut ache, so he just passes the dog his food. Gin tries to enjoy the rice when a torrent of noisy crows descends upon the trees. The birds caw incessently, their calls blaring in Daisuke's overwhelmed noggin. Some of them even begin to land and try to steal from a snarling Gin.

Daisuke's overstimulation has reached its peak, and in an effort to get the flying vagrants to fuck off, he takes out the bow and fires a warning shot at one of the birds. Only it's less a warning shot and more a bullseye.

The arrow plows right through the bird's greedy guts, and though it does scatter the other bothersome thieves, it wasn't what Daisuke had in mind. He's never killed before, and he gets a hard hitting rush of guilt, shame, and astonishment in the pit of his gut. He comes to realize he'll have to make peace with this feeling if he's to slay Akakabuto, so he swallows his emotions and tells Gin to hurry up. They've got a bear to kill.

The two trod through the forest before a drop of moisture hits Gin's nose. Then one hits Daisuke right in the eye (he totally wasn't crying you guys). Daisuke looks up. Just their luck - it's started to rain. Perturbed, Daisuke says he and Gin should find some shelter. Gin begins looking for a cave to hide in, and he has the good fortune of finding one. Psych, did I say good fortune? I meant THERE IS A BEAR IN THE CAVE.

Daisuke almost pees his pants at the sight of the thing. It's not nearly as big as Akakabuto, but it IS massive, and it looks pretty peeved. Gin's prey drive kicks into high gear and he starts wailing on the bear, snapping at its face and leaping around its body to land a few good bites. He's actually managing very well for himself despite his lack of hands-on experience.

Daisuke, on the other hand, ain't doing so hot, having collapsed into a hyperventilating mess beside a fallen tree. Who knew life and death situations would be so scary?!

Elsewhere, Hidetoshi's squad have found one of the missing horses. They're surprised to find it alive... kinda, sorta, for a moment. When they get a better peek at it through the foliage, they see it's barely breathing, mostly because its neck is being chomped on by a bear.

This bear is not Akakabuto, but unlike Daisuke's find, it's almost his size. It takes one look at the men before turning tail and galloping away, leaving the corpse of the horse behind. The men ready their guns while Hidetoshi commands John to tail behind the animal, which the dog does without a moment's hesitation.

The battle between Gin and the bear rages on. In between his blows, Gin repeatedly looks over his shoulder at Daisuke, urging him to join the fray. Daisuke is too busy going into panic induced shock to help, so Gin is forced to keep up the brawl alone. He throws himself into the bear repeatedly, snapping and snarling and trying to draw blood, but the animal is too much for him to handle alone.

With a well placed swipe of a gargantuan paw, Gin is sent whimpering to the forest floor. A rivulet of blood follows him in his descent, the sight of which finally snaps Daisuke out of his stupor. Lightening strikes somewhere nearby. The bear's roars are indistinguishable from the thunder above. Gin stumbles weakly to his feet, blood dribbling down his face as it mixes with the falling rain. Four deep, long gashes span the length of Gin's forehead.

Daisuke stops wallowing in his own fear long enough to begin thinking of how to save the dog from the fiend that just performed minor surgery on his scalp. Through tears and sobs, Daisuke tries to remember what Gohei once told him about bear hunting. The center line. He needs to hit the center line.

While Daisuke is having a callback/bruh moment, Gin is still getting his ass handed to him. The bear sweeps all four of his legs and sends him flying once more, the poor poochie yelping miserably. Gin crumples to the ground, the blood from his mauled forehead running into his eyes. The landscape goes red as Gin sees Daisuke finally take some goddamn initiative and aim the bow at the bear's face. Daisuke doesn't manage to hit the illusive center line, but he does take out the animal's right eye.

The bear reels back in pain, even more furious then its default state of being. It swipes at Daisuke instead of Gin for a change, but Gin recovers from his bloody stupor and drags Daisuke out of harm's way. When the two are a safe distance from the bear, Daisuke realizes that he'd dropped the bow, and now it's too close to the pissed off wildlife to retrieve.

Gin doesn't take notice to this because all his brainpower is focused on getting back to ass kicking. The dog returns to baiting the bear just long enough for Daisuke to snatch up the bow and let loose one, then another, then another arrow into the animal's face.

One arrow pierces a nearby tree. Another enters the bear's left nostril, drawing more blood. The last lodges itself dead center in the animal's throat. The bear topples backwards, scratching wildly at the projectiles stuck in its skin, which causes the arrow in its throat to shoot sideward and pierce its jugular vein. As the two youngsters watch, the bear collapses to the ground and bleeds to death.

Daisuke practically passes out beside the fallen tree, and Gin howls victoriously into the rainy night sky. At that moment, the clouds depart and the rain ceases.

Gin licks Daisuke's face to rouse him. Daisuke hugs Gin, crying out happily at their amazing victory. An unfamiliar sound joins in with Daisuke's whoops of jubilation, and the two lads turn to the forgotten cave. Within it they see two sets of shining eyes gazing back at them. Two small shadows rush from the cave's entrance and half run, half waddle to the fallen bear's side. It's the two red-backed cubs they'd seen earlier. Daisuke and Gin have just killed their mother.

Elsewhere in the forest, Hidetoshi and Company have just managed to down the bear that was chomping on the horse. Hidetoshi praises John for his involvement in the hunt before going to reload his rifle. John seems almost dismissive of the compliment. Of course he did a good job, has he ever failed before?

Despite it's magnificent size, the dog's ego isn't large enough to blot out the smell of something else in the area. Something that smells awfully familiar. While the men are distracted, John heads deeper into the woods.

Back at the new monument to matricide, the bear cubs are trying to awaken their mother and scare off Daisuke and Gin with pitifully small snarls. Gin stands and stares slack jawed at the orphaned twins while Daisuke sobs an apology to them. He can't help but connect what he's done to the cubs to what Akakabuto did first to Riki, then to Gin. Maybe this hunting thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The sound of a dog barking fills the air, and the two turn to see who's making all the racket. It's John, snarling and running towards them. It takes them a moment to realize that John isn't actually running at them, but at the cubs huddled by the dead bear.

As Daisuke tries fruitlessly to scare the cubs away, Gin yells demands at John to stop in the name of all that is good and wholesome. John doesn't know the meaning of the words, but he is familiar with snapping animals' necks, which he now does to one of the cubs.

John then flings himself headlong at the remaining little bear only to be intercepted by a flash of silver. Gin knocks John on his ass and away from the fleeing cub. He scolds John for the cruelly and proudly killing infants, but John doesn't seem to care. All he does is snort, gaze silently at the new scars on Gin's head, and then lunge at the Akita. He introduces Gin's cheek to his hind foot and sends him flying. Gin almost swears he hears John utter "Ha, gottem" before he tears the throat out of the remaining cub. The baby had been too slow to outrun him.

This starts a scuffle between the two dogs with, to John's amazement, Gin gaining the upper hand. He flings John ass-side up, asserting his dominance via animu protag posturing, and the two have a staredown. While they toss schoolyard insults at each other in their hackles-raising contest, Daisuke has other things on his mind.

If John is here, Hidetoshi is sure to be nearby. Daisuke begins yanking arrows out of the dead bear, then calls for Gin to join him in escaping the scene of the crime. The two pound pavement (or the forest equivilent of) as John barks for his master's attention.

Hidetoshi's crew come to find John and are taken aback by the sight of a dead bear and its two cubs. At first they believe that John somehow managed to slay them all, but Hidetoshi notices something that changes their minds. He draws attention to the arrow sticking out of the tree trunk nearby. It's impossible to miss the arrow among the desaturated greens and browns of the forest because of its red, purple, and blue tail.

Hidetoshi and friends begin their own trek home. Both the men and the boys share a similar experience while leaving the woods. While leaving, both Gin and John notice a peculiar smell coming from the surrounding mountains. Both are too distracted to pay the faint whiffs much mind, but without their knowing, they are being watched by at least 100 sets of eyes, all gazing down at them from the mountain cliffs. Tens of four-legged shadows disappear from the clifftops just as swiftly and soundlessly as they'd appeared.

Daisuke and Gin make it back to civilization first. Daisuke tells Gin to make believe they've been here in Hidetoshi's shooting range the whole time. Gin doesn't understand how he's supposed to aid the illusion, so he just sits and chews on himself. Shortly after, Hidetoshi and John pull up in their Jeep. John leaves the car and settles down beside it to rest. Hidetoshi enters the hospital to inform Gohei of what has just transpired in the woods.

Daisuke is pretending to practice when Hidetoshi enters the room. Daisuke greets him nonchalantly without meeting his eyes. Hidetoshi greets Daisuke by telling him he forgot something as he produces the abandoned arrow. Daisuke just about shits.

Hidetoshi scolds Daisuke for his recklessness, tells him he's too irresponsible to use weapons, and bans him from using his bow and arrows ever again. Daisuke responds like any mature young man would by throwing a temper tantrum and storming off with his dog to run through the streets and holler about how nobody understands them. We've all been there, kid.

Later that night, Gin stands atop Daisuke's house, gazing off into the abyss of space. His head is throbbing from where the bear got him, and Daisuke's parents had angrily let their son know that each mark would forever be a scar carved into his loyal friend's head.

Gin wasn't afraid of having scars. At anything, he decided that from now on he'd consider them a trophy from his first real victory over The Enemy. Before he climbs down for the night, he watches as a shooting star crosses the speckled black sky.

The next day, spring really starts gettin' sprung. While this would normally be a relief to the village people (not the band, the phenomenon) no snowfall means no more hibernation for the wildlife, which means all of Akakabuto's allies are sure to be around. Daisuke and Gin are especially aware of this, and Daisuke's feeling the pressure to do something about it.

That said, Gin's mind has been wandering elsewhere. A strange smell from the mountains has been wafting through the village. Gin can't quite put his finger on what it is, but it's neither bears nor God lettin' one rip. Something strange is occupying the woods.

Daisuke and Gin go to visit Hidetoshi. Daisuke plans on begging Doc to let him borrow his bow so he can help stop the ever growing Winnie The Pooh Lookalike Competition sweeping the forest. When the two arrive, they find Hidetoshi and his friends loading back up into the Jeep. They plan on going back to the forest and bringing back both the bear they killed and the one Daisuke killed. Hidetoshi greets Daisuke with a disapproving glare, and John matches Gin's annoyed expression.

Before Daisuke has a chance to ask, Hidetoshi reads his mind and tells him no, he can't have the bow, but yes, he can instead fuck off. Daisuke has proven he shouldn't be allowed to have it, and Hidetoshi, being a doctor, doesn't feel comfortable purposefully setting someone up to get hurt.

As the men depart, Daisuke regresses to 5 years old again. He stomps his feet and screams every obscenity he's ever learned. From his hospital room window, Gohei is looking down at the kinder, his face unreadable. All he thinks is that the little shit sure is serious about this bear killing thing.

Meanwhile, The Master Blaster Squad has reentered the forest. John leads the men back to the bear he helped slaughter, but his reaction is unexpected. His hackles raise and he utters vaguelly panicked sounding barks, two things he's usually too full of himself to do.

The men instantly see why - the bear's carcass has been stripped clean of fur and flesh! All that's left of the animal is a few scraps of muscle on its skull and a slimy pile of white bones. John continues snarling and barking as he gazes at something on the nearby cliff's edge. The men look up.

It's dogs. Dogs of all different breeds are lining the cliff as if in military formation. Everyone becomes more then a little anxious, concerned about being surrounded on all sides by feral animals. The dogs gaze down at the men for a moment (one of them totally does that "I'll be watching you" gesture with a forepaw) before departing, swiftly disappearing from sight. A strong feeling of What The Fuck lingers in the air.

Back in town, Daisuke has stopped screeching long enough to come to an obvious conclusion: couldn't he just, like, ask his dad to buy him a bow? He and Gin head home to ask pops if he's willing to drop a few yen on a deadly weapon for his 12 year old when Momma Daisuke makes them aware of the fact that Dad is outski. He's at a town meeting that's been organized to sort out the whole Man-Eating Bear business. Daisuke, overcome with a need to be involved again, invites himself and his dog to participate.

The meeting is more enlightening then most town meetings are. Akakabuto is obviously mentioned, as are the sightings regarding his children, but so are two newer threats.

Another bear named Madara ("mottled" or "spotted", guess what she looks like) who was originally being hunted in neighboring Miyagi has made her way to Akakabuto's territory. She's not known for picnicking on people, but she is aggressive and willing to attack anything in her way. She's powerful, too, refusing to die even after getting several bullets stuck in her gut.

The other bear is named Mosa. He's traveled here from Iwata, and the easiest way to recognize him is by his missing right foreleg. He's infamous for having killed several lumberjacks and woodsmen on his trek over. It's believed that both bears are making the effort to move into Futago Pass, aka Redhead Central, for good.

Daisuke and Gin have been watching the meeting from a window. Daisuke is seething with hatred at all the beary big invaders while Gin is trying to image the heinous power of three giant killing machines tearing through the mountains. All the men in the meeting are too chickenshit to wanna confront the bears, so they just sorta shrug and say "What can ya do?" This pisses Daisuke off enough to get him to yell at the men from outside, calling them out for not wanting to die in bear maulings.

The dude leading the meeting opens the window and begins scolding Daisuke for rudely interrupting when another rude interruption barges in and tells everyone to shut the fuck up. A rude interruption by any other name is Gohei Takeda, and he's hobbled here from the hospital, getting up the moment the words "bear" and "meeting" were used in the same sentence.

Exhausted from the walk there, Gohei pants to everyone in the room that Akakabuto and his ilk will not stop until they ruin everyone's lives forever. Then he tumbles into the meeting room table, swearing. Several men get up to help him as he tells them, and especially Diasuke, that no matter what, Akakabuto MUST die.

Unbeknownst to the human populace, Futago Pass's Fight Club has just opened, and it's first participants are Akakabuto and Madara. The bears have the arm wrestling match of the century to prove if Madara's allowed to walk around wherever she wants.

Akakabuto defeats her, but he allows her to hang around under one condition: she and any bear she either recruits or births must fall in line as Akakabuto's body guards. She figures that's not a bad deal for free room and board, so she agrees to be his right hand bear. With any luck, they'll all be enjoying human hamburger very soon.

Gohei has been taken back to the hospital, much to his dismay. Hidetoshi is trying to comfort him, saying that he'll get revenge enough for both of them. Gohei doesn't seem pleased at the idea of being left out, but he's actually less concerned about the ego bruising and more worried about Daisuke.

That damn kid has got it in his head that he can kill a 10 foot tall bear with a bow he barely knows how to use and a dog who's not fully grown yet. Hidetoshi says that Daisuke's lost his bow privileges, but Gohei doesn't care. He doesn't believe being disallowed the doc's toys will stop the stubborn child.

He's right to think so, because Diasuke and Gin are hauling ass AND their snowmobile into town. Diasuke barges into the weapons shop and strikes up a trade with the man behind the counter: the snowmobile in exchange for the most bitchin' bow and arrow set he's got.

The man can barely stop himself from laughing, taking Daisuke for an overzealous kid who can't tell the difference between a toy and a deadly weapon. Daisuke strikes up another deal almost instantly: for the bitchin' bow, he'll give the dude the snowmobile AND prove he can fire an arrow himself.

The Weapons Seller is about to protest that the traveler cannot handle his strongest weapons when he schanges his mind and takes Daisuke up on the offer. If Daisuke can hit the tree out back from the other side of the yard, he can have the bow. As expected by everyone who's reading this, Daisuke strikes the tree without breaking a sweat, and so he and Gin hop, skip, and jump home with a new, genuine bow and arrow set of their own. It's time to prepare.

Daisuke and Gin head into the forest in the same fashion they log into Disney.com - without their parents' permission. Daisuke is so overjoyed at having his own flying spears that he's firing off into tree trunks like it's no one's business, making believe each one is a monster bear.

Gin's not paying any mind, though. Not because he's seen Daisuke do this before, but because that strong, unfamiliar scent is even stronger here. His hackles raise and he begins growling involuntarily. There's a power to the strength of the scent that he can't ignore.

In an instant, Gin takes off after the weird smell. Daisuke is confused before scrambling to his feet and following. The sound of snarling and... is that barking? fills their ears as Gin follows the scent. Along the way, they find the battered body of a dog who's clearly picked a fight with a bear.

The dog is white with brown spots, and its head has been crushed as if stomped on. Gin gazes sadly at the corpse for a moment before continuing after the smell. The dead dog isn't the only unusual thing out here.

At the end of the scent trail, the two come to a small hollow in the woods. In a little sand embankment is a young Japanese black bear snarling at a large pack of domestic dogs. The dogs are standing over the body of a freshly killed deer, no doubt telling Tubby Teddy to back off 'cause they ain't sharing. The bear doesn't take the hint, so the dogs begin their attack.

A particular dog, a dark fawn great dane with a collar of red beads around his neck, barks commands at the others. Team 1, attack the legs! Team 2, go for the arms! Team 3, see if you can reach the eyes!

Gin and Daisuke watch spellbound as the dogs organize into units to slay the bear, downing it in mere minutes. Daisuke can't understand what the Great Dane is saying, but he gets the idea of how clever the dogs are. Gin watches spellbound, amazed at the pack's organization and power.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Gin slides down into the hollow to meet the canine coterie. The Dane's gaze meets his first, and every other dog turns and snarls at the Akita. Gin utters a weak "Hi" before the entire pack starts growling at him in warning.

Daisuke's understandably scared, but he knows there's not much he can do against a pack of this many animals. Luckily, the dogs' attention is torn away from Gin by a howl in the distance. Everyone turns to look.

Standing atop a nearby hill is the silhouette of another dog, a dark splotch against the setting sun. His howl is powerful and visceral, and it instantly draws the attention and command of the pack.

Gin is especially taken with the sound. He can't pinpoint why, but the voice stirs up something primal and powerful inside him. He wants to follow it. He wants to follow the pack.

----------

End of episode 2, wherein we finally see where this story is going. More mysterious dog antics are yet to come, which is what I know all you dog weebs are actually here for.

Episode 3: The Soldiers

[fmdxyoungjoo]

Fmdosaudition -- Our Song Audition

Premise: youngjoo’s audition answers to the questions for the audition for our song, and the cover of Aloha (Aroha) by Cool that she did using just a piano for accompaniment, singing in her own singing style. original song: aloha by cool  Word Count: 2377 words A/N: mentions of @fmdtaeyong and @fmdbyul cuz these two are great songwriters no matter what pple say

when she first hears about the fact that there’s going to be a show for music producers and lyricists, youngjoo almost jumps at the opportunity to showcase her talents, if not for the little bit of self doubt and tentative worry that she wasn’t as good as some of the others who were most probably or likely to sign up for the show itself. confidence has never been one of joo’s greatest facets when it came to reassuring herself with things--and so its with a strange sense of quiet resignation and yet soft determination that she’d hold onto the hope that she’d do well that she picks up the self cam and starts filming to audition in for the show. 

the first thing the camera actually does see is a clumsy wavering around of the room, and a half of a face darting in and out of the camera’s periphery. “is it..like this?” ten years and counting, and youngjoo admits that she’s still not that all good at doing some things like a self cam. she doesn’t like showing herself off in the spotlight when she’s off work and on her own, partly because she really--just doesn’t have nothing much to show, and the other part is because--she really liked being all off and on her own. self cam was a sense of scrutiny, and she always felt conscious enough of it, despite her naturalness before it. 

“hello!” her eyes crease, and a shy but abashed laughter bubbles from her lips. “sorry for the mishap there, but i’m pretty sure you can see my face now.” she huffs a little as she peers forward, crossing her legs as she pulls back slightly. she’s dressed comfortably in her mini little studio that she’s set up in her apartment--nothing too lavish or expensive, and just with the minimal but good systems that she needed to make her compositions, her hair pulled back slightly into a delicate ponytail as she reclined a little in her chair. 

“so what inspires me to write songs.” she peered slightly at the list of question that had been given to her for the audition, careful thoughtfulness flickering into view upon her face as she seriously considered the question, looking into the self cam with thoughtful eyes as she paused for a moment before answering the question. “well, i was inspired to write songs to--in a way give myself a voice. i actually started learning how to write lyricisms for songs only about a year or so back, while i started writing compositions for multiple songs probably about the second year into silhouette or so?” she scrunched her nose slightly as she tried to think accurately of the date. “yeah, almost about there. i thought to myself that since i had a good music background, and the talent for piano composition, why not challenge myself and try out composition for songs? it actually worked, which was a great relief because i thought gold star wouldn’t--” she covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing at the thought of complaining about her company.

“i thought gold star wouldn’t accept the songs because they weren’t that good. which in all honestly, they had every right to do so.” she paused for a moment, eyes creasing into delicate crescents as she smile happily. “but they did accept it, and for a couple of years, i’ve seen my songs pop up here and there in various soloists tracks, which made me really happy--and really greedy at the same time. if i’m good at composition, why couldn’t i try my hand at lyricism?” her eyes flickered as she cast her gaze down slightly. “so i started trying to write lyrics. it was hard--really difficult to find the right kind of words to songs, since i’m such a perfectionist, but eventually managed to, after all recently a lot of my songs have been written and composed by myself, as well as approved by gold star for further use.” happiness contoured her delicate features, brightening the room around her. “its a secret to what exactly its being used for, but you’ll be able to see the fruits of my labour in august! so what actually inspired me to write songs was the challenge of something different and something new, and surprisingly, in that process of finding something different and new, i found that i loved writing songs, and that i was good at it, which changed my original attitude of treating it as a challenge to one of attempting to make my own style of music and voice heard through my songs.”

what is your favourite song you’ve written?

she spends some time glancing at the question with mulling silence, wracking her mind slightly over which particular song that she had written that she had truly felt made an impact to her. it was difficult--because she loved all the songs that she had made with equal heart and equal soul.

“i think...” she trailed off slightly. “for compositions, it would be to my youth, in suji’s album &ND. it was a composition that i had written while trying to see from my wistful perspective as a young person how it was that i felt about youth?” her hands gestured slightly as she tried to find the right words to describe her thoughts. “i had left a note with the composition with the words “to my youth” in it, hoping that it would serve as a source of inspiration to whoever it came to.” she laughed sheepishly, hand slapping slightly upon the armrest next to her. “i just never thought that suji would have interpreted the song in its entirety so well, and that’s why its become one of my favourites for compositions. and if we were talking about lyricism, i think the portal song that i made last year--Grown Up, that was the most significant song to me.” she held off her words for a moment, letting the rage of emotions in her chest settle a little into something more manageable, the flicker of an uncontrollable excitement fluttering into the light of her eyes as she heave a soft but trembling sigh. “it was the first time that i wrote the lyrics of a song.” she admitted a little shyly, fingers twining over each other in nervousness as she glanced up for a moment at the self camera. “i honestly thought that i wouldn’t make it with that song--” she laughed a little self deprecatingly, before brightening. “but it held a lot of meaning for me, since i actually managed to succeed in writing something that i felt was worth a lot of my own experiences to me.” 

are there any songwriters you look up to? if so, whom? 

a faded but faraway look slowly overtook joo’s eyes as she fell back into her memory, jolting back into the present as she felt the self camera’s eyes upon her, a little embarrassed that she had been caught having her mind race elsewhere at the thought of the songwriter that she looked up to. “i actually do have a songwriter that i look up to.” she admitted. “its knight’s taeyong, actually.” she lets the corners of her lips jerk upwards into a small little smile. “we’ve worked together quite a bit when i first wanted to learn how to write the lyricism of a song, and i’ve always admired the way his music artistry and style that i found in his songs.” she chuckled, knowing that if this audition tape got leaked to a particular someone, they’d probably both end up being highly embarrassed. her cheeks flushed slightly at the thought. “he’s also a veteran at writing songs, and i find myself listening to a lot of his songs and byul’s songs as a whole when i’m stuck with something that i can’t get a hold of.” she grinned, a flash of pearly teeth, cheeky and yet adorable as she laughed openly about it. “so yes, if there are any songwriters that i look up to, they would be knight’s taeyong and byul. they really do make writing songs seem so effortless sometimes that i get frustrated, but every single song that’s come from them have been nothing but beautiful.” 

What are your goals as a songwriter?

joo blinked for a moment, twisting the ring accessory that she had worn for the day in slight nervousness as she faintly mumbled, then sighed. “honestly, being able to hear my songs being used everywhere and anywhere is my ultimate goal as a songwriter. but not just that. i want the songs that i write to have meaning, to resonate with its listeners, that when they heard the songs they’re able to feel their tears, have their healing or feel better about whatever they’re not feeling better about. isn’t that what songs are meant for?” she asked softly. “music brings healing when used in the correct way, and that’s what i want as a goal for songwriter, and what i mean by giving myself a voice. i want to give a voice that tells people--” she hummed slightly as she thought of the right words that would encapsulate her idea fully. “a voice that tells people, hey its alright, i’ve heard you, and i’ve gone through what you did, so you aren’t alone.” she adds on haltingly. “its a big goal ultimately as a songwriter, but one that i want to see happen as a composer and a songwriter, because that gives me more inspiration and meaning to write as a whole.” 

What do you hope to achieve by being on this show?

“one of the greatest opportunities that this show can give me, i think--is the fact that so many various songwriters and composers and producers are all gathered upon this show with one creative goal of writing a song that receives the acknowledgement from everyone eventually. having this slightly competitive space amongst people that are good at their work doesn’t just make for a better environment for those that want to learn, but also a better environment for everyone to actually sharpen their own skills. that’s--my goal to be on this show. to share my experience, as green as i may be, and to sharpen my own skills, something that i truly think won’t happen without another person to help give constructive feedback or collaboration experiences.” 

...

rather than cutting the camera immediately after her interview questions, joo takes the camera with her towards the organ piano that she had and used in her studio, humming lightly to herself as she adjusted the keys and the sound of it from the regular classical piano to a special effect on the piano, fingers pressing on the keyboards to test out the song with a few lazy chords of the song that she was going to sing, fingers flying across the board as she played the first few bars of the piece that came to her mind. the piano hummed with a rounded sound, almost tinkling at the end as she pressed the notes on the keyboard--and with a satisfied nod, she turned towards the camera, beaming widely as she tucked the stray strands of her hair back and prepared to perform, stretching her shoulders and muscles to relax the nervousness that was bubbling up in the pit of her stomach and her body. 

“so the song i selected is actually a rather old song. not sure if many of you have heard of the song aloha by cool? or aroha.” she took her phone, scrolling through her music playlist for the song that she wanted. “i’ll play the song for a few minutes.” she laughed as the old song started playing on the phone, the strums of the guitar and the cheerful vocals flowing through the speaker of her phone for barely a minute, before she shuts the music off. 

“and now, i’ll be playing my own interpretation of this song, with just the piano for accompaniment.” she winked, laughing cheekily as she adjusted her seating on the piano, and the mike that was placed on a stand before her. there’s a sombre pause, fingers delicately curved prettily upon the keys of the organ as she counted to herself and begun the song, filling everyone’s ears with the soft tinkle of a beginning chord to what would seem like a ballad.

in contrast to the cheerful and upbeat tune of the original song, the way that youngjoo sang the song was ballad like--but yet still surprisingly cheerful and mischievous, never losing the edge of the song that set it apart from everyone else. ballad had always been the style that youngjoo was highly comfortable with doing, so it was of no absolute surprise that that was the style she was going for--rather, the surprise came with how light and delicate the piano accompaniment sounded. rather than the heavy but emotional chords that would usually accompany a ballad song to bring about the rise and fall of emotions, the chord was playful and lighthearted, the special effect and rounded tinkling that lay at the ends of the keys as she played a crucial effect into uplifting both her voice and the song. 

as youngjoo got more absorbed and at ease with the song, the more the lightheartedness and playfulness showed. it was amazing that something as simple as a change in the piano tone for a ballad being able to bring about a different playfulness and flavour as a general whole to the entire song, and affect in a way how youngjoo sang. it was just that little something that youngjoo was clearly good at, being attuned towards tones and sounds as a composer herself as she sent a cheeky little smile towards the camera, happily ending her little cover of aloha with complete cheerfulness and utter satisfaction. 

“and that brings me to the end of my audition! thank you, and wherever this goes, i hope that i’ll be given the opportunity to learn more from our songs soon!” she signed off with a happy smile, relaxing as she saved the audition and turned off the camera, uploading the audition video and sending the audition in for the new show as quickly as she could.

[fmdjoosungarchive]

location: bc studio

date: mid-late sept, same day as x

word count: 755

tldr; verification for @fmdminah’s timeless, partial production! sung records timeless with minah, and gets offered a role in her mv. one lil mention of yujin. minah praise time part 2

paper crinkled in sung’s hand with every step. just the one, while his other hand curled around the strap of his bag, keeping it taut so it didn’t bounce up as high with the swishes of his legs.

he’d read the lyrics an hour ago, a few times over, but he needed the feeling to be fresh. piano and guitar swirled his eardrums through his earbuds as he read the lyrics, trying his best to imagine how they would flow into the melody he’d written. sung forgot how much he enjoyed timeless, as it came to be called. it wasn’t like what he usually wrote. in that way, it was unique, something just for minah and her career going forward.

when he went into the recording studio, sung had set aside his thoughts on timeless, to record the easier of the two tracks he’d be recording that day. but, as lonely came to a close, they were faced with another task ahead, one that required they both get into a different mindset as swiftly as possible.

sung had come up with a decent enough way to do that, by this point of having worked with enough idols to know how quick the process needed to be sometimes. they’d come back together in the same room to listen to timeless, this time the demo, through headphones, with their eyes closed. the point, was to eliminate more senses, to truly feel the song through their ears rather than be distracted by other sounds and sights. it wasn’t the best method, maybe some other producer did something better, but it worked well enough for their purposes, for sung’s. he spent the listen more intently on minah’s voice in the demo, to pick out what he might suggest otherwise for the final recording session.

bc having wanted, and having chosen this song, for minah was out of his perceived notion. it ended up being the first thing he said when minah went back into the recording booth. “this song must be the most different one on the album, right?” a snicker fell from his lips, before he requested minah send him the album when it was finished so he could listen to it fully. he went on to explain more of his influences rather than the lyrics since… he didn’t write anything real. what he had written were more vague vocals that he could still hear on the demo version. sung mentioned with a fondness that he’d bugged yujin so often to record the song for him, and that, if minah could hear it, there were still bits of her in the background.

though, most of what he talked about were those influences. the song ended up being something sung would call a power ballad. there were rock influences, largely from the japanese power ballads he’d been listening to a lot at that time. there was his biggest note, to give her. sung wasn’t sure how familiar minah was with that style, when he’d come into the recording studio, but he believed in her ability to give him intensely powerful vocals to match with the feeling of the song. “time passes the same as the wind blows. this person was so, so meaningful to you, that now the worst of the feelings of losing them are gone, you’re left with the knowledge that what you had was special anyway. it’s powerful, i believe, to be secure in that knowledge. it reads like a letter to this person, doesn’t it? think of it that way, and pour out your emotions to them.”

that song took a little more finessing. minah’s voice was strong, powerful in a way many idol singers weren’t, but it required a few breaks for ‘mini games’ of a sort, like giving a good yell into the walls of the booth, to pull the complicated mess of feelings into the song in a way that sung thought worked well. it was there he relished more having a partner to work on the production with him, and to be working with a friend like minah, who might have understood his fumblings, when his words weren’t the best.

sung made sure to give a tight hug to minah, and let her know what a great job she’d done, when they’d wrapped up their recording session. he was blessed, to have the opportunity at all, but when minah mentioned her music video shoot, sung really had to wonder how it was he managed to find such amazing friends like minah.

[nct-ice]

NCT Ice Collaborations

Note: I made all the moodboards for the concepts of the songs please don’t use them for anything it would be kind of weird if you did. 

Hold Up (Ft. SHINee’s Key)

Hold Up was released on April 20, 2015. The members included in this particular song were only Kangwoo and DeeD. It also had Taeyong and Hansol. This song started the storyline of NCT Ice. Hold Up is a dance based song so it has a dance version and a music video. The MV shows the LIGHT side of their storyline. 

Basics of the music video:

The MV would show the boys laughing and having fun, being boys if you will. They jump around and shoot each other with water guns, but then the screen goes black. “Hold Up” is written as the breakdown starts and the concept seems to turn dark. The water guns flickered from being “real” to being regular water guns again. 

The screen goes black, “hold up” is written again. The boys drop their water guns and run into each other's arms. Kangwoo runs into DeeD’s arms, Hansol into Taeyong’s. As soon as they get to each other Hansol and DeeD turns to dust. The screen flickers and the words, “really come back to me” appear and disappear.

When the screen stops flickering it shows DeeD and Kangwoo crying as Hansol and Taeyong seem to have disappeared. The words “hold up” appear on the screen yet again. Hansol and Taeyong have come back to the other two boys. They reunite with a hug.

The screen turns black and the music stops. Kangwoo is speaking to DeeD. “We shouldn’t of come here, this was not meant to happen. We aren’t supposed to be here”

During most of the music, video Key seemed to be watching the boys in a way that could be deemed as “stalking.” Key also seemed like he was a voice in the boys’ heads.

The video ends with a black screen that says “The story has only just begun.”

Family (Kangwoo X Kang Daniel)

Family was released October 12, 2015, a whole year before NCT Ice’s official debut. The song consisted of only Kangwoo and his little brother Daniel. The storyline of this one shows more of Kangwoo’s side and the song is kind of dark. Kangwoo has admitted that the lyrics are a lot lighter than what the music video shows, however, it is also important to show it. This song was purely story driven and there was no dancing showed at any point in the music video. The song has more of the traditional NCT pop/hip hop sound to it.

Basics of the music video:

It starts the way it began, Daniel desperately trying to reach for his brother as he cries, when it starts there is no sound but rain and weeping. The scene switching back and forth between a hospital scene and the scene before, of the crying younger boy. 

Once the music starts, everything seems to go back but it’s eerie as if it wasn’t really how things should’ve happened. Daniel and Kangwoo are playing video games but the screen is static and their eyes looked fixated on each other instead of the screen. Kangwoo throws the controller at Daniel then the scene changes.

The boys are now standing in the street as rain pours down on them, hands interlaced with one another as if they are scared to lose each other. Kangwoo’s eyes seem to darken as the two of them are shaken up. Suddenly the two are ripped apart by an unseen force causing Kangwoo to panic, he clearly doesn’t want to lose his younger brother.

The scene switches, Kangwoo is on his knees, screaming. He’s begging for something. The screen goes black for a moment as the song says “but our love is forever, for we are family.” 

It turns back time, Kangwoo is holding a sick Daniel in his arms. He’s running to the hospital with his little brother in his arms, fearful of what may happen. The screen goes black again.

This time it shows Kangwoo in the hospital bed, he’s not bleeding but there is clearly something going wrong, then the music video ends saying “our family is forever.” as it shows the same scene as in the beginning, the crying being drowned out by a wave of text saying “this isn’t over yet.”

Hold Me (Mini ft TWICE’s Momo)

Hold Me was released on August 21, 2016, with NCT Ice member Mini and TWICE member Momo. In this song, the video shows strictly story much like Family did. Momo and Mini play a couple in the music video. The song has more of a slow-paced rock sound different for both Momo and Mini at the time. Both the song and music video are a bit dark, a lot of fans were shocked by the music video, especially TWICE fans as it’s something Momo has never done before. During an interview Mini actually admitted it was him who asked Momo to be on the song as he didn’t like the options SM brought up to him since he knew what the idea was for the music video.

Basics of the music video:

The music video starts with Mini covered in blood and a high pitched sound with bright white lights beaming in the young boy's eyes. He holds his arm over his eyes slightly to cover them from the insanely bright light before him. There’s a loud crashing sound. The scene cuts and when it comes back the two are running through the woods holding hands tightly.

As the two of them are running through the woods you can hear their heavy breathing. Momo trips and Mini instantly stops to help the girl up, not wanting to leave her behind for some reason. They are clearly running away from something, but what? The two of them are bloody as they keep running.

The scene cuts and the music starts, dark and oddly soothing. It shows Momo looking over Mini as he’s staring at his hands, he’s covering up his arms quickly when he sees her. He smiles and kisses the older girl lightly on her cheek. She’s crying at the sight of him, he’s weak and sickly looking.

Momo guides the sick boy downstairs where they sit and eat. He picks at his food as he gets lost in thoughts, the scene cuts and goes into the past to the memory that Mini was reliving.

Mini is laying in the hospital bed as Momo is looking terrified. Mini reaches his hand for her with blurry vision but the doctors won’t let her near him no matter how hard she fights them. 

The scene cuts and Momo is now holding the boy in her arms. He’s shaking and bloody. The scene cuts again and it shows the couple in a recording studio. It cuts back to the scene before shortly after, where Mini was shaking and bleeding. 

The scene cuts again and they are on a date. They are watching a movie and cuddling, everything seems to be good in this memory but it’s not. They seem to be internally battling with one another as they are cuddling.

The scene cuts and it’s back to the scene of Momo and Mini eating, he suddenly stands up and pulls Momo to her feet as he holds her. The scene cuts and shows Mini in a hospital bed yet again but this time Momo isn’t anywhere to be seen.

The scene then cuts back to the very beginning with Mini covered in blood and covering his eyes with his arm then quietly cuts back to another hospital scene for a short moment you can’t see who is in the hospital bed but something obviously happened to one or both of them.

The music video ends with the sound of a flat line and Mini and Momo having a conversation in weak voices. 

Mini: I love you, please forgive me... Momo Momo: You’ll always be forgiven by me, my love Mini: This shouldn’t have happened... Not yet

With that, the music video turns into a black screen that says “I trusted you.”

Heartbroken (ft Suran)

Heartbroken was released January 28, 2019, with NCT Ice members Justin, Haru, and Kangwoo. The storyline is pretty straight forward with this song, it doesn’t follow their normal storyline though, but the story is told fully in one song so it isn’t one that needs to take a series of music videos like their storyline does. Suran is not in the music video but she does sing in the song.

Basics of the music video:

It’s kind of a stereotypical heartbreak song. The three boys were in love with the same girl and she didn’t love them. It’s clear that she was using the trio and trying to turn them against each other.

The three boys were always fighting each other and at each other's throats because of this girl. They didn’t realize it at first, they just thought they fought a lot because they were falling out of the friendships they had. 

The three boys seemed to snap out of it and they collectively kicked her out of their lives while being heartbroken, but it’s what they needed to do.

Don’t Stop The Music (ft. EXO’s Chanyeol)

Don’t Stop The Music was released March 1, 2019, with NCT Ice members DeeD, Haru, and Mini. Chanyeol actually picked the members he wanted to perform this song with as he and DeeD were the ones who wrote and produced it. Kangwoo and DeeD made a demo of the song for Chanyeol and Chanyeol picked who he thought best fit the song, and SM agreed with it. The song doesn’t completely follow their concept, but there are some scenes that do.

Basics of the music video:

The song is very fun but the notable scenes are the ones that showcase NCT Ice’s storyline.

Haru and Mini are holding hands as the wind picks up and DeeD comes out of nowhere, he seems to be wanting the younger two boys to follow him. When they do they are transported to a forest, Mini seems to recognize the place as he grips Haru’s hand and starts to run. DeeD chases the younger boys with a strange glint in his gaze. The scene switches back to the boys having fun with Chanyeol.

When it switches back to the boys, DeeD is gone again and Mini and Haru are panting as they hide behind a tree. They look scared but Haru smirks and shoves the younger boy over, Mini weakly falls over and glares at the older boy, he goes to throw dirt at Haru but he seems to fade away with the dirt as it blows away in the wind. The scene goes back to the fun music video aspect of it.

When it switches back Mini is alone in a dark alleyway looking for Haru and DeeD, he seems to be calling for them but with no luck, he ends up tripping and cracking his head open, the music video then switches back to the fun aspect yet again and it doesn’t switch back again.

The music video ends with Chanyeol looking sad and alone, he seems to be a new part of the storyline suddenly.

[podcake]

Must Listen May: Mabel Review

An interesting piece of trivia I’d like to offer to you all before starting this review is that this show officially premiered nine days after my nineteenth birthday. And when I think of September, the first thing that comes to mind is how much I enjoy doing September in Review and how long it took for me to figure out whether or not I wanted to squeeze Mabel into it. 

But the siren’s call of horror has been a strong one this month, and I was compelled to go with my instincts on the SABLE and Mabel match up for the end of spring. Also, I like rhyming as much as I love perfect timing.

Mabel is a podcast that is, as vaguely as the real description puts it, about “ghosts, family secrets, strange houses, and missed connections”. It is primarily centered around Mabel Martin, a troubled young lady with a dark secret as a woman named Anna Limon, our main narrator and the caretaker for Mabel’s frail grandmother, tries to get in touch with her. 

This is the first audio drama brain child of esteemed writer, tarot card reader, and now podcast producer Becca De La Rosa, and as far as debuts go, Mabel is a fairly eclectic little number.

For starters, the episodes are done entirely in missed voice mail messages that provide a surprising amount of depth and a general synopsis of what we’re in for. So if you’re always looking forward to Night Vale’s “The September Monologues” episodes or those certain mini episodes of The Bright Sessions, this might be up your alley from the get-go. 

I’m honestly surprised more people haven’t taken advantage of this simple but effective format as it makes for some natural but memorable monologues. 

As far as audio editing goes, it’s as modest as it needs to be with the ongoing “beep!” noise being the only constant alongside subtle sound effects and melancholic music to back the narration which is all used to help make the show as heavily atmospheric as possible.

If there’s anything Mabel has plenty of its eerie silence and the kind of ambiance that’s equal parts calm and creepy, a central theme woven into the story from the start that’s strengthened by its choice of horror tropes. 

And the horror trope Mabel has in mind, beyond mysterious old people and endless phone calls, is that of sentient houses. This alone brings back memories of reading Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, one of my favorite novels and a door-stopper thick with some of the best surreal horror descriptions and dialogue. Not a podcast but an excellent book that I can certainly say Mabel drew some inspiration from.

It’s not everyday I can recall a book to describe an audio drama so kudos to De La Rosa for the homage to some quality literature. 

I’m also a fan of the idea of a protagonist who plays straight man in the beginning but ends up coming off less and less stable overtime as their sanity becomes questionable. 

This all the more to do with the aforementioned spooky house thing I mentioned before, making Anna less than comfortable in her surroundings though something implies there’s something else simply off about her despite the unsettling nature of her job.

But the descriptions don’t just stop at the house and the elegant streaks of face juice likely gracing Anna’s phone screen as Mabel has an interesting take on fairy tale motifs as symbolism and imagery that correlate with fairy folk, princesses, and being trapped in towers comes up more and more in Anna’s narration. 

Along that are some haunting and equally beautiful descriptions connecting to roses and roots, some place called Fairy Hill, and any symbolism that can be squeezed out of bodies of water.

As someone who has grown use to audio drama descriptions ranging between strange town locations, apocalyptic wastelands, and the insides of spaceships, I had to say the visuals here were equally chilling and refreshing to imagine. 

The same way I took some grisly delight in SABLE’s love for twisted storytelling, I get a similar and slightly softer variation of this with Mabel, a show abundant with images freaky more in that metaphorical sense. 

This still being a dual review month, I feel compelled to draw at least some type up comparison between these two shows beyond the obvious horror with a rhyming thing. And it turns out that I did find something that the two didn’t just have common, but one glaring feature that made them distinctly different from one another.

In my review of SABLE, I mentioned how the excessive gore can become overwhelming but doesn’t weigh down otherwise simple tale while Mabel seems to have the opposite problem. It’s not a particularly violent show and works around a more whimsical-psychological thing, though the contrast comes to mind with how underwhelming it can be. 

Everything is so subtle and quiet and soft all the time that it can take awhile to fully understand what’s happening even if we know we’re meant to be given a complete picture composed out of a lot of tiny, tiny pieces. This can make an average listening lean more on the tedious side as we try to meticulously pick apart the central narrative and as to what exactly is going on. 

An interesting mental exercise, certainly, though an often grating one that makes tuning in quite a chore if one is just looking for a story they can sink their teeth into without choking on the tough exterior.

It’s a show that requires your full attention as a lot can be said in just a few minutes, with little agency from the narration to imply how important it really is, and is the equivalent of walking a very thin tightrope for a vaguely implied promise of a prize at the end. It can be a lot of thinking and concentration for not much of a reward, forcing one to tune into the next episode more out of sheer confusion than curiosity. 

And it can be hard to stay focused with so many bewildering details, red herrings, and imagery being presented in a way that straddles the line between purple prose, some pretty good poetry, and a casual one-sided phone conversation. 

I understand that this is all for the sake for keeping the main mystery as vague as possible but the execution just doesn’t have that right effect.

Unfortunately, Mabel just is not as eerie yet fantastical as it wants to be, making for a listening experience that doesn’t quite fall flat as much as it fails to really get a rise out of itself. It’s a story overwhelmed by its own complexity that can make for some great background noise if you’re just here for the pretty music and nice words but a trial to completely comprehend even when going through the current stretch of episodes available. 

Which is a pity because I really love the ideas here, I just wish the execution was better than some appealing but not particularly interesting window dressing. In short: I didn’t get it.

The truth is that Mabel is a very acquired taste, incredibly niche even in a niche crowd that it puts itself in. And I know for a fact I’ve said this often and are the first to sing praises to strange ideas, testing out new genres in an audio format, and getting as much beautiful, elegant world building out there as possible and Mabel should very much be in my ballpark for doing all of this.

And yet I find myself not being as enamored as I expected to be. There’s a very good story and a contained, gorgeously written set up to keep all its pieces in place, and yet it still left me feeling all sorts of dizzy and at a complete distance from what it wanted to share.

As a big fan of less than sane content, be it dealing with time travel, dimension tearing shenanigans, and mole people-I honestly surprised myself to see I wasn’t registering the same genuine intrigue that made me enjoy those titles to begin with.

With some thinking I realized exactly why that is. 

What Mabel lacks that, to name a few, the post-apocalyptic camp story of Our Fair City and the sci-fi reality bending time travel tale of Ars Paradoxica, is that despite their bewildering plots and one of a kind narrative, is a sense of coherency. 

These shows both work around the rules of chaos and trying to make sense of it, allowing listeners to put the pieces together and make the big scary puzzle in the end look a lot more simple. 

There’s a central purpose and underlying kind of human sanity that doesn’t completely alienate you from what’s going on, something Mabel has yet to fully commit to. 

Not that Mabel lacks a central narrative, just that it’s so bogged down by its own setting and single, unchanging, eerie tone that it lacks any sort of punch that it’s been slowly winding up from the beginning of season one. It may just be because it’s only the first season and second season to work off of, but I have yet to...how do I put this, get the point.

Perhaps a show of this style, if one can call it a style, is beyond my realm of intrigue and is meant to be appealing to people who just aren’t...me. I do love non-direct storytelling and mysteries that press and press on, but the way Mabel handles these ideas doesn’t quite engross me in its world and instead pushed me into the sidelines to watch from afar. 

Above all, Mabel has a pretty good sense of suspense and budding tension with some gorgeously presented visuals, but its slow pace and confusing writing might leave more people behind locked doors.

[one-of-us-blog]

Bringing Up Baby (TGG, Season 3, Episode 3)

Today Eli is forced to watch and recap Bringing Up Baby, Episode 3 of the third season of The Golden Girls.  Will this episode make him squeal with delight, or leave him sadly longing for a different show?  Keep reading to find out…

First, a quick public service announcement: Did you know that every episode of The Golden Girls is now available to stream on Hulu?  No?  Well, get on that!  It makes watching and following along with this blog much easier!  Please note: One of Us! is sadly in no way sponsored by Hulu.

Next, I need to tell Jon that he did a great job with his Turn Left recap!  I have mixed feelings on the issue of previous companions moving in on Donna’s space.  It took me a while to warm up to Donna, but I really love her now, and agree that she is fully deserving of her own character arc.  I actually think she does get an arc that distinguishes itself quite a bit from any other companion in the show’s history.  But it is nice to see the return of an old friend from time to time and, unfortunately for Donna, this was still in the era of the show in which companions were generally limited to starring for a single season/series (with the exception of Rose, who got two), so it was kind of inevitable that those friendly faces would steal some of Donna’s time in the sun.  I agree it has probably happened a bit too much this season.  But that being said, I still feel this is a very strong season of the show, and I’m excited to see you finish it off!

Now, it’s time to recap an episode of The Golden Girls in which the gals are also joined by an unexpected companion, so let’s head to Miami!

Episode written by Barry Fanaro and Mort Nathan, directed by Terry Hughes

As the episode opens, Dorothy answers the front door to discover her mother returning home, uncertain of her location.  This is probably due to the fact that she has lost her glasses, which were supposedly broken at the mall (but may in reality have been broken in a street fight, or lost in a high stakes wager).  Sophia had a very hard time getting back to the house, and all of her attempts to use a pay phone just resorted in purchasing condoms.  Blanche is also present, concerned about which necklace compliments her dress to produce the “easy” effect for which she’s aiming.  Lastly, Rose enters the scene, returning home with some odd news.  Her uncle back in Minnesota has passed away, and in his will he left her custody of his baby.  His BABY?  The girls are a bit perplexed as to how to address the situation.  Blanche shows some concern for Rose, but mostly just ends up complimenting herself and manages to prompt a rare triple-take from Dorothy that would meet even the high standards of Sir Patrick Stewart.  Dorothy admits that she always wished for another chance with a child, and soon everyone (with the exception of Sophia) has caught a severe case of hypothetical-baby fever.  Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose take their enthusiasm to a different room, leaving the nearly blind Sophia to head to her bedroom; or, more accurately, to wander into traffic.

The next morning in the kitchen, Sophia wanders in and prepares to defecate on a chair right in the midst of her friends.  The girls alert her that she is not actually in the bathroom and she exits, blaming her new semi-blindness for the blunder.  Personally, I think she was just making a power play, as her sense of in-home geography would have to be pretty sketchy to believe she was actually entering a different room.  For that matter, her venture into traffic in the previous scene was likely also a part of this sick game.  Rose has been looking at old pictures, and Blanche has been worrying about the fact that the baby won’t have a male role model in its life.  The gals tell her not to be concerned, especially Rose, who confuses Dr. Spock with Mr. Spock and informs her that on Vulcan babies are born in pods, so what does he know about child-rearing anyway?  At last, a man arrives at the door introducing himself as the deceased uncle’s legal representative, and he’s here with “the baby.”  Only, as it turns out, “the baby” is actually Baby, a beautiful prized pig.  Surprise!  The pig was apparently the pride and joy of Rose’s uncle, and her farm nostalgia starts firing on all cylinders.  She is thrilled to have the pig with them, but the other girls are less than enthusiastic.  That is, until the man at the door informs them that Baby comes with an incentive of $100,000 in pigbucks, providing the gals can look after him until his dying day; and as it turns out, our new piggy friend is currently 29 years into a projected 25 year lifespan, and Rose is willing to split the money.  Welcome home, Baby!

We jump ahead in time a bit, to a scene in which Sophia is lounging on the lanai, still without her spectacles.  Baby wanders over to eat some of her food that was left at ground level, as Dorothy finally delivers a new pair of glasses with the wrong frames to her.  She looks like Buddy Holly might have if the music hadn’t died, but at least she can see!  We learn that, much to Dorothy’s dismay, Rose has been giving the pig free reign of the house.  She just loves having a pig around, but Dorothy is a bit more curious about when the oinker will shuffle off this mortal coil and head to the big slop pile in the sky.  Blanche is also fuming mad, as Baby tore up her nightgown and has shown a tendency to watch her shower.  Rose decides to call her family to see if someone else can take Baby off her hands, but Dorothy recalls that this would cost them the attached $100,000.  She and Blanche hastily change Rose’s mind to allow the pig to stay, and the two conspirators are forced to cut Sophia in on the deal along the way.  Once again we see Sophia’s incredibly subtle manipulation of events in play, as seconds after she is promised a $25,000 share, a suddenly sickly Baby collapses off screen.

Again, we cut ahead to the kitchen.  Rose is very sad about Baby’s current medical condition, and the girls attempt to comfort her; well, except for Sophia, who prefers to make sadistic ham jokes, and earns herself a wonderfully cold stare from Rose.  After Rose leaves, the other girls begin talking about their favorite subject again: the money.

Another jump forward, and Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia have returned home from a shopping spree, on which they’ve spent some major pigbucks that they haven’t yet earned.  Rose reveals them that a veterinarian has come to see Baby, and the vet informs them all that the real issue is that Baby has a mental problem.  Simply put, he’s homesick.  Rose immediately plans to send Baby back to the farm but the gals jump in to convince her otherwise, complimenting her as a pig-keeper and overstating their own swine-related affection.  Rose eventually gives in and even thanks the girls for being the best friends ever.  This causes the girls to experience guilt, prompting another shopping spree to cheer them up a bit.

Next, we find Dorothy choked up in the kitchen, struggling with her feelings of guilt regarding the money and Baby’s welfare.  Blanche and Sophia have no such qualms, and have returned home with a new Mercedes.  Dorothy has resolved to tell Rose the truth about what they are doing and give back the money, but Blanche promises anything if she will contain herself, even offering up one of her sons.  Nevertheless, Dorothy makes her way to Rose’s bedroom.  Baby (or something vaguely pig-shaped) is lying in bed with Rose and still very sickly.  Dorothy comes clean, and when Blanche is convinced that Baby really is homesick and depressed, even her heart is melted.  They both feel awful and beg Rose’s forgiveness.  She is pretty upset on Baby’s behalf, and tells them that a kiss on the nose would be a good apologetic gesture.  They both proceed to kiss her on the nose, and this cheers her back up.  She could never stay mad at them!  The trio has all unanimously decided to send Baby back home where he’ll be happy, forfeiting the money.  Sophia, however, is not pleased about this turn of events, but once again was not consulted in the matter.

In the (almost) final scene, the gals are in the kitchen where Sophia finally has a new pair of glasses with the correct old lady frames.  She’s still moping quite a bit, and Dorothy tells her to get over it, even if she’s having her own problems coping with the loss of excess cash.  A letter arrives from Rose’s cousin, informing her that Baby was very happy to be back on the farm, and that this was a great time for him to spend his final hours…Baby has actually died, along with any hope the girls had of claiming the associated $100,000 (though honestly, that cousin is kind of a jerk for not offering up any of the cash given that Baby was back home for all of 36 hours).  The gals are all now really depressed, and even their new Mercedes is being taken.  Dorothy never even got to ride in it.  To cheer themselves up a bit, we get one more mini-scene in which the gals manage to take a ride in the new car, even if this occurs while it is being pulled away by a tow truck.

The End.

I enjoyed this episode, though not as much as the previous one, and definitely not as much as the perfect season opener.  Sophia managed to land some pretty good pig-related jokes and I loved seeing Rose’s enthusiasm for the new companion, but the missing glasses gag only really worked a couple of times and I couldn’t quite buy the way the $100,000 pig-stipend was administered and awarded only upon Baby’s demise.  This one is good for some chuckles, but it probably won’t be an episode I revisit very often once I’ve wrapped up the entire series.  I give Bringing Up Baby a score of 3.5 poofy hairdos out of 5.

Be sure to stop back in tomorrow as Jon nears the end of the fourth series of Doctor Who and treats us to a recap of The Stolen Earth, and I’ll report back in on Friday with my take on The Housekeeper, the next episode of The Golden Girls.  Until then, as always, thank you for being a friend, and for being One of Us!

[gladysnmccary]

[INTERVIEW] Make Way For Prince Ali! Scott Weinger Visits With ILID

This week, fans across Texas received the devastating news that Dallas Fan Festival is now the latest entertainment victim claimed by Covid. After Fan Expo was postponed (and later canceled), many people held onto the hope that they would have a chance to see some of the scheduled talent appear at Fan Festival in October. Unfortunately, 2020 had different plans...again. One of the actors from this year's Fan Expo guest list was Aladdin and Full(er) House star Scott Weinger. While the magic carpet will no longer be carrying Aladdin to Dallas, we do have some good news. We were able to speak with Scott about his career and Disney memories before the Fan Expo cancellation. Obviously, our exclusive interview can't take the place of getting to meet him in person, but hopefully it will bring a bit of the anticipated Con to your living room. In the meantime, we will be searching for a lamp and wishing to see the return of Scott and Fan Expo Dallas again next spring!

Many fans know you as Steve, others know you as Aladdin. Which of the two do you see yourself more as?

Oh, that’s really funny; it’s hard to say. I’ve been playing both of those characters since I was a teenager and now, I’m an old man. I feel like I identify very much with both of them. It’s hard to imagine that all these years later that they both come up. They’re both a big part of my life, you know? It’s hard to say. Up until two months ago I was literally still playing Steve. Every day I would go into the studio and get a script for the role of Steve. I still go into the studio and record projects for Aladdin, too. But, as far as which character I identify with most? It’s hard to say. I will say that the character of Aladdin has a lot of universal qualities that people can relate to, that I can relate to. He is an underdog aiming high. I feel like anybody who comes to Hollywood to try to make it in showbusiness, whether as a writer or an actor, they’re an underdog. It takes a lot of luck to succeed there, sometimes in the form of a genie and sometimes in other ways like a lucky meeting with somebody or an audition that goes well. When it comes to Aladdin, by the way, I auditioned by mainlining in a tape. I recorded a tape with my mom playing the genie, we mailed it into California, and I got the part! So, that’s a little bit of luck right there.

Definitely! Speaking of genies, if you had three wishes what would they be?

Well, I think I’d have to spend the first one on this whole Coronavirus thing and put it in the book. It’s making life a little bit less fun for a lot of people. Now that I’m a dad and husband, I think most of my wishes would be very boring wishes, like for the health of my family and everything. But I wouldn’t mind a flying car to get around that L.A. traffic!

I get that; Dallas traffic isn’t much better. Looking at your wife’s twitter, it would seem that she has accepted the fact that she is the “wife of Aladdin”. On the other hand, your son is growing older now. Has he started to realize the pros and cons of being the “son of Aladdin”?

I think that he like it and that he thinks it’s pretty cool. We’ve had a lot of really great experiences at Disneyland because of it. He’s much older now, but when he was five or six years old there was an amazing event that took place on the Disney lot when the executives were getting ready to promote Aladdin coming out of the vault and onto Blu ray. We were talking about it and they said, “Is your son excited to see it like that?” I said, “Well, he’s never really seen it before.” Their jaws dropped. They couldn’t believe that my son hadn’t! He was just getting to the right age where he could really enjoy and appreciate it, so they had this amazing idea. They threw a huge party on the Walt Disney Studios lot where they had a huge Arabian Nights themed carnival. All of his friends came and they had a private screening. It was incredible! It was a really cool experience and I think it was a great way to introduce him, letting him know that Dad’s kind of a big deal.

Kudos to Disney on giving your son a mini-premier for him and a great way to add some brownie points to Dad as well. As far as acting goes, you’ve managed to shy away from the spotlight a bit over the past decade or so. Now, with the resurgence of Aladdin and Fuller House, you have been thrown right back in the mix. How has that transition gone for you and your family?

It’s funny you should ask. When my wife and I got together all those years ago, I had left acting behind with the exception of a recording session every once in a while. I was a writer, fully immersed in my new career as a television writer. When this thing came along, it was a big adjustment. From getting stopped on the street by fans to watching me smooch DJ, there were a lot of things to adjust to. Then, my son and his friends all became big fans of the show, so it was on at our house all of the time. It quickly became a big part of our lives. You mentioned my wife’s twitter account. Her favorite thing she always said is, “I married a writer. I didn’t marry an actor.” She learned to love the change. You’ve got to enjoy it and I think she knew how much joy being back in front of the camera and acting again brought me. It was a surprise and she fully got behind it. I do think she’s glad I’m back to writing and that life is getting back to normal, at least a little bit anyway.

It’s awesome that she was so supportive and good with all of the changes. You have done a ton of voicework for Aladdin in various video games like the Kingdom of Hearts series and Disney Infinity. Do you ever play any of those games?

It’s funny; I haven’t been a big videogame person in my life. When I was a kid, I played Nintendo and everything, but I wasn’t a big gamer. Now, my kid is super into it. I really haven’t played any of the Aladdinbased videogames. I know people are obsessed with these games though. When I run into fans, whether it’s out on the street or at one of these conventions, they come up to me and recognize me as Aladdin from Kingdom of Hearts. You can tell that they’re freaking out, but it’s funny because I haven’t had the experience [playing the games].

In regards to experiences, you mentioned a bit of your role behind the camera. You worked as a producer on the television show Galavant. My wife and I loved that show. Please bring it back!

I wish I could! I would love to; thanks for saying that.

If it’s not coming back, could you at least give some insight into how it was supposed to end or what we could have expected?

Did you get a chance to see both seasons? We were lucky enough to do eight [episodes] one year and then we got to do ten the next.

Yes! We were pumped to watch season three and checked nightly for about a month until we learned that it hadn’t been picked up again.

We didn’t really expect it to get a season 2, but when it did, I thought, “Well, now they’ve got to get us a season 3”. I was sad it went away because I loved that experience. I don’t know if they’ll ever bring it back for TV even though it has a very strong and very vocal fan base. Someday I hope they will make it into a Broadway show or something like that. It was such an incredible experience for me to be working on a musical with some of the top talent in our nation. The creator of the show who’s a brilliant guy and one of the nicest guys around, Dan Fogelman, went on to create other shows like This Is Us. It’s funny because they are pretty different. He’s such a versatile and hardworking guy, and he’s always got a whole new project coming up.

Did you have a direction you wanted to send the show? The first one seemed to have a definitive ending. Then, it came back with the second season and left things wide open for the plot of the third season.

Yeah, it’s true. It’s funny because now that we’re talking about this, I don’t remember. I don’t think we settled on anything specific. I think, in a superstitious way, we were afraid to get too excited about any particular direction because we didn’t want to jinx it. It would have been such an amazing thing to do a third season. I think we would have spent a lot of time focusing on the character of King Richard, who emerged into such an interesting character. Then, there’s obviously Isabella. She was great and her singing voice was incredible.

I loved Luke Youngblood on it as well. I actually got to do an interview with him a while back for another Con.

Isn’t he fantastic? The funny thing is, I hadn’t watched all of the Harry Potter movies yet, so I didn’t know how excited I should be about that guy. Now, I’ve seen all of the Harry Potter movies a hundred times and it’s pretty cool that he was in there.

One of my favorite parts about Galavant was how each character developed throughout the seasons.

One of my favorite things about working on the show was when Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, the lyricists, would come into the writer’s room and we would talk about ideas together. One day they called me because I had written a scene that they liked and thought would be great if it was turned into a musical theme. They said, “Do you mind if we take some of your dialogue and turn it into a song?” It was one of the coolest moments of my career. They ended up cutting the scene because it was a little too racy for network television. I said, “How could it have been too racy?” Then, they played the demo… it was racy. Maybe if we were streaming on cable we could have gotten away with it.

Going back to your early career, you’re obviously super invested in Disney. I mean, you spent a majority of your childhood there. What is your favorite Disney movie other than Aladdin?

Oh, man, that’s really tough. Let me think here… Wow, that’s a great question because I have so many that I love. If we are including Pixar, that makes it even more difficult. When I was younger, I loved Tangled, which was also written by Dan Fogelman. That was actually how he got his relationship started with Alan Menken and got Galavant created. The one that I have the greatest memories of, besides Aladdin, was The Little Mermaid. When I was about thirteen years old that movie came out and my best friend, who was obsessed with animation, said to me, “We have to go see this new movie.” I was like, “Dude, that is a girl movie. I don’t want to go see a girl movie.” He said, “Trust me.” We went and it blew my mind; it was just amazing. I’ll never forget how much I enjoyed the movie and also how much my perspective completely changed. I was embarrassed and afraid that we were going to run into friends from school. I felt ashamed for having felt that because it was such a revelation. I was so lucky that I ended up getting to work with a lot of those people. The director of The Little Mermaid also directed Aladdin and, of course, Alan Menken wrote the music for both of those movies.

I completely understand. With two young girls running around me house, The Little Mermaid plays on loop fairly often.

You could name any of those [Disney] movies and they’re all so good. I thought Beauty and the Beast was so great and I love the older classics too. I love Wreck-It-Ralph! It is one of my favorites. There are so many good ones. You know, as a dad, that you have to see all of these movies a hundred times each. The fact that you’re not throwing yourself out of a window speaks out.

You basically grew up on the Disney lot and in the Disney parks. Now that you are older, do you look back and think that you enjoyed it as much as you should have or did it kind of become a bit mundane for you?

You know what? I enjoyed the heck out of it. I was very lucky that I was seventeen years old when Aladdin came out, so I was young enough to enjoy it through the eyes of a kid and old enough to understand how lucky I was. It was the perfect age to experience all of those things. If you added up all the time that I spent down in Florida at Disney World that year, it was over two months that I spent there. It was literally a dream come true. I was at the age where I could enjoy it and also know that I was the luckiest kid ever. It wasn’t lost on me. I never took it for granted, not once.

We will close with this final question about Aladdin. I interviewed Linda Larkin, who played Jasmine in the original movie with you, and asked her about her favorite fan theory regarding the movie. Do you have a favorite?

I was with a bunch of Aladdin people last week and we got into a big metaphysical discussion about the genie. They were talking about how Robin Williams would improvise and make a bunch of contemporary references to pop culture. How is that possible if he is all the way back in Agrabah hundreds of years ago? Someone suggested that he was a time traveler. Another said, “It’s not time travel. He doesn’t exist in time. He exists outside of the rules of time.” I thought that was super cool and very deep. I had just read an Einstein biography and I thought that he would approve of that theory. Even though sometimes people’s theories may be a little crazy or completely off base, they’re not wrong for trying to find a deeper meaning in the movies. The people who make these movies are thoughtful artists and there is definitely a world where people are thinking these things. Because they are so thoughtful, there are things like deeper meanings or stuff that you don’t spot initially baked into these movies. However, I’m sure you have heard the theory that Aladdin had some kind of pornographic message whispered in a scene. To this day, I still have to go around telling people that it didn’t happen. I promise you that it is totally made up. I would have been terrified to say anything like that in a room full of grownups!

The post [INTERVIEW] Make Way For Prince Ali! Scott Weinger Visits With ILID appeared first on I Live In Dallas.

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[captainignatiuspigheart]

Another week, another near-sun tan. This week I’ve seen a friend in person (what the actual fuck?) and found a new direction for exercise. That sounds pretty good, right? It was extremely disconcerting to meet up with a person in real life – I’ve begun to feel a little like all my friends who have long assured me that they’ve met their best friends purely online – but three hours sitting in the local park in a government-approved triangle was lovely. I’ve been seeing others largely as things to be avoided as they blunder towards me, breathing heavily with no sense of physical distance. Apart from the postman and chin tilts to neighbours it’s the most human experience I’ve had of late. I also attended a properly fun Zoom birthday party too (thanks Mr Ben!), so clearly we’re getting used to these things.

Heading out in the direction of Dovecote Lane park eventually sent me that way on my bike too. I’ve found exercise really hard for the last couple of months. I’ve always relied on cycling to work (and the swim at the halfway point) for a few miles in each direction to keep me fit without feeling like I was doing exercise, and it’s been pretty good for keeping me fit and able to eat and drink what I like. Well fuck you very much lockdown, that’s been properly trashed. Cycling in an aimless circle round university park or Beeston has been quite cack, and while jogging on the spot clearly burns calories it’s too tedious. So I’ve started cycling out to Attenborough Nature Reserve. It’s not especially far, but I’ve rarely explored round there, so I’m enjoying heading off down a road with no clue where it goes. It’s not made me late for work… yet. Even when I didn’t sleep at all on Thursday night I got up and went for an explore before work. Must be good!

In between late night walks around Beeston, drinking too much and watching TV, we’ve continued our slow build of the LEGO Brick Bank. It’s quite lovely.

I’ve also finally returned to LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga on our Wii. I’m up to 30-something per cent and enjoying it enormously. I have discovered though that our TV really can’t handle proper dark contrast on a sunny day, so I’m dying a lot by falling off edges I can’t see. There have been a few levels where I’ve had to stand right in front of the TV (in sport mode), and just hoped I’d find the exit to a room. Still, I’ve got Indy and General Grievous to hop around and smash stuff, so I’m happy.

Oh yeah, and another bootleg Mando arrived this week – with shiny beskar armour! Baby Yoda will have his Mister Shiny Helmet. Nicely, he comes with a screwdriver accessory which I assume is supposed to be the tracking fob. There is something in me compelling me to acquire more of these guys… I’ve also just got the Armourer, but pics of her will have to wait till I’ve crafted a custom cloak. What is wrong with me…?

  Watching: Hollywood

OK, so this should have been in last week’s post, but I’d forgotten that we’d watched it. That’s no indication of how good it is, everything belongs to the neverwhen at the moment. Plus we caned through it in three nights. This is a very strange show, offering us an alternate Hollywood of the 1950s in which the reviled minorities of the day can actually get a foothold in the industry. The show nails the golden era vibe, from movie producer boardrooms to the grim/delightful gas station gigolos. Over the first couple of episodes the show draws together the flailing careers of half a dozen interesting and purposely diverse young Hollywood hopefuls and then sets them together in a movie, despite, or perhaps because of, their race, gender and sexuality – all things that would have killed their careers in real Hollywood. It’s a very pleasing show; the acting is great, from the keen Jack Castello moonlighting as an escort from the aforementioned gas station (it and its owner, Ernie West, are an absolute highlight), aspiring black actor Camille, Archie the black and gay screenwriter who finds himself in a relationship with Rock Hudson (also a delight, and terrible actor in a fantastic screentest montage), and the awesome double act of Hollywood execs Dick Samuels and Ellen Kincaid, plus the quite distressing sleazy and manipulative agent Henry, played with soiled glee by Jim Parsons. 

It’s really good fun, and a moving story – each success feels wonderful, and Hollywood getting behind this gang is immensely satisfying, as is the acceptance and coming out of various characters at all levels of the business. For me, it remained jarring however, for just how unreal the situation is compared to Hollywood of the ’50s – it never escaped its own unlikeliness. Most certainly worth a watch.

Doing: We Are What We Overcome – Live Specials

We’re continuing to livestream every other Monday on Facebook, this time on trying to be aware of our mental health states, as well as that of others. I feel like we’re getting better at this live babbling thing. It feels less awkward now. We’ll be streaming to Facebook next on Monday 1 June, and you can watch em all right here.

Reading: The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

I’ve been through another couple of weeks of struggling to read properly, or at least as quickly as I enjoy. After discarding half a dozen books less than one chapter in, I finally prised open my book cupboard and pulled out the first pretty thing I could find. It was this! A pleasing and sharply written story of a boy traumatised into silence by an event in his childhood (which is only fully revealed toward the end, and works very nicely),  a lad who discovers he has two talents, drawing and lock picking…  We’re given two main story threads to skip between: his life as the lock artist led by a series of pagers offering jobs that he responds to, and how he got into all this trouble in the first place. They’re both peculiarly endearing, and that’s partly down to the charming internal monologue which carries through all of his interactions, since he does indeed remain mute throughout. He’s funny, and sweet, enough of an outsider through his selective mutism to have a cynical eye, and yet through his silence other people just trust him. Including proper big bad criminal types. It all ends rather badly, but we’re told that from the beginning. His lengthy infatuation and distance romance via comic book pages that he and his sort-of girlfriend exchange is genuinely delightful. This is fast-paced and fun, with a harsh shade of real darkness in both his past and future.

Reading: Transformers vol. 1: The World in Your Eyes

This was a hard read for me. I’m a huge fan of IDW’s previous Transformers continuity, which ran for an extraordinary thirteen years (a feat that I don’t think any other Western comic series, still less one based on a toy line, has achieved), taking us from the brutal finale of the Autobot-Decepticon war through to peace time, with wonderful characters, alternating humour with dark political wranglings. This new reboot has quite a lot to live up to… 

We’re taken millions of years back to Cybertron pre-war, introducing us to the sights through the eyes of newly forged Rubble, who’s being shown round by Bumblebee. Of course, it’s the worst possible time to show a new kid round, as the tensions between the establishment and Megatron’s “Ascenticons” are just now bleeding over into violence. It’s a lovely Cybertron, one we’ve only glimpsed before in flashbacks (or, memorably, time travel), and it’s a thriving world with vast architecture, travel and commerce. A successful world, which for what feels like the first time, has organic alien races living alongside the Transformers. It’s sad to think it’ll all be ripped apart soon…

It’s a very pretty comic, but is incredibly slow moving, even for the first chapter introducing a rebooted world. I suspect I’m finding it hard going from the well-established characters of the last continuity to seeing them all reshuffled and now filling different roles. It’s a cool era to set the story in though, and I think it’s got promise.

Building: LEGO Ninjago 70736 Attack of the Morro Dragon

I love Ninjago’s dragons and the insane aesthics the range has pursued down the years, giving us both traditionalish ninjas and dragons, but also Mad Max dieselpunk, enormous mechs, and more recently Tron-style arcade stuff. Bonkers. Oh, and also the stunning Ninjago City builds and the even wilder designs from The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

This set’s a little older, and like most of the Ninjago line I only pick them up when they’re quite severely discounted. Obviously it was the glow in the dark colours that appealed to me most of all, and those lovely wings. It’s a satisfying assembly, with a mini temple build, sky bikes (or something, I don’t really follow the stories), a couple of ninjas and three more of these evil ninjas with transparent legs and heads. Oh, and two ghosts. I’ve already put them somewhere but it’s the dragon I was interested in.

This is actually a smaller set than I thought it was, and comes together very quickly indeed. Despite being larger, and having more pieces than Master Wu’s dragon (a fantastic LEGO set), it’s a shorter build all round. The construction is like many of the others, a combination of big crunchy joints and the little Mixels ones for legs, wings and tail. I always enjoy the design of the dragon head itself, which gives the beastie a lot of character. The chin horn is oddly satisfying! All the glow in the dark pieces give the dragon its lovely roiling curves, but leave it sadly inflexible. It’s a dragon I’d love to coil around a building, but that’s gonna take a severe re-engineering of its body. It’s rather striking, and I imagine this one will remain constructed for quite a while, at least until I want to plunder its glowing parts.

And just because I liked it…

Watching: Never Have I Ever 

We watched this in a single night… I’m always thrilled to stumble across shows with under half-hour episode lengths at present. This is a pretty straightforward US highschool outsider tale, from the somewhat unusual perspective of an Indian-American family. That’s a pretty familiar trope in UK TV, and was very welcome in the even-more-familiar US high school setting. I’m not sure that there’s anything exceptional here, but it’s warmly told, with a number of fun and occasionally over the top performances, all solidly conforming to our expectations of a high school drama. I had some trouble figuring out how old the characters were supposed to be as it’s the usual casting combo of girls who must be in their twenties, but look about 14, and guys who are plainly in their mid-thirties. No wonder kids are so confused these days etc. As usual it’s the vibe between the BFFs that makes this fun to watch, particularly drama-queen Ramona Wong (wonderfully and worryingly odd in the lamentably cancelled Santa Clarita Diet). As filled with diversity and coming out stories as you could hope for, this is plenty of fun, if not especially memorable. Oh yeah, and it’s narrated by John McEnroe. Yes, the tennis player. 

Doing: MissImp’s Virtual Improv Drop-In – “Specific and True” with Terje Brevick

Continuing our mission to bring you improv from everywhere, this week’s episode features Norwegian improviser, Terje Brevick, with fun games and a good reminder of the value of details and honesty in improv.

Last Week – a really busy week! Featuring another mental health livestream, books: The Lock Artist & Transformers vol 1, TV: Hollywood & Never Have I Ever, LEGO: Morro dragon and MORE. Sleep now please. #books #tv #lego #stuff https://wp.me/pbprdx-8EZ Another week, another near-sun tan. This week I’ve seen a friend in person (what the actual fuck?) and found a new direction for exercise.

[kayskasmoviereviews]

Movie Review Catch-up for Fall 2017

I’ve had a busy semester and haven’t had time to review everything I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s been too long now for me to post individual reviews for each and every movie I’ve seen the last few months, but I’m going to post here a list of quick mini-reviews for each one I saw on DVD or streaming. I will later make individual reviews for those films I’ve seen in the theater this past semester. Here are the 37 movies I’ve seen outside the theater since my last update:

Split - M. Night Shaymalan is well and truly back with this fun, weird, twisted movie. I genuinely enjoyed it quite a bit, and was pleasantly surprised both by its overall quality and by its ultimate direction.

Murder by Death - Okay, so, yeah, Peter Sellers doing a yellow-face Asian caricature as the Charlie Chan-parody character is pretty racist, and definitely would not fly today. Still, this is a fun, funny movie with affectionate parodies of Poirot, Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, Miss Marple, and other classic detective fiction characters. If you like Young Frankenstein, you’d probably like this movie too.

Metropolitan - Whit Stillman’s first film is a weird little delight. His gift for impossibly mannered dialogue and witty satire is fully evident from the beginning of his career. I wish this guy got the chance to make his movies more often.

Suzanne’s Career - I did not find Eric Rohmer’s second of the Six Moral Tales series as memorable as the first, The Bakery Girl of Monceau. In fact, I barely remember anything about this movie a few months after watching it. Ah well.

Starman - John Carpenter’s late-70s to early-80s run of films is one to be envied. He mastered so many different tones while generally staying within the rules of genre cinema - suspenseful in Halloween, horrifying in The Thing, campy and goofy in Big Trouble in Little China, satirical in They Live. Here he does sweet and romantic, and it works. Jeff Bridges’s performance as an alien is awesome.

Colossal - A sneaky, brilliantly written movie that at first seems like a fun mash-up of romantic comedy and Godzilla movie, but turns out to be something darker and more serious than that. A great example of a film built on a single, smart metaphor.

War on Everyone - This is a genuinely awful movie,which is a huge disappointment considering that the writer-director John Michael McDonagh’s previous film Calvary is one of my all-time favorites. I don’t know what went wrong here, but I hope McDonagh course-corrects.

Your Sister’s Sister - This is a cute, emotionally keen little indie drama. If you know who Mark Duplass is, you know the types of movies he does. This is one of them. Not the best example of the style he’s associated with, but a solid one.

Bob Roberts - This early ’90s political satire, written and directed by and starring Tim Robbins, is only kind of funny, but it’s insanely perceptive of how the American right manipulates and deludes people. It foreshadows the rise of Trump in many ways. It’s good enough to make you wish Robbins had more of a directing career than he’s had.

A Single Man - This visually stunning first film by the fashion designer Tom Ford centers on a melancholy performance by Colin Firth at his best. It’s definitely a movie for people who appreciate thoughtful storytelling and imagery.

Filth - Fuck this movie. It sucks.

Gerald’s Game - This claustrophobic thriller/horror movie makes the most out of its single main location and an excellent performance by Carla Gugino. This is a very solid Stephen King adaptation, and is consistently engaging for the way it constantly teeters on the edge of absolute horror.

Stray Dog - This early Kurosawa film isn’t his most exciting or visually distinctive, but it’s still a solid crime drama and a fascinating glimpse into Tokyo right after World War II. 

Incendies - This was the breakout film for director Denis Villenueve, who went on to direct masterpieces like Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Prisoners. It doesn’t quite have the stunning visuals of his later films, of course, but this drama benefits from an insanely strong script and storytelling. It hits you quite hard.

The Duke of Burgundy - This is a genuinely one-of-a-kind film. It’s a meditative, visually lush character study about two women in an intense lesbian S&M relationship. They live in a beautiful European countryside somewhere, in a society that apparently consists only of female entomologists. It’s truly weird. I was engrossed by it.

In the Loop - This acidic satire from Veep creator Armando Iannucci isn’t hilariously funny, but its jabs do land well thanks to an uncompromising performance by Peter Capaldi.

Man from Reno - Here’s an interesting oddity - a half-Japanese-language, half-English-language contemporary film noir about a Japanese novelist taking a vacation in San Francisco and getting caught up in a criminal’s web. It’s odd, stylish, and unpredictable.

Headhunters - This Norwegian crime thriller starts out promising to be an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist thriller about a smooth art thief, but that promise turns out to be a deliberate lie. What it actually is is a totally bonkers chase movie that turns out to be way more violent and chaotic than you were led to believe it would be. Highly recommended.

Meek’s Cutoff - I really liked this extremely slow-paced feminist anti-Western, but most people probably wouldn’t. The movie deliberately downplays everything you expect from the Western genre to instead focus on an unforgiving, harshly realistic portrayal of settlers who have no real idea where they’re going or how to get there. It’s up there with Valhalla Rising in terms of “this is how history actually would have looked and felt, and it kind of sucks” movies.

We Are Still Here - What at first poses as a quiet, “oh the ghosts are metaphors for something” quasi-horror movie takes a sharp left turn into full-blown, ultraviolent horror insanity. Kudos to the effects people, and to the actors for putting up with it.

An American Werewolf in London - I have to admit I was actually kind of disappointed by this one, given its minor-classic reputation. Sure, the werewolf effects are amazing, and Griffin Dunne is a ton of fun in a supporting role, but the romance is incredibly forced, and the story abruptly just ends on a really nothing note. The script needed more work in this case.

A Monster Calls - Beautiful, well-acted, incredibly moving drama about a boy facing the possibility of life without his terminally-ill mother. It made my friend Laura sob.

Lake Mungo - A genuinely spooky Australian horror movie posing as a documentary about a girl who haunted her family after her drowning death. This movie understands way better than most how to make something incredibly creepy without trying too hard.

Thesis - A gripping, quasi-Hitchcockian Spanish thriller about a film-studies student who discovers the existence of a snuff film in which she knows the victim. The ending does feel a bit disappointing, but the build-up is superb.

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare - This is the only Nightmare on Elm Street movie I’ve seen besides the original, and it’s pretty fun. The metafictional concept for the movie - Freddie Kreuger breaks out of the movies and into “the real world,” targeting the actress who played the heroine of the first movie - is very clever and thoroughly integrated into the entire story. The scares and special effects are mostly fun. My only problem, oddly enough, was that Freddie himself wasn’t really characterized enough.

Stretch - I can kind of see what Joe Carnahan was going for here, but the end result just kind of sucks.

My Life as a Zucchini - This is a beautifully animated, sweet, moving film about orphans. Despite the cute stop-motion style, the film is honest about the pain and trauma its characters experience.

Trick ‘r Treat - This campy little anthology horror movie doesn’t add up to much more than some creative special effects, a fun monster character, some darkly humorous scenes, and an overall feeling of mischievous fun, but that’s fine. I think the film largely does what it sets out for, and it eventually led the director to the superior Krampus.

Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World - This documentary captures the surrealist artist H. R. Giger in the final year of his life. Giger was best known for designing the Xenomorph creature in Ridley Scott’s Alien, but he produced decades’ worth of dark, unsettling art on either side of that film. The movie doesn’t follow a standard biographical format, but gives you a thorough look at his late life.

Dragon - This is a visually engaging, exciting, often funny martial-arts/detective film starring the great Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It’s an oddball film, and the ending may not be satisfying for some, but I quite enjoyed it.

Gremlins - Somehow I had never seen this wonderful little horror-comedy classic before, but I finally did on Thanksgiving. The story is only serviceable (I can barely remember the protagonist now), but that’s fine, because this movie is all about them gremlins. And boy, do they gremlin it up. It’s just so much fun, of the kind you only really find in those pre-CGI ’80s movies.

Stations of the Cross - This intense, aesthetically rigorous German drama about a fanatical Catholic teen is a harrowing and moving experience. The movie is made with only 14 individual shots, each of them lasting for quite a long while, and each scene paralleling one of the stations of the cross from Jesus’ crucifixion. Not light, obviously, but a great film.

Henry Fool - This strange, novelistic comedy-drama from ’90s indie filmmaker Hal Hartley is a weird, mannered, sometimes-ironic, sometimes-not study of the relationship between a pretentious would-be artist and a garbage-man who might actually be a great poet. There are tons of jarring tonal shifts and out-of-the-blue incidents in this film’s long run-time, yet it all feels of a piece, somehow. 

Knights of Badassdom - I liked the premise of this film, and I’m convinced a good movie could have been made with the same premise (and even some of the same cast), but this one ain’t it. The end product is sloppy and tonally adrift, and the ending in particular is incredibly stupid and unsatisfying. I wish this movie were way better than it is.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry - This is an intimate documentary about the contemporary Chinese artist, activist, and social-media personality Ai Weiwei. The movie follows him in the creation of some of his art pieces, his encounters with Chinese authorities, and his attempts to communicate with the people of China. I came away from the movie very persuaded of the social value of Weiwei’s efforts to stand-up to the repressive communist regime in China, but less persuaded about the intrinsic interest of some of his art.

Phoenix - This stylishly-made German drama in some ways replays Hitchcock’s Vertigo in 1946 Berlin. The film follows a Holocaust survivor (Nina Hoss) who, apparently rendered unrecognizable by facial reconstructive surgery, is recruited by her unwitting husband (who may have betrayed her) to pretend to be...herself. It’s like Hitchcock without as much suspense or immediate danger. The ending is excellent.

To Have and Have Not - As others have pointed out, this 1944 Humphrey Bogart movie in many ways plays like a rip-off of a certain 1942 Humphrey Bogart movie called Casablanca. I mean, in both films, you have Bogart playing a cynical American ex-patriate living in a foreign location and getting roped into schemes to smuggle French resistance fighters under the nose of corrupt local authorities at great risk to himself, while falling in love with a woman. There’s even a piano player featured prominently in both. Ultimately, this movie isn’t as good or as memorable as Casablanca, but then most aren’t. On its own terms, it’s still quite a solid film. Bogart’s as appealing as ever, and Lauren Bacall oozes sexy confidence. Walter Brennan is pretty fun in a supporting part as well.

[neitaima-blog]

Putting the ‘X Factor’ into Leadership

I was recently ‘high jacked’ by the return of autumnal Saturday night television viewing.  Having been immersed in watching a highly entertaining second round clash in the European Rugby Champions Cup on my laptop, I removed my headphones and came back into the room to be assaulted by hopeful renditions of what I assume are well known songs by would be pop stars in front of an hysterically animated audience. Or was it simply someone’s vastly extended family?

What was most alarming was the sense of ‘groundhog’ day experience that immediately transported me back to an experience four years previously and reminded me some lessons of leadership are apparently timeless.  And which I unashamedly repeat, below, with only minor adjustments in acknowledgement of time passing…

It is often said that authentic leadership begins with self-awareness, so let me begin by sharing a little about the origins of my own beliefs around this subject - We start learning how to be leaders in the very first organisation we belong to, namely, the family.  The ‘rules’ we learn and adopt from our ‘significant others’;  parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents provide us with the ‘map’ we later use to guide us through the complex maze of future relationships, and influence what and who we choose to connect with, align to, follow and lead, in both our social and professional lives.

As a parent, my own learning about leadership has continued courtesy of, sometimes hard, feedback from three children, who are clearly willing and capable of expressing their opinions in this matter!  

Like many of our generation, my partner and I delayed having children until later in our marriage, enjoying 10 years of autonomy and freedom that came from being what was commonly referred to as ‘dinks’ - double income, no kids.  Now, finding myself on the ‘mature’ side of the parental demographic, I have experienced many unexpected pleasures and faced many unforeseen challenges that come with trying to guide three people, who clearly belong to another generation, on the journey to adulthood; self-actualisation and societal contribution.

Over, the years it has been difficult, in a family of five very different and independent souls, to find common interests and activities that serve to bring us together to connect; talk and share what we have been doing and what we might aspire to do, individually and collectively.  Determined to do so, and recognising the initiative rested with me, I took the decision to engage with some popular culture.  

Whilst I might prefer to relax on a Sunday evening with Antiques Roadshow (It really doesn’t seem that long ago I was sneering at my parents for their taste in viewing!), my children were somewhat addicted to any show that touched upon the potential to become famous by singing or dancing in front of the nation and, in my view, an often over enthusiastic and forgiving studio audience.

Limited personal desire combined with finite ‘free’ time over a weekend, to engage in what my eldest once referred to as ‘sofa squatting’, meant facing the choice of either watching hopeful attic raiders anxiously awaiting news that their family heirloom was a missing Rembrandt or, having to listen to Carl from Rochdale belt out a karaoke version of ‘Delilah’ for a panel of incredulous and somewhat discomfited celebrities.  So it was that, despite reservations, when kids were in situ I’d spend many an autumnal weekend doing the latter.  I would take my place alongside the family to follow a number of popular TV programmes I referred to collectively as, ‘Britain Hasn’t Got a Voice Factor’, on the premise that between quite brutal criticism of contestants from Katie and her two older brothers and under the cloud of some desperately questionable singing,  we had something resembling ‘family time’.

My late mother loved to quote the saying, “Every cloud has a silver lining”, and this episode of my life seemed to concur, not only bringing me closer to my family but also providing a powerful reminder of the importance of authentic communication.  Yes, really!

On one particular occasion, after requesting the volume be turned down sufficiently to let me hear myself think, I actually found myself getting quite excited during a contestant’s singing of a popular number by a well-known established artist.  The young woman (well, they all seem young now) sung a very different and original arrangement which I found both engaging and very moving.  I was not alone, one of the judges commenting, “Wow, you really took that and made it your own!”

This contestant really stood out from all the other hopefuls and for the first time, and I have to say I am rather embarrassed to admit it, I heard myself saying, “I’d vote for her”.  I hasten to add, I managed to rescue the situation, and discourage my daughter from immediately picking up the phone, by quickly adding, the caveat, “…If the television company wasn’t making a ridiculous amount of money from the exorbitant call charges”.

Anyway, what turned out to be a mini epiphany got me thinking. A good singer, like a good actor, doesn’t just recite someone else’s ‘script’.  They take it and put themselves into it, making it theirs.  As experienced only a few days ago when hearing how a coachee, a new MD, had really begun to ‘own’ the business he had been brought in to develop, it becomes their song, their story.  And, because it is theirs, their belief in it and commitment to it is both genuine and compelling; it becomes one person’s real and authentic expression of a message and its meaning that touches many others.

I remember, as a child, following a religious education class at school asking my father, when he returned home, why four different people had bothered to write a Gospel.  Surely it would have made more sense just to have shared one?  He very patiently pointed out to the 10 year old me, each one was written from a different viewpoint and for a different kind of audience.  At the time, not fully understanding what he was talking about when he said, “A great story belongs to everyone and deserves to be told in many ways to many different people”, I nodded, grunted, muttered an unconvincing ‘thank you’ and went about the business of getting under my mother’s feet as she tried to finish tea, forgetting all about our father son conversation.  Until, that is, that singer sung that song.

I have done a lot of work with leaders, individually and collectively, around the change agenda and what is constantly being wrestled with is how difficult it is to engage stakeholders to be proactive in and really own their part in making ‘the journey’ a success.  We’ve taken note of much of the wisdom and experience of gurus such as Kotter, Kanter, Bennis and others, talking about creating urgency and helping others ‘feel’ the need for, and determination to, change.  We’ve spent many hours developing change visions to clarify how the future will be different from the past.  We’ve spent a great deal of time and money on communicating this vision to stakeholders to ensure as many people as possible understand and accept the vision.  But what we often overlook is the need people have to take the ‘change script’, the ‘song’, and make it their own.  

That singer could not have done what she did if she’d unquestioningly accepted the original was as good, as relevant and as meaningful to her, as it could be.  Whilst remaining true to the spirit of original, she had to adapt it, update it and personalise it.  She made it her own and she was able to do so because the producer, the show’s leader’, created the opportunity for her to find her authentic voice with which to do so.

Giving people an authentic voice means inviting them to tell the story from their perspective with their chosen audience in mind.  It means inviting others to take the message and imbue it with added depth, personal resonance and meaning.  Organisations can choose to do this for their people and realise the power of multiple perspectives.  Or they can, as so many often unwittingly do, restrict the part everyone can play to that of uncommitted and unconvincing, karaoke performers of the change message.  

What will yours do?

[joshuazev]

On the paper in our hands:

I rehearsed a chunk of a play I’m working on for studio acting class with my scene partner today.  She had been workshopping something else for a more prestigious workshop, one with the very well known and respected, Larry Moss, and had been bogged down preparing that, thus putting our rehearsals on hold.  I received a text from her on Monday saying that we should rehearse Saturday before we saw the live version of the play we were working on, “Jesus Hopped the A Train.”  When we both arrived at the studio to get rehearsals started there were some quick exchanges.  The “how are you doings” and “how have you beens” and when it came time to discuss what was on tap for the following day she was surprised when I told her I wasn’t planning on presenting a monologue that was really only there as a place setter until I got the go ahead that we were ready to go up.  I temporarily panicked because I had no intention of presenting any monologue.  In fact, I hadn’t even looked at that particular section.  What didn’t surprise me in the least was that she already knew the part I had initially planned on presenting, so all was not lost when we carried on and continued our rehearsal.  Since neither of us had practiced with the other we spent the first however long reading from the book—essentially the script in hand.  We read through it a couple of times, breaking character when we got to the funny lines and shared suggestions on how to deal with it.  Bring the humor into the scene?  Say it so much that it isn’t funny anymore?  The mental fight with the lines was grasped by the both of us and soon we were able to get through to the next part without having to stop and crack up.  I was so grateful to have her as a partner.  Her sense of humor, acting skill, and amazing personality alleviated any individual battles I brought into the rehearsal room.  To have the script (in this case a Guirgis anthology) in front of us always brought us back down to earth when we agreed there was stuff we were missing or stuff we wanted to double check.  

The short walk from the rehearsal studio to Signature Theater was swift and we arrived with time to spare.  After walking up the winding steps I took in a rather crowded communal hall that people usually sit down at tables before the doors open.  It was more crowded than normal because a concert had just finished and when I looked in the direction of the stage I saw none other than Suzan Lori Parks, the unbelievable playwright who had written several shows that I had seen at that very theater.  Like everyone else I was drawn to her aura and stood idle gawking at the sphere of energy surrounding her.  At first, I concluded that I wouldn’t go and say hello because that would be imposing and it looked like there already was a mini line forming to introduce themselves.  I half shrugged my shoulders to convince myself to find a seat in the theater (the doors had opened) and my friend and I went go find our seats.  The ushers gave us the Playbill and besides the normal pamphlet that usually advertised a local happy hour there was another one that addressed the casting change in the show.  When I saw the character who had been replaced was Angel I couldn’t suppress my disappointment, although I calmed my frustration.  Beyond wanting to see the play that we were working on, beyond wanting to see a show I always loved and admired, beyond wanting to see it produced at my favorite theater in New York, I wanted to see this particular rendition because the lead would be played by Victor Rasuk, who was an actor I had followed ever since he was in a movie I loved called, “Raising Victor Vargas.”  Seeing him on stage and then seeing him play this character was almost too good to be true and I was excited to see what he would bring to the table.  I admit that part of it was to compare notes in a way; to see what choices he would make and how they differed from mine.  Not to be informed by his performance, but to be inspired by it.  In a way it was a bit of a buzz kill, however the actor replacing him I had seen before in a show at Rattlestick Playwrights and he was excellent, so I knew the show would be in good hands.  I still had some time before the show started, so I kind of lied to my friend and said I would only be leaving to check on what the situation was.  After finding out that he had to leave (that’s the only information I was given) I went over to Suzan Lori-Parks to introduce myself to her out of my own desire, but also because I could hear my Dad’s voice in my head egging me on, not to mention that I knew how happy he would be to hear that I did so.  A few people spoke with her at length and when it was my turn I was about half-present and half in the clouds, starstruck in the usual ways.  I told her about my Dad introducing me to Topdog Underdog when I was little, which was kind of a loose fact because what he did introduce me to was a picture of her and Mos Def hugging when he was doing the show on Broadway.  I said how much I loved the shows that I had seen at Signature and the rest of what I said I can equate to doing a presentation in class and really not being present at all.  The eyes are a glaze and if asked what you said you would have no clue.  What can I say?  I was enveloped in her aura and hypnotized by her eyes.  A photo was taken though, not a selfie thankfully and I had evidence to send to my father.  When I told her I couldn’t wait to see her next show she told me she was working on it and I replied, “I’m sure it will be spectacular.”  End of moment.

Before the show started one of the Signature team representatives said that some rare circumstances had taken place and that Victor Rasuk had to leave the show for reasons they did not disclose.  (I looked on the Internet after and it said it was for personal reasons).  What they did tell us is that this would be the replacement’s second show doing the role and would have his script in hand.  The audience collectively took a deep breath, understood that what they were going to see would be rehearsal, and the show went on.  The new Angel came out with script in hand and performed beautifully.  I didn’t know that the show was a preview when buying the tickets or during the show, but I found that out afterwards.  I wouldn’t have even used that as an excuse anyway because the show survived somehow despite the obvious obstacle of having to look down many times.  One of the characters, Lucius, was also being played by a replacement, but he had until the start of the rehearsal process to dive in.  I only had one slight question as to why they cast someone who was about 20-25 years too young, not to mention the fact that there is a moment in the script where he says how old he is, but he did what he could and the show ended up being quite an awesome thing to see.  There was even a moment in one of the play’s many great moments where Lucius and Angel were in a heated argument and in the excitement of the moment Angel jumped a line and therefore lost his place.  Lucius—being fully present jumped ahead too, but after Angel realized he had messed up, the two acknowledged each other with their eyes and Angel went back to the moment right before he had messed up.  They surged forward with the same intensity.  I liked most of the play.  It wasn’t everything I had expected, but I liked it for sure.  I learned a lot, that’s for sure.  Watching professional actors in the rehearsal process, struggling, allowing themselves to be where they are, was a great thing to see.  Not knowing what the circumstances might be I bought another pair of tickets to a later date.  I’m debating whether to see that one too, just to see it without the actor holding the script.  Don’t know yet.  My friend and I came out of the theater having the same sentiments.  It wasn’t a perfect show, but it had a lot of really good parts.  If anything it gave us more confidence going into our scene the following day.  We’ll see how we do.

…

Yesterday I went to Duane Reade to get some deodorant.  It wasn’t out of not having any, it was out of not having the right one.  A lot of whispers, some louder than others, were in my ears talking something about Aluminum and Zinc being potential cancerous substances and ingredients that were found in Anti-Perspirant deodorant, in particular.  I had been using Degree, which I knew to be an Anti-Perspirant deodorant and when I looked at the ingredients, sure enough, I saw that it had Aluminum and Zinc.  I had first heard about this at my friend Noah’s wedding.  Another buddy of mine had said to stay away from such deodorants.  Then at a catering event the other day it was reiterated to me.  “You’re supposed to sweat.  It’s natural.  Just get any regular kind that just says ‘Deodorant Stick.’  I use Old Spice.”  Both recommendations were helpful.  As I am going up the escalator I see a cool girl behind the pharmacy desk who might be able to help me, so I asked her where I could find deodorant, which—for some reason, made her laugh.  She told me where to look and I went in that direction, but my spirits were higher than they were when I entered.  I found a kind that sufficed and was on my way to return to the register downstairs when I thought that maybe I could still be “cool” and exchange a number or something, but when I tried to do so she was already helping another customer and she had fellow employees nearby.  I floated down the escalator downtrodden, but had a “fuck it” moment about halfway through the ride and thought to myself, “You know what?  Fuck it.  Someone told me if you like a girl, give her your number.  Don’t leave it up to someone else.”  So, at the bottom of the stairs I got out a post-it note, wrote my name, my number, and a short message basically saying that I didn’t want to make anything awkward and wanted to allow her to maintain her professionalism by making it me that gave the number to her.  My handwriting was a little sloppy though, bad enough where someone would question if I had a good surface to right on, but this was a “fuck-it” moment, so I decided to move forward.  I went back up the escalator, hopeless romantic me in full form, walked over to the desk, met her eyes, slid the post-it note to her and turned around to go back down.  I could have sworn while starting to descend again that I saw a smile before she started to read it, but only time will tell.  The point is, there is no point in regretting anything anymore.  What’s that one quote?  You miss 100,000 percent of the shots you don’t take.  Well, I’ve been tentative and a pass-first guard for too fucking long.  Time to start shooting.  No hesitation.

[itsworn]

Brad Riekkoff Rebuilt his High School car with a 900HP Supercharged LS3

When William Shakespeare wrote, “The course of true love never did run smooth”, he was unknowingly describing Brad Riekkoff’s relationship with his very first automotive love: a 1980 Trans Am he bought at age 16. Brad’s odyssey with the Pontiac began in 1991 with a trip to a local Jefferson, Wisconsin car show. He and his stepfather, Ike Roell, went there to find a suitable first car he could drive to high school and the lad was immediately drawn to the Trans Am, which was sitting on a trailer in the swap meet area with $2,500 written across the windshield.

“It was from Oklahoma,” recalls Riekkoff, “and had a very solid body. The engine seemed to run pretty good, but had a very bad exhaust leak, so it was noisy. We bought it, with my stepfather and I splitting the cost.”

Brad couldn’t wait to get home and replace the blown out header gasket so he could drive his cool new ride to school on Monday morning. Replacing the gasket went as smooth as a cashmere codpiece, but the fix revealed another, far more sinister problem.

“The obnoxious exhaust leak was covering up a bad rod knock, and this is where it all started!” By “all”, Brad means his love for working on cars, and ultimately, his path to West Bend Dyno, a high end speed shop that handles everything from late model tuning to complete builds.

Throughout high school Brad and his stepfather built several engines for the Trans Am. They also replaced the Turbo 400, installed 4.11:1 gears, and bolted on a nitrous kit. All things considered, the lad had a lot of fun with the car, and learned a great deal along the way. After graduating from high school in 1993, Brad had two vehicles- the Trans Am and a 1979 Blazer he drove to work every day. He couldn’t afford to keep both, so sold his half of the Trans Am to his stepfather, who put it into deep storage. In the ensuing years Brad started a family and started a business. Though the Trans Am was out of sight, it was never entirely forgotten.

“I had recently purchased a chassis dyno and started a part time speed shop called West Bend Dyno Tuning out of my garage. The local 4th of July parade was coming up and we decided to put a few cars and a float in the parade to represent the business. I had a thought and asked my stepfather if we could take my old Trans Am. The car still had the parking sticker in the rear window required at my high school back in 1993, and some of my personal belongings were still in the glove box! The fluids were changed and a few miscellaneous items were addressed and I took her out for a drive. The car was running great! I felt like I was 16 again and forgot that the old Pontiac did not like to be revved up past 5,500 rpm. Well a few burn outs later and the old bird had enough- it developed another rod knock!”

Modern LS engine swaps were just becoming popular at the time, so the crew at West Bend Dyno began the engine change. As the costs added up, Brad’s stepfather lost interest in funding it, so Brad took over the build and reached out to his suppliers for support. LS experts at Wegner Motorsports built a stroked and supercharged LS3 that produces 932 horsepower @ 6100 rpm and 938 lb-ft of torque @ 4,200 rpm at the flywheel on E85. To support all of that power, Wegner used a Callies Dragonslayer crank and Ultra rods fitted to Mahle pistons. Fully ported LS9 cylinder heads were assembled with Inconel stainless valves and PSI springs. With no good off-the-shelf option available at the time, Casey from Wegner built a killer front drive to work with the 3.3-liter Lysholm supercharger that includes a choice of four different upper pulleys that yield four different levels of boost. Aeromotive provided a fuel system capable of keeping the hungry LS engine fed. It includes an Aeromotive speed controller and Eliminator pump custom mounted in the stock tank. Fuel Injector Connection was tapped for 127-pound injectors. The squeezed intake charge is lit up by an ultra-reliable MSD system and waste gases are routed out via Stainless Works long tube headers, custom-bent three-inch pipes, and Borla mufflers. Lubrication is helped with a Daily Engineering dry sump system that uses Roots style scavenge rotors and spur gear pressure sections for greater efficiency. New wiring was sourced from Speartech and Painless Performance, and everything is kept cool courtesy of a large Afco aluminum radiator and twin electric fans.

With more than 900 horsepower on tap, serious driveline upgrades were essential. A twin-disk Centerforce clutch and Centerforce flywheel inside a QuickTime bellhousing channels the engine’s twist to a strengthened, Hurst-shifted T56 six-speed. The gearbox in turn spins a Mark Williams Chromoly driveshaft bolted to a 9-inch Ford aluminum Strange Engineering center section and, full-floating 35-spline Moser axles carry it to the wheels. Big Wilwood six-piston calipers squeeze 14-inch slotted steel rotors in the front, while four-piston Wilwood’s are paired with 13-inch slotted rotors in the back. Pressure comes from a 1 1/8-inch Wilwood master cylinder and a Wilwood proportioning valve. Forged Formula 43 RAD 10 wheels measure 18”x10” with a 4 ½-inch backspace up front, and 18”x12” with a 7-inch backspace in the rear. BFG g-Force Rival tires sized at 295/35ZR18 and 335/30ZR18 look right and do the job when called on to keep this car glued to the road. Mini tubs in the rear house the beefy tires without any rubbing.

To enhance handling, West Bend installed a Heidts PRO-G front subframe with Heidts suspension arms and spindles, and a Mustang II rack-and-pinion steering system. A Heidts four-link suspension setup, with modified mounting points to increase shock stroke, takes the place of Pontiac’s stock suspension in the rear. At all four corners, AFCO double-adjustable coil over shocks perfectly complement the Heidts suspension system.

Brad wanted to retain the general look of the Trans Am’s original interior, while trimming some weight and upgrading its functionality. He installed AutoMeter gauges in a custom fiberglass dash, Sparco EVO seats, and Ace Upholstery made door panels and a rear seat to match the front seats. Nick Gaylord, of Topline Design and Speed built a 12-point roll cage to increase structural stiffness, improve handling, and provide an extra measure of safety in this high-speed missile. The cage tucks nicely next to the body lines and even allows access to the T-tops.

As with the interior, Brad sought to upgrade the Trans Am’s body while keeping it mostly stock looking. Albert Melchoir of Carbon Kustoms supplied carbon fiber doors, front fenders, and front inner fenders, which collectively trimmed over 150-pounds from the car’s weight. To accommodate the big Lysholm supercharger, West Bend Dyno enlarged an original Trans Am turbo hood bulge. Jeff Miller, of Boyds Classics in Kewaskum, WI performed the body work and applied the paint.

“We worked hand in hand with Jeff,” recalls Brad, “to come up with the paint scheme for the outside of the car and the engine bay. We used a 10th anniversary paint scheme with a touch of carbon fiber on the hood, wheels and in the engine bay. The two-tone stripe along the bottom of the windows on the doors offered a perfect spot to list all of our supporting manufacturers logos that were printed by Randy Gremminger of Trend Setters.”

The build was completed in 2013, and true to his initial plan, Brad has run the car hard, both on the street and in organized competition. He’s also used it as a development and test platform for the Pro Touring parts West Bend Dyno sells and installs on customer cars.

“We’ve had respectable showings at many pro-touring events,” he tells us, “including the Optima Street Car Challenge and the Heidts Performance Challenge held at the Autobahn in Joliet, where we took an overall win. We continue to improve the performance of the bird as our shop test car, testing the products that we sell for pro touring type applications.”

Time is normally not kind to the beauty and exuberance of youth, as anyone who has been to their high school reunion knows, and the reality of one’s first love decades later rarely measures up one’s memory of her. There are however exceptions, and in Brad Riekkoff’s case, his first love looks and performs far better today than she ever did back in her high school days.

This 1980 Trans Am’s stock-appearing exterior belies the many performance modifications lurking under its skin.

Mini tubs enable the oversize wheels and tires that give this Trans Am its aggressively wide stance.

The understated nature of the blue and gray color palette contrasts with the extreme performance built into this Trans Am.

The high quality of Carbon Kustoms carbon fiber fenders and doors were a big help to Jeff Miller from Boyds Classics when he prepared the body for paint.

Heidts suspension on both ends delivers a pleasingly low stance.

Though it’s set up to maximize performance on a road course, this Trans Am is still civilized enough to drive anywhere.

With a 6-speed that goes from a 2.66:1 first to a .50:1 sixth, this car is as comfortable high speed highway cruising as it is on a twisty road course.

An OEM-style turbo hood bulge has been enlarged to clear the Lysholm supercharger.

Forged Formula 43 RAD 10 wheels and sticky Z speed rated BFG g-Force Rival tires provide maximum strength and grip.

Wilwood brake setup, featuring 6-piston front and 4-piston rear calipers, give excellent track and street performance.

The supercharged LS3 was built by Wegner Motorsports with forged internals, fully ported LS9 heads, dry sump lubrication, and an E85 fuel system.

Casey from Wegner Motorsports put together the engine’s drive system with four different size supercharger pulleys, allowing Riekkoff to dial in the level of boost he wants.

he surface quality of the carbon fiber inner fenders is apparent because they remain unpainted.

The interior still looks and feels largely stock, and thus remains a welcome reminder for Riekkoff of what it felt like to drive this Trans Am during his high school days.

AutoMeter gauges, 12-point cage, and Sparco seats and harnesses increase the car’s effectiveness and safety on both the track and street.

The post Brad Riekkoff Rebuilt his High School car with a 900HP Supercharged LS3 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/brad-riekkoff-rebuilt-high-school-car-900hp-supercharged-ls3/ via IFTTT

[doxampage]

Meet the Shapies: Lefteri Koutsoulidakis

Meet the Shapies introduces the people behind the 3D printing processes that bring your favorite products to life. This time, get to know Lefteri Koutsoulidakis, a senior customer service agent in New York who makes answering all your 3D printing queries look easy. Read on for a taste of Lefteri’s side hustles and stellar sense of humor. 

Where is your hometown? Astoria, the mini-Greece of Queens, New York.

How long have you been with Shapeways?

This many years.

How long have you been 3D printing? I work in Customer Service so I technically am not, myself, printing.  But I’ve been designing models and getting them 3D printing for two years now. My first experience with 3D printing was with Shapeways. Prior to joining, I attended Full Sail University to study Game Art, and learned how to model using Maya. I’ve recently started messing around with scanned models and correcting them in ZBrush.  

What is your favorite 3D printed object ever? Forever ever? Hmm..

I can’t honestly pick a favorite. I will say that my favorite types are generally models with moving parts. It’s amazing that you can get these interlocking parts which normally would require assembly, and they just come out like that, in tact, and moveable.

Speaking of, I just ordered this magnificent beast right here:

Animaris Geneticus Bellus by Theo Jansen

If you could 3D print something in any material, currently possible or not, what would you pick and why? A personalized fully-functional customizable pair of fingerless gauntlets that had the ability to act as a phone, to show images/video on their surface and also project onto a wall.  I would be able to take photos and video with them and also 3d scan people and objects.  Since you said “possible or not”, I’ll also throw in thrusters, for some flight action.  There would be temperature control both internally and externally, so I could warm my hands up in the winter, or heat food without burning myself. I could even use them to produce and record music (microphone, audio interface, midi controller, speakers, all in one) The possibilities are endless.

In general, I would love to be able to design and print a model in multiple materials.  It would have all the internal wiring and various parts needed for it to come out of the printer fully functional, no assembly required.

Multi-material printing isn’t quite there yet, but it’s on its way:

How do you spend your time when you’re not bringing our community’s 3D printed vision to life? I run an Entertainment company called PREP Sound (www.prepsound.com) and am currently working with my business partner on another venture called Eventful Moments http://ift.tt/2yu0fNF, which will offer services centered around events; weddings, ceremonies, birthdays, etc. We plan to incorporate Shapeways by offering 3D scans and personalized merchandise through both companies.

After having been tied up with a few projects I’m finally getting time to start work on my own music, work on some designs I’d like to print, ride my bicycle (cautiously) through New York, and finally get to start writing a book called The Empathy Virus.

I also think it’s time I get back into playing basketball. Somewhere in between all that, I will find time to sleep and watch some of the great shows that are out there right now (shoutout to Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones).

What’s the most exciting thing you’ve learned about 3D printing in your time at Shapeways? The various processes themselves are really interesting. But I think the most exciting thing I’ve learned about 3D Printing is its reach and the various applications it is used for.  Being in Customer Service has allowed me to interact with a wide variety of community members who have been using our services for all these different purposes.

The enthusiasm and curiosity that comes from all corners of the world is inspiring and infectious, so I find myself constantly falling back in love with 3D printing, and never coming close to falling out.  

The fact that people can upload their ideas to our marketplace and make substantial income from the sale of their products is also super exciting. I love that it’s possible for shoppers to reach out directly to these designers, discuss the design, and possibly get a customized altered version. Think of all the red tape you would have to go through to get something like that going with traditional manufacturing.

What’s on your work playlist? It’s a mix. From Tupac to Tool to Tori Amos to the Temptations (as well as artists whose names don’t start with “T”). I particularly like 90s, 80s, and 60s music (no offense 70s, you were definitely cool too. Honorable mention).

I have been getting back into Greek music, listening a lot to Giannis Parios, Dimitris MItropanos and just a lot of old school Greek songs. I’m really excited about this new artist, Marina Satti and really dig her latest video:

If you started your own Shapeways shop, what would you sell? For PREP Sound and Eventful moments we plan to open shops offering customizable pendants, jewelry, scans, signs for events and basically anything customizable that would appeal to musicians or to people planning a special event.

I’d also like to eventually start coming up with original characters and making those available on my own separate shop.

In a perfect world, what is the trajectory of 3D printing? What I envision and hope for is a world where you can go online and download the necessary files for various products including devices, modify them any way you like, and get them printed, in multiple materials, within a day.  

And then an environment-friendly drone brings it over to you along with some tacos, drops them off, high fives you, says “wow those tacos sure smell amazing, enjoy!”.  It then looks down at the floor, frowning, turns to leave but you stop it and say “No, dude, where are you going?! Please, sit down and eat some tacos with me.”

And then you’re just sitting there, marveling at the device you designed and just got printed, while you and your new drone buddy enjoy some sweet tacos.

Give us some words to live by! “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t do the right thing, nothing happens. But when you do right, good things happen”.

– Robert DeNiro said this in “A Bronx Tale” written by Chazz Palminteri.

From one angle it just seems so foreboding and final. But it also feels inspiring, like an encouraging push that’s reminding us, “hey, this is what you should be focusing on, don’t take this for granted, you have something special inside of you and it’s going to be a real shame if you don’t share it with the world.”

We’re the guardians and caretakers of our own talent, the ones most responsible for what happens to it. It’s up to us whether that talent stays locked up, unused, collecting dust, or is nourished and given a chance to possibly touch the world.

The post Meet the Shapies: Lefteri Koutsoulidakis appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

Meet the Shapies: Lefteri Koutsoulidakis published first on http://ift.tt/2vVn0YZ

[visualsthatinspire]

PERSONAL EVALUATION

The work that we were expected to produce for the Negotiated Study module was easy to understand. We were given an assignment to undertake three different kinds of projects and were expected to produce a range of visual outcomes for each. One of the projects that we were meant to be working on had to be a competition brief. Out of the several different options available, I decided to undertake a brief set by YCN for UK Greetings. For another project, we were allowed to set our own creative brief and work on a personal project. The last project was a collaborative brief that entitled me to design a website for an Illustration student, Amy Garner. Before starting work on any of the briefs, I decided to fully understand what kind of creative solution I was searching for. This encouraged me to underline the pure essence of the briefs, and understand their history and reasoning. For the UK Greetings brief I researched the kind of cards UK Greetings was already producing, so I could plan to design something that didn’t already exist. I also understood the kinds of cards rival companies in the UK make so I could see the different themes and trends that existed. For my personal project, I decided to create a mini zine, and researched the kinds of zines that have been created recently and followed practitioners that make recurring zines. For Amy’s website I had a chat with her where she explained what her brand was about, so I could create a design solution that suited her clothing apparel. When I started working on my ideas for all three projects, I decided to play around with different kinds of techniques, processes and materials, and had a good range of example solutions to choose from. Showing these designs to the tutors as well as my friends really helped me understand how my designs were being appreciated. With their feedback I started to understand what worked and what didn’t. I got honest opinions that really helped me mould my designs and change them to make them better. The three projects that I had decided to undertake were poles apart. This gave me a lot of scope and time to gain knowledge in things i haven’t done before. Working on the UK Greetings brief was a lot of fun. I produced a few different outcomes before I decided to choose the final one. I was very set on my illustrations as soon as I drew them up, but all I was confused about after was it’s presentation. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to present them as monochromatic illustrations, or add some colour. So, I decided to try a few different techniques and was pretty happy with my development. For a monochromatic design, I had two solutions - one was to use the illustration that I made on Illustrator as it was, and the other one was a linocut print I did for one of the designs. For colour, I added a pastel colour palette to the designs on photoshop, which I didn’t end up liking because it looked too plain. I then decided to add some texture to give it some depth, and when I did that, I was very satisfied with how it looked. It stood out to me the most and i decided to use it for all my final outcomes. I had never designed greeting cards, and it was actually a lot of fun to do. I was extremely satisfied with my final outcome for this brief. My personal project was not far behind. When I initially decided to make a zine, I had a very different vision to what I produced as my final outcome. But, I wasn’t unhappy! My initial plans for the zine were to make a physical zine, that was printed with the risograph machine and had pages with screenprints and linocut prints in them. Unfortunately, because of a busy few weeks preparing for the dissertation, I lost a lot of time for work for my projects. This limited my time with my zine, and I wasn’t able to get it printed. I didn’t want to depend entirely on a machine, so I decided to make a digital copy instead, and maybe further develop it and actually get it printed. The zine was called ‘Just Breathe’ and it was dedicated to the younger generation that often find themselves feeling really low and depressed. This zine did not have content that directly linked to mental health, but it’s underlying purpose was that. The zine was created to tell young girls that it is okay to not be okay, and that things do happen, but it also teaches them why it’s okay to let things go, be patient with things and surround themselves with happy thoughts. The zine was written and illustrated entirely by me. It includes a mixture of text and illustrations. For my final project of the three, I was asked to design a website for Amy’s clothing apparel. This was also an exciting project for me. I have never actually created a layout of a website, and it was a really good experience. I drew out several layouts for what I’d like the website to look like and always had a good chat with Amy about what she expected for the website, what her brand was about, what kind of prices she wanted to set for her clothes, and what kind of products she wanted to showcase. She also told me what pages she’d like to see a layout of, so my work to do was very straight-forward. It was a very good collaboration, I also helped model some of her t-shirts so our connection worked both ways. I also collaborated with the same photographer she used, Ryan Bell, who offered to take all the photos I required for the website. I had a few different variations of how I wanted the website to look, but after playing around with them I finally settled on one layout I really liked! Over all, this entire module has been a great opportunity to learn new things and experience new areas of visual communication. I’d like to say that all my solutions have been pretty successful pertaining to their tasks. Even though a few things didn’t work out, and I had to change a few initial ideas for my projects, I was extremely happy with the range of visual outcomes I produced and very chuffed with my final outcomes! If I could change my approach in the future, I would try to work on a few more different kinds of variations, and play around some more with hands-on techniques and processes because that was very exciting for me, and helped me think better. I would also try to manage my projects more time efficiently, and make a reasonable time table that I could follow!