#puppet history and weird wonderful world were my favorites

[homethelongwayaround]

Genuinely my main thing with the Watcher thing (I watch their stuff but I’d never consider myself a die hard fan) is that I really want to see the back end projections and business plans that went into this. Show me how their math mathed to the point that this seemed not just viable, but an improvement upon YouTube at this moment in time.

I’ve been watching it unfold all day and seeing the comparisons to Dropout, the unfortunate optics of reinstating the “let’s go eat stupidly expensive stuff” show as your first big new thing for the platform while also saying you don’t have money to do the “TV-quality” things you want, all that’s fine and dandy and not incorrect. But I just can’t see how this is financially going to win out.

I wish the boys the best, hope it works out for their sakes, and I hope regardless that one day we get an idea of what the decision making process was. Not the vague “ad revenue ain’t what it used to be” type comments they made in their very not-reading-the-room announcement video, but actual numbers. I’m super interested.

[toomanywatchers]

Why I Love Travel Season’s Editing Style:

Okokok- I already made a post stating my love for Travel Season after my first initial watch-through of the first two episodes, but I have more to say. Last night, I could not stop rewatching these episodes. Possibly because I am just over the moon seeing Steven, Andrew, and Adam back in action in a show created 100% by them, and where they are allowed to make it their way- BUT there is another reason I could not stop watching it. All do in part of the editing style.

As a self-taught (and soon to be academically-taught) video editor, my favorite thing when watching digital media is seeing what techniques and styles creators use to convey an overall concept to their videos/shows. Some of the more detail-oriented editing I see in today's climate of internet content comes from Watcher's shows. For instance, Mystery Files with the corkboard graphics. Are You Scared of the hand-drawn art from illustrators Mollie Ong and Rafael Mejia. Dish Granted with the use of circle cutouts and white negative spaces. Weird Wonderful World with its cartoon sound effects and stylistic graphics/music to fit whatever atmosphere the boys are in. Puppet History with the motion graphics being put within the confines of the puppet theatre and just everything that goes into the post-production process of the lore events of that show. I could go on, but I might end up writing a whole novel in the process.

Plus, this is about Travel Season... so let's talk about Travel Season.

I was barely 5 minutes into the first episode when I realized just how different Travel Season stands out against anything Watcher has ever created. The overall vibes of the show are calm, peaceful, comforting, and relaxed. The whole show feels like I am watching an old family home video made in the 90s with a camcorder. This style of content that isn't constantly moving at a fast pace and in your face would not perform well in the YouTube algorithm, and I am glad that Watcher was able to launch their own platform to make shows like Travel Season because gosh, this is the kind of content I miss. Oversaturation and pleasing the algorithm can only go a long way as a creative, trust me.

Anywho- back to editing. I am going to point out just some of my favorite editing details that were showcased in the first two episodes of Travel Season. Starting off with probably my favorite scene from both episodes:

This small clip highlights many of my favorite details of the post-production of Travel Season. The first detail I brought up in my previous post involves The Brick aka the camera. The concept of The Brick ties in with what Meredith, Watcher's Development Coordinator, said in Pod Watcher episode #23 about physical hobbies. Something that we can create in a physical sense that does not belong to a digital realm ala the internet/social media. The idea of having a functional prop with The Brick can tie a whole show aesthetic together, but in this case, The Brick also aids in the post-production allowing the team to make smooth-flowing transitions. What I mean is sometimes, especially with a show like Travel Season where they cover many different locations/activities in one video, finding a perfect, easy-flowing transition can be difficult. Jump cuts can be useful in certain cases to hit a comedic mark or shock the viewer, but that is not the overall vibe of Travel Season. The pictures taken on The Brick from their work tripe an easily organized B-roll for harder transition points and simple things such as finding Seoul provide space for much-needed voiceovers for context.

Another editing point that is provided in this clip is the audio. Watcher has never missed the mark regarding audio choices and the addition of sound effects in their work. Sometimes people think that when editing, the editor finds a song that fits and slaps it on the timeline, but here showcases the idea of editing for the environment. What really stuck out to me is the jump cut to the location and using an effect like Lowpass on the audio to make the audience feel as though they are truly standing outside of this nightclub-esk restaurant. Then it jumps to the audio back to normal with Steven dancing as Andrew browses then back to Lowpass edit as they introduce this next location. It's just such a subtle touch that had me all giddy because small details as this audio editing elevate the scene to another level. Showing that Watcher was trying to make you feel like you are there with the boys on their travels. A true immersion effect that I just love.

Also to Adam and Annie who were both camera operators, your b-roll is absolutely superb and adds to the overall vibe of Travel Season.

The last point of editing I want to bring up as it's on the top of my head are these moments:

When they use a frame hold and then change the aspect ratio for a transition. I just find it such a charming technique in video editing. Plus I feel like this transition fits in with the whole "taking photos" approach because in a way the changing of the ratio on a frame hold is like taking a snapshot of that frame like a picture.

I just... I just love it, okay?

Honestly, I could go on and on about every little detail of this show and how they decided to overall produce it, but like I said- novel.

Watcher just puts so much love and care into all the shows they make. Even when it comes to the last process of video production which is editing the episodes together. I have not seen many channels put this much thought into the specificity of their videos like Watcher. This is why I gravitate towards them so much they care about the little things in the shows they create.

Moral of the story: I am in love with Travel Season and with Watcher as a whole.

thank you for listening to my ted talk aka my nerdy ramblings

[findingschmomo]

Fic Writer Questions

@spinyfruit tagged me in this and so im actually gonna do it

1.) How many works do you have on AO3

oof. officially? 54 fics.

unofficially? (aka including my anon fics) 66 fics

I also have some orphaned works from FF that im not counting tho

2.) What’s your total AO3 count?

I'm assuming this means word count? If so: 1,192,409

3.) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I have written for:

Haikyuu

Hetalia

Hunter x Hunter

Spy x Family

Free!

Sk8

My Next Life as a Villainess

Puppet History

Deltarune

So 9.

4.) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

My top 5 Kudos fics are all Haikyuu LMAO.

#Betrayal (IwaOi, Kudos: 6,349)

And All the Prince's Men (IwaOi, KageHina, Kudos: 4,219)

The Sweetest Smile (KyouHaba, IwaOi, Kudos: 3,950)

Melt Me With Your Gaze (IwaOi, Kudos: 3,264)

Anonymous Fic : ) (Kudos: 3,155)

The Best I Ever Had (IwaOi, Kudos: 2,450)

5.) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Okay i'm only counting fics that have endings, and are not anonymous. But honestly? I dont write many angsty endings. Don't get me wrong, i go hard on angst, but my endings are usually fairly happy.

I guess it would have to be Out of the Oven and Into the Fire (RusAm ABO). But even then, it's the third story in a four part series. But this one deffo ends sad.

6.) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Like ALL of my stories lmao. Or the vast majority. I feel like counting the oneshots that are just fluff to begin with is cheating. I guess I'd go with Courting Disaster because it has a very fluff ending.

7.) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I HAVE ONLY EVER WRITTEN ONE CROSSOVER. AND IT WAS A SECRET SANTA GIFT FOR MY HORRIBLE GIRLFRIEND WHO REQUEST THE PROFESSOR/SPAMTON SMUT FIC.

PuppetRune: Cursed Route

8.) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write....a LOT of smut. Basically all of it is explicit m/m. I've written a lot of ABOverse stuff too now. Most of my anon fics are just porn I am uncomfy having tied to my name x)

9.) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I typically don't. I have this weird worry that ppl might percieve it as me inflating my comment number? I only respond if someone is asking a question or I recognize the username and wanna say hi.

10.) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

oh hunny. i've gotten death threats. I literally had to get AO3 admin involve because two users were stalking my one fic demanding i kill myself, my readers kill themselves and that I report myself to the police....on like every chapter update..which meant they were subscribed (?)

ive also gotten very annoying entitled ones, demanding i change things but idk if that's classified as hate.

but 9/10 times every comment i recieve is wonderful and lovely.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I've had links to my fics posted on good reads which i HATE. but no i dont think anythings been full on stolen hopefully.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yep!

#Betrayal was translated to Spanish

The Best I Ever Had was translated to Thai

Melt Me With Your Gaze was translated to Russian

13.) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes I have! All three times with @notallballs for the Sk8 fandom

Get (Un)Lucky (LanReki)

Ready when you are (LanReki)

Camera Ready (LanReki)

It was a really fun experience to do!

14.) What’s your all time favorite ship?

TOUGH. I'll always be a ho for IwaOi. But RusAme owned my high school years and has made a startling comeback.

15.) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but you don’t think you ever will?

Honestly, probably Apart from the Pack (UshiIwaOi). I love that fic. I love the world building i was able to create and explore. I have an idea for an ending, but I just can't really bring myself to write Haikyuu rn :////

16.) What are your writing strengths?

My favorite thing in the world is to write dialogue. I LOVE IT. ITS MY PASSION. And not to toot my own horn, but i think I'm fairly good at it.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

Honestly probably grammar lmao. Like, the really nitpicky stuff. I also think I could get better at writing descriptions of things.

18.) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

I've done it. I've gone back and forth on it. I mostly don't, except for fics like My Salvation (RusAme) where the whole point is the existence of a language barrier.

19.) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

WARRIOR CATS

IT WAS A CRACK FIC AND I AM STILL ASHAMED

20.) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

OOF! I love so many of them. Let me at least do top 3.

Bridge the Gap (UshiIwaOi) will always be special to me. I pour my entire heart and soul into that. It's not as popular as all my other Haikyuu fics (because of the pairing lol) but I really do think its my best work.

A Human Invention (RusAme) is also special to me. It's my most ambitious work imo, because each update required SO MUCH RESEARCH. And I just really loved being able to play with heavy themes and philosophize on the nature of existence. If only I could just write the last god damn chapter

Now, here's a curveball: A Challenge (Keith/Geordo) My one and only My Next Life as a Villainess fic. I think it's one of my best oneshot porn fics. I had SO much fun writing it even though no one read it lmao.

Idk who to tag so i'm just gonna not. this already took wayyyy too long to do. but it was fun!

[bergaralovebot]

You may recognize Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara as the ghoul boys who helped grow the Buzzfeed Unsolved YouTube channel into an immensely popular true-crime destination. Now the duo (along with fellow Buzzfeed vet Steven Lim) are running their own video production studio, Watcher, where they indulge their oddest inclinations for an audience of millions.

In addition to hunting haunts in "Ghost Files,"(Opens in a new tab) Madej and Bergara pal around with puppets on "Puppet History,"(Opens in a new tab) visit hidden gems in "Weird Wonderful World,"(Opens in a new tab) and rank their perfect picks in "Top 5 Beatdown."(Opens in a new tab) In just three years, Watcher has released over a dozen stellar series, and they're just getting started.

Today they teased a new show, "Mystery Files,"(Opens in a new tab) which will see the two besties explaining their most "unusual, unexplained, and unhinged" internet deep dives to each other. So we asked them both to dig into their own internet history to dish on their recent video dives.

1. "RMS Titanic Real Time Sinking Remastered"

Mashable: You guys really hit my sweet spot with the videos you picked! The Titanic and Disneyland.

Bergara: I think I know what Titanic video you're talking about. I've watched it.

Madej: I've talked about it before. It's back in my mind because they announced they're re-releasing the movie in theaters.

I did not peg you two for true Titanic fans.

M: I mean, the movie is incredible.

You mean that unironically?

M: The romance is a little cheesy and James Cameron is not the most talented when it comes to writing human emotions, but the spectacle of that movie is just unrivaled.

B: I think it's an excellent film, full stop.

I agree, but I still can't tell if you're joking.

M & B: No, we're serious.

Me, too! It was one of my favorite movies as a teen. I was just home for Christmas and forgot I have a Collector's Edition DVD. I was hardcore.

B: Does it fold out into a boat?

No, it's very boring. Just a photo of Rose on one disc and Jack on another.

M: And when you close it do they kiss?

Oh my god, I'm not sure.

B: That's a missed opportunity, it could have been so many different things… like a smokestack. The iceberg!

M: The floating door.

I'm loving this Titanic super fan meet up. Ryan, you've watched the video through once? Twice?

B: I've watched it one time all the way through. I think you'd have to be a borderline psychopath to watch it all the way through multiple times. It's a three-and-a half-hour video. But it is haunting to watch in real time. I love the the audio snippets they put in, like the captain's voice. And of course the obvious haunting quality of all the screams [smiles].

M: I think the channel first uploaded this because they were trying to raise money for a Titanic video game they were developing. The neat thing that they do in it, and I think it's because the developers are so intimately aware of the timeline, is throughout the video they have little factoids that pop up like "at this point they put this lifeboat down."

B: You do get the feeling of how long it actually took or, I guess, how quickly it took for it to fully go down. You put yourself into the situation with each new factoid going, "OK maybe that's not so bad, it's still floating" then you're like, "Well, that one's kind of bad" and then suddenly it's "oh, we're going to fucking die."

M: It goes belly up so quickly at the end, it's unnerving. Ryan says this would be in very poor taste, but I've always wanted to have a party where we dress up as people on the Titanic, and we project the video and start out like "oh yay!" you know, and the night just proceeds. [Ryan puts head in his hands].

B: He wanted to do a pool party.

M: I don't know that I ever said that, that's a bit sick.

B: Oh yeah, I'm the one that's sick. Who would you go as?

M: Probably Molly Brown

B: You'd throw a party where people died and you'd be the only one that lives!?

M: Sure, yeah.

B: I'd go as the violinist. I don't know if it's factually accurate, if they actually played until the end, but the movie dialogue is really fun stuff. I'm a Chargers fan — and now these are two really weird worlds colliding — but we're not very good usually, and when I know we're about to get eliminated, [my friends and I] will all say "It's been a pleasure playing with you gentlemen," and then we'll drink our sorrows away and watch our team lose.

2. "Inside Aaron Paul’s Rustic Riverside Home In Idaho"

B: Look, I'm sad that I had to pick one perfect Architectural Digest video and this makes it seem like I am just obsessed with Aaron Paul. I will say that this is one of my favorites in the series, but I generally just love looking at these celebrity houses. It's the perfect amount of escapism. I just love seeing how people lives their lives.

Aaron Paul's house is insane. It's this giant cabin in Idaho with a dedicated gambling room, sauna and a spa, a log shed — it's pretty sick to have a log shed [Shane laughs]— a massive fireplace. I don't know why celebrity home tours bring me so much relaxation and joy. There's this element of all the sudden you're sitting on this ivory tower judging everybody like, "Well, I don't know about that [choice]."

My favorite part is when celebrities talk about art. It's so insufferable. They'll say words like, "This piece right here really speaks to me" [or] "I saw this when I was in Italy walking around this museum, and I just had to have it." None of the stories are profound. But they have to whip up some anecdote to justify the ridiculous price tag of the art they have.

My wife [Mari] and I always joke that if one day our home is featured on Architectural Digest, we're going to treat our art with the same kind of reverence they do, as if it's in the Getty or something. We really love the movie Dumb and Dumber, and there's that one shot where the giant dog van is flying over a hill, and I want to get a frame of that, blow it up, and hang it alongside frames from other stupid movies. And just force the AD crew to sit there and listen to us talk about them. If that makes it into AD, you heard it here first! And it was Mari's idea.

M: My favorite AD moment is… Ryan, are you aware of Dakota Johnson's limes?

B: I am, yeah.

M: That's the thing is that AD comes over to your house and set dresses it. They'll put a bowl of limes out.

As an AD connoisseur, what are some other AD best-ofs?

B: I really dig Kendall Jenner's house. The design and the flow... the whole thing was surprisingly calming and comfy, which is not something I would expect from someone in the Kardashian family. I expect very modern, sleek, cold. She had a painting room, that was sick.

I like the ones that look like they are actually meant to be lived in, not one that looks like an interior designer came in to do it all. I recently watched one and, I won't say her name, but her house literally looks like the Getty.

Are you not saying her name because her name is Emma Chamberlain?

B: [Laughs] No! Her house was fun and homey. But there was somebody whose house was very modern. I'm not into talking trash, but I didn't like the house.

It's hard when I reach the end of this particular series, because I have to wait for the next one, and I'm very frustrated by having to wait for so long. And now I get it when people scream at me on the street, "Where's Ghost Files!? Why isn't it here!?" They have no idea what it takes to make the series just like I have no idea what it's like to have the AD camera crew come into my home. I probably wouldn't clean at all. I won't even put the shoot in my calendar, I'll just add an unnamed time block. When they show up at my door I'll open it wearing whatever I have on that day. But it'll probably never happen.

Not with that attitude it won't!

B: That's actually how I approach everything in life. You can ask Shane; almost everything that we've ever accomplished there's been some point in history before that where I've said, "This probably is not going to happen," and Shane tends to be more positive.

[Shane squints at the ceiling in thought.]

B: I would describe him as indifferently optimistic. I tend to be pessimistic, Steven is very optimistic, and Shane is pretty optimistic.

M: I think I'm more optimistic than Steven.

B: Jesus Christ, OK! You're the most optimistic guy I know.

M: Thank you.

3. "Miami Boat Ramps"

Shane, what's up with the boats?

M: I'm trying to remember how I happened upon this channel. I'm not a boater, I've never driven a boat, and I've never been to Miami. But Miami's boat ramps… I guess I didn't realize there was so much humanity down there.

This person camps out at the boat docks or, excuse me, boat ramps, and he must go out every day to film and then compile the day's happenings and slap some color commentary on it. It's just a fascinating channel. The drama is pretty pitiful. Sometimes there'll be a party boat, sometimes it'll be someone who's really blasting in a no wake zone(Opens in a new tab), but you see people get angry at each other, there are fights, boat sinking.

I find myself now watching a lot of videos of human hosts, where the camera is sort of observing things. I love it, it scratches an itch and is sort of a comfort thing. During the peak of the quarantine, I would watch a lot of walking tours. All of my friends and I would sync [the same video]. So we'd say like, "Let's go to Oslo tonight!" and then you know slowly people get tired and fall asleep and log off. There are some good ones of Japan; they have a lot of festivals there so [the video would] be of a whole crowd of people walking through the street as fireworks are going off in the distance. It's really beautiful.

4. "LeBron Unreal Birthday Game"

B: When I was picking videos, I tried to put as little thought as possible, by which I mean… I am sure I could have found some YouTube videos that make me seem cultured and interesting. But I was like, "I'm just gonna go with channels I consistently watch all the time: Architectural Digest and House of Highlights," which I just realized are sort of punny.

Anyways, I watch House of Highlights like the typical bro dude sports guy every night before I fall to sleep. To get myself relaxed I'll watch who had good games that day or highlights of Lebron or Kevan Durant. I like watching people be great. Lebron for instance, the guy is doing crazy things at 38 years old, been in the league 20 years. No one is putting up the numbers he's putting up at this age, with his mileage.

I'm a Kobe guy, I've always been a Kobe guy, but watching Lebron right now is pretty crazy. By the end of the year — and he might have already — he will pass Kareem Abdul Jabar for most points scored in the NBA. He's on a tear right now.

The way you talk about basketball is the way I talk to a stranger about K-pop.

B: [Laughs] The thing about basketball is that I've played it my whole life, and I have an appreciation for how amazing these guys are, the things they're doing. And someone like LeBron, or any NBA player, is doing things that, even if I dedicated every moment of my life to it, I would never be able to do.

5. "Something's Wrong with Worf"

M: This channel takes scenes from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which must have a pretty robust outtakes archive, and edits a small snippet from the outtake into the overall scene. It's really good. There'll be something serious happening and in the middle someone will do something weird, and then it'll keep going as it was before. They look like they have a lot of fun on set.

Anyways, it's worth a watch. You don't really have to be a fan of Star Trek to enjoy it. I'm not too steeped in Next Generation, I watched a lot of Voyager growing up, and I started Star Trek: Deep Space Nine during the pandemic. I just love outtakes, man. I'm sure Ryan will be with me on this, but at the end of the year when they have like "2022 news bloopers" compilations [on YouTube], I watch them all.

B: Same, Mari and I will just sit down on the couch and binge them.

My favorite is "I wanted donuts."(Opens in a new tab)

B: I don't that know that one but I love learning about a new news blooper to add to the rolodex. Have you seen "woman struck by lightning speaks?"(Opens in a new tab) Basically, this lady was struck by lightning, and they talk about how she shocked everyone when she survived. It shows her trying to walk and then cuts to a clip of her in a hospital bed about to speak, and the clip glitches and she goes "adadadada" and the news anchor tries so hard to keep it together. "Mr. Wacky"(Opens in a new tab) is also very funny, Shane, you can explain.

M: I think it was in San Diego, a few years ago. They were having an inflatable fair with blown-up playgrounds and obstacle courses, and the reporter on scene is this older, really jovial fella who's really trying to make the piece fun but every question he asks and turn of phrase he uses is at odds with his whole aim. Like at the top of the segment he is talking back to the studio and he's like, "Is inflation in our world a good thing or a bad thing?" and the guy in the studio is like, "What!?" He asks the crowd insane questions like, "What kind of fun do you hope to have here today?" He tries to get everyone to chant.

What happened to this man? Is he still employed?

M: Oh yeah, I think he's pretty beloved down there. The whole piece is beautiful. Finally, he introduces a guy dressed up as an inflatable Mr. Wacky. And he saves the whole thing. The reporter asks him, "Do you think the people here will turn into inflatables today?" and Mr. Wacky says "I don't know, do they want to be inflatables?" I still reference the video almost weekly.

It's so funny that you two and I are on the same internet watching the same goofy things, but not quite.

B: I love this kind of conversation because whenever Shane and I travel for Ghost Files and have a new crew member, we'll talk about our favorite news clips and the crew member will always have another news clip we have not heard of. So I become a rolling snowball, gathering more and more news clips.

You should do a Top 5 Beatdown for news clips.

B: That's an amazing idea. I would watch the shit out of that. I gotta look into that, talk to our legal team.

6. "Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History"

I'm a huge Defunctland stan.

B: I love Defunctland. I've actually met him. I was shocked when I heard his voice, he just sounds like that. I was legitimately starstruck. He does amazing content that's cinematic quality. For anyone that doesn't know, his channel breaks down the history of defunct attractions. It's really a nice dose of nostalgia. And of course every Disney fan is kind of a snob in a way where we'll have heavy opinions about what is wrong with certain rides.

I want to say even if you're not a theme park freak, you'll still enjoy this video because it's so well made, but I can't say for sure. It breaks down how Disney thought of the FastPass, why it's flawed, how they've changed it. That doesn't sound like an investigative piece of journalism, but it is.

Are you a Disney snob?

B: Oh yeah, a "passholder" is what we call ourselves. I have an annual pass.

I like to think I'm a cool Disney adult. I'm not one of those Disney adults.

B: I don't think that's possible, but I live in that hope as well. I am also totally fine being [called] like, "You're a Disney adult, you're a big nerd." Whatever dude! I'm gonna hop on Space Mountain, then I'm gonna hop on Indiana Jones and grab a corndog on the way over because that's the right thing to do. And you're going to go there and stand in hour-long lines, and I'm not because I know how to game the system. And I'm fine with that. If you're going to call me a nerd, I'll wear that badge proudly.

I've lived in LA my whole life, and I went to Chapman University where I could ride my bike to Disneyland, so I would go all the time between classes. I would study there sometimes, sit on Main Street and do my homework. There was one year where I went 155 times according to my pass, which is insane.

You would go to a cafe on Main Street and study?

B: Yeah, or sit on the benches and people watch. Sometimes I would go and not even get on a ride.

That sounds so nice.

B: It's so nice. I have two friends who are just as deeply crazy as me, and we made a podcast during the pandemic where we discuss, like, top five Disneyland restaurants, top five rides, top five sounds. We always talk about how we're scraping the bottom of the barrel because we've already watched all of Defunctland, Yesterworld(Opens in a new tab), Theme Park History(Opens in a new tab) [videos on YouTube]. I also like those ambient videos of people walking through theme parks. I watched those all the time during the height of the pandemic just to get me through. And now I'm watching roller coaster nerd stuff.

I get that because I watched POV ride throughs of the rides during the pandemic. Have you seen the POV of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Shanghai Disney? It's incredible.

B: No, no that's one of the rules. I don't watch POVs of rides I haven't been on yet because it'll ruin the experience for me and I know Shanghai Disney has next-level animatronics. Like, I've watched so many walk through videos that it's not that fun when you know the route they're going to go. So there's this channel Document Disney(Opens in a new tab) that I watch and it's for that specific niche of sad person and they will walk a different route every video.

[Mashable and Bergara discuss Disneyland podcasts and lore for seven minutes.]

Sorry Shane.

[Madej shrugs]

B: OK, this is the last thing I'll say about Disney, which is that I think there is a brand of Disney adult that truly loves going to the park to have a good time, and then there's another type where it's their personality and they get upset about people talking badly about the parks. I am not that. People who watch our channel, they don't go "oh, that guy is obsessed with Disneyland." There's Disney adult lite and Disney adult scary, and I'm lite.

7. "Beautiful Tornadoes"

M: This is a channel I found recently, and growing up in Illinois I think I'm just morbidly fascinated with tornadoes. As far as natural disasters go, they're the most terrifying to me, personally. I've been in a couple small earthquakes out here [in Los Angeles], and I can imagine a big one can be pretty terrifying. There's something about tornadoes, they look biblical and monstrous in a way that an earthquake does not. Like, you can see it in the distance, and it could move toward you, and there's something about that that is very unnerving to me. I've always loved watching tornado videos but only recently did I run across ones that are really HD. And now they have drones. 

B: How does that work, how do the drones not get pulled in?

M: You can get pretty close to them. I think the people that operate them are clued in to how close they can get without losing their beautiful drones. This channel, in particular, is a guy who has a very poetic approach — he scores all of his own videos. He has a guitar, and he'll punch in on a tornado for a while and play these haunting [songs], almost like Gustavo Santaolalla, the guy who did the soundtrack for The Last of Us video game.

I don't know what he does in the off season, but in the summer and spring time he's out there. I don't know how they track them, but the sheer number of tornadoes he's been able to hunt down is impressive.

I was watching this video with captions on and whoever does them calls tornadoes "burritos." So the caption will read, like, "The town of Lockett [was] impacted by a large rain-wrapped EF-3 burrito" or light dust "revealed this distant weak burrito" or "you might be amazed at the wind turbines strength... while taking direct hits from this burrito."

B: Shane, did you see there was a tornado warning in LA?

M: No! I feel like there's a warning for even the slightest funnel, but I'm actually gonna look this up, get an eye on that burrito.

You don't find wildfires scarier than tornadoes?

M: I know that wildfires spread quickly and can really take people by surprise, and if you're in a remote location it's hard to get out because the smoke is so thick. Tornadoes, though, are so quick, come out of nowhere, and you can't anticipate where they're going to go. It's interesting to watch the videos, too, because there are different kinds of them. Also, I'm very excited for the Twister sequel.

B: Oh shit, there's a Twister sequel? Is Helen Hunt in it?

M: Yeah, they're working in it and probably. But there's this kind of tornado called "drill bit tornadoes" and the funnel is so concentrated that you can see it tearing a hole in the ground as it goes. It's creepy. They're so scary to me. A lot of the times they don't cause a lot of damage, but when they do it's staggering, and it'll kill a lot of people. Because If it goes through the center of a town, it's chaos.

B: Was the first tornado you saw on film the Wizard of Oz? And did you love that scene and wear out the tape on your VHS rewinding that shit as a little kid, nose to the screen?

[Both laugh]

M: I don't know that I was fascinated by them when I was younger, I was scared of them. We would have a tornado warning, and we didn't have a basement so we'd have to go to the center of the house and board up the windows. We had a few close calls.

B: That's even weirder that you like them, then. Because I like Michael Myers, but if he was a real dude living in my neighborhood, I wouldn't like the Halloween films so much. The fact that you had tornadoes around you all the time and then became obsessed with them is a window into your psyche, which is a weird place.

M: Well, you know, I want to understand them.

B: I guess that's true. I hunt ghosts, and I'm terrified of them.

M: Yeah, see! What about that.

B: Shane, was it hard for you to narrow your list down for this interview? There were so many videos I had trouble picking between.

M: Yes! We should just turn this into a regular interview. We're perfect for it because whenever we travel on long road trips, it becomes a rotating carousel of "what about this video?"

B: We all have our own little subsets, I love watching collection videos on YouTube. I like when people take your through their collection of whatever it is. Especially sneaker and watch collections. It could be the strangest things, like gnomes. I just like watching people be really passionate about things they've collected over their lifetime. It relaxes me.

M: Like I said, we're happy to do a round two. We have a lot to cover.

[majesticnerdynerd]

Hi!!! For the ask game, I have 2 questions to ask you. First, #28. What is your favorite story or chapter title you came up with this year? And secondly, #34.What's the weirdest thing you researched for a fic? Love your work, hope you have a great 2022!

Hi!! :D

#28. What is your favorite story or chapter title you came up with this year? This is a good question, because there were quite a few things that I've published in 2021, hm... superwholock or potterlock don't count because those have been here since 2020. For ~story~ it belongs to the Sherlock fandom - I really like Where the North Wind Meets the Sea because it is a Frozen reference that fits with the in-universe worldbuilding I'm kind of planning, even if a little changed :D it is merfolk/landfolk AU which was new for me since I've only ever read snippets, so I am completely going off of myself here with the magic and sea/land shenanigans, it is a breath of fresh air because I don'tbeat myself up with posting like with my other fics, and that is a nice change For ~chapter title~ the prize goes to the Supernatural fandom because I started publishing and writing the Take It or Leaf It series, which, from the very first installment, consists of flower puns! It is so much fun to build that separate and fluffy destiel flowershop AU world, seriously. I saw that 'fuck you bouquet' prompt, reserached flower puns and bookmarked a lot of sites and got to plotting. The separate parts could be technically considered chapters in a big scheme, so I'll take that and say that my FAVE so far of them 4 is You Can Poppy-n Anytime, simply because I mentally keep singing it to the tune of Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears :D

#34.What's the weirdest thing you researched for a fic? okay okay okay listen this is a very amazing question because there is so much I could talk about BUT I'll try not to write an essay (tho I love writing essays ask my former english lit professor - hi Nick! jk he doesnt have tumblr I hope)

So if I had to answer like what's the weirdest thing I've researched so far for a fic, I think it would be the thing of how baby centaurs look (for an unrelated, scrapped fic dialogue that was hilarious but also so unsuitable at the time) and there is a tumblr post and drawings around there somewhere

FOR A FIC THIS YEAR THOUGH. Listen. My dear listen :D I dunno if you read Reichenbach Falls, but if you do, you are in on the Nicolas Cage cameos/appearances, right? Well. That's the consequences of my own actions! I unironically enjoy writing in Nicolas Cage. He was supposed to be a one-off but he became so obnoxious I just had to include him (and is he really gone? we'll see) and along with that came an idea to put his cursed pictures into the notes/chapters

And the SINGLE. MOST.CURSED. PICTURE. is the one where he got photoshopped onto a weeping angel. That was SHEER COINCIDENCE that I found it, I was like hey I'll give it a try if not I'll just tell people to use their imagination and --- somebody did it. At this point I'm asking myself if it's weirder of me thinking to google it, or actually finding that somebody had already thought of it before me :'D My search history looked something like: 'nicolas cage weeper' 'nicolas cage weeping angel' 'dr who nicolas cage angel' 'angel nicolas cage' (that one has a movie attached to it smt like angel city?? I made a promise to binge his movies this summer for future references in the fic) 'nic cage photoshop' 'nicolas cage photoshop weird' 'puppet nicolas cage' (<- he has an animatronic movie too??)

So. Yeah. Nicolas Cage and his many abominable faces such as Queen of England or cats made it to the weirdest search history for my FBI agent Fred, I bet :D Here's barbie nicolas cage for anyone else randomly scrolling by:

THANK YOU for asking these wonderful questions :D And Happy 2022 for you as well Rainyavenue I hope it's great for you <3 :3 if anyone has more qs, feel free to ask :D

[thethirteenthcrow]

hiii! what’s a fic that lives in your mind rent free? what ship haven’t you written for yet but you’d like to? top 5 tropes?

em!! okay let’s see

what fic lives in your mind rent free? 

darling it’s a faded notion | varnes | 28k | complete

The sun is too bright and Ryan’s whole body is alight with something that is eating him all the way up from the inside out, but he keeps his eyes open and he makes himself look, and he tells himself that once he finds Shane, he’ll think about it. Once he finds Shane, they’ll make a plan. Once he finds Shane, and only then, he’ll let himself have the thought he’s been swallowing down like bile since he came to: that they didn’t fall.

They were pushed.

OR: Ryan and Shane get cursed by a ghost, and now they can't be not-touching. It's ... not great.

chicken | bloodyloveletters | 6k | complete

The principle of the game of Chicken is that while either player prefers not to yield to each other, the outcome where neither player yields is the worst possible outcome for both players.

When Shane finds a new thing to tease Ryan over, he thinks it will be harmless. But it ends up changing their friendship forever.

we’ll make a brand new start of it (in old new york) | misantlery | 9k | complete

“Just to be clear,” Andrew says. “You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend at a party to spite your high school bully and your high school girlfriend and possibly the entire state of Ohio?”

Steven giggles. “Spite’s such a harsh word. Shock and impress, maybe.”

“For a man of faith you’re being awfully morally flexible about this,” Andrew says.

believer | cellard00rs | part of the bonded series, which is 233k

Some demons and otherworldly creatures love climbing up the power ladder. Shane is not one of these. He likes where he is (thank you very much) and has no interest in moving up. All he wants is to give his friend Ryan a nice birthday gift. So, naturally, everything goes to hell.

teacher’s pet | chapscher | 24k | complete

“You aren’t describing a teacher’s pet! You’re describing… I don't know the name for it. Someone who tries to seduce their teacher so they can get a better grade.” “Isn’t that a teacher’s pet?” “No!” _ Ryan is tired of losing every episode of Puppet History and asks Shane to tutor him. Shane obliges and tries to keep the tutoring session on track even as they distract each other.

we were wrecks before we crashed into each other | uneventfullhouses | 24k | complete

Cleo’s smile is soft. “Shane told me his memory. What’s yours?”

“Less about memories,” Ryan says truthfully. “More about the future. Where we’ll be and such.”

Arching a brow, she drops her arms, so she clasps her hands in front of her hips. “Where do you think you’ll be?”

Ryan laughs. “Dunno.” He isn’t brave enough to say that he does know that Shane will be there, somewhere, wedged between the regular, the obtuse, the breathtaking, the wild. The generic and the extraordinary. The weird and the wonderful.

or; this week on Weird and/or Wonderful World, Shane and Ryan visit a record shop.

ok so these are just a FEW of them but they’re the first ones that came to my mind - i know u asked me for like one but there’s too much TALENT in this fandom to only mention one. here is a link of most of my favorite works in the fandom (and i’ve been slacking with adding some so please if you read it and your work isn’t here don’t be offended i’ve barely been adding fics to the list).

-----

what’s a ship that you haven’t written for that you want to write for?

oooh boy!! let’s see - i’ve at least four standrew wips that i really want to write! and a few shyan-with-standrew-as-background-ship that i’m stoked for. then i really love stamandrew but i haven’t had any ideas for it, as well as for steshyan because hello they started a company, how gay of them. i’m also stoked to write any shyanara or sharyelle or any variation of it because i am very intrigued and excited but i unfortunately haven’t had any ideas for this either :// - if you ever want to cowrite and have a fun idea PLEASE hit me the fuck up.

-----

top 5 tropes

enemies to lovers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fairytale au’s !! please !!!! i love them we-can’t-stay-5-feet-apart-without-touching and suddenly we’re gay (please we have only two in this fandom and i owe phyllis and varnes the world for writing these gems) Fake/Pretend relationship and oh how i wish we weren’t pretending literally Any Supernatural Au in this fandom my god they’re so good

hi this is a long-ass answer whoops !! thank u for sending this Q dear em <33

[tessatechaitea]

Justice League International #7 (1987)

Kevin Maguire not really trying looks an awful lot like John Romita Jr at his best.

Ah! It feels good to be back! Taking a crack at John Romita Jr while he's just sitting there not doing anything particularly wrong. Just going about his business pretending to be a comic book artist! I don't know what John Romita's politics are but I bet he now agrees with Donald Trump on one thing: naming your kid after you is a huge fucking mistake. Was all that previous nonsense poisonous, vile, and toxic? I suppose one could argue the point. But I'd also guess that somebody arguing that point has never seen John Romita Jr's art. Or perhaps they have seen it and like it because they have a terribly underdeveloped sense of aesthetics. Otherwise nobody would argue with me at all! They'd just read the previous poisonous, vile, toxic nonsense and nod their heads in agreement while pausing for a second to snort a line of Adderall. Fine, I'm sorry, JRJR! Obviously you're an artist! Drawing squinty people with block heads and weird noses holding geometric guns without a single curve on them absolutely falls under the definition of art! Although I draw the line at accepting that Rob Liefeld is an artist. That's a bridge too far! What the fuck does that even mean, "a bridge too far"? It must be a term bombers in WWII used, right? "What the fuck do you mean, carpet bomb Dresden?! If we fly past the Geralthauskopfplatz Bridge, we're definitely getting scrawked by anti-aircraft flak, you bingehart!" Did that sound like an authentic American bomber pilot from the 40s? It's not like Catch-22 is my favorite book or something. Wait. Catch-22 is my favorite book. I guess I'm just no good at written impressions. I assure you it sounds exactly what you'd expect from an American pilot in the Forties if you heard me do the impression live. Also, this is probably the last month of my life where I'll be able to say, "Catch-22 is my favorite book." Because I'm over 500 pages into Gravity's Rainbow and it's just as fucking amazing as everybody who has pretended to read it says it is. This issue begins with Guy Gardner regaining consciousness after having been violently assaulted by his employer.

Why was the mouse glowing green?!

In my memory, Guy Gardner's change from dickhole to sweetest guy on the team came after Batman punched his lights out. But apparently that isn't the case. It's possible this new whack on the head is the cause or maybe it's something a bit later. I bet an editorial mandate came down which said they couldn't have Guy suffer serious head trauma from Batman punching him. So they had to add this new scene where Guy basically gives himself the head trauma that results in a catastrophic change in personality. The Justice League didn't quite finish destroying The Gray Man last issue so that story gets resolved pretty quickly this issue. Doctor Fate transported him to the Realms of Order where a big blob of Order disintegrates him. Which is what he ultimately wanted. It's what we all ultimately want. It's just you don't know that you want it until you've lived long enough for all the wonder to be bled out of life. That's why he's the Gray Man! Some people think life's too short but at 49, I'm beginning to suspect that it's way too fucking long.

This comic book passes the Reverse Bechdel Test: "Any story that has only one woman in it and every scene she's in, she's treated like a sexual object."

With The Gray Man out of the way, it's time to get to the important part of the story: turning the Justice League of America into Justice League International! I wonder how many people this change pissed off in the 80s? Fucking globalist woke elite bubble bullshit! People talk in derogatory terms about the coastal bubbles but they absolutely shouldn't. I won't disagree that I grew up in a totally different environment in the San Francisco Bay Area than people who grew up in the Midwest. A bubble? Sure. But it was a fucking good thing. I was recently showing the Non-Certified Spouse some of the station breaks from local stations in the late 70s and early 80s out of San Francisco and she was amazed at the representative shorts these stations presented, especially KTVU's "Bits and Pieces." Sure, there were the ones about ethics and morality humorously presented with a horse and bulldog puppet. But there were also the ones that showed different ethnicities and their lives, often ending with "I'm proud to be a Chinese American!" or "I'm proud to be a Black American!" The one about Japanese Americans even mentioned how Japanese families were put in interment camps during World War II. One was about Italian Americans and instead of Italian history, it just showed Italian art and various activities of people in the Italian community. One of the Japanese American shorts just had a Japanese American kid having to explain how he was tired of answering questions about being Japanese in America because he was fourth generation and just American as anybody else. But I guess that kind of commie pinko hogwash is why I'm a big fat America hating socialist! As I was saying before my politics politely interrupted (my politics interrupting impolitely would look like this: Trump voters should be forced to shit in their own mouths for all eternity), the main thrust of this story is to set up Justice League International. Judging by the cover, that means hiring some guy with a bucket on his head from Russia and Captain Atom, another white American male.

Ah yes! The introduction of the best character of the series: Big Barda!

Big Barda might not be on the team but at least there's another female character. Sure, Doctor Light was sort of on the team for three pages. And pretty soon, Fire and Ice will join. But it's mostly just been poor Black Canary having to put up with Booster and Blue Beetle's jokes about banging her. Max and J'onn discuss the United Nations possibly backing the Justice League while Superman talks respectfully with President Reagan. What a mistake! The biggest do-gooder on the planet normalizing fucking Ronald Reagan! He should be scolding him with a liberal smattering of Kryptonian tsk-tsks! That's when a Kryptonian gives you a little burst of heat vision every time you deny the AIDS crisis or invoke the spectre of Welfare Queens or destroy the economy by lowering the top marginal tax rates pretending that the money saved will trickle down to everyone instead of fat corporate cats simply keeping all the extra for bonuses and investors. Fuck that guy. I'm so mad now!

Of all the digs they could have taken with Reagan, they poke fun of his dementia?! Christ, Giffen and DeMatteis.

Hal Jordan drops by headquarters to give Guy a good talking-to but Guy doesn't need it because he's suffered a traumatic head injury on top of his brain damage alongside Batman's sucker punch to the face and now he's Mister Sweetbeans. And because he's acting so nice, nobody gives a shit that this is actually a medical emergency. Backing Maxwell Lord is a computer satellite in space. Is it Brother Eye already?! Are they already working together in 1987?! Or is it just some alien gizmo from the Millennium bullshit coming up? I don't remember! Heck, this Maxwell Lord might even be a Manhunter! Anyway, the satellite begins destroying shit on Earth with a giant heat beam. The Justice League, having nearly nobody who can do anything about it, doesn't call Superman to fix the problem. Instead, they decide to spend precious hours borrowing a space shuttle from STAR Labs to launch them into space to battle the space station. Also, they leave Guy Gardner back at headquarters on monitor duty. Because who needs the guy with experience battling in space with a ring that can protect every other member of the League while in space? Also the ring is the greatest weapon in the universe. So, you know, sideline that guy, right?

It's possible this was in the era where Superman couldn't survive in space either, really. But then that's even more incentive to get fucking Guy Gardner up there with them!

The Justice League manages to stop the satellite's destruction but mostly only because it was a huge set-up so every nation could see them save the world. Everybody wants them defending the planet now so the United Nations agrees to back them with one condition: two new members, one to pacify the U.S. and one to pacify the U.S.S.R.

I've read a lot of ridiculous things in comic books but Rocket Red's power levels being nearly equal to Captain Atom's might be the most ridiculous.

I love how Captain Atom's power level is 9+ but Rocket Red's power level is 8.43 instead of 8+. I guess the accuracy of whatever system they're using breaks down over 9. Captain Marvel quits the team and Batman steps down as leader so J'onn can lead. And that's about it, I guess! The issue ends with some kind of flim-flam about how its the 80s and we've become a global world and boundaries just don't work anymore and superheroes are cool as shit. I guess it's inspirational or something. There's still just one woman on the team though. Justice League International #7 Rating: B. Seven issues in and the Justice League has defeated two villains who weren't actual threats to anybody. They were just scams to get the Justice League some press. They also beat up and killed an old guy who was just frustrated with the boredom that came with the immortality the Lords of Order forced on him. So all in all, they're nearly as terrible as the New Titans who practically only ever battled relatives while putting the residents of New York City in danger every time.

[briangroth27]

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom Review

I thought Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom was very good, even if it didn't live up to the original Jurassic Park. Of course, JP is my favorite movie ever, so I've long since given up on expecting a movie in this franchise to top it. That said, despite lacking some gravitas and wonder (though I think the lack of both is on purpose), I enjoyed Fallen Kingdom a lot!

Full spoilers…

J.A. Bayona's direction was masterful, creating beautiful imagery through the use of shadows and light. I loved the look of this movie all around and dinosaur reveals in particular were outstanding: whether illuminated by lightning strikes, dripping lava, or fiery smoke, the cinematography made them into majestic animals with an air of fantasy to them; fitting since they don’t belong in the world anymore. The way many of the dinosaurs were shot was gorgeous and the mix of CGI and puppetry was seamless. Moving the action to a remote manor complete with its own mad science labs as well as shots of the Indoraptor in front of the full moon achieved a classic, iconic Universal Monsters feel I absolutely loved! The mix of bright color and deep, truly dark black was a great change from modern blockbusters' reliance on washed-out looks and helped to build the tension perfectly when combined with Bayona’s filming style. Filmmaking choices like the (seemingly?) one-take sinking of a GeoSphere vehicle also brought a thrilling and breathless sensibility to the action sequences. The T-Rex blood extraction scene was another great sequence that achieved a perfect balance of tension and comedy. When Bayona incorporated physical comedy into the action scenes, like a tranquilized Owen (Chris Pratt) trying to evade lava or Blue knowing to dive out of a room about to explode, it added to the fun, classic adventure vibe of the movie rather than wrecking the tone. The movie is self-aware enough to play a scene with Blue as an action hero yet still takes the proceedings seriously enough to create a real sense of danger, and Bayona walked that extremely tough line very well. He also managed to pull genuine emotion out of the dinosaurs’ plight as Isla Nublar succumbed to the previously dormant volcano at its center. I didn’t want to watch so many dinosaurs die and it was heartbreaking to see them drowning, but nothing prepared me for the lonely death of a brachiosaurus on a dock. Watching the animal, obscured by smoke and unable to get to the boats that narrowly escaped the island even as lava crept up behind her, was without a doubt the saddest moment in the entire franchise. I didn’t walk into the movie expecting to feel so strongly about a random dinosaur, but Bayona absolutely nailed that scene and it left a definite impact.

I really liked what the movie did with Owen and Blue’s relationship. It was cool to see their earliest moments together via video of their first training session and I liked that their bond was strong enough to bring Owen back to Isla Nublar despite what he'd been through and the imminent volcanic eruption at the island's core. Their relationship was very well-explored here and even though it ended tragically because of a double cross—Blue came to associate Owen with getting shot and put in a cage—I’m glad to have seen this phase of their relationship and I'm excited to see where it goes next. It’s a little weird that Blue has taken the raptors from the scariest villains of the franchise into half of the films’ most iconic and heroic dino duo (the other half being Rexy), but it’s a testament to the writers of this film and Jurassic World, Pratt, and Blue’s puppeteers that it totally works and I completely buy that the bond between Blue and Owen overcomes Blue’s instinct to eat people. It was also nice to see Owen’s familiarity with the other dinosaurs come in handy when he tricked one of them into helping him and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) escape from their own cage. Owen’s general demeanor throughout the movie was very entertaining and I’m interested to see how living in a world overrun by dinosaurs changes him. He can’t just run off to his remote cabin now; he actually has to deal with these animals out in the world.

I like Claire, but I wish she'd gotten more to do in this movie. She does spearhead the Dino rescue mission and convinces Owen to come back, but outside of providing the inspirational drive of the movie, she doesn't get to be very active. This worked in Jurassic World, where her arc took her from relying on (and obsessing over) control to embracing chaos by opening the T-Rex cage and allowing life to finally find a way, but here her relative inaction left me wanting more. I am glad she didn't stay down after her leg was injured in the climax and that she at least tried to take down the Indoraptor, but she didn’t feel like she had as much of an arc here. I think it’s interesting that her big moment in this film was a reversal of her choice in JW: she doesn’t open the door this time and is willing to let the dinos die to keep them from getting loose. She's apparently OK with life being free as long as it's free elsewhere (humans come first), and I hope this sticks with her as we go into the third film. Hopefully it'll bring about a more active Claire, whether she’s trying to make up for her choice by peacefully rounding up the dinos or something completely different. I liked that the movie’s villains tried to paint Claire and Owen as complicit in exploiting and domesticating the animals via Jurassic World as theme park attractions, but I wish our heroes had given at least some thought to how right they might’ve been. That was a good counter-argument to her seemingly totally altruistic turn towards conservatism and I wanted to see her deal with it. I feel like the writers, Howard, and Pratt crafted a perfectly contentious-yet-caring relationship between Owen and Claire that makes total sense as to why they’re not together anymore and provides fun beats like him saying it would be her fault if he died on Isla Nublar, yet never feels like they hate each other or are out to hurt one another. It also falls into the franchise’s history of relatively chaste romantic entanglements. I don’t know that I need them to end up together; I wouldn’t mind if they do, but wouldn’t be disappointed if they didn’t. That might seem like I’m not engaged in their connection, but the fact is I can see it going either way and am up for either.

Claire’s assistants, Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) and Zia Rodriguez (Danielle Pineda) were really likable and I hope they return in the next film. Even though they kinda disappear for segments of the movie's third act, it's easy to imagine they were having their own adventures and didn't just cease to exist until the script called for them to appear again. Webb especially seems like he had a hilarious series of misadventures undercover in various roles on the villains' ship and later in the lab. I loved how in over his head he was and Webb freaking out at everything never got old to me. I liked that Zia was always cool under pressure, though I do think they could've made a bigger deal out of her being a paleo-veterinarian who had never seen a living dinosaur before. Yes, Dinos have existed in this world for 25 years so there are probably extensive resources for her to study, but anything she's learned would still have to be theoretical or second-hand to her and they could've used that to increase the stakes and tension if things didn't go as smoothly on the operating table as she hoped. It also could've been dealt with as simply as her saying treating a living dinosaur was different than she'd imagined. This was a minor thing to me though and didn't hurt my enjoyment of the film or her character. I liked that they gave her a good moment of wonder when she finally did get to see a dinosaur for the first time; fittingly, the only character to express pure wonder over these animals at this point is the one whose job involves healing them. I'd like to see how she grows into an expert in her field with the world the movie ushers in.

I was sure the Maisie (Isabella Sermon) secret was that she was Ellie Satler, Sarah Harding, or maybe even Mrs. Kirby's daughter, all of which seemed like ridiculous and unnecessary callbacks to the franchise's previous entries. So, I was very glad she turned out to be what she was instead; that was a very cool twist that felt like a natural growth of this world’s science. I wonder if she has some dino DNA in her, given her somewhat enhanced speed and strength, good balance, and the very cool shot of the Indoraptor's face reflected over hers in a pane of glass. And she sees the dinos as being more like herself than the people in the world… Either way, letting the dinos free because they were like her was a good moment. I hope that if she does have Dino DNA in her, though, that this is the extent of what we get and not the militarized dinosaur soldiers that have been rumored over the years and pitched in JW. The franchise tie-in they did give Maisie—that she's related to John Hammond's silent ex-partner—worked very well. James Cromwell felt like a natural choice for someone who would've been a contemporary and associate of Hammond's and I liked what their falling out entailed. However, I thought Maisie’s nanny Iris (Geraldine Chaplin) insisting that she speak with an English accent was a bizarre choice. I wonder if it’s meant to be a subtle example of people trying to impose their will on nature, but if that’s the case, I would’ve liked a moment of Maisie choosing to defy that and speak with her natural accent. Regardless, I’m interested to see what role she has in the new world this movie leaves us with.

The Indoraptor was a cool, creepy monster. They upped the ante of smart Dinos nicely in that hybrid, with creepy moments like the Indoraptor smiling and playing with its prey. I also enjoyed the appearances of the mosasaurus and the new tradition of Rexy smashing the skeleton of the previous movie's "villain" dinosaur. I’ve seen it suggested online that the opening sequence of stealing the I-Rex bone is pointless because Rexy destroys it before Wu (BD Wong) can use it, but I don’t think that a subplot having an end—even if it’s not what the characters intended—is pointless. I also don’t have a problem with Wu needing the sample even though he created the I-Rex, another complaint I've seen online. He obviously left Jurassic World in a hurry, so it’s reasonable to assume he didn’t get to grab everything he needed and that he needed the finished I-Rex product, not just his notes on it.

Humanity's willingness to screw with, try to control, and make a profit off of nature has always been the real enemy in these films so it doesn't hurt the movie for me that (Wu aside) the human antagonists are fairly thinly drawn (though the actors played their parts well and the characters served their purposes). I did appreciate that Ted Levine’s Ken Wheatley had such character to him, even if he was an absolute idiot. What a big man, stealing teeth from animals that had already been caged! I was glad to see him go, but then we are supposed to be. The rest of the villains were a means to an end, caught up in distortions of nature brought on by other foolish men and/or their own greed and couldn't help but be destroyed by them. I think that's perfect, because the franchise is playing into exactly what Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) said Jurassic Park's original creators were trying to do: break barriers in science by standing on the shoulders of other geniuses without consideration for the cost or respect for the power they had, just to patent it, package it, and sell it. Much like Jurassic World played with the idea that dinosaurs are passé nowadays and they’d have to be genetically toyed with to continue being entertaining (like reigniting an old, classic franchise), Fallen Kingdom takes the wonder out of these animals and becomes a monster movie where the dinosaurs are literally auctioned off. The people controlling dinosaurs' fate have lost the wonder and respect for the forces they're manipulating and only see them as profit generators, never once considering whether they should see the dinosaurs as more. The sequel trilogy's story has become an exploration of the effects of the loss of wonder and respect for both the animals and the science that brought them back. Now that we've seen humans completely lose control, we're about to see humanity face the full force of nature snapping back and I can’t wait! Dinosaurs don’t respect, fear, or have any reverent wonder for humans either… Perhaps the final chapter will see the surviving humans finally relearn that respect and reverence for nature; hopefully they’ll do it before we go extinct (or maybe Satler was right all along and women will inherit the Earth after the dinosaurs eat all these foolish, greedy men).

I loved the debate over saving or letting the dinos die on Isla Nublar and it makes total sense Malcolm came down on the side that he has since the first film: the dinos shouldn’t be here and if nature is going to take them out again so be it. I wish we’d seen more of Malcolm, but this was a great use of his character. I’d love it if the next movie brought back not just Goldblum in an expanded role, but reunited several of the previous characters now that the world is completely different. Alan Grant, Ellie Satler, and Sarah Harding are all specialists that could find new lives in a Jurassic World. Maybe the resourceful kids we’ve seen over the course of the franchise—Lex, Tim, Kelly, and Eric—have grown up to become dinosaur experts themselves. Lex and Tim could become the true heirs of Hammond’s legacy; I liked that this film remembered that Hammond developed into a conservationist in The Lost World after the first Jurassic World only focused on his earlier “spared no expense” philosophy, and Lex & Tim could be instrumental in embodying that development. Of course there’s one character who’s persisted since the first film—Dr. Wu—and I can’t wait to see where the end of this trilogy takes him. He works for me as a modern mad scientist and if he does just want to see what he can do (while blaming his employers when things go wrong) that’s fine by me, but I wouldn’t be opposed to learning more of his story (as I’ve seen others requesting online). Whatever they do with Wu, I don’t think he should get eaten by a dinosaur, at least not until he’s had a final confrontation with Ian. They butted heads in the first film and it would be especially fitting if out of all the characters, Malcolm was the one to face him down again. Seeing the two of them face off one last time would be a very cool culmination of the saga and close to the franchise (or at least this chapter of it).

I like that the Jurassic franchise is old-fashioned in that it hasn’t tried to build an expansive universe that’s building to some enormous and unwieldy climax, but has hit on the same themes of family, scientific and environmental responsibility, nature vs. science, and chaos vs. control in different scenarios. It’s true that there have been some repeated themes—a park with dinosaurs, a fight to save the dinosaurs, a horror show trying to survive the dinosaurs—but I have liked all the movies to varying degrees and this was no exception. I thought the callbacks to earlier films were well-placed without feeling repetitive or overdone. While the first World captured nostalgia for the first film via the idea of the theme park and this one did feel similar to The Lost World, I greatly preferred this one's mainland events to the previous film's. I never disliked the T-Rex getting loose in San Diego and still think it's a fun sequence, but the turn towards horror in this film is better IMO. Additionally, the ending is very promising. With the dinosaurs finally free and roaming the world, it seems like the franchise is headed in a truly original and fresh direction that I’m very excited to see! How humanity interacts with these animals is a fascinating prospect and I’m thrilled to see the movies going there. I’m really excited to see the world this movie has set up! Even if this generation of free dinos is captured or naturally dies out, the science is finally out there and there will be no stopping the various shadowy organizations from producing further dinos…or doing something totally original. Plus, they can always go to Isla Sorna and pick up the Site B dinos if they need to bring more adults onto the mainland; that island was mentioned here, but it seemed unclear as to whether Nublar’s volcano was going to destroy both islands or not. Either way, seeing dinosaurs interacting with modern civilization wasn’t anything new (even just in terms of this franchise), but it still left me anticipating the possibilities of what the world will look like when we revisit it in Jurassic World 3 (they totally could’ve included the post-credit scene in the ending montage, though; why save it?). The idea of using dinosaurs for the military is kinda silly in this day and age IMO, so I’m glad we still haven’t seen it happen and I hope we don’t. Dinos implemented by private loons and organizations for defense might be something worth touching on, but even these animals seem so low-tech compared to modern warfare that it has never seemed worth the trouble. I'd much rather see dinosaurs presented as an invasive species no one can contain.

Fallen Kingdom is a thrilling, fun monster movie that sends this franchise into completely new territory by the end! I think it’s an improvement on Jurassic World and definitely worth seeing. It’ll be on home video in a couple of weeks and I've already pre-ordered it. Check it out!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

[neighbours-kid]

Dammit, Dean Devlin.

Once upon a time, there was this little show called Leverage.

It first aired in 2008. It had 5 seasons, 77 episodes, 5 main characters.

I was probably fifteen when I first laid eyes on this little show. I was at my dad's, it was some time after dinner, we were watching TV. And there it was, that first episode. We watched it, it was fun.

Over the course of a couple of years, I kept catching that episode on TV. But only the first one. Never more than that.

I forgot about it and was surprised every time I saw the episode. And I kept thinking, I wanna check this out, this looks like fun.

I think either shortly before the last season aired in 2012, or shortly after, I finally remembered the show well enough to go, okay, let's watch this. I have not been the same person since.

This little show called Leverage is without a doubt the best show I have ever seen in my life, and it is to this day still the only thing that has never disappointed me once. I loved Chuck, but it was not perfect. I had issues with it. I love the Marvel Netflix stuff, I think it's fun. But it's not perfect. I adore NCIS and The Mentalist. Are they perfect? Nope.

But I cannot find one single flaw about Leverage. I love it with all my heart and I would not change one single thing. Well, maybe I would've not cancelled it after five seasons. But even with that....it rounds off so perfectly. The last season, the finale, it is so fucking perfect.

One of the things that made Leverage so perfect, were the absolutely fantastic main characters and the development they had over those five seasons. I feel like I could write endlessly about the character development in this show. It's so marvellous and so well done.

You have Nate Ford, the "leader" of the group, this little family. The ex-insurance fraud detective, so broken, so flawed, such a wonderful jerk. He makes sure that the plans work, he is the mastermind behind their cons, their grifts, their thefts. He is the puppet master. Ah, I adooooore him. His alcoholism and control issues were never glamorised, it wasn't sugarcoated, and he was not vilified for it. He grew so much in those five seasons, he changed a lot, and yet he never betrayed his own character. Tim Hutton just smashes this role. I really, truly adore him.

You have Sophie Devereaux, femme fatale, grifter extraordinaire, a character so diverse, so beautifully portrayed by Gina Bellman, from episode to episode different, and yet still only one very complex and wonderfully crafted character. While Nate is the one who makes sure that the plan works, Sophie is the one to make sure that everyone gets out of it alive, unharmed, safe. She is the caretaker. To watch a grifter struggle with identity issues is such a great thing. Watching Sophie finding herself, finding her own dreams and ambitions, finding her calling over those five seasons, was such a treat.

That's the "parents". Then you have the "kids".

Alec Hardison, a motherfuckin' ray of sunshine. Hardison is the nerd, the geek, master of computers, the best hacker on earth, and just an all around joy. Only 22 when they started filming, Aldis Hodge is so fucking young but he plays him like a master. Aldis absolutely acts the shit out of that character. Hardison is such a sweetheart. On my first round through the show, he was definitely my favorite character, I identified with him so much. He was handsome, he was elegant, he had style, he was such a beautifully crafter character, and he still was the nerd and he is still black. You don't usually get that. Hardison is so incredibly kind and loving and all he wants is for his little family of criminals to feel good, to be safe, to feel loved. He gives them a home wherever they go. Aldis Hodge fucking rocked this role and I can't do anything but applaud him.

Then you have Parker, the all around misfit. Usually, in every other show, her character would be dismissed as either the "beauty" just there for the male gaze, or the weirdo who is the butt of every joke. But not with Leverage. Just like the other characters, she is wonderfully portrayed by Beth Riesgraf, has so many interesting layers and we learn so much about her over those five seasons. Parker is the world's greatest thief, she likes money for money's sake, she experienced a lot of bad things, was hurt in so many ways, and came out of it anyway. She found her own family, the people who did not dismiss her as a freak, an outcast, but embraced her being different, maybe a little weird, and loved her anyway. The relationships she builds with the other characters are so very different from each other, so well thought out, so wonderfully done. And what Leverage does so masterfully is that it does not pit Sophie and Parker against each other. It gives you a beautiful friendship between those two women, who could not be different from each other. There is so much love, respect and understanding between those characters. It's so refreshing to see. Have I mentioned how much I love this show already? I fucking love this show.

And then you have Eliot Spencer. Oh, I could cry buckets just thinking about him. I have never in my life seen such beautiful character development. What they did with Eliot over those five seasons is an absolute masterpiece of writing. Eliot -- the hitter, the fighter, the stone cold cowboy, whose fists say more than his mouth -- that guy changes so much. But not just that, he's not just the fighter. He's the "beau" mostly, and not Sophie. And he is incredibly passionate about cooking. You have this knife-wielding, punch-throwing, fucking badass, and he loves cooking. There is so much history revealed over the course of the show and he learns so. fucking. much. He goes from "You all annoy me and I'm just here for revenge and money" to "I will protect these people from this unjust world with my life and I would take on dragons and mountain trolls if it meant that they are safe and protected". Christian Kane is such a wonderful actor and he gives this character an immense amount of depth and he has more than three dimensions. Eliot is a masterpiece. And I love him to pieces. I could write ESSAYS about him. Long, wordy, essays.

You have this beautiful little family of thieves, of criminals, con-men, flawed, hurt, wonderful people. Incredibly gorgeously crafted characters, played so magnificently by all these great, amazing actors.

Leverage has rocked my world and sparked so many different interests in me. I would be a completely different person without it. I have no idea how many times I have watched it through. I spent at least half a year just going through it over and over and over again. As soon as I watched the finale, I put the first season on again, no stops, no pauses. It never got boring, I kept seeing new things, kept making connections between certain things. This show brought me so much joy. I love it with all my heart.

What Dean Devlin and John Rogers created is a show that makes me feel at home, that makes my heart swell with love, that was just absolutely fucking perfect. And still, it got cancelled and the last season ended in 2012.

Two years later, a NATO counter terrorism agent is in the middle of taking down terrorist and stopping a bomb from exploding, when suddenly an arrogant, brilliant, kind of dashing guy shows up, talks about ancient artefacts and curses and mythologies, and helps the agent stopping the bomb.

And with that, The Librarians is born. Or better yet, reborn into a tv show. By whom? None other than John Rogers and Dean Devlin.

What is it? Well, it's a little show that just finished it's fourth season. It's a show about a team of people who would've never found together if they had not been thrown into this adventure. They could not be different.

You have Flynn Carsen, a kind of arrogant, incredibly brilliant and well-versed guy, who is kind of dashing, has a tendency to go off and do things by himself, and is, more or less, the "leader" of the group.

You have Eve Baird, ex-NATO agent, the actual leader of the group, the protector, who sees to it that everyone gets out of the adventures alive. She is the guardian. Eve is a strong, independent woman who don't need no man, but chooses to have one anyway, because that self-destructive, arrogant idiot is so very intriguing, and he genuinely cares about her.

You have Ezekiel Jones, a Korean-Australian, nerd, computer genius, thief and, deep down, a sweetheart. He is more arrogant than anyone, he loves nothing more than himself, and saying his name, but he does have a heart. A big one. And he loves his new-found family.

You have Cassandra Killian, a quirky, pretty, absolutely brilliant young lady, who does not always fit in. She gets excited about things at the wrong time, she is overly hyperactive at times, but so so loyal, and caring, and loving.

And then you have Jacob Stone. The fighter. The brawler. The country kid from Oklahoma. The one you look at and think, that guy has skin like stone, nothing can hurt him, and he has no soft side. You have this tough ass bitch of a guy.... and he is soooooooo passionate about art, about architecture, about literature, about poetry. He quotes some author in every episode. He gets excited about museums and buildings and old symbols and engravings. And he cares so much about these people he only just met, he will protect them with everything he's got. A big teddy bear, a softie.

(Then you also have Jenkins who is just absolutely fantastic and I adore him and I could go on for ages about him but words could not make him justice, so I'm not trying. Also, he is kinda not relevant for my point.)

Now look at those five characters.

Leader guy, arrogant, self-destructive, cares so much but can't really express it, runs from commitment for the longest time, but actually wants to stay, just doesn't know how?

Strong, independent woman who's actually kind of the leader, sees to it that everyone feels good, doesn't need a man, but falls for the one who runs away anyway?

Nerdy, non-white computer guy, who knows he is awesome at what he does, is unconventionally stylish compared to the usual type of this character, cares about his new found family a lot and tries to support them with new ideas?

Brilliant, weird woman but absolutely beautiful in her own way, very caring but can't express it sometime, quirky and hyperactive?

Badass softie with a super specific interest he is brilliant at despite it maybe being considered effeminate in comparison to his other super manly, buff-ness, played by Christian Kane?

Sound familiar?

Nate or Flynn, Sophie or Eve, Hardison or Ezekiel, Parker or Cassie, Eliot or Jacob?

I am NOT saying these are exactly the same characters, far from it. They are all their own wonderful selves. But there are similarities there that I just adore so much. I admit, I think of Jacob as just an alias of Eliot's that he had before he joined the Leverage crew, and he is indeed the very same person. But that's just me, because I love Leverage so much and I miss it with all my heart and having the opportunity to have Eliot live on in something else? I'll take it in a heart beat.

I started watching The Librarians a few weeks ago. I am close to finishing season three now. It took me about two seasons to warm up to Flynn, and I admit I still don't like him as much as I loved Nate. I admit, Ezekiel still pisses me off a lot because of his constant "I am Ezekiel Jones". And yet... I still like them. I still think they are wonderfully crafted characters.

I did not mean to like The Librarians. I did go into this show thinking that I probably won't like it because it's not Leverage. These are not my beloved characters and this is not the best show on earth. But it's a good show. It's a beautiful show. It's lovely.

And I fucking HATE that I like it so much, because I really did not want to love another show. I am so pissed at myself for really liking it.

But I do. And I wish this show all the best. Season four just ended and the campaigning for a fifth season is on its way. I think it really deserves it. I am so on board for a fifth season.

I have one more thing to say.

Dammit. Dammit, Dean Devlin. Dammit, John Rogers. I did not want to like this show. And yet your wonderful show is exactly that. Wonderful. Adorable. Lovely.

I really miss Leverage. I miss it so much. And I wish you'd make a movie, get the gang back together again for one last job. Just one more time breaking the law, no encores.

(Thank you Dean, John, and also Chris Downey, for Leverage. It still is everything I ever wanted from a TV show and still the only show that never disappointed me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are the best.)

[alexanderwrites]

The A-Z of TMBG

Introduction

They Might Be Giants have forever been one of those bands that, when asked my opinion on, I would say “Oh, I adore them”. But similarly to my relationship with The Mountain Goats, I have gaps in my knowledge of their history that are so big that they rival the amount that I do know about them. I always list them as a favourite band, but if I turned up to one of their shows I’d be the asshole excited by every other song, then trying to work out if I knew the rest, nervously mouthing the odd lyric here or there. “Duhh muhh duhh BAG OF GROCERIES duhh duhhh muhh muhhh EXPIRATION DAAAAATE”.

This is because I have a very silly way of listening to music in which I discover a band, love a couple of their albums to death, then struggle to move on from those because those are the ones that I love so much. Most people who have good critical thinking skills would say “Gee, I loved this album so much that I should probably try another of their albums”. Not me! Figure 8 by Elliott Smith, Entroducing by DJ Shadow and This is Our Music by Galaxie 500 are some of my favourite albums of all time, and guess what? They’re pretty much the only albums i’ve listened to by those artists. Now, I have listened to quite a lot of TMBG, but I haven’t often sat down to dig into their music (or stood up! I don’t exclusively listen to music sitting down on a couch like some record producer trying to feel the vision or fall asleep). It’s time to change that, and i’m going to be going through each of their studio albums over the weeks, one by one, and giving them a bit of an appraisal, and a bit of a praise, because, as hard and objective as I wish I was, i’m going to be gushing over TMBG a lot. But if any band, or any album, deserves a hot torrent of gush, it’s this band, and this album....

#1: Untitled, or, The Pink Album, 1986

“We were the most stoppable force in rock music”

- John Flansburgh

John Flansburgh and John Linnell’s (or the Johns as everyone, and now I, call them) first album is quite a rorschach test of an album. Whatever you see in it, and whatever you want it to be, it is. Musically adventurous and avant garde? Check. Goofy and hilarious? Check. The one thing I don’t think anyone could see it as is boring. It feels like an album that will elicit strong feelings and strong opinions from its listener, primarily because it truly does not sound like anything else. While Flansburgh self-deprecatingly refers to the band during their early days as a stoppable force, their music right from the off sounds determined, self assured and insuppressible. What Flansburgh means by stoppable is that they had no record label and no publicist, and that the only people who could really support the band were the few locals who’d catch their shows in Brooklyn. It wasn’t their music that was stoppable, but their situation.

In more ways that one, the music on this album is unstoppable. In their huge bursts of energy and ideas, and in how easily listenable the album is, it is unstoppable. Once I start the opening track on this album, I cannot and do not stop until the album is over, because it’s such a damn fun and specific world to be in. You know that feeling when you’re so deeply into a TV show that when the episode finishes, no other show on the planet can hit the spot? That’s how listening to this album feels.

I’d heard it a couple of times before, but sitting down (again, I don’t just sit down to listen to music! Sometimes I even have a nice little walk!) and paying proper attention to it really opened my eyes to what an incredible debut it is. Though it’s basically an adapted version of a DIY cassette, its distinctive sound is really professional and well recorded, and the songs themselves are fully-formed statements by a band who know what the fuck they’re about. Everything Right is Wrong Again is a legitimate contender for best opener on a debut ever, and it summarises everything that the band is about. It’s a mission statement and a litmus test; a song that, based on your reaction, tells you whether or not this’ll be your new favourite band. Linnell’s distinctive nasal vocals, the prominent drums machine patterns and a huge array of synthesised instruments underneath (is that a fucking harpsichord??) all tie together to make a pop song that sounds nothing like any other pop song around at the time. The lyrics on the opening track touch on a common theme for TMBG, that things feel out of step, and that confusion and even pain are weird damn things to deal with. I mean, take a look at the lyrics. It’s pretty unusual that such a fun and bizarro song would contain lyrics as precise as “The healing doesn't stop the feeling” and “Everything right is wrong again, every movement false, every four is waltz again”. 

TMBG are demonstrating that as silly and playful as they might get, they write real songs that sometimes touch on very real ideas and feelings. And then they have songs called Toddler Hiway that describes a highway of toddlers that leads to Toys R Us. Their ability to mix the astute with the absurd is unique in that they often do it at the same time. Whereas a more traditional band might have a track alternation of serious song - silly song - serious song - silly song, this album blends the two so idiosyncratically that it creates a flavour unlike any other. All their serious songs sound silly, and all their silly songs sound serious. The album takes musical influence from all over the place which results in tracks that boil over with the enthusiasm of two very smart music-buffs who know how to use their inspirations. Number Three has a bluegrass rhythm to go with its self-referential storytelling (”I got two songs in me, and I just wrote the third”), while Alienation’s For The Rich has a country swing to complement its lamenting lyrics. And while these influences are never repeated in a straight forward manner, they also are more than parodies or pastiches of a genre. They’re influences that are put on a conveyer belt and processed through a strange and beautiful machine that mashes them up, flips them upside down and releases them as strange mirror images of themselves. What makes the difference is the skill the Johns have as songwriters, and how intelligently they use references and influences. 

And so, accordions and harpsichords don’t feel parodic, or “how weird ARE WE”, but instead complementary tools used to build very specific little worlds. It might seem strange to start the song Youth Culture Killed My Dog with a James Bond riff (fittingly, TMBG would years later write Dr Evil’s Theme for Austin Powers) but it all gives off a mood, a vibe, and sometimes a good fucking laugh. The album feels like the Johns are saying “Look, this is the music we have to make. It has to have silly skits, it has to be ridiculous, because that’s what we care about.” Or as Flansburgh says in Put Your Hands Inside the Puppet Head: “Memo to myself: do the dumb things I gotta do”. 

The album is built on smart absurdity, a kind of dadaist desire to reveal the strangeness of its characters, and of the music itself. Youth Culture Killed my Dog seems to parody the conservative’s public to youth and counter cultures:

“Bacharach and David used to write his favorite songs

Never, never, never would he worry/he'd just run and fetch the ball

But the hip hop and the white funk just blew away my puppy's mind”.

They seem to be tackling the topic of music itself, and the expectations on what music is and should be. They subvert this by making music that doesn’t sound like what traditional pop music is supposed to sound like. You could call it experimental, but the Johns seem to know exactly what they’re doing. They’re art school weirdos who mercifully don’t take themselves too seriously, and instead have a post-punk, Talking Heads-esque idea of deconstruction and why-the-hell-not attitude. And like Talking Heads, aside from all the oddness and whimsy, what TMBG sound like on this album is a really, really good alternative rock band. Their guitars sounds consistently excellent; Don’t Let’s Start in particular has a great surfer-y guitar sound in the verses that sounds like Pixies’ Here Comes Your Man (but a few years before that song was released), and She’s An Angel, which is the loveliest track on the album, has gorgeous, almost slide-like guitars giving a wonderful texture to the song. And songs like Don’t Let’s Start and (She Was A) Hotel Detective speak to the fact that as well as being a niche, cult item, the Johns create songs that are indisputable alternative classics. The songs might not be as well known as the Blue Mondays and Killing Moons of their era, but they are just as important, clever and classic.

This album makes it clear that the Johns probably won’t go on to be the biggest rock stars on the planet, but it does make it clear that they are truly worthy of their cult status and their passionate fan base, and that they have a hell of a lot in them to look forward to. It’s an album that, if you’d heard it in 1986, you would’ve rooted for it. You would’ve gone up to your friends who liked Devo and Oingo Boingo and told them to please listen to this. You would’ve attended their shows and bought cassettes and written reviews, like the one i’m inspired to write now. The album connects to me in an immediate sense, the songs instantly working their way into my ears and heart. They’re songs that i’m always happy to hear, and to instantly incorporate into my life. Songs that I want to live with. What I mean by that is, there are songs that are always swirling around in my head, so that when something even tangentially connected to them is mentioned, the songs barge their way to the front of my brain. Someone on TV a couple of days ago said “Not to put too fine a point on it”, and I instinctively said “Say i’m the only bee in your bonnet”. Because that’s who TMBG are for those who love them: a band that are constantly right there, dancing around in your head and giving you a wealth of songs, lines and tunes to enjoy. 

And as an album, there really is no better example of their talents and their personality. It’s a surprisingly cohesive set of songs, the 19 of them flying by in just 38 minutes (they do have a lot in common with punk!). It strikes a good, even balance that spreads the tentpole tracks across the two sides, and though there are shorter songs that really are goof offs, they don’t feel like filler. It’s not like they’re saying “shit, we need to throw a 25 second a-cappella about a toddler highway in there to pad the album out”, they’re just giving you sort of...bonuses? Little treats, really. The album would be full enough without them, they’re just the weirdo icing on the cake. If the singles on the album are the equivalent of a comedian doing a longer monologue, then the shorter tracks are one-liners, and having both means you’re spoiled for choice.  A lesser band trying that might not be able to hold your attention for so long, but the Johns do it effortlessly. I kind of think of them and this album as Pee-Wee Herman: Self aware, subversive, a little anarchic, but also completely warm hearted. The kind of thing that those who love it, really deeply love it.

It’s hard to imagine them breaking the mainstream, but looking at the few videos they produced from this album, they begin to make a bit more sense. Because as goofy, nerdy and joyful as they are in these videos, they’re also really fucking cool.

They look like the art-school weirdos that they are, but the kind that like to have lots of fun and make fart jokes. In the Don’t Lets Start video, Linnell is dressed sharply in black and has his hair long and floppy, and he instantly looks like a dweeby counter-culture hero. They dance like David Byrne and seem to be having the most fun of any band in any video. In the Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head video, they look like Tears for Fears letting loose with an accordion, which sounds like the uncoolest thing ever, but The Johns pull it off. It’s their enthusiasm and sweetness that sells it.

(She Was A) Hotel Detective has some great vintage Nick-At-Night vibes which (pardon the pun) illustrates their playful style, which is interspersed with self-mocking clips of the Johns playing, with the word “MUSIC” hanging behind them.

Please, if you haven’t seen them and if you get a few minutes, watch these videos. There are not many examples this good of such pure joy and fun. And there aren’t many bands who have music videos that feel like such an accurate extension of their ideals, and it’s in these that you can start to see how they carved out their niche. 

Seeing this play on MTV would’ve been eye and ear catching to say the least, and though it might’ve made many ask “what the fuck is this”, there had to be those people in between who this connected with. And it turned out, there are a lot of those people, and they are now the TMBG fan base, as passionate and excited today as ever. TMBG don’t necessarily speak for them, but they speak to them. The Pink Album says it loud and clear “be weird, have fun, feel things, do the dumb thing you gotta do”.

[joninibear]

is it crazy that i've already read every fic??? (well, not all-all because some of the fanfics have topics that i don't feel comfortable reading)... and now i'm without fics to read :((( do you have any new one? it either can be kaisoo or chanbaek (i saw earlier that you like them too!!)

No it’s not crazy anon! I feel the same way tbh :/ I’m having real difficulties finding new good fics to read these days.. I’m really picky with fics too.

There are some that comes to mind tho, hope you like them^^

Kaisoo

• Good Graces (Royal!au, romance, mpreg eventually, etc. Kyungsoo and Jongin both have special powers and goes on a quest to save Jongin’s uncle who’s in trouble, and ends up getting feelings for each other along the way) 

• Spaghetti Kiss (Smuttt, fluff. Jongin getting jealous of Soo’s spaghetti kiss with kwangsoo on running man)

• Red-Hot (Escort!au, smuttt, romance, teacher!au. Soo works as an escort, and gets hired by his teacher, Jongin)

•Dreamwalking (Romance, smuttt, angst. Jongin: a playboy model who one day wanted to be more and a history that no one knows completely. Kyungsoo: an up-and-coming actor who can't seem to move forward in much of anything. Who's saving who?

•Ardor (Soulmate!au, romance, angst. People are going to meet their soul mate at the age of twenty. Kyungsoo thinks he has lost his soul mate even from the beginning. Jongin thinks he has found his soul mate, but turns out he has not. Weird things happen and chemistry strikes before they meet their true soul mate.)

•Instant Boyfriend (Fluff, romance. Kyungsoo needs to get away from his admirer, and uses jongin as his fake boyfriend)

•Violet Silk (Arranged marriage!au, wolf!au. Omega!soo is arranged to marry alpha king jongin)

•Midnight Kiss (Romance, smuttt, fluff. Jongin is kyungsoo’s butler who takes care of him and loves him)

•Sunglasses (Fluff, smuttt. Kyungsoo is in a secret relationship with jongin, who’s a popular actor)

• Appassionata Sonata (”Friends” with benefits!au, romance. Kyungsoo is a music prodigy. Jongin is a world class playboy. They have a one night stand.)

• Like A Butterfly (Angst, mpreg, romance, side!chansoo. Yeol and Soo are having an affair while Yeol is already married to Baek. Soo gets pregnant, but Yeol is not being supportive and Soo ends up getting attention from Nini instead.) 

Baekyeol 

•And Then There Was You (from my favorite baekyeol author Mpreg, angst, romance. Baekhyun and Chanyeol used to date, which ended up in a child that Yeol doesn’t know about. Chanyeol is suddenly back in town which causes a problem) 

•Mine (Romance, smuttt, fluff. Chanyeol is a tough top class business man, but gets weak at the though of his Baekhyun)

•I’m Not Your Cinderella (Romance, drama. Baekhyun accidentally spills his drink on Chanyeol and has to pay for what he’s done)

•A Bump In The Road (ABO!au, mpreg. Faced with unforeseen events, Baekhyun, a middle class omega, must decide what is the best for his pup. He has two options, follow his heart or go along with what biology has already decided for him)

•No Strings (But I’m Attached To You) (Fluff, smuttt. Baekyeol has a no strings attached kind of relationship)

•Eye Smile (You Smile) (Blind!baek, fluff, romance, smuttt. Chanyeol is a single-father who likes to visit a puppet store with his twins, cause of the cute owner.)

•Homeless (Romance -currently being rewritten- Chanyeol is a talented real estate agent, but wonder if he’s ever going to find a place himself to call home)

• You Were Always The One For Me (Best friends to lovers!au + friends with benefits!au. Baek and Yeol are best friends who kisses each other a lot, and sometimes do a little bit more. But every time Yeol gets a gf it gets hella complicated :/ This is only marked as slight!angst, but my heart hurt a lot)

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Just random queastions. 1.) Do you think, that they maybe changed their mind after the reaction to the withanaccent-interview and felt so insulted, that they decided, to not make Johnlock canon after all? 2.) The tarmac-scene has some big similaritis to a scene in DW (don´t know what to say; question about the future; last chance to say "it") and is just built up like a love confession-scene. Do you think that maybe TPTB didn´t notice this? Or really thought it was funny? I´m so confused... tbc

3.)Benedict seems to be such a nice person (I love Martin even more, but he is not so outwardly caring.) etc. and i just can´t imagine him agreeing to queerbaiting? (I find most of "TJLC-Evidence" not very convincing, because I would also die etc. for a friend, but the tarmac-scene is imo queerbaiting/almost love confession. They HAVE TO notice what the scene implies!?). 4.)They always say it is their show etc. and that they don´t care about critics, do they really think of themself as SO GOOD?

5.) They said, that ACD did a mistake with Mary. Why do they do the same? I completly hate that dog-comperison/Mary-is-better-scene (TST is my least favoruite episode). It had to be a active descision to give Mary the narration over John ( THE ACTUAL NARRATOR!). They can´t just ignore all the terrible things they say about Mary and make her some angel asassian who saves John/Sherlock and is better than everyone?! And she is there the WHOLE TIME! She killed Sherlock! Why? Why? Why? For Amanda???

6.) There is that Amanda Abbington-Interview where she talks about coming back. Do you really thing that we´ll maybe have to see Mary-flashbacks/callbacks in every new episode? 7.) Prior to season 4, they said that they have 3 new cases etc., but in the end it wasn´t really like in season 1-2 (season 3 actually was my favorite season, but it clearly was different). TST and TFP ended in family drama. Do you trust them to go back to "normal" cases, without the need to over complicate everything?

8.)Do you think, that they maybe change their mind "pro-johnlock"(if it really was just a joke to them), after critics like Indiewire etc. called them out for the queerbaiting/John and Sherlocks feelings for eachother? That maybe they´ll realize that it´s not just "teenager girls" "hallucinating"? 9.)Do you believe in a season 5 (especially with BC as DS now)? 10.)Will we ever know, what John wanted to say in TRF? 11.)With TFP i wonder,do they truly believe we watch the show for the plot twists?

Oh Wow, Lots of stuff to get to here! Let’s have a look-see!

Well, that interview would have had nothing to do with any of their decisions; if a journalist had that kind of power in the history of Sherlock ever, then it would have been canon in S2, or ahdblock been canon in S3, or sher/0//ie canon in episode one. Like... no, and that interview was garbage anyway. Anything that Mofftiss have done, is COMPLETELY on them and MAYBE the BBC. They were already filming TFP, I believe, around that time frame, so no, it had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the series.

Ah, yup, Doomsday’s Bad Wolf Bay and the tarmac scene are pretty much identical (and just as painful), yet no one argues what The Doctor was going to say. But years later, we STILL have to prove to people that Sherlock indeed was going to and did tell John that he loved him. It drives me crazy. Mofftiss knew EXACTLY what they were doing, especially since the scene has parallels to the tarmac scene’s unspoken love in Casablanca. They did it on purpose; it’s even framed similarily to that tarmac, and the wording similar to Bad Wolf Bay. Just... They can’t seriously expect us to not believe it wasn’t meant romantically.

Well, to be fair, I don’t think EITHER OF THEM wanted to be part of a giant queerbaiting fest. They both seemed immensely proud of their portrayals of their characters, Ben AND Martin played both of their characters gay and bi respectively, and BOTH men support LGBT causes and Ben is vocal against homophobia (I’m pretty sure Martin is as well, I just know Ben’s interviews better). I really honestly believe that they thought they were creating something different and were led to believe a different outcome of their character arcs than what we got. I don’t fault them at all – they are just puppets for the puppetmasters.

Oh, they’re lying so hard about their lack of caring... If they didn’t care, Gattiss wouldn’t have written back, in prose, to a critic and Moffat wouldn’t be like “I don’t understand why no one likes this season” (paraphrasing, of course, but his blasé attitude is SO annoying and pretentious). Neither of them have really, otherwise, done anything but remain in hiding after the fallout of S4. It’s both suspicious and really REALLY annoyingly petty.

Yeah, I STILL am reeling over their complete 180˚ of Mary’s character. It makes no fucking sense; they clearly were combining her character with that of the role of Sebastian Moran in ACD canon, and the arc was going to be brilliant. I have a lot of personal very biased opinions on why they did it, but yeah, it doesn’t make any fucking sense. THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING with her character. That and Moffat is terrible at writing women characters at the end of their arcs. If anything, her character was just unnecessarily shoehorned into a bigger role because they decided last minute to NOT make her Moran after all even though they STILL tied her character to Moriarty in S4. ACD did WAY better with Mary as a background character. And YES, it was SO WRONG of her to be the narrator, just... NO she’s NOT the one telling the stories. Ugh.

Ugh, is there? Okay, look, IF – IFFFFF –  it’s shown in S5 that all of S4 was a ruse orchestrated by mostly her hand, reverting her character back to where it should be, THEN maybe I can accept her back in the fifth season and make her the badass villain she was SUPPOSED to be. I don’t believe she is dead because her gunshot was fake af, although I do ALSO believe that she may have been killed John in the false narrative scenario. If she comes back, it will be to explain her true actions in S4. Otherwise, she’s dead, we don’t need to see her anymore. Flashbacks maybe, but that’s it.

S3 was my favourite season too, but I think that’s a personal bias because I love Sherlock’s character so much and I loved seeing how far their relationship arc progressed. T6T and TLD barely even HAD cases... and TFP, I don’t know her... so I don’t know where this idea came from. The whole season seemed intent on keeping John and Sherlock as distant from each other as possible, making Sherlock the sidekick TO MARY in his own show, and putting “no one asked for this” focus on Mary. Look, I know it sounds like I hate her, but I REALLY DON’T. I hate what they DID TO HER CHARACTER, and trying to call S4 a case-centred series when CLEARLY the case was a moot point in the first episode to Mary-backstory, it’s ridiculous. There wasn’t really a case in TLD – Sherlock was high off his rocker through most of the episode and Culverton did his weird creepy rapey thing. And I don’t even know what the fuck case was happening in TFP. I WANT to trust them to go back to Just The Two of Them Against the Rest of the World (what was that line even, then?!?!), but I fear that they won’t and will find a way to shoehorn another character-we-don’t-care-about *coughs* Eurus*coughs* into the story.

Oh, I don’t think anyone could change Mofftiss’ minds. Look, if Johnlock DOES become canon, it will be because it was the plan all along, but because of how far S4 strayed off the narrative arc, it will look like they did it because of public outcry, NOT because it was their brilliant plan. They should have just stuck to the narrative rather than try for a publicity stunt that will probably work against them in the end.

Tough to say about S5. There are reports about it being already commissioned, but I fear the negative reception may keep Martin and Ben far away from it if it turns out it really is a face-value series. I don’t know. BBC seems proud of what they got, so probably will get one. It’s one of the BBC’s top-rated shows (I think pre-S4 it was higher than Dr. Who), so who knows.

Hahaha nope, I don’t think so. I USED to think we would, that Mofftiss were better writers together and would at least round out all the plot holes, but... S4 leaves me skeptical on a lot of things.

I REALLY do think that they think we like the plot twists rather than the stories. Like... no. People were watching for the relationship, whether they knew it or not, platonic or not. The story of two men with the greatest friendship / relationship of all time. Not for ... whatever the hell TFP was.

Whew! 

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: REH Foundation Awards, Arthur Machen, Tunnels & Trolls, Terry Pratchett

Writing (Kairos): Last night I stopped by the Superversive SF live stream to discuss my new book Combat Frame XSeed: Coalition Year 40. My gracious host and the enthusiastic chat brought up lots of tantalizing questions about the mysteries I’ve planted in the series thus far. I addressed those questions and gave additional clues to those mysteries, which will be revealed in Combat Frame XSeed: CY 40 Second Coming.

We also embarked on an in-depth discussion of plot and pacing. I contend that the latter is derived more from character than from sentence and paragraph level mechanics. See the video for a full explanation and a mini writing clinic.

  Awards (REH Foundation): Congratulations to the REH Foundation Award winners! The winners were announced at a ceremony at Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas on June 7th.

Atlantean — Outstanding Achievement, Book (non-anthology/collection)

Winner: DAVID C. SMITH – Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography (Pulp Hero Press)

Finalists: FRED BLOSSER – Western Weirdness and Voodoo Vengence (Pulp Hero Press) DON HERRON and LEO GRIN – Famous Someday: A Robert E. Howard Biography (The Cimmerian Press).

  Fiction (Patheos): Machen (The Great God Pan) has had an enormous influence on horror literature. He is a HP Lovecraft without the overt white supremacy and Stephen King with interesting ideas: both tip the hat to the Machen (as they should). Not surprisingly for someone who has poked around in the scary attics and basements of the Christian past, Machen ends up with a more elevated view of sin then one finds in someone like CS Lewis, who experimented with the occult briefly, but had too much philosophy to stay there for long.

  Cinema (Jon Mollison): Terry Pratchett has an impressive gift for stringing words together.  The man could make the back of a cereal box interesting to read.  His brain works in strange ways that follow clever paths, a trait that helps him paper over the thinness of his works’ overall plots and characters and underlying worldview.  That wizardry doesn’t lend itself to translation to the screen, particularly when the producers of said translation choose to translate Pratchett’s words literally.

  Fiction (DMR Books): Mundy’s comments in the Camp-Fire, along with his portrayal of Caesar in the first two installments of Tros of Samothrace, ignited one of the most remarkable controversies in the history of American fiction magazines.  The readership of Adventure split into groups that were for and against Talbot Mundy’s views on Caesar and the Camp-Fire was where their opinions were aired.  A number of writers and historians came down on one side or another of the issue and the Caesar controversy grew to fill the entire space of the Camp-Fire.

  D&D (Sacnoth’s Scriptorium): So, the new D&D Adventure/Campaign from WotC is now out, and it’s an interesting return to days of old. How old? So old that when the last time these adventures saw the light of day, TSR was still run by Gygax and the Blumes.

What they’ve done here is take one of their lesser-known classic adventure series and expanded it into a book-length campaign by the addition of several related adventures that had appeared in DUNGEON magazine over the years.

  Fiction (Shiver in the Archives): In September 1966, a previously unpublished short story “Forms of Things Unknown” by C.S. Lewis appeared posthumously in his collection Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, edited by Walter Hooper.  It was later collected in The Dark Tower and Other Stories (1977), also edited by Hooper.

  Cinema (Wasteland and Sky):  Welcome back to this series of posts where I try to nail down what exactly inspired me to write what I do. This is my personal Appendix N of art that has stuck with me. More than a favorites list, I’m focused first on what really attached itself to what I do. This hasn’t been as easy to compile as I would have thought.

As the years have gone by I’ve been watching less and less of the old boob tube or spending money to stare at a bigger screen.

  Adventure (M D Paust): “Wow! What a book!” So shouted W. M. Krogman in the Chicago Sunday Tribune of Kon-Tiki, saying the aforementioned exclamation could easily comprise his entire review. But he went on anyway gushing, “It has spine chilling, nerve tingling, spirit-lifting adventure on every page and in every one of its 80 action photographs. It is the fiction of a Conrad or a Melville brought to reality. It might be added that the writing is of itself worthy of either pen.”

      Fiction (Frontier Partisans): Summer of 2019 was already shaping up pretty damn good in the world of Frontier Partisans literature and cinema, what with a Deadwood movie, the return of Yellowstone and a mountain of research books to read. But this piece of news blows the whole thing up: Craig McDonald’s tale of Hector Lassiter and the Punitive Expedition is hitting the streets in July.

  RPG (Jeffro Johnson): One of the big changes in the new edition of The Fantasy Trip is that Steve Jackson has recanted on the old rule that IQ provided a harsh upper limit on the total number of spells and/or talents a character could have. The reason is… under the old advancement system there comes a point where attributes get ridiculously and pointlessly high.

  Robert E. Howard (M Porcius): Tarbandu’s recent blog post about Spanish artist Sanjulian reminded me about my acquisition back in February of 1979’s The Howard Collector, edited by Glenn Lord, for which Sanjulian provided the cover painting of an axe-wielding muscleman freeing a scantily clad woman from captivity in some dimly lit temple or other place of unspeakable deviltry.

  Fiction (Old Style Tales): There is something carnal and lascivious about these torch bearing sirens with their come hither faces and their glistening jewelry. Le Fanu employed such subjects in “Ultor de Lacy,” “Carmilla,” and “Laura Silver Bell” – femme fatales, victims of the supernatural, who leer out of the darkness with just enough attention (light) cast onto their beauty the lure us towards the darkness that engulfs them. But none of these stories contains quite the potency or indecent revulsion as the tale that bears Schalcken’s name.

  Pulp Magazines (Pulpfest): In June 1929 there were over a dozen air-oriented magazines available on the newsstands. Gernsback was riding a popular wave with AIR WONDER STORIES, a pulp that would tell “flying stories of the future, strictly along scientific-mechanical technical lines, full of adventure, exploration and achievement.”

  Fantasy (DMR Books): Carter is perhaps best regarded for his pioneering early critical studies of the fantasy fiction genre. These include works like Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings, H.P. Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos, and Imaginary Worlds. While some of the scholarship particularly in the former two lacks rigor, Carter was working largely without precedent in the very early days of fantasy, before the latter existed as a defined genre.

  Pulp Magazines (SF Magazines): The reason I picked up this magazine was that the Herbert Best novel The Twenty-Fifth Hour had been recommended to me as one of the works I should consider reading for the 1940 Retro Hugo awards in the novel length category.1 Ah, I hear you say, but this is a 1946 magazine, so what is going on? Well, as I am sure most of you already know, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was a magazine that specialised in reprints.

  Games (Table Top Gaming News): Today on the platter we have: New Warbus Available From Puppets War, New Tactical Command Table From Kromlech, Orcs in Shorts Metal Minis Up On Kickstarter, Buy 3 Get 1 Free Sale Going On Now at Kraken Dice, New Late War Accessories Available From Battlefront For Flames of War, Undead Miniatures Up On Kickstarter, and Mighty Lords Miniatures Up On Kickstarter.

  Sensor Sweep: REH Foundation Awards, Arthur Machen, Tunnels & Trolls, Terry Pratchett published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[lindsaynsmith]

10 Best Horror Docs Every Horror Fan Should Watch

10 Best Horror Docs Every Horror Fan Should Watch https://ift.tt/2CFkqtU

There are a number of horror themed documentaries out in the wild and available for your viewing pleasure. Whether you’re in the mood for educating yourself on true crime, hoping to learn the origin of Halloween, or just want a behind-the-scenes peak at one of your favorite horror films you’re sure to find something to satisfy your thirst. Given the great abundance of titles available it would be foolish to try and narrow them down and rank a top 10. But we did it anyway. In an effort to provide FSR readers with a fun variety for this Halloween season, I, along with the assistance of the rest of the Horror Boo Crew, have dug through the pile and pulled out 10 docs we think every horror fan should watch. If you disagree with our choices, make your own list.

Keep reading for a look at 10 horror-themed docs that all horror fans should watch as voted on by Rob Hunter, Kieran Fisher, Brad Gullickson, Meg Shields, Jacob Trussell, and myself.

10. You’re So Cool, Brewster: The Story of Fright Night (2016)

If you have a question about Fright Night, this doc has answers and then some. From casting details, to the ins and outs of every single practical effect, to what the heck kind of monster Billy Cole was — this doc’s got it all. In fact, it’s so relentlessly thorough that even the biggest fan is liable to learn something. I for one get a real kick out of any and all anecdotes from the FX team, who were, at the end of the day, a gaggle of very talented and very coked out kids, “dealing with stupid chemicals in a rather stupid way.” Fright Night is so flagrantly made with love and this doc is a total testament to that. Tom Holland’s inescapably earnest final direct-to camera address is particularly moving. Though, Steve Johnson explaining how he absentmindedly melted the soles of his feet off while neutralizing an acid-soaked puppet is also…evocative. — Meg Shields

9. Why Horror? (2014)

What makes Why Horror? such a rewarding documentary is because the films subject, Tal Zimmerman, is us. He’s an actor and writer for Rue Morgue Magazine, but most prominently: he’s a horror fan. The type that will covet a Foreign Language poster for The Exorcist or search to the bottom of a bin of used VHS tapes in hopes of finding some rare, unique gem. But Why Horror? isn’t about horror films directly, but rather why we are attracted to the macabre. From the anecdotal to the scientific, Zimmerman and co-directors Rob Lindsay and Nicolas Kleiman navigate how multifaceted horror fans are. And while the film may be preaching to the choir that is the die hard horror hounds among us, the film successfully captures the essence of what being a fan of this genre really means. — Jacob Trussell

8. Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (2009)

Horror has been a staple of film since the beginning of cinema. One could argue, and I would be that one, that horror is the most classic of all film genres. While horror films originate from all over the world, no country has had a larger impact or been more synonymous with the genre than America. This documentary rounds up a number of high profile horror icons — Joe Dante, John Carpenter, and George A. Romero to name a few — and provides a rundown of American horror from the earliest silent shorts all the way up to the modern day. It never dives too deep into any one film, but does a wonderful job providing a high level overview of America’s history with the genre. Die-hard horror fanatics and the casual observer are sure to get a kick out of this. — Chris Coffel

7. The Nightmare (2015)

I’ve experienced sleep paralysis before, which could make me biased when it comes to how haunting I find Rodney Ascher’s documentary, The Nightmare. But rather my own personal experiences gives the film a modicum of believability which otherwise I may not have had based on the outlandish stories at the heart of the film. Ascher’s documentary crosscuts these purported real life stories with Lynchian cinematic re-enactments. This blending of fact and fiction is a staple of Ascher’s work, which also includes the Kubrickian collage Room 237 and his television special Primal Screen. While I do think The Nightmare potentially crosses the line when it comes to exploiting some of its subjects, Ascher makes a clear line between himself and his film, actively working against the crutch of so many other documentaries: making himself the subject. — Jacob Trussell

6. Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018)

The Monster Squad was not unleashed upon this world to massive critical acclaim or box office success. In 1987, the film was a dud. Over time, thanks to cable television and VHS, Fred Dekker’s childhood saga of Universal Monster (shhhhhh, don’t tell that studio) hunting grew to vibrant cult status. Wolfman’s Got Nards not only chronicles that surprise journey for the filmmakers and cast but it explores the fans’ point of view as well. In digging into the passion that fuels fanaticism, director André Gower and producer Henry McComas elevate Wolfman’s Got Nards from your basic Blu-ray special feature and into a heartfelt celebration of pop culture. You don’t need to love The Monster Squad to appreciate this documentary, but if you do, you’re gonna deeply cherish the experience. — Brad Gullickson

5. Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)

Any horror franchise that runs as long as Friday the 13th has is bound to be a mixed bag, but even the lesser entries are fodder for fascinating behind the scenes information. This epic doc tackles each of the films with enthusiasm, detail, and first-hand accounts, and in addition to offering up plenty of new tidbits about the talent, MPAA cuts, production snafus, and more, it’s also entertaining in its own right as an exhaustively well-crafted making-of doc. — Rob Hunter

4. The American Scream (2012)

I love Halloween and always have. It’s been my favorite holiday all my life and for a number of years my family went all out in decorating our house. It wasn’t uncommon for trick-or-treaters to end up hanging outside in our front yard taking in all the festivities. I was convinced no family was more dedicated than ours when it came to Halloween. Then I watched The American Scream and discovered that other families create full on haunted houses. This may have burst my bubble some, but at least I can live vicariously through people that are crazier than I am. For those that have an interest in extreme decorating this is a movie that is a must for every October. — Chris Coffel

3. Best Worst Movie (2009)

The only thing that’s better than Troll 2 is the documentary dedicated to the movie and its legacy. As the title suggests, the doc examines the cultural impact of a movie which many people consider to be the creme de la creme of awesome trash. Personally I think Troll 2 is too unique and weird to be called trash, but whatever. Anyway, the doc is a hilarious and heartwarming celebration of a little movie that’s genuinely beloved by fans and the cast and crew that made it. No one, besides the director, are under any illusions about the kind of movie Troll 2 is. However, this self-awareness and sense of humor is what makes them perfect subjects for a documentary. This is as good as life gets. — Kieran Fisher

2. American Movie (1999)

Small town life doesn’t always present opportunities that enable us to conquer the world, but that didn’t stop Mark Borchardt from giving up on his dreams of becoming a micro-budget horror filmmaker. American Movie follows the aspiring director and his friends as they make a horror movie and all the setbacks that come with it — like having no money or conventional talent. The beauty of the doc, however, is just seeing how these people go about their lives. They don’t seem real, but they are. And they’re hilarious. That said, American Movie is also a sad film about folks who ultimately feel destined to never realize their delusions of grandeur. At the same time, there’s inspiration to be taken from seeing them try to all the same. — Kieran Fisher

1. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Wes Craven started something special with A Nightmare on Elm Street as it’s a horror film, and eventual franchise, that gives personality to both its killer and its victims (even if the killer’s charisma wears off pretty quickly through the sequels as Freddy moves from nightmare factory to joke machine). This stellar, in-depth doc explores the franchise’s highs and lows equally with input from more than a hundred people involved in the films’ production, from directors and stars to the wizards who brought the makeup effects to glorious life. It’s an epic film that will fascinate genre fans and Elm Street fans alike as it reveals details, triumphs, and failures with honesty. — Rob Hunter

Go behind the scenes and read more entries in our 31 Days of Horror Lists!

The post 10 Best Horror Docs Every Horror Fan Should Watch appeared first on Film School Rejects.

via Film School Rejects https://ift.tt/23tjcnD October 12, 2018 at 10:21AM

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Give Cher A Minute To Apply Her Eyelashes And She’ll Talk About Anything

http://fashion-trendin.com/give-cher-a-minute-to-apply-her-eyelashes-and-shell-talk-about-anything/

Give Cher A Minute To Apply Her Eyelashes And She’ll Talk About Anything

“Just a momentary delay while she puts on her eyelashes. Even though it’s a phone interview, she wants to look good for you. She’ll be perfect in a couple of minutes. Hold on.”

That’s Cher’s veteran publicist, Liz Rosenberg, speaking. It’s a Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, and Cher is winding down a press tour that began with July’s “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” and will conclude only once “Dancing Queen,” her collection of ABBA covers, arrives Sept. 28. Except by then, Cher will have embarked on an actual tour, playing 13 gigs in Australia and New Zealand and then returning to Las Vegas for another nine. (She’ll perform the show across North America in early 2019.)

It was, to say the least, an eventful summer for Cher, who hadn’t made a live-action movie since 2010’s “Burlesque” and hadn’t released an album since 2013’s “Closer to the Truth.” Once her eyelashes were applied, I talked to the 72-year-old luminary about this ongoing whirlwind, including her history with ABBA, her feelings on today’s pop music, the potential for Donald Trump’s impeachment, her relationship with Madonna, her batty Twitter account, and what she still has in store for us. 

You’ve had quite the summer. How are you feeling at this point?

I’m tired! I’m absolutely tired, but I still have a little bit left in me.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Well, I guess. That’s a question my mom would ask me. Not necessarily, but I’m almost getting enough sleep.

Almost will work. When did it first dawn on you to do an entire album of ABBA covers?

Do you know, I don’t really remember. I could say I do, but I don’t. [Addressing her longtime assistant:] Jen, when do you remember me having the idea to do this? Like, what did I say? Because I don’t remember. [They converse inaudibly.]

OK, yeah, I remember saying it. I was walking around in my bedroom and I said, “You know, Jen, it might be fun if I did a whole bunch of ABBA songs.” And that’s how it started. I’d done “Fernando” already and I’d done the movie and I did “Super Trooper.” And then I don’t know why I said it, to tell you the truth. You don’t just go, “Oh, Cher, ABBA — that will work.”

Had you been thinking of doing an album of original music?

No, I’d actually been thinking of doing an album I’d been thinking about for a million years, but I wasn’t even thinking hard about that because I was busy and wasn’t really thinking about music that much. I’ve been working on a lot. The ABBA thing just kind of came out of the air.

Machado Cicala

Cher, in a promotional image for “Dancing Queen.”

What was the album you’d been thinking about for a million years?

Well, I’m not going to tell you, am I?

But it’s something other than a regular Cher album of new songs?

Yeah. Yes, it is. Something completely different.

Interesting. So what is your earliest memory of ABBA? Surely you crossed paths with them in the ’70s or ’80s, yes?

No! Except I did a really weird thing. I appeared in a video that they did. But I don’t think I saw them. I was just behind a blue screen, and they then cut to me dancing to their music. It was great. That video was with the little puppets, and I loved that one.

How’d you wind up in the video?

I have no idea, OK? When you’ve had a career this long, you don’t remember certain things because there’s too many things to remember. Why I ended up with ABBA, I don’t even know. I just think, “How did that ever happen? Who asked me to do that?” And then the first time I really loved them, I remember “Waterloo,” “Mamma Mia” and “Dancing Queen.” That was my first realization of ABBA. But then I saw “Muriel’s Wedding.”

Oh, that’s right. Toni Collette does “Waterloo” in it.

Right, and somehow that just kind of got me. And then I went to the musical three times because it was so much fun. But I never anticipated actually being in a “Mamma Mia” movie, and I never thought about singing “Fernando” or any other ABBA song.

Universal Pictures

Cher in “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.”

What makes you more nervous: putting out an album of original stuff, or putting out an album that covers a very famous band?

Well, I’ve never put out covers of a famous band. Look, who knows what’s going to happen? You have to let it go. You have to do it and then let it go. You’re happy if it’s successful, and you’re sad if it’s not, and then you just have to keep going.

How many songs did you consider that didn’t make the cut?

About three, but I’m sorry that I didn’t do them because people also told me not to do “Mamma Mia” and “Waterloo,” but I’m so glad I did them. One was “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” and another was “The Day Before You Came.”

Why do you think people were telling you not to do “Waterloo” and “Mamma Mia”?

Because it was so associated, and they felt that because of the play and the movie, those were the songs that everybody just associated with ABBA, so don’t do it. But I did it anyway.

If you could select any artist to make an album of Cher covers, who would it be?

I wouldn’t do an album of Cher covers.

No. I mean, I wouldn’t want anybody to do an album of Cher covers, OK? I just think there’s other things that people can do with their time.

OK. If you had to pick an artist other than ABBA to record an album of covers yourself, who would it be?

Oh, interesting. Why Pink?

Because I love her as a writer. I just think she’s amazing.

I love that answer. I expected you to say someone a little more vintage, but you picked a younger contemporary of yours.

Joey Foley via Getty Images

Cher on her Dressed to Kill tour in April 2014.

Do you like the pop music that’s being made right now?

Well, you know, I like some of it. I like some music. I like some artists. Look, you can’t not like Adele or Bruno Mars or Rihanna. There are so, so many, and it’s hard to think of all of them because, first of all, there are more artists now that ever before. I love Christina Aguilera, too. But also you love certain songs. You just go, “Oh, my God, that’s a great song.” And you might not listen to the whole CD or whatever, but you get attached to a certain song.

Of course. Do you have one in particular right now that you’re into?

Well, not off the top of my head. That’s always hard, like when someone says, “What’s your favorite movie?” or “What’s your favorite song?” And you can’t think of it.

Would you consider performing a mashup of “Hung Up” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” with Madonna, who sampled that ABBA song?

I don’t know. Because we don’t really — I don’t know. I admire her, but we’re just not the same kind of girl.

Have you always felt that way?

No. I mean, there was a time when I thought it really might be fun, but our careers are so different. I always thought that Madonna’s gift was being so ahead of the curve. I mean, it was like she had her head to the ground and she felt things coming and saw things coming, and she brought things. She was just the person that was riding on top of the wave, and that’s what I think her biggest gift is.

Do you not see yourself in the same light? You’re the person who popularized autotune.

No, but it’s a different thing. Madonna just had a gift for doing it constantly.

Kevin Mazur via Getty Images

Madonna and Cher at the Women’s March on Washington in January 2017.

What do you think of the pervasive use of autotune in pop music, having been the person who brought it to the mainstream?

I think it was Kanye who ― [addressing her assistant:] Jen, was it Kanye who talked about autotune? Yes. Kanye said, “Thank you for giving everybody more careers.”

Do you see that as a good thing?

Yeah! I mean, why not? Look, it was a fluke. We did it out of desperation.

What do you mean by desperation?

Because when I was singing “Believe,” there was this one part and I couldn’t get it. My producer [Mark Taylor] kept saying, “Do it better, do it better, do it better.” And finally I said, “If you want it done better, get somebody else,” and I walked out of the studio. And then I saw this boy on this English breakfast show. His name was Roachford, and he was singing to a vocoder. So I called Mark and said, “What about a vocoder?” He said, “No, it’s too late for that, but I’ve been playing with a pitch machine, and I think I’ve found something really interesting. Come to the studio later.” And I did, and he played it, and we just jumped up and high-fived another and said, “My god, this is it. This is perfect.”

That’s amazing. You’ve gotten so much wonderful praise and attention for “Mamma Mia.” Does it give you the bug to want to make more movies?

You know, I don’t know, to tell you the truth. It was so unexpected. I was not planning to be in “Mamma Mia 2.” My old agent, who’s my friend and who is now the head of Universal, just called me up and said, “Cher, this is good for your career. You’re going to do ‘Mamma Mia,’” and then he hung up. I wouldn’t have taken it from another person in the world, telling me what to do, but from him, I thought, “Yeah, I guess I’m doing it.”

And then I went over, and I was very nervous because this group was a group that had been together for a long time. I was actually the last actor to come on board, truthfully — I was the last one, because Andy [Garcia] had already been there for a while, so I was nervous. But they were so nice, and the set was so easy. I don’t think I’ve been on a set ever that felt so much like not working.

ullstein bild via Getty Images

Cher on her Do You Believe? tour in October 1999.

Now that the movie is out and you’ve realized how much people love you in it, do you agree that it was in fact helpful for your career?

Yeah, it was, but I have absolutely no idea why people loved it because it was such a small part.

Yeah, but don’t you think they love it because you’re bringing yourself to the part? Ruby shares some of Cher’s diva theatrics, and she makes the sort of grand entrance that Cher would be likely to make.

But young kids don’t even know who I am. I’ve been meeting kids that are, like, 11, and I think, “Well, they have no idea who I am. What’s going on here?”

What song on “Dancing Queen” should we listen to to celebrate if Trump gets impeached?

Oh, God! Oh, my God! I’m trying to think of all of them. Oh, any one of them, OK? Any one! Just play it all night and all day if that happens. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to happen, but you can play the whole album as far as I’m concerned.

Of course. The album cover is interesting. Do you think there is a difference in blond Cher and dark-haired Cher?

Oh, I don’t think so, but when I was blond I noticed that people were much nicer to me.

Like, people give you directions much slower, you know? They kind of treat blondes a little bit more gently than they’d treat people with dark hair, or girls with dark hair. But, look, that was just strictly to pay homage to the girls in ABBA. That’s what that was about. 

CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images

Tom Jones and Cher on “The Sonny & Cher Show” in October 1976.

This is more of a thought than a question: You should headline the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl halftime show.

Oh, well, look. I can’t handle any more work right now, OK? I can’t handle one more bit of work right now. For all intents and purposes, I shouldn’t even be working. Maybe at my age I shouldn’t be working.

What do you think you have left in you after this? Do you have another “Moonstruck” in you?

Well, it depends on if someone writes another “Moonstruck.” I don’t know what I have, but I wasn’t planning on doing “Mamma Mia” either, so things are a surprise. Things just come out of the blue. Honestly, I wasn’t planning to do the album, but it just seemed like it would be fun. And then I did one song and the record label went, “Oh, this is a good idea.”

Which song did you have the most fun figuring out a new arrangement for?

I did not have to worry about the arrangements. This is what happened: Mark made a fancy quick track, but truthfully just kind of a quick track of some instruments, but not really music. So I had a chance to work my way through the spaces. If you listen to ABBA songs, there’s not a lot of space for the girls because Benny [Andersson] kind of used the girls as another instrument. They have great voices, so he could use them. They were kind of locked in, like instruments are locked in, but he could use them as another color. They were another added dimension to the music, whereas because I wasn’t singing against music, I had a chance, except for maybe “Mamma Mia” and “Waterloo,” because those are done pretty much exactly like the girls did them. I had a chance to stretch out a tiny bit. I wasn’t inhibited by the track.

Is there a song on the album that means the most to you personally?

I would say “Chiquitita” or “One of Us.”

Dave J Hogan via Getty Images

Christine Baranski, producer Judy Craymer, Cher, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Lily James and ABBA’s Benny Andersson at the U.K. premiere of “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” in July 2018.

When you were teasing the album, you left the 10th track unannounced for a while. Is that because you were still figuring out what it would be?

No, that’s just the way my producer, Mark, works. He gives you something to sing to just enough so you can hear the melodic changes, and that’s kind of the way we’d do it. I don’t know how that happened, but we’ve been working together since “Believe,” and it seems to be working well.

When you promote and tease this album on Twitter, what do you make of the responses you’re receiving?

Oh, I don’t know. I’ve long given up figuring out Twitter. I do what I do, and the people who are on there who know me well understand it. And the people who come on either go, “She’s crazy” or “This is interesting.”

So what prompted you to decide not to say hi anymore?

Because I got tired of everyone just using “hi there” as something they would do! I just thought, we’re not even being able to interact anymore because everyone is just saying to each other, “Hi there” — and like, “When the guy that I like goes away and then comes back,” they have, “Hi there.” So anyway, I’m not ever doing this again because I’m being left out of the loop.

returning to your boyfriends house just moments after storming out claiming you’re off home https://t.co/iLek74NUpO

— Megan Jones (@meganskyejones) July 26, 2018

What do you mean left out of the loop?

Because they were just talking to one another. Or actually they weren’t even talking to anybody. Everyone was just putting out their thing, and I thought, “OK, this has gone on long enough, so we all have to get back together.” And they still do it, so it was just me. Also, I’ll just say strange things on Twitter. I’m not very frivolous. Once in a while, I think something’s really funny and share it, and sometimes people get it and really like it, and sometimes they have no idea what I’m talking about. But look, it’s my account and I do it the way I want to. People who like it seem to stay, and people who don’t seem to go.

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[hey-kids-want-some-avengers]

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100 (lol, I'm sorry)

Holy mother of- alright, I did this to myself. Answers are below the cut!

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? More cereal! I’m hella lactose intolerant so I rarely even have milk.

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? Sometimes, it depends if I was already too cold or not.

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? Usually I use drawings or a bit of cardboard.

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? I take my tea with a little honey and my coffee with lots of flavored creamer.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? VERY MUCH YES

6: do you keep plants? Cacti mostly:)

7: do you name your plants? YEP

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? Pencil or acrylic, though I’m digging clay now.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? I spend almost every hour of every day singing, it’s one of my absolute favorite things!

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? back or side depending on how my jaw is doing.

11: what's an inner joke you have with your friends? OH GoD, so many...

12: what's your favorite planet? Mars >3

13: what's something that made you smile today? I got to spend all day with my pupper AND I got called for an interview tomorrow.

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? Brick walls, lots of floor space for art, ect. a window seat, high ceilings and a cozy atmosphere please and thank you.

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! 99% of our solar systems mass is the sun. :3

16: what's your favorite pasta dish? Baked Penne!

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? It’s already blue but I wanna do it red, orange and yellow at some point for a crazy fire look.

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. The time I jumped off the lid to my friends hot tub and hit my head, knocking myself unconscious and almost dying.

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? Kinda, it’s mostly art and random facts??

20: what's your favorite eye color? Blue

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that's been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. My art bag that looks like a freaking paint towel at this point.

22: are you a morning person? Ye!

23: what's your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? Write, draw, take a bath and bake.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? Yes, my bestfren Chloe -w-

25: what's the weirdest place you've ever broken into? An abandoned house down the block while chasing a cat. There was some guy sleeping in there.

26: what are the shoes you've had for forever and wear with every single outfit? My red Converse!

27: what's your favorite bubblegum flavor? Wintergreen

28: sunrise or sunset? Sunset, for sure.

29: what's something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? She blushes in her ears and gets really shy around guys.

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? Umm, yes. When my mom had emergency surgery.

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. OKAY, I LIKE SOCKS, I WEAR EM ALL THE TIME AND THEY NEVER MATCH. BOOM.

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. I went to down my iced tea and found out too late that it was my dads whiskey and I got drunk off my ass.

33: what's your fave pastry? oooh, I love pastries with all my heart, probably lemon bars.

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? It’s in my room somewhere, a little weasel puppet named “wonder weasel” and I made him a mask.

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? Yes, I keep at least one on me at all times.

36: which band's sound would fit your mood right now? Panic!

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? I reaaaaally like it clean but it never happens. I’m a pig.

38: tell us about your pet peeves! I hate when people never show up on time, ignore me when I’m talking to check their phones and I hate when people pretend to like me.

39: what color do you wear the most? Black

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what's it's story? does it have any meaning to you? It’s a bumble bee necklace my sister got me and I love it.

41: what's the last book you remember really, really loving? The book thief.

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! It’s a local place here and they make really pretty pastries and coffee, it’s very modern inside but it’s cozy and everyone’s super nice. It smells like autumn leaves and spices.

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? myself???

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? Last week in a bath tbh

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? Yes and no? It kinda depends but I usually second guess myself.

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. I changed my ipods name to titanic. It’s syncing now. (I hate myself)

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? LETTUCE

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? Burning alive, and it kinda is kinda isn’t still.

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? I like to but I never have money, the last one was a panic! at the disco cd.

50: what's an odd thing you collect? Fish????? I have five tanks in my room ok????

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? Can’t help falling in love with you and phantom of the opera (my gf) IM CHEESEY

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? THEY ALL SUCK

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? I’ve seen all but pulp fiction and I adore them all, beetlejuice is one of my favorite movies.

54: who's the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? Besides myself idk

55: what's the most dramatic thing you've ever done to prove a point? I don’t even know honestly.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? Their sense of humor, laugh and comfortableness.

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? Doesn’t it always?!

58: who's the wine mom and who's the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? My friend hates wine but is totally the wine mom, sooo that makes me the vodka aunt bc I only have one friend.

59: what's your favorite myth? Icarus

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? YES! I love the raven, tyger and the tell tale heart??

61: what's the stupidest gift you've ever given? the stupidest one you've ever received? Socks for received I guess? Probably the dumbest thing I’ve given was a dirty shirt to my friend????

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? Almost always, grape or orange usually. 

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? I’m really particular about them and I don’t let anyone touch em.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? Ink black.

65: is there anyone you haven't seen in a long time who you'd love to hang out with? My gf..; ;

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? Seashells, blue flowers and tiny pink ones, probably a lil glitter.

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? They feel relaxing to me.

68: what's winter like where you live? ITS LIKE A NEVER ENDING HELLL

69: what are your favorite board games? Fury of Dracula, d&d, ect.

70: have you ever used a ouija board? Yep! I own one.

71: what's your favorite kind of tea? cranberry??

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you'll forget it? YES. My ADHD is scary bad ok.

73: what are some of your worst habits? Not eating healthily/not drinking enough, secluding myself.

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. Humorous, kind and caring and wonderful and supporting. The most fantastic person to live.

75: tell us about your pets! OK!!!!!! I have three cats, a tabby (ponyo), a massive grey one(rory) and a smol floofy white and black one(lydia). I have four betta fish, Lafayette, Remus, Pietro, and Marvel. I have 12 guppy/platty and I could list their names but I wontttt, and my sweet pupper girl, Matilda

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren't? Writing requests..............

77: pink or yellow lemonade? Pink.

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? HATE

79: what's one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? My girlfriend sent me chocolates and my fren bought me a bee pillow, they’re pretty great.

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? Light purple and I didn’t choose them, my mom painted that room before she got sick so I kept it.

81: describe one of your friend's eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. Deep sand washing over dark beaches and charcoal mixed in a vat of dark clay.

82: are/were you good in school? No, not really. I listened tho

83: what's some of your favorite album art? Pretty odd, believers never die, infinity on high

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? I have two right now and I have MANY more planned.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? OF COURSE, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND DEADPOOL, SANDMAN EVEN THO THAT DON’T REALLY COUNT.

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? um? Nirvana? Am I doing this right?

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? Perks of being a wall flower, three idiots.

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? All of them??

89: are you close to your parents? I like to think so

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. Ohhh um, I dunno, probably Denver?? I’m really isolated.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? I’m going to Denver for a concert and a huge road trip to California this summer to see my family.

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? It GoN DRoWN SOn

93: what's the hairstyle you wear the most? Down. It’s too short for anything.

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? My grandpa

95: what are your plans for this weekend? Hanging with my fren and watching shameless.

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? Sadly, I put them off until it does it automatically. I regret it every time.

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? Advocate, Taurus, hufflepuff! 

98: when's the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it? Yesterday and I loved it.

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. Hamilton tbh, think of me, riptide and I found.

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? Five years into the past because I’m not fucking ready to grow up.