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jazziejax · 13 days

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The Challenge

Pairing- BlackOC! X Challengers Cast

Summary- moments between Orion O’Connor and the Challengers cast that the people loved

Warnings- swear words, flirtatious between costars

Author’s Note- This sucks raccoon ass, it’s 2am, and I haven’t written in a very long time so cut me some slack, I beg you! I’m gonna write for Challengers at some point but I’m waiting because I want to write a series and I’m gonna need it on streaming services to do that(because I already paid to see it twice). But I’ll probably write some one-off things for you guys. Sorry for any spelling errors and grammar mistakes. As I said, it’s 2am.

Word Count- 2,686

“So, I have to ask.” The woman interviewer said, mainly looking over at Orion. Said girl’s expression went from calm to suspicious as she turned her head and side eyed the woman. The interviewer was about to open her mouth to speak again before Orion lightly gasped as she faced forward again.

“Let me guess.” She stated, leaning forward in her seat. Everyone paused, waiting for the girl to speak. “You’re gonna ask if we’re married.” She said, her left index finger motioning between her and the British man next to her. The woman’s mouth fell open a little bit as she stared at the brown woman across from her.

“How’d you know that?” She asked, genuine surprise in her voice. Orion slightly nodded as she adjusted herself in her seat. She crossed her right leg over her left and her body was slightly tilted to where she leaned Josh’s way. “Everyone has the same look in their eyes before they ask.” She shrugged. The tension of such a question could be felt throughout the room but also on social media. Fans went crazy with this clip, seeing the obvious signs that Orion was tired of such a question and was getting bad at hiding it. Some people called her rude while others defended her saying the interviewer was bad at her job for asking the same thing they already know the answer to.

“I just wanted to know how you guys felt about such rumors going around about you two?” The interviewer asked. Orion looked over at Josh, seeing if he wanted to give the question a go. Said man glanced down a little to make eye contact with the woman next to him before turning to the woman in front of him. “Um, the rumors don’t necessarily bother me. Not anymore at least.” He stated. “People have been saying this since the beginning of our careers, almost, because we became friends right before and have been for so long. So, I guess it just seemed like we were married?” Josh said with confusion written all over his face, his tone rising at the end since he was more so asking a question.

Orion dry chuckled as she watched the man deliver the answer she was tired of giving. “I say it’s rather flattering, in a sense, that people think we are married. Because Orion is an amazing woman that anyone would be lucky to call a wife.” He finished softly, glancing over at the woman next to him. “But no, we’re just best friends with the same name.” He said, visibly pink in the face as he continuously glanced at the woman next to him.

With the new craze of Challengers, every cast member gained new fans along with the one they already had and all were tuned in on their press tour. Social media went crazy over Josh and Orion, new fans because of their on and off screen chemistry while old fans were just excited to see the pair in another project together.

Orion made a cute pout at his words, her face heating as she looked at him in his blue eyes. Her big eyes reflected the fluorescent lights above them as she stated into his. “He’s too sweet for his own damn good.” She said in a sad tone as if she was crying. She leaned her head on his shoulder for a split second before raising it and dropping her façade. “Let me just say this.” She started, sitting up straight in her seat. Zendaya and Mike, who felt as if they were third wheeling the whole time, chuckled at her. “I don’t understand why I keep getting asked that when it could be easily answered by taking a look at my hand.” She said, showing her left hand. She used her right index finger to rub her left ring finger as she stared directly into the camera lens. “I do not have on a ring.” She said, shaking her head. She grabbed ahold of Josh’s and and held it up. Before she could even speak, her cast mates burst out laughing, knowing she was very riled up, which was quite amusing.. “He does not have on a ring.” She then looked back at the interviewer. “I would never do such a thing. I would be mad at Josh if he allowed me to do such a thing.” She stressed. “And I would also never let him or any man disrespect me in such a way. Isn’t that right?” She asked, looking over at the British man next to her. Josh immediately nodded.

“Correct.”

The initial context of video was ignored once clips hit other media sites. All people could talk about was the sheer amount of times Orion and Josh caught the other one staring. And if not them then the camera caught it. They all went feral over the last line, finding the way she demanded an answer out of him attractive and the way he answered her immediately. The compatibility between the two could be felt through the screen. Many edits were made out of the two and their characters, Dion and Patrick.

For backstory, Orion and Josh have been friends for many years. Meeting each other on the set of The Durrells where Orion was the only American that used an English accent for an obscene amount of time to play her character ‘Daisy’. They were only together in a couple of scenes but off screen, Josh and Orion became good friends. They grew even closer when Josh moved in with Orion when she went back to America. He would be staying for a while for work and Orion wanted the transition to be easy for her friend since he was such a big help for her in Europe, so she offered him a room in her New York flat. That’s when the rumors started. Seeing pictures of this pair of up and coming actors with the same last name, doing activities and living together. They blushed and joked at the rumors at first but after a while it started to get pretty annoying.

This being brought up again, fans started researching for old pictures of the two and they couldn’t get enough of the pair. Pictures of them holding pinkies as they walked around New York. Most of them from the same day as Orion showed him all of her favorite spots. There were pictures of them on the subway reading a book together. Pictures of them on visiting each other on set when they worked on different projects. So many pictures for the fans to choose from.

A while later in another interview, the energy seemed to be more prominent between them all.

“Do you think is most like their character?” The interviewer asked them. All of them immediately pointed at Orion, who even pointed at herself. Seeing that they all had the same idea, they laughed at one another. “Why is that? What makes you like you’re character?” He questioned again.

“Um, it’s actually funny because they changed things around for Dion once I was casted for her.” Orion started. “Her name was changed for be more boyish after I was casted because Luca and Justin liked the contrast of such a sweet and feminine character with a “boys” name.” She stated, doing air quotations around the word boy. “They did a lot of tweaking to the script after I was chosen for…whatever creative reasons they have.” She chuckled, waving her hands to indicate she didn’t know why but it was slowly up to them.

“I would hope I would be the most like my character because it’s almost based off of me at this point.” She shrugged. “But I would say I'm most like her in the way I love and express myself. In the movie, Dion is very physical with her friends which I tend do to be.” She chuckled to herself. Mike nodded his head next. She looked over at him, her smile big on her face as she blushed out of embarrassment. “Oh yeah, she’s like a baby koala. Or a sloth.” He started, seeing that the attention was on him. Everyone laughed. “She was always on top of someone in between takes. She falls out when she laughs, and she’s always sleeping.” Mike said, sitting up in his chair as he listed, his voice showing mock annoyance. Orion covered her face in embarrassment, leaning her head back as she laughed.

“I’m sorry, okay! This is just how I am!” She shouted. After a while of everyone laughing, they calmed down and sat still in their seats. “I see where my affection is not wanted.” Orion said sassily as she rolled her eyes, crossing her legs and leaned away from Mike. Mike groaned at her dramatic behavior and rolled his eyes too, doing the same as her. Seeing this, Orion softly scoffed at him. “Art wouldn't treat me this way.” She joked, causing laughter to fill the room again.

“Why do you guys say Orion is like Dion? Where do the similarities lie in your eyes?” The interviewer asked. Mike was the first to answer.

“I say she’s like Dion in the way she stated, herself .” He said, gesturing over to Orion. “Dion is a very loving and passionate character. You see that in the way she treats her friends, and in the games she plays. She doesn’t play for competition , she plays for the feeling it gives her. Like in the scene where she goes against Tashi, it didn’t cause them any strife because she doesn’t see it as ‘who’s better’, she sees it as a relationship and almost a way of communicating.” He said. “I see that a lot in Orion because she doesn’t really communicate through words, she communicates through her actions, in real life and within a character.” He finished. There was a moment of silence as everyone sat with what he said. Mike quickly looked around the room at the silence before looking over at Orion.

“Aww, Mikey.” Orion said as she pouted and leaned over to give him a side hug, placing her head on his shoulder. Breaking the tension in the air, the room chuckled. “He knows me so well.” Orion spoke up, placing her cheek against his with her hand on the other side of his face, smushing them together. They both smiled, feeling their cheeks mush together.

Fans were already in the Art Donaldson/Mike Faist train before they even saw the movie and especially afterwards. During most of the press tour the cute moments were between Josh and Orion and Zendaya and Orion, since the girl has previous history with them. But when Orion and Mike had their cute moments, fans almost felt like they were in love.

It was admitted in an interview Mike had without the whole cast he really admired the work Orion did before he formally met her. He first saw her on the comedy show Community. He found her really funny there and could tell her chemistry with the cast was impeccable. But her acting skills really shined to him when he saw her in Fleabag and The Handmaid's Tale. When he heard that she was going to be in the movie with him, he had a fanboy moment to himself for a few hours before calming down. Little did he know that Orion admitted herself in a solo interview that she used to have a crush on Mike after first seeing him in Dear Evan Hanson. She said that even though she hated that musical, she watched it for him. That’s also why she went and saw Brokeback Mountain live. Fans loved hearing this information, the Art and Dion edits having a mega surplus afterwards. Their interview moments together were cute but people mainly loved their red carpet interactions, Orion either bullying him for what he had on or the way he posed. She never let him live.

Another moment that went viral was their interview talking about intimate scenes together.

“Was that awkward to do with your best friend?” The journalist asked Orion.

“No, because we’ve done that before.” She answered quickly, not thinking of what she said. Zendaya’s head snapped to her, eyes a little wide as she gave the girl next to her a questionable glare. Mike raised his eyebrows while Josh tried to hide his laughter, and his red face, behind his hands. Seeing the reactions she got around the room, Orion chuckled before trying to save herself. “Not like that. I just mean I’ve seen him naked before.” She defended no better. Now all you could hear was the laughter of her cast mates. Mike and Z leaning on one another as they laughed while Josh put his head in his hands. “You guys know what I mean. We’ve done things like this before.” She continued to try to defend herself. Seeing her get nowhere, Josh placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked over at the cute smiling British man next to her, unconsciously smiling along with him.

“What? Tell them this isn’t something new for us.” She demanded the man. Josh placed his large hand on top of hers that was resting on the arm of the chair. “Our characters in The Durrells were in a relationship. That’s what she means.” Josh said, his face still red from trying to hold in his laughter. And blushing.

“The real question is, did you enjoy it?” Orion asked, looking over at the man next to her. But before he could speak, Mike spoke first. “Oh, I enjoyed it.” Mike joked. “Art and Dion were like rabbits at Stanford.” He emphasized.

“Her and Patrick were pretty wild too.” Zendaya said. “

“I think Dion was just like that with everyone, honestly.” Josh said. At that, Orion turned back to him, an eyebrow raised. “What’s that supped to mean?”

“No, byy everyone I mean, Tashi, Art and Patrick.” Josh rushed out, looking her right in the eyes. That’s something the fans caught into a lot. Whenever Orion looked his way, he would never break eye contact. No matter how many times she glanced off to the side or down at her hands playing with his, he never took his eyes off her face, especially when she was speaking. “Which is quite interesting when you take into account Dion was almost in control of everything.” He finished.

Orion immediately rolled her eyes and turned away from him. . Before she could say what she was going to, her other cast mates spoke in agreement. “100%.” Zendaya said.

“I’m not about to have this conversation again.” Orion spoke. “Dion is innocent and she was done wrong.” She said, looking directly into the camera.

“Dion played everyone.” Mike said.

“Like a game of tennis.” Josh finished, a small smirk on his lips. His eyes never left Orion, as if he was waiting for her to turn around. Mike and Zendaya groaned at him while Orion turned to him, a smile on her face when she looked his way. “That was so corny.” She said through her laughter that increased the more she thought about the terrible joke. Oriron loved a bad joke that was delivered kind of awkwardly. The rest of the interview consisted of small moments between Josh and Orion. Jim raising his hand to play with her dangling earring when Mike was talking. Her pinkie wrapped around his when both of their arms rested on their chairs.

Needless to say, the people loved Orion O’Oonnor and were on the edge of their seats to get more of her.

oconnorschildren

liked by, joshoconnorstoe, orionstar, and 36, 792 more

oconnorschildren you mean to tell me that this is Josh O’Connor and Orion O’Connor when they lived together???

view 3,944 comments

zendayacollective sups cute!!! ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

mikeyfaist they look like a couple

orionstar and they’re wondering why people assumed they were married 🙄

⤷ oconnorschildren right! they act in love and get mad at us!

⤷ joshoconnorstoe they should just get married

tomdayaofficial I don’t know who I want her with more, Josh or Mike

⤷ oconnorschildren me neither, she’s has such great chemistry with both! I love her with them!

liversometennis I can’t wait until challengers is on streaming services so I can’t watch her kiss them all day everyday

zendayastwin I wish people would post the moments between her and Z, they are so cute together. Small hints of flirting but amazing friends.

⤷ oconnorschildren I’ll post some in the future because they are cute together!

#challengersmovie #challengers #art donaldson #tashi donaldson #tashi duncan #zenday coleman #zendaya #josh o connor #josh o'connor #patrick zweig x reader #patrick zweig #mike faist #jazziejaxwriting #jazziejaxchallengers

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hooked-on-elvis · 5 months

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Lynn Kellogg (Marcie, the can-can girl on "Charro!") about Elvis

Interview published on Tiger Beat magazine, July 1969 issue

ELVIS PRESLEY's Hippie Co-Star Thought He Was A Square by Ann Moses

The studio door flew open and out came tall and lovely Lynn Kellogg. Her beautiful golden blonde hair hung down on her shoulders which were covered by an Edwardian style leather coat. Wide wool trousers, a fugal change and huge round sunglasses completed the output.

She looked just as you would imagine the feminine lead in "Hair," the tribal love rock musical, but NOT as you picture the can-can girl and Elvis dramatic movie "Charro!" Just the same, Lynn chose to leave her role in "Hair" on Broadway to star with Elvis in his latest film "Charro!" To be sure, it wasn't Lynn's admiration for Elvis that made her take the part!

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CHANGED HER MIND

"Not at all!" She will blatantly admit.

"I always felt Elvis was a good singer, but I hated his songs and that hairdo." I was working with Elvis for three weeks in Arizona and one week in Hollywood that changed her mind quick.

Although four weeks isn't much time to get to know someone very well, Lynn says Elvis is such an open and warm person that he's very easy to get to know. And like!

"Once I got to know him, I found he was a very nice gentleman; and a very good actor. I've heard many directors say they would like to use him in a movie as an actor instead of as Elvis Pressley. Working with him and watching him back, I can see what they mean."

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A NEW ELVIS

In "Charro!" Lynn guarantees the audience will be seeing Elvis the Actor, and Elvis at his finest.

"I think Charro!" is a very good film. I don't like that type of film myself because it's violent and I like to see films that set a good example. For the type of movie it is, it's very good. My new saying is, "Forget about telling it like it is, tell it like it's supposed to be!"

Lynn observed that Elvis was happiest when he was working the hardest.

"He thrives on work. Between shots we fiddled around together and we got into all kinds of harmonizing. His guitarist, Charlie [Hodge], was with him and we all sat around and sang. It was a groove. We all went swimming once at the hotel and that was fun."

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ELVIS THE MAN

During some of the breaks and filming on the set, Lynn had a chance to learn more about Elvis The Man.

"It may surprise some to know, but Elvis studies Yoga. And he knows all about astrology. I don't know how deeply he goes into it, but he sure knows enough to carry on a lively discussion about it. I think the most important thing about Elvis is not that he knows so much about astrology or whatever, the important thing is he knows where he's at!" "One day I had a short talk with Col. Parker. I said, 'Col. what's the secret to your success?' And he said, 'First, you've got to have a talent.'"

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TOUR OF EL'S MANSION

When Lynn finished on the film and said goodbye to Elvis he invited her to visit his mansion in Memphis. She was working in Memphis last Christmas, so she dropped by to say hello.

She became excited just recalling the experience. “What was the place like?” I asked.

"Oh! Wow! It's fantastic! He used to show it off to people, really open the door and let them in, but he had to put in new carpets every month, so he quit." "When you first pull up to the gates, the gates had big musical notes on them. Even though it's out in the country, there's traffic going by all the time in a steady stream. The house looks like Tara from 'Gone with the Wind.' Because it was Christmas time, he had blue lights outlining the house and all the way along the driveway."

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TROPHY ROOM

"When you first go in, off the entryway, there's this one whole entire huge room and the walls are filled with gold records and mementos. Then he has two long rows of drawers, like in a record store, and each one is filled with scrapbooks. Just thousands and thousands of things!"

"I was with some friends and we only stayed about an hour. His wife, Priscilla, was there and some of his friends. We went into the living room and there's a huge double piano--I don't mean two pianos--but two keyboards on one side and it's all in gold leaf!" "His bedroom is really something else! There's a huge bed and on the ceiling he has two television sets. Then there's a button that you push and armrests come down. There's also two radios in the control panel." "He said he wanted to show us his 'closet,' and he just laughed and laughed and he led us into this huge room. That was his 'closet'. It was so wonderful, because he was enjoying all this is much as we were!"

Lynn has kept very busy since filming "Charro!" She has just finished guesting on "The Jonathan Winters Show" and "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour."

Article published by Ann Moses on her Facebook page on August 25, 2021

#elvis presley #the man had nothing to hide #such an open and welcoming person #elvis the king #elvis fans #elvis fandom #elvis #60s elvis #articles #elvis articles #elvis magazines

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thisaintascenereviews · 23 days

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Our Favorites Of The Year (So Far), Part One: April 2024

By Bradley Christensen & @jakeh2987

At the end of every year, I’m always amazed when peoples’ yearend lists come out, because it takes me awhile to fathom that it’s really the end of another year. Aside from Christmas, which is what most people associate with that time of year, I love “list season.” Publications of all kinds put out their yearend lists, and I just love seeing what people have been into the entire year. It feels like yesterday I was talking about my favorite media from the entire year, so I thought I’d “check-in” in the beginning, middle, and (obviously) the end of the year. I’m not doing this alone, however, because I thought I’d bring along my buddy Jake. We worked together on a yearend piece last year, too, and I thought it would be fun to work on something like this again, at least checking in periodically with each other and seeing what we’ve been into throughout the year, as well as how the year’s been going when it comes to media of all kinds. With that said, it’s good to have you back, Jake! It feels like deja vu, because it feels like we just did this, but I digress, how’s this year been treating you so far, Jake? How do you think this year has been in comparison to last year?

First of all, thank you for having me back to do this! I had a blast working on our year-end wrap up last year, so I jumped at the chance to do something similar. To answer your question, though, I feel like this year has been really stacked in terms of new releases in not only music, but a lot of different forms of media. Last year was incredible, for sure, but I feel like a lot of it was backloaded in the second half of 2023. This year, on the other hand, I felt like there’s been at least one or two new things to be excited about every week really since the start of the year, but especially so in the last couple of months. I had a look at my top 10 albums, and I think almost all of them have come out after the first week of March, which has been great. But, we’ll get to that later. For now, though, I say we take a look back at the broader picture for a second! Last year, we talk about how we often found ourselves falling back into old comforts, whether that be favorite artists, that TV show you’ve binged far too many times before, and so on. For the first bit of this year, I kinda feel like I’ve been a lot more open to discovering new things and stepping outside of my comfort zone, so I’m curious, how does it feel for you?

Last year definitely had a theme of listening to what I call “ol’ reliable” types of media. A lot of my favorite pieces of media were from old favorites, whether I was revisiting them again for the first time in awhile, or old favorites releasing new albums, movies, or shows that I could easily get into and gave me a nice sense of nostalgia. I would say that this year, at least so far, is a mixture of both being adventurous and discovering some new things and still revisiting some of those same “comfort foods,” so to speak. Looking at the big picture of how media has gone this year, it’s certainly been steady since March with at least one album per week that I’m listening to (almost my whole top ten is from the last couple of months as well), and we’ve been getting a steady stream of movies and shows that are worth watching and talking about. Speaking of which, let’s start with movies and TV, what have you been watching this year?

Okay, this is where I get to gush about the new Fallout show that just premiered on Amazon Prime Video a couple weeks ago. I’m not super familiar with the games, having only put a few hours into Fallout 4 way back in 2015, but when the first trailer for this show dropped, I knew I was gonna be in for this. I’m a sucker for a sci-fi/post apocalypse setting, and from what I do know from the games, there was gonna be a blend of dark humor/satire along with the high-stakes drama. I ended up watching the whole season in about a week, and I really loved it. The creative team behind the show did about the best thing you could do for a video game adaptation; it’s set within the universe and continuity of the games, but it’s a new story with new characters, so they were able to tell their own story while still nailing that Fallout vibe. Also, come on, Walton Goggins playing a post-apocalyptic cowboy bounty hunter, how can you not love that? But for real, this show was a blast, and I’m happy it’s already been renewed for a second season, because I can see this show being a great time for many years to come.

Aside from that, though, I did see the Mean Girls musical movie from earlier this year, and while I don’t think it was all that great (and I don’t necessarily love the original, either), it’s pretty clear why Renee Rapp is a rising star, she was great in it and can definitely sing. I’ve also been making my way through a super casual Criminal Minds rewatch, it’s been a long while since I’ve watched a lot of the early stuff, so I like having it on in the background while I do other things, but I still love this show a lot. How about you, though?

When it comes to TV and movies, I haven’t watched as much stuff as I’ve listened to music, but I’ve got a few things I’ve been watching. The second half of the second season of Invincible, also on Prime Video, premiered last month, and that was a lot of fun, especially after loving the first season a few years back. Animation has been on a roll this year, between that and X-Men ‘97, which has been a show that I’ve been eagerly watching every Wednesday. That show’s been an absolute blast, and despite being rooted in a show from the past, it doesn’t let the nostalgia overtake the show itself. I haven’t really been watching a lot of movies this year, surprisingly enough, but I need to catch up. I need to watch Fallout, though; I love dystopia and post-apocalyptic universes, so I need to sit down and watch that front to back. What about video games? I got a couple that I’ve played this year, not necessarily new but new to me; and that’s been a whole lot of fun.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came out at the end of February (on the leap day, no less!), and I've been playing it basically non-stop since then. Rebirth is the second part of a trilogy of games that are remaking/reimagining the original Final Fantasy 7 from back in 1997, greatly expanding upon and making tweaks to various things that were in the original. This is also a game that adopts more of an open-ended structure, featuring several pretty big zones filled with a ton to do. As of writing this, I've put about 100 hours into it, and I'm just over 60% of the way through it. This is a game that''s so incredibly easy to get lost and immersed in for hours, and I think that comes down to three things. Firstly, your main party of characters is so enjoyable to be around; it really hammers home that feeling of being on a grand adventure with your friends, and even when you're doing a seemingly mundane open world activity, you still get little interactions with the characters that makes it worth it. Another factor for me is the combat. I said after the first part came out in 2020 that it had maybe my favorite combat in an RPG, I really loved the seamless blend of real time action and strategy with the ATB system. Rebirth's combat is essentially more of that, but the improvements and enhancements make this combat sing in a way that very few games ever have for me. Swapping between party members, using the new synergy abilities, and popping ATB abilities feels so seamless and flows super well. It's just a blast to play. Finally, I wanna give a shoutout to the minigames. I won't give all of them away, but there are so many different minigames to play, and this is where Rebirth gets to really lean into its silliness more often than not. Your main story can often be very dramatic and emotional, so I appreciate that these side activities are a way to provide a tonal balance and gameplay pacing. And aside from maybe one or two I admittedly wasn't a huge fan of, all of them were really fun to play (shoutout Queen's Blood in particular, I would buy a standalone version of that in a heartbeat). Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the music. It's incredible, and even when you're walking around in the open areas, you get hit with yet another really cool music piece, and that's before you even get to the big set pieces or boss fights, which also rule. I could just gush about this thing forever, really, but I'll top this off by saying it's been a really special experience and I'm so excited to see where it ends up. How about you, though? Have you been playing anything in particular?

Man, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sounds great! I always love when a piece of media, whether it’s a game, movie, or album, can really suck you into its story or sound. I can’t say I’ve played any new games, but I got a couple things I’ve been playing so far this year. I spent the last few months playing Mafia III, especially after seeing it was on sale for the first time in awhile, and I absolutely love the first two games. Now those are games that you can get lost in, especially its story, world, and atmosphere, but I’d say the third in this trilogy is the best. Instead of taking place the 1930s or 1940s, like the first two games, the third one takes place in the 1960s, let alone in a New Orleans-type of city with different “districts” that are composed of different kinds of people. This game also tackles issues like racism and PTSD, especially where the main character is Black and a Vietnam veteran. It’s got some hard hitting and still relevant themes, despite coming out in 2016, but it’s still relevant today. The game does have a couple downsides, such as the combat and side missions between story missions being repetitive (despite still a lot of fun), but it’s the story, characters, and the world itself that really draws you in. The music is also a big part of this game, as it features a lot of 50s and 60s blues, rock, soul, pop, and lots of different songs that you can listen to on any car’s radio, and the songs really bring everything to life. It’s a wonderful game, and it’s the best of the three, hands down.

As for the other game, thanks to the new Fallout show coming out, I decided to download Fallout 4 on the PlayStation Store, because it was only $4.99, and I’ve been playing it for a few days now! It’s a lot of fun, despite how I’m still getting used to its world and mechanics. I’ve always been curious about Fallout’s story and lore, but never knew where to start. There’s so many games and lore to sink your teeth into, but that’s what makes the show so good — it’s its own story, like you said, so you don’t need to know everything about the games. The show eases you into it, but if you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories with retro futuristism aesthetics, along with a killer soundtrack (that I enjoy, thanks to my niche taste of 30s, 40s, and 50s music), you should get really into it. The game itself is cool, too, and it also eases you into the story, especially if this is your first go-around. I’m excited to play more, since I haven’t had anything I’ve really dedicated my time to after finishing Mafia III.

With all of that said, let’s get to our main event — 2024 in music. We discussed this a bit earlier, at least our overall first impressions, but this year has been off to the races when it comes to new music. I swear that almost every week since the start of the year, there’s been something new to listen to, but a lot of my favorite albums this year have been from March and April. Let’s not beat around the bush anymore, though. What are your favorites of the year so far? Hell, what are some albums that have been resonating with you this year? They don’t even need to be new, but stuff that you’ve found that you’ve just been into this year, regardless of when it came out.

Both Mafia III and Fallout 4 are games I wanna revisit sometimes, for a lot of the reasons you've said. I do remember Mafia III getting a bit of criticism for its repettitive open world structure and missions, but I loved what I played of it for the setting and characters and how it tackled heavier subject matters in a game like this. And I did redownload Fallout 4 as well, I played a few hours of it when it first released in 2015, but the show has made me wanna give it another go, though at this point I'll probably end up starting a new save.

Anyways, yes, let's get to the main event, our favorite music! I feel like since we both have the same number one, at least I think we do, let's save that for last, but for now, I'm gonna highlight a few from my top 10, in no real order (at least not for the purposes of this piece, I do have a proper list for myself). First, an interesting thing I noticed about my list is how a few of these are from bands/artists you recommended to it. Cory Wells' Harbouring the Hurt I Cause is a really good acoustic/emo album that I had never heard of before you suggested it, and that new Fluorescents album that just dropped, Scream It At Me! gives me such great mid/late 2000s neon pop-punk/pop-rock vibes but with a modern polish to it. You also turned me back on to Neck Deep; their self-titled album is just a really damn solid pop-punk album from a band I admittedly kinda wrote off in recent years.

Secondly, I wanna talk about two final releases from two of my favorite bands, but they're final releases for very different reasons. Sum 41 are pop-punk legends at this point, and sometime last year, they announced that after their new album and some extensive touring, they were calling it quits. It's always nice that when a band does break up, they do so on their own terms and while going out on top. I really had a lot of fun with their final (double) album Heaven x Hell, it felt like a love letter to the band and everything they do well, and I'm happy they were able to go out with that. On the other hand, though, we have Too Close to Touch's For Keeps, and this one is very bittersweet. Vocalist Keaton Pierce passed away unexpectedly in March 2022, and many fans like myself weren't sure we were ever gonna hear from the band again. So, it was a very welcome surprise when they announced a final collection of songs, but it was also a little bittersweet that they decided to call it quits, although it was for a very understandable reason. For Keeps, I think, turned out as well as it could have, and is a very solid sendoff for a vocalist and a band who were so close to taking that next step.

Outside of this year, I did wanna highlight Linkin Park's recently-released greatest hits album, called Papercuts. It's a very nice little collection of songs from their career, and it's been a lot of fun revisiting my first favorite band.

Okay, now I'm gonna throw it back to you, what's some music that you've really been resonating with so far this year?

Yeah, Mafia III got some criticism for the repetitive open world structure and the missions being pretty much copy and paste, such as killing certain enforcers, and interrogating informants, but it’s still a lot of fun every time you get to unleash carnage on an unsuspecting group of bad guys (or are they, because this game does tackle how the main character might not be as good as he thinks he is, and that’s a real interesting idea). I got through a bit of Fallout 4 already, though, and despite a rather annoying combat system that I still need to master, I enjoy it a lot. It’s pretty cool, especially with its story and the lore that the game has already built up for itself.

As for the main event, we can save that specific album for later, but I have a feeling I know what it is, too, and it’s a doozy, that’s for sure. I figured we could highlight stuff from our top tens, really in no particular order, but that’s really neat! I always love recommending stuff, but if I hear something that I think you’d like, I always throw it your way, even if it’s not something I’m as into. Anyhow, my top ten is mainly from bands and artists I’ve already been a fan of, and with the exception of Fluorescents’ debut, Scream It At Me, it’s all stuff that I’ve both heard of but haven’t listened to in awhile. A few of my favorites, in no particular order as well, are Neck Deep’s self-titled and Fluorescents’ Scream It At Me, especially for really wanting some catchy pop-punk at this time of year. Neck Deep’s new one came out in the beginning of the year, but it just hits differently now, and it’s really grown on me. I’ve also been enjoying a handful of metalcore albums, including two that just came out last week. The new Ghost Inside and SeeYouSpaceCowboy albums, respectively titled Searching For Solace and Coup De Grace, are a couple of metalcore albums that really hit what I’ve been looking for, especially really catchy and hard hitting stuff. The new Justin Timberlake album, Everything I Thought It Was, is another album that I’ve been playing a lot this year, and it’s a solid little comeback album for him.

A couple of albums on my list, too, aren’t from bands who released their last albums, although those two albums you mentioned were pretty good, but they’re from artists I never expected to really love a new album from. Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue dropped a country album, entitled Desert Dreaming, and it’s a wonderful throwback country album that sounds like it came out of the 1960s and 1970s. Augustana, and indie-pop / folk-pop band, also dropped their first album in a decade, called Something Beautiful, and it really hit me, especially for being so catchy. Lil Dicky also dropped a new album this year, his first in almost a decade and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy that as much as I did. I also binged his show, Dave, that has been on for the last few years and it’s a pretty funny show, and I forgot to mention that earlier, but the album, Penith, is supposed to be the “soundtrack” to the show.

Now when it comes to music this year that I’ve been that isn’t new, I got a couple of things, such as getting into the last Hot Mulligan albums after seeing them live with Fall Out Boy a couple months back. I also have spent some time with the last couple of James And The Shame records. That’s the brainchild of Rhett McLaughlin, most famously known from YouTube duo Rhett & Link, but it’s a retro-style country project that has a lot of themes about religion and his overall deconstruction from the church, and it’s very interesting stuff. I’d like to check out that Linkin Park greatest hits, though; they’re a band I feel like hits better with their greatest hits, although their first two albums are really cool still.

There is one album that we haven’t talked about yet that we’ve alluded to, because it’s both our current favorite album this year, so would you like to introduce it?

You know, this is actually kind of a funny full cirlce thing, because Bayside was another band you originally introduced me to, I wanna say about a decade ago, around the time Cult was coming out. I really enjoyed that album, but their next album, 2016''s Vacancy, was what really won me over and made me a huge fan of theirs. So, naturally, you could say that their new album, There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, being my number one album of the year so far is a bit of a no-brainer, but I really do think this is one of Bayside's best albums, and it really showcases the band at their peak and what they do best, whether it be guitarist Jack O'Shea really letting it rip with some killer guitar parts and solos, Anthony Raneri's ability to paint a picture and tell a story with his lyrics, or the band's penchant for memorable hooks. It's all there in full force on this album, but what I will say, is that if you really think about it, it's not really all that different than what they've been doing. So, I wanna turn it back to you and ask, what was it about thsi album in particular that really clicked and led it to also being your favorite album so far this year?

Bayside is a band that I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for, because I found them on a 2007 Alternative Press compilation. It was an acoustic version of “Dear Your Holiness,” and I really loved it, I picked up 2007’s The Walking Wounded and immediately fell in love with it. It’s still one of my favorite albums today, especially for its great hooks, awesome guitarwork that was really heavy for a pop-punk album, and very poignant lyrics that still hold up today. I have enjoyed their subsequent records, but Bayside ended up becoming a band whose albums all sound the same to me.

Despite how good they are, especially 2016’s Vacancy, you know what you’re getting with an album from them, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on where you stand with them. Aside from The Walking Wounded, nothing else they’ve done since has really blown me away as much as that album. I was somewhat eagerly awaiting There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, especially because it’s been five years since their last album came out, but what really surprised me was how this album feels oddly refreshing compared to their last couple. Not that they were bad, or even bland, but this album reminds me a lot of The Walking Wounded.

Like you said, this album is a classic Bayside album on the surface, but they prove that they can tweak their formula a bit and make it really interesting. This album is both the heaviest and catchiest I’ve heard Bayside in a long time; their hooks are sticky sweet this time around, but their guitar riffs are some of the thrashiest and most heavy metal-ish that I’ve heard from them. Raneri’s lyrics are also some of the best I’ve heard in awhile, too, and a lot of this album gets lodged in my head for the best reasons. I bet it was a shock to you, especially as someone that hasn’t been crazy about their last few albums, that I was over the moon for this album when it came out, huh?

I was definitely pleasantly surprised when you said you were loving this album as much as you do, but at the same time, especially after hearing you talk about it more, I do kinda get why this one maybe hooked you more than they have the past few albums. Sometimes all it takes is some tweaks/refreshes to the formula, and sometimes, something will just hit you in the right place at the right time, even if maybe it normally wouldn't as much otherwise. But, I love that we both have this at number one; thinking back on years past, I think this has only happened a handful of times, most likely with Fall Out Boy, since they're another band we both love.

It's really hard to believe we're already a quarter of the way through this year already, isn't it? I'm glad we got together to do this again, though, it's been a blast looking back on all of it so far, and I really can't wait for what's still to come.

I really was surprised to love this new album as much as I did, but you’re right, sometimes all it takes is a tweak to the formula to really hit you at the right time. I think by having a catchier and heavier sound, the album was able to hit me harder because it reminded me of when I first listened to them all those years ago. It just hits in the right way, but I truly love it. Not many albums this year have really hit me in that way, but this record is their best in a long time. It’s really hard to believe we’re almost a quarter done, though, so much good stuff has come out and so much is going to come out in the next eight months. It’s been an absolute blast doing this with you again, but before we close this out, what are some albums you’re looking forward to, whether they have a confirmed release date or not?

Just today, as we're writing this, The Home Team announced their third album, called The Crucible of Life, is coming out on July 12th, and I know that album is gonna be amazing. They're really about to be the next big thing, and I can't wiat. The other big one for me is The Early November, whose self-titled album is coming out June 14th. They're a band sorta like Bayside, in that they have a pretty storied legacy in the scene and have still been at it, putting out great music for over 20 years now.

Got anything on your radar coming up?

No way, they finally announced their new album? I hadn’t seen it yet, so that’s awesome. I can’t wait for that, so that’s easily a most anticipated. I’d say that off the top of my head, the upcoming Knocked Loose is my most anticipated, and that comes in a couple weeks on May 10th. Those guys are currently one of the biggest heavy bands in the scene, and their last album was easily my favorite of 2019, so I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. It’s gonna be a good rest of the year, for sure, and I can’t wait to do this again with you. I hopefully plan on doing this again here in another three or four months, and then at the end of the year, but it’s been a lot of fun being able to work on another one of these pieces with you, so thanks for being able to indulge me on what we’ve been into this year so far!

Yeah, this has been so much fun, so thank you for having me! I'm looking forward to meeting up for this again, as I'm sure we'll have plenty more to talk about.

#bayside #there are worse things than being alive #x men 97 #fallout #fallout 4 #final fantasy 7 #heavy metal #metal #rock #metalcore #death metal #mafia iii #sum 41 #pop-punk #neck deep #the ghost inside #searching for solace

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wrenrogue · 9 months

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kuroken au where kuroo moves away for university in a different prefecture, far away from tokyo, far away from kenma and all his other friends. he does good, he genuinely does good, but despite everything he's still not good in new places. homesickness hits him really hard.

The first month or two of being away it was all very exciting, new things and places to explore and try out. Kuroo was loud and exuberant and he was eager to learn new things and make new friends. Kenma, in particular, would get the rundown at the end of the day of what he did.

kuroo makes some friends, he wouldn't say they were friend FRIENDS, but they were acquaintances nonetheless. They would ask him to hang out with him, and sometimes he would, but lately he would go home and do his own things instead, quiet things like watching kenma's streams, maybe watching old matches or being on call with yaku and kai.

"How are you?" he would ask and he'd get all his friends' excitement and when they asked him, "How are you?," he would pause, and think about it and go "I learned about hydrocarbon today, want a lecture?" and everyone would go "absolutely not" and that was that.

The truth was, kuroo was doing fine, but he also wasn't. After the high of change, came the plateau where he kept at his activities, did really well in his classes, but they weren't home enough. He started to miss people more, started to realize that maybe going too far was a bad idea. Maybe he should've stayed in tokyo, where everyone was, where kenma was.

He called Kenma everyday and asked about the team, he asked about his day and talked Kenma's ear off as Kenma played his games. But it wasn't the same, because Kuroo couldn't sit close to Kenma, he couldn't touch Kenma, he couldn't run his fingers through his hair or pinch his nose to annoy him. All he could do was miss those things and hope he had time to visit soon.

Missing people was common, but what Kuroo felt was probably worse, so he worked to keep his mind off of it and worked even harder to make sure the loneliness didn't break down everything he already achieved.

He worked until that's all he did, and forgot about lunch and dinner and even breakfast at times, until kenma would ask and he would lie and say "yes I did eat a good meal" and the good meal being just a banana with peanut butter for the day.

"you're okay, right?" kenma would ask sometimes. "you know you can tell me if something's bothering you," and kuroo would tell him he was just busy studying for a big test and it was stressful, nothing more.

"I love you" Kenma would tell him at the end of their call and Kuroo wished he was with him in person to say it back properly.

Sometimes his grandma would call and she'd tell him all about the neighborhood gossip and how she made his favorite meal that day and hopes he has time to visit soon so she can make it for him again soon. Kuroo would tell her he was swamped with work, but he'll try to make the time

Months into university, his grades were still fine. He spent all his time on them after all to make sure they didn't drop. He didn't want the loneliness to win, until he got a bad assignment score and he realized it had.

See homesickness can be tricky. It was okay to miss home, he knew this, it was fine. But sometimes homesickness can isolate even more than it already has. Kuroo doesn't realize this until he noticed the stacks of paper on his desk, he doesn't realize this until his college friends rarely ask him to go with them to places because he always declines anyway, he doesn't realize this until his bad assignment score stares back at him.

He knew he shouldn't have skipped a couple lectures, but the fatigue was too much, so he stayed in his apartment and now there were consequences. Kuroo figures he just needs to work harder, it's only thursday night, he can cram in some more studying in the library to relearn the material better.

He's about to head out when there's a knock on his door. He's not expecting anyone, so he finds it odd.

On the other side is Kenma, who immediately drags him into a hug before kuroo can voice his surprise. "you haven't answered my texts in a few days, you never do that. you always answer them, so I knew something was wrong," kenma later tells him as he poured kuroo a cup of soup.

Kenma apparently realized something was wrong a while ago, but it wasn't until he hadn't heard from Kuroo in 2 days that he decided it was time to do something about it. He had taken his mom's leftover soup in a thermos, packed his bag with his consoles and other essentials, told his parents to cover for him in school, and Taketora to save his homework and let the team know why he's away.

"a shinkansen ticket is very expensive, you didn't have to go this far me"

"i had the money, and I wanted to" kenma says, "you're worth coming this far"

kuroo doesn't know what to say, but he doesn't have to say anything, bc kenma knows kuroo, knows the kid he once was and currently is again. kenma sits next to him, digging through his bag for psp, "you don't have to tell me anything right now, just eat. I know you haven't yet"

the irony isn't lost on kuroo, but he eats his soup that kenma's mom had made him many times before, while kenma plays his games right next to him. It's familiar, it's home.

"so are you going to tell me what's wrong?" they're in a cuddle pile on kuroo's bed, kenma holding kuroo close, running his hands through his hair.

"nothing's wrong" kuroo mumbles against kenma's chest "just tired"

"tired is something wrong, why are you tired?"

"school"

"kuro, i'm serious" kenma pulls kuroo's hair to make the point even clearer

kuroo winces before relaxing again, "I know. I just- I just miss you. I miss everybody"

"you can always reach out to us"

"it's not the same"

"how so?"

"you're not close enough. I don't do well in new places, and you're not close enough"

"I know"

"no one's close enough"

"I know"

Kuroo's not sure when he started crying into kenma's sweater, but kenma only held him a little tighter, and kept his fingers in his hair.

"I feel bad that you're missing school right now."

kuroo had woken up the next morning to an empty bed, thinking kenma's presence was just a dream, until he heard the door open and the sound of plastic going into his kitchen, where he now sits as kenma hands him breakfast.

"mmm I got it covered" kenma kisses kuroo's forehead before he sits down across from him with his own bowl of egg over rice.

"you didn't have to do all this for me, it's a lot of work"

"I want to" kenma repeats what he's said before "you're worth the effort"

if there’s anything kuroo knows is that kenma doesn’t do things he doesn’t want to do. and as he watches his other half eat his breakfast like he’s currently not playing hooky and miles away from home, kuroo decides to believe him. “thank you”

kenma stays with kuroo the entire weekend. he wants to say he showed kenma everywhere around the city, but instead they spent most of it in kuroo’s little apartment cleaning it from clutter, restocking his kitchen and playing video games.

At times kuroo would tell Kenma that he didn’t need to help him clean his home, but his sweaty and out of breath boyfriend would tell him the same thing: “I want to.” So kuroo stopped protesting.

“I have to go back home tomorrow” kenma say sunday night while he holds kuroo once again

“I know,” kuroo holds him tighter

“I’ll come back though”

“it’s too far for you”

“then maybe you should visit too”

“I have a lot of work to do”

“kuro, you need breaks too, plus grandma wants to see you. I don’t want you to be lonely all the time. Let me help. Let grandma help”

kuroo snorts, “okay, I’ll visit”

“promise me you’ll visit next month?”

“I need to see my calendar first”

“If I give you a kiss will you promise me without looking at your calendar?”

“kenmaaa”

“please”

“since when are you like this?”

“since I fell in love with you”

“oh”

“yeah. so will you?”

“you just told me you’re in love with me, let me get my bearings first”

“tetsurou”

“okay, I promise. can I get my kiss now?”

“no you can’t”

“kyanmaaa, that means our deal is void and I have to check my calendar now”

“no you don’t”

“I do”

“you don’t”

“I do”

kenma doesn’t say anything and instead tilts kuroo’s head up and leans down to kiss him proper. “you don’t” he smiles against kuroo’s own smile. “so I’ll see you in a month?”

“yeah, hopefully”

“you promised”

“i know”

kenma squeezes kuroo’s hand; they’re at the train station, “I want you home soon. I don’t want you lonely”

“I miss you already”

“i know, but I’m here” kenma taps on kuroo’s chest, right over his heart “and I’ll always be here too”

“since when did you get so romantic?”

“since i fell in love with you, we talked about this”

“kenma you can’t just say that in public! how lewd of you”

“fine, I take it back then”

“now you’re just being mean”

“visit me and I’ll give it back”

“next month?”

“next month.”

kuroo goes home to an empty apartment, but it’s somehow less lonely. kenma left behind one of his consoles and a couple of his games so kuroo can play and then tell kenma all about it.

kuroo can’t say he’s magically better and he can't say he doesn’t miss kenma the minute he left or his people back home. loneliness is sticky and removing it takes work. Work kenma has started for him though by giving him something to look forward to. Work he'd like to continue.

He has class that afternoon, so he starts getting ready to head to campus. He finds a sticky note on his failed assignment that wasn’t there before. A note from kenma, that says “I’ll see you next month.” And kuroo’s knows that he will.

#kuroken #kuroo tetsurou #kozume kenma #meow #2022 #ficlet #tw depression #bruh why is this so long hsjjdas

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keiskake · 1 year

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he's a dog, not a bird (chapter eleven - hawks)

takami keigo x quirkless f!reader (au chilhood friends // characters are aged up 21+)

warnings ~ swearing, anxiety, mentions of alcohol/drinking, angst with no resolution, spoilers about hawks’ backstory from the anime

wordcount ~ 1.844k

summary ~ you and takami keigo grew up together in a shitty hut with terrible parents. he disappeared one day when you were 6, but he never left your mind. the heavens entwine your destinies together, but it’s not a smooth journey you soon figure out.

a/n ~ i realised half way through writing this that i've been spelling endeavor's name wrong, but idc enough to change it. also noticed that i have 2-3 chapters left before this series will finish, so i'm excited for that. thank you for reading, reblogs + likes are always appreciated.

˗ˏˋ꒰ previous ꒱˗ˏˋ꒰ next ꒱

it really felt like god hated you.

being with hawks meant there was never a dull moment. just a week after he revealed himself as keigo takami to you the media was all over him. someone or something leaked his identity to every journalist and news channel in Japan. it was unavoidable.

everywhere you went it was there, and if anything it made everyone completely forget the whole endeavour rage that was going on a few days ago. every paper was headlined with the 'true identity of hawks' and every channel was streaming a news report about 'the discovery of keigo takami'. and that was only the start of it.

you called and messaged him the minute mina and jirou had told you all about the media milking hawks' leaked identity. no answer. you were worried, afraid of what they would do to him, maybe the commission would drop him as a hero. so this time you took initiative.

a text to tokoyami to let him know you were swinging by the agency and you were on your way. it was obvious the media would be swarmed all around the agency, meaning tokoyami had to help you sneak in the building without being caught.

'meet me behind the bush next to the apple tree.'

and you hit the nail on the head, crowds of people with mics, cameras and notepads heaving and shoving at the door of the agency. behind the glass panes were heroes who worked under hawks, they tried to calm down the media and shoo them away from the premises. you could've never imagined how a name could stir such chaos.

as you sneaked behind the bush you bumped heads with tokoyami. the two of you fell back and laughed at one another's forehead that now had a bright red bump. it was nice to see a familiar face in all the mayhem that was going on. he raised his eyebrows to aim at the sky and his eyes glancing quickly at an open pane in the building. it was some sort of secret exit that only those who could fly was able to use. perfect for birds.

dark shadow wrapped around your waist, lifting you into the air and quickly making it's way into the creak of the building. it led you to the floor just below hawks' office, and it seemed like the entire floor was deserted. there wasn't anyone in the meeting rooms or in a cubicle. this whole ordeal really caused a lot of trouble, not only for hawks but his sidekicks.

"y/n, why the long face?" the student breaks the silence, snapping you out of your daze.

"i'm so unsure about everything. like why is the media making such a big hassle about hawks' real identity? what's going on with hawks secondly, he hasn't picked up my calls or answered my messages. i just don't know tokoyami.." your lips were trembling, your hand gripping your arm tightly.

"then let's get an answer out of hawks directly, okay?" he offered a gentle and reassuring smile as he led the way to the elevator.

you followed the black bird, your body feeling a little sluggish and your mind riddled with anxiety. what were you gonna say to him? did he even want you there, or maybe he needed comfort from you? nothing was ever black and white with him. as you made your way up to the office, dark shadow patted your back and tokoyami beamed at you once more. it calmed your nerves and gave you that bit of confidence that you knew what you were doing.

it came to a halt at the top floor. the voices in your head chirped and squawked at you, but you chose to block it out. nothing could go wrong, not with a friend by your side and your own reassurance that you were just doing what any girlfriend would do. you pushed the double doors apart. the room let out a less than pleasant aura, almost bitter and dark. he stood behind his desk, facing the window staring at the flock of reporters.

"kei ━"

"don't call me that. tokoyami why did you bring her here." his voice was so cold, yet fuelled with anger.

"hawks she was worried about you." he put a hand to your back, pushing you into the room more and closer to hawks.

"take her home."

"but hawks ━"

"take her home tokoyami."

"i'm not going home. thanks for everything tokoyami, dark shadow but i think it's best you leave now." you did your best to put up a smile that would be enough to persuade him it would be all alright. the student nodded at you and took his leave, closing the door behind him but staying on the other side of the wall.

"y/n go home."

"no, i'm not doing this again. why haven't you been picking up, i've been worried sick." you walked up to him, both hands clenched in the form of fists.

"y/n just go home, please." he looked into your eyes, practically pleading you to leave.

"keigo stop running away ━" you tried to put your hand in his, but he slapped it away and you experienced for the first time hawks raising his voice at you.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT. commission told me i gotta leave it all behind okay? so you know what that means, it means you as well. i'm hawks, the number two hero that's now dropping in ratings. i've gone soft because of you, let down too many walls. so go home and drop my contacts. is that the explanation you were looking for?" his golden eyes darkened the more he explained, it made your knees weak.

you could barely stand, hell you didn't even have enough willpower to respond to him. urges to scream and cry were stuck. you didn't know the man in front of you. he wasn't hawks or keigo, he was just an actor. your conscious had left you, unaware that your eyes were welling up with tears. tokoyami slammed the door opened and stormed his way into the office, stopping once he met hawks' stare.

"as of right now i am no longer your student hawks. i refuse to stay under your wing if this is how you want to move forward." hearing his voice broke the chains that your mind was imprisoned in. he placed his hand behind your back and nodded at you, dark shadow coming out to take hold of your shaky hand. the two guided you out of room.

one final look. it was all you wanted. so you turned back to look at him one last time. his back was turned, still facing the window, but his wings seemed to shiver and tremble. you could feel the vibrations through your crimson hairclip. he was hurting, that much you could tell. but you knew that you couldn't stay any longer if his only solution was to run away. you had to let him go. you had to force him to learn that his wings weren't only there for him to run away.

tokoyami flew you home, using the secret exit once more. you couldn't make conversation with him no matter how hard you tried, your throat was hoarse. the only thing you could do was point him in the direction of your house. he landed in front of the main door, the same place you and hawks said your goodbyes after your first date. dark shadow patted your head and then wrapped himself around his friend once more. the student smiled again and saw himself out, taking to the sky once more.

you stumbled up the stairs to your apartment, heart heavy. keys in the door, shoes left on the matt, and your body throwing itself back into bed. it was gone all too quickly, it slipped right between your fingers. you wanted to savour the time a little more, just another day, or a few hours, even a minute more. anything.

regrets and wishes washed over you, the same way your tears were. but you just had to accept that you couldn't have changed anything even the heavens gave you a chance. could you change his mind? his heart? you wouldn't know. you couldn't know. 'there was no hope at the end of this tunnel', you mumbled to yourself before shutting your eyes closed and lulling yourself to sleep with the sounds of your fallen teardrops.

once you had left his office he slumped back into his chair, both elbows on the desk and his face covered by his hands. he wasn't 'running away', he was just protecting you and everyone around him. that's what he wanted to truly believe. but the words of his intern hit him harder than he could imagine. the student that once looked up to him is no more, and the girl he had loved so dearly had been pushed away by his cruel words. he was no victim. far from it.

there was no way of getting any work done in this state, his mind wouldn't sit still. so why would he sit still when he could simply fly away from all his problems. nothing was stopping him, it wasn't like the media could catch him anyways. he wanted to drink the pain away, and that was his evening plan.

hey buddy :) wanna drink? it's on me

if i say no you'll just come find me, won't you?

see you in 30 minutes, the usual

he put his jacket on and pulled his glasses down before heading to the bird exit of the agency. and there he took off, making his way to 'the usual'. the two often drank together, hawks normally pushing endeavour to join him and endeavour already aware that he would not take 'no' as an answer. the last time they met at this spot was to discuss the craze over the number one hero and his family drama. oh how the tables have turned.

hawks came in through an opened door on the top floor, being greeted by a waitress. she escorted him to the table endeavour was waiting at. he followed behind her, and when he arrived took his seat across from endeavour. the muscle man had his arms crossed and a stern face, grumbling under his breath.

"why did you want to meet? i had work to do."

"who would've guess we both had work to do and here we are, not doing it." hawks laughed to himself as he poured a drink for himself.

"and the reason?"

"cause i'm a free man endeavour. i'm celebrating the single life." the fakest smile was dragged across his face as he lifted his drink closer to his lips.

"what about y/n."

he gulped the entire glass down, before plopping the cup back onto the table and answering, "what about her? she's out of my life. commission said i gotta erase keigo takami, so that includes her."

"so you're the commission's dog?"

#mha x reader #bnha x reader #hawks x reader #hawks x y/n #hawks series #hawks angst

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petri808 · 8 months

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Day 7 @flufftober “fairy lights” Twiyor family AU drabble, Modern AU not canon

It’s not uncommon by the time children reach their teenage years for them to start preferring to hang out with friends over family time. But there is one thing that Anya had not grown out of yet, a special family outing they did each June when the fire flies came around.

They’d pack up a bunch of food and a big ‘ole blanket to relax on, then head over to a large park with a stream running through at sunset located far outside of the city. The air at that time of year was always a comfortable warmth, with little chance of rain, and clear open skies. Sort of the calm before the later summer storms rolled in.

They’d set up their blanket on a shorter patch of wild grasses to watch the sun setting while they eat dinner. An electric lantern provided a mellow glow. Conversations are light as each talk about their day or other topics. Loid talked about a new patient at the hospital he was helping and Yor about a new job she’d be starting in a week. It’s the first she’s had since they adopted their daughter.

Anya chattered about a movie her and her friends has seen the previous day, but mostly about school. At Eden Academy, the academics are brutally competitive, but were tolerable with her best friend, Becky Blackbell, at her side. Anya was also excited about it being her last term of 3rd year middle school. The two girls were looking forward to moving onto high school together along with the proms and annual excursions they’ll be taking.

“We’re supposed to go to Somisomi tomorrow for ice cream,” Anya told her parents. “Becky’s gonna pick me up at 11.”

“You sure?” Yor questioned. “I can drop you off.”

“Nah, it’s okay mom. Their driver—,” Anya sat up from laying on her back. “Sweet! The fire bugs are starting!”

Yor and Loid sat up as well. “So, they are.”

Anya laid back down with her head resting on her arms behind her head. “I wonder why they only come out during summer here?”

“Well,” Loid began, “in Japan some say they’re the ancestors returning to this world.“

“For Obon season?” Anya asked.

“Yeah.” Loid confirmed. “It’s a Shinto belief.”

“But there’s other folklore,” Yor added. “Didn’t I tell you about the fairy lights when you were little?”

Anya’s face scrunched as she thought hard. “Mmm, I don’t remember very well.”

Yor leaned back on her hand while pointing at a few fire bugs gently floating around the family. “In ancient times, people thought fire bugs were ethereal creatures, like fairies and the light they emit carried messages of love.”

“Fairy light,” Anya giggled. “I guess that makes sense.”

“There’s a story,” Yor continued, “of a fire fly princess who proclaimed they would marry the first suitor who could bring them fire. So, prince, after prince from creature kingdoms all throughout the lands tried to procure fire to win her hand, but all die in the process. This also lead to some equating fire flies as the carriers of a star-crossed lovers wishes. Finally, a fire fly prince from a nearby kingdom heard of the princesses proclamation and declared that he will win her hand. So, he marches over heading a battalion of soldiers, shining bright in all their lighted glory. The princess is so delighted to have found the one to bring her such a marvelous flame that they marry and live happily ever after.”

“Aww,” Anya rolls onto her side to face her parents. “That’s so sweet even though all those other princes were dumb to die for a princess.”

“I don’t know,” Loid teased and poked Yor’s shoulder. “I’d die for your mom.”

“Loid!” Yor blushed and slapped his shoulder back in jest.

“Why am I not surprised.” Anya laughed, then tapped her chin. “Maybe I’ll use this on Damian, tell him to bring me a flame to win my hand.”

“You’ll likely scare him away instead,” Loid teased. “That boy’s a bit wea…”

“Don’t!” Anya wagged a finger at her father, cutting him off knowing how he liked to tease her crush. “I know what you’re gonna say and I think—” Just as she’s about to defend Damian, a fire bug landed on finger, yet despite her shaking it doesn’t let go.

Yor chuckled, “Maybe Damian just sent you his message of love.”

#flufftober 2023 #twiyor #twiyor drabble #twiyor fanfic #damianya #hinted #unedited #petri808

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idontknowreallywhy · 1 year

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Best Jupidad Moments #6 Nevermoor Ch 9 - What’s Really Important?

Right, I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling to differentiate between “the best Jupidad moments” and “ALL the Jupidad moments” as each one has its particular charm but… I’ll try to rein myself in!

First: trying exciting new things…

The bone-shaking terror she’d felt watching the platform speed towards her was washed away by a wave of adrenaline, and she let out a triumphant shout as they hooked on to the rail. Jupiter grinned, throwing his head back to enjoy the ride.

I especially love this moment right now because I recently took my daughter on her first proper rollercoaster ride. She wanted to do it, to start with, but got herself very worked up and tearful in the queue. Part of me wanted to just say “ok fine, we don’t have to do this today” but I feel like I know her fairly well(!) and I was sure she’d enjoy it and also be really proud of herself for facing her fear and going through with it. So instead I said “we’re going to do it, I think you’ll love it but if not it’ll be less than a minute, you’ll be safe and I’m with you and we never have to do it again”. Thankfully she did love it, but I did question myself and my parenting a lot in that queue!

Our Jupidad is making a similar call, albeit without the assurance of physical safety cos… Nevermoor… and sure enough this becomes one of Morrigan’s favourite things about living in the city. Did he know for sure she wouldn’t hate it? No. But he pushes her to try anyway.

I also suspect he’s running distraction here - she’s nervous about the garden party, so he gives her something else to focus on, where she gets a big old shot of adrenaline and arrives at the party thinking “wow, I did that!” which should take the edge off the nerves at least a little. Clever Jove.

He also lets her choose her own outfit, rather than forcing her into something that would make her either blend in with everyone else’s pastel vibe, or match his own flamboyant style…

… filled with people in light linen suits and pastel dresses. Jupiter had allowed Morrigan to choose her own outfit – a black dress with silver buttons, which Dame Chanda declared ‘smart, but utterly lacking in spectacle’. Morrigan thought Jupiter’s lemon-yellow suit and lavender shoes provided enough spectacle for both of them.

I think this is a pretty big deal actually and perhaps not something Morrigan would have foreseen after the “black isn’t a colour” conversation. Would it have been kinder to have said “I think everyone else will wear something more spring-ish”? It might have saved her from a couple of insults from Noelle… but the two of them were likely to clash anyway and isn’t it better to start making new friendships by being yourself? It’s easy to want to protect a child from getting splashed by social waves, but if you coddle them too much they won’t learn to swim in the sea.

There are some waves, however, that nobody should take to the face. Like raw sewage, radioactive waste, or Baz Charlton…

He was cut off by a sharp look from Jupiter, his mouth left hanging open. ‘Consider your next words carefully, Mr Charlton,’ Jupiter said in the low, cold voice that Morrigan had heard from him only once before, on Eventide at Crow Manor. She shivered.

Baz Charlton closed his mouth. Jupiter stepped aside, releasing the long-haired man from his gaze and allowing him to stumble away. He sighed as he smoothed down his yellow suit and gave Morrigan’s shoulder a quick squeeze. ‘Told you. Odious man. Pay no attention.’

I really want to know what the deal is with Jupiter’s low, cold voice because it really freaks everyone out! I wonder how often he uses it other than in Mog-defence-mode? It’s a very effective way of protecting Morrigan here and although I think we’d all like to see Baz dropped from a great height into a skip, I really appreciate how there’s no physical threat used.

Enjoying yourselves?’ Jupiter wandered over with a placid smile, ignoring the stream of servants rushing past with nets and brooms. Morrigan chewed the side of her mouth guiltily. ‘A bit.’

Ha, I love the image of that smile where he knows exactly what’s gone on here. I also adore the fact that Morrigan has somehow befriended the one child out of 500 who is probably the most like Jupiter was at school 😅

Plus the moment of mirroring later when she asks Jove a question she knows the answer to:

‘I’m here illegally, aren’t I?’

Jupiter chewed the side of his mouth. ‘A bit.’

How do they debrief later? Not with a “so, what did you think of Wunsoc?” but…

‘You made a friend.’ ‘I think so.’

‘Anything else of interest?’

Morrigan thought for a moment. ‘I think I made an enemy too.’

‘I didn’t make my first proper enemy until I was twelve.’ He sounded impressed.

Oh poor Morrigan, you’re going to rack up a few of those pretty soon. Thanks to Jupidad for making that sound like an achievement rather than a character flaw 😬

‘Promise you’ll think about it?’

‘Only if you promise you’ll stop thinking about not getting into the Society.’

‘But if I don’t get in—’

‘We’ll blow up that bridge when we come to it.’ Morrigan sighed. Just give me a straight answer, she thought. But she said no more.

Jupiter ushered Morrigan down the hall ahead of him. ‘Now. Tell me more about your resourceful new friend. Where in the Seven Pockets did he find a barrel full of toads?’

And just like that he brings it back round to what should be important to an 11 year old - friends, having fun, new experiences - and sharing the excitement of these things with a parental figure is such a precious and vital part of the relationship. Jupiter proves he is as interested in these details of her life as much if not as more than the big picture “what does the future hold, what is my purpose?” kind of stuff that threatens to take over.

This is maybe my favourite thing about Jupidad - how he constantly values her as a person (and as part of that her everyday life experience) above everything else, even though he is confronted with the BIG thing that makes her particularly important to the world every single time he looks at her.

#nevermoor #jupidad #jupiter north #morrigan crow #feel free to add your thoughts or any moments I missed!#parenting lessons from fiction #The Deucalion also hits a similar parenting high with that jelly sculpture painting fwiw

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ask-serendipity-sky · 10 months

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Im absolutely flabbergasted by army lol. It's the way they show EQUAL hype to all members projects announcement. Idk how can someone pretend it like that. How can you be 24*7 hyped about 7 different people's works which is announced back to back ? I'm still not over FACE. 'Oh Namjoon will release a song aknzkwmxnskzkwms' next second 'oh Tae will release an album znndkwksmsmamnsn' the very next second 'oh JK will release a minialbum akndjwndoowzndks', How lmao, I can't even pretend.

Oh Yoongi release concept pics ? Let's be a cult and change everyone's pfp to same pic. Oh JK announced new song ? Let's add 'by JK' to our dn. Oh hobi releasing JITB ? Let's add a joker card to our username Etc etc. So pumped and so dramatic only to give them 7 different treatments lmao. The numbers don't lie and this over dramatic response to each and every new song announcement is not translated to output.

JK gets a 10M stream on 1st week average, Jimin gets a 6M stream, Yoongi get a 2M stream, Joon barely on chart by end of the week and hobi already out after a day 💀💀💀💀 so all those drama for what ? To show they are as excited and equally supportive of all 7 members ? To prove they are OT7 to the core ? Then why results are not seen lol. There are many factors which affect the numbers but being out of chart in a week too extreme while other member stays for months is not giving 'Army treats everyone equally' shit.

I think people should be really honest with their reaction to members announcements. There's no need to 'pretend' and give fake hype only to drop them after day 2 and let other small fandoms drag them. Idk if it's to get followers or to live upto their pure blooded ot7 agenda lol but either way it's not working and it shows in result. It's like giving members too much expectation during project announcement and release only to drop them after the 2 days of release

Hi anon,

But it's social media and this is expected. You got to be ot7 or you are an anti. You are a Blink!

Like the other day when someone sent me an ask saying they thought I didn't like BTS because I write mean or sad things or don't mention them (something like that). Because I don't live in lala land and write what I see.

But in real life, I buy their solo music. Which is what the guys need. Support in their solo projects. And I add most of their singles or collabs to my Jimin playlists. Most.

I don't make a big deal about it on twitter but then I see the people with the little 7s and Celine and FACE with D-day and Jack and CK with Dior lol

I get your frustration lolol I really do.

But if people were honest, they would all be solos probably. So it's easier to pretend along.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

By the way, you all know the picture that Jk had for a tiny bit on weverse? This one:

So when Jk did that, EVERYONE did that. But that has been my pfp since I opened twitter. And by now, you all know I'm petty as hell and I was so mad because everyone looked like me! And it seemed like I was part of the sheeple copying Jk but I just really like this picture of Jimin.

Jk and I are so alike, I swear. Sometimes, I have dreams where we both go in search of Jimin lol like we are buddies. I get you, Jk. I really do.

#skyasks

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souryogurt64 · 2 years

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The Troubadour cancelled swmrs’ LA Show. Yikes..I think they’re going to try and come back but ultimately not work out because of venues/labels etc. knowing they’re toxic (from a commercial/PR standpoint, not that they give a fuck about predatory behavior) and never being able to rebuild their ravenous young girl ultra stan fanbase

Yeah I’m not surprised. I haven’t been too upset about this because I figured they wouldn’t get far.

SWMRS like . What happened was so far beyond a normal cancelled band because they carefully curated their base to be obsessed with this performative feminism especially ideology about consent and also to engage in coordinated cyberbullying and harassment campaigns. Plus, the band was more like a cult— I don’t think I’ll ever experience or even be aware of something like that ever again, even among other bands.

As someone who was deep in the fanbase I can get how they failed to realize this. Joey was the un-PC sex pest and kind of openly mocked the activism stuff sometimes, whereas Cole was the faux-anarchist Berkeley student giving speeches, pointing fingers, and making zines. Meanwhile, Max was a literal frat boy doing all the shit with social media. However they’ve had years to figure this out lol.

Now that they’re trying to make a comeback all of that is coming together to stop them, whereas other bands like Borns, All Time Low, The Frights, and Brand New have been able to recover much more easily.

Also like they’re saying shit about the band being “their job” but like. They were always supported by their very wealthy parents and have not put out music or toured in like over three years. Despite this abundance of free time, their website was still incomplete with filler text when they went live. Clearly this is not your job and not how you are making a living, this is something you feel entitled to because of your upbringing.

I’ve been working on an essay for awhile like breaking down everything that was going wrong in the fanbase and how they were falling apart for awhile due to their entitlement and misunderstanding of what it means to be in a band.

Like for example about a year before they got canceled they did a merch drop everyone was super excited about and then no one was getting their merch. They completely dismissed any complaints about it and just held everyone’s money hostage and kept saying to be patient and everyone’s stuff was still coming for (what I remember as) months. Eventually they admitted they had taken way more orders than they had stock for and we weren’t getting our shit after all. Instead of just issuing refunds they made everyone wait more for someone to contact them to try and push years old merch that had never sold because no one wanted it instead. At full price, not even discounted prices. While this was going on they still had time to stream League of Legends or whatever and beg for more money on Twitch all the time.

I know that sounds inconsequential but there was so much shit going on all the time. And it still demonstrated such greed and carelessness and selfishness. It was always this kind of sinking ship which I think is part of what made people so desperate to be a part of it while it was happening because the highs were really fucking high in spite of it all. Like they played this X Games festival because they were into skateboarding and video games and Joey has family in Minnesota, ignoring that their base was like. Californian teen girls not into paying $100 to watch League streams. It was so fucking awful there, there were only like ten of us and it was like all drunk 30 year old Tony Hawk wannabes and their set was the shittiest I’d ever seen. Cole’s vocals sounded like shit, probably because the only thing he does competently is smoke pot.

IIRC this was just after a big merch drop that everyone was excited for like the last one, so some of us were there to have a chance at buying the new merch and they weren’t even selling anything at all because they were too busy gaming. Then Seb kept coming out over and over and really desperately begging us to sit by the stage and stay because no one was watching their set and they desperately needed people for the camera crews to film when they played another song again for some sports TV channel. He said like twenty minutes but we were there for like well over an hour and every time we got up to leave or go to other things at the festival he would come back and beg really aggressively.

By the time we actually got filmed and left the band didn’t come out to say thank you or say hi or sign anything, even though there were literally like only like seven of us left at that point. They kept us so long that the electric scooters a lot of us had taken to the show had stopped running and I walked like a mile and a half to my hotel in the dark crying. Everyone’s phone was dead and everyone’s parents were so worked up and everyone already had everyone else blocked on Twitter. It was terrible.

I know all that stuff seems really inconsequential but it was just this endless shitshow of selfishness and incompetence and cruelty, like they hired a fan who was homeless and wouldn’t pay her and at the Uncool in 2017 people were already protesting their friends’ opening bands who were later cancelled for abuse, it just hadn’t really caught on yet. And the last Uncool right before the accident was a complete fucking disaster. It was so bad. It was so so so bad.

It just got worse and worse as time went on and demonstrated they did not have what it took to be in a rock band even though they say “It’s their job” and they think they’re automatically entitled to a successful career and everyone buying tickets to their shows because they’ve never had to truly work for interest in their band due to Billie.

Anyway I was thinking about the 3rd anniversary of when it all went down for that essay but maybe I’ll do when they “tour.”

Finally The Bowery Electric is owned by Jesse Malin, who is a longtime friend of Billie’s. So I think that show will take a lot more to get canceled. Similarly Ultra Q are wheezing along and have made negative progress compared to where they were at 5 years ago because they don’t have what it takes either but they don’t fail because of their connections.

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dalegeeksout · 9 months

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Fan Autoethnography

I'm a fan of a lot of things, but one of the fandoms most integral to my identity and which I've spent possibly the most time engaging with is WandaVision. WandaVision is a nine-episode limited series that released weekly episodes on DisneyPlus beginning on January 15, 2021. The plot of the show surrounds super-powered Avengers Wanda and Vision living idealized suburban lives together, but they quickly begin to realize that not everything is as it seems. This show and this fandom have influenced me so much. I wear clothes and accessorize in ways that convey my pride in being a WandaVision fan, and I'm always hoping to find other fans that way so we can geek out together. Half of my wardrobe are Marvel graphic tees, but I have four shirts alone dedicated to WandaVision. I've also collected accessories and Funko Pops!

Some of my Wanda and Vision merch!

As a fan of WandaVision, I went back and watched the show multiple times to analyze subtext, find easter eggs, etc. I am a very analytical person, I was already a Marvel fan, and Wanda and Vision had been two of my favorite MCU characters for a long time, so this show seemed made specifically for me. WandaVision was uniquely suited to rewatching because the plot was a mystery. The audience doesn’t know how Wanda ended up in what is revealed as the hex, and we also don’t know how Vision is alive either—in his last appearance, he died (technically twice). So, each episode hints at the answer to the mystery and the other forces at work that Wanda comes into conflict with. That’s one of my favorite elements of all Marvel content—they’re built for Marvel fans looking for easter eggs referencing the comics or foreshadowing future projects.

I was heavily involved in the online fandom community for WandaVision, but mostly as an observer. I didn’t write any fanfiction or make analysis videos of my own. That’s how I interact across all my fandoms, no matter how engaged I am with the content, simply because I’m nervous to ever say anything online since it’s permanent. I was afraid to get hate or regret what I’d put out there. I watched many YouTube analysis videos and TikTok fan commentary videos. If I ever had anything to say, I would make little notes to myself. Something about revealing myself online in any capacity is scary, even if I had the mask of anonymity. So, this textpost with my own name on it is a big step out of my comfort zone, but I'm excited to finally share my thoughts with others.

On social media, I followed the actors. I also looked into the directors and writers behind the show, since I’d like to work as a screenwriter one day and admired the way they wrote the show. In addition, I followed content creators who primarily analyzed the show. Two Youtube creators that I was already following—New Rockstars and Beyond the Trailer—I returned to religiously every week to watch their analyses and reviews of the show as it dropped weekly episodes. I planned certain days around watching the show; I created a ritual of watching new episodes at night after dinner, then watching fan commentary immediately afterward. I can’t say I’ve been that dedicated with other shows simply because I wasn’t as passionate about the characters—I'd already been emotionally attached to Wanda and Vision for years.

Jensen states that fandom is often characterized as an “obsessive loner” or the “hysterical crowd,” creating, “a thin line between ‘normal’ and ‘excessive’ fandom,” (qtd. in Malone). WandaVision may have that distinction between normal and excessive, but I would argue that for most viewers it was excessive. And that excess became the new normal. This new excess as normality became the standard for much media, like WandaVision, released during the pandemic—a time when most people didn’t have much to do, were stuck inside, and were experiencing much emotional turmoil. Thus, they turned to newly available streaming services for entertainment and escape. The conditions around WandaVision’s release made it perfectly suited for excessive fandom: it was the first Marvel DisneyPlus show, so it received extra promotion, which built excitement among the already strong Marvel fanbase; episodes dropped weekly, giving fans time to discuss and build more anticipation week-to-week; and TikTok was becoming popular in the U.S., so people anywhere and everywhere with access to the app could talk about it.

According to Nielsen ratings, in its first week, with just two episodes, WandaVision was number 6 in the top 10 most watched original shows (Spangler). I would argue that pandemic-era shows like WandaVision pushed the line between “normal” and “excessive” fandom more toward the excessive side, raising average fan engagement levels. Excessive fan engagement became more normalized and remains that way thanks to how active and accessible fan spaces on TikTok, Tumblr, Reddit, and Twitter are.

As for myself, I’d say I've always been an intense fan of whatever I get into because I’m a naturally obsessive person. It’s hard for me to be a “normal” fan of media I consume unless I can't emotionally connect with the characters. However, I would say that WandaVision pushed my threshold more, and I became invested in it more than I had in possibly any other fandom before.

I became so invested in WandaVision because of my circumstances at the time. The show, like many other fandoms, compensated me psychologically. The times in my life when I have felt the loneliest are when I’ve become the most obsessed with my fandoms. When I got into WandaVision, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic when everything was shut down, and I was stuck in the house all the time. On top of that, my dad was going through chemotherapy at the same time. I was already a fan of many things, but the fandoms I got involved with during this period were at a heightened level I’d never experienced before, and I don’t think I’ve experienced since.

My WandaVision (and other fandoms) themed homescreen

WandaVision gave me something to look forward to every week when everything else in life seemed like shit. I needed an escape, and I love to analyze shows, so WandaVision became my life. I thought about it all the time, I bought a ton of merch, and after the show ended, that summer I made all my devices WandaVision-themed and even taught myself how to code to program my phone so that when I plugged and unplugged it from the charger, Vision’s voice greeted me (I have since forgotten how to code, unfortunately). I developed a kind of parasocial relationship with Wanda and Vision—I was devoted to their love story in the show, which was bolstered by my years shipping them since their first MCU appearances in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Their relationship in the show gave me intimacy that I was lacking at the time. I lived vicariously through the two characters since they had such a positive relationship.

Wanda was experiencing so many mixed emotions around the same time I was, and in the penultimate episode when she realizes her happy family life is entirely a fantasy—that her children don’t exist and the love of her life has been dead all along—she breaks down, and so did I when I watched it the first time. Wanda releases all of her emotions in this blast of energy, and breaking down with her was a cathartic experience for me because I had much tension in my own life. Plus, I missed Vision—he's been my comfort character for years. It felt like I was losing a friend who’s been with me since 2015. As a result, WandaVision was psychologically compensating for me in a liberating, positive way. The show gave me an emotional outlet when I lacked one. It came at such a tumultuous time in my life, and I became so deeply entrenched in the show and in the discourse surrounding it at the time that it became a part of my identity. I can't imagine how I would've gotten through the loneliness and lethargy during the pandemic without the intimacy from my attachment to the characters and the online community of WandaVision fans that I became a part of.

I miss them :')

Works Cited:

Malone, Lauren. "Fan Autoethnography." Canvas, https://utampa.instructure.com/courses/15499/assignments/43917?module_item_id=287377.

Spangler, Todd. "‘WandaVision’ Breaks Into Nielsen Top 10 Streaming Rankings." Variety, https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/wandavision-nielsen-ratings-top-10-streaming-1234907166/.

Feedback summary: My peer reviewers noted that my autoethnography was very thorough, thoughtful, and in-depth. They also stated I had a good use of sources.

#255Fandom #TheOfficeofDocMalone #wandavision #scarlet witch #the vision

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bearsinpotatosacks · 8 months

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Stream of Consciousness - Whumptober2023

Like crying out in empty rooms; with no-one there except the moon - Journal

Instead of dropping him off, taking some photos and crying a little, I feel like I can't breathe. Like Bradley's sat on my chest like he does some mornings when he's excited. All I can do is take short breaths, my head feels light and hands kind of fuzzy. So I'm journaling, my bereavement support group says it's a good habit so I don't spiral. But I can still spiral on paper.

It's Bradley's first day of school and Carole's struggling to cope.

For day 3 of @whumptober . Also on AO3. Contains some suicide idealisation here so be wary of that too.

Dear Diary,

It was Bradley's first day of school today. I seriously underestimated how hard this would be for me, for us. I guess I didn't think it would be any different, after Nick’s death and all. He wouldn't be here anyway probably, unless he'd gotten to be an instructor at Top Gun after all, but then again, I highly doubt they'd let him out of his busy schedule to see his four year off to school. The Navy’s not sentimental.

Instead of dropping him off, taking some photos and crying a little, I feel like I can't breathe. Like Bradley's sat on my chest like he does some mornings when he's excited. All I can do is take short breaths, my head feels light and hands kind of fuzzy. So I'm journalling, my bereavement support group says it's a good habit so I don't spiral. But I can still spiral on paper.

I guess it just hit me that he'll never see this. He'll never see the photos or hear about his day or help with his homework or a crush or pick a tie for the school dances. He'll never help him if he gets into sport or teach him piano. He's gone and I hate it.

He's gone and some days I wish I'd gone with him. I wish we'd been in a car accident while Mav looked after Bradley, or there'd been a fire or a hit and run. Something where we could go together and Bradley stayed safe. Then I wouldn't have to navigate a world I'd entered with him, but now had to figure out all by myself. There were some things we did together, some things we started together that will never get finished.

We had a dream of having a whole bunch of kids, a big house with a wraparound porch, a porch swing that I could read on, an endless garden for all the kids to play in. Now I won't have that, I never will because that dream was ours and it died with him.

I can’t stop thinking of what will be different with the other parents too. It's Texas, people talk and there are set rules about families. People are going to talk and I don't want to give them the answers. Because I don’t like the answers.

I don't want him to be dead. I don't want to have to explain to every other mother how and why my husband died, why I'm not dating again yet and why I don't want to.

I don't want Bradley to have to explain to his teacher why he's not making a father's day card, why no one's showing up for those meals where your dad comes to eat with you, or those show and tells where your dad tells the class what he does. Because I know what he'll have to say and I don't want my baby boy to have to hurt and be ridiculed for having a dead dad.

The pain in my heart just grows every day. They say it gets easier day by day but it doesn't. How can it, when everyday I experience something new he'll never know about? Or Bradley does something new that he'll never get to see?

If it wasn’t for Bradley I think I would've tried to join him already. I can't. Bradley's lost his dad, he doesn’t need his momma going too.

Doesn't mean I haven't thought about it. And thought of seeing him again. And feeling light again, happy again, when we embrace.

Fuck. I'm going to be late for work at this rate. And I've got tears on the page.

Let's hope today gets better. If not, at least Bradley'll have a good day. I hope.

Carole

Poor Carole :(. That's it, that all I've got. I want nothing but happiness for her, and actually have some happy fics for her in mind but it's whumptober and they'll have to wait. Thanks for reading! @whumptober-archive

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cephalonserotonin · 2 years

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Warframe Devstream 164 Notes

Another change to the Rebb Creative Director era (erra) seems to be bringing in new people on the team for each stream, which is great! Love to see more of the personalities working on the game

I also appreciate the awareness brought to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which I didn't know about as I don't live in canada

Pablo speaking Spanish :)

this isn't related to the content of the stream, but right as Ven'kra and Sprag were shown and I eagerly went to pause and examine the new art, twitch dropped no less than 3 ADS on me. So much for excitement in the moment. I am so angry at the state of online video these days

but speaking of Venkra and Sprag, their weapons look sick as hell and I'm excited that we're getting skins for them! Especially that hammer

making the Veilbreaker Challenges cumulative is a really good idea, very gamer-friendly

(Honestly I've been a big fan of every decision Pablo has made since being crowned Lead Designer)

Styanax Foley deep dive!! I adore Styanax's sound effects and it was neat to see the individual noises that comprise them (especially if your ear can't distinguish them like me lol) definitely check that out (about half an hour into the devstream) if you're interested in sound design

thought it was neat to hear the difference between the spear throw sound and the spear impale sound

As an aside, Slater the sound designer called the 4 ability an ultimate, which will make my clanmate happy as i always poke fun at him for doing that lol

this is not Overwatch.

REVENANT PRIME yeah boyeeee 👻👻👻👻👻 !!!!

y'all don't even know, Phantasma is among my favourite guns, Tastu is my favourite nikana, Revenant is one of my mains and who I play almost exclusively in the month of October. One of my first posts on here was my Spoopy Revenant. and now it's ALL GETTING PRIMED :D

my spooky boy arrives October 5th!!

Do Revenant Prime thralls have a different icon above their heads or are my eyes deceiving me??

"flesh arsenal"

he looks so. Victorian. 🧐

Dark Magician is right, Megan's look has big Yu-Gi-Oh vibes

"classic vampire trope, lasers" "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the lack of laser vampires" this is very valid

haunted orbiter decorations!!

I kind of want to do Captura Tennotober but realistically I know I don't have it in me 😔

hello werewolf milf frame 🥺

chat doesn't like her but I think she looks great and I want her to tear my head off, personally

I'm interested to see what new Grineer lore Ven'kra and Sprag's interactions with Kahl will bring

the fucking. Dojo updates. Dojo decorations are the bane of my sleep schedule and it looks like I've got some more restless nights in my future!

the archon shard ephemeras look amazing, unfortunately for me as I do not do archon hunts

It's a small thing at the end, but ammo visuals are being changed to no longer rely on colour! Yay accessibility!

#warframe #devstream #devstream 164 #ven'kra #sprag #revenant prime #vampires with lasers #sera's devstream notes #image transcriptions now added!#imagine writing 'yay accessibility!' in a post and then forgetting an alt text. smh

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landlordrecords · 1 year

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Charity CD shopping for beginners

About nine years ago, I did THIS post: https://www.tumblr.com/landlordrecords/77471855182/charity-record-shopping-for-beginners , which I thought was quite good & summed up the subject of shopping for records in charity shops quite well, & seemed to get the odd nice comment. Since then, vinyl has swung back into favour, & everyone now seems to think every piece of vinyl is worth a fortune, & hence the charity shops either have overpriced vinyl or none at all (as either the shops sell them online or at central stores, or punters hold onto them or sell them online). Hence, the current state of the charity shops for vinyl is very poor, back to the days of largely bad easy listening & 80s records. It must be an annoying time to be starting out as a record collector (can you imagine starting now? Jeez. It was a tall enough order when I started at the beginning of the 90s). I covered CDs briefly in that piece, but I felt that with the way things have gone, that bit needed expanding somewhat. As with the previous one, if you’ve been around for a while, most of this will be obvious, but...

When the vinyl in charity shops started drying up a few years ago, I noticed the CDs were becoming more plentiful & cheaper. I often largely ignored these before, rushing from shop to shop when I was in a town for an hour or two, to look at all the vinyl. CDs in charity shops often used to be relatively expensive (£3/£4), considering that you can’t always guarantee they will play right, & the selection often poor. Now, as more people clear out collections & settle for streaming, the charity shops didn’t know what to do with them all, they had so many, & they have dropped to a max of usually £1.25, & often even 20p/25p, at which price it doesn’t really matter if the odd one doesn’t play (indeed, this is cheaper than replacement jewel cases used to be - if I was more mercenary, I’d hoover up loads of Westlife CDs, throw out the discs & replace all my bust boxes). With the pandemic, there was a huge amount of stuff people had time to sort & throw out, & this did seem to cause a charity shop wobble, with some being overwhelmed with CDs they couldn’t get rid of, & stopping doing them altogether (I even stuck one place £20 when they were literally giving away two rooms full of discs & I’d handpicked 100 from them). This seems to have calmed down now though. I have no idea how many I’ve bought in recent years - certainly many hundreds, maybe low thousands - I’ve had to start a supplementary part of my collection at my parents’ house, at the other end of the country, for the less exciting ones, there have been so many. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY love vinyl - I was a record collector for several years before we even got a CD player, & I just stuck with it, BUT I’m not ultra-fussy - I do like to have physical copies of things, but don’t really mind what format, & new vinyl prices are truly mental, so... CDs also do have some obvious advantages - more compact, not better but more reliable audio playback (& probably better audio for a small but significant number of very quiet releases where you’d need virgin vinyl kept pristine to get good audio for them on vinyl), plus readymade for ripping from.

My first big bagging was a couple of full collections of hip hop CDs - I pretty much completely overhauled my hip hop collection, filling in classics I’d never got round to, pretty much full (relevant) discographies for various rappers I’d never caught up with. There were earlier & later ones, but the bulk were from what I’d call the silver age (mid 90s-early 2000s), a lot of which I had ignored because of the received wisdom that this generation of hip hop albums were overlong, had too many skits, were just a couple of singles & an hour of filler. I have to say, this changed my opinion on that - I generally listen to CDs in the car, often hopping between stop-offs, & (taken in this episodic way, & able to dedicate more concentration than I can often give rap lyrics, while driving mechanically around well-known streets), I found most (certainly not all) to be way better than that, & well worth a listen or two. Also (& this isn’t new, but I’ve increased it), I spend a lot of time looking at 90s CD singles: these were often ultra-long, full of soundalike remixes, & I found this a chore at the time, but (still fiending for a lot of stuff from then), it’s surprising how many have good quality mixes buried away deep into the tracklist, even ones by acts you wouldn’t normally touch with a bargepole, & while some might be expensive on vinyl, they’re certainly not on CD single (if you can spot them). With the aforementioned episodic driving, I even quite like listening to half an hour’s worth of mixes of the same tune in order to find the goodies!

Most of the rules which I gave in the earlier piece, regarding vinyl, stay the same here -

For the Collector, Not the Dealer: I know several people who have advocated for years not to throw the baby out with the bath water on CDs - yes, they started overpriced, but became a useful, cheap way to pick up catalogue BUT they are not generally worth much still. I am starting to see rumblings that this is changing (think pieces etc), & it surely will do over time, as supplies on some titles get tighter; plus I seem to be selling cheap CDs better than a few years ago, for ever so slightly more, & occasionally for good prices BUT this is not a goldmine, it is for the enthusiast.

Broad Not Deep: Some genres I barely find in charity shops - for instance, any experimental stuff will be near-random & rare, & I don’t see much metal at all (I presume people hold onto it or swoop in first). Hence, you can’t generally go in expecting to find certain stuff (with the odd exception of ones I’ve seen hundreds of times but not thought I was interested in, then hear, like, & know I can go out & find within the next few stores). To be heavily into it, you need to be into a broad spread of stuff, & prepared to come home with a pretty random selection, commercial or obscure.

Go In Them All, Look At Every CD: Charity shops are seriously random, you never know what will come in when.

Be Prepared For Defeat: To be fair, with charity shop CDs at the mo, I could always buy SOMETHING, but try to keep your quality control going & be prepared to be pleased just to have swept that area recently. I sometimes find comps that have one or two tracks I’m after, but I listen to everything (eventually), & can’t always bear the thought of hearing all the other tracks I’ve got ten times over yet again.

If It Seems Right, Ask: I haven’t bothered getting into situations where I might get into the storeroom so much with CDs as with vinyl, but I still do occasionally get invited to look at further hidden stock if I ask if they’ve any more music. Worth a go in the right situation.

The Genres You Don’t Buy Yet: Refer back to Broad Not Deep.

Prices: We are starting to get back to where a few of the chains now have a special shop where they send all the good stuff (books, DVDs, CDs), & ramp the prices up. I’m willing to look, but unlikely to buy anything, at big prices in charity shops unless it’s some unbelievable find - most CDs are probably the same price or less new online still. Fair play to them though, & the prices aren’t as mental as those they sometimes put on vinyl yet (that trend has spread further & further, & to be fair, in recent years, has thrown up a handful of charity shops where they are clearly run by someone who knows their stuff, & I have found myself looking at racks & racks of things I never really thought I’d see copies of...but I can’t afford).

CONDITION

This was what I wanted to expand on most - I didn’t previously say much before regarding CD condition, other than that they don’t always play. I’m no expert on CD cleaning, so this is very much a rough guide, but:

Look at the playing surface of the disc in the light (usually the silver side with no artwork, although there are other colours, & sometimes I think you get double-sided ones, & some might have basically zero artwork, so are plain silver either side - hence, be slightly careful). If there is some dirt or whatever on it, it’ll probably come off - just give it a brush - & it’ll be fine. As with vinyl, with scratches it largely comes down to how deep they look - if it has just brushed against some stuff, it will probably be fine (although I might leave it if it is a spiderweb of such marks), if the marks look like it has literally been scratched, it might still play but I would generally just leave it. If you can see through the disc where paint has flecked off, it is toast, leave it. You won’t see many cracked ones, but obviously they won’t play. Beyond that, it is hard to tell - I was playing a DVD I’d picked up for 20p the other week, got halfway through & it started skipping chapters. When I got it out, I realised I must not have checked it very well, & the entire playing surface was covered in some sort of misty see-through build-up. I spent quite a while putting it under a slow cold tap, dabbing it dry with a soft towel, & repeating (all my CD-cleaning stuff died some years ago & it’s not something I need often enough to replace), eventually then rubbing the watery surface repeatedly when the previous technique wasn’t making much difference. It played fine afterwards. Others might look fine but not play at all - they can be temperamental.

Disc rot seems to mainly affect a generation of CDs from about the early 90s, although I’ve not seen it often enough to take much interest in it. It sounds like the name (look it up on Google Images), & obviously isn’t good if you do stumble across one with it. Bronzing comes from the same period (the discs end up looking bronze in colour), & I don’t remember having issues with ones like this, although I read that they will degrade, & they look pretty ugly.

Packaging-wise, if the disc has been kept OK, there may well be next to nothing wrong with the booklet etc - sometimes they’re a bit bent up or have rusty staples. The main annoyance is when they’ve been pushed in incorrectly & there are marks from the tray tabs on the booklet. This isn’t going to bother me unless they’ve caused a heck of a lot of damage. You also get water-damaged ones - best avoided, but if they are valuable ones & it’s just a bit of moisture (not everything stuck together), buyers don’t seem to mind. The real issue with CD packaging is the darned boxes. You can have lots of little imperfections with vinyl packaging, but in most cases, if it’s there, it looks broadly OK. CDs, however, were blessed with the dreaded jewel case, one of man’s worst inventions. To be fair, these are easily replaceable, & do generally do the job of protecting what’s inside, but they are also seriously maddening. They often get cracked, not that that is usually a big deal, but the worst is the hinges breaking off - they are really delicate. I have so many sat around here that I sometimes only have to move my chair around slightly to have another few to replace. About as annoying are the teeth which are meant to keep the disc in place - you can often open them straight from the factory & half of these are already broken off or flattened. Arguably better, but still flawed, are digipaks (the ‘softback’ of CD packaging) - these look way nicer to start with, but (as the tray is glued into the card), if the teeth go, it somewhat ruins the effect, & they are a bit prone to getting rubbed & scraped & little tears. I’m starting to think about putting my better ones in PVC slips. Far too late in the day, the industry eventually came up with super jewel cases, which are basically the same design & size as jewel cases, but much more robust (particularly around the hinge areas) & feature the latest in a long line of attempts to improve on the teeth. To be honest, I have relatively few of these, so the jury is still out for me, but they’re certainly better than what came before. Either way, as mentioned above, jewel cases are pretty much interchangeable & therefore easy to replace (it is more the number that need replacing after a while that is irritating) - some of the majors did do their own branded ones, but it is subtle & they did enough that these aren’t hard to replace either, if you are so inclined. I’ve never seen anyone arguing the toss over what generation of jewel case is on their expensive second-hand CD purchase, although I can imagine that coming in the future.

CDRs are a separate thang. A brilliant format to start with (wow, home recording artists can cheaply make their own releases, as with cassettes, but you can skip to individual tracks), they have turned out to be rather temperamental. To be fair, I have been examining mine a bit in recent times & it does mainly seem to be very early ones from certain labels (ie certain makes of machine) that have died, & even if they don’t work in players anymore, they sometimes still rip (or vice versa) - this is also the case with skipping CDs in general. A lot of the stuff that has died was by people who are still around, loading stuff up on Bandcamp etc, so it isn’t the end of the world but (as with breaking delicate 78s), it is a bit galling when they go, although some collectors don’t even seem to mind, they just want the item for posterity. If you’ve got lots of CDRs you haven’t ripped at high quality, especially early ones, it might be time to get them done if still possible.

VALUE?

There are, of course, plenty of CDs which are rare, although it is limited numbers compared to vinyl (which, as well as being generally agreed as more attractive, has a much longer history). The sort I see going for extreme money are one-offs (studio discs of work in progress etc), or box sets, or very obscure but trendy stuff, but there are plenty of second hand ones around at old CD prices (£10-15): if you imagine picking one of them up in every fifty 20p CDs from charity shops, it helps keep things affordable. I suspect some very early CDs might be worth money (although I’ve not seen much evidence of it in ones I’ve had, & would note that some of the early reissues have quite poor sound quality, obviously transferred from vinyl ‘needledrops’ rather than master tapes). I generally have a look at pop ones from past the mid-2000s, as sometimes these weren’t done in very long runs & can be worth at least enough to keep my hobby going, although it does vary (the golden rule is to only buy stuff I’d happily keep if it’s not worth anything). Certainly you see a lot of more recent promo ones by people who went on to be big going for inflated prices on Discogs, although this may wane over time, as they fall out of favour. The most valuable CD I own is the first Sleaford Mods CD(R), picked up as I think one of the last copies, just as they were about to go big. The most valuable I’ve picked up from a charity or junk shop is a donk double mix CD (!), but that’s only worth 50 quid, so you’re not going to make your fortune here BUT YOU ARE GOING TO PICK UP LOTS OF INTERESTING MUSIC YOU’VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE.

#charity shops #cd collecting #record collecting #primer

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popentertainment-interviews · 1 month

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Jack & Jack

The Return of the Jacks

By Emma Fox and Kayla Marra

Jack Johnson and Jack Gilinsky make up the power pop-rap duo known as Jack & Jack. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, the guys started making music together in high school, and have continued through the years to now. They went on to join Magcon, a touring meet-and-greet convention for fans to meet their favorite social media personalities. Though the tours and conventions came to an end, the creative journey for Jack & Jack did not. They have released two studio albums since then, a plethora of hit singles, and several incredible EPs.

Now based in Los Angeles, we’ve connected with the talented pair various times over the years, the last time being in 2015. But just this week we were able to re-connect with them before their Philly tour stop and catch up with the guys about touring together again, reminiscing on the Magcon days, Jack G’s recent fatherhood, and more.

We last spoke to you seven years ago. It’s incredible to hang out with you guys again! You originally released the iconic song “Like That” in 2014. What made you re-record it years later?

Jack Johnson: I think a big thing was that it was taken down off streaming platforms because of a copyright claim. The people who know us know this story, but we’ll give you a brief rundown of it. The piano part, in the beginning, was taken by the producer who sold us the beat from another producer. So, that producer got upset and we had no idea. It got taken down and copyright claimed.

Jack Gilinsky: It was off of all streaming platforms for five years, now, maybe four.

Jack Johnson: Then we got on TikTok and saw a big resurgence. We saw the OG one was going viral on there and we were like, “Oh, man!”

Jack Gilinsky: Every time we posted, people were like, “Please put ‘Like That’ back on Spotify and Apple Music.”

Jack Johnson: We were done and had eleven songs on the album. Then two weeks before the album was set to drop, we were like, yo, why don’t we just revamp it? Use more updated, cleaner sounds. Get G’s new voice on there, my new voice on there. Change a couple of lyrics here and there. Make a revamped version. It felt like it was a full-circle moment for the record.

Jack Gilinsky: It felt right.

Jack Johnson: We’re really grateful for everything that record has done for us.

Jack Gilinsky: We’re grateful that we decided to do this, too, because it has 54 million streams, which plays into the whole total Home album streams.

Jack Johnson: At the end of the day, we’re trying to get everyone to listen to the other songs on the project, which we’re so proud of. Honestly, we’re a little more excited for those, just because they’re new and we haven’t heard them a trillion times. It’s been awesome seeing the fans sing new stuff live, and we feel like “Like That” could be a good gateway into the project.

This is so full circle for your OG fans, as well. I went to Magcon, so it’s incredible seeing you guys do this.

Jack Johnson: It felt like a special one.

What was it like being back together in the studio again?

Jack Gilinsky: It was awesome.

Jack Johnson: It was amazing.

Jack Gilinsky: It’s funny because we didn't take too much of a break. In 2020, obviously, we took a little bit of a break because we were basically in different places. I went back to Omaha, and he stayed in LA. Halfway through 2020, we moved in together and had a studio in the house.

Jack Johnson: We would always make stuff; we just never knew what was going to happen with it. Actually locking in on a project and actually knowing we have a vision for it. Knowing we have a deadline we want to release it by this day. Knowing we had tour dates coming up. It really made it feel like we had a mission. It wasn’t just us willy-nilly in the studio, creating little ideas and not following through with anything. It was amazing to be able to lock in again, really on our own terms, make the music we wanted to make and not feel as puppeteered by a major label. As great as A Good Friend is, and I love that project, a lot of songs on there were demos that were sent to us by other writers or other artists. The label was just like, “you sing this line,” and I was like, this isn’t why we started making music in the beginning.

Jack Gilinsky: It was awesome creating Home the album, because every single word you hear and most sounds that you hear, even instrumentally, Johnson’s playing on the piano, I’m singing the lyrics I wrote, I’m singing some of the lyrics Johnson wrote for me.

Jack Johnson: It’s all just stuff that really came from us and it feels a little more personal this time around.

Jack Gilinsky: We’re really proud of it.

That’s awesome to hear. With “Jack’s Version” at the end of “Like That” you’re really making it your own and taking back your art which is so powerful and cool to see.

Jack Gilinsky: We’re inspired by Taylor Swift, man. It’s pretty awesome to see what she’s done. We had to take that a little bit.

Jack Johnson: We want to set a guideline for other indie artists because this is the indie age we’re living in. The major labels are becoming a little bit less of a necessity as time goes on with how robust social media is.

Jack Gilinsky: Especially for smaller artists like us who have a core following and they support us through anything. We figured there was no need for a big system to get involved and take away what we all started for. We’re just grateful to have our crew and they’re always supporting us, like tonight.

You released your latest album Home earlier this month, congratulations!

Both: Thank you!

What was the recording process like, and what was your vision/goal with this album?

Jack Johnson: G actually lives about an hour away down by the Newport area, which is coastal California. Basically, we would just have three or four sessions throughout the week, and he would make the commute up into LA. We’re with a distribution company called CreateTV. They let us use their studios, and they have these great studios that we were super grateful to use. It would just be him and I in the studio and sometimes it would be a beat that producers would send us in packs, and we would be like, “Oh, we like this one.” It would just be me recording his voice and him recording my voice. I would make the first base mix and get a good reference point, and then we would send it all off to mixing. It was just a very hands-on process. We used to never really be involved in this stuff, as much as we like it.

Jack Gilinsky: Even in terms of creating the project, we didn’t really have a set goal and tried to have no expectations. Like, let’s just get in there and make a bunch of songs and see what happens. We started to make songs. We made one, then two, three, four five, and it started to be like, “Wait, all of these could go on the project.” It was never a thing, at least this year, that was said, “This one isn’t going to go on” or we’re just not hitting the right stride. I feel like we just got back in the studio together and it just kind of flew out of us. Within nine months – we recorded the last song in August, everything was done by September. It just came together.

Jack Johnson: With the whole “home” angle in terms of that creative for the project, there was this stop sign in our neighborhood we would always meet up at growing up. We were like, yo, let’s take our album cover picture there, change the “STOP” to “HOME,” another four-letter word. It was just something that was very sentimental to us rather than just slapping out a random cover art. It felt like it tied a bow on the whole thing with the creative packing of it all.

We love the album! Everyone out there is loving it, too.

Jack Johnson: We love that you’re loving it. It’s been out nineteen days now. Even in Nashville on night one, it had been out for twelve days, and they were already singing all the hooks. They’re learning my verses; I have mouthfuls in there.

Jack Gilinsky: It’s been crazy, the support has been awesome.

Jack Johnson: We just can’t wait. We know Philly’s going to be jumpin.’ It’s going to be the craziest show of the tour so far.

As Philly always is.

Jack Johnson: They always show out.

Jack (G), you’re currently in your “dad era,” congratulations!

Jack Gilinsky: I am. For the rest of my life, I will be!

How has having a daughter impacted your life?

Jack Gilinsky: I feel like it impacts it in every way possible. It just changes the way you look at the world. Even the most basic things, it changes your perspective on. Specifically working. It was all really, really fun growing up doing this with Johnson. I never really looked at it too much like a job because it was so much fun. It is still so much fun [except] being away from my daughter and Geneva. Thinking about raising my daughter, you’ve got to have a job and you’ve got to give it your all because if you’re going to spend time away from your loved ones, you need to be putting that work in. It makes me look at this a bit differently because I’m really motivated to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Also regardless of having a baby, we’re just older and more mature now. We got to kill this, man, because this is our lives. We went out on a limb and didn’t go to college, and we’ve been away for four, five years.

Jack Johnson: We almost had a five-year gap, and there’s a very finite shelf life for artists. There’s a window that you have to take advantage of. We’re just so grateful that they’re all showing up, even after that time period. Seeing him with Hayven, I see an extra spark of motivation in his eyes, on top of him just having a lot of life changes, too.

Jack Gilinsky: I appreciate it, because honestly, you said it very well. Having a daughter is the most amazing thing in the world. I’m just really grateful, and I’m grateful that we still get to do this for work. If I had to go work a 9-5 and be away from my daughter every single day like that, I think that would be harder than being with her ten months out of the year and then being on the road for two months. I love being on the road, so I wouldn’t do it for anything else, being away from my family.

You talked about not going to college and pursuing being creative. Do you have a memory from that era or the Magcon time that stands out to you as an “I made it” moment or an “I want to do this for the rest of my life” kind of moment?

Jack Gilinsky: That’s a good question. Magcon Dallas was the very first one. Shawn made me sing a song with him on stage. I was like, you know what, this is really cool. We had never seen the people that are liking all of our Vines, Tweets, and Instagrams in person like that before. I always thought, “That’s a big number,” but it didn’t ever click that there were real people behind each number.

Jack Johnson: It was weird. We just left for a long weekend from high school, and then we went right back. A lot of the boys started doing online school, but we stuck it out throughout our whole senior year and graduated with our class and everything.

Jack Gilinsky: It made it real though, seeing it in person. I think for me, Magcon made me realize “oh shit, this is real.” There’s a career here that if we want to take it seriously. We can do this for our lives. It convinced us to take a gap year.

Jack Johnson: We just had a glaring opportunity in front of us, and sometimes you just got to seize life by the horns and just ride into battle you know.

Jack Gilinsky: Yeah, so I would say the Magcon thing made it real. Like alright, let's take this seriously.

That’s awesome! We’ve both loved seeing you grow. Last time I saw you was 2018 at a pop-up show in Baltimore, so it’s been great to see you grow since then and it’s awesome to see you back on the road! Can you talk to us a little bit about what a typical day on tour looks like?

Jack Johnson: Absolutely!

Jack Gilinsky: We actually wake up pretty late because we’ve been driving our bus. Johnson drove last night, I’m driving tonight. We’ve been switching off doing two-to-four-hour shifts, we’ll get into the hotel at 3-5am, depending on how long the drive is. Then me and Johnson get to sleep in because of how awesome our crew is, they load in by themselves. We wake up at around 12:00.

Jack Johnson: Well unless the fire alarm goes off.

Jack Gilinsky: Yeah, we had a fire alarm yesterday, it was pretty bad. But we wake up, we workout, come back upstairs and maybe have a bite to eat, and then get an Uber to the venue. Once we show up to the venue it’s straight into this thing called “Indoor Recess” which is an intimate meet and greet where you get to come backstage, we have a good conversation and take some photos. Then it’s straight into what’s called the “Soundcheck Experience.”

Jack Johnson: We’ll actually do our soundcheck and then we wanted to give everybody a little extra something this time around because whether it was in our hands or not, we did have a five-year hiatus, and we feel bad about it inherently. We decided to add the “Soundcheck Experience” where we do a general Q&A with the fans, just have a talk and nice banter with them, and then we do a little acoustic performance just to warm them up for the night.

Jack Gilinsky: Then we do the meet and greet!

Jack Johnson: It’s a good flow of a day. We’re starting to get the science down a bit more of how it’s supposed to run. Usually, we would tour with a 13 or 14-person crew, and we didn’t have to deal with any of these things. It’s a much more busy day, but I like it. It makes me sleep harder at night, makes me a little more locked in knowing that I do have more personal responsibility on this tour. I really do enjoy it because it feels like we’re taking our business into our own hands and being very meticulous about the way we’re doing things.

Jack Gilinsky: Then after the meet and greet we have a two-hour break. I always cook my bison; I eat it every day. Then maybe have a banana, chill out, do our vocal warmups, and I have a vocal steamer that we do. Then it's time for the show! An hour and a half later we’re off stage, we shower, and pack up our things.

Jack Johnson: We’ll say hi to some people outside the venue if they’re hanging around.

Jack Gilinsky: If we have an off day, we’ll do this thing called a crew dinner. But tonight, we’re in Philly, we have an off day tomorrow, we’re going to get a cheesesteak.

Jack Johnson: What’s the spot? We’ve been hearing a couple things.

I will say, my favorite spot is somewhere on South Street, it’s called Ishkabibble’s. They have the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had.

Jack Gilinsky: Bro we’re going. How far is that from here? I need to go, like I want one right now.

Jack Johnson: Okay I’m screenshotting this right now.

Jack Gilinsky: Is that your favorite too?

It’s also my favorite!

Jack Johnson: I’m literally telling our drummer right now – we have to go to Ishkabibble’s.

What do you guys get on your cheesesteaks?

Jack Gilinsky: On my cheesesteak, I order a Philly Cheesesteak and I eat it how it comes. What is it, peppers, onions?

What kind of cheese do you get?

Jack Gilinsky: I think I’m going to do provolone.

Jack Johnson: I will usually do the steak, whatever cheese they recommend, I want to do what the locals do. Then I’ll maybe add some jalapeños, something that adds a little kick to it. I've become more of a spice guy. Maybe some grilled onions in there too. Wherever we end up I’m just excited to get a cheesesteak in Philly!

Jack Gilinsky: It’s going to be great, it’s Philly!

What’s been your favorite song to perform live so far?

Jack Gilinsky: I’m not even going to sugarcoat it, my favorite song to perform live is “Like That,” because every single person who bought a ticket knows every single word to the song.

Jack Johnson: There’s just a different energy. Not to say that the other songs are low energy by any means, the people who have been coming to these shows have been hype for all of them, even the new stuff. I’ve got to say though, “Stuttering” from the new project, for some reason there’s like some crack in that song.

Jack Gilinsky: That’s going to be a hit, I feel it.

Jack Johnson: It’s such a hype one live. It’s early in the set so everyone’s still fresh, it’s just been going up every night the energy’s been through the roof. I also really like performing “September’s Gone” because we have the whole band jamming. Writing that at a piano and actually seeing it live, it’s crazy. They’re all great, the medley is so fun to perform because we get to take a little trip down memory lane.

Make sure to stream Home by Jack and Jack, out everywhere NOW and catch the guys on tour through May!

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