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misssolitudesmusicblog · 2 years

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My Music for May 2022

Hello Tumblr,

Welcome back to all of those who have been following my monthly music blog. I hope everyone’s month in May went well. I cannot say the same for me unfortunately. Tell me you're going through a heartbreak without telling me you're going through a heartbreak. My top songs for the month of May will paint the picture for you. If anyone is going through it like me, you are not alone and I am here to remind myself and anyone else who may need to hear the following:

Forget what you feel, remember what you deserve

Stop choosing what isn’t choosing you

if your absence doesn't bother them, then your presence never mattered

Time always reveals what you mean to someone. The way someone fits you into their schedule says a lot about what they think of you

Remove the fantasy of what could have been and focus on the reality of what it was. It's easy to romanticize a situation to better than it actually was. Invite peace in by reminding yourself why that cycle had to end.

It all comes down to accepting what comes and allowing it to leave when it’s time.

I love too hard to settle for a nonchalant partner. I desire romance, passion, admiration, gratitude, thoughtfulness and attentiveness. As I move on and let go here’s the top music that resonated deeply within me and ultimately got me through my month of May :

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YPZ8hYNOQ2MnJCzB1ClWF?si=bb0656cc779d4201

Ok let’s dive into this broken heart of mine…coming in at number

#55 Merry Happy by Kate Nash

“I can be alone, yeah

I can watch a sunset on my own

I can be alone, yeah

I can watch a sunset on my own

I can be alone

I can watch a sunset on my own

Sitting in restaurants

Thought we were so grown up

But I know now that we were not the people that we turned out to be

Chatting on the phone can't take back those hours

But I won't regret cause you can grow flowers from where dirt used to be

Dancing at discos

Eating cheese on toast

Yeah you make me merry make me very very happy

But you obviously, you didn't want to stick around”

#54 My Exit, Unfair by MewithoutYou

“And until I let you go I didn't know, you were never mine at all

But now I spend my days in ever-increasingly complicated ways

Convincing myself of the rightness of each word I say

My exit, unfair if unobserved! My exit, unfair if unobserved!”

#53 Interlude by My Chemical Romance

#52 I won’t care how you remember me by Tiger’s Jaw & Andy Hull

“I won't care how you remember me

Shaking in fear or resolving it

Crushed by the feeling not knowing what happens next

Take time to go perfect whatever version of the truth suits you best”

#51 Third Degree by Movements

“But I can feel me slip and fall right through the cracks

Between your fingertips

There's no going back, there's no easy fix

'Cause I know this path from experience

I know the other side, the other side of it

I've been on the other side more times than I'd like to admit

So I'm gonna keep you

Keep you close to me

So I can feel you

Be my third degree

Burn yourself into me and leave my body charred

So when you decide to leave I can write about my scars”

#50 Decode by Paramore

“The truth is hiding in your eyes

And it's hanging on your tongue

Just boiling in my blood

But you think that I can't see

What kind of man that you are

If you're a man at all

Well, I will figure this one out

On my own (I'm screaming, I love you so)

On my own (but my thoughts you can't decode)”

#49 Love isn’t forever by Reddish Blu & 6silky

“ Everything is slow motion

Your touch slow motion

My thoughts slow motion

We're driving real slow

The lean in my cup has got me in another world

I'm not too sure whats going on

I’m so preoccupied by my thoughts

Existential crisis the love of my life is you

In order to fight this i'll have to get high and forget you”

#48 Rapt by Karen O

“Off went the switch

Love is soft

Love's a fucking bitch

Do I really need

Another habit like you

I really need

Do you need me too

I believe it's gonna leave me blue”

#47 bitches broken hearts by Billie Eilish

“You can pretend you don't miss me (me)

You can pretend you don't care

All you wanna do is kiss me (me)

Oh, what a shame I'm not there”

#46 Cruel World by Lana Del Rey

“Share my body and my mind with you

That's all over now

Did what I had to do

'Cause you're so far past me now

Share my body and my life with you

That's way over now

There's not anymore I can do

You're so famous now”

#45 Thunder by Lana Del Rey

“And you try to see the bright side when each new day begins

But you're not satisfied at the rainbows end

Just do it

Just do it, don't wait

I don't wanna wait

Just do it

Just do it, don't wait

'Cause if you're on fire, you're on fire

Just keep burning, 'til rain

Baby, keep me ablaze

Honey, if you're on fire, you're on fire

Just keep burning, keep me alive

Spare your blade

Just do it

Just do it, don't wait

If hello just means goodbye then, honey, better walk away

Just do it

Just do it, don't wait

If hello just means goodbye then, baby, better walk away”

#44 Unfucktheworld by Woom

“Here's to thinking that it all meant so much more

I kept my mouth shut and opened up the door

I wanted nothing but for this to be the end

For this to never be a tied and empty hand

If all the troubles in my heart would only mend

I lost my dream, I lost my reason all again”

#43 Nuclear Bomb by Cherry Glazerr

“Black, like a nuclear bomb

We share the same blood

You're not alone, love”

#42 Cover Under Comfort by Lillian Blue Makin

“Take me to the river where we cried

Take me to the water

Wash the stained memories from my eyes

Cleverly condemning me to buy into your love

Devilishly deceiving my mind turns to mush

Sweet sweet, cynical rejoice

Rob me of my choices

Rob me of my voice

I'll still stand in the

Joy of contentment

My coy perspective

Juxtaposed by you

Egocentric

I know you don't

Mean to be mean to me

But baby you were mean to me

Yeah, baby you were mean to me”

#41 YKWIM? {slow//reverb} by Ryan Celsius Sounds, slow//reverb

“Hey

It's not like you've ever tried to stay

Sometimes it seems like I'm in your way

Well, that's how it seems”

#40 Algo contigo by Elisabeth Roma and Rita Payés

“Y hace falta que te diga que me muero por tener algo contigo

Y es que no te has dado cuenta de lo mucho que me cuesta ser tu amiga

Ya no puedo acercarme a tu boca sin deseártela de una manera loca”

#39 Supermodel by SZA

“And they was right

That's why I stayed with ya

The, the dick was too good

It made me feel good

For temporary love

You was a temporary lover”

#38 Best Thing by Inayah

“Gave you a space in my heart

But you ain't fit, no, no

And it hurts, but I let it

I let it 'cause I, I needed that pain

But I wanted to feel it

'Cause it'll teach me not to go back there again”

#37 Trip On Love by Tom Kimmel

“I let my guard down in the momentary lapse of emotion

It just slipped out and we both knew my heart could be broken

I said something I never intended to say, you stopped laughing

And I said do you feel alone in that way?

Do you trip on love? Do you run from magic?

When you kiss someone, do you make it tragic?

If you feel too much, do you start to panic?

When the word comes up, do you trip on love?”

#36 Jugaste y Sufrí by Eslabon Armado, DannyLux

“Yo no sé cuál fue la razón

Si yo te estaba dando todo mi amor

Estoy destrozado

Tenía fe en ti

Pero jugaste y sufrí

En verdad estoy mal

Aquí estoy yo en mi soledad”

#35 Dreams by Fleetwood Mac

“Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining

Players only love you when they're playing”

#34 Es Mejor Dejarlo Como Esta by Los Cuernos

#33 8bit by Scotch Mist

“Where do you go my love,

When you're hanging by a thread?

Where do you go my love?

Let me look inside your head

Where do you go my love

When you stumble off to bed?

Where do you go my love,

With so much left unsaid?”

#32 Funny by Benet, Childish Major

“I always felt like I was here at your convenience

It's love, I mean it

I got this cover like gloves, I mean it

Always feel a slight buzz, when in it

It's slight drugs you giving, uh”

#31 Where’s Your love by Travis Bretzer

#30 i hate you by jersey club

“And if you wondered if I hate you (I do)

Shitty of you to make me feel just like this

What I would do to make you feel just like this

And if you wondered if I hate you (fuck you)

Shitty of you to make me feel just like this

What I would do to make you feel just like this”

#29 Little Bit by Lykke Li & Drake

“As soon as it's official

We'll have to let it go, go, go

So we don't confirm the fling

Keep avoiding all the questions

You could teach me many things

I'm just scared to learn a lesson

The pressure's on, both hearts beat like a metronome

Both in sync like a Justin song

Feels so right but it's just, so wrong”

#28 I just want to be the one you love by Boxout

“I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start

A flame in your heart”

#27 It’s Alright by afternoon bike ride, imagiro

“I'm under exposed to the loving you host

I miss kissing you after we almost explode

And watching the daylight reflect in your eyes

And keeping it simple 'cause we've got the time

But it's alright

The place where we live is in sight

Yeah it's alright

We could be there tonight”

#26 I Love You by The Bees

“You´re charming in my thoughts

With the magic that you brought

I love you”

#25 pisces kismet by Sweatcult

#24 Sweaty Faces by Cherry Glazerr

“Oh, you're so far from me now

Oh, don't tell me where to go and where to stay

Oh, have a lovely fucking day

Oh, your name is so cold and so black on my skin

Where do I begin?

I wanna see your sweaty face kids

I wanna see you jump on stage

I wanna see your sweaty face kids

I wanna see you jump on stage”

#23 Vacating by Anthony Indie

“When I look into your eyes

I don't know what's right

Could you see it all tonight

I'd lose my sight

I don't know why

You would stand by

It's in my mind

You're in my mind”

#22 Calling It by Automatic

“Let's call it off and start again”

#21 Babygirl by Anthony Green

“She's so lovely

She still loves me”

#20 Solitude is bliss by Tame Impala

“Space around me where my soul can breathe

I've got body that my mind can leave

Nothing else matters, I don't care what I miss

Company's okay

Solitude is bliss

There's a party in my head and no one is invited

And you will never come close to how I feel

You will never come close to how I feel”

#19 In the city by Anika

#18 Take 3 by Inner Wave

#17 The Physical Attractions by The Symposium

#16 Здравствуй by Перемотка

#15 Moonage Daydream by Eagles of Death Metal

“Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Put your ray gun to my head

Press your space face close to mine, love

Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!

Don't fake it baby, lay the real thing on me

The church of man, love

Is such a holy place to be

Make me baby, make me know you really care

Make me jump into the air”

#14 Time Moves Slow by Andie

“Running away is easy

It's the leaving that's hard

Running away is easy

It's the living that's hard

And loving you was easy

It was you leaving that scarred

But what was I to do?

Just couldn't help myself falling in love with you

And what could I say?

Oh, if I had another chance

To make you stay

'Cause when you ran away

I knew just what you were thinking that day

You just didn't love me like I do

Like I love you

The sad thing is we're better off this way”

#13 Thank You by Dido

“And I want to thank you

For giving me the best day of my life

Oh, just to be with you

Is having the best day of my life”

#12 meta angel by FKA twigs

“Throw it in the fire

Ego in the fire

I've got a love for desire

I've got a pain for desire (I need a meta angel)

But when I'm winning, I'm a flier

Soprano in the choir

I've got a love for desire

It gets higher and higher (some kind of meta angel)

That makes it sounds so easy

A pretty creature with a quote

I get confused with what I really want”

#11 Greensmoke by imugi

“Breathe in, breathe out, gettin' lost in the clouds

The days just go by when you give a week for an ounce

Another round for the table, we drownin' out the angels

I write my own prayers and build my own temples

I wanna know if you're not feeling me

What you expect from me? Was your love for free?

Is this really me? Is this really love or are you dreaming me?

This is hopefully, challenging

But if it's all worth it, for you, there is no shaking me

There is no shaking me, no”

#10 We cry together by Kendrick Lamar ft. Taylour Paige

“and deny shit (man)

Fuck around on a side bitch, then come fuckin' up my shit

What? Fuckin' up yo' shit? You must be bleedin' and more shit

Bitch, I don't know shit, fuck yo' feelings (you some on hoe shit)

See, I don't know why you like playin' mind games with me (mind games?)

Bitch, I ain't slow nor ditsy, I know when you bein' distant

I know when you fake busy

Get out yo' feelings and miss me with that reserve psychology”

#9 Father Time by Kendrick Lamar ft Sampha

“This made relationships seem cloudy, never attached to none

So if you took some likings around me, I might reject the love

Daddy issues kept me competitive, that's a fact, nigga

I don't give a fuck what's the narrative, I am that nigga

When Kanye got back with Drake, I was slightly confused

Guess I'm not mature as I think, got some healin' to do

Egotistic, zero-given fucks and to be specific (ah)

Need assistance with the way I was brought up (ah, ah)

What's the difference when your heart is made of stone

And your mind is made of gold

And your tongue has made of sword, but it may weaken your soul?

My niggas ain't got no daddy, grow up overcompensatin'

Learn shit 'bout bein' a man and disguise it as bein' gangstas

I love my father for tellin' me to take off the gloves

'Cause everything he didn't want was everything I was

And to my partners that figured it out without a father

I salute you, may your blessings be neutral to your toddlers

It's crucial, they can't stop us if we see the mistakes

'Til then, let's give the women a break, grown men with daddy issues”

#8 Higher Self by Liyah Dalani , Maijah

“See that he a sucka how he relapse

Never take him back off some fuck shit best believe that

Trynna elevate every day so I can be my higher self

Natural elevated she prioritize her health

Ain't worried bout no players these grown men can fix themselves

Light up the sage for the vibes and the wealth

Within I got the things I need don't need nobody else

On me I'll never let nobody take my sense of self

When he kiss my neck I swear it takes me somewhere else

Know I got that magic that gon make my baby melt

But I ain't ever see no one besides my higher self

Yeah

Hips swinging like my favorite pendulum

Now I got everybody's attention

Not afraid of my demons cuz I'm friends with them we've been chilling in a different Dimension

I been manifesting all my love peace fame money health.

Doing hot girl shit with my higher self.

Strong guides so I been protected my third eye is connected.

Feeling spiritually tested

Manifesting my blessings

Spent my energy at work just to flip the cash with investment

On some hot girl shit he gon throw down

Treat me like a queen for four more rounds

Baby got the juice if you know what I'm saying

No one do it like my girls my best friend bad a Jamaican

Since the energy right our hips been a swaying

Real bad bitch vibes coming through really slaying”

#7 Gemini by Princess Nokia

“I'm the horoscope hoe

I'm the planet and moon

I'm the rising ascendant

5th degree to the Moon

I'm the witch of your dreams

I'm the voice in your head

Your husband sent me a DM

And I just left him on read

My planet's Mercury

My element is air

I'm such a free spirit

That I don't fucking care

If I got a blunt

I ain't moving out my chair

You can kiss my derrière

'Cause it's shaped like a pear”

#6 Pool by Samia

“I said, "Loving you is bigger than my head"

And then you dove in

And then I said, "I'm afraid that I need men"

You said, "Need me then"

If you are really scared with your mouth up in the air

Then try to breathe under the water through this tube

How long do you think we can sit here

Before we have to move?”

#5 Yeah by Mac Miller

“When will we die? This life isn't fair

I miss the high, I live a lie

And one day we'll die, no one will care

Take me inside, I'll meet you there

Am I alive? (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Am I aware? (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Do you get high? (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Are we prepared? (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Then one day we'll die (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

No one will care (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Do you get high? (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

We will survive (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Yeah, who do you think you are?

Young man? Young man?

Yeah”

#4 Shades of Blue by Kelsey Lu

“I knew I was a chess piece in your game

Moving me every which way

Thought I'd hold out for your love someday

But I couldn't

Cause you wouldn't

You're like a blazing fire

In the Sahara

On a wind filled night

Movin' in all directions

I'm not over you

Not over you

But I'm over feeling shades of blue

I'm not over you not over you

But I'm over feeling shades of blue

Blue”

#3 Mother I Sober by Kendrick Lamar, Beth Gibbons

“Now I'm affected, twenty years later trauma has resurfaced

Amplified as I write this song, I shiver 'cause I'm nervous

I was five, questioning myself, 'lone for many years

Nothing's wrong, just results on how them questions made me feel

I made it home, seven years of tour, chasin' manhood

But Whitney's gone, by time you hear this song, she did all she could

All those women gave me superpowers, what I thought I lacked

I pray our children don't inherit me and feelings I attract

a conversation, not bein' addressed in black families

The devastation hauntin' generations and humanity

They raped our mothers, then they raped our sisters

Then they made us watch, then made us rape each other

Psychotic torture between our lives we ain't recovered

Still livin' as victims in the public eyes who pledge allegiance

Every other brother has been compromised

I know the secrets, every other rapper sexually abused

I see 'em daily buryin' they pain in chains and tattoos

So listen close before you start to pass judgement on how we move

Learn how we cope, whenever his uncle had to walk him from school

His anger grows deep in misogyny

This is post-traumatic black families and a sodomy, today is still active

So I set free myself from all the guilt that I thought I made

So I set free my mother all the hurt that she titled shame

So I set free my cousin, chaotic for my mother's pain

I hope Hykeem made you proud, 'cause you ain't die in vain

So I set free the power of Whitney, may she heal us all

So I set free our children, may good karma keep them with God

So I set free the hearts filled with hatred, keep our bodies sacred

As I set free all you abusers, this is transformation”

#2 Everybody by Mac Miller

“Everybody's gotta live

And everybody's gonna die

Everybody's gonna try to have a good, good time

I think you know the reason why

Saw a blind man standing on the corner, baby

Yeah, and he couldn't hardly tie his shoes

Yeah, harmonica and guitar strapped around his neck

But he sure could, he sure could play the blues”

#1 Count Me Out by Kendrick Lamar

“I made a decision, never give you my feelings

Fuck with you from, fuck with you from a distance

Some put it on the devil when they fall short

I put it on my ego, lord of all lords

Sometimes I fall for her, dawg

I love when you count me out

My name is in your mouth

Fuck it up, fuck it up (shoo, shoo)

Fuck it up, fuck it up, fuckin' it up

Miss Regrets, I believe that you done me wrong (Miss Regrets)

Miss Regrets, can you please exit out my home? (Miss Regrets)

Miss Regret, I think I'm better off alone (Miss Regrets)”

And that concludes my music for May, thank you to anyone who takes the time to listen to my monthly music playlist on Spotify I appreciate it. It was tough month for me but I made it through and I am thankful for family & friends being there for me. We’re leveling up so much that nothing bothers us anymore. It’s an unbothered and unhinged hot girl summer on the horizon.

#Spotify #music #music playlist #may #heartbreak

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thefanbasewhore · 3 years

Note

hmmm.. you should do the ship getting raided while mando is out getting a bounty, and scared com link talk 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🤲

I love this idea so much. Thank you for the idea, I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: Din leaves reader to get some extra rest while he heads to the market place for some supplies. Reader is left alone while a few smugglers raid the ship.

Warning/Content: Suggestive (18+), soft Din, kidnapping

Paring: Din Djarin/Female Reader

Part 2

“Din?” The soft question catches his ears as he leans over the edge of the bed, trying to be quiet as he peers over to meet the sleeping beauty. One side of her cheeks is taunted pink, beautiful. It’s all he can think, how lucky he is to have this beautiful woman in his bed, the blanket pulled to her chin but as result from last night, there’s no doubt she’s naked underneath them.

There’s something about the haze of sleep, looking innocent, sweet under his gaze. Watching his girl shift slightly with a wince that comes from between sore legs, blanket exposing the smooth skin of her neck, revealing dips of collarbones that suddenly felt the urge to run his tongue along them, reach lower and lower until he’s barried in the heat between her legs, sweet claims of his name falling from swollen lips much like the night before.

He ignores the sudden throbbing in his groin, leaning over the lay a soft kiss to her temple, brown eyes meeting seeking her own. His hair messy, sprawling across his forehead with small ringlets of dark strands as she reaches out to touch the base of his cheek, closing his eyes shut as fingers run across the patches of hair there with a smile.

“Go back to sleep.”

“I’m not tired anymore.” The hand that presses against his chest makes him flush, pulling him closer to lay a soft kiss against his lips. He doesn’t get the chance to pull away he feels a smooth, wet tongue run across his lip seeking the familiarity of his mouth.

It takes every ounce of self control the pull away slowly, his tone is sugary, low with desire that swirls his stomach. “Was last night not enough?”

After spending weeks apart the result of rather troublesome bounty, he came back and made up for every day he was gone, taking her on every surface he could manage on the ship.

“I’ll never have enough of you, riduur.” He tenses and takes in a deep breath, watching as fingers find his hand, pulling it towards her mouth, where she places his thumb and sucks greedily.

Despite the throbbing of his erection that so uncomforted pressed heavy against his thigh he lets out a sigh. His body flushed for her, wanting nothing more then to give into it but he noticed the way she flinches, there’s no surprise she’s in pain. The roughness of his fingers still ghost when she moves to get comfortable, it’s shown on the way her face pinches. It’s a delicious pain.

Din frowns lightly, shifting to press a soft kiss against her forehead. “Get some more rest, pretty girl. Me and Grogu are going to get some supplies before we take off, I’ll be back three hours max.”

“Mmmmm.” She can’t help fluttering eyelashes, the promise of more sleep is too strong as Din stands, reaching out to cover the the tempting skin with one last kiss to her forehead before entering the refresher to fix the problem that throbbed between his legs.

***

Through blurry vision she yawns, blinking eyes until her vision starts so clear only to meet the high ceiling of the ship, the loud humming vibrating underneath inside the small room. It wasn’t much later after Din left, the fresh, clean smell of his soap still lingers throughout the ship. It’s soothing, the familiarity of his scent brings comfort, makes her feel safe.

But that’s before she hears muted voices, deep voices that echo outside of the room. There’s banging, things falling onto the ground with a loud bang as they tore through the ship. Her chest pauses to listen closer, foot steps growing closer and closer as she crawls across the bed to reach for her glove, pulling to her face before whispering. “Din, Din, please answer.”

It’s almost instant, his tone dangerously low at the desperation in her voice as she presses the ear piece into her ear. “What? What is it baby?”

“There’s someone in the ship.” The words make him freeze in his spot, momentarily freezing as his heart starts to pound against his chest. The bags drop from his hands onto the floor with little care.

“Hide, find somewhere and hide. I’m coming.” There’s no answer as the jetpack lifts him off the ground of the forest. His next words were desperate as a surge of energy pushes him further, hands trembling as he presses the side of his helmet with hopes of hearing her better. “Answer me.”

“I’m here.” She whispers, “In the closet they’re coming, they’re trying to break down the door but I blocked it.” Squeezing her eyes shut with every heavy thump against the door, the room shaking with every movement.

“I’m almost there, I’m coming.” He promises, breathing heavy with the weight that crushes his chest, latching the bag where the child sleeps in leaving him with little distractions except for getting to his wife.

There’s a loud noise on the other side of the com, he hears the way her breath hitches. He tries to concentrate but the sound of things hitting the floor or wall for all he knows makes his heart stop, “Din he’s coming toward the door, he’s going to find me.”

“I’m almost there riduur.”

Dread numbs his whole being as he ears her scream. “No, No.” He cries, “Baby, Can you hear me? Answer me. Please.”

There’s nothing but a loud rip and the curses that fall from her lips with the obvious rustling of fighting as a moan of pain fills the ear piece before it all goes silent until a loud ring squeals in his ear, a loud painful groan as his head starts to pound as he yanks it out.

By the time he reaches the ship, he’s on edge, heart stuttering as the blaster shakes in front of him as he expends into the hull but it met with nothing but scattered, useless belongings pulled from the deepest confines of the ship. The bedroom door is broken, pulled from the hinges as his stomach dropped.

Walking through the door the first thing he noticed is the comlink is in pieces next to the closet with no doubt crushed under a heavy boot, but what really made his eyes water is the torn shirt on the floor, small splatters of blood but his wife is no where to be found.

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popentertainment-interviews · 2 years

Photo

Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Keegan-Michael Key, Fran Drescher & David Spade

Living in Transformania

by Jay S. Jacobs

It’s checkout time at Hotel Transylvania.

Ten years and four films into the popular animated series of films, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania will tell the final chapter of the resort that is run and visited by monsters and ghouls.

Of course change is in the air – and not just because the voice of the main character of Drac is no longer played by Adam Sandler in this chapter, instead taken on by YouTube phenomenon Brian Hull. In Transformania, the staff and guests of the place are affected by a laser which turns humans into monsters and monsters into humans.

About a month before Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was to be released exclusively on Amazon Prime, we were able to take part in a virtual press conference with stars Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Keegan-Michael Key, Fran Drescher and David Spade. Here is what they had to say about the fourth (and apparently last) film in the Hotel Transylvania series.

I love that this film really flips the script on a lot of fan favorite characters. How much were you all aware of what the new character designs would look like and what were your reactions?

Andy Samberg: I love the new design. Johnny becomes monsterficationIzed. I believe that's the correct word. He goes basically full birdy man backpacker meets Godzilla, which I think is something I dreamed about looking like as a child, anyhow. So, it was a dream come true for me.

David Spade: I play Griffin the invisible man, who is a bit of a scene stealer. I was a bit surprised because they put out some pictures of Griffin and I guess it wasn't what people thought. They wanted Griffin to be better looking like Bradley Cooper or something. I'm like, “Griffin's like this goofy dingdong that hangs out with the monsters. A little out of shape. Red hair.” They were looking for more of a Prince Harry or something. But I think it's funnier that Griffin looks funnier. It's for kids and families and I think cartoons should be funny looking. So, I'm 100% into my Griffin.

Keegan-Michael Key: I was surprised. I expected Murray to be bigger. To me it was like one revolution of wraps. I thought it'd be really this big kind of fat, corpulent guy. Then when all the wraps come off, and you see that first of all, he was super short, but he's really working the jowls. That was my favorite thing. Just got jowls for days. I like that. Yeah, it's really great because it helps inform you as to what you're going to what you want to do vocally, then.

Selena and Fran, you've brought these characters to life for nearly 10 years, and they're wonderful outsiders. What advice do you have for those who in real life are struggling to fit in?

Selena Gomez: Oh, man, that's a loaded question. Because I could give you the “believe in yourself” kind of answer. But I think it's a challenge, right? Every day you wake up. Sometimes you can't sit there and make a choice. Sometimes, you do feel those feelings. I think it's important to take moments and breaks from social media personally. It's just nice to be present and be with yourself for a bit. It doesn't mean that you need to have a lot of friends and a lot of people around you to be cool, because like, I have four friends and I think we're the coolest. We're definitely not.

Andy Samberg: Drac’s pack. We're back. We're back. Yeah. Yeah. (Everyone laughs.)

Fran Drescher: I think the most attractive thing you can be is yourself, and not give in to peer pressure. Not feel like you have to be like anybody else. Or you have to twist yourself into a pretzel because you think that's what somebody else expects you to be. Every single day, the more you practice self-confidence and loving exactly who you are and doing exactly what makes your heart sing and nothing else, then you're on the right path to living a really successful life. Successful in the sense of being happy both inside. Making kindness and compassion your compass is also something that brings value to your life and to those you touch.

David Spade: I've been doing it wrong. (Everyone laughs.)

Andy, what are the challenges in trying to bring comedic timing to an animated role?

Andy Samberg: I love talking about the craft. It's not particularly challenging. We're on the fourth one here. Not to deflect, but you've seen the style of animation they do, which in my opinion, is one of the greatest things about these movies. It's so fun and exaggerated. Obviously, kids love it. When I watch it, it makes me giggle just seeing the expressions and the gesticulations they give all the characters. So, this time around doing the recording, you pretty much know they want you to go huge and insane. Then they are going to push that even further with the way they animate it, which is very freeing. You know that you're not going to get like, “Whoa, buddy, come on. That's too much. Too much.”

Fran Drescher: (laughs) Never too much.

David Spade: Never bring it down.

Selena, we have loved watching Mavis grow and mature over the last three films. What can fans expect from her this time around?

Selena Gomez: It's been such a pleasure playing this character and also growing up. Because it was so long ago that [the series started]. I was in a different phase of my life. It's actually wonderful to be able to grow with this character. She's definitely just tough and she's not always demanded to be as big. She's just always worrying, and that matches my personality really well. (laughs) I just want things to run smoothly. I actually understand what it's like to have differences between family members and things like that. It's nice that we're touching on such a real thing, but in such a crazy way. It's fun.

David, we're going to get a little deep here. I'm going to warn you this is the first time that your character Griffin has actually been seen. What do you think that symbolizes? In a movie like this it's all about transformation.

David Spade: Selena, what's the answer on this one? (They laugh.) First of all I would like to say I love that I got to do these four movies with all these people. It was such a fun time. I get so many nice comments from so many different, older and younger people about watching them together. It's been a blast. I just wanted to get that out there because it was a really cool thing to be a part of. Having Griffin be not seen was interesting the whole time. I'm just floating glasses. It was nice to be a full-on character that was relating to other people. I think that's going to be really fun for kids. It was a great hooky fourth idea, because then it's a switcheroo. Everyone gets different. It's just a fun visual thing. Like Andy was saying, when you see these jokes, you see them written on the page. Then when they add the animation to it, the jokes are like three times better, because there's a joke behind you, there's a joke over here. It just flushes it out so much that the movie turns into just more and more fun. It's just so clever when you see what they can do. It's really not us. We're adding one layer. Then what they do to it makes it even better. They just really know what they're doing. That's why these are so fun and [I’m] proud to be a part of.

Fran, you certainly found that the secret to good live action comedy through The Nanny. What do you think is the secret to good comedy and animation?

Fran Drescher: I think physical comedy is very important. We did quite a bit of it on The Nanny. In animation, it's absolutely imperative. You can do so much because it's such a make-believe world. You can contort characters in ways that they could never really do in real life. Even the best stunt person couldn't get away with some of the stuff that animated characters can do. That's a big through theme of doing an animated movie: how far can we physically take these characters to do funny and surprising things?

Keegan, you've lent your voice to a number of animated movies, including several on the way. What has been the most rewarding part of the voice-acting animation experience?

Keegan-Michael Key: The most rewarding part – to actually go back to what Andy was saying – is that concept of not having any limitations. Especially in these movies, like we were saying, the look of these characters is so exaggerated that anything that you would have been busted for on a live action movie, you don't have to worry about. It reminds me of being a kid. When you were a kid and you play with the other friends, your imagination went everywhere. There would be times you're out at the field and playing and screaming and all of that abandon. You get to channel that again as an adult when you're doing animated films. It's not only not frowned upon, it is encouraged. That's my favorite thing about working in this space.

Andy Samberg: I love Keegan that you and I both are like “we just like that no one gives us the note that we're being too big.”

Keegan-Michael Key: (laughs) Exactly. Exactly. That's the answer to the question for me and Andy. It like no one's ever going to tell you take it down a notch. That's like the best.

Andy Samberg: A real peek inside at our process.

It's been nearly 10 years since the first film was released. Did you ever think this franchise would last this long would and would lead to three sequels like it has?

Andy Samberg: No. But I'm really glad it did. I think the reason is because kids love them so much. That's the real bottom line with these movies, which makes it such an easy call. They're just so infused with joy and positivity. Everyone grew up loving these classic monsters, and it's a new spin on it. It's really fun for families. That's why it's endured.

Fran Drescher: What I like about this movie also is that it's really written funny. Parents really enjoy it as much as kids. Similarly, certain jokes may go right over the kids’ heads, but the parents get it and see the humor in it.

David Spade: It is a good mix.

Fran Drescher: It’s very positive. And look at the talent, the roles. Very serious comic actors.

David Spade: Sometimes I'm too funny in the thing and they have to really bring me back.

Keegan-Michael Key: I've heard that many times. I've been giving that as an example during my sessions. The other thing I think is interesting is the way that they portray the family dynamics, like how spouses and loved ones and girlfriends and everybody is working off of each other. Those dynamics are really well observed in the movies. I think they're really well observed.

Fran Drescher: And relatable, right?

Keegan-Michael Key: Super relatable. Yeah, Fran. That sense where an adult can be laughing at a hard joke with a hard punch line. Also at the same time, there's this sense of like, “Oh, my God, we do that. Me and my wife do that.” Yeah, it's super deliciously relatable.

From all indications, this will be the final Hotel Transylvania installment. What would you each say that you will miss most about this series?

Fran Drescher: I’ll miss Eunice. I love her. I love the way they drew her. I love her look. I love that she is a bit of a matriarch to the monsters. She gets wound up and screams a lot. But for the most part, she really cares about Mavis and her family and her husband too, Frank. So I will miss my character, Eunice.

Keegan-Michael Key: I'm going to miss the final products that we always see. The movies are really done on such a high level. It's the rhythm of the movies and the spirit behind them that really moves me. In a way I'm saying I'm going to miss seeing them because if indeed this is the last, I'm going to miss seeing the new one if a new one comes out because they're always really well done.

David Spade: I do like when they come out. That's a good point. We always did one and you're waiting for it to come out and see if it worked. It's nice to be a part of something that works. When it worked, it was fun. Then you're there already talking about another one, so it's fun. People are like “is there going to be another one?” You go, “Yeah, yeah, we're working on it. It's coming out soon.” Then that comes out and you see it you go, “Oh good, it's funny again.” Then there's like. “Oh, there's going to be another one.” To have it stop is a bummer but seeing the fourth one I'm glad they all were good quality. If that's where they have to stop that's where they have to stop.

Andy Samberg: I don’t like to admit that it's over. If we say it's done, we're just caving to Sony.

David Spade: Wrap-a-phobia.

Andy Samberg: I'll miss it all. It's been such a fun thing to do. I'll miss the swag bags. I’ll miss the junkets. I'll miss Selena.

Selena Gomez: I didn't enjoy working with Andy at all, actually.

Andy Samberg: Aww, burn.

David Spade: That's all she wants to add.

Selena Gomez: But I did want to answer the question. I remember I was really excited to meet Andy because I watched all of SNL [Saturday Night Live], watching David too, and everyone growing up. So I would have to say the first time being able to sit down with them, he made it so fun and easy. If anything he's helped me relax more in interviews and just feel a bit a little bit normal. He also had my back. I will never forget because they asked me like a dating question or something and I don't do those. Andy answered for me. It was nice.

Fran Drescher: Remember when we all went to the Toronto Film Festival?

Selena Gomez: That was so fun.

Fran Drescher: Thanks to Amazon for taking it on so everybody can watch it from home.

Andy Samberg: For the record, Fran said that this movie is as good as Spinal Tap.

Keegan-Michael Key: Yes, we heard it. We all heard that.

#Andy Samberg #Selena Gomez #Keegan-Michael Key #Fran Drescher #David Spade #2022 #Hotel Transylvania: Transformania #Jay S. Jacobs

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spiral-ingoutofcontrol · 3 years

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Where the Ocean is the Sky Part Four: Spider

Andy had never had any particularly strong feelings towards spiders. Bonnie Anne hated them with a burning passion. She’d almost shot Ratbeard through the foot once trying to kill a spider crawling across the deck of the Steel Heart. He hadn’t been too happy about that and would still bring it up it anytime Bonnie Anne tried to volunteer him for something stupid or dangerous. Those two drove her up the wall sometimes, especially when they started dragging the rest of the crew into their spats, but she wouldn’t trade her crew away for the world. Even if Bonnie Anne shot ten holes through the ship’s hull trying to kill spiders in the most impractical way she possibly could.

If she was here now she'd be losing her mind over the spider that was diligently spinning its web across the rafters of the dorm room that Merle had let her move into. The place was practically empty, a bed, a desk, and a small chest for her to store her things in. Not that she had much to store anyway. Andy had been surprised by the cathedral-esk ceiling and wondered if every student was treated to such a neat set up or if Merle had given her a nicer room as some sort of strange apology. ‘Sorry you got your memories erased- here are some gothic windows!’ She stretched her arms over head, trying to loosen the muscles in her back.

Who was she kidding? They were wizards, all of the dorms definitely looked like this.

Andy rubbed her hands across her face, trying to get her body to sink into the soft mattress she’d been provided with. Something about it was just wrong. The mattress wasn’t resting on the most uncomfortable slab of plywood in the entire spiral and the room wasn’t being rocked gently back and forth by the wind. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept in a normal bed. She had a house- a big old villa tucked away from prying eyes- but she mostly used it for meetings and storing away the treasures she gained on her travels through the skyways. All of her nights were spent in the captain’s quarters on her ship, even when she was docked at her villa. She hadn’t realized how much she relied on the creaking of the ship to lull her to sleep. And now she couldn’t seem to ignore it.

Impatient and annoyed with her body, Andy sat up in bed, reaching for her boots. A late night walk wasn’t going to hurt anyone. She considered changing back into her regular clothes before going out, but she decided against it. It was the middle of the night, no one was going to be out and about, and if they were they’d just have to get over the fact that she was walking around in her pajamas.

There was something different in the air in Ravenwood. Everywhere that Nora had dragged her around to over the day had a feeling that lingered in everything that was so unlike all of the worlds that she’d been to before. It wasn’t until they walked through the tunnel leading to the school that Andy realized it was magic. It permeated everything in Wizard City, but here it was the strongest. She could taste the strength of the magic under her tongue- just like she had when she shook Nora’s hand- but instead of the sweet orange of Nora it was a metallic vanilla, something similar to Madame Vadima’s ghost potion. She wondered what caused magic to taste different. Was it the kind of spell being cast or was it the caster?

Andy wasn’t sure how she felt about all of the questions that were piling up in her head. Sure, asking any of them wouldn’t be out of line with her cover story, but it felt wrong. Of course she loved learning about new worlds and cultures- she didn’t just sail around the known universe because she liked to make money. She liked adventure. She liked to discover new things. But something felt different about this. Normally when she travelled to a new world it wasn’t with the explicit thought that she would never come back there again. Asking questions that weren’t necessary to the heist were just going to make it harder for her to do her job. Once she figured out how the hell to do it, that is.

“Late night?” Andy whipped around at the voice, feet apart and fists up, ready to throw a swing at whoever had made the mistake of sneaking up on her. “Well, aren’t you a jumpy one.”

Andy blinked slowly at the speaker. The tree with flaming eyes was smiling at her happily, clearly proud of the way that he had managed to scare her. She dropped her fists, the firelight of the branches dancing across her pale skin. “Sorry. I’m not used to-”

“To trees talking?” he offered with a bright grin. She bit her lip.

“To all of this.”

“Come,” his flames didn’t really move- at least Andy didn’t think that they really moved- but they beckoned her forward. “Tell me what’s troubling you, child.”

What exactly was she supposed to tell the magical tree? I can’t sleep because she hasn't slept in a real bed in years? The mere taste of magic in the air is keeping her awake? That she’s lying to everyone here and was worried that everything was going to fall apart the moment she tried to make her move? She was pretty sure that one was going to get her set on fire, and she could definitely do without that happening. So, she said the only other thing that she could think of.

“There’s a spider in my room.”

The tree let out a big-bellied laugh (did magical talking trees have bellies?), branches shaking as he chuckled at her made up plight. If she was actually scared of spiders she might’ve been more offended, but seeing as she was bullshitting him she didn’t mind all that much. “A mere spider keeps you awake?”

She shrugged. “I don’t like their legs.”

“Here my child,” a single burning leaf drifted down from his branches, cooling to a burnt black as it reached the ground. “Take this and spread the ashes over the threshold of your room. You won’t have to worry about spiders anymore.”

Despite the fact that the leaf had been on fire only a few moments ago, it was cool to her touch. She looked up at the tree, the leaf cradled tenderly in her hands. “Thank you.”

“Sleep well, firefly.”

His flickering voice and sweet nickname filled her with an odd sort of warmth, not dissimilar to lounging in the sun on a summer afternoon. She gave the tree a small wave before turning and heading back toward the dormitories. She didn’t really plan on crumbling the leaf to keep spiders out of her room- she really didn’t mind them enough to take such drastic measures- but she would definitely be keeping the leaf. Who knows, maybe she’d be able to use it for something later. Or maybe she could just keep it and give it to Bonnie Anne when she got back home. Ratbeard would probably appreciate not getting shot at anymore.

As she closed the door behind her, the taste of silvery vanilla disappeared from her lips, and she almost found herself missing it.

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motherfingtitan · 3 years

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Ignorance is Bliss

"When a routine holodeck security inspection goes wrong, new chief of security Jodie Sherret finds out what happened to her predecessor in the worst way possible.

"Are you coming to management training?" Billups’s voice broke her concentration as

Jodie Sherret looked up from her PADD.

"You mean senior crew karaoke?" She replied to Andy.

He shrugged, and they both continued down the hallway. Sherrets first weeks as the Cerritos new chief of security had been an emotional jumble of excitement, fear, joy, and sadness.

Quite a bit of sadness

As a Betazoid human hybrid, Jodie didn't have the telepathic abilities that full Betazoids had, but she was an empath. For the first week, every crew member she talked to radiated with sadness. Even during her first senior crew meeting, she was pounded with a mangled mess of depression that left her exhausted. She knew something tragic happened to her predecessor, but she felt it was inappropriate to ask so soon, especially when the ship had only left dry dock four weeks ago.

She knew a few things. Her predecessor was a Bajoran that went by Shax. He called his security crew the "Bear Pack," and after reviewing tactical programming, he loved to eject warp cores.

"Ransoms going to sing that song he heard while vacationing in Spain. I'm sure every glass in the bar is going to shatter," Billups continued, waving his hands around to emphasize just how bad Jack sang.

"I'll have to catch up with you later. I have to do an inspection on the holodeck. Some ensign, Bumford, I think" she twirled her right hand in the air. "Used all the crew's private logs to create a perfect holodeck simulation. I have to make sure there's no sensitive information in it before I delete it."

"Oh, Boimler! I remember him. He and his friends really saved us that day…." He trailed off.

And there it was again, that uncertain sadness that filled the space around them. She so badly wanted to understand what happened.

"It should only take me an hour, then I'll meet you guys" she tried to break the silence.

"Sounds good! The party will just be getting started. I'll save you a seat next to me" they reached a fork in the corridors, and Andy went left.

He waved as he turned another corner, out of sight. Jodie walked over to the closest turbo lift.

"Deck 8"

The turbo lift began moving, and the ambient sounds filled the air. She loved being alone, as it gave her time to take a break from many negative emotions. The lift slowed to a standstill, and the door slid open. Out she walked down the hallway, passing through ensigns work assignments. Arriving at the door to the holodeck, she rechecked her assignment.

"Computer, access holodeck program Boimler 7."

'This program requires authorization.'

"Authorization Sherret Beta-Four-Delta-Delta"

'Authorization granted, please specify which subprogram.'

"The hell?" She mouthed as the computer began listing out dates on the display. She scrolled up and down the different programs. The last date on the list caught her eye, stardate 57894.8, precisely a day before the Cerritos went into dry dock.

Maybe it was curiosity or just a random place to start, but Sherret chose that subprogram.

'You may enter when ready."

The door slid open to reveal the bridge. Freeman sat in the captain's chair with her legs crossed. Ransom was just walking in, flashing a smile to Freeman and handing her his PADD. Sherret stepped into the program as the doors slid shut behind her.

"These are the officers that are in the running for the Sacramento promotion," Ransom started.

Freeman waved him off. "I'll check it after we sort out this distress call from the Solvang. I can't believe Dayton's had that ship for a week, and she's already had an Ensign accidentally sit on the distress beacon button."

The Solvang? Jodie heard that that ship had been destroyed in an attack and lost all crew. Despite it being a holodeck program, her gut sank as she knew the inevitable was coming. They wouldn't get there in time.

Jodie began to walk over to the conn behind the captain's chair. The equipment and displays were slightly different, likely upgraded after the ship went into the dry dock. Behind the conn, two officers stood. The first she recognized as Billups, but the larger one next to him she had never seen. A glance at the two gold pips in his collar, and she realized that he was Shax. He was quite a bit taller than her and a great deal more intimidating. She started to look at the touchscreen on the wall, making herself look busy.

A lieutenant spoke, "Captain; we’re just about at the coordinates of the distress call."

"Drop to impulse."

After dropping to impulse, the view screens show a sight of rubble against a red, menacing backdrop.

"Shields up, red alert!" Ransom called out as debris hit the ship, causing all the officers on the bridge to stumble.

Shaxs spoke, "Collision alert. Impacts on decks Three, fifteen, and twenty!"

She stared in terrifying awe at her predecessor. His intense demeanor was a contrast to her more nuanced approach. It was surreal knowing that all of this had happened just a few weeks before Sherret first boarded the ship.

Looking over at the viewscreen, a large piece of debris that looked as if it had just gone through an explosion came into view. The words USS Solvang were plaster across it.

"My God! Is that the Solvang?" Freeman spoke.

"Not reading any life signs. The whole crew, they've been wiped out."

Suddenly, a mechanical arm grabbed the remaining piece of the destroyed ship. It pulled the rubble back and attached it to a much larger ship. Looking around, every officer on the bridge had looks of shock and fear in their eyes.

"They're harvesting the wreckage!"

The large ship began to shoot at the Cerritos, causing the decks to tremble.

"Evasive maneuvers!"

The next minute was a blur as the Cerritos tried and failed to escape the enemy or even send out a distress signal.

Shaxs was carefully monitoring damage reports, which at this point, we're coming in from all over the ship. Something alarmed him.

"Captain, they latched on to the port nacelle with some sort of mining arm!"

"Warp! Get us out of here!" Her commander's survival instincts kicked in.

"No! Shut down engines!"

"But we'll be sitting ducks!" Ransom tried to reason with the captain.

"Dayton would have thought the same thing, and look what happened to them. Shut it down!"

Both operations officers behind the conn tapped in the codes to shut down power. Just as the lights were growing dim, the ship jerked violently, Sending Sherret, along with the rest of the crew, flying across the bridge. The lieutenant managed to grab the chair’s arm to the left of the captains when she slammed into the ground. Sparks flew, and fires broke out, creating a disorienting haze. Hearing a scraping noise, Sherret looked up to see a metal ceiling plate about to rip away from the wires and fall.

"Captain, watch out!" Holo Freeman followed Jodie's eyes to the metal plate as it fell. The scream was sickening as the metal landed on the captain, cutting into her side.

"Computer, pause program!"

Everything paused. Sherret reoriented herself and sat in a more comfortable position.

"Do I really want to see this?" She spoke to herself. Everything in her screamed to stop the program and inspect something else. Just a boring old day that would put her to sleep. One look at Shaxs, who was bracing himself on the conn, made her change her mind.

"Computer, resume program."

One last jolt sent her flying back into the side of the chair before the ship eerily stood still. Two ensigns ran over to the captain as Billups turned auxiliary power back on. Jodie was just helping herself up when a menacing figure showed up on the viewscreen.

"We thought the Enterprise was strong. We are strong!"

Freeman’s voice wavered as she spoke, "This isn't the Enterprise; this is the Cerritos."

The figure took off its helmet "We thought you were the Enterprise."

Pakleds? The technology pillagers that took Geordi LaForge hostage in 2364? Sherret thought that they were a joke. Something to laugh about. The captain tried to reason with the Pakled, to no avail.

"We will cut your ship apart!" The transmission cut out as the Cerritos was pulled towards the other ship.

One of the Ensign, Boimler, who created this program, stated that the Pakleds had technology from over 30 different species.

They weren't a joke anymore.

The ship was brought into a repair bay of some sorts as a jolt was felt throughout the ship.

"They're phasering the hull!" Shaxs shouted.

Sherret ran to the conn that Billups was sitting at and looked at the force field integrity.

"Emergency force fields are holding, but I have no idea how long they're going to last on auxiliary power!" She spoke.

'None of this is happening right now,' she thought to calm herself down.. 'It happened before, but right now, Ransom is singing terribly, Freeman is uninjured, and the ship is safe.'

Mariner then stepped up and suggested a plan. A crazy dangerous plan, but a plan that worked considering that the Cerritos is still in one piece. Installing a program to disable the enemy ship was brilliant, and Sherret made a mental note to talk to Mariner about transferring to security.

Bright swirls of light appeared all over the bridge. "Intruders beaming in! Very slowly beaming in!"

'Safety protocols are offline. Extreme risk of injury or death.'

Jodie's blood drained from her face. "Computer, end program!"

'Unable to comply.'

"Computer, pause program!"

'Unable to comply.'

Boimler spoke, "Trust me, I really wish this was a program too!"

'No, no, no no no' she tapped on her combadge, desperately trying to get in contact with anybody, but nothing was getting through.

"We gotta go!" Mariner rushed everyone into the turbo lift.

"Deck 7," Shaxs practically roared.

The armory was located on that deck but all the way on the other side of the ship. How were they going to make it in time with Intruders beaming in all over the ship? The captain was already growing weak as she leaned on Shaxs for support.

'Come on! Somebody come in!' The tapping on her combadge grew more frantic as the turbo lift slowed to a stop. The doors slid open, and Mariner led the way down the corridor. Wires stuck out everywhere, sparks coming from them.

'Freeman, Ransom, Billups. Anyone come in!'

"We have to get to the armory!" Shaxs spoke just before all of them were cut off by Pakleds beaming in from all four directions. They were trapped.

"Looks like we'll have to repel them the old-fashioned way. Setting my fists to stun in my kick to kill." Mariner rolled her eyes back as she pulled off several different sheets of metal plating from the walls and ceiling. Numerous pieces of contraband, mainly consisting of weapons, fell from the compartments.

"Hey, we got all this" she kicked some weapons towards the group. The rest of the officers quickly started to arm themselves. "All the way in the back too!"

Sherret spotted a Glavin rolling towards her. She picked it up and placed it on her right hand, trying to get used to the weight.

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" Holo Freeman asked.

"I don't know, a lot!" Was her only reply before the Pakleds started to materialize.

Sherret got in her fighting stance, fists and weapons up. The Intruders materialized and started running towards the group. In a split second, she dashed towards the Pakleds, swinging her weapon and hoping someone got her com call.

...

If there's one thing Commander Ransom thought he was good at but wasn't, it was singing.

Yo te amo y ahora perdóname

Solo recuérdame

Te amo, te amo, te amo

Te amo, te amo

The man was absolutely tone-deaf. The vast majority of crew members in 10 forward were internally cringing but trying to put on a pleasant facade because Jack was the first officer. All the way in the back corner, swirling his glass around but not taking a sip, was Commander Billups.

He glanced to his right, where Sherret would have been If she were here.

"What is taking her so long?" He spoke to himself, tapping his glass and watching the ripples that it made in his drink.

She was supposed to only take an hour, but it had already been nearly two. Staring at the seat for a moment longer, his combadge came to life.

"Help! Someone help!"

He nearly jumped before tapping his badge. "Commander Billups here. Report!"

The voice that came back was filled with fear and breathing heavily. "Oh, thank God! It's Lieutenant Sherret. The holodeck program I was running is corrupted. Safety protocols are offline, I can't get out of the program, and Holo Pakleds are attacking me. I need he-" a scream cut off the call.

Billups jumped from his booth and ran out of the bar, bumping into a few officers along the way. He sprinted to the nearest touch screen panel.

"Computer, what program is running in holodeck two?!"

'The program running is Boimler 7. Safety protocols are currently offline.'

"Turn safety protocols back on!"

'Unable to comply.'

"Initiate Chief Engineer override. Billups Alpha-Delta-Four-Four-Seven. Shut down holodeck two."

'Unable to comply.'

"What the heck is wrong with this thing?" He was nearly pulling his hair out looking. "Billups to Rutherford" he commed

"Rutherford here"

"Meet me outside of holodeck two. We have a serious problem with a corrupt program."

"On my way."

He ran back into the lounge, trying to act as normal as possible. He spotted T'ana, a deadpan expression plastered on her face with the occasional side glare to Nurse Westlake, who just shrugged in return. Coming up from behind, T'ana suddenly felt herself being pulled away mid-drink.

"Dammit! What the hell?" She snarled.

"Sorry, need to borrow her for a second," Billups said to nurse Westlake, who just raised an eyebrow in return.

"Ok, what the hell was that!" The doctor snapped when they finally stepped out of the lounge.

"Sherret is stuck in a dangerous holodeck program. She commed me midway through the program, and the last thing I heard was a scream. She might be injured."

T'ana stood looking at him for a moment, observing the worry in his eyes. "Alright. I'm sure it's nothing major, but I'll get a team on standby.

...

The scene was insane. The sound of weapons hitting surfaces and the grunts from the Pakleds and the crew muddled together for disturbing background noise. Sherret was currently swinging her weapon at two Pakleds, landing several decent hits.

There were just so damn many of them!

Shoveling her glavin into one of the pakleds stomachs, she was able to kick it in the knee, causing him to collapse. Behind her, Shaxs was throwing bodies at one another and, at one point, literally head-butted one of the enemies. While looking over at Shaxs, a Pakled came up from behind and swiped her. The force throwing her across the hallway, and blood seeped out of her newly formed wound.

"Little fucker" she mumbled, gripping her wound.

Another was charging after her. Sliding out of the way at the last second, the Pakled slammed itself into the wall, where she was able to shove the weapon directly into its lower back.

"Mom!" Sherret glanced up, seeing Mariner across the hallway running to the collapsed captain.

There was so much blood, with the sticky liquid pooling on the floor. Mariner tried to pull her up before the entire ship shook, and a bright phaser beam tore through the hallway. Shaxs ran over to the captain and picked up her weak frame. Both him and Boimler ran towards sickbay.

"Ransom! Get our backs!" Mariner yelled out before following her mother.

"Way ahead of you," he side kicked another Pakleds, causing it to fall and mumble, "my leg!"

"Hey! Any particular reason you two aren't using weapons?" Sherret swung at the Pakled, being pinned against the wall by Billups.

"I only need my hands as wepo-" Jack was cut off by a punch to the face. Falling to the ground, he managed to use both of his legs to kick the Pakled off. "Double leg kick!"

More yellow energy beams appeared in the hallways.

"Guys, we have more beaming in!" Billups yelled

"How many of these guys are there?" Sherret stood in a fighting stance.

"I don't know, but whatever happens, do not let them get past sickbay!" Ransom threw his signature kicks and punches.

Though they were able to get a majority of the Pakleds off their backs, a few pinned the three right against sickbay doors. Just as she had crushed another holo Intruder's kneecap, the sick bay doors slid open, revealing Shaxs with Rutherford over his shoulder. They began to run down the hallway.

'This is my chance,' Sherret thought. She could finally learn what happened to her predecessor.

She took off running, desperate to keep up with them. She had only ran about 10 ft before getting cut off by a large yellow phaser beam. It was so bright that the lieutenant had to cover her eyes temporarily. Without seeing it, someone snuck up on her. Something forcefully tugged at her hair, throwing her off balance and onto the ground. Her eyes shot open, but it was too late.

From there, she was picked up and shoved into the wall. Suddenly, the Pakled put immense pressure on her neck. Looking down, a metal bar pressed against her throat, most likely a handle from an old weapon. The Pakled lifted her from the ground, her only support being the metal bar choking her and her hands trying to tear it away. The pressure was insane, and every breath felt like it was only getting a drop of oxygen. She flailed their arms back and forth, desperately clawing at the metal, trying to get the bar off of her before she blacked out from lack of oxygen.

...

"Well, what did he say?" Mariner ran down the hallway, trailing behind Rutherford.

"He just said it was a serious problem with a corrupt holodeck program," Rutherford replied, making a sharp right turn. He saw Billups frantically waving at him from the other side of the hallway.

"I hope whoever is in there is going to be okay," Tendi added.

"I'm sure everything is going to work out," Mariner replied as the three ensigns skidded to a stop at the end of the hallway.

Rutherford rushed over to the holodeck control panel, where his boss was already trying to type in different commands to end the program. "What program is running, sir, and who's in there?"

"Boimler 7, Lieutenant Sherret was doing a routine inspection of it before safety protocols failed."

Rutherford knew that program, as ever since he got his new implant, bits of memories were coming back. He started working on the code in the system. But something was wrong, and it looks like it had been messed with in ways that Boimler wouldn't do.

"Sir, I think someone went in and edited the program, and that's why the safeties failed. The entire coding of it is off" he glanced over at Mariner.

It wasn't too far of a fetch, as Mariner had gone into that program and edited it to make her movie. But why would safeties go off? It's not like any of them got injured there.

Except for the side of Rutherford's head and her lips.

Oh shit.

Billups and T'ana eyes followed Rutherford to Mariners. "what in the hell did you do?" T'ana asked

"I reprogrammed Boimlers holodeck program so that I could do some much-needed therapy in a movie. I don't know what disabled safety protocols."

"Is that why both you and Rutherford showed up to my office bleeding that day?"

"Yeah"

Billups pinched the bridge of his nose. "You messed with a holodeck program, came out bleeding, and you didn't tell anyone!"

"I get thirsty after holodeck therapy sessions! And then I forgot…."

"Well, you're forgetfulness could get another security officer killed!" He shouted.

T'ana stepped in between them "Both of you need to calm the fuck down before I deem you medically unfit to continue duty," Billups opened his mouth just to be cut off by T'ana, "and don't give me any 'I'm the CHENG' bullshit. Let’s just figure something out"

Mariner used this as an opportunity to dust off her contraband. Pulling a panel on the wall, many bits and pieces from different places fell out, including a crowbar. "Sometimes you got to do with the old-fashioned way" she swung the heavy metal crowbar around.

"And just where the hell did you get a crowbar?" T'ana irritated voice cut through the tension.

Beckett shoved one end of the crowbar into the space where the closed doors met and began to push against the metal bar. "Stole it on shore leave a couple of weeks back. Are any of you gonna help me pry this door open before knock-off Troi gets impaled?"

Tendi ran over and began to pull on the other side of the crowbar. Grinding filled the air as the door slid open a fraction of an inch.

"Someone check what's going on. I can't hold it for long" Tendi and Mariner put their entire weight into the bar.

Billups was able to see through the tiny slit. Scanning the scene, he finally spotted Jodie in a battered and slightly bloody state. A holo Pakled held her against the wall with a metal pipe. Gasping for air, she desperately clawed at the bar, arms and legs swinging. Then with a grinding noise, the door slammed shut, throwing D'vana and Beckett to the floor.

T'ana irritated expression softened when she saw all the blood drain from Andy's face.

"That bad?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, it's recreating the Pakled fight. Rutherford, go down to engineering and see if you can cut the power off there. I'll stay up here and keep trying."

Rutherford ran off, and Billups took his spot, quickly resuming the work that his ensign had already started.

...

Jodie's vision began to darken around the edges as the pressure on her neck increased with every second. Her holo enemy had nothing but malice in his eyes. Just as she began to feel limp, the pressure released.

"Side kick! Double punch!" The holographic version of her first officer had disarmed the enemy and knocked them out. Sherret dropped to her hands and knees, gasping sweet oxygen in as fast as she could.

"Lieutenant!" He helped her up.

"I'll live," she croaked out, hoping that statement was true. "How many more?"

"I think we got most of them," Holo Billups leaned against the wall, catching his breath.

The turbo lift doors on the far end of the corridor opened, revealing a few straggler Pakleds, likely coming from the bridge.

"Are you okay to fight?" Ransom asked

Sherret nodded, barely having a voice to speak anymore. She picked up the metal pole that was held against her neck moments ago off the ground and held it at an angle against her body.

"Billups, catch!" Ransom threw a battle-ax at him as the Pakleds closed in.

In much of a Ransom style, he simply put his fists in a fighting position. "You guys ready to get the last of these assholes out of here?"

"Ready when you are!" Billups replied, and Sherret nodded as they all took their first swings.

Sherret slowly realized that neck injury might have been worse than she initially thought, and she noticed her fighting was way weaker than average. Every swing of the pipe brought uncomfortable pressure to the front of her neck, and even though she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the pain, it still made her fighting speed much slower. Billups and Ransom, however, were fighting at full strength, making up for her slowness.

"How much more do we have!" her voice sounded terrible.

“Just these idiots,” ransom yelled with two enemies surrounding him.

"We will tear you apart, just like we tore this ship apart," the Pakled yelled.

"I don't think so" Moving slightly between them; he was able to kick one of them in the crotch, causing the intruder to collapse and let go of his weapon. Ransom grabbed the weapon just as the first intruder was falling to the ground and managed to hit the second one on the head. Both fell into the same pile.

Ransom hitched his leg up slightly and let his footrest on one of the bodies. "That'll teach you all not to mess with Commander Jack Ransom!"

"Jack, you may want to look at this," Billups called out. Towards the outside light coming from the end of the hallway. Sherret followed, and Ransom trailed behind.

"The shuttle" Ransom ran over to the window at the end of the corridor.

There, the shuttle floated aimlessly around the ship. Peaceful even.

Boom

The explosion of the pakleds ship shook the already weak Cerritos to its core. The light engulfed the entire hallway and sent all three officers stumbling to the ground.

It was breathtaking in a terrifying way, and as Sherret looked at that giant explosion, she knew what happened. Shaxs never made it back to the shuttle. He died in the blast.

She just watched her predecessor die.

"I sure hope both of them got out," Billups spoke up as the noise finally quieted down.

"They both did. Shaxs isn't going to be taken down that easily" Ransom slowly stood up. He was still trying to find his balance.

"Commander Ransom," his combadge sparked to life, "We just pulled the shuttlecraft back into the ship. She's in pretty bad shape, sir. You better take a look."

"Acknowledged, I'll be right there" he turned to Billups. "The lieutenant and I will go down to the shuttle bay. You get to engineering and make sure we aren't leaking radiation."

The run to the shuttle bay was excruciating, not just because of her neck injury but because she knew what would happen. Shaxs wouldn't be in the shuttlecraft. She'd be forced to see everyone's reaction and to see why she was even assigned to the Cerritos in the first place.

Shuttle bay didn't look much better than the rest of the ship, with much of the equipment on the walls busted and ripped out. There, being pulled into the ship was the Sequoia in all its glory. As soon as the shuttle stopped moving, Ransom ran to the side and pulled the door open. Each movement filled Sherret with more dread.

Stepping into the shuttle, both officers saw Rutherford collapsed on the ground with his implant ripped out.

Ransom yelled, "Get him to sickbay!" Medical personnel came in and picked Rutherford up.

Ransom paced around, trying to see if Shaxs was there. Ransom knew he wasn't, as he would have seen him when he first entered the shuttle, but the denial was getting to him. The realization hit him like a truck. He pulled back his fists and slammed them into the console out of anger while screaming.

Tears began to fill Sherret's eyes. Not like this! She didn't want to see the crew like this. She didn't want to know what happened like this! She leaned against the shuttle wall, dizzy and still in shock.

'Safety protocols restored.'

The scene changed, and instead of leaning against a shuttle wall, she leaned against the back wall of the holodeck. It was over, but it didn't feel over.

...

"Rutherford, I need options now!" Billups was starting to panic now, as every program he had tried had failed to shut the holodeck down.

"Sir, the fastest thing I could do is shut down power to that section of the ship and then turn it back on. That should be enough to shut the holodeck program down," he said through the comm.

"How long would power be shut down to this section?"

"Approximately 1 minute"

"Then do it. Use override if you have to."

The hallway went dark, the only lights being emergency lighting. Time stood still for what seemed like ages as Billups kept his eyes glued to the control panel.

"Restarting power, sir, I'll be right up there" Rutherford ended the call from engineering.

The power slowly came on, illuminating the hallway. The control panel came back online and cleared any existing programs running on the holodeck, including Boimler 7.

"Finally!"

The doors finally slid open just as Rutherford ran down the hallway. The bright light made Sherret turn around to face the door. Her eyes widened in shock as tears rolled down her face. T'ana, Tendi, and Billups ran in, leaving Mariner and Rutherford standing just outside the door.

The lieutenant began to sway from weakness and dropped to her knees. The other officers surrounded her.

"T'ana, is she ok?" Billups voice filled with worry

"Does she fucking look ok? Don't ask stupid questions!"

Sherret held her neck, thinking that somehow, just maybe, the contact would help the pain go away. Billups looked at her oddly when she kept holding her neck.

"Her neck!" Billups realized "she was choked"

"Pull her hair up. I want to check it."

Billups gently gathered her undone hair and held it at the top of her head, careful to avoid pulling on the cut on her hairline. T'ana made quick work unbuttoning the torn jacket as Jodie's bruised neck came into view. A blotchy mess of bruises and bloody abrasions replaced what was ordinarily pale skin. It was a sight that made both senior officers' eyes widen.

"Holy shit. We need to get her to sickbay! Tendi, load a hypospray." T'ana commed nurse Westlake to get a stretcher to the holodeck ASAP.

It was so painful for Jodie. With the adrenaline wearing off, each gasp felt like needles running down her neck.

"Is, is that how it happened?" Sherret spoke between gasps. Her voice hoarse from being strangled. "Is that what happened to the ship? To sha-"

"Don't talk. I don't want you to permanently damage your neck" T'ana worked with Tendi loading a hypospray.

Andy let go of her hair and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Come on, Jodie, stay with us. Stay with me."

Tears still ran down her face, hitting the holodeck floor.

T'ana walked over with a hypo. "I can't have her jerking her neck around," she pressed a hypo against Sherrets neck. "Sorry, kid"

The world faded into darkness as sherret slumped forward right into Billups’s arms.

...

"She's waking up."

"Get me a hypospray. She’s going to want painkillers."

Jodies face scrunched at the cold hypo being administered.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Welcome back!" Tendis smile was the first thing Jodie saw.

"What the?" Her eyes started between the four people standing over her. "This isn't my quarters?"

“Nope, You’re in sickbay,” Westlake spoke.

"You were on the holodeck being attacked by Pakleds. Rutherford and Billups managed to get you out, though." Tendi continued.

“So that's what happened." Jodie attempted to sit up before being pushed back down by T'ana. "Take it easy. You got the crap beaten out of you in there. I don't know why you can disable the safety protocols on the holodeck. Damn death traps."

"That's not the worst thing I saw in there."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Tendi, finish that paperwork from the blood samples earlier. Westlake, cover for me while I finish this"

The two nurses exited one of the few private medical rooms in sickbay. Tendi wished the officer a fast recovery before closing the door. Beeping came from the medical tricorder as the doctor scanned her patient.

"You're looking better. When you first came here, you had strangulation injuries along with some lacerations and a couple of bruised ribs. Your vocal cords were damaged, though, and the only thing that will heal that is time. And yes, you're going to sound like a dying Tribble for the next couple of weeks."

She crooked "How long was I asleep for"

"12 hours. I tried to get your friend to go back to his quarters, but he wouldn't budge."

"Oh," she mouthed, looking over at the exhausted yet relieved state of the chief engineer.

"I still want you to stay here for another day. After that, you're on light duty for the next two weeks."

Jodie took a deep breath. "Is that what happened?"

Unnerving silence

"Is that what happened to your former-" she was cut off by T'ana

"I heard you the first time. And yes, that is what happened." She pursed her lips. Trying to think of what to say next. "I wish you could have found out differently."

She pressed a button on the biobed, allowing it to incline to a 45° angle. "Ok, kid, I gotta check up on some other stuff. I'll give you another hypospray soon." She turned to Billups, "and you have fifteen minutes. You look like hell, and your jacket looks like it's been through a murder scene." She left the room.

"Is that my blood?" Jodie looked at the smear of red extending from Billups’s shoulder to his chest.

"Uh, yeah. You had a cut on your forehead when you passed out and fell into me. It's ok, though. I have tons of jackets. Engineering gets messy."

"Does the entire ship know?" She avoided eye contact.

"No one but us. Captain just knows you were in a holodeck accident."

"Thank goodness"

'Deep breath Jodie, ' she thought before continuing, "I knew something bad happened. I could feel it every time I talked to anybody on the ship for the first two weeks. But seeing it. Seeing it happen just makes everything worse."

At this point, Andy had pulled a chair over to her bed.

"And you guys went through it; you were there when Shaxs died. I just went through a holographic version of it."

"Everyone on the ship is still upset about what happened. I know I am. Shaxs was like a big brother to me, and I miss him. You shouldn't feel bad, though. No one views you as just a replacement. You're doing an amazing job as a bridge officer." He ran a hand through his untamed hair before reaching out and grabbing hers, "and for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here."

Sherret chuckled weakly. "Thanks. For everything, you really saved my ass back there."

"Don't mention it. I was also wondering, and I was going to ask this before the whole holodeck thing" he fiddled with the blanket in the bed with his free hand, "after you're all healed up, and your voice heals a little bit, did you wanna do dinner in my quarters?"

Her eyes widened. "Commander?"

"If no one's around, you can just call me Andy."

"Oh," she mouthed, "I would say the same thing, but I think you already called me Jodie in the holodeck."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

“I had a feeling you were going to ask. Ya know, the whole empath thing.”

He chuckled in return, and they sat in silence for a few moments, feeling the warmth in each other's hands. They knew Billups would have to leave soon, as T'ana was notoriously strict about timing and visiting hours. Silently, Jodies raised her arms. Confusion spread across Andy's face before realizing she wanted a hug.

Gently, as not to disturb her neck, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled in for a hug. Unknown to both of them, T'ana had walked in the room to kick Billups out. However, seeing this made her change her mind just a little bit. A slight smirk spread across her face.

She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "I'll give him another 5 minutes."

...

This was originally thought up in early spring, long before we even got the first teaser for season two. Needless to say, its only season one canon compliant.

Special thanks to @antzonian for all the help, especially dialogue

#star trek #star trek lower decks #Lower Decks

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scottspack · 3 years

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Madame galaxy brain herself, @jlf23tumble, tagged me to talk about my top songs on repeat right now which is GREAT because I have actually have been listening to some different stuff lately! LET’S DIVE IN!

1. Keel Timing - Manchester Orchestra: I talked about it in the tags of Jen’s post BUT I decided that I’m no longer listening to singles if an artists says that they’re leading up to a full album release bc I’m tired of having listened to and grown tired of half an album before it’s released all bc artists wanna put out 800 singles. SO! I didn’t listen to this song a couple months ago when they released it as a single and that was THE CORRECT CHOICE bc this album fucking slapped as a complete project and I’m so so glad I didn’t go into it already having beat this song to death on repeat! Now I can beat it to death of my own volition! ANDY HULL LET ME DIE FOR YOU!!!!!

2. Boilermaker - Royal Blood: BOY HOWDY can royal blood write a riff like no fucking other!!!! They get shit on a lot for all of their songs sounding the same but I just think........ if that one song they all sound like.......... is good...... then who cares.............

3. Telepathy - BTS: a few months ago in a letter to @significationary I talked about my love for Rosalía and about how I was interested in getting into more international music and joked that maybe I’d become a bts stan, knowing full well it would never happen. Well, baby. OH HOW THE TURNTABLES!!!!! It took a full year of unemployment but I finally reached the point where I was willing to give bts a chance and you know what? It’s been INCREDIBLY fun. Their music bangs, their videos are cool, the members seem nice and extremely talented, and all of my friends who are fans have been SO sweet and SO nice in giving me the bts 101 crash course!!!! I just think life is hard enough and if I find joy in diving into the wide and wonderful world of bts, then so be it. Stan jimin.

4. Red Hearse - Red Hearse: so.....no one was going to tell me that Jack Antonoff had an EXTREMELY GOOD one off side project with Sam Dew and Sounwave back in 2019? I was just supposed to find that out myself while listening to an indie mix generated for me by the spotify algorithm???

5. Stomach - Aly & AJ: this was a sleeper hit on their new album for me, not typically a song I would be into but....... there’s something about the line “i just can’t stomach being your ex wife / all these memories they don’t feel like mine” that has got me by the fucking THROAT!!!!!! SAY IT LOUDER LADIES!!!!!!!!!!

I’m going to tag @wolfbuddy of course, @significationary @fullhalalalchemist @craniuum and my bts guides @kerasines and @un-buttoned

#also if you see this and are like ‘i would also like to do that’ im tagging you as well #it took an INSANE amount of deliberation to pick which bts song to put #runners up were UGH!/black swan/daeng/filter #but i feel like telepathy is the one i would put on most readily in front of other people #not everyone can appreciate the artistic genius that is UGH!#but.......that’s probably my favorite #i also listened to daeng for 15 minutes straight on the treadmill the other day so.......do with that info what you will

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upperstories · 4 years

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DEARLY BELOVED, dearly departed /// a beetlelands/goldenrat playlist inspired by beetlejuice: the musical, the musical, the musical! on broadway /// [HERE]

1) the end/dead! /// mcr; 2) hey look ma, i made it! /// panic! at the disco; 3) mystery skulls /// enemy; 4) i can't decide /// scissor sisters; 5) it's mine /// mystery skulls; 6) kiss with a fist /// florence + the machine; 7) jack's lament /// nbc/all american rejects; 8) mr. cellophane /// chicago/john c. reilly; 9) talk /// hozier; 10) ghost /// mystery skulls; 11) dead of night /// sayonara wild hearts, 12) neon gravestones /// twenty one pilots; 13) sally's song /// nbc/amy lee; 14) this is how i disappear /// mcr; 15) I won't say i'm in love [medley] /// disney/thomas sanders; 16) mr. brightside /// the killers; 17) back to life /// mystery skulls; 18) take me to church /// hozier; 19) if i'm being honest /// dodie; 20) from eden /// hozier; 21) every note /// mystery skulls; 22) be /// hozier; 23) cosmic love /// florence + the machine; 24) disenchanted /// mcr; 25) moderation /// florence + the machine; 26) true love /// p!nk [feat. lily allen]; 27) a better way /// swiss army man/andy hull; 28) the only hope for me is you /// mcr; 29) like real people do /// hozier; 30) death of a bachelor /// panic! at the disco; 31) for once In my life /// stevie wonder; 32) angel of small death & the codeine scene /// hozier; 33) a place i don't know /// sayonara wild hearts; 34) can't help falling in love with you [cover] /// twenty one pilots; 35) carry on /// fun.; 36) love like you /// su/rebecca sugar

[HERE]

#beetlejuice #beetlejuice the musical #goldenrat #beetlelands #barbara maitland #adam maitland #beetlejuice/barbara/adam #my arts #uppers arts #music #fan playlist #i worked really.... fucking hard on t h i s...

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365days365movies · 3 years

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April 8, 2021: Swiss Army Man (and Black Comedy) (Review)

Let’s look at the week’s other black comedies, shall we?

I’m a bit behind on the reviews (and the Recaps, but that’s a little easier to fix at the moment), but I decided to give something a shot. While I’ve still got full Reviews for each of those films, it occurred to me that the ones left to review are the black comedies. The Great Dictator is technically a part of the category as well, but I’m letting it skate by under satire. Plus, I already reviewed it. And, since Swiss Army Man is the last black comedy I’m covering this month, what better time than now to summarize the rest! Again, I’ll be giving more comprehensive reviews in due time. But until then...

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), dir. Frank Capra: 90%

Wow, I get why this movie is so very loved, by everybody and my mom! Told her I watched it the other day, and she was very happy to hear it! This is a VERY funny movie, and while it is a black comedy, it’s more of a straight-up comedy than any of these other films! The acting’s a little cheesy sometimes, yeah, but Cary Grant is goddamn AMAZING in this movie. It’s mostly his supporting cast that serves the cheese platter (Raymond Massey especially). Plot and writing by Julius and Phillip Epstein are spot-on smooth, but directing isn’t one of Frank Capra’s best in my completely uninformed opinion. Production and art design is great, especially given that we’re mostly only in one place for the whole movie. Still, that place looks good regardless. Finally, the music by Max Steiner is also pretty fantastic, although it’s not going on my playlist anytime soon, to be honest. Editing by Daniel Mandell is also great, and the pacing of this movie’s plot is...mostly perfect. Lags a little when Jonathan comes in, I think. Anyway, highly recommended, and a must-see!

Recap (Part One | Part Two)

Withnail and I (1987), dir. Bruce Robinson: 86%

OK...this one is kind of hard for me. Because I think I was supposed to get more out of this film than I actually did. Maybe that’s because I’m a filthy American and all that, but this film came off as good dramatically, with some ribald humor in it...but not really that funny. But, OK, to briefly go through the points here: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, and Richard Griffiths all turn out fantastic performances here, and they’re extremely memorable. Plot and writing by director Bruce Robinson is very good as well, and it’s also autobiographical to an extent, which is interesting. Very wittily written and performed, so no complaints there. Directing is...fine? It’s fine. Nothing to write home about, although there’s one nice scene on a mountainside which sticks out. Same with Charles Lang and his cinematography, although that fares a little more memorable for me. Production and set design is great, and the music (by Adolph Deutsch)...leaves a little to be desired. In that I don’t remember it at all, not gonna lie. Editing by Arthur P. Scmidt is fine!

Recap (Part One | Part Two)

In Bruges (2008), dir. Martin McDonagh: 90%

Take my feelings on the humor for the preceding two and combine them, then make the tone WAY darker than either, and you have In Bruges. And HOT DAMN, I love it! All of the performances are ridiculously strong here, from Colin Farell and Brendan Gleeson, to Ralph Fiennes and Clémence Poésy. Although, Jordan Prentice and Jérémie Renier are mostly just OK, to be honest with you. And that was nothing to do with the writing and directing of Martin McDonagh, because GODDAMN, those are spot-fucking-ON. Seriously, if this movie has nothing else going for it, it’s some fast-paced writing and delivery that’ll knock your socks off. Love it. And Bruges is framed like a painting, and a nice one at that! It’s also a good looking movie, even if the color palette leaves a little to be desired sometimes. Production and art design is...well, it’s the city of Bruges, for the most part, let’s be honest. It looks good. And finally, music by Carter Burwell is...fine. It’s OK, it’s definitely not very memorable for me, to be honest. But, uh, this is a grizzly, dark, rough movie...and totally worth watching again, hot damn.

Recap

Swiss Army Man (2016), dir. Daniels: Well...keep reading!

Recap is here and here!

Review

Cast and Acting: 9/10

These two, Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, are a hell of a pair...kind of. Fact of the matter is, Radcliffe is heavily restrained in his role until the very end of the film, but is also VERY GOOD with these restraints. I mean, is this one of those “disappear into the role” moments for him? I mean, it definitely is for Dano, but for Radcliffe...I was watching Harry Potter. Never didn’t see the boy who lived, ironically. But, that’s not really on Radcliffe at all, to be fair. Like I said, dude is legitimately fantastic, seriously. He does a fantastic job in the role of...well, being a dead body. And Paul Dano’s Hank is a genuinely interesting character, and one that I’d like to know more about, honestly. He does a great job with what he’s given. Oh, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead was there, too!

Plot and Writing: 8/10

Look...this is a weird-ass concept for a movie. I mean, come on, it’s a movie about a guy with intense social anxiety who makes friends with a semi-resurrected corpse that has multiple abilities and is slowly coming to terms with an new life. And yes, there’s definitely some symbolism in here, whether you see this as a story about depression, coming out, coming to terms with yourself, social anxiety, friendship, existential crises, personal development...dead bodies. Yeah, this film can be read in a LOT of different ways, it turns out. And is that a bad thing? No, of course not. But it is a little nebulous as a result, and you end up focusing less on the sybolis, and more on the whole “dead-body-Victorinox” thing. That plot and the writing, both by the Daniels (Daniel Schinert and Daniel Kwan), are well-done and very funny in a lot of instances (MOST instances, to be honest; this is a very funny film), but I can’t say that I think the plot itself is perfect. But then again, this may have just gone over my head.

Directing and Cinematography: 8/10

I mean...it’s good. Both the directing by the Daniels and the cinematography by Larkin Seiple are both quite good. Lighting is usually pretty great, framing is consistently good, I really don’t have any major complaints...or major comments. There are some good shots, to be clear, but I’m not going to say that it’s perfect or anything. To be fair, this is the Daniels’ first feature length film, so that’s interesting. But yeah, like I said, it’s good!

Production and Art Design: 9/10

This is a great looking movie! And that also comes down to the fact that there’s a pretty realistic looking Daniel Radcliffe puppet in here, and I genuinely didn’t notice until after the fact. It’s pretty great, though, and Radcliffe’s makeup is especially good. The setting of the Pacific Northwest woods is fantastic as well, and the whole thing is simply a great looking film overall. Not much comment outside of that!

Music and Editing: 9/10

MY LORD I love the music in this movie! I meant it when I said I’d be putting some of this on my playlist, because it sounds great. And it’s not just Andy Hull and Robert McDowell’s orchestration, but how the score is integrated with the plot and characters of the film! Look...I love it. Go back to my recap and check out the links embedded within to listen to my favorite tracks, if you’re curious! So, if I love the music so much, why not a 10 here? Editing. There are a few moment where the editing is a little weird. Faster cuts than needed, scene with the bear’s kinda weird, that kind of thing. Nothing huge, but it did come to mind when I was rating this section. Still, Matthew Hannam did a great job; just saw a couple spots I thought were weird.

86% for this one! I had a really good time.

This is the last straight-up black comedy I’m covering this time around, and it’s one hell of a film to end on! So, let’s go back to...well, the ‘50s, this time. Let’s start at the most imfluential comedy of the time period. And hey...might as well start with a near-certified banger, huh?

April 9, 2021: Some Like It Hot (1959), dir. Billy Wilder

#swiss army man #daniel scheinert #daniel kwan #daniel scheinert and daniel kwan #the daniels #paul dano #daniel radcliffe #mary elizabeth winstead #comedy april #user365 #365days365movies #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #userhayao #userskashi #classicfilmblr

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stu-evans · 3 years

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When It All Comes True - Albums of 2020

So I think we can all agree 2020 has been a bit of a shit show. Despite all that C word nonsense there has been some truly remarkable albums released this year. From Indie veterans to those who are trying to make their way in the murky waters of the music industry, we have been treated to a vast array of beautiful sounds.

Here are my favourites of the year in no particular order except to say that if forced ‘Lanterns On The Lake’ have to take the number one spot with ‘Spook The Herd’

I hope you find something new to enjoy , let me know if you do!

Lanterns On The Lake - Spook The Herd - Quite simply I fell in love with this album the moment I heard it. From Hazel Wilde’s hauntingly beautiful vocals to the stunning production from Paul Gregory, LOTL recorded a record so incredible that once it is over you have to take a deep breath before wanting to dive straight back into their Lake......

https://open.spotify.com/track/0sXGJayQtGyM8RnDmUWSQV?si=mlcrwZDzQRSdvqzUoqO6oA

Pale Fire - Husbands - I’ve been rooting for this band for a good five years now, their debut self titled album still gets a regular play but with Husbands they have taken giant strides forward. This record is rich with wonderful layered harmonies, orchestration and instrumentation. Lyrically one of my favourite song-writers, I really hope this album gets the praise it deserves.

https://open.spotify.com/track/3I8nmE77FWlSRWnxebl7Co?si=sAq5-hnJSPKEPg_7WGRDpw

Andy Bell - The View From Halfway Down - Releasing your debut solo album thirty years into a glorious career takes some guts but The View.... is an album that is totally worth waiting for. Blending a mix of influences from ‘NEU!’ ‘Big Star’ to ‘David Bowie’ and�� ‘Can’ this record takes you on an incredible 42 minute psychedelic pop ride .......see what I did there?!

https://open.spotify.com/track/1SSylta9cB0ru8u9Y3XSLO?si=tpkqtIv0T2e4V6YmD3EaRQ

bdrmm - Bedroom - The Hull based quintets debut album is a Shoegaze Dream Pop delight that is so down my street that it owns half the block and I’m paying it rent! Those layered harmonies conjure up a multi-faceted sound that you just can’t put down. The record draws you in, fans of ‘MBV’ ‘Swervedriver’ and ‘Ride’ will find a home here. Debut album of the year for me!

https://open.spotify.com/track/1KVmkJwGJqHWQkb1xg1zkg?si=L28cecb1QYy9-dls6sSsUg

Black Foxxes - Black Foxxes - Mark Holley is a genius. The guy is up there as one of the best song writers of his generation. The third Black Foxxes album is raw, cathartic, dark and dense yet somehow full of hope and euphoric passion. Mostly recorded ‘live’ this record is a triumph over adversity and proves that we can all have faith in the fact that things will get better.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2x0dbvUZ9K6Wsc9eml0Jw0?si=3u1YoNvMSdK3NiVjY-3rsw

Mt. Doubt -Doubtlands - Man alive the 3rd album from Edinburgh based Leo Bargery and his incredibly talented bandmates is an absolute joy to be hold. If ‘The National’ had written and recorded this most music journalists would be wanking themselves into a coma, yes it is that good! Drawn from autobiographical sources each song is rich with wonder and daylight breaking through to form a new day. Masterful.

https://open.spotify.com/track/3RAu7LLcK5FK0ailTA09Qc?si=d7JFXw4nQ3qVbL8-PXsUXw

Jill Lorean - Not Your First - A six song ‘mini’ album that soars higher than many can manage, the debut solo record from Jill is undoubtedly her best work to date. And given that she’s released incredible records with ‘Sparrow & The Workshop’ and ‘Bdy-Prts’ to name just two this is no mean feat. Full of swagger and bristling with fuzzy joy this collection of songs packs a powerful punch.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2kvFkVwhDXxy9UdCe1sQ7Z?si=-PzGEFtIT0ymHrtd55IsDA

Nada Surf - Never Not Together - Nine albums in yet sounding as good if not better than ever, this collection of songs showcases the incredible song writing of Matthew Caws at its peak. ‘Just Wait’ was my anthem of lockdown, there’s so much love to discover throughout the LP, Nada Surf continue to impress almost thirty years after they formed.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0SOMzGo6BYowcaRHGXxahA?si=EBchNBzgQ0GVu_dlO_55AQ

#lanterns on the lake #andy bell #pale fire #bdrmm #black foxxes #mt.doubt #jill lorean #nada surf

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a-kind-of-merry-war · 4 years

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Ahhh I was tagged by @the-winter-witcher and I fucken LOVE this one so here we go

rules: put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first ten songs, then tag 10 some victims

(Also, I also don’t have one entire music library cos I listen to everything on Spotify and I’m notoriously bad at adding songs to my Like list, so I’m using a mishmash of playlists)

Dirty Little Secret - All American Rejects

Light Years - The National (this is my one-size-fits-all shipping song, y’all should listen to it)

Superstar - A.G. Cook

Ghost - Sir Sly

River Rocket (Feat Paul Dano and Daniell Radcliffe) - Andy Hull & Robert McDowell, from the Swiss Army Man soundtrack (WATCH. THIS. MOVIE.)

Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues - Mclusky

If the World Was Ending - JP Saxe, Julia Michaels

Fidelity - Regina Spektor

bury a friend - Billie Eilish

Girls - Slow Magic

Thank you bb <3

I’m gonna tag - @sarahoftarth, @teddylacroix, @merthurlocked, @dinahdarling, @disasterboysandtheirgruffloves, @g-e-r-a-s-k-i-e-r, @resident-beekeeper

#look i say this without a hint of irony #if you listen to ONE song here MAKE IT RIVER ROCKET #tag game

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thefanbasewhore · 3 years

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Something that can never be.

Summary: a request for number 12 and 15 from the prompt list but I couldn’t figure out a way to put both in so I just did, no. 12 “How was I such an idiot, to believe that you of all people could ever love me?” Din is a body guard of a princess who has been under his care on the Razor Crest while her father fights a war. After a few months the war is over and she must go home.

Warning/Content: heart break, body guard din and princess reader.

Paring: Din Djarin x female reader

Tag list here || Master list.

“I’m sorry.” The tone is particularly soft, velvet smooth as he speaks, eyes big and pleading but hidden in the confines of the helmet. Guilt creeping shoulders forward and makes his stomach churn, the weight of his presence pressed into the back of her chair with a heavy hand.

It’s been hours since their little screaming match and she made little effort to move from the co-pilot’s chair. At first Din acted like he didn’t care, that it wasn’t his problem but the heaviness of his words made it hard to think of anything else. “I didn’t mean to upset you..I’m sorry. I’m just tired and should have handled the situation differently.”

He receives silence but watches the way her teeth clenches under the force of her jaw, bitting the skin of her cheek. The Mandalorian’s heart pounds as sadness rolls over his bends his neck further so the helmet touched the back of the chair with a deep sigh.

This was new, the silence and the fighting. It seems silly now, he just wanted some alone time. Time to pull of the helmet and sleep since he’s been away on a mission for two weeks, running on 7 hours max. He doesn’t mind the closeness and excited buzz she greets him with, actually loves knowing someone other the kid was waiting for him to come back but the moment he walked into the ship, a cold feeling of irritation made his mood sour.

He could leave it alone, return to his bunk because maker knows his limbs burn for sleep, vision blurry due to hooded eyes. He rounds the chair, not caring as he sits directly in front of her, between her legs on the ground. “I’m sorry. I’m tired, I’ve barely slept 10 hours the last two weeks.” Not to mention the fact that he received news of returning his one and only love home today.

That was clear in the way he boarded the Crest, not even a hello but a small pat on the child’s head before pushing past the threshold of the cargo space empty handed. It was a simple question but one that filled his chest with searing heat, he’s been gone for weeks with nothing to show and why? Because he was too busy thinking about the way her lips twitch into a smile, the small dimples hollowing at her cheeks.

“How was I such an idiot, to believe that you of all people could ever love me?” He’s thankful the silence is broken but she refuses to meet his eyes, the promise of tears crushing his chest with doubt, the words searing his skin, it burns and seeps into his chest with a wave of fire that stings with each breath.

“I am sorry.” He can’t admit the words as smooth gloves finding the surface of her knee but that’s not what surprised her. It’s the fact he used his thumb to rub soft circular motions into the boney promiance, showing the sincerity of his words. He wants to say it but putting it out in the universe will only make it harder to say goodbye.

“what are you sorry about? The fact that I’m in love with you or you don’t feel the same way back?”

The words make him pause, fingers stiffening against the skin.

This was new… The Mandalorian barely even speaks, let’s alone purposely touches someone, especially in such a comforting away. The gesture takes every ounce of her breath away, as his tired muscles ache to tilt his chin towards her, he has to choose his words wisely.

“You are a princess, you do not belong here with me. You have to go home..” The sound her own heart ticks her ears, watching the helmet drop low in defeat, the cool surface of the beskar against her inner thigh as he lets out a shaky breath, begging in silence for forgiveness.

But his next words make it impossible to move, wanting nothing more then to have him closer. “What I want does not matter, the fact that I want you in my bed every night and kiss you every waking minute of the day doesn’t not matter.”

“You have to go home.” He repeats, as if it’s to remind himself more than anyone. To fight the urge to rip the helmet off and spend forever with the girl who slipped through the stretches on his beskar to his cold, untouched heart. “I can’t give you a good life, you will never be safe. Your father hired me to keep you safe.. the war is over now, you have to go home.”

“I don’t want to! I don’t care about having a good life. You know me better then anyone, I don’t need money, jewels or dresses, I want you.” The Mandalorian feels his eyes drop, too defeated to argue but also torn between erasing the ache of pain that plagues his own heart and the sight of tears on her cheeks.

“Listen to me..” A hand gently grips her jaw, eyes meeting the dark silhouette of the visor, they are not visible but just as sad as her own. “Don’t ever doubt that you are one of the most important people in the universe to me, I would tear it apart to find you, kill every single person myself until you are safe but.. this can never be, sweet girl. I have to let you go.. no matter how much I love you.

He pauses, tone gravel and filled with sadness, holding back his own tears. "You have my heart.” There is no reason to lie as his other hand cups the back of her hair, playing with the strings of hair with hopes of easing some pain away. “But I am bringing you home.. to live a good life, marry a good man because I love you, I will not be the reason you regret your life.”

“Din, please, please don’t bring me back.” It’s hard to look away from her quivering lip, to listen to every word that falls from those perfect lips but he fights the urge to give in, tasting his own salty tears against his tongue. She is desperate, latching onto his wrist as he tries to back away, begging silently with big eyes.

“I have too.” With that the Mandalorian lets go, leaving a cold shiver behind as he exits the cockpit. His hands shake as he defends the ladder, boots hitting the hull with a loud thump as he makes a b-line for the refresher and closing it behind him.

The helmet is already off, thrown across the small room in a fit of internal rage. His hand instinctively comes up to his chest to rub away the sting of his heart breaking.

This is for the best. He has to tell himself, over and over again until the Crest beeps as a reminder they are close.

Tags:

forever tags: @victias, @altarsw , @nikkixostan , @moonlightnumbsthepainifeel, @est19xxshit , @owloveyounever , @engie115@dinsbeskar, @akatasukilove , @nerdalert-andi , @mailee420 , @you-and-i-deserve-the-world, @thatonedindjarinfan, @Sporadicshoebailifffish, @coldlilheart, @starsvck, @agirlinherhead, @lokismidnight, @expellopatronum, @dinschutta , @queenbbarnes, @ironbabey, @i-ship-it-ironically, @coonflix, @ilikemymendarkandfictional, @maileecabudal, @buckysalefty, @fangirlmendes, @godohammers, @mermaidbrina, @capsheadquaters, @kaermorons, @carlygrayson , @naturalswifty89 @spideysimpossiblegirl @Curiouskeyboard, @idjitdestiel, @tossacoin2yourwitcher

#din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #din djarin #the mandolorian season 2 #the mandalorian imagine #the Mandalorian x reader #Pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader

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kopzone · 5 years

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This Is for Liverpool by Andy Robertson

I need to start with a confession. Not many things bug me, but if there’s one thing that does, it’s the idea that my story is a football fairy tale.

I know when people say I’m some sort of Cinderella Man that it’s meant as a compliment. I appreciate that, but to be totally honest, it doesn’t feel like one, because it isn’t true.

No magic wands have been waved in my direction, I didn’t win some kind of lottery to land a spot on one of the biggest clubs in the world. The reason why I’m a Liverpool player is the same reason why I’m captain of my country: I’ve worked my bollocks off to get where I am, and by doing that, I’ve been able to make the most of whatever talent I have.

Why does this matter? In truth, it doesn’t matter to me as an individual. It probably doesn’t matter to my family, either. It only matters because there are God knows how many little Andy Robertsons out there. Kids who are struggling to convince people that their talent deserves an opportunity. Kids who just need a break to get to wherever they deserve to be.

Kids who might give up if they start believing that only a fairy tale can save them.

I’ve never wanted to be a poster boy, but if I’m going to be a poster boy for anything, it should be this ― if you don’t give up, and if you carry on believing in yourself when others are doubting you, you canmake it. You can show that you are good enough.

Now I’ve got two kids of my own, that message is more important than ever. I don’t want them to think that their dad got a lucky break. I need them to understand that whatever potential they have can only be fulfilled if they put their minds to it. Fairy tales? That’s bedtime stuff.

One of the best things about football is that there are loads of people like me. Most players get to the top because they are so driven. The Liverpool team that I’m a part of has no shortage of players like that.

Take Virgil van Dijk, for example, the best centre back in the world. How many coaches and scouts looked at him and thought he wasn’t destined for the top? He’ll tell you himself that there were plenty

.Mo Salah, one of the best finishers in the game today, was once discarded as not being good enough for a top Premier League side.

Jordan Henderson must have lost count of the times he has had his ability questioned – although never by anyone who has been fortunate enough to work with him – and here he is on the brink of captaining Liverpool in a second successive Champions League final.

I could go on and on, I really could. If these were all fairy tales, we’d have more than Hans Christian Andersen. They’re not, though. They are all examples of hard work and commitment making the difference.

The same applies to us as a team and to Liverpool as a club. We are where we are because of our work ethic and our belief that pretty much anything is possible. That’s the reason we were able to come back from 3–0 down against a great Barcelona team. We didn’t wait for fate to play its hand and hope that it would go in our favour, we forced fate to go our way and not even Lionel Messi, the best player I have ever set eyes on, could stop that.

Maybe there were those outside Liverpool who didn’t believe we would make it to the final. To be fair to them, they had more than enough reasons, especially after we had our arses kicked in the Nou Camp. There was something about that first leg, though, that gave us belief. We had seen enough to know that we could compete against Barcelona. The problem was that all of the decisive moments had gone against us, and we knew that with Anfield behind us, that momentum could be reversed.

If I was a sympathetic type, I’d probably feel sorry for opposition players coming to Anfield on European nights. What they’re up against is almost unfair. That intoxicating mix of history, passion and unshakable belief is a hell of an advantage to have, and that’s why Liverpool have beaten the odds on many occasions, and that’s why our supporters turn up convinced that the seemingly impossible is possible. They’ve seen it before, so why shouldn’t they expect it?

We knew that we had a chance when we were in the dressing room waiting to run out. We knew that the manager believed in us because he had told us. We knew that the supporters believed in us because we could hear them. My God, we could hear them. And, probably most important of all, we knew that we believed in ourselves and in each other.

That’s why when Divock scored in the seventh minute, I didn’t just believe. I knew. I knew what was coming — what Anfield was going to create. I hope that doesn’t sound disrespectful in any way, because I couldn’t have more respect for Barcelona, but on that night it wasn’t about them. It was about us. We were fired up by the fans and our hunger was on another level.

It hadn’t been easy to feel like that in the minutes after Messi had worked his magic in the first leg. At that stage, we felt flat, which was probably unavoidable. Although we were in Barcelona, Madrid couldn’t have felt further away. Then the manager came into the dressing room, bouncing and wearing his trademark massive smile.

“Boys, boys, boys!” he says, “We are not the best team in the world. Now you know that. Maybe they are! Who cares? Who cares! We can still beat the best team in the world. Let’s go again.”

It might have taken me a second, or maybe the entire flight back to Liverpool to believe him, but in hindsight that was the moment that changed everything for us. In football, everyone always talks about belief. Every team says they had it after a comeback. But that’s not the case at every club. It’s just not. The manager, he starts it all. He lights the touch paper and then Anfield does what it does.

I remember in the warmup, the place was jumping. It felt like everyone was on top of us, so God knows what it was like for the Barcelona lads. When Div scored so early, you could just see it in their eyes. The fans went insane. I couldn’t hear a thing. I just remember looking at Hendo, Milly and Virgil — those boys barely cracked a smile.

They just waved their arms at the crowd, as if to say, “We’re gonna go again.”

I suppose that night will go down in history. Anybody who loves this club will remember where they were, and who they were watching with. For me personally, what made it even more special was where I had come from to get there. I knew how hard it had been and I knew how, if I had listened to others, I wouldn’t have made it anywhere near Anfield that night — except maybe as a fan who wanted to understand what all the fuss was about.

I had grown up going to Celtic Park with Mum, Dad and my brother. We had four season tickets. My brother and I had Henrik Larsson posters everywhere. Legend. Absolute legend. I even had green wallpaper. Celtic was a part of our family. That’s just the way it was and the way it still is. I joined the youth team as a wee lad, just bombing around the pitch pretending I was at Celtic Park.

At the start, I actually played up top for a bit. Dad even paid me two quid a goal. I think I made £75 one season — unlike now, when I’d probably end up owing him money, seeing as I’m not exactly Salah in the scoring stakes. Over time, I found my way into midfield, and in my last season with Celtic I bounced between the middle and left side quite a bit. They’d brought in a new technical director that year and apparently I just wasn’t in the plans for whatever reason.

At my end-of-year interview, the coaches let me know they wouldn’t be bringing me back. I was 15. One year away from getting a pro contract. One year from being a proper Celtic player. But it was over, just like that, and it hurt like hell.

Mum hated to see us cry. Still does. But she saw me shed more than a few tears that day. I remember she grabbed me a takeout curry from my favourite place to try to cheer me up. It was midweek, too. I almost never got midweek curry. I couldn’t even eat much of that. That’s how she knew how bad I was hurting.

It was just gutting, but thankfully my family really had my back. They let me keep chasing my dream, even when it might have felt unrealistic to keep going. We decided to give it another go at Queens Park in 2010. Bit of a smaller club in Glasgow, to say the least. Life was different there. I was making six quid a night. It was a working-class type of club, and most players were coming from jobs they worked during the day. It was no different for me.

I did all sorts of jobs to scrape by. I got set up with landscaping gigs, I cleaned up after the first team, and I even worked down at Hampden Park during Scotland matches. My parents told me if I didn’t start to find my game that year, it’d probably be best to start looking at Uni options. So I just put everything I had into getting better every day. That was real work, real pressure.

People always ask me about the pressure of playing for Liverpool. And it’s there, trust me, I feel it. But there’s that pressure, and then there’s the pressure of playing for your life — knowing that if you can’t figure it out, you have to give up on everything you love. That’s the harshest pressure I’ve ever felt. And in that situation, I began to truly believe in myself — maybe for the first time in my life. I didn’t really have another choice.

Dundee United approached me a few years later, and that allowed me to train every day while making enough money that I didn’t need the side gigs. But I think in the end it was good for me to see what people deal with day to day, outside of the bubble of football. When I got the chance to play in the Premier League with Hull City in 2014, I had lived a lot of real life. My ambitions were always to be a solid SPL player. When I was landscaping and emptying the bins, I didn’t think I’d ever be playing Champions League football, especially for Liverpool.

It’s funny, actually … a few clubs called when I was in preseason with Hull in 2017, but I wasn’t really that interested. My missus was pregnant, and we were in the process of getting everything ready for our big arrival — that was our top priority, like any expectant parents.

Then I heard Liverpool wanted me.

Liverpool.

When you hear Liverpool want you, you call your agent back in about five seconds. I couldn’t sign the contract fast enough, to be honest.

I got a dose of reality pretty quickly, though. The medical took two days, and it was brutal. My diet was weird because the medical staff had to do so many tests to make sure I was fit and was going to stay fit. After I passed those tests, I had to go to Melwood to do a lactate test. I was running it with Danny Ings, and after a few laps around the pitch, I felt something going on with my stomach. I knew things were going to get bad, but what can you do? I just kept running. A few minutes later, I’m on my knees, puking my guts out on the Melwood pitch.

This hallowed ground. This place where all these legends have trained. King Kenny. Rushie. Stevie Gerrard. And here I am, some wee lad from Glasgow, spewing up in front of the Liverpool medical staff.

If first appearances count, God knows what they thought about me.

The next day, I met the manager and I heard his laugh from a mile away. He’d obviously heard about my test. I turn around and he’s walking toward me, rubbing his belly and pointing at me. The staff behind him are having a laugh, too.

Then he gave me a big hug. After that, I relaxed a bit.

The whole squad made me feel welcome that week, but honestly, it took a really long time for it to sink in that I was a Liverpool player. I wore the red shirt. I wore the club tracksuit everywhere we went. I was wearing it around the house. But I still didn’t feel like a Liverpool player.

I was in and out of the lineup for quite a few months. And the system we play is so complex, I was working so hard in training to learn it all, to understand what the manager wanted from his fullbacks. When I wouldn’t see my name on the teamsheet, my belief in myself started to dip. It did. But all my experiences in life, and the tough times I went through at Celtic and Queens Park, it taught me to be patient.

So I would just come back to training every day and try to catch the manager’s eye by working harder than everyone else. Eventually, he noticed. I think he was just waiting for me to get it — to feel like a Liverpool player and have that confidence. And when I slotted into the lineup, I was ready.

Our supporters have been incredible to me since I got here. And last year they really carried us all the way to the final whistle and beyond in Kiev. That night was hard, and I don’t think you ever really get over a match like that. You just live with it. That night, I remember the silence in our dressing room, I remember the painful flight home. And I remember hearing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” after the final whistle.

The supporters still sang their hearts out, and that sticks with you.

We got back to Melwood at four in the morning, and the manager gave us all a hug and told us how proud he was of our team. And he also told us that we’d be back. Somehow, after a very long road … after being down 0–3 to bloody Barcelona … he was right.

We are back.

It’s not lost on any of us what this opportunity means. This has been an incredible season, full of so many ups and downs and emotional moments. But for me, it’s also been a chance to take a step back and see the full picture. From being released by Celtic and sobbing over my curry, to making six quid a night grinding away in Scotland, to signing for Liverpool and putting on that red tracksuit, barely believing it.

It feels good to have another crack at this final. Nobody deserves it more than our supporters, who have backed us through the good times and the heartbreak. But like us, they will know that we are up against a top side in Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino and his players will be just as determined as we are to do something special in a final like this.

The thing that matters most is that our fate is in our hands. We know that. And if there’s one thing I can guarantee about this team, about this group of players, it’s that we will stop at nothing to try to make our supporters’ dream come true.

If that does happen, it won’t be a fairy tale.

It’ll be because we deserve it.

#andy robertson #lfc #liverpool fc #long post

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brittanyinterviews · 4 years

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Kristin Dominguez, Artist and Musician

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This interview was conducted via email in April 2020.

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Brittany: Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Kristin: This feels like it should be the easiest question to answer, but it definitely isn't. Starting off on a very simple and earthly foot, I'm from the Bay Area. I grew up in an extremely nurturing environment filled with music, creature comforts, and varying levels of structure. My dad is from Mexico City, so I've had the integral influence of Hispanic culture throughout my life, which is such a blessing. I graduated high school, but am still completing college as an adult, and I have always been connected to the arts. I have always been perceived as scattered and free-spirited. There is some truth to this, but I also feel very grounded in who I am. It never used to be this way -- thank goodness it is this way now.

Brittany: Have you always been interested in art and music? Can you describe your first art or music memory?

Kristin: I think that almost every child is interested in art and music -- then again this may just be my perception. My first memories regarding my own forms of expression are linked to sound. My mother has recounted my running around the house singing opera for her when I was a 3-year-old. I liked the experience of feeling my vocal cords vibrate and the breath that was involved. I had always loved singing, but I became more and more private with it as I grew older. I sang with and to the people that I felt close with, to myself in the car or in the shower… It was quite recently that I began to write, record, and perform my own music.

A painting from Kristin’s Instagram

Painting was / is always enjoyable. The daycare I grew up in was very "hippy"-esque. I was partly raised by a beautiful person named Annie, an artist / love child of the ‘60s who used to sing-talk her way around the daycare with a guitar. She always had paint for us to play with.

My interest in the arts was always something that held its permanence. It stuck with me always, and I found this reassuring, although it took me a very long time to identify as an artist.

Another piece from her Instagram

Brittany: Your painting style seems very distinct. Can you describe the process of making a new piece?

Kristin: Music is always playing in the background. This moves a lot of what I do and what comes out on the canvas / paper while I'm creating, so I am very meticulous with my playlists on Spotify.

I’m sort of OCD with how my space is set before I get into painting mode, but that space gets very discombobulated and deconstructed by the end of one of my "flow sessions."

I get very lost in what I'm doing after that first "ripple effect" is initiated. There is a suspended sense of self while you are watching the colors dance across the page. You are the guiding force -- but once the color is on the page, there is no going back, only forward. The real difficulty with abstract art is there are no guidelines. A lot of the time you create things that you're not that crazy about because you either pushed it too far or didn't give it enough care. There is intention in the abstract process if you bring your awareness to it.

My process was sporadic in its early stages -- painting only when I had the urge to -- but now I am implementing a stricter structure with my creative process. Ritual and practice are so important for growth and pieces that you feel proud of.

Another piece from her Instagram

Brittany: The way the paint splatters across the surface or how you use water to move the paint around in your pieces can elicit a very emotional response in the viewer. Is creating new work an emotional process for you? Is it more intuitive?

Kristin: Haha, I showed a family friend a few of my earlier works with acrylic ink and alcohol as a medium and he responded with "I am having a visceral response to these… They are terrifying." I couldn't help but laugh.

I think that it is an intuitive act, but there is emotion as well. The color "flow sessions" put me into a flow state, in which I am beside myself and completely immersed in the work. Although I am "out of my own way" at this point in the creative process the emotions still work their way out, but everything is transmuted onto the page. Working with water is an incredibly emotional experience because it is unpredictable. You are flowing with it and guiding it at the same time. Only one thing is certain and that's how the work will mutate and change as you influence it.

Brittany: How would you describe your music and/or musical style?

Kristin: Soft. Slow. Vulnerable. Warm. A little haunting at times (so I have heard 😂).

Brittany: There are a lot of beautiful covers of popular songs on your Soundcloud. How do you pick which artists or songs to cover?

Kristin: Primarily I choose songs that I identify with. Songs that make me feel something deep and spiritually tangible. I also choose songs that I wish I could have written. Covering them feels like giving that artist and piece new shades of glory. Like looking at the same view but through new lenses.

I love the classics and anything that brings me that feeling of nostalgia. But mostly I like finding songs that fit me. Like trying on a pair of leggings. Some fit with my voice and tempo, others don't. Others I can squeeze into and others I can't even get up my thigh. It depends.

Brittany: Who are you influenced by in the worlds of art and music?

Kristin: This is always a hard question because there are so many talented people that influence what I produce, but at the same time I feel my style to be very much my own.

I feel my influencers mostly to be the singer-songwriters of the indie and folk persuasions. By no means am I placing myself in parallel, but to name a handful of talented individuals:

Elliott Smith

John K. Samson of The Weakerthans

Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra

Kina Grannis

Joni Mitchell

Feist

Daughter

Paul Simon

Side and ending note: It is such a profound task to strike a nerve, pluck a heart string, or paint a picture for the listener. I am a hopeless romantic, therefore any artist (which is almost all of them) that romanticizes the human experience is an influence, because I identify with them. A good artist makes you feel seen, heard, and understood, without even meeting them.

Brittany: When you're not creating art or music, how do you spend your time?

Kristin: Normal human-y things. Eating, sleeping, nature walking, spending time with loved ones. Coffee shop dwelling, journaling, reading, doing yoga. New developments: I am trying my hand at knitting, keeping spaces organized, and when the world calms down, I would like to face one of my fears and go swimming in the ocean.

Brittany: What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

Kristin: I am working on my debut album, Settle In.

It has been a long process, but I am a bit of a perfectionist so I am still dealing with that aspect of myself, haha! But I feel like it should be ready by 2021. I am already writing and working on new material for the second album, but I figured I shouldn't get ahead of myself just yet and finish what I started with Settle In.

Upcoming work with Sage and Rock includes working on getting prints of my original works made so that they are a little more accessible. Stickers and possibly shirts, maybe hoodies. Also getting work and plans together to start a stationery line, create an art calendar that includes the lunar cycles and transits, and I would love to move my work to a larger scale.

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Photo provided by Kristin Dominguez. Images of her paintings taken from her Instagram.

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Special thanks to Kristin for discussing her work with us. You can follow her art on Instagram and music on Soundcloud.

#Interview #Artist #Musician #Singer songwriter #Kristin Dominguez #Bay Area

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romancandlemagazine · 4 years

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An Interview with Wig Worland

If you walked into a WHSmiths during the 1990s, then chances are that you will have seen the high-calibre work of Wig Worland.

As a photographer at seminal skateboard magazines like R.A.D. and Sidewalk, his sharp eye helped capture a relatable world of British skating, a million miles away from sun-drenched California schoolyards.

First question - when did you start taking photos? Was there something that set you off with it?

I started in school when one of the better teachers realised I wasn't going anywhere academically and lent me her camera. I don't think there was anything else I could have done to be honest. I started to assist photographers straight out of school.

How did you end up doing skate photography? What was the camera set-up back then?

I grew up near an adventure playground. One day in the early ‘80s a quarter pipe with 'Skatopia' written on it appeared there. We would ride our BMX bikes on it. A few weeks later a guy called Wurzel appeared - he literally dropped over the fence.

All of us, including Wurzel, rode bikes for a bit but as the world transformed around us we all got into skateboarding. One of my best friends at the time was London street skating legend Phil Chapman. He let me take pictures of him and I got better at it.

It’s funny how when you're young it just doesn't occur to you that those are the formative years, even though that’s what every older person is saying to you at the time.

My first camera was a Canon FTB with a 24mm lens - I couldn't afford a fisheye lens. I then wasted more time and energy on a 17mm lens. It was really terrible, but I did get my first picture published in RAD using it.

What was that?

A guy called Doc with a chuck on handrail at the bus station in Milton Keynes in an article in R.A.D. in 1990. In the same article came my second and third published picture. It was such a pivotal moment in my life but just like buses, three came along at once.

Do you remember the first photo you took where you thought, “I’m getting quite good at this”?

Not any single shot, but I think when I got to shoot Manzoori or Channer or Wainwright, I was beginning to shoot people who were making great pictures all the time. The trips back and forth to the lab became less fuelled with anxiety and worry about what I was doing.

So something must have been going right, maybe I knew enough about the dark art of shooting on slide film that I could relax into it. A bit anyway.

The late 80s and early 90s are quite a while ago now. What are some things people forgot about that time?

There was no Instagram! There wasn't anywhere other than the monthly magazines (and of course books) to get any information about anything. It really is odd to say it now because we are all so used to finding anything out that we want to know immediately.

My sister has a theory that technology is making us all more stupid. We simply don't have to retain any information anymore. To get from place to place you don't even need a sense of direction, just flick on 'Waze' or whatever and it tells you where to go.

How weird was it to be a skater or a rider in the late 80s? Obviously now skating is going through another 'cool wave', but how much stick did you get back then for it?

We got so much hassle from everybody at the time. It’s ridiculous when you think about how 'cool' it all is now. We didn’t care at all though. We knew what we were doing was way more important than simply school or fashion or T.V. or whatever else our other friends or peers were into. We were involved in making something happen.

R.A.D. was split fairly evenly between skating and riding. Was there much of a divide at the time? And what were your opinions on the other avenues of raditude?

I'll fully admit it; I went from BMX to skateboard. I was probably a little too young to catch the first wave of skateboarding in the UK. I was six or seven and my mum wouldn't let me have a board, though my best mate at the time had much older brothers so I can claim to have ridden a Logan Earth Ski in the 70s.

By the time BMX hit I was a little more in control of my life. I saved up my lunch money for an entire year so I could buy a Kuwahara ET. My friends and I had so much fun knocking about on those bikes in the 80s — it was amazing. Before I knew it I'd given up BMX 'racing’ and was getting more serious about BMX 'freestyle' (which really is an oxymoron when you stop to think about it).

Within a year or two I had switched to a GT Performer and I was entering freestyle 'contests' and wearing ever more dodgy clothing. Obviously we didn't know it at the time but they really were the formative years of my life.

A good friend from that time, Lee Reynolds moved to California and went on to become a very successful freestyle pro rider with Haro. Back then we all hung out at Mons ramp like one big happy family, and that’s where I started to meet more people.

As BMX started to die, I just moved my attention to skateboarding. There was just so much to get into. You can do way more stuff with a skateboard than a bike! Sorry to the entire BMX community.

What were you looking at for inspiration back then? Even your early photos had a definite style.

I was looking at BMX Action and BMX Plus from America that would appear periodically in the newsagents near my school. Then Freestylin' and Transworld, and Thrasher when I could find it. Back then Thrasher wasn't quite so appealing — it was half a music magazine with really cheap paper, and was scrappy compared to glossier titles of the day. It’s amazing how Thrasher has outlasted them all.

I loved Spike and Windy, and, obviously J Grant Britain, but I also really love TLB's pictures. He really was an amazing complete photographer - properly trained and much better than me. Now I have had a chance to see the stuff in the RAD archive, I can't begin to say how amazing it is. It might not have looked all that good in the mag but that was because of the awful print quality. When the book comes out you’ll see what I mean.

R.A.D. faded into the shortly-lived Phat in the early 90s. How did Sidewalk come about?

Andy Horsely and I were doing a magazine called The System during the last days of TLB R.A.D. When R.A.D. was sold to yet another publisher that was out of town, Tim didn’t want to leave London. He thought it was a dead end. By a series of strange occurrences Andy Horsely and I managed to get ourselves in the door at R.A.D. There’s a bit more to this story, but the full version will be in the book hopefully.

Whereas early skate magazines had their fair share of day-glo high-top fashions and boned-out, high-zoot grabs, Sidewalk had a much more British look. Was this intentional? Or was this just a reflection of the times?

It was absolutely intentional. We wanted it to look like a British skate magazine, and perhaps naively, we wanted it to feature all British people, in Britain. The US skate magazine culture was, and still is, so dominant, but we wanted to showcase the UK.

At the time the world was beginning to see Rowley, Penny and Wainwright but we knew there was so much more. Making an all-British magazine was way more difficult than any of us imagined and I'm not sure how sustainable that idea was (and still is). We tried our very best given the resources we had.

Was there things you wouldn't photograph - maybe dodgy outfits or questionable moves?

We had an unspoken ban on the Benihana at Sidewalk. Ha! I wonder if anyone else would admit to that. Everything else was totally fine. We even put Dan Cates in the mag with all his craziness for heaven’s sake!

The mid-90s seemed like the real glory days of magazines. They were thick, they came out once a month, they had all sorts of mad stuff in them… and they could all be bought from WHSmiths for a few quid. Why do you reckon there were so many good mags around at this time?

It was really the only way to communicate before the internet really took a grip. Nowadays, you put your tricks up on Instagram and let the world judge you. Back then, we shot the photo, we took it to the lab, and then it was sent off to be printed in cyan, magenta, yellow and black on paper.

After a lot of fuss and bother, the magazine hit the shelves and the rest of the world could see the moments that I had had all to myself. It really was an incredible moment. I'm not sure I'd go back to it though! It was pretty insular and created some difficult politics. It's probably a bit more democratic now. If you don't like what somebody is doing, you 'unfollow' them and that's that.

What was a typical day like back in the early Sidewalk days? Was there a typical day?

Probably wake up late and head to the office via the lab, to pick up the film from the previous day. Maybe pet the dog when I got there for a bit. Horse would invariably arrive later than me and we'd get lunch. After looking through some pictures on the light table I'd head out to shoot skaters in various parts of the country.

One day I'd be in Hull, the next in Birmingham and the next in London. It was a pretty insane schedule to be honest.

I’ve said this before in other interviews but I’ll say it again, I hated driving up and down the motorway system in the UK, but I loved the people I met along the way. I really don’t think there was anyone that I didn’t like — it was incredible. A good example of this is driving to Hull, which is a really long way from anywhere. But when I got there, there was Eggy and Banksy and Scott. Amazing people.

This might be a bit of a camera tech guy question… but imagine I’m stood at the top of that flatbank hip at Radlands and a young Tom Penny is cruising towards me… how do I capture the action? Should I pan? Is my flash mounted on the top of my camera… or on a cable… or on a stand? What film should I use?

If you're at a comp it's best that your flash is mounted on your camera, because if you’re trying to be clever like I was in the 90s trying to use an off-camera flash on a lead (Windy Osborn/Spike Jonze style) you're going to miss a lot of shots. Yes, always pan with the subject if you can, it's just better and I'd use whatever film you can afford. It’s really expensive and you only have 36 to 39 shots depending on how clever, or stupid, your camera is.

If it’s not contest day then spend a little longer on your lighting. But not so long that you forget to shoot the scene, the look of the place and the informal portraits of the skaters. You’ll regret that later on if you don’t shoot that stuff. Ahem…

Sidewalk did a very good job of making some fairly drab looking spots pretty good. That photo of a lad named Cookie gapping from a Carpet Right car park in the rain comes to mind… something like that could easily look pretty depressing in lesser hands. What were your tricks for making these fairly everyday places look decent?

Bring your own sun — a portable flash. Oh, and a little jiggery pokery with the slide film we were using as well. Also, know what you’re doing, and how the film is going to react to the light. Photography is all about various kinds of lies to create the shot you want.

I’m glad you remembered that Cookie shot because it is pretty special. He was such an amazing, positive person. Never mind my photograph, but how did a person stay positive when you had such terrible conditions to skate in! It’s not exactly California.

Pretty much sums up how we should all approach life, the Cookie story...

I don’t know if I’m looking into this too much, but a lot of the Sidewalk stuff celebrated British culture rather than disguise it. I’m not sure where I’m going with this question, but do you think it’s important that people embrace their situation, rather than endlessly dream of California?

My entire life’s philosophy is to draw out what you can from the place where you are, rather than dreaming that somewhere else has the answer. This ridiculous dreaming is the reason that the air is so polluted these days with people crossing the world on long haul flights to wherever and with people driving from perfectly fine A, to almost certainly nearly the same B.

Of course all this is fine for me to say, I don’t have a car but I live in London where there is a brilliantly sophisticated Public transport system. I grew up in Milton Keynes so it wasn’t a shock to get to California and see the state they’re in, but I truly believe the car has ruined a lot. Not least for our children who can no longer play in the streets primarily because of the number of vehicles on the road. Rant over.

Haha fair enough. What were some of the hassles of making a magazine back then? Any camera mishaps or blatant errors come to mind?

Radio slaves were terrible but they still are. That’s the nature of radio waves in a very wet country. There was some dodgy kit but you could usually spot it pretty quickly and pass it on. I did have all my cameras stolen from the boot of my car once which did feel like the end of the world at the time. Grant Brittain very kindly sent me one of his old cameras and a fish eye to start me off again and Pete Hellicar rang round all the big names in the industry in the UK asking for donations to get me started again. Really kind, amazing people.

The problems were always with the printers or repro people. Handing over your precious photographs and layouts to people who aren’t as invested in the project shall we say. Having said that, there weren’t that many problems, only ever issues that the editor or I would notice.

I’d say skate photography fits under the documentary category, but how far would you go to get a better photo? I know moving the occasional rucksack out of shot is fairly commonplace, but I’ve heard stories of photographers carrying around brighter clothes for people to wear so they stand out more.

There are a few skaters who would bring their own brighter clothes for the shoot. Have a look through my shots and see if you can guess who they are for a fun game. I think this is brilliant.

I don't think that skateboard photography is documentary at all. It’s a collaboration between the skateboarder and the photographer to produce the best image they possibly can.

What about the days when nothing happened? Surely there must have been a few afternoons when no one was feeling it, or did the fact you had a big camera bag egg people on a bit? It rains a lot in Britain, I'm sure you've noticed. On those days, if you were lucky, we'd sit about in the local Skateshop. If we were less lucky we'd get caught at the local indoor skate park and wait for the rain to stop. I remember thinking then that I would never get that time back, now of course if I had that time back I would do just the same thing. Amazing days. I'm sure people did feel motivated by having a magazine photographer in town to shoot pictures of them yes, but that just makes me wonder what it's like now? You can literally shoot a picture whenever you like and upload it anywhere.

Do you think these advances in technology have improved skate photography or not?

I would have killed for a digital camera back when I was shooting skateboarding every day. I’d not only have been able to see what I had in terms of stills, but shooting sequences would have had a lot less pressure involved as well. A couple of people have said that seeing the used rolls of bails lining up on the stairs or pavement beside me gave them extra incentive to land the trick, but it made for some pretty heated sessions.

The Chris Oliver kickflip off a bus stop into bank with another drop springs to mind. Fair play to the ginger genius though, he bloody landed it, and he can say he did it on film as well. So, so sick.

Did you enjoy doing sequence shots or was it just a case of documenting the new tech?

I wasn't really interested in shooting sequences to be honest, I always thought that was the job of the video camera. In some ways I wish I stuck with that attitude and concentrated on the style of the skater rather than the high tech that they could put down. I think that would have made for a more interesting back catalogue.

This is maybe another fairly camera-orientated question, but I’m interested, so the casual readers will have to suffer… you were maybe one of the first skate photographers to push the studio-lighting style out into the real world. What led to this development?

Ollie Barton thinks I was the first to do the studio on the street thing. I guess other people had tried using flash slaves off camera before, but I made it my own. I was the first out there with portable studio flash which had more spread of light than the dedicated flashes made by camera manufactures. I'm sure I was responsible for keeping the Lumedyne brand going for a while. Lumedyne really are the most terrible looking lights that have ever come to market, made from bits bought from Maplin or Radio Shack, but they worked quite well and everybody had them in the early 2000s.

Did setting up multiple flashes in ropey areas ever become a problem?

It's funny you know, I never felt odd about setting up lighting anywhere. If you’re prepared to pop a light out on a dodgy estate then you’re serious about getting something done. I think most people whoever they are respect that, some are even interested in it.

There were a few hairy moments — like a car taking out a light in downtown Stockport while shooting late at night. But the light was in the middle of the street, so that one was on me. Nobody ever picked one up and legged it. Not once, but as I said they don't look expensive so maybe that was enough.

Maybe a bit of an obvious question, but do you have a favourite photograph you’ve taken? And are there any photos which you wish you took?

As I rather flippantly alluded to earlier, I don’t feel I shot anywhere near enough incidental stuff. I was too interested in making the lighting right to capture the trick perfectly. If I could go back I’d have a point and shoot with me at all times and I’d use it constantly.

I don’t have a favourite photograph. There are just too many, of so many amazing friends and brilliant talented people. I couldn’t pick one above all others.

Today it’s easier than ever to take a photograph. Is this good or bad? Has the advent of phone-based camera gadgetry devalued the art (or at least the science) of photography?

No, it hasn't devalued it. Because more people have cameras, more people are interested in photography. If you want to lug around a huge old school view camera to shoot pictures then there are sub-genres of sub-cultures that can more easily facilitate that stuff nowadays. Of course more people think they can do it, but it's still the case that only some people do it well.

Have you got any wise-words you’d like to add?

No, just enjoy life as best you can. We’re not all going to be famous or millionaires, so don’t believe anyone when they tell you to follow your dreams — real life might conspire to not let you get there. Life just happens to most people.

#Interviews #photography #sidewalk #wig worland #skateboarding #skate

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