#pretty loosely based on the song itself and more just on the concept of being alone

[hargrove-mayfields]

It’s the 30th, which means it’s already the final day of @harringroveweek! I had such a fun time writing a new piece for every day! Thank you to everyone who participated in, engaged with, and organized this event!!

Today I chose the song of the day prompt: I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany!

trigger warning for detailed depictions of blood/injury and general violence. Basically, monster hunting.

If he lived to see another day, Steve was going to murder those kids.

Sending him out there with no back up, no plan, no fucking way out. Just watching as he was dragged under and didn’t resurface. What a real group of geniuses they are.

He doesn’t even know how long it’s been since then. If maybe they’ve forgotten about him. He’d prefer to think that they just think he found his way out and skipped town or something. Not that they probably had given up all hope.

To be fair, he would’ve too, pretty early on actually since after only about a few minutes of the portal sealing itself behind him, he’d been jumped by some new flesh eating thing.

Yet another obstacle he’d come unprepared for, without even a weapon.

Laying on the ground, being eaten alive by those things, that was when everything changed though.

Because Billy Hargrove, looking only a little worse for wear, had been the one to bash the monsters in, and toss Steve his own bat to finish the job.

Time moves differently down here, so he doesn’t know how long it’s been since then either, but one thing Steve is perfectly certain of is the fact that they’ve fought through another three hordes of those things, and spent even longer hiding from more.

They haven’t even had a chance to talk about much, like what happened before Billy died. Dynamic wise, things seem unchanged from last year, but as far as Steve remembered, Billy had died heartbroken by him and his stupid inability to not be jealous all the time. They fought and broke up and then Billy went missing.

But now he’s alive again, in better shape than Steve even, and they’re too busy fighting for their lives to fight for themselves. They just sort of accept that they’re together again.

Feeling like he can’t walk any further, Steve leans against the siding of a crumpled metal shed. They’d searched it for more weapons, then promptly broke most of them when another pack of demobats showed. His mouth tastes like blood, and not because he bit one this time. He needs a break.

“Hey. I think we lost them..”

Billy turns his head to look at him sharply, “Just like you’ve lost your damned mind if you think that means I’m just going to stand here and wait for them to come back.”

“I’m not stopping, I just need a breath. Not all of us have had this shit in our lungs for as long as you have.” Steve is doubled over now, panting a little. Blood and spit drip past his lips. Not a good sign.

The harshness drops from Billy’s tone instantly, moving to trying to encourage him, “Can’t let it get in your head or you’ll suffocate. You’re fine, Steve. Gotta keep going.”

Wheezing, Steve emphasizes his point, “So a little break isn’t going to kill us. I seriously think we’re alone now..”

“Fine. But if those things catch up to us again, with you in this state, we’re goners.” Billy sounds stern, but his heart isn’t in it.

Tired of leaning on hard metal, Steve sinks to the ground to catch his breath, “What happened to not letting it get to your head?”

Billy moves closer, drawing his weapon of choice, which is a shotgun for now. A silent agreement to stand guard for Steve while he’s down. He mutters bitterly, despite his willingness to help, “There’s a difference between being cautious and driving yourself crazy.”

“I think being trapped down here with you is enough to drive me crazy.”

“Good crazy or bad crazy?” Billy scoffs a laugh, and Steve returns it with a crooked, pained smile, “Both.”

“Aw, you’re just flattering me.”

“See? I can’t even get a word out without you being all sarcastic and snarky about it.”

“You like it.” Billy hums confidently, so, instead of disputing it, Steve decides to catch Billy’s ego off guard, “I guess I do. That’s why we’re going to make it out of here, Billy.”

Everything about him softens, his face, his posture, his voice, “Well if we’re going to do that, you’re gonna need patched up again. You’ve bled through again.”

“I’m fine.” Steve tries to resist, just so he doesn’t become a burden. His feelings towards Billy are too complicated right now, caught between that old summer fling and a sense of inferiority, for how quickly he succumbed to a bite when Billy’s been here for twice as long.

“Sure, thing. Just watch my back.” Billy hands off the gun and kneels in front of Steve, digging through the bag of supplies he’d been able to accrue during his time down here until he finds more bandage rolls, the cleanest material he can.

Shifting forward on his knees, Billy rolls up the sticky, tattered shirt they threw on Steve to cover his bandaging the last time. He grimaces, and Steve takes that as his cue to look straight up at the sky instead of assessing the damage for himself, “Damn it, Stevie. This is getting bad.”

He swallows hard, bracing himself by asking, “How bad?”

“Not worse than I’ve seen it. Just.. not good.” Billy pokes at it, assessing the damage. Even the lightest prod feels like fire in Steve’s abdomen, the pain flaring as far up as his chest.

He starts to panic, seeing the expression in the other boy's face combined with the intense feeling, “Oh god..”

Pulling his hands away to look for something else, bandages apparently not cutting it anymore, Billy warns, firm but sort of sweet sounding, “Panicking’s not going to do anything but shorten your air intake and attract those things to the sound. If you’d like to savor this tranquility, I suggest you cut the freaking out.”

Steve closes his eyes and tries to follow his advice. The first thing that comes to mind, he starts talking about it to get his mind off of the irritating ache, “You always just call the monsters ‘things.’ You haven’t named them yet?”

Billy snort-laughs, half-heartedly sarcastic, “Uh, no? Why the hell would I? They’re trying to eat me, they’re not my pets.”

Something wet touches him, and he reacts so fast, but so uncoordinatedly that he smacks his head off of the surface he was leaning on. It’s just a rag with bottled water, Billy’s attempt at washing away some of the dried blood to asses the damage further, but it felt suspiciously like a bat tail. Billy smiles apologetically. Steve rolls his eyes pathetically slow and and keeps talking,

“We call the big ones demogorgons. And the little ones are just demo whatevers: demodogs, demobats, now..”

Periodically checking in with Steve on what he’s doing after that little scare, Billy glances up at him, waiting for a small nod to keep pressing harder, wiping away more blood and dirt and monster spit than Steve knew was possible to have on him. He keeps him engaged as well, asking, amused, “Those losers named the interdimensional face-eating monsters after dungeons and dragons?”

“You recognized it.”

“Shit. You got me.”

A particularly painful movement has Steve wincing, demanding despite the nice back and forth they had going, “Are you done yet?”

“Almost. This last parts gonna hurt..” Billy warns, and Steve tries to understand but,

“Why? What are you- Fuck!”

Too late. There’s a stinging pain so intense his vision goes blurry, and if Steve didn’t want to throw up so bad he’d be cursing at Billy for it.

Knowing that just from Steve’s posture and his clenched fists, Billy explains himself, “Sorry, H. Pretty sure that was a tooth or something in there. I couldn’t bandage you back up like that.”

Steve lets his head fall back, suddenly feeling more exhausted with all this, his pain levels admittedly somewhat improving with that thing out of him, even if it sucked to get to that point, “Just please tell me that was it.”

Finally wrapping the bandage around, watching Steve’s face to make sure it isn’t too tight and making him feel weirdly vulnerable under his gaze, Billy remarks, proud of his work, “It’s your lucky day. All done.”

Finally Steve relaxes, exhaling out some of the tension he kept in his muscles to make Billy's job easier. It helps, but not much. “Christ.. How did you survive down here for so long? I’ve been here what, a few hours? And I’m barely hanging on.”

“One, don’t say that kind of shit. You’re fine. Two, I don’t really know why I was able to fight for so long.”

Billy looks away, whether he’s hiding his feelings or checking the tree line, Steve isn’t sure, “I mean, I guess that’s what I’ve done all my life, is fight against some big scary monster. Except now instead of worrying about school and my social life and watching Max, it’s just about surviving now. My troubles are between me and the monster and nobody else for once. So it’s almost easier.”

Steve opens his mouth to say something in response and validate his willingness to share his feelings, his breath sort of crackling in his throat, but Billy cuts him off quickly and stiffly, “I’m not done.”

“When all I have to do is fight, and not try to balance all these problems on top of an already broken foundation, I got to thinking. About how shitty I’d been to everyone, just because I was too busy fighting the monsters to notice. You and Max and Sinclair, mostly. Susan too. Everyone really though.”

Billy pauses to clear his throat. Steve can tell it's to hide the strained sound of a tearful voice, but he also coughs, pretending it was something to do with the air. In exchange for how open he’s being, Steve is willing to let him have that, “I dunno. I just felt kinda shitty knowing that if I died here and never made it back, everyone would always think of me like that, and I would have done nothing with my life but make other people feel like they were running from a monster. Running away from me and all my shittiness like I had done for so long.”

“So pretty much, I guess I survive now ‘cause I want to do better than that monster. And I want to get back so I can make things right.”

“You’ll get that chance, Billy. I promise. We’re getting out of here.” It’s not much compared to that massive emotional speech Billy had just given, but Steve doesn’t know what else to say, what else to believe in.

Billy only mutters, all his passion drained out and just sounding tired now, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I mean it. Because unlike before, we’re not alone. We aren’t fighting these monsters by ourselves the way you had to. There are so many people behind us, those kids and their families, your family, that are looking for us right now.”

Steve assures him, making himself feel better if he’s being honest, “They don’t care who hurt who in the past. Our friends are going to do what’s right no matter what and they’re going to save our sorry asses. I know it.”

But Billy just sounds broken, defeated. “Steve. It’s been days. Maybe even weeks, and nobody’s come for you.”

He’s speechless. There’s no way it’s been that long. Bracing himself, he tries, “Well it was months before I found you. I never gave up on you.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“So say it.” Billy demands, and Steve does with equal intensity, “Because I love you.”

“Right. Do you think anyone up there feels that way about either of us?” He hadn’t been expecting him to weaponize that. Steve bites his tongue as Billy rants, “I shot down any chance of Max feeling that way a long time ago. Wheeler definitely doesn’t love your bullshit anymore. Our parents hate us. Half of those kids are strangers, and the other half just think you’re their expendable babysitter to send away on suicide missions to fix their problems.

“They don’t care, Steve. Not the way you do. With your stupid stubbornness and your stupidly big heart. They’re not coming for us now.” This isn’t something that’s coming out of nowhere. It’s obvious Billy has put a lot of thought into this, probably long before Steve found his way down here.

At least Steve knows where they stand relationship wise now. It’s not much of a silver lining.

Matching in his desperation and fear, Steve asks, “What do you mean?”

“You said it yourself earlier, babe. I think we’re alone now.”

A beat. Steve makes up his mind, “That’s not going to stop me.”

“Who said it should?”

“Alright, then. What’s next?”

The fight still seems to have drained out of Billy entirely. He shrugs, “You tell me. You’ve done this before.”

“We follow those things and see where they’re hunting. We’ll probably find another portal there if we’re fast enough.” Steve details. That’s how they found the portal on the other side, anyways. It’s the only theory they’ve got.

Billy buys it, seeming slightly less defeated to see that Steve actually might know a little bit what he’s doing, “If you’re sure, then lead the way.”

A hot spot for monster activity is usually near flat ground. Clearings and fields and places where the dead grass is tall enough they wouldn’t dare go near it unprotected.

Their hideout is on top of a hill for a reason.

Gathering all they need, weapons and such, they set out, waiting at the bottom behind trees and vines for a monster to step out. They’re hard to find down here, that bluish tint making everything look the same. It’s easier to listen. Rustling steps ahead, accompanied with growls and chitters, tell them they’ve got what they need.

Billy leads, peering around to check that the demodog is indeed walking away from them, and signaling for Steve to follow.

It leads them unknowingly for a good several miles until they lose track of it in a separate clearing. Exposed like this, they’re on high alert now, Steve’s got enough adrenaline pumping in his system now he can barely feel the bites. That’s for the best, he thinks. To be afraid of anything.

Up ahead, there’s a faint reddish glow emanating from exactly what they’re looking for, a hole large enough to fit them both through at once in the wall of what looks like the remnants of an old barn. A portal. Intimidating as the sight is, Steve is relieved, “There it is.”

Billy is too, as he jokes, “Are those things always that gross looking?”

“Who cares? Let’s just get out of here.”

Steve steps forward towards it, but is quickly caught by Billy, a strong hand on his shoulder freezing him to the spot.

Billy holds up a hand, a sign to stop and listen, “Wait..”

As expected, Steve hears it before he sees it, a demodog lurking just beyond the edge of the clearing where the old barn is. It chirps, calling for backup. Eventually Steve’s eyes adjust, and from yards away he can see rows upon rows of hungry teeth.

They hardly have time to prepare after that initial moment, Billy having just enough to make sure there’s still bullets in his gun before it pounces with a sickening snarl.

There’s a half dozen of them, two smaller ones taken out instantly with blasts from the shotgun as they opened their mouths to bite. For someone who never held a gun before, Billy’s become a damn good shot.

Then the gun clicks. It’s empty. He hadn’t had time to reload it before, so he certainly doesn’t now.

But he doesn’t falter for even a second, when the next one comes he uses the butt of the gun in the same way Steve is using his bat, swinging it and sending the demodog skidding across the wooded ground.

He chases it and bashes its skull in. That makes another angry and it pounces at him, taking his gun between it’s jaws.

More dogs swarm them, and they get turned around then, separated when a bigger dog runs between them, rearing to tear apart whatever it can get its teeth into. Steve calls it out and bolts, finishing off the one that initially ran with him with a side swing of his bat. It stumbles, already bleeding, and doesn’t get back up.

Now the larger one is after him, because Billy must not have killed the one he was fighting yet. Steve wishes he could stop and find him, make sure he was holding up. Right now, he let that get in his head. He focuses, and waits for the dog to pounce to jam the bat in its jaws.

The nails stop it from splintering the wood with its teeth, and give him a way to shove it through the things skull. He hates that part, feeling it pierce flesh, feeling the fight fade from what’s left of the monster. Not out of sympathy for it, just because it feels gross, to take a life.

It sounds like the fight has died down. He looks around, counting the bodies and coming up with six. There’s no more left from this wave. He withdraws the bat from the corpse and kicks it just to make sure it's not going to get back up and bite him.

Out of breath and sweating from the fight, Steve checks in with Billy after he’s sure that last one is dead, “Looks like we’re alone again. You good?”

“Uh..” When he looks over, Billy is pulling his hand away from his side, uncovering their worst fear. There’s blood on his hand up to his elbow, soaking completely through his shirt, which has been partially torn away to reveal giant gash marks in his side. A missing chunk of flesh near his ribs. It looks like Steve’s injury, but much worse, which makes sense considering this one’s a dog bite, instead of from those mole rats on wings. Rationality doesn’t make it less terrifying.

“Billy!” Steve drops his bat completely and rushes over to him, using his hand to press Billy’s back against the wound, applying pressure despite the way it makes Billy wince. He walks him backwards like that for a few steps to sit down on an old turned up tree stump.

“You know how I said it was only a little bad before?” Billy snarks through gritted teeth, voice straining with tension.

“Don’t. You’re going to be fine. We just have to go through the..” Steve glances over his shoulder at first, referring to the portal they had found. The portal that he doesn’t see even a trace of. He knows they hadn’t gone that far in the midst of the battle. His heart drops, his spins around, cranes his neck, desperate to find it.

But it’s not there, “Where’s the portal? I saw it, where’d it go?”

“Looks like we missed our chance.” Billy grunts in pain, forcing himself to sit up straighter, a sorry mistake that has him doubling over, barely able to speak, “Listen, Stevie, I don’t think-“

“Shut up. You’re fine. You have to be. I can’t do this on my own.” Steve kneels down to his level, tending to him in the only way he knows how, shaking out of his jacket and bundling it up, pressing it into his side. It makes him sick how quickly Billy’s blood seeps through the fabric onto his hands. He keeps talking, to keep them both sane, “We might be alone, but we’re alone together. You’re all I have. You have to keep fighting, for us.”

“Don't be such a sap. Just, get me some alcohol or something and I’ll be right as rain.” Billy smiles weakly, half-heartedly, trying to be snarky like usual.

Another snarl interrupts the mood, telling them more of those monsters are coming to where they are, probably to finish the fight.

“And maybe get me out of here first.”

“Can you walk?” Helping him back up to his feet, Steve wraps one arm sturdily around Billy’s middle, letting him press the wound on his own, carrying all their discarded weapons under his arm. They’re vulnerable like this. Too vulnerable.

Billy knows it, because he insists, “I’m fine.”

“You just said-“ Steve starts, but Billy cuts him off, the urgency of there being more dogs nearby outweighing his caution over the injury. Which is fair, because if more came after them like this, they wouldn’t stand a chance this time.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.” His insistence weighs out, and Steve begrudgingly walks him back through the long expanse of woods they traveled through in the first place, all the way to their shelter that way.

By the time they make it there, Billy’s barely conscious. It makes it easier for Steve to tend to him when he’s fading in and out like that, too in shock to argue or fight, but it does nothing to soothe his worries.

It’s at least a few more hours of bandage changes and shots of vodka before Billy’s fully with him again. Steve has taken the time to clean up most of the blood off of them, if not just to make the target on their backs smaller. He also found the least decomposed pillows and blankets he could find in their hideout and made a comfortable little corner to prop Billy up. It’s not ideal, but he thinks it might be nice to regain awareness in a slightly better state than when he went out.

The first thing he says when Billy is fully conscious is, “Hey. We’ll get another chance.. It’s not over.”

“I know.” With assistance, Steve ready to help as soon as he sees him move even an inch, Billy sits up on his elbows, “It’s just.. hard to keep hoping for something that seems like it’s never going to happen.”

“We were so close. Don’t quit on me now.”

“I told you I’m not I just.. I need a break.”

A reference to their earlier conversation. It hurts, realizing how long ago that felt, when really it only took them less than a day to fail so miserably. Steve pretends it’s okay, “Is this the part where you tell me I was right?”

“Sure. You were right Steve, stopping isn’t what’s going to kill us.” A slow smile spreads over pale lips, making him look more like himself, and certainly sounding more like Billy as he says sarcastically, “Just the gradual buildup of this floaty shit in our lungs from not doing anything. When we suffocate in a few hours, well, at least we got to rest right?”

Steve loses what he’s saying about halfway through though, because another sound catches his attention. He can’t be sure what it is, but after what happened, he’s on high alert. He warns, “Be quiet.”

Billy scoffs, “Damn. Won’t even entertain a wounded man.”

Steve shakes his head, listening and finally understanding. It’s surface noises that are distracting him, the distant sound of people talking and car horns and dogs barking that carry over in the dead of the night, so he explains, “No I.. thought I heard something. Voices.”

Billy looks hesitant to remind him, “Hate to say it, Stevie, but..”

“I know, I know. We’re alone, whatever. But.. don’t you think it’s strange how if we’re quiet enough, we can hear things on the other side?”

“I try not to think about it. I thought we already established that nobody's coming to find us.”

“Because they don’t know we’re alive down here, but what if there was a way we could contact them?” Steve’s onto something with this. Another breakthrough idea like before with the portal. He just hopes this one works out better.

Billy is skeptical before he’s even heard the plan, “Don’t torture me.”

“I’m not. I’m serious. When Will was down here, he was able to talk to his mother through lights, like lamps and things.” Steve explains the foundations of his idea as it comes to him.

Still not convincing enough, Billy rambles critically, “So we possess the lights and suddenly our problems are magically fixed? The portal closed on us Steve. Even if we catch somebody’s attention, what if it’s the wrong person up there? Some government cronies who rescue us just to blow our brains out in the backroom of a lab.”

“Then we find the right person before we do it. We have to try.”

“If you knew this all along, why only bring it up now?”

Steve motions to himself and Billy, the state of their clothes, the nearly identical bloodied bandages around them. Things aren’t looking so good, and that's his answer, “You’re hurt now. I’m willing to risk being hunted by the men in black or whoever the fuck they are if it means we have a chance at getting you help.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll play along. What do we do?” Billy shifts forward in interest, wincing slightly. He’s really hurting now. Steve can tell. But Billy’s hiding it well, so he doesn’t bring it up. Not until they’re safe.

“We don’t really know what Will did, but I guess you have to just touch the lights. And be careful about it so somebody can see that it’s intentional.” It’s the oversimplified version, but it will do.

Simplified plans lead to simple observations. Billy points out, “There’s nobody around.”

“Not on this side. But up there, things are normal. Life goes on. Empty buildings are full of people and light. As long as it’s somebody who knows about this happening before, we’ve got a chance.”

“Where do we find this somebody?”

“I’m going to leave it up to you.” Steve’s tone is rich with honesty, knowing that this is a tender spot for Billy. He suggests, “I don’t know most of the kids too well except Henderson. He’s probably noticed I’ve gone missing so he might notice the lights too. But then there’s also..”

“Max.” Billy finishes for him, his expression too multifaceted for Steve to even begin to break it down. What he gets most is doubt, “She knows about this shit?”

“Well, she’s been down here, technically. The night we fought..”

Billy doesn’t want to acknowledge that, enough other hints to argue about, moving on almost immediately to, “The lights in that house are shitty anyways though. Doubt she’d even notice a little flickering since that’s what they do all the fucking time.” He’s trying to make excuses for the obvious concern they both have without saying them. What if they don’t notice or care that it’s them?

Steve offers a solution, “There was something else.”

“Go on.”

“The radio. Will was able to turn on a radio, and Eleven could hear him through radio static. Nobody without powers could hear us, but if we flicker the lights and play music, she’ll probably know something is going on.”

“Think it’s worth a shot then?” Billy sounds more optimistic and stronger too. Like the idea of still having hope to be saved is helping him to push through. Steve doesn’t want to think of what might happen to Billy if this doesn’t work.

He nods determinedly, “The best we have.”

———

By the time they make it to Billy’s house, Billy himself is worn down. He’s slow and he’s exhausted and he’s just all around depressed. A sweaty, bleeding mess, much like Steve himself. Not that they could blame it entirely on the injury. They’d avoided this side of town deliberately, the memories too torturous to the trapped psyche.

The best Steve can do is offer his support, holding Billy’s hand tightly as they walk along, partially to help him walk with his injury, but mostly for comfort.

Even with a lethargic second half, finding the house is easy. Just from a year of Billy living in Hawkins they both had every path to and from the house memorized. The hard part is just going in.

Steve asks, after they’ve been staring up at the crumbled form of the house that was never really a home, and definitely not a place where he felt safe, “You ready?”

Billy doesn’t say anything more as he steps forward and leads the way, needing Steve’s help up the front steps but after that navigating straight to his old room. It’s unrecognizable under the thick black cover of vines and decay, but Steve can tell Billy still gets emotional seeing it. He sniffs, wiping at his eyes discreetly before walking to one specific spot,

“Somewhere under here is my stereo. There’s a lamp on the bedside table.”

That means he’s ready. Steve lets go of his hand and lets Billy reach out to the tangled mass of his death that engulfs their chance at discovery. Just touching it, the room fills with this overwhelming, static-like feeling, and there’s a faint, muffled sound like music. It’s indiscernible what's playing, be it some local radio station or the last mixtape Billy left in the rack, but they can tell something is. A fact which is accentuated by the sound of a distant shout in the house.

It worked.

Someone in the real world, and they both have a guess as to who that is, wants the radio turned off. An unfortunate confirmation that they are heard.

“Quiet.” His adrenaline kicking through the roof again, Steve shushes Billy, convincing himself he can hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

“I wasn’t even sayin’ anything.” Billy argues, his voice whispery and sad. This is hard for him. Being hurt and having to ask for help, and just being able to communicate after so long trapped in this dimension.

“You are now. Hush.”

For a moment there is no more noise from above, the only sound the beating of their hearts in the tense moment and the faint radio static.

Anticlimactically, it just shuts off. And then there’s nothing.

Steve looks at Billy and he’s already looking back, they nod in mutual agreement to try again.

Billy taps it once more, and this time, they get a real response.

It’s thankfully Max that’s been tasked with shutting down their sound, as she mutters, barely audible through dimensional barriers, Come on, you stupid thing.”

She shuts the stereo off again, shaking it slightly. But hearing her voice only means they have to act more, before this incident is written off as an easy to fix technical problem and they lose their chance.

Billy turns it on and doesn’t take his hand off, with Max’s further attempts at silencing the stereo now unsuccessful.

She raises her voice slightly, without being able to see her, sounding on the verge of tears, “Even now you just have to annoy me... Why won’t you let me forget you?”

Steve keeps his head down. This moment feels too personal. Even though it’s his only sense of connection right now, he fights the urge to listen too. Those words were meant for Billy.

Only out of his peripheral does he see Billy, who’s taken Max’s words as his cue to up the game, reach across to the lamp he’d mentioned and putting his hand where the long shattered bulb would have been.

They hear Max sigh bitterly, “Great. Now I’m going crazy too. Is this..?”

Her disbelief makes Billy tense, almost panicked from not being able to get his point across easily, or any more clearly than this. Steve imagines that as he does so, the light dulls, because Max’s next response is even more doubtful.

“Of course it’s not.. I’m so stupid. And now I’m talking to myself. This is fine, everything’s fine.”

But it isn’t, and as Billy applies more intensity to the radio, the correlated volume going up on the other side, they hear the sound of hollow thuds against hard plastic, the unmistakable sound of Max smashing the radio against the desk in frustration, “Why won’t you turn off!”

Interrupting her meltdown, Billy goes back to the lamp, trying desperately to get her attention, to answer her question and say that it won’t turn off because there’s someone who needs her to hear them. Steve joins in, reaching up towards the half-exposed ceiling light, which he imagines is still perfect on the other side.

It seems to be enough. In a fascinated voice that is thick with tears, Max confirms what they needed to hear all along, “So this is real. This is really happening. Then that means… Billy?”

They both stop with the flickering, leaving the room in silence and dark until Billy, very purposefully, lights up that one bulb as intensely as he can manage. Whether it’s from the effort that takes or just from the situation, tears are tracking down Billy’s face now. He looks like he’s about to break completely.

“I knew it. I knew it!” The effort, the plan, the poorly thought out strategies, it’s all coming together for this moment. They hear Max raise her voice, as if to be better heard on their side of things, “Hey, um, I-I don’t know if you can hear me too good but, just stay wherever you are. I’m going to get us help.”

Billy nods, but realizes she can’t see him. A strange expression that Steve can’t read settles on his face, and he flickers the lamp, a confirmation that he heard her.

They can hear Max taking shaky deep breaths, sounding in shock, “You better still be here when I get back with backup. I need proof that I’m not nuts. Just.. I’ll talk to you again soon...”

“Please be real, please be real…” Bittersweet, the sound of her voice slowly fades to nothing as she leaves the room. Their presence is known now, but they’re technically back to square one, without anybody but themselves.

This time though, there’s hope in the solitude. There’s a future for them if they can just assemble enough help to make that reality.

Steve puts his arm around Billy, careful not to bump the massive injury in his torso. For the first time since he’s been down here, he smiles a genuine smile, “I don’t think we have to worry about being alone anymore.”

#HarringroveWeek #harringrove #billy x steve #billy & max #this is pretty much my ideal season 4 #canon? i don't know her #pretty loosely based on the song itself and more just on the concept of being alone #also #monster hunting boyfriends #heads up this one is pretty long after the read more #ej writer #story by ej! #my writing

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 20/02/2024

Chex Invaders

Season 4 Episode 1 No Album Release (Read More) Circus (Chex Mix) - Five Nights at Freddy's

Ripped by LiterallyNoOne

Requested by Realchickenmanny! (@realchickenmanny)

So remember back when I said in Goodbye To Love that I'd be providing some sort of further explanation to the Circus rips at a later date? Uh, yeah - that later date is today, and I still...don't really know how to properly explain it.

It all feels like a giant web of in-jokes that were never quite properly explained, culminating into a channel-long mainstay to the channel. SiIvaGunner presents itself as a place for listening to edited video game music, and it certainly stuck to that for...at least its first few weeks? That blurry line would get pushed and prodded with rips of "Nintendo Direct themes", rips of fake games like Battle Theme - Zeno Blade Chronicle X, and rips that didn't contain the original track supposedly being ripped at all for a complete bait and switch - all of it leading up to the release of Rip Squad, the first Circus rip ever, on March 16th, 2016. In just 37 seconds, it manages to be extremely memorable from just how good the execution is, with the beginning music box jingle, the coy transition out of it, followed by the hilarious skrillex-like dubstep drop edited to play the Flintstones theme. Given that the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise was still enjoying meteoric success from the original four games releasing across 2014 and 2015, yet lacked much of any music to rip on SiIva, to do this sort of complete bait-and-switch was a pretty fun workaround for a one-time gag. Yeah. One time gag.

Except, with just that one rip, NBGMusic had seemingly summoned a monster - due to the Circus theme technically just being the ditty playing at the first few seconds of the rip, any remaining runtime could be dedicated to doing exactly what Rip Squad itself did - quite literally anything on the planet, related to video game music or not. Circus thus became home to every kind of rip under the sun, with the very same song being ripped again and again and again with different "mix" names for each one to at least ATTEMPT to distinguish them. Trust me, "Chex Mix", as Chex Invaders dons, is far from the most absurd mix name out there, and given their sheer variety going to the Five Nights at Freddy's playlist alone is akin to playing a ripper-based game of russian roulette.

But then, let's return to Chex Invaders then - because with the unlimited freedom that Circus rips provided, not even asking rippers to come up with fake games to loosely attach their rip jokes to, they were free to go absolutely hog wild with whatever concepts they could think of. I praised Plantasia 2 yesterday for just how well the theming of its joke and game ripped matched together, yet Circus mix embody the complete opposite side of that spectrum, and take full advantage of it. The only tie that Chex Invaders has to your expectations is the dubstep-adjacent electronic music featured in it, which many rips taking after Rip Squad also did, but it's not as if that's at all a constant for Circus rips - that rule was broken by Chaze the Chat himself just a month after the Circus rips began.

No, Chex Invaders isn't playing on any sort of emotional attachment you may have to Five Nights at Freddy's, not any sort of expectations on the part of viewers upon clicking - it simply appeared in SiIvaGunner fans' subscription boxes like a face-down card, its true intentions unknown to those who didn't click it. Those who did, however, were met with one of the few contributions to SiIvaGunner by the excellent artist LiterallyNoOne, still going strong today with 245K subscribers on YouTube. And while I'm unfamiliar with their more numerous contributions to fan channel TimmyTurnersGrandDad (as mentioned in V​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​a​-​V​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​v​-​r), Chex Invaders alone proves their talents to me in its sheer quality. The base track Space Invaders by Teminite & MDK is played with in so many creative ways, from sections of melody-swapping in and out of one another, to overlaying vocals from other songs and clips onto the song, to full-on mashups, to moments doing all three in harmony...the amount of jokes featured, especially during Season 4 Episode 1, feels almost overwhelming! From the first four years of the channel's life, there's only a few channel mainstay jokes to NOT be featured here, from Flintstones to Snow Halation to CaptainSparklez to Megalovania to Inspector Gadget, yet it all ebbs and flows in and out of one another at such a befitting pace. A calmer moment in the song will play Fireflies, a more ominous section plays 8-Bit Beast's Haunted House (see Maroon 5 more like Maroon 8 hehehehehehe), the beat drop at one point is a single "op" from Gangnam Style - for having SO many different pieces of SiIvaGunner's long history in play, for being a rip made by just one person, it all fits together shockingly well, to where I almost forget that Space Invaders is a song that exists outside of this rip!

Loud, bizarre, unexplainable, and as memorable for their contents as they are easy to forget from their titles and presentation...Circus rips on SiIvaGunner are a true enigma, and I'm really not sure if I've even listened to them all. Yet there's rarely one that's disappointed me thus far - without a source game to pull from, it feels as if a rip almost has to be inherently interesting to have even been submitted as a Circus rip to begin with. Chex Invaders most certainly isn't an example of just HOW deep the rabbithole goes with these rips - but it is an example of an absolute banger from them.

#todays siivagunner #season 4 episode 1 #siivagunner #siiva #LiterallyNoOne #tentative rip name #circus rip #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #teminite #mdk #electronic music #electronic dance music #dubstep #space invaders #Youtube

[disruptivevoib]

I am very silly about the Eleutheromania and Lacuna AUs, I don't really have any specific questions but feel free to rant about either of those AUs :3

Eleutheromania is my so very beloved AU.

And I could say so much but. I have this ramble about Eleuthero!Whole, aka Clio. And loosely also Calliope, Eleuthero!Soul.

-- So thats under the cut!

So, I do often think abt trying to add more distinction between Clio in co-existence and Clio in fully formed Whole. Which are both things as of yet to be seen in the fanfic writing. But it will be seen, and thusly needs to be considered.

I know Clio in co-existence was very very apathetic.

He, universally, maintains that he is a loathsome person and pretends to accept this with a boastful ego but. He does absolutely hate himself.

So, I think that co-existence Clio is the more raw or realistic one.

When the self-aware loathing of Soul, the overwhelming seeping and creeping of emotion of Heart, and the harsh brutalist truth or moral/societal pressures of logic are all stripped away you ARE just indeed left with this thing writhing in misery because it cannot even really stand the idea of being where it is, being itself.

So, co-existing Clio accepts everything /he/ essentially does to himself because its what he believes he deserves. And on the vice-versa end, a fully formed Clio perpetuates the cycle because he also still believes its what /he/ deserves just.. backwards.

Where Callie has never inherently believed he deserved the treatment Whole gave him, Clio has only ever thought it was just that at least some part of himself be tyrannical over the other. Even in switching up because he was fully formed once more.

The distinction there is that he HAS all that loathing and self vitriol in him again alongside the misery of it.

On both ends he still puts up this face, and he still accepts the deserving nature of it all, but flips it into.. sort of.

"If I deserve it, and I am me, and they are me, they deserve it too."

A nonsensical and delusional mentality that at the end of the day, no matter where he is, he deserves to be, in some form, whether deeply subconsciously or right there at the surface level of basic thought, miserable.

Which likely stems from just. Who Clio is or became as a person. I do not think he has that many friends, and the ones he did have, obviously didn't notice he changed when Soul took over because by the time Calliope did so, he was already just *that* similar to Whole if only different in that he did not accept their sameness and delusionally denied the fact that he had become "himself" in a way by perpetuating the narrative that Mind and Heart are not people and that Whole is deserving of all the horrible things. Though he saw it as just because Whole did it first, regardless, they were both harming themselves.

I do think Clio likely did make songs still, and he threw himself into them for a time but idk if he ever actually did post them.

The inital concept was that, he did and such but.. ah. The evolution of the character and the disconnection I feel between him, or all of them as characters from source material or CJ as the artist, ahh blah blah. He never posts music he writes, or continues it.

He does enjoy creating, he just struggles to find a footing in believing anything he does is worthwhile- or even furthermore, that if he deserves to be miserable and self-sabotages so much... why would he ever properly pursue something that could make him happy when he is undeserving of that.

Which also side-ish note is yeah! Eleuthero aside from base root concept to me is pretty disjointed from the canon of CCCC. The AU is highly self indulgent and more an exploration of someone who struggles to even attach personhood to themself in a solid way, etc etc.

#voidthoughts #eleutheromania #Clio isn't great but neither is Calliope. None of them are great people in the au they're just struggling ig? #asks #eleutheromania au

[whlskr]

ASK MEME TIME! Bunnie: 12, 14, 22 Naomi: 4, 8, 27 Kadin: 2, 16, 32 Brook: 1, 18, 35 AND FOR YOU B, C, D about all of them >:D

Bunnie, 12, 14, & 22

12: How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?

I feel like Bunnie would definitely bother Naomi until she helped. If they were not together, she'd simply be like a bear and scratch against a wall.

14: What animal do they fear most?

They have live-cams on the surface that the residents of the Undursa watch like Old Time Discovery Channel. I'd say they have some sort of unofficial deadliest animal poll going around base that Naomi and Bunnie watch with joy. Bunnie would be all about watching the animals on the surface but for sure has a mental list of one's she would not fuck around with.

I don't have names for a lot of the Cauterized wildlife but the guy on the cover is everyone's least(most?) favorite sharp friend on the surface. Huge green monster that prowls around deep wooded areas. Different residents call her different things but Naomi calls it the Jabberwocky based on a song from her childhood.

22: How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)? 

Bunnie is for sure a 'I simply won't leave your side' kind of jealous. :) No one else can get too close without also having to deal with her. Possessive, but in a 'I'm taking care of you' way. Having an unrequited crush for 20yrs will do that to you.

She'd never actually get in the way, but she's definitely be making sure you deserve her person and that you're treating them right. And she'd be quick to let you know if you crossed those generally reasonable lines. She totally would not fight you over Naom

B) What inspired you to create them?

Naomi needed a foil and had been one of my characters for years. I was evaluating the team and decided that it needed someone softer to bring it together. This was born Bunnie! And her sister. :) Brook is a more firm character that offsets Bunnie's non-serious demeanor. With Kadin, it created a well rounded team that could play off each other's strengths.

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

Bunnie was created to fill in a gap, so it felt like the story always was missing her once I added her in. She brings them together in a way I love and appreciate. Bunnie is the glue to the team, irreplaceable 🙃

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

Bunnie went through several rapid design changes. She was loosely based off an old webcomic character of mine named Lo. The blonde hair spilt off to the side comes from that design. When I showed her official design to my brother-in-law, he immediately said she looked like me with blonde hair/no glasses. I sat on that comment and decided to redesign most of my characters to reflect their voice actors. :)

Naomi: 4, 8, & 27

4: How easy is it to earn their trust?

Naomi isn't a particularly trusting person, though she just keeps herself at arms length from others. She has a small group of people she lives and trusts. If one of those people trusted someone, she'd follow suit however.

8: What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child

Naomi was definitely a 'I will not shut up about my special interests' kind of kid and I can imagine her being told to be quiet often. She was a pretty extroverted child before everything happened to her. I imagine being repeatedly told to hold her joy closer to her chest created an adult version of herself that doesn't talk much about what makes them happy.

27: What causes them to feel dread? 

The smell of smoke and the sound of fire both make Naomi's stomach drop. It makes her scars burn. She avoids fire at all costs, which is thankfully generally easy in an underwater base.

B) What inspired you to create them?

Naomi was actually originally a waterbender ATLA OC. This was VERY short lived because I immediately fell in love with the concept of her character. She's for sure a vehicle for my own daddy issues, though she's got it much worse than I do. Naomi really is a character for working through my own issues at age 19. She's not nearly the self-insert she used to be. I've grown a lot in the last 7 years. Naomi's kinda like the scared kid I used to be. I love her very much, like she's a younger version of myself.

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

Nope. The story was designed for Naomi. She's the main character, even if it's mostly told by Bunnie. Everything in Cauterized revolves around Naomi ❤️‍🔥

There was a period where I couldn't make sense of her team as a whole and couldn't figure out how they'd make it on the outside. The team was originally just Kadin and Naomi, after all.

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

Naomi's appearance has changed a lot. I think I've changed her skin tone more than anything. Where she was an ATLA OC, her race was originally really ambiguous. When I cast you as her, I decided to rebuild her around your favorite parts of yourself, as you know :') Now, I think she feels like the character she should be. Her core character has never changed, but her outside appearance has gradually shifted.

Kadin: 2, 16, & 32

2: How easy is it for your character to laugh?

I like to think Kadin has a good sense of humor and laughs easily. I just think it's only around the right people. Kadin's good friends with the engineer Henry Gertsen. Their actors are good friends IRL. They probably get along really well and cut up together.

16: What makes their stomach turn?

Kadin has a sense of justice and seeing someone hurt really makes his stomach turn. He's not always the best at acting on that feeling, but always takes metal note of the underdog. He keeps watch over them for an opportunity to step in. Cruelty makes him sick, though he can be caught in inaction for fear of retaliation from command.

32:  Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke? 

Kadin, unlike Naomi, actively makes jokes about his burn. "Gotta hand it to him, he had one hell of a grip" type jokes.

B) What inspired you to create them?

Kadin is a really cool character that's hard for me to go into detail about without revealing too many spoilers. He was created to be someone Naomi could rely on. Originally, he was her love interest, though now he's like a complicated almost friend, more co-worker type friendship.

Naomi's kinda scared to interact much with him personally because she wrongly thinks he has some sort of negative feelings towards her over their shared burn origins.

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

Kadin was one of the two original main characters, yet I've always kind of struggled with his deeper character. He's got a somewhat cold outer shell, calculating, though he's really a warm person who cares a lot. He's just very cautious and plans or ever move he makes.

Originally he was Naomi's guide on the outside and that's really not changed, he's just not her trainer any more. Funny enough, now Naomi's more his trainer over the bio-raptors at least.

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

They were several years younger in the original. Kadin was 23 or something like that. He's 28 now. Naomi was 19, she's 27 now. Honestly, they've swapped skin tones. Kadin got an overhaul when I cast Mitul as him to match him a little(I'm planning on doing a little more, though).

Kadin was also originally trans and in a sense, that's not changed, but he's not trans in a traditional sense. I'd say he's more he/they/it which is as close to spoilers as I can get.

Brook: 1, 18, 35

1: What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

Brook is a never sits kind of person. Being forced to be still would probably be torture. She could sit through a lecture or a concert but she'd be totally bouncing her leg the entire time. She'd die after anything longer.

18: What embarrasses them?

Brook would be embarrassed by crushes or by a public slip up during the trials she runs with the bio-raptors. Those, I think, would be hey only two blush buttons.

35:  How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive? 

Brook is a very good big sister. She's very protective of Bunnie and looks out for her all the time. Their parents are both scientists in another lab and we're always pretty busy. As the oldest, Brook took it upon herself to fill in wherever needed.

This isn't always a good thing, however. She's not a very big fan of Naomi and could've been a better support to her. She thinks Naomi derailed Bunnie's life. Otherwise, Brook almost can't help taking control of a situation and fixing it. She's over all very supportive.

B) What inspired you to create them?

Bunnie was added for Naomi. In a sense, Brook was added for Kadin. She's a rival, a bright mirror, a foil. I wanted a firm, strong character that would step in when no one else would. She's a very important character to the team.

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

She was designed to fill in a gap much the same way Bunnie was. It was pretty easy to let her full the hole in the story she was made for. She's the strong, supportive big sister of the team who's not scared to lay down her truth.

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

Brook took a long time for me to settle on a design for. She's the newest character to the show. She's still in her original design as the one painting in doing is the only one I've made so far.

Apart from her place in the team, she's a very self-indulgent 'what I think an attractive woman looks like' + features from my best friend Jess who plays her. I realized after doing most of her character painting that she really just looks like a female version of my husband + a little of my best friend.

Thank you so much for the questions, Izze!!!

#I thought so carefully about these #My art #Cauterized

[dameronology]

what can you do? (peter parker)

a.k.a the one where peter has an existential crisis about turning 20 (based loosely on 30/90 from tick, tick, boom)

warnings: a bit introspective? and also language

i turned 20 five months ago and i've been in this weird phase of wondering where the fuck my teenage years went and then realising that time is merely a concept and 30/90 captures that in a way i can't quite explain. enjoy xx

- jazz

p.s this is written with tasm peter in mind but it can probably work for the other 2 as well

Peter Parker had come to discover that that song from Shrek had been right. The years started coming and hah, fuck. They did not stop.

He’d been solemnly staring at the calendar in your bedroom for days, sad brown eyes watching as his twentieth birthday rapidly approached. It wasn’t so much the day itself that he was dreading, but rather the crushing realisation that he was no longer a teenager. The years he was meant to make the most of had come and gone and now they were waving him off in the rear-view mirror. What had he even done with them? There had been a lot of watching TikToks, and binging Netflix, and skipping class and…well, he had become a vigilante. There was that. Maybe it was something.

He was trying to make something out of his life, at least. Night activities aside, he was going to college (when he didn’t sleep through his alarms). He had a job with his freelance photography and it was enough to help his Aunt out. And then there was the best thing of all; you. Peter still didn’t know where you came from or why you’d chosen to bless him with your presence, but your relationship making it out of high school and into the real world was hands down, his biggest achievement. You were both young, struggling college students, holing out in his childhood bedroom at May’s house but hell, it felt pretty solid.

“Pete,” you appeared beside him on the morning of his birthday, snapping a lopsided party hat over his fluffy brown hair. “No matter how much you stare at the calendar, you’re still twenty years old.”

“I don’t like it,” he huffed. “I think things were better when I was nineteen. I’m wrinkling already.”

“Oh, god,” you murmured, peering closer to his face. “I think you are. Those smile lines are abhorrent-”

“- you’re such an ass.”

Peter grabbed you, lanky arms reaching for your waist and pulling you down onto the bed. It let out a loud creak as you did and you both froze, waiting momentarily for May to call up and ask what the fuck you were doing. After a few seconds of silence, Peter continued on his attack - he grabbed your hands and pulled them above your head, brown eyes creasing with a grin as he peered down at you.

“Take it back!” he demanded.

“Take what back, grandad?” you teased, snapping the elastic on his party hat. “I think you’re having memory problems.”

Peter let out a groan, rolling off of you and dropping onto the bed beside you. He left an arm strewn across your stomach, head resting gently against yours. You could tell that something was getting to him - he always put up more of a fight than that.

“Hey,” you gently reached out a hand, finger ghosting his cheekbone. “Are you really that sad about turning twenty?”

“I’m sad about not being a teenager,” he admitted. Peter rolled onto his back, pulling you into his side as he did; his hand stayed on your shoulder and gently traced patterns across the material of the shirt of his you’d stolen. “There’s so much I said I’d do but didn’t.”

“Like what?”

“I wanted to travel, but that never happened. And I wanted to learn to skateboard better, and enter contests,” he said. “I just always had this vision, you know? Of my life being so much more put together than it was now.”

“Yeah, I get that,” you replied. “When I was a kid, I thought I’d be married and rich by now. Instead, I wait tables when I’m not studying and I have to count the loose change in my purse to see if I can afford 99 cent filter coffee.”

Peter snorted slightly. “That’s what I mean - I had big dreams and I haven’t achieved any of them.”

“Are you forgetting that you’re Spiderman?” you propped yourself up on your elbows, glancing down at him. “You’ve saved the entire fucking city, Pete. There’s literally not a single person our age who’s done that.”

“I know,” he sadly smiled. “I just wish I had more of a plan, you know?”

“I had a plan,” you said. “I was gonna get my GED, marry a rich older man and then just be a trophy wife.”

“That sounds like a dream.”

“Oh, it really was,” you winked. “I found my rich old pervert but when I went to leave you for him, I couldn’t find it in me. I think it’s your sad, sad eyes that made it so hard-”

“- you suck so much,” Peter grabbed you again, pulling you down into his chest.

Truth be told, he could have stayed like this forever - just you and him, endlessly pissing about. It didn’t matter where you were or who you were with, because when it was the two of you, nobody else mattered. No matter where he ended up in life, Peter just knew he wanted to be with you.

“You know you don’t have to have it all figured out, right?” you gently asked. “Literally every adult I know has just been working it out as they go along.”

“I just don’t know where I’m going,” Peter said. “I’m so desperate to make it in life but I also don’t want to grow up yet. All those ideas I had as a kid seem so far away now.”

“You’re literally a superhero.”

“I don’t know where that’s going either!” he groaned. “I don’t know anything. I’m just aging like a piece of sad cheese and the future is hopeless.”

“You’re twenty, not eighty,” you reminded him with a soft chuckle. “If you spend so much time worrying about the future, you’re gonna miss what’s happening right in front of you.”

“You think so?” He raised an eyebrow. “Because Mark Zuckerburg was younger than me when he made Facebook, and Bill Gates-”

“- look around, Pete: you’re doing really well in college, you’re a freaking vigilante, and your significant other is a hot piece of ass,” you shot back. “Just because you didn’t help make Facebook or Apple-”

“- Bill Gates made Microsoft-”

“- yeah, whatever,” you rolled your eyes. “My point still stands; just enjoy where you are right now and shit will work itself out.”

Peter smiled, hands still roaming your body absent-mindedly. He let out a small sigh of content, and you couldn’t help but feel the tension leave your body. He was always on the go; always thinking of the next big thing and how to achieve greatness. You loved the boy more than life itself but damn. Sometimes you wished he would just slow down and breathe for a second. It was something he was getting better at - mostly thanks to you - but you could still feel his panic every now and then.

“It’s okay not to know what you’re doing” you murmured, voice slightly muffled by his chest. “It’s okay to just…be. Pressure free, you know? Take it day by day and maybe you’ll get there, and maybe you won’t, but you can at least enjoy the journey.”

“When did you become so wisdomic?”

“I got a lecture from my mum when I had the same breakdown on my twentieth,” you confessed. “Easy enough for her, I suppose. She was at Yale by the time she was our age.”

“How does it feel to be the disappointing child?”

You peered up at Peter. “Honestly? Not so bad.”

He smiled back at you - at least he knew one thing. He wanted you in his future. Things felt okay with you; not shaky and unsure. He didn’t have to question what you had or where it was going, because he was certain you could work it out together.

“The years are gonna keep coming, aren’t they?”

“I’m afraid so, kiddo,” you replied. “But what can you do?"

“How are you so calm about all this?”

“I’ve been twenty like three months longer than you,” you reminded him. “I’ve got this whole what the fuck even are your twenties for thing sorted.”

“Any advice?”

You let out a yawn, nodding. “Yup. They’re for sleeping.”

Peter awkwardly shuffled you both to the top of the bed, kicking the covers up and pulling them over you. It was midday by that point; May was at work and neither of you had anywhere to go. You could lay here for as long as you needed to and just…exist.

“I like that idea,” he agreed. “I slept through most of my teenage years so it seems only right to nap intermittently until I’m 29.”

“Then what?”

“Then I’ll panic about the fact I slept through most of my twenties and have a meltdown about turning thirty.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you smiled and buried your head in his shoulder. “See, you do have one after all."

#peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker imagines #tasm! peter parker x reader #spiderman x reader #spiderman imagines #spiderman imagine #andrew garfield

[the-archxr]

Mamma Mia! How Can I Resist You?

steve harrington x reader

Summary: When El finds Y/N’s diary, she doesn’t expect much. But when her and Max find out about their older friends huge crush on a certain babysitter, the night becomes just a little more interesting.

A/N: So I really thought Waterloo! was going to be the only fic I based off of Mamma Mia! but knowing me and my obsession for it I was childish to assume that, cause here we are!

Song Inspo: Honey, Honey - Amanda Seyfried (and company)

•••••

El hadn’t meant to come across it. And she certainly hadn’t meant to look at it...

But with her curiosity peaked by the unassuming pink leather, sticker covered book, she couldn’t help but feel the need to look. She hadn’t expected anything important to be in it, honestly; and for the first few pages she skimmed through, she was proven right.

In retrospect, the girl didn’t actually know what a diary was. Max didn’t have one (as far as she knew) and she didn’t quite grasp the concept of a diary in and of itself, so for the six or seven blue lined pages that all had the year 1978 written in messy purple ink at the top, she had assumed that it was nothing important.

From what she could tell (from barely reading what was scrawled on those few pages) she gathered that most of the information written in the book was about your middle school and your friends and family. Some paragraphs complained about teachers you found to be annoying and some were written with excitement about what you had planned with your friends in the upcoming days.

The last page was only filled halfway, and was ended with a polite goodbye to your “diary”, saying that you felt you were “too old” to record your “childish thoughts”. El frowned at the realization that regardless of how unimportant this journal of yours seemed, she was still snooping through your things. And a concept she was certainly aware of was privacy. She complained that Hop hadn’t given her and Mike enough privacy, yet here she was.

A...what was that word again?

She racked her brain for a few seconds, until...

Hypocrite. She was being a hypocrite.

After the guilt began to really gnaw at her, she went to shut the cover of the book, until the oscillating fan that sat in front of your bed fluttered the loose-ended papers, revealing another diary entry hidden behind the one El was on.

The page was filled with words; this time though, they were written in black ink and were neat and meticulous. El recognized your handwriting as she had complimented you multiple times on it during your writing lessons Hop had you go over with her. The young girl smiled at the familiar mix of your cursive and printed letters—almost all of them looped together in a way that seemed like the words swam across the paper.

She liked to look at your writing—it was pretty and fun and she kind of hoped one day her handwriting could look like that.

Her eyes then fluttered to the top of the page, her attention immediately being drawn to the date. Wednesday, July 14, 1985.

El’s eyes widened at the script, which prompted her to read it over again to make sure that she had read it right.

And she had.

It wasn’t a trick of the eye and she hadn’t mixed up the numbers of the year at all.

“1-9-8-5.” El mumbles to herself, running her finger over the dried pen. You had wrote in the book this year. With the book in hand, El walked over to your door, and pulled it forward to look behind it. As expected, on the back of the white door was a long, bright yellow calendar on it.

Biting her lip in anticipation, she looked over the date again, then looked back to your Tower Records calendar until she found the month of July.

She then raised a finger over the days of the month until she found today’s date, which wasn’t entirely difficult as she knew that every day that passed, you crossed out with your bright pink highlighter in large x’s.

Thursday, July 15.

The shock of knowing hit her quickly once again. The writing on the page was fairly new—only a day old. El stood there for a few seconds, turning the small book over in her hands. Whatever you had wrote yesterday must’ve been important enough to feel the need to write in your childhood diary.

Slumping on your bed, El looked to your open door and hesitated for a moment before straining her ears for the sound of anything. You and Max had left just minutes earlier to pick up pizza, leaving El at home per her request.

Technically, she was supposed to be picking tonight’s movie, but as she was getting dressed into her pyjamas, she just so happened to look at your desk, where the pink book sat there, tauntingly.

After listening for a few more seconds—and not hearing anything—El came to the conclusion that her curiosity was far stronger than her guilt (at least right now), and just because she read it, didn’t mean you had to know she had. It was a complete invasion of your privacy, but as El flipped to the page, she ended up reading the first sentence anyway.

God, I can’t believe I’m doing this...

Well...with a hook like that, El really couldn’t help herself. Sitting back against your pillows, she made herself comfortable and began to read on.

Hi again, it’s me. I know that this is an inanimate object, but I just...I’m going to treat you like you’re a real person cause I really need to get this off my chest and I have no one to talk to so...yeah... I told myself when my mom first gave this to me when I was like 11 or something that I wouldn’t write about boys I liked. I guess...ya know kid me still thought boys had cooties (regardless of the many crushes I had) I always thought that writing about them would give you, my diary, cooties which in turn would give me cooties so like...of course I avoided that altogether. Anyway, you get the idea.

But here I am. So, I really didn’t keep that promise. Like, at all... It’s just the majority of my friends are the kids I babysit with...him, and as much as I love them they can’t keep their goddamn mouths shut so that’s out of the question. I can’t talk to Robin cause I know I wouldn’t hear the end of it, so that was also out of the question. And I can’t talk to him cause it’s...it’s him. So that’s really out of the question... So here I am. Telling you, my childhood diary, which I’m convinced has mould on it but whatever.

El laughs to herself. She found you to be the funniest person she knew (she would never tell Mike that) and so she wasn’t surprised your humour etched itself in your writing as well.

I like Steve Harrington.

El almost chokes on her own spit as she reads forward. She sits up in your bed and rereads the sentence with frantic eyes.

I like Steve Harrington. Fuck, maybe I love him. Who knows at this point, honestly.

It’s after she reads that sentence that she slams the book shut and throws it on your desk. And it’s at that point where the guilt really starts to eat at her insides. Because what she just read wasn’t a recap of whatever annoying thing your annoying teacher did. This was a confession to a secret you clearly didn’t want anyone knowing.

El’s breathing begins to pick up and soon she can no longer be in your room. Jumping off your bed she runs out to your living room. With a slip of her feet on your hard wood floor, she unexpectedly bumps into you (someone she really didn’t want to see right now, and who she really didn’t expect to be home yet). Instinctively, you grip the delicious smelling box and steady yourself and her before she can make full contact with the ground.

“Woah, okay.” She firmly plants her feet and looks up at you. You’re smiling down at her with your head cocked to the side a little. You have a cheerful look on your face, that is mixed with a little concern for El’s sudden frightened state, which ruins El even more because the thought of you mad at her practically kills her.

If you found out, you most likely won’t want to hang out with her anymore. You won’t trust her. She says goodbye then to the thought of making her handwriting like yours because she believes there’s no way that would happen after you inevitably find out.

Max then enters the room, equally as confused as you are and soon El breaks down. She falls to the floor and begins to sob uncontrollably—something you nor Max has seen her do. Handing the redhead the pizza, you coax El to stand up as you sit beside her on the couch. With an arm wrapped around her shoulders you frown lightly at her, wanting to give her the most attention in hopes she’ll talk about what has her so upset.

“El, sweetie...what’s wrong?”

She sniffles and wipes her nose with the side of her hand. She never looks to you though. “You’re gonna hate me.”

Your eyes widen at Max as she takes a seat on the chair near the fireplace. “What?” You ask. “Why would I hate you?”

The girl looks up to you and as her lips quiver she sobs again. “I read your diary.” Another choked sob. “I...I know about Steve.”

At that you’re convinced that your eyes are going to fall out of your head any moment now. Max raises an eyebrow. “Steve? What about Steve?”

“El, how much did you read?” Your voice wavers. This was not supposed to happen this way... Or at all.

She snorts. “Almost all of it. I know you...you love him.” You watch Max’s jaw drop through the corner of your vision. “I—I’m sorry, Y/N! I should’ve known better!”

El curls into you but is stopped by the site of Max suddenly making a beeline for your room. “Max...” You call out warningly. “Max!” Standing up, and subsequently hauling El along, you flee in her direction.

By the time you walk past the door, Max is holding the open book to her chest, a look of pure excitement and shock on her face. “Holy shit!” She looks to you, her blue eyes wide. “Holy shit!”

El sits on your bed as you rush over to Max, attempting to snatch the book out of her hand. She evades you though and slips underneath your arm, jumping on your bed with her arms high in the air.

“Dear Diary,” Max begins with a toothy grin. Her curls wild as she bounces on the mattress away from you each time you try to get closer. “I don’t know when it happened: when Steve, the obnoxious boy from my grade 9 history class became the Steve that I now would lay my life on the line for if he asked.” You bound towards her, which she also avoids by jumping off your bed and running back out to the living room.

El, who has now stopped crying runs with you after your friend who sits gleefully on top of the couch cushions. “Steve’s different now. He’s changed. He’s caring, and funny, and courageous and stupidly cute that I’m at a point where he actually makes me dizzy when he’s around!” Max recites. Looking to you she tilts her head with a smile. “Awe, isn’t that adorable!”

You groan and lean over her to grab the book. As your fingers wrap around the corner of the cover, Max rolls (quite literally) off the top of the couch and onto the carpeted floor. “I’ve never felt this way before. I mean when he looks at me...with those soft, puppy dog brown eyes I can’t help but be thrilled! So much so that it nearly kills me!”

At this point you simply watch her in shock as she continues to read on. “Are you done yet?” You finally question. You’re annoyed, but more so embarrassed as Max’s intrigue grows. She then looks to you, shuts the book, stands up, grabs the pizza and both you and El by the hands and pulls you towards your room.

“We’re not watching a movie tonight.” She says to both of you. “Not after this. I need to know more.” Her smile is wicked as she shuts your bedroom door with a loud thud.

Pushing you onto your bed, she pulls a chair up in front of you and leans back into it with her arms crossed. She’s looking at you with so much anticipation that it almost unnerves you.

El sheepishly leans against the wall behind your bed and watches the two of you with a worried gaze. Max then leans in towards you with a wolfish grin. “Tell us. Everything.”

•••••

Steve Harrington Taglist:

@wigofokoye @timeladygallifrey @fairlysuitehearts @loulouloueh @bluegreyme @coltonparayyko @readinthegarden12 @hello-therree @gothackedalready @aphrodites-perfume @fic-cheesecake @bohemiandeakyy @nerd-domland @blueoz @laneygthememequeen @xelaalec @i-justlikewhales @elen-alambil @heykarsyn @yellowhopes @veeshthefrog @justsomeficsilike @cxddlyash @aniya21890 @billyhargrovescigarette @nugturally @daddystevee @asheseiler @enchantedcruelsummer @jxnehxpper

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington #joe keery x reader #joe keery #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagines #el hopper #max mayfield #abba references #mamma mia! #look at me cranking out fics #ive been feeling extra creative these past few days #like idk why

[reidetic]

Letters

Summary: Spencer writes reader letters in prison. Loosely based off of Hey There Delilah. 

A/N: The poem in this work belongs to Erin Hanson. Thank you so much to @sunlight-moonrise​ for beta reading this for me. This was a one day brain child and I hope you enjoy it.

She hadn’t written back. That’s all Spencer could think of, the only thought running through his head as his mattress sunk through the bars and pressed into his back. Two letters so far, two weeks between, save the first week. The letters kept her in his memory, the pen dipping into paper the only thing that kept her perfume wound around his soul. When the ink smeared across his too quick fingers, he cursed, closing his unfounded emotions within the confines of the cheap notebook paper. 

She hadn’t written back. It’s not like the letters had been particularly interesting. Spencer had never been an interesting writer, never been the one to capture someone’s attention. That was, until her. Until y/n. He had met her at a writer’s circle, something his mom had suggested. 

“You used to write so often, when you were a little boy.” Diana had mused on one of her infrequent good days.  

“I was young then, Mom, nothing I wrote was well-written.” Spencer had laughed with her, both of them remembering the mother’s day haikus that should’ve never been sent home.

“I’m just saying that the life you’ve lived deserves to be written down.” And so he went, attending a small after hours circle at a local community college. He saw her first. Her hair slung up haphazardly, pens tucked into the tendrils, one shirt sleeve slipping off of her shoulder, and her tongue sticking slightly out her mouth in concentration. She was a girl who could steal your attention from the first glance. One pen slipped out of her hair then, and he had leaned forward, picking it up and extending it to her with a smile. 

“Spencer.” He had offered, his name a gift to the girl who sat before him. He thought they probably looked like a painting, with the lanky boy kneeling in front of the ethereal girl, one hand extended with a pen obscured by his own spindly fingers.

“Y/n.” She gave her name right back, grabbing the pen from his hand. And that had been it. That one moment was all it took for Spencer to know he would follow where she went. They had become inseparable, no longer one without the other. They promised each other they’d come every single week, filled notebooks in hand. They stayed far too long after the circle had been dismissed, reading in hushed whispers and bodies so still the motion lights went dim. 

Spencer had felt himself start to fall on one particular night, when they had slipped out to her car to read, their voices filling the cramped car and breath fogging the windows. She had written a poem, something soft and fiery, and he remembered thinking it felt like an autobiography and a love song all at once as her sweet and lilting voice filled the air. 

I wish that I could hold your heart, 

Cradle it gently in my hands, 

But my arms just are not strong enough, 

To hold what I don 't understand, 

My eyes have seen a lot of 

And I thought I'd seen them all, 

But the way your smile ignites my own, 

Makes me think there's so much more, 

These walls around this heart of mine, 

Have stood dust, 

But it's as though you've found the gate, 

That leads right to my trust, 

I've never really liked my name, 

But on your lips it sounds so sweet, 

And your voice is my new favourite song, 

That's forever on repeat, 

But even though I feel all this, 

I can never let you see, 

Because your heart deserves a whole lot more, 

Than a broken girl like me. 

Her trembling breath paused as she finished on the word ‘me’. He felt as though she saw right through him, he turned to glass in her sight. But she was still as opaque as the day he met her. The car had felt awkward then. The air too still, the streetlights outside too bright. They sat in silence, breath held, before y/n had blurted out a quick, “I should get home.” 

He still remembers the way her face fell in the moonlight as he agreed with her. He still regrets that, still regrets not pulling her in and kissing her right then and never letting her go. He dreams about that now, about the what ifs and what could have beens. He’s always been a coward.

He had written that night, pages upon pages of writings about her. Nothing but her. She filled his mind for weeks, and when he read his poetry on Thursday nights, she looked away. He could still feel the sting in his cheeks he felt that night when she called his work, “fantastical and unrealistic”. He could still feel the betrayal he felt that night as she ripped into him and left no trace. Despite her harshness, he felt her warmth, or so he thought.

She hadn’t written back. The letter he penned took days, but it wasn’t as if prison life was especially exciting. There weren’t enough words he could find to explain how he felt to her. He had never told her how he felt, not before his arrest. He had tried to write the letter in English, in French, in Latin. None of it made any sense, his cell filled with ruined and crumpled pieces of paper. He settled on an old song, the one he remembered playing softly in the car as she read her heart to him, changed to fit only her. 

  Hey there y/n, 

What’s it like in DC? I’m a thousand miles away, but tonight you look so pretty. I know I can’t see you right now, but it doesn’t matter. I know. Forgive me for the song, it keeps me sane. I don’t know quite what to do with myself right now. It’s not often I get arrested for murders I didn’t commit, but when I do, it’s you I miss. Thursday was strange without your words there to comfort the mass in my head. I find that when you’re speaking it’s the only time I hear silence. Silence is something beautiful rarely created that I don’t experience often enough, but with you, it finds its way to my ears regularly. I know if you were here you’d chastise me about the concept of hearing silence, but you’ll just have to read it in this letter. I don’t have many updates, but know that I am not enjoying myself. Suffice to say, it is hard to enjoy one’s predicament when you aren’t sure when it will be over. I don’t know how to say what I want to say to you, so I won’t. Please be safe. You matter to me more than you know.

Regards, 

Spencer Reid

She hadn’t written back. He had sent the letter within his second week behind bars. His life continued, slowly but surely, days passing and hopes of a response every day. And every day, nothing. It kills him,  but he can’t blame her. He doesn’t know that he would write himself back if he was in her shoes. Still, he sent another letter. He put just a bit more of his soul into the second, still not quite ready to confess anything he might have considered confessing that night in her car.

Hey there y/n, 

Don’t you worry about the distance, I’m right here if you get lonely. Not literally, you know that, of course. But you can always give this letter another read. Listen to my voice, it’s my disguise. I’m by your side. I’ll always be by your side, whether or not you need me. If you want me to leave, I’ll go. But until then, I’ll stay by your side. Everyone needs a loyal friend, right? I know I could use one right now. I don’t blame you for not responding. You have no proof that I am not a guilty man. But I will swear to you every day until the day that I die, I am innocent. I am innocent. I am innocent. You don’t have to believe a word I say but I will write it, scream it, sing it until you do. Prison isn’t easy. I just want to hear your voice. The eidetic memory may help, but nothing is as good as the real thing. You don’t have to write back. I wish I could tell you everything I think. I love you.  Be safe.

Sincerely, 

Spencer Reid

She hadn’t written back. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Y/n, her smile, her voice, her face. Her smell was burned into his psyche like a brand. He couldn’t forget her if he tried. And oh, he tried. Menial tasks and thumbing through books he’d already read, folding the laundry three separate times, and yet she still infiltrated his brain. No matter how fast his fingers moved, her voice lilted in his head, ‘Spencer, Spencer.’ She helped him escape, helped him remain who he is through and through. She still hadn’t responded. A month and a half after his arrest, three weeks after his last letter. He figured he had one last try. He knew his walls were closing in, his mind delving away into itself for protection. He knew he couldn’t be himself much longer, but she was the last thing keeping his feet on the ground. 

Hey there y/n, 

I’ve got so much left to say, if every letter I wrote to you would take your breath away, I’d write them all. I’d write you every letter in the world if it meant I got to hear your voice again. If it meant you didn’t hate me for what I’ve become. Prison life isn’t easy and I’ve had to do things to survive that make me unrecognizable. I don’t know that I am the person you knew. But I know you are. You get me through all of this. I think about us, what we could’ve been if I had been who you needed, who you wanted. I love you, you know. I can see you walking down the aisle, I can see you holding our children. I can see the house we buy, the cars we fight over. I can see the quilts lining our bed in stolen kisses in the morning, and I can see the light in your eyes. I love you. I am yours. If you want me, if you don’t, I am yours. 

Yours truly

Yours, truly

Spencer Reid

Truth be told, Spencer had assumed they’d never prove his innocence. He had grown accustomed to being in prison, protecting himself and others in ways he never thought he’d do. So when JJ showed up, simply stating they were here to take him home, he couldn’t believe it. His disbelief paralyzed him, shock bounding through his body as he froze to the spot he was in. The only thing that got him moving again was her. Y/n. He’d see her. Her. 

His second shock of the day was his greeting as he exited the prison, not bound or confined for the first time in three months. The sun felt better out here, somehow.. Garcia was there, taking him in her arms, and he breathes in the scent of her perfume, of lilies and coffee. That’s not what shocks him though, but what lies behind Garcia. Her. She’s here. Y/n.

“Y/n.” He takes a step towards her, tentative, watching the tears fall from her eyes and feeling his own dash across his cheeks.

“Spencer Reid.” And there is not another word but her arms are thrown around his neck, and for the first time Spencer understands that home is not a place, but a person.

taglist: @imagining-in-the-margins​ @httpnxtt​ @dontkissthewriter​ @vivanadium​ @samanddeanstolethetardis221b​ @spencer-reid-in-a-pool​ @blazinvixen​ @fanficlibrary82​

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#spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - The Shorts! (Part 2)

For completion's sake, let's look at the remaining DuckTales 2017 shorts as of this writing.

A few more shorts have come out since the big batch of shorts from before. Unfortunately, none of them are mini-adventures split up into segments like The World's Slowest Death-Trap or Dewey Dew-Night. However, as mentioned before, I should still bring these up for completion's sake. I did leave out the Top 4s and the Marshmello "Fly" music video, but that's because the former is self-explanatory and the latter is just cool and well animated. Let's go!

Theme Song Takeovers

There were two of these for DuckTales 2017. One of them is with everyone's favorite incompetent pilot, Launchpad McQuack. It does it in an interesting way: he's not taking over the Theme Song despite the title, he just wandered into it. He does have to act the part, not only singing his own version of the theme song, as he's certainly not one to memorize any lyrics beyond the Darkwing Duck theme, but he's desperately trying to catch up with everyone else in the best way he can. I like this feeling that this is what he was doing during the parts where he was off-screen. It has a pretty weird ending, too. As good as this one is, it is only of slightly lower quality than the next one. There may be a reason for that: because it was actually used in the show itself.

The other one is Glomgold's Theme Song Takeover, where he sings his own version of the DuckTales theme song all about himself and how much Scrooge stinks. One of the lines is "Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks." Highlights include the first part being in the style of his infamous blueprints, the stylistically bad 3D render of him as a muscleman, and him running out of budget for the last part to where he had to use popsicle sticks and paper. It's no wonder that the theme song was used in the episode called "GlomTales!". Watch the internet version, too, it has a few extra scenes, including a scene where Glomgold curses copyright law.

Random Rings

DuckTales 2017 characters appeared twice in this series, and by characters, I mean just Launchpad. He sure was meant to be the breakout character. The first is a little chat between him and Big Hero 6's Baymax after he accidentally calls him instead of a pizza place. Baymax tries his best to be Launchpad's personal healthcare companion and tries to help him after Launchpad gets a bump in his head, not knowing he's referring to the head of the Sunchaser he just crashed, and Launchpad misinterprets his suggestion of using frozen peas as a recommendation of what to eat. It's about what one might expect from the not-too-bright character and a robot, but it does not last long enough to where it would be annoying. It's only a minute.

The other one involves Launchpad trying to call "Mr McD" only for him to accidentally call Cricket from the show Big City Greens. I should note that the vast majority of the segments involve this show, most of them involving Cricket, the show's lead character and trouble-maker. This does have a significant difference from the other one: Launchpad almost manages to realize he probably should not be talking to some random kid, only for that random kid to try to take advantage of him after he mentions the giant gemstone his plane is carrying. There's a different joke here other than Launchpad does not have a lot in the brains department, and I can appreciate this one a little bit more. I will admit: it is possible I would have appreciated this even more if I actually watched Big City Greens, but that is not this short's fault.

I should note that these shorts are also perfect for those who want to know what DuckTales 2017 would look like in Adobe Flash. Just wanted to point that out.

Chibi Tiny Tales

Chibi Tiny Tales was a series of cutesy little cartoons based on Disney Channel shows, itself loosely based on a series of shorts made for Big Hero 6. These are all simple concepts done in a very quick, no dialogue, gag-a-second way, all done in a pseudo-anime style as implied by the word "chibi", complete with the face faults they were not allowed to do on the real show. It's a little funny that they didn't make any Chibi Tiny Tales for DuckTales, a show with the word "Tales" in it, until the time the very last episodes of DuckTales 2017 were airing.

The first one has Scrooge McDuck, the nephews, and Donald raiding a tomb for some treasure. The second one has Magica and Glomgold trying to steal the Number One Dime while Scrooge is reading the paper. The third has Launchpad and Webby go on a quest for the ultimate burrito. All of these follow a similar pattern of them getting into different situations throughout the minute-long short. It is very Looney Tunes, funnily enough. There really isn't anything to say about these. They're cutesy, they are only sort of witty, but they do not overstay their welcome either. Much like the DuckFails shorts, I can imagine enjoying these during commercial breaks, and they are the perfect length for them.

This Duckburg Life

This isn't a short, but there is nowhere else to talk about this.

The newest addition to DuckTales 2017's canon is a parody of NPR's This American Life, and our Ira Glass equivalent is Huey Duck. The first episode, titled "Adventure Calls", is about Huey listening to Launchpad's answering machine, which ends up being filled with various calls. The vast majority of them are about an adventure involving Dewey and Louie getting kidnapped by the Beagle Boys. The Beagle Boys did not really make a major appearance in Season 3 beyond Ma Beagle in "The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck!", so this could be an apology for that. Eventually, this adventure gets into the strange when they find the Hand of Hammurabi hidden in the stash of treasures the Beagle Boys stole, and they end up getting teleported to Tibet and then another dimension. While all of this is happening, Big Time Beagle is trying his hardest to be a threatening kidnapper despite losing the people he was kidnapping.

Even without the images, it still feels like DuckTales 2017 in a different format. It uses the podcast format very well, with the sponsor featuring Webby and Scrooge and Donald Duck reading the credits like it's one of those "support for" segments on NPR, and it would be neat to see where this goes. Even if one wants to know how this would look animated, the YouTube video that has this does have an image that shows off some imagery that fills in some of what people might want to know. For example, yes, the Hand of Hammurabi does look like the Infinity Gauntlet. Oh, and it's important to note that it's likely this podcast takes place before "The Last Adventure!". I am not going to say why that is, and maybe that might change with future episodes.

And that's it for now. This Saturday, the least best.

← The Last Adventure! 🦆 The Least Best! →

#fpb dt 2017 #fpb reviews #disney #ducktales #ducktales 2017

[doomedandstoned]

Italian Doomers BRETUS Tell Ghostly Tales on New LP, ‘Magharia’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Artwork by DamianaMerante

Hailing from the City of the Two Seas, Italian doomers BRETUS return with a new album of ghost stories. Longtimers know that Bretus and Doomed & Stoned practically grew up together. Though the band has been active since the turn of the century, our first exposure came with their debut full-length 'In Onirica' (2012) and subsequently we formed a friendship with the Catanzaro doomers that continues to this very day. It's hard to believe they're already over two decades old (okay, 20 years young, if you like). And what do they have to show for it? A handful of LPs, an EP, and a split with fellow Italianos Black Capricorn.

If you're as much a fan of vintage horror movies, H.P. Lovecraft lore, mysticism, and the occult as Zagarus (vox), Ghenes (guitar), Janos (bass), and Striges (drums), there's a whole world of story and sound awaiting your deep dive into the Bretus catalog. Adding to their already excellent discography, a fifth album now reveals itself: 'Magharia' (2021).

I won't spoil my interview with the band (see below) if I tell you that the album concerns, shall we say, several tales of the supernatural variety. An ominous gong is struck to the backdrop of monastic chant as Magharia opens in epic fashion "Celebration of Gloom," a song characterized by a chugging proto-trash tempo, trve metal stylings, and Gothic vocals appropriate to it's subject. It's a rather grim account of a certain sacrilegious priest and his daliences with young women of the church. As a preacher's kid, I've seen this kind of thing play out a hundred times and can assure you these sweeping romances between clergy and laity never end well. In this case, it winds up with a ghoulish rite and a victim's vengeance.

"In the sky lightning strikes...wicked laments rise from the ground." Welcome to "Cursed Island." True to the spirit of the lyrics, this track really let's it all hang out, with quasi operatic vocals that occasionally erupt in maniacal laughter (reminding me vintage Reagers-era Saint Vitus, with its lusty swagger). And why not? This is after all about the mystery that surrounds one of the most haunted islands on earth.

Thus far, the record's been sporting a pretty up-beat pulse, so surely you're ready for some good old fashion doom? "Moonchild's Scream" concerns a albino girl accused of being possessed by the devil for her appearance. One day, she disappears in the dungeons of a castle and legend has it that her cries can still be heard every five years during the Summer Solstice. Doesn't get more doom than that, folks!

After a brief interlude ("Necropass"), we arrive at my favorite track of Magharia. "Nuraghe" concerns the spirit of a woman judged and condemned for a crime she was innocent of still roams among the ancient stones. Boy, the ancients sure did have a hang-up with free-spirited, independent women, didn't they? The song itself is possessed by the spirit of Pentagram in its biting guitar work and rhythmic attack. Love the riffage on this one! Some of it could have been played out just a little more for my taste, like the all-too-brief Soundgardenesque motif at the two-minute mark. It returns a minute later, again in brief. C'mon Ghenes, let your inner Kim Thayil loose! Maybe we can convince them to improv at this point with a bitchin' guitar solo at their next festival appearance. Then again, perhaps this fits artistically with the song, which speaks of obscure "grim dancing bats" and a ghost that haunts through swift shadows passing over glimmers of light. Once again, Zagrus expressive song style comes through to distinguish this as a gem of the genre. I shall be revisiting it on my personal playlist often.

"Headless Ghost" strikes graceful Goatsnake groove as the yarn is spun about the restless and tormented soul of an ancient Roman warrior who has risen from his place of rest. All he wants is the skull that was looted from his place of burial. Give it back to him! "No one will be spared tonight," the lyrics warn, as the song shifts down to a dire doom dirge as the night unveils a strange moon and the wanderings of a cursed soul, seeking his head and not more. "He is living again in this hell."

"The Bridge of Damnation" is one of the creepiest of the record, said to be about "a bridge, a young boy, and his three torturers." The mood is quite dark, with esoteric atmosphere, reverberating vocalizations, guitar and bass trading off notes. Oh, and did I mention this tale from the crypt involves death and resurrection, as well? The riffmaking and drumming are absolutely on point, as is the singing -- which by now in the record I'm not only am accustomed to, but have grown to admire. Another keeper!

"Sinful Nun" winds and grinds as Zagarus croons about the inner torment of a Sister who has never gotten over her beloved, who died under such unspeakably tragic circumstances that she decided to consecrate herself to God in celibacy. However, her vows are in vain as she still pines for her long lost lover. The verses are sung to the accompaniment of a galloping tempo, which seems to represent the fevered anguish of a soul forever stricken by grief and the haunted memories of lost love. This is juxtaposed in the chorus by a cursed riff that seems to speak as the Hand of Fate itself. "Farewell to this life," are the Sinful Nun's final words.

At last, we reach the album's namesake and though "Magharia" is entirely instrumental, it would be a mistake to assume you know what it's going to do. Around the four-minute mark, I had to check and make sure I was listening to the same album, as dark synth busted out a metronomic rhythm, leading to a declamatory section of keyboards to accompany the math-like guitar play and an improvisation of almost creepy seventies-sounding prog, which after its playful fit dissipates suddenly in a bluesy collapse.

Bretus have cooked up a remarkable horror soundtrack that, though it speaks of ancient lore, is very much a fitting backdrop to the unreality of our own times. Fitting somewhere on the stylistic spectrum between Candlemass and Paul Chain, Reverend Bizarre and Cardinals Folly, Margharia may be the band's finest effort to date. Certainly, it rewards repeated listens, and will haunt you for many years to come. Look for the record to drop this weekend (pre-order here), with multiple physical formats releasing via The Swamp Records (compact disc), Burning Coffin Records (cassette), and Overdrive Records (vinyl). Until then, you can stream it all, right now, right here!

Give ear...

Magharia by BRETUS

An Interview with Bretus

What is the concept behind the new album and what themes do you explore?

Musically the new record is most "in your face" than the previous album. Also our approach to the recording was different. We rehearsed and arranged together more than before. The result is an album more raw to us. It is a concept album born around different italian old ghost tales. Some of these is supposed to be legend or myth, who knows.

When did you write it? Was it during the pandemic lockdowns?

We had more ideas about new stuff long before the pandemia arrived. We spent this time working on the pre-production of the tracks.

Can you give us a track-by-track explanation of each song on the album?

For sure!

"Celebration of Gloom" is a strange song because there are many influences in it. Including a solo flute in the middle of the track. However is a very loud and gloomy song.

"Cursed Island" probably is the most rock 'n' roll song of the album. If you know what I mean. Rock in the attitude. Also the first video of the album.

"Moonchild's Scream" is 100% pure Doom with a heavy mid-section.

"Necropass" is like Caronte travelling the damned souls across the Stige River.

"Nuraghe" is a heavy oriented track with a very dark feeling.

"Headless Ghost" has a more stoner trend than the others and in the end there is a psycho riffing.

"The Bridge of Damnation" includes our '80s dark influences into our sound, probably the most haunted track of the album. The story is based upon an old weird story that happened in our native city, Catanzaro.

"Sinful Nun" is like an experiment and neither of us can explain really what it is... ah ah aha! For sure the most heavy track of all.

Finally "Magharia." You cannot believe it but the idea comes from a Who's album, Quadrophenia. Either of us wrote a part of the song. The result is a kind of horror soundtrack.

Magharia by BRETUS

How do you feel that your basic style or approach to song composition has changed since you first started writing songs in the early days?

You already know a lot of things about us, we know you from so long ago! Please don't ask how old we are. (laughs) Basically our approach is the same from the beginning. Of course we listen to a lot of new stuff during these years so every album brings different "colors."

Where are you most looking forward to playing live once pandemic restrictions are eased?

Everywhere! We are angry for live gigs or simply to drink beers with friends.

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#D&S Debuts #D&S Interviews #D&S Reviews #Bretus #Catanzaro #Italy #doom #metal #doom metal #horror #occult #stoner rock #HeavyBest2021 #Doomed and Stoned

[destressjournal]

DCOM Rankings #92: Teen Beach Movie

This received a lot of hype when it came out, though not nearly as much as camp rock or HSM. But it tried to be the next big DCOM Sumer musical. And from my knowledge I think it was pretty popular, again, just not as much as previous musical movies.

Still, I remember a high school friend saying that she was obsessed with the movie, and even though I didn’t watch Disney channel anymore, it still intrigued me. So I was curious to watch it for this ranking. My thoughts are as follows:....

The first half was good, the second half fell flat.

Ok review is over!!

No I kid.

So let’s talk about the overall story and themes. You got a girl with a dead mom (of course) who wants her to fullfill her dreams and be successful, but never really specifies beyond that. From a young age, Mack carried that journal with her as her one true reminder of her mom, and got it in her head that she needed to be successful like her aunt that raised her, as if that’s what her mom meant. Over the course of the movie, she figures out that she likes being on the beach and surfing, and wants to stay where she knows she belongs. And she realized that was probably what her mom really meant.

I love the concept of a girl thinking that she needs to be something her whole life, because her dead mom said so. I think it’s so powerful how kids can just attach to that as if it will still make them closer together. And take those words to heart. That to me is great (thematically, not actually) and the way it’s portrayed at the beginning of the movie is pretty solid, with its own DCOM cringiness. She was willing to leave the town she loved to “become successful” like what her mom wanted, and if she didn’t fullfill that, it’s like she’s severed her last connection with her.

I WISH THIS WAS SHOWN/SAID IN THE MOVIE A FUCK TON MORE!!!

Idk I feel like we should have gotten more context in the beginning, I felt like we were kinda thrown into the movie world a little too early. Maybe not, idk. Now I’m second guessing myself. I guess I just wish Mack explained this more to Brady to make him understand why she needs to leave their beach town. Because throughout the movie she kept saying she needs to leave because “she has to” and that’s pretty much it. She could have said “cuz this is what my mom wanted and I want to make her proud of me” OOF, right in the feels. Maybe she can say “has to” near the end when she isn’t sure anymore and is tired of explaining it. Maybe it’s me just not being attached to any of the characters that much that I need them to be more motivated.

But let’s move onto something else, the movie and movie world. So it’s based loosely on west side story. Now I don’t know that much about west side story, and I know that I need to edumacate myself, but i think the overall theme is there, right? Two different groups of people, two people from those groups fall in love and start a gang war. But I don’t know any of the specifics other than that. But yeah this movie within a movie is supposed to be set in the early 60’s, and there are times when it kinda looks like it, and there are times when you don’t believe it at alll...I think mostly because beaches look the same regardless of time period but yeah. The editing for this DCOM is not very good, and you know they’ve been trying to add more visual effects over the years and 2013 was still in the early stages of that for TV, so I’m not going to be too critical of it, but it’s mostly how the characters dress and talk doesn’t seem very 60’s a lot of the time. But hey what do I know? I wasn’t alive in the 60’s.

I do NOT like the weather machine side plot though. I thought that was really really stupid. But I do understand that there needed to be a common enemy for the two groups to work together to fight, but mad scientists and a weather machine is the best they could come up with??? They were in the movie for like 5 minutes total I would say. They have 0 motivation, they are only used to get the two groups to get along, and they are used as an excuse for the storm. That’s it. The villains are just devices and not actual characters. Like I don’t need a sob story for a villain to get behind them, just someone at least interesting...I mean, I know the movie within the movie is supposed to be really cheesy and dumb, but you can still have interesting characters.

I do however like the way that Mack and Brady call out some of the bull crap that’s in these movies sometimes, like how they suddenly know what’s going to happen next even though they couldn’t have known, in order for the movie to move forward. It’s so meta haha I like it a lot. At least the writers have some idea of what’s up.

The characters. I did mention it a bit earlier. Mack is probably my favorite (again, it’s not like she’s my favorite character ever, like by any means). And the main biker girl I forget her name. She is really cute and her mannerisms and looks are perfect for the time period I think. The boy characters kinda suck. I mean Brady has a point that he didn’t realize Mack was even leaving until the night before she was supposed to leave. Like,I feel like that’s something you should mention when you meet someone you wanna date??? “Oh by the way I have to leave in a year for school so I’m not going to be here long” like was it that effing hard to say???

Sorry off topic. Brady just loves surfing and having fun on the beach, and that’s about it. Oh and he loves this movie a lot so when they get trapped in it he already knows the context. So that’s basically it. Mack is pretty much the only real character in the entire DCOM and everyone else is just used as a prop to get her where she needs to go. BUT it doesn’t mean I hate all the rest of the characters, in fact I find pretty much all of them to be entertaining, except for the villains who are really useless.

Let’s talk about the aunt and the grandpa for a second. So they made a deal that mack would stay with her grandpa for her first two years of high school, and then she would go with her aunt to this new school for her last two years. Alright, cool. I thought grandpa would have more of a presence in the movie, or talk more to Mack about....well anything. But I guess not? He just stands there and watches Mack get swallowed by the wave and seems to be told to act sad. Sorry my mind is all over the place. Anyway, Mack says at the end of the movie that she wants to stay where she is and the aunt is like okay, even though her character was all stiff and huffy and uptight. Like you’re not even gonna put up a little fight??? Things don’t go this well in real life, I hope kids know this.

Okay ranting over lol. The songs were pretty good, not the absolute best I’ve ever heard but they’re good, just not catchy enough I guess. It’s just trying too hard to be HSM but it’s fine I guess. At this point nothing can top the HSM songs, so I won’t knock off too many points for that. I really do like the twist in the middle where Mack and Brady mess up the movie, but it basically ends up not mattering later (something I’m also mad about) but for a while I was like ooooooooo spicy! And I also like how Mack gave the biker girl advise about boys and standing up for yourself and doing things because you want to, not cuz someone else told you to, which directly applies to her own life. Clever stuff man.

Alright time for an overall grade. I gave this one a straight B because even though I did rant about this movie a lot, I felt weird giving it a C. There is slightly more going for it than against it. It’s still a fun summer movie, and it’s not meant to be taken too seriously, just like camp rock 2. And that’s alright in my book! I just wish this one put more heart and meaning to it, but it was definitely itself entertaining with some classic DCOM cheesy and cringey elements.

One last thing I forgot to mention: I guess they don’t allow lip kissing anymore (I’m sure I mentioned this before) all the main character couples do is hold hands and hug and stare into each other’s eyes. Like who the eff made that decision that all kissing was banned? (Cheek kisses are still a thing but wtf) I’m just ugh did parents complain or something? Is kissing seriously too gross for Disney channel, even if it’s just a peck? What the poop?? Ughh second rant over.

So the next DCOM looks like a snowboarding movie which is like the complete opposite of this movie about surfing, just thought that was funny! I’m going to challenge myself and see if I can get the rest of these movies done by September 1st, but at the rate I’m going now, I doubt it...but we’ll just have to see. Wish me luck lol

[heyheyhaydn]

I wanted to write about the Tigger Movie so I wrote about the Tigger Movie.

The Covid-19 pandemic, admittedly, has caused me to revisit a lot of older films and shows that I remember watching when I was much younger. I remember one night in the Xth week of lockdown where me and my friends dug deep and searched for all the old intros of shows we remembered on Youtube, just to get that hit of nostalgia, to retreat to features and shows that reflect more straightforward times of childhood where the weight of the world and responsibility weren’t so heavy, or confusing.

Winnie the Pooh itself is a series that bases itself around the finiteness of childhood. Christopher Robin has to grow up. The theme tune suggests that he has already grown up and all the adventures are viewed with that same nostalgia of one’s own childhood. Previous films of the Winnie the Pooh series muse on the What Comes Next of growing up and leaving your childhood fantasies behind.

I’ve not met a person yet who hasn’t been at least slightly familiar with Winnie the Pooh while growing up, whether that be the original stories by A.A. Milne, the animations and films by Disney, or even through online memes. The one feature that I’d say exemplifies how nostalgic the Winnie the Pooh series is to me is Disney’s The Tigger Movie.

The Tigger Movie never really left me, I think. I remember the banner adverts at my local cinema, where the main cast, clad in Tigger-orange-and-black-stripe liveries, were on springs and would ‘bounce’ with every movement behind concessions, and it was one of the last VHS tapes on my shelf before they were all moved about and ingloriously exiled to boxes under the bed. I remember watching it in Screen 1, where I’d be leaning over the edge of the railings and watch as the songs boomed, and the avalanches fell around the cast.

As you can probably tell from the title, lockdown summoned The Tigger Movie back into my memory, and with the advent of Disney+ and the library of Disney and non-Disney stuff it had, it was on my Watch List very quickly.

THE ONLY ONE

The Tigger Movie is pretty stunning because it centers around the deeper existentialism of the character Tigger. Tigger himself is the archetype for chaotically cheerful and energetic characters, a patron saint of upbeat innocent child-like arrogance, a source of optimism, he is the personification of BOUNCE as a word.

But the movie takes the concept of Tigger’s own theme song and tips it on its head. Tigger brags and boasts that the most wonderful thing about tiggers is that he’s the only one. But… is that truly wonderful? Of course it is, he’s wonderful and unique, but… he is the only one. Tigger’s own uniqueness puts him at odds with his more sedate friends who lack his energy, he’s an outsider. Tigger himself was introduced after the rest of the main cast, and as a result was not namechecked in the Winnie the Pooh theme until 2011’s Winnie the Pooh. Even in spite of being one of the most iconic characters from the series, he is still an outsider.

There is an innate sadness in the film through this investigation. The animation of Tigger through the emotional moments uses every line on his face to push his sadness to extremes especially considering that this is Tigger, the established energy ball of optimism. The movie is set in the liminal space of autumn’s change to winter, matching Tigger’s own orange and white palette and giving the whole film a warm, nostalgic glow, but this also allows the film to fully invest into the inevitability of change, and the loneliness of growing up.

FAMILY AND THE PAINS OF GROWING UP

Tigger waits in the snow for a letter that will never come, he walks through a snowstorm, the juxtaposition of Tigger in his height in the warmth of autumn against his low in the cold of winter makes his loneliness even more palpable.

The film’s theme is about family. Tigger wants to find his family - to find others like himself - but doesn’t recognise that he has a family in his friends. Roo looks up to Tigger and hangs to his every word, and wishes he was his little brother. Kanga and the others all decide to be the family that Tigger doesn’t have by pretending to be tiggers like him, their determination to make Tigger feel better supersedes their own preparations for winter.

But it’s also a coming of age story. Tigger grows up. He is exposed to some harsh truths throughout the narrative. He is the only tigger, his friends deceived him through good intentions, the idealised family tree he dreams of is fantasy, he feels the weight of his world on his shoulders… BUT… he is not alone. His friends all come together to remind him that they are always there for him through his highs and lows.

THE SUPERFICIAL vs. THE REALITY

The story also has a lot to say about superficial expectations vs. reality. In Tigger’s Dream Sequence Musical Sequence ‘Family Tree’, Tigger dips into the fantastical history of his imaginary family, which includes Tigger-themed pastiches on the Birth of Venus and other paintings, the Brady Bunch, Jackson 5, Don Quixote, a Marylin Monroe ‘Tiggerella’ Seven Year Inch-ing into the stratosphere from her billowing dress, and ultra-skinny supermodel Tiggers, replete with the Tigger lantern-jaw. The outlandish nature of this pop culture imagery amplifies how much of a superficial fantasy Tigger’s dream is and shows how out of place it is in the world Tigger inhabits.

The animals of the Hundred Acre Wood all try to come up with a plan to live up to this fantasy. In the song sequence ‘How To Be A Tigger’, the friends spend the first verses musing how to become Tigger to more superficial aspects of Tigger as a character. Upon reflecting, they realise that the reality of being Tigger is not in his stripes, his idiolect of ‘TTFN’s and ‘hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!’s, or his dislike of eating honey, it’s in his ability to fill everyone with happiness with his cheery nature.

Tigger’s family tree itself fits this theme. After a conversation with Owl; Tigger, being naive and innocent, presumes that a family tree is a literal tree for the whole movie, rather than it being the metaphorical branching lineage that family trees actually are. In the final act, Tigger finds a tree striped with snow and determines that it’s his Family Tree, a location he should wait at for his real family.

The stripes on the tree, much like the tigger costumes his friends adorned and the ‘family heirloom’ locket, are superficial. But, in choosing it as his Family Tree, and Tigger using it as their shelter from the avalanche, the literal becomes the metaphor as the tree he chose as his family tree protects his friends, the family that he chose as well. The ‘family heirloom’ locket is also imbued with meaning through Tigger’s own determined attachment to it, and eventual use of it to store a picture of his ACTUAL family. Tigger chooses his family and the things that protect and represent them and I think the finding the meaning in the meaningless things by giving it to them yourself really fits the themes in the movie.

TO ANIMATE A TIGGER

The animation, of course, is wonderful to look at with the more discerning eye of adulthood. Going frame-by-frame through shots allows you to appreciate the artistry on show and understand what it was about it that captivated you as a child.

The rough photocopied line art of the original shorts is reflected in the animation and, much like Aardman’s stop motions having evidence of thumbprints, the imperfections add to the style and beauty. It’s through watching it in not-VHS quality that you notice that Tigger’s stripes have a strobing animation boil texture to them, where each frame has new linework shading of the stripes, which fills him with energy even in his more subtle scenes.

Tigger himself is a veritable powerhouse of animation. Frame by framing his movements, you can see him squash and stretch with every bounce and pounce. The largeness and looseness of his jaw allows for very fluid arcs to be created in his head.

WHOOP-DE-DOOPER BOUNCE OF FAITH

In the final act, an argument between Tigger and his friends triggers an avalanche that threatens all of them. This sequence is the accumulation of the story, with the final scenes of the movie after it being the denouement resolution.

Tigger’s own self-centered search for his family immediately gets put to the side when his friends are in danger, leaping into action and helping his friends to the high branches of his tree. He even waits, arms outstretched to Rabbit, who had called his search for more Tiggers ‘nonsense’ and acted as a catalyst for his upset throughout the film. This puts Tigger’s positive nature on full display, he leaves no one behind, and this is in turn reflected outwards by Roo, who launches after Tigger as he gets swept away in the snow.

Throughout the movie, Roo idolises Tigger and wants to do anything to cheer him up, wanting him to be his big brother. Roo’s decisions and choices help drive the story alongside Tigger, and it’s a lot of his choices that end up building Tigger up for disappointment, but Roo is a child with stars in his eyes. He imitates him vocally and physically, and tries, and fails, to do the Whoop-de-Dooper bounce so that Tigger can have someone like him, tying back into the superficial against the reality. It is only when Roo acts on impulse with the determination to help someone in the same way as Tigger would that he succeeds at ‘being a Tigger’ and accomplishes the Whoop-de-Dooper bounce.

Similarly, Tigger doesn’t pay much attention to Roo, he enjoys his company but is looking too far beyond to see those who he already has as his family. But it’s when they both perform the Whoop-De-Dooper bounce in unison to escape danger and defy gravity that Tigger finally sees Roo properly.

After the avalanche, Tigger still looks beyond the horizon for more tiggers, but it’s when the other characters recite their letter that he is brought back to earth by being reminded of the family he chose. Tigger grows up, he realises he is The Only One, but that doesn’t mean he is without those who care about him and are his family.

He grows past his innocently-self-absorbed mindset and comes to project his energy outwards in a more benevolent and less chaotic manner by providing his friends with winter supplies, and celebrating them. Roo especially. Tigger finally acknowledges him as his little brother, and gives him his ‘family heirloom’ locket. Both characters have grown and have fully realised who their family are.

OTHER NOTES

The movie also works visually to bring Tigger into the main cast so he is no longer an outsider. This film is the first one to my knowledge that shows Tigger’s house, a chaotically hoarded, sporty treehouse, compared to everyone else’s more subtle housing. Prior films in the Winnie the Pooh series had Tigger simply appearing and disappearing out of the blue, but now Tigger has an official location that is his own, like everyone else in the cast.

Pooh, quite rightfully, is often depicted to the extreme of ‘bear of very little brain’. And granted, there are still moments where Pooh falls for the tricks and gets lost sometimes, but in this movie, Pooh is actually quite cunning and devious. He sneaks up a tree to get some honey because he tells the others that they are potential Tigger family members. He is the character Roo goes to when Tigger goes into the snowstorm, and comes up with the expedition to find him. He also knows to get Rabbit to lead as ‘he’s the only one who ever says he knows what he’s doing’. I think the memory of Pooh usually paints him as more ditzy, but it’s nice being able to revisit and relearn that Pooh has an extra layer of emotional depth to him.

Tigger himself is portrayed as being significantly less ditzy than in other Pooh media. He’s not as ‘book smart’ as Owl or Rabbit, but Tigger figures out the exact point he should hit the boulder to make it move, he frisbees records so they land exactly on the pin, he is the inventor of the Whoop-de-Dooper Loop-de-Looper Alley-Ooper Bounce, if the expertise and diagrams suggest anything. Tigger isn’t always a chaotic whirlwind, there are hidden depths of precision. The character is allowed fairly mature growth beyond face value.

Rabbit yelling at the others, who are determined to present themselves as the Tigger family of Tigger’s dreams, for not preparing for the winter by saying ‘At least I haven’t forgotten what’s REALLY important’ got a very loud laugh out of me because it’s such a Rabbit line.

Whenever the book transitions to a new scene, it’s fun to pause and see the story of the film being written out in Milne-esque prose. It even includes the Emphasis Capitalsation to specific Important Things. More on the book, I like Tigger arguing with the storyteller at the start and changing the direction of the story through sheer tiggerific chaotic energy.

The songs are wonderful in this. The decision to give Tigger both an upbeat number (‘The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers’) and a downbeat number (‘Someone Like Me’) is genius. I like that, for his sad song, it is mostly just guitar and piano compared to the fully orchestral theme to emphasize his loneliness. 

The songs that surrounded the film are great too. Kenny Loggins’ ‘Your Heart Will Lead You Home’ is one of those things that always gives me shivers from that rusty acoustic string reverb at the start. This is also the film that indirectly introduced me to ThirdEyeBlind’s ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ through the trailers of it.

CONCLUSION

The Tigger Movie will always hold a special place in my heart, and I am glad to have had the time to properly articulate how I feel about it. It is a film that I appreciate a lot more as an adult looking back, given its themes and the way the visuals capture them.

In some ways, in these uncertain times, I feel a bit like Tigger when he’s looking out with uncertainty over the horizon for more tiggers. It’s a lonely and uncertain visual as he looked out for What Comes Next.

And even with this movie acting as a blanket against the coldness of the real world, the moral of facing whatever’s next by protecting those who are your family, whether that’s the family you’re born into or the one you choose, will always be appropriate.

#the tigger movie #winnie the pooh #tigger #roo #disney #long post #thoughts #nostalgia #research #storytelling #essay

[shemakesmusic-uk]

After releasing her film Black Is King as a Disney+ exclusive a few weeks ago, Beyoncé has shared the visual 'Brown Skin Girl' on YouTube. Featuring SAINt JHN, WizKid, and daughter Blue Ivy, the clip features appearances by former bandmate Kelly Rowland, Noami Campell, Lupita Nyong’o, and more. The video coincided with a special message the star shared with Good Morning America. "It was so important to me in 'Brown Skin Girl' that we represented all different shades of brown," Beyoncé said of the video, crediting director Jenn Nkiru with the concept. "It was important that we are all in this together and we're all celebrating each other." [via The FADER]

Eivør releases a new single and video, ‘Let It Come’, the latest lifted from her forthcoming album Segl. The transportive new clip - filmed in Iceland - is a prequel to the video for previous single release ‘Sleep On It’, which Eivør released last month. Both videos are directed by Einar Egils and feature actor Tómas Lemarquis (Blade Runner 2049, X-Men: Apocalypse). Speaking about ‘Let It Come’, Eivør says; "It’s one of those songs that took many shapes before it reached its final destination and I guess the opening line pretty much explains it all: “Sometimes I overthink the most simple things”. This song is a follow up to my previous single 'Sleep On It' - whilst that was about insomnia and making difficult choices, 'Let It Come' is about coming out at the other end of this struggle, embracing the uncertainties you might find yourself in and finding the courage to believe that something good will come your way." Of the interplay between the two music videos he has created for Eivør, director Einar Eglis adds; "'Let It Come' is a prequel to the end of the world that was portrayed in the ‘Sleep On It’ video. Eivør has been stuck in a loop of uncertainty for years, until she sees a vision that will end everything as we know it, and she is the key towards redemption. She must face these facts and embrace the golden idol she is to become."

The gentle, hypnotic sway of 'god's chariots' is central to MaryLou Mayniel's first full-length project Galore. Her catalogue of experimental electronica is impressive whichever way you look at it. Creating everything from video game soundtracks to an EP sampling the likes of Miley Cyrus and Carly Rae Jepsen to vast instrumental odysseys and empowering pop anthems, Mayniel can turn her hand to almost anything. 'god's chariots' is at the helm of the singer-songwriter's latest drop of new music. “It’s a fantasy, a place you’re in to escape reality, but it’s also about being so lonely that you kind of lose your mind,” explains Manyiel. A fragment of her forthcoming debut full-length project 'god's chariots' is just one piece of the ever-expanding story which Oklou shares on Galore. With additional tracks 'nightmare' and 'rosebud', also out n ow, we get to piece more of Galore's narrative of emotional rebirth together. Already an illuminating experience with its first six songs out in the world, soon you'll be able to witness Manyiel's first masterpiece in all its glory when the rest of the project is released next month. [via Line Of Best Fit]

Madeline Kenney has shared the visual for her Sucker's Lunch album track 'Cut the Real'. 'Cut the Real' is one of the most lyrically confrontational tracks on Kenney's new album Sucker's Lunch. Kenney has unveiled the accompanying self-directed visual filmed in Oakland that sees her dressed in a Rococo style suit and makeup, giving a heartfelt performance of the song's fierce lyrics. Madeline Kenney: "I wrote 'Cut the Real' when I was feeling particularly insane / depressed /"out of my mind" as I was starting a new relationship. I really struggle with self confidence and found myself spiraling out into deep holes of self-loathing -- even though I knew what was going on I couldn't stop that cycle. The concept was inspired by the aesthetic choices in recent Aldous Harding videos as well as old Annie Lennox videos. I wanted to put on a gender-neutral Rococo outfit and just really allow myself to ham it up, and occupy that same spinning-out headspace as I was in while writing the song." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Four years after she released her solo debut Slugger, Speedy Ortiz leader Sadie Dupuis is getting ready to release Haunted Painting, the second album released under her Sad13 alias. The album comes out next month, and  now we get another new song, and it’s got a pretty great music video attached. The new Sad13 track is called 'Hysterical,' and it’s a zippy synthpop track with layered lyrics: “I wanna see you disappear and laugh like I don’t need permission.” In a press release, Dupuis says that the song is about “unfunny comedians [who] love to argue that ‘PC culture’ destroys comedy.” Dupuis plays almost all the instruments herself. The video, directed by Kate Banford and Jamie Loftus, features Dupuis alongside comedy-world mainstays like Loftus, Mitra Jouhari, and Demi Adejuyigbe. Like the new horror movie Host, the whole thing takes place on a computer screen, and it’s all about what happens when a ghost shows up in a Zoom party and kills everyone. [via Stereogum]

When Cross Record’s Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski teamed up with Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg to form Loma, it seemed like it might be one-off endeavor. But then last month we got news that they’d be following their 2017 debut with a new album, Don’t Shy Away. Along with the announcement, they shared a stunning new track called 'Ocotillo'. Today, they’re back with another one.  The latest preview of Don’t Shy Away arrives in the form of 'Half Silences,' which the band shared an earlier iteration of last year. 'Half Silences' was the first song we recorded for Don’t Shy Away, and we kept tinkering with it after we soft-released an early version last year,” Meiburg explained in a statement. “When you start making a record, you don’t know which songs will make the cut — but this one always seemed to belong, and we wanted to give the final mix (and its DIY video) a proper debut. People have asked if the fireworks are CGI. They aren’t.” 'Ocotillo' was an almost foreboding song, cresting into horn arrangements that teetered on the brink of chaos. In comparison, 'Half Silences' is a dreamier and hazier composition. But in either form, Loma are making some gorgeous, otherworldly music. [via Stereogum]

Back in June, the Bristol songwriter Fenne Lily announced her sophomore album, BREACH. So far we’ve heard advance singles 'Alapathy' and 'Berlin,' and today she’s back with another one. Lily’s latest is called 'Solipsism.' Here’s what she had to say about it: "A lot of situations make me uncomfortable — some parties, most dates, every time I’m stoned in the supermarket. 'Solipsism' is a song about being comfortable with being uncomfortable and the freedom that comes with that. If you feel weird for long enough it becomes normal, and feeling anything is better than feeling nothing. I wanted this video to be a reflection of the scary thought that I’ll have to live with myself forever. It’s surreal to realize you’ll never live apart from someone you sometimes hate. Dad, if you’re reading this you killed it as shopper number 2." The song comes with a video directed by Tom Clover with the non-profit Film Co. “I asked Fenne what products she wanted to be and then worked backwards from there with the illustrators,” Clover explained. “Most of the references came from Asian Supermarket packaging — they are way more interesting. The most important thing was making sure that it reflected upon Fenne’s personality — there’s a bunch of details you might miss on the first watch!” [via Stereogum]

About two weeks ago Oceanator shared 'Heartbeat,' the third and final single from their upcoming full length debut, Things I Never Said and now it has a video. The highly anticipated album via Plastic Miracles captures Elise Okusami’s songwriting at it’s best, a strong effort that sits between pop, rock, fuzzy punk, and alternative radio gold. The video, directed by David Combs and Ben Epstein, is every bit as delightful as the song itself, opening with the same magnetic energy as we find Okusami seemingly lost and looking for companionship. She finds it eventually in the form of herself, quite literally, as she joins herself at a bus stop, and then again in a field, with ten of more copies, al rocking out, all enjoying each other’s company. There’s a brilliant barbershop quartet moment, cool animation, and enough smiles to keep you going throughout your day. Speaking about the song, Okusami shared: “This song is loosely about having a crush, and both the grounding feeling and the anxiety that feeling brings. We recorded it all together like a live performance, and then I went back and added the lead guitars and the vocals. Guitar and vocals by me, bass Eva Lawitts (they), drums Aaron Silberstein (he)." [via Post Trash]

Ontario-based project Falcon Jane – the moniker for primary songwriter of the group, Sara May – have released their soaring new single, ‘The Other Moon’ via Pittsburgh-based label, Darling Recordings – you can watch the new video that comes co-directed by May and Dominique van Olm above. ‘The Other Moon’, which is lifted from a larger body of material set to come from Sara May further down the line, finds the artist exploring deeply sentimental and personal themes, from death to memory, and the miscommunication that can take place between generations. May has a penchant for unpacking these emotions in succinct and comprehensible forms, making something so personal and idiosyncratic to her feel so familiar to the rest of us. Much of May’s forthcoming work found its source of inspiration in early 2019 when her songwriting synched up with a string of deaths that occurred in her immediate family; ‘The Other Moon’ pays a touching testament to her Nonna with May lacing the track’s stark honesty with swooning guitar and her enchanting vocal palette, a sound that co-director, van Olm visualized as May’s DIY journey through space. Speaking about the new track, May says: “‘The Other Moon’ is a letter and tribute to my late Nonna whose death inspired me to start recording this album. Despite being from two completely different generations, and speaking two different languages, my Nonna and I had a very special connection. We understood each other and cared about each other, even if we couldn’t find the words to express it. My Nonna would always cheekily joke about her own death, and through her broken English, she claimed that when she died she’d be going to “The Other Moon”. This song is not a story about a happy-go-lucky relationship between grandmother and granddaughter,” May continues. “It accurately depicts the contrasting dynamic of a very loving friendship mixed with a lifelong trauma-ridden miscommunication. The big hole in my heart, the black cloud over our love. This song feels like the message I always wanted to send to her; pushing through the darkness to find the deep love we shared and continue to share now.”

Baby Queen has released her third track 'Medicine' with a fab new video. The follow-up to ‘Buzzkill', it arrives ahead of her debut EP later this year. "It's about a tangle of mental health and navigating your way through this world,” Bella says of the song, “whilst being so unhappy and equally disillusioned with the cyber landscape that we are forced to live inside, and the different ways people might numb themselves, or try to find a place where they can exist in amongst all of this fucking chaos." [via Dork]

Oklahoma-born, LA-based electro-pop songstress Mothica has released her debut album Blue Hour, accompanied by the official music video for her single 'VICES.' The album was written over the course of a few months, starting with one of the worst moments of Mothica’s life: a psych ward stay for self-harm and ends with a song about never wanting to feel the “crash” of drugs ever again. “Following that incident, I sought therapy and wrote lyrics detailing my journey into sobriety. I am now 13 months sober at the time of writing this, and have never been in a better place emotionally.” With her new album Blue Hour, she chronicles her deep struggle with addiction + mental health and the process of getting sober. “Someone told me that every artist has their ‘getting sober album’ eventually,” she explains. “I find it ironic that my debut album is my ‘getting sober’ album, because I think that’s indicative of how quickly I was forced to grow up."

FKA twigs has always made incredible music videos, and 'sad day' ranks right up there with her best. For this clip, twigs worked with the director Hiro Murai, one of the best music-video directors to emerge in the last decade. Murai has mostly moved on from music videos in recent years. Instead, he’s directed episodes of Atlanta and Barry, two of the best shows on TV, as well as Donald Glover’s Amazon short film Guava Island and the forthcoming apocalyptic miniseries Station Eleven. The 'sad day' video is Murai’s first clip since he made the instantly iconic 'This Is America' with Donald Glover in 2018. I don’t want to give away much of the 'sad day' video, which starts out in a dingy takeout spot and transforms into a surreal dream-logic head trip. But you should know that twigs only made this video after spending three years studying martial arts at the Shaolin Wushu Center, and you can tell. A dancer named Teake, who twigs discovered via social media, co-stars. [via Stereogum]

The latest of Silly Boy Blue's ongoing build is 'Hi, It's Me Again,' a song she describes as the "too long text I didn't want to send at 3 AM to my ex." Like the rumination behind a loaded, emotional message to a former lover, she adds that it took months to assemble the words in her head but only one night to write out the lyrics. "I needed to write a song about this, because it's a very special place between the hate and the void during a breakup." With an almost lullaby melody, the spacey tune slowly builds into the ultimate warning: "You'll be the one I always haunt," Silly Boy Blue sings, her voice beautifully layered and atmospheric. All her thoughts throughout the song are interlaced with the relatable, somewhat insecure backpedal, "I'm sorry," capturing the headspace "just before resilience," as she describes. It's "when you start to understand the breakup, but you still have so many questions popping in your head." In the 'Hi, It's Me Again' video, Silly Boy Blue says she "needed to show the different parts" of her identity. "Some of them are masculine, some of them are feminine, some of them seem confident, some seem shy, some seem to suffocate, some stand proudly." Much like the nuanced feelings during a breakup, she expresses without binaries — and especially through fashion, as she opens the clip in only an oversized men's button-down. Scenes in the new visual roll by like memories or fleeting emotions, ranging from subdued drama to full on meltdowns. At one point, she's shown with a plastic bag pulled over her head to capture the most extreme feelings of dread, juxtaposed against a more innocent shot of Silly Boy Blue in all white with two lone tear drops fixated on her cheek. The artist also loaded in "important" references to her favorite movies, from the Titanic's necklace to The Rocky Horror Picture Show's big mouth. [via PAPER]

Dream Nails have released a video for their new single, 'This Is The Summer'. It's a song from their new Tarek Musa of Spring King-produced, self-titled record out now via Alcopop!. “[It's] a song about how our climate is breaking down irreversibly,” says singer Janey Starling. “Colonial capitalism, waged by UK governments and corporations for centuries, has ravaged our earth. “We need to be urgently fighting for migrant rights so the UK welcomes climate refugees displaced by countries hit by extreme weather. We must demand transparency from oil companies who relentlessly put profit before people, even as the world burns." Guitarist Anya Pearson adds: “We wrote ‘This Is The Summer’ in the heatwave of 2018, recorded it in another heatwave in 2019 and now we are releasing it in yet another heatwave! Our video for the track shows how the current pandemic, white supremacy and climate change are not separate issues but interlinked. The song is about the brazen complacency of getting drunk and catching a tan in the park while the world burns.” [via Dork]

BBC Sound Of 2020 winner Celeste has shared her new single 'Little Runaway'. Out now, the single is about a crisis of faith, and features a towering vocal from the London artist. A song about succumbing to the depths before emerging renewed, 'Little Runaway' began as a jazz sample, before taking on a life of its own. Celeste says... “‘Little Runaway’ is a song about losing your faith, even if just momentarily, and seeking answers from spirits and ghosts as nothing seems to make sense on this planet. My favourite line in the song is ‘good news I could use some’ – I believe everyone has a guardian angel, a protector, and this is me talking to mine.” “The verses actually started as this saxophone sample we were playing around with and eventually it transformed into the melody. I always play the sax back in my head even though it’s not in the song.” 'Little Runaway' features an innovative music video, steered by Celeste’s frequent collaborator Sophie Jones. [via Clash]

Anna Sofia released a brand new music video for her song 'Don’t Play Pretend'. 'Don’t Play Pretend' is from her latest EP Broken Perfection. Over a million streams into her career, Anna Sofia sings this song about her own life. She might not be perfect. She might make mistakes. All that said, at least she doesn’t pretend to be something she’s not. Sofia said she doesn’t have a message. “It’s just real life,” she said. “One day, I hope to fill stadiums all over the world. I want to have fans everywhere and have some way of helping them or guiding them through my music. My confidence comes from being myself and connecting with people.” [via The 360 Mag]

Last year, the K-pop group BLACKPINK made big moves in America with their Kill This Love EP, becoming the highest-charting women-led Korean act on both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 (with its title track). They also played Coachella. Earlier this year, they had a guest feature on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica with ‘Sour Candy,’ a single that matched their previous chart record at #33. They’re releasing a new album in a couple months, which was led off by ‘How You Like That’ in June. Now, they’re putting out another song from it, a collaboration with Selena Gomez called ‘Ice Cream.’ The food angle of the track is appropriate for Gomez, who has most recently been in the headlines for her new HBO Max cooking show. [via Stereogum]

Tel-Aviv based artist Noga Erez shares the next in a series of game-changing singles leading into her mysterious second album (details yet to be announced). 'You So Done' and its striking accompanying video are out now via City Slang. Following the sparkling sass of 'VIEWS' and the irresistibly upbeat lockdown anthem 'NO news on TV', Noga Erez and her collaborative partner Ori Rousso's latest offering 'You So Done' has been highly anticipated online since appearing on NBC's Good Girls earlier this year. It sees Erez shift from outward looking political themes to personal soul-searching, opening up for a stirring track about rejection, toxic and emotionally violent relationships, and ones own inner violence. Along with the track she has shared a moving statement, saying: "At some point, exactly one year ago, I started flashing back to one of the darkest times in my life. I was young, incredibly confused and lonely... There was a moment during this period where I was actually so weak, insecure and in need of love that I was not able to step out of what I know now to be an emotionally abusive relationship." She concludes: "It really, truly means the world to me to give this song to you. I hope this story can help some of you to realise that you are not alone. And I really do hope to make it clear that even the darkest places are not impossible to free yourself from. They are eventually an opportunity to learn, grow and to become a stronger person." Erez has created a reputation for the captivating videos that accompany her songs, and this latest video sees her step it up a level yet again. Her third collaboration with Tel Aviv-based director Indy Hait sees Erez as a puppet in a dystopian future, being violently flung to-and-fro by an unknown captor. "The video for 'You So Done' was a big risk taker for me" she comments. "Usually, I have an idea or I work with a director on an idea together. Since this was my third video with Indy Hait, I decided to let him do his thing. He offered up an idea that included a robot and I immediately hated it. I was just not able to imagine how it wouldn't come off as a science fiction video and felt it wasn't my style. But after talking and tearing the idea apart, I realised that this is a truly meaningful character. The robot in this video is actually not the violent character.  Its job was to portray the act of violence through transferring the moves from an unseen character and helping them come alive visually. The video uses muscle memory as the 'engine' to that violent dance act, and muscle memory is something that fascinates me. Eventually this video is far from being science fiction, it is my most personal video to date."

#videos of the week #beyonce #eivor #oklou #madeline kenney #sad13 #dream nails #loma #fenne lily #celeste #oceanator #hannah's little sister #noga erez #anna sofia #falcon jane #baby queen #mothica #fka twigs #blackpink #selena gomez #silly boy blue

[onestowatch]

Vancouver Sleep Clinic‘s ‘Onwards to Zion’ Is a Sonic Coming-of-Age Story [Q&A]

Photo: Peter Llyod

They say the further from home you allow yourself to travel, the closer you'll get to finding yourself. This was most definitely the case for talented twenty-three-year-old Tim Bettinson, more popularly known as Vancouver Sleep Clinic. His sophomore album Onwards to Zion has gracefully made its way into the hearts and minds of listeners and is already becoming an ambient playlist staple. The album contains a collective of refreshing guitar melodies, frosty synths, and angelic vocals that have a way of gliding into the spirit of a listener and settling into the crevices of their bones.

Bettinson embarked on a journey of self-discovery during a period of isolation in Bali with a couple of friends, and during that time, most of Onwards to Zion was conceived. He purchased a $100 nylon guitar at one of Bali's only music stores and allowed himself to create music that he wanted to create. Bettinson spoke on Onwards to Zion, sharing,

“I’d started getting used to making three-and-half-minute songs with a beat and a hook—but the thing is that I don’t really come from making beats. I used to busk: that’s where I came from. The whole direction of this album changed for me once I realized I wanted to put the focus back on guitar again.”

Ones to Watch had the pleasure of picking the mind of the artistic genius behind Onwards to Zion. Check out the interview below. 

OTW: Onwards to Zion has this connotation of an adventure. Like a long journey to a destination better than the current one. What was the concept for the album? What were the inspirations?

Vancouver: The loose concept for the album is based on a book I read as a kid called The Pilgrim’s Progress. The main character is trying to make it to a place called the Celestial City, but he is carrying with him a burden and the whole way he is encountering people and situations that are trying to destroy him. Onwards to Zion feels like my coming-of-age kind of album. I wanted to express the trials and difficulties I’ve encountered in my youth, but ultimately I wanted the album to have a theme of perseverance and endurance until the end.

OTW: I understand you wrote this album during a period of isolation in Bali. That experience had to have been so transformative and uplifting. Do you have any standalone memories from the trip that may have influenced you as an individual? 

Vancouver: The whole trip was magical. It really just changed my entire outlook on how I wanted to make music. I re-discovered how much of a joy it is to make music with friends. Up until that point, I’d felt a heavy toll on me spiritually and mentally from being in different sessions and studios with people I’ve never met before. At the end of the day, you have to have fun with it, otherwise it’s not worth doing, and Bali was just so fun, with the best people ever.

OTW: It's a natural human tendency to stray from things that come most natural to us. But we oftentimes find our way back to our roots, and that phenomenon seems to have shown itself with your reconnection with the guitar. How do you think this experience has caused growth in yourself, both as an artist and as the person that you are today?

Vancouver: I think most importantly over the course of the album, I learned that I have to make music for myself! I’ve spent a lot of time and energy in the past trying to jump on trends but at the end of the day I was a 16-year-old kid out busking in the city three-four times a week and that’s where I fell in love with music! This album really brought me back to that original joy, and I have more peace and contentedness releasing this music than ever before, for that reason.

OTW: You've stated that this album is a reclamation of your music. What are some Tim Bettinson "tags" that are either incorporated into the album or currently under development? Anything that lets yourself and others know, "Tim Bettinson made this." Vancouver: It’s funny, I listened back to the album for the first time in a month the other day and I was thinking, “Man, every song starts with a pretty normal structure - then goes off into something wild at the end.” I never really set out to plan my songs (or anything in life for that matter), which means you’re usually gonna be in for a trip!

OTW: The music videos for “Summer '09” and “Bad Dream” are both very cinematic, captivating, and so emotional. Where did the creative direction and inspiration come from? 

Vancouver: My good friend Max, who directed the videos, came out to Bali with us and that is where we started to put together the whole vision! It’s the first time I’ve been able to plot the visuals and music simultaneously, so it felt like we were able to be a lot more thorough and build more of a concept.

OTW: Your tour is starting in November and you're going worldwide! Do you have a tour bucket list of places you'd like to play? Vancouver: Yes one place that I HAVE to play is Brazil!! I’ve always wanted to go there anyway but to play would be unreal. I’m also really trying to go back to Asia as soon as possible because I absolutely love it there, and the people are the nicest ever!

OTW: What are your hopes for the future? Where do you see yourself in five years?

Vancouver: As I foreshadowed, I’m not really much of a planner - but just doing what I love and making what feels right! And also I want to be a Chess Grandmaster!

OTW: if you could be an animal, what animal would you want to be and why?

Vancouver: Hmm… probably an eagle, who wouldn’t want to fly!?

OTW: What is your all-time favorite album? 

Vancouver: That’s a tough one. Hard to say one favorite but my most listened to album of all time is This Will Destroy You’s self-titled album. It’s all instrumental and it’s really been that record that got me through everything. No matter where I am or what state of mind I’m in it gives me an overwhelming sense of peace and nostalgia.

OTW: Last question, who are your Ones to Watch?

Vancouver: There’s heaps of great music from my hometown Brisbane. Keep an eye out for Akurei, T Scarlett, Shadow Jenkins, GOVS, Emerson Leif! I feel lucky to be around so many great artists and people.

#vancouver sleep clinic #onwards to zion #album reviews #interview #R&B #downtempo #electronic #ambient

[thesinglesjukebox]

MAHALIA - DO NOT DISTURB

[5.62]

Stop telephoning me-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh...

Rebecca A. Gowns: "Do Not Disturb" is a romantic ode to a phone setting. "Hold the line" and "tempting me with your alerts" are phrases that become multi-layered; she's talking to the love interest about their in-person behavior, and she's talking about how they need to mediate their communication through their phones, and she's talking to the phone itself. I'm with you, Mahalia -- every time I toggle my phone's "do not disturb" setting back into "disturb" mode, I regret it. Should've never let you in, and now here I am having wasted half the day checking notifications. This song is an excellent testament to building stronger boundaries with other people, and using whatever means necessary, no matter how small, to fortify one's own weak discipline. [9]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Based off the single art and the instrumentation, it sounds like Mahalia's sold out (she hasn't, obviously). Listening to the song, you hear her knack for writing exquisite toplines: ones that find ways to rhyme words in straightforward but impressively sticky ways. On "I Wish I Missed My Ex," it was how she fit in the "talk about you need closure." Here, it's the pairing of "deserve" and "alerts." But honestly, you can't make a song about putting your phone on Do Not Disturb and then also mention the Do Not Disturb sign you're (not actually) putting on your door. Commit to your ideas, c'mon. [3]

Thomas Inskeep: I loved her last single, but this feels much more limp, even with some crisp production. Both Mahalia's vocal and the song's lyric are trying too hard. [4]

Julian Axelrod: Not terribly exciting by Mahalia's standards, but this captures the omnipresence of technology in modern romance better than most pop songs. So it's doubly confusing that the titular conceit feels like it was written by a dude in his 50s. [6]

Alfred Soto: Worried, overgarnished dance pop: the scratches, backward vocals distract. But perhaps on the radio these gewgaws will act as the distractions keeping Mahalia from concentrating on her own self. [6]

Iris Xie: This is absolutely the sequel to "All the Stars," and should probably be the next ending credits song for Black Panther 2. "Do Not Disturb" is a cousin with its mildly dark, echoey sound and its usage of water drops, violin synths, and a muffled piano chord. This is paired with a good, if well-worn concept; who doesn't relate to putting your phone on Do Not Disturb? The lyrics favor a roasting, maximalist approach to explore every single possible metaphor of what putting someone on Do Not Disturb could convey, resulting in a forced outro that seems stilted and out of place. Execution aside, this construction of elements usually pleases me, but the key component, Mahalia, seems null here. Her delivery seems flat and strained for such a glossy, strife-filled song, and it forces a sense of dissonance in me while listening to it, and gives me a feeling of concern because she sounds like she is struggling to keep up with the song and that this might not quite be her speed. Mahalia's music always expressed a lo-fi vibe to me that sounded unique to her, especially with "I Wish I Missed My Ex," where it sounded aglow in its neighborly vibe, and just sharing a story about how it's not a diss, but she just wished she cared more about her ex. Here, Mahalia sounds like she's trapped in a studio-approved vacuum sealed bag of inoffensive dark-lite R&B, or maybe the leftovers from Ella Mai's first two EPs, or a The Weeknd song with all the evil extracted from it. It's anonymous, brooding, and mysterious in the wrong way, but good for a mindless drive when you need a backdrop for your thoughts, but you need to change the song half-way through because it's starting to interrupt you. [4]

Iain Mew: I love the moment when "I let you ring" is accompanied by a piano flourish like a super fancy notification/ringtone/video game accomplishment chime. The rest of the song takes the same general tone but doesn't have the eye for detail to achieve that kind of spark. As the source of the do not disturb shifts loosely between Mahalia, phone and room door, it's less the exploration of an idea and more narrative confusion. [5]

Ian Mathers: Veers pretty close to being either a full ballad or a full banger at times, but walks the mid-tempo path between in a very satisfying way, arguably as satisfying at the thought of delivering the song's message to that one person who deserves it is, in the imagination at least. In the grand, proud lineage of "do not talk to me" songs, this one acquits itself well. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Mahalia #pop #music #music review #writing

[theantisocialcritic]

Archive Project - March 24, 2014 - God’s NOT Dead and Muppets Most Wanted

I gotta say! I enjoyed the Monsters University short before Muppet's Most Wanted! I think this is the first time that Disney has done cross promotion to another one of it's franchises which is pretty cool! The skit was pretty amusing too! I'm infamously NOT a fan of Monsters University but I thought this worked. ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— God's NOT Dead, 2014. Harold Cronk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrmBiLM5xjg Muppets Most Wanted, 2014. James Bobin 113 Minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQiGyBiNjLI ————————————————————————————————————————— God's NOT Dead ————————————————————————————————————————— Honestly there isn't much I can say to this one that will influence people to go see it or not. If your a Christian, chances are you saw it two days ago when it first came out, and if not chances are you probably will never see it. Honestly though if you are a Christian and you haven't seen it yet I would probably recommend this to you! Christian movies are all about the message and the ultimate quality is almost an after thought. But since i'm a critic lets talk about that anyway!! Right off the bat, I really like the concept! A young christian entering college named Josh is forced to take a Philosophy course for a humanities credit under an infamously brutal professor. On the first day of class the professor makes all of his students sign a pledge that "God is Dead" in order for them to properly start the kids off without having to first make philosophical arguments against it and waste class time. Josh refuses and is forced to defend his opinion in front of the class in a series of debates which he must pass in order to pass the class. Given that historically, college is the time in people's lives where the "Find themselves" and let their more liberal sides run wild, I like that this movie challenges that by creating a movie designed to reinforce and arm young Christians with the knowledge and confidence they need to defend their face in the face of challenges. According to the end credits, the movie was inspired by a LONG series of court cases defending religious freedom on college campuses around the country. Turns out thats a huge problem! Though I would more naturally assume that the movie is based off the Christian song Newsboys song "God's Not Dead" I always here on the radio. Which is appropriate because the actual Newsboys make a cameo appearance in the third act! The cameos, like the mentioned Newsboys appearance are fairly gratuitous but amusing. Phil Robertson, from the cast of Duck Dynasty even makes a brief cameo appearance! I'm not a fan of the show so its not a huge deal for me personally but I get that he's a huge influence on a lot of young christians so the cameo was cool! Onto the bad part.. Like every Christian movie that comes out it suffers from a series of crushing issues that push the movie down in quality: heavy handed message mongering, a lack of talented mainstream actors, and a general preference of emotional pandering over intelligent writing. In addition to the main, interesting and well written, storyline there are about 4 additional stories happening in the background that very very VERY loosely tie into the main story. If the movie was going for a Pulp Fiction style series of short stories about dealing with ones faith I would be much more interested but they all play out in chronological order with different tones and characters that are fairly one-note and shallow. Among theses stories we get such classic tales as: a minister who's car keeps breaking down, a liberal journalist with an jerky boyfriend, a muslim girl with a mean dad, another girl with a jerky boyfriend and a mom with memory loss, and an awkward girlfriend character who drops out of the plot fairly quickly. Not all of the subplots are bad mind you! There is another one with a Chinese Exchange student who is struggling with his viewpoint of the world as the argument between Josh and the Professor goes on that is very subtle and effective! You probably noticed that half of the subplots involve characters being mean. This is another problem I have with the writing! Most of the characters that aren't obviously the victims of their situations are inhumanly mean and melodramatic. I guess this is the subtly and character depth you get from the acclaimed director of… Jerusalem Countdown… Also the ending of the movie, without spoiling it, had me going…. "Seriously??? THEY DID THAT???" You'll see what I mean. This was a scene that could have been removed and resulted in the movie being much more intelligent and thought provoking but instead, as with Christian movie standards, they prefer to just rip open the chest and start violence beating on the heartstrings with a metal bat! Really though as far as Christian Films go this one is pretty decent! A well intentioned movie that will please people of the faith and leave people outside of it $6.00 poorer. If you are a Christian, I would recommend checking it out! ————————————————————————————————————————— Muppets Most Wanted ————————————————————————————————————————— I'm a newly converted fan of The Muppets! Two days ago I finally got around to watching my copy of 2011's The Muppets I was given as a gift and I FEEL IN LOVE!! A great combination of catchy music, cleaver writing and gratuitous celebrity appearances made for a great movie experience! I loved how meta the story was and how it was able to take advantage of horribly overused cliches as a means of creating a massive love letter to The Muppets! Now the sequel is out! And the first song is a song about how the sequel is never as good as the original………………………….. Starting as it means to go on I guess! Don't get me wrong! This movie is actually good! Really good! Just not as great as the last one unfortunately… The movie ultimately concedes at the beginning that it can't best itself so its just going to have fun with making another movie, even though it won't be as funny. While there weren't as many laugh out loud moments are there were in the original, I had a smile on my face the whole time and I kept chuckling throughout the experience. Plus If you've ever wanted to see Danny Trejo do a musical performance of I hope I Get It, this is the movie for you!! Not nearly as much to say on this one I guess… I recommend if you haven't checked out the last Muppet movie that you check it out asap! It should be at Redbox right now! If you want a copy go check your local FYE store! They have $5.00 copies which is a relief from the normal Disney Mandated Eternal $20.00 price tag that is permanently labeled to every DVD they release… Then watch this one! ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— Thank you for reading! Wacka Wacka!

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WORKOUT PRODUCT DESIGNS TO COME OUT OF THIS QUARANTINE HEALTHIER THAN EVER!

  I honestly trust there are 2 sorts of human beings on this world – the primary one who workout product designs diligently and allow not anything stand inside the manner in their ritual. And then there’s the alternative type (guilty to mention I am a part of this) who permit everything be an excuse to now not workout! Its time we technique our procrastination head-on and get working on getting match due to the fact that we have a pandemic to survive. The series showcased here includes AI-assisted home gyms ( this personal trainer isn't going anywhere), domestic-fitness and teacher that double up as a reflect when no longer in use (hold the arena guessing approximately the secret behind our new more healthy frame) and even traditional gymnasium device however revived to be modern-day so that it won’t conflict with your current interior. Now we in reality haven't any excuse to procrastinate, do we?

Yves Behar’s Forme is the 2020 model of the magic reflect in an effort to make you come out of this quarantine fitter than before. Get in Forme-ation! Forme is a 6 feet tall clever mirror that doubles up as a domestic fitness teacher and gadget. “We wanted to make a health gadget that’s absolutely incorporated into the house with out it being an eyesore,” says Béhar. While similar machines in the marketplace are providing cardio or yoga. With Forme you also get weight lifting, aerobics, and functional schooling on pinnacle of the standard programs. When not in use, the machine’s fingers slide lower back and it becomes an stylish reflect for your home. The instructors are very well vetted and you can song your progress by way of syncing it with your clever devices. workout product designs takes care of our body and our mind – that should be our awareness for these complex times.

Inspired by their namesake, the Matryoshka Dumbells additional weight can be brought to those dumbells by nesting the weights together. Designed with the aid of 7 nepo, these innovative health loose weights take suggestion from an unlikely, unexpected source – matryoshka Russian nesting dolls! Like the doll-in-doll system, additional weight can be added with the aid of nesting the weights together. With a short snap-in/snap-out mechanism, you may transition from mild to heavy in seconds to accommodate your exercise ordinary without interruption. When you’re completed lifting and want to squeeze in some cardio, the handles double as a leap rope with the aid of connecting an protected cord.

The Tempo Studio is a gymnasium-set or workout product designs that comes entire with a display and a motion-tracking digicam that actively scans and video display units your exercise in 3D. With built-in exercising routines which can be guided by means of expert running shoes performing live exercising sessions, the Tempo is the equal of going on a Zoom video name with your fitness center instructor. Hop onto a personalized stay consultation with a health club instructor of your desire and the trainer on the opposite aspect of the screen publications you via your exercise. Introducing the sector’s maximum transportable fitness device. Monkii bars 2 is a fitness center with the aid of Dan Vinson and David Hunt you could take anywhere! Paired with the app it’s extra than just fitness system – it’s your very own private gymnasium, personal instructor, and adventure guide built into one. Simply installation in less than a minute via striking the device from any assist structure – like a tree, swing-set, basketball goal, or maybe the door at domestic or the hotel. Then get a full-frame exercising focused on your upper frame, core, and legs thru loads of sporting events and workouts.

workout product designs as a product to let you paintings and workout at the equal time, Brian Oak’s loopy hybrid of a desk-chair and treadmill – named Fitwork, continues your legs active at the same time as you paintings. Whether you’re sitting in the front of a laptop or standing in front of one, it’s the sedentary lifestyle that Fitwork tackles. The setup (which is sure to grab some eyeballs) comes with an office chair connected to a treadmill underneath, and an elliptical in the front. Coupled with an elevating desk, the Fitwork permits you to preserve the decrease half of your frame active even as you work, supplying you with aerobic in addition to maintaining your spine engaged, whether you’re sitting or standing at the same time as running.

Habit Furniture is a espresso table/bench that inverts to turn into a exercise bench so your health gadget does no longer make use of all your space. Created via Designer Glory Tam and Doctor Albert Au, Habit lets you see and recall your priority of working out quite simply by means of staying in front of you. Whoever stated home gyms are bulky!

Mental workout is as essential as a physical exercise. Wanting to design a seat that courses you into sitting cross-leg. Gao Fenglin’s Meditation Seat can simplest be sit on in a certain way. Directing the user’s behavior and inspiring a seating function that maintains your lower back upright, and your legs folded inward. The cross-legged function unearths itself dating hundreds of years returned in Oriental and Indian cultures. Used frequently for meditation in addition to for consuming. The posture is stating to growth blood move and joint flexibility. At the same time as strengthening bones, and retaining your lower back upright. It also aids digestion. Recognizing that maximum human beings don’t have the gap for health club system in their home. Or the money for a gym membership. Or maybe the self-control to head to the gym every day. Josh Hume launched into a journey to deliver the fitness center to the household. The catch? It needed to be the smallest, maximum exhaustive (and exhausting!) gymnasium ever made. After multiple iterations, the FITT Cube became born. With its 450mm edge dimension, the FITT Cube occupies as much space as a footstool. Deriving with a mini-stepper (with its own seven-section LCD display). A rotating seat, gripping handles, a plyometric platform. Or even resistance bands. The FITT dice additionally comes with a user guide, workout chart. A nutrition manual to keep you on top of your fitness game. Arranging in their optimize formation. The FITT can be flipping over to any facet and used to workout on. Be it anything from stepping sports, to twisting physical activities, to push-ups or lifts. To even plyometric workouts. The FITT turning into design to cater to all. There’s probable a giant overlap in the Venn Diagram that indicates the intersection among Star Wars lovers and Fitness Freaks. Onnit’s variety of Star Wars-stimulated workout gear couldn’t be greater ideal for that audience. Take as an instance the kettlebells that are available rather sensible sculpting cast-iron. Model the use of the heads of Darth Vader. The Imperial Stormtrooper, and Boba Fett. The concept behind the usage of masked characters for the kettlebells no longer best makes for simpler molding (believe how annoyingly precise a Chewbacca kettlebell would want to be). However also lends a sure gravitas and badass nature to the weights. The kettlebells additionally weigh in an growing order of importance. With Boba Fett weighing in at 50 pounds, to the Stormtrooper being 60 pounds. Mister Vader weighing 70 pounds. If you wish to screen the effects of your exercise. The Circular Smart Ring with the aid of Amaury Kosman retains an impressive quantity of capability in a ridiculously small form. It does so, in general through shifting a number of the load for your smartphone. The Circular Smart Ring connects on your telephone through Bluetooth. Providing you with all your information in a well collated dashboard. During the day, the hoop captures your activity, blood oxygen levels, electricity levels, calorie burn count, among different metrics. While at night, the ring ambiently tracks your circadian rhythm and records your sleep quality. Heart-price variability, sleep disturbances, REM cycles, and sleep and wake times. Using pretty state-of-the-art information processing. Device-studying technology, the hoop, its app, and the app’s assistant Kira help you collectively higher recognize your fitness. Come up with bespoke recommendation on the way to improve it. And in case you plan to return to your old health club. Wait until they set up sanitizing methods like this award-triumphing self-sanitizing door cope with layout! Students Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li were inspired through the SARS outbreak inside the 2000s. Figured that a self-sanitizing door cope with is more effective than the chemical-based cleansing tactics we are the use of right now. The handle is of a tumbler tube with aluminum caps at every stop. The complete manage is including in a powder photocatalytic coating craft from a mineral called titanium dioxide. The bacteria is decomposing thru a chemical reaction. This is activating by using UV mild reacting with the skinny coating at the glass tube. Powered by an inner generator, the manage converts kinetic energy from the opening/closing movement of the door into light power. This is how the UV mild is always doing its job. This germ-killing product truly destroying 99.8% of the microbes in the course of lab exams. That is more than what Thanos did together with his infinity stones. We understand it’s so much simpler to be lazy. When nobody is looking you. But rather than looking the information and stress-ingesting our way to another illness. Permit’s utilize this possibility to as a minimum start operating out! They say the primary 21 days are the hardest. Well, allow’s get performing with those tough days so. By the point we step outdoor to exercise, we can be in a higher position than we're now! Paramount, Cybex International, StairMaster and Sunsai are the brands who makes the best workout product designs all over the world. Read the full article

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