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melchron · 4 years

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Nightmare Time Episode 3 Thoughts

I usually save this for the end of my thoughts but I have to say this now. OMG MATT DAHAN!!! I WILL NEVER NOT BE IMPRESSED BY HIM! Usually with the episodes I catch 1 or 2 motifs but I swear I caught everyone this time. And they all fit so well. My attention was evenly split between the music and the story this time. It was so freaking good. Matt deserves all the awards like omg.

I think this is the least laggy the theme has been. Good job going all out for the last one!

I said to my mom "Did Shashona record this video?" and she did!! Great cinematography Shashona!!

I also pointed out the Tim's daddy mask. I said "Aww he's wearing a mask for his son!". I guess my mom got confused and forgot Tim's name because she thought I was talking about Dylan's (nonexistent) son.

THE DRILL PRESSES!!

LEX AND ETHAN

I kind of already knew this but I love that Ethan knows cars. I just likes that he has a hobby.

Lex cares about Tom so much I love it.

WHY DID JANE TRY TO KILL ETHAN?!?!?!? TOM DOESN'T WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO HIM!!!! DID SHE HAVE SOME PERSONAL REASONS LIKE WHY!?!??!

That Lexthan interaction was so cute. I love how he saw she was super sorry and scared and he just stopped being mad and comforted her. They are so cute I can't handle it!!

KENDALL!!! Ok so through out this whole thing I know everyone was excited for their favorite character to come back but I really just wanted to see Kendall again. I guess after BF I assumed we would never see her again because I couldn't see them working with children becoming a normal thing. But when the original cast announcement came out I got so happy to see her name. So I was super excited to see her.

Her covering her hair with a beanie looks better than the wig

UNCLE PAUL I'M SOFT I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!!!!!

Cineplex Teen is like Larry from tawog. I guess we should start calling him Obnoxious Teen then. Until we get a name.

I love that Tim immediately likes Becky. Wish I could say the same for my stepparents.

Santa Claus Is Going To High School bb. Also I want to hear the rest of that song. Also also how many wigs does Lauren own?

TONY GREEN

Why must they make love to this movie everytime? Can't we simply just watch it and make fun of like normal people? That way Tim can enjoy it too.

Good for Jane for making sure her son doesn't have to eat disgusting school lunch. She gets good mom points.

Aww Becky reassuring him he's not a Dummy

Becky is like really horny this episode. Honestly Tom's into so go ahead girl

JAIME IS JANE

OK OK OK SO Jane said they were driving home from her parents house. Which means they were still alive when Jane died. That was only a year and a half ago so the Perkins parents might have died more recently than we thought. It's like Spring of 2019 right? So Jane died around Fall 2017. I don't remember if this was said in the show (it probably was and I'm saying nothing new) but I think Black Friday takes place about a year after her death. Tgwdlm took place October 2018. They have to have died only a few months before then. How long had Emma been in Hatchetfield before tgwdlm? Maybe there is a possibility we can see a flashback of an interaction with her parents depending on how long it's been. Also that means Emma lost her whole family in the span of a few months omg. And Tim lost his mom and his grandparents in that time. I want to see how they grieved with all of that. Also I know I'm crossing universes here but Emma also almost died the same day Jane did. Some strange force must really have it out for the Perkins family. Good on Emma for surviving like a champ.

Ok so I thought they went scouting for girls because Jane didn't want the man she loved to have to devote the rest of his life to a car. I thought she was trying to help him move on. She was getting good lover points but those have since been redacted.

Jane is definitely bi and I love that for her. I don't care if she tried to kill her new crush. It was new enough for it to mean nothing.

GREENPEACE GIRL

Tom does look like a creep ngl

Jane reminds us she's a car a lot. Like girl we get it.

No. No. No. NO NO NO NO NO NO NOPE! We're not talking about it. I don't want to. I stared at James the whole and honestly same dude. I saw Nick in my peripheral vision and loved/hated that he was laughing. RIP to me watching this with my mom. RIP to Kendall. Actually rip to everyone who had to sit through that. RIP to Jaime and Dylan for having to perform that. RIP to the cursed rehearsals. Matt and Nick seriously took the time to sit down and write that. What the heck you two?!? This made me more uncomfy than the entirety of mamd and Ted's character combined. I wish I was exaggerating. Maybe this was just me but it felt longer than it needed to. The relief and worry I felt when Tim walked in is a feeling I can not explain. Glad he was clueless.

Tim sweetie I love you but SHUT UP

Jane is crazy and Jaime is doing such an amazing job at portraying that.

Yes Tom. Because grave digging is way crazier than possessed cars.

I asked my mom why the didn't just go grave digging for Jane's body but my mom said the body is probably all rotted and gross so that explains that.

Why didn't Becky just go inside? If she went far enough I doubt Jane would have been able to hit her even if she managed to break into the house. Also let's assume Becky's house had an upstairs. There, perfect safety.

Did Becky seriously die in the same woods as Stanley?

Ok so I thought the tree thing was a reference to little Irish girl Becky from the Black Friday sk10 stream. But now it seems like something more serious and bad happened so I'm curious.

DID JANE GET TOM ARRESTED?!?!? It seemed like she could drive herself at that point. Why not let him get out and get Becky yourself? Is this that self confidence thing Tom talked about?

Is she really about to have her son be obsessed with Ms. Becky for the rest of their lives or is she gonna tell him?

This next episode made me physically jump twice. I say literally a lot but I promise you I'm using it correctly when I say I literally jumped.

KENDALL'S SINGING

I saw the thing about the ukelele being a bday gift from the cast so this was super sweet

Ok personal time. My grandmother's name is Pamela and my mom decided to permanently cut ties with her a few months ago due to her abusive behavior. Me and my sibling are still allowed to talk to her whenever we please but we haven't seen her as much as we used to. I got kind of scared watching this with my mom because I was scared this would trigger something. She didn't say anything and I didn't want to bother her about if she was fine so I didn't say anything. Anyway this just kind of hit different for me.

JAIME'S RANGE OMG

"I want to be alone with my man." Ms what are you about to do to your Tv?

DON'T GIVE HER BEER

Duke seems chill. I like him.

LEX AND ETHAN GOT ARRESTED!?!?!? FOR SELLING HER PILLS!?!??! THAT SHE TOLD THEM TO SELL!?!?!? I HATE HER!!!

Does Ms. Foster have a type or is being male good enough?

Hannah's 14? I thought she was the same age as Tim. I could have sworn in the BF commentary track they said she was 9 or 10. Did my brain make that up?

How does Kim change her hair so quickly? She did this in episode 2 too? I could never. I am very impressed.

Curt and Kim talking over the phone while standing shoulder to shoulder was funnier than it should have been

Ms. Holloway is cool. YAY MOSTLY GOOD WITCHES

How does Ms. Holloway know? I need a backstory please!!

Ok so I saw Jon in his cape and thought he might be the with. But then I saw James in his cape I y'know stopped thinking that. Anyway I'm obsessed with Jon and James in capes. Kind of wish Corey had one too.

OH I JUST THOUGHT THIS AS I'M TYPING NOW ok so that tree she was talking to at the beginning was one of the tree people. I'm embarrassed it took me this long to realise it.

Hannah is way too calm about these talking trees and sometimes spider ladies. I respect that.

There was a lot of black and white theming in this episode. More than normal. It makes me more curious about what exactly Hannah's connection to it is.

Hannah almost died in her own mind. I was kinda hating Ms. Holloway in this moment because she forced Hannah to go into her mind. But I know she had to so I'm cool with her again.

THE STARLIGHT THEATER

Did she really say just don't be scared next time? Like miss some actual advice would help.

CAN MS. HOLLOWAY'S MIND LEAVE HANNAH ALONE?? Like I know you didn't get the reaction you wanted out of her but you're seriously gonna give up and go for a little girl instead. Pathetic.

"What's shakin', Banana?" That was the first time I jumped.

WIGGLY

What exactly is that 6-legged girl? I wish we had a visual. Also how couldn't Ms. Holloway help her? What was her issue? Npmd you got anything for me?

Wiley. Just seeing him come up. That was the second time I jumped.

Also everyone already said this but props to Joey for his commitment. Shaving in between episodes like omg sir you didn't have to go all out for this. But you did and I appreciate you for it. Also HE KEPT THE JACKET?? WHAT!??! Just fully committed to this character go off Joey!!

Usually I would laugh at stuff phasing through the green screen but this just made it creepier.

HOLLOWAY AND WILEY/WILBUR BACKSTORY PLEASE

But also I love how the script had him listed at Wilbur above his lines. I remember Nick called him Wilbur once in the commentary track (possibly by accident) but it's nice to have it in cannon. I don't remember I any of the characters called him Wilbur because I'm so used to seeing Wilbur and Wiley used interchangeably but this was just nice to have canonized.

DUKE PAY ATTENTION!! FREAKING USELESS RIGHT NOW!!!

Dang Wiley she was already being choked in the physical world you didn't have to choke her in her mind too calm down

YAY MORE DOLLS

NICK I WAS KIDDING ABOUT AN APOTHEOSIS DOLL

Is the mouth one (I see we've named him Nibbly. Good because his full name is too long to type out) gonna be the npmd villain? The pick color theme seems cool.

ANGELA'S TRANSITION THOUGH!!! Omg she switched roles seamlessly. And her voice too!! Go off Angela.

MARIAH IS WEBBY

This is random and unrelated but I never noticed how big Mariah's eyes were before.

So Webby and the Doll Gang are all siblings? I find it interesting that the were described to all where black. And Webby's color theme is white. Like how the good and bad ukeleles were white and black. This might sound really dumb see as we don't have a 100% accurate visual of the black and white but I wonder if Webby ever left would it be 100% black? Like if Wiggly went through the portal would it become a little less black? Does this make sense? Also I'm starting to see the black and white as less of a bad place. Its starting to see more ominously neutral.

Hannah's favorite show is He-Man no I do accept criticism.

Ms. Holloway is a nerd. She saw Hannah make the reference and was like "Huh. I f she likes He-Man maybe making this hat a reference will make her like me." She would only know if she watched the show. But then again she seems to be stuck in the 80s so maybe she just thinks that's what's popular with the kids.

MS. HOLLOWAY PLEASE GET LEX AND ETHAN BACK

AND ANOTHER GREAT SONG TO END IT OFF

This episode was......a lot. So much happened. Loved all of it. I am scared of Nick and Matt's minds but also incredibly grateful for them. As usual everyone's acting was top notch.

I love this episode.

Also I'm just gonna say it. Jon ruined Nick's season one reveal.

#starkid #nightmare time #nightmare time spoilers #jane's a car #the witch in the web #Hatchetfield #mel thinks thoughts #melchron the good book

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moonlightreal · 3 years

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Fate episode 4

Welcome back to Fate Elemental Academy! Or should I call it Fate: The Elemental Academy Saga? Fate: Tales From Elemental Academy? I kinda wish I had an actual following now, we could push changing the name all over the fandom. Fate’s a bad Winx show but it’s not a bad show.

When we left our cast Beatrix just murderized a dude, Terra was suffering, Musa was finding love, Stella was mysterious, Bloom was destiny-ridden and Aisha was getting bored with it all! What will happen now?

Also, is Rosalind evil? I assumed she was the “she” who got rid of all the Burned Ones and thus was a hero, but she’s got some serious resting evil face.

Episode 4 opens with a gorgeous shadowy shot of Alfea in the twilight of day twelve-ish I assume. In Dowling’s still badly lit office the adults are investigating Callan! Whose real name was Callum, I think, but he’s dead and so won’t mind what I call him. But Dowling says he hasn’t been seen “for days” so we’ll jump to it being day twentyish. They’ve searched Callan’s room and found “metal-amalgam” which seems to be mercury, which someone would use to try to get past the trap on the door to the undercroft. Harvey charmingly starts a lecture on its properties before realizing Silva and Dowling want to get on with the infordumping. Dowling says Callan wouldn’t have known about the mercury, it’s “archaic fairy knowledge” and he’s not a fairy.

But couldn’t anyone study the lore even if they don’t have powers? Dane was doing potions/chemistry in the greenhouse with Terra and he’s not a fairy. There’s usually some magic stuff that muggles can do just by having an enchanted thingamabob. Fate, your worldbuilding leaves much to be desired.

Silva guesses Callan had help. And Harvey’s made magical fingerprint mist! He’s got a pitcher on a stick and smoke is coming out to track the magic used in the room! Does that make Harvey a fairy?

The smoke outlines Callan’s vanished form, where he was sitting paralyzed before Beatrix zapped him.

Dowling: “At least we know where he went.”

Silva: “And that there’s a murderer in our school.”

The murderer herself is looking at her phone, scrolling through Bloom’s social media selfies. Bloom’s online name is bloomerang04 which is a dumb online name. Of course the fact that we pick our online name at age 15 or thereabouts means most of us have dumb ones. Riven asks B what she’s obsessing over and Beatrix says, “Your fault for spreading it around that she’s a changeling. She’s now the most interesting person at school.”

WHAT is it about changelings?!

Riven says everyone will move on in a few days and asks Beatrix if this is “one of those movies where you dye your hair and take her life...” and Beatrix looks… hmm.

Do I smell Plot or am I imagining it? But then Riven decides to claim Beatrix’s attention in smoochy ways and I’m pretty sure they’re Doing The Sex.

Opening!

In the cafeteria, people stare at Bloom as she gets her breakfast!

Aisha has taken over Callan’s job to snoop on what he knew! Bloom “suggested” she do it. Or more like, begged. And thought Aisha is such a suckup she’d do it just to get brownie points with the headmistress.

The vibe of this scene is like nails on a blackboard. Bloom, you are awful people. And Bloom wants to eat breakfast in here to avoid the stares because she’s a changeling.

Musa comes in cheerful, “Bloom still pretending she’s not upset by the gossip?”

Bloom: ‘still pretending you’re not dating your roommate’s brother?”

And Terra comes in right in time to almost hear that. Bloom, you are awful people. But Terra’s got her own gossip: Stella’s mom is coming! Stella is “dreading being outshined by her mom” and Terra is kinda loving it. For which I can’t entirely blame her since Stella is also awful people even if my suspicions are right and there are circumstances that made her that way.

Bloom tries to be non-awful and says the girls don’t have to come eat breakfast with her “like I’m some kind of loser-mess. I’m fine.” Friendship music plays. The girls smile. Then Bloom heads off to finish her “poison paper” before the assembly. Musa says, “For the record, she’s not fine.”

In the arched walkway above the cafeteria Riven, Dane and Beatrix and talking about changelings! B: ‘Changelings were a way for pissed-off fairies to get revenge on the first world. Swap a fairy for a First world baby and wait for it to wreak havoc. Changelings are bad news. That’s why we stay on their good side.”

One of the boys had asked about “is that true about changelings?” presumable Dane, since Riven knew enough to spread the truth around. So not everybody knew all this.

FINALLY! Thank you, show. And, this is neat! Those would have to be some very pissed-off fairies to sacrifice their own baby, what’d the first worlders do to them I wonder! Though it still doesn’t explain why Bloom should be “bad news” any more than any other fairy. Does growing up in the human world make for more powerful fairies? I mean, that IS the lore, human food, human milk, human soul… but did the writers of Fate know that? I’m not trusting the writers of Fate to know much of anything at this point, even if they did get all those Yeats episode titles.

But we get interrupted by teen drama, Dane sees Terra down below and goes to see her. Sigh.

But then to muddy the waters, riven says Dane “believed all that changeling bullshit you just fed him!” but B says it “isn’t all bullshit, changelings can be dangerous. You did everybody a favor.’ warning them about Bloom, I assume she means.

Show, I hate you now. WHY are changelings dangerous? What was true and what wasn’t? Bloom’s changeling nature is the central bleeping worldbuilding of this story and we get dragged around?

Next I see black SUVs, tell me it’s Silva and his army people coming to do cool competent stuff so I can like this show again!

Nope, it’s Stella’s mom. Stella and Sky are waiting to greet her, Sky says it’s only half a day and Stella says, “Half a day of everyone adoring her like she’s literally the sun.” Sky says, ‘She is the queen of light.” which is an awesome title. She’s here to do an assembly about Burned Ones… what, like those PSA assemblies we had about the dangers of drugs? Hahahaha! That kind of PSA might be more apt, I’m pretty sure there’s more drugs at this school than there are Burned Ones.

But Stella is terrified, I think, behind her Stellaishness. Says her mom is really here to “check on my progress.” Sky suggests getting the rest of the girls to be a buffer but Stella says, ‘I don’t need them. I have you.” But Sky can’t stay physically, he leaves Stella to meet her mom alone

Stella is wearing a long coat of pale pink with gold and diamond star barrettes in her hair. I would love it if at the end of Stella’s character arc when she grows past whatever it is that’s squeezing the life out of her, she’ll switch to bright bold colors and teenage rather than middle-age fashion to celebrate her freedom. At the moment it makes sense that she dresses rather dumpy and too-mature, she’s dressing under pressure.

The black cars, they’re not all SUVs, pull up. there’s a flag, faded blue above, red below split by a diagonal line with some kind of crest in the middle. Solarian flag? No yellow, no sun or moon.

Stella’s mom looks noting like Queen Luna, she looks like a middle aged lady with brown hair, her hairdo and clothing juuuuust like Stella’s! In season 8 the real Stella designed a dress after her mother’s gown out of love, but I think this Stella dresses like her mother because of pressure. Also there’s nothing queenly about the queen. She’s wearing a business skirt and jacket, big chunky necklace, no crown. Political royalty not magical royalty. She gives Stella a kiss on the cheek and says, ‘You look stunning.” and Stella grins.

In the greenhouse Harvey, Terra and Sam hang out. Where’s their mom? Harvey wears a wedding ring but no mom in sight. Harvey is working on a special project, filling a vial with something. Terra asks if she can help but Harvey says he’s got this.

Dane comes to see Terra. Both her family members give Dane a serious Look. Heh.

Terra: “Whilst I appreciate that it is the historical perspective of the patriarchy to save women from upsetting situations, I’ve got this.”

Props to Terra’s actress for delivering that in a not at all groan-y way. Every time this show tries to be woke it is groanworthy and awful and they should just not, but every time the actors pull it off.

So Dane says “You didn’t answer my texts… you’ve been really great to me...” and Terra shuts him down! “Yeah I have. I’m a good person, Dane. I think you are too, but I’m not really sure I care to find out. Anymore.” and leaves him with “A word of advice. Be careful who you trust.”

Sam: ‘Still kinda want to punch him.” Heh.

Harvey gets a text and takes his project off to meet the queen. When he’s gone Terra immediately goes to his workstation to check out what he’s up to.

The queens party goes to Callan’s office, which is now Aisha’s office. Aisha greets the queen, whose name is actually Luna! And she knows Aisha’s name, but does not need any help. The adults go into Dowling’s office to talk.

Aisha accidentally knocks some papers off the desk then, grumpy at this spying job she’s taken on and isn’t having any luck with, slams a filing cabinet door. And finds something. A mechanical ring the size of a jewelry ring, stuck in between two parts of the filing cabinet. Aisha thinks it’s part of the cabinet, but then it begins to whir and she hears voices. It’s the receiver for a bug! Callan bugged Dowling’s office and now Aisha can listen in on the adults!

Only she… hides the receiver back under the cabinet?

The only thing she overheard was the fact that Callan is dead. Seems that Dowling’s telling everyone he left for a family emergency. Aisha tells Bloom this and Bloom is even more keen to get at those old records, from before Dowling became headmistress. Maybe they’re in the east wing, and everyone’s going to be at this mandatory assembly so now would be the perfect time!

Aisha says it’s a bad idea. Bloom says it’s a better idea than getting stared at by everybody and “I can’t just sit and listen to people make stuff up about me.”

WHAT are they making up?! I wanna hear these rumors!

Anyway Aisha is finally convinced to cover for Bloom, say she was too sick to come to the assembly. But for reasons of Plot Beatrix was right above them on the upper walkway so she knows where Bloom’s off to.

Gorgeous outdoor shot of the castle. Pardon me while I look it up… it’s a stately home! You can go there, they have a farmers market and everything! Ok, mark that down on my travel list between my Lost Crown tour of Polperro and my Higurashi tour of the real Hinamizawa…

Whilst I dream of seagulls and cicadas, Bloom is back in the dark east wing past a keep-out looking for clues. Sky catches her!

Beatrix is outside looking for Bloom. Riven catches her. She says, ‘mandatory assembly’s a mandatory ditch.” they pass a keep-out sign on some big doors as rain begins to fall.

Mysterious big doors in the school! Another Winx Club sort of thing here at Elemental Academy.

In the cafeteria benches have been put in for the assembly, Lots of students chat and the adults talk together. Outside the arched windows we see bright blue sky. Are the windows enchanted? That’d explain why I never know if it’s day or night around here!

Queen Luna walks in her heels on a sort of stage in front of the windows. She holds up her hand and snaps her fingers and the light in the room goes purple and the sunlight streaming in from outside dims as if dusk has fallen outside.

Stella, wearing a brighter pink coat and double star pin, sits in the very front between two of her mother’s bodyguards. The pin could be just because of Stella’s name, but in Winx Solaria does have two suns. I like this pin, for Escape to Witch Mountain reasons, so I looked it up. Stella’s pin is gold but the silver version is… oh dear… three dollars on amazon! Methinks this show spent its whole budget on the Irish castle!

Terra and Aisha admire the queen. “Massively powerful fairy, zero ego, boss goals. Bet it drives Stella crazy?” Stella glances back. She can hear them.

Musa and Sam are knee-nudging each other, it’s pretty cute. They text with phones on laps, sam asking if Musa’s into all the sneaking around hiding their relationship from Terra. He asks, ‘is it a kink?’ and Musa texts back, ‘Meet me after the assembly, you’ll find out.” Tell me you two aren’t dumb enough to start Doing The Sex in the same suite Terra lives in too! Maybe they’re just gonna hang out and make out.

Hilariously Queen Luna is saying, ‘I’m here to treat you like the adults you are” as these two plot that most teenage of plots, meeting up to have a good time! Luna says she’s here to talk about the Burned Ones, it’s been years since one was sighted…

Terra nudges Musa. “What’s Stella going through right now? She’s miserable, right?” Terra has noticed what I’ve been suspecting! Poor Musa, distracted from flirting with the cute guy, sighs a little and says a polite, ‘Please wait.’

She turns her powers to read Stella’s emotions… but there’s interference. Dowling is walking by and she’s using her mind powers as well! Musa says, ‘This assembly isn’t just about the Burned Ones. Something else is up.” Harvey is standing in the audience and Dowling takes a position among the students also

Queen Luna is talking about, “...for decades, families and villages suddenly torn apart by one of these monsters that left our world in chaos...”

The teachers are here to scan for Callan’s killer, I assume. Since it’s a mandatory assembly every student will be present… except for Bloom and Beatrix, who ditched! Gee, I hope Beatrix doesn’t try to pin it on Bloom! But how could she when Dowling can read minds?

Back with Bloom and Sky, Bloom says she was born in 2004—the year Winx Club was first broadcast, seventeen years ago! Our beloved show, may it survive to see eighteen. Bloom’s idea is to look for pregnant teen fairies in the class photos, and she has oddly specific details to look for: baggy clothes, girls holding books in front of bellies.

There’s some conversation about how Bloom is tired of being whispered about and wants to yell at people they’re all assholes, and Sky agrees that most people are but you have to find the good ones.

Then he finds a picture of adults. His dad is in it, along with Rosalind, Dowling, Silva and Harvey. Bloom says, “you look like him” although we don’t really get a good look Andreas at the photo. Sky mimicks Silva’s accent, “And act like him, and maybe one day if I work hard enough I can be half the warrior he was.” Heh. Bloom also giggles at the accent.

Sky also said, ‘his commander was a woman” presumably Rosalind. So Rosalind was a leader of soldiers. Was she a fairy or a specialist?

Bloom asks if it’s weird that everyone knows his dad better than he did, and Sky says ‘Alfea’s been my home my entire life” so I guess he grew up here with Silva being much more father than mentor. Wonder what happened to Sky’s mom. They’re having a nice moment and here come Riven and Beatrix to join the party!

Back in the assembly, Musa scans the adults. Dowling and Silva are on edge, and Harvey is really scared. Terra says her dad was making something with the crystals from the vessel, so he was putting crystals in a little vial. A magic tracking device. Now Dowling’s got it.

Queen Luna is saying, ‘conflict is now on the horizon! We are tracking at least five Burned Ones throughout Solaria. The threat is serious. And growing.”

Back in the vaults B says, “people who think history is rubbish are rubbish. Don’t be rubbish” Ah Beatrix, there’s the like 10% of your personality that I like! Then she reverts to the other 90% and suggests Bloom and Sky were down here to have The Sex. Riven says nah, Sky’s not that interesting. Bloom, who heard all that, says ‘But we were alone and that was pleasant.” Heh.

They find a locked door. Sky says he can ask Silva what’s behind it but bloom wants to get through now.

Riven: ‘The more you say no the more she wants it. Give in.”

Beatrix: “Do we need to have a talk about consent?”

The more this show throws woke verbiage into random conversations the less woke it looks. 9_9

Bloom sensibly: “Why are you guys down here, again?”

Anyway Beatrix says she’s on Bloom’s side, which I do not believe for a minute. Bloom says no thanks, don’t need help from someone who posted a nasty video about terra, Beatrix says she was an innocent bystander which I do not believe for a minute, and says Bloom should be mad at riven for starting the Changeling rumors. Bloom and Sky look at Riven.

Riven: “Not exactly the way I thought you’d screw me today, B.”

Sky if it’s true, Riven flees to escape a lecture from “Saint Sky” and Sky goes after him to deliver the lecture.

And he does, out in the rain. Riven says he really likes Beatrix, that B is the only one who likes him the way he is. That Sky thinks he’s better than riven. And that Sky should maybe not be talking about bad life choices while he’s chasing Bloom while still having Stella. Sky says that’s not what’s really going on and Riven says that’s what everyone else sees, including Stella. And Riven says, ‘that’s probably why she told me Bloom was a changeling in the first place.” And he walks off, leaving Sky in the rain with the knowledge that Stella is mean-girling Bloom. Unsurprisingly.

Sky of Elemental Academy is having just as much trouble here as his animated counterpart keeps having with Diaspro!

Back inside the girls haven’t figured out what the adults are after. Terra finds it hard to believe they have “some big ulterior motive.” and Musa says, “people have more stuff going on than you’d think, especially parents.” Heh. Then she takes off for a snog session with Sam! Sam says he’s like to make their relationship public, but Musa likes the secrecy. If everyone found out, she’d have to feel everyone’s reaction, ‘good bad, positive or negative.” Sam says she has to feel it bu does she have to care? And says being an empath seems to suck, which it sure does seem to!

Would “everybody” even care that they were dating? I mean Terra would but at a school full of teenagers dating how many people would care?

I read a book… Burning Glass, about an empath so powerful that when a starving mob approached she let them in the gates because she forgot she wasn’t one of them, caught up in the mob’s need to get in to where the food was. She didn’t just feel people’s emotions, she acted on them because she couldn’t tell which of the things she was feeling were coming in from outside. I keep thinking the writers are trying to imagine Musa like that and failing completely.

Over in the east wing Beatrix guessed that it was Rosalind who left bloom in the human world and Bloom realized that Beatrix lied the night of the party about not knowing who Rosalind was. B says Rosalind was “a fierce bitch.” I’m still feeling this great big hole where someone should say “Rosalind destroyed the Burned Ones in the war with her great magic.” or something and nobody says it. Bloom knows Rosalind was headmistress before Dowling and is dead, we viewers know Rosalind is not dead, did something important with the Burned Ones, and has an evil face. I dunno, like the changeling thing it feels like there are these weird blanks in what the show is giving us.

Beatrix suggests Bloom light the locked door on fire as a way to get it open. She knows Bloom’s powerful enough. Bloom says power is not the problem, lighting the whole school on fire is the problem. Then sky texts and Bloom lies and says she’s not down here anymore which will definitely be back to bite her later. She suggests she could “fry” the hinges off the door, but Beatrix has already picked the lock.

With a machine custom made for picking locks, not with bobby pins.

On the other side of the door they find… a war room. A round sand pit that, when B enchants it, the sand lifts up to create a miniature of the school. Beatrix calls it, “A place where dangerous, shady-ass people decide who lives and who dies.”

Dowling is giving Stella a magic lesson. She creates an arc of colored light between her hands, mimicking the chains on her brooch.

Queen Luna is not impressed. A little mini rainbow is not much of a display of power. Luna and Dowling proceed to ignore Stella and talk over her head. Luna sent Stella back to be “fixed”--the same word Stella used about bloom after she taught Bloom the way of the Sith—after the “incident with Ricki.” Dowling says rehabilitating magic is a process and it takes time. Luna: “would you like me to recite the list of threats we’re facing while you take time?”

Me! I would! 1)Burned Ones 2)??? And how much can one fairy do about them?

Stella tries to interrupt and Luna says, “Do not speak when I’m speaking. Solaria is the strongest realm in the Otherworld, she is its heir, an extension of that strength.” Stella protests that it’s working, she is getting stronger, and her mother just snaps at her not to speak again.

Stella says she blinded a Burned One and Dowling has her back, praising her for how skillfully she did it.

Queen Luna makes a full illusion, disappearing the room and leaving Stella in a VR forest. With wind-howling sound effects, not sure how light did that! Stella is terrified.

Queen Luna: ‘when you control light you control what people see. And despite what anyone says matters in this world, appearance is everything. You know that better than anyone, Farah. Especially given my efforts to help you maintain them.”

Dowling just says they’ve both done a great deal to preserve Solaria’s reputation. Hmm! That’s interesting! And she lets Stella go.

Outside the office, Aisha is working at her desk. She asks Stella if she’s ok and Stella says of course she is, but Aisha’s using the listening device again! She overhears Queen Luna basically threatening to have Dowling removed as headmistress!

Outside in the still cloudy day, Sky is taking his mood out on a punching bag. He gets a text from Stella saying, “She’s a monster.” before Sky can go give her some much deserved sympathy Silva walks past demanding an update. On what?

In the greenhouse Harvey is worried. His magic bottle, which is very pretty, didn’t work. Terra comes to ask if everything’s ok and he yells at her, then apologizes. Terra turns to go then turns back and asks, ‘if there was something going on you would tell us wouldn’t you?” and Harvey lies and says of course he would.

Aaaaaaaand now I’m looking up potion bottles on amazon wondering if this prop is also something I can have. Not obviously.

Terra, Musa and Aisha are talking about it in the suite. Aisha is sure the grownups are doing what they think is best. Terra would rather just be told there’s a secret rather than be lied to. But they do work it out. The crystals read magic, there’s a dead person, the adults were looking for someone who kills by magic but didn’t find them.

Then Sky bursts in looking for Bloom. The girls ask if Silva told him what’s up, but Sky is out of the loop.

Terra: “Dowling’s assistant died, the faculty think a fairy did it. They held the assembly to find out which fairy, but they didn’t because he or she wasn’t there, so now we don’t believe or trust literally anyone.”

Sky: “Shit.”

Sky, smart cookie that he is, realizes immediately that it’s Beatrix.

The murderess and Bloom are reading scrolls in the war room—in the DARK, everything’s shadowy how are they even reading?

In 2004 Rosalind was “leading the crusade against the Burned Ones” Beatrix says so finally there’s that laid out.

Bloom was born December 12 2004, just like the real Bloom. Beatrix seems oddly interested in that fact. I’m beginning to have a suspicion.

Bloom’s phone is blowing up with messages but she’s busy reading. Beatrix stealth zaps bloom’s phone to break it so she doesn’t get Sky’s warning call.

Rosalind was in a place called Aster Dell. This also seems to interest Beatrix, who suggests they just go there right now. She knows where it is, it’s not far. Bloom has a rush of common sense to the head and hesitates to leave school with someone she barely knows but Beatrix points out that they’ve already broken into a secret war room and maybe now is not the time to stop before they get somewhere. Not completely without a point there, so Bloom agrees.

Sky finds Riven and demands the whereabouts of “The unstable sex addict who’s been leading you around by your dick.” Pfft! Also, not very understanding after Riven admitted he really does like Beatrix and feels accepted by her. But Riven doesn’t know, anyway.

Stella bursts in, “I sent you twenty texts and you’re here looking for Bloom?” And Riven gets to say, ‘Have fun with that!” as he escapes. Sky blames Stella for starting the changeling thing, Stella says, “I didn’t want to hurt her.” which is not true.

Sky: “You say you don’t want to be like your mother but all I see is someone who treats others exactly the same way that Luna treats you.” And he says he’s done with this.

Harsh but true.

Beatrix stole a car. Bloom is very impressed! Heh.

The other three girls have had a rush of common sense to the head and gone to Dowling to tell her about Beatrix. Dowling’s first response is to ask why Bloom was down there but Terra pulls out their deductions and says “can we please drop the bullshit?” and when her father tries to stop her she calls him out for putting them in danger by not telling them! Go Terra! Silva comes in to tell them someone knocked out one of the queen’s guards and stole an SUV.

Beatrix must be extremely badass to take out a bodyguard! we’re only in episode 4 but I don’t think she’s planning on coming back to school after this.

Black SUV drives on a dirt road between trees. I do love how there seem to be no other buildings and no paved roads in the Otherworld. I guess I’ll take what worldbuilding I can get.

Bloom and Beatrix have arrived at an absolutely stunning location, a cliff over the sea. Bloom wonders if this is the right place. Isn’t Aster Dell supposed to be a town? Then she realizes there are skulls at her feet among the heather.

But no time to ponder it, Beatrix is getting lightningy! She throws lightning—shorting out an invisible barrier concealing ruins. Aster dell was a peaceful town until it was attacked by Burned Ones and “a military unit from Alfea” decided to go all scorched earth on the place and killed everybody. Queen Luna set up the illusion to hide the ruins. “Leader of our realm tried to cover up a war crime.’

Beatrix says this is where she was from, and where her family died. Two days before Bloom’s birthday. This is where Bloom is from. Rosalind rescued Beatrix too, and gave her a memory of the Alfea adults destroying the town. Rosalind was the only one of the adults with a conscience about killing innocent people.

Bloom protests, the adults are lying but they aren’t monsters. I’m skeptical too, because us viewers know that Beatrix is Beatrix and has said all sorts of things.

On the drive back Bloom asks Beatrix if she’s a changeling too, but no. Rosalind left B with “a close friend” and Bloom in another world. Bloom asks why Dowling would recruit her as a student after killing her family and Beatrix says she doesn’t think Dowling realizes yet what Bloom is, and Bloom shouldn’t tell her.

Bloom: “Which is exactly what you’d say if you were making this up. To keep us from comparing notes.” go Bloom! Beatrix asks what she has to gain from making up a story about murderous teachers, and the two of them can work together to find out more. Rosalind is alive and imprisoned at Alfea, and Beatrix came to break her out.

...for “him”? Mysterious “him” not mentioned yet. And where does the return of the Burned Ones fit in? Hmm. I admit my main reason for not believing Beatrix’s story is that it’s Beatrix telling it.

Also in these sorts of stories the birth parents are never dead.

But no time to ponder it, the teachers are here! They stop the car, Dowling slaps some magical cuffs on Beatrix and Silva and Harvey grab Bloom. They deliver her back to Alfea into a group hug from her suitemates.

The girls were worried that Bloom was off with a murderer but they heard that from the adults who Bloom just heard are liars and murderers themselves. We know the adults are telling the truth about Callan but Bloom doesn’t. Sky is there, also worried that she’d been kidnapped by Beatrix—but Silva calls him away. Paranoia intensifies.

As they head for bed Terra rants about her dad lying to her and acting like it was for her own good. Terra ends with, ‘you don’t lie to people. Not if they matter.’

And Musa feels guilty and spills the beans about her and Sam! It’s been weeks! Terra bursts into giggles and hugs Musa and says Sam looks just like their dad and he went bald early.

Looking down from the walk they see the queen’s guards rolling Stella’s suitcases towards the door. The one thing the two Stella’s have in common apparently is their love of lots of luggage! Yep, Stella’s been moved out.

Stella is in the car. Back home her mother will teach her.

Stella: “You could’ve let me say goodbye to my friends.”

Luna: ‘”They’re not your friends, Stella.”

Which, evil mum kinda right. Apart from taking out a Burned One together, every interaction between Stella and the others has been nasty and catty and mostly Stella’s been avoiding them whenever possible. They aren’t friends. They might be later, but they sure aren’t yet.

Beatrix has been thrown in a cell.

Silva locks the door—with Sky there watching, and I’m sure Silva’s trust in Sky will come back to bite him later.

Then interesting conversation. Silva asked Sky to keep an eye on Bloom, and now he wants Sky to get all the details of what just happened out of bloom and report back. Silva actually says the “a soldier’s job is to take orders” and “your loyalty is to me, no one else.” which, I like you Silva but that is the wrongest tack you could take right now! Silva is very scared and it’s making him make bad choices.

Bloom has gone to Dowling’s office to ask what she did to Beatrix. The cuffs were “runic limiters” which prevent a fairy from using magic. Bloom says ‘They were barbaric” and “You tore her skin open.” which I guess the cuffs did kinda burrow into her skin.

Dowling is just worried if Bloom’s ok and then asks what they talked about. Bloom says it was just a joyride, she and Beatrix talked about clothes and boys. Bloom leaves.

Dowling immediately phones up Bloom’s parents on Earth and says Bloom’s been having a bit of trouble and would they please report to her if Bloom says anything weird.

Sheesh. Could these otherwise smart, capable adults who have years of experience with teenagers be handling this any worse?

Well that was… something. Terra is badass. Stella’s mom is exactly like I expected her to be. Beatrix spilled a lot of important Plot and I’m sure some of it was true and some of it wasn’t.

Next time on Elemental Academy! Will the girls rescue Stella from evil mum? Will Bloom bust Beatrix out of the dungeon? Will Sky be forced to choose between his father figure and his crush? Will Bloom’s parents accidentally betray her? And what’s Riven gonna do now that his smoking and boinking buddy is under arrest? Half the cast is being set up to make some really dumb life choices! Tune in next time!

#fate the winx saga

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queensdivas · 4 years

Text

Hidden Blade Chapter 2

Did this all on a plane and a little bit today! Now that I’m done I plan on working on even more shit. Like my god has this winter break been busy af. But I hope you enjoy the new chapter because it was a little longer than I wanted it to be.

Whoops.

IF you would like to be tagged please let me know!

Next Chapter

Previous Chap

Masterlist

Have you actually ever watched an episode of Leave it to Beaver? What even is that show? I get watching like Little House on the Prairie, M*A*S*H (God I love Mash) and even I Love Lucy. But it feels like this dude one loves his family shows. Don’t really see why but who the heck else knows in this crazy world.

I walked into one of the trailers to see a very large English Mastiff come from around one of the shelves to start sniffing me. Slobbering all over my legs since wearing shorts instead of jeans or some sort of Eddie Bauer travel pants.

“That’s Wally. Careful his slobber goes everywhere.” Four was flipping through a pile of passports as I looked at the wall that was covered with pictures, news articles, and maps. It kind of reminds you of that meme where the dude looks completely insane while trying to explain something. I sat down on one of the desk chairs that was empty as I noticed Leave it to Beaver was playing.

“Did he get you hooked into it as well?” I leaned back as I noticed a large file that had Murat Alimov with a big red CIA stamp on it. Juicy!

“So how come the people of Turgistan hasn’t revolted against the dick hole in charge?” Four asked as I opened the file to see his picture.

“They need someone to get behind in order to start the revolution. Ya know. Someone to get behind. The French got behind Maximilien Robespierre, the people in South America had Simon Bolivar, and the list goes on and on. So without someone to properly lead them, what’s the point of starting a revolution when you don’t have someone to lead.” I began skimming through his file to see that THE STUPID AMERICANS GAVE HIM BACK TO HIS BROTHER!? Never let them do anything!!

“So how did one find you?” He asked as I closed the file then threw it on the desk.

“Ummmm. God it was really weird and very ummm..perfect timing I should say.” Wally came over to put his head on my thighs as I began scratching the top of his head.

“I travelled to Ahmedabad after the Assassination in South Sudan where I planned on shutting down a board of nasty men who were shipping child brides all over the world. Yet something that I have a nasty habit of is trying to put on shoes way bigger than mine!”

“ALI RUN YOUR ASS!” Screaming as I turned the corner that was leading towards the great hall of the palace. Ali came behind as guns began shooting at us from the top of the stairs. The front doors burst open as I darted to the left.

Ali followed swiftly behind me as we slid into one of the living rooms to duck behind a couch. I released my mag to see I had eight rounds left, and we have to battle an entire palace full of guards! At Least the board is dead so that stops this nasty shit in this house!

“Ali! There’s a drop through the dining room that leads into the river!” I yelled over the gunfire as he checked his mag to count his bullets.

“I got six! I’ll keep you covered!” He popped his head up to shoot one of them coming into the room. I popped up to shoot another guard as more came through the front door. God damn it we’re screwed!

“You get your ass out of here now!” Ali screamed as I crawled over to where he was bunkered down and handed him the rest of my mags.

“You follow me alright!” Grabbing a bottle of scotch then ripping apart of the sofa for the rag. I stuffed it, shook the bottle then pulled my lighter out of my pocket. I lit it then chucked it over to the middle of the great hall.

“GO GO GO!” I yelled as we got up from behind the couch towards the window. He smashed the glass as I stuck my head out to see the drop. Jesus Christ that’s a little too high. Fuck fuck!

I climbed up onto the window ledge as I was about to jump as Ali began climbing up but was stabbed in his back.

“SHIT ALI!” With his last bit of energy he pushed me off the ledge.

Sitting in my apartment as I stared at the picture of Ali and I during our weekend trip to El Arish. The one time I think it;s okay to work with a partner we end up becoming best friends and he gets stabbed in the back! Don’t worry I’m not one of those people who are like “I work alone since everyone I’ve loved has died!” Usually it’s too much work to have a partner or some sort of companion when it comes to this kind of work.

Someone lightly knocked on my door as I pulled out my dagger to slowly approach the door. Fuck fuck who knows I live here? Looking through the peephole to see some GAP looking guy standing right infront of the door. Swinging the door open as it scared him a little bit till he held up his arms towards me.

“Relax Machete. If I wanted to hurt you I wouldn’t have knocked on your door would I?” That’s what most people thought in the seventies and look how many people died because they thought this was...as I opened the door for this stranger.

“I promise I’m not here to hurt you or anything. May I come in?” I can handle myself I think so if he tries something I’ll kick his ass. I lowered my dagger a little bit to move out of the way for him. He came into my apartment to look around in my little hole in the wall.

“Cozy.” I followed him on the other side of the room.

“Good idea. Keeping a safe distance from me. Which is why I’ve been looking at your field work. What you did in South Sudan and recently in Jordan. Quite impressed that they haven’t tracked you down yet.” He stared at the large replica painting of The Virgin on the rocks.

“Love some Da Vinci paintings.” He acts like a much calmer Deadpool, also not as sarcastic as him.

“So. Who are you? A rich person looking for security, I’m not a hitman so I’m not going to kill someone for ya. Drink?” I made it to the liquor shelf as I grabbed the bottle of Shieldaig Speyside.

“No thank you.” He walked away from the painting then over to my original Pierre Mignard. See when you shut down a nasty group of people, I wanted this picture of some random women. I stood away from him still as he turned around, I took a sip of the drink as I waited for him to explain himself.

“I get the feeling you enjoy killing those who want to cause harm onto the innocent. You wanna know what I see in you? I see someone who's willing to do some crazy shit in order to save the world. I mean you just jumped out of palace after destroying a child marriage cult. What if I could give you an endless amount of resources, even more targets, and more hands?” Definitely some better resources would be nice. But there is always some sort of catch in this situation.

“You’re exactly what I’m looking for. Someone who isn’t afraid to truly get their hands dirty to save the world.” I do enjoy saving little parts of the world.

“Now imagine taking down even bigger ass holes of the world.” Am I finally going after all of North Korea? God I really wanna destroy that pig with all my mighty!

“So what’s the catch exactly?”

“You’ll be dead and can’t ever see your loved ones again.” Well jokes on this dude, haven’t seen my family in years and they probably thought I was dead anyhow so this works perfectly!

“I’m in. Don’t worry about my family because they think I’m dead anyhow.” I walked over to him to shake his hand.

“How the fuck he found you is still bizarre. Still have no idea how he found me in the middle of a robbery.” Wally began walking away as I put my feet on the desk. Now I’m super curious how he met the rest of them now since he ended up stalking me.

“How did he find you?”

He began telling me how the robbery he was apart of turned into a shit hole of a plan for his ex girlfriend to basically take the jewels instead of saving him. Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest because hoes be loyal. His eyes...are just so damn enticing. The way the sun brightens them reminds you the top of a forest. A very endless forest before you. That little scar next to his eye is just very nice to look at as well. Kind of weird but I enjoy it. Does he have knuckle tattoos? (For the record I am listening, it’s called multitasking.)

“Jesus he set you in a saw trap?” He reached into the mini fridge for two bottles of water since the sun was warming up the trailer like a sauna at this point.

“Yet here you are getting a calm welcome when I thought the guy was going to blow off my fucking face.” He slid the water across the desk as I cracked it open. Wally and his drool began sniffing the water bottle as I tried to drink it.

“But he did save my life after the fall so that’s the only good thing that happened that day.” He chugged some of his water as I nodded in agreement.

“Wally. Wanna get my soldiers out and have a battle.” Beaver asked Wally as The next episode of leave it to beaver began playing so I turned my focus towards the tv.

“Nah.” Wally told Beaver. Four turned up the TV as I noticed a box of Cheez-its next to the desk. I’ve heard these things very good for most American snack food.

“Four we’ve scored!” I yelled as I began opening the box of Cheez-its. Back to the show. We watched as Wally and his friends were tackling each other with Beaver stuck underneath them all.

“Poor Beaver. Such a sweet little kid.” I stuffed a bunch of cheez-its in my mouth then passed four the box.

“One is completely obsessed with this show, he makes all these references for it all the time. I think he’s an orphan actually, we got a little bet on it if you wanna put some money in.” Now that I think about it, I can totally see one being some sort of orphan or in the system.

“Forty dollars.” I reached in my pocket to pull out my wallet, grabbing a couple of fives handing it to him. I know we should be working on finding his brother, or doing some sort of work but this is much more fun.

“Wait they’re gonna charge Beaver three dollars just to join their club? I get that hanging out with little siblings can always be some sort of bother but wow what ass holes. Imagine being that cruel.” I commented as I threw a Cheez-it at Wally's friends after the tv.

“Man. A time when your six year old son could talk to a random stranger asking on how to make money.” Four and I chuckled as Beaver came walking out of the garage with his “this space for rent sign” on him. I mean he’s trying harder than most people in this world so I have to give him credit where it’s due.

“You two done? C’mon. Three thinks he onto something.” Five stuck her head into the trailer as Wally walked away from me as he kept to box of cheez-its with him.

We walked into the trailer as three was listening very closely to a phone conversation as one and seven were talking to each other. I get the feeling that shit is about to go down if three finds the location of the four generals.

“His top General knows the location of him so once they leave Turgistan for something, we go after them and figure out where the brother is.” One told seven as I began looking at the four pictures of the fuckers themselves.

“You ever met people like them?” One asked as I kept staring at their pictures. Four handed me a box of Cheez-its.

“I mean all monsters of humanity are usually either fat, old, or a man. Hell even all three for some massive destruction if history says anything. Or they have weird facial hair like Stalin or Hitler. Except for Elizabeth Bathory because that bitch was truly...

“Guys. Shut the fuck up.” Three barked as his face went from focused to ecstatic in a matter of seconds.

“AH we’re going to Vegas baby!” Three laughed as he put their conversation on speaker.

“This arms dealer will be meeting you at the speedway track around two for the deal.” God this is disgusting. Instead of trying to make our country a better place, go to Vegas to fuck some slut, spend your money, and to add on top of that get some dangerous chemicals so we can kill more people. Love it!

“Las Vegas has more facial recognition software than any place on Earth.” One began telling two and three as I began turning down the volume of their conversations.

“Oh I know what I’m gonna be!” Get this sinking feeling he loves dressing up.

“Choose your disguises wisely.” Disguises? I have to dress up? If they think I’m going to wear a pencil dress, twelve inch heels, and a face full of makeup I will leave right now!

“I’m a grown man, I can handle my shit.”

“I don’t think that’s how the expression goes, don’t handle your shit. Flush it down the toilet like a grown-ass man. Be subtle. Blend in. Disappear. Me, two, and three are going to figure out where on earth they’re hiding his brother. Eight and four I want you two to intercept the gas, destroy it all, find the supplier and eliminate him. Sounds easy enough?” Yes. Going into Las Vegas, finding a bunch of illegal gas, destroy it, and be home by five. Definitely easy.

“Just one question. How do you even destroy Sarin gas? Look I’m a pretty smart lady but destroying gas is something I’ve yet to achieve in my life one.”

“Here. Study this before we leave for Vegas. Ya got 24 hours to nail it.” He slid a book across the table.

How to Disable Sarin Gas Bombs for Dummies.

Written by a Genius.

Handwritten and in a bright green binder. Glad to know we make handcrafted things in this squad. I opened the binder as it showed a step by step on how to disarm them. Kind of like when you’re building a lego set. Except instead of joy you get when you’re trying to build a spaceship, you end up pissing your pants because one fatal mistake and we die!

“Love the homemade touch one. Very professional and doesn’t make me want to shit my pants in absolute fear.” I picked it up as we began dispersing.

“I’m just gonna take this with us. Rather us not die.” Telling four as I handed him the binder for him to start skimming through the binder. Gotta love the fact that my first mission with these guys is disarming a bunch of chemical bombs. Getting that sinking feeling again that they’re a bunch of chaotic people doing chaotic things.

It’s absolutely perfect.

Taglist:

@bonafiderocketqueen @filmslutt @imjustboredso @intoanothermind @4lendow-norris @wickedholland @takemetoneverland420 @raylan-c @itsmeaudrieee @leah-halliwell92

#ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #6 underground #6 Underground Four #6 Underground Billy #Ben Hardy 6 Underground #Four/Billy #Four #Four x Reader #Four/Billy x reader #6 Underground Netflix

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comradekatara · 5 years

Note

Pls tell me random things about the modern au

sure!

please keep in mind this is not chronologically-ordered because i am far too pomo for (scoff) linear narratives

(* = chell’s contributions)

suki drives a truck, and said truck is a legend

azula goes to harvard, despite her objectively terrible character (ohhhh shots fired!!!!)

zuko doesn’t try very hard in school, because he knows that if he were to actually try, he would feel worse about azula being better than him (he’s not living under ozai’s roof––anymore––so it doesn’t matter) but it’s way too easy to trick her into taking naclo, which is where he shines. it drives her crazy that he won’t tell her his score. “you just wont tell me because you know i did better than you” “….maybe :)” “UGH ZUKO JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU GOT!!!!!!!!”

the day before aang’s first day of high school, sokka gently tries to inform him that he is too old to be wearing heelies

toph isn’t allowed on any sports teams due to her blindness, so she fights the administration every single day, and (physically) fights random people just for fun, and they so desperately want to punish her for it but she is a genius wunderkind pride & joy of their institution and they know that unless she gets really out of line, their hands are tied. but they still refuse to let her play sports

“suki’s nervous because today’s the day of the Big Game,” sokka tells zuko. zuko can swear he said the same thing yesterday. and the day before that. and the day before that. it is always the day of the Big Game. when zuko asks katara about it she rolls her eyes and says, “don’t be stupid, the Big Game only happens once a year.” and so, the concept of sports continues to wear on his sanity

azula’s all, “i swear to god, if sokka is valedictorian i will burn EVERYTHING to the GROUND” and zukos like “why do you even care youre not even in his class” (but it’s the PRINCIPLE of it, zuzu!!!!!!!)

aang has a really big dog named appa, and a flying lemur named momo. no one questions this

it is very apparent to everyone except for mai and zuko that mai and zuko are not happy together. mais not “in love” with “ty lee” what an idiotic thing to even suggest

toph’s favorite joke is stumbling into nothing and then yelling “OW! watch where you’re going!” to which zuko sighs and says, “toph theres no one there” and tophs like “no i can swore i bumped into something” and zukos like “no. u didnt. u know u d––” “mustve been your closet, then. EYOOOOO”

sokka refuses to admit to himself that the reason he “doesnt do” relationships is to keep himself from getting hurt (see: yue). katara not so gently reminds him that if he truly “didnt do” relationships, then why does suki practically live in her house.

katara thinks clubs are stupid and school spirit is lame but then she finds out that their school doesn’t have a straight gay alliance so she starts one. no one joins except for toph, who just sits there in the corner and eats peanuts with a wide smile, staring straight ahead.

in his senior year, aang finally gets to be the mascot the night of the Big Game. everyone comes back just to support him. zuko has not set foot in his hometown in at least three years, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t support aang’s dreams. (plus he’s pretty sure katara would kill him if he didn’t.) once the Big Game starts (the first and only Big Game zuko ever attends), sokka notices zuko staring really intently at the field, and that he has been for about a half hour now. he’s like “whats….goin on??” and zuko mutters, “i’m trying to figure out what sport theyre playing.” sokkas just like “oh my god”

suki and sokka miss their prom because they got too invested in their game of monopoly. toph humbly accepts their crowns in their place. the teachers are just like “wait who even let her in here isnt she a freshman”

katara plays hockey. azula does track and kickboxing. they are both fierce, violent, and terrifying. both katara and azula tried to join suki’s roller derby team, but suki wisely rejected them both because they were, in her estimation, “not a good culture fit.” she told them the team was already full.*

zuko, suki and toph are in a band. their music is very lyrical and also very screamy (only suki and toph get to sing, natch). believe it or not, aang is their biggest fan. aang plays the triangle and the flute and the harp, which you might think would not exactly fit with their style, but they do invite him onstage for gigs sometimes and somehow the combination is excellent.*

katara is a mediocre student. zuko is great in his literature classes and his art classes and kind of tragic at everything else. nevertheless, they try to study together. mostly katara just comes over to zuko’s house and scuffs up his coffee tables and eats a lot of food out of the fridge. zuko considers this direct action against his terrible father, and he loves it*

azula is obsessed with sneakers. yeah that’s it that’s a whole bullet point*

suki’s truck is disgusting and made up of a seemingly boundless mess, but there are three recurring themes that are most apparent when you enter: weed, construction equipment for some weird building project she never tells anyone the details of, and other girls’ underwear*

katara thinks sokka is a narc for having gotten jet suspended. “he called in a BOMB THREAT, KATARA”

sokka is the head of the science club. because he loves science. toph and suki are also in the science club. because they love watching (and listening to) things explode.

everyone agrees that debate should be renamed “sokka and azula fight for 90 minutes.” azula spends a week drafting up a foolproof argument, manipulating the whole class into picking said topic, and then pretending its unrehearsed, and sokka spends no time in saying “nope. thats wrong.” on days where he chairs the debates, azula always wins because he’s forced to remain impartial, and no one else can out-debate her. it is on those days that he goes home and proceeds to rant about how everything azula said was wrong and why.

katara and azula also fight, of course, but never in a structured setting. sometimes it ends in bloodshed. toph enjoys egging them on way too much.

sokka is constantly misplacing his possessions. that is, when neither zuko nor suki are around to personally keep track of all his belongings. he loses his phone about twice a day. he’s checking the chem lab to see if he left his phone in there, but azula is already there, presumably to work on a lab. she offers to call his phone for him, and he types his number into her phone because she is too embarrassed to admit she already has his number (and a tracking device in place but thats not important). unfortunately, azula is the one to locate his phone, so she sees that her contact name is, “ZUKO’S SISTER??!??!!!!???!???!!??!!!!?” she has never been more offended in her entire life.

katara is always threatening to beat up anyone who so much as looks at aang funny. no one would hurt aang, though. everyone loves aang.

sokka loves art class. he also hates art class. he likes that he has a structured time and space in which to paint, and he loves painting. he hates that his paintings always turn out looking like wet garbage, especially compared to those of the guy who sits near him, who clearly is not even trying. he is the rich to sokka’s jeff. at least in sokka’s mind. sokka will oft complain about “that asshole who thinks he’s too good for art class,” but suki pays him no mind and rolls her eyes. until one day, when sokka and suki are being particularly annoying and making out in the middle of the hallway, which is particularly upsetting for zuko because a) that is Hot Guy From His Art Class and b) he will either have to wait for them to finish or politely ask them to move, as they are right in front of his locker. he says, “do you mind moving?” and he means this as politely as possible, but sokka is like “wow what a haughty bitch” so he just holds his index finger up as if to say “one second” and that is that is such an asshole move that zuko has no choice but to yell “what the fuck?!?” far too loudly. it leads to a kerfuffle that eventually lands them both in detention (suki was an innocent party and sokka is more than willing to take the fall for her.) their detention becomes a breakfast club meets war balloon, and sokka actually sort of tells someone about yue. that’s weird. why’d he do that? neither of them know. zuko has no idea what to say. well, this is awkward. another half hour passes. sokka idly mentions that they could totally find a way out of this room by crawling through the vents and then climbing the beams in the gym and after that it’s only a matter of finding an open window––and not getting caught. this is a joke, a completely hypothetical joke, of course. zuko’s like, “let’s do it.” sokka’s like “oh shit this bitch is crazy,” but, y’know, they pull it off. they run out of the school and keep running and only stop when sokka has the dawning realization that if any of this goes on his permanent record that definitely lessens his chances of getting scholarships. but zuko assures him that mr. bumi doesn’t actually give a fuck, and then offhandedly mentions that he sort of gives him the creeps, and sokka wholeheartedly agrees. this prompts more and more conversation, as they just kind of wander about various streets. once they finally realize that it’s gotten completely dark around them, it occurs to them that they may as well have stayed in detention.

people won’t shut up about the shit that went down at post-prom. “did you see when that one guy…??” “yeah dude that was wild.” suki just smiles knowingly, and so her friends are all “oh did u hook up with ty lee again?” and she’s like “even better. i won monopoly.”

katara hates zuko for incredibly petty reasons. like, “he took the last popsicle out of her fridge” petty. then, she very obtrusively finds out that hes gay and is immediately like Oh We Are Friends Now. zuko’s life has suddenly become so much more convenient now that katara is no longer being mean to him that it actually takes him a while to realize that katara is being actively nice to him.

they talk about waves in physics, and it shakes toph to her core. later that day, she asks sokka to explain what colors are to her. he does not do a good job. starts talking about plato’s allegory of the cave, and the double slit experiment??? what??? zuko explaining that “colors are a feeling” is only marginally more helpful. so toph ultimately enlists suki’s help in explaining to her which colors are lame and which colors are dykey. suki immediately says “flannel.”

so yes aang may have technically stolen momo from the zoo but its not his fault because momo followed him home and refused to leave his side!!!!

once mai grows out of her “everyone is an idiot and i hate the world” phase, sokka realizes that she’s actually really cool. they hang out constantly. they have a weekly board game night, and they take turns hosting, which is hilarious because mai lives in a mansion and has an actual butler. their secret handshake is needlessly complicated. zuko tries to pretend it isn’t weird. but…. it’s weird right?? and like, it’s weird that no one else thinks it’s weird???? ……..why does no one else think it’s weird?????

azula is, of course, valedictorian, and her speech is about as bone-chilling as you’d expect. her jokes are too cruel to land. she namedrops harvard about ten times. she manages to squeeze in an offhanded dig at sokka, which makes katara nearly fight her onstage. at the afterparty, azula overhears a conversation wherein one meathead jock whose name she never learned says to another meathead jock whose name she never learned, “oh, but remember that speech from last year??? it was so funny.” this prompts her to have a little too much to drink, which only sokka notices (he showed up for katara and then he was dragged to the party by his friends), so he ends up driving her home. as a graduation gift to her, he says, he changes her contact name in his phone to “Azula.”

sokka has en english teacher who really has it out for him. katara tells him she had him before and wishes she could punch him in the face, and that it’s not his fault that he’s doing poorly in that class. still, sokka begs zuko to tutor him in english. zuko’s just like “you’re perfectly fine at english pakku just sucks” but he agrees to tutor him anyway. sokka’s grades do not improve in the slightest, but he does not care.

the week in which SAT results are expected to arrive, azula is weirdly vigilant about the mail. she makes sure to check the scores and then put it back in the envelope before anyone sees that it was opened. she very casually asks zuko “so what did you get?” and zuko just kinda shrugs impassively and walks away. azula smiles to herself.

katara comes home one night to find mai and sokka watching a movie on her couch. (the movie is phantom thread and there are tears of laughter streaming down both their faces by the time it’s over.) she’s like “oh hey guys i saw both your girlfriends making out with each other at a party twenty minutes ago,” and sokkas like “for the last time, katara, suki’s not my girlfriend!!” and mai just angrily shushes her because she’s talking over the johnny greenwood score!!!!! smh.

toph never stops yelling at the administration for their ableism. and you’d best believe her valedictory speech blows everyone else’s out of the water.

#woah this got long #this is what happens when u cant move from bed and u also refuse to do real work i guess #modern au #ur welcome for this novel #asks #sinxaschwarz

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smokeycemetery · 4 years

Text

JA ONE XTC

JA • • •

KEVIN HELDMAN lives in New York. This is his first piece for "Rolling Stone." (ROLLING STONE,FEB 9,1995)

THE FIRST TIME I meet JA, he skates up to me wearing Rollerblades, his cap played backward, on a street corner in Manhattan at around midnight. He's white, 24 years old, with a short, muscular build and a blond crew cut. He has been writing graffiti off and on in New York for almost 10 years and is the founder of a loosely affiliated crew called XTC. His hands, arms, legs and scalp show a variety of scars from nightsticks, razor wire, fists and sharp, jagged things he has climbed up, on or over. He has been beaten by the police -- a "wood shampoo," he calls it -- has been shot at, has fallen off a highway sign into moving traffic, has run naked through train yards tagging, has been chased down highways by rival writers wielding golf clubs and has risked his life innumerable times writing graffiti -- bombing, getting up.

JA lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment. There's graffiti on a wall-length mirror, a weight bench, a Lava lamp to bug out on, cans of paint stacked in the corner, a large Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sticker on the side of the refrigerator. The buzzer to his apartment lists a false name; his phone number is unlisted to avoid law-enforcement representatives as well as conflicts with other writers. While JA and one of his writing partners, JD, and I are discussing their apprehension about this story, JD, offering up a maxim from the graffiti life, tells me matter-of-factly, "You wouldn't fuck us over, we know where you live."

At JA's apartment we look through photos. There are hundreds of pictures of writers inside out-of-service subway cars that they've just covered completely with their tags, pictures of writers wearing orange safety vests -- to impersonate transit workers -- and walking subway tracks, pictures of detectives and transit workers inspecting graffiti that JA and crew put up the previous night, pictures of stylized JA 'throw-ups' large, bubble-lettered logos written 15 feet up and 50 times across a highway retaining wall. Picture after picture of JA's on trains, JA's on trucks, on store gates, bridges, rooftops, billboards -- all labeled, claimed and recorded on film.

JA comes from a well-to-do family; his parents are divorced; his father holds a high-profile position in the entertainment industry. JA is aware that in some people's minds this last fact calls into question his street legitimacy, and he has put a great deal of effort into resisting the correlation between privileged and soft. He estimates he has been arrested 15 times for various crimes. He doesn't have a job, and it's unclear how he supports himself. Every time we've been together, he's been high or going to get high. Once he called me from Rikers Island prison, where he was serving a couple of months for disorderly conduct and a probation violation. He said some of the inmates saw him tagging in a notebook and asked him to do tattoos for them.

It sounds right. Wherever he is, JA dominates his surroundings. With his crew, he picks the spots to hit, the stores to rack from; he controls the mission. He gives directions in the car, plans the activities, sets the mood. And he takes everything a step further than the people he's with. He climbs higher, stays awake longer, sucks deepest on the blunt, writes the most graffiti. And though he's respected by other writers for testing the limits -- he has been described to me by other writers as a king and, by way of compliment, as "the sickest guy I ever met" -- that same recklessness sometimes alienates him from the majority who don't have such a huge appetite for chaos, adrenaline, self-destruction.

When I ask a city detective who specializes in combating graffiti if there are any particularly well-known writers, he immediately mentions JA and adds with a bit of pride in his voice, "We know each other." He calls JA the "biggest graffiti writer of all time" (though the detective would prefer that I didn't mention that, because it'll only encourage JA). "He's probably got the most throw-ups in the city, in the country, in the world," the detective says. "If the average big-time graffiti vandal has 10,000 tags, JA's got 100,000. He's probably done -- in New York City alone -- at least $5 million worth of damage."

AT ABOUT 3 A.M., JA AND TWO OTHER WRITERS go out to hit a billboard off the West Side Highway in Harlem. Tonight there are SET, a 21-year-old white writer from Queens, N.Y., and JD, a black Latino writer the same age, also from Queens. They load their backpacks with racked cans of Rustoleum, fat cap nozzles, heavy 2-foot industrial bolt cutters and surgical gloves. We pile into a car and start driving, Schooly D blasting on the radio. First a stop at a deli where JA and SET go in and steal beer. Then we drive around Harlem trying a number of different dope spots, keeping an eye out for "berries" -- police cars. JA tosses a finished 40-ounce out the window in a high arc, and it smashes on the street.

At different points, JA gets out of the car and casually walks the streets and into buildings, looking for dealers. A good part of the graffiti life involves walking anywhere in the city, at any time, and not being afraid -- or being afraid and doing it anyway.

We arrive at a spot where JA has tagged the dealer's name on a wall in his territory. The three writers buy a vial of crack and a vial of angel dust and combine them ("spacebase") in a hollowed-out Phillies blunt. JD tells me that "certain drugs will enhance your bombing," citing dust for courage and strength ("bionics"). They've also bombed on mescaline, Valium, marijuana, crack and malt liquor. SET tells a story of climbing highway poles with a spray can at 6 a.m., "all Xanaxed out."

While JD is preparing the blunt, JA walks across the street with a spray can and throws up all three of their tags in 4-foot-high bubbled, connected letters. In the corner, he writes my name.

We then drive to a waterfront area at the edge of the city -- a deserted site with warehouses, railroad tracks and patches of urban wilderness dotted with high-rise billboards. All three writers are now high, and we sit on a curb outside the car smoking cigarettes. From a distance we can see a group of men milling around a parked car near a loading dock that we have to pass. This provokes 30 minutes of obsessive speculation, a stoned stakeout with play by play:

"Dude, they're writers," says SET. "Let's go down and check them out," says JD. "Wait, let's see what they write," says JA. "Yo -- they're going into the trunk," says SET. "Cans, dude, they're going for their cans. Dude, they're writers. "There could be beef, possible beef," says JA. "Can we confirm cans, do we see cans?" SET wants to know. Yes, they do have cans," SET answers for himself. "There are cans. They are writers." It turns out that the men are thieves, part of a group robbing a nearby truck. In a few moments guards appear with flashlights and at least one drawn gun. The thieves scatter as guard dogs fan out around the area, barking crazily.

We wait this out a bit until JA announces, "It's on." Hood pulled up on his head, he leads us creeping through the woods (which for JA has become the cinematic jungles of Nam). It's stop and go, JA crawling on his stomach, unnecessarily close to one of the guards who's searching nearby. We pass through graffiti-covered tunnels (with the requisite cinematic drip drip), over crumbling stairs overgrown with weeds and brush, along dark, heavily littered trails used by crackheads.

We get near the billboard, and JA uses the bolt cutters to cut holes in two chain-link fences. We crawl through and walk along the railroad tracks until we get to the base of the sign. JA, with his backpack on, climbs about 40 feet on a thin piece of metal pipe attached to the main pillar. JD, after a few failed attempts, follows with the bolt cutters shoved down his pants and passes them to JA. Hanging in midair, his legs wrapped around a small piece of ladder, JA cuts the padlock and opens up the hatch to the catwalk. He then lowers his arm to JD, who is wrapped around the pole just below him, struggling. "J, give me your hand, "I'll pull you up," JA tells him. JD hesitates. He is reluctant to let go and continues treadmilling on the pole, trying to make it up. JD, give me your hand." JD doesn't want to refuse, but he's uncomfortable entrusting his life to JA. He won't let go of the pole. JA says it again, firmly, calmly, utterly confident: "J give me your hand." JD's arm reaches up, and JA pulls JD up onto the catwalk. Next, SET, the frailest of the three, follows unsteadily. They've called down and offered to put up his tag, but he insists on going up. "Dude, fuck that, I'm down," he says. I look away while he makes his way up, sure that he's going to fall (he almost does twice). The three have developed a set pattern for dividing the labor when they're "blowing up," one writer outlining, another working behind him, filling in. For 40 minutes I watch them working furiously, throwing shadows as they cover ads for Parliament and Amtrak with large multicolored throw-ups SET and JD bickering about space, JA scolding them, tossing down empty cans.

They risk their lives again climbing down. Parts of their faces are covered in paint, and their eyes beam as all three stare at the billboard, asking, "Isn't it beautiful?' And there is something intoxicating about seeing such an inaccessible, clean object gotten to and made gaudy. We get in the car and drive the West Side Highway northbound and then southbound so they can critique their work. "Damn, I should've used the white," JD says.

The next day both billboards are newly re-covered, all the graffiti gone. JA tells me the three went back earlier to get pictures and made small talk with the workers who were cleaning it off.

GRAFFITI HAS BEEN THROUGH A NUMBER OF incarnations since it surfaced in New York in the early 70s with a Greek teen-ager named Taki 183. It developed from the straightforward writing of a name to highly stylized, seemingly illegible tags (a kind of penmanship slang) to wild-style throw-ups and elaborate (master) "pieces" and character art. There has been racist graffiti political writing, drug advertising, gang graffiti. There is an art-graf scene from which Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiac, LEE, Futura 2000, Lady Pink and others emerged; aerosol advertising; techno graffiti written into computer programs; anti-billboard graffiti; stickers; and stencil writing. There are art students doing street work in San Francisco ("nonpermissional public art"); mural work in underground tunnels in New York; gallery shows from Colorado to New Jersey; all-day Graffiti-a-Thons; and there are graffiti artists lecturing art classes at universities. Graffiti has become part of urban culture, hip-hop culture and commercial culture, has spread to the suburbs and can be found in the backwoods of California's national forests. There are graffiti magazines, graffiti stores, commissioned walls, walls of fame and a video series available (Out to bomb) documenting writers going out on graffiti missions, complete with soundtrack. Graffiti was celebrated as a metaphor in the 70s (Norman Mailer's "The Faith of Graffiti"); it went Hollywood in the '80s (Beat Street, Turk 182!, Wild Style); and in the '90s it has been increasingly used to memorialize the inner-city dead.

But as much as graffiti has found acceptance, it has been vilified a hundred times more. Writers are now being charged with felonies and given lengthy jail terms -- a 15-year-old in California was recently sentenced to eight years in a juvenile detention center. Writers have been given up to 1000 hours of community service and forced to undergo years of psychological counseling; their parents have been hit with civil suits. In California a graffiti writer's driver's license can be revoked for a year; high-school diplomas and transcripts can also be withheld until parents make restitution. In some cities property owners who fail to remove graffiti from their property are subject to fines and possible jail time. Last spring in St. Louis, Cincinnati, San Antonio and Sacramento, Calif., politicians proposed legislation to cane graffiti writers (four to 10 hits with a wooden paddle, administered by parents or by a bailiff in a public courtroom). Across the nation, legislation has been passed making it illegal to sell spray paint and wide-tipped markers to anyone under 18, and often the materials must be kept locked up in the stores. Several cities have tried to ban the sales altogether, license sellers of spray paint and require customers to give their name and address when purchasing paint. In New York some hardware-store owners will give a surveillance photo of anyone buying a large quantity of spray cans to the police. In Chicago people have been charged with possession of paint. In San Jose, Calif., undercover police officers ran a sting operation -- posing as filmmakers working on a graffiti documentary -- and arrested 31 writers.

Hidden cameras, motion detectors, laser removal, specially developed chemical coatings, night goggles, razor wire, guard dogs, a National Graffiti Information Network, graffiti hot lines, bounties paid to informers -- one estimate is that it costs $4 billion a year nationally to clean graffiti -- all in an effort to stop those who "visually laugh in the face of communities," as a Wall Street Journal editorial raged.

The popular perception is that since the late 1980s when New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority adopted a zero tolerance toward subway graffiti (the MTA either cleaned or destroyed more than 6,000 graffiti-covered subway cars, immediately pulling a train out of service if any graffiti appeared on it), graffiti culture had died in the place of its birth. According to many graffiti writers, however, the MTA, in its attempt to kill graffiti, only succeeded in bringing it out of the tunnels and train yards and making it angry. Or as Jeff Ferrell, a criminologist who has chronicled the Denver graffiti scene, theorizes, the authorities' crackdown moved graffiti writing from subculture to counterculture. The work on the trains no longer ran, so writers started hitting the streets. Out in the open they had to work faster and more often. The artistry started to matter less and less. Throw-ups, small cryptic tags done in marker and even the straightforward writing of a name became the dominant imagery. What mattered was quantity ("making noise"), whether the writer had heart, was true to the game, was "real." And the graffiti world started to attract more and more people who weren't looking for an alternative art canvas but simply wanted to be connected to an outlaw community, to a venerable street tradition that allowed the opportunity to advertise their defiance. "It's that I'm doing it that I get my rush, not by everyone seeing it," says JA. "Yeah, that's nice, but if that's all that's gonna motivate you to do it, you're gonna stop writing. That's what happened to a lot of writers." JD tells me: "We're just putting it in their faces; it's like 'Yo, you gotta put up with it.'"

Newspapers have now settled on the term "graffiti vandal" rather than "artist" or "writer." Graffiti writers casually refer to their work as doing destruction." In recent years graffiti has become more and more about beefs and wars, about "fucking up the MTA," "fucking up the city."

Writers started taking a jock attitude toward getting up frequently and tagging in hard-to-reach places, adopting a machismo toward going over other writers' work and defending their own ("If you can write, you can fight"). Whereas graffiti writing was once considered an alternative to the street, now it imports drugs, violence, weapons and theft from that world -- the romance of the criminal deviant rather than the artistic deviant. In New York today, one police source estimates there are approximately 100,000 people involved in a variety of types of graffiti writing. The police have caught writers as young as 8 and as old as 42. And there's a small group of hard-core writers who are getting older who either wrote when graffiti was in its prime or long for the days when it was, those who write out of compulsion, for each other and for the authorities who try to combat graffiti, writers who haven't found anything in their lives substantial or hype enough to replace graffiti writing.

The writers in their 20s come mostly from working-class families and have limited prospects and ambitions for the future. SET works in a drugstore and has taken lithium and Prozac for occasional depression; JD dropped out of high school and is unemployed, last working as a messenger, where he met JA. They spend their nights driving 80 miles an hour down city highways, balancing 40-ounce bottles of Old English 800 between their legs, smoking blunts and crack-laced cigarettes called coolies, always playing with the radio. They reminisce endlessly about the past, when graf was real, when graf ran on the trains, and they swap stories about who's doing what on the scene. The talk is a combo platter of Spicoli, homeboy, New Age jock and eighth grade: The dude is a fuckin' total turd. . . . I definitely would've gotten waxed. . . . It's like some bogus job. . . . I'm amped, I'm Audi, you buggin . . . You gotta be there fully, go all out, focus. . . . Dudes have bitten off SET, he's got toys jockin' him. . . .

They carry beepers, sometimes guns, go upstate or to Long Island to "prey on the hicks" and to rack cans of spray paint. They talk about upcoming court cases and probation, about quitting, getting their lives together, even as they plan new spots to hit, practice their style by writing on the walls of their apartments, on boxes of food, on any stray piece of paper (younger writers practice on school notebooks that teachers have been known to confiscate and turn over to the police). They call graffiti a "social tool" and "some kind of ill form of communication," refer to every writer no matter his age as "kid." Talk in the graffiti life vacillates between banality and mythology, much like the activity itself: hours of drudgery, hanging out, waiting, interrupted by brief episodes of exhilaration. JD, echoing a common refrain, says, "Graffiti writers are like bitches: a lot of lying, a lot of talking, a lot of gossip." They don't like tagging with girls ("cuties," or if they use drugs, "zooties") around because all they say is (in a whiny voice), You're crazy. . . . Write my name."

WHEN JA TALKS ABOUT GRAFFITI, HE'S reluctant to offer up any of the media-ready cliches about the culture (and he knows most of them). He's more inclined to say, "Fuck the graffiti world," and scoff at graf shops, videos, conventions and 'zines. But he can be sentimental about how he began -- riding the No. 1, 2 and 3 trains when he was young, bugging out on the graffiti-covered cars, asking himself, "How did they do that? Who are they?" And he'll respectfully invoke the names of long-gone writers he admired when he was just starting out: SKEME, ZEPHYR, REVOLT, MIN.

JA, typical of the new school, primarily bombs, covering wide areas with throw-ups. He treats graffiti less as an art form than as an athletic competition, concentrating on getting his tag in difficult-to-reach places, focusing on quantity and working in defiance of an aesthetic that demands that public property be kept clean. (Writers almost exclusively hit public or commercial property.)

And when JA is not being cynical, he can talk for hours about the technique, the plotting, the logistics of the game like "motion bombing" by clockwork a carefully scoped subway train that he knows has to stop for a set time, at a set place, when it gets a certain signal in the tunnels. He says, "To me, the challenge that graffiti poses, there's something very invigorating and freeing about it, something almost spiritual. There's a kind of euphoria, more than any kind of drug or sex can give you, give me . . . for real."

JA says he wants to quit, and he talks about doing it as if he were in a 12-step program. "How a person in recovery takes it one day a time, that's how I gotta take it," he says. You get burnt out. There's pretty much nothing more the city can throw at me; it's all been done." But then he'll hear about a yard full of clean sanitation trucks, the upcoming Puerto Rican Day Parade (a reason to bomb Fifth Avenue) or a billboard in an isolated area; or it'll be 3 a.m., he'll be stoned, driving around or sitting in the living room, playing NBA Jam, and someone will say it: "Yo, I got a couple of cans in the trunk. . . ." REAS, an old-school writer of 12 years who, after a struggle and a number of relapses, eventually quit the life, says, "Graffiti can become like a hole you're stuck in; it can just keep on going and going, there's always another spot to write on."

SAST is in his late 20s and calls himself semiretired after 13 years in the graf scene. He still carries around a marker with him wherever he goes and cops little STONE tags (when he's high, he writes, STONED). He's driving JA and me around the city one night, showing me different objects they've tagged, returning again and again to drug spots to buy dust and crack, smoking, with the radio blasting; he's telling war stories about JA jumping onto moving trains, JA hanging off the outside of a speeding four-wheel drive. SAST is driving at top speed, cutting in between cars, tailgating, swerving. A number of times as we're racing down the highway, I ask him if he could slow down. He smiles, asks if I'm scared, tells me not to worry, that he's a more cautious driver when he's dusted. At one point on the FDR, a car cuts in front of us. JA decides to have some fun.

"Yo, he burnt you, SAST," JA says. We start to pick up speed. Yo, SAST, he dissed you, he cold dissed you, SAST." SAST is buying it, the look on his face becoming more determined as we go 70, 80, 90 miles an hour, hugging the divider, flying between cars. I turn to JA, who's in the back seat, and I try to get him to stop. JA ignores me, sitting back perfectly relaxed, smiling, urging SAST to go faster and faster, getting off, my fear adding to his rush.

At around 4 a.m., SAST drops us off on the middle of the Manhattan Bridge and leaves. JA wants to show me a throw-up he did the week before. We climb over the divider from the roadway to the subway tracks. JA explains that we have to cross the north and the southbound tracks to get to the outer part of the bridge. In between there are a number of large gaps and two electrified third rails, and we're 135 feet above the East River. As we're standing on the tracks, we hear the sound of an oncoming train. JA tells me to hide, to crouch down in the V where two diagonal braces meet just beside the tracks.

I climb into position, holding on to the metal beams, head down, looking at the water as the train slams by the side of my body. This happens twice more. Eventually, I cross over to the outer edge of the bridge, which is under construction, and JA points out his tag about 40 feet above on what looks like a crow's-nest on a support pillar. After a few moments of admiring the view, stepping carefully around the many opportunities to fall, JA hands me his cigarettes and keys. He starts crawling up one of the braces on the side of the bridge, disappears within the structure for a moment, emerges and makes his way to an electrical box on a pillar. Then he snakes his way up the piping and grabs on to a curved support. Using only his hands he starts to shimmy up; at one point he's hanging almost completely upside down. If he falls now, he'll land backward onto one of the tiers and drop into the river below. He continues to pull himself up, the old paint breaking off in his hands, and finally he flips his body over a railing to get to the spot where he tagged. He doesn't have a can or a marker with him, and at this point graffiti seems incidental. He comes down and tells me that when he did the original tag he was with two writers; one he half carried up, the other stopped at a certain point and later told JA that watching him do that tag made him appreciate life, being alive.

We walk for 10 minutes along a narrow, grooved catwalk on the side of the tracks; a thin wire cable prevents a fall into the river. A few times, looking down through the grooves, I have to stop, force myself to take the next step straight ahead, shake off the vertigo. JA is practically jogging ahead of me. We exit the bridge into Chinatown as the sun comes up and go to eat breakfast. JA tells me he's a vegetarian.

IF YOU TALK TO SERIOUS GRAFFITI writers, most of them will echo the same themes; they decry the commercialization of graf, condemn the toys and poseurs and alternately hate and feel attached to the authorities who try to stop them. They say with equal parts bravado and self-deprecation that a graffiti writer is a bum, a criminal, a vandal, slick, sick, obsessed, sneaky, street-smart, living on edges figurative and literal. They show and catalog cuts and scars on their bodies from razor wire, pieces of metal, knives, box cutters. I once casually asked a writer named GHOST if he knew another writer whose work I had seen in a graf'zine. "Yeah, I know him, he stabbed me," GHOST replies matter-of-factly. "We've still got beef." SET tells me he was caught by two DTs (detectives) who assaulted him, took his cans of paint and sprayed his body and face. JA tells similar stories of police beatings for his making officers run after him, of cops making him empty his spray cans on his sneakers or on the back of a fellow writer's jacket. JD has had 48 stitches in his back and 18 in his head over "graffiti-related beef." JA's best friend and writing partner, SANE SMITH, a legendary all-city writer who was sued by the city and the MTA for graffiti, was found dead, floating in Jamaica Bay. There's endless speculation in the grafworld as to whether he was pushed, fell or jumped off a bridge. SANE is so respected, there are some writers today who spend time in public libraries reading and rereading the newspaper microfilm about his death, his arrests, his career. According to JA, after SANE's death, his brother, SMiTH, also a respected graffiti artist, found a piece of paper on which SANE had written his and JA's tag and off to the side, FLYING HIGH THE XTC WAY. It now hangs on JA's apartment wall.

One morning, JA and I jump off the end of a subway platform and head into the tunnels. He shows me hidden rooms, emergency hatches that open to the sidewalk, where to stand when the trains come by. He tells me about the time SANE lay face down in a shallow drainage ditch on the tracks as an express train ran inches above him. JA says anytime he was being chased by the police he would run into a nearby subway station, jump off the platform and run into the tunnels. The police would never follow. KET, a veteran graffiti writer, tells me how in the tunnels he would accidentally step on homeless people sleeping. They'd see him tagging and would occasionally ask that he "throw them up," write their names on the wall. He usually would. Walking in the darkness between the electrified rails as trains race by, JA tells me the story of two writers he had beef with who came into the tunnels to cross out his tags. Where the cross-outs stop is where they were killed by an approaching train.

The last time I go out with JA, SET and JD, they pick me up at around 2 am. We drive down to the Lower East Side to hit a yard where about 60 trucks and vans are parked next to one another. Every vehicle is already covered with throw-ups and tags, but the three start to write anyway, JA in a near frenzy. They're running in between the rows, crawling under trucks, jumping from roof to roof, wedged down in between the trailers, engulfed in nauseating clouds of paint fumes (the writers sometimes blow multicolored mucous out of their noses), going over some writers' tags, respecting others, JA throwing up SANE's name, searching for any little piece of clean space to write on. JA, who had once again been talking about retirement, is now hungry to write and wants to hit another spot. But JD doesn't have any paint, SET needs gas money for his car, and they have to drive upstate the next morning to appear in court for a paint-theft charge.

During the ride back uptown the car is mostly quiet, the mood depressed. And even when the three were in the truck yard, even when JA was at his most intense, it seemed closer to work, routine, habit. There are moments like this when they seem genuinely worn out by the constant stress, the danger, the legal problems, the drugging, the fighting, the obligation to always hit another spot. And it's usually when the day is starting.

About a week later I get a call from another writer whom JA had told I was writing an article on graffiti. He tells me he has never been king, never gone all city, but now he is making a comeback, coming out of retirement with a new tag. He says he could do it easily today because there is no real competition. He says he was thinking about trying to make some money off of graffiti -- galleries. canvases, whatever . . . to get paid.

"I gotta do something," the writer says. "I can't rap, I can't dance, I got this silly little job." We talk more, and he tells me he appreciates that I'm writing about writers, trying to get inside the head of a vandal, telling the real deal. He also tells me that graffiti is dying, that the city is buffing it, that new writers are all toys and are letting it die, but it's still worth it to write.

I ask why, and then comes the inevitable justification that every writer has to believe and take pleasure in, the idea that order will always have to play catch-up with them. "It takes me seconds to do a quick throw-up; it takes them like 10 minutes to clean it," he says. "Who's coming out on top?"

#graffiti #ja #ja one #ja nyc #ja one nyc #new york graffiti #xtc crew #xtc #graff nyc #ja graffiti #ja one graffiti

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bluewhores · 4 years

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This is "Radio Rebel," live from the underground. You don't know who I am... But I know who you are... Because I'm one of you. I got a "minus" in participation... But you can't give me a "minus" for who I am! So, since grades are being handed out, I think I'll give all of us at Lincoln Bay High an "F," for labeling each other. Jocks. Outcasts. Queen bees and their fellow pops. And... new-born pops. Guys, these are all labels, not who we really are. Once upon a time, now those differences just divide us. You deserve to embrace your awesomeness. Stand up for who you are. Reject the status quo. I dare you. Okay. Last night. "Radio Rebel... " ...was awesome? As usual! "Reject the status quo" is my new life motto. She's so... inspiring. So... herself. I wish I could be more like her. You should talk to your step-dad. What? Why? Uh, he runs Slam-FM, the biggest radio station in Seattle. Maybe he could give you an internship. That'd be a confidence booster, right? Are you kidding me? He's been married to my mom for, what, two months? Probably thinks I'm a total step-freak. I freak out when he asks what kind of cereal I want. I just wish I could talk to everyone the way I talk to you... I guess that's why you're my B.F.F. B.F.F.T.L.E.W.E. "Best friends for totally, like, ever, without exception. " Catchy. You need a relaxation technique. When I'm memorizing lines for drama, I imagine I'm breathing in the words. Audrey? What does that even mean? A- h-h-hem. You need to Bree-ea-athe your wo-o-o-ords. How can you even breathe at a time like this? Problem, Barry? Last night, Radio Rebel revealed the biggest clue yet about her identity. She goes to our school! She mentioned it at minute 14:30, in Tuesday night's podcast. Wow, obsess much, Larry? Obsess? Please! I- I would hardly describe myself as "obsessive. " What? It's flu season! It's so exciting. Someone on the radio who's actually one of us. She could be that girl. Or... or her. Or... Or her. Or that girl that girl. No. That girl's too tall. Radio Rebel's voice sounds 5'6" to me. And her hair is reddish. Like Tara's. No. She's nothing like Tara. Hey! What's... that supposed to mean? Oh. We... We love you, but you're nothing like Radio Rebel... Who's definitely a blonde. And you know this how? Radio Rebel is my soul mate. For example, I also got a "minus" in participation. How can that be? You never shut up! Exactly. Honestly, it's a relief that we broke up. The whole long-distance relationship thing was just lame. Well, I'm glad you've moved on, because you've already had three formal asks to prom. Alan Ackerman... He's too short. Think of the pictures. Okay. How about Jamie Wardle? Have you ever noticed how pointy his head is? It's like a triangle. How do we "reject the status quo" when the status quo is... status quo? Like Radio Rebel said... Be ourselves. Audrey! So, next... Erin Brooks is officially campaigning for prom queen. I just confirmed it on her fan page. Whatever. No competition there. Why don't I have a fan page? I'll get right on it. Hi, Stacy. How's it going? This... is what I was talking about. Everyone thinks they can just talk to us because of that eternally lame "radio babble. " Methinks she protests too much. Yeah, we thinks... Wait! What do we thinks? That maybe she is Radio Rebel. Like I would ever encourage people like you to talk to us. Ah-hah! So you admit you listen to her. This one's staring at me. Make it stop. Please don't stand so close to us. You and I aren't any different. Like Radio Rebel said... no words. You don't think we're different? Watch and learn. Principal Moreno! Stacy! Is everything all right over here? Actually, no. Audrey was trying to get me to listen to some podcast in class. Of course, I said no. What? No. I mean, I never... you know... That there is an anti-distraction policy. Let me see your bag. But I wasn't even listening to it! Well, now you can't, can you? You, too, young lady. Hand it over. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Stacy. Get it now? Your little DJ hero doesn't know what she's talking about. Oh? Does

"her royal shyness" want to say something? I... Huh? Uh... I thought not. Bye, girls. Greetings to our loyal fans. This is Gabe and Gavin, or as you know us... the "Gees!"... ...coming at you to say thank you for voting for us to play at your prom. We'll make sure it totally rocks! Well, well, well, look who it is. Lincoln bay's own Internet sensation. Hey, Stacy. Gavin... and Gavin's camera. I heard you guys are playing prom. Pretty sweet. Bye. Dude... You are in. What do you mean? Stacy and her college boyfriend just called it quits. Which means, as of right now, she doesn't have a prom date. I can't ask her to prom. Didn't you see that? "Hi, Gavin. " It's the band, man. We're getting some heat, a little attention from the ladies. Your stock is on the rise, and Stacy's noticing. Well, what would I even say? Listen to me. Okay? Focus. Eye of the tiger. Don't stop believing. We are the champions. Are you just quoting song titles? This is your chance, man. Seize the moment. Our fan base is expanding... to other schools, the city... I still feel like that awkward kid with a guitar just hanging out in your garage. Forget that nerd! Now you're "Gavin. " Of the "Gees. " We're going all the way, baby! Recording contracts, sold-out stadiums. Gees for life? Gees for life. Ow! All right, everybody. Today, we are going to be working on a project with Mr. Saul's drama class. Oh, here they are now. Come on in, people. Please, pick a seat. Quickly. This is so exciting! Gavin! This seat is free. I will be pairing you all up, and... What is Gavin doing here? Uh... he's in drama? You know, you could talk to him. Since, like, the first Harry Potter movie. Ugh... No. No, he's... He is a newborn pop. Totally wrong social bracket. The best thing for me to do is just avoid him altogether. Gavin's not elitist like that. Ask yourself, what would Radio Rebel do? You will be translating a scene from Shakespeare... Hey. It's a good thing we're in class together now. Saves me from having to find you later. Oh? And why would you have to find me? 'Cause I wanted to ask you something. About prom? I need a volunteer. Who would like to write a scene suggestion on the b...? Board. Ahem! Oh! Did you wanna... pick a volunteer? I got excited. Drama is my life. Okay! Who wants to write a suggestion? Let's see hands, people! Okay... hands, hands, ha... Tara! How about you? Come on up. You can do it. Just don't make eye-contact. I was thinking maybe that we could... Hello! Walk much? Uh... Oh! Okay, people. Settle, settle. I still need a volunteer. Are you all right? Are you okay? Hey. Delilah. Look at this. Cami Q called me, she told me I had to check out this new podcast girl. She's... she's really something special. That's for my pedicure.

That was the latest single but who are you, exactly? I think we're always juggling a bunch of different "you's". Like, when you're with your friends, sometimes, you're the funny one, or the loud one... No! N- n-n-n-n-no! How about with someone you like? Which "you" shows up then? Which is probably why I never talk to him. Or do you feel like you're 17 different people, too? Yes, I do! I totally feel that way! She's amazing, right? Exactly what Slam-FM needs... a fresh, new vibe... to get us out of this ratings slump... You need to ask Tara what she thinks! It could be a bonding moment. Yeah... I mean, I could... I could... I could do that. Be, like, kind of a bonding thing. Step-daughter, step-father... Mm-hmm! Stop eating my "foot fruit. " I will, uh, I'll do that. I'll talk to her, about it all. You can do it! It'll be a bonding thing. Yeah! Huh. - Hey! - Rob? What are you doing here? I live here. Okay. Thanks for stopping by. So! What do you think of Radio Rebel? What? Why? It's just I just want to get your take on her, that's all. She's great. Bye now! You know what? I... I knew that you'd think so. I really did. You know? We have so much in common, you know? Yeah, like, we're both super-busy. So, I... look. I know that this is a really difficult transition for you, and, with your dad working in Taiwan, and your mom and I, and... I just want you to know that you have a friend here. It's fine. I'm fine. Really. So, this is good, right? I mean, here we are, we're hanging out, we're listening to Radio Rebel, and... Together... That's weird. What happened? The music just stopped. Did yours stop? Where'd she go? And that rounds off the final set for my favorite local band. Now, here is an extra long track just for you guys. I hope you dig it. You're Radio Rebel? That depends. Am I in trouble? No! No, of course not. I... I... I don't know how you're doing that? I mean, you're so shy. I am. But... she's not. I don't know... It just works. I can't believe it. I mean, I-I love it, I just can't believe it! We're gonna take Slam-FM to the next level. I'm... I'm sorry, "we"? Yeah! I... you're gonna be Slam-FM's next big thing. You're hired. That's for sure. You're hired. Oh, I just happened to be eavesdropping! I hope you don't mind. O- m-g! My baby is gonna take slam to the next level! What's the matter? What if I mess it up? Oh, honey. You have to take risks. Like, I always thought chartreuse was a bad color for me, and then I tried it, and now it's my trademark. How do you know something isn't fabu, if you never try it, right? Look out. You're in the twelfth night group with Stacy and Gavin. No, no, no. No, I can't. Talk to him. He's just a person. Go on. Go. Do it. Hey. Cool shirt! I love that band! "You first" rules. The Gees can only dream of being that good some day. The Gees are totally as good as you first. Really? Okay! Here's our scene. Tara is viola. Now, Tara this role does require both walking and talking. Think you can manage? Just kidding, you know I love you. Okay, and, Gavin, you're orsino. Wait... What about you? Brower has me directing. And we've got a lot of work to do. If you like you first, you should check out "red letter day. " You ever hear of them? Uh-uh! No band talk right now, gav. Sorry, but I don't want anyone to think I'm favoring you just 'cause I'm your prom date. Speaking of, we need to work on your prom king campaign. Of course, he's taking Stacy to prom. Look, at least you talked to him. For you, that's major progress. I barely got two words out. Come to my house tonight. We'll do yoga. I'll teach you the "extended hyena" pose I invented, and we'll listen to Radio Rebel. I can't. What do you mean? It's Radio Rebel's first show on Slam-FM. Do you realize how epic that is? I mean, she was popular before, but now it's, like, the whole world will be listening, including us! I have plans. What plans? Family plans. You are the worst liar. You sound just like you did when you said you liked that haircut I got at the mall. It wasn't that bad. It was mullet-adjacent. Tell me what you're hiding, or

I'll start screaming in three seconds. - What? - One... - Audrey, no-no-no! - Two... Well? I'm sorry. I can't tell you. I thought I was your b. F.F.T.L.E. "Without exception. " Then... Why don't you trust me? Gavin. 3:00. Your 3:00, or my 3:00? We have the same 3:00. Oh. He's coming over here. What do I do? Oh! For the record, this is why you don't ice your friends out. Hey, Tara. What's up? So, do you wanna run lines on the weekend? Or we could mime the lines, if you're not feeling particularly talky? "Mime. " "Talky... " I'm gonna go. M- me. N-now. Um... Okay... Tara! Free meals! Score. Hey, Seattle! You're listening to Slam-FM! I want Radio Rebel ads on every major social network, just blast the Internet... updates every hour. Want to blanket the market. Good. Bye. So, I was talking to your mom about keeping Radio Rebel on the q. T., and I think it's a good idea. You know? I don't want you to talk to anybody about it. Radio Rebel is the shot in the arm that Slam-FM needs. Since the last show that I produced with snazzy dog crashed and burned, there's a lot hinging on this. Right? Including my job. But, no pressure. Okay? So, your show's gonna run 7:00 P.M., Monday to Friday, since that was the time that you broadcast from your room, and you'll be taking over from... DJ Fluffy Mac! Who is moving to Sunday night. All right, so let's show you the booth. Tara? Hey! Tara! Remember me? Cami q. We met at the slam Christmas party. When rob told me you were Radio Rebel, this was my face... "Wha...?" 'Cause I thought you were just this little shy thing, but you are all kinds of amazing. You... Are fierce! I just can't wait to see what you got goin'... Tara? Are you okay? I can't speak to Gavin without freezing, how am I supposed to speak to all of Seattle? It's no different than recording in your bedroom. Yes, it is! In my bedroom, I could pretend that nobody was listening, but, right know, I know that everybody is listening, and rob's putting all this pressure on it, and my mom wants it to be my "chartreuse moment," and I don't even like chartreuse, I don't even know what chartreuse is. Tara? Come out where I can see you. Everybody gets nervous. It's totally normal. Just... Consider me like your best friend here at slam. Catch your breath. Then we'll go out together. Okay? All right. This whole booth is all for me? We call this "the live room," 'cause when that red light is on, you're live. If you wanna move around, use this headset, so we don't miss anything. There's your vocal-masking button. You already know all about that. Song selection's up to you. All right? There's, like... 20,000 songs here. You've got some time before you go on if you wanna practice, get comfortable? Practice... Great. Okay, um... Maybe I should play a song, just to make sure I know how to... No. No-no-no! Bad practice, bad practice. Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. I'm right next door, if you need me. Just pretend you're in your bedroom. You're on in 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three... You're listening to Slam-FM! This is the Radio Rebel show! This is Radio Rebel, live from Slam-FM. Moving the show from my bedroom to the slam studios was a bit terrifying, but life's all about change, right? Maybe some people just wanna label you as one thing, compartmentalize you, and walk away... But we don't have to let that stop us from becoming who we want to be... Or, like that kid with the remote-control car... to invent the first all-green rocket ship. Or the girl who gives everyone carnations on Valentine's day, just so no one feels left out... Maybe she'll grow up to be president. Guys, if we just drop the labels and the cliques... ...We have no idea what we're capable of. Okay, if you're with me on this, wear red tomorrow. It'll be like saying that, despite our differences, we're in this together. This next song... Is from "red letter day. " Ahem! Do you like my glasses? But you have freakishly good vision. Fashion shouldn't be functional. Do you know why I picked red rims? I assume you do because of your red shirt.

I can't believe all these people are wearing red just because Radio Rebel said to. How cool is that? So you did listen to Radio Rebel last night! What happened to your mystery plans? Can you guys tell us apart? You guys are fraternal, not identical. Hey... We just ran a recording of Radio Rebel's show through a voice-analysis app. We're closer than ever to uncovering her true identity. Picture it: "Local twins crack Radio Rebel's I.D." Soon, I'll be able to profess my undying love. We'll be famous. I mean, we could get a reward. Or at least our own reality TV show. ...where she and I could be married, live on TV. Tara? Since your step-dad runs slam, maybe you could help us out. Oh. I'm not allowed to go to Slam-FM while, um, she's there. To keep the mystery, uh, mysterious. The truth is, Tara doesn't have time to do friend-related things. Audrey? Audrey. Audrey! What? Forget it. I'm leaving. I'm about to tell you something so top-secret, you have to promise never to repeat it to anyone. I won't tell anyone. I swear. Hoo. You can say it. Um... Tara! You have to breathe your words. Come on, breathe the words. Breathe in! Ahem. I'm... Radio Rebel. Oh! I don't believe you. If you're like me, and believe music can change the world one track at a time, you're gonna love this track by one of my new fave bands. Wow. I can't believe she's... you! I mean... you're her! I mean, you're the last person I'd expect to be Radio Rebel, Tara. It's been driving me crazy, not telling you. And, of course, I've been wanting to hang out, but I've been doing my show. Here's the thing... you can't tell anyone, not even tell Larry and Barry, because slam wants to keep it this big secret, and so do I. Remember... Twelfth night is all about mistaken identity. Tara, your character has a crush on Gavin's character. But she's hiding from the law... or whatever... so, she's disguised as a guy, and Gavin's character doesn't know you like him. So, you're in agony. I need to see real pain. Let's do the end again! And... act! My sister likes this guy. And, by "my sister," I-I mean... My sister, not me... at all... 'Cause... look at my pants. See? I'm totally a dude. Does this guy... like her, too? That's the tragic part. She hasn't told him how she feels, so... She's not sure if he feels the same way. What's she waiting for? For him to make the first move. But, tell me... If she never confesses her love, does that make her love any less real? Okay! Some of that worked... And some of it didn't. There is a fine line between pain and constipation. Let's take five. Oh, you, uh, you dropped... Oh, thanks. Is that a demo? For the Gees? Yeah, you know, trying out a few new things. Actually, I'd love to try out some more new stuff, to be honest. - Like, I've got another song... - We're back! Let's go! Come on! Get up, get up. Come on. Go, go, go, go. Get in positions. Oh! Let's try it with Tara wa-a-a-ay over here. Yeah! Mm-hmm. Perfect! Perfect. Uh, I love it! Okay. Hold on. Tara? Did you want to say something? She's fine. Action. Tara? You listen to Radio Rebel, right? You were wearing red yesterday, so I figured. Rebel's right. Life's about taking risks. Making changes. So... Go ahead. Say what you feel. Well, it's just, this scene... It's about... Us falling for each other. Even though we don't know it yet, and, I... And blocking like this feels weird, right? Right! Exactly. Yeah, I mean... The audience is supposed to get what we're feeling from what we're not saying. It only works if we're... Closer. Yeah. Yeah. I like that better, too. Okay. We clearly need extra rehearsal. My place. Tonight at 7:00. Oh... I can't tonight. There's... Wednesday's mandatory family dinner... With my... family... Dinner. Fine. Whatever. Lunch. Tomorrow. Everybody's a director now. Good job. Okay. You people at Lincoln bay high killed it with the red yesterday. I noticed one of you wearing these red specs that were the epitome of cool. But can we talk about what's not cool, for a second? How the school keeps confiscating our stuff. I mean, I've lost two sets of headphones and an

mp3 player, although I did notice that some of us seem to be exempt from this little "stuff snatching" epidemic. Funny how that works, huh? Guys, it's not just our playlists and players we're being deprived of, you know? Music is the soundtrack to our lives. It's where we've been, and where we're going, and everywhere in between. Our music is who we are. Are we gonna let someone just snatch that away from us? Or are we... gonna change the game? Here's a new song about, uh... Trying things you never thought you could. Like, I've been trying to do a bunch of new things lately, and this song severely inspires me. So... check it out. Vibe it, really, really dig on it, and, then... remember that feeling. Tomorrow at 8:00 A.M., stop what you're doing, get up, and dance. Just express yourself! Let yourself out. This is "turn it all around" by the Gees. You're all going to get into so much trouble for this! Radio Rebel doesn't tell me when to dance! Time to take your own advice! This is a place of learning, anyone listening to Radio Rebel during school will be suspended. And, Radio Rebel, I advise you to turn yourself in now, or your future will be radio silence. Nice! Hey, Tara. Can I talk to you? Uh... Hmm! Yeah... It's about our song. We have a... we have a song? The one Radio Rebel played last night. Oh. I couldn't believe that she likes our music. Then I wondered... How'd she get our demo? Got anything you wanna confess? It's you, isn't it? It's me? It's me? You're the one. Which one, of the one of... You're the one who gave the cd to your stepdad, to give to Radio Rebel! Yes! Thank you! Yes, yes. That's the one. I'm the one. I'm the one with the... I like it, it's a great song. Thanks! But... It doesn't really feel like my voice. It's like... people are hearing me, but they're not hearing me. That sounded crazy, didn't it? No, no. Not at all. I totally get you. Uh... Well... Thanks again. Oh... Radio Rebel is amazing. She's really... She gets caught in my head, you know? It's like... I'd be able to recognize her on the street, just from how well I know her from her show. That'd be, um, something. Yeah. See you later, Tara. Bye, Gavin. You're listening to Slam-FM! That's her! I know it, I can tell! Radio Rebel is an old guy? With a beard? Ever hear of disguise, Barry? Seattle's hottest DJ... the Radio Rebel show! Did you see the posters? Did you see the posters? Hard to miss. They're everywhere! My mom just called me and said she saw me on the bus. I was like, "no, I'm at slam. " She was like, "no, no, no, you're on the bus! Of the side of it!" They're spending money on marketing for you, which means the ratings must be up. You're famous. No. I'm not. No, Radio Rebel is. Even Gavin has a thing for her. That's good. We like Gavin. Right? Yes, we do. And it was hard enough when I just had Stacy to deal with, now I'm competing with myself for his attention... And I appear to be losing. Baby, you've got fan clubs at every school in Seattle. I mean, look at all the petitions! "We want a dance break every day. " "We want more Radio Rebel. " "Don't take our music away. " Wait... I have a really good idea. Okay. This is what we're gonna do. What is going on? Well, Moreno can't complain about us disrupting class time, because it's lunch. This was your idea? Ooh! It's brill! Hello, Lincoln bay! This is cami q coming at you live! Y'all feelin' good today? Listen up, I've got a special message from our good friend... Radio Rebel! This is Radio Rebel coming at you with a little lunchtime surprise. That girl invaded our airwaves, now, a lot of you guys have im'ed and texted me about the powers-that-be taking away our music, part of ourselves is being taken away. That's not gonna make us better students, and you can't punish someone for relaxing during their down time. Right, principal Moreno? You stole our music, and I'm giving it back. Text in requests! Lunchtime is our time. You're on school property! Actually, beyond this point is city property. Did you want to see my permit? Move! Move! Move! This "radio hor-Rebel" has got to go.

It's kind of a fun dance! No, it's not. Stop that. Go vote for me for prom queen again. Go! Oh! Can I have your attention, please? I want you all to know that this lunchtime fiasco was a... Fiasco! It is time for a certain DJ's reign of Rebellion to come to an end. Anyone with any information regarding the identity of this Radio Rebel is to report it to me immediately, or risk facing disciplinary actions themselves. Now, get to class. I just want to say that I could not agree with you more. I, for one, thought that display at lunch was disgusting. "Radio dribble" should pay for pulling a stunt like that. Oh, don't worry, Stacy. Disruptions like today are temporary, but I can enforce disciplinary measures that can last forever! Like diamonds? And rice cakes? No words. You mean... You can expel Radio Rebel? Well, her actions were in direct defiance of my policies, so there will be consequences. All I can think about now is rice cakes. Sorry, guys, I was thinking. - What are you doing? - Sorry. I think we can do better than this. You know, actually say something with our music, something meaningful, relatable. I was... um, one, you don't stop in the middle of a song, man. Okay? And, two, our fans don't want a message, they want to party. You want meaningful, go write a poem. Stick with what's working, alright? The top. Since when do our fans determine what we play? It's the price of fame, my friend. One! Two! Three... Now that we've got a following, I think we can finally afford to take some risks, and express ourselves creatively... we're giving 'em what they want, alright? No more, no less. Okay? Okay. Gees for life? Sure. Gees for life. Attaboy. All right! From the top, boys. If you don't go to Lincoln bay high, you missed out on a rock-star day. I've never seen so many people dancing. So my listeners at hoover high were so inspired by what went down at Lincoln bay, they had a full-on flash-mob at lunch today. You guys totally need to post a video on my web page stat. Yeah, I heard the mathletes and the water-polo team just formed a pops/non-pops alliance club. You guys are my heroes! He said this show inspired him to stand up to his boss and get the raise he deserved. See what I mean? It's never too late to make a difference, guys. Tara! I have news! But we can't talk here. Excuse me? Could you give us a minute? But this is my office. Guess who got nominated for prom queen? Stacy? You did! Well, not you. Radio Rebel! This is horrible. The whole point of Radio Rebel is that she's anonymous, remember? What's gonna happen if she wins? Who's gonna go up there and accept the crown? I could get expelled. I have to put a stop to this. Are you crazy? You can't quit now. Not now, Mr. margowsky! But I need the broom. Audrey... I can't do this anymore. - You can. - I can't. - You can. - I can't. You can! Not now! I need the dust pan, too. Here. You're a hero to people, and that's why they nominated you. You can't turn your back on them now. This is your time to shine. What if I don't want to shine? What if shining really isn't my thing? As your b. F.F.T.L.E.W.E., I'm legally obligated to make sure you do the show. Even if I have to drag you there. Hey, Tara! We've got another demo on the way for Radio Rebel. Oh, I'm sure she's stoked to hear it. Yo, Gavin. We love you, man. Clever. Make friends with the girl whose dad runs slam. I like the way you think, bro. Her name's Tara. Who cares? She's actually really nice. Whoa, wait. You're not, like, into her, or anything, are you? 'Cause that would not be good for business. What do you mean? We have fans now. Dedicated followers. Those are the kind of people that you should be spending time with. You don't even know her. Okay. I don't need to, and neither do you. Think of the band, man! Think like a rock star! Why did we have to park so far away? Because we can't risk anyone recognizing your car, or us. Now wig me. Oh... This cardboard is inflaming my eczema. Do you have any aloe vera? Will you concentrate? Why do you always get the cool stuff? Shh-shh. Focus!

This location is compromised. Let's move. Keep it steady, keep it steady. Buh-buh-buh-buh! Binoculars! Focus, Larry! Come on! Droppin' stuff... Got 'em! Okay. Go! Get 'em. Blend in. Blend in. So, this... is where the magic happens. This is so cool! Is this the famous Audrey Sharma? Nice to meet you! Could you girls excuse us for a moment? Look, if this about Audrey being here, she's the only person I told, and I totally trust her. No, this is not about Audrey. This is about you. Principal Moreno called. The lunchtime dance party, that was a mistake. She wants to expel Radio Rebel as soon as she finds out who she is. Well, as long as she doesn't know it's me, you shouldn't have a problem. I can't take that chance, though, can I? What do you mean? I may run Slam-FM, but I'm your stepfather first. It's unfortunate, but this has gone too far. Yes, it has. Too far to stop now. Look, this is bigger than slam, or Moreno, or even me. I can't turn my back on the thousands of people who finally feel like they have a voice. And I'm not going back to the shy, invisible girl who's afraid to even speak. Look, I know that it's risky, but I'm not going to back down. You know, I think that's the most that I've ever heard Tara say at one time. You're on in two minutes. Good luck, kid. A lot of you want to know who I am. Come on, come on to mama. Maybe it'd be easier if you could see my face. But that's the thing... 'Cause it's not about me. It's about you! You don't need to know my name. You wanna know who I am? I'm somebody who's tired of being afraid. I know how it can hold you back, so, say it out loud. Just say what you're afraid of. Call in. I... dare you. I guess everyone's too afraid to say what they're afraid of. Maybe this song'll inspire you. Lines 1 through 20! You're on with Radio Rebel. One time, I accidentally swallowed a tiny piece of tinfoil, so now I'm afraid if I stand too close to the microwave, I'm afraid of getting cut from the football team. I'm afraid Larry might be losing it! I'm afraid I'll always be a single integer. I'm afraid of power outages. I'm afraid to do my own thing. I was, too. Was? So, what changed? I guess I... Started doing this show, and I realized... You're not as alone as you feel. If you can remember that, it might be a easier to take a risk. Do your own thing. Yeah. Thanks. We'll take more calls in a minute. In the meantime, you guys are gonna seriously dig this next song. Hey! Where are you going? Just... somewhere... To do... something. I'm afraid of hyenas! I'm afraid to show people the real me! Congratulations! What? Your prom queen nomination! It's on the school website. I am so excited. But what about principal Moreno? Mom, if Radio Rebel wins, and I confess my identity, I could get expelled. I don't care about principal Moreno. Honey, people nominated you for prom queen because you inspire them. You're standing up for your beliefs, and that's all I care about. I don't think I'm going to prom. Let me rephrase that... all I care about is you standing up for your beliefs and prom! You have to go! It's prom! Y... nuh! No! - Let me fin... - You have to! Uh! Yeah. Okay? You're going to prom. You're going to be excellent! Ooh! This is your principal. There's been some controversy about the identity of Radio Rebel, and there is nothing more distracting than controversy. Now, I gave her the chance to do the right thing and turn herself in, but... She chose to hide, avoiding the consequences of her insubordination. Well, she can't hide forever, which is why, until Radio Rebel's identity is revealed, I'm canceling the prom. For everyone! She can't do this! She can do whatever she wants. She's, like, the principal. Now do you think there's favoritism at Lincoln bay? Not Moreno... "Radio feeble!" She's destroying everything! Why should we have our prom taken away just so she can make a point? This is bad. This is really, really bad. Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Prom is a rite of passage. If Radio Rebel is really all about the people, then

she'll reveal her identity and give us our prom back! How are we gonna get in there? Who do you blame for your prom getting canceled? Oh! Look, everybody! It's Radio Rebel. Go, go, go! Go-go-go-go! Show us who you are, Radio Rebel! Who is it? I can't see! Are we live? Hi, out there in radio land. A lot's happened since we last hung out, huh? Let me know what you guys think. Call me, text me, scrawl on my wall. Don't be shy. Do you know how many dreams you've crushed by canceling prom? I agree with the last caller. I'd just gotten a date, and now it's over? This is the last time I'm listening to you. Ever! Who do you think you are? You disappointed everyone! Do you even care about anyone but yourself? Do you know how many dreams you've crushed? Dream crusher! Dream crusher! Do you know how many dreams you've crushed? You're a dream crusher! You ruined everything! Okay... You guys are being honest about how you feel. You're on, line two. I've always liked you, Radio Rebel. Your playlists truly rock, but... Go ahead. Let it out. It's just... There's a girl I was hoping to impress that night. Sorry about that. Yeah. Me too. Wow. Guess you guys are... pretty upset. Well, uh, I'll just play some music. This next song's for you, guys. Thanks for being honest with me. I'm sorry I let you down. They're just angry. They'll, uh, they'll come around. It doesn't take away from all the good things you've done as Radio Rebel. Did you hear them? They hate me. I ruined their prom. I feel horrible. You didn't ruin it, that principal did. I knew she was angry, but I didn't know she was gonna do something like this. Man, that Moreno's such a backwards-thinker. "Backwards... " That's brilliant! What? Backwards! "Backwards. " I thought everyone would be gone by now. This calls for a professional. Somebody order the "meaty subtacular?" Hello? Hi. Could you do us a favor? Sure. You want extra marinara? Aw! That would be awesome! Audrey. And... focusing. I am the hyena! You see those girls out there? We need to get out of here without any of them seeing us. You can count on me. I'm just sad the world'll be deprived of me in my prom dress. It's a strapless number, it's oh-so-chic, it's... A Turkey on rye? Hello, Seattle! Care to comment on Radio Rebel? Yes, I would! You're listening to DJ dancing-sandwich! That turntable's spinning in a funky groove. That sandwich can dance! Dance, dancing-sandwich! Whoo-ooh-Whoo! When I hear her, I've got to move! I got the groove! Would you get back down? You're blowing our cover, Larry! I can't do it, man. I think I felt a human hand. That was my hand, Larry! [Whines in Wha-ha-ha! Good morning, Lincoln bay high school! This is cami q from Slam-FM, bringing you a special message from... Radio Rebel here. Unleashed your fury about the prom drama, and I want you to know, you've totally been heard. Canceling prom was monumentally unfair, but blaming Moreno isn't gonna solve anything. I want to do something about it, and so does slam, we're giving you all what you want... your prom back! Slam-FM is throwing its first-ever "morp!" That's "prom" spelled backwards, 'cause we're turning prom upside-down. Tickets are free, and everyone is invited! So, don't worry about finding a date, on a dress and a tux and a limo. 'Cause that's the way we like you. Got you! It's just ridiculous. "Morp?" Who ever heard of a morp? That's the whole point, I think. To do something totally different. It could be great. You know, Gavin, I thought you would've been more upset about prom being canceled, considering we were going together. Well, yeah, but... We can still go to morp, right? It's not the same! I mean, no limos, no dresses? What is the point? To come as you are. What about prom king and queen? People were nominated, somebody has to be crowned! It's, like, law! Why don't you call Radio Rebel and tell her that? I'm sure she'd love to hear from her number-one fan. We need to rehearse. I'm not going to fail this assignment because you two have zero work ethic. I think we're in trouble. So, I've been getting a billion questions about

the morp, which rules, 'cause you all seem stoked to go... Which is the whole point, right? A party where everyone feels like royalty? But, then again... Maybe we should crown a morp king and queen? I mean, after all, people were nominated. Look, if that's what you guys want, that's what we'll do. Morp is all yours. For your favorite morp king and queen. Make your voices heard... Especially my number-one fan. Hi. Is Tara home? Uh, sorry, sweetie, she's not here. Hmm. I'm in her English class, we're supposed to study tonight. Do you know where she is? Afraid not. I'm just here trying this new experimental cuticle-rejuvenation technique. Do you wanna try? No. Thanks. Uh, do you know when Tara might be back? Sorry, sweetie. I don't. I'll tell her you stopped by. Tah-tah. I am so parched! What I wouldn't give for a smoothie right now. How about you, Gavin? Are you ready for a break? Sure. Tara, do you want anything? No, I'm fine. Thank you. So... Tara. I'm having a party at my place tonight... And, in the spirit of Radio Rebel, I'm inviting everyone... Even civilians like yourself. Uh, gee... Thanks, but I have plans. Really? Same plans as last night? I went by your house. I could've sworn you said Wednesday was your "mandatory family dinner night," but your mom had no idea where you were. Strange, huh? I- I was, uh... library. You were, "uh... library?" Sure you were. There's no way that you were, say, DJing a radio show at that time? No. Why would you think that? Radio Rebel mentioned her "number-one fan" last night. That's what you called me yesterday. Must be a coincid... Save it! I'm watching you, Tara. If you think that I'm Radio Rebel, why don't you just tell principal Moreno? She already thinks you're perfect. Because I need proof... And, tonight, I will get it. If you don't show up at my party tonight, we'll both know why. Why do you even care? I'll tell you why. People are going to elect her "morp queen" because they want to find out who she is. But if they already know, they'll vote for the girl who truly deserves it... Me! This little DJ act is coming to an end. Soon. You are my hero! What do you think, Gavin? Should we take it from the top? Yeah. The thing about your character... Hoo! A party during Radio Rebel's broadcast? This is brilliant. Tonight, the mystery ends. Whoever doesn't show up... Hey. Hey. Where were you just now? You're sure you weren't setting up a broadcast station from a remote satellite? You're accusing me of being Radio Rebel? I've been helping you search for her all this time, I'm a guy! Ho, ho! A perfect cover, Larry. If that is your real name. Who are you? I don't know you. Oh. We're biology partners. I've gone to school with you since the first grade. I didn't ask for your life story, but thanks for coming. Have fun. One minute till 7:00! Hmm! And who isn't here? Exactly! Hi! Here I am. Hmph. So I see. But I'm still watching you! Go downstairs and watch her. Faster! Coming to you, only on Slam-FM, Seattle's hottest DJ... It's Radio Rebel! This is Radio Rebel, coming at you live from Slam-FM. Tonight is all about you. Lines are open. You know the number. I'm calling in to the show! Don't be shy. How are you here and there? You're on with Radio Rebel! Do you know you're a hypocrite? Hi. What's your name, caller? Save it! You say you're all about the people, but morp is all about you. Now you get to lobby for "morp queen" votes on the radio every night. Not fair! The other morp queen nominees should get equal airtime. Meaning me. Play... play track 15. I totally hear you. You "hear me?" I don't think you do. Say what you wanna say. I think you're using subliminal brainwashing to get people to vote for you. So I'm gonna take this opportunity to ask the school to vote for me, Stacy, for morp queen. Play 40 next. Hi! What's your name, caller? You already asked me that. I said play 40! You said 14. Play 33. Thanks for calling. I'm not done with you! Sorry, we can't all be winners, and I'm gonna win, despite the fact that I don't have an entire radio station campaigning for me, which really

makes me the underdog. Pick up, pick up... It's Tara! Patch me into the show! Why so quiet? Does the truth hurt? Do you want to know the truth? Stop hogging the bathroom! What was that? Um... I knocked over my chair. 'Cause I wanted to get close to the mic so you could hear me clearly. Oh, I can hear you clearly! I can hear you very clearly. I can heard you so clearly, Radio Rebel, that we could be in the same building! Same building? What, are you crazy? Are you here at slam, Stacy? I don't see you. Or maybe you're hiding somewhere? I'm just a little be worried about you, Stacy. I'm afraid that if I beat you out for morp queen, your fragile ego won't be able to survive. Can you hand me my jacket? What was that? I'm sorry. What? Who was that? That was my sound guy. We just got a brand-new demo in today called "my jacket. " We could play it for you. I have a better idea. Why don't you come forward and stop hiding like a coward? Would a coward be afraid to go up against you for morp queen? 'Cause I'm not. I'll see you there, and you'll see that I'm not afraid of anything. Thanks for calling! What are you doing in my bedroom? I was trying to find the bathroom. Your house is... what are you really doing in here? Looking at your photos. I remember you used to dress like that every day in second grade. I also remember being really jealous. Of what? Everyone making fun of me? No, how confident you were being yourself. I didn't know people made fun of you. It doesn't feel so good, does it? I don't need a lesson in manners from you. Now, get out of my room! That was amazing. She was freaked out! And Gavin just smiled at you. I think it was more of a general smile. It seemed pretty specific to me. Hey! We cannot wait for this! We're the Gees, and this is "we so fly!" I can't believe there's so many non-pops in my backyard. It feels like they're multiplying. Like cockroaches... and hangers. Are you kidding me? I didn't do anything. You bumped into me. You come to my house and you spill your drink on me? This cost a fortune! It was an accident, Stacy. Audrey would never do something like that on purpose, unlike some people. Do you know what your problem is? You know what? I don't care what you think my problem is. Keep it to yourself. I need a new outfit! Kim! Let's go! We're going! Thanks for that. I love how Radio Rebel is rubbing off on you, too. She's playing us. I know it. Now you just need to prove it. Okay... you can do it. Just go over there. Hey. You guys put on a great show. Thanks. But it's all Gabe. He's a good frontman. It's not all Gabe. Trust me. You know, ever since the band took off, people assume I'm this confident guy... But... I get nervous before gigs. Like, really nervous. Yeah? Yeah. We're not so different, I guess... Is what I'm trying to say. So... how do you do it? I try to remember I'm not as alone as I feel. Radio Rebel taught me that. She's a clever one. Yeah. She is. Slacker! Come help load the van. You should... See you. Bye. Pizza delivery incoming! There's pizza for cami q! Where is studio four? Anybody here? Cami q? I'm sorry, I kind of lost my cool in there a bit. Hey, don't worry. I mean, you'll get it. Hey, I'm gonna make you a DJ in no time... "DJ mama Rebel. " Oh, I like the sound of that! I was afraid we biffed the call. We nearly did a couple of times. You gotta hand it to her. I mean, Tara was right. You really can be in two places at once. I'm just so glad she asked me to help. I sometimes think that maybe she's a little embarrassed by her crazy mom. Are you kidding? She adores you. I mean, she talks about you all the time. She does? Oh! Mascara overflow! Excuse me. Oof! Ack! Hi! Did you order the "super-duper cheesey-pleasey vegetarian beef-o-rama, hold the drama?" Great choice! I can't get enough of this sauce. Not you? Okay! Sorry! Bye. Stacy! Stacy, I got it! I got... I think we're ready. Please remember your goals. Get your "actor" energy up! Tara! Thank goodness, I found you. There have been some last-minute changes to the scene. Don't worry, you can handle it. But does Gavin know?

Gavin is the least of your worries. Wait! This is the janitor's closet. What? Stacy! Stacy! Let me out! Enjoy your "f. " Romeo? Where are you? I mean, seriously, it's freezing out here. Why can't you just stop being a montague? The capulets are way cooler. Everybody says. My father isn't really a bad guy. He just watches too many movies. Let me out! Romeo, this whole feuding thing is really annoying... Dude, ready to rock out with the drama dorks? That's funny. Have you guys seen Tara? She's late. Move on, already! Pay attention to Stacy. You're turning into a real jerk, you know that, don't you? - Me? - Yeah. You're the one who needs to get his priorities straight. Or what? You gonna kick me out of the band? Is that what you want? Is for you to drop the stupid rock-star act for five minutes, and just try... try!... To be a normal person. Okay. I am the frontman of this band. This "rock-star act" is what put us on the map. If you don't wanna be a part of that, then that's fine with us. What happened to "Gees for life"? Hmm. Yeah. Ask yourself that. Enjoy your solo career, Gavin. Thank you very much. Next up is Audrey. Just bre-ee-eathe your words. Okay. Go. Ahem-ahem. Alas... poor spork. I used him, Harry... For he was a wondrous and versatile utensil. A fork and a spoon. Come on! Pick up the phone. Pick up the phone. Pick up the phone. Oh! Spork! Stacy! Have you seen Tara? No. Seriously? Oh! I have no idea where she is. I can't believe she'd do this to us. So unpro. We have to tell Mrs. brower we can't do our scene. Stacy Debane is not a quitter, and I'm not gonna fail this assignment just because Tara's a no-show. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to make an announcement. Stacy Debane will be performing in place of Tara Adams, who, apparently, couldn't be bothered to show up. Someone, let me out! Looks like it's just you and I. Thank you! Oh! See? Look at my pants. I'm a dude. What's she waiting for? I'm waiting for you to make a move. But, since you aren't going to, I'll make a move myself. Bravo! Bravo! Okay, everybody. Listen, thank you very much for all of your hard work. I appreciate it very much, especially... Oh, no. Look. He is so disappointed in you. And who can blame him? Okay, "radio drivel. " You were bad enough when you didn't talk. But trying to destroy me on your stupid radio show? Did you really think you'd get away with that? Look. You're wrong. I'm not her. If I... save it! You're not her? Then explain this... I was afraid we biffed the call. You really can be in two places at once. That doesn't prove anything. No? Then you won't mind if I email it to the whole school... And Moreno? What do you want? Morp queen. You're gonna make sure I win... Or Radio Rebel is. Tell everyone on your show to vote for me. And if you say anything about this little private moment, I'll tell everyone who you really are. Okay... I had a bad day. Kind of shook me up. It made me wonder... Am I doing the right thing? I mean, is it... is it worth it if I get expelled? Or if it messes things up with the guy I like? I don't know. What I do know is that there will be people out there who try and take things away from us, things bigger than prom... And we can just sit back and watch it happen, or we can stand up for ourselves. I mean, we all deserve to dance to our own playlists, no matter what Moreno or anyone else has to say about it. Oh. One more thing. Um... I know a lot of you guys want to vote me queen to find out who I am. I don't need that crown. But... Stacy Debane? She kind of really does. Just keep that in mind when you vote. There you are! I've been dying to show you this bow-tie I found for you to wear to the morp. It perfectly matches my dress. How cute is that? Stacy. What? I know what you did to Tara. What are you talking about? The closet. Don't bother denying it. I have a witness. What did Tara ever do to you? You don't know her, Gavin. She's not who you think she is. She's... no, Stacy. You're not who I thought you were. I can't go to morp with you. I'm sorry. But we're gonna be king and queen! I don't wanna be

king. I never did. Where's Tara? Where's Radio Rebel? Oh! My true love shall be revealed. How do I look? Uh, a little green. Could be the lighting... Or something worse. We're standing in a microbial hotspot right now. Whoa. - Hey. - Hey. You look amazing. Why, thank you! Have you seen Gavin? I- I really should talk to him. - Wait! What are you gonna say? - I don't know. - You mean you haven't...? - Not yet. - You know you need to. - I know! Are we missing something? Conference. Now. I don't know what to do. I'm freaking out. Just... breathe. Okay. Okay. Okay. You're beautiful. You're a queen, no matter what happens. Good evening, Seattle! You ready to find out who your morp queen is? It's time to see who's been crowned from Lincoln bay high. Yeah! We had two nominations for morp king, but one dropped out. So that leaves... Gabe leviolet! I'd like to invite your morp court princesses to join me onstage. Whoo! Don't be nervous. That's, like, the worst thing to say to a nervous person, Kim. I know. You're welcome. Let's hear it for Stacy Debane! And... Radio Rebel! Radio Rebel? Are you out there? Well, I guess we'll continue. Your morp queen is... Radio Rebel! We love you, Radio Rebel! Since she isn't here to accept her crown, maybe it should go to the person with the second-most votes? Most of you don't know me. I'm the girl who sits in the back of class, who never raises her hand, who's so afraid of saying the wrong thing, she says nothing instead. The old me would've frozen in front of a crowd like this... ...but something happened. Suddenly, the real stuff we were dealing with at school became more important than my fears. Look, I wasn't sure I was gonna do this tonight, but I need to be true to myself... So, here goes... I'm Radio Rebel. Thank you for an enlightening evening. And now that I know who Radio Rebel is... ...she is definitely getting expelled. Enjoy your morp, Tara! Oh! And don't bother coming to school on Monday. I'm Radio Rebel! No! I'm Radio Rebel. No! I'm Radio Rebel. Whoo! I'm Radio Rebel! No, I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! You can't expel everyone, can you? I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I believe this... belongs to you. I mean, I guess since we're all Radio Rebel, this crown belongs to all of us. So, congratulations, kings and queens. But there is one person who has been dreaming about this crown for her entire life. Although, I'm not quite sure if I heard her say she's Radio Rebel...? I'm Radio Rebel. I'm so Radio Rebel! Well, then... Why are you being so nice to me, when I've always been nothing but mean to you? Look at you right now, Stacy. That dress? The crown? You are 100% you right now, and that's all Radio Rebel could ask of anyone... You are yourself, and you've never been more beautiful. Everyone! Please give it up for Lincoln bay's very own... Gavin Morgan! There's a girl I've liked for a while now. She's the kind of girl who's not afraid to ask a dancing sandwich for some help. She inspired this song. This song's for her. Hi. Hey. I don't know what's more amazing... That song, or... The fact that you're Turkey on rye? Why didn't you tell anyone I was Radio Rebel? You wanted to keep it a secret. I respected that. Thank you. You know, you really know how to dance... For a sandwich. Oh. Will you go to morp with me? Yes. So... Should I call you “Tara” or “Radio Rebel?” You can call me either. They’re both me.

#long post #like #really long post

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eldritchsurveys · 4 years

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850.

1. What kinds of genres of music do you listen to? >> It’d be easier to name the genres I don’t listen to...

2. Are there any types of music that you don’t listen to at all? >> ...which would be bluegrass, polka, uh... noise... K-pop... yeah, that’s all I got right now. Honestly, K-pop is probably only here because I just haven’t gone to check out any songs, not because I actively don’t like the genre.

3. Do you own any band tees? >> Yeah, most of my t-shirts are band shirts.

4. Name some of your favorite male solo artists. >> Eddie Vedder, David Bowie, Steve Vai, Orville Peck, Sam Cooke.

5. Name some of your favorite female solo artists. >> Elle King, Sia, Beyoncé, Anita Baker, Céline Dion.

6. Name some of your favorite boy-bands. >> Okay, so are we talking boy bands, like Backstreet Boys and One Direction, or just bands with dudes in them? Because I don’t really listen to boy bands anymore (aside from songs that I remember from childhood), so.

7. Name some of your favorite all-girl bands. >> Hmm... I’m not sure I listen to any all-female bands. There’s some female-fronted bands in my library, but the rest of the members are dudes.

8. Name some of your favorite bands/groups in general. >> Oof. Here’s five: Zeal & Ardor, Coheed & Cambria, Pearl Jam, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Volbeat.

9. Do you sing in the shower? >> Sometimes, if a song I know the lyrics to is playing. I listen to music every time I shower, it helps distract my hell brain.

10. Do you sing along with the radio in the car? >> I don’t sing along in the car because Sparrow has a thing about people singing.

11. Do you listen to music while you are cooking, filling out surveys, or cleaning the house? >> Sometimes I listen to music while taking surveys, but I don’t do it often because I find it too distracting. I do listen to music while cleaning, or taking walks, or doing any other task that mostly involves my body more than my brain.

12. What’s the name of the song that you’re listening to right now, if any? What’s the name of the band/singer? >> I’m not listening to music.

13. What kinds of music do your parents listen to? Do you think that their music taste differs greatly? Whose music taste is better, in your opinion? >> I grew up listening to soul, R&B, gospel, that sort of thing. I still listen to that stuff because I enjoy it.

14. Do you ever listen to music without any words? >> Sure.

15. Are there any famous musicians that you’ve met? Are there any that you would like to meet? >> Yeah, I’ve met uhh... Avenged Sevenfold, Coheed & Cambria, and Sevendust multiple times, as well as Halestorm, Steve Vai, three-quarters of Volbeat (lead singer wasn’t feeling great so he left the venue early)... yeah, I think that’s it. I used to be really into that kind of thing, but I’m largely over it now; I actually think it would be cool to see Sparrow meet Hozier, because she’s not had that experience.

16. What was the first concert you’ve been to, if any? How about the last/most recent? Which, out of all of the concerts you’ve attended, was the best? >> First concert was Avenged Sevenfold and Coheed & Cambria (co-headliner tour), in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in April 2006. The last concert I went to was Hozier here in Grand Rapids, last year sometime. I think it was last year. :x My time sense is all fucked up. Anyway, I’ve been to way too many concerts to start naming one as the best one ever, that’s crazy. Most of the shows I’ve been to were awesome as fuck (there were a couple ehhhh... ones, and then there was one I was way too high to enjoy lmao, but usually I have a great time).

17. Do you have a favorite movie soundtrack? What is it? >> I have a favourite movie soundtrack composer, actually, and that’s Clint Mansell. Everything he does is just... AAAAAAAAA for me. I can always tell when he’s done a score because I can just feel the music in my bones, and then I look at the credits and I’m like “OH OF COURSE IT WAS YOU.”

18. Would you want to be a band groupie? Why or why not? >> I had a phase way back when where I was obsessed with groupie culture (from like the late sixties through the eighties) and if you’d asked me then, I’d have said yes. I’ve wised up by now and I definitely would not want that.

19. What is a band/singer you would like to see but haven’t gotten a chance to yet? >> Yeah, there’s a lot of bands and singers like that. But I’d have to be really picky nowadays about who I went to see, because I just can’t deal with most concert environments as well as I used to anymore.

20. Do you care more about the beat of the music you listen to, or the lyrics? >> I mean, when it comes to the first listen, it’s going to be the melody that catches me. If that doesn’t happen, then I’m not even going to bother looking at the lyrics, so...

21. Does anyone in one of your favorite bands play an unusual instrument? >> I listen to some prog bands, so there’s definitely some unusual instruments happening in at least some songs.

22. What are some of the songs that you listen to the most frequently? >> I don’t know, probably Master Boot Record and Zeal & Ardor tracks. I’m a bit obsessed right now.

23. Could you make a playlist of songs that describes your life? What kinds of playlists do you have made? >> I don’t think so. I’ve definitely tried in the past, but when you really start thinking about the vast array of experiences and feelings that make up a life, it becomes fuckin impossible.

24. Do you remember listening to music on CDs and cassettes, not just on the internet? >> Yeah. Definitely don’t miss it, gotta say.

25. What kind of music device do you use in order to listen to music? (iPod, MP3 Player, etc.) >> I use my phone or computer, with Spotify.

26. Is there anyone in your family who is a musician? >> ---

27. Would you ever consider a career in music? >> No. I love music, but as a consumer.

28. What is a song that would describe your current mood? Who is it by? >> I’m not really in any kind of mood. If you know a song about being vaguely tired, then that’s it.

29. Are there any musicians of the past that you really admire? >> Well, sure...

30. Do you listen to Top 40 type music? >> I don’t even know what’s on the Top 40, so... maybe? Probably not, though, I haven’t really gotten into any mainstream-popular artists recently that I can think of.

31. What musical instrument would you like to learn how to play? Have you ever played an instrument before/taken lessons? What was it? >> I don’t really care to learn any instruments. It’s not something I feel passionate about, not like how I feel about listening to music. I’ve taken bass guitar lessons before, in like... 2008 or so? IDK. Years are fake.

32. Do you enjoy watching musicals on DVD or sitting through them as plays? Which method do you prefer, and which is your favorite? >> I would love to watch musicals live, but I definitely cannot afford it. I’m fine watching recordings of them (or movie adaptations, in some cases). My favourite stage musical is Phantom of the Opera (I say “stage musical” because I also have a favourite movie musical, and that’s Repo! the Genetic Opera).

33. What was the worst concert you’ve ever attended before, and what made it the worst? >> Taste of Chaos at Nassau Coliseum. It was the worst because arena shows are just the worst, period. I was right up in front (my friends and I camped out overnight) and I just got repeatedly slammed against the barricade and crowd-surfers landed on my head multiple times, et cetera. I’m surprised I didn’t leave with actual injuries (was wondering if I was gonna need a neck brace by the end), but I did feel pretty damn shitty the next day.

34. Have you ever crowd-surfed during a show or been a part of a mosh pit? >> Nope.

35. Have you ever gotten into an altercation with a drunken concert fan before? What happened? >> Nah, everyone I’ve met at shows have been pretty cool, if not downright awesome. That’s one thing I always loved about going to concerts, I seemed to make new friends every time.

36. Have you ever dated someone who was a musician? >> No, but I’ve fucked a few.

37. What are some of your favorite music videos to watch? >> Oh, man, it’s getting late and while I could go ham on this question, I don’t have the time right now lol. I’ll just say that I love nineties-era music videos, and some from the aughts as well. I feel like those were the best years for music videos, but that might just be nostalgia (and the fact that I haven’t really seen as many videos from the 2010s). As far as recent artists are concerned, I think Orville Peck makes really evocative and moody (not necessarily moody like pensive or depressive. mood-y. mood-evoking) videos that I appreciate.

38. Have you ever made a lyric video on YouTube? >> No.

39. Have you ever recorded a cover song and posted it? What kind of feedback did you receive? >> No.

40. Is there an album cover design that you really admire? >> I’ve seen so many excellent album covers, I couldn’t even begin to address this.

41. What are some of the most overplayed songs right now, in your opinion? >> I wouldn’t know, I don’t listen to radio or anything.

42. Do you watch music awards shows on television? >> No.

43. Have you ever competed in any sort of singing contest before? >> No.

44. Have you ever tried to start your own band before? >> No.

45. What’s the name of a band/singer that you recently have discovered? >> Dreamcar (yet another Davey Havok side project, because he just can’t be tamed, apparently).

46. What are some annoying/weird/funny songs that have gotten stuck in your head before? >> Barbara Ann gets stuck in my head all the time, but that’s okay because it’s fun and I love it.

47. Are there any songs that actually make you cry? What are they, and who are they by? >> There are many songs that make me cry. We ain’t got time for a list like that.

48. Do you listen to any music in another language? >> Sure. Off the top of my head, I can think of fave songs in German, Swedish, Japanese, Indian, and Italian. [a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

#surveys #survey #music survey #my fave kind

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metalchick19-blog · 5 years

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The Bowers Gang: Ship #8 - Belch Huggins

Request: I’m really tiny like REALLY. I’m 5’ feet (or 154cm I don’t know if the inches are correct). I’m redhead but not a true one because I dye them. I wear a lot of bands shirts or horror movies ones, and a lot of high waist skirts or dresses with belt and chains and a black hat all the time. My shoes are platforms from the new rock brand and sometimes I wear Santiag but it’s really rare. I always have a leather chocker around my neck with spikes on it. Peoples call me dog because of that but I don’t care because I feel good with it. I wear A TON of makeup (only because I love makeup so fucking much), and that’s usually black lipstick with red eyeshadow and eyeliner that’s all. I also have tattoos on my right tight and on my left arm. I literally can’t live without music and my favs bands are Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses and Slash. That’s so basic I know, but I love them and I always want to dance and sing when I listen to their song, because they makes me feel so happy. I also love witchcraft and paranormal. I do believe so much in magic and ghosts and I love to walk around old abandonned places and talk about ghosts, aliens, demons ect, because for me it’s so fascinating and interesting. I’ve already played Ouija and it worked and I freaked out but loved it. Peoples think I’m a witch actually but I’m ok with that. I love watching horror movies so much, but I hate blood and gore, wich is pretty contradictory I know. I’m also scared easy even if I love all theses witchy/paranormal stuffs. Last thing is : I’m getting angry REALLY (too much) fast, and that’s a big problem because I have so many issues because of this. I do cry so much too because anger makes me cry and shake but I do love cuddles so much (not all the time but that feel good sometime to have someone who can give you hugs, that warm your heart). I do a lot of sex jokes too and my friends hates me for that but hey, it’s funny.

All the guys were attracted to you at some point, because they’re each turned on by different aspects of your style (Henry by your makeup, Patrick by your red hair, and Victor by your skirts/dresses)

But Belch (who knew he had to have you the second he saw just one of your epic band t-shirts) wound up coming out on top, because he’s the only member of The Bowers Gang with a proper respect for the greats

The greats being Axl Rose, Saul Hudson, and Steven Tyler

All the other guys might pretend to be metal-heads (because bad boy aesthetic), but Belch is the only one who legitimately deserves the title

Seriously - he’s never more confident than he is when he’s talking about his music obsessions (i.e. rock, metal, and the development of those genres), and you’re one of the very few people in the world who ever gets to see him like that

Belch dominates the floor talking-wise, and his entire body language changes; for just a few minutes, he seems to lose all pretense of being meek or uncertain

Aka: You get to meet confident Belch who knows what he’s talking about, and that’s a friggin’ miracle

You guys have insanely long, thorough debates as to which current bands should be considered “real” rock bands

These talks can last for hours at a time (because you’re both just passionate like that), and tend to take place around Belch’s kitchen bar

The two of you just sit on your stools (next to each other, like the adorable humans you are) and crack open beer after beer, completely losing track of time listening to each other’s rants

Usually neither of you notice how long you’ve been talking until the sun starts to set through the kitchen window - you’re just that into what one another is saying

Belch shows you his vinyl collection (over 500 records, all alphabetized)

This is great because 1.) that collection is Huggins’ pride and joy, which means you’re definitely his person if he wanted you to see it, and 2.) because everything sounds better on vinyl, and you never knew it until he showed you

You come over to Belch’s place almost every day after initially finding this out, because you need that ear-sex feeling of the music pulsing all around you (*Steven Tyler’s voice pulsing all around you* - definitely a mood)

... And Belch honestly loves it, because watching you dance around his bedroom is literally the highlight of his life

It was hard to get him to dance along with you the first few times you asked (he would just do a few awkward, timid movements before laughing and sitting down) but he now does it with you almost all the time

And when Huggins dances... he dances hard

We’re talking the robot, the sprinkler, everything

... Which you’ve explained to him are not moves that should be done when listening to death-metal, but he just keeps saying he “knows you love it,” and persists in doing those moves

... You do kind of love it, though

What can I say? You’ve led the man to his free spirit (and the world thanks you for doing so)

Belch also takes you to some well-known sites around town that are famous for tragedy (The Black Spot, the Ironworks Factory, etc.) so you can do paranormal investigations there

He actually almost took you to the Neibolt house once on Patrick’s suggestion, but decided to back out at the last minute because it was a Hockstetter idea

... Yeah, even Belch knows better than to trust Patrick with his physical well-being

Typically all the guys tag along for these paranormal activity trips though, because even though Belch wants to look tough for his girl, he doesn’t like the idea of scrapping with ghosties by himself

... It’s truly a hilarious sight to see

Ghost-hunting missions typically entail you and Patrick being at the front of the pack (you trying to “make contact” as Patrick actively fucks with your process) while the rest of the guys trail lazily behind you

Henry complains at least once every 3 minutes (”my fuckin’ legs hurt”/”why are we still out here” x10), Victor looks quietly at the scenery, and Belch just tries to look brave (but can’t hide how hard he’s listening to whether or not anything responds to your prompts - he’s silently praying nothing does)

Sometimes things do come through though, and it changes the atmosphere for everybody

... that is, everybody except for Patrick (who would refuse to believe in the occult even if he was levitated by Casper)

All arguing/off-handed banter comes to a stop, and the guys act way more on edge for the rest of the night

Typically involves a lot of mildly nervous looks around on Victor’s part, and flinching in response to loud noises on Henry’s - Belch is a combination of both

After close encounters like these, you all tend to walk back to the car in a much tighter group than before

Henry and Victor press in on the sides, and no one says a word

... Except for Patrick, who makes joke after joke about how big of pussies you all are, and challenges all demons in the near vicinity to fight him

He’s never been fought, but it sends you all into a frenzy of “shut up!” every time

All the guys love that they don’t have to change their regular movie aesthetic for you

Literally everything they ever watch is some type of horror, so you’ve never been more well-suited to a group of people

They don’t sit down and really watch things together very often, but they usually have a horror movie and/or violent TV show on to serve as background noise for their conversations (”Tales from the Crypt,” ”Friday the 13th” re-runs, etc.)

Regardless of whether or not you’re with the guys though, Belch always covers your eyes when he knows the next scene of the movie that you’re watching is about to be especially gory

...Seriously.

The dude physically covers your eyes.

He even flung himself across a room once (in front of the gang and everything) just to child-proof your vision before you could see the fish hook scene in “Hellraiser”

Mostly because he knows you don’t like gore, and he tends to remember when it’s about to happen at the very last second - it’s all our teddy bear can think to do to save your innocence

Now, bro - it’s totally fine that you have a temper

I can’t imagine where that would be less of a problem

Even though Belch tries hard to keep you feeling calm and collected (because he just cares about your inner peace), he’s low-key enthralled by the way you look when you’re angry

... And all the other guys just find it entertaining as hell, because they’ve never met a 5-foot powerhouse such as yourself

You get into arguments often, though.

...Often.

So often, in fact, that the guys eventually stopped letting you finish.

They tend to let you go back and forth with people you’re arguing with for a while, but if it becomes obvious that you’re not really going to fight the person, they eventually decide to move on with their day...

... at which point either Henry or Patrick will pull you away by your choker.

... Yes, by your choker. Like you’re a little dog.

Patrick did it first (”Come on, killer! We’ll find you some other crotch to bite later.” *Annoyingly satisfied Hockstetter cackle*), and Henry just followed suit afterwards.

It’s a thing now; you’ll have to accept that.

Belch gives you the best cuddles that have ever been cuddled

Seriously - because of your size, you can curl up on his gargantuan male body like a cat

Pick any cuddle position - you guys can cuddle it better than hibernating bear cubs

And you’re high-key cuter to watch, too, because your love for one another just rolls off of you both in waves

Just so wholesome, and so very adorable

Overall, you fit into the group well, and cultivate a refreshingly genuine connection with Belch

He gets to be who he really is with you, and that means more to him than anything

#henry bowers #patrick hockstetter #belch huggins #victor criss #The Bowers Gang #the bowers gang headcanons #it

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the-blomster · 5 years

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Jello Biafra VS The Forces of Corruption 27

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and all relation to real individuals is done purely for parody purposes. I am not associated with any of the people named in this work of fiction and this is not intended to reflect negatively upon anyone.

Chapter 27: The Punk Rock Tournament Showdown Part 4: The Sonics Part 2

We find Jello staring into the cold hearted eyes of his future opponent. Across the lunchroom they stood; the Sonics. Jello attempted to resist the temptation to glare at them, but it couldn’t be helped. Jello looked tentatively at the quintet. Their cool, relaxed posture evoked a sense of power. For many it triggered a sort of fight or flight instinct; either be cooler than these dudes or be banished to being lame forever. Jello was unsure of how to react.

Before Jello could muster the courage to look away, the Sonics caught Jello by the eyes. All at once, the often distant eyes of the five turned to Jello, digging directly into his soul. Threatening music probably started playing in the background. Jello was frozen. Dead in his tracks. Jello was engaged in a staring match more challenging than any battle he had previously fought, and Jello was losing; caught in a deadly, unending trance. The Sonics just looked too cool.

It was at this point that Klaus decided to jump into action. He stood up in a sweeping motion, the skidding of his chair producing an ear piercing scratch against the smooth linoleum floor, directing the attention of all in the vicinity to Jello. Then continuing the same movement, Klaus spun around, snapping his fingers three centimeters out from the tip of Jello’s nose. But it was to no avail. Klaus’ surefire trick had let him down. Klaus forced his fingers against Jello’s eyelids and proceeded to force his eyes open. Jello’s pupils were absent, and his eyes were flashing all sorts of crazy color, like that one scene in the jungle book, but Jello still refused to return to reality.

Great, Klaus thought to himself, Now how is Jello supposed to fight these guys? His options were running short, and Klaus couldn’t confront the Sonics directly. Klaus decided that there was only one person who could help Jello. Reluctantly, Klaus tucked Jello beneath his arm and walked to the room of their one and only hope.

Klaus knocked on the door as he swallowed his pride. Footsteps. The creaking of the floorboards. The subtle collision of hand with doorknob. The door slid open ever so slowly. “What is it?” Robbie the Werewolf asked.

“Well, I hate to be at your door, begging on my knees, but… we’ve got a bit of a dilemma,” Klaus explained.

“Well come on in,” Robbie replied.

Robbie’s hotel room was fittingly decorated with cobwebs and a burlesque purple wallpaper. The room was lit purely with candles and every mirror was broken, not that Robbie’s reflection showed up in mirrors anyway.

Klaus plopped Jello down on a chair that had relatively few cobwebs, and Robbie began to inspect Jello. “Well let’s see here…” said Robbie. He opened Jello’s eyes and took note of their ever changing color. “It would appear,” explained Robbie, “that Jello has become entranced with the Sonics.”

“I know that!” Klaus snapped. “That’s why I brought him here!”

“Well,” Robbie replied calmly, “What do you do when you become obsessed with a band?”

“I listen to their music until I’m sick of it.”

Robbie grinned intelligently; his beady eyes stuck out like a sore thumb.

Klaus thought for a few moments before it him. A look of understanding came across his face. “Oh… So then how are we going to access to the Sonics’ music?”

“Don’t you know,” replied Robbie, “that all good musicians carry a copy of their entire discography at all times.”

“So what you’re saying is…” Klaus surmised, “that I’m going to sneak into the Sonic’s hotel room, and steal their music from them?”

“Precisely,” Robbie replied.

“And I’m gonna have to be the one to do it?”

Robbie nodded.

“Great.”

We find Klaus sitting outside of the Sonics’ hotel room, patiently awaiting the target’s return so that Klaus may enter the room. And it would appear, coincidentally, that the Sonics are returning right at this moment. Good thing. Klaus was beginning to feel his eyelids grow droopy.

Klaus his behind a corner as the Sonics proceeded towards their room in a line that took up the width of the hallway, each step they took perfectly in sync. One of the band members swiped the keycard on the door, and the five stepped into the room single file.

This was Klaus’ chance. Klaus dived in through the door, landing in the bathroom and concealing himself before he was noticed. He peeked out from behind the door and noticed a stack of three vinyl records on a shelf in front of the television, but sadly, all of the band members were lined up horizontally in five chairs in front of the TV. In fact, everything in this room came in horizontal groups of five; five chairs, five beds, five restrooms, everything except the vinyl records was in a group of five.

Klaus decided just to wait patiently for the Sonics to leave, but much to Klaus’ dismay, the Sonics all decided to use the bathroom, where Klaus was hiding. Klaus had to act now and act fast. He leapt out from behind the bathroom door, immediately garnering the attention of the Sonics. He snatched the records off of the coffee table and made a mad dash for the door. The Sonics let out an odd screech that sounded as though it had been recorded in a room with no sound proofing whatsoever. Luckily Klaus dodge rolled over the screech’s shockwave, sending him straight into the door, which splintered into hundreds of tiny strips of wood, and sending Klaus flying out into the hallway, the Sonics’ discography in hand, and allowing him to escape the Sonics safely.

Klaus swung open the door to Robbie’s room.

“Do you have the music?” Robbie asked.

“Yes,” Klaus replied, whipping out one of the records and tossing it like a frisbee, upon which it landed perfectly in the center of the record player. The collision of the record cause the needle to drop and for the record player to begin spinning, upon which Robbie subsequently slid the headphones down over Jello’s hypnotized head. “How much longer does Jello have before his fight?”

“About 8 hours,” Robbie replied, “I think he should be fine.”

“Well let’s hope he’s resting peacefully right now, because he’s gonna need all the rest he can get for this fight.”

Robbie and Klaus passed the next eight hours restlessly, constantly putting on new records as needed, but before they knew it, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. Will contestants Jello Biafra and The Sonics please report to the stadium. Their time was running out. Jello had still not woken up.

Klaus got down on his knees. “Come on Jello,” he pleaded, “Wake up! Wake up!”

Robbie sighed. “We did all wwe could do…”

Suddenly, Jello winced. His eyes, pupils and all, opened. Jello tore the headphones off of his head. “We’ve been listening to this shit for eight hours, for the love of god turn it off!”

Klaus began laughing. “Jello! You’re awake!”

Jello was confused. “What? Where am I?”

“You were hypnotized by the Sonics,” Klaus explained, “You were out for over ten hours! But there’s no time for that now, you’ve got a fight with the Sonics right now! Let’s go!”

The two walked down the hallway to Jello’s next match.

“Why are you, a fellow competitor, so eager to help me?” Jello asked.

“Well you see,” Klaus explained, “You’re a strong guy, and when I fight you, I want it to be worth my while.”

And here is where we leave Jello; somewhat discombobulated and on the cusp of his next battle. Will Jello be able to defeat the Sonics? What dastardly tricks will the Sonics have up their sleeves? Find out next time on Jello Biafra VS the Forces of Corruption!

#Jello Biafra #Dead Kennedys #punk rock #music #writing #creative writing #short story

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 5 years

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Morose Mononokean II 1 | Mob Psycho 100 II 1 | Meiji Tokyo Renka 1 | My Roommate is a Cat 1 | Promised Neverland 1

I think I’ve got too many cute fluffy creatures this season...

Mononokean II 1

For some reason, before I started watching this I kept reminding myself of Tomodachi Metre and fearing the new OP (because there’s almost always a new OP when dealing with a second season) would be faster-paced…the song is faster-paced, but not in the way I thought it would be (I thought it was going to be hard rock kind of pace, but it’s at least a tad slower than that).

Utakuni is such a fluffy kitty!

Ah, Moja Moja is best moja, indeed. Gossamers from As Miss Beelzebub Likes just don’t compare, y’know?

The Legislator is practically the king of “You mad, bro?”. (LOL)

Okay-dokay, lemme explain. There are 3 arms of government (known as the separation of powers, in order to have a series of checks and balances) – the Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary, meaning we’re missing that final one at the moment…

I never knew Morose Mononokean was so obsessed with comedy…or maybe I’m just noticing it now that I have experience with comedy I get bored at…

Abeno’s face of disgust really sold that moment with Moja, LOL.

Well, by virtue of being a sequel to something I watched previously, it’s more likely to get coverage, but you can never say for certain until the first episodes are over and done. On to the next thing – Mob Psycho!

Mob Psycho 100 II 1

Alright, all these “II 1”s are going to make me confused someday, aren’t they…?

I think the dude’s Suisho simply means “water crystal”. But I’m only guessing as to what kanji are being used here, so I could be wrong.

The pixel art bit was good. More like that, please!

“Your life is your own” – is that Mob Psycho’s slogan, in the same way Symphogear has that thing about “holding courage to fist” and whatnot?

Unlike Mononokean, which you only need to know the very basics (which are in turn explained in the episode itself), it seems Mob Psycho is playing hardball in that department – if you don’t remember that time Kamuro started kicking his lackeys around, you’re going to have to watch it again. (Either that, or you watch the Reigen recap.)

Hmm…”[something to help Mob] grow” sounds a bit odd, but that’s a correct translation. That’s what seichou suru means.

Oh great…you know how I said I was cleaning out the house lately? Someone found an old copy of this book called Inventing Elliot, which I despised studying about (because it got me some of the lowest grades in my school life, aside from outright failures and close scrapes with failure). The problem is, I’m getting Inventing Elliot vibes from this particular plotline…and since that’s Mean Girls in a boys’ private school + Mob Psycho is all about the abuse of power, that’s completely a storyline the show would go with. *gulp*

Hey, they have actual eyecatches now! Hooray!

A certain kanji for “Emi” (with a mi in hiragana, IIRC) is “smile” in English, so I find it interesting they paired Mob up with a girl like her. (Then again, if it were a hiragana/kanji mix, that’s not a name.)

Oh yeah, the hitode (starfish) shirt.

Rinshi! Ekoda-chan 1

Why am I covering an R18+ series? It’s a long story…

The jokes are, as of this segment with the old lady, only about 50% hits. That seems to be a pretty bad track record. The thing about Ekoda being identified as 3 years older than what she really is is also relatable, since I don’t think I’ve grown much past a certain age.

Note there’s a Japanese store called JUSCO. There was one in Hong Kong, which was full of cool stationery.

Wait…that’s it? So why’s it 26 minutes??? Documentary…okay, I’m getting the heck out of here.

Meiji Tokyo Renka 1

I heard Ume was here…? More bishies and more Ume for me!

What’s up with the Haikara-san ga Tooru outfit, anyway?

Who dis boy? He kinda looks like Mikoshiba from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun…Update: That’s Ougai.

At least the jazz music is cool. Also, the episode title should be “Suddenly, under a Strawberry Moon…” or something, since it went totsuzen ni.

*Mei checks her phone* - This is why you don’t text and walk across the road, kids!

Ougai…y’mean, Mori Ougai? The loli dude from Bungou Stray Dogs is this redhead?! EHHHHHHHHHHHH?

Oh great. Amnesia plotline…

Hishida Shunso…a painter.

Okay…that’s a really obvious point where you’d be able to insert your own name if you were a gal (or if you wante to play as a gal).

The age of the Rokumeikan seems to pin the timeline down to “after 1883”. For some reason, it sounded familiar, but I wasn’t familiar with why - so maybe I’ll learn about it someday.

“Little Squirrel”?(!) (lowkey laughs for all the wrong reasons) And here I thought “Little Flower” (from Magic-kyun’s Louis and Dame x Pri’s Vino) was awkward-sounding but still endearing.

Okay, second redhead. When I saw him in the OP, I swore he was Ancient Magus’ Bride’s Chise…

So the germophobe redhead is Izumi Kyoka…but I’m not sure who this Kawakami is…

I don’t know how anyone could make a germophobe endearing, much less make him romanceable…

Otojiro Kawakami. Comedian and actor.

Lafcadio…wuh? Update: (Patrick) Lafcadio Hearn, Greek dude with a Japanese penname. He seems to have written stuff on Japan as well as other places.

“…that collection of ghost stories…”

Everyone seems to have forgotten about the roast beef but the animators…LOL…oh, spoke too soon. Kawakami just walked it back to the table.

Wowwwwwwwwwwww, Mei is so easily distracted by roast beef and pretty boys who, to be honest, aren’t that pretty…I’m just waiting for the long-haired dude and/or Ume and I’ll kick my butt out of here.

I thought Fujita was voiced by a familiar voice and turns out I was right – it’s Fukuyama Jun.

Well, that was mildly unsatisfying. I think I spent more time watching Mei getting blushy at dudes and not feeling an attraction myself. Fujita was the only one I wanted and he didn’t even do much but swing a sword. Seriously, though, what the heck was Charlie doing turning off the lights all of a sudden?

My Roommate is a Cat 1

Well, it’s either that title or Dokyounin wa Hiza, Tokidoki Atame no Ue. …which is a lot to write in one shot.

Why’s the cat on Subaru’s…junk?

The cat appears to be typing out the Dancing Men from Sherlock Holmes…except they’re cats. The Dancing Men are basically what made me think I had a career in computer security in the first place, come to think of it…but I’ve abandoned that kind of thinking now. Modulos are way too hard for me.

Them spoilers! I know that feel.

Koguma = small bear, in a story about a small cat. LOL.

Hiroto…I thought about this during the funeral scene, but…why does he look like Suzaku from Code Geass???

Hmm, yeah. I can see why Hiroto isn’t all that convinced – I’m a similar kind of person, with only a small pool of pursuits that keep me going for a long, long time. *looks at rabbit outside and remembers when I saw it in the darkness about 3 years ago*

Oh, so Subaru was so absorbed in his manuscript he forgot to eat, huh?

Kitty show too cute! Ehehehee… <- (ecstatic about having a new weekly dose of cuteness)

Promised Neverland 1

I’ve read the first volume of this. I’m not 100% in love with it, but if I can have bragging rights over finding the next big hit, why not?

Noitamina…now that’s a name I haven’t seen in a few years…*grumbles at Amazon*

For some reason Norman (white-haired boy) has this “betrayer” vibe written all over him. It’s because I know in BnHA and Ao no Exorcist, there are betrayals by certain people.

The aesthetic of this thing is like a fairytale and not like a typical anime. That’s probably one thing that convinced people to give it a shot.

LOL, there’s a Detective Conan door..well, it kind of looks like one.

The word for “tag” in Japanese is onigokko and “It” is an oni. That gives a whole new meaning to “playing tag with monsters”, doesn’t it?

Update: I can sort of feel my “this is popular, so I won’t like it” radar going off...so I’ll put it on hold until I get over that feeling.

#simulcast commentary #the morose mononokean #fukigen na monokean tsuzuki #fukigen na mononokean #mob psycho 100 #mob psycho season 2 #My Roommate is a Cat #doukyonin wa hiza tokidoki atama no ue #the promised neverland #yakusoku no neverland #meiji tokyo renka #Chesarka watches MP100 #Chesarka watches Doukyonin wa Hiza Tokidoki Atama no Ue.#Chesarka watches Fukigen na Mononokean

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secretradiobrooklyn · 3 years

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May Day Edition | 5.1.21

Secret Radio | 5.1.21 | Hear it here.

1. Zia - “Helel Yos”

This song has been in our heads in a big way the last few weeks. Zia was my first exposure to pre-revolutionary Iranian rock — sometimes called “psych rock,” though I can’t tell if that’s a designation he would make himself. But to be fair, I have no idea what he’s going for. Nonetheless, those little whistles he does get under my skin and into my brain. I wake up in the morning singing “helel yoza, hella hella helel yoza”… This is from the late ‘60s, I believe. The whole album (also called “Helel Yos”) is pretty excellent, and includes the song “Khofrium” from our last broadcast. A recent favorite and highly recommended.

2. Shin Joong Hyun - “Pushing through the Fog”

Somehow stumbled on this collection of South Korean music, and it has been mesmerizing. Shin Joong Hyun is a great example of something I love discovering over and over again: someone working within a language and a genre, but also expressing a completely unique personal style that extends beyond those general qualities and into startling specifics. This song is from “Beautiful Rivers and Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound of South Korea’s Shin Joong Hyun 1958-74,” which blows my mind, because the tones, and especially the bass and drums, sound so completely of the moment. It’s sold out at Light In The Attic’s store, so we’ll be keeping our eyes out for it in the wild, because these are going to be some crucial liner notes. The brief version on their site describes him as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, arranger, and talent developer. He began by performing for US troops in Korea post active war time, became a bewitching guitarist and songwriter, then started producing other bands in the region, and a string of hits developed. It sounds like his story includes a really harsh period of intrusion and disruption by the government… but as far as I can tell he survived to the current day, and even helped oversee this collection.

3. The Traces - “Je t’aime moi non plus” - “Thai Beat A Go Go Vol 2”

Ummm… I would LOVE to know what words they’re singing. This chummy Thai version of Gainsbourg’s super sensual “Je t’aime, moi non plus” is such a weird listening experience. I think one of the singers is either drunk or hearing the song for a first or second pass. What are they saying?!

4. Annie Philippe - “On m’a toujours dit”

I really love the energy and style of this track and many of the Annie Philippe songs I’ve heard, which makes it aggravating that the first thing one finds online in English about Philippe is a condescending, limp writeup on her by Richie Unterberger that tries its best to ignore how delightful her voice is and how pleasurable the arrangements are — luckily the dude mentions that Paul Mariat worked on her albums, who also arranged Charles Aznavour. I love the florid colors of French pop from the ‘60s with hothouse arrangements and wide-flung voices. The ebullient drums and electric guitar, the confident harmonies and tucked in little organ and horn licks are all pure joy.

5. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - “Houton Kan Do Go Me”

While we were in the Illinois woods we received some very welcome records from Germany’s Analog Africa label which included “The Skeletal Essences of Afro-Funk,” a collection of songs by pretty much our favorite band in the world, T.P. Orchestre. These songs that explore some of the facets of the band that “Echoes Hypnotique” and “The Vodoun Effect” — both gorgeous, keystone records — hadn’t gotten to yet. The language is Fon, the style is Jerk, and the composer (though not the singer, I think) is Bentho Gustave, T.P.’s bassist. pretty sure the singer is Lohento Eskill.

- Hailu Mergia & The Walias - “Musicawi Silt”

The Walias is the band that Hailu Mergia was in when he first came to America. I seem to remember a story that they were disappointed with the trip, went home to Ethiopia and broke up, but Mergia stayed and kept developing his keyboard style, which did a few decades later (!) actually win him wide recognition and acclaim. This is some of his earlier work, not in the director’s seat, and you can hear so much of Mergia’s style woven into the band’s arrangements. I love how it sounds like he’s just playing pure electric current — it barely sounds like an organ to me, more like uncut groove tone.

6. “Newsies” clip

In celebration of May Day, we present this inspiring tale of unions forming in the streets of New York.

7. Sexe a Pile - “Pas Méchant”

Another recent record score, this one from our other most favorite label, Born Bad Records in France: “Paink: French Punk Anthems 1977-1982.” One thing I love about this song is that the chorus always makes me think of “High Class” by the Buzzards, a song that never got nearly enough love as far as I’m concerned.

8. The Replacements - “Customer”

Dave got me thinking about the Replacements and before I knew it we were deep into “Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash.” So wild and loose and pissed off and sincere the whole time. You can really hear Westerberg yearn to be great but also sneer at himself for taking something seriously. It used to sound so unhinged to me but now it has become an album about being young and scared of yourself

9. Plearn Promdan - “Ruk Kum Samong”

Well, this was something we didn’t see coming — the Thai music we’ve heard up to now has been more ’50s influenced. It sounds like a four-piece rock band surrounded by a drum circle. This is part of what’s apparently known as Luk Thung underground. There’s been some very good stuff so far, I look forward to finding out more.

10. T.P. Orchestre - “Azanlokpe”

I got a little obsessed with T.P. Orchestre for a while there, and was trying to listen to every single recording that Discogs offered — which is a LOT, because they were super prolific. This is one of my favorite finds so far. I wish I could say which singer this is; it was noted as Melome Clément but I don’t think that’s him. So many talented people in this band!

11. Francis Bebey - “Super Jingle”

Francis Bebey contains multitudes. I’m pretty sure he records all of these parts himself. I think he’s just a master of rhythm — all of the instruments weave a tapestry that he can then cavort upon. The body of the song is so hypnotizing, the lead so akimbo.

12. Dalida - “J’ai revé”

One of the highlights of the 2017 St. Louis International Film Fest was the biopic of her life. This is early Dalida. As far as Paige understands, she’s the French Lady Gaga for people who were clubbing in the ’70s and ’80s. The story of her life has some really sad shit, but this take on Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover” is full of life.

- “Newsies” reprise

Radical sincerity sometimes requires references to musicals.

- Petch Pintong - “Soul Lum Piern”

I love this track and know nothing about it except that it was collected on “Thai Beat A Go Go Vol 4.” Those collections have turned out to be full of riches!

13. Atomic Forest - “Obsession ’77 (Fast)”

OK, these guys seem really interesting. They’re an Indian psych-funk band, which was apparently totally unheard of there, and they only released a single album — and that one only after they broke up. Because that album is full of great stuff, most notably (at least to me) this track, their story is almost too perfectly suited to the obsessions of vinyl collectors worldwide. Now-Again Records re-released the album in 2011, and we ran across it just a couple months ago. I really enjoy the sense of narrative in the song — what’s happening in the foreground keeps evolving and remaining legitimately interesting.

14. Metak - “Da Mi Je Biti Morski Pas”

I’m proud to say that these dedicated rockers are Croatian, and this track from 1980 rocks like a seafoam T-top Stingray. This is from a 7” with “Rock’n’Roller” on the flip.

15. Mai Lan - “Les Huîtres”

Paige found this amazing playlist on Spotify years ago, and this is finally the way she started getting into more contemporary French music. It sounds like she’s from a musical and artistic French-Vietnamese family. “Les Huîtres” is from around 2008. Kind of feels like

16. VIS Idoli - “Maljciki”

We found a video of this Yugoslavian ska while looking for something else entirely. I did learn that this is political ska, and that they were frowned upon by the government. One account has them being indulged by the government; another has them under threat of punishment. I do love knowing that ska is a political form and not just a genre. I have no idea how they would feel about the Croatian rockers a few tracks back, and I hope none of them did any harm to one another other during the terrible ‘90s.

17. Para One, Arthur Simonini - “La Jeune Fille en Feu” - “Portrait of a Woman on Fire” score

Did you see “Portrait of a Woman on Fire”? We highly recommend it, for a lot of reasons but definitely for the passage of this song. It sounds great here, but at night, by firelight, with all the nuns and farmwomen on the island?

18. The Space Lady - “Ghost Riders in the Sky”

- Sleepy Kitty - “Western Antagonist Reflection”

19. Mikyas Chernet - “Ziyoze”

Marc, this is the song I was talking about stepping into the Teddy Afro position. It’s definitely not the same, but you can hear the modern Ethiopian pop feel running through it. It helps that I first heard it while picking up an order from our favorite Ethiopian in STL, which is also where we first heard Teddy Afro. The dancers are on POINT in the video, and they’re rockin a couple of new styles that I hadn’t seen yet.

20. Nazir Ali - “Lad Pyar Aur Beti”

Listen to the giant smiles in their voices! This is from a very recent compilation. That female voice has to be Nahid Aktar, or at least it sounds just like her; I think the protagonist-sounding male voice is Ali’s. There is a brief appearance from that Oscar the Grouch-sounding guy from last episode’s Aktar song. It’s so cool how the song shifts into new mode after new mode as it goes.

21. Nathalie - “L’Amour Nous Repond”

22. The Fall - “L.A.”

This period of The Fall is surely our favorite — wherever Brix E. went, the songs were great. And now, with vaccines coursing through our systems, we can feel our thoughts casting their way to LA and San Francisco…

23. Akaba Man & The Nigie Rokets - “Ta Gha Hunsimwen”

Analog Africa’s most recent release is “Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1,” with tracks from the late ‘70s and ‘80s in Nigeria’s Benin City. Akaba Man is described as “the philosopher king of Edo funk.” The whole album is full of good tracks that only get better with repeated listens. This one has a bed of sounds that could happily go on for hours or days.

24. Gérard Manset - “Entrez dans le rêve”

Paige: “If you ever want to hear Lou Reed sing in French, this is the best we’re gonna get.”

- Johnny Guitar - “Bangkok by Night”

We heard the “Shadow Music of Thailand” album a while back but haven’t dipped into it for too long. This Santo & Johnny style reverbed-out dream of the ‘50s lives eternally in Thai psych guitar.

25. David Bowie - “When I Live My Dream”

We do not condone the killing of any species of dragon, and I can only trust that neither dragon nor giant was harmed in the making of this fantasy.

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theragamuffininitiative · 7 years

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Winn Schott - He Protects the Stars (a S1 masterpost, part II)

The first post got too long, so here are episodes 11-20, the full second half, of Season One. :)

Me, rambling about my favorite cape-less hero, in chronological order. This is an appreciation post for anything and everything I can mention and that is all.

(the poor boy, he goes through a lot, and this is about the view of him we get this half. also, that gif is tagged as #winn schott #or is it jeremy and that is a legitimate question all the time.)

Episodic breakdowns under the cut again, enjoy!

This post will be reblogged as I add in episodes from E10 to the season finale.

1x11, Strange Visitor from Another Planet

a really mediocre title for an episode depressingly low in WinnContent

Kara: I miss my best friend, Alex.” We do too, Kara, we do too.

Winn. Awkward Winn. Upset Winn. At least coming to his senses enough to wish her a good day and smile, because even when he’s so unhappy, he’s never gonna stop caring about her the most.

Whenever they don’t actually write something for Winn to be in, but his desk appears in the background, they have his messenger bag slung over his chair so at least you know they haven’t forgotten about him. XD

You can tell he feels bad about shutting Kara down, initiating conversation the next time they see each other. “Space and time,” she offers. That smile he gives as the elevator closes tells you that they are going to be ok. :)

1x12, Bizarro

Another new tag added to the repertoire for this episode: salty cinnamon roll

Winn and Kara repairing their relationship, because heck, Winn will always care about her no matter what and I want to believe Kara will too. #supportive friend(s)

Cat found out from Winn what Kara’s favorite coffee is. I love all three of them so much. Winn doesn’t even use it to try and get back in Kara’s good graces, because he doesn’t like being manipulated and doesn’t manipulate the people he cares about, he just cares for them. Precious sunshine child. Please never change.

So offended by James’ questioning look. “I measured her for her suit!”

Is so observant of the people around him, he knew James was lying last time, and knows Kara is lying now. Also, these two opening scenes with them are actually very well written to break the ice, kudos to the writers for that.

even if the whole date thing is so awkward with James and Winn and Kara and all their recent/future history lol

but back to Winn. Calling James out on all James’ pretenses of “Adam’s great, yeah, who-hoo” - “You’ve never even met him.” XD XD #salty cinnamon roll

Reappearance of Winn’s bag standing in for a scene they didn’t write anything for the character, but need to remind us he does have a job there. *eye roll*

Two years. Two years’ worth of hospital/police records that Winn dug through to find Bizarro. And how long did it take him? Under 24 hours. #genius

I love that Winn is very quick to encourage James to not be the coward he was when it comes to Kara. Like, it’s incredibly awkward how everyone is crushing on her, but Winn putting his own feelings (now that they’ve been healthily addressed) to the side, and again calling James out on his crap as the dude is trying to date Lucy but more interested in Kara.... #supportive friend and #genius and just all around a good guy.

“Leave the bottle!” oh Winn. XD

1x13, For the Girl Who Has Everything

Look, the whole point of this post was to highlight that Winn is a true hero and honestly responsible for a lot of what goes right, it’s not my fault the show decided to focus so heavily on Kara’s love life, but here we go, back on track...almost.

He. Is. So. Concerned. About. His. Friend. that’s it - that’s the episode.

Winn telling the tick story to Cat is the funniest thing, also admirable how he’s the one trying to save Kara’s job like he and James agreed to do together. One thing I don’t think I can add to his Jack of All Trades list is lying. Concealing the truth? Yeah. Lying convincingly? Never.

Cat: “I have been watching you cover for her day after day, putting yourself and your job in jeopardy, and for what?” For a friend. For a person he cares about and would die for in a heartbeat. #supportive friend #hero

*sees an unknown person exactly replicating another and immediately wants to know the science of it* #nerd

“Hey Kara, wake up.” #supportive friend

Here we go! Winn being the one to hypothesize that the satellites being down could be something the invader’s are depending on. #genius #hero

Is the first one to realize Alex succeeded in saving her sister.

And is the only one present enough to talk to his friend and console her as she is jarred awake. #hero

With the gang, making sure she 1) could come back 2) save her job and 3) have a clean home to walk into and not be left alone. And being the one to crack jokes and make everyone smile. #supportive friend

Making sure that they are, truly, friends again. Yes. Good.

1x14, Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Not important, but the whole opening exchange between Kara and Winn is adorable and I love these two nerds’ friendship.

The arrival of Soiubhgsn

just pointing out the bag is standing in for Winn again while Cat is asking about Lord and Kara eavesdrops. #where is the boy

Aside: James is really good in this episode, more of that would not hurt.

More of Winn would be better though.

1x15, Solitude

#messenger bag (I don’t think that’s actually kind of bag, but it’s been doing a lot of stand-ins for Winn, and may I say, its acting ability is a s.e.v.e.r.e. downgrade)

“Toyman Jr.” never ever needs to be a thing

It takes Winn approximately two seconds to take Indigo’s traffic light remark and figure out what she’s doing, and then out of every single traffic light in the city, somehow finds the one with the most collateral damage and pinpoints it in time to decisively send Supergirl there and save lives. #genius #hero

-also, possibly is the one who hacks the traffic lights back to working order??? seeing as that’s the last incident and Kara isn’t in a panic to go save anyone else???

#cardigan hobbit

“He’s been mumbling to himself like that for over an hour, isn’t that the first sign of-” “Genius. Yes.” Thank you, Kara.

I appreciate the nerd vibes of Winn’s candy and popcorn, but heck. There are two coffees, a soda, and FIVE energy drinks. This guy is running on fumes, please someone fix him an actual meal???

Yes, let’s have the villain choke one of the characters, toss them across the room, and then have them jump up just fine and offer a snappy one-liner, because obviously they need zero time to recover from that. #protect him

Assisting Soudfgndf and listening to her when she opens up to him. #the most empathetic character on television

Really wants to help the DEO but checks with his friend first.

“You realize I’m learning an alien coding language in the time it takes to watch an episode of Doctor Who.” #genius

Not only helps the DEO reach the same conclusion as James, Kara, Lucy, and Clark’s information gets, but saves himself and the day by stopping Indigo by recreating a computer virus he accidentally made two years previously. #genius #hero

stands up to/comforts/??? Siobhan - we’ll get to her later.

1x16, Falling

Winn “computer droid” Schott Jr

“You are literally impervious to bullets and I’m worried about your safety right now”

Siobhan gets fired, Winn is again the only one to try and help (I promise I’ll address their relationship). #the most empathetic character on television

Winn and James’ concern for Kara, yes good.

Um, excuse me, but that is Winn putting a calming hand on James’ shoulder when he starts yelling at Lord. #supportive friend #priorities

The panic on many levels when he shouts “She killed Ms. Grant?!”

So, like, everyone remembers that Kara’s “best friend in the whole world” was very worried about her, even if he doesn’t appear at all in the last half of the episode, right? #where is the boy

1x17, Manhunter

Jack-of-all-trades #7: Assistant to Miss Grant. Open with Winn for the first time, if I recall correctly, being in on the whole group staff meeting in Cat’s office for breaking news coverage. Cat recognizes Winn as a valuable person to have around after recent events. Also, he has to remind her Kara isn’t there. XD (James helps, reluctantly.)

He is so supportive and encouraging to Siobhan?? Even when he knows she’s wrong?? And at the same time is getting her off Kara’s back??? #supportive friend and #the most empathetic character on television

Aside: Space Dad J’onn and Alex are good in this episode.

The way he stumbles to add “Jr” to his full name. Poor kid. #daddy issues is a tag I should have been using during “Childish Things”, but, well, that’s the entire episode.

Winn and Kara’s first meeting is a lovely moment. Platonic or romantic, if you don’t believe in love at first sight, you’ve never seen the way Winn looks after Kara as she breaks away for her interview. They are destined to be best friends.

Okay, but Kara’s shirt having snaps instead of buttons so she can easily become Supergirl in a second’s notice? That wardrobe design has Winn written all over it and you won’t convince me otherwise.

“Obsessive study of Kara for the past two years.” Cat doesn’t miss a thing.

Look at how disappointed he is, unhappy to tell Siobhan he found her out, and saddened that she would do that. #the most empathetic character on television

Someone please just keep this boy and his friends away from rooftops it never ever ever ends well and it’s going to give him a fear complex. #protect him

And his trying to help Siobhan. Again, always, never giving up on people and forever caring too much.

1x18, World’s Finest

His concern for both Kara and Siobhan is admirable, also, the times he and Kara get their best friends moments are always my favorite. She needs someone to confide in and he’s always there. #supportive friend

Ok. So. Winn and Siobhan never even had an actual date. Their entire relationship was built on her using him for her own ends whenever she needed something. Comfort, distraction, information, she got what she needed and invested nothing. It’s made very clear that she never cared about him. Now, on Winn’s side, it’s obvious he’s trying to move on from Kara in a healthy way. He just... finds absolutely the wrong person to be his girlfriend.

I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE WHOLE ICECREAM SCENE WITH BARRY. THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLE THE BEST SCENE IN THE ENTIRE SHOW. THE COMEDIC GENIUS, THE COLORING FROM WARDROBE, THE CAMERA MOVEMENTS, AND ESPECIALLY WINN AND BARRY’S INTERACTIONS. #BLESSED

Noticed Winn’s little point at the powered on computer like he’s offended someone has been messing with his stuff. XD #nerd

Aside: I hope Barry paid for the ice cream???

Dynamic Duo (TM). MORE OF THEM PLEASE.

Winn is enjoying James being the jealous odd man out for a change, and I kind of love it, I think he’s earned that much in the very least. ;) #salty cinnamon roll

Being the one to try and stop Crazy Eyes Silver Banshee, not by force, but by simply putting himself in her way and trying to reason with her, offering her help, caring for her. #hero

1x19, Myriad

Winn doesn’t get a lot of screen time in the two-part season finale, but there’s some good content in there even so:

Thank you, CW, for going one step further in the wrong direction from #messenger bag to actually hiring an extra to play Winn at his desk who doesn’t even look anything like him.

Scary little Myriad-controlled smile.

Friendly reminder that Mr. Schott Jr. reeeeeeaaallyy Does NOT Like Heights, and that Myriad (with Indigo, who may or may not remember the computer geek who threw off her groove last time) is used to make him be the one to jump off a building for a change. Also, friendly reminder that Winn was aware of what was going on while under Myriad��s influence. If he wasn’t scared of heights before, he would be now anyway. #protect him

#”nice socks winn”

Not sure why Kara isn’t concerned that her two friends who were just forced to jump off a building are now nowhere to be seen??

that’s literally all the Winn we get in this episode, folks.

1x20, Better Angels

Jack-of-all-trades #8: just, like, really good??? I’m sorry, I don’t know how to word this, but Winn is literally the first person shown to snap out of Myriad’s control: first by Supergirl saying the enemy has attacked his freewill and individuality, and then completely when he remembers his friend Kara, who is saying “you let me be who I’m meant to be.” The others don’t break Myriad’s hold until Kara reminds them of their own strength and ultimately calls them to action. #hero

James being awkward and Winn gracefully (if dorkily) backing off. #supportive friend

Winn gets in on the staff meeting again. He doesn’t even have to be called in specially, or need an ulterior reason for being there, he just joins the rest of the crew because he has a place there now.

Taking medicine for the headache that’s left after Myriad. #protect him

“A Guide to Caring for Your Superhero Best Friend” by Winn Schott Jr: Step 1) learn to immediately recognize when something is trouble your super friend. Step 2) ask if she’s alright. Step 3) offer her food, this has been proven to be helpful in the past. 4) try cheering her up with a joke. Step 5) listen to her when she decides to spill her guts to you. #supportive friend #the most empathetic character on television

*****STEP 6, love her very much and be very concerned when she gives a pretty speech and then leaves.

The .2 seconds we see of Winn while Myriad is at 70-90% kill me. Absolutely kill me. Everyone else is clutching their heads and faces, the pain of the attack overwhelming them. Obviously the pain is affecting our boy too, but the look on his face is not so much pain as it is sheer terror. Winn is five minutes away from dying, and he is in pain, and terrified and please someone protect him, he did not ask for any of this. (Kudos to Jeremy’s acting)

I’m hoping somebody gave our hero lots of aspirin and hugs.

Winn’s smile and laugh at the end family celebration (yes. they. are. all. family.) is LIFE.

That’s it for Season One!

Season Two, we get Agent Schott. :D :D And lots more impressive hero work for our resident genius, jack-of-all-trades, precious sunshine child. ;)

#winn schott - he protects the stars #masterpost #supergirl season one #winn schott #jeremy jordan #appreciation post #supergirl #superglue #strange visitor from another planet #bizarro #for the girl who has everything

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roseisread · 7 years

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You Make Me Not Wanna Die: The return of the Pop Menagerie playlist! It’s been way too long since I posted anything on this blog. My only excuse is that I’ve had a crazy year in my personal life and sometimes internet things take a back seat to self care. But right now, I think my best form of self care is listening to and sharing my pop culture faves so I’m back to do just that. I’m starting off with a playlist that contains songs I love to sing along to, cry along to, dance along to, write along to, and think along to. Almost all of these songs are from albums released in 2017, although there may be an exception here or there for songs released earlier that I only discovered recently. In any case, here you go. Enjoy! 1. Allie X - That’s So Us If you love Carly Rae Jepsen, you should love Allie X. This song makes me so happy, and also it makes me cry sometimes because it reminds me of those people that you really can be yourself around and they love you anyway. Those people are rare and wonderful, and if you are one of them for me, then thank you. “You make me not wanna die,” as the song says. I love that line so much I used it to title this playlist. 2. The Drums - Shoot the Sun Down Remember these guys? Kind of sunny indie pop, hit it big with “I Don’t Know How To Love” off of their album Portamento back in 2012? Yeah. They are still here, still awesome, and the album this came from just gives me shivers it’s so freaking great. Also, I joke that this song is dedicated to my cat when she tries to bite and scratch me at night, because of that repeating line, “I put a blanket over my face.” Nena, this one’s for you. 3. Knuckle Puck - Conduit I have such a goddamn soft spot for emo-leaning pop punk, you guys. I can’t even lie. As a bonus, they’re from the Chicago area so technically I can claim them as a local band. This song reminds me of the best of Blink 182, early Jimmy Eat World, and maybe even a little Brand New. I also love the lyrics, with their references to grinding teeth and lucid dreams. Definitely relatable for me. 4. MUNA - End of Desire You might be familiar with MUNA if you love Tegan and Sara, because this band appears on The Con: X covering Relief Next To Me. I love the way their voices blend, and I love the vulnerability of the lyrics. This song is open to interpretation, but it seems to allude to having feelings for another person that you didn’t ask for but can’t get rid of. Who hasn’t been there? 5. Kiasmos - Jarred The Icelandic duo is back with more incredible, chilly electronic tunes that almost sound like icicles forming or frost creeping up the inside of your window pane in the night. This song definitely makes me want to hop the next plane to Reykjavik and spend a week sipping dark liquor in some poorly lit club that only the locals know about. 6. MUTEMATH - War You know about my love of MUTEMATH by now. Their latest album goes in so many different directions musically--not just from one song to the next but within the space of a single track. This one is a banger live, and one of my favorites on the album. Lyrically, it reminds me of my own not so great tendency to get heated as I try to convince someone they’re wrong and I’m right. A good debate is healthy sometimes, but not everything needs to be a battle for the ages. “War’s in my nature,” all right. But I’m trying to find a way toward peace. 7. Cat Dealers/Groove Delight - Calabria This is just a sick dance track. I can’t claim to know all that much about Cat Dealers, although I know they hail from Rio de Janeiro and that this song makes me want to tear it up on the dancefloor or the living room or the driver’s seat of my car. Groove Delight is Brazilian as well, making me think I probably need to go to Brazil sooner rather than later to discover what other booty shaking gems I’ve been missing. 8. Converge - A Single Tear Can you believe these guys have been around for 27 years? This song encapsulates so many things I love about them, from their always insane percussion to the insistent guitar melodies to the impassioned vocals of Jacob Bannon. The lyrics (which allude to “holding you for the first time,” presumably about becoming a parent) are so sweet, a word that doesn’t probably come up in a lot of reviews of metal and hardcore songs but still, I stand by it. 9. Luna Shadows - Jesus Christ (Brand New cover) I have always loved this song, and it’s awesome to hear a young up and coming artist take it on. She really puts her own spin on this classic of the emo genre, and I look forward to hearing more original tunes from her. 10. ROMES - Someone I just saw these guys open for MUTEMATH and they have so much energy live! Canadian by way of Ireland, they bring out anthemic indie pop tunes that are just irresistible. I’m reminded a little bit of Peter Gabriel and a little bit of Bastille, but not in a derivative way. 11. Fever Ray - Red Trails Ahhhhh! Fever Ray is back!!!! It’s been way too long since we’ve heard from her, but the album that she just released online helps make up for the absence because it just kills. She still has that haunting, hypnotic voice layered on top of unexpected instrumentation and arrhythmic beats. The lyrics are mysterious and dark. There’s something sexy about it but not in a Britney Spears way. She sounds kind of dangerous but you can’t help but want to follow her wherever she’s going. 12. ABRA - Bounty Speaking of hypnotic and sexy, ABRA is definitely both. Based in Atlanta, she sounds like she’s based in another planet altogether. Her off kilter brand of R&B does not fit any category--she has this supple voice that leads us along across breathy beats and frantic counter melodies. It’s unsettling and gorgeous at the same time. 13. Tove Lo - Disco Tits Tove Lo is my ride or die. She’s unabashedly herself in all her nympho trashy glory, and I adore her for it. I promise I’m not into club drugs, but Euro pop songs about them sure are fun. I put this song on the car radio when I’m driving to work just to wake myself up and then have to make sure my phone volume is on mute before I walk into the office because “nipples are hard ready to go” is probably not appropriate lyrical content for the workplace. 14. Golden Features - Funeral Tom Stell, aka Golden Features, has sold out tours in his native country of Australia but it won’t belong before he’s selling out everywhere. This track makes me want to see him in an underground dance club at 4am. It’s fire. 15. Jessie Ware - Stay Awake, Wait For Me Another one of my faves is back! I love her upbeat songs but this is one of those instant classic pop ballads, and I had to find a spot for it on this list. It��s intimate and romantic and sexy in a grown up way. Don’t put this song on if you’re trying to be celibate, is all I’m saying. 16. Hundred Waters - Particle If you miss Imogen Heap/Frou Frou, you should most definitely be listening to Hundred Waters. Nicole Miglis has that hushed tone in her voice that belies intense feeling, and the skittering electronic elements fill the spaces in between as a sort of musical representation of anxiety and uncertainty. This song, about a romantic coupling that seems lopsided. “I’m only a particle, a drop in you, forever dissolving,” she sings. Damn.

17. The Tuts- Dump Your Boyfriend What’s not to love about this UK based garage girl group? This song describes the kind of toxic relationship that it’s easy to criticize from the outside but harder to shake when you’re the one who’s in love with an asshole. 18. Fellwarden - Sun of an Ending This kind of moody, atmospheric black metal is so soothing to me. It feels ancient and primal, like the old gods are still roaming the land slaying dragons and protecting those that live in their realm. If you’re a black metal fan, you may recognize the vocals as those of Fen frontman The Watcher. 19. Palehound - Silver Toaster On Boston-based Palehound’s second album, the writing sounds more self-assured and the songs even more personal than those on the debut. Frontwoman Ellen Kempner attributes this in part to being more comfortable in her own skin as a queer-identifying woman, and in part to being in her first healthy adult relationship. This song is short and simple, but I love the unexpected turns of phrase and imagery, like the line, “hack off my split ends.” There are plenty of bands doing the whole DIY stripped down aesthetic, but this one rises above the rest. If you were into artists like Kimya Dawson and Mary Lou Lord, you should definitely be paying attention to Palehound.

20. Kelsea Ballerini - Miss Me More Nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy earlier this year, Kelsea Ballerini hits the ground running on her latest release. She’s been writing songs since she was 12 years old and listening to Britney, Christina, and N Sync. Something about the fact that she considers Shania her biggest influence really charms me. I am obsessed with this song, which I can relate to on a very personal level. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you’ve compromised yourself for another person until you don’t have them in your life anymore and suddenly the real you starts to re-emerge. 21. The Maharajas - Too Late To Repent If you hear this song and think it must be a re-release of some little known 1960s garage rock/British Invasion group, I don’t blame you. I wondered that myself. But it turns out these Swedish dudes have only been active since the 90s, and they are still recording music that sounds like it’s from a bygone era. A little Kinks, a little Beatles, a little surf rock--it’s all here and it’s all great. 22. Margo Price - Don’t Say It This Illinois native was signed by Jack White to Third Man Records, and she recorded her debut album at Sun Studios in Memphis. Both of those things make sense upon hearing her traditional country sound. She has one of those clear, classic voices that really do harken back to the Lorettas and Patsys and Tammys. Her second album even features a duet with Willie Nelson, proving that she’s definitely earned her classic country bonafides. 23. Peaness - Skin Surfing OK, yes, initially I was drawn to this 3-piece English band because of their silly name. But once I heard the first guitar strums and vocal harmonies, I was truly done for. Formed in 2014, they have songs about everything from wasting food just because it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing (”Ugly Veg”) to George Osborne of Brexit fame (”Oh George”). This song is very seductive while staying playful and affirming consent. I dig the occasional Veruca Salt vibes it dips into as well. 24. Dori Freeman - Ern & Zorry’s Sneakin’ Bitin’ Dog I guess an acapella song about a mean neighbor dog might be an odd choice for a playlist but it’s so adorable I couldn’t leave it out. Dori Freeman, who cites Peggy Lee and Rufus Wainwright as her major influences, hails from Virginia and her songs have an Appalachian flavor. I predict a T-Bone Burnett collaboration in her future. 25. The Blow - Summer It’s hard to believe The Blow has existed in some form for going on 20 years, but it’s true. The K Records vets continue to release hypnotic, electronic indie pop with a lo-fi feel, and this song has been stuck in my head from the first listen. It’s a simple melody but good luck escaping that hook. 26. Austra - Beyond a Mortal The Canadian dark wave is back with their third album, this time recorded in Mexico. For this particular track, singer Katie Stelmanis says she recorded the vocals over 100 times to achieve the hushed, whispery effect. The rest of the album, titled Future Politics, is a meditation on the state of the world as it is now and what we all wish it could become. 27. MGMT - Little Dark Age Finally! It’s been 5 years since MGMT’s last album, and even longer since the world sat up and took notice of them. This lead single off their upcoming album makes me think that they’re poised to re-take the synth pop throne. This song has elements of their earliest work, but it also incorporates bits of industrial and even krautrock. I listen and think Depeche Mode! Kraftwerk! Skinny Puppy! So many of my musical faves somehow distilled into a single track. I can only hope that the rest of the album lives up to this single. 28. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Ring-a-Ring O’Roses To me, there’s always been an otherworldly quality to Charlotte Gainsbourg’s voice. She took some time off from music to do some acting, notably in Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac volume 1 and volume 2 and Melancholia. Those films required heavy lifting and emotional degradation, which perhaps allowed her to tap into a deeper place when recording the songs for this album, her first in seven years. The video for this song features Gainsbourg’s son, carrying on the family tradition started by Charlotte and her father Serge Gainsbourg. 29. Sun Glitters - Where the End Begins If there’s one thing I love, it’s shimmery electronic music. And Sun Glitters, who hails from Luxembourg, produces just that. Rarely does an artist’s name so aptly describe their sound, but this is one such perfect marriage. If you enjoy the likes of Gold Panda, Boards of Canada, Fennesz, Teen Daze, or Blackbird Blackbird, you will definitely dig this sound.

#playlist #2017 music #mgmt #charlotte gainsbourg #sun glitters #austra #mutemath #the drums #allie x #tove lo #fever ray #romes #the tuts

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