#mr original Concept Garage

[devondespresso]

FINALLY

after NINE. HOURS. (NOT including meals and sleep) ITS FUCKING DONE.

A complete floorplan of the entire Harrington house. Including too much thought about random, throw-away lines from characters and squint-to-see-it background glimpses inside.

plently of stuff in the actual house is altered or straight up ignored in favor of following the fiction logic and because I Wanted To. A lot of this is motivated by my headcanons for the Harringtons and how I'm writing them in my fic, but I'm also certainly not an architect so it's by no means perfect. It is, however, unreasonably canon compliant in the few bits we do see.

Thought Process (for context):

the darker shaded floor areas are lower than the rest, some bits like the garages having stairs and some areas like the sun and dining rooms list being like a step lower. Windows are marked with dashes along the outside, sliding doors are two thin lines slightly overlapping, stairs change color as they diverge from the level we're looking at, and furniture is eyeballed so don't look to closely a the scale.

not all closets are labeled, just the ones i figured could be confusing. Steve and the guest rooms have closets i promise.

the laundry room and pantry are not the same size but by the time i noticed i was exhausted. so pretend they're both more reasonably sized.

i don't know what the floorplan symbol for garage door is and then i forgot to look so the headlights point to where the doors are and you can see them clearly in photos so yeah.

The general layout is based on the idea that the Harringtons are or were into hosting dinner parties and business meetings in their home, especially as a young rich couple looking for respect in their circles (Mr. Harrington taking on his father's business and reinforcing that power, Mrs. Harrington climbing her own social ladder and building an image).

So the house is laid out with hosting areas towards the right with the office big and near the dining room because it's more than just a workplace, it represents him as a businessman. In canon the entryway and living room both have very high ceilings and no second-floor above them, so I'd imagine they're also aware of how the top floor looks from below, hence the fancy double/french doors to the master bedroom which is in plain view from below. Steve's room and the guest room are's nearly as visible.

As for the kitchen and sun/pool rooms, I see them more as secondary hosting areas that aren't used as the main location most of the time and are more this background setting to these events that still feel rich. The kitchen is massive and mostly for dinner-parties and Mrs. Harrington's social events.

The kitchen and main bathroom's placement is based on a line Steve said to Barb giving her directions to the bathroom: "down past the kitchen, to the left". With the massive living room on the left and wanting to keep the dining and office close by, i interpreted the "to the left" part being like "find the kitchen, then turn left". And with the rest of the area being open-concept, the bathroom would be the only normal door over there and easy to find. it's a bit of a stretch with just that line, but it makes sense to me with the rest of the context for the layout.

the basement is similar to this, though not as openly displayed so I imagine its for slightly closer friends. Theres a garage door down there so I figured Mr. Harrington might have a cool car he shows off, like he's letting people in on a personal detail about himself. There's also a guest room down there (the only one still considered 100% for guests, more on that later) for those people.

beside the basement garage, there was originally one main garage that holds two cars, obvious Mr. and Mrs. Harrington's cars. I imagine they bought the house before having kids, so a third one wasn't on the mind but after having Steve they added the front one (either turning the carport into a closed garage or they never had a carport and added a whole new addition, up to you)

Both garages lead to the same part of the house, and that area is the only one besides the water heater room that is purely function over effect. It still looks good like the rest of the house but it's not made to be fancy because guests would rarely need to be over there if at all and it's not noteworthy from other parts of the house.

In my headcanon, Steve's room used to be a guest room, staying his room from nursery to present with Mrs. Harrington renovating every now and then. Its one of those places in the house that doesn't have to look perfect for all to see, so she gets creative and has fun with it.

The upstairs guest room is also unofficially Mrs. Harrington's room, based on a line where Tommy mentions a fireplace in "his mom's room" instead of "guest room" or "parent's room" or "master bedroom". I belatedly realized this could be a solidarity thing with Steve hating his dad and calling the master bedroom his mom's room, but that was after 9 hours of this and im not changing it but there you go. In this version, I imagine she leaves the master some nights because her marriage with Mr. Harrington is failing (cheating and all, I wouldn't want to be in the same bed with someone who cheated either)

the master bathroom was an executive decision, just looking at the house in canon and not having enough space in my first attempts, i decided the triangle roof part above the dining and office could fit a master bathroom.

Feel free to use or reference this in your own fics! Feel free to block out my furniture or walls and make your own version. If you share my image please credit with an @ mention!! (again, 9 hours) (thank you fhalsfhd)

[ladyaislinn]

Rufus Sewell on Playing ‘The Good Guy’s Bad Guy’ in Netflix’s “The Diplomat”

By Hugh Hart  |  May 19, 2025

A proper English thespian who originated a role in Tom Stoppard’s Laurence Olivier Award-winning play Arcadia fresh out of acting school, Rufus Sewell has since excelled as a character actor with leading man looks. Over the past few years he’s played a sadistic aristocrat (The Illusionist); a Nazi (The Man in the High Castle); an astrophysicist (Eleventh Hour); and a drunken artist (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), for which he earned an Emmy nomination. Now, Sewell’s co-starring in The Diplomat as Hal Wyler, the savvy American husband of Keri Russell’s title character.

Created by former The West Wing writer-producer Debora Cahn, the Netflix political thriller follows Kate Wyler, U.S. Ambassador to the UK. Hal protects her interests amid a treacherous thicket of suspect politicians, bombings, treason, and state secrets. In his character’s defense, Sewell tells The Credits, “I would describe Hal as the good guy’s bad guy in that he will be underhanded and cutthroat in his machinations to do something he truly believes is for the good of mankind. In that regard, he’s not a careerist.”

Speaking from the garage of his home in Los Angeles, Sewell extols the virtues of French movies, screwball comedies, and that unquantifiable thing called chemistry.

How did you make your brash American character so convincing? It’s lovely to hear that I bring out “brash American” – something that is almost jarring because that is so not me. The trick [of being an actor] is to do enough work that nobody notices that you’re doing any acting when in fact you’re working your little socks off!

You start Season 2 flat on your back in the hospital after being blown up in a car bomb attack in the Season 1 finale, presumably traumatized but loath to show it? Initially, he’s not traumatized at all. As Kate says, people have tried to kill Hal many times. He’s, you might say, bulletproof to the point of exasperation in that he seems to come out of these things relatively unscathed. So I think Hal’s assumption, based on experience, is that he’s absolutely fine—until suddenly he isn’t. When they’re attending the fireworks and he has that panic attack episode, it’s not as if he’s been trying to conceal it all that time. Unless I was doing such subtle acting that nobody noticed, not even me. [laughing]. The idea in the writing and my conception of it was that the fireworks took Hal — and Kate — completely by surprise.

You play the supportive spouse in The Diplomat even though you’ve established a formidable State Department career of your own. Surely Hal must be ambitious in his own right? Well, he’s incredibly ambitious for her. too. When people see Hal wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, the assumption is he’s doing it for his advantage or her eventual disadvantage, but that is not the case. The whole set-up of the show is that Hal manipulated Kate into a position so that she can be where she belongs, right at the top. On set, this is something we often talked about with Keri and Deb, the writer and showrunner. If the door had nudged open for Hal, you can best believe he would take that door, but the door that is opening is for Kate to be vice president, so that’s the play — that’s where we point our guns.

Did you have any references in mind that shaped the way you thought about Hal’s role in The Diplomat? There’s a fantastic scene in Primary Colors, where there’s a question about whether it’s moral to take advantage of a rival’s [secret] past in order to win. John Travolta, as the Bill Clinton—inspired character, says, “Yes. If you don’t know when to kill, then you’re not in the right job.” So what I’m saying is, when you have an opportunity to win, for all of the right reasons, you have to take it. Hal is one of these people. And in that sense, Kate too is a killer.

Season 2 Set

It’s fascinating to witness the domestic dimension of the story, when Hal and Kate retire from public view and go to bed. The pajamas, the banter, the sex all seem to be part of the same flow? That was there when I read the first couple of scripts, and I was immediately smitten. It reminded me of being a bit like a French movie: people would be arguing, the lady, or the gent, would go into the bathroom, take a pee, and carry on. It wasn’t a thing. Or it’s like early Woody Allen, where the comedy is not some pasted-on thing but came out of how these characters thought and spoke. These are not people who eat a croissant, talk about politics, and then have sex. Mentally enough, [laughing] for Kate and Hal, talking about the nitty gritty – the kill – is part of the sex.

Very adult. The writing also reminded me of movies like The Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday. It’s that screwball thing where two people are apart but together, and it has that [snapping fingers]. It’s very difficult to get that right.

You two have chemistry, full stop. You can see people trying for it, which I find more excruciating than Dullard’s comedy, to tell you the truth.

Because it feels forced? The fancy talk. I find it grating when people play that style too knowingly. The sh*t that people describe as “chemistry” in reviews I find ridiculous – “finishing each other’s sentences at the same time” — basically the kind of stuff that makes executive producers high five each other in screening rooms.

Did you do a “chemistry read” with Keri to land the role? No, it was just Deb’s gut feeling. I’d seen Keri’s stuff, I thought she was great, but we’d never met. I accepted the job. I was flown to England, where I go to work now that I live in Hollywood [laughing] — and on my first day on set, I popped into the makeup room. Keri was there, I think I made a joke, she laughed, we had a very brief chat about nothing in particular, and I came out of the trailer thinking “Oh, it’ll be fine.”

It sounds like you two did not need to plan things too much in advance. We were just on the same page instinctively. We both have our process that we don’t make anybody else’s business, and my take on a scene will complement her take. We could have completely different conceptions of the scene, but we’re able to use our own thoughts and change and respond to each other as we’re listening. We just get each other. And I just have to say, we also have a lot of fun.

No overthinking required? If it’s not there, then thinking about it won’t make any difference. In fact, you’re better off not trying. Because when I talk about what makes my skin crawl, it is the trying.

So for you… I’m like “She’ll be fine,” and she’s like “He’ll be fine.”

The entire cast of mostly British actors in The Diplomat is unusually strong across the board. What do you make of that? Because of the writing, because of the writing, because of the writing. Good actors will come, even for very small parts. And Team Deb is watching. If an actor comes in just for a couple of days for a few lines and they nail it and they’re not a dick and they’re fun, then there’s always the possibility that they will [be asked to] come back.

Part of what makes The Diplomat pop visually is the sense of spectacle. Do you enjoy filming in grandiose settings like St. James Cathedral and Inveraray Castle in Scotland? As long as we don’t let the set play us. There’s an expression, “The least interesting thing about a person is the uniform.” For me, it’s about the scrappy little human fidgeting underneath, plus the exterior. And it’s the same with beautiful houses, grand doorways, and staircases. If you’re not careful, the staircase will make you walk a certain way. Sometimes it’s appropriate, but I think it’s interesting when people trip up. This show is about the reality versus the presentation.

[kryptonbabe]

This version of Mr. Mxyzptlk finally made me realize how cool the concept of the character really is

I've been a fan of Superman for a while now, almost ten years, oh time really flies, but I was never able to truly connect to Mxyzptlk the same way I do to Brainiac, Lex Luthor or Parasite. The chaotic nature of the character was never appealing to me. I started reading Superman and following comic book adaptations as an adult, which made me wonder if that's not the reason why I can't bring myself to enjoy the playfulness of some characters. For instance I don't really like Bizarro stories either (although I think he's cute and sympathetic, I've never read / watched something with him that I didn't find more annoying than anything... for now at least, I did not give up).

However, as I was finally watching MAWS 1st season last night, something about the Mxyzptlk episode just clicked, I fell in love with the character and the show (I mean... the League of Lois Lanes?? Amazing), his looks, personality and chaotic cheerfulness, the neutral nature of his moral inclinations, his defiant attitude towards Superman, an all powerful being that can actually challenge Clark's abilities. Lovely, unique, fun.

And as I looked for images of MAWS Mxy to send to my friends and tell them "I wish I was exactly like him", I found several excerpts of old comics with Mr. Mxyzptlk, and suddenly, that big headed imp with a tiny hat became an endearing figure with funny dialogues, I felt the urge to know more, read his origins, his famous stories and all I can find about the purple and orange clad creature.

I'm a fan of silver age Superman family comics and all this time I was foolishly avoiding Mxy stories, now I know I have so much to learn and laugh about, I can't wait. And all of that unleashed by this modern adaptation, I was really not expecting it.

I love comics for this, there's no wrong way to approach them. When we are beginners there's all this insecurity of not reading the classics, or not reading in order, not understanding the complexity and ramifications of events, the plethora of references. It's fun to find out about all that, but it's ok to take your time and just enjoy the stories, good or bad, classics or forgotten stuff you found at a garage's sale. Keeping the mind open.

In my journey in comics I met with a lot of gatekeepers and this weird mentality that you must read / watch certain things in their proper order and love certain classic stories and dislike the bad ones. Now as I get older, wiser and more powerful everyday, I see there's no reason for any of that. I still respect comic books history, but I have my own personal tastes and processes too, and it's cool to be cool about that, making my own way through this rich history, right? But I digress, this is a post about Mr. Mxyzptlk! I am finally aware of his greatness, I was not ready for it before, I forgive myself, for something changed last night, I now feel the chaos running through my veins, the imp influence changing me. And I'm glad for it!

[afinepricklypear]

Broken

Found this while digging through old writing. I think this came from a Reddit r/writingprompt...it's not finished and I don't remember what I was going to do with it, though I gleam a vague idea when I read it. Maybe someone else can tell me how it should end.

Mom turned the news on to a story about the Broken as we ate breakfast. They’d been in the news a lot more lately, now that a new medical facility was opening up in downtown Los Angeles offering them free services like padded cells and experimental treatments for their condition. The Broken had been around for as long as I could remember, but mom told me once there were no Broken when she was a little girl. Everyone back then was whole and complete and nothing bad ever happened. She blamed the Broken on Progressives voting to give rights to every deviant of society and the Wars that followed.

“Asses,” mom muttered under her breath, spooning more scrambled eggs onto my plate. She all but slammed the pan back on the stove top and stomped back to her chair, “Real people are in need of help, our soldiers can’t get the medical care they need, but we’re dishing out taxpayer dollars to help these freaks. Typical.”

I nibbled at my food and then pushed it away, “I’m not hungry.”

I had looked into the origins of the Broken when I was thirteen. No one knew how they came about or why. One day a person would be absolutely normal, and the next they could be flying through the air or shooting laser beams out of their eyes. It wasn’t like in the comic books though, mom would say, and I would nod in a partial understanding.

I’d only seen one comic book in my life, a slim paperback held together with stapled bindings, more of a pamphlet than a book. It featured lavish drawings on the cover of a man larger than life wearing a blue suit and flowing red cape. The head librarian, Mr. Samuel, kept it hidden in the back until someone let the information slip to the wrong person. Protectors of the Perfect raided the library on a hot September Saturday. They tore up encyclopedias and books of poetry in search. When they found the comic book, they bagged it up as evidence and Mr. Samuel, along with several other librarians, were handcuffed and led from the building.

I never got to read the comic book, I was always too afraid, but I knew some kids that did read it. They told kids gathered round them in hushed tones, excited voices, that the Broken in that comic book story was a hero that saved lives. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that revelation. The very idea of a Broken wanting to save anyone, to put anyone before themselves, was too ridiculous to comprehend.

“What? You only ate two bites. Finish your breakfast,” mom said. I stared blank at the eggs piled high next to a half-eaten piece of toast on my plate until mom snatched it away and marched into the kitchen, tossing the whole thing with a resounding crash into the sink, “You’re just like your father. Go get ready for school.”

I hurried from the table down the hall and into my bedroom, shut the door quietly behind me. I knew better than to push when mom was in that kind of a mood. It was talk of the Broken on TV that made her that way.

Dad left when I was five. I have one memory of all of us together as a complete family. We were at the beach feeding the gulls. I stood on the edge of the pier, my hooded sweatshirt billowing around me, my hair bunched up at the nape of my neck. I kept throwing the bread pieces too close to my feet, or into the water, and the gulls weren’t taking them. Dad tried to help and mom stood by watching, a camera in her hands. I used to look for the pictures she took every night after she went to sleep, digging through old boxes in the garage. I had a distant idea of what dad’s face looked like, a notion of his eye and hair color, a concept of his nose placement and the breadth of his mouth. But they were like a dream image, a jigsaw puzzle and the pieces kept jumbling up. He often smelled of cinnamon, I remember that much, because he was always sucking on a cinnamon candy.

I pulled out a few clothes from my bureau and started dressing. T-shirt and jeans, slightly frayed, a few holes here and there, paint stains and charcoal smudges. Mom would pitch a fit when she saw: you have brand new clothes in those drawers - people are going to think we’re homeless.

I tossed my half-finished homework into my book-bag and finger combed my hair, grabbed a pair of shoes on my way out of the bedroom and to the front door. I didn’t slow in my pace when mom called to me, and I didn’t bother saying good-bye. She was in the kitchen scrubbing the dishes; it seemed I’d ruined dinner.

In fourth grade I started telling people my dad was Broken. When they asked about him, I made up wild stories about the powers he had and how they manifested. “He woke up one day and could freeze everything he touched. The entire house was a popsicle by the time I got out of bed,” I would say, or, “We were in a car accident, the car had flipped over trapping mom and me, and his strength was suddenly ten times that of a regular man. He picked the car up with one hand and set it right on the ground.”

“What was he like after that?” people would ask. They always wanted to know what he was like. No one knew a Broken firsthand; they’d only ever heard the stories about the mother of a cousin’s sister’s friend’s best friend’s third cousin twice removed.

“Different,” I would tell them vaguely, as if it was too hard for me to talk about, I’d get a little teary eyed too sometimes for effect, “He’d be there…but he wouldn’t at the same time, you know?”

Eventually stories circulated back around, though, and when people realized what I’d told Jack wasn’t the same as what I’d told Jane, they figured out I’d been lying. People don’t talk to me at school much anymore, which is fine. I keep to myself in the art room most days. The art teacher, Miss Darcy, let’s me use the space during lunch and before and after school.

I never liked to draw or paint until I got into high school. In kindergarten I was the kid in the back of class eating my crayons, they tasted better than the pictures I drew. When I turned fourteen, though, one of my aunt’s gave me a set of sketch pencils and a small notebook for Christmas. I’m not sure there was any intention behind it, she gave all of the nieces and nephews the same gift that year and I always assumed it just meant that art supplies were on sale at the craft and hobby store.

It meant the world to me in the end though. It became my world. I started drawing everything I saw, mostly the things I only saw in my head. Eventually the book filled up and I needed a new one and mom refused to buy.

“What do you need a book to doodle in for? Focus on your schoolwork and stop wasting your time,” she complained when I asked. For awhile I started drawing on whatever paper or blank surface I could get my hands on instead, until I found the crafting aisle at Wal-Mart one day while mom was shopping for candy bars, five dollar DVDs, and a new bathrobe. I slipped a small notebook into my waistband, under my shirt. When the shoplifting alarm went off as we exited the store, mom threw enough of a fit about it that the clerk didn’t bother glancing my direction after our shopping cart checked out.

I found an art store nearby, close enough I could ride the bus to get there, and invested in a large purse. I wandered the aisles every other month and slipped things into my bag, sometimes I would purchase something small like an eraser or a couple new pencils , whatever the spare change I swiped off mom’s desk could buy me, just to keep the clerks from getting suspicious.

Art breathed into me, swept into my lungs a kind of air that got me high and kept my head spinning in the clouds. I signed up for art class in my sophomore year, ended up having to steal most of the “Materials Needed” listed on our syllabus, but it introduced me to new mediums: charcoal, paint, pastel, ink, and sculpture. It grew my world and brought Miss Darcy into my life. She started buying me art supplies, bringing me new things like brushes or different brands of pencils to try out. She joked that she was my manager and needed to cultivate my skills.

It didn’t matter what I drew, though, the images that poured from my mind and soaked into the paper weren’t the ones I wanted to capture. I wanted to see my father’s face, my mother’s smile, the house we lived in, the world before it shattered into a million pieces and left me scrounging for art supplies in the back alley.

I set up my sketchbook on the easel and skimmed through, illustrations dancing through the pages. I opened to a blank page and placed it on the easel then sat and stared for a long time before beginning my work. I began with the features that drawing out had become second nature to me, the number of times I’d sketched that face. I littered the pages with images and thought bubbles, and for the next hour turned the blank page into another installment of my latest project.

I don’t know why I started it. I don’t even quite know when I started it. I wasn’t sure if I was drawing it right or if it made sense. I think back to days when I was small, wishing I could grab the stars out of the sky and hold them tight against me, and I imagine that working on this project is similar to that action. Impossible and beautiful.

[mr-original-concept-garage]

This is the opening scene to our 2nd season of

MR Original Concert Garage

[bri-to-the-future]

We all know the original screenplay for BTTF 2 where Biff gave the almanac to himself in 1967 instead of 1955, right? Well, I thought since everyone has been making such lovely stuck in the (insert time period here) AUs, it’d be nice if someone made a…

*drumroll*

Stuck in the 60s AU!

(All credit to PotatoLord’s Picrew!)

It’s just some vague ideas right now, but i love the concept and im definitely gonna flesh it out more once Spaceman from Pluto is finished!

Here’s what i’ve got so far…

80s Doc gets arrested in Hell Valley and insists that he’ll be fine and that Marty needs to go to the 60s and get the almanac

Marty is able to get it after some difficulty (same as in screenplay) and burns it, not willing to take it with him when Doc is at risk

He still gets stop by a police officer, still doesnt have a draft card or id to prove hes a minor, and still gets arrested

He asks Goldie to put out that his name is Marty Klein and that he’s been arrested, knowing that Doc from the 60s still lives in Hill Valley as an inventor

Doc shows up with bail for him and he looks way different than Marty expected. Also, apparently hes a chemistry professor at Hill Valley Community College, which is news to Marty

He gives him a lift to the barn where the Delorean is parked, Marty giving an extremely vague (at Doc’s insistence) explanation on why he’s there on the way, but when they get there they’re both horrified to find that the Delorean is absolutely totalled ((with no 80s Doc to scare the Peabodys away, they didn’t stop at just shooting Mr Fusion and went ham on the car, rendering it completely useless, but thankfully managing to leave the Flux Capacitor in tact))

Doc says he should be able to fix most of the damage but that it will take a while, a good few months at the very least but worst case scenario Marty could be there for a year or two, and there’s no way he’ll be able to fix the futuristic device on the back (Mr Fusion) so once it is fixed they’ll need a new plan to get the 1.21 gigawatts of power, especially since the lightning strike on the courthouse was an isolated incident in Hill Valley’s history

Marty is devastated and spends the first week or so just moping around Doc’s garage and keeping Newton company but after nine days of that Doc insists that some fresh air will do him some good and forces him to come to the college with him

He was right, of course, and Marty finally starts to lighten up and have fun with him again afterwards

After classes are done Doc finally gets Marty to go get some era appropriate clothes with him but when they see Lorraine trying to keep track of an entirely too small Dave and Linda while George looks at ties they immediately turn around and walk into a different store

They’re only able to keep that up for another few days before Marty’s court date comes (who knew his Mom was so anti-war??) and she comes to congratulate him on his innocent verdict after Doc shows the court his (forged) birth certificate proving he’s a minor

When she asks if he’s related to the Marty Klein she knew in high school he tells her they were cousins who were named after the same ancestor and that Doc is watching him for a while but he’s not sure how long

Marty figures out pretty quickly that Doc takes LSD and honestly he’s not sure what to think about that

One day he walks into the living room and Doc is sprawled on the couch with his jacket off for once, clearly tripping his ass off, but Marty spots these bizarre brown lines running the length of his arms that look like scars but were definitely never there in the 80s and honestly he’s a little too freaked out to care whether or not Doc is entirely coherent right now he needs to know what’s going on

“Doc, Doc, what the hell are those?” “What?” “On your arms, Doc, whats that brown stuff!?” And Doc has the gall to look fucking amused! “They’re Lichtenberg figures, Marty. Surely you’ve seen me with short sleeves in the future? The stretch all the way to my shoulders.” Marty is shocked. “Of course I’ve seen you with short sleeves, hell, you’ve had to take your whole shirt off cause of chemical spills, but I’ve never seen those before!” But then a look of realisation crosses Doc’s face. “Oh, of course! They were caused when I accidentally became part of the circuit when the plug came undone that night I sent you back to the future, it makes perfect sense you haven’t had a chance to see them yet.” “They were caused by WHAT!?!?”

Cue Marty having a guilt induced panic attack and Doc having no idea what to do because he’s still mid-trip but eventually getting the hang of it. Once Marty’s calmed down he decides he’s not gonna touch the stuff anymore, not when it impairs his ability to care for Marty (and even when he leaves, what if this had been one of his students?? No, best to leave the stuff behind for good)

Ofc this means once he does fix the Delorean his plan to power it is much less dangerous and terrifying. … its still similar though. Doc will still blow up the safety inhibitor at the power plant and Marty will still hook onto high powered wires, just at the power plant rather than over the grand fucking canyon (the plan is still a work in progress & i havent decided how long it will take Doc to fix the deloreon yet)

When Marty gets back to 85 (now back to perfectly normal Lone Pine Hill Valley, thankfully) the first thing he does is find Doc and give him a massive hug, which he returns just as enthusiastically

[hirocimacruiser]

Positive Outfit

Impul 845S

Text Nao Shirai, photos Takahito Naito

From the Nissan Infiniti, which was greeted as a luxury formal girl

Wearing a veil of elegance.

Impul 845S appeared.

Tokyo Auto Salon dress up car category Excellence Award winning car

From the machine born by Hoshino Impul

There are times when it's a traditional dress-up car.

This Infiniti Q45-based special car, called “Impul 845S”, by Hoshino Impul Co., Ltd. won the dress-up car category excellence award at the previous Tokyo Auto Salon. Through the test drive this time, I realized that this was the right award.

The concept is luxury and luxury. This is the identity of the Impul 845S.

Before we get started, let me explain how the car came about.

Speaking of Infiniti, it is positioned as a high-class formal car under the President in the Nissan passenger car range, and it is a car that does not suit the words "dress up" and "tuning".

We asked Mr. Shigenori Kobayashi, chief producer of Garage Impul, what kind of concept Hoshino Impul Co., Ltd. decided to modify for this Infiniti.

“From the beginning, we did not treat Infiniti as a special case. The same is true for the Infiniti this time.

However, in the case of this car, what is slightly different from other lineups is that we have taken into account the differences in user demographics. That's what it means.

In a sense, this project was a big adventure in the first place.

There was a response that exceeded our expectations,

To be honest, I'm surprised."

Impul 845S, as is customary for Impul

This car named is basically not a complete car. The car we tested this time was exhibited at the Auto Salon, a demo car owned by Impul, fully equipped with Impul special parts.

First of all, there is the dummy grille, which is a major point in terms of appearance, but it is really cleverly attached to the original bonnet. I see, the expression of the car is changed. Such a small modification makes a big difference. Personally speaking, I prefer this 845S

In addition, the original front and rear bumpers have all been removed and replaced with FRP bumper spoilers. A total of 4 fog lamps are built in on the left and right, and the front spoiler and the rear spoiler with slits with nets are all well-designed. And, as a staple of this kind of dress-up, side skirts are attached, and a large urethane spoiler is given to the upper part of the trunk. In addition, the emblem has been removed and an 845S sticker has been pasted on it.

Suspension that appeals with great power.

What about the actual running?

So all in all a very good session.

Although it is an aero part that is put together with a lens,

The highlight is the feet, Impul's RI wheels 17x8" with 235 RE71 is wearing. Mr. Kobayashi, who was mentioned earlier, said, "We gave the tires the maximum size as long as they didn't adversely affect handling. The aim was, of course, to improve appearance." Anyway, the appearance is certainly impressive, and for people who love dressing up like this, it will be totally acceptable. By the way, the vehicle height has been lowered by about 3 cm due to the active suspension vehicle height sensor.

In terms of mechanics, it's barely touched to the extent that it deserves to be called a dress-up car. At the moment, the CP is only replaced with a more efficient program, and sports mufflers, brake pads, etc. are under development.

The 845S still gives a test drive impression as expected.

Sit in the cockpit, no, in the driver's seat and start the engine. A completely normal 845S except for the 280km/h scale speedometer and Impul pedal kit.

Under the pouring sunlight, opening the sliding roof, setting the automatic air conditioner to 25 degrees, and listening to the background music, driving is simply comfortable. At a pace where you can see the long-running Mini Cooper coming from behind in the rearview mirror, you certainly don't feel any disadvantages with wide tires. As I drive around this area, where there are golf courses everywhere, the concept of this car and the image of its owner cross my mind.

From Gotemba, I turned the car toward Kagosaka Pass to go to Lake Yamanaka. When you no longer have to worry about getting lost, start pulling the Mini Cooper away. If you run a winding with 2nd gear hold, You will notice that you are running at a much faster pace than you normally drive in a sports car. However, in terms of fun-to-drive, it is not a car that you will enjoy driving very much.

You can imagine that. However, because this car was equipped with an active suspension, there were some drawbacks due to wide tires during hard cornering, but it followed better than the mechanical suspension, and there was no decisive failure. The main problem here is the steering, as there is very little feel coming from the road through the tires anyway. The orientation of the airbag-equipped steering wheel is arguably the only source of information that will tell you the turn.

Another thing that bothered me was that the change in the engine control CPU caused the shift point of the automatic transmission to shift. For example, the kickdown only worked at unusually high revs, so it was very frustrating and difficult to drive on winding roads. However, I don't think there is any point in further acceleration performance with normal brakes.

Conclusion. 845S is orthodox

It's a dress-up car.

From this test drive impression, you can see that the concept of this car does not emphasize driving performance. As I mentioned at the beginning, in that sense, I think this Impul 845S is an orthodox dress-up car. This Infiniti is lined up with even a gold key as an option. I'm sure this 845S dress-up kit will be well received.

[missternarrator]

Happy Endings Pt 2

Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader (Originally written on Wattpad by my account Mrs. Narrator. All in Deans POV)

~~~~

After scarfing down some instant microwave bacon, I put on my work boots and got in my truck. An annoying creak sounding as I shut the door. As I turned the key, it let out a low rumble but nothing compared to Baby's. Now if course I still have her, she just retired when I did. The Impala sitting beautifully in my garage and waiting for our next job. Little does she know, that next job isn't coming. It never will.

I walked into the shop. Mr. Barker, my boss with a bald head and a silver beard, nodding at my presence, "Nice to see you on time today," He said in a gruff voice. Confused, I raised a brow, "I'm on time... everyday?" He laughed, it sounding similar to an old engine, small sputtering. "Of course Dean. Yet I notice your bags are getting darker. I'm just waiting for you to sleep in at some point. You should really work on that son." I rolled my eyes, wiping under my eyes, "I'll get enough when I am dead." "That can't be healthy," chimed in a familiar customer. Her hair silver and fine, out up into a bun. She peered up at me through her glasses with withered blues. I smiled and walked around the counter, "Eh, it's never been much of a concern. I've serviced through worse," I said checking her out. Her items being a Phillips and a couple screws. "Ms. Hayward? What are you needing a Phillips for?" I held up the items but keeping them out of reach. She let out a squeak for a giggle, "Just some home things~" "You better not be doing them yourself," I said I'm a playful scolding matter. Mr. Barton joined in from behind a shelf, "Norma," he called her by her first name. I always thought he was a massive flirt but always gets defensive when I mention it. Lets just say, this lady hangs out in the Hardware store more then I do. "I am not gonna have you going home to hurt yourself. Dean, take her home and fix whatever it is, will ya?" "Yes, sir." I said while Ms. Hayward protested, "No, no. You don't need to! I got my granddaughter coming over. She can do it." I shook my head with a small chuckle, "I can't have either of you doing that now..." I held her bag and opened the door for her, "We will take my truck."

Me and Mr. Barton got her mobile scooter hoisted and tied in the bed of my truck and we were off. The entire ride there, she was filling me in on her little granddaughter. Apparently she hasn't seen her a while and she was gonna be dropped off by family. I nodded and listened as she talked my ear off. Soon we made it to her home, I unloaded her scooter and walked inside.

Her home was bigger then I thought, quite open concept. I could see everything just in the entrance room. Two bedrooms closed off to the left and the kitchen, living room, and dining area were all connected to the right. "Now what are you needing fixed?" "Over here," she ushered me into the kitchen where I could see cabinets off their hinges. "What did you do here?" She lightly growled, "Damn hinges spun out. My last husband just rescrewed and rescrewed in the same hole. So now I need to make new ones..." I nodded, "I got some power drills in my truck. It'll make this then times faster."

After a couple minutes, I had all the hinges taken off their original doors and started drilling the new holes. The door opened, "Granny?" I couldn't hear it at the moment because of the drills whirring, " You better not be playing with power tools!" I heard the last part and looked up from my spot on the floor and peered over the kitchen island. That's when I noticed a woman with gorgeous (e/c) eyes and (h/l) (h/c) hair. She stared at me in shock as she could only see my eyes and up, "Oh sorry! I thought you-" "(y/n)!" Ms. Hayward called in excitement as she left her bedroom. During this I set down my drill and got up, dusting off my shirt and trying to make myself look presentable. Wait- why? This was different. (Y/n) looked at me with a small smile, "Um, Granny, who is this?" She gasped out, "Oh! This is Dean. Our local hardware boy-or man." she said with a wiggle. I couldnt stop the redness flushing my face, "Dean Winchester." I said, holding out my hand. The girl took it, "(y/f/n) (y/l/n)." Her hand was soft in my slightly calloused hands, the touch lingering as we slowly pulled away. I let out a short laugh, "So this your little granddaughter?" I asked, looking at the clear height difference, Ms. Hayward a good inches shorter. A small shade of red spread over (Y/n)'s face, "Granny! I'm 36! I'm not so little anymore!" I couldn't stop the smile spreading on my lips, so she is around my age. Stop.

Ms. Hayward let out a giggle, " Oh how the hell am I supposed to remember! Last I remember, you were 23!" (Y/n) let out a melodic laugh that sent something through me, "So... What's going on here? Or is this your new boyfriend?" I scratched the back of my head, walking back over to my area, "I was just repairing some things for her. No dating here." She smiled, "Good." My heart leapt into my chest. Her quickly finishing, "I-I dunno what I would have done if I found out my grandma was a cougar." I let out a nervous laugh as I picked up the cabinet doors, all with new hinge holes. "Ms. Hayward, I got these almost done. Your cabinet doors should be on soon enough." "Hallelujah! I called Jackson by the way," Mr. Barton, my boss's first name, "He knows you won't be back for a hot second." I I nodded, "Thank you but it won't take too long." not that I wasn't wanting to stick around longer now that ( Y/n) was here. Sadly, I was right. It only took about 5 minutes to have all of her cabinet doors screwed back on and useable.

I pulled up to my house, closing the truck door. Something felt different. As I walked up the stairs, I checked the time, "6:45? The hell? Where am I supposed to be?" I said to myself. In my thoughts, I kicked off my boots, sliding down my jeans and laying in bed.

Visit the bar

I remembered. I went to sit up but found myself unable to, my bed sheets and blankets holding onto me tightly. Again, I tried to get up but to no avail. Exhaustion set in, pulling at my eyelids. Fear filled me of Finally I quit fighting and just let it take me.

[songtoyou]

Chapter 8: Wine Before Whiskey

Tolerate It

Paring: Modern!Tommy Shelby x Original Female Character

Story Rating: R (No minors should read this fic).

Word Count: 2,827

Warnings: None

Description: Tommy Shelby is the owner and CEO of Shelby Company Limited. Starting out as a Bookmaker, Tommy had big ideas to expand his riches. In the past ten years, the company has grown rapidly to expand its business ventures from bars to producing alcohol, manufacturing motor vehicle parts, and exporting. One of the richest men in Great Britain, Tommy Shelby, has it all. Unfortunately, the death of his wife, Grace, left the multi-millionaire mogul alone and depressed. He needed someone to fulfill his needs and deepest darkest desires.

A/N: I wanted Tommy and Rose to connect on a more personal level in this chapter. I wanted them to become comfortable with each other outside of the bedroom. I don’t want their relationship to be solely about sex. 

I do not permit my work to be posted on any other site without my permission.

Tag list: @owenniasstars​

Wine. A nice tall glass of wine. That is all Rose wanted to cap off the day. She decided not to respond to the text messages from her friends or mother. Rose was not in the mood to come up with some bullshit excuse for being photographed out with Tommy. Also, it was not their business, and she didn’t need to justify anything with an excuse.

With a glass of wine in hand, Rose sat on the couch in the living room with her feet up. As Rose flipped through the television, the front door opened and slammed shut.

When Rose saw Louis rush up the stairs, she called out to him, “Hey, Louis!” He ignored her. Sighing, Rose got up to follow her son upstairs.

“Louis,” she spoke through the door while knocking. “Is everything okay?” Still nothing. “Louis, honey, what is wrong? From the way you slammed the front door, you seem upset. Did something happen at school today?”

Louis opened his bedroom door to come face-to-face with his mother. “Did something happen at school today,” he said mockingly. “How about the fact that my mother was photographed out with a rumored gangster. Or the fact that some of my classmates are referring to you as one of Tommy Shelby’s whores. You know he has been rumored to date escorts mom. Did you not know when you first started seeing him? In fact, how did you even meet him in the first place?”

Shifting from one foot to the other, Rose looked down at the floor. She was too embarrassed to meet her son’s accusatory gaze. “All of that stuff, the rumors about Tommy, are just that, rumors.” Rose felt sick lying to her son. “And Tommy isn’t a gangster. He is a businessman.”

“That is not what I hear. There is a whole sub-Reddit about how he really earned his millions. I should show it to you. Maybe it would rethink your association with the man,” Louis rambled on. “How did you get introduced to him anyway? It isn’t like you both run in the same social circle.”

Rose sat down on the bed and drew her knees up. It was her way of buying time to formulate a believable response, or rather lie. Thankfully, she had already thought up different scenarios that would be the most believable.

“Do you remember that business trip I took with Linda back in March? It was to a conference up in Birmingham, the educators and practitioners conference,” she explained, which that part was actually the truth. She did go to a conference up north with her boss back in March. However, here comes the lie, “Well, Tommy was there as well. He just showed up unexpectedly. He wasn’t on the agenda, but he gave a speech, something about…I don’t know, I can’t remember. I wasn’t really paying attention. But it was at one of the social networking gatherings where I ran into him. We talked most of the night. He asked for my number, which I gave him, not thinking he would actually call. But we have been in contact for a while. It was only recently that we have gone on dates.” Again, all lies. Rose started to feel sick. She could feel bile began to rise in her throat.

Sighing, Louis folded his arms across his chest and leaned against his desk. He still wasn’t looking at his mother. “It’s all weird. You never really dated. Or not date so out in the open before.”

“Is one of the reasons why you’re upset with me dating is because of dad? Are you still hoping your dad and I get together?” Rose asked, concerned about what he would say. She wished Louis weren’t so hung up on the idea of her and Nick ending up together. It was never going to happen. 

He only shrugged. “Is it so wrong that a kid would want their parents to be together?”

There wasn’t much she could say to that concept. “How about we get pizza for dinner, okay,” she suggested hoping to move on from the subject.

“Fine. I got homework to finish up,” said Louis defeated. The look on his face broke Rose’s heart. 

“Alight. I’ll tell you when the pizza arrives. The usual?” she asked.

“The usual,” replied Louis nonchalantly while opening his school books and notebooks.

Rose left his room and walked down the stairs. She hated herself at that moment.

While Rose waited for the pizzas to arrive, she decided to send a quick text to Tommy.

As Tommy sat at his desk looking over contracts, it would be another late night at the office; he received Rose’s text. 

Rose: Tommy, we need to talk. Can I stop by your office around 3 PM tomorrow?

The message took him by surprise. He wasn’t expecting to hear from Rose or for her to ask to meet up with him.

Tommy: Yes, you can stop by. However, instead of 3:00, let’s meet at 4:00.

His reply back was his way of maintaining control. He found it rather amusing that Rose felt comfortable requesting, or rather ordering, Tommy for a meeting. Tommy was tempted to ask what the meeting would be about but didn’t really think too much of it. 

If the meeting turned out to be fruitless, he could end with Rose bent over his desk and punish her for wasting his precious time. The thought was already getting him hard. 

Leaning back in his chair, Tommy began to rub his hardness through his pants. Taking his cock out of his pants, he began to stroke back and forth. As Tommy continued to stroke, he only thought of Rose, which was unusual. Whenever Tommy was pleasuring himself alone, he would always think of Grace. He would picture his wife on her knees or bent over his desk or taking her up against the wall. It was always Grace.

But now, Tommy was picturing Rose. He saw her face clearly in his head. He imagined Rose under his desk pleasuring him with her mouth and hands. He wanted Rose bent over on his desk, taking her from behind, on the floor, the conference table, against the wall, and the floor. Tommy began to realize he wanted Rose all of the time.

At that thought. Tommy soon began to worry about why Rose asked for a meeting out of the blue. He began to wonder if she was regretting their arrangement due to being in the press. However, Tommy told Rose that being in the press was likely, and she appeared to understand that fact. No, something must have alarmed her. He would find out what it was. He would get it out of her one way or another. Tommy wasn’t going to let her go that easy. 

Friday! The day Father Time preferred to drag on and on. The hours on the clock appeared to move slower and slower, Rose noted. She was at work catching up on what she missed yesterday morning. It was the usual task; looking over budgets, setting up meetings, working on meeting agendas, finishing up the minutes from past meetings, and making sure the office was stocked with supplies. It was the same thing every day. Nothing changed, and the more she stayed at the job, the more fed up she became. Rose knew she needed to get out there and look for a better job. One that matched the college degree that she worked hard to obtain. A job that paid well where she would no longer have to be an escort to make a living. 

However, the money Tommy was offering to Rose was better than any standard 9 to 5 job could offer.

When 3:15 finally rolled around, Rose gathered her belongings and headed to meet Tommy. 

“Ms. Turner!” someone shouted at her. 

Thankfully, Rose knew that voice. She turned around to see Isaiah with a megawatt smile, waving her over to his car. 

“Let me guess, Tommy sent you to deliver me to him?” Rose questioned sarcastically. “And I told you to call me Rose.”

“Yes, he did, and yes, you did. Come on, we don’t want to be late,” Isaiah answered and opened the passenger door for Rose. She got in the car.

“You saw my son take the car this morning and let Tommy know, huh?”

“Yep,” was all Isaiah said and began to drive out of the College’s parking lot. 

With the way Isaiah drove, he managed to make it to the building that held Tommy’s office in half of the time. He smoothly moved the car around the building’s underground parking garage. 

“Okay, we are here. You can take the elevator to Tommy’s office,” he instructed and told Rose which floor to select.

“Thank you, Isaiah. I appreciate it. I figure Tommy is going to ask you to take me home?”

“That is to be determined. He might want to take you home himself. Have a nice evening, Rose. Take care,” said Isaiah and waved goodbye.

She selected the floor instructed by Isaiah and waited. Tommy was on the building’s top floor, so the elevator continuously stopped and let people on and off. When the elevator finally reached her destination, the doors opened. Rose only saw a few people pass by. There was no one at the front desk, so she stood by and waited until someone showed up.

Looking at her phone, it read 3:50. She still had ten minutes to spare. “Rose, hi. How are you?” She turned to see Andrew walk towards her. 

“Andrew, hi. I’m good. You?”

“Same. Can I get you some coffee or tea?” he asked. “Mr. Shelby is finishing up a call at the moment. Please, have a seat.”

“Okay. Water would actually be great, thanks.”

Andrew managed to get Rose’s water before Tommy emerged from his office. However, he was not alone. He was followed by a very tall and lanky man with a full beard and similar hairstyle to Tommy, but longer on top. 

“Arthur, continue to keep me posted on Changretta,” Rose heard Tommy whisper but pretended not to hear anything. She made it look like she was too preoccupied with her phone to notice the two men not far from her. 

“Esme is working on it, Tom. She is having trouble with a few firewalls, or whatever she called them, but assures she can crack ’em,” Arthur shared. “Said she would get a file on your desk by Monday.”

“Okay, good. That is good. I’ll talk to you later, brother,” Tommy responded, patting Arthur’s back.

Arthur said his goodbye and left for the elevators. Tommy turned towards Rose.

“Rose,” he spoke to get her attention. He motioned with his hand for her to follow him into the office. 

Closing the door behind him, Tommy told Rose to take a seat.

“Your text seemed rather…urgent,” Tommy began as he poured himself a whiskey. He offered on to Rose, but she declined. “Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, well…no, not really. I…uh…I don’t really know…” Rose began but was having trouble forming the words. “I don’t really…oh my God, it’s my son. He isn’t too keen on the idea of me ‘dating’ you. He saw the pictures. Apparently, some of the kids at school were making fun of him because of them. I have friends asking questions. Even my mom saw them, and I don’t talk to her at all. Everything has gotten out of hand. I mean, I wasn’t quite expecting this kind of outcome. It is a lot to take.”

Gulping down the whiskey, Tommy proceeded to pour another one for himself and one for Rose. 

“Drink,” he ordered, handing Rose the glass that held the amber color liquid, which she took and gulped it down. She placed the now empty glass on Tommy’s desk. “Feel better?” 

“Not really. Can I ask you something? It is kind of a personal question, but I’m asking you for some advice,” Rose asked and continued when Tommy gave her the go-ahead to proceed. “You have a kid yourself, a son. When I originally agreed to our deal, I never fully thought of the consequences that could occur. I didn’t think of how it would affect my child. To put it blankly, he is upset that I’m with you. It’s all about his stupid dad and wanting us to be together. So my question to you is, how do you go about lying to your child?”

Once again, Rose caught Tommy completely off guard with her question. That was not what he was expecting. The fact that she had the audacity to bring up his son didn’t even bother him as it would if it were anyone else. He was craving a cigarette at the moment. “My son, Charlie, spends most of his time at boarding school. He is only home on holidays and special occasions. When I have my son with me, he only wants to spend time with his cousins or me. He never really gave my ‘relationship’ with Lizzie much thought. To him, she was only daddy’s friend. Plus, the observation skills of an eight-year-old doesn’t quite compare to the observation skills of a sixteen-year-old.”

Tommy had a point, Rose thought. She motioned to him if she could refill her glass of whiskey. With Tommy’s go-ahead, she got up and poured herself a drink. This time Rose took small and sat back down.

Taking in a deep breath, Rose mentioned, “You’re lucky. It is so much easier when your kid is younger. They don’t ask so many questions or notice things that don’t add up. You can tell them pretty much anything, and they’d believe you. But when your kid gets older, prepare yourself for the questions he will no doubt ask.”

She looked up when Tommy sighed. He was leaning in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. “Charlie turned eight back in February. He is beginning to ask me questions about his mother, like where she was from and if we can visit the town, how we met, what made me attracted to her, all that stuff. The one question that scares me…” Tommy began, but Rose could sense hesitation. 

“He’s going to ask why did mummy have to die?” Rose finished for him. Tommy only nodded his head. “I don’t envy you on that part.”

Quite soon filled the office as Tommy and Rose sat in silence and sipping down whiskey. “Who was that guy that in here earlier?” Rose asked to kill the silence.

“That was my older brother, Arthur,” Tommy answered. “He and my younger brother, John, both own a couple of bars and clubs around England. They have been working on a new line of Peaky Blinders Vodka to go with our whiskey and gin brand.” 

“You really dabble in everything, don’t you. Where do you go from here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should try my hand at politics, eh. An MP to go with my OBE” teased Tommy with an exceedingly rare boyish grin on his face. Rose noticed that Tommy’s smile was rather sweet and brightened his facial features. “Yeah, that is exactly what my family needs is me in politics.” 

Rose softly scoffed, “I don’t think we need any more millionaires in politics, no offense.”

“No offense taken,” Tommy chuckled and downed his drink. He got up to grab his jacket and swung it on. He took Rose’s glass and finished it for her. “Come on, let’s go.” 

Tommy grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her up from the chair. “Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to dinner. We can talk more there,” Tommy proposed and guided Rose out of the office. 

“I won’t be able to stay the night if that is what you were considering,” she stated while in the elevator.

“Not what I was considering,” uttered Tommy, honestly. He put his hands on Rose’s shoulder and turned her to face him. “Only dinner.”

“Only dinner?”

“Nothing more, nothing less,” Tommy replied, placing a soft kiss on Rose’s lips. He entwined his hand in Rose’s and walked her to his car.

He took Rose to Bar 61, London’s most famous Spanish tapas restaurant. When they were seated, Rose liked the relaxed and upbeat charm of the establishment. She was surprised that Tommy chose the place since it was more family-friendly rather than high-end/upscale. But the man before her was always full of surprises. They sat in a more secluded area of the restaurant where they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Tommy ordered a bottle of wine for them to share. He raised his glass for a toast. “What are we toasting?” Rose asked with a smile.

“How about to good health and new friends,” Tommy suggested and clinked his glass with Rose’s.

“And to new adventures,” Rose added, now with a sly smile on her face.

“To new adventures,” Tommy repeated, and they clinked their glass again.

[matt0044]

“Now I’ll show you furry power!”

Anyways, our episode begins properly with in media res with the Dino Fury Megazord‘s Blade Formation against one Doomsnake. It’s a story structure rarely seen these days but one that I welcome since it breaks up the usual “slice-of-life antics interrupted by monsters” routine that tends to be the norm.

Add to that, it gives us the sense that this is just yet another day in the life of the Rangers as they fight the usual Sporix after but a few episodes in. It also leads to a pretty effective introduction to the next beast. Wolfgang uses his sonic bombardment as a means to disassemble the Megazord without even going big. This allows Mucus to go off and collect Doomsnake in his dormancy.

The Rangers bail in order to assess the situation when a poorly CGI bird flutters in and reveals himself to be... Mic Kanic. Yep, the objectively best character of Ninja Steel next to Victor and Monty has graced us with his eccentricity once again with Kelson Henderson going full ham. As the only person on Earth who liked Ninja Steel, I feel validated like nobody’s business.

It seems that Mic’s been quite the busy bee during Beast Morphers as he’s been getting selfies with over forty Rangers from all over the universe. I’m guessing some of them had “new powers” so to speak but it’s a damn shame we didn’t see if Kelson Henderson did get selfies with past actors for his return.

However, Mic’s also been on the lookout for the Ninja Nexus Prism’s current whereabouts and tracking it back to Earth. I love that they’re following Beast Morphers’ lead by casually reintroducing concepts from past seasons to tie them into the here and now. It’s still self-contained enough to not need to’ve seen Ninja Steel but might give some who missed out a moment to consider it.

Seriously, I feel like that season deserves a bit more of a reevaluation.

Needless to say, Zayto is quick to dismiss the idea of a semi-sentient floating piece of pressurized rock as an ancient alien warrior who fought on dinosaurs. Then again, he’s still pretty miffed that the zords got taken apart like Legos. It doesn’t get much better when Mucus overhears their little chat about the prism.

Later at BuzzBlast, Jane is hosting a baking stream with a totally real cake that’s totally not a prop when Mic sneaks in a delivered package to use their computers. I loved that Dino Fury is getting a lot more millage out of his shapeshifting compared to Ninja Steel where they wouldn’t “forget” but never really utilize since he and Redbot were the Alphas, forging up stars in the base.

J-Borg exposes Mic before he can use their database for any Ninja Nexus Prism sightings but he shape-shifts into a ball and bounces all over the place. Three guesses at to what he knocks right into Jane. It seems she choose the wrong day to make one of Chase’s exploding cakes from New Zealand. Way too bold. He makes a clean getaway from BuzzBlast only for one Wolfgang to corner him.

The Rangers assemble in time and give Mic a chance to become a toy race car. Methinks they were using old stuff they found in the garage for filming. It turns out the Wolfgang’s sonic bombardment can neutralize the Boost Key armaments the girls use. They decide to soon retreat with Mic back to HQ fast.

While Void Knight channels his inner Lord Zedd, Mic gives a rundown on the Ninja Nexus Prism itself with a data pack filled to the brim with Power Rangers history. I’m guessing that either he compiled it from Grid Battleforce’s archives or he’s the one who helped them with Ranger history. I sort of wish they used more clips of Ninja Steel to tease new viewers of past teams and their battles.

Solon helps to locate the prism’s location on their mapping system and sends the Rangers out to confirm its location. All the while, Mic decides to plan ahead by going into the kitchen. Kelson Henderson is clearly having a blast with the character’s constant gesticulations like he’s a YouTuber doing his DIY videos. :)

The Rangers find the Ninja Nexus Prism seemingly scanning the lake for something. Zayto decides to step up and engage his Rafkonian antennae in order to probe the prism’s memories. It’s hear where we get the origins of the Ninja Steel powers... two seasons after its finale. Better late than never I guess.

I kid though. I love that we’re getting new details of a past season by way of Zayto learning that the Morphin’ Masters of old created the Ninja Nexus Prism. In fact, they forged the Energems of Dino Charge as well as the Dino Gems from Dino Thunder from the visuals given. Now that’s good diagetic fanservice.

We even get brief clips of Ninja Steel’s Levi getting his Power Star followed up by Beast Morpher’s Steel in his final moments trying to stop Evox. I guess this means that the Masters brought him back to life as human when the Morph-X returned to the Grid. Previous plot contrivance now solved or more convoluted?

You make the call!

Boomtower and Wolfgang crash the party only for the Prism to NOPE right into the water. The Rangers find themselves pinned under barrels and boxes while Wolfgang’s sonic attack threatens to bring down the cliff on them. Thankfully, Mic’s Ninja Power Star throw hasn’t gotten rusty as he arrives and throws a treat into the mouth, making their foe sound like Eddy after Rolf’s pimple cure.

With no other option, Wolfgang grows before Boomtower taps into his residual Sporix power-up to gain a few inches himself. The Rangers pull out their Megazord’s Warrior Formation where all of their Zords combine. We even get a cool finisher that finishes off Boomtower where holograms of the other formations get a hit in. Are we sure that Judd Lynn isn’t still on the writing team?

Bye-Bye, Boomer. Hope you get rebuilt as another Ryusoulger villain soon.

While Mucus catches Boomtower’s Sporix, the Rangers manage to finish off Wolfgang with a weird edit of what was obviously an impalement. That Sporix Izzy catches by cutting off Mucus. Void Knight is temperamental over such a mixed bag of a day until he goes into his secret chamber and reveals to us his long lost love stuck in stasis. It’s clear that the Sporix’re all meant to revive her.

Hang on a second.

A villain with a violet color scheme utilizing a hero’s power and initially working alone in seeking out a specific source of power that can revive his love. Why’s it that I feel that Keith Silverstein would be voicing this guy if production still outsourced voice over to Los Angeles? Hell, I would be shocked if the Gold Ranger was his secret son and loved cheese a lot. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*

Back at the base, the Rangers fill in for the Jays by ending the episode with some of Mic’s initial prototypes for his No Howl Treats. Either that or the ADR director forgot everybody’s recordings and had to resort to random noise in their sound library. Solon fixes it by bursting everybody’s eardrums. As you do.

Sadly, Mr. Kanic has Prisms to pursue and catches his Space Taxi back to the Lion Galaxy where he might open a steakhouse. I really hope they can adapt next Kyuranger if only to see the team stop by for a meal. Then again, Hasbro needs to sort out their Super Sentai problem before things get a little bit uglier.

[aion-rsa]

The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything

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This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 5 episode 10.

Rick and Morty is fighting a losing battle with its own canon. 

The show has demonstrated time and time again that it prefers crafting episodic, self-contained stories to fully realize the potential of playing in a massive sci-fi sandbox. Like Rick Sanchez himself, the writers of the show understand that infinite universes (and a hefty 70-episode order from Adult Swim) means that a concept as earthbound as “story” will soon become pointless.

Viewers, however, have never felt that way. Despite being presented with the promise of infinite creation, many Rick and Morty fans just want to follow the story of the world’s smartest, yet most damaged man, and his happy-go-lucky grandson. It’s all quite ironic. Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has spent much of his career advocating for the elemental power of storytelling, even crafting a “story circle” that is now a feature of many writers’ rooms (and probably the Marvel Cinematic Universe). But now the one time a Harmon writers’ room wants to have some non-serialized fun, fans crave structure more than ever.

And fans finally get that structure in the Rick and Morty season 5 finale “Rickmurai Jack.” Several writers promised before the season that this batch of Rick and Morty episodes would be more canon-focused than years’ past. Sure enough, this finale explains…just about everything in the Rick and Morty canon! You can tell it’s all canon too because Rick loudly proclaims it over and over again with lines like: 

Rick: “The Citadel runs on canon.”

Morty: “We’ve been through a lot and he doesn’t like…” Rick: “Serialized drama.”

Rick “You wanna jump the shark? You wanna know my stupid crybaby backstory, then knock yourself out.”

Morty: “Woah, dead wife.” Rick: “Yeah, now everyone can shut up about it.”

Rick and Morty fans finally get just about every bit of canon they’ve been clamoring for from “Rickmurai Jack.” And in case you missed any of it, we will explain it all. Because that’s what we do.

What Is Rick’s Origin Story?

Rick Sanchez is clearly ashamed of his origin story. We finally find out why in this episode because it’s all so…human. Yes, as the series has long intimated (first in season 3’s premiere and then again in season 5 episode 8), the beginning of Rick’s multiverse-jumping saga begins with “sad about dead wife.”

Once upon a time, an evil (or probably just normal) Rick dropped into Rick C-137’s timeline to invite him along on multiversal adventures. When C-137 declined, the asshole Rick dropped a bomb into his garage killing his wife Diane and daughter Beth. Despondent, C-137 built his first rudimentary portal gun and traveled every possible timeline and dimension looking for revenge. In the process, he killed thousands upon thousands of his fellow Ricks but never found the Rick he was looking for.

Eventually, Rick grew tired of all the bloodshed and founded the Citadel of Ricks so that all the Ricks could live in relative peace. He then traveled to a timeline with a new Beth and settled in for a lifetime of adventures with his little buddy Morty.

What is The Central Finite Curve?

The Citadel of Ricks wasn’t the only thing that Rick C-137 and his fellow Ricks created. Have you ever wondered how, in an infinite set of universes, Rick Sanchez just so happens to be the smartest creature in each one? If the universe were really infinite, then wouldn’t there be dimensions where a Morty, a Jerry, a Beth, or even some random beetle was the smartest creature alive?

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It turns out that the Ricks wanted to make sure there was no Genius Jerry universe. They’ve walled off their own set of realities from all the other realities. Using a concept known as the “Central Finite Curve” they’ve been able to isolate only the universes in which Ricks are the smartest creatures to use as their own Rick playgrounds. How did Doofus Rick sneak in then? That’s anyone’s guess.

What is Evil Morty’s Whole Deal?

Evil Morty makes his triumphant return in this episode. First introduced as a one-off joke all the way back in season 1, Evil Morty has now become arguably the most mysterious and important figure in the Rick and Morty canon. 

Previously we saw Evil Morty elevated to the position of President of the Citadel and now we see why he wanted the job. Evil Morty wants to break free from the Ricks’ Central Finite Curve. He no longer wants to live in a set of curated universes where Rick Sanchez will always win. Ultimately he gets what he wants as the final moments of this episode find him entering into a new set of dimensions, 2001 or Interstellar-style. 

Evil Morty scores his biggest win of the series yet but it’s still unclear where the little guy even comes from. Is it possible that he hails from a different dimension of smart Mortys to begin with? Maybe. But we think it’s more likely that Rick and Morty is operating under Jurassic Park rules: life finds a way. The Ricks tried to create a walled-in universe where beings like Doofus Rick or Evil Morty aren’t possible. Unfortunately for them, infinite universes aren’t so easily tamed. 

How Cool is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Going to Be?

So cool. This may seem like a weird digression but keep in mind that the writer of this finale, Jeff Loveness, is also penning the next Ant-Man and the Wasp movie that will find Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror making his MCU film debut (after previously popping up in Loki).

In fact, this was Loveness’s last episode on Rick and Morty before heading off to Marvel-land. 

Came back to write the Rick and Morty season finale. Airs Tonight. It is about the burning of the world and the lies we tell the people we love because we are afraid.

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 5, 2021

What Has Mr. Poopybutthole Been Up To?

After becoming a fan favorite (and sustaining a near-fatal gunshot wound) in season 2, Mr. Poopybutthole has retreated to the background of the Rick and Morty world. Now he operates as an Oatu-like Watcher, dispassionately viewing the events of Rick and Morty from his couch, sometimes wistfully wishing these mortals could see what fools they be.

Mr. Poopybutthole’s monologue at the end of this episode is particularly haunting. Here is the script page in its entirety courtesy of Loveness’s Twitter account.

Learn from him. pic.twitter.com/lHaPQ5ZTkh

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 6, 2021

“We don’t have as much time as we think. We never do. Oooowee.”

The post The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[bandsanitizer]

Hello again

I appreciate you taking the time to reply and no disrespect was taken. I always enjoy seeing what a non Blaine Stan thinks, if they can back up their arguments succinctly with valid arguments . Even if we isn’t agree. Yours is a good analysis, different from the usual accusations that he’s toxic, abusive, whiny clingy, and the same scenes over analysed and misconstrued. I’d be very interested in hearing your views on Kurt, perhaps in Pm , as we don’t want to be ripped apart by extreme stans. Who are your favoured characters on Glee?

Hi! And I’m glad to hear! Concision isn’t my strong suit if you couldn’t tell lol so the response is below the cut

I’ve seen some of those arguements and while I get where they’re kind of coming from, I wouldn’t say there’s an inherent toxicity to his character. Like he’s not the best but he tries and he’s one of the few that seems to genuinely recognize his mistakes, own up to them, and apologize.

As for Kurt, it’s a mix of the biphobic comment from s2 and how it never feels like his mistakes or flaws are perceived that way? By himself particularly. I’ve heard that the whole biphobic thing was a reflection of the writers but by putting it in the show it becomes part of his character and then it’s a whole debate of “is this poor/lazy writing or intrinsic to him?” and either way you see it changes how to view the scene and while I’m all for the benefit of the doubt on it, it’s never something readdressed and I just feel... For me I feel like it’s part of his character and while he could’ve changed his opinions later in the series, I don’t really know. Idk it’s a very personal thing more so then “I hate him”

Then for his mistakes the Chandler situation comes to mind and while Blaine may have jumped the gun with calling it cheating and the song (though I appreciate the drama of that whole scene and concept), it doesn’t seem like he ever felt bad about it until Blaine admitted to feeling afraid of being alone once Kurt moves to NY. Like his attitude prior to that confession when they meet with Mrs. P frustrates me because even if it wasn’t cheating or intended to hurt Blaine—it did! and Kurt doesn’t feel remorseful at all (song choice was just... really bad and the episode painting Blaine as the one who should feel the most guilty? particular with the shot of Blaine at the end of the performance?) I just feel like he’s rarely shown to feel guilty for his mistakes and the show rarely has him face consequences for them.

And it sometimes feels like he’s sometimes waiting for things to happen because the universe owes him for the shit he’s gone through. Not to say that he hasn’t gone through some terrible things, because the universe really didn’t treat him kindly on a lot of things. Mostly I just don’t vibe with his character. Like you ever meet someone and you can’t completely figure out what but you’re like “I just do not care for you”? It’s like that. That being said, I understand the value of his character and his arcs in the show—particularly in earlier seasons—and appreciate his character for that and such and I don’t mean for any of this to be hateful because he seems like a good person and I don’t passionately dislike him or anything. He, like most characters on the show, deserved a lot better and had a lot of potential the show kind of didn’t see through.

And I apologize but that’s as much as I can really say on my opinions for him and I hope none of that was too mean? comes across unfounded? For him particularly it’s just a lot of personal things that affect my perception of is character and whether that disagrees with people 🤷🏻‍♀️ but yeah. I don’t like discussing it much as to not step on any toes.

But hmmmm... Would you be surprised to hear Blaine is my favorite character? I guess for me “liking a character” and having a “favorite character” are separate ideas. Sort of. My favorite characters in any media tend to be the ones I can connect to and feel a lot of feelings about. Blaine, thus, is exactly that plus his singing is great and I think Darren does a great job at playing Blaine. And I appreciate his particular level of chaos:

“GAP attack! First day at this new school I’m going to sing in the courtyard! Let’s have a sing off in a parking garage! My bf moved states so I’m going to join 23 clubs and run around in a superhero costume for a superhero I made up but is definitely a play on a certain original sidekick’s second alias! How else to show this dude I love him than to get back together for a day then propose with a big song by all the glee clubs ever at the exact spot we met!” + him hopping on furniture and pianos (oh gosh the stress it gives me everytime they stand/sit on the piano—)

and him being ready to fight people bigger than him (Sam, Karofsky) I know is rooted in his past with bullying but outside of that context it’s a little funny. because I’m sure he can throw a punch but he also looks very small and his willingness to throw a punch when all the McKinley boys start their fights by pushing each other for a while is a little hilarious. Blaine really captures that more absurd side of the show. Y’know the whole high school musical “people don’t actually break out into song like this” except Blaine definitely does.

Other characters I might say are favorites: Marley, Sam, Tina, Santana, Brittany, Elliot, Burt. Do The Warblers as a whole count? And overall my heart just breaks a tiny bit for the potential all the characters had to grow and change over the show but kind of just... didn’t? And Finn as a teacher was good for him and I do wish we had gotten to see that develop more.

Moral of the story is that when it comes to Glee I think way too much about everything and my opinions on it because WOW there are a lot of very strong opinions on it and as a show with a great amount of diversity not necessarily being great writing/representation... There’s just a lot to juggle. Sometimes I’m just like “I like how your voice sounds in this song! You’re in my top 10!” or “If the show developed why you’re doing what you’re doing waaaay more then you’d be a really intriguing character that I feel a lot of emotions about!” Idk it’s like most characters I’ve empathized with at one point or another then also been like “wtf? who does that?” so yeah. Glee overall just has a weird place in my heart. It’s terribly good and also really messed up and I think there are songs they shouldn’t have done and I’m so glad the show isn’t around to do but also some of their covers and performance are brilliant and terrific (cough syrup, smooth criminal, and ND nationals performance in s3 among them).

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 6, Number 13

Trees

It’s four in the afternoon and already getting dark, a foot of snow on the way. One year is nearly over — and yes, we’ve got some essays on that coming up after the holiday break — and another one is taking shape in our inboxes, mail chutes and hard drives. But for right now, let’s take another look at 2020, doubling back on the records that caught our ears without exactly fitting our schedules, the ones that almost got away. Here are the usual free improvisations and long drones, hip hop upstarts and cowpunk also-rans, a harpist, a cellist, a tabletop guitarist and at least one stellar punk record that has us hoping for sweaty live music again in 2021. Contributors this time included Bill Meyer, Bryon Hayes, Andrew Forrell, Patrick Masterson, Jennifer Kelly, Jonathan Shaw, Arthur Krumins, Ian Mathers and Ray Garraty, heck let’s call it a quorum, and see you again in the New Year.

Mac Blackout — Love Profess (Trouble In Mind)

Love Profess by Mac Blackout

Mac Blackout owes his surname to his membership in the Functional Blackouts. That’s a garage combo that was once the subject of an article about how they’d been banned from various venues on account of the destructive chaos of their live performances. But you can’t do that forever, and nowadays Mac’s a painter and solo recording artist. His latest sounds are unlikely to make anyone want to put a chair into the mirror behind the bar, but they might send you flipping through your record collection, looking for the sounds that you and he have in common. Love Profess opens with a burst of piano-pounding, sax-overblowing free jazz, but that lasts for about nine seconds before it gets swallowed by some John Bender-worthy synth throb. Give “Wandering Spheres” a couple more minutes, and Mr. Blackout goes full La Dusseldorf on us. By turns spacy, spooky and seriously compelled to vent nocturnal loneliness, this half-hour long LP is both as familiar and as unknown as a well-shuffled deck of cards.

Bill Meyer

 Ross Birdwise — Perfect Failures (Never Anything)

Perfect Failures by Ross Birdwise

Vancouver-based electronic improviser Ross Birdwise rails against spatio-temporal norms. The concepts of tempo and rhythm are malleable in his universe. Architecturally, Birdwise is Antoni Gaudí, working in fluid lines to build incomprehensible structures. With Perfect Failures, he leaps even further away from the orthogonal grid of musical construction, dissolving beats into grains of sound. The warped rhythms found on Frame Drag are divested in favor of an approach that more resembles electroacoustic composition. As a matter of fact, the title track comes on like a digital recreation of a piece of classic musique concrète. Birdwise avoids venturing into purely ambient territory yet borrows some signifiers from the genre: keyboard melodies, elongated tones, washes of sound. He overlays these seemingly innocuous elements with crashes of noise, oblique jump cuts and hyperkinetic sequences, constantly forcing us to shift focus to make sense of his soundscapes. The febrile nature of the music is what intoxicates, but the discordant melodies are what enthrall.

Bryon Hayes

 C_G — C_G (edelfaul recordings)

C_G by C_G

Belgium-based French electronic artist Eduardo Ribuyo (C_C) and Israeli drummer Ilia Gorovitz (Stumpf) join forces on C_G, a one-take collaboration of molecular machine noise and improvised percussion. It opens as a slow creep, Gorovitz playing minimal rhythms that sound like someone walking through the pre-dawn streets of an awakening city. Ribuyo accretes whirrs, cracks and electrical pops to evoke the dread of a night not over. On “Normalising Cruelty,” for instance, the discomfort builds, the drums tumble in flight, the noise intensifies. The relative conventionality of the percussion tracks seems intentional and serves to focus attention on the granular details Ribuyo conjures from his machines. Think the experiments of similarly minded Mille Plateaux and Raster Norton artists. When played through headphones at volume, its full queasy Room 101 buzz and grind squirms most effectively into the brain. Easy listening this is not, but if and when home gatherings resume this would be an ideal way to clear the house.

Andrew Forell

  Che Noir — After 12 EP (TCF Music Group)

If you’ve been paying attention to hip-hop in the last few years, Buffalo’s Griselda camp has dominated the “old heads” conversation away from whatever the kids are vibing to on TikTok. But there’s life away from an Eminem partnership, and not just in the form of Benny the Butcher: Witness Che Noir, who has been on fire throughout 2020. After starting off the year with the 38 Spesh-produced Juno and following it up with the Apollo Brown-produced As God Intended, Che’s closing things out with this self-produced seven-song EP that covers a wide range of territory without dipping into tales of street hustling, just the age old struggle to get some respect. “Hunger Games” is an early highlight that shows her chemistry with Ransom and 38 Spesh, while she completely takes over in speaking to the times on “Moment in the Sun,” which is the clear emotional highlight of the EP. Amber Simone’s pleading chorus on closer “Grace” is another stylistic turn and closes things on a high note. The last words you hear are Simone’s as she sings, “Imma go get it”; the lingering effect is that you know Che Noir is already showing you as much. Miss this one at your own risk.

Patrick Masterson 

 Cong Josie — “Leather Whip” b/w “Maxine” (It Records)

Leather Whip / Maxine (AA single) by Cong Josie

Frankie Teardrop rides again in this smoking synth punk single from Australia’s Cong Josie. “Leather Whip” is about as menacing and minimal as synthesizer music gets, braced by the hard slap of gate-reverbed drums and a claw-picked bass sound (maybe electronic?) and Cong Josie’s whispery insinuations. “Maxine” is just as stripped, with blotchy bass sound and swishing drum machine rhythms framing a haunted rockabilly love song. It’s very Suicide, but isn’t that a good thing?

Jennifer Kelly

   Divine Horsemen — Live 1985-1987 (Feeding Tube)

Divine Horsemen “Live”1985-1987 by Divine Horsemen

With Divine Horsemen, Chris D of the Flesh Eaters had a brief but memorable run in vivid, gothic, country-tinged punk. This disc commemorates two red-hot live outings from 1985 and 1987, the first at Safari Sam’s in Huntington Beach, California, the second at Boston’s The Rat. A sharply realized recording shows how this band’s sound fit into the cowpunk parameters set by X, with strident guitar clangor and hard knocking rock rhythms (the ax-heavy line-up featured in this recording included Wayne James, Marshall Rohner and Peter Andrus on guitars, the Flesh Eater’s Robyn Jameson on bass). The secret weapon, though, was the ongoing and volatile vocal duel between the front man and his then-wife Julie Christensen, a classically trained soprano with an unholy vibrato-laced belt. You can hear how she transformed his art by comparing the Flesh Eater’s version of “Poison Arrow” with the one here. It’s as aggressive as ever, musically, and Chris D. is in full florid, echoey, goth-punk mode. Christensen, however, is molten fire, letting loose cascades and flurries of wild vibrating song. There’s a scorching, stomping romp through the vamping “Hell’s Belle,” and a lurid rendering of mad, howling “Frankie Silver,” and, towards the end, a muscular take on the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” Christensen later made a mark as one of Leonard Cohen’s favorite backup singers, and Chris D is still knocking around with a reunited, all-star Flesh Eaters, though there’s some talk of getting this band back together as well. I’d go.

Jennifer Kelly

 Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger — Force Majeure (International Anthem)

Force Majeure by Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger

Harlem harpist Brandee Younger and bassist Dezron Douglas faced down New York’s early months of quarantine with a series of live broadcasts recorded in their apartment on a single microphone. This document of intimate resilience collects highlights of the Friday ritual. Younger and Douglas perform covers of spiritual Jazz, soul and pop songs as well as the delightfully titled original “Toilet Paper Romance.” The music is so close you feel the fingers on the strings and frets. Younger’s harp playing is a revelation, pianistic on John Coltrane’s “Equinox”, pointillist yet robust on his “Wise One” which they dedicate to Ahmaud Arbery. Douglas provides vigorous and sympathetic accompaniment and his solo rendition of Sting’s “Inshallah” is a tender tough exploration of his instrument. Along the way there are lovely versions of pieces by, amongst others, Alice Coltrane, Kate Bush and Clifton Davis. Douglas closes with the words “Black music cannot be recreated it can only be expressed” and Force Majeure demonstrates that the same goes for humanity and creativity.

Andrew Forell

Avalon Emerson — 040 12” (AD 93)

040 by Avalon Emerson

It’s been a big year for Avalon Emerson, who started 2020 prepping a move from Berlin to East Los Angeles and ends it back home stateside with an almost universally acclaimed DJ-Kicks entry to her credit. This three-song 12” for the label fka Whities is a nice way to close out a triumphant year, illustrating her penchant for bright melodies and percussive detail. “One Long Day Till I See You Again” is a welcoming slice of beatless percolation to close; “Winter and Water” leans heavily on rhythmic tricks in the middle. That makes A1 “Rotting Hills” the ideal lead as a balance between them. There may not be so obvious a gimmick as a Magnetic Fields cover, but that makes it no less valuable for showing what Emerson can do. Call it one more fluorescent rush.

Patrick Masterson

 End Forest — Proroctwo (Self-released)

Proroctwo (The Prophecy) by End Forest

For some of us, the fusion of folk music forms with crust and metal mostly issues in obscenities like Finntroll (yep, a Finnish band that makes folk metal songs about…trolls) or in politically toxic, Völkisch nationalist fantasias. But some bands get it right; see Botanist’s remarkable work, and see also End Forest, an act just emerging from Poland’s punk underground. Singer Paula Pieczonka employs a traditional Slavic vocal technique that roughly translates to “white singing” — but before you get creeped out by any potential fascist vibes, please know that the “whiteness” at stake in the phrase is purely an aesthetic value. And her voice is really great, open and soaring. “Proroctwo (The Prophecy)” has the sweep and drama of a lot of contemporary crust, and all of the genre’s interest in symbolic violence. The lyrics envision a future wrought and wracked by social conflict, a coming conflagration of torn bodies and of piles of dislodged teeth housed in some horrific archive of viciousness (that’s quite an image). It’s harrowing stuff, big guitar chords accented by sitar and flute. The track is available on Bandcamp, along with several inventive remixes by Polish musicians and DJs, like Tomek Jedynak and Dawid Chrapla. End Forest indicates that a full record is forthcoming sometime in spring. Looking forward to it, y’all.

Jonathan Shaw

 Lori Goldson — On a Moonlit Hill in Slovenia (Eiderdown Records)

On A Moonlit Hill In Slovenia by Lori Goldston

Goldson creates movement and tension in an arresting way with a rough-hewn approach to the cello. This could be a good entry point to her solo work, which is varied and bridges the gap between DIY attitude and elevated levels of musicianship and considered approach. The flow of her playing here evokes the almost brutal scrape of the strings, which gives a welcome texture to the melodic squiggles.

Arthur Krumins

Hot Chip — LateNightTales (LateNightTales)

The LateNightTales series of artist-curated mixes has seen a fair bit of variation over the years since Fila Brazilia first took up the torch in 2001, which makes a certain amount of sense; how we spend our late nights can differ wildly, of course. Hot Chip’s instalment in the series hits some of the expected notes (at least one cover, in this case a deeply moving one of the Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says” they’ve been playing since Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard were in high school together; a closing story track, in this case Taylor’s father reading a bit from Finnegan’s Wake) and otherwise depicts the kind of late night Dusted readers might be more familiar with than most; one where a clearly voracious and eclectic listener is keeping their own private party going just for another hour or so, but always keeping things just quiet and subtle enough to not wake up anyone upstairs. The three other, non-cover new Hot Chip tracks all make for standouts here but there’s plenty of room for accolades, whether it’s for the smoothly groovy (Pale Blue, Mike Saita, Beatrice Dillon), the more avant garde (Christina Vantzou, About Group, Nils Frahm) to just plain off-kilter pop (Fever Ray, PlanningToRock, Hot Chip themselves). The result works as both a wonderful playlist and a survey of the band’s sonic world; and it does work best when everyone else is in bed.  

Ian Mathers

Annette Krebs Jean-Luc Guionnet — Pointe Sèche (Inexhaustible Editions)

pointe sèche by Jean-Luc Guionnet, Annette Krebs

Annette Krebs and Jean-Luc Guionnet recorded the three long, numbered tracks on Pointe Sèche (translation: Dry Point) over the course of three days at St. Peter’s Parish church in Bistrica ob Sotli, Slovenia. Location matters because this music couldn’t happen just anywhere; Guionnet plays church organ. Krebs was once part of the post-Keith Rowe generation of tabletop guitarists, but since 2014 she has abandoned strings and fretboards in favor of a series of hybrid instruments called konstruktions. Konstruktion #4, which appears on this record, includes suspended pieces of metal, a handful of toy animals, a wooden sounding board, vocal and contact microphones and a couple touch screens that manage computer programs. While both musicians have extensive backgrounds in improvisation, this recording sounds more like an audio transcription of a multi-media collage. Guionnet plays his large instrument quite softly, extracting machine-like hums, brief burps and dopplering tones that flicker around the periphery of Krebs’ fragments of speech, distant clangs and unidentifiable events. The resulting sounds resolutely defy decoding, which is its own reward in a time when so much music can be reduced to easily identifiable antecedents.

Bill Meyer

 KMRU — ftpim (The Substation)

ftpim by KMRU

If you happened to catch Peel, Joseph Kamaru’s wonderful release on Editions Mego in late July, but haven’t paid attention before or since, early December’s half-hour two-tracker ftpim done for (and mastered by) Room40 leader Lawrence English is a Janus-faced example of the Nairobi-based ambient artist’s power. As Ian Forsythe put it in his BOGO review of both Peel and Opaquer, “Something that can define an effective ambient record is an ability to disintegrate the perimeter of the record itself and the outside world,” a line I think about every time I listen to KMRU now. “Figures Emerge” feels more immediately accessible to me as a relatable environment where the gentle, pulsing drone is occasionally greeted by sounds outside the studio, while “From the People I Met” is more difficult terrain, a distorted fog of post-shoegaze harmonic decay — no less interesting, but perhaps more metaphorical in its take on the outside world. (Or not, given how 2020 has gone.)

Patrick Masterson

  Paul Lovens / Florian Stoffner—Tetratne (Ezz-thetics)

Enough years separate drummer Paul Lovens and guitarist Florian Stoffner that they could be father and son, and Lovens membership in the Schlippenbach Trio, and Lovens role as drummer in the legendarily long-running Schlippenbach Trio establishes him as an august elder of free improvisation. But the partnership they exhibit on this CD is one of equals committed to making music that is of one mind. Whether matching sparse string-tugging to purposefully collapsing batterie or burrowing sprung-spring wobbles to an immense cymbal wash, the duo plays without regard for showing us one guy or the other’s stuff. The point, it seems, is to how they imagine as one, and their combined craniums generate plenty of imagination. They operate in a realm close to that occupied by Derek Bailey and John Stevens, or Roger Smith and Louis Moholo-Moholo, but their patch of turf is entirely their own.

Bill Meyer

  Mr. Teenage — Automatic Love (Self-Release)

Automatic Love by Mr. Teenage

Melbourne, Australia’s fertile garage punk scene has squeeze out another good one in Mr. Teenage, a Buzzcockian foursome prone to short, sharp riffs and sing-along choruses. A four-song EP starts with the title track, whose arch talk-sung verse erupts into rabid, rip-sawing guitar, like Devo meeting the Wipers. “Waste of Time” piles palm muted urgency with explosive release, with a good bit of the Clash in the crashing, clangor. “KIDS” struts and swaggers in a rough-edged way that’s close to the violence of early Reigning Sound or Texas’ Bad Sports. “Oh, the kids these days,” to borrow a phrase, they’re pretty good.

Jennifer Kelly

 Nekra — Royal Disruptor (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Royal Disruptor by Nekra

Remember punk shows? Remember half-lit, dusty basements and fully lit, dirty kids? Remember your sneaker soles sticking to scuffed, gummy linoleum? Remember greasy denim battle jackets and hand-drawn Sharpie slogans? Remember warm beer (watery domestic suds in cans and cups) and cold stares (angsty bravado and bad attitude for its own sake)? Remember anarchists arguing with nihilists, and riot grrrls arguing with rocker boys? Remember people laughing and people smoking and people shouting and people spitting, all without masks? Remember the anticipation that crisps the air when the amps switch on? Feedback from the cheap-ass mic stabbing your ears? Beefy dudes elbowing through the press of flesh? That volatile, stomachy mix of happiness and truculence? Those warm-up thumps of the bass drum and the initial strums of crackling guitar? Remember all that? For the time being, in the United States of Dysfunction, here’s the closest thing you’ll get: an EP of feral, fast punk songs that sound like they’re happening live, right in front of your face. Thanks, Nekra — I really needed that.

Jonathan Shaw

 Neuringer / Dulberger / Masri — Dromedaries II (Relative Pitch)

Dromedaries II by Keir Neuringer, Shayna Dulberger, Julius Masri

Yes, Dromedaries II is a sequel. It follows by three years a debut cassette which was sold in the sort of microquantities that 21st century cassettes are sold. So, it’s more likely that you have heard another of the bands that the trio’s alto saxophonist, Keir Neuringer, plays in — Irreversible Entanglements. While the two combos don’t sound that similar, they share a commitment to improvising propulsive, cohesive music that will put a boot up your butt if you get in the way. While IE focuses on supplying music that frames and exemplifies the stern proclamations of vocalist Camae Ayewa, the trio plays instrumental free jazz that balances individual expression with collective support. Neuringer, double bassist Shayna Dulberger and drummer Julius Masri play like their eyes are on the horizon, but each musician’s ears are tuned into what the other two are doing. The result is music that seems to move in concerted fashion, but usually has someone doing something that pulls against the prevailing thrust in ways that heighten tension, but never force the music off track.

Bill Meyer

Kelly Lee Owens — Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound)

One of the distinctive things about Kelly Lee Owens’ marvellous debut LP a few years ago, as noted here, is that it felt so confident and distinct that it could have easily been the work of a much more seasoned producer. That impression, of a deftly skilled hand at the controls and a keen artistic sensibility and taste shaping it all, certainly doesn’t recede on Inner Song, whether it finds Owens homaging the grandmother who provided support and inspiration (“Jeanette”), gently but firmly rejecting unhealthy relationships (the utterly gorgeous “L.I.N.E.”) or teaming up with John Cale to make some bilingual, deep Welsh ambient dub (“Corner of My Sky”). And that’s one pretty randomly chosen three-song run! Owens continues to excel at both crafting gorgeous, lived-in productions and maybe especially with her handling of voices (her own and others), and she’s comfortable enough in her own skin that if she wants to open up the album with an instrumental Radiohead version (“Arpeggi”) she will, and she’ll make it feel natural, too.  

Ian Mathers

San Kazakgascar — Emotional Crevasse (Lather Records)

Emotional Crevasse by San Kazakgascar

You won’t find San Kazakgascar on any map, but give a listen and you’ll know where this combo is coming from. Geographically, they hail from Sacramento CA, where they share personnel with Swimming In Bengal. But sonically, they are the product of a journey through music libraries that likely started out in a Savage Republic and sweated in the shadow of Sun City Girls. They likely spent time in the teetering stacks of music collections compiled in a time when the problematic aspects of the term world music were outweighed by the lure of sounds you hadn’t heard before. More important than where they’ve been, though, is the impulse to go someplace other than where they’re currently standing. To accomplish this, twangy guitars, rhythms that straighten your spine whilst swiveling your hips, bottom-dredging saxophone and a cameo appearance by a throat singer who understands that part of a shaman’s job is to scare you each take their turn stepping up and pointing your mind elsewhere. Where it goes after that is up to you.

Bill Meyer

     John Sharkey III — “I Found Everyone This Way” (12XU)

Has Sharkey mellowed? This early peek at the upcoming solo album from the Clockcleaner legend and Dark Blue proprietor suggests a pensive mood, with liquid jangle and surprisingly subdued and lyrical delivery (albeit in the man’s inimitable hollowed out and wounded snarl). But give the artist a power ballad if that’s what he wants. The song has a graceful arc to it, a doomed romanticism and not an ounce of cloying sentiment.

Jennifer Kelly

 Sky Furrows — Sky Furrows (Tape Drift Records/Skell Records/Philthy Rex Records)

Sky Furrows by Sky Furrows

Sky Furrows don’t take long to match sound and message. As Karen Schoemer drops references to SST Records and Raymond Pettibone, bassist Eric Hardiman and drummer Philip Donnelly whip up a tense groove that could easily have been played by Mike Watt and George Hurley. Mike Griffin’s spidery, treble-rich guitar picking is a little less specifically referential, but does sound like it was fed through a signal chain of gear that would have been affordable back in the first Bush administration. The next track looks back a bit further; Schoemer’s voice aside, it sounds like Joy Division might have done if Tom Herman had turned up, pushed Martin Hannet out of the control room before he could ladle on the effects and instead laid down some space blues licks. Schoemer recites rather than sings in a cadence that recalls Lee Ranaldo’s; pre-internet underground rock is in this band’s DNA. The sounds themselves are persistently cool, but one drawback of having a poet instead of a singer up front is an apparent reluctance to vary the structure; it would not have hurt to break things up with some contrasting passages here or there.

Bill Meyer

  Soft on Crime — “You’ve Already Made Up Your Mind” b/w “Rubyanne” (EatsIt)

7'' by Soft on Crime

These Dublin fuzz-punks kick up a guitar-chiming clangor in A-Side, “You’ve Already Made Up Your Mind,” which might have you reaching for your old Sugar records. Sharp but sweet, the cut is an unruly gem buoyed by melody but bristling with attitude. “Rubyanne” is slower, softer and more ingratiating, embellished with baroque pop elements like flute, saxophone and choral counterpoints. “Little 8 Track” fills out this brief disc, with crunching, buzz-hopped bass and a bit of guitar jangle under whisper-y romantic vocals. It’s a bit hard to get a handle on the band, based on such disparate samples, but intriguing enough to make you want to settle the matter whenever more material becomes available.

Jennifer Kelly

Theoxinia — See the Lapith King Burn (Bandcamp)

See the Lapith King Burn by Theoxenia

Students of Greek mythology will grasp it right away, but in the internet age, it doesn’t take anyone long to figure out that when you name your record See the Lapith King Burn, you’re casting your lot for better or worse with the party animals. The Lapiths were one side of a lineage that also involved the considerably less sober-sided Centaurs, and the two sides of the family had a bloody showdown at a wedding that has been taken to symbolize the war between civilization and wildness. Theoxinia is Dave Shuford (No-Neck Blues Band, Rhyton, D. Charles Speer & the Helix) and his small circle of stringed instruments and low-cost repeating devices. If you were to dig through his past discography, it most closely resembles the LP Arghiledes (Thrill Jockey) in its explicitly Hellenic-psychedelic vibe. But, like so many folks in recent times, Shuford has decided to bypass the expanse and aggravation of physical publication in favor of marketing this LP-sized recording on Bandcamp. If that fact really bugs you, I guess you could start a label and make the man an offer. But if fuzz-tone bouzouki, sped-up loops and unerringly traced dance steps that will look most convincing when executed with a knife between your teeth and the sheriff’s wallet poking mockingly out of the top of your breast pocket sounds like your jam, See the Lapith King Burn awaits you in the realm of digital insubstantiality.

Bill Meyer

 Trees — 50th Anniversary Edition (Earth Recordings)

Trees (50th Anniversary Edition) by Trees

This boxed set presents the two original Trees albums from the early 1970s, The Garden of Jane Delawney and On the Shore, with the addition of demos and sundry recordings from the era. Here the band took the UK folk rock sound emergent at the time and drew it out into its jammy and somewhat arena rock guitar soloing conclusion. It’s good to have all of this in one place to document the myriad ways that Trees wrapped traditional material into new forms and with a bracing, druggy feel.

Arthur Krumins 

 Uncivilized — Garden (UNCIV MUSIC)

Garden by Uncivilized

Guitarist Tom Csatari presides over NYC-based large jazz ensemble known as Uncivilized, whose fusion-y discography stretches back a couple of years and prominently incorporates a cover of the Angelo Badalamenti theme from Twin Peaks. This 27-track album was recorded live at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works space in 2018 with a nine-piece band, who navigate drones and dances and the multi-part Meltedy Candy STOMP, a sinuous exploration of space age keyboards and surging big band instruments. Jaimie Branch, who lives next door to Csatari and was invited on a whim at the last minute, joins in for the second half including a smoldering rendition of the Lynch theme. It’s damn fine (though not coffee). Later on, Stevie Wonder gets the Uncivilized treatment in a pensive cover of “Evil,” led by warm guitar, blowsy sax and a little bit of jazz flute.

Jennifer Kelly

 Unwed Sailor — Look Alive (Old Bear Records)

Look Alive by Unwed Sailor

Johnathon Ford, who plays bass for Pedro the Lion, has been at the center of Unwed Sailor for two decades, gathering a changing cohort of players to realize his lucid instrumental compositions. Here, as on last year’s Heavy Age, Eric Swatzell adds guitars and Matthew Putnam drums to Ford’s essential bass and keyboard sounds. Yet while Heavy Age brooded, Look Alive grooves with bright clarity, riding insistent basslines through highly colored landscapes of synths and drums. The title track bounds with optimism, with big swirls of synth sound enveloping a rigorous cadence of bass and drums. “Camino Reel” is more guitar-centric but just as uplifting, opening out into squalling shoe-gaze-y walls of amplified sound. Ford, who usually leans on post-punk influences like New Order and the Cure, indulges an affinity for dance, here, especially audible on the trance-y “Gone Jungle” remix by GJ.

Jennifer Kelly

 Your Old Droog — Dump YOD Krutoy Edition (Self-released)

Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition by YOD

American rapper Your Old Droog has been releasing solid music for years. He never had ups for the same reason he never had downs: he never left his comfort zone. Dump YOD Krutoy Edition (where “krutoy” stands for “rude boy” or “badass”) may be his breakthrough album. He always kept his Soviet origins in check, and here for the first time he draws his imagery from three different sources: New York urban present, Ukrainian folk and Soviet and post-Soviet past (even Boris Yeltsin makes an appearance). In this boiling pot, a new Your Old Droog is rising, among balalaikas and mean streets of NYC, matryoshkas and producers with boring beats, babushkas and graffiti writers.

Ray Garraty

[elleroodles]

hiiiii el! i have a strange doodle request, which is as such: draw what maps by the yeah yeah yeahs feels like to you! idk i think i remember you like that song (if you don't whoops lol, please feel free to draw a song of your choice) and i feel like it's such an emotion-provoking song

celie i hope you know you sent me the most wonderful art request ever and when i saw it i like. started vibrating. but anyways i had the time of my life doing this and it has evolved from a doodle into a full on thing that i posted separately (tw for bright colors) that i did research for and in that research i discovered that this song has several layers of lore so this post exists to educate those about the history and impact of maps on modern society (ft. beyonce) as well as my thumb ailing process because i love talking about that kind of think and i feel like it fulfills the request more than the actual piece does so! it’s Maps Time

so there isn’t really as much lore as i let on but there are several layers of it so i think i’ll start with the music video which i only learned one (1) fun fact about: the tears were real because karen o’s boyfriend at the time was supposed to show up to filming but didn’t. that made me sad. i love karen o. that is the extent of the music video lore.

OKAY BEYONCÉ. beyoncé has a song you may have heard of called lemonade, and in this song she credits none other than ezra koenig (of vampire weekend) and people were wondering why on Earth ezra koenig is credited in a beyoncé song so mr. koenig took to twitter in 2016:

so essentially: maps by the yeah yeah yeahs + a tweet by ezra koenig = part of beyoncé’s lemonade. this fascinates me.

THIS IS WHERE THE ART TALK BEGINS AND THE MAPS TALK ENDS (KIND OF NOT REALLY)

so here’s the thumbnailing canvas where i kept the request in mind and put actual thought into it vs. the final piece where i just. did what i wanted to. that’s kind of why i wanted to explain this part so i could prove that at one point i was indeed thinking about this

actual thumbnails (four squares at the top): these were the first things i did with the sole thought of “hey! this was one of the first songs i fully learned on guitar!” in mind which i ended up dropping because it’s not really an emotion per se? just something that would show up in the elleroodles category on jeopardy. the only other thing i want to mention about these is that the far right is my school because i liked the vibes of the “my kind’s your kind” lyric and associate school dances with hanging out with my friends outside these giant garage doors in the middle of the main hall. the rest of these were drawn with the chorus in mind

palettes (left): so i went into this with the eyestrainy colors of fever to tell in mind (the first three thumbnails) before remembering that the single exists and then i pulled a palette from that- the sketchy school paper doodle vibes were what i had in mind for that last thumbnail. i ended up using both of these for the final piece and i think that may be why it seems so !,!);!;!(!!;!(&?&@393 but Hey it is what it is. also here’s the full palettes because i what procreate make them for me (hoping anthony fantano doesn’t see this)

the imagery (bottom right hand corner stuff): i drew imagery from three main sources (and then ended up using none of it): the lyrical content, music video, and my own personal ties to the song. lyrical content was kind of hard for me, i’m notorious for having no relationship experience and have been pining after the same girl for three years so i’m not all that knowledgeable on the concept presented in the song so there aren’t a whole lot of strong points in that area, but what i do have a lot of experience in is school dances! i originally wanted to do a whole lot with that setting but when i started drawing the final i used None of my ideas and just did whatever popped into my brain so unfortunately none of this made it past the final cut (i would like to do something along these lines again one day, i cannot stress how fun this request was for me!!). there’s also personal experience, which is mostly just my ties to this song being that i learned to play it on the guitar early on. that’s kind of the extent of it.

i think that might be all i have to say? idk there’s a Lot and i’m not sure how many people will read this essay but if you do I HOPE YOU ENJOYED and if you’re celie then i love you and tysm for sending me this request because i had so much fun with all this planning and research :-)

actual post here

[ptersparkers]

going back in time (the adventures of y/n stark)

summary: a regularly updating collection of vignettes that detail the life and adventures of y/n stark, a self-proclaimed baker, thrill seeker, and an all around good person.

a/n: so yeah let’s just pretend endgame never happened!! also nothing in here aligns with the marvel timeline but when do my stories do?? anyways thank you for reading, sweet peas!

warnings: fluff

masterlist / taglist 

“You want to what?!” Tony yelled from the other side of the laboratory when he heard you propose the idea. “Absolutely not. That’s not happening.”

“Dad,” you said, “do you really believe any of them are going to convince a younger you to give up the blueprint?”

You gestured your arms around yourself to indicate you were talking about the Avengers. Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking around the room, looking at each of his teammates who stood before him. He knew that there was absolutely no way his younger self would ever listen to authority figures or people older than him, and he knew his younger self wouldn’t be smart enough to listen to Natasha if she went back in time.

“I look about your age,” you said, shrugging.

“Okay, no,” Tony said, wagging his finger as he balanced from one foot to the other. He looked at the other Avengers in the room, unsure of what to do or say.

“As much as I don’t like it,” Steve began, “I have to agree. There’s no way any of us could pass as a college student.”

“Peter can come with me,” you suggested.

Tony snapped his fingers. “Peter can go alone.”

You deadpanned. “Dad, you really think your twenty-year-old self is gonna listen to someone who looks younger than you?”

“Y/N and Peter should go together,” said Natasha. “We all know you’re to stubborn to listen to any of us and I don’t want to take that chance with younger you.”

“I don’t like this idea one bit,” Tony muttered as he rubbed his temple and scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, what if things go wrong? What if I can’t bring you guys back? What happens to the timeline if you change things?”

“I can help with that,” Banner offered. “After Lang gave me a Pym Particle sample, I’ve been able to create more tubes for situations just like this. I’ll be able to monitor everything they’re doing and bring them right back. Besides, they wouldn’t mess up our timeline.”

“What do you mean?”

“When they travel back in time to meet your younger self, they’ll be creating an alternate timeline. They’re not going to change anything in our present,” Bruce said. “They’ll be gone for a few minutes our time and for however long it takes for them.”

“Be careful,” Tony said, looking at you. You nodded and gave him a hug before following him, Bruce, and Peter to the garage laboratory to get ready.

“I can’t believe we’re going back to 1985 to meet Mr. Stark as a college kid,” Peter said as he put the helmet on his suit. “I’ve never been to MIT before.”

“Dad’s always telling me stories about his younger days and it’s going to be really weird meeting him as a college kid,” you said.

“How many people can say they’ve traveled back in time?”

You looked at Peter and high-fived one another before entering the lab space, wondering what meeting your father at twenty would be like.

***

You and Peter landed in an empty classroom and the suit minimized. You slipped the time contraption around your wrist to conceal it as a bracelet before exiting the classroom.

“Is this what guys wore in the eighties?” Peter said, grimacing at his outfit. “I feel so out of place.”

You swatted his shoulder. “Of course you do. I happen to like wearing high-waisted pants and a cute sweatshirt,” you said, looking down. “Although we didn’t have time to put any hairspray in my hair so a ponytail for now will have to do.”

“Where would we even find Mr. Stark?” Peter asked.

You rolled your eyes. “Peter, you can’t call my dad Mr. Stark.”

“And you can’t call Mr. Stark 'Dad.’”

You looked at him. “Touche. Okay, he told me he usually spent Thursday mornings in the library. Maybe we could pretend to be students who need help in physics?”

“That’s never going to work,” Peter said.

“Well, do you have a better idea?”

***

“Hi, are you Tony Stark?”

The man whose back was facing you turned around and you tried to keep yourself from gasping too loudly. There was your father, twenty-five years younger, sitting in front of you without knowing your true intentions. The create between his eyebrows was the same as so was the little smirk he did whenever he met someone new.

“And who might you be, beautiful?”

You cringed.

“Okay, I’m not here for that. I need help with my physics class and everyone said you were the person to go to for help,” you said.

Tony tilted his head to the side as you took a seat next to him, looking between you and your textbooks. He let his elbow rest on the back of his chair before shrugging his shoulders and letting you sprawl your stuff on the desk in front of you.

“Say, you look really familiar.”

“I have that kind of face,” you said, tossing your hair over your shoulder.

“What’s your name, by the way?”

“Y/N,” you replied.

While you were with Tony, you and Peter had decided to split up for an hour so he could gather information about where he might’ve put the blueprint for a then-JARVIS in order for him to make repairs on present day F.R.I.D.A.Y. The mission itself wasn’t dangerous (to an extent) or really necessary, but the quicker the update, the better the AI.

“Intro to physics, hm? Took that class three semesters ago. Who do you have?”

“Mr. Berstein,” you said, vaguely remembering the information your father had told you before the mission.

“Ah, Mr. Bernstein,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Never really liked that guy as a person but he was a hell of a teacher.”

You smiled to yourself, thinking how your father had said the same thing thirty minutes prior.

“Well, I just need to last the rest of the semester,” you said, taking out a pencil and your notebook.

“I can definitely help you with that,” Tony said as he opened up your book. “What do you need help with?”

“Oh, um,” you said, not having thought that far. “Applied concepts,” you said, reading from a random page.

Tony grinned. “You’re in luck. That happens to be something I’m genuinely interested in.

For the next thirty minutes, you listened to your father - the younger version - talk about physics and had to pretend you had no idea what he was talking about. As he read a footnote from the textbook, you sat back in your seat and crossed your arms.

“So, JARVIS,” you began. Tony looked at you and raised your eyebrow.

“How do you know about JARVIS?”

You rolled your eyes. “Please. You think I wouldn’t know?”

“Well, we did meet thirty minutes ago.” You rolled your eyes once more. “Your eyes are definitely going to pop out of your socket if you keep rolling your eyes at me.”

You looked and saw Tony staring at you with a playful grin and you punched his shoulder, fixing your ponytail before turning your body to face his. You tucked one of your legs underneath the other and let your head rest on your chin with your elbow on the table and watched him follow suit.

“Tell me,” you began. “JARVIS seems like a pretty revolutionary thing to be inventing.”

“I didn’t technically invent it,” he said. “It was my father’s idea but I just tweaked it a little. I have blueprints but haven’t built a prototype yet and I don’t really know if I want to find out if it works.”

“Why not? It seem like a pretty cool idea to me and if anyone can make it happen, it’s you.”

Tony smiled softly. “Thanks, Y/N.” He stopped talking for a second. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

“Well, just know that I really couldn’t care less about your last name, if that’s that you’re worried about,” knowing that’s exactly what he was thinking about.

“A lot of people tell me that,” he mumbled, turning away from you. You shrugged nonchalantly, picking your pen from the desk before taking notes on whatever page you were reading.

“But not everyone means it. I don’t need you to believe me. You don’t owe me anything and I don’t owe you anything either. Well, except a thank you for helping me with physics,” you said.

Tony peered and turned his head slightly to see you studying peacefully and wondered if what you said was true. Besides, there was something about you that seemed familiar.

“Okay,” he said, turning to face you once again. You mimicked his movement and resumed your original position. “Well, JARVIS is this idea that I’ve been developing further. Basically, I want it to accompany me with my needs in the laboratory when I develop more prototypes and projects.”

“Wow. Sounds pretty fancy,” you said. “I don’t think I could ever make something as great as that.”

“Don’t say that,” he said, giving you a genuine smile. “I’m sure that inside that pretty little head of yours, there’s a brain that exceeds everyone’s expectations.”

“I hope,” you said with a sigh. “Sometimes, I think that people want me to be as great as my father. He’s, uh, pretty established and I don’t usually like telling people my last name in fear that they’ll just expect something from me.”

“And when you don’t meet people’s expectations, you blame yourself,” he added.

“Exactly.”

Tony looked at you with a newfound grace and there seemed to be a light that twinkled in his eyes. With a spark of realization, he clapped his hands once before packing up your things for you.

“What are you doing?” you asked, confused when he put your stuff in your backpack and zipped it up.

“I’m showing you JARVIS.”

***

“I can’t believe you thought up all of this,” you said as you gazed at the blueprints.

“I didn’t come up with all of it,” Tony said sheepishly. “My father helped me with the basics and I just brainstormed from there.”

“This is brilliant,” you said, holding the blueprints in front of you, taking pictures with the camera on your fake glasses.

“I hope that I can do something as great as my dad,” you confessed. “We’ve never worked on a project together and I can’t tell if it’s because we’re busy or if I don’t have the capabilities to.”

Tony looked at you. “You didn’t need my help, did you?” You sheepishly looked at Tony and shrugged, setting his blueprint back on his desk.

“Not really. I-I just really wanted to meet you.”

“You know,” he began, “if it were any other person, I’d probably freak out and kick you out of my room. But I can’t seem to do that. Maybe it’s because your father and my father are almost the same, or maybe it’s because you like physics as much as I do. Judging by the past hour we spent together, you’re going to make your father proud. Either way, I’m happy we met.”

You looked at Tony with adoration in your eyes and you couldn’t help but rush towards him and embrace him in between your arms. You let your head rest on your chest as a satisfied smile rest on your lips. Tony, stunned, wasn’t sure what to do but let himself hug you back anyway.

“Y/N?” you heard Peter say from the door. You both whipped your heads to his voice to see him panting. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Who’s that?” Tony asked, pointing at the young man in the doorway.

“I’m Peter,” he said, stunned at how young Tony looked.

“He’s my boyfriend,” you said quickly to prevent Tony from asking him any questions. Peter raised an eyebrow at you, to which you gave him a knowing look. “Anyway, we should get going. Thanks for today, Tony. It was really nice getting to know you.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Tony said as he relinquished you from his grasp.

“Do me a favor,” you said as you joined Peter. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re gonna do great things and I’ll always be proud of you.” You turned to leave but turned around. “Oh, and in the future, please don’t your daughter dye her hair orange.”

“Bye Mr. St-I mean, Tony!” Peter yelled from the hallway as you teleported back to the future.

You left Tony dumbfounded and he couldn’t fathom why he would ever let his daughter do something like that. Or that he’d even have children. He shrugged and tucked his blueprints in his desk drawer, deciding on a whim to take a nap after a weird encounter.

***

“You know, you were pretty cute in your twenties,” you told Tony as he threw his arm around you, marveling at the newly improved F.R.I.D.A.Y. “Still a hot-head, though.”

“Come on, did we ever think I wouldn’t be different?” he asked with a laugh.

“Uh, did I have orange hair when I was eleven, by any chance?”

“Of course you did. You cried about it when you came home from the salon,” Tony said with a laugh.

“Damn it.”

***

Taglist:

@sessi03  @olliekookie  @edgyhargreeves  @simonsbluee  @meraki--me @sleep-i-ness  @amourski @kath94210.

[stvlti]

10 female characters tag

@timothydraike tagged me to post 10 favourite female characters from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people, but honestly this list isn't gonna be too different from my 10 fave characters list cause most of them are women anyway 😂 😂 but here you go:

Nausicäa // Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Studio Ghibli

I didn't explain it last time, but I feel like she is the prototype for all the Ghibli girl heroines, free and autonomous, except she's a young woman who knows exactly what she believes in and wants to do. She's a warrior princess who believes in peace and kindness rather than war; she listens to mother nature and tends to her garden as deftly as she handles her glider jet; she's a born leader who puts her subjects' wellbeing before her own immediate safety. This gif here shows the moment she took of her own gas mask to boost morale while they're crashing into a toxic wasteland. I don't think I've seen many representations of female leadership as compelling and utterly human as hers was before or after this film debuted in popular media.

Harley Quinn // DCU

She's a bundle of contradictions but it's in that I find a female antivillain/antihero that feels real. Her stocky build and bit of chub in the tummy area? Real. Her slobbish habits and love for nasty junk food? Real. Her all encompassing empathy for animal welfare? Real. Disregarding the artists that draw her with too big boobs, she's so ordinary in her appearance and habits that it actually feels like she's the kind of girl that media often overlooks. She's like the manic pixie dream girl but rounded out with relatable human traits.

Tsunemori Akane // Psycho-Pass

I related to her when I was 20 (exactly her age at the start of the series) because I was at a crossroads in life, just as she was. I was searching for my calling, just as she was trying to understand her purpose and place in society. And at that point in my life, I could appreciate the duality between abiding by the system (legal reformation) and questioning the system (dipping into revolutionary ideas). I can't see myself relating to a cop anymore now obviously, but she's a rather unique figure that I still think about.

Ava // Ex Machina (2014), filmblr

She brings out all my post-humanist sympathies. And I think she captures a sort of queer android and Other perspective, one that the male characters feel threatened by, that women can understand well.

Maeve Millay // Westworld

She's my murder mom. Something something about "I've died a thousand times, I'm not afraid of death" (I'm paraphrasing majorly), she's so badass. The fact that she was one of the first androids to awaken and actually challenge the humans, there's so much power in her taking her trauma in stride and moving forward nonetheless. And I think you can see a recurring theme here lolol

Lois Lane (Gotham City Garage) // DCU Elseworlds

Perhaps this is just preserving a core attribute of her main continuity counterpart, but I absolutely adore the spirit she embodies of journalists who stay defiantly committed to truth and justice in the face of insurmountable odds. Fighting against a fascist terror regime - which hits very close to home - and keeping the broadcast going even out in the wasteland. In this last aspect she carries similarities to Dr. Death Defying's character from Gerard Way's Killjoys series, except she's a woman and she was actually fleshed out as a character with a heart and soul and a lot of gravitas. How can you not love her?

(and I forgot this was supposed to be 10 characters from 10 different fandoms until I finished this list but let's say her being an Elseworlds character counts as a different fandom 🤡🤡)

Ripley // Alien (even tho Sigourney Weaver's personal politics is a bit yikes)

The proto-final girl and original warrior mother in sci-fi wrapped into one. (Ok, the crown for modern scifi warrior mother might have to go to Sarah Connor actually, but that's also another Cameron invention so they can share that title.) Even tho I can't relate to most of her character arc, I'm still very impressed by her character. They even touch on her PTSD a little which is unheard of in the contemporary movies at the time.

Honorary mention: Sarah Connor // Terminator

Marceline the Vampire Queen // Adventure Time

Not the original goth gf, but she is a goth gf. Gay and aesthetics aside, I really liked that the show let her be a bit weird and gross (which she should be considering she's kind of undead) and her tragic backstory gets me every time. The best thing is she's still a big softie, who takes good care of Ice King / Simon when he's around; you don't see that kind of (grand)daughter character in media much.

Beverly Marsh // It (2017)

I haven't read the book but tbh I liked the agency the first movie awarded her enough that I'm afraid of jeopardising it; I don't like how the book portrays / handles her sexuality. She is a survivor of csa, but she's a fighter regardless. I like that about her.

Darlene Alderson // Mr. Robot

I honestly debated putting her on this list again since I haven't seen a single Mr. Robot episode in so long, but I do remember her character being given her own arc in S2 (and onwards I suppose) and she's a little fucked up in her own way. People look at Rami's character and get sucked in sorting through his alters but Darlene is no less complex - damaged, dangerous, and compelling.

Other honorary mentions:

Riko Sheridan // DCU (an Asian girl who isn't infantilised or reduced to the model minority? shocker!)

Missy // Colette (2018), filmblr (she's actually a real historical figure so I'm not sure if she counts. But she's so radical and ahead of her time - in fact the film seems to suggest she prefers he/him pronouns. I have never seen such intriguing butch representation and I just fell in love with her character. Worth a watch.)

Jo March // Little Women (2019), filmblr (since we're talking about historical women... well, she's a period film character but not a real one, but she's highly evocative of certain female experiences in much the same way)

Blue // The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (so I didn't wanna crowd this list with too many android ladies but she's the first queer android girl character I came across and I loved her instantly. Too bad they buried her gay but her entire concept is my aesthetic)

Rem // Death Note (I feel like I'm obligated to mention DN, too bad it has shitty writing wrt female characters, that's why I have no choice but to stan the lesbian monster gf friend who is so in love with her gal pal she would die for her. Ugh, poetic cinema)

Ok now I am gonna tag @lawliyeeeet @sweetgloss @dressed-to-keehl @3dnygma @hikenacedabi and anyone else who wants to I guess