#( message at the tone: william & steven. )

[slaughterlocked]

@mute-call liked for a starter! based off a wish list post & thrown at william because i love the idea of a steven & evan bond!

IT’S NOT THAT HE THINKS STEVEN IS HIDING ANYTHING FROM HIM. WELL, NOT EXACTLY. William has known the guy for years and Christ, he’s not sure Steven could keep a secret even if his life literally depended on it. (Then again, that’s harsh: he’s always had a negative opinion of everyone at Freddy’s minus Henry sometimes, he should be more generous. Steven has put up with a lot over the years.) He does like him, for the most part. Loyal, hardworking, keeps his nose out of business that doesn’t concern him. William couldn’t say that about a lot of employees. But there’s something new about Steven recently. Something he can’t pin down. Like Steven knows something, sees something in him that he’d previously not been privy to — and it’s driving him insane.

Well. More insane. Sanity is relative, some would say. Steven would probably agree. You have to be a bit of an oddball to maintain a position at Freddy’s.

A knock at his office door jolts him from his reverie and from his chair. Pushing to his feet automatically, calling, “come in,” because he knows who it is. Obviously. Asking Steven to come to meet with him had been his idea, and sure, he’ll play coy trying to get information from him, but William is determined to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on here.

“Steven, just the man I wanted to see.” A flashy smile, a nonchalant tone: William internally pats himself on the back for acting so covertly. “Come in, please. Can I get you tea? Coffee? The whole building is freezing today.” Good small talk. That’ll get his guard down.

[clericofshadows]

dialogue tag game

tagged by the lovely @rotschopf-thedrow

rules: pick up to 10 characters and share one of your favorite lines of dialogue you have ever written for them!

this is cruel I have so much dialogue how can I choose favorites? this is definitely one of those things where I will give completely different answers if I'm asked about this again :)

choosing just one bit of dialogue for Regis Shepard is so hard, but a snarky one I've liked is from feeling numb, lost in time. Some of my favorite moments with Regis are when he's fucking with people.

“What story?” Regis asked with a smirk, realizing he could fuck with him. Regis and Joker have never had anything more than a barely civil relationship, but there were times they could mess around with each other without too much hostility on the other’s part. Regis figured this could be one of those times. “The one where Kaidan and I met Zaeed while on leave and learned a hell of a lot more about where our tastes lie?”

2. Vikram T'Lara, Regis's asari matriach uncle, from feeling numb, lost in time, in which Vik inevitably gets in contact with Regis while he's with Cerberus.

Vik rolled their eyes.  “Goddess, Reggie, you knew what I meant.  You know, seeing you grow up has been some of the best memories of my long life.  I’m very grateful to have been part of your family.”

3. Jeff "Joker" Moreau, in don't ask about Ryuusei, in which they try to figure out the deal behind their "emails."

“Wait a minute, you messaged me.  For a second, I thought it was a prank.  I mean, hello–” he gestured around.  “I know you.  This is your personal hell, but maybe you decided to let that all go to celebrate your favorite pilot.”

4. Kaidan Alenko from you got me in a chokehold, a flashback to after Alchera.

"Couldn't have controlled? No, you just couldn't stand being wrong about anything involving the Normandy! But it doesn't matter anymore, now does it? You might've saved the ship a few precious seconds, but Regis didn't get any!" Ashley stepped between them, interrupting whatever Joker was going to say next. "This is not the time to be fighting! God, it's a terrible day when I'm the fucking mediator. Joker, you knew what the orders were. Both of you, walk away before things get more ruined than they already are." "You aren't going to call out Alenko for prioritizing his boyfriend over the rest of the crew?" Kaidan felt his biotic corona roar to life. "Go fuck yourself Joker and remember that Regis died for you! He was never going to leave anyone behind! And he chose you."

5. Admiral Steven Hackett, from so let love reign.

"Did [Zaeed] tell you to ask me about the Frozen Pyjak?" [Hackett] chuckled.

6. Zaeed Massani, from a WIP fic of the aftermath of his loyalty mission. I hate that this is one of my favorites, but it hit exactly the way I wanted it to.

Zaeed spun around, pointing a finger in Regis's direction, his face twisted with anger. "What the fuck was that, Regis?" "I could ask you the same damn thing. We wouldn't even be in this fucking situation if you weren't so consumed by revenge and just slowed down and listened," Regis replied, his tone flat, carefully keeping his expression neutral. "That's fucking rich." Zaeed laughed, laced with bitterness and anger. "The whole reason why you're even playing nice with Cerberus is so you can tear them apart. You're biding your time to get back at T'Soni as we speak. But the moment I get the chance to get what I have spent years working towards, you throw it all away for a few extra lives. How about that, Butcher?"

7. Ashley Williams, from late night conversations. In which she and Regis chat about things.

“And now you’re here, abusing your Spectre benefits so you two can share a bed together,” she echoed, nudging his arm.  “I would offer to go ring shopping with you, but something tells me you already have that figured out.”

8. Nyx Shepard, from the story of a weapon. I'm still trying to figure this bastard out, but he's already had his moments.

Nyx's intense purple eyes watched Kaidan closely as he examined the dagger.  "You've been in my goddamn bed," Nyx finally stated, a small grin playing on his lips. "So, you've seen a lot of me. But not many have been close enough to see this blade on neutral ground.” Kaidan felt a flush of warmth creeping up his cheeks, but he didn't shy away from Nyx's probing gaze. "Well, I'd say it's quite an honor," he replied, his tone playful, though tinged with a sense of curiosity. "Your bed and now this?  What’s next…” “You tell me,” He chuckled.  “Every weapon has a story.  What is mine?  You get one question, the rest you try to figure out on your own.”

I think that's about it... I could try to do a few more but I like what I have here.

tagging anyone who sees this and wants to participate! tag me if you do :)

[coralei]

｡:ﾟ乁. 💜 Coralei Crash Course 💜 .ㄏﾟ:｡

…ᘛᐷ· Pronouns — She/Her

…ᘛᐷ· Age — Born 1992, Scorpio

…ᘛᐷ· Queerness — Trans Woman, Bi Lesbian, Polyam

…ᘛᐷ· Identity — Socialist/leftist, ADHD-haver, furry, mixed white/???, sex/body/fat positive

…ᘛᐷ· Pronunciation — Coralei (COR-uh-lye, sounds like Lorelei or Coraline without the n sound) or just Cora

…ᘛᐷ· Vibes — Lumberjane, vain af, werewolf girlfriend, chaotic multishipper, car gay, cringe but free, utility lesbian, MCR diehard, a Noelle in Susie's clothing

…ᘛᐷ· Fandom — Deltarune, Kingdom Hearts, Furry, OFMD, secretly a Homestuck sleeper agent

…ᘛᐷ· Content Rating — Roughly 16+: Liberal use of swears, possibly risque art, maybe the occasional weed mention

—

｡:ﾟ乁. Tags I Use .ㄏﾟ:｡

#Coraposting — Basically any original post or something I add significant thoughts to. A post that isn't a simple reblog.

#my art — art that I've made!

#give the devil her queue — my queue tag

#suggestive — reblogs or posts that might have a sexual tone

#important — usually a political message or post that I care about

#politics — I try to tag some political discussion in case folks aren't here for that

#mental eels — for posts about or my thoughts on mental illness, mostly ADHD for me

(Fandom tags: #dr — deltarune #mcr — my chemical romance #kh — kingdom hearts #furry — furries)

—

More info under the cut!!

Hey I'm Cora!

I'm a digital artist and a fandom trash girl(affectionate) currently in my second Tumblr era!! My first one started in my teen years and lasted until around 2016 at which point I moved to Twitter (for some fucking reason?¿?,,?). But it turns out, Twitter is a machine designed to slowly siphon away my blood and that sucks ass so I'm fuckin back baybee. New blog, same great taste.

—

｡:ﾟ乁. Before You Follow .ㄏﾟ:｡

Just a heads up my years on Twitter really fucked my tag etiquette so I like hardly tag my posts anymore. I'm trying to get better but also it's my blog and I'm allowed to be lazy.

I'm trying to keep this blog relatively free of sexual content but there might be occasional artistic nudity and I can't guarantee I won't slip up and reblog a hot furry or something.

—

I don't care much for DNI lists but some quick notes:

…ᘛᐷ· I'm a far left anti-capitalist anti-cop queer trans woman so you can imagine that I don't want to see landlords, blue-line bastards, bootlickers, anti-vax conspiracists, any flavor of white supremacy, conservatives, and you're smart I'm sure you can extrapolate from there.

…ᘛᐷ· Bi/pan/mspec lesbian exclusionists, I won't tell you not to follow me but don't come at me with that "mspec lesbians are lesbophobic" shit okay? okay. I don't wanna see it.

—

｡:ﾟ乁. Stuff I'm Into .ㄏﾟ:｡

My current obsession is Deltarune and you know I'm shipping Suselle, you know I'm shipping Kriselle and Krerdly and Krusielle. KH is my backburner obsession and Xion is my daughter and she's trans and she's perfect and also I'm a SoRiKai diehard.

…ᘛᐷ· Shows

Steven Universe, She-Ra, What we do in the shadows, Kipo, AtLA, Our flag means death, The adventure zone, Archer

…ᘛᐷ· Gaymes

✨💜Kingdom Hearts💜✨, Minecraft, ❤️Deltarune/Undertale❤️

…ᘛᐷ· Music

Porter Robinson, MCR, CHVRCHES, Haylea Williams, Left at London, The Orion Experience, Pierce the Veil, Lil Nas X, Billy Talent, Dance Gavin Dance, Rainych

[unofficialkfamtranscripts]

KFAM - Episode 1 - May 1, 2015

View in Google Docs

[podcast intro music]

[Soft jazz music]

Chet Sebastian [Mellow] So then Charlie Parker pulled his gun, but, hey, that’s jazz, right? This has been Chet Sebastian’s Jazz corner. Thanks for listening, and stay cool, cats.

[Rock intro music]

Sammy Good evening, I’m Sammy Stevens and you’re listening to King Falls AM. That’s 660 on the radio dial. This is my first show. Hell, its my first day in King Falls! so let’s talk about it, shall we?

[CENSOR BEEP]

Sammy And I think we just set our first record on the show, ladies and gents. Getting bleeped in the first thirty seconds.

Ben Language. We’re family friendly.

Sammy It’s 2 AM, Ben. *small laugh* I mean, I think we can probably give hell a pass.

[BEEP]

Sammy Okay, new rule: if it’s part of Carlin Seven[1] or derivatives of: bleep away. Other than that, let’s cool the censor jets, Ben. Uh, for all you listening out there, I’d love to introduce you to our producer, Benjamin Arnold.

Ben That’s okay.

Sammy We’re live, Benny.

Ben It’s Ben. And I-I just- I don’t wanna, ruin the, journalistic integrity o—

Sammy Of this show? We’re an AM late night talk show.

Ben As I was saying: I don’t want to ruin the journalistic integrity of myself, Sammy.

Sammy Oh, it’s besmirched. It's solidly besmirched. So, why don't you just, uh, make use of that mic, and pull it up, and have at it?

Ben *sighs* [bleep]

Sammy *laughs* Alright, you’re here with Sammy and Ben. Not Benjamin, not Benny, but Ben. Uh, he’s my producer, our journalist-with-integrity, and uh, professional censorist.

Ben *laughs* Oh, man.

Sammy As I was saying kids, it’s my first day on the job here, my first day in town, and I’d love to open up the phone lines to you, our lovely King Falls listeners, and talk about this beautiful little place.

Ben [proudly] It is nice, isn’t it?

Sammy h- Nice doesn’t even begin to describe it. I mean, the little shops, the scenery. It's literally a mountain Mayberry.[2]

Ben Oh, you have no idea! We’ve been voted best small town in America six years straight by the King Falls Chamber of Commerce.

Sammy … The town voted the town, Best Small- Town in America?

Ben Oh yeah! There was a ribbon presentation, a parade down Main Street. Six years running.

Sammy I’m not sure that’s the way it works, Ben.

Ben Couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world.

Sammy Alright, now, wait a second. You were talking to me right before the show started, and it’s your dream job to be one of the great journalists of all time. “Cronkite. Brokaw. Ben Arnold.”

Ben That’s the dream! That-that’s the goal.

Sammy But you can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Ben [awkwardly] Well! Let’s be fair. There’s-There’s the King Falls Gazette, there’s- King Falls AM, of course. Even those clowns over at Channel 13. If you knew King Falls, you’d know that everything you ever need to talk about, is right here.

Sammy Huh. Well, you know, maybe you’ve got a point. I mean, worst case scenario, you’re gonna have a great perspective on the ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Ben [excitedly] Actually, I’ve had a great perspective for the past three years! And last year? I got a seat next to Mayor Grisham. *pleased huff* I could see that velvety blue ribbon being cut.

Sammy Alright, alright. Riveting stuff, Ben. But you know what, before we open up the phone lines tonight, to uh, talk to you folks for the first time, I’d like to take one hot minute and just send a special shout out to a new friend of the show, Deputy Troy, uh, Craiger, Kroger?

Ben [disdainfully] Kreighauser.

Sammy That’s the one! Now, Deputy Troy could’ve dropped an elbow on me with the long arm of the law when he pulled me over this evening.

Ben He pulled you over?! *chuckles* Wow. I thought his car was just decoration. What the heck did you do that he pulled you over?

Sammy Yeah, okay. It was the weirdest thing. So, I’m running late, and I can’t miss the first show, right? So I’m gunning it. Over the mountain, through the woods, no time for grandma, and uh, you know, maybe I’m just not used to the winding roads up here, but I get-I get a little lost and my phone zoinks out and I got no GPS, I got no Apple Maps (not that anybody’s using it) and—

Ben Don’t tell me- Sweetzer Forest?

Sammy That is exactly where! How-How did you know that?

Ben Oh, it gets everybody! The listeners know that. Legend has it, there’s an apparition of an old general that changes the directions on the signs so he doesn’t lead his troops into one of the bloodiest massacres in King Falls history.

Sammy Cool story, bro, but, there wasn’t a sign.

Ben That’s a new one! Thinking on his toes. I like it!

Sammy The ghost?

Ben Whoa! They prefer apparition. Like, when you call a dwarf a midget, and it’s not cool?

Sammy Okay. So you’re telling me that instead of just getting lost up in the hills, a ghost—

Ben Apparition.

Sammy *chuckles* An apparition, was screwing with me?

Ben That's one hundred percent what I’m saying. It gets everybody.

Sammy … Right.

Ben You don’t believe me? They don't have apparitions in the Big City, Sammy?

Sammy Not that I’m aware of, no.

Ben *scoffs* Let’s go to the phones. King Falls, our new pal, Sammy, doesn’t believe in the Sweetzer Forest apparition. 424-279-3858.

Sammy Okay now. I’m not saying I—

Ben [cutting him off] Phone lines are already blowing up! Uh, let’s see, I don't know, oh-uh, line six! Deputy Troy.

Sammy Deputy Troooy!

Deputy Troy [laughing] Y'all should’ve seen it. General Abilene got him good.

Sammy General Abilene? He has a name now?

Ben You never read about Abilene’s last stand? What are they teaching you Big City kids? [making a point] Well, why’d you pull him over, Troy?

Sammy Okay, obviously , I was going a little too fast for my own good—

Deputy Troy I sure didn’t see no speedin’, Benny.

Ben [flatly] It’s Ben.

Deputy Troy Sammy looked like a dog chasin’ its tail for for damn near twenty minutes! Guy was just goin’ in circles. Looked like he was lappin’ the field in the King Falls 500!

Ben Sound familiar, Sammy?

Sammy Circles? No. I mean, I took a left here, and a right there. It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two before Deputy Troy threw up the ol’ red and blues.

Deputy Troy Try twenty minutes. If I hadn’t’a intervened, it’s a fact we’d all be listening to ol’ Chet blow that horn for another couple hours. You gotta watch out for the general! He’s sneakier than a honey badger in a bee hive!

Ben See?

Deputy Troy Ah hell, [low siren in bg] I think I just saw one of the William’s boys just ding-dong-ditch ol’ Ms. Baker. [faint tire squeal] I gotta go boys. [quietly in bg] Ah, son of a b[bleep]! That little mother[bleep]!

Sammy Well, on that note boys and girls, [click] we’re gonna pay some bills and keep the lights on in our little cabin we call a radio station. Ben and I will be right back after a message from our sponsors.

[Car horn, tire squeal, sound of car crashing]

Announcer voice Uh-oh! Have you recently been in an automobile accident!? Are you tender over a fender-bender?

High-pitched voice Owwwiee!

Announcer Don’t let the insurance company fool you into just unscuffin’ and buffin’! Let Rosenburg, Rothchild and Dirk get you the settlement that you deserve!

Caveman voice DIRK GET YOU MONEY

Woman [singing jauntily] ♫Iiif you got your car smashed by some jerk, call Rosenburg Rothchild aaand-♫

Caveman DERRRRRK!

[KFAM music]

Sammy Thank you folks out there for listening to AM 660, home of the King Falls AM. So, you’ve heard our story, now let’s hear yours. Give us a call here at the station. Today’s topic: King Falls. What do you love? What should I know as a new resident? Give me your on-air Yelp reviews. 424-279-3858, or tweet us @kingfallsam.

Ben Line 3.

Sammy You’re on King Falls AM.

Line 3 [Low, gravelly] The producer was right.

Sammy Um, I’m sorry?

Line 3 You shouldn’t make light of the spirits.

Sammy [incredulous] The spirits?

Line 3 Down Sweetzer forest, you jest about the spirits, but you’ll come to regret it. That’s a fact, Big City.

[click, dial tone]

Sammy Oookay, uh, so. *mildly disturbed chuckle* We’re taking your calls, kids. Tell us what you love about the Falls, your likes, your favorite things to do and see—

Ben Orrr, maybe your favorite run in with General Abilene!

Sammy Uh-huh.

Ben We’ve got Finn on Line 7.

Sammy Finn?

Finn [perpetually excited] Oh, yeah! It’s Finn! Thanks for takin’ my call! How ya doing tonight, Sammy!?

Sammy *chuckles* Well, we’re doing alright, thanks for—

Finn See, I’m an over-the-road driver. I drive the big semi-trucks- loggin’ mostly, ya know?! And I have to tell you guys, I absolutely love it every time I drive through King Falls!

Sammy Well, alright! Now, why do you think—

Finn It’s just a beautiful town, isn’t it!? Scenic, and quiet as a cemetery!

Sammy [softly] Is it that quiet?

Finn Don’t you know it! I usually run through about three- four in the mornin’. The town’s just sittin’ there off Route 72 like one of those Thomas Kinkade[3] paintings. You know the Thomas Kinkade!

Sammy Yeah, of course. He’s the uh—

Finn All the twinkle-twinkle lights, pretty-as-a-picture. You know!

Ben We know!

Sammy Do you ever make your way into town, Finn?

Finn I haven’t ever gotten to stop, yet. Other than Rose’s diner, off the exit? But I can rreeally imagine settlin’ down and doin’ all the towny stuff with the family, ya know!?

Sammy *chuckles* Well, you know what? Next time you’re passing through, you swing on by the station and say hi, Finn.

Finn O-can-do, friends! Lookin’ forward to that! Holy SH[bleep]!!

Sammy [alarmed] Finn? Finn, are you alright?

Finn I’m dandy! But I just saw the biggest light-show-hullabaloo I ever seen! Looks like that Captain EO[4] laser light show at the Disney!

Ben [confused] Captain EO?

Finn Lit up the sky like the American Independence Day fire shows!

Ben [still unsure] Fireworks?

Finn Yeah! You know! It’s still going! The night looks- like the day!

Sammy Ben, can you check outside?

Ben On it.

Finn I-I-I’m gonna let you go! Too much goin’ on to be phonin’ into the show! [door closing in bg] Y-y-you fellas take care!

Sammy You too, Finn. Uh, you know, keep it between the lines, buddy.

Finn You know it!

[click]

Sammy [muttering] Uh, okay, how do you d- work this- uh. [normally] Line 2, you’re on King Falls AM.

Line 2 [lisping, kind of] Hey Shammy!

Sammy Heh-howdy! Give King Falls some love.

Line 2 I jush wanted- I jush wanted to call- I’m jusht a really big fan. A Big fan- I mean big.

Sammy The show just started minutes ago.

Line 2 [awkwardly] Yeah, this show’s- alright too… But I’ve been following your days since you were Shotgun Shammy!

Sammy [slightly nostalgic] Oh wow, Shotgun Sammy. *chuckles* Where are you located?

Line 2 Ohhh here and there. It’s a localized global world now! With the internet and technology. I just wanted to say, *awkward laughter* “Hi.” It’s just so- I love the show.

Sammy Well, thanks for listening. [door closing in bg] And we appreciate it! What was your name again?

Line 2 [shouting] Shotgun Sammyyy!

Ben [eagerly] You gotta see this! That truck driver wasn’t kidding! The whole place is lit up like- Christmas! or- something. Uh- Is anyone else out there seeing this? Look, the phone lines are on fire, man.

Sammy Uh, Line 1, you’re on the air.

Line 1 Hey guys, yeah, I’m- I’m, uh- I’m seein’ it the same as you are.

Sammy Well, now, who are we talking to?

Line 1 Oh, sorry, uh, Tim. Tim Jensen. I’m heading home from work out on Route 72? And I’m-I’m looking at the lights.

Ben That looks like the direction they’re coming from.

Tim  Yeah, there’s no doubt about that. They’re-they’re right on top of the old mill down off- Clower Street. It looks like- you’re looking into like, three different suns.

Sammy Three?

Tim  Yeah, these, uh- rainbow- lights? I-I don’t know what you’d call ‘em. They’re coming from these three triangle-shaped thingies.

Ben UFOs?

Tim  Hey- Hey. I did not say the “U” word. I said Triangle. Shaped… Thingies.

Sammy [glibly] You know, a technical term.

Ben W-w-what’re the triangles doing, Tim?

[eerie sci-fi bg music]

Tim  They’re just hovering! I’d say maybe two or- or three stories up off the ground? [getting slightly nervous] They’ve moved on past the mill now.

Sammy Wh-wh- Can you describe—

[deep, ominous, pulsing whir enters music]

Tim  Wai-wait. Hold on a second, they’re- they’re moving closer to the road I think.

Sammy Alright, you are our eyes, Tim. Tell us what you see.

Tim  [absently worried] The hell is that thing doing?

Sammy Be careful out there, Tim.

Tim  It just turned the other direction, and-and- and crossed the road. Couple hundred yards ahead- I-I’m gonna slow down.

[whirring stops]

Sammy Describe, if you can—

Tim  It just stopped! [music stops] Right above the road!

Ben Stopped? W-what’re-

[whir]

Tim  The lights just changed direction again! It’s definitely heading this way!

Sammy Turn around, Tim.

[slow, building whir]

Tim  Oh hell, th- they’re coming fast! Guys!

Ben Get out of there, Tim!

Sammy Ben, call Deputy Troy. [deep whir growing in volume] Stay safe out there Tim!

Tim  Ah sh[bleep] They’re-they’re right above me! I-I can’t see! [whir is louder than voices] The lights! NO! [loud building buzz/zoom, like a racecar accelerating] NO! NOO! *SCREAMING*

[silence]

[dial tone]

Sammy Tim? Hello, Tim? Can- Tim?

Ben [solemnly] Line’s dead, Sammy.

Sammy *heavy sigh* O-okay, uh folks, we’re just gonna take a quick break here. Uh, we’ll be right back to take more of some of your King Falls favorites.

Ben I-I’ve got Troy here.

[quietly in background: Sammy: Troy, hey are you listening to this? Ben, can you try to dial line one back, please?]

[rock outro music]

[CREDITS] King Falls AM is a production of the Make Believe Picture Company. For credits, as well as more information about King Falls AM, you can find us on Twitter @kingfallsam, on Facebook, and at kingfallsam.com. Thanks for listening to 660 on the radio dial.

References:

[1] Carlin Seven - Seven dirty words to never say on air (sh*t, p*ss, f*ck, c*nt, c*cks*cker, motherf*cker, and t*ts)

[2] Mayberry - A fictional small town featured in “The Andy Griffin Show”

[3] Thomas Kinkade - “The Painter of Light”, a popular American artist, known for his paintings of pastoral scenes, cottages, and the like, often with lit windows. (There are a lot of puzzles featuring his work)

[4] Captain EO - a 1986 American 3D science fiction film that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1996. The movie stars Michael Jackson, was written by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film was shown as part of an attraction with in-theater effects.

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 107: Mindful Education

“But it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not.”

Here Comes a Thought is anything but a bad song. I can’t think of any songs I dislike from this show, but if I did, Here Comes a Thought wouldn’t be one of them. It’s a simple and moving ode to calming down, and Estelle and AJ Michalka elevate its message through their otherworldly voices.

But I do think it’s the most technically flawed song on Steven Universe. Which is a real bummer of a way to start this review, but I’m about to heap a ton of praise on this episode, and I don’t think the lyrical flaws ruin the song, let alone the overall story, so let’s just get my issues out of the way. If Mindful Education is about anything, it’s about confronting problems head-on!

Here Comes a Thought is a general song about a general problem, which I appreciate. I don’t need it to be specific to Connie’s dilemma, and in fact I think specificity would hurt the message. But my biggest gripe is that even though it speaks in broad strokes, none of the scenarios listed apply to Connie. “What someone said, and how it harmed you”? Connie wasn’t hurt by words. “Something you did that failed to be charming”? Connie wasn’t attempting to be charming. “Things that you said are suddenly swarming”? Connie didn’t say anything. We’re all the way to the refrain, and Garnet has yet to address the actual situation Connie is dealing with.

The closest we’ve got is “failed to be charming,” which again, implies that Connie was trying to impress someone rather than just going about her business and hurting someone by instinct. The phrasing is clumsy in a way Rebecca Sugar’s songs virtually never are: what I love about her lyrics is how natural and effortless they seem, which I’m certain comes from quite a bit of effort on her part. The sentence structure of “Something you did that failed to be charming” feels strained and unnatural, but the words must be said in this order for the rhyme and meter to work.

Which is doubly frustrating because the alarm/harm/charm series ends with swarm, which does not rhyme with the former three words in any dialect of English I know of. I’m not even a stickler for rhymes: for instance, “alarm me” and “charming” technically don’t rhyme either, but they sound similar enough that the pattern holds. But swarm uses an entirely different vowel than most other English words ending in -arm. I majored in linguistics and can get into serious weeds here with the International Phonetic Alphabet, but to make a long ramble shorter, the ‘w’ preceding the vowel alters it, which is why wart doesn’t rhyme with art and war doesn’t rhyme with bar and warn doesn’t rhyme with yarn and so on.

(This obviously doesn’t make Sugar a bad songwriter, any more than William Blake was a bad poet because he rhymed eye with symmetry in The Tyger. Nobody’s perfect, but that doesn’t mean nobody’s incredible.)

Anyway, I might be fine with this imperfect rhyme it if it was absolutely essential for the song, but the structure is so forced already to fit with this poor fourth rhyme that it sorta falls apart for me, especially because swarming comes at the moment it becomes clear that this song has said nothing about the issue Connie is personally dealing with.

Ugh. I’m losing sight. I’m losing touch. All these little things seem to matter so much that they confuse me. This song might lose me!

So yeah, I’m not insane enough to think that Here Comes a Thought was engineered to irk me just so the beautiful refrain can be a self-demonstrating affair in not letting small things like rhyme schemes get to me, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work. The song builds and builds and builds the stress by presenting bad situation after bad situation, and right when everything seems like it will fall apart, Garnet has the answer.

This is a highly quotable song and episode, so I had a lot of great lines to choose from for the header, but I don’t think anything matches the sheer relief that ironically comes from Garnet’s repeating a negative phrase. She usurps the power of “no” away from anxiety by chanting that no, nothing bad is going to happen. Her knowing smile on the last “but it’s not” seals the deal. She’s not just a teacher here, she’s a sage.

This is Estelle’s first full song on the show since Stronger Than You, and she pulls off subdued chill just as well as glorious anthem without losing an ounce of her commanding presence. But now she's fully matched by AJ Michalka, another professional singer that doubles as a voice actor. Unlike Estelle, I hadn’t listened to any of Michalka’s music before watching Steven Universe, so despite knowing she wa a singer, the sheer power of her pipes came out of nowhere for me.

I honestly don’t know what it is about Michalka’s voice, but I’m lousy at crying even when I really want to because it would make me feel better, and that voice doesn’t just choke me up. It makes me weep. The quavering vulnerability in “I’m losing touch” destroys me no matter how many times I listen to this song. Just writing about it makes me emotional. Michalka tells a story not just with her words, but the tone and levels of confidence of her voice, and the lesson is learned by harmonizing with the master herself. On the one hand, I’m glad her voice’s heartbreaking purity isn’t diluted by constant performances, but on the other, I’m not sure it’s possible for something so intense to be diluted. Add in the prominent harp, a fusion of the plucking from Steven’s ukulele and the gravitas from Connie’s violin, and I’m done for.

(My tendency to cry whenever Michalka sings might have to do with how well she’s primed on both occasions in the series: Estelle is a hell of a lead-in, while Escapism is introduced by a stirring callback to Greg’s guitar from Lion 3. But it’d be stupid not to credit the source, considering she’s the one that gets the waterworks going and she’s been spectacular at voicing Stevonnie from the start. It’s a damn shame Catra doesn’t get a song in She-Ra, but at least Michalka does a cover of the theme song.)

I haven’t even talked about the animation from Takafumi Hori, who gives a unique but familiar flair to the mindscape of Garnet and Stevonnie and their components. The facial animations and body language are given extra room to breathe, and the use of butterflies as symbols of fluttering stresses (butterflies in your brain are so much worse than butterflies in your stomach) pays off huge when we see them explode from Connie’s backpack. The unspoken story of Ruby focusing too hard on a single problem while Sapphire is overwhelmed by possibilities works wonders, and the fact that Connie’s problems are initially hidden hints at Steven also hiding problems, seeing as the kids are mirroring the Gems. Colin Howard and Jeff Liu would’ve been more than capable of crafting such a sequence, but bringing in a guest animator makes us pay special attention to this pivotal song.

Because yeah, this is an important song for Connie, but this is still Steven’s show, and it’s a huge song for Steven. In a brilliant development, it turns out his strangely normal behavior after the salvo of traumas at the end of Act II was intentionally strange, and Here Comes a Thought drags him kicking and screaming towards the true path to inner peace. You can’t, as he advises Connie right before Garnet steps in, “just try not to think about it.” The only way out is through, and it’s not gonna be easy.

Every fantastic aspect of Mindful Education benefits from fantastic pacing. Connie’s bad mood is established immediately, but so is Steven’s straining to be fun and upbeat. A series of questions pull us along: “What is Connie upset about?” becomes “How is Garnet going to help?” becomes “What is Steven upset about?” becomes “How is Connie going to help?” without missing a step. Both kids make us so worried, because Connie’s bad mood is out of nowhere, and Steven’s acceptance of his suffering is long overdue. Both sensations are heightened by the preceding episodes, as Steven has been acting way too okay with his mom being a killer, and we know Connie was enthusiastic about school in Buddy’s Book. So it’s such a relief to not only see their worries addressed, but to have an entire episode about addressing worries.

After three goofy episodes, Mindful Education transitions us into a more serious mood with a similarly goofy opening. Sure, Connie’s attitude is cause for concern, but we still get Garnet’s enthusiasm and sign-making skills, Stevonnie’s newfound ability to do a Yoshi-style flutter kick hover, and the most glorious fusion dance ever depicted on screen.

Here Comes a Thought is a showstopper about calm meditation, and while it obviously soothes Connie’s anxieties, it also quiets down the silliness without making a big deal of it: there isn’t a single gag in the episode during or after the song. This is a show that can and has pulled off humor during dramatic moments, but we go full sincerity mode for Connie and Steven working through their emotional turmoil, and considering how big of a turning point this is for Steven’s arc in particular, I appreciate the restraint.

It’s perfect for Steven to only realize he has a problem when Connie is so open about hers, because Connie has always been a catalyst for change, and Steven is more concerned about others than himself. It also serves for a checkpoint for their mutual character growth: we’re a long way from the open-to-a-fault Steven and pragmatic-to-a-fault Connie of Bubble Buddies, and their series-long balancing act continues to bring their attitudes closer together. This isn’t the last we’ll see of Sullen Connie, and it’s nice to see that Steven isn’t the only kid on the block who’s becoming more of a teen. 

Another sign of their growth is shown in the fluid action of Stevonnie’s training; even when they’re not on the top of their game, Steven and Connie’s developing physical skill is on full display as their fusion weaves about the battlefield. Stevonnie’s ambidexterity functions well as a signifier of which kid is in a healthier state: Steven’s shield is in their right hand in the first training session, while Connie’s sword takes its place in the second.

(Oh, and on the subject of subtle visual storytelling, don’t think we didn’t notice the damaged pink diamond floating above the Sky Arena.)

The first two acts of Mindful Education tell such a complete story about Connie that the appearance of a butterfly for Steven almost comes across as a twist: again, his terrible advice about bottling up emotions upon accidentally hurting people is a pretty big hint that he’s pushing down his feelings, but this is such a satisfactory episode already that its conclusion feels like a bonus. 

It’s harrowing for Steven to start working through how much horrible stuff has happened in such a short amount of time, but it’s oh so satisfying for us to finally see him process it. The transformation of Holo Pearl into Jeff (who I’m sure is named for Mr. Liu) was a neat way to show Connie’s guilt, but it’s complemented by a punch to the gut as Stevonnie impales an image of Bismuth instead of just getting thrown off by the illusion. And because Steven has let his problems pile up, the rest of his ghosts flood in. I love the inclusion of Eyeball, the foe that Steven logically should feel the least amount of guilt about (Bismuth was a friend, and Jasper refused help while blaming him, but Eyeball was an enemy actively trying to kill him). It shows that he really does care about everyone, and that the compounding problems only make the guilt worse: Bismuth and Jasper begin in their normal sizes, but Eyeball is massive in Stevonnie’s imagination. And then, as a horrible distortion of her theme heralds her arrival, we get the most important ghost in the series.

Obviously Steven isn’t able to deal with the Rose factor right now, but acknowledging that there’s a problem is the first and hardest step. And despite how talented Aivi and Surasshu are at enhancing the mood with music, there’s nothing like the stark silence that follows Rose’s theme to bring the impact home.

AJ Michalka once again shows off her talent for voicing Steven and Connie separately as Stevonnie has an internal conversation; it’s such a seamless interaction that it’s easy to forget that this scene shifts from one actor voicing these two characters to two different actors voicing the same two characters as Steven and Connie plummet to the ground. I mentioned in The Answer that my favorite Miyazaki movie is Castle in the Sky, so I’m thrilled to see another reference to two heroes falling hand in hand before slowing to a safe landing.

Our conclusion isn’t about Steven coming to terms with three failures in a row and a life-changing revelation. It’s about him realizing that it’s okay to admit that everything isn’t okay, and that he doesn’t have to put on a bald cap and be a ham to make everyone else more comfortable. This is something that friends can help with, but that he ultimately has to figure out for himself. Still, it’s beautiful that by working together, he and his best friend become strong in the real way.

But of course, they had help. I mentioned in Back to the Moon that our Big Three Crystal Gems each get an episode that acts as an epilogue to their Act II arcs, and it’s Garnet’s turn. Garnet begins Act II as a leader who’s quiet about being a fusion and who has a hard time understanding the anxieties of her less confident teammates. By the end, she transforms into a leader who’s more open and willing to share her own vulnerabilities, and a loud and proud fusion no matter whom she’s interacting with. Mindful Education leans in hard on her expertise in fusion, but just as importantly shows that she’s willing to coach others by revealing how Ruby and Sapphire work through struggles. Her growth is less overt than Amethyst and Pearl overcoming more obvious hurdles, but it’s still hard to imagine Garnet being this capable of helping Connie and Steven fifty episodes ago.

Garnet is also the source of two intriguing callbacks in the form of quoting past lines. The first is the wonderful “Hold the phone. Now give the phone to me,” which Steven tells Greg in The Message as a means of interrupting his song about Lapis Lazuli being a super mean riptide queen (sidenote: I’m sure Lapis would be flattered by Greg’s assessment). Garnet repeats this phrase right after Steven suggests that you can get used to not thinking about your guilt, and it’s a brilliant way of gently putting a stop to this bad idea.

The second is a pointed “that is to say” as she explains the importance of harmony within fusion. This is a common enough phrase, but it was so prominent in fellow sparring episode Sworn to the Sword that I can’t imagine it’s a coincidence. It connects Garnet to Pearl’s role as a teacher to both Steven and Connie; fortunately, this time the teacher is instilling a message of self-reflection instead of self-sacrifice.

I call these callbacks intriguing because Garnet herself wasn’t present for either scene containing the lines she’s quoting. And sure, this could just be standard screenplay magic without an in-universe explanation. But to me, it enhances the sense of Garnet as an all-knowing mentor, at least as far as this episode is concerned. Her wisdom is absolute, and it might be pretentious for a show to claim such certainty with its message, but Mindful Education has an outstanding message, so I’m all in.

But back to that ending for a second. It, like Here Comes a Thought, provides a calming answer to a scene of turmoil. It’s obviously a quicker moment of relief: just a glimpse of Stevonnie laughing, catching their breath, and reassuring Steven and Connie. However, like Here Comes a Thought, the episode keeps going. This time, in the form of the end credits. 

Since Bubbled, we’ve heard nothing but ambient waves as the credits roll, bereft of the comfort Love Like You has provided after nearly every prior episode. But now we begin the reprise, and this first segment is such an eerie departure from the norm that serenity once again takes a backseat.

With time, it’s revealed that this song is just more Love Like You. But in this period of uncertainty in Steven’s life, I deeply admire the decision to keep us lost in the woods for a while before figuring out that it’s something we’ve known all along. Just a thought.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

Remember my gripes with Here Comes a Thought, way up there at the beginning of the review? Yeah, they don’t keep this out of my top ten.

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

When It Rains

Catch and Release

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

No Thanks!

     5. Horror Club      4. Fusion Cuisine      3. House Guest      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

[mrs-captain-evans]

Christmas Presents - Chris Evans x You

🎄🎅🏻 Christmas Drabble 🎅🏻🎄

Summary: Request - Chris and reader imagine where they have a present wrapping competition?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 762

Warnings: None, just fluff

A/N: This is a request for my beautiful friend Ash @winters-buck 😘 thank you for your continued support, you’re amazing and I cannot wait for the Tumblr world to read your talent 💕

——-

Sat in your shared living room, you looked around at the presents laid out on the rug. Chris was sat opposite you, legs crossed, arms stretched above his head, ready for battle.

“You got everything babe?”

Chris picked each item up individually, “Paper, check. Scissors, check. Tape, check.” He put them back down and looked at you once more. “Ready to lose?!”

You rolled your eyes at him while you split up the presents, to make sure you had equal amounts each. “Right, first one to perfectly wrap these gifts in the shortest time wins!”

“What will my prize be then? After I’ve won, of course”

“Umm, you mister will not be winning anything, I will be!” You pointed your finger at Chris, raising your eyebrows, “And anyway, it’s your pride you’re competing for!”

He looked over at you with a glint in his eyes, and the megawatt grin on his face meant you knew exactly what was going to come out of his mouth next.

“How about, when I win, I get to do exactly what I want. To you.” He wiggled his eyebrows at you, “And God forbid, if you win, you can do exactly what you want. To me!”

The idea of winning was now even more exciting. You didn’t want to sound too enthusiastic, so you playfully teased Chris, “Trust you to turn something completely innocent, into something sexual, just to get your leg over!”

“Oh come on baby, you know you want to..” He actually put on the puppy eyes, begging you, “It will be fun!”

Not being able to resist the temptation for very long, you had to agree with him, “Fine! You’re on Evans!”

He fist pumped the air with a whoop and you couldn’t help but giggle at his childish behavior. The end of Merry Christmas Everyone, by Shakin’ Stevens, filled the room and you were both ready for the competition to start.

“Okay, after three. One....Two….Th--hey you cheat!” Of course Chris was going to jump ahead and try to get one over on you. He snickered at you, pleased and amused with himself for his little trick.

Not one for giving up, you went back to your pile of gifts and set about your mission. Your face was a picture of concentration as you cut up the paper and carefully folded it around the present, as quick as you could. Once you taped it up, you threw it off to the side, and prepared yourself for the next four.

For the next three minutes, the only sound that echoed in the room, was the rustling of paper and Andy Williams singing about it being the most wonderful time of the year.

Your peace was soon disturbed, “YES!! I WIN” he flung his arms above his head, cheering.

“Chris, seriously?! You can’t call that perfectly wrapped. Look at the state of it!”

The red, gingerbread man, paper was completely crumpled up, the ends were stuck down by little strips of tape, there were gaps left in the paper and he hadn’t bothered to attach the bow on top.

“What? Nothing wrong with this masterpiece!” Chris was not the creative kind, but you thought he’d do better than that.

“You call that a masterpiece?! What planet are you on?! No way have you won, you can still see the present.” You rolled your eyes at him and crossed your arms, while you took a deep breath, frustrated at him for not taking it seriously.

“Fine, fine. We’ll call it a draw.” He arched his eyebrow, the way you loved, and your panties were instantly soaked. Chris lowered his voice, “Double winnings then…”

The tone of his, sexy, husky voice sent tingles down your spine. You looked his way, and you both held each other's gaze, as you anticipated his next move. “I’m not allowing you to call that a draw!”

He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and muttered “Fuck it!” quietly.

All of a sudden he pounced on you, which made you shriek in surprise. “I’m collecting my winnings now.” He moved his arms around your waist and lifted you off the floor.

You giggled at him, “Your winnings?! Yeah right!”

He carried you over his shoulder, and smacked your ass in the process, which halted your teasing. The big strides he took through the house, meant you reached your shared bedroom in no time. He threw you down onto the bed with a huff and you bit your lip, eagerness spread across your face.

The gifts were long forgotten.

Thank you all for reading! Please reblog and comment, it’s very important to all writers on here.

If you would like to be added to the tag list, please send me a message!

Tag List: @mycapt-ohcapt @princess-evans-addict @gigglegirl77 @coffeebooksandfandom @the-sunshine-in-the-dark @loricameback @c-a-v-a-l-r-y @whiskey-cokenfanfic @winters-buck

[soarincynthia]

New McDanno fanfic!

Hey y’all, here’s my new fanfic, I hope you enjoy it!Stay tuned for the sequel chapters!

It was quiet when Steve walked into the 5-0 headquarters, he had spent the morning in court, testifying for their latest case at the new prosecutors request, normally his partner would do this, but he was currently visiting his parents in New Jersey so Steve had to do it, As he quickly looked at his watch, he saw it was past 12pm, which explained the quiet, the rest of his team was certainly on their lunch break, he quickly did the maths in his head to calculate the time in Jersey, maybe he could try and call Danny,he had been gone for almost a week and he really missed his partner "STEVE, STEVEN,Come on buddy!" Danny's voice came from Tani's office at the other end of the headquarters, what was going on?

"Danny?Back already, babe?I thought you were flying back next weekend, what happened?" Steve was at the door in a few strides and quickly entered the room without knocking, scanning the room for his partner His smiling face turned into a frown when he realized the sound came from the screen on the far wall of the office, the rest of his team sitting in front of the tv with big popcorn buckets

"What's going on here, guys? What are you watching?" « Told you guys he would be back soon and he wouldn’t be happy” Lou smiled with an I told you so expression Jr looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, while Jerry looked deeply interested in his popcorn, looking everywhere but at him, only Tani had the balls to smirk, though a blush crept up her cheeks, “Well, see, boss, it all started when Jr here kept going on and on about your heroics in the field and how you were so strong and so amazing blah blah blah, “Oh really, thank you Jr” Steve smirked watching Jr, who blushed crimson instantly, man, he forgot how fun it was to make the new recruits squirm Tani continued: “So naturally I had to shut him up and I told him that while you were a great boss and commander, in many ways, Danny was the better detective and deserved more credit” Lou intervened “And of course this resulted in the kids fighting all week, so I asked Jerry to prepare us a few of your best moments, both of you and Danny, and now we’re rewiewing evidence to determine exactly which daddy is the best and the strongest, Not that I care but I just couldn’t stand listening to the kids bickering anymore” Steve shook his head,his team could be badasses when it came to being under fire and catching the worst criminals in the islands, but they also could act like stupid college students in a frat dorm “Ok, then who’s winning for now?” “We’re on a tie, after Lieutenant Williams flying into Korea to rescue you, and you flying into Colombia to rescue him, so we’re trying to break it now” Jr responded, looking at him before looking at Tani who smiled softly “Ok, then what are we waiting for, hit play and let’s find out who’s the strongest, a navy commander a Jersey cop” Steve said before taking a chair and sitting next to Jr, looking at the TV and stealing a handful of popcorn “Just one minute,boss” Tani said, fiddling with her phone for a few seconds, before putting it down and hitting play on the remote “Ok, here we go” “Steve, you son of a bitch, don’t you die on me now, you hear me?” Danny’s voice resonated in the room, and suddenly Steve found his eyes filling with tears hearing his partner’s desperate tone, Truth to be told, he had never looked into what happened that day, never requested the file or listened to the recordings, what use could it be for him, he’d been there, lost a liver, gained a new liver and nearly died, he didn’t need to know anything else, Oh but how wrong he had been, he clearly had missed out a few important details, like how this had also impacted his partner’s life Yeah, Steve had acted like a selfish prick, as Catherine had called him in one of their phone conversations during his convalescence Steve watched in horror at the screen, it was a news flash info showing the beach being cleared out, the plane coming closer and closer,before crashing on the beach, Danny’s discussion with the control tower resonated in the speakers, the guy asking Danny to land in the water, Danny refusing to do it, choosing to put the plane on the beach, to leave a chance to Steve to survive, at the risk of his own life, then Danny coming out of the plane, yelling at his team to come get Steve, that he was still alive, clutching his own ribs, walking with difficulty, but still yelling and fighting for his partner and best friend Damn, he never realized how brave Danny had been, of course he knew his partner always had his back but he knew that in that plane, while he was unconscious, Danny had been left fighting for both their lives, and yet he never hesitated, he chose the best option for Steve, never even giving a second thought for his own life, for his kids, for his family, he had been ready to put everything at risk for a little chance for Steve to be safe, damn that took some courage, the kind of bravery that even some of the best of the best seals wouldn’t have been capable of; Steve looked at his hands in shame, all the times he had made fun of Danny, ribbing him about his height, his moody grumpy attitude, damn, he’d even went as far as telling him his son would grow up to hate him like he did, just hours after Danny had saved his life twice, by landing the plane on the beach then by giving him a piece of a vital organ, his mom would have slapped him good, if he’d heard him being so ungrateful while growing up. “Here is Lara Hough, reporting live from Honolulu, Hawaii, where a reduced 5-0 team is currently in operation, Earlier in the day, Commander McGarrett, head of the 5-0 special force has been injured while undercover on a mission, which resulted in his team continuing the case without him, his second in command Lieutenant Williams, who earlier in the day landed the plane carrying the injured Commander, acting as head of the force for the rest of the case, even though he appears to be injured himself, if the way he is walking is any indication As you can hear,and see, the firefight seems to have now ended and the team is currently walking out with their prisonners, let’s see if we can talk to Lieutenant Williams or Lieutenant Kelly to get more informations” But before the reporter could even call out to the team, the camera panned to Danny, his face bloody and tired, still clutching at his ribs, talking on the phone, speaking a few words to Kono and Chin, before getting into the camaro and driving off like a racedriver “Well, it looks like the force team has received an important message and must move now, so we will try and catch up with them later, let’s wait for the head of the HPD Duke Lukela, to give us more details on this case” Steve didn’t wait for the end before he took the remote from Tani’s hands, switching off the TV “Ok, I get it, Danny wins this one, guys”Steve said, looking at the young ones, “I agree, sir, that was seriously badass” Jr added, looking like a kid meeting one of his superheros Steve nodded, his mind still couldn’t process how this small haole cop could be so jaw dropping amazing, he knew he’d made a great choice in picking Danny, the man was loyal, protective, sweet, a wonderful father, a great cop, his best friend but man, this was exceeding his craziest expectations, Danno was just awesome, as Charlie would say, and Steve could only nod, the kid was right about that, his partner was just awesome and he wondered how he could have been so lucky to draw his gun on him 9 years ago, yet so blind not to be grateful for his luck Yeah, making Danny his partner was clearly the best decision Steve had ever made, and suddenly he knew what he needed, what he’d needed all along, he had to go see him, he had to talk with Danny, and he couldn’t wait for the weekend, he had to go to him, maybe he could go home early today, pack a few things and call the base to see if he could get a flight on a navy plane, that way he wouldn’t have to wait for the next flight out of the island to the mainland, Maybe he could call the base now, see what he could do to go see Danny as soon as possible, maybe he could even see if the Governor could lend him his private plane, after all the team needed his second in command to work properly, maybe…. “Boss?” Tani’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “Your plane leaves in an hour, I’ve saved you a seat, Lou will drive you to the airport, Jr will take care of Eddie until you both come home, and you already have a bag of clothes in the camaro’s truck, so off you go, go get your boy” Steve just smiled softly at her, standing up, kissing her on the cheek quickly, murmuring his thanks, before fleeing the office with Lou behind him, muttering something about idiots in love making him run, Jerry excused himself, with a boyish grin and an admirative smile directed at Tani Jr just looked at Tani with wide eyes “When did you get him a plane ticket?” “When he came into the room and took a seat to watch with us, remember I was on my phone for a few minutes? I was on the airlines website, booked him a seat then” “How did you know he would want to go to Jersey?” “Boys are so thick, seriously babe, you want to be a cop, you have to learn to observe things more closely, Steve ran in because he heard Danny’s voice, you’ve seen how they both are with each other, how close they are, they both are head over heels over each other but they were too stupid to admit it, so it was up to us to push them in the right direction, mission accomplished, tada!” Jr just shook his head “You are good, remind me never to doubt you again” Tani smiled proudly “And don’t you forget it, now forgive me I have to go call Kono and settle a little bet, oh and would you like to have dinner with me tonight, as a date I mean?” Jr blushed, before nodding his head and smiling at her “Good, then pick me up at 7pm?See ya later,Junior”Tani winked at him before exiting the room, her phone already on her ear “Yo Kono, guess what?You owe me 200$, yup I did it….”

Now alone in the room, Jr took a few minutes to look at the file Jerry had bought in with him, going through it quickly, he had to admit that while Steve McGarrett was clearly a model for Navy seals, if he wanted to make a career into 5-0, it was Danny Williams he should look to emulate, his track record and experience were unbeaten, he now understood why Steve had asked Danny to take Jr on the field, he knew everything about being a Navy Seal, but he had to learn how to be a cop, to be any good at this job. He clearly needed to apologize to Lieutenant Williams for the way he disregarded his career and importance in the team, his place as Second in command in the force was clearly well deserved. Shaking his head in amazement, Jr put the file back in the desk drawer, before making his way out of the HQ, Since there was no pressing case, Jr decided to leave early, he had to go to Steve’s house, pick up Eddie, maybe go for a swim or a run for a while to manage his anxiety, then get ready, he had a date tonight with the perfect lady.

[cupcakesmuses]

Muses [this blog]

[Note - I ship based on chemistry. Feel free to tag me in something or jump on an open thread or message me to plot something.]

Quick List (full descriptions further down, below the cut)

DND ocs

Gem Stardust - halfing bard, chaotic fun loving gal, deeply insecure

Lydia Sol - elf rogue, snarky woman who’d rather be anywhere but here, not a fan of magic

Timon - teifling cleric, trickster type with a begrudgingly empathetic side

Perrin Wildheart - human wild mage/paladin, good pure boy with deep dark past

Alastaire Kol’Ethar - elf bard, a charming loyal prince, complete disaster

Jack - half elf druid, a good mannered orphan boy, just wants to lend a hand

Doctor Who

Steven Taylor [First Doctor era] - headstrong 24th century pilot

Leela [Fourth Doctor era] - curious tribal woman from the future

Turlough [Fifth Doctor era] - snarky school boy alien

Malkon [Fifth Doctor era] - Turlough’s brother, mild snark, depressed deposed leader

Elton Pope [Tenth Doctor era] - dreamy mild mannered blogger

Amy Pond [Eleventh Doctor era] - ambitious model/writer/adventurer

Rory Williams [Eleventh Doctor era] - Amy’s husband, loyal nurse, secret warrior

Anthony Williams - Rory and Amy’s adopted son, empathetic, daydreaming writer/musician/playwright

Dan Lewis [Thirteenth Doctor era] - Just your average Scouse with a heart of gold.

Nineteenth Doctor - grumpy, loner, particular and finally a ginger

Full descriptions for DND ocs and Doctor Who muses below

Dungeons and Dragons

Gem Stardust - halfling bard with a criminal background. Gem is all flash. She charms, she sings, she plays piano when afforded and the lute on the road. She cons, she steals. She talks a big game, flirts with everyone. She’s deeply insecure, never seen without her outrageous clothes or makeup. She came from a good home with good loving adopted parents. Gem Stardust isn’t even her real name. [FC/voice Cyndi Lauper]

Lydia Sol - elf rouge. Having grown up in a magical expectant house hold where every family member for generations (including her adopted sister) held magical or divine powers, Lydia has none. Her parents encouraged her, but she never believed she was cut out for it, watching her sister flourish easily in healing magic, while she struggled for the simplest of cantrips. Eventually she left home, much to her family’s dismay, fell in with a team of party gnomes and found her real calling of thievery. [FC/voice Stephanie Beatriz]

Timon - teifling cleric, Way of the Trickster, follower of Avandra, The Changebringer. A sly talker with sticky fingers and oh, maybe he’ll heal you if you really insist, Timon likes to keep things on the surface. Sure, you can be friends. Sure, he’ll lend you a gold or two, despite his usual insistence he is flat broke. He keeps his cards close to his chest, he laughs off way more than he should. But maybe if people really got to know him, they wouldn’t like him after all... [copper skin tone, black eyes, FC/voice Alan Tudyk]

Perrin Wildheart - human sorcerer/paladin, Wild Magic/Oath of Redemption. Hoping to run and redeem himself from a tragic past, Perrin’s life journey is to do good deeds, help those in need, and seek justice. Born female into a cult to Nuitari, a god of evil magic, "Hester” was raised to be the perfect daughter, shy and quiet, dutiful and subservient, beautiful and graceful and betrothed to the Elder Priest’s son. When he began questioning his identity, the traditions of the town, the smallness of their world, as a teen, the elders took notice. As did his friends. His parents did not understand why their daughter was so suddenly divisive and did not stop the Elder Priest when he decided to curse and outcast their child. Perrin was ritually cursed with Wild Magic, distorting his natural magical talent. Five of his friends escaped that very night, forming his first companions, one of whom was his betrothed, Ris. They struggled to find their way, none of them literate, all of them incredibly sheltered, but eventually sought to help the nearby town, banding as fighters and magic users. They fought together, aiding an old wizard-paladin in finding his lost grand-daughter and granting Perrin’s wish to transition into a human male form. Shortly after, the group were badly beaten by a frost giant and in attempting to help heal Ris, his wild magic worked against him, firing magic missals into Ris’ injured body and killing him horrifically. As the party buried what was left of Ris’ body while Perrin cleaned up near a river, he quietly packed his things and never looked back, unable to face them. He prefers to travel alone, but knows it is smarter to work in numbers and is still desperate for friendship and connection however afraid he is that he might have to abandon them suddenly. He strives to be a bright light, if short in someone’s life and perhaps that’s for the best. [FC/voice Brandon Routh]

Alastaire Kol’ethar - Elf bard, College of Whispers. Second in line to the throne, of a small secluded kingdom in Neverwinter, Alastaire’s job was to protect his elder brother as spy master. He excels in charm, deceit, and taking care of threats to the kingdom... He was once engaged to his childhood friend Eileen, but drew the ire of another nobleman who fell for her and thought Alastaire did not take their engagement seriously enough. One day Alastaire found himself displaced from his kingdom, originally believing it was the side effects of a night of heavy drinking, thought little of it. Until he could not find one person who knew of Neverwinter. Now, believing himself to be cursed, either by the man lusting for Eileen or some other threat to the kingdom, Alastaire finds himself continuously popping in and out of dimensions and foreign lands. His only companion is his magical sentient flaming rapier, Onrique. Having not set foot in Neverwinter in 3 years, he’s quickly loosing faith of returning, but determined to do so with his increasing nightmares of his brother’s peril. He has become a gambling addict and hoarder since his magical displacements. [FC/voice Himesh Patel]

Jack - (WIP) Half elf druid who grew up in a prison camp, learning from the soldiers who liked having him around. He had a affinity for nature and healing and his little heart loved nothing better than to help the people who were hurting (which was always in supply). Once the camp was liberated, Jack found work for himself in a temple of the Wildmother, trying to focus on healing. Now he lends himself out to those in need, mostly living a nomadic life trying to help people along the way. [FC/voice Lin Manuel Miranda]

Doctor Who

Turlough - [5th Doctor era] Originally from the planet Trion and on the wrong side of the civil war, Turlough was exiled to Earth, forced to live as a school boy in England. Alienated, angry, and resentful, Turlough took desperate action, making a deal with an unknown entity in order to free himself from Earth. All he had to do was kill The Doctor. Eventually, befriending the Doctor and seeing the man was a force for good, and certain a better man than he, Turlough rejected the Black Guardian’s deal. He traveled with the Doctor, his sharp edges softening some, before discovering his lost brother and deciding to go home. [FC Mark Strickson - TARDIS.WIKI entry]

Malkon - [5th Doctor era] Turlough’s baby brother, however thanks to time travel, is nearly Turlough’s own age. Found alive in his father crashed ship on the planet Sarn, Malkon was raised believing he was the product of prophecy and leader of the people of Sarn. Because of the branding given to exiled Trions, they called him The Chosen One. When the Master came to his planet, disrupting order, the Doctor tried to help. Over the course of attempting to save the planet from it’s own destruction, Turlough realized Malkon was his younger brother and Malkon nearly died at the hands of the Master. Living with Turlough back on Trion, Malkon struggles to fit in, coping with his entire life having been a lie. [FC Edward Highmore - TARDIS.WIKI entry]

Elton Pope - [10th Doctor Era] Elton’s first encounter with the Doctor was as a child and knowing his mother was gone and never coming back. Elton’s father struggled to raise him up right after Linda’s death as a single working dad, constantly worried over his boy who was too sensitive and none too bright. Paul Pope died of a massive heart attack when Elton was 16 and Elton promptly dropped out of school and worked as a warehouse loader and an odd job mechanic. He lived with his aunt for a time before moving out on his own and meeting Ursula after another odd encounter with the mysterious man and his blue box. Several other people, along with Ursula formed a support group of sorts, beginning as a meeting for others who had  believed something strange about this out of place Police Box. He befriended Jackie Tyler, originally with the arterial motive of learning about her daughter being seen with the Doctor. Eventually, as when one encounters the Doctor, an alien infiltrated the group killing every member except Elton only by the skin of his teeth. The Doctor managed to sort of save Ursula as well, though she did not survive for as long as they all, perhaps, thought she might as a slab of concrete. Elton continues his normal life, looking out for the blue box. [FC Marc Warren - TARDIS.WIKI entry]

Steven Taylor - [1st Doctor era] A space pilot in Earth’s 28th century, Steven was shot down over the planet Mechanus and held captive for two years, with only a small panda stuffed animal HiFi for company. Brave, adventurous and moral, Steven spent his time with the Doctor looking out to protect the old man and their younger companion Viki. After Viki stayed in ancient Greece for love, and taking Katarina along, who believed the Doctor to be Zeus himself, they encountered Sara Kingdom. Katarina died, and so would Sara, Steven growing quiet attached to the jaded woman in the weeks known. Another fatal adventure, Steven befriended Anne Chaplet, who possibly killed and the Doctor’s refusal to help stop the deadly fires, Steven decided to leave the Doctor, only to be stopped by a young woman that was possible proof Anne had lived. He traveled with the Doctor and Dodo, until landing on a planet divided by civil war. Hoping to help and make a real change, Steven barely protested when the Doctor suggested Steven stay and rule as king. [FC Peter Purves - TARDIS.WIKI entry]

Rory Williams - [11th Doctor era] A nurse in 21st century England, Rory knew all about The Doctor, sort of, by the time he was 10, listening to Amelia Pond’s wild tales of the Raggedy Doctor. Even letting her dress him up as him. He lived most of his life chasing after Amy Pond, hoping she might notice him, knowing he was madly in love with her. His home life growing up wasn’t terrible, Brian Williams loved his son, however didn’t much appreciate his interests as much as he should have. Agatha Williams missed the after school run when Rory was 12, moved to Leeds, and hardly reached out to her son since. Beset with disinterested parents, Rory felt the call to help from an early age. Traveling with the Doctor provided several lifetimes of service, in different ways, some of which are hard pressed to speak of. The Lone Centurion is a forgotten legend to the world, but Rory remembers far more than he lets on. The terrible kidnapping of their newborn daughter, only to have her standing in front of them to tell them who she was. He loves River, of course, but has a slightly more difficult time connecting with her than Amy seems to. A final battle with the Weeping Angels sent him and Amy back to 1938 New York, unable to see the Doctor again. Amy and Rory adopted an infant son, Anthony, in 1946, and Rory took advantage of the three year fast track medical program (with the shortage of Doctors in WW2) and became a doctor. It might not have been the General Practitioner in Upper Leadworth dream he originally imagined, but with a bright son and a world/time traveling daughter who did remember to visit her parents every once and a while, he was happy enough. [FC Arthur Darvill - TARDIS.WIKI Entry]

Amy Pond - [11th Doctor Era] Amelia Pond used to dream of a man in a big blue box, the wheezing sound it made, the raggedy clothes of The Doctor who promised to help her... and then disappeared. Psychiatrists or not she knew she was right, he was out there. She studied history, fascinated with real life heroes and amazing events. Adventure. She wanted it badly. And one day he came back, sweeping her off on many. Her and her husband, Rory. Being with the Doctor was hardly boring, and in no way safe. She lost her husband, more times than she would care to remember. She once spent 2000 years unconscious in a box while he waited outside of it for her, protecting her. She lost her daughter, only to discover Melody had been beside her all along: Mels, River. Her little girl stolen away from her. Horribly traumatized from the events of her capture and Melody’s birth, Amy started pushing Rory away from her once back home in London. It worked, Rory signing divorce papers neither of them wanted or ever dreamed they would see. Luckily, the Doctor saved the day once more. But in the end, even the Doctor couldn’t save them from the Weeping Angels. Amy chose Rory over the Doctor, something she knew she would eventually end up doing, something Rory had once feared she wouldn’t do. In 1930s New York, she managed the odd retail or secretary job before becoming a published author. After World War 2, they adopted a baby boy, Anthony, who would become her grandest adventure yet. Her new field became children’s books, for her son, who might only know the Doctor though his parent’s stories, and for every child who dreamed of adventure. [FC Karen Gillan]

Anthony Williams - [1960s thru 2000s New York] Adopted in 1946 by Amy and Rory Williams, Anthony had a very happy childhood with devoted, imaginative parents. When he was 13, his parents thought he was old enough to know, and clever enough not to boast, that every far fetched bed time story of the ‘mad man in the box’ and the ‘time traveling archeologist’ was true. During his last visit from his sister, River gave him a time vortex manipulator for his birthday. He struggled with his sexual identity in the ‘free love’ period but came out to his parents as bisexual, knowing they would be open and encouraging. He became a writer like his mother, but eventually fell in love with theater... and then with an actor he met through rehearsals with his first play. He would win a Tony in the early nineties for a musical of a fantastical story of the Lone Centurion and the Girl in the Box. [FC Oscar Isaac, older FC Al Pacino]

The 19th Doctor - Finally... a ginger. He’d traveled alone for too long, often settling in one era or another for a short period of time. Attempting to ‘slow down’ and take the time to enjoy things he missed fretting about to one time and planet to the next. He’s more contemplative, far more grumpy, quick to temper and hard pressed to keep much company at all. But he’s still the Doctor... and he can’t help himself but want to do good when he’d needed. [FC Samuel West]

[fandumbstuff]

Favourite films from 2017

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi Directed by Rian Johnson

Star Wars fans suck, and I’m so happy to see Disney wrench the franchise from their greasy paws and deliver it to a general audience. Rian Johnson picks up where J. J. Abrams left off by fleshing out the character development of the new franchise leads. Poe learns hard lessons about sacrifice. Rey and Kylo’s complex relationship is given more layers. Even the oft-criticized Finn and Rose subplot is an important bit of character development for Finn to gain unconditional courage. The movie is highlighted by standout performances from Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, a career best Mark Hamill and an iconic turn from Laura Dern. Rian Johnson delivers rousing action sequences (_that _throne room scene) and emotional highlights. Accompanied by polished sound design, visual (and practical) effects, and John Williams doing what he does best, The Last Jedi is one of the franchises best. It brings the franchise into a new era, reinstating the true spirit of Star Wars- that anyone can be a hero, as long as we look to the stars and hope

2. Lady Bird Directed by Greta Gerwig

It’s hard to stand out in the field of coming of age movies, but Greta Gerwig manages to do it and tell a story that is simultaneously unique and relevant. The often-ignored daughter-mother relationship is given full attention, exploring some poignant moments in middle age and young adulthood equally well. This is an incredible script that makes every plot detail and situation count, giving the actors a lot to work with. Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf deliver in spades, playing off each other with incredibly nuanced performances. Gerwig performs marvellously, allowing her actors to find the moments of humour and melancholy in her script, and creating a visually pleasing movie to boot. That she manages to do this all in her directorial debut is a remarkable achievement.

3. Logan Directed by James Mangold

Hugh Jackman is given a great vehicle for his final performance as Wolverine. Adapted from Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan, the movie hugely surpasses its source material. While it maintains the gritty sense of violence from the graphic novel, its emotional substance is much more… substantial. Logan is a superhero film that finds a distinctive voice both in terms of its visuals and its temperament. Its characters aren’t simply grappling with “doing the right thing” but with debility, lethargy, loneliness and remorse. Jackman and Patrick Stewart explore these themes expertly. They’re accompanied by Dafne Keen’s standout performance as Laura/X-23 forming an emotional crux to carry the story. It’s a story that stands out from the others in its genre, and one that I certainly consider one of the best.

4. Get Out Directed by Jordan Peele

In Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, he manages to tell a story that is remarkably relevant and important, without ever losing his distinctive creative voice. Get Out is very much a horror movie, but Peele lends a fair bit of levity whenever he can. He drops scares that are so jarring they’re practically self aware. The movie is sold by Daniel Kaluuya’s incredible lead performance, as we’re left to ponder the sheer ridiculousness of his circumstances, slowly evolving into genuine terror. This movie has a very clear message, and despite its importance if there are those who may complain that it’s too heavy handed, they need only look to it’s masterfully crafted finale. Watching the movie in a crowded theatre gives you a shared experience, where we all jump at the same scares, laugh at the same jokes, but most importantly feel the injustice that presents itself at the end, and cheer for the twist. It’s this shared experience that is Peele’s master stroke. A perfectly enjoyable finale that leaves us pondering the very real message of the film.

5. Wonder Woman Directed by Patty Jenkins

This is the most important superhero film since 1976’s Superman. Bringing to life the most iconic female superhero of all time took a long time to happen but it delivers in spades. Patty Jenkins has given the DCU it’s finest film yet, establishing a convincing mythos with interesting characters. Amidst DC’s penchant for dark brooding characters, Diana is a breath of fresh air: a hero that is compassionate and optimistic, even slightly naive. This lends to a truly compelling character arc that allows her to learn firsthand how complicated “the world of man” is. Gal Gadot commands the lead role expertly. She is the most convincing superhero performance since Christopher Reeve, and just like him it’s to bring to life an icon- a role model that she will forever be associated with.

6. Blade Runner 2049 Directed by Denis Villenueve

It is truly incredible that a sequel made 25 years after its predecessor can maintain the same tone and feel of the original, while lending a new creative voice. The original Blade Runner is one of sci-fi’s most contemplative stories, and it’s incredible that 2049 doesn’t do anything to damage this aura. It asks important questions while expanding on the franchise’s greater theme of what it means to be human. Denis Villeneuve is quickly becoming one of the most distinctive visual filmmakers currently working in Hollywood, and with this movie and Arrival it’s clear to see why. Hans Zimmer along with Benjamin Wallfisch manages to deliver some of his best work in years with a soundtrack that pays homage to Vangelis’s iconic original score. And then there’s the legendary Roger Deakins-lighting each scene with a painterly stroke to add a bit of nuance to already strong performances.

7. Thor: Ragnarok Directed by Taika Waititi

Perhaps more than any director in the MCU, Taika Waititi delivers his own distinctive creative voice to his entry in the franchise. While its easy to get carried away by the stunning 80’s visuals and synth score from Mark Mothersbaum, it’s Waiiti’s signature wit and charm that really shine through. He makes Thor, Loki and Hulk (and Banner) more likeable than they’ve ever been in the MCU and introduces new characters like Valkyrie and the Grandmaster that are instantly noteworthy. Stellar performances from practically the whole cast help to sell this, and we’re left with a movie that fully entertains while gearing us up for the MCU’s next big offering.

8. The Post Directed by Steven Spielberg

Amidst all the hoopla surrounding Ready Player One, Spielberg manages to sneak away and make a movie with his dream team of Tom Hanks, John Williams and Janusz Kaminski. And include Meryl Streep. I mean, just on paper this looked to be a sure-fire success, and shockingly it doesn’t disappoint. It is absolutely a movie that speaks volumes about the current political climate in the United States, but it also honours the importance of investigative journalism and freedom of the press. Hanks delivers an incredible performance, but it is purely to support Streep’s powerhouse portrayal of Katharine Graham. She charts a fascinating and incredibly relevant character arc to show us just how important it is to find your voice and your courage in the face of prejudice.

9. The Big Sick Directed by Michael Showalter

Being such an incredible comedic talent, Kumail Nanjiani is finally given a chance to create a personal story. Along with his wife Emily V. Gordon they deliver a comedy movie that is so much more than just funny. It is deeply affecting, introducing us to two leads that are charming and worth rooting for. Culturally, relationally and physically, they contend with serious struggles that makes their character arcs incredibly meaningful. This is one of the strongest screenplays of the year and a testament to passionate storytelling.

10. The Shape of Water Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

The Shape of Water is very much Guillermo Del Toro at his best- telling an extremely humanistic story under a fantastical lens. As per most of his movies, it features an isolated hero searching for self-actualization. Mirroring this character with that of a monster, he subverts the idea of abnormal for a sense of harmony. He trusts his audience to be empathic, to see the benevolence in the creature and the compassion in Eliza. This is balanced by his clear depiction of immorality in Michael Shannon’s Colonel Stickland. Supported by incredible compositions from Alexandre Desplat and ethereal cinematography from Dan Laustsen, Del Toro once again proves that he is one of Hollywood’s most affecting storytellers and that even the most high concept fantasy stories can be poignant ones.

Honorable Mentions

War for the Planet of the Apes (Directed by Matt Reeves), God’s Own Country (Directed by Francis Lee), Mudbound (Directed by Dee Rees), Call Me By Your Name (Directed by Luca Guadagnino), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Directed by Martin McDonagh), The Florida Project (Directed by Sean Baker), Phantom Thread (Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson), Logan Lucky (Directed by Steven Soderbergh), The Disaster Artist (Directed by James Franco), Wind River (Directed by Taylor Sheridan)

[ethanmartin7-blog1]

*Rhetoric and Multiculturalism*

CQ: “What is the ideology performed in this artifact, how is it performed, and how does it promote a dominant ideology in an unproductive way or push back against a dominant ideology in a productive way?

To examine the critical question, I chose Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 postgame interview explaining why he will not stand for the national anthem. I chose this lengthy video as my artifact because it ties in nicely to Goldzwig’s Multiculturalism work. This artifact serves the ideology that all citizens of the United States must be treated equally and share the same amount of freedom, which is vocalized through Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem and explained through a postgame interview. Kaepernick’s method about spreading awareness to this cause is done to promote a dominant ideology, however it was done in an unproductive and unethical manner. 

In 2016, before a preseason game vs. the Greenbay Packers, former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick, took a knee during the National Anthem. Immediately after the game the franchise’s quarterback was berated with questions from the media about why he was kneeling during the National Anthem. The theme of his interview was based on racial acts of violence through police brutality as well as the racial inequalities still going on in our country today. He was also noted wearing socks at practice with pigs dressed as police officers weeks later. Colin received praise as well as criticism for his decision to kneel during the national anthem. He kneeled all sixteen regular season games and the 49ers finished their season with 2 wins and 14 losses, among the worst in the NFL. Kaepernick has not played a game since that 2016-2017 campaign after opting out of his contract once the season was over. Currently Kaepernick is still seeking a job in the NFL and was just granted a workout for all 32 teams. He has announced that he will continue to speak out on social injustice however he has not confirmed or denied if he will kneel or stand for the National Anthem if he gets back on a team. 

Goldzwig explained that the multiculturalism project of the 1990’s and beyond expands the civil rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s. Goldzwig’s message lies in the idea that we need to “rethink America” (Goldzwig, p. 275). He states that “The creation of that "wider landscape" cannot be seen as a process of protecting academic ghettos and fiefdoms where marginalized interests play tunes in cultural cul-de-sacs while the powerful continue "business as usual"” (p. 274). This highlights that power distance between the marginalized communities and the white folks. Goldzwig makes the point that he thinks rhetoric has continued to shape our politics in the United States. For this reason alone is why it is so important that he announces the need to incorporate multiculturalism into our world. Goldzwig goes on to quote Robert Ivie (1993) and his findings, "Knowledge constructed from a rhetorical perspective is about the symbols that organize our lives, some of which empower one gender more than another, while others selectively privilege war over peace, white over black, freedom over tyranny, etc” (p. 273).

Kaepernick’s postgame interview of his first knee taken draws some distinct parallels to the Goldzwig reading. Kaepernick points out that the black community of the United States is being marginalized and treated unjustly. He promotes the ideology that people of all races need to be treated equally in all facets of life. As Goldzwig pointed out, multiculturalism is in pursuit of a “wider landscape” meaning more inclusivity and less exclusivity. Kaepernick would agree with the Goldzwig reading. However, due to the differences in time Kaepernick has a much more radical and outspoken approach. He uses his platform as an NFL athlete to speak out on social injustice focusing mostly on police brutality. Throughout Kaepernick’s interview it is clear that he believes the black community is continuing to not only be marginalized and discriminated against but also oppressed. 

The ideological stance that Kaepernick takes of inclusivity and equality is very similar to Goldzwig. Due to an eighteen year time difference between when the article was written and when the 49er captain voiced his opinion, there is a difference in the approach of Kaepernick  along with the tone of what he is saying. Kaepernick attempts to bring awareness to the inequality and power imbalance of our nation while Goldzwig tries to bring awareness to inclusivity. In many ways we can draw parallels between the reading and through Kaepernick’s statements. They both promote the similar and imperative ideology of equality and inclusivity for all cultures. 

In examining the second facet of the critical question, the artifact promotes the dominant ideology of equality and freedom.  However, kneeling during the national anthem to spread that ideology was done unproductively. Colin was quoted during the interview saying “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Kaepernick, 2016). By using this wording it serves as an immediate indictment on the entire country instead of a select group of individuals in this country. Not only does kneeling during the national anthem shows disrespect to the entire country but it is a slap in the face to the soldiers that rest in Arlington, the soldiers overseas, first responders, as well as all government officials, etc. To bring awareness to the cause of inequality is noble and brave. Colin used his platform to his advantage in bringing awareness to social inequality and police brutality. There is no question that his agenda is important as well as necessary, however the way he voiced that frustration was in a disrespectful manner to so many Americans throughout the nations existence. Colin was justified in what he stood for and what he was trying to promote but the way he went about it was unproductive and actually unethical.

In the scholarly article ‘Citizenship on Its Knees’ by P.J. Williams, she explains the national impact that Kaepernick has had on not only other NFL players and owners, but also POTUS. Due to the attention that the protest was attracting, President Trump raced to call the NFL to fire athletes protesting and to call for a rule that requires everyone to stand for the pre-game national anthem. This article goes on to talk about President’s Trump’s frustration with players taking knees. Trump took the stance that taking a knee during the anthem is consistent with the discretion of the American flag. This stand showed how important the symbol of the flag is to the President of the U.S. which sets a good example for the rest of the country. By voicing his frustration with the protest he shows the rest of the country that he stands for the flag. 

In conclusion, Colin Kaepernick performed the ideology of racial and social justice through inequality and freedom throughout the artifact. He used his platform to spread awareness to his cause. We see similar ideologies between the former 49er quarterback and Goldzwig through his Multiculturalism article. Kaepernick’s intentions were great, in pursuit of equality for all, along with justice and freedom, however his method was unproductive because it brought disrespect to so many people in the country who value what the stars and stripes stand for and appreciate the words of Francis Scott Key. 

Kaepernick, Colin. (2016). Colin Kaepernick explains why he won't stand during National Anthem. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0446tibig

Goldzwig, Steven R. (1998). Multiculturalism, rhetoric and the twenty‐first century, Southern Communication Journal, 63:4, 273-290, DOI: 10.1080/10417949809373102

[my-artyavocado-me]

Leo Fitzmaurice, Between You and Me and Everything Else, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, 29th September 2018- 17th March 2019

Not many exhibitions bring a bizarre moment of Deja-vu where something accustomed has been stripped of its expected interpretation and instead you are confronted with what is there; This act of ‘re-seeing’ is what interests Newport born artist Leo Fitzmaurice. After leaving college Fitzmaurice moved away from painting and instead focussed his time on intervening with objects, situations and materials to comment on easily ignored aspects of western contemporary life such as consumerism (Healey, 2013).

His practice is grounded in the development of roaming and observation and stealing existing objects, focusing on the omnipresent and disregarded. He then uses these objects to convey contextual information in our already environment. The majority of Fitzmaurice’s artistic practise is focused on stimulating our sense of the commonplace (Frieze.com, n.d).

“My work has recently been concerned with materials/structures that hold information and in particularly, in the public realm, the reworking of materials that exists within this realm…I was interested, in particular, in the way these objects’ only function is to hold up words…Once a material has been stripped of its original textual message it could surely function as something else.” Leo Fitzmaurice in conversation about his 2007 exhibition I’m Getting you out of my Mind (Art Gene, n.d)

Artist turned curator, Fitzmaurice’s current exhibition, Between You and Me and Everything Else at the Walker Art Gallery has had Fitzmaurice delve into the National Museums of Liverpool and Arts Council England’s collection to bring together over 30 portraits by artists including Richard Hamilton and Frank Auerbach (Jones, 2018) with the hope that it will lead visitors to view them in a different light and forcefully discuss something new about the age old issue of depicting three dimensional bodies and faces on a two dimension plane (Jaspan, 2018); The portraits included tend to provide an insight into the sitters’ rank, influence and traits.

The pieces in this exhibition range across artistic styles and time periods, more specifically William Caddick’s depiction of a young man and previously mentioned Richard Hamilton’s Portrait of High Gaitskell as a Famous Monster of Filmland (1964) which is an enlarged photo Hugh Gaitskell the 1960’s Labour Party’s leader painted in collage with the bogeyman, Phantom of the Opera Mask and elements of Jack the Ripper (Sherwin, 2016). This piece depicts when the politician refused to sanction a non-nuclear regulation, this with the mix of grotesque features is an invitation to confront these interpretations outside of an art historical boundary to find new stories within (Jaspan, 2018), and ‘re-see’ the work.

Milena Dragicevic’s Supplicant 101 (2008) seems to be the piece which is representing the exhibition; Seen on many flyers and posters, this painting is one of a few contemporary portraits in the exhibition (Artinliverpool, 2018). A vibrant painting of one of the artists friends in which the sitter is distorted by a beak, Dragicevic’s usually chooses to paint her female friends or acquaintances after. Starting with headshots, there is a performative element to her work as she is “aware of the power of the face in that it is both the viewer and viewed.” Perhaps this element is why Fitzmaurice decided to feature her work in his latest exhibition (Magazine, 2018).

Psamathe (1879-80) by Frederick Leighton is key piece in the exhibition, borrowed from the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, the painting depicts a female nude where the subject appears to be looking out to the sea in front of her (Blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk, 2018); Modelling as one of Nereus’s daughters, this key painting was the catalyst for the starting point of Fitzmaurice’s exhibition. Room 9 in the gallery at first glance looks like any other, however upon closer inspection the placement of the other pieces appears to be “looking” in direction to where Psamathe sits; It was Fitzmaurice’s aim when curating the hang of the exhibition to expand upon the tone of curiosity (Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk, 2018).    

Speaking about his exhibition, Fitzmaurice explains:

“Almost always, in my work, I try to frame the everyday and the overlooked in a new light. So, rather than seeing myself as a maker, I consider myself a maker of things apparent – I would think an artwork successful if the work could give the feeling of encountering something familiar for the first time. With this piece I have thought about portraiture, and the portrayed, from first principles; for me, portraiture is the depiction of a face on a two-dimensional plane. This grouping of portraits is my way of saying something new about this age-old problem.” (Blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk, 2018)

Arts Council Collection Project Curator at the Walker Art Gallery, Beth Lewis states “Leo has a wonderful ability to see the potential in the so-called ‘everyday’. His practice encourages us to look twice and see things differently, often changing our perceptions through his very subtle interventions.” Seeing the potential in the everyday helped Fitzmaurice select the chosen portraits in the exhibition, by delving into the National Museum of Liverpool and the Arts Council Collection it has revealed elements about portraiture that you wouldn’t normally notice looking at them once (Blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk, 2018).

Unlike any other of Leo Fitzmaurice’s previous exhibitions, Between Me and You and Everything Else, has the typical salon hang that we see in more traditional heritage institutions; A traditional salon hang presents a collection of art, sometimes in a close comparison, to achieve a desire visual effect. Given the context of Fitzmaurice’s exhibition a salon hang works very well in what he is trying to achieve as a curator, creating juxtaposition between the chosen portrait and Psamathe; As well as offering a more intimate, personal viewing that typical white cube institutions don’t.

Fitzmaurice also brings up the questioning of gender roles, speaking to the gallery assistant, he explained that part of the exhibition is to confront the male gaze. Being placed in one smaller room in the gallery creates an intimate space with yourself and the pieces and the subtle pedagogy of gender roles, these kinds of exhibitions provide us with material to form our own discussions in the concept of the display and considered the viewers position thus becoming an environmental experience space that both incorporates and appropriates visitors.  The exhibition is powerful enough to persuade viewers to reflect on their own standing in a social construct.

The exhibition addresses the way the female nude is depicted in art history and brings light to the important issues that are still very current in todays society, Psamathe strengthens this as we can’t see the women’s face just her body, further objectifying her and further outlining that the male gaze denies women their identity.  

It is known that whenever we go to a museum or a gallery as a ‘viewer’ we are always confronted with the ‘don’t touch’ signs almost immediately after entering; from childhood we are taught straight away to keep our hands to ourselves, Between Me and You and Everything Else is an unusual proposition. The curator and gallery are determined to confront issues like the male gaze and encouraging social commentary to take with you in and outside of the gallery space, the idea is the change the relationship we have with art and the visual experience we have as on average visitors only linger in front of a piece for around 10 seconds whereas Fitzmaurice’s exhibition forcefully encourages an articulate environment (Azimi, 2015).

 Typically, the theme of voyeurism in an artistic interpretation is usually conveyed in the form of photography, for example, the 2010 exhibition at the Tate Modern Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera raises the unanswerable questions of taking covert photographs and the exploration of a complicated subject. It was the curator’s idea to allow visitors to contemplate over the peices that disrupt the discretion of others and understand how much control the camera holds over those it is targeting. The description of the connection between the photographer and their subject can often be referred to as the predator and the hunted and can often spin out of control (Dorment, 2010), in modern society we are used to associating the theme of voyeurism with contemporary photography  like street photographer Steven Quinn however Fitzmaurice brings it back through the decades with his exhibition and show cases that that it is a theme that has been explored many times in time periods you wouldn’t normally associate it with.

Fitzmaurice offers the thrill of a distinct experience with this exhibition, otherwise unattainable unless you were alone in Room 9 but also forces a self-reflective approach on the viewer, it directs the spectator’s attention whilst making the act of forcing attention to a specific direction explicit. Being directing to gaze upon Psamathe visitors cannot forget this act and their own voyeuristic position in immersing themselves into the exhibition (Henning, 2007).  

Between Me and You and Everything Else takes the viewer on a journey of following glances and creating relationships with the pieces, this exhibition contains a voyeuristic perspective that keeps the viewer yearning for images; this aspect of the exhibition registers with the audience and establishes a connection with the visitors and without even realising it, becoming part of the exhibition itself.

[fluxuslaphil]

La Monte Young and Jung Hee Choi in conversation with Fluxus Festival Curator Christopher Rountree

"We all know that you have to go to the grocery store. But don’t make it into a life structure that allows you to do it without letting it interfere with the greater goal, which indeed is musical euphoria.”

Chris Rountree: My first question is about the West Coast. I know your work doesn’t often happen in Los Angeles. I wanted to ask how your early experiences, in music in Los Angeles, aimed you where you’ve gotten now?

La Monte Young: Yeah. Basically I grew up in LA. I started playing jazz in high school. I went to John Marshall High. Right away, I fell in with a group of guys who were really into Charlie Parker and the New Sound. That’s what I listened to high school. I then was playing in sessions as soon as I got out of high school. I went to a club called The Big Top. I played there almost every night from about 8PM until 4 in the morning. Billy Higgins would say “Hey, man. I know a place that opens at 4. It’s an after-hour place. Why don’t we go there?” You know who Billy Higgins is, right?

CR: Oh yeah.

LMY: Well, he was my drummer. Probably one of the greatest drummers that ever played. He was just incredible. Yeah, I wasn’t surprised that he died, but I was regretful. He was quite a wonderful person. He was very, very interested in my playing. He went all over LA getting us arrangements to play. So, gradually, I was composing.

CR: Were you composing while you were playing jazz as well? And were the compositions different then too?

LMY: A little bit. Yeah, I was composing some tunes. There was a composition called “Annod.” Which was Donna backwards. She was my high school girlfriend. She had perfect pitch. She was a very good musician. It’s quite a good composition, I think. Maybe my very first one that counts. I was always also in school, I went to LA City College. I studied with Leonard Stein. Leonard Stein was Schoenberg’s teacher disciple really. He did as much for Schoenberg than any of the others. Even though Webern was probably the most important composer in my mind, Leonard really promoted Schoenberg’s work.

CR: Why was Webern the most important for you?

LMY: For me, he was the most original composer who ever lived. He did things in music that were just unimaginable. For me, creativity has always been very important. His untimely death was very unfortunate, but he grew up in that tradition with Mahler and Schoenberg. He listened to Mahler concerts and Schoenberg. He was always there. He had a very traditional upbringing. What he did in music had never been done before. You can hear it coming out of, certain parts of Five Pieces for Orchestra. But he gave us something that has never been in music before. I followed it. I elaborated on it. I went further.

CR: We were talking about LA City College.

LMY: Yeah. I was studying with Leonard Stein. He was really a remarkable person. He knew everything about music. So it seemed. I went directly from LA City College to UCLA, where I studied with Dr. Robert Stevenson. These two individuals, Leonard Stein and Dr. Robert Stevenson, were very important to me as formal teachers. I was also studying saxophone with William Green at the L.A. Conservatory. He was a saxophonist saxophone player. He could play classical, he could also play some jazz. He really was almost like a father to me. I was leaving home and getting out in the world. Probably needed a father figure at that point.

In the Mormon church, where I started, authority is very strong. You grow up with authority around you at all times. I was considered an outstanding member of the Mormon church when I left. I was 17 years old. It was a big shock to my entire family.

CR: How did you make that choice to leave? That must have been really hard.

LMY: There’s an interview that everybody has. After you’ve been in the Aaronic priesthood for a few years, they want to advance you to the Melchizedek priesthood. One of the questions, I knew this question was coming, “Do you believe the Mormon church is the only true church?” I said no. I think it’s true, but I said “I think a lot of them or all of them are probably true.” They wouldn't buy it. So I was unattached and basically left the church right there and then.

CR: It sounds like, when you were in the interview itself, that was the moment you decided to leave?

LMY: I knew what was happening. I had already been in school. So I’d been part of the Mormon church for my entire life. I had absorbed a lot of information to realize that the Mormon point of view is very beautiful, but it was very limited to a certain way of thinking. It evolved from the Mormons coming across the plains. They had nothing and they were eating their shoes because they just didn’t have anything to eat. It was a rough existence. When they got to Utah Valley, Brigham Young says “This is the place.” So they settled there and things got better because they settled in a beautiful valley.

You know, I just saw a movie on the Donner Party yesterday, a documentary. Those early people going across the plains, they had some vision of something they hoped for, but they didn’t realize what they had to go through to get there. They suffered tremendously and sometimes ended up using cannibalism to survive. It was a rough situation. They didn’t realize what they were getting themselves into when they said “We’re going to go west.” It was holy hell. Anyway, that’s how I grew up. That kind of heritage was all around me.

CR: Amazing. You were talking about composition at UCLA and your teachers. And then about looking for a father figure.

LMY: It was Leonard Stein. Then I went to UCLA where there was Dr. Robert Stevenson. Dr. Robert Stevenson grabbed me as soon as he saw me and heard me. He took me all around the music department, said “This is guy is really good. He’s a genius.” I was the only one who could get straight A’s in his classes. All the other kids wouldn’t even take his classes. He was really a very great scholar. He had no patience with anybody who wasn’t really outstanding. He gave them grades that were so low that they wouldn’t take his classes.

CR: Were you still writing jazz at that time?

Jung Hee Choi: The most important early works were written in LA, were Poem for Chairs, Tables and Benches; Trio of Strings; and The Four Dreams of China.

LMY: The Trio for Strings, I wrote in 1958. It was very inspired by nature, but it was all walks of day tones and there’s nothing like that in music before, really. Some people thought it was really far out but Leonard Stein and Dr. Robert Stevenson thought I was the best there ever was and ever had been and ever will be.

CR: I wonder what the moment was when you departed from jazz and moved into the style that you then developed. Was that at UCLA?

LMY: I don’t know. You know, the Trio of Strings, 1958 is very, very profound. It’s all one sustained tones, and it’s the precursor for The Four Dreams of China. With The Four Dreams of China, I simplified the idea.

There’s a very important chord, CFF#G, in one key. I used that chord in all four inversions, F sharp is the bass, F above it, then G, then C. And I used these four chords in the Four Dreams of China. Each of the dreams is based on only one chord. In the Subsequent Dreams of China, I began to combine dreams. That was very complex so I had to have more players. So, Charles Curtis and Ben Neill, we had early on. I was teaching Ben rather early on and then Charles Curtis discovered me and he became the only person in the world who could really lead the Trio for Strings.

I was fighting, over my head and one great friend and he said, “Well, you know man, it's unplayable.” But he played it. And people worked hard at it.

CR: And unplayable in what way, do you think?

LMY: Unplayable in what way? You have to come down to his own way, there were long silences and then play it for record tune or complex intervals. You know it’s not melodic. A long silences, long tones—

it gets very hard to bring that in, perfectly in tune. Even like Charles and later Steven Burns, they just specialized in it. They were amazing, how much they could play a tune out of a blue sky.

CR: What’s your approach to making work with a collaborator like Charles?

LMY: Well, for one thing, they frequently studied Raga with me. Raga is a very profound musical system that’s thousands years old. They worked out all of the details. If you can learn Raga, which most people could never do, you’re ready to become a great musician, or you are a great musician. I teach all of my students Raga. Ben and Charles were the very advanced, and they could learn Raga and they could play. You had to do it to approach the Trio for Strings. The Four Dreams of China is more playable, because it’s just one chord, and you can start to get it really in tune. The problem would be the Trio for Strings, because you’re moving from one chord to another, time to time. It’s much harder to have perfect intonation that way.

CR: Would you say that intonation is the most important thing in your work?

LMY: If you’re not perfectly in tune, you’re not doing anything. You’ve got to be perfectly in tune or you’ll never send the message. It’s something you learn to do the more you work on it. You just take it for granted after a while. Certainly it took me time to realize that. That’s what I was doing, but I was. Jung Hee, say something about it. You know, Jung Hee’s very in tune, and she’s very advanced. Say something Jung Hee, anything.

JCH: The tuning system is the most important aspect of La Monte’s work. The Well-Tuned Piano, is a good example of how he transformed the traditional Western intervals in those two instruments, that created a new acoustical phenomenon that he calls Clouds. In which on experiences all the harmonics, sustained harmonics, they all form in the air. It’s something you’ve never experienced before, by tuning all the strings in a piano with the grammatical ratios that he finds. One of the difficulties that musicians found when they performed The Second Dream from the Four Dreams of China, was they had never heard certain musical intervals.

LMY: Neither had I! I imagined them, then made them happen, and there they were, and they were a model for mankind.

CR: Can you describe that a little more?

JCH: Musical ratios, four notes in the secondary: 12, 16, 17, 18. So 16, 18, and 12 are very well known intervals. They can be reduced to 8 and 9, and 3 to 2. So it’s a very simple intervals that we’ve been using. But 17 is very, very unique. It only can be achieved by gifted musicians, and even very perfect musicians can only hear the interval, after many years. Charles found his. He remembered that moment: when he first met La Monte and rehearsed it then—he was a child prodigy and was already a professional musician—La Monte asked him to hold a perfect fifth.

LMY: I asked what?

JCH: You asked Charles  to hold the perfect fifth, without accenting the 5th harmonic. Meaning the 5, the vector 5, the third harmonic, in one exercise.

CR: Wow.

JCH: Charles was very, very impressed, because no other composer, no other musician had ever asked him to emphasize the harmonics. That is the first memory Charles has of working with La Monte.

LMY: See this is a whole new world were you have to worry about which harmonics were made louder than others. In order to create a certain mood, you wanted some louder than others, and some softer than others. I think I was the only person who took this path. Various band musicians like Jung Hee and Ben Neill, and Charles Curtis took it very seriously and worked on it.

CR: It’s something so many musicians never think about at all actually. Do you think, that when you encourage musicians to think like that, it fundamentally ... clearly it changes them, but does it put them in a different space when they perform the music?

LMY: Oh yeah. It changes their lives. We all grew up playing melodies. Gradually, we heard various guys in music, Mahler and Schoenberg and Webern and Debussy. I was crazy about Debussy. But, all of these different musics exposed us to a different way of thinking.

CR: Would say that way of thinking is spiritual in nature? Or is it about mindfulness? Or?

LMY: Well, you know, listen, what is spirituality? We all grew up in various spiritual systems and ... we have to first define spirituality, before we can say whether something is or isn’t. What does it mean? What does spiritual mean?

CR: What is it for you?

LMY: Well, I think that it’s something real, it’s a life devoted in music. Music is extraordinary ability and fulfills a spiritual need. So that when a musician is involved with the music that fulfills that need, it takes them into, what to him or her is a spiritual state. Eventually, some people wanted to stay in that state all of the time. That’s a lifestyle. Many of us participate. It’s just, we do it to different degrees.

CR: When you feel inspired to make music, where does that inspiration come from? Does it come from, as you’re saying, just the experience of being in music every day?

LMY: Many musicians eventually just devoted every of moment of their life to music. Some have found a way, like Marian [Zazeela] and Jung Hee to combine visual reality with audio reality. Eventually you try to give up all of the elements of your environment and to create a world that is totally self-supportive and fulfilling. So that everything supports everything else and you don't get sidetracked. Because we all know that life has to do with going to the store and buying a quart of milk. But try to set things up in such a way, that it’s not a distraction. You want to make your life so totally organized it’s always fulfilling itself and fulfilling the goals of the particular recipient.

CR: You said recipient, do you mean your own personal goals?

LMY: Yes. You have to deal with: being in a state of doing what you’re supposed to do with your life. To some degree, you find out what you’re supposed to be doing, by doing it. So, if you get off the track, you’ll know right away. We all know that you have to go to the grocery store. But don’t make it into a life structure that allows you to do it without letting it interfere with the greater goal, which indeed is musical euphoria.

La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela’s The Melodic Version (1984) of The Second Dream of The High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of China (1962) in Dream Light, directed by Jung Hee Choi, will be performed at the Nov 17 Fluxconcert at Walt Disney Concert Hall, part of the LA Phil’s season-long Fluxus Festival.

La Monte Young’s Piano Piece for David Tudor #1 will be performed in conjunction with the May 2, 2019 Emanuel Ax plays Mozart concert. A post-performance, archival installation will be on view in the Walt Disney Concert Hall lobby through May 5, 2019.

[theconservativebrief]

Throughout the first half of September, the Toronto International Film Festival screened hundreds of films for hundreds of thousands of moviegoers and launched more than a few awards hopefuls on a path to the Oscars.

Some of the festival’s buzziest films will hit theaters over the next several months. Not all of them will end up in the awards race, but many of them are worth your time and attention.

Here are 19 films from the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival to watch out for.

Release date: September 21

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Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly star in The Sisters Brothers, a darkly comedic Western based on Patrick deWitt’s 2011 novel of the same name and directed by Jacques Audiard, whose previous films include the lauded A Prophet and The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Phoenix and Reilly play brothers who work as assassins in the Wild West; they’re set on the trail of a thieving prospector in 1851 in a story that’s as much about family as it is about the Gold Rush. Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal also star as prospectors the brothers cross paths with.

Release date: September 21

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Fahrenheit 11/9, though sprawling and imperfect, is Michael Moore’s best film in years. It’s a sweeping broadside against Donald Trump, which is by no means an original approach in documentary filmmaking these days. But it also does what few political films seem willing to do in the Trump era: It powerfully (if unsystematically) dismantles idealistic notions about how much better things were before Trump took office. And when Fahrenheit 11/9 does turn to the election itself, it’s less interested in Trump as a cause than as a symptom of nationwide disillusionment, money-driven elections, and resulting apathy toward the political process.

Release date: September 28

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National Geographic Documentary Films is the distributor behind Free Solo, and that makes sense: It’s a film about free climber Alex Honnold, who’s planning to climb the 3,000-foot vertical rock face at Yosemite’s El Capitan … without ropes. The resulting film is both beautiful and harrowing, and it’s a thoughtful look at what drives people like Honnold to attempt feats like this. Those prone to vertigo should be ready to cover their eyes.

Release date: September 28

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In what he says is his final role before retiring from acting, Robert Redford stars as Forrest Tucker, a career bank robber who escapes San Quentin at age 70 and begins robbing banks again. Set in 1981 and styled to look like a film from that era, it’s the latest project from David Lowery, whose stories of love and longing (see: A Ghost Story and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) make him a natural fit for the material. Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck co-star with Redford in a fitting farewell to an onscreen legend as well as an archetype — the celebrity bank robber — that dominated the American consciousness for so long but is starting to fade.

Release date: October 5

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For his directorial debut, Bradley Cooper took on the much-adapted narrative of A Star Is Born, which first appeared in 1937 and then was remade in 1954, 1976, and now 2018. Cooper stars alongside Lady Gaga in the latest version, a love story about a fading music star who gives a talented newcomer the push she needs to break through — and then she begins to eclipse him. Laced with instantly memorable songs and outstanding performances, 2018’s A Star Is Born is the kind of movie that tries to harness all of its cinematic possibility to make your heart burst. And it more or less succeeds.

Release date: October 5

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Amandla Stenberg leads a truly outstanding cast in The Hate U Give, an adaptation of Angie Thomas’s best-selling novel. The film has a great deal to say and no apologies to make about its outspoken message, even as it presents itself as a straightforward family drama. But The Hate U Give strikes a perfect balance between being a coming-of-age story on the one hand and a social drama on the other. And in never sacrificing either of those two interests, it becomes a strong example of both.

Release date: October 12

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First Man, from director Damien Chazelle (La La Land) and screenwriter Josh Singer (The Post, Spotlight), is less concerned with delivering a triumphalist portrayal of the 1969 moon landing — which has been done before, we’ve all seen it — and more with telling the story of astronaut Neil Armstrong (played by Ryan Gosling) the way he saw himself.

Based on Armstrong’s authorized biography, First Man presents a historic moment through the lens of an intimate personal experience, reminding us that events that appear triumphant in history’s rearview mirror often come at the expense of pain and great personal sacrifice shouldered by real people. We’re allowed to see the moon landing through Armstrong’s eyes, but in return, the film asks us to respect what he went through to get there.

Release date: October 19

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Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) directs Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, based on Lee Israel’s memoir of the same name. McCarthy plays Israel, a successful celebrity biographer who falls on dire financial straits and later turns to literary forgery and theft. Richard E. Grant co-stars in the comedy, which probes the darker side of trying to make a living as a writer while also depicting a kind of delightfully misanthropic friendship.

Release date: October 26

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Burning, from Korean director Lee Chang-dong, has been one of the most critically lauded films at this year’s film festivals, topping many critics’ lists and drawing nearly universal praise. It’s loosely based on Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning,” which was first published in the New Yorker in 1992. The film is gripping and unnerving, a noir-style mystery that goes in entirely unexpected directions (and harbors a hint of William Faulkner), and featuring a cast that includes The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun. You can expect it to become a favorite at arthouse cinemas around the country when it opens later this fall — and if you love a haunting mystery, it’s one to watch for.

Release date: November 16

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Director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) has made a heist movie that has all the trappings of a typical heist movie — the plans, the machinations, the twists — but a lot more too. After a group of women, previously strangers to one another, are widowed following their husbands’ deaths in a botched heist, they band together to finish the job against the backdrop of a corrupt election on Chicago’s South Side. Viola Davis leads a star-studded cast that includes Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Carrie Coon, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Bernthal, and Robert Duvall.

Release date: November 23

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Shoplifters made its debut earlier this year at Cannes, where the jury awarded it the top prize, the Palme d’Or. It’s an intimate and accessible drama about a family of small-time petty crooks from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. But as the story unfolds, a mystery seems to emerge almost imperceptibly from the family’s ordinary interactions, and it eventually becomes something else altogether. With strong performances and an engaging narrative, the movie is continuing to earn praise and capture hearts throughout its fall festival run.

Release date: November 30

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For his follow-up to Moonlight, which won Best Picture in 2017, director Barry Jenkins chose to adapt James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk. Set in Harlem, the story centers on a young black couple who grew up together and fell in love. But then conflict takes over — not originating from inside their relationship but pressing in from the outside world. If Beale Street Could Talk is a beautiful, lyrical film, at times feeling like a tone poem or lyrical plaint. It’s hard not to fall under its beautiful, somber, lustrous spell, and as a story about black American life framed as a love story, its images are indelible.

Release date: December 21

Tomasz Kot and Joanna Kulig star in Cold War. Cannes Film Festival

Cold War — a decade- and continent-spanning, pristinely shot romantic tragedy from Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski — was my favorite film at Cannes (where it premiered earlier this year), and it easily won hearts at Toronto as well. Set in Europe in the early decades of the actual Cold War, the film balances its captivating main characters and their fiery love with the grand sweep of the places and times they find themselves in. It shows how those two things intertwine, with country and ideology pushing and prodding the characters into shapes that ultimately determine their fate.

You couldn’t call Cold War a political film, exactly, but if the central couple’s stars are crossed, then politics had a hand in crossing them, and in the end, the tragedy of realizing that is almost too much to bear.

Release date: TBD

Robert Pattinson stars in High Life, a sci-fi drama like nothing you’ve ever seen. Courtesy of TIFF

High Life is a wild, visionary film from director Claire Denis about a group of convicts on death row who are sent into deep space for the sake of science. It’s not for the faint of heart — it’s about sex and reproduction and death and life — and it’s anything but sterile; in this case, sci-fi’s enduring quest to probe what it means to be human means that bodily fluids, violence, and deep loneliness all make their appearances. Robert Pattinson leads a cast that also features Mia Goth and Juliette Binoche, and gives a performance that’s equal parts unexpected and tender. All told, the film is confounding but wholly original.

Release date: TBD

Steve Bannon is the subject of Errol Morris’s American Dharma. Courtesy of TIFF

For American Dharma, documentarian Errol Morris sat down for an extended conversation with former Breitbart chair and White House adviser Steve Bannon about his ideological views, his interpretation of history, and his involvement in Donald Trump’s presidency, the alt-right, and the reemergence of militant white nationalism in America.

The result isn’t exactly satisfying; if you go into American Dharma hoping for a systematic and explicit confrontation or dismantling of Bannon’s often disturbing views, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, Morris is interested in revealing his subject as a farce: a deluded figure with fantasies of grandeur and little substance beneath the grandiose clichés — a grown man desperately play-acting at being the tragic hero he saw in the movies.

Release date: TBD

In Fabric is one of the strangest, most twisted films that screened at Toronto this year. Courtesy of TIFF

I’m still not sure I know what In Fabric is actually about, but it was one of the weirdest, nastiest, most fun movies to screen at TIFF this year. Director Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy) tells a twisted tale of shopping — for clothes and for people — that centers on a red dress that keeps mysteriously killing those who come into contact with it. Shot in a self-consciously ’60s style with a hint of sexploitation, the movie feels like a waking nightmare, and it at least partly concludes that women’s fashion is more or less a product of hell.

Release date: TBD

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Roma is one of the year’s most anticipated films, and it delivers. In this lushly shot monochromatic domestic drama, director Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men) tells the story of a family in Mexico City and the girl who works for them. Focusing on the struggles and strength of the family’s women, Roma is funny, sad, and carefully told — a challenge to the viewer to simply sit and pay attention to people who find themselves overlooked in their own homes. The film will be released in select theaters and on Netflix later this fall.

Release date: TBD

Roberto Minervini’s What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire is one of the most challenging documentaries from this year’s TIFF. Courtesy of TIFF

Roberto Minervini’s documentaries — such as 2015’s The Other Side, about the often forgotten corners of America — are remarkable not only for the access they have to their subjects but also because Minervini is an outsider, an Italian filmmaker working in America who gains those subjects’ extraordinary trust. In What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire, Minervini quietly observes the lives of a handful of black residents in Louisiana, including a group of residents who are forming a chapter of the New Black Panther Party to address injustices in their own community that go unnoticed. It isn’t an easy watch, but it’s a vital one.

Release date: TBD

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A sort of darkly inverse A Star Is Born, Vox Lux is the story of Celeste (Raffey Cassidy), a teenage girl who’s wounded in a school shooting. She sings an original song at a memorial service for her slain classmates and becomes a national sensation, rapidly rocketing to pop stardom under the guidance of her older sister (Jennifer Ehle) and a new manager (Jude Law). But then the movie jumps forward in time to center on a grown Celeste, played by Natalie Portman, who has been hardened by show business and is attempting a comeback.

It’s a highly stylized, incredibly ambitious film that doesn’t quite hit its marks, but it tries hard to illustrate how the modern appetite for sensationalism and spectacle leads to both celebrity and self-destruction — and Portman’s performance as a strung-out pop star is appropriately hard-bitten and manic. Sia wrote a number of the film’s songs and serves as executive producer.

Original Source -> 19 standout movies from TIFF to look forward to this fall

via The Conservative Brief

[inreview]

2017 Year in Review: Music Edition

by Alex B. Cruz

2017 has been nothing short of a mess but at least we were blessed with some great new music to push us through it. Below is a list of my favorite albums and some standout tracks for the year.

Melodrama by Lorde

Melodrama takes you on a ride that stays true to its title from start to end. Its melodies and long strides have a synchronizing effect that transports you into vivid dreams when listened to in full.

Notable tracks: “Green Light”, “Homemade Dynamite”, “The Louvre”, and “Supercut”

Ctrl by SZA

SZA’s sound is sultry and that is made clear with the tracklist in Ctrl. The lyrics consistently flirt with boundaries while revealing an honest storyline that SZA delivers with pointed, raw vocals.

Notable tracks: “Love Galore”, “The Weekend”, “Prom”, and “Go Gina”

More Life by Drake

Drake consistently produces highly relatable material inclusive of personal grievances fused with playful samples. He delivered this once again with the release of More Life although the project seemed a bit less cohesive than some of his previous work.

Notable tracks: “Passionfruit”, “Gyalchester”, “Portland”, and “Fake Love”

El Dorado by Shakira

El Dorado is a continuation of Shakira’s success following her departure from latin pop/rock and transition into the pop/reggaeton genre. It’s a fun, catchy album with at least a handful of potential singles bound to do well commercially.

Notable tracks: “Me Enamoré”, “Chantaje”, “Perro Fiel”, and “La Bicicleta”

A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs

The latest release from The War on Drugs is a full-on psychedelic trip with touches Americana. It’s a refreshing outlook with clear rock influences that still manages to create an original sound.   

Notable tracks: “Up All Night”, “Pain”, “Strangest Thing”, and “Thinking of a Place”

DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar

The highly anticipated and critically successful DAMN. keeps elements of classic rap tones while centering its lyrics into timely conversations. It’s raw storytelling and Kendrick delivers his rhymes with a sharp ease.

Notable tracks: “Humble”, “DNA”, “Love”, and “Element”

Lust for Life by Lana del Rey

Lust for Life is Lana’s most authentic revival of vintage sound. That is largely due to its elevated maturity and concise message that is most notable in her deeply melancholic ballads.

Notable tracks: “Love”, “13 Beaches”, “White Mustang”, and “Tomorrow Never Came”

Harry Styles by Harry Styles

The debut solo album released by Harry Styles was a complete departure from his previous work and that’s a good thing. It’s a blend of soft rock and indie pop and while it may lack a bit in cohesiveness, it contains some truly great moments that are worth the listen.

Notable tracks: “Meet Me in the Hallway”, “Sign of the Times”, “Kiwi”, and “Ever Since New York”

Tell Me You Love Me by Demi Lovato

Demi’s strong vocal range truly shines in each track of TMYLM. The album showcases her strengths equally in climatic moments and stripped down harmonies that touch both pop and R&B angles.

Notable tracks: “Tell Me You Love Me”, “Sexy Dirty Love”, “You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore”, and “Cry Baby”

War & Leisure by Miguel

Miguel stays true to R&B in War & Leisure while introducing new wave funk into his most upbeat tracks. Besides the obviously enjoyable “Sky Walker”, the album contains plenty of notable upbeat tracks with undeniable charm.

Notable tracks: “Criminal”, “Pineapple Skies”, “Banana Clip”, and “Caramelo Duro”

NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES by N.E.R.D.

N.E.R.D.’s latest release is an enlivened celebration of hip hop with an impressive production. The album contains many notable features including Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and Andre 3000.

Notable tracks: “Lemon”, “1000″, “Lighting Fire Magic Prayer”, and “Kites”

Pop 2 by Charli XCX

Although not a studio album, Pop 2 is an exciting preview of Charli XCX’s next release set for 2018. The full-length mixtape is a dance/pop synth trip on steroids with tracks that could singularly or collectively find their way into the nightclub scene.

Notable tracks: “Backseat”, “Femmebot”, “Delicious”, and “Unlock It”

Favorite Singles:

“Bodak Yellow” by Cardi B

The year’s obvious breakout artist is Cardi B who took over the Hot 100 chart with “Bodak Yellow”. She’s proving to be more than a one-hit wonder with the success of tracks like “Bartier Cardi” and collaborations like “Um Yea” and “MotorSport” that have only built on the anticipation of her debut studio album.

“1-800-237-8255” by Logic

The standout from this list is an anthem showcasing the importance of mental health and the need to create a space in society for an open conversation on suicide. The collaboration with Alessia Cara and Khaled delivers a beautiful message of hope and support for those battling depression.

“Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato

The lead single off Tell Me You Love Me is a quintessential peek into the engaging themes from the album. It shows off her powerhouse vocals and is a celebration of self love with lighthearted flair.  

“It’s a Vibe” by 2 Chainz

The second single from Pretty Girls Like Trap Music brings a softer sound  into the mix of a largely fast-paced hip-hop album. Ty Dolla Sign, Trey Songz and Jhené Aiko make appearances on the track, providing a balanced dynamic of hip-hop, trap, and R&B that fits well into the playlist.

“Despacito” (Remix) by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber

An obvious choice for song of the year for its commercial success but at its core, Despacito is truly a masterfully engineered song. It did exactly what it was meant to do as a crossover hit using the Latin pop appeal of Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee’s leverage as a reggaeton icon, and Justin Bieber’s mainstay as an American pop artist.

“Out Of My Head” by Charli XCX

Closing out the year with a new single and album is Charli XCX. The collaboration with Tove Lo and Alma provides an infectious beat built for the dance charts and the mixtape has already been receiving positive reviews from critics calling it her best work to date.

Other notable tracks:

“XO Tour Llif3” by Lil Uzi Vert

“Tonya Harding” by Sufjan Stevens

“Quit” by Cashmere Cat feat. Ariana Grande

“Wild Thoughts” by DJ Khaled feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller

“Take Me” by Aly & AJ

“Run” by Foo Fighters

“Mask Off” by Future

“Mi Gente” by J Balvin and Willy William

“Call It Dreaming” Iron & Wine

“Plain Jane” by A$AP Ferg

“Cigarettes” by Amir Obe

“Never” by J.I.D

“Caroline” by Aminé

[makeitwithmike]

5 Powerful Writing Books For Mastering The Art of Web Copywriting

By Jini Maxin

Words sell your wares online… it’s true! Even if you load your website with images and rely on a high-res Instagram account, you still need well-written captions and concise CTAs.

Create a website minus any copy and see what happens. I bet Google spiders won’t crawl your pages. Your website won’t rank well in SERPs. And traffic won’t come your way.

Here’s why: because Google recognizes words and not images. Words are the true currency of the web.

But of course you need to string pearls and not potatoes together to create compelling content for your online wares. Whether it be it your product descriptions, website text, marketing eblasts, blog posts or newsletters, believe me when I say that every word you use has a definite role to play when it comes to your conversion rate.

If your words don’t mean a thing to users, it would defeat the very purpose of coming up with a good product or service in the first place, right?

But given that there are over 1,000,000,000 websites in the world competing for attention, it’s intimidating even trying to write well, let alone actually doing it. Here are five powerful books that will help you get on the right track.

1. ‘Web Copy That Sells’ by Maria Veloso

Do you think web copywriting and print copywriting are the same thing?

If, yes, then you are wrong my friend.

And you don’t have to just take my word for it. Read Web Copy That Sells by Mario Veloso and all your doubts will be allayed.

For me, this book was an eye-opener. As a fan of fictional books, I would go to great lengths to make sure my business blog posts sounded like one of the authors I was currently stuck on… be it J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Clive Cussler, Kathy Reichs or Cecelia Ahern.

But then, Mario Veloso’s book came to my attention and I thought, what am I doing?! Sense, finally, struck.

Principles of print shouldn’t be applied to the web; the book made this point loud and clear. Your web copy is intended for one purpose: to make sales, not to win some Man Booker or Pulitzer Prize. You’ve still got to craft the copy but it should be fairly concise and to-the-point.

Bottom line: Cut the clutter. Inject some emotion.

That said, don’t stop reading fictional stuff. Do not, I repeat, do not stop reading fictional stuff. Because it gets your emotional juices flowing. And sometimes, you can derive some amazing concepts out of it. Check out my previous post here, which was heavily influenced by the Harry Potter series.

Key takeaways:

Write advertorial copy – no direct selling messages, please.

Use plain and simple words that will appeal to your target audience.

Keep the content scannable for people who read on smartphones or tablets.

Focus on bite-sized chunks and avoid corporate speak.

Use text boxes while introducing stories, testimonials and case studies.

Employ the cliffhanger principle to make people click to another page.

This is the ultimate book in web copywriting, in my opinion. It really gets you thinking about how to write perfect web copy and the psychology behind it. It teaches you how to mathematically calculate the selling ability of your website and trains you to write copy that gets readers salivating for your product or service.

2. ‘On Writing Well’ by William Zinsser

If you are planning to read only one book on writing this year, then this should be the book. I simply cannot stress enough how much this classic text on writing can help you improve your writing style. It’s practically a bible for those who love words.

When I came across it, I was super desperate to make my technical copy sound… well… super technical.

On Writing Well helped me figure out how and since then, honestly speaking, my writing has changed for the better.

It helps you focus enough on using short words, shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs. It teaches you that just because you’re writing technical copy, there’s no need to overstuff it with technical jargon that makes no sense to the general population (i.e., non-technical folks).

This is important because the majority of online readers include non-technical folks as well, and it’s equally important for them to figure what all the fuss is all about, especially if you are looking for more ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ for your post on social media.

Furthermore, the writing principles included in this book are generic in nature and thus can be applied to all domains of writing.

Key takeaways:

If any technical expert says your piece is ‘dumb’, that’s their problem, not yours. Strengthen your piece with your own experience and be sincere. Your best credential is yourself.

Think small. Decide what corner of your subject you’re going to bite off and be content to cover it and stop.

Express your opinions. Use ‘I’ wherever you can.

Find more about this book: The 30th Anniversary Edition On Writing Well by William Zinsser

3. ‘On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft’ by Stephen King

The lover of night and the macabre, Stephen King, has no fewer than 66 non-fiction books to his name. On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft is his one non-fiction offering and it’s insanely popular. Writers everywhere use it as a resource to read, think and act upon.

It’s part memoir, part craft of writing. It details King’s early years in the company of a single mother who encouraged him to write his own original stuff; his constant tug-of-war with his insecurities; his experience working in a laundry while writing his popular novel Carrie; and writing 2,000 words every damn day.

There’s a complete chapter on King’s writing ‘toolbox’ as well. However, the most important takeaway is his attitude to writing; which can be explained thus: “you must not come lightly to the blank page.”

Simply put, writing is hard work. Be prepared to put in the hours.

Key takeaway:

“One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little ashamed of your short ones.”

4. ‘Syntax and Sin’ by Constance Hale

“One pearl is better than a whole necklace of potatoes.” That’s the opening line of Syntax and Sin and it had me hooked from the get-go – that’s why I used it in the start of this post.

The author, Constance Hale, aptly describes empty words as ‘potatoes’ and rich words as ‘pearls’. In her opinion, only a few words are fit to be strung into a sentence and it’s the job of the writer to identify them and pull them together – word by word.

The book partly deals with grammar rules, and partly with tips on how to produce ‘sinfully’ good prose. And, if you suffer from the misconceived notion that grammar books are dry and stuffy, rest assured that Syntax and Sin is nothing of the sort.

It’s one of the hippest grammar books I’ve ever read. The writing is out of this world, and the grammar lessons are extraordinary. It makes you want to write. It’s so inspirational.

Some of the examples of how to write the ‘perfect lead’ literally give you awestruck moments thanks to Hale’s straightforward approach and matter-of-fact tone.

If you are hoping to make the lead sentence of your blog posts stop the reader dead in their tracks, read this book.

Key takeaway:

“One pearl is better than a whole necklace of potatoes.”

5. ‘Penguin Guide To Punctuation’ by R.L. Trask

Do you know exactly when to use the capital letter ‘P’ for President and small letter ‘p’ for president? Do you know about the four types of commas? Or do you worry that your web copy is riddled with tiny errors that could cost you credibility?

If so, then you need to go order the Penguin Guide to Punctuation. The book literally proves that big things come in small packages. All 156 pages in length, it sheds light on the proper usage of colons, semi-colons, apostrophes, quotation marks, italics, boldface and much more in an easily digestible way.

This book is actually the only reference tool you need for grammar and punctuation.

Key takeaways:

Differences in American usage and British usage are very precise, and very important.

As a general rule, never use an apostrophe in writing plural forms. It is absolutely wrong to write pizza’s, video’s, fine wine’s, cream tea’s, and mountain bike’s.

Conclusion

Whether it’s one of them or all of them, the books above are of indispensable value to aspiring or indeed seasoned copywriters. Two other books, On Writing Life by Annie Dilliard and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, are also great resources and well worth a read, especially the latter one.

Now, it’s your turn. Tell me, which writing books have inspired you to come up with better web copy, and other marketing communications?

I would love to hear what has helped you shoot up your dull sales.

Guest Author: Jini Maxin is a senior writer at OpenXcell – a top Mobile App Development Company. She has a masters degree in journalism and mass communications and is a frequent contributor to several top online publications and websites. Her favorite pastimes include reading books (both fiction and nonfiction) and being introspective. Get in touch with her on Linkedin and Twitter.

The post 5 Powerful Writing Books For Mastering The Art of Web Copywriting appeared first on Jeffbullas’s Blog.

The post 5 Powerful Writing Books For Mastering The Art of Web Copywriting appeared first on Make It With Michael.

from 5 Powerful Writing Books For Mastering The Art of Web Copywriting

[2700fstreet]

CLASSICAL / 2017-2018

NSO POPS: BLACK VIOLIN

APR 4 NSO FAMILY CONCERT

Black Violin “Classical Boom Tour” with the National Symphony Orchestra Pops Steven Reineke, conductor

Photo by Colin Brennan

So, What’s Going On?

Welcome to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Are you ready for some…hip hop? You heard that right. It’s hip hop in the concert hall. Meet Black Violin, two talented string musicians whose performance, along with the National Symphony Orchestra Pops, is where classical music and hip hop collide.

So what’s it like to be at a Black Violin concert?

Glad you asked!

With their modern twist on classical musical structures and techniques, Black Violin creates a sound that challenges musical stereotypes and changes the expectations of BOTH classical and hip hop audiences. Usually when Black Violin performs live, they’re backed up by only a DJ and a drummer. The group plays everything from what you might think of as “serious” classical music to hip hop, R&B, and bluegrass, and then goes a step further to mash-up these genres into blended, innovative musical pieces. In fact, the group prefers not to specialize in just one music genre.

Black Violin has toured across the world for momentous occasions ranging from NFL Super Bowl celebrations to President Obama’s Inaugural Ball, and has collaborated with artists including Wu-Tang Clan, Aerosmith, Kanye West, P. Diddy, and Alicia Keys. Their goal is to create music that transcends labels and aims to start a conversation between those who might never have the occasion to share musical experiences otherwise. In their eyes, that’s the one thing hip hop and classical music share: the mission of bringing people together. That’s where YOU come in.

The NSO Pops: Black Violin performance falls on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the focus of this performance is an appreciation for the life and work of Dr. King. The first half of the program includes the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Pops honoring the work of respected African American composers including Adolphus Hailstork, Jessie Montgomery, Jonathan Bailey Holland, and William Grant Still.

Special FYI: You should know that William Grant Still was among the first to incorporate African American musical forms like blues, spirituals, and jazz into traditional classical music. His Afro-American Symphony (perhaps the original mash-up?) introduced classical audiences to the African American experience in a new way. It is precisely modern composers and performers like Black Violin who continue the legacy of Still and others—forging a path of their own sound and inspiring a new generation of music appreciation.

Who’s Who

Meet Black Violin.

Photo by Colin Brennan

Violinist Kevin Sylvester “Kev Marcus” or “Simply Sick” is a classically-trained violinist who was nudged towards music by his mother in the fifth grade—finding himself assigned to violin, which he initially considered “uncool”—and ended up majoring in classical violin in college.

Photo by Colin Brennan

Violist Wilner Baptiste or “Wil B” has a similar story: Hoping to play saxophone in summer band camp, an error placed him in the strings class instead. (He would later find out there was no error—the band and strings teacher both wanted him in their class and the strings teacher won out). Baptiste picked up the viola, an instrument no one else seemed to want, and the rest is history.

Before they developed a love for strings, both were kids who grew up on hip hop music. After meeting in high school orchestra, these hip hop-loving teens developed respect, appreciation, and eventually, love of classical music and composers. (Kev Marcus cites Bach’s music as “the equalizer” making him work hard towards greatness.) When Sylvester and Baptiste discovered a mutual interest in bringing people together through music, no matter the genre…Black Violin was born.

Plus, NYC hip hop drummer Jermain McQueen and DJ SPS bring it all together to blend the group’s hip hop and classical sound.

But before Black Violin storms the stage, you should know the concert will feature music by these African American composers of the past and present including:

Adolphus Hailstork is a living musician, composer, and music educator in the Norfolk, VA area. As a composer, he draws on his African American heritage and musical elements from African American and European traditions. Hear Hailstork’s Fanfare on “Amazing Grace”:

Jessie Montgomery is a young musician, violinist, composer, and music educator, forging her way in American classical music. Her compositions combine classical chamber music with elements from folk music, African American spirituals, and improvisation. She uses music as her voice in the world, exploring her beliefs and even politics. Watch Jessie Montgomery speak about her composition “Banner,” commissioned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of “The Star-Spangled Banner”:

Jonathan Bailey Holland is a composer and educator, serving as Chair of Composition, Theory, and History at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He has been commissioned to compose pieces to be performed by many orchestras, including Equality, featuring the poetry of Maya Angelou, and Signals, commissioned by the NSO in honor of the 25th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Visit Jonathan Bailey Holland’s Soundcloud Station to hear his compositions. Our favorite? “Synchrony,” a piece that explores the idea that two realities can exist at one:

Finally, William Grant Still (1895–1978) was an American composer, referred to as the “Dean” of African American composers. A trailblazer for African Americans in classical music, Still was the first African American to conduct a symphony-orchestra and the first to have a symphony—his “Afro-American” Symphony—performed. This symphony blended elements of African American music like rhythm and blues with traditional symphonic form, integrating Black culture into traditionally European musical forms. Still collaborated with literary and cultural leaders in the Harlem Renaissance movement like Langston Hughes, leaving a legacy for those who would follow his musical influence. Hear the finale of the Afro-American Symphony here:

Check This Out…

At the beginning of the concert, the NSO features pieces by African American composers, many of whom incorporate fundamentals from African American music, like rhythm, jazz melodies, and folk instruments, into a classical setting. Listen for African beats and drums, improvisational techniques, and folk sounds.

Watch for the similarities and differences between how the NSO and Black Violin work together to create music. How do members of the orchestra convey the music’s message, perform in sync, and create a cohesive musical sound? (Hint: Do you see someone helping them know what to do, when, and how?) How do the members of Black Violin communicate with one another to accomplish the same things? What is similar and different about the ways a small group and an orchestra work together?

Black Violin’s ensemble includes one person you rarely see on a concert stage: a DJ. A disc jockey (or DJ) is someone who plays live music in a club or radio station, frequently selecting tracks to play and manipulating recorded music in a process called mixing. DJs engage an audience by mixing one recorded track to the next or performing other maneuvers like cuts, juggles, and beat manipulation. The DJ is a key part of Black Violin’s emphasis on beat. Just for fun, watch Black Violin’s Tour Bus Jam cover of Camila Cabello’s “Havana” as part of YouTube’s #CreateBlackHistory 2018:

What role does the DJ play in this improvisational cover?

The violin and viola are stringed instruments made of wood and held together with glue. Their bodies have four strings, a bridge that supports the strings, and a hollow “box” through which sound is amplified.

Photo by Lisa Lione Violins and violas are played by dragging a bow across the strings (arco) or plucking (pizzicato)—as the strings vibrate to produce a musical tone. Listen for the similarities and differences between the instruments as they are played by the orchestra and Black Violin. Learn about the differences between the violin and viola:

Just like their music, Black Violin’s performance style is a mixture of classical concert and hip hop jam session. A classical performance has certain audience expectations—attentive listening, polite responses to music (such as applause), and concert hall manners. During the NSO presentation, it’s a good idea to follow these expectations. But Black Violin enjoys audience participation in a slightly different way. They might encourage you to experience the beat with movement, put your hands up, clap, or participate in other movements.

Think About This…

The group named themselves Black Violin after being inspired by jazz violinist Stuff Smith, who was one of the first violinists to use electric amplification in the jazz swing era. His music, including the album Black Violin, broke new ground using the violin in jazz and blues. How does Black Violin’s mission to break through classifications honor Stuff Smith’s legacy? Listen to Stuff Smith play “Yesterdays” from the 1965 album Black Violin:

The style of Black Violin is called a “classical boom,” in part due to the hip hop beats they bring to traditional classical style. How does the infusion of beats and rhythms change classical music? Compare this to what William Grant Still did with the Afro-American symphony. What is similar about the music of Still and Black Violin?

Black Violin’s most recent album is called Stereotypes. Consider your own stereotypes about music or art. How can you challenge those stereotypes?

Take Action: Break Through

Black Violin combines very different styles of music—classical and hip hop—to create music that’s brand new and innovative. They break through barriers of both kinds of music in the hopes of extending understanding and experiences beyond what people might otherwise encounter. How often does a classical musician get the chance to play a hip hop rhythm? Or does a hip hop artist get lost in a Bach concerto? Black Violin makes both of those experiences—and many others—possible, with their unique way of breaking through expectations.

How can you break through the expectations of your artistic experiences? Maybe you’ll try rewriting your favorite pop song as an operatic aria, choreograph Swan Lake as a modern dance, or paint a landscape using Cubism. Snap a picture or take a video showing how you break through to experiment with expectations and post it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, or any other platform. Then, tag five friends and ask them to share what it means to them. Use #breakthrough as your hashtag.

Explore More

Go even deeper with the Black Violin Performance Extras.

David M. Rubenstein is the Presenting Underwriter of the NSO.

AARP is the Presenting Sponsor of the NSO Pops Season.