#We’re all just big Fontaines fans :)

[aeolianblues]

Grian went to see the French band Papooz

[thatdeadaquarius]

Episode two of us teleported to genshin and we just play prank on everyone and causing havoc cuz y not <33

Secretly swapping venti and kaeya's vintage wine with the freshest grape juice *evil laugh*

Randomly singing niki minaj and megan thee stalion lyrics in random places <3

WE WOULD BUILD A TREE HOUSE NEAR WINDRISE AND LIVE TOGETHER YAYAYAY

Living that cottage core dream <3

YOU KNOW WE WOULD BITCH

i like to think we'd fufill every genshin fans chaotic dreams if we got yoinked to genshin lol

(obviously, seriously, sorry for replying way too late to this ;-; )

ur talking abt harmless pranks, and while yes we would need to do all of those, im talking abt figuring out how to trick Zhongli into running into Neuvillette LMAOO

ok but the Windrise idea is lowkey genius, i mean if Hilichurls can accomplish structures surely so can we, u know what i subscribe to tho? Treehouses/cool houses in every nation 👌

like cool mountain home for Liyue/inazuma could literally have a house for every island/sumeru would be yet another most epic treehouses/I WOULD LIKE TO HANG OUT/LIVE IN ONE OF THE PYRAMIDS!! not all of them have dead ppl in them i don't think (in teyvat not earth💀)

Im a personal favorite of not just singing nicki minaj songs/2000s party songs, but blasting them thruout Fontaine’s speakers 👍

OR EVEN BETTER-

blasting unhinged music thru the speakers of the CLOCKWORK MEKA, no matter where Fontainians go they can’t escape shit like, “REESES PUFFS REESES PUFFS EAT EM UP EAT EM UP EAT EM UP”

(i like to think our phones would come with/always be at 100% bc we’re “inside the video game” too)

i just posted ur other idea abt this, but telling the Akademiya/Fontaine vision users abt powerpoint nights, and just sitting back with popcorn/genshin food so we can watch the show lol

idk if u saw it for Lantern rite this year, but how mountain shaper and moon carver accidentally messed with cloud retainer by flying kites in her territory? i would give the adepti even more funny gifts so they'd unintentionally prank Each Other lmao

Giving unhinged novel ideas to Yae Miko would also be great, like the beef between Zhongli/Rex Lapis and Venti/Barbatos but enemies to lovers fanfic 💀

she’d print it too lol

(oh god i don't even wanna think abt how much more insane we’d seem if they thought we were their Creators/above the gods 😭 be gods of chaos more like lol)

tysm for all ur big brain ideas orah, 10/10 would love driving Teyvat crazy if we were both there irl

i hope u have a great week!! :D

Safe Travels,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit / @chinuneko

@kiyomi-uchiha777

[razorblade180]

Aether:*drinking coffee*

Ayaka:*walks by* Ah, here you are.

Aether:Something the matter?

Ayaka:Not at all. I was just wondering where you went after we finished filming for today. *sits by him* Fontaine is truly beautiful at night. Yoimiya has so much energy she’s currently taking Paimon around so she can find call the good restaurant.

Aether: *sips calmly*

Ayaka:As for Ayato, he’s somehow found himself knee deep if official affairs. He said getting them all done now will probably free him up to relax in a couple days. That’s okay though. This place is far too big and wonderful for me to be bored.

Aether: *maintains poker face and sips*

Ayaka:I never would’ve imagined a moment like this. You and I in a far off land, alone. *sways* No prying eyes of clan members or a backlog of my responsibilities. Quite the rare occasion.

Aether:….

Ayaka:….

Ayaka:*flustered* Please don’t make me come out and say it. I beg of you.

Aether:Hmm, say what? Is there an implication I’m missing? *smiles*

The girls face grew red. With the absence of her fan, Ayaka tried hiding behind her hat as the young man chuckled. Aether downed his coffee and stood up, taking her hand. This entire situation felt like a case of déjà vu back in Bottle Land. No doubt a certain strategist was sharing her methods.

Aether:We better make we’re ready to film bright and early tomorrow. I don’t mind helping you run some lines.

Ayaka:*perks up* What a wonderful idea!

The next day

Ayaka:*basically glowing* Ready to film!

Chiori and Yoi: *looks at Aether*

Aether:*downs his third coffee*

Furina:Anymore caffeine and your hands won’t be steady for the Kamera! I’m cutting you off.

Aether:It’s fine! I’m awake! Let’s do this! *stretches arms*

Chiori:Ayaka, I implore you to not kill our only Kamera Man.

Ayaka:Hmm? *looks* Ah…*nods politely* Understood.

Chiori:And what do you think you’re doing enabling her!?

Yoimiya:What can I say? I’m a girls girl. *stands proudly*

Chiori:(This is going to be a long shoot.)

[magolandandfriends]

Hey again other me! Been a little while, hehe! I’ve gotten to meet a whole lot more counterparts of myself (we made a spiderverse parody and now we’re being compared to sans and I am slightly afraid!) but I wanted to say hi again! :D Anyways, I got a question for you! What fandoms you in?

-@extradimensional-catboy

SANS UNDERTALE-

(I have no idea if this is directed towards me or the characters so I said “fuck it” and did both- even though the main 4 aren’t into any kind of fandoms- I have what kind of games they like (headcanons)- so I’m gonna do that-)

The main 4 :D

Magolor: his ass LOVES world building. Anything that involves building/sandbox games he’ll play (like minecraft/Sims). He’s also a big fan of puzzle games (like Portal. I love Portal. So he loves portal.) and Tetris, fucking loves tetris

Marx: He plays a lot of coop/multiplayer games, nothing too specific he just likes playing and talking to other people. Also enjoys open world RPGS as long if there’s some kind of coop in it

Taranza: He doesn’t play a lot of games, when he does it’s to pass the time. Just like Magolor, he also likes puzzle games except he doesn’t use a tutorial. And story games (like visual novels/dating sims), he just likes watching stories and going into a crisis over any kind of angst happening (especially if it’s romance)

Susie: competitive mother fucker. Enjoys any kind of competitive games (like marx, they play together a lot), besides screaming at other people she loves almost breaking her phone from rhythm games (PJSEKAI/Bandori)

But the 4 of them will mostly play games together. Will be screaming at each other 99% of the time (mainly because of uno but shhh-) but it’s ok they’re still having fun (at least we think so-)

Me :D

I’m in the Kirby fandom as of right now! I don’t know if this counts as a fandom but I really like Party Crashers! They’re my favorite youtuber rn along with sidequest! (I have more but I don’t wanna list them all)

I’m not really in the fandom but I do like Genshin! Fontaine just came out and I’m having so much fun I love the swimming feature (my storage is dying but that’s ok- I think-) and I like cookie run! Im not that into it anymore but I check in from time to time- my favorite is Lotus dragon they’re so pretty I love them so muchshennwnsmakskkw

(But thank you for the ask! Sorry that this doesn’t have a drawing response but I think this is better as a text post-)

[moremusic]

This week’s guests are from my favorite city, New York. The Upsides play infectious music that will get into the core of your soul and leave you wanting more. Do yourself a favor and check them out!

Can you tell us a little history of the upsides. How did you meet and form?

My brother Matt (who is the lead singer and guitarist) and I have been playing together since I received my first drum set for Christmas in fourth grade. Matt DaSilva, our bassist, has been in different iterations of groups we’ve had over the years including a 90s covers band. Hopefully we’ve improved a little since those days. I met Hart (lead guitarist) in college although we never played in a band together there, we would just kind of jam together after a few drinks. I luckily ran back into him in Lower Manhattan after graduation and invited him to come to the next rehearsal my brother and I had lined up.

I am a big fan of your song “Jump In” can you tell me the meaning of this song?

Thank you! That one came about a few years ago and while all of our songs are collaborative, that’s a tune I had more of a hand in than others. Lyrically, it is really just about coming to a certain point in maturing as a person. Being more comfortable in your own skin and ‘jumping in’ if you will to who you actually want to be, rather than someone else’s idea of who you should be or what you should be doing with your life. It felt like a proper album opener particularly with the uptempo feel, sort of a “here we are” moment.

When you write, is it a band effort or does someone come to rehearsal with an idea or finished song?

For this first album, most of the songs were one person bringing forth an idea to the band that we would work together to fully form which was a great process. However, for the second album that we are beginning to work on we wanted to try to build songs from the ground-up as a unit in the rehearsal studio. We actually rented a cabin up in the Catskills in early July and had a really productive week forming ideas with that method. We’re really excited to finish out those songs that stemmed from a new writing process and it was invigorating to have a full blank canvas every day rather than quickly showing each other new ideas after a rehearsal in Brooklyn.

What is your career highlight?

It might be a toss-up between having our tune ‘Jump In’ played on either Pat Monahan’s (lead singer of Train) SiriusXM channel and also on WFUV 90.7 in New York City. We grew up covering Train in that aforementioned 90s covers band, and also grew up listening to WFUV which just had enough signal to make it to our hometown of Randolph, New Jersey. Shout out to Alisa Ali of WFUV who always supports local acts!

What is your favorite venue to play?

That would probably have to be Mercury Lounge right here in New York, where we had our album release show back in May. It’s an intimate vibe but always sounds great and has a great stage. You can almost feel the history of the bands who have played there over the years in the walls. And you can definitely see all the band stickers in the green room!

What does the next 6-12 months hold for you?

We’re going to be hard at work on album 2, hopefully finishing up demos for that by October and starting the recording process early next year. We’ll have a couple more shows in New York in New England to close out the year as well and then hopefully releasing more music as early as possible in 2025 and gigging in support of our second album!

What is your dream festival line up?

Speaking for myself, and keeping the list to a somewhat respectable number, I’ll go Cut Worms, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Fontaines D.C., Arctic Monkeys, then Queens of the Stone Age.

If you could open for any band who would it be?

Funny you should ask, I just asked that question while we were killing time driving to a show in Philadelphia. I picked Spoon. I’ve seen them live a few times and they’re just a killer band who has been at it for awhile growing organically and are about as authentic as it gets in my opinion. Other picks I can remember were Alvvays and Fontaines D.C.

Who are your influences?

It’s definitely a mixed bag which is something I really appreciate. Honestly, and I’m not just saying this, the first Atlas Genius album was a big inspiration for Matt and I as we first started writing our own songs. And Hart even brought up how he was doing some “Atlas Genius guitar stuff” when we were up in The Catskills. We definitely first bonded over a love of The Strokes but have sought to differentiate our sound from them, as they’re an easy band to want to sound like particularly being from New York. I really love Australian bands like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and the feel of songs like ‘Jump In’ and ‘Grand Plans’ definitely comes from that influence. We all made pretty eclectic playlists of ten songs that were ‘mandatory’ listening ahead of the Catskills trip which was fun to see what ideas, even if it was just a quick drum pattern or chord progression, stemmed from that. Those playlists saw everything from Kevin Morby to The Chills (from New Zealand!) to Jonathan Richman to New Order.

If you were stuck on an island and could only take one record, what would it be?

‘Caravan’ by Van Morrison. I do have it on vinyl and it just instantly puts me in a good, nostalgic mood. Brings me back to sitting on the patio with my family growing up and is just timeless incredible music.

Fender or Gibson?

While I’m the drummer, I can definitively say Fender. Hart just got a new Fiesta Red Made in Japan Jaguar, so now we have just about every Fender option available other than a Mustang I believe. The Upsides arsenal includes a Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmater, Jaguar, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass all from Fender. We’re open to a Fender sponsorship!

Any upcoming gigs you would like to promote?

Yes we have a big one on Saturday September 7th at Bowery Ballroom in New York! That will be in support of our friends Gooseberry and their album release, and another dear friend B. Miles will be on the bill as well. And then Saturday October 26th we’re going to make our debut up in Portland Maine which will be a blast.

Lastly, where can people find out more about you?

https://www.instagram.com/theupsides_?igsh=OTl2dHg4c3cxc2Fr

[howdon-aldi-death-queue]

NEW SAM FENDER INTERVIEW FOR NME

THE BIG READ

Sam Fender: “This album is probably the best thing I’ve done in my life”

The hometown hero has distanced himself from the ‘Geordie Springsteen’ tag, but there’s no shortage of rites-of-passage yarns and colossal tunes on the upcoming ‘Seventeen Going Under’

“You can see the ghost of Thatcherism over there…” says Sam Fender, pointing across the water to a vacant shipyard, where once the shipbuilding industry was so healthy that vessels towered higher than the rows of houses on the shore. We’re on the waterfront in North Shields, just outside Newcastle, and our photographer is snapping away for Sam’s first NME cover shoot.

The singer-songwriter stares stonily into the lens as wafts of seaweed and fishing trawlers are carried by the northern coastal breeze. He’s already been stopped for a few pictures with fans, but remains eager to point out the impact that Tory leadership has had on his working-class town over the last few decades. “It’s been closed since the ’80s, from the ghost wasteland of the shipyards. You’ve got all the scars of Thatcherism from The Tyne all over to the pit villages in Durham.”

It’s as good an introduction as any to the outspoken musician, whose 2019 debut album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ was a record for his sleepy hometown to be proud of – tackling themes that range from male suicide (the heartbreaking ‘Dead Boys’) to world tensions (and the “kids in Gaza” he eulogised on its soaring title track). He set weighty topics against blisteringly well-executed Americana with the fist-in-the-air euphoria of Bruce Springsteen’s colossal choruses and sax solos. Much like his hero, Sam smartly weaves his own political standpoint and personal circumstance into gripping anthems of a generation, which earned him the ‘Geordie Springsteen’ tag.

“I can’t exactly bat off those comparisons, can I?” he says back in his cosy recording studio nearby. “At the same time, I don’t feel worthy of that tag. The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘That’s fucking sick’, but you don’t want to be riding off the coattails of The Boss for the rest of your life. I can write my own songs, they’re different and my voice doesn’t sound anything like Springsteen’s. I don’t have his growl; I’m a little fairy when I sing.”

He may have toned down the Springsteen vibes slightly on his highly anticipated second album ‘Seventeen Going Under’, due later this year, but there are still plenty of chest-pounding anthems capable of making your hairs stand on end: “I much prefer Americana to the music we have in our country at the moment. I love the leftfield indie stuff like Fontaines D.C, Squid and Black Midi, but I love a chorus and melodic songs. I think the American alternative scene has that down with Pinegrove, Big Thief, The War On Drugs.”

‘Hypersonic Missiles’ thrummed with a small town frustration almost that every suburban teenager could surely relate to. This was most notable on ‘Leave Fast’, where he sang about the “boarded up windows on the promenade / The shells of old nightclubs” and “intoxicated people battling on the regular in a lazy Low Lights bar”, a reference to his beloved local. But album two sees him fully embrace North Shields, an ever-present backdrop to cherished memories and harrowing life events of his youth and surroundings.

It’s no coincidence that the 27-year-old has turned inwards and penned a record about his hometown while being stuck at home like the rest of the country: “I didn’t have anything to point at and I didn’t want to talk about the pandemic because nobody wants that – I never want to hear about it again. It was such a stagnant time that I had to go inwards and find something, because I was so uninspired by the lifetime we we’re living in.

“I’ve made my coming-of-age record and that was important for me – as I get older, these stories keep appearing; I’ve got so much to talk about. I wrote about growing up here. It’s about mental health and how things that happen as a child impact your self-esteem in later life. On the first record, I was pointing at stuff angrily, but the further I’ve gotten into my 20s, the more I’ve realised how little I know about anything. When you hit 25, you’re like: ‘I’m fucking clueless! I know nothing about the world.’ It was a humbling experience, growing up.”

Early last year, before the pandemic hit, Sam was set to jet off to New York pre-pandemic to record in the city’s infamous Electric Lady studios founded by Jimi Hendrix. “Looking back, I’m thankful that it happened,” he says. “If I went off to New York and did my second album there… it wouldn’t have been the same record. I will go and do the third one in NYC, come hell or high water – I’m fucking out of here!

“The forced return home really informed the direction [of the record]. I was on the crest of this insane wave; we’d sold out 84,000 tickets for the [‘Hypersonic Missiles] arena tour that we still haven’t played yet. I’m still waiting to hear when it’s going to be rescheduled. It’s incredibly frustrating; I’ve got loads of frustrated fans. That was all cancelled on the day of the lockdown. I thought it was only going to be a couple of months and that it would be another swine flu thing, but fool me – I was stuck in the house like everybody else.”

It’s not the first setback that Sam has dealt with in his career. In the summer of 2019, he was ready to make his Glastonbury Festival debut with a Friday afternoon set on the legendary John Peel Stage, a rite of passage for any emerging artist, but had to pull out due to a serious health issue with his vocal chords. The mood in the room shifts dramatically at the mention of this devastating period: “I don’t want to focus on that, to be honest, because it’s just negative news and it’s in the past.”

“The further I’ve gotten into my 20s, the more I’ve realised how little I know”

Looking back now, he says, it was a tough decision, but ultimately the right thing to do: “We were doing so much at the time and I just burnt out. If you damage your vocal cords, you can’t take it lightly. If something happens like that and you keep going, you’ll fucking lose your career forever. I never want to end up behind the knife; I just refuse to put myself in that situation.”

The fact that his 2019 breakthrough ground to a halt again in COVID-decimated 2020 “was frustrating as fuck”, he says, “but I took solace in the fact that everyone was stopped in their tracks that time; it wasn’t just me.” This was in stark contrast to the singer’s experience of pulling the biggest moment of his music career in order to rest his vocal cords: “I didn’t talk for three weeks; I had to be silent and just watch Glastonbury on the TV, going, ‘This is completely dogshit’. But you can’t even say that out loud – you’re just saying it over in your head like a psycho. I’d take a pandemic over that any day.”

There was a brief flash of light when he headlined the opening night at the world’s first socially distanced arena, Newcastle’s Virgin Money Unity venue, to an audience of 2,500. Yet Sam’s not in the mood to wax lyrical about that, either. “It was amazing,” he says, “but it didn’t happen again.” A local lockdown in the North East brought the following shows – which would have featured Kaiser Chiefs and Declan McKenna – to a premature end in September: “It was another false start. We thought everything was going to get moving again but then we were just sat around [again].”

As for this reaction to the Government’s handling of the pandemic? It perhaps says it all that he’s selling face masks emblazoned with the words ‘2020 Shit Show’ and ‘Dystopian Nightmare Festival’ on his website. “I think everyone has said enough haven’t they?” Sam suggests. “I never want to see Boris Johnson’s or Matt Hancock’s face ever again. As soon as they come on the TV, I just turn it off.”

Political tension bubbles through ‘Seventeen Going Under’. Its second half boasts tracks such as ‘Long Way Off’, a brooding but colossal festival anthem brimming with angst and unease. “Standing on the side I never was the silent type,” Fender roars, “I heard a hundred million voices / sound the same both left and right / we’re still alone we are.” It’s gripping stuff; a Gallagher-level anthem ripe for pyro and pints held aloft.

Sam says the song is about feeling stranded amid political divisiveness here and in the US, epitomised when Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington back in January: “You’ve either got right-wing, racist idiots or you’ve got this elitist, upper-middle-class section of the left-wing, which completely alienates people like myself and people from my hometown.”

“The polarity between the left and the right has me feeling like I have no identity”

Closer to home, the last UK election, in 2019, saw the so-called ‘Red Wall’ crumble as working-class voters in the north defected from Labour to Tory. “The polarity between the left and the right has me feeling like I have no identity,” Sam says. “I’m obviously left-wing, but you lose hope don’t you? Left-wing politics has lost its main votership; it doesn’t look after working-class people the way that it used to. Blyth Valley voted Tory just north of here. Now, that is saying something! We’re in dire straits when a fucking shipbuilding town is voting for the Tories – it’s like foxes voting for the hunter.”

He’s even seen his own working-class friends peel to the blue side: “I’m like, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ I understand it, though. I’d never vote for the bastards because I fucking hate them and I know what they’re up to, but I get why people don’t feel any alliegiance to left-wing politics when they’re working-class.”

As ever though, Sam isn’t masquerading as an expert: “I’m not fucking Noam Chomsky, you know what I mean? I’m not going to dissect the whole political agenda of the Tories and figure it all out because I can’t. All I see is a big fucking shit sandwich – every day through my news feed – and it’s just, ‘Well: that’s what your dealing with.”

The singer is fond of describing North Shields as “a drinking town with a fishing problem”. Today he adds: “That’s been the backdrop of my life: all of these displaced working-class people. It’s a town that’s resilient that still has a strong sense of community. In a lot of big cities that’s dead. In London everything changes from postcode to postcode, but everything is quite uniform up here.”

When NME was awaiting Sam’s arrival outside the studio before the interview, a passerby clocked our photographer’s gear and asked, “Oh aye – are you waiting for Sam? We all know Sam – a good lad; very accommodating with nae airs or graces about him.” Another pointed to The Low Lights Tavern down the road, where Fender used to pull pints on the weekends: “He was a terrible barman, and he’ll be the first to tell you that. I think he got sacked about six times during his time there.”

Sam (who confesses of his bartending know-how: “He’s totally right!”) hit the local to celebrate when ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ won him a Critics’ Choice gong at the BRIT Awards in 2019, placing the trophy on the bar. “I owed The Low Lights one for being such a shit barman,” he says. “I wanted them to be proud of us because they fucking certainly wasn’t proud of us when I was around working there!”

“Celebrity stuff freaks me out. I’d rather just live my life”

He’s clearly a key member of the local community, then. How did he see the pandemic impact on his family and friends – especially when the North East faced the toughest Tier Four lockdown restrictions last December? Sam pauses before bluntly saying: “I lost more mates; there was suicides again. Mental health was the biggest thing. We lost friends who had drunk too much.”

A track on the new record, ‘The Dying Light‘, is an epic sequel to ‘Dead Boys’, with the poignant last line of the album ringing out “for all the ones who didn’t make the night”. Sam, unable to truly distance himself from The Boss after all, explains: “It’s very Springsteen. It’s my ‘Jungleland’ or ‘Thunder Road’ – it’s got that ‘Born To Run’ feel; there’s strings and brass [and] it’s fucking massive. It’s a celebration. It’s a triumph over adversity.”

He stresses that it was vital for him to be in regular contact with his friendship circle through that traumatic time: “It becomes important when you lose friends to suicide… You realise it’s always the unlikely folks. We lost a friend to suicide at the beginning of last year and it was someone you’d never expect. It really hits home; it’s important to check in on your mates.”

Sam has alluded in previous interviews to a health condition that he’s not yet ready to fully disclose, and tells NME that he spent three months shielding at the beginning of the pandemic: “I was alone for three months and that was very tough… When you’re completely alone and isolated, it’s impossible. I spent a lot of time drinking and not really looking after myself and eating shit food, but I wrote a lot of good lyrics.”

There’s a certain resulting bleakness to some of his new songs, but Sam also wanted light to shine through. “It’s a darker record, but it’s a celebration of surviving and coming out the other end,” he explains. “It’s upbeat but the lyrics can be quite honest. It’s the most honest thing I’ve done.”

You might expect a young hometown hero to rail at having been denied the chance to capitalise on his burgeoning fame in the last year or so, but Sam insists, “I still have imposter syndrome,” adding: “I don’t feel like it’s happened… I’m walking around the street and people ask for photos and it just feels bizarre. I’m like, really? I feel like I haven’t come out of my shell yet.”

Sam has rarely been one to court celebrity, and revealed in 2019 that he’d turned down the chance to appear in an Ariana Grande video. “It was an honour but I would have just been known as that guy in the video,” he tells NME. “All of my mates would have been flipping their heads off, but I don’t think she would really want an out-of-shape, pale Geordie. I’d rather just live my life, because all of this celebrity stuff freaks [me] out, you know?”

He might have to get used to it: things can only get bigger with the arrival of the new album. “As a record I think this one is leagues ahead [of ‘Hypersonic Missiles’],” he says, “I’m more proud of this than anything I’ve ever done. It’s probably the best thing I’ve done in my life. I just hope people love it as much as I do. With the first album, a lot of those songs were written when I was 19, so I was over half of it [by the time it was released]. Whereas this one is where I’m at now.”

“This is a dark record, but it’s a celebration of surviving and coming out the other end”

Still, he adds: “At the same time, this record is probably going to piss a lot of people off.” He’s referring to a line in one of the more political tracks, ‘Aye’, where he returns to his most enduring bugbear, divisiveness, and claims that “the woke kids are just dickheads”. Sam’s no less forthcoming in person: “They fucking are, though! Some 22-year-old kid from Goldsmiths University sitting on his fucking high horse arguing with some working-class person on some comments section calling them an ‘idiot’ and a ‘bigot’? Nobody engages each other in a normal discussion [online] without calling each other a ‘thick cunt’.”

He’s eager to make this statement, though, come what may: “I don’t fucking care any more. I’m not really sure how the reaction is going to be. People used to say things online about me and I used to get quite hurt about it, but now I’m like, ‘Well, they’re not coming to my house’… [But] I get so angry. In Newcastle we say ‘pet’ and someone was trying to tell me that was fucking offensive towards women. You’re not going to delete my fucking colloquial identity. It’s not even gender-specific; we say it to men and women. My Grandma calls me ‘pet’! That brand of liberalism is fucking destroying the country. We could be getting Boris Johnson and all them pricks out of office if we stopped sweating over shit like that”.

Sam might be outspoken, but he’s self-aware, too. When we were talking politics earlier, he said: “I didn’t want to start on ‘cancel culture’ because I don’t want to sound like Piers Morgan [and] I fucking hate that cunt. But there is a degree of it which lacks redemption; people fuck up. Everyone is a flawed character. If you’re not admitting that you have flaws, then you’re a fucking psychopath. The left-wing seem to be that way and the right-wing are fucking worse than they’ve ever been. Politically I have just lost my shit.”

In all of this uncertainty, though, it seems a sure thing that Sam Fender will take his rightful crown – as soon as the world lets him – with the colossal ‘Seventeen Going Under’. “It’s going to be a hell of a return,” he insists. “I know the fans are still there, you know? So I’m not really worried – I’m ready to go out there and do my thing. Finally!”

[something-in-the-seas]

Sorry to bother once again, (I had the Bioshock Infinite bullshit centrism ask and the Burial at Sea ask) but I’m replaying Bioshock 2 again as well and I can’t help but think...why does this one in particular have such a hardcore fan base? Returning to Rapture just isn’t very thrilling whatsoever, and the level design as well as even the graphic design of ads and art in the world is an enormous downgrade from the first game. Sure, the gameplay was good for 2008, but it has aged pretty badly a few things aside (the improved hacking creates great moments of tension). The color palette of the game goes from brown to dark golds, and the splicers just aren’t as engaging either. The world building and characters just feel incredibly expository and unnecessary. Sophia Lamb and collectivism just feels like cliche cult writing and not as wholly dangerous as objectivism/anarcho-capitalism and also feels like at times it’s just trying to do a critique of left wing politics and it doesn’t work. I understand Rapture is pretty much a post apocalyptic society and is just degrading rapidly, but the world just isn’t as immersive as the first and feels like a cheap imitation. Minerva’s Den really feels like the saving grace of this game, and it’s story is much better, but it is unfortunately relegated to being DLC. People complain about Bioshock Infinite’s retcons, but this entire game feels like it doesn’t have actual canonical parity to the first game and wholly unnecessary. I understand that 2k gave devs a VERY limited amount of time (like maybe a year and a half) and they got screwed over and that contributes to a lot of the shortcomings, but I just don’t understand why people in the OG fandom love it. Levine sucks, but even him and that team got shafted by 2k and forced to streamline a lot of the content they had originally made for Infinite(I was obsessed with the development of Infinite, and they brought in Gears of War and Call of Duty managers to streamline everything for the mainstream gamers from what I remember) Knowing this...why should Levine or that team consider Bioshock 2 a canon entry to the world they created? Through this lens I almost understand why Levine and that development team basically broke that universe with Burial at Sea, quite possibly knowing that studio would be dissolved and knowing 2k(a horrendous company tbh) would want to continue using the brand name and world of Rapture for a thing that team worked on for so long. As far as the Bioshock Rapture novel itself and canon...the novel itself doesn’t take a lot of the canonical events in Bioshock 1 into consideration and a lot of the prose just feels flat :/

Well, as a fan of Bioshock 2, I guess I’ll shed some insight as to why it has such a devoted fan base and why people have really turned around on the game in recent years. The game isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, and Minerva’s Den is fantastic, but it holds a special place in my heart.

Bioshock 2 absolutely still has the best game play in the series. Compared to the original Bioshock, which does feel a bit clunky, and Infinite, which doesn’t even have a weapon wheel, Bioshock 2 takes the combat system introduced in the first game and significantly improves it. Dual wielding plasmids and weapons is a game changer, you’re able to efficiently swap between the two without the wait time of pulling out your weapon. There’s a reason why people want the new game to have 2’s style of combat. Compared to Infinite’s shooting gallery style game play, it still favors exploration like the first but also experimentation when it comes to using your plasmids.

2’s designs and color pallets can still be absolutely gorgeous. It’s been eight years since Bioshock, so things are going to be rusted and in terrible shape. The game also focuses on the poorest parts of Rapture compared to the original game, which has you go to the richest neighborhoods and entertainment centers. Pauper’s Drop isn’t going to be as pretty as Arcadia or Fort Frolic.

Compared to Infinite, which is just twist after twist to try to out do the iconic WYK twist in Bioshock, 2’s story is simple: you’re just a dad trying to save your daughter. However, it does what Infinite cannot and gives you freedom. You’re able to kill or walk away and it changes the story. The characters you meet are less way expository than the ones in Infinite, who just appear to shed some backstory on Booker or Elizabeth and then die. Sparing Slate doesn’t matter, but sparing Grace does.

Grace, for example, is able to recognize Delta’s humanity and turn away from Lamb’s cult because her love for Eleanor is stronger than her fear of Lamb. As you read her audio diaries, you find out she’s an incredibly tragic character who isn’t a bad person, the world has just hurt her. Showing compassion to Grace is something she’ll never forget, and while Stanley and Gil are never seen again, I think if the team had more time, they would have included their responses. It’s implied through the statues in Persephone, though, that Delta sparing Stanley gets him to finally get his shit together and Gil is able to fight back against Alex the Great. The biggest twist 2 comes from Sinclair not being your Judas like Atlas was, even though the game hints at this, but he selflessly sacrifices himself for you and Eleanor because he’s grown to care about you.

Lamb is a controversial villain, but I think she’s miles better than Comstock when it comes to writing. She’s a terrifying, powerful figure who doesn’t rely on sexualization to get what she wants. She’s very intelligent, she runs circles around Ryan and Fontaine. Her ideals aren’t exactly terrible and she started off wanting to do the right thing, but she emotionally manipulates and gaslights people around her to do what she wants. She takes advantage of others and at the end doesn’t care about her “family.” They’re a means to an end for her, the end being Eleanor becoming her “utopian.” She’s emotionally and physically abusive to Eleanor and doesn’t respect her autonomy.

I see Bioshock 2 as less of a criticism of leftism, but more of a criticism on cults and organized religions in general. Unlike the original Bioshock, which has references to Judaism because the majority of the characters are Jewish, 2 has a lot of references to Christianity. A lot of people have a hard time understanding what exactly Lamb believes, but if you put in perspective the similarities The Rapture Family has to the Catholic Church, than things make a lot more sense. Lamb and her followers commit cruel acts under their “religion,” Delta commits good acts because it’s the right thing to do.

2 doesn’t feel very connected to the other games, though it should really with Infinite given the glaring similarities between the two. It feels like it’s own story and that works with me. There are huge stakes with Lamb possibly destroying the world if she wins, but it also has the sweetest father-daughter relationship in gaming. You have Mark Meltzer, who goes through hell and back to find Cindy and gives up his life for her, and you have Delta and Eleanor. There’s no animosity, there’s no tension, they just love each other unconditionally. Delta’s love for Eleanor is so powerful that a whole city full of cultish splicers and Big Sisters just couldn’t stop him.

There’s definitely things in 2 that are problematic like the homophobic brute splicers, but it’s not just my favorite of the trilogy, it’s my favorite game of all time. I love Bioshock 2. I love Bioshock 2 because it doesn’t try to be more than what it is. You’re a dad who loves your daughter, and she loves you. When I first played Burial at Sea, I was so glum that I played Minerva’s Den and Bioshock 2 and I felt so much better with this being the chronological end of the series (for now). Also the Little Sisters are adorable and the highlight of the game, they have so much personality now.

It’d actually break my heart if 2K actually listened to Ken and made it not canon, it’s not his decision to make. Thankfully, though, it looks like we’re getting more 2 and Eleanor content which is awesome. I can’t wait to see an adult Eleanor on next gen graphics in her prime showing off why she’s the GOAT of the OG series.

[mantaarays]

ok i’ve been playing genshin impact all day inazuma is SO exciting here’s some of my initial thoughts on it :) (under a cut because there’s a Lot)

1. inazuma is GORGEOUS i love how the city is laid out (i don’t think it’s the actual city i’ve just gotten out of ritou but it’s so nice and i love it)

2. i really like thoma actually he’s like childe but like. normal

also we know he’s not from inazuma im pretty sure it’s fontaine? but his vision is the inazuma style so that could mean like they just didn’t design whatever one he should have yet (seems a bit unlikely) or like he got his vision from inazuma and it goes by what archon you get it from? which would be a bit confusing because he has a pyro vision so that would mean the archons can give whatever element vision not just their own which doesn’t really make sense with what we’ve seen so far which is the similarities and criteria for each type of vision. idk

3. inazuma is so far off from everything?? which makes sense but like i couldn’t find it in the map at first hahah

4. i am obsessed with electro traveler actually like purple >>>> but also ! they do a flip in their elemental skill animation???? literally the best thing ever

5. WHY does every archon quest have to have a stealth mission i hate it i hate it i’m so bad at them

6. the docks at ritou really did a good job at the like ocean/sea feeling. im not sure why it’s just like. very realistic somehow i really like it

7. electroculi!!! and electro sigils and electro traveler and time challenges and new chests and i don’t know where anything is and i have no clue what’s going on i love it i love it it feels like when i first started playing ❤️❤️❤️

8. THEY KEPT THE WAVERIDER HOLY CRAP YES YES YES

9. traveller facial expressions :0 big fan of this actually because i remember playing botw and it’s this like emotional conversation and link just stands there like 🧍‍♂️

10. i really like how they’ve had multiple characters already ask like “can you help us with this” (this mainly being the vision hunt decree) and we’re just like. no. not doing that. (and then end up agreeing to it later anyways 😵‍💫) but like it kind of helps to characterize the traveler a bit rather than just like “does whatever people ask them to”

like?? ‼️

11. inazuma is kicking my butt 😕 jean has returned to my team (it’s ok though bc i really like her)

12. also i finally got to the actual city !!!!! it’s so pretty but the shoguns residence thing and the giant statue are a bit creepy

13. opened up the furnace thingy but i’m scared to go in there anymore because of bale thunder 😞 inazuma wants to kill me

14. YOIMIYA !!!! it’s her it’s her i love her she’s so cool

15. the story is great so far!! i’ve only finished the part 1 but i’ve heard part 2 is really good so im really excited to play that later

16. i am obsessed with the inazuma wind glider but you have to get to reputation level 10 for it??? the other ones are just 8 i’m pretty sure :/ it’s so pretty

17. i just want to unlock the weapon forging blueprints so i can make a sword for kazuha :,) he has a good sword already but one of his voicelines is like “this blade is the last link i have to the land of my birth” so i feel bad not giving him an inazuma sword (even though there weren’t any actually available before yesterday haha but that is my main mission i just have no clue how to get them)

[writers-hes]

cherry.

hello! this was a request made by anon a few weeks (or days) ago and last night, i was finally able to listen to cherry and grant her request. 

i hope you enjoy thing super ANGST-y piece about harry’s new album. if you want a request, don’t hesitate to submit something on my ask box. my finals are finally over so i now have all the time in the world to write you guys new fics. thank you so much, by the way, for the 100 notes on late christmas! if you haven’t read it yet, you can do so by clicking on this link: masterlist. 

i hope you enjoy cherry and i will be waiting for your comments! 

WARNINGS: unedited + swearing + super angst + mentions of sex and alcohol

—————————

you grew up in france. harry grew up in england. it was a miracle that you both found each other in such a great, big, world but when life is bored and wants to play, it’s the cruelest thing. you both met when he was on tour. your friend was friends with jeff and invited her to come over to his hotel and have a drink with some lads, since it’s been awhile since they last saw each other. she asked you to tag along, afraid that she would feel out of place in case his famous friends were there. you nodded. 

arriving at the hotel, you were immediately greeted by fans waiting outside the hotel door, wanting to take a peek at the infamous harry styles. you were a fan yourself, and was actually quite nervous to meet him—if you would even meet him tonight. you were dressed in your white shirt, tucked inside denim bell bottoms, and mary janes. natasha, your friend, said that you were underdressed but you argued that it was fine, it wasn’t a big deal. 

you met harry that night, spent the night in his hotel, and met each other a couple of times before he had to leave france. a few months of you coming to his shows, to l.a., new york, and meeting each other’s friends, you made it official. it wasn’t a publicised but you both loved the idea of being protected by the sheets in harry’s hotel room. it was the best thing. 

you met each other’s parents and dated for over a year. it was quite heaven but life works in the worst fucking way possible. 

“hey, y/n?” harry said, over the phone. you were in your apartment in versailles. “mon bébé?” you greeted back. you loved to call him baby, as he was one, behind the closed doors of your secret rendezvous together. “i missed you. i was in this book store with jeff and i thought about you and the nights we spent reading under the covers,” he sighed. you smiled softly, and although he couldn’t see it, you wanted that too. “we can have that again…when you’re on your break, will definitely come down to london and stay there until you’re sick of me,” you chuckled lightly. “will never get sick of you…wanna spend the rest of my life with you,” he murmured. “me too,” your heart was beating inside your chest loudly and so does his. it was a silent, yet fleeting moment but you two loved it. thinking about a home with the both of you and perhaps, a couple more little yous and harries around the house. 

“will you…sing for me?” he asked. he was tired but he wanted to hear your voice again. he wanted you where he was. “i have a bad voice!” you told him. he was the singer between the both of you but seemed to enjoy your voice more than you enjoy his. “don’t care…just sing me to sleep, yeah? i…love the way you sound and your voice…accent, too.” he chuckled. your accent switched in between french and american and it was the most precious thing that harry ever heard. you nodded anyway and sang a la claire fontaine until you heard his breathing grow deeper and slower. you started to hear his loud snores and you giggled lightly. you really do love this man. j'aime cet homme de tout mon tout, you thought to yourself. you really did love harry with your whole everything and wanted for that to be your reality until you both breathed your last breath. 

———

“mon bébé?” you called to harry. he was in london home and your relationship hasn’t been working. the distance for the both of you was far too much for the both of you to bear. so you both decided to just meet in home for privacy. you knew that this was it—it was the moment that you both dreaded but you knew…you knew that this was something that would haunt the both of you forever. “y/n…” he breathed, seeing you in the outfit the first time you both saw him in france. his eyes were blood-shut, as were yours. you had bags under your eyes and was hoping that this was something that you could both end as quickly as possible but it wasn’t possible. it wasn’t fucking possible. 

“harr—i don’t want to do this,” you cried in the middle of his foyer. your bag was on the floor and you were wiping your eyes, trying your best to stop the tears from leaking. you looked like a frail child and harry went to you, locking you into his embrace. “i don’t want this too, love but—we’re just hurting each other,” he says and it was true. over the tour, he managed to kiss someone else in places that only you should whilst you managed to fall back in the pits of longing for your dead ex-boyfriend. he died in a car accident and during a big fight, you told harry that you wished that adrien was still here. you told harry how adrien was better and how you loved him more than you did harry. it wasn’t true. you loved harry with your everything. you loved harry more than life itself but all you did was hurt each other in the process. it was the right love at the wrong time—or perhaps, it was the wrong love all along. you nodded into his white shirt, inhaling his scent. you felt his body wrack and heard his sobs. tonight was the last night you both had together. “i wish—i wish i still had one more day with you. one more night. one more dinner…one more everything of what we did, bébé…i—“ you didn’t know what to say to him. 

“i know…i—let’s just…sit on the couch first, yeah? i’ll get us a drink.” harry removed his body from you but still took your hand as he led you to his living room. he left where you were and went to his kitchen, opening a bottle of wine and pouring some in two coffee mugs. he sat beside you, offering you a drink. you took it from him and gulped the contents in seconds. you wanted to feel numb. “this is it?” you asked him. “this…this is the end of us?” “no, love…i’d still see you around,”

“i don’t want to see you in public and think about what we could’ve been harry—wanna be with you all the time,”

“wanna have you here too, love but…it is what it is. i can’t keep on hurting you and i can’t keep on being hurt,” you nodded. he cried. you made love for one last time. you wrote him a letter and left his home at five in the morning—before he woke up. it took every cell in your body not to cry as you took his tattooed arms from your naked body. you stole three of his shirts and went to his bathroom, spraying all of them with perfume. it would suffice until you’re ready to remove them from your body. 

the next day, harry opened his eyes, feeling you through the sheets, in hopes that his nightmare wouldn’t be his reality. he cried. he saw the letter from you and cried harder. 

mon bébé, 

if you’re reading this, i hope you forgive me for stealing some of your shirts. 

what we had together was something that i will always think about. i will always be grateful for the times that we spend together, for the kisses, your embrace, the sweet glances that we gave each other in the room. when i first met you in france, i knew immediately that i loved you. it was probably a part of the reason why i agreed to spend the night with you…i thought i would never see you again but you asked me what my number was and the rest was history. 

this was the hardest thing that i had to write. our love letters would usually just have the both of us saying i love you’s and see you soon’s but now, we have to say goodbye. i can’t think of a single reason why i wouldn’t marry you. you were my dream boy and i loved the way you made me feel. the thrill of knowing that you love me was what pushed me through when you were in other places and to be honest, i’ll only be thinking about the ways and how you loved me for me to push through. your love was with me even though you weren’t and that will be my motivation to wake up, brush my teeth, and do what i have to do. 

when i said that adrien was a man that you could never be, it was true. adrien was my love and i would never stop loving him. but harry? you would always be my soulmate, the love of my life, and my best friend. we may have stopped talking but you will always be my favourite boy. i will never love someone the way i love you. 

i hope in the future, when you see me, you won’t think about the times we fought and the bad times we had. i hope you see me as your friend and i hope you will remember our times under the covers and how we told each other that we loved each other. i hope you will see me the way i see you, in a good light with love and adoration in my eyes. 

i love you harry. always did and always will. please take care of yourself, mon cherie. 

all the love, y/n. 

————

it’s been a year since that horrific night and it’s december. you were waiting impatiently for harry to release his new album. you and him were friends now but you always felt so distant. he got mad at you when you started to date your ex-beau, vincent. he didn’t like it and no matter how much you tried to friends with him, he wouldn’t budge. it was only a few months after when you saw each other in new york and worked things out. you were still with vincent that time but you were single right now and all you ever wanted was harry.

harry asked if it was alright if he could use the voicemail you left him in his song. you agreed but still haven’t fully heard the whole song with you in it. you were anxious to hear the song and how it will affect you. you’ve been hearing rumours about the whole album was dedicated to you. harry admitted to it, even crying to you one night about how he missed you and how much he wanted to have you back but you were with vincent. it was currently 11:54 in france and six minutes couldn’t come sooner. you heard his releases, watermelon sugar, adore you, and lights up. it was nearing 12 when your iphone notified you that the whole fine line album was downloaded to your music app. 

you immediately fished for your phone, and pressed on golden. you listened util light’s up was over, in shock to hear your voice in his song. it was titled cherry and you smiled—the fruit being a constant motif in your relationship. when you first met, you ate the maraschino cherry from his cocktail. whenever he ordered cakes, you both would compete for the cherry until one of you ate it. 

the song was beautiful, you concluded. it was him mocking vincent and asking you not to call him the way you called harry. it was one of those nights when harry was crying. it was a few weeks after your break-up when he was begging you not to call vincent ‘mon bébé’. you assured him that you weren’t. you sang to him until he fell asleep and cried after your ended the call. there was truth in the whole song, from him having a piece in how you dressed—florals and wide pants to him talking to your friends about how he missed you much. you talked to his friends and he talked to your friends, thinking that it was the only way for the both of you still have a piece of each other. it was sad—really fucking sad but you were at your best now and so was harry. 

it was a full minute or so when you thought cherry had ended, only to be met by your voicemail, the last voicemail you sent to harry. 

Coucou ! Tu dors ? Oh, j'suis désolée... Bah non... Nan, c'est pas important... Bon allez... On a été à la plage, et maintenant on— Parfait ! Harry

the voicemail missed some parts because right now, as you sob into your hands in versailles, you could still remember what you told him. it was just a couple of months ago and you were still with vincent when you left this voicemail. he dropped a voicemail hours ago, telling you a joke about cherries. it fucked you up and in that time in paris, with vincent, you wanted nothing more but to go back to him and his arms. perhaps it was the static or the poor connection but you know what the song had wasn’t complete. 

Parfait! Harry je t’aime toujours et tu me manque. S’il te plaît reviens.

(Perfect! Harry, I still love and miss you. Please come back.)

as you lay in bed, at 2 a.m on december 13, 2019, in versailles, you wondered what the future held. you wondered if there was still a chance for you and harry. you wondered if he would come back into your arms. you cried and then, drifted to sleep. 

read falling here. 

sorry for the french,,,,i asked my friend to translate it for me im not sure if it’s correct,,,

[sshbpodcast]

Something for Everyone (unless you liked Jadzia) in S7 DS9!

by Ames

How exactly does one pick top and bottom episodes from a clump that’s mostly serial? A Star to Steer Her By found a way! It’s a strange final season of Deep Space Nine that’s split almost evenly between the ongoing storyline of the show and a bunch of episodes to pad for time while the writers created that ongoing storyline for the show.

Read on below for our bests and worsts of season seven, which you can also listen to at our absurdly long series-wrap podcast episode here (jump to timestamp 1:38:05 for the season discussion), where you can hear the bonus tops and bottoms of fan-favorite guest star Liz and also the full series ratings!

[images © CBS/Paramount]

Bottom Three Episodes

This season really suffers from some characters regressing hard as if they didn’t make any development over the course of the show. Some regressed so hard, they basically restarted the character (oof, too soon…).

“Afterimage”: Chris Quick! We’ve only got a couple episodes to establish Ezri as a character because we were huge dicks to the last Dax and killed her off. Let’s rush through showcasing this new Dax in a barely formed plot mostly spent treating her like a sex object. Check, check, and check!

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite”: Ames, Caitlin Season 7 is all about wrapping up the Dominion War arc, but let’s pause that for two weeks to have a goofy baseball game that is entirely lifted from every other TV show, to wash all the sci-fi off the show, and to just crack jokes that don’t land. That’s strike three; you’re outta here!

“The Emperor’s New Cloak”: Caitlin, Jake Mirror universe episodes tend to always feel like fanfic as it is, but our final trip through the looking glass basically said “Hold My Beer.” The whole thing felt like a checklist of in-jokes, some tropey character nonsense, and even more objectifying women to round it off!

“Extreme Measures”: Ames, Caitlin Julian goes full hypocrite in this not-even-a-little-bit-surreal mindtrip when he kidnaps and tortures Sloan, gets him absolutely killed, and takes a whole episode for a boring brain adventure. This is not the Julian we thought we knew, and it’s a shame.

“Chrysalis”: Chris, Jake And that’s not even the worst thing Julian has done lately! He has fully reverted to his sleazy season-one self, grooming women so he can date them, performing surgeries on them to “fix them,” and still somehow making everything about him. Gross, Julian. Gross.

“Field of Fire”: Ames, Chris, Jake One thing we can say about our new Trill character is at least she’s consistent… because every single time we do a Trill episode, it’s entirely contradictory of all the preceding Trill episodes to the point of confoundment! Joran is the worst he’s been and what even is this new overpowered weapon?

—

Top Three Episodes

On the flip side, this season also benefits from how varied its episodes are that it really does somehow have something for everyone, especially if you love you some schlock!

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite”: Chris Sigh. Chris likes doofy, fillery episodes and I’m not even going to try to parse why this time. The uniforms looked good, I guess? That must be it. If you like doofy, fillery episodes and aren’t bored to tears by baseball, then this episode… has some good uniforms for you.

“Once More Unto the Breach”: Jake We love us a good Klingon episode and this one’s got a lot to sink your teeth into. It was an excellent send off for the long-established character of Kor, it reflected on some of the less honorable elements of Klingon culture, and Worf got to put his knife skills on display!

“Badda-Bing Badda-Bang”: Caitlin Heist episodes of the world, take note! This is how you pace and tell a concise, interesting, coherent, and clever heist story. Placement in the middle of the war arc aside, this episode gave us some great acting, costumes, music, film techniques, the works! Badda bing!

“The Siege of AR-558”: Chris, Jake We’ve also got a straight-up war episode featuring some tense ground patrol action, horrifying new weapons, and Quark with a gun! Also we see actual consequences for characters’ actions! What Star Trek so far has ever given us that before?

“Treachery, Faith, and the Great River”: Ames, Jake Proving that two Jeffrey Combses are better than one, this episode doubles your Weyouns and gives us some excellent Vorta time that really kicks you in the feels. It would take a bunch more Weyouns to reach the level of this excellent story. Those are our demands, Star Trek; get on it.

“The Changing Face of Evil”: Ames, Caitlin One of the absolute highlights of the big honkin’ ten-part finale is the Dukat-Winn relationship you never realized you needed. The hottest elements of which are all on display in this episode in particular, which are all pretty drool-worthy, but the most props go to Louise Fletcher for totally selling every moment.

“It’s Only a Paper Moon”: Ames, Caitlin, Chris This episode achieves the impossible: It gives us some really genuinely good Vic Fontaine. All the credit, of course, does go to Aron Eisenberg for his really touching and complete characterization of post-traumatic stress disorder. Thank you, ensign Nog, for being such a treasure.

—

So that’s all the season-by-season bloodwine we can spill on Deep Space Nine. We’re sad to leave the station and take our final look at the wormhole, but there’s also the full series top and bottom fives to celebrate and lament, respectively. Watch this page for more, listen to weekly episodes at our home on the web on Soundcloud, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and tell the prophets to stop it with all the baseball already!

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

Why Bioshock Rebirth Part 3 won’t be a thing for a while

Guessing that title will work. I think considering now and on this day. There isn’t much else to do. I’m finally gonna talk about this. This is gonna be a long one. I’ll think about adding a keep reading thing as I make this. 

If any of you are a Bioshock fan or follow me. Or whatever else. I have this reimagining AU named Bioshock Rebirth. It has people who like it. There are mainly three parts on my mind. 

Part 1 and 2 basically deal with Rapture. Which are basically a reimagining of the main stories of Bioshock 1 and 2. With the events of Minerva’s Den being the epilogue. Part 3 from my mindset would deal with something outside Rapture. But I’ll talk about that later.

Yet I feel like to me. The reason I am not wanting to make a part 3 as soon as possible. Because it’s really tricky for me. I think I’ll just make the points and what my plans possibly were. Including I am gonna publicly reveal what my version of Zachary Hale Comstock would of been. Which is may be the most craziest decision. Whether people like it or not.

Now I just finished this post. I’ll put the tag after I write this. I will reveal I have a Bendy reimagining AU on my mind. But I want Dark Revival to come out soon. Which is why I don’t wanna focus more time on part 3. Along with other things. I feel proud or so with my work on Rebirth. I’m glad people love this AU/reimagining of Bioshock I made. :) So I will add the keep reading option. Now here is my detailed development of part 3. Not everything about it is there. But it’s a lot.

1. Part 3 would of taken 5 years after Bioshock Rebirth parts 1 and 2. Parts 1 and 2 took place in 2002. While part 3 takes place in 2007. Meaning the character ages have changed.

Basically Archie Wynand is 28. Elizabeth Comstock is 24. Brigid Tenenbaum is 40. Eleanor Lamb is 22. Even though Archie/Jack and Eleanor had her their ages sped up by people. With Archie being 10 and Eleanor being 12. But again there ages were sped up. Also the Little Sisters and Big Sisters that have been rescued have grown up too.

It depends on what characters would return. Like Delta/Johnny being 42. Daisy being 34. Booker being 43. Considering it’s not in Rapture. I don’t know if many characters would of returned. Yet that’s because I didn’t start writing possibly the main story for part 3. In case if anyone is worried. Many of the Vox Populi are fine. They must of moved on with their lives with Rapture sadly being a mess.

2. From what I get. The main story again was outside of Rapture. I seemed to be going with my old ideas I had for this AU. A public Rapture or the idea of Rebirth’s version of Columbia.

Considering Rebirth was born from the mistakes and retcons of Burial At Sea breaking the multiverse. Basically me disowning, shaming, yet acknowledging that DLC. So the idea I seem to be going with is that Columbia is the aftermath and America trying to make their own kind of Rapture. A public Rapture in a way for tourists. Something kind of like Jurassic Park.

Yet I don’t think it would be fully in the sky. It would be an island on water. With possibly Rapture under it. They built it over Rapture. 

Again Columbia is like America’s pale imitation of Rapture. With Rapture being discovered by America. Basically making profit off of it. Despite how tragic the results of Rapture of.

3. More on the main story. I think what it would be or as of now is Archie, Elizabeth, Brigid, and Eleanor going to Columbia or America’s public Rapture to stop Comstock. Considering this city has become a mess. The original idea is that it some how became worse than the tragedy of Rapture. 

With Big Daddies and Little Sisters being legalized. And Splicers or so possibly becoming more I guess crazy. With an old or possible dark idea of a Splicer eating out of a Little Sisters neck. Yet that’s really dark and just me showcasing some how this place became worse than the original Rapture.

4. Vigor’s in Rebirth would of been America’s knockoffs and pale imitation of Rapture’s Plasmid’s being reworked by Jeremiah Fink to make them more accessible so that you don’t have to inject them into your wrists. You could just simply drink them. 

Basically again they are strangely knockoffs and pale imitations in a way.

Shock Jockey is Electro Bolt. Devil’s Kiss is Incinerate. Bucking Bronco is Telekinesis. While some are again knockoffs. But some are original being the other Vigor’s.

But considering an idea from my anonymous friend who has helped me with this AU. With them mentioning well I’ll copy what they said instead. I’ll put the “ around it.

“Ironic considering the stereotype about most of the world's products being inferior knockoffs made in China. I can imagine that Fink's imitation of Rapture's products might be even more unscrupulous and dangerous compared to the original versions in Rapture, as the greater capitalist system intersects with the small-scale capitalism of that city.”

5. To be honest and I want to get this out of the way. The reason I am not making part 3 right away. Because I want to see if the leaks about Cloud Chamber’s Bioshock 4 are really true. Spoilers.

Basically the leaks being about that Rapture seemed to have been discovered. Now London is at war with ADAM being used. You play as a character named Lucas with other characters like Eleanor Lamb joining you. I want to see if this is all true. So I can see how Cloud Chamber interpreted of how the world would react to a city like Rapture. 

While there are folks who have made criticisms about people discovering Rapture being the end of the world. Basically being critical about the Bioshock series going in a Resident Evil like direction. Which I can totally understand.

But I’m gonna be honest. I want to see what Cloud Chamber are doing. Yet this horrible thing I’m gonna say next. As someone who’s.....opinions of their planet and maybe species is I guess low....I kind of don’t care. Because I want to see the chaos of the consequences if a place like America discovered Rapture. 

It’s maybe my darker side and my action junkie side having the best of me. I am strangely interested to see Hell on Earth all because governments got fucking greedy with ADAM. Again my opinion on my planet and whatever else is tricky.

Fuck it like we as a species deserve it. But I’m sounding pessimistic. I want to see war torn London destroyed by ADAM junkies.

5. My direction for part 3 I feel is weaker and not as powerful as parts 1 and 2. Because the general idea of part 3 seems to be, “America is fucking stupid. Because it empowers young rich pricks like Zachary Hale Comstock and makes shit like Columbia. Our country needs to be fucking better if really are the land of the free” It feels less original and been done before.

Compared to the first two part’s stories of humanity, found family, love, forgiveness, empathy, and compassion. Along with other stuff.

While I recall my inspiration for this idea long ago was this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXjJOmRkN6s If I recall it being like an example of....America’s thought process of it thinking it’s awesome or whatever the Hell. I wanna say stupid thinking. But that video is awesome. Amazing what that person did.

Also my version of Comstock I feel is less threating and less interesting than the likes of villains like Andrew Ryan, Atlas/Frank Fontaine, and Sofia Lamb. Unless I really tap and dig deep into his character.

There’s also the other thing part 3 I feel unless I decided. It doesn’t deal with dimension travelling and all that crap.

6. There’s another thing is that I used many of the major characters from Infinite and incorporated them in Rapture. Such as Elizabeth, Booker, Daisy, and the Lutece twins. I haven’t done much with Annabelle because she sadly died before the events of parts 1 and 2. Also Bluto is practically Rebirth’s version of Songbird when he was in Rapture. He was the Proto-Daddy.

Fink and Comstock are the only major Infinite characters I haven’t used.

7. Bluto’s robotic corpse would of been found by Fink and Comstock. He would of been rebuilt into Songbird as being the supposed mascot and guardian of Columbia.

It’s also a way of torturing Elizabeth mentally. Because two men practically took her protective older brother’s corpse and rebuilt him as something else. With the added angst that Songbird still have memories of Elizabeth.

8. Another reason why I don’t feel so highly of part 3. It’s because it just seems unrealistic. Which may sound stupid. My ideas of America’s own Rapture like place becoming somehow worse than the original Rapture seem crazy.

Along with things like legalized Big Daddies and Little Sisters seems crazy. Despite how stupid my country is. The idea of taking human beings and turning them into that under an American government seems like bullshit. Unless they didn’t know. 

Yet it seems to be dissing on America. Considering the direction of Comstock I’m going with is more like, “We’re America and we are great.” Yet everything goes to shit.

Along with the crazy idea of the place being built in 5 or maybe 4 to 3 years. Which is why I wanted to give it a timespan.

Also it’s a fun easter egg that it’s the time span of the original Bioshock’s development. Unless I make part 3 in 2013. But don’t think I should.

9. There’s been a recent idea of Lucas being an antagonist. Something similar to the Arkham Knight from Batman Arkham Knight. But I should wait and see if this Lucas character is seriously real. Yet what I have read about him, he reminds me a bit of Booker.

I’m guessing and even was thinking a bit more in detail. Lucas being a US Marine who was born in 1981. He’s 26 during part 3. Possibly being an anti-thesis to Archie’s character. Now I’m thinking he may of met Arch during possibly tours. Even though they weren’t really friends but knew each other.

With Archie being an earnest and kind man. Now this makes sense. Lucas being jealous of Archie’s position as, “The Demon Of Rapture” and, “The Killer Of Fontaine”. Lucas being a bit more angry and less honorable than Archie.

Man these ideas make more sense than Comstock being an anti-thesis to Arch. Yet we also have Frank Fontaine and Booker Dewitt being anti-thesis to his character too. But the idea of Lucas is strangely perfect.

The ideas I am having are he’s Columbia’s poster boy of a super soldier. But without the horrifying results of Archie’s origin possibly. Since Lucas I’m imagining is more equipped with stuff(Again thinking of Arkham Knight)....fuck this is strangely perfect. 

Man we haven’t gotten more info on this who I am calling Lucas Parkside....fuck I thought of more of him being a deeper character or so.

10. But again about Bioshock 4. Considering Rebirth is the result of Burial At Sea and also Infinite breaking the multiverse. It combined the worlds of the main universe(Bioshock 1, 2, and the Rapture novel if you want to include that) and Infinite. Which resulted in a timeline where Rapture was made later during the cold war. Along with characters like from Infinite being more connected to Rapture because of the events of Burial At Sea.

Yet Bioshock 4 or those Parkside leaks. I question if I should put them in here too. Because it’s unknown if well the events of 4 happened yet in the main universe. Unless we take into the good ending being canon. With 4 taking take in the 70′s what I read.

I’m rambling, I’m sorry about that. Basically the events of the novel and first two games happened. But the events of Infinite and Burial At Sea disturbed the main universe. And whatever I’m using some weird comic book logic. 

Again I hope sometime but soon I want more information considering Bioshock 4. 

11. I guess I’ll just reveal this now. Including I called him a young rich prick. I gave a hint early on. In fact this character was hinted at in memes. But him combing in Comstock was something I was surprised by long ago. Yet I felt I guess could be genius or whatever.

Only two friends of mine know. The anonymous friend. And also @feckinatlas

Zachary Hale Comstock in Bioshock Rebirth would of been the Mark Zuckerberg of Bioshock.

While there was the idea of making him the, “Radec” or something similar to make him more threating. But Booker is already that. Including the Mark Zuckerberg angle is something I’m interested in.

Yes Comstock is Rebirth is younger than his main universe counterpart. He’s also not Booker and possibly not related to him.

One of my original ideas was that he’s a year younger than Elizabeth. But I changed that and may make him possibly 30 or so. Or even Archie’s physical age or 29.

An old idea I even told Feckinatlas that him being Fontaine’s kid. But Frank never knew about him. Practically making even more of a terrible father. Yet I don’t know if I’ll go with that idea. Yet it seems better than Comstock being a kid of Booker. Which I don’t like. I was trying to keep the Booker and Comstock connection. I’m still wondering now.

Yes I think that’s all I’ll reveal now.

Edit I forgot this one other important thing. Oh crap two actually.

12. Considering Ava Tate survived and escaped Rapture. She would of been one of the villains in part 3. Basically she sided with Fink and Comstock. Ava is kind of like that character who might not care what side she’s on. Despite she has redeeming qualities in her.

13. Even though this wasn’t part of the main story. To be honest there are ideas that one of Elizabeth’s looks is like her Burial At Sea look. Yet she’s not a femme fatale. Basically it was the idea of her and Archie going undercover. With Elizabeth trying to pose as a femme fatale. Which in reality she isn’t. She’s still the same joyous girl that people love. It’s something a bit more strangely adorable.

Also Brigid tried to teach her some stuff of trying to act different. I remember talking about this with my anonymous friend. It’s mainly silly and adorable stuff before meeting her seeing Ava. Like Arch being pouty that he may have to put on a tux. When he’ll put on something like maybe Clark Kent would wear. He doesn’t wanna look like a rich prick and would rather have black ops gear on. While Brigid and Elizabeth find it adorable and funny he doesn’t wanna dress like Ryan and whoever else. Despite they would kick him out if he looks very normal.

But again Brigid teaching her some tricks. Along with Elizabeth trying to smoke to look cool. But she coughs and again it’s adorable. XD

This idea is like before the main story. But I should develop it more. It could still be before the main story. I wanted to share this because I forgot about it. 

[muthaz-rapapa]

Precure S.H. Figuarts Waitlist

As much as I hate thinking about it, need to post this to make sure I’m not the only one bemoaning Bandai’s horrendous track record of exclusive, non-releases. 

*sobbing* (; _ ;  )

Tbh, I really prefer scales but like that’s going to ever happen again. Even Hugtto’s success wasn’t enough to bring back the prize figures. Or even trading figures! :P

Missing Cures:

Cure Ange - Prototype pics already up, just no release date yet.

HaCha team [Lovely, Princess, Honey, Fortune] - Now this is just ****** unfair! Yes, I understand that they’d want to capitalize on the more recent and/or popular seasons first but it’s been almost six years and these girls should be given their due. Just because their season was polarizing doesn’t make them any less deserving members of the franchise. >:(

Maho team [Miracle, Magical, Felice] - Only Miracle received a proto but the photos of her are hardly flattering. Still, at least she and Magical have been announced so there’s still hope for improvement and eventual release dates and of course, though it might take another eternity Felice. I can say with 80% certainty they’ll probably be released before the HaCha team, though. *more sobbing*

Star team [Star, Milky, Soleil, Selene, Cosmos] - Being a more recent season, expect them to be announced (not released)...2 years from now? And that’s just me being optimistic. I don’t know how popular StarPre is but I’m pretty sure not as much as Hugtto was during its run so it’ll likely take a while to finally get started on this line. Not to mention, with current production being delayed due to the pandemic and all (just to be clear, this I have no problem with because always safety for the workers first!!). And that’s just for the first Cure, too, which will undoubtedly be Star. Then after, it’s a matter of the most to least popular in the team which I suspect goes something like this: Milky, Selene or Cosmos, Soleil.

Heal team [Grace, Fontaine, Sparkle, Earth] - Can’t expect any announcement when the season isn’t even halfway done yet. Nah, the soonest I can expect to see any confirmation will have to be closer to the end. As for order of release, probably this: Grace, Sparkle, Fontaine. I’m leaving Earth out for now since she hasn’t debuted yet so can’t really judge when there’s no reception to judge on. *shrug*

Other potential releases (no guarantees, though):

These are mainly recurring, supporting characters. At least those who were popular enough that some fans would want to purchase them so Bandai might be convinced to keep an open mind for?? Maybe?? I dunno.

There was a poll a few years ago but(with the exception of Twilight) I’m not sure the ones I listed here were on it. Anyways, too lazy to look for the link and translate the results atm.

Not strangely, they are also mostly villains.

Dark Dream - Ok, so she’s movie-exclusive but Dark Dream’s still receiving a lot of love today. If any other character from Yes!5 had the chance of getting the figure treatment (ignoring the Renewal version of Dream), it’d be her.

Regina - I’m not really big on Regina so I don’t know how many would want to buy a Figuarts of her but I’m sure a good chunk of people would love to include her with the rest of the Doki team.

Twilight - She is my greatest grail. Who do I have to kill to get her? (⊙◡⊙ ;;) In all seriousness, though, Eas and Dark Precure got theirs so don’t see why Twilight can’t get one either since she was one of the best parts of Go!Pri.

Pikario/Rio - All the YES. I mean, I’m not collecting Kira merchandise but hell yea, I want to see him part of the line-up anyway! And they’ll likely go with his purified form over his villain form (Julio). Simply because it’s the most fab out of everyone else’s.

Lulu Amour (Criasu version) - Sometimes I think I love this look on her more than I like Cure Amour. Just sometimes, though. Anyways, Lulu is easily the most popular girl among the Hugtto team so would not be surprised if she got another Figuarts. But honestly? Not really that hopeful for it. At least, priority for her is lower than the main Cures who haven’t gotten released yet.

Would be nice but 0.00000000...1% chance of happening:

Form Changes. I mean, the only alternative forms that got Figuarts were Cure Angel (Peach only, the other Fresh girls were shelved), Heartcatch Super Silhouette...and yea, that’s it.

Really, though, that was a different time altogether so don’t hold your hopes up. If it takes a miracle to get one of the main characters finally released, it would take another dozen lifetime of miracles for a Form Change to just be considered.

*SIGH*

Go!Pri Mode Elegant - A proto of Flora’s Mode Elegant was showcased years ago but since she’s never been announced for mass production, then she probably was only made for the showcase. So yea, sadly, none for the other girls either. :’( If there were Figuarts, though, I’d only want their first Elegant forms. The other ones like Rose, Lily, Bubble, Luna, etc, I don’t really care for since there’s not that much difference from the initial forms.

Maho Form Changes - This is me we’re talking about so frickyea, I want the Ruby, Sapphire and Topaz forms! I also wouldn’t mind Alexandrite but hah, in my far off dreams probably.

StarPre Zodiac Forms - ...actually, I am more saddened by the fact that Cosmos has 4 forms while the other girls only have 2. Yes, STILL upset about that and will be forever upset about that so leave me the hell alone and let me sulk! xP

......

That’s all, I suppose.

[letterboxd]

Life in Film: Ben Wheatley.

As Netflix goes gothic with a new Rebecca adaptation, director Ben Wheatley tells Jack Moulton about his favorite Hitchcock film, the teenagers who will save cinema, and a memorable experience with The Thing.

“The actual process of filmmaking is guiding actors and capturing emotion on set. That’s enough of a job without putting another layer of postmodern film criticism over the top of it.” —Ben Wheatley

Winter’s coming, still no vaccine, the four walls of home are getting pretty samey… and what Netflix has decided we need right now is a lavish, gaslight-y psychological thriller about a clifftop manor filled with the personality of its dead mistress—and a revival of one of the best menaces in screen history. Bring on the ‘Mrs Danvers’ Hallowe’en costumes, because Rebecca is back.

In Ben Wheatley’s new film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s best-selling 1938 novel, scripted by Jane Goldman, Lily James plays an orphaned lady’s maid—a complete nobody, with no known first name—who catches the eye of the dashing, cashed-up Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer).

Very quickly, the young second Mrs de Winter is flung into the intimidating role of lady of Manderley, and into the shadow of de Winter’s late first wife, Rebecca. The whirlwind romance is over; the obsession has begun, and it’s hotly fuelled by Manderley’s housekeeper, Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas, perfectly cast).

Each adaptation of du Maurier’s story has its own quirks, and early Letterboxd reactions suggest viewers will experience varying levels of satisfaction with Wheatley’s, depending on how familiar they are with both the novel and earlier screen versions—most notably, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 Best Picture winner, starring Laurence Olivier Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson.

Why would you follow Hitchcock? It’s been 80 years; Netflix is likely banking on an audience of Rebecca virgins (the same kind of studio calculation that worked for Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born). Plus, the new Rebecca is a Working Title affair; it has glamor, camp, Armie Hammer in a three-piece suit, the sunny South of France, sports cars, horses, the wild Cornish coast, Lily James in full dramatic heat, and—controversial!—a fresh twist on the denouement.

A big-budget thriller made for a streamer is Wheatley coming full circle, in a way: he made his name early on with viral internet capers and a blog (“Mr and Mrs Wheatley”) of shorts co-created with his wife and longtime collaborator, Amy Jump. Between then and now, they have gained fans for their well-received low-to-no budget thrillers, including High-Rise, Kill List and Free Fire (which also starred Hammer).

Over Zoom, Wheatley spoke to Letterboxd about the process of scaling up, the challenge of casting already-iconic characters, and being a year-round horror lover. [The Rebecca plot discussion may be spoilery to some. Wheatley is specifically talking about the du Maurier version, not his film.]

Armie Hammer and Ben Wheatley on the set of ‘Rebecca’.

Can you tell us how you overcame any concerns in adapting a famous novel that already has a very famous adaptation? How did you want to make a 1930s story relevant to modern audiences? Ben Wheatley: When you go back to the novel and look at how it works, you see it’s a very modern book. [Author Daphne du Maurier is] doing stuff that people are still picking up the pieces of now. It’s almost like the Rosetta Stone of thrillers—it tells you everything on how to put a thriller together. The genre jumping and Russian-doll nature of the structure is so delicious. When you look at the characters in the book, they’re still popping up in other stuff—there’s Mrs Danvers in all sorts of movies.

It remains fresh because of its boldness. Du Maurier is writing in a way that’s almost like a dare. She’s going, “right, okay, you like romantic fiction do you? I’ll write you romantic fiction; here’s Maxim de Winter, he’s a widower, he’s a good-looking guy, and owns a big house. Here’s a rags-to-riches, Cinderella-style girl. They’re going to fall in love. Then I’m going to ruin romantic fiction for you forever by making him into a murdering swine and implicating you in the murder because you’re so excited about a couple getting away with it!”

That’s the happy ending—Maxim doesn’t go to prison. How does that work? He’s pretty evil by the end. It’s so subtly done that you only see the trap of it after you finish reading the book. That’s clearly represented in Jane Goldman’s adaptation that couldn’t be done in 1940 because of the Hays Code. That whole element of the book is missing [in Hitchcock’s Rebecca]. But I do really like this style of storytelling in the 1930s and ’40s that is not winky, sarcastic, and cynical. It’s going, “here’s Entertainment with a big ‘E’. We’re going to take you on holiday, then we’re gonna scare you, then we’re gonna take you around these beautiful houses that you would never get a chance to go around, and we’re gonna show you these big emotions.”

After High-Rise, you ended up circling back to more contained types of films, whereas Rebecca is your lushest and largest production. How was scaling up for you? Free Fire does feel like a more contained film, but in many ways it was just as complicated and had the same budget as High-Rise, since it’s just in one space. Happy New Year, Colin Burstead is literally a contained film, that’s right. What [the bigger budget] gave me was the chance to have a conversation where I say I want a hotel that’s full of people and no-one says you can’t have any people in it. You don’t have to shoot in a corner, so that scale is suddenly allowed.

Elisabeth Moss and Tom Hiddlestone in Wheatley’s ‘High-Rise’ (2015).

The other movies I did are seen as no-budget or, I don’t even know the word for how little money they are, and even though High-Rise and Free Fire were eight million dollars each, they’re still seen as ultra-low budget. This is the first film that I’ve done that’s just a standard Hollywood-style movie budget and it makes a massive difference. It gives you extra time to work. All the schemes you might have had to work out in order to cheat and get around faster, but now it’s fine, let’s only shoot two pages today. We can go out on the road and close down all of the south of France—don’t worry about all the holidaymakers screaming at you and getting cross! That side of it is great.

You had the challenge to cast iconic actors for iconic roles. What were you looking for in the casting? What points of reference did you give the actors? I don’t think we really talked about it, but [Armie Hammer] definitely didn’t watch the Hitchcock version. I can understand why he wouldn’t. There was no way he was going to accidentally mimic [Laurence] Olivier’s performance without seeing it and he just didn’t want to have the pressure of that. I think that’s quite right. It’s an 80-year-old film, it’s a beloved classic, and we’d be mad if we were trying to remake it. We’re not.

The thing about the shadow that the film cast is that it’s hard enough making stuff without thinking about other filmmakers. I’ve had this in the past where journalists ask me “what were your influences on the day?” and I wish I could say “it was a really complicated set of movies that the whole thing was based around”, but it’s not like that. When you watch documentaries about filmmakers screening loads of movies for their actors before they make something—it’s lovely, but it’s not something I’ve ever done.

The actual process of filmmaking is guiding actors and capturing emotion on set. That’s enough of a job without putting another layer of postmodern film criticism over the top of it—“we’ll use this shot from 1952, that will really make this scene sing!”—then you’re in a world of pain. Basically, it’s my interpretation of the adaptation. The book is its own place, and for something like High-Rise, [screenwriter Amy Jump] has the nightmare of sitting down with 112 pages of blank paper and taking a novel and smashing it into a script. That’s the hard bit.

Armie Hammer and Lily James in ‘Rebecca’.

Current industry news is not so great—cinemas are facing bankruptcy, film festivals in the USA are mostly virtual, Disney is focusing on Disney+ only. How do you feel about a future where streaming dominates the market and the theatrical experience becomes, as we fear, an exclusive niche? Independent cinema was born out of very few movies. If you look at the history of Eraserhead—that film on its own almost created all of cult cinema programming. One movie can do that. It can create an audience that is replicated and becomes a whole industry. And that can happen again, but it needs those films to do that. They will come as things ebb and flow. The streamers will control the whole market and then one day someone will go “I don’t want to watch this stuff, I want to watch something else” and they’ll go make it.

It’s like The Matrix, it’s a repeating cycle. There’ll always be ‘the One’. There’s Barbara Loden in 1970 making Wanda, basically inventing American independent cinema. So I don’t worry massively about it. I know it’s awkward and awful for people to go bankrupt and the cinemas to close down, but in time they’ll re-open because people will wanna see stuff. The figures for cinemagoers were massive before Covid. Are you saying that people with money are not going to exploit that? Life will find a way. Remember that the cinema industry from the beginning is one that’s in a tailspin. Every year is a disaster and they’re going bust. But they survived the Spanish Flu, which is basically the same thing.

Two months ago, you quickly made a horror movie. We’re going to get a lot of these from filmmakers who just need to create something this year. What can you identify now about this inevitable next wave of micro-budget, micro-schedule pandemic-era cinema? I’ve always made micro-budget films so that side of it is not so crazy. There will be a lot of Zoom and people-locked-in-houses films but they won’t be so interesting. They’re more to-keep-you-sane kind of filmmaking which is absolutely fine. Where you should look for [the ‘pandemic-era’ films] is from the kids and young adults through 14 to 25 who’ve been the most affected by it. They will be the ones making the true movies about the pandemic which will be in like five years’ time.

People going through GCSEs and A-Levels [final high-school exams in England] will have had their social contracts thoroughly smashed by the government after society tells them that this is the most important thing you’re ever gonna do in your life. Then the next day the government tells them “actually, you’ve all passed”, then the next day they go “no, you’ve all failed”, and then “oh no, you’ve all passed”. It’s totally bizarre. Anyone who’s in university at the moment [is] thinking about how they’ve worked really hard to get to that position and now they’ve had it taken away from them. That type of schism in that group will make for a unique set of storytelling impetus. Much more interesting than from my perspective of being a middle-age bloke and having to stay in my house for a bit, which was alright. Their experience is extreme and that will change cinema.

Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs Danvers in ‘Rebecca’.

It’s time to probe into your taste in film. Firstly, three questions about Alfred Hitchcock: his best film, most underrated film, and most overrated film? It’s tricky, there’s a lot to choose from. I think Psycho is his best film because, much like Wanda, it was the invention of indie cinema. He took a TV crew to go and do a personal project and then completely redefined horror, and he did it in the same year as Peeping Tom.

There’s stuff I really like in Torn Curtain. Certainly the murder scene where they’re trying to stick the guy in the oven. It’s a gut-wrenching sequence. Overrated, I don’t know. It’s just a bit mean, isn’t it? Overrated by who? They’re all massively rated, aren’t they?

Which film made you want to become a filmmaker? The slightly uncool version of my answer is the first fifteen minutes of Dr. No before I got sent to bed. We used to watch movies on the telly when I was a kid, so movies would start at 7pm and I had to go to bed at 7:30pm. You would get to see the first half-hour and that would be it. The opening was really intriguing. I never actually saw a lot of these movies until I was much older.

The more grown-up answer is a film like Taxi Driver. It was the first time where I felt like I’d been transported in a way where there was an authorship to a film that I didn’t understand. It had done something to me that television and straightforward movies hadn’t done and made me feel very strange. It was something to do with the very, very intense mixture of sound, music and image and I started to understand that that was cinema.

What horror movie do you watch every Hallowe’en? I watch The Thing every year but I don’t tend to celebrate Hallowe’en, to be honest. I’m of an age where it wasn’t a big deal and was never particularly celebrated. I find it a bit like “what’s all this Hallowe’en about?”—horror films for me are for all year-round.

What’s a brilliant mindfuck movie that perhaps even cinephiles haven’t seen? What grade of cinephile are we talking? All of the work by Jan Švankmajer, maybe. Hard to Be a God is pretty mindfucky if you want a bit of that, but cinephiles should know about it. It’s pretty intense. Marketa Lazarová too.

‘Marketa Lazarová’ (1967) directed by František Vláčil.

What is the greatest screen romance that you totally fell head over heels for? I guess it’s Casablanca for me. That would be it.

Which coming-of-age film did you connect to the most as a teenager? [Pauses for effect] Scum.

Who is an exciting newcomer director we should keep our eyes on? God, I don’t know. I would say Jim Hosking but he’s older than me and he’s not a newcomer because he’s done two movies. So, that’s rubbish. He doesn’t count.

[Editor’s note: Hosking contributed to ABCs of Death 2 with the segment “G is for Grandad” while Wheatley contributed to The ABCs of Death with the segment “U is for Unearthed” and also executive produced the follow-up film.]

What was your best cinema experience? [Spoiler warning for The Thing.]

Oh, one that speaks in my mind is seeing The Thing at an all-nighter in the Scala at King’s Cross, and I was sitting right next to this drunk guy who was talking along to the screen. It was a packed cinema with about 300 people, and someone at the front told him “will you just shut up?” The guy says “I won’t shut up. You tell me to shut up again and I’ll spoil the whole film!” The whole audience goes “no, no, no!” and he went “it’s the black guy and the guy with the beard—everyone else dies!” That made me laugh so much.

Do you have a favorite film you’ve watched so far this year? Yeah, Zombie Flesh Eaters.

Related content

Classic Gothic Literature to Film—Jennifer Boddaert’s list

Ava’s Dark Romance list

Ben Wheatley’s Life in Film list

Follow Jack on Letterboxd

‘Rebecca’ is in select US theaters on October 17, and streaming on Netflix everywhere on October 21.

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: Why PreCure's Good, Colorful Optimism is So Welcome

  Magical girls are something of a time-honored genre among anime. The traditional formula of young girls acquiring fantastical superpowers in order to save the world has given rise to some renowned classics like Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. But we're here today to talk about one shining gem of the genre: Pretty Cure. Already popular in Japan, two shows from the long-running franchise have made their official (Crunchyroll) debut in unadulterated fashion. If you've never heard of Pretty Cure, now is the perfect time to see how this cheery and uplifting series can stack up to the big leagues in the magical girl world.

  For the uninitiated, Pretty Cure (typically shortened to PreCure) is a long-running series of magical girls that isn’t too unlike your standard Super Sentai or Kamen Rider affair. The series focuses on a group of girls who transform into superheroes to save the world, but there’s a new entry to the series every year with new characters, different themes, and varying stories. It's worthy to note that this isn't PreCure's first arrival in western territories. The original show received an English dub in 2009 that only aired in Canada. Two other shows in the franchise were also released in western territories on Netflix, although the dubs, marketed as Glitter Force and Glitter Force Doki Doki were far less faithful in their adaptations with name changes and wildly different dubs.

Along with the first series, Futari wa Pretty Cure, Crunchyroll is currently streaming two shows from the franchise. The latest installment is Healin' Good Pretty Cure, which follows three young girls who team up with fairy doctors-in-training to save Earth from a mysterious evil who seeks to cover it in disease. Kira Kira Pretty Cure a la Mode first premiered in 2017 and followed five girls who use the magic of sweets and baking to fight dastardly villains. The former has new episodes every week, and you can stream Kira Kira in its entirety right now!

    From the get-go, Healin’ Good and Kira Kira contain all the hallmarks of a more standard magical girl show: bright and colorful transformations, adorable fairy companions, and thinly-veiled toy commercials are all at the forefront of each episode. It’s everything and more that you can expect for an anime with young girls as its target demographic. For all intents and purposes, PreCure is harmless, glamorous Saturday morning cartoon fun, with optimistic and impactful storytelling that playfully balances raw emotion with the magical girl genre's more typical tropes.

    Between Healin’ Good and Kira Kira, PreCure as a franchise presents a strong case for how magical girls need not sacrifice its optimism for good storytelling. Kira Kira does this in the form of excellent character stories. The story of using sweets to save the world is quirky and cute enough on its own, but the slice-of-life format allows each character their own spotlight and character growth. Complex relations, pursuing your dreams in the face of adversity, and overcoming your anxieties help Kira Kira truly stand out as a relatable genre contemporary.

    On the other hand, Healin’ Good does well to interweave monster-of-the-week stories and sparkly transformations into each character’s development. Nodoka Hanadera (Cure Grace), the leader of the team, spends much of the series having many first experiences after being hospitalized during her early childhood and is driven by her new lease on life to help others. Chiyu Sawaizumi (Cure Fontaine) has a strong sense of responsibility when it comes to saving the world, but also learns to apply that to her normal ambitions. Hinata Hiramitsu (Cure Sparkle) is flighty and ditzy and often quits things when they become difficult, but learns how to see things through and rely on her friends through those hardships.

  Even their fairy partners have their own little character arcs. Whereas magical girl mascots are typically reserved for comic relief or toy fodder, these fairies are thoughtful characters in their own right. Rabirin eventually must learn how to accept herself and trust in other people rather than shoulder the burden on her own. Pegitan has a simple but heartwarming arc on self-confidence. Nyatoran allows himself to compartmentalize his infatuation with another person with his bond of friendship with Hinata without one trampling over the other. Even Rate, the tiny dog princess who often needs to be protected, actively wants to, and eventually becomes, part of the fight alongside Cure Earth.

    When it comes to magical girl shows, it's been easy for PreCure to fly a little under the radar when compared to other shows. Despite its popularity in Japan and a dedicated underground fanbase, the lack of overt availability of PreCure made it become a little overshadowed by the darker, grittier subgenre. For instance, the aforementioned Madoka Magica became wildly popular and influential for its deconstructionist approach. Though Madoka was far from the first magical girl anime to incorporate darker plotlines, it played a major role in popularizing the concept. Shows like YUKI YUNA IS A HERO and Magical Girl Raising Project began to crop up to ride the coattails of Madoka's success and presented dire, even violent interpretations of these stories.

  Given all the attention granted unto subversive tropes in magical girls, deconstructionist storytelling began to feel more like the norm. But while there’s no harm in preferring one type of magical girl to another, or two subgenres coexisting within the same space, people don’t give nearly enough credit to the narrative value and substantial depth that the magical girl standard still offers. 

    And that's why the boundlessly hopeful Pretty Cure feels so good: Healin' Good and Kira Kira are strong examples of how the same old formula can still be used to tell great stories. While PreCure doesn't outwardly aim to appeal to anyone outside its target demographic, it doesn’t really need to — fun to be had and emotions to be felt for people of any age who just want to watch a story about magical girls saving the world without too many strings attached. Both Kira Kira and Healin’ Good, PreCure offer the same emotional and narrative value as any other show while still embracing the bright colors and cheerful nature we’ve come to expect from glittering, brightly-colored superheroes.

  Will you be checking out Pretty Cure on Crunchyroll? Are you a longtime fan or are these your first? Comment below and let us know!

      Carlos (aka Callie) is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. Their favorite genres range from magical girls to over-the-top robot action, yet their favorite characters are always the obscure ones. Check out some of their pop culture editorials on Popdust as well as their satirical work on The Hard Times.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[therappundit]

October 2018 -*PlayLi$t of the Month*

Ooooo it is getting awfully spooky out there, folks...

Temperatures are (finally) plummeting, so for this month I have the perfect score for you. Tis the season for grimy rap music, and with new releases from the likes of Roc Marciano, Styles P,  Sheck Wes, and Westside Gunn, the chilly sound of autumn is officially in full swing here on the east coast. That being said, this month’s list also includes a diverse array of talent from Grand Rapids, New Orleans, St. Louis, Richmond, and beyond (plus an extra deep “honorable mentions” section, to further champion all of the great new tracks out there). So please enjoy some of my favorite songs from the month of October...

1. “Dolph Lundgren” - DJ Muggs & Roc Marciano

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43R-lDAhhjg

(Another month, another dope Roc Marciano project. What stands out on KAOS is the chemistry between Roc and DJ Muggs. With this special MC + producer joint album, the two underground icons joined forces to create a street soundtrack that is at once both a throwback and a breath of fresh air. Roc’s persona on records is unparalleled, he packs a 70′s hustler’s soul in the body of a modern gangster. Place those bars over Muggs’ dark soul samples, and you have yourself one helluva album.)

2. “40 Acres” - Chester Watson

https://soundcloud.com/chesterwatson/40-acres

(On first listen, Chester Watson sounds like a clone of Earl Sweatshirt. The Miami-by-way-of-St. Louis MC certainly possesses a dark, monotone delivery that is eerily reminiscent of the vibes channeled by the former Odd Future standout, but rest assured, Chester is an artist more than capable of standing on his own two. If “40 Acres” doesn’t make you want to check out his new Project O album, then that’s your loss - this track is fantastic.)

3. “Vetements Socks” - Sheck Wes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvntmsHRNa0

(Truth be told, I had very little expectations for this MUDBOY project. I didn’t even appreciate the breakout hit “Mo Bamba”, but I really do appreciate Sheck Wes’ full length debut. I always say whatever your style is, do it well, and at least provide some form of perspective. For all of Sheck’s youthful inexperience, poetic shortcomings, and scattered focus, he has released a project that captures his energy, his taste in music, and that he is a raw, talented artist with a lot on his mind. “Vetements Socks” brings to mind one of the early hits of another young Harlemite, that being “Peso” by A$AP Rocky. While far from the classic New York-centric hip-hip sound, MUDBOY is an album that successfully paints pictures of where Sheck is in his life right now, and it feels like the NYC sidewalks that I stomp around on today.)

4. “Southside Sector” -  Big Kahuna OG feat. Fly Anakin

https://schemeteamallstars.bandcamp.com/track/southside-sector-prod-ohbliv-feat-fly-anakin

(Every Mutant Academy release I have heard is pretty dope. However, certain projects really do an excellent job showcasing one specific MCs potential as a uniquely talented rapper/writer, as opposed to just bars over beats. Big Kahuna OG’s new Weapon Ox tape is possibly the best album of his catalogue thus far, and I can’t recommend it enough.)

5. “CL Smooth” - Willie The Kid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWtr3bUFNE8

(Low key, Willie The Kid has been dropping dope music since he popped up on the scene again in 2017, after a hiatus. His Things Of That Nature tape is another one of his filler-free releases, and I find this “CL Smooth” shout-out especially, well, smooth.)

6. “'94 Ghost Shit” - The Alchemist feat. Conway & Westside Gunn

https://soundcloud.com/alan-the-chemist/the-alchemist-feat-conway-westside-gunn-94-ghost-shit

(Since hearing the IG teasers many months ago, Griselda fans have ben clamoring for the release of “94 Ghost Shit”. They/we finally got that wish granted when Uncle Al unleashed the Conway and Westside Gunn helmed banger on his site. Just a loosie, or a teaser for the trios long awaited Hall & Nash 2 project??? For now, we at least have this tough as nails joint to keep in rotation for the foreseeable future...or at least until WSG drops Hitler Wears Hermes 6 on Halloween!.)

7. “Boss” - Little Simz

https://soundcloud.com/littlesimz/b-o-s-s-1

(Is this the solo debut of a UK artist on the Pundit PlayLi$t!? I believe so! Little Simz has been on my radar for a while now, but with “Boss” she finally has what feels like a smash to me. The beat is a head nodder and Simz uses it to showcase why she is a fierce MC that deserves respect from her fans and peers alike.)

8. “Life In Crooklyn” - Planit Hank & DJ Evil Dee feat. Jeru The Damaja, Buckshot & AZ - Life in Crooklyn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=korr8p6lDhk

(A simple, but effective piece of NYC nostalgia that is knocked out the park by an elite line-up of legendary New York legends. Jeru, Buckshot and AZ are no doubt some of Brooklyn’s finest to ever pick up the m-i-c, and they each lend their magic to this one.)

9. “We Got Everything” - Styles P & Dave East

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTfMYCFhzi8

(Not a lot of hype went into the release of Beloved, Styles P and Dave East’s collaboration album, but nevertheless the project is solid from top to bottom. “We Got Everything” benefits from an ear-worm of a hook, and thumping production that suits both MCs.)

10. “Uproar” - Lil Wayne feat. Swizz Beatz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WYAX6onqbM

(No, The Carter V did not live up to its’ unfairly lofty expectations...but it’s still a good album, and an even better display of how well-rounded Lil Wayne can be as a MC. “Uproar” is far from the headiest track on C5, but it’s great example of classic Weezy swagger, on top of being a fun reboot of G. Dep’s “Special Delivery”...and any time I have the chance to s/o G. Dep on my monthly playlist, I’m going to jump on it!) 🙏

*Bonus - Honorable Mention [extended edition]*

“Take It All” - Fatima feat. Roc Marciano

https://fatima.bandcamp.com/track/take-it-all-feat-roc-marciano

“Fuck 12” - Quavo feat. Offset

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4IjBNBCnZo

“Rap Charlamagne (Say What I Want)” - Pardison Fontaine

https://soundcloud.com/pardi/rap-charlamagne-say-what-i-want

“Magic Tricks” - Lucky Seven feat. Conway

https://soundcloud.com/luckyseven30/magic-tricks-feat-conway?in=luckyseven30/sets/53creebadluck

“Preach” - Swizz Beatz feat. Jim Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRfP0S985D8

“Never Fight An African” - Styles P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5i6lv5wgKc

“Stoop Kids” - Mir Fontane feat. Fetty Wap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ik3iwCPm1E

“still water [flow water pt. 2]” - Cambank$

https://soundcloud.com/camgotthejuice/stillwater-flow-water_pt2-prod-2spvced

“The Suppliers” - 38 Spesh, Jai Black & Daniel Son

https://soundcloud.com/lil-eto/38-spesh-x-jai-black-x-daniel-son-the-suppliers

“Understood” - Mick Jenkins

https://soundcloud.com/mickjenkins/mick-jenkins-prod-kaytranada

“Hating” - J-Live

https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2018/10/j-live-hating-maga-lyric-video/

“Dotty X & The Sen” - Sadat X & El Da Sensei

https://vindig.bandcamp.com/track/dotty-x-the-sen

“Episode 11” - Mooch & Farma Beats feat. Maverick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vWEUr7yEMI

“IScream” - Bodega Bamz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5mmVrKaV0w

“Hot” - Flu & Rigz feat. Mav Montana & Eto

https://soundcloud.com/fludust/2-hot-feat-mav-montana-eto?in=fludust/sets/rigz-a-piece-of-the-action

“Black Mags 2” - The Cool Kids

http://2dopeboyz.com/2018/10/19/the-cool-kids-black-mags-2/

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEN  🎃🎃🎃

[ICYMI: Last month’s list below]

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/178500049856/september-2018-playli-t-of-the-month

[fyrapartnersearch]

bloodsport

hello!

My name is Emmy! i'm going to make this fairly short (or at least try to haaA). I am looking for 1-2 new rp partners!

I am currently in uni full time and work 2 part time jobs so please understand this is a hobby for me. My posting speed ranges from once every few days to once every couple of weeks. I am almost always available ooc though, esp through google hangouts.

I am in my early twenties and prefer my partners to be 20+. I love detailed plots and stories; crafting good posts is a huge part of why I love rping. I match/mirror my partner's length and put a high amount of importance on compatibility as writers. Good grammar, punctuation, spelling is A Thing for me. I tend to switch capitalization OOC but as an English minor, when it comes down to posting, I put 110% in.

If you want a partner that's invested in writing together and all the joy that brings, I'm your person! 

what do I write?

I write a few fandoms, but not many. If I’ve got plots listed, they’re the ideas I have, but I’m totally open to yours as well. Stars denote how much I'm craving them. I'll also list the canon characters I write after I list the fandom!

Fallout: New Vegas & 4: Arcade Gannon & Elder Maxson, Paladin Danse - also got a ton of ocs for both ***plot for fallout 4 a: We explore the cut ending to the Brotherhood of Steel questline, wherein the Sole Survivor and Paladin Danse refuse Maxson’s final orders for Danse, and fight for Danse to become the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel. Would likely require you playing Maxson or Danse and me playing the other, with one of us playing the Sole Survivor.  ***plot for fallout 4 b: Your/my oc is a double agent for the Railroad, with the mission to infiltrate the Brotherhood of Steel and send intelligence back to the agents back at home base. Your/my oc becomes unexpectedly attached to elder Maxson through work and circumstance. Eventually, your/my oc must make a choice of where their allegiance lies: within the arms of Arthur or with the faction they are fighting for. (potentially, we could double and do plot a & b at the same time.) 

Mafia 2: Vito Scaletta  *plot for mafia 2: we explore the dynamics of a relationship between Vito and your oc. Your oc could be in a position of great risk- think outside of the mafia, possibly a police officer, prostitute. Some position where power dynamics could be played with. If the pairing is m/m we could also deal with the themes of internalized homophobia and coming to terms with one’s identity. 

Bioshock 1, 2 & Infinite: Brigid Tenbenbaum, Andrew Ryan, Frank Fontaine & Eleanor Lamb, Sofia Lamb & Booker Dewitt 

**Marvel Cinematic Universe: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers - get @ me with your Stony plots (do people still write that??)

***greater Marvel Universe: Logan Howlett, Carol Danvers, Jean Grey  ****random plot: We do a crossover and we ship Sharon Carter/Carol Danvers. I just. Uuugh I have a lot of feelings about them and I have hella muse for these babes. Lemme know if you’re down to give this a shot I will love you forever no word of a lie. 

But honestly where my heart lies is within oc rp. Here are a few plots i have of mine, stars denote how much i’m craving them:

****(m/m) power & politics: My oc is a prestigious state senator, who lives a double life. He is currently in the closet with no intent on leaving it anytime soon. However, a certain someone falls into his life, making him question what he thought he knew for certain. Your oc breaks down the walls my oc has put up and changes him into a softer, better man. However, with an upcoming presidential campaign on the horizon for my oc, the limits of the secret relationship will be pushed and pulled beyond what both parties have ‘signed up for.‘

****(m/m) the guardian: Your oc is a newcomer to the nhl but is quickly making waves- think Connor McDavid style. He’s young and impressive, but mostly, impressionable. He starts to get battered around by both his teammates and opposing teams. After a few hard hits and fowl play within the game that have cost your oc bench and recovery time, the team’s coach calls in reinforcements to boost the team’s morale and serve as a protector to your oc. My oc is a player who hasn’t got the talent part but has got a huge heart. Not to mention… huge hands. Good for makin’ fists. Good for fightin’.  My oc protects your oc during the games, coming to your oc’s aid, picking fights for your oc and protecting him on the ice. As such, the two players grow attached to one another.. perhaps too attached for the captain to be comfortable with. Possibilities for a love triangle and other complications, for sure

***(m/m) too good to be true: Our ocs start out in the whl, both as promising wingers. Their good chemistry is vital to bringing back their team’s success. However, one of our ocs starts to get too attached to the other, and when an nhl draft separates them, one of our ocs is all too eager to cut contact and try to forget. The two excel in their nhl careers without one another, and end up on nhl teams with a history of deep rivalry. Occasionally, the gloves hit the ice, fueled by the tension of unresolved feelings and the pressure of the respective teams to keep up the rivalry. The two are reunited when they are both chosen to play nationally for the same team, and are forced to reconcile what they have both buried so deeply within them. 

***(m/m) big money: These two ocs play for rival teams in the nhl. While their teams have a history of tension, our two ocs take it to the next level. Audiences are more excited to watch these two fight than they are to watch the game itself. There’s a market in the violence between these two, and a reputation to maintain on both ends. If the public found out that these two were secretly seeing one another, their careers would both be over. 

**** (m/m) sugar daddy: My oc is a law student studying in your oc’s country in order to get their degree abroad. They’re from eastern Europe and uh. broke af. They settle into an arrangement with your oc where your oc agrees to ~pay him for his company~ after they meet while my oc does camming online to make ends meet. We could take it anywhere- your oc could whisk mine off his feet and 'save’ him or. Be toxic & trashy and make my oc’s life hell.

Okay and, here are just some general prompts that could be intertwined with the plots above, or could be something we use to springboard into our own rp:

my oc has serious commitment issues. they often go around ‘ghosting’ individuals after 4-5 dates, with little to no explanation of why. your oc falls for mine, and is the first to confront my oc about their shitty habits. 

your oc and my oc were best friends, but they lost touch over a stupid fight they had when they were preteens. they can’t believe that they’re seeing one another in a bar, halfway across the world from where they met. 

your oc and my oc were flames. my oc proposed to yours, but yours turned them down. they never spoke again… until they were sharing a crammed elevator, with my oc being completely intoxicated, and still confessing their feelings for your oc. 

your oc is a huge fan of my oc’s nhl career/political career. your oc wins a contest to meet and have dinner with my oc. while my oc expects a boring night out, my oc is completely surprised by how well they hit it off with your oc. 

my oc, your first oc and your second oc all grew up together. your first oc has always been pining for my oc’s attention, and is thrilled when my oc and your first oc finally get together. they develop a long term relationship, but my oc knows it would devastate your first oc if they told them that they have been seeing your second oc for most of the relationship. 

I recognize that a lot of these focus on the nhl/the lives of professional hockey players- please don’t be worried about hockey knowledge/nhl jargon/whatever else goes through your head! I’m more interested in sport as a realm for drama than i am for following the rulebook and being 100% accurate to life when it comes to hockey. There’s a lot i don’t know and am still needing to learn, myself! If you know a lot, great!! If you don’t, let’s figure things out together! as for general oc ideas, here’s a list:

professor x student

veteran x civillian

cop x criminal 

** OC superheroes (I have a lot of muse for this one!)

street racing, fast-and-furious-esque setting

rival gangs 

** nhl/hockey based (lol obviously)

small town canadiana or americana 

fun, fluffy romance based modern settings

historical setting- preferably, the second world war/1940s-1960s 

light worldbuilding - new to this but wanting to learn

honestly whatever you can pitch to me that isn’t high fantasy :)

I can expand on and work with any of these ideas, these are just like, topics. Whatever i do with you, I promise it’ll be fleshed out, with tons of opportunity for drama. 

how do we get started?

pleaaase send me an email at ehmmywrites@gmail.com ! I will get back to you asap, but please give me some of your thoughts/an idea of why/what you'd like to write with me!

I am also almost always around on google hangouts.

We can sort out the brass tacks there and figure out if we're a good match. :) 

Thanks for your time and I hope I hear from you!