#after enough eps that they were able to get the full picture of Alex

[knickynoo]

I loved your recent post about Marty and his ADHD! It was soo spot on. And, I saw in the tags that you mentioned Alex Keaton and how you believe he’s not neurotypical either. Care to elaborate? Do you have any headcanons about neurodivergent™ Alex? I’d love to hear your thoughts! :)

Oh, hey, thank you! Marty having ADHD seems to be one of the most common headcanons in the fandom, so that post was a lot of fun to work on.

As far as Alex goes...yes, I will elaborate, BUT I'm putting it under a cut because ya girl is really going to E L A B O R A T E.

I've mentioned before that I think Alex's overall personality/demeanor comes from a variety of different places. Some parts of who he is are likely caused by all the pressure put on him to be a high achiever, due to being so academically gifted from a young age. Other parts are due to being overly coddled and spoiled by Elyse and Steven. Still, there's probably a part of Alex that genuinely enjoys being difficult and getting a rise out of people. Then, there's the obvious anxiety he struggles with, which even MJF has talked about in some interviews when discussing how he approached playing a guy like Alex.

"Giftedness" & anxiety are already included under the umbrella of neurodiversity but in Alex's case, I actually think there's even more to it than that. Yeah, Alex is a funny character whose actions/words are so often played for laughs. He can also be a really irksome character when he's dishing out the sarcasm and being selfish. But I also can't help but look at Alex and think, This guy is just so not NT and he is struggling, somebody Help Him. And since Alex P. Keaton is one of my favorite characters AND I love to analyze/ do deep dives AND the topic of neurodiversity is a particularly strong interest of mine... well, here you go....

Mans is autistic.

• Difficulty with social cues and "reading the room". Seriously, there are so many instances of everyone around him all being on the same page about something or dealing with something serious, and Alex walks in and just proceeds to miss every single cue people throw his way. Two scenes that pop into my head, in particular, are the Reflective Pajamas one and the Clam Puff one, lol.

• He frequently struggles with putting himself in other people's shoes: Alex is certainly shown to be a compassionate person. He can recognize when people are hurting and will do the right thing, but sometimes he needs some help to get there. It seems that a lot of the time, all he knows is how he feels or thinks about something, and it doesn't occur to him that another person could be experiencing it differently. Then, once Steven, Elyse, Ellen, etc, break the situation down for him and explicitly say things like, Hey, that person's feelings are hurt because... or Here is the exact reason this person is angry... Alex is finally able to connect the dots, which usually leads to him being like, I hadn't ever thought about that/ I didn't mean it. (Of course, there are also times where Alex is just purposely being a jerk, but I'm not focusing on those)

• Specific, intense interests: Politics & economics, obviously. It's made well-known that Alex has been completely fixated on these two areas since he was a toddler. He's prone to enthusiastic, overly detailed discourse on the topics and either doesn't care or can't pick up on when people are growing bored at listening to him.

• Also, can we talk about how it's established that Alex's favorite toy as a little kid was a box? Like, he carried it everywhere, played with it, slept with it, and was devastated when it fell apart. Idk, I know kids can be attached to random objects, but it's just interesting that Alex is noted as having been enamored with a box. I'm just picturing little Alex, ignoring all the toys he has in favor of just sitting and staring at a box, and his parents are like, Yeah, this is normal.

• Highly intelligent, bordering on genius/prodigy (He was doing long-division at like, 3 years old) but has difficulty connecting with peers & making friends: This is most prominently shown in "A, My Name is Alex," where we see glimpses of various events in his childhood. In the scene where Alex meets Greg, we learn that Alex spends recess inside, helping the teacher plan her lessons rather than going out to socialize with his classmates. He's bewildered at Greg's invitation to come play, meaning he likely spent the majority of his childhood on his own due to being considered an outcast by his peers and just generally relating more easily to adults. (He also mentions taking night classes at a local college at age SEVEN. So like. If the long-division story and night class thing are taken to be actual facts of Alex's childhood...we're looking at something similar to hyperlexia/hypernumeracy here. This kid must have been bored out his mind having to sit through elementary school if he was that advanced)

• Very literal at times/ misses sarcasm: Interestingly enough, APK is very fond of being sarcastic but doesn't do so well when he's on the receiving end of it. Someone will make a joke or spin the sarcasm towards him for once, and he'll either just stare blankly like ???? or smile/thank them and they're like, Yeah, that wasn't a compliment, or, I was kidding.

• Black and white/ inflexible thinking: This might be the biggest one. Alex is super concerned with rules and ensuring that everyone is following them correctly. There's right and there's wrong, with no gray areas or middle ground as far as he's concerned. My favorite instance of this is in the episode where the family goes to visit Steven's mother and Rob, Alex's uncle, is telling a story of how Steven got in trouble as a kid for refusing to put his name in the upper right corner of his test papers. Everyone around the table laughs...except for Alex, who is deeply troubled by the information.

Just...Steven's delivery. The way he pauses and stares at Alex before replying with a ridiculous punishment that obviously didn't happen, but Alex shows no signs of being aware of or amused at the joke and is just glad his father faced the consequences of his actions. It's great, and a prime example of Alex's preoccupation with "the rules."

Another good example (& one that crosses into the empathy category as well) is "Big Brother is Watching", where Alex exposes a cheating scandal at school (that involves Mallory) and then can't wrap his mind around why everyone is angry at him when he gets the students who were involved suspended. He spends half the episode saying things like, But cheating is wrong. It's wrong and I told the truth about it. I did what's right. You (Steven) told me to always tell the truth, which I did. WHY PEOPLE ANGRY???

And so Steven has to basically spell it out and be like, You got those students suspended, Alex. They are upset with you because of this. They were exposed publically, which embarrassed them, and people tend to not like being embarrassed.

And Alex is like, Oh.

• Repetitive behavior/movements: Most often seen when Alex is distressed or scared, his mannerisms definitely stand out in many scenes. He paces, taps his foot/bounces his leg, rubs his hands together or over his lap, rocks back and forth, and avoids eye contact. I made a post about this a short while back because it really is interesting (and a testament to how well the character was played). There are moments where Alex is completely confident and "calm", and you can see that reflected in the way he carries himself. But whenever he's upset or anxious, you'll start to notice a variety of the things listed above.

So. Yeah. All these things considered...I headcanon Alex as possibly being autistic?? Which is not a take I've ever seen anyone else mention (and I seriously doubt anyone working on the show had this angle in mind at all) but watching through the series, my radar just goes off when it comes to APK.

I have no idea how this will be received. (If anyone even reads it because wow, this got away from me).

Thanks for the ask. As you may be able to tell, I enjoyed being able to spew out my thoughts.

[popculturebuffet]

Close Enough Reviews: First Date and Snailin’ It

We’re in the home stretch thank god! Seriously while I do love this show, doing 13 reviews in one day, even as most are easy to bang out, has been exausting. But the thank god is also because we’ve arrived at my faviorite episode so far and.. er another one but at least it has Noel Fielding! That’s really awesome!  This time around Josh and Emily try to recapture the magic of their first date only to end up in one of the good Blumhouse movies, while Bridgette brings Josh along on an awkward first date. Then Emily gets the help of a snail’s magical hat to juggle work and life. Snail yeah under hte cut. 

First Date: 

A fourtune teller is at the fourplex, another review of the series I recently read revealed that’s what their buildings called and I like the sound of it so i’m using that, predicting a weird romance for bridget, who belivies it’s a guy she’s been texing, and sometimes sexting in her words not mine, who she has a date with tonight while said psychic also reveals to Emily that things with her and josh have gotten bland, something emily realizes via a hilarous flashback of them making out while falling asleep repeadtly before both just conk out. Also randy has thunder pants, aka pants tha tmake thunde rnoises and have a giant lighting bolt cod piece. Your the second best randy. Andt hat’s only because Alex is still a character. 

So we have our two plots and unlike previous episodes and one future one the plots.. don’t dovetail. Which I like and I like a show being able to do two seperate plots in eleven minutes. We frankly need more of that. Bridgette has her date and Josh and Emily end up having theres. As such i’ll cover both seperatley. And since their plots a bit simplier let’s start with Josh and Emily.  Emily tries flirting with Josh before explaning it’s because she wants to bring the spice back. After josh bungles his response trying to say what she wants but just.. you know asking emily what she wants him to say which is never a good move in any conversation, Josh does near instantly rebound, texting emily to come to the close tfor a suprise. Granted since Josh, self admittley right after, admits he has no game, it come across as weird and creepy, but Emily appricates him trying and is touched when he reveals his real bring the sparks back romantic plan: a recreation of their first date, which was at a haunted house. Also for some reason Josh thought mr magoriums wonder emporium was a best picture contender. Never change josh, never change. But I genuinely like this: having a couple that while relaistically having a dry spell still lvoes each other: instead of worrying the relationship is dead as these plots tend to do they simply want to bring back the magic that’s sometimes lost when you work two jobs, raise a kid full time and live with two weirdos with little sense of personal space.  So they go and the reason it’s pretty simple is their subplot is the two having a mind screw being chased by various horrors in the house. As i’ve said I feel the series has more of a horror bent at times with some episodes leaning more into that than just goofy madness like regular show did. Regular Show really saved most of its straight up horror content for terror tales, here horror bits can crop up as much as fucking wacky bits. I mean a logan’s run parody where a man dies is paired up with a low speed train chase with a con arist that ends with her driving into a thermortor factory while choking her fake son. The show can ping pong on tone, but it does work.  But yeah that’s why there’s less to talk about: it’s not bad stuff, it’s super spooky including the end bit where their told they died, it’s just mostly the two of them running around a nightmare, that unsuprisngly turns out not to be real and was just the attraction, before a really touching climax when the two finally find each other run towards each other and realize just how horrifed they were at the thought of loosing one another. it’s really damn touching and romantic, and leads to another climax when the two start kissing before getting it on despite the horror house working telling them they have others coming. I’ts a good plot, I just don’t have a ton to anlyaize about it. it’s just really good and really good horror stuff with a satsifying and sweet ending.  On to our main event, Bridgette heads out to her date and TRIES lying to alex for his own sake.. but Alex not only easily guessed she was on a date in the first place but... isn’t bothered at all. He even offers to wing man while sining the firends theme song and clapping at the wrong time. Because he’s alex even when he’s being sweet and a good friend and ex, he can’t help but be just a BIT off.  Bridget goes to meet Ron.. and finds he’s sewn to his ex Joy... like literally sewn or conjoined as they put it. Bridgette freaks the fuck out but is talked by ron into continuing, partly because their getting it undone and partly because Bridgette herself admits Ron looked past her baggage.. even if his is larger, she can at least try to. Also Ron is voiced by Chris Parnell who, with archer delayed event hough i’m watching it again and having stopped wtching rick and morty, I dearly missed. Glad to have you back dude. I’m also unsuprised he’s in this as the man is in everything. He’s a fucking workhorse. 

Anyways Alex happily agrees, has his own brief freakout because bridget didn’t tell him about the conjoined twins thing despite being a room away, but quickly rebounds and.. actually hits it off with Joy. even better than Bridgette is with ron who she soon realizes won’t shut the hell up about hiking. Soon Bridgette.. is jealous. Both because Alex is moving on way easier and found someone way quicker, Joyce shares his weird taste in viking erotica, and because she may still have some feelings left. We saw a bit of that in “Robot Tutor”: Bridgette got jealous real quick when alex saw someone elsed espite them being there mostly as sex pals, and admitted there was still some unresolved stuff there they hadnt gotten past on both sides.  They hit the club and things continue to degrade, with Bridgette even more jealous because Alex never took her dancing. And being that bridg is a musician and loves clubbing and what not, i’ts pretty understandable to be frustrated with her ex talking about how it took someone else to get him to do the worm.. also Alex doing the worm is a sheeer delight. When the cojoined ex couple leave, with Ron once again bringing up climbing machu pichu because apparently it’s in chris parnells contract he can never play an actually likeable romantic intrest, Bridget tries to bail but Alex wants to stay since it’s not his fault his date is going well and her’s isn’t.  Bridgette makes the mistake of saying “If you like joy so much why don’t you just conjoin with her”.. and Alex being alex says “why dont’ I and we end up at conjoin, the place Ron and Joy got bonded in the first place. Ever since 1994, you won’t regret this. Actual signs up there and they are wonderful. Bridgette, still jealous even ifs he can’t stand ron offers to be conjoined to him both in a desperate attempt not to losoe alex and to one up him.  However Alex finally calls her out, as while he’s perfeclty happy for her to move on, as this episode showed.. she can’t stand to see him with someone else, and Ron wisley tells her he can’t be attached to someone who isn’t unattached from her ex. When bridgette counters with the oppsitie ron is suprisingly pogniant “We can detach from each other physically but you two can’t detach from each other spirtually”. WHile bridgette quips about him finally saying something intresting, he’s right. She’s not ready and this night clearly proved it and even if she was she was only doing this to show up Alex. Joy likewise breaks things off. a bit more abrubtly since Alex has’nt been nearly as obvious as bridgette.. but alex himself shows he too still has some feelings when he accidentlya dmits to having written an entire section of his memoir about her teeth. Would could be creepy or you know, standard alex ends up really sweet as Bridgette is not only touched by the gesture, but Alex explains why “THeir all the parts that make up your smile” The two share a look, Joy wants what they have and Ron wants to masturbate alone. The end. 

Sadly this isn’t followed up on yet, if at all if there isn’t more episodes next week, as the next ep with the two in it, the finale for today, has the two in seperate plots that only dovetail at the end. But this honestly feels like a posisble arc for the show; Will the two get back together and work past the issues that got them to divorce in the first place or stay divorced and move on? And regular show, with one exception i’ve ranted enough about and will again, was really good at romantic storylines eventually and this could be really intresting for a number of reasons. I’m realy hoping this isn’t just a one off ending, could be but we’ll hopefully see. Either way this episode is really damn good with both plots , while not intersecitng connecting thematically: ONe couple relives a horrifying mirorr version of their first date while a former couple goes on their first real date with other people since the split but finds they might not be as done as they thought. IT’s a good juxtopision and the whole conjoining bit is both horrifying and good Beisdes having my ship at the center i’ts just a damn good time and the best of the season so far (or at all atain the 8 episodes thing is really throwing me off). 

Snailed It: This one should go quicker as its a much simpler ep: Emily has been working way too much and neglecting Candace, including a crypt based board game they’ve been playing for her job because she’s being a doormat. however i’ts not unresonable since said job gives them health insurance which given their lives, they REALLY need. She’s being such a doormat because she’s understandably afraid if she stands up for herself it could risk her job and they’d loose important stuff.  Emily TRIES to juggle things by doing a charity garden/publicity stunt to distract thigns at the school btu the comination of extra work from her boss and the children not actually gardening makes it fail and candace more upset. Emily finds help in the most unlikely of places: A giant talking snail that offers to let her use his magic hat to speed up time and complete the garden in exchange for some of the veggies. He’s also voiced by nice dude and mighty boosh alum noel fielding in what hoenstly feels like a boosh character got out of that universe, if their not the same unvierse which is possible, and snuck into this one.  Emily accepts, and is tempted to use the hat to do more of her job, with the snail calling her a shit parent. Fuck you man, sh’e sa good mom she’s just making mistakes. Emily decides to do it anyway and it works but she soon finds out using the hat outside the garden ages her while the snail decides fuck it and kidnaps candace by aborbing her into his stomach and making her be his legs so he can get dumplings because why not. What follows is a horrifc and tense chase between the two as candace’s life is on the line and the snail has a backup hat and emily time blasting him only makes candace age or deage, horrifyingly becoming a fetus at one point and a teenager later. It’s ar eally tense well done seen that combines the show’s usual insanity with it’s horror side to great effect Meanwhile josh feels useless since his job is less important, and he feels less important as he’s on call and skipping rocks with randy because apparently that’s what he does on call. Randy gets a great moment though, explaning to josh that h’es like the stones their skipping: he’s immoible and seemingly useless most of the time but when it matters he’s there . He’s there rock. Their support.. and naturally with emily slowly dying from her hat, a rare sentence, Josh steps upa nd saves the day via stone skipping, emily throws the hat in and the fundraiser, due to the madness, sucesffuly buired the scandal and Emily finally tells mr salt no.. and he’s really cool about it just telling her to come in a little later. Things are back on track and we’re out.  This wasn’t a bad one, but it both feels less after the prevoius episode and somehwhat simple comaprd other emily centreic episodes. WHile the snail is a great villian and noel fielding,  like rich fulcher before him, fits into this kind of world nicely. Not a bad one, just one sandwitched between two far more interesting episodes. Speaking of which, we’re in the endg ame now. Next time it’s dog days and weird fucking al baby, until very soon later days. 

[bunnymcbunnister]

SPN Season 15 Spoiler Sheet, update 11/11

Hello! I finally had some time to clean this up a bit. I am going to make a separate post about old episodes if anyone wants to reference the past. I also pulled out some general spoilers that have already happened to keep this shorter. It’s getting to be a monster with length. 

As for updates, we got some nuggets from Jensen and Misha while promoting their latest projects. No pictures yet for ep 5 because of the holiday. Also no description for 7 yet because there will be a week off for Thanksgiving. Hopefully JaxCon will have some juicy updates like DC did. Under the cut!

DISCLAIMER: This is gathered info from various sources. This is not confirmed information. Stuff in this WILL be wrong. Don’t take this too seriously. This is for fun. 

General Info (oldest to newest)

There is hope to wrap up some Wayward Daughters storylines in the back half of the season

They are adding a whole extra day to filming to do the final scene. They will film the final scene last.  (Implies logistics- lots of returning people?)

Brad Bucker used the word “romance” when asked about Sam and Dean’s arcs. Did not specify who. 

In an interview, Kripe indicated that the series ending would have “peace” for Sam and Dean

Not much new at the TCA’s, but it was said it is “unlikely” Jeffery Dean Morgan will be back since his last appearance was such a good end note. There were some jokes about a Castiel spin off. Hell, I’d watch. 

There will be a special tribute ep, not clear if its one of the 20 or additional

Misha will be in 15 out of 20 episodes this season

According to Dabb, Sam and Dean are going to start to lose people who, in past seasons, we would’ve never lost — and lose them in a very real way. Our guys are going to realize there’s a certain finality, and some of the things they’ve relied on to get through the day — people, talents, things like that — they are no longer going to be able to roll out. And that’s going to throw them for a loop

Also according to Dabb, Jack is still in the empty and “he’s not coming back in the near future”

Cas’ deal with the Empty may come up later in the season. 

Dabb intimated that Chuck was inherently responsible for killing Mary when asked how the boys would respond to Jack. 

Adam Rose, who played Aaron Bass from the golem episode vauge-tweeted about working a show with two badass leads. Could be Supernatural, but I think the timing is off- he indicated he was filming late Friday night. 

Dabb compared Chuck and John Winchester, claiming that Dean would have to break free of “conditioning.” Also, for Jack “there have been cosmic forces fighting for his attention since he was in the womb — and that will continue. As much as this season is about Sam and Dean finding agency, it’s also about Castiel finding agency, and it’s about Jack finding agency. As always, death is never the end. It’s just part of the journey and that’s certainly true with Jack.” 

Per Variety: At the outset of the season, the “Supernatural” foursome of Dean, Sam, Castiel and Jack are split up, but Dabb notes they won’t be for long because “ultimately this is a found family, and they have deep emotional bonds” that make up the most important part of the show.

Sam’s wound from the equalizer gives his powers/an advantage of some kind (per TVGuide)

Jack will be a critical part of the ending of the show

The cage/Adam is looking like it will be coming up for midseason

Shaving People, Punting Things: https://youtu.be/azTwku2uosA

The shaving promo, punting things promo shows glimpses or Lucifer!Sam and MOC!Dean, as well as bearded Dean in tactical equipment. Recent interviews by Dabb seem to indicate that these are glimpses into other universes, a la Apocalypse World, and other endings from Sam and Dean. 

According to the MarySue and other interviews, Sam’s bullet hole will give him a connection and insight to god- like a tin can telephone string.

In the cage, Micheal and Adam have formed a working relationship (MarySue)

Dean and Amara’s connection will be explored

There will be a bunker themed episode (MarySue)

According to Misha (Cinablend) Dean and Cas will have discord up to ep 8- which is the mid-season finale. 

At a convention, Jake Abel was asked to share two lies about Adam’s return and a truth. The said 1. Adam is not upset about hell 2. Adam kills someone 3. Adam bring someone back. I am assuming its the bring someone back (Micheal?)

In one of his cookbook interviews, Misha used the word “we” several times when talking about the final scene of Supernatural. He said that would be the last scene they shoot. It seemed to imply that he was in the scene, but that could be open to interpretation. 

The finale will air on Monday May 18th. The show will move to Mondays when it comes back on March 16th. It’s gotta come back either than that and go on a mini break or something, because that is not enough Mondays. 

Episode 15x05

Title: Proverbs 17:3

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: RICHARD SPEIGHT, JR. DIRECTS – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean’s (Jensen Ackles) routine case turns out to be anything but. Richard Speight, Jr. directed the episode written by Steve Yockey (#1505). Original Airdate 11/14/2019.

Written by: Yockey

Director: Speight

Filming Dates:  9/4-9/13

Airdate: 11/14

Photos: http://www.ksitetv.com/supernatural/supernatural-spoilers-photos-proverbs-17-3/198575/

Promo:https://youtu.be/4Jo1--7WqHA

Sneak Peak:

Castiel? No  Jack? doubtful

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info::

This will most likely be Yockey’s last episode.

Matt Cohen was around, but I imagine he is following directors to prep for his own debut directing. 

Scenes were filmed in the bunker and in a wooded area. A woman could be heard screaming in the outside scene. 

The bible verse referenced is: “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: But the LORD trieth the hearts.”

The preview indicates werewolves. 

Episode 15x06

Title: Golden Time

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: OUT OF DIFFICULTIES GROW MIRACLES – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are visited by an old friend. Castiel (Misha Collins) investigates the disappearance of a local teen. John Showalter directed the episode written by Meredith Glynn (#1506). Original Airdate 11/21/2019.

Written by: Meredith Glynn

Director: Steve Boyum

Filming Dates:  9/16-9/25

Airdate: 11/21

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel? Yes Jack? Not sure

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info:

Misha tweeted from set in costume, so Cas. 

Misha also tweeted a pic in blood spatter with two bullet holes in his shirt

At least Jensen and Jared filmed in Rowena’s apartment 

This will be a witch episode- Witches will invade Rowena’s apartment looking for books. They are very powerful. Dean gets thrown into a wall and Sam uses magic to stop them (from TVGuide)

 Episode 15x07

Title: Last Call

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Jeremy Adams

Director: Amyn Kaderali

Filming Dates:  9/26- 10/7

Airdate: Dec 7th is what Christian Kane tweeted…. But that is a Saturday. Dec 5th maybe?

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? Yes Jack ? 

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info :

Misha posted from set in new shoes- very shiny with well tailored pants. (The next day he posted in full Cas costume, so are the shoes a one off? Another outfit with new shoes?). 

Misha and Jensen made a video from set. I feel like if Jared was around he would have been in it since it was about money raised?  Maybe a Dean Cas scene?

There will be a battle scene in this that Jensen mentioned he was looking forward to and we would enjoy. 

After NJ Con, it appeared that Jensen returned to work, Jared and Misha stayed an extra day and then Misha went home. Misha only did about 2 days of filming. 

Jensen and Christian filmed at a bar called Swazey’s. This was the fight scene Jensen was referring to. 

At some point, Sam might be shirtless or we can see part of his chest- Jared had his anti-possession tattoo at the weekend convention.

Per TVGuide, Leo and Dean will have a wild night out in an effort for Dean to recapture his mojo. Dean will become the lead of a band called Dean and the Impalas, which is made up of Supernatural crew. 

Osric Chau popped over to set, but he is filming on Legends of Tomorrow in the same studio. Sebastin Roche also indicated he would come by, he is filming on Batgirl. Unfortunately, neither Kevin or Balthazar will appear in this one.  

Episode 15x08

Title: Our Father Who Aren’t in Heaven

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Buckleming

Director: Speight

Filming Dates:  10/8- 10/18 (no filming 10/14 for Canadian Thanksgiving)

Airdate: 12/12 (?)

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? yes Jack ? 

Guest stars: Jake Abel, Shoshannah Stern

Other Spoilers/info:

Jake Abel posted a script with the caption “hell hath no fury like a brother scorned”

Shoshannah Stern was spotted on set- Eileen!

This will be the midseason finale

At BurCon, Misha mentioned Dean is still acting like “a dick” in the ep they were filming- which is this one. 

Episode 15x09

Title: 

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Berens

Director: Singer

Filming Dates:  10/21-10/30

Airdate: March 16th?

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? I can’t tell but maybe not Jack ? maybe

Guest stars: Rob Benedict, Kim Rhodes, Jim Beaver

Other Spoilers/info (newest to oldest):

Midseason premier episode

Misha was at home for the first week of filming, and I think the second. I don’t think he is in this. 

Alex and Rob were hanging out- Chuck and JACK?

Kim Rhodes posted in front of the SPN set and with her trailer- Jody looks very likely. She also had dyed hair and she has been rockin the grey for the past few Jody eps. Maybe a flashback/AU?

Jim Beaver posted from set- Bobby!

Jensen shared that in this episode, Dean will pray to Cas to “confess” why he has been treating Cas the way he has. Misha confirmed this in another interview and said tears would be shed- not sure who is doing the crying (besides me)

Episode 15x10

Title: 

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Dabb

Director: Showalter

Filming Dates:  

Airdate: 10/31- 11/12 (No filming for Veterans/Armistice Day?)

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? Jack ? 

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info (newest to oldest):

Misha texted some local fans from set in costume about an WA election, but after the convention was promoting his cookbook all over the place. I think he filmed 2 days, max. 

The story will be about Sam and Dean as heroes from the good and bad side (from MarySue)

At DCCon, Jensen shared that  this a bit of a wacky episode- Sam and Dean lose their abilities to fight, Dean gets cavities and Sam gets a cold. Jensen later seemed to refer to this ep when talking to TVGuide- mentioning the Impala will get a flat. 

Episode 15x11

Title: 

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: 

Written by: Davy Perez AND Meredith Glynn 

Director: Charles Beeson

Filming Dates:   11/13-11/22 (?)

Airdate: 

Photos: 

Promo:

Sneak Peak:

Castiel ? Jack ? 

Guest stars: 

Other Spoilers/info (newest to oldest):

[circlesandsoundwaves]

"It was a huge empowering thing for us to accept and almost embrace the fact that we were gonna do this record ourselves.": Interview with Ben Lieber of Head North

Interview by Molly Louise Hudelson.

Photo by Eli Ritter.

Buffalo, N.Y.’s Head North released their debut full-length album The Last Living Man Alive Ever in the History of the World on June 2, and it was a long time in the making. Their last official release was a 2015 split EP with Microwave, and while they put out the first single, “God (Bring It Back)”, last July, “music industry bull crap” meant it was nearly a year till the album was released. The choice to self-release the album- an ambitious effort that’s also a concept album, revolving around a world where both God and love are forbidden- ended up being an empowering choice, leading to “an insane amount of confidence in ourselves.” Regardless of any external forces, the band- consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Brent Martone, drummer Ben Lieber, bassist Alex Matos, and guitarist Eli Ritter- believe in what they’re doing more than ever. The Last Living Man Alive Ever in the History of the World sounds substantially different from the Microwave split or their prior EPs, Bloodlines and Scrapbook Minds, but it’s worth spending some time with. The “cosmic rock” album has 15 tracks and is 49 minutes long, and while they all revolve around the same theme, fitting together into a story line, each one sounds different. The earlier tracks hit harder but the second half is ethereal and ambient, and even features a spoken word installment (“Somewhere, n.D.”).

I spoke with Lieber a few days after the record was released, and we dove in to the recording process, their change in sound, and what fans can expect on their upcoming tour with Gates and Vasudeva. Read on for the full interview.

CIRCLES & SOUNDWAVES: For the record, could you state your name, what you play in Head North, and a fun fact about yourself?

Ben Lieber: My name is Ben, I play drums, and I like avocados.

C&S: You just released your debut full-length record- The Last Living Man Alive Ever In The History Of The World- that's a tongue-twister.

BL: It's a mouthful.

C&S: Yeah! The record came out last Friday, and it premiered the day before over on Substream- in the days leading up to the album coming out, what was going through your head?

BL: The record got put on hold for a long time, and for a while I was wondering if it was ever actually gonna come out, so for us to finally get in the motions of everything- we put out a song, we put out a music video- as it started to really happen it [was] kind of hard for me to grasp it. Initially, I feel like it just came out of nowhere; it happened really fast after such a long period of waiting that maybe I didn't get to bask in it as much as I hoped, but it's still- now it's out, finally.

C&S: You announced the name of the album last July- what took so long for it to come out?

BL: We got held up with music industry bull crap pretty much. We had finished our deal with our last label and were trying to find a home for this record, but it was a combination of having been off the road for so long and the record being, obviously, a huge departure from our previous sound- a lot of things played in to labels being very hesitant on picking this record up. We pursued avenue after avenue, talking to, you know, this new person who's gonna connect us to this label and yada yada yada, and it finally just got to the point where we realized that it had been so long since we'd had any sort of hype whatsoever- we had no movement behind us at this point- and we realized that there was no way that we were going to get any movement, get a tour offer or an offer on the record, if we didn't just put music out. We realized that that was the only way that this band was going to start gaining traction again.

And from the moment that we realized that, it was a huge empowering thing for us to accept and almost embrace the fact that we were gonna do this record ourselves and handle it on our own terms, and it's been awesome! I can't complain because we've had amazing support and it's been a really cool thing to go through putting out an LP ourselves. It's been crazy- a lot of work but it's been fun.

C&S: It sounds like the work has paid off.

Do you pay attention to what kids are saying online? Some bands are very in tune with what everyone's saying on Twitter and YouTube and whatever, and some purposely hold back.

BL: I take it with a grain of salt. I try not to care too much, but I also do value the thoughts and opinions of the people who care about listening to is. I feel like their voice is just as important as our voice. So, you know, I do read everything- I spend time talking to people and I think that that's really important- but at the end of the day, I don't weigh everything on it and I know that the record is sick as hell regardless of what anyone says about it.

I feel like what's come along with the whole self-release thing is an insane amount of confidence in ourselves and just knowing that, regardless of who wants to put money into us, we know that we're a good band and that this record is awesome and deserves to be heard by people. So- yeah, I don't know- I guess the answer would be I take it with a grain of salt. I do value it but not over-zealously, I guess.

C&S: No, that makes sense.

So you touched on it- I mean, anyone who's heard the record can say it's definitely a departure in sound from what you guys had done before, and it's a concept album as well- when you were first starting to work on this record, did you go in with this idea that it was going to be a total departure in sound and a concept album- or was that something that just kind of happened?

BL: Yes and no. We had this backbone idea for the storyline, I guess, but it wasn't uber-developed at the point when we started diving in to the record but [Brent] had had this idea for quite some time.

In addition to the- for lack of a better word- fictional story that the record tells, there's a lot of real life personal elements in there as far as what happened with the band, and why we stopped doing things, and us growing as people and moving out and whatever- and they kinda intertwined with each other- but as far as the story goes, the backbone was there.

As far as the sound- I have to give a lot of credit to the- truly, like, original sound that I think this record has- to the engineers that we worked with, Brett Romnes, Gary Cioni, and Kevin Kumetz at Barber Shop studios. This was our first time ever recording anything at a studio that wasn't in Buffalo and we just wanted to try something different. We connected with these guys in the studio through our booking agent and we did the one single "God (Bring It Back)" as a test run to see if we wanted to do a record there-which is why that song came out and then nothing- but we really, really liked it and then scheduled the recording time.

As far as recording techniques and everything, we just really did a lot of out-of-the-box, strange stuff, like- this is the first time we were able to have the whole studio to ourselves for two weeks- so we left everything set up and that allowed us to- A, go song by song instead of instrument by instrument- and B, jump on any spur of the moment idea that we might've had- and we had enough time to where it was okay for us to like, spend three hours on a random trumpet part idea that we had even if we don't end up using it, because we had the time, we had already paid for it, essentially, and the whole studio was at our fingertips for this. So that was incredibly conducive to us getting in the zone and [getting] our creativity flowing- like, I had never been so enveloped in a musical experience for that long- we were there for a little over two weeks, I believe, and the whole time I was just extremely down in it. I can go in to nerding out about weird recording techniques and stuff but the point is, we did a lot of weird shit that we've never done before and we kinda just ran with every idea that we had.

I feel like a great example of that is the bonus track, "Broke"- there's just so much weird stuff on that song. We were like, "Okay, this song is the bonus song, it doesn't really matter, we can put all this random shit on it."

C&S: Why is it the bonus track?

BL: Because it didn't fit the story of the record. It didn't really fit in any specific place. The rest of the songs were like, "Yeah, this song is gonna go here in the outline of the record because it fits, it makes sense"- but "Broke" never really had a spot in that. We were done recording the record at that point and we had a couple days left and we were just like, "Screw it, we'll just record that song and make it a bonus track." And we just had fun with it.

C&S: You are heading out on tour with Gates and Vasudeva in a couple days, and you had a tour in March with Heart Attack Man; when you were touring in March- you had announced the album title but I don't think you had announced the release date at that point?

BL: No. We played a lot of new music on that tour, too.

C&S: How did that go over? Did people get it?

BL: I feel like- yes and no, again. I feel like it went over well in that people vibed with how it sounded live; obviously you can take live music with a grain of salt cuz you can't really hear the vocals, whatever- but general consensus was people dug it, but they didn't get the full picture- they hadn't heard the full record- and we really feel like the full record needs to be heard to understand what we're trying to do here. There was definitely that little bit of, "Okay, this is just weird but I kinda like it"- but you know, regardless, it was cool to play songs and we did that as a kind of transition into this new, I guess, era. 

C&S: On the Gates tour, you'll be headlining the Buffalo show, can people expect to see you play, the whole record front to back, or is it gonna be mixing songs up from this and from older releases?

BL: I don't think we'll play the whole record front to back, simply because we haven't practiced that and we don't have another opportunity to practice before the tour. But we're gonna play a lot of new songs; we have most of the record rehearsed and ready to go. We're only playing new music on this tour; we're not playing any old stuff. That's kinda the deal.

C&S: Are you ever going to be playing old songs again? Or is that pretty much…

BL: Maybe. Probably... but we feel like the last tour that we did in March was people's chance to hear old songs again; and it was like, "Oh this band hasn't toured in a year, I wanna go hear 'In the Water' again"- and that's totally cool and we really appreciate that, but the record's out now and we're moving on, and we really wanna play new music.

C&S: Definitely. Wow- so you were not touring for a year- did you get restless at all? I mean, in 2014 and 2015 you were hitting the road hard.

BL: Oh yes, Molly. It was the hardest year of our lives, needless to say.

C&S: So you have this tour with Gates and Vasudeva coming up; what else can people expect from Head North this year?

BL: More tours. We're getting ready to grind- that's all I'm gonna say.

C&S: That's gotta feel good. Well, thank you so much Ben- anything else that people reading this should know?

BL: Thanks for your time and hope you like the record.

Thanks Ben! Be sure to keep up with Head North on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their official website. The Last Living Man Alive Ever in the History of the World is available now; you can purchase a digital download or vinyl copy here and stream on Spotify here. Read our 2014 interview with the band here.  Dates for Head North’s upcoming tour with Gates and Vasudeva are below.

[jamiekturner]

How to make an album cover – 46 artwork examples

The predominant album covers that you will see in stores are based on photographs, having a photo of the artist and a plain background, putting the spotlight on him or her.

But the art of album covers doesn’t refer to that type of cover.

Instead, it is about cover designs which actually have something artistic in them, an illustration, whether it’s drawn or vectorized, a photo manipulation or a 3D model.

Some people may say that shape is less important than content, but it is the shape that grasps attention and attracts a potential consumer. Album cover designers know it perfectly.

No matter whether you are a newcomer or an experienced player in show business, you must have come across album cover design.  Communication between musicians and listeners often starts at the moment when they see your album cover and this moment comes long before they hear your songs.

So, how to make an album cover?

Since the CDd cover design is to embody the spirit of the band or a single performer you should get a clear image of the personality and character which are to be reflected on the cover. Don’t hesitate asking as many questions as possible, it can really help you.

In a case you are a performer yourself, you’d better talk to your mates and ask for their opinions and views concerning the album cover.

Minimalism is OK

Everything is good in moderation. That’s why minimalism in album artwork design often serves right. A simple black & white photo can sometimes communicate more than a colorful splash shining with glitters and fascinate your potential listeners at a first glance.

It may seem from time to time that album cover should correspond to its content in every possible way and be as bright and blatant as possible. After many continuous attempts, it often turns out that simplicity suits best and really conveys the soul of the performer.

Think about marketing / branding

No matter how good is the album itself and how much effort was put in in order to release it, if you fail to promote it in the right way, you will fail to sell it. You will not betray your ideas and ideals if you spruce the cover up a bit.

The thing is not simply to promote the album and create a good design. Nowadays the internet is crammed with bright pictures in news articles and it’s often hard to pick up something you really need. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your album art design is really outstanding and eye-catching.

Know when to take the creative reigns.

If you’re hired to create an album cover you should always ask questions and try to complete the task in the very best way.

Still you should also bear in mind you’re a designer and if the band was able to create a masterpiece on their own it wouldn’t hire you. That’s why it’s important to stick to your guns sometimes and not change everything on every band’s whim.

You should ask questions and understand what they really want, but do your job along with it. Be respectful and polite, explain your points of view logically and you will definitely come to terms.

Don’t print lyrics unless you have sufficient space

The album cover is supposed to include many important details about the album itself, band and legal information. It goes without saying one would like to cram the cover with lyrics, but it’s not always a good idea to follow.

If you still want the audience to get the lyrics nowadays you’re provided with endless internet resources and can simply place them on the band’s site in the corresponding section. The cover shouldn’t be crammed with extra stuff. Eventually, print the address at which people get access to the lyrics.

Don’t include social media URLs 

Try to avoid temporal information on the cover. The album is one and the only, while other things change all the time. That’s why it’s not worth placing social media URLs on the cover.

Things seem to be very reliable and endless only at the time you use them, even twitter can one day disappear for good. Since no one can predict such things, try not to make your album outdated. The only URL which is to be printed is the URL of your site.

Envision your album cover as a thumbnail

No matter how bright outstanding and eye-catching your album design is, bear in mind that people are most likely to get acquainted with it in a very tiny size. Today we get most of the information from the internet and digital sources like iTunes and other, where you can see only a small version of the album cover.

Before taking last decisions, it’s worth comparing full and mini-version of the album cover. Sometimes many tiny details can look very monotonous in a smaller size and cover is likely to fail in grasping the attention of the potential listener.

You might not need your artist name or album title on the cover

Things get more simply today. If you want to deliver some key information to the audience, it can turn out that you don’t necessarily need to put it on the cover.

Almost every single time on the internet people see the title of the song or album and the name of the singer next to the image of the cover, so you can leave some free space on the cover, key points will be still visible.

Get your fans to interact with you online

Putting your site address on the cover can sometimes be not enough. You need to get the audience on the hook. Remember that if a person bought your CD he or she really appreciates the job you do and is definitely interested in some details of your life and work.

So give them a chance to know you better by mentioning that on the site they can find something more interesting like an essay you wrote after your first concert or anything else. Attract them in this way and people will visit your site more often.

Album covers with faces get more attention

Abstract pictures are everywhere. Probably, five years ago they were outstanding and really impressed but today almost everybody uses them so they don’t have that mysterious effect anymore.

There’s no scientific proof for this phenomenon, but still many people agree with the fact we more often pay attention to pictures with human faces than with something abstract. Maybe we want to find some connection between the sounds we hear and the people who created them, maybe the reason is different, but still, the fact remains the same. Faces can also look good even on the tiny cover we usually see on the internet.

If you’re not going to feature a human face, make sure your design is striking and original

Album cover shouldn’t simply be eye-catching and blatant, it should also render some ideas and beliefs, should somehow reflect what people are going to hear.

That’s why it’s so important to ask questions while creating the cover itself. So even if you aren’t going to place faces make sure your cover is both bright and thoughtful.

Album artwork design inspiration

This article features album cover design examples and ideas from recently launched albums, as well as from a few older ones.

The article is not trying to showcase a top of the most sold albums or most popular, instead its only purpose is to provide inspiration for the people who want to be album cover designers and are seeking examples of modern album art.

DJBroadcast – Re-Cover expo

DVA – Pretty Ugly album art cover

The Good The Bad and The Zugly

Seekae – +Dome album art cover

Experimental Muse Music Cover

Riot LP

Above – Bashakov Band

T.I. – Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head

Vinyl cover with analog light animation

Alex Isaak · Thinking Outside the Box: Breakout

Monteé – Rendition of you

Mau

Five Easy Pieces

Monty Are I

Cos/Mes

Genji Siraisi: Censorsh!t

Omar Basaad · Hypertension

Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

Soulwax – Nite Versions

Dopeboy · Esko

Rafale: Rock It, Don’t Stop It

Neo Tempus · Yours Sincerely

Rolling Stones – Forty Licks

Rolling Stones: Rolled Gold +

Su Jumis nuo 1890 M

The Chemical Brothers: Push the Button

Thom Yorke: The Eraser

Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3

Favorite Lover

Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

Keane: Under The Iron Sea

Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask

The Last Wave

Madeon – The City EP

The Pilots

Japanese album art

Heartbreaker

John Mayer – Born and Raised

Milow Album ‘North and South’

Beck Typographic Concepts — Mario Hugo

Seven Lions

Waxtailor

Red Supergiant – Miss Lava

Ending thoughts on album art design

People who create music often may not take care of the album cover’s look. Still. the audience is used to blatant advertisement and you must get them hooked with the cover before they want to listen what is hidden behind it.

The Internet is full of performers and their works so it’s really important to catch the attention of the audience in this endless stream of music. The first time you communicate with your listeners is via your album cover which should be beautiful and reflect the ideas embodied in your tracks so make sure this conversation will be memorable. That’s why it is so important to make an album cover that is really special.

from Web Development & Designing http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/the-art-of-album-covers-design-43-prints/

[untoldmusicpromotion]

Before the Streetlights - somethingreal. EP + Interview

Before the Streetlights’ new EP somethingreal. is here… and it kind of changes everything!

1. Homesick 2. Houses 3. Forget You 4. Anchored And Torn 5. Deadweight

The Louisville, KY band has released their newest album somethingreal. Tyler Courtney (singer/songwriter), Josh Courtney (bass/programming), Tyler Pritchett (guitar/programming), and Zachary Schindler (percussion) have constructed 5 tracks with lyrics that are exceptionally florid and music that alone is moving. Their profound writing style is crucial to take note of. somethingreal. has undertones of questioning your life and embodies taking yourself from the mess of reality. There is immense creativity shown throughout and I can honestly say it is unlike any EP I’ve heard recently. The more you listen to it, the more brilliant it becomes.

I was lucky enough to receive a physical copy of somethingreal. The packaging is very sleek, and the outer sleeve slides off to reveal an overcast ocean/beachy setting; which is a running theme for the photo book (an important component to the album). You should experience this for yourselves, but what I will say is that it is designed to transport you somewhere. It unquestionably achieves that.

somethingreal. starts off with “Homesick”, and it quickly builds toward a strong introduction. Well-written with clear vocals that make this instantly gripping. Being in a low state generated by searching for and wanting a place with consistency and stability. “Homesick” is the type of song that you fall in love with; purely because it’s a deeply relatable concept surrounded by an upbeat melody. Did I passionately sing along? Uh, yeah. I found this to be the EP’s earworm.

“Houses” exudes a mirthless vibe, while allowing the presence of a stormy heaviness. There’s this idea that a home isn’t plainly the structure; it is what’s inside that counts. “Houses” represents the outer shell without having the comforting aspects. You may also feel a vast sense of dissatisfaction and tiring disappointment expressed effortlessly through each element. “Houses” is intense and packed tightly with raw emotion. I recommend paying close attention to the lyrics here; gives a greater understanding of what is being conveyed on the EP.

Switching to an intoxicating part of somethingreal., the title “Forget You” speaks for itself in that it emphasizes desperately trying to no longer remember haunting memories. A rather personal song that’ll surely resonate with many. I believe Josh Courtney’s answers in the interview below will give you an insight as to what the intent behind “Forget You” was. Leaning towards the rock side of Before the Streetlights, I was particularly impressed by the instrumentals.

After every rock track, it’s nice to slow it down a bit. That’s where “Anchored And Torn” comes in. Relatively laid back, it is sort of this slightly acoustic pop song with a complex message. It touches upon faith and restriction while reaching for freedom. I was pretty invested in “Anchored And Torn”, which isn’t surprising considering the way it draws you in and washes over.

The EP comes to an end with “Deadweight”. Full of catchy sounds and lines that’ll replay in your head for a while. The most prominent, “when love turns to hate you become deadweight”. A more straightforward track with an unexpected twist. I don’t want to spoil it for you… but wow. Gave me chills. The positioning of all 5 songs perfectly align to tell a rollercoaster of a story.

I asked Before the Streetlights a few questions about somethingreal. (answered by Josh Courtney):

The physical somethingreal. EP contains a photo book that you say is a main component of listening to the album. Why/how did you decide to include this?

The photos were taken by one of my good friends Kate Neal who did all of our previous album 'Westward' photos and artwork. We wanted to connect you to a world where the songs can make sense. I believe that music is a visual experience as much as it is a sonic experience. We always try to create an atmosphere with your music. So when we saw the photos for the album we knew that they, on their own, expressed the same feeling that we wanted to portray with the songs. The pictures connected with each individual song perfectly so we knew right then that we had to highlight that in some way. We made a cardboard sleeve for the album and put all relevant album info on that as well as blacking out the innermost two pages to put liners and such because we wanted the photos to speak for themselves and didn't want any writing to cover up the worlds. When you look at the photos I want you to be able to visualize yourself there doing whatever you want to be doing and the songs be the background music. It's in a way therapeutic because takes some sense of clearing your mind to be able to accomplish.

Can you explain the process of bringing these almost esoteric songs to life?

When our singer Tyler went out to Los Angeles to write for the album with our friend Mike Hart, we knew that we wanted the new songs to be somewhere from the heart and pulled directly from life experience. We also knew that there is so much more to the songs we wanted to write than just girls and wanting to get out of the town you're from. I didn't have much of an idea of where Tyler was going to take these songs when he went out to write them but I had heard the demo for Anchored and Torn and knew that our songs were going to go in the direction that they ultimately did. These songs are so esoteric because they came from such a personal realm of Tyler and my life. They touch on the confusion and apathy that an unstable homelife created by divorce, lies, and addiction can have on a someone and how the effects of that can last far longer than you can anticipate. The songs are for everyone, but I hope it finds people who are going through a point in their life where they feel anchored to a mindset or a place that they wish that they could get out of. I hope they know that we are right there with them. I am hoping that on the next album we can address the solutions to these problems but for now we just needed to shed light on the fact that those problems are real. 

Okay, let’s discuss the ending to “Deadweight”. What’s that about?

The ending to deadweight was originally just the sound of the rain fading out and then you hear us talking for a bit. I had the idea one day of having a song with an audio clip of Carl Sagan talking about god and the existence of one. So Tyler Pritchett (guitar) and I worked on that song for a while. We originally wanted to put it at the beginning of the album and intro the album with it but it would have given you a false sense of whats to come for the rest of the album so we added it to the end. Putting it at the set up the world of "whats to come". It's our cliffhanger to the album so I would expected the next album to be more like that. The final "hidden" track on the album is titled 'moonsounds.'. 

Ideally, what do you hope people take away from somethingreal.?

I think what we ultimately want people to take from somethingreal. is that we are growing and maturing as a band and that there is a lot more to us than just a pop/punk band from Louisville. Personally I hope that this album will set a tone in peoples minds that we don't want to be known for a genre but for an experience. What comes next will continue to be us experimenting with music and our abilities as song writers and musicians. I want people to know that they are not alone in their experiences, thoughts, and beliefs not matter what those are and that the healthiest way to cope and learn from your life experiences is to share them and express them through some sort of outlet. somethringreal. is the stepping stone to the experience of Before the Streetlights.  

iTunes Spotify Twitter Instagram Website Merch

Alex Kilgore, Untold Music Promotion