#campfire radio theatre

[erikasandersonactor]

Horrorcon UK

Ok, so a little rather late for an Audio Drama Sunday post, but I wanted to share what an epic weekend we had at Horrorcon UK in Sheffield 11-12th May.

Myself, Daivd Ault and James Cleveland (all from The NoSleep Podcast) were there promoting "Horror in Audio Fiction", trying to get more people to discover audio drama and fiction through podcasts, and not assuming all podcasts were two blokes talking about stuff into a mic.

Having worked on over a 100 shows between us, (with a lot of horror), it became a game of "Tell us what kind of horror you like, and we'll recommend a show for you to listen to".

From the big anthology shows like NoSleep, and the very British and queer Shadows at the the Door, we kept finding more shows to talk about and add to an ever-growing flow chart.

Shows we were flag waving for included:

The NoSleep Podcast Shadows at the Door @re-dracula @thekilda @woebegonepod Dark Dice Red Odyssey Audible Visions Drama Creepy Campfire Radio Theatre The Wicked Library Victoria's Lift The Dead @lessismorguepod The Hidden Frequencies

And it wasn't just horror! We gave shoutouts to @camlannpod and the sci-fi series Cyclone as well!

In all, a wonderful weekend introducing people to the incredible world of audio drama and fiction.

[chobit92]

House Of Wax: Homecoming Part One

(Mara sings along to some crap song on the radio as she drives down the empty highway. She glances at the clock on the dashboard. Just gone 7am. She sighs and wonders what she’s doing. Leaving her life behind and going...She doesn’t even know where she’s going. But then she doesn’t really know where she’s come from either. She’s never felt like she was at home. Not since she was a teenager. She sighs again and glances out the side window frowning. She then changes the radio station and takes the next turnoff.).

 (Mara has stopped the RV and is sat there smoking a cigarette staring at the road in front of her. It’s completely washed out and she doubts that this big RV could get through that. She sighs. First she gets a flat tyre and now this. It’s just not her day. She sighs. She finishes her cigarette and stubs it out in the ashtray. She then reverses the RV and turns around heading back up the road.).

 (Mara is following a narrow road lined with trees. She rounds a bend and glances to the right as the trees thin a bit. She makes out an old burnt out campfire surrounded by discarded beer cans. She sighs and shakes her head. Bloody people why can’t they take their rubbish with them? She then passes an old sign, the lettering faded, reading Ambrose. She rounds another bend and glances right again. An old abandoned building looms into view, an old mill. The road up to the mill however is overgrown and thick with weeds. Mara drives on for another ten minutes. She passes rusted pieces of metal that she thinks used to be tractors and other assorted farm equipment. She then rounds another bend and a house comes into view. The road evens out and the ride becomes smoother. A town has appeared. She slows down and crawls down the road turning onto a street. She passes several more houses then a bowling alley comes into view. She turns the RV and pulls over. She looks up and down the road. There is a church right at the end along with a movie theatre, a shop and a gas station. She switches off the engine and sighs taking out a cigarette. She glances at the clock again, it’s 8.15am. It’s taken her over forty minutes to find another way around. She gets out and stands in the street looking around. The place is in a state of disrepair and in several places overgrown. Trees are starting to grow around a few buildings and one house in the next street has a tree growing through it. Like nature is taking the property back now that humans have left. She takes another drag of her cigarette and sighs again. She has no idea what she’s doing. Where she’s going, or what she’s doing here.).

 *

 (Zack is speeding down the highway singing along to Kings of Leon. His friend Gus is in the passenger seat while their friend Brady is sat in the back. They are laughing and Gus is showing them pictures on his phone of his new girlfriend in her underwear.).

Zack: Dude! I still don’t know how even scored that.

Gus: Experience and patience my man.

Brady: Yeah right! She probably only wants you because of that contract you got.

Gus: Shut up! She isn’t even interested in cage fighting.

Zack: Bet she’s interested in the money.

Brady: Right!

Gus: You two don’t know a dang thing!

Zack: Maybe not. We’re just saying be careful. She might think you’re gonna get rich and famous or something and be after some for herself.

Gus: You gotta have some more faith in people man.

Zack: Pretty hard after...

Gus: I know. But look that’s the past. You can’t let that dictate your future.

Brady: Puts you off though.

Gus: Shut up. You’ve never even had a girlfriend.

Brady: Fuck off you know I have.

Gus: Oh yeah. Who?

Zack: His mom?

(Gus laughs and shoves Zack. The car lurches to the left.).

Zack: Hey!

(Brady has leant forward and is showing Gus something on his phone.).

Gus: Who is that?

Brady: A girl I’ve been talking to.

Gus: Online? Seriously bro? Here Zack take a look man.

(Zack glances around to look at the phone before turning his attention back to the road.).

Zack: You don’t even know if that’s who you’ve been talking to.

Gus: My thoughts exactly.

Brady: Whatever. You’re just jealous.

Zack: Am not.

Brady: Are too.

(Gus laughs again.).

Gus: What are you twelve?

(He then turns the music up.).

Gus: You’re sex is on fire!

(Zack manages a laugh and shakes his head.).

Zack: Knock it off man.

(Gus shoves him again laughing. Zack shoves him back.).

Zack: Quit being a dumbass!

(Brady laughs and flicks Zack on the ear.).

Zack: Hey quit it!

(Zack turns around and shoves Brady.).

Gus: Hey watch out! Zack!

(Zack whirls around in his seat and realises too late that he’s veered onto the other side of the road. Zack swerves trying to avoid the oncoming car but it’s too late. He clips it and the car goes careening off the road and into a tree. Zack’s car spins out of control and hits the grass verge at the side of the road with a loud bump before coming to rest against a tree.).

 *

 15 MINUTES EARLIER

 (Chelsea is driving down the highway with her friend Whitney in the passenger seat.).

Chelsea: I hope my mom’s gonna be okay without me.

Whitney: I’m sure she’ll be fine. Jody and Alex are looking after her.

Chelsea: Yeah I know. She’s been getting worse lately though and I haven’t been away in a while.

Whitney: I know. That’s exactly why you need to go away. You deserve a break.

Chelsea: Yeah I know. I just feel bad leaving her.

Whitney: Come on. As soon as we get to that lavish hotel you’ll see that this is just what you needed.

Chelsea: I know. I know she’s gonna be fine. I know I’m gonna enjoy myself and relax on this holiday.

Whitney: Exactly. Ah I can’t wait to put my feet up at the side of a pool with a martini or something.

(Chelsea smiles.).

Chelsea: Me neither.

(Chelsea sighs.).

Chelsea: I know I’m tired of this drive. We should have just got a plane.

Whitney: You know I hate flying.

Chelsea: I know but it would have been what a two hour flight, three tops? I’ve been driving for four and a half hours. We’ve still got...

(She glances at the sat nav.).

Chelsea: Two hours and twenty three minutes to go.

(Whitney sighs.).

Whitney: Sorry. I don’t like being stuck in the car either. But I hate flying even more. There must be a rest stop we can pull into soon. We could stretch our legs and grab something to eat. Then if you want I could drive the rest of the way.

Chelsea: Sounds good.

(Whitney leans back in her seat. A minute later her phone dings. She takes it out and smiles at the screen.).

Chelsea: Is that Alex?

Whitney: Yep.

Chelsea: He misses you already huh?

Whitney: Yep. I think he’s disappointed he wasn’t invited.

Chelsea: Oh yeah? Tough. This is a girls only holiday. No men.

Whitney: That’s what I said. He says your mom has had a bath and she’s had her breakfast.

Chelsea: He’s a good man.

Whitney: Yeah he is. Not many blokes would stay and look after their fiancées best mates mom while they went on holiday.

Chelsea: Nope. I did offer him money though. He wouldn’t take it. Neither would Jody.

Whitney: I know. My fiancée and his sister are the best.

Chelsea: They’ve been a godsend. I wouldn’t have been able to come on holiday without them.

Whitney: Nope.

(Chelsea suddenly frowns looking up ahead.).

Chelsea: What’s this idiot doing? Oh my God!

(The car is heading straight towards them. Chelsea swerves but not before the other car hits her sending her off of the road and into a tree.).

 *

 (Lester Sinclair hasn’t had a good morning. He’s been up since 4.30am checking his snares but it seems they have failed to catch anything. On his way back up the hill to his truck he fell and twisted his ankle which now hurts like a bitch. Then driving back into Ambrose he gets a flat tyre. He comes up the street and frowns as he sees a big RV parked at the side of the road. He’s sure it wasn’t there last night. Still frowning he drives past the RV and looks at it but can’t see anyone inside. He carries on driving passing the wax museum before pulling up in front of a house. He gets out and goes inside. The house is quiet. He goes to the kitchen and makes himself a sandwich. He sighs. They’re going to need some supplies again soon. He goes to the foot of the stairs eating his sandwich.).

Lester: Bo!

(There is no answer. He takes another bite of his sandwich and goes back to the kitchen. He must have slept down at the gas station again. He does that a lot. He finishes his sandwich then goes down the hall to the bathroom. He takes a piss and splashes some water on his face. He then leaves the house and gets the spare tyre. He changes the tyre and dumps the flat on the front lawn. He gets back in his truck. He’s gonna have to head back out, try and catch them some dinner. He sighs and drives off heading back down the road. He has just passed the RV when his truck makes a whining noise and the engine dies. He sighs and smacks the steering wheel hard.).

Lester: God fucking damnit!

(He gets out of the truck and lifts the hood having a look around. He sighs and takes his cap off rubbing his head. He’ll have to get Bo to look at it. He hears footsteps behind him and turns to see a young blonde girl. She is wearing jeans and knee high black boots with stiletto heels. She is also wearing a tight black top and a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Bracelets adorn her wrists including one that looks like a child’s. Her hair is tied in a bun and she is wearing large earrings, silver with a black gem. They dangle from her ears like chandeliers. She has her eyes narrowed and she stops walking looking at him. He finds himself staring at her large breasts. He smiles and puts his cap back on.).

Lester: Hey there.

Mara: Car trouble?

Lester: Ah it just died on me.

Mara: Hm. Looks like it’s seen better days.

(Lester grins at her.).

Lester: Yeah.

Mara: So something wrong with the engine huh?

Lester: Looks like. Maybe the batteries flat.

Mara: Hm.

(Lester watches as she takes a look under the hood. She then reaches in and starts fiddling around with something. He walks over to her.).

Lester: So uh...You camping?

Mara: Camping? Do I look like the kind of girl that camps?

Lester: Well I don’t know. You don’t look like the kind of girl that can fix a truck but uh...

(Lester grins.).

Mara: I’ve er...Left.

Lester: Left?

Mara: Left home. Well...It never really felt like home.

(Mara fiddles around some more then walks round to the truck window. She reaches in and turns the key. The truck starts.).

Lester: Well damn.

Mara: You’re welcome.

(She closes the bonnet then turns and walks off.).

Lester: Much obliged.

(Lester gets into his truck and turns it around driving off.).

 *

 (Bo rubs his eyes and puts his cap on. He walks to the door of the gas station and stops when he sees Lester talking to a beautiful blonde across the street. The blonde is under the bonnet of Lester’s truck. She then goes to the window and starts the truck. Bo then watches as she closes the bonnet then smiles and walks off.).

Lester: Much obliged!

(Bo watches Lester drive off. Then he glances back up the street but he can no longer see the girl. Bo smiles to himself. They haven’t had any visitors for a while. Especially not any as beautiful as her. He looks down at his grease covered overalls and dirty hands. He’ll have to get cleaned up. He leaves the station and heads up the road. He glances around looking for the girl but he doesn’t see her. Maybe she’s gone into the church. He carries on walking and passes the wax museum. Vincent is most likely down in his workshop. Bo has no idea what he does down there when they don’t have any guests and he doesn’t care. He reaches the house and goes inside. He goes upstairs and into the bathroom. He takes off his clothes and turns the shower on. He steps under the water and grabs the soap. Once he’s washed he switches off the water and steps out grabbing a towel. He wraps it around his waist and goes to the sink. He picks up his razor and quickly shaves. He then towel dries his hair before combing it. He then goes down the hall to his bedroom. He takes out a suit and grins before getting dressed. He goes back downstairs and into the kitchen. He rummages around in cupboards and then opens the fridge. He sighs. He’ll have to go on a supply run soon. He checks his wallet and sighs again, he only has ten dollars. He wonders how much the pretty girl has on her. He quickly eats the last handful of cereal and tosses the empty box on the side before leaving the house.).

 *

 (Mara is walking around the wax museum. She has noticed several wax figures around the town. In shop windows, the movie theatre, the church. She frowns as she sees newspaper clippings behind the counter. She stands there staring at them then fiddles with her bracelet. She sighs and looks at the small wax figures on the counter. She picks up a ballerina and smiles at it before putting it back down. She looks around at the various paintings adorning the walls. They are all signed Vincent. She suddenly feels like she’s not alone and looks around frowning. She walks towards the back of the room and turns into a dining room. The table is set and she smiles and shakes her head. The detail is crazy. She turns her head and frowns as she sees two highchairs. She walks over to them. One of them has the name Bo printed on the back of the chair. The other reads Vincent. She runs her fingers over the highchair. She turns walking over to a doorway leading to a set of stairs. The stairs are lit by candles. She stands there thinking and turns looking around the room again frowning. She sighs. She slowly walks down the stairs careful not to lose her footing. She knew she shouldn’t have worn heels. She’s never been that great in them. She reaches the bottom of the stairs and enters a workshop. The place is lit with candles. She looks around and walks over to a desk. There are several wax masks sat on shelves and a dozen drawings. She stares at them before taking one from the wall. She stares down at it. She doesn’t even know what she’s doing here. And it looks like she’s not alone.).

[jessequinones]

What is childhood, when you can only remember adulthood?

The years 1994-2013 were the years of my childhood. As I’ve gotten older, my memories got worse. I can’t remember much of anything during that era. I remember feeling joy as I turned on the TV and watched cartoons, but I can’t recall what those shows were. I remember the joy of discovering new music or watching a movie, but I forgot what was sung on the stereo, and what movies were in theatres.

Time is the ultimate killer. I remember feeling joy, and happiness, but can’t remember what caused them. If I searched for those feelings, I only discover emptiness and the reminder of my own mortality.

Humanity can only remember history as long as someone teaches it to us. All the stories that were told around the campfire during the cavemen era have long been forgotten. Time erodes history with each passing day, and while we can’t stop the inevitable, we can try not to speed it up.

In a world of ones and zeros, the preservation of media should be difficult, and yet it’s rather simple. Books, movies, video games, art, songs, etc, can be here one moment and gone the next. While I can’t answer why everything seems to disappear after ten years, I can at least explain the outcome.

Stories that we remember, ones that we share, were the ones that survived. If Shakespeare's plays weren’t around today, what would the world be like? What about the Odyssey? Dante’s Inferno? One Thousand and One Nights? If these stories never survived, would we have missed much?

In today’s world, entertainment has evolved to more than just words on paper. Now words could be recorded and played back on the radio. You can see people jump up and down in pictures who were alive before your grandparents were born. Words can be interactive. Stories have evolved, and yet over time, stories have also gone away.

The stories we grew up with, the ones who brought us joy and emotions, can rarely be told for the next generation, for they don’t exist. An example could be a video game becoming delisted from every platform after ten years, or maybe a show on a streaming network getting taken down, never to have released a physical edition. Newer technology can’t support old media, and old technology can’t support itself as time progresses. And while there’ll always be a group of people who try and save as much media as possible, there’ll always be stories which are forever lost. The outcome of lost media, is history itself.

I don’t remember my childhood. I don’t remember the stories which I used to enjoy. All I remember was the happiness I felt during those years, but time shall help me forget that as well.

[lalalalalemon]

A horror anthology full of twisted and creepy tales

[fandomsilhouette]

the stars will always fly

There was a star that burst under the pressure of all the love it carried and its stardust ended up in my veins and yours, and the iron in us knows we were one, once, and reaches for itself in each other. It finds its way into every step Felix takes, and every choice he makes. 

Love is a choice. Felix chooses it. 

Happy @felixmonth, y’all! 

High school is bigger, busier than Felix was used to. Marinette is always rushing off someplace or another, and she always finds her way back to him at some point, but there are hours in the day where Felix finds himself spending a lot more time alone with Nino, getting slowly sucked into a spiral of analysis over musical techniques and their application in theatre and media. He hadn’t realized Nino knew anything other than whatever popular songs were playing, that he had his headphones in listening to the radio, but Nino actually writes music, and while he might not study in class, he’s learned a lot about musical theory. Nino seeks it out, no matter how tedious and mind numbing it might be. Marinette slots into these conversations easily, dropping down onto the bench in the middle of a heated discussion and picking up the thread like she’d never left. She’s picked up a fair bit of knowledge just existing next to Nino  and Felix is… impressed, and a little jealous. 

He likes how applicable this becomes to the speech and debate team he chooses to join, partly to fill the time when Marinette is busy with art club and commissions (with her other friends, with the people she likes more than she likes him, whispers the worst part of Felix), but also partly because when he walked by the club room at the beginning of the year, he watched a girl take down someone twice her size with nothing more than a casual recitation of brutal, weaponized facts, swinging her legs perched on a desk and casually checking out her nails. Her opponent ended the match falling dramatically to his knees, exclaiming over his wounds and flailing and throwing himself across the floor, and the girl finally broke character to laugh with the rest of the club. Felix found himself laughing too, and when someone waved him in, he followed.

Felix likes it, likes getting to use his words to hurt people and tear them down and still laugh with them afterwards. He likes the way Nino’s points about key changes and pitch bleed into the way he modulates his voice and intonation to pull pathos from his audience as he gives a speech, likes the way Marinette’s rambles on color theory find their way into the presentations he pulls together. 

He likes the way he has friends at school now, people outside of Marinette and Nino, people who are his and who like him for more than who he knows. 

He also likes the way speech and debate usually ends around when art club does, so he can walk home with Marinette afterwards. He finds himself lingering to finish conversations more and more, the way she does with her own friends, and likes the way that she’s always waiting for him once he’s done. She makes a point to leave a note in his texts if she has to leave, and every one sends his heart racing. She walks him to the library on the days they don’t have extracurriculars, and finds herself getting to know his kids, getting to fall in love with each of them as she drafts commission projects as he reads. Later, she tells him his voice is soothing and asks him over and over to read her to sleep until he caves. It doesn’t take very long. Every now and then, he'll pop into art club to say hi to Marinette, or she'll do her homework in the back of the speech and debate room, and being able to exist in the space as her without being fully engaged in what she’s doing is healing in a way he didn’t know he needed. 

The most unusual part about having friends outside of Marinette is how oddly disengaged it feels in comparison: it’s not that he doesn’t care for them; when it’s just them Felix feels the affection lapping at his ankles in steady persistent waves and it’s good. But with Marinette, he’s drowning in the intensity of what he feels. 

Felix starts to reconsider the words he chooses to put on that feeling. 

It’s something he chews on throughout the bus ride to camp, throughout counselor orientation and the first few tentative weeks of learning how to be an adult to children who don’t know yet that he’s not. Being responsible for them makes Felix feel incredibly mature, and also incredibly young, the way that he sees himself in them, the way that he can’t anymore. 

The first night the campers come to camp, Felix and Marinette take their group of campers up the mountain trail to see the night sky, unfiltered by pollution for the first time in their lives. When they pass through the clearing to the open horizon, a hushed awe falls over the group, same as seven years ago when Felix first walked this path. Then, he crossed his arms and refused to let the beauty of the night shape his features beyond anything more than a scowl. Now, the light plays over his features and he tilts his face up to meet the starlight. 

It doesn’t last long. A cloud passes overhead, and one of the youngest campers starts crying, overwhelmed and missing home and scared by the dark. Marinette pulls them into her arms and starts bouncing them back and forth, and Felix stands there, at a loss. All he’s ever done is tell stories. That’s all he knows how to do. 

Something shimmers in the sky, and the north star catches his eye. Words spill out of Felix that he didn’t know were there, and he refuses to hold them back. 

“There have been stars in the sky for as long as the sky has existed. They’ve been called gods, fairies, balls of gas that shimmer when the light refracts against the atmosphere of the earth, a conspiracy, something beyond our comprehension, something a part of us. The sky you see tonight won’t be the same sky that you see tomorrow. You’ll never have this view again.” Someone whimpers behind him, and he rushes to continue. 

“But every time you look up, the stars will be just as beautiful, if you care to find the beauty in them. Maybe it’ll take a moment before you find one winking at you. Maybe you’ll see them all, bantering back and forth on the horizon. Maybe you’ll point at the north star, and know that it is always there to guide you home, that it will always come back even if it’s hidden right now.” The sobs are quieting into messy hiccups, and Marinette adds her quiet hum to the rhythm of the story. 

“Look at the stars, the moon, the sky. Let them change, and let them be constant. Find it in yourself to give them space to do both, and you will find that they will give you the same.” At that, Marinette picks up the thread, kneeling close to the campers and pulling them all in as best as she can. 

“You are all made of stardust. Feel it, here, in your pulse. Find it when you feel lost, and let the stars remind you that you are so much, that you can be multitudes, that finding change and constancy both within yourself is not contradictory but human.” 

They walk back in the dark, in silence. No one is scared. Felix can feel it in the air. He revels in it. 

He's not much older than them. But he has to try to be the kind of person that keeps them safe, and Felix has seen so many kids get hurt in ways that don't show up on their bodies. Felix has been one of them. He wants to show them how to love and to do it safely. He wants to show them how to be messy, and vulnerable, and kind. 

Felix wants it so much, so badly, that it consumes him. It pushes him into making friends, talking to people, calibrating his emotions one conversation at a time. These skills have atrophied for so long. He will build this muscle: for himself, for his kids. For Marinette. 

They dance around each other all summer, building their friendship, edging into something flirty, something vulnerable. Sometimes Felix hears the older campers whispering and giggling about how he and Marinette are "like, definitely dating, right?" He doesn’t know how to answer.

He wishes he were, kind of. He loves Marinette. It’s taken him seven years to realize, or seven years to fall in love and maybe one year to realize, or something unquantifiable by any means he has. She fits so perfectly into his side by the campfire at night. She exists in her own light but never hesitates to pull Felix into her space, never hesitates to let him pull her into his. They exist outside of each other but cherish the spaces they share. But he loves her, so he worries about what it means, to be fourteen and in love, to be fourteen and just learning how to make friends. He worries about trying to put words to something that is bigger than human labels and breaking it with the weight of expectation. 

He tells her, the night before camp ends. The campers have been sent to bed, and the counselors are enjoying the dying embers of the summer’s last campfire. There’s no urgency, no pressure in his heart to push the words out. He does it anyways, and it feels right. 

“I love you, Marinette.” 

“I love you too, Felix.” Her voice is soft and warm, and Felix basks in it. 

“...what does this mean?” And then, before she can respond, he adds: “What does it have to mean?” He feels her shrug by his side, and grins. 

“I don’t know. I don’t think it has to mean anything. I want to… keep loving you, and keep being your friend. And just… see how that goes. See where we end up.” 

“What if we end up apart?” He’s too safe with her to sound timid. He puts the question out into the world, and waits. 

“Why would we?” 

“If we stop caring about each other, maybe.” 

At that, she turns to him.

“I won’t. I promise. I’ll always care about you, Felix.” 

“How do you know?” It comes out insecure and Felix makes no attempt to hide it, just leans in closer to Marinette. 

“"I'll work at it. I promise to be here for you when we need to be, and we'll grow as people and find the best in each other. I'll make you a pillow if I need to," and she bumps into his shoulder. 

"What if you like someone else?" 

"What if you like someone else?" Felix wants to say he can't, he won't, he never will. Nino walks by and waves, and Felix knows that isn't true. There are so many people in the world. Felix wants to get to know them all, find out the ways he fits with them, find out what they bring out of him. 

"...I guess... we'll date them. And love each other too, in whatever way we can.” 

“What was it that you said? That the stars are constant and ever-changing, always there no matter how they move or shift. We’ll love each other like the stars, Felix.”

He hooks his pinky into hers. When she falls asleep on the bus ride home, sun shifting on her lap and glimmering against her hair as she leans on his shoulder, Felix squeezes her hand thrice. 

“We’ll be starmates.”

[talkfox4]

Free Tv Scripts Download

What TV pilot scripts should budding TV screenwriters study? We've covered the topic of series bibles and what ones you can review as examples to draw inspiration from. Read ScreenCraft's 21 Series Bibles That Every TV Screenwriter Should Read! But let's take a deeper look into the flagship of your TV series pitch — the pilot script. Top 10 Most Wanted TV Pilot Scripts. Below you’ll find a collection of the TOP 10 Most Wanted TV Pilot Scripts. Each script is accompanied by an interview with its creator/writer. I also add a few BONUS scripts. If you want to learn how to write a tv pilot, this is a great place to start.

Explore your children’s dramatic talents with these free play scripts for kids. Read on to understand how the fine arts develop young minds.

By: Mindy Scirri

Why Use Acting Scripts for Kids

Provide your homeschool with a drama script for kids, and you will see learning happen without your children even knowing. Performance brings language arts to life. When your children rehearse and remember lines of plays, skits, or other readings, they are practicing sentence syntax and how to read with emotion. They are interpreting the written word, practicing demonstrative body language, and considering their audience. They are building self-confidence, overcoming fears of public speaking, and learning to read feedback from viewers. They are discovering purpose for reading and writing and—most definitely—enjoying themselves while learning!

Your entire family will enjoy these royalty-free English play, skit, dramatic reading, and pageant scripts for children, which are arranged according to difficulty. Skits require little or no rehearsal and are often quite funny. Readings take fewer people and some rehearsal, while plays require more people and lots of rehearsal. Near the end of this page, you will find a few plays for advanced actors or older teens and a section for Christian scripts. At the very end, you will find resources for supporting your children as they explore acting. All together we’ve provided hours of creative arts fun.

Dive into drama and you’ll see how theater entertains not only the audience, it entertains the performers too!

Free Skits for Kids

Annie, Jr. Based on the book, Annie, by Thomas Meehan. The classic tale of little orphan Annie.11 characters.

Camp Skits “Nothing makes an assembly period, overnight campfire, or family night more fun than camp skits. They are a great way to include a dramatic piece to your camp program. They also provide an opportunity for both campers and counselors to have some great fun. Most of the skits listed here require minimal preparation and can be easily adapted to accommodate groups of all sizes.”

Cinderella (Kidsinco) Based on the classic story by the Brothers Grimm. 7 characters.

Songs, Skits and Yells “Most of these songs, skits and yells have been taken from various places around the internet. The original source is indicated where known.”

Free Readings for Kids

Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” Complete script for a dramatic reading for two people. Sound file is available too, so you can learn to get the timing right.

Dinosaur Jokes, Puns & Riddles A list of dinosaur jokes and puns to be performed.

Generic Radio Workshop: Vintage Radio Script Library Online collection of scripts from the Golden Age of Radio.

Poetry Out Loud A collection of poems to be performed out loud.

Readers’ Theater Editions “Reader’s Theater Editions are free scripts for reader’s theater (or readers theatre) adapted from stories written by Aaron Shepard and others—mostly humor, fantasy, and world tales from a variety of cultures. A full range of reading levels is included, with scripts aimed mostly at ages 8–15.”

Free Play Scripts for Middle Schoolers

Aellea Classic Movie Scripts Scripts and transcripts to classic movies (and others) made before 1970.

Kidsinco Complete List of Playscripts More than 600 playscripts in English and over 150playscripts in Spanish.

The Land of Lost Stories The story is about technology preventing kids from reading classic children’s stories, so the story characters are discarded onto an island where they long to return to the “hearts and minds” of kids.

Little Women Classic movie script from 1933, RKO Radio Pictures Inc., directed by George Cukor. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. Script by Sarah Y. Mason and Vicor Heerman.

Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up This classic play, by J. M. Barrie, was produced at the Duke of York’s Theatre on December 27, 1904 and ran for 145 performances.

The Princess Bride Are there any sports in it? Are you kidding? It has fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, True Love, miracles, and more! Based on the book by William Goldman and the movie directed by Rob Reiner.

Rinse the Blood off My Toga “Rinse the Blood Off My Toga,” by Johnny Wayne and Frank Schuster—with apologies to William Shakespeare (and to Francis Bacon, just in case).” Features the character of Flavius Maximus, Private Roman Eye.

Sasha and the Pearl (The Puppetry Home Page) “Although ‘Sasha and the Pearl’ was written as a marionette play, it can easily be performed with other puppets as needed. As for characters, I have left them purposefully vague in some cases to allow for the greatest amount of interpretation. Have fun and let me know what you think!”

Free Advanced Scripts for High Schoolers and Mature Actors

The Foresters: Robin Hood and Maid Marian Based on the classic story by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1892). Complete script for those who would like to do an olde English play.

The Oxford Shakespeare The 1914 Oxford edition of the “Complete Works of William Shakespeare ranks among the most authoritative published in the twentieth century. The 37 plays, 154 sonnets and miscellaneous verse constitute the literary cornerstone of Western civilization.” Find links to 37 of Shakespeare’s plays here.

Saint Joan By George Bernard Shaw (1924). “Joan of Arc, a village girl from the Vosges, was born about 1412; burnt for heresy, witchcraft, and sorcery in 1431; rehabilitated after a fashion in 1456; designated Venerable in 1904; declared Blessed in 1908; and finally canonized in 1920.” Access the script to perform her story here.

Screenplays for You “Welcome to ‘Screenplays for You,’ famous collection of free movie scripts and screenplays! Fast and secure site, responsive design, exclusive updates and no dead links – enjoy it….” Screenplays are listed alphabetically.

Download Tv Scripts For Free

Waiting for Godot A play by Samuel Beckett (1953). The basic plot revolves around two characters who have been told they must wait for Godot, though they aren’t sure who he is or what he looks like. Many opportunities come their way, but they turn them down because they might miss Godot.

Free Christian Play Scripts for Kids

The Baker’s Dozen A Saint Nicholas tale told by Aaron Shepard. In the Dutch colonial town later known as Albany, New York, there lived a baker, Van Amsterdam, who was as honest as he could be.

The Birth of Jesus “A lively skit about the people and times during the birth of Jesus.” Skit for ages 9-14.

Christmas Around the World: A Christmas Play A simple Christmas pageant, written by Leanne Guenther, with lots of built-in flexibility, so it can be performed by a family or a large group.

Christmas Skit: Story of Bethlehem – Song A skit by Marcia Taylor about the birth of Jesus. Divide the group into four smaller groups and assign each group one of the words listed here. Read the story. After each of the words is read, pause for the group to sing the first line of the song.

The War Prayer “Twain wrote the story in 1904–5, but after trying just once to publish it, he set it aside. He wrote a friend, ‘I don’t think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth’…. Whether due to suppression of truth or in part to Twain’s own reluctance to seem too radical, the story was in fact published only after his death. It appeared at last in 1923 in the collection Europe and Elsewhere, edited by Albert Bigelow Paine. The story drew new attention during the Vietnam War, with that conflict’s echoes of the earlier Philippine involvement.” Adapted for Reader’s Theater by Aaron Shepard.

Resources for Homeschoolers on Producing Plays

Fake Blood Recipes Here are some recipes for you to make your own realistic-looking fake blood. Real blood is reddish-brown, so you may need to alter the amounts of ingredients for the desired effect. Keep in mind, fake blood is messy, and some of these recipes may leave stains, so use with caution and allow plenty of time for drying.

Hard Choices: Casting your play Award-winning screenwriter, curriculum writer for Children’s Ministry Deals, and founder of Righteous Insanity, John Cosper, shares tips for how to determine who will play the parts in your production.

The History of Costumes: From Ancient to 19th Century This is a great resource for both building background knowledge about the history of theatrical costumes and for finding images of costumes by time period and culture.

Other Great A2Z Resources:

Cover image via

Get screenwriting inspiration with these 9 sites for free film scripts.

Free Tv Scripts Download

One of the best ways to hone your skills as a screenwriter is to spend ample time exploring the structure and format of great films. Thankfully there is a plethora of awesome script resourced around the web, many with free downloads.

Break your writer’s block! In the following post, we’ve listed out 9 sites to find free scripts from a wide variety of films.

1. Simply Scripts

Simply Scripts is an awesome script database where you can find film scripts, as well as scripts for TV, radio, musicals, plays and unproduced projects. From Interstellar to Singing’ in the Rain you’ll likely find the script you’re looking for here. There’s a reason why Simply Scripts tops our list!

2. Internet Movie Script Database

Internet Movie Script Database is another great place to find screenplays of both old and new movies. IMSDb even allows users to sort by genre making it easier to pinpoint just action or comedy films. Scripts can also be rated on IMSDb, which is nice because sometimes scripts found online can be knockoffs rather than the actual script used for the film.

3. The Weekly Script

The Weekly Script puts out a new script every week for your reading pleasure. Instead of relying on having the largest library, the Weekly Script gets it’s charm from the curation of great screenplays. The site is also incredibly easy to navigate and minimal. In the words of the author “If you can’t find your way around this site, you shouldn’t be on the web!”

Free Tv Script Downloads

4. Screenplays for You

Screenplays for You is a script database – no frills, just scripts. SFY has hundreds of screenplays spanning decades of film production. Most of the scripts found here are shooting drafts, meaning they are formatted for the way the script looked during production rather than a reproduced script written after the movie was released.

5. John August

If you’re a screenwriter, John August is a great person to know. On his website you’ll find scripts, schedules, breakdowns, and drafts for reference. You won’t find a lot of scripts, but the ones available are all high-quality. John August is also a host on the Scriptnotes podcast where he, along side Craig Mazin, talk about screenwriting and screenplays.

6. The Daily Script

If the Weekly Script wasn’t enough for you, you will love the Daily Script. The site boasts one of the largest collections of scripts online, as well as an extensive collection of TV scripts.

7. Movie Scripts and Screenplays

In line with the Daily Script, Movie Scripts and Screenplays is a no-nonsense site with scripts, links and…that’s about it! The site does not appear to be actively updated, so go elsewhere if you’re looking for a recent screenplay.

8. Horror Lair

If you’re into horror films than Horror Lair is the place for you. Horror Lair has hundreds of scripts that all fall in the horror genre. Check it out, if you dare.

9. NoFilmSchool

You already know NoFilmSchool as a great place to find filmmaking news and information, but did you know they’ve started sharing screenplays too? NFS writer Christopher Boone has been writing articles with links to movie scripts over the past few weeks and the list is getting pretty great. You can see all of the 2014 Screenplay Articles on NoFilmSchools website.

Want to take your screenwriting tips to the next level? Check out our ‘8 Tips for the Emerging Screenwriter’ post where we share a few ways in which you can create engaging stories.

Know of any other places to find free scripts online? Share in the comments below.

[homosexualadventure]

every single lmam song, ranked.

i just finished listening to let’s make a music for the first time, and Oh My God it rocks. it’s a great podcast and if you’re reading this without having listened to it...i don’t know what to tell you. i don’t know what you think lmam means. but, that aside, if you haven’t listened to it yet: go listen to it! it’s not a crazy long podcast, overall or episode length-wise, so it’s manageable even for people who usually can’t handle podcasts (like me!) anyways, now that it’s over, what’s left for me to do with my time and energy that i used to spend thinking about lmam?

listen to the episodes again so that i can rank all fourty-one songs from worst to best, of course. so that’s exactly what i did.

i mostly ranked these on my gut feeling, because i didn’t come up with the idea of ranking it on a set of points before like...five minutes ago. there’s a bit of personal bias in here, so if you disagree with me on rankings, hey! send me an ask, or a dm. we can talk about it. 

so, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into it! let’s...make a ranking. haha. that’s just a fun little lmam joke for you. 

41. the roquefort stank

this song only gets points for laura’s stanky noises in the background. i love laura.

40. shan’t he shanty

weirdly catchy. for a sea shanty, that is. that’s all i have to say.

39. well, i’m on child...

i do love a good gay song about polyamory but it just wasn’t enough in this case. truly heartbreaking. 

38. dog trash

i’m not a big fan of polka in general. that’s all i have to say. i don’t have to explain all my decisions. this is my journey. and it’s your journey that you’re taking with me.

37. echoes of wednesday

it’s not my favorite but i do think it’s sweet and i like all the laura vocals. also the zuko vocals. 

36. brothers in legs

not their best character song but it’s still a song you could quietly headbang to. i just don’t love full story ballads (there is an exception to this, you’ll see) most of the time. 

35. ol’ tim’s tricks

i’m not saying it’s a bad song, i’m just saying it sounds like it was once in a made for tv disney channel-esque movie about a girl who finds her calling in sports and friendship.

34. don’t give me that altitude

very queen-esque with general 80s vibes and i like that.

33. dreamless

if it was longer i think it would be a lot higher on the list, because it’s Good. but i don’t feel right putting a 45 second song above, like, tobie’s razor. still! i love the mellow, kind of sad and eerie tones of it.

32. holiday crime!

look i know this one’s fairly low on the list, hear me out: it’s a good song and it’s pretty memorable as well! but as far as holiday songs go, i don’t think it’s their best or most iconic one. laura’s laughing and beat in the back is absolutely wonderful and heartwarming, though.

31. mr. dad

this one gets a higher rating than the previous holiday song for its good good harmonica and because when i heard the lyrics “but you love to watch him go” used to describe mr. dad i almost toppled my chair backwards with me still in it.

30. mourning ritual

the biggest load of 1980s bullshit i’ve ever heard in this decade. somehow it’s also got a big panic! at the disco vibe and i’m not sure how i feel about it but it’s definitely Strongly There and i can’t deny it.

29. outback sadhouse

it’s RIDICULOUS how well they nailed the sufjan stevens vibe with this one. plus the restaurant dialogue bit in the back of the song really adds a lot. 

28. let down my better dynamite

it’s really easy to bop to and the instrumental in the background is FANTASTIC! jonah really killed it with this one. plus they talk a lot about rats in the episode which is nice for me because i love rats. also it’s the first episode with an instance of “brian does a bit”.

27. the tale of the greazzy creek

i just think it absolutely nails the vibe of a rural campfire grizzled old cowboy song while also being a really catchy theme song. like, i think you could’ve snuck it into holes (2003) and i would’ve been like, yeah, that sounds right. 

26. turn around and come down slowly

not one of their more iconic songs but brian’s voice is so pretty in this and it’s really soothing. 

25. ratless randy’s

i don’t know why it’s this high on the list either, but it is. ratless randy’s really IS the place to be, guys.

24. tobie’s razor

i will be honest. when i saw the title for this episode for the first time i just thought “occam’s razor” and as i type this i can’t even think of what that actually is, so..... anyways, i’d say this song absolutely NAILS the vibe but i have no idea what vibe it’s even remotely related to. certainly does nail the internal childhood monologue though. i think this song is the first one where they really started hitting their stride, also. not that it’s better than some of the earlier ones, but this one forward their songs were pretty consistently high quality. plus, and no one will be surprised by this by now, it gets extra points for laura. 

23. armoire of royals

it’s weird, it’s synthy, has a vaguely billie eilish-esque part near the end which is not necessarily a point in favor depending on your taste but it Definitely is surprising and cool, and it’s got fake british accents. what more do you need out of a song?

22. sybil’s night scare

the piano in this is perfect and fantastic and the comedic timing in the song is just right. jonah’s delivery of “they’re actually real human eyes” is so goddamn good and his singing is Also great and frankly i think we can all agree we’re fucking tired of him saying he can’t sing. i mean, i assume (i fucking hope) he’s stopped saying that by now considering he had the majority of vocals on silo by a bit but Still. it’s a good peppy halloween-y song.

21. chalice for your thoughts

two spooky songs in a row! honestly, i’m not sure what reasons i have for ranking this song as high as i did. i just like it a lot. they were able to include a lot of weird twitter suggestions fairly seamlessly, and it’s just soft and pretty. spooky, but still pretty. 

20. 21st blitheday

i admit it: i fucking hate the voice brian uses in this. but i really, really like the song. the beat’s very good and somehow brian still manages to sing the chorus well and make it sound nice even though his affectation is Stupid as hell <3 the background whistling is nice and his robot voice, which he’s used for several of his videos but i think most notoriously for scrundler in his week in revue series (here), is also featured. it’s a real bop, i think.

19. monday night boomball

i genuinely think this is their weirdest song, ever. it’s incomprehensible and it’s so fucking theatre kid of them, and it’s dumb as shit but it’s really funny and enjoyable and strange and i love it.

18. gentle light

this is a really good song. it’s not weird or funny, it’s genuinely just a really soft, calming, normal song. i can’t in good conscience rank it above the others for this reason, because it’s easier to make a regular song good than it is for a song about fucking a tree, but i want to be clear: i really love this song. it’s a song that you could fall asleep to, cry to, cuddle up in a blanket to, whatever the hell you want to do to it.

17. proud egg mouth

extra points for fitting the word “maw” in any kind of song, a feat i’m not sure anyone else has ever accomplished. also for brian actually singing with an egg in his mouth.

16. you can take that to the bank

brian does an incredible randy newman impression and i love him for it. also it’s just a good song! it’s not my favorite but it’s very pleasing to my ears and it’s well made.

15. rainbow trout eggs

i listened to a shit ton of colbie caillat in middle school and i can tell you with confidence that the lyrics “i feel so alive and i know that i’m happy na na na na na hey hey” would be in one of her songs. it’s a good song with completely ridiculous lyrics and it’s a better character/full story ballad than their previous ones, in my opinion. which is what you’re specifically here for!

14. car mitzvah

i think this is a song my dad would listen to if it came on the radio. i also think it deserves to be in an early 90s or maybe coming of age movie. brian’s vocals are fantastic in this, also.

13. dr. brims

“it’s a new year, Ha Hah!” this song is sooooo fucking funny and exemplary of a lot of their other songs that came afterwards. i’ve been saying that a lot i think. writing reviews is hard.

12. let’s make a music (theme song)

maybe it’s the emotional value of this song being the song i associate most with the podcast, since it’s the theme song, or maybe it’s just really good. (spoiler: it’s both but mostly the second one) the episode is also really funny in general and if you’re new to the podcast and don’t care about order, i highly recommend this one first! 

11. heartbreak in michael’s

a very very very good sad gay love song and i recommend it to the ends of the earth! because this is the internet, and i can!

10. arbor day!

you try making a horny song about deforestation.

9. why don’t you like our song title?

such a fucking bop and showcases their skill for just doing whatever the hell they want and STILL making a fantastic song or video or whatever. they just stop saying words in it and it does not take anything away from the song. could you do that? i mean...maybe! but for the sake of this review and my point i’m gonna be like fuck you no you couldn’t. moving on.

8. akimbo

the backing track in this is ABSOLUTELY what makes the song. plus that one video of brian strutting but technically that can’t affect my review of the song because Technically it’s not part of the song. anyways it’s really peppy and fun and enjoyable and Good.

7. heartbreak in michael’s (reprise)

it’s the perfect finale song. like, it genuinely sounds like the song that plays at the end of a romcom after everything’s finally worked out. i Did cry when i heard brian sing the theme song at the end but that’s just because i’m a sentimental son of a bitch. so besides that ending bit that i can(’t) guarantee will make you tear up at Least, it’s really fucking fun! it’s upbeat and happy and i think they made the right song to go out on. or to go on a hiatus on, if brian’s website is to be believed. i don’t believe it, but hypothetically, y’know? hypothetically...

6. debutaunt ball

if the met gala doesn’t make this their theme song i will personally burn next year’s event to the ground, i swear to god. also it’s a good song to show off both jonah and brian’s range. it’s not like a lot of their other songs but it’s SUCH a banger and i adore it.

5. madame zamporium’s wax emporium 

fuck yeah. learning that the “ooh come on baby” from several unraveleds came from a let’s make a music is the reason i finally started listening to the podcast in the first place. but BESIDES that, since that’s not a reason for my ranking (just a fun little fact about me!), this song slaps a ridiculous amount. they went insanely hard and it’s the first song they made that really sets the tone of the podcast, which is: great comedy, great high production music. 

4. alan rickman’s edible zoo

GOD! the anti-celebrity, anti-capitalist rock song i’ve been waiting all my fucking life for! also it’s anti-america but only in one lyric. but in Another sense....throughout the whole song. PLUS, and most importantly, it features jonah’s literally and i mean LITERALLY impeccable alan rickman impression. like, it’s fucking bulletproof. alan rickman was in the goddamn room. 

3. horsecar!

look. when this song started playing for the first time i went...fuck no. in general i don’t tolerate country or cowboy songs very well because they just don’t sound appealing to my ears most of the time. i put up with country road only because of a funny mario edit someone made of it and now the original song has more value to me. this is relevant only because the same thing happened with horsecar! in that the chorus KICKS ASS. i may make a post on just my favorite lmam songs and also this is already a crazy long post so i won’t go into it too much but i will say this. the shock value of going from the first verse in this song to the chorus is...........Incredibly high and it Works So Fucking Well! it literally makes the song. and not even just for the short term value of Oh My God That’s A Twist, it lasts through the whole song. i’m listening to the song as i type this and i’m currently at the country/cowboy part and i don’t hate it because i know the chorus is incredible. in fact, i’d argue that the chorus on its own may be the best thing lmam ever made, even better than my two actual favorite songs of theirs. i’m definitely going to have to make a full post on this. (SIDE NOTE: BRIAN’S VOCALS ARE FUCKING CRAZY AND HORSECAR! IS ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES OF THIS. his goddamn RANGE!! SIR!!! his falsetto is literally ridiculous my pants are OFF)

2. dragon me to this wedding

this is what i meant when i said there’s an exception to the “i’m not generally a fan of full story ballads”, because this is one of my all time favorite lmam songs. as in, it’s in the top three. which i guess you can tell from it being number two in the top three. in fact, it’s probably one of my favorite songs in general. the first time i listened to the episode i went back and listened to the song again three times in a row, and all three times i cried real tears. it’s GAY it’s REALLY PRETTY and i LOVE IT. 

1. save 2 4 tony

so we’ve finally made it to my all-time favorite lmam song. maybe it’s that i recently graduated myself and so this song hits a little harder, but it also just GOES hard. i genuinely think they peaked when they recorded this. it’s one of those bdg songs where you’re listening to it, you’re just chilling, and it’s like “yeah wow this is nice!” and all of a sudden he hits a falsetto and you go “oh FUCK that guy can SING!” literally his vocals in this are incredible and it’s very fun (and on brand) that the Oh Fuck moment here is the line “tony hawk babeyyy!” plus jonah killed it on the backing and composition and everything. it’s the best let’s make a music song and i won’t take constructive criticism.

[langdxn]

space age love song | dark!xavier x reader

Okay here goes the most emotionally traumatic thing I’ve written in a while... 

Xavier hated when the campfire radio knew how he felt.

He was falling in love, and he hated it almost as much as the radio.

I saw your eyes

He hated the way she commanded his every thought. The way she banished all his sensibilities. The way she consumed his life from the moment she walked into it, the day they arrived at Camp Redwood.

And you made me smile

It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t mean to abolish his world as he knew it, but he hated her innocence too. He hated that he couldn’t even blame her for his demise, hold her accountable for her crimes against him.

For all he knew about lust, the impulse that compelled most of his actions, the concept of love baffled him. He couldn’t comprehend the burning in his chest when his eyes settled on her; he couldn’t compute the unsettling ache in the pit of his stomach when she moved close to him; he couldn’t save himself from the smile that subconsciously crept across his lips as she sat beside him around the campfire.

For a little while

He reached over to change the radio station on the speakers but his hand was swatted away by hers. Meeting her gaze, she gave him a knowing smile. Swallowing thickly, he turned away nervously, unable to have that conversation beside the campfire around the rest of the counsellors.

I was falling in love

He knew exactly how he felt, he just needed the right time to tell her.

Tell her that he would do anything for her.

He already had.

I saw your eyes

Xavier could trace the exact moment he turned bad, exactly 3 years after his death.

Pacing through the thick woods beside the lake, he froze to the spot as his gaze fell upon two boys laughing as they looked out on the dock. There she was, dipping her toes in the lake wearing her favourite red bikini, her bronzed skin shining in the midday sun.

And you touched my mind

“Is it my turn?” The short, brown-haired boy turned to the other, jabbing an elbow into his blonde friend’s ribs.

“Nope, she’s all mine,” the tall blonde gloated with a slick drawl, arms folded and his chin lifted proudly.

Although it took a while

“Can’t we just tag team her?” The stout one bobbed on the balls of his feet, itching to race toward the boardwalk.

I was falling in love

“Fuck off, dude,” the tall boy hissed, flexing his muscles and practically drooling as he gazed out at her on the dock. “It was my idea to come here and screw some crime tourist chicks, I call next.”

I was falling in love

Xavier’s blood ran cold, then hot, then cold again. A searing heat pricked at his cheeks, a lump forming in his throat, a red haze dropping over his vision like the curtain call in the theatre of his mind.

I saw your eyes

Unable to blink in case he missed a single move, his hand wandered to the back of his shorts, fingers slowly curling around the pocket knife he stowed beneath his waistband.

As she lay back on the dock to bathe in the sun, the sickening duo wrung their hands and high fived each other. Bile soared up Xavier’s throat as he stepped toward them.

And you made me cry

“Sorry to burst your bubble boys,” Xavier chimed in, jolting the two to spin on their heels to find him holding his gleaming knife aloft, blind fury skewing his face. “She’s off the menu.”

And for a little while

His blade swooped across their necks, slicing through both of their throats with ease. The fountains of blood that poured from their wounds as they tumbled into heaps on the forest floor splattered Xavier’s once crisp white sneakers.

I was falling in love

An inexplicable darkness clouded his vision as their final gasps stuttered through crimson tidal waves, he could do nothing but stare.

I was falling in love

He felt nothing.

No remorse. No regret. No guilt.

Falling in love

His gaze snapped back to her, still laid out on the boards. She looked beautiful. Radiant in her blissful ignorance. She had no idea of the price Xavier paid for her safety.

Falling in love

Someday she would know.

But it wouldn’t be beside the campfire. It wouldn’t be tonight. It wouldn’t be to the sound of A Flock Of Seagulls.

Xavier had fallen in love.

[snikker-doooo]

Road Trip Head cannons (Australian edition)

Due to covid I can’t go roadtripping - so I wrote up some head cannons to pass me over until our state opens back up.(Muriel, Portia and Lucio are under the cut)

You wake up one day and he has half a bag packed with a few essentials, you need to remind him to take his tooth brush. He suggests you mostly follow the coast but also wants to go inland to some national parks. 

Visits a lot of Indigenous Cultural sites, but is completely respectful the entire time

Ancient forests, and old book shops are his favourite places to stop. But also loves picking up wacky souvenirs, his favourite is a hand painted ukulele with Elvis on the front.

Wants to stop at every small town candy shop and gets two of everything to eat while you take turns driving your beat up sedan.

At the beach he chases you into the ocean and throws you under the water. You laugh because his hair makes him look like a jellyfish. 

Perfectly okay to stay wherever - but reminds you he packed the tent so you end up camping near the beach and having a small campfire - fire restrictions pending

Favourite tourist attractions: Helensburgh Glow Worm tunnel,  Flinders station Ballroom, Melbourne, Mungo National Park, Arumpo

You suggest he takes a sick week as his beginning to look like the walking dead from all the over time he does at the hospital. He gets stir crazy in the house and suggests it within about 2 hours of being home from work. 

His cars so old it has a cassette player, but still Insists on listening to the local radio station - the music is always horrible country yodeling from the 50s, but somehow, he knows every word to every song

Visits some very unique museums - who ever knew there was a firefighter museum, cricket museum or lawn gnome museum 

Loves small town pubs - no one knows him, the audience loves him, and if he gets too rowdy - doesn’t matter, he’ll be gone in the morning

Eats wherever the locals suggest and this has lead him to eating at some very questionable places but usually getting really good food

Usually chooses pubs that have a bed upstairs - it's easier to stumble to bed drunk that way and it also means more time with the locals

Favourite tourist attractions: The Witches Garden, Mitta Mitta, Santos Museum of Economic Botany, Adelaide, Titanic Theatre Restaurant, Williamstown

Has planned this getaway for at least two months - has her long service leave saved up and the HR officer has approved it. You’ve packed her four wheel drive as she has a shower and you leave straight after work to get the most time. 

Loves to visit the small artsy towns but also wants to see major cultural players as well.

Small textiles shops get a lot of her attention - especially the homemade ones. She picks up some very unique pieces and is always happy to support local businesses

Will look up cafes and restaurants in advance just to make sure they serve something she's interested in, but is always willing to try some local specialty. 

Is that handmade soap? Yes please. Is it lavender? All the better. 

Has booked a few high end, luxury rooms at various resorts for rest days and some small town bed and breakfasts for the other days

Favourite Tourist attractions: Magnetic Island, Japanese War Cemetery and Garden, Cowra, The Sydney Opera House.

He goes because you want to go - plus someone needs to make sure you don’t get into too much trouble. Helps you plan the route so you stay out of major city centers but is still an interesting road trip. 

He loves driving along the highway at night - you're the only people for kilometers and it makes the world seem so much bigger. 

Nature based road trip - lots of walks in national parks, caving, and beaches. 

Highlights of the trip include getting his milkshake upgraded (because the waitress said his manners reminded her of her grandson) and seeing that platypus couple in the Snowy River. 

Stops for food wherever has the least amount of people - but also can’t say no to a place with a beer garden. You sit next to the koi pond and get fish and chips to share. You get Muriel some lemon slice in a baggie on the way out for later - he adores it.

Also stops whenever he sees a roadside fruit vendor - comes home with at least two pallets of mangos.

No, we’re not sleeping in a motel, he never fits on the beds - we’re sleeping outside of town on a mattress in the back of his ute a few kilometers out of town so we can stargaze. You both smell like citronella coils for the entire trip. 

Favourite tourist attractions: The Big Marino, Goulburn, Penguin Parade at Phillip Island, the Daintree Rainforest, Queensland,  Insert obvious joke about stopping at Lake Solitude, Tasmania

It's summer, she's finished uni for the semester, Nadia told her to enjoy her break, and the car was packed the day before work finished. She's just waiting for you to get in. 

Takes turns driving her hatchback with a very loose idea of where you’re going. 

Must have at least one meat pie at every small town bakery that claims to sell the best pie in the state. Has a notebook with each pies rating and specs.

Takes an insane amount of photos of every location you stop at. Also takes cheeky photos of you driving when you think she's asleep and has a few videos of you singing power anthems as you drive down the highway. 

Any trip into the servo to get snacks looks like a ten year old came into a lot of money. 

Stays exclusively at bed and breakfasts - its a room, and a meal, and it's all quite kitsch and sweet. 

Gets one of those collectable spoons whenever she can - she has over 200. 

Favourite tourist attractions: Gnomesville, Wellington Mill, Wycliffe Well, Davenport, Yowie hunting in Kilcoy 

A coworker got back from their road trip before and showed him some photos of some obscure giant statue - now Lucio needs to visit more ‘the big whatever's’. You have to take your car because he doesn’t want his paint scratched. 

Complains about your CD selection - but shuts up once you suggest going back and taking his car instead.

Gets a cheesy couple photo in front of the big whatever's - the big pineapple, the big ram, the big potato (which he found hilarious and he has no idea why.)

Willing to eat anywhere but always orders the same thing - beef burger with the lot, a side of chips with chicken salt and a coke (no - pepsi is not the same thing)

Willing to do some adventure tourism things - abseiling, caving, cage diving but draws the line at skydiving.

He stays wherever looks best on the website - and usually this works out well. Apart from that one bed and breakfast in Junee which he claims was haunted. 

Favourite tourist attractions: SS Maheno, Fraser Island, Mad Max Museum, Silverton, The Big Banana, Coffs Harbor (Yes, he has one of those perspective photos posing next to it at a suggestive angle)

[sickly-sweet-cookies]

{Handy Dandy Muse List}

{This’ll be updates with full refs and bios for everyone once all of those things are actually done- I’m a very busy man, after all! Meantime, I figured y’all could use this!}

Main: Licorice, S’mores, Astronaut Ice Cream

Side: Honey, Red Velvet, Black Forest, Mulberry Jam,

Minor: Seaweed, Urchin Puff, Brigadeiro

Licorice Cookie | He/Him | 29 | Paranormal Investigator

Theme: Touch Tone Telephone

Voiceclaim: Justin McElroy{Duck Newton}

Story: Made with bitter black licorice rope and baking chocolate, with just a dash of blackberry jam, Licorice Cookie is a devoted seeker of truth and believer in the supernatural. Using his enchanted red thread and his incredible eye for clues, Licorice seeks out even the most elusive instances of the paranormal and informs the world through the touch-tone telephone he always keeps on hand.

In his fervent search for the truth, Licorice can often accidentally get carried away, jumping to the wrong conclusion and landing himself in hot water trying to retrace his steps....

S’Mores Cookie | He/Him | 30 | Paranormal Investigator

Theme: Kubric and the Beast

Voiceclaim: Shane Madej

Story: This skeptical cookie was made not in the burning heat of the Witch’s oven, but in her fiery campfire! This cookie uses his chocolate camera to hunt for the supernatural, though surprisingly he doesn’t believe in half of the myths and legends he investigates!

S’mores is a tricky cookie, always playing pranks on others, but he’s harmless enough- unless you believe the rumors, that is....

Astro Ice Cream | They/Them | 32 | Paranormal Investigator

Theme: Gravitron

Voiceclaim: Neil Cicierega

Story: Astro Ice Cream was the result of the Witch trying to make something tasty out of astronaut ice cream. With fresh chocolate chips, colorful frosting, and a pinch of space dust, they broke out of the oven sweet as anything, though that odd taste still lingers in their quiet and fragile nature.

Astro Ice Cream is an investigative sort- using their biscuit tape recorder to catch any mysterious audio the team happens to hear! It’s said they can also hear ghosts and other things that go bump in the night, but you don’t believe that.... do you?

—————————

Dr. Honey Cookie | They/He | died at 35 | Scientist

Theme: Sweet Bod

Voiceclaim: Graverobber{Repo!The Genetic Opera}

Story: Nobody knows where the honey used to make this Cookie came from, or how old it had been when it was found. It’s said that this cookie was given a heaping helping of strawberry jam ambition- thus, their master plan came to fruition! This cookie has one ultimate goal- take the crumbs and dough of fallen cookies and use them to produce new cookies without the Witch’s input. The process includes the seemingly endless supply of honey and jam this Cookie seems to keep in jars and plenty of patience! The results have been mixed- the cookies do come awake, though they always seem a little off…

Not that Honey Cookie minds. Those are simply prototypes- the honey-covered dough he’s been watching over and tinkering with seems like it holds more promise- if only they could find the Witch’s book of spells…

Red Velvet Cookie | They/Them | 44 | Actor/Villain

Theme: A Mask Of My Own Face

Voiceclaim: Jacob Tobia{Double Trouble}

Story: The Witch dyed this cookie’s dough not with simple food coloring, but with dark pomegranate syrup. They burst from the oven with a swish of the cape, already boasting their flair for drama and, more importantly, chaos. They revel in destruction and havoc- when not onstage performing. Theatre and Chaos are the only things they take seriously, using their Mask of Two Faces to enhance their acting.

Despite their blatant love of Darkness, Dark Enchantress and her crowd annoy Red Velvet Cookie. Red Velvet can bring someone into darkness with only words- being forced into darkness is a great and terrible tragedy to them.

Black Forest Cookie | They/Them | 31 | Radio Host

Theme: Touch Tone Telephone

Voiceclaim: Cecil Baldwin

Story: ???

Mulberry Jam Cookie | He/Him | 33 | Enigmatic Agent

Theme: In The Room Where You Sleep

Voiceclaim: Eric William Morris

Story: ???

—————————

Seaweed Cookie | He/Him | Violinist/Former Witch Cookie

Theme: Schubert’s Serenade

Urchin Puff Cookie | They/Them | Private Detective

Theme: Spring Heeled Jack

Brigadeiro Cookie | He/They | Professional Dancer

Theme: Magalenha

[erikasandersonactor]

I’ll be appearing at Horrorconuk this weekend!

Come and find myself and other Nosleep Podcast actors in the Exhibitor’s Hall of the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Sheffield, showcasing some of the best “Horror in Audio Fiction”.

Chat to us about your favourite shows, find a new one to listen to and take home some goodies.

We’ll have some promotional freebies, merch and books for you to purchase!

[mst3kproject]

The Choppers

It’s teenage crime spree time!  With Arch Hall Sr. writing and producing, Arch Hall Jr. starring, and Bruno VeSoto supporting, the result is sure to be MST3K-worthy. All it’s missing is Ray Dennis Steckler, but I guess one can’t have everything.

America’s youth is its greatest resource, and those youth are in danger of growing up into criminals.  Witness our antagonists here: Cruiser, Torch, Ben, Flip, and Snooper. They drive around in a truck full of chickens, taking apart random cars and selling the pieces to Moose, a grouchy and unscrupulous junkyard owner.  The cops are baffled, but sooner or later the young thugs are bound to make a fatal mistake – and theirs comes when they girl they decide to sexually harass turns out to be the secretary of an insurance investigator.  At around the same time, Moose gets tired of their attitude and decides to turn them in.  Looks like the Choppers have chopped their last, uh… chop, I guess.

I’m sure you all want to know whether Arch Hall Jr. sings in this movie.  He does, but not until forty-five minutes in when I really had begun to hope I’d escaped him.  The piece is actually kind of catchy although not particularly memorable, but I may be in a forgiving mood because the first musical number in the movie was so much worse.  It’s performed by an elderly guy who works at Moose’s junkyard, and not only is he a bad singer, but what starts out sounding like a boy scout campfire ditty turns out to be a mournful country song about his divorce.  It made me long for the comparatively sweet strains of I Love You Vickie.

The photography here is notably terrible.  Almost the entire movie takes place outdoors in harsh desert sunshine because I think they didn’t actually have any lights.  Indoor scenes are kind of dim and night scenes are completely indecipherable – although I think somebody didn’t believe a practically pitch-black screen was enough to convince us it was night, because there are also lots of loud cricket noises.  There’s a bit where the Choppers vandalize a guy’s car because he took their parking spot and it’s almost impossible to see anyone’s faces or tell who’s talking.

The acting is sort of indifferently bad. Arch Hall Jr. is Arch Hall Jr., where everything he says sounds kind of stagey and dumb, and nobody else is much better.  The twenty-somethings playing the young criminals use hip slang in a way that suggests they have no idea what these words actually mean.  Arch Hall Sr. continues to believe he can build his son into a teen heartthrob, and so he shows us things like Cruiser’s pasty chest and belly as he lounges by a pool.

You say you didn’t need that screencap? Well, I didn’t need the shot it came from.

Most of the screen time in the movie is spent on the Choppers as they take apart cars, play or listen to bad music, argue with each other, and harass women.  The supposed heroes aren’t on screen nearly so much, but that’s okay because they are stunningly un-likeable.  There are a couple of bland cops, but the ones who are really our protagonists are inept insurance investigator Tom Hart and his nagging girlfriend Liz.  Tom comes across as an oblivious dope, while Liz constantly whines that she’s tired of fighting crime and wants to go home and eat.

Tom never redeems himself, but Liz gets a couple of moments.  She’s the one who notices that feathers keep turning up at the crime scenes, and when she recognizes Cruiser’s car at a drive-in she is able to keep him staring at her boobs long enough for her to memorize the license plate number. Naturally at the climax, she is not present and Tom, who did pretty much nothing all movie, gets all the credit for catching the gang.  The movie doesn’t make anything out of this because it doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

Which of course brings us to the fact that The Choppers hates women something fierce. There are only two we can actually be said to meet: Cruiser’s empty-headed girlfriend Gypsy (I know a bot who would be righteously angry at this name choice) is there to hang around in a bathing suit and be dumb.  The movie can’t decide how much she does or doesn’t know about his criminal hobbies – she seems to help vandalize the car in the parking lot, but then becomes the damsel in distress at the final shootout.  Liz nags, mocks, and generally treats Tom terribly, and at the end her competence is treated as his accomplishment.

Several of the five boys have backstories that depend on absent fathers – Cruiser’s was killed in WWII, Torch’s is an alcoholic, and Snooper has had a series of uninterested stepfathers.  The implication is that a single mother cannot possibly raise a boy.  He needs a father to turn him into a man (this is as near as stated aloud when a reporter attempts to interview Torch’s drunken father on the radio).  The only moment involving a woman that doesn’t reek of misogyny is when the boys harass a waitress and she blows them off.

If we’re gonna talk about fathers and sons… this is another movie Arch Hall Sr. made to try to build up his son’s career, and another movie in which the two of them are at odds.  They never actually meet in The Choppers, but the reporter played by Hall Sr. comments on how intelligent and talented the boys are and how much they could have accomplished if they’d only had the chance to live up to their potential.  Once again, it’s really, really tempting to try to do some psychoanalysis here, as if Arch Hall Sr. was using his films to tell the world how disappointed he was with his son.  I don’t know these people, of course, but that’s definitely the impression I get.

The main theme in The Choppers is one I’ve already dealt with, the idea that a boy without a father will become a criminal, stuck forever in the stage of life where rule-breaking is fun and consequences are things that happen to other people.  There seems to be a level on which the boys have adopted Moose as a sort of substitute father – he has encouraged and taught them in their criminal endeavours, and while he and they argue and threaten each other, they are honestly shocked by his eventual betrayal.  In the end, Moose abandons them just as their biological fathers have done.

There also seems to be some attempt to talk about class. All the Choppers seem to come from underprivileged backgrounds except for Cruiser, who has a backyard pool and a fancy car.  This puts him in the same category as Paula from The Violent Years, in that we’re given no good reason why he does this besides what his says to the reporter at the end: “we had a ball.”  Like Paula, Cruiser is the leader of the gang, but unlike her, he does not participate in the actual crimes.  Instead, Cruiser and his fancy car serve as lookouts – his upper-class origin allows him to be in charge without having to get his hands dirty, and there are signs that the rest of the boys resent this.  When they are all cornered at the end, it’s Cruiser who suggests giving up while Torch prefers to go down fighting.  Unlike the others, he’s not sufficiently invested in this to die for it.

What the movie is trying to say here is that money is not a substitute for good parenting, and privileged boys can still fall into crime if their fathers aren’t there for them.  What it manages to imply is that even in crime being rich gives you a head start and can make you a leader regardless of actual leadership qualities.

So this movie is really, really bad, and doesn’t deal very well with its thematic material – but that’s not to say there’s no entertainment value to be found here.  It’s never funny when it tries to be, of course. There’s an attempt at a running joke with Snooper wondering if he’d be more attractive to women if he wore contact lenses, which will make you shudder if you know what contact lenses were like in the 50’s and early 60’s.  The humour that works in The Choppers is naturally the unintentional kind, to be found in the bad acting and the unwieldy chicken truck.

My favourite moment is when Cruiser, talking on a candy-striped walkie-talkie the size of a dachshund, tells his cronies to give the police “the farmer routine”.  Flip and Snooper immediately pull a couple of cowboy hats out of fucking nowhere and put them on, and I almost did a real-life spit take.  This feels like the kind of thing that would have fascinated the Best Brains.  I can imagine Joel, Crow, and Tom whipping their own Stetsons out from under the theatre seats to wear for the rest of the scene (Servo would have needed help with his) and every subsequent appearance of a cop being greeted with, “quick, put on your cowboy hats!”  It would definitely be the stinger.

Talking about having a favourite Arch Hall Jr. movie is like talking about having a favourite kind of turd to eat, but insofar as the statement means anything, The Choppers is my second-favourite of his movies I’ve seen so far.  It’s less misogynistic than Eegah! (not a high bar) and doesn’t have nearly as much crappy music as Wild Guitar (accomplished by simply having less music).  My favourite Arch Hall Jr. movie is The Sadist, which I actually don’t consider bad enough for this blog.  In The Sadist Hall Jr. played a serial killer, and he was pretty terrifying.  If he’d had more roles like that (with directors who were not his father and could actually coach good performances out of him) he might have been a decent character actor.

[delusion-of-negation]

I always wonder why people who make it very obvious they hate fandom, and have a deep loathing for fanfics (specifically fanfics, never see this level of hate for fanart) always think their views on fandom/fanfics are somehow the most valid, when they make it obvious they don't even go in depth about the topic at all, and it's all just their personal bias against it for whatever reason. (Like no one is forcing anyone to read fanfics)

yeah ikr? like, I explained my stance in the post itself, but the literary, film, show, radio, theatre, and etc, tradition of adapting, retelling, being a lot or a bit inspired by, and etc, older media, or even your own media (sequels, prequels, I may have to give up on listing soon, rewrites, those same characters in a different world, etc etc) is older than even written media. fanfiction is way less of a new thing than people think, it's just a mass thing now - it's not a few dudes around a campfire retelling an old myth with liberties, it has become a website with thousands of those retellings. do people really think nobody in the history of the world went "yeah but what if the two muscle men fucked?" or "what if the scary monster was actually a hot lady?" or any of the icky bad fandom mishaps? because if so I'd like to direct your attention to greek plates and the retellings of greek myths by roman poet Ovid. I cannot fathom the number of blind spots you'd have to have about human history to think that sexualising characters is a new phenomenon a fandom culture spawned that denigrates those precious source materials. can somebody edit the astronaut shooting meme to have a picture of greek plates with the guys saying "so it's the fandom making the characters fuck?" and then "always has been", so I can throw it at the folks who don't understand that this is not new. the source material is not some pure precious stuff you can't make icky, that's the copyright law in the modern world corrupting your brain, you're the ones with the weird new standards. and all of that isn't even getting into that most fanfics are character studies, they're genuinely meant to explore the work, even if the person doesn't articulate that they're doing that, even smut is generally written to be in keeping with how the characters behave in the source material, what they are like as people, it's literary analysis, but that's more the case with the rest of fanfic, I've barely seen genuine fans actually lack any post on their blog that's deeply analysing motives, a personality trait, a line, etc. god, these people seem to think engaging with media means you read Shakespeare and go "hmm yes, the depth of the human experience", bros I hate to break this to you but Shakespeare was writing for the masses, there's loads of dick jokes and there's more slapstick than you could count, and half his work is gay poetry (no, I mean homosexual, that man was almost certainly bi, he wrote for other bi/gay poets of the time and was likely in relationships with some of them, about half of his sonnets were for men). you guys don't even engage with Shakespeare in genuine ways, it's just to flex that you're a snob. and don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare, I think some of his works are beautiful tragedies and some are fun romps through the woods, full of shenanigans and hijinks. but Shakespeare essentially wrote real person fanfic sometimes you dumbfucks. I am going to exhaust myself repeating this, but you know jack shit about literary history if your stance is that fanfic is new and icky and dumb.

[lalalalalemon]

I want to talk more about podcasts on here, so to start, here is a list of all the podcast’s I’m currently subscribed to, in alphabetical order. It’s a fair few so it’s under the cut.

2298

99% Invisible

A New Winter

A Night of Horror

A Scottish Podcast

Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Adventures in New America

Alba Salix

Alice Isn’t Dead

Archive 81

ars Paradoxica

Attention Hellmart Shoppers

Beef and Dairy Network

Big Data

Blackwood

Bronzeville

Brute Force

Bubble

Bunker Buddies

Caledonian Gothic

Campfire Radio Theatre

Caravan

Chatty AF

Coffee Break Chinese

Criminal

Darkest Night

Deadly Manners

Death in Ice Valley

Dreamboy

Eos 10

Everything is Alive

Fictional

Focused AF

Forest Guide

Fracture

Girl In Space

Godsfall

Gone

Greater Boston

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Hashtag Authentic

Hello From the Magic Tavern

Here Be Monsters

Hey Riddle Riddle

Hush

Imaginary Advice

Is This Adulting

Janus Descending

Jarnsaxa Rising

Join the Party

Kakos Industries

Kaleidotrope

Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services

Kind World

King Falls AM

Lake Clarity

Life-After

Limetown

Lore

Love and Luck

Mabel

Magic King Dom

MarsCorp

Middle:Below

Midnight Radio

Minefire

Misadventure by Death

My Brother My Brother and Me

Mystery Show

Nocturne

Oh No Ross and Carrie

Our Fair City

OZ 9

Palimpsest

Passage

PodUkast

Madiva

Rabbits

Radiation World

Reading Glasses

Return Home

Rose Drive

Sawbones

Sayer

SCP Archives

Shmanners

Singing Bones

Sleep With Me

Spire

Spines

Spirits

Start With This

Station Blue

Still Buffering

Strong Language and Violent Scenes

Subject Found

Subvercity Transmit

The Alethian Society

Station to Station

Tales of That Town

Tanis

TAZ

The Alexandria Archives

The Allusionist

The Amelia Project

The Art of Focus

The Behemoth

The Big Loop

The Black Tapes

The Blood Crow Stories

The Bridge

The Bright Sessions

The Deep Vault

The Elysium Project

The End of Time and Other Bothers

The Enoch Saga

The Ghost Radio Project

The Far Meridian

The Infinite Now

The Janet Murray Show

The Last Movie

The Lift

The Lost Cat

The Magnus Archives

The Memory Palace

The Mindful Kind

The Orbiting Human Circus of the Air

The Partially Examined Life

The Penumbra

The Phenomenon

The Prickwick Papers

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Thrilling Adventure Hour

The Unseen Hour

The White Vault

This is Love

Tides

Tin Can

Tiny Leaps Big Changes

Trends Like These

Tunnels

Uncanny County

Unobscured

Unplaced

Unwell

Victoriocity

Violet Beach

Waystation

We Fix Space Junk

Welcome to Nightvale

What the Folklore

Within the Wires

Wolf 359

Wonderful

Wooden Overcoats

Wormwood

You Are Here

[deepinthedirt]

Tagged by @polygonalqueer

Nickname: Felix, Sherk

Zodiac: Virgo

Height: 5'2"

Time: 9:19 I was very tempted to wait until 4:20 to post this

Favorite band/artist: They Might Be Giants! I'd recommend checking out Let's Get This Over With, Experimental Film, and Birdhouse in Your Soul! But every song of theirs is a complete bop tbh.

https://youtu.be/zSV06UBrJag

https://youtu.be/Sf9S1WVVmLM

https://youtu.be/NhjSzjoU7OQ

Song stuck in my head: Video Killed the Radio Star! It's my current favorite song. I also almost constantly have The Elements of the Periodic Table and Why Does the Sun Shine? stuck in my head.

https://youtu.be/cUDRZiEdDDA

Last Movie I Saw: Wonder Woman! It's pretty badass she throws a tank.

Last Thing I Googled: Affordable cowboy hats. Good news: I found one. Bad news: I'm still figuring out how to purchase things online I'm a disaster.

Other Blogs: rifp I'm too lame for multiple blogs.

Do I Get Asks: Sometimes @ruioolee yells Ace Attorney Homestuck Au at me, but as a rule not really.

Why did I choose this username: Axolotls are cool and also I eat oranges in the shower like a hecking heathen I actually do not like the color or the taste of the fruit in general.

Following: 51

Average amount of sleep: 6 hours, but I also like to get like 3 hours a sleep a night for several nights in a row and then get like 12 hours of sleep all at once.

Lucky Number: 13

What I am wearing: A tie-dye shirt from my summer job at a summer camp. It's orange. I'm also wearing cargo shorts and my binder heck it's been on too long hhhhhh.

Dream job: I'd love to design lighting or set for a Broadway show someday! Though tbh I'd be 100% down with working crew or tech on any sort of show for any sort of theatre. Also I want to breed and sell praying mantises on the side.

Dream trip: A hecking roadtrip with @hduece @summer-vaporeon and @ruioolee I love you, bitch. I ain't never gonna stop loving you, bitch.

Favorite food: Potatoes and pineapples. Not at the same time, god no.

Play any instruments?: Cello and piano! I also mess around with an ocarina and a ukelele sometimes but not enough to be any good.

Hair color: Light brown

Describe yourself using aesthetic things: Dew on spiderwebs, a ghostlight in a dark theatre, bioluminescence, burying yourself in the snow, campfires in pitch blackness, opening night nervous excitement, new car smell, fireflies off the side of the road, HGTV, orchid mantises, jumping spiders wearing water droplet hats

Languages you speak: English, a bit of German, a bit of ASL, does music count it feels like another language sometimes

Most Iconic Song: What does iconic mean??? It is asking me to represent myself or just a song I think is pretty great? Don't Let's Start is pretty neat on both fronts I guess???

https://youtu.be/VJQnZZ-Wmao

Random Fact: I can sorta ride a unicycle. I'm still learning but I can go a few feet without faceplanting.

@hduece @ruioolee @summer-vaporeon @nanocupcakes @galactic-chiroptera @detective-in-space  

Do it you heckers.

[bringinbackpod]

Interview with Heather Youmans

We had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Youmans over Zoom video!

Tomorrow (April 23rd, 2021) Heather Youmans will share her new single A LITTLE CLOSER TO HAPPY. The music video bottles up good vibes, sunshine and that “California Dreaming” lifestyle. Music fans may recognize Heather Youmans from Fox’s new singing show “I Can See Your Voice,” which was watched by 4 million viewers this Fall/Winter. Heather Youmans' artist project is a commentary on happiness -- bringing together SoCal sunshine, good vibes and an optimistic point of view with pop/indie rock tunes reminiscent of HAIM and Sheryl Crow.

A LITTLE CLOSER TO HAPPY is a SoCal-inspired soundtrack to the pursuit of happiness. People know Youmans as an “eternal optimist,” someone who always seems to find something to smile about. But, happiness isn’t perfect, and feeling happy all the time is a myth. Truth is, we all get a little sad sometimes. A LITTLE CLOSER TO HAPPY centers on one truth: “Achieving true happiness is a journey. Once you find it - no matter how big or small - hold onto it."

Heather Youmans was born and raised in San Diego, just a 10 minute drive from the beach, so this song and video really sum up the California dream - from sunshine and contemplative beach sunsets to playing music around the campfire in flip flops (with a White Claw).

About Heather Youmans:

Heather Youmans is a Los-Angeles-based singer-songwriter, acclaimed vocalist, bassist and actress. The “essence of a Southern California singer/songwriter” (American Songwriter Magazine), Heather’s music spreads happiness. It's honest, uplifting and influenced by a range of dynamic women in music, including: HAIM, P!nk, Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow,  Sara Bareilles, Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Joss Stone and Donna Missal. Through the years, she has written/recorded original music featured in Forbes, Parade Magazine and the LA Times, played on Top40 radio and in movies - including "Flicka 2" (alongside country music icon Clint Black), "Marley and Me 2” and "High Strung," premiering at TCL Chinese Theatre. She opened for Sting and the late Natalie Cole at a Unicef event, and has sung the national anthem solo for the LA Kings and 20,000 fans at Staples Center on New Years Eve. In Fall 2020, she released single SHINE--channeling good vibes, self-love and sunshine--and appeared as the "Tap Dancer" on FOX's new hit singing show "I Can See Your Voice." A LITTLE CLOSER TO HAPPY is the next chapter in her pursuit of happiness, as she continues to spread optimism and positive energy to fans. For the latest on Heather’s upcoming projects, follow her on Spotify and Instagram.

We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com.

www.BringinitBackwards.com

#podcast #interview #bringinbackpod  #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork

Listen & Subscribe to BiB

Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter!

--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support source https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/episodes/Interview-with-Heather-Youmans-evfnsc