From stand-in to Skirmish, Butter slides into Fortnite lore
LOS ANGELES -- Backstage in an anonymous hangar hidden on the outskirts of downtown during the second day of the Fortnite Secret Skirmish, caster Benjamin "Dr Lupo" Lupo watched the unfolding solos action on a nearby monitor. After a few moments, the broadcast shifted perspective to an unfamiliar face rotating north of Dusty Divot. Lupo pointed at the screen.
"That's my guy," Lupo told the surrounding crew. "I want that kid to win so bad."
The kid in question was Robert "Butter" Van Lingen, a 20-year-old from Torrance, California, who wasn't supposed to be there. Epic's latest LAN tournament was an invite-only event exclusive to players who had secured top-20 finishes in their past tournaments. Butter had never even qualified for such a contest. He'd only started playing Fortnite a few months ago at his brother's insistence. Yet somehow, Butter found himself sharing a stage with many of the game's brightest stars.
The Secret Skirmish 100-man lineup was a who's who of competitive Fortnite luminaries. Austin "Morgausse" Etue, the $250,000 winner of PAX West, was there. So was TwitchCon victors Dennis "Cloak" Lepore and Turner "Tfue" Tenney, the latter of whom rolled up to the venue in a bright yellow Lamborghini. Standouts like Thomas "72hrs" Mulligan, Nick "Nickmercs" Kolcheff and his Tilted Towers rival Aydan "Aydan" Conrad also held court.
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To produce an event the size of Secret Skirmish, Epic Games contacted local players to test the equipment. Butter made the list, and for four days of full rehearsals, he pretended to be a professional player. The catered meals, comped hotel rooms and complimentary V-Bucks from Epic helped sell the illusion, but veterans like Lupo weren't fooled. Butter was the real deal, winning match after match with double-digit eliminations.
"He was just killing it," Lupo said. "The speed at which he was doing some of the stuff, he was on par with the rest of these pro players. It was very easy, even to the point where he was faking falling asleep in the middle of some of the matches. It makes me very happy seeing him have a chance at competing with everybody else."
The carriage turned back into a pumpkin at the conclusion of Wednesday's rehearsal, or so Butter thought. Behind the scenes, production had hit a snag: invited pro Myles "Gorilla" Cayenne suddenly dropped out due to a family emergency. As the braintrust discussed filling Gorilla's spot, they remembered the phenom who slayed out during the practice games.
"Honestly, this is the stuff we joke about all the time," said Jeremy Hoffman, Epic's director of video production. "We're going to have bigger events going forward, what happens when a player doesn't make it? I'm like, I don't know, everyone at the event is a player, right? People look at me like I'm crazy, but why not? Just grab one of them from the audience. You never know who you're going to find."
Exhausted from days of testing, Butter initially missed Epic's email asking for his phone number.
"I didn't read it until the middle of the night, so they couldn't call me back yet," Butter remembered. "I kinda knew it would be an invite, so I kinda just didn't sleep all night. And they did call me at 11 a.m. asking if I would like to play in the Secret Skirmish, and I was like, 'Of course I want to play!'"
Butter was paired with Aydan for the duos portion, and the two controller players forged a bond over a shared love of dropping into Tilted Towers. But for Aydan, the similarities were more than superficial. When he looked at Butter, he saw himself five months ago.
"When I went to PAX [West], nobody knew me," Aydan said. "It was intimidating seeing all the pro players, all their jerseys on; like damn, I want to be like that. For [Butter], I just wanted to make it the best event possible. I wanted to give him the same opportunity to blow up like I did. He's such a nice guy, and he did very well."
Aydan and Butter were put to the test early in Game 1 when they engaged Robert "Slobings" Morales and Damien "Dafps" Adams at Tilted Towers. While Aydan started the fight with a knock on Dafps, Butter finished it, breaking through the wooden structure and eliminating Slobings with a blue submachine gun to revive Aydan. Their victory was short-lived; Aydan's old foe Nickmercs and Bryan "Harmful" Barba eliminated them underneath the basketball court. Butter and Aydan continued to struggle through their remaining matches, ending the day scoreless in 49th place.
"It was a little hard at first, trying to keep up with the pace," Butter said of playing with professionals. "Everything about them was way better than I've played against. All their building, their edits, their accuracy, it was all on point. You couldn't be messing around with them. I was playing a little bit more passive because I knew how good everyone was, and I was taking my time a little bit too much."
By Friday's solo matches, Butter's story had spread throughout the event crew. Game Director Phil Englert and his team of observers determined which players appeared on stream, switching back and forth between wide shots and player perspectives to showcase relevant action. They paid close attention to Butter's progress amid dozens of screens, eager to highlight his play on broadcast whenever the kid showed signs of life.
Midway through Game 2, the call went out: Butter just got his second kill. Butter almost has a point.
"Copy that. And, ready a two-box with 28," Englert said, ordering a camera transition into Butter's perspective. "You're still hot 12, keep it smooth. Nice ... ready to take right full. And, take right full."
Dressed in a pink Rabbit Raider Skin, Butter weaved through his makeshift brick tower, searching for an exposed enemy northeast of Snobby Shores. He found one peeking within range, but missed with the purple heavy sniper by inches.
"Awww, damn it Butter! Hit your shots," an observer cried out, disappointed.
Minutes later, Butter secured a point with his third elimination, a textbook wall break with the heavy sniper followed by a spray of shots from his legendary heavy assault rifle. The observer pit exploded with cheers and applause, the camera staying with Butter until he was dropped by Anthony "ZexRow" Colandro in Seventh Circle while negotiating a maze of metal. Butter finished in 16th place; the cutoff for placement points was 10th.
"What's really special about Fortnite is the idea that anyone can do it," Englert said. "You can go compete, you can make yourself a pro, all you've gotta do is work hard and love the game. If you put those things in, there's no reason that, wherever you are in the world, you have a shot.
"I was at PAX [West] when Morgausse came out of nowhere. That made his career. I'll never forget watching that moment where he saw that he won, the shock on his face. It brings me to tears just talking about it. It was such a powerful, real moment that we were a part of where it just changed this kid's life forever. And I think it's really cool to be a part of that."
Butter didn't have Morgausse's magical PAX West run at Secret Skirmish. He never secured another point after his Game 2 success, ending Friday's set in 46th, but a single point was better than the bagels posted by over a third of the lobby. Yet his journey remains a prime example of the kind of accessibility Epic hopes to provide with competitive Fortnite, offering life-changing money to players who never dared dream of it before. This time it was Butter; next time, it could be you.
For now, Butter is measured when discussing his future plans. He'll return to Torrance, take a few online classes, and figure out what shape his life will take. Whatever he decides, there's always Fortnite to grind or unwind with, and a competitive scene where he no longer has to pretend to be a professional-grade player.
"Maybe a couple of people will know me and I'll go on stream a little bit," Butter said. "Maybe I can get 10 viewers. It'll be lit."
02
Second suspect in drive-by shooting identified by nickname 'Butter'
Here are some of the top stories we're following for today. 2/21/19 Damian Giletto, The News Journal
The second suspect in a Middletown attempted murder drove the car that set up the line of sight for the shooter, according to court documents, and it took months to identify him because the victims knew the gunman by name but only his accomplice's nickname.
That nickname is Butter, according to court documents.
Marquis James was charged attempted first-degree murder, four counts of first-degree reckless endangering, four counts of aggravated menacing, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and first-degree conspiracy. (Photo11: Middletown police)
Marquis James was charged with attempted murder on Feb. 14 over accusations he was involved in the shooting of an occupied car on East Main Street in July. The man accused of pulling the trigger, Ramaj Thompson, was arrested days after the incident.
Middletown police said Thompson fired at a car with four people inside, one of them 6 years old, and some victims knew him by name. Court documents said James drove the car that put Thompson in position to fire at them, but victims only knew him as "Butter."
None of the people in the car were hurt, but the back window was shot out and investigators found bullet damage in other parts of the car, the court documents said.
The documents said Middletown police learned James used the nickname "Butter" through an unrelated investigation. They then learned Newark police had arrested James on Jan. 23 and that James had self-identified as Butter during questioning.
Ramaj Thompson is wanted by Middletown Police for first-degree attempted murder; four counts of reckless endangering; nine counts of possession of a firearm while committing a felony; four counts of aggravated menacing; and first-degree conspiracy. (Photo11: Middletown Police)
A woman in the car with him when he was arrested also said he's known as Butter, according to court documents. She did not know his given name, the documents said.
Newark police said he was picked up in a traffic stop and was wanted in Pennsylvania.
Middletown police put a photo lineup in front of one of the victims from July and that person was "100 percent certain" James is Butter, according to the court documents.
James was charged with attempted first-degree murder, four counts of first-degree reckless endangering, four counts of aggravated menacing, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and first-degree conspiracy. His secured bail was set at $277,000. He was taken to Howard Young Correctional Facility in lieu of posting bail.
Contact Adam Duvernay at (302) 319-1855 or aduvernay@delawareonline.com.
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03
The rest of the world hates that Americans eat their popcorn with butter
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Feb. 22, 2019, 7:45 PM GMT / Source: TODAY
By Erica Chayes Wida
Who wouldn't want to tuck into a big bowl of hot, salty, buttery popcorn? Apparently everyone ... besides Americans.
In the U.S., butter is to popcorn as cream is to coffee. But to many around the globe, adding melted butter to popcorn is as unorthodox as someone eating mayonnaise straight from the jar — which is a pretty unanimous no-no.
"I think it’s just one of those things that never caught on here," Laura Tunnicliff, who hails from the U.K., told TODAY Food. "You maybe see it in the supermarket if you go into the American section, like the microwave popcorn bags you get but you never really see it in cinemas or anywhere like that."
We wonder what else is in the American section of a British grocery store? Perhaps endless stacks of Oreo's The Most Stuf cookies or Sour Patch Kids cereal?
It appears that Tunnclif certainly isn't alone. Earlier this month, BuzzFeed posted an article titled "24 Foods The World Is Disgusted That Americans Actually Eat." Among pineapple-topped pizza (which has proven controversial even amongst Americans), ranch dressing and raw cookie dough, was buttered popcorn.
Cue the collective internet freakout! Dozens of people weighed in, with many expressing disgust at the thought of buttered popcorn.
Tunnicliff continued, "I just imagine it either makes the popcorn soggy, or it has that weird greasy taste that butter has. It’s a strange concept, I don’t really get why you’d do it to your popcorn, you’re just ruining it ... America can keep buttery popcorn."
Apparently, everyone but Americans hate butter on popcorn.Getty Images
Alex Nimier, CEO of the Los Angeles-based Flight of Voices, was born in the U.K. but his parents are from Jordan and Australia. He, too, couldn't wrap his head around buttering up popcorn.
"Putting butter on is indulgent for no reason," Nimier told TODAY. "It makes a popcorn swamp. We like the balance of sweet and salty in layers, so when you get bored of one, you discover the next layer and so on until the journey concludes."
Throughout Europe, it appears that the anti-buttered popcorn sentiment is pretty strong, whether it came to using melted, traditional butter or movie-theater butter (which, of course, is butter-flavored oil).
"As I’m Italian, I like to think that less is more — stick to the true flavor of the ingredients. I think we enjoy popcorn just with a bit of salt on it. Adding butter, surely makes popcorn more tasty, however, it is also something that we [Italians] would consider very 'American,'" Alessandro Stella, who was born in northern Italy, told TODAY Food.
Since the BuzzFeed article was published, more and more people have weighed in on the butter debate.
One tweeter, whose account says they're based Liverpool, England, thinks the habit of drizzling melted butter on popcorn kernels is "vile."
Another person said that the habit is so bad Americans might as well cut their popcorn with a knife and fork.
Let's leave pizza out of this for now and stick to one controversial food argument at a time.
Erica Chayes Wida
Erica Chayes Wida is a New York City-area based journalist and food writer obsessed with culture, poetry and travel. Follow her work on Contently.
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