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theboombutton · 3 months

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Bad Fictional Data vs Fictional Bad Data

WARNING: This post will include discussion of a name that might be Alice Dyer's deadname. I won't be calling Alice by this name or using it in the context of that name being a pointer to Alice, but I will be using the name, uncensored, when talking about where and why the name appeared in chdb.xls .

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You may know that as part of the ARG, the sleuths on Statement Remains uncovered a document called chdb.xls, allegedly a list that has something to do with The Magnus Institute. There's a list of names, ID numbers, first and last names, dates of birth, and information apparently related to each person's "score" in an assortment of psychological/personality tests. Three of the names in particular have stood out in a lot of analyses: Samama Khalid, Gerard Kaey [sic], and Connor Dyer.

You likely don't know that the commonly linked version of the spreadsheet, ported to Google Docs and linked in the TMAGP ARG Masterdoc, is presented out of order. (I'm guessing they didn't lock down editing until it was already all out of order from various people messing with it - totally understandable, this is not a callout post, thank you for making this easily accessible to people.)

But let me tell you about something I discovered by looking at the spreadsheet in its original order, and the almost certainly incorrect rabbit hole of theorizing it has sent me down.

Bad Fictional Data

Until episode 2 I had the same thought about the Dyer listed in the spreadsheet that I think most people did: that it was Alice's deadname, and that she had therefore been one of the Institute's young subjects. But after Alice had absolutely no reaction when Sam mentioned the Magnus Institute to her in episode 2, I now think this is significantly less likely.

Don't get me wrong: it's still reasonable to think that the Dyer listed in chdb.xls is Alice. Maybe she had some kind of supernatural experience that wiped her memory. (It probably wasn't that Alice was too young to remember, as the Dyer on the spreadsheet is listed as being at Piaget Stage 3, which occurs from 7-11 years old; but it's always possible that the Magnus Institute was using the names of legitimate psychological tests to hide their tracks when recording more esoteric data.) The point is, this isn't hard evidence that Alice has no connection to the Magnus Institute; it just made me go looking for more evidence.

I went back to the spreadsheet to look for more clues about whether or not this was Alice's deadname. What I found instead was some extremely sloppy fake data at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

For context, here are first ten names in the spreadsheet:

Note how each ID begins with the name's first and last initial.

Now check out the last ten names:

Not only do these IDs no longer always match their subjects' names, they occur in order: CD, EF, GH, IJ, KL, MN, OP, QR, ST, UV. The first names of each pair match the first letter of each ID, but many, though not all, of the surnames don't match the second letter.

My first thought was that whoever Rusty Quill had contracted to generate these names had gotten sloppy at the end of the list, created the IDs all at once using this alphabetical pattern, and picked names to fill in that roughly matched the IDs. But hey, we could use this to our advantage! Any name that was filled in as part of a series of IDs with an alphabetical pattern like this could be removed from consideration for red string analysis - we'd know they were meaningless fakes added by a lazy contractor, and not clues or characters that might show up again later.

Scrolling back up the spreadsheet, we can see the person generating the data having more care the earlier we go. We find the beginning of the AA/BC/DE/FG/HI pattern at line 136, but at first, the names mostly conform to the initials they've been given. JK09874 "Josie Jordan" at line 154 is the first break from the "first two letters of the ID are their initials" pattern; and breaks occur more often the further you go down the sheet.

Scrolling up to before line 136 (AA09911 - Aaron Atkinson), while the pattern isn't yet at AB/CD/EF/GH levels of obviousness, the first initials are still in alphabetical order. Zoe Hart follows Yara Logan follows Xavier Freeman follows Wyatt Edwards. The data creator skips a few letters - for example Niamh Fenton is followed by Phoebe Emmett, and S and T are together in the same line in Skye Travers.

We can follow this less-obvious version of the alphabetical pattern up to an abrupt break right at line 118, above which the IDs don't follow an alphabetical pattern at all. (They might follow a different pattern, but it's not one that I've found yet.) So that means we can discount all the names in line 118 and below as purely fake, generated lazily by a contractor, and not worthy of our attention for the purposes of red-stringing. Right?

What the fuck?!

(highlight is my own, it is not present in the original document)

My first thought was that the sloppy data generator had done the funniest thing imaginable, sending everyone on a wild goose chase about Alice's deadname just by having the name "Dyer" on the brain while looking for a surname that started with D. This would be Very Funny. No plot relevance, no implications, just the brain fart that launched a thousand theories.

My second thought was that maybe Connor Dyer was the last legit name on the list, and whoever started filling the rest of the sheet in with alphabetical junk data was inspired by the "CD" initials in the first place - whoever it was went on from there.

These are both valid thoughts! But I prefer my third thought:

What if it's on purpose?

Fictional Bad Data

There is a very obvious break between the set of data that doesn't look obviously* fake, and the set of data that is immediately identifiable as such. If we assume that this was intentional - and I want to reiterate that it all being unintentional is still a very real possibility here - why would someone at Rusty Quill want the data to be structured like this?

If the sharp dividing line between reasonable-seeming data and obviously fake data is intentional on RQ's part, it would suggest that we should take the data above row 118 as in-universe real data, and the data below row 118 as in-universe falsified data. It suggests that someone, either at the Institute or after its demise, was adding nonexistent children to the roster of The Magnus Institute. Why would someone want to do that?

There are all kinds of possible reasons, but here are a few off the top of my and my theorizing buddies' heads:

Financial fraud (institutional edition). If the Magnus Institute received funding on a per-child basis, they'd have an incentive to inflate their numbers.

Financial fraud (researcher edition). One or more people on staff were blowing off their child-analysis sessions and recording fake numbers for fake children. This would be ballsy as hell if they could be fired for it, but it was the Magnus Institute, so there's decent odds they couldn't be.

Scientific fraud (faking conclusions edition). The Magnus Institute in the Protocolverse claimed to be doing research on giftedness in children, which is the kind of thing that you'd normally publish in a scientific journal. It's not unheard-of for dickhead academics to falsify data to generate statistically significant results, since statistically insignificant results aren't going to get you published.

Scientific fraud (obscuring paranormal bullshit edition). If the Magnus Institute was using legitimate psychological test names to record Fear-related test results, it's possible their results showed different patterns from what you would expect from the real tests. They could have added the fake children to balance out the dataset as a whole.

Pseudonyms. The children are all real, the Institute just started using fake names for them for privacy purposes. They couldn't go back and change the names they'd already written properly for some reason. Probably something paranormal.

Those are all pretty interesting possibilities, and if we could narrow them down, it might tell us something about what things were like at the Magnus Institute before it burned down!

And the other big question is: why did RQ make the dividing line between the two sections, the first likely-fake entry, Connor Dyer?

One straightforward reason could be as a troll, a red herring to watch fans get in a lather over. And once the community inevitably noticed all the obviously falsified entries, RQ could eat popcorn and watch us lose our minds over whether or not that's even a real entry! (That sounds really fun, I would absolutely do that.)

But let's dig a little deeper, and look at what Connor Dyer being on the border between the real and fake entries would mean in-universe. Because of its position as the border between real and fake, it would be very easy for that entry to be accidentally included in the wrong group - a real research subject discarded as fake, or perhaps more interestingly, a fake research subject accidentally reclassified as real.

Remember, if a name is fake in the context of the Magnus Institute's research, that doesn't mean that the name itself is made up. If I was trying to think of a name that fit the initials CD, and those were the initials of my next door neighbor's kid, I might just write their name in as a lark. Especially if it was my first time trying to get away with falsifying information: this is a kid that verifiably exists and lives in the area.

My theory, supported primarily by my love for The Implications instead of actual evidence

Twenty years on, after all institutional memory of the fraud was long gone, trans icon Alice Dyer applies to work for the OIAR - an institution that (according to this theory) has an unofficial preference for hiring former Magnus Institute kids.

They are very confused when Alice proceeds to act nothing like a former Magnus Institute kid. It doesn't occur to anyone that her entry might have been falsified. What reason would anyone have to do that?

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* Of course people with a background in data analysis or statistics will see immediately that even above line 118 this is a wild-ass dataset that would raise red flags for falsification, but at least it's not "the alphabet over and over" levels of obvious.

#tmagp theory #alice dyer #tmagp arg #chdb.xls #tmagp speculation #tmagp #the magnus protocol #cw deadnaming

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fandom-march-madness · 29 days

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Alice Dyer fanart source: https://www.tumblr.com/bernard-the-rabbit/740138040406753280/oh-aliceyou-would-have-loved-tim-pls-dont-end?source=share

#your favorite character #fandom march madness #xenk #dungeons & dragons: honour among thieves #alice dyer #the magnus protocol #the magnus archives #2024: fmm round 01 #2024: fmm round 01 polls #polls

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aemiron-main · 1 year

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alice creel isn’t karen wheeler- but she might be somebody else: an analysis of alice creel and connie frazier and jefferson airplane’s white rabbit

So, I think there’s a solid chance that “Connie Frazier,” might be Alice Creel.

Alice was 15 in 1959, and therefore was born in 1944, which would make her 39 in 1983.

Connie’s age isn’t confirmed anywhere, unfortunately, but the actress who plays her, Catherine Dyer, was 58 as of 2016, when S1 was filmed. Admittedly, this is a fairly large gap between what Alice’s age should be vs what Catherine Dyer’s age is, however, Mike Wheeler is also supposed to be fourteen, so I think that the ages of the actors vs the characters in ST has a bit of wiggle room.

I’m not just basing this off of looks, though- the name “Alice,” literally plays in a scene where Connie’s face is on screen/it’s focused on Connie.

The lyric “go ask Alice,” plays during this scene, and even cuts to Connie RIGHT as the name “Alice,” is sung, having focused on Benny for the “go ask,” part of the line.

And prior to this scene at the door, we also have the “call Alice,” lyric that plays, which, right as it plays Benny says “Whoever it is, I’ll tell them to go away real quick.” The fact that the name “Alice,” plays right after Benny talks about going to see who is at the door is suspicious, almost like it’s Alice at the door.

As well, the full line for the “call alice,” part goes “call alice- when she was just small.” And Alice Creel was small/15 years old the first/last time we saw her (1959) but now is not small anymore/is grown up.

That’s two instances of Connie being referred to while the name “Alice,” plays in the show. The first time, it literally cuts to Connie’s face as the name “Alice,” is sung, and the second time, Benny talks about seeing who is at the door (Connie) while we hear Connie knocking and the name “Alice,” is sung once again.

It’s also interesting that Benny literally called Connie/called social services and Connie/the lab seem to have been listening in on the call and interfered. And if Connie is Alice, then Benny literally called Alice.

Also, it almost seems like Connie’s has her mind wiped- she’s extremely focused on her mission, seems to have little personality or interests outside of it, and kills Benny in cold blood with basically zero hesitation.

And look at how Connie lays on the ground, bleeding from her eyes, compared to how Alice laid on the ground, supposedly bleeding from her eyes.

It’s also interesting to me that they chose to revisit Connie’s death in S4, the same season where we’re introduced to Alice Creel for the first time. Sullivan hands Owens a picture of Connie’s death when talking about El- almost like ST production is giving us a subtle reminder of what Connie’s death looked like and how eerily similar it was to Alice’s “death.”

I’m not 100% sure if Connie is Alice yet, but the parallels are definitely interesting, and if Brenner picked up Henry from the Creel house that night (which he did), then I don’t think it’s a stretch for him to have grabbed Alice too. What if Henry is part of what happens when MKultra brainwashing fails, but Connie/Alice is what happens when it succeeds? Not the powers part of it persay but simply the *brainwashing* part and destruction and rebuilding of the mind that was involved in the real mkultra. (The two main steps for mind control were thought to be to wipe then mind snd then rebuild it, which likely would’ve been what happened to Alice). And even though Alice seems dead at the Creel house, there’s so much weirdness with all of those scenes and the position of her body changes throughout various retellings and she seems like her eyes may not even be bleeding in some of them- she may also have regenerative healing like Henry (and likely like Virginia) which would explain her survival.

And then we also get this scene- look at the curtains. We have the orange curtain behind Connie and the orange curtain behind Virginia, and we have both Connie and Virginia wearing orange plaid and they both have similar hairstyles, and the blanket behind Connie is the same sort of orange and white colours as Virginia’s shirt and the framing with the OTS shot of Victor in Virginia’s screenshot vs the OTS shot of Scott in Connie’s screenshot- if Connie is Alice, then it would make sense to parallel grown-up Alice to her mother (Virginia).

It’s also interesting to me that they chose scott for this scene- scott, who would’ve been at school at the same time as Henry and likely would’ve met Alice at some point, but wouldn’t recognize her anymore, especially because she’s supposed to be dead.

#stranger things #alice creel #creel family #st hawkins lab #st analysis #alice creel analysis #the creelers #alice creeler #mother alice

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copperbadge · 1 year

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I went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole with that article you linked on Mary Dyer ... and discovered in the process that I'm directly descended from Anne Hutchinson, who is considered one of America's first feminists and one of the founders of Rhode Island!

Oh, that's fun! What a neat thing to learn.

It's been a real Family Tree February, which feels like perhaps it has staved off the essential horror that is February most years. Perhaps every year as an apotropaic act I should simply spend February researching the lives of my ancestors and being grateful for indoor plumbing and that I will never have to kill a whale.

#famtucket

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mollspeak · 2 months

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the way some magnus archives names (eyelias alias bouchard for instance) had so much meaning hidden in them makes me think that alice dyer has to be named after another famous fictional alice who fell down a rabbit hole and into a fantasy yet horrific land where the rules of nature didn't apply.

#alice dyer #magnus protocol

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aubreysnailbat · 2 months

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i finished episode 8.......[covered in blood]

LOVELY CASEMENT. i want to eat it. i'd love to go to that freaky ass restaurant

i am so worried about gwendolyn bouchard's new promotion

i am currently one one knee holding a ringpop, platonically proposing to alice dyer

thank god colin's on mental health leave. he needs it!

GERRY?????? THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE???????????? HUH?????????

I ADORE CELIA AS ALWAYS!!!!! why is she looking into alternate dimension stuff <33 she is NOT beating thr celia from tma allegations and i love her for it

GEORGIE FUCJING BARKER????? MISS WHAT THE GHOST????? THE ADMIRAL'S MOTHER???????

sam🤝celia (helping eachother dig themselves into rabbit holes they should stay away from)

SAM AND CELIA!!!!!!! ohhhhh i am grasping at STRANDS for this fucking ship. THEY LEFT WORK TOGETHER!!!!!!! ALICE MADE A JOKE ABOUT THEM!!!!!!! THEY'RE INVESTIGATING MYSTERIES TOGETHER!!!!!! SAM LOOKED INTO HER PODCAST!!!!!!!!! THEY INTERACTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <33333333333

in conclusion: I AM SO UNWELL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE EUTHANIZE ME I BEG PLEASE PLEASEEEEEEEE

#tmagp

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outofangband · 11 months

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from @welcomingdisaster's amazing list of world building prompts here

My world building Masterlist

“Weaving or fiber crafts”

(I got the prompts people sent for the list, I’m getting to those too! I’m also still accepting them!)

I hope this is an ok use of the prompt, it’s not a fic, just some general headcanons/world building

Cloth production in Ladros (with some discussion of how it changed post Bragollach)

The Bëorians keep goats, sheep, alpacas and rabbits for wool and it is from these that a majority of their clothing production comes from. The landscape and environment of Dorthonion made fiber crop production on a large scale difficult.

Mostly through trade, flax based fabrics are also sometimes available, usually used for lighter clothing which can be more difficult to make with woolen materials

Ceremonial and noble cloaks are sometimes made partly with linens and then painted with sigils or designs.

Leather is also used from goat and alpaca. This is especially used in shoes, bags and satchels, and belts.

Nearly everyone partakes in some aspects of clothing production, regardless of gender or status though there are certainly parts that tend to be more gendered.

Children are often tasked with aiding in sheering and preparing wool before its washed and spun into yarn. Yarn is then dyed and woven or knitted into clothes and blankets and other materials

People who can create lighter weight materials or smoother textures are especially valued as are those who can incorporate designs and patterns into their ware.

Most people wear stockings throughout the year except for the summer. Children tend to wear dress like frocks until the age of twelve to fourteen.

Men and women tend to wear tunics/ blouses and breeches or skirts with dresses worn for some formal events.

Different styles and patterns of embroidery are used for different parts of clothing. There are special patterns that are used for children’s clothing. This tradition is one of the few Bëorian fiber arts that survived the Bragollach

Shoes are often made from leather with lining of down or wool. The nicer ones tend to have elaborate embroidery patterns.

Color is very important in ceremonial clothing and dyeing is a significant trade among the Bëorians

Red madder root, woad, dyer’s croton, common marigold, dayflower, yellow chamomile and black mulberry are among some plants valued for dyes. Earthen and stone pigments are also used.

Red madder dyes are of particular significance to the Bëorians. The deep red color is used to dye sashes and headwear that is traditionally worn during formal occasions.

As the climate of Hithlum is different from Ladros, red madder could no longer be used after the Bragollach among Bëorian refugees. The deep red it yields is also considerably less common among Hadorian clothing and customs.

Many Bëorians in Hithlum had to relearn trades they had been doing their entire lives because of the differences in materials, processes and customs. As most had come with nothing, their clothing and possessions having been destroyed during the sudden flame, this was extremely disheartening and yet another aspect of the devastating losses of culture and customs

(I'll go more into patterns when I do my sigils and symbols post for the humans!)

#the silmarillion #the children of húrin #Ladros #Dorthonion #beleriand #musing and meta

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dangerliesbeforeyou · 1 year

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tagged by @howdydowdy <3 thankss!! i also don't watch a tonne of shows but i do watch a lot of films so i'm gonna do a combo of the two lol

8 shows/films to get to know me

borstal boy (2000(?) film) - watching this as a teen Changed me tbh... it also definitely gave me one of my first glimpses of a bisexual character on screen... also danny dyer plays a gay sailor in this i mean??? what more could you want lol (also feel like this film is equal parts depressing and hopeful which is my ideal kinda film lol)

the simpsons - i watched this religiously as a kid (every night at 6pm on channel 4 lol) so much so that my family makes jokes that everything i know i know from the simpsons lol...

would i lie to you? (uk panel show) - i feel like this show really explains a lot of my style of humour (i've literally nearly pissed myself whilst watching this show at times lol), plus i've had a crush on david mitchell for years which like no that isn't relevant to this list but i'm including it anyway... one of my fav clips is 'lee mack's keys' (give it a search on youtube it's hilar lol)

watership down (1970s animated film, i also love the book too btw) - the animation style of the very first part of this film has literally never left me, it's like ingrained onto my brain as the most incredible thing ever! the rest of the film is also amazing, albeit brutal at times which definitely fucked me up as a kid... esp that evil rabbit (wormwort?), pretty sure i was terrified of him lol

hook (1990s film (yes i know i could look up the exact date but i'm not gonna cos i'm lazy)) - this is one of the films that i know so many quotes from & me and my family use them to each other all the time lol (you're doing it peter! RUFIO RUFIO RU FI OHHHHH you're. afraid. you're. going. to. get. sucked. out. stop acting like a child!! i am a child!? RUN HOME JACK RUN HOME JACK wait...HOME RUN JACK HOME RUN JACK don't stop me smee don't stop me stop me smee stop me ... you get the picture lol) robin william's films just have a special place in my heart and this is one of the best imo

gayle (youtube comedy series) - it's embarrassing how much i think about this series & i literally rewatch it at least once every year so... i feel like that says a lot about me... idk WHAT exactly it says but it is.. it's a lot lol

i'm a cyborg but that's ok (2008(??) film) - if you asked me what my favourite park chanwook film is, you'd probs guess i'd pick the handmaiden, but you'd be so so so wrong, because THIS film is an absolute masterpiece that hasn't left me since my sister showed it to me like 10 years ago lol... it's about mental illness and stigma and grief and love and also rain (the singer) yodels in it whilst flying through the air it's great

labyrinth (1986 film (hey i actually remembered the date lol!) - i'm been thinking for ages what final thing to include and realised it had been staring me in the face: labyrinth, literally my favourite film of all time lol! it's equal amounts comedic, creepy, emotional, plus david bowie is there in ALL his glory (some may say too much glory but i'd tell them to shut their goddamn mouths lol)! the songs are amazing, the ballroom scene literally shaped who i am now.. it's a film about adolescence, siblings, it's about friendship and found family, it's about growing up but also keeping your childhood close at heart, should you need it... it's also about david bowie's bul- *gunshot*

that's all folks! i did try and not just include stuff that i'm nostalgic about, but unfortunately nostalgia is my middle name so most of these are things i've connected to for a very long time...

tagging (no pressure to actually do it ofc, the original prompt is 8 shows i think but you can essentially change it to 8 anything in my book lol): @dollopheadsandclotpoles @wovesaxe @micamicster @platypusplayhere @sylvasa @asoftspotforangels @zelvuska

#i actually tagged people omg?!#i havent read this through so this may be insane ramblings....#tbf even if i did read it through it would still be that so...#personal #tag game #i feel like these are definitely representative of me lol...#random comedies/heartfelt dramas about friendship and family and love/specifically british stuff/nostalgia/etc

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themaresnest-dumblr · 1 year

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Stranger Things Thoughts

The other half won’t approve, but as your humble narrator has access to binge watching the entirity of ‘Stranger Things’ from start to finish, decided to see what the fuss was all about.

First impressions?

It’s kind of a crossover between the video game Half Life and Goosebumps, and get the suspicion it was aimed at the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Stephen King fans type target market.

It’s definitely a ‘binge watch’ series - just don’t see how it would have survived as a traditional one hour and one episode a week to hold people’s attention span, as some of the cliffhangers are weaker than train station cafe tea.

Will is really Fiver from the film version of Watership Down. Or Harry Potter’s scar. Just the scar.

Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp were definitely recruited for reasons other than their acting abilities (ie. appealing to Jimmie Savile/Mrs Robinson types), because both are incredibly piss poor. It becomes quiet frightening as the show progresses how often Caleb McLaughlin’s over-the-top angry guy stuff appears to be to overcompensate for both being so insipid. Finn Wolfhard in particular seems to have the acting abilities of a blobfish.

By contrast, Gaten Matarazzo may have a face only a mother could love, but he carries a frighteningly large number of scenes without anyone really noticing it. He’s the Cartman of the gang, but all in a good way. Aside from being the originator of some of their most ‘cunning plans’, he’s the only one who appears to have learned good real life lessons from playing D&D: that is, to succeed against adversity, you need to stick together as a team, each playing to their strengths to compensate for other’s weaknesses.

Millie Bobbie Brown’s acting chops are formidable, but her constant use as a Deus Ex Machina becomes a little wearing after a while. On the other hand, her transformation into David Vanian of the Damned in Season 2 was hilarious.

Natalia Dyer’s jawbone is made from tungsten. There can be no other explanation.

Charlie Heaton is the reincarnation of Déagol from The Lord Of The Rings movies.

That Billy character had the worst case of being closet gay and aggressively in denial about it since Vaas Montenegro in Far Cry 3.

When Will suddened declares that the Big Bad is back in Season 3, right after his fall out with his buds not wanting to be stuck in his D&D timewarp, isn’t it jarring that no one questions it? After all, mega-convenient way of getting the gang back together on his terms, yes?

David Harbour’s Angry Dad routine gets wearing REALLY quickly in season 3.

Why does Winona Ryder’s character give the constant appearence of being a recovering alcoholic?

Steve Harrington’s reaction to Robin admitting she was a lesbian (while turning him down) is ludicrously out of context with what would actually have happened to any woman admitting as much in the 1980s, especially slap bang in the very year the AIDS panic took off in the U.S. (largely after haemophiliac teen Ryan White contracted it via a dodgy blood transfusion, bringing out into the open American’s utterly f**ked up pay-for-blood donation system into question).

Why are none of the kids playing computer games? At all?

The music is meant to be 80s, but they have some real issues with it as much as the supposed 80s clothes and haircuts.

(Here comes the Madame Lee bit, concentrate!)

Season One - It’s Meant To Be 1983, but ....

Jefferson Airplane - 'She Has Funny Cars' and 'White Rabbit'

By the 1980s, Jefferson Airplane were Jefferson Starship, and the drugged out hippies like so many psychedelics and prog rockers had gone down the AOR/Cock Rock route.

By the timeline of 'Stranger Things' the band was falling apart as their brief period of late 70s success burned out - ironically they were to score their biggest hits as plain old post-court case Starship were forced to go even more commercial, with global No.1's with 1985's 'We Build This City (On Rock 'n' Roll)' and 1987's 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' (the latter the theme song to the hit movie 'Mannaquin') - after which they all but vanished. Jefferson Airplane's back catalogue meanwhile was virtually unsellable at this time.

The inclusion of 'White Rabbit' may have been a scriptwriter's brick joke - as during Eleven's brief runaway in season two, she changes her look to one resembling to a remarkable degree David Vanian of the Damned during the period when, in sheer desperation for a hit outside of the UK, the band did a cover of Jefferson Airplane's most famous track (it flopped, as all covers of this song tend to do).

Toto - Africa

The song which has become an internet meme was released in 1984 ... a year after the events of season one.

The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

The other 'theme song' for Season One, played umpteen times during the series. A hit in the summer of 1982, rush released in panic by CBS after the original taster single flopped.

Contrary to historical revision, The Clash were never a major band in the punk era and largely enjoyed only a few minor hits: the major exception was this Mick Jones written track and drummer Topper Headon's 'Rock The Casbah', both for 1982's 'Combat Rock' - when the band had been told by CBS to write a commercially sellable album or have their contract terminated (contrary to the name, it sounds more like a funk record

But by 1983, The Clash were effectively no more: band 'leader' Joe Strummer's ego couldn't handle 'his bass player' and 'his drummer' getting the band's first two truly global selling singles (the two Strummer singles from the album, 'Straight To Hell' and 'Know Your Rights' flopped), and sacked Jones in a fit of pique, after which Headon resigned.

Brotherhood Of Man - Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree

This one is positively embarrassing. Brotherhood Of Man never recorded this song until 2002.

To be fair, a lot of people do get this Brit band (punk's most famous victims: a former Eurovision song contest winner dropped by their record company abruptly after scoring their final No.1 'Figaro' because they were 'old hat') mixed up with Tony Orlando's Dawn, who did the original global hit.

The Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter

The Bangles may have covered it in concert, but it was never released on record until 1987.

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

From 1981, two years earlier.

Peter Gabriel - Heroes

Oh FFS! Gabriel's murdering of the late David Bowie classic only happened in 2010 for his cover versions album 'Scratch My Back' aka 'Utterly Out Of Ideas'.

Joy Division - Atmosphere

Four years too late, or five years too early, depending on your point of view.

By the timeline of this, nazi bigot Ian Curtis had done the world a favour and hanged himself four years prior (this song was released as a post-suicide cash in, but flopped), and Joy Division had changed name to New Order precisely to cleanse its association with him (ironically they had a mammoth global hit with 'Blue Monday', one of the songs of the 1980s, in 1983, but it never made the show.

A remixed and cleaned up version of 'Atmosphere' was released as a successful standalone single in 1988, as Joy Division's back-catalogue became more critically reappaised with the success of New Order and the moribund far-right no longer being considered a matter of wide scale concern.

Season Two - It's meant to be 1984, but ...

Devo - Whip It

From 1980. Even more ironically, by 1984 the band were virtual pariahs in the United States having 'sold out' their sound for the sake of their New Zealand fanbase (the only place they were ever truly successful). New Zealand wasn't long in following suit ...

Duran Duran - Girls On Film

Arguable. Three years too late - but the song did very heavy rotation in 1983 and 1984 on MTV, bringing them to mass attention, but never became a U.S. hit - it was the follow up, 'Hungry Like The Wolf' which broke the U.S. for them.

The Clash - This Is Radio Clash

Flop single from 1981, except in Sweden where it reached No.9 - a year later.

Shock Therepy - Can Do What I Want

One year too early.

Fad Gadget - Back To Nature

Again, one year too early.

John Carpenter - The Bank Robbery

One of the most infamous show howlers. The song comes from the 1981 movie 'Escape From New York' ... except it never made it to the soundtrack and indeed remained unknown to the general public until making it on a collection of 21st century 'lost' soundtrack tunes.

The best known example of the show's producers self-indulging rather than keeping things on theme.

Season Three - It's meant to be 1985, but ...

Stray Cats - Rock This Town

Not only was it four years too late, but the band had split two years earlier and were by that time in the zeitgeist regarded as something of a joke - an attempted reunion in 1986 ended in near empty halls and humiliation all round, as by this time more visually appealing bands like King Kurt and The Cramps had taken up whatever rockabilly audience remained.

Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight

This walking abortion of a song from a walking abortion of a band encapsulated everything bland and faux about the 1980s, but it wasn't until the summer of 1986 it appeared.

Go-Go's - Get Up And Go

From 1984 - by which time the Go-Go's had messily folded and were already forgotten. By the following year, the success of Belinda Carlisle further hastened their erasure from the zeitgeist, and it’s only in recent years their ‘legacy’ has been reappraised.

Foreigner - Cold As Ice

Those involved in the show seem to have a major hard on for Foreigner, but putting this song, which sound dated enough upon its release in 1977 - never mind 1985 - was beyond belief.

Trevor Jones - The Pod Dance

Taken from 1983's 'The Dark Crystal' soundtrack - just about the only time having a tune vastly out of place song worked, during the painful to watch sequence where Will attempts to get two of his friends to play a session of Dungeons & Dragons, unable to accept that their interests have moved on to girls - Will's timing being especially poor as both are suffering crises in their respective puppy love lives.

Will - already silly looking enough with his pudding bowl haircut - appears utterly ludicrous to the point of disturbing in a purple wizard outfit complete with hat and starry cloak (he looks like the sort of children's entertainer that gets arrested on child molestation charges), trying aggressively to get his friends to care less.

You'd have to go back to the film 'Ghostworld' for a better sequence of watching childhood friends drifting apart, and 'Stranger Things' succeeded in five minutes what it took a whole film to do, and the choice of music was perfect.

By contrast ...

Dame Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again One of the songs of World War Two, especially to armed forces personnel being sent across the world with the very real prospect of never seeing their loved ones again, it's often been used ironically (eg. the multiple nuclear bomb ending of the film 'Dr Strangelove'), it was also the first single to feature a synthesiser (yes, really!)

Its use at the end of the episode where evil Billy has escaped back to the spider monster thing's lair, knowing now Eleven and the rest of the meddling kids are onto them, is jarring.

Possum River - Stand Up and Meet Your Brother

From 1971 - complete self indulgence. Didn't even go with the carnival sequence.

Yello - Goldrush

A full year too early.

Hmmmmm, onward to Season Four, which is all about The Ginger One, well it will need to have a bloody amazing script to pull it off, as she was someone only stomachable in small doses at the best of times ...

#stranger things #finn wolfhard #noah schnapp #gaten matarazzo #caleb mclaughlin #millie bobby brown #natalie dyer #charlie heaton

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bitletsanddrabbles · 2 years

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*comes up from rabbit hole*

*takes a deep breath*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I swear, practically every single website on making all natural wood stain or paint is either “Oh, yeah, you can totally stain with beets and berries no sweat it’s cool!” or “Dude it’s all fugitive and will fade in a day don’t waste your time”.

I have found two - TWO! - that have gone “You can use these, but they fade without a mordant, so you have to use one of those. Mordants are a dying thing we’re not going to go into here.”

...

Thanks, guys.

And then 96% of the dyers are either “Oh, yeah, you can totally dye with beets and berries no sweat it’s cool!” or “Dude it’s all fugitive and will fade in a day don’t waste your time”.

Mordant? What’s a mordant?

If you want to learn about mordants you have to specifically search for them, rather than natural dyes, and most sites are “Mordant is from French, it helps the colour bind to your fabric, here, have a list of the common ones” with little if any information on how to choose a mordant for your particular dye.

You wanna know which mordant will keep your beet dye from fading to white by sun up tomorrow? You have to specifically search of a mordant for beet dye. Or berries. Or whatever. And then sit there and wonder if the person who wrote the article you’re reading is right, or if it’s the person who says these dyes don’t need a mordant, or if it’s the person who says these dyes never work period, and then there’s the question of if it’s even relevant to you because.

You’re.

Making.

Stains.

And.

Paints.

Not.

Dyeing.

Fabric!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*dives back down the rabbit hole*

#research headaches #natural dyes #natural stains #natural paints #natural pigments #chemistry is not a class i took #beets #butterfly pea flower #annatto seeds #can you dye with them?#yes!#can you stain with them?#maybe #will the colour last more than five seconds?#answer uncertain #just venting here #diy #woodworking

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denimbex1986 · 8 months

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'Before he became one of cinema’s most prolific actors, Cillian Murphy was all set for a music career. He even attracted an incredibly tempting recording contract but changed course at the last minute to pursue a career in the movie business instead. Now, he stands as one of the greatest actors of a generation, bringing a mosaic of weird and wonderful characters to life on screen, including Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and the more recent J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer.

As someone who once said, “I’m less interested in the good man’s life, I’m more interested in the conflicted man’s life or the contradictory man’s life”, Murphy’s interest in books comes as no surprise – particularly as many of his favourites tackle subjects like the complexities of human existence. For example, he cites Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara as one he regards highly after being drawn into “the atmosphere and pressure of what it must have been like to be alive in America at that time”.

Similarly, John Healy’s The Grass Arena makes the cut for the power held over Murphy, who decided to read the book after years of recommendations. “It is the story of determination and rebirth,” Murphy says. “The tale of a chess champion who overcomes a savage childhood to live again. A powerful book indeed”.

One of the more heartbreaking works comes with Patrick McGabe’s The Butcher Boy, which details the story of a young boy who descends upon a fantasy world to escape from his troubling home life. For Murphy, the book left a lasting impression on account of its ability to blend a series of dichotomous emotions: “[It’s] dark, fiercely funny, compassionate, and unashamedly Irish. Its depiction of a young boy’s descent into isolation and madness in small-town Ireland has never left me”.

Meanwhile, one of Murphy’s all-time favourite Irish writers is John Banville, who also became known for his humour and sharp, wintery wit. His 2000 novel Eclipse, while being a complete contrast to The Butcher Boy, also etched its world into the mind of Murphy. “In this beautifully mediative tale,” he says, “Alexander Cleave is a celebrated actor who returns to live in his childhood home. The book seemingly has little or no plot, but the sheer towering beauty of its language, atmosphere and insight make it impossible to put down or to forget.”

The late J. P. Donleavy, best known for his novel The Ginger Man, was an Irish writer who wasn’t afraid to completely disrupt the common consensus. So much so that The Ginger Man was actually initially banned in the United Kingdom and Ireland for its obscenity. According to Murphy, this is a book designed to be “savoured over the course of a life”. He also praises its subject matter, stating that its mischief and humour go perfectly with its empathy, particularly in relation to the “outsider struggling to imagine a purpose in this world”.

Cillian Murphy’s 10 favourite books:

The Ginger Man – J. P. Donleavy The Butcher Boy – Patrick McGabe Eclipse – John Banville The Sportswriter – Richard Ford Rabbit Angstrom – John Updike Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi – Geoff Dyer Grief is the Thing with Feathers – Max Porter The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway The Grass Arena – John Healy Appointment in Samarra – John O’Hara'

#J.P. Donleavy #Patrick McCabe #John Banville #Richard Ford #John Updike #Geoff Dyer #Max Porter #Grief Is The Thing With Feathers #Ernest Hemingway #John Healy #John O'Hara #Cillian Murphy #The Dark Knight Trilogy #Oppenheimer #Christopher Nolan

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