#I would have guessed 1997-2001 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

listen-to-the-inner-walrus · 10 months

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can you explain why you dont believe the titanic switch conspiracy theory? didnt they find a propeller with "olympic" written on it amongst the wreckage?

i feel like the phrase "you just activated my trap card" applies here but i have also never watched yu-gi-oh so dont fully know the correct use of that. anyway whats the text limit on a tumblr post because i think i might hit it with this response.

before we begin (if you wanna join me on this fucking journey), ill just drop some useful sources on the topic:

olympic & titanic - an analysis of the robin gardiner conspiracy theory dissertation by mark chirnside in july 2006

titanic or olympic: which ship sank? by steve hall and bruce beveridge

olympic & titanic: the truth behind the conspiracy by steve hall and bruce beveridge

with that shipkeeping housekeeping out of the way, lets jump into it after the cut

so hands up, how many people knew that this theory originated in a book from 1995?

yeah, its a pretty modern theory considering titanic sank in 1912. the theory originated in the riddle of the titanic by robin gardiner and dan van der dat.

and the theory argues that the ships were switched and titanic (actually olympic) was deliberately sank as part of an insurance scam. now they didnt do this at all for shits and giggles. instead, the theory posits that the navy enquiry that followed the 1911 collision between hms hawke and olympic was biased which meant white star line couldnt recover the costs of repair from lloyds (the insurance company), and therefore, they wrote olmpic off as too damaged to be repaired, lied about the amount of damage, switched the ships and sank olympic disguised as titanic to recover some costs.

far-fetched? oh definitely and it gets worse, but ill leave that til later in this gargantuan response because its really fucking funny.

(seriously, i recommend you read til the end or just skip to the part where i start talking about the sinking itself because fam, gardiners theory gets wild )

according to van der dat, who is a dutch journalist and naval history writer with an incredibly dutch name, gardiner had wrote the manuscript after researching the titanic for however many years and sent it to his literary agent. this agent had previously worked with van der dat and so sent it to him to double-check the information by going back to the original sources. he then rewrote the book with line-by-line consultation with gardiner.

and would you like to hear a quote from van der dat regarding the theory? i think you would:

"the publishers were disillusioned when the theory did not stand up"

he also, in correspondence with titanic author and researcher paul lee, called it "bilge" which is a fun ship joke alongside calling the theory bullshit.

anyway, the publishers went ahead with the book anyway because fuck integrity, i guess... thats kinda harsh considering this first book (oh yeah, theres more) was praised for stellar research and for being balanced, and the final chapter of the book literally acknowledges that the wreck has titanics shipyard number (401) on it, hence disproving the theory.

in 1997, it was published in the us under the name the titanic conspiracy - cover-ups and mysteries of the worlds most famous sea disaster, and it sold like sliced bread in 1928 because 1997 was titanic fever, baby!

unsurprisingly, gardiner's following books (titanic: the ship that never sank? in 1998; the history of the white star line in 2001; the great titanic conspiracy in 2010) were a lot less well-received and were not co-authored by van der dat.

"but wait, kai!" you might shout if youre up to date with issues of the times from 1914, "what about raymond asquith's comments? he was junior counsel for the board of trade at the sinking inquiry!"

and i would say, what about it? the letter asquith wrote to the times was a sarcastic letter in response to a prior stance taken by the paper.

yes, he said "the architect, the owner, and the captain to repair their desperate fortunes by sinking the ship and sharing the insurance money" but said letter also included the phrase "manipulating dummy icebergs".

if were taking sarcastic or satirical responses outside of their original contexts as serious quotes, then i guess i need to cancel my dropout subscription since the company holds the opinion that oj simpson is innocent.

and while were here, that single deathbed confession from james fenton is not evidence of anything. his name is not on any crew lists or survivor lists, and not a single payment was ever claimed by a crewman called james fenton. he was not on board the titanic and his claims hold no weight.

now, my go-to explanation as to why i dont believe the switch theory is that their insurance scam would have lost them money and they would know that it would have lost them money.

see, it cost white star (which was a subsidiary of the international mercantile marine) £1.5million/$7.5million to build titanic and they insured it by lloyds (you can check their records on their website) for £1million/$5million.

you dont have to be good at maths to see a problem here.

they didnt just not insure the rest; it was self-insured by imm's insurance fund, but that still means theyd have lost £500,000/$2.5million on the sunken ship.

this whole insurance thing was established by uh the united states senate inquiry report:

"the vessel fully equipped, cost £1,500,000 sterling, or about $7,500,000. at the time of the accident the vessel carried insurance of £1,000,000 sterling or about $5,000,000, the remaining risk being carried by the company's insurance fund."

oh and the £1,000,009 insurance was announced in the daily mirror on 16th april 1912

and the insurance scam seemingly thought up by someones whose first and only introduction to maths was golf isnt the only way white star would have lost money on this.

after the sinking, olympic was temporarily pulled from service to increase safety measures like adding more lifeboats. obviously, a logical move made by a company with a brand new, safer ship on their hands who were desperate for any money they can make.

white star also halted construction of britannic, titanics other sister ship, in order to alter the design and make it safer. this costs quite a bit of money and is, again, an odd choice for a company apparently desperate for money.

and hey, question for you guys: if you were alive in 1913 and needed to cross the atlantic, would you

a) choose the near identical sister ship of that ship that sank last year and was the deadliest sinking of a ship at that time

b) choose any other option such as the lusitania or the mauretania or the ss france or the ss imperator

personally id take my chances with option a, idk about you

yeah so the point im making here is that the sinking of the titanic was what the kids say

a marketing disaster

it was the loss of the newest flagship on its maiden fucking voyage and it had been touted as "practically unsinkable". maybe just maybe people wouldnt feel that comfortable getting on a white star line ship after that.

i dont have any figures for you because reading through a detailed account of white stars history just is not on my to-do list, but that doesnt even matter. what matters is that its clearly a massive risk and who the fuck is taking that risk?

as titanic author, senan molony states:

"one doesnt need to compare designs and count portholes - a moments serious consideration of the reputational risk involved - individually and collectively - is all that is required to end any entertainment of the notion"

anyway, you guys wanna compare designs and count portholes? yeah? okay, here we go!

may i present a non-exhaustive list of differences between the ships:

olympics wheelhouse was curved; titanics was flat

titanic was 4 inches longer

the porthole arrangements on shelter deck c were different

on b deck, olympic had a 1st class promenade; titanic had 2 private verandahs and suites (put a pin in this by the way, it comes back in the best of ways)

titanic had additional cabins on promenade deck a

olympics promenade was open all the way along; on titanic, the forward half of the 1st class promenade on a-deck was enclosed with retractable glass screens

on titanic, the forward bridge wings aft docking bridge on the stern extended over the ships side by a couple of feet; this would not be true for olympic until the 1912/13 refit

the officers deck house was pushed out more on titanic

the iron gates of the elevators were different between the ships and this is evident in the wreck itself

their propellers had different pitches and hence not interchangeable (pitch is a theoretical concept which is like the distance a propeller would move if it turned once through something solid, yeah i dont know either)

the wireless cabin had an outside window on olympic, but not titanic

further, it was placed on the port side of the officers deck house on olympic but amidship on titanic

they had different air vent arrangements around the funnels

white star line cut the ships names into the shell-plating at the bow and stern, four feet high and a ½ inch deep

now, please, close your eyes, take a deep breath and consider how much money it would cost to switch just the list above. now compare all of that to the -£500,000/$2.5million youre losing in the insurance scam.

truly, a spend less on candles situation.

and while we're here, shall we quickly talk about how much hush money white star would be paying to silence everyone about this since its apparently an illegal insurance scam.

not to make another non-exhaustive list but heres just who i can think of that youd have to silence:

the 15,000 workers employed directly by the shipyard

the 20,000+ workers in support services or sub contractors

any permanent or casual staff at the belfast dock and harbour comission

all of the officers and crew who came directly from olympic onto titanic such as the captain or stewardess violet jessop (puppet history fans rise up) who interestingly remarked on how improved titanic was compared to olympic

any staff at white star, imm and harland & wolff (where she was built) who would be in the know such as designers

passengers who had previously sailed on olympic who then sailed on titanic

just like anyone in belfast who walked past while the ships were docked together

olympics wreckers: thomas wards & sons who kept huge loose-leaf ledgers for each ships. the one for olympic was 72 pages long and funnily enough olympics yard number and builders I'd frequently appear in it, as seen below

bob ballard who was the one who found titanic. hes known as a very honest man and didnt even claim salvage rights on titanic because he assumed everyone else would also recognise it was a gravesite. he also said "i think it is the titanic at the bottom of the ocean"

every other explorer or researcher like james fucking cameron or us navy consultant and titanic wreck explorer, parks stephenson

its been estimated likely over 60,000 people were involved in just the building of titanic. this was ⅕ of belfasts population and ⅓ of the working population. heres a photo of them leaving olympic at the end of the day

now maybe im just a fool, but that looks like a lot of people you need to silence, and unless white star were blackmailing them or idk fucking killing them i guess, thats a lot of hush money just in the photo above.

i mean, theres also the claim, from noted liar james fenton, that the surviving crew were forced to sign the official secrets act of 1911, but that act was about espionage that benefits the enemy military so im not sure how this is relevant to the switch, and also, again, the guy was never on the ship.

are you perhaps starting to get the picture as to why i dont believe the conspiracy theory because im still going.

okay so as established, if the ships were switched, there would have clearly been a lot of work that would need to be done to switch the ships.

and i only mentioned some of the structural differences, i didnt get into the aesthetic differences like the floor tiles and carpeting being different colours, or how the lounge furniture in each ship having the ship name on them.

mind you, this is what titanic looked like (in the foreground) when olympic was first docked next to her:

this was taken around october 11. olympic docked next to titanic on october 7th for repairs after that whole catastrophic collision.

now how much time do you think it was before olympic sailed away? mind you, titanic has already been launched at this point and just needs to be fitted-out, and that normally takes around 4 to 6 months?

oh, what was that? 44 days? why, kid, youre going somewhere. it was 44 days exactly!

now, i dont think i need to get into the fact that the dock only had 1 crane (which you needed to install and uninstall funnels and machinery) that physically couldnt reach olympic unless she was moved or how olympic was painted white for her launch and then painted black and that the white paint would get exposed in rough weather so the same would have to be applied to titanic so it would look convincingly like olympic.

i mean, you have that information now, but im hoping just by the words "44 days", you might get how off the wall insane it is to suggest white star was able to switch the ships so well no one noticed for decades in 44 fucking days.

"wait kai, youre forgetting that they were docked together again!" you shout, "after olympic threw a propeller, they were docked together from march 1st to march 7th 1912"

and i dont know dude, im pretty sure white star cant warp space time so i really dont know what eight extra days is gonna do.

i hate to strawman but man, the late robin gardiner would have won a gold medal in scarecrow hide and seek.

lets also take a quick detour into the idea that olympics repairs were so expensive.

without getting into gardiners claims about the damage because theres no evidence of it and as mark chirnside states "there are no credible sources indicating that the damage to olympic was worse than reported at the time - and indeed ample sworn expert testimony to the contrary", lets just quickly go over some financial stuff.

during the case, it was unofficially estimated that the damage didnt exceed $125,000. imm, by including lost passenger receipts, wanted to claim for as high as $750,000, but they lost that case.

during the year 1911, imms surplus profit was $822,062. so weve got:

750,000 > 822,062

now as we might remember from key stage 1 maths, the bigger number eats the smaller number, aka, their surplus profit covered the costs of repair.

aka, no ill-advised insurance scam needed.

"thousands of people in belfast would have seen the switch operation - and yet there is not one word in the papers of reporters or photographers rushing out to find out what was happening."

-dr paul lee

so this is the section where i ask how did no one fucking notice?

no one on titanic, who had previously sailed on olympic, ever said anything about the switch other than one guy who was literally not on the ship at any point.

no one who has ever explored the wreck or done research on it has definitively stated it was olympic. rather, they have definitively stated otherwise.

for example, what remains of the base on the wheelhouse shows it to be straight and not curved, and as you might remember: titanics wheelhouse was heterosexual straight and olympics was curved.

(id be impressed if you did remember)

also, as parks stephenson has stated:

"weve got actual high def images of this wreck. ive seen with my own eyes. weve identified the name titanic on the port bow"

its difficult to make out but its there; the name is on the fucking ship.

also, as you might remember, titanics b-deck was different to olympics. the 2 suites there were nicknamed the "millionaire suites" and jim cameron has used rovs to go inside of them.

funnily enough, robin gardiner has gone on the record saying that these suites didnt exist so make of that what you will.

and further, no one noticed anything about olympic even though she sailed for 24 more years. theres no written record of anything, theres nothing in the board of trade reports, theres no photographic proof and theres not even fucking hearsay.

she served as a damn troopship in ww1, youd figure someone would figure it out as all of her fittings were ripped out.

but no, theres nothing.

as i mentioned above, olympic was scrapped in 1935, but some of her fittings were auctioned off and still exist today. and these have the number 400 on them because that was her shipyard number. titanics was 401 and the wreck reflects this also:

the wooden parts are from olympic; the other has been salvaged from titanics wreck.

theres even the famous myth that olympic or olympus as one person told me is written on the propeller at the bottom of the ocean. its not, but you can see the number 401 written on it:

and while were disproving myths about the name olympic being on the titanic, the story about olympic being engraved on titanics lifeboats is also false:

theres no written testimony, no sketches and no photographs of this.

white star didnt engrave names onto lifeboats, the names were on metal plates that were screwed on

do you really think they did all of this work but just didnt fucking swap the lifeboats? if theyre this stupid, how did it take until 1995 for someone to figure it out?

we can also discuss the stupid olympic room thing while were here. see theres a maritime superstition that changing the name on a ship is bad luck and obviously, if youre swapping the ships, youre changing the names.

so to... get around this? cheat luck? outsmart superstition? i dont fucking know, to take a detour to avoid this, white star named a room "the olympic room."

i cannot find any evidence at all that this room ever existed. its not in the design plans or the blueprints, and no passenger or crew has ever said it existed, so im pretty sure the room just didnt exist.

and even if it did exist, titanic was in the olympic class of ships. thats what olympic, titanic and britannic were. its not weird to have an olympic room on an olympic class ship. i mean it is weird in this case since the room didnt exist, but you get my point.

and heres some quickfire myths and falsehoods

the myth about the 14 vs 16 bow portholes is also a false. yes, titanic had 14 portholes on launch but an extra 2 were added before her maiden voyage so yes, the ship photographed departing southampton with 16 bow portholes is the titanic, and do you really think it would take 83 years to figure this out if it was this easy?

similarly, titanic did have evenly spaced b-deck windows on launch, but then the extra verandahs and suites were added so the window configuration was altered, so that photograph is off the titanic.

the idea that titanic had a 2 degree list to port like the olympic before her is evidence of the switch theory is, to borrow a word from dan van der dat, bilge. plenty of ships at the time and now have minor lists. the one on titanic was only recorded by 2 passengers and we know that the list was related to coal consumption. it means nothing.

jp morgan (owner of imm) did not cancel last minute. as mark baber points out on encyclopedia titanica, it was announced in the new york times that hed be in venice on april 23. at that time, transatlantic voyages took at least 5 days so it would at least be a 10 day round trip and likely not give him time to get to venice for the opening of a store of whatever it was.

also, j bruce ismays wife and kids also didnt cancel last minute. theyd already decided to go on holiday to wales rather than sail on titanic.

addendum to that point: if ismay knew it was going to be sank deliberately and so warned his wife, why would he get on board himself? further, why would harland and wolff designer thomas andrews (who did not survive by the way) get on board?

and we're finally at my favourite part of this entire mess: the sinking itself.

see, a deliberate sinking doesnt really make sense for titanic because the conditions under which she sank has led to the descriptor "freak sinking."

these are: a new moon meaning less light, unusually calm ocean that disallowed lookouts to watch for foam as waves hit any icebergs, ice having drifted further south than normal for that time of year, and a sideways glancing blow that breached more watertight compartments than the ship could handle and stay afloat.

and idk dude, is there not an easier way? like maybe some light arson. just call it an accidental fire that got out of control and led to the ship being a write-off, this isnt difficult.

but you see gardiner has an answer to this, and i am laughing as im typing this, he claims that:

titanic didnt hit an iceberg, it hit an imm rescue ship.

thats right, this guy fully says titanic didnt hit an iceberg. apparently it hit another ship and NO ONE FUCKING NOTICED

i mean we have testimony from survivors but fuck them i guess.

he claims that as titanic was apparently a "steel double-hulled vessel" so an iceberg simply couldnt inflict so much damage.

yeah titanic wasnt double-hulled. she had a double bottom, but it was only after titanic that shipbuilders were like ah maybe full double hulls arent an unnecessary expense after all.

theres also the issue of uh no evidence of this rescue ship ever existing? at all? i dont know where it came from, i dont know where it went, and who fucking knows, maybe it was called the rms cotton eyed joe.

yeah so weve got a theory riddled with problems and im just gonna introduce some more problems with this theory as gardiner has also alleged that:

the original plan was to open the seacocks and slowly flood the ship, but this was interrupted by titanic hitting another ship

1) titanic didnt have seacocks? and 2) was the rest of it a coincidence then? i think its meant to be a coincidence.

i believe his theory is alleging that the crew on titanic would open the seacocks that didnt exist to flood the ship slowly, and that the imm rescue ship that also didnt exist was in the area in advance to help evacuate passengers, alongside other ships such as the ss californian.

this is that ship that was like 10 miles away or something and didnt respond to titanics distress signals. according to gardiner, they were expecting a rendezvous with titanic according to the "original plan", but never received it.

instead, they saw the rockets of the fabled imm rescue ship and helped them instead.

this is fucking stupid.

i cant be charitable here, its a fucking stupid theory. i mean, that imm ship did not exist, and also californian is a ridiculous choice for a rescue ship. her capacity was 47 passengers and 55 crew; there were more than 2200 people on board titanic.

to counteract this argument, gardiner alleges carpathia was also in on the scheme as a rescue ship. she, at least, had capacity for the passengers, but theres also several problems with this too.

for one, it was fucking 50 miles away and famously arrived several hours after the sinking even though the captain had her running at top speed to get there.

for two, carpathia was owned by cunard, white stars rival. was their rival line in on the insurance scam??? how much money did they have to pay cunard for this????? why? just why?

do you understand why i dont believe it? please tell me you understand. i need you to understand. i need you to tell me that you understand that the guy who created this conspiracy claimed titanic didnt hit an iceberg.

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thienvaldram · 4 months

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(Doctor Who) UK Prime Ministers and US Presidents

Full (Incomplete) UK PM List in the DWU from 1950 – 20XX (Some years are guessed)

Will be updated whenever I can be bothered we get new information. Just random speculation jamming together a list that was never meant to be jammed together.

Historical Before This Point

Winston Churchill (1951-1955)

Anthony Eden (1955-1957)

Harold Macmillan (1957-1963)

Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963-1964)

Harold Wilson (1964-1970)

Edward Heath (1970-1972)

Jeremy Thorpe (1972-1974)

Harold Wilson (1974-1975)

Brenda Jones (1975) (According to a Jonathan Morris Tweet)

Shirley Williams (1975-1976)

James Callaghan (1976-1979)

Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)

Margery Phipps (1990-1992)

John Major (1992-1997) (Assassinated)

Lord Greyhaven (1997) (De Facto PM for several weeks)

Tony Blair (1997-1999)

Terry Brooks (1999-2000)

Phillip Cotton (2000) (Deputy PM until election was called)

Kenneth Clarke (2000-2001)

Tony Blair (2001-2002) (Second term)

Unnamed Male Pro-Europe PM (Possibly Hugh Grant) (2002-2005)

Tony Blair (2005-2006) (Third term)

Joseph Green/Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen (2006) (Only served as acting PM for a day)

Harriet Jones (2006-2008)

Harold Saxon (2008)

Aubrey Fairchild (2008-2009)

Brian Green (2009-2010)

Unnamed Female Prime Minister (2010-2013)

Kenneth LeBlanc (2013)

Unnamed Female Prime Minister (2013-2014) (Resumed for a second term after Kenneth Le Blanc died)

David Cameron (2014-2015)

Daniel Claremont (2015)

Theresa May (2015-2018)

Felicity (2018-2019)

Fiona (2019-2020)

Boris Johnson (2020-2021) (Revealed to be an Auton)

Jo Patterson (2021)

Edward Lawn Bridges (2021-2023)

Unnamed Woman (2023-2025)

S J Wordley (2025-2026)

Glenda Jackson (2026-2028)

The Director (2028-2046)

Dai (2047-2049)

Lomax (2049 - 2050)

Mariah Learman (2050-2055)

Unnamed (?-2065-?)

Corollaries (PM List)

Jeremy Thorpe and Shirley Williams are said to be Prime Minister contemporaneously with the UNIT stories (Which are assumed here to take place on their airdates as per Mawdryn Undead and most Modern Who references)

In a tweet Jonathan Morris claimed the Prime Minister in Terror of the Zygons or Mawdryn Undead was Brenda Jones, Harriet Jones' auntie. I put this in 1975 (for less than a year) because why not. Ignore this if you think it's bad.

Actual dates of Kenneth Le Blanc and Unnamed Female PM are unknown, but are set in the UNIT audios between Power of Three (2012-2013) and DotD (2013).

Felicity and Fiona are given as PMs in Aliens Among Us and God Among Us (Torchwood S5 and S6) released and presumably set in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Eight gives the PM list as Heath -> Thorpe -> Williams -> Thatcher -> Major -> Blair -> Clarke in Interference, this is not supported as a direct list by other sources, though I tried to fit it as best I could, resulting in Blair having two non-adjacent terms.

2010s are a mess due to BF, Titan Comics and the Lucy Wilson novels all giving conflicting accounts of who is PM only a couple years apart, apparently there were a lot of elections/resignations in that decade

Harriet Jones initially served Three terms prior to the Doctor altering history and deposing her, given UK Term Length is unclear, it's unknown how long this would have been, I would guess around 15 years, which would've put Harriet Jones at (2006-2021) where she'd be succeeded by Jo Patterson.

The UK becomes a military Dictatorship from 2028 until 2046 headed by ‘The Director’.

Dai is the first PM after the director, then in 2050 Lomax is the dictator of the UK. In the 'mid 21st Century', Mariah Learman is a ‘benevolent dictator’ of the UK.

An unknown Prime Minster led the UK during the weather crisis of December 2065.

Full (Incomplete) US President List in the DWU from 1960 – 20XX (Some years are guessed)

Historical Before This Point

John F Kennedy (1961-1963) (assassinated)

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Richard Nixon (1969-1974)

Gerald Ford (1974-1977) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)

Carrol (1993-1994)

Bill Clinton (1994-1997) (Presumably VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Tom Dering (1997-1999)

George W Bush (1999-2001) (Presumably VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Bruce Springsteen (2001-2003)

Chuck Norris (2003-2005) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

George W Bush (2005-2007)

Arthur Coleman Winters (2007-2008) (VP who succeeded their predecessor)

Winter’s VP/Speaker of the House (2008-2009) (Succeeds Winters after he’s killed by Saxon)

2009-2017 Term

Felix Mather (2009-2017) (Presidency overwritten by Faction Paradox)

Sampson (2009-2017) (Presidency induced as an aberration by Lolita)

Barack Obama (2009-2017) (Replaced Felix Mather in history)

2017-2021 Term

Daniel Strunk (2017-2021) (Presidency overwritten by Faction Paradox – Mather’s Successor)

Matt Nelson (2017) (Presidency induced as an aberration by Lolita – Assassinated at Inauguration)

Lola Denison/Lolita (2017-unknown) (Assassinated her predecessor)

Donald Trump (2017-2021) (Replaced Daniel Strunk in history)

After 2021

Courtney Woods (unknown-2049-unknown)

Gavin A32X40 (unknown – 2086 – unknown)

Corollaries (President List)

The Eighth Doctor gives the list of Presidents as Carter -> Reagan -> (HW) Bush -> Clinton -> Dering -> Springsteen -> Norris

The President given in 2004 is referred to by the nickname ‘Chuck’ in Cat’s Cradle: Warhead which combined with the fact Springsteen was the President in 2003 and ‘Norris’ succeeded them suggests that the 2004 President was Chuck Norris.

The President in 2006 was implied to be George W Bush based on Harriet Jones’s dialogue. He was previously stated to be President in 2000 (Which he hadn’t been in real life)

Clinton is stated to be President in both 1997 (by metaphor in Placebo Effect) and in 1999 (in Rosa). However both of these are less conclusive than Tom Dering’s direct appearances in Option Lock and and Millennium Shock (also 1997 and 1999) implying that the mentions in Placebo Effect and Rosa were merely off by 1-3 years.

Obama is explicitly stated and shown to be President in 2009, 2012 and 2016, however Felix Mather is stated to be President in the 2010s, physically meeting the Eighth Doctor in Trading Futures. It is stated that Mather’s role in history was replaced due to Mather refusing to make a deal with Faction Paradox and so that has been taken into account.

Concerning the 2017-2021 Presidential Term

Donald Trump is stated to be a candidate in 2016 and is subsequently stated to be President in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

In contradiction, Daniel Strunk is stated to be President in 2017.

This is resolved by having Strunk be Mather’s successor who’s term was also replaced when Faction Paradox remove Mather’s term from history.

The Faction Paradox novel ‘Head of State’ depicts a 2 term Democratic President named Samson who is succeeded by Matt Nelson of a newly formed Radical Party. They are subsequently assassinated by their VP, the sentient humanoid TARDIS Lolita (Who has also been War Queen of Gallifrey and Queen of the UK before, as well as having devoured the Eleven Day Empire). It’s unknown how long she served nor when beyond ‘Early 21st Century’. She (along with Matt Nelson and Samson) have been as a temporal aberration replacing Mather and Strunk before themselves being replaced by Obama and Trump following Lolita’s defeat in True History of Faction Paradox and the ending of the War in Heaven.

A 2000 Bernice Summerfield short story claims Hillary Clinton was US President at some point. However, these records are portrayed as suspect with Bernice questioning them herself and have been ignored for lack of a position to place Clinton into the timeline.

#doctor who #dweu #doctor who eu #faction paradox #uk prime minister #us president #prime minister #president #in doctor who though #will update

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fallonash · 1 year

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Sophie Deveraux - timeline

Is anyone else confused by the timeline suggested by Sophie and Astrid claiming they haven’t seen each other in 20 years? That’s only 5 years before the pilot of the original series. Wouldn’t 30 years have made much more sense? Or at least 25. I’ve gone back and collected a handful of canon dates for the timeline from previous eps and come up with the following:

1989 – Jean Mettier dies (so the painting of Sophie from ”The Frame-Up Job” must have been made mid-80s, suggesting Sophie is born late 60s at the latest)

1997 – Beaten to stealing the Vermeer at the Louvre by the Jackal (The Jackal)

1997 – The Copenhagen job with Stark (Two Live Crew Job)

1998 – The Berlin Politic Job with Stark (Two Live Crew job)

1999 – Steals the David from the Vatican (”10 years ago” according to the First David Job in 2009)

2001 – Sophie and Nate meet for the first time (”Paris 7 years ago” according to the pilot in 2008)

2002 – The Duke DIES (”dear William gone these 8 years” in ”King George Job” 2010)

2003 – Sophie sees Astrid for the last time (”20 years ago” according to Redemption 2x12+13) and escapes Ramsey

2004 – Matevan fraud (mentioned in Harry Wilson Job)

So not only does that technically mean the Duke died BEFORE Sophie left him, that can be fudged with rounding a bit up or down, but:

Are we to believe that while she was married to the Duke, she was simultaneously running around Europe, stealing paintings and doing long cons, and flirting with Nate Ford? Would Ramsey really let her work with other crews like Stark so much? And when would she have time to amass all those caches of treasure? I mean, if she stole the David on Ramsey's order, would he really let her keep it??

I feel like it would make much more sense for the Ramsey time to have been late 80s/early 90s, give it a few extra years for the marriage to the Duke, and then she makes her break for it in say ~95 or so, and spends the next 10 years establishing herself as a grifter extraordinaire on her own terms, while the Duke slowly dies of a broken heart and drinking over a period of several years, rather than it being a quick process of a few months at most.

(Auntie from the King George Job says ”he never blamed you” and ”the drink helped” - I recruited someone unfamiliar with the show to watch that scene and give me a rough interpreted timeline, and they said 'it sounds like the blame thing was something they talked about many times over a longer period of time, so that he had ample opportunity to change his mind if he wanted, and that he was drinking but also had periods when he was doing better, so I would guess 4-8 years from the time Sophie left him until he died'. That was pretty much my initial interpretation of that scene as well, as far as I remember it.)

I am very interested to hear people’s takes on this, but unless someone has a very compelling argument I think I’ll headcanon that they meant 25-30 years instead. (Couldn’t they just have said ‘we haven’t see each other since Astrid was 10′ and left it vague instead???)

(Also, if anyone can add canon dates to this, please let me know and I’ll add them in! This was just off the top of my head times when I remembered them mentioning specific years for things.)

#sophie devereaux #leverage #leverage redemption #leverage meta #leverage redemption meta #Leverage: Redemption #sophie devereaux meta

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derwahnsinn · 8 months

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31 Days Idol Challenge - Oliver Riedel

Day 29: At Award Ceremony

One thing I really like about photos of Rammstein from award ceremonies, is how they dress. I love how they just seem to all put on whatever they feel like, so that the more or less always have at least one 'odd man out'.

My photo of choice is this group shot from 1998 Echo Awards, because I really like how Oliver went with a choker. Photo by Axel Kirschof.

I feel like it's appropriate to add a passage from Flake's book Heute hat die Welt Geburtstag (It's the World's Birthday Today), where he wrote about when the band got nominated for their first Echo Award. It is such a good example of "six inexperienced East Germans entering the celebrity circus":

Beforehand we had long conversations about what we should wear. We definitely wanted to all wear the same thing so that people would see we were a single entity. Since this was the first time we'd been invited, we got there on time. On time meant two hours too early. When we walked down the red carpet, there was of course not the slightest reaction from the audience, which wasn't bad, however. The only person who recognized us was the security guard for Die Toten Hosen, who were also nominated and of course actually received an award. We attached ourselves to Nena's manager, whom we knew from the industry tour. We stood around in the lobby with him for hours and were horribly thirsty. Then the ceremony finally started and we thought it was all very exciting. Otto Waalkes was sitting in front of us. I stared at the back of his head the whole time. I thought back to how, when I was a kid, I would go over to our neighbor's place just to watch the Otto Show. Every single gag got rehashed all over school the next day, and I didn't want to be left out. And now I could practically touch him. I was so excited my palms were sweating. All the nominees were introduced with a short film. When they finally showed our film, there was absolutely no applause since of course no one knew who we were. There was only bored silence. I think Aerosmith got the prize. We realized that we'd gotten all dressed up for nothing and felt appropriately foolish. Thankfully though, there was a giant afterparty. We hadn't known about that either. There we could eat and drink as much as we wanted and didn't have to pay. We weren't the only ones who got exorbitantly drunk; those who were still there at four stayed till six. Moses Pelham broke Stefan Raab's nose. The next day, a bunch of zombies stood freezing on the train platform, waiting for the train with their Echos in their hands. Or not, in our case. Then two years later, we got the award. We stood there on stage like six bumps on a log and didn't know what to say. Under no circumstances did we want to toss out an embarrassing litany of thank yous. When it was my turn at the mic, I just talked about my vacation in Sri Lanka - I'd just gotten back two days earlier and was still overflowing with impressions. Plus, while the boring ceremony was going on, Ben Becker had been teaching us that drinking vodka mixed with tonic water was very refreshing. The trophy they handed us was I guess supposed to represent a sound wave - I mean, I don't know what an echo looks like, technically speaking - and it was pretty heavy. It was an unwieldy thing to have to hold onto at the party afterward, so I just left it sitting around somewhere.

Bonus material: 1) 1997, Rammstein getting gold for Herzeleid and Engel. Unknown photographer. Some of the band members, including Oliver, had interesting choices of shoes. 2) 1998 MTV Europe Music Awards. Another interesting choice of clothing for Oliver. 3) 2001 MTV Europe Music Awards. Can't go wrong when you're all wearing stage costumes! Photo by Anthony Harvey. 4) 2001 Mexico City. Very questionable positioning of Paul in this photo by Guillermo Ogam. 5) 2005 Echo Awards. I really love how they showed up and performed in fat suits. Photo by Sean Gallup. 6) 2005 Rammstein Music Awards, I love Oliver's outfit here, too. Unknown photographer. 7) 2009 Echo Awards. Oliver went fully casual, and Schneider showed his total lack of taste in shoes. Unknown photographer.

Others doing this challenge:

Till: @endlich-allein Flake: @anwiel13 Paul: @instillennachten

#Rammstein 31 Days Idol Challenge #Oliver Riedel #Rammstein #Oliver at Award Ceremony #Rammstein 31 Days Idol Challenge - Oliver

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operafantomet · 10 months

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Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, but if anyone knows, it would be you :) I know there are several former Phantoms/Raouls who became Andres, but are there any who became Firmins?

I am guessing this is in contect of Earl Carpenter playing André in the current Italian non-replica production. Because that is indeed a fairly common combo, to have an actor play André and the Phantom or Raoul. Their range and voice type seems to correspond well, as does the body type. Thus, the list of people covering two or more of these roles is a fairly long one.

But FIRMIN and The Phantom or Raoul? Rarer combo. I guess the tendency to type cast Firmin as sturdier and sometimes older makes him a less typical candidate for the other roles. More often than not we're talking a u/s Firmin, or someome returning to the role after many years. But it's totally not set in stone, ad this list will show:

David Huneyager: Principal Firmin in Chicago and the US Tour 1990-1996, principal Firmin and u/s Phantom in Hamburg 1997-1999.

Jørn Pedersen: Principal Firmin in Copenhagen 2002, alternate Phantom in Copenhagen 2002, and u/s 2000-2003.

Jun Sawaki: Principal Phantom (shared) in Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo 1990-1992 and in Nagoya and Tokyo 1997 -1999, as well as principal Firmin (shared) in Tokyo 1992.

Tim Morgan: u/s Phantom (2002) and Firmin (2002-2020?) in the original West End production and u/s Firmin in the West End revival 2021-2023.

Stephen John Davis: u/s Firmin in West End 2009, u/s Phantom in West End 2009-2010. He was also principal Buquet! A quite unusual combo of roles.

Toshihide Mura: Principal Firmin (shared) in Tokyo 1992 and in Tokyo 2020-2023, principal Phantom (shared) in Nagoya and Tokyo 1997-1999, Hiroshima 2001, Tokyo 2005-2007, Nagoya 2009-2010.

Sebastian Lamberth: Principal Firmin and u/s Raoul in the non-replica Kristianstad production in Sweden 2023.

Michael Cormick: Principal Raoul in the original West End production 1988-1990, principal Firmin in the non-replica Sydney Harbour production in 2022. He was furthermore principal Phantom in a community theatre production in Canberra 2013.

As always, it's not a complete list, just those I could think of. Feel free to add others in the comments :)

(I did originally also list Young-Seok Yoon, but he went from playing the Phantom to ANDRÉ, not Firmin)

#richard firmin #phantom of the opera #david huneyager #jørn pedersen #jun sawaki #tim morgan #stephen john davis #toshihide mura #sebastian lamberth #michael cormick

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sweetdreamsjeff · 4 months

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An introduction to Jeff Buckley: "I would listen to anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Judy Garland, Robert Johnson, Thelonious Monk, Bartk, Mahler. And I asked a lot of questions".

By Neil Crossley published October 17, 2023

From his soaring, unbridled falsetto to his sonic artistry, Jeff Buckley defied conventions and left a catalogue of songs that is timeless and unique

On the night of 29 May, 1997, six weeks shy of his 31st birthday, Jeff Buckley waded fully clothed into a channel of the Mississippi River in Memphis. He was carefully watched from the bank by his roadie, who had warned him repeatedly about the perilous currents. The roadie looked away momentarily to remove a boombox from the water's edge and when he looked back, Buckley had disappeared. Six days later, on 4 June, Buckley's body was discovered floating near the city's famed Beale Street area, by a passenger on a riverboat called the American Queen.

In the days and weeks that followed, all manner of theories were put forward. Had Buckley ignored his roadie's warnings and been drunk or stoned when he went into the water? Had the intense pressure of producing a second album as sublime as his first simply been too much? The coroner concluded it was accidental drowning but the theories continued. Whatever the truth, it was a tragic end for an artist who clearly had a great deal left to give.

Jeffrey Scott Buckley was born in Orange County, California in 1966 and was the result of a short-lived relationship between cult folk singer-songwriter Tim Buckley and Mary Gulbert. From the age of four, Jeff was raised by Gulbert and his stepfather, Ron Moorhead.

"My mum would play piano and cello all the time and my stepdad had great musical taste," recalled Buckley. "I would listen to anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Judy Garland, Robert Johnson, Thelonious Monk, Bartk, Mahler. And I asked a lot of questions. Learning about music seemed effortless. I guess I must have had natural abilities. Looking back, it felt like instinct."

At five he picked up his grandmother's guitar and learnt to play it. By 13, he wrote his first song about a break-up with a girl. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Los Angeles Musicians' Institute and played in various rock and reggae bands, including a stint with dancehall reggae artist Shinehead. In 1990, he moved to New York and formed the band Gods And Monsters, a hip yet short-lived outfit.

Buckley began a solo career as a singer-songwriter, playing a borrowed Telecaster, in clubs and coffee houses in New York's East Village and building up a considerable following among audiences, critics and fellow musicians.

He was snapped up by Columbia Records and released the Live At Sin-é EP in November 1993. The EP was well received but the response was nothing compared to the rave reviews bestowed on his full-length debut album Grace, released in 1994. Unlike the EP, Buckley recorded the album with a full band, and collaborated on writing with guitarists Gary Lucas and Michael Tighe, which gave his sound fresh dynamics and textures.

It was a bold and stunning record, full of sweeping choruses and powerful arrangements. Buckley's brand of eclectic folk was distinctive and unique. As Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in a review for AllMusic, "Grace sounds like a Led Zeppelin album written by an ambitious folkie with a fondness for lounge jazz".

In 1998, a collection of unreleased recordings called Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, was released posthumously. Two live albums appeared in 2000 and 2001, and other compilations and live albums were released.

As always when artists die young, speculation is rife about what might have been - the stellar works they may well have gone on to create. But in his short life, Jeff Buckley forged a collection of songs that enshrined him as an astonishingly innovative and unique talent.

1. Grace - Grace (1994)

There's an unbridled feel to this title track, which sets the tone for the album with its soaring vocals, intricate guitar patterns and strident, cathartic feel. At its heart, the song is a celebration of life and Buckley's vocals are emotive and intense as he conveys a sense of wonder for the beauty of the natural world. "There's the moon asking to stay / Long enough for the clouds to fly me away / Oh, it's my time coming / I'm not afraid / Afraid to die".

Vocally and instrumentally, it's reminiscent of Radiohead, which is no great surprise as Buckley was an inspiration for Thom Yorke. As Yorke's friend Dougie Payne of Travis told Far Out magazine: "When [Radiohead] were recording Fake Plastic Trees, they were having trouble with it, and they couldn't get it to work. So, they went out to see Jeff Buckley play on the tour when it was just him and his electric guitar."

The band were bowled over by Buckley's performance. "Radiohead went back to the studio and Thom completely changed the way that he was singing and used that falsetto. You can kind of see the comparisons now. And that says a lot for how inspiring the show was."

Much of the track's strength comes from the live performance in the studio. This is a band at the top of its game, honed by relentless touring and capable of taking the music to real heights. This tight unit includes the formidable talents of co-writer Gary Lucas [a guitarist from Captain Beefheart's band whose instrumental Rise Up To Be formed the basis for Grace], Danish-American bassist Mick Grondahl and drummer Matt Johnson. By the end of the track, Buckley is screaming out the high notes as the whole sonic bombast builds towards a resolution.

2. Lover You Should've Come Over - Grace (1994)

The pain and longing of unrequited love is the focus of this hauntingly beautiful ballad written with Gary Lucas, which is built around Buckley's intricate fingerpicking. There's a dreamy, melancholic feel to the track, which features a sublime string arrangement from Karl Hans Berger.

Buckley's performance here is raw and intimate and the song really showcases the emotive feel of his vocals. It has become one of his most enduring and beloved compositions.

"It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder / It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her / It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter / It's never over, she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever."

The song runs to almost seven minutes, but it's so entrancing that you barely notice. Every syllable from Buckley sounds heartfelt and true. As ever, the chords and melodies veer to the unexpected. From the mournful organ in the intro through to the squalling jagged guitar and drum flams at the outro, this is perfection.

3. Last Goodbye - Grace (1994)

The second single from the album, after the title track, and a haunting ballad that became a belated hit in 1995. Here, Buckley mourns the death of a relationship and focuses on the pain of letting go. The chorus is soaring and anthemic, while tasteful piano and string parts add depth and texture to the song.

Even from his early solo coffee house gigs, Buckley chose to play an electric rather than an acoustic, a decision that added to his distinctively different style. Buckley mainly played a borrowed 1983 Fender Telecaster and a Rickenbacker 360/12, but also used several other guitars, including a black Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1967 Guild F-50 acoustic. When on tour with his band, he used Fender amps for a clean sound and Mesa Boogie amps for overdriven tones.

4. Mojo Pin - Grace (1994)

Another song written with Gary Lucas (his instrumental is called And You Will) and dating back to the Live at Sin-é EP, the opening track from Grace and one that showcases his eclectic blend of folk, rock and soul.

High guitar note swells and harmonics enhance the beautifully haunting intro before Buckly's plaintive falsetto enters the mix. Sparse, fingerpicked guitar follows, forming a warm backdrop for the first few vocal lines: "I'm lying in my bed / The blanket is warm / This body will never be safe from harm / Still feel your hair, black ribbons of coal".

The lyrical premise of the song focuses on the 'mojo pin' in question being pulled from his heart, leaving him hurt and exposed. It's a restrained, tasteful arrangement, with smatterings of toms, bass and cyclical guitar picking. The whole ensemble continues to ebb and flow while Buckley's warm vocal falsetto glides and meanders across the whole.

5. Hallelujah - Grace (1994)

Written by Leonard Cohen and released on his 1984 album Various Positions, this track has been covered by artists such as John Cale, Rufus Wainwright, KD Laing, Myles Kennedy (with Jeff's Telecaster) and Regina Spektor. But it was Jeff Buckley's version that has really seared itself into the global consciousness.

It's a hauntingly beautiful cover, impeccably realised by Buckley. In his hands, the song attains a real fluidity, ebbing and flowing, quickening and slowing. Much of its power lies in its minimalism and sparsity. The only accompaniment is Buckley's guitar - his Telecaster - and this really enhances his breathtakingly emotive delivery.

His version has been perceived as sexual and Buckley once said it was "a hallelujah to the orgasm". But at its core the song is a soulful exploration of faith, love and what it means to be human. As April Johnson wrote in Singersroom.com in 2023, "Buckley's voice is both powerful and vulnerable, conveying a sense of longing and spiritual yearning that is both moving and inspirational."

Hallelujah is one of Buckley's most iconic and enduring tracks and has become a classic song in its own right. For many, it is the definitive version of Cohen's bitter lament about love and loss.

* "Chords are depictions of emotions" - 5 Joni Mitchell songs that showcase her guitar and songwriting genius

#jeff buckley #neil crossley #an introduction to jeff buckley #musicradar

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randomvarious · 4 days

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Today's mix:

An Agenda and a Beat by Dietrich Schoenemann 2001 Techno

Alright, well, yesterday I posted about a pretty damn great techno mix from 2001 by longtime veteran French DJ John Thomas that left me wondering why the guy never released another commercial mix in his life, but today we have a techno mix from that same year by veteran New York DJ Dietrich Schoenemann that won't have you wondering why he only released one commercial mix in his life; because the thing is a pretty incohesive bore! 🥱

An Agenda and a Beat—a title that I would guess is making reference to Schoenemann's own time spent on New York tribal techno label Hidden Agenda— states in its liner notes that what Schoenemann was going for here was not necessarily a polished, studio-made mix, but something more reflective of playing live and in the moment, to a crowd. But what that idea ended up yielding actually just feels like a sparsely attended warm-up set. There's no direction or theme here, and the selection just really feels like a total grab-bag of steady, yet largely forgettable late 90s and early-aughts techno.

However, there is one totally insane banger on here that I can't not talk about, and it's UK duo Subhead's "Mod-U-Like." Shortly after downsizing from a trio that included the likes of Jamie Liddell, the pair of Jason Leach and Phil Wells had this one lead off their 1997 12-inch, Size 9. And props to Dietrich for then being the only DJ to ever put this one in a commercial mix (at least according to Discogs), because it really is such a truly nutty piece of punchy and thumping madness—like you're bearing sonic witness to the ritual disembowelment of a Speak-n-Spell 🔨🤖—and odds are I would've never come across this gem had I not decided to give this particular mix a whirl.

And once again, for the millionth time, this is why we never shut anything off, folks, no matter how bad or listless it may feel!

Listen to the full mix here.

Highlights:

Subhead - "Mod-U-Like"

#techno #dance #dance music #electronic #electronic music #music #90s #90s music #90's #90's music #2000s #2000s music #2000's #2000's music #00s #00s music #00's #00's music

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jerrydevine · 11 months

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ok movie may rankingsssss its quite frankly soooo fucking long so i put it under a read more :) MWAH

31. moonage daydream 2022 um so when todd haynes basically said that reagan being in power was david bowies fault in velvet goldmine i get what he was saying when i watched the second half of this. it was so annoying listening to bowie talk about how he was like crazyyyy back then now hes normal (annoying and not in a fun way) boo

30. ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous stains 1982. ok this was actually a flop i wanted to like it so bad but i did not. boo

29. the daytrippers 1996. this was such a movie my indie snob cousin loves. it kind of felt like a long ass seinfeld episode. sorry women. the gay reveal was not. fun. it was 90s straight people trying to do a twist :/

28. muppet treasure island 1996 was ok. it was no the great muppet caper ..

27. spontaneous 2020 i did cry because of this movie i thought it was just gonna be a silly heheh good bad movie but i did cry. and they played forth of july sufjan stevens :(

all the movies after here i would rewatch and i liked :) i had a good movie may !!

26. descendants 2 2017 was not as good as descendants 1 or 3 to me now .. but thats ok they literally had chillin like a villain and the letterkenny guy

25. descendants 3 2019. hmmm i wanna keep her by descendants 2 just so theyre not lonely in this list. the plot was like ok mal having to do her morality thing again thats ok. evie was soooooo izzy lightwood and her loser ass march band boyfriend was sooo simon :)

24. murder on the orient express 1974 was better than death on the nile 1978 and there was a character with my name :) but i think i do not care as much about agatha christie mysteries as i thought i would. thats ok :)

23. arrival 2016 is prob one of the first times i knew about the specific field of the protag and it made me so mad because i spent the whole movie like. she would not fucking do that. she would not say that. come on. and of course the u.s. propaganda was like a frontal migraine but i guess it was good

22. the handmaiden 2016. why didnt anyone tell me about. you know. the plot of the movie. great lesbian sex but what the hell wasall that.

21. donnie darko 2001 was like ok what . fine ok whatever

20. emma 1996 holy shit i watched a lot of 1996 movies this month. ummmmm ewan was there and it was literally emma. what more do you want me to say. it was good ish :P

19. dungeons & dragons: honor among thieves 2023 was so long no movie should be longer than 2 hours but it did feel like playing d&d with my buddies and sophia lillis was there :')

18. i know what you did last summer 1997. its like none of you even care that kevin williamson who wrote this AND scream 1996 is literally a gay ass homosexual man. and my friend.

17. red army 2014. i feel like this should be its own other thing because it was just a movie i would watch at 15 to learn as much about hockey as humanly possible. and not for fun for like mental illness reasons. anyway hockey :)

16. crip camp: a disability revolution 2020 is like red army 2014 like. informative and interesting documentary ! not able to rank it with fiction films i dont think so dont take its spot too seriously.

15. poison 1991. dont worry about it im just studying todd haynes and this movie was not as good as other movies i watched this month but actually its the best movie ever after velvet goldmine. or not its not in my top 3 todd movies of all time but thats ok it still set up many of the things he talks about in his later films esp the connection between the horror section and safe 1995 :)

14. the secret world of arrietty 2010. i didnt watch this until this year bc it was released just after when i would sit down and watch a new little ghibli movie. i wanted to rewatch totoro more than watch new ones.but it WAS the borrowers sooo fun :)

13. monty python and the holy grail 1975. they made lancelot soooooooo ugly which was like a joke in itself to me because lancelot would never look like that. but umm yeah my dad loves this movie and so many little jokes i thought were just family jokes were actually from this movie hehehe

12. the great muppet caper 1981 literally had peter falk in it and they knew they were in a silly movie and they kept saying kermit and fozzie were twins it was so silly and fun :)

11. seven up! 1964. british people getting studied is literally so real and true. i cant wait to continue in the series and see how these kids change..

10. some like it hot 1959. I NEED TO WATCH MORE MARILYN MONROE MOVIES ASAP BTW THIS MOVIE ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9. this is spinal tap 1984. ummm yeah this was good. very good even. and christopher guest from my movies was there doing a horrible accent it was awesome :)

8. dottie gets spanked 1993. okok this is my todd haynes auteur studies and it is such a short film that foreshadows his future work i love you forever and ever my best friend todd haynes :D!!!!!!!!!!

7. videodrome 1983 had crazyyyyyyyyyyyy special effects i enjoyed the blowing up bodies and the tvs trying to kill you and the toronto..

6. big eden 2000 i wish they didnt have that whole plot with his high school bestie that was annoying and not whimsy but everything else and i mean EVERYTHING else was sooooo good and beautiful and i love you movie

5. elvira's haunted hills 2001 YIPPEE ELVIRA!!!!!!! RIFF RAFF WAS THERE!!! she talked like she was still a 2000s california girl but in 1850s europe it was awesome

4. rye lane 2023 was sooooo good and love is real and i need to go to england or i will die . woah that was an anglophile ass sentence but its true.

3. stardust 2007 YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO basically thats it. it was a movie that loves whimsy and the power of love. beth please watch it i mean it you would love it soooooo much

2. the watermelon woman 1996 i love you lesbians i love you movies i love you movie lesbians. everyone should watch it its soooo good

1. velvet goldmine 1998 my best friend forever of course no one could be better <33

#ok heheheh thank you beth and abby for the reminders :)#if you guess the top movie you know me for realzies plus i love you <3 #talk #ref

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teachingmycattoread · 9 months

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Things We’ve Yelled About This Episode #3.7.5

His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik (previous episodes here and here)

"Do you want another one?” - catchphrase of Davina McCall (youtube)

John Prescott posting the above meme re. Cabinet Reshuffle (news story here)

UK Cabinet Reshuffle of 2022, otherwise known as Clownfall (wiki)

Mansplain Manipulate Malewife (meme)

William Laurence, Captain Rankin, Jane Roland, Catherine Harcourt, Lily, Emily Roland; characters from His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik

Temeraire (tvtropes) - beware spoilers

The Muppets (wiki)

Jim Henson Company (wiki)

Kermit, Miss Piggy; characters from The Muppets

Blorbo from my shows (meme)

Michael Caine (imdb)

Tim Curry (imdb)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Muppets Treasure Island (1996)

The one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism (youtube)

Jim Hawkins; character from Muppets Treasure Island (and I guess the original Treasure Island, but like, who cares about that)

Gonzo and Rizzo; characters from The Muppets

Statler and Waldorf; characters from The Muppets

Studio Ghibli (wiki)

The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien

Peter Jackson (imdb)

The Hobbit films (2012, 2013, 2014)

The Lord of the Rings films (2001, 2002, 2003)

Guillermo del Toro (imdb)

The Witcher (2019 - )

Persuasion (2022)

The Neverending Story (1984)

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Princess Monoke (1997)

Tales from Earthsea (2006)

Emma (2020)

Gaslight gatekeep girlboss (meme)

Girlboss (affectionate) - internet tone indicator. The opposite would be Girlboss (derogatory)

If it were not for the laws of this land i would have slaughtered you (meme)

Our Flag Means Death (2022 - )

Don’t forget to like and subscribe - common(ly mocked) sign-off for youtube videos

Lives rent free in my head (internet idiom)

#tmctr #tmctr ref

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96thdayofrage · 2 years

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So often, it seems that a celebrity controversy could be entirely preventable if the celebrity in question simply chose not to speak. But perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that a man with more than 300 books to his name isn’t one to hold back. In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, James Patterson decided that the world needed to hear his thoughts on racism and Woody Allen’s memoir. According to Patterson, whose extensive works have prompted severallibraries to joke that he has “written everything,” older white men now face “another form of racism” when they try to make it as writers in the entertainment industry. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes,” Patterson said. “It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.” The prolific co-writer also took issue with his own publisher, Hachette Book Group, noting that he “hated” the decision to dropWoody Allen’s memoir, Apropos of Nothing, back in 2020. The move came after Hachette employees walked out because of the long-standing sexual-abuse allegations against Allen. “He has the right to tell his own story,” Patterson said, adding, “I’m almost always on the side of free speech.” (Allen’s memoir later found a new home with Arcade Publishing.) Meanwhile, Patterson’s comments come as he is promoting his own memoir, James Patterson: The Stories of My Life, because of course they do. After all, before he was a writer, Patterson had a successful career in… you guessed it, advertising.

James Patterson has apparently seen what being marginalized is like, and it isn't for him. Or for the aging, white male writers he seems to be worried about.

Reflecting on his illustrious career following the release of his autobiography, the bestselling author expressed concern for white men, whom he thinks are now having difficulty finding work in the entertainment and publishing industries.

Patterson classified their struggle as "just another form of racism" in an interview published in the Sunday Times in the U.K. Not surprisingly, he's getting a lot of heat for saying so.

The quote came as the "Stories of My Life" author, whose writing success came in tandem with his thrillers about Black detective Alex Cross, was trying to express disappointment over film adaptations of his novels, saying that he'd for once like to "stand up and cheer for one of my books on the silver screen."

Big-screen adaptations of his more than 300 books include the Morgan Freeman-starring films "Kiss the Girls" (1997) and "Along Came a Spider" (2001). (Next up is an adaptation of "Run, Rose, Run," which he co-wrote with music legend Dolly Parton.)

“I just wanted to create a character who happened to be Black,” the 75-year-old said. “I would not have tried to write a serious saga about a Black family. It’s different in a detective story because plot is so important.”

“I get it,” he continued. “How could we run through that period, especially in Hollywood, where there was all this talent and nobody got hired?”

From there, the writer of the Sunday Times piece said that Patterson is now worried about white men struggling to find work in film, theater, TV and publishing and thinks the problem is "just another form of racism."

"What’s that all about?” he mused. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”

Critics were quick to judge "The President Is Missing" co-author's remarks, taking to the replies of Patterson's most recent tweet to share their thoughts.

"So sorry to hear about the discrimination you and your $700 million face on a daily basis. We really should do more to help rich white multi millionaires get their voices heard. Can't imagine the struggles. Hang in there sir," one user wrote.

"I hope you really did not say this," added another.

"Great to see you overcome the stigma of being a white dude and get the gig to... *checks notes* write your autobiography. How many other writers were you up against?" said one tweet.

"You already know.... I'm not throwing away or burning my money (books [of] his I own) but I'm [definitely] removing them from my library And will never purchase them again. This man literally had 2 well known people of color play his main Character Alex cross then says this b.s. done," wrote another user.

Representatives for Patterson did not immediately respond Monday to The Times' request for comment.

Elsewhere in the interview, Patterson also said he disapproves of actors and public figures weighing in on topics they've gleaned off the internet, but said that he's "almost always on the side of free speech.”

He said that he "hated" that Little, Brown in 2020 pulled embattled director Woody Allen's memoir after the publishing company's staff staged a walkout.

"He has the right to tell his own story," Patterson argued.

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lght-shwr · 10 months

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hello freya, ryujin&rosé bros anon here ! :) in fact, my ocs are half-sisters so the male fcs would be either ryujin or rosé's full sibling and the other's half-brother. so i guess you don't have to make two separate lists?? (so for the age range 96-02 it could be applicable for any suggestion.) thank u very much & i hope it's more clear like that ♡

🧚‍♀️ . . . FREYA IS HERE !

Hey there ! Below the cut are TWENTY TWO ( 22 ) possible half brothers for Rosé and Ryujin ! Due to age range issues ( around 4 to 5 years is my limit ), I have made the list from '97 to '01 . Everyone is Korean ! The italicized ones just indicate my personal favorites, so there's no need to pay mind to it ! I hope I found the ones to your liking !

NCT's Jung Yoonoh ( Jaehyun ) ! ( 1997 )

Golden Child's Lee Jangjun ! ( 1997 )

ASTRO's Lee Dongmin ( Cha Eunwoo ) ! ( 1997 )

OnlyOneOf's Lee Taeyeob ( Yoojung ) ! ( 1997 )

The Boyz's Kim Younghoon ! ( 1997 )

BTS' Jeon Jeongguk ( Jungkook ) ! ( 1997 )

The Boyz's Lee Jaehyun ( Hyunjae ) ! ( 1997 )

GOT7's Kim Yugyeom ! ( 1997 )

Stray Kids' Lee Minho ( Lee Know ) ! ( 1998 )

WEi's Yoo Yongha ! ( 1999 )

SEVENTEEN's Lee Chan ( Dino ) ! ( 1999 )

CIX's Kim Seunghun ! ( 1999 )

OnlyOneOf's Lee Yongsoo ( Mill ) ! ( 1999 )

ATEEZ's Kang Yeosang ! ( 1999 )

DKB's Yang Heechan ! ( 1999 )

TEMPEST's Ahn Hyeongseop ! ( 1999 )

Stray Kids' Seo Changbin ! ( 1999 )

CIX's Kim Yonghee ! ( 2000 )

NCT's Lee Jeno ! ( 2000 )

Golden Child's Choi Bomin ! ( 2000 )

TO1's Kim Jeyou ( J.You ) ! ( 2000 )

CRAVITY's Ham Wonjin ! ( 2001 )

#🧚‍♀️ lead me to the faerie soiree » ( asks )#another 2 month old ask i finally answered 😭😭#🧚‍♀️ lead me to the faerie soiree » ( face claims )

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twinhood-2dot0 · 1 year

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May The Fourth Be With You

Yep, it’s Thursday, and it’s not Alex. Because it’s May the 4th. And they haven’t watched Star Wars yet, well, technically, they’ve watched “Star Wars” the movie, but not the series. Relevant XKCD

So, I have to write today’s post. Also, fair warning, a lot of what I’m gonna be writing about may be very well known and boring stuff, but I only watched the series last year, and the target audience is Alex, so spoilers are also going to be at a minimum.

Cultural Impact of Star Wars

Star Wars since its inception in 1977 has had an immense cultural impact. I mean, it and Star Trek are apparently the only two fictional media with a whole Wikipedia page for its cultural impact. There's even a whole Wikipedia page listing organisms named after Star Wars characters.

The phrase “May the 4th be with you” was first used, surprisingly, by the Conservative Party of the UK in a congratulatory advertisement after Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister.

Yes, I'm attaching a crap ton of images, I don't think anyone wants a wall of text and this is the most important day for nerds so I need this to be good.

“Luke, I am your father” is probably the most well known quote from fiction ever, despite being a Mandela Effect, what Vader actually said was “No, I am your father”, which is a small distinction, I guess.

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This father has solved fatherhood.

In 2007 NASA launched a Space Shuttle containing Luke’s lightsaber prop from RoTJ. SpaceX’s Falcon rockets are also named after the Millennium Falcon, the heroes’ spacecraft in the Original and Sequel trilogy.

In the 2001 Census of England and Wales almost 0.8% people put down their religion as Jedi, becoming the 4th largest religion.

In 2014 in Ukraine The Internet Party tried to nominate a man called Darth Vader, but was ultimately refused because his identity could not be verified :(, and that’s not even all the Star Wars characters involved in Ukrainian politics.

Even food isn’t safe from Star Wars

The Darth Vader burger apparently did not sell well, which I cannot for the life of me understand.

Not really a cultural impact thing but a funny controversy. Han Shot First. There’s a scene at the very beginning of Episode IVwhere Han is confronted by Greedo (that’s uh, a little on the nose) because of money that he owes. In the original 1977 release of the movie, it cuts to Greedo’s face, and there’s an explosion of smoke and sparks and the sound of a blaster, and Greedo dies. In the 1997 Special Edition of the movie, along with other changes, Greedo shoots Han and misses, and then Han shoots Greedo. And then in the 2004 cut of the movie, they shoot at almost the same time. People say it weakens his character arc, apparently.

The Music

Of course there’s a section dedicated to the music, I’m writing this post after all. Even if the music weren’t epic, there was bound to be a section. The movies by themselves are great, but I fail to imagine they would have reached legendary status without the soundtrack. The music for the Skywalker saga was composed by the legend himself, John Williams, and performed by The London Symphony Orchestra. His score was selected as the greatest film soundtrack of all time by the American Film Institute in 2005 and also entered into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally and historically important. My adoration for John Williams’ music has already been expressed while exploring leitmotifs, but I’ll go into Star Wars music again since that was brief. The most iconic track in all of movie soundtrack history is probably “The Imperial March”.

This menacing track serves as the theme for the villain of the OT, Darth Vader. It perfectly fits Vader’s imposing nature and makes him feel even scarier. The main parts of the theme are also used in the Prequel Trilogy as foreshadowing and in some parts of the ST and the countless other related media relating to Vader.

The leitmotif appears at around 2:18.

“Binary Sunset”, plays in a scene where Luke is looking at the two suns of Tatooine and previously intended to be Obi-Wan’s theme, is also an important score from Episode IV as it later evolved to a theme for The Force in general and signifies use of the Force. And there’s of course, The Main Theme. It’s the theme that plays before every Star Wars movie, and serves as a leitmotif for Luke in the OT and also used in victory themes.

“Duel Of The Fates” and “Battle Of The Heroes” are also very epic fight scenes and make those scenes even more memorable. Say what you will about the prequels, they definitely had the best lightsaber battles.

You can also hear parts of Imperial March and Duel of the Fates in this too.

Rey may not be very popular among fans but she sure does have an awesome theme. I mean, it's John Williams, what do you expect?

Same goes for Obi-Wan's opening theme from the series.

Okay, if it wasn't obvious already, I absolutely love John Williams' work, but there are other composers who have been brought in.

Like Ludwig Göransson (yes, Swedish <3) in The Mandalorian and The Book Of Boba Fett, has done an awesome job too. I especially am in love with The Mandalorian theme, I wish more of it played in the opening instead of the tiny snippet.

The World (or Galaxy, ig) of Star Wars

Star Wars is set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, and obviously, they have a lot of planets and species. In the movies we see Tatooine, a desert planet and Luke’s and Anakin’s home planet, Coruscant, the political center of the galaxy, Mustafar, a volcanic lava planet, where the events of the climax of RotS take place, and the swampy planet of Dagobah featured in [REDACTED], the planet of Mandalore, of the titular character from The Mandalorian, are some notable planets, and there are also a lot of unique alien species shown throughout the saga (but the main cast is mostly white men, like why can’t the main cast be aliens in a series set in a galaxy far far away? Also, relevant XKCD).

Some notable ones are:

Yoda’s species, who we don’t know the name for yet, but we see three of them, at least in Live-Action media (Yoda, Yaddle, who I completely missed, but she was apparently there in Episode I and Baby Yoda)

Wookies, Chewbacca's species.

Ahsoka Tano’s species, Togruta

The cute birds we see in TLJ, Porgs

And my personal favourite, Anzellans, who are tiny little mechanics who have the best freaking voice acting (Moaning Myrtle, apparently) ever. I fell in love with them after an awesome scene from The Mandalorian S3, although, it seems like no one shares my sentiment so there isn’t a complete clip on YouTube, although, maybe when I renew my Disney+ I might just upload one myself, so until then, take this:

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I can’t count the number of times I watched this scene. The funny voice + the cuteness of Baby Yoda hugging them is just, awwww.

The worldbuilding in the movies is just a drop in the bucket compared to the incredible number of other, mostly Legends, media (Context: When Disney bought Star Wars they decided to mark everything that came before 2014 - the movies and Clone Wars part of “Legends” and everything that came after canon to the universe. I guess Legends is a bit of a mess, but kinda feels like a little too much to just outright name them non-canon). There are more than like SW 500 comic books and novels, and countless games, like Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel Jedi: Survivor, which apparently is in hot water right now for having a terrible performance especially on PC, although the game is great apart from that, from what I've heard, and the 4 Battlefront games, confusingly named Battlefront, Battlefront II, Battlefront, and Battlefront II coming out in 2004, 2005, 2015 and 2017, Star Wars Knight Of The Old Republic (KOTOR) games, the LEGO Skywalker Saga, you get the point, Star Wars has a boatload (more like Titanic-load) of media, leading to an extremely fleshed out world.

Characters

Of course, Star Wars is known for its lovable and iconic characters. There's of course, Luke.

A farm boy who discovers he is the son of a Jedi Knight and goes on to save the galaxy from the tyranny of the Empire. Luke's journey from a naive and idealistic youth to a seasoned warrior and leader is one of the central themes of the original Star Wars trilogy which definitely wasn’t ruined by Disney. Just look at this:

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There are also longer compilations, Mark Hamill dropped so many hints lmao.

Han Solo is another fan favourite, a charming smuggler who joins Luke & Co. on their journey. Han's wit, bravery, and devil-may-care (which, as I recently found out, is a cooler way to say “Who cares?”) attitude make him one of the most endearing characters in the franchise.

Darth Vader is undeniably one of the best villains ever put to screen. His whole character arc throughout the 6 movies and the comics is very awesome while tragic. Special shoutout to James Earl-Jones who was the voice behind Darth Vader who helped turn him into the iconic villain we all know and love.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is another tragic character. He serves as a mentor to both the OT and PT protagonists and sees far too many deaths of loved ones and betrayals. He is personally my favourite human character (dw R2-D2, you’ll be my favourite forever).

Yoda, while not having too much screen time, is still very popular. He is an alien of the [REDACTED] species and the most powerful Jedi Knight. He also has a unique sentence structure of Object-Subject-Verb while speaking serves George Lucas’s purpose of making him even more intriguing. The infant of Yoda’s species featured in The Mandalorian has been fan-dubbed Baby Yoda and he IS ADORABLE

AHHH SOMEONE BUY ME A PLUSHIE I NEED IT.

The Mandalorian is also an awesome character. Pedro Pascal is awesome in the role and I love he can still emote while having his helmet on for 99% of the show. He's a member of the creed of The Mandalore, he's a bounty hunter, extremely loyal to his creed, and most importantly, very, very badass. I'm not very critical of things, but the helmet, oh, I could rant for hours, but that's a story for another day.

Okay, uhh, sorry it's a bit of a ramble than more of a love letter that I was hoping for, but hope you enjoyed it. See you next Thursday if you don't forget, and

#star wars #star wars day #may the 4th be with you #may the force be with you #may the odds be ever in your favor #din grogu #dftba #nerdfighteria #nerdy #nerdy girls #geek

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