#aided by the most epic music i could find

[silvermuffins]

Seward Summary!

This is very late, I know, but it's a long one and it's taken me hours to sit still long enough to get through it and even now I've only finished Seward's part (Mina has a part after I have yet to read, myself). There is a break point partway through today's entry, to help take it in parts.

WARNINGS: violence toward a child, bloody murder, decapitation

To be absolutely clear: this entry occurs in two chunks - one dictated in the morning, describing the events of the night of the 28th, and one dictated in the evening, describing the events of the afternoon of the 29th. Let's begin.

Quincey and Arthur came over in the late evening. Van Helsing spoke primarily to Arthur, who alongside Quincey was very confused as to what is going on but not sure of anything. Van Helsing takes the opportunity to poke at Seward for having retracted his willingness to believe.

Van Helsing asks Arthur and Quincey, but primarily Arthur, to promise to let him do as he sees fit. He acknowledges it will be difficult, so he wants them to promise before knowing what he plans to do, so that after they can be angry with him but not blame themselves.

Quincey attests to Van Helsing's character. Arthur still has some reservations, but says he'll allow anything Van Helsing means to do as long as it doesn't violate his ideals or morals. They come to an agreement on this basis.

Van Helsing proceeds to explain his plan for the evening, with Arthur getting more and more upset the entire time. Van Helsing wants to sneak into the graveyard, break into Lucy's tomb, and open her coffin.

Here Arthur stops him, and Van Helsing says they have to do this or Lucy will be among the damned. He explains that she is not dead, but neither is she alive: she is undead. He asks if he may cut off her head.

Arthur is, understandably, extremely upset at the thought. He demands to know if either he or Lucy ever wronged Van Helsing, that he'd suggest such a thing. He won't allow it, he has a duty to Lucy.

Van Helsing says he, too, has a duty to Lucy, and to Arthur and to God. Right now he asks only that Arthur come along, and see for himself. Van Helsing will make the same request later, and will do what he must, and afterward he'll submit to whatever judgement Arthur has over it.

Van Helsing also explains that he's had a long life of trying to help people, and he's had to do many difficult and unpleasant things. This will be worst of all, because he spent so much time and effort trying to save Lucy. He admits to giving her blood, too. Even now, he is trying his best to help her.

Arthur agrees to at least watch and listen, see what there is to see at the graveyard.

They arrive just before midnight and enter the tomb. Van Helsing has Seward confirm that Lucy's body was in the coffin two days prior. Van Helsing opens it, revealing that she is not there.

Quincey questions just once if Van Helsing did this. Van Helsing swears he did not, and describes the events of the last few nights. That he and Seward had come, found the coffin empty, spotted the white figure, and found a child thankfully unharmed among the graves, and that the next day they'd returned and her body was there.

He also reveals that, on the night before, he'd put garlic and other anti-vampire things around the tomb door and sat watch all night, ensuring she didn't leave. Earlier, he took the garlic and other things away, because the undead can move at sundown, so now she's gone.

He directs them to all wait, hidden, outside. They do so, accepting the explanations given to various extents - Arthur struggling the most, and Quincey actually quite accepting.

Van Helsing, meanwhile, crumbles up a thin wafer into some kind of putty, works it in, and rolls it into strips that he stuffs in around the tomb of the door.

Seward asks what that's about, and Van Helsing explains that he's sealing the tomb so that the undead can't enter. The wafer is a communion wafer, the Host, he brought from Amsterdam, and he has an Indulgence. This is a big enough deal that the three men stop objecting and go to hide.

After some time, Van Helsing points out a white figure holding a dark shape. In a shaft of moonlight they see it's a woman, bent over a child, who gives a sharp but quiet little cry in their sleep.

The woman gets closer, and they're able to recognize her as Lucy....but changed. She now looks cruel and cold and has fresh blood staining her mouth. The four men stand between her and the tomb.

Seward finds his love for her turning into hate and revulsion while Arthur nearly breaks down. She tosses the child aside, smiling.

She calls to Arthur to come to her, and something about her voice rings strangely in their minds. Arthur opens his arms as if under a spell, and Lucy leaps for him. Van Helsing blocks her, holding up his little crucifix.

She recoils, and tries to flee to her tomb, but cannot. For a time she's trapped between the crucifix and the Host, and her anger and hate are stirring, palpable, and chilling.

Van Helsing asks Arthur if he may proceed with his work. Arthur assents, and is very much beginning to have a meltdown. Quincey and Seward move to comfort him.

Van Helsing removes some of the putty, allowing Lucy to pass through an impossibly small space into the tomb. Once she is inside, he replaces the putty to seal it up again.

After, Van Helsing picks up the injured child, and says they can't do more until the following day. They'll come after a funeral, in the afternoon. He also tells Arthur he's been through the worst of it, but very soon this will all be behind him. Van Helsing won't ask him to forgive him until then.

They leave the child, who isn't seriously harmed, where they'll be found. Arthur and Quincey go back with Seward, and all drop to sleep exhausted.

We take a small break here, because it occurred to me while writing this that these summaries may also be helpful for people who have limited ability to get through lots and lots of text. This is long, but the entry itself is a lot longer - I am cutting out a lot of wonderful, verbose description. Anyway!

We now reach the second part of the entry, which describes events that actually happened today (the 29th).

As agreed, the four men go to the graveyard. They all instinctively wear black. Van Helsing brought a different bag, this one distinctively long and rather heavy.

They enter the tomb, and Van Helsing sets up candles and opens the coffin. Lucy is in it, devilishly beautiful but hatefully twisted from the sweet version of her they knew.

Van Helsing lays out his tools: solder, a soldeirng iron, a gas lamp, surgical knives, a long and thick wooden stake (charred and sharpened at one end), and a hefty hammer.

Then, Van Helsing takes the time to explain what the undead are and do. They can't die, but instead feed and multiply by feeding. All those who fall victim to the undead become undead themselves. This is why he stopped Arthur from kissing her on her deathbed.

Lucy hasn't been undead very long, so her victims haven't become undead yet. If allowed to continue on, they'll fall more under her power, keep coming to her, and become undead. If they kill her for real, though, then the children will heal and be completely fine, none the wiser.

Furthermore, if they kill her for real, Lucy's own soul will be free to go to heaven, instead of being trapped on earth doing evil.

Van Helsing invites Arthur to take the task of killing her, since as her lover he has the best claim to the act of salvation. Arthur agrees.

His job will be to use the hammer to drive the stake through her chest, while Van Helsing reads a prayer for the dead from a holy book, and Seward and Quincey follow the prayer.

They set to the work. Lucy writhes and screams, but Arthur doesn't falter.

Eventually the body lies still, and Arthur reels back. They go to tend him immediately. Eventually they look at the coffin, and see that Lucy is Lucy again. She looks as they knew her in life, beautiful in a sweet way and showing the strain of her final days. At peace.

Van Helsing asks Arthur if he is forgiven. Arthur thanks him for giving him and Lucy peace. He cries into Van Helsing's chest for a little while.

Van Helsing allows Arthur to kiss Lucy now, and he does so.

Seward and Van Helsing send Arthur and Quincey out, while they saw off the long shaft of the stake, cut off Lucy's head, and fill her mouth with garlic. They gather the tools and close up the tomb. Arthur gets the key.

There's much relief in the aftermath, but Van Helsing has more to say. Their first and most harrowing task is over, but they still need to find and kill the one who did this to Lucy. He asks the three men, who have learned to believe, to join him in doing so. It will be difficult, dangerous, and painful.

They all promise to join him, and he calls for a meeting in two days. Then, he'll bring two people the rest of them don't know yet, and he'll lay out everything they know. He asks Seward to come to his hotel tonight to help him, and then he'll go to Amsterdam tonight and then return again. He'll have a lot to say at their meeting, but then they can begin their hunt.

When Seward and Van Helsing get to the hotel, there is a telegram from one Mina Harker, saying Jonathan is at Whitby and she's coming with important news, now.

Van Helsing cannot stay, so he sends Seward to meet her and take her to his home, and sends a wire to Mina so she'll be aware.

Van Helsing tells Seward that Mina kept a diary in Whitby, and her husband kept one abroad. He gives Seward typewritten copies of both, and tells him to read and study them well, and add to them in any way he can, because they'll help their efforts greatly. There is much of importance in the papers, and they might make or break the quest.

Seward goes to meet Mina at the station. She recognizes him, first, and says she was able to do so by Lucy's description. Seward gets her luggage, including a typewriter. Seward sends word for his housekeeper to prepare rooms for Mina.

They get back to the asylum, and Mina asks to come to Seward's study shortly because she has much to say. Seward has spent all the time in between then and now keeping his diary, and has yet to read the papers Van Helsing gave him. Here Mina is now, and he assumes she knows little to nothing of what is going on and that he shouldn't frighten her.

It ends just like that, and there's still more in the entry to read. I still need to read it. This part is from Mina's perspective, though. I'll summarize that too, or any other entries, if asked, but for now here we are.

I have moved on to reading and discovered there is a third portion of Seward's diary, after Mina's section. So, this is an edit, to add more.

Seward got very absorbed in Jonathan and Mina's diaries, and since Mina wasn't ready when dinner was called he delayed the meal by an hour.

Mina comes to him with the look of someone who has been crying. Seward is afraid he has distressed her, but she says it's more that by listening to his diary as he'd spoken it, she felt his every emotion very deeply. She doesn't think his voice and heart should be heard in that manner again, so she typed out his diary.

She only had the diary through September 7th, but she's sure it has much more to the story of what's been happening than hers and Jonathan's alone. Therefore, it has to be added to the papers they share among the group for the best chance of killing the monster.

She insists there should be no secrets, and they'll be stronger for sharing information. She and Jonathan have been working ever since they met Van Helsing, and Jonathan is getting more information in Whitby. He'll be bringing it tomorrow.

Seward realizes she'll do as she will, and won't be satisfied until she learns the entire truth of Lucy's death. So, they'll break for dinner and stay strong, and after that Mina can have the rest of the diary, and he'll answer any questions she has.

Okay NOW we are finished with Seward for the day. After that bit, there's another section of Mina's diary, and then we hear from Jonathan, and I still have to read those parts but I checked and there isn't more Seward after. This, was a lot,

#dracula daily #daily dracula #seward summary #this took two hours and forty five minutes to write up #aided by the most epic music i could find #goodnight #the edit added another ten minutes #i have more to read #aaaaaaaaaa

[getmemymicroscope]

I don't know, I guess technically, this is a sort of generic Disney movie/plot (but then, it seems all plots nowadays fall into either 'generic/we've seen this before' or 'what drugs were they on?'). That's not a bad thing though - I'm all here for the "MC finds out that person that everyone trusts (in this case, the king, which is just a bad idea to begin with) is sorta lying to them and, aided by some newfound magic (literally), set out to right the wrongs and show everyone the truth."

Having Alan Tudyk voice a 'suddenly able to talk' goat definitely helps, and Chris Pine as our king is fun. And Ariana DeBose as our main character, Asha, absolutely nails it.

I was thoroughly entertained by most of it, and I think it is also worth noting that others in the theater were also laughing (out loud, no less). There were some funny lines, even if we were sort of lacking for deep, inspirational, movie-defining quotes.

The soundtrack though, is brilliant. 'This Wish,' 'At All Costs,' and 'I'm a Star' are good, 'This is the Thanks I Get' really gives the vibes of the King in Hamilton singing 'I'll Be Back' (and that's a good thing, because it's fun and funny), and 'Knowing What I Know Now' is probably my favorite of the lot - it's right up there with 'Surface Pressure' and "What Else Can I Do?' from Encanto in terms of joining my "on repeat" playlist of Disney movie songs. I just really enjoyed the music in this movie, which I think allowed me to be thoroughly entertained even if the plot wasn't really anything new.

Also really good were the visuals throughout the movie - the animation team absolutely killed it. It maybe gets bit weird at bits (the singing animals, the bear, the mushrooms), even if it keeps it sorta fun (the audience loved the mushroom scenes), though it never reaches the levels of Dumbo (thank heavens for that).

It won't be the best animated movie of the year (Spider-Verse, of course; also up there are Ninja Turtles and, slightly less so, Mario; still also have to see Elemental), but it is still a typically uplifting, hopeful Disney journey, peppered with excellent songs.

Wishing, and hope, are such important parts of who we are - the wishes are literally a part of us - and I think the movie does sort of make the argument that if we give them up, we're sort of giving up a part of ourselves. Wishes may change, of course, but even then, a part of us remains, somehow, tied to them. And if someone could remove that wish from you entirely, it may require giving up a part of you with it.

The redux of "I'm a Star" at the end of the movie is pretty epic.

#movies #movieblr #gmmm does movies

[maqsimous]

Horizon Zero Dawn - The Song of Kotakali - Chapter VI - I am Kotakali

The final Chapter of Kotakali’s epic saga, this is where all of her quests and achievements come together.

The episode begins with the Chapter Title, rather than at the end like the rest of the episodes. Due to the importance of the ending, the title placed at the beginning was necessary. Kotakali solidifies her unique achievements not only as a Banuk - In completing the Songs of her parents, and then her own - But as an individual in the universe of Horizon. The discoveries she makes regarding the machines and the way she then uses these discoveries to aid the world are truly monumental.

All of these coalesce to the Battle of Meridian. This is my greatest example of this story’s events taking place in real-time alongside the events of the main game and Aloy’s story. When Kotakali has arrived to Meridian, the battle has already begun. She is even told that Aloy is nearby - But she doesn’t quite get to meet her yet. Instead, Kotakali acts as a heroine of the battle. Aiding the civilians, defeating machines, and clearing away the evil forces of HADES.

At last, her most important battle takes place just beneath The Spire. Aloy is literally just above her fighting the HADES Deathbringer, while Kotakali is on the ground. Acting as Aloy’s fearsome guardian, Kotakali holds back a massive force of Corruptors after successfully taming a powerful new ally with her wisdom of the Machine Druids.

What happens next is a scene to further solidify this event taking place alongside Aloy’s story. As Kotakali finishes her battle, I actually play a portion of the cutscene when Aloy purges HADES. Showing the shut down of the Faro robots across the lands and the tribes being saved.

Kota returns to CYAN to celebrate their victory together, and the completion of her Song.

The final sequence of Kota’s journey begins, and it is the one I had envisioned from the beginning. She finally rides to meet The Fire-Maned Huntress.

I am extremely happy with the way this sequence turned out, especially with the help of the music from the game’s OST. Again, these events take place in real-time. So while Kota returned to The Cut, Aloy had completed the battle of Meridian, and then went to find Sobeck Ranch.

This is when Kotakali catches up to her. Mounted upon Rides Through Snow, Kotakali races across the realms to find Aloy just in time. This would be moments after Aloy finally found Elisabet, and retrieved her charm.

There was little that needed to be said in this moment, as CYAN told Kota that she was sure Aloy had heard about Kotakali by now.

Kotakali calls to Aloy, and Aloy turns around to see who could have possibly found her at Sobeck Ranch. Realizing who it must be, seeing a Banuk warrior riding a Broadhead, Aloy simply asks, “Are you...?”

And in response, Kotakali states, “I am Kotakali.”

Not only is this powerful line the title of this final chapter, but it is how Kotakali has introduced herself throughout her series. Most importantly, “I am Kotakali” is the very first line spoken in the Prologue, the beginning of the series. It is also the very last like spoken in Chapter VI.

I become very emotionally attached to these characters and their journeys. It is one thing to write them, but to actually be able to bring it to life with gameplay, and edit them together with dialogue and a series, is a whole other level. Creating this final sequence was absolutely an exciting and emotional experience for me, and I got choked up many times in Chapter VI, as well as throughout her series. Even upon rewatching Kotakali’s series, I get closer and closer to her.

Kotakali’s series is finally complete! Though in order to properly lead everything into the Forbidden West, even with my theories and stories in place, I still waited until FW released to create one last bonus chapter for her. I’ll post on that next!

#Horizon Zero Dawn #HorizonZeroDawn #HZD #Horizon Zero Dawn Original Character #HorizonZeroDawnOriginalCharacter #HZD OC #HZDOC #TheSongOfKotakali #The Song Of Kotakali #HorizonForbiddenWest #Horizon Forbidden West #HorizonForbiddenWestOC #Horizon Forbidden West OC #HorizonForbiddenWestOriginalCharacter #Horizon Forbidden West Original Character #Aloy #Original Character #OC #Writing #Guerrilla Games #GuerrillaGames #Beyond The Horizon #BeyondTheHorizon #Virtual Photography #VirtualPhotography #HFW #The Frozen Wilds #TheFrozenWilds

[letterboxd]

Wigging Out.

Choreographer and director Jonathan Butterell tells Gemma Gracewood about stepping behind the camera for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, his love for Sheffield, and making sure queer history is kept alive. Richard E. Grant weighs in on tolerance and Thatcher.

Of 2021’s many conundrums, one for musical lovers is why the narratively problematic Dear Evan Hansen gets a TIFF premiere and theatrical release this month, while the joyously awaited Everybody’s Talking About Jamie went straight to Amazon Prime.

And yet, as the show’s lyrics go, life keeps you guessing, along came a blessing. There’s something about the film streaming onto young people’s home screens, with its moments of fourth-wall breaking where Jamie speaks straight to the viewer, that feels so important, given the content: a gay teen whose drag-queen destiny sits at odds with the less ambitious expectations of his working-class town.

Director and choreographer Jonathan Butterell, who also helmed the stage production (itself inspired by Jenny Popplewell’s 2011 BBC documentary, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16) agrees that the worldwide Amazon release is a very good silver lining. “I made the film for the cinema but, in 250 territories across the world, this is going to have a reach that—don’t get me wrong, cinema, cinema, cinema, collective experience, collective experience, collective experience—but it will get to people that it might not have got to before.

Jonathan Butterell on set with star Max Harwood, as Jamie.

“It feels as niche a story as you could possibly be. But also for me, I wanted it to feel like a universal story, that it didn’t matter where on any spectrum you found yourself, you could understand a young person wanting to take their place in the world freely, openly and safely.”

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, with screenplay and lyrics by Tom MacRae and songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, sits neatly among a series of very specific feel-good British films about the working class experience, such as Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots and Pride. The film adds some historical weight to the story with a new song, ‘This Was Me’, which allows Jamie’s mentor, Hugo (played by Richard E. Grant), to take us into England’s recent past—the dark days of the discriminatory Section 28 laws, at a time when the HIV/AIDS epidemic was still ravaging the community.

Hugo’s drag persona Loco Chanelle (played in the flashback by the stage musical’s original Jamie—John McCrea from Cruella and God’s Own Country), sports a wig that looks suspiciously like the Iron Lady’s unmistakable head of hair. Grant confirms that was Hugo’s intention. “His heyday was in the 1980s, so as a ‘fuck you’ to Mrs Thatcher, what better than to be dressed up like that, at six-foot-eight, with a wig that could bring down the Taj Mahal!”

Richard E. Grant as Hugo, getting to work on Jamie’s contours.

In light of the current pandemic, and the fact that the 1967 legalization of homosexuality in Britain is only “an historical blink away”, Grant’s hope is for more tolerance in the world. “Maybe Covid gives people some sense of what that was like, but with Covid there’s not the prejudice against you, whereas AIDS, for the most part in my understanding, was [seen as] a ‘gay disease’, and there were many people across the globe who thought that this was, you know, whatever god they believe in, was their way of punishing something that they thought was unacceptable.

“The message of this movie is of inclusivity, diversity, and more than ever, tolerance. My god, we could do with a dose of that right now.”

Read on for our Q&A with Jonathan Butterell about the filmic influences behind Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Hugo in a reverie, surrounded by his drag menagerie.

Can we talk about the new song, ‘This Was Me’, and the way you directed it in the film? It’s a show-stopper, with Richard E. Grant singing in that beautiful high register, and then moving into Holly Johnson’s singing, as you go back in time to show that deeply devastating and important history. Jonathan Butterell: It felt inevitable, the shift, and necessary. Myself, Dan Gillespie Sells, the composer, and Tom MacRae, the screenwriter, we created this piece together, the three of us, and it’s a film by the three of us. We lived through that time, we went on those marches. Actually, in one of those marches [shown in flashback], Dan’s mum—actual mum—is in a wheelchair, by a young boy who was holding a plaque saying “my mum’s a lesbian and I love her”.

That is Dan with his mum back in the day, and it all speaks to our stories and it moves me, I can see it’s moving you. It moves me because I lived through that time, and it was a complex time for a young person. It was a time that you felt you had to be empowered in order to fight, and you felt very vulnerable because of the need to fight. And because of that disease, because HIV was prevalent and we lost people—we lost close people—it was a difficult time. I wanted to make sure that that story kept being told and was passed on to the next generation.

It’s so important isn’t it, to walk into the future facing backwards? It still exists, that need to fight still exists. The conversation, yes, has moved on, has changed, but not for all people and not in all communities.

What would be your go-to movie musical song at a karaoke night? My goodness. There’d be so many.

I mean, is it going to be a Cabaret, a Chicago showstopper, or something more Mary Poppins, something from Rent? I think what I would go to, which is what I remember as a little boy, is Curly singing ‘Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’. It’s such a kind of perfect, beautiful, simple song. That, and ‘The Lonely Goatherd’, because I just want to yodel. It would be epic. Trust me.

What is the best film featuring posing and why is it Paris Is Burning? It’s always Paris Is Burning. Back in the day, I was obsessed with Paris Is Burning, I was obsessed with that world. In fact, at one moment I even met [director] Jennie Livingston in trying to make a theater piece inspired by that. I lived in New York for eleven years and I met Willi Ninja. I just adored everything about him, and he would tell me stories. And again, it was so removed from the boy from Sheffield, I mean so far. That New York ballroom scene was so removed from my world, but I got it. Those two boys at the top of the film, I just wanted to be one of those boys who just hung out outside the club.

Harwood and Butterell on set, with Lauren Patel (right) as Jamie’s bestie Pritti Pasha.

What films did you and Tom and Dan look at to get a feeling for how to present the musical numbers? Actually, a lot of pop videos, from present day to past. There’s an homage, in the black-and-white sequences, to a little ‘Vogue’ Madonna moment. Pop is very central to me in this story because pop is what a working-class kid from a working-class community will be listening to. That’s in his phone, that’s in his ears. Not that many young people listen to much radio at this moment in time, but that’s what will be on Margaret’s radio, that’s what’s coming into the kitchen. And that was central to the storytelling for me.

Bob Fosse also really influenced me, and particularly All That Jazz and where his flights of imagination take him. I felt that was so appropriate for Jamie, and again in a very, very different way, but I could see how Jamie’s imagination could spark something so fantastical that would lead him to dance, lead him to walk on the most amazing catwalk, lead into being in the most fabulous, fabulous nightclub with the most amazing creatures you’ve ever met in your life.

For me personally, the film that most inspired me was Ken Loach’s Kes, because that is my community. Both the world in which Jamie exists—Parsons Cross council estate, is my world, is my community—and the world of that young boy, finding his place in the world with his kestrel friend, I remember identifying with that boy so clearly. He was very different from me, very different. But I got him, and I felt like Ken Loach got me through him.

Ken Loach made a few films set in Sheffield, didn’t he? But also, Sheffield is a setting and an influence on The Full Monty, The History Boys, Funny Cow and that brilliant Pulp documentary. So Jamie feels like a natural successor. It absolutely does. Sheffield’s where I grew up, it’s my hometown. Although I moved away from it, I always return. To have a chance to celebrate my community, and particularly that community in Parsons Cross council estate. If you’re in Sheffield and you’re in a taxi and you said, “Take me to Parsons Cross,” they’d say, “Well, I’ll drop you there, but I’m not staying.” Because again there’s a blinkered view of that community. And I know that community to be proud, glorious and beautiful.

And yes, that community, particularly through the ’80s, really suffered because some of that community would serve the steelworks and had three generations of unemployment, so they became disenfranchised because of that. But the community I grew up in, my Auntie Joan, who lived on that road, literally on that road, was a proud, working class, glorious woman who served chips at school.

Aside from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, what would be the most important queer British cinematic story to you? (And how do you choose between My Beautiful Laundrette and God’s Own Country?!) You can’t. My Beautiful Laundrette influenced me so much because, one, Daniel Day Lewis was extraordinary in that film, and two, because of the cross-cultural aspect of it. I went, “I know this world”, because again I grew up in that world. And it affirmed something in me, which is the power and the radicalness of who I could be and what I could be.

With God’s Own Country, when I saw that film—and that was Francis’ first film, which I thought was extraordinary for a first-time filmmaker—I knew he knew that world from the inside, from the absolute inside. And I know what that rural community was like. I read that script, because we share agents, and I was blown away by it—again, because of the two cultures coming together.

Jamie Campbell, the film’s real-life inspiration, with screen-Jamie Max Harwood.

Richard E. Grant’s character, Hugo, is such a pivotal mentor for Jamie. What did you need to hear from a mentor when you were sixteen? Don’t let yourself hold yourself back, because I think it was me who put some limitations on myself. And of course I came from a working-class community. I was a queer kid in a tough British comprehensive school. And did I experience tough times? Yes I did. And did I deal with those tough times? Yes I did. But the song that speaks to me mostly in this is ‘Wall in my Head’, in which Jamie takes some responsibility for the continuation of those thoughts, continuations of the sorts of shame, and that’s a sophisticated thing for a sixteen-year-old boy to tackle.

I also was lucky enough to have a mother like Margaret—and a dad like Margaret as well, just to be clear! And I remember my mum, at seventeen when I left home, just leaving a little note on my bed. It was quite a long letter. She said, Jonathan, you’ve probably chosen to walk a rocky path, but don’t stray from it, don’t steer away from it. That’s the path you've chosen, there may be rock-throwers along the way, but you’ll find your way through it. That stayed with me and I think that’s what resonates with me. And when I saw that documentary, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, I felt that that sparked the need for me to tell that story.

Sarah Lancashire as Jamie’s mum, Margaret New.

We need more mums and dads like Margaret, don’t we? We do, we do. And the wonderful thing is, Margaret Campbell will say it and I think Margaret New in the film will say it: she’s not a Saint, she’s an ordinary mum. And she has to play catch up and she doesn’t understand in many ways, and she gets things wrong and she overprotects. But she comes from one place and that is a mum’s love of her child and wanting them to take their place safely in the world and to be fully and totally themselves.

Related content

Eternal Alien’s list of films Made in Sheffield

Letterboxd’s Camp Showdown

Persephon’s list of films recommended by drag queens

Passion’s list of films mentioned by Jaymes Mansfield in her Drag Herstory YouTube series

Follow Gemma on Letterboxd

‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.

#everybody's talking about jamie #max harwood #john mccrae #richard e. grant #sharon horgan #jonathan butterell #musicals #drag queen #queer film #lgbtqia cinema #british cinema

[johnnyutah]

8 songs / 8 people

rules: answer 8 prompts with 8 songs, then tag 8 people!

i was tagged by @dameferre who has far superior music taste to me. thank you for always sharing these tag games with me, and sorry i’m about to make you perceive my garbage taste! also i am going to cheat so severely on every single question

1. your favourite song at the moment: i haven’t been able to stop listening to kiss me more by doja cat and sza recently (thank you tictac.) but my all-time fav is for reasons unknown obviously. also recently ive listened to starstrukk a lot (like a LOT... please send aid)

2. a song you associate with a favourite character or ship: ahahaha.... just one..? okay well i have the same brain problem as dear elle where i can associate any song to my current interest, so. maybe i’ll just take us all on a little time travel field trip and talk about how perfectly poet by bastille (i know) works for jaskier-dandelion from the witcher. i mean. come on. is this just me being a sucker for archivist/historian/bard/storyteller characters or is it the sheer terrifying power of dan smith and ‘i have written you down now you will live forever’? you know who did this to me. liara t’soni did this to me

3. a song that could be about you: lately it’s been i cannot sleep at night by K.I.D but. alright. let me put you all on to THE depression anthem of depression anthems. go listen, right now, go find ‘to get out of bed and never starve’ by cosmic johnny and experience emotions with me

4. a song that you think is overrated: lowkey elle’s answer is so true but... it is unfortunately most songs by taylor swift :( i love pop as much as the next guy but i just haven’t vibed with taylor’s music since red and every time i try listening to the new stuff i do not experience the same epic highs that you all seem to. for instance a close friend recommended some songs from folklore for me and i did listen but they just did absolutely nothing for me at all sorry taylor hive

5. a good song that reminds you of a specific memory: one time my old roommate was extremely depressed after being cheated on and i was stuck in a cycle of heavy substance abuse, so both of us were Going Through It. we were standing in the kitchen together (in our apartment by the beaches in toronto) both so drained and hopeless and we both ?? started singing?? i cannot tell you why but it worked so well and it really for a moment gave us a view of the other side of all that bullshit. anyway the song is hold on by wilson phillips and it IS magic thanks

6. the last song you listened to: i’ve been listening to music the whole time as i wrote this, currently i’m listening to fvck somebody by the wrecks!

7. a song that makes you laugh: ghost by awkwafina, inner voices also by awkwafina, WUG by chris fleming, every song aunty donna has ever made, the entire popstar never stop never stopping soundtrack in addition to the lonely island’s entire discography... im SURE theres more i love comedy music i just cant think of any more rn

8. the song you want your mutuals to listen to: don’t worry baby by the beach boys. let’s all just calm down a little 💆‍♂️

i’m gonna tag @vraev @weedsinavacantlot @logandelos @horaetio @deathtobayshore @brownbicon @ambiguouspersonhood @horseshoecrabs and damn that’s eight!

#ask meme #about me #music #playlist meme #it isn't. but yk

[introvertguide]

Star Wars (1977); AFI #13

In honor of May 4th and the original movie that started it all, the group reviewed Star Wars (1977). Nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winning 6 with one extra special achievement award for Sound, this is perhaps the most highly decorated science fiction movie of all time. The special effects and the music were especially moving making the Star Wars experience something amazing to behold. I was lucky enough to see one of the re-releases in the theatre back in the mid 80s. In fact, I might well have seen the film 100 times over my life. The music might be the most well known soundtrack globally. With inflation, this is the 4th highest grossing film of all time. It is truly a fantastic work and I would like to now spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Let me start with the usual:

SPOILER WARNING!!! I DON'T THINK THERE ARE MANY WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM, BUT FOR THOSE FEW THAT DON'T KNOW, I AM GOING TO RUIN THE PLOT!!! STOP NOW AND GO WATCH IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amid a galactic civil war, Rebel Alliance spies have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a massive space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Imperial Senator Princess Leia of Alderaan (Carrie Fisher), secretly one of the Rebellion's leaders, has obtained its schematics (this entire effort was originally a throwaway concept but was completely fleshed out in Rogue One almost 40 years later) , but her starship is intercepted by an Imperial Star Destroyer under the command of the ruthless Darth Vader (acted by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones). The movie is just starting and the odds against the rebels are shown by the scale of the two ships. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid called R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), who flees in an escape pod to the desert planet Tatooine accompanied by protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).

The droids are captured by Jawa traders (little shiny eyed beings who are now meme legends), who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, part of a holographic recording of Leia starts playing a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi where she requests his help ("Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!"). Later, after Luke finds R2-D2 missing, he is attacked by scavenging Sand People while searching for him, but is rescued by elderly hermit "Old Ben" Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness), an acquaintance of Luke's, who reveals that "Obi-Wan" is his true name. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as one of the Jedi Knights, the former peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who drew mystical abilities from a metaphysical energy field known as "the Force", but were ultimately hunted to near-extinction by the Empire. Luke learns that his father fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars (another throwaway concept that was eventually fleshed out) until Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil, turned to the dark side of the Force and murdered him. Obi-Wan presents Luke with his father's old lightsaber, the signature weapon of Jedi Knights. The connection between Darth Vader and Luke's father is explored in depth during the next eight films.

R2-D2 plays Leia's full message, in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father, a fellow veteran, for analysis. Although Luke initially declines Obi-Wan's offer to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force, he is left with no choice after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers have killed his aunt and uncle and destroyed their farm in their search for the droids (cue the Academy and Grammy Award winning theme music composed by John Williams). Traveling to a cantina in Mos Eisley to search for transport, Luke and Obi-Wan hire Han Solo (Harrison Ford), a smuggler with a price on his head due to his debt to local mobster Jabba the Hutt. Pursued by stormtroopers, Obi-Wan, Luke, R2-D2 and C-3PO flee Tatooine with Han and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) on their ship the Millennium Falcon. As they reach the planet's orbit, two Star Destroyers try to intercept them, but Han is able to jump to hyperspace by reaching lightspeed.

Before the Falcon can reach Alderaan, Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) interrogates Leia about the location of the Rebels's secret base, with the threat of destroying her home planet, and, when she answers that the base is on Dantooine, he orders Alderaan destroyed simply as a show of force. As the group arrives in the asteroid field that now stands in place of Alderaan, Han spots an Imperial TIE fighter and is taunted into chasing it and shooting it down, allowing the Falcon to be captured by the space station's tractor beam. Inside the Death Star, Obi-Wan attempts to disable the tractor beam, and Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help him rescue Leia after discovering that she is scheduled to be executed. After disabling the tractor beam, Obi-Wan sacrifices his life in an epic lightsaber duel with Vader, allowing the rest of the group to escape the Death Star with Leia. Using a tracking device, the Empire tracks the Falcon to the hidden Rebel base.

Leia's schematics reveal a hidden weakness in the Death Star's thermal exhaust port, which could allow the Rebels to trigger a chain reaction in its main reactor with a precise torpedo strike. While Han abandons the Rebels after collecting his reward for rescuing Leia, Luke joins their starfighter squadron in a desperate attack against the approaching Death Star. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses as Vader leads a squadron of TIE fighters against them, but Han unexpectedly returns to aid them in the Falcon, narrowly managing to save Luke before Vader can shoot him down. Guided by the disembodied voice of Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke turns off his targeting computer and uses the Force to aim his torpedoes into the exhaust port, destroying the Death Star moments before it fires on the Rebel base. In a triumphant ceremony at the base, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.

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I want to explain the connection between this movie and the Joseph Campbell version of the hero's journey that so many people have pointed out. This journey starts out with a call to adventure that is refused and then forced (Luke is given an opportunity to leave, he declines, the death of his family pushes him forward, he leaves with his team). Campbell then predicts an initiation that involves meeting a woman and gaining weapons, a meeting with an incredible power, and an achievement of the hero's power (goes to star destroyer, meets Vader and loses Obi-Wan, gains power over force). The story ends with a refusal, a magic flight, a rescue from without, and a hero's return (Luke goes to attack the Death Star, Han refuses and then eventually saves him, and the day is saved so the heroes are rewarded). It is a story that is called the Monomyth and has been recognized in Greek myths that are thousands of years old. It is a good story that has been proven to work and it makes for one of the most enjoyable movies of all time.

There was some negative opinions of the film because it is such a simple old story that became extremely popular and film goers would no longer be interested in intelligent thinking movies. It is kind of the truth because blockbuster summer films are full of explosions. The highest grossing films since then have tended to be highly explosive action films. Films like Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones are a lot of fun, but they are not super deep. They are easy to understand at surface level, but they can also be interpreted to mean much more significant things. The choice of the viewer about whether the story has deep inner meaning or is just the Odyssey in space is personal and likely colors opinions about how good it is. Some people think it is stupid fun while others have actually formed religions around the idea of the force.

One thing is for certain, the formula worked amazingly well for a large group of people and this made movie producers want to copy it. This is what is generally called a watershed moment because the look of movies changed significantly. There were so many more space operas and they all had that worn post-apocalyptic look to them. Star Wars and Mad Max combined to give a different look of what futuristic was. There was advanced tech in some cases, but there was a scorched Earth that had run out of resources and people suffered. Think about how many movies and television shows there are that have come out since the 80s and combine industrial tech for space and distressed almost Western appearances for the planets. The movie changed the way many people see the future.

One thing that is inarguably great was the score. I am not going to try and describe it with words, I am just going to put links to the different themes here so you can hear for yourself:

Star Wars Main Theme (Full) - YouTube

Star Wars- The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) - YouTube

Princess Leia's Theme - YouTube

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (1977) Soundtrack 11 Cantina Band - YouTube

This is somewhat strange for the AFI so I went back and checked, but I believe that this is the only film with a ranked villain (Darth Vader), hero (Han Solo), and theme song (Main Theme). Even if it is somewhat simplistic from some perspectives, the story and the songs and the sounds and the characters speak to those who watch it. Seeing the movie is an incredible experience and I envy those who get to see it for the first time.

I am a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy and I could completely nerd out going over all of the little things throughout the movie, but this is not a deep dive but instead an overall review. So does it belong on the AFI top 100? Maybe more than any other movie. It is an epic tale that changed the way movies were made across multiple genres. We could probably look at all science fiction films and put them as before or after this one. It is an important piece of American film and (no matter what anyone thinks of the other Star Wars films or George Lucas) it is a masterpiece. Would I recommend it? I cannot say yes enough. It is part of my culture as a California movie nerd and understanding this film is understanding some of the basic knowledge I grew up with. All sticks are swung around like light sabers. If I say "Princess Leia hair," everyone around here knows exactly what I mean. If something is impossible but still needs to be done, we tell people to use the force. I have lived in the Bay Area for 20 years and I can still reference a location by how close it is to Skywalker Ranch were George Lucas worked on movies. Please check out this film and you will know why I am such a fan of movies.

#star wars #a new hope #use the force #john williams #film score #introvert #introverts #movie review #award winning films #special effects

[drethanramslay]

Hi!! Can you please do No. 14 and 49 from the prompt list for Ethan X MC? Thank you so much I love all of your fics ❤️❤️

Thanks for the ask anon and @squishywizardhq

You can find the prompt list here.

#14- "Are you okay?" (I wrote Bryce x mc on this prompt which you can find here)

#49- "Are you bleeding?"

#97- "Stop being so stubborn!"

I decided to merge both the prompts because it's seemed most logical and fit into the scenario perfectly hehehe

Word count: 2K words (yep that's pretty long compared to the usual requests so buckle up)

Warning: none

Author's note: I was gonna post this later but people were getting antsy so I decided to post this first so enjoy

forgive me for any mistakes

And trust me <3

Stay for Me

Leah stepped out of the subway on to the platform and started walking towards the familiar apartment complex where she had spent most of her time in Ethan's absence.

During the entire walk, her brain was racing and her heart beat had spiked up due to the anticipation and anxiety.

It's the most logical option Leah. It's okay, don't be scared. Feelings are fleeting. You will get over him eventually. Her conscience tried to comfort her, but it was of no help whatsoever.

She entered the lift and pressed the button which would take her to his apartment. Though the ride was short, her palms felt sweaty and her throat was parched.

She stepped out and knocked on the door and waited for him to open it as she wiped her palms on her tights.

He opened the door, and Leah looked up to meet his eyes.

"Leah?"

"I'm an absolute idiot. I'm so sorry." She rambled.

"What? First of all come in." Concern was etched in his beautiful eyes as he opened the door wider so that she could enter.

"I have made my decision."

He winced, bracing himself. "You are gonna stay with him, right?"

"What? No!" She grasped his hands in her and looked up at him.

"it's you Bryce... It's always been you."

There was pin drop silence. Leah's heart thundered as the silence continued to stretch between them.

"Bryce, what aren't you saying anything?" Leah's voice cracked which seemed to shake him out of his reverie.

"Leah... No matter how much that makes me happy... No."

"No?! What no?"

He sat on the sofa while Leah continued standing, her eyes following every step. "Come sit down. We are due for a chat."

She sat down on the seat next to him and turned towards him, completely bewildered. "No? But.. but I don't understand this?"

She started counting the pros on her fingers. "We are literally perfect for each other. You are the number one surgeon of your batch. I'm the number one diagnostician of my batch. We both like the same things and music. I like you... You like me.. so why not?"

Bryce chuckled and shook his head as he played with his fingers. "Leah we only look good on paper."

"Bu-"

"Leah what you described is external factors which can fluctuate with time. We literally are carbon copies of each other."

"So what's wrong with that? Isn't it better that way?"

"Leah, over time all these factors will cancel out each other and we would just be a boring couple who is a shadow of one another. This 'feelings' we have now will change into bitterness, sadness and distance. And I don't want that."

His eyes landed on hers and he gave a small smile. "The perfect relationship is when you complement one another. Like fire and water. Like Ying and Yang. And I have see that between you and Ethan."

Leah looked down, her throat choking up with emotions.

"But... I decided to go with my logic and this is the right option. No hurt, no pain-"

"-No love, No happiness. Leah, love is not a application of logic. It's what you feel. It want the heart wants." Bryce finished the statement and sighed.

"You may have never spoken about it but anyone can see how head over heels the both of you are for each other. I have noticed the way his eyes brighten when you entre the room. Or the way your smile illuminates a thousand times more when he calls your name."

"Wait... Everyone noticed it?"

Rolling his eyes, he subtly punched her shoulder lightly. "Everyone knew except the two of you. You both have your head so far up your asses that you didn't even notice a bet was going on around."

"A BET?!"" Leah exclaimed.

"Yap. Hell, 90% of the people put a bet that you would end up with Ramsey. But you chose me. Many people lost a lot of money."

Leah groaned as she face palmed. "I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. That's why they say love is blind."

Dragging her hands down her face she turned towards him. "But if you knew I had feelings for Ethan... Why did you still choose to date me?"

A small smile etched on his face. "Like I said love is blind. I chose to stay in denial and swooped in when you were hurting. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have played you."

"Shut up. You didn't play me. In fact you were one of the best girlfriends I have had. I knew the risks and I still pursued you."

Leah let out a deep sigh as she leaned on her knees.

"So what now?"

"Well. I suggest we call quits because neither of us would be happy."

"But what about you?"

"What about me? It's been a privilege to have my heart broken by you."

Leah narrowed her eyes at the statement and Bryce guffawed. "You know I love to quote TFIOS and I saw the opportunity and I had to."

"Bryce."

"Yeah yeah... I will be fine... Not now, but eventually. You are my best friend first and seeing you happy is all I want. Not gonna lie, I hope that I can find the kind of love you share with Ethan."

"I know that the guy upstairs has a plan for an amazing guy like you."

"Fingers crossed."

They both got up, and Bryce walked her to the door. Leah was still in deep thought but it was relief and lightness in her step.

Turning towards him, she placed a hand on the door frame. "Are you sure you are gonna be okay? I'm so sorry-

"Leah Marianne Garcia. Get the fuck our if here and get your man."

Leah gave h a huge grin and wrapped her arms around him in gratitude. "I only wish the best for you, Queen B."

"Right back at ya, Lee Lee."

------------------------------------------------------

Running.

She was running hard and fast down the empty streets of Boston. Her darned luck made her miss the last train to Ethan's place so she decided to take off running.

Her converse clad feet stomped on the wet slippery ground, never once slowing down.

Which tuned out to be bad idea because when she turned the corner to Ethan's street, she slipped and tripped, which resulted in her scraping her knees and her elbows on the rough pavement.

"Son of a bitch!!" Leah groaned as she painfully rose on her feet and tried to assess the damage.

Her tights were ripped at the knees, blood gushing down. There were tiny scratches on her palms and abrasions on her elbows.

I hope no one saw my epic fai-

"Sunshine?"

Great. Nice timing you got there god.

She turned around and saw Ethan standing there, with Jenner at his feet. Jenner immediately reached out to Leah, with an excited bark but was restrained by her leash.

He bent down and unclipped the leash from her collar. "Easy there girl. Now go."

Jenner excitedly rushed to her and stood on her hind paws and pressed her paws on Leah's waist, as if it were trying to give her a hug.

"Hello girl. how I have missed youuu. Who has been a good girl?" She asked to which Jenner barked. "That's right. You have been a good girl." She scratched the back of her ears and Jenner got back down on all fours, circling around her, sniffing.

"You came?" His voice wafted over to her.

Leah looked up, a soft smile on her face. "Yeah. I had to. We need to talk."

"Lets go up." he said, as he walked towards her.

She proceeded to walk, only to remember about her injured, bleeding knees. She stumbled and Ethan reached out to grasp her elbow, which was a bad idea because she yelped out in pain.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he surveyed her entire body, his eyes widening at the injuries on her knees and the elbows.

"Holy shit sunshine! You are bleeding. Why are you bleeding?"

"I was running and I slipped. Don't worry its just a scratch. It's not like I broke a leg or something." She said as she walked carefully.

Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist providing extra support, which Leah didn't have the heart to say no to. Together, with Jenner running circles around them, as if she was excited about the reunion, they walked to the lobby of the penthouse. They rode the elevator in silence, Ethan not once letting go of her which made her cheeks hot.

They reached the designated floor and walked towards the door. One entering, Ethan immediately rushed to the kitchen where he kept the first aid kit.  She sunk into the plush sofa and let out a sigh of relief.

As he poured antiseptic solution on the cotton, he gave instructions. "Take out your pants. I will just clean up these wounds and bandage them properly and then you can borrow something of mine because no matter how cool ripped jeans out this isn't going to wor-"

"Ethan you are overreacting. This is a small scratch-"

"God, sunshine! Will you stop being so stubborn?"

"Says Mr. I- will-walk- around- as-if- nothing's- happened- but- I- actually have a- ruptured- appendix." Leah scoffed which Ethan did not find funny. With an unamused expression he pressed the antiseptic on to the scratches on her elbow, which immediately burnt.

"Pinchewy!" She cried out.

"Yeah, right back at you. Didn't no one teach you as a child to not run on wet surfaces?"

Leah grumbled and looked the other way as he continued to work on her elbows.

After a moment of silence, Leah decided to speak about her reason to come here. "Bryce and I broke up."

She felt his piercing blue eyes land on her. "Sunshine I'm so sorry. It's all my fau-"

Interrupting him, she continued. "He decided to let me go because he knew that my stubborn ass won't date you without an incentive."

Sighing, she turned towards him, halting him in his work. "Ethan... You are a sarcastic son of a bitch, who is stubborn to a fault. Your head is so far up your ass that you don't even notice the subtle hints I send your way. You are arrogant but you also have the getaway pass because you are hot as fuck and are so damn intelligent."

"Thanks for the compliment?'

Leah chuckled as she placed her hand on his hand. "But... you are kind and you are passionate about saving lives. You may come across a harsh, but on the inside you are huge softie who cares about my success. You are a grump but, only I have been privileged to see your smile. There is so much good in you and you are such a great man. I could go on and on about the good in you but it would end up being a thesis report.

So in short, I just want to say that those are the many things I love about you."

Ethan's eyes widened, and hope and adoration poured into his eyes. He squeezed her hand as she continued. "Ethan, do you know why we work so well together? Its because we complement each other. Sure, those can lead to fights but, we always come out from those fights stronger. We are so strong and beautiful together."

She cupped his face and spoke. "So... Are you willing to give us another chance?"

Ethan's heart was bursting will joy and happiness. She wants me... She really wants me...

He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb against her cheekbone. "Sunshine, I can be a hard-ass sometimes and let’s not get started on how emotionally challenged I am. I'm a dumbass for ignoring the lines of fate. Trying to resist the inevitable just caused us more pain and sadness.” 

“Sunshine, I can't promise that this relationship will be perfect. Hell, this is uncharted territory for me. We may have fights and times when I want to bang my head against the wall but there is one thing I promise you. I will fight for you always and I will love you unconditionally."

"So will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" He asked with a giddy smile.

"Hell yeah. You can't get rid of me that easily." They both reached forward and when their lips touched, sparks of happiness and love radiated between them. Ethan ran his hand against her soft cheeks while Leah ran her hand through his luscious brown hair. This wasn't any kiss.

This was a lover's kiss. A promise. A seal of fate.

But the moment didn't last that longed. Ethan's knees knocked against hers and she cried out in pain. "Ouch!"

The both of them laughed. "Lets get you fixed up before we move on to strenuous activities, okay?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Yes doc.”

And finally, the two imperfect lovers were reunited.

bet y'all expressions would be like this

And then like this

and then hopefully like this? 

LOL im pushing my luck

Anyways I hope y'all liked it heheheh

Permanent Tag list: @trappedinfandoms @oofchoices @agent-breakdance @dailydoseofchoices @tyrilstouch @siaramsey @theeccentricbibliophile @ac27dj @ramseysno1rookie @justanotherrookie @openheart12 @rookie-ramsey @jamespotterthefirst @checkurwindow @chasingrobbie @junggoku  @bellcat2010 @choicesstan1 @mvalentine @crazynutella @hatescapsicum @choicesficwriterscreations @anonymously-cool @nooruleman @sanvivrma

Ethan x MC Taglist: @ethandaddyramsey @edith-eggs1 @pixelberryownsme @samihatuli @loveellamae @x-kyne-x @paulfwesley @zeniamiii @binny1985 @an-urban-witch-ig @ramseyegerton @mrsdr-ethan-ramsey @newcolonies @theodorepjames4 @unluckygs @choices-love-affair @kaavyaethanramsey @caseyvalentineramsey @ohramsey @squishywizardhq  @junehiratas @lilyvalentine @itsgoingnuts  @choicesfanaf @humanpokemon @temptress-of-death-and-desire @rookiefromedenbrook @courtesanofedenbrook @hatescapsicum @sanchita012 @edgiestwinter @fabi-en-ciel @mrsdrakewalkerblog @elwetritsche75  @livingpurpose @drramseysownsme @queencarb @andromedasinclaire @schnitzelbutterfingers @thanialis @floatingmeera @rookieoh @ethanramseyswhore @lucy-268 @big-yikers @have-aheart @whimsicalreader @tsrookie @itschoicesfanaf @lilypills @mals-chesthair @raleigheffingcarrera @utterlyinevitable @choices-fangirl-yeet @papinaveensbitch @custaroonie @helloayzcream @hyperlightgrifter @kiara-36 @eramsey28

#anushka writes #writing prompts #oh Ethan #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #dr ethan ramsey #ethan jonah ramsey #ethan ramsey one shot #ethan ramsey x mc #open heart #open heart mc #open heart 2 #open heart fanfiction #choices #choices oh #playchoices #choices stories you play #choices stories we play #pixelberry #ohsy

[always-and-forever-a-killjoy]

Hello fuckers! This is the ridiculously long fic I've been vagueposting about for like weeks. 23k words sitting in a doc! I'll be trying to post maybe once every two weeks, but once school starts again it will be a lot harder to get out 3k words in a week. I have seven chapters written, so I'll consistently update for probably 2-3 months and then no promises after that. This is going to be a fucking epic.

Note that not all warnings  apply to all the chapters, so I'll be warning for triggering/upsetting content in each chapter individually. Please heed those!

You all also get to play a game of 'guess which song the chapter title is pulled from', which is made more difficult by my music taste ranging from musicals (les mis! DEH!) to my chemical romance. I'll let you know what the chapter title was from when I post the next chapter. Also, the POV switches each chapter, so that info is also in the notes.

Title: Coming, Coming Home

Chapter Title: Do you want to live out loud?

Chapter Wordcount: 3099

Summary:

The story of 109 WKIL, from the mother that began it to the daughter who saw the end of it.

Warnings: None for this chapter!

Taglist: @wishiwasthemoon-tonight @sleevesareforlosers @stressed-depressed-emo-mess @tasteofamnesia @dagger-queen @no-braincells-here @piratecherricola (message me, send an ask, or reblog/reply to one of my posts if you want to be added or removed)

AO3 Link

(Actual fic under the cut)

It began with a handheld radio.

The killjoy who was already beginning to be known as Dr. Death Defying had stolen quiet a few of these portable transmitting devices when he left the army of the corporation called Better Living Industries. Now, he began to give them out, one after another, to the small clusters of rebels who were just beginning to call themselves killjoys. With those, the groups kept each other updated for a while, passing whispers back and forth over the airwaves. The positions of squads of dracs, who had extra supplies, where there were good buildings to scavenge from or shelter in.

Those were highly effective in the small rebellion, news passing quickly between the few rebels, but as more killjoys began to enter to desert, take up the colors and masks and ray guns and form themselves into a true rebellion, it was getting to be not enough. 

“We need something with a wider reach.”

Dr. Death Defying was sitting at the so-called strategy table (which in actuality was a shitty kitchen table strategically repurposed), listening to White Lily talk about rebellion. It was another ordinary afternoon, or as ordinary as one could get in a post-apocalyptic nuclear desert plotting to overthrow an evil mega corporation. The sun was shining brightly overhead, and he and his best friend, the fiery spirited White Lily, were in a partially wrecked house out in Zone Four, where they had been staying for most of the time since the Helium Wars. Both former soldiers, they had served together for a little bit after D had first been recruited. He had been transferred to a different squadron soon after, and they hadn’t deserted together, but they’d met up after the wars and become close friends. Two dreamers who wanted to save the world, she had said. And so now they were trying to do just that, one killjoy recruit at a time.

“If this is going to be a true revolution, Walkie-talkies aren’t going to cut it,” White Lily went on. “We need a way to reach more people. Get the word out quicker.”

“Did you have any particular ideas?” Dr. Death Defying asked dryly.

Her eyes gleamed in the way that meant she did, in fact, have an idea. “A radio station.”

“A what?”

“A radio station. I know I sound crazy, but hear me out. If we can get our hands on the equipment, a lot of killjoys already have radios and that way we can also reach the ones with only a car radio. We broadcast news- who’s dead, where bli is attacking, just generally what’s going on. We can also make speeches over the radio, like what’s his face, the president guy, did with his fireside chats."

“FDR. And you can make speeches over the radio.” It wasn’t that he couldn’t, per se, but he would rather leave the main speaking part of it to her.

White Lily briefly made a sad face, but was back to determination within seconds. “Right, well I can make big speeches if you do daily announcements and news, deal?”

“Deal.” They realized a second later what they had just accidentally agreed to and sighed. 

The other just grinned. “Time to get some radio equipment!”

And so it began with a hand held radio and a duo of Helium Wars survivors, and 109 WKIL was born.

109 WKIL didn’t actually broadcast until two full months and a new crew member later. It turned out to be not exactly easy to get their hands on the equipment necessary to send out signals, and neither of them knew precisely what running a radio station required anyways. They researched as best they could, asking around and reading any old books they could find, but supplies were scarce and electronic equipment especially so. And so they didn’t get the radio station fully running until after the arrival of their third crew member.

It was another of the somewhat lazy afternoons in the desert when Cherri Cola showed up at their house in a stolen BLI News Van. White Lily was gone, off talking to a small band of neutrals and trying to persuade them to aid the rebellion, so it was Dr. Death Defying who was there to see a no-longer white van screech to a stop. He kept his ray gun close as he stepped outside, since the van was Better Living Industries, but the side of it had a sprinkling of graffiti and it was covered in dust, which reassured him somewhat.

“Hello?”

The van’s engine clicked off and Dr. Death Defying breathed a sigh of relief as a lean teenager hopped out, squinting in the sunlight. They were clearly a killjoy, given the pink mask, and they also wore scuffed jeans and a too-small black jacket despite the warmth of a desert afternoon. Their hair was brown and a sandy mess, and they were perhaps an inch or two shorter than Dr. Death Defying. They were completely and utterly un-intimidating with the sole exception of their eyes, which blazed with fierce and bitter kind of anger. 

“Another killjoy?” Their voice squeaked a little, undoing any effect of those fiery eyes, and they cleared their throat. “Uh, another killjoy?”

At loss for words, he nodded. “I’m Dr. Death Defying, he/him and they/them.”

“Cherri Cola.” They fiddled with their shirt hem. “He/him.”

“So…I’m assuming you’re looking for White Lily?”

“Was actually just looking for a place to stay the night,” Cherri Cola mumbled. “I didn’t realize you were already staying here, I can leave-“

“Absolutely not, get inside.” They hoped their voice didn’t sound too firm. “White Lily and I are happy to let people stay with us who need.”

“Oh.” D pretended not to notice the relief on his face as he ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks.”

“Of course. Do you want to come into the shade? It’s baking out here.” He didn’t mention how hot the other killjoy must be in that jacket.

“Yes, please.” 

So he led the strange teenager inside, half-wondering what made the teen’s eyes so old and filled with hurt and rage. It wasn’t an uncommon sight in the zones, per se, but this kid’s eyes were striking in their pain.

“So, how old are you?”

“Sixteen, you?”

“Twenty. Do you want some power pup? We’ve got a bit of extra, I think.”

Cherri nodded eagerly, and he devoured everything D put in front of him. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to pull off a raid or anything, and hacking vending machines isn’t as easy as it looks.”

That would explain why he was so lean. “You’ve got the look of someone who’s been out in the desert a while.”

“Almost since the end of the wars.” There was no need for him to specify which wars. The Helium Wars loomed over everyone and everything, desert and city. 

“Ah. I’ve been here since the very end of the wars, so not too much longer than you. My friend White Lily and I were both deserters, we met up and decided to stick it to the man, as it were.” 

“So you live together?” Cherri Cola’s face had softened into curiosity.

“Yep. We’ve been sheltering in this house for quite a while now, but we’ve lived together for longer than that.” 

Cherri nodded. “I’m on my own. Runaway from Battery City, never found a crew. It must be nice to live with your friend, though.”

At that moment, said friend came tromping through the door. “Hello, D!”

“Hey, Lily!”    

Cherri waved with a quiet “Hello.”

“Hello, random stranger in my kitchen!”

Dr. Death Defying sighed. “White Lily, this is Cherri Cola, he/him. Cherri Cola, this is White Lily, she/her.”

“Nice to meet you,” Cherri said politely. 

“Nice to meet you too, kid! So I’m assuming this softy offered you a place to sleep for the night?”

“I did, he needed a place to stay.”

“Softy.” White Lily turned her grin on Cherri Cola. “You’re welcome to stay for a bit, we’ve got a nice place and an extra room, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t.”

“I can pull my weight,” he offered quietly. “I know how to sew and some first aid and a little bit of fighting, but I’m not great yet.”

“What makes you think you have to pull your weight for us to give you a room for a night?” Lily’s face was genuinely concerned. “Can’t believe I’m going to say this, but chill, kid.”

There was something in Cherri’s eyes that reminded D a little of a wounded animal as he glanced up at Lily. “You’re sure I don’t have to be helpful? I can do a lot of things- okay, not a lot, but I’m pretty good at fixing things and I know how to fire a ray gun, even if I can’t really do hand-to-hand combat.”

"Well, if some dracs attack, then you can put that to good use,” D told him.

“Wait, did you say you can fix things? Tech skills?” Lily leaned forward, and D didn’t have to see her face to know what she was thinking. 

“My…I knew someone who’s an engineer,” Cherri explained.  “I know how to fix a lot of things.”

“You don’t happen to know anything about radio equipment, do you?”

“Lily,” D sighed.

“Some, why?”

“We could use some help getting a radio station off the ground. And shush, D, if he’s going to stay anyways, we might as well figure out if he can help.”

“A radio station…do you have a transmitter? Or anything of the sort? And you need modulators.”

“We’ve got the modulators,” D told him. “We need a transmitter, the little one I found isn’t near powerful enough.”

Cherri Cola frowned, tilting his head. “Well, I’ve got a news van with what I’m assuming is a very powerful transmitter, haven’t tried to use it yet, though. We’d have to figure out how to make it work with audio instead of video, but I bet you could use the antenna from that. An FM station shouldn’t take too much technology, depends on how wide you want the range to be. Power is probably more of an issue?”

“We’ve got some large batteries, do you think we need a more permanent power source?”

They talked until the sun was starting to set, Cherri having quite a bit of useful advice and knowledge to supplement what little research D managed.

And after Cherri was safely asleep in the spare room, Dr. Death Defying and White Lily convened back at the shitty kitchen ‘strategy’ table. 

“You’re not seriously thinking of letting him stay forever,” Lily said as soon as she had taken her seat.

“Why not?” Usually, it would be Lily who asked this question, but “He needs a home.”

“This better not be fucking Socks all over again.” Socks, being, of course, the cat D had tried to take in during the Helium Wars. Not only had he been a lot of trouble, he had eventually run off onto the battlefield, and neither of them had been able to stop him. They could only assume he had been killed in the final days of the wars.

D still regretted that, but this was different. “He’s not a cat, Lil. But he does need a safe place to stay. Besides, you were the one who was grilling him about radio station technology.”

“At first. Then you took over with all your technical words and phrases.”

“All we were doing was talking transmitters.”

“Nerd boy.” 

D sighed. “Anyways. He can clearly be helpful, given how much he knows about radio technology and other things, and he’s obviously in need of a place to stay.”

“Well, we’ve got one of those at least,” Lily sighed. “He better end up a good radio station assistant for you.”

D knew that meant Cherri was staying. “We’ll offer to let him join in the morning.”

“We will.” Lily’s face was serious. “Be prepared for him to say no, D. We’re not famous yet, but being friends with rebellion leaders probably isn’t an easy lot.”

“Of course not.” The flashlight they had hung for light flickered. “We’ll warn him about a friendship with us means, but we can’t just kick him out.”

“Technically, we can, but we’re not going to.”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

The next morning dawned slightly overcast, which was rare in the desert. It provided somewhat of a gloomy atmosphere as Cherri Cola wandered into their living room area with a tired “Morning.”       

“Morning,” Lily yawned back. D was the only one properly awake at the crack of dawn, always an early riser. 

He found it somewhat amusing how non-functional Lily was until she had had some coffee or gotten some adrenaline from a fight. “Good morning.”

Cherri settled down in one of the chairs cautiously as Lily opened her mouth again. “So, D and I were talking. Big softy that he is, he wants to let you stay with us if you want, and I figured you might be pretty handy when it comes to radio stations.”

“Don’t let her twist it, she’s equally on board.” D resisted a sigh. “We do have to warn you, we’re leading a rebellion. Lily is, at least. I’m something like a right hand, I suppose. So it will be dangerous and difficult to be friends with us, and the radio station will not be an easy endeavor either.”

“Can’t be worse than…” Cherri trailed off. “Can’t be worse than wandering the desert on your own in a stolen news van. Do you really want me to stay?”

“Hey, we always want another pair of hands.” White Lily’s joking tone didn’t get a grin out of him.  “You seem like a neat kid, why not let you stay?”

“Guess so.” Cherri yawned again. “So, do you happen to have a screwdriver? I think I’ve got some ideas about the modulators.”

So Cherri Cola came to live with them. His primary occupation was trying to get the radio station able to broadcast, alongside Dr. Death Defying, combining each of their respective technology skill with a lot of guesswork and the knowledge gleaned from whatever books they could find. He rarely went on runs with White Lily at first, but as they found out a week or so in, he turned out to be more than a decent shot with a ray gun.

“Holy fuck, Cola.” White Lily was staring at the empty can he had just knocked over- from a distance of a hundred and twenty feet, further than D or Lily had managed yet. 

“Is that a good or a bad ‘holy fuck’?”

“Good. Holy shit. D and I haven’t hit that yet, not with a shitty little ray gun like yours anyways.”

“What’s wrong with this ray gun?”

“No offense, but that’s a piece of shit.” D watched as she took the ray gun and weighted it in her hands before handing her own to Cherri. “Feel what this one’s like- it’s a little heavier, but it’s a lot nicer. Yours doesn’t even have a stun setting.”

It took him one or two practice shots, but within a few minutes he was shooting even more effectively.

“A hundred and FIFTY feet! D, did you see that?”

“I did,” D told her, glancing over at the youngest of their little trio. “Cherri, we need to get you a better ray gun.” 

The better ray gun would have to wait, though, as the next day, they finally found the last few pieces of equipment and things that they would need for the radio station. They had decided that 109 WKIL would broadcast from the news van Cherri had arrived in, since the antenna was already attached and that way it could be portable if Better Living Industries managed to track their signal. So a few days of fixing later, they had cobbled together a working radio apparatus that could broadcast at a range of thirty miles or so. It had taken a lot of swearing, banging around, and failed test runs, but eventually they had it figured out.

The very first broadcast fell to D, as it was decided he would be the main DJ, and he settled at the panel a little nervously. Cherri was crouched beside him, fiddling with the last few cords. 

“Think we’re good to go,” he whispered.

"Right. Here goes nothing.” D took a deep breath. “One-oh-nine in the sky and the pigs won’t quit, welcome to the very first broadcast by one oh nine WKIL, the rebellious radio station of the desert. I’m Dr. Death Defying, and I’ll be your usual DJ, keeping you updated on all the news from claps to raids to Mad Gear concerts.”

The script had been decided on beforehand so that he didn’t stumble too much, but he still had to pause to take another quick breath and steady himself. “We’ll be doing our broadcast at this time every morning, pretty soon after alarm clock radiation, and we’ll be fanning the spark of this desert into a flame. So tune in, listeners, for all the latest updates, weather, traffic reports, and the best music we’ve got. One oh nine in the sky, this is Dr. Death Defying signing off.”

Cherri gave them a broad grin and a thumbs-up as D fumbled to click the right buttons to get the music going. D grinned right back, and White Lily came charging into the van a few minutes later, brandishing the radio they had been using to test their broadcasting capabilities. 

“It worked! You came though loud and clear, even a good ten miles away, and you’re already getting good at this. I told you, you could do it!” She gave him a high five, grinning, and turned to Cherri. “And good job, soda kid! You’re already a radio station technician.”

Cherri laughed and high-fived her. “Wasn’t expecting to become one at sixteen, but not the worst place I could have ended up.”

They had tried to spread the word as best as possible about the radio station beforehand, so D knew there had been a fair amount of killjoys already listening to the first broadcast. And word travelled quickly in the desert, so he didn’t doubt their listener base would grow over the years. But for now, the rebellion was small, and the twenty-one-year-old leader and her two best friends were heading inside for a celebratory breakfast of power pup.

#cherri cola #dr. death defying #auri writes #coming home #original character #white lily #ttlofk #the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #danger days fic

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Write some new years eve prinxiety!!

Okay!

Prinxiety, new year, got it!

All The Time In The World

-So all of the sides were really close friends as kids. 

-They all met because their parents knew each other, and so at the age of nine they were all dragged to the most boring New Year’s party imaginable.

-They were all kind of shoved into a room, given pretzels, and told to be friends? Yet, some of them didn’t get along AT ALL.

-Despite that, the six of them were forced by boredom to join together in an epic heist to steal food that wasn’t stale pretzels.

-There were twists and complications, and Roman tried to dramatically sacrifice himself so the others would get away, despite all of them being fully capable of running away already. Eventually, the six of them escaped to behind some bushes and feasted on stolen snacks, their heist complete.

-They stayed friends through the rest of elementary school and middle school, their own merry band of geeks, chaotic neutrals, and people who just really like cats.

-Roman and Virgil have been will-they-won’t-they-ing for most of middle school, and Janus and Remus have started taking bets on when they’d get together.

-In fact, Roman and Virgil both independently planned to ask the other out at 8th grade graduation (the other four members of the group know that they’re both planning to do it at the same time. They find it hilarious).

-But everything changed when Roman and Remus’s parents split.

-Roman was dragged away from Florida to Massachusetts to live with his dad, and quickly fades out of the picture. He was kind of the uniting member of the group, so his departure combined with the new stresses of high school scatters the friends to the wind.

-TIME SKIP

-It’s 12th grade. Colleges are worried over, futures discussed, and people try desperately to avoid doing either. 

-The six, now five, have drifted apart. It’s winter break, and no one really knows how they’ll spend their last one. Enter Remy, who is throwing a new years bash. It’s a “small get-together”, which means that everyone in western Florida will be there.

-Virgil is trying very hard to not give into the existential, timeless terror in the air, which could be there because of the inevitability of aging, the fact that the time between December 26th and New Years is on another plane of existence, or the fact that Janus has been summoning the elder gods in his basement (it’s a subplot, but not a huge one).

-He goes ice skating.

-Yes, there are some ice skating rinks in Florida, I checked.

-He isn’t paying much attention to anything but his thoughts, and crashes into a boy he thinks he doesn’t know.

-Can you guess who? Of course you can.

-Once Virgil stops apologizing and realizes it’s Roman...short circuiting emo.

-Roman’s visiting his mom and brother for the holiday. You can guess at exactly the type of shenanigans that will ensue.

-You like mutual pining? I do. I like it a lot. So we have these two disasters confronted with the fact that their feelings for their childhood sweetheart have come back full force, while simultaneously being convinced that, since they haven’t seen the other in years, there’s no way the other feels the same way.

-But enough romance, let’s talk side quests

-Side quests. They’re optional, but you know you’re going to do them for the satisfaction of completion.

-If you’re seeing this from Roman’s perspective, this game’s story-line is technically romance oriented, but the side quests are many.

-Logan: Logan is trying to invent something brilliant, mostly to bolster his college applications. He has many scuttling, clockwork creatures. And they were released.

Whoops.

Will Roman help Logan catch the six models of robot as well as remind him that are people out there who care about him? That’s side quests

-Patton: Patton is trying to help his friend Emile out. Emile has fallen for Remy like a sack of potatoes off of the Eiffel tower, and Patton is attempting to aid the matchmaking process. He’s also quite smiley and not burnt out at all doing great!

Somehow, there’s going to be a jar of live spiders in the wooing-Remy process, and Patton agreed to transport the spiders despite his phobia.

Where are the spiders? What will the spiders do? Why are the spiders? What will Roman do once roped into an arachnid transport scheme? And will he be able to remind Patton that it’s okay to not be completely selfless all the time? That’s side quests

-Janus: Jan is summoning the elder gods in his basement and they are destroying time. What’s a better time than the new year to ring in a new age where there are no more “new years”?

Most players choose to skip this quest :)

If Roman should choose to accept, he’d better bring a lantern and a match, a knowledge of the musical Hadestown, a healthy fear of the late 19th century, and a smile. That’s side quests

-Remus: Remus is determined to never miss his brother again. So even when he’s back from Massachusetts for a week, it’s not like he’ll stay, so it’s better to ignore him and not get attached. 

Besides, he has other stuff to do. Remy’s party is going to be memorable, and he intends to have each and every guest leave with an expression of confusion and horror on their faces.

Just because it’s not Halloween, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a haunted house.

But Roman isn’t going to let his brother slip away from him so quickly (or maybe he will if the side quest isn’t chosen?). A storyline of fake blood, breaking and entering, races against time, and family. That’s side quests

-But back to the main storyline

-Virgil and Roman keep bumping into each other. Near confessions, almost said words, and things kept to themselves abound. Pizza is consumed. 

-Finally, Remy’s party rolls around. And things happen. Holy shit, a lot of things happen.

-All of the side quests converge, madness is had, and the seconds keep counting down.

-When certain things got especially chaotic, Virgil and Roman hide up on the roof. They chat, a cool breeze blowing through the warm Florida winter. It’s cold out, so it is only natural for them to get closer.

-Both are praying that the other will say something.

-Say anything.

-Say something!

-One minute to midnight, Virgil makes a split second decision.

-He says something.

-Roman says something back.

-And you know the tradition where you kiss someone as soon as the clock strikes twelve on the new year?

-Roman and Virgil may not have each other forever. Roman is still 1,261 miles away, and time seems to go faster every day. But on this roof? They have all the time in the world.

Thanks for sending in this prompt!

[happymetalgirl]

Rating Christmas Songs

Yep, it’s that time of year we get inundated wherever we go with mostly shitty Christmas music, usually the same stuff as the years before and the many years before. There are some songs among the barren crop of overplayed tunes that I think are pretty enjoyable, but for the most part I feel pretty confident that most of us are just putting up with the vast majority of the holiday playlist (I mean no one is dying to play any of these songs any other time of year, so they can’t be that great), so it’s time to set the record straight.

Here’s a rating of a few of the season’s musical staples and some brief reasons behind them. I’m sure I’m missing a few classics, but do feel free to bring them up and I will offer my thoughts on them. Granted these songs all have dozens, of not hundreds or thousands of versions, so I’m kind of going by an average of what I generally hear, not the dubstep remix version or even my favorite version necessarily.

-

“Jingle Bells”

The classic, easy to sing, easy to play on whatever instrument, upbeat childhood Christmas song. It’s hard to mess this one up, and I’m just glad it’s not trying to get all overly serious about Christmas as many of the songs further down this list do. But I mean, it’s fucking “Jingle Bells”, who actually gives a shit about this plinky-ass song.

5/10

“O Holy Night”

This one’s cool the first several years you hear it because it sounds pretty grand and epic, but it does wear off after awhile. Still, I’d rather hear this song than most, and I’ve yet to hear it truly butchered. So cheers to that!

7/10

“Jingle Bell Rock”

The failed swaggering “update” or cousin of the classic children’s Christmas song, it’s one of those songs that sounds like a bunch of upper class white folks sipping wine and putting on the usual façade of in-person Facebook-style humble bragging and life-highlighting about their year for the family they’ve not flexed on all year or since Thanksgiving. The song though is so drab and seemingly intentional sucked of lol the fun the kid’s song had, and in its place is just overly drolly Sinatra-imitation with no spirit at all. It’s the definition of background music, and it’s for the worst kind of background. Dancing to it sure as hell sucks. If you’re hearing this song, you’re probably not having as much fun as you’re supposed to be for a song that’s supposedly more “rock”.

2/10

"O Tanenbaum"

While his semi-jazzed-up approach that characterizes the rest of the soundtrack still seeps into this song, I’ve always loved the more stripped back piano-centric approach that Vince Guaraldi takes with this song on the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. The simple and sweet lullaby-esque melody at the core of the song really works well with the instrumentally minimal approach (which I do hear most often) and it evokes a sense of very sweet nostalgia (for me at least), and I can’t not like it.

9/10

“Angels We Have Heard on High”

You know I’ve heard some pretty alright versions of this song when it’s pushed toward its more energetic side. That over the top run on “glOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoria” tends to be the make-or-make moment of the song, and when a singer or choir commits to it and goes all out, it can sound pretty rad; I’m sure some power metal band somewhere out there has put a decent spin on it. The rigid, traditional delivery I hear more often, though, sadly sounds more often like it’s had the life sucked out of it.

7/10

“Silent Night”

Probably my favorite of the soft Christmas songs, just soulful melodies abound here and written in a way that hasn’t encouraged too many stupid renditions.

9/10

“Santa Baby”

This song is just fuckin’ weird, and I get the place of romance it’s coming from lyrically: finally dropping the charade of Santa Claus and being romantic with the speaker’s husband after putting on the act for the children. It’s cute and endearing, but god is it always so weirdly sung, in a hyperseductive baby voice, not subtle at all, and kind of not fitting with the kind of sweet endearing romanctic tone you would think it’d be carrying if you just read the lyrics. There are definitely worse Christmas/holiday romance songs, and I can definitely imagine this song being performed more sweetly than it usually is.

6/10

“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!”

This. Song. Is. A. Banger. Glorious and triumphant as shit! It sounds good slow and fast, but definitely best when it’s played bold and loud, as opposed to some contrived-ass attempt at a ballad. This song feels like finishing a marathon. I’d pay to hear Khemmis do this fuckin’ song.

10/10

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Sinatra’s version of the song is probably the most famous at this point, and as a consequence, the very title I think tends to invoke his signature smooth delivery on its own. I used to hate this one, but these days I find its naturally soothing character much more welcoming, god, especially this year. I can see why some find it to droll and sloggy, but I think it’s a nice wind-down tune.

7/10

“Last Christmas”

You know, the original synth-pop version by Wham! isn’t too bad on its own; George Michael’s delivery is pretty heartfelt and I can see why it’s become such modern Christmas staple. However, in the context of Christmas background music, that repetitive chorus refrain that seems to be the only lyric anyone knows in the song, gets really grating when it’s the only thing that sticks out, the more scaled-back delivery of the verses aiding their being buried in the chatter with your eggnog-sipping relatives. Furthermore, I’ve yet to hear a cover of the song less dry than sandpaper. Positive points to the original only.

6/10

“Away in a Manger”

This song certainly gets points for its strong narrative consistency, but aside from the “the stars in the sky” line, the melody is really really lame, and infantile in a bad way, and I have yet to hear a version that doesn’t sound like it was done by or similar to an apathetic children’s choir. It’s that quintessential song that every church kindergarten choir gets forced to sing because it’s nice and slow and narrow-range that all the kids look absolutely braindead singing. Not that it’s ever the kids’ fault or anything, it’s just a boring-ass song whose weak-ass strategy hinges on a bunch of 5-year-olds getting into something they clearly don’t give a shit about.

4/10

“The Little Drummer Boy”

You know, I could envision a slow-building post-rock-esque version of this song being pretty cool, but to date, all I have heard is stiff corny solo vocal delivery a la Angela from The Office and haphazard attempts at injecting tons of energy into the song that don’t really fix the kooky melody at the core of it. I swear you can always hear whoever is singing it getting red in the face from the needless intensity.

3/10

"Christmas Time Is Here"

Another solid cut from the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, its rather simple instrumental foundation serves as a pretty solid introductory piece for the season; it feels so much like welcoming in the winter. And then of course the jazz embellishments on the instrumental version are some of the best in the Christmas genre, though listening to the soundtrack these days makes me wonder what it would be like if a more bombastic and dynamic jazz band took these songs on a more wild ride. I would love to hear that.

8/10

“Joy to the World”

It’s a little bit cheesy, but I kinda appreciate how ridiculously celebratory this tune is. It’s another one that I think would be interesting to hear Khemmis do a quick cover of, despite the religious theme that doesn’t really fit into their style. At the very least, it always sounds fun or, indeed, joyous.

7/10

“We Three Kings”

I’m not convinced anyone cares about this song.

5/10

“The First Noel”

This is another one of those songs whose runny melody tends to lead to it being delivered so often way too seriously, never really all too fun or worthy of the seriousness either.

3/10

“O Come, O Come Emanuel”

This is another one of those songs that, on the surface, seems more genuine with its minor key and often stoic delivery, and that definitely makes it better than the vast majority of Christmas songs, but the melody and lyrics are a bit oddly mismatched, and the melody that serves as the key appeal in the song does wear thin as the years go on. Nevertheless, I always do seem to find a cool new version ever year or two.

7/10

“Do You Hear What I Hear?”

Goddamn this is such a goofy-ass song. Who the hell made this? I cannot take it seriously. One point for all the kids for the apt “do you smell what I smell?”

1/10

“Mary Did You Know?”

Again, who wrote these lyrics? Like, in the story Mary made up to explain her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, that was kind of the main thing, that this kid would do some crazy shit. I can’t take this song seriously either, especially when it gets the goofy overly operatic treatment.

3/10

“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”

It’s another one of those songs that literally just says what Santa Claus does. Musically it’s catchy-ish, but I mean it’s about Santa Claus, and it’s so often sung in that overly serious, toned down Motown style that no kid likes. I never liked hearing it then, and I don’t now.

3/10

“12 Days of Christmas”

Structurally iconic, this song really doesn’t offer anything beyond that; have you ever tried listening to someone doing the whole thing? It gets old really fast, and the fact that the “halfway” point in the song, the six geese a-laying, isn’t actually the halfway point, because the verses get longer and longer... fuck! The only thing this song is good for is for structuring workouts around, nothing regarding listening to the song. It gets one point for its utility.

1/10

“It Came upon a Midnight Clear”

We really are in a stretch of trash Christmas songs right now. I don’t think this is anyone’s favorite Christmas song. It’s so lethargic and sleep-inducing, I’m falling asleep just thinking about it.

3/10

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”

Eh, it’s kinda not a really important song. At least it wakes you up, but apart from throwing some energy into the Christmas playlist that many are often desperate for, it’s just a cheery addition of holiday-themed white noise.

4/10

“What Child Is This?”

Finally some good fucking food. I’ve heard some baller versions of this captivatingly grand song, whose accidentals and minor key really make it one of the more interesting listens during the holiday season. I would dig an Opeth cover or a Pallbearer cover, or... a Khemmis cover.

8/10

“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

This is just one of those standard, old-timey, inoffensive season-themers. It’s alright, I’ve never heard any version of it that really blows my mind.

5/10

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

This one is almost indistinguishable from, but significantly less annoying than, “Jingle Bell Rock” and is similarly stiff in a way that it’s clearly not meant to be.

3/10

“White Christmas”

This might take the cake for the sleepiest Christmas song out there. It is SLOW, like Bell Witch should ironically do a 20-minute-long cover of it just to see how it goes.

4/10

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

The shopping mall theme song. It’s always given that Sinatra treatment and it only barely fits well enough into that style.

4/10

“Feliz Navidad”

This one always feels like it needs to be sung with a big, cheerful group to capture the liveliness that its main appeal is based in, which puts it at a distinct disadvantage this year. Still, it’s always a fun, sometimes even bouncy song to play during the holiday season.

7/10

“Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer”

I do actually welcome the absurd narrative that has somehow made itself one of the season’s ironic staples, and its slightly dark humor makes for a nice change of pace in the playlist with its upbeat, campy humor.

6/10

“Deck the Halls”

Fa la la la la, la la la no.

Annoying as fuck: 2/10

“Frosty the Snowman”

God, this song should be way more cheery and kid-friendly than it is. I mean, I’m sure kids don’t mind it, but it’s just yet ANOTHER one of those songs that can’t escape its old-timey suit-and-tie incarnation for the liveliness it desperately needs.

4/10

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

One of the more compositionally clunky of the well-known minor-key Christmas songs, this one unfortunately tends to show why minor-key songs are generally a weird fit for theme. I have heard a good few modern renditions though that make the song worth keeping around.

6/10

“Jingle in the Jungle”

This one’s for the real ones out there. “Jingle in the Jungle” is not a real Christmas song per se, but it pushes the boundaries; it’s courageous. The song comes from the television series, Bob’s Burgers, in a stressful Christmas-themed episode where the musically adventurous son of the titular character, Gene, burns out his dad’s cell phone battery waiting on hold for a radio station to request this song. The phone dies and he does not get the chance to request the song, but a Christmas miracle occurs, and the station decides to play the obscure, bongo-laden song anyway, and it sure is a fun minute-long diddy.

8/10

“Wonderful Christmastime”

Paul McCartney’s peppy Christmas tune that only kinda accomplishes its light-hearted goal is simply one of many throwaway inoffensive modern Christmas songs that seems to have only gained cultural traction due to it being repetitive and simplistic af, and being made by a Beatle.

5/10

“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”

Well it would only make sense to have the battle of the Beatles here with John Lennon’s standout Christmas track, a far more soulful, bombastic, and triumphant song that echoed his idealistic spirit in a way that makes this song not all too different from his standout solo works and compositions with The Beatles. It’s a warm, hopeful song that draws from a grounding in the harshness of reality rather than some escapist fantasies about Santa or religion. Despite the acknowledgement of the ills of the world, Lennon’s vision of Christmas and his wish for the world is a day of recognition of love and unity, which is purer than 99% of the dogmatic or materialistic Christmas music above, and definitely the song right below this one.

9/10

“The Christmas Shoes”

Alright, rubbing the hands together, we’re coming to the end here, with this fucking song. It’s not the most famous Christmas song, thank God, but when I heard it for the first time, I was immediately repelled by the saccharine melody, uncannily blank-faced delivery, and sappy lyrics, but it’s one of those special songs that gradually reveals several layers of shit the more you fixate on it. For the uninitiated, the song came out in the year 2000, from the Christian band NewSong; it’s an aggressively sentimental holiday ballad with a bit of pop country vocal flair that only adds to the sinister hokey-ness of the lyrics. And that really is the ugliest facet of this song; as sickeningly cheesy as the music is, the simple lyrics here are more morbid and more disgusting than the grossest brutal death metal songs. The song is a simple narrative about a poor boy buying his sick mom some nice shoes on Christmas Eve so she can look nice for Jesus when she dies, tonight, on Christmas Eve. Yeah, it’s fucking sickening. The song is narrated from the perspective of a man in the store when the boy is buying the shoes and the narrator offers to buy the shoes for him, and he muses vaguely and confusingly on his generosity and Jesus being the “true” meaning of Christmas. Yes, there are so many questions being begged by this narrative. Why would Jesus give a shit about the shoes? Why is getting shoes this divine Christmas gesture? How do these shoes even come close to offsetting the pain and suffering and loss this family is suffering. This is like the opposite of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas” in that it’s offering a pathetic consolation for the cruelty of a world where a loving God apparently offers only a stranger’s mild and momentary generous gesture for a poor family in the thralls of a mother’s illness. It’s grounded in the same reality that John Lennon presents, but it whitewashes it and minimizes the suffering in a manipulative way to shoehorn a rather cliche reminder to adhere to religious dogma and to keep your mind pure and holy and only on Jesus. A plain-faced telling of the narrative on its own makes it seem kind of benign, but the weirdly sappy tone of it all does a pretty poor job of hiding how contrived the emotion is and how unnatural it all is. Every facet of the lyrics is crafted to maximize the superficial primal tug at the heartstrings; it’s supposed to feel extremely tender and sweet, and aside from being completely transparently manufactured, the response it delivers to the story it sets up is creepily unhuman, the opposite of a natural response to the details of what the song presents, and its misplaced sense of justice makes the song a pretty apt representation of so much wrong with evangelicals’ attitudes surrounding Christmas.

0/10

“All I Want for Christmas Is You”

by Mariah Carrey. Ending on a positive note. Probably the best and most classic modern Christmas song to come out in my lifetime, it’s a sweet, romantic, upbeat love tune that really captures the best aspects of the holiday season. Never mind the relatives and their dumb political views and drama or the religious nonsense that people get so disingenuously up in arms about, or the consumerism. Christmas at its best is a time to appreciate love, and this song gets it.

9/10

And that is it, for me, I obviously know I will never be able to rate every Christmas/holiday song ever.

I had some time, so I had a little fun and charted the 38 semi-serious ratings of Christmas songs here, which I will also be doing with the 200-something metal albums I’ve been reviewing and now rating at the end of the year. Should be interesting. Now 38 isn’t a particularly huge sample of the huge swath of Christmas songs, nor was it random (I just listed a bunch of songs I was familiar with). It didn’t produce the normal curve I somewhat expect for the larger sample of metal albums later at the end of the year; rather, it shows a two-peak pattern, which could be due to the sample size, or maybe it just illustrates a somewhat unsurprising polarized sample of opinions on Christmas songs. The songs that I remember that are (mostly) pretty common, I either really like or really don’t like, most of the songs are not in the middle. These were songs I have heard for a long time and remembered pretty vividly, so I’ve developed some relatively strong opinions on them. Anyway, look at this graaaaaaphh.

#Christmas #Christmas songs #Christmas music #Holiday songs #holiday music

[llynprintonnarrativedesign]

Quest Analysis: Hollow Knight, Control, Darkest Dungeon

Today I am going to analyze three quests from different games, the Bretta quest from Hollow Knight, the Polaris quest from Control, and the Courtyard quests from Darkest Dungeon. 

Let us begin with Bretta. Bretta herself is an NPC you can find and rescue in the Fungal Wastes area of the game, after which she will return to Dirtmouth, the main town. This will unlock her house as an area the player can enter as well as a health upgrade.

From here the player can ‘talk’ to her (the player is silent, she does talk though), where she regards the player as a beautiful savior.

From here nothing will change until/unless the player faces Zote in the Colosseum of Fools, (after rescuing him elsewhere), finally, Zote will begin to interact with Bretta in town, where Bretta will eschew the player character and prefer Zote to them. 

From here, the player can choose to face the dream version of Zote within Bretta’s own mind, after doing so four times, Bretta will become disillusioned with the both of them, and leave town. This quest is entirely optional and not required for the main story. Zote especially can be left to die rather than rescued, which means some players may not even get halfway done in their own playthrough. The quest itself exists mostly as a way to get essence from defeating Zote’s dream form, and also as an opportunity to beat up Zote, who honestly deserves it, and giving the player satisfaction from doing so.

Next up is Polaris, the penultimate quest in the game’s main storyline. The quest mostly focuses itself in two areas: the Ashtray Maze, and the Hedron Chamber.

The Ashtray Maze itself is a linear set of combat encounters tied to a decent enough piece of music. The main issue with it is that it is set up as a magically confusing maze, and seems like it would be a puzzle of some form, instead the solution to the maze is disappointingly just to get a quest item from an npc at the end of the previous quest. 

While the game itself does use this as a way to gate the player from reaching one of its big climactic fights before they’re supposed to, it also does so in a rather boring way. The game takes what should/could have been an interesting puzzle with a maze that quite literally verges into alternate dimensions, and instead makes it the reward to “go the place and talk to the guy” quest from earlier in the game.

After this point is where the player makes their way through the Dimensional Research area and meets Polaris itself, the physical body of the mysterious presence that has been aiding the player throughout the game. Again, this element is a little disappointing, as the fight is mostly just trying to get high enough to reach Polaris, going from platform to platform and just fighting high level enemies. Like many other areas in the game, it’s cool to look at, but the gameplay itself is lacking. While levitating 10 feet off the ground and chucking giant rocks at enemies is fun for normal encounters, as what should be a boss fight/end to one of the main story quests it is rather lacking.

Lastly is the Courtyard from the Crimson Court DLC for Darkest Dungeon. The courtyard is different from other areas the player does quests in, while normal quest areas have one off quests that the player completes and gains a reward for or fails, the courtyard has several ‘epic’ sized quests. Each epic quest can be retreated from and resumed at the point it was left off without suffering the normal consequences of failure. Additionally, in order to start a quest here the player must find invitations, which drop after completing a courtyard quest, or by beating the gatekeeper enemy that occasionally spawns in other questing areas.

Each quest in the courtyard is associated with a boss that spawns there, and the epic size of the quests means that finding the boss and fully clearing the level of the courtyard you are on will take many forays into the area, making each individual level feel much more like a dungeon that you are exploring than the randomly generated and much smaller levels present in the rest of the game.

The courtyard also eschews normal light mechanics for the game, where in other areas the player can have high light to stay safe, or low light to get a chance at a greater reward, the courtyard is always at a pale halflight that increases the chance for heroes to be hit with a bleed effect.

Additionally, nearly all of the enemies you will encounter in the courtyard are ‘bloodsuckers’ and can infect your heroes with the crimson curse. The curse is permanent and the main gameplay reward for exploring the courtyard is finding a way to cure it.

The courtyard itself adds an additional way to play the game as compared to the randomly generated normal quest areas, while it is still punishingly difficult, it is much more structured and less reliant on random chance than the rest of the game. Each boss fought in the courtyard is, in my opinion, more unique than most bosses fought elsewhere, each having a trick to fighting them, where bosses in the base game are much more standard (though not all of them to be fair).

Also, if utilized properly, the crimson curse can be a benefit rather than a malus, providing heroes additional combat buffs if they are allowed to feed on the blood, a consumable object that can be readily found in the courtyard. 

Overall, the courtyard offers a different way to play Darkest Dungeon while taking the player through the story of the decadence that led to its decay, posing questions about the eldritch abomination at the heart of the old manor and what fiendish offspring it may have left to prowl the surface world, while also raising potential answers as to what set the ancestor on his grim discovery in the first place. The courtyard expands the gameplay and story scope of the game and is a good addition to Darkest Dungeon.

#videogames #analysis #gameanalysis #controlgame #darkest dungeon #hollow knight

[kanawolf]

Bloodborne

’m gonna assume this is for this meme! Thank you anon!

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Gilbert, Eileen, and The Doll are all tied for first. I love them all so much, equally, but for different reasons.

Least Favorite character: Eehh, probably Gehrman to be honest.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): The Hunter/Gilbert, Lady Maria/Saint Adeline, Gascoigne/Viola, Henryk/Djura, Yurie/The Hunter (specifically ladies or enby hunters, Yurie is not into dudes).

Character I find most attractive: I mean, hands down Lady Maria

Character I would marry: Gilbert. He is, as far we know, one of the few decent people in the game

Character I would be best friends with: Ideally Eileen, maybe Djura and the Doll too

a random thought: The statues on the bridge leading to Cathedral Ward are some of my favorite set pieces, not only with the aesthetics, but also with the lore connections. They look like people seeking aid, praying for help, and even weeping, which makes sense for both times, during the height of the Healing Churchs’ influence, and during the time the game is set in when everything is decaying and rotting away.

An unpopular opinion: I don’t know if it’s an unpopular opinion or not, but I have always wondered over the “Older Sister” that you meet in Gascoigne and Viola’s home after you tell the Young Girl where to go. I doubt that she’s actually the sister and oldest daughter of Viola and Gascoigne, but rather a playmate to the young girl from a different family who either has already lost her parents, or who’s family wasn’t very kind/loving and so she was jealous of the Young Girl for having good parents and thus pretended to be part of the family when the Young Girl left. I do love the two young girls as sisters though.

My Canon OTP: Gascoigne/Viola

My Non-canon OTP: All the ones in the top 5 ship question along with Viola/Eileen, Henryk/Djura, Henryk/Gascoigne, Yurie/Saint Adelaine, Yurie/Lady Maria, and and all the ships I have for The Hunter (specifically mine lol).

Most Badass Character: Viola, for going out into the streets to find and save her husband, and Eileen, for being an amazing mentor and continuing to do what she thinks is right even though she doesn’t dream anymore.

Most Epic Villain: Probably Ludwig. I really like his design, and while I would hesitate to call any of the bosses in the game the “villain”, I think in terms of lore, he has a pretty big impact, not to mention the cutscene in the middle of his fight, the dialogue, and the music all come together to make a really memorable moment and boss fight.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Gehrman/Maria, for a few reasons, including some personal ones.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I don’t think they really screwed up any of the characters, but I do wish they had done a couple things differently with Gascoigne, Viola, Henryk, and the Young Girl.

I think it would have been interesting if you got to summon Gascoigne and/or Henryk during the Cleric Beast fight, and I almost wish that they placed the Father Gasoigne fight after Vicar Amelia that way they both could be summoned for that fight too. Gascoigne and Henryk could both then have some dialogue about Viola and the Young Girl, and there could be some subtle dialogue about Gascoigne’s risk of going blood drunk and mad. That would then make it so that when you meet the Young Girl and she tells you her mom is missing because her dad wasn’t being himself, that would make that entire quest even more heartwrenching, especially when you see Henryk has also gone mad after you have to kill Viola.

Otherwise, if that hadn’t happened, I wish you could have found Viola before she dies, and instead could have sent her back home to her daughter with the promise that you’d do your best to save Gascoigne, even though he’d still be a major and necessary boss fight.

I think you should be able to save the Young Girl regardless though, she should’ve been able to be saved, and I wouldn’t have minded that being an escort quest/mission tbh.

I also think it would have been nice if you could save Gilbert and/or Eileen.

Favourite Friendship: Eileen & The Hunter, or I like to imagine Henryk, Gascoigne, Djura, and Eileen were all friends with each other too.

Character I most identify with: Probably Lady Maria. I too have thought of locking myself in a tower out of guilt over things I’ve done and wish to hide/forget but can’t. Otherwise...maybe the Hunter? Because I too am clueless about most things but also curious and when I can tell there is something or there’s an interesting puzzle, then I would also like to understand it all.

Character I wish I could be: I mean, probably Eileen, if I had to choose. She’s one of the few morally decent people, and she’s also super cool.

#boo talks #bloodborne #thank you for the ask nonnie!! #Anonymous

[disinvited-guest]

3/6/2020 Chicago

I got to hang out with a whole bunch of awesome people before this show, both people I knew and ones I just met that day.  It almost made it worth the freezing temperatures to meet them all.  Once we got in to the much warmer venue, I got a spot to the left of the keyboard, with folks to talk to on both sides.  

Fresh outdid himself in the fashion department at this show. As he was setting up, he proudly displayed jagged-striped pink-and-green neon socks, a yellow sweatshirt with Simba printed all over it, and a headband with a print I didn’t catch all the details of, but included the word “Krap!” and bull horns.

Note: I am shortening the recap for the first set, since it was a copy of the one from the night before, except that they didn’t play the forward version of Sapphire Bullets.  This show didn’t have much banter in the first set regardless, but I’ll share what there was.  The second  set recap will be the regular length

During the first block of songs, Dan had to switch to his backup electric briefly, which sounded louder than the other, but switched back by the next song.  Danny had a band-aid with him when they went onstage.  He unwrapped it and put it on his thumb during the first few songs, then spent the rest of the set rewrapping it as it kept peeling off.

After the first block of songs, Flans asked Linnell how it was going.  Linnell told him to hold on because “I have to check.”  After a pause, he decided “I think it’s going pretty good.”

Flans  said he had a good day and that he had taken an afternoon nap.  He had also worked on some of the songs he had messed up the day before because “There is no off-switch on this okay button.”

Linnell replied that “Buttons with switches on them are tricky,” and then changed the subject, introducing us all to his new keyboard stand. “I did get a new keyboard stand and I can’t stop talking about it.”

Flans told him that talking a lot about the keyboard stand was okay because of “how much you have to listen to us talk about guitar amps.”

Linnell gave us some more details on the keyboard stand. According to him, the stand has wells in the front because it is based on his old keyboard stand, which was designed by Brian Dewan “who’s greatest wish was to design a school desk.”  “I keep my math homework over there, and over here I carved the Aerosmith logo”  He then told us that the new stand has a drawer, which the old one didn’t.  Linnell wanted to open the drawer to show us, but it wasn’t facing anyone, so he told Flans that they should post a video of what it looks like online. 

When Linnell brought up that Minimum Wage has a whip crack in it on the album, he suggested that the audience could do it here. Flans replied that the audience would have to, since they didn’t finish sound production on the song.

Before Stilloob, Flans called it the “Playing a Song From Flood Backwards Challenge.”  While  explaining what they would do, he told us that for this part of the show “I don’t want to say there is no audience enjoyment, but the amount of audience enjoyment is finite.”  At the next stopping point after the song Flans announced “We are challenging all other They Might Be Giants like bands.  WE KNOW who they are,” to complete the ‘challenge’.  During the next song, Lucky Ball and Chain, Flans pulled what I presume was the lyric sheet for Stilloob off of his stand, crumpled it up, and threw it upstage behind Curt’s riser.

Flans told the balcony that they couldn’t rock out too much, and that the venue last night had been “like playing in a coliseum.”

Later, Flans decided the show was going too fast, and he had to slow it down.  He told us to get out our phones, demanding “What are you? At work?” when we were slow to do so.  Then he had the whole band come up to pose for photos.  We were told to post the photos and tag them @hodgeman.  I wonder if any confused fans actually did.

In between sets, Fresh had to fight with a lady standing a few people to my left, who kept putting her jacket and purse on the carpet for Marty’s electronic drum kit, even after he had asked her to remove them.  Saul, making sure the lights for the Quiet Storm were adjusted properly, bent his legs while checking at Linnell’s mic so that he could check how the lights were at Linnell’s height, which was a hilarious necessity I hadn’t considered before.

When the intro music for the second set began, Flans stuck onstage by going around behind the risers for some reason.  Once he made it to his mic with his guitar, I realised he didn’t have his glasses on.

Once again, 2082 was the first song of the set, despite the setlist, which had 2018 written instead.  Linnell’s mic was off for the first line and a half of the song, so it was a strange start, although the rest of the song was unaffected by it.  

Because I was right by the electronic drum kit, the whole Quiet Storm was a bit strange, as the actual sound of the mallets hitting sounded as clear as the electronic sounds those hits generated.  It was a bit disorienting at first!  I also could see little pieces of fluff falling off of the mallets and floating away as he played.

After 2082, they played Music Jail, which once again blew me away.  I realized that a big part of its ability to be so rocking was that the electronic drums allowed Marty to take over a larger part of the song.

Once Music Jail was finished, John Brunette slipped onstage to give Flans his glasses.  Flans stepped back to grab them and even way off mic, it was easy to hear his cry of “Oh, thank god”  Stepping quickly back to the mic and placing his glasses on his face, he introduced Linnell as on on the keyboards for the next song.

“Nothing makes our short, unsatisfying unplugged set better than electronic drums and a keyboard,” he announced. 

 “It’s acoustic!”  Linnell promised us, “Except for the drums and the keyboard.”

Moving on, Flans introduced the next song. “This song is about what makes New England so special, which might not mean much here.”  This led, of course, into Wicked Little Critta, and then they all left us with the Underwater Woman Video once again while the crew cleaned up.

As the song was finishing, they all returned to the stage.  Linnell, watching the video as he came on, mouthed along to a few of the words, basically singing along to himself.

Rather than start back into the music right away, Flans came up to the mic and told us all “We talk a lot about healthcare in the band. Now it's time to talk about some music.”  He told us the next song was off of My Murdered Remains “a name no one in our management was happy with” and mentioned that it was not available for streaming.  

Linnell chimed in to say that this was a new strategy, calling it an ‘inreach’ program instead of outreach.  “If you think you can help,” Flans said to the crowd “We’re okay!” Then they started into The Communists Have the Music.  

From there, they played Wearing a Raincoat, and then Damn Good Times, which was their first deviation from the setlist of the night before!  I had honestly grown a bit tired of this song in 2018, but clearly all I had needed was some time away, because I was overjoyed to hear it again!  Dan was, of course, particularly amazing during this song, and especially smiley during the remainder of the set.

They paused only briefly after DGT to announce that the next song was about a near eastern rock band, then played The Mesopotamians, followed immediately by Spy.  Linnell had a different sample this time around, a woman singing “very-very” which I couldn’t place, and he also yelled high and low opposite the band playing.  Flans had a bit more luck directing the crowd than he did in Milwaukee, and also engaged in playing his guitar while pressing his mic stand to the strings.

They played Ana Ng, which is always fun live, and then Let Me Tell You About My Operation, with Flans calling out “Paging Doctor Beller!” before that absolutely epic drum part in the instrumental part of the song.

After that run of songs, everyone on stage looked a bit breathless.  Linnell must have been feeling it, since he decided they needed to “take this high energy and slow it down by talking about something boring.”

Flans agreed with him and said that the show was going by too fast. “It’s like it’s still the first set. It’s like we still care!”

Linnell, who had just taken a sip from his coffee cup, mentioned that his new keyboard stand had no drink holder but “I guess school desks don’t have drink holders”

“You do have a rearview mirror,” Flans pointed out.

“I do!”  He turned it around briefly so that we all could see.  “It’s so Marty can keep an eye on me.  So he can see if I’m making faces.”

“Marty has ways of keeping an eye on everybody,” Flans added. “Now that it’s the third act of Behind the Music all the secrets everyone already knew can come out.”

Linnell started to respond, then broke off  “Danny is pressuring me to start the song, isn’t he?”  Danny was waiting attentively, but patiently behind the keyboard.  When Linnell asked about him, I looked over and he met my eyes.  I smiled at him, and shook my head.  He wasn’t pressuring Linnell at all!  He smiled back at me, and walked over to stand in front of Marty’s riser.  Linnell, meanwhile, had turned to look for Danny asking  “Where is he?”  Finding Danny’s new spot, Linnell told him “Okay Danny, we can start the song.”

This led into Museum of Idiots.  Danny does seem to get a bit nervous about starting this song, which makes sense because it’s him all by himself for the first few measures.  I also think that the Johns tend to intentionally go off on tangents before this song just to tease him about it, but that’s only speculation.

Istanbul was very similar to the previous night (which means it was great).  I realized that Dan is playing both his acoustic and his electric guitar during the course of this song, which is awesome!

They finished out the set with Theme from Flood, but were back on soon for their first encore.  This started out with New York City.  Most of the time, their live version of this song starts off with an almost lullaby-esque quality to the first verse, before being kicked up into a super high-energy song from the second verse onward.  During  this performance though, that transition never happened, meaning that the whole song was performed in that softer tone, with Flans sweetly singing and the gentle xylophone tones on Linnell’s keyboard.  It was absolutely beautiful, but perhaps not entirely intentional.  I saw some of the guys exchanging ‘wtf’ looks during and after the song, and as soon as the song was over, Linnell told us all he was a bit confused.

They played Doctor Worm next, with Linnell changing the settings on the keyboard for Dan once again. Once it was over, as they were leaving the stage again, Marty smacked his head straight into a mic as he was walking offstage.  I guess he wasn’t looking where he was going, but he shook it off and seemed fine.

The second encore started with She’s An Angel, the version that starts with just Linnell singing so wonderfully.  They finished out their evening by playing The Guitar, with Curt and Linnell giving us the Future of Sound.  During FoS Marty, who was keeping time on his kick drum, had his hands above his head, and was moving them slightly as if he might clap, then jerking them back apart, which was beautifully bizarre.  Finishing the Guitar, Flans thanked us all for coming out and they left the stage for the night.

After the show, Marty and Danny were back on to give things out, Danny with a huge pile of stickers that he began passing out right away.  After a few moments, he broke off to give out setlists.  After giving one to me, he said “Goodnight, sweetie,” and touched my shoulder.  I left the venue feeling lighter than air.

#tmbg #recap

[blueskydreama]

Uncharted is my favorite action adventure video game franchise of all time. I tried my absolute best to be as unbiased as possible when writing this review, but I have to admit that I did fall into the trap more than once. Coming from the talented developers at Naughty Dog, creators of the smash hit The Last of Us, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End wraps up the story of Nathan Drake and his comrades in this last, massive and explosive adventure. The PS4 has long been aching for an exclusive killer app, and Naughty Dog has done everything in their power to make sure UC4 fits the bill. It does. Oh, sweet mother of God, it does.

 WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR UNCHARTED 4

Uncharted 4 picks up the story several years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Having retired from the life of a treasure hunting rogue, Drake has made a relatively normal life for himself, making a living as a salvager of cargo from underwater wrecks. However, his new life is quickly disrupted with the reappearance of his long-presumed dead brother Sam. Sam is in trouble. A Panamanian drug lord by the name of Hector Alcázar has demanded that Sam find the lost treasure of pirate Henry Avery in 3 months or he will be killed. Not an easy task, especially considering he and his brother tried once before 15 years ago and failed. Drake reluctantly accepts his brother’s pleas for help, and sets off an explosive chain of events that culminates in one of the best twists I have experienced in a long time.

Uncharted 4 will take players across the globe in a journey that puts some of the most epic adventures to shame. Players will visit Italy and pull off a high stakes heist at a black market auction, Scotland, visit Madagascar and explore the plateau, and the fabled pirate paradise of Libertalia. The story is larger than ever before, with betrayal, emotion and intensity the likes of which the previous games could only dream of. The pacing of the plot is near perfection, with an excellent balance of chaos, thrill and quiet moments, although the introduction sequence could have been better paced. However, after the (simply spectacular) opening credit scene, the pacing is far smoother, and really begins to feel like a summer blockbuster.

The voice acting is the greatest it’s ever been. Troy Baker is absolutely phenomenal as Drake’s brother, and Nolan North is at his finest portraying a worn out, tired Drake, while Emily Rose (Elena) and Richard McGonagle (Sully) also put on top acts. You truly feel that these actors have become their characters, and feel the emotional weight behind their performances.

The ending is controversial, I won’t deny that, and while it irked many people, I personally believe that it could not have been better handled. There is simply no better way to send off Naughty Dog’s flagship franchise.

Being an adventure game, it goes without saying that the locations will be exotic – and absolutely gorgeous. Naughty Dog has forced the absolute maximum potential of the PS4 for this game. The environments are huge and richly detailed, with lush foliage that bends and moves with the characters, and glistens and drips in the rain. Puddles splash when the player moves in them, and water refracts light. The animation is top notch, with characters having unique combat poses and idle stances. The level of detail and polish present in this game is beyond anything I have seen before, even on current generation games. While I can’t say anything for the authenticity in the locations, considering that Naughty Dog modelled Kathmandu in Uncharted 2 true to life, I can say it’s a safe bet they did the same here, although obvious liberties had to be taken for gameplay purposes.

Characters react realistically to the environment. When brawling in muddy locations, character react accordingly, flinging mud and becoming covered the gunk. They drip water and their clothing becomes heavy and darker colored when soaked. Skin shines and trails water, and hair becomes matted. I constantly found myself slack-jawed at the lengths the developers went for this game.

Graphics aside, the sound is unmatched. Gunfire is thunderous and jolting, and the environmental SFX are astounding. When in the jungle, you believe you are there, with howler monkeys screeching and birds calling. The wilds of Madagascar are populated with cicadas and typical wildlife. The hurricane in the opening level is terrifying. The music is astounding, with sweeping orchestral pieces during action and peaceful melodies that play during the more intimate moments.

The production values are through the roof. The game truly feels as if you are playing a summer blockbuster movie, and the near complete lack of bugs and glitches is the icing on the cake.

Not too much has changed since Drake’s Deception hit shelves in November of 2011. The gunplay is just as refined as ever, and feels smooth and very fluid, especially with the new lock on mechanic – although that can make getting headshots somewhat difficult; however, it can be disabled at any time. Many of the old weapons return, with some new additions such as the Aegis 9mm pistol and the HS39 assault rifle. Along with the new weapons comes the marking system, which allows players to tag enemies to follow their movements and plan routes of attack. In addition to this, players are given the option to completely avoid combat, a first for the series.

Another new entry to the series is the grappling hook and rope, which further enhances traversal and environmental interactivity. Drake can use it to cross otherwise impassable gaps, scale walls and even instantly KO enemies with a lethal dropdown attack. The rope enhances vertical gameplay to entire new levels, and truly feels like a useful tool. That aside, the rope can also be tethered to stationary objects and used as a pulley, or even attached to breakable things and used to create new pathways.

Hand to hand combat has been slightly upgraded as well, with new takedowns utilizing your partners and new combat moves, but otherwise stays the same. Environmental takedowns are still as flashy as ever and even seems to take queues from The Last of Us for some of them.

Stealth plays a much bigger role in this entry than previous games. As mentioned before, some combat sections can be completely avoided if you are stealthy enough. Sneaking up behind enemies and silently killing them is a lot more fun than it should be, but the terrified look on their buddy’s face when they discover the body is priceless. Enemy AI is intelligent and challenging. If they find you, they will continue searching the area even after you disappear. They flank you and use cooperative tactics to try and defeat you. It is a much welcome change from the brain dead AI of most shooters. The same goes for your partner AI as well – they actually kill enemies and do a spectacular job of aiding the player.

Treasures return, of course, only now there are 109 to find, and they are very cleverly hidden, which gives an excuse to meander around large wide open areas. Alongside these treasures are notes and journal pages to be found that flesh out the lore a bit more. By pressing the OPTIONS button, you can view these collectibles. Beating the game unlocks new bonuses such as skins and tweaks to make your next playthrough that much more fun and interesting.

 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune blew me away the first time I played it in 2008 on my uncle’s PS3. I felt like a true adventurer, off to solve the mysteries of the ancient world. A modern day Indiana Jones – stop the bad guys, get the treasure and get the girl. I walked away dumbstruck. The game was hard, yes, but the presentation and quality spoke to me on a deeper level. That gaming could be a hobby, but could also be a way for talented individuals to tell a story, to create ART, and that’s what Naughty Dog did, way back in 2007.

Nearly ten years have passed since then. Uncharted has become synonymous with high production values, venerated storytelling, exceptional character growth, and the PlayStation name itself. Naughty Dog’s flagship series permanently landed them in the spotlight of AAA game development, and they have continued to prove that they earned their spot, garnering universal praise and hundreds of awards since then.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the culmination of all of that hard work and dedication, passion and love. I cannot recommend this game enough. Tears have been shed, blood has been spilt and stories have been told. It saddens me to see Drake’s story end, but I would have it done no other way.

 Uncharted 4 is a true masterpiece of modern storytelling. This is for all the Dogs out there. 

#uncharted #uncharted 4 #naughty dog #playstation #ps4 #review

[all-hail-the-witcher]

cats the movie was created by the mafia and here's why

so since one (1) person said that they still wanna hear this theory imma post it

first, the reviews of cats are so mixed, it's confusing. im not even sure if everyone is talking about the same movie. lets look at some of the more wild ones:

but then i found these two:

both of these reviews (the second one especially) explicitly mention celebrities, which, made me think of a conspiracy theory

i once watched a video (i think it was a shane dawson one) where he discussed how people believe that it could be a possibility that the government uses celebrities and their scandals to distract the population from their wrongdoing and general mishaps. that being said, lets unpack what we know about cats:

-cats themselves (as in the animal) are generally very cute and people find them funny. it is commonly perceived by some that the internet - youtube specifically - is “that place with the cat videos” and people are very entertained by them (think about tik toks, twitter and tumblr threads, vines, and ig accounts) and even interact with cats if they happen to be allergic to them. it is safe to say that the human population has somewhat of an obsession with cats. 

-cats the musical is generally misunderstood by a lot of people. i have never actually seen it but from what i understand its a musical about cats competing to see who will die and theres one good song (memory). the internet has gone about about “what the heck is cats even about” for many years before the movie came out in the form of memes and other random internet jokes.

and now lets address the us government. right now most people agree that its plenty shitty for various reasons. even people in other countries Dont Get It. (im not going to get too into it because chances are if you have an internet connection you've heard about the shit the us government has done recently)

now. onto the movie itself. (hang onto your hats this is where it gets wild)

according to google, cats is a british american film. it is a well known fact that america was originally colonized by the british and we gained our freedom in 1776 (i really hope thats not news to you) but the war didnt end until the british surrendered at yorktown in 1781 and the treaty of paris wasn't signed until 1783. the british were notoriously salty afterwards, continuing to pirate american ships and do other generally annoying things which resulted in the war of 1812. it was not until after the war of 1812 (which officially ended in 1815) that the british recognized america was independent and actually started respecting them. britain and america were also allies and have famously teamed up to stop people from taking over the world (ie ww2 amongst others).

youre probably wondering what the hell this has to do with cats. stick with mw, we’re getting there.

in the weeks after the 2016 election, there were many memes circulating the internet along the lines of this:

needless to say, it was a wild time for america. 

now, admittedly, britain was Also in the midst of their own wild time because of brexit, but somehow the election results managed to kind of overshadow that (at least in america). 

so lets review some Important Dates:

-june 23, 2016 -> brexit is proposed

-november 8, 2016 -> 2016 election

-march 2017-> britain formally announces leaving the eu

additionally, in 2016 the worlds biggest superpowers were (in order) the us, russia, china, india, and the uk.

now, onto my theory.

the mafia has always notoriously been trying to be stopped by the government for their crime and is a strange organization with a lot of money. the mafia Does still exist although mostly in new england. since 2016 there has been a disconnect between the government and the people due to the staggering amounts that do not support the current president. the mafia may have seen this as an opportunity to overthrow the current government/president and cabinet and place their own person there so that they wouldn't get as much shit from the government. 

this theory does get a little bit complicated regarding the presidents suspected ties to the mafia. however, the mafia is very powerful and i have no doubt that they could have somehow blackmailed trump or implemented false records in order to depict the president falsely. or they could have tricked the president into working with them in order to gain secrets to help them overthrow him. the possibilities are endless. 

so in the time between the 2016 election and when britain formally announced leaving the eu, the mafia probably had some time to scheme a little, thinking up possible ways for them to overthrow the government. 

after britain announced leaving the eu, someone in the government must have realized that it was making britain widely unpopular and they should do something to clean up their image. so they take a peek around and happen to notice that america is royally fucked cause of the president and there are people threatening to move to canada cause of it.

but why is any of this of importance to britain?

well, britain used to be the top world superpower before ww2, but then were beat out by america both after the war and when they announced nsc 68, a plan to make amerias military stronger and provide aid to american allies being threatened by communism. although britain and america stayed allies, it is likely that britain may have been a bit salty about this. and, if they could somehow get rid of trump and weaken the country this may bump the us from the lead world superpower and (if they were lucky) also russia and china who the president was more or less involved with.

low and behold who has the same desires? the mafia.

so the mafia and britain team up to defeat the us government. but how will they do it?

my friends, that is where cats comes in. 

as stated, the government has previously used celebrity scandals to cover up and distract from their own. the mafia and britain would not have wanted to make this seem like anything out of the ordinary, so they decided to implement this form of distraction, but twisted it into grotesque exposure. but they needed a vehicle in which to use this

if you refer to my information on cats from before, american people love cats and cats the musical is a somewhat loved classic that makes little to no sense. additionally, theater fans have recently been calling for screen filmed shows so they dont have to spend lots of money on tickets (see newsies live and bandstand) so in order to pass this off as normal they chose to use cats.

howmst ever, they needed to make the american people not like cats anymore so that they wouldn't be easily distracted by them. how to accomplish this? make the cats in the movie cgi celebrities. 

the celebrity lineup of the movie is quite impressive, containing the following:

james corden, judi dench, jason derulo, idris elba, jennifer husdon, ian mckellan, taylor swift, and rebel wilson. 

these celebrities were all chosen for the type of audience they would draw in so that it would be as vast as possible. (old people, young people, middle aged people, etc).

the mafia paid these celebrities handsomely and coerced them into being in the movie. 

now, lets discuss the timeline. 

the movie itself premiered on december 20th and the mafia and britain would have begun creating it as soon as march of 2017. scripts take up to 12 weeks to write, putting them at june of 2017. pre production takes 10 weeks, putting them at about halfway through september 2017. it takes about an average of 10 weeks to film, putting them at december 2017. and, according to pixar, animating a movie can take between 4 and 7 years, however, the reviews have stated that cats only took about a year to animate the movie, putting it at about december 2018. this would give the mafia about 7 extra months for any needed editing or fixing between when they could have hypothetically started and ended the movie itself because the trailer came out in july of 2019.

they would have wanted to release the movie just before 2020 because that is when the next election takes place and they would need everyone to be immune to propaganda. 

the mafia and britain creating cats explains a lot of things such as:

-why james corden has not gone to see the movie

-why the animation is so horrifying

-why the movie was made in such little time

-why the celebrities in the movie are actually in the movie

-why the budget was able to be so large if it was an epic flop

-peoples general confusion as to why the movie was even made

see, they would have known that even if not a lot of people saw the movie, it would have made headlines just because of how bad it is, terrifying people of both the celebrities in it (remember this includes james corden, a prominent talk show host and taylor swift, one of the top song writers) and of cats themselves.

in conclusion, cats was filmed by the mafia and great britain in an attempt to overthrow the us government.

be careful who you vote for in 2020.

#this has been a whole load of nonsense #i feel like shane dawson #cats #conspiracy theory #god im so sorry #bless

[lampmeeting]

since i can now do this ldsfk 1-Metalocalypse (obvi) and 2 Chickles back at you :3

oh HELL yeah *rubs hands together* okay this’ll be long so i’ll do a cut

Favorite character: PICKLESSSSS

Least Favorite character: everyone says rockso and like I GET IT he’s revolting, but my ultimate least-fave is toki’s dad. fuck that old man.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): CHICKLES, HAMMERTOOTH, uhhhh (what else is there?? i’m kidding) nathan/abigail, charles/magnus, nathan/toki

Character I find most attractive: oh fuck don’t do this to me. i have too many types!! i can’t pick! fuck. i’m just gonna say charles. even though it’s magnus. wait. no. it’s pickles. charles. toki. fuck. magnus. i can’t do it dfkgjhf

Character I would marry: realistically?? like, i would say charles but unless i’m a member of dethklok i’m gonna be getting like .02% of that man’s time. honestly i would pick toki or nathan. toki would be so sweet and attentive, all the huggings and kissings, awww. nathan i feel would be the same, but only in private. you gotta kinda work on him a lil bit haha.

Character I would be best friends with: my heart says pickles but my soul says murderface. i would FOR SURE laugh at one of his off-hand under-his-breath comments because that’s just what i do, i fucking laugh at everything, and he’d be like OH? someone thinks i’m funny?? and then my life would never know peace (in a good way)

A random thought: i wanna hear all the dethklok albums from before the show started. like that album where their abs were airbrushed, wtf did that sound like?

An unpopular opinion: season 4 was good. :O i feel like i hear the sentiment from quite a few people that season 4 on the whole was bad. i love all the seasons equally actually.

My Canon OTP: CHICKLES. may i present to the court, exhibit A *points to my icon* (shhh no, let me dream)

My Non-canon OTP: toki/magnus :’) i think this is just about as non-canon as you can get, really. but the heart wants what it wants.

Most Badass Character: DEFINITELY charles.

Most Epic Villain: sorry, mags... salacia.

Pairing I am not a fan of: i think i’m willing to at least entertain most any ship. i’ve read some interesting things for sure. i draw the line at seth/pickles though (i’m glad that doesn’t really seem to exist anymore? it was around more back in the day).

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): aside from magnus and abigail, who both needed WAY more screen time?? i would say dr rockso in a sense. he was sort of that kooky rascal you wave your finger at when he gets in trouble, and then they had to go and do the whole dory mclean thing. and i get the point of the episode, but after that i wasn’t rooting for rockso anymore and he kinda became more of this sinister kinda figure? i dunno. i think that whole angle could’ve been done away with and it would’ve been a lot better. also him trying to fucking drown toki in the christmas episode. 8( ouch, man.

Favourite Friendship: probably nathan and pickles, since they’re the lynchpin of the whole outfit.

Character I most identify with: pickles with some toki on the side. :’) ahhh.

Character I wish I could be: i wanna be that girl that nathan was dating for a while, the one the boys end up befriending and playing scrabble with. i want to be their friiiiiiiiiend

OKAY CHICKLES TIIIIIIIME

When I started shipping them: WELL....okay so i actually just went back and looked at my old deviantart account and the first drawing i did of them (yes i’m linking to 14-year-old art pls don’t judge me) was on Oct. 18, 2006, so like...the dethfam episode hadn’t even aired yet. god damn. there was someone in the sausage festival livejournal community who had drawn the two of them, and then i fucking went ravenous for it real quick and it became like the only thing i drew for months hahaha. i had been nickles up until then. :O

My thoughts: MY THOUGHTS??? this is so vague. i have many thoughts. uh, for one? they’re perfect together? the straight-laced workaholic and the lazy degenerate? yes please, gimme. they’re like yin and yang, opposites attracting. and yet i feel like, once they get past that, they realize they’re both so similar at their cores. and pickles helps charles loosen up, and charles gives pickles some structure. they both give each other someone to lean on when shit gets bad. pickles can be a surprisingly good caretaker when he wants to be. :’)

What makes me happy about them: everything?? i really don’t know how to adequately describe just how much i love them and just how much that means hahah... you ever ship something for 14 years?? i know some of y’all have. it gets in your blood. that’s like over a third of my life right there. not to be dramatic or anything hahaha but they’re important to me. that ship helped get me through some rough months back when i lived alone in a crappy apartment, and it’s hilarious to me that i’m getting back into it hardcore like i was back then considering everything that’s going on right now, just current events-wise and personal stuff-wise.

What makes me sad about them: god damn, anything about those 9 months charles spent “dead”. anything post-doomstar. anything snakes ‘n barrels where they’re together for a short time and then never see each other until charles becomes dethklok’s manager. pickles pining after him for like a decade after the band forms. or charles pining, having to watch pickles party and do drunks and sleep around. or BOTH of them pining and not realizing it, or REALIZING IT and not acting on it because what if it hurt the band somehow? maybe charles wouldn’t want to jeopardize it but pickles would be okay with it, and charles would have to be the one to say no. ahhhhhhhHHHHHH

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: oof, i agree with you here, Ash. i’ve read a couple fics where, like, the bdsm aspect wasn’t even fun. i probably know the exact fic that left a bad taste in your mouth because there’s one specific one i’m thinking of that left a bad taste in mine (actually two...). like i had to actually get up from the computer and go do dishes hahah... uck. but yeah. don’t like charles being abusive to pickles. i think pickles does like some punishment from time to time, and he definitely has some daddy issues. but i don’t want it to get fucking sinister haha y’know? pickles, at his heart, is a good-times guy. he likes good feelings. he wants to feel nice. and charles, at HIS heart, is all about service.

Things I look for in fanfic: are they in love or just hooking up?? i mean i’ll take either at the end of the day, but i’m a romantic and i need the love, i crave it.

My wishlist: give to me all the fics about snakes n’ barrels chickles. how i haven’t written one baffles me (though i did have that huge plot write-up from months back haha...i should turn that into a real fic sometime). would also love a huge fic about their marriage, complete with canon-typical buffoonery. fics about them retiring together. ;0; fics about them just having nice peaceful moments. literally just.....any fic haha...

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: my soul literally begins to shatter apart if i consider them ultimately ending up with anyone else hahaha... other relationships can come and go, but at the end of the line i need those boys to be together. <3

My happily ever after for them: after galaktikon II, dethklok has kinda run its course. the band uses their near-infinite resources to help rebuild the earth. shortly after, it’s pickles who proposes in a surprising turn of events. shaken after the battle, he doesn’t wanna waste any more time. they get married barefoot on the beach probably in like fiji or something (pickles’ idea) with friends and family present (the okay ones haha, also magnus is there with toki because this is my dream, damnit). pickles has white flowers in his dreads in lieu of a bouquet. T~T everything goes well, no one crashes the wedding. they have a lovely honeymoon there when everyone else leaves. pickles says he’s decided to retire from music, but it’s not long before he’s working feverishly on new music in the home studio at their new place. some real expansive stuff. he’s kinda doing it as a weird therapy, coming to terms with some stuff. he never gets clean but he’s not using drugs and alcohol as a band-aid for his problems quite so much anymore. charles retires from managing bands (he doesn’t have the heart for it if it’s not dethklok) and ends up doing the adjunct professor thing whenever he gets bored. but he practices guitar a lot, pickles teaching him some advanced stuff, they jam together sometimes. he takes up sailing because it’s something he’s always wanted to do but never had time for. after pickles releases his first solo album, charles takes him on a long, romantic sailing trip. everything is perfect, everything’s gonna be good forever. 8′) forever. the end.

#SORRY THAT HAPPILY EVER AFTER QUESTION REALLY ACTIVATED ME #i went into a trance i think hahah #anyway thank you T~T i love ranting about them #insomniac-pens