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sergeant-donny-donowitz · 4 years

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Blood Stained Name (AldoxFem!Reader)

Requested by @svonschroeder

@owba-chan @inglourious-imagines @war-obsessed @tealaquinn @struggling-bee @frozenhuntress67

Let me know if you wanna be added to the basterds or OUATIH taglist :)

You were, what some may call, a legend during the war. And like many other legends, you served as a warning to the cruel, and an idol to the just. And, like any other legend, you were hunted. In fact, there was quite a large bounty placed on your head, complimentary of the nazi party.

Dead or alive. The only problem was...your name was unknown. Your age was unknown. Your nationality was unknown. Any general description of you was flawed, full of anomalies thanks to fearful stutters and shudders. You made it known that you were helping resistances and rebellions throughout Europe. With that many allies, and so few clues, you were even harder to track down. The truth was, it was hard to hunt a hunter...because in spite of all you'd done for others, every rescue, every code, every message... your real gift was hunting. Nazi hunting, to be precise. So, with nothing better to go on than "nazi-hunter," you were dubbed 'Orion,' and filed as an enemy of the state. The Orion Initiative started in 1941: An extensive mission and intensive investigation aimed at tracking you down, led by your polar opposite, the Jew Hunter: Hans Landa. Rumors of the nazi hunting started just months after the nazi party took over... An official (though top secret) report was started in 1940, when the hunt was clearly more than just a rumor. An official investigation was launched in 1941. By late 1942, a group of nazi hunters was identified, and originally considered a set of 'copy cats.' The theory was struck down...and the group became known as the ‘basterds.' It was now 1944... The Orion mystery remained unsolved, making it the longest investigation Landa had ever been on. It was a record... Something he was not proud of. He had to solve it.... The only problem was he'd never seen such a clean trail...such meticulous murder... Nearly a perfect crime, every time. Just enough evidence left behind to drive him insane, and just less than enough to piece anything together. It was done on purpose. It was a mockery, and he knew it.

What he didn't know was your name... In fact, nearly no one knew it. The French Resistance knew you as Anaïs Bellamy, a saving grace. To the Soviets, Tatiana Zima. To the Belgian Resistance, you were Cassandra Willems. But that was as many names as Landa could collect (through the most heinous means). Neither of them were legitimate, and all of them led to dead ends. You were a myth with a thousand names. Faceless, but full of lore. Each resistance that knew you, knew you as a hero. Nothing more, nothing less. Each nazi that knew you, never saw anything again. To the allies, you were an asset. To the nazis, you were a faceless, nameless menace. To Hans Landa, you were an abomination, and an embarassment. He would uncover your name and face, and close that case and file, if it was the last thing he did.

He swore that he'd find you. You were just like him at the end of the day. You used the same strategies, same intimidation, you played the same game... Of course, you knew that. And it drove you crazy. Because you wanted to be nothing like him... Nothing like your father. Unaware of your million names, you were simply Y/n to him. His daughter. To you, he was simply a nazi. Dead to you, the moment he first put on his SS uniform... But he didn't know that. He was too busy with work, and you didn't quite mind your game of cat and mouse. You liked driving him crazy without him even knowing. As he worked overtime trying to find a single connection, you smirked, as he rattled on and on about names and clues. He’d never been so frantic over any case before... Every once in a while, you’d throw him a bone. A useless, broken bone, at that. A puzzle piece to a puzzle without a picture. Still, he’d smile at you, the only thing in the world he had, and sighed, “Danke, Y/n...” Y/N. Very few people knew that to be your name. And one yank hillbilly by the name of Lieutenant Aldo Raine knew it....

By accident, of course. He never quite had the pleasure of making your acquaintance, but he did know enough of your friends in the resistance, and as a basterd, he was privy to some information most people weren't. It was rare, but he somehow connected the dots. He saw one of your identifications. One of the many.... He may have been a bootlegging redneck from the humble Maynardville Tennessee, but he was no idiot. And he practically had a photographic memory.

There were faces he never forgot. And yours, on those fake French papers, was one of them. Your name stuck with him... Your name....the thing you hated most about yourself. "You're so much like him!" "Same eyes!" "Same brains, too!" You forced a smile through it all. You couldn't take much more of this. You were trapped in a crowded lobby, in a cinema, surrounded by your enemy. Your name... This was the exact reason very few of your allies knew your real name. They equated you to your father. They were suspicious of you, a possible double crosser... It took so much to convince people of your true colors. But...you couldn't blame them. You still carried all the blame of your father's sins. You didn't think twice. You just fought. And you fought the urge to cry and scream, and burn the place down in that moment. Landa was a blood stained name, and there was nothing you could do about it... You sighed, as your father interceded, accepted compliments on your behalf...and proceeded to encourage you to mingle. "I want grandchildren some day." It took every ounce of you to brace yourself, and remind yourself that there was already a plan for the night. You forced a smile as you lost yourself in the crowd, away from him, and leaned over the railing of the second floor, watching the final night of your life come and go, there at the Nations Pride premier. ******** The war went on, and the basterds built up a way into Emmanuelle Mimeau's cinema: Operation Kino. Along the way, Bridget revealed she had eyes on the sinde of the regime....and the theater. She showed the basterds the picture of her spy. A 'darling little thing,' as she held up a newspaper clipping. A daughter of a renowned nazi officer. A face Aldo recognized.... but no... It couldn’t be... He’d believe it when he saw it. And there you were, in the lobby with the rest of the nazis, for the premier of Nation's Pride. Aldo spotted you from across the room as he walked in with Bridget, Omar, and Donny. He was caught off guard, seeing a legend like you in person was almost like seeing a ghost story come to life. He whispered with astonishment, "Y/N Landa." You had spotted them from a mile away, on the second floor, as you leaned over the rails. You smiled, having learned to read lips long ago, as you looked Aldo in the eye. You knew time was running out. You knew Operation Kino in and out. It was a sign of the times...so you may as well have fun with what you had left of it. You winked at Aldo, and blew him a kiss. He was flustered for a split second.

Donny snickered, Omar smirked, and Bridget looked away, blushing as she giggled. Only moments before the boys could make their way to you for last minute updates, they ran into a little problem. Your father. ....Still, Aldo smiled and nodded snarkily as he made conversation in an embarassingly tragic excuse for Italian. Aldo couldn't believe it.... Hans Landa had no idea who his own daughter was. **********1943*********** "Monsieur Raine, you've just missed her!" The Basterds' contact in the French Resistance, Etienne, chuckled. "Who?" He smiled, "Your counterpart. Orion." Donny raised his eyebrow, "You said 'her'?" Etienne nodded, "Her." He held out a copy of your resistance identification. Aldo held the paper, and looked up, "Orion's a woman?" He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the fake name: Anaïs Bellamy. Hirschberg leaned over his shoulder, inspecting the documents... a bit disappointed, having hoped that Orion was an American. Etienne rolled his eyes, "German. Y/n Landa. One of the best we got." Another resistance fighter smiled as he cleaned nazi blood off his guns, "Good kid. Good aim. Fast runner." ---Meanwhile--- "Verdammt. Verdaaaamnt. Verdamnt." You muttered under your breath, as you climbed through your bedroom window, threw off your bloody, war-torn clothes, and threw on something presentable. You quickly glanced into your mirror. You popped your thumb in your mouth, and then wiped away some blood from your cheekbone. Your hair was a mess, and you looked tired. Perfect. You practically flew down the stairs, and rushed down the halls. You had a job to do in Paris. You couldn’t exactly waste time conversing with that fiend that dared call himself a father.

But you were stopped by an old familiar voice. "Another bad night, liebling?" You sighed, and shuffled toward the doorway in the dining room. "Ja..." Your father sighed as he put down his newspaper, and looked at you, as he smoked his pipe. He shook his head, and went on about being worried, and telling you for the millionth time that you should see a doctor. "No, but I-" "Your grades are slipping! Don't think I haven't noticed." He grumbled a little.

"I'm still graduating next semester." "You're still seeing a doctor." "But-" "Tomorrow morning." "But." He raised his voice, "Case closed." That was it...

Once Hans Landa said 'case closed,' he meant it. ************************ The night went on, as expected... Mostly.

As he interrogated Aldo and Smitty, he expected he had it all figured out. "What shall the history books read?" Aldo raised his eyebrow, "Yeah? An' what about Y/n? Ain’t that kid still in the theater? Be a shame. Ain’t that right, Utivich?" Utivich smirked a little, “Yes, sir.” Landa stopped smirking... His face grew spiteful, his eyes narrowed with the intent to kill, "Tell me how you know my daughter's name or I swear I'll send word to the theater, I'll have the rest of your men shot, and-"

"Relax Landa. I know all my associate's names." Landa shook his head, "Associates?" He smiled, thinking he had it figured out again, "She was infiltrating your basterds, and didn't tell me!" He grinned, "I tell you, that girl is just like me. That's it, isn't it?" Aldo smirked this time, and shook his head once, "Nope." Landa's face fell. If looks could kill... "So you either make that there deal, or not. Y/n is my man on the inside. And ain't no way you takin em boys out without settin' em bombs off." Landa left the desk, and immediately sent orders out for you to be found, and escorted directly to him. Then he took the deal with the general. He would deal with you later. He couldn't tell if what Aldo said was true, but he desparately hoped it wasn't... and even more so, he wanted you out of that cinema. As Smitty and Aldo were escorted onto the truck to be taken behind allied lines, a nazi ran up to Landa with some news. You were not found... He was silent for a moment, and looked down as he nodded slowly, bracing himself for the possibility that you never would be found. Perhaps, you'd gone out for some air. Maube you'd gone home, and finally got some sleep. Or you went out looking for your dear old dad... Maybe....maybe you'd met someone worth loving there, a high ranking officer. (You had...but Aldo wasn't exactly the man Landa had in mind for you.) "Sir." Hans snapped out of it, and nodded as he made his way to his seat. Everything went well...too welll... The next thing he knew, Aldo had carved a swastika onto his face, and as he screamed in agony, Landa saw a nazi truck pulling up. A hijacked one. One with three familiar faces. Two basterds, and a hunter.

Landa was a smart man, but, his hope and sentimenatality won out for once. He believed for a few moments you were there to save him, that you'd apprehended Donny and Omar, and you'd given him a fighting chance. You were just like him, after all, all the people said so. Maybe you'd be a double crosser, and help him. But you didn't. As blood from Aldo's mark dripped into Landa's eyes, he looked up at you, betrayed for a moment. Then....it all came together. He pursed his lips, as he pieced every single bit of evidence together. You knew things there was no way for you to know. You had been right under his nose all along. It had been the perfect place to hide.... He gave one psychotic smile, as he watched you raise your pistol, and aim it at him. "I knew you'd outsmart me some day." You heard Aldo step up from behind you, "Y/n...he's still your father. We can take care of this." Landa, at the moment, was truly intrigued at what would happen next. But you didn't put your gun down. You shook your head, not even looking at Aldo. In fact, you looked at your ‘father’ the whole time. You muttered, "I don't have a father." He seemed betrayed again, for an instant, but then again, you were just like him. A double crosser with a mission. He nodded. He smiled as he nodded.

He accepted it... You were just like him, after all... And he finally had an answer to the Orion Initiative. It would remain unofficial, and lost... But the case was finally closed. To him, at least. The Orion Initiative had an answer. It had been right under his nose, all along. He really was impressed, and psychotic as it was...he was proud of you. But the feeling was not mutual. You knew even after all that, he wasn't sorry. And the guilt of the nazis had done would forever weigh on you...So one less nazi in the world, one last hunt was all you could ask for. The war was over, but at that moment, there were things you and every other resitance, soldier, and victim would never forget. This was it... He smiled, and shrugged, "Case closed, Orion." You pulled the trigger. At that moment, there were thousands filing into streets, drinking, celebrating, dancing in the streets.... But when the confetti was swept up, and the soldiers went home, and the toppled regimes’ dust settled...everyone would have somewhere to go.

The gunsmoke cleared, and you took a breath, for the first time in a long time. You lowered your shoulders, and unclenched your jaw... For the first time in a long time, you could rest... But you had no place to call home. No one to call your own, in spite of the thousands that knew you, your face, and your story, few knew your name... Even fewer knew you. But you felt a hand on your shoulder, and a soft voice with a strange accent. "Y/n..." And you turned to see a warm smile, and kinder eyes: Lieutenant Aldo Raine... But he'd tell you you could call him Aldo, later that day. And your world turned upside down. "Well...” He put his hands at his hips and sighed as he smiled at you, “You ain't part of the deal, Orion, and I sure as hell am gon' get chewed out for this...but I think we'll find somethin' for ya." You smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time... That was the first, honest thing you'd heard in longer than you could remember... He took your hand, as you walked with the basterds to the west, to the general, and to freedom. As you smiled at Aldo, and he smiled at you, you knew you were going somewhere safe, somewhere far. Perhaps on a mountain, somewhere in the middle of Tennessee. It wouldn't be like the mountains in Austria that you knew, but, a kinder place, one far from war, and farther from your memories of it. There in Aldo's eyes, you found something new as the sun began to rise in the horizon. A beginning... A place to call your own, a name without a blood stain.

#Inglourious Basterds #inglourious basterds imagine #aldo raine #aldo the apache #aldo raine x reader #hans landa

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jwuffygaming · 5 years

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James Wuffy’s Retro Adventure - Entry #0

Hey everyone!

I know not many peeps still use Tumblr, but I figured this was a good place to get started. I will explain the title soon enough, but here’s the reason why I’m making this series:

I like retro games. A lot. I like that a game can be good or fun (and preferably both!) regardless of:

how old it is;

how well-known it is;

hardware limitations of the time;

nostalgic value.

However, despite my fascination with old games, I have not actually beaten many of the classics. While I have played a few, I did so on console emulators, using save states.

For the uninitiated, save states are artificial save points that a player can create at any time when playing on an emulator. If they screw up, they can restore that save point, as if nothing bad happened.

This means I did not experience those games the way they were meant to be played. As such, I aim to fix this, and beat some of these classics properly:

if a game doesn’t have a save/password feature, I will beat it in one go;

if a game doesn’t store the number of lives/weapons/etc. I had upon saving or using a password, I will grind for them once more (foreshadowing~~~);

if I have to keep retrying over and over to get better at the game, so be it.

I intend on recreating the experience of playing on console, for better or for worse. Hence the name of the series, James Wuffy’s Retro Adventure. And I’m gonna be documenting my progress here, on this blog.

Being an introductory post (which is why it is entry #0), I wanted to briefly shame part of my gaming backstory, focusing on 4 games from my childhood.

So here we go!

A little backstory...

I was around 4 or 5 years old when I had my first gaming experience (I was born in 1990, for reference).

One of my grandparents’ neighbors had an NES, and she let me play on it.

The NES, or Nintendo Entertainment System, is an 8-bit console released in Europe in 1986. It was originally released in Japan in 1983, and there it was known as Famicom, or Nintendo Family Computer.

She had the 2-in-1 Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge and The Legend of Zelda. I can’t recall if she had any other games.

Funnily enough, another neighbor of my grandparents was my cousin, who had a bootleg NES console, with those multi-game cartridges. We were able to play dozens of games on it, it was a lot of fun.

Eventually, my parents bought me and my brother an NES. I was around 6 years old by then. The NES was pretty old at this point, and it came bundled with two games: The Hunt for Red October and Solomon’s Key.

For a while, these were the only two games I could get my hands on. I eventually moved to another house, and one of our neighbors had an NES too. He had two games that I had not yet played: Super Mario Bros 2 and Nintendo World Cup. He let me borrow those, and I had a lot of fun with them.

But let’s get into a bit more detail, shall we?

The Hunt for Red October

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The Hunt for Red October was tough. Its music isn’t catchy or upbeat, it’s downright eerie - fitting for the story’s atmosphere, but unpleasant to listen to for longs periods. It also has some pretty nifty cutscenes for NES standards.

The original book was published in 1984, and a movie based on it was released in 1990. The game came out in 1991, making it a “movie tie-in game”, which were notorious for being quickly-developed cash-grabs, riding on the popularity of the movie and having varying levels of quality. They did put some effort into it though, unlike most movie tie-in games of this era.

In this game, you control a submarine, and you can:

shoot forward with the A button;

shoot limited homing missiles with the B button;

collect items to replenish missiles and repair the sub, among other things;

camouflage yourself temporarily from enemy subs with the Select button;

fight a boss at the end of each stage.

You also take damage from touching walls and other obstacles, so you have to tread carefully.

The final level has a drastic change in gameplay style. It’s a platforming level where you control who I presume is the captain and have to kill enemies and disarm bombs that have been planted on the submarine. And this level drags on.

One time, my brother and I accidentally put in a “99 lives” code. We were never able to replicate, and upon looking it up online, I’ve no clue how we managed to even do it in the first place since it’s quite long.

We beat level after level, but you always start the final level with 5 lives, regardless of how many lives you had before. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to beat the game.

But oh well, on to the next one!

Solomon’s Key

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Then, there was Solomon’s Key. This is one of those games where each level is equivalent to “one TV screen”. A lot of NES games were like that, at the beginning of the console’s lifespan.

You control Dana, a wizard that can create and destroy golden blocks with the A button (or bonk them with his head twice to destroy them) and throw fireballs with the B button when you have them in-store.

In terms of stages, you have:

48 regular stages: 4 stages per Zodiac constellation;

12 bonus stages - Hidden Room: these are unlocked by collecting a constellation item in each 4th level of a constellation;

3 secret stages - Room of Time, Room of Space, Princess Room: these are unlocked by collecting seals along the way. Doing so will replace 2 of the bonus stages with the Room of Time and the Room of Space;

1 final stage - Solomon’s Key

If you play the game casually, at most, you will complete all the regular stages, maybe a few bonus ones, and the final stage. This will grant you one of the game’s endings, but not the best one. You have to collect all the seals to be able to unlock and complete the secret stages. This is mandatory if you want the best ending.

However, these seals are hidden. When an item is hidden in a tile, you have to create and destroy a golden block on top of that tile, and then the item becomes visible. BUT, since there are no hints whatsoever as to which stages have seals, and in which tiles they are hidden, you’d have to create blocks in every single tile of every single stage to find them all on your own.

Do a little research instead: look up a walkthrough or use the video above, it’s the sensible thing to do.

The game is quite long and has no password system. There is a continue code, that allows you to continue up until stage 41. I don’t think my brother and I knew about this code at the time, so this is another game we didn’t beat. It’s still a pretty cool game though.

Nintendo World Cup

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Now, I don’t really like football. However, this game is seriously a lot of fun. Here are a few reasons why:

there are no yellow nor red cards, so you can tackle and slide into players as much as you want. In earlier matches, you can actually put the other players out of commission by tackling them over and over, and they just lie there on the field, KO’ed. Unfortunately, you cannot tackle players from stronger teams, so you’re stuck using the slide to steal the ball from them;

you can do super-powered kicks/headbutts, called Super Shots, which are harder for the goalkeepers to defend than regular shots. Any players hit by a Super Shot go flying around, which was always super fun to watch as a kid;

2 player matches, with exclusive football fields to pick from. You can go with the default grass field, a field with rocks that players trip on, an ice field where players that get tackled/slid into slide all over the place... it’s a lot of fun;

a password system, so you can resume your progress after turning the console off without a problem. And you could alter a couple of digits in the password to play with a different team as well.

I actually did beat this game as a kid. So many fond memories :3

Super Mario Bros 2

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Super Mario Bros 2 is by far the most well-known game in this list. It’s also infamous for being a reskin of a game never released outside of Japan called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. Supposedly, the original SMB 2 was deemed too difficult for Western audiences at the time, and Nintendo was afraid that it wouldn’t sell well overseas, especially after the first game in the series was such a big hit. So, they took Doki Doki Panic, which was an easier game, tinkered with its looks and released it as the official SMB 2 in America and Europe.

In this game, you can play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool, as she was known at the time. Each has their own stats in terms of jumping capability and strength, this last one determining how fast a character can pick up enemies, objects, and vegetables. Every time you start a new stage, you get to pick which character to use:

Mario is the well-rounded character, with average jumping skill and strength;

Luigi jumps the highest and has a very floaty jump, staying in the air longer. This also means that he’s a little harder to do precise jumps with;

Toad jumps the lowest but is the strongest character, picking up things really fast and being the fastest when holding something;

Toadstool is the weakest character, but possesses the best aerial movement, since she can glide for a couple of seconds, allowing for long jumps and more precise landings. She’s the most beginner-friendly character, and thus, my main character of choice as a kid.

Every character can also duck for a few seconds until they start flashing. This allows them to do a high jump and reach high platforms. Without this jump, some characters wouldn’t be able to complete certain levels. At the time, I didn’t know this ability existed, and so I thought certain levels were only beatable if you picked Luigi.

There are also hidden warps in the game, that let you skip several stages ahead. I actually managed to discover these warps on my own, and I was pretty proud of myself :p. It was one of the first games I beat on the NES, if not the first one.

Last words

And with all that said, I think it’s about time I wrap things up here. I know it was a lot to get through, but hopefully, you enjoyed my ramblings :3. And maybe you’ll be interested in checking some of these games out yourself.

My next entry will be the proper beginning of the adventure.

Until next time!

#James Wuffy Retro Adventure #Retro Adventure #Gaming #Retro #The Hunt for Red October #Solomon's Key #Super Mario Bros 2 #Nintendo World Cup #NES

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degulover03 · 6 years

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Musical Theatre Challenge

This was meant to be a 30 Day Challenge but I'm too lazy. Also I feel as though this was targeted towards live theatre but I am going to count film adaptations and bootlegs... Sorry, IRL I've only seen two West-End shows (Wicked and Book of Mormon) and some amateur dramatics (P.S. I know people probably won’t care that I've done this or even see it but I got bored so...)

1) A number from one of your favourite musicals of all time

Benjamin’s Calypso (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) - It’s a random one to start off with but I LOVE this musical and this is my absolute favourite song from it.

2) A number from one of your favourite musicals of the past three years

Disappear (Dear Evan Hansen) - I love this song so much and yet it’s one of the most underrated songs in the show. (PS. DEAR EVAN HANSEN IS FINALLY COMING TO THE UK!!!)

3) A number from one of your least favourite musicals

March of the Falsettos (Falsettos) - Not gonna lie, I don’t hate this musical, it’s just that I don’t like that they killed off one of the only characters I liked (RIP Whizzer) and I don’t really get it that much. However I actually really like this song.

4) A number from the first musical you remember seeing

Popular (Wicked) - Wicked was technically the first show I saw because it was my first West-End show and before then I had only watched a few amateur dramatics at my local theatre and movie musicals. Popular and Defying Gravity were the only two songs I already knew (Defying Gravity from Glee and Popular from parody videos on YouTube)

5) A number from the musical that you saw most recently

Suddenly, Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors) - I just watched the film recently after having not watched it since I was a small child and I was just wondering how I was ever allowed to watch it! But this song is great.

6) A favourite opening number

Prologue (Into the Woods) - After watching the film I made it my goal to learn this song and I succeeded.

7) A favourite duet

What You Own (Rent) - It was between this and Take Me Or Leave Me, both from Rent; ironically I didn't really like Rent all that much.

8) A favourite dance break

King of New York (Newsies) - ICONIC! GET ‘DEM SPOONS BOIS! AND KATHERINE, YOU TAP YOUR HEART OUT!

9) A favourite ballad

On My Own (Les Misérables) - This song is a classic and fun to sing

10) A favourite “11 o'clock” number

I Believe (Book of Mormon) - What do I even have to say? 1) It’s hilarious 2) It’s sung by Andrew Rannells and 3) it’s catchy and actually has an official video from the Tony Awards.

11) A favourite comic number

Turn it Off (Book of Mormon) - THIS IS SO FUNNY! Plus there is some shippable material for McPriceley in this song.

12) A favourite ensemble number

One Day More (Les Misérables) - So many parts, so much to sing.

13) A number from a guilty-pleasure musical

I Know It’s Today (Shrek the Musical) - You just gotta love Fiona singing with herself. Relatable.

14) A number from a Best Musical Tony Nominee the year you were born

Without Love (Hairspray) - Hairspray (on Broadway) came out in 2003, so did I (that was cringe and I apologise, I will never say that again) and Without Love is my favourite song (mainly from the film with Zefron)

15) A favourite Female solo number

Watch What Happens (Newsies) - Katherine is AMAZING and Kara Lindsay sings it SO WELL! It’s a really hard song and you get out of breath really quick.

16) A favourite Male solo number

Santa Fe (Newsies) - SO MUCH NEWSIES but you gotta love that end note in Newsies Live though, I get goosebumps every time (Well done Jeremy Jordan)

17) A number from a musical that is underrated

Cry For Me (Jersey Boys) - I have literally no clue why this is my favourite song from Jersey Boys but it is, it may be because Andrew Rannells sung it too but meh. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are iconic, both the show and the song are underrated.

18) A number from a musical that is overrated

Memory (Cats) - Is there even a plot to this show?

19) A favourite love song from a musical

Something to Believe In (Newsies) - Even though I don’t ship it it’s still a great song (#Javid4Life)

20) A favourite number from a musical that did not originate in the US

As Long as He Needs Me (Oliver!) - After a small struggle of trying to think of a musical NOT made in the US, I felt incredibly stupid after remembering MANY, including Oliver Twist which is oh so British.

21) A favourite number from the “Golden Age” of Broadway

Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Sound of Music) - Also another iconic duet from yet another iconic musical (Iconic Iconic Iconic)

22) A favourite number performed by an antagonist

Meant to Be Yours (Heathers) - BAM! BAM! BAM! I love this song, too bad that JD’s a psycho though :(

23) A number from a show you have never seen live but wish you could

Brooklyn’s Here (Newsies) - Okay, I know that I’ve put Newsies on here a billion times but it genuinely is the top of my bucket list of musicals to see, yet I can’t because it’s no longer on Broadway (not like I’d get to see it there anyway) and as far as I’m aware there are no UK performances :( Also Brooklyn’s Here is such a hype song

24) A number performed by a favourite female Broadway star

I’d Rather Be Me (Mean Girls) - Barrett Wilbert Weed is such a good singer and I love her in both Mean Girls and Heathers.

25) A number performed by a favourite male Broadway star

Waving Through a Window (Dear Evan Hansen) - Ben Platt is also an AMAZING singer and I first watched DEH because I was scrolling through YouTube and saw this song and was like “Hey, isn’t that Benji from Pitch Perfect?”

26) A number by a favourite composer

Carrying the Banner (Newsies) - Alan Menken alongside Jack Feldman did a great job on this song from the stage show and the film. It was, however, EXTREMELY difficult to pick just one Alan Menken song.

27) A number by a favourite choreographer

Seize the Day (Newsies) - Well done to Christopher Gattelli for choreographing the newspaper dance and making a tutorial video for an easier version. I still can’t do it though.

28) A number your would love to perform if you were of the opposite sex

For Forever (Dear Evan Hansen) - Why does this song have to be so low?

29) A number you have performed

Sherry (Jersey Boys) - I haven’t actually performed anything but this is one of the many songs that I play a lot on guitar.

30) A number you would love to perform in the future

Sincerely, Me (Dear Evan Hansen) - This song is really funny and the dance is fun to do.

Honourable Mentions:

These are some of the songs I wanted to include

Watch What Happens (Reprise) - Newsies

She Used to Be Mine - Waitress

Blue - Heathers

Candy Store - Heathers

Red and Black - Les Misérables

Defying Gravity - Wicked

Thanks to anyone who got this far

#Broadway #newsies #little shop of horrors #book of mormon #Falsettos #hairspray #mean girls on broadway #jersey boys #dear evan hansen #Rent #Sound of Music #Les Mis #Waitress

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airadam · 6 years

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Episode 111 : Pay Attention!

"Classical soul, I got the nastiest flow"

- Sean Price

We had to open the show with an Aretha Franklin track to mark her sad passing this month, and you'll hear her essence at various points throughout the episode. I'm just about beating the buzzer to get this one out on time, but I'm sure you'll agree it was worth the effort!

Manchester shows for the month;

Beatnuts, The Bluntskins, Didjit, Air Adam | September 19th, Whiskey Jar

Havoc, Big Noyd, DJ L.E.S, Seven Spherez | September 24th, Joshua Brooks

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Aretha Franklin : Rock Steady

We had to start things off with a classic from the Queen. This 1971 single from the "Young, Gifted, and Black" album isn't short on legends, with Donny Hathaway on electric piano and organ, and Bernard Purdie doing the business on the drums. A much covered and much sampled record, all trying to get just a hint of the flavour of the original.

Pete Rock : Aretha

A perfect instrumental for me to come across this month, drawn from the golden period in which Pete Rock was on production for InI's unreleased (but heavily bootlegged) debut album. This beat wasn't used, but it comes to us courtesy of the 2017 "Lost Sessions" release alongside nine other previously-unreleased instrumentals.

[DJ Premier] Gang Starr : 92 Interlude

I just had to include this - an interlude beat from the "Daily Operation" LP that built around just a tiny incidental piece of a famous Aretha Franklin track and put other producers on notice when it comes to how Primo picks gold!

JR & PH7 ft. Chuuwee : Meadowview Morning

Thank you Spotify for dropping this one into one of my playlists! The German producers JR and PH7 have made a brief appearance on the show previously, but their work on this track from "The South Sac Mack" is really something. They come up with a jazzy but sombre instrumental which perfectly fits the trio of Sacramento MCs telling tales of life in their corner of the world.

Hieroglyphics : Oakland Blackouts

Keeping it over on the West Coast, the Hiero crew have always been reliable as a source of bars upon bars. The "3rd Eye Vision" album is creeping towards twenty years old, but is still an excellent listen! Opio of Souls of Mischief is on production for this one.

Termanology : Are You Sure?

We don't hear Erick Sermon's name brought up enough when it comes to some of the greatest producers, so I'm glad Termanology linked up with him for this head-nod groove on his latest album "Bad Decisions". This is almost Term's version of Gang Starr's "The Planet", with him telling the story of coming to New York from Massachusetts and having to work to establish and hold his position. I won't give away the hook sample in case it's uncleared, but it's also a quality record :)

Sean Price : Director's Cut

This one has an unusual structure - a series of short two-bar "scenes" separated by two-bar sections of commentary. It's raw street business with a dash of humour as you'd expect from Sean P, gracing the Khrysis beat with some classic jewels. If you like this track, then the "Jesus Price Supastar" LP is a must in your collection.

DJ Agent M : Keeping Me In The Dark

Agent M is a producer and DJ from Leeds whose 2018 beat tape "Closure" is the sound of him working through a period of loss. This track is based around a classic sample, which is not just flipped for the sonics but also for the title.

Kev Brown : Voltron

It's been an extremely long wait for a proper follow-up to Kev Brown's 2005 debut LP "I Do What I Do", but finally he returns with "Homework" - twenty-nine tracks for a grateful audience! It's a partly vocal and partly instrumental album, with many tracks clocking in at under two minutes long. This was an initial standout for me, and while it's tickling my head as though there's a familiar sample, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that everything was played from scratch - Kev certainly has the capability.

The Game ft. Faith Evans : Don't Need Your Love

I've got to be honest - the lead-up to the release of The Game's debut album, "The Documentary" felt like one of the first times I felt as though the industry was really trying to force-feed an artist into the scene. He'd only been rapping for a relatively short time (for that era) before this LP came out, and has to be credited for building his skills in such a short time, but the Dr. Dre co-sign and G-Unit affiliation was of course what put him over the top. He's still active nowadays though, and has absolutely earned his place. Anyway, the first album had two tracks I really enjoyed - "Put You On The Game" and this, a track straight from the heart with Faith Evans blessing the hook. Havoc of Mobb Deep is on production with a beat that isn't what you might expect from him in terms of sound, but is right there at the standard of quality that he'd set.

DJ Cam ft. Cameo : Love Junkee (Dilla Remix)

You may or may not know it, but you cannot deny that this is a serious tune! The original was cool, in a relaxed and organic way, with Cameo an extremely welcome guest to proceedings, but Dilla turned it into a banger. Incredibly minimal on the surface, but packed with lots of little subtleties if you listen closely enough. If you can hear past that thumping low end! Get yourself a digital copy of both versions, and thank me later.

Zapp : Computer Love

I've said it before, but Zapp were something like fifteen years ahead of the advent of internet dating! This is a stone classic record, sampled and flipped countless times, and one which I'm glad to have enjoyed as a new track when it was released back in 1985! Shirley Murdock features as half of the lead vocal duet alongside Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band, and the great Roger Troutman (RIP), who also wrote the song, comes in on the talkbox. Apparently Charlie Wilson's record label thought this wasn't going to be a hit...I assume much crow has been eaten since! You can find this as a single, on the "The New Zapp IV U" album, and on many compilations.

Onra : Wait A Minute

This needed a bit of additional looping to be long enough to fit here, but it fit so well in terms of sound that it had to be done. It's taken from the new "Nobody Has To Know" album, the instrumental story of a secret relationship.

Sean Price : 60 Bar Dash

Sean P again with a stream of the disrespectful lines we love him for, on a record from relatively early in his solo career - you can find this on the B-side of the "Boom Bye Yeah" 12" single. PF Cuttin is on production, working a break you might know from the first Diamond D album.

De La Soul : The Art Of Getting Jumped

I always enjoyed this one and the 80s Aretha sample that makes up the hook! Underrated but big tune from the "Art Official Intelligence : Mosaic Thump" album, all about those times when the pack strikes and isn't concerned with fighting fair...

Eric B & Rakim : Set 'Em Straight

If you don't have the "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em" album, then you probably don't know this track - it wasn't a single, it's not a club track, but my goodness, it's dope. The title is perfect, as Rakim takes the time to primarily put other MCs in check, but also correct one or two false rumours of the time, including that that he was supposedly locked up on Rikers Island for selling drugs. Pure heat from the very early 90s.

Blade : Rough It Up

Long before his union with Mark B (RIP) that many of you will know him for, Blade was an MC who absolutely personified the grind and the real DIY attitude. His first LP, "The Lion Goes From Strength To Strength", was in my opinion the original crowd-funded album, and the determined and defiant nature required to undertake such a task in 1991 is evident on this early 12"! He's talking about his real life right down to washing dishes to pay the bills, over a soup of funk cooked up by his own hand alongside the underground legendary engineer/producer "No Sleep" Nigel. I learned about this record when Pete Tong played it as a brand new tune on Radio 1, and it made me a Blade fan for life.

K-Def : Get A Clue

I needed something funky for this spot, and with the help of a bit of looping to make it a suitable length, I found it on K-Def's "Willie Boo Boo" collection, which is one that the beat heads should definitely have in their collections.

Aretha Franklin : Young, Gifted, and Black

What can you say? I thought this soaring anthem would be a great record to end the episode on. Nina Simone was the original writer (with Weldon Irvine) and performer of this song, back in 1969, but just three years later Aretha released this incredible version as the title track of her eighteenth (!) studio album. I certainly remember hearing many versions of this track as a child, and this is the perfect time to bring it out for all of you. Turn up the volume and take in the mastery.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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takemyhanddontletitgo · 6 years

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As a decently frequent album buyer who is still very much a person who will go into HMV to just to browse and come out with a stack of CDs, I’ve always felt that there are some conversations about the nature of albums and music fans’ changing interactions with physical and digital media that didn’t quite show the whole picture that I could see in a way that accounts for the gaps in between the conversation. The main thorn in my side is the persistence of a narrative of logical progression (of course the music industry moved onto the better technology of downloads from CDs, of course going on to streams from downloads in the future is the logical outcome) and how that narrative might intersect with Salen and Zimmerman’s immersive fallacy and this ongoing discussion about music being undervalued from a financial standpoint being inherently tied to the rise of Napster and the nature of how people interacted with that online despite the fact that in contrast, coding as a profession hasn’t seen any similar changes from what I know, and the fact that we’ve not making a place in this discussion for cultural studies theories on identity or changing environmental impact and the nature of the consumption of music in a post-consumer state and blah blah blah - there’s a lot of gaps in the conversation, at least from where I’m looking at it, and I have zero clue how to fill most of them, but I’m hoping that laying out my purchasing and interaction habits with music media as a case study might give me an idea of a place to start, so that’s what this is.

Things that I’ll talk about on this blog: physical music audio purchases (CDs, cassettes, vinyl etc; studio album, studio EP, repackaged album, live album etc), digital music audio purchases (I see this mostly being confined to iTunes purchases; studio album, studio EP etc etc), physical music-related video purchases (this one I see mostly being concert footage on DVDs, but I would also count something like an NFC card brought to get video footage as this), official merchandise purchases (I’m an idol fan, and the way idol fandom interacts with with fansite goods is a lot different to the most comparable thing outside of idol fandom, which is to me is bootleg merch, so I’ll include idol fansite goods as part of this but make sure to contextualise on that whenever it becomes relevant), and digital non-music media purchases (videos, photos, chatrooms, either from an individual purchase or on a pay to access basis; again, idol fan, and how idol fandom interacts with and thinks about CH+ is very different from how I interact with and think about, say, Patreon, so interacting with videos etc under CH+ that have been downloaded and shared by paying members is something I’ll mostly include in this too, especially since at the moment the single group I care enough to bootleg from is also the group with the single member I care enough to buy a pass for if I know he’s in a CH+ exclusive video that month even though I know it’ll be uploaded outside of the site anyway, and that balance is definitely something I want the context to explore more on). There’ll also probably be some misc things thrown in there too, because what good are rules if you can’t bend them.

In terms of who I am: hi, I’m Frank! I’m a music business student at BIMM Brighton and a general nerd for interaction analysis and new ways to think about data. I’m currently mostly working on artist management and am trying to foray into musical direction. I would normally leave links to other things I do here but I’m at a point where I have a lot of skeletons of projects up and I’m now just waiting to be able to get fully stuck into them, stable location and current potential gallbladder problems permitting, so for now I’ll just link to my instagram: @jerseytooth

(Also, for extra info: the blog name comes from the lyric “we’ll take your hand don’t let it go” that can be heard in the intro track to Infinite’s Infinitize mini-album; as of writing this for the first time I have just recently brought a lot of Infinite’s Second Invasion concert DVDs + their Infinitize showcase mission DVDs, showcases being the idol norm for a press conference and promotional concert for a new album all in one and the Infinitize showcase being one that took place in multiple different cities in South Korea throughout the day that the members got to via helicopter, a promotional method that in my very biased opinion has never really been matched. These two DVDs being on the way is what got me thinking about this and how much I wanted a place to talk about this, and so it felt fitting to have a related blog name)

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flauntpage · 7 years

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He’s North Dakota Tough: Ten Takeaways from Eagles 34, Redskins 24

Carson Wentz’s 64-yard touchdown pass got the attention of my snoozing wife.

“Who the fuck is Hollins?” she said from the couch.

“He’s new babe, a rookie wide receiver. He rode his bike to the game.”

“I think Wentz just saw a green shirt and threw it,” she replied. “I don’t think he knows who Mack Hollins is.”

Maybe my wife is right. Maybe Wentz was just tossing it up to green shirts. He connected 17 times to eight different players for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the 10-point win. Whatever Carson we saw in the first quarter later morphed into the “North Dakota tough” version of the Eagles quarterback, who put on a second-half performance that impressed even his biggest critics:

Wentzylvania. Wentz in a lifetime. Carson Wins. That's it: 2017 belongs to Carson Wentz. So far.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 24, 2017

So far… at least until Dak Prescott plays again, which is what Skip is saying there.

Wentz was the biggest reason for the win, but a slow-starting and injury-wracked defense did the “next man up” thing for the 5th or 6th consecutive week, holding Washington to 75 rushing yards and a 33% third down conversion rate. Jim Schwartz game-planned around the weak spots, the offense overcame a grotesque first quarter, and Doug Pederson continued his coach of the year campaign.

1) Just like we drew it up

This game had nightmare written all over it when the following happened in the first five minutes:

First defensive series:

Jordan Hicks injured

Washington goes 8 plays and 66 yards for a field goal.

Hicks was carted off the field as Lincoln Financial Field went dead silent. Patrick Robinson then bailed out the Birds with a really nice third down tackle to force the FG.

On the first offensive drive:

penalty (offensive pass interference)

penalty (block in the back)

penalty (holding)

penalty (12 men on the field)

2 yard run

interception

I was waiting for the Reuben Frank Tweet to determine whether or not a team had ever committed four penalties in a row on offense at any point in a game, but it never came. I’ll have to look it up myself.

Thing is, all of those calls were probably legit– the Birds just weren’t ready to play.

2) Linebacker back-up

Hicks was replaced by Joe Walker and Najee Goode was already covering for an injured Mychal Kendricks. Nigel Bradham, who was phenomenal against Carolina, rounded out the linebacking corps.

I don’t want to say anything bad about a fellow Mountaineer, but Goode had a lot of trouble in pass protection. On this play, he and Walker were all over the place, allowing Vernon Davis to pick up a huge chunk right down the middle of the field:

Davis finished with four catches for 67 yards while Jordan Reed snagged eight for 64 and two touchdowns. Washington’s tight ends and running backs caught 20 of Kirk Cousins’ 30 completions. The wide receivers were a total non-factor.

On the first touchdown pass, Goode again got lost in the middle of the field and didn’t slide over to pick up Chris Thompson coming out of the backfield:

Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until you see the backups try to do the job.

3) Papering over the cracks

Because of those issues in linebacker pass coverage, Schwartz dialed up a couple of all-out blitzes on third down. If your guys are struggling in the middle of the field, let ’em bring the heat instead, right?

They ended the second and third Washington drives with key sacks:

They did the same thing again to end a third quarter drive.

Cousins struggled when pressured last night. There was a point in the second quarter where he was 10/10 for 129 yards and a 118.8 passer rating when he was throwing from a clean pocket. That changed by the end of the game when the Birds were able to hit him 10 times.

4) Losing contain

This happened a couple of times on Washington’s first touchdown drive.

On this one, Vinny Curry got sucked in and allowed Cousins to sneak by on bootleg action:

And later in the drive, Derek Barnett bit on it, too:

Great block by the left guard there, which I circled in blue. The Birds’ secondary did a good job to minimize the damage on that play.

That’s one thing about the Eagles’ aggression on defense. Sometimes it can used against them with play-action, deception, and misdirection, and that’s how I’d game plan against them if I was an offensive coordinator. But I’m not, I’m just a writer.

5) A big loss and a big V

You know you’re respected when opposing players come over to say a few words while you’re being carted off the field. That’s what Trent Williams did when Jason Peters went down in the third quarter:

Emotional moment as Eagles players come to show their support for an injured Jason Peters while he's carted off the field. http://pic.twitter.com/4SmzT6e6GG

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 24, 2017

It looked like the entire Eagles team also came over, but that’s no surprise.

Peters is a huge loss, but Hali Vaitai covered for him well enough. He held his blocks on both second half touchdown passes and I didn’t hear his name called outside of an early false start penalty that I’d chalk up to a lack of reps. I found it interesting that the Eagles did a straight swap at left tackle instead of moving Lane Johnson over. That seems like the right call, but we’ll see if they change their minds going into Week 8.

6) Wentz wizardry

There was a point in this game where Carson Went had a passer rating of 8.6.

I don’t know where to go with the Wentz section, since everything has already been said, but I think I was most impressed by his in-game ability to shrug off a bad start and look more like himself. He took some bad early sacks, seemed a little indecisive at times, fumbled it twice, and failed to throw the ball away a couple of times.

Wentz hasn’t had a clunker this year, not like Donovan’s McNabb’s boy, Jared Goff. Even in the Kansas City loss, Wentz probably played well enough for the Eagles to win that game. I think the takeaway is that the physical tools are complemented by an incredibly advanced mental capacity, something you really shouldn’t see from a guy who has played 23 NFL games.

This is the release point on that Corey Clement touchdown pass. How many quarterbacks are staying in the pocket to get rid of this ball while they’re about to be clobbered by not one, but two guys?

He’s special.

7) Thanks Chip

Ho hum, just five more catches for 89 yards and a touchdown for Zach Ertz.

Lemme just go down the list with some stats:

tied for 8th in the NFL with 494 receiving yards

leads all tight ends in receiving yards, touchdowns (5), receptions (39), targets (58), and receiving first downs (26)

only three players with more touchdown catches (Jordy Nelson, Michael Crabtree, DeAndre Hopkins)

already eclipsed his career high for single season touchdown catches: 2013 (4), 2014 (3), 2015 (2), and 2016 (4)

If Chip Kelly did anything right, it was drafting Ertz. He just needed a franchise quarterback to unlock his talent.

And in case you didn’t know, Ertz’s wife is a really talented soccer player. Add that to the rotation of mandatory mentions in a Philadelphia Eagles broadcast, along with cheesesteaks, Rocky, and the Liberty Bell.

8) Doug’s worst call?

It’s becoming harder and harder to find things to place in this category.

Did I see an east/west LeGarrette Blount run in the third quarter? I still think they could use him better.

Maybe the biggest issue was not challenging this spot, which clearly was not a first down:

To be fair, Pederson needs somebody in his ear telling him to throw the flag. The Birds got screwed on that call and Washington ended up scoring on the drive to cut the lead to seven points.

For what it’s worth, the refs did the same thing to Washington in the fourth quarter, when Clement got a questionable first down before going out of bounds. The Skins didn’t challenge that one either.

The officiating was pretty annoying overall, but not nearly as bad as the Carolina game. I don’t have another place to put this tweet, but I wanted to get it in the story somewhere, so I’ll drop it here:

Looks like collusion to me! #FlyEaglesFly #PHIvsWAS http://pic.twitter.com/RRKGQ4Odqi

— Robert Henderson (@hendersonrob) October 24, 2017

9) Doug’s best call?

I really liked the Wentz read option on that 3rd and three in the second half:

Gotta say, though, that the decision to keep Lane Johnson at right tackle and finish the game there was probably Pederson’s best move of the night, more than any specific play call.

10) Not awful announcing

No clue why, but Jon Gruden makes me laugh. He’s got this weird blend of being excitable and goofy at the same time, then he’ll drop some amazing football knowledge to sort of reel you back in, like the North Dakota State play design he noticed on the Clement touchdown pass.

Yea, he called Jordan Reed “Josh Reed” and pronounced Najee Goode’s last name wrong on two different occasions, but it’s nothing Dick Stockton wouldn’t do. I also think I heard Gruden drop “Bullies of Broad Street” to refer to past Eagles squads. Was that a misplaced Flyers reference? I did a double take when I heard that.

Also, I loved that clip at the end of the game where he was out on the field with the Pennsaken, Lenape, and Vineland kids. I’ll take that any day of the week versus some goober who sits in his hotel room doing non-preparation for a national broadcast.

The Redskins have no answers for Purple Jelly Bean Slant 88 Z Tire Pump Sand Wedge. Wentz ran that play to perfection, man. I love it

— Jon Gruden (@Faux_Gruden) October 24, 2017

He’s North Dakota Tough: Ten Takeaways from Eagles 34, Redskins 24 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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