#this is my long way of saying tommy and jimmy are very similar and I want them on a mcc team together

[cheese-water]

Just watched Jimmy’s newest episode and first of all go watch it it’s great and second of all I’M SCARED.

Everyone’s saying “oh it’s villain arc time! Time to watch the small man have his vengeance and eat it too!” (what am I even saying) And while it will most likely happen, which I’ll enjoy thoroughly, I hesitate to call it right now. For I have flashbacks…

For a time not long before, where we all desired a “villain arc” for a character who, like Jimmy, was never treated with respect. So when given the option, we proudly begged to put this character where he had no other choice but to go against his values and put himself first for once…

A seemingly perfect recipe for some well deserved chaos…

WELL BOY HOWDY WE WERE WRONG

#not again not again please not again #there already both blonde british and say big man #I WILL NOT FALL FOR THIS AGAIN #dsmp #tommyinnit #jimmy solidarity #empires smp #empires s2 #empires jimmy #exile arc #tommy exile #exile tommy #dream smp #logstedshire #any other tags please lmk #tommyinnit hates his ocs lmao #tbh same #but that does not make the parallels any less apparent #IT MAY BE A FALSE ALARM BUT I WILL STILL WARN #this is my long way of saying tommy and jimmy are very similar and I want them on a mcc team together #the chaos would be fantastic #Anyways I’m scared for next week #solidaritygaming

[mviswidow]

i can’t feel it

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Word Count: 2,727

Warnings: wandavision spoilers!! i recommend catching up before reading this if you haven’t already. also, i cursed like, twice.

A/N: this was literally edited while i was falling asleep, so if there are mistakes, that’s why. Please pm or reply, telling me and I'll go back and fix it.

Prompt: hi!! what about a wanda x reader where r has similar powers to wanda & enters the hex to talk her into letting everyone in westview go & coming home with r? :)

Summary: R has to convince Wanda to let everyone in Westview go.

    part two

“Are you sure you remember everything?” Jimmy asked you, concerned about how fast you were being thrown into everything. 

You nodded confidently, you were nervous, kind of scared, but ready. After getting a call from Monica, you knew whatever was going on was important, and you made your way to the outskirts of Westview, New Jersey before she even had to tell you what was going on. “Wanda’s robot boyfriend-”

“-Synthezoid,” Jimmy corrected before seeing the look Darcy gave him. “Sorry.”

“Synthezoid boyfriend died because Thanos pulled the mind stone out of his head, she had to watch him die twice and freaked out, stole his body from S.W.O.R.D., and created a fake sitcom reality where she goes through decades because she’s a grieving 30 year old with an odd obsession with tv shows. Oh, and she’s mind controlling a whole town and I’m supposed to convince her to let them go. Almost forgot that one,” You said, pointedly making the lighthearted joke because of Jimmy’s evident stress, chuckling softly.

“Just be careful,” Darcy cut in, “Wanda doesn’t seem to want to leave and we won't know if things go wrong because she chooses what goes in her show and what doesn’t.”

“I’ll be just fine. Let’s go,” You sighed and the four of you started to head out the door, but Hayward pulled you aside before you could leave the building. You told them to go ahead and you would meet them by the car.

“Ms (Y/L/N),” Hayward nodded, and you nodded back to him. Warm greeting, you thought. “Director Hayward.”

“If you cannot get Wanda to submit and release the people of Westview, I want you to fight her. Do whatever you have to, I need the Vision’s body back in S.W.O.R.D. custody and the citizens of Westview to be freed.”

Your brow furrowed, “My assignment is to try to persuade Ms Maximoff. I’m not fighting her, Sir. She’s grieving. I just got here and I can tell. She seems like she just wants to be happy.”

He scoffed at you and shook his head, “Her happiness means nothing to me. Ms Maximoff has thousands held captive. So, I think you’re misunderstanding me, Ms (Y/L/N), I am ordering you to kill her if needed. We need her to bring that barrier down.”

“I don’t take orders from you, Director. I’m just here to try to work things out, not to fight anyone,” You retorted.

“So you would let her continue to mind control the people of Westview? To continue controlling a sentient weapon made of vibranium?” Hayward asked pointedly, but you weren’t having any of it.

“With all due respect, you seem awfully concerned about the Vision when there are ‘thousands held captive’. And regardless, do you have any idea what would happen if Wanda died while all those people were in there?” You paused for a moment, giving him a chance to answer. “I didn’t think so.”

And with that, you turned on your heel and huffed, quickly making your way to the car that was waiting to take you to the border of the hex, Darcy, Monica, and Jimmy sat inside of it.

“What did he want?” Jimmy asked.

You sighed and started playing with the sleeve of your long sleeved shirt, “He wants me to kill Wanda if she doesn’t stop mind controlling Westview.”

Darcy’s eyes widened, “Sorry, what?”

You looked up at her and saw her concerned expression, “Oh, I’m not going to.” You said quickly, not wanting any of them to get the wrong impression. “He isn’t in charge of me. Wanda doesn’t seem to want to hurt anyone in Westview, and besides, it would be foolish when we know nothing about what would happen inside the barrier if she died.”

Darcy nodded as Monica parked the car and the four of you got out of it.

“Thank you for doing this, (Y/n),” Monica smiled softly as you reached the hex.

“You know I’m always willing to help you when you need me,” You smiled and looked towards the barrier.

You knew the trio was watching you intently, with the other agents standing outside, waiting for you to go in, but your heart was racing and you had to take a few deep breaths before bringing your hands up, moving your fingers in a way that they recognized to be similar to the way Wanda did, and you stepped closer, the blue light from your powers flowing forward and hitting the hex.

It kind of looked like when food coloring is dropped into water, and the color spreads, except your powers were the food coloring, and the hex was the water.

Not wanting to waste any more time, you pulled your hands further apart and groaned as you slowly but surely pulled apart a section of the barrier that was big enough for you to fit through before walking right through it.

As soon as you were through, you looked behind you and saw nothing. None of the S.W.O.R.D. tents or buildings or cars, Darcy, Monica, Jimmy, and all the other agents who were outside were gone. It was just a plain old normal street.

You looked down at your clothes and chuckled, the 80s. If Wanda had anything, it was a fashion sense, whether it was conscious of it or not. You were dressed in a fitted white shirt, and an electric blue skirt and cropped blazer set. Was it a bit tacky? Sort of, but you couldn’t help but love it. However, you were very pleased that the white boots you were wearing didn’t have too high of a heel. 

You sighed and knew you needed to go quickly. Vision had just left for work and this was the best chance you were going to get to talk to Wanda. You doubted she would let you convince her to let everyone go if Vision was there with her.

You extended your arms to the ground below you and used your powers to lift yourself up into the air, waiting until you saw the house you recognized to be Wanda’s to fly down to a street that had no one on it that was close enough for you to arrive quickly.

Your hand trembled as it reached up to knock on the door, but before you could overthink any longer, you tapped your knuckles against the wood three times and waited, playing with your fingers.

Wanda opened the door and smiled, though she wore a confused expression on her face, “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met before, or have we?”

You offered a smile and shook your head, “We haven’t, I’m (Y/n).”

“Wanda,” she said, with a lilt in her voice.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something, if you aren’t busy? It’s important.”

She gazed at you curiously before nodding and stepping out of the way, “Come inside.”

You walked inside her home, the feeling you got was weird. You’d seen it on Darcy’s tv, but it was different to actually be in the room.

Wanda noticed the way your eyes flicked around her living room, looking at the couch, the photos hanging, the random decorations, and the few toys on the floor.

“Do you want something to drink?” She asked politely, before noticing you staring at one of the toys Tommy happened to favor. “My boys are upstairs.”

You smiled politely and shook your head, “I’m alright, Wanda, thank you. I need to talk to you about what you’re doing.” You started, not very strongly, but it wasn’t like you could just blurt out what you needed to say. This was a difficult situation.

“I’m sorry?” She tilted her head, not catching on, but she looked worried.

“I know about your powers, you’re controlling everyone in Westview, and Vision is starting to-”

“Leave,” Wanda extended her hands and tried to levitate you out, but you put your hands at your side and grounded yourself, blue mist surrounding your feet.

Wanda faltered and her eyes widened at the sight of your powers, “Who are you?”

“I’m Y/n Y/l/n. I was sent here to convince you to let everyone in Westview go. I promise I don’t mean you any harm, I just want things to go smoothly so no one else gets hurt.”

Wanda shook her head, “I can't just let go of this, I finally have everything I want.”

You sighed and nodded, “I understand how you feel, I have lost family too, but the people of Westview, they have their own lives and families. They’re in pain, Wanda. I can feel it. Can’t you?”

Her eyes snapped up and met yours, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill. She shook her head, “I can’t feel it.”

You stood for a moment, the two of you just looking at each other, before taking a breath and letting the blue mist that was keeping you grounded fade away. Cautiously, you walked closer to her and let out a breath of relief when she wasn’t backing away or looking like she was going to attack you.

“You can look into minds, can’t you?” You asked, knowing that showing her the pain she was unknowingly putting these people through was the best chance you had at convincing her to do the right thing. 

Wanda nodded without saying anything and understood what you wanted her to do. Shakily, she lifted her hand and bit her lip, she looked scared.

You blinked a few times, thought, fuck it, and gently held her wrist, bringing her hand up to your temple. You watched her eyes glow red before closing your eyes, allowing Wanda to see inside your mind.

All Wanda could feel was an unbearable amount of agony, she heard thousands of voices overlapping each other, panicked screams and crying. It was too much. Everyone sounded so scared. She did this.

The feeling was excruciating and let out a strangled sob, which made your eyes open on instinct.

Tears were flowing freely down Wanda’s face and she slowly sank to her knees, trying to catch her breath.

You got down on the floor in front of her and held one of her hands, using your other one to tilt her chin up towards you, “It’s okay, Wanda.”

She shook her head furiously and squeezed your hand, leaning forward, into you.

You wrapped your arm around her and let her cry into your shoulder. Your stomach felt twisted and you couldn’t believe Hayward had asked you to kill Wanda if she refused to comply, not when she was reacting like this.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen like this,” She managed to get out between deep breaths and whimpers. “I just - I wanted Vis back.”

Tears pricked at your own eyes, but you ignored them, knowing that you had to focus on Wanda, “I know, it’s okay. Everything will be okay. You just have to put down the barriers around Westview and stop mind controlling everyone.”

Wanda’s breath hitched, but she nodded, “Okay.”

“Okay?” You asked. Surprised at how you managed to get her to listen to you.

“I’ll do it now,” She sniffled and wiped her tears, standing up slowly.

Your eyebrows furrowed, “Well, hold on, don’t you want to see Vision first? Or call the twins down here?”

Her lips pressed together as another tear slipped down her cheek and she shook her head, “I don’t know what I’ll do if I allow myself to see them again,” She said quietly.

You nodded and stepped back, letting her go about this whatever way she wanted.

You watched her work, even though the two of you were inside, you could see out the window that the sky had turned red and it was gradually getting more blue, looking like she was chipping off pieces of the sky, if the sky was red, away from the inside out. 

Before you knew it, the house the two of you were standing in had been reduced to the foundation of a home, just concrete laying on the floor in the shape of the house Wanda had been living in. 

She was wearing a burgundy shirt, a jacket, and jeans instead of the big jeans and plaid shirt she’d had on before, and you were back to wearing your comfortable grey long sleeved shirt and jeans.

Her bottom lip started to tremble and she turned towards you before her breath started to quicken.

You wore a pained expression and stepped towards her, holding your arms out. You thought she was going to deny the embrace you were offering her, but she walked forward and buried her head in your neck, letting you wrap your arms around her, “I’m really proud of you, Wanda. It takes a lot to be able to give up something that important to you.”

She nodded, but said nothing. You stood there for about two more minutes before her breathing had calmed and she’d stopped crying. “Thank you, (Y/n).”

You nodded and smiled sadly at her before you both looked towards the red buick that was now sitting in her driveway, “I think I’m going to have to take you back out of Westview with me. I’ll get in trouble if I just let you leave, I think.”

“It’s fine, I’ll go,” She fished the keys to her car out of her pocket and played with the keyring. “Do you think you can drive us? I kind of want to look around before we leave.”

You took her keys and she let out a breath before quietly thanking you and walking to the passenger seat of her car.

Before you pulled out of the driveway, you spoke, “How did you do all of this?” You asked curiously. Sure, you had magic yourself, but there was no way you could even dream about pulling off anything like this.

“I’m not sure. All I remember is feeling so completely alone and sad, and I went to S.W.O.R.D. to see Vis for the last time before coming here, because Hayward wouldn’t let me take his body to give him a funeral or anything, so I guess I made a version of him here. I really don’t know how I managed though, because -”

“Sorry,” You interrupted, turning to look at her with your brows knitted together. “You said the Vision stayed in S.W.O.R.D.?”

“Yes?” She nodded. “What is it?”

You huffed and started the engine of the car, pulling out of the driveway, “The lying bastard. Hayward edited security camera footage to make it look like you stole the Vision’s body and used it here.” 

“That’s ridiculous. I know better than to make myself a criminal again. Well, I mean-” 

“It’s fine Wanda. You didn’t mean to,” You continued driving, enjoying the neighborhood.

When you were getting close to the edge of town, she spoke again. “Am I going to jail?”

“I won’t let them put you in jail,” You said simply.

“What, why?” Wanda asked, and it was clear that she was asking because she thought she deserved it and she was expecting it to happen.

“You don’t deserve it,” You shrugged. You didn’t want her to suffer alone, again. She already tried that, and look where that got everyone.

Wanda shook her head, “You know that isn’t true.”

“I believe it is. I know that your actions were wrong, but Hayward was wrong for denying you when you asked for Vision’s body to bury. It wasn’t his to have. All he cares about is money and power and the Vision would cost a lot of money and would give him a lot of power. I mean, realistically, he’s kind of the cause for this. But that’s not the point. The point is that it was never your intention to hurt these people and it’s not fair to you that he set you up like this.”

“And what will you do if they try to put me in jail?” Wanda asked curiously, her voice low.

You sighed as you started to be able to make out Jimmy, Monica, and Darcy from far away. “I dunno, maybe we can run away together or something.”

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff oneshot #wlw imagine #sapphic #wandavision #wandavision imagine #wandavision oneshot #fanfic

[rosyfingereddawnn]

That’s The Way

Pairing: Jimmy Page x Reader

Word count: 3.6k

Warnings: none, this is kind of an introductory/fluff chapter if you will :)

Story summary: Y/N Y/L/N, an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl, gets pulled into the world of rock and roll on a fateful night at the Marquee Club in London when she experiences the musical phenomenon of the Five Live Yardbirds. She grows up fast, navigating her way through the downfall of The Yardbirds, the legendary skyrocket of Led Zeppelin, era-defining decadence instigated by the ‘60s and ‘70s mindset of free love and personal gratification, and finding the courage to express how she fell deeply in love with one of modern music’s greatest guitarists.

Author’s notes (from Molly of rebel-without-a-zeppelin): Hi everyone! A little disclaimer on my part: this is the first story I’ve ever shared for public consumption. I’ve been toying with this idea in my mind for a very long time now, and I’ve finally mustered up the courage to share it with you all. I hope you like it. I am incredibly honored to collaborate with Syd on this project; this is truly our baby, as it has a very long, detailed, intricate plot, so saddle up for lots (and lots) of drama! This is also a sloooowwwww burn, like really, really slow lol. Over the course of the story, please feel free to send me your theories and comments; I would absolutely love to read them. Please enjoy, and happy reading!

---------

3 May 1965

The sound of a car horn beeped incessantly from the front of Y/N’s house. Dropping her backpack down on her bedroom floor with an annoyed huff, she sprinted down the steps. She never did get enough time to prepare, and it was no different today. With her friend Carolyn in tow, Y/N made a beeline for the front door, the click-clack of her Oxford shoes pounding across the hardwood floor. Y/N’s mum, who nonchalantly strolled out of the laundry room with an armful of freshly washed and folded bath towels, leant against the doorframe.

“Now remember Y/N: no drinking, no drugs, no sex. No going home with strange musician guys, nor are you allowed to go to their hotel,” her mum instructed calmly, knowing she’d receive an eye roll from the girl. Her stern expression at home on her gracefully-aged face, the girls receive the speech they get every time they go out.  “You too, C. Even though I’m not your mother, I still worry about your safety.”

Both Y/N’s mum and dad had a very protective instinct over their eldest daughter, just like their other three children. Even at Y/N’s healthy age of seventeen, she longed for the freedom and trust that her older brother had gained at her age.

“Thank you, Mrs. Y/L/N,” Carolyn replied with a little laugh.

“Mum! This is literally the fourth time I’ve been to a Yardbirds gig, and nothing bad has happened,” Y/N huffed. Her mum raised her eyebrows.

Lillian, Y/N’s little sister, walked into the foyer and surprised Y/N with a big, tight hug around her waist. Y/N gasped at the sudden contact, but chuckled when she realized it was her younger sister, and reciprocated the hug.

“I don’t want you getting hurt, Y/N. Boys are icky. And stupid!” Lillian said in a whiny voice, her face muffled by being buried in Y/N’s stomach.

Y/N ruffled her sister’s muss of dirty blonde waves affectionately, rubbing her back to soothe her worries. “I promise, I will come back perfectly fine! I won’t let any boys mess with me, Lil,” Y/N said with a smile, “And when I come back, I’ll tell you everything that happened.”

Lillian gazed up at Y/N with a similar smile, her small teeth shining a bright, pearly white and her chin resting on the taller girl’s stomach. “Okay,” she said, content, before releasing from Y/N with a stuffed animal tucked under her arm.

“Where’s Charlie?” Y/N asked, hoping she could say goodbye to her younger brother before she left.

“I think he’s riding around the neighborhood on his bike with his friends,” Y/N’s mum replied with a shrug. Y/N felt a little disappointed, but she figured she’d talk to him tomorrow at breakfast about her night out.

Thomas, Y/N’s older brother, continued to honk the horn rather obnoxiously, growing quite impatient. It’s a wonder the neighbors weren’t at arms, knocking on their door. He was forced by his parents to be Y/N and Carolyn’s chauffeur to the Marquee Club in London.

“We have to go, or else Tommy will have my head,” Y/N said as she started to open the front door.

“Wait!” her mum said, sloppily placing the towels down on a nearby counter to dash to the door and give Y/N a hug and a kiss on the head goodbye. Finally pulling away her weathered hands flew to Y/N’s shoulders, and gripping them firmly, she continued, “Be good. Love you.”

“I know, I will. Love you too,” Y/N smiled, before dashing down the steps and to the passenger seat of the car. Carolyn was in quick pursuit, following her to the car and taking a seat in the back.

“It’s about time,” Tommy huffed impatiently, tapping his fingertips on the top of the steering wheel as he put the transmission into drive.

“Sorry. Mum was giving me and C a safety brief,” Y/N replied apologetically.

“Why are you two still in school uniforms?” he snorted, shifting to look over at the girls; their studious appearance of white oxford shirts, sweater vests, plaid kilts, white knee socks, and smart oxford shoes would be quite out of place among the audience at the show.

“No time to change, just like usual,” she replied, turning on the radio, soft melodies pouring out at a low volume.

The three drove in silence, except for the sound of the radio playing, until Carolyn had dozed off on the somewhat lengthy car ride. Occasional small talk between Y/N and her brother permeated the quiet that fell over the group, but it picked up when they were only a few blocks away from the venue.

“You gotta stay safe in there, Y/N,” Tommy said, looking straight ahead. His teeth clamped down sharply on his bottom lip: a dead giveaway to the nerves he must have been feeling.

“I know, Dad,” Y/N joked, punching him lightly across the shoulder. Her bright smile wavered and fell when she saw his grim expression.

“I’m serious, you know. I don’t want my sister being pestered by some wankers in a blues band.”

Y/N smirked at her brother’s sudden defensive behavior. “I can take care of myself. Trust me. This isn’t my first rodeo. You should’ve seen the first Yardbirds gig we went to. Utter chaos...” The tilt of her lips signalled that she was joking, and Tommy huffed out a laugh.

Carolyn, stretching with a grunt, had miraculously woken up just as Tommy pulled up to the front door of the Marquee. Glancing at the venue with awe dancing in their eyes, Y/N and Carolyn disembarked from the car, walking closer with the façade of calmness and competency.

“I’ll be back later to pick you girls up. Have fun, but not too much fun,” Tommy rolled his window down as he said this, winking playfully.

Y/N waved to her brother as Carolyn thanked him graciously for the ride. Arms linked, Y/N and Carolyn entered the famous Marquee. Nervousness and anticipation began to pool Y/N’s stomach as she was greeted by the decadent atmosphere of the club: the smell of smoke, alcohol, and sweat hung in the air as her eyes were flashed by many people mingling about, dressed in typical mod clothing. Y/N and her friend looked at each other, feeling like aliens in their intelligent dress. They tactfully made their way through the crowd as they found their way to their usual spot, a small leather-upholstered booth set against the wall near the stage.

“Today might be the day, Y/N,” Carolyn said as they settled into their seats.

“I don’t know,” she replied, smoothing out her skirt, “the idea of that is both scary and exciting to me at the same time. We’ll just roll with the punches, I guess.”

“Which Yardbird do you have your eye on?”

Y/N smirked as she thought for a moment. “Hmm...I’m not sure. I guess they’re all pretty cute in their own way. What about you?”

“Yes, I agree. But I must admit, I do have a very soft spot for Chris Dreja.”

“I’ll pray for ya, C,” Y/N chuckled.

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, backstage, five live Yardbirds were performing some pre-show rituals in the hopes of easing the preliminary anxiousness. Jeff, Keith, and Jim were peeking out the little sliver of curtain that allowed them to see their gathering audience.

“Look! It’s those two schoolgirls again!” Jeff pointed to the two teenage girls in school uniforms, chatting in their booth waiting for the show to begin. They were huddled together in conversation, legs daintily crossed as their faint giggles floated over to them. Jim couldn’t help but smile at the sound, though he recovered quickly, not wanting his bandmates to get any ideas.

“What’s wrong with that? They must like us,” Keith replied.

“I think they’re both really pretty, especially the one with the Y/H/C hair,” Jim pointed out, trying to be as subtle as possible.

“Yeah, maybe we should invite them backstage after the show… have a nice little chat,” Jeff winked at the singer and the drummer cheekily.

After taking a final glance at the two conversing girls, the three returned to the backstage area where Paul and Chris were. Jeff immediately enlisted Giorgio, their manager, to complete the agreed-upon mission. Jeff loosely draped an arm around Giorgio’s shoulder before bestowing the request as politely as possible. Not trying to be suspiciously polite, of course, because everyone in the band and its entourage were firsthand witnesses of Jeff’s temper and stubbornness. Yikes.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to do me a favor,” Jeff said to Giorgio with a mischievous smile.

Giorgio rolled his eyes, knowing this “favor” would have to do with scouting girls from the audience. “What d’ya need, Jeff?” he sighed exhaustedly.

“Don’t complain, please,” Jeff deadpanned. “There are two pretty birds in the audience, wearing their school uniforms. They’ve been coming to our shows for a little bit now, and they seem nice—”

“You want me to bring them backstage after the show?” Giorgio interrupted, somehow telepathically knowing, by routine, what the guitarist’s request would be.

“You finish that sentence like you know what I’m about to say.”

“That’s because I do, Mr. Beck,” Giorgio retorted sarcastically, “this happens a lot more often than you think it does.”

“Whatever,” Jeff grumbled moodily, knowing he was right, before walking back to the group of musicians in preparation.

~~~~~~~~

Y/N and Carolyn continued to gossip happily about what was happening at school, not a care in the world. They felt the stares of older men in the club, who silently disapproved of their knee socks being scrunched by their ankles, because that wasn’t the “proper” thing to do. But they didn’t care. Who are they to judge?

Every teacher scolded girls at school who did the same thing, because they didn’t want their long legs to be “tempting” or “distracting” any boys. A bloody nuisance, is what it is.

The girls were snapped from their thoughts by the sound of a heavy guitar tone being blasted through the speakers in an opening riff. Their eyes were stapled, almost transfixed to the stage as they took in the five sharply-dressed men in front of them, singing their songs and playing their instruments.

As much as Carolyn enjoyed The Yardbirds and music in general, Y/N had a rather deep connection to it, odd enough as it was. She could play the piano fairly well, so she understood where these musicians were coming from cognitively and creatively. From what she’d read in magazines about current popular musicians, like The Yardbirds for example, she liked the same music they did. Y/N understood dynamics, tempo, tone, key, and musical notation, just like they did. Perhaps she’d be able to get into an intelligent musical conversation with at least one of them one day.

Two straight hours of hits, obscure songs, and blues covers from The Yardbirds’ catalogue were played for the Marquee Club patrons, hypnotizing its drunk and high onlookers with polished musicality and instrumentation.

As the final song concluded, both Y/N and Carolyn, unbeknownst to the other, felt a sinking feeling of disappointment that fell like a pit in their stomachs. They wouldn’t have the chance to meet the band. No one from the entity had approached them yet, and momentarily the five live Yardbirds would be exiting the stage for the night.

After they said their goodbyes and thanks to the crowd, they disappeared behind the curtain. The main lights of the club brightened to signal that the show was over, as the voices of all the patrons raised in rave of the spectacular show they had just witnessed.

Discouraged, but still in light spirits at what they had just seen, Y/N and Carolyn stood up from their seat and headed for the front door. Y/N expected her brother to be waiting in front; it was late, so might as well not make him wait longer than he needs to.

Y/N and Carolyn were merely a few feet from the door when Y/N felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Turning around to see a man with a dark beard already baring a jovial tight-lipped grin at her, the girl was quite surprised, maybe a little weirded out, but she reciprocated the gesture as genuinely as she could.

“Hello sir, what can we do for you?” Y/N greeted, discreetly nudging Carolyn to help her out and become a united front with her in front of this stranger.

“Good evening ladies, I was sent by Mr. Jeff Beck to offer you an invitation backstage to hang out with the band.”

Y/N’s stomach dropped and her face broke out into an obvious mad blush, much to her dismay. She was internally screaming. The Jeff Beck had spotted them in the crowd?! This had to be a dream.  Wait, this could be a complete drunken buffoon trying to trick them. Y/N remembered what her mother had said, and took the proper precautionary measure.

Y/N smiled in the most composed way she could. “Thank you for such a gracious invitation! Could I ask your name, if you don’t mind?”

“Giorgio Gomelsky, manager of The Yardbirds,” he replied, in a seemingly proud manner.

Okay, this was real. Y/N knew that Giorgio was definitely the manager’s name. She turned to Carolyn, who looked just as excited as she was.

“What are your names, dears?” Giorgio asked, pulling them out of their daze of what seemed like a fake reality.

“I’m Carolyn, and this is my friend Y/N,” Carolyn piped up, excited that she finally got an opportunity to speak to someone close to The Yardbirds.

She internally agreed to let Y/N handle the “diplomacy” part of the introduction, knowing that she was best at that. Carolyn knew her friend was quite shy, so she knew to step in when Y/N was starting to feel anxious. She noticed Y/N starting to fiddle with her fingers while talking to Giorgio in the most collected way she could muster; as excited as Y/N was, Carolyn knew she was growing very nervous.

“Well, it is certainly lovely to meet you both. So, what do you say? Would you like to meet the lads?”

After one final glance of excited mutual agreement, Carolyn replied, “Yes, we’d love to.”

Giorgio led the pair of girls back the way they came, through a sea of inebriated people, but this time through the backstage door. Y/N made an appoint to walk behind Carolyn, in an attempt to collect and relax herself. She was starting to sweat a little, her stomach doing flips and her hands becoming cold and clammy.

~~~~~~~~

“Our guests should be arriving any minute now,” Jeff said as he was placing his guitar back in its case.

Chris was standing and chatting with Paul in a corner when he turned around in surprise at the news. “Guests? What guests?”

“We had Giorgio invite two girls from the audience to come back here,” Jim replied, walking over to sit down in a metal folding chair.

“And why weren't we made aware of this?” Paul asked, as he walked to get another metal folding chair to place near Jim.

“It was their idea,” Keith replied, pointing two fingers between Jeff and Jim. Paul and Chris just nodded in recognition.

“I didn’t hear you disagree, Relf,” Jeff clapped back. He then told Chris and Keith to get some chairs for themselves and the two girls that would be walking through the door at any second.

Before Keith could respond, a couple knocks resounded in the room, signalling the arrival of the guests. Jacket lapels and ties were quickly straightened, even though each person was still glazed with quickly-drying sweat from the show they had just played, before the room fell unnaturally quiet as Giorgio opened the rather squeaky door.

The initial tension in the room that lasted a split second could be cut with a knife. Y/N felt her heart pounding in her chest, a cold sweat already running down her back, as five pairs of eyes landed on her, Carolyn, and Giorgio, warm smiles following suit.

She felt like internally combusting.

“Boys, this is Y/N,” Giorgio broke the momentary silence by introducing her, “and Carolyn.” Y/N smiled shyly and sent them a little wave, a dusty shade of pink seeping its way to her cheeks. Carolyn’s greeting was much more exuberant than Y/N’s, as she took the initiative to go over and shake all of their hands amiably. Y/N realized she had to follow her friend in order to make a good first impression.

Knowing that the boys wanted to spend time with the girls without being chaperoned, Giorgio left the room to attend to other business affairs.

Upon first glance, Y/N was the most beautiful girl that four of the five Yardbirds had ever seen. Perfect features, long legs, a calm, gentle, sweet demeanor… Just an absolutely angelic young woman; a vision.

Jeff had obviously recognized her beauty, from seeing her at multiple shows, but he thought she was way out of his league. He decided to focus on getting her to laugh and relax around them, because he noticed just how nervous she looked. She was turning pale right in front of his very eyes! Paul and Chris began to internally question themselves, how have I not seen this girl before? She is so gorgeous! Jim had been glancing at her sporadically throughout the show, soaking up her faraway presence. He noticed how her eyes glistened in childlike wonder as she watched them do what they did best: perform the Chicago blues.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you both,” Keith replied enthusiastically. “I’m Keith,” he alluded to himself, then pointing to the other members of the group while giving their names, “and this is Chris, Paul, Jeff, and Jim.”

“I mean, we know who you guys are, but it’s so lovely to finally meet you,” Carolyn replied. Y/N nodded in agreement.

“Come and sit down! Make yourselves comfortable. We don’t bite,” Jeff joked, motioning to the open chairs. The girls smiled and accepted his invitation, Y/N taking a seat between Jeff Beck and Jim McCarty, while Carolyn took a seat between Keith Relf and Chris Dreja. The chairs were arranged in a circular formation, so each person could talk to the other with ease.

“Tell us about yourselves!” Paul initiated, “I think Y/N should go first though, because you haven’t said too much yet,” he laughed at the last part. Y/N giggled (a little too idiotically for her own liking), but she felt herself become starstruck at how her name sounded coming from one of their voices.

Y/N clenched her cold, clammy hands in her lap as a method to ease her anxiety before starting with a smile. “Well, I’m from Saint Albans. This is our fourth time, I believe, coming to see a Yardbirds gig. Carolyn and I came to see you with Eric Clapton once, and then this is the third time with Jeff.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic! I guess I see where your favor lies in terms of guitarists,” Jeff responded playfully.

“I guess you’re right,” Y/N laughed, “I will admit that I love what you’ve done with the body of work. Clapton was a blues purist, which I respect, and he’s great, but I think your playing is much more interesting and unorthodox.”

Paul, Jim, and Jeff all raised their eyebrows at Y/N’s comment. They were impressed with how she understood their musicality.

“Are you a musician?” Jim asked Y/N.

“Not in your sense of the word,” Y/N chuckled, “But I’ve been playing the piano for most of my life, so I understand music. Probably more than your average female audience member,” she added with a grin.

“That’s so cool! Are you classically trained, or is it just a hobby?”

“Classically trained,” Y/N admitted to Jim shyly.

“Oh wow, so you’re the real deal,” Jeff added.

“I’m not a professional, so I’d say no,” Y/N laughed.

“You probably know more about music than all five of us combined!” Paul said.

“Well, I know that you know much more about the blues than me!” Y/N answered playfully.

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Paul smiled at Y/N. She cursed herself in her mind for feeling weak at Paul’s simple sentiment, but tried to keep her composure as best she could.

The four of them, especially Jeff and Y/N, began to bond over their love for different musicians. Y/N expressed her love for Chet Atkins and his fingerpicking style, Scotty Moore’s lively soloing style, and Robert Johnson’s slide technique and open tunings, rendering the three men shocked at her knowledge on the subject. Y/N loved how easily Jeff could make her laugh, and how interested Paul and Jim were at whatever she had to say, significant or insignificant. Chris Dreja, who was in a little group with Keith and Carolyn, occasionally spaced out of his conversation to hear what Y/N had to say.

They bonded for about an hour and a half about everything and nothing, until Y/N abruptly realized that Tommy was probably waiting for a while outside for her and her friend. She apologized to the band profusely for such a sudden departure as she and Carolyn walked towards the door.

“Say you’ll come visit us again after the show?” Jeff called to Y/N as she turned towards him in the doorframe.

“Absolutely,” she smiled brightly.

---------

Thanks so much, hope you enjoy!!

Taglist: @y0uth--anasia @reincarnated70sbaby

#jimmy page #led zeppelin #that’s the way #jimmy page fanfic #jimmy page fanfiction #jimmy page x reader #led zeppelin fanfic #classic rock fanfic

[nerdinreview]

“WandaVision In Review”

The first of many Marvel Disney+ shows has just recently concluded.  With fan theories running rampant, and twists and turns during almost every episode, it isn’t surprising that WandaVision was so successful.  However, the show is not without its own issues as nothing can ever be quite perfect.  Below is our spoiler-filled review of WandaVision.

My first impression when watching the early (first two) episodes of WandaVision was confusion.  I had a hard time trying to determine why Disney and Marvel would take us on a nostalgia tour through classic television series featuring two underserved and underutilized Avengers.  I have to admit, I wasn’t overly invested in the project in the beginning.  I enjoyed the references to The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched, but I honestly didn’t care much for it past that point.  Despite this, I kept watching for curiosity’s sake, and it certainly paid off.

When it becomes clear that Wanda is more in control of this reality than was initially assumed, I was hooked.  I’m a big fan of Wanda Maximoff as a character.  In the comics she has been a force to be reckoned with and the Marvel Cinematic Universe hadn’t seized the opportunity to really utilize her until this point.  It was exciting to see Wanda use her powers in a way we hadn’t gotten to see on screen before, and the ending definitely implies that this is just the tip of the iceberg for her.

As someone who has been critical of Vision in both comics and film, I have to say that this did wonders for his character as well.  We finally get to see a more “human” side of the synthezoid.  That said, it’s hard to determine how real this side of him was, as he’s technically a manifestation of Wanda’s grief.  At the very least, we get to see Vision as Wanda saw him, which is almost beautiful in its own right.

As mentioned above, some of the best content to come out of WandaVision is the character development.  While the two titular characters had the most development, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the other characters who stuck out.  The first of which is Monica Rambeau.  The last time we saw this character she was a child in Captain Marvel, and while she may have been dreaming for the stars, she had a lot of growing up to do before she became the version of her we see in the show.

Monica was another bright spot in the show, she was fearless, and certainly didn’t back away from a challenge.  She, similarly to Wanda, is dealing with grief.  Losing her mother in addition to the last five years of her life, would be maddening to anyone, yet Monica jumps right back in to work at SWORD, and is often the voice of reason throughout the series. It was also incredibly exciting to see Monica get her powers after being exposed to the boundaries of Wanda’s “hex” three separate times.  We even got to see her powers in action, first being able to withstand Wanda’s attack to get her to leave the neighborhood again, and then being literally bulletproof in the finale.  I don’t think I need to go too deeply into the significance of the MCU literally giving us a bulletproof black female superhero! It was amazing, seeing her protect Billy and Tommy, while also being impervious to Hayward’s attack.  It was a powerful scene that only highlighted Monica’s character even more.

 However, what impressed me most about this character was her empathy to Wanda.  No one would have been overly critical of Monica if she had taken Hayward’s side.  After all, she too was held hostage by Wanda and forced to play a role in Wanda’s show. The experience was even described as “excruciating,” in Hayward’s retelling of Monica’s experience, and yet Monica is unyielding in her opinion that Wanda is not doing this maliciously.  In fact, she willingly exposes herself back into the “hex” despite knowing that it is quite literally altering her DNA, with unknown side effects.  This was something that Jimmy Woo wasn’t even willing to expose himself to once.  During his first scene in the show, he says he doesn’t enter the town because he can “feel” that they’re not supposed to go inside.  He stays true to that throughout the series, only entering Westview when Wanda breaks down the “hex” during the final episode.

As mentioned previously, Jimmy Woo was another character we got to see develop a bit since his Ant-Man and the Wasp appearance.  He and Thor’s Darcy Lewis, were oftentimes the comic relief in the show when things got heavier.  However, we got to see a side of Jimmy Woo’s character that we hadn’t seen before.  While he was appreciated in Ant-Man and the Wasp, he was often at odds with Scott Lang as he was assigned to make sure that Scott was following his house arrest.  It was refreshing to see Jimmy defy Hayward and fight back, being a key role in thwarting his escape.

It was nice to see Darcy Lewis get in on the action as well.  In the Thor franchise she was often comic relief but rarely in the spotlight during action scenes.  While she still didn’t do much fighting in WandaVision it was refreshing to see her stop Hayward with her stolen truck, and have her be the leading expert during SWORD’s investigation of Wanda.  It was particularly exciting to see that she has earned her doctorate, so she is no longer Jane’s intern, and isn’t playing second fiddle to Jane Foster or Erik Selvig.

Finally, Kathryn Han’s Agatha Harkness is also deserving of praise.  With the exception of a few of the films, Marvel has had a bit of an issue with giving fans villains that were worthy adversaries to their favorite heroes.  This was not the case with Agatha Harkness.  Seeing her toy with Wanda throughout the series was a highlight of the show and seeing her be a full fledged witch was equally as exciting.  While Wanda defeated her in the finale, they certainly left the door open for Agatha to return, and I certainly hope they find a way to incorporate her in the future.

While I have mostly praised WandaVision, I have to mention some of the negatives as well.  Overall, I greatly enjoyed the show, there are still a few points that I took issue with.  The first of which is Maria Rambeau.  Maria Rambeau was last seen in the Captain Marvel film and had become a bit of a fan favorite.  She was a pilot, similar to Carol Danvers before gaining powers from the Space Stone, single mother, and according to WandaVision the eventual director of SWORD, yet she is killed off-screen from cancer.  

While this is frustrating for a number of reasons, I was particularly miffed because Marvel still has a long way to go in terms of diversity in their films, and to kill off one of your few female black characters off screen left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.  That’s without getting too deep into the fact that many fans were hopeful that Maria and Carol might have a romantic relationship in the sequel, and this all but confirms that won’t be the case. This adds another layer to the fact that Marvel has yet to have an LGBTQ+ hero in the films.

Additionally, the Marvel films have always handled Wanda and Pietro’s Romani roots poorly.  Not only are the actors not of Romani descent, the culture of their characters is often used as a prop or a joke.  Specifically, Wanda’s costume in the Halloween episode being referred to as a “fortune teller.” 

Additionally, having the twins willing join Hydra--a Nazi organization while having Romani and Jewish roots, through their father Erik Lehnsherr, in the comics has always rubbed me the wrong way.  WandaVision had an opportunity to remedy that when Wanda is reliving her past.  They could have easily given us a one off line about Wanda and Pietro not knowing that it was Hydra when they signed up to be experimented on and didn’t find out until later.  Unfortunately, all we get is a line about the twins wanting to “change the world.”

One of the other issues that I took was the presence of Evan Peters’s Quicksilver.  Initially, I was very excited to see him show up on the show and hoped that this meant we’d be seeing more of Fox’s X-Men in future Marvel films. Not only was he not the real Quicksilver, but he was instead just a long running “boner” joke, as he was Ralph Bohner, Wanda and Vision’s next door neighbor that Agatha was controlling.  While I wasn’t expecting him to be a huge character,  I was hoping for something a bit more significant than Ralph Bohner.

Finally, something that has been sticking out in my head for a while is Jimmy Woo’s missing person.  Jimmy Woo mentions in his first scene that Quantico had sent him to investigate a missing person in witness protection, who lived in Westview.  Initially, this was who I believed Evan Peters’s character to truly be, yet when Jimmy sees him on screen in the All New Halloween Spectacular episode, he just makes a note that Pietro has “the wrong face,” and doesn’t indicate that he recognizes him.  In fact, Jimmy’s missing person is never mentioned again later in the season and it seems as though that was just a plot device used to include him in the show.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed WandaVision.  It was refreshing to have Marvel be able to spend six hours to devote to character development and plot rather than it just being action-centric.  I think the show was an excellent first step in setting up a post-Iron Man Cinematic Universe.  After Avengers: Endgame, so many characters were lost, and it felt like a finale of sorts.  I think this was a great way to continue the story with a whisper rather than a bang, and I look forward to their upcoming Disney+ content.

WandaVision is currently streaming on Disney+.

#wandavision #wandavision review #marvel #review #wandavisionreview

[jimmyandthepulsatingmass]

A Look Back at Old Jimmy

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is one year old today!  To celebrate, I thought I’d share some stuff about what Jimmy looked like in its original incarnation.  Spoilers: not as good!  But, fans will probably find it interesting, so check it out after the break if you want a super long, super informative post about a version of Jimmy that was never meant to be!

When I originally conceived of Jimmy, it wasn’t meant to be a huge game with a focus on exploration.  Instead, it was meant to be around 8-10 hours and mostly linear.  It wasn’t going to be a commercial game; instead, it was going to be a game that I posted on rpgmaker.net, like many of my other earlier games, and a means for me to show everyone that my game design had matured.  The game was broken up into four segments, each representing a different character.  Each segment was its own game.  For example, Lars’s segment was going to be a first-person dungeon exploring game (called Dark Dungeon), Andrew’s segment was going to be a visual novel about going to school, etc.  I forget if Helga or Buck had the more straightforward RPG segment, and I can’t remember what the fourth segment was going to be.  Of these, I’d only been working on the RPG segment, and I’d finished all the battle designs and locations, so, at the point that I stopped development, this section was almost complete.  So, naturally, that’s what most of this post will focus on.

In the frame story, the house was uncolored, and by completing each segment of the game, you’d gradually color in the house and make your family happy.  When you had colored everything in, you would leave the house and then the ending was very similar to the ending that eventually made it into the game.  Everything was drawn with crayons (by which I mean the crayon tool in MS Paint, haha) other than the sprites.  Also, looks like this screen showed off Jimmy’s old sprite.  Yikes, right?

Here’s the whole family.  This isn’t a scene or anything (none of the dialogue was in at this point--other than some battle dialogue), but I just wanted to show off all the sprites.  Let’s just pull that band-aid off quickly.  The setting is a castle that gets destroyed by the Pulsating Mass.  The entire RPG section takes place in a faux medieval section.  I pulled some ideas about the videogamey aspect of that world into the Everchip segment (mainly how dialogue is delivered), but nothing too important story-wise.

This was Jimmy’s room inside of the RPG world.  If it looks familiar, that’s because the opening of this segment of the game was going to be a shot-for-shot remake of the opening scene in Chrono Trigger, just drawn way worse.  Helga would have delivered Chrono’s mother’s dialogue, but, like I said, I hadn’t done the dialogue yet, so I’m just manually opening the curtains.

Here’s a look at the world map.  The little dragon aspect of the map could also breathe fire; he moves randomly, so I didn’t happen to catch it when I made the gif.  The gif quality kind of sucks, so here are the area names: Hazeleye, Stoney Craw, Bursa Pass, Marrowick, Eastern Brow, Legs of the Ancient Giant, and Pulsating Mass. 

Here’s a little effect that I thought turned out alright.  The areas in dungeons were short and the paths were narrow.  Enemies were designed to be at chokepoints, so there were fixed encounters.  You didn’t get any experience or money from them--you just got to progress.  I’ll get into that more, later, but here are some other shots of maps I thought didn’t look totally terrible:

The entrance to Bursa Pass, a mountainous area.  You’ll probably recognize the bird effect in the background from Lars’s beach scene.  This is actually where you would have first found Lars; he would have been sitting in front of the sign and carried off by a giant bird similar to Grimclaw, but its name was Throbbing Feathers; you can see how I cannibalized a lot of that stuff and used it in different ways in the final game.

This was Throbbing Feathers’s nest.  He was the second boss.

Another shot of Bursa Pass.

This is a little reflection effect I liked in Marrowick, a forest area where you encounter the Rotting Jack-o’-Lantern, among other things.

This is a short area called Eastern Brow.  It was meant to be an observatory, but it also kind of looked like a cannon, so I ended up planning for Jimmy and the family to go there and fire themselves out of it to get to the top of Legs of the Ancient Giant.

Here’s a typical part of the Pulsating Mass.  It was very pink.

Equipment was fixed.  You couldn’t buy equipment or items, and you only gained levels after beating bosses.  Like I said earlier, the game was super linear.  Battles were built more like puzzles since you couldn’t power level to get around them.  Here’s what every other character had equipped for the curious:

My favorite part about looking through the equipment was that I forgot that Lars could only equip a Tommy Bahama Shirt on his upper body.

Here’s a weird part of the battle system that didn’t make it into the full game.  In addition to their normal skill sets, characters had a “Moxie” set of skills.  These four skills were the same for every character.  In addition to HP and MP (SP here), battles utilized RPG Maker’s TP system.  You would gain a set amount of TP each turn, and you could get double by guarding.  TP allowed you to use these Moxie skills, which were basically surrogates for items.

Here are a few skill sets, starting with Helga’s.  There’s a lot of overlap with the full version of Jimmy.  Helga apparently was a cheerleader in Jr. High.

This is just to show that some of these skills that you’re familiar with didn’t operate the same way.  Also, the characters’ HP and SP would normally be full, as you get full recovers after each fight, but I had artificially leveled him, so the numbers are wonky.

Here’s Jimmy’s complete list of transformations.  He had a few extras that didn’t make it into the full game, as you can see.  The final four were optional ones you could get for fighting new monsters that replaced the bosses in each area.  “Imagine Face” lets you transform into a monster called “Giant Face,” which was the tank role; the Revolting Blob was more of a status inflicter.  “Imagine Tree” is the “Tree of Life,” which took over the Phoenix’s big healing role (the Phoenix focused a bit more on offense), and “Imagine Guardian” was a monster called “Ancienter Guardian” (A harder version of the Ancient Guardian you could fight earlier in the game).  It had an offensive role and the ability to interrupt, kind of like a more powerful Red-Billed Squawker with a group attack.

By the way, transformations could only be used inside a battle.  There wasn’t a point of transforming in the field because of the linear level design.  They also took a turn to use; a lot of the combat was slower and built around utilizing each turn correctly.

Speaking of battles, here’s what one would look like.  As you can see, Mortimer made the transition from Old Jimmy to new Jimmy, but his design is a bit different.  The battle backgrounds were stationary.  The TP I was talking about earlier is shown here (as MP--Moxie Points).

Here’s Mortimer getting wrecked by Andrew.  Some of the battle animations look pretty cool as crayons, but there just aren’t a lot of them.  This is because anything that was used on players didn’t have an animation because of how VX Ace’s default battle system works.  Note the end message says “Jimmy’s Family;” HItomi, Jonathon Bear, and Punch Tanaka weren’t playable characters in this version.  Of these, only Punch shows up in the game at all.  Jonathon Bear is just referenced via Jimmy’s shirt, and Hitomi wasn’t planned at this point.  Jonathon Bear’s history with Jimmy wasn’t even conceived at this point.

Since I showed off Mortimer, here are a few more friendly faces:

You’ll notice their designs are basically the same as in normal Jimmy.  There were only a few monsters that I kept, design wise.  These two operated a bit differently in battle, though.  The Elder Mr. Asp was invincible, and he would berate his son every turn.  Then, at the end of each turn, the message, “The Elder Mr. Asp is ravaged by age!” would appear.  After a few turns he died of natural causes.  Here’s how it played out:

Apparently the Elder Mr. Asp was originally kind of a creep in addition to being a jerk.  Also, I kind of wish I would have gotten a gif of him coughing, because I was using timing tags so that the cough and hack were instant, then the wheeze was drawn out really slowly.

The last thing I’d like to share is a bunch of monsters.  There were a LOT, so I grabbed some I thought people would find interesting:

50′s Style Vampire’s original design.

This guy’s name was Albert Hands.  Just kind of liked that.

Bad Weather’s original design.  None of the other cloud people existed yet.

Elegant Ice Swan was an enemy rather than a piece of furniture.  There was a mechanic where you could use elements--like fire--and they would have adverse effects on some enemies.  Elegant Ice Swan would just melt if you hit it with a fireball.

Flesh Orb’s old design.

Here’s the Giant Face I mentioned earlier.

Grumble Bear’s design is the same for the most part.

Happy Little Sunflower’s original design.

This is a superboss named Karma.

Luna and Sol’s old designs.  Sol looked okay.  But, uh, Luna...

This guy’s name was Mumbles.

Here’s what Buck looked like when he got taken over by the Mass.

This is a dude named OctoCarl.  I think he’s a cool dude.

Overweight Dinosaur was an early monster.

Early Phoenix design.  You can still see this reflected in the Phoenix’s sprite in the full version.

There’s Punch Tanaka; he was too cool to have an action pose.

Here’s the Red-Billed Squawker’s early design.

...and Revolting Blob’s.

This is a monster called Bad Lunch.  It tries to trick you into eating it.

Rotten Jack-O’-Lantern’s early design.

Here’s a monster called “Seeing Lips” that operated the same as Lingering Eyes.  It also had a mechanic like Balanced Equations where if you didn’t kill both before the end of the turn after killing one, they would revive (and get a full heal).

This is a monster called The Amazing Residue. I wish I would have been able to include him in the full version.  All he does is show off every turn and beg for people to pay attention to him, and the way to beat him was to use Andrew’s “Boring Lecture” ability to put each party member to sleep.  Afterwards, he sulked off.

Here’s Throbbing Feathers, aka proto-Grimclaw.  In this battle, you didn’t ride on his back, but Lars was in his claws, so you had to keep Lars healed while beating Throbbing Feathers in order to win.

This is the Tree Man that you didn’t get.  He looks terrible, but if you set him on fire...

...this happens.  It changed his move set and made him lose HP each turn.

This is a monster called Water Spirit.  The way you beat it was by alternating freezing and melting it.  Each of its forms had different abilities, so you had to switch the forms smartly in order to win.

Wubbly was one of the few unchanged designs.  He had way more health, though, since there wasn’t an artificial “last 8 turns” challenge to draw the battle out.

Well, that’s about all I think I want to share.  Old Jimmy was a way different game, and there was way more planning and A HELL OF A LOT more work between what you see here and what Jimmy eventually became.  I hope y’all enjoyed seeing the little ideas that germinated into something more in the final product and all of the weird evolutionary dead-ends that never made it out of Old Jimmy’s bizarre, crayon-colored world.

#jimmyandthepulsatingmass #rpg #rpgmaker #rpg maker #happy birthday jimmy #jimmy and the pulsating mass

[nickgrace]

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[wazafam]

Adapted from the non-fiction novel Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the rise and fall of mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). The movie is populated with intriguing characters such as Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) but Henry's wife Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco) stands out in a lot of ways.

RELATED: Goodfellas: Henry Hill's 10 Best Quotes

Through Karen's words, viewers get a clear perspective of the mob life. She acts as the film's second narrator and provides plenty of laughs and shocks along the way. She is a phenomenal character, as critics have acknowledged. For her portrayal of the character, Bracco received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

10 "All Of Them Were Named Peter Or Paul... And They Were All Married To Girls Named Marie."

During her wedding to mobster Henry Hill, Karen is introduced to all the relatives and as per her confession in a voiceover, there is hardly a variety of names at the ceremony. Apparently, every man either goes by the name Peter or Paul (Paulie). And all the women have no other name than Marie.

A similar scenario is seen in The Sopranos, in which a couple of characters share names. Tony Soprano and his cousin Tony Blundetto are referred to as Tony A and Tony B by those who know them both.

9 "There Are Women Who Would Have Left The Minute Their Boyfriend Gave Them A Gun To Hide. But I Didn't."

Early in their relationship. Henry surprises Karen by brutally assaulting a man who had disrespected her. He uses the handle of a gun to beat up the man before handing over the weapon to Karen to hide it.

In a voiceover, Karen admits that such a thing wasn't normal and it could have scared many women off, including many of her friends. But she was different. What Henry did made her attracted to him even more.

8 "They Don't Feel Like You're In Construction."

Henry proves just influential he is while taking Karen out for the first time. Instead of waiting in line at the Copacabana, he takes her to the back door and walks in through the kitchen. A table is then brought to them near the stage.

RELATED: 8 Actors Considered For Roles In Goodfellas

As they are enjoying their drinks, a curious Karen asks Henry what he really does for a living. He lies to her he is in construction. To verify his claims, she takes his hands and feels them. She comes up with the conclusion that his hands don't feel hard enough for someone in construction. He again lies that he is one of the bosses, not the laborers.

7 "Rossi! Janice Rossi, Do You Hear Me? He's My Husband! Get Your Own Man!"

Movies and TV shows about the mafia have show that it's a common thing for mobsters to have "goomahs" "comares" — mistresses. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. In Goodfellas, Henry Hill cheats on Karen with a woman named Janice Rossi. When Karen finds out, she heads over to Janice's apartment to give her a piece of her mind.

Through the intercom, she orders Janice to open the door so that they can "talk." Janice refuses, so Karen begins yelling. She tells Janice that she is going to wait there and tell everyone who walks into the building that there is a "husband-snatcher" living in Apartment 2R.

6 "Who The Hell Do You Think You Are? Frankie Valli Or Some Kinda Bigshot?

Karen isn't too happy when Henry stands her up on their second date. She gets even angrier when he shows up the next night and pretends like it wasn't a big deal.

Well, Karen isn't having it. She tells Henry that he needs to dial down on his sense of self-importance. He is not Frankie Valli, after all. Valli was the frontman of the popular Four Seasons rock band.

5 "When Henry Picked Me Up, I Was Dizzy."

The very first time Karen has to hang out with the rest of the mob wives at Mickey's hostess party, she doesn't like it. According to her, it was a very dizzying experience for her.

RELATED: The 10 Best Gangster Movies Ever Made, According To Rotten Tomatoes

The mob wives talked about nothing else but their kids and how they always beat them with broom handles and leather belts for messing up. Karen also takes a shot at their poor sense of fashion, claiming they applied too much makeup and wore nothing but pantsuits and double knits.

4 "Our Husbands Weren't Brain Surgeons. The Only Way They Could Make Money Was To Go Out And Cut A Few Corners."

After being married to Henry for a while. Karen gets used to the mob life. In another voiceover, she explains how it all felt normal to her. She even liked the way her husband was making money.

According to her, other men were sitting around every day waiting for handouts from their bosses at the end of the month. Mobsters were different. They went out every day and came back with money. To add weight to her statement, the scene then cuts to Henry and Tommy hijacking a truck.

3 "A Few Bucks To Keep Things Quiet, No Matter What They Found."

Karen also reveals what it was like dealing with the police. Apparently, they'd show up at the house frequently with subpoenas and warrants. They enjoyed harassing mobsters but most of them never really had the intention of arresting. All they wanted were handouts and they'd go away.

According to her, such warrants made them find a lot of incriminating evidence. However, they didn't do anything about it so long as money changed hands.

2 "We Always Went Together. No Outsiders."

Explaining what the life of a mob wife was like, Karen says that they always accompanied each other everywhere. No matter what great city or exotic island they visited, they were always together. As time went by, she found it fun.

RELATED: 10 Best 90s Biography Films, Ranked (According To IMDb)

The reason for this was to prevent outsiders from coming across any incriminating information about the mob. Each mob wife knew what her husband did, hence she could talk freely. There wouldn't have been the same kind of freedom if outsiders were involved.

1 "Wake Up, Henry!"

Understandably, Henry's affair doesn't sit well with Karen. One morning, she wakes him and when he opens his eyes, she is on top of him with a gun pointed at his face.

She demands to know whether he loves his mistress but he refuses to answer. She then admits that she can neither bring herself to hurt him or leave him, no matter how disappointed she is. She just loves him despite his numerous misdemeanors.

NEXT: The Sopranos: 10 Actors Who Also Appeared In Goodfellas

Goodfellas: 10 Best Karen Hill Quotes | ScreenRant from https://ift.tt/2R03Pd0

#Blogger

[comeondowntosouthparkrpg-blog]

billy “carlos” harris

This isn’t the make-a-wish foundation, fuck off.

Carlos has been accepted! Please send us your blog and a faceclaim to be featured on the main blog!

out of character info

Name/Alias: fuckin me again Pronouns: fuck/fucker/fuckself Age: 19 Join Our Discord: ye Timezone:  est Activity: u know me Triggers: none fuckers Password: jimmy can fast pass my ass Character that you’re applying for: Billy/Carlos Favourite ships for your character: nothing and/or chemistry

in character info

Full name: William Carlos Harris / “Carlos” Birthday: July 3 Sexuality, gender, pronouns: Straight, cis male, he/him Age and grade: 15 sophomore

Appearance:

Carlos is about 5’9, making him one of the tallest out of his classmates, at least, for now. Though he isn’t very tall, he was usually rather lean throughout his life, until he started to get sick and lose some weight. He isn’t necessarily boney, but he’s rather thin, since he tends not to gain much weight no matter what he does. He’s pretty much as white as the next guy during the winter, but he tans very easily. However, more recently he takes some pretty hardcore precautions to avoid skin cancer by wearing loads of sunscreen –– by his mother’s demands –– so throughout high school his skin has stayed rather pale. He prefers to be pale anyways, so it doesn’t matter much to him; he doesn’t want his skin to become dark and wash out his light brown hair which he sometimes plays with by lightening it, either at the barber/salon or by putting something in his hair to make it lighten by itself in the sun, letting it pop up from under the visor that he has to wear to protect his face in the summer. When growing it out it’s wavy, and though it’s all cut short every few months, Carlos has his hair longer on the top for most of the year.

Despite a diverse wardrobe filled with many different stylish pieces, when you break down his outfit combinations they tend to be pretty similar, at least in shape. He’ll wear a baggy shirt or sweater and/or jacket or hoodie, with much less baggy pants, and even skinny jeans or chinos. On special occasions he can be seen in nice button ups and pants, or even a suit. Carlos does like hats, particularly beanies or backwards baseball caps, however he doesn’t go for the hat if he doesn’t feel like it ‘vibes’ with his outfits. He has to have at least one accessory, however, and if it’s not a hat it’ll be sunglasses, a watch, or a necklace. What he lacks in his body type he makes up for in stylishness, as he’s not afraid to take risks and to bring bold styles he sees on tv or magazines into his world to act like he’s not just a cool guy, but he’s a cool guy who dresses better than you AND your girlfriend.

Personality: 

Unaffected by most of the worries that catch his peers, Carlos is used to the unfair, painful aspects of life that others aren’t used to experiencing regularly. Carlos a little punk. He’s used to dropping everything to do something new, whether it’s what he wants to do, or if it’s just being forced on him –– of course, the former is his preference. He loves to live wild and free, sneaking into parties when he can, longboarding around the town with his friends, doing graffiti and other petty crimes. Like most people who share his struggle with illnesses he doesn’t feel bitter about his lot in life. However, that isn’t to say he isn’t a sweet little angel whose kind and suffers quietly. He doesn’t really care what people say; he’s never one to take things to heart, though, living life day by day with hardly a care in the world. Or, rather, with as little care as he can survive with.

Some thing most people don’t see besides his classmates is that, while most people see a sad, suffering little boy, his peers know to be something of a fuckboy. He only talks to girls on Snapchat, and acts like iMessage doesn’t exist. He wears soccer socks with adidas slides way beyond the soccer season. He has the classic fuckboy haircut. Okay, so he kinda respects women as much as any fifteen year old boy can, and he’s not seriously asking girls to bang, but he does talk shit about his mother, and he will like a girl’s instagram but won’t text her back, so he can’t help but give off the fuckboy vibes. In reality, he’s just trying hard to be a normal kid and live a normal live, since he doesn’t know how long he’s really got, and doesn’t want to spend his time isolated because of it.

History:

William Harris was born to Sloane Harris and a Mexican immigrant named Javier Silva on July 3rd. All was well in his life, playing around with the other kids at preschool, loving sports like soccer and lacrosse, until he started feeling sick around five years old he was diagnosed with lung cancer. The arguments between his parents that the diagnosis resulted in caused a rift between Sloane and Javier, as Sloane believed that, despite her family history of the disease, her son’s lung cancer was caused by Javier’s chain-smoking. As the fighting got worse and worse between his two parents, little Billy, as his mother called him, kept getting sicker and sicker. As he was getting sick, his father was kicked out of the home, and went to work on a ranch in New Mexico. William was upset by this, after all the years he has spent with his dad sitting on his lap watching movies and sports, and started to go by the name his father wanted for him, his grandfather’s name — Carlos. 

He was treated with chemotherapy when he was five, spending most of his kindergarten year in the hospital. Luckily for him, he was able to keep up with the learning by having his mother speak closely with the school and ensure his education while he was being treated for his lung cancer. He learned his shapes, colors, letters and numbers, and was able to remotely pass kindergarten and spend the summer recovering. He returned to the second grade a new kid, asserting himself as an important part of the classroom and getting closer with the kids in his year. This wasn’t all without complications, however –– he still went in for a lung transplant at some point in the fifth grade, something the doctors suggested if he was ever planning to play sports. It was back to the hospital for a bit, when they found more cancer cells growing in his body. They caught it early, though, and treated it quickly, so he was back to school in no time. 

In middle school, his resentment towards his mother for forcing his father out returned onto the board again in a greater magnitude than before, fueled by those new teenage emotions, prompting him to write to Javier to try to build a relationship with him. Soon enough he was being driven two hours south to see his father on long weekends, vacations, and other parts of the year, which his mother, who wanted to make him happy, wasn’t particularly happy about –– even if research showed that his father’s second hand smoke didn’t led to his childhood cancer, but instead it was a prominent family history of cancer on her side of the family, (which Carlos pointed out must’ve been the case after shoving all that secondhand smoke research into her face.) He was back with his parents again, and despite the tension that persisted from the awkward arrangements and meetings, he was going into high school ready for anything. 

Carlos was even prepared when he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia at the end of his freshman year. After knowing his family history, as well as receiving chemo as much as he had, he wasn’t surprised. His doctors and family knew that this was bound to happen, and they were happy to have found it in it’s early-stage, meaning he wouldn’t have to worry about treatment nor the risks of it until it got to the point where treatment became necessary and helpful. He was thankful that this time he didn’t have to be the sick kid who was always out of school, who was always leaving class to throw up, who couldn’t play sports or climb the rope at gym class. The only complication he had to really worry about for now was a lowered immune system, but that wouldn’t stand in his way –– he didn’t care what he shouldn’t have been doing. He’d still eat gross things for dares, kiss strangers (if they’d let him,) and was obsessed with doing whatever the other boys his age did, and even taking it above and beyond. Even with his illness, he was able to focus on being himself and being a kid, and he wasn’t worried about how long he had left until his illness got more aggressive –– he learned to live in the now. So he did.

Sample paragraph: 

Soccer practices were always a little much for the tired boy, but none other had compared to this one. He knew it was the first practice of the year and he wanted to make an impression on the coach, saying that he was capable of playing hard. Unfortunately, he was harboring a massive headache and it only got worsened by the noises that surrounded the teen on the field. The sharp sounds of whistles being blown and the shouts of the cheerleading team practicing hurt like hell. The cheerleaders weren’t even supposed to be on the field this afternoon, but due to some poor scheduling, the soccer team had to split half the field with them –– because god forbid the football team have to split their field instead. That, of course, was a ton of distraction for the boys on the football team, and it only made the practice seem longer and earned the team some running laps. 

“Alright team, ten minutes of running around the field! And I don’t want to see any wimpy running, I wanna see Forrest Gump, not Tommy Boy!” The team groaned, and Carlos went to his bag, removing his socks, shinguards, and shirt. Though he didn’t really have anything to show off there like the rest of the boys did, he wanted to beat the heat, and didn’t care if he made people look at his thin, pale arms because of it. Popping a few Tylenols for his headache, among other aches and pains, Carlos threw his bag back to the bench and started running to catch up with his team. Ten minutes of running with complaining teammates, some guys faking tying their shoes so they didn’t have to run, and a lot of sweat was probably the worst part of that practice, but soon after they were able to leave for the locker rooms. The surrounding sweaty and stinky boys became invisible to him once he stepped into the shower, turning it on and letting the icy cold water pour over him. That certainly eased him.

Headcanons: 

rly likes post malone

hates the whole “wow, he’s a miracle”, “he’s so brave”, or any other well-intentioned bullshit comments regarding his ‘ongoing battle’, or whatever. he isn’t here for some pity party where people make themselves feel good for cherishing the sick kid.

got one ear pierced because he thought it was cool. two days later he thought it looked stupid and now he doesn’t wear an earring at all.

brings his longboard to school and tries to ride it in the halls sometimes. also wears a thrasher hoodie. (yes, the two are connected.)

highkey thinks neymar jr is jesus. is rly into soccer.

once tried to go cow tipping but then he sneezed too loud and the cow  woke up and walked away

still dabs in 2018. like the dance move, not drugs

but he also smokes weed

Anything else: fc is ricky garcia

sry my writing is bad and also kill me

#Accepted #kills u #billy harris #submission

[norothythefilmmaker]

DOB’s roles headcanons

Okay, the thing is that I don’t usually do this. I’m against RPF’s (real person fiction) in any way (imagines, fanfictions, headcanons etc.) because:

 - I would feel weird if someone wrote an FF where I’m an object of someone’s sexual fantasies or anything humiliating me in any possible way;

 - I’m just too old for this; (whoamikidding)

so call me a hypocrite but all of those new interviews just made me think of something. Dylan, as an actor, sees his roles as they were real people. That’s what any good actor would do imho. He always says how much he loves Stiles or now he stated that he feels connected to Mitch but he’s gonna miss Stiles and Thomas.

That’s just an effect of my odd imagination but somehow I got to think that when an actor (in this case it’s Dylan) brings the life into character they play, said role gets a room in their mind. The characters live in the actor’s mind and stay with them forever since the day they were fully built up. Starting from then, they experience every part of the actor’s life, some may support him, some may be not, but every role knows that they wouldn’t exist if their portrayer never agreed to play them, so they respect them.

This is going to be a long one, so feel free to press the ‘read more’ button.

So, here we have Dyl’s mind and few of his important roles. In the headcanons written down below, I’m not including:

 -  his first roles like Jimmy or Trevor because I don’t think Jimmy’s build-up was good enough since he just stepped into acting, and I haven’t watched ‘Sweety’ so I can’t say anything about Trevor;

 - his short TV appearances roles like The Guy from ‘New Girl’ or Peter for obvious reasons;

 - his role as Caleb Holloway because Caleb is an actual person;

 - and Stuart because I couldn’t come up with anything good, help.

Anyway, here we go!

Stiles: 

is a little younger than Dylan’s first roles but he feels responsible for them and the new roles as well;

calls himself a ‘big bro’;

is aware that he’s just a character on the show;

is the only role that has been with Dylan for so long, and he absolutely loved the experience because every time Dyl was on set, Stiles could meet up with his friends;

is really upset that TW is over but knew that it was going to happen anyway;

so he’s happy for Dylan because he really loves him and treats him like a brother;

has the best contact with Thomas out of all the roles because he reminds him of Scott;

his relationship with Mitch is similar to the one he had with Derek;

Dave:

just, like Stiles, he’s aware that he’s fictional;

is really thankful to Dylan because thanks to him he met Audrey;

is really happy when Dylan is with Britt;

doesn’t want them to break up;

basically a Brylan ‘get-married-make-babies’ shipper;

Thomas:

freaks out when he appears in Dylan’s mind for the first time (not very surprising)

had no idea that he’s fictional until Stiles told him

that was basically a very Toy Story-like moment (YOUUUU AREEE FIC-TIO-NAAAAL!!!)

was pretty confused when he found out but evetually took it easy and got over it because it meant that WCKD never existed;

at first, Stiles felt about him the same way as Woody about Buzz but eventually they got along;

lets Stiles call him ‘Tommy’ because that reminds him of Newt;

was worried sick about Dylan when the you-know-what happened and felt guilty about this;

is unbelievably proud of Dylan and wishes him all the best;

is unbelievably thankful to Mitch for helping Dylan cope with you-know-what and asks him to take care of him;

Void: uh… Let’s just say that he hates when Dylan is in a good mood.

Mitch:

feels connected to Dylan like Dylan feels connected to him;

first thing he does after coming out of his room is pointing a gun at Stiles & Thomas who came to see if he’s ready to work with Dylan;

‘whoa, man, put it down, I don’t wanna get hurt’;

is not taking any orders from Stiles since he finds him annoying and bossy;

is willing to take orders from Thomas since he finds him less annoying and less bossy but only when he feels like it;

is willing to take any order from Dylan since he sees him as his major superior who he wouldn’t exist without;

wonders why Hurley looks like Michael Keaton and he hates it because he likes Michael Keaton but hates Hurley so he’s confused;

‘FBI is better’

‘FBI is claustrophobic, CIA works in the wider area’

‘Shut your holes, dumb shanks, can we just enjoy the movie?’

‘Let me iiin, guuuys…’

#dylan o'brien #stiles stilinski #tmr thomas #mitch rapp #dylan o'brien imagine #just me keep scrolling

[papermoonloveslucy]

Lucy and the Monsters

S3;E18~ January 25, 1965

Synopsis

When Lucy and Viv decide to check out the horror movies their boys have been watching, Lucy has a nightmare in which she and Viv are trapped in a haunted castle where they encounter a variety of horror movie characters - until their host turns them into witches themselves!  

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney), Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley)

Ralph Hart’s face is completely hidden by a Frankenstein mask and he has no dialogue, merely grunts. Viv says “I’m not even sure that is my son under that mask.” This is his first ‘appearance’ since “Lucy’s Contact Lenses” (S3;E10) two months earlier.

Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael) does not appear in this episode.

Guest Cast

George Barrows (Loretta, the Gorilla Maid) played a gorilla in his very first screen credit, Tarzan and His Mate (1934).  He donned the gorilla suit 18 more times from 1954 to 1978. His final simian character was on “The Incredible Hulk.”  This is his first appearance on “The Lucy Show” and he will return as a gorilla in two more.  He also played human characters on two episodes. 

Bob Burns (Ringo, the Werewolf Butler) also played the wolf man in two episodes of TV's “The Adventures of The Spirit” in 1963.  Like George Barrows, Burns played many on-screen gorillas, including on an episode of “My Three Sons” in 1966.  Burns was a good friend of Glenn Strange, the last actor to play Frankenstein in a Universal horror film.  He is also a world renown archivist and historian of props, costumes, and other screen used paraphernalia from science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies. One of his prized possessions is the the wolf's cane handle from The Wolf Man (1941).

The character’s unique moniker is likely a nod to the Beatles’ Ringo Starr.  Early in their career’s the Beatles were known for their long hair!

Jan Arvan (The 'Head' of the Household) played a waiter in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy in 1955 and a gypsy on “The Munsters” ten years later.  From 1953 to 1971 he was a regular on “The Red Skelton Show” on CBS, often playing Klem Kadiddlehopper's father.  This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Sid Haig (The Mummy) was first employed by Desilu in a 1962 episode of “The Untouchables.” This “Lucy Show” marks his fourth of more than 140 screen credits. He was also seen in a 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”  Haig appeared in the horror re-boots Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006) and Halloween (2007).

James Gonzales (Morris, the Chair) was a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer. He was previously seen on the series as Stan Williams in “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2). He was seen in more than 20 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

The character name puns on the Morris Chair, an early type of reclining chair by Morris & Company first marketed around 1866. Gonzales is completely concealed by the chair costume and does not speak.

Shepard Sanders (Costume Party Count Dracula) played a psychic on an episode of the TV series “Werewolf” in 1987. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Several other costumed party-goers appear uncredited in the final scene, but do not speak. They may have been played by the other ‘monsters’ in Lucy’s dream.

Series Camera Coordinator Maury Thompson (above left) and assistant director / associate producer Tommy Thompson (above right) came up with the premise for this episode and receive screen credit for the story.

The episode opens with Lucy reading a magazine article titled “Psychological Reactions in Adolescents to Terror-Inspiring Visual Stimulation”:  

“The over-abundance of spooky stuff in movies and TV can cause traumatic experience in our youngsters.”

Lucy reports that Jerry and Sherman are at the State Theater to see the double-feature The Surfing Werewolf and The Eggplant That Ate Philadelphia. Both of these are fictional films. This is the first mention of the State movie theatre. The Bijou and The Danfield Theatre were both mentioned in “No More Double Dates” S1;E21).  

The title The Eggplant That Ate Philadelphia may have been inspired by the 1960 low-budget comedy / horror film The Little Shop of Horrors, about a mysterious eggplant-shaped plant that thrives on human blood and could be an alien sent to conquer earth. One of the film’s stars, Jackie Joseph, was married to Lucille Ball protégé Ken Berry and would appear on “Here’s Lucy” (using her married named) in 1969.

Jerry wears a black cape and Sherman wears a Frankenstein mask. Other than this visual image, the Frankenstein monster is not mentioned or depicted in the dream. Frankenstein and Dracula were already represented on CBS by “The Munsters” (1964-66) on Thursday nights. The series imagined the Universal monsters in a family-based sitcom similar to “Father Knows Best.”  

Jerry (and later Lucy) use a Remco “Signal Action Ray Space Gun”. Starting in the 1950s, Remco made many variations on this gun, including different colors. It is likely that the electronic sound heard on the soundtrack was added in post-production.

The mothers resolve to check out these movies for themselves.

VIV: “I haven’t seen a movie with a monster since Gone With The Wind.” LUCY: “There was no monster in Gone With The Wind.” VIV: “You didn’t see my date!”

Lucille Ball was considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara during the 1939 film's initial casting. The role eventually went to British actress Vivian Leigh (right). The cinema classic will be mentioned several times throughout the series and on “Here’s Lucy.”  

Gale Gordon gets a smattering of entrance applause from the studio audience.  Mr. Mooney jokingly hums a few bars of “Funeral March” to scare Lucy and Viv. Frédéric Chopin's composition is formally known as Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Opus 35 and was completed in 1839.  

Mr. Mooney mentions his wife, but not by name. Vivian mentions her husband, but also does not use his name. In other episodes, we discover they are named Irma and Ralph, respectively. Both characters remain unseen throughout the series.

Throwing his coat over his shoulders like a cape, Mr. Mooney says 

“It isn't a fit night out for man nor beast!” 

This is a paraphrase of a quote spoken by W.C. Fields in the 1933 film short The Fatal Glass of Beer, which was NOT a horror movie! More beastly wordplay happens later when Dracula (Mr. Mooney) turns the expression “Heavens to Betsy” into “Heavens to Beastie”! 

This is only the second time a scene has taken place in Lucy's bedroom. The first was in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (S1;E5).  

Lucy protects herself from monsters by wearing a garlic necklace (to ward off evil spirits) and holding one of Jerry's wooden tent stakes (the only way to kill a vampire). Both of these tactics are part of the vampire mythology as set forth in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

The monster characters featured are mostly from the Universal Studios pantheon of monsters: Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Wolf Man (1941). Background player Monty O'Grady was a villager in The Wolf Man and later appeared in 14 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 6 episodes of “Here's Lucy.”  One of Universal's most famous monsters was The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), played by Elsa Lanchester. Lanchester guest-starred as a possible hatchet murderess on “Off To Florida” (ILL S6;E6) and as a hardened criminal in “Lucy Goes To Prison,” a 1973 episode of “Here's Lucy.” The Bride of Frankenstein is also mentioned in “Lucy Writes a Play” (ILL S1;E17). Universal Studios theme parks in Hollywood and Florida later hosted a Lucille Ball exhibit, also selling collectible merchandise and souvenirs.

Count Dracula (Mr. Mooney) calls his werewolf butler by the name 'Ringo.' This is a joke about Ringo Starr of the Beatles, a popular singing group known for their long and shaggy hairstyles. The Beatles have been mentioned several times on “The Lucy Show.” 1965 saw the release of their motion picture Help!

When Lucy and Viv are transformed into witches, they quote the Weird Sisters from William Shakespeare's MacBeth: 

“Double double, toil and trouble. Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”

To find out who is the prettiest witch, Lucy and Viv ask the magic mirror by saying “Mirror, mirror on the wall; Who's the fairest of them all?” This is the same query the Evil Queen asks her magic mirror in the 1937 animated Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. In the original Brothers Grimm story that the film is based upon, however, the question posed is “Who is the most beautiful in all the land?”  

In the dream sequence, witch Lucy calls witch Viv 'Sassafrassa.' This is actually the name Lucille Ball gave an imaginary childhood friend who assured her she would one day be a movie star. Once she moved  from Jamestown to nearby Celoron, Lucy would often call her best friend Pauline Lopus 'Pauline Sassafrassa.' Other sources say Lucille Ball imagined herself to be a famous film star named 'Sassafrassa.'  

A mouse also scares Lucy and Viv in “Vivian Sues Lucy” (S1;E10). That episode also features an insert shot of a live mouse. Women being afraid of mice was a typical TV trope of the time.  

When the Mummy tries to help strap Lucy to the operating table, she snaps and says “Please, Mummy! I’d rather do it myself!” The studio audience reacts with a big laugh of recognition. Here’s why…

In 1962, an advertisement for Anacin pain reliever featured a mother trying to assist her grown daughter prepare a meal. “Don’t you think it needs a little salt?”, the mother would say, only to have her nerve-racked daughter shout, “Mother, please, I’d rather do it myself!" Variations on this scenario became popular and were parodied a number of times, including in the Allan Sherman song "Headaches” (”Mother, don't hand me those pills from the shelf, I’d rather do it myself”), the 1966 film The Silencers, and the 1980 film Airplane. 

A year and a day after this “Lucy Show” episode, “My Mother The Car” (starring Lucy’s pal Ann Sothern) aired an episode titled “I’d Rather Do It Myself, Mother” (S1;E20). Coincidentally, the show’s music was by Ralph Carmichael, a real-life combination of VIv’s ex-husband’s first name, and Lucy’s last name! 

Callbacks!

Two years earlier, in the first frame of the June 1963 “The Lucy Show” Gold Key comic book, Viv also feared monsters!  And shaggy dogs, apparently! Ironically, a shaggy dog was featured in the very first episode of “The Lucy Show”.  

This is the first time there has been a 'dream sequence' on “The Lucy Show.” In “Ricky's Old Girlfriend” (ILL S3;E12) Lucy dreams of what life would be like without Ricky if he left her for Carlotta Romero, a sexy Cuban dancer. The dream takes her 25 years into the future.

The most famous dream sequence on “I Love Lucy” was “Lucy Goes To Scotland” (ILL S5;E17) where Lucy Ricardo imagines re-visiting her relatives in Scotland, but dreams in the musical comedy format. Except for the brief opening and closing scenes, the entire episode is comprised of a dream.

The witch voice Lucy uses is very similar to the one she used as the witch in “Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (ILL S6;E10) with a hint of Camille, the Queen of the Gypsies in “The Operetta” (ILL S2;E5).

When witch Lucy and witch Viv try to flee Dracula's castle, the escape turns into an impromptu square dance, with the Head as the caller. This is similar to the impromptu escape that helps the Ricardos and the Mertzes get out of Bent Fork in “Tennessee Bound” (ILL S4;E14). In that episode, Ernie Ford was the caller. 

Lucy Ricardo disguised herself as an armchair when spying on the “New Neighbors” (ILL S1;E21). Like the Morris chair in this episode, Lucy's arms also were the arms of the chair.

Fast Forward!

In a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Lucy Carter met the Crown Prince of Horror, Vincent Price.

Trying to flee Count Dracula’s mansion, Lucy and Viv search for a secret passageway in the fireplace, touching all the stones, just like Lucy Carter did when trying to find Mumsie Westcott’s loot in “Lucy Goes To Prison” (HL S5;E18).

Blooper Alerts!

Calendar Conundrum!  This would have made a fun Halloween episode, but instead it inexplicably airs for the first time in January.  

Sitcom Logic Alert!  Mr. Mooney drops by the Carmichael home on the premise of hand-delivering Lucy’s bank statement. As usual, he leaves the door wide open for the duration of his scene.

Sitter Situation! Lucy and Viv recruit Mr. Mooney to 'babysit’ with Jerry and Sherman, but it is not clear why Chris (now in her late teens) cannot watch them or even where she might be.

Whose Bed Is It Anyway? Although they are supposedly sleeping in Lucy’s bedroom, the bed frame and the painting above the bed are the same ones seen in Viv’s bedroom in previous episodes.  

Layout Logic! Lucy’s bedroom in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (S1;E5) has a completely different layout than this one. The rocking chair and the white wood dresser, however, are the same.

On / Off! In the bedroom, as Viv reaches for the switch, Lucy yells for her not to turn off the lights but the light switch is already in the 'off’ position.

Made For TV Garlic! When Lucy shakes her garlic necklace to ward off the evil spirits, the hollow sound it makes indicates that they are fabricated cloves and not real garlic.

Quick Thinking Viv! When the telephone booth door is flung open to reveal the skeleton, it immediately starts to swing shut again, but Viv quickly grabs it with her right hand and holds it open so the skeleton can be seen on camera and by the studio audience, thus neatly avoiding a re-take. 

Ouch!  Backing out of the fireplace, Vivian Vance bumps her head on the mantle. She doesn’t react vocally, but does grab her head when it happens. The ‘Head’ sees the entire incident.

Check the Gate for Crew! When Lucy and Viv are strapped to a table so Dracula can turn them into witches, the screen fades to black for the commercial break and the head of a crew member prominently enters the camera frame on the right. Unfortunately, the newest DVD release did not eliminate this goof by cropping the frame, as they have done with other bloopers. This same mistake also happened on “I Love Lucy.”

Soggy Bottom! When the potted plant spits up the year-old tea, the spray lands on the tan sofa, making a large wet mark where Viv (dressed in pajamas) is supposed to sit. She scoots over a bit to avoid the wet patch. The sofa stays wet for the rest of the episode. When the magic mirror comes crashing down to the floor rather than saying who is the fairest in the land, Lucy or Viv, part of the Styrofoam wall behind it also caves in!  

Mirror, Mirror on the Floor! When the magic mirror comes crashing down to the floor part of the Styrofoam wall behind it also caves in!  

“Lucy and the Monsters” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5 

#The Lucy Show #Lucy and the Monsters #Lucille Ball #Vivian Vance #Gale Gordon #Universal Monsters #Dracula #The Were Wolf #The Mummy #Gorilla #George Barrows #Bob Burns #Jan Arvan #Sid Haig #James Gonzales #Shepard Sanders #Ralph Hart #Frankenstein #Jimmy Garrett #TV #1965 #CBS #Snow White #Magic Mirror #Horror Movies #Funeral March #Ringo Starr #Sassafrassa #Gone With The Wind #The Munsters

[littlelllusionmachine]

The other day I was out with my friend when her boyfriend called and was acting “strangely”. He later sent her a message saying he was out with a bunch of people and that’s why he was acting oddly on the phone. To this, she starts to go into this philosophical rant about people changing who they are to match the person any particular group of people perceive them to be. Then she states that she probably does it too without noticing, likewise myself. 

And I’m thinking about this for a good few minutes. (Also about how her boyfriend is a scumbag but that’s a separate issue) I don’t feel I act differently around people as a person, rather, I just share different interests with different people. . .I’m sure there have been occasions but for the most part I am unapologetically myself to the point where sometimes it’d serve me better to be someone else. 

Back to interests: When I told my mother I was going to see Adam Ant in concert by myself she asks, “Why not invite [redacted - friend’s name]?” This is not such a strange inquiry as she and I have been to numerous concerts over the last few years. We’ve seen/Are seeing:

Seether, Marilyn Manson, Disturbed, Nightwish,  Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage, Rob Zombie, Korn,  Breaking Benjamin, Slipknot,  Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, Stone Sour, Sublime, and The Offspring

Just to give an idea of the type of music she likes. (Admittedly a lot of these are kind of rubbish, but I call it the “see all the bands I would have been thrilled to see in 2005 tour” . . We’re just missing Linkin Park, MSI and Evanescence. I have a similar thing going on with my mother which is the “see them before they die tour” including acts like The Temptations, The Beach Boys and a bunch of english invasion bands lmao) 

Regardless, it never seemed appropriate to invite her to see something like, say, Adam Ant unless I wanted to give this whole “YOU KNOW THAT PHYSICAL SONG THAT NINE INCH NAILS DID ITS A COVER!!” talk. And even then, I don’t feel like going into a ‘this is important because. . . ‘ lecture. Especially if I reacted stronger to it than I did, say, any of the bands above (which I did, of course.) Not to say the bands she’d prefer are bad or of any lesser quality. On the contrary, Slipknot, for example, always gives a fantastic show. Very theatrical. But, I don’t have the same connection to it outside of the general excitement in the concert atmosphere. Outside of that specific moment. Is it good to see? Sure. Is it a life altering experience? No. (Although seeing Down With the Sickness done live would have killed the high school version of me as would Manson in general) 

Long story short, I turned to her a few minutes after she made that statement about people changing depending on who they’re with and go, “I unironically enjoy 80s music and think 90s euro-pop/dance music is so bad that its actually great and think that musical movement called “post punk revival” in the UK actually had some great music before it morphed into indie and these losers have been my favourite band since the early 2000s, have made me cry numerous times, shaped my life and the philosophy I live by and yet are mediocre at best.”

And she just said, in the most dead pan way, “None of this surprises me,” before stating she’d have seen Adam with me even though Stand and Deliver looks like “The Who trying to do a musical”. I proceeded to inform her they had already done Tommy. 

#good friends good times #I guess!

[thrashermaxey]

20 Fantasy Hockey Thoughts

Every Sunday, we'll share 20 Fantasy Thoughts from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's "Daily Ramblings".

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

  1. Although Mikko Koskinen has better numbers than Cam Talbot at the moment, I’m not sure if he'll remain Edmonton’s starter for the rest of the season. But right now, you have a new starting goalie who will reap the benefits of the Ken Hitchcock effect. That means you need to add Koskinen immediately if he’s available in your league and you need a goalie. (nov23)

  2. Caps’ John Carlson now has 20 assists on the season. Following Saturday’s game, Carlson was third in both assists and points among defensemen. In case you were worried that Carlson’s 68-point effort last season was a fluke, Carlson is now on pace for 93 points after the first quarter of the season. It’s probably fair to say now that Carlson is for real, which means he should be considered a top-tier fantasy defenseman. (nov25)

  3. I know people may be freaking out about Colton Parayko but here are a few things to keep in mind:

– Parayko’s shot attempt rate is down from his previous three years but nothing to really get in fits over. What’s interesting is his shot on goal rate from 2015-18 was 6.33 and this year it was 5.52 before Saturday action. That’s a decline of about 14.7 percent, which ‘is’ something to get in fits over. The fact that his shots are missing the net is probably just a bit of randomness. I would expect that to normalize and Parayko’s shot rate to climb.

– The 25-year old blue liner has yet to manage a 5v5 primary assist on the year. Were that rate to be in line with his recent seasons, we could add 3-4 assists to his current total and he’d be on pace for 35-40 points again.

With a new coach in town (and likely another one on the way,) things may be a bit rocky for now,but that would be the time to buy low. He may even be available on the waiver wire. I wouldn’t wait too long, though, because the next multi-point game slams the window shut. (nov24)

  4. The Senators and Oilers swung a minor trade on Thursday, with Chris Wideman heading to Edmonton. Wideman hadn’t ever been a 20-minute-per-game defenseman this season but he was receiving second-unit power-play minutes in Ottawa. Wideman has a bit of offensive upside, although he’s probably only worth an add in the very deepest of leagues. I would totally expect to see him on the Oil’s second power-play unit in the near term, though. Long term, he’s simply keeping the seat warm for Evan Bouchard, or Ethan Bear. (nov23)

  5. To the commenter in my last Ramblings: you’re right, it’s not fair that I would say Max Domi will slow down without mentioning Jeff Skinner, as well. The latter is currently shooting at a 22.5 percent clip this season, which is a full 10 percent higher than his career average. So, he absolutely will not continue to score at this pace. Selling high is always an option. However, Skinner exceeding his career high of 37 goals is a very real possibility. Did he ever have a linemate in Carolina that possesses the high-end skills of Jack Eichel? (nov25)

  6. The New York Rangers are slowly coming along and one reason has been the play of Kevin Hayes. He’s on pace for what would be career highs with 50 points, 200 shots on goal, over 19 minutes per game of ice time, and he only has two power-play points to date.

Hayes plays a deep center position and someone with 50 points, 200 shots, and 12 PPPs at center isn’t a significant fantasy contributor but he’s a guy to monitor. When such a player (playing over 19 minutes with good power play time) heats up, there could be a point-per-game player for 2-3 weeks here. Deep leaguers should see if Hayes can be had for little in a trade. (nov24)

  7. The most notable change that new coach Jeremy Colliton has made is loading up the Blackhawks’ top line with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad. Kane and Toews are what you might expect – six/nine points, respectively, in the nine games since the coaching change). As for the previously struggling Saad, he also has chipped in three goals and three assist in the six games he’s played since Colliton replaced Joel Quenneville. Saad is definitely worth taking a flier on if he’s available. He has also received more than 20 minutes of ice time per game in three consecutive skates.

But, that means other Hawks’ forwards are hurt by the line shuffling, in particular Alex DeBrincat. After skating with Toews for much of the first quarter of the season, Debrincat has been moved onto a line with Artem Anisimov and Nick Schmaltz. Debrincat has just three points (two goals, assist) over his last nine games. (nov23)

  8. Probably the most glaring example of a player who has been hurt by the appointment of Willie Desjardins as Kings’ coach is Ilya Kovalchuk. After scoring a goal and two assists in Willie D’s debut on November 6, Kovy has now gone eight games without a point.

As much as Kovalchuk has supposedly struggled (five goals in 22 games), he’s actually the Kings’ leading scorer with 14 points. That’s a scary thought if you’re a Kings’ fan. That means we’re looking directly at Anze Kopitar. So far, the coaching change has had little effect on Kopitar bouncing back from what has been a noticeably subpar first quarter, as Kopitar has just four points over his last nine games.

The Kings as a whole have scored 17 goals over those nine games, so you’re hard-pressed to find anyone else that has been helped by the coaching change. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a long season in LA. (nov23)

  9. Leafs’ Andreas Johnsson earned the hat trick on Saturday, scoring first-period three goals in an eventual 6-0 win over the Flyers. Even though Johnsson is Dobber Prospects’ top-ranked Toronto left wing, this goal explosion wouldn’t have directly helped very many fantasy teams. Johnsson hadn’t recorded a point over his previous five games, and he’s only 1 percent owned in Yahoo leagues. Maybe this effort will help him get noticed more in markets outside Toronto (assuming you tune out all the Toronto news in your sports media consumption). (nov25)

  10. After a couple of partial seasons, Cam Atkinson had 39 points in his first full NHL year, followed by 40, and then 53. After that, he broke out to 62, but was then hurt the following year and produced similar numbers, though in just 65 games. Now in Year 6 as a full-timer (Year 8 overall), he’s on a point-per-game pace.

Watching Vinnie Hinostroza a couple of times this season (and of course last year), and listening to what the local commentators say about him, as well as coaches, scouts and GMs over the years (I lock onto this stuff, put it in the vault, about all players – I devour this stuff and never seem to forget it, which is why I don’t easily adjust my opinion in future years), I can’t help but feel that his career production will follow a similar path to Atkinson’s. A 40- or 45-point guy for a couple of years, mid-50s in 2020-21, low- to mid-60s in 21-22, and then upward from there if given the right linemates (which Atkinson has).

If you’re patient with this player, I believe it will pay off. (nov22)

  11. Damon Severson has six points in seven games, five at even strength. Will Butcher has one point in nine games despite manning the top PP unit. Butcher has just two points at even strength this season. Playing with Ben Lovejoy is tying his hands, in my opinion. Meanwhile, Severson thrives thanks to his partner, Andy Greene, holding the fort. I also think that at 24, and in his fifth NHL season, Severson is coming into his own. I’m not saying he’ll get his 55-point pace. But he’ll absolutely get his career high (currently 31 points). (nov22)

  12. So, it turns out that all Pavel Zacha needed was to show he can dominate at the AHL level in order to properly get a chance at the NHL level. Prior to this recent stint, his only time in the AHL was a three-game run back in 2015 (three points). This time, he was down for four games and got five points. Upon this latest recall, he saw 16 minutes of ice time in four out of five games. In his first 10 games before being sent down, he saw 16 minutes just three times. A big part of that is the fact that he is now playing with Jesper Bratt, as opposed to Tommy Stonehands or Jimmy Lunchpail. Zacha has four points in his last four games and those are his only four points of the entire season. He’s now earning PP time, as well.

Looking at Zacha’s career numbers: As a rookie, he had 13 PPPts with just 1:50 per game. Between that and the AHL, it tells me that he thrives when given room but has trouble creating that room himself. I suppose Bratt’s speed opens things up a little for him. (nov22)

  13. Tanner Pearson should be on your radar if you need a left wing. With a goal on Saturday, Pearson is off to a great start in Pittsburgh, scoring goals in three of his past four games. His linemates? Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin. You shouldn't need me to tell you that you can’t get much better than that. (nov25)

  14. Do you know who could be hurt by the defensive-minded Ken Hitchcock hiring in Edmonton? No, not Connor McDavid, but Leon Draisaitl. He’s a wildly talented player who could still use some further motivation in the defensive department at times. Draisaitl has nine points in his last five games. Life with McDavid is good. (nov21)

  15. So, Drake Batherson seems to be enjoying pro hockey, eh? The 20-year-old concluded a tremendous QMJHL career highlighted by a WJC gold medal and a monster playoff run with Blainville-Boisbriand. He transitioned to the AHL last month and went off: seven goals and 20 points in 14 games before earning the call.

Thus far, the NHL hasn’t appeared to be much of a challenge yet, either. He has two goals and five points in five contests. He has seen some time with a rejuvenated and red-hot Matt Duchene on the top line, and the two seem to feed off of each other’s speed and skill when paired up. Take a look to see if your squad could use a kid on a heater. He’s out there for most of you. (nov21)

  16. Mikko Koivu has 19 points in 22 games this season. I should have given you a heads up that this resurgence would happen because I dropped him at the Draft in one of my leagues. In all fairness to me, though, I shopped him hard at the Draft table for a measly future pick and had no takers – so, everyone else should be just as embarrassed.

I dropped Koivu and drafted Vitali Kravtsov, announcing boldly: “I will draft the first overall pick in our midseason Draft right now…Vitali Kravtsov. I’ll drop Mikko Koivu.” The irony is that right now, Koivu would be the first overall pick in our midseason Draft now. (nov19)

  17. After kicking off the season with five points in seven games, and starting off his NHL career with eight points in nine games, Warren Foegele has hit a wall. He’s gone pointless in 16 games. His ice time remained strong through 10 games of pointless hockey, but he’s run out of leash in the last five outings and Friday saw a season-low 10:33. Foegele is looking at another game or two of this, followed by one in the press box, and then the inevitable AHL demotion.

Coach Rod Brind’Amour is happy with Foegele’s complete game, otherwise he wouldn’t have been given scoring-line minutes for so long despite the non-production. But, in the AHL, he’ll regain his scoring touch and confidence. I like him as a future scoring-line player but had been surprised at how quickly he was moving forward. So, I look at this as a step back from the extra step forward that we didn’t expect him to take in the first place. (nov19)

  18. When Anthony Beauvillier was dropped in one of my leagues last week, I raised a Spockian eyebrow and then I went to his profile page to have a look at line combos, ice time trend and advanced stats. Last year, Beauvillier had 29 points in the second half and meshed really well with Mathew Barzal, so I was pretty bullish of him on Draft day in September. I projected him for 45 points but also made him my top sleeper on the Islanders.

At the time, his game log showed steady ice time and secondary PP time, not trending downwards, and his 5on5 SH% was very low, which indicated poor puck luck. So, I picked him up and held him. Immediately, he spent two games planted on the bench, barely seeing fourth-line minutes. But, I made the investment, so I would hang onto him until roster decisions force my hand. The benching seemed to have worked, as Beauvillier has picked up five goals and seven points in his last five contests.

Between his addition, the return of Tom Wilson from suspension, and the recall of a guy I claimed and stuck in my minors back on the first day – Drake Batherson – my team in that league has unbelievable depth. This is a 14-team league with rosters of 30 players. My five reserve spots for the past week were filled by: Cam Talbot, William Karlsson, Dustin Brown, Kasperi Kapanen and Darnell Nurse, with Max Comtois still on my IR. Depth!

  19.  Still in that league of mine above, I did have a couple of issues (besides the obvious Cam Talbot one, ahem) and I resolved them both in a single trade early last week. John Klingberg, injured as you know. And Anze Kopitar. I can’t lose a top defenseman for a month, and Kopitar…I can’t drop him, the guy just had 96 points, but man what if he doesn’t even get 60 this year again? What to do, what to do?? I packaged them along with a first-round draft pick (I have an extra second and an extra third, so…) in exchange of Victor Hedman and Nicklas Backstrom. The high pick closed the deal, as I figured the guy would have a man-crush on Hedman (as most people would!). (nov19)

  20. Another interesting twist to ‘eight-points-in-one-game’ man Sam Gagner’s career: The Canucks called him back up from the AHL, where he had 15 points in 15 games for the Marlies. With Brock Boeser, Sven Baertschi, Jay Beagle, Brandon Sutter and, at the time, Antoine Roussel out of the lineup, it’s amazing that Gagner has slipped so far down the totem pole. I mean, he gets recalled after five injured forwards? What if the Canucks were like most teams and never had more than four forwards injured at the same time? We’d never see him again? Very interesting. It goes without saying that he is a one-dimensional offensive player. If you are in need of a depth guy, he is worthy of a claim. (nov19)

  He is once again being used as a power-play specialist, logging first-unit minutes with the Canucks. In case you are indeed interested in Gagner for fantasy purposes, do remember that a Brock Boeser Boeser return could push him back down the lineup. Gagner has more offensive upside than numerous Canucks forwards, so it wouldn’t make sense from a scoring standpoint to send him back down to the AHL. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. (nov25)

  Have a good week, folks!!

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/20-fantasy-hockey-thoughts/20-fantasy-hockey-thoughts-51/

[danielpatten-blog]

Digital Leadership Portfolio Assignment:

The Comeback of The Concept Album

Years ago some of the most talented musicians, songwriters, and composers created some of the greatest concept albums of all time. From The Who’s, ”Tommy” released in 1969, to Pink Floyd’s, “Dark Side of The Moon” released in 1973, and “The Wall”, released in 1979; these albums took the listener on a sonic journey, and their musical influence would impact fans for generations to come. Both “Tommy” and “The Wall” had concepts that were also made into films that would help propel their respective album sales through the roof. Both of these albums told a story that fans and listeners could relate to and also follow along with. However, a concept album does not necessarily have to tell a story, and according to Ally Farrell from Music Baeble, “A concept album can be tied together by a common thread, whether it be musical, lyrical, thematic, or some combination of the three, with the purpose of the album meaning more than the individual song.” (Farrell, 2017, ¶ 1).

When the concept album “Dark Side of The Moon” was written, the artists composed with the thought that the band expected, “That the listener would listen to them in the dark”, according to Guitarist and vocalist for the band, David Gilmore, in an interview with Brian Hiatt from The Rolling Stone. Gilmore also told Hiatt, “They were created so that fans would go around to each other’s house and with a really good hi-fi system, listen to the whole album all the way through.” (Hiatt, 2017, ¶ 8, 9). Alan Parsons, the genius producer and engineer behind the album “Dark Side of The Moon” also wanted to “make sure that the entire track was seamless, so the band recorded all 10 songs onto the same reel of 16-track master tape so that each track flowed into the next.” (Hiatt, 2017, ¶ 10). With creating content for the concept album, the band wanted to “develop lyrical topics that were centered around sources of stress, like morality, travel, money, and madness.” (Hiatt, 2017, ¶ 18). This album became such a huge fan favorite because the listener was not only able to relate to each individual song but the overall concept, as well. The album was so successful that it sold over 40 million copies to date, and is still considered one of the best concept albums ever recorded.

Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” is also another very successful concept album, centered around the lead character of the story, “A broken rock star named Pink – waiting around in his hotel room for another gig – as he looks back on his personal history, and his life growing up in post-war Germany.” (Ackermann, 2012, p. 9). Like all stories, “The Wall” takes you on a journey that looks back at Pink’s life growing up. The music throughout the album is very compelling and fits perfectly within the frustrated feelings Pink holds deep inside with the loss of his father in the Battle of Anzio, (the same battle Roger Waters lost his father in) and the severity of the English school system he had to endure, as he alienates himself from the rest of society (Ackermann, 2012, p. 9).

Based on the previous albums mentioned, one can see that having a theme or storyline the audience can follow along with and relate to, are essential in creating a successful concept album. Being able to take the listener away to a place where just for a moment, they forget their surroundings, while also touching on their thoughts and emotions, means you’ve captured not only their attention but also their imagination. As a composer, having this ability is imperative, and very much a part of everyday songwriting. The difference here being that while composing, you are tying together each song with the next, while each track or section also has the ability to stand-alone for the purpose of selling individual tracks of the concept album. Each track on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and “Dark Side of The Moon” has had its share of success as a stand-alone song with radio play, individual downloads, and streaming sales. The main goal here is very similar to that of creating a great song, in that while you create a melody that hooks the listener, the major difference is that you will need to continually hook them, section after section. So the ultimate litmus test would be to ask yourself as a composer, “Can I take any one of these songs I’ve created on my concept album and have it stand on its own as a solid song?”

Recently, the concept album interest has peaked once again, and it’s not the bands you would think, behind the creative story-line content. According to Eric Spanberg, “There is a surprising mix of bands attempting a fresh revival of the concept album, but instead of the fashionable artists of the past like David Bowie, Jethro Tull, or the Alan Parsons Project, it’s the Punk Bands amongst the new list of artists creating new concept albums.” Spanberg goes on to say, “One of the bands is Green Day, which released “American Idiot” a rock opera about two central characters, St. Jimmy and Jesus of Suburbia.” (Spanberg, 2004, ¶ 1). While some believe that the day of the “Album” is at an end, with the steady increase in single-song downloads taking place, I really believe that now is the greatest time to start composing the “Concept Album.” According to Spanberg, “In a time when many believe that listening to an entire album is passé, these artists are rediscovering the novelty of telling a long story over the course of a record.” (Spanberg, 2004, ¶ 4). Today, artists and composers like myself need to rethink how we create content for our listeners, and for the music industry. The concept album is a platform to tell a story, to talk about what is taking place around us, or to create a world of fantasy. According to Alan Light, editor and chief at Tracks Magazine, "We're in a time when people are pulling down a song here and a song there, and this might be a way for some artists to explore the album as more than a collection of individual songs." (Spanberg, 2004, ¶ 5).

           A modern-day band that has hit its stride in the sci-fi concept album genre is Starset; a group that has found its success through creating cinematic soundscapes and sci-fi back-stories for its fan base through the YouTube social media platform. According to Dan Rys from Billboard, “In 2014, Starset released its debut album, “Transmissions”, which debuted at No. 49 on Billboard’s top 200, and has sold over 79,000 copies, while also publishing a 250-page book of the same title detailing the story further, and YouTube at 534.8 million views.” (Rys. 2016, ¶ 6).  

At Patten Music Productions, we are in the process of releasing our debut concept album called, “The Fall”: An epic journey that captures the imagination of the listener from beginning to end, and carries you away as you travel through other dimensions, a journey that moves you so deeply and emotionally as you follow along in the footsteps of a man and his humble existence. Look for it soon on iTunes and Amazon.com.

Thanks for reading!

Daniel Patten

References

Ackermann, Z. (2012). Rocking the Culture Industry/Performing Breakdown: Pink Floyd's The Wall and the Termination of the Postwar Era. Popular Music & Society, 35(1), 1-23. doi:10.1080/03007766.2010.522830. Retrieved on November 11, 2017, from http://search.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=71881884&site=ehost-live

Farrell, A. (2017, July 24). Concept Albums With a Story to Tell. In Baeble Music. Retrieved November 8, 2017, from https://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/7-24-2017/concept-albums-with-a-story-to-tell.html

Hiatt, B. (2011). Pink Floyd’s Journey To The Dark Side. In Rolling Stone, (1141), 44-72. Retrieved on November 11, 2017, from http://search.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=66426239&site=ehost-live

Rys, D. (2016, November 9). How Independent Rock Band Starset Found Major Success on YouTube, Without Even Trying. In Billboard.com . Retrieved November 8, 2017, from http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7572322/starset-rock-band-surprising-youtube-success

Spanberg, E. (2004, October). Concept albums are hip again. Christian Science Monitor. p. 16. Retrieved on November 11, 2017 from http://search.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=14560720&site=ehost-live