#Redux!Winner

[bfdiredux]

do you have any backstories for the characters? ^^ i would love to know

HAHAHHAHA!!! BACKSTORY TIME! BACKSTORY TIME!! Kicking my feet.

Some characters have drafted backstories!! I'll go over every one I can remember/have planned. I'll count backstory as anything that happened pre-BFDI or before the character's debut in a gameshow season.

CAKE

Cake was raised by two parents who did NOT get along. The only reason they were together was to keep him happy(good job /s!) This meant a lot of conflict. Even over the smallest things-- they could not stand each other.

It's not even that they were bad people either. They just. DID NOT GET ALONG. And his school life wasn't much better: bullies and little friends are a shitty mix.

So, going into teenagehood, Cake drowned out his problems by popping in some earbuds and listening to music while working. His SMALL circle had huge Goiky's Dragons fans, so tabletop RPGs were a good way for him to stay distracted.

He also had his trans actualization when he started getting into Loser as a preteen. Cake was a DIEHARD Loser fan at the time and idolized the man. He dreamed of going to Loser's performances and meeting Loser in person.

I want to make an IDFB episode that focuses on Cake!! Tempted to call the episode "Cake Day"! It would be about Cake and his grandfathers on his mother's side taking him to a live Loser show for his 16th birthday. It'll introduce both characters!

LOSER AND WINNER

They met during highschool, in which Winner got some bullies to leave Loser alone.

They both started off as kids with big dreams. Loser wanted to make it far from the start and Winner was there to support him through it all.

In their early twenties, they got into a talent show and were met with praise, basking in the attention. Within a month, they became a viral sensation.

Loser loved it. Winner didn't. They felt pressured and stressed. So, when Loser came to them with a movie deal, Winner finally put a stop to their team-up. There wasn't a big fight. Loser tried to be understanding and was deeply hurt. He eventually broke contact with Winner and went off on his own.

Winner faded into obscurity-- no matter how hard they tried to get back into the spotlight, hoping to be seen by Loser again, it never worked out.

FLOWER

I don't have a strong idea but I do have the foundation for a backstory!!

Flower was brought up in a wealthy family, raised in values of status and fortune. Stereotypical rich highschool popular girl bully.

Her parents made it very clear to her that she would eventually be on her own and have to learn to fend for herself. To act like and be an adult. They gave her starter funds when she said she was ready to move out.

PIN

Raised by great people who encouraged her to express herself. To be herself no matter what stands in her way. We'll see how that turns out.

TWO

This algebralien has a streak of bad luck to their name!

Friendships rarely did work out for them. Despite being omnipotent, Two was pushed into doing what others wanted. Two wants others to like them. Others(One) took advantage of their power.

They had a best friend in One, or so they thought. When One was trapped away, they felt at fault and struggled with their self esteem for a long time.

Then they met Eight!! They and Eight would all. Become a QPP-- which ended after Two helped Fourteen. Right before Fourteen showed his true colors.

So, Two left the algebralien world behind in search of new adventures.

RUBY

The youngest of too many sisters to count!!

Ruby's sisters were all majorly successful in some form or another-- artists, scientists, doctors, CEOs... The list goes on! Ruby wanted to be successful too. In her childhood, Ruby explored several things to find what she liked. She tried cooking, photography, painting, and writing before landing on acting.

With the support of her closest sisters, Ruby pursued her goals and applied for BFDIA to get her name out there.

LEAFY

Leafy spent a lot of her life with her legal guardian, her uncle!! She probably had a forest in her backyard. In her childhood, she'd go to summer camps that taught her vital survival skills for the wilderness-- skills Leafy would put to use by going camping with her uncle in the fall.

GOLF BALL

Golf Ball grew up in a small town in Yoyleland and moved to Yoylecity for college. One day, perhaps a few years into her studies, something happens in Yoylecity that causes it to be abandoned-- and leave Golf Ball with some serious trauma.

I don't have enough clues from Canon!IDFB to tell you what exactly happened,, but as I start to piece together a solid timeline I should be able to.

GELATIN

Gelatin got into science during middle school. It started with biology, went into biochemistry, and finally landed permanently on chemistry.

After graduating highschool, Gelatin started college-- having to stop halfway through this parent's steakhouse business that he inherited and did not want.

FOUR, X, AND ROBOTY

The epitome of algebralien chaos and his polite best friend!!

So, I don't know how Four and X got their powers, but they have some!!

X and Four met at a young age! They stuck together through rough patches and as they began to discover their own power. Four easily learned to master theirs while X fell behind and began to show signs of struggling with their own self-worth.

Four frequented the Equation Playground because X spent a lot of their time there. Through X, they met a lot of other integers-- including Two, who set up doorways into personal domains for ease of access. X was on good terms (but not particularly close friends) with everyone.

However, due to boredom, Four began looking for other things to do and took X along with him. X eagerly complied. This included Four being inspired enough by Two making those gateways-- they tried making one of their own and made a lifeform with a gateway instead.

Roboty! Four gave him to X as a gift so X could go to Four's domain without Four being present. X took Roboty everywhere with them.

One day, Four had the idea for a new adventure. He had seen BFDI and BFDIA and wanted to try it for himself!! When you get this number obsessed with something, it's hard to get him to stop.

He made a physical copy of BFDI and then got X and Roboty to come with him, proposing an impulse season for BFDIA: BFB. X was ecstatic and Roboty did not want in.

A couple of much rougher ideas -

Snowball being raised around bigotry and toxicity, specifically idealizing strength.

Basketball being into robotics as a kid and pursuing it as a job.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

October: Silver Redux

Samson and Delilah / Hedy Lamarr as Delilah

Delilah's wardrobe is amazing, culminating in the spectacular peacock gown. Edith Head and her fellow designers won a well-deserved Oscar for their work on this film.

This two-piece dress with bare midriff and draped skirt is simple in style but dripping with pearls. The opulent silver fabric and copious jewelry also show how she's living the high life at this point. I've included a close-up showing her beaded hairnet and crown. Also notice the pearls carelessly twined around her shoulder strap.

[worm-fanon-polls]

all of these options (excluding the explicit atheist ones, and possibly modern pagan ones) imply a significant detachment from serious religious beliefs, meaning she is functionally atheist/agnostic/theist(?) but was raised with nominal observance for the practices of whatever religion.

Note: Yule is a germanic pagan religion that is observed during the same part of the year as christmas, it was largely defunct but experienced a modern revival as either a secular, christmas-adjacent holiday, or an explicitly pagan celebration.

Make sure to tell me what you think and why you think it!

[danthropologie]

Do you think if RB don’t drop checo for next year that Daniel will keep his seat at AT?

i'd assume so?? it would make the most sense, especially if they're selling sponsorships for next year with the implication that daniel's gonna be one of the ones promoting them. if he moves up, he moves up, but otherwise i think they'd probably want him to kind of be the face (or one of the faces) of this new phase of the team with the whole rebrand and everything

[howtonerdoutovereverything]

Phineas and Ferb Episode Bracket! Season 1, Part 1 Results + Part 2

HEY THERE, Y'ALL! It's time for the next part of the Season 1 bracket! But first, let's take a look at our results (we got 41 responses!) and see who's moving forward to the next round! Thanks to Google Forms allowing me to directly copy and paste the results, we can see the handy little pie charts.

Our Part 2 competitors are...

Rollercoaster, with 82.9% (34) of the votes!

Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror, with 90.2% (37) of the votes!

S'Winter, with 78% (32) of the votes!

Flop Starz, with 82.9% (34) of the votes!

Raging Bully, with 51.2% (21) of the votes! A close match indeed!

Tree to Get Ready, with 58.5% (24) of the votes!

It's About Time!, with 70.7% (29) of the votes!

One Good Scare Ought to Do It!, with 92.7% (38) of the votes! What a sweep!

Mom's Birthday, with 75.6% (31) of the votes!

Journey to the Center of Candace, with 63.4% (26) of the votes!

I Scream, You Scream with 51.2% (21) of the votes! Another close match!

Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together with 87.8% (36) of the votes!

Ready for the Bettys with 63.4% (26) of the votes!

Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!, with 68.3% (28) of the votes!

Leave the Busting to Us!, with 56.1% (23) of the votes!

The Best Lazy Day Ever, with 73.2% (30) of the votes!

Put That Putter Away, with 61% (25) of the votes!

Traffic Cam Caper, with 63.4% (26) of the votes!

The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein, with 53.7% (22) of the votes! Another nail-biter!

Unfair Science Fair, with 82.9% (34) of the votes!

Unfair Science Fair Redux (Another Story), with 51.2% (21) of the votes! Probably the closest matchup!

Comet Kermillian, with 58.5% (24) of the votes!

And finally, Hail Doofania!, with 68.3% (28) of the votes!

Truly an exciting round! Now the winners of Part 1 will face off in Part 2! Get your votes in, and I will see you in about 24 hours with the results!

(Due to an odd number of contenders, there will be one three-way matchup. Apologies.)

[farenmaddox]

Unpopular literary opinion poll: Haters Redux

Haters 2: Electric Boogaloo

So last week I asked you guys which classic literary work that I hate is the one you also hate the most. See the original poll here.

Now I'm gathering the list of other books you said you hated, and running them as a second poll against the winner of the first poll, so we can see which work of classic literature is truly The Worst.

[rockinlibrarian]

The Lyric Game Redux Redux Answers and another attempt at polls!

So before I go into the Answers to this game I'm going to address the second part of the title. Yesterday around lunchtime I posted a cleaned-up version of the round with all the clues consolidated for easier study, but notably ALSO with a couple of polls. Now, me, I'm a compulsive must-click-buttoner, so I was kind of surprised that by the time the polls closed 24 hours later, no one had voted in them. (Except for the one I hit by accident). I don't know if this is because no one is actually ON Tumblr on Sunday afternoons through Monday morning, or if I'm just invisible by accident or on mute on purpose, but either way, the results of a survey nobody takes can hardly help me out any. So let's try again, and this time if you see this VOTE even if you don't care! Just so I know you saw this!

*and then I explained here that someone counting in "1, 2, 3, 4!" would NOT (ironically) count as the First Line for game purposes, but someone dramatically preaching, "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to get through this thing called Life" WOULD.

AND I can't put two polls in one post, so I'll redo the other at the BOTTOM (reblog) of this, and put the answers in the middle.

SO, ANSWERS!

No wait, first, WINNERS!

The Top Scorer with 8 points (four correct titles and four correct artists) is my old college roommate, Tracie, who is not on Tumblr, but gave her answers in the comments of the Facebook post where I linked to this! And lest you think she had an unfair advantage from living with me for two years, I must point out that a surprising number of songs on the list were not yet in my collection in college!

And anyway @dannypageoflight lived with me for a decade and change and @sunnymarbles over 16 years and neither of THEM even bothered to guess. :P

But in second place with 4 points (2 song-and-artist combos) is Sophie who also commented on Facebook, although she did used to be on Tumblr... @fbi-angel-in-a-trenchcoat oh dude I can still tag her! Heeeeyyyyy!

And saving my sanity with one pointed response is someone I KNOW IS still on Tumblr, @rj-anderson, even though she actually responded on BlueSky.

First Honorable Mention to @alihahdnaid who didn't EXACTLY make a guess, but DID point out an interesting similarity between a completely different song and one of the lines on the list.

Second Honorable Mentions (tie) to @stephsageek and @uniasus who tried their hardest!

Fourth Honorable Mention to mine and Tracie's other college friend, Liz, who managed NOT to identify the song SHE INTRODUCED ME TO IN THE FIRST PLACE, because that's just funny.

Okay, so NOW Answers!

Also including links so you can hear the songs and say either "OHHHHHH NOW I remember" or "Oh, that's a nice song, thanks for introducing me Amy!"

1: "Listen as your day unfolds; challenge what the future holds"—"You Gotta Be," Des'ree. Immediately recognized by both Sophie and Tracie.

2 bonus. "Just ask the folks who knew me when, they'll say, "Nice boy, but he's always been…" —"Lucky Charm," by Apples in Stereo Yeah didn't expect anyone to get that one.

2: for really real:"[title of song] before my eyes just teach me to despise" —"Shapes of Things," the Yardbirds

3: "[Title of song and keyword repeated] I know I'll find you somehow, and somehow I'll return again to you"—"I Know You're Out There Somewhere," the Moody Blues Tracie got this one eventually too, perhaps after I mentioned that it WAS one I had frequently played when we lived together.

4: "I found my love in [Title] beside the bay" —"Avalon," Natalie Cole off her hit 1991 album Unforgettable on which she covered a bunch of her dad Nat "King" Cole's hits and famously "duetted" with him on the title track, which if you were alive in the 90s you couldn't avoid for awhile. Seriously.

5: "Your eyes are burning holes through me, I'm gasoline, I'm burning clean" —"Electrolite," R.E.M. Yeah, I didn't even really know that one.

6: "Friday night I crashed your party; Saturday I said I'm sorry"— "You May Be Right," Billy Joel. I am correct, Everyone knows it. Both Sophie and Tracie got it right away at least. And now the rest of you are going "UGHHHHH I DID know it!"

7: "It sure was a [title of song] as far as my eyes could see"— "Long Hot Summer Night," the Jimi Hendrix Experience To be honest the first line is actually "It sure was a long, long, long hot summer night" but I couldn't think how to say that not awkwardly. And probably wouldn't have made a difference in anyone getting it.

8: "That's all I wanted, something special, something sacred in your eyes"— "Father Figure," George Michael THANK YOU @rj_anderson for not making me think I'm crazy because no one was getting it!

9: "And the [title] is on its way, I can hear the merry [word now considered a slur. But associated with the title!] play" —"Caravan," Van Morrison off his 1970 album Moondance which is so mellow and great to chill to, everyone needs to own that album.

10: "I linger in the doorway, of alarm clock screaming, monsters calling my name." —"Imaginary," Evanescence off their 2003 album Fallen, which I first heard at Tracie's house while visiting with a bunch of other college friends, and Liz wouldn't stop talking about it and made us all listen. I told this story on the Facebook post and Tracie eventually went "OH YEAH!" and got it. Liz herself, when she saw Tracie's answer, said "oh right. It KIND of rang a bell. I still don't really remember."

It's kind of like how when we're making hot dogs I'll start singing "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety-dog!" and my kids have no idea what I'm talking about because they don't REMEMBER being toddlers who wouldn't stop watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Kind of like that, but not much.

Anyway.

[bfdiredux]

you've already done a character proposal for loser, so why not do one for winner? /nf

NON-BINARY ROCK FORMATION. Probably a chunk off an asteroid :]

REDUX!WINNER!!

A bit shy, calm, supportive, bright, and smart. A well-rounded good guy!!

Winner knew Loser since their childhood! These two were BEST FRIENDS!! They did everything together.

Winner participated in a talent show with Loser when they were young adults. They prepared and did their first ever Loser-Cake performance that night! I think that would make a good short side episode.

They were PRAISED SO HARD for this!! Winner and Loser would go on to advance their performance, create new ones, and hit the mainstream.

Which came with a LOT of attention.

Winner is fine local. Winner is fine popular. But suddenly being a worldwide sensation within a month scared the shit out of them. It was all too much too fast.

But Winner kept doing it for their best friend. As long as they had Loser, they thought everything could be fine. They toured, acted, appeared on live television... Winner felt nervous every time, even when they tried to keep it down.

Loser was ambitious. Loser basked in the spotlight. Winner sat back and cheered him on.

Loser eventually came to Winner with a movie deal from some big company. Winner finally had enough. They LOVED doing this with Loser, for Loser. As friends. But the attention was too much and they were done.

Loser acknowledged them and then walked away, clearly hurt. Winner faded into obscurity and Loser eventually stopped reaching out to them, leaving Winner feeling abandoned.

They did try preforming at smaller places to see what would happen. It never went anywhere and honestly-- Winner was fine with that. They just wanted their friendship back.

Didn't apply to TPOT for the fame. They just wanted to make sure that power didn't go into the wrong hands!!

Winner is recognized by a big Loser fan named Clock. Some people are nerds about the randomest things.

They get pulled into a team. Clock highly recommends naming this team The Winners! and Winner shoots him down. The team is instead called The S!

Winner and Clock do get their fun and exciting storyline still!! Clock keeps pushing Winner's buttons and crossing their boundaries.

Most notably in TPOT 3, when Yellow Face is eager to put on a performance for Two and Clock interrupts, pushing Winner to perform instead.

Winner tried being nice about it-- they tried hinting their discomfort to Clock. They tried shuffling away.

They won't be forced to do something they don't want to do. Winner turns Clock down hard at the stage that day and when Clock is eliminated a few episodes later, they can't deny their relief.

Now, on their other relations!!

They become closest with Yellow Face. I'd like to think those two are some of the oldest contestants at the time, both being middle-aged(think forties)

Yellow Face is the designated team dad. His deals can be shady but. He's also making sure everyone's happy. He's got tons of humor.

When Yellow Face starts getting closer with Price Tag it scares Winner. They feel that Yellow Face might be moving on? Maybe?? Something similar to how they felt when Loser left.

Book, Price Tag's best friend, is there to reassure them that Yellow Face is just expanding his friend group. He's happy, is he not? And he certainly won't forget about Winner. Possible new friend made!!

Winner is on good terms with most people!!

TPOT 10! For some, their nightmare is their greatest fear. For others, it's parts of their lives they don't like or can't get back.

That's what it is for Winner. Losing Loser still haunts them. That feeling of abandonment and being lost. It manifests in this nightmare.

Clock is there.

Winner thinks it's apart of their nightmare until The S! confirms Clock is real. Winner and Clock go on to have a deep, meaningful conversation!! Clock apologizes for the way he treated Winner and Winner forgives him.

Let's skip ahead to episode 17!!

Winner realizing that Loser still cares about them comes in the form of eating Loser-O's: a brand of cereal.

Maybe it's silly but Winner wanted to cry. Loser is out there somewhere, still thinking of Winner. This means the world to them.

I am very happy with redux!winner!! They're very similar to canon winner but. I think that's okay. Canon winner is very solid so there's not many changes I'd want to make!

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Grey Redux

My Fair Lady / Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle

A real classic today. The three tiers on the collar mirror the three-tiered skirt, and both feature similar scalloped edges with floral embroidered decoration. I'm struck by the weight of the fabric, which can be seen in the close-up photo: it has some real heft and looks as if it might be wool. A white lace collar peeks out at the top. The outfit is completed with a rather schoolgirlish black hair bow and pointy black boots, which are mostly not visible under the skirt.

The signature on the sketch reveals that this costume was designed by Cecil Beaton, although Michael Neuwirth also worked on the film, according to IMDB.

The play on which this movie was based was published in 1912, but the costuming strikes me as just a few years earlier. The visible zipper line in the back of this dress isn't very period, although zippers were around by then.

[worm-fanon-polls]

(Poll submitted by @graffic17)

That's a cape with a minor role in the story, not a cape who is a minor. cause then everybody would just pick skitter.

There are actually so many completely random capes who only show up like twice that I actually had serious difficulty making this poll.

Weirdly large amount of heroes on this list but that's because the heroes show up way less on account of the story being mostly from the perspective of a villain

Note: This is the second version of this poll, after tumblr posted the version where my edits (to remove circus and trainwreck) didn't go through

Make sure to tell me what you think and why you think it!

[plague-of-insomnia]

Best Kuro Opening Song - Redux

Please vote for the SONG you like best, not the animation sequence that goes with it.

(So don’t vote for the BOC song bc you think the opening animation rocks; vote if you think it’s the best song of the group on its own merit.)

Now that the new anime has come and gone, have the fandoms faves shifted? See the original poll results.

I will do a separate poll for ending themes and then the winners will go against each other and we can compare the results to the final run off poll to see if the same song comes out on top or not!

Again, this is only for the anime, and does not include instrumentals or the musicals.

As always, this is just for fun and any hate will not be tolerated. Anyone who violates this will be blocked and reported. Be kind to your fellow fans and respect others who may not share your opinions.

Reblogs will help increase the pool of voters for better results!

[riverxsong-ao3]

It was pandemonium on the Quidditch Pitch: Cedric Diggory had appeared at the front of the maze, his face white with terror and clutching the Triwizard Cup tightly in his hand. The crowd erupted in triumph, his fellow Hufflepuffs storming down from the stands to join their champion on the field, while Ludo Bagman declared him the winner of the Triwizard Tournament, though he sounded oddly disappointed with this result. Tom would have been disappointed too, if not for the numb horror spreading through him, his connection to Harry now distant and foggy, as though they were separated by a great, vast distance.

“Well, it’s a bit of a letdown,” Sirius was saying, his voice cutting through the panicked buzzing in Tom’s mind. “I thought for sure Harry would win – but we’ll see him in a few minutes.” He frowned, noting at last the look of horror on Tom’s face. “You alright, Tom?”

“Something’s wrong!” Tom exclaimed,  casting a quick Muffliato so that only Sirius could hear him – not that it mattered over the roar of the crowd. “It’s Harry. I can’t feel him in my mind. I don’t know where he is!”

“What?!” Sirius yelped. “That’s a thing you can do? Never mind, explain that later – what’s happened?”

“I don’t know!” Tom cried. “That’s the whole problem! I don’t know how, but he’s been – taken!”

“Let’s get down to the pitch,” Sirius decided, seizing his arm. “I’m sure they’ll notice he’s missing soon enough – Dumbledore will be able to find him. It’s going to be fine, Tom.”

It wasn’t going to be fine, Tom realised, as a sharp jolt of panic not his own rushed through him. On the one hand, it meant Harry was still alive. On the other, it meant whatever he was experiencing was terrifying enough that, like Voldemort’s when he was feeling particularly angry or gleeful, Harry’s emotions could make the long journey through their connection to him. It meant that Harry was fearful for his very life.

“Stop!” Tom could hear Diggory’s voice, loud and clear above the din, no doubt amplified via Sonorus. “Everyone, stop celebrating! It’s Harry, he’s – no, stop! Let go of my hand!”

Tom tore through the crowd, using his considerable height to make himself seen above the heads of the others, making his way to Diggory. “What’s happened?” he shouted. “Diggory, where’s Harry?”

[bl-bam-beyond]

MY STAND-IN (2024, THAILAND)

Episode 6

Joe (PHURIPAN SAPSANGSAWAT aka POOM) has recaptured his old life in a new body. With the financial hardships as New Joe (TANATAT KUNANEKSIN aka WINNER) Joe needed to step back into being a stand-in.

Joe is a true stand in now. He's standing in as his new mother's son, he's Tong's stand in and now he's basically become a sex worker selling himself to Ming to relieve his financial strain as stand in for his former self. 😵‍💫🫣

@pose4photoml @bl-bam-beyond-redux

[rockinlibrarian]

ANSWER POST for The Lyric Game Redux Redux Part 2!

I have a free day! I don't even have household chores to catch up on this weekend because we almost had people over yesterday and I wanted the house to be marginally presentable in that case! Someone I gave birth to is now a high school graduate!

(thanks to @dannypageoflight for this photo, because although it's blurry, it's still better than any of the pictures I took).

So finally I'm getting around to giving you the results of the last round of the Lyric Game Redux Redux!

The making-sure-I-have-10-"mainstream"-songs plan apparently worked, because I had a lot more players and those players got a lot more songs, too. Even a few in the "Advanced" round! Giving two points for getting the song AND artist (although I fudged that for a few of you who only listed song titles, when I was pretty sure you also KNEW the artist, you were just listing titles), one point for just the artist and one point for just the song when you admitted you didn't know the artist (and had named other artists), and partial points for ALMOST getting it:

We have a new winner, @vovat, who didn't play last round (maybe he should have!) with 13 points total! Right behind him with 9ish-10ish are last round's winner Tracie (playing on the Facebook link) and @shadsasaur, who clicked through from the notes of a @doyoulikethissong-poll post to play, which is awesome!

Rounding out the crew are @heartlandsoul (7), @alihahdnaid (6), @stephsageek and @uniasus (4 each)!

Nice work, everyone!

Now here are the answers, with links and fun facts!

MAIN LIST:

1: "And here's to you, [Title of Song], Jesus loves you more than you will know." —"Mrs. Robinson," by Simon & Garfunkel. This was the most well-known song on the list, got by last round's winner Tracie (on Facebook), @vovat, @shadsasaur, @stephsageek, @alihahdnaid, and of course @heartlandsoul, who is the biggest Paul Simon fan I know (we actually saw him in concert together!) That is almost everyone who played!

2: "[Title of Song] out of the bearded barley…" —"Kiss Me," by Sixpence None the Richer. @vovat and @shadsasaur got this one, and it was on the tip of Tracie's tongue— she's going "OHH!" now.

3: "[Title of Song], won't you come out to play?" —"Dear Prudence," by the Beatles OF COURSE, off their self-titled album The Beatles better known as The White Album. Hence, people know it even though it's a psychedelic album track. For recognizing that of COURSE I was talking about the Beatles— and also recognizing the song— Tracie, @vovat, @heartlandsoul, and @stephsageek get to keep their Friends With Me cards! (Appropriately, the first three are the only people who played that actually ARE my friends in Real Life!)

4: "There's a little black spot on the sun today" —"King of Pain," by the Police. @vovat and @shadsasaur got it, Tracie got the artist, and @heartlandsoul is the one going "I KNOW I KNOW it, AGH!"

5: "Standing there alone, the ship is waiting…" —"Major Tom," by Peter Shilling— nobody named the artist, but @shadsasaur and @uniasus (who despite me calling them out as a TUA ficwriter because this was in S2 of TUA, admits she actually knows it from a car commercial. Hey, whatever works!) knew the song at least!

6: "See the people walking down the street, fall in line just watching all their feet"—"We Got the Beat," by the Go Go's. Surprisingly to me, no one got this one. But maybe everyone's going "OHHH!" now.

7: "Little town, it's a quiet village…" —"Belle," from Beauty and the Beast, ie the opening (post-prologue) number. I'm just going to take this opportunity to publicly call out @dannypageoflight for ignoring this game, because he did not play even though, when he was in high school, he was IN the school's production of Beauty and the Beast— which he tried out for BECAUSE he was already a fan!— and they had him sitting on the edge of the stage with a fishing pole when the lights came up for this song. HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON ON STAGE. HE WAS PRESENT FOR THIS LINE, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Anyway. The people who actually DID get this one were @vovat, @uniasus, and Tracie (and as one of the first things I learned about her, in the exchanging-letters-with-future-roommate days, was that she was a huge Disney geek, I definitely knew she'd get it!)— although curiously no one was exactly sure what the song was actually called.

8: "[Title of Song], falling on my head like a memory…" —"Here Comes the Rain Again," by the Eurythmics. As recognized by @vovat, @shadsasaur, and @alihahdnaid!

9: "[Title] eleison…" —"Kyrie," by Mr. Mister. Tracie, @vovat, @shadsasaur, @uniasus, and @heartlandsoul all got the song— or are they just Catholic? (kidding— the three I do know personally I also know are not Catholic. Tracie and Angie do know the Mass parts from singing in choirs, though). Nobody did get the artist, despite me dropping that dang "Hey Soul Sister" song into later clues. Side note, the fourth chapter of "New World Symphony" is called "Kyrie in 5/7" (after the actual Mass part, not the '80s pop song) and I can't wait to share it with you all, if I ever finish the THIRD chapter…!

10: "Cold late night so long ago, when I was not so strong, you know…" --"Magic Man," by Heart. Surprised no one got this one (@shadsasaur did admit to looking up some answers afterward and groaning because they'd seen Heart in concert, and still not recognized it— so I'll give the rest of you a pass too), even if I hadn't kept making insistent references to "The Magic Man of Oz" every time the clues came around. Okay, for people who don't know Legion: David (and several other characters, most notably in his S3 cult) often calls himself "the Magic Man," which is where that fic title comes from, but seriously, like I said, he starts a cult full of susceptible young women just like this song's narrator, and the lyrics? "…never seen eyes so blue…I could not run away, it seemed, we'd seen each other in a dream/Seemed like he knew me, he looked right through me." THAT IS SO DAVID. It HAD to have been a rights issue, that's the only reason they didn't use it in the show!

And the ADVANCED LIST, which does have some correct answers in it!

1: "Link it to the world, link it to yourself…" —"New Born," by Muse. My newest favorite podcast, Strong Songs, (which is not a NEW podcast at all, but I only started listening to it a couple of months ago), covered this and "Micro Cuts" (and briefly discussed "Hyper Music" on an earlier episode) from the album Origin of Symmetry, and there was no other episode covering a previously unknown to me song that made me immediately decide, "okay, I'm buying this album now." I do have a long list of songs and albums to explore further from listening to this podcast, but this one was pretty well decided right away. Possibly because it reminds me a little of the Legion soundtrack, speaking of which.

2: "All the lonely nights I spend alone, never around to love me, you're always gone" —"Black Cat," by Janet Jackson, off her hit album Rhythm Nation 1814. I remember making my Barbies dance to this song, but admittedly I don't think I actually KNEW the first line until I looked it up for this game! This is an important album in my life because previously all the albums I'd owned for myself had been like "A couple hit songs and a bunch of filler!" which is kind of annoying when all the albums you own are on cassette tape. But this was like, a complete album. I could listen to the whole thing without getting bored! (except sometimes during "Living in a World they didn't Make," which was long and slow and slow and long and I was 11 or 12). I could barely tell which were supposed to be the "hit songs" after awhile! I mean, since then I've found MANY albums that are actually good AS ALBUMS, but it was a learning experience for me at the time.

3: "If you want my lovin', If you really do"—"Baby I Love You," by Aretha Franklin. Even the title is unbelievably generic! But if this had been a MUSIC recognizing game, everyone would have been like, "Oh THAT'S Aretha Franklin. The lyrics are going right in one ear and out the other so I can't even tell you what the song is called, but the ARTIST I'm sure about."

4: "You jump in front of my car when you, you know all the time that ninety miles an hour, girl, is the speed I drive" —"Crosstown Traffic," by, for the second round in a row, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I feel like this is more well-known than "Long Hot Summer Night," but nobody got this one, either.

5: "You don't need no love-in, You don't need no bed pan, You don't need a horoscope or a microscope to see the mess that you're in" —"Awaiting on you All," by George Harrison, off my favorite non-Abbey Road album in the world, All Things Must Pass. (@heartlandsoul did get the artist after I pointed out that I'd given them this album). Listen. Music Appreciation Lesson time again. Just listen to it. This song is a perfect encapsulation of how this whole album makes me feel— it just scoops you up and flies you away with the friggin' angels in its glorious Wall of Sound (this album was produced by Phil Spector, which is always my first thought when the question of "great art by terrible people" comes up. This violent abusive murderer mixed together in his own signature style this glorious spiritual manifesto unto heaven? Why YES! Granted it was WRITTEN and PREFORMED by a gentle and very meditative guy, but still).

6: "Invoke the light to shelter you, cause everybody wants a piece of you" —"Lost in a Crowd," by Pittsburgh-based band Rusted Root— who indeed my college roommate Tracie and high-school/college BFF @heartlandsoul did recognize from the clues, though admittedly the song itself is one of the less identifiable songs on their one big commercial album When I Woke (I myself guessed "Laugh as the Sun?" when it first started playing, which is the very similar song that comes on AFTER it). It's not "Ecstasy"— its second-biggest hit (which may have only really gotten radio play around here anyway?)—or something like "Rain"— which I dare you to click on and not start dancing—(and to be fair it's hard to parse the lyrics of the musically-recognizable songs too). But for those of you who were NOT teenagers in Western Pennsylvania in the 1990s, who did not hear this album at basically every party and event of your adolescence (I first heard the album in the make-up room during one of the high school musicals, and actually hated it—it is VERY jam-band—but over time I grew to associate it so much with happy things that now it's pure sunshine to me)— if YOU, other people, have heard any Rusted Root at ALL, it's THIS SONG— of which I'd once noted to my friends, "I always think he's singing 'Simeon the Whale'," and they've not been able to un-hear it since, either.

7: "Someone's gone out fishing, someone's high and dry"—"Beautiful Night," Paul McCartney, off his lovely 90's album Flaming Pie, which @heartlandsoul recognized— the album if not the song. And tbh I have a clear memory of them talking about this album in their college dorm room and saying, "You know, Paul McCartney really IS a genius," which is the sort of thing I WOULD remember, wouldn't I.

8: "[title of song slightly altered] this time, to get myself in shape" --"It's Going to Take Some Time," by the Carpenters. Karen, the single most gorgeous female singing voice in the history of music! (Not her emotionally abusive brother who effectively killed her by stressing her out so much she got anorexia, NOT THAT JERK, JUST KAREN! KAREN, MY LOVE, WHOSE VOICE ALONE TAKES ME ONE HALF-CLICK UP THE KINSEY SCALE! SHE MUST BE REVERED ALONE!) 9: "[Title of song], sing us a song of a love that once belonged" —"Nightingale," by Norah Jones, off her album Come Away With Me, which I feel was a decent-sized hit album around the turn of the century? At least my mom raved about it, and my yoga teacher loved it enough to play it during our lessons. This was around the time when I was seriously rewriting-with-intention-of-publication the book my favorite OC Billy 'Arrison is in, so he was on my mind a lot, and Norah Jones has a somewhat similar voice to @heartlandsoul, who was the inspiration for the character in the book that Billy has a massive crush on, so I decided that if Billy was around right now for the height of this album then he would ALSO have a massive celebrity crush on Norah Jones. And I can't not think of that since.

10: "Well I told you once and I told you twice, but you never listen to my advice" —"The Last Time," by the Rolling Stones. Which isn't really obscure, it's just slightly less known than the stuff that made the main list. Tracie recognized it but couldn't name the specifics.

11: "Now I'm not like this, I'm really kind of shy, but I get this feeling whenever you walk by." —"Let me take you home tonight," by Boston, off their self-titled debut album. Probably like the least-well-known song on the album.

12: "You were the sweetest thing that I ever knew. But I don't care for sugar honey if I can't have you." —"Walking on Broken Glass," by Annie Lennox, and yeah, I wasn't sure if "Here Comes the Rain Again" was really more well-known than this, but considering three people got that one and only @alihahdnaid got this one, I guess I picked right. Unless I psyched you out by picking one of them to be "more mainstream" in the first place.

Anyway, that was fun! I think doing such a long list this time got it out of my system, and I'm willing to wait a bit before I pull another round out on you. Thanks to everyone who played this time though!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Nick Anderson

* * * *

Billionaire props up Trump and RFK Jr.

June 21, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

If there was any doubt about RFK Jr.’s status as a stalking horse to promote Donald Trump's presidential aspirations, all vestiges of such doubt evaporated on Thursday. The New York Times reported that Timothy Mellon donated $50 million to a Trump-related super PAC. Mellon previously donated $25 million to super PACs for both RFK Jr. and Trump!

The $50 million donation to Trump was made the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies for interfering in the 2020 election by falsifying documents to conceal his sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels. (Flashback: Remember when the media breathlessly and uncritically reported that Trump raised $52.8 million in the 24 hours after the guilty verdicts? We now know that $50 million came from a single donor, meaning that Trump raised only $2.8 million in “real” donations in the first 24 hours.)

Per the Times (accessible to all),

Mr. Mellon is now the first donor to give $100 million in disclosed federal contributions in this year’s election. He was already the single largest contributor to super PACs supporting both Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent. Mr. Mellon has previously given $25 million to both.

It is difficult to imagine that RFK Jr.’s candidacy would still be viable but for Mellon's $25 million donation. And Trump's campaign was lagging in fundraising until the guilty verdict prompted Mellon to make the largest single political donation in American history.

In essence, a single donor is keeping the campaigns of both RFK Jr. and Trump afloat to defeat President Biden. If anyone believed that RJK Jr. was a legitimate candidate, it is unreasonable and untenable for them to hold that belief in good faith after today’s revelation.

Timothy Mellon is the heir to Andrew Mellon’s banking fortune and appears to have spent much of his life “investing” his inheritance in flaky ventures like the search for Amelia Earhart and paying for Trump's border wall to nowhere in Texas. The hard work of squandering his inheritance has made Mellon resentful of poor people, a fact he made plain in his self-published autobiography. Mellon wrote the following about “social safety net” programs (like Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act):

Mellon called social safety net programs "Slavery Redux," adding: "For delivering their votes in the Federal Elections, they are awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on. The largess is funded by the hardworking folks, fewer and fewer in number, who are too honest or too proud to allow themselves to sink into this morass.” Per Wikipedia, Timothy Mellon.

Ah, yes! From a perch atop a $14 billion inherited fortune, it is understandable why Mr. Mellon resents poor people being given the opportunity to purchase affordable healthcare. It makes perfect sense that he has donated $50 million to Trump, whose party has pledged to cut Social Security and Medicare—the dreaded “safety net” programs despised by Mellon.

Mellon’s support for Trump is also consistent with Mellon’s substantial financial support to defend Arizona’s first-in-the-nation anti-immigrant bill SB 1070 (passed in 2010).

Many billionaires are voting with their dollars to support Trump, who promises to extend tax cuts that favor the most affluent taxpayers. But on Thursday, the reactionary majority on the Supreme Court gave another hint regarding the motivations of the Billionaire Boys Club for supporting Trump.

It takes a bit of explaining, but here is the bottom line: Democrats have proposed a “wealth tax” to ensure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of the nation’s tax revenue. Trump—and the reactionary majority—oppose a wealth tax. The big winners in defeating a wealth tax would be beneficiaries of multi-generational fortunes like Timothy Mellon.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a tax that applied to investors in foreign corporations. Justice Kavanaugh wrote an opinion upholding the federal government’s authority to tax such investments. So far, so good. But here’s the catch: The case was brought by taxpayers hoping to convince the Court to rule that wealth taxes are unconstitutional.

Although the majority did not take that bait, Kavanaugh’s opinion clarifies that the reactionary majority is sympathetic to challenges to a wealth tax. See Ian Millhiser, Vox, The Supreme Court's new tax case, Moore v. US, is great for billionaires.

Per Millhiser,

Moore was widely viewed as a stalking horse for an attack on wealth taxes. [¶] Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s majority opinion in Moore . . .  claims that it leaves the question of whether wealth taxes are constitutional unresolved. The opinion even includes a footnote stating that “our analysis today does not address … taxes on holdings, wealth, or net worth.” But that’s not true. Kavanaugh’s Moore opinion includes a bonanza of loaded language that any competent tax lawyer can seize upon to protect their richest clients from wealth taxes, should Congress ever actually enact such a federal tax in the future.

Like many recent opinions by the reactionary majority, opinions that do not grant all the relief sought by MAGA plaintiffs contain “Easter eggs” that point the way for future attempts to achieve the result denied in the current case. See, e.g., Axios (6/24/2022), Clarence Thomas wants SCOTUS to reconsider decisions on gay marriage, contraceptives.

So, on the day Trump disclosed that a single billionaire donor gave the largest-ever donation to a campaign, the Supreme Court’s reactionary majority gave a wink-and-a-nod to billionaires, indicating its opposition to a wealth tax. What a coincidence!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]