#The Warblers I Want You Back Scene

[historyofglee]

On this day in 2012:

Ryan Murphy posted a deleted scene containing a performance of “I Want You Back” to his YouTube channel.

The scene featured members of the New Directions (Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel, Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson, Lea Michele as Rachel Berry, Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez, and Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams), Grant Gustin as Sebastian Smythe, and the Dalton Academy Warblers, and was cut from Glee season 3, episode 11 “Michael”.

[lusthurts]

sebastian and blaine for the character asks <3

ahhh hi bestie im so excited to yap about these two <333

sebastian smythe

how I feel about this character

Sebastian is the love of my life <3 I'm obsessed with writing this character and reading this character and consuming any and all content related to this character.

I have sooooo many head canons about him, and the way I feel about him/his backstory/his personality has evolved a ton over the years, even since I've been writing about him. He has that snark and edge that I love to a character with a clearly very interesting past that we have complete creative liberties to explore. it's so fun and I love him !

all the people I ship romantically with this character

BLAINE! seblaine is of course my otp, and no ship will ever come close to them for me in terms of the extreme brain rot obsession I have because of them - I love that they sort of balance each other out and have this undeniable chemistry that's pretty monumental for both of them and leaves a lot of room for us to explore

I don't think anything will ever come close to them for me, and I fully cannot bring myself to get behind kurtbastian no matter how much I love enemies to lovers as a trope (though when my mutuals write kurtbastian I still try to read it lol)

I did enjoy writing jeff x sebastian in how bright we burn (totally snuck up on me on accident - he needed to be with one of the other warblers for plot reasons and I picked Jeff because they're always in shots together in canon) but that's not something I think I'd ever be super into on like,, a bigger scale - I love it as a platonic ship though

my non-romantic otp for this character

honestly, the warblers as a whole - I really like the idea of Sebastian not really fitting in anywhere/never feeling at home anywhere before dalton and being very reluctant to get close with them at first which resulted in him coming on a little strong/trying to take control rather than trying to develop meaningful friendships, but then by the end he's found he really cares about them and wants them to succeed and finally feels like he's found a home and core group of friends

OH and i ADORE his friendship with cooper in the I'll be there for you series - their dynamic together is fantastic and I think probably the best written friendship for Sebastian that I've ever read

my unpopular opinion about this character

I'm not sure if this is unpopular or not, but I do really like that he's an imperfect person who clearly has a lot of growing up to do. He acts like an asshole and he is one kind of a lot of the time, but even the things he does maliciously aren't meant to be that harmful, and there's clearly a complicated person beneath the surface. I love slutty Sebastian and snarky Sebastian and bullying/blackmail/assault Sebastian so so much

I also don't like the idea of him being "soft" or immediately comfortable in a relationship with blaine just because he's the person he's meant to be with - a lot of my head canons about him revolve around him having a kind of unhealthy relationship with love/relationships, and I don't think it's realistic that they'd just immediately be in a happy relationship. I love fluff as much as the next person, but I definitely don't think their problems end when they get together.

one thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon

obviously seblaine - even if they'd just given us a little bit behind the scenes (what were those phone calls and texts??? they were clearly good friends!!)

I wish he'd been around more after season 3 - I realize because of real life reasons this was impossible, and he probably would've been back quite a bit if it wasn't for the flash, but I would've loved to see him develop friendships and plots and sing more songs and maybe have a relationship or two

blaine anderson

how I feel about this character

he's one of my first favorite glee characters and one of the main reasons I still love this show

I think I relate to him more than I relate to any of the other characters in the show - he has that passionate, overachiever, ruthless drive for success thing that Rachel has but he's also clearly very anxious about things and experiences depression and has some attachment issues, and I think all that makes him a much more complicated character than he's given credit for

all the people I ship romantically with this character

Sebastian ofc - see above lol

I used to be a huge blam fan - I haven't read or written them in a long time but I still think this is probably my second favorite blaine ship - they have a lot of chemistry together with a lot of fantastic scenes and development in season 4 specifically, and I think this would've been a cool path to go down during their senior year in the post-kurt/mercedes era

I also used to love klaine (prior to realizing how toxic that relationship was lol) - they were def cute in season 2, and they were probably one of the first queer ships I saw on tv that I felt that attached too. I think if handled better in the later seasons they could've been great, and I think if they're written well they can be a lovely ship - I played blaine in a glee rpg during covid (dark times lmao) and I found writing klaine with a person who really cared for writing Kurt's character well to be super fun

my non-romantic otp for this character

definitely sam & tina! blamtina is my favorite trio in the show, and I think their friendship felt very realistic and well-developed, especially for something that really only existed to that extent for one season

a close second would be rachel - I think blaine and rachel definitely get each other in a way the other new directions don't really, and I enjoy their dynamic a lot, especially in the beginning of season 6

oh and the warblers. he referred to that group as a brotherhood and then just,, left ? makes it hard to believe they were as close as he said, but I also will die on the hill that he must've had strong relationships with those guys if they got him from how he must've felt post Sadie Hawkins to the guy that was confidently singing the lead at every performance

my unpopular opinion about this character

while I do think he was occasionally too whiny and treated as a caricature in the later seasons, I also think a lot of that was the natural progression of his character given the circumstances he was dealing with. I think it's very natural for insecurities to come up when you go from where he was at in season 2 (star/lead vocalist of the warblers, admired and beloved by his peers, confidently helping Kurt through the bullying and trauma of McKinley) to season 3 (ignored/disregarded by ND's leaders like finn, only getting the occasional line or two in performances, treated almost exclusively as Kurt's boyfriend)

he was more interesting in seasons 2 & 4 when he was single than he was at any point during his relationship with kurt

one thing I wish had happened with this character in canon

seblaine !

or honestly getting to see him in any romantic relationship with someone other than Kurt (karofsky doesn't count lol we all collectively pretend that didn't happen)

why do we know like nothing about his life !! he's one of the major characters in the show (second in solos only to Rachel I think?) and yet all we get are a few one off and very concerning lines about his dad??? then his mom randomly shows up at the wedding??? and cooper's there but only for an episode and then never brought up again??? girl what I need to know his lore

[fandom-junk-drawer]

The Witcher Headcanon (Modern Au) - Error 404 Brain Not Found: Bonus Scene - Part 19

Yennefer knew she probably should have shoved Jaskier away when she saw him coming. He looked a little hesitant, and was that melancholy she could feel through their mental link?

Yennefer's brain insisted that she should be cautious, because, come on, it was Jaskier! He'd been f***ing with her all morning.

He's up to something! Remember how he smashed your face in your cereal at breakfast, threw that beetle at you, stole your snack cake out of your hand, licked your toothbrush, and gave you a Wet Willie!

Yennefer wanted to be suspicious, but Jaskier was hovering at the other end of the couch, looking at her with those f***ing soulful eyes.

H*e, don't do it!

Jaskier moved closer, fidgeted, then looked at Yennefer with those sad eyes and asked in a soft , hesitant voice, "Yen...can I have a hug?"

Geralt, sitting in the recliner, knew something was up, but said nothing. Maybe Jaskier really did just need a hug. He looked a little tense. Perhaps he was still feeling a little dejected after having that one conversation with Madeleine a few weeks ago.

Yennefer looked for a moment as if she was going to brush him off, but then she looked into his eyes and crumbled.

Godsd*mnit! Why did he have to be so f***ing pretty?

She held her arms out to him, and Jaskier sat himself across her lap, pulling his arms in close, and tucking his head under her chin. Yennefer pulled him in a little closer and felt him snuggle down.

He was quiet for a few moments, and then...

*Loud sound of a balloon deflating*

Geralt started laughing along with Jaskier as Yennefer squawked in disgust and shoved him off her lap.

"You're so gross!"

"Ugh, I think I just go pink eye from that!"

"Hheeuurrgkh! F**--huwarrgh! -- that reeks!"

"What the h*ll is it with you guys and farting?"

"Farts are funny!" Jaskier replied, getting up off the floor.

"If you're 5!"

"No, he's right, farts are funny." Geralt interjected, "Listen," he took a breath, pressed his palms to his cheeks, heels of his hands touching, and blew. There was a short, dry flapping sound.

Jaskier and Geralt immediately devolved into giggles.

"Listen to this one!" Jaskier laughed, then raised his hands to his face and made a rolling bubbling noise.

Yennefer sat on the couch, bewildered, as two grown-a** men went back and forth, making fart noises with their hands.

*tight cheeked snapper*

*rolling thunder*

*a** blaster*

*cheeky warbler*

*loose a**hole whistle*

*tiny squeaker*

*intermittent popper*

*gusty windstorm*

*intestine shaker*

Yennefer found herself laughing at some of the noises, in spite of her best efforts to remain the sole adult in the room. It was hard when a huge, hulking Witcher made a fart noise that was a delicate FffwEEEEp!

The demonstration turned into a competition to see who could make the loudest, longest, grossest sounding fart.

It was an hour or so of simulated intestinal noises.

Jaskier was winning Longest Fart due to his years of training for breath control and lung capacity.

Geralt was better at Grossest Fart, because he had larger hands with more surface area. And he wasn't afraid to add a little spit to his hands for more range of sound.

Jaskier, not about to be out done, switched tactics, pressing his mouth to the inside of his elbow. The effect was a loud, long, undulating thbbbbbbppppttttttt! He tried to hold it as long as he could but broke off with a snort, doubling over with laughter.

Geralt was determined to win, and jammed his hands tightly into position, took a deep breath, then blew. Hard. His face turned red from the effort as he forced the air out of his mouth and into his hands.

There was a very loud, very wet burbling sound.

Jaskier fell backwards onto the couch next to Yennefer, where he clung to her as they both howled and and cackled.

"That sounded f***ing juicy!" Yennefer cackled.

Jaskier was wiping tears out of his eyes when he noticed that Geralt wasn't laughing. In fact, he was standing there frozen, a look of horror flashing across his face.

There was stunned silence. Jaskier looked at Yennefer, then at Geralt, his eyes wide.

Yennefer: "Did you just?"

Geralt: *vague 'hmm'*

Yennefer: "You just sh*t yourself, didn't you."

Geralt: *awkward silence*

Yennefer: "You should probably-!"

Geralt: "I need to go change my pants..." *shuffles quickly upstairs*

As Geralt made his escape, Jaskier called after him from the foot of the stairs, "You're way over 40, Geralt! You should know better than to trust a fart!"

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

do yall have any klaine parent fics where they have to deal with teenage daughter(s) and their firsts (period, shopping etc.)

There are some where they have either son or daughter, from a previous tag, here are some au. ~Jen

KURT WITH TEENAGE SON

The One That Got Away by Catcat85

AU after the breakup scene in Season 6 Episode 1. Heartbroken and devastated after Kurt ended their relationship, Blaine changed his life completely. He quit NYADA. Enrolled at NYU and became a Pediatric Surgeon. He married Sebastian Smythe and they later have a beautiful daughter named Elena. Kurt realized he made a huge mistake by letting Blaine go. But the realization came too late. Blaine had already moved on and wanted nothing to do with Kurt. Kurt did his best to move on with his life. He graduated from NYADA and started getting cast in off Broadway productions, which led to having his big break when he was cast to be Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway. Since then, his career had taken off and he became a successful actor, but he couldn’t find a man he loves enough to marry. Desperate to have a family of his own, he found an egg donor and surrogate to have a baby, a boy which he named Chris. This is a story about a lost love between Kurt and Blaine, as well as a love story between Chris and Elena. No matter how hard their parents try to keep them apart, Chris and Elena find each other. Even after 25 years, the strength of their love might just be the thing to bring Kurt and Blaine back together.

Note: Blaine has a teenage daughter in this fic.

~~~~~

Haunting Past by TheWhiteOwl

Sequel to The Warbler, set eight years after the first part. Kurt is one of the most successful actors in Los Angeles whose name everyone knows, Blaine’s band is more popular than ever and so is his company, and they are still so in love. Nothing can ruin their happiness, not even their now teenager son who just escaped his gilded cage and seemingly tries to cause them as much trouble as possible. But when an old enemy from Blaine’s past comes back to haunt him and his family, they have to realize that Danny’s shocking new hair color or weird friends are not everything they have to worry about.

Note: This is the sequel to The Warbler. I highly recommend you read both the stories.

~~~~~

Meeting the Family by nineofhearts

SingleDads!Kurt and Blaine meet for the first time when they’re kids who are dating/engaged do the whole “meet the familys” thing.

Note: Blaine has a teenage daughter in this fic.

~~~~~

Daddy-Dating 2: The Teenage Years by JustCallMeObsessed

With this sequel comes more Klaine drama as they handle their teenage sons and their impending futures. Kurt and Blaine can’t agree on the way to handle Matthew’s attitude problem and Noah can’t do anything to help. Kurt learns that maybe it’s about time he embraces his fame the way Blaine has managed to embrace his and Noah has something to tell his Dad’s. Daddy & Domestic Klaine.

Note: This is a sequel to Daddy-Dating. I highly recommend you read both the stories. Blaine has a teenage son in this fic. 

~~~~~

KURT WITH TEENAGE DAUGHTER

Ask Me Anything by Klainelover1997

After the break-up, Kurt and Blaine never got back together. They went their separate ways and each made a family of their own. Now, 20 years later, through an act of luck, Kurt’s daughter and Blaine’s daughter meet online and form a friendship that will bring back old memories and maybe change each of their lives forever.

Note: Blaine has a teenage daughter in this fic.

~~~~~

More than three by joycie89

Kurt and Blaine have been married for almost seven years, and Luna is growing into a feisty teenager. How will they react to another addition to their family? sequel to It’s Not Just Me, (old fic, reposting from ff.net)

Note: This is the sequel to It’s not just me. I highly recommend you read both the stories.

~~~~~

Washington Is Burning by @quizasvivamos

Widowed at a young age, Kurt was left to raise his only daughter on his own. Knowing that she must marry into a wealthy family to ensure the retention of their family fortune, as her seventeenth birthday is approaching in October of 1812, Kurt makes arrangements with the Andersons. However, complications arise with the marriage arrangement when the eldest son, Blaine Anderson, and Brittany’s husband-to-be, becomes an unbearable distraction for Kurt.

~~~~~

BLAINE WITH TEENAGE SON

Holding Out for Hope by @mailroomorder

A forty year old father and widow, Blaine hasn’t dated anyone in years. When he finally meets someone who’s kind, sweet, and easy to fall in love with, he’s on top of the world. Then he introduces his eleven year old son to him and discovers how difficult life can be when the most important person in his world, his son, hates the guy he’s dating.

~~~~~

BLAINE WITH TEENAGE DAUGHTER

Still Good by legallyblained (@legallyblaine-blog)

This is my family. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good.

Kurt and Blaine are both single dads, and their complicated lives end up getting tangled together.

~~~~~

Also, if you want a series of 43 stories which have four teenagers, two boys and two girls.

dads!Klaine (aka the Adventures of the Anderson-Hummels and Co.) by @insightfulinsomniac

Part 1 - Revisiting ghosts

When Kurt and Blaine’s oldest daughter, Tracy, comes home in tears after a date and tells them that her boyfriend cheated on her, the situation brings up some old ghosts and emotions surrounding Blaine’s cheating incident.

~~~~~

Dads please shut up. by putsaltonyourpineapple

Tracy Hummel- Anderson was simply trying to study for her test. But her noisy,in love, sex crazed parents can't let that happen.

[shizuoi]

Happy talk shop Tuesday right back at you!!

What's a particular scene or line from a story you've previously posted that you're really proud of? Give us the director's cut on what you liked most about it!

ooohhhh director's (😉) cut!! has to be this little bit from the first section of set theory the l&co zombie au:

The woman bolts up. Ramrod straight, body bent at a perfect 90-degree angle. Her head tilts. George is suddenly reminded of the birds his gran would point out to him on those quiet summer afternoons in Sidcup. The warblers and hawfinches with their puffed breasts and sharp beaks and uncanny way of jerking their heads as they looked about. Their necks would always twist so quickly, the movement a blur, as they scouted their surroundings, always aware of their place on the food chain. The way that woman's head moves reminds him of that. Except she doesn't move like prey. The way her head jerks, reacting to sight or sound or whatever stimuli that piques her interest, is distinct of a predator.

this bit is hands down one of my favorites in ch1. i remember writing it and being like "yes. YES!" because it both captures our narrator's way of thinking and the sort of danger that i wanted to instill in the audience with regards to this zombies? zombies are different in every kind of media and i wanted it to be understood right off the bat that these zombies aren't just terrifying. there's something really eerie and off-putting about them, in the way that you recognize parts that don't make sense when put together.

[yadivagirl]

The "Warblers I Want You Back Scene"

Does anyone know why this scene was cut?

I think the performance is so sexy and fun. The choreography is fantastic and Grant is clearly having the time of his life. 

All that work and it gets cut?! WFT??!

[sillyname30]

does Kevin have some sort of issue with Darren? Don’t know if I’m imagining it but seems like he always avoids saying nice things about him or his performances, more so than Jenna

I believe them when they say they like Darren, but I think the podcast brings back the feelings of jealousy and bitterness.

Jenna said in one of the season 2 recaps that she hated the Warblers for stealing the little screen time they had. I believe the scene when Blaine joined the New Directions and they are not happy about it, is based on real life.

When they talked about Darren doing How to Succeed I think it was Kevin who mentioned double standards right after that, because he wasn't allowed to that. If it's all true what Kevin said about his meltdowns, panic attacks before a scene and problems recording a song, I'm not surprised they didn't let him things outside of Glee. He could barely handle the work on Glee.

I noticed that they barely give Darren any credit. Blam works because Chord has good chemistry with everybody. The scenes of Tina and Blaine work, because Jenna has good chemistry with Darren. They never say that Darren has good chemistry with everybody.

They do the same with Lea. No matter what you think of her, she was great at playing Rachel. She is a great singer. But they barely give her credit. That's why they ignored the New York storyline mostly until the last recap. Jenna didn't really want to talk about it, but Kevin pushed for it, because he wanted to talk about Naya.

Jenna and Kevin might not be aware of it, but when Darren has a storyline without them or songs, the old feelings are back on some level and they don't want to talk about him.

[gleesongtournament]

Glee Song Tournament Update #1

I’m hoping to start the tournament on Sunday the 16th, but I will post a more concrete confirmation of the schedule once I get it 100% sorted

For now I wanted to talk about the songs that are included and excluded, and how I’ve set this up

What didn’t I included? Well the only two concrete answers were anything that was just a dance performance with the original song in the background (Single Ladies, Bubble Toes, etc), and any song that was album only with no filmed scene to go with it (Dancing On My Own, I Was Here, etc)

Some musical moments I left out might seem hypocritical. I left out songs by rival glee clubs that basically only served to show that yes, there is a third club competing, here’s ten seconds of their song (Broken Wings, Starlight Express, etc) but I included ten second snippets of songs from main characters (Respect, Mr. Cellophane, etc)

I also didn’t included (most) songs whose only purpose was to be bad or get cut off which unfortunately cuts out half the times Tina got to sing. Some exceptions are Crush (because we at least got a full studio version) and Pink Houses (which we heard enough of in the episode). But things like The Climb or Revolution will not be found here

Lastly, songs in deleted scenes. These were cut or kept in based on what I thought was more popular. I can understand someone being miffed if Santa Baby or I Want You Back wasn't included, but I doubt anyone would care as much about Oklahoma or Mr. Monotony (if you stan the latter two songs, I'm sorry). So I only kept in the ones I thought were more well known/liked

If you're upset about one of the above songs not being included, or think I'm not being fair, you should know that there will be 340 match ups consisting of 681 songs in round one alone. I only trimmed the tiniest amount of fat, and I promise there are still plenty of songs for you to vote on. But hopefully everyone can understand where I'm coming from and just accept what got cut x

Now, with hundreds and hundreds of songs in the mix, I wanted to do something a little more interesting than just throwing a million random match ups your way with no rhyme or reason. Bc 1) It could get boring and repetitive and 2) It could be harder to follow if it weren't split up in some cohesive way. That's where the categories come in

What are the categories? Generally speaking, they're the ways I've broken down the polls into themed sections. Hopefully this will make everything easier to follow, plus who doesn't love some good theming?? Specifically, the categories are...

Holiday Songs. All the Christmas songs + the one Hanukkah song. If you hate Christmas music, feel free to skip this round

Original Songs. Basically just any songs that aren't covers, whether it's the humorous or serious ones

Mash Ups. All the songs that are two songs combined

Same Songs. The songs that were covered multiple times on the show, pitted against one another. The only round that isn't matched up randomly

Tributes. Songs by artists/from musicals that the show frequently paid homage to (RHPS, WSS, Grease, Beatles, Britney, Fleetwood Mac, the Jackson fam, Madonna, Whitney, Stevie Wonder)(also the songs are from all eps, not just the one(s) that served as the actual tribute ep)

Musicals. Songs from musicals not listed in the last bullet point

Rivals. Songs performed by opposing glee clubs (The Warblers, Vocal Adrenaline, etc)

Guest Stars. Songs performed by, or heavily featuring, any of Glee's numerous celebrity cast members

New Directions. Songs performed by the main club. (Not necessarily a group number. Could be sung by half the club, or even two or three people, but as long as the rest of the club is there vibing, it counts)

Solos. Songs sung by one main or recurring character

Duets. Songs sung by two main or recurring characters

Misc. Everything else! Mostly trios, quartets, or group numbers that go beyond just ND

Of course there are plenty of songs that could fit into multiple categories. For example, "Somewhere" could fall under Tribute, Guest Star, and Duet, but will only be included in one of those. So if you think I left something out of a certain category, don't worry, you'll see it pop up in a different one later!

So I think that's all the basics so far. If you have any questions you can send them here or on my main @angelhummel

[blaintism]

what's your ranking of the klaine seasons? (like, how much you like the klaine storylines for each season)

oooo this is a toughie because i like some seasons a lot for different reasons

1. season six. NOW THIS SOUNDS INSANE PROBABLY. i know a lot of people despise the season six breakup but i LOVE IT. i think it was so necessary for them to split and come back with some character development and the angst is perfect. especially because it’s mainly on kurt’s side, and i love seeing kurt actively pursue blaine when he’s been sort of just coasting along for a bit at this point, caring but in season five being too emotionally exhausted to put in very much effort. i love seeing him confront his fear of vulnerability and opening up to other people by being so straightforward with blaine right away that he wants him back. it makes so much sense for what was established about kurt even way back in season two, that he believe he has to go through hardship alone, and he was closing out blaine in the wake of losing his brother, being in the hospital etc. it makes him purposely getting blaine to sing with him and running to his house to tell him that he loves him SOOO good. on the flip side with blaine, i know this is where people have issues but i love that he’s seeing someone else, that he’s happy with it, that he’s been able to pick himself up and move on (with therapy! both of them got therapy) because he had this opposite struggle of people pleasing and clinging too hard and resisting change. and in season six he’s such a BITCH. like he’s still a little muffin but he’ll also storm into the auditorium and yell at kurt for taking one of his students, he’ll refuse to go easy on them, he’ll even insult rachel a little (“huh that’s so unlike you”). and finally, that scene outside rachel’s house is one of my favorites in the entire show. everything they say, reminiscing, and blaine kissing him suddenly. it’s EVERYTHING. i just love the longing. kurt glancing over during Home or crying and them flashing a bunch of clips during Will you still love me tomorrow/head over feet. blaine seeing them as warblers during it’s too late. I WROTE ALL THIS AND DIDNT EVEN MENTION THE HURT LOCKER. best ep ever

2. season two. this is the cliched favorite but i can never not have love for those two sad little sweet kids. i love that first meeting so much and how meaningful it all is for kurt. that he’s finally found someone who understands him. who he can have feelings for without being seen as crossing some line. who will hold his hand and dance with him at prom. it’s way more kurt focused but also i DO love blaine, especially the bit we get about his dad and the sadie hawkins incident, an exercise in deepening his backstory they will never do when he’s a main character for some reason. especially prom queen is my favorite episode of the series and klaine are the best part.

3. season four. i guess i’m a break up stan? I love some yearning alright. and this has SO much. i think The Break Up (the episode) could be written a thousand times better but hey. we got all those songs from it. i love kurt trying to move on but still calling blaine, still loving blaine as well, spending christmas with him, and crying watching Their movie. especially come what may is just unlike anything else the show ever pulled for ANY couple. and that’s how you know klaine are the it couple!!!! and on blaine’s end it’s kind of the best blaine season??? the way he becomes Real and has interests and makes friends is so important to me personally. but i also love of course when kurt comes back and he’s like omg.. we need to get married. he’s crazy and i love it

4. season three. they’re adorable in this season. big brother is one of my fave episodes of all time, it’s an actual blaine plot filled with sweet sweet klaine moments. but the thing is there’s just moments? they don’t get much outside of the first time and dance with somebody, which are opposite ends of the season. hell, blaine is absent on valentine’s day 😭😭. i do like pretty much every scene they do have though. also the network censorship during this season is glaringly obvious to me.

5. season five. confession i’m a bit of a season five hater. i just get BORED. it’s not to say they don’t have their moments in this season. the proposal is the most beautiful scene. got to get you into my life is their best duet. they’re so cute living together in nyc. that scene in tested is probably what i use for gifsets more than anything else. but also they’re pretty separate the first half and i find some of the new york parts stressful (blaine’s crisis in tested) or unnecessary (the june plot).

anyways, i ended up saying a lot about each which i don’t know if you needed. 2, 4, 6 could probably shuffle around at different moments but this is how i feel rn

[kurtbastianarchive]

Weekly Poll, attempt #2

Guess who forgot to change Thursday's poll length to a week? (It was Jenna.) To give more people a chance to vote, here's the same poll again but the right length of time! If you already voted in the poll, feel free to vote again!

[ramblingaboutglee]

Season 6 - What Glee Should Be

Okay hear me out, I have a point I swear 

Glee was cancelled going into S6. A half-length season, everyone knew it was over. There was no need to hold back, no need to compromise - and what we got was a highly divisive season that nevertheless feels like it was what the writers wanted to be doing for the last five years. 

Note the focus on teacher-roles, Rachel instructing the New New New Directions, and Will and Sue’s rivalry taking the fore in later episodes. Note how none of the students get any more than one episode arcs, where even romantic subplots are constrained to single episodes unless it’s drama surrounding the teachers. It’s reminiscent of Season 1 of Glee, before the show was re-geared to be about the kids rather than Will and Emma. 

But now the original kids are the teachers having the romantic subplot, creating an interesting middle-ground. But all in all, this feels so much more like the show that Glee was intended to be, now that there were no consequences for unpopularity or low ratings. It’s easy to imagine that, had the fandom not focused so much on the students, this might have been what Glee would have always looked like. 

 Does this mean it was good? That’s always going to be down to personal taste. But certainly, it is interesting to see the thought process shift. 

Let’s look at them side by side

But seriously. There’s no escaping the fact that a lot of the heyday of Glee, and a lot of the things the fandom loves, weren’t part of the show’s original conception. There were always character arcs with the kids, a dash of acknowledging some real-world topics, but it was through the lens of, well, Will Schuester as the main character. Which is a sentence that feels so weird to type, but watching the pilot, watching the first season (especially 1A), it’s undeniable. 

The show is about a teacher who learns from his kids, and through doing so has their life improved and helps figure out what they want in life and in their relationships. It’s about the idea of wasting your youth, and trying to recapture that and live your dreams even after feeling like you let them pass you by. That’s Glee season 1, before they had any idea of the huge fanbase they had, and what that fanbase wanted. 

And Glee season 6? Rachel returns to McKinley, unsure of her place in life, and as she figures it out she chooses to become a teacher. She goes from hitting a low point, at the start of the season, to sorting out her priorities, finding romance again, and finding joy in helping others get the spotlight rather than being in it herself. And in much the same way, Blaine gets a comparable journey, going from a relationship that gets an alarming amount of vitriol, to finding himself with the Warblers, the school he went to originally, and having that help spark his development. Both of them have left behind successful performances to, well, teach Glee after something in their life crashed.

Rachel, Blaine and Will all get the same story. 

Plus, of course, the throwback to building the Glee club one member at the time. 

Parallel lines, who meet

You could complain about repetition. I’d argue that’s the point. Going to S1 again, it’s all about the parallels - right from the Pilot, Will and Terri and Emma are paralleled with Rachel and Quinn and Finn. There are a dozen tiny examples threaded throughout, like Quinn and Puck naming Beth and the immediate next scene being Shelby asking Rachel why her dads named her that - Glee likes to lay adult and teenage life side by side, and look at similarities and differences. 

We’d be here a while if we listed everything. In S1, 3 and 4 especially, the show loves to compare and contrast - so having the original teens live the same arc as the teacher, well, it’s not unexpected. (shout out to Final Countdown having Kurt and Rachel watch Will and Sue have their sing-off and “...We cannot end up like them.”)

The echoes are the point. And when Glee goes out, it goes for parallels between Will and the kids, just like it did when it began.

Ain’t we got fun?

I feel like humour is going to be one of the most divisive things about S6. For me, it was a breath of fresh air - S5 had definitely gotten a little stale with some of the jokes. It referenced for the sake of referencing sometimes, and had grand set pieces that were played up like they were funny, and... weren’t, so it just ended up feeling a little weird. 

S6, at least, is different. Love or hate Sue’s terrifying shipper-robot, it’s certainly not just a rehash of an old joke. Sue as an adversary is nothing new, but the dynamic she has in S6 as the over-the-top principal is different. There is imagination to a lot of the new quips, whether or not they work for you. 

Then we have The Final Countdown, which harkens back to Run Joey Run and Baby Got Back as an unabashedly comedic musical number. The season gets a couple of those, and while the genre seems despised by the fandom, the writers seem to enjoy them, so given the chance, they added more. 

It’s interesting. I’d probably say that one of the biggest issues Glee ran into was how it started to feel samey, and I wonder if that was a result of the same thought process that governed the show after S1 - trying to just do the things that the fandom reacted to. And when it’s too late to get the fandom back, they have the freedom to go for different things. There is genuine effort to do different rather than just do more - which inevitably runs the risk of alienating fans, but they were cancelled anyway so...

Lending a shoulder

So let’s talk about the social awareness side. How does S6 fare? 

Honestly, surprisingly well. It’s still Glee, so not perfect, but there were beats that I noticed while watching that genuinely felt like an apology. 

So let’s talk about Beiste. There is nuance here. Coach Beiste comes out as a trans man this season - I’ve seen this criticised, and I understand the criticism, that it undercuts Beiste’s arc in previous seasons. Originally, the depiction of a cis woman who was not conventionally attractive nor conventionally feminine still wanting acknowledgement and respect was, in its way, radical - then again, Beiste has had very little to do for a while. If the alternative was nothing, then I’m content with mere continuity wonkiness. 

So let’s talk about the quality of this depiction. Glee’s previous foray into trans issues is Unique, and right from her name you get that uncomfortable vibe that they were just writing a drag queen, and there is that distinct undercurrent to some of her appearances. There was some good, but there was also a lot of... well, just imagine a ‘you tried’ star here. 

Then comes Sheldon Beiste. I think this was the first time the word ‘transgender’ was actually said on the show. He’s explicit, upfront, takes a name that isn’t just ‘Badass’ or some such, and is otherwise presented and treated as just a guy, with other characters treating him without the transphobia Unique faced. Plus there is the off-handed scene where he mentions that he’s always been attracted to guys, and that’s probably not going to change - a mainstream show acknowledging that not all trans people are straight in 2015 feels bizarrely radical, especially after Unique.

Then there was Becky getting an episode that pretty much just existed to call out how she’d been consistently infantilised in previous seasons. Honestly that was one I had to google after the episode was done because there are a lot of things I don’t know about Down’s - the fact Glee of all shows got that reaction is kinda impressive. 

Certainly, there are bits that are handled with the usual lack of tact, but there is a surprising amount to admire here. Which then, again, makes for a season one comparison and makes me wonder - in S1, the major dynamics that went for commentary were Kurt’s relationship with his dad, and Quinn’s arc dealing with conservative-family expectation and pressures, and a lot of that is well-handled compared to what a lot of people might expect from Glee going forwards. 

There’s a lot of potential speculation there, but if nothing else, it indicates the season wasn’t low-effort. 

Being the kids, as well as the sitter

Glee is about growing up, and it’s about what that means. We have a season where the teacher takes centre stage, like was originally planned, only it’s teachers that more people care about - Rachel, Kurt and Blaine probably have more fans than Will. 

But what of the kids?

Given that they only have half a season, they’re impressive. It helps that they’re well cast - most only really get one or two big songs, but they’re able to nail them (if you haven’t, go listen to Roderick’s Take Me To Church, thank you), and all of them feel distinct from previous archetypes. There are also fresh dynamics here - Roderick and Spencer’s neat friendship, Jane fitting in with Dalton is brand new, Mason and Madison offer a sibling dynamic we surprisingly haven’t seen before given how rarely Glee has siblings (Kurt and Finn didn’t really act it, and Puck and Jake had few interactions). 

Again, there’s genuine effort and freshness put into them, but it’s effort with the understanding that they aren’t leads. They don’t get multi-episode focuses on any love triangles or romance plots, they’re unmistakable secondary characters but it’s in that role that they thrive. 

Is season 6 the best season of the show? No. And it’s one it’s easy to imagine being hated, because it is a departure from previous seasons. I could list flaws - there’s a lack of focus, a desire to bring back characters that can give a very scattershot approach, and some dynamics do feel definitely underexplored. There’s no arc to compare to, say, Quinn’s development in S1. 

But for a half-length season that’s also wrapping up past characters, it does about as well as it reasonably could. 

It really feels like this was the show that they meant to make, though. You can feel the extra effort that goes into it - plus the music that was selected sticks out. A Burt Bacharach episode, a Carole King/Alanis Morisette episode, these are definitely from the era and genres that the writers showed a preference for earlier on. We get another Queen song, we get Styx as the finale - bands that have both appeared before. This is a victory lap. There are certainly more modern songs included, but it’s reminiscent of, again, Season 1 thriving on the back of Journey and showtunes and Queen, before a younger audience made them insert more contemporary music. It feels as though the songs they’re including are the songs that the writers like, rather than leaning on chart-toppers - the Bacharach theme episode is one of the lowest watched episodes in the show’s run, which is kind of shocking given how easily artist-focus episodes could get a bump in viewership. For some reason though, fans of a songwriter whose heyday was in the 1950s/60s don’t cross over massively with Glee. 

And yet they went for it. Why? Because they wanted to, they liked the songs (Bacharach tends to be basically showtune-adjacent, you’ll find a wealth of musical singers who’ll do his songs for albums and concerts), as we can tell by S1 using his ‘I Say A Little Prayer.’ This is what the show would have been if there was no care about what the audience wanted. 

For me, the biggest flaw with Glee was the fact that they had no bloody idea what they wanted the show to be, or who the target audience even was. It goes from edgy teenage comedy, to teachable-moment kids’ show, to shockingly nuanced adult drama. 

Hence the title of this ramble - this is what Glee feels like it was meant to be, regardless of personal taste. How much a show should listen to its audience is a heck of a complex question, way too much to go into this far into an already too-long ramble, but it’s still interesting to see. When they aren’t trying to balance intent and audience, you get a fascinating lens through which to look at the show. 

There is effort here, which raises the question - if this is the show that they wanted to make, as it seems to be with how effective it is as a redo of the original season and original intent of the show and thereby the interests of the writers, what does that say of past seasons? Where are the compromises, where are the decisions made to feed into what the fandom wanted? And are the departures from this vision strengths or weaknesses?

I feel like everyone’s going to have a different answer to that question, and I do wonder if that’s why Glee fandom often seems so divided. Functionally, there are two shows going on here - it just depends which you were tuning in to see. 

[leeahqueen]

Love Light Symphony (Changyu)

Changyu: Hey! Commandant! Here here!

Skk: (Waving)

Changyu: As soon as I receive your message, I come over immediately!

Changyu: Are you going to that maze?

Skk: (Tell briefly about the maze)

Changyu: Sounds like a good idea…going now?

Changyu: Oh! The door is open!

[Shortly after finishing the maze]

Changyu: Hey, what, it’s just an empty table.

Changyu: I thought there would be mechanical bodies selling some souvenirs here, isn’t that what “travel” is written in the book?

Changyu: But…this is very similar to the stage where I performed operas before, although the decoration is not the same…

Changyu neatly flipped a few somersaults on the stage, posing in a chic posture.

Skk: (Applaud)

Changyu: It’s a pity that there are no gongs and drums here.

Changyu: Commandant, have you ever since a theater in Kowloon? The gongs and drums are blaring, and the actors on the stage sing really well!

Changyu: Huh~ It’s a pity I haven’t seen such a scene for a long time.

Changyu: Hey, I shouldn’t say something like that here, hahaha, after all, it’s “Qixi Festival”, should I say something else?

Changyu: I heard them sing some jokes…

Changyu made a tactful staring gesture, squeezed his throat, babbled, and sang.

Changyu: ~Dream back to the warbler, chaotic years all over the world~

Changyu: ~Small courtyard and deep courtyard~

Changyu: ~Dawn comes to look at the Plum Pass, and the make-up remains~

Changyu: Hehe, at that time, this show had a lot of seats!

Skk: > [It sounds very charming] \ [I don’t quite understand]

Changyu: Right! I knew the Commandant could appreciate it too!

Skk: [It sounds very charming] \ > [I don’t quite understand]

Changyu: It’s because I can’t sing well, haha.

Changyu: After all, I’m not good at *dan role.

Changyu: I really want to invite Commandant to go to the theater to see it…

Changyu bent his legs to the side, as if he saw a distant place through the virtual sky.

Skk: There will be a chance.

Changyu: …Well! There must be a chance!

[THE END]

Note:

*Dan is the general name for female roles in Chinese Opera often referring to leading roles. They may be played by male or female actors. In the early years of Peking Opera, all Dan roles were played by men, but this practice is no longer common in any Chinese opera genre.

[lusthurts]

29, 12, and 6?

omg yay

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

here's something I cut from "How Bright We Burn" - in the first draft, Kurt and Blaine broke up after Kurt didn't show up to the Warblers sectionals, and Blaine and Sebastian's first kiss happened that night during the truth or dare game when Thad dares them to make out. Anyway, this scene follows that:

He reaches for the back of Sebastian’s neck and pulls him towards him. Cheers from the Warblers erupt immediately when their lips connect, and Blaine can’t help but smile. That day in the hallway when Sebastian said they could run the school together pops into Blaine’s head as Sebastian kisses him back, and it’s the last coherent thought he has as his eyes close and their lips fit like pieces of a puzzle that have been dying to touch for years. 

Blaine must black out for a second because it’s almost like it’s just them, even though this might be the loudest he’s ever heard the Warblers cheer during a dare. He’s too focused on Sebastian’s tongue as it slips between his lips and his hand as it lands on his thigh, then his waist, all of it sending shock waves through his entire body. 

It takes a distinctly Nick-sounding cheer to snap Blaine out of the hazy mess of a kiss and pull away. It’s frustrating because he doesn’t want to stop, which is a shitty thing to think when you’ve been single for less than a day. Maybe it’s the liquor, but he’s terrified it isn’t. 

come to think of it, maybe I actually will include this in a different fic in the future lol

12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it!

yes! I make playlists for almost all my WIPs, even the shorter ones. The "How Bright We Burn" playlist has 123 songs on it (many of which are songs that led to the lyrics at the top of each chapter) so I won't share them all for now, but instead, I'll share some highlights from the playlist for the sequel ;)

"Beautiful Trauma" by P!nk

"Crazy In Love" by Beyoncé

"Renegade" by Big Red Machine & Taylor Swift

"Holy Ghost" by BØRNS

"Style" by Taylor Swift

"History" by One Direction

"Easy" by Troye Sivan

"Paprika" by Japanese Breakfast

"The Louvre" by Lorde

"Till Forever Falls Apart" by Ashe & FINNEAS

hopefully that doesn't include any spoilers ope

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

omg yes of course, the Seblaine fic that I literally always reread is the "I'll Be There For You" series by Imogen_LeFay, specifically "Stuck In Second Gear" because that fic is seriously canon to me and the only way I can ever bring myself to rewatch the last season of Glee because I know that this fic is how it really ends. For other Seblaine fics, I love to reread "Seasons Change" by civillove and "This or That" by TiburonWriter.

also, I'm a huge marauders fan (though you wouldn't guess it from my Tumblr where I almost exclusively talk about seblaine and Taylor Swift) and I have to admit I've reread the famous "All the Young Dudes" by MsKingBean89 multiple times as well.

sorry this got so long lol clearly idk how to be concise

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

You can't just say that you'll never write anything as good as a scene and then not share it give us the goods

oh man anon welcome to the shit show that is the SOWK verse! for some context, this is a scene between Thad Harwood and Dave Karofsky, who become friends after On My Way. Thad is under the impression that he and Dave have been dating for months, Karofsky is repressing the hell out of his feelings for Thad, and when the rest of the inner circle bring this to their attention (he brought you to a Warbler party, Dave, that's as serious as it gets), Dave panics, flies back to New York, and instead of going back to his campus upstate, he finds himself at Thad's apartment, and this scene takes place when Thad gets back to New York a few hours later!

It's long, so I'm putting it under the cut, with warnings for internalized homophobia & internalized aphobia

(also I'm not posting the entire thing bc I want to create intrigue but also I want to post the entire thing because I'm obsessed with them rip)

Thad walked home alone from the train. Dave should have been there, should have been laughing as he complained about the cold, reminding him that Ohio winters were far worse. Come on, Prep School, he'd have said, did two weeks in the Caribbean really turn you into a wimp? Thad would have bumped their shoulders together and faked a pout until he could no longer hold back his laughter, and that would have kept him warm all the way home.

Instead, he was alone in the bracing wind, bundled up tightly but still chilled to his bones. Finally he made it to his building, up the elevator, and to his door. All that he wanted was to get inside, to make himself a cup of tea and curl up under his blanket, to try to pretend that this horrible weekend had never happened. How empty would it feel, without Dave there beside him, sharing the couch and stealing his blankets? He almost couldn't remember what it was like to be alone.

Almost. Not quite. Being alone was engraved into him, just as much as being a Warbler. Dave may have helped him forget it, but it would come back easy enough. It was who he was, after all, at his core. And he had been foolish to think that it could be any different. He wasn't boyfriend material, he knew that. He was a good friend, a better listener than anyone would expect, but he wasn't built for relationships. Enough of his past partners had told him that — he was selfish, icy, a frigid fucking bitch — and it was his own fault for pretending that Dave could have seen him as something more.

He unlocked his door with shaking hands, and he would swear to the grave that it was only the cold making him shake, all too ready to bundle up and cry.

But when he opened the door, there was someone else there. There, on his couch, with his blanket, looking like he belonged.

He does belong, his heart whispered. Shut up, his brain retorted, don't get our hopes up.

"Dave?"

Dave looked up, surprised. Like it wasn't Thad's fucking apartment that he was sitting in.

"Thad? Wow, um… I hadn't realized the time. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here, I'll—"

He stood, halfway to the door, before he stopped again, looking at Thad – really looking at him – for the first time.

Then, at the same time – still in sync, a traitorous part of his brain whispered – both of them spoke.

"I'm sorry." "I'm sorry."

"What? No, Dave, you didn't — I mean, I'm the one… I mean—"

"Breathe, Prep School. Please, let me talk? If I don't… I don't know if I'll ever be brave enough again."

More than a little curious, Thad felt himself nodding.

"Go ahead," he said, just a second delayed.

"Even before I knew that I was gay… I've always known that I wasn't built for love. Not real love. The only relationship I even had was with Santana and she was using me as a beard to win prom queen. It just wasn't in the cards for me, and I kind of came to terms with that. And then I realized I was gay, and I really knew. I was never going to come out, so even if love was a possibility, it still wouldn't be."

Thad opened his mouth – to comfort him, probably. To tell him that he was wrong, that he was built for love and that Thad himself was fucking proof of it. But Dave kept talking.

"When Aurora introduced us, I was at the lowest point in my life. My dad could barely look at me, my mom wanted to send me to conversion therapy, my friends had all turned on me as soon as the news dropped. And it felt right, you know? Karma, maybe, for everything I'd done. For how much I had hurt people, especially Kurt. And it was awful, but I accepted it. This was my punishment, and I had to live with it. But then Aurora showed up, and… well, you know what she's like."

Thad couldn't help but chuckle at that — he did know Aurora.

"She showed up in my hospital room, and I only barely recognized her. But she came over to my bed, waited until she had my full attention. She's so small, you know, but even then I could feel how much of a fucking force she is. She just stood there, looking at me. I was about to ask her what she wanted by the time she actually said anything. She told me that she knew how I felt, that she'd been in my position and she knew what I was thinking. And she told me that that wasn't good enough. That I wasn't allowed to just accept it, to just resign myself to being miserable for the rest of my life until the day I died. She said… she said 'fuck everyone else, Dave, fuck what you think you owe them. You owe it to yourself to keep living, to fight for your happiness.' She told me that I'd fucked up, that she wouldn't deny it, but that I still deserved to see that it really could get better."

A few tears escaped as he remembered that conversation, the words that had changed – and saved – his entire life. Thad wanted so badly to wipe them away, but Dave was still talking, and he didn't want to miss a word.

"She told me that I needed new friends, a better support system. She said that my dad should talk to Burt Hummel, and that my mom should shove her bullshit up her ass – her words, not mine. She offered to introduce my dad to Wes and Cooper, too, said that they could help him understand. And she said that she and Blaine were happy to talk, but that it would be good for me to have a friend who was, you know, a bit more like me. And she gave me your number, said that you were expecting a message and that I'd better not keep you waiting. She probably knew that, if she hadn't said that, I would never have sent that first text.

"But honestly, I found her a little scary. Still do. So I texted you. And god, it's the best thing I've ever done. You didn't expect anything from me, you didn't expect me to just go back to normal or anything, and you were always there for me. You helped me figure out how to keep living, how to have a life. You helped me find a school where people wouldn't know but also wouldn't care, you helped me figure out how to talk to my dad… God, Thad, you helped me so much more than I can even explain. You became my best friend faster than I even realized."

[darriness]

So there are two scenes I will never forgive Glee for deleting from episodes.

The first one I think we (as Klainers) can all agree on: The Box scene.

But the second may be more just me specific and that’s the Warbler’s performance of I Want You Back.

I rewatch that scene on YouTube more than I rewatch any part of the actual aired episodes. It is just perfection and every time that song comes on my shuffle I’m reminded of it and reminded of my unwillingness to forgive them for cutting it.

That is all. Carry on with your day.

[dansnaturepictures]

08/01/2023-Milkham in the New Forest

We came here today and had a lovely walk around taking in the Broomy Walk area too and saw three more bird species for the first time in 2023, tapping into the larder of woodland species and New Forest specialities we were yet to see this year. Firstly a sweet Treecreeper shuffling up a bold beach, seeing my first of the year on the last walk of my week off to open the year in the forest for the second year running after Blackwater a year ago tomorrow. Later on in the wooded part of the walk we saw a Song Thrush or two. This is a bird I have had a bit of fun with in my mind this week as whilst I wouldn’t say I regularly see them at Lakeside I certainly do see them there a lot and have a lot on my annual New Year’s Day walk there over the years. Early in that walk a week ago today this year I heard a Song Thrush maybe two singing beautifully one of my favourite bird songs deep in vegetation but just couldn’t see it/them after a few minutes of trying. Conscious of wanting to keep the pace I wanted for that walk I moved on thinking I may well see one further on, but didn’t and didn’t see or hear another for the rest of this week. So it became a common species to be entertained at luckily for us a lot of rarer species beating it onto my year list something I enjoy about New Year birding. I was looking forward to looking for them more and there is something nice about just sneaking one into my week off.

In the heath we quickly saw a Dartford Warbler, one of the ultimate New Forest birds which it was a delight to see. This is one I always aspire to see in a year and am so lucky that we have now got the species on ten year lists in a row after really becoming more aware of them from 2014 onwards, but you never know when you’ll see one so it always feels special and valuable to see one. A great moment with a top bird of my year so far with 115 species seen this year a wonderful figure to end the week off on. Also on the walk it was nice to see a handful of Redwings flying around late on in the heath and a charming little Goldcrest in the woods.

A couple of late Roe Deers as dusk began to fall was a special and attractive sight and it was nice to see and photograph one for a second Sunday running after Lymington last week I took the eighth picture in this photoset today of one, it was a powerful natural moment as I saw and felt it gazing back at me. There were great bits of gorse in flower which looked pretty especially in golden sunlight I took the fifth picture in this photoset of this and I also enjoyed fungi on trees and lichen on the heath and trees on the walk. I took the second picture in this photoset of fungi on a log and sixth of lichen on wood.

It was pleasing to take in views of heath, raging full streams, rich woodland lit perfectly by the sun with gorgeous and dominant scenes of sun shining through trees this afternoon and lighting up bits of vegetation and engaging sky scenes. We arrived in a pressing rain shower that had defined the day until that point, but it cleared really nicely with great bits of sunlight as the afternoon went on. There were great scenes of glistening raindrops clinging to trees as the shower cleared. It was amazing in this open and vast landscape to see the sun lower behind a line of conifers and the clouds redden. It felt like a memorable day of taking in and photographing landscape today. I took the first, third, fourth, seventh and ninth pictures in this photoset of views here today. It was good to get chatting to some nice people as we have done at places all this week.

At home today it was a treat to see the Dunnock in the bush out the front which the tenth and final picture in this photoset shows and the spider I noticed in my en suite last night again and the one in the crack in the landing.

Wildlife Sightings Summary for the Milkham walk: My first Treecreeper, Song Thrush and Dartford Warbler of the year, Redwing, Blackbird, Robin, possible Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Woodpigeons seen well, Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Roe Deer and New Forest Pony and Grey Squirrel seen nicely towards the end.