#argentinians aren't kind

[im-getting-help]

Another day, another panic attack.

I honestly don't know what to do, I don't know what I can do. I can't work and my country is speedrunning economic ruin thanks to our lovely president who hates people and common sense in equal measure.

Even if I can get a job, which is almost impossible at this rate, I won't be able to keep it, I know, and that's IF I can get out of the panic state I enter every time I think about working.

I woke up today and the first thing I did was have a panic attack, and it's been like this for days now. I have to open YT and distract myself cause nothing else works except for completely disengage with reality.

I can't even do the essays and reading for uni cause I get paranoid and start doubting myself, and there we go again to the next panick attack or crying session. It's been only a month and i'm already late on assignments cause the only thing I want can to do is sleep.

Hello depression and anxiety, I did not missed you guys.

In november of last year, when our current president won the elections, I knew that everything was going to go to shit pretty quickly. Here we are, 1 kilo of potato is $1400 pesos. WHO CAN AFFORD THAT? We spent at least $400.000 pesos every month only in food cause everything is so expensive, we are in debt just to cover basic necessities.

And I wish I was fcking normal, I wish I could just pick up any job and go to work and make some money, but I can't.

Yeah, anyways, im going to make some tea and idk pray I guess(???) pray that some psychiatrists in this miserable island gives me a fcking appointment and takes my inability to maintain a job seriously instead of dismiss me with a "well, I think you just need therapy, good fcking luck :)"

[marybeatriceofmodena]

What did Andrew Lloyd Webber do to make Patti Lupone upset? Sorry, saw your tags and i was curious

Oh.

Oh honey.

You sweet child.

Anyway, get ready for one of the most infamous showdowns in all musical theatre history, with the guy who writes the straightest musicals on Broadway (derogatory) and the one and only, the matriarch, the queen, two three-time Tony award winner Patti LuPone.

So, Andrew Lloyd Webber was basically kind of a boy genius in his prime - he met his future collaborator Tim Rice when they were 17 and 20 respectively, he wrote his first big hit, Jesus Christ Superstar, at 22, with Tim Rice writing the lyrics. And it was kind of a big deal at the time because the topic was controversial (you know, the Passion with rock music), but also because Broadway wasn't that far off from its golden age and let's just say the music and style were very different from, say, My Fair Lady. Or The Sound of Music. Or Funny Girl. It was basically the Rent/Hamilton of its time. (Yeah, Stephen Sondheim was around at that time, he worked on West Side Story which was revolutionary in of itself, but he's kind of an oddball in this case. You'll understand why later.)

Their real follow up (I'm not counting Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for a variety of reasons) was a little musical called Evita, which you might know mainly because of a song called Don't Cry For Me Argentina. Or at least, your mom has probably heard it once at the very least. It's that song that's oversung from a musical while being out of context along with I Dreamed a Dream for Les Misérables. Or Memory from Cats.

Evita tells the story of Eva Peron, the wife of an Argentinian dictator, who basically screws her way to the top and ends up becoming the mistress of Juan Peron and the most beloved woman in her country through guile and deceit. Yes, I know the historical accuracy is very much debated but I know jackshit about Argentina's history except the bare basics so don't come at me. It was first produced in the West End in London, with Elaine Paige in the role, but because of Equity issues, she couldn't reprise her role for the Broadway production. So a Julliard graduate who was mostly starring in David Mamet plays got the part instead, and that was Patti LuPone.

Patti... did not have a good time during Evita, because the part is basically the kind of score where you can tell the composer is used to writing male parts, but most female singers have a two-octave range (yes, you got Julie Andrews who used to have a three-octave range, and many others, but they're exceptions), so she struggled a lot. That being said, if you listen to live recordings of her, you wouldn't be able to tell, and it got a lot easier later on. But she had this to say:

"Evita was the worst experience of my life. I was screaming my way through a part that could only have been written by a man who hates women. And I had no support from the producers, who wanted a star performance onstage but treated me as an unknown backstage. It was like Beirut, and I fought like a banshee."

This is from Patti's autobiography, which she wrote in 2007 - 8 years after shit with ALW went down. With all that said, she won a Tony Award for Evita, and she pretty much became a musical theatre household name from then on. She played Fantine in Les Misérables, Nancy in Oliver!, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes. Meanwhile, ALW's next big hits were Cats (I'm not even kidding, Cats was a hit), and, you guessed it, The Phantom of the Opera, which he wrote in part to showcase his then wife Sarah Brightman's triple threat talents.

So, you need to understand before I continue that ALW, from my perspective, has always had a bit of an inferiority complex. He's basically associated to writing these commercially successful musicals that show a big spectacle but aren't ultimately substantial. I'm not sure I entirely agree with that, but I do think that if he didn't have Hal Prince, Maria Bjornson, Charles Hart and Gillian Lynne backing him up for Phantom, it would have probably been a Rocky Horror Picture Show knockoff people would have forgotten about pretty quickly. This is what I mean:

Yep, that was Phantom before any of the people I mentioned above (and Michael Crawford) were really involved.

Remember how I said Stephen Sondheim was an oddball? The thing with him is that his musicals weren't always commercially successful, but in general, in part thanks to being Leonard Bernstein's protégé, he was generally pretty well-respected and it was considered that his work was bringing musicals to a whole other level. Without Sondheim, you wouldn't have Jonathan Larson, and you wouldn't have Lin-Manuel Miranda. I am convinced ALW is resentful of that, and when you stop and think about it for more than 10 seconds, it's so obvious he REALLY wants to be Sondheim or at least command the same level of respect, but that's a story for another day.

So, after Phantom, ALW had other musicals that followed that either got a meh reception or outright flopped. Then there was Sunset Boulevard, which is based on the movie of the same name with Gloria Swanson. Despite all of her griefs for Evita, Patti LuPone agreed to partake in the musical as Norma Desmond, for its production in London, with the promise that she would transfer to Broadway once that production would open. And overall, after a string of flops, Sunset was actually doing pretty well.

HOWEVER. One day, while reading the gossip column of a newspaper, Patti found out that contrary to what she was promised, Glenn Close, who was meanwhile starring as Norma in the Los Angeles production, was to play Norma on Broadway. That was a complete surprise for her since no one on the production team had bothered to tell her it was happening - and keep in mind that for the news to come up the way it did in a gossip column, it probably would have necessitated a delay of a few weeks between the producers and the newspaper, which would have given them plenty of time to break the news to Patti. And Patti kind of needed the leg up because she was pretty bitter that a) Madonna was cast in the Evita adaptation instead of her; b) they actually lowered the key to fit Madonna's voice range, and she still had to expand her own to be able to sing the (lowered) score. And trust me, Patti is mad about it to this day.

So of course, she trashed her dressing room, the cast and crew weren't even mad about it because they were as shocked and angered as she was by the news. Patti sued Andrew Lloyd Webber for breach of contract, namely for 1 MILLION DOLLARS (yup, those are the real numbers), won, used the money she got from the lawsuit to get a swimming pool, which she called (and I SHIT YOU NOT) the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool. Since then, Webber is dead to her, to the point rumor has it she had part of a building blocked during an event so she could get out of it without coming across Webber, because she hates him so flipping much she doesn't even want to be in the same building as the guy.

(There's also drama that happened with Faye Dunaway who was supposed to replace Glenn Close after she went from Los Angeles to Broadway, except they abruptly closed the show down after Close left, but that's a story for another day)

So with all the bad press, and with ALW forced to pay 1 million dollars for Patti's lawsuit, that led Sunset's productions to close earlier than expected. ALW has stayed around since, with... mitigated output, so to say. The lowest point for a lot of people is Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom, which some people love, and that's fine, but it didn't do well with either critics nor fans of the original show, which ALW is EXTREMELY BUTTHURT ABOUT. And like, there are so many stories I could tell about LND alone, but I will share my own crack theory about it, since it does relate to the ask.

Anyway, buckle up.

So. There have been jokes going around for years that the Phantom in LND is basically ALW's self-insert, where he displays to the world that he's totally not over Sarah Brightman leaving him (in part because making Phantom kinda ruined their marriage lmao), despite, you know, having married since. (Aaaaaakward.) So LND basically becomes this really uncomfortable therapy session where a man writes a self-insert musical about how his ex-wife made a big mistake of leaving a sensitive artistic soul such as himself. The characters from Phantom who appear in LND are all more or less unrecognizable as a result, and one who gets it worse (in my humble opinion) is Meg Giry, who was basically Christine's sweet and loyal ballerina friend who basically went into the Phantom's lair on her own to save her friend despite the danger. In LND, she's basically a bitter hag (because ALW hates women, guess Patti was right about that), who really likes the swim and even has a stripping vaudeville number about it, written in universe by the Phantom, no less.

For comparison, here's Don Juan Triumphant (the Phantom's opera in the original):

And here's Bathing Beauty (the vaudeville number):

Yeah, so... do you see why people hate LND already?

And that's not the only thing with Meg! She's also pining for the Phantom to pay attention to her and threatens to drown the Phantom and Christine's secret love child when he makes it clear that he's gonna love Christine for EVA AND EVA.

So, with everything we learned today about ALW, would someone like him view someone like Patti LuPone as some sort of crazy, bitter diva who's obsessed with him for whatever reason? Absolutely. Would he be petty enough to insert Patti LuPone into his self-insert musical, which gave us the version of Meg Giry we got in LND? Of course. Why does Meg love to swim so much and why does she drag Gustave out ostensibly for a swim? Is it a dig at Patti's Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool? Maybe.

I kind of hope we find out one day if that theory is true. And maybe start a kickstarter so Patti can add this painting from the 2004 movie in her collection.

Fun fact: during the process of casting for the 2004 movie adaptation of POTO, ALW allegedly suggested Patti LuPone to play Carlotta... only for Joel Schumacher to have to awkwardly remind him that they were not on speaking terms. The idea was therefore promptly dropped.

[lauralot89]

Could Vampire Bats Have Eaten Quincey's Horse?

I have not seen anything pulled down so quick since I was on the Pampas and had a mare that I was fond of go to grass all in a night. One of those big bats that they call vampires had got at her in the night, and what with his gorge and the vein left open, there wasn’t enough blood in her to let her stand up, and I had to put a bullet through her as she lay.

I actually misremembered this scene as Quincey saying his horse was eaten by a straight up vampire, because this doesn't make any sense at all. Vampire bats drink two tablespoons of blood nightly, they aren't draining horses.

Or are they?

Like the last time I went off on some weird scientific journey about blood consumption in Dracula, I decided to see if there's any way this is possible.

So, Quincey's horse is a mare, which has a lower average body weight than a stallion, and as such, a lesser whole blood volume. For example, "the breed standard weight for a Thoroughbred stallion is approximately 1,100 to 1,300 pounds, while mares weigh between 900 to 1,100 pounds."

What kind of mare did Quincey have, though? That impacts the weight and the amount of blood. If we assume he was using a horse from Argentina rather than bringing a horse from the United States, I think the most likely breed would be the Criollo, which is the native horse of the Pampas. If he brought a horse with him to South America, I'd wager it was an American quarter horse, the most popular horse breed among cowboys.

The Internet tells me that the average Criollo weight is between 1200 to 1300 pounds, and the average American quarter horse weighs between 950 to 1200 pounds. So let's imagine Quincey's mare weighed 1200 pounds if she was a Criollo, and 950 pounds if she was an American quarter horse.

I am told that "on average, a horse has approximately 8 to 10 percent of its body weight in blood." We'll go with 8 percent to give the vampire bats a fighting chance. This would mean a Criollo mare would have 96 pounds of blood, and a American quarter mare would have 76 pounds of blood.

There are 30.68 tablespoons in a pound. As such:

Criollo: 2945.28 tbsp

American Quarter: 2331.68 tbsp

Of course, Quincey's mare didn't lose all of her blood. She was still alive, she just couldn't get up. So what's the maximum amount of blood a horse can lose and live?

According to this posting, a horse which has lost 6 to 12 L of blood can survive with a transfusion, so we'll posit that 12 L is the maximum blood loss a horse can survive. 12 L is 26.45 pounds, or 797.68 tablespoons.

It would take 399 vampire bats all feeding from the same animal to remove 797.68 tbsp of blood in one night.

The average vampire bat colony contains 100 bats. So, if four colonies descended on the mare (maybe she was the only animal out and about that night) then this is actually possible.

But more likely Bram Stoker had no idea how vampire bats worked a Argentinian vampire was feeding on tourists and their horses, knowing the bats would be blamed.

[dreadfutures]

Rules: If you're tagged, MAKE A NEW POST to showcase one fanartist and/or fanfic for any fandom you recommend (with links), and tag someone to give their recs next! Don't forget to reblog the rec you were tagged in!

Bonus: Choose works by people you aren't super tight with, or choose older works that maybe haven't gotten some love in a while. :)

Fanartist: @ratajota

I'm highlighting Ale for their amazing painterly style. It reminds me a lot of a painter friend of my parents and I just know that it would look amazing on a wall in large size. Alejandro does AMAZING portraits of real people and pets, and does commissions of OCs!

Please support this Argentinian artist for amazing talent and get a commission and tip WELL, every dollar counts these days and their pieces are absolutely worth every dime. Working with Alejandro is a joy and I already am looking forward to my next commission!

You probably know Ale's work like this masterpiece (reblog it!):

But one of my favorites is this really splashy pet portrait:

Ale is a kind presence in my notes and on my dash and I would hope gets some long due traction and support!!!

Fanfic: I come to you with nothing - commonevilmastermind

Good things come in small packages and this one shot is *good.* I always forget that it's just a oneshot, because its impact on everyone who reads it is just so huge.

It's a beautiful fic that weaves together the Jewish traditions and culture that we know influenced the writing of the elves in the Dragon Age setting, and it is incredibly tangible and earnest and rooted in real world customs. It feels like coming home. It makes me really miss my Jewish half of the family, on another coast. And it makes me love this fandom that could make something like this fit into the Dragon Age setting, and do it beautifully and with respect born of familiarity and love.

Rating: M

Pairing: Female Lavellan/Solas

Chapters: 1/1

Length: 9,478 words

Summary: The one where Solas and Lavellan pose as a happily married couple in a city alienage in order to catch a red lyrium dealer.

Tagging forward today to: @kittynomsdeplume | @anneapocalypse | @arendaes | @silvanils - for any fandom works you think deserve the spotlight!

[thatscarletflycatcher]

As a Christian in the Southern Hemisphere, what are some Advent or Christmas traditions that are specific to the season where you live? In Northern countries, so many "Christmas" traditions are tied to it being a Wintertime celebration, so I've always wondered what it's like on the other side of the globe!

Oh *rubs hands* where to begin?

I think much of the aesthetics, at least in advertising and decoration aren't that much different; we are just more likely to use plastic rather than real pine for garlands, trees, etc, we put up lights and mangers and nativity plays, fake snow, all that sort of stuff. We eat a lot of high calories food like beef and lamb (sometimes turkey for a lighter option), puddings and panettone and nougat of all kinds, ice cream, hard cider, you get the gist).

But there are some things I think are pretty specific to Christmas in this latitude.

One is that the calendar year, the liturgical year, and the school year come to an end close to each other, which gives it a sense of things accelerating towards an end, and enhances a lot the liturgical readings (at least of the Catholic Church) about God's visit and the end of the world; but because it is summer it is a rather hopeful and light close (?) and the promise of the beginning of something new and better.

There's also the flowers! Jacarandas are in bloom till around the first half of Advent, so it does feel at times like nature is dressing up for the liturgical season:

December is full on the time for gardenias, and the smell of the flowers will follow you anywhere. It is pretty common to see many street vendors pop up:

Close to Christmas and until Epiphany (as we sort of give away gifts on both days) there's extensive street markets for toys and clothing; when I was a little kid I thought that was where the Wise Men shopped for gifts and it made me very excited XD

I think the closeness to summer makes it a bit more relaxed, from what I can tell through what I hear from Christmas-in-Winter people in the webs; people are looking forward to the summer holidays and shopping is a different kind of miserable if you hate the heat, but at least it isn't cold and dark and wet. And I cannot emphasize how much better it is when you are not forced to listen to Maria Carey on repeat XD

Speaking of which, music! We don't much go caroling, but it is common to have choir concerts in December, specially in churches, with both carols and secular Christmas songs (honorable mention to that time a choir sung the theme of Civilization IV. Sometimes living in Uruguay is amusing). The most known carols are either Spanish (campanas de Belén, los peces en el río) or German (Stille Nacht, Adeste Fideles) in origin, although a set of Carols and a Mass composed by Ariel Ramírez, an Argentinian composer, in the 60s, are hugely popular as well: they are known as Misa Criolla and Navidad Nuestra. This for Uruguay specifically; countries like Colombia, Venezuela and Paraguay have some carols of their own that I love to pieces (Tutaina Tuturumá, Niño Lindo, Dos Trocitos de Madera). In general, again, because of summer, most Christmas music in the radio and shops is blended with summer hits. It's been a while since I was out and about a lot in December, but the succession would be something like Feliz Navidad-Lola Si Si-Under the Sun-When Love Takes Over-El Burrito Sabanero and so on and so forth.

That's all I can think of now :D ah, we get fireworks too, although they are becoming controversial as of late because of pets, and some municipalities have banned them, so that seems like it will change soon.

[lalalaugenbrot]

so. wanted to go to bed at like 1 am. saw on insta that the copa america final was going to be tonight (yesterdays night tonight), not todays tonight as i thought. checked the time and it was already to begin 2 am (CET) so i thought my god what is another hour, it's the final! what if colombia wins?! so i managed to find a vpn and tuned into caracol (colombian tv channel) to check if it was working. it was! and they were already pre game reporting - nice! i listened to them a little... halftime is going to be 25 mins so shakira can perform??? first of all what gringo fuckery is this why are they forcefully trying to convert actual football into their football?? and secondly - is that allowed?!?? how did argentina not protest against this lmao 😭😭. SHAKIRA is performing at the COLOMBIA - argentina final??? what?? they should've at least allowed argentina to bring some national hero to perform as well but ok. ok. also: there seems to be a problem at the entrance?! people aren't being let in? the game is being delayed half an hour?? i was so tired at that point i just calculated at which time the first half would be almost over so i could tune in again then, set a timer, turned off my tablet and went to sleep. HARD CUT timer goes off, i'm confused for a second. ah right, football! i turn the tablet on again. restart the live stream. they're still not playing?!?? what. okay so the game has been delayed over an hour? at least they're about to sing the hymns now. i listen to that, watch the first 20 mins of the game but by god i couldn't do it, i was SO tired. so i calculated again. rest of this half. 25 mins "halftime show" (...), 30 more mins. okay. back to sleep. argentina leads by 1 goal, then colombia scores one, the stadium explodes, the match ends 1-1, they go into penalties, it goes well at first for both teams, but then colombia loses by one missed penalty. argentinian fans storm the field, colombians are devestated, i'm in some kind of common room?? of the building where i live, watching the match there with other colombian families, they're all sad too... HARD CUT the timer goes off, i'm confused for a second. oh, so the game is still on?! that was a dream? colombia can still win? i turn the stream back on. it's 0-0 actually, not many more minutes to play. game over. okay then, penalties, let's do this. wait what, NOW we're having extra time?! omg please no i am so tired, it's already getting light outside again. but okay. extra time, no goals, looks like penalties again (what if my dream was semi prophetic?!), but then, of course, argentina scores shortly before the game is over, i see colombia lose FOR THE SECOND TIME tonight, turn the tablet back off. my alarm is set to 7:52 because i have to urgently reschedule a dentist appointment ✌🏻

[spade-riddles]

Hello spade! I'm argentinian and it just got announced that night 2 got suspended because of weather even when it was known since 1 week in advance it was going to rain. People are REALLY mad because most people don't have that kind of money in this country and some of them can't make it to the Sunday reschedule because they came from other parts of the country and they have to fly back home. For them it was a small fortune of savings down the d(rain). Most people aren't blaming TS because she is famous for her work ethic and performing in the rain, but the shitty right wing/neolib government of the city (it is autonomous as if it were a state/prefecture in on itself) because of the piss poor city planning. It's definitely going to impact the next elections this month. Did football guy bring us bad luck of smth? Sorry for bad english.

Such a bummer! 😔

But looking a the videos it doesn’t look like there was any choice. Hopefully those fans will sell their tickets to get money back for them. I am sure the demand is high.

[spoopy-action-at-distance]

Re: the post I reblogged earlier, a series of Reid Wiseman's cool orbital photos taken on the ISS? Specifically, the first picture that has a bit of a mystery in it? This one:

I think I know what that is, and I am going to tell you how I figured it out (pre-emptive apologies to any South-East Asians who feel the urge to headdesk while reading this post.)

First off, all that green glow? It's on water. Check out a map of the area:

So why are there lights in the sea at night? Well, squid fishing happens at night, and the ships use bright lights to imitate the moon to attract the squid.

Here's a big squid-fishing ship, filmed by a drone off the Argentinian east coast in the Atlantic Ocean. It's got a bit of green going on.

Here's another one, photographed in the Pacific. Also some green here.

Both of those are, however, severely outdone in greenness by this small Thai squid-fishing ship.

Unlike the previous examples, it is in the right place and is, in fact, All Green. Boy, is it green. Look at how green it is. It is So Green.

Before you say that puny ships like that cannot possibly be visible all the way up to the ISS, consider: a) that there might be a bajillion of them, and b) the big ships are also out there in even bigger fleets, and they are bloody bright.

According to the Sea Shepherd organisation, who tracked a 300-strong squid-fishing fleet west of the Galapagos Islands in 2018, "the total luminosity of these vessels is said to rival European soccer stadiums". They waxed a bit poetic about them:

"Suddenly out of the darkness a towering intense white light showed on the horizon. Soon it was followed by others all around us, mostly white but some an iridescent green and others with dimmer yellow light. Looking out from the wheelhouse we seemed no longer to be on the open ocean but in the edge of some great coastal metropolis."

Here's part of a fleet of some 150 ships near Argentine.

And here's that same fleet again, managing to be a magnificent eyesore even at a considerable distance.

Sure, Argentine is pretty far away from Bangkok (though those ships might also be Chinese). But South-East Asia definitely has some of its own night-light activity going on. You can find a handy map at globalfishingwatch.org (go play with it, it's fun). It didn't have night-light satellite data from 2014, but here's a snapshot from August 2022 for comparison.

The map also shows national fishing zones. If I'm interpreting Wiseman's photo correctly, those green lights in it are in the Vietnamese, Malesian and Indonesian waters. So those are likely Vietnamese, Malesian and Indonesian squid-fishings ships (and maybe some other nationalities that maybe aren't supposed to be there; here's that Sea Shepherd page again and an article about the Global Fishing Watch project talking about that kind of thing).

What I sadly couldn't figure out is what kind of squid they're fishing over there. I was hoping it might be the Japanese flying squid, because then I would have a reason to put them in this post. Unfortunately, Japanese flying squids apparently don't live that far down South.

But I'm going to put them on this post anyway, because I just found out about them, and I mean, look at these guys:

Just Look.

They're like if a squid decided it wanted to be a flying fish and instead of making a deal with the sea witch, it went "I can do it! I can! I can!" They're sleek, attention-grabbing and ridonculous. They can fly over 30 metres in 3 seconds. And they're not being caught by the glow-in-the-dark squid-fishing fleet off the Gulf of Thailand because they don't live there, and therefore have nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of this post.

But they're cool.

Finally, a confession: I didn't figure out the lights because I know something about South-East Asian fishing practices (I know nothing, feel free to laugh and correct me), or because did some kind of a systematic elimination chain to eventually arrive at the answer (ahahahaha no). It's because I've watched the Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World nature documentary no less than three times in less than two weeks, and there's footage in it of this massive unnerving squid-fishing fleet, which you'll definitely remember if you've seen it once, let alone three times.

Why have I seen it three times, then? Obviously for very normal reasons. Not at all because the series is narrated by Pedro Pascal. I mean, who would opt to listen to Pedro Pascal talking very seriously about (occasionally horny) wildlife for 4+ hours while endearingly lisping his Fs and THs here and there? Not me, no. I am very normal about him and not at all soothed by his dulcet tones in my time of stress. Don't look at me.

[watchmorecinema]

I just watched Wild Tales today, an Argentinian movie. It's 6 short stories themed around revenge, and every single one of them has this kind of energy around them.

Like there's no moral to be gleaned, and the stories aren't critiquing some flaw in society. It's just a bunch of wild shit that keeps escalating because it's fun, with the level of slapstick violence of a Tarantino film but shot like a serious drama. It's so great.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Related to my last reblog from decolonize the left but....why is it native American mythologies' get to have all the creepy deer monsterthings? I'm not saying North America doesn't have cool deer that are scary as shit it's just deer are kind of all over the world and terrifying and why is it when we only talk about deer-monsters it has to be in the context of the w*nd*go?? ((which, again, aren't even deer things in their og descriptions they're horrifying but they aren't deer))

Perytons from Argentinian mythology are pretty winged deer that also shapeshift and eat people. No really.

I'm sure the Norse have all sorts of disturbing mythos based on their red deer like the one that guards Yggdrasil (norse experts feel free to roast me for not remembering the name of the stag).

Honest thought but are people maybe confusing w*nd*gos with deer-women? That's seriously the only Indigenous American thing I can think of that makes and big mention of deer at all, horror or not. And even then I think it's best to just stay clear and away from Native cultures when you aren't native yourself.

[spammerjammer]

TBH I don't think any followers on my bigger blogs want to know anything about me, which is fine. They're there for my fics and content, and I love to make that stuff for them. I do feel like I can't write certain things though because it'll be too self-referential. On one hand, I want my writing to be accessible and understandable to a general audience. But on the other hand, I'd love to write a super detailed fic involving things I research or just my life experiences. I feel like these experiences I've had would make my writing super niche because not many people can describe first-hand accounts of things I've dealt with. They're dark and gritty and wild stories, but I love them all the same. I just don't think others would see the good in those experiences, and I don't want to subject people to reading that kind of thing. I've thought about writing a book or something, but I don't feel important enough. Like, who am I to write a memoir at my young age? Seems pretentious as hell. I just want to reflect on stuff here, since my more popular blogs aren't going to take it very well. With all that said, I'll get to my first story.

Ever since I was a little girl, my father was explosive. He was sweet and kind and doting, until he wasn't. He'd be the perfect father until something didn't go his way. Then he'd scream in my face, break furniture, and throw a fit. This was my first experience with men. I thought it was normal for men to behave this way. For 13 years of my life, I expected every man to be like my father.

Until, one day, I went to a self-defense class. It was taekwondo and Brazilian jiu jitsu taught by an ex-mil Argentinian man. He showed me how men try to intimidate women because they're easy targets of abuse. He showed me that it was unacceptable for men to use their size and strength to bend women to their will. He showed me what acceptable relationships looked like between an adult and a child, as well as between a man and a woman. Every woman taught by him couldn't leave his class until they could perform the technique of the night perfectly. Over and over again. He'd remind us that men wouldn't show us mercy and would try to use their strength to force us into submission.

It's strange, but watching "The Last of Us" made me realize that this man was the father figure I needed. He taught me to respect myself, recognize abuse, and never let myself be intimidated by a man. It all culminated years ago when my father had broken out in a full screaming match with me. It resulted in him ditching our family, threatening to divorce my mother unless I apologized. The argument was centered around my "liberal beliefs" (he was being radicalized by N4z1s and went completely crazy, threatening to pull me out of school). Except, unlike before, I didn't back down from his tantrum. I didn't let him intimidate me, even as he spat in my face. I looked him right in the eye at 16 years old and told him to go fuck himself. Not only did I recognize his attempt to intimidate me as abuse, but I didn't fear him anymore. I was angry, not afraid. I knew I could die in that moment, but I didn't care. I was just so angry, I couldn't take him abusing me and my mom anymore.

When he tried to return, he used his usual tactics. Never apologizing, just showering me with gifts. I refused them all. He wouldn't talk to me directly, instead pressuring my mom by threatening divorce and refusing to return to a 'disobedient household'. I held my ground. And eventually, my father reflected on everything he had done. He went to therapy and anger management classes, finally apologizing to me and my mother. He admitted to everything he had done and promised to do right by us moving forward. And he did. And none of it ever would've happened without this one man that came into my life.

He truly changed my life, and by extension, my family's lives. I don't know how to tell him how grateful I am for what he did for me. I haven't seen him in a long time, but I know where he is. I just don't know how to tell him all of this in a concise way because he had such a profound effect on my life. He made me strong. He showed me what good men do. I can't imagine what my life would've turned out like without him. He will always be my dad, the man that gave me something to believe in. He's the sole reason I have a father at all today.

Thank you.

[but-a-humble-selfshipper]

I think one of my most interesting and weird+silley parts of like. I don't even know what to call it, self shipping universes? Head space? The place the self shipping takes up in my brain? Idk but the one I'm talking about is the apartments and I'll talk about them a little bit here

The apartments are kind of a place where I take characters to help them out when their original universe won't do them any favors. The first one to be here was Hans!

Y'all might now how it started with Hans; we weren't even dating at the start we were like enemies and then fuck buddies and now just platonic friends. And he's also like, my bestie and whenever i have some fucking issue like I'm extremely sad or need to vent about my issues w other f/o's or similar i go to him lmao.

The second person to begin existing on the apartments wasn't actually a copyrighted character but instead just a Girl, a Woman who's now Hans OFFICIAL gf (i think it's official at least, they fucked once lmao) 😳🥰 and I don't even know her name and i barely know her looks but she's there and she's kind and a bit awkward and she's there for him. She's also the reason I can't be faggy with Hans anymore but i don't mind it at all 👍 (she doesn't forbids him to do so but she's like a bit not super happy about it so we just decided to mostly drop it).

And the third and for now LAST one to come to the apartment is my dear Midori! Who does her usual life and goes to school and stuff like she should :'3

Which btw I've been thinking of it a lot and either on person or perhaps online but Midori is definitely besties with Madotsuki. She lives somewhere else tho but they def are friends.

Midori-chan is however also quite friends with Hans! And it's extremely cute bc in a way we managed to form this very weird family of a Japanese survivor of extreme child abuse a former german-austrian Nazi and this weird little argentinian guy who got them all together. And it's fun and it's cute!!!

Midori also likes Hans' girlfriend but they aren't quite as close.

It took her a while to warm up to him btw, at first she didn't even want to be alone with him and struggled to hold conversation. Hans' intimidating aura, although this is something that partly went away with time, probably doesn't help either. But he's also very smooth with conversation and he genuinely cared so their relationship managed to work out.

Which is also great because i am rarely over there bc y'know I'm never anywhere 💀 so whenever she needs help with school stuff or just personal affairs and advice and whatnot she can hit up Hans-san and he gives her a hand 🥰

And by now you probably realized that the charm of the apartment is literally just helping the characters, it's all about them!!!! Hans himself went thru sooo much until he got to where he is now. And that's the point!! It's just people i see and I'm like Ough i love them i want to help them out so i do my best to achieve that <333

And, fun fact, i once offered Patrick to come live here! It was a pretty emotive honest moment, and he didn't answer, but i wasn't expecting less. Maybe someday tho... Who knows !

[baekhvuns]

The kid is like 7(?) not sure 😭 idk if he's lucky or extremely unlucky to have a kpoppie mother

That final was nerve-wrecking, I wanted France to do something cause??? Yeah, Mbappe did his best tbh, they would be totally humiliated without him. But this man needs to be humbled down, cause wtf did he say about LATAM and football, huh. He reminds me of young Neymar, I rooted for him initially, but the amount of unprovoked cocky shit he says 🔪 hopefully Mbappe isn't a right-winger as well ☠ (I'm sorry I'm a Neymar anti, babes no love for him and his annoying haircuts in this household)

Please Baek bring an Ateez flag or a Hwa picket to the match so I can recognise you on TV! Ofc USA is getting everything, also why are they even hosting they suck at football. Guess they bought it just like Qatar lmao

Right, I guess that's why the novel is like 800+ chapters long already??? Granted the chapters aren't incredibly long, but still... idk if the sex scenes and kids will ever make it to the webtoon. Latil, girl I know you don't really care for the Harem, but those men are drying out... anyways Baeksy stand back, Tasir is my raccoon drug dealer! I'm currently obsessed with My Derelict Favorite, cause the main guy is so fucking beautiful I- SJDGUSUDHSDHGASGSHBSS it's Seonghwa with long hair 🥰🤪😳

Why are you being Baeksussy again, WHAT CARDS are you about to lay out?! Anyway on the nerd Hwa agenda, the photos with Lego he got, our Lego ambassador and THESE SELFIES gamer Ddeonghwa!!! Wotakoi AU WOTAKOI AU, thanxx for coming to my ted talk

So ummm even more high notes and hardcore choreography? 😭🤨 not sure how to feel about it, but we will see. At least it's not a proper comeback jahushdhshahajhssh. But the title, Halazia??? I'm sorry, but I have to laugh 😭 and what's with the remixes... The ending of Guerrilla sounds cool, but I'm not sure what kind of song it will be. Where did the bandages go, Hwa?! And is he wearing a skiiiiiirt aaaaaa. Yeosang, cover yourself, bby

Was about to send the demonic tongue Seonghwa, what am I seeing 😵 but the video of him smiling, I evaporated 😩

I don't wanna real date why would I fake date, unless it's my dream and I'm fake dating Park Seonghwa

NONONONO THIS CAN'T BE REAL??? 😭😭😭😭

These fucking edits are killing me, why am I having a laughing fit in the middle of the night

C-c-calm down....? one of my friends said, what if housekeeper/handyman Hwa AU. Seonghwa: *does anything*; we insane Shitstars: OMG NEW AU?!?!? - DV 💖

hi hello!!

he kid is like 7(?) not sure 😭 idk if he's lucky or extremely unlucky to have a kpoppie mother

LMFAOOOO no i guess he’s probably in his embarrassing phase where it’s him who’s embarrassing or he thinks his mom is, probs his mom <3 have u ever met him? maybe u guys share the same bias! BDMWHSK ASK HIM

That final was nerve-wrecking, I wanted France to do something cause??? Yeah, Mbappe did his best tbh, they would be totally humiliated without him. But this man needs to be humbled down, cause wtf did he say about LATAM and football, huh. He reminds me of young Neymar, I rooted for him initially, but the amount of unprovoked cocky shit he says 🔪 hopefully Mbappe isn't a right-winger as well ☠ (I'm sorry I'm a Neymar anti, babes no love for him and his annoying haircuts in this household)

no literally i was waiting for a counter attack in the first half?? but they didn’t do nothing?? and the way argentina’s goalkeeper is mad good at intimidating and his mind games?? bro got his hands on two mbappe pen’s, in 18 months made them wc winners?? crazy…123rd min save was woah,, im a fan, richarlison who??? but the number 10 argentinian has a HEAVY weight in football now, do not think any one will fill it in years to come 

les blues must’ve been a massive fight for them to act this cold on pitch 😭😭 yeah! but this dhdhdh NAHHHH BC THE AWARD CEREMONY PART 😭😭 MAN COME ON U NEED HUMBLING ;?1’£~€]£€| i get u didn’t win but at least respect others around, u won last time so it’s fine 😭😭🤚🏼 it was quite embarrassing to watch dhdhdh no bc neymar eventually grew up, mbappe just has this massive amount of power that keeps getting to his head and he can say good bye to the ballon d’or if he keeps being like that,, that psg match where bro wanted that penalty but didn’t get it I DONT UNDERSTAND IF ANY CLUB IN THE WORLD HAS NEYMAR, NO ONE ELSE BUT HIM TAKES THE PENALTIES ??? OKOK DESPITE THE DISLIKE I HAVE OF HIS POLITICAL OPINIONS I CANNOT DENY HIS SKILLS 🤚🏼 he’s an exceptional yet underrated player that gets fouled against, like bro literally getting choked on the field and get’s injuries insanely and then HE get’s the shit no but some of that diving fbwndbwk hilarious to watch dbdbd + BUT HIS POLITICAL OPINIONS 🔫🔫 

pls also see this entire post bc IM CRYINF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT EVFKE

Please Baek bring an Ateez flag or a Hwa picket to the match so I can recognise you on TV! Ofc USA is getting everything, also why are they even hosting they suck at football. Guess they bought it just like Qatar lmao

U BET HRKWHDKWJCCK I SIGNED UP FOR IT 😭😭 hopefully the teams i wanna see actually get that location or id collapse but will go the finals dbdb,, trying to meet mbappe to humble him mayhaps <33 bestie would i rly bring a hwa pc to a match, yes i would. nah bc u.s would be a bad idea tbh 😭😭 if british + americans get together u know someone will get arrested plus they’d give alcohol too it’ll be a mess to see, pre sure the final is in california too

Right, I guess that's why the novel is like 800+ chapters long already??? Granted the chapters aren't incredibly long, but still... idk if the sex scenes and kids will ever make it to the webtoon. Latil, girl I know you don't really care for the Harem, but those men are drying out... anyways Baeksy stand back, Tasir is my raccoon drug dealer! I'm currently obsessed with My Derelict Favorite, cause the main guy is so fucking beautiful I-SJDGUSUDHSDHGASGSHBSS it's Seonghwa with long hair 🥰🤪😳

YEAH??? personally don’t think it should’ve dragged on for that long bc damn??? the time to read it?? do not have <//3 it was good at the beginning but latil is just dry atp,, HEKQDHWK MEN ARE DRYING OUT FOR HER LITERALLY DBDBDB

now hold on.

Why are you being Baeksussy again, WHAT CARDS are you about to lay out?! Anyway on the nerd Hwa agenda, the photos with Lego he got, our Lego ambassador and THESE SELFIES gamer Ddeonghwa!!! Wotakoi AU WOTAKOI AU, thanxx for coming to my ted talk

☺️☺️ HELLO <33 BDBDBDNS WANTED A DIOR AMBASSADORSHIP BUT NOW A LEGO ONE SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD 😭😭😭 lego korea need to make a ateez x lego collab where the figurines are all of them, will 100% get the hwa one. GAMER HWA UR ONTO SOMETHING ANON

So ummm even more high notes and hardcore choreography? 😭🤨 not sure how to feel about it, but we will see. At least it's not a proper comeback jahushdhshahajhssh. But the title, Halazia??? I'm sorry, but I have to laugh 😭 and what's with the remixes... The ending of Guerrilla sounds cool, but I'm not sure what kind of song it will be. Where did the bandages go, Hwa?! And is he wearing a skiiiiiirt aaaaaa. Yeosang, cover yourself, bby

here we go again fhwjdhsjjck when the track list teaser dropped i thought it was an edit tbh 😭😭😭 halazia it is 😭😭 i wonder how they’ll incorporate in the lyrivs fbsndbsn and remixes! yay! yg! WHERE THE BANDAGES GO?? TO CHOI SAN BC WHAAT 👁👁 uh! new show!

Was about to send the demonic tongue Seonghwa, what am I seeing 😵 but the video of him smiling, I evaporated 😩

no bc what are we seeing on the tl these days,,, selfies galore vs demons galore aM I COMPLAINING? NO DBSNBDS

omf since we were talking about krystal, she is in fact, the OG IT GIRL, the aura, she defines the word aura, cold and warm at the same time 🫡 what an idol 🫡 need her back

I don't wanna real date why would I fake date, unless it's my dream and I'm fake dating Park Seonghwa

SEE NOW REALISTICALLY SPEAKING lowering expectations bc no one like seonghwa 😔 manifesting an etl for u not for me bc i think id get so annoyed it would turn into enemies to fight real fast

NONONONO THIS CAN'T BE REAL??? 😭😭😭😭 /// These fucking edits are killing me, why am I having a laughing fit in the middle of the night

IM????? WOOYOUNG??? YEOSANG???? SEONGHWA??? HONGJGONGBGBF IT LITERALLY IS DISCURSTING 😭😭WHAT IS GOING ON IN ATINYVILE WHAT ARE THESE EDITS FBWNDBWM

C-c-calm down....? one of my friends said, what if housekeeper/handyman Hwa AU. Seonghwa: *does anything*; we insane Shitstars: OMG NEW AU?!?!? - DV 💖

o-okay bob the builder? SEONGHWA BOB THE BUILDER AU FBWMFBWMDJWK NO UR RIGHT UR RIGHT 😭😭😭

🧍🏻‍♀️ anon

why is this man so dramatic 😭😭acting like he touched a stove or something,, im on seulgi’s side, supporting women’s rights and wrongs

had a little moment over him actually

ANON?? THE BOYCOTT ACTUALLY WORKING??

[minttobe-treehill]

it pisses me off when a show has actors/actresses who have this amazing chemistry between them and it’s not properly used, like??? it works, use it to fill your plotline -- or even better, use it to feel inspired to make changes and create a more complex and rich storyline

[parvulous-writings]

Honeybee // Christian x Reader

Request:    Hi, there. I was browsing through your masterlist and saw that you write for Moulin Rouge, a movie which I just watched for the first time this week.That said, since there aren't nearly enough x reader stories with my beautiful man, Christian out there, and since your requests are open, I was hoping you might write one for me? *puppy dog eyes*Plot doesn't really matter to me, anything fluffy and sweet will be great.Thank you. 😁

Requested by: ​@ the-fangirl-diaries

Summary: Based off of the song Honeybee by Steam Powered Giraffe - and this is more based around Christian and his reaction to the reader

Warnings: None

Words: 1.9K

Notes:  Sweet? Christian? My favourite musical and one of my special interests? Hell yeah! 

My requests are currently open! My pinned post (found here) contains both a list of characters I write for, and a masterlist! Original character list - please request for these too!

Not my gif

Many things had caught the eye and attention of the young Christian when he had first come to France to write of all things which he believed in -  freedom, beauty, truth and, above all else, love. The area of Montmatre was where he had chosen to take up his residence for the time being; the heart of the Bohemian Revolution, which he had traveled to become a part of, much to the dismay and disdain of his father. The events that then transpired around him happened so quickly that he hadn’t had the chance to try and put a stop to any of it; his meeting of the narcoleptic Argentinian, his introduction to Toulouse, and being dragged into the flamboyant and electrifying atmosphere of the Moulin Rouge. 

Most of that night seemed to form into one big blur of bright colours, loud music and a flurry of various drinks that Toulouse simply would not stop ordering for the small group. There was one thing that he did remember, though. One thing he could remember with utmost clarity; your eyes, locking with his own from across the room. At first, he didn’t realise that you were looking at him, so he turned his eyes away, focusing on things elsewhere. Then, through a thought process he didn’t quite remember, his gaze wandered back to where you had been sat, and once again, found his eyes locked with yours. This time, knowing that you were almost purposefully looking in his direction, he felt transfixed. Part of him, now intrigued, longed to know who you were, and perhaps in part, why exactly you had focused on him, of all people, out of the hundreds of other patrons in the Moulin Rouge. 

Even when his attention was reluctantly diverted from you, he could have sworn he still saw your bright eyes gazing back at him, wherever he looked. Toulouse seemed to catch on to the rather bewildered look in his eyes. “Have you seen someone?” The short man asked, his voice hardly audible over the throb of the music and restless crowd that occupied the Moulin Rouge. He hardly needed to ask, he knew the answer already, he had seen that kind of look enough times, experienced it for himself enough times. Christian glanced to his friend and nodded briefly, and at this, the short man gave a laugh of glee; he knew that the young writer had been rather concerned about the fact that, out of all the things he had and wanted to write about, his most prominent, and perhaps most engaging one, was love. There was only one problem with this; Christian had never been in love before. Of course, it was a concept he was more than familiar with in some senses; he was no stranger to familial and platonic love, but these kinds of love were not the kinds that were meant to occupy his work. 

Now, though? Now he might have that experience, that inspiration, to accurately include it in his work... But this particular line of thought was at the very back of his mind, as his attention was torn between recalling those bright eyes of yours, and listening to whatever it was Toulouse had to say to him. Eventually, with a couple of long, almost absent minded blinks, Christian’s mind focused back on the present. Toulouse was now waving a hand in front of Christian’s eyes, and only ceased the movement when the writer met his eyes. Then he repeated the questions that his young friend had clearly not heard. “Who? Where?” He asked, clearly rather ecstatic about the prospect of the naive man having even a chance of falling in love, even in a place full of love coming from money, such as the Moulin Rouge. Christian, still haunted by the look of your eye, gave a vague gesture in the general direction he saw you, unable to say a word. Without missing a beat, Toulouse grabbed Christian’s hand, and started dragging him through the bustling crowd - despite not having the faintest idea what you looked like. In some ways, Christian supposed, as they passed a rather large group of men in fine suits laughing alongside a bright haired performer, Toulouse must have had faith in him to just... Lead him, once he had spotted you. A difficult feat - because although the visual memory of your eyes had stuck with him, it was challenging to find one person in such a massive crowd, especially now that he had moved. He was looking this way and that in his search for you, like a puppy lost, and confused, something akin to distress filling his muscles, and making him start much more violently that normal when he felt an unfamiliar tap on his shoulder. 

He knew that it wasn’t Toulouse - the tap was in the wrong place. So, out of curiosity and courtesy, he turned - was he in someone’s way? Though, this thought, and the half-mumbled apology that was now stuck in his throat, was quickly forgotten as his mind registered what he was looking at. 

Those eyes. He knew them. Perhaps better than he should do, considering how little he had actually seen them. His heart lifted, and his eyes lit up. “It’s you!” He spoke, his face breaking into a wide and bright smile. You chuckled slightly - a behaviour only noticeable to him because of the movement of your shoulders, your slight laughter was lost in the noise of the ceaseless partying of the crowd that still surrounded the pair of you. Christian took a step closer to you, hoping to close the gap between the two of you, and make hearing one another just that little bit easier. “What’s your name?” He called to you, and you gave him a rather playful smile in reply. 

“What’s yours?” You echo his question, and you don’t think the love-struck man notices you dodging the initial question. 

“Christian,” He replied, leaning his face a little closer to yours, hoping that this would help you hear his name a little better. 

“Christian?” You echoed back to him, making sure that you had heard him correctly. The man you were speaking with nodded slowly, almost dumbly. The sound of his name on your tongue, even when muffled and confused with the deafening roar of the music and crowds, it sent his mind into a spin. The amount of butterflies that settled in his stomach was astounding; no one and nothing had made him feel this way before. Suddenly, as if everything had clicked into place and the planets had aligned for him, he understood. He understood for what exactly the Bohemian revolution was pushing for when they said they were fighting for love above all else. He understood what love was, he was in love. Head over heels after a total of three words out of your mouth. It almost didn’t seem possible, and yet, here he was - here you both were, in fact. In a similar sense, you felt strongly about him too; and the adorably stunned look on his face wasn’t much helping the fact that you were falling for him, and fast. 

You were both beginning to understand what people meant when they would tell you that, when you fell in love - a deep, true love - it feels like you had spent all your life waiting for this person, that whomever this connection was with, you would want to spend the rest of your life with, no matter how long or short. It was a sort of freedom that you had never thought to consider before, in some sense; you felt as if the life that surrounded you came second to the love that you felt. Perhaps this was also the freedom that the Bohemians were vying for. 

Something started to suddenly dawn on Christian; despite having close friends such as Toulouse and the others, it was undeniable that he felt... Rather lonely. He hadn’t really felt it that much before - he had always been too busy, too preoccupied to acknowledge his feelings. But in this moment, none of that mattered - all that did  matter was you, the feelings you had sparked in him, and the indisputable feeling that he wanted to spend a very, very long time with you... The rest of his life, if it were possible at all. Had he not sounded utterly crazy, and had you been able to hear anything over the din of the music hall, he would have mentioned something to you; but, it was hard to hear much more than one word over the crowd and their entertainment. 

Despite this - you gave him a wide grin, and held out your hand to him. His mind went blank, if only for a moment, and, following his first instinct, carefully pressed your knuckle to his lips. He wasn’t entirely sure why he had done this - courtesy perhaps? No, politeness didn’t dictate you kiss someone’s hand in the Moulin Rouge, that was almost for certain. but he’d done it now - and it almost felt as if that now, he was connected to you - he was at your command. That sweet, sweet smile of yours had captivated him, practically held him in place, under your spell. At his hesitance after kissing your hand, you grabbed his, dragging him away from Toulouse and the others, to dance with him. The rest of the evening was the happiest blur that Christian had ever experienced - made a blur only by the fact that he was almost too giddy to be aware of any of it. 

He does remember, though, holding you close - his hands on your hips, his lips pressing again the skin of your cheek repeatedly but intermittently, and your surprised but joyous giggles that he could feel. 

The joy the night had brought him, and his dream of spending the rest of his life with you, came crashing down and to a halt. He awoke alone - there was no sign of you anywhere in his room. The first thing that he felt was something akin to grief, but the good Toulouse helped to try put a stop to that; “Christian - though it hurts to now be without the one you’ve met... Now you have learned the greatest thing there is to learn, have you not? You know what it is to love, to be loved... Not all have had that experience my friend...” He said, rather philosophically, almost poetically. 

“It feels like I’ve gone crazy, Toulouse...” Christian admitted, confiding in his friend as the two men sat on the edge of Christian’s bed. “Was it a dream?” 

“Who knows?” Toulouse replied, somewhat unhelpfully, causing the writer to sigh and rub his face in something akin to frustration. 

“How could I let them just... Go?” Christian asked - more himself than Toulouse. “They were... Perfect... I never even got a name, Toulouse-” 

“Calm down, Christian.” Toulouse stepped in before his friend could get too worked up about it all. “You found them at the Moulin Rouge, yes?” Christian nodded slowly in affirmation. “Then it’s likely you’ll see them there again, yes?” Toulouse continued, and at this newfound hope, Christian’s eyes lit up. Toulouse was right - instead of moping around and feeling sorry for himself, he could go to the Moulin Rouge, and actively seek you out. So, with Toulouse to help him - that was exactly what he did. Night, after night, after night - his hope coming not from the words of encouragement of his friend, but instead from the still lasting image of your eyes, that even after all of this, after everything, had still stuck with him. 

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Elland Road in Leeds, UK - May 29, 1982 (Part-1)

The original intention was to play this show at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club. Despite it having been cleared by the council and police (and not to mention, tickets had already been printed),

it was the local residents who somehow got the last vote, insisting that the volume of the sound would be disturbing. Residents of Leeds voiced similar complaints after it was announced that the show would be played at Elland Road, but it would go on regardless. There were reports that Queen had paid for residents to move out of their homes for the day, and perhaps this was part of the negotiations with the local authorities. This was unfamiliar territory for the people of Leeds - at the time this is the biggest show ever staged there. The band negotiated a later curfew with the police to ensure they could perform their full show (and with a full light show).

A fan who attended the show vividly recalls the opening bands' sets, saying how The Teardrops Explodes got [lemonade] bottled by the crowd (frontman Julian Cope appeared very nervous throughout his band's set to begin with). Another fan says, "Cope picked one of the bottles up and started hitting himself with it and stretching his arms out saying he was an Argentinian bomber or something. It was during the Falklands war, remember." Some have come to interpret this reaction of Queen fans towards the post-punk opening act as a manifestation of their distaste for Queen's general departure from rock on the Hot Space album. Heart and Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, both hard rock acts, went down well.

Right from the beginning, the band could feel like it was going to be top notch show due to the audience's involvement and enthusiasm. "Too much!" Freddie says to their singing in the fast version of We Will Rock You. After the song, he greets them. "Good evening, Leeds! Hey, it's really nice to be here. You're a wonderful-looking crowd, I'll tell you. You're a fucking amazing crowd, and you don't know what that means to a performer." Action This Day gets a lukewarm response like at most shows, but both the audience and band are truly on fire for the remainder of the evening, perhaps even more so than on the officially-released show from a week later with the title "Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl." At one point Freddie was almost pulled into the crowd.

As Roger plays the beginning Staying Power, Freddie says, "C'mon, get your funky hats on now, huh?" Tonight the first chorus is "You and me we got... fucking power." This show is a fine example of Freddie's stellar vocal control, especially in Staying Power and Somebody To Love. After the former, he said it was a "fucking motherfucker to sing, I tell you."

Brian, before Love Of My Life: "I wanna tell you, it means a lot to us to come back up here after eight years. We won't wait this long before we come back to Leeds, okay?" But they never would.

Before Save Me, Freddie does a brief improv of Keep Yourself Alive with the audience. Brian then noodles on the piano as he usually does, and you can hear the disappointment of a few audience members as it sinks in that the band aren't going to perform the debut album classic. Freddie would initiate a similar improv in Nagoya a few months later.

A superb version of Back Chat is played tonight, after being absent at the past few shows. Brian gives his absolute all towards the end, bringing it such energy almost to the point of it becoming a completely different song.

Freddie has a slight moment of honesty before Fat Bottomed Girls: "This next song reminds me of all the dirty things I've done in my life, you know. I'm not gonna explain all the things, but you know what I mean. The bigger the tit, the better it is, I kind of think."

At the end of the show, he tells the audience how they were "Absolutely fabulous. We shall not forget you!"

Queen waited until 10pm to go on, as they wanted their lighting show to be at its most effective, but this resulted in a fine from the authorities. They wouldn't be so lucky in Milton Keynes a week later, as seen on the video footage. Despite the various rumours told over the years, the Leeds show was not filmed. Years later Brian May recalled this to be one of his favourite shows, and said he wished they had recorded and filmed this show instead of Milton Keynes.

The first pic was submitted by Fabio Minero.

Here are a few pro pics from this show:

More pictures from this show can be found at http://www.repfoto.com. You have to register as a user.

Various bootleg 45s (such as this one)

were released in the early 90s containing interviews with Brian and Roger done on the afternoon before the Leeds show.

Queen reportedly rehearsed the Hot Space ballad "Las Palabras de Amor" before this show, but it was never performed live.

Part-2

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