#finlays records

[inbetween-beast-and-man]

🎤 - An audio transcript from a recording

ENTRY#1008361

In which an expedition into the Seattle Underground City doesnt go as well as planned.

VZCZCXRO6637 RR RUEHAG RUEHAO RUEHAP RUEHAT RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHBL RUEHBW RUEHBZ RUEHCD RUEHCHI RUEHCI RUEHCN RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDT RUEHDU RUEHED #2628/04 1379630 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 162022Z NOV 19 FM SECSTATE WASHDC TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE TO CPTN AND ALL WORKING BODIES OF RUEHTRO/FIRSTLIGHT ARCHIVE TRIPOLI 0478 BT UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE XXXXXX E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, EAID, ECON, TBIO, , , SUBJECT: RECORD #00061 OF FILE: STTL UNGRD CITY EXP #27

[Sounds of the underground city] [ALL WHISPERING]

E1-1: I cant see shit in here. fuck. E1-3: They need to give us better shit if they wanna throw us into the fucking slums like this E1-1: shut up. you know we dont have the budget to keep replacing shit. after last weeks water accident its going to take some time. E1-2: thats what they want you think anyways. E1-1: complaining bout it makes no difference. Were on a mission here. not to be little bitches come on now. E1-2: whatever big boss. where we goin? E1-1: deeper in I fear. And I fear they know were coming so shut the fuck up and keep ur weapons up. the rats work for the blanks E1-3: But the birds, thank god. work for the government. E1-1 & E1-2: Amen. RERCORD #00072 OF FILE: STTL UNGRD CITY EXP#27 [GUNSHOTS]

E1-2: WHERE THE FUCK IS GULL!? SUBJECT #3: Dont worry you'll join him soo- [GUNSHOT] [THUD] SUBJECT #2: MIR!? YOU MONSTER! E1-1: rich coming from a blank. where the FUCK did you fucks take Gull!? Cardinal get the fuck up soldier and get your fucking weapon. [SCREECHING SOUND] [KICKING NOISE] E1-2: He attacked me from behind magpie. E1-1: you should know better where the hell did your training go. and thats sir for you. Tie this one up. I will look for Gull. E1-2: yes sir.

RERCORD #00079 OF FILE: STTL UNGRD CITY

SUBJECT #1: I did not appreciate what you did to Mir. you know how many years I already poured into that idiot. But Im glad you seem so willing to replace him. maybe youll even do better atleast you seem capable. E1-1: Thank you but no fucking thanks. how about you let me go and I will blow up your fucking brain. SUBJECT #1: He was a friend. just like Sticks was and what did you do with her huh? my fucking broodmate. my SISTER. and you dare speak like that at me when your life is at MY mercy. no fucking regret? Dont you ever stop to wonder what its like for US?! We did not choose this. unlike you. E1-1: do you really wanna want to fucking talk philosophy right now with your claws inside my fucking abdomen? SUBJECT #1: I have forever. and having you suffer a little before your real punishment begins seems only fair to what the fuck you did. E1-1: Well of course. let me entertain you by [SPITTING SOUND] SUBJECT #1: You hunters are so fucking disgusting. [GUNSHOT] E1-2: I keep telling him that too but he's terrible bout baths. really suprised he was gonna decline living in the underground with you lot. SUBJECT #1: [UNINTELLIGIBLE SOUNDS] [YELLING AND GUNSHOTS]

RERCORD #00093 OF FILE: STTL UNGRD CITY EXP#27

E1-2: hey hey Mags come on. stay here with me alright. E1-1: didnt think ud come back in time bud E1-2: As if Id let the licks have you. we wouldnt stand a chance if youd be their puppet. E1-1: been there done that. I wouldnt be nothing special. [...] E1-1: Hey cardinal? E1-2: Yeah? E1-1: Next time. if its between me and your own safety. pick your own safety. E1-2: With all due respect magpie, thats never happening. now come on. we're almost out. we caught Sticks we did good. therell be medics waiting and Im gonna make sure you'll have that sweet fucking nurse. bet the others will be jealous as fuck. E1-1: and Gull?... E1-2: lets get you out of here first okay.

[julie-finlay]

[debbiechanclub]

So I've been meaning to ask. How would you book Forbidden Door David Finlay vs Jay White??

But first do you think we'll get it? it's a month away 💀

Honestly, I'm assuming we're not getting it. Jay's feud with Ricky Starks clearly isn't over, and a month isn't enough time to wrap that up AND THEN introduce Finlay for a match at Forbidden Door.

Well, let me rephrase that. Technically it could be done in a month—but not well. And if we were to get Jay vs. Finlay at FD, it wouldn't be done well. It would be rushed, and a total disservice to their lengthy, lengthy history and friendship.

That being said, I COULD see Jay vs. Finlay kicking off at FD and leading to a match further down the line, and honestly, that's how I would book it at this point. And as for how I would kick it off—well. It was only three months ago that Jay got the boot from NJPW via Eddie Kingston (which I still think was bullshit, but anyway). So say Jay decides to show up at FD. You know, because it's an event put on by his current employer. Well, it's also an NJPW event, right? So technically, he's not allowed to be there. And let's say Finlay shows up to remind him of that and that HE'S in charge of Bullet Club now.

Boom, feud. Book it, Tony.

Sleepover Saturday!

[triste-guillotine]

HOODED PRIEST "Devil Worship Reckoning" LP 2010 ('...When you’re dead and gone, and the coffin’s closed, all is said and done. So you better live your life before you meet the man with his scythe...')

Devil Worship Reckoning | Hooded Priest (bandcamp.com)

R.I.P Luther Veldmark (1969-2022)

[jencsi]

“Death never takes a wise man by surprise; he is always ready to go” – Jean de la Fontaine

[allfifaworldcup]

Finlay Knox swims to world bronze in Canadian record time for 1st individual senior medal

Finlay Knox swims to world bronze in Canadian record time for 1st individual senior medal

Finlay Knox ended talk of his several recent heartbreaking results in the pool. The swimmer from Okotoks, Alta., reached the medal podium for the first time at a major senior event, clocking one minute 51.04 seconds for bronze in the 200-metre individual medley and lowering his Canadian record from a year ago on Tuesday at the world short course championships in Melbourne, Australia. “It feels…

[thesleepyfable]

~ SWTD: Still Here AU Part 11: ~

In Times of War:

Last chapter before the official Rescue Arc begins.

TW: War, PTSD and Death.

'Attention, all personnel. Message from the mainland has stated that the rescue will be here by 13:00 hours. I repeat 13:00 hours. Gather your belongings and prepare closing down.'

Roper had to admit. He found great joy in making an announcement instead of Rennick.

It was a busy yet strange morning for Beria. The crew ate their breakfast as they worked on getting the rig closed. None of them had done this before. Only gotten themselves ready in swapping shifts or leaving it stable enough for another set of crew to arrive. They'd all been trained, but it was the case of remembering.

Roy, Caz, Finlay, and eventually Innes and Muir worked on moving food from the pantry and into the containers. Leave nothing purchased from Cadal's pockets behind. The last thing you want is to be in debt to them. Brodie and Raffs focused on The Stack with the help of Engineering and Pontoons. There is no need for an explosion now. Luck was on their side, and they'd like to keep it that way.

O'Connor left the Pontoons to Fergus. He accompanied Rennick to Administration to collect all the important documents Beria will need. Despite Rennick seemingly hating everyone, O'Connor was someone he always tolerated. He was one of the few who never got a verbal beatdown and knew to stay in his lane. Plus, working in the depths of the rig meant the pair never saw each other. Just quick acknowledgement as they entered the canteen. Currently, the pair sat outside the building, eating their breakfast in mostly silence.

'I can't believe we're doing this,' Rennick muttered as he chewed through the sausage barm that dripped grease and tomato ketchup. He never knew how hungry he was until his infection. Before, Rennick just survived on coffee and stress. He often wondered how he hadn't dropped dead from it all. 'Sneaking us back to the mainland and hoping they let us go.' Of course, it was McLeary's idea.

'If you have a better idea, then I'm all ears.'

'No. But...' Rennick did not have any other ideas. 'Operation Spy?' Once again, of course it was McLeary. 'We're not spies, Dónal. Look at us.' He pointed to him. 'Tinker.' He pointed to Dobbie, who was walking by. 'Tailor.' He pointed to Innes. 'Soldier.' He pointed to himself. 'Twat.'

O'Connor tried not to laugh through the sip of his coffee. Then, it hit him.

'Did you say my first name, Davey?'

'Oh get fucked, O'Connor. Of course I know your name. I know everyone's first, middle, that you don't have, and last name.' He tossed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. 'Now, get your specks on and help me.'

Like the old fud he was, Rennick sulked towards his office to begin the search for documents. With a last sip of coffee, O'Connor followed. Good thing, too, because he side-stepped a tendril Rennick was going to use to drag the older man along. 'Alright. Alright.'

'Well, move it.'

Apart from the knocked over books, Rennick's office was practically untouched. Might be because The Shape didn't make it this far before dying. O'Connor went first, put on his round glasses, and began to shift through.

'Surely, they wouldn't need half of this?'

'You'd be surprised,' Rennick scoffed. 'They'll want all of our documents and any damage updates.' He paused. 'Which I never reported.'

'What could you even put in a report now? Beria damaged from an ancient entity we drilled through and royally pissed off?'

Okay, Rennick had to chuckle at that. Just one chuckle, though.

O'Connor continued to shuffle. From daily records to first aid and payments. All were needed. He tucked the most recent file of contracts under his arm and slid the rest of the files towards Rennick, who lingered halfway through the door. O'Connor went to stand, but a glint from a picture frame caught his eye. It sat on a shelf under the desk, and curiosity got the best of him. The resemblance was undeniable. Of course it was Rennick. He was younger. Early 30s. Leaning against a military jeep with two other blokes. They all held their issued rifles with wide smiles and dripping with sweat as they wrapped cloth around their foreheads. Rennick wasn't wearing a shirt, where a tattoo could be seen on his upper arm. What it was was hard to tell due to the angle. O'Connor glanced to his manager, who was shuffling through the files. He slowly walked over and offered the frame. 'I don't think you should leave this behind, eh?'

Rennick looked up from the paperwork, and his eyes widened. He gently took the photo and gazed at the memory. The same feeling from yesterday came back. The nostalgic feeling and the yearning to be young again. O'Connor noticed the hurt look in Rennick's eyes as he dazed off into the past.

The day was a scorcher, expected for the desert. As the soldiers could finally take a break and check their equipment, Rennick was called over by the men who stood beside him. George and Kenneth. The trio had been thick as thieves, and George was going to make sure this was a memory to keep. Rich lad from Cornwall. Always had the best technology. The camera was a birthday gift from home. He gave it to a clearly bored Officer, who had to be walked through how it even worked. Rennick remembered rolling his eyes. He was always impatient.

'Come on, whilst we're still young!'

'Young?' Geroge called as he jogged over. 'I thought Churchill dragged you out of a retirement home, Rennick?'

'By the end of this war, I'll be frog-marched into one.' The three wrapped one arm around each other's shoulder and raised their rifles with the other.

'Say Churchill!'

'Churchill!'

Click

'Africa?'

Rennick snapped back to reality. 'Yeah. We'd just captured Fort Capuzzo. What about you? I never saw you there.'

'I was never in Africa.' O'Connor leaned against the desk. 'I was in Dunkirk.'

'Oh, you poor fuck.' The pair shared a chuckle.

'What happened to the others?'

'Kenneth went to join the R.A.F,' Rennick explained. 'George and I went home at the end of it all and stayed in touch.' A pause. 'He died from a heart attack four years ago. Lucky bastard.'

'And Kenneth?'

'Haven't the foggiest.' If he had to guess, he was either dead or the one sitting in a retirement home. But, enough about that. Rennick focused his attention on O'Connor. 'Didn't agree with Ireland kicking their feet up with The Swiss and Spaniards?'

'Yep. It wasn't right. We were at war. Lives were at stake, and I had a job to do.' With a brief story to tell, O'Connor lit a cigarette. He knew Rennick wasn't a smoker. 'I was a driver. You felt so powerful driving troops across France's fields and roads, avoiding enemy fire. Younger me saw this as an adventure.' Like Rennick, a look of nostalgia washed over him. Then, the hurt look crept in his eyes. 'Until I got too cocky and sent the us into a death trap.'

The crushing pain of the jeep landing on his leg ran through his body. It was a feeling that would never leave. Some would say having a constant limp for the rest of your life was enough punishment, but for O'Connor, it was when he saw...

'Nigel? Nigel? Answer me, please. Get this jeep off me.'

'NIGEL!'

The pair fell silent. They looked at each other for some form of comfort. There was no need for clarification. War was Hell, but there were good moments. It's how you stayed sane. The toughest challenge for both men was returning to civilian life. But, here they were after thirty years. They had to be thankful for that.

Rennick broke eye contact and huffed. 'Well, let's get out of here.' No reason to dwell on the past. Rennick went to move. And he couldn't. Whenever he tried to move his head and 'arm' out of the doorway, he just lightly shook the office. He was stuck. 'One moment. Just...J...' Nope. Completely stuck. 'Can you help me?' He looked at O'Connor, who was trying with every fibre of his being to not laugh. Which lasted about five seconds. He let out a scream-laugh, leaning on his knees and sounding like a dying pterodactyl. It was the mood booster he needed.

O'Connor's laugh must be contagious because Rennick just started to laugh along. His was a hysterical cackle in comparison. Everyone on Deck heard the pair, and Muir could see what the problem was, thanks to his height, causing him to snort.

Through their laughs, O'Connor leaned against Rennick's head and helped him shuffle the arm out, which was causing the block. If he could get himself in, then he could get himself out. Once free, Rennick pulled backwards, causing O'Connor to trip onto the handrailing, but still they laughed.

When all was said and done, they began to head for the Deck.

'So, what was your tattoo?'

'That's something I'm taking to the grave, Mr. O'Connor.'

[lilkumquat27]

SWTD HC Characters with Kids

How are these guys with children, got me thinking…

Caz: The fun dad! Suze is all business, Caz is definitely the fun parent (and Suze kind of envies it). Piggyback rides, pretending he’s a monster, goofy games. Definitely rough houses with the girls before bed time rowdying them up and Suze gets pissed.

Roy: Loves kids, especially Cait and Maidie. He’s taken the uncle role proudly. Likes to show up out of the blue with a bag of new toys for each. Is very easily persuaded to play dolls and have tea parties.

Finlay: A mom herself, she knows that kids sometimes need a stern talking to. She’s pretty indifferent to kids that aren’t her mates or her own. However, she’s a warm presence and the songs her son sings he learned from her.

Brodie: Has a bit of a testy thing about kids, as in my HC and AU he lost his son to cancer. When he was a parent, it was the happiest days of his life. He doesn’t regret any of it.

Trots: Will approach kids as if he’s a master in dealing with them, and will leave the room covered in glitter and paint, stickers all over his face, and rattling in fear and fatigue. Mostly from the mess.

Addair: Not the greatest with kids. But his kids love him. Any other kid he won’t give the time of day. Is the manly man dad. Takes his son fishing, hunting, anything he deems is that manly genre. He’d be hopeless with a daughter, let’s say that much.

Gibbo: Has a lot of guilt for his kind of work and not being there for his son. But when he is home, he makes every moment count. He’s a bit of a helicopter parent but he means well.

Rennick: He’s like Gordon Ramsey. Treats kids with kindness but not their parents. Definitely spoiled his children. Then got strict when they hit the age of twelve. Is the dad buying them vehicles so they can total them drunk.

O’Connor: Wants children more than anything. Will teach them to play guitar, sing with them, and share his favorite records. Is the one person who doesn’t mind a screaming baby on an airplane.

Roper: Goofy dad! Plays along with their jokes. Likes to understand their worlds and engages well. His kids are grown but he loves babies. He can’t wait to have grandchildren.

Muir: Is actually not really the greatest with kids. Mostly because he hasn’t spent much time around them. If he was to have a niece, nephew or even a child of his own, he’d meld into the role well over time.

Innes: Definitely misses the ‘baby’ days. Reminisces them all the time. Now he’s got a teenager, and loves her to death, but struggles with that attitude, for sure.

(Added Roper into this one cause man deserves more attention)

[chucktaylors]

The NJPW fanbase is dying out, and as a primarily AEW fan that got really into NJPW a couple of months ago, heres a couple of NJPW wrestlers I recommend watching/stanning!!

TJP

- Member of United Empire

- One half of the tag team Catch 2/2, with Francesco Akira

- Also known as The Aswang

- Known for a high flying, flexible, flip-based style of wrestling

DRILLA MOLONEY

- Member of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- 44' Calibre

- Usually seen tagging with Clark Conners

- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (2nd reign)

- Former United Empire member

CLARK CONNERS

- Member of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- 100 proof

- Usually seen tagging with Drilla Moloney

- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (2nd reign)

- Cowboy 🤘🏼

GABE KIDD

- Member of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- Im a mad man, dont ya know?

- Known for his hardcore matches and insane/mad/angry personality and style pf wrestling

- Strong Openweight Champion (1st reign)

DAVID FINLAY

- Leader/creator of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion (record setting 2nd reign)

- Beat Ospreay and Jon for the first reign of the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship

- Sent Will Ospreay out of NJPW, alongside the War Dogs and United Empire

ROBBIE EAGLES

- Member of TMDK (The Mighty Dont Kneel)

- Sniper of the Skies

- Former member of Bullet Club and CHAOS

- Australian Style

El Phantasmo

- ELP

- The HDBNGR (head banger)

- 1/2 of G.o.D with Hikuleo

- He's literally put me on blast before on his story for editing him to songs he doesnt like then we beefed then he wished me happy birthday the next day.

- Former Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion (just lost it like 2 days ago)

- He has an LED jacket and the LED glasses down there on Desperado, he's pretty swag ig

HIRMOU TAKAHASHI

- NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, alongside Bushi and Yota Tsuji

- Timebomb

- Known for his stuffed animal cats, "Daryl"

- Lowk mentally deranged but look how cool his hair and gear is

- He means no harm, rlly

EL DESPERADO

- Former 3 time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

- Winner of the recent Best Of the Super Juniors

- Former member of Suzuki-gun

- Also means no harm, rlly

[byneddiedingo]

Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh, 2023)

Cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy. Screenplay: Andrew Haigh, based on a novel by Taichi Yamada. Cinematography: Jamie Ramsay. Production design: Sarah Finlay. Film editing: Jonathan Alberts. Music: Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. 

Movies are not poems. Cinema is based on externalities, on the documentary impulse to record and preserve that which is happening outside of ourselves. Poetry is interior, a response to the impulse to record and preserve the emotional and intellectual experiences produced within us by the outside world. Making movies tends to be communal, writing poems to be private. And yet the two are always superimposing themselves on each other -- on the one hand we have poetry readings, and on the other the solitary viewing of movies in our living rooms and bedrooms. And from the beginning, moviemakers have striven for the poetic, just as poets have always tried to record the seen and heard as pathways to the emotion and the idea. Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers is the product of the attempt to find something like an objective correlative for a variety of emotions -- loneliness, desire, regret -- and ideas -- the centrality of family relationships, the nature of sexuality, the persistence of the past. Haigh finds it in a ghost story, a well-worn trope for literature and film, and tantalizes us into questioning how much of the experience depicted in the film is external and how much is interior -- whether Adam (Andrew Scott) actually encounters the ghosts or is projecting his psychological disorder onto the world. One critic wrote that she approached the ending of the film hoping that we would find out that what we have been watching is actually a story Adam has written. But that would have been on the order of the banal "it was all a dream" conclusion that has been foisted on us too often. Haigh wisely leaves us with questions -- maybe too many for the film's own good. His aim is to unsettle us, in the way the loose ends of a poem, the lines and images that don't quite resolve into explicit statements, linger with us. It helps that the movie is perfectly cast, with actors who can translate longing and loss into visible experience. If you've ever been cautioned about a movie to not take it too literally, this is one of those times.

[zeondraws]

I was wondering if you were planning a post showing the whole rig or if you knew where to find that? I've really wanted to see each of the rooms in full and where everything leads and connects and all the details, it's hard to see watching playthroughs, especially as the rig deteriorates and the player doesn't take their time to look around.

Thank you for all your time spent going through the game! I really enjoy in depth posts like yours!

Ah this is a great question anon! And thank you so much <3

Maybe in the future I will lay out some sketches how everything connects on the rig. The biggest thing is, there are only certain things loaded in, in each level. So it's always a wee bit of puzzling until I understood where things are located. Which also means I could never check the other parts of accomodation before the deterioration, most rooms aren't shown and/or doors lack the name signs.

However the coolest thing for me was, when I found where Finlay's room is located.

You're never able to see Finlay's and Davros' room, my screenshot of the other door is hard to read, since there is barely any light coming through this part.

They're behind this door at the right of "Campbell" room (and the door near Granstoun/Loudon on the other side). Screenshot a bit crusty but-

Hope I don't slide offtopic too much- I just find it interesting to explore it all and hope to find some random hidden detail here and there.

I know Raffs diving bell is floating across multiple levels, but it's hollow and nothing seems to be going on with it. Up until you see mutated Raffety before Caz enters Engineering again.

I just find this all interesting, because this reminded me of some random post I saw weeks ago. A person claiming the rooms are not properly in place anymore in the late game. They probably thought the devs "disconnected" Accomodations or "weren't consistent with the level locations".

But in reality, it takes multiple walkthroughs until one properly understands how it all goes together. Same with me not realising O'Conner is hanging inside the Forward Pontoon (the one you flood later). Or me having difficulties understanding how exactly Engineering works and being confused what area I have been in already (Where was Mud Handling again?? Where is Pump Control again?? I am slowly memorising it, but still get flabbergasted).

Tho, yeah I could try to make some sort of video or drawing to showcase where everything leads to on the rig. Might take a while due to moving soon. But could be interesting

It clearly makes me realise how much research goes into a topic. At the beginning when I first watched this game, I had no idea what was where (I still remember when I was confused where Muir and Innes were standing??). My first and second playthrough I also felt clueless. But with each playthrough I discover more and more details and finally understand what is going on. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I don't apply this for other things I want to learn (with art or idk finances, I'll figure it out!). But uuuuuuuuuh, you can see I could continue rambling for hours.

It's almost 2am so I have to cut myself short sadly XD But feel free to ask me more questions if you have any (or if other folk have questions too). I shall leave you with this screenshot of questionable amounts of recordings I have

Ain't even all, it's 315GB in total (because I record in 2560 x 1440)

[bananaofswifts]

Sorry, Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy: Marjorie has stolen the show again. Not that Taylor Swift’s beloved grandmother actually puts in a vocal appearance from the great beyond, as she did on the “Evermore” album three years ago. But Marjorie Finlay still manages to be a dominative force in the Vault Tracks for the newly released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” by having her photos appear throughout the lyric video for the closing track, “Timeless,” and having her relationship with Taylor’s granddad be a focus of the inspirational ballad. Twenty-first-century pop-punk or emo can hardly compete with that emotional a capper.

But for those less sentimentally inclined, Paramore’s singer and Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump will be way up there in what Swift fans immediately take away from the six previously unheard compositions that have been appended to the previous 16-track running order of 2010’s “Speak Now.” The duet with Williams, “Castles Crumbling,” is particularly pungent, as a lament that just about could have been an outtake from the more recent “Folklore” or “Evermore” instead of an album that came out a full decade before those. As for the FOB-aided track, it’s the farthest thing from a Swift classic. But — having been written, like the rest of these tracks, when the artist was 18 or 19 — the number does hark back to an era when girls (and Fall Out Boys) could just wanna have fun.

A more careful inspection of the 16 re-recorded tracks will have to wait, since the details of what feels the same or different bear a certain amount of forensic analysis, or at least repeated A/B comparisons. (Of course, the whole world has just done an instant side-by-side of the altered lyrics of “Better Than Revenge” — see our story about that here.) But before we figure out how more or less haunting the new “Haunted” is, here are insta-reactions to the six never-before-heard tunes.

“Electric Touch”: Although the recreations of the 16 original songs credit Christopher Rowe as Swift’s co-producer (filling in for O.G. producer Nathan Chapman), when it comes to the six Vault Tracks, Swift splits those producing collaborations between her two modern-day mainstays, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. Neither guy gets to do anything either as modern-sounding or eccentric as they have on Swift’s last few albums — they stay true to the stylistic spirit of 2010, for the most part, with the organic pop-rock band sound she favored at the time. “Electric Touch” is probably the least immediately interesting song here, compositionally; it lacks any of the truly great, peculiar lines that mark a Swift song as unmistakably hers (or “Mine”). Yet embedded underneath the hopeful, anthemic and — honestly — somewhat generic rock veneer is a lot of the pessimism and self-doubt that goes so far toward making Swift our most relatable superstar. “I’m trying hard not to look like I’m trying,” Stump sings, stealing some of 19-year-old Taylor’s lines, “’cause every time I tried hard for love it fell apart.” It’s the uneasy tension between luck and predestined loss that gives this one a little tension amid the breeziness, before it tips on the side of even the losers getting lucky sometimes.

“When Emma Falls in Love”: Dessner is at the co-reins again on this one, but this time leading things off with a lilting piano that lends the song a childlike spirit. On the scale of sweet songs about fictional girls that have Swift doing a little third-person projecting, “Emma” is close to being up with there with “Betty.” “She’s the kind of book that you can’t put down / Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town / And all the bad boys would be good boys / If they only had a chance to love her.” Any chance this could actually be about a small-town gal from Reading, Pennsylvania? Nah, because Emma makes all the right moves and figures out that’s how you get the boy. It has a happy ending right out of “Love Story,” but by the time of making what was her third album, Swift was feeling like she had to assign something that cheerful to an alter ego.

“I Can See You”: Well, now, here is a groove. Jack Antonoff comes on board for the first time on the revamped album, and you might have to look to “1989’s” “Style” to find another song in the Swift catalog that benefits as much from the simple electric funkiness of a well-played rhythm guitar. (This particular riff sounds especially fine in headphones, landing just off the beat and bouncing between ears ever so slightly.) Swift never had an office job, but must have attended Take Your Daughter to Work Day just enough to wonder what it’d be like to seduce a guy in a suit and tie. “I could see you up against the wall with me,” she sings — because she knows places you two can hide, and they’re just around the corner from the copy machine!

“Castles Crumbling”: As mentioned, this sounds like a flash-forward to the Swift Songbook of 2020, and surely would have had a different production in 2010 than it gets now with the artist and Antonoff updating as a more modern mood piece. Williams is her duet partner on this one, and it recalls Swift’s vocal collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers on the previous “Taylor’s Version” just a little, in that both this song and “Nothing New” have her writing about foreseeing the end of her fame, or at least her acclaim. In a way, its paranoia prefigures the defensiveness against a fan base she sees turning on her that would come to real fruition in later years on the “Reputation” album. But in another sense, this is the less chin-up mirror image of “Mean,” a song that obviously did make the original “Speak Now.” “Mean” had her bucking up against a blogger who told her she “can’t sing,” and in this number, it’s as if she imagines a whole nation of fans as that blogger, turning backs on her. It’s like she’s following that maxim about imagining the worst and you won’t get disappointed.

“Foolish One”: A strummed acoustic guitar starts this one, and although a bit of drum programming soon kicks in that probably isn’t what Nathan Chapman would’ve done, it still belongs distinctly to the turn of the decade it came from. As with “Electric Touch,” this teeters back and forth between possible optimism about the outcome of a relationship and fatalism, but lands on the side of one-sided love doomed to go to heck in a handbasket. It still sounds impossibly cheerful, in the way that Swift’s falsetto tips up at the end of lines, as is so often her trademark, with a final realization: “He just wasn’t the one.” What’s with this gentle acceptance, for a singer we want to obsess over scarves forever?

“Timeless”: The most truly “organic”-sounding of all the bonus tracks on this new edition — it has ukulele and flute floating in the background behind those acoustic guitars and organs — “Timeless” is a ballad you can imagine Swift having considered for a “Speak Now” album-closer at the time, instead of the brotherhood-of-the-road anthem “Long Live.” Most of the initial lyric videos Swift put up on YouTube have visuals of the static or circular screen-saver variety, but this one is the exception, consisting largely of a lot of photographs of Swift’s grandparents, modeling a great love she believes would have happened in any era, falling just shy of putting in an endorsement for reincarnation. It’s not the emotional tour de force that the song “Marjorie” was — there’s no otherworldly soprano reaching out from beyond the grave to jerk your tears, here, and good, since fans can only handle so much of that in one lifetime. But the grandmother’s solely visual cameo may still ply misty from you.

[inbetween-beast-and-man]

🎶 I am making big wet eyes

You walked in and caught my eye I saw your looks, I lost my mind You swung the axe, and I was felled You make me burn, but I'll make it hell The altar's lit, I'm on my knees You make my pray, I'll make you plead Now play the record in reverse

You may be poison, but I'm a curse You may be poison, but I'm a curse

//I had so many other songs for this. but. unfortunately, finlay is incapable of being nice

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax quarterfinals preview

The A and B block matches for this year's G1 Climax are complete, so now we move on to the knockout stage. This is basically a six-man elimination bracket, with the top three from each block. Tonight's show is headlined by A2 vs. A3 and B2 vs. B3. The winners of those matches will advance to the semifinals on August 17, where it'll be A1 vs. A2 or A3, and B1 vs. B2 or B3. The two semifinal winners will meet on August 18, to decide the winner of the tournament.

Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan - In A Block, Zack Sabre Jr. finished on top with a 7-2 record, followed by four men tied at 5-4. Of those four, Takagi won block matches against the other three, so he took second place. Khan's tiebreaker wins over Tetsuya Naito and EVIL put him in third. So now these two will compete for the right to wrestle Sabre in the semifinals. Khan's KOPW championship is not at stake here.

This is, by design, a rematch from earlier in the tournament--Takagi defeated Khan on July 23. Whoever wins here will also give us an A Block rematch in the semifinals--Sabre beat Khan on July 20, and Shingo beat Sabre on August 3. I wouldn't have set it up that way, but oh well. Presumably New Japan wants the finalists to get a chance to avenge a key loss or two.

I'm delighted Khan has made it this far, because I think he's capable of more than he's been doing for the past four years, and I like that this year's format allows someone from out of left field to get this close to the big dance. That said, I absolutely don't believe he's going to win the G1, or even make it to the final. So I guess it's possible he could win here and lose to Sabre, I don't think they'll take it that far. Takagi vs. Sabre will look better on the marquee than Khan vs. Sabre, so I think that's the match New Japan will deliver. Shingo wins.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji - Over in B Block, David Finlay wound up in first place at 6-3. Takeshita and Tsuji were part of another multi-man tie at 5-4, with Takeshita officially in second place and Tsuji at third. Finlay will face the winner of this match on the 17th.

From an AEW fan's perspective, it's probably not a big shock that Takeshita has made it this far. But I'm a little surprised an outsider got out of the block--I kinda wonder if it's a last-minute change to work around Yuya Uemura's injury. New Japan likes bringing in guys from other promotions, but pushing them is another story. So I'm betting this match will be about Tsuji avenging his loss on July 20, before moving onward and upward.

Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson vs. David Finlay & Gedo - Sabre and Finlay are waiting to find out who their opponents will be on August 17. Jackson, an Australian freelancer, appears to be stepping in for Kosei Fujita, who was sidelined earlier in the tour. Seems like he'd be the one to take the pin, but maybe if they like him enough Gedo will do the job instead.

Shota Umino & El Phantasmo & Jado vs. EVIL & Ren Narita & Dick Togo - Pretty standard good guys vs. House of Torture tag match. Jado or Togo will likely lose the fall. I guess Evil's team wins.

Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI vs. HENARE & Callum Newman - All but the top three matches are basically filler, but this one feels especially like filler. I guess Bushi loses.

Gabe Kidd & Jake Lee vs. Jeff Cobb & Francesco Akira - Kidd has started talking up the idea of pursuing the IWGP heavyweight tag team title with Lee. Akira will probably lose the match to help advance that storyline.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano vs. SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi - Tana's team holds the NEVER trios championship, but the belts aren't on the line here. If Evil or Ren Narita were in this match, I'd think the heels might get a win to set up a title bout on the next tour, but as it is House of Torture's team feels too weak for anything but an easy squash for the babyfaces.

SANADA & Taichi & DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI & Tomoaki Honma & Katsuya Murashima - Kinda nice to see Just 5 Guys (well, four of them) together again, and Goto and Yoshi reunited. Other than that, not much to this. Murashima should lose.

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Finlay was a mere footsoldier of zero renown before the Battle of Aeonia. Rescuing Malenia and bringing her home to the Haligtree in a daunting, weeks-long trek was the first time people destined to be recorded in history books noticed her, and even then she wouldn’t become a Cleanrot Knight for several more years.

[jencsi]

A broody D.B Russell is a mood-

Straightened hair, it's been this way for months, even before we got here, I wondered why you did it, is it for him? Were you bored of the curls? You look better with them. 

The doctors keep telling me it's not wise to have two people wasting away here. I disagree. 

We messed up Jules, I messed up. 

I don’t think you hate me, I know you hate me.

Julie Finlay, born March 20th, 1968, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. “In west Philadelphia born and raised...” Okay I’m sorry, I know you hate that song.

Blue eyes, blonde hair, 5’3, a mirror image of Catherine Willows no less. 

Thirty-five bruises, twenty two percent blood loss, a dozen staples, fifteen stitches, two transfusions, one scar across your forehead, the chunk of skull they fixed won’t show, so they say, drains, tubes, breathing on your own is a good thing, they can shock hearts, why not brains back to life?

Monthly charge- $2500. Interest- $800. Paid in full- March 15th 2015. Invoice complete. Receipt sent to Diebenkorn Russell. Card ending in 4879. 

I met Jules in May of 1994, Charlie wasn’t even born yet, can you believe that kiddo? 

Your eyes responded to light today, I could have swore your arm moved when they did it but the nurse didn’t see it. She must think I’m crazy. 

Power of attorney file, client confidentiality, password protect, BloodGirl528, crap, no, it’s Agnes, there we go, please advise, December 2014, in the event of a life-threatening injury, please refer all medical decisions to one Diebenkorn Russell and his wife Barbara, Las Vegas Nevada. You knew before I did Jules. 

“Baby if I could, change the world” You are the sunlight in my universe” damn this Clapton guy. 

Las Vegas reached a near record high of 95 today. That high pressure system will remain in place for the rest of the week. Folks, be sure to stay hydrated out there. 

Grandpa, when is Aunt Julie coming back from her trip? I need to tell her a secret.

Invoice complete. Payment received April 15th 2015. Card ending in 4879. 

A fever, you spiked a fever today, low grade, 100.1. April 20th 2015. Could be nothing, could be something. 

They had a funeral for Dan up in Seattle. I felt bad because none of us could be there for him but Kerri’s still healing, you’re here, I’m here…

One of the nurses had a birthday, they got pizza for her, I figured if you could smell it from down the hall, maybe you would wake up. 

She wouldn’t want to stay like this forever. How do you know what she wants? Me? What about you? What makes you so sure? Do you think you know her better than you know me? 

We are gathered here today, no that sounds like a wedding speech, damn, none of us want to gather for this….

Stop. 

D.B, you have a phone call, it's Ely State, they want to talk to you about the court date for Winthrop’s trial. “I’m not taking the stand Conrad, and we’re not presenting a single shred of our evidence unless Jules is with us, make the bastard wait in state pen a little while longer.”

“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” Proverbs 16:24. 

“I guess I can put two and two together. "Sometimes the answer's four," I said, "and sometimes it's twenty-two...” 

Stan’s Floral’s. Sunset Blvd. 702-...... 

The judge isn’t going to extend the waiting period any longer, he says I need to be ready to present my findings by May twentieth with or without a blood spatter expert. 

“I’ll be ready,” she rasps to him jokingly, eyes bright, smile meek but present "four days, that’s plenty of time.”

“Coma notwithstanding,” he bites back, soul on fire, fingers on her wrist, feeling her pulse, needing to be sure she was palpable, alive. 

Boy did he miss this.