#i haven't done transcription in three years

[meraki-yao]

Transcription and Translation of Taylor's Little Red Book Livestream (9th December 2023, to the best of my ability)

Q: Question A: Answer

Side Banters:

H: Host T: Taylor Anything in brackets: me or additional elaboration

Q: Asking him to share his experience of city walking in Shanghai earlier today

A: They went to Yu Garden which Taylor said was incredible, and he tried 糖葫蘆 Tanghulu, a traditional Chinese sweet which is candied Chinese Hawthorn

Q: How was the past few days for him and where did he go

A: He's been in China for four nights now (He came by himself btw) First night he stayed at the J Hotel which is the third tallest building in the world and the tallest hotel in the world. After that, he went to 濮院 (the venue for the GQ event) for two nights and it was incredible

Q: How's his jetlag?

A: It's hitting right now 😂 He's been drinking a lot of tea and getting better

Q: What led him to choose to become an actor instead of a competitive swimmer

A: That was an easy choice, he swan for 10 years and then decided he didn't want to swim in college, and then decided he didn't want to be a doctor (his brother's a doctor) and maybe disappointed his parents (H: No way!) It was a hard decision but he decided to move to LA and pursue acting (H: and you made it!)

Q: How is he enjoying being an actor?

A: It's tough, ups and downs. It's kind of like swimming, it's an individual activity, but you also get to collaborate with the community, which is fun.

Q: What are his favourite three movies and why?

A: The Matrix, Fight Club and Interstellar, he likes movie with a twist

Q: What type of music does he like

A: Deep House, Tropical House, Reggaeton

And then the host taught him a couple of Chinese phrases

Q: What sparked his interest in fashion

A: His dad bought him a subscription to GQ when he was younger which started his interest in fashion, and then he started watching fashion-related movies (like Brad Pitt in Allied) which further cultivated that interest. Maybe in the future, he'll try out characters like that

Q: Did he meet any friends in the GQ event?

A: He met Li Xian who he met in Italy earlier, otherwise met a lot of new people.

Q: Why is he passionate about being eco-friendly when it comes to fashion?

A: It was inspired initially by his mom. They lived in the countryside with horses, cows, and fields away from the city, and he has seven siblings (he's the sixth oldest/ third youngest) so there are a lot of hand-me-downs and not a lot of new things, so the family kept on using the same things. He gained a deeper awareness of the issue in recent years.

Q: Talk a bit about fashion sustainability

A: A lot of fast fashion material and clothes are thrown out really soon and disposed of really quickly (despite still being in good shape) but a lot of clothing material, especially synthetic fabric can't be recycled, so it's just like throwing out plastic. Actually, a lot of clothes can keep being reused and styled. He's had the inner shirt he's currently wearing for four years.

Q: Any future plans?

A: He has a film project early next year and there are other things he's excited about but can't talk about yet

Q: Is he going to Shanghai Disneyland?

A: He wants to but he doesn't have time

H: You don't even need to go to Disney you look like a Disney character already! (Damn right!!!)

Q: What food have you had in China so far?

A: Don't get him started on the subject of food 😂 He's had a Shanghainese Lunch today and a Cantonese (YAY) lunch yesterday, and he's looking for some spicy food for tomorrow. Also, he had a really crazy allergic reaction and his lips got giant (???). He needs to be careful with food.

T: I see talk about RWRB, what do you want to know? I'll give some secret intel

(me: YESSSSSSSSSS FINALLY)

RWRB questions speedrun:

Q: sequel?

A: ... He doesn't know. He says he thinks Casey has to write another book for that.

Q: Deleted scenes?

A: They're deleted for a reason (DUDE)

Q: BTS?

A: He says he has some on his phone and he would show us but he doesn't have his phone right now, he might post it later (PLEASE DO)

H: He's leaving after three days

T: (reading off comments) Come visit Hong Kong next time? Yeah! (me, who lives in Hong Kong: AHHHHHHHHHH)

Q: Do you know any Chinese nicknames of yours?

A: 忒樂. (tei le, or "Tay"-le) meaning too happy (I made a list of the boys' Chinese nicknames here)

Annddd... That's it! The live was pretty short, like 20 minutes? He ended it by picking up the phone and showing the audience the Shanghai city view himself (I was too busy typing to get a screenshot)

All transcription or interpretation mistakes are mine

[orangeocelotmartyn]

xB & Keralis hanging out on xB's stream moments 5/16/24

Transcript under the cut

xB: (giggling) Keralis: Heyyyyy! Look who's here! xB: hi! (overlapping) Keralis: Hi, how have you been? xB: Hello. I've been alright, how's your-- Keralis: I haven't seen you in ages-- xB: I know, you've been gone for like a year. Keralis: Yeah, yeah. xB: Yeah. Keralis: Every single year, I'm gone. xB: I know! Keralis: This year was terrible, this year was terrible. But I'm back, I'm back! xB: Good! Did you want to come see what I'm working on? Keralis: (interrupting) Hi! You're pretty. Yeah yeah yeah, lead the way. xB: You're--I mean, you're not so bad, yourself. You know what I'm saying? Keralis: Oh, have you seen, I've-- xB: (interrupting) Hello. Keralis: --I've got a trim job, look at this-- xB: Oh! Look at you. Oh, wait, wait, are we matchy-matchy? Keralis: No, you're blue, I'm yellow. xB: Well, right, but the same, same--yeahhhh, look at us. Keralis: eyyyyy-- xB: We are handsome AF. Keralis: Well, my eyes are more handsome than yours-- xB: Ehh-- Keralis: Let me, let me just get undressed for success-- xB: my--mine costs diamonds to put on. Yours is just gold. Keralis: (sighs) I mean-- xB: Uh huh-- Keralis: --diamonds are kinda just so yesterday, I would say, so yeah. So yesterday. xB: Well, gold is just so, like, 2010. Keralis: (four seconds of silence) I don't want to see your thing anymore. xB: (giggles) Keralis: (laughs) Lead--lead the way, lead the way. xB: Okay.

Keralis: I missed the message, okay? I've missed the message--is this your? Thingy? xB: Yeah! Keralis: "xB's base--" Have you moved away from me? xB: Uh, a little bit, yeah. Keralis: Dudeeeee-- xB: I-I-I'm not done, like, at spawn, but-- Keralis: I'm gone for three weeks and this happens? Oh my goodness. xB: Why do you think I left? Because I no longer had a neighbor. Keralis: You do have neighbors, who's Beef, then? You've got Beef, you've got Falsie--oh, goodness, you've got plenty of netherite-- xB: No, he built a--he built a moat. Didn't you see? Beef built a moat, so I couldn't get to him. Keralis: That was Falsie, I guess, right? (overlapping) But did he hire False-- xB: Right, but he hired her--(overlapping) so he might as well have built it-- Keralis: (laughs) that's rude-- xB: (laughing) Dang guy. Keralis: Oh, that's so rude.

xB: mhm. Oh, I borrowed your fishing pole for a little bit, too. And then I put it back. Keralis: You did what with my pole? xB: I--touched it. Keralis: You touched my tra-la-la? xB: Mhm. (snickering) Keralis: My ding-ding-dong? xB: (giggling) Not that, no. (more giggling) Keralis: Oh.

Keralis: I don't want to be the party pooper, but I got dinner in just a few minutes, which I need to attend to. Otherwise my wife is gonna-- xB: Yeah, I've gotta-- Keralis: --be super upset. xB: Yeah, I've got a base to finish, so. Or, water to finish? Getting out? I guess? Keralis: Your base is over here. I can't believe you've moved away from me. xB: That is my starter base. Keralis: That is not your starter base. That is your forever home, and now you're gone. xB: Starter--no, no no no no no. I never said it was my--I said from the beginning, "this is my starter base." Keralis: I see your horse. What is up on the-the second floor? What's that? xB: That's my bed. Keralis: Your bed? xB: Mhm. Keralis: You got a bed? xB: Yeah! I took one of the beds out of it, but, yeah. Keralis: Awwww, there we go. That is my side, and that is your side.

[mmyashas]

COMUNICADO IMPORTANTE: quackitytoo

TRANSCRIPTION -> TRANSLATION BELOW THE READ MORE. i am not an experienced translator and some may be a bit off, but i've done my best to translate all of it!

hello, hello! hello everyone. good night– good night everyone, i hope you're all well. um, i did this stream since i'm making an announcement to talk to you all in relation to qsmp's structure. i know people have questions, about a lot of things. so, i hope this will help you understand a little bit more. i'll be saying all of this in spanish since i find it easier to find the words– in spanish, as it's my native language.

i want to give you and explain a bit of context about everything. these last three weeks have been incredibly turbulent in many, many aspects. the restructuring process that's in course for the project hasn't been very easy. before my involvement— and i've said it before— there were people that affected the project in damaging ways, financially and administratively. i had already commented about this.

and i haven't spoken about giving updates and nothing of that nature and i haven't spoken about it since all the updates i've had are internal and of the legal type. hence why, there's no visible changes but they're changes that have to happen. i reaffirm, malicious people have been removed from the server and i'm still in (legal) processes against people who've caused many of this damage since the start. and that has been one main focus of this restructuring that's been happening.

guys, i want to leave this very clear. during all this process, all the words and actions that have been taken have to be done very, very carefully. recently, i've wanted to give many updates, such as internal and external, but we're against a really critical problem– that being leaked information.

i don't know if the people that leaked announcements or information from the inside knew that this was happening, but when i gave out private information and this info got leaked to places it shouldn't have gone– that affected the required process to solve a lot of stuff. and the people that harmed me both administratively and financially, that i've talked about in a past stream, were finding out about things and situations they shouldn't have and used this information to misrepresent and affect the process. so that complicated things– it's why i haven't given any announcements or talked freely as much as i wanted to. it's not to ignore or evade but there's a really, really delicate process going on.

and from the start, i knew in my involvement, to achieve a total change– we had to start with the people that affected me and the project. and caused a lot of the mistakes that have been occuring this whole year.

and when this could be defined, what was done was starting to find a financial strategy for the project since the project's costs are very high– and the project was going to close. i've also mentioned this before. and when i could define with strategies and events in the qsmp if there was a way to support the project, the next step was to restore different elements of the qsmp that no longer existed. and i want to make something clear, given the circumstances of the server i didn't want to make any promises to anyone i didn't know i could keep.

this is the reason i was figuring out this part and the financial part, and i couldn't give any more internal updates because i was working in an important part of the server, the financing. so, i understand and comprehend the lack of communication has been notorious. and i reaffirm, i tell you, it's not on purpose. there's a lot of situations i've tried to solve behind the scenes but i've had to be very careful. i understand if there's people that don't agree with the methods or the process. and if you dont trust in the project or the process– don't worry. there's no problem if you stop consuming the project. i totally understand. i've said i have a personal conviction with the project and it'll stay like that.

i've been working very hard and i'll do everything that's possible so the project keeps running but with the best conditions possible. and something i have to make clear is that this process takes time. i have to leave it clear– this process takes time. guys, there's people that have left the project and will keep leaving the project on their own will and i understand it fully. and i have no problem with someone that takes or will take that decision, and i wish them the best. in fact, i gave an internal announcement where i said that a restructure would take time to finish. and there's people that for reasons don't want to be part of that process. and i understand completely! because it's not easy to be in transitional phases.

something i said at the start was that my main objective was that this project came back to normal but with the best conditions. this is able to happen following the dynamics and examining the exact scenario for each person contributing to the project— and this isn't achieveable in three weeks. and all of this process continues.

so, giving you all a bit of context, behind a lot of things about the project. i ask you all, that keep wanting to do it, ask you your full patience. i don't want to promise or talk pretty. i want to make concrete decisions, and that's what i've been doing. if it's seen or not, it's what i've been doing. it's what i've been doing step by step.

friends, the changes i've been doing is for the best of the project and i'll say it transparently, the changes are for the good of the project and the people that love it. to the people who the project's impacted and the ones who keep up and love everything that this project's for. those people are the motivation and inspiration who the project was created for and is created for and the reason i'll keep doing the qsmp.

i'm not doing this, and i want to leave it very clear, i'm not doing this for the people that for a long while have wanted to see the project destroyed by actions that have demonstrated the- total opposite of love for the server. like not constructive comments, bad actions, bad wishes for me, the team, and any community that consumes the qsmp and the project in general. to me, all those people with damaging intentions don't matter to me that they stop consuming the project. leave that very clear!

and let's not forget something important guys, it's very difficult to build and way easier to destroy. to all the people that wants to join this building process is welcome, and those that want to maliciously destroy, this project from the start wasn't and isn't for you.

and lastly, i want to say these days i've received a lot of calls, emails and messages from people from a lot of parts of the world expressing what qsmp means to them. it's why i tell you punctually, that this project isn't over and i'll do what's necessary so each day it gets better. it's a process, step by step, that takes a while but i'm doing it. so, beforehand, i want to thank you for your trust and reaffirm my personal compromise to strengthen this project.

i hope this cleared up some doubts and given the necessary context to some people. and i reaffirm, i have a personal conviction with this project and i'll keep working to better it. just wanted to say that. thank you all and goodnight! bye!

[thehammondlegacy]

Previous - Next

Transcript under the cut

Hemlock Abbey - 2 pm

Robert: I can't believe you made him climb that thing!

David: Me neither!

Robert: I mean in the last three years, I haven't been able to even take him playing football at the park! How did you do it?!

David: You must know he's lying, Liv... I do go out with him and maybe a little too much

Robert: It's never too much!

Olivia: Yeah, I've seen magazines with you pictures. You boys have been bussy!

David: Well, those days are over now...

Olivia: David, you are 24! Live a little!

Robert: Yeah, listen to her, David! Olivia, I really like having you around, please don't ever leave us!

.....

Louise: You had an interesting morning, haven't you?

David: Yeah, I guess so...

Louise: It must be nice to catch up with your old girlfriend, and I right?

David: Not now, Louise... My neck is killing me

Louise: It must be all the climbing you did. Why don't you ask her to give you a neck massage? I'm sure she won't refuse...

David: Excuse me?

Louise: Oh, stop it, David! Why can't you see what's happening here?

David: I'm not sure what's going on, would you mind telling me?

Louise: You really don't know? Of course you don't! How could you ever doubt her intentions. The perfect Olivia... Who would ever dare to question her?!

David: *laughs* I have no idea what you are talking about, but-

Louise: Why do you think she came here, David?

David: Hmmm, I don't know, to see her friend?

Louise: A friend she hasn't seen for months? How can you be so blind?! She here to stop us from getting married! She wants you to break your engagement so she can stand in my place!

David: It's amazing how much you mind can wonder, Louise. Olivia is a friend, and she hates the idea of being in your position right now. She hates this world and she would never try to be part of it...

Louise: Really? You are so blind... Can't you see she's trying to make you remember the past so you can forget about your present with me? Honestly, can't you see what she and Rob are up to?

David: Is that so terrible to you? Me having a friend who makes me remember who I really am? I don't see how that could affect our situation, Louise. This is the first time in years I have a little fun, is that too bad?

Louise: You are having way too much fun with her from what I can see... Once we get married, I don't want her around, David. If you want this marriage to work, she better disappear from our lives

David: I cannot believe how unreasonable you are being right now!

Louise: Oh, I'm being unreasonable?! I am not the one puttin another woman before his fiancée on his priorities' list!

David: When have I ever done that?! Like you said, I haven't seen Olivia for months ever since the Ubrite match. Is it too bad we catch up once in a while?! Ever since you were chosen for this job, it's all been about the wedding, and about your life! I've met your parents, I've rushed our engagement, and I've been making sure you don't feel unconfortable around my family, now you don't want me to see my friends, what else do you want?!

Louise: I want you to stop trating me as your business partner, and start seeing me as your future wife... Is that too much to ask?

David: We both know the kind of relationship you are asking for will take time... If you want to get there eventually, then don't ask me to stop seeing my friends

Louise: A friend you still have feelings for? I've seen the way you look at her, David...

David: Enough! This gave me a headache, I'm gonna lay down...

[kazarinn]

Future subbing plans

When I first put Hurricane Touchdown out three years ago (goodness, has it really been that long already?!), I wasn't really planning to make fansubbing a regular thing, but after having worked on the Saint Tail project enough, I've started getting a little more used to it, so I decided to put a little more proper thought on what I want to do with it. This post will only be here, so my Tumblr followers can consider this to be an exclusive scoop ☺️

Regarding Hurricane Touchdown: As probably many of you know, Discotek Media recently announced an upcoming release of the first three Digimon movies, which, naturally, will include the Japanese version of Hurricane Touchdown. As is etiquette for fansubbers, I will be removing the download links for the Hudie release once that drops. However, I will be leaving the translation script file accessible to preserve the hard work done on it, and to leave it accessible for anyone who can't use the Discotek version for any reason (importation issues, region locks, etc.).

Raw script files can still be used with videos by putting them in the same folder as the video and giving them the same name, and the transcript is very easy to open with any standard text editor, so I think this will be a good compromise to keep the translation accessible and easy to reference. This is a workflow I started using with Saint Tail due to the unusual nature of its localization situation, but it's something I think I want to consider making use of going forward as well.

Regarding Saint Tail: Nothing really special to report here; I'll be releasing and revising sub scripts as usual until I've finished the series (I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the year). I haven't made a firm decision as to what will happen after that, but since it is a fact that the official release still has serious translation problems, I do think I want to do something to address that a little more aggressively once it's done.

Regarding Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning: Based on the US screenings of the movie, it seems that the official English subtitles for the Japanese version are actually a transcript of the English dub, but with Japanese names swapped in. Surprisingly, this isn't as much as a detriment to the translation as you'd think it might be (the English dub script seems to be surprisingly close to the Japanese script, rather unusually for Digimon standards), but nevertheless, this is extremely bad translation practice and offends me on a personal level. As such, if future releases turn out to still be using this translation, I am considering making my own subtitled script for it.

For the record, because of how close the English dub script is to the Japanese script, I don't think this is actually that much of a detriment to understanding the movie; in fact, I would argue that LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna's official English subtitles are far worse and mistranslated in a more dangerous way. A theoretical The Beginning fansub would be, at most, something that would be done to satisfy a personal pet peeve and to address some minor loss in nuance that isn't reflected in the dub script, especially in regards to the Chosen Child partnership lore it presents (something that I know can be quite a serious issue to a lot of Digimon fans). So I'm not going to make guarantees about whether I'm going to do it in the end, and I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you, but I do at least want people to know that this is an issue and that I currently have this idea on the table. As with Hurricane Touchdown, if I do put this out, it probably would be in script-only form.

As a side note, I do plan on translating The Beginning-related material (interviews, etc.), but I would rather put them up at a time when a sufficiently large percentage of fans has actually seen the movie. If you're from a non-American country and your country will be having a screening in the near future, please reply to this post with the date so I can get a good idea of when people will be watching it ☺️

[leftduck9986]

Magic From The Beyond

The Big Jazz Band version of the main theme played at the end of Good Omens 2 episode 4 is my favourite. I'll only remember to be quick enough with the clicker some of the time, to hear all of it, but even less than that would I be paying attention to actually watching the credits.

So occasionally when I wasn't completely in my head enjoying the music, and my eyes were open, the closing credits would arrive on this screen and I would make a mental note to learn about Anthony Owen.

In Season One Episode One of Good Omens, Anthony Owen is listed as 'Magician' in the closing credits at 50m10-12s.

After an attempt to find out more in the usual places - IMDb and Youtube (Full performance of Oil and Water by Anthony Owen) - the best source was this podcast episode by Vanishing Inc Magic dot com, recorded weeks before his death in 2019:

Excerpt from the transcript:

"

The Insider: Recently, I don't know how recently actually, but you worked on the mini-series of Good Omens. How did that come about and what did you do for the production? Did you love the book before you started doing it? I can't wait to see it because I've loved the book for ages. That was 14 questions in one, pick any of them and answer it.

Anthony Owen: The answer is, yes I worked on Good Omens.

The Insider: Okay.

Anthony Owen: No, I still haven't read the book. What did I do? I taught Michael Sheen sleight of hand magic.

The Insider: How was he?

Anthony Owen: He's a great fan of magic. He loves magic, he loves going to The Magic Castle, he's a good friend of Derren's. He was a brilliant student of magic and sleight of hand and really got into it and loved the idea of it. The character he plays is quite a fun thing because he's playing a sort of bumbling, not very good magician at a children's party. Teaching someone how to be a bad magician actually was well within my comfort zone and abilities. What was interesting for Michael was because he's a Welsh boy from the valleys he was able to tap into the ... Tommy Cooper [ wikipedia | youtube: Ed Sullivan show | youtube: the best of Tommy Cooper, including the "Indian Rope Trick" ] was a sleight inspiration for him in playing that role. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how it is in the final cut and what they've done with it, I'll look forward to seeing it.

The Insider: Go and read the book, it's great.

Anthony Owen: I have it on my shelf. I read the relevant pieces that I needed to read to do the job that I did.

"

Sadly, Anthony's untimely death meant that he didn't get to see Good Omens when it was released on the 31st of May, 2019.

He is honoured here in Good Omens 2, in more ways than one.

Firstly, as there doesn't appear to be another 'Magician' in the credits for this episode, approximately four years later, can it be assumed that Anthony Owen taught Michael Sheen enough sleight of hand to be used across the entire three seasons of the series (and Michael Sheen has kept up his skills with regular practice)? That the skills performed in this episode are Anthony Owen's teachings remembered, and credited with a memorial?

Then, there's this:

If you search 'Anthony Owen' on Prime Video, here's what you will find...

... a treasure trove!

Apart from there being a few "Anthony"s and "Owen"s, it's quite a specific selection for a bunch of titles that don't seem to have any connection to Anthony Owen himself. (edit, Sunday 17th March 2024: and here I was, expecting to see some of the titles listed on IMDb, but no.)

17 titles, presented in the same order every single time (Update, Wednesday 20th March, 2024: the order has changed)

- not alphabetical, nor chronological by release date. Might they be readable in some kind of order though? Also, it kind of feels like there should be an 18th title, for a nice neat 3 x 6, right?

(Update, Saturday 23rd March 2024: well well well, an 18th title has been added. Note the title name, Snapped, and the two items shown in the thumbnail image - a Polaroid and a derringer! specific to S2E4, nice!)

Update, Saturday 30th March 2024: a 19th title added this week - Survivor season 43. If at the end of next week, this playlist maxes out at 20 and does not continue to grow in the weeks afterward, might it be that 6,6,8 is happening; that season three will contain 8 episodes after all?

Update, Thursday 4th April 2024: IF this is the end of the campaign, then they've ended early, adding not one, but two more titles - three, if counting "You Can Go Now" twice as it is shown; the correct year of release, 2022, then the second entry for "2023" with a separate thumbnail image and its description including the title in all-caps as if being shouted at and dismissed, ouch.

Still, a brilliant move, to end "unpredictably" (just as a certain group of two 'sides' had been working together all along, but acting predictably, in order to check-mate their real opponent, for a game of Chess lasting for most of their existence).

Hints, clues, themes and references galore - given in the titles of films or episodes, descriptions (sometimes of a particular season), images or symbols seen and/or lines spoken in the trailers (some have two trailers, for example I highly recommend watching the full trailer for You Hurt My Feelings) - even "special spoilers" star Sadie is in here!

You don't even need to watch any of these titles either. Just do what Anthony did :)

Coincidental that Good Omens 2 was released on Anthony Owen's Birthday?

It's lovely to have included Anthony Owen in what feels like a mentalist-style trick from The Beyond.

[utilitycaster]

Big D20 and ACOC fan here. The "they won't get the rich lore" argument just also feels so ridiculous from a technical standpoint? Like, CR fans watch long ass episodes, the campaigns for it span over a hundred episodes lmao. I'm pretty sure they're actually primed for lore retention and are fairly used to intricate plot points. I personally can't wait to see Matt take this on and bring in more viewers.

Right! Like...firstly, fans of Critical Role, or Matt, do tend to be massive fucking nerds, and CR in particular is pretty heavy on lore so assuming the worst of them is pretty dumb. Secondly, as I said, there's very few resources for this lore other than watching (requires a subscription) or reading the transcripts of the episodes - and I want to be clear, I don't blame the D20 wiki editors, who have as far as I know been minding their own business - but the people hyping up the rich lore have done nothing to bring that canon to potential new fans, instead just tsk-tsk-ing and saying "you wouldn't get it." Thirdly, I'm going to take a wild guess and say again that Matt and Brennan have gone through the lore together and are going to set the stage adequately for new viewers.

Which is the big thing that I think the people attempting to say "you wouldn't get it unless you've continuously been in the fandom specifically for ACOC for three straight years" are fully missing (and which your ask here does take into account appropriately). Dropout needs subscribers. That is their business model, and D20 is one of the shows that brings in the most new and continuous subscribers since many of the other shows, while great, are unscripted quiz-style shows and permit a more, well, drop in and out style of viewing.

The past few D20 seasons have not been pulling in the same viewership, and we can speculate why that is but it ultimately doesn't matter. They are specifically bringing in a popular and well-known DM, having a group of experienced roleplayers, and returning to this specific beloved setting on purpose to do so - both to mine the overlap in fandom between D20 and CR and perhaps expand it, reach out to fans of Aabria or Anjali, and perhaps bring back in people who watched A Crown of Candy but haven't kept up since. A lot of the discussion truly feels like it paints Matt as "asshole who wandered on set and seized control over my blorbos" and not "person who was very deliberately invited to DM this particular season and has the explicit blessing of Brennan, Sam Reich, and anyone else involved in the decision-making at D20." (I honestly don't know if the D20 powers that be are aware that there's a cohort of D20 fans who just passionately hate CR or Matt but the thing is, if I were a hypothetical executive who was, shall we say, plugged into the fansphere? I'd pick the setting of Calorum specifically so that we retain its passionate fandom, even if they don't like the DM, while also bringing in new fans. It would be the smart business decision, and also pretty funny.)

But also...look. I am certainly not above criticizing fan theories based on poor understanding of lore, or when people are like (smug voice) "well I'm a lore muncher so combat doesn't interest me", or when they respond to thoughtful meta with irrelevant projections. But if someone wants to watch Critical Role and make liveblog posts of "hell yeah, Fearne just stole that guy's watch, iconic" without going deep into the lore? That is absolutely just as valid a form of fandom as writing meta, or fic, or creating fan art, or cosplaying. The same goes for any other show. If you want to get into lore discussions and meta then yes, you should be relatively up on the lore, but if you just want to hang out and enjoy the show? You can show up to episode 1 absolutely cold and pick it up as you go along. It's fine, and anyone saying otherwise is an asshole who does not have good intentions.

[armoricaroyalty]

Previous | Chapter Start | Beginning | Next

Transcript under the cut!

Blackwell Beach // November 2017

[waves crash] ANDRE | ...what else do you have planned today? ROSALIND | I'm meeting with Theo to finalize our itinerary for the Uspana trip, and then I'm touring the rebuilt dam in Surmonte. ANDRE | Have you talked to your borther about the itinerary? He and Emily have been in Nakawe for a week already, I'm sure they'd have some input. ROSALIND | Freddy put together the first draft, but I'm going to have to make a couple changes to account for Jacques' absence... ANDRE | [sighs] He's training for the Olympics, Roz. ROSALIND | He's slacking off. ANDRE | Not everyone can work the way you do. ROSALIND | [sighs] I don't want to talk about Jacques' duty roster. ANDRE | Good. Me neither. ROSALIND | Actually....there was something I wanted to ask you. ANDRE | Oh? What's on your mind? ROSALIND | Well...Mary and I have been together for almost three years. ROSALIND | I love her, Dad. I want...I want to ask her to marry me. ANDRE | ... [waves crashing] ROSALIND | In January, it'll be five years since her husband disappeared. She'll be able to have him declared legally dead, and then... ANDRE | I like Mary. And I like the two of you together. ROSALIND | But? ANDRE | [sighs] The monarch's marriage — and the heir's — is not just about love. ANDRE | She won't just be your wife, Roz. She'll be your consort. She'll be the one who will help you carry the weight of the crown. It is not an easy role. ANDRE | All these years...I couldn't have done it without your mother. She sacrificed more than you kids ever realized, and I wasn't always the husband she deserved. ANDRE | [sighs] I haven't been the king that our country deserves, either. ROSALIND | Dad, don't talk nonsense. You've been— ANDRE | It's true. Armorica hasn't had a worthy monarch in almost a hundred years. ANDRE | But you...you have the markings of a great queen. ROSALIND | [softly] You think so? ANDRE | You are going to be the queen our kingdom deserves. ROSALIND | Thank you, Dad. ANDRE | As for you and Mary... ANDRE | She'll be a good consort. And more importantly, she makes you happy. As your king, you have my permission. And as your father, you have my blessing. ROSALIND | Thank you— ANDRE | Congratulations, sweetheart. I hope you're very happy together. ANDRE | We should get back up to the house and tell your mother. And then the two of you can go to the vault and pick out a ring... ROSALIND | I already have one in mind, actually— ANDRE | [chuckles] Of course you do. That's my girl.

[sidsthekid]

if you haven't already, be sure to check out sid's interview with mark madden from today! some fun tidbits about his europe trip in there, some sid laughs, some talk of sid's grays.

transcript is under the 'read more' but i was a little sleepy while editing this tonight, so sorry if there are any errors! feel free to shoot me an ask if you see anything you'd like me to fix.

Mark Madden:

Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby. Uh, yo, are you now the crazy old guy who fights in preseason games? I mean, I get it, but it was still a shock what happened there?

Sidney Crosby: Haha, I guess that's what it's come to. Uh, I don't know. I think it's just one of those things that, you know, I look back, I didn't really see the whole play. I just saw three guys on the ice that looked both had hit Tanger. And I didn't know if one got him high one low or anything like that, but, you know, just trying to just stick up for one another.

And obviously you don't like, you know, you don't like to see that happen, especially in pre-season. So I think it was just a reactionary thing and you know, it's just so happen to be preseason, but that's that's part of the game.

Mark Madden: No I think it's great example set certainly. Now, this game against Connor Bedard tomorrow night- the opener. It's got to remind you of your first game in your rookie year. What kind of memories does this dredge up?

Sidney Crosby: Oh, a lot. I mean, it's, you know, it's something that I can relate to. And, you know, I think everybody, you know, your first NHL game is something that everybody remembers and just all the feelings, the emotions that go into it. Your dream coming true with playing NHL. But I think, you know, for him, even more so just with all the pressure and expectations that have been on his shoulders for a while now.

So I can relate to all that and uh, and know what he’s going through. But I also know how exciting it is, regardless of all that stuff, to just be playing in your first game.

Mark Madden: If you could give eighteen year old Sidney Crosby any advice now as a 36 year old, what would it be?

Sidney Crosby: Probably just say no a little bit more. As far as just the off-ice stuff, I mean, that's that's one thing I look back on and it was just- it was pretty hectic and I think it's easier said, you know, said than done. I think at that point, though, there is just so much going on. We were coming out of a lockout.

You know, I think there's a lot of expectations on and off the ice as far as, you know, doing doing your part as a young player and trying to help the league and stuff like that. So I think that, you know, it's easy to say that now, but at the time I think it was it was the right thing.

It's just it was it was a busy year. It was a lot. And I think you you know, you feel that pressure, You feel that expectation. And he'll go through that. But he's got great people around him and his family and his team will be there to help them out and help them through it.

Mark Madden: Stats don't mean a lot to you. You've told me that. And I'm I know that's a very sincere feeling on your part, but you've averaged over a point per game every season you've played in the league. I think that consistency means something to you.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, it does. I mean, it's like you said, it's numbers, but, you know, I think the the streak of being in the playoffs and that sort of thing, that's something that, you know, I think for the guys who are part of that, we're we're really proud of that. But you know a point per game. Yeah it's great.

I think it just comes down to you know want the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup when you know, when playoff time rolls around. So I think I, I think about more of that than anything. But, you know, consistency has always been something I take really serious and it's a long season. And you know, you go through ups and downs of a season.

You want to be someone that can be relied on every night. And I've always I've always tried to have that mentality.

Mark Madden: I feel like it got one more hundred points season left in you. What do you think?

Sidney Crosby: Haha, I like the sounds of it. I mean, I'd love to. It's not easy. That's that's a tough mark to get to. And it's been it's been a few years since I've gotten to that. But yeah, I'd love to get that mark. I think that would be that'll be good for our team too. So maybe we'll get to that. So we'll see.

Mark Madden: What have you not done in hockey, Sid, that you still want to do?

Sidney Crosby: I'd love to win the Stanley Cup at home. I know that's get pretty particular, but you know, that's something that I don't think that's ever been done in the history of our team. You know, that's something that, you know, and, you know, you dream of winning the Stanley Cup. It doesn't matter where it is.

But I've been fortunate enough to do it. But I think to be able to do that at home would be pretty cool.

Mark Madden: I remember you told me as a kid when they just announced the new building was going to get ground broken. You wanted to win one at Mellon Arena before we left, and I kind of smirked. But you were very sincere and you did it. That was a big deal.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was I think everyone kind of looked at, you know, the age of our team and the expectations and, you know, thought it would take a little bit longer than it did. But I think, you know, our mentality was we thought we were we were close to being able to do it and hope that we were able to do it there anywhere really.

But it was nice. So we were able to do that before switching buildings.

Mark Madden: Do you yet consider your context, your place in Hockey's history, top five, stuff like that. And I know you're going to say you don't, but come on by now, you gotta.

Sidney Crosby: I don't, haha. Why would I? I mean there's- I mean that's a debate, you know for other people, not me, but I yeah I don't really there's no reason for me to really think about that. And obviously there's a ton of reasons and things you could debate. So there's not much point in me going there.

Mark Madden: Yeah, I mean, I don't want you to declare yourself like top five. Like, like I do on your behalf, but. But I just wonder if privately. You wonder? Not at all, huh?

Sidney Crosby: No, I don't. I mean, it's not. I mean, it's a compliment when your name is, you know, with so many great players and you're put in that category. But really I love the game and I respect all the players who've, you know, played before and what they've accomplished. And I don't really need to do that as far as, you know, for my own for my own self.

I don't really need to figure out what that is or have that number in mind. It really doesn't change. You know, how I feel about the game or how I feel about, you know, what I've done in hockey. It's not really about that.

Mark Madden: Okay. You've had training camp. Where's this team at? It's an older group. How far can an older group go in a league that's so fast and play so many games?

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, I mean, I guess we'll have to, you know, we'll have to see. But I think that definitely there's there's experience with us, which I think will help. I think one thing, you know, last year we were guilty of is not being able to hold on to leads. So I like to think, you know, with an experienced group, that's something that, you know, should be a bit of a strength as far as understanding situations that and making sure that, you know, when you do get a lead, specially late games that, you know, you find a way to hold on to it or at least, you know, grab points.

And we were probably guilty of, you know, not just losing leads but losing points a number of times, which ends up being the difference. So I think just that experience will hopefully help in a lot of areas. But yeah, I think that that's something, you know, whether it's depth or, you know, hold on to leads or just understanding situation, experience goes a long way.

Mark Madden: You got Karlsson. You guys have always been a very offensive risk taking team. He's certainly going to add to that in a positive way. And you know, Sid, I've suggested sometimes that you guys should play more defensively and slow it down. And as a lifelong penguin guy, maybe I was stupid because it's very apparent what you guys are.

It's in your DNA, it pre-dates you even it goes all the way back to Mario. I mean, you guys have maintained the way the Penguins were. Boy, destined to play. Sounds corny, but it's kind of worked out that way.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. I mean, you've got to find that balance. And I you know, you look at the league, you know, there's there's a lot of goals being scored. You know, teams are putting up a lot every night. And, you know, you've got to be able to score. So that's obviously a big part. I think the defensive side is something that, you know, you can't trade, but at the same time, you got to be able to score goals.

And, you know, with Karl, he's a guy that, you know, can change the game with one play. There could be nothing really happening just to make something out of nothing. So that's, you know, that's pretty good to have back there. And, you know, I think as far as offense, he's going to just add to that. And we already have a good group, I think.

So he'll be able to add to that. And I think it'll just be a matter of, you know, making sure that on the defensive side that, like I say, we don't we don't trade off.

Mark Madden: We're talking to Sidney Crosby on the home of the Penguins 105 90 X. Sid, Your off ice workout routine has always been incredibly intense, but at 36, where's it at or are there times now it's maybe more important to rest than to do extra?

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, I wouldn't say that. I think it's just, you know, you just manage things a little bit different. Some things are a little bit harder on your body, you know, now than they used to be. So just being aware of what that is. And as you said, rest too. I mean, you got to find time to do that and make sure that you're able to go out there physically perform at the level you need to.

But it's it's constantly kind of a balancing act. I think it's something that you just try to, you know, listen to your body and understand at times in the schedule or training, as you mentioned, you know, when you might need to back off a little bit. But then when there's opportunities to go hard, you got to make sure you go hard to get the most out of it, too.

So it's just a critical balancing and understanding what you need to do. And it's it's still a learning process even at this point. But I think it's something that's that's important. If you want to have success.

Mark Madden: Do you ever just sit on the couch and watch TV and eat junk food?

Sidney Crosby: Pretty much Sunday off days. That's what it is.

Mark Madden: That that makes me feel a lot better about myself to hear that.

Sidney Crosby: Exactly.

Mark Madden: Although I probably do that more often than Sunday. Hey, you guys had that great thing back home for you in Nova Scotia. I thought that was terrific. How was that for you to experience that? And does anybody up there not like you? It was an amazing love fest. It was like 100% all Sid.

Sidney Crosby: You know, it's just really nice. I never thought I would ever have a chance to do something like that. We played there in 07 and it was pretty quick trip. We were in and out. We went had a game and left right after. So just have all the guys there to have my family be a part of it have everyone home, you know, show the support that they did.

Yeah, it was all it was all just really unique and something I didn't think I'd ever have an opportunity to do. So just really grateful that we were able to do it. It's a pretty busy schedule. So to get, you know, three or four days there be able to show everybody around and just get together with the group during training camp and just see a lot of new faces and things like that.

I thought it was it was a lot of fun. And yeah, I you know, as far as everything went, it was it was awesome. It would be nice to get the win. But other than that, it was it was a great experience, really.

Mark Madden: I'm just glad you didn't fight. Now you've been in Pittsburgh 18 years at 19 now this season. I think everybody here loves you, too. I mean, this has really worked out great here. I mean, not just the hockey either.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, it's you know, it's a great place. I mean, you know, people love sports. And you know what? From day one, they've been so supportive and obviously they have high expectations of of all teams, especially us as the years have gone on. But they just couldn't be more supportive. It's a great place to live. And, you know, thinking about the situation I came into being able to, you know, play with Mario, live with him, be able to be surrounded by the young guys that were part of our team coming in and learn with all of them and to still be playing with two of them to this day.

Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm pretty grateful. The place, the people, the situation, the organization very, very lucky.

Mark Madden: Well, that kind of jumped to my next question. What's this like to go the distance with Malkin and Letang? Because now it's apparent. I mean, I don't know if you guys are all going to finish up at the same time, but you're going to play the length of your careers together is as far as it can go.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. I mean, you know, you never know. In hockey, obviously you don't want to take anything for granted, but to be able to to go this long and hopefully be able to go a few more years, that would be incredible. It's been a pretty amazing ride to this point. And to be able to have those guys around to, you know, go through the experiences, we have, to see their drive at this point in their career and what they've accomplished.

I think it's something that, you know, we all push each other and know we all have really high expectations, but they're driven, they care, they're competitive. And it's really fun to see that, you know, after all these years, that hasn't changed.

Mark Madden: Now you've won all you can win in international hockey. You scored arguably Canada's biggest goal ever. You and Paul Henderson probably deadlocked in that regard. Do you want to play in one more Olympics, which would be in 2026? And that would mean at least one more year of NHL hockey beyond your contract, have you thought about that at all?

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. I mean, you know, it's- with the Olympics, it's too bad that it hasn't worked out. We haven't been able to, you know, to get there in prior years. But you know, if there's something that's worked out that'd be a great opportunity. I'd love to. And, you know, I've had some some great experiences playing for Team Canada. And it's, you know, as far as the level of hockey and just the product, I don't think you're going to see any better hockey than Olympic hockey.

So yeah, that that would be amazing. So I got to make sure I take care of myself and I'm playing at a high level, but I'd love to be a part of that.

Mark Madden: This is a dumb question. Trick question But what would you rather win a gold medal or another Stanley Cup?

Sidney Crosby: No, I'm not answering that one.

Mark Madden: Okay. Sorry. Let's just skip ahead. Where did you go this summer? You take some great vacations. I didn't ask you when I saw you because I wanted to save it for the show.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. This year I actually went to Norway and toured around there a little bit. I went to Norway and Ireland. So it's been a few years since I've been over to Europe with the early exit. There is a little bit more time, so that was, that was pretty neat. I got to golf a little bit in Ireland and then it was a bit of a hiking trip in Norway so got to see a new place, a place that I always want to see.

And it was beautiful weather, it's great. It was a long offseason though, so I'm happy to be back and getting ready to play.

Mark Madden: Yeah, unusually long, but that's the point. You missed the playoffs. You want it to last longer this time. Did anybody recognize you in Ireland or Norway?

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, in Ireland there is a lot of like bus tours and things like that. So I ran into some Canadian tours over there and then in Norway I was surprised. It's not a big hockey country, but, you know, they definitely know hockey a little bit. So I ran into some people there, but they were really friendly and you have both beautiful places and that was that was a cool experience to be able to just see a different part of the world.

Mark Madden: What's the last movie you saw and do you anticipate seeing The Exorcist reboot?

Sidney Crosby: I'm not going to see The Exorcist reboot, but the most recent one was Oppenheimer, The long one.

Mark Madden: I haven't seen that yet. Is it good?

Sidney Crosby: Really good. Yeah. They mentioned Halifax, Nova Scotia, too, so it doesn't hurt.

Mark Madden: Well, why no exorcist? Too scary?

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. Not really a scary movie guy.

Mark Madden: Okay, fair enough. I saw the original. I had nightmares for for two weeks and I was 14 and I. You know, I just. I'm soft, you know that now.

And as is tradition. Before we wrap up, are you engaged, married or is anyone expecting?

Sidney Crosby: Nope. Nothing to report there.

Mark Madden: Okay. Well, I feel obligated to ask. And finally and I think this is a good thing to wrap up with. You are very comfortable with your age, aren't you, at this point in your life and career at 36, even the gray hair, I don't think it fazes you at all. Am I right or wrong?

Sidney Crosby: Yeah. No, I mean, what would faze me about my age?

Mark Madden: You tell me, coach. I mean, I didn't. I didn't figure it would, but I wanted to ask, like, because you and I talked a bit about dyeing your hair, which you have no intent to do. And I'm sorry, I didn't, but I mean.

Sidney Crosby: Well I might have to if I keep going out, everybody keeps coming up to me and chirping my grays. So I might have to just eliminate that conversation starter. [Not entirely 100% about the first portion of this sentence, it was hard for me to parse out exactly what he said!]

Mark Madden: No, don't give in to people like me. Do what you want. My God, you're Sidney Crosby for Christ sakes.

Sidney Crosby: Haha, yeah, I know. I don't worry about age.

Mark Madden: Well, no, if I were you and played the way you still do and everything you got going I wouldn't either.

Hey, listen, this was great. As always. I appreciate you taking the time. And we'll see you tomorrow night. You going to fight Bedard?

Sidney Crosby: No, no. You don't have to worry about that.

Mark Madden: I kind of wanted to see it. Sid, thanks again. I'll see you tomorrow.

Sidney Crosby: Okay. Thanks for having me. Have a good one.

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton during the post-qualifying press conference, canada - june 9, 2007 (transcript under the cut)

Lewis: "Absolutely. Absolutely. As you can tell, I'm just delighted. It's been an amazing day. To come to Canada my first time… It's been tough. It's not an easy circuit to learn, and Fernando's been extremely quick and so have the BMWs and Ferraris. But we dialed in the car in P3 and I had an opportunity to go out and put it on pole, and this time I took the opportunity and grabbed it by the hands and did the best job I could by it." Interviewer: "How many laps have you done on, say, the simulator, 'cause there's a very sophisticated simulator at McLaren. Have you done a lot of laps before you came her?" Lewis: "No, I did about five laps, but we didn't really have time because we had a meeting to go to. But still, I got here on Wednesday, went out yesterday, and it was just like learning a new circuit, like going out on a circuit you've never been on before, so even if I was playing the PlayStation, it wouldn't really have made much diference. I had to learn… The kerbs are different, gradient changes, the bumps, so it doesn't really help. It just gives you an idea of where the corners are and perhaps what gears you should be taking." Interviewer: "It's a bit like a grown-up Monaco, really, isn't it, just a bit bigger with a fraction more space. Have you been brushing the walls here?" Lewis: "I haven't, no. Actually, in that qualifying lap I nearly did touch the wall in the exit of the last corner, just trying to squeeze as much as I could out of the tires, and it was really close, but obviously I got the time and improved that sector." [time jump] Journalist: "Lewis, are you gonna be able to sleep tonight?" Lewis: [laughs] "I think so. I think what's important is to enjoy the moment and then go back and… Still got a hard job to do to tomorrow, so to make sure I'm fully relaxed tonight I'll probably just have a nice evening with my dad and my trainer, get a good night's sleep, and come back tomorrow and try to do the same again." Journalist: "And Fernando, do you have any advice for your teammate, starting for the first time from pole position for tomorrow?" Alonso: "I think we'll see tomorrow. I think today has been a good qualifying for the team again, good job from everybody, being first and second, so the team should be very happy today." Journalist: "Any particular advice for tomorrow?" Alonso: "Advice? I think don't be too aggressive in the first corner and let me go through." [laughs] [journalists laugh] Lewis: [laughs] Heidfeld: "Same for me, please." [laughs] [time jump] Journalist: "How important is it for you to get pole?" Lewis: "Well, it's obviously a great feeling. It's another step I've taken in my steep learning curve, coming into my first season in Formula 1, and to be honest I knew I had it in me but I wasn't sure when I was gonna get a pole. I've never really been a driver that sticks it on pole, if you look at the past years, apart from Formula 3. I've always been top three, and it's not my strongest area, but today I'm really happy with the job I did and it's a great step forward for me, but also for the team."

[sunnykeysmash]

Ok so, the new trailers got me curious, especially here with the whole... trap thing.

Let's just go on a little chill journey about it together, no strings attached.

So... something I do casually to pass the time while deep in sunny fixation is keyword searching in episode transcripts, to see if there's fun connections I can do. So naturally, I look up "trap", to see where else it comes up outside of Gets Romantic and Flowers for Charlie (the first two episodes that come to my mind when talking about traps).

What I found was an interesting connection between three specific episodes:

Mac is a serial killer

Dennis looks like a registered sex offender

Flowers for Charlie

And I wanna go through it. Kind of in random order because I don't know how to structure this (lmao).

Now, these episodes obviously have come out in seasons throughout the years, with the earliest two on s3, and I'm gonna be talking about things I think might happen in relation to these episodes. Parallels, metatext, about things that haven't aired yet. So I may be wrong. Let's get that out of the way. Usual disclaimer, get out now if you don't like rambling, and I'm not responsible for building anyone's expectations, that is on you. This is how I have my own fun. Let's move on.

But talking about these episodes in such a way requires me to acknowledge macdennis as something that's been not only intended, but planted, am I gonna be arguing that this was all intentional the whole time? ...No. ...Yes? Maybe. This pains me to say more than it pains you to read, believe me.

Now by planted I don't mean they ever really planned to have it happen necessarily. I'm talking about the trap aspect of it all. The will they, won't they. The question, the mystery of what's inside the crate. You get me.

I wanna start from the fact that there's fifteen severed heads in the fridge. Severing heads being a metaphor very prevalent in season 15 as we've seen, but especially...

And that's the scene.

Yes, I'm aware.

I'm done. I was in character before, but I'm me now, so you can tell me how good I was.

Oh, okay. Well, you just cut in front of 15 other actresses.

You're welcome. I took a gander at 'em and... ( sever head gesture )

Plus, I do feel like that's what the character would have done, and I've been in character all day. As a matter of fact, don't want to brag, but I've been in character all week.

Fifteen, like the seasons? It could be they were hoping to reach that number to break the record, just like Charlie is shown doing at the start of DLLARSO, attempting to break a record to see how long he can hold his breath for.

Dee: What is going on in here?

Mac: Just laying low and breaking world records. Don't even think about breathing, b¡tch.

Dennis: All right, so here's the deal. Got rid of that child molester. The sеxual predator guy? Yeah, he's gone. He's out of the situation, so my problems are solved. You had a thing too, right?

Dee: Mac's dad. I want your dad out of the bar.

So three things, breaking records, the second Dennis leaving (you know, Dennis Double Life thing), and I do think Luther might be dying this season, as well. It seems to line up to me... we know Mac is going to "collect his inheritance", which he wouldn't really have unless a parent died like Charlie's. He also walked out, so.

But that's impossible, that's season 3. I thought so too.

So I want to bring another example of severed head onto the table... Chardee Macdennis 2. Season 11.

They're asked to sculpt "clues" for the game, and what does each of them sculpt?

Mac: "Cupid's arrow". Which Charlie keeps calling a penis, and which looks strikingly similar to a RPG missile to me, I'll add.

Frank: A heart. Like the heart shaped lock?

Dennis: A woman's head in a freezer, which he says, and I quote, represents "the preservation of love forever and ever".

Keep in mind, there was no theme given for the sculptures, the whole goal was for the teammates to guess what the other was sculpting. Now why are they... love themed?

I just want to say right out of the gate, I don't know what everything means, I'm more so here to draw parallels that I've noticed. I think it's interesting that everyone can draw their own conclusions too.

So, to summarize all three episodes:

In Mac is a Serial Killer, the gang see Mac acting weird, so they start suspecting he's a serial killer.

(I do want to point out Carmen scratches Mac (during sex), which is one parallel with Dennis, but not my overall point.)

Frank and Charlie scour for clues in Mac's apartment, while Dennis tries to use Dee as bait to catch the serial killer. Frank gets a confession out of Mac's mom, and then the gang starts to hatch a scheme (which they call a trap) to "catch" Mac about this, and drive a confession out of him. The truth though, is that Mac is dating Carmen, and doesn't want the gang to find out.

In Sex Offender, Luther is finally out of jail and is visiting a bunch of people. Mac and Charlie see that Luther has a list with their name on it, and panic thinking he's been killing these people and is gonna kill them next. What is really happening though, is that he was actually making amends with the people listed (something that comes back in S16!), and had a surprise prepared for Mac, who "ratted him out". The B plot has Frank moving out because he thinks he can do better than Charlie, so he gets with Bonnie, his "bang maid". Both Charlie and Mac hatch a plan (again called a trap here), a romantic dinner, with very different goals. Charlie wants Frank back and to expose his mom as a cheater (in a situation that actually reminds of the s15 dinner, with the turd in the soup), Mac wants to pair his parents back together so they can raise "happy boys". In the end, Luther gets with Bonnie, which coincidentally does drive Frank back into Charlie's arms, but in the end Luther gets carried away by police. Additionally as we've discussed, there's a second Dennis in this episode, a fake, who is threatened into leaving at the end of the episode.

In Flowers for Charlie, scientists are running an experiment on Charlie who becomes their lab rat, while Dee Mac and Dennis are dealing with a rat problem in the bar, discussing ways to catch and kill it. Charlie starts thinking he's too good for his friends and notices that "they've been using him", Frank enlists the help of the Waitress by setting up a dinner between them, hoping Charlie's deep infatuation with her will pull him away from his new life and the corner he's turned and back to Frank, and when that doesn't work, Frank tells Dee Dennis and Mac that he wants to "drag him back down into the sewer where he belongs". Dee thinks she's stuck to the rat glue trap, but after the rat eats the cheese and scurries away unaffected, thanks to Frank's help she finds that by letting go of the trap, she becomes unstuck. In the end we find the experiment didn't make Charlie smarter, only more arrogant, and perhaps more fascinatingly some other things, like he believes to be a mathematical genius, and writes:

X = 9 + 9 = Box... that's where the cat is.

(9 + 9, like 18? Like the seasons we have confirmed, 18?)

And more.

And in the space of an hour, the subject has lost all interest in a woman with whom he had been in love for years, because of a perceived upidity relative to himself. Perhaps the most interesting were the series of side effects that he believed himself to be having. Uh, debilitating aches and pains. It was all in his mind.

According to this, the more arrogant someone is, the more he forgets about the people he loves, and the more he suffers various pains. Therefore, you need to knock someone down a peg to remind them of their feelings, and make them feel better.

In Mac is a Serial Killer, at the end, Mac is also accused of being two people.

Charlie: I'm sorry, Mac. You can't keep running from this thing. You gotta face this head on! (whispers) I'm gonna get you off this. Don't be afraid to show me your ugly side. All right. Put that away, Frank. You don't need a chain saw. You're talking to an innocent man. All right, Mac. I'm gonna ask you now 'cause I'm tired and hungry. I want to go home. I want to wash my hands of this whole stinking mess. Did you or did you not snap into an alternate and distinct personality... causing you to go on a serial killing rampage?

Mac: What? No.

Charlie: What? Yes, you did. You... All right, Mac. You're crazy, right? You're a crazy person. Sometimes you're two people. Let's see the other guy. Let him out.

Mac: Let who out?

Charlie: The serial killer, Mac! Let the serial killer out!

Mac: I'm not a serial killer!

Frank: Then why all the shady behavior?

So, what is the trap... so far, we've seen that you trap someone either to set them up with someone else (the romantic dinner in DLLARSO, but also the trap in Gets Romantic, and also when Dee sets them up in Break Up by using a lady with giant breasts as bait!), or to draw a confession out of them (like in MIASK, but also Catches a Leprechaun). Perhaps both, at the same time, as there may be multiple people scheming the same thing with different end goals, or different things with the same end goal. Either way, that's the conflict of the trap.

Brief intermission to talk about another episode where the trap comes up. Charlie's Home Alone.

Charlie empathizes with a rat, and saves him from a trap.

'Cause I know what it's like to be caught in a trap now, and it's not okay. I won't let you get caught in a trap, okay?

Takes him in his hand, and eats him (DLLARSO also has talk about Luther looking like he eats people, but I don't have a thought on that yet aside from basic cat eat mouse type stuff, also not everything is Something, but I digress!).

Later a real trap is introduced as part of the rituals, and Charlie steps on it and must free himself. The release lever is at the bottom. He frees himself, but once Brady has the ball, he has to step right into the trap again.

This stepping in and out, again it reminds me of Dennis in Gets Romantic, but since it was a season 13 episode, it may also be Glenn about the show.

But here's something I think, just to spice it up, I think the trap may also be, more in general, a relationship. Right? Dennis has been in one (with Maureen), didn't like it, yada yada. Now Mac talking about banging, that's one thing. Mac getting in a relationship? Suddenly he's ruining everything, getting locked in, that's different. And the scene between him and Dennis in Flowers for Charlie, implies to me that we have two rats and one bait, that the trap involves two people. Like a relationship. Now am I married to this idea, pun not intended? Not really, but it's possible.

Either way, the trap is something that catches rats. Thanks to Flowers for Charlie, both Mac and Dennis can be rats, due to said dancing scene...

Dennis: He scurried away.

Mac: All right, well, when he comes back, I'm gonna smash him up good. Dennis: No, no, Mac, come on. We're smarter than that. That's just gonna spread rat blood and disease all over the place. It's not about brute force. It's about seduction. See, I'm gonna place some enticing tunes for the little guy. And then I'm gonna bait this glue trap with some Brie cheese.

Frank: Because drawing a confession out of someone... is like doing a beautiful dance... a beautiful dance with a chain saw.

When Charlie is framed as the rat in Flowers for Charlie at the beginning, he's dead set on getting the cheese he can't have, and has no interest in the one under the green light. Which reflects the chase. Like cat and mouse.

This experiment, that's being talked about as groundbreaking and that will revolutionize the field, is all about making the subject feel smart due to the constant encouragement, but the subject really isn't.

Mac is not the serial killer. He's not smart enough. He's a dumb person. And dumb people are not capable of serial killing.

In Chokes, it's said that Dennis will see through the ruse, because he's smart, but the truth is that he didn't, because he isn't. It's Mac that heightens his confidence, and it always has been.

And in the sideplot of Flowers for Charlie, Dee Dennis and Mac end up watching "cat and mouse" cartoons to understand how to solve this rat problem. But... a cat was never introduced in the episode prior to this?

The mouse always wins. There's... there's, like, no winning with mices. Cat keeps getting hurt. He gets hurt. Well, it's dangerous, yeah. What the hell are you guys doing? We're trying to watch cat and mouse cartoons to find out how kitty cats deal with their rat issues.

But historically, the cat has always been Dennis... the cat in the wall (through framing and dialogue), and then ongoing with like the painting in s15 and the dead cat in the room and so on. This cat may get out of the wall, or he may die in there. That duality belongs to Dennis. But how can he both be a cat and a mouse? No, I don't have an answer, but perhaps it's up to confidence. If you bring it down low enough for both Dennis and Mac, they're finally both little mouses, and you can catch them in your trap. Not that the trap ever works? In all episodes where it comes up, it either fails (Flowers for Charlie), is painful (Charlie's Home Alone), complicates things (Gets Romantic), or a combination of those (Serial Killer and Catches a Leprechaun).

It's also about method.

How do we lower this guy's confidence, how do we reach rock bottom.

In Flowers for Charlie, Mac's solution is to bash the rat.

In Mac is a Serial Killer, they want to draw a confession out of Mac by torture when they catch him. Using a chainsaw even.

And in Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender, Dennis takes a good beating because he's mistaken for an awful man that looks like him, as per Dee's plan.

And this in Mac is a Serial Killer:

Dennis: This is the fun part, Dee. This is the part that we've been working up to. This is what all the work has been for. We're gonna follow our victim. And then we're gonna jump her. And then I'm gonna strangle her and you're gonna chop her into pieces.

Dee: Okay, but what are we really gonna do?

Dennis: Huh?

Dee: We're not really gonna kill her. What are we gonna do?

Dennis: Oh, yeah. Oh, shit. That's a bummer. Yeah, you're right.

Dee: Let's just follow her for a little. We'll throw a good scare into her. Figure out what to do later.

Plus, in Charlie Catches a Leprechaun, which is another episode in which a man gets captured with the goal of driving a confession out of him...

Mac: Nasty little son of a b¡tch, isn't he?

Charlie: There's, like, a real bite to him.

Mac: You know what I think we should do? We just rough him up a little bit. You know, just get the truth out of him, just a little bit.

Charlie: It's a great idea.

Mac: We don't want to bruise him up, I just wish we had, like, a hose or something. You know, we could blast the truth out of him. Right?

Charlie: That'd be good...

Setting aside the episode insisting a lot about ancient authentic irish traditions and other parallels I don't have time to get into, this ALL reminds me of course of the plan from the castle about the irish doctor in S15, you know, pour scalding liquid from the murder hole (a predecessor to the glory hole!) and char him.

Dennis: Yeah, so you'll lure him under the hole, where I will, uh, douse him with boiling oil or hot tar or really any scalding substance.

Frank: Wait, you're gonna char the guy? Gonna char him up?

Dennis: Yeah. I'm not gonna kill him or anything, but it's got to be hot enough to be annoying as shit, right? You know what I mean?

Frank: Yeah. Burn him.

Dennis: Uh, he's gonna get burned. But, I mean, Charlie's got to see him lose his cool, so we can expose him as the child-abandoning monster that he really is.

In s15 later, Dennis talks about that incident as "taking care of him". We all giggled at the gay implication of that, but the thing is, Mac is a Serial Killer and Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender both play with that duality of meaning, as well.

Dee: Could you come take care of me?

Charlie: I'll allow it.

Mac: Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can take care of you.

Dennis: What were you planning on doing to Sandy?

Mac: What do you think, dude?

Dennis: Well, according to this phone transcript, Mac... you were going to "take care of her"?

Mac: Yeah. Take care of her.

Mac: He told me these are people from his past, and he's got to take care of them. And once he takes care of them, he's gonna take care of me.

And it really is like that sick extended metaphor where on one side we have Mac and Dennis, on the other we have death. Same as Dennis' Double Life. You know, "give me dong or give me death". That you can either love someone, or kill them. It reflect the concept of the trap, I think.

But speaking of which...

Frank: Stay away from my bang maid.

Charlie: Damn it, Frank! This isn't about them... Charlie... or Mac or anyone else... this is about you and me, bro. This is about dudes living together, hanging out, sharing their bed and their life...

Mac: No. That's not what this is about! This is about people meeting back up after many years and sparks flying... and families getting back together and raising little boys so they can be happy again!

Much like Clip Show, that same duality. On one side living with Mac (dudes living together, plus Charlie and Frank are often a parallel for Mac and Dennis), on the other, raising Brian Jr (families getting together and raising little boys).

Charlie: Shut up, Frank. You don't know what she wants any more than she knows what you want. You know who knows what you want? I do. I've always known what you want. And I can give you want you want. Just let me give you what you want.

I don't like jumping into specific event predictions because I always get them wrong, and I don't find any fun in that. And while the trap and rats meta is real, I may be completely off with it here. I just like drawing connections.

But speaking of traps and ruses, here's another bit of dialogue that comes to me, in times of need.

Charlie: I see you all fell for my ruse.

Dee: What ruse? You asking us to go on a hike with your dad, and us saying "yes"?

Charlie: Oldest trick in the book.

Dennis: Asking someone to do something?

Charlie: Exactly.

Dee: And then, them doing it?

Charlie: Precisely, yes.

I think traps usually are something you hatch to uncover a ruse.

That's why in all of these examples, the goal of capturing someone is to draw a confession out of them. But they don't work that way, because what the capturer and the captured hold as truth doesn't align. Mac is a serial killer, they expect him to confess to serial killing, but he was just dating Carmen. Catches a leprechaun, they expect him to admit that he is, but he really isn't. Even in Worst Bar in Philly, another ep where they kidnap a guy, they are trying to extort a fake review from the journalist.

So if the trap succeeds, it'll have a different result than intended by who hatched it, and uncover a truth that wasn't the expected one. Just based on statistics, I guess...

If the intended goal is really to hatch a plan to humiliate Dennis, char him or whatever, then what it may actually do is break his cold, calculated shell. But I don't know...

Frank, I am thinking on the physical level, the metaphysical level, the pataphysical level.

So we've all talked about meta and that's fun, but let's talk pataphysical too since Flowers for Charlie mentions it.

That's difficult, as there are over one hundred definitions of pataphysics according to wikipedia.

A few are:

"Pataphysics will examine the laws governing exceptions, and will explain the universe supplementary to this one"

"Pataphysics is patient; 'Pataphysics is benign; 'Pataphysics envies nothing, is never distracted, never puffed up, it has neither aspirations nor seeks not its own, it is even-tempered, and thinks not evil; it mocks not iniquity: It is enraptured with scientific truth; it supports everything, believes everything, has faith in everything, and upholds everything that is."

"Pataphysics "the science of the particular" does not, therefore, study the rules governing the general recurrence of a periodic incident (the expected case) so much as study the games governing the special occurrence of a sporadic accident (the excepted case). Jarry performs humorously on behalf of literature what Nietzsche performs seriously on behalf of philosophy. Both thinkers in effect attempt to dream up a "gay science" whose joie de vivre thrives wherever the tyranny of truth has increased our esteem for the lie and wherever the tyranny of reason has increased our esteem for the mad."

"Pataphysics is science, albeit one with an aesthetic sensibility; it regards “humor” and “the serious” with the same imperturbable gaze. "

"Pataphysics is simply an awareness that everything, including our very selves - is what we pretend it to be."

In other words, truth is not what's actually real, what we do or our past, truth is what we believe it is. Much like identity.

One more.

"You have seen that far from regretting the past I would simply suggest that we improve it…’Pataphysics will always be plunging ahead, precisely because it is static in time, and because time, itself, is retrograde by definition."

So if one is dissatisfied with their past, they can simply change it... by going there. This concept is played around plenty in Clip Show, but I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about Dee Day.

That is the episode where we take off Dennis' make up, but there's something else too.

This is where Dee talks about wanting to do a "retrospective" of her characters.

And the plan to make the ordinance pass, includes the gang stealing the councilwoman keys and setting her clocks back so she would miss the vote.

And look, we do have one flashback promised to us, in the bowling episode if I recall correctly.

"But is there any other canonical way of viewing the future (whether one calls oneself serious, in the profane or pataphysical sense of the word), than as a bouquet of imaginary Solutions – that is, potentialities?"

I forget if I've talked about potential in sunny. The seeds, the puppies, the eggs... always about the potential of life. I think it's fascinating. Like there is an infinite branch of ways in which macdennis could happen, right? And that's the potential. And by bringing it into the text, you're effectively killing it.

But are you, really?

The first time round is a bitter pill

But the second chance is better still

And then we find new seeds to sow

To grow our love we didn't know

There's always new seeds to plant...

But I'm not done with the pataphysical. Oh no, there's more.

There's also the fact that Flowers for Charlie talks about the structure and the foundation. When asked where the foundation is, they respond "on top", but Frank corrects them, on the bottom.

I have a feeling both answers are correct, just like both of Dennis' lives are true, and here's why.

Concepts that embody pataphysical include:

Antimony: An antinomy is the mutually incompatible. It represents the duality of things, the echo or symmetry, the good and the evil at the same time.

Clinamen: A clinamen is the unpredictable swerve of atoms that poet Christian Bök calls "... the smallest possible aberration that can make the greatest possible difference". An example is Jarry's merdre, a swerve of French: merde ("shit").

Syzygy: The syzygy originally comes from astronomy and denotes the alignment of three celestial bodies in a straight line. In a pataphysical context it is the pun. It usually describes a conjunction of things, something unexpected and surprising. Serendipity is a simple chance encounter but the syzygy has a more scientific purpose.

Absolute: The absolute is the idea of a transcended reality.

Anomaly: An anomaly represents the exception. Jarry said that, "Pataphysics will examine the laws governing exceptions, and will explain the universe supplementary to this one." Bök calls it "... the repressed part of a rule which ensures that the rule does not work".

Pataphor: The pataphor is a term for an unusually extended metaphor based on Alfred Jarry's "science" of 'pataphysics'. Whereas a metaphor compares a real object or event to a seemingly unrelated subject to emphasize their similarities, the pataphor uses the newly created metaphorical similarity as a reality on which to base itself. In going beyond mere ornamentation of the original idea, the pataphor seeks to describe a new and separate world, in which an idea or aspect has taken on a life of its own.

Once again this rings true for Clip Show in general, as a concept, but I would maybe dare say this applies to macdennis regarding many associated concepts such as the trap or the crate. In particular, Macdennis as a concept has been morphing and evolving separate to the textual plots, due to heavy metaphor use.

In particular, they're always placed in the role of married couple, in multiple episodes. Break up, Suburbs, Gets Romantic, Mortgage Crisis. It doesn't just say "you are like a married couple", it shows them behaving as one. Therefore, if looked at under a pataphysical lense, that's what they are. That's the reality of it.

Of course, since this whole spiel is born from one word in a single episode from season 9, there's no telling how much it actually matters. It may be a happy coincidence. Does it really matter? (Not in pataphysics).

In a similar sense, we spoke Mac into coming out as audience, because we believed in it as our reality.

And another thing, since I'm riffing a lil bit at this point.

But since Dennis has been intentionally led to portray two separate and apparently opposing realities, the audience is equally divided on him, and as a result both realities keep appearing as true.

So in DLLARSO Mac is stealing Dennis' car and using it without him knowing. If we go with the whole "Dennis' car is his identity" which is very dear and near to me and I basically think of as true at least since Misses The Boat (and this is a s3 ep, which is why I'm saying IF), I'm wondering how this extends in season 16.

Well for starters, we see Mac behind the counter twice just in trailers. That has been, typically, Dennis' spot as the bartender. Very rarely does Mac cross behind, even less so on his own. Notably, it happens in Mac Fights Gay Marriage AND Dennis Gets Divorced (which btw, these two parter titles make it sound like they're the two that got divorced lmao, but um).

Another way in which we see him possibly take Dennis' place (or walk in his shoes! wear his skin, whatever you want to call it), is by the fact Dennis is teaching him the DENNIS system (an altered version I assume?), like passing the torch on to him (and Dee, who wants that place in the gang hierarchy as well...).

Finally, something that may not be a thing at all, but he meets Chase in S16, only Chase thinks he already met Mac. Because Dennis gave him Mac's name in Stranded. I'm expecting some name shenanigans of some kind. (perhaps Mac will use Dennis' name? I'm not banking on that, but how's he gonna explain? that is, unless someone else already did, in his pursue to make amends... well, who knows. you know what they say about assuming)

It's funny because Stranded is an episode all about how saying no brings you misfortune, while saying yes brings you luck. And money. 10.000$ of them specifically, both in Stranded and, casually, the original amount won by Mac with the scratcher.

The amount that... after all the bills, ends up being only 14$ dollars. (like the seasons?)

Stranded is also interesting on its own... Frank avoiding the main road because he doesn't want to pay the toll... Okay, that's enough. Getting off track.

So, final notes, since this is a more speculative and rambly post, and I'm under the impression the metaphors discussed (rats, traps, severed heads...) aren't complete (meaning they're gonna expand on these more in S16), I'm very much hoping everyone chimes in with their thoughts and speculations... perhaps other episodes that you think may fit this... let's throw away the oars and get into it, like, who cares if it ends up wrong, you know? I may come back to this too after the season airs to see what else there was...

[umgeorge]

george russell is interviewed on media day, canada - june 6, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Heya, George. There's been a couple times maybe over the last few years where there's been moments where Mercedes looked like they'd maybe turned a corner and it hasn't quite delivered. Does it feel like, this time 'round, what you've done in the last few races is a different turning point and it really, genuinely is a breakthrough?" George: "I'm not gonna say it's a breakthrough, because we definitely haven't made the step that you've seen other teams make so suddenly-McLaren last year, Aston Martin in the '22 to '23 season-but we know we just need to keep on chipping away at it, and I think it's been clear that there is a lot more potential in the car than we've gotten out of it. And we've perhaps gone in a slightly wrong direction with the development previously, but we've changed our path again and we're pretty confident that the path we're on is the right one. When it's gonna translate into results, I don't know. It's definitely translated into laptime. That was pretty clear in Monaco, that we made a step in the right direction. But, as I said, it's pretty competitive now, and if there's gonna be one- or two-tenths between the top four teams, it doesn't take a lot to be able to jump three, four, five places." Interviewer: "That's definitely, I think, a step forward maybe from when I've talked to you in the pen and you've said a P6 is probably the best we can do this weekend. From a mental perspective, have you found it challenging to kind of keep picking yourself up from one weekend to another, especially knowing at some point you can't really do more than P6?" George: "It's a good question. I think it depends how you look at it, to be honest, and I think if I was a bit younger and had sort of less experience under my belt, I'd be finding this situation extremely difficult and frustrating. I've kind of learned that you need to set your own goals, and if you achieve those goals, even if it's not the victory or a podium, but you've achieved the maximum of what the car is capable of, you've got to take that as a victory and you've got to pick yourself up and go again, because if you're not careful I think you can quickly let an external situation spiral out of control and start hindering your own performance. So I'm a racing driver, my job is to drive the car as fast as possible, and I feel like I'm doing a good job at the moment, so I've got to be proud of that."

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

Can I get an audio with Grell where listener gets home from work later then usual and Grell is super worried and practicaly jumps on them the moment they walk in? (Is this alright? Never requested audios before)

yes, this is totally okay! I haven't done Grell in a couple years so I hope my voice for them isn't too terribly rusty XD

if this is how they react... maybe you'll have to be late from work more often. <3

sound effects from quicksounds.com/

transcript under the cut!

AUDIO START

“Ugh… where on Earth could they be? Oh, it’s too late for this kind of nonsense. Honestly, why do I go to the trouble of making myself all pretty when—”

[door opens and closes]

“… Darling!!”

[heeled footsteps running over]

“Mm!”

(chuckles)

“Mh…”

(kisses four times; kisses once exaggeratedly; laughs)

“Oh, dear… my apologies. Did I startle you? Mmh…”

(kisses)

“Oh, come on. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what’s wrong. Do you know how late you are? You had me sitting here, watching the clock, waiting for you. Honestly, how rude!”

(cloth rustling as Listener hugs)

“Ah! Mh…”

(whimpers softly three times)

“Mmmmmh…”

(kisses)

“Mmmh… I’m sorry, darling. You know how I get. I would apologize for being a handful… if you didn’t have two hands for a reason. Mh…”

(kisses)

“Mmh…”

(kisses)

“Do you blame me? I miss you when you’re not here, you know. Mmh… hm…”

(takes a breath)

“Mmh…”

(kisses slowly three times; chuckles)

“Mh. Alright. I suppose I can let it go just this once.”

(kisses)

“Since you’re being so sweet. But, please, my dear…”

(kisses)

“Mmh…”

(kisses; takes a breath)

(into right ear only) “Don’t keep me waiting again.”

(into right ear only) (chuckles; takes a breath)

END AUDIO

[first-and-last-neocount]

Whumptober Teaser Post

So much for not going for completion. X'D

Here's the general game plan - I've come up with a prompt choice/general plot for each day, and I'm going to start writing them immediately. Whether or not I actually try for completion during the month of October is going to depend on how much I can get written during September - if I have 21 or more done by October 1st, I'll try to finish them all, but I'm not going to let myself try to write more than 10 fics during the actual month of posting to prevent myself from stressing right into burnout again. I'll do periodic updates during September on how many I have written so far to give a general picture of whether completion is likely or not.

I'm not doing purely Coldfire this time! As much as I love it, I think that trying to work on that many fills for only one fandom at a time might have been part of my problem last year, so I'm going to shake it up this year. (Fully half of them are still Coldfire but I can only vary so much from my essential nature, lol.) Below is a photo of my pretty multicolored notes, and under the cut is a transcription/elaboration of the info; the day, the fandom, and the ship/extremely vague premise of each planned fill! (Keeping which prompt I picked from each day a secret for now :P)

Actually readable version:

Day 1 - Coldfire Trilogy - It Walks Among Us, It Walks Within installment.

Day 2 - DragonLance - Astinus/Raistlin canon divergence fic set during the Legends trilogy.

Day 3 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 4 - DragonLance - Astinus/Raistlin fic chapter.

Day 5 - Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince trilogy - Andry/Pol canon divergence fic set during The Star Scroll.

Day 6 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 7 - Resident Evil - Weskennedy RE4 canon divergence fic.

Day 8 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 9 - Bloodborne - Laurence/Ludwig, sequel to Erit Praemium Sanguine Sanctum.

Day 10 - Shannara - Garet Jax/Jair fic set during the Dark Wraith of Shannara graphic novel.

Day 11 - Resident Evil - Weskennedy RE4 fic chapter.

Day 12 - Grimm - Sean/Nick canon divergence set during the episode Three Coins in a Fuschbau.

Day 13 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 14 - Grimm - Sean/Nick canon divergence chapter.

Day 15 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 16 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 17 - Resident Evil - Weskennedy RE4 fic chapter.

Day 18 - Resident Evil - Weskennedy RE4 fic chapter.

Day 19 - DragonLance - Astinus/Raistlin fic chapter.

Day 20 - Coldfire Trilogy - It Walks Among Us, It Walks Within installment.

Day 21 - Coldfire Trilogy - It Walks Among Us, It Walks Within installment.

Day 22 - Star Wars - Rexakin canon divergence set during the Clone Wars.

Day 23 - Coldfire Trilogy - It Walks Among Us, It Walks Within installment.

Day 24 - Star Wars - Rexakin canon divergence chapter.

Day 25 - Star Wars - Rexakin canon divergence chapter.

Day 26 - Star Wars - Rexakin canon divergence chapter.

Day 27 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 28 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 29 - Coldfire Trilogy - It Walks Among Us, It Walks Within installment.

Day 30 - Coldfire Trilogy - You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me chapter.

Day 31 - Coldfire Trilogy - 'Cause I Loved You For Too Long final chapter.

...

As you guys can probably tell, I've been kind of holding back on You'll Tell to Me What'll Happen to Me since I started suspecting I might want to do Whumptober, because that fic is nothing but whump (in TV Tropes language I think it would qualify as a Trauma Conga Line). I'm also dipping my toes into some fandoms I really enjoy but haven't written for yet, so we'll see how that goes, lol.

I'm going to bite the bullet this year and post these things properly; everything will be getting uploaded to AO3 and then linked to Tumblr instead of posting directly here, because these will be going up out of order with each other like always and it's so much less confusing for everyone if they're at least properly structured in a series on AO3. Plus, this go round, I should have the time to do final edits/AO3 uploads more easily without the horrific crunch of still trying to write them all at the last minute!

I'll admit I'm really curious to see if any of my follower have ever read Melanie Rawn's books, I read them around the same time I read Black Sun Rising, and although they didn't shape my personality quite as fundamentally as Coldfire did they're still very dear to me. Shannara as well, given that I started reading that series when I was nine, and a lot of my own writing voice (and certainly my love of imagery) was inspired by Terry Brooks.

Now, into the grand adventure of actually writing all of these! XD

[thehammondlegacy]

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Transcript under the cut

Hemlock Abbey - 5 pm

Assistant: Welcome, ma'am. Your luggage will be taken to your room once the staff is done preparing it for you. We are sorry it's not ready yet. We were expecting you tomorrow morning

???: It's alright, dear...

Sofia: It's my fault, really. I decided to travel a day earlier

Assistant: You can wait at the dinning room while we finish things up in your room. The Queen already knows you've arrived, ma'am

David: I can't believe you were scared!

Olivia: Well, I'm not used to being around horses like you! You play polo and go on parades, I don't do that kind of stuff! I'm normal, you know!

David: *laughs* You are not normal, Liv!

Olivia: I am normal! Wearing a soldier's costum and riding a horse, that's not normal!

David: It's not a costum, it's an uniform! Granny! What are you doing here? I thought you were coming tomorrow

Sofia: I managed to leave earlier, honey

David: I'm so glad you are here...

Sofia: Oh, it's been a while since you gave me a big hug like this one! It feels nice...

David: I've missed you...

Sofia: But it's only been a couple of days, honey...

David: I know, but I wanted you to come

Sofia: Well, here I am

David: Hey, granny, do you remember Olivia? She came here with Robb for my birthday

Sofia: Of coruse I remember...

Olivia: Hello, Your Majesty

Sofia: Hello, Olivia... It's been a while since the last time we met

Olivia: Yes, ma'am, it has...

Sofia: You look well, dear. I hope my grandson is not getting you into trouble

David: There's already been an incident with a horse, and she made Robb lost a game

Olivia: *laughs* I guess that can be considered as getting into trouble

Sofia: I'm glad you are having fun... It's been a while since I saw you having fun. So, where's Louise? I was hoping to resume her classes soon

David: Oh, I guess she's upstairs. She's been working on the reception for days now

Sofia: Aren't you helping her with the wedding, honey?

David: I'm taking care of all the ceremony things, she takes care of the reception. That's the agreement

Sofia: So you have been spending time with your friend while she takes care of the wedding? Haven't you asked her to join you three?

David: She doesn't want to...

Sofia: Have you met her, Olivia?

Olivia: I have, ma'am...

Sofia: And? Didn't you two hit it off?

Olivia: Not really... I'm afraid we don't have much in common

David: I'm so glad you are here, granny! Maybe you can teach Louise how to be a better hostess

Sofia: Well, I guess I understand her, honey. It must be hard for her seeing how much you guys have in common... It's not easy to join a new family, let along a new group of friends who have known each other for years now. You know that, dear... I remember when you came to the picture. You had a difficult time at first

Oliva: Yes... I remember that

Sofia: Specially with Lottie

David: That's not the same, granny. We were kids back then, now we are adults

Sofia: That's true... But I guess she still feels left aside, honey. Try inviting her playing video games with you next time

David: *laughs* I doubt she wanna do that, granny... But I guess I could try. I promise I'll include her more if you ask her to stop her unreasonable jealousy

Sofia: Honey, jealousy is not unreasonable when it involves another woman. The two of you have a long history, and she may feel threathened by it. I think you should go easy with this friendship, cause it can cause a lot of trouble

David: She just needs to get used to. I can't just stop seeing my friends

Sofia: Just be gentle and give some attention to her as well. No one likes to feel ignored

David: Well, we have to go, granny...

Sofia: Oh, are you going out?

David: We are gonna get something for dinner. Maybe pizza or some burgers

Sofia: Why don't you order, dear? Or send Tom to get it

Olivia: We have to go, ma'am... It's a dare, we lost a game so we are getting the food on our own

Sofia: Drive safe!

David: We will!

Olivia: We should get some ice cream while we are at it

David: Ok, but you are paying. I have a wedding to plan!

Olivia: Can't you just go to the city hall?

David: Nah, my family frowns upon that

Olivia: What are you? Some sort of Prince or something?

David: Kind of...

Olivia: Sucks to be you! Ok, I'll buy, but only because you could get me out of jail one day

David: *laughs* Or send you to one!

Olivia: You wouldn't dare!

[matan4il]

Alice!!!!!! I hope you're having a lovely day today no matter what!!!!

Hi beloved! Thank you SO MUCH for your sweet and kind message! *hugs* I'm having one of those days where the vertigo is strong enough that I feel useless, but not so strong that I can afford to lie down and rest. But I got to see my sis the other day. I haven't had quality time with just her for almost 2 years, so I can't tell you how good it was.

And we went to see a lovely night spectacle at Metzada (English transcription: Masada), which is an ancient Jewish fortress and castle built by a series of Jewish kings on top of a mountain in the Judean Desert. It was the last stronghold before the Roman colonialist occupiers vanquished my ancestors' rebellion against the Romans' religious oppression and impossible taxes 2000 years ago. That's when most Jews were expelled from the Land of Israel and taken to be slaves across the Roman Empire. The tragedy of Metzada isn't just in the story of what happened to the 967 people besieged by the Roman soldiers on this mount, it's in symbolizing the destruction that the Jewish people have suffered for generations following our expulsion from our ancestral homeland. Because the truth is the Holocaust would not have happened if we hadn't been a vilified, even demonized minority for centuries in Europe.

The night spectacle was really beautifully done, very evocative, and they even had several original songs composed for it and performed by some of Israel's most popular singers. In case you're curious, here's a snippet of one of these songs, Yehuda is Lost. I love it!

(side note: Metzada also contains the ruins of a synagogue, I had my bat mitzvah ceremony there. At the time, I remember we were told this is the oldest synagogue in the world to still have some of its ruins in tact. Today I know that's not completely accurate, though it's not far from it either. The oldest known ruins of a synagogue are in the Land of Israel, but inaccessible to Jews. After that, the three oldest synagogues in the world are indeed the three that are known to have been used by the rebelling Jews, including the one in Metzada)

So yes, this is the good I'm choosing to focus on right now, that I got to see my sis and we got to go together to Metzada and see this night spectacle. ^u^ How are you, lovely? Sending all the hugs and love! (as always, here is my ask tag) xoxox