#i've yet to find a good bootleg

[nonthespianswontunderstand]

Seeing Sweeney Todd for the first time without knowing the plot, and just being in utter shock during intermission

i've yet to watch that-

[jimintomystery]

MST3K's most wanted

I've been organizing my Mystery Science Theater 3000 collection, so I've become preoccupied with the handful of episodes that are not easily available, and the reasons why. In case in anyone else is interested, I thought I'd share what I've learned.

For our purposes we'll be focusing on the ten seasons that aired on cable, from 1989 to 1999. With the post-2017 episodes, it's trivial to purchase them on home video or streaming. And the pre-cable stuff, from KTMA, is widely available as bootleg footage, which is probably about as good as you're ever going to get. But the episodes from the cable era have been notoriously difficult to re-release, and require special attention.

Of the 176 MST3K episodes that aired on cable, 166 have been released on home video, and 145 are available for streaming/download on the Gizmoplex. As someone who's been trying to collect the whole series since the 1990s, I think that's pretty impressive. But there are 40 episodes that have been particularly tricky. Let's take a look, won't you?

Currently available on the Gizmoplex, but never on home video (1):

913 - Quest of the Delta Knights

As I understand it, nobody was sure who owned the rights to this movie, or how to contact them, for years. The situation has only recently been cleared up, perhaps too late for a DVD release.

Currently available on the Gizmoplex, but out of print on home video (8):

203 - Jungle Goddess

317 - Viking Women and the Sea Serpent

319 - War of the Colossal Beast

510 - The Painted Hills

619 - Red Zone Cuba

806 - The Undead

808 - The She-Creature

912 - The Screaming Skull

It looks like all of these went out of print due to being on a set where a different episode's rights expired. Theoretically Shout Factory could re-release any of them in a "Lost and Found" set, but that may not be cost-effective as people move away from collecting physical media.

Currently available on home video and MST3K's official YouTube, but not on the Gizmoplex (1):

615 - Kitten with a Whip (Vol. 25 DVD, 2012)

Kitten is one of the Universal movies that could only be licensed for physical media. And yet, it's the only one I can find on the official YouTube channel. Beats me why that is.

Currently available on home video, but not on the Gizmoplex (16):

401 - Space Travelers (Vol. 32 DVD, 2015)

522 - Teen-Age Crime Wave (Vol. 33 DVD, 2015)

524 - 12 to the Moon (Vol. 35 DVD, 2016)

601 - Girls Town (Vol. 39 DVD, 2017)

605 - Colossus and the Headhunters (Vol. 38 DVD, 2017)

614 - San Francisco International (Vol. 32 DVD, 2015)

704 - The Incredible Melting Man (Vol. 36 DVD, 2016)

801 - Revenge of the Creature (Vol. 25 DVD, 2012)

802 - The Leech Woman (25th Anniversary Edition DVD, 2013)

803 - The Mole People (Vol. 26 DVD, 2013)

804 - The Deadly Mantis (Vol. 27 DVD, 2013)

805 - The Thing That Couldn't Die (Vol. 29 DVD, 2013)

814 - Riding With Death (Vol. 36 DVD, 2016)

815 - Agent for H.A.R.M (Vol. 33 DVD, 2015)

901 - The Projected Man (Vol. 30 DVD, 2014)

1013 - Diabolik (Vol. 39 DVD, 2017)

I was able to find the DVD sets listed above on Shout Factory's website. As far as I know, they'll remain in print for the foreseeable future, but there's no way to know how long that will last.

The general pattern with these episodes is that the movies are owned by major studios that would only license them for physical media. Columbia owns Teen-Age Crime Wave and 12 to the Moon. MGM owns Girls Town and The Incredible Melting Man. Paramount owns Diabolik. But the big player here is Universal, which controls the rights to Space Travelers, San Francisco International, Revenge of the Creature, Leech Woman, Mole People, Deadly Mantis, Thing That Couldn't Die, Riding With Death, Agent for H.A.R.M., and Projected Man.

The odd man out here is Colossus and the Headhunters; I can't find any info on who owns the rights to this film, which may be part of the problem.

The real hard cases, the stickiest of wickets, are below...

Released on home video, but now out of print (5):

212 - Godzilla vs. Megalon (Vol. 10 DVD, 2006)

309 - The Amazing Colossal Man (VHS, 1996)

910 - The Final Sacrifice (Vol. 17 DVD, 2010)

1001 - Soultaker (Vol. 14 DVD, 2009)

1012 - Squirm (Turkey Day Collection DVD, 2014)

Megalon and Colossal Man were both recalled when rights issues came up after they were released. Oops. These were produced by Rhino, back before Shout Factory took over.

The Final Sacrifice is particularly tough to find, even unofficially, because director Tjardus Greidanus is very aggressive about tracking down download links. I always figured someone was similarly possessive of Soultaker, since it's clearly a passion project, but that's purely my speculation.

The Turkey Day DVD set is still available on Amazon at a reasonable price, so Squirm is still relatively accessible for now.

Never released on home video or streaming (9):

201 - Rocketship X-M

213 - Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

311 - It Conquered the World

416 - Fire Maidens of Outer Space

418 - Attack of the the Eye Creatures

807 - Terror from the Year 5000

809 - I was a Teenage Werewolf

905 - The Deadly Bees

906 - The Space Children

In 2017, Shout released its final (?) MST3K DVD collection, which included Satellite Dishes, a compilation of host segments from episodes that "may never get a legitimate release." This included the nine listed above, as well as The Amazing Colossal Man and Quest for the Delta Knights. Of course, Delta Knights eventually got a digital-only release, which is cause for a glimmer of hope. But the others are probably tougher nuts to crack.

Wade Williams owned the rights to Rocketship X-M and had a particular sentimental attachment to the film. His death in 2023 may make it easier to negotiate with his estate, but I wouldn't count on that being a swift process.

Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster are part of a prestigious franchise, and it's remarkable MST3K got away with riffing on Godzilla movies in the first place. I get the impression that Japanese culture doesn't particularly appreciate the sort of mockery MST3K is known for, so the rights to these two movies may be a long, long shot. Then again I used to think there was no hope of for the Gamera episodes too.

Fire Maidens, Deadly Bees, and Space Children are owned by Olive Films, and currently licensed to Paramount. It's possible a deal can be made later on, but not until the current arrangement expires.

The major bugbear for MST3K fandom is Susan Hart, the widow of American International Pictures co-founder James Nicholson. One way or another the AIP catalog was split up and Hart laid claim to several of their films, including Amazing Colossal Man, It Conquered the World, Eye Creatures, Terror from the Year 5000, and Teenage Werewolf. Hart's price for licensing her movies is very high, and it seems Shout has given up negotiating with her. I suppose the situation could change when she passes away, but I'd feel rather silly hoping for an old woman to die just so I can pay 8 bucks to watch robots laugh at a werewolf movie.

In conclusion, I've already purchased all the movies available on the Gizmoplex (I got most of them in a Kickstarter reward package), and the 31 that aren't available there can be obtained by, ahem, other means. So it's a great time to be an MST3K fan, and I'm still amazed how easy it is to watch the show nowadays.

[sinkovia]

Laundry room

Kyle Garrick x GN!Reader

Fluff, meet weird.

Masterlist

As you diligently took notes on your laptop with headphones on, the rhythmic clatter of keys beneath your fingertips accompanied the soft hum of music in your ears. In your peripheral, you noticed your roommate and their boyfriend playfully rolling over in bed, their laughter muffled by the large blanket they threw over themselves.

Maintaining focus on the last bit of your homework, you highered the volume of your music to drown out any distractions. However, as you typed in the final answer, the music transitioned to the next song, revealing hushed breaths and a soft whine emanating from under the blanket. Grimacing, you closed your laptop, slipping on your shoes and grabbing a hoodie.

Clearing your throat, you announced, "Gonna head out for a bit."

A breathless "okay" escaped your roommate as you left, and a twinge of regret lingered in the air. Closing the door behind you with a huff, you checked the time on your phone and cursed under your breath. It dawned on you how late it was, and with everything closed, finding sanctuary in the library was out of the question.

Cursing your luck, you strolled down the hallway, and when you turned the corner, you noticed the laundry room lights still on. Recalling the vending machines and a bench inside, you approached the door, sighing with relief as it swung open.

You halt your steps upon noticing a guy occupying the only bench in the room. His head leans back against the wall, eyes closed.

Did he fall asleep while waiting for his clothes?

Approaching cautiously, you take a seat beside him. His eyes shoot open, revealing recognition upon a closer look. It's Gaz, the guy who lives in the dorm room across from yours, often seen when leaving for your literature class with the same professor.

You offer a slight smile. "Gaz, right?" He sits up, hands finding refuge in the pockets of his hoodie. "Yeah, you're Y/n, right? You're in Mr. Alvarez's literature class." You smile and nod, glancing towards the washing machines and dryers, none of which are currently running.

"Waiting on your clothes?" 

Gaz awkwardly laughs, "No, uh, I was taking a nap in my dorm and woke up to my roommate giving his girlfriend backshots." Your jaw slightly drops before erupting into laughter.

“I came here since nothing else was open,” he explained, brushing his hand over his face as laughter bubbled up between you.

“If it makes you feel better, I'm here for the same reason. At least I can say that my roommate was nice enough to cover themselves with a blanket,” this prompted Gaz to burst into laughter. "There's no fucking way."

Both of you erupted into laughter, finding humor in the shared awkwardness. As you both calmed down, faint moans from the room next to the laundry caught your attention. Gaz's jaw dropped, and wide-eyed, he looked at you. You covered your mouth, and once again, you both descended into fits of laughter.

“Bloody hell, is today national fuck me day? Why the hell is everyone in eachothers guts" Gaz wiped away a tear that threatened to fall from his laughter.

"It's like they're competing for the title of the loudest couple," you muttered between laughs.

"If only there was a medal for that," Gaz said, leaning over and holding his stomach.

"Wanna make the most of our escape? I've got my laptop; we could watch a movie or something?"

Gaz grinned, "Sounds like a plan. I'll grab some snacks from the vending machine, my treat. We can drown out the brothel next door with a scary movie?" You thought for a moment humming to yourself quietly.

“I was thinking Barbie if you havent seen it? I know this pretty good bootleg website” Gaz with a wide grin on his face sofly clapped his hands together. “Sounds perfect, I havent seen it yet.”

And so, you both made your way to the vending machine, sharing jokes and turning an initially awkward situation into a chance for an impromptu movie night in the laundry room.

[splashink-games]

Cassette Beasts?

Cassette Beasts is a creature-collecting game by Bytten Studio! Record monsters on tapes, become a Ranger, and find the way off of New Wirral in this amazing adventure!

Spoilers below the cut!!

So I had a plan to write this review before I even finished the game. It was just that good. But! I managed to hold off until I at least finished the main game. Next goal: 100% and DLC! And also buying the OST when I have the chance.

Now, I'm not putting this off until the middle of the review: every musical track in this game is a certified banger. I absolutely loved the music of the game. As one person put it (while I was looking for the OST), I just didn't get tired of the music. And that's a pretty big win for a game where you have so, so many encounters and only a handful of tracks to play.

The way they implement the music is also impressive because it's narratively important. The lyrics work their way in when a fusion happens and during big story battles. The town theme's music plays when you're indoors. Plus the lyrics just feel right with its tones and atmosphere. Also the difference between the few main battle themes is just enough for one to feel more tense/exciting than the others. Just an overall great thing they have going on with the audio.

Okay with that out of the way!

Cassette Beasts is a solid game, actually pretty high tier.

Mechanically, I've seen people compare it to Pokemon. I feel like it's like a mix of Pokemon and Persona. You can record the monsters, remaster (evolve) them at five stars, with some having having special evolution requirements. Monsters can show up as bootlegs, where they're a type other than its base type, which is just like shiny hunting but more (cause there's like 12 types). And I've already killed a plastic bootleg by accident...

The moves (stickers) are mix and match, mostly according to typing. I'm pretty into it cause I love giving my party members all sorts of type coverage. I haven't particularly gone into finding weird strategies yet other than AP Refund, but I can see some cool ones thanks to needing to battle all 12 Ranger Captains.

And then you can fuse! Which I thought was interesting, and it adds an ace to go to when you're in a pinch. But you fusing means that wild monsters (and other rangers) can fuse too. Those provide some fun challenges and opportunities to find bootlegs, plus progression in post-game.

Did I mention that this game is also like a Metroidvania? Capturing certain monsters gives up to 6 overworld movement abilities and I think that's pretty neat. All of them have their uses and none of them are niche, which is a win.

The story was pretty interesting! Dropping in onto a mysterious island and trying to find a way back home is nice and simple and all the detail added around it make it engaging. The Archangels are wildly uncomfortable which I didn't expect and I loved it. Despite loving it, it still did come out of nowhere but greatly forgiven because it was right at the start (and not some random turn in the middle).

The pacing was a bit off for me though because I got like 5 out of 8 song pieces before I even defeated 4 captains or even met all the partner characters. I also don't know how relationship progress works other than fight things and rest. Thinking about it now, there's probably a reason why there a speedrun timer in that you don't have to play through all the content (8/9 archangels, no captains?), I guess.

I liked the references to all sorts of topics throughout the story and I think it's pretty interesting for the characters to be from different timelines. It makes it easy to explain weird inconsistencies.

Funny thing I did by accident for end game's story: I switched out Meredith's Regensea with an Aeroboros cause I wanted her starter in my party. And boy did that choice bite back later lol.

Graphics are also solid. The 3D world with 2D sprites reminds me of Octopath Traveller. I appreciate the non-pixel portrait art for the characters, but I would've liked it either way. The designs of the monsters and the characters are all great! Honestly, I should take some notes from them since even if there's 15+ characters, they still all have very specific designs and personalities to match.

The detail in the world is great too, like the light reflecting off the puddle or the fog that rolls in and the rain. So like weather in general.

Also, as a note just for me, I liked the fonts and font effects that they used. Very cool.

Cassette Beasts is a quality creature-collecting game! If you need another Pokemon/Digimon/Persona, here's a game for you. Or if you just want a cool turn-based RPG with cool music, that's cool too.

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

[kateswallofweird]

written with smallville!oliver queen in mind but anything goes. oliver queen x you ; wc will be added later

oliver queen, notoriously rich playboy (and the green arrow behind closed doors), is not amused when he meets you, the nosy reporter from the daily planet who doesn't have an ounce of self-preservation.

the first time oliver meets you is as the green arrow. slinging through the streets of star city, he's surprised to find some metropolis journalist so far from home. but more than that, he's shocked to see just how careless you are when you're chasing a lead. it's like you don't even care if you get hurt!

"for your information, i totally had that handled." you dusted off your pants and waved away the outstretched hand he offered.

he rolled his eyes under his mask. "you almost got your ass handed to you by that fence, which might i add is electrified."

"and that concerns bootleg peter pan because?"

at that he scoffed. "i'm—"

"the green arrow aka arrogant asshole vigilante, yeah i know."

"arrogant asshole is taking it a little bit far," he deadpanned.

you ignored him. "listen, i'm sure there's some damsel in actual distress out there for you to help, but i've got a story to chase on queen industries, mr. glorified leprechaun, so i'll take my leave now."

he watches you leave and a very tiny part of him smiles at the thought of you despite the sarcasm and biting insults.

the second time he runs into you, oliver is at a charity gala that queen industries is hosting to boost their publicity (or rather, their public image which has taken a dip in light of recent news). he sips leisurely on the glass of champagne as his eyes trail after you (because he wouldn't admit it, but you looked damn good in what you were wearing tonight).

"mr. queen, sorry to interrupt, but i'm with the daily planet," you flash your business card to him and try not to act surprised when he actually takes it, "i've just got a few questions for you."

"and this wouldn't be about the collaboration between queen industries and luthercorp on meteorite technology, would it? because that isn't public knowledge yet, and considering that we recently had a security breach," he looked at you squarely, "it'd be awfully convenient for you to have insider information regarding said breach."

you tensed under his gaze. technically, breaking and entering wasn't criminal unless you got caught, which you hadn't been. plus, it's not like you stole anything, you'd just been . . . exploring queen industries' laboratories for a scoop on their experimenting.

"i have my sources," you settled on saying. "unless you're accusing me of—"

he scoffed, and you frowned. it sounded familiar.

"no, i wouldn't be so much of an arrogant asshole to accuse you of such a thing," he quipped sarcastically, the comment slipping out before he could think twice.

that was definitely familiar.

"now that you mention it mr. queen, how are you so sure it wasn't that green masked vigilante that no one seems to know anything about that broke in?" you pressed on, gauging his reaction, "mr. glorified leprechaun could have been the cause of your security breach."

he didn't say anything nor give you the satisfaction you were looking for, but you'd gotten all the reaction you needed.

"i'll be seeing you around, mr. queen."

"that's not likely."

the third time oliver sees you is when his mask slips off his face from all the blood. he'd stopped in an alleyway briefly to catch his breath; he should have known better than to let his guard down.

the lit cigarette between your fingertips fell to the ground as your eyes widened with recognition.

"i knew it," you breathed. "oh, i fucking knew it."

and you're all but barreling over to him before he can stop you from coming any closer. he's bleeding from all over, bruised from the night's patrol, and he doesn't want to hurt you. not to mention, he's feeling faint—dangerously faint.

so he catches you in his arms just as you catch him.

"you can't tell anyone," he says before passing out leaving you with one hell of a problem on your hands.

i'm feeling a part 2 in the works

[9leaguesofmirrors]

My Favourite Reece Shearsmith Characters

So it's Reece Shearsmith's birthday today, so I decided to celebrate this by sharing some of my favourite characters played by this fantastically talented actor

These are in no particular order

Gregory Brewster - Him Indoors

Him Indoors is a short film about a serial killer with agoraphobia. Not only is the premise very interesting, Reece delivers a chilling yet very entertaining performance as the main character. It's on YouTube if you want to watch it, which I highly reccomend you do!

Tommy - Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

This HAD to be on the list! Reece's performance as Tommy is heartbreaking, we watch a man seems to put-together and serious slowly fall apart and lose control of his calm façade - impeccable work

Sean Stone - Chasing Shadows

Admittedly, I don't know where the watch the full show, but I have seen clips and I knew I had to put it on this list because of Reece's portrayal of an autistic person. You can tell he put a lot of thought and research into it in order to give a realistic performance, which is a testament to his dedication and how much he truly cares about the roles he plays and who he's representing

Tyler - Riddle Of The Sphinx SPOILERS BELOW

If there's one thing Reece is good at, it's how to play a chilling villain. Everything about Tyler is unnerving and he manages to be terrifying without being loud or angry all the time. It's measured and the emotion builds and builds - fantastic work!

Joseph Lisgoe - The League Of Gentlemen

I've mentioned before that the debt collectors were underused, and I simply had to talk about how extraordinary Reece's performance as Lisgoe was. He completely dives into the roles he plays and this one was no exception, not even a light smashing on his closest friend stops him from carrying on a scene (just check out the outtakes!), he simply embodies the part and delivers a performance that terrifies the cast, crew and the audience

Laurence - Merrily Merrily SPOILERS BELOW

Merrily Merrily is an Inside No. 9 episode that I can never rewatched because of how empty it made me feel - and I mean that in the best way possible! Laurence is wracked with pain over the loss of his late partner, and Reece delivers such a subtle yet haunting performance that I don't think I'll ever stop thinking about it

Ross Gaines - The League of Gentlemen

Ross is such a fun character because of how manipulative, calculating and cold he is. Not only does it set him apart from the other inhabitants of Royston Vasey, it makes his scenes with Pauline all the more tense and entertaining - and Reece really does deliver in the role. I'm glad they decided to go with this casting choice

Aiden - Thinking Out Loud

Like with Laurence, Reece delivers a hauntingly stellar performance. What makes this one really special is that it's a monologue. There's nobody for him to bounce off of or react to, he has to reach those emotions himself. And, as always, he nails it

Ollie Plimsolls - The League Of Gentlemen

I've said before that I think Ollie is one of the most cleverly written League characters and I stand by that. As a representation of the Saviour Complex and self-righteousness of people in theatre, Ollie is a character that should be easy to hate... but because of Reece's expert comedic timing and delivery, he ends up being so funny that you can't help but laugh every time he's onscreen

SPECIAL MENTION: Gilbert - Betty Blue Eyes

Reece Shearsmith said in an interview that he wasn't a great singer. Reece Shearsmith is a liar. Don't believe me? Listen to The Kind Of Man I Am from Betty Blue Eyes and thank me later

Also, if you can find it, there's a short bootleg of him in The Producers which is good too!

Of course, this are just a few of his performances and he's never delivered a bad one - whether he's playing a comedic character like Archie in The Bill or a more serious one like in Borley Rectory. And we haven't even touched on his writing skills, I can't wait to see what he does next!

[tsintotwo]

(Part 5/ Bonus part of 4)

Aight. After the last post I totally had to check myself because I was under the impression that Junkhearts was the only movie of Tom’s I hadn’t yet seen, but apparently there was another one called Three Way Junction, AND I found another cameo (someone add these and Hello Apartment on Tom’s wiki, I can’t figure out a way to edit tables on there) (Edit: Took care of it.) A few wonderful people got in touch with this info, PLUS a bootleg link to watch the 1984 production Tom was in!! Just, THANK YOU folks, and you bet your ass I watched everything. Let me talk a bit about that before I move on to the links.

Junkhearts (2011)- War vet very kindly offers homeless girl shelter in his house, but her bad crowd (including her bf, played by Tom) comes along and invades his life. Tom is a Northern Irish boy in this (complete with the accent) and is the kind of dude who would walk into a situation and abuse everyone and everything. It blows my mind that this irl smol bean did so many disturbing/disturbed characters and did them SO well. He really makes the angel-faced-devil thing work. This movie is dark, and deals with heavy matters like PTSD and drugs. Be advised. Good movie tho.

Double Date (2017)- Do NOT ask me anything about this one, man, idk. Tom in a beard, hat, eyes rimmed in black liner, and with a fake rhinestone tear for 1:30 mins. I didn’t even hear what he said.

Three Way Junction (2018)- English architect (Tom) goes soul searching to Namibia, everyone he meets acts wiser than him, then he gets stranded in the desert. I will call this movie formulaic, but before that, let me acknowledge I was just getting comfortable, then it stepped on my throat and left me agonizingly invested for a good amount of time. The desert-stranded scenes, Tom almost dying from thirst and hunger, body switching off, face peeling from the sun, hallucinating, all alone… it was hard to watch, y’all (in a good way, I suppose). Tom gives it his all and it pays off, because by the end I wanted to scream along with him. The very end is, again, formulaic.

1984 on Broadway (2017)- Winston in the book: I am a 39 y/o gray dude,  oppressed and depressed, listen to my musings and experience about politics

Me: Of course! I am intellectually stimulated!

Tom’s Winston: *spits aggressively*

Me: Fu** me, daddy

Trust Tom fuckin Sturridge to make Winston Smith SEXY I AM SO UPSET (AND HORNY) *deep breath* okay. Olivia Wilde broke Tom’s nose acting this, he broke her tailbone. People fainted, threw up, and left the theatre. Need I say more about how intense this production was? And I abfuckingsolutely loved it, oh my GOD. This was a brilliant adaptation of the classic George Orwell novel imo, the changes they made were very clever. Tom is the MC, and in the beginning, he is confused and is just reacting to things rather than acting. But he gets more and more into it and then comes the last act- graphic torture scene of him that they recreated from the book. I understand why people left the room, y’all. I mean, I KNEW what would happen and by the end even I was like ‘fuck me, fuck y’all, fuck this, what the fuck’, and I could PAUSE. But this is how 1984 should be, imo. I’m not saying this just because I’m a simp for Tom: the work he’s done for this is extraordinary. It takes a special kind of actor to even attempt something like it.

[Edit: I've discovered Tom also appeared in Brothers of the Head (2005), a mockumentary-movie about conjoined twins who became rockstars. Tom might be in it for just the ten seconds around 55:00 that I could find him in.]

Now that’s all done, let’s move on to the links. I know most people may have seen most of these, but still may be of help to a few? And I’m making this for my reference as much as for anyone else anyway, so.

Interviews/Being Filmed:

1. We all know there have been sooo many interviews from the Sandman junket. Some of my favorite moments:

a. Tom talking about his experience in the glass cage here (4:15), here (2:00) and here (4:12)

b. Tom shows us (11:34) his button brickphone. An aside: I think he at least had a smartphone at one point- you can see him tapping one here (:10) and he mentioned in the giggly Sea Wall interview that he browsed Wiki on his way there, so… anyway, point is tho, it’s none of our fuckin business

c. Vivienne praises Tom so much that he clenches his fists and is out of breath. Aside: When people he’s less familiar with drop praises, he has no reaction. Like, not even awkwardness, zero reaction except a half smile, e.g. here (4:43), here (4:04) and here (10:11). I just think it’s a funny shy boi thing XD

d. Totally RANDOM, but I love his eyeroll (9:00)

e. Unexpectedly deep and amazing answer to what nightmare Tom would give other people (plus everything else tbh)

f. Tom insisting that eating only within 4 out of 24 hrs and exercising for 5 hrs each day for 3 months was ‘easy’ compared to actually playing Morpheus. This man is insane.

g. Tom stole the sand pouch and is so shifty about it lmao

h. I said this before: Tom and Morpheus are still totally separate in my mind, so seeing this BTS when he’s dressed as Morpheus but speaks as Tom is a reality-shifting experience for me every time. Also, in natural light the subtle eye makeup is really popping. God, this man would KILL it with smokey eyes!

2. I love animated talkers who are also articulate, they tend to be the best storytellers. Tom being just that in these Orphans (5:12) and Sea Wall (37:26) interviews (I recommend watching Tom in both in full, tbh)

3. Linking this Orphans interview because a. His eloquence and wisdom shine through and b. He’s looking sort of devastatingly pretty

4. Tom can play the piano!

5. Never seen a Brit giggle so much (I know I already gif-ed this but you gotta hear the SOUNDS)

6. Englishman struggles to speak English for half a minute straight

7. Tom’s workout vid for Sandman. Not to ogle, to appreciate the unholy amount of effort. You can also see the inconspicuous S tattoo on his back (for his ex, I guess). This man is wearing a hat in the gym... hair too long?

8. Far from the Madding Crowd interview because I need y’all to see this look

9. I like this 1984 interview ‘cause it’s interesting, been edited in a creepy way matching the content they’re talking about +Tom talks about not using a smartphone

10. Adding this to show how much Tom has grown, as we all grow. The ‘romantic’ experience he describes here, while startlingly honest, I can’t see him talking about now. He was a bit rough around the edges, a little awkward with his presence. I find that endearing and relatable, honestly, ‘cause I am VERY different in the way I present myself, speak, communicate now from a few yrs ago. It’s a process.

Fanvids:

Some of my faves here: 

1.      Best Sandman/Morpheus tributes 1, 2, 3, 4. Angsty king Morpheus. Cool Morpheus. 

2.      AMAZING Morpheus x Jessamy 1, 2 and 3

3.      Morpheus x Johanna 1 and 2

4.      Morpheus x Calliope 1, 2 and 3

5.      Me: I ain’t no Twilight fan and watched TVD only for Damon, vampires can suck it away form me. Also me: Watches this 50 times in a row. Edward x Morpheus

6.      Bruce Wayne x Morpheus

7.      WTF is going on and why do I love it: AU/Crossovers/Fancasts with Morpheus- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

8.      Will x Emma, Waiting for Forever

9.      Best Jake x Tess, Sweetbitter, 1 , 2 , 3, 4

10.      Best Alex x Nigel, Like Minds, 1 and 2

11.      Effie Gray x John Everett Millais, 1 and 2

12. + Tom in Remainder 

13. Carlo Marx, Carl (3 Way Junction), King Henry VI, Danny (Junkhearts)

Voice Work:

1.      Sea Wall audio

2.      Someone isolated Tom’s voice from the music in the Netflix podcast

3.      Tom reading two letters. This one by Henry James is emotional and I expected his passionate reading, but this one by Mark Twain- Tom was HILARIOUS! Please make him do more comedy.

4. Tom reading Wordsworth’s ‘A Complaint’

5. Tom as Morpheus- playlist of his dialogues isolated for each episode 

Miscellaneous:

1.      1984 bootleg (480p)

2.      Context: Someone made a t-shirt with Tom’s head on the boobs and wore it, which RPatz saw and mentioned in an interview. The whole thing is bonkers. Maybe I was having a slow day but I laughed for a solid minute at this lmao (but I’m a whole adult-adult writing 1500+ words posts about Tom, so maybe I should shut my mouth).

3.   (Later addition): Masterlist of fics I wrote. The Sandman/Morpheus and Sweetbitter/Jake.

I might be adding more if I remember new things, but this is it for now. I actually enjoyed writing these posts. It’s been real, folks.

[pardonmydelays]

What musicals (current or past) would you like to see? And cast albums that are on your list to listen to?

ANON, I LOVE THIS QUESTION SO MUCH! THANK YOU!

so, the ones i really want to see at the moment (i'm not sure if you mean live or just bootlegs, but let's say both) &/or listen to (this is gonna be super chaotic i apologize in advance):

hadestown with jordan & lola, please... i love hadestown, i love eva & reeve but JORDAN & LOLA! 😭 they are something else, ok?

i am literally dying to see waitress live & i know it's possible in poland, so maybe this year?

hamilton, but for that i have to visit my sister in the uk

tick tick boom, because i only saw the movie, i wanna see the play as well

new york, new york because i was obsessively listening to the cast album last year so it's time to finally watch it

preludes, but i don't think this will ever happen, there are literally no recordings of that one & i am obsessed with the album... (let me just say dave malloy is criminally underrated)

anastasia is actually first on my list cause i haven't seen/listened to it yet

you guys are gonna hate me for this, but i haven't seen/listened to wicked yet... i always thought that maybe it's not exactly my thing but i also feel like i need to give it a try, cause it's a classic that everybody loves

i wanna see the great comet live please that would cure my broken soul (or just give me the bootleg with phillipa soo lol i don't think it exists)

i also need to listen to the rest of dave malloy's musicals, cause i only listened to those you can find on spotify (so ghost quartet, the great comet, preludes & octet - would love to see all of them live, especially ghost quartet, that would be an experience) - clown bible is first on my list

once - i've never seen the movie or the play but i absolutely love the song falling slowly from it so i guess i would love the musical as well

camelot with phillipa soo, because she's my wife & i would die for her

but also into the woods with phillipa soo because i couldn't find it anywhere & i don't even know if it was ever recorded

from the new ones i'd really love to see the notebook cause i've heard a lot of good things about it & i also love the movie so i bet the musical must be really good

also, the great gatsby with eva noblezada... my second wife. i really, really need to see this one

...those are just off the top of my head, but i am always open for suggestions, if you think i should watch/listen to something cause i may like it, just let me know!

[steampunkforever]

Looking back at the latest run of movies I've filmposted on, you might be tempted to think I'm only watching the good stuff these days. Let me dispel any thought that I've abandoned horrendous cinema as we tackle what I believe to be the reason George Lucas is the way he is: the Star Wars Holiday Special.

For the uninitiated (people who became Star Wars fans around the time the term "Reylo" was minted) let me set the stage. It's 1977, and the world has been changed by the arrival of Jedi to the silver screen. Lucas et al. can now afford more matte paintings than ever before, and are busy planning out the thrilling sequels to carry on the Star Wars saga ("Planning the Star Wars sequels" is a sentence that will not be uttered again in studio conference rooms until 2017, at which JJ Abrams will precede the sentence with the words "We will not be"). CBS approaches Lucas with a revolutionary concept: worldbuilding for the Star Wars universe by developing discrete self-contained stories through the medium of Television (the book of bobos, coming soon).

Lucas says yes, develops an allegedly solid script off his idea for an all-wookie movie, and then will not budge on his idea for a movie entirely focused on a species of alien that grunts with no subtitles. He's just put out one of the biggest movies to hit the screen ever, and furthermore is a man of great artistic vision. With Lucas at the helm this is set to be a hit.

Except Lucas needs to move studios to fit all the matte paintings he can now afford. So Lucas drops the story in the hands of the ever capable CBS and heads to the matte painting store, leaving them to find another director after the first guy quit after finishing the Jefferson Starship concert and "Bea Arthur sings at the Cantina" scenes.

Lucas' trust was, to be blunt, misplaced. CBS' finished cut was simply terrible (with the exception of a charming animated segment), and Lucas even offered to pay them to keep the abomination off air. They declined, but the Holiday Special was only aired once, at which point all copies were destroyed at Lucas' behest. At this point Lucas is at the top of his creative game and we haven't been subject to anything like Indiana Jones 4 yet, so you can imagine what a blow this is to the man who has yet to mastermind Jar Jar Binks.

Much like the preservation of HBO originals in the present day, the Holiday Special was only preserved and propagated through outright piracy, to the point that Holiday Special bootlegs became a known fandom trope. And so this week, for the second time in my life, I watched a rip of the Star Wars Holiday Special made somewhere around Baltimore on that fateful night in 1978, slotting in right before Wonder Woman. It was bad, yes, just not spectacularly so.

There is no question in my mind: The Star Wars Holiday Special killed George Lucas' directing career more so than the runaway success of the first movie.

In my writings on film, there runs a throughline (often utilizing Lucas as a prime example) that discourages sequels. I'll admit that this comes predominantly from my upbringing in a world of shared universes and IP sprawl, but it's a pretty agreed upon point that A) serialization only serves as a chance to tarnish an otherwise solid first film and B) new, discrete stories are more interesting. That said, sequels are not bad, and my analysis of Star Wars does not lay blame on the fact that we got to see what happened after the Yavin Award Ceremony.

You see, beyond being bad, The Holiday Special taught Lucas all the wrong things with its failure. Artistic control is paramount, yes, but what his experience with CBS taught Lucas was that in order to secure his legacy, he had to chain himself to the Carbonite slab that was Star Wars and micromanage it for the rest of his life to ensure the world he'd created would maintain the quality he intended for it.

Looking at the state of Star Wars in the years after Lucas cut the series loose, I don't think this was an incorrect statement, but a singular devotion to guiding his store-brand Flash Gordon empire is what led to a 22 year hiatus between directorial efforts. Even after this, as much as I personally find the prequels to be misunderstood, they lacked the same spark Lucas had, making me wonder what he could have put out in his most creatively charged years had he not lashed himself to the helm of a franchise that's abandoned most of the work he spent years tailoring to his vision in favor of Baby Yoda.

The Star Wars Holiday Special is truly what separates Lucas from Coppola. Without that harsh lesson in trusting Star Wars to someone else, Lucas might've focused on directing future projects of his own rather than managing those of people expanding his space wizard universe.

Or maybe if you'd swapped their places Coppola would have Don Corleone meet up with cheerful Gungan Jar Jar Binks.

Of course this is all conjecture. Lucas has put out some of his best work as a writer and story lead working on projects like Indiana Jones and Willow, but it's sad to see one of the most influential film workers in the world, whose work I truly admire, with only a half dozen directing credits despite having all the matte painting money he could ever desire to make passion project films. Coppola went broke, but at least 2/3rds of his filmography didn't get coopted to sell Disney streaming packages.

Then again if I'd just put out three revolutionary films in a row and then saw what CBS did with my high concept wookie script, maybe I wouldn't be seeing things so clearly.

We're about a dozen paragraphs too long for a filmpost on the Star Wars Holiday Special, so I'll wrap up now: I can't say I recommend it.

[gibbearish]

"Am I Trans?" UQuiz Masterpost

hey there folks, my pinned was getting a bit unwieldy so i figured itd be prudent to set up this landing pad for uquiz visitors. this is not the FAQ, that is still in the works, this is just the intro stuff moved to its own post.

so, with all that out of the way, welcome! my asks and messages are currently OPEN and response times are SLOW. i will be updating this post on a regular basis, so if that says open then you can rest assured it is still current. or if it's not and i forgot to update it, that's on me, not you.

before anything else, i do just want to make it extremely, deeply, incredibly, achingly, transparently clear that i am not in any way a certified / licensed gender therapist. i do not have any training, nor is there an ethics board with which you can take up a complaint if i end up misreading things. i am simply a trans person on the internet who noticed a couple years ago that there were pretty much no "am i trans" quizzes that i could find that werent uhhh let's say unhelpful, and so i made my own, using my own feelings and experiences as a starting point. i may misread you, i may project myself or previous visitors onto you, i may get frustrated with you, i may be wrong about you. i ask that you try to give me grace, to remember that i am human, and to proceed at your own risk.

i take these conversations very seriously and want to be as thorough as possible, but that takes a good deal of work / effort / energy to do well, and as i am currently over a year into a massive depressive episode, that all compounds into long response times. which i do understand can be frustrating, feeling like you're waiting for someone's permission to be yourself (although if that is how it makes you feel, consider what that might say about the answer - i am not actually holding you back from anything by not responding. you can be trans, you don't need my permission or anyone else's. only your own), but i ask for patience, and that you please refrain from spamming me every time i come online. playing stardew valley is a lot less taxing than doing bootleg internet therapy. i haven't forgotten about you, i just havent found the right words yet.

in the meantime, i would recommend a quick scroll through my #uquibberish tag, which contains any asks from other uquiz visitors as well as posts i think are thematically relevant to a lot of these conversations. who knows, maybe you'll find that the answers you seek are very similar to the answers i've given another.

one thing to note is that asks do take a good deal less mental energy to respond to given the more one-and-done nature, so responses to those will likely be faster than for DMs, however i won't be able to get as personal (unless you give me a lot to work with, please do not feel self conscious about sending long asks/messages, they really are quite helpful in terms of giving me stuff to analyze). i also sometimes get a little silly with the ask responses, however i will still always make sure to include a real answer of some sort in the tags.

that all being said, i really do need to stress the fact that i am a real person you are talking to. i am not a gender therapy chatbot and i am not paid to do this. i do this because i want to help, but in order to do that successfully, i need your help as well. i do not know you as a person beyond the things that you tell me, and i am both unable and unwilling to simply assign you a new gender, to pluck your "true" gender out of your head. usually, all i really end up doing is pointing out what things are holding you back from the answer you already know. if you are unwilling to tell me anything about your thoughts and feelings, then i'm sorry, but i'm just. not going to be able to help you out very much. figuring out who you are is something that is difficult and takes a lot of introspection, and is something that you may even never actually get a solid answer on. the question you should be asking is not "what am i, really?" but "what do i want to be? what would it make me happy to be? how would i like to exist in my time on this earth?"

now, with all of that out of the way, i do also know that it can be difficult to know where to start, so here is a rough list of things that i've found helpful in the past. you do not need to provide any of these if you are not comfortable doing so, they are here exclusively to give ideas on where to start. now, with that out of the way:

- age range: to be clear, i do not need to know your exact age and you should always be wary of someone who asks for that. that being said, a general range can be pretty helpful for me to contextualize your message to your stage of life. like, think "middle school vs. high school vs. college or older" type general range.

- similarly, what country/state you live in, and if non-US, a bit about your local political climate vis a vis trans people. once again i do not want or need your exact location and you should be wary of those who try to get it from you, but for a lot of people, the main thing holding them back from transitioning is that the world simply isn't a safe place for trans people at the moment, so knowing if that is in play can be very helpful. I am a USAmerican and have a pretty good grasp of which way the states here tend to lean, and have a much rougher grasp on other countries. I don't want to go into this with some wildly propagandized version of your home in my head and would much prefer to get my information about it from you, the person being actively affected.

- your quiz answer and how it made you feel: with this one the important part is really the second part. i said this in the quiz itself but it bears repeating, i do not have any knowledge of how to properly weight the answers in a personality test, i assigned each answer a result (or multiple results) based entirely on vibes. that being said, if you are now having a lot of complicated feelings about your result, those feelings are the ones we're going to be examining. whether you've been having these feelings for a long time or they only just recently started, if you've been quizhopping searching for an answer (and if there's been a common denominator among those answers that you're avoiding looking in the eye), what the shape of those feelings are, that's the kind of thing we're going to be looking at. don't feel bad if you can't see the feelings themselves yet, this is an exercise in finding the negative space. the thing about facing the things you don't want to face is that you don't want to face them, which sounds obvious put like that, but like. you can't look straight at the sun without the right glasses. not without hurting yourself. the things your brain hides from you, takes away your ability to look at, are hidden for a reason, there is something that is scaring you, something you are defending against, a knot that must be unraveled before we can continue unwinding the thread. it's ok if all you can do for now is point to where the knot is.

- what name you used on the quiz and what day you took it: uquiz allows you to view individual quiz taker's results so if you are comfortable with it, i'm happy to take a peek through to see if there are any trends. as i write this the quiz is sitting at good god, 13000 takers, so if you keysmashed a name unfortunately it has probably been lost to the sands of time :( that being said...

- any questions / answers that hit especially hard: here is a link to a google doc where i've compiled all the questions and answers as reference, so this way if we can't find your quiz or you don't want to share the whole thing, we still have a pretty good starting point on which parts apply to you (side note, i also have a feedback form, however i couldnt think of very many specific questions to ask so just put in two textboxes for you to put your suggestions in)

- family dynamics: as with the country of origin question, something that can hold a lot of trans people back from transitioning is pressure from their family to. well. to not do that, so knowing if that is contributing can be very helpful

- friend dynamics: same as above, some people are held back by the potential reaction of their friendgroup, or alternatively are certain their friends would react positively but still can't shake that feeling, and figuring out if that fear is warranted can be a huge stepping stone in this.

that's all i have for now, though this post may be subject to changes as time goes on. as i said before i am also (slowly) working on a FAQ, so hopefully soon we'll have a way to bridge the response time gap. in the meantime, i hope this was helpful, and i do again highly recommend taking a look through the #uquibberish tag to see if any past questions/answers might apply to you as well. thanks!

(last edited 9/8/24)

[lauramkaye]

In case you're wondering where I've been...

I was writing a Yuletide! For the first time in I don't know HOW long. It was good to get back and I am pretty happy with what I was able to do!

Now I have 3.5 days to finish a quilt that is a Christmas present (eep) and do other holiday-adjacent things and THEN I should be able to resume regular operations.

What's coming next:

My Yuletide story!

The rest of "The Ritual of Commitment" (two chapters to go! Depending on how everything else this week shakes out, one of those chapters might actually come out before Yuletide reveals.)

The last chapter of Keeps Getting Harder To Find (I'm SO EXCITED about this chapter, y'all. So. Excited. Stuff Happens in that chapter that leads directly into like four other planned stories in the series and I've been biting my tongue and not talking about it for MONTHS because I didn't want to spoil it.)

PROBABLY after that I will begin posting Operation Starbird. I didn't finish it during NaNo, because of COVID (bleh), but I have a very robust outline and a good chunk of the draft.

I am noodling around with another chapter (or possibly two) of "The Daimyo and the Huttslayer" so if I get something in postable shape in between the longer stuff, you may see it pop up!

Honestly I cannot WAIT to finish chapter 12 of KGHTF. Without giving too much away, I can reveal that it is the first and only chapter in the story - well, let's be honest, it's a BOOK now - that alternates between Boba and Kix POV, and this is because EVERYONE* COMES TO TATOOINE FOR THE RIDUUROK and HIJINKS ENSUE.

Featuring:

The Mudhorn Invitational

Kix's POV is nicknamed "Team Chaos" in the outline and Boba's is nicknamed "Team Drama"

The long-awaited reunion of the Daimyo and the Huttslayer

The answer to one mystery that people have asked me about and two bonus mysteries that nobody has yet

Hilariously terrible bootleg Royal Wedding merchandise

Kix taking his role as Surgeon General of Tatooine extremely seriously

Fennec Shand encouraging chaos for her own amusement

A cameo by the Star Wars version of Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Boba Fett accidentally saves the galaxy** by being a little petty and wanting to annoy Han Solo

A daring escape involving the space version of a panel van with a wizard mural airbrushed onto it

Giant foam fingers that look like Din and/or Boba's gauntlets

20+ years was not enough time for it to stop being true that having more than one member of the 501st present in one place at one time is a recipe for CHAOS

*not actually everyone but a LOT of people **well not RIGHT THEN but he sets the events that WILL save the galaxy in motion

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

So, does anyone want a spreadsheet with every character Daniel Kitson has ever named? Because I’ve made a spreadsheet with every character Daniel Kitson has ever named. There are 198 of them.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last couple of weeks, re-listening to all his shows with fictional characters so I could make a spreadsheet. I’ll be honest, when I started the project I thought it would be much smaller and more manageable than it turned out to be. You try picking apart where a character’s voice is coming from in a show with multiple unreliable and frequently narrators, characters inventing each other, confusing timelines, stand-up and songs and stories blending into each other, meta experimentation. The meta experimentation was the worst. I mean, it’s very good if you’re trying to have your mind blown by audacious theatre. It’s not so good if you’re trying to pin them down to a spreadsheet. I think I did fine.

It specifically lists named characters only, meaning I left out some major characters who have no names, ie. both Kitson and Key’s guys in Tree. Though on the other hand, I included some things that are can only extremely tenuously be called characters, just because they were given names. Like Isy Suttie’s car in the Christmas show. And various hypothetical people that characters in various shows invent. And one time in the play Mouse, when Kitson’s character (one of the two characters played by Kitson that interact with each other and have the exact same name because they’re different versions of each other, you see the problem in trying to spreadsheet this) just lists various first names and then says what he associates with those names, I included that too because technically it’s a name.

I don’t generally share my name on this site but I will say Tim Key has voiced characters in two different Kitson story shows, and in both of them, he had a love interest with my first name. My name appears three times – twice connected to Tim, once in a character named by Gavin, none of them are outright villains (I mean, let’s assume his date in Tree didn’t know he was married), so I come out all right. Some people don’t. There are a lot of bad guys named Brian. I think Brian is the most common villain name, followed by Barry. The most common hero/Kitson self-insert name is William. Followed by Benjamin, I think. More Claires than I'd noticed before putting this together. And a lot of characters where them sometimes going by one version of their name and sometimes going by another is significant to the narrative (again, this is a strong storytelling device but makes for irritating admin).

I caught a couple of characters where I think I know why he picked that name, but idle speculation is beneath us. Given the size of this spreadsheet and how long it took to put together, I think most names were chosen just because he'd already used every name he'd ever heard and was scrambling to find yet another one.

There are a few things missing from this spreadsheet. I'm pretty sure there are only two Daniel Kitson story shows I've never heard: A Made Up Story from 2003, and The Revenge of Heckmondwyke from 2008. A Made Up Story was from before he was as big a name so I think there were fewer people bootlegging him, and I've just never found a recording even though it was performed lots of times. Its two main characters are in my spreadsheet because I got their names off a review, but God knows how many other characters are missing.

Daniel Kitson does this thing where every once in a while he goes into Regent's Park with Gavin Osborn and does stand-up and a story show, and Gavin plays music during the story, and sometimes Gavin plays how own songs too, and for some reason those Regent Park nights are a part of the Kitson catalogue with which I'm particularly obsessed. It just think it's an amazingly cool thing, those little one-off nights in this cool theatre. I have "Go look at the Regent's Park theatre" on my list of things to do when I go to London this summer, as a pilgrimage to where history's taken place.

Anyway, The Revenge of Heckmondwyke was the story portion of the 2008 Regent's Park night, which I haven't heard recorded. However, the version of Impotent Fury of the Privileged that's on Kitson's Bandcamp page was recorded on that Regent's Park night, and I don't think he'd have recorded only the stand-up half of the night and not the story show, which means at least one Revenge of Heckmondwyke recording exists, Kitson must have it. He's just choosing not to share. Which is annoying, both because I want to hear that show, and because it's one of the few things standing between me and having a complete set of Kitson and Osborn in Regent's Park recordings (that, and the original Stories For the Starlit Sky from 2009).

I usually try to be slightly more discreet than this about the exact nature of my collection so maybe I'll take this post down in a bit, but I wanted to share at least temporarily because this took me 1.5 weeks and it's too big. Look at it, guys. Look how many characters there are. Why did I write down all those characters? There was no reason to write down all those characters. But there they are.

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2023-08-21

If we're being honest, the first show I go to in Europe being a South African band is probably the only way I was going to get the ball rolling.

Listening: Ruff Majik is doing their Europe tour so I dragged a friend along. If I had a nickel for every psychedelic surf rock fantasy themed band from Pretoria I'd have two nickels. The two accompanying acts were Rocky and his Bootlegs, and Olaf Olafsonn and the Big Bad Trip.

Rocky was apparently doing their first show, solid performance although they did make the decision to spend five minutes in the middle of a song doing sonic landscape bullshit on their pedalboards and then come back in with a dubious closer. That's what we go to live shows for though so I can't complain. Literally cannot find hide nor hair of these guys online, which is a shame because I liked some of their stuff.

Olaf Olafsonn and the Big Bad Trip is a metalish themed psychedelic rock band who performed in some really good masks. Do you like really stupid loud guitar and a synth in there for some reason? This is for you. I do not yet speak Czech so I did not catch the names of any of these songs. Here's something I picked at random.

And Ruff Majik, I'm finally going to link their song "She's Still A Goth" which they are so so proud of. It is incredibly self indulgent. It is not by any means their best song.

Reading: Finished up The Will to Battle, moving on to Perhaps The Stars. The Will to Battle went in broad strokes as I expected, it's the build up, but it is of course still weird as hell. I enjoy the closer look at the despair that surrounds the Utopians, and the reveal that Mycroft has been hallucinating a cast of corpses at all times really makes me wonder what was fictitiously cut from the earlier books by 9A.

I'm sure that Palmer has at least a good chunk of the pre-edit version of those histories written out somewhere. I am much less clear in my vision of what Perhaps the Stars might be like.

Watching: I will link this video of a guy building a nightmare capacitor bank and popping a 500A fuse.

Dudes Rock

Making: 3D printing on hold until I get a sealed bag to store the filament I bought, because my house is so extremely humid all the time and I don't want to ruin a kilogram of filament. I'll invest in a dryer at some point but for now just having sealed dry storage is a must. I've been sketching a lot of designs out though, direct air coolers for my laptop, mounts for taps, filter holders and other camera stuff, etc.

I also started writing a program to help me generate components for building frames out of rod stock and 3D printed mounts. I found a hobby shop within easy reach that stocks steel, aluminium, carbon fibre and brass rod and tube stock which is so extremely handy.

Playing: Breath of the Wild- Yuzu handles emulation admirably. I suspect that being less good at the controls is helping me enjoy the cooking system more. If I was good at this I could probably Dark Souls a lot of these fights, the parry mechanic is pretty robust. Instead, I floundered at the face of the Moderate Test of Strength and, instead of Dark Soulsing it, I went away and decided it'd be more fun to hone my skills elsewhere and come back with better gear, more control, and some extra hearts.

I set up gpu-screen-recorder to do replays which has so far yielded these two.

Tools and Equipment: Ikea Bags are pretty handy. They're the biggest bags that fold flat that you can probably easily get. I use one now to handle shuttling laundry from my washing machine to the line, which is way more convenient than the old collapsible bucket I used to use, while also being smaller.

I also used an Ikea bag to haul my 3D printer home from the post office when the courier couldn't find my address for some reason. It's less than a kilometer but it would have been miserable to heft 10kg of box with no handles.

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #14:

Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run

I've gone all soft on Stephen Stills of late. After seven straight months and 50+ posts spent excoriating Neil Young's nemesis/buddy/paste-eating boyband classmate I've given Stills a break in March. He had no business interrupting my vital appreciations of Karl Wallinger, Kris Kristofferson and Sandy Denny. There was barely room for him in my far less vital ruminations on Neil Young's Life or Peace Trail.

But your play time is over young Stephen. It's time to pack away your blocks, crayons and wah wah peddle and face my puritanical, yet objective, judgment regarding a core phase in your suckiness: that's right, it's time for me to actually listen to all of Long May You Run.

It took me a few years to find this relatively common-place Dollar Bin record way back when in the 90's. That's because all my usual haunts dumped their fairly worthless copies of Long May You Run in the never-of-any-interest-to-anyone-with-a-decent-sense-of-ethics-and-self-respect Stills, Stephen section instead of in Young, Neil.

But I knew the album's title track from Decade and from what remains my most prized Neil Young record: a bootleg copy of his 74 Honey Slides Bottom Line Show (note: the bootleg is better than Neil's recent official release of the show in that every rambling, humble word and harmonica fumble remains intact). That bootleg was so expensive at a very sketchy shop on the Santa Monica Promenade (the place also sold Star Wars ephemera and water pipes) that I convinced three of my buddies to chip in $5 each in exchange for my commitment to have it transferred to tape for each of them post haste.

Every moment of the show is rich and fulsome, including the premier of the song Long May You Run, which Neil introduces as a song he wrote for his new bus because he can no longer deal with flying airplanes, a detail that goes a long way to understanding the concept behind one of his most complicated records, Landing on Water.

And so I am still never prepared to hear the original album mix of this song. Young ditched not just Zuma-era Crazy Horse but also his savant producer David Briggs to make the entire coked-up record; out of an equal mix of savvy and bitterness Briggs then remixed Stephen Stills almost entirely out of the song on Decade. He also chucked the most Briggs-like event in that original version, a what-the-hell-just-include-it errant harmonica blast before the song gets started. "No sloppy sounds are allowed, Neil" Briggs boomed from his captain's chair. "Not unless I'm around to approve them!"

The song is a Young classic, sure, but it's never been one of my favorites. Too pretty; too earnest. Yes, the verses include a good sex joke (we found things to do in stormy weather) and some juicy Beach Boys non sequitors, but Young is too wasted to land his own jokes.

Neil has a dozen or more different ways to sing while wasted. There's his terrific tequila stagger (just about everything on Tonight's the Night), the terrifying "someone, please someone, pull me out of my dumpster of sorrow" vibe on songs like Pardon my Heart and Borrowed Tune, not to mention his, "Hey, everybody look! I'm so high I'm a flapping penguin" vocals on Vampire Blues or Cripple Creek Ferry.

I could go on; Neil is a connoisseur of making art while altered. The only time Neil sounds unappealingly stoned is whenever Stills's percussionist/vocalist/dealer Joe Lala is around, cutting lines of coke for everyone on his handheld mirrors. Here are Lala and Young together during his Trans tour. Neil is inquiring where he went wrong; Lala is indicating that it all goes back to hiring him to play bongos.

Throughout Long May You Run, it sounds like Neil keeps catching glimpses of himself in Lala's chop glass, and every time Stills and Joe are there grinning over both his shoulders; you can hear the dull, self-loathing result in Long May You Run's vocals.

The same thing happens, only worse, on Young's potentially best song on the record, Let It Shine. I first came to the song via driving and soaring cuts from 76 Japan bootlegs (catch my details on that vital tour here).

But on the record Young sings Let It Shine with self-hatred and a layer of very unattractive menace. There's nothing funny here; it's just ugly. And the guitars sound like they too are supplied from Joe Lala's terrible stash.

I've never done cocaine. The reasons are many: too scary, too expensive, too many lives ruined by the drug trade, and did I mention, too scary? But I've never really needed to think twice about the drug because I've heard this song once a year, or so, for the past 25+ years. If this is what coke does, I want nothing to do with it.

Neil shakes all this weighty failure off a few times on the record. He sounds appealing silly on Ocean Girl, helps the band make a Bee Gees audition tape on Midnight on the Bay (Joe Freakin' Lala passed the test; I imagine Stayin' Alive is the best song he ever performed on) and earnestly asks us about some complex nonsense on the Florida-based, wave riding precursor to Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze, Fountainbleau.

For the record: I do not know who put the palm over your blond, Neil. Nor do I know who's been moving everything to where it last was seen. But I do know that Joe Freakin' Lala does everything he can to wreck this otherwise groovy track with his terrible, whoops-I-dropped-my-bong-on-my-bongos-again percussion.

I only play this record when I've got the chance to sit beside the turntable. That's because there are four Stephen Stills tracks littering up the mix, each of them unlistenable. But I will now make myself listen to them anyway.

Here goes:

Make Love to You is ugly terror. Stills thinks he's Ray Manzarek meets Neil Diamond. He gathers the band around him to buff and polish both his nails and his lizard skin pants. The song was recorded 48 years ago but the "girl" in question is probably still in hiding after hearing Stephen the bar crawling man monster bust out his bluesiest warble to announce that he wanted to make love to her and that it was gonna take all night.

There's a flute driven bridge planted in the middle of this harrowing track like a Trump Flag at a pro wrestling event; someone get me the hell out of here before Stills wants to make love to me too.

Black Coral is a soundtrack for my nightmares. The piano riff is fevered and gross, Joe Lala thinks he's getting paid per beat, and Stills has shanghaied us 200 feet down underwater (with Jesus of Nazareth apparently in attendance, I guess? Maybe he forgot how to walk on water?). Stills has no coherent plan other than reminding us to take care: turns out he's more than a terrible musician, he's also the world's worst scuba instructor. There's more flute here too. The drummer, Joe Vital, is responsible. He probably figured, I played a mean flute in elementary school so, what the hell? How could a song like this get any worse?

12/8 Blues is actually worth listening to, once, so as to hear Neil's tiny, I'm a mouse and I'm trapped, backing vocals and his fairly killer guitar. But the riff is toxic and so are the lyrics. Stills tells he's dying, but don't get your hopes up. He wants us to know that he's "got the music" and he grunts like he knows how to pump iron while Neil tries to make something worthwhile out of it all.

The album closes with Guardian Angel, which somehow manages to be boring and nauseating all once. Lala shows off his touch typing skills throughout. Curses upon him. Stills' guardian angel demanded reassignment the moment they heard this song.

Neil has a guitar solo towards the end of Guardian Angel that's mixed to sound like he's in another state; which of course he was, as he literally told them all to eat a peach and went back to Crazy Horse at his first sober and available moment.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do now too: leave the Stills-Young band solidly in my rear-view mirror, listen to Zuma and recover.

[harleiquina]

All TV series I've ever seen II

Let's see how many I remember from this time period.

1940 - 1970

1980 - 2000 (this post)

2010 - Now

1983 - V

Aliens have come to Earth but they are nice and willing to help us... or so they say.

Everybody remembers Diana eating rats, the dramatic face reveal of any reptilian, Freddy Krueger beeing a good guy (this time) and I'm sure Stephenie Meyers wish that Reneesme/Jacob had the same level of acceptance than "the child from the stars" (name given in Latinoamerica, don't know if it was also used in the original show) and whats-his-name.

Saw it on TV but we also bought the bootleg DVD because my mom and aunt never saw the ending of the show as kids.

1985 - Amazing Stories

I hardly remember anything (I was too young when it was played on TV) but I do remember beeing traumatized by Christopher Lloyd's severed (and reattached) head.

It was created by Spielberg, some stories land better than other ones. Maybe I should try and rewatch some?

1986 - Sledge Hammer

Is he sexist, violent, gun-lover and conservative AF? Yes... but he's also hilarious! This is satire people! Don't be like the NRA that gave somekind of award to this fictional character because they have the same level of comprehension than a brick.

Saw it on TV but it is also available on Youtube.

1986 - ALF

Alien finds himself on a typical american family house and chaos begins.

Do you live under a rock? Don't you know who ALF is? Just go watch it.

It was on TV when I was growing up, I'm pretty sure you can find it anywhere.

1989 - The Simpsons

I will keep on saying it, we argentineans speak in 3 languages: Spanish, Lunfardo (a Buenos Aires dialect but each province has their own as well) and Simpsons' quotes (latin spanish obviously, everyone agrees that it's the definitive Simpsons). Earlier seasons are better, we all know that... they kind of lose us when the original latin dubbers were replaced (it would seem that Disney brought them back but I hardly watch TV now, so I don't know)

1989 - Eureeka's castle.

I don't remember a THING about it but my family says that I was obsessed. It's a Muppet-style show of a young witch apprentice and her friends.

Upon further looking, it was co-written by R. L. Stine? So I didn't got into Goosebumps as a child but got this... who knows?

1989 - Agatha Christie's Poirot

I haven't watched everything just yet (it's been on for 20 years, people!) but I do like David Suchet's Hercules Poirot (my family disagrees because for them Poirot will always be Peter Ustinov). Hey, at least it's not Albert Finney!

1990 - Caloi en su tinta (Caloi in his own ink - Argentina)

It wasn't a series properly said... it didn't have a story to follow. Caloi was a very important artist in my country (his character Clemente became a staple in our comics just like Mafalda) and he had this TV show where he curated animations of all kinds, from all over the world. I remember seeing a stop-motion version of Barber of Sevilla and I think that I also saw Queen's Innuendo videoclip for the first time in here.

Some stories were funny, others melancholic, elegant or grotesque... but all of them were Art, with a capital A.

1990 - Twin Peaks

I don't understand the hype around this show. The only thing that I though was cool was to have a season and a half to find the killer.

Before someone tells me "you have to think how ground breaking it was in the time it came up" or "it's high end art, open your mind to it" trust me I can do that... it doesn't change the fact that I don't see why so many people like it so much.

I'll grant it a few points for showing us David Duchovny as a trans woman FBI agent that saves the day on the episode she shows up. I did like the character.

1993 - The Nanny

What would happen if instead of María taking care of Von Trapp's children in the Alps, we had a jewish it-girl from Flushing, Queens? That was Fran Drescher's pitch, the rest is history.

I got to confess I usually get bored with sit-coms but this is the only one that I can watch over and over again (and the final episode still brings single tear in my eye). Yeah, the whole plot of Fran trying to get pregnant was dragged for too long, but still it's like 3 or 4 episodes, no biggy (unless my memory fails, it's been a while).

1993 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

For whatever reason a alien (?) race decided that teenagers are the appropiate warriors so they choose 5 Angel Grove locals to kick Galactic-Witch Rita's ass. Monsters that grow size but still look like rubber suits, the Rangers use spandex but for whatever reason they release sparks when a blade touches them. Still sweet little 4 year old me loved this show.

I checked a few episodes on Youtube not too long ago and I was pleasently surprised by the fact that each monster represented a struggle the Rangers where having on their civilian life... so facing and defeating them actually helped these kids in their ordinary life. A nice message that I completely forgot while self-convincing myself that this show was a lot dumber than I remembered.

Oh! By the way when it was on TV I watched -maybe- up to season 2. When the movie came out I was shocked that Jason, Trini and Zack were not in it.

1993 - The X Files

The most recognizable tune ever, the OG monster-of-the-week format, a skeptic + a believer, some comedy, another bit of drama and , in ocassions, straight-up horror = one of the greatest TV shows ever made.

Regardless what people think I preffer Agent Dogget (there, I said it!!) to Mulder, but of course that sunflower-seed eater, porn aficionado, spooky guy will always be loved either way.

Of course I didn't watched on TV (my mom and aunt had that privilege, I was literally a baby) but I got the whole series on bootleg DVD.

1993 - Frasier

I only watched a few mixed up episodes and I have the first 4 seasons on bootleg DVD but it was my aunt who liked it the most.

A psicologyst with a radio TV show has to live with his dad and his brother visits very often.

You might recognize them as Sideshow Bob and his brother as well.

1994 - Friends

Watched it on cable when I had it, mixed up as usual but still... for whatever reason sitcoms bore me... and this is not the exception. Again, I don't understand the hype.

1995 - Xena: Warrior princess

Ancient Greece, a female warrior... my (probably by the time we got it in Argentina) 6 year-old self loved this show. Until certain fling with Hercules... I didn't liked romance then (or now, but I'm a little more tolerant as an adult) and it ruined the show for me.

Yes, now I see certain undertones that my youngself didn't. I get it. Leave me alone!

1995 - Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Yeah... I didn't liked Hercules but I watched a few episodes either way. I always liked a good fight on TV.

1996 - Sabrina, the teenage witch

Who didn't wanted to have magical powers growing up becuse of her?

I can't really tell how many season I've watched because, as I said, in Argentina you were lucky if the TV channels bought more than 2 season to repeat on end. Still... I didn't quite liked it as much once she left for collage. Kinda lost its magic *wink, wink*

1996 - Millenium

The year 2000 was upon us and the promise of the end of the world, so Chris Carter decided to play a little bit with it.

Frank Black is a retired agent that has a peculiar way of getting into the mind of the criminals (the audience is the only one that knows that he can see what the criminals see... live) so he is called over an over again to help on different cases.

It ended too soon (got cancelled I believe) but it has its final episode in season 9 of The X Files (if I'm not mistaken). It deals a lot with religion (mostly Christianity) and its a lot darker than Mulder & Scully's adventures (with the exception of that one episode where 4 demons get together in a coffe shop -desguised as old men- and tell their latest works done).

1997 - Meego

I got to be honest with you... I hardly remember anything from this TV show. It was basically ALF but with a human playing an alien instead of a puppet. Still we remember it fondly at home so I guess it was good enough?

1998 - Charmed

Argentina beeing Argentina, I saw a few seasons... maybe... I do remember that I liked more the original 3 sisters.

It's fun... sometimes cheesy... as any tv or film of that time.

1998 - Will & Grace

As I said, sitcoms end up becoming boring and repetitive. But that doesn't take away that sometimes jokes are good... some are very 90, but ah, well...

2000 - Dark Angel

Maybe I saw 2 season on TV but I was obsessed.

Typical supersoldiers experiments developed this superhuman creatures that got tired of beeing an experiment and broke out the facility when they were children, so now as grown ups live in our society. The lead Max (Jessica Alba) has a job as a courrier but every now and then steals, that's how she meets Logan a journalist with vigilante tendencies that needs someone to do the dirty work.

2000 - CSI (later known as Las Vegas)

Have I ever watched a show just to laugh at it? Yes, and it was called CSI, the original (I saw a lot of Miami as well).

I had a few glimpses here and there from this procedural that were the definition of Deus-ex-machina and later I decided to give it a shot just to see if, within this universe, it made sense. And nope.

If one of mom's doctors dissed House for his nearly-impossible diagnosis... I'm pretty sure some forensics did the same with Grissom's team.

Side note I really love Ted Danson, that guy is awesome.

2001 - Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

At first I thought it was a yet another The Brain + Person that explains him like many others... but Goren and Eames are the best detective duo. PERIOD.

You get to see them investigating (so Goren, mostly, doesn't know everything off the bat... he does go to the library, kids) and Eames is not just a blank space for the audience to jump in and have Goren explain everything to her. My favourite moments are when she can add up to his theory by just having the female side of things.

Goren isn't the typical I-only-think kind of detective (like, let's say Poirot) he can -and will- get into dangerous situations when needed.

You have to watch for D'onofrio's performance.

I like Jeff Goldblum as well... but his season was kinda... meh

2002 - Los Simuladores (The Pretenders - Argentina)

What if there was a group of people to solve any kind of situations? And what if this situations are quite basic, borderline stupid, like meeting the in-laws, giving a hard exam at the end of the year and such?

This is it, that's the plot.

This was a huge hit back in the day but it took me a decade (almost) to watch because if you knew argentinean tv and film as I do... you wouldn't believe that there are actually some good ideas burried very very deep in the mud.

2002 - Monk

A detective with OCD is soooo good at his job but cannot be a detective again because of it (it got worse once his wife died in a attack). Fun and wholesome... maybe it did dragged for too long.

And no matter what... we are Sharona stans in this house!

2002 - CSI Miami.

Just like CSI I watched it just to make fun of it (and because in cable they will put all CSIs together in one afternoon so it was easier to compare them).

At least this one didn't take itself too seriously!

2003 - Tru Calling

Med student has a weird ability where dead people can reach her and make her repeat the day to try and save their lives.

It ended too soon on a great cliffhanger that we will never see resolved. Damn it!

2004 - Lost

We all know Lost... it started great... and it ended.

Luckily for me the TV channel where I was watching it stopped after season 4 and I never bothered to try and catch up again.

2004 - House MD

Sherlock Holmes goes to med school and instead of solving crimes, he solves impossible diagnostics.

Gotta give it to Hugh Laurie for beeing a lovable a-hole the whole time.

It did lasted too long for me, I didn't watch the final seasons but I did watched a few mixed up episodes in cable so I kinda know what happens after, lets say... season 4? (the final one I've watched, maybe).

2004 - CSI New York

Same as the others. Just watched for Gary Sinise and Edward Furlong's guest appearence.

2004 - Miss Marple

I was never a fan of Miss Marple in writting... but on TV she is less annoying.

How come she is never suspicious? She's always around when a crime happens!

2005 - Invasion

Does anybody else remembers this TV show set after the Katrina hurricane that, apparently, also uncovered a race of aliens living underwater that have a body-snatching way of taking over the world? It's only 1 season, got cancelled I believe and I watched it on TV at 6 or 7 AM while getting ready to go to school. Ah, old times!

2005 - Mosca & Smith (Argentina)

(Mosca can be translated as "Fly" -the bug- but in this case is the character's Last Name so I'll leave it as it is)

Buddy cop with two overly eccentric characters. A silly comedy with some really in-depth meta humor of argentinean justice system. Some jokes are in poor taste... and I think it got raunchier in it's second season (I didn't watched it because one of the leads was replaced and the 2nd actor didn't had the same punch)

2005 - Bones

A forensic anthropologyst helps the FBI to solve crimes.

This is the BrainTM taken to an extreme. Dr. Temperance Brennan just can't be good at eeeeeverything. This kinda changed as seasons passed but still... who says smart people is always entirely clueless about how to be a normal human? And why so egocentric? (Most truly smart people are usually super-humble because they know that there is a lot more to learn).

In any case, it is fun. Watched on TV (earlier seasons) and continued on bootleg DVD.

2006 - Ugly Betty

The main reason why I didn't listed Betty, la fea in here it's because it is a telenovela (soap opera) everybody in Latinoamérica watched it. Some things are not so good (maybe I'll write about it one day) but overall it had a good story.

Those dubious things got changed in the U.S version... and it changed the whole story. It was easier to create something new than trying to bring people on board using a name that is well beloved to a certain ethnicity... just saying.

2007 - El Hombre que volvió de la muerte (The man that came back from Death -Argentina)

Think of a mash up of The Count of Montecristo and V for Vendetta.

It was a remake of a TV show done in the 60s... 70s? By Narciso Ibañez Menta, a Spanish actor that was naturalized as argentinean and was our very own mix of Boris Karloff (with his love for make up) and Vincent Price (he did a lot of Edgan Allan Poe stories as well). The original story was about Elmer Van Hess, who was subject to different experiments. The lab caughts on fire, he's inside and survives. For whatever reason his organs end up being given to other people so he embarks on a quest to retrieve them.

The remake also had Elmer Van Hess who was a happy fool about to get married, his boss and associates set him up and ends up in prision for fraud. Not happy with that, his boss strikes a deal with a Doctor so Elmer can be his human guinea pig (in order to do so, he asks other inmates to torture him while in prision so his only escape would be to go with the Doctor). He's experimented on as results he gets superhuman strenght and, of course, the chemicals affect his brain turning him into a very dark and blood-lust creature. The lab is set on fire, everybody thinks he died but he comes back 10 years later ready to take revenge on all of them. He was very cruel and his idea of revenge was very Saw-like... but deep down he's still in love with his almost-wife and she's the only one that can sort of ease him in the worst moments.

For an argentinean fiction it was very good.

2008 - Fringe

The X Files but even crazier? You got it.

Mom and I did got lost after season 4... but we still have the bootleg DVDs, it's just that we should start all over again and we don't have a lot of time 😝

2008 - The Mentalist

A guy is so good at reading people that decides to ripp them off saying that he's a medium. He got the wrong guy, this guy kills his family so now it's personal!

Patrick Jane's quirks might be amusing in the early episodes but after a while you, just like everyone else on the show, will want to punch him in the face.

From my little corner of the Earth I scream: Justice for Cho!! He also deserved a happy ending!

2009 - Doll House

A bunch of people got their memories wiped and now they receive other memories (fabricated sometimes) to take on dangerous tasks.

Dubious consent galore... but overall the premise was engaging. It lasted 3 seasons, the third one included a time-jump... the end didn't quite landed for me but... meh! It's entertaining at least.

2009 - Flashfoward

The entire world fainted at the same time. Everybody had visions of the future... so now some things need to be prevented for whatever reason.

Only one season, got cancelled. I don't remember a thing except the tribute to one of Jorge Luis Borges stories (El Jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan/ The garden of paths that bifurcate) and another to David Bowie's song Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. That's all I remember, I swear.

2009 - Modern Family

Sitcom that broke some barriers on what a typical family looks like. It's fun...but yeah, it also bored me.

Note to everybody: not all latinos sound like Sofía Vergara... not even Sofía Vergara sounds like Sofía Vergara the whole time.

[eureka-its-zico]

I'm at a loss for words after the newest chapter... Some gifs should sum up some of my feelings (essay after the gifs lol):

While I am writing this, I hope that I will manage to compose myself 😂 [I came to add this before sending this, and no, I in fact, did not compose myself by the end of this lol]

First of all, thank you for beefy chapters. I personally enjoy them, means I can read a lot more and experience more emotionally. However, please take care of yourself and don't push yourself to churn out big chapters if you don't feel like it. Any sort of update you come out with, know that I will enjoy it and cherish it with my whole heart ❤

Second of all, to reply to the last ask I sent... My fave character from BG3 was Karlach. Honestly, I somehow managed to romance Wyll and then immediately regretted it because Karlach is the best character in that game. My least favourite character was, is and will forever be Gale. I won't go into details because you will see it (if you haven't yet) 😂 And you mentioned Dragon Age and Mass Effect?? Excuse me? Those are like both in my top favourite games! Screaming here in excitement!!!! 😂

Onto this newest chapter... While I was prepared for angst. I was not prepared for ANGST! And while I set the mood with Halsey for the whole chapter, oh shit, my heart 😭 Also, Zoro, seriously? You are such an arse, istg.

Everything, from the first line until the cliffhanger at the end... I am amazed at how you write. It's not just good, it's AMAZING. Each chapter you come out with makes me feel things and believe me, that's hard for me.

[Personal info dump incoming]

Fanfics have been a huge part of my life during some of the darkest times of my life. It's been a safe place for me to go to. Find characters and stories where life is better, someone wants you just as much as you want them if not more. Where you experience those feelings of attraction, that sudden realisation of 'oh shit.' and what comes with it. The fear and excitement of liking someone, the feelings of hurt, disappointment when you miscommunicate or don't communicate enough...

I've been through quite a few awful things in my life in recent years and while I've been free from an extremely toxic person for over a year now, I still feel... broken. Like, I came out from a situation where at the end of it I could not recognise the person in the mirror that was looking back at me. It was bad. And while I am better, there's still this nagging feeling at the back of my head that what if... I won't ever find anyone irl. What if, I will spend the rest of my life by myself?

AND while being alone hasn't been bad and I have learned that my peace is worth A LOT, at the end of the day, it would be nice to share the weight of the world with someone else 🤷‍♀️

[End of personal info dump]

Reading your story. A story you have so much care for. It fills me with so many positive feelings and I cannot even begin to describe how happy I get with each new update and to see you interact with everyone who sends you a message. You are so lovely, I wish I could reach through my monitor and give you the biggest hug ❤

You have a lovely gift. Making people feel emotions with words. Not many people manage to call out to the deepest parts of them, to make them relate and feel with the characters that they are reading about. To experience what the characters feel. And to paint the scenes that it feels you are actually there (in this case, it feels like I watched some bootleg OPLA version because it did not have Doc and Doc needs to be there! Netflix, pls fix this! kthxbye).

Is it obvious that I've been on an emotional rollercoaster tonight? 😂

I am probably going to bite my nails from anticipation for the next chapter because that ending?? I did not see that coming! 😂 But I hope that this will be a good way for Doc to see more about Nami and for them to bond even more. I would love to see a Zoro POV because I want to see him stewing and beating himself up for being a gigantic ass 😤😤😤 I would also expect him to give shit to Doc for pulling this stunt once they do get reunited, but Doc can shut that shit down because the first words out of Zoro's mouth should be "I'm sorry. I've been an ass. I'm terrified. I did not mean what I said." 😂 And Doc blurting out how she feels and Zoro being cold?! That tore my heart out honestly.

Also, Sanji... I can see Doc and him being good friends. Especially since it will annoy the shit out of Zoro and that's fine by me, because he was a dick to Doc 😂 Though also, they already have a good dynamic going for them that will make them good friends (bonding over Zeff/Naan in the previous chapter). Also, Doc doesn't care about his flirting and that is hilarious to me haha

Wow, it's an essay. Again 😂 I apologise, please let me know if you'd prefer that I don't send in essays into your ask? I get carried away because there's so many things that I feel and I just... rant 😂 There's a lot to comment about and I struggle with summing up my thoughts and feelings?! I apologise!

It was a lovely and emotional update and I am looking forward to what next is in store for Doc and the rest of the Straw Hats! ❤ Thank you for sharing your writing, Jenn. I hope you had a lovely weekend and your next week is going to be lovely, great and amazing! Also, 2 weeks until you graduate?! Congratulations!!

-- Your sappy, essay writing, emotional cheesy ❤

Osiyo, Cheesy Darling!!

Disclaimer: I'm going to add a continue reading cut because this is big and beefy and my reply will be equally big and beefy lol.

When it comes to big beefy chapters, it is a habit of mine. I have to like, teach myself to write less in chapters lol but then I HATE is because I feel like I didn't get to explain something the way it should have been explained or a scene between characters doesn't get the attention it deserves. My chapters end up being so long because I am desperately trying to make sure that the scenes, I'm writing all flow together perfectly but then I see it say 15-20k words and I panic lol. Realistically, when you read chapters in books they are at least 10k or more words per chapter. Right? Right??

KARLACH! I love her she is so sweet and cuddly with all her hell fire. Okay. Look. I had to restart Baldur's Gate because I found out I missed Gale and I cannot - CANNOT - function knowing I missed a party member and won't be able to decide if I want to fight them, fuck them, or marry them all on my own lol. It's funny you say he is your least fav and I'm like...the gith chick is currently the one I dislike the most because she is so ugly AND FOR WHAT?? FOR WHAT MA'AM?!?! And YESSSSSS!! Omg Mass Effect and Dragon Age are my favorite series of all time. The story Bioware told with Commander Shephard, my god, is the reason I think I write the way I do. Or part of the reason. The way they built up that world in three incredible games and even made sure in the 3rd to bring every small detail and side mission into the last game to give closure. That is fantastic writing. It's what made me want to write stories just as intricate and infuriating, because that ending....god Commander Shephard deserved BETTER. I will never shut up about this. Does it make sense?? Yes. Do I gotta like it? Hell no.

Thank you so much for being so nice. I struggled a lot with this chapter. I kept feeling like I was falling short or messing something up. So, I would have to get up and work through the dialogue and the scene through my head and when I just genuinely couldn't get over it, I forced myself to continue forward, or I would've deleted it.

[ On to your personal info dump ]: I am so incredibly sorry that you even went through that and had to experience it. Unfortunately, I know all too well what it feels like to experience the same exact thing. So, I am beyond happy that you are safe. You are out and you are learning that the peace of being alone is such an underrated joy, imo. I know it is not necessarily the same as what you meant, but if you want to share anything that weighs on you or just want to have friendly conversation when needed, I am always here for you.

You are so kind to me in telling Netflix to add in Doc lol I would literally die. It is a nice daydream to have to consider that a character created out of love for Oda sensei's vision, in all forms, would be considered. I always do my best to make sure when I speak to anyone who sends me a message or an ask that it is with kindness and gratitude. You all come and speak to me about my work and how it is something you enjoy, that it helps them, and all the while you are all helping me too. There isn't enough I could say to thank you for always being so kind. For sending me these amazingly long reviews and comments, because they are absolutely my favorite. I do not take these for granted.

I know everyone is hating on Zoro right now (for absolutely good reason) and it's funny but while I wrote him I just knew he had to do it. He's this 19-year-old petty pain in the ass who never considered having a relationship outside of his swords. He meets girl and instead of her being like everyone else, they ZING. Neither of them can explain it or understand it but they don't have to. The universe is funny like that sometimes.

Sanji and Doc are about to give Zoro a fuckin' run for his money and he is just going to have to grin and bear it because he has no choice. While he is equally gonna be pissed, she up and did something so stupid he is forgetting Doc is still equally pissed at how he reacted to her. Two idiots fighting over who is the pettiest. Always.

I do not mind your long replies or asks! These are some of my favorites and I have so much fun discussing things with you! The fact you also love Mass Effect and Dragon Age?? I AM ALIVE AND BURNING! Thank you for always being so lovely and so incredibly sweet. I hope your Monday is treating you kindly and not like an actual Monday, cause Monday's are gross lol. Much love.