#so unfortunately i had to be realistic about this tour

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Friends To Lovers + Smut/PWP Masterlist

7 Minutes In Heaven - interrupted-by-fireworks

Summary: Dan and Phil have to play 7 Minutes in Heaven at a party.

A Koi pond, love, sex, and all the crap that comes with it (ao3) - winstonlives

Summary: Dan can't sleep, but Phil can. Dan thinks too much. What happens after the tour?

A Sleepless Night With Dan (ao3) - cockwhoredan

Summary: Dan and Phil live together, and they’re just friends. One night Dan can’t sleep. Naturally, he decides to give Phil a blowjob.

Break Me Down (ao3) - gayestever

Summary: The tour bus breaks down and Dan and Phil struggle to find a hotel room- or at least one that has two beds.

Can't Help The Itch To Touch- To Kiss (ao3) - thescienceofphan

Summary: Phil is deaf and Dan is a manwhore. When people see them together, they worry about Phil’s emotional well being and shame on Dan for targeting a deaf boy, but it’s not like that. Not at all.

Craving Control (ao3) - starwatersong

Summary: Phil is intrigued by the hypnotist at the YouTuber Summit in 2016 and finds himself oddly fascinated by hypnotism. Is Dan helping him find one for a video for Phil’s benefit… or Dan’s? Some timeline mixing where Phil’s fortune telling video takes place in an earlier time. They’re living in London apartment #1 in this story.

drop your heart I'll save it for you (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Tenderness isn't part of the deal, nor are soft words, or feelings, or kisses that don't lead to fucking. It's not what Dan asked for, and it's certainly not why someone would choose to fuck their friend slash flatmate slash colleague who they absolutely don’t have any feelings for.

How do you Sleep? (When you Lie to Me.) (ao3) - CactiPhan

Summary: Dan is about to be married to his longtime boyfriend Henry, but plans change when he walks in on him cheating on Dan. The only person he can run back to is his best friend, who he was blind not to see was perfect for him.

If You Don't Love Me, Pretend (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: All his life, Dan has wanted to have the chance to be a parent someday. He would be the best parent that ever existed, he was sure of it. Fostering might not be the most traditional way on the road to parenting, but Dan's dead set on doing it anyway. But, well, it would be easier with a co-parent, right?

the bed-sharing, fake relationship, friends-to-lovers, parent fic i was desperate to read; when i shouted into the void and was met with silence, i decided i'd do it myself

No They're Not (ao3) - bandhoez9194

Summary: Against Phil's better judgement, Dan goes to a small house party with friends. He had been assured by both Dan and the party host that there would be no alcohol after all.

Unfortunately, someone else has a change of plans and gets Dan drunk anyway. Which makes him start talking about buttholes and storage places.

When Phil picks him up though, things get soft, steamy, and bendy, just like the spaghetti he left on the stove.

Very sexy, very smutty, very random, very cute. Also, drunk Dan so who doesn't like that?

Read It and Weep (ao3) - phansomedevil

Summary: Dan's feelings toward Phil are nothing but platonic, or so he thinks before stumbling upon some actually decent phanfiction and falling face-first into the abyss.

Something New (ao3) - benotafraidofwriting

Summary: Dan wants Phil's help when trying something new, but can Phil keep his feelings for his best friend at bay?

stuck on you (ao3) - watergator

Summary: dan finds himself in a rather awkward predicament and phil ends up having to helping him

The Parent Project (ao3) - ATEEZpresent (orphan_account)

Summary: Dan and Phil get paired to take care of a realistic baby doll for a few days. Feelings arise.

The Sun, The Snow, And Everything In Between - chocolatesaucelester

Summary: A lot can happen in the span of one year, or a cycle of four seasons, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds. In that common amount of time Phil met Dan at bonfire night in the fall and over the course of a year, realizes he found a person he would’ve never guessed he’d found that night.

Two Man Team (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they’ve always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Unspoken Rules (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: They have rules.

1. They don't kiss 2. They don't talk about it 3. They aren't exclusive 4. They don't get attached 5. It's over when the tour is

As long as they abide by the rules, no one gets hurt. Simple, right?

Want (ao3) - yoidnp

Summary: It was a rare night alone in a hotel room away from the confines of the tour bus. Dan and Phil discover a few things about each other.

Watching You, Watching Me (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Dan accidentally discovers his best friend and roommate pleasuring himself in the early hours of the morning and can't look away. In fact, he can't keep his hands off of himself. Phil is surprised by Dan's reaction, and two best friends make long-time confessions.

[ethtyn]

I GET TO INTRODUCE SOMEONE TO THE WONDERS OF ETHO CONTENT SO HERE'S A POST.

i'm going to preface this by saying i adore Etho. i love him with my whole heart and soul actually. but i have also been watching his content for Literally A Decade so i have probably forgotten some of his classics. if i did, PLEASE CHIME IN!

with that disclaimer out of the way, onward! to the New Ethowatcher Primer Post™!

i think Etho is arguably best known for his Minecraft singleplayer let's play, but at the time i'm writing this post, he's uploaded 571 episodes. that's intimidating! so in my opinion, a good primer for this series is his episode 550 world tour. it's 2 years old at this point, but catching up on 21 episodes afterwards is nothing compared to almost 600, and gives you a great reference point for everything that's been accomplished in the world so far - and if you like the world tour enough, you can go back and watch from the beginning!

he was also a member of the Mindcrack SMP. Mindcrack was to people then as Hermitcraft is today; everybody wanted to be a member. a good place to start with his Mindcrack series is season 4. that being said, if you only want to watch a single episode, try episode 10 king of the ladder (the origin of "Ladders" as a nickname for Etho) or season 3 the trial ("why's he got chocolate on his knees?") for wacky hijinks, season 3 final tour for the builds he did that season, or season 4 end of season 4 for the same reason.

he is currently a member of Hermitcraft; due to personal reasons he had to stop uploading in the middle of season 8 and has uploaded only sporadically during season 9. therefore most people usually recommend his hermitcraft season 7 as the best place to start, and for good reason. he builds extremely weird shit (The Monstrosity my beloved), experiments with doing noteblock covers of popular songs, plays ridiculous amounts of Decked Out (trust me. his runs are so fun to watch), participates in a resistance even though he has no idea what's going on (him being a Lorephobe™ means i had no idea Hermitcraft did Lore™ until season 9), makes a business purely to scam people...it's a classic for a reason. oooooo you watch to watch Etho's Hermitcraft S7 so badddddd

he also does modded series occasionally! his project ozone 2 series is a CLASSIC and i highly recommend watching, specifically for Taxes (you'll find out), but also because it is SO enjoyable watching a man be incredibly technical about a modpack even though you have no idea what he's saying most of the time. (i fully zone out during full episodes of this series sometimes. but still rewatch it every couple of years or so. it's chill.)

his original terrafirmacraft series is also one i remember fondly. this modpack is essentially Minecraft, But Hard Mode; more realistic physics and crafting make things much more difficult for the player and it's super interesting, in my opinion. he was also doing a series in an updated/forked version of the pack, called terrafirmapunk, but iirc his world for that series was corrupted and he was unable to restore it, so he had to discontinue it. RIP Chester ):

his current modded series is a modpack he collated himself. unfortunately due to the personal issues mentioned above he's only uploaded a few episodes here and there, but he seems to be really enjoying it and hopefully once things stabilize a little more we'll get more episodes!

he's also building a PVP map in Minecraft! just...slowly. introducing battle bane! we get an episode approximately every year or two or four. he recently built a simplified version on the Hermitcraft server for their recent charity stream and they played a round at the end!

of course, you're always welcome to just...watch his stuff from the beginning if you're a weirdo completionist like me (/derog /j). however, be warned that he is (affectionately) known as Your Favourite Minecraft YouTuber's Favourite Minecraft YouTuber for a reason, and has been on the platform for almost a decade and a half at this point. his early content is therefore much different than his current content and sometimes hard for new watchers to enjoy. i really feel like he's hit his stride in terms of talking to viewers in the last five years and it's much easier to jump in on his newer content, BUT that's just my opinion. ymmv!

i'll add episodes or clips to this post as i think of them or as they're mentioned, so again please don't be afraid to chime in with your opinions on things you think i should have added!

and above all else: ethogirls unite 😌

--

EDIT: HOW COULD I FORGET TEAM CANADA AND BDUBS. thank you @butterflycrafting for the reminder & the recommendations! further edits are going under the cut so as not to completely overtake your dashes with this post :')

Team Canada is comprised of Etho, PauseUnpause, & VintageBeef. they're all, as you might be able to guess, Canadian! they all played together on Mindcrack as well as doing series together. some faves:

pranking OCD Zisteau is an oldie but a goodie. Zisteau logs in while they're pranking him.

their sky factory 2.5 series is great. it's been awhile since i've personally watched it but their banter is always fantastic so i'm recommending it anyway.

watch them escape the Nether, but watch pause's video because it's unedited and you get the full experience that way.

i personally LOVED their capture the monument series back in the day. it's been long enough since i've watched them that i don't remember which one was my personal favourite, but here's the first episode of diversity 3 to see if it's up your alley anyway.

edit: MORE TEAM CANADA GOODNESS courtesy of @catmaidetho - [Etho voice] labyrinth of puzzles! it has, again, been a Hot Minute since i've watched this series but also i Know it's a solid rec so it goes on the list.

edit: @catmaidetho & @fartherlands suggest team canada r.a.d.! either i never watched this one or i watched it long enough ago that it has been erased from my memory, but i trust my mutuals. do the thing.

Bdubs (BdoubleO100) and Etho ALSO met on Mindcrack and now play on Hermitcraft together. i don't have any specific videos to share (feel free to suggest some!) but in my opinion Etho is the black cat friend to Bdubs' golden retriever friend. (that made more sense in my head, probably.) Etho is responsible for Bdubs' big eyes skin.

---

a nonnie wants me to tell y'all that Etho's hearthstone videos are worth a watch! there are five videos: just a random video, slow druid arena, consistent inconsistency, the arena dream, and beggku hunter. if you watch them, let me know - this is a series of videos i never did end up watching because hearthstone was a game that didn't interest me at the time.

funnily enough, anon suggesting non-minecraft videos reminded me that he'd done terraria is EZ with Zisteau, another Mindcracker. i remember them having a lot of fun in that series so definitely give it a try!

[lemonhemlock]

hello! hope you are well. i love love love your posts. they are always so reasonable and aptly put. so thank you for all your hardworks <3

i was thinking about something for a long time. i'd like to know your opinion on that.

it's obvious that rhaenyra never should have married laenor. in the book she was threatened by viserys to marry him and if she had remained defiant, viserys would have disinherited her. she felt pressured to marry laenor in the show too, so that whole thing was unfortunate for her. when she married laenor, in the show she couldn't conceive his child. and then perhaps she and harwin began their relationship. when jace was born, it was obvious that he wasn't a velaryon.

so, exactly what was rhaenyra supposed to do after jace? she needed an heir to secure her position, but with laenor, it wasn't happening. and when jace was born, he didn't look like rhaenyra either. was there any way for rhaenyra to annul her marriage without offending corlys? and even if the annulment was possible, how it would have affected laenor? would people have called him "less of a man"? everyone knew for a fact that laenor was gay.

even though i am team green i feel some sort of sympathy for rhaenyra here because i still don't know if there were any possible way to get out of that situation without causing a huge drama. that being said, vaemond and his family deserved better.

i know, there are too many questions and for that i'm so sorry, i just had to ask them to you.

Hello, sweet anon, thank you for your lovely message!

As it happens, I already made a post that, I think, answers most of your questions (if you have other additional ones, hit me up).

it's obvious that rhaenyra never should have married laenor.

I think Laenor is actually a very good political match for Rhaenyra. He is also a kind man, who respects her, abides by her and would never hurt her. The problem with the Velaryons is inherited from the previous Targaryen generation. By marrying outside the family, Rhaenys created two additional dragon-riders with her children. Think about the fact that, at the time of Rhaenyra's marriage, House Velaryon had three dragon-riders, while House Targaryen only two. Uniting these two branches through marriage is a very good idea. Just like Viserys marrying Laena would have accomplished the same thing (🤢).

in the book she was threatened by viserys to marry him and if she had remained defiant, viserys would have disinherited her. she felt pressured to marry laenor in the show too, so that whole thing was unfortunate for her.

Only after she made a mockery of her betrothal tour and almost-slept with Daemon. She has a lot of opportunities and freedoms out of reach for many other noble lords and ladies.

when she married laenor, in the show she couldn't conceive his child. and then perhaps she and harwin began their relationship.

Not sure about Laenor's infertility. It's more likely he & Rhaenyra didn't really try.

when jace was born, it was obvious that he wasn't a velaryon.

Yes. Perhaps Rhaenyra hoped Harwin had some recessive blond genes in his background (not phrased in that language, obviously) and the child would come out looking more like her. But it was a huge miscalculation.

so, exactly what was rhaenyra supposed to do after jace? she needed an heir to secure her position

No, she didn't. See the first linked post. I think the better option here would have been to name Aegon her heir* and for Laenor to pass Driftmark to Laena's line after his death. Viserys had already produced enough children with Alicent and House Velaryon has no lack of cousins who can inherit, if needs be. There are enough Targaryens and Velaryons in the world by this point; they are not facing extinction.

*No, her life would not be forfeit in that situation. Legally, her claim is not very strong (narrative weakness / plot hole) and realistically-speaking people would not have much reason to rally behind her. I have a whole succession for the Iron Throne tag for this.

was there any way for rhaenyra to annul her marriage without offending corlys? and even if the annulment was possible, how it would have affected laenor? would people have called him "less of a man"? everyone knew for a fact that laenor was gay.

Previous post on annulment + another one. Important aspect to keep in mind: why would the High Septon award Rhaenyra an annulment when the Faith of the Seven is based in Oldtown, the home city of the Hightowers?

that being said, vaemond and his family deserved better.

Agree. That was a grievous abuse of power. 🤷‍♀️ Personal ambition is not a crime. Even if you want to argue Baela & Rhaena are ahead of him in the line of succession*, Vaemond has every right to petition his case and await the King's judgment. He is not seizing anything illegally here. He is officially appealing the institution of the Crown and stating his own argument. Not Vaemond's problem Viserys is rotting from the inside out and he is basically petitioning Alicent & Otto.

*Controversial opinion, but I'm not arguing that. I think the girls should be disqualified because they are not putting their own cases forward as a result of their conflict of interests (their father being married to Rhaenyra, who is actively trying to usurp the Velaryons out of her lands). Again, not Vaemond's problem they are unwilling or unable to argue for themselves and indirectly abetting Rhaenyra's takeover.

even though i am team green i feel some sort of sympathy for rhaenyra here because i still don't know if there were any possible way to get out of that situation without causing a huge drama.

It's not so much that Rhaenyra made one or two mistakes and now she should be punished for them, it's more that... I'm really struggling to see what/if Rhaenyra did anything right at all. She has been skirting her duties all her life and everything she does post ep. 6 is damage-control, which inadvertently backfires on her, because the hole she dug herself in is already too big.

Nevertheless, Rhaenyra is in a very difficult situation, no doubt. It is not fair that she has to clean up the messes left behind by Jaehaerys and Viserys, the two "peaceful" kings. Jaehaerys should never have passed over Rhaenys in the first place. Viserys should never have remarried and produced extra sons. It's a difficult task, but it is her lot in life, should she ever wish to become queen. She can always pass this on to Aegon and live her life as a rich, comfortable woman. No one is forcing her hand here.

The only way I see Rhaenyra having a sliver of a chance is if she maintains a good, honest relationship with Alicent and her sons, marries a powerful, rich noble lord and has his trueborn children + petitions, wines & dines, gives out bribes and favours constantly to the lords and important players in Westeros, makes constant royal progresses, gets to know them, gets them to like her, helps them with their grievances, just basically lobbies the fuck out of every power centre in the Seven Kingdom, including the common folk. So that, when the time comes, she has so much popular support that she can basically impose herself via some sort of charismatic authority. Doesn't flee to Dragonstone, abandoning the capital and the practical governance. And absolutely does not kill her husband and does not marry Daemon.

i know, there are too many questions and for that i'm so sorry, i just had to ask them to you

No worries, I just hope I answered them! 🦄

[xenomorphee3]

Flashback to the day Spider was born from my story : )

Snippet from Chapter 10. Mission Issue. I really enjoyed writing this and the entire chapter. Easily one my favorite of my earlier chapters.

Miles continued down the village's central thoroughfare and saw the Tsahik, Ka’uwe, conversing with a woman. This woman had a sling in front of her, in it was a baby, no more than a few weeks old. Ka'uwe was looking at the baby with great joy as the mother was coddling it. Miles stopped to look at this interaction, another memory emerging from the deepest parts of his mind.

[Flashback to when Spider was born]

Colonel Miles Quaritch was a serious and busy man at Hell’s Gate. Overseeing all security operations was a stressful job that carried a lot of weight to it. There were rarely true, sustaining successes, and people died. Not all the time. But not rarely. Pandora was a hostile place. Worse than hell as far as he was concerned because it was real. He started his tour as an unrelenting professional, maintaining proper relationships with his SecOps subordinates, and rarely engaged with those across departments and divisions outside of work-related encounters.

But time wears on a man. Over his fifteen years on Pandora, he found himself seeking companionship. Stress relief. He was only human after all and by all accounts, he was a stud. He was no fool about his needs, and neither were the women of the base. Miles was always careful though and the RDA was certainly realistic and provided various means of birth control. A population of Pandoran-born babies is not something the RDA endorsed.

Paz Socorro was Miles’ most recent lover in a not large, but not small, close-to-the-vest list of women over the last fifteen years. These other women got the assignment. He was as much a fling to them as they were to him, often meeting him mutually drunk after a few rounds in the base bar and dancing around a bit. The other Hell's Gate personnel would pretend they didn’t know what was happening, but it was a small base and word got around. It didn’t matter though. Nothing came from these casual interactions. Until Paz Socorro.

Paz did not intend to get pregnant and was, unfortunately, the victim of that dreaded .1% birth control failure rate. She hid the pregnancy well, only making highly confidential trips to a base doctor who expressed a plethora of concerns about the pregnancy—Pandora's lower gravity, the base's unsuitability for raising children, the countless dangers, and... the potential wrath of the baby's father.

Still, Paz wanted to keep the child, but she waffled for about seven months on whether or not to tell Miles. One day, after realizing it was getting harder to hide, she finally felt compelled to share it. She sent him a message asking him to visit her quarters, that she had something important to tell him in person. Miles got her message and reluctantly obliged and was not stupid about the possibility of what she might disclose to him. He stealthily went to her small, dorm-like room in the officers' quarters late at night. Certain to not be seen.

When he arrived, she had no way to soften the blow of what to tell him. So she just let it out. “I’m pregnant. You’re the father.”

His reaction was not what any mother-to-be would prefer. He looked at her stomach, the pregnancy showing if you looked for it, and became enraged. He held in his anger's volume the best he could to not disturb her sleeping neighbors. But he was upset. He vocally blamed her for letting this happen, but he knew she was on birth control. Really he blamed himself. He knew that for all of his messing around, it was only a matter of time before such a thing happened.

And her waiting this long made it clear to him that she was planning on keeping it and so he did not press that question. He simply made it clear to Paz that he did not care. That if anyone asked who the father was, she would not implicate him. Her and Miles’ child would be the first human baby born on Pandora and despite this historical milestone, he wanted nothing to do with it. At the time.

On the day Spider was to be born, via an induced labor at the eight-month mark, Paz sent Miles a memo that she was going to go into labor. He ignored it. He already told her he didn’t care and he was busy preparing for the arrival of a Valkyrie full of new RDA employees. The ISV Venture Star was soon approaching Pandora's orbit and would be decelerating soon, and as such would be arriving in a few weeks.

He was organizing SecOps assignments for the new security personnel and preparing his safety briefing. It doesn’t change much each time he gives it, he likes putting fear into the new folks, but it’s been a while since the last new crew arrived. Miles also made a special note of the paralyzed Marine on the Venture Star's manifest that was to be working with the science pukes as an Avatar driver, re-remembering Parker having approved his appointment six years ago. This kid may present an opportunity for him.

Miles was organizing these assignments on his holo-screen monitor at his office desk when he saw the little blinking new message icon. Another message from Paz. He ignored it for a moment but suddenly felt compelled to open it, unable to suppress his curiosity. He tapped the icon.

“It’s a boy. 5 lbs 6 ounces. His name is Miles.”

Miles?? Really? She named this kid after me? Why would she fucking do that? He turned off his monitor in frustration, the screen now clear and transparent, and he just sat at his desk, perplexed and angry, sweating through his tank. Miles needed some air. He decided he was going to go take a walk around the base in his AMP suit to clear his head. As he was heading down to the mech hangar, he ran into Corporal Lyle Wainfleet and Private Sean Fike in the hallway. They were chatting about hazing the incoming new recruits.

Miles walked by and said, “Marines.”

The two of them went to attention. “Sir," responded both.

“I want you on your best behavior when the new folks arrive in a few weeks. This place is already hell. Try not to make it worse, would ya?” he remarked, a forced light tone about him.

“Yes, sir,” Wainfleet replied with a smirk.

Miles continued to the mech hangar and passed the entrance to the medical bay wing. But as he walked past it he staggered for a moment. The med-bay was where Paz... and her baby were. He turned around and looked at the clear, sliding doors for a moment and thought to himself, no, no. He continued walking… The Colonel then clenched his jaw, let out a frustrated sigh, and, against his wishes for himself, decided to head into the med-bay. Mad that he felt so compelled.

He was stealthy, looking around clearly trying not to be seen by too many doctors and the few injured Hell's Gate personnel. Out of nowhere, a female doctor saw him and said, “Room 217.”

“Excuse me?” Miles snapped.

“Room. Two-seventeen,” she spoke again, firm, unbothered by the aggressive and muscular Head of Security. Miles caught her drift, glared, and marched past her. She looked at him with disappointment as he walked by.

He approached room 217 and to his surprise, he noticed that it wasn’t where Paz was. Rather, it was a room with a big glass window that allowed one to look inside. In this room was a little glass tank on a metal stand—it was a makeshift incubator.

There he was. Miles Socorro. Miles wasn’t immediately moved by the sight, but after a moment of seeing this little, bundled-up, slightly premature baby move around in there, Miles softened. But he couldn’t get involved. Wouldn’t get involved. Not at this time. There were the arriving recruits he had to prepare for, and he had far too much to do. Not to mention the ever-growing hostility from the local Na'vi tribe, and pressure from the RDA on both him and Parker to do something about it so they could access other major unobtanium deposits in the region, the greatest of which was under the hostiles' home.

There was so much more to be concerned about than this needy little baby. The lives of good men and women were in his hands. The entire base’s well-being was his responsibility and soon there were going to be new RDA employees who would rely on him to orient them to the dangers of Pandora. After all, he knows what it’s like to get messed up on Day One.

This child was a distraction. One that he would not let into his life. He took a look at Miles, his son, tightened his lips together, frowned, and left. He ran into the same doctor who told him about the room. He locked eyes with her and said nothing as he brushed by. She looked at him walking away with a mild disgust, but also a sadness.

[Flashforward to Miles in the village of the Ash People]

This memory deeply hurt Miles. The father that he could have and should have been. Starting from that moment. But also many more moments after that including, most critically, not assigning every abled body pilot to the Tree of Souls bomb run mission. Here he felt true sorrow. Paz was barely six months postpartum. He asked for every pilot, and as far as he could recall, she never submitted an off request. And he would have allowed it if she asked. But she never did... and he doesn't know why.

He thought that the mission was going to be a surefire success of course, but that’s no excuse. It was still a dangerous mission. She would be in a Scorpion, not the Dragon Assault Ship that he was typically protected by. Miles had no idea how she truly died since he didn't have memories of that battle. However, she is dead because of him. And his son, Spider, exists and was orphaned on an alien moon because of him. He stood there, paralyzed by these memories, staring at this little gray-blue Ash Na’vi child in its mother's arms.

Read more : )

[mirrorofliterature]

I just saw someone victim blaming hector and I’m like NO

people really do want things to be black and white... people who are like ‘well hector still left his family for completely selfish reasons’ are kind of. missing the point & a lot of historical context.

when hector leaves, he is 20, not a child. it was a decent post talking about how bruno and hector are not the same and should not be conflated, until it got to the hector section and were like ‘well hector was stupid for putting his trust in the wrong man’, aka his best friend. *takes away the victim blaming tools* alright.

may I repeat: the fundamental issue in coco is not that hector left, it is that he did not come back. I disagree with the (unfortunately popular) headcanon that imelda was begging hector to not leave on his tour and he did anyway, because that for me is a fundamental misreading of his character (and her character)

it’s like. think this through. hector made a mistake in leaving his family for so long, sure, but it does not make sense that it was not a decision that hector and imelda agreed on together. it’s like: hector worked as a musician, a mariachi, the best way for him to earn money was likely to travel. do I think imelda was necessarily happy about his decision? no, no one likes their husband being gone for months! do I think that hector had a complex motive for going? yes! but I do think hector was just a clueless 20 year old deciding to pursue a passion and leave his young family in the lurch? no, that is not consistent with his character!

I think - more realistically - where hector fails is that he acquieces to ernesto and extends the tour, because ernesto likely manipulated him - the longer the tour, the more money! and I think the final scene where hector is killed is hector snapping and being like: no, ernesto, I need to go home and be with my family, I miss them too much, I will find another way to financially support them (which would have been a big thing, in 1920s patriachal mexico!)

one of the key plot twists in coco is hector loving imelda deeply and not truly being the stereotypical father who went to go buy milk.

anyway here is one of my favourite hector leaving scenes from my favourite post-canon fic:

No, Héctor had to go make something of himself. Had to share his music with the world. And it didn’t help that Ernesto had been whispering in his ear about fame and fortune far more frequently as of late. Imelda hadn’t liked that at all. But it was alright, she had told herself. They were talented, after all, Ernesto and Héctor together. Once they got on the road, it wouldn’t take long for people to notice that talent, and the sooner Héctor could make his name and come home. And maybe then, with a little extra money in his pocket, he could stop worrying about whether or not he was giving Imelda the fine life he’d promised her along with his love, and realize she only ever needed the one.

Imelda had held Coco in her arms to prevent the toddler from running away after her pápa on the morning Héctor left. He’d kept turning around every five steps to either run back for one more kiss or to wave frantically while shouting endearments that were sure to wake up the whole town. Ernesto finally had to drag him away and out of sight, so that was the last time Imelda ever saw her husband alive, smiling and promising he’d be back, he’d be back soon.

He’d be back for sure, and then he’d never leave again.

[antialiasis]

Chess - Original London/1990 US Tour

So I have accidentally consumed two more versions of Chess.

On Sunday I decided to give the actual original London production a go, which is indeed more or less the same as Chess in Concert but with various little differences. The pacing is even worse, bless it (I didn’t actually have the patience to watch the video for the entire thing so I had it playing in the background while drawing and swapped to it when the interesting bits were going on), but it was neat to see how it was originally staged (from what I can make out of the blurry blobs of this 80s bootleg), I definitely feel a lot better commenting on the London version knowing exactly what that originally entailed, and the differences were interesting.

In particular, there are little dialogue bits in Sydney that are actually straight from original London but were elided in Chess in Concert, for example. It’s also considerably clearer about the status of the chess matches, though I don’t really like that it presents the outcomes of the chess matches in a bit of an overly simplistic way, as if their chess performance is just a perfectly deterministic function of their relationship with Florence (I think Freddie won every game until “Mountain Duet” and Anatoly won every game after it, or something about as contrived, where Chess in Concert had a more realistic sequence of matches). And just after “Talking Chess” Freddie admits he only ever made the wrong moves with Florence, which I kind of like as part of the sense of Freddie genuinely getting over himself and growing up a bit, even if it put “Pity the Child” too early.

I was going to sort of have that as a little note at the top of the post I was writing with final overall Chess thoughts and leave it at that. But then today, when I was going to go finish that post and post it and move on with my life, I accidentally wound up also watching the 1990 US tour, which I had seen a few posts about and which a couple of people had mentioned in the notes on my other posts. This one’s Broadway-based, so I was kind of expecting it to be more or less like Long Beach, in the way that original London was more or less Chess in Concert - the same story but some insignificant tweaks or cuts or additions to how it’s told. But no, turns out this is yet another vastly different version that just kind of completely rewrites most of it. Here I thought I’d experienced the four major strains of Chess so I could start commenting on it as a whole, but apparently nope. I am left with a deep sense of paranoia that absolutely any production I do not watch is liable to be a counterexample to any statement I might make about Chess in general. Tim Rice, why have you cursed me so.

Where Long Beach actually successfully sold the romance and made it kind of cute, this one managed to have the absolute worst Florence/Anatoly romance, hands down. In the Long Beach version, Florence and Anatoly have some banter before “Terrace Duet” where they’re both laughing and enjoying themselves; in the tour version, instead of that, Anatoly tells her he has no intention of apologizing and arranged this meeting just so he could get to know her, she’s pissed about it, he snaps at her, she goes out to the terrace and starts to sing the song, and after the bit about how the meeting doesn’t matter anymore he approaches her, she tries to move away, and he just grabs her and kisses her anyway? And then when Freddie arrives Florence tells him she’s so sorry and it’s all her fault, and Anatoly calls her at the hotel, and she tells him not to call again so he physically comes to see her instead and just generally will not take no for an answer? I had seen this Anatoly given the nickname ‘Creepatoly’ but I assumed that just meant the actor’s performance came across as a bit unfortunately creepy, whereas he has actually just been entirely rewritten to be a total creep. Please throw this entire man in the garbage.

As a result, instead of being indifferent to the romance, here I just find it deeply enraging that Florence wants anything to do with him at all and am rooting for her to kick him in the nuts, but instead I have to watch her singing all the same love songs no matter how little sense they make, and I hate it. (Here, rather than helping Anatoly defect, Florence is about to fly home when Anatoly just follows her and insists that while she thought they had no future he can’t see a future without her (so obviously she should just give in, I guess?), and then somehow she launches into “Heaven Help My Heart”?! Including the line about how she never planned on “doing all this for the love of a man”, when she has literally done nothing to facilitate this, only repeatedly told Anatoly to please leave her alone? God. Who wrote this version and why did they think this made any sense at all.)

Meanwhile, this version does cut Freddie’s misogyny verse… but it doesn’t replace it with anything, and as a result it feels very much like something is missing: him kind of briefly snapping at her in a way that’s honestly less bad than some of his previous remarks still has her react as if he just crossed some whole new line. It made perfect sense the misogynistic rant finally gave Florence the nerve to leave, but not really as much so here. I’m definitely not opposed to cutting the misogyny verse, it makes sense for Freddie’s particular issues and all but it is super yikes and I’m surprised cutting it isn’t more common when every production makes cuts and rewrites to other stuff left and right, but you do kind of need its role in the scene served by something. Have him yell something more vicious about her relationship with Anatoly there or something, you know? (I also don’t think I’d have cut the “I should have guessed, woman / that if pressed, woman / you’re on nobody’s side but your own” bit, personally, since that sets up his issues a little while staying within more regular asshole territory and I like the callback to “Nobody’s Side”, but that’s just me.)

Also, here Freddie straight-up cheated at chess – he staged the walkout so the game would be suspended and he’d have more time to figure out how to force a draw in a situation where he was down some material. Any Freddie who cares about chess would never.

In this one, nobody ever suggests Florence’s father might be alive, despite slightly more setup about her father being a famous chess player who wrote a book that inspired Anatoly. Florence and Anatoly plan to ditch the final match and elope so they can live together somewhere; however, when Anatoly goes to inform Freddie about this and congratulate him on keeping his title, Freddie tells him not to, that he doesn't want to win the title by default and Anatoly won’t be able to live with himself if he quits and Florence must have put him up to this, and when Anatoly refuses Freddie taunts him, saying he’s just scared he’ll lose. It’s almost sort of a little bit like “Talking Chess” but not really; no because I love chess, no Freddie having gotten over anything. (This is one of the versions that put the full “Pity the Child” just after “Florence Quits”, so that’s not something that just happened, either.)

And then Anatoly does show up for the match (but still late, as in all these Broadway-derived endings). Florence isn’t lyrically involved in “Endgame” at all; Svetlana berates him as he plays and he just responds with the original “Nothing you have said is revelation…” verse rather than the Sydney/Long Beach bit about thinking of Florence and her father and not wanting to betray them (of course, given her father is just plain dead here, that wouldn’t have made sense as is), and then he says he’s found out his only obligation, to chess… right before he apparently throws the match anyway, talking about how I cannot go on hurting all the people who have trusted me. This is a bit strange because as far as I could recall, in this version nobody had actually asked him to lose the match! I guess what he’s trying to accomplish by losing is to stop the Soviet government threatening his family, but I’m pretty sure Molokov at some point literally stated that they don’t care if he wins or loses, they just want him home? All in all I’m not quite sure what the point of doing that was once he had shown up, other than to obligatorily have the Broadway outcome. Afterwards, Anatoly tells Florence that he realized he didn’t know who he would be in her life and that he ultimately is a chess player, which I guess is fair, but then why not win the match? How was he betraying anyone any less by losing than by winning? Mayyyybe he didn’t actually throw the match and just made a genuine mistake there as he was thinking about how he can’t go on hurting people? I don’t know.

After they have their goodbye and Anatoly leaves, Molokov offers Florence a seat on a plane and an apartment in Moscow to just stay there as Anatoly’s mistress, which she refuses (“Would this make me Anatoly’s mistress, or the mistress of the Soviet Union?”). Then Walter arrives and explains the whole political plot to Florence (we’ve seen basically none of that at all before this point), in which the Soviets made some kind of vague handwaved concession in return for the West making Anatoly’s life miserable until he returned. That is, the plot twist is that everything about Anatoly’s difficulties, including the guy telling him his nephew was injured (which was a lie), was orchestrated by the US government, not the Soviet one. Then Walter tells her Freddie’s waiting outside in a limo for her – he needs her inspiration! – and Walter took the liberty of packing her luggage for her. She angrily tells him to bring her luggage back and get out of her sight… and then sings “Someone Else’s Story”, which is actually a choice I kind of like? Florence wishing she could have warned herself to leave Anatoly? Not all of the lyrics make total sense for that context but I can get behind it, especially with this fucking Anatoly.

All in all, Freddie is somehow the most sympathetic character in this version, but mostly because everyone else is either terrible or inexplicably in love with Anatoly, who is terrible. I can’t say I was a big fan; I think it makes some decent structural choices here and there like the placement of “Someone Else’s Story”, I kind of appreciate having some vague hint of “Talking Chess” in there even if this Freddie doesn’t care about chess, but Creepatoly just made me deeply annoyed with pretty much every song that had Anatoly or Florence in it, which is most of the songs.

(Or, wait. One of the other Russians, who gets like five lines, is Nikolai, who is just a wholesome chess nerd who wants to play against Anatoly and get Freddie’s autograph. He is the most sympathetic character. He cares about chess!)

Am I going to have to watch original Broadway too just to make sure it doesn’t do something totally different that my adaptation nerdery brain needs to know about? And the 1990 UK tour, which in the masterlist of bootlegs is said to be a “Mostly London-based script with elements from Sydney and Broadway”? The 1989 Swedish narrated concert of the concept album? I don’t know. Chess is going to be the death of me.

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

My top 5 albums/eps for 2023

So it has come to the end of the year again, and despite now having been burnt twice doing this list before the last day of December only to listen to albums that should have made them within the year (Evermore and SOS, you will always be famous lmao), I'm ready to put out my top 5 albums/EPs that were released in 2023. And before anyone asks, no, rerecordings do not count and will not be considered for this list (sorry Taylor and Demi), same with deluxe versions (sorry Noah). So without further adieu, here are my top 5 albums/EPs for 2023.

5. The Age of Pleasure – Janelle Monae.

Following up Dirty Computer was always going to be a challenge. For those who haven't listened to Dirty Computer, I would literally call it one of the best albums of all time. And, at least for me, there's been a pattern with all artists where once they release an album I adore, I tend not to like the next one. But Janelle well and truly rose to the occasion. Much like Dirty Computer, I felt like I was transported to a different time and place listening to The Age of Pleasure. Each song is strong on it's own yet works so well together but are all different and distinguished enough to be memorable. Unfortunately I feel like as a whole this album did not get the hype that it deserved, but I am hoping that its AOTY grammy nomination will help give it that chance for more people to listen to it. All in all, the only, very subjective, reason that this album was not higher is because it's personally not relatable to me, and that's a major reason I listen to music. Like I said though, that is very subjective, and not at all a comment about its quality.

Favourite Song: Champagne Shit.

4. Guts – Olivia Rodrigo.

I'm just going to say it upfront, this album was too hated on just because it wasn't Sour and over weirdo rumours. Like do I think it'll be my favourite album of all time? No. But neither was Sour and Guts does just a good a job at being the perfect teenage album. And I say that in the most affectionate light because I think it is an art to capture an age like that. At the current time, Sour and Guts flip flop as my favourite Olivia project, and realistically, had I had Guts when I was closer to Olivia's age (rather than nearly a decade older), I think Guts would have taken the cake easily. It's relatable and unfortunately still socially relevant given its topics of age gaps in relationships, the way the music industry treats young female artists, and the guilt and shame that come from both of those. Likewise, its commentary on honesty about who you are and what you feel compared to what others want (extending as far as into the bonus track Scared of My Guitar) is a relatable and interesting theme throughout the album. As a whole, Olivia well and truly defied the sophomore album dip for me and I cannot wait to see what she does in the future (hopefully including an Australian tour lmao).

Favourite Song: The Grudge.

3. The Good Witch – Maisie Peters.

I'll say it outright, if this had come out in 2018/2019 (when I was 22 to 24 years old), it would have well and truly been my number one pick of the year and probably joined the ranks of albums like RED and Melodrama that define the year they were released for me just by being released right when I needed them. Even now with the distance of several years, I still think of the same person I would have then when listening to most of the songs on this album; I just get the benefit of being able to laugh along to the songs rather than be sad. Admittedly, it took a few listens, both with the standard and deluxe version to fully feel this album as a cohesive project (ironically You Signed Up For This, Maisie's first [non soundtrack] album, was too sonically cohesive for me to the point I prefer to listen to the songs on their own and The Good Witch initially felt not sonically cohesive enough), but once it hit, it hit. I remember my first listen and hearing There It Goes for the first time and having a quiet moment of judgement thinking that the wrong song was picked for the closer because how was it going to top There It Goes as a statement piece for the album... I was quickly proven wrong as History of Man started to play and I realised that not only was this the perfect closer, but objectively one of the best songs I've ever heard. So yes, as a whole, I think she made the right choices in terms of tracklist order and what was left on the deluxe. Additionally, jokingly I am grateful that we didn't have “you had a phone, you should have called” in 2018, for I would have acted irrationally lmao. Overall, after having seen Maisie live in February, this was one of my most anticipated albums of the year, and much like Olivia, Maisie has well and truly defied the sophomore album dip for me and I can see myself loving this album for years to come.

Favourite Song: There It Goes

2. This Is Why – Paramore.

Over the years, I've had a very up and down relationship with Paramore. I loved their earlier work, fell off with (read: only liked a few songs per album) their self titled album and never fully made my way back to them... until now. To me (and I believe the intent of the album was), this album is like the encompassment of being alive in 2023. It's tired, it's angry, it holds back and even resents “positive” emotion at times, but ultimately it is just very human and reflective of where the world is right now. Of all of my choices this year, This Is Why is absolutely the album that is most relatable to myself in this current moment. And, having a year where I came back to pop rock music in general, this album just came at an absolutely ideal time for me. Overall, it is the album I feel has the most potential for me to look back on and be like “yeah, this was 2023 for me”, and for that alone, it has earned its spot on my ranking. My only regret is that I unfortunately did not get to see this album played live on tour due to other things going on in my life... almost as if I ran out of time (pun intended).

Favourite song: Running Out Of Time.

Rolling Up The Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini.

So some of you may have realised the title of this post is my top 5 albums AND EPS and have realised that there is a direct lack of extended plays spoken about so far. Well surprise! Before this year, the only Kelsea song I had heard was The Other Girl featuring Halsey, but she's someone who I have wanted to listen to for a while. So when I heard that she was releasing an extended play, I jumped straight in and fell in love. I've never been through a divorce, but the emotions and grief of losing a relationship (romantic or otherwise) that you feel you fought so hard to grasp onto despite knowing it wasn't working and feeling like the other person wasn't trying resonated so deeply with me. And much like The Good Witch, I think if I had had this ep in 2018, it would have been the album I felt sad to, and honestly? To a point where I may have avoided it because it hit too close to home. But instead, all of its tracks were my top streamed tracks with nothing breaking them up. Overall it is an exemplary, relatable piece of work to which my only complaint is that I cannot buy it on CD (sorry, not much of a streamer) and while I haven't had a chance to go listen to Kelsea's other stuff (sorry it's been a busy year), I cannot wait to see what else she has in store, both in her past discography and future projects.

Favourite song: Genuinely all of them, but if you're going to put a gun to my head, Mountain With A View.

[jnixz]

Tada! 

I present to you, Reference Sheets for two of my psychonauts OCs! All it took was a late-prerp for Art Fight ;]

They were both made with psyn show idea in mind to show their characterization and adventure. They both come in the Motherlobe some time after the events of Psychonauts 2, when things have calmed down.

More information under the cut:

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Askel Sy Cylle

Non-binary ( They/Them, He/Him ) After the events of Psychonauts 2, Askel were recruited as the new mail-person due to the need. As for why they would hire a non-psychic farmhand from an out-of-nowhere town, well, they are rather tight-lipped about it. Otherwise, Askel is determined to keep a low-profile and not connect much with the other employees for however long they stay there. Unfortunately, a certain someone won't leave them alone nor stop from dragging them into adventures. They can handle a few colourful cast of characters, malfunctioning equipment, and all things real with the presence of psychics, but they did not sign up for mental world missions! They have so many questions! Stop it!! Why stranger things and coincidences keep popping up (even for the organization's standard with non-psychics) in the situation they get sucked in continues, Askel has yet to know.

Askel tends to be blunt and straightforward in their speech, and occasionally extremely sarcastic while maintaining honestly in their interaction with people. They don’t like sucking up to people’s good graces and would rather others do the same. 

Grumpy as they are, don’t take it personally when they have a habit of barking out questions when they get stressed. When one gets a dose(or several) of mindscape shenanigans, it would be understandable that exposition for one horridly confused non-psychic. Their preferred weapon are Axes. Some psi-technology has a habit of not detecting Askel's presence, causing a bit of an issue.

Born from a few musings about how a possible psychonauts show would go, my love of confused outsider perspectives and their interactions with the cast extended to making one lovely witness.

Askel started off simply as a simple OC to witness weird things happening in the Psychonauts  HQ post-PN2, but quickly involved into something more that I can actually write off a story with. Things start off simple with them, but it is undeniable that there may be events more connected to them then they realize.

Their vibes comes with the first time experience of a straight-man witnessing the plethora of wacky ideas in the first psychonauts game. Albeit explore in the more ‘realistic’ sense a non-kid would have when they first witness these kinds of things.

More on them here: [x]

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Enswi Entel

Genderfluid ( They/Them, She/Her, He/Him )

A recent addition to the psychonauts personel at Motherlobe HQ, Enswi was an employee from another associated company that had been contractually helping Psychonauts in some of their missions.  Enswi got hired for a longer term duration for future psychonauts projects and studies.

They specialize in Clairvoyance, Aerokinesis and Hallucinakinesis. They also have a degree in Music and psychology. Due to recent events in Psychonauts, they are assigned to observe and evaluate the employees in Psychonauts. Otherwise, they would help mentor the inter-- Junior Agents when the rest of the Senior Agents are busy with camp. Enswi arrived at the Motherlobe a few months after the events of Psychonauts 2, where they get to meet an interesting new recruit. They are also assigned to long term mission privately assigned to them specifically.

Aha, yes in what was orinially just a guide for Askel in their tour around Motherlobe on their first day, turned into a companion that just makes Askel’s day all the more interesting.

Enswi is a lot more used to the weirder things happening in psychonauts. It also helps that they don’t have concerning issues to sort through. ‘Course they still got their flaws but despite that their go-with-the-flow energy tends to make things a lot lighter when they are around.

Their vibe and energy describes the more understanding and empathetic side of psychonauts that is given focus on the second game. It is accompanied by the more fun and taking things lightly to enjoy the adventure in the first.

======

This would just be a simple and formal intro to these two. As per usual with OCs, there is much more story and characterization in our minds we’ve yet to share.

I would like to thank the people I talk with in the dms about them btw, they would not have been a bit more fleshed out in my head if I didn’t talk to other people, who in turn inspire me to bring a bit more life into these characters. 

[tuiyla]

How do you headcanon brittana in 5x20 had santana actually been in the episode lol like scenes etc., do you see Brittany's scenes going any differently etc.?

Anon! Sweet Anon. When I got this I thought this ask was very interesting but, unfortunately, it was the day I had a 10 hour-flight and went on hiatus so, oops, my bad on replying three weeks later. Hope you're reading this, let's go.

I think there are two main versions of this, one where we actually explain the confusion around Brittana in s5B and what was with Santana returning without Britt, and one (more likely would have happened) where we don't mind that and Brittany returns without acknowledging all that.

To do the latter first, I suppose this is what we could have gotten realistically. I'm not sure about the rumours surrounding 5x20 but IIRC there was a possibility of both Santana and Britt being in the ep, it wasn't an either/or. In which case, I don't see Brittany's scenes changing too much. She shows up the same way only instead of the Yeast-i-Stat line about Santana we have a throwaway meta joke about their Lesbos vacation and Troubletones scenes with Mercedes. I wish all people who robbed me of that a very step in shit, btw. And Santana is involved in at least some of the TV script scenes instead of Britt such as the ones that were obviously meant to be Kurtcheltana ones. Other than that, I can maybe see one or one and a half, if we're generous, actual Brittana scenes happening.

I headcanon that they would have reaffirmed moving to New York together after the tour, saving us the same dialogue from 6x03. Maybe a scene just before Pompeii where Santana's packing up to go on tour with Mercedes and Britt is helping her, Santana reminisces about New York and Britt having sent her there only for them to be in the city together this time around. Dare I say, even a throwback to the 4x04 laundry scene and a full circle moment now that they're together again? Just something soft and sweet with Mercedes coming in later and the three embarking on their adventure together. AS WE DESERVED. God, fucking Glee can pry my TT girls out of my dead cold hands. Anyway.

Now, the second version is more complicated and less likely for Glee to have done. In this version, there's some tension when Brittany shows up in Bushwick though we have some of the same jokes. But something happened, minor fallout during their holiday, maybe Santana acknowledges that Brittany came back later than expected. You know, anything to make sense of the s5 timeline and what went down with them after they got back together. It still makes zero sense to me that Santana missed a few episodes, came back later without explanation as to where Britt is and then Brittany showed up in 5x20 not knowing where Santana would be. What? No way. So here we explain it through a minor conflict moment and maybe it makes it into the first version of the pilot script. The exaggerated version of their fight (which was barely a fight, anyway) makes Santana realize that it didn't matter that much. What matters is that Brittany is there, much the same as in the other version. This scenario gets us more Brittana content and like a tiny bit of conflict but only to explain the confusion of s5B. Same TT content more or less, same conclusion, sets up their s6 arc where Santana decides on the proposal.

I'm sure that even if Santana was in the episode the Brittana content would have been minimal, but I think there was a way of smoothing over their story even in just one or two scenes. Either way, I headcanon an alternate version of 5x20 being like a missing puzzle piece. It connects where we left them in 5x13 to where they come back in 6x02 and especially 6x03. Even if we joke away Britt's extended vacation, we still could have had a moment of reflection between the two that leads smoothly into the Mercedes tour. God, I would fight someone, anyone, so hard for tour content.

All in all, 5x20 pisses me off so much but I like the one with Santana in it in my head. She deserved one last NY episode and we deserved a taste of NYC Brittana. Mostly though Naya as a person and professional deserved better but I digress.

[auroralightsthesky]

Can you do GenKill? I know that this is not realistic, but I was just thinking, what if they encounter the reader with a small unit of Canadian soldiers(12-24 people)? They served in Afghan and was transferred to fight in Iraq. The reader was sent to scout ahead on her own and encountered the crew. Even though she is the youngest there, she is very competent to the point the gen kill crew thought she the leading NCO at first. The Canadian war correspondent even trusted her first in Afghan and stuck with her throughout her tours.

I was looking up info in the Iraq war and saw that Canada was involved in Afghanistan, but less in Iraq.

Bonus if the reader was trained to be a paratrooper.

-（。＾▽＾）anon from your secondary blog

Oooooooooooh big challenge honey, ya'll have my attention!!!!!! And no worries, you don't wanna be overly realistic with a fanfiction, it takes alot of the fun out of it (lol)

Some of the guys were reaaaaaally intimidated when they first saw you and your platoon rolling up

Half of'em were like "Wtf? Why is a teenager leading these guys?"

Ray and a few of the guys were unfortunate enough to get on your bad side and you smoked'em for a good half hour or so

After that he never made another bad remark about Canadian soldiers ever again

You were also put in charge of training the guys in parachuting

Which was oh-so-much fun

Out in the field though was a bit of a different story though

You and Ray had found you liked some of the same music

And he'd laugh whenever you'd sing "Teenage Dirtbag" or Afroman came over the little portable radio

But the guys learned quickly that you and your unit had their backs

And always would from there on out

Because nothing can break a close knit group like yours

[revengemode]

Pretty sure news broke before they started filming. Also Timmy erased his IG because of it and no one actually spoke out against it or the behavior

Let’s be realistic here. Did you really think they were going to can the movie after securing funds, the cast, the crew and months of pre-production because of the Armie news dropping?

Again…the timing was unfortunate. Had it dropped while they were in early stages of pre-production, I’m sure they would have moved on to something else. It just didn’t play out that way.

If you’re talking about the lack of pushback during the promo of Bones & All, that’s a different story. I haven’t followed the press tour like that so not sure what was asked/said (or not said).

I only saw Luca seemingly standing with Armie which is extremely wack. Shia LaBeouf is currently filming a Coppola movie despite his actions.

Hollywood’s going to Hollywood.

[harryfeatgaga]

yeah like I don’t think he’ll get enough backlash this round to actually react and have to sit back and rethink how he’s going about tours bc people are still buying tickets like, I think the only way he’ll address this is if he announces a tour and tickets don’t sell as quickly as before. I mean it’s already fucked how he announces tour dates, then the day that tickets go on sale, decides to announce that extra dates were added? Like c’mon lol you knew days before that you’d be adding more dates , i understand that there can be last minute decisions, but adding 5 more dates a few hours AFTER sales starts is not a last minute decision lol. Those dates had been in the works. And when Ppl have already fixated on one date, likely bought that ticket and probably even booked a hotel, but you decide to add 5 more dates after the fact and maybe, those ppl could have caught one of those shows without having to call out of work, or could have gone with a friend who couldn’t go before, got a cheaper hotel or flight, etc., you just screw people over. he gets away with it tho bc he’s hot and nice and charismatic and doesn’t really offend anybody BUT if u piss off enough ppl, you’ll see it reflected via ticket and sales and just general reception lol like all it’s going to take is someone making a single tweet or tiktok to blow up to get lil pap articles written about it, and having his name mentioned in thinkpieces about price gouging on Ticketmaster and then u have like Howard stern or whoever bringing it up during next press cycle for the next album lol because let’s not act like people wouldn’t jump at an opportunity to go after a crack in Harry’s whole thing about ‘inclusivity’ and having fans adore him for everything he does! and how he’s a good guy! Like!! I’m just being realistic @ Harry styles I’m trying to help u u greedy bitch ! Save urself!!

well damn JKSNDBHFGHUVJIK you went off and unfortunately people are buying this crazy expensive tickets so its showing that people will buy them idk what else to say tb rtfbgvhuijk I mean im not saying harry isnt involved but its mostly just the fact that ticketmaster can get away with doing this artist involved or not they are scammers and im sick of it

[ravetaper]

Josh Wink Futurama Rave Live Set 1995

This is a 138-minute audio recording of Josh Wink Futurama rave live set recorded in Los Angeles on December 16, 1995.

Rave Tapes · JOSH WINK - Futurama Rave Live Set 1995 LA

The live set that shouldn't be. Anyone searching for Real Rave Sh*t has found it.

Finally, this recording will get the attention it deserves. But I'm not sure where to begin. Should I talk about Jason Jay, first? Or Josh Wink? Or Marlon and Anthony? The technical difficulties?

First, one of the co-promotors, Jason Jay (@electricdayzent). He was a force of the LA rave scene throughout the 1990's and 2000's. His biggest legacy was co-creator of Magic Wednesdays, a rave-like mid-week club. The location changed over the years but Jason and partners DJ Eli Star and Auro Michael always managed to snag the biggest names touring through LA at the time. Jason launched several other brands over the years including Fun Haus, Omni Center, Dreamland, Kandi Festival, Party Monster, and Monday Mondays. But the iconic event we all remember from rave's heyday was Futurama. I had a chance to ask Jason about the concept:

"We wanted to base it on futurism, like the World's Fair back in the day, as well as the positivism we felt in the rave movement."

It's unfortunate Fox Television created an animated show some years later using the same name. But to me, "Futurama" will always mean Josh Wink's first Los Angeles rave live set.

My memory of the location is fuzzy other than being in downtown LA. I remember setting up my gear on a narrow, unfinished staircase behind the dj decks, probably because I arrived late and the room was already crowded. Apparently, there were more than 4,000 attendees that night.

The whole scene was sketch. The room was likely overcapacity. I was balancing on a staircase. And I suspected there was a problem with one of the turntables, or with one of my cables, or both.

When the skinny kid with overflowing blond dreadlocks made it to the decks, we breathed a sigh of relief. Josh Wink had arrived!

I'm just glad we captured the whole set, given the chaos of the situation.

Here's what happened. I got there first. I pugged in my usual setup: dj mixer line out into my personal Realistic mixer, stereo mic into Realistic, Realistic out to Sony D7 portable DAT. Later, my friends Marlon and Anthony arrived with their DAT recorder, but it was too late for them to pull a second, clean feed from the DJ mixer (they preferred a dry signal without the mic). The only thing I could give them was copy of my signal which had the mic. It was better than nothing. So eventually we had two DATs rolling in time for Wink's set.

It happened. We were there. We recorded it.

And 15+ years pass...

At some point I dug up the DAT but quickly realized it was damaged. Not sure what happened but the signal was all crackly. Was it possible to restore it somehow? Maybe. But I filed it back in the archive and forgot about it again.

But then my old friend Anthony reached out and we start chatting about the good ol' days. I asked him if he ever ripped his recording of Josh Wink. He did! But, he said the recording had issues. One of the stereo channels was ruined by constant dropouts and noise. He applied a simple fix my copying and pasting the good channel over the bad one. Not a perfect solution, but better than nothing. He sent it over. And yes, it was a lot better than nothing.

Then I sat on it for a couple more years.

Finally, I dug it up for some reason – probably because I was itching to hear it again and analyze what Wink played night.

But being the perfectionist I am, I had to do my part to improve the recording. I edited out remaining dropouts, added some stereo separation, and applied my mastering chain.

The result? Spine-tingling!

This recording transports the listener right to the moment in 1995. The mic is loud in the mix, so one can really hear the room. The background noise is quiet at the start but by the middle of the set you can hear a packed room hooting and hollering with the beat.

And the song selection? Holy smokes! This is really relevant stuff. Wink works in all the Ovum hits of the day including Are You There and Higher State of Consciousness. I always thought of Josh Wink as a house DJ but thinking about it more, we would probably call it techno? Does it matter?

Josh Wink tracks exploited the Roland TB-303, the awkward silver box that generated those classic, squelchy acid bass lines. But while most acid and/or techno featured 303 basslines that were mechanical and dissonant sounding, Wink coaxed a degree of 'funk' out of the machine that few others could. I would say it was common to hear funky/jazzy elements in music produced by West Coast musicians at the time. Making a 303 sound funky was a novel, SoCal-flavored approach.

In addition to the Wink Ovum tracks, he worked in several iconic anthems of the time.

Power outage. About halfway through the set the power got cut. Jason later told me how he was protecting the last spare fuse with his life. When that failed, they resorted to closing the circuit by pressing a wad of aluminum foil into the fuse box and holding it there by hand until the show was over. Real Rave Promotor Sh*t.

I edited out about a minute or two of silence but included the brilliant way Wink restarts the set.

The finished product is an imperfect masterpiece. Respected producer/dj dropping a 2+hour set at a real rave in LA in 1995, and we get to hear what it sounded like?

Yeah, real rave sh*t, right here.

By the way, as someone who still attends events to this day, the LA rave and underground scene is alive and well. And honestly, besides the occasional appearance of a cell phone, the vibes are not too different. Incredibly, some of yesteryear's masters are sill out and about, still playing gigs, including Keoki, Doc Martin, Josh Wink, Mark Farina, Joey Beltram, The Crystal Method, among others. So if you're out in LA maybe we'll see you there!

Follow and support Josh Wink and Ovum Recordings!

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[project1939]

Day 83- Film: The Star 

Release date: December 11th, 1952. 

Studio: 20th Century Fox 

Genre: Drama 

Director: Stuart Heisler 

Producer: Bert E. Friedlob 

Actors: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood 

Plot Summary: Margaret Elliot is a bankrupt fading movie star in her forties who cannot accept that she isn’t the young bombshell anymore. Feeling especially despondent one night, she crashes her car while driving drunk and ends up in jail. A forgotten friend from the past comes to bail her out and help her find some footing. But can Margaret ever be realistic about her place in contemporary Hollywood? 

My Rating (out of five stars): *** ½ 

I was super excited to watch this today- it's one of those “why haven’t I seen this yet?” kinds of movies for me. I adore Bette Davis, and I also like Sterling Hayden. Honestly, though, this ended up being kind of disappointing. It’s by no means bad, but it has some issues. 

The Good: 

Bette Davis. She’s an icon. She’s one of the most talented actresses of the Classical Hollywood era. She bleeds stature and charisma. She’s perfect for the role of a movie star. Unfortunately, the movie star in this film is written as an utterly pathetic creature, and it often hog-ties her. 

Sterling Hayden. There’s always been something appealing to me about him, and I can’t quite explain it. He’s not a virtuoso actor, but he is interesting. 

Natalie Wood. She was really sweet and good this. 

The thought of even entertaining the idea of someone like Crawford or Davis working in a department store! It’s so ridiculous! But ridiculously fascinating to watch. 

The digs at Joan Crawford. Apparently this was written by two one-time good friends of Crawford. The character is clearly more like her than Davis. I see Davis as someone who has enough confidence and awareness to handle fading fame without it killing her inside. 

Portraying the realities of aging actresses in the Classical Hollywood era. This part was very painful and sad to watch. Davis was only in her mid-forties in this film. In today’s Hollywood her choices of roles would still be more limited, but she could still play sexy desirable leading roles. Look at someone like Cate Blanchet who’s had virtually no trouble finding good roles throughout her 40s. 

The scene when she’s watching her screen test and recognizing how bad it is. That was especially heartbreaking, with a mixture of some pathetic comeuppance added in. 

The name drops and Hollywood references at the time. The scene where she gives us a driving tour lists real names, and the scene in a producer’s office has photographs of real stars on the wall, etc. 

The time flew by- it was one of the fastest seeming films of the project. It was very entertaining, even if not always good. 

The Bad: 

The overwrought melodrama. Again, this got in the way of Davis’ performance, and it also got in the way of really making Margaret a fully rounded sympathetic character.  

The ending. It’s kind of All About Eve on steroids- the idea that when an older woman is “washed up,” she just needs a man and the focus of being a wife. Now, on the one hand, family is extremely important as a support in one’s life. The message of needing love is fine by me. It’s the idea that a woman is never completely a woman unless she’s a wife. Her role may have been as an actress with a career, but her most important role is being a wife. Once she realizes that, her problems are over. It’s very patriarchal- if a man stays a bachelor, no one says he’s not fully a man. There’s not this idea that he needs to be a husband to find the true purpose of his life. 

I never really bought the romance/chemistry between Hayden and Davis. I was even hoping they wouldn’t have a romantic relationship and it would become something more interesting. 

It sometimes felt like the movie was being a little cruel to Davis and middle-aged women. It often felt like there was a neon sign in the room saying “Isn’t she pitiful? She’s a pathetic old hag!” It clearly promoted the idea that society (which means men, mostly) doesn’t value a woman who isn’t young and sexy. I think the movie may have been slightly criticizing that, but barely. It just felt really cruel, like it was saying Margaret was pathetic for even thinking she had value like young women do. 

[longlivebatart]

Hals' Youth with a Skull

Note: Sorry I haven't been around, guys! Life kinda got in the way.

Transcript:

Welcome to Long Live Bat Art, the podcast for art lovers who don’t see art as much as they want to. My name is Sydney and thank you for taking this slow tour through an art gallery with a casual art lover. Today, I’ll be talking about Youth with a Skull by Frans Hals. I hope you enjoy. 

Frans Hals was born somewhere around 1582 in Antwerp. Hals and his family fled Antwerp after the fall of the city to the Spanish when he was around 2 years old. Protestants were given a mere four years to get all their affairs in order before leaving the city. The Hals family moved north to Haarlem in the Netherlands, which was part of the fledgling Dutch Republic. Hals did his studying as an artist under Flemish artist Karel van Mander, though the older painter’s style is barely seen in Hals’ own work. It seems as though Hals worked with portraits exclusively. 

Hals joined the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke in 1610, when he was in his late twenties, which was considered old to be admitted to the Guild. Once admitted, Hals actually worked as a restorer for the town council, which brought him some amount of money. After the council sold off to Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, a Guild member and painter, Hals was forced to seek other work. It’s then that Hals decided to try his hand at original work, starting with portraiture. He stuck with religious themes by using a Catholic pastor, Jacobus Zaffius, as a subject in 1611. But it isn’t until 5 years later that he had his first work that gained him some attention when he produced a schutterstuk and painted the officers of the Saint George Militia company. Hals even painted René Descartes in 1649. 

Instead of the usual custom at the time of painters moving from place to place as they were commissioned, often staying in the house or general vicinity of their patrons, Hals remained in Haarlem and his customers came to him. Perhaps it was because he was a devoted father to his 10 children. 

In 1644 he became chairman of the Guild that he was once considered too old to be admitted into. 

Hals was also a musketeer- though sadly not one of the swashbuckling three- in the Saint George civic guard, which was a kind of town guard. After being a musketeer from 1612-15, he served another function in the same guard for nine years. From 1616 to 1624 he was a man after my own heart- he was a second member of an amateur dramatic society whose translated name is The Vine Tendrils. In fact, one of Hals’ earliest known portraits was of a man named Pieter Cornelisz van der Morsch. Van der Morsch apparently was known for his cutting wit. 

Like Vermeer, unfortunately no foundations of Hals have survived.

Frans Hals is considered by many in the art world to be second only to Rembrandt before the last century when Vermeer was re-discovered as a Dutch Master. Hals was especially popular in Paris past 1850. Hals’ often-colorful palette and incredibly bold brushwork was particularly inspiring to Impressionist and Realist painters, even more so than Rembrandt. And you might remember our friend Theophilé Thoré from the Vermeer episode, who was also a fan of Hals. It seems as though Thoré had a very good eye and incredible taste. After Thoré brought Hals back to the public eye, Hals’ work soared in value. His work went from being sold for just over 4 British pounds to 25,000 of the same currency. That’s from about 5 to nearly 31,000 American dollars. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum from Thoré’s flattery and support, the same critic that wrote a quote biography unquote of Steen- Arnold Houbraken- said in 1718, long after the painter’s death, that Hals’ financial struggles later in his life were due to alcoholism. Of course, it might have had nothing to do with the fact artists were rarely appreciated or paid well in their time and his 10 children, but I highly doubt it. To further cast doubt on Houbraken’s biography, it seems as though a scene in the book - where Anthony van Dyke went to visit Hals had to search taverns for the man when he wasn’t at home, painted a picture of Hals who recognized him by the art alone, and how van Dyke tried to get Hals to move to England - was borrowed almost entirely from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History from around the year 78 ACE. Seymour Slive tried to squash those rumors, but they remained persistent for quite a while. People tend to like unsubstantiated gossip more than facts.

Hals had several students once he was established, though the exact number and even names are debated. The ones that are known for sure are Vincent Laurensz van der Vinne and Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, the latter of which later married Hals’ daughter Adriaentje. Because of her style, Judith Leyster has been offered as a possible student of Hals. She often signed her work, which was unusual at the time but very helpful today. Her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer, is also a possible student.

Hals’ influence extended far beyond his lifetime- I said before that Impressionists and Realists were influenced by his work. What I didn’t mention was that one of those influenced painters was Claude Monet, and that even Vincent van Gogh admired Hals’ work. Still other painters were able to learn the technicalities of painting due to Hals’ tendency to not hide his brushstrokes as many of his contemporaries did. 

As with most of the painters this season, the exact numbers of surviving painters that have been attributed to Hals differ greatly, depending on which source you draw from. Slive claims 222 works in 1970-74, but in 1989 Claus Grimm, another historian of Hals, attributed only 145. Now for the painting.

The young man depicted in the painting has shaggy and wispy brown hair that extends past his chin, but not by much. It’s unkempt- the right side is fluffed out carelessly. So not a vain young man.

He has pale skin and a rosy complexion, mostly around the apples of his cheeks and his nose. His mouth is also very red. He’s looking to his left, the viewer’s right. He’s wearing a bright red hat with a very long red feather on the right side of the image stuck in the front by the quill. The feather extends from the hat to just past the young man’s shoulder, then it drapes down. The fibers of the feather are fluffy. Each strand is a different shade of pink or red. The main vein of the feather is a very pale pink, actually more of a white.

The boy is wearing a loose navy garment wrapped around his front. It- like the feather- is oversized. The folds are realistic. The low points are a deeper blue, the highlights a brighter one. The fabric is actually shaded with a rust color on the left side of the image. The collar of the young man’s clothes peeks over the fabric- his shirt is white. The clothing underneath the fabric, what must be his overcoat, is red. It’s a deeper shade than the hat and the feather. A little closer to burgundy than true red. The young man’s right hand is stretched towards the viewer, his thumb above the others and the rest of his fingers flat, as if he’s going to awkwardly shake hands. His fingers are too spread for a grab. His palm is in shadow, and the backs of his fingers are highlighted. The webbing between his thumb and his hand is also highlighted, and the webbing is detailed. You can see the actual curve of it in front of the rest of his skin. His overcoat is open over his hand, and you can see the button holding the sleeve halves shut on the bottom of his arm. His arm is casting a shadow on the rest of his body. Now for the skull.

The boy is holding it from beneath, his fingers curled around it. There’s no bottom jaw, just the top jaw that’s connected to the rest of the skull. The skull is somewhat in profile- you can see only one half of the teeth, where the cartilage of the nose was, and an eye socket with only part of the other one visible. The right half of the skull is in a gentle shadow. The skull has a pronounced brow ridge, and its cheekbones are pronounced, as well. The skull is shaded in faded yellow and neutral tones, with some blue-toned grays. The gray is concentrated in the hollow above the cheekbone and following the line of it. The eye socket is almost completely in deep black shadow, with some lighter shadows closer to the nose. The opening in the nose where the nostrils were is in deep shadow, as well. The few teeth that remain are whiter than the rest of the skull. The wall behind the boy is a dingy gray with some texture. There is a shadow thrown on it beneath the feather, though not by it. By his head, maybe.

Now for my thoughts.

The boy looks unsure. It’s clear Hals was giving him directions on how to pose himself. He’s looking for assurance that he’s doing it correctly. And at the same time, there’s an innocence about him, even though he’s holding a skull. His mouth is very red. It’s slightly open, too. Just enough to show his front teeth. There’s just something soft about this. And the finality of the skull, the symbol of death, in such a vibrant young man’s hand. Lots of artists used skulls and skeletons as a subject- Van Gogh did the latter with a cigarette hanging from its mouth. And I’ll hopefully describe that baller painting in a later season. 

But the juxtaposition of death and youth is interesting. As much as death is scary, youth is comforting. And both death and youth are important. Without death, we wouldn’t appreciate life. And without youth, we wouldn’t remember where we came from. But as far as youth, people have to be very careful when giving advice, no matter how well-meaning, to people younger than they are. Nostalgia makes us think the past was better, but it isn't. It’s just the past. It only seems better because we’re no longer experiencing it. Time and distance bring wisdom in a lot of situations. 

Here’s today’s challenge- learn one thing from your life. I don’t mean examine every second of your life for a theme, though you’re free to do that and all the more power to you. I mean learn one thing you didn’t know yesterday. It can be a fact about a subject you think you know well, or something from a brand-new one. It can be a joke- the dumber the joke, the better. It can be some new story from a friend or family member. Learn from your life, because life is the best teacher there is, even though it isn’t always the easiest. 

Not only skills take practice- being a human does, too. Learning how to be a better friend to others and yourself takes practice. Learning to communicate your wants and needs takes practice. Trying new things takes practice. And you should dive into practicing whole-heartedly because finding out what makes you happy is a great feeling. And don’t feel like you’re ever done learning- humans are ever-changing beings. Labels can be useful, but boxes are prisons. 

If you liked this episode of Long Live Bat Art, please consider telling a friend and reviewing to help the podcast grow. A link to the transcript of this episode is available in the show notes below. And you can follow me on Twitter at Long Live Bat Art and tumblr at tumblr dot com forward slash Long Live Bat Art. That’s Long Live B-A-T Art. Thank you for listening to this episode, and I will see you in two weeks.

[aulorawright]

June 15th - Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kyoto National Museum

We started off today bursting into guy Sams room at midnight to sing him happy birthday, then we went to bed. We woke up with no quiz due, to my surprise, especially because at breakfast when professor smith found out it was his birthday, he said "oh we'll have to have a quiz then", definitely got me with that one. We then sang him happy birthday again at our group meeting, and the hotel gave him a complimentary pair of socks, I know Vishnu was a bit jealous because he didn't get toe socks for his birthday but he stayed strong like a champ. We took a walk to the Kyoto National Museum, where we were informed we were not allowed to take any picture. This was unfortunate because the statues in the first room were amazing. There were two enormous statues of Kami probably, posing and standing on something that looked like a lion, on both ends of the display. In the middle there were these other large statues of other beings, that were slightly terrifying because they had hyper realistic eyes that stared into you. We were also assigned the task of finding an object in the museum that stood out to us or that we resonated with. So off I went looking at all the exhibits. This was pretty fun to me actually because I like museums and reading the stories behind some of the cool items. Just when I thought I was done and about to walk out I realized there were around three rooms I had not seen. In one of these rooms was a particularly interesting item that caught my eye. It was an extremely shiny bucket. This bucket had no surface imperfections, scratches, or chips, and was perfectly polished, it felt unnatural. I didn't pick this item for my assignment because what am I going to say about a shiny bucket. We also got to go on a guided tour of the Kyoto Imperial palace. It was very hard to hear the guide sometimes but I got the gist of most of it. During these short intermissions of not being able to hear the guide, Raj had the fun idea of trying to see who could find the biggest rock. The layout of the palace was actually pretty cool and functional, and I thought the pond area was really pretty. We then left and a group of us shopped around, and Nico and Xander discovered a cool object called a loofah and a process called exfoliating. I hope their shower experience is forever changed. Since it is Sam's birthday, I think there is karaoke planned for later which he seemed to enjoy last time. I hope he has a great birthday.

The item I picked is called Yoshimo and Tatsuta. It was a large room divider, with a beautiful mural on it. It depicted tatsuta shrine in autumn and yoshinos zao's hall in the the spring. It was extremely detailed, from the surrounding scenery like trees and water falls, the buildings and shrines, to the villagers and pilgrims carrying on a normal day. The linework was very satifsying, I looked closely at the details and it was just done so well. It would be a great piece for someone missing home, or in need of a cool view.

Academic Reflection

Unfortunately, on the Imperial Palace tour, we were not allowed to enter the buildings so we could not see inside or the the set up of them like how the reading described. We learned that the roofs were made of hundreds of layers of wood from cedar trees which is reserved for presigeous building, and that paper windows were used to let in light but still keep privacy. And as far as I could see there was in fact little to no furniture. We also learned that to prevent fires from spreading, some corridors were removed. I guess they got tired of rebuilding it after being burnt down.

I found it interesting from the readings that the town had specific rules for different classed of wealth. Like how only very noble family could have houses facing great avenues, and everyone else lived close together on smaller streets. Everyone was responsible for keeping the streets clean. All this in the effort to maintain beauty. Which does not seem too far off from fancy neighborhoods now, with their strict HOAs.