#will probably make his poncho hood thing bigger

[pezhead]

He's just so fun to draw~!

[pinerreader]

Plash palatka shelter

The final belt item was an entrenching tool. The belt would also carry a water bottle. A grenade pouch was usually worn on the left side. Reenactor websites I have viewed are insistent that it became routine to wear just one ammunition pouch, which was positioned on the right of the belt. At the start of the war a pouch was worn each side in the same fashion as a German soldier. So what did the Soviet soldier carry? There would be an ammunition pouch. Some removed the gas protection equipment and used the bags for more useful items. Once it was accepted that gas warfare was unlikely Soviet soldiers often did not bother to wear this bag. The Soviet equivalent was a canvas bag carried near the left hip. Other blades such as German trench knives or Finnish puukot might also have been carried.Īn iconic equipment item of the German soldier is the metal canister used to carry his gas mask. Scouts and some other troops might carry the NR-40 knife. While the bayonet was a useful fire poker, screwdriver, pot lifter and candlestick it was not much use as a utility knife. Bayonet scabbards tend to be all metal and on the heavy side in my experience, so this policy may have saved the Soviet soldier a few ounces of unnecessary weight. No bayonet scabbard was issued in wartime since they were not needed. Some other Soviet weapons had folding bayonets. It was also a handy implement for clearing a jammed cartridge. The standard bayonet had a screwdriver tip for adjustment of certain parts of the rifle. The Soviet rifle used a socket bayonet that was kept permanently attached to the rifle. The German usually placed his bayonet over his entrenching tool. The breadbag may placed inside the pack rather than being worn on the belt.Īnother “missing” item is the bayonet scabbard. Again the Soviet seems to have preferred to carry his rations and personal items in his pack. There was a Soviet version of the breadbag but it does not seem to have been so widely used. An older pattern of circular pail was also in use. The Soviet mess tin was a kidney section pail of similar design to the German. The Soviet seems to have preferred to carry his mess tin in his backpack or tied to the outside. Sometimes the mess tin was attached to the yoke or a backpack but carry on the belt was very common. The German routinely carried his mess tin and breadbag on his belt. The British had a similar rain cape as did the US, post war the poncho was introduced in the British army but with the advent of gortex they have been withdrawn (due to being useless for keeping you dry and the hood being problematic for shelter making) and replaced with a PLCE basher, functional and one of the best items of kit we have at the moment.The first thing you notice when comparing the German and the Soviet is what is not there. The Russians had the 'plash palatka' which was rectangular and was used as a rain cape or basic shelter. Similar equipment has been issued in most armies for years, probably decended from the watch cloaks used since medieval times. Pretty cool eh? Sort of like an issue origami set. The Zeltbahn could also be used to make basic flotation aids: They were made in numerous patterns for both wehrmacht and SS, most of which were reversable. It could also be worn as a poncho to keep dry:Įarly ones were field grey (I have a couple of these, check me) but wartime they were camoflaged so that every soldier had some basic pattern disruptive clothing. The triangular zeltbahn is based on the square pattern of 1892 used up until the mid 30's, 4 could be buttoned together to make a four man tent (comfy to sleep in), more could be put together to form even bigger structures: The WW2 version is triangular with buttons along each side, holes in the corners for tent pegs and a tent pole. The German shelter quarter (or zeltbahn) was made from a cotton duck twill which when wet swells slightely making it more waterproof.

[thicctails]

Summer of Whump Day 3 [Drowning/Dehydration]

Omega receives her first swimming lesson in what appears to be a calm, lovely lake. However, something is lurking in the deep, and it’s hungry...

Ω

 “Pillow, stay still!”

 The salamander honked in displeasure, his tail smacking against the metal of the counter. Omega stuck her tongue out as she finished dressing the amphibian in a garment she herself had sewn, with some help from Hunter in the form of sewing lessons. Gripping the brown fabric, she flipped the hood up over Pillow’s head.

 “There!” She exclaimed. “Now you wont get sunburned.”

 She had fashioned Pillow a brown cloak of sorts to protect him from this planet’s bright sun. The material was already a bit worn, but it would serve its purpose. Picking her plump pet up, she held him up to show the other members of the group, who were all getting ready for their trip to the beach.

 “Look, it’s Master Pillow.” She joked, moving one of Pillows arms to make it seem like he was reaching out to the Force.

 Wrecker burst out laughing, leaning against a wall for support. The others smiled at her joke, amused by the outfit. Omega had insisted on bringing Pillow with them, and had also insisted that he needed to have the proper clothes on. They were leaving their armor behind today, being heavy was not a good thing when you planned on swimming, so the Bad Batch was dressed in various forms of apparel. Hunter and Wrecker were wearing swim trunks, Tech and Omega sported swim shirts and swim shorts, and Echo had dressed himself in an airy poncho, not intending to go into the water. He would be relaxing on the beach, soaking up some sun.

 “Ready to go, Omega?” Hunter asked. They were going to be teaching her to swim today, and although he wouldn’t admit it, he was a bit nervous. Every member of his squad had been taught to swim, of course, but that didn’t mean that they did it often. He himself hadn’t swum in years, and he just hoped that his body would remember what to do.

 “Yep! Come on Pillow.” She said, walking out of the ship while still holding Pillow.

 The body of fresh water before them was vast, stretching out far beyond what they could see. Tall, sloping mountains rose up all around them, waterfalls dripping down their rocky faces and spraying out into the miniature ocean below. Omega was in awe at the sight of it all. She was practically vibrating with excitement as she rushed down to the water’s edge under the watchful eyes of Hunter. She set Pillow down, who immediately waddled into the water. Down the beach, Wrecker and Tech also entered the water, swimming out deeper.

 “Hold on kid.” Echo called, coming up beside her. “Here, put this on.”

 He produced a yellow jacket with a couple of buckles on the front. He held it out for her to take, and she stared at it quizzically.

 “What is that?” She asked, reaching out and grasping the jacket.

 “It’s a life jacket. It’ll keep your head above water if you go in too deep.” Echo explained.

 “Good thinking.” Hunter said as Omega slipped on the life jacket. “Alright, come on Omega.”

 “Yes!” She cheered, following Hunter into the water as Echo retreated back to the beach. Advanced prosthetics and water didn’t always mix well.

 The water was cool, but not cold as they waded in. It took a minute of convincing to get Omega to go in once the water started to touch her stomach, but once they had gotten past that point they were ready to begin.

 “Alright, let’s start with the basics. I’m gonna move back a little bit, and you kick your legs to come over to me, okay?” Hunter instructed, swimming backwards in the still water.

 “Okay.” Omega said, nodding her head. Pillow swam beside her, honking in glee as he glided through the blue water before diving down beneath the surface.

 “Good job.” Hunter praised once she reached him. “This time, use your arms to pull yourself forward like this.”

 He demonstrated doing a stroke as he moved back into deeper water. Omega followed behind him, moving her arms as he had. Hunter nodded in approval.

 “Doin’ real good kid. Let’s do that again.” He said, swimming back the way he had came.

 They repeated this activity a few more times until both Hunter and Omega were feeling more confident in Omega’s swimming capabilities. He taught her to tread water, float on her back, and hold her breath underwater. After all was said and done, Hunter told Omega to take off her life jacket. Upon seeing her confused expression, he clarified.

 “In an emergency, you’re not going to be able to rely on a flotation device. You need to know how to swim without one.” He tilted his head downwards slightly. “You can still touch, right?”

 Omega nodded.

 “Alright, I want you to walk out until you can just barely touch. I wont make you swim out farther than that point until you’re ready.” He said, his tone of voice soft and understanding.

 Omega looked nervous for a moment, but she trusted Hunter. Shirking off the life jacket, she took a moment to adjust to the feeling of being in the water without it. She felt heavier, but not so heavy that she would sink. If the others could do it, she would learn to as well.

 She walked forward until she had to strain to keep her head above water. Her feet still touched, but she would have to go on her toes if she wanted to walk any farther.

 “I think this is as far as I can go.” She said, stepping back a smidgen.

 “Then I’ll stand there, and you can go back a bit. I want you to swim to me without the life jacket on.” Hunter said, moving to stand beside Omega.

 The young girl nodded and did as she was told. It took a few tries, but she was soon able to swim to Hunter without having to stop and put her feet down. The enhanced clone smiled and ruffled her hair.

 “You’ve taken to swimming like a fish takes to water. I’m proud of you, kid.” He praised.

 Omega beamed and began swimming around, enjoying her new skills. Hunter allowed himself to float on his back, always keeping an eye on Omega even as he relaxed.

 “Hey Omega, come check out this cool shell!” Wrecker’s voice carried easily across the watery expanse. He was holding a spiraled shell, bright green and orange in colour. Omega’s curiosity reared its head, but she looked to Hunter for approval first.

 Hunter mentally judged the distance before nodding towards the forgotten life jacket.

 “Go, but put that on first. They’re out beyond where you can touch.”

 “Okay!” Omega agreed cheerily, putting the life jacket on.

 She paddled deeper into the water body, the ripples from her movements ebbing out across the water’s surface. Tech and Wrecker floated in the water, enjoying the warm sun as they waited for her to reach them.

 The water was calm.

 Suddenly, Pillow exploded up from beneath the water. He honked wildly, making a mad dash for shore. Omega stopped in her tracts and stared at the amphibian with confusion and a little bit of worry. Pillow no longer had his protective cloak, and he sounded distressed.

 “Pillow, what’s wrong?” She called, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer.

 “He probably swam down towards the bottom of the lake and found a fish that was bigger than him. Small animals frighten easily.” Tech said, raising his voice a bit so that Omega could hear him.

 Hunter eyed the water suspiciously.

 “Maybe we should go in.” He said, not taking his eyes off of the water.

 “Aw come on Hunter, you’re not scarred of a little fishy, are you?” Wrecker teased.

 Hunter frowned and looked towards Omega. She still hadn’t continued moving, and kept looking between Pillow, who was now hiding behind a very confused Echo and still making loud honks, and the ripples that the amphibian had left behind.

 “Kid?” He called, not sure what she was thinking.

 Omega felt something buzz in the back of her mind, a prickly sensation that made her feel very nervous all of a sudden. Pillow was not an easy animal to scare, he had not been afraid of her or Hunter. What was down there that had frightened him so badly.

 “I-I think I wanna go in now too.” She said, moving to start back towards shore.

 She made ripples in the still water.

 Something brushed her foot, and she jerked away in fright.

 “Omega?” Hunter called again, his brow furrowing. She was right in between him and Tech and Wrecker, neither party close enough to reach her right away.

 Her head whipped towards him, panic clear on her face.

 “Hunter,” She gulped, “I think there’s something in the water.”

 Then, without warning, Omega was dragged under.

   Omega’s mouth clamped shut on instinct, but it was already too late. Water rushed down her windpipe and into her lungs, causing her to choke. The life jacket brought her back up to the surface, and she was able to hack up some of the water and take in a small breath of air before the thing dragged her back under. The first time, it hadn’t grabbed her hard, just holding her foot as it pulled her beneath the surface. This time, however, she felt thick, jagged teeth crush her ankle as her foot disappeared into a monstrous maw.

 She screamed in pain, becoming more disoriented and panicked as the creature that held her began to thrash its head about. Blood filled the water as it released her once again, its long, serpent like body surrounding her. It lunged again, this time going for her chest. It bit down on the life jacket and jerked it’s huge head, tearing off the buoyant garment.

 Panicking and unable to tell which way was up, Omega thrashed in the chilling water as she sunk deeper down. Her chest burned as the horrid liquid filled her lungs and stole away her air. Adrenaline kept her from feeling the pain in her mangled ankle, but fairly soon it wouldn’t even matter. She could feel herself slipping away as darkness began to encroach on her vision. Whether it came from her own dying mind or from the depths themselves, she could not tell. As her panic ebbed away, and her eyes slipped shut, she felt a sense of peace wash over her.

 She welcomed the darkness.

    …

      She didn’t hear the roar of the creature as a blaster bolt exploded its eye, nor did she feel the desperate, calloused hands that gripped her limp form and hauled her free of the deep’s unforgiving grasp. She was unaware of the frightened, panic-stricken voices, the distressed honking, or the mad scramble to get her onto the beach. The compression and gusts of air that were blown into her were not registered by her consciousness.

 The sensation of needing to vomit, however, did.

 Omega turned her head and puked up mouthful after mouthful of water. Her lungs burned with the strength of a thousand suns as she emptied both them and her stomach of their contents. Strong, comforting arms were around her instantly, and she could feel small tremors run through the person’s body.

 “Oh thank the Maker.” Hunter’s voice was a bit shaky, like he was recovering from a big scare.

 “Omega, can you breathe?” Tech was suddenly in front of her, and with his glasses off she could see that his pupils had constricted into pinpricks.

 She nodded. She felt like she’d been kicked in the chest and her throat felt raw and stinging, but air did in fact enter and exit her lungs. She’d never been happier for that simple pleasure than right now.

 “Good. We need to get you to a medical centre, but that ankle requires immediate- no don’t look at it! Just, just focus on me or Hunter, okay? Don’t, don’t look down.” Tech’s voice picked up in speed as he directed her attention upwards. She still couldn’t feel her ankle, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t last.

 Leaning against Hunter’s chest, she sucked in as much air as she could. She felt like she was going to cough up a lung. A particularly loud honk came from below her, and soon Echo was handing her Pillow. The salamander settled around her neck, pressing himself against her.

 “Y’tried to warn us, din’ ya? You knew wha’ was comin’.” She rasped in between coughs. “We should lis’n to you more.”

 Pillow honked softly in agreement. Omega smiled weakly at him and leaned against his wrinkly, pudgy body.

 “Stay awake, Omega. We don’t know if all of the water has exited your lungs, and you could experience “second drowning”. Tech said apologetically. The poor girl was exhausted, but they couldn’t let her sleep yet.

 “Second drowning? The hell is that?” It was Wrecker that spoke up this time. He sounded stressed, as did everyone else.

 “It’s a phenomenon that can occur if water remains in the lungs. We need to make sure that her lungs are free of water or she could begin to drown again, even if she’s on dry land.” Tech explained.

 “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Hunter growled. Omega could feel the reverberations in his chest.

 “Then let’s hurry up and get off this hell-planet. I’m sick of looking at that makerforsaken lake.” Echo said, moving into the pilot seat. Omega blinked. When had they made it onto the ship?

 “Hold tight kid, we’re gonna get you help.” Hunter said, and Omega nodded weakly.

 As the ship’s door closed, Omega took one more look at the lake that she had been so excited to be in.

 The water was still once more.

 She tucked her head into Hunter’s chest and tried to will away the image of the monster that lurked just beneath the deceptive surface.

[livewireprojects]

So I was working on a pic for day 16 but I was working on it after work so didn’t have much time before 5pm to get pics.(I need a scanner one of these days) At some point I just looked at how dark it was getting in the room I take pics in & gave up. I also don’t know what to do for day 17, I want to guess something like Future Foundation or characters being in the simulation from DR2 due to the name of the project but I dunno. I might do something but the theme future is coming up so I’ll likely save it for that.

I’m rambling & kind of feel bad for my posts for day 15 So day 16 was alternate universes & I really enjoy AUs though a large amount of the ones I like are crossover plots. Most of the pics aren’t crossover based & are largely just based on past RPs. I made a bunch of pics & didn’t want to spam with posts for each so I tried to put as many as I could together.

The first three pics are based on a thing I call Monster Community AU thing, pretty much characters are secretly some kind of creature(witch, alien, merpeople, harpies, etc) living among humans but sometimes do things in secret areas other monsters hanging out at like a community of monsters.

The two scenes here are from different mermaid RPs, both from my Monster Community AU stuff again. Both pics involve RP plots that were DR1 happened, DR2 characters were trying to survive the aftermath of the world going mad(pretty much surviving in the destroyed city until finding somewhere or something) & some other stuff I’m going to leave out due to rambling. Just know this is technically a simplified version of the series post-DR1(if that makes sense? probably not) that was used because I keep doing shit in RPs.

The one to the left is from a plot were the survivors find a cave they end up staying the night in only to decided to check further & find themselves in a place other monsters are living in. For some reason Makoto is a grey eyeless big mouth monster, I think I was obsessed with a design I saw on Tumblr but can't find anymore. Byakuya is an octopus merperson because for some reason I imagine he'd be on if he was a merman. The second one is vampire Byakuya is living in a mansion his family had by the sea on a cliff area that leads to the beach. He ends up learning Makoto is a merperson(whose parents tried to keep him from learning about other creatures for safety) & expecting their kids. Makoto is a species of merperson that make nests in the sand when they have kids so Makoto had to stay in the water until the babies could swim by themselves. Byakuya will probably have some special pools setup in the house for the twins since they'll be to young to go into human form after the being old enough to swim.(It'll only be a couple months) At the moment Makoto is in a cave inside the cliff that leads to the ocean, some how the inside of Byakuya's mansion has a secret stairway leading down here. Makoto can't leave the water because his nest is here & his merperson instincts don't want him to leave until the babies hatch & are old enough to swim. Due to Makoto's parents hiding his & Komaru's mermaid/creature side Makoto didn't think much on the fact he was a merperson until he got pregnant & his instincts demanded he make a nest... That's also how Byakuya learned his family had a secret area of the mansion & proceeded lug a futon mattress/blanket down there to be close to Makoto. I didn't think much about it at the time but I guess something lead to his parents getting protective & scared if someone knew they were merpeople, then again there's a Japanese myth about eating mermaids/some kind of fish people would cause immortality. I almost forgot this but Byakuya hung up a net & decorations so the babies when down in the cave don’t swim into the sea.

This one is based on an RP were Byakuya is a werewolf while Makoto is a harpy. DR1 happened, Byakuya & Makoto had a relationship but went their separate ways to find their families(see if there’s hope of them still being out there) while working on getting their lives together.(Since with the despair event they likely need to recover/figure out what to do now)

Byakuya at some point is house sitting for Hinata & Komaeda(originally it was his vacation cabin in the woods but something changed forget why) when he ends up having to help a harpy who lost their nest because a tree landed on it. He took the harpy in because they didn’t have anywhere to go & the crash broke one of their wings. He was to tired to think much about figuring out who the harpy was after patching them up because he was tired.

Byakuya ends up learning in the morning that the harpy is Makoto & pregnant. Byakuya reassured Makoto knew he was safe now & he(Byakuya) isn’t going anywhere. Byakuya later learned Makoto found his family but someone attacked & ditched him in the woods while injuring his eye. After that Byakuya helps Makoto recover & they eventually move to his vacation house when Hinata & Komaeda come home. Byakuya has a nursery for their eventual kids & Makoto ended up staying in the nursery sitting on the egg Ichigo was in when he had the twins. Len kept barking when he found her until she finally hatched.

Here’s Makoto perched on Hinata’s couch singing a bird tune as Byakuya listens, sometimes the blond will sometimes whistle which makes Makoto squeal in delight because it sounds like Byakuya trying to mimic a bird. Makoto is meant to be a House Martin harpy because the bird is cute & has fuzzy feet. Makoto’s hood/cape is just his hoodie tied to his neck, he can slightly still see out of the injured eye but without something to protect it things seem to bright during the day through that eye.

This was the pic that lead to not posting anything the other day, as you can tell I made more pics right after managing to finish it. This pic is once again based on an RP(well two of them), for some reason I really liked doing this plot. The AU is pretty much everyone lives in a world of animal centaurs(in Kazuichi's case he's a shark merperson) & for some reason this is before modern technology exists. Everyone lives in caves that have been carved into homes with some having multiple rooms, they have furniture made from leftover stone, wood, some other stuff & clothes made out of normal animal skin like they're in Brother Bear or something. Given the state the world is currently at they seal off the entrances to their caves in the winter after making sure to have enough food to last it.(There's some that have the ability to hibernate luckily) I have absolutely no idea why I enjoy this so much. So Byakuya is a wolf(lol blond wolf fur) & Makoto is a pygmy goat(I made him a little bigger because again awkward size) but for the first RP I kept switching the species(from pudu deer to pygmy goat) because I was obsessed with those animals at the time. It ended with S having Gundam call Makoto a goat/deer hybrid so he's a deer goat in the first RP.(I didn't switch it often but kept talking about confusion) In the second RP Makoto stayed a pygmy goat for the entire RP. Len is a wolf centaur & Ichigo is a goat centaur, Byakuya & Makoto had other kids but they're preexisting characters(Komaru & Chiaki for some reason) & I'm mostly focusing on these characters.(I don't actually know what I was getting at) The twins are a couple days old, since Ichigo is a pygmy goat she's already active. Byakuya is laying down so she won't get hurt, Ichigo & Makoto's goat side makes them enjoy climbing things so the little baby is climbing on daddy. Len's eyes & ears haven't opened just yet so he's kept safe in a portable cradle thing since he's to small to play with his little sister right now.(Makoto will retuck him in in a moment) Makoto has a poncho thing because he has trouble keeping warm which luckily his kids didn't inherit. Also Byakuya is pretty strong so he can take his daughter & his mate trying to climb on him especially when Makoto is pregnant. It's ok & doesn't bother him in fact it's kind of cute especially since sometimes after that Ichigo will do a little jitter dance that baby goats some times do.(He'd also whether they climb on him or a stool thing than try to climb the side of their home or something bigger due to worrying about the two hurting themselves.

Byakuya & Makoto have slightly long hair because it's hard for them to cut their hair with a dagger Byakuya worked on for hair cutting. Byakuya is hoping to eventually trade something for a mirror some traveling trader visits, maybe see if someone in the pack can help with cutting hair not that it matter much.

Go check out @naegamimonth​

[stephaniejuhnay]

Prince On Every Tour: Purple Rain

After the We Can F**k leak and the spiral of simultaneous listening and sobbing, frustrated sighs and “It’s too funky” head bobs, I’ve decided that tonight would be a good night for this. I was gonna wait til my deluxe set got here, but it’s not coming til the 28th and I have a flight to catch the next morning. And I do not recommend scurrying around LAX as a zombie. Plus, @the-beautiful-1 and I will be attending The Revolution concert out here in sunny (sweltering) CA, the same day that the deluxe set will be officially released. The timing just seems right.

PURPLE RAIN. SYRACUSE. MARCH 30, 1985. LET’S GET INTO IT.

Overview: 

He is here yall. Prince. PRINCE. The megastar, the legend, the icon. Seven years and five albums in, he has finally, FULLY arrived, and fiercely so. He has arrived and has, if I may borrow from @just-prince-things, snatched our “proverbial wigs” (maybe even some real ones). 

He opens by telling us he’s come to play with us. And play, he did. Played with my entire life in a 2 hour show. He rises from beneath the stage amidst a cloud of smoke and a sick wind machine, wearing the most glorious white boa we’ve ever seen atop the moto jacket/fitted pants combo 2.0: paisley, paisley, and more paisley. We love it. 

He  immediately launches into Let’s Go Crazy while we are still collecting ourselves from him simply rising from the depths of the stage. Insane guitar playing ensues as he and Wendy verify that they, in fact, created the stanky leg. History, ladies and gentleman. Six minutes and twenty-two seconds in, jacket and boa have disappeared in a literal flash of light and we’re basically shirtless as a very funky Delirious plays. Thank you Prince.

His stage presence is that of 1999 but amplified times 100. As stated, I am firmly of the belief that he had “it” during the 1999 tour we just weren’t really that aware of how IT his it was. Here, he knows it, and we for doggone sure know it now. Who was that friend of friend playing that small club in Paris in a bikini? Because this is an entirely different man. This whole era is an “I told ya’ll so” from Prince to the rest of us. He is 100% in his element, he has mastered all aspects of Prince the artist, and everything that happens after this is literally him doing whatever he wanted to. Because he’d earned it. 

Dancing, while still very extra, is on POINT. He has perfected his mic tricks, his splits are here and not going away for the next decade+, he still is a ball of energy, even smoother and more graceful than 1999. That energy is infectious watching 30 years later, so I can’t even imagine what that room felt like. A room that is full of 50,000 people. 50,000 people that this 5'2 man in more paisley, lace, and makeup than I as a woman will probably ever see in my lifetime has, by a mere 26, completely and utterly entranced with every song, movement, look, you name it. Everything he was able to elicit from these huge crowds of people, night after night at such a young age reconfirms how truly magnetic he was. He is just as much the audience’s leader as he is the group of metallic, Victorian Prince look-alikes playing on stage with him. 

Now, we can argue about that description, but all those things are true. Be honest. It’s okay. We love them too, the final and most well-known iteration of The Revolution. We’ve seen yet another personnel change (hey Dez, don’t you like his band? …sorry couldn’t resist), yet the sound is even tighter. Demanding the stop on the 2 and then wanting 25 during the Possessed jam and them delivering it flawlessly is a testament to how much they’ve all grown as a unit. And if you’ve watched that rehearsal footage an unhealthy number of times like I have, you can attest to all the work they put into it. The addition of the horns (HEY SITH LEEDS ) really gives their sound a new depth that continues to evolve over the years (which I love - horns are phenomenal). Wendy fit like a glove and her comfort on stage being as young and new as she was is pretty incredible. She’s a ball of energy herself here, and her guitar skills are straight SICK. Plus Wendy got that funk.

The band’s dancing has mimicked P’s in it’s progression as well. The coordinated steps between Wendy, Prince, and Brownmark are nice to see and adds another fun little element to the show that we haven’t seen executed at this capacity yet. Even something as simple as the side to side from the entire band during the Possessed jam just makes you wanna groove a little harder. And umm…hello Baby I’m A Star steps? I meeannnnnn…

If 1999 was the emergence of daddy, Purple Rain was the 100 exclamation points after that statement that really drove home the idea. I typically don’t spend a whole lot of time with PR because, haven’t we all spent SO MUCH time here? But every time I revisit, I’m reminded why I love PR Prince oh so much. 

Favorite Number: 

This show was chock-full of hits and jams and grooves ya’ll. I’ll have to narrow this down. Just…hang with me through this.

First of all, Let’s Go Crazy was so good, it truly could’ve been a closer. To start a show off on that note is bold, because it left me thinking “well where else can he possibly go after THIS?” the first time I watched this concert. So many places Stephanie. So many.

Take Me With You was a fun time, and then it got to a place of incredible funk at the end and it deserved to be mentioned.

How Come was ALMOST my favorite number based upon the gif above, and that gif alone. I’m. Still. Growing.

God always holds a special place in my heart because it’s a beautiful song and his vocals ALWAYS stun me. Live versions are just….transcendant.

Clearly classics from this show: Computer Blue (such a life giving guitar solo, honestly), Darling Nikki (come through shirtless body roll, come THROUGH), Purple Rain (by far amongst the greatest guitar playing I’ve ever heard/seen in my life here), and of course the marathon that is Baby I’m A Star. So much funk ya’ll. There’s just so much funk. And he is relentless about it. It’s why I love him. Yes, tell me when I’ve had enough. And I’ll end that train of thought there. Bye.

When Doves Cry gets a mention for - you guessed it - the insane jam at the end. Almost every song on this show is tagged with a sick groove afterwards, making this show go on for much longer than necessary. But I welcome it all. Everyone jammed on this song. Everyone. And I Would Die 4 U is such an elating ditty as is, but live…fantastic. However, my favorite live performance of this song will forever be from the Landover show. I was on my FEET ya’ll.

The Beautiful Ones. RUNNER UP. Easily my favorite song off of the original PR album and THE BEST PEFORMANCE FROM THE MOVIE PLEASE FIGHT WITH ME ABOUT IT. But this performance was just, magical. First of all, we get graced with another boa, pink this time. And he comes out looking like a glorious, headbanded angel in another sparkly, paisley suit and the combination of all those things takes my breath away okay?!

But if I have to choose a number that edges out the rest of these, for me, it’s Irresistible B***h/Possessed. There are few things that bring me more joy than the live version of Irresistible B***h. It’s already one of my go-to’s, but the dancing paired with it during this show takes the cake. Then we have Possessed and the undeniable groove with the band that ensues added to it? Yeah. This is the winner.

(originally posted by @onlyprincegifs)

Favorite Outfit: So many outfits in this one. So many moto jacket/matching pants combos in different lace and paisley iterations. I loved them all tbh. 

Honorable mention to the Computer Blue poncho/headband/lace fingerless gloves combo. The mess is brilliant. Also the glittery hooded cape/headband combo from Purple Rain. 

I really enjoyed TBO’s outfit because he looked magical and beautiful and maybe it brought a tear to my eye because I love him so much. BUT. I am going with the black, sparkly, lace-back-of-the-pants suit during Possessed as runner up. Winner is the all white lace number also with matching poncho and train during I Would Die 4 U. Again, headbanded angel made of pure light. He’s BEAUTIFUL ya’ll. And I wanna know who caught that shirt and if they still have it!

Still Would Rating: 

So like…I know lookswise not much changed between 1999 and PR. The hair got a bit bigger and the suits got a lot more lace and paisley. However I can always tell the difference. And for some reason 1999 Prince has an edge over PR Prince and I can’t quite place my finger on why. Anyway, he still gets a five. I just wanted to share that.

Overall Rating: 

Good GRIEF ya’ll. This show left me so tired. I am spent. I feel like I swam laps in an Olympic sized pool. And I watched this from my bed. How did ya’ll manage at these actual concerts? I mean, really. This show….was phenomenal. This is the height of his success (and I don’t say that to take away from any other era, this is just fact) and we clearly see why. What a showman. What an artist. What a musician. What a leader. WHAT. A. PRINCE.

PREVIOUSLY , 1999                                                   NEXT UP, PARADE