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#30 picture per post limit wtf
lammydraws · 2 years
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Bishop AU Timeline (roughly)
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I know my Bishop AU is the most convoluted mess since I only drop fluff doodles and angst comics left and right. I hope I can clear some things up with this rough timeline post. Questions are as always welcome.
It'll be long. (The google doc I wrote is 17 pages long...) I link to each individual post I made.
Bishop AU Lamb - they / them (preferred), any (acceptable) (click!)
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Follows canon/average playthrough mostly. Lamb gets sacrificed as the last of their kind and send to The One Who Waits, who offers them life in exchange for their service in freeing him. (click!)
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Lamb becomes cult leader, runs cult
They fall in love with TOWW and get romantically involved with him, and later also the twins. (click!)
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Lamb kills Bishops
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TOWW expects them to lay down their life and return the crown, since he does not see any other way this would work. Lamb feels betrayed and thinks he lied (about his affection) and manipulated them. (click!)
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They fight, win but cannot get themselves to kill Narinder. (click!)
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He is injured, fallen from godhood and has to live life as a mortal.
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Narinder gets indoctrinated into the cult, but feels equally betrayed by Lamb as they are by him, so they hate each other and feel a lot of pain about the situation. (click!)
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They fight often. (click!)
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5 years post-Gateway Narinder Quests start, Lamb does the quests, they also find a special place (Crown statue) where they find themselves at night sitting and talking frequently. (click!)
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Over the span of another 5 years Lamb completes Narinder quests, they both manage to heal and get over all the stuff that happened.
They notice they are both still infatuated with each other. (click!)
They meet at the crown statue and have their first actual kiss.
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They get back together, but take things more slowly this time around. After all, there is no rush since they're both immortal. (click! click! click! there are so many ngl,,)
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Some time later (roughly 1-2 years) Lamb brings forward that they want to resurrect the twins, so they do research into getting the ritual to work. (click!)
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Lamb is injured from the ritual, but recovers.
Twins now are followers to Lamb’s cult, and keep their immortal status. They also date Lamb again. (click!)
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A couple hundred years post-Gateway Lambs body slowly grows, eventually they achieve ascension to godhood. (click!)
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They open their 3rd eye, receiving Godhood status.
They are eager to try out their new abilities, once their body recovers. Narinder, Aym and Baal also join them on crusades. (click!)
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Eventually they grow tall and take on the Bishop title, with their domain being death due to the Red Crown. (click!)
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They no longer use the red crown (it is sleeping), but manage to figure out a way to put some  of the crown’s power into an amulet/bell. (click!)
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He gets flashback from his time in his former form and imprisonment when using it for the first time.
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He is in service to Bishop Lamb, their right hand and second in command. (click!)
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lastsonlost · 5 years
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Oh gasps, I'm shocked.
Who would have thunk it?
The story:
Updated with Sunday figures: In the wake of Terminator: Dark Fate’s failure at the B.O., and Paramount’s recent decision to make Beverly Cops 4 for Netflix, we have the further breakdown of cinema IP in Sony’s Charlie’s Angels reboot, which is tanking with a God-awful $8.6M domestic opening, $27.9M worldwide (from 26 markets), 3 Stars on Screen Engine-Comscore’s PostTrak, and a B+ Cinemascore.
The Elizabeth Banks-directed-written and produced pic is also opening in 27 offshore markets,
China being one where it’s also bombing,
with a $7.8M 3-day take in third place behind No. 1 local title Somewhere Winter ($13.1M).
All of this is primed to further spur a WTF reaction and anxiety among film development executives in town in regards to what the hell exactly works in this have-and-have-not era of the theatrical marketplace. Many will make the hasty generalization that old, dusty IP doesn’t work, or is now deemed too risky when it’s not a superhero project. However, moviemaking is an art, not a science, and annoying as it might sound, good movies float to the top, and this Charlie’s Angels reboot didn’t have the goods going back to its script.
<Maybe somebody should have been working on a good story instead of pushing an agenda.
We’re going to break down for you what went wrong in another graph, but we don’t want to bury the success of Disney’s release of Fox’s James Mangold-directed Ford v Ferrari, which looks to be coming in at $31.5M, well ahead of the $20M+ many were seeing, with an awesome A+ CinemaScore and 4 1/2 stars and a 68% definite recommend on Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak. After a franchise-laden summer which buried originals, now an original pic is sticking it to the IP.
When it comes to the bombing of Charlie’s Angels, the takeaway is this is what happens when you have IP, but there’s no reason for telling the story.
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In the walk-up to developing Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and in the wake of its near $1 billion success, a fever broke out at the Culver City lot in the post-Amy Pascal era to reboot former Sony franchises or extend them, i.e. Zombieland: Double Tap (well over $103M at the global B.O. now), the upcoming Bad Boys 3, and, of course, Spider-Man, the latter electrified by Disney’s Marvel. Development studio executives define their being by getting films greenlit, and whenever that happens, it’s 90% of the job.
And the pressure is on to fill a 10-12 picture annual slate in a world where Disney vacuums up all the best IP. A third Charlie’s Angels with McG directing and Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu starring, wasn’t made immediately after the second chapter, 2003’s Full Throttle, as the sequel turned out to be 29% more expensive than the 2000 original at $120M, and also made less worldwide, $259.1M to $264.1M. With Elizabeth Banks coming off her hot feature directorial debut with Universal’s Pitch Perfect 2 (which over-indexed in its stateside opening at the B.O., going from $50M projections to $69.2M, and finaled global at $287.1M); after she expressed interest in September 2015 in taking on a Charlie’s Angels reboot with a modern feminist spin, there was no question in Sony’s mind that the project should move forward.
<Yeah Sony, how's that working out for you? You think they would have learned their lesson...
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Guess not.
Back to the story.....
However, there were script problems, I hear, that could never be resolved. A few months after Banks boarded, Evan Spiliotopoulos came on to write. By the time cast was assembled in July 2018, Banks had penned the latest draft off a script by Jay Basu (The Girl in the Spider’s Web), and earlier drafts by Craig Mazin and Semi Chellas. Andrea Giannetti oversaw the project on the lot. However, I hear that the script for Charlie’s Angels didn’t really attract top talent, i.e. Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone and Margot Robbie (a trio that would have potentially jazzed up business). Hence, why the production opted to go with largely a fresh face cast outside of Kristen Stewart. While we overwrite that stars mean nothing at the box office, they do, sometimes, when it comes to propping IP, and unfortunately and arguably, no one in Middle America knows who British actress Ella Balinska is, and they’ve only became recently acquainted with Naomi Scott from Disney’s Aladdin and Lionsgate’s Power Rangers. Stewart, who is hysterical in the movie and even needed more funny bits, is in a different place in her career professionally, publicly, and privately. It’s unfair to think that she could delver her Twilight fans now.
Had she done Charlie’s Angels promptly in the swell of the Twilight whirlwind (like Snow White and the Huntsmen) then maybe it would have popped.
But she has largely been dormant from popcorn wide releases for the last seven years since 2012’s Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, busy excelling and wowing in specialty awards season and festival fare like Clouds of Sils Maria, Still Alice, and this year’s Seberg, to name a few. Stewart needed to be paired with equal or bigger-name actresses.
was a one quadrant movie, eyed at women 13-39, especially given its lack of action scenes, and wisely limited their exposure to what I hear is 50%, with co-finance partners 2.0 Entertainment and Perfect World. Sony claims the budget is $48M net; we’ve heard in the mid $50Ms. Tax incentives were taken in the pic’s Berlin and Hamburg shoots. Perhaps Sony should have spent more, because Charlie’s Angels biggest problem is that it has very low-octane, we’ve-seen-it-all-before action scenes. Heck, there’s more action in a 1980s Chuck Norris movie. After watching Charlie’s Angels earlier this week, I put the first two McG movies on Netflix, and it was like watching Star Wars in comparison to this reboot, with his sharp production design, camera movements, unique action, and comedy set pieces, and, of course, the first movie blasted Sam Rockwell out of a cannon. Understand that the first two movies in the series were able to compete and hold their own in an action space where, yes, Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious (the first two films came out in 2001 and 2003) also thrived. Mission and Fast sequels distinguish themselves on multiple 10-minute action sequences that we’ve never seen before on screen; it doesn’t matter who the villain is. This Charlie’s Angels doesn’t have that. And not even a super-duper hit song “Don’t Call Me Angel” for the movie from Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Ray can trigger lines at the multiplex; the music video clocking over 116M views on YouTube, per entertainment social media monitor RelishMix.
Some will claim that Banks’ version was never intended to emulate the meat and potatoes version of McG’s films; that this version was expected to be more comedic, and more feminist. Unfortunately, after McG set the table here with the franchise as an action film, you can’t reverse it. You can only outdo him. And with a franchise movie like Charlie’s Angels, you can’t make it for a one quadrant audience.
The film arrived on tracking with a $12M-$13M start, and really never budged, but sank. That means marketing didn’t work. I heard that a $100M global P&A was first planned on Charlie’s Angels, with the studio now reducing that overall cost greatly to around $50M and pulling back on expensive ads. Another hurdle in activating the young girl demo is that much of the pic’s cast isn’t on social media. RelishMix says that Banks is the social media star with over 6.6M followers across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, with Scott counting 3.4M.
Sony kept pushing Charlie’s Angels, which in hindsight means there were development issues. In May 2017, a release date was announced for June 7, 2019. When the cast was locked down in July 2018, Charlie’s got moved to Sept. 27, 2019. In October 2018 when Warners pushed Wonder Woman 1984 from the first weekend in November to summer, Charlie‘s took over the autumn spot, which was the same exact place the original 2000 opened. However, when Terminator: Dark Fate moved onto the same first weekend in November, Charlie‘s relocated to this weekend as they vied for a China release which they ultimately got.
Charlie’s Angels drew a 66% female crowd, split between 36% over 25 and 30% under 25. But both demos respectively graded it low at 68% and 79%, with men at 35% giving it a 68% grade on PostTrak. Diversity breakdown was 52% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic, 14% Asian/Other, & 13% African American. Charlie’s Angels best markets were on the coasts and big cities. But again, nothing to brag about in Friday’s $3.2M gross, which includes $900K from Thursday and Wednesday previews.
Says RelishMix, which also foresaw this disaster approaching on social media chatter, “Angels is the latest example in a ‘woke’ effort to reboot a franchise that many were not all that interested in to start with. In fact, many references to the 2000 version get a call-out as a reason this one doesn’t seem to compare – whether it’s the cast or the action teased from the film.
And, as observed with other recent films, some action/adventure, unfortunately fans say they’re steering clear of this one because of its ‘girl power’ messaging.”
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eldweena · 4 years
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So...road trip this weekend. This is pretty absurd, but we don’t really have used bookstores here... We have a Books-A-Million at the mall, which dabbles in used books but just barely, and a nerdy store called The Inner Geek that has some books but mostly vintage toys and tabletop gaming gear. And I heard someone opened a book café, but it’s on the far end of town and the online photos made it look more café and less book. (Maybe it’s BYOB, bring-your-own-book?) ANYWAY. Point being. When we want to brose a *good* used bookstore - which I often do, because I love out-of-print classic fantasy novels - we have to leave the state. So Saturday we drove two hours to Lexington because they have a couple Half Price Books stores. And after a full year of not leaving town due to COVID, we had like 7 bags full of books, CDs, video games, and DVDs to sell. Everything went great at the first store. We got there shortly after they opened at 10:00 am and there were signs posted everywhere saying one person per aisle. They had a sign on the door, and also called over the intercom, that your mask must cover your NOSE as well as your mouth. They’re taking the pandemic seriously and holding customers accountable! I was very pleased. We got $50 for half our sell-backs and found a lot of great buys, too. Then we had lunch at Schlotzky’s. I didn’t mean to take her picture, but in the background you can see a masked woman. She brought a book into the restaurant to read and it made my heart feel happy! After lunch we found an Asian market and my wife stocked up on sweets and drinks. Then we headed to the second HPB, and that’s where we somehow picked up a stalker. This store was a different experience entirely. This time we only got $30 for our remaining sell-backs (we split the selling into two trips so we wouldn’t have to be running back and forth between the store and the car in one go), and while the signage was the same, nobody was adhering. We were looking at science fiction paperbacks and a tall man talking loudly on his phone kept stepping closer to me until he literally brushed my arm. He wasn’t even looking at books - he was on the phone. I pointedly stomped around the other side of our cart to get away from him and while he didn’t stutter in his phone conversation, he did go away. I was about ready to make a scene with a loud, “EXCUSE ME - SIX FEET!” My god!!! People piss me off. Then we went to look at some gaming books because my wife found some old White Wolf manuals and we kind of collect them. (I did LARP Vampire: the Masquerade and MAGE briefly, but mostly I keep them for writing inspiration because the worldbuilding is just fascinating...) This time a young male kept inching his way closer while we were examining the two books they had. (The MAGE manual was brand new, velvet-lined, purple, and pristine. Also $60, so I passed. The Camarilla book was an older edition of the one I have, and the pages were pretty filthy, so I also passed.) I thought initially the guy wanted to look at the gaming books because - I say this only because he had glasses and unkempt hair - he looked like a nerd. Turns out, that was not the case. I caught the same guy staring at us as we moved to another section of the store, where he suddenly also happened to be. My wife went into the young adult alcove and was quickly swarmed by three girls. I couldn’t even get into the crowded aisle (again, the limit was supposed to be one person!) so I went to another shelf to look at true crime. I checked the YA books a couple more times, waiting for it to clear out some. And the guy was hanging around a corner. Not even alone, he was with a girl and I think another guy. By then I was feeling annoyed. I had a fucking mask on, so I knew he wasn’t really looking at my face??? We then looked at middle grade because I’m always on the lookout for Donna Jo Napoli, and that’s where they stick her, and i SAW The SAME GUY! He was never actually looking at books. He was always just standing there, looking out of place and hella awkward, never alone but with the same two people, but he was always looking at us. I wasn’t sure if my wife had noticed so I said, “Let’s get the fuck outta here. I’m tired of that guy staring at us.” She hadn’t noticed, but loudly proclaimed, “Where is he? I’ll stare right back?” I just said again, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” We took our cart of books (yep, found some more) up to the registers. AND THAT MOTHERFUCKER FOLLOWED US. He like...jumped in line behind us, took a sliding leap. He was holding some things so I was like...well, I guess he could be checking out at the same time as us, coincidentally...??? But this time he was without his companions. So we started checking out and I whisper-hissed to my wife, “That’s--” and she said, “I know.” Then, loudly, she said how rude it was for people to stare. Our cashier said something (I’m hard of hearing so I don’t know what he said; my wife said he told her something like, “I understand, I’m sorry that happened to you”), then the other cashier, who I thought was checking that stalker-boy out, held up a flower book and asked, “Is this yours?” We were like...uh....no...and went about our business. After we checked out I grabbed our bags and was trying to like, run for the door. He’d only had like two things in his hands when I saw him scurry into line, and I was scared he’d try and follow us. I’m one of those people who fumbles and drops things and typos and gets all sorts of clumsy when I try to hurry, so it took twice as long as it should have. Finally we got out the door and I kept whisper-hissing to my wife, let’s hurry to the car. And she was like, no, if he follows us I’m going to tell him to fuck off! We got to the car and loaded up our books as fast as possible, and I just wanted the hell out of that parking lot, but my wife was like, no, there’s a trash can beside the store entrance and I’m dumping our garbage. I didn’t want to hesitate or linger, but despite her insistence that she could do it alone, I went with her. That guy gave me a really bad feeling. He could have been a harmless staring-type of creeper, but regardless, I wasn’t about to let her find out on her own. We went back to the store, and as she dumped our trash my wife said that guy was still in the store, fucking staring at us through the window. When they made eye contact, he ducked away from the corner and went down an aisle. I felt shaky for almost an hour after that, until we were headed out of Lexington and absorbed in an audiobook. I don’t feel like it was all harmless coincidence. How many times can you run into the same person in a store, even a small one? Why was he even there, if he wasn’t interested in books? I’m not sure if he even bought anything, or did he hand that flower book to “his” cashier and try to get her to give it to us as a creepy gift from him? Like, I don’t even know what was up with that flower book. We weren’t even at that end of the counter. We also considered that he might have gotten it into his head that we were shoplifting. I don’t know what would have given him that impression, other than perhaps the fact that I kept taking my cell phone out of my hoodie pocket and tucking it back, as I was comparing prices online versus the store, as I always do... I did see him lean over the counter and talk to the cashiers as we were leaving, and I thought at the time, is he complaining about us? Did he think we were stealing??? Which we weren’t, nor were we behaving suspiciously in any way. And, if he had thought that, why hadn’t he reported us the first or second times we bumped into each other, instead of waiting until seeing us check out and then jumping into line behind us? I mean, WTF. My best guess was that he perceived two girls looking at gaming books and got nerdily excited. But he didn’t try and start a conversation, he just. kept. staring. Men, don’t do this, ever. Women have enough shit to worry about without you stalking them, even by accident, in a fucking store.
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wineanddinosaur · 4 years
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The Definitive Whiskey Urban Dictionary
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The whiskey industry has always been steeped in slang, with old-timers stalking the distillery grounds talking about cutting “heads” and “tails,” toasting the oak to an “alligator char,” “clocking” some barrels, and then “thieving” some bourbon straight from the “bunghole.” Of course, the bar has likewise always had its own lingo, with drinkers ordering up wee “drams” of Scotch and “neat” pours of bourbon. But over the last decade, whiskey enthusiasm has also gone online, via blogs, forums, and private groups on Facebook, and a whole new vernacular has emerged.
Mingle with a group of whiskey enthusiasts online and you’d almost need a Rosetta stone to decipher what’s being said. They’re talking about “butts” and “crotch shots” but it’s nothing X-rated, there are “sherry bombs” and “HAZMAT” bottles but it’s not that dangerous, and “in the wild” there are “peat monsters” and “unicorns,” though nothing to be scared of. What is to fear are all the acronyms the online whiskey community now employs; it can be truly overwhelming. BTAC? ETL? PCH? Really, WTF?
Ready to test your knowledge and engage in some cultural anthropology? Here is the latest edition of the whiskey geek dictionary.
Age Statement
The age of a whiskey, measured by the youngest barrel within a blend; i.e. a 15-year-old single malt Scotch may be composed of some barrels much older than fifteen years, but there will be none that are younger than that. Note that age statements have increasingly been disappearing over the last decade.
Allocated
A reference to limited products, like Pappy Van Winkle and the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, specifically doled out to certain retailers (who may have bought and sold a lot of the distillery’s less-acclaimed products, like vodka or Fireball, in order to receive these allocations). In many cases, a store may only get a few bottles of any allocated product.
Angel’s Share
The percentage of whiskey that is lost due to evaporation as it ages in the barrel. So named because it is said to be what the angels now get to taste. Kentucky bourbon might lose 3 to 4 percent per year, while Scotch will lose around 2 percent due to its more mild climate.
Backup
Extra bottles for your bunker, which thus enable you to actually drink your rare whiskey as opposed to just hoarding it. In usage: “Just landed a backup of 2019 GTS so now I can finally open a bottle and try it.”
Barrel Pick (Also: Store Pick or Private Barrel)
Single barrel bottlings specifically selected by a commercial buyer or group. Sometimes these are sold in stores or offered at the bars that hand-selected them; other times they are solely for a private whiskey group to divvy up amongst themselves. They are usually differentiated from standard products with additional neck-tags or decals (see: Sticker Label).
Barrel Strength (Also: Cask Strength)
Whiskey that is bottled at the exact proof it was when it came out of the barrel. This is usually 100 proof to upwards of 140 proof or more (see: HAZMAT).
BiB
“Bottled in Bond,” a reference to a legal classification of whiskey defined by an 1897 act of Congress. To qualify, the bourbon must come from a single distillation season; have been produced by one distiller at one distillery; have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years; and is then bottled at exactly 100 proof. If BiB originally assured the integrity of a product — one that hadn’t been rectified — today it is not often used.
BIN
Standing for “buy it now,” this is what collectors on the online secondary market will write in the comments section after someone offers a bottle for sale on Facebook, Instagram, or another platform. The rationale is that the first person to post “BIN” now has dibs at purchasing the bottle at the poster’s originally stated cost. However, it is often used cheekily after someone posts something they have no intention of ever selling, like a family heirloom they just discovered, or a comically gross bottle that has come into their possession.
Bunghole
The small opening in the barrel from which the whiskey is added and ultimately dumped. Bungholes are, no surprise, filled by bungs — small, circular wooden blocks.
Bunker
A person’s private collection, though the term often refers to the portion of it not on display in their house. In usage: “I’ve already got a Weller Full Proof but I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a few more backups in my bunker.”
Butt
A larger oak barrel, around 500 liters, that originally contained another liquid, often sherry.
Cask
Another name for a barrel, though this usually refers to a Scotch barrel.
Crotch Shot
A strange phenomenon whereas a collector will take a picture of an allocated bottle that they have just scored immediately upon exiting the store and sitting down in their car. Unfortunately, these photos are usually positioned in a way where the bottle is positioned between the buyer’s legs. Many online whiskey groups have taken to banning crotch shots due to their tastelessness and pointless braggadocio.
Dram
A glass of whiskey, usually neat, and usually Scotch.
Dusties
Vintage whiskey, so named because the bottles inherently have dust on them from years of sitting on shelves untouched. However, even cleaned-up vintage bottles are often referred to as “dusties.”
Dusty-Hunting
Searching for vintage whiskey in off-the-beaten-path liquor stores, flea markets, and estate sales, where purveyors might not know the value or rarity of what they possess. The glory days of dusty-hunting, however, have been over for a few years, and big scores are becoming increasingly unlikely.
Finished
When a whiskey spends its final few months, or years, of aging, in a secondary barrel that previously held another liquid such as sherry, port, or Armagnac. Not to be confused with the “finish” of a whiskey — in other words, how it lingers on the palate as the flavor dissipates. In usage: “Was this bourbon finished in something? I’m getting an odd mezcal note.”
Flip/Flipped
Buying a coveted bottle, often at retail prices, only to immediately sell it for an inflated secondary market price. In usage: “I sold that jerk an OWA for $30 and he immediately flipped it!”
Glencairn
A popular style of glass amongst enthusiasts who sip their whiskey neat. Though a reference to the Glencairn Crystal company out of Scotland, which offers several styles of glassware, amongst whiskey geeks the term strictly denotes their 4 1/2-inch tapered copita-inspired glass with a thick base.
GTS
“George T. Stagg.” Many hardcore collectors tend to only speak in acronyms when discussing important bottles like PVW23 (Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Old), M20 (Michter’s 20 Year), and WLW (William Larue Weller). A helpful acronym guide is available on Reddit, of course.
HAZMAT
A whiskey over 140-proof, so labeled by whiskey geeks because you are not legally allowed to take such a bottle onto an airplane, for fear that it could spontaneously ignite.
Hogshead
A 54-gallon cask, usually reconstructed from bourbon barrels with additional staves and larger barrel heads.
Honey Barrel (Also: Sugar Barrel)
A primo barrel of whiskey, ideal for being immediately used as a single barrel selection. Top master distillers and blenders are said to know where all the best-tasting honey barrels are hidden throughout their rickhouses. Certain rickhouses, and certain rickhouse locations, are known for producing an unusually large number of honey barrels.
Honey Hole
A lightly-trafficked liquor store that continually happens to stock rare bottles. The location of honey holes are rarely shared with fellow enthusiasts, lest the shelves soon get cleared. In usage: “I told my bourbon group about my honey hole and now it only has shelf turds.”
The Hunt
When collectors are actively searching for limited editions and allocated whiskeys. As many allocated whiskeys are released in November each year, the late fall and early winter is often known as “hunting season.”
Infinity Bottle (Also: Solera Bottle, Living Bottle, or Vatting)
A perpetual blend that many whiskey fans keep in their homes, often in a decanter. These are created by pouring parts of all or some of one’s other bottles together, often in a slapdash manner. The fact that the bottle is never emptied gives it its name. Though many collectors have one, they are still widely mocked as a neophyte move.
In the Wild
Public store shelves, out in the open, which is a highly unusual place to locate rare offerings. In usage: “I can’t believe I found a Pappy ‘in the wild’.”
Juice
Another name for whiskey, usually referring to it before it has been bottled. In usage: “Is that new distillery sourcing MGP juice?”
LE
Limited editions, i.e. rare whiskeys.
Mashbill (or mash bill)
The grain recipe of the mash that is fermented and then distilled into whiskey, i.e. 75 percent corn, 20 percent rye, and 5 percent malted barley.
NCF
“Non-chill filtered.” Many whiskeys have some of their chemical compounds filtered by freezing it — this technique guarantees that the product will appear clear in the bottle. A lot of enthusiasts, however, prefer an NCF whiskey; even if it has the propensity to appear hazy, it retains esters, proteins, and acids that many people believe add flavor and a pleasing, oily mouthfeel. Look for the NCF designation on the label.
The Pappiez
A mocking way of discussing Pappy Van Winkle, usually used in reference to neophyte collectors misidentifying things like Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year and Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot B as “Pappy,” or going to stores demanding access to the limited product.
Peat Monster
A heavily-peated Scotch, typically from the Islay region.
Poor Man’s Pappy
An amateur blend, created on the straightbourbon.com forum and popularized by Bourbonr blogger Blake Riber, that is said to simulate the taste of Pappy Van Winkle at a more accessible cost. However, as its two components, Old Weller Antique 107 and W.L. Weller 12 Year, have likewise become allocated and pricy, this is no longer a blend that is cheap and easy to create.
Rickhouse
The warehouses where barrels are stored for aging. Many are made from wood and are open-air, lacking climate control.
Secondary
The secondary market, a grey area where sought-after whiskey is bought and sold these days. In many cases, that means Facebook, though the social media site has tried to crack down on alcohol sales within the last year.
Shelf Turd
A bottle of whiskey that is perpetually stocked on store shelves. While not a signifier of low quality — plenty of shelf turds like Wild Turkey 101 are quite good — it is a signifier of rarity and collectability.
Sherry Bomb
A heavily sherried Scotch.
Sticker Label
The post-purchase decals that adorn most private barrel picks these days. They will often have cartoonish, if not childish imagery, and usually cite an inside joke within the whiskey group that selected the barrel, or the whiskey community at large. While such decals are not endorsed by the distillery, most distilleries do not seem to find their usage problematic.
Tater
A neophyte drinker and collector, so identified by their silly and often misguided behavior. Though a clear shortening of “potato,” no one recalls the term’s etymology. In usage: “That tater specifically booked an international flight just so he could buy Blanton’s at duty-free.”
Unicorn
An extremely rare and, thus, rarely-seen bottle, so identified because collectors are stunned when they come across one “in the wild.”
Wheater
A wheated bourbon, i.e. one in which wheat is used instead of rye as the secondary grain in the mashbill. This often creates a sweeter, “smoother” bourbon as seen in popular products like Pappy Van Winkle, Weller, and even Maker’s Mark.
The article The Definitive Whiskey Urban Dictionary appeared first on VinePair.
source https://vinepair.com/articles/definitive-whiskey-urban-dictionary/
0 notes
isaiahrippinus · 4 years
Text
The Definitive Whiskey Urban Dictionary
Tumblr media
The whiskey industry has always been steeped in slang, with old-timers stalking the distillery grounds talking about cutting “heads” and “tails,” toasting the oak to an “alligator char,” “clocking” some barrels, and then “thieving” some bourbon straight from the “bunghole.” Of course, the bar has likewise always had its own lingo, with drinkers ordering up wee “drams” of Scotch and “neat” pours of bourbon. But over the last decade, whiskey enthusiasm has also gone online, via blogs, forums, and private groups on Facebook, and a whole new vernacular has emerged.
Mingle with a group of whiskey enthusiasts online and you’d almost need a Rosetta stone to decipher what’s being said. They’re talking about “butts” and “crotch shots” but it’s nothing X-rated, there are “sherry bombs” and “HAZMAT” bottles but it’s not that dangerous, and “in the wild” there are “peat monsters” and “unicorns,” though nothing to be scared of. What is to fear are all the acronyms the online whiskey community now employs; it can be truly overwhelming. BTAC? ETL? PCH? Really, WTF?
Ready to test your knowledge and engage in some cultural anthropology? Here is the latest edition of the whiskey geek dictionary.
Age Statement
The age of a whiskey, measured by the youngest barrel within a blend; i.e. a 15-year-old single malt Scotch may be composed of some barrels much older than fifteen years, but there will be none that are younger than that. Note that age statements have increasingly been disappearing over the last decade.
Allocated
A reference to limited products, like Pappy Van Winkle and the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, specifically doled out to certain retailers (who may have bought and sold a lot of the distillery’s less-acclaimed products, like vodka or Fireball, in order to receive these allocations). In many cases, a store may only get a few bottles of any allocated product.
Angel’s Share
The percentage of whiskey that is lost due to evaporation as it ages in the barrel. So named because it is said to be what the angels now get to taste. Kentucky bourbon might lose 3 to 4 percent per year, while Scotch will lose around 2 percent due to its more mild climate.
Backup
Extra bottles for your bunker, which thus enable you to actually drink your rare whiskey as opposed to just hoarding it. In usage: “Just landed a backup of 2019 GTS so now I can finally open a bottle and try it.”
Barrel Pick (Also: Store Pick or Private Barrel)
Single barrel bottlings specifically selected by a commercial buyer or group. Sometimes these are sold in stores or offered at the bars that hand-selected them; other times they are solely for a private whiskey group to divvy up amongst themselves. They are usually differentiated from standard products with additional neck-tags or decals (see: Sticker Label).
Barrel Strength (Also: Cask Strength)
Whiskey that is bottled at the exact proof it was when it came out of the barrel. This is usually 100 proof to upwards of 140 proof or more (see: HAZMAT).
BiB
“Bottled in Bond,” a reference to a legal classification of whiskey defined by an 1897 act of Congress. To qualify, the bourbon must come from a single distillation season; have been produced by one distiller at one distillery; have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years; and is then bottled at exactly 100 proof. If BiB originally assured the integrity of a product — one that hadn’t been rectified — today it is not often used.
BIN
Standing for “buy it now,” this is what collectors on the online secondary market will write in the comments section after someone offers a bottle for sale on Facebook, Instagram, or another platform. The rationale is that the first person to post “BIN” now has dibs at purchasing the bottle at the poster’s originally stated cost. However, it is often used cheekily after someone posts something they have no intention of ever selling, like a family heirloom they just discovered, or a comically gross bottle that has come into their possession.
Bunghole
The small opening in the barrel from which the whiskey is added and ultimately dumped. Bungholes are, no surprise, filled by bungs — small, circular wooden blocks.
Bunker
A person’s private collection, though the term often refers to the portion of it not on display in their house. In usage: “I’ve already got a Weller Full Proof but I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a few more backups in my bunker.”
Butt
A larger oak barrel, around 500 liters, that originally contained another liquid, often sherry.
Cask
Another name for a barrel, though this usually refers to a Scotch barrel.
Crotch Shot
A strange phenomenon whereas a collector will take a picture of an allocated bottle that they have just scored immediately upon exiting the store and sitting down in their car. Unfortunately, these photos are usually positioned in a way where the bottle is positioned between the buyer’s legs. Many online whiskey groups have taken to banning crotch shots due to their tastelessness and pointless braggadocio.
Dram
A glass of whiskey, usually neat, and usually Scotch.
Dusties
Vintage whiskey, so named because the bottles inherently have dust on them from years of sitting on shelves untouched. However, even cleaned-up vintage bottles are often referred to as “dusties.”
Dusty-Hunting
Searching for vintage whiskey in off-the-beaten-path liquor stores, flea markets, and estate sales, where purveyors might not know the value or rarity of what they possess. The glory days of dusty-hunting, however, have been over for a few years, and big scores are becoming increasingly unlikely.
Finished
When a whiskey spends its final few months, or years, of aging, in a secondary barrel that previously held another liquid such as sherry, port, or Armagnac. Not to be confused with the “finish” of a whiskey — in other words, how it lingers on the palate as the flavor dissipates. In usage: “Was this bourbon finished in something? I’m getting an odd mezcal note.”
Flip/Flipped
Buying a coveted bottle, often at retail prices, only to immediately sell it for an inflated secondary market price. In usage: “I sold that jerk an OWA for $30 and he immediately flipped it!”
Glencairn
A popular style of glass amongst enthusiasts who sip their whiskey neat. Though a reference to the Glencairn Crystal company out of Scotland, which offers several styles of glassware, amongst whiskey geeks the term strictly denotes their 4 ½-inch tapered copita-inspired glass with a thick base.
GTS
“George T. Stagg.” Many hardcore collectors tend to only speak in acronyms when discussing important bottles like PVW23 (Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Old), M20 (Michter’s 20 Year), and WLW (William Larue Weller). A helpful acronym guide is available on Reddit, of course.
HAZMAT
A whiskey over 140-proof, so labeled by whiskey geeks because you are not legally allowed to take such a bottle onto an airplane, for fear that it could spontaneously ignite.
Hogshead
A 54-gallon cask, usually reconstructed from bourbon barrels with additional staves and larger barrel heads.
Honey Barrel (Also: Sugar Barrel)
A primo barrel of whiskey, ideal for being immediately used as a single barrel selection. Top master distillers and blenders are said to know where all the best-tasting honey barrels are hidden throughout their rickhouses. Certain rickhouses, and certain rickhouse locations, are known for producing an unusually large number of honey barrels.
Honey Hole
A lightly-trafficked liquor store that continually happens to stock rare bottles. The location of honey holes are rarely shared with fellow enthusiasts, lest the shelves soon get cleared. In usage: “I told my bourbon group about my honey hole and now it only has shelf turds.”
The Hunt
When collectors are actively searching for limited editions and allocated whiskeys. As many allocated whiskeys are released in November each year, the late fall and early winter is often known as “hunting season.”
Infinity Bottle (Also: Solera Bottle, Living Bottle, or Vatting)
A perpetual blend that many whiskey fans keep in their homes, often in a decanter. These are created by pouring parts of all or some of one’s other bottles together, often in a slapdash manner. The fact that the bottle is never emptied gives it its name. Though many collectors have one, they are still widely mocked as a neophyte move.
In the Wild
Public store shelves, out in the open, which is a highly unusual place to locate rare offerings. In usage: “I can’t believe I found a Pappy ‘in the wild’.”
Juice
Another name for whiskey, usually referring to it before it has been bottled. In usage: “Is that new distillery sourcing MGP juice?”
LE
Limited editions, i.e. rare whiskeys.
Mashbill (or mash bill)
The grain recipe of the mash that is fermented and then distilled into whiskey, i.e. 75 percent corn, 20 percent rye, and 5 percent malted barley.
NCF
“Non-chill filtered.” Many whiskeys have some of their chemical compounds filtered by freezing it — this technique guarantees that the product will appear clear in the bottle. A lot of enthusiasts, however, prefer an NCF whiskey; even if it has the propensity to appear hazy, it retains esters, proteins, and acids that many people believe add flavor and a pleasing, oily mouthfeel. Look for the NCF designation on the label.
The Pappiez
A mocking way of discussing Pappy Van Winkle, usually used in reference to neophyte collectors misidentifying things like Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year and Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot B as “Pappy,” or going to stores demanding access to the limited product.
Peat Monster
A heavily-peated Scotch, typically from the Islay region.
Poor Man’s Pappy
An amateur blend, created on the straightbourbon.com forum and popularized by Bourbonr blogger Blake Riber, that is said to simulate the taste of Pappy Van Winkle at a more accessible cost. However, as its two components, Old Weller Antique 107 and W.L. Weller 12 Year, have likewise become allocated and pricy, this is no longer a blend that is cheap and easy to create.
Rickhouse
The warehouses where barrels are stored for aging. Many are made from wood and are open-air, lacking climate control.
Secondary
The secondary market, a grey area where sought-after whiskey is bought and sold these days. In many cases, that means Facebook, though the social media site has tried to crack down on alcohol sales within the last year.
Shelf Turd
A bottle of whiskey that is perpetually stocked on store shelves. While not a signifier of low quality — plenty of shelf turds like Wild Turkey 101 are quite good — it is a signifier of rarity and collectability.
Sherry Bomb
A heavily sherried Scotch.
Sticker Label
The post-purchase decals that adorn most private barrel picks these days. They will often have cartoonish, if not childish imagery, and usually cite an inside joke within the whiskey group that selected the barrel, or the whiskey community at large. While such decals are not endorsed by the distillery, most distilleries do not seem to find their usage problematic.
Tater
A neophyte drinker and collector, so identified by their silly and often misguided behavior. Though a clear shortening of “potato,” no one recalls the term’s etymology. In usage: “That tater specifically booked an international flight just so he could buy Blanton’s at duty-free.”
Unicorn
An extremely rare and, thus, rarely-seen bottle, so identified because collectors are stunned when they come across one “in the wild.”
Wheater
A wheated bourbon, i.e. one in which wheat is used instead of rye as the secondary grain in the mashbill. This often creates a sweeter, “smoother” bourbon as seen in popular products like Pappy Van Winkle, Weller, and even Maker’s Mark.
The article The Definitive Whiskey Urban Dictionary appeared first on VinePair.
source https://vinepair.com/articles/definitive-whiskey-urban-dictionary/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/622816440478760960
0 notes
johnboothus · 4 years
Text
The Definitive Whiskey Urban Dictionary
Tumblr media
The whiskey industry has always been steeped in slang, with old-timers stalking the distillery grounds talking about cutting “heads” and “tails,” toasting the oak to an “alligator char,” “clocking” some barrels, and then “thieving” some bourbon straight from the “bunghole.” Of course, the bar has likewise always had its own lingo, with drinkers ordering up wee “drams” of Scotch and “neat” pours of bourbon. But over the last decade, whiskey enthusiasm has also gone online, via blogs, forums, and private groups on Facebook, and a whole new vernacular has emerged.
Mingle with a group of whiskey enthusiasts online and you’d almost need a Rosetta stone to decipher what’s being said. They’re talking about “butts” and “crotch shots” but it’s nothing X-rated, there are “sherry bombs” and “HAZMAT” bottles but it’s not that dangerous, and “in the wild” there are “peat monsters” and “unicorns,” though nothing to be scared of. What is to fear are all the acronyms the online whiskey community now employs; it can be truly overwhelming. BTAC? ETL? PCH? Really, WTF?
Ready to test your knowledge and engage in some cultural anthropology? Here is the latest edition of the whiskey geek dictionary.
Age Statement
The age of a whiskey, measured by the youngest barrel within a blend; i.e. a 15-year-old single malt Scotch may be composed of some barrels much older than fifteen years, but there will be none that are younger than that. Note that age statements have increasingly been disappearing over the last decade.
Allocated
A reference to limited products, like Pappy Van Winkle and the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, specifically doled out to certain retailers (who may have bought and sold a lot of the distillery’s less-acclaimed products, like vodka or Fireball, in order to receive these allocations). In many cases, a store may only get a few bottles of any allocated product.
Angel’s Share
The percentage of whiskey that is lost due to evaporation as it ages in the barrel. So named because it is said to be what the angels now get to taste. Kentucky bourbon might lose 3 to 4 percent per year, while Scotch will lose around 2 percent due to its more mild climate.
Backup
Extra bottles for your bunker, which thus enable you to actually drink your rare whiskey as opposed to just hoarding it. In usage: “Just landed a backup of 2019 GTS so now I can finally open a bottle and try it.”
Barrel Pick (Also: Store Pick or Private Barrel)
Single barrel bottlings specifically selected by a commercial buyer or group. Sometimes these are sold in stores or offered at the bars that hand-selected them; other times they are solely for a private whiskey group to divvy up amongst themselves. They are usually differentiated from standard products with additional neck-tags or decals (see: Sticker Label).
Barrel Strength (Also: Cask Strength)
Whiskey that is bottled at the exact proof it was when it came out of the barrel. This is usually 100 proof to upwards of 140 proof or more (see: HAZMAT).
BiB
“Bottled in Bond,” a reference to a legal classification of whiskey defined by an 1897 act of Congress. To qualify, the bourbon must come from a single distillation season; have been produced by one distiller at one distillery; have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years; and is then bottled at exactly 100 proof. If BiB originally assured the integrity of a product — one that hadn’t been rectified — today it is not often used.
BIN
Standing for “buy it now,” this is what collectors on the online secondary market will write in the comments section after someone offers a bottle for sale on Facebook, Instagram, or another platform. The rationale is that the first person to post “BIN” now has dibs at purchasing the bottle at the poster’s originally stated cost. However, it is often used cheekily after someone posts something they have no intention of ever selling, like a family heirloom they just discovered, or a comically gross bottle that has come into their possession.
Bunghole
The small opening in the barrel from which the whiskey is added and ultimately dumped. Bungholes are, no surprise, filled by bungs — small, circular wooden blocks.
Bunker
A person’s private collection, though the term often refers to the portion of it not on display in their house. In usage: “I’ve already got a Weller Full Proof but I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a few more backups in my bunker.”
Butt
A larger oak barrel, around 500 liters, that originally contained another liquid, often sherry.
Cask
Another name for a barrel, though this usually refers to a Scotch barrel.
Crotch Shot
A strange phenomenon whereas a collector will take a picture of an allocated bottle that they have just scored immediately upon exiting the store and sitting down in their car. Unfortunately, these photos are usually positioned in a way where the bottle is positioned between the buyer’s legs. Many online whiskey groups have taken to banning crotch shots due to their tastelessness and pointless braggadocio.
Dram
A glass of whiskey, usually neat, and usually Scotch.
Dusties
Vintage whiskey, so named because the bottles inherently have dust on them from years of sitting on shelves untouched. However, even cleaned-up vintage bottles are often referred to as “dusties.”
Dusty-Hunting
Searching for vintage whiskey in off-the-beaten-path liquor stores, flea markets, and estate sales, where purveyors might not know the value or rarity of what they possess. The glory days of dusty-hunting, however, have been over for a few years, and big scores are becoming increasingly unlikely.
Finished
When a whiskey spends its final few months, or years, of aging, in a secondary barrel that previously held another liquid such as sherry, port, or Armagnac. Not to be confused with the “finish” of a whiskey — in other words, how it lingers on the palate as the flavor dissipates. In usage: “Was this bourbon finished in something? I’m getting an odd mezcal note.”
Flip/Flipped
Buying a coveted bottle, often at retail prices, only to immediately sell it for an inflated secondary market price. In usage: “I sold that jerk an OWA for $30 and he immediately flipped it!”
Glencairn
A popular style of glass amongst enthusiasts who sip their whiskey neat. Though a reference to the Glencairn Crystal company out of Scotland, which offers several styles of glassware, amongst whiskey geeks the term strictly denotes their 4 1/2-inch tapered copita-inspired glass with a thick base.
GTS
“George T. Stagg.” Many hardcore collectors tend to only speak in acronyms when discussing important bottles like PVW23 (Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Old), M20 (Michter’s 20 Year), and WLW (William Larue Weller). A helpful acronym guide is available on Reddit, of course.
HAZMAT
A whiskey over 140-proof, so labeled by whiskey geeks because you are not legally allowed to take such a bottle onto an airplane, for fear that it could spontaneously ignite.
Hogshead
A 54-gallon cask, usually reconstructed from bourbon barrels with additional staves and larger barrel heads.
Honey Barrel (Also: Sugar Barrel)
A primo barrel of whiskey, ideal for being immediately used as a single barrel selection. Top master distillers and blenders are said to know where all the best-tasting honey barrels are hidden throughout their rickhouses. Certain rickhouses, and certain rickhouse locations, are known for producing an unusually large number of honey barrels.
Honey Hole
A lightly-trafficked liquor store that continually happens to stock rare bottles. The location of honey holes are rarely shared with fellow enthusiasts, lest the shelves soon get cleared. In usage: “I told my bourbon group about my honey hole and now it only has shelf turds.”
The Hunt
When collectors are actively searching for limited editions and allocated whiskeys. As many allocated whiskeys are released in November each year, the late fall and early winter is often known as “hunting season.”
Infinity Bottle (Also: Solera Bottle, Living Bottle, or Vatting)
A perpetual blend that many whiskey fans keep in their homes, often in a decanter. These are created by pouring parts of all or some of one’s other bottles together, often in a slapdash manner. The fact that the bottle is never emptied gives it its name. Though many collectors have one, they are still widely mocked as a neophyte move.
In the Wild
Public store shelves, out in the open, which is a highly unusual place to locate rare offerings. In usage: “I can’t believe I found a Pappy ‘in the wild’.”
Juice
Another name for whiskey, usually referring to it before it has been bottled. In usage: “Is that new distillery sourcing MGP juice?”
LE
Limited editions, i.e. rare whiskeys.
Mashbill (or mash bill)
The grain recipe of the mash that is fermented and then distilled into whiskey, i.e. 75 percent corn, 20 percent rye, and 5 percent malted barley.
NCF
“Non-chill filtered.” Many whiskeys have some of their chemical compounds filtered by freezing it — this technique guarantees that the product will appear clear in the bottle. A lot of enthusiasts, however, prefer an NCF whiskey; even if it has the propensity to appear hazy, it retains esters, proteins, and acids that many people believe add flavor and a pleasing, oily mouthfeel. Look for the NCF designation on the label.
The Pappiez
A mocking way of discussing Pappy Van Winkle, usually used in reference to neophyte collectors misidentifying things like Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year and Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot B as “Pappy,” or going to stores demanding access to the limited product.
Peat Monster
A heavily-peated Scotch, typically from the Islay region.
Poor Man’s Pappy
An amateur blend, created on the straightbourbon.com forum and popularized by Bourbonr blogger Blake Riber, that is said to simulate the taste of Pappy Van Winkle at a more accessible cost. However, as its two components, Old Weller Antique 107 and W.L. Weller 12 Year, have likewise become allocated and pricy, this is no longer a blend that is cheap and easy to create.
Rickhouse
The warehouses where barrels are stored for aging. Many are made from wood and are open-air, lacking climate control.
Secondary
The secondary market, a grey area where sought-after whiskey is bought and sold these days. In many cases, that means Facebook, though the social media site has tried to crack down on alcohol sales within the last year.
Shelf Turd
A bottle of whiskey that is perpetually stocked on store shelves. While not a signifier of low quality — plenty of shelf turds like Wild Turkey 101 are quite good — it is a signifier of rarity and collectability.
Sherry Bomb
A heavily sherried Scotch.
Sticker Label
The post-purchase decals that adorn most private barrel picks these days. They will often have cartoonish, if not childish imagery, and usually cite an inside joke within the whiskey group that selected the barrel, or the whiskey community at large. While such decals are not endorsed by the distillery, most distilleries do not seem to find their usage problematic.
Tater
A neophyte drinker and collector, so identified by their silly and often misguided behavior. Though a clear shortening of “potato,” no one recalls the term’s etymology. In usage: “That tater specifically booked an international flight just so he could buy Blanton’s at duty-free.”
Unicorn
An extremely rare and, thus, rarely-seen bottle, so identified because collectors are stunned when they come across one “in the wild.”
Wheater
A wheated bourbon, i.e. one in which wheat is used instead of rye as the secondary grain in the mashbill. This often creates a sweeter, “smoother” bourbon as seen in popular products like Pappy Van Winkle, Weller, and even Maker’s Mark.
The article The Definitive Whiskey Urban Dictionary appeared first on VinePair.
Via https://vinepair.com/articles/definitive-whiskey-urban-dictionary/
source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-definitive-whiskey-urban-dictionary
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ellipsesarefun · 8 years
Text
you pour it out for everyone to see
(Sorry if it’s late :(( )
Otayuri Week 2017 Day 2: Social Media/Celebrations (FaceTime, Skype, Youtube, Instagram)
A/N: Sequel to “now i gotta wash my mouth out with soap”~! Also featuring an Original Female Character.
His mind is a cosmic chaos of emotions. Not even skating himself to the death is helping him.
As the past six months ran by, his communication with his labeled “bestie” remained ambiguously normal. They talk on Skype as they usually do, always ranging from their skating routines to their daily nonsense (cats, weather, etc.). And it was perfectly normal. They barely engaged a conversation on love, Mila, or… the Accident (because it totally was; come on, he wasn’t thinking straight.) and that is totally normal in their imaginary rule book. Even before said fiasco, they never really took the time to indulge on that topic, merely in passing (“who was your first kiss”, “who was the worst partner”, “the most embarrassing moment when you dated”). So yea. Totally mundane and ordinary. 
Except it wasn’t okay. It took all his strength not to broach on any topic. It would be weird and awkward. Awkweird. It was not the line friends cross and while he did cross the line by an inch, he was just pushed back to his side of the line where he initially belonged. Beka, being casual and everything, did not initiate nor push him about it. He merely kept his usual composure, just how the way things were.
And it only fueled his turmoil. It doesn’t help that his relationship with Mila grew fragile. A few days after he left, she had this.. look. There was no smile this time but there was something on her expression that she knew something.. that somehow it was his fault that he fucked up their relationship.
Through this chaos, anger at himself became his drive in training. But it wasn’t only anger, there was a whole icing of anguish spread on top. He stretched his limits, to the brink of his own sanity, almost tearing his body from limb to limb. To those who noticed said nothing, merely watching from afar and only intervening when he came close to passing out.
And said intervention came to the rescue. She was a friend of his from overseas who lived with katsudon and old man. Her parents and Katstudon’s parents go way back and decided to ship her here in Russia for a mini vacation.
***
Tine [20:30] Yo asshole!
[20:45] tf do u want bitch? why are you still up? katsudon would’ve put you to bed by now..
Tine [20:47] Ahem. I’m a fucking 20-year-old adult. I make the rules.
[20:48] 20-year-old adult in a fifteen-year-old body :p
Tine [20:49] HEY! Watch it, kid, regardless of our two-year gap, I’m still older than you.
[20:50] yea. but i LOOK older than you :p even old man thinks ur my little sis
Tine [20:59] ...point taken.
Tine [21:00] Anyways. How’s it going?
[21:01] cut the crap
Tine [21:03] YOU cut the crap, Mr. “I’m angry with the world and everything that’s teen angst”
[21:06] ur lame af
Tine [21:04] And you’re stalling... haven’t heard from you much.. what’s really up..? how’s he doing?
[21:06] same old same old.. the usual.. nothing changed really..
Tine [21:07] ....After all that?
Tine [21:08] That fucking sucks.
[21:13] tell me about it
[21:15] what makes it worse is mila hasn’t really talked to me..
[21:17] and i’m too distracted in coming up with any ideas for my theme and song music..
[21:18] and beka’s.. Beka’s okay. We’re cool. We talk the usual shit.
Tine [21:19] but you’re not okay.
[21:20] ...is that all you got? putting out the obv?
Tine [21:21] Hm.
[21:22] spill it woman, i don’t have all night for this
Tine [21:23] What say you and I do a little music jam? Make a Youtube account?
[21:24] whut
Tine [21:25] For a stress reliever, dumbass. You can sing. I can sing. We both can play the guitar and we can put it up on Youtube.. Plus we can search for some music you might like that’s beyond classical. It’s a win-win for everyone.
[21:28] what do u get out of this?
Tine [21:30] To do something for shits and giggles. Something nice for my spare time.
Tine [21:31] What say you?
[21:34] sure i guess
Tine [21:25] Such enthusiasm.
[21:26] hey ur asking a lot from me here.
***
True to heart, they went music scavenging as planned on the days he finished his training. That meant his time with his friend from overseas overlapped with his Skyping time with Otabek. He introduced the two one evening and it went slightly awkward, seeing as they barely have anything in common except for maybe some literature, but that was only in passing. She and Yuri decided to keep the music project a secret, with the viable excuse of her being there was to be watched over (”Hey, I’m older than you, you know” “You don’t act like it”). Otabek didn’t mind of course. They still kept their conversations as mundane as they make it while Tine sat beside him mostly in silence, sometimes listening, sometimes reading some shit (”Seriously, just pretend I don’t exist; i don’t usually wanna talk” she laughed). It was an upgraded routine for all of them and no one seemed to mind one bit.
He wasn’t exactly sure how she managed to rope him into this. While yes they both have the skills to do so, he was hesitant in trying her songs. Most of them were dark, creepy and downright strange. She also had a wide variety of options. There was an equal proportion of hip hop, grunge, metal, acoustic, with a few jazz and blues combined. Beka helped as well, seeing he is a DJ and has encountered most of the music she presented. However, he never truly found out what Yuri needed for, only for some new music to skate for. 
(Sometimes, he can feel his best friend has an inkling of what they were up to, but that’s just paranoia).
Fortunately, it only took two weeks for them to find a song they both liked.
***
yuri-plisetsky
Soap Cover - Melanie Martinez
[one minute sneak peak video]
“I feel it coming out my throat Guess I better wash my mouth out with soap God, I wish I never spoke Now I gotta wash my mouth out with soap”
[link to Youtube]
#melaniemartinez #cover #soap
Tagged: @chriscapss 
6,321 views
View all 763 comments
BestYuriAngels OMFG HE CAN ACTUALLY SING!!!
christophe-gc Such accent!!! <3 Love his voice
Yurisonlylover Who’s she? His surrogate sister or something?
BestYuriAngels @Yurisonlylover I think so.. I saw a picture of them once. [link]
phichit+chu Damn that voice~
v-nikiforov Wow! Amazing, Yurio! @yuri-plisetsky @chriscapss  
chriscapps Damn.. so many views per day.. You’re good for this music business @yuri-plisetsky.
***
They only posted one video yet they were already famous. His phone exploded with notifications filled with likes, dislikes and comments. Yakov didn’t seem care, as long as he kept on practicing his usual routines. Mila started talking to him again, with the help of Tin. He introduced them three days after he uploaded their video. One look from Mila and she was already adored by the older skater (”YURI SHE’S SO ADORABLE!!!”). They now go out for coffee breaks. 
And Otabek.. Beka was impressed. Still is. After he found out the video, they finally found another topic that piqued their interest: music. 
***
Beka [17:00] Hey. Nice cover. When did you learn how to sing like that?
[17:02] a couple of years back, tine’s first visit in russia. We had a couple of gigs together, but this is the first time we ever posted a song that we actually like.
Beka [17:03] You had a lot of disagreements before?
[17:04] pfft, more like full-blown arguments. her song choices can be a little creepy
Beka [17:05] I noticed...
***
Since then, there conversations prolonged and gradually, contentment filled his emotions more than his own anguish over unrequited affections. This upgraded their routine and level of closeness further and while it was not what his other part of himself had hoped, it was enough for him to have that familiar comfort of talking to him again. 
This music project isn’t so bad after all.
***
yuri-plisetsky
Carousel Cover - Melanie Martinez
[one minute sneak peak]
“And it's all fun and games, 'Til somebody falls in love, But you've already bought a ticket, And there's no turning back now”
[link to Youtube]
#melaniemartinez #cover #thissongrocks
Tagged: @chriscapss 
8,453 views
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YuriPisMyJam God, that voice.. I live for that voice
Plisexyness Another Melanie?? Is he a CryBaby fan?
chriscapss @Plisexyness I am the huge fan. He just happened to like some of her songs. 
Y-Angels56 @chriscapss OMFG, can you do a cover on Cry Baby? Training Wheels? Are you guys gonna cover the whole album.
chriscapss @Y-Angels56 Nah haha. Maybe?
yuri-plisetsy @chriscapss no.. 
***
Tine [19:00] Any ideas for your music theme?
[20:15] none yet..
Tine [20:25] You doin’ ayt?
[20:30] more or less.. fucking tired though. almost collapsed when i couldn’t nail that jump right...
Tine [20:31] Ah
[20:33] beka and i are doing okay if that’s what you’re asking... am weirded out by mila though.
Tine [20:36] Why?
[20:40] she seems to be talking to me now.. beka hasn’t mentioned about her at all. not like we talk about dating so seriously..
Tine [20:41] Seems okay.. What’s the problem though..
[20:43] nothing i guess..
Tine [20:45] Hm..
[20:47] wanna jam something tom? i think.. i may have a few ideas for my program..
Tine [20:48] Same artist?
[20:49] omfg ur killing me u know...
Tine [20:50] So you do like all of her songs now?
[20:51] not all, okay.. a couple... but she grew on me.. i’ll admit that..
Tine [20:55] YAY! So what say we pick another poison from her album?
***
yuri-plisetsky
Cake Cover - Melanie Martinez
[one minute preview video]
“I feel like I'm just missing Something whenever you leave We've got all the ingredients Except you needing me”
[link to Youtube]
#melaniemartinez #thisonetookthecake #freakinggenius
Tagged: @chriscapss 
7,345 views
View all 4556 comments
YuriPisMyJam Okay, third time’s the charm. wtf is going on here?
BestYuriAngels This is just their third song, but they’re all the same artists..
Y-Angels56 That’s just the third video.. nothing much to discern over anything yet..
YuriPisMyJam @Y-Angels yea but.. come on, the chosen lyrics? the chosen songs? there’s something going on...
leodglesia woah @yuri-plisetsky never knew you were a fan.. we should put up some gigs sometime.
***
The internet is now speculating on said posts. It had only been three covers of the same artist and people are already assuming that therein lies a deeper intentions that the said skater was hiding. Even the people around him were starting to wonder, with the stupid pig and stupid old man barraging him with hugs, questioning his mental well-being or if he was moping for someone. Mila even singled him out once or twice over the week, not-so-subtley prying for answer. Otabek was speculative (his best friend is too smart for his own good) but only mentioned in passing. Yuri could only keep up with the excuse to their covers as Tine being an avid fan.
And that was true.
Only, this was an outlet; a healthy outlet to convey his raging emotions. Little did he care that Otabek was oblivious to their purpose now. In a way, it’s pouring his intentions in guise of a singer’s spontaneity (because of this, he was glad that he had Tine singing with him; she’s a really good use for an excuse).
He admittedly grew an appreciation for the artist, how much skill and talent was shown through the way she writes them, and the way she sang each of her songs. 
To that extent, it was already giving him ideas for his music and theme for the upcoming competition. 
God, he is such a sap.
***
Tine [21:00] Ready for tom?
[21:34] yep.
***
yuri-plisetsky
Training Wheels Cover - Melanie Martinez
[one minute preview video]
“You've been riding two-wheelers all your life It's not like I'm asking to be your wife I wanna make you mine, but that's hard to say Is this coming off in a cheesy way?”
[link to Youtube]
#melaniemartinez #awesomesong
Tagged: @chriscapss 
9,234 views
View all 5,656 comments
YuriPisMyJam omfg something else is going on... I just know it..
Y-Angels So maybe there is...
leodglesia Awesome cover, guys!!!  Sick guitar plucking @chriscapss 
saymyname what is with the Crybaby themes??? Could it be..?
Y-Angels Pining? Unrequited love??? they’re quite apparent...
saymyname maybe it’s just a coincidence.. who knows..
****
Beka [23:30] Hey. Great cover today *thumbs up emoji*
[00:01] thnx..
A/N: Credits to Melanie Martinez and her awesome album track!!
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