#I just missing playing cowboys and robbers :^(

[mildly-seasoned-ffa]

I miss rdo

[64-jungle-planks]

Night at the Museum: Redesigning Characters 2/4(?)

Character profile: Al "Scarface" "Snorky" Capone

This character is based off of and takes inspiration from the historical Al Capone.

Real Name: Alphonse "Al" Gabriel Capone

Nickname and Meaning: Scarface - He earned this nickname because of the three scars on the left side of his face, two on his cheek and one on his neck. Embarrassed by them, Al hates the nickname and never shared the real story of how he got them, siting that he actually got them fighting in WWI.

Snorky - Snorky was slang for sharp dresser. Al loved expensive, flashy clothes. Only close friends used it for him

Age: 26 (January 17, 1899)

Time Period: America's Prohibition in the 1920s, around mid-1925 Johnny Torrio, Al's boss, stepped down and let Al take over the Outfit.

Family: James "Jimmy" Vincenzo Capone, Raffaele "Ralph" James Capone, and Salvador "Frank" Capone + Three younger brothers and one sister that wasn't brought back.

(Headcanons under the cut)

Based on/taken from History:

Can play Banjo and Mandolin, prefers Mandolin

involved in the Five Points Gang with mobster John Torrio as a kid. John Torrio mentored him and gave him the role as the Chicago Mob leader

Only got into the mob for the money to care for his family

Can go from 1 to 10 very quickly

Played in a semi-pro team in Brooklyn as a kid/teen with Ralph. They were known as the Al Capone Stars

+ Intelligent + Generous + Confident - Overdramatic - Attention seeker - Petty

My own silly headcanons:

A little twerp, Al doesn’t respect authority

Feels that he’s better than Ivan and Napoleon because he’s from a newer generation and knows more.

“Okay boomer” vibes

Acts like he hates Napoleon and Ivan (mostly Napoleon), but likes them secretly. They are two men in history that did grand things- in fact he liked learning about Napoleon in school! Al just thinks he had a too big of a head.

Only has one tone of voice- really loud

Swears every other word

He’s a basically still a kid, one with too much power. Al knows his way around the mob, he’s been in it since he was around 15, but now he’s been given power over the Outfit and hasn’t come down off that high yet of being in charge.

Hes happy to have Frank back, they were four years apart in age and were extremely close. He’s missed Frank the year he’s been dead

Was extremely tempted to play baseball using the Einstein’s as balls. He doesn’t like them.

On that note, Al is slightly unnerved around the miniatures. He doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself around them.

He likes sitting at the bench in middle of the hall of miniatures just watching them. Al liked Cowboys and liked playing cowboys and robbers with his brothers as a kid. Some part of him wishes he could be part of their group.

After finding the Sinatra songs made after Al died, he’s constantly found humming them and making up his own lyrics to go along with them. He likes That’s Life the best.

Al somehow acquires a camcorder and films the whole night that they’re trying to take over the world, making himself a big star and part of the plan. He wants that stardom, he loved it when he was alive – he was just getting a part of it when he was alive

Really loves making up nicknames and short stories for people around him. One of his favorite things to do with Ralph is people-watch.

Al: I don’t like Napoleon! He’s a fuckin’.. fuckin’ bitch! A short ass goblin! Ralph: Yeah.. goblin’ that dick. Frank: MMHHEHEHAHAHAHAHAAH!!! Al: What.

Makes jokes about Napoleon and his boys being gay because he's frightened about questioning his own sexuality. He knows he likes women, but he's got that good ol' "1910's Christian beat the gay away" ideal still stuck in his head. It takes a bit for Al to realize he's bi

Loves giving gifts

He likes having at least one of his brothers by his side. Historically it's been Ralph, but during the events that take place during NATM 2, Al kept Frank close because he was frightened of loosing him again.

Frank, Ralph, Napoleon

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY & THE CRIMINALS

Lucy’s Encounters with the Criminal Underworld ~ Part 2

Lucycoms introduced suburban crime to keep storylines interesting and contemporary. Here's a look at the thieves, burglars, robbers, murderers, prowlers, second-story men, mobsters, forgers, counterfeitters, and con artists in the Lucyverse!

“The Bob Hope Show” (1962) ~ Lucille Ball plays the District Attorney and Bob Hope is a gangster named Bugsy. A spray of gunfire comes through the window, narrowly missing Lucy’s head. Lucy remarks “Just what I wanted, a Jackie Kennedy hairdo.” Considering the tragic assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, the lines could never be re-aired.

“Lucy and Viv Learn Judo” (1963) ~ When a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood makes Lucy and Viv feel unsafe, they learn judo for self-protection. Martial arts became a popular spectator sport during the twentieth century. This included televised martial arts tournaments and even Westernized versions of Asian martial arts. This also marked the beginning of women participating in martial arts, although participation in martial arts.

“Lucy and the Safe Cracker” (1963) ~ Lucy accidentally locks Mr. Mooney back in the bank vault. To help break him out, Lucy recruits Mr. Bundy (Jay Novello), a reformed safe-cracker, now a candy store owner. 

Opening the vault rekindles Mr. Bundy’s criminal desires so he grabs a bag of loot and takes Lucy and Viv hostage at his candy shop.  

“Lucy and the Bank Scandal” (1963) ~ Lucy suspects Mr. Mooney may be embezzling from the bank, so she digs up his back yard to find the money. Naturally, Mr. Mooney is innocent and Lucy has accidentally punctured his new oil tank. 

“Lucy and the Great Bank Robbery” (1964) ~ Lucy rents out Viv's room to two gentlemen visiting for the World's Fair. They turn out to be bank robbers who stash their loot in Viv's mattress. Lloyd Corrigan (as Gordon Bentley) and John Williams (as Carter Harrison) play genteel bandits who quote Shakespeare. Harrison says he wants to stop robbing banks and rob art galleries instead:“Imagine pilfering a Picasso.”  The two boarders also wonder about robbing drive-in banks: “Just toot for the loot and scoot.”

When she discovers the loot in Viv’s mattress, Lucy immediately assumes Viv stole the cash. Lucy compare her to Ma Barker. Kate Barker (1873–1935) was the mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang. She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover described her as "the most vicious, dangerous and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade."  

“Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank” (1964) ~ When Lucy’s gossip leads all of Danfield to think there’s a run on the bank, Lucy and Viv stage a robbery to scare off account-holders and save the bank - and her new job.   

“Lucy Makes a Pinch” (1964) ~ Recruited to be part of a police stake-out, Lucy goes undercover to help appprehend Green Scarf Louie (John Harmon).

“Lucy the Gun Moll” (1966) ~ Lucy Carmichael takes the place of  Rusty Martin, girlfriend of gangster Big Nick (Bruce Gordon) in this satire on Desilu’s crime series “The Untouchables”. 

“Lucy and John Wayne” (1966) ~ Lucy is on the set for the filming of John Wayne’s latest western, in which he faces off with gunslinger Pierce (Morgan Woodward). In westerns, the villain was generally dressed in black, including a black cowboy hat. 

“Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (1966) ~ Trying to think of a way to help bring the town of Bancroft’s story to the rest of America, Lucy and the town fathers stage a gun battle to get national news coverage. Lucy takes the role of criminal mastermind “Carrot Top Carmichael”. 

“Lucy Meets the Law” (1966) ~ Lucy thinks she’s being arrested for littering when she is actually being mistaken for a red-haired jewel thief.  

Lucy is tossed in a cell with Hard Head Hogan (Iris Adrian), a bouncer in a beer hall in jail for assault and battery.

“Lucy and Art Linkletter” (1966) ~ Lucy is plucked from the audience of “The Art Linkletter Show” to perform a stunt: stay silent for 24 hours to win $200. To test her, Linkletter sends her a variety of distractions her way, including an armed one-armed fugitive (Jack Searl). The man bursts into Lucy's apartment waving a gun saying that a guy has been chasing him for three years. This is a reference to the hit ABC series “The Fugitive” (1963-67) on which David Janssen was on the trail of a one-armed man who killed his wife.  

“Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard” (1967) ~ Lucy is unaware that Mr. Mooney has given director Sheldon Leonard permission to film a bank robbery in the lobby, so Lucy and Mary Jane (not recognizing Leonard) are determined to foil the robbery. 

“Lucy and the Stolen Stole” (1968) ~ Lucy gets embroiled in the schemes of Harry Barton (Buddy Hackett) a con-man dating a girlfriend of Mary Jane’s. 

Mr. Mooney says they've been in more jails than Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie Parker (1910–34) and Clyde Barrow (1909–34) were criminals who traveled with their gang during the Great Depression, robbing people and killing when cornered or confronted. A popular film about their lives was released in August 1967, winning two Academy Awards.

“Lucy and the Lost Star” (1968) ~ Lucy thinks Joan Crawford is down on her luck, so she stages a 1920s musical for her to star in. Set in a speakeasy during Prohibition, Mr. Mooney plays a mobster named ‘Scarface’. Lucy is his gun moll Rusty. 

“Lucy and Sid Caesar” (1968) ~ Frankie the Forger, who looks like Sid Caesar, is passing bad checks at the bank. Lucy and Mr. Mooney try to tell the real Sid Caesar from the forger.  

STAY TUNED FOR PART 3

[writerofshit]

(I mentioned briefly a story of how the Stream Team met. This is that story.)

Somewhere in Los Santos, in the late night hours of a Tuesday, a convenience store is robbed. So is one several blocks southeast. And one roughly in the middle of them both. After all, what's more convenient than 24 hour chili dogs on every other street corner?

Cash. Cash is more convenient. So are guns. Hollering, waving one to get the other. Most important, back alleys that twist and turn, snaking away from increasingly distant sirens. Three individuals find themselves running through these alleys, a couple grand each weighing their pockets down.

It's through serendipity and convenience that their paths cross.

The man from the farthest store arrives first. He's done this a few more times than he'd like to admit, so he'd had a plan. Of sorts. Cut through the park, take a few sidewalks like an upstanding citizen, under the bridge and find a fire escape to utilize from there. There aren't any that reach the ground, of course, because he's smart but not quite enough.

And so this is why Trevor is standing in an dark alley, contemplating whether or not the dumpster will give him enough height to reach the ladder, when the man from the middle store appears. He's around Trevor's height, but would probably win in a fight between them, if he were so inclined. He doesn't seem to be, though. He seems shaken, like he's not quite sure how he ended up in this alley. He's holding a gun almost gingerly, as if it might bite him.

Trevor pulls his own gun.

'dont you fuckin' try anything!'

This does not go over well with Matt. He takes a step back, and then seems to remember that he also has a gun so maybe this is even footing. He holds it aloft, finger nowhere near the trigger.

'same, asshole!'

At this moment the robber from the first store arrives, also, of course, with a gun. And a mask. And an entire purple and orange neon fucking suit, actually, topped with a white cowboy hat. It gives them a few extra inches of height they are distinctly lacking, comparatively. Somewhere in the back of his head, Trevor acknowledges that this newcomer could probably kick his and the other gunman's asses. It is not a pleasant thought.

'oh, what the fuck!?'

Jeremy sounds more annoyed and less scared than one would think, considering they've run into an alley only to find two men with guns. Two men who quickly turn those guns on them.

'who the fuck are you?'

The question surprises them all, including Matt, even though he's the one who asked. As it turns out, people have a tendency to say the first thing that comes to mind when in a stressful situation. Such as, having robbed a convenience store for the very first time and immediately finding himself face to face with other apparent robbers. It would get to anyone, probably.

'i don't want any trouble, but i've already robbed someone tonight and i don't give a shit about felony murder!'

Two lies and a truth, is what Trevor has chosen to play, for some reason. In reality, one does not rob a convenience store at gun point if one is intent on staying out of trouble. And he does, in fact, care very deeply about felony murder. Felony murder is the precise reason he'd shot a bag of Doritos and not a clerk. In his defense, the clerk had initially rolled her eyes at him, asked what exactly he thought he'd get out of this. He'd found this question rude.

The truth, of course, is that he did rob a convenience store. That did happen. No take backs.

'so did i!'

Matt and Jeremy speak so in unison it's almost scary. If they didn't know any better, they'd think the two of them had always known each other.

Trevor's gun wavers between them, unsure which is the bigger threat. The guy who clearly has zero experience with guns, or the weirdo who seems to have far too much? It's a toss up, really. So his aim pinballs back and forth, but his finger does not curl around the trigger. He's serious about that felony murder thing.

The air seems to shift, suddenly, and the sound of sirens is now growing closer. This evidently also annoys Jeremy, and they throw a glance over their shoulder to the direction they'd come from. Red and blue lights flicker past.

'shit. ok. we're all robbers, i guess, and we're all fucked if we keep standing here. who's got a plan?'

Jeremy's eyes are staring impatiently at Trevor. Eyes being the only part of their face Trevor can see. And their hands, a plastic bag in one and a gun in the other.

Trigger finger is an apt name.

He glances at Matt, still wild eyed and glancing back and forth. No, Matt probably does not have a plan. He sort of gives the impression that he's never had a plan ever, actually. That perhaps he'd simply woken up here and decided to wing it. So Trevor makes an offer.

'fire escape?'

There's another moment of tense silence. Well, minus the sirens. And oh, helicopters. Even better. Jeremy shrugs.

'good a plan as any.'

And then they're off, brushing past Trevor and hoisting themself up onto the dumpster. He knew it could work. Trevor blinks and Jeremy has caught the ladder, is quickly working their way up. Shit, how does five foot something manage to get that high on a good day, much less in this situation and with a bag and gun in hand?

Matt's gun clatters to the ground, and honestly, that's probably for the best. He's climbing onto the dumpster now, and he mutters something about not signing up for this shit. Trevor reminds him that he apparently robbed someone, so yeah, he kind of did.

Before Trevor climbs up, he shoves his gun into his jacket pocket. Smart? Probably not. Convenient? More so than climbing with a gun in his hand. He follows Matt up the ladder, wondering what happened to his plan. Yeah, the ladder had been involved. Two other people, however, were not.

Above them, glass shatters.

'warning, maybe!?'

'oops. careful, there's glass.'

Jeremy's voice is no longer directly above them. Instead, it comes from one story up and a little to the left. So they've broken into an apartment. Sure, add breaking and entering to the list of charges, that sounds great. But Matt and Trevor follow, because there's not really another option.

Inside the apartment, Jeremy's mask is gone. The suit is quickly disappearing as well, revealing a rather boring outfit of a white tank top and...sweatpants? The true mystery lies in where the cowboy hat has gone to, because that's a hard item to miss.

'do we really have time for this? don't you think someone might, oh, i don't know, wake up and call the cops?'

Trevor doesn't mean to hiss, it's just that he's sure there's more pressing matters to attend to than an outfit change. Continuing to flee, perhaps.

'nobody's gonna wake up.'

They don't even have the wherewithal to lower their voice. It registers to Trevor that Jeremy's bag and gun are missing as well. Had they dropped them on the way up? It was certainly possible. Trevor thinks he would have noticed a gun flying past his head, but there's a lot going on.

'can we maybe not kill anyone? he brought up a good point with that felony murder thing.'

It's the most words Matt has strung together since he'd shown up. It's damn near a whisper, but at least it's progress.

'i'm not- god, can you two shut up? i gotta make a phone call.'

Jeremy yanks the door open, hand carefully wrapped in the fabric of their shirt. For a moment, Trevor thinks they're leaving and steps forward to follow Jeremy. Instead, Jeremy turns and heads toward the kitchen, pulling open a drawer and digging inside it briefly. They come back with a cell phone.

Something dawns on Trevor.

'is this- do you live here? did you break your own window?'

Jeremy doesn't answer. They put the phone to their ear.

'you're gonna wanna hide whatever you've got. and try not to look like you just climbed in through a window.'

And then-

'hello? yes, hi, i'd like to report a break in, i think? i was hearing a bunch of sirens and then i don't know what happened but some guy just broke my window? he ran through and i just- my friends and i are really scared and we didn't know what to do- yes, we're ok, he's gone, but we- you'll send someone? ok, thank you. the address? oh, uh, it's the del perro heights building, apartment 7. should i shut the door? no, don't touch anything. ok- guys, don't touch anything, she said someone's on their way to check on us! thank you so much- no, i think we'll be fine. thank you.'

It's a marvelous performance. Jeremy genuinely sounds like some poor flustered victim of a crime. Trevor would applaud if he thought Jeremy would appreciate it. Almost immediately, their voice is back to normal.

'check things out my ass. they're gonna show up, ask which way he went and never call me again. feel real fuckin safe.'

Jeremy settles themself onto the couch, choosing the spot closest to the door. Matt, who has apparently gotten over his initial terror, wanders into the kitchen. Searching for something to distract himself, if Trevor had to guess. Trevor is still standing in the middle of the living room, dumbfounded. How did a simple robbery become hanging out with other robbers, waiting for cops to show up?

'i'm jeremy, by the way. they won't ask, but y'know. just in case.'

They're flipping channels on the tv, seeming to arbitrarily skip almost a dozen programs. Finally, they settle on one and stand. Trevor recognizes it as an old Disney movie, and desperately wants to ask why the fuck Jeremy has put this on.

'uh, hi. i'm trevor. why are we watching Mulan?'

'matt. oh hell yeah, i love this movie!'

He sounds remarkably cheerful, considering the circumstances. How Trevor had seemingly switched places with Anxious McGee is beyond him. He needs to get it together. He pulls his gun from his pocket and takes it to the kitchen, sticking it in the drawer Jeremy had taken the phone from. There are several other phones of varying price point. He steps back to the living room just in time.

'that's why.'

They don't elaborate. Apparently Trevor is meant to just figure this out on his own, which ordinarily he might be able to do. After the course of events of this particular evening? Not a chance.

But he can't ask, because now there's a cop in the doorway and he's staring at Trevor and that will never be a good thing. Trevor stares back. He has no clue what he's meant to say. Hello? Welcome? He went that way?

'oh thank god! we've been so terrified, we didn't know if he'd come back or what he'd do.'

Naturally, Jeremy has taken lead on this. They're a phenomenal actor, Trevor has to admit.

'did you see which direction he went?'

'toward the stairs, i think. we've all been rooted to the spot, you know, it's so scary-'

Matt freezes in the doorway of the kitchen. He's just out of the view from the front door.

'right, well. you boys did the right thing by calling. can you give me a description of the man?'

The corner of Jeremy's mouth quirks.

'gosh, it all just happened so fast. taller than me, probably, but shorter than you, wouldn't you say, trey?'

Trevor nods, because he's not quite sure what else to do.

'alright, thank you. someone will be in touch with you for an official statement. in the meantime, if you remember anything else don't hesitate to call.'

He's holding a card out to Trevor, of all people. He takes it carefully, like if he does it wrong somehow the guy will know and arrest them all. The card is simply the number for a tip line.

As suddenly as he'd arrived, the cop is gone and they're all breathing sighs of relief. Jeremy closes the door.

'you guys can stay for Mulan, if you want.'

So they do.

Trevor asks about why Mulan again, and Jeremy explains that they assume most people have seen it, could answer any questions about it if they came up. Perhaps, if LSPD officers were less incompetent, they would have. Although if that were the case, they wouldn't be LSPD officers at all.

Matt asks about the window, and Jeremy says yes, they did break their own window. Of course they'd had an actual plan when they'd entered the alley. They were always going to end up exactly here, give or take the extras. Asking for a plan was simply a test, determining the merit in bring them along. They'd passed.

Jeremy asks if they want to stay for Mulan II, which is apparently up next. They do.

Somewhere in Los Santos, in the early morning hours of a Wednesday, three convenience stores are recovering from three separate robberies. Right in the middle of them all, their respective robbers are sitting on a couch together, watching a straight to video children's film.

It is the beginning of something far greater than any of them can imagine.

[jesuisgourde]

gay/queer references in Peter’s journals

Again, I have probably missed stuff due to going through pretty quickly and also due to having stared at this document for so long, everything has kind of blurred together.

Sometime close to the day that Carlos & I watched 'Love And Death on Long Island' (and afterwards paraded through the tea rooms of Picadilly) we both filled in application forms and were tres excited to be invited to the same group 'interview' - twas more like an audition though. I got the part. Carlos never. This did not bring any animosity - we both know that success for either of us is magnified a million times if it is shared by us both.

from 'A Diamond Guitar' by Truman Capote "Except that they did not combine their bodies or think to do so, though such things were not unknown at the (Prison), they were as lovers. Of the seasons, spring is the most shattering: stalks thrusting through the earth's winter-stiffened crust, young leaves cracking out on old left-to-die branches, the falling asleep wind cruising through all the newborn green. And with Mr Schaeffer it was the same, a breaking up, a flexing of muscles that had hardened. It was late January. The friends were sitting on the steps of the sheep house, each with a cigarette in his hand. A moon thin and yellow as a piece of lemon rind curved above them, and under its light, threads of ground frost glistened like silver snail trails. Tico Feo had been drawn into himself - silent as a robber waiting in the shadows."

Then a meet with Bounds Green's African prince outside whitechapel tube, rugged lookies at I in military attire & to a ruptured Albion rooms tidied in hours and now lids drawn heated on the eyes. A young looking fella has a crush on me.

Jackie/Camillia/Marie/Kate/Chris/V. churchill Jackie/Evelina/Jasmine/Sachi/Dalston/Sussie Sandra/Carlene/FP/Jay/Dalston/Kraut

There sat a young black man, perhaps in his early or middle twenties. He looked for all the world like the archetypal rude boy. Clean, cheap reebok, nike, adidas variously rolled, laced & zipped about his lean, spreadeagled body that hung loosely about the waiting room chair. Gold & tattoos adorned his person, and a blank animal look was attached to his clear face. He sat before me in a row of four empty chairs, staring at polished floor or the mundane television. A balding white man minced in & all perceptions were suddenly proven to be false as they embraced and snuggled up to each other, giggling & whispering & touching each others noses.... very much in love, fingers crossed for the blood tests.

[Image: an article from Gay Times of an interview with Peter. For some reason, the portrait included alongside the article is of Carl wearing a grey and black t-shirt.] Name? Peter Doherty Age? 22 Where are you? I'm on the motorway just north of Southampton. What kind of day are you having? (Vaguely) Erm... quite misty. Something's waiting around the corner, but there are no corners on the motorway, so we'll just have to wait and see what lies ahead. Maybe something will happen tonight.... What's this we hear about you once being a rent boy? Well, when times are hard, duty calls. How long ago was it? When I was 19, about three years ago. How do we know this isn't just a Shaun Ryder-type lie? 'Cause if it was, it would make me a complete scumbag and I'm not, and I'm not interested in that kind of pantomime. It wasn't a very happy time. I didn't really enjoy it. Why did you give it up? (grimly) Well, certain people disappeared... and anyway, ultimately I found myself no longer in such a vulnerable position anymore. Dawn broke, and I realised that it was a beautiful world after all. Have you done any other dodgy jobs? All of us in the band have tried to deal, but it's not good if you like the drugs too much. You just end up using them yourself! I once was a gravedigger. I used to do it with my mate in Willesden Green cemetery. We didn't actually do the digging, a machine did that, but we used to have to fill them in. It was pretty grim work. So are you gay then? Love is love, wherever it comes from. I'm not anything, really. I am a very sexual person but... I dunno, I believe in liberty... The Marquis de Sade has a lot to answer for... Do you get a lot of gay fans? Yeah - well, there's one guy in particular. He's very shy and he follows us around. He brings in letters and cards and stuff, but he's very quiet. I think John (the bassist) is the main pulling power in the band. Are you jealous about that? Nah! I've known him too long.

You know I'm alright i dont even care i like it when they stare & stare call me queer, dear oh dear a million things & what I wear He's real hard when he's with his mates but I'll saw him again & he was too late

Dear NME I'd have thought after the Gay Times piece, the interview with Rapture fanzine & our recent gig at the Slum Club everything would be clear. No it still remains to give a big hearty fuck off to all these twisted suburban types calling me a liar. Vulnerable young men & women all over the world find themselves victims of circumstance.

she was dressed in suit & tie & lightly etched-on moustache. 'I've always wanted to kiss a bird in the back of a taxi.' she says, running her hand up the fishnet ladders of my thigh. Stepping onto the front line in Bow puddles, elevators, buzzing doors,

[Image: the original page in the book has been preserved. Two paragraphs have been boxed off with biro. They read:] “...cast Richard Burton and Rex Harrison as bickering queer barbers and then much more uncompromisingly in William Friedkin's adaptation of The Boys in the Band (1970), which introduced some of the plainer four letter words in the English language to the screen for the first time. 'Who,' asks Cliff Gorman, in his brilliant portrayal of the most effeminate of the homosexual group as they gather for a soul-searching party, 'Who do you have to fuck to get a drink around here?' Other homosexual manifestations to occur in movies around this time included an elliptical but unmistakeable male fellatio scene in John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy (1969) when Jon Voight, as a broke and disillusioned Texas stud importunes in a New York cinema....”

[Image, top left: a blurry photo of John onstage, playing bass. Image, top right, sideways: a photo of the band onstage. Carl and John are on the left, sharing a mic. Peter is on the right, playing guitar and singing into his own mic. Image, centre left: a torn photo of Peter sitting in a chair, shirtless, playing guitar. Only his bottom half from the chest down is visible. Image, centre left: a torn photo of Peter sitting in a chair, shirtless, playing guitar. Only his top half from shoulders up is visible. Image, bottom left: a torn fragment of a photo. What looks like a denim-clad knee and a yellow carrier bag are visible. Image, bottom middle: a photo of someone's knee in torn jeans, taken from under a table. Image, bottom right: a torn photo of Carl in a black sleeveless shirt, posing with his fingers in his mouth.] [A paragraph from the original page of the book has been left exposed and boxed off with black biro. It reads:] “The Boys in the Band was displaced by an immeasurably more powerful portrayal of homosexual groups, Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971). Set in a Quebec prison, this disturbing, factually based drama vividly recounted the corrupted of a heterosexual convict trapped in a tough, potentially vicious homosexual society. In one horrifying scene, a weak, put-upon prisoner is gang-banged by his fellow inmates; in another, the 'hero' is blackmailed by his cellmate into accepting him as his lover for the duration...”

Like a cat on a hot tin roof Like a macho man in a roomful of poofs I have tried in my way to be free.

[Written in Peter's handwriting] Jerome... is that how it's spelt? [Written in someone else's handwriting] Yes it is [Written in Peter's handwriting] Can I read you something? [Written in someone else's handwriting] Yes please.....

I insist, new book of Albion, befuddled by drugs I may yes about 2 but I do not miss out entirely on the subtleties of the inhuman relation ships that are this the mainstay of my stay here in one bounce of a loaf. Boys are fooled into fooling with boys. [...]

More general references/some extra explanations:

“The boy looked at Johnny” is a line from Patti Smith's song “Horses,” part one of a three-part song called “Land.” In the song, a young man named Johnny is assaulted by another man in a locker room; he then mentally journeys to other fantastical lands and visions. A lot of people interpret it as being about gay sex, although some people interpret it as being about a stabbing.

Peter quotes and references Jean Genet's writing and works about Jean Genet many times. While Genet's works are nearly all about crime and prison (one of Peter's main interests and points of fascination), all of his works are very explicitly gay. The Thief's Journal is more about Genet's various lovers than it is about his criminal history. Our Lady Of The Flowers is about a drag queen and her criminal lovers, and is also extremely erotic.

(“Jerome” is Jerome Alexandre, vocalist of The Deadcuts, who was friends with Peter and Mark Keds.)

[aggressive-positivity-network]

Dude, your TF2 content, here and on your TF2 blog, brings me LIFE. Alright, so here's something a bit overly specific: Sniper can't find his gun, which is a problem. He ends up finding some kids, sitting in a circle, staring at the gun, passing it around between them, generally fascinated by it. They have some cardboard targets set up, clearly for slingshot and toy guns. One of them is about to do something stupid and shoot the gun, and that's when they notice Sniper (based on a true story)

Hmmm…I never knew I needed this nourishing headcanon food…thank you. Is Snipey going to be the founder of some child espionage/survival skills team? It’s more likely than you think!

*********************

Mundy’s Angels

“C’mon, hand it over!”

“I found it, it’s mine!”

Four kids were sitting in a circle, taking turns playing with a gun they had found, but a fight had broken out between the two bigger kids, Phillip and Charlotte.

Before the argument turned to blows, one of them, a small girl named Olivia with scars on her knees came between them.

“Don’t y’all know anything? Real cowboys don’t squabble like chickens when two of ‘em want somethin’! They have a showdown!”

“A showdown?” everyone said in unison.

“A’ course! It’s when two cowboys take ten steps, then turn around ‘n see who shoots the other first!”

Everyone murmured among themselves excitedly until a younger boy named Jason with slicked back hair clucked his tongue.

“Ah, yes, but…and stay with me if you can…there are two contenders, but only one weapon. Whoever had the rifle would obviously triumph, which would negate the entire point of the competition.”

“Uh, English?” Charlotte said.

“In order to have a showdown, old sport, we need two guns for two people. We only have one.”

A collective groan of disappointment swept through the group, but Olivia was not to be outdone.

“W-well…I watched a movie once where they shot at targets ‘stead! Whoever gets the most bullseyes win!”

The kids cheered, and began setting up their cardboard targets on cinder blocks.

Jason was chosen - or, rather, self-imposed - as the mediator and scorer, and stood next to the targets to see where the hole would be made.

Phillip, who had been the one trying to take the gun from the other, went first.

He steadied himself, but it up to his eyes, and tried to aim like he did in the movies. The child he was competing against kept jostling him, making noises, and even kicking the back of his shoes to get him to miss.

But, finally, he was completely balanced, and thought he was pointing at the right thing. He put his finger on the trigger and tried to push it down.

Suddenly, the entire muzzle was shoved to the ground, and the bullet went into the dirt.

Phillip spun around to find Sniper, who had already grabbed the rifle out of his hands.

The kid threw up his hands over his face, getting ready for screaming, or hitting, or both.

But all Sniper said was, “So that’s where this little bugger got to. Thought I’d have to get another one shipped.”

He looked up at Phillip, and gave him a wry smile.

“If I ‘adn’t stopped ya, your friend there would be bleedin’ out like a stuck pig.”

Sniper turned on the aiming light and pointed it towards Jason’s head.

“Right there. Great shot for a quick kill, not so good for his mummy and daddy, eh? You’d’ve been on the six o’clock, you’d have. A lot of blokes in white coats tryin’ to see if you’re some kid Hannibal.”

Phillip looked at the red dot on Jason’s head, and promptly began to cry. Sniper cringed. He went too far.

“Aw, ���is alright, ‘is alright…ya meant nothin’ by it…”

Sniper squatted down, getting to the kid’s level.

“Were ya playin’ Robin Hood? Or cops ‘n robbers?”

Phillip hiccuped. “O-Olivia said…said…”

“Yeah?”

“Sh-She said we wouldn’t be real cowboys if w-we didn’t shoot…a-and whoever got the most bullseyes…I d-d-didn’t wanna hurt him, honest…”

“I know, mate. I was just jerkin’ your chain about the six o’clock, yeah? Just yanked a little too ‘ard.”

When Phillip finally calmed down, Sniper gathered all the kids in a circle to have a good, safe look at his rifle.

Everyone seemed so enthralled with his descriptions that he made them an offer:

“‘Ow’d you like me to show ya how to use one a’ these?”

Everyone was excited by the prospect - even Jason, who was never excited about anything.

And thus began Mundy’s Angels.

Every Saturday at noon, the kids and Sniper would gather together to learn his to not only shoot a gun, but use a myriad of other weapons.

Occasionally, one of the other mercs would agree to come and show their own expertise.

Scout taught them how to scan for enemies.

Medic gave them the basics in first aid.

Engineer showed them how to make weapons and necessities with scarce materials.

Mundy’s Angels was almost like a more drastic Boy Scouts.

Sniper hopes to take them all on a trip to the mountains to use the skills they’ve learned - after the proper waivers are signed, of course.

[glamorizingchaos]

Green Ribbons and Silver Pistols

Wild West AU Jack Daniels x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Rating: T

Warnings: Some Angst, mentions of guns, mentions of a previous relationship with a women but reader is GN. Please let me know if I missed any!

Summary: After hunting bounties, Jack decides to spend the night in a small town. There he is reminded of the past he's trying to get away from.

A/N: So I wanted to try my hand at a Writer Wednesday! (I know I’m late but let’s pretend it’s Wednesday yeah?) They always sound fun. Let me know if you don’t want to be tagged in this stuff! I wrote this pretty quickly so sorry if there are any mistakes.

@autumnleaves1991-blog @clydesducktape thank you for cultivating creativity and positivity!!! 💕

Masterlist

Jack’s hands tightened on the worn leather reins; the rough leather cracked from wear and tear. It had been a long few weeks. He could feel the weight of the coin purse tied to his waist as he rode towards the small town. This job was easier than most, he didn’t have to kill anyone this time. The petty robber barely put up a fight when Jack came bursting through the door and dragged his ass down to the local sheriff. Nope, the poor son of a bitch just trudged along behind Jack’s horse with barely a word.

So all things considered it was a good day. He had warm food in his belly and an easy job that gave him just enough silver to last through winter. Yet he still felt the familiar slump in his shoulders. The frown didn’t leave his face. All that coin he earned was from taking non-stop jobs. Anything he could find, any bounty big or small. Anything that pulled him away from home, where everything just reminded him of her. It’s been a year but he still can’t seem to shake her. She chose someone else. She didn’t want you. Move on.

But everywhere he went she was there. He couldn’t get away from her sweet smiles and contagious laughter. So he left. More like fled like a thief in the night, nary a word to anyone. Just a thunder of hoofbeats and a flap of his long dark coat in the cool night air.

The sun started to set and Jack continued west towards a small town to rest for the evening. The comforting lull of his horse's trot brought memories crashing over his senses; The feeling of the warm sun shining on his face, the sound of a soft melody on the breeze, a green ribbon nestled in a bundle of messy chestnut curls. He reached out to wrap a curl around his finger, but they slipped through his fingertips as quickly as the memories came.

Jack shook his head to clear his thoughts. His thoughts turned as cold as the evening air. That was a long time ago. That’s not my life anymore. With a squeeze of his thighs, he was off towards the flickering lights of the town. Away from his past. Far away.

As he strolled through the town he spotted the livery on the south side of the town. Hidden away from the ruckus of the saloons, brothels, and inns. The town is rife with travelers passing through and businessmen hoping to get fat on their coins.

Jack slowly lowered himself from the saddle, his back and legs sore. He paid the stable hand for a night and watched as the boy led his horse to her stall for the night. His horse is the one thing Jack took with him from his old life, he left everything else behind. She was a beautiful, haughty bay with a small white star on her forehead. During the day the sun made her body shine and the dapples that covered her body could be seen. She was clever and fierce, but as loyal as they come (as long as you had plenty of peppermints.)

Jack left the livery with his saddlebags in tow and headed towards the quietest inn he could find.

—

Jack slept well into the early afternoon the next day. Three weeks of non-stop riding, camping, and hunting takes a toll. He wasn’t exactly a spring chicken anymore. He picked up the porcelain pitcher and poured water into its matching basin. He quickly splashed water on his face and neck before leaning over to gather his shave kit. His face was getting a bit too prickly for his liking. So he lathered up the brush with soap and carefully spread it across his face and neck. He methodically dragged the straight razor across his tan skin until he was happy with the results. After he was done, Jack gave himself a good look in the mirror. Even though he slept in the bags under his eyes were still prominent. More wrinkles were forming around his eyes and lines on his forehead. When did I get so old? He thought to himself. With a sigh, he rolled up his shave kit and got dressed.

He stopped at the saloon to scarf down some bacon, eggs, and coffee before going to the general store. The bacon was burnt and the coffee was bitter, but it wasn’t cold canned beans or hardtack so he wasn’t complaining. The owner of the general store was chipper and greeted Jack with exuberance. The man was scrawny and had a bushy grey mustache and matching beard that covered most of his face, and was all too excited to spend Jack’s money.

Eventually, Jack was able to tear himself away from the general store and head over to the livery. He walked in but no one was there and his horse was not in her stall. His hand went to rest on one of his pistols and he quickly moved outside to look around. He soon found her standing tied to the hitching post in the back. They must’ve groomed her for me, Jack rolled his shoulders and stalked over to the horse.

He had expected to see the stable boy tending to his horse but what he found was a little girl, no older than seven, standing on a block braiding his horse's mane. Not only that, she was braiding a bright emerald green ribbon into it.

Jack couldn’t stop the yell before it left his throat. The little girl jumped with a cry and immediately detangled her hands from the mane. “What do you think you’re doing? Where are your parents?” Jack’s tone was harsh. Maybe a bit too harsh. Tears welled up in the girl's big blue eyes and he immediately felt a pang in his chest. It's not her fault. She's just a little girl who saw a pretty horse. “Shhh. I’m sorry for yelling’ darlin’. Where are your folks?” Jack eased his voice back to a soft tone.

Just then the stable boy rounded the corner, he probably heard Jack’s outburst. “Lilliana! You know you ain’t supposed to mess with the horses! Go home.” The boy yelled to the little girl who must be his sister. “NOW.” Jack watched as the little girl skittered off the block and around the barn. “I am so sorry Mister. My sister just likes to play with the horses, I can take that out-”

Jack stops him with a raised hand, “It's fine. I gotta get movin’.” The boy nods his head and rushes off to get Jack’s tack.

—

Jack spent time double-checking the saddlebags and tack before setting off. He reached under and cinched the girth of the saddle, making sure it was secure. He clambered up into the saddle and with a nod to the stable boy he was off.

About a mile out of town Jack’s eyes couldn’t help but wander to the half-finished braid. The emerald ribbon shining in the late afternoon sun against the dark black hair. He reached out with one hand and grabbed the end of the ribbon. He gently rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger, he felt the smooth fabric and the coarse hair. He was lost in thought for a moment, just staring at the ribbon, his eyes unfocused and staring through the thin cloth.

Jack was yanked from his thoughts when he heard the cock of a gun behind him. He froze, dropping the ribbon back down to lay on his horse’s neck. He slowly tried to lower his hand down to the rifle attached to the front of his saddle, “Don’t even try it.” The voice behind him was firm and cold.

“Get off the horse. Slowly. Any funny business and there will be lead in between your eyes.” Jack obeyed the order. He raised his hands above his head and clumsily slid out of the saddle. He turned around slowly to face whatever bandit had him at gunpoint. His eyes widened as he saw you standing with a pistol pointed directly at him.

A smirk blossomed on your face, “Hiya handsome.”

Tagslist: @over300books @foli-vora @sharkbait77 @ikinmahlen @lordmotherofcats @mishasminion360 @queridopascal @lich1 @queridopascal @alberta-sunrise @jayda @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @wantingtobekorra @bxxbxy @andruxx @dobbyjen @floraandfrost @cowboy-turtle @nicolethered @mrsparknuts @almaeunice @drinkingwhileblogging @pintsizemama

Let me know if you would like to be added or removed!! 💕

[somanysigns-13]

Part 3: Snuggle in and buckle up for a long read. 😬

Reputation 2017 - her final required album with BMR (2014-2017 3 years after 1989)

…Ready For It? (also see cowboy like me on evermore)

* Knew he was a killer first time that I saw him wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted...Knew the beard (maybe Joe?) was gay; wondered how many girls he had to pretend with?

* But if he’s a ghost then I can be a phantom holdin him for ransom...She can use him to cover her relationship with Karlie (also see New Romantics)

* Some boys are tryin too hard he don’t try at all though younger than my exes but he act like such a man so I see nothing better keep him forever like a vendetta...Some of her beards actually tried to make the relationship legit but he doesn’t try at all, maybe because he is also gay, so she can see staying with him until it’s over

* In the middle of the night, in my dreams you should see the things we do. In the middle of the night in my dreams I know I’m gonna be with you, so I’ll take my time...She knows in the end she will be with Karlie so she’s just going to ride this out

* Knew I was a robber first time that he saw me stealing hearts and runnin off and never saying sorry but if I’m a thief then he can join the heist and we’ll move to an island.... Possible reference to Karlie’s bearding with Josh and him knowing they are together and being part of the whole plan?

* He can be my jailer Burton to this Taylor...Nod to Elizabeth Taylor and her relationship with Richard Burton * Karlie’s middle name is Elizabeth * Burton to this Taylor - Josh will marry Karlie to quiet the rumors of her and Karlie’s relationship therefore he is Taylor’s “jailer” keeping the “cage” in place. Back to that recurring theme..cages..(see so it goes, this is me trying, and cowboy like me)

* Baby let the games begin...Here we go...start of the end game by playing more games

End Game

* I wanna be your endgame I wanna be your first string I wanna be your A-Team... She wants to be able to be public with Karlie and not the “secret”

Could the End Game be them getting through the final years of the BMR contract and possible other contracts (Karlie with Scooter and Josh). Did Taylor possibly sign a 3 album obligation to UMG which is why she busted out 3 albums in 1 year (Lover/folklore/evermore) to make “End Game” “New Year’s Day” 2021? There seems to be a countdown between the years of album releases...1989-reputation (3) rep-lover (2) and lover-folklore/evermore (1)

* Big reputation, big reputation ooh you and me would be a big conversation... If they came out now everyone would really be talking about it even though there are currently rumors

What kind of big conversation would really come of her and Joe Alwyn? Why would being in a heterosexual relationship need to be kept such a secret? What’s so taboo about it? And why would it need to be a secret when the public narrative is that you are in a relationship with him already?

* I hit you like bang we tried to forget it but we just couldn’t...Karlie and Taylor’s chemistry is too much to disregard or act like it was just a temporary thing, they are each other’s lobsters and they couldn’t quit each other.

* And I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put them... She’s going to go along with the plan but she won’t forget who made her have to do it

* And I can’t let you go your handprints on my soul It’s like your eyes are liquor like your body is gold...again Karlie’s astrological sign is Leo and the Leo color is Gold…she’s love drunk on her eyes and she’s left a mark on her forever (see This Love and Dress)

* You’ve been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks so here’s the truth from my red lips...Taylor tries to push Karlie away or talk herself out of her feelings but Karlie calls her on her bullshit

I Did Something Bad

* I never trust a playboy but they love me so I fly ‘em all around the world and I let them think they saved me...Playboy as in boy she uses as her beard (play things for her to use- Don’t Blame Me) they think they can be the one to change/save Taylor (make her straight?) or possibly that by them going along with the plan she owes them something more since they “save” her reputation/career, she pays for all their expenses as her beard

* They never see it comin’ what I do next ...New Romantics; poker ref...she fills them in on the situation?

* This is how the world works you gotta leave before you get left...Foreshadowing her leaving BMR so she doesn’t lose Karlie?

* If he drops my name then I owe him nothin’ and if he spends my change then he had it comin... Did a beard say something he wasn’t supposed to in an interview that went against the NDA contract... Was he taking advantage of Taylor and her money?

* They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one they got their pitchforks and proof their receipts and reasons... “Witches” historically were thought to be lesbians (see Salem witch trials - see Willow) Even if you aren’t one - Some of the rumors of her being with her friends other than Karlie (Martha Hunt)...The proof is obviously in the rumors of her and Karlie and possibly Kissgate..and lots of witch references in evermore

* So light me up go ahead and light me up...Acknowledging she’s gay?

Don’t Blame Me

* Don’t blame me, love made me crazy if it doesn’t you ain’t doin’ it right lord save me my drug is my baby I’ll be using for the rest of my life... Don’t blame her for all the crazy things she’s had to do to keep her relationship with Karlie Lord save me - “pray the gay away” type ref

* I’ve been breaking hearts a long time and toying with them older guys just playthings for me to use (see “I Did Something Bad”)...Boys = beards

* For you, I would cross the line I would waste my time I would lose my mind they say she’s gone to far this time... She would give it all up to be with Karlie (see lyrics of evermore)

* My name is whatever you decide and I’m just gonna call you mine I’m insane, but I’m your baby...Reference to Karlie writing her name in the sand wrong or maybe using “James” or another pseudonym like maybe Kayda?

* Echoes of your name inside my mind halo, hiding my obsession I once was poison ivy but now I’m your daisy...

Alleration of Karlie’s name? (Echoes of your name) Halo = Victoria’s Secret Angel.. Poison ivy (see Ivy) Daisy - all the pictures of them with daisies during the Big Sur trip and other

* And baby for you I would fall from grace just to touch your face if you walk away I’d beg you on my knees to stay... She would give it all up and come out if she could ....If Karlie wanted to leave (Victoria secret fashion show “walk away” ref) she would do whatever she had to do to make her stay

Delicate - there’s more lyrics here but you’ll get the point with just a few

* Is it cool that Taylor told Karlie how she felt? She knows their relationship/situation they’re in is delicate

* Echoes of your footsteps on the stairs stay here honey I don’t want to share...She hates that Karlie has to leave and pretend to be with Josh, she gets jealous

* I pretend you’re mine all the damn time...She hates the bearding

So It Goes - all Victoria Secret fashion show refs

* See you in the dark all eyes on you my magician all eyes on us you make everyone disappear ...From Taylor’s perspective - Victoria secret fashion show interactions - usually all eyes are on Taylor but not now, it’s all eyes on her and Karlie and Taylor see’s only her and her “shiny abs” when they’re out there together on the stage

* Cut me into pieces gold cage hostage to my feelings back against the wall trippin when you’re gone...it kills Taylor to have to hold her love for Karlie inside and not share it with the world as much as she hates when Karlie has to leave after their time spent together

* Cause we break down a little but when you get me alone it’s so simple cause baby I know what you know we can feel it... When they have to be apart it’s hard but when they’re together it’s all worth it...They both know what they have and what they have to do to keep it

* And all the pieces fall right into place getting caught up in the moment lipstick on your face so it goes...Everything so far is going to plan but sometimes they forget and have to deal with a revelation (lipstick on Karlie’s face as they walk out of the apartment and get papped)

* I’m yours to keep and I’m yours to lose you know I’m not a bad girl but I do bad things with you so it goes...Seems like Taylor is saying the ball’s in Karlie’s court so to speak? The bad things = lesbian things 😂

* Met you in a bar all eyes on me your illusionist all eyes on us I make all your grey days clear and wear you like a necklace I’m so chill but you make me jealous but I got your heart skipping when I’m gone... From Karlie’s perspective - usually everyone is looking at Taylor but not at the VS Fashion show. She’s the sunshine in Taylor’s life but she does get jealous sometimes...But she knows she has Taylor’s heart and that Taylor misses her when she’s gone

* Come here dressed in black now scratches down your back now so it goes...Victoria’s Secret fashion show when they’re in black dresses holding hands walking down the runway and likely what happened after the show 😉

* You did a number on me but honestly baby who’s counting I did a number on you but honestly baby who’s counting 1, 2, 3...They really can’t help themselves with each other and their feelings * 3 years has gone by (2014-2017) (see invisible string - bold was the waitress on our 3 year trip. * 3 album contract with UMG?

Gorgeous - the rest of the lyrics speak for themselves I think, so here’s a couple.

* You make me so happy it turns back to sad ...When they’re together vs when they’re apart (Karlie w/Josh)

* There’s nothing I hate more than what I can’t have Due to the management teams keeping them apart?

Getaway Car

King of My Heart - Karlie is a Leo (Lion - king of the jungle)

* Salute to me, I’m your American Queen - Karlie referred to Taylor as the Princess because she has blue eyes, red lips, is beautiful and wears a crown in the Best Best Friend Vogue video

* Cause all the boys and their expensive cars, with their range rovers and their Jaguars never took me quite where you do...She feels nothing with any of her expensive beards like she does with Karlie

* Late in the night, the city's asleep Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep... They have to sneak around to avoid being seen together in intimate situations

* Change my priorities The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury... She’s making all the effort to make the relationship work. I’m sure some guys have tasty lips but typically the ladies win that one

* Is the end of all the endings? End Game

* My broken bones are mending She uses breaking bones metaphors often (sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me refs?)

* Up on the roof with a school girl crush

* She’s got a girl crush

* Drinking beer out of plastic cups

* Karlie and Taylor at the Knicks game

* Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff

* Taylor wants to know that Karlie wants her for her, not what she has

Dancing With Our Hands Tied - a lot to unpack here so I’ll try to do it briefly

* I, I loved you in secret First sight, yeah, we love without reason...Depending on when they first met, Taylor saw Karlie either irl or modeling or through mutual friends and had a crush instantly

* Deep blue, but you painted me golden

* Karlie is Leo...astrologically represented by 1 color...Gold

* I, I loved you in spite of Deep fears that the world would divide us...If they came out what would it do to their relationship and their careers?

* So, baby, can we dance Oh, through an avalanche?... Is it possible to do it? Maybe not now, but can they weather the storm until they can make it public?

* I'd kiss you as the lights went out Swaying as the room burned down Possible Kissgate ref?

* I'd hold you as the water rushes in...They’re both fire signs...a water sign beard (Joe is a Pisces) could be the extinguisher to squash the rumors of Kaylor

* If I could dance with you again...She’ll do what she needs to do to keep this relationship

Dress - another big one

* Our secret moments in your crowded room They've got no idea about me and you...Victoria Secret fashion show moments

* There is an indentation in the shape of you Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo Again with gold and the tattoo...permanent mark (see End Game)

* Say my name and everything just stops I don't want you like a best friend...Not really sure if it could be any more obvious..Karlie and Taylor were each other’s “Best Friend” and Taylor is letting it be known that she wants her more than that

* Only bought this dress so you could take it off Take it off (ha, ha, ha) Carve your name into my bedpost 'Cause I don't want you like a best friend...She wants to “do bad things” with Karlie (see “so it goes”)

Call It What You Want

* Possible start of the bearding ref?

* Sounds an awful like “So Karlie would you want to?”

* Windows boarded up after the storm ...They have to be apart, possible arguments over what the plan should be? Also see Death by a thousand cuts on Lover

New Year’s Day=End Game?

* Last song with BMR..Taylor’s contract is over

* Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor...Candles are a recurring prop in her music videos, assumed to represent the passing of time of their respective contract periods * Polaroids - Karlie was asked in an interview what she collects, she said Polaroids...They took lots of Polaroid pictures on their trip to Big Sur * Taylor used the image of a Polaroid as her album cover in 1989

*You and me forevermore...direct link to the evermore album and song...she said in the MAATHP documentary that her life is planned out at least 2 years in advance...looks like maybe some of the folklore/evermore songs were already in the works or at the very least she went back and drew inspiration from other albums.

* You squeezed my hand three times in the back of the taxi

* could 3 years be the length of Karlie’s contract with Josh? (See So It Goes)

* 3 album contract with UMG?

* I can tell it’s gonna be a long road They’re going to have to suffer through at least 3 years of not being seen together in order to avoid speculation

* I’ll be there if you’re the toast of the town, babe Or if you strike out and you’re crawling home Whatever Karlie’s reason is for going along with the Josh stunts, Taylor will be there to support her no matter what...Strike out is a baseball metaphor and Karlie is a big St Louis Cardinals fan (baseball ref also used in peace on folklore...”swing with you for the fences, sit with you in the trenches”)

Crawling home…opposite of what Karlie used to do as a Victoria Secret model and “walking” the runway

* Don’t read the last page But I stay When it’s hard or it’s wrong or we’re making mistakes... Try not to look too far ahead, things can go wrong and it can make the time longer or seem longer

* I want your midnights But I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year’s Day Taylor wants to be with her now, but she knows in the end she’ll be with her forever after the charade and games are over.

* Hold on to the memories they will hold on to you Just keep remembering the good times..they’ll get “us” through until the games are over

[dearduende]

America asleep

they say it’s not an act of hate they say it’s not race based they say it’s not misogyny or even white supremacy

so tell me where it comes from did the bullet not come from the gun from the hand of a white man yelling, “kill all the Asians”

tell me how “sex addiction” leads to eight dead bodies.

“sex addiction”

-

six

dead

Asian

women.

they say it’s not an act of hate they say it’s not race based they say it’s not misogyny or even white supremacy but our media doesn’t miss a beat to publish the same old honorific headlines gliding across these leaps so deep in our American unconscious the white folks don’t bat an eye.

tell me how does white man’s shame lead to his impulse to annihilate? tell me, how does white man’s shame lead to his impulse to annihilate? and in what world is this okay? how easy it must be to shift the blame to external evils he then must eliminate

so tell me where it comes from this defense mechanism projection of sin that justifies a righteous act of violence, instead of seeking help and undoing from within.

don’t you see that whenever men blame women as the source of their own misdeeds for their unmanaged lust, their guilt and shame, for the eight he killed, that this is misogyny.

how upholding and defending the white killer’s virtues and life and body over the eight lives he extinguished that this is white supremacy.

no? how about we put it this way: his violent, armed white male body managed to be arrested alive while Breonna’s Black female body was shot dead and defenseless in her bed asleep. just over one year ago and no justice for her murder: this is white supremacy.

which bodies, which lives, which stories, which dreams are we prioritizing in this American Dream Nightmare? when we protect the white colonialist imagination of conquest of extraction of slavery of violence of individuality and personal freedom of the white man against anything that might challenge it: this is white supremacy.

how young boys play cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, kill the zombies the monsters the aliens, well what do you expect to happen when these grown ass white men see Black people as the robbers to be criminalized, Indigenous people as the enemy to be eradicated, Asian people as the perpetual aliens less than human to be mocked and harassed, assaulted and attacked. people of color to be othered as a “minority” as if it minimizes our strife and our lives.

dehumanizing someone makes it easier to destroy them. this is white supremacy. even better, pit them against each other and have them destroy themselves and each other. this is white supremacy.

they say it’s not an act of hate they say it’s not race based they say it’s not misogyny or even white supremacy.

yet we still mislabel the issue “violence against women” when it’s men causing the violence against people, how “comfort women” and mail-order brides are rooted in American imperial wars and sex slavery for G.I.’s. how I walk down the street and am whistled at and jeered, held in the white male gaze not as I am but how I appear to them as object, as servant, as foreign novelty to be consumed and spat out after their use all the while being obedient and compliant exotic prey with alluring eyes and open thighs. but on the other side of their desire sits rage and if I reply or if I fight, if I deny or if I spite I know I would be risking my safety, my life.

this is how we live just to try to stay alive.

so tell me, it’s not an act of hate tell me, it’s not race based tell me it’s not misogyny or even white supremacy maybe this delusion helps America sleep at night

[walaw717]

When people think of the west or westerns they focus on the "John Ford/John Wayne" idea of the west - the period of the late 1860's through the 1870's - the Indian wars and cattle drive era. American Hollywood Movie westerns give us not only a narrow view of the American west but a highly inaccurate one as well.

We have developed  new myths of the cowboy and the American west, mostly coming again from Hollywood and the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association where the current “cowboy look” originated. Real working cowboys looked very different than the PCRA appearance most of us associate with “real cowboys” now.  The west of our imagination (and Hollywood’s) is so far out of the context of real history that we have no idea who and what really made the west. Our ideas are more from the entertainment industries than they are the reality of history.

Although the "frontier" was declared closed in 1890, the west continued to grow. Trains and early auto mobiles began to appear, and people still moved west into the early 20th century in wagons. My life partner's family moved from Missouri to the sand hills of Nebraska where she was born 30 miles from Wounded knee. Their move was in the 1920's in a horse drawn wagon and she remembers the Soddy her Dad grew up in before he built a small frame house. She points out that he was a rancher and not a cowboy, he was settled on his own place. Her uncle the cowboy moved from ranch to ranch to work as a hired hand.

The wilderness west only faded in the last 70 years to be replaced by sprawling cities, modern technology and a loss of any sense of real isolation.  Distance, isolation and wilderness was what really defined the old west, not the cattle drive or the “gun fight.”

In 1876, as Custer died for our sins against the American Indian, the Cubs were playing a double header in Wrigley field, the transcontinental railroad was almost ten years old;  Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone; Thomas Edison developed the gramophone and phonograph.

In 1878, European powers got together in Berlin to settle problems regarding revolts and make war against the Ottoman Empire. They create problems for the future that  lead to the disastrous Great War of 1914.

I like movies like the Grey Fox simply because they do maintain some semblance of historicity.

I like this image because of the juxtaposition of a 1906 westerner, born in 1846,  a real stagecoach/train robber on his horse followed by the industry and technology that is changing his world.  

I often think about my own grandparents born before men could fly and living to see men landing on the moon.  I often wish I could speak to them now that I too have lived through dramatic technological changes.

I am also old enough to  remember steam locomotives as well as electric diesel trains. I knew  hunting not just as a sport but as part of rural survival. My cousins in WVA ran trap lines for money because they lived beyond where having a newspaper route was feasible.

Maybe in the end all our ideas of things miss the mark. The post-modern philosophers like to tell us that life is meaningless, and all values come from our own personal interpretation of life.  As a historian and as a psychologist  I do not agree with that view. Yes, we interpret the world but we can base that interpretation in a common sense of community values.

 I think that is what the fascinating with the old west is really about – a time we believe  that was simpler ( it wasn’t) and a time with more solid and meaningful values (which there were).

I believe  that we need such romantic images like we have of the “old west” to  give us hope and real information to ground us. None of us can live with a nihilist ideal of meaninglessness.  That idea leads us to personal and social suicide.

I do believe that we are better for making sure our romantic ideas are grounded in the reality of historical events and that we leave the ideas and manipulations of the entertainment industry to the side. 

Understanding that the west of the “cowboy” is larger than an itinerant field hand or a PRCA Rodeo rider would serve us better. Understanding the complexity of the westerner, the  relationship the westerner had with the land – mainly one of conflict – might help us better understand how to move forward in less destructive ways.  

Holding onto John Ford’s and Hollywood’s lies about the west does not serve us at all.

[champagnesuperhoeva]

Seasonal depression is on its way back, so why not analyze another scene from Red Dead Depression 2???????

I’ve been meaning to do another screeching ramble about one of Red Dead Redemption 2′s many incredible scenes, but just couldn’t put my finger on which one. So I threw a rock and hit the Saint Denis bank robbery, that’s the story

strap in, motherfuckers, it’s time to regret the concept of empathy

It is such a missed opportunity that we weren’t able to chaperone the girls as they went about putting on their various bullshit personas to gather reconnaissance. I want to see Tilly reading a newspaper with glasses, a fake nose and a mustache

Something Red Dead Redemption 2 spoiled me on is just how much ROI they squeeze into every last line of dialogue. Not a single word feels generic or hamfisted. Every sentence, every twitch and blink, adds up to a greater whole. The more I watch, the more I unearth. There are several AAA titles that frequently get painted with the ‘Good Dialogue’ brush like Uncharted that don’t hold a candle to Rockstar’s work here. 

Take Hosea grilling Dutch here, for example:

Dutch acquiescing to Hosea’s justified criticism is depressing in its hindsight. Sir Spam der Linde is an arrogant blowhard that could give Dr. Gregory House a run for his money...and yet he still mumbles and bows his head when being told he needs to get his shit together. Compare this to earlier in the game, when he was snipping at both Hosea and Arthur for all their doubts and questions. Double that for the camp interactions you can find where Dutch and Hosea argue about the Blackwater Heist. 

Is reality finally sinking in a little for our manic pixie dream man? Does he just have a hard time bullying Hosea, who’s around 5,000 years old and doesn’t give a fuck? For every answer you get, you get another question...and I fucking love it. This character -- and the series at large -- toes the razor-thin line between transparent portrayals and thicc layers of intrigue. This kind of carefully sewn subtlety is sorely lacking in not just videogames, but mainstream media in general. Sometimes I still can’t believe I got to experience this game.

This little scene is just one of many ingredients to make you wonder that, if the bank job had turned out all right...if Dutch really would’ve started changing for the better. 

Arthur clutching his belt buckle like he clutches my neck in my dreams

So the plan is made and the cowboys are off to Sand Penis, and I bet nobody in the history of the world has made that joke before

Just the build-up to the bank sends goosebumps up my arms. 

Even with apprehension in the back of your mind, it’s hard not to get sucked into the whirlwind of adrenaline here. You have each member playing their part, from Abigail as the helpless damsel to Charles and Bill as crowd control. Great back-and-forth dialogue as characters anticipate what’s about to happen (with some delicious doubting from John). It’s like a group project, except you don’t want to slap your partners!!!*

*except micah ‘I Haven’t Scrubbed My Nailbeds In Fifty-Three Years’ bell

Fun fact: if Dutch hadn’t said ‘one last time’, the bank robbery would’ve been a success. Should’ve browsed TVTropes.

The direction of this game remains impeccable. 

This is a simple shot of a few dudes riding their horse...and it’s made just that much grander by the camera angles, slung low to the ground to create a stronger sense of scale. With the tense drums in the backing track and the sudden quiet that’s befallen our beloved anti-heroes, this provides the perfect finishing touches to one of the most memorable and stressful parts of the game:

The runway.

We start off this display of cowboy couture with Dutch Fam Der Linde, well-known in the West for wearing crushed velvet while hiking the open trail. Dashingly long coattails make up the bulk of this iconic look, with a sexy pop of red to round it all out. A complimentary red bandana lined with a hint of gold brings out the buttons, chain and belt buckle. Very regal. Much fucky. Still want to slap him for future crimes, so 9/10

A surprising comeback from the man who invented skid marks. Lavender pinstripes add a splash of character on an otherwise minimalist black ensemble. Complimentary silver bow on the hat and dark bandana makes me uncomfortably wet, so 9.5/10, would leer again

A classic suit with just a touch of more. A wide velvet collar with matching velvet cuffs create a refined softness, contrasting the gold buttons and dramatic coattails. Shoes shiny. Skin moisturized. Even his everyday ponytail looks fancier than ever. 15/10, if Javier kicked over my sandcastle I’d thank him

What are those????????? I think Bill got pranked by Uncle while out shopping for robbery gear. That, or he confused one of Susan’s tablecloths for a three-piece. The topmost layer of dust is so thick it could be peeled off and donated to charity. 3/10, could probably still pass for a picnic table

Shameless. Unacceptable. Walking around like a bootleg Egoraptor with a crinkly suit that looks like that oil-stained pizza napkin you keep forgetting to toss. Why did I take a screencap that makes it look like Dutch is jacking him off. Micah’s even jutting his beer gut out in an ominous foreshadowing for the Guarma chapter. ThereIsn’tANumberLowEnough/10

Arthur strolling in with that slow, confident walk that gets me pregnant in both legs, someone please fetch the plan B

Dutch calls a Hosea an artist and is most certainly one himself. He speaks with the affect of a poet, even as he’s holding a pistol in people’s faces and making them shit themselves in slow-motion. This man redefines stage presence. Why would he want anything less than the best, when this is the final hurrah of his iconic, infamous career:

THE RUNWAY: PART TWO

Bill out here just confusing everyone’s laundry for low-level loot. 5/10, may or may not be susan’s granny panties

charles: “is my iron giant cosplay valid robbery wear”

dutch: “no, charles, iron giant cosplays are not valid robbery wear”

dutch: “gorons from legend of zelda aren’t valid either”

JAVIER IF I GIVE YOU A 10/10 WILL YOU LEAVE

Here’s a little detail I didn’t notice (even after several viewings of this scene): Charles over in the corner looking like a dweeb.

Notice how awkwardly he holds that rifle: two-handed and with his knees bent, suddenly looking like he’s never handled a weapon before. This is such an odd contrast from the unapologetic badass we know. Remember, this is the same man who can wield a sawed-off shotgun one-handed like it’s nothing. One of the most adept physical fighters in a gang full of cutthroat motherfuckers. 

This detail on top of his dorky robbery gear? It’s actually a peek into just how out of his element he is. 

Charles has been with the gang for less than a year at this point. Even then, he’s usually helping with tracking, hunting and scouting. Whenever he goes off with Arthur on a mission, he’s always the first to suggest a peaceful route. This is not someone who’s used to robbing people for a living and it shows in the most adorable way. What you see here is a man putting on a persona of what he hopes looks like a bloodthirsty robber.

This whole scene is a fucking blast. Herding the upper-class elite into the far rom, figuring out the combination key under codenames, listening to the banter of the squad in the background. It doesn’t help I’m a slut for baroque-styled architecture and half my attention was on the pastel decor. Yeah, yeah, I know we have three thousand dollars on the line, but look at that gold filigree

These outlaws move like a finely oiled machine, not a detail out of place...which makes the ensuing mess all the more tragic.

...and this post is getting too long, so I’m going to post the second part separately. Ain’t I a stinker?

[vinylandcoffeecollection]

Notes On a Conditional Form- The 1975

(This is my review of Notes, which, obviously, I adore)

People tend to have a fixed idea of what the 1975 are, love or hate them. To some, they’re a plastic pop band who write (great) 80s-influenced songs like “The Sound”. To others, they’re the millennial Radiohead or U2 (pick your comparison depending on how much warmth you feel towards Matty Healy), obsessed with chronicling and holding forth on the State of the Nation, embodied by perhaps their best and most critically lauded song “Love It If We Made It”. The mixed reviews of their fourth album probably stem from the disappointment of both camps above: for the first group, superstar single “If You’re Too Shy (let me know)” is evidence that the band could continue to be great if only they mined this genre more. The second camp desperately searched for proof that Notes... has Something to Say, didn’t really find it, then concluded that it’s a weak or inferior album. In reality, though, 1975 are neither of the ostensibly polar identities above. As they are fond of saying, they create as they consume, and they consume a vast landscape of music constantly: it’s their life’s passion and one that has been apparent since their earliest EPs. Even though their last two albums appear on the surface to be perfect examples of the plastic pop (ILIWYS) and political polemic (ABIIOR), in reality each blends both and throws in some ambient instrumentals and other left field moments for good measure. No one who has heard Matty Healy and George Daniel talk about their creative influences and processes could ever confuse them with any other conveyor belt pop band or be in any doubt about their commitment to their art.

Following up 2018’s critically lauded A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships was always going to be a tall order but the 1975 can always be relied on to do the unexpected. This is a band who by the point of becoming massive had given up on ever actually becoming massive, so made a first album full of songs that they loved, that they now admit they might never have made if they had had any idea that global stardom was beckoning, because it’s just a bit weird. They apply the same kind of logic to Notes...: on the back of huge critical acclaim from A Brief Inquiry...they went inwards and simply made the kinds of music they loved consuming and playing, heedless of expectations. Notes.... has long been spoken of by the band as a metaphorical notebook, a looking back to their roots, collected and recorded around the world on their global tour last year. Originally due in May, then August 2019, then February, then April 2020, it’s been a beneficiary rather than a victim of unimaginable global circumstances, more relevant and strangely prescient than ever now. It turns out it does have something to say, but in lowercase rather than capital letters, and it’s a better album for it. Any capital-lettered statement, after all, could only have appeared completely outdated and irrelevant in the midst of a global pandemic.

Conditional verbs are “if” verbs, used to imagine events in certain conditions, and this is what Notes... is: a collection of songs posing questions and examining sets of circumstances and relationships that make us who we are, for better or worse. It’s an ending to these four albums of sorts (“I just wanted a happy ending,” Matty pleads in “If You’re Too Shy,”) but also an exploration of the impossibility of tidy, definitive endings. The final track of A Brief Inquiry... , the vital and unexpectedly uplifting “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)”, began with the line “I bet you thought your life would change but you’re sat on a train again.” That’s where we are on Notes and why its third track, not the final track, is called “The End”, to underline the point. This instrumental re-works the instrumental track “HNSCC” from the band’s 2013 EP Music for Cars, making it more orchestral. It’s a lovely way to develop this theme: that everything that happens to us is conditional to other events in the past, present or future. It also explores the idea that concepts of linear growth as people are artificial. Notes... embraces the lack of any kind of coherent narrative in life that we can tie our experiences together neatly with, the struggle to know and accept yourself, to be that person that you present to the outside world.

Anais Nin wrote: we do not see things as they are; we see them as we are. A Brief Inquiry.... is a great album but it also captured a moment in time both culturally and for the band, particularly Matty Healy personally. Having derided him for years, there seemed to be a huge will amongst the press to make this album succeed because of everything he had been through with addiction and rehab between 2013-2017. That was the narrative- he’d fucked up, now he was clean, gleaming and healthy in tasteful fitted jumpers and suits, with the haircut of a Mature Man, and they’d made a Political and Important album. The band were apparently finally deserving of the acclaim afforded to serious artists. But there were notes of caution: an interview Matty did where he spoke of being wary of being a poster boy for sobriety because he hadn’t been sober for long enough. I remember worrying about him when listening to all of this- what if he couldn’t hold it together? What then for him and the position in culture that he and the band were now occupying? It was almost a relief when he confessed in a 2019 interview to briefly relapsing: it was honest and it was real.

Notes sees Matty embracing the honest and the real like never before, and it’s apt that the album moves through the idea of Endings to “Frail State... “ “Streaming” and “The Birthday Party”, a hauntingly beautiful song about sobriety, questions of shifting identity, growth and relationships (“We can still be mates because it’s only a picture,” is the narrator’s rejoinder to a friend taking the piss out of him for buying an expensive artwork that the friend can’t relate to). It’s a song that narrates a tale, in the tradition of A Change of Heart, Milk or Paris, that is both humorous and devastating, particularly in its last line: “I depend on my friends to stay clean. As sad as it seems.” Maybe you do need to be knowledgeable about the band’s personal circumstances to understand that “The Birthday Party” isn’t just a dull and over-long tale about being bored at a party, as Rolling Stone appears to have taken it, but to paraphrase “Frail State of Mind”, it seems unlikely. In any case, Notes.... is a deeply honest album, one that paints Matty Healy in as unvarnished a form as he has ever appeared, talking candidly and literally about piss, shit and erections. As he has said, it’s an album without ego.

Appropriately for an album looking back, making notes on all those “if...then”s, Notes... is more eclectic than ever before, a distillation, as the band say, of their previous sounds as well as the music that has inspired their own creativity over the past nearly two decades. The reaction of the album’s detractors to this has been to see it as a jumbled mess of Too Much-ness, which is to completely miss the point. Notes... is deliberately and thoughtfully structured, each track including threads and connections to other songs and iconography of the band’s world, an intertextuality that is sometimes darkly humorous, sometimes poignant and very much underlining that theme of honesty. “I never fucked in a car, I was lying,” opens “Nothing Revealed/Everything Denied”, Healy lacerating his ego by referencing Love It If We Made It’s memorable opening line as well as their early song “Sex”, and later “you can’t figure out a heart. You were lying,” undercutting the swagger of 2013’s 80s-maximalist “Heart Out”. More poignantly on “Roadkill”, again recalling the lie of linear growth and maturity, he sings “if you never eat you’ll never grow. Should have learned that quite a while ago,” looking back to one of the band’s most loved and most “apocalyptic adolescent” songs, as they term it, from their debut album, “Robbers”. The intertextuality is there in the music too, from the re-working of instrumental track “HNSCC” in “The End” (a connection missed, unforgivably, by seemingly every critic) to the inclusion of original demo of standout track from A Brief Inquiry... “It’s Not Living (If it’s not with you)” at the start of the surreally titled “Shiny Collarbone”. This is the largely instrumental EDM track sampling Cutty Ranks that for a number of critics seems to represent the fact that the band have lost their way and just started putting out random filler. They haven’t on either count, and the sample is a lovely reminder that even when farming seemingly the furthest reaches of the 1975’s discovered land, the music is always quintessentially theirs.

Perhaps the farming metaphor isn’t the most appropriate though. The band have spoken before about the choice that they have as artists to be “cowboys or farmers”, to keep re-working old ground or move forward and discover new places. To the charge that the songs here are just not as good as their earlier albums, well that depends on your perspective. Even the poor reviews aren’t quibbling with the strength of “If You’re Too Shy...” but truly that’s not the best songwriting on display here. The 1975 can write songs like “Too Shy” while knocking about having a laugh, stoned out of their heads. As they say themselves, it’s not a stretch. They’d rather push themselves, which they do. Regardless of genre, though, any band will stand or fall on whether they can write a catchy tune or not. The 1975 have always been able to write a catchy tune and it says something that over 22 tracks, each one has that catchiness and each one is distinctly itself. “Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)” begins with a pitched up sample of “Just my Imagination” by the Temptations, it’s a love song in the 1975 tradition: bouncy and irresistible major key melody juxtaposed with an emotional sucker punch: “She said they should take this pain and give it a name.” They cleverly subvert the genre, pairing the beauty of the melody with the brutally honest: “Tonight, I think I fucked it royally.” It’s one of the best songs on display here and another perfect example of how the 1975 can take that most over-done of genres, and make it completely their own.

Because of the evolution of the album, seven songs, not including “The 1975” with Greta Thunberg, were already well known before its release. “People”, the first of these after Greta, is fantastic pop punk, a track that has lost none of its impact in the 9 months since its original release. “Nothing Revealed/Everything Denied”, the self-referential track referred to above, is a catchy treatise on the search for meaning in our lives, fusing a soaring choir-sung chorus with Matty’s witty rapping. A trio of tracks explore what some critics have labelled “emo garage”: a thread that begins with the pulsing and affecting “Frail State of Mind” (“Go outside? Seems unlikely,” and is followed through with the standout “I Think There’s Something You Should Know”, surely a future single that would be perfectly at home on Radio 1, and “What Should I Say?” In the instrumental vein, the George Daniel-created masterpiece “Having No Head” transports the listener to another sonic world. There are several throw-backs to the band’s previous emo-indie incarnation Drive Like I Do with “Then Because She Goes” and “Me and You Together Song”. And then there’s a couple of gorgeous ballads: the profound “Jesus Christ 2005...” and the love letter to the band “Guys”. In a way this closing track is almost a microcosm of the band: love them and this is a beautifully turned love letter to friendship and loyalty in the face of life’s challenges. Hate them and it’s a cringeworthy, naive irritation.

Of course, there is no happy ending or neat bow tied round Notes.... at the conclusion of its 22 tracks. We leave Matty still struggling with himself, life and his conflicted desires but with two tracks- the gentle “Don’t Worry”, a Tim Healy- penned song that is performed as a father/son duet, and “Guys”- we are reminded that it’s our relationships that will help us through, the connections we build. We are all conditional forms in this sense.

The vinyl of Notes... is poignantly inscribed with the words 'If this is to be read in the future, please know that this was us trying'. It would be very easy at this stage in their career for the 1975 to put out albums filled with variations on “Chocolate” or “The Sound”, and it might make some fans and critics happy, but they don’t want to. They are triers. Perhaps it’s this very workaholism, their obsession with pushing boundaries and experimentation, speaking up and refusing to stay in their lane that so riles up those ready to sharpen their critical knives. They are those too clever and too keen kids at the front of the class, annoying the fuck out of those who can’t be bothered or just can’t compete. Having spent last year taking political stands on issues ranging from misogyny in music to abortion laws in the US to the treatment of the LGBTQ& community in the UAE and doing their bit for the environment by commanding fans to be quiet and listen to a Greta Thunberg monologue for five minutes at their live shows, selling recycled merchandise and planting trees for every ticket sold, they are still unable to rest in the midst of a global pandemic, engaging with fans through Twitter listening parties and an interactive website called Mindshower where fans can create their own music and artwork and reflecting on what live music might look like in the future when we can finally get out there again. It all sounds a bit like Radiohead in the 2000s, except Radiohead never made an album as sonically beautiful or coherent as Notes... either immediately post-OK Computer or in the 19 years since. The 1975 are many things but they’ll never allow themselves to become stale or apathetic or lazy and for that at least they should be recognised: they simply care too much. And as for that vinyl inscription, in the future they won’t just be remembered for trying but for achieving what most bands never do even in a lifetime of striving.

[justforbooks]

On Western Stars, Bruce Springsteen Rides in the Whirlwind

A look inside the LP being hailed as The Boss’s best since Magic

In his memoir Born to Run and its live companion piece Springsteen on Broadway, Bruce Springsteen describes his first drive cross-country, when he was 21 years old. That would place that journey around 1970, ’71. Let’s pretend that at the end of the trip he found himself in sunny Southern California (not “down San Diego way,” but in Los Angeles) and decided to hang around there, writing songs, playing acoustic gigs, and by ’73 was getting some cuts on Linda Ronstadt albums, generating buzz as a solo performer from shows at the Troubadour, and the record labels started showing interest, resulting in a deal with Asylum, or Reprise.

Springsteen’s L.A. debut album released that year, let’s call it Greetings from Griffith Park, Ca., might’ve sounded something like his new Western Stars. When he began hinting about this solo project a few years back, Springsteen referenced the SoCal sound of the late ’60s, specifically Glen Campbell’s records of Jimmy Webb songs, and on Western Stars you can hear him aiming at the sweepingly melancholy vibe of “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” In Dylan Jones’s upcoming book The Wichita Lineman: Searching in the Sun for the World’s Great Unfinished Song, Springsteen says about Campbell’s singing, “It was simple on the surface but there was a lot of emotion underneath.”

Reviewers have been scrambling to play spot-the-musical-influences on Western Stars, and that’s fun to do. I hear some Johnny Rivers with the Wrecking Crew and Marty Paich’s strings lurking in the corners; Waylon Jennings’s version of “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” (many people have pointed out how much “Hello Sunshine” resembles that song); the string arrangements Nick DeCaro did on Reprise albums for Gordon Lightfoot (Springsteen even has a song called “Sundown,” like Lightfoot’s big hit from ’74), Arlo Guthrie and Randy Newman, or the ones Bergen White charted for Tony Joe White; the hyper-literate, vivid Americana of Mickey Newbury. What a cool game! Nilsson! Jim Croce!

But Western Stars isn’t just evocative of the California sound of the early ’70s; it has, underneath its cinematic strings, the downbeat feeling of the movies that were coming out in 1973, populated by characters who couldn’t really be called heroes: Badlands (of course), Charlie Varrick, High Plains Drifter, Kid Blue, The Last American Hero (which Springsteen referenced on The River’s “Cadillac Ranch”), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Scarecrow, Walking Tall. (In ‘73, Springsteen’s not-yet-manager Jon Landau was reviewing films—including some on this list—for Rolling Stone.) Those Watergate-era films, road movies, neo-Westerns, stories of outcasts and revenge-seekers, inform the landscape of Western Stars. On the title track, Springsteen reaches back a bit further: “Here’s to the cowboys, riders in the whirlwind” (see: Ride in the Whirlwind, Monte Hellman’s existential black-and-white western from 1966, starring a pre–Easy Rider Jack Nicholson). Sometimes Western Stars feels like an unmade film with Michael Sarrazin, Barbara Hershey, and Warren Oates.

Oh, I haven’t mentioned how good this album is, how memorable many of its lines are. “Fingernail moon in a twilight sky/Ridin’ high grass of the switchback”: his imagery is as crisp and clean as his fictional Montana sky. “Boarded up and gone like an old summer song.” It’s Springsteen’s best album, by far, since Magic (2007), and I already prefer it to the much-revered (in some quarters) The Rising. For one thing, it isn’t carrying the burden of expectations of The Rising (“We need you now!” someone supposedly shouted at Bruce in the street after 9/11, and can you conceive of the pressure? Would anyone have yelled that at Billy Joel?), and it isn’t bearing the heavy sonic weight of Brendan O’Brien’s production. Western Stars feels more open. These tracks have been in the works for some time; he mentioned the project in interviews around the time of the autobiography, but it had to wait until the whole Born to Run/Springsteen on Broadway phase was over. Maybe, by that point, he’d tired of his own narrative voice and his own story and got down to shaping others. These songs are all in the first person, but that person isn’t Bruce Springsteen. They’re hitchhikers and wayfarers (aren’t they kind of the same thing?), stuntmen and bit players. They’re like the characters in the early ’70s novels by Larry McMurtry (Moving On and All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers), and I wonder how Springsteen missed out on writing a song about a rodeo cowboy.

Springsteen is also liberated musically. He didn’t have to consider, as he did with the woeful Working on a Dream and the clunky, well-meaning Wrecking Ball, how the songs would translate in the context of a live show with the E Street Band. You can’t imagine them schlepping around a big string section to recreate these songs, and there wouldn’t be anything at all for Jake Clemons to do, and even Max Weinberg would be fiddling his thumbs for a big chunk of the set. No doubt a few of these tracks will find their way into the possible 2020 tour (please, not “There Goes My Miracle” and “Sleepy Joe’s Café”; we don’t need him straining to be Del Shannon, or the band pretending to have fun on a Jay and the Americans knockoff), and if “Hello Sunshine” gets to replace “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” all the better.

Western Stars suggests an America divorced from this moment in history. The only cultural reference is to John Wayne (in ’73 he was doing junk like The Train Robbers), and the one allusion that nudges the album into the late 20th century is to a blue pill for ED. Otherwise, the album would have sat pretty solidly in the Nixon era. For anyone who expected Springsteen to be a beacon of hope that the country will get through this current crisis the way it did through Watergate and 9/11, or who wanted him to draw stark pictures of our heroes and villains, Western Stars may feel slight, or like a challenge he gave himself to complete a genre exercise. But if Darkness on the Edge of Town was Springsteen’s film noir, this album is his bleak road movie, his characters nursing drinks, recalling old loves and old wounds. By the time we end up at the final track, looking at the remnants of a beaten-down motel, we’ve been along on one of Springsteen’s most rewarding rides.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[picassho-18]

WANTED (1/3)

Summary: (Cowboy!Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader) Western AU, with a bounty hunter and a wanted posters’ artist.

Warnings: just flirting?

Word Count: 1007

A/N: So I have a ton of ideas of where I could take this, but I’m also happy with where I left it, so it’s up to you guys, the readers. Give me feedback on what you want me to do!

Moodboard created by me! (Requests are open for a moodboard!!)

The man had ridden into town on Wednesday. The moment the townspeople had seen the growing cloud of dust on the horizon, there was talk of who it could be. There was almost no good visitors. The town almost never got the law this far west, only one little Sheriff protected the town. It made it a perfect haven for men on the run, for robbers and gang members. Outlaws were a common occurrence in this part of the county.

So when the mysterious man rode into town, no one bothered him. Who knew what he could be. Whispers were shared when people noticed the pair of twin pistols on his hips. The battle scars that littered his horse’s skin were discussed immensely behind closed doors. The chiseled, scarred face invoking fear in men and women alike.

When he had ordered a room at the town’s inn for the night, the innkeeper took a big gulp, and offered him the biggest room there was, glancing down fearfully at the knife on the stranger’s belt. His calloused fingers never lingered far from it, as if the man always ready to grab and throw it at a moment’s notice.

The next day, after the townspeople had the night to discuss the stranger’s possible professions, eyebrows were raised when he walked straight to the Sheriff’s office.

From the Sheriff's office window, you glanced up, shocked at what you saw, seeing the man walk determined up the officer's steps The cowboys who rode into town avoided the Sheriff’s office like it was the plague. They almost always had some illegal past, or even present. Too often did you notice that they looked all too much like your drawn Wanted Posters. Sadly, the Sheriff, your father was a lazy piece of shit that did nothing. You believed he was almost as bad as the men he would refuse to go after.

Before the bell rung, signaling the entry of the man, you tried to wipe off all the charcoal from your face and hands. The dust was all over your desk due to the face you were currently touching up. Hoping that you didn’t have smears of black all over your face, you looked up. He walked in, and immediately noticed you at your desk, and sent you a smile. You smiled back, folding your hands on the desk in anticipation.

Your eyes were drawn immediately to his ocean bye eyes, that sparked uniquely from the rising sun shining through the window next to you. As your sight wondered down, they landed on his hands as they were playing with his fabric, rolling his dusty blue sleeves up to his elbows. Your eyes widened slightly at his left arm and hand. The skin was wrinkled, scarred from what looked like burns and cuts. Quickly, you composed yourself, and looked up to his scruffy face, smiling.

He took off his hat, holding it to his chest, “Howdy ma’am.” walking towards you, the spurs on his boots rattling.

You nodded, “Good mornin’ sir. What can I do for you?”

“I am here to inquire about a job.” He rested his palms on your desk, bending forward slightly. The man looked behind your head, to see the wall littered with your drawings, the Wanted Posters. “Got any ongoing Wanted Posters?” he questioned, his eyes skimming the drawn faces behind you.

Realization dawned on you, “Are you a bounty hunter?”

“Yes ma’am. That I am.” he nodded, looking back at you, winking when he saw your awestruck expression.

“Dear Lord, could we use on right about now. We have plenty of wanted men here. This area is a hideout for many of the gangs around.”

“Huh.” he huffed, already planning out his actions. From his pant pocket, he pulled out a small paper book. Flipping through the pages, he found the one he was looking for, before putting it on the table, showing you. “This is my registration for bounty hunting from the U.S.”

Scanning the paper, you let out a small gasp, “James Barnes? You’re the James Barnes? One of the most deadly bounty hunters in America?”

“Yes ma’am. That is me, but please, call me Bucky.” when he saw you gaping at him, mouth open in a very unladylike way, he continued, “Is that so hard to believe?” chuckling lightly.

“Oh sorry, sir, I just-” you felt your cheeks burn, looking at the ground, “I just never thought that such a famous bounty hunter would be so handsome.”

Bucky’s eyes widened slightly, before smirking, “Think I’m handsome?” You felt your cheeks burn even hotter, hiding behind the curtain of you hair, remembering your face was a charcoal mess.

“I did just say so, didn’t I?”

Slowly, he placed the pad of his thumb in his mouth, getting it wet, before leaning closer to you. Staring at your cheek, he mumbled, “You have a little somethin-”

He rubbed his thumb slowly on your cheek, scrubbing off the charcoal you had missed. Frozen, all you could do was stare up at him, as his eyes flickered to yours briefly, him flashing a smile in the process.

All to soon, he pulled away, looking back to the wall. “As much as I would love to talk to you longer, I would much enjoy getting one of these posters. That way I can get back here sooner.”

Without looking at the paper, you grabbed one from the top of the pile, holding it out to him, all while staring at his icy eyes.

He glanced down at the paper, before nodding and looking up at you. Quickly, he leaned in, and gave your cheek a little peck of his lips. “For luck” he mumbled against your soft skin. Just as fast, he turned and walked to the door, leaving you dazed.

When he was almost out the door, he popped his head back in, seeing your dazed smile, smiling wider, “I never caught your name, ma’am.”

“Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Well, Ms. Y/L/N, you’ll be seeing me real soon.

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[thenonbinarydetective]

The Secret of Shadow Ranch Game VS Book

Howdy folks!

I’ve decided to check the differences between the book and the game. I had no internet yesterday and I was bored. Fortunately this was kinda fun.

I’ve got two pages of differences so stick your heels down and settle in your saddles, it’s gonna be a long one.

I would say spoilers but the games kinda old and the book is ancient so i really don’t think there are spoilers at this point. Also it’s not in perfect order because from going back and forth from book and game. This isn’t a criticism of the game just a note of the differences.

It’s a lot and if it’s hard to read don’t be afraid to ask about parts

Bess and George arrived a week before Nancy in the book. In game they arrived after she did

Shorty’s last name is Steele in the book not Thurmond(like in game)

Uncle Ed and Aunt Bet got the ranch as repayment for a debt(two months prior). In game they simply sold the store they owned and brought the ranch(three months prior). Both were shopkeepers before though

When Nancy arrived in game Dave Gregory took her to the ranch on horseback. However in book, Nancy rented a car that overheated and Dave came out to fix it. The girls were guided to Shadow Ranch in car by Dave also in car. It was seriously hot and there was a sandstorm, also Shadow Ranch is practically two hours from the airport in Phoenix. The cars were used to get around multiple times afterward.

Sabotage in Game: Possible unmentioned things(?) - Rattlesnake bite- Water Pump explosion- electricity

Sabotage in Book:-Unnamed sabotage-windmills-trashed house and missing dog-missing palominos- electricity and water pump wrecked

There were also other acts of sabotage but the horse wasn’t “apart” of them. That sounds confusing but it makes sense in context.

Uncle Ed and Aunt Bet were present throughout the book. Absent in game due to Rattlesnake bite

In the book the rattle of a rattlesnake was dropped into Nancy’s knitting bag with a warning to leave Shadow Ranch alone. Which she ignored.

Also she was trying to knit a sweater for her dad during the course of the mystery. in the game there is no in progress sweater. Side note: the sweater was meant as a birthday present but in a later book when they had a birthday party for Carson(first in a while apparently) she didn’t even give him the sweater.

Hannah actually answers when Nancy calls her in book.

Like half of the cast for the mystery

Alice Regor- Bess and George’s little cousin

Ross Regor-Alice’s father and the cousin’s uncle. Artist and bank president

Bud Moore-Young hot cowboy who dated Bess during the mystery

Mrs.Thurmond-The real cook of Shadow Ranch(not Shorty)

Walt Sanders- The real foreman of Shadow Ranch

Tex Britten- Young hot red-haired cowboy. Very unlike in game Tex. No sister. Dated George instead of Mary.

Dave Gregory- Young hot cowboy(same obviously). Much more hostile to Nancy. Not shy and bashful. Isn’t nice to Nancy until much later. He’d thought she’d interfere with his finding the treasure but realized she wouldn’t. Was a total dick. Not Cowboy/Southern Charm. From New York so that check out.He’s sweet for the rest of the book.

Apache Chief- The handsome guard dog of the Rawleys’. Usually called Chief.He’s a large black german shepherd and a very good boy. Chases after the phantom horse and goes missing for a bit. Returns and helps solve the mystery.

Al Diamond- Boss of the Bank Robbers. Real Mastermind.

Sid Brice- Accomplice of Diamond and Shorty Steele.

Shorty Steele- regular cowboy and dumbass accomplice planted at Shadow Ranch to get rid of the Rawleys

Mary Deer- A young shopkeeper that literally tells everyone about the Valentine Treasure. Set the bad guys on their hunt unknowingly

Sheriff Curtis- Just Sheriff Hernandez with a different name

The game cut out a subplot mystery involving Uncle Ross Regor. Six months before Ross Regor went to the bank to get some papers he needed to work on. Unfortunately he came during the robbery and the bank president was kidnapped by the robbers so that they would not be identified. He falls under suspicion because other robbers disappeared and it made it look like he was one of them. He wasn’t. Nancy and the three cousins found him starved but alive near Dirk Valentine’s treasure.

Mary Yazzie doesn’t believe in the Valentine treasure. Mary Deer does.

In book Shorty left canteens empty and could not be trusted to fill them. In the game he mostly was.

The final encounter with the criminals stands in a similar rock formation/hide-out sorta deal but instead Diamond threatens to blow up Nancy, the cousins, Uncle Ross, and the treasure. It’s too late to keep it so he decides to destroy it. Nancy stalls for time until Dave saves them

The final encounter in game is pretty much just Nancy tricking Shorty into falling through a hole. Then she steals the phantom horse and rides off.

The girls go to a barbecue and square dance with the handsome cowboys. There she announces she found the treasure. Unfortunately, Game Nancy doesn’t get to square dance.

 In the book Dave is a direct descendant of Frances Humber Dale. Sheriff Humber intercepted a letter from Dirk to Frances and learned of a meeting spot of the lovers. He went and hid with his gun. Dirk arrived and was subsequently shot and killed by the Sheriff. He went home and told Frances as she was lighting an oil lamp. After hearing that her lover was killed she fainted; Frances then had become extremely ill. When she got a bit better her father sent her to Buffalo, NY to fully recover. She continued to stay with relatives after fully recovering. She married a man called Mr.Dale and had two children with him before dying at a young age. Later Dave and his family moved from Buffalo to Phoenix and heard of the treasure. Hearing of Frances’ descendants, an old friend of her’s sent Dave some of Frances’ things. It’s pretty likely that Frances never fully knew what belonged to her and her heirs. Dave Gregory’s father died and left him to take care of his younger brother and sister. Dave didn’t have enough money to raise and pay for their education. He began to work at Shadow Ranch to earn some money until he found the treasure.

In the game Dave is only distantly related to Frances Humber. His great Aunt was her cousin. Frances left Shadow Ranch in perfect health and taught in Ohio before dying. She never found love again and never went for the treasure. Dave’s brother is dead broke and sick so he needs the money to help him out. Instead of being shot by the sheriff, Dirk was captured and hanged.

There is a horse named Choo-Choo in the book. The others went unnamed but the fact that Choo-Choo wasn’t mentioned is a crime.

Bob, Tillie, Frank, Dandy, Cookie, Clyde, Don, Pako, Zeke, and Ace are to horses in game.

Fun fact Dave refers to Nancy as “cookie” in the book. But like in the cooking sense

In game Nancy had a steady back home but in the book she didn’t. However there is a set of “Miss prints” that were published that mention Ned even though he is first introduced 2 books later. Somehow Nancy knows he’s in Europe.

In the game the ranch lost water and electricity separately. In book, it happened at the same time. They did try to break the water pump separately but were caught and couldn’t finish. So they ran and cut the electricity; Effectively cutting both water and power. The spring house used electricity.

Nancy makes sure to check her girth/cinch before getting on a horse. In the game we had to make her so she didn’t end up upside down.

The phantom horse usually arrived seconds after a special whistle by Dirk as it had done so in life. In game the horse just appeared.

Shadow Ranch is near Tumbleweed. No town is mentioned in game but Mary Deer’s shop is located there.

The cake in game was a recipe from Shadow Ranch. In book it was Nancy’s own recipe. Also it’s chocolate.

Phosphorescent powder was used on a white horse in game. In the book the criminals used phosphorescent paint on filmy Japanese silk on a black stallion to create their phantom.

In the book Dave talks to the Rawleys and offers to split the treasure with them once he finds it. Uncle Ed and Aunt Bet refuse to take any of the treasure but thank him for telling them. He offers some to Nancy and she also refuses. In the game the Rawleys split it with Dave.

The treasure in game is entirely heart-shaped gold pieces. In the book the treasure included the heart-shaped pieces with bank notes and jewels. The gold is handed over to the state government but he does get money from the bank notes and jewels for him and his siblings.

The “green bottle in the cellar” wasn’t found by the cellar in the book. As mentioned above, Frances had found the bottle and the letter. When she went to read it her father told her about killing Dirk. Because she fell ill so soon after she couldn’t continue the hunt. In game, she didn’t want to find it anymore so she gave the hunt to Dave’s aunt. Who then gave the hunt to Dave.

In game Nancy discovered the phosphorescent powder when her gloves started to glow. In the book, the dog started glowing. After biting the horse, the paint stained his teeth. This was discovered when “floating phantom specks” where found in the living room. Poor Chief was just trying to play with his ball in peace and accidentally scared everyone.

Tex doesn’t have a sister. However he does have a 15 year old brother named Jack who went on a date with Alice Regor.

Obviously the Hardy Boys weren’t involved at all.

Sure there are a bunch of things in common. All of the clues are more or less the same. The book features some incidents that were caused by nature. Also features less annoying puzzles. Anyway, this was fun and tiring. I’m gonna go play FFXIV. I will do one for Secret of the Old Clock but that will take me a bit because the game is based off of four books and not just one.

I know there’s a lot of little details but hey I’m a mystery fan. What kinda fan would I be if I didn’t look into the little details?

One last time, if you need clarification or have questions, I’ve got an ask box.

[cowboy-canoodler]

A High Note of Love: Part 6

(I have no idea how much longer I’ll keep this up lmao but please keep reading ;A;)

Masterlist: http://cowboy-canoodler.tumblr.com/post/183094165570/a-high-note-of-love-master-list

The light from the sun was close to fully set, a wild orange haze lighting everything in the camp with a warm glow. The horses were calm and collected, munching on their hay, soft jangling from reins and stirrups with every movement. Salt hung in the air from the nearby lake, mixed with the smell of burning wood in the fire. The gang were drinking and conversing with eachother, and you were walking over to introduce yourself in the only way you knew how, by singing.

“There she is!” Sean shouted as you approached behind Arthur and Javier, “everyone this is who I was talking about, the person who got Arthur Morgan to smile and hum around camp!” Sean stood up and directed his hands towards you a teasing grin on his face, tongue clenched between his teeth.

“Keep sayin’ shit like that and that smile’ll be the last thing on your face when i shoot ya” Arthur replied earning a few chuckles from the other members.

“Hello everyone” You said timidly waving your hand slightly towards them.

“This is (Y/N) (Y/LN), (Y/N) this here is Dutch, Molly, Karen, Abigail, John, and their son Jack. You already know Sean, Hosea, Javier, and myself o’ course” Arthur moved his hand accordingly to the people he introduced you to. You gave them each a smile, “Dutch here is the leader of our little family” Dutch gave you a smile as he nodded his head towards you, taking a puff from his cigar.

“A pleasure Miss (Y/LN), welcome to my family” The way Dutch had said it, it felt like a threat, as if to say, ‘this is mine and don’t do anything to it lest you want to end up in the river’ but you were anything but scared, you were humbled in fact that you could be here to enjoy this evening with them.

Dutch and Molly were close, she sat on his lap with his arm around her waist. Karen and Sean were giving eachother glances, giggles exchanging between them as they teased with fingers and bottles. John and Abigail however were sat apart, their son in the middle, almost keeping them together, no contact, no glances, both staring up at you with nary an emotion in their eyes, Jack however was adorable, he gave you wide smile as you were introduced. Child like wonder is contagious and gave you some confidence. Hosea was sat on the floor looking into the fire, Arthur and Javier sat down next to him, you sat down on a box between Arthur and Dutch.

“You’re family is amazing Mister Van Der Linde, each of them something unto their own I can tell that. Not at all like the wanted posters depict you, according to them you’re all bloodthirsty killers and robbers” You and the gang started laughing

“That’s only on Tuesdays Miss (Y/LN), call me Dutch I insist” Another laugh and you suddenly felt right at home, the mild evening air and the fire mixed to make a warm atmosphere between you and the gang members, there wasn’t an awkward pause, no hanging air making it uncomfortable, this was bliss. 

“(Y/N) here’s a singer in Saint Denis, she thought she could come over, meet the family and sing a little for us all” Arthur broke the silence, looking up at you, instantly the thought came back and a blush rose to your cheeks.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Dutch exclaimed, the other members murmuring and nodding in agreement, save John who was seldom bothered.

“I would love to!” After receiving this praise you suddenly felt a wave of confidence, a smile wide on your face teeth baring and all. “Mister Escuella?”

“si?” Javier looked up at you

“Do you know Home on The Range?” You stood up and adjusted your posture, loosening your clothing to allow for better breathing. A slight wave of excitement came over the people around the campfire, ready to listen along to you and maybe even join in.

“Aye, I do indeed” Javier began strumming the first bars to Home on The Range and you hummed along for timing to enter. You began to sing:

“Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the range Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day”

Everyone began joining in with the chorus and you had your own little choir, enjoying the music and the lyrics that hit close to home.

When she began singing was when the emotions hit Arthur. It had only been a few weeks since he’d met this wonderful woman but he was head over heels for her, a jealousy sprung up whenever another man was near; whenever she went out to sing and the men would claw at her for attention. She and him hadn’t shared a bed since their first night meeting, not that Arthur didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to screw this up.

Dutch and Molly stood up and began dancing to the slow song, Hosea tapped his foot along with Arthur, Jack stood and danced with Abigail, John left on the sidelines to watch them. Sean and Karen were still cooing at each other but singing along with (Y/N). Her voice was astounding still, her high notes hitting perfectly, small amount of vibration in her voice, and she looked as beautiful as ever. The gown was absolutely amazing, the deep green complimented her flawless skin, her hair half up and half down, gods above Arthur had never seen a woman so breathtaking in his life.

Arthur was staring so intently at her that the world fell away, nothing existed but him and her at that time. (Y/N)’s singing so soft and melodic, Arthur felt his chest rise and fall so heavily with his breaths, the longer he stared the faster his heart beat, but when she locked eyes with him it skipped and his breath hitched in his throat.

As you were singing you looked down at Arthur and he was looking directly at you, enraptured. You sang the last verse directly to him:

“Home, home on the range Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day“

A round of applause started and you broke the eye contact with Arthur looking around at the rest of the gang, “Thank you” you curtsied and nodded in thanks.

“That was really something Miss (Y/N)” Sean said, with more murmurs of agreement. After this you sang a few more songs for them, and drank through the night getting to know everyone, and you drank a lot more than you should have, you had blacked out after dancing a jig with Sean, laughing and howling through the night.

It was a bright blue sky, birds chirping, the sounds of people around the camp, the horses soft neighs, conversations between friends. All of these things hurt you, a blaring headache and dry mouth attacked you as soon as you became conscious, your ears were ringing and bones aching.

“Oh my god” Your voice was hoarse and you sat up in an unfamiliar bed, your over shirt had been removed and thrown onto the floor in the wagon leaving you in a white undershirt and your green skirt. Your hands came up to your face and rubbed at your eyes to remove the sleep, “what happened last night?” You looked around your makeshift room, you were in a cot next to a wagon, there were pictures and newspaper clippings on the side of the cart.

“(Y/N) truly is a wonderful singer Arthur, you could do worse” You heard a faint conversation between Arthur and Dutch far off in camp.

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“I saw the way you looked at her when she was singing Arthur, now if that ain’t you fallin’ for her I don’t know what is” Dutch gave a hearty laugh. You rose out of the bed and pulled a curtain aside, the sun blinding you fully.

“Ah shit” you hissed raising your hand to give your eyes some shade. You walked forward a few paces and blinked to adjust your eyes to the morning sun, suddenly everything was clear, gang members strewn about doing chores or sleeping still, Sean being one of them. You saw Arthur and Dutch sat by a table cleaning their guns, you stumbled your way over to them.

“What happened last night?” You sat down next to Arthur and woefully placed your head on his shoulder.

“Well rise and shine Madame” Dutch was loud, and he knew it a teasing grin on his face.

“Please Dutch, not so loud. I’m only glad Sean’s still asleep” Arthur and Dutch chuckled slightly, you raised your head and looked at Arthur. “Did I do anything last night?” a weary sigh came from your lips.

Arthur gave a chuckle, “Let’s just say you really know how to party, I ain’t never seen anybody dance that much and still walk the next day, you drank and partied the camp down” You furrowed your brows trying to remember the night before.

“It’s true (Y/N), you danced and drank for hours, Sean blacked out before you did, and he’s Irish!” Dutch and Arthur laughed and you grimaced, laying your head back down on Arthur shoulder.

“My goodness me, it’s been years since I drank that hard, I do apologise if I caused you any strife Dutch”

“On the contrary! The gang is in fine spirits today thanks to your actions last night” Dutch gestured to the gang members around camp, and you had noticed a happier air about them. Kieran and Mary-Beth, whom you met last night at some point you were glad you at least remembered their names, were sat underneath a tree talking with a book in their hands, Javier was sharpening his knife while talking to John, a smile on both of their faces, Karen spoke to Hosea with nary a word of rebellion. The camp atmosphere was light and airy, a world of difference from your first impression the previous night.

“I’m glad to be of service, though my head doesn’t seem to agree. Is there any coffee brewing that I might partake in?” You raised your head once more as Arthur set his gun down; stood up, still chuckling away to himself, he walked over to the fire and grabbed you a hot mug of coffee.

“Arthur come back, my head needs your shoulder for emotional support” you whined as Arthur made his way back over to the table.

“I’m here for you” Arthur handed you the coffee and as you placed your head back onto his shoulder you felt his arm wrap around your waist, this was a display of affection you hadn’t expected in the least. The touch sent a shiver up your spine and suddenly your hangover was gone, replaced with your heart fluttering, and breath quickening.

“Dutch!” Hosea shouted from the other side of camp, “come over here a second” Dutch sighed and turned to face you both, “No rest for the Van Der Linde’s Miss, see you around camp” he tipped his hat and walked over to Hosea, taking his newly cleaned gun with him. You and Arthur were left alone, his arm was still around you, your hands on your coffee, there was a comfortable silence; you felt at home like this.

“You feeling any better?” Ten or so minutes had passed with you in his arms and Arthur broke the silence.

“Yes, thank you Arthur” You lifted your head up and faced him, “I really am sorry for anything I did last night, if I caused any offence at all. To be honest I was really very nervous when I first arrived, I wanted your family to like me. I’m scared I may have done something to tarnish that last night” A melancholy aura had surrounded you, your eyes were now fixed solidly on the table and Arthur looked back at you.

“I’m gonna tell ya’ the truth here (Y/N)” Arthur turned to face you with a serious expression and you gulped, “y’kissed a horse”

“Oh Arthur!” you giggled and playfully slapped his arm, “You had me going there, I thought you were going to say I kissed Sean or something!”

“Naw You kissed me when I put you to bed but other than that no one else was kissed, ‘cept a course for the horse” Your eyes widened.

“Oh I-I’m sorry Arthur” 

“Sorry? For what?” You felt uncomfortable, had Arthur disliked the kiss? Is that why he brought it up?

“For kissing you, while I was drunk, well I suppose I kissed you while I was sober, but that was weeks ago, and really we did a lot more than kiss” You had started rambling nervously.

“(Y/N).” Arthur said sternly, “It’s fine. In fact I- I enjoyed it, not because you were drunk of course but ‘cause it was you” Arthur started blushing, his eyes darting everywhere but yours, which were now looking directly at him.

“I’m sure I enjoyed it too, at the time” a silence fell over you both and you looked back down to your coffee, “May i rest my head against you again Arthur? You’re extremely comfortable” Arthur nodded silently, his hands back to cleaning his gun. You lay your head down on him again, and caught a waft of his smell, and it smelt like home.

Maybe you could be like this forever. Maybe he wouldn’t have to choose between you or the gang after all.