#James Villa Holidays

[sophaeros]

arctic monkeys for q magazine, june 2011 (x) (x)

ARCTIC MONKEYS: Inside Alex Turner's Head

Words Sylvia Patterson Portrait John Wright

The day Arctic Monkeys moved into their six bedroom, Spanish-style villa in the Hollywood Hills, where the first-floor balcony looked over the patio swimming pool, they knew exactly what to do.

"From the balcony, you could get on t'roof and jump in't pool," chirps the Monkeys' most gregarious member, drummer Matt Helders, in his homely Yorkshire way. "We looked at it and said, That's definitely gonna happen. So by the end, we did a couple of 'em. Somersaults in t'pool, from the roof. At night time."

In January 2011, as Sheffield and the rest of Britain endured its bitterest winter in a century, Arctic Monkeys capered among the palm trees, eschewing hotels for a millionaire's Hollywood homestead as they recorded and mixed their fourth studio album, Suck It and See.

The four Monkeys, alongside producer James Ford and engineer James Brown, lived what they called the "American man thing": watched Super Bowl on giant TVs, played ping-pong, hired two Mustangs, cooked cartoon Tom And Jerry-sized steaks on barbecues on Sundays, had girlfriends over to visit, all cooking and drinking around the colossal outdoor kitchen area featuring a fridge and two dishwashers. Living atop the Hills, they could see the Pacific Ocean beyond by day, the infinite glittering lights of downtown LA by night.

Every day, en route to Sound City Studios, they'd travel in a seven-seater four-by-four through the mountains, via bohemian 60s enclave Laurel Canyon, blaring out the tunes: The Stones Roses, The Cramps, the Misfits' Hollywood Babylon. For the sometime teenage art-punk renegades whose guitarist, Jamie Cook, was once ejected from London's Met Bar for refusing to pay €22 for two beers, the comedy rock'n'roll life still feels, however, absolutely nothing like reality.

NICK O'MALLEY: "It were really as if we were on holiday. When we came back it's the most post-holiday blues I've ever had!"

JAMIE COOK: "It's hard to comment on that. It were just really good fun."

MATT HELDERS: "We always said, As soon as things like that feel normal, we're in trouble. But it's just funny. You might think it would get more and more serious as you get older but it's getting funnier. We've done four albums now and I'm still only 24, I'm still immature to an extent. So who cares?"

Alex? Al? Are you there?

ALEX TURNER: "Yeah, it were good times. But we were in the studio most of the time. So there's no real wild Hollywood stories. Hmn. Yeah."

Wednesday, 16 March 2011, Strongroom Bar, Shoreditch, East London, 11am. Alex Turner, 25, slips entirely alone into an empty art-crowd brasserie looking like an indie girl's indie dream boy: mop-top bouffant hair which coils, in curlicues, directly into his cheekbones, army-green waist-length jacket, baggy-arsed skinny jeans, black cord zip-up cardigan, simple gold chain, supermoon sized chocolate-brown eyes.

Almost six years after I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor became the indie-punk anthem of a generation (from the first of Arctic Monkeys' three Number 1 albums), and nothing prepares you for the curious phenomenon of Alex Turner "in conversation". Unlike so many of the Monkeys frenetic early songs, he operates in slow motion, seemingly underwater, carrying a protective shell on his back, perhaps indie rock's very own diamond-backed terrapin. The most celebrated young wordsmith in rock'n roll today talks fulsomely, in fact, only in shapeless, curling sentences punctuated with "maybe... hmn.. yeah", an anecdotal wilderness sketching pictures as vague as a cloud. He is, though, simultaneously adorable: amenable, gentle, graceful, and as Northern as a 70s grandpa who literally greets you with "ey oop?".

"People think I'm a miserable bastard," he notes, cheerfully, "but it's just the way me face falls." Still profoundly private, if not as hermetically sealed as a vacuum-packed length of Frankfurter, his fante-shy reticence extends not only to his personal life (his four-year relationship with It-girl/TV presenter Alexa Chung, whom he never mentions) but to insider details generally. Take the Monkeys’ Hollywood high jinks documented above: not one word of it was described by Turner. Before Q was informed by his other Monkey bandmates, Turner’s anecdotal aversion unfolded like this:

Describe the lovely villa you were in. AT: "Well... we certainly had a... good view."

Of what? AT: "Well, we were up quite high."

The downtown LA lights going on forever? AT: "I dunno. It was definitely that thing of getting a bit of sort of sunshine. Is it vitamin D? If you can get vitamin D on your record, you've got a bit of a head start. So we'd get up and drive to the studio."

What were you driving? AT: "Nothing... spectacular. But yeah, we'd drive up the studio, spend all day there and sort of, y know, get back. To be honest... we had limited time. So we spent as much time as possible kind of getting into it, like, in the studio.

So your favourite adventures were what? AT: "Well, they were really… minimal. We were working out there!"

Any nightclubs or anything, perhaps? AT: "You really want the goss 'ere, don't you?"

Yes, please. AT: "I could make some up. Nah!"

And this was on the second time of asking. It's perhaps obvious: Alex Turner, one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation (four Monkeys albums and two EPs in five years, The Last Shadow Puppets side-project, a bewitching acoustic soundtrack for his actor/video director friend Richard Ayoade's feature-length debut Submarine), is dedicated only to the cause – of being the best he can possibly be. He simply remembers the songs much more than the somersaults.

Throughout 2009, Arctic Monkeys toured third album Humbug – the record mostly made in the Californian desert with Queens Of The Stone Age man-monolith Josh Homme – across the planet. While hardly some cranium-blistering opus, its heavier sonic meanderings considerably slowed the Arctic Monkeys' live sets and on 23 August 2009, Q watched them headline the Lowlands Festival, Holland and witnessed a hitherto unthinkable sight – swathes of perplexed Monkeys fans trudging away from the stage. With the sludge rock mood matching their cascading dude-rock hair it seemed obvious: they'd smoked way too much outrageously strong weed in the desert.

"Heheheh, yeah," responds Turner, unperturbed. "That's your theory. You probably weren't alone."

Back in the Strongroom Bar, Turner's arm is now nonchalantly draped along the back of a beaten-up brown leather sofa. He ponders his band's somewhat contrary reputation…

"I think starting the headline set at Reading with a cover of a Nick Cave tune perhaps was a bit contrary. D'youknowhat Imean?! But to be honest, that summer, at those festivals, we had a great time. And I know some fans enjoyed those sets 10 times more. And you can't just do, y’know, another Mardy Bum or whatever. Because how could you, really?"

With Humbug, notes Turner, "I went into corners I hadn't before, because I needed to see what were there," but by spring 2010 he wanted their fourth album to be "more song-based" and less lyrically "removed". He was "organised this time", studied "the good songwriters" (from Nick Cave, The Byrds and Leonard Cohen to country colossi Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline), discovered "the other three strings" on his guitar, and wrote 12 songs through the spring and summer of 2010, mostly in the fourth-floor New York flat he shared with Chung before the couple moved back to London late last summer (the New York MTV show It's On With Alexa Chung was cancelled after two seasons). The result: major-key melodies, harmonised singing and classic song structures.

At the same time he revisited the opposite extreme: bands such as Black Sabbath and The Stooges ("we wanted a few wig-outs as well"); he was also still heavily influenced by the oil-thick grinder rock of Josh Homme, who is clearly now a permanent Monkeys hero. After four months' rehearsals in London, on 8 January the Monkeys relocated to LA for five swift weeks of production and Homme came to visit, singing backing vocals on All My Own Stunts. Tequila was involved.

"Tequila is probably me favourite," manages Turner, by way of an anecdote. "But it takes a certain climate... It's not the same... in the rain. Yeah. [Looks to be contemplating a lyric] Tequila in the rain."

Vocally, he developed the caramel richness first unveiled on The Last Shadow Puppets' Scott Walker-esque The Age Of The Understatement, finding a crooner's vibrato. "Everything before was so tight,” he notes, clutching his neck. "Probably just through nerves. That's just not there any more." Suck It and See contains at least four of the most glittering, sing-along, world-class pop songs (and obvious singles) of Arctic Monkeys' career: the towering, clanging She's Thunderstorms, the summertime stunner The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, the heavenly harmonised title track and the Echo & The Bunnymen-esque jangly pop of closer That's Where You're Wrong.

Elsewhere, in typically contrary "fashion", there's preposterous head-banger bedlam (Brick By Brick, the rollicking faux-heavy rock download they released in March "just for fun", featuring vocals by Helders; Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair, and Library Pictures). News arrives that the first single proper will be Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair. Q is perplexed. Brilliantly titled, certainly, but arriving after Brick By Brick, the new album will appear to the planet as some comedy pastiche metal album for 12-year-old boys.

You've got all these colossal, summery, indie-pop classics and you've gone for... The Chair? AT: [Laughing uproariously] "The Chair! I'm now calling it The Chair, that's cool. Well for once it weren't even our suggestion. It was Laurence's (Bell, Domino label boss). And I were, Fucking too right! He's awesome. It'd be good to get a bit of fucking rock'n'roll out there, won't it? It's riffs. It's loud. It's funny."

If you don't release The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala as a single I'm going round Domino to kick Laurence's "awesome" butt. AT: "I think it'll be the next one!"

The record's title, meanwhile, could've been more enigmatically original than the un-loved phrase Suck It and See. The band, struggling with ideas due to the opposing sonic moods, invented an inspiration-conjuring ruse: to think of new names for effects pedals in the style of Tom Wolfe, Turner being long enamoured with the American author's legendarily psychedelic books The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, "cos that just sounds awesome".

"There's the Big Muff pedal," he elaborates, "That’s the classic. I've got the Valve Slapper. And there's the Tube Screamer. So we came up with the Thunder Suckle Fuzz Canyon. And… wait till I assemble it in me mind… em… it'll come to me… The Blonde-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap. So we were going for summat like that."

A wasted opportunity?

"Nah. Because some of those things ended up in the lyrics anyway. Suck It and See was just easier."

Alex Turner, rock'n'roll's premier descriptive art-poet, still writes his lyrics long-hand in spiral-bound notebooks. "Writing lyrics is a craft that I've practised a bit now," he avers. "In me notebook it looks like sums. Theories. There's words and arrows going everywhere. There's always a few possibilities and I write the word 'OR' in a square."

For our most celebrated colloquial sketch-writer of the everyday observation (all betting pencils, boy slags and ice-cream van aggravations) the more successful he becomes, the less he orbits the ordinary. "I'm not struggling with that, to be honest," he decides. "In fact I'm enjoying writing lyrics much more than I did. Stories. Describing a picture. Um. There's quite a bit of weather and time in this one. Which is probably not reassuring. 'Oh God, he's writing about the weather.' Maybe leave that out!"

There are also some direct, funny, romantic observations: "That's not a skirt, girl, that's a sawn-off shotgun/And I only hope you've got it aimed at me..." (from the title track).

Some of your romantic quips, now, must be about Alexa. AT: "Right. Yeah. Definitely. Well... there's always been that side to our songs, when we weren't writing about... the fucking taxi rank. It's kind of inevitably... people you're with." [At the mention of Chung's name, Turner is visibly aggrieved, head sliding into his neck, terrapin-esque indeed.]

It must have been very grounding being in a proper relationship through all this madness. Because if you weren't, girls would be jumping all over your head. AT: "Em. Hmn. Well, of course that helps you to... I don't really know.. what the other way would be."

Does Alexa wonder if the lyrics are about her? AT: "Oh there's none of that. Yeah, no, there's no looking over the shoulder."

She must be curious, at least. "Maybe."

Did you ever watch Popworld? AT: [Nervous laughter] "Em! Now and again."

Did you ever see the episode where she helps Paul McCartney write a song about shoes? AT: "Ah, yeah I think so, maybe I did see that."

Well, if I was you, I'd have been thinking, "She's the one for me." AT: "Well. Yeah... maybe that would've... sealed the deal! Hmn. But maybe that wasn't when i got the ray of light. When was? Nah [buries head in hands]. I might have to go for a cigarette..."

Q can't torture him any more and joins him for a snout. Turner smokes Camels from a crumpled, sad, soft-pack and resembles a teenager again. As early song You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me says, "Never tenser/Could all go a bit Frank Spencer…”

In January 2006, when Arctic Monkeys' Number 1 album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut in UK history, inadvertently redefining the concept of autonomy and further imploding the decimated music industry (& wasn't their idea to be "the MySpace band", it was their fans': the Monkeys merely kick-started viral marketing by giving away demos at gigs), the 19- and 20-year-old Monkeys were terrible at fame. They weren't so much insurrectionary teenage upstarts as teenage innocents culturally traumatised by the peak-era fame democracy.

To their generation (born in the mid-'80s) fame was now synonymous with some-twat-off-the-telly a world of foaming tabloid hysteria where renown and celebrity meant, in fact, you were talentless. Hence their interview diffidence and receiving awards via videos dressed up as the Wizard OfOz and the Village People. Which only, ironically, made them even more celebrated and famous. (“That were a product of us just trying to hold onto the reins," thinks Turner today. "Being uncooperative.")

Q meets The Other Three one morning at 11am, in the well-appointed, empty bar of the Bethnal Green, Bast London hotel they're staying in (all three live in Sheffield, with their girlfriends, in their own homes). First to arrive is the industrious, sensible and cheerful Helders, crunching into a hangover-curing green apple. He has recovered from last year's boxing accident at the gym, which left his broken arm requiring a fitted plate. Now impressively purple-scarred, the break felt "interesting" and the doctor couldn't resist the one-armed drummer jest: "D'you like Def Leppard?"

Currently enjoying an enduring bromance with Diddy, he still doesn't feel famous, "it just doesn't feel that real, there's no paparazzi waiting for me to trip up." He and Turner, during the four-month rehearsals last year, became an accomplished roast dinner cooking duo for the band. "I reckon we could have us our own cookbook," he beams. "Pictures of us stirring, with a whisk."

O'Malley, an agreeable, twinkly-eyed 25-year-old with a strikingly deep voice and a winningly huge smile, is still coyly embarrassed by the interview process. A replacement for the departed original bass player Andy Nicholson in May 2006, he went from Asda shelf-filler to Glastonbury headliner in 13 months and still finds the Monkeys "a massive adventure". His life in Sheffield is profoundly normal – he's delighted that his new home since last October has an open-hearth fireplace: "Me parents had electric bars." He has also discovered cooking. “I’m just a pretty shit-hot housewife, most of the time," he smiles. "I cook stews, fish combinations, curries, chillies. I made a beef pho noodle soup the other day, Vietnamese, I surprised meself, had some mates round for that."

Recently, at his dad's 50th birthday bash, the party band, made up of family and friends, insisted he join them onstage "for ...The Dancefloor. So I were up there [mimes playing bass, all sheepish] and it were the wrong pitch, they didn't know the words or 'owt, going, Makin eyes... er..." He has no extra-curricular musical ambitions. "I'm happy just playing bass," he smiles. "I've never had the skill of doing songs meself. It'd be shit!"

Cook, 25, is still spectacularly embarrassed by the interview process. He perches upright, with a fixed nervous smile, newly shorn of the beard and ponytail he sported in LA: "Rockin' a pone, yeah, because I could get away with it." With his classic preppy haircut and dapper green military coat (from London's swish department store, Liberty), he looks like a handsome '40s film star. (Turner deems Cook "the band heartbreaker" and had a word with him post-LA: "I said to him, Come on, mate, you've got to get that beard shaved off. Get the girls back into us. Shift some posters.")

His life in Sheffield is also profoundly normal. He still plays Sunday League football with his local pub team, The Pack Horse FC (position, left back), remains in his long-term relationship with page-three-model-turned-make-up-artist Katie Downes and "potters about" at home, refusing to describe said home, "cos I'll get burgled".

A tiler by trade, he always vowed, should the Monkeys sign a deal, that he'd throw his trowel in a Sheffield river on his last day of work. "I never did fling me trowel," he confirms. "Probably still in me shed." He's never considered what his band represents to his generation. "I'd go insane thinking about it, I'm pretty good at not thinking about it… Oh God. I'm terrible at this!"

Back in the Strongroom Bar, Alex Turner is cloudily describing his everyday life. "I just keep meself to meself," he confounds. He mostly stays indoors and his perfect night in with Alexa is "watching loads of Sopranos. And doing roast dinners".

No longer spindle-limbed, he attends a gym and has handsomely well-defined arms – "You have to look after yourself."

Suddenly, Crying Lightning from Humbug rumbles over the bar stereo. "Wow. How about that? I was quite happy the other morning cos Brick By Brick were on the round-up goals on Soccer AM. It's still exciting when that happens. It was like Brick By Brick is real."

He spends his days writing music, "listening to records", and recommends Blues Run The Game by doomed '60s minstrel Jackson C Frank ("who's that lass?... Laura Marling, she did a cover recently), a simple, acoustic, deep and regretful stunner about missing someone on the road.

Lyrically, he cites as an example of greatness the Nick Cave B-side Little Empty Boat [from ‘97 single Into My Arms ], a comically sinister paean to a sexual power struggle: "Your knowledge is impressive and your argument is good/But I am the resurrection babe and you're standing on my foot."

"I need a hobby," he suddenly decides. "I'd like to learn another language." Since his mum is a German teacher (his dad teaches music), surely he can speak some German? "I know how to ask somebody if they've had fun at Christmas." Go on, then. "Nah!"

Where Turner's creative gifts stem from remains a contemporary rock'n'roll mystery; he became a fledgling songwriter at 16, after the gift of a guitar at Christmas from his parents. An only child, did his folks, perhaps, foresee artistic greatness? "I doubt it!" he balks. "Cos I didn't. I wasn't... a show kid." Like the others, he doesn't analyse the past, or the future.

"You can't constantly be thinking about what's happened," he reasons, "it's just about getting on with it." The elaborate pinky ring he now constantly wears, however, a silver, gold and ruby metal-goth corker featuring the words DEATH RAMPS is a permanent reminder of he and his best friends’ past. The Death Ramps is not only a Monkeys pseudonym and B-side to Teddy Picker, but a place they used to ride their bikes in Sheffield as kids.

"Up in the woods near where we lived," he nods. "Just little hills. But when you're eight years old they're death ramps." The ring was custom made by a friend of his, who runs top-end rock'n'roll jewellery emporium The Great Frog near London's Carnaby Street. Ask Turner why he thinks the chase between his writing and speaking eloquence is quite so mesmerisingly vast and he attempts a theory.

"Well, writing isn't the same as speaking," he muses. "Not for me. I seem to struggle more and more with... conversation. Talking onstage... I can't do it any more. Hmn. I'll have to work on that."

The ever-helpful Helders has a better theory.

"Since he's been writing songs," he ponders, “It seems like he’s always thinking about that. So even when he’s talking to you now, he’s thinking about the next thing that rhymes with a word. Even when he’s driving. We joke he’s a bad driver, his focus is never 100 per cent on what he’s doing. Which is good for us cos it means he’s got another 12 songs up his sleeve. I think music must be the easiest way for him to be concise and get everything out. Otherwise his head would explode.”

The Shoreditch.com photo studios, 18 March. Alex Turner, today, is more ethereally distracted than ever, transfixed by the studio iPod, playing Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, a version of I’d Rather Go Blind. Occasionally, he’ll completely lose his conversational thread, “Um. I’ve dropped a stitch.”

The first to arrive for Q’s photoshoot, he greets his incoming bandmates with enormous hugs (and also hugs them goodbye). Today, Q feels it’s pointless poking its pickaxe of serious enquiry further into Turner’s vacuum-packed soul and wonders if he’ll play, instead, a daft game. It’s called Popworld Questions, as first posed by someone he knows rather well.

“Oh, OK. Let’s do it,” he blinks, now perched in an empty dressing room. He then vigorously shakes his head, “Um…I’ve gotta snap back into it.”

Here, then, are some genuine “Alexa Chung on Popworld” questions (2006-2007), as originally posed to Matt Willis, Amy Winehouse, Robbie Williams, Pussycat Dolls, Kaiser Chiefs and Diddy.

Why do indie bands wear such tight jeans? AT: “Um. I supposed they do. They haven’t always. When we first were playing I was definitely in flares. You need to be quite tall to get the full effect, though. So, that's why this indie band wears such tight jeans, cos we've not got the legs for flares."

What makes you tick in the sexy department? AT: "Wow. Pass. What do I find most attractive in a woman? Something in the head? That's definitely a requirement. Well... Hmn. I'm struggling."

Tell us about all the lovely groupies. AT: "No!"

If dogs had human hands instead of paws, would you consider trying to teach them to play the piano? AT: "Absolutely. I'd teach Hey Jude."

How many plums d'you think you can comfortably fit in one hand? AT: "They're not very big. [Holds small, pale, girly hand up for inspection] It's a shame. Probably three. Diddy only managed two? Maybe not then. I can carry a lot of glasses at once, though. If they're small ones I can do four."

Are you cool? AT: "Not as much as I'd like to be. There's this clip where Clint Eastwood is on a talkshow and he gets asked, Everybody thinks of you as defining cool, what d'you think about that? And he gets his cigs out, takes one out, flicks it into his mouth, lights it and says, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Here, Turner locates his Camels soft-pack and attempts to do a Clint Eastwood. He flicks one upwards towards his mouth. And misses. Flicks another. And misses. "Third time lucky?" He misses. "I'll get it the next time." And succeeds. "Hey. Fourth time. Don't put that in! So there you go. I'm four steps away from where I wanna be."

Thank you very much for joining me here on Popworld, here's my clammy hand again. There it is, let it slip, hmmn. You can let go now. AT: "OK! Were you a Popworld fan, then? It was funny. Cool. What were we talking about, before?"

Blimey, Alex. What must you be like when you're completely stoned out of your head? AT: "Stoned? What d'you mean, cos I seem like that anyway? Yeah. A lot of people... tell me I'm a bit... dreamy. But I like the idea of that. Of being somewhere else."

Two days earlier, Turner had contemplated what he wanted from all this, in the end. Many seconds later he gave his deceptively ambitious answer.

"I just wanna write better songs," he decided. "And better lyrics. I just definitely wanna be good at it. Hmn. Yeah.”

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RUFUS BLACK: AKA Matt Helders, on his ongoing bromance with Diddy

Matt Helders has known preposterous rap titan Diddy since they met in Miami in 2008. “He goes, Arctic Monkeys! Then he said summat about a B-side and I was like, He's not lying! I just thought, This is funny, I'm gonna go with this for a while." Last October Diddy texted Helders, suggesting he play drums with his Diddy Dirty Money band on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, to give his own drummer a day off. “I were bowling with me girifriend at the time. In Sheffield, on a Sunday." On the day of recording, says Helder, "We had a musical director. That were one of the maddest times of my life. Next day Diddy said, Why don't you just stay? Come along with me. So I went everywhere with him." Diddy had "a convoy of cars" and made sure Helders was always in his. "He'd stop his car and go, Where's Matt? You're coming with me! So I'd get in his car. Just me, him, his security, driver." Diddy, by now, had given him a pseudonym - Rufus Black. "He kept saying, I don't wanna fuck up your image. And I'm, I don't think it's gonna do me any harm!" He stayed in Diddy's spectacularly expensive hotel. Some weeks later, Helders almost returned to the Dirty Money drumstool for a gig in Glasgow. "But we were rehearsing in London. I were like, I might come, how are you getting there? And he were like, Jet. Jump on t’jet with me. But I had to stay in Bethnal Green instead.”

Love’s young dream: Diddy (left) with Helders

[luhafraser]

Let me be clear: although many think I don't have a real life, I do. I'm not just a Tumblr account... I have a family, dogs and a cat. I'm currently recovering from bronchitis 😮‍💨🫁, and dealing with the school holidays 👧🏼🛝 and lots to do at work. 🤯🤯🤯 That's why I'm not at all sorry for being MIA... I have my priorities, my family and my health...

I've said it a few times... Sam and Cait's shitshow is just a pastime for me... So back off, nasty Anons... You're wasting your time here🖕😜

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It's not a real timeline, but look at this amazing script... Brilliant... 😝🤣

1) Sam in London; 2) a "fan" says Sam was with a "female friend"; 3) Susie in London; 4) P's innuendos; 5) Susie posts latergrams in a hotel room and gym, it looks like one of rooms at the Firmdale hotels; 6) P says she won't publish without a real evidence 🤣; 7) Susie returns to her home; 8) Another "fan" says she saw Sam on a flight to Gran Canaria; 9) Sam shows himself in a mysterious room on IG Live; 10) Sam's small group of stalkers (surprisingly, they're not the evil shippers 😜🤣) certainly discover that it's not a room in a luxurious hotel (the kind Sam usually stays in) ***(Sam has people monitoring his online steps and who he follows on Instagram, etc... Nothing new there... But I'm curious how someone who isn't a fan gets "here"?! And this fandom have some here, they are not fans of Sam and Cait or Outlander. See below 😉); 11) P releases the name of the new blonde; 12) the current blonde posts several pics/videos showing some gym in Gran Canaria and an airbnb Villa; 13) Sam's voice appears in two of the blonde's videos; 14) B posts the blonde's airbnb Villa; 15) The war of the "queens of Mordor" begins (I don't believe anything about this war, but it's funny and keeps people entertained, just what SamCait and PR want); 16) B says that airbnb Villa is not the place where Sam did his Live; 17) B goes back on what she said, and shows that the male SH and the female SH are in the same Villa 🤣; 18) Chaos begins in the fandom; 19) Sam appears in Austria/Audi Ambassador stuff; 20) blonde posts with her son at her home (latergram... 🤦🏻‍♀️); 21) Ok... Susie, Sarah, who will be the next S? ⏰️

😜🤣

***⬇️

Script to look like James Bond... Women and cars... ?! 🤦🏻‍♀️😬 No, you are not Bond, Mr. Heughan... Sorry! 😝😂

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But on the other hand...

You know.. I'm not on the "gay train", but hey... I can't blame anyone who thinks he's gay. And have you noticed how several women, linked to Sam, are always traveling to paradisiacal beaches or going to gyms with their gay friends... ?!? You don't even need to follow them on Instagram to know this, there are accounts here that posted everything about them... All that was missing was their blood type... 😝🤣

"Hawaiigate Oops Gran Canaria gate" didn't seem like a good script to prove that Sam occasionally has affairs with women... Even because the place is known for...

But, it certainly moves things around here... Just saying 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

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OMG... Laughing a lot with #Samarah... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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And Sam/PR decided to fix a flaw in the script and his speech, something that became a joke in this fandom, at least among shippers...

There are women in Glasgow, people! After 10 years, he finally had time to meet a woman there...

Amen 🙌

🤣🤣🤣

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I find it very difficult for a taurus man, who calls himself a romantic, who is used to staying in hotels like those from the FS and Firmdale chains and who has already made this type of comment...

Taking his supposed girlfriend to a place with these reviews... 🤔😬😂

After 10 years, Sam knowing how this fandom is, being the guy who claims to preserve his loved ones, would he leave breadcrumbs for "fans" to create a new story if he was really dating this woman? I'm amazed that she, with a son, gets involved in this shitshow, but who will know her reasons.... Even Cait used her pregnancy and child in the Belfast promo.

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Let's see if Sam will follow P's wishes and take Sarah to the TCND event... And let's pray 🙏.

I see THE RING 👰🏼‍♀️ #Samarah 🤣🤣🤣 This didn't even take 7 days, it seems! 🤣🤣🤣

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I still spend my free time looking at what SamCait shows and what this fandom says because I want to see the end of this shit, when Sam no longer has P or B and his onlys... One day Sam and Cait will fall into oblivion and that's why that they keep feeding this whole circus... What, or rather, who would Sam and Cait be without all this crap? I think it's funny that Sam pulls all this on himself... Except during promo, he's the one who moves things around here (right now Gran Canaria gate, Austria trip, Scottish Sun article, a new company with an enigmatic name... It could be SDFGINEEDTHISSHITSHOWCVBN 😝🤣, "Audi Quattro",...). But to me... This seems like something from someone protecting their loved ones, taking on all the shit for himself. Although, every now and then Cait needs to show that she is alive and with her husband by her side.

I watch and wait... And I know I'm not alone in this! 🧘🏻‍♀️😜

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Fluffy Smut (7) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six

After the birthday stream (ao3) - trashcanfromgallifrey

Summary: The events that may have occured after Dan's birthday charity stream;) Starts of with fluff but ends up in a steamy hot shower

all I want to do is all of it with you (ao3) - jonsaremembers

Summary: Dan and Phil are going to stay late at the rehearsal venue to...film. Yeah.

As He Comes, So I Come (ao3) - cloej88

Summary: Dan and Phil have just returned from Chicago, where they finally sorted themselves out. They’ve slept a full ten hours under their own roof, and now they have an uninterrupted afternoon to rediscover one another’s bodies.

Buffy Movie Nights are Life Changing (ao3) - angelicsam

Summary: Things get steamy between Dan and Phil during their nighttime Buffy streaming session in 2010; featuring a confident yet bashful Phil and a shy Dan who learns how to drive Phil crazy.

Burning Bibles (ao3) - cherryheartz

Summary: phil lester loved curly headed boys with tattoos on their arms and a joint made with torn bible pages between their soft lips.

and dan howell was exactly that.

Dan and Phil Take Each Other's Clothes Off (NOT CLICKBAIT!!!) (ao3) - BREAD2000yeet

Summary: Dan and Phil play dress-up based off Dan's one dailybooth

Dan stops and stares at him, “You did not just tell me a red panda fact while we are having sex.”

“They can also glow in the dark.”

Despite everything it's still you (ao3) - Frog910

Summary: Dan's just got home from tour, they've missed each other

Dick pancakes and other declarations of love (ao3) - Scuddleduck

Summary: a series of vignettes as I imagine them on Valentine's day

disco stick (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: “Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick,” Phil sings into the microphone connected to the Xbox. It’s slightly off-rhythm, and he grins and stares right at Dan as he continues onto the next lyric. “I want to take a ride on your disco stick.”

(A fic based on the moment from “What Dan and Phil Text Each Other 4” where DnP mention they’ve sung LoveGame countless times on an old karaoke video game.)

Don't Blame Me (ao3) - ForeverJustAnEmoKidAtHeart

Summary: When Phil gets a new job at the Tops Only Bar, he's just looking to make ends meet over the holiday period. He doesn't expect how he'll feel about one of the performers or how hard that'll make his job.

eager for you (ao3) - philsbisexuallion (bisexual_lightning)

Summary: Phil's been waiting all night for Dan to push him up against a wall and fuck him senseless. He finally gets what he wants.

(a self-indulgent ftm t4t smut fic; warning for use of the word "slut" in a degrading way)

et in saecula saeculorum (ao3) - ottertrashpalace

Summary: Phil is the Duke of Lancaster, Dan is a knight, they have been performing intricate rituals, Dan said “as you wish,” the rest is history. Enjoy.

fall in love again and again (ao3) - manchesterau

Summary: Two days into their holiday while lounging by the villa pool that they rented out for the week to ensure maximum privacy, Dan has a thought:

I’m going to marry this boy.

here come the dreams of you and (ao3) - manchesterau

Summary: So he and Dan are a thing now. Phil doesn’t really know what thing they are but it’s something he knows he wants to hold onto and never let go.

"I'm a big fan of tops" (ao3) - Scuddleduck

Summary: Set immediately after filming the keep or yeet Phil's closet video.

Dan gets hot and bothered after watching Phil take his clothes off over and over again.

in this smoking chaos (ao3) - writingcollective

Summary: Dan bottoms for the first time, not being able to shut down his inner demons that whisper internalised homophobic thoughts into his ear. But Phil guides him through it, somehow.

james joint (ao3) - phook

Summary: dan and phil are gross and have been in love for 15 yrs and get high while visiting la for tit

Keep My Hand In Yours (ao3) - totalincandescense

Summary: It was kind of just an unspoken rule of their relationship. At least one part of Phil’s body had to be touching Dan at all times or it would throw the balance of the universe.

more than words (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: Dan can't find words and Phil can't shut the fuck up, but there are other ways to communicate

phlondes do it better (ao3) - wearealldoomed

Summary: The day has come around quicker than Phil had anticipated.

The day where Phil dips his toes back into the waters of dyeing his hair after months of letting his natural hair colour grow back through.

The day where Phil goes platinum blonde without confronting Dan about it first.

Please Don't Say You Love Me (Cause I Might Not Say It Back) (ao3) - phantasticworks (steddieworks)

Summary: Dan's not very good at hiding his emotions during hookups.

based on this tweet: "got so used to saying "I love you" when I was having sex with my ex that I'm out here fighting for my life to not say it on accident with a hookup"

Precious (ao3) - Scuddleduck

Summary: dnp have intimate lazy sex or whatever the fuck made people so mad on twitter. ( I didn't write the post, I'm just using it as a prompt)

Their first night on holiday.

Precious baby angel (ao3) - blossomsphan

Summary: Dan and Phil buy matching precious baby angel shirts because they’re gay and in love. Dan shows Phil how much he likes the shirt on his angel 💖

Precious Baby Angel (ao3) - toadsappho

Summary: Phil shows Dan his new t-shirt, but that's not the only surprise he has for him.

Réponds à Ma Tendresse (ao3) - Blorbiron

Summary: Dan is visiting, and that’s Phil’s absolute favorite thing ever- which is kind of sad, maybe, for someone he’s known for like two months, but he can’t be bothered to care. Because Dan’s sitting right on his bed, close enough to touch, and cackling whenever Phil dies in Crash Bandicoot. Which is a lot.

sativa (i said im ready) (ao3) - catbearbunz (bunnieovadamoon)

Summary: it’s 2009, and phil really wishes dan would call. he does, but he comes greener than expected.

aka they get drunk and high and have esex.

Sheets and sharpies (ao3) - wwoodles

Summary: “Are you going to be good for me?”

He hovered above Dan’s face, awaiting his response. Dan was always taken aback that Phil had this power in him. The ability to completely disarm him.

“Yes, Father.”

Or, in the moments after the end of Dan’s birthday stream, Dan is not only incredibly grateful for Phil, but also incredibly horny.

so american (ao3) - ae121

Summary: Phil has been living in London for a year and thinks he's gotten pretty used to the city. He works part-time at a bookstore, using it at first to gain some friends, now it's just fun for him. His friends are constantly trying to find him someone to date, but all of his dates don't go well.

Well, that's until he met Dan.

Something Unholy (ao3) - hygge

Summary: Phil receives some very surprising and seductive texts in the middle of the night.

Stay With Me (ao3) - blehmobile

Summary: Dan and Phil are flatmates, and they occasionally flirt. They agree that it is very normal to bathe with friends. Totally no tension at all.

sunkissed (ao3) - ivylakes

Summary: Maybe Phil was made to pour warmth into this man and leave little marks all over his body the way the sun does when it covers his skin with freckles. Maybe everything they’ve ever done and every little way they’ve loved each other has culminated in this very moment, where they can hardly see each other in the low light but are still brighter than the yellow light that breaks through the sky and glitters on the ocean.

Or, Dan and Phil go on holiday, and every photo they take tells a story.

true rat and relaxation time (ao3) - trashcanfromgallifrey

Summary: Two gays on holiday, inspired by their recent video.

when the train came it was so big and powerful (ao3) - r1caner

Summary: It is 2009, and things are going to change. Dan thinks so, anyway.

a dnp fic for the 15th 19th of october.

You and Me (ao3) - Scuddleduck

Summary: Birthday sex after Dan's birthday livestream

you look so good it hurts (in my favorite t-shirt) (ao3) - phantasticworks (steddieworks)

Summary: Phil is gifted with a "Mega Dilf" shirt. Guess who picked that shirt out?

[vintagelasvegas]

February 19, 1959. The original KLAS, Bali Hai Motel, Sun Villa Apts, "Howard Hughes Green House," Blair House Suites. Photo: Kelly-Holiday Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.

The Howard Hughes Green House.

The home was built by James “Jimmie” Fulcher circa ‘49-50 on land owned by Fulcher and Murray Wollman. It might have been a model home for a planned development. The house was leased and later bought by Hughes in ‘53, briefly used as an office, and sealed until his death. It remains in this location.

Paul Winn, former Hughes exec., writing to Vintage Las Vegas in 2022:

“Hughes used the house as an office during the daytime when he was in Vegas in ‘53, working from there when he established the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Hughes never watched any movies in this house, and he never entertained any famous ladies here either.” “I was Executive Assistant to Bill Gay, later President of Summa Corporation. Bill Gay sealed up the house with tape. After [Hughes Chief Exec.] Robert Maheu was removed from power I came to Vegas many times with Bill; he and I checked the green house frequently to make sure it had not been broken into. I was the first one in this house after the death of Hughes. I made an inventory of the contents, which was not a lot. Randy Hunter and I broke up the concrete floor in one room because a metal detector indicated something which we thought might be a safe - it was not. I know a great deal about the history of this house and my signature is on the deed when it was sold to Landmark Communications.” “I worked for years with Kay Glenn, who was in charge of Hughes’ Operations Office. Kay was here in Vegas with Hughes during the ‘53 period when he worked from the green house. Kay has told me many times that Hughes never spent a night in the green house. He maintained a suite at the Flamingo at that time. The green house was leased from the Fulchers [James S and Beatrice Fulcher], along with some adjacent property. In about ‘73/‘74 Summa Corporation purchased the leased Fulcher property. I sold the remainder of the Fulcher property to Stanley Korman, who built the Bank of America building on Convention Center Drive.”

KLAS-TV was bought by Hughes in '68. The station later relocated its transmitter to Black Mountain, and in the mid 70s relocated the station itself, building a new facility on the roughly 3-acre site shared with the residence. Landmark Communications purchased KLAS-TV from Hughes heirs in '78. The house came with the station.

Sources include: KLAS opens headquarters. Review-Journal, 10/22/76; Jack Breger. Summa sells KLAS-TV. Review-Journal, 2/7/78 p1.

Below: Jul. '50 high altitude photo, US Geological Survey; 2024 image over the same area; highlighted area of the "Green House".

[chartreuseian]

Trick or treat!

All the cute awesome foursome treats for youuuu!! From 'A Lesson in Travel' which is all about their cute little holiday home in Capri!

🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭

An exercise in celebration (1950)

“Caliginous?” Helen offered, glancing up from the large tome in her lap. James was seated on the other side of the low table from her, sipping his brandy slowly. When his smile spread, she shook her head and sighed.

“Caliginous,” he drawled, looking proud as ever. “Meaning dark, misty and gloomy. C-A-L-I-G-I-N-O-U-S. Caliginous.”

Helen leaned back against the edge of the sofa, stretching her legs against the cool brick floor beneath them. The worst of the heat from the day had dissipated, but she delighted in the lingering warmth and the excuse it offered to laze about, her dress rucked up to the tops of her thighs.

“Well?” James asked, arching an eyebrow as he took another sip. Helen rolled her eyes at his feigned innocence and nodded.

“Correct,” she told him. “As you well know.”

James chuckled and lifted his glass in toast before leaning back more heavily on the elbow that propped him up. His eyes seemed darker than normal in the half light of the living room, a smattering of distant lamps giving the entire space a warm glow. Looking around now, Helen found herself unable to keep from smiling at the home they had built for themselves. The villa itself wasn’t enormous and there were certainly more lavish homes further down the hill, but she liked the almost rustic simplicity of it. In the thirty years since they’d first visited, they’d made some changes to it (such as Nikola’s insistence on running proper electricity through the entire building) but the heavy stone walls and the smooth brick floors looked precisely as it had the day the boys had led her about with nervous, excited smiles that they did their best to hide.

There was a comfort in that for all of them. A place where, no matter what changed outside, nothing inside had any need to shift.

Looking to James again, she smiled, letting the dictionary fall shut before dropping it onto the table beside the abandoned game of Scrabble. Her body felt pleasantly heavy as she swapped the book for her half filled glass of champagne, sipping on it slowly as she tipped her head back.

For a moment, the only sounds were the distant roar of the waves far below them and the low murmur of voices coming from the kitchen. Trying not to think too much about what had been meant by the ‘main event’ John and Nikola had scurried off to prepare, Helen stretched her legs once more.

“Did you have a satisfactory day?” James asked softly then, his voice a perfect companion to the soft glow she felt in her chest.

Smiling more broadly, she sipped again and nodded.

“An excellent day,” she assured him, enjoying the way he seemed to grow proud at the words. “From the very first moments.”

James’s face looked warm and content at that, his eyes growing a little glassy. She did not doubt that he was recalling their early morning activities. They’d always been the earliest risers of the group and this morning James had taken advantage of it, bringing her tea to sip on the balcony before cajoling her into sliding into his lap.

John and Nikola had, apparently, been awoken by her cries of pleasure, though neither seemed particularly annoyed by having their sleep disturbed.

She’d allowed them all to lead her back into bed and, for an hour or two, there had been no thought given to anything outside the warm, gentle brush of skin on skin.

As the day got on, John had been tasked with getting her out of the house and they’d spent a rather enjoyable few hours exploring the city. The last time they’d visited, they hadn’t spent any time exploring the ever growing town and after a long, slow lunch by the water, John had dutifully escorted her to each and every new shop that had appeared in the long years since they’d last explored. By the time they arrived home, laden with shopping bags and surprisingly sore feet, the sun was starting to dip towards the horizon and James and Nikola had emerged from the kitchen intact.

It had been Nikola who had suggested a swim before dinner, taking from her the bags and hurrying her off to get changed. By the time she’d arrived back downstairs, he was already in the water (naked, as always seemed to be his preference) and treading water near the edge. James and John were seated up the other end, both offering a flattering little comment on her blue and white striped bathing suit and how it complimented the red of her hair.

Impatient as ever, Nikola had urged to sit on the edge, taking first one foot, then the other in hand and rubbing them gently below the cool surface of the water as she recounted her expedition with John. When, finally, his hands grew bold and slid up to the bare lines of her thighs, Helen had allowed herself to be pulled into the water and into his embrace.

By the time the four of them had emerged, the sun was dancing against the horizon, meeting the water and throwing off long strands of chaotic light. They’d left her perfectly alone to bathe and dress again, and by the time she’d padded barefoot down the enormous staircase in the middle of the house, a veritable feast had been laid out across the ancient oak dining table.

John met her at the foot of the stairs, offering his arm with such an uncommonly genteel air that she’d been momentarily transported back 70 or so years to the first night of their courtship. She’d accepted, not entirely sure why she was blushing and allowed him to lead her towards the meal. Neither of the others sat until she was settled, but then Nikola was offering champagne and James was filling her plate with all number of delicacies and dinner passed in a pleasant blur of laughter, good wine and even better company.

Once the meal had been cleared away (her offers of help resoundingly refused with what she knew was not even mock outrage), they’d taken the half empty bottles of champagne into the living room and sprawled on the floor. When she’d suggested a game of Scrabble, there had been muffled moans and Helen had smiled smugly at the flickers of annoyance that John and Nikola were unable to hide.

She hadn’t been surprised when, quite quickly, both excused themselves to ‘finalise the surprise’. While she’d been refused entry into the kitchen all day, she had little doubt of what they were doing now, and though it was wholly unnecessary, she couldn’t help but smile a little. Nikola in particular had been so plaintive when they’d asked for leave to plan the day that, even though it mattered little to her, she’d found it hard to refuse them.

And so, when a few moments later the door to the kitchen swung open and John’s broad back pushed through, Helen was not shocked to see an obscenely large cake in his arms as he turned. The top was littered with a frankly uncomfortable number of candles that Nikola, who was hovering nervously by John’s elbow, held his hands up to protect from the light breeze of the evening.

“Well, would you look at that,” she murmured as they came close, delighting the in the way their faces all seemed to glow with the pleasure of her words. She loved them all for their devotion, but the knowledge that in the 60 years since their worlds had shifted into this beautiful kaleidoscope of a life, such commentary had not lost its effect made her almost dizzy. Instead of thinking too heavily on that, she focused instead on John’s look of concentration as he carefully knelt, placing the cake on the table that James had hastily cleared of the remnants of their game.

Rising up onto her knees, Helen found herself smiling almost eagerly at the frosted monstrosity. Not one amongst the four of them was much of a baker, yet there was something about the chaos of the confection before her that was quite charming.

“You shouldn’t have,” she murmured, eyes growing a little moist as she looked between the three faces around the low coffee table.

“We absolutely had to,” James said with a casual shrug. John nodded as he folded himself next to James, sliding his arm around the other man’s waist. It left Nikola to curl up beside her, his body hovering a few inches away though there was no doubting she had his entire focus.

“Look at the candles,” he urged, his voice laced with excitement. Helen frowned, but Nikola pulled lightly on her arm, forcing her up so that she could peer down at it. He reached forward, twisting the large platter towards her a little more and Helen found herself laughing, taking Nikola’s hand in her own as the silliness of it made her heart grow warm.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered through her laughter, sitting back on her haunches and turning to face Nikola. He beamed at her, clearly the neat outline of candles to spell out 1-0-0 his idea alone. He raised a hand to her cheek, tucking one of her salt induced curls back behind her ear.

“Do you like it?” he breathed, eyes wide as his gaze caught on her lips for a brief moment. Helen smiled, bringing her own hand up to brush her thumb against his cheek.

“I love it,” she assured him softly, enjoying the way he melted into her at the praise. Nikola now pressed against her with a sweet desperation in every line of his body, she turned back to the others. “Truly,” she told them. “Thank you.”

James smiled and leaned back into the breadth of John behind him..

“You are most welcome,” John murmured. James nodded once and lifted his glass towards her in toast.

“Happy birthday, darling.”

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Call Me By Your Name (2017, Luca Guadagnino)

24/12/2023

Call Me By Your Name is a 2017 sentimental film directed by Luca Guadagnino.

The screenplay is written by James Ivory and is a film adaptation of the novel Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. It is the third and final film of Guadagnino's "desire trilogy", after I Am Love (2009) and A Bigger Splash (2015). Set in northern Italy in 1983, the film tells the love story between Elio (Timothée Chalamet), a seventeen-year-old living in Italy, and the American student Oliver (Armie Hammer). Also part of the cast are Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel and Victoire Du Bois. The film's editor Walter Fasano also has a cameo in the film: he is the DJ of the famous party scene, as stated by Fasano himself in an interview.

Principal photography took place in Crema, Italy, between May and June 2016.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017, and was subsequently released theatrically in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2017 and in the United States on November 24, 2017. The film received unanimous acclaim, with particular appreciation for the direction, screenplay, soundtrack and performers, and was chosen by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the 10 best films of the year. It received three nominations for the 2018 Golden Globe, for best film, best actor (Chalamet) and best supporting actor (Hammer) and four nominations for the 2018 Oscar awards for best film, best actor (Chalamet), best non-original screenplay, best song (Mystery of Love). The Oscar was won by Ivory for best adapted screenplay.

Summer 1983. Elio Perlman, a seventeen-year-old French-American Jew, spends his summer holidays in a villa immersed in the Cremasco countryside, in Moscazzano, where his father, an archeology professor, usually hosts a foreign student every year who is busy writing his thesis doctoral degree.

[neongreenllama]

okay here are some random german antifa wolfstar thoughts for u:

remus grew up working class, he was in SJ (sozialistische jugend... is that a thing in germany too? either way, i think the name is pretty self-explanatory), they had a karl marx reading group there and he actually enjoyed reading marx.

he hates pretentious academic leftists who have read karl marx and get their university degree financed by their parents who are upper middle class, you know the kind that study philosophy or sociology and will spend hours debating you on gramsci, lenin or bakunin but have never once tipped a taxi driver or greeted the person cleaning the hallway of their university building. remus hates them with a fiery passion.

he knows all the lyrics to die internationale and whenever he hears bella ciao he forgets everything else and needs to dance & sing along, it doesnt look good bc his limbs are so long and dangly and uncoordinated but there is a strange kind of beauty in him dancing so completely uninhibitedly (idk if thats a word, youre getting direct brain to keyboard word vomit here sorrynotsorry!).

so that's remus.

now sirius?

sirius grew up rich rich. like, his family doesn't just own the appartment in whatever is the most expensive district of berlin he grew up in, they own the whole fucking building and they have a villa on sylt. sirius and regulus have spent most of their summers there. idk anything about sylt except that's where rich people go on holiday in germany and that it would actually be beautiful if the rich people weren't there.

anyways so sirius grew up with conservative ideas all around him and had to educate himself on everything left wing in secret. obviously james had a big influence, he introduced sirius to lots of new ideas and encouraged sirius's curiosity about social justice and left-winged politics.

sirius has also read karl marx, in his 2nd semester at university, in a pretentious student reading group with other pretentious students. sirius is a radical antifacist, and he fights with so much passion it sometimes consumes him. he has had to unlearn all the things he was told by his family and the people they surrounded him with, and he fights with every fiber not to be like them.

sometimes, especially in the beginning, he still slips up. he makes mistakes, forgets that the way he was brought up is not the norm for everyone. sometimes he even tries to hide how he grew up, especially because he doesn't have any access to his parents money anymore, but then he also realises he shouldn't hide the privileges their money let him have access to in regards to education etc. when he was younger. it's something he spends a lot of time thinking about, and having working class friends, and friends from different backgrounds, and friends who are immigrants is so eye-opening to him, it's like this whole new world has opened up once he entered university. he's doing his best, he's still learning, and sometimes he messes up and assumes everyone has done a spontaneous trip to a different continent to visit a friend or spent 200€ on a night out because they were too drunk.

so when remus and sirius meet for the first time in their early 20s? sirius is immediately so intrigued by remus and falls in love with him quickly, remus thinks sirius is incredibly hot but he also hates him with a fiery passion at first because who is this rich guy who most likely lives off daddy's money and probably just goes to protests to post pictures on his instagram when real antifascists know you never take photos at a protest.

It took me forever but I am finally answering to this!

I have not heard of sozialistische Jugend before but Remus reading Marx and actually really enjoying it is perfection! Mark is probably completely unironically his hero for a little while there. And he walks down the corridors of his uni, all judgy and quietly loathing everyone who doesn't understand Marx like he does.

Remus doing a terrible and awkward dance to bella ciao every time he hears it??? I didn't know I needed this but I do!!!!! (everyone is just like 'who tf is this guy? ' but sirius sees it once and is immediately completely gone -> starts listening to Cordula Grün on repeat)

Sirius' family owning a villa on Sylt is canon! I have never been there either but I agree with your assessment.

And yes, Sirius is such a little radical!!!! He still makes misguided mistakes in the beginning but he definitely knows what he stands for and believes in!!!

Him slipping up and trying to hide how rich he grew up bc he's ashamed ??? 🥺🥺🥺 that's so important to me now actually

Remus judging and hating him when they first meet! Yessss!!! He's like *scoff* who is this guy acting like an antifascists bc it's 'cool'? He thinks he's one of those exact people he loathes at uni! But Sirius is immediately gone for him and after a while Remus has to admit that he is too

And then they can hold hands at protests how romantic jdajkhag <3

Thank you so much again for sending this to me I love it so much!!!! <333

It's not exactly a coherent answer but I couldn't hide this in my inbox from the public any longer, even if no one else cares about this

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

Foto: Panorama Helsinki / Finland - Dom und Parlamentsplatz (by   tap5a)

“We  only do this for Fergus!”  is a short Outlander Fan Fiction story and  my contribution to the  Outlander Prompt Exchange (Prompt 3: Fake  Relationship AU: Jamie Fraser  wants to formally adopt his foster son  Fergus, but his application will  probably not be approved… unless he is  married and/or in a committed  relationship. Enter one Claire Elizabeth  Beauchamp (Randall?) to this  story) @outlanderpromptexchange  

Chapter 26: The Second Christmas Day (1) - At the French Cathedral

Winter night Berlin by  Nathan Wright from Pixabay

Berlin, Grunewald district, villa of the von Klarenberg family, Friday, 26 December 2025, Boxing Day, 4.17 a.m.

         Matthieu von Klarenberg stretched extensively but carefully. Then he looked at the clock face of the alarm clock on his bedside table. The clock showed 04.17 am. Teresa always tried hard not to wake him when she got up at night for some reason, yet he woke up every time. Matthieu was simply too light a sleeper.          It had been very different in his youth. Especially during the time he had spent as a student at various European universities. "You can carry von Klarenberg away at night and he won't notice," his fellow students had often quipped. At the time, he slept like the proverbial marmot- But since he met Teresa, and especially after they got married, his sleeping patterns had changed elementarily. The reason for this was not only that his wife knew countless ways and means to keep him awake at night. After all, a bed wasn't just for sleeping, as she always remarked mischievously. Matthieu had always had this strong protective instinct when it came to people he loved or was responsible for. It was an integral part of his personality. But since he and Teresa had married, this pre-existing protective instinct had intensified and since the children had been born, there were no limits for Matthieu. There was nothing he wouldn't do to protect his family. If it became necessary, he would kill for them. He knew that. But von Klarenberg hoped that this case would never come to pass.

         Matthieu's thoughts wandered to James Fraser. Jamie, whom he and Teresa were to meet in a few hours and who he had known since childhood, was his best friend. Although the two men had very different personalities and it could sometimes appear to outsiders that they came from different worlds, there were many areas of life where they had not only found common ground but also worked very well together. What primarily united them was their sense of loyalty. Both von Klarenberg and Fraser possessed an extraordinary loyalty to the people they cared about. Once they had established a genuine relationship with someone, they did everything they could to protect and support that person. Von Klarenberg's introverted nature, had initially made him keep his distance from Fraser when they had met. Jamie was so very different, crossing boundaries set by the adults and having a blast doing it. Matthieu remembered very well how once during the summer holidays, when they were 16 or 17, Jamie had soaked the feed of the chickens on a neighbouring farm with grain schnapps. A short time later, they were staggering drunkenly around the farm. The story had not only caused a stir among the entire Fraser neighbourhood, but also some excitement within the Fraser household. The fact that Jamie constantly insisted that he had only given the chickens "grain" did not help to dispel this excitement. Matthieu had only been able to convince his father with great difficulty that he was not involved in this prank. Why should he have taken part in something that was so completely illogical, even pointless, and that would also have serious consequences? After all, Jamie had been under  house arrest for a whole month. No, Matthieu was different. He spent his free time in the summer wandering through the fields and forests of the surrounding area to find a quiet place and then read for hours in one of his books. In winter, he made himself comfortable by the tiled stove in his room, got himself a warm drink and ... read. Jamie Fraser, on the other hand ... well.

         Nevertheless, the two young men became friends over time, and not only because their parents had wished it. This shared value of loyalty laid the foundation for a strong partnership between them early on. It was also this shared approach to life that led to the protection of the people they loved becoming their primary concern. Both men were willing to do anything to protect their loved ones from harm. They would face all challenges and dangers to protect their families and friends. They had already proven this a few times. The common desire to protect others had not only strengthened the bond of their friendship but made it unbreakable over the decades. For what they were willing to do for their families, they were also willing to do for each other.          Both men also had a strong sense of justice. Like Jamie, Matthieu had a strong sense of justice and a desire to right wrongs. As a result, both were willing to stand up for what they believed was right, even if it meant encountering opposition or putting themselves in danger. The conviction that truth and truthfulness were among the most important values of all had also moved them time and again to stand up for causes and goals that were important to both of them or even just one of them.          Matthieu and Jamie might be very different in many ways. While Matthieu was a reserved and controlled person who was not always forthcoming with his feelings or intentions, Jamie had a passionate and direct personality. Fraser often wore his heart on his sleeve. But their shared values, principles and beliefs made it easy for them to work together effectively. The two men drew the special strength of their friendship from the fact that they were able to complement each other through their respective strengths. All this was only possible because they had already found a way to communicate effectively with each other in their youth.

         But since his last visit to Potsdam, Matthieu wondered if the latter was still the case. He had enjoyed meeting the friend again and the time with him, Fergus and Claire had been wonderful. But still, he had felt that something was wrong.          "Jamie?"          Teresa had laid back in bed, turned to Matthieu and then rested her head on her right hand.           "Yes."          Matthieu looked at her, thinking how grateful he was that his wife understood him so well. Before he could say anything, she had wrapped her left arm around his neck and pulled him down to her. As they broke away from each other after a lingering kiss, she said:           "Maybe you can talk to him today?"           "Yes, I hope so."           "I will try to spend some time alone with Claire, then you will have a chance to talk to Jamie."           Matthieu nodded.           "Thank you. Is everything all right with Friederike?"           "Yes, just the usual little hunger pangs in between. Everything's fine.           Maurice is fast asleep too. I stopped by to see him on the way back."           "Then we should get some sleep now too, the day will be long."           Matthieu pulled his wife to him, kissed her again and then pulled the covers over her.

New Palace Potsdam on a Winter Morning by  Bernd Schmidt from Pixabay

Potsdam, Nördliche Vorstadt, Villa of the Fraser family, Friday, 26 December 2025, Boxing Day, 7.30 a.m.

         The day began as planned. When Jamie wanted to wake Fergus, he was already sitting awake in his bed, listening to his new CD "The Three ??? and the missing Dinosaur" for the umpteenth time. It didn't take much convincing to get the boy out of bed, because Fergus was very excited about all the things this day would bring and eager to finally meet his friend Maurice.           "Are we bringing Maurice a present? And do you think I'll get a present from Uncle Matthieu and Aunt Teresa, Dad?"          "Good morning to you too, Fergus. Did our Sir Knight sleep well?"          The boy sighed.           "Sorry. Good morning, Papa."           "Come here."           Fraser pulled the child close and gave him a warm hug.           "I understand you have a lot of questions, Fergus. But the sooner we finish showering and dressing now, the sooner you'll get closer to the answers to your questions."           When they emerged from the bathroom, Jamie helped Fergus blow-dry his hair and then, put on the clothes Claire had laid out the night before: Dark blue socks, dark blue trousers, a white shirt with a small blue bow tie and a blue velvet jumper that had the words "Finnjet" in white letters on the right side. When they came down to the dining room for breakfast, everything was already prepared there, but that morning there was only a "light version" of the opulent breakfast they had enjoyed the day before. Jamie and Fergus greeted Claire and then they were seated at the breakfast table.           After the meal, "the men" helped her clear the table and then Fraser accompanied the boy upstairs again so they could both brush their teeth. Ten minutes later they all met back in the hall, put on their coats and boots and headed down to the garage. Claire and Fergus took a seat in the back of the car. A few minutes later they had already left the Heiligensee behind them. It took about ten more minutes before they reached the Potsdam-Babelsberg motorway junction. Although the temperatures had changed slightly back into the plus range that morning, the sky was cloudy and shortly before they had left the house it had started to snow. Jamie was grateful that they had got out of the house so early. He could now drive slower than he had thought and in all probability they would still reach their destination on time.          They had been on the road for maybe fifteen minutes when Claire had pulled Fergus close to her. The boy had leaned against her as soon as he got in. But then she had noticed that he was getting tired. She gently pulled him towards her so that his head came to rest on her lap.          "You're welcome to sleep a little longer, Fergus. The day will still be long." The boy answered nothing but simply snuggled up to her. Claire spread his coat over him. Then she looked ahead and at that moment Fraser's eyes and hers met in the rearview mirror. They smiled.          Half an hour later Fergus woke up again.          "Well, slept well?"          "Hmmm."          The boy yawned, but this time he didn't forget to put his hand over his mouth.           "Are you hungry? I have another roll with salami in my bag for you."           "Nope, thanks, Claire."           He snuggled up to her again.           "Just let me know if you get hungry later."           "Hmmm."          At 9.40 a.m. Jamie steered the car into the underground car park of "Fraser & Son International" and parked. They got out and Claire helped Fergus put on his coat. Then she quickly combed his hair again and put on his fur hat. A moment later, they took the lift down to the company hall. Fraser unlocked the door to the street, let Fergus and Claire out and locked it again behind him.

The French Dome at the Gendarmenmarkt/Berlin by Ansgar Koreng / CC BY 3.0 (DE), CC BY 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40394219

         Contrary to Jamie's fears, he didn't have to urge Fergus to hurry. For one thing, they had plenty of time, and for another, the boy was too excited that he would finally see his "Uncle Matthieu" and his friend Maurice. This excitement was quite enough to drive him.          Even from a distance, Jamie, Fergus and Claire could see Matthieu and Maurice. Father and son von Klarenberg stood, wrapped in their winter coats, under the large portal that protected the entrance to the cathedral. Fergus wanted to run to greet them, but Fraser held him back.          "Fergus, it's slippery, I don't want you to slip and fall. Be careful. We'll be right there!"          Shortly afterwards Claire, Jamie and Fergus also climbed the steps of the cathedral portal and before Maurice could help himself he was also being hugged and squeezed by Fergus.          "Great that we get to visit you today!"           The boy left his friend a little astonished and immediately turned to his "Uncle Matthieu" who had already leaned down to hug Fergus. When the two broke away from each other again, Jamie and Claire also had the opportunity to greet Matthieu and Maurice.          Then the bells of the cathedral began to ring. Jamie glanced at his wristwatch. It showed 9.55 a.m. It was time to take their seats in the church. Before they entered the church, Matthieu took off his feodora. Maurice also pulled his cap off his head. Fraser almost forgot to take off his fur hat. He quickly hurried to do the same to Matthieu. Then, with an extended hand movement, he pulled the cap off Fergus' head as well. He looked questioningly at his father, but he only pointed forward. Claire, who was unfamiliar with the customs, now wanted to take off her cap too, but Fraser told her to keep it on.          They quickly found a row with enough seats for all five of them. Claire led the way. She placed Fergus between her and Jamie. Maurice followed, so that he came to sit between Jamie and Matthieu. Good, Claire thought, the boys can be close but not get into mischief, because the fathers sit between them. She had to smile.          Now the first  accords of an organ piece were heard and the service began. Following the piece of music, the pastor welcomed those present. A silent prayer followed, during which Fergus unobtrusively tried to get a closer look at the church interior. The pastor ended the silent prayer with "Amen" and announced a hymn. Matthieu pointed to the hymnals laid out and opened his at the song number indicated. Jamie and Claire followed suit. Then those present rose to sing. Claire read the words to the song and tried to follow them. She regretted not asking Jamie about the schedule or details of the service in the days before. But when she looked over at him, she realised that he was as clueless as she was. For he too did not sing, but followed the words of the hymn reading as well. Fergus, she observed, seemed more preoccupied with scrutinising all the details of the church hall than singing. Unlike her, Jamie and Fergus, neither Matthieu nor Maurice seemed to have any problems with the song. She clearly heard Matthieu's clear baritone voice and, albeit softly, Maurice's squeaky singing voice.          When the song had faded away, a presbyter stepped in front of the altar. After a moment of silence, he read the 10 Commandments and their summary by Jesus Christ. Then he said a prayer, which was followed by another song. After the congregation was seated again, the pastor stepped up to the pulpits and began to speak. First he read the sermon text, which for this Sunday was taken from the 3rd chapter of the letter to Titus:          “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” (Titus 3: 3 - 8, NIVUK)          In his remarks, the pastor emphasised the new life made possible for people through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Claire looked over at Fraser. She noticed that the minister's words had some effect on him. Following the sermon, there was another hymn. Then there were some announcements. The collection followed, which was again accompanied by an organ piece.          Then, to Jamie's and Claire's surprise, those present rose and once again a presbyter came forward and offered the greeting of peace. Then the pastor said a prayer of thanksgiving and intercession and led into the Lord's Prayer, which was said by the whole congregation. Claire glanced at Fergus and could see that he was clearly watching everything closely and also trying to memorise a lot of things. He will be asking a lot of questions in the coming days, she thought and hoped fervently that Jamie and she would somehow be able to answer them. After the common prayer had ended with a loud "Amen", the pastor extended the invitation to the Holy Meal. The organ began to play a piece of music softly and when Claire saw Jamie and Fergus sit down again, she too took her seat. Matthieu motioned Maurice to sit down too and then whispered something to Jamie. The latter nodded briefly. Matthieu stopped and shortly afterwards joined the queue of people who were now walking step by step towards the table to receive the Holy Meal.

Inside view of the French Dome, Berlin,  by Andreas Faessler - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30533293

         Fergus turned in a whisper to Jamie, who had his left arm around Maurice and his right around his foster son:          "What is Uncle Matthieu doing there?"          "I'll explain later," Fraser whispered back.          Claire followed Matthieu with her eyes. The tall man, who measured at least six feet nine inches, even kneeling, still stood out from that group spread out on the three kneeling benches that stood in front of the table.          Only a few minutes later, von Klarenberg returned to his seat, where he stopped again for a moment and prayed silently. Then he too took his seat again.          The pastor announced another hymn shortly afterwards and after it had faded away, the sending and the blessing followed. Then the organ started for the last time and the pastor left the sanctuary towards the church door. Those present rose and slowly followed him to the exit. There, one by one, they were bidden farewell by the clergyman.          When Matthieu and Maurice took their turn, von Klarenberg immediately introduced James Fraser ("my friend"), Fergus Fraser ("his foster son") and Claire Beauchamp ("his fiancée") to the pastor. Jamie froze when he heard the words "his fiancée". Where was Fergus? Had he heard that? How would he react? But then Fraser could breathe a sigh of relief, for he saw that Fergus and Maurice had already arrived at the bottom step of the stairs leading down to the Gendarme Market. Quite obviously, the boys had not noticed anything about the whole thing either. While Matthieu and Claire were still talking to the pastor, Jamie hurried after the boys.           "Stay here, gentlemen!"           The boys looked up at him.           "Come on, we're all going to lunch right now!"           Fifteen minutes later, Claire, Fergus and Jamie were back in Fraser's car and driving to the von Klarenbergs' house.

A villa at Berlin-Grundewald by Bodo Kubrak - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19272619           "Why wasn't I allowed to go with Maurice and Uncle Matthieu?" asked Fergus, who was clearly annoyed that Jamie and Matthieu had separated the two friends again for the return journey.           "Fergus, that makes sense," Fraser replied and then added, "because we need your help!"           "Why?" the boy now asked curiously.           "Why? Well, it's quite obvious! There are all the presents in the back of the boot. For Aunt Teresa, for Maurice and for Uncle Matthieu. You'll have to help me and Claire carry them."           "Ah," was all Fergus said, then fell silent. He's probably pondering what we'll bring to the von Klarenbergs, Claire thought. Then she glanced ahead and saw Fraser smiling at her again through the rear-view mirror. She smiled back.          When they arrived shortly afterwards in front of the von Klarenbergs' house in the Grunewald district of Berlin, the tall wrought-iron courtyard gate opened immediately so that Jamie drove through and stopped directly in front of the house entrance. Claire was amazed when she saw the property. Fraser House was an imposing mansion, and yet it was nothing like this city mansion.          The von Klarenbergs' mansion was two storeys high and had a roof truss that had obviously been extended as well. The house was kept in a light, cream-coloured shade that went well with the red roof tiles. A two-storey extension had been added to the left of the almost square main house, probably at a later date. This was smaller than the main house, but still larger than the annexe that adjoined Fraser's villa and in which the Curtius couple lived. When Claire got out of the car, she immediately noticed the surveillance cameras mounted under the roof. They were coloured in the same tone as the house and were guaranteed not to be noticed by an observer who was not standing directly in front of the house. Only if you stood close to the house and looked up could you see them.          As the small group got out of the car, the front door opened and Matthieu von Klarenberg came down the steps of a staircase leading into the house. Once again Matthieu greeted each of the visitors warmly. Then he led Claire into the house while Jamie held Fergus back:          "We're going to move the car into the car park," he said, addressing his foster son, "and then I'll need your help carrying the presents."          Fergus nodded, got back into the car and waited. Fraser got in too and then drove the car a few yards away to a spot where two other cars were already parked. When Jamie had parked the car, he got out, opened the door for Fergus and then took some bags and a large bouquet of flowers wrapped in cling film from the boot.          "What do you want me to carry?" asked Fergus.          "You take the bouquet, I'll carry the bags. They're too heavy for you,"  Fraser replied. Then they followed Matthieu and Claire into the house.

[new-berry]

So for @protect-daniel-james and @incelhugochavez and neither of you have ANY obligation to read this or anyone else. So well behind a cut, Frank Lampard and Harry Redknapp have a conversation on a family holiday.

Dead dove warning also this is of course all fiction. All warnings under the cut so well avoidable

Underage, underage drinking, grooming. Uncle nephew creepiness? Not really checked. How underage is up to you, 15 ish?

Understudy

“Should you be out here lad?”

Frank flinches where he stopped just short of the wall by where he knew his uncle was sitting by the pool.

The sun is down and the mosquito lamps have been lit, casting their sickly yellow glow in little pools around the tables.

Harry sits just out of the light.

Frank can tell by his voice Harry ‘has had a few.’ He can hear his mother saying that. Pat’s slightly disapproving tone echoing in his mind.

Normally he’d make up an excuse to go back to the house, and wait until the others were around. His Uncle can be unpredictable after a few. ‘In his cups.’ His mum’s voice again.

But tonight he wants to check if Harry meant what he said. Training with his dad is great and all, he’s learned a lot and his dad will never let him not give his all, but Harry has offered to get him some time at the the West Ham ground.

Normally by this point of the night the cousins are all in the games room behind the garages.

There is a pool table and table tennis and a stereo that is just far enough away from where the parents gather for wine after dinner that they can turn it up.

And the music selection is a bit dated, but they don’t have to put on anything just for the adults. Mark has some CD’s they play as well

But his sisters are distracted talking about the boys who work on the boats that take the tourists out fishing. And Mark and Jamie have their eyes on the girl who works at the cafe. They practise their Spanish on her. Frank goes along with them but doesn’t exactly see the appeal.

Mark a couple of inches taller than them both. Lording it over them. Jamie catching up before Frank. They keep talking about the girls in school that Frank is pretty sure are pure bullshit. But then he knows from the conversations his dad and friends have that girls love a football player.

Mark keeps talking about the photos his agent is shopping around. Flexes in the sun when the other girls are around. Frank keeps his shirt on when they are at the beach, unless they are in the water.

But he’s been turning Uncle Harry’s - ‘just call me Harry now lad you’re old enough’ -offer over and over in his mind.

All the men have gotten slightly sunburned. The boys have been nagged and cajoled enough by their mothers to just have slightly pink noses and colour on the tops of their shoulders.

Frank can feel the heat of the sun on his arms though. Can feel the weight of his uncle’s arm around his shoulder when they were on the boat.

“Don’t just stand there, bring us a beer.” Frank steps out of the shadows. Harry is lying on one of the sun loungers by the pool. He’s got one of the cigars his dad gave him at the start of the holiday in his hand and as he breathes in it lights up the lower half of his face.

His bare chest is hairy and so are his legs. Frank’s always felt soft around his dad and his uncles. Like he needs to stop eating the sweets his mother gives him and harden up.

Harry’s chest is red compared to his arms, normally covered up at home in England.

“Get yourself one, if your mum isn’t fussing.” Harry says.

Frank used to play football with his uncle years ago, he and Jamie would beg him to play with him on family hols. It’s been three or four years since they took one. The villa in Spain with its own pool and the houses joined by garages was organised by Frank’s mum and aunt.

Jamie and Frank are allowed to sit in the conversations about West Ham under strict instructions to be silent. He would have thought Harry would ignore him a bit now. But he feels his gaze sometimes when the men are talking.

Frank will look up from spreading sunblock on his chest and legs and Harry’s eyes will be on him. Harry took the sunblock on the boat when they were fishing and smoothed it over his shoulders and the top of his back. His big slightly rough hands, spreading it down over the small of his back and the sides of his hips.

On the boat fishing Harry pulled Frank against him to show him how to use his shoulder to cast the line. Draped an arm over his shoulder to check the catch.

Rough catch of his stubble against Frank’s cheek.

Frank hesitates, then grabs two cans from the melted slush that was ice in the metal tub they have been keeping drinks in by the pool.

Chlorine hangs strongly in the still humid air, the insects buzz around despite the candles and patches left around.

Harry opens his beer and has a long drink. He nods to Frank to sit on the small table next to his lounger. Just to the side of his legs and lower down.

Frank takes a sip from the beer trying not to screw his face up. He can feel the heat from the sunburn on Harry’s legs where his knees are nearly touching the lounger.

“Did you mean what you said before? Could I play with the West Ham under 16’s? Frank blurts out. He takes another drink quickly.

Harry smiles, Frank can just see his mouth turn up. “I meant it lad.” He replies. “The problem will be them complaining about you, not you keeping up with them.” He takes another puff, the smoke sitting obnoxiously in the air.

Frank twists his nose up.

“I don’t don’t doubt our kid that you will be a better player than your dad. Maybe even better than Jamie.”

Harry tips his head back and has a long drink. He burps, and puts the can to the side. Rests his cigar on the top of it.

He turns around so his legs are bracketing either side of Frank’s. The lounger creaks with his body weight as he moves around.

“You can see the pitch. See things other players don’t see. A mature player you. It’s kind of wasted you playing with the boys.”

Harry nods to Frank who takes another much smaller sip of his.

“Lad,” Harry says and drops a hand on his leg. “You could play for England.” His hand slides up just to the edge of Frank’s shorts and he squeezes the forming muscles.

“Work on your running and goal scoring. “ his hand loosens a bit but he doesn’t let go. Frank’s leg twitches without him meaning to and Harry runs his thumb down the line of his quads along the inside of Frank’s thigh.

Frank has another drink. Getting used to the taste. “It’s warm beer lad.” Harry says and puts his hand on the inside of Frank’s other leg moving his thumb across the definition of the muscle there as well. “Not everything has to be savoured.”

Harry slides his hands up slightly, just under the seam of Frank’s shorts. Frank twitches again.

“Make sure you get a rub down and a stretch out.” Harry says. His fingers flex again, fingers spreading covering the front of Frank’s thighs. His thumbs dig into the skin in the inside of his legs harder, rubbing circles, moving slightly up.

Frank looks up from where he was mesmerised with his uncle’s hands rubbing over his legs. Harry is looking down at Frank, mouth slightly open, eyes half closed. He leans down, the sour smell of the cigar smoke settling on Frank’s mouth as he breathes out.

Footsteps on the tiles snap their gaze. Harry pulls his hands from Frank’s legs and takes the beer can out of Frank’s hand.

“I’ve got your back, our lad.” He says his voice hoarse, having a long drink.

Frank’s mother comes around the corner. She’s holding a torch and the light bounces between the two of them. Frank puts his hand up to stop being dazzled and Harry just hefts himself back, settling down lying on the lounger. “Don’t put the light in my eyes love.” He tells Pat. He puts his hand down and picks up his cigar.

“Come on Frankie,” Pat says. But her eyes are on Harry “you should be in bed.”

[euphorial-docx]

If you had finished writing temps, would James and Regulus have ended up together? I think about this more than must be considered healthy like keeps me awake at night level

there is a chance, however slim, that i will finish it! i want to finish it one day, at least.

with that being said, i have assured people since i announced the sequel that it will be a happy ending with james and regulus together!

i’ll also add that i imagine they stay together for the rest of their lives. they will visit goa during winters and most holidays. james will play soccer/football for roma, while regulus continues doing orchestra and writing his own music in rome, until they eventually retire to trieste. they will inherit alphard’s villa, but i don’t think they’d ever get married or have kids and that’s okay. i just don’t see opev!regulus ever marrying or being a father honestly, but he’ll have james as his life partner and they’ll be happy after everything <3

i’ve thought about their entire lives too much lmao.

[smashpages]

Nominees announced for the 2023 Eisner Awards

Comic-Con International has announced the nominees for this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. This is the 35th year for the awards, which will be given out at this year’s Comic-Con International on July 21.

In terms of publishers, Image Comics received the most nominations, followed by DC, Fantagraphics, Marvel and Dark Horse. Creator-wise, Zoe Thorogood led the pack with five nominations. Hall of Fame nominees and inductees were announced earlier this month.

And the nominees are …

Best Short Story

“The Beekeeper’s Due,” by Jimmy Stamp and Débora Santos, in Scott Snyder Presents: Tales from the Cloakroom (Cloakroom Comics)

“Finding Batman” by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone in DC Pride 2022 (DC)

“Good Morning,” by Christopher Cantwell and Alex Lins, in Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #4 (Marvel)

“Silent All These Years,” by Margaret Atwood and David Mack, in Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes (Z2)

“You Get It,” by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, in Amazing Fantasy #1000 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)

Mary Jane & Black Cat Beyond, by Jed Mackay and C. F. Villa (Marvel)

Moon Knight: Black, White, and Blood #3, edited by Tom Brevoort (Marvel)

Star Trek #400, edited by Heather Antos (IDW)

A Vicious Circle Book 1, by Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo (BOOM! Studios)

Best Continuing Series

Daredevil, by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto and Rafael de Latorre (Marvel)

The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)

Killadelphia, by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander (Image)

The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno (DC)

Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

She-Hulk, by Rainbow Rowell, Rogê Antônio, Luca Maresca, and Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

Animal Castle, by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep (Ablaze)

Batman: One Bad Day, edited by Dave Wielgosz and Jessica Berbey (DC)

The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)

Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age, by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham (Marvel)

Superman: Space Age, by Mark Russell, Michael Allred, and Laura Allred (DC)

Best New Series

The Atonement Bell, by Jim Ousley and Tyler B. Ruff (Red 5)

Love Everlasting, by Tom King and Elsa Charretier (Image)

Public Domain, by Chip Zdarsky (Image)

Star Trek, by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Ramon Rosanas (IDW)

Traveling to Mars, by Mark Russell and Roberto Meli (Ablaze)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Beneath The Trees: A Fine Summer, by Dav (Magnetic Press)

Fox + Chick: Up and Down: and Other Stories, by Sergio Ruzzier (Chronicle Books)

Grumpy Monkey Who Threw That? by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang (Random House Studio)

Hey, Bruce!: An Interactive Book, by Ryan Higgins (Disney/Hyperion)

The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! by Mo Willems (Union Square Kids)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan, by Jason Shiga (Amulet/Abrams)

Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra (First Second/Macmillan)

Isla To Island, by Alexis Castellanos (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)

Little Monarchs, by Jonathan Case (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Swim Team, by Johnnie Christmas (HarperAlley)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

Chef’s Kiss, by Jarrett Melendez and Danica Brine (Oni)

Clementine Book One, by Tillie Walden (Image Skybound)

Do A Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image)

Heartstopper Volume 4, by Alice Oseman (Scholastic Graphix)

Wash Day Diaries, by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith (Chronicle Books)

Best Humor Publication

Cryptid Club, by Sarah Andersen (Andrews McMeel)

I Hate This Place, by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin (Image Skybound)

Killer Queens, by David Booher and Claudia Balboni (Dark Horse)

Mr. Lovenstein Presents: Failure, by J. L. Westover (Image Skybound)

Revenge of the Librarians, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Anthology

Creepshow, edited by Alex Antone and Jon Moisan (Image Skybound)

The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic, edited by Josh Bernstein (Z2)

The Nib Magazine, edited by Matt Bors (Nib)

Sensory: Life on the Spectrum, edited by Bex Ollerton (Andrews McMeel)

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Z2)

Best Reality-Based Work

Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense, by Noël Simsolo and Dominique Hé, translation by Montana Kane (NBM)

Alice Guy: First Lady of Film, by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller, translation by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)

But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, edited by Charlotte Schallié (University of Toronto Press)

Flung Out of Space, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer (Abrams ComicArts)

Invisible Wounds: Graphic Journalism, by Jess Ruliffson (Fantagraphics)

Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball, by Jon Chad (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Graphic Memoir

Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story, by Catherine Pioli, translated by J. T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)

It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth: An Auto-Bio-Graphic-Novel, by Zoe Thorogood (Image)

So Much for Love: How I Survived a Toxic Relationship, by Sophie Lambda (First Second/Macmillan)

Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure, by Lewis Hancox (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Graphic Album—New

The Book of Niall, by Barry Jones (Ellie & Beatty)

Crushing, by Sophie Burrows (Algonquin Young Readers)

Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral, by Thomas Woodruff (Fantagraphics)

The Night Eaters, Book 1: She Eats the Night, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Abrams ComicArts)

Ultrasound, by Conor Stechschulte (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

Days of Sand, by Aimée de Jongh, translation by Christopher Bradley (SelfMadeHero)

Geneviève Castrée: Complete Works, by Geneviève Castrée, translation by Phil Elverum and Aleshia Jensen (Drawn & Quarterly)

Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition, by Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse)

One Beautiful Spring Day, by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics)

Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, by Richard Stark, Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, and Sean Phillips (IDW)

Super Spy Deluxe Edition, by Matt Kindt (Dark Horse)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Colleen Doran (Dark Horse)

Rain by Joe Hill, adapted by David M. Booher and Zoe Thorogood (Syzygy/Image)

Ten Days in a Madhouse, by Nellie Bly, adapted by Brad Ricca and Courtney Sieh (Gallery 13/Simon $ Schuster)

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Z2)

A Visit to Moscow by Rabbi Rafael Grossman, adapted by Anna Olswanger and Yevgenia Nayberg (Turner)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Always Never, by Jordi Lafebre, translation by Montana Kane (Dark Horse)

Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part 1, by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Dark Horse)

Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story, by Catherine Pioli, translation by J. T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

The Pass, by Espé, translation by J.T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

Tiki: A Very Ruff Year, by David Azencot and Fred Leclerc, translation by Nanette McGuinness (Life Drawn/Humanoids)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Black Paradox, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

The Hellbound vols. 1-2, by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok, translation by Danny Lim (Dark Horse)

Look Back, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translation by Amanda Haley (VIZ Media)

PTSD Radio vol. 1, by Masaaki Nakayama, translation by Adam Hirsch (Kodansha)

Shuna’s Journey, by Hayao Miyazaki; translation by Alex Dudok de Wit (First Second/Macmillan)

Talk to My Back, by Yamada Murasaki, translation by Ryan Holmberg (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos, by Jay Jackson (New York Review Comics)

Come Over Come Over, It’s So Magic, and My Perfect Life, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)

The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1922-1924, by George Herriman, edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)

Macanudo: Welcome to Elsewhere, by Liniers, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: Volume 8: Hijinks from the Horn of Plenty, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

The Deluxe Gimenez: The Fourth Power & The Starr Conspiracy, by Juan Gimenez, edited by Alex Donoghue and Bruno Lesigne (Humanoids)

The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta, edited by Dian Hansen (TASCHEN)

Home to Stay! The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories, by Ray Bradbury and various; edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus 1 (Abrams ComicArts)

Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: The Diamond Jubilee Collection, by Carl Barks; edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)

Best Writer

Grace Ellis, Flung Out of Space (Abrams ComicArts)

Tom King, Batman: Killing Time, Batman: One Bad Day, Gotham City: Year One, The Human Target, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (DC); Love Everlasting (Image)

Mark Russell, Traveling to Mars (Ablaze), One-Star Squadron, Superman: Space Age (DC); The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids)

James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (DC), The Closet, The Department of Truth (Image)

Chip Zdarsky, Stillwater (Image Skybound); Daredevil (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist

Sarah Andersen, Cryptid Club (Andrews McMeel)

Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly)

Espé, The Pass (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University)

Junji Ito, Black Paradox, The Liminal Zone (VIZ Media)

Zoe Thorogood, It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (Image)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Jason Shawn Alexander, Killadelphia, Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog (Image)

Alvaro Martínez Bueno, The Nice House on the Lake (DC)

Sean Phillips, Follow Me Down, The Ghost in You (Image)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Greg Smallwood, The Human Target (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Lee Bermejo, A Vicious Circle (BOOM! Studios)

Felix Delep, Animal Castle (Ablaze)

Daria Schmitt, The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence (Europe Comics)

Sana Takeda, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts); Monstress (Image)

Zoe Thorogood, Rain (Syzygy/Image)

Thomas Woodruff, Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral (Fantagraphics)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)

Jen Bartel, She-Hulk (Marvel)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Alex Ross, Astro City: That Was Then . . . (Image); Fantastic Four, Black Panther (Marvel)

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Zoe Thorogood, Joe Hill’s Rain (Syzygy/Image)

Best Coloring

Jordie Bellaire, The Nice House on the Lake, Suicide Squad: Blaze (DC); Antman, Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)

Jean-Francois Beaulieu, I Hate Fairyland 2022, Twig (Image)

Dave McCaig, The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids)

Jacob Phillips, Follow Me Down, The Ghost in You, That Texas Blood (Image)

Alex Ross and Josh Johnson, The Fantastic Four: Full Circle (Abrams ComicArts)

Diana Sousa, Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins; The Mighty Nein Origins: Yasha Nydoorin; The Mighty Nein Origins: Fjord Stone; The Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering

Pat Brosseau, Batman: The Knight, Wonder Woman: The Villainy of Our Fears (DC): Creepshow, Dark Ride, I Hate This Place, Skybound Presents: Afterschool (Image Skybound)

Chris Dickey, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts)

Todd Klein, Chivalry (Dark Horse); Fables (DC); Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)

Nate Piekos, Black Hammer Reborn, Minor Threats, Shaolin Cowboy, Stranger Things: Kamchatka (Dark Horse), I Hate Fairyland, Twig (Image)

Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)

Thomas Woodruff, Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)

Comic Book Creator, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

The Comics Journal #308, edited by Gary Groth, Kristy Valenti, and Rachel Miller (Fantagraphics)

PanelXPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and Tiffany Babb (panelxpanel.com)

Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, ICv2, Publishers Weekly

Best Comics-Related Book

The Art of the News: Comics Journalism, edited by Katherine Kelp-Stebbins and Ben Saunders (Oregon State University Press)

Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects, by Benjamin L. Clark and Nat Gertler (Schulz Museum)

The Charlton Companion, by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

Gladys Parker: A Life in Comics, A Passion for Fashion, by Trina Robbins (Hermes Press)

Resurrection: Comics in Post-Soviet Russia, by José Alaniz (Ohio State University Press)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Bandits, Misfits, and Superheroes: Whiteness and Its Borderlands in American Comics and Graphic Novels, by Josef Benson and Doug Singsen (University Press of Mississippi)

Graphic Medicine, edited by Erin La Cour and Anna Poletti (University of Hawai’i’ Press)

How Comics Travel: Publication, Translation, Radical Literacies, by Katherine Kelp-Stebbins (Ohio State University Press)

The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions, edited by Alison Halsall and Jonathan Warren (University Press of Mississippi)

Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels. By Tim Smyth (Routledge)

Best Publication Design

Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral, designed by Thomas Woodruff, Jacob Covey, and Ryan Dinnick (Fantagraphics)

A Frog in the Fall (and later on), designed by Linnea Sterte, Olle Forsslöf, and Patrick Crotty (PEOW)

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts 40X40: Bad Reputation/I Love Rock-n-Roll, designed by Josh Bernstein and Jason Ullmeyer (Z2)

Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition, designed by Tom Muller (Dark Horse)

Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, designed by Sean Phillips (IDW)

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, designed by Lauryn Ipsum (Z2)

Best Webcomic

Deeply Dave, by Grover, http://www.deeplydave.com/

Delilah Dirk: Practical Defence Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff, https://www.delilahdirk.com/dd4/dd4-p46.html

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320&page=5

The Mannamong, by Michael Adam Lengyel, https://mannamong.com/episode-1/

Spores, by Joshua Barkman, https://falseknees.com/22ink1.html

Best Digital Comic

All Princesses Die Before Dawn, by Quentin Zuttion, translation by M. B. Valente (Europe Comics)

Barnstormers, by Scott Snyder and Tula Lotay (Comixology Originals)

Behind the Curtain, by Sara del Giudice, translation by M. B. Valente (Europe Comics)

Ripple Effects, by Jordan Hart, Bruno Chiroleu, Justin Harder, and Shane Kadlecik (Fanbase Press)

Sixty Years in Winter, by Ingrid Chabbert and Aimée de Jongh, translation by Matt Madden (Europe Comics)

[brookston]

Holidays 7.11

Holidays

Advice to the Lovelorn Day

Bean Day (French Republic)

Beh Deinkhlan (Meghalaya, India)

Bowdler's Day

Celebration of the Golden Spurs (Flanders)

Convenience Store Day

Cow Appreciation Day

Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina)

Day of the Fire Fighter (Mexico)

Day of the Five Billion (1987)

Drummer Appreciation Day

Duel Day

Eleventh Night (Bonfire Night; Northern Ireland)

Flemish Community Day (Belgium)

International EcoBrick Day

International Essential Oils Day

International Richard Cheese Day

Ker Puja (Tripura, India)

Maritime Day (China)

Naadam (Mongolia)

National All American Pet Photo Day

National Cheer Up the Lonely Day

National Culture and Senior Citizens Day (Kiribati)

National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide by Ukrainian Nationalists on Citizens of the Second Republic of Poland (Poland)

National Essential Oils Day

National Journalist Day (Chile)

National Maritime Day (China)

National Polyphenol Day

National Recovery Day

National 7-Eleven Day

National Swimming Pool Day

Orangeman’s Day (Canada)

Reading Guilt Day

Relisha Rudd Remembrance Day (DC)

Robert the Bruce Day (Scotland)

711 Day

Straw Free Day (Colorado)

Swimming Pool Day

To Kill A Mockingbird Day

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day

World Fringe Day

World Independent Living Day

World Massage Day

World Population Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Blueberry Muffin Day

Free Slurpee Day (7-11 Stores)

Hot Dog Night (Luverne, Minnesota)

International Raw Food Day

Make Your Own Sundae Day

National Mojito Day

National Rainier Cherry Day

National State Fair Food Day

Ramen Day (Japan)

Vegetarian Food Day

World Chocolate Day (Russia)

2nd Tuesday in July

Alpenfest begins (Gaylord, Missouri) [2nd Tuesday thru Saturday]

Carnival Tuesday (Saint Vincent and Grenadines) [2nd Tuesday]

Cow Appreciation Day [2nd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Mongolia (from China, 1921)

Polarveinn (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Benedict of Nursia (Christian; Saint)

Drostan of Dalcongaile (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Min (Ancient Egyptian harvest & fertility festival)

Feast of Theano (patron of vegetarianism)

Guru Rinpoche Day (Bhutan)

Imamat Day (Nizari Ismaili Shiʿi Muslims)

James, Bishop of Nisibis (Christian; Saint)

James McNeill Whistler (Artology)

Hidulphus (Christian; Saint)

Naadam begins (Three Games of Men Festival; Mongolia) [thru 7.15]

Next Generation Captain (Muppetism)

Olga of Kiev (Christian; Saint)

Pancho Villa Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Pius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Solstitium VII (Pagan)

St. Stephen of Hungary (Positivist; Saint)

World Population Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Alphas (TV Series; 2011)

Beechwood 4-5789, by The Marvelettes (Song; 1962)

Boyhood (Film; 2014)

Contact (Film; 1997)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Film; 2014)

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Animated Film; 2001)

Fleetwood Mac, by Fleetwood Mac (Album; 1975)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (US Film; 2007) [#5]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Film; 2008)

Honky Tonk Women, by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1969)

Jesus Christ Superstar (Musical Play; 1971) [1st Stage Performance]

Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa (Novel; 1939)

My Bodyguard (Film; 1980)

The Newlywed Game (Game Show; 1967)

Orange Is the New Black (TV Series; 2013)

Porky’s Pet (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

School for Scoundrels (Film; 1960)

Shall We Dance? (Film; 1997)

Sharknado (Film; 2013)

Snowpiercer (Film; 2014)

Sorry Not Sorry, by Demi Lovato (Song; 2014)

Space Oddity, by David Bowie (Song; 1969)

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (Novel; 1960)

Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh (Novel; 1993)

Wild Over You (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Today’s Name Days

Benedikt, Olga, Oliver (Austria)

Oleg, Olga (Bulgariaa)

Benedikt, Dobroslav, Olga (Croatia)

Olga (Czech Republic)

Josva (Denmark)

Asko, Askur (Estonia)

Eleonoora, Elli, Nelli, Noora (Finland)

Benoît, Olga, Yolande (France)

Benedikt (Germany)

Evfemia, Evfimia, Olga (Greece)

Lili, Nóra (Hungary)

Benedetto, Emanuele, Fabrizio, Olga (Italy)

Leonora, Lore, Svens, Varaidotis (Latvia)

Kipras, Kiprijonas, Pijus, Šarūnė, Vilmantas (Lithuania)

Kjell, Kjetil (Norway)

Benedykt, Cyprian, Kalina, Kallina, Kir, Olga, Pelagia, Pelagiusz, Pius, Placyd, Sawin, Wyszesława (Poland)

Eufimia (Romania)

Milota (Slovakia)

Benito, Olga (Spain)

Eleonora, Ellinor (Sweden)

Lusia, Olha, Olusia, Olia (Ukraine)

Alvia, Helga, Livia, Olga, Olive, Ollie, Oliver, Olivia, Quentin, Quincy, Quinn, Quintina, Quinton (USA)

Benoît, Alenka, Olga, Olya (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 192 of 2024; 173 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 28 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 2 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 24 (Geng-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 22 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 22 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 12 Lux; Fiveday [12 of 30]

Julian: 28 June 2023

Moon: 32%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 24 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Stephen of Hungary]

Runic Half Month: Feoh (Wealth) [Day 13 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 21 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 21 of 31)

[damonkowarsky]

33RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SMALL PRINT SHOW & HOLIDAY SALE December 3-4, 2022 through January 31, 2023 Special Preview Showing:  Friday, December 2nd, 12 - 5pm  Grand Opening Party: Saturday & Sunday, December 3rd & 4th, 11am - 7pm Extended Gallery Hours: Tuesdays - Sundays, December 6 - 21, 12 - 5pm SHOP LATE LINCOLN SQUARE event - Thursday, December 8 & 15, 5-8pm Regular Gallery Hours: Friday & Saturday, 12-5 or by appointment Artists include Grazvyda Andrijauskaite (Lithuania), Joanna Anos, Atlan Arcea-Witzl, Hiroshi Ariyama, Colleen Aufderheide, Coco Berkman, Matt Bodett, George Bodmer, Liz Born, Eric Bremer, Bright (Thailand), Margaret Buchen, Karen Butler, Corinna Button (UK), Sanchai Chaiyanan (Thailand), Jill Chittenden, Temjai Cholsiri (Thailand), Elke Claus, Jeanine Coupe-Ryding, Cathie Crawford, Alberto Cruz (Mexico), L J Douglas, Tony Fitzpatrick, Dianne Fogwell (Australia), Christine Gendre-Bergere (France), Bryn Gleason, Susan Hall, Anna Hasseltine, Eric Hoffman, Mirka Hokkanen, Carrie Iverson, Teresa James, Eric Johnson, Srijai Kantawang (Thailand), Melissa Keller, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Jon Keown, Scott Kiefer, Mel Kolstad, Damon Kowarsky (Australia), Shin Koyama (Japan), Jill Kramer, Tyler Krasowski, Karen Kunc, Ammarin Kuntawong (Thailand), Deborah Maris Lader, Kim Laurel, Carrie Lingscheit, Amornthep Mahamaet (Thailand), Dave Martin, Maddie May, Michelle McCoy, Hannah McMaster, Bert Menco, Andrew Mullally, Maria Mungai, Ali Norman, Kumi Obata (Japan), Duffy O’Connor, Dennis O’Malley, Mary O'Shaughnessy, Painted Tongue Press, Sage Perrott, Nick Phan, Puridon Pimsan (Thailand), Steve Prince, Nicole Purdie (UK), Jaco Putker (Netherlands), Artemio Rodriguez (Mexico), Ishbel Rodriguez, Jay Ryan, Genevieve Sachs, Justin Santora, Jeff Sippel, Yuttana Sittikan (Thailand), CHema Skandal!, Jack Spector-Bishop, Sarah Smelser, Starshaped Press, Raychel Steinbach, Megan Sterling, Jerawit Surtsit (Thailand), Narit Tananon (Thailand), Sanon Tempiem (Thailand), Octavia Thorns, Kitikong Tilokwattanotai (Thailand), Stephanie Toral, Thuong Tran, Kouki Tsuritani (Japan), Nicola Villa (Italy), Suttipong Vongson (Thailand), Carl Voss, and others. (at Chicago Printmakers Collaborative) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClpvjMEhR00/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[andronetalks]

Joseph Goebbels’ unwanted lakeside villa set to be given away for free

Yahoo News – The Telegraph UK By James RothwellFri, May 3, 2024 at 11:18 AM EDT German officials have offered to give away the former holiday home of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, for free, after struggling for decades to find a buyer for it. Stefan Evers, the finance senator for the state of Berlin, announced on Thursday that he was ready to give the dilapidated estate to “anyone” who…

[ctimcaribbean]

Holiday Rentals in Barbados Barbados, located in the eastern Caribbean, is renowned for its turquoise waters, lush landscapes, and friendly locals. It's no wonder that thousands of tourists flock to this island paradise each year to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. One of the best ways to experience the beauty of Barbados is by staying in a holiday rental. https://ctimcaribbean.com/properties/fairway-villa-3-for-rent-apes-hill-st-james-barbados/

[ministryofvillas]

When it comes to epic Jamaican holiday escapes, this estate is second to none. Located on the heavenly shores of Jamaica, this is the very spot where Ian Fleming penned his James Bond novels and brought the world’s most famous secret agent to life. The lavish estate offers something for everyone, with opulent villas and extravagant cottages ranging from intimate one to three bedroom retreats. 🔗 Link in bio for more details. #jamaicanvillas #jamaicanescape #explorejamaica #ianflemming #cottagesinjamaica #travelgram #ministryofvillas https://instagr.am/p/Cu3YHRHLoTN/