#Jigsaw could be more British

[deafeningfanlight23]

SOLAR AND RUIN HEADCANONS THAT ARE LONGER THAN THE BIBLE! :D

IMPORTANT: I CALL RUIN/JIGSAW DOLUS BTW SO DON'T BE CONFUSED- QWQ

Solar:

(I SWEAR IT LOOKS BETTER IN REAL LIFE TRUST ME THE QUALITY OF MY PHONE IS JUST STRAIGHT FROM THE 99 CENT STORE- 😭🙏)

Solar is Romanian (WHERE MY ROMANIAN PEOPLE AT? >:D And don't question the logic of my headcanons MY HEADCANONS, MY RULES >:D). Solar can speak fluently German, Romanian of course, and a bit of French and Portuguese.

Solar is gender-apathetic and could care LESS about gender and pronouns. Solar still dresses more masculine though because he simply likes it.

He's gay and somewhere on the ace-spectrum :D (HE'S OUR ICON I TELL U 💅)

Solar has chronic migraines and backpain and they just get worsened by his AWFUL posture habits. He always takes medications for those, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to function properly in life. Sometimes, however, he overuses them and goes overboard. Sometimes TOO much overboard. (I SWEAR TO Y'ALL IF YOU QUESTION THE LOGIC OF THE MEDICATION THINGY I'M GONNA MAKE YOU EXPLODE LIKE LUNAR 😃)

His rays aren’t usable anymore. They are fully broken, and two tips of the seven couldn’t be patched up, while the two others were able to be a bit restored by fixing the ends through another, mismatched metal. HIS Moon used to always grab and tug at them as punishment, and unconsciously, he sometimes repeats those actions inflicted upon him by lightly pulling at them when he is stressed or dissociating. He doesn’t allow anyone to touch his rays. NO ONE. (... OUR TRAUMATIZED QUEEN 💃✨ BUT LIKE HE GOING THRU IT FR 😭🙏)

He is an insomniac and a workaholic with a non-existent sleep schedule. He’s got no free time to rewind and relax and doesn’t ALLOW himself to do so, only fueled by coffee and medication.

However, he finds comfort in Dolus (AKA RUIN) and whenever he spends all of his time to hang out with him. He loves those musical numbers Dolus always persuades him into, and although he looks like he is annoyed at first, it’s a big joy for him.

Apropos Dolus, Dolus gifted him a shark keychain which is now securely hanging from Solar’s belt every day. (See picture above :D) Solar uses this as a stress toy because its soft, squishy texture and wool underneath makes it perfect for it.

He often vapes when no one's looking. That's why his voice is so raspy (and from the screaming)

Dolus (aka Ruin/Jigsaw):

DOLUS IS BRITISH, MATE, NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE, MIC DROP 👏 He can only speak English in a British accent and the most broken French known to mankind.

He is genderfluid and sometimes feels like a man and sometimes just non-binary :D His preferred pronouns are he/they.

He is Achillean and somewhere on the ace-spectrum too!

Dolus has a passion for musicals and the theatre. He knows every song of the Hamilton Musical in and out and has watched “The Greatest Showman” over a dozen of times and loves EVERY song of it. Every day, one can catch him humming a song from his favorite musical and dancing a bit to them. In addition, he LOVES to perform those musicals, and he involves Solar in them. Basically: He is a theater kid.

He also has a REALLY big obsession with sharks and even has a full-body shark suit for sleeping and a few shark plushies, which is why he loves the nickname “Sharky” so much.

A big scar is stretched across his face and covers up his right eye, coming from a fire incident where he was trapped underneath ashes, flames and wood. His right eye is still usable, but not as strong as his left in terms of eyesight.

He also has weak joints and can’t endure any sort of pressure for a long time, which is why he has to take sitting and laying breaks and has to do some physical exercises. It's annoying and prevents him from doing some things, but this won't stop him doing things he LOVES. He can’t run properly because of this, walk for a long time and stand more than necessary. Solar sometimes helps Dolus sit when Dolus needs a sitting break or helps him walk when there's no other option. Dolus feels bad about that.

He doesn’t like travel and moving vehicles, as well as bright lights.

THANKS FOR LISTENING, TUNG (=Bye)! :D

[o0anapher0o]

Since we are between the years and everybody is recovering from the first celebration and gearing up for the next I thought I’d share some of the highlights (and low points) of this year’s tenure as a gift wrapping elf for your entertainment. (anyone who works in a bookshop year round might think ‘hey, this is just Tuesday’ but I only do this one month a year so I can still appreciate the insanity)

Someone asked to have a book about Lagerfeld wrapped in the gaudiest gold and red paper, decorated with a ribbon in a different shade of gold. (I just love how much he would have hated it, especially with a relatively elegant black and gold paper available)

“Asking for a friend (for Taylor Swift merch)” (someone irl used those actual words to me. I didn’t think people really did that)

The old lady that emphatically explained to me that British colonialism in India was bad actually. (actually she said it was worse than the Nazis which, no matter if I think she’s right or wrong, is certainly A Take. To have. For an old 68er.)

“What kind of wrapping paper would you recommend for someone you don’t like but society dictates you get them a gift?”

“Why do all the middle aged gay couples come to me?” My gnc co-worker with multicoloured hair, multiple visible piercings and tattoos, and an MCR t-shirt. No idea, mate.

The number of people who tell you to put everything in one parcel because it’s for kids, they don’t care (Right, no kid has ever cared about getting many, many, many gifts instead of one that looks like someone sat on it. None. Ever.)

“Do you have those pillows in a size for kids?” (ma'am, I still resent the fact that we have pillows at all.)

“I only come here for the ribbons.” (They are pretty neat tbf)

The guy who walked through the shop stroking a book like a kitten. Like a Bond villain strokes a kitten to be precise.

The couple who made it a competition who could find the smutty book they were giving to their mutual friend first. (They were an absolute delight and tipped well.)

“Is the date on the price tag the date on which the book was printed?” (I’m pretty sure it’s the date the price tag was printed, but also, why does it matter? It’s a book. It won’t go bad.)

“Do you have any device I could use to listen to your audio books in bed, that’s more convenient than my laptop?” Cue me trying to explain that all our audio books in the shop are on CD and we’re not exactly a tech store. That one’s half a block down the road.

Similarly the couple that came in, mug of steaming mulled whine in hand, and asked if we sell phone chargers.

“The registers are a bit unorganised today, aren’t they.” (Overrun. The word you’re looking for, Sir, is overrun. It’s Saturday two weeks before Christmas and people who have lived their entire lives in society do not understand the concept of queuing)

“Do you have any books by this author, name something like Agatha Christie?” (Jail. Jail for a thousand years.)

“Is this jigsaw [big puzzle and board game brand] quality?” (I don’t even know what that means? How do you measure the quality of a jigsaw puzzle? And why would you look for quality jigsaws in a book store instead of the game and toy store next door?)

The woman we had to politely convince that the book she got from the fantasy romance section is probably not suitable for her 12 year old daughter, yes even though she likes romance. (Cue internal yelling ‘It is smut, woman!’)

“I’m looking for a book for my son,” points at a ca 14 year old boy. “Do you have anything like Don Quixote?” (I know he was looking for slapstick adventure, but the lit major in me was still going ‘you’re looking for something that compares to a 16th century satire that we tend to consider the first European novel that is actually surprisingly poignant and modern in many ways?’)

The woman who told me to use the gold wrapping paper because the gift was for her mother who hates red. When I assumed she then also didn’t want the red ribbon I usually use with the gold paper she said “Oh, no, use it. We have to torture her a little bit.”

“Do you have any of these books?” produces a four page printed list, like it isn’t a week until Christmas and the store is bursting with customers.

“I’m looking for [specific braded game name]” I point them out to her. “No, but I’m looking for the ones by [name of game company that very much doesn’t produce that game or any like them]”

“Do you know a game called Jenga?” (I thought she might know it under a different name so I described it to her. She still had never heard of it.)

The teenage boy who walked through the store for about half an hour loudly dictating an entire research paper about Dürrenmatt into his phone.

‘Let’s have the Torah in the paper with Merry Christmas written on it and the Tolkien in the plain black and gold one.” (yes, there can be a million reasons to give someone a Torah for Christmas, but I maintain that A Choice was made here.)

[midnightpulses]

Got tagged in this question game by @itsintrovertedpotato 💜

Its a lot more questions than i thought. Was fun though

1. Do you make your own bed: Once in a blue moon. Usually i dont have the time or the will to do it. I do think i should do it more.

2. What's your favorite number: None. Maybe 14, i dont know.

3. Current job: Software developer i guess

4. If you could go back to school would you: Elementary? No. High school? The older i am the more i think i do. Especially the latter years.

5. Can you parallel park: I could on my drivers' exam. Havent tried since.

6. A job you had that would surprise people: Fry cook. I think thats how you would call it, i was making and selling fried street food as part of a restaurant.

7. Do you think aliens are real: Yes. Dont know how advanced but definitely real.

8. Can you drive a manual car: Same as parallel parking. Although i have tried since but i find it too stressful.

9. Guilty pleasure: None that i can think of, that i actually feel guilty for.

10. Tattoos: I currently have the Necron ankh of the Triarch from Warhammer 40k on my right forearm and the razor logo from Judas Priest's British Steel album on my left shoulder. I do plan to add more things at one point. My next tattoo would probably be High Queen Khalida from Warhammer Fantasy.

11. Favorite color: Purple and Green. Both in some more muted, or deep variants

12. Favorite music genre: Metal in most of its forms, mostly Death and Doom/Sludge. But currently my obsession is 90s/00s jungle/breakcore/DnB... And french disco pop (L'Imperatrice)

13. Do you like puzzles: Like jigsaws? I did as a kid, nowadays it depends on the day. But puzzles in general yes.

14. Phobias: Caves(underground in general) Heights.

15. Favorite childhood sport: Motorsports in general, but especially rallying, f1, and endurance racing. For someone that doesnt like to drive im really into cars.

16. Do you talk to yourself: Small comments sometimes but not like actual conversations. At least not out loud.

17. Favorite movies: Oh i can go on for days. But i think Reservoir Dogs, Dirty Harry, The Godfather pt. 2, Mad Max: Fury Road, The LotR trilogy, Se7en, Hercules (1995 disney one), Howl's Moving Castle, Redline, The Dollars trilogy, Pink Panther (at least the Peter Sellers ones), all Leslie Nielsen comedies, The Land Before Time, and so on

18. Coffee or tea: Tea, 80% of the time.

19. First thing you wanted to be when you grow up: A geographer/explorer/historian mix, or an astronaut.

A lot of the people i would like to tag are either inactive or deactivated. Or i just dont talk to them and it would make me feel awkward. So i wont be taggin.

[fnaffersblog]

Spoilers Below for ‘Moon RETURNS!? in VRCHAT’

The third one. From June 27th 2023. 

Trigger Warnings Below for: Cursing

I was wondering earlier today how Moon was doing dealing with Lord Monty and Nice Eclipse for a month. I wonder if he’s done any bonding w Nice Eclipse. I’m sure he’s ready to get home. I’m sure Sun’s missin him a lot, but I wonder how receptive he'll be to Sun jumping all about him in excitement.

I love that Lord Monty, despite wielding one of if not the most powerful object in his universe, is seen as like an annoying nuisance at most by the people who are in his universe.

On one hand I see where Eclipse is coming from here in regards to the speed the satellite was built. It's good to be cautious, especially with something so important and I imagine they spent the last month meticulously building this thing.

On the other hand, they're genius super computer animatronics being supported by actual genius super computer AI's. Lol.

"Not to mention I still gotta deal with the amalgam." Uh. Oh. Hm. Moon. Buddy. I got some news for you.

I KNEW that was gonna be a fuckin problem lololololol

Like, I KNOW Jigsaw was never gonna STAY in the arcade room but come on, you know? They really just left him there and went *dusting off hands* 'Job completed! That's a problem for future SaMs!' I'm laughing about it.

The satellite was the easy part. I'm super interested to see how they solve the infinitely more difficult issue of getting Eclipse into this dimension.

I'm... actually a little afraid they're gonna actually kill Eclipse again. Turns out I'm still not ready for it.

"More British man?" NO. NO. MOON. GET OUT OF THERE. LEAVE. PLEASE, BEFORE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The utter look of betrayal on Eclipses's fuckin face as Moon fingergunned his way backwards into the portal. I'm wheezing.

UNS IS THWOORNG BARELLLS??? WHAT??

By God he really was losing his mind with out Moon.

He's so excited! He's so excited! I'm so excited!

Sun told Moon he was gonna be pissed and Moon's immediate assumption was Sun thought he'd be mad because he wasn't taking care of himself.

"I assumed that was gonna happen." >:} Oh did you? /j

Bonus: Sun trying to ease Moon into the conversation about how he went off to do some questioning in regards to the whole 'taking care of Eclipse' situation on his own. Making excuses for why he did what he did. Making it sound like it was just a passing silly curiosity tee hee! Awkwardly laughing to try and ease tensions. He assumed Moon would be mad that he did all that.

NEWTON STAR LORE *POUNDING MY FISTS ON THE DESK* LET'S GO.

Okay. So we're getting contrasting information about the star here. I was under the impression the star was a mix between a magical and a technological object which is what made it so powerful. Golden Freddy said it's base was a magical artifact and now Moon is saying it's a piece of technology. Science, not magic. I wouldn't be surprised if the exact nature of the Star was part of the information lost when Old Moon reset.

I do remember there being something said at some point about how there can only be one Star per universe. I swear. There are just SO many lore episodes trying to find one line in several hours worth of footage is nigh impossible. But it sounds like, as of now, they COULD make a new star, it's possible. It's just that THEY, Sun and Moon can't because they don't have the blueprints or whatever because Old Moon deleted them.

It kinda sounds like they're just as confused about Newton Star lore as we are which is very funny. (Moon's shrug. LOL)

Don't misunderstand me! I Fucking Love The Newton Star Shit. They keep making shit up for it and then not giving a fuck. I get very excited every time they mention the NEwton Star.

Newton Star lore boils down to 'do whatever you want forever'. Facts about the Newton Star are concrete all the way up until they aren't. Shrodinger's Newton Star Lore.

On one hand, I think it's very funny that everyone keeps making fun of Eclipse for putting on a very see-through villain persona. Puppet, Sun, Moon, all of them keep pointing out his façade and making fun of him.

On the other hand. Remember that time he trapped Moon in his own body and made any action taken by his possesor cause him terrible pain, dragging Moon clawing back into one of his worst traumas? Remember when he blew up Lunar in cold blood? Like, yes, I agree. Eclipse is kind of pathetic. Eclipse Baby. But I do think they shouldn't be so flippant about him. Eclipse IS capable of doing heinous shit and he's done so before. Like. He's not STUPID.

On the other other hand, the idea that they could just use gun or trick him into getting pushed into the ballpit a la sharptooth from land before time style to defeat Eclipse is terribly funny. Especially if they did so while he was evil dude monologuing.

Sun is really just trying to help here. That doesn't make Moon's silent pantomime of 'bruh' any less funny. That whole silent interaction was great.

On a less funny note, I do appreciate Moon allowing Sun to talk and not straight up calling his ideas stupid. Like, yeah the 'pushin' Eclipse into the pit with a bit of elbow grease' idea was not the best, but it came from a place of sincerity. And when Sun suggested 'Rick Sanchez's portal gun', regardless of Sun's incredulous manner when suggesting it, Moon took that as an ACTUAL idea.

THE AI'S ARE FIGHTING. The SHADE being thrown.

It never occurred to me that they might DISLIKE one another. I always just assumed they were friends, or at the very least they got along since they inhabited the same arcade machine together and both of them 'work' for Moon. AI1 immediately turning on Moon when he got snarky with him. I keep replaying this entire interaction, it's very funny.

Also, Moon refers to the AI's as brothers. I just... thought that was interesting.

"That was the other me. This is the new me." Hmmmmm.

"I don't trust you now."

"WHAT?" Hmmmm??

This right here, Moon allowing Sun to talk about what he was doing instead of just shooting ideas down. Telling him that he recognizes Sun is trying to help, recognizing the effort Sun is putting into this mission. Saying straight out that they'll try and figure things out together. This was so important to me.

Sun ASKED Moon 'Can I say my thing?' and Moon immediately paused, gave the mic to him. And then he LISTENED. ACTIVELY LISTENED.

*Insert Deltarune Explosion mp3*

"Why are we Fallout 4-ing this?"

"He's a God." Lol.

New Moon gettin' reeeeeal stressed out by everything going on right now + Old Moon's shit. He sounded so annoyed when he said 'I can learn'. He's got so much shit on his shoulders. I hope once all this is over, he gets a moment to sit down and sift through all this shit, with Old Moon and his current life and situation.

Sun making a suggestion about Killcode and Moon giving him the floor to speak his part again. It's making my heart hurt. It's so important to me that Sun gets to SPEAK.

"98.5% accur-"

"95%. That's pretty good."

... "98.5%" *Simulates clearing their throat* "This is why you never listen to me."

"I'm sorry. I was talking!"

And then AI2, not one to pass up on an opportunity to both dunk on Sun and show up AI1 pops in to sass Sun. Wonderful.

Fucking love the banter by god. Have I

HAVE I

HAVE I EVER MENTIONED

HAVE I EVER SAID ALOUD FOR THE MASSES TO PERCIEVE

THAT I ENJOY THIS SHOW?

Have I said that yet?

Sometimes I just feel the need to repeat that.

Lol

Anyways

Haven't heard a bald joke in awhile.

Moon threatening to hit Sun as a joke, and Sun holding up his hand. You can't fucking hide that from me. I saw that shit. I SAW that shit.

I always assumed KC went off to explore the wilds for some reason. Like, became a full time hiker. It never occurred to me he might go get a job. I love the idea that he went for volunteer work.

AI1 suggesting, unprompted, that Moon be the one to go and see Killcode. Their reason is sound, yes. But that was weird.

OH.

SHIT.

BIGGEST FUCKING PLOT TWIST OF THE EPISODE!

I

Wow ok.

This is HUGE. This is MASSIVe. I don't

I can't

This show makes my jaw drop sometimes. Irl. Because something'll happen and it'll just take me so by surprise I go fully Looney Tunes jaw-on-the-floor. Like, Moon and Lunars deaths and the fucking trapping episodes did it...

MOON GRANTING FULL ADMIN ACCESS TO SUN IS HUGE.

And... Like. There was no fucking

There was no fucking SNARK. Moon didn't groan and go 'I'm gonna regret this aren't I?' which I can

like, I can HEAR him mumbling some shit like that under his breath before.

the annoyed sigh was because AI1 questioned the decision not because of Sun

He paused to consider his options and came to the conclusion that the best solution to this problem was to LET SUN HELP.

I'm having so many thoughts. Oh MY God.

Moon not knowing the code/ caring enough to break a previous set protocol for the gun but knowing the code to grant Sun admin access.

I

yeh.

I watched it a second time. I might cry. Jesus Christ.

It really just was a 'Oh this'll help Sun!' decision. Even Sun was dumbfounded. He really did just go 'here's some extra tools for your disposal' he's so casual about it he WANTS Sun to help him im

I'm having a hard time trying to describe why this was so important because I'm getting emotional over it fuck

Moving on. I'll

Get to that in the future

I think this is the second time it's been insinuated that Sun is the best candidate to find Eclipse because of their shared history. Golden Freddy kinda touched on it in his own cryptic way and now Moon's suggesting the same thing. I saw someone else on here point that out.

Moon's excitement as he's running out the door. "We're gonna do a video later! Go ahead and pick a game! :D "

Sweet. Welcome back Moon, u were missed.

Unprompted, recommending a game again. It's a horror game, a Garten fan game.

I'm trying to tell if it's Eclipse pretending to be AI1 again, which would skew my perspective on the previous interactions in the episode. But I'm also wondering if this is AI1... caring about Sun?

We haven't lost the snark towards Sun lol.

I'm gonna have to go back to that one episode where Sun breaks Moon's computer and listen to what AI1 sounded like because there WAS a subtle difference, to hint that it was Eclipse, that I didn't pick up on until I went back and watched the episodes again later, after everything happened with Killcodes resurgence and the truth of that whole situation being revealed.

He's done this before. Did Old Moon ever tell Sun about that? That that happened? Probably not knowing what I know about Old Moon. So most likely, neither of them have any reason to suspect Eclipse can do that even though he's done it before. We still don't know what his 'false hope' plan is, but now that I'm thinking about it this could be exactly what's happening here.

[evilestgentleman]

could you tell us some unexpected submissions?

I had different Team Fortress 2 characters submitted, all of which shook me until I remembered that TF2 has Lore

England Hetalia JUMPSCARED me and every friend who I've told about that submission (but reading "B...Br-... British Empire..." as a reason had me howling)

As someone who's only culturally familiar w the Saw franchise, seeing Jigsaw in the spreadsheet always makes me go "Oh what? Huh?"

Luxord Kingdomhearts was Totally Out There for me cause to me he's more like, Cool Older Gay who you don't know but who buys you a drink and listens to you chat and gives you some honest advice w no expectations? But like, I Get It the more I think about it sorry I'm rambling so much but I AM the person who did a 3 hour long KH powerpoint xxxxx

[samobservessonic]

Stringer is taking the lead story this time and giving us another oneshot, this time with Casanova's incredibly detailed art back in the mix. I do love these backgrounds - they look like they’d be at home on one of those fantasy jigsaw puzzles you’d get back in the 90s. Or maybe those aren’t as common as I think they are. Regardless, that’s what it makes me think of

It also looks as if Amy’s been left at home for some reason (Booo!) and we’re getting a boys’ day out. I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, but I do like that Johnny is taller than the other characters, as it makes him stand out a bit more. I think that even if I was adapting the StC characters to modern Sonic designs, I’d still picture Johnny as being taller than the others. Probably more like Vanilla and Vector’s height?

Anyway, I’m getting distracted. We join our guys as they head to somewhere that’s simply called The Frozen Zone (I guess they couldn’t use Icecap, since that’s on the Floating Island), which they’ve heard needs some assistance from Robotnik. Poor Tails is so cold that he wants faux fur on top of his real fur, but Sonic is having none of that

Dr. Quack from the Archie Comics severely regretting booking his holiday to the Pleasant Zone right now

Turns out they were frozen by this robot and not to be a hater, but I’m not really digging this generic robot design. I think what StC is missing at this stage is more larger robot designs in the games (that aren't piloted by Robotnik) to pull from. Because they do keep using these sort of level boss robot characters a lot and if they’d had more game designs to use in this role I think it’d be a bit more interesting than some of the ones we’ve had so far

Anyway, robot’s gone now. So, I guess not actually the antagonist of this story, since we’re only four pages in

Sonic is indeed too smart to believe that’s it, so the three of them head off to find a way to rescue both the residents of this zone and also Johnny, who once again has the bad luck of not getting his time to shine in this issue. Y’know, for all I’ve heard people think of Porker as the coward (which imo is a misunderstanding of his trauma, but that’s getting off-topic), he really is the one on the front line with Sonic a lot. Probably because they need him as the genius character that Tails isn’t established as yet, but still

I think I’ve scrolled past this guy on the Sonic wiki before. Anyway, he’s the actual villain and he has a lot more of those robots. He makes no bones about how you can guess where he’s going with a name like The Chiller

That’s Porker and Tails out

Sonic’s right, might as well get this over with

Sonic has about as much patience for this guy as I do. Though I am amused at the very British temperature scale in the background

Then again, maybe this guy was ahead of his time and could help us with global warming?

Oh look, the “It’s a fair cop, Guv’nor, etc!” panel that people use to bring up how British StC is. I mean, they’re not wrong about that

Now Sonic is literally saying that this guy is a bad villain and could use his skills to help people instead, which the Chiller instantly agrees with. I know I spent the last few pages ragging on this guy, but I do think it’s funny that the story acknowledged he was a pretty terrible villain of the week and came up with a funny solution for that

Which leaves us with a happy ending, as our heroes leave this zone to celebrate. I guess you could say this is the first proper story with the Freedom Fighters being on the run, since the last issue seemed to belong earlier in the timeline than it appeared. This is a perfectly serviceable oneshot story without needing to be more than that, but I already feel like I’m ready for them to dive back into bigger stories

[lovesoakedd]

okay i finished it

i don't even feel scared. i just feel sad and numb, i literally am on the verge of tears 🙂

that man's british accent was ACHINGGGG to come out. especially when he would scream -- it just sounded so posh, and all i could think was that they should've just let him keep his accent bc i can feel his struggle 😭

the plot twist at the end?? with the guy on the floor??? i was stunned, i wasn't expecting that. but, it was so satisfying, though, since the initial revelation of who it was (or who we thought it was) felt a bit too early for me.

i do think it's an interesting backstory they set for jigsaw -- definitely stirs about the questions of someone playing god, evoking morals that aren't his place to be enforcing into people, etc. it's a lot like that one black mirror episode that virtually fucked up every watcher.

i do like that we really got to sit with the tragedy of what was happening. not because i enjoyed it LMAO but, because it's like the movie funny games -- it portrays the reality of a situation this tragic and therefore, makes you feel all the more impacted by it. it forces you to sit with the process and the gruelling aftermath with all the tears and devastation. rather than the usual brief, quickly cut portrayals of tragedy that often don't sit in it long enough to make you feel truly unsettled. like, the scene with the two of them embracing and adam begging for larry to not leave OHHHH i'm so unwell, i found that fucking devastating, you can feel the misery and horror from both of them, as well as the attachment they now share.

anyways. between this and season two episode eight of yellowjackets, i'm emotionally tuckered out 😃 time to eep w a pit in my tummy haahahaa....

is watching saw when trying to nap a good idea

[astranva]

Sunny Sandwiches

Word Count: +600

Category: Pure fluff

Warning: Nothing

Summary: Sweet Stems!Deaf!Harry and Y/N enjoying a day out while being sickingly in love.

Italics are British Sign Language. x

..

Harry was a goner. 

By the way his heart was thumping, and by the clammy palms and butterfly-sheltering stomach, he knew he’d fallen in love with you again and again and as much time passed.

His lips were set in a smile, eyes on your lips as you enunciated the words you signed to him, telling him about your day at work.

“Huge project,” you signed and talked.

Harry watched you bite your lip–in fact, Harry watched you bite the left side of your bottom lip and begin to tap lightly on your thigh, and he knew you were finding difficulty with signing a word. 

Your eyes looked up at the sky in thought as you both were sat outside, on top of a red checkered blanket, trying to remember if you knew how to sign the word “project”.

Harry tapped your hand, gaining your attention before signing, “Write it for me.”

You let out a small breath, looking at him with a smile at how he understood you. 

So you did. You unlocked your phone and opened your notes, writing the 7-lettered word for him. 

“Projeht,” he breathed out in a mumble before looking at you and signing the word carefully.

You mimicked him twice, looking at him to make sure you got it right.

Harry nodded, moving closer to you to bring you to his side in a hug, placing a kiss on your head. 

Still in his arms, you looked up at him with a smile, taking him in. Feeling your eyes on him, Harry looked down at you with a smile that mirrored your own. Your skin glowed under the sun, green grass complimenting the scenery as if you were a vision out of a dream.

“I love you,” you said, knowing that he could read your lips.

He hummed, leaning down to place his soft lips against yours in a gentle, momentary kiss that had your skin feeling hot and your stomach to flutter with butterflies. 

“I love you,” he mouthed, eyes set on your lips before he pressed his on them again.

Your hand moved to his face, softly caressing his warm skin before your thumb grazed his cheek. 

He wanted nothing more in his life.

You were in his arms, intertwined together like two jigsaw pieces of a puzzle you both didn’t care to step back and observe as long as you stuck together. You were outside, surrounded by all the grass and flowers that he could name one by one and nerd out to, fully knowing that you would be interested in all that he had to sign and say.

He watched you that day. He watched you give him the sandwich you had prepared for him, absentmindedly putting your hand under his chin as you let him take a bite from yours. 

He watched you take a deep breath in with a grin on your glowing face, and he felt funny at how he just knew that it meant you had something exciting to share.

“I have four days off next week,” you shared with a grin.

Harry’s eyes widened and his face lit up with a gasp as you nodded eagerly at him.

“Means I’m going to see your beautiful face more,” he signed, chuckling when he watched you get bashful as you gave a shrug and avoided his eyes, biting the right side of your bottom lip slightly. His thumb grazed your bottom lip for a short moment before giving you a soft kiss. 

“Harry,” you called before pecking his lips and pulling away slightly, “Are you going to eat your sandwich?”

[scotianostra]

On December 30th 1969 two police officers died of bullet wounds during a raid on a house in Allison Street, Glasgow; a third was wounded.

Police in Glasgow still remember the murder of two officers, when one of their ex colleagues was spotted with a suspicious package after robbing a bank in Linwood. The horrifying case was led by an ex police officer, who was in jail until 2002.

Shortly after 4pm two officers were shot dead by a man seen acting suspiciously outside a flat in Govanhill on the south side of the city. Their suspect had just taken part in an armed robbery and was carrying the proceeds into the Allison Street tenement in suitcases.

When the two cops followed their man into the ground floor apartment, unaware of the earlier hold-up, he pulled out a gun and shot them dead. The double murder was all the more shocking because it was carried out by a former police officer and colleagu

A few hours later Howard Wilson, married with a young family, was sitting in his police cell in nearby Craigie Street Police Office confessing both murders to his bewildered lawyer Joe Beltrami.

Nineteen years later in his memoir Tales of the Suspected, Beltrami wrote: “As I listened to him. I kept asking myself what could have possessed him.

“He looked more like a businessman than a criminal.”

Wilson had quit the City of Glasgow police in 1968 after 10 years’ service when he failed to get promotion to sergeant.

Instead he opened a greengrocers, The Orchard in nearby Mount Florida. But the outlet, along with another shop he’d bought, was losing money.

His two best friends former prison officer Ian Donaldson, 31, and ex-cop John Sim, 21, both had young families and were also strapped for cash. During one late evening drinking session they joked about robbing a bank to solve all their financial worries. However, the morning after the night before it began to sound like a plan.

Who would suspect two former cops and a prison officer? They had no criminal records and their fingerprints were not on file. The money would also be used to pay off debts so it would disappear as quickly as it had been stolen.

Thus the pieces of a jigsaw were put in place that would result in a cold blooded double execution almost six months later.

The trio recruited a fourth man – Archibald McGeachie – to be their getaway driver, and bought a Russian pistol from the president of the Bearsden Shooting Club, of which all three were members. On July 16, dressed in smart suits and carrying briefcases they walked into the British Linen Bank in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, and escaped with £20,876 (£270,000 now).

All three, however, were broke again by Christmas and, having got away with it once, planned another heist – this time a branch of the Clydesdale in Linwood, Renfrewshire on December 30.

However, McGeachie took cold feet and declined the job of getaway driver, leaving his three pals to do the job on their own.

On December 23, a week before, the second hold up, he disappeared from his home and was never been seen again.

His fellow robbers escaped this time with £14,000 – much of it in silver coins – which later proved significant when they were all spotted by a suspicious Inspector Andrew Hyslop transporting the suitcases. He recognised Wilson who he had once trained in the use of firearms.

Inspector Hyslop also suspected the trio were carrying stolen whisky, as he didn’t know about the bank robbery. He confronted all three in Wilson’s ground floor flat, having called in reinforcements from Craigie Street.

When the inspector bent down to open one of the cases, his former colleague shot him in the face. Detective Constable Angus MacKenzie and PC Edward Barnett, were then both shot in the head when they tried to arrest him.

As they fell, Wilson calmly stepped up to DC MacKenzie and shot him again, killing him outright.

His accomplice Donaldson had fled the flat, while Sim watched in horror. Wilson turned his attention to another former colleague PC John Sellars, who had taken refuge in the bathroom to radio for help but he couldn’t get through the door. Wilson then noticed Inspector Hyslop beginning to move on the floor, and went to finish him off.

A fifth officer, Detective Constable John Campbell flung himself across the hall at Wilson before he could fire again, saving his colleagues’ life.

DC Campbell managed to wrestle the gun from Wilson just as his fellow officers alerted by the sound of gunfire rushed into the flat.

There they found a scene of unimaginable horror. DC MacKenzie had been killed outright while PC Barnett would die five days later in hospital.

Wilson only seemed to regret only what he had done to DC MacKenzie, whose wife June he knew personally. As he was led away, he asked the arresting officers if they would apologise to her on his behalf.

When the three appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on February 6, 1970, Wilson admitted the murders of Detective Constable McKenzie and Constable Barnett, attempting to murder Inspector Hyslop, threatening to shoot Constable Sellars, and to the bank robberies at Giffnock and Linwood. A week later, at the High Court in Edinburgh, Wilson was sentenced to life, with a recommendation that he should serve a minimum of 25 years. Donaldson and Sim were given 12 years each for their parts in the robberies.

Later that year it was announced that the Queen had approved awards of the George Medal to Inspector Hyslop and Detective Constable Campbell. Awards of the Queen’s Police Medal for Gallantry were posthumously awarded to Detective Constable McKenzie and Constable Barnett. In 1971, PC Sellars was awarded the Glasgow Corporation medal for bravery by the Lord Provost.

Detective Constable McKenzie left a widow, June, and Constable Barnett a widow, Margaret, and two children.

Of the three officers who survived, Inspector Hyslop suffered most as bullet parts had been left deeply embedded in his neck. After many months on sick leave Inspector Hyslop returned to duty. But the shock of his terrible experience had left him unfit to carry on and in June, 1971, he had to resign from the force and died on the island of Islay in 2000, aged 74.

In December 2009, on the 40th anniversary of the murders, Alastair organised a memorial service at Linn Crematorium in Castlemilk where the two officers are buried side by side, attended by their widows.

In September 2002, Wilson was finally freed after almost 33 years behind bars despite strenuous objections from the Scottish Police Federation.

At the time its chairman Norman Flowers, said: “We feel that anyone who murders a police officer should never be released. Life should mean life.”

More facts about this brutal crime can be found here http://www.policemuseum.org.uk/the-allison-street-police.../

[themaresnest-dumblr]

But are you referring to the film or the animated version (the latter since renamed as 'Journey Back To Oz' - and which took four years of legal wrangles before anyone could see it!), both of which had slightly diverging storylines?

The film version was on a road to a loser from the off when the scandal broke about the person operating Tik Tok's mechanical body - Michael Sundin - had just been fired from 'Blue Peter' (one of Britain's biggest children's TV shows) owing to his sexual proclavities off screen - contrary to the myth, it was not because he was gay, otherwise most of British children's telly stars would have been booted long ago!), more his tendency to being a little too fond of "partying" - he was dead of AIDS three years later, to no one's surprise but himself - if that hadn't got him, his fondness for drink and drugs certainly would have (typical Geordie!)

Matters weren't helped with Blue Peter co-star Janet Ellis having also been just sacked for being the good time that was had by all off-screen, and was now pregnant with the future Sophie Bexter Ellis. She also did the very popular show 'Jigsaw' and it was a matter of considerable embarrassment to Auntie Beeb at the time.

But the biggest problem was the editing. The version so often seen today had stuff which the original cinematic edit had cut out - even today when it appears on certain TV channels there's chunks cut out for the easily triggered which completely bumnuggeted up the plot (and so the channel can show more adverts - ho hum ...).

The 1980s were a weird time for children's movies and animation. Don Bluth was about to get his arse kicked for 'Secret Of Nimh' and 'The Black Cauldron', and Jim Henson for 'Labyrinth'. Despite 'Watership Down' resetting the bar, movie executives still weren't willing to accept how dark you could go with media aimed at kids - their bottle would crash at the last minute, changes made, and what was left was what today we'd call 'jump scares', whereas 'Watership Down', in all its death obsessiveness took kids swiftly but gently into a world of nature red in tooth and claw and broadened their minds enough to accept all its horrors.

Think how long it took for 'Where The Wild Things Are' to make the big screen, decades after the books and even a musical version had been triumphs at the box office! Reason? In case it traumatised kids. Go figure ...

The Oz books themselves are pretty dark, and far from the jolly camp ride of the 1939 movie where the legendary Margaret Hamilton was just about the only one playing it by the book.

Fairuza Balk of course really earned her candystipe goth wings in her childhood, first with this movie and later as Mildred in the TV movie version of The Worst Witch with Tim Ten Million Teeth Curry.

watched return to oz. never seen it before. never been a big fan of oz media in general and this is the first one i’ve really particularly liked. can’t believe the reception it got back in its day. it’s a shame, i think i would have really liked it as a kid especially

[hatchetfieldtheories]

Nightmare Time Season 2 - What do the Cryptic Clues mean?

Just over a week ago, things were vaguely normal. Work was busy, I was tired, and this blog posted either a normal or ridiculous theory every now and then while I waited for life to settle down a bit again.

Then a blue N appeared.

And well, you have all witnessed the carnage that followed.

So we have spent a week piecing together the clues, blaming the bees, having meltdowns over green As, and working out timezone differences. Now we have a complete jigsaw puzzle giving us a whole bunch of clues. Layers upon layers of clues.

So my thoughts are below. They're very loose and speculative at the moment, but that's the fun of it! Last time I did a theory like this was before Nightmare Time Season 1 and I was pretty bad at it - so you know... I can only go up!

The Clues:

1 - Blue

Pictures: Bee and honeycomb; old barn or pot farm; boat on a lake; birds; honey

Phrases: Honey Queen; Perky’s Buds

This is the row that I think is giving us two different storylines, “Honey Queen” and “Perky’s Buds”.

Honey Queen - as a few people have mentioned is likely a reference to the Hatchetfield Honey Festival. Now when I hear the phrase Honey Queen, I imagine something similar to a May Queen, who is a girl picked to front a May Day parade. But this is Nightmare Time, so I also immediately thought of something similar to Carrie happening - though maybe with bees, or honey? I also think the boat relates here, and will link us to the Monroes somehow.

Perky’s Buds - I think this has a double meaning. Obviously it’s likely a reference to Emma’s pot farm, and is a FANTASTIC name for such. But I also think its going to mean Emma is going to meet some - not very pleasant characters. Now remember, Blinky is always watching, and has feathered sniggles. I think the birds in the image are Blinky watching what Emma is up to - they become her “buds” - though she isn’t happy about it.

2 - Green

Pictures: Woodcutting axe; canoe on a lake; cabins in woods; roasting marshmallows on a campfire; leather work

Phrases: Abstinence Camp

Oh, Abstinence Camp - this is the one most people seem most excited for as I’m sure we’re all seeing that possible connection to our longed for Nerdy Prudes. Abstinence Camp makes me think of typical teen slasher movies of the mostly 90s, but 70s and 80s also. Plus the axe is likely a reference to the one character I have been waiting for for SO long - Lumber-Axe the Mad Woodsman. Is he the killer in the woods killing off the horny young adults? There is also the leather work image, which I reverse searched to try and get a better image of it and found the original image, but it didn’t tell me much more than “leather work”.

However it is also important to note the canoe on the lake, considering Deb’s family own a lakehouse, which is where the infamous party during Watcher World takes place.

3 - Purple

Pictures: Musician on a stage; sewer or portal; jukebox; wedding rings; diner

Phrases: Killer Track Daddy

Yes, hello, please be about Miss Holloway. I don’t have much to say on the name, Killer Track Daddy, except I think again we’re getting a double meaning. Killer as in death, sure, but also Killer in the same way Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan might say it. Which is why I am getting the 80s vibes from this and immediately going to Miss Holloway.

There is the theory that Miss Holloway was a star in the 80s (Tiffany) and has time travelled to now. Maybe the sewer is related to that time travel. The wedding rings are interesting, and @donteatthefishtacos mentioned the idea that Miss H and Wilbur Cross clearly have a long history - make of that what you will.

4 - Red

Pictures: A scantron exam sheet; lockers; a roller disco; fire; an arcade machine

Phrases: Yellow Jacket

This is the one that makes me scratch my head the most. We're obviously in a high school, though do teens still roller disco? Teens, please let me know. So maybe this could also be set in a different time period. I mentioned that when I read Yellow Jacket my mind immediately went to a varsity jacket, because I am british and my only knowledge of american high schools is Saved by the Bell and Mean Girls. I'm assuming its an accurate representation.

Now I know by the video Matt posted we've seen Hatcherfield's school colours, but I still think there's gonna be something in the varsity jacket idea. Plus, yellow - tinky - time travel. Which would explain the roller rink.

The fire makes me think something might have burnt down, like the roller rink. And maybe something was built on top of it? Like the Starlight. The arcade machine however? Maybe we'll see Pizza Petes in more than one story, but one of the stories will just be a background storyline, like in Black Friday - and then we learn about the real horrors of Pizza Petes in another story.

5 - Magic Letters

Nibbly Must Eat

Its very possible this is its own story, in which case - NIBBLY!!!!

With the image Dylan posted of Nick with a pretzel surrounded by game machines, I am indeed getting FNAF vibes, and god love us if Nibbly is haunting a pizza place.

I also saw this post by @themystifier about how Pizza Pete might be similar to Uncle Wiley, but like. What if he is Uncle Wiley. What if this is another Wilbur part? We see him as Uncle Wiley, we see him as the Wiggly delivery man, we hear him as the announcer at Watcher World. So what if this is another role?

6 - The Vertices

The Monarch is Now Vexed

I fully anticipate a new Being who is the parent of the LiB and Webby. They're Lords, but this is a Monarch.

I've also decided the Monarch is Nick, as his only part in the Nightmare Time intro is during “Daddy's Gonna Get Ya.”

Some other interesting theories (not anywhere near all the ones I wanted to include - anything I have reblogged I have loved, but these are just some notable ones I found)

Odd One Out @sidekickajustim

Gemini Home Entertainment Vibes @vaguely-functional-directions and @ifduckislordthenheavenisapond

Honey Queen Melissa @infected-hive

Post By Post Breakdown @awigglycultist

[natromanxoff]

How prog were Queen?

By Dave Everley

On 9 January, 1971, Kevin Ayers and Genesis played a show together at the Ewell Technical College near Epsom in Surrey. Ayers was 18 months out of Soft Machine, and making a name for himself as a psychedelically-inclined art-folk rake. Genesis had released their second album, Trespass, a few months earlier, and were carving out a place in the vanguard of the burgeoning progressive rock movement.

There was a third band propping up the bill that night, a bunch of transplanted Londoners calling themselves Queen. In contrast to the wilfully artful approach of the headliners, their music was more straightforward: a heavy, if ornate blend of Led Zeppelin’s earthiness and the flights of fancy of Yes.

Not everyone in the small crowd watching them was impressed, but they caught the attention of one person. After the show, Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel pulled Queen’s blond-bombshell drummer Roger Taylor to one side. Gabriel’s band were about to dismiss their own drummer, John Mayhew, and were looking for a replacement. Was Taylor interested in joining Genesis? The reply was instant: thanks but no thanks. Taylor was utterly dedicated to Queen – there were gigs to play, places to go, and many musical adventures to embark on.

Had Taylor accepted the offer, the course of music – and specifically prog – would have been very different. Genesis would have flourished with Gabriel upfront, though whether they would have survived and prospered as they did without a Phil Collins to step into the breach after their talismanic singer’s departure was another matter.

The knock-on effect on Queen would have been greater. Taylor was an essential part of their carefully balanced four-way chemistry; a chemistry that would go on to throw up some of the most ambitious and game-changing music ever recorded. While Queen weren’t a capital ‘P’ prog band, they were infused with the spirit of the movement, combining its forward-looking values with its absolute disregard for the existing rules. Taking their cues from the likes of Yes, Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and even Pink Floyd, their flamboyantly cavalier approach would go on to inspire such modern masters as Dream Theater, Queensrÿche and Muse. And, in Bohemian Rhapsody, they ensured that one of the biggest-selling singles in history was, at heart, a prog song. Forget the luxuriant moustaches and sawn-off mike-stands that would come to define them: if the prog ethos meant avoiding the expected, then Queen were definitely a prog band.

“Diversity was probably their greatest asset,” says former Dream Theater drummer and confirmed Queen devotee Mike Portnoy. “From song to song, they could be so different. You could have something that was folk followed by something that was rockabilly followed by something that was metal. And that’s one of the biggest things about prog, having that open-mindedness.”

Queen’s schooling in prog came early on. Brian May’s very first band, 1984, played a 4am slot supporting Pink Floyd at the Christmas On Earth Continued all-nighter in 1967. A year later, his next outfit, Smile – also featuring Roger Taylor – played with Floyd again, this time at London’s Imperial College. By the time of their gig opening for Kevin Ayers, Smile had changed their name to Queen and recruited Freddie Mercury. Collectively, they admired Yes, Van der Graaf Generator and especially Genesis. “Foxtrot is a prog rock classic,” Roger Taylor later wrote in the sleevenotes to Genesis box set 1970-1975. “Arrangements were highly complex in these early days, setting a benchmark for the style of the times.”

When it came to finding someone to produce their debut album, Queen’s first choice was John Anthony, who had worked with both Genesis and Van der Graaf. With Anthony and co-producer Roy Thomas Baker behind the desk, the eponymous album trod heavily in Led Zeppelin’s footsteps. But there was another, altogether more visionary band straining to spread their wings: My Fairy King was a filigreed slice of flamboyant rock’n’roll, while Liar metamorphosised through several different time changes and timings.

Those wings were fully unfurled on the follow-up, 1974’s Queen II. The title was the most prosaic thing about the record: the music inside was as fevered and baroque as rock gets, informed equally by Zeppelin, Yes and crazed Victorian artist Richard Dadd, whose 1864 painting The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke inspired one of the album’s most prog-leaning tracks. It may have been rooted in the heavy rock of the times, but its cavalier approach and sheer sense of scale pegged Queen as a defiantly progressive proposition.

“Queen weren’t like Yes, who had a dualistic role of guitar and keyboards, where both shared the terrain,” says Yes guitarist Steve Howe, supported by Queen at Kingston Poly in early 1971. “Brian had the terrain to himself. The remarkable thing was that he was the front and the back man. It required him to come up with more than guitar solos… He had to come up with a semi-thematic approach to play the guitar. And what he did was keep colouring.”

Queen’s prog inclinations would be deeply woven into the fabric of their early albums, from the audacious multi-part theatrics of Queen II’s March Of The Black Queen to the schizophrenic attack of the two-part Lap Of The Gods from 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack. Even in their more commercial moments, they marched to the beat of their own drum. What other band would have dared serve up something so unusual as Killer Queen?

“It was their diversity,” says Mike Portnoy, who first heard Queen as an eight-year-old in the mid-70s and covered many Queen songs while in Dream Theater. “Their albums took the prototype that The Beatles laid down with the White Album, where you had four different artists bringing in very different styles. Every song was so diverse. You get to A Night At The Opera, and you had this giant multi-layered epic like Bohemian Rhapsody next to something like Seaside Rendezvous or Love Of My Life.”

A Night At The Opera was Queen’s grand artistic statement and their most unashamedly prog album. Pitched around the epic twin tentpoles of The Prophet’s Song and Bohemian Rhapsody, it married their far-reaching vision to a distinctly British barminess. Taken on its own, the eight-minute The Prophets Song, with its incredible ornate a cappella middle section, would be enough to grant Queen access to the Prog Hall Of Fame. But even that sits in the inescapable shadow of Bohemian Rhapsody. Time and success might have lessened its impact, but that song remains the most dazzlingly unique piece of music ever to sell five million copies.

“There are epic things that come along every so often,” says Steve Howe. “There’s Sgt Pepper, there’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. And there’s Bohemian Rhapsody. I don’t know when I first heard it, but once it was there, it was such a formidable thing. You’re thinking: ‘How many tracks did they need to do those vocals? How did they write it? Who invented it? It really was astounding.”

Bohemian Rhapsody encapsulated one of the key things that gave Queen such a distinct identity. Like The Beatles and Beach Boys before them, they used the studio as an instrument – not least when it came to their vocals. And Bohemian Rhapsody raised the bar about as high as it could go.

“They sang each of those parts and triple-stacked them,” says Mike Portnoy. “You heard all three of their voices singing in all three vocal ranges. That’s what made the depth of their music so complex. It wasn’t the instrumentation, it was the vocals. That’s unusual for prog music. When I think of my favourite prog music, it’s always the musicianship that draws me. But with Queen, it was the vocals. It was so deep.”

For all its success, A Night At The Opera would be Queen’s grand kiss-off to their prog roots. Later albums streamlined their sound into a more conventional format. Much like Genesis, the 80s found them swapping experimentalism for chart rock.

It wasn’t until the end of their career as an active band that Queen would again sound so adventurous. During 1989 and 1990, the band began work on their penultimate album, Innuendo, in London and Montreux. In the summer of 1990, Yes guitarist Steve Howe paid a flying visit to the Swiss city, where a chance encounter with a former guitar tech found him being invited to Queen’s studio to hear the album as a work-in-progress.

“Inside, there’s Freddie, Brian and Roger all sitting together. They go: ‘Let’s play you the album,’” says Howe. “Of course, I’m hearing it for the first time: I Can’t Live Without You, I’m Going Slightly Mad. And they saved Innuendo itself until last. They played it and I was fucking blown away.”

If that was surprising, then what happened next was utterly out-of-the-blue. The members of Queen asked if Howe wanted to play on the title track. The Yes man politely suggested they’d lost their minds. It took the combined weight of Mercury, May and Taylor to persuade him.

“They all chimed in: ‘We want some crazy Spanish guitar flying around over the top. Improvise!’” recalls Howe. “I started noodling around on the guitar, and it was pretty tough. After a couple of hours, I thought: ‘I’ve bitten off more than I can chew here.’ I had to learn a bit of the structure, work out the chordal roots were, where you had to fall if you did a mad run in the distance; you have to know where you’re going. But it got towards evening, and we’d doodled and I’d noodled, and it turned out to be really good fun. We have this beautiful dinner, we go back to the studio and have a listen. And they go: ‘That’s great. That’s what we wanted.”

Released as a single in January 1991, Innuendo gave Queen their third Number One single. Like Bohemian Rhapsody 25 years before it, it was as unlikely as hit singles get: a six-and-a-half minute musical jigsaw, complete with flamenco runs, classically-inclined orchestral overloads and maverick 5/4 timing. Queensrÿche covered the song on 2007’s Take Cover album, while you can hear its echo in Radiohead’s Paranoid Android and Muse’s more elaborate sci-fi epics.

“In the world of rock, Queen stands out as a good example of the clash between guitar and piano in songwriting,” Muse’s Matt Bellamy has said. “I think that’s where you stumble across those more unusual arrangements and chord structures.”

Today, Queen have left a bi-polar legacy. They’re arguably best known for their pop hits – Radio Gaga, I Want To Break Free and of course, Bohemian Rhapsody, that ultimate prog Trojan Horse. But their spirit of adventure remains unmatched by all but the boldest of their peers.

“There was no rulebook for Queen,” says Mike Portnoy. “They broke most of the rules that existed, and then they wrote a new set.”

[nomanwalksalone]

ALTERNATIVE STYLE ICON: JIMMY WANG YU IN THE MAN FROM HONG KONG

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

There are things we always want to reclaim from our past, even from its most confused, bittersweet moments. In my case, the thoughtful moments driving home late at night down Santa Monica Boulevard decades ago from an essay-writing extension class at UCLA. With the top down on my coincidentally Australian-built convertible (a deathtrap, a future girlfriend would call it, and refuse to get in), those summer evenings seemed flower-scented, ripe with potential that would go wasted, still and quiet and beautiful in a city that was not mine.

I was taking this after-work class after feeling like I was losing my marbles, wanting to find a way to collect myself after college. College had beaten any confidence in my ability to write for personal expression out of me. I would not rediscover that in that class, in fact not for decades until blogs like No Man Walks Alone reached out to me and I could process and piece back together parts of myself, those disjointed, uncalm, uncollected pieces of myself. At the time, I was young and unmoored, and the station at the lower end of the dial I’d listen to on those drives back reflected that feeling of unreality and detachment. It played everything, ironically or not, everything from the Laverne and Shirley theme to what would have at the time been cutting-edge electronica. And one-hit wonder Jigsaw’s strange “Sky High”, whose refrain “You’ve blown it all sky high” was sung altogether too casually for someone to be expressing the upheaval of their entire life.

I was pleased to rediscover the song playing as the main theme to 1975’s The Man From Hong Kong, whose star Jimmy Wang Yu is today’s Alternative Style Icon. The song’s strangely flip attitude towards destruction works perfectly in this bizarre, bizarrely interesting movie, which ends on the climax of Wang Yu blowing former James Bond George Lazenby and an entire floor of Lazenby’s apartment building to kingdom come. After setting Lazenby (yes, Lazenby himself, in a practical effect that actually did leave him with burns) on fire by kicking him into his open-plan 1970s fireplace…

Lazenby had blown his own career sky high by walking away from a multi-picture Bond film deal to instead star in 1971’s Universal Soldier, a confounding mashup of Easy Rider and The Dogs of War whose chief point of interest is that feminist writer Germaine Greer plays a minor role. Lazenby claims that his friend Bruce Lee was set to star with him in The Man From Hong Kong until Bruce met his mysterious end at the hands of either a Dim Mak death touch or a medication allergy. Jimmy Wang Yu stepped into the role and Lee’s vacant shoes and acquits himself well in all respects except the unfair and unwinnable one of being in the shadow of a deceased legend, deceased so very much larger than life.

The Man From Hong Kong showed how exploitation films could be strangely liberating, indeed subversive. It was a so-called Ozploitation film by dint of its Australian production, going so far as to have its first scene a fight atop sacred landmark Ayers Rock, where a future Mad Max actor actually beats legendary martial artist and fight choreographer Sammo Hung. It also exploited many other period trends:  the Kung Fu, international thriller, and loose cannon cop fads, with Wang Yu a polished Hong Kong police inspector able to charm very white Australian beauties out of their hang-gliding pants and bikinis. Nearly a half century later, moviemaking still is rightfully criticized for emasculating Asian men, yet in this 1970s exploitation film an Asian man got to carry out the old seduction tropes of the regressive, lily-white British spy movie, even if (as Alice Caldwell-Kelly has observed) the characters do engage in racist banter about it.

This is very much a Jimmy Wang Yu showcase. It’s certainly not Lazenby’s fits that stand out in this movie. As my friend Matt Spaiser of The Suits of James Bond has pointed out, Lazenby has to dress the part of a playboy bigwig villain, and wears old playboy clichés like gold-buttoned blazers with draggy 1970s long collars and fat ties, all in combination with the long sideburns and Zapata ‘stache that make him look like a more butch Peter Wyngarde. Wang Yu, instead, makes a deep blue his theme color, first in a rollneck with light salt-and-pepper tweed jacket in his suave arrival scenes in Australia, then as the color of the jumpsuit he wears in a viciously violent car chase and final fight where, as agent of the most chaotic good, he smashes through the windows of Laz’s penthouse apartment. That jumpsuit could have been iconic, were it not eclipsed by the yellow jumpsuit that would turn up in Bruce’s boss fights in Game of Death, released infamously long after Lee had died. In the shadow of the legend, shadows of legend. In contrast, Wang Yu’s dark green corduroy suit that he wears for his first confrontation with Lazenby is iconic and uneclipsed. Despite its 1970s exaggerations of style and details, its material, color and dash are very much contemporary, corduroy being one of the casual materials in which suit designers are trying to lure us out, even if might wear a bit warm for hot girl summer or whatever the current name of this current uncertain, tentative summer is. Perhaps hang gliding should make a comeback, although not in Sydney airspace.

Uncertain and tentative, you do what you can to collect yourself, invest at the time in what you can of yourself, and decades later maybe, maybe, you get somewhere, even if you can never stop looking back.

[spencerspecifics]

Okay i got this idea while talking to @criminalmindsvibez earlier and I just h a d to write it out

Imagine: the team taking one of those “teamwork building” days during the fall and Hotch has no clue what the team could do together to build their teamwork morale because they’ve literally had to save each other from murderers in a time sensitive manner so like??? Wtf are they supposed to do? Solve a jigsaw puzzle? So Garcia gets the task of figuring out what to do and she decides pumpkin patch/corn maze because fuck it. It’s fall.

-they get to the pumpkin patch, immediately Rossi is like “I don’t need to buy a pumpkin. It’ll end up rotting on my doorstep”

- Garcia points out that doesn’t help the team morale so he better quiet down

-he shuts up, they get inside the farm area and the entire team is just sorta standing around cuz when is the last time any of them went to a patch??? They aren’t sure of where to start. There’s stands that sell apple cider and hot coco and kettle corn and there’s some hinky dinky country music playing in the background. It’s nice but they have no clue where to start

-Garcia decides to take over, because fuck it, she got put in charge of this, and Hotchner looks like a fish out of water. Put him in a beauracratic setting and the man knows how to operate, but this? He looks so lost, it’s almost funny. Garcia’ll command this group of idiot life savers.

- she decides the team should start in the corn maze, that sorta helps the team morale. They gotta find a way to get out, after all. Spencer doesn’t want to go in until he sees a map of it, though, so he can check where they are. So they have to awkwardly go to an employee and ask where the map of the corn maze is located

-Derek finds it in a pamphlet that the employee handed to him, he gave it over to Spencer, who gladly accepts it and stares at it for what feels like two seconds before being like “ok let’s go”

-even though finding that damn map took like ten minutes because the pumpkin patch has so many customers so employees are all over the place. So everyone is like “goddamnit dude” at spencer before moving ahead into the maze

- Derek and Garcia take the lead, Spencer in the middle, then J.J. and Emily towards the back, with Hotch and Rossi in the very back.

-Hotch doesn’t wanna have to take charge of how to get through the maze unless absolutely necessary

-J.J. and Emily just end up having some very much needed girl talk while Garcia and Derek bicker about which way to go

- “Get a babysitter so we can have a girls night” “I’ll do that when you call that hot british dude that you met at the bar last week back” “I don’t need him. I have Sergio.” “Cats don’t replace real relationships with people, emily.”

-meanwhile Derek and Garcia aren’t sure which way to go. “Let’s take a left.” “No, we just went that way. We should take a right.” “That just keeps us in the middle, doll ” “isn’t that what we want?!”

-Meanwhile, the entire time, Spencer has been thinking of the turns and loops and steps they’ve taken and calculated exactly where within the maze they are based on the map

-Eventually Spencer takes charge, after Derek made them take two dead end turns, “Guys- no, we’re towards the edge of the maze. The quickest way to the end is through the center, so we need to go back and take two rights, then a left.”

-Hotch and Rossi are just walking through in silence for the most part, taking in the scenery around them. The crisp autumn air, it’s nice. They do break their silence for conversations. They speak about Jack’s upcoming soccer game, and how tiring it can be to work with children.

- “I’ve never been more grateful that my three ex wives and I never ended up with kids- god, it’s enough going to see Jack’s stuff and help coach the team.” “You have no obligation to show up if you don’t want to, Dave. If it’s too much I understand.” “Aaron, I would rather get arrested for a murder I didn’t commit and convicted before leaving Jack’s games.”

-Garcia ends up falling back with the girls, where the conversation shifts to Prentiss talking about how much the corn maze reminds her of the children of the corn movie

-“ew! Why did you have to say that! All their parents end up dead! That’s so sad!” “Garcia, it’s the corn that reminds me of the movie” “Well duh- we’re in a cornfield! But don’t think about that movie. Think about something nicer.”

-Prentiss is drawing a blank on nice fall themed things, so J.J. pipes up with “what about that Charlie Brown movie?” Garcia points out that doesn’t take place in a corn field

-“well. Only corn field movie that’s coming to mind is children of the corn.” So emily continues to talk a bit about it to J.J., all while making Garcia want to run away because “Ew no it’s such a sad movie! Let’s talk about something nicer!”

-Meanwhile Derek and Spencer are solely up front, Spencer is using that big dumptruck of a brain of his to know exactly which turns to take. Derek’s just walking alongside him, trying to weasel from flirting into conversation casually

-“how about after this I get you some cider, pretty boy?” “Do you know cider on average has to ferment for fifteen days?” Spencer isn’t really listening, if that isn’t already obvious. He heard what Derek said, but he’s just thinking of every next twist and turn they have to take to get out. So he isn’t very conversative

-meanwhile the girls have changed conversation topics to what kind of pumpkins J.J. should get Henry (this conversation change was obviously brought on by Garcia) “you should get him a cute tiny one! That would be so adorable” emily on the other hand is saying to get one bigger than him “wouldn’t it be funny to have a pumpkin taller than henry?”

-J.J. doesn’t know which size pumpkin she’ll get for Henry. But she lets emily and Garcia sway her opinion in both directions, because a comically large pumpkin would be funny. But one as small as Henry would be adorable

-meanwhile the old men duo in the back are still just enjoying their walk. Hotch had mentioned how Jack would’ve loved to come to the patch, before silence fell over them again. Rossi asked a few moments later if Hotch knows if jack’s school would be taking a field trip to the patch, “I’m not sure. I’m assuming they will.” Rossi doesn’t say anything more, but he secretly plans on double checking that, emailing the school, and explaining that he and Hotch would like to be volunteers on the trip. He’d like to see that happen.

-Derek hasn’t fully given up on his flirting game with Spencer. But he’s holding off for now, as Spencer is way too focused on the maze layout. So much so that he started mapping out in his mind where the best spot to place a body would be as an unsub. “If someone was to drop a body in here- the ideal location would be the upper left sides second dead end. Geographically, it’s the farthest point from landmarks and least traveled area within the maze.”

-Garcia hears that and butts in, “No murder talk! No dead body talk- there is no dead body! Today is supposed to be a good day! Shut off your brain for one day, Spencer”

-Spencer doesn’t say anything more about the best spot within the maze to dump a body, though Derek is sure Spencer is bored and thinking out a billion separate scenarios within the maze. Mazes were good for hiding and concealing things, after all

-Garcia accidentally mishears Spencer’s directions of “turn left” and she walks directly into the wall of corn that the maze is made out of

-the team all stops for a second to help her untangle herself out of that before promptly laughing at her

-ok Derek and emily laugh the most, emily tells her to steal an ear of corn “It’s not like they’d miss it. It could be compensation for running into it”. J.J. and Spencer sorta stand there chuckling a lil bit, Hotch and Rossi are more like “as long as you’re all good we should continue on” but they had little smiles on their faces too

-They finally get out! The employees at the exit are like “good job, that was very fast!” And everyone on the team is like “thanks we tried” meanwhile Spencer is standing there thinking “no y’all didn’t I did it cuz I memorized the maze smh”

-the team stays as a unit after that. It wasn’t on purpose, but they all had the same thing in mind, the pumpkin patch

-they walk over there, it’s not too far, immediately Spencer makes his way over to the large containers of pre-picked pumpkins, gourds, thise tiny as hell pumpkins, those white pumpkins, and those red pumpkins. He’s one second away from grabbing a pumpkin at random from the container so he can grab a pumpkin and go, when Derek is like “Hey man what are you doing? You’re not picking from the patch”

-Spencer then has to awkwardly explain how the only times he ever went to the pumpkin patch was in elementary school before he skipped ahead grade wise and the kids in his class made fun of him that day really bad. Like they called him names and left him “trapped” in the corn field (tho he had seen a map and was able to figure his way out easily that time.) and so whenever he has to buy a pumpkin he just gets them from the grocery store because he gets anxious at the thought of coming to a pumpkin patch

-immediately the entire team is like “wtf man you should’ve told us!!! Do you want to leave??? We should leave” and Garcia is immediately like “Spencer I am so sorry oh my god I didn’t know” and he has to sorta awkwardly be like “No it’s ok. I wanted to come. I want to try and get a better memory than last time.”

-Derek pats him on the back for that, “You’ll get much better memories this time, I promise. But let’s get a pumpkin from the actual patch instead of from these containers”

- Derek makes it his soul mission to make sure spencer now has an amazing time in the pumpkin patch. So he stays with him the entire time as they walk around, inspecting pumpkins for just the right one

-meanwhile the girls are looking at the biggest pumpkins possible. Namely Prentiss, she wants to get a big one. “Can you even out that out front of your apartment door?” “I don’t know but I’ll make sure it stays until it rots”

-Hotchner is busy looking for a pumpkin he could bring home for jack to carve, though he does guess that jack would be making his way to the pumpkin patch with his class too. It couldn’t hurt to have a third pumpkin to carve.

-Rossi doesn’t want a pumpkin, he’s already decided that they’re messy and smelly and he doesn’t even like pumpkin seeds or pumpkin pie enough to warrant the mess of cutting and getting the pumpkin guts out. So he just stands and watches

-Garcia notices that immediately and is so not happy with that “you’re serious about not getting a pumpkin?” “I told ya” “ughhh Rossi- you could get a tiny one!” “I don’t wanna carve and deal with a mess” “you don’t have to carve a tiny one!”

-“what’re you thinking pretty boy?” Derek asked Spencer, who had been staring down the same pumpkin for like two minutes, which was definitely unusual. Spencer doesn’t answer, leaning down and picking the pumpkin up instead. “Does it have any abrasions on it?” He asked Derek, as he turns it over in his hands to inspect it. “Not that I can see, no”

-Spencer decides on this pumpkin, and they find some wheelbarrows provided by the farm to put his pumpkin in, they give Hotch the duty of rolling the wheelbarrow around as they meander away from the rest of the group

-Spencer then is like “oh shit. Wait Derek. Your pumpkin. We need to find you one.” Derek just laughs a little bit and is like “I’ll find one lol but you gotta come with me” so Spencer agrees as they go to find one for Derek

-Garcia ends up nearby the tiny pumpkins, deciding to buy at least three to litter her front doorstep with

-she is so distracted she doesn’t even realize rossi making his way over. “You’re right. Those ones are way too small to carve.” He says, she just agrees, “Yes, so you should get some!! C’mon. Get that festive spirit.”

-Hotch shows up pushing the wheelbarrow from behind, listening to the tail end of rossi and Garcia’s bickering match. “You should get some, Dave. It would look nice.”

-That makes rossi cave. He mumbles out a “fine. The things I do for you all, I swear” before picking two up and putting them in the wheelbarrow, next to Spencer’s pumpkin.

-Garcia is b e a m I n g she is very happy with the fact she got this fall grinch into getting a pumpkin. So much so that she ends up getting a fourth tiny one, because damnit they’re too adorable.

-Hotchner still hasn’t found a pumpkin for him and for jack so he’s standing in the patch, still surveying like a lost old man. Garcia and Rossi end up helping him.

-Meanwhile J.J. and emily are looking through the medium sized pumpkins to find something for will and Henry. “I’m thinking a medium sized one, because then it’s sort of a mix of what you and Garcia said.” J.J. explained to Prentiss, who nodded along in agreement.

-the team is all pretty quiet at this point as they try to find their own pumpkins. Derek finds his, a large one that’s very vertically elongated. He takes it back to the wheelbarrow, with Spencer trailing along behind him.

-Hotch finds two round, smaller sized pumpkins. And he decides that those are his, they look great and would be easy enough to carve, so he grabs them up, getting them back into the wheelbarrow

-J.J. finds a medium sized pumpkin for Henry, and two smaller ones for her and will. Meanwhile Prentiss is like “Hey Jayge that Charlie Brown movie is applicable now since we’re in a pumpkin patch” Garcia hears that and is like “y e s good fall vibes yes”

-they finish up in the patch, everyone putting their pumpkins into the wheelbarrow as they head towards the checkout

-Derek pays for Spencer’s pumpkin, saying it’s not a problem

-Spencer literally can’t stop blushing at that even tho it’s the most mundane thing e v e r and it’s adorable

-the team gets their pumpkins sorted and paid, before taking the wheelbarrow back towards the stands that sell cider and hot coco and kettle corn.

-the girls go off to get hot chocolate, Dave and Rossi go to get some bags of kettle corn, and Derek and Spencer go get cider

-“If you make hot coco with anything but milk, it’s evil” “emily what about lactose intolerant people who use water?” “They’re on thin ice.”

-Spencer thanks Derek like five times in a row for helping him get a pumpkin and buying it “you didn’t have to-“ “you better stop talking before I buy you a cider too, pretty boy”

-Derek does buy him a cider in the end, which isn’t any surprise

-Dave and Hotch argue over which type of kettle corn is the best. “It’s caramel, Aaron. Why on earth would cheddar kettle corn be good?” “It’s savory as opposed to sweet, it’s better” “That doesn’t matter if it tastes bad!”

-Garcia ends up coaxing the hot coco barista lady into adding a shit ton of extra chocolate sauce and stuff to her drink

-so much so that it’s literally too sweet for her but she dug her grave she will fuckin lie in it like a winner

-J.J. and emily immediately make fun of her, “I can see the regret in your eyes!”

-the team finishes up buying their drinks, pushing the wheelbarrow out to the parking lot.

-“See, not so bad for a team morale building day after all!” Garcia says happily, she’s glad her idea was a success

-it was. The team is happy, they got hot sweet drinks and bags of delicious food, not to mention a shit ton of pumpkins they shove into the trunk of the SUV

-Spencer’s happy he made new memories at the pumpkin patch, Derek was just happy to help build those for him.

-Garcia’s happy her day went so well, emily is glad she got a pumpkin to carve, J.J.’s happy she got good pumpkins for will and Henry, Hotch is happy that he’s not stuck in a stuffy office building in an uncomfortable suit talking about another murder investigation, and Rossi is happy to be with his found family on a day out

-it was a good day at the pumpkin patch :)

[stellar-alley]

Of Scales and Sea Glass

•Chapter 3•

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

(Summary: Eddie and his merman’s relationship evolves with the mer’s new found voice.)

Also shout out to @ambitiousskychild on tumblr for being my beta!

~

Eddie’s eyes went as wide as the full moon, his eyebrows had practically sky rocketed and his jaw hit the floor. 

When he finally gathered up the energy to speak, he couldn’t help the tone of his voice, it wasn't really angry…. It was just loud, “What the fuck! You kiss me and now you can speak?”

“Of course I can speak! Everyone can,” he shot back, his own voice growing louder to match Eddie’s. 

“But you had to kiss me to do it?” 

“Uh- yeah, I need saliva for the spell to work,” the merman said in a ‘well duh’ tone. 

“SPELL!?” Eddie’s stomach dropped. 

“Yeah! How do you think I just magically learned human-” But before the merman could continue, Eddie got to his feet. 

“I-I, I can’t do this,” he stammered. He could barely look at the fish in his tub, he rushed out of the bathroom, practically tripping as he tried to stand. 

“Oh come on cute ass!” He called after Eddie. 

Eddie hesitated as he stood at the top of the stairs, without missing a beat he flipped the fish off and left the house. He needed to get as far away from that thing as he could. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUck. fuCK. FUCK!

The only coherent thought he could create inside his head. 

It was a little ironic that he ended up standing on the beach when he wanted to escape his- the merman. 

His knees wobbled from beneath him, causing him to take a seat on the warm sand. 

He kissed me. 

Eddie couldn’t deny that he did kinda enjoy it. The way their lips moved, it was as if they were on the same wavelength, two jigsaw pieces finally clicked together. And Eddie hated it. 

He hated how much he enjoyed the kiss, he hated how much he’s grown used to his trashmouth, he hated how cute he was. What he hated most was that one day he’d have to go back into the ocean, to his home. The idea made Eddie sick to his stomach, and he knew why. As much as he hated to admit it, he had developed a crush on the scaly creature. It was just something about the way that Eddie was able to be himself when he was with the mer, how they made eachother laugh and smile. Even if it couldn’t talk! Eddie always felt at home when they were together, even if they were just sitting in silence. There was nowhere else he’d rather be.

After his realization struck, that’s when he noticed the hot tears that had begun to stream down his face. And it was all because he was crushing on a creature of the sea…

~

It took him a while, maybe even hours, to fully compose himself, but he did. When he did he tried so hard to think of things on the brighter side. 

“Okay… So it- he can talk. That’s great! We kissed, that’s great. Sure it felt like literal heaven on earth but that’s fine. It’s all fine. Fuck, well at least I can fianlly find out his goddamn name,” Eddie chuckled at that last bit. 

He still sat on the beach when his eyes finally returned to their normal look, after crying. His hands had found their place in the sand by his side, mindlessly digging and tossing the sand. He stopped when he felt something hard in his grasp. He glanced to the side and saw something sticking out of the sand where his hand had just been. Eddie picked it up and held it up. The sun shined down on the small piece of sea glass Eddie held. 

The stone brought a smile to his face and a memory to mind. He remembered the mer’s glasses, how their lenses were made out of some sort of sea glass, how eager the mer was to finally see the world, see Eddie.

“Scales and sea glass,” Eddie smiled and pocketed the stone, finally ready to go back inside. 

~

Eddie walked with his back straight and his chin high, he marched into his house and up the stairs into the bathroom. The merman stirred, turning to watch as the human stopped in front of the tub.

“Hi, I’m Eddie Kaspbrak.” He introduced himself and stuck his hand out. He mimicked the fish and made a little grabbing motion with his fingers. He smiled halfheartedly. “Give me your hand. It’s how us- humans introduce ourselves.”

The merman silently raised his hand out of the water and placed it inside Eddie’s. It was a little awkward with the webbed fingers and the claws, but it was still something. 

“I’m Richie. Richie Tozier.” The merman, Richie, smiled, glad to see his human didn’t look completely mortified like he did before. 

Eddie smiled, Richie Tozier, I like the sound of that. 

~

The next few days were interesting. Now everyday when Eddie walked into the bathroom he was greeted by his merman, Richie, who he learned had a love for talking, and had a trashmouth, of course. Constantly joking about fucking moms and doing crack (how did he know about cracK? Eddie will never know). Although they fell into a groove, that was their constant bickering, they also began subtle flirting with each other, something Eddie wasn't sure if Richie meant in a platonic way, or if he shared the same feelings that Eddie did. 

“Okay so you’re telling me that this kid- Peter?” Richie asks. 

“Peter,” Eddie confirmed, a ghost smile on his lips. 

“So Peter gets bits by a tiny tiny spider and suddenly he gets powers? How the hell does that work?” Richie had his chin resting on the edge of the tub, looking down at the comic book Eddie was reading for him. 

Eddie laughed, something he seems to be doing a lot of now that Richie can talk, “How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s like you and your powers-” Eddie ducked his head, raised his hand and flicked Richie’s forehead, “Aqua man,” he smirked. 

“Oh I am so not Aquaman. I’m more of a…. Batman, ya know? Cool and mysterious,” Richie smiled into the distance. 

Eddie laughed, like hard. 

“HEY! I can be mysterious! I was a myth to your kind for the longest fucking time,” Richie nodded his head proudly. 

“No, you jackass. You’re so not cool.” Eddie looked over at Richie, he blushed when he saw Richie was already staring at him. 

~

“Fuck I hate this stuff,” Eddie almost gagged as he shoved another mussel into his mouth. 

“Then why do you eat it?” Richie asked, mouth full of fish. Eddie grimaced slightly then swallowed the food in his mouth. 

“‘Cause I gotta start eating fish at one fucking point,” Eddie twirled another forkfull of pasta, shoving it in his mouth, then putting a couple mussels in there as well, at least if he mixed it up then he wouldn’t taste them as much. 

With Eddie buying so much fish for Richie (plus Richie gave him hell for not liking fish), he decided he might as well try to get accustomed to it as well. So he started off small, mixing seafood into his normal meals and such, tonight was pasta and mussels in a white wine sauce. Eddie had learned that he was actually a pretty good cook. 

“What even is that?” Richie gestured to the pasta with a clawed finger. 

Eddie twirled another forkful, added a mussel then held it out to Richie. The mer smiled at the gesture and opened his mouth. He chewed, swallowed and smiled. 

“Damn, Eds! That’s good!” Richie hollered.

“How many times do I have to tell you-” Eddie started. 

“Don’t call me Eds, I’m too cute for my own good… blah, blah, blah” Richie mimicked Eddie’s voice. The compliment sent a warm feeling through Eddie’s chest as he glanced away. 

“It’s spaghetti by the way,” Eddie said shyly. 

Richie cocked an eyebrow, “Spajetti?”. 

“Spa-get-ti” Eddie giggled as he over pronounced the word. 

“Spaghetti?” Richie asked. 

“Spaghetti.” Eddie confirmed, a small proud smile on his lips. 

“Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie inquired, eyebrows raised. 

Eddie’s eyes went wide, “No, no, no,noooo. Please don’t start calling me that,” Eddie begged, but there’s no sorrow in his voice, just pure amusement. 

“Whatever you say Spagheds,” Richie winked. 

“God I hate you,” Eddie laughed. 

Richie let out a little happy huff of air through his nose as his gaze fell on Eddie, “I hate you too”. 

~

Richie’s life changed drastically the day he got caught up in that storm and washed up inside of Eddie’s pool. Sure it was a big change from what he was usually used to, which was aimlessly floating around the ocean, but now he got to aimlessly spend his days inside of a cute boy’s bath tub. And he’s really cute. Cute, cute, cute…

The morning light came in through the bathroom window, directly onto Richie’s face. His eyes fluttered open, immediately scanning his blurry surroundings. 

Shit, glasses. 

Richie leaned over the side of the tub and aimlessly felt around for his glasses which he always took off before he fell asleep, in fear of them somehow breaking in his sleep. His fingers brushed over the glasses, so he flicked his fingers and got his claws out, which gave his fingers a little bit more length. With that, he was able to slide his glasses closer to him. He grabbed them and put them on. The world cleared around him. He let out a sigh as he moved his hands to rest behind his head with his elbows out. He watched the morning sunlight dance over his blue scales, the light reflected onto the ceiling, creating a trippy design on the bathroom ceiling. 

Richie’s head snapped to the side when he heard the door creak open, and in walked a very tired-looking Eddie. 

“Good morning, my dearest Eddie, and how’s thy doing on this fine morning?” Richie asked in a british accent. Eddie took a seat on the closet toilet.

“Morning Trashmouth,” Eddie smirked as he sat down beside him on the floor instead of the toilet (it was something Eddie had started to do more ad Richie loved it). Eddie glanced over at Richie, fatigue still glazed over his eyes, his hair all disheveled. “I barely got any sleep, again,” Eddie sighed and rubbed his temples. 

“Nightmares?” This was something Richie had grown used to, Eddie's nightmares usually revolved around his parents’ death, or the ocean.

Richie reached out (his claws retracted) and pushed a loose strand of golden brown hair behind Eddie’s ear. He left his hand cupping Eddie’s cheek. Eddie’s hand soon drifted up to rest upon the mer’s. He leaned into Richie’s touch. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Richie asked, comforting Eddie. 

“No… Rich, it's the same as always,” Eddie looked over at Richie, just the sight of his merman made Eddie's chest warm and his palms all sweaty. 

“What if, one day, we go out to the beach and I-I can try to help you swim?” Richie knew it was a crazy idea, he wasn't even sure how Eddie would get him there, but he knew one day he'd have to go back. He didn't like thinking about the day he'd have to leave Eddie. So he was determined to make every moment count. Richie also couldn't stand to see Eddie so terrified of the wafer, so he might as well try to help. 

Eddie’s eyes went wide for a second, “Me? In the water? Remember last time that happened?” The two recalled the first day they met, when Eddie fell into the pool, and Richie saved him. 

“We’ll take it slow,” Richie assured. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Eddie let out a little chuckle, he really liked how much Richie cared for him, it made him feel safe. “Well, until then, how does breakfast sound?” Eddie slowly pulled Richie’s hand off of his cheek, but kept holding on until he stood. 

“Sounds great,” Richie grinned and winked as Eddie left to go get the food. 

The two ate together and talked like usual. Eddie explained his plans for the day ahead. His friend Mike had something, called a cat? Richie wasn't sure what that was but apparently it had babies and Eddie and his group were going to see them. Richie wasn't too sure what was gonna happen, but Eddie seemed excited, so he was happy. 

The bell rang throughout the house, Eddie had told him how it meant someone was at his front door. “Shit, that’s Bill. I gotta go Rich, see you later?” He asked even though he knew the answer. He grabbed the plates and containers and stood to leave. 

“I won’t be going anywhere,” Richie smirked, he blew Eddie a kiss before the human left. 

The merman knew it was stupid to crush on a human. Everyone always told him how humans were sinister monsters who’d skin him and eat him, or rip off his tail and leave him to die. But everything changed when he met Eddie. His human was sweet and gentle, sure a little worrisome and asthmatic, but he cared for Richie, more than anyone ever has before. So of course it was easy to fall for him, especially since he was so cute. I mean, come on! Look at him, that little face. And his cute ass! 

When Eddie was gone, Richie tried his best to keep himself entertained. Sometimes he’d talk to Goldy, but that fish was pretty quiet and he found Richie annoying. He’d read the comics Eddie left him, well it was more Richie just admiring the pictures as he had yet to understand human writing. Eddie would also leave the little music player for Richie to use and tune to his pleasure, a radio was it? Whatever it was, Richie liked the music, and after a couple days he began to recognize the songs and then when he heard a song he knew he’d get all excited and try to sing along. After he’d usually fool around with his powers, play with the water and stuff without making too much of a mess. But the best part of any day was always when Eddie returned home to him. 

“Edwardo is that you?” Richie called out to Eddie. 

“No it’s a burglar! Yes of course it’s me!” Richie could hear the smile in Eddie’s voice as he bounded up the stairs. 

“Hey Eds,” Richie smiled, relieved to see him again. 

“Hey yourself, Trashmouth” Eddie entered the bathroom, ruffled Richie’s hair then took a seat on the floor beside him. 

“How were the tittens?” Richie asked excitedly. 

Eddie giggled. “You mean Kittens?”. 

“What now?” Richie’s brow furrowed. 

“Kittens, I went to go see baby cats today, here, look,” Eddie whipped out his phone and showed Richie some pics of the babies. 

“So you can take uh-” Richie waved his hand around, grasping for the right word, “Photos? Photos with that?” he asked. 

“Yeah, er-here” Eddie clicked a couple things then turned the phone to Richie. 

“Woah,” Richie gaped as he stared at himself in the selfie cam. “Take photos of me!” He begged happily. 

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully as Richie struck a pose. “You’re such a drama queen.” He giggled as he snapped a couple pics. Eddie took enough photos so just started a video. 

“I know right?” Richie smirked and magically flicked some water at Eddie. 

“Hey!” he giggled. Eddie turned the camera around so he could see himself as he sat back down beside Richie. “Say hi,” he suggested as Richie leaned forward.

“Hey guys, Richie Tozier here,” Richie announced in a TV announcer voice. “Here with me today is the adorable Edwardo Kaspbrak.” He pinched Eddie’s cheek. 

Eddie swatted his hand away, “That’s not my name dickwad,” he mused.

“I know but you love it so much,” Richie smirked. 

“I really don’t.”

“But I know what you do like,” Richie claimed and kissed Eddie’s cheek. 

The sudden show of affection nearly caused Eddie to drop his phone. His heart was racing and his stomach was full of butterflies. He ended the video and slid the phone back into his pocket. 

“Ew gross, fish germs.” He tried to hide his embarrassment as he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. 

“Oh come on Eddie, you love me,” Richie dragged out the O. 

Eddie stood up and glanced out the door, quickly he changed the subject. “You hungry for some dinner? I can make you some pasta if you want?” he asked. 

“The only pasta I need is you, Spaghetti,” Richie smiled happily. 

“God, you’re such a sap,” Eddie sighed as he walked out of the room. 

“Ha! I don’t even know what sap means!” Richie called out after Eddie. 

Eddie made the same pasata he had from a couple nights ago. Though he wasn't the biggest fan of the mussels, he did enjoy the white sauce it was in. He made the pasta and put his on a plate, then added some more fish to Richie’s and put it in a bowl. 

They ate dinner together and joked around like usual. When the sky grew dark and the moon came out, Eddie let out a yawn. 

“Well, that’s my cue. I’m gonna go to bed,” Eddie said, stretching. 

“Okay,” Richie looked a little disappointed, even though he too was about to fall asleep. He never seemed to get enough time with Eddie. 

“Goodnight trashmouth,” Eddie leaned over and kissed Richie’s forehead. The gesture acted as a way of payback for the little stunt Richie pulled during that video. Eddie could visibly see Richie blush as he looked up at him with those big blue eyes. 

“Goodnight Eds.”

“That’s not my name!” Eddie smirked, turning to leave.

“Wait-Eds, I’ve been meaning to ask, what does that button do?” Richie pointed to a small red button above the main water controls of the tub. 

Eddie yawned and waved his hand around, “It doesn't matter, Rich. Just please don’t touch it…. Goodnight.”

Richie stared at the doorway as he watched Eddie leave. Well shit, now i’ve gotta test it out. Richie’s mind was slipping in and out of sleep as he poked the button with the tip of his tail fin. Sadly sleep took him away before he could see what it did.

Word Count: 3072

AH GUYS I ADORED THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH! Richie and Eddie are just so cute and chaotic. But damn y'all aren't even ready to see what happens next chapter OMG. On that note, I will see all of you next monday where you find out what the red button does. Until then... So Long and Goodnight

~

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[garudabluffs]

Craig Murray’s jailing is the latest move in a battle to snuff out independent journalism

30 July 2021

"Craig Murray, a former ambassador to Uzbekistan, the father of a newborn child, a man in very poor health and one who has no prior convictions, will have to hand himself over to the Scottish police on Sunday morning. He becomes the first person ever to be imprisoned on the obscure and vaguely defined charge of “jigsaw identification”.

Relentless attack

"Murray has been a thorn in the side of the British establishment for nearly two decades. Now they have found a way to lock him up just as they have Assange, as well as tie Murray up potentially for years in legal battles that risk bankrupting him as he seeks to clear his name."

Two-tier journalism

"The most glaring, and disturbing, legal innovation in Lady Dorrian’s ruling against Murray – and the main reason he is heading to prison – is her decision to divide journalists into two classes: those who work for approved corporate media outlets, and those like Murray who are independent, often funded by readers rather than paid big salaries by billionaires or the state."

"Write for the Times or the Guardian, or broadcast on the BBC, where the audience reach is enormous, and the courts will protect you from prosecution. Write about the same issues for a blog, and you risk being hounded into prison."

"In Assange’s case, Judge Vanessa Baraitser largely assented to US claims that what the Wikileaks founder had done was espionage rather than journalism. The Obama administration had held off prosecuting Assange because it could not find a distinction in law between his legal right to publish evidence of US war crimes and the New York Times and the Guardian’s right to publish the same evidence, provided to them by Wikileaks. If the US administration prosecuted Assange, it would also need to prosecute the editors of those papers."

“Jigsaw identification” – especially when allied to sexual assault allegations, involving women’s rights and playing into the wider, current obsession with identity politics – is the perfect vehicle for winning widespread consent for the criminalisation of the free speech of critical journalists."

A recent government consultation document calling for a more draconian crackdown on what is being deceptively termed “onward disclosure” – code for journalism – has won the backing of Home Secretary Priti Patel. The document implicitly categorises journalism as little different from espionage and whistleblowing.

"In the Assange and Murray cases, the British state is carving out for itself a space to define what counts as legitimate, authorised journalism – and journalists are colluding in this dangerous development, if only through their silence. That collusion tells us a great deal about the mutual interests of the corporate political and legal establishments, on the one hand, and the corporate media establishment on the other.

Assange and Murray are not only telling us troubling truths we are not supposed to hear. The fact that they are being denied solidarity by those who are their colleagues, those who may be next in the firing line, tells us everything we need to know about the so-called mainstream media: that the role of corporate journalists is to serve establishment interests, not challenge them."

READ MORE https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2021-07-30/craig-murrays-jailing-is-the-latest-move-in-the-battle-to-snuff-out-independent-journalism/