#Musical Theatre Lab

[eldritchships]

Melpomene probably thinks Drew's the perfect man btw. He loves karaoke night, he watches knockoff Dancing With the Stars, he's a twisted genius who can't stop embarrassing himself. Melpo's completely infatuated with him and no-one else understands why

[pallases]

NO

[anthonys237thfreckle]

i need need need headcanons for anthony with a gf who’s like got a career in STEM and she’s super smart and as an actor he’s amazed by her lmao.

this is so cute! thanks anon

I’m looking for a woman in STEM - Anthony Ramos x F! Reader

prompt: headcanons for Anthony who’s girlfriend is in STEM - i’ve picked biomed for a degree since my mom wanted me to do biomed in high school

TW: mentions of academic stress and panic attacks, mention of drugs used in medicine, mention of mental illness

🔬 when you both first met, and he first asked for where you graduated from, let me tell you - mans did NOT expect you to say ‘Cambridge’

🔬 ‘Oh, so like Cambridge College in Massachusetts?’

🔬 This man omg

🔬 When you said ‘No, England’ he felt goosebumps cause like ‘geez louise CAMBRIDGE?’ and when you casually said you did biomed he was like ‘wait what-’

🔬 ‘Me? Oh, I did Musical Theatre’ he says matter of factly, and you’d add ‘Oh, I played piano when I was in elementary-’

🔬 You’d be the definition of a perfect golden child. He knows that couldn’t have been easy

🔬 When you two do start dating, he’s always bragging ‘Oh my girlfriend does lab research for this new supplement for this drug for schizophrenia in children-’ HE’S A PRO YAPPER. Especially in interviews.

🔬 He’s so proud of everything you’ve done - doing medicinal research at NYMC (New York Medical College)

🔬 Maybe in the winter as you two are baking (you always make sure the measurements are perfect, never letting him measure anything out lol) he always says baking is an ‘art’

🔬 ‘Actually babe, it’s chemistry’ you’d chuckle, taking a bite out of some gingerbread cookies, and ever since, he’s jokingly kept a lab coat and goggles and chides you for ‘not tying your hair in the lab’.

🔬 You’d tell him about how hard high school and college was for you, having to get a scholarship, going to British private schools because the medicine industry is mad competitive and honestly, you need to show something off in your application.

🔬 You’d tell him how even though you did Cambridge IGCSE and A level courses all throughout high school, it was no match for what England had in store for you - panic attacks became a weekly thing.

🔬 I mean, you did Pure Math, Biology, Chemistry and Psychology A and AS levels for gods sake - its an absolute mindfuck.

🔬 He’s always there to reassure her how smart she is and that she’s human no matter what - that college is over, and the drug trials will end up great, and a bunch of kids will get some damn good medication.

🔬 He LOVES it when you come watch his shows and movies. It means the absolute world to him.

🔬 Soon, he kind of drifted away from theatre after Hamilton, and started in film, and would always get super excited whenever he’d get some remotely science-y role.

🔬 Like in In Treatment, he’d come to you for help for some advice on his role, on some deeper level analysis (not as deep as an actual therapist guys, just a psych student level) and you’d be squealing with pride when you see him on TV.

🔬 And when he got into the more Sci-Fi movies like Transformers, he’d tell you ‘it’s not that deep, baby.’ whenever he’d catch your brows furrow in confusion at the misuse of a niche scientific term

🔬 He’d be so happy when he landed Twisters, even though you weren’t a meteorology student, your use of organic chemistry would def have some revelations when watching Kate use some form of polycarbonate.

🔬 ‘they’re right! they use silver iodide for cloud seeding!” you’d giggle.

🔬 affectionately calls you ‘nerd’ all the time.

— for anyone not british, igcse is from grades 9-10 and a levels are a bit like AP! but like they have a lot of depth. you’re not expected to do more than three.

[mikashisus]

GET HIM BACK — performing arts losers!

KINICH — 20. not a playboy, but people assume so about him because he's always seen with someone different. is actually very loyal and kindhearted. gets dragged along to parties by heizou and aether. not that much of a people person. very introverted and prefers to stay in his dorm than go out.

CITLALI — 20. engineering major who has way too many assignments. never seen at social events and not in any clubs. famous on campus for inventing some weird device, but 95% of the student body has never seen her face because she's always locked away in her lab. the science department ADORES her. hates partying, but will occasionally drink if she feels stressed.

HEIZOU — 19. high like 24/7. always at parties, never in the classroom. asks citlali to tutor him because he's always behind on a ton of assignments. journalism major who actually hates writing. in the theatre club because he needed to join a club and theatre was the most appealing to him.

KAZUHA — 20. music industry major who should actually be a creative writing major because he loves to write. writes poems for fun. in band. takes 3 art classes even though they're not required for his major. a part of the arts and crafts club because he thought it'd be fun and relaxing.

AETHER — 18. the one who always gets alcohol from an unknown source and likes holding parties in his apartment. everyone fears him because they never know where he gets illegal shit from. kind of a menace. likes playing pranks on his friends. was in band in high school and is constantly teased about it. gets bullied by his sister all the time.

masterlist

[wingedcupcaketimemachine]

Hi, can i request a headcanon for rottmnt turtles with a gn!reader who loves watching movies and play video games with them?

TMNT Boys x Gamer!GN!Reader Headcanons

Pairings: Rise!TMNT x GN!Reader

Summary: How the boys would react to a S/O who enjoys gaming and movies

Warnings: none

Type: Romantic ❤️, Fluff ☁️

A/N: Sorry this took so long! I'm working on applying to colleges right now, so I'm super behind with requests! Hope you enjoy <3

Headcanons start below cut.

Rise of the TMNT Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Rise!Raph x Reader

Raph is pretty into games

He's not as good as his younger brothers, but he takes every opportunity he can to bond with you

Due to his size, he can sometimes struggle with games since the controller is so much smaller than his hands

Though he hides it well, Raph is just as competitive as his brothers

Since he sometimes struggles with gaming, he makes sure to always team up with you during games night to make sure he's on the winning team

Raph prefers cozy games like animal crossing or stardew valley over more competitive games

One of his favorite things to do with you is vist each others islands and have animal crossing dates

Aside from gaming, watching movies is one of his favorite ways to spend time with you

Before you started dating, he would drag his brothers and April out to the living room for mandatory movie nights at least once a month

Once you start dating, the two of you have ~private~ movies nights together once a week

He’ll watch just about anything, but he can’t handle horror

His favorite movies are either action movies or Disney movies

Since the two of you can go out to normal movie theaters, the two of you sneak out and watch drive-in movies from the rooftops of New York

Rise!Donnie x Reader

Donnie is very into video games

If you've seen the purple game, you know how competitive Donnie can get

If you're as good as him, he'll be very excited to have a worthy challenger

His brothers can never keep up with him, so the two of you will spend days locked up in his lab playing video games until Raph breaks down the door and makes you sleep

Even if you’re not as good as Donnie, he still won’t go easy on you

He may love you, but he loves winning even more

Like Raph, Donnie always teams up with you during games night

Not that he can't hold his own, but he enjoys the bragging rights when the two of you absolutely demolish his brothers in super smash bros

Even though he'd much prefer to play video games, Donnie will still watch movies when you ask

Even though he agrees to watch movies with you, you won't always enjoy it

Donnie has the tendency to talk during movies

A LOT

Don't expect to actually hear what's going on in the movie

Donnie will spend the entire movie pointing out scientific inaccuracies and spoiling the plot, especially if it’s a sci-fi movie

Donnie is very theatre kid coded, so I think he would really enjoy musicals

RIse!Leo x Reader

Leo LOVES gaming

He's not as good as Donnie or Mikey, but he's just as competitive

In addition to be super competitive, Leo's also a very sore loser

He's the type of person to turn off the tv right before someone beats him in Mario Kart

Leo would team up with you during game nights to leech off of you and take all of the credit

He also really enjoys watching movies with you, especially if you’re into sci-fi

Instead of staying cooped up in the lair, he usually just portals you into the back of regular movie theaters where you won’t be seen

Leo also tends to talk during movies

He doesn’t spoil the plot like Donnie, but he’ll ask you questions about the movie that you also don’t know the answer to

He’ll spend the whole movie asking you who certain characters are and why they do certain things, which you also don’t know because you haven’t seen the movie

He also really enjoys movie marathons, so be prepared to spend a week straight watching the entire Jupiter Jim franchise

Rise!Mikey x Reader

Mikey is the second best gamer in the family after Donnie, but he’s not quite as competitive

Besides Raph, Mikey is the most likely to go easy on you and let you win

Even though he’ll go easy on you, the same cannot be said for his brothers

During game night he’ll make sure to pair up with you and give you some of the credit when the two of you beat his brothers

Mikey is a really big movie lover, so watching movies with you is one of his favorite things

He’ll watch any movie you want, but prefers not to watch horror

His favorite type of movie is definitely Disney movies

His brothers are always hovering when the two of you hang out at the lair, so he prefers sneaking over to your house and watching movies in a blanket fort in your room

[spenglersweetheart]

Hello it’s me again with another Ray request

Ray with a reader who can sing, like they sing ballads and stuff like that and always wanted to be on broadway but had a passion for science instead. I just wanna sing for my baby 😭😭😭

this is actually so adorable 🥹 fun random fact about me i used to be a musical theatre major lol

─────────────── ✦ ───────────────

Sing Me to Sleep

Ray Stantz x Reader

WARNINGS : none!

─────────────── ✦ ───────────────

THE GHOSTBUSTERS WERE KNOWN NOT TO REALLY SLEEP. You would often find yourself walking through the halls as well most parts of the night. It's weird, really. Making sure that the rest of them went to sleep before you went to sleep. Maybe you just cared more about their sleeping habits than yours. But, it could be something else.

You were actually downstairs at the Firehouse, as you're the one who relieved Janine out for the night. But after you did that, you head upstairs to the sleeping quarters. When you got up there, you immediately scoped out the room to see who had been sleeping.

Your eyes land on Egon. You know he's asleep. He sleeps like a rock. He's flat on his back. You find Peter, who's asleep. He's drooling on his pillow. Winston was asleep, too. Although he slept on his side, you can slightly hear him snoring.

Your head tilts to the side. You walk over Ray's bed and you find that he isn't asleep. That he's just turned over. You lean down to him, slight worried expression written all over your face.

"How come you're not sleeping?"

"Can't sleep," Ray told you, "I've been tossing and turning all night."

"Really? How come?" You ask him.

"Dunno."

This was the second day that Ray had gone without sleep. You weren't going to let that happen. You wanted him to rest. You guys were always busy. It's like that time that you caught Egon sleeping in his lab and his eyes were still on the microscope.

He looks up at you. "Could you sing to me?"

Only Ray knew this, but you were a singer. Not very professional, but you knew most of the technique. Your dream for the longest time was to be an actress on the Broadway stage. Though, you didn't know if you were ever going to get there.

"Sing to you," you repeat. You thought for a moment before you asked, "What do you want me to sing to you?"

Ray gives a shrug. "Anything really," he answered, "Maybe one of those showtunes you hum around here."

A chuckle escaped your lips. You motion him over. He laid his head onto your lap. Your first instinct is to run your hand through his hair. You do this repeatedly, just to soothe him. You start to sing.

"Don't cry for me, Argentina / The truth is I never left you / All through my wild days / My mad existence / I kept my promise / Don't keep your distance."

Evita was a show that has hit you in your feels. You saw it and your life was changed when you walked out of that theatre. And to think that they were actually making that into a movie. You look down, as you sing to Ray, you can see his eyes closing. You keep singing for him.

"And as for fortune, and as for fame / I never invited them in / Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired / They are illusions ..."

Between the singing and the repeating of your hand running through his hair, Ray had fallen asleep in no time. When you notice this, you carefully set his head down on his pillow. You run your hand through his hair one more time before you give a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"Goodnight, Ray ..." You whisper to him before you carefully stand back up.

You left the bedrooms, humming the song that you just sang to him. But before you leave, you look back, just to make sure that he's sleeping. And when you find that he is, you make it out of the room before going home for the night.

[alittlerobin]

William/Kate

tags: William's manicure word count: 1.4k

“Well, well, isn’t it the robin herself, home so soon. I take it the mission went well?”

Kate turned her focus from bidding goodnight to Harrison and Liam after their return to the castle, instead looking toward Alfons. Whereas they had just gotten home, he was shrugging on his coat, no doubt heading out for yet another night on the town. He said “so soon” but the sun had long set and it wouldn’t be an hour before the clocks chimed midnight. 

She cast him an easy smile. “Yes, thank you. Take care of yourself tonight too.”

“You’re as foolishly kind as ever. As a show of my utmost gratitude, may I advise that you pay a visit to the lounge before you tuck in for the night? You might find your beloved William partaking in something most amusing. Tata for now.”

With that, he swept past her and out of the castle, his coat billowing behind him like raven’s wings. She narrowed her eyes, given that any and all of Alfons’s “amusing” suggestions needed to be taken with a grain of salt and a mountain of caution. However, if Will was there… 

As she’d learned from Liam, it rarely did her good to stifle her curiosity. Besides, there was nothing in the castle that could do her harm, right? …Aside from Roger’s lab and Alfons’s gloveless hands and Jude’s sharp tongue—well, nothing that she hadn’t learned to handle. 

Smoothing down her skirt, she headed to the lounge and indeed found William there. Except he wasn’t alone. 

William sat relaxed in an armchair, a glass of red wine beside him, with his hand stretched out as if in offer. And Ellis, perched on a stool beside him, was holding William’s hand in both of his. He also was slightly hunched over, leaning into William, and—for a split second—it looked as if Ellis was kissing William like a knight paying tribute to a king. But that couldn’t possibly be right. 

For one, Ellis didn’t pull away, maintaining his position as he did something to William’s hand. And two, William’s attention wasn’t even on the younger man, instead shifting to pick up his wine glass and bring it to his regal lips for a long and savoring sip. 

His gaze flickered over to her and the corners of his lips curled over the rim of his wine glass. “Welcome back, my robin.” 

She crossed the room without waiting, as if following a command bidding her to him, and the only thing that kept her from kissing his wine-darkened lips was Ellis muttering a greeting to her as well. 

“What are you doing?” She leaned over and caught a glimpse of a bloodred compact. Ellis was buffing William’s nails, causing a matte red to turn shiny. “Oh, is this how…?”

“My manicure needed a touch-up.” William’s voice was as musical as always. “Ellis noticed and volunteered to help.”

“I thought it’d make him happy,” Ellis explained, as if there were any other reason for why he did things. 

“Indeed. He’s doing a fantastic job. Don’t you think so, Kate?”

Nodding, she grabbed another stool from nearby and sat down next to them so she could watch. Ellis had buffed William’s nails to shiny perfection, then gently turned William’s hand so he could do the same to his thumb. And, for the first time ever, she saw the natural pink of William’s nails. 

“Wow…” Somehow, the actual color felt unreal. 

She’d heard from Liam that some French theatre actors he’d met had colored nails, and apparently there was a growing trend among noblewomen of using powders to pinken their nail beds to achieve the perfect manicured look, but she had never witnessed it herself. Of course, outside of William. She’d noticed his red nails, just as she’d noticed his eyes, the evening they’d met and yet they seemed to be such a natural part of him that she never gave it much thought. A dark part of her had simply assumed that his hands had been stained by blood so often and for so long that the color had engrained itself in him as a permanent reminder of his sins. Seeing it actually being done was fascinating. 

William set his wine glass down on a small table beside his chair and there Kate noticed the manicure kit. It was standard, with cuticle pushers, snips, and a nail file amongst other things. Next to it were two compacts—one containing a bloodred powder and the other that resembled a cuticle cream. 

“Is this always how you color them?” Kate asked, watching in fascination as Ellis started the process by nimbly rubbing a very thin layer of cream onto William’s nail. 

“Yes.” William nodded. “Sometimes my maid will do it, sometimes I’ll do it myself. Victor is actually quite skilled at it himself, but our darling Reaper has been a tad too busy of late to indulge me. I was thinking to do them myself tonight, but Ellis beat me to it.”

“I don’t mind,” Ellis reassured, working with steadfast dedication. He dabbed the red powder over the top of the cream, building up the color until it was dark and foreboding. Cleaning the bit of excess traces off William’s skin, he then went over the nail with a strip of buffer leather until it set and shone. Now that she thought about it, Jude also had perfectly manicured nails which she’d considered a bit odd before, but perhaps this was the reason why: Ellis. “There, all done.”

William took his hand back from Ellis, curling his fingers into his palm as he inspected them with a hum. “Stunning. Don’t you think so, Kate?”

She did, nodding her compliments to Ellis who was wiping his hands clean on a small towel. 

“Hey, Will… How happy are you right now?”

“What do you think, my dear boy?”

“Hmmm… Very happy, but not quite enough.” Ellis’s words formed a statement rather than a question. Kate couldn’t stop her gaze from flickering to the sheathed knife strapped to Ellis’s thigh. Ever since William had explained to her the contract between Ellis and Jude, she had the sense that the right—or the wrong—answer to that particular question would result in a happy ending only for one person. 

William chuckled in confirmation. “You did a fantastic job. Thank you, Ellis.”

“Anytime.” Ellis shuffled off with a small smile, quietly wishing them both goodnight before he disappeared down the hall.  

With him gone, Kate moved her stool closer to William and took his hand. She skimmed her fingertips over his newly recolored nails, but her skin came back clean without any transfer. The color really was the perfect red, deep and haunting. “You know, Alfons told me I’d find you in here.”

“Is that so?”

“I wonder if he thought seeing this would make me jealous…” 

“Did it?”

She paused, considering her feelings. William was so loved, so adored by so many she often felt it a wonder that of everyone who passed through his world, he’d chosen her. And in return, she always wanted to do whatever she could to make herself feel like she deserved it. “Would you mind it if I learned how to do this for you? I… I’d like to be the one you ask from now on.”

“Of course, I’d be honored.”

The sweetness in his voice made her chest warm, affection bubbling up inside her. Maybe she could practice on herself, surprise him with a matching set on their next date. Normally, something like a red manicure would draw far too much attention for her to be comfortable, but if it were for William… There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him. 

“Ah, but what if you’re not around when I’d like them touched up? Will you make me wait?”

“I don’t mind if you ask someone else then. Like Ellis, or Victor. But I’d like to be the one to do this for you when I can.”

William chuckled, slipping his hand out of hers to cup her cheek. He stroked his thumb over it, his long red nail just brushing her skin. “My robin is always so very greedy.”

“And who made me that way?” she asked with a smile, tipping her face into his touch.

“Hmm, I wonder… A man just as selfish, no doubt.” 

She laughed and leaned in, catching his lips with her, just as greedily as he'd taught her to be. 

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 9 thoughts

i have so much to say. i just copied and pasted my notes, and my thoughts were COMICALLY long. but it was SUCH a good episode so i have a LOT to point out. even more than usual, somehow.

(screams to let it all out and then tries to take a deep breath and gather myself)

okay. OKAY FUCK. okay. whew. we start from the top. the very very top, in which i click on the episode. and so begins an emotional rollercoaster.

this episode description mentions a train. as does the one after that!!! am i in for a two parter?!?! well, if so, at least i am prepared with this information, so i don’t get a massive shock like with duane barry! (author’s note: i was right!)

a train. huh. would love to ride one of those someday. unfortunately i’m american. we only really have cargo ones hanging about. but their noise is deeply familiar and comforting to me regardless.

(little did i know that this was the very kind of train to be featured in this episode!!)

camera opens on tennessee! children are riding bikes to watch a train. ah, good to know the desire to stop doing other things and instead watch a train go by is universal.

now it’s night at the train. is some graffiti action going to take place? the music is getting weirder as we look at the top of this train, and it appears we are in for no ordinary graffiti moment as some cars pull up. 

and these people are from japan! in tenneseee! boarding the train…? which is full of science stuff!! this is odd on many levels.

(japan to tennessee… whew, that’s a long flight. give these men some caffeine now!)

caffeine seems to be ignored because they are in surgery looking gear cutting something open. and green stuff flows into a jar? hey. not liking that. 

they are cutting into what looks like, in my opinion, some guts.

until people run in and start shooting!!! really truly shooting and killing everyone!!! what!!! what the hell!! who are these guys!! are they with cig man??? holy fuck, if that WAS an alien autopsy, way to ruin the scientific method with bullets in the lab!!

and they are zipping an alien into a bag!! so it was!!! the blatant disregard for learning here!! it’s appallingly american! who are these people?!!

bum bum bum bum… woo woo woo woo wooo wooo… woo woo woo woo WOOO woo… intro time.

mulder has his feet up on the desk. fiddling with… something. scully opens the door and he tells her to come on in, with the face of a man who is scheming. he has it all dark like a movie theatre!!!

LMAOOOO he ordered a video from a magazine of an alien autopsy. and that must be why he looks like a kid in a candy store. $29.95, plus shipping!!! THAT IS A LOT!!

she’s like, you literally cannot see what they are operating on. and she says it’s hokier than the one they aired on fox news. which means i have to google a few things to learn if that actually happened. actually i don’t want to even know.

he mentions the green goo and he says “it’s widely held that aliens don’t have blood, scully” <- girl how would she know that. also you literally almost died FROM alien blood. so explain.

they’re arguing the merits of what makes an authentic alien autopsy tape, and then he points out how the people burst in with guns right before the film cuts off. well, that could make it look more authentic, or less!

some guy in allentown got the tapes so they’re visiting LMAOOO road trip road trip!!!! to a very old looking house. 

the studio is called “rat tail productions” okayyy. i kinda like that. but it’s all boarded up so they have to try and break in.

and they find a dead body!! that is still warm!!! what is going on!!!

someone else enters!! and mulder chases after them and jumps the fence yelling that he is a federal agent. zooooom that is a speedy man. 

and just when it seems mulder has the guy, he starts kicking and punching and BOOM! down goes mulder. until he shoots something nearby to show he isn’t playing. 

mulder is wet from falling into a bunch of garbage… king. and the language barrier is being a barrier!

(sidenote i’m surprised they didn’t make mulder learn another language in school or for the fbi?? like actually really shocked. you’d think he’d have at least one other one, or a few basic phrases, under his belt. idk, where i’m from higher education in humanities related fields requires language learning, but he somehow escaped)

mulder is pretty despite being covered in garbage and bringing a man to a police station

scully says they can’t find an interpreter! this is not really shocking because they are in pennsylvania. 

“well look at this… a beacon in the night” says mulder whilst smiling, and who is it he glances upon but SKINNER?!?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?? are they in trouble?? does… skinner know japanese??

(mulder asks and he does not 💔)

skinner says they have to let the guy (kazuo sakurai) go because he is a high ranking diplomat. so if you’re a diplomat can you just… walk away from a murder scene and that isn’t a problem?? at all? i did not think it worked like this.

skinner asks what they’re doing and mulder says he’s tracking down a “video piracy thing” LMAOOOO least convincing lie ever. 

skinner tells him to go back home, and then very purposefully brushes into his shoulder before walking away. yowch! that has got to sting. mulder looks like he just got caught and is trying to charm his way out of it

scully rightfully points out that this makes no sense, and asks if he wants to drop it, but mulder says he paid his $29.95 and he is gonna get his answers!!!

LMAOOO he “forgot” to turn in the suitcase kazuo was carrying. it has a list of members of a ufo society with a local woman’s name circled!! was she gonna be their next target…?

he tells her to get a motel and he is going to go back to D.C. and be “a good boy” for skinner… LMAOOO, and he’ll show the files to his besties 

back in D.C., and woah, mulder looks like a real slut with his hands on his waist and his jeans and tucked in turtleneck sweater. i am NOT complaining. just merely observing. it’s kinda giving that one photo of the rock. i see where he took his style inspo from.

so the lone gunmen say that the japanese were looking for a sunken ship from wartime, and it looks like they found it, but they brought it to virginia? very weird. maybe they did not find a sub… but something else.

the diplomats are heading home. or not. because someone is beating up kazuo! huh?! WHAT!

scully on da scene in allentown pa. serving. knocking at a door of the person whose name was circled in the files.

but the person goes to answer the door and she says they know her. she’s like umm not sure about that?? until another person comes to the door and says “oh my god… she’s one” WHAT??

(is this like a secret society of people who were abducted or like. are they trying to scam her or something?)

she looks super freaked out. she’s trying to explain that she’s here for murder investigation reasons, but the lady in pink (penny) is calling and saying everyone needs to come over right away. this will surely make scully even more stressed.

they ask her if there was some unexplained event that happened last year. and also to please sit down. so you KNOW things are about to get wild.

mulder is asking about the ship that allegedly was returning through panama. and the boat was stopped! but then kept going? the guy he’s asking to look into this does not seem to be pleased to discuss this subject. 

scully is freaking tf out but trying to gently explain that she does NOT KNOW THESE PEOPLE. but they’re talking about being taken to “the bright white place” and that she was only taken once, but these other women were taken many times. WHAT IS GOING ON.

they ask her about regression hypnosis and she’s like i do not want to talk about this. (and yes i even TRIED IT) and she looks around at all the other women and it is creepy. SAVE HER… save them all.

mulder is running away from the guy he asked for the files from. he’s always going somewhere. looking at a boat. looking at another boat. is he gonna sneak on the boat? YES HE IS. HE IS JUMPING ON IT. elbowing a window open to get in. this is a wild man!! he will break into your boat!!!

he’s going through drawers looking for stuff and i’m thinking, oh man i really hope the boat doesn’t start heading out to sea… he has nothing to survive on. and we’ve seen them kill people, so don’t say “accidental” boat abandonment with a guy on it is out of the realm of possibility. but it IS the boat he was hoping for. and now he’s sneaking about its underbelly. 

NO! he has been caught. the boat is being swarmed by men with guns. he seems too tall to hide…. but he did!! AND HE JUMPS INTO THE HARBOR LMAOOOOO, NOOO, THE POLLUTANTS!!

back to scully. i was so caught up in the boat espionage i had forgotten about scully’s dilemma. and they say that she won’t remember what happened to her for a while. cut scene to her being blowed up again like we saw in s2.

and she is really freaking out now, because they point out that they all have the mark and she just wants to learn about this murder, damn it, not unpack trauma!!

but betsy, who she came to see, is dealing with very severe cancer. and they say that what she is dealing with is going to happen to all of them. WHAT??? “we’re all dying because of what they do to us” OH MY GOD??? she has tears in her eyes. WHAT!!! what. 

back to the boat. do i look like i give a damn about the boat!! no!! but mulder is crawling- at night- from the harbor. so did he stay there all evening or….

so he’s once again on the run. and soaking wet. please take a shower, my friend. you know not what they do in that harbor. 

he sees people pulling in to the warehouse nearby!! with guns!!! and we see him sneak by!!! no, mulder, consider going home and not getting caught!! but what if he finds something that can help scully…? and oh my gosh, he doesn’t even KNOW she’s slowly dying yet. oh my gosh wait i need to sit down (said by the girl who is literally sitting)

the orchestral score is popping off, too. he peeks in a window and sees a giant… thing? being gassed. with cameras out and about. like a blimp looking thing. 

somehow he gets a change of clothes. and he goes home but his apartment door was unlocked! so he has his gun. is it skinner? 

IT IS!! whew! that was best case scenario, so it was just wishful thinking on my part, but maybe i really am deeply attuned to this show. skinner is sitting there in the dark. we see some photos on mulder’s desk but they kinda just look like random places. one is some sort of field? and the other is a house, i think? not recognizable to me. but back to the plot at hand.

skinner tells him to put the gun down. sort of like you tell a dog to drop it. he obeys. aww, he is a good boy for skinner, like he mentioned earlier.

so skinner has some tea; kazuo’s body was found in a canal!!!! he didn’t make his flight!! and they government thinks he was killed over his BRIEFCASE!!! 

mulder plays dumb. then he admits that scully has the briefcase in her car. he seems like he’s trying to play it cool but skinner is NOT having it. “this is bigger than me, you, or the FBI, agent mulder” okayyyy king of being vague. and he says he is not getting involved!!! woah!!!

so mulder goes to… a senator!!! yes, the senator we saw very briefly a few times before, whose name is richard matheson? i didn’t really understand that in the past, but maybe it was building up to this. richard says to return the photos, but mulder says he’ll be entangled in a murder investigation, which he cannot afford because he is so close to the truth!

this senator claims to be telling mulder the truth about what is going on. and he explains what happens in tennessee, how the japanese doctors were murdered doing a secret thing. 

“what am i onto here?” , he asks. “monsters begetting monsters”, says the senator. ohhhhhhh that does not sound good.

(i hope he exposes the alien people and the torture and they blow up all the people that hurt scully and the rest of those women and then hold hands)

he’s back in his office with his glasses on. and i would be glad for a glasses mulder win under normal circumstances, but my heart is sick over scully. i take what i can get when i can get it, though, because he is a beautiful man in glasses. 

SCULLY’S BACK!! and she is still freaking out. she relays the news that she might be dying, and he looks up at her so innocently and says “but you’re fine, aren’t you scully?” OHHHH BABY. BABY. GROWN MAN. BUT BABY. OHHHHHHH MY HEART. MY HEART ITS MELTING. MY EYES ARE TEARING. “but you’re fine, aren’t you?” oh lord… he cannot lose anymore people. 

she is terrified- “am i? i don’t know, mulder” NOOOOOOOO MY BABY. STOP. DO NOT DO THIS TO HER.

he pulls up a photo and she says she knows someone in it, but that guy has been dead since 1965. mulder seems to find this difficult to believe, but last episode he was suggesting that someone was bleeding another person’s blood, so i feel he of all people should be open to this idea.

(oh…. they’re using unit 731 for the storyline here. and they have done that in the past as well but. wow. awful lot of baggage to dredge up there. very very painful and unhealed wounds)

((and i guess before they have done similar things involving nazis, right, remember victor? and his experiments? even if it was done before though, it doesn’t make it any less chilling to me. i’m not sure how i feel about using real horrific war crimes as plot points in an alien show))

but my reckoning with history aside, mulder says that four of the men in that photo were in the alien autopsy video. and they were murdered.

“murdered for what? or murdered by whom?” oh scully, you deserve none of the suffering that the world has given to you. NONE OF IT. if i were mulder, i would hug her and never let go ever. ever ever. 

he thinks they’re still trying to make an alien-human hybrid, but she still isn’t buying it, even after everything; she needs proof. she says believing is the easy part, but he disagrees. “you think that believing is easy?” he asks, and it hangs in the air.

oh, i want to linger in that space forever. the tension it creates, the things it reveals about him. how belief is centered on hope, how he has to fight for it, that it doesn’t come as natural as breathing as he might have you thinking. it’s hope for a better future, it’s hope for righting old wrongs, it’s looking where no one else will go find the answers. it’s about getting family back. it’s about fighting and sneaking and learning and even killing to get what you need to know. but it’s never easy. 

FUCK. I’M LIKE GONNA JUMP UP AND DOWN. THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!!!!! THIS IS THE STUFF!!!

they hold eye contact for a bit, until she sighs and breaks it (fuck me, i’m emotional) and he points out that they DO have proof, as he reaches for her arms- the spy photos were tracking a ship that pulled a UFO out of the ocean, and the UFO is in that warehouse that he saw earlier!! that thing i said looked like a blimp!!!

he says the US has a secret railroad. i yearn so desperately for accessible transportation. if the government said tomorrow, yeah, we have a secret rail system, i’m not sure how i’d react. perhaps relief?

there is very very very charged eye contact. 

okay, bringing the thingy from her neck to a guy who can understand it. it’s a “micro processor”, and there are a few companies that make them. and they are being used for many things. so was it made by ordinary people, and not alien tech…? who is doing the torturing and testing…? and to what end???

it’s all women in that room… is it for alien breeding purposes… oh, i shutter to imagine

back in west virginia!!! mulder has a leather jacket on and a dream as he climbs up into some sort of railroad building’s roof. his hair blows dreamily in the wind as he busts out some binoculars. if he were to be caught, he could probably convincingly claim he was a birder. i understand they go through a lot to find their birds. 

people are showing up. they’re speaking japanese and getting what looks like a LIVING ALIEN onto the train? mulder is on the move. the train is taking off. is he gonna play subway surfers irl and try to jump on that thing? yes, he is SPRINTING. but he realizes he cannot outrun a train. 

back to scully cam. she is watching footage. a japanese surgeon is taking off his surgical gear and she recognizes him!! OH MY GOSH SHE RECOGNIZES HIM FROM HER TESTING! NOOOOO!!! NOOOO!

she answers the phone like she wasn’t unpacking horrific information and mulder reports from west virginia. and she points out that she recognizes the doctor… but not from the video tape. NOOOOOOO. realization crosses his face, and i’m sure only adds fuel to his fire to get on that damn train.

so mulder is trying to catch up with the train. a handsome japanese man is being followed by the dude that killed the other guy earlier. AND NO!!!! the killer just killed the handsome japanese man and locked him in the bathroom. then adjusted his hair???

mulder JUST misses the train. perhaps this is for the best?

scully going home. WHY IS X THERE?!?!?!? he’s telling her to tell mulder to get OFF OF THE TRAIN. she rightly is suspicious but he is NOT playing around.

mulder is about to leap on top of the train when he gets the call from scully. and he asks who told her what he was doing and to stop it, and like me, she is also probably realizing she doesn’t know this dude X’s name. 

and he jumps on the train!!! but loses his phone in the process!!!!!

TO BE CONTINUED!!!!

WHAT THE HELL.

okay, my yelling aside, THIS is when the show is at its best, imo. THIS is the blueprint for me. character driven. heart of the plot. reveal after reveal but vague enough to keep me wanting more. the government is evil and every conspiracy has more conspiracies. getting to know what is ACTUALLY going on in snippets. skinner is there. this episode truly had it all.

EXCEPT an ending, of course, because now i have to WAIT to watch the next part. SO TRULY DIABOLICAL!

no no, i jest, i can take a cliffhanger most of them time. i just better not have ANY distractions tomorrow. 

whew, so much to unpack. i think there are two things that are sticking out the most to me here: scully’s terror and mulder’s belief.

her not knowing what to believe is true about herself and the world she has studied so carefully, being surrounded by strangers who claim to know her, that know things ABOUT her, and who tell her she is going to die slowly and horribly. how she tears up when she learns this. how she tried so hard to get control over the situation by pivoting to the murder case, only to be denied. how the reigns of control slip from her hands, and it is left to fate. and how horrific that is. how she cannot handle processing what was done to her, but is forced to, by seeing this guy who did unspeakable things to her again. how she says she needs proof. as if she’s biding her time, waiting for a full answer so that the reality of what she has gone through can sink in. if there’s never proof, maybe she’ll never have to process it.

and mulder, who thinks that belief is hard. who has sacrificed so much of his life to belief, put himself in danger countless times to find the truth that everyone around him either denies or ridicules him for. how he has little more than his work, because he needs there to be hope. if belief is terror for scully, to him it is a source of possibility. how they’re both wrapped into the same tragedy with entirely separate takes on what it means and how to proceed but whatever is bringing them together keeps weaving them tighter and tighter. 

AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH. i could scream.

i actually typed all of that, took way more notes than usual, and STILL feel like i’m barely scratching the surface. i feel like i need to give a lecture on this subject matter to even sort of drain the giant well within me of feelings regarding them. his face, how he insists she has to be okay, right? right? and her terror when she admits she doesn’t know.

now. i hate to say it, but i have seen vague spoilers about what happens in the next season, involving illness. and i have a feeling i’m gonna cry like a baby because i’m so messed up just by this. maybe it’s a sensitive topic for me, or maybe i’m just too deeply attached to these nerds and need them to be happy. 

but the depth of my feeling is indicative of how amazing this episode was. it was fast-paced, but not too fast to follow. it explored our character’s hopes and dreams and fears. the dialogue and acting was excellent. how much can be said with just eye contact, and then it breaking, is stunning. i want to know what happens next, and despite my eagerness, i am too disciplined and sleepy to go onto the next episode. 

(i have some thoughts that i need to gather and articulate at a later time regarding the use of unit 731 as a plot point, but they’re still loading, and frankly it would be better to make a post just on that subject once i can figure out how to verbalize them and if i feel that i can confidently tackle the subject matter)

goodnight world, i’m gonna scream. 

[yourfellowhuman07]

Musical Theatre (+Disney) Songs That Apply to Entrapdak

I've discussed this topic on my blog before, but that was in a reblog. I thought I'd share some musical theatre songs that speak to Entrapta and Hordak, combining two things that give me brain rot.

Entrapdak

Take Me as I Am - Jekyll & Hyde

-Just some lab partners loving each other as they are.

One Normal Night - The Addams Family

-One of the kids begging their parents to be "normal" for one night (WH is Fester btw).

I Won't Say (I'm In Love) - Hercules

- It could be read as either of them denying their feeling early on circa season two.

All I Ask of You - Phantom of the Opera

-Lab Partners loving each other part two.

Hordak

Out There - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

-The first half is just Prime mentally and emotionally abusing/ manipulating Hordak, while the second half is Hordak desiring a normal life without the limitations his condition and life put on him.

Heaven's Light - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

-Hordak experiences love for the first time.

Made of Stone - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

-Hordak has just found out Entrapta is potentially dead and gives up on life.

I Need to Know - Jekyll & Hyde

-Hordak reveling in his science experiments all in the name of Prime and getting home.

Alive - Jekyll & Hyde

-This could be read as either Hordak experiencing life as a free man or going insane and indulging in insanity after Entrapta's "betrayal".

Confrontation - Jekyll & Hyde

-Hordak’s internal battle with the person Prime expects him to be and the person he desires to be.

Another Terrible Day - The Lightning Thief The Percy Jackson Musical

-Hordak dealing with the daily complications of running an empire.

Maria - West Side Story

-Hordak is a simp.

Agony - Into The Woods

-Hordak and (insert character) complaining about girl troubles.

Entrapta

Stupid With Love - Mean Girls

-Entrapta is expiring true love for the first time and is determined to get ‘romance’ right.

Watch What Happens - Newsies

-Entrapta is having trouble with an experiment people are depending on her for (either the Black Garnet or fixing Darla).

All You Wanna Do - SIX

-Entrapta’s continual struggle with friendship.

When He Sees Me - Waitress

-Since love is a completely new territory, Entrapta is nervous she will fail.

This is all I have for now, but if I have anymore, I’ll make a part two.

[schmergo]

Reading headlines about professional theatre these past few years is an absolute wild ride. Maybe all this stuff was happening before the pandemic, but I never heard about it. Now every two seconds, it's something like this:

"Inspiring! 'Retired' Broadway actress stars as Elphaba in Broadway with no rehearsal after 8 years away from the theatre working as a biologist in Antarctica... and she's never even SEEN Wicked before!"

"The Show Must Go On! Tony-winning actor announces that he performed at the Tony awards on a broken leg, will be taking two days off to have it treated"

"The Zodiac Killer to join the cast of Chicago as Roxie Hart! He will be wearing a bag over his head at all performances to hide his identity, but we are training AI to recognize his voice patterns"

"Audience wowed by all-understudy performance of Sweeney Todd with the role of the Beadle eliminated entirely and Johanna played by the French horn player from the pit"

"Previously announced production of NAPOLEON! THE MUSICAL to be canceled two days before scheduled opening after playwright pulled rights due to 'unauthorized changes' and 'offensive casting.' Director defends choice to have a chimpanzee play the title role."

"After 147 years, beloved local theatre company announces closure due to ongoing poison-resistant ant infestation. Site to become a research lab about these spectacular ants!"

"5 billion dollar new AI-written Broadway musical BABY SHARK to close after 2 performances, both of which took place on a partial set because it wasn't finished yet"

"After 109 years, beloved local theatre company canceling their 2023-2024 season because they only got 2 sales and that was from the artistic director's mom and her next-door neighbor Debra (who drives)."

"Shocking! Artistic director of beloved local theatre exposed! Actors report seeing multiple interns and swings sacrificed to a minotaur living in the boiler room during his time at the theatre.'

"Beloved local theatre company announces new membership structure! Top membership tier (names engraved on lobby wall, premium seats for whole season, free admission to exclusive parties and events) will consist of donors who gave full or partial organs to our uninsured non-union actors!"

"Onward and upward! Phantom of the Opera now spotted living under Shake Shack!"

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

Y'ALL you know how Gay Dads AU (prior to them becoming Gay Dads) is just basically. Comic boys in the Regular Real Human World Modern AU? I have a lot of ideas about this some of which I expressed before but like

Ballister as the nerdy jock and Ambrosius as the theater jock (the other jocks try to bully them but soon realize that this science nerd and theatre kid are Better Jocks Than Them and can beat them up)

Ambrosius as an orphan??? In foster care??? With the repressive religions DIRECTOR as a foster mother??? Dealing w internalized homophobia from existing in the predominantly evangelical foster system as many foster kids often do??? Not allowing her to adopt him when she tries thereby rejecting the thing he wanted most (parents) and escaping that system to find genuine happiness with Ballister!? Yense please

The boys going to college together??? Biochem Engineering major Blackheart and Musical Theater major Ambrosius???

Blitzmeyer is Ballister's best friend he met in college!?!?!?

Ambrosius coming to help Ballister with his lab projects and Ballister going to all of his shows????

Getting in a car accident because Ambrosius wasn't paying attention because they were having an argument and Ballister LOSING HIS ARM!?!?!?

I'm losing my mind at all the possibilities

[imagionationstation]

I’m sharing this with you cause none of my friends like Tmnt and I wanna share this.

Two of my dumbest headcanons.

Both Raph and Donatello are HUGE musical theatre fans. Raph’s favorite is Heathers, Little Shop of Horrors or Sweeney Todd. Donatello’s favorite is Hadestown, Be More Chill or Nerdy Prudes Must Die.

I like to imagine Raph is huge on self-care and has a skin care routine that’s like…20 steps (maybe not that but it’s a lot lol) and when his brothers are having a hard time (ex. Donnie stays in his lab too much, and doesn’t take care of himself, Leo is feeling down maybe about Splinter etc etc) he forces them to do a self-care day with him.

idk I think these are silly lol

It’s so ironic that you’re commenting about having to share your stuff elsewhere because the people around you don’t get it because MAN I have had a night. Let’s just say that being the only person you know with an interest in something can be difficult.

I love dumb headcanons <3

My favorite part is how difficult they are for me because I am the poster board of every meme of everything needing to make sense:

If anything feels SLIGHTLY off in my headcanons, my brain makes stalling noises. BUT THESE AREN’T MINE.

So take that brain.

I enjoy a few musicals, but I haven’t heard of half of the ones that you listed, so I wouldn’t know for sure if it would be up their alley or not. It’s amusing to imagine them sitting in Donnie’s lab, trading musical preferences to see which ones match up. Their brothers will never heard the end of it when they do. 🤣

NAH WAIT. I can’t get the image out of my head of them tied up as Raph helps them “relax.” One of the few ways that he knows to say “I love you you need to take care of yourself” is by sharing what he enjoys, even if they don’t care. He will make them care.

THEY WILL BOND.

And the worst part is somehow it always works.

[artisticlegshake]

THE DANCE AWARDS ORLANDO RESULTS 2024

HIGH SCORE BY PERFORMANCE DIVISION (TEEN SMALL GROUPS)

BALLET:

1st Moonlight - WESTCHESTER

2nd Egyptian Elegance - DANCE SPECTRUM

CONTEMPORARY:

1st Demonstration Of Duality - DANCE UNLIMITED

2nd In Tandem - G-FORCE

3rd Brûlée - ART & SOUL

4th Seen & Heard - G-FORCE

5th Grey, Dark Grey, Black - VLAD’S

LYRICAL:

1st Quiet Victories & Celebrated Defeats - STARS

2nd Bitter - MATHER

2nd Natalie Don’t - MATHER

3rd We Stand In Silence - WESTCHESTER

4th No Fear - STUDIO 412

5th Dance Me To The End - AVANTI

5th Little Much - FOCAL POINT

JAZZ:

1st You Don’t Love Me - PROJECT 21

2nd Never Gonna Get It - AVANTI

3rd Funkytown - G-FORCE

4th Heads Will Roll - STUDIO 412

4th Secure The Bag - PRODANCE

5th Bad Bad Thing - SOUTH TULSA

TAP:

1st I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song - YOUNG

2nd What’s Going On - FITZSIMMONS

3rd Magic - THE SOUTERN STRUTT

4th Dream On - RHYTHM

4th We Are The Music - TOUCH OF CLASS

5th Coming Back Around - THE DANCER’S EDGE

5th Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing - YOUNG

MUSICAL THEATRE:

1st Annie Get Your Gun - THE STUDIO PROJECT

2nd Nicest Kids In Town - WEST FLORIDA

HIP-HOP:

1st Scrubs - PRODANCE

2nd Identity Crew - THE DANCER’S EDGE

3rd Faaliyah Self - ROCKSTAR

3rd Groove - J2K

4th Lean Back - TOUCH OF CLASS

4th Lose Control - THE STUDIO PROJECT

5th I Look Good - WEST FLORIDA

5th The Lab Mix - ELITE DANCE LAB

BALLROOM:

1st Shaken - D’ANSA JAZZ

SPECIALTY:

1st A Return To Now - EDX

2nd Among My Quietest Fears - VLAD’S

3rd Everything Happens - YOUNG

4th Freak - DANCE UNLIMITED

4th On It - FOCAL POINT

5th A Cat That Really Was Gone - AVANTI

5th Float On - CDC

[boyswillbedogz]

headmates that are active on our socials

as of august 2024

☀️: Lennon he/they/it • host well mannered if not frequently distressed. if you wanna become friends with us collectively your best best is be nice to him and the others may accustom themselves to you.

☀️: Autopsy cohost / ASPD symptom holder / prosecutor • he/it/mutt/bark/snarl slightly destructive dead dog & mildly source connected sal fisher fictive. somewhat flat & blunt when you first meet him. if youre a dick hes probably who youll have to answer to. mostly fronts when Lennon's annoyed or overwhelmed but sometimes hes just around.

💫: Socks ADHD symptom holder / cohost ??? • h3/h1m source connected ben drowned fictive with very unclear purpose. he's pretty friendly, has a typing quirk, and likes video games and typical teenage boy shit. he likes scenecore as an aesthetic but his music tatse is kind of a mess. sparkledog.

☀️: Lokii cohost / ADHD symptom holder • he/they/splash mildly source connected sebastian (pressure) fictive. outgoing theatre kid, can be snippy and "a bit much." less likely than Autopsy but he'll chew you out. fronts basically any time Lennon can't and Autopsy wont.

💫: cypher & wyll unknown ?? he / it / gold / any a mostly source disconnected tumblr sexyman bill cipher & will cypher subsystem. came back from dormancy recently and we dont know why. cypher is an extremely unhinged theatre kid & wyll is a sopping wet cat with no morals. 💫: Saide syskid / soother he / pup little dude, also a hunter fictive. usually runs our agere account. rarely fronts without Luka or Mori in cofront but he can hold his own 💫: Lukotomy "Luka" protector / soother / caretaker he / it / they a golden lab service dog who usually fronts while we're at school or supervises the littles. 💫: Mori ex gatekeeper / soother • fae/he/they/it friendly and polite extremely source disconnected revivebur fictive. an angel, fond of lower life forms but not particularly sociable. 💫: Voidal stress holder • they/any volatile chunk of void. on our socials often but not very personable, you basically have to talk to them like a scared animal or theyll flip out and trigger Autopsy. 💫: Unname unclear • mew/they/it/any Pretty well rounded source disconnected ranboo fictive. pretty well rounded person, does most of our chores and may pop in every now & then 💫: Mystic / Mythic "Mys" Gatekeeper • He/hym + they/it Pretty blunt and flat, exists mostly to do behind the scenes and occasional damage control when Mori cant. Polite but not very sociable.

[odetokeons]

I just KNOW that all of the Papas enjoy musical theatre, so here's my headcanon about each Papa's favourite musical

Primo ⸸ Little Shop of Horrors

A classic

Funky tunes, spooky vibes and alien sentient carnivorous plants taking over the world, OF COURSE peepaw would love it

He definitely has at least one venus flytrap in his garden that he named after Audrey II

Secondo ⸸ The Phantom of the Opera

He may not seem like it, but he's a romantic at heart

In Papaganda, Special Ghoul said “Papa is from the same bloodline as Leonard Cohen and Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, all the Vincent Price's and Don Corleone's.”, so it's only fitting that POTO would be his favourite musical

The Phantom being a misunderstood, scary-looking, lonely, 'miserable old wounded bitter man' who just craves companionship and understanding? Sounds familiar.

Terzo ⸸ The Rocky Horror Picture Show

It's spooky and queer and horny just like him <3

Terzo (especially in the From the Pinnacle to the Pit and Square Hammer mvs) gives me the vibes of someone who would be into both witchcraft AND science alike, I can just picture him in his secret lab doing his silly little mischievous rituals and experiments and his gayass would DEFINITELY try to 'make a man to relieve his tension' (that's how he ended up summoning Omega)

I bet he made Omega dress up as Rocky (while he dressed up as Frank-n-Furter, of course) at least once, perhaps on Halloween (hc inspired by these two gorgeous fanarts)

Copia ⸸ Repo! The Genetic Opera

"Hope this doesn't awaken anything in me" [realizes he's bisexual AND trans right after watching this movie] I'm definitely not projecting WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT (also he took one look at Pavi Largo and said 'I WANT HIS GENDER'. No, I will not elaborate further.)

He has daddy issues, OF COURSE he would eat this up (and be super invested in Shilo's storyline in particular) again I am NOT projecting

A (shitty) father deeming none of his three children worthy of carrying on his legacy and instead leaving everything to an outsider (who's the child of the woman the aforementioned father loved in his youth)? Sounds familiar.

[thatrickmcginnis]

These photos of Robert Smith of The Cure sat forgotten in a negative binder for over 35 years until I rediscovered them last fall while looking for something else. I had, in fact, done my level best to forget about them, as they were evidence of what I remembered as a massive fail made during my earliest years working as a photographer. They were a major stumble on a steep learning curve, and I was sure all evidence had been lost. But let's start at the beginning, when I was assigned to interview Robert Smith and The Cure when they were passing through town on what was apparently called the Beach Party Tour, playing the Kingswood Music Theatre just outside Toronto on July 13, 1986 with 10,000 Maniacs opening.

Another writer at the magazine, Perry Stern, was a huge Cure fan and phoned begging me to let him do the interview; I agreed, provided I still got to take the photos. (I also asked if he could give me a ride to and from the venue.) I had an idea: I'd seen an article in a photography magazine showing how you could get interesting colour washes on your backgrounds by putting complimentary coloured filters in front of your lens and flash. This might have produced interesting results if I bothered doing a test shoot, but I was too cheap/rushed/arrogant for that sort of thing, so I showed up with green and red filters on my Pentax Spotmatic and my Vivitar flash and shot away in a fenced-off grassy area beside the stage.

It's worth talking about the unusual look Robert Smith was rocking during at least part of 1986 - trainers and golf shirts and jeans and short hair. If I still had the transparencies I shot that day including the rest of the band I'd be able to tell you if the Cure as a whole were taking a vacation from their Goth image and dressed down similarly, and if this was one of the few artifacts attesting to a brief sportswear period in the band's history. But the results were awful - overexposed, with a greenish tint, mostly because I had no clue what the ideal ratio between the bright sunlight and the flash strength should have been. The magazine might have reluctantly printed one remotely salvageable frame but my ambition had definitely overstripped my skill and I tried to forget about this shoot.

But at some point a few months after my disastrous Cure shoot I thought I might be able to salvage the results by converting the slides to black and white negatives. I either found someone who could produce an internegative or borrowed the gear to do it myself, but inexperience won again and the four portraits of Robert Smith that I produced were too overexposed for me to work with all those years ago, so I filed them at the bottom of a negative sheet and forgot about them.

Until last fall when I found them again and decided to see if they could be saved with scanning and the neural filters that were recently added to Photoshop. The film grain that was so hard to deal with back in 1986 suddenly became a feature, adding to the retro feel the shots had acquired either with time or in my own mind. With some judicious application of the restoration filter these frames cleaned up nicely, but I decided to push things one stop further by using the colorizing filter as well - making sure Smith's signature smeared lipstick wasn't just retained but highlighted. Now I like to imagine that these shots were taken in 1937 with an old Kodak folding camera like my Jiffy Six-20, and hand-coloured by some underpaid darkroom assistant working for a developing lab in a building down in the warehouse district of town. It's certainly a better story than the one about the kid photographer who screwed up on a big job nearly forty years ago.