#The Journey Of The Troubadour | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

marsprincess889 · 1 year ago

Text

From Rohini/Mrigashira to Jyeshta _ Morgan le Fay and The Morrigan

I've always been drawn to and fascinated by the Arthurian legends. Its characters are as vivid as they come and still serve as the original archetypes to the tropes that they inspired.

One very popular character is Morgana or Morgan le Fay. She's the original ambiguous witch, the polarizing character who is multi-faceted but easily recognized. The character Morgan le Fay and the goddess Morrigan have been closely linked together.

I did a little research on actresses that have played her in various adaptations and three nakshatras were prominent, especially as a certain placement. While there were other nakshatras that arose, such as Dhanishta, Magha and Revati, the ones I'm going to talk about were prominent in the most famous adaptations and not just as primary placements.

So, let's begin with exploring her place in the Arthurian Legends a little bit. In most instances, she's king Arthur's sister, protecting him and generally being a benevolent goddess/enchantress, but in later versions of the legends, she exhibits a dual nature that is capable of both good and evil. Morgan le Fay means "Morgan the Fairy", so her magical abilities and identity are indicated in her name. She's first mentioned in Vita Merlini (The Life of Merlin), a Latin poem dating around the year 1150, believed to be written by Geoffrey of Monmouth. There she's depicted as a great healer and that trend continues for a while with the chivalric romances written by Chrétien de Troyes, a French troubadour. In Le Morte d'Arthur, written in the 15th century, she's Arthur's half sister, sharing a mother- Igrayne with him. She marries unhappily and takes on numerous lovers, including Merlin(despite being his apprentice) and has unrequited love for Lancelot. She also has a hatred for Arthur's wife- queen Guinevere. In that same century, Thomas Malory makes her the biggest enemy of Arthur, who tries to usurp the throne and takes part in his downfall. In the end, she reconciles with Arthur and takes him on his final journey to Avalon.

This is a very brief exploration of her character, but her traits, including her ambiguity are apparent. She's both a helper and an enemy, but most importantly, Morgan le Fay is an enchantress.

The nakshatras that arose most prominently in the charts of actresses who've played Morgana were Rohini, Mrigashira(Snake yonis) and Jyeshta(the nakshatra that's opposing them both). The most consistent pattern in their charts was the Rahu-Ketu axis in Rohini or Mrigashira and Jyeshta. Most of them had Exalted Ketu in Jyeshta, with a couple examples where it was flipped and Rahu was debilitated in Jyeshta, and mostly they had Rahu in Mrigashira, and sometimes Exalted Rahu in Rohini. The most famous portayals of Morgana were actresses also with a primary placement in one of those three nakshatras.

Helen Mirren in Excalibur (1981) - Ascendant in Mrigashira.

Helena Bonham Carter in Merlin (1998)- Sun in Rohini

Katie McGrath in BBC'S Merlin (2008-2012) - Moon Conjunct Rahu in Rohini, Ketu in Jyeshta

Other examples:

Alicia Witt in The Librarians- Jyeshta Ascendant

Elizabeth Hurley in Marvel's Runaways- Rahu in Mrigashira and Ketu in Jyeshta

Whoopi Goldberg in A Knight in Camelot- Rahu in Jyeshta, Ketu in Mrigashira

Joanna Lumley in Prince Valiant- Rahu in Mrigashira, Ketu in Jyeshta

Julianna Marguiles in The Mists of Avalon- Sun in Mrigashira

There are other examples, but i've listed the more famous ones and you get the gist.

The good? The bad?

The witch.

As i've said, her character is most famous for her moral ambiguity. The snake yoni nakshatras- Mrigashira and Rohini are a great representation of Morgana's benevolent, Morgan le Fay aspect. They're both internally satisfied and preoccupied with more gentle matters, with Rohini sitting completely in the sign of Taurus and Mrigashira bridging the signs of Taurus and Gemini. Both nakshatras are opposite Jyeshta- the nakshatra sitting fully in Scorpio, concerned with everything occult and being constantly dissatisfied, hungry for more, never trusting anyone, in a stark contrast to the abundant nakshatras of Rohini and Mrigashira. Jyeshta can be associated with Celtic goddess Morrigan. For those who don't know, The Morrigan is a triple goddess consisting of three separate goddesses: Badb, Macha and Nemain. The Morrigan is the goddess of war and death, heavily associated with crows, just like Jyeshta nakshatra.

I want to focus on my favorite Morgana- Katie McGrath from BBC's Merlin and analyze her story and character arc, including how they relate to the snake yonis and Jyeshta.

Morgana in BBC's "Merlin".

Morgana in "Merlin" starts off as a sweet, helpful ward of the king Uther Pendragon of Camelot. In this adaptation, we're immideately introduced to the fact that magic is banned and the punishment for practising it is harsh. During the beggining of the pilot episode, we see Morgana sympathizing with the punished and defending them against Uther, exhibiting honorable traits such as bravery and fairness.

Morgana watching the execution of a magic-user

She's an ally to Merlin, Arthur and Guinevere (who in this adaptation begins as Morgana's servant), frequently helping them even if it means going against the king and eventually, especially if so.

As time goes by and she discovers her magic, her hatred for Uther and her thirst for power grow.

SPOILER ALERT

At the end of season 3 she usurps the throne, revealing that she has been betraying the king and her old friends for some time. That's the beggining of her transformation, her tapping into her own abilities and power and embracing dark magic.

Katie McGrath has Moon and Rahu in Rohini and Ketu in Jyeshta. The beggining of her character becoming the archetype of the goddess Morrigan is marked by the reveal of her true alliance and also by the change of her appearance. After that episode, she no longer wears beautiful dresses or is adorned by ornate jewelry, nor is her hair shiny. Her hair became dry and disheveled, she started wearing all black and became scary looking, her appearance matching her true nature, completely embodying the Jyeshta archetype.

The nakshatra of Jyeshta is where we master the battle and the art of war (I explore Jyeshta in this post). It's ruled by the goddess Dhumavati- the old hag who is eternally hungry and dissatisfied, not unlike Morgana in the later seasons. If before she was just a suspect or a traitor, later her name was enough to induce terror in anyone. Her arc is very telling of why both the snake yonis nakshatras(Mrigashira and Rohini) and Jyeshta came up most in the charts of the actresses who have played this character. It's the transition from the benevolence to enmity and the constant back and forth between the good and the bad that defines the character, her magical and occult abilities(associated with Jyeshta) being a consistent characteristic. In the end, she's remembered as an independent figure, having no real ally other than herself, forever ambiguous and morally grey, a truly iconic female character that's been remembered for nearly a millenium. We're still telling her story, and I think we will be telling it for a long time to come.

That's it! If you enjoyed this post please reblog, comment or like, especially reblog and comment. If you like Arthurian legends, Merlin or just enjoy vedic astrology then let me know your opinions. BBC MERLIN FANDOM IF YOU END UP HERE PLEASE INTERACT WITH ME I'd love to talk about the show and please, do tell me what you think about this post.

EDIT: So I've been informed in the comments that Katie's birthday is most likely wrong, but the overall statistic hasn't really changed, those three nakshatras are still dominant.

Love you all, take care.

209 notes · View notes

lemoncrushh · 6 months ago

Text

The Entertainer II - Track 13 - Love Being in Love

Summary: What if it wasn’t the end? What if Sky did actually see Harry at the Forum in the early 80s, and he saw her too? What if fate took hold of them both, and they realized their journey was not over? Set in 1981, Harry and Sky’s story continues with more music, more romance, and a few more twists and turns.

STORY PAGE

Track 13 Word Count: 4.8k+

Read The Entertainer

“I used to hurry a lot I used to worry a lot I used to stay out til the break of day…”

Singing along to the Eagles’ final album, I brushed my hair and pulled it up on the side like I’d done the last time I saw Harry on stage. Excitement surged through my veins as I anticipated his return to the Troubadour. It seemed like only yesterday that Halo and I had watched him and Mitch from the front row, cheering as some of their first fans from L.A.

I wished Halo was with me tonight, but because the show was a last minute thing, I couldn’t pull her away from the plans she’d already made with some guy named Georgio. She wished me and Harry the best of luck, however, and requested I give Mitch a New Year’s kiss for her, to which I snickered.

Because Harry and the band had to arrive early, and therefore I would be traveling alone, a car was sent for me. I’d tried my best to express to Harry that I could at least take a cab, but he wouldn’t hear of it. In the end, I was appreciative of his thoughtful gesture, especially when I saw the long, black car pull in front of my building.

Dropping my lipstick into my handbag, I slung it over my shoulder and spritzed myself with my favorite perfume before heading out. The driver waiting by the car gave me a nod and gentle greeting as he opened the door for me. Sliding into the back seat, I immediately felt a thrill at the obvious upgrade from having to drive my old Volkswagen to gigs. Nostalgia tugged at my heartstrings though, as I was reminded of Lovely Rita, and the drive back from Chula Vista with Harry when he’d tried his first Moon Pie and showed me the Martin at the pawn shop. It seemed like both a blip in time and a lifetime ago.

Neon lights shone brightly as the driver made a right turn, and like a beacon, I spotted the marquee with Harry’s name, directly underneath Stargazer. Yes, he’d certainly come a long way. We both had.

I’d been waiting in line for a few minutes when I heard my name called. Before I could make out his face, I felt his firm hand on my back.

“Sky, sweetheart, what are you doing out here?” asked Irving.

Blinking, I finally caught his features in the dark and my body relaxed. Catching my confusion, he chuckled.

“C’mon, VIPs don’t have to stand in line,” he said, guiding me out of the queue and up to the front door where he merely nodded at the bouncer before walking inside the club.

“Sorry, I didn’t know,” I managed to say when we crossed the threshold.

“Your spot is up front, close to the right side of the stage,” Irving gestured, ignoring my comment. “Harry requested, but I gather you knew that.”

I turned and looked at him with a grin. “Just like old times.”

Irving nodded. “Just like old times.”

“You’re on top of the world On top of the world, and you can’t get any higher You’re on top of the world You’re on top of the world tonight…”

I smiled at the fitting Cheap Trick lyrics that played as more people trickled in, claiming their spots near the stage. I knew Harry had to be feeling on top of the world tonight. Yes, he was renewing his fame in a way, starting up a new career as a solo artist. But knowing he had some good, solid songs to share, and a great new band had to feel wonderful.

The room soon began to fill up, and my excitement returned as the crowd grew around me. I wondered how many people were there to see Harry, and not just Stargazer. As soon as the band took the stage, and I heard the cheers, and even a few screams, I realized it was probably more people than I’d anticipated. While I knew Harry was a big star, I supposed I selfishly thought of him as my own.

Harry kicked off the show with one of Wildfire’s well-known hits, as if he was still with them and not a solo act. When he made his way to my side of the stage, our eyes locked and he gave me his dazzling smile, once again making my heart jump. It truly was as though I had gone back in time, and he was singing to Halo and me.

“Oh my fucking Lord, he’s as sexy as ever!” I heard someone yell behind me.

I turned slightly, half expecting to see one of the young groupies that seemed to follow Wildfire around in the early days, but I didn’t recognize the brunette. She did, however, have her cleavage on full display and shook her tits as Harry sang in front of us. When I turned back to look at him, he gave me a smirk and a half-shrug. I knew that was his way to telling me this was nothing new - it just came with the territory. I giggled to myself as he gave me a thumbs up and strode back to the other side of the stage.

The band went straight into “Only Angel” next, the crowd exploding so loudly, I almost forgot I was in the Troubadour and not the Forum. As I heard voices singing along, I knew that somehow word had gotten out that Harry would be performing tonight, long before the marquee had gone up. There were definitely a lot more fans than just a few. I wondered how Mr. Azoff had managed it as Harry returned to my side of the stage. I felt a nudge as Miss Cleavage tried to squeeze in beside me to make her presence known, and she nearly blew out my eardrum as she screamed Harry’s name.

The sheer joy on Harry’s face was all worth it though. Even though he hadn’t voiced to me his nervousness or doubt that anyone would show up for him, I could tell he was not only relieved but thrilled that his fans had arrived.

When “Only Angel” ended, Harry took the mic stand with a huge grin and a sigh.

“Hi, I’m Harry,” he said, earning more cheers. “Thank you so much for coming tonight.”

“Harry!” one girl screamed, surprisingly not Miss Cleavage.

“Hi, darling,” Harry chuckled, just before another girl yelled, “I love you!”

“I love you, too,” Harry genuinely replied, his hand over his heart. Then after turning to the band, he quickly said, “this is a new song.”

I heard the beginning riff to “Ignition”, and I smiled knowing the crowd was going to love it. I was right, and by the end everyone was singing along to the catchy chorus.

“That’s a damn good song!” I heard a guy to my right yell.

The band played another of Wildfire’s tracks before Harry spoke into the microphone again. He pushed his hair from his face, his expression serious. Then he knelt down to guzzle something from a glass at his feet. When he stood back up, he flipped his hair once more, the long locks flowing down his neck. He looked so sexy, I felt chills down to my toes.

“It’s been a while since I performed here at the Troubadour,” Harry began, “with my old band, Wildfire.”

The room hooted and hollered, making him smile.

“I want to thank Stargazer for letting me share the spotlight.”

More cheers.

“And more than anything, I want to thank you for showing up. And for all the love and support over the years.”

The crowd yelled even louder, and I heard several more “I love yous”.

Dimples on full display, Harry turned to the band to begin introducing them. My stomach soured when he addressed Bret, whom I hadn’t been paying attention to all night on purpose. I had decided not to tell Harry about what he’d done, not just for my own personal reasons, but for the sake of the band. It had just been one incident, albeit unpleasant. And regardless of my opinion of him, Bret was a good drummer, and Harry needed him. I was willing to leave it at that.

When Harry mentioned Mitch’s name, however, I heard the room cheer loudly once again. Mitch even bowed, allowing his moment with the fans.

“Now,” Harry continued into the mic, his fingers through his hair, “we have a couple more songs before we have to give the stage to Hunter and his crew.”

I heard a few groans of disappointment muffled in with the cheers which made me laugh. I caught the look of humor on Harry’s face as he turned in my direction.

Then pointing right at me, he said, “This one’s for you, babe.”

As the opening to “Drunk on Her” began, I felt my body melt. The song meant so much more now that I knew what it was about.

“Oh my God, was he pointing at me?” screeched Miss Cleavage.

I laughed to myself as Harry made his way toward me, stopping just inches from the brunette. I decided to let her think he had. She deserved her moment as well. It didn’t hurt anybody, least of all me.

Once again, the band finished with “Honky Tonk Women,” the entire audience joining in. I half wondered how many people were staying to see Stargazer as Harry thanked everyone again for coming.

“Happy New Year,” he announced into the mic before he left the stage, waving and blowing kisses.

I quickly followed, hoping I’d run into Mr. Irving before reaching the backstage door. I suddenly stopped in my tracks, however, when I saw the busty brunette had made it there before me.

“Sorry, doll,” a hefty man waved her away, “this is for band and crew only.”

“Oh please!” she cried, jutting out her chest. “I just need to see him for a moment. It’s really important!”

“I’m sure it is, sweetheart,” the man smirked.

As Miss Cleavage turned with a pout, the man spotted me close behind her.

“Don’t tell me you have something important to tell him, too.”

“Actually-” I began.

“Actually, she’s with the band,” Irving interrupted, grabbing my elbow.

With a sigh of relief, I followed him to the door.

“Oh, yes, sorry sir.”

I chuckled at both Mr. Irving’s silence and at the look on Miss Cleavage’s face when the backstage door opened and closed behind us.

“You were on fire, Styles, I’m tellin’ ya!” I heard a voice declare. “You all were. A really solid band you got here!”

Further down the hall I spotted Harry as he grinned at Hunter Howe. The rest of the band members circled around, all beaming with pride.

“Thanks, mate,” said Harry.

“I agree!” I smiled, announcing my arrival.

Harry turned to look at me, his grin widening.

“There’s my girl,” he said, reaching his arm out to me. As I tucked myself into his side, he addressed Hunter.

“This is the woman I was telling you about,” he beamed. “Sky, Hunter. Hunter…my beautiful Sky.”

My heart flipped at hearing that Harry talked about me with other people.

“She is beautiful, indeed,” agreed Hunter before extending his hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Sky. Harry can’t stop talking about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“I’d wanted to introduce you last time, but you know…” Harry gazed down at me with a smirk, “we had to leave early, didn’t we?”

My face flushed at the memory of that night and how we’d rushed home to his place. Harry chuckled low when I playfully pushed him away in embarrassment.

“Jeez, you two…”

I looked up to see Bret shaking his head, his arms crossed over his chest. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he only rolled his back at me. I wasn’t sure if Harry had even heard his remark, let alone his visual contempt, so I let it go.

Irving, who had been chatting with another man near the door, stepped over and gave the band his praise. Then I caught him whispering something in Mitch’s ear to which he nodded, then Mr. Azoff vanished once again.

A few other guys walked up then, and Hunter quickly introduced me to the rest of his band. Announcing it was a band tradition to take a shot together before going on stage, bassist Ricky, and drummer Fozzy passed around shots to everyone. Fozzy made a toast to both bands, we all cheered and downed the drinks. I felt a little dizzy as I blinked my eyes and looked at Harry. He chuckled at my obvious state, asking how many drinks I’d had.

“None, actually,” I declared, chin up. “I was too busy getting drunk on you.”

“Ohhhh, shit Styles, she used your line,” Fozzy laughed.

“I’d say she’s a smitten kitten,” added Hunter, wiggling his brows.

Before I could get a full reaction from Harry, Stargazer’s road manager, Charlie whatshisname whom I recognized from that night at the other club - the one who had given me the heebie jeebies - walked up.

“Time to hit the stage, boys,” he said.

Hunter and crew waved and the rest of us wished them the best and promised to come watch from the side.

As soon as the door shut behind the band, I finally caught Harry staring at me from the corner of my eye. His sexy eyes studied me for a moment while his dimples dipped in his cheeks. Then pulling me to him, he nuzzled his face in my hair as he groaned in my ear.

“God damn, you look amazing.”

“Not as amazing as you,” I murmured, sliding my hand down his exposed chest.

I could smell the sweat that glistened on his skin, and if it weren’t for the other guys standing so close, I would have done more. As it was, Harry surprised me by leaning down to kiss me hard on the mouth, his tongue darting between my lips. He tasted of whiskey and sweat, and I heard myself moaning before I realized what I’d done.

“Jesus Christ, man, should we leave or are you planning to fuck her right here, against the wall?”

“Easy, man…” I heard Mitch mutter as Harry’s lips separated from mine.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Harry scowled at his drummer.

“Hey, take it easy, Harry,” Bret chuckled, his hands up. “I was just joking, man.”

I held onto Harry’s hand, hoping to ease the tension.

“D’you see me laughing?” asked Harry, his jaw set.

“Harry…,” I urged, sliding my other hand up his arm.

“I didn’t find that very funny,” he added, his eyes still shooting daggers at Bret. “I don’t wanna hear one word come out of your mouth about my girlfriend, got that?”

“Harry!” I said a little louder. “It’s okay! He didn’t mean anything by it.”

“C’mon man, what d’you expect?,” Bret shook his head. “You shoved your tongue down her throat.”

“And what’s your fucking point?” Harry shouted.

“Nothin’, man! It was a joke! Stop taking everything so seriously, for crying out loud!”

I took a gander at Danny who looked befuddled, and Mitch who merely stood stoic and unphased by the whole thing. I recalled the incident in the hotel hallway with Lee, and for a moment I wondered if this sort of situation had happened with another girl Harry had dated. Perhaps this was nothing new to Mitch, and he had seen it coming.

I felt some of the tension begin to ease from Harry’s muscles, though his eyes were still piercing.

“I swear to God, if you say one-”

“It’s my fault, baby,” I interrupted.

“What?” Harry finally turned to me in surprise.

“I’ve just been all over you since I got here. They’re probably sick of me,” I chuckled nervously.

“Babe, you didn’t-”

“No, really. I’ve kind of made this night about me, and it’s not. It’s about you guys. Let’s just…let it go. Okay?”

Harry blew a breath from his nose and nodded. “Yeah…yeah, fine.”

Bret sighed loudly as he ran his hands through his long hair. Then grabbing a beer from a nearby table and pushing the door open hard, he strutted out to the club.

“Let’s go watch Stargazer!” I urged emphatically, pulling on Harry’s hand.

With slight hesitation, he grinned at me, throwing his arm around me again.

“What the hell just happened?” I heard Danny mutter to Mitch as they walked past us to the door.

I’d like to know that too, I thought to myself. But I figured I already knew the answer.

I could hear the audience cheer as the band started into their second song. I was a bit disappointed we’d missed their intro. The tension was still thick in the air as we walked out the door to stand near the stage. Bret made sure to stand several feet away from us, his arms crossed like a pouting toddler.

By the middle of Stargazer’s set, however, I’d just about forgotten about Harry’s drummer and the little fiasco. If Harry wasn’t cheering along with the audience, his arms raised in the air, he was bringing us drinks, wrapping his arms around me from behind and swaying with me.

“Are you having fun?” he asked me, his chin on my shoulder when a song ended and Hunter chatted with the crowd.

“Of course,” I grinned, feeling the effects of the alcohol. “Are you?”

“Mmm, very much,” he slurred, squeezing me around the waist. “I think I’m a little drunk.”

“A little?” I teased.

He giggled in my ear and I patted his cheek. Then he turned me to face him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

“I love being in love with you,” he said.

I beamed up at him in awe, unable to form any words other than, “me too.”

“Alright, everybody, it’s almost midnight!” I heard Hunter announce. “Everybody get your partner if you have one! If not…well, you can count down with me, okay?”

I smiled up at Harry as he continued to pet my hair. His eyelids were heavy, his gaze sensual. The band revved up for the countdown, and I heard Hunter and the audience cheer, “Ten…Nine…”

I began to mouth the numbers as Harry did the same.

“Two…One…”

Harry kissed me hard again, just like before when we were backstage, with urgency and desire. His hands cradled my head, his fingertips buried in my hair while his tongue wrestled with mine. My own hands were trapped between our chests, so all I could do was grab hold of his shirt. Harry’s appetite was palpable, and I wondered how long he could hold out before dragging me out of the club again to take me home. Even more, I wondered how long I could hold out myself.

The crowd around us all cheered as Hunter and his band played a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.” But they might as well have been in another room. Harry’s kiss was all that mattered.

Managing to free my hands, I pulled them down to his waist and looped my fingers through his front belt loops. I felt him smile against my mouth before he released me.

“Too much?” he smirked.

“Nuh uh,” I breathed, shaking my head.

“Happy New Year, babe.”

“Happy New Year, Harry. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he murmured, his lips finding my jaw. “You’re so fucking sexy…I can’t…” his words trailed off as Spencer, Stargazer’s lead guitarist, broke into a loud, screaming guitar solo and the crowd went wild.

“We should probably watch that show,” I said, licking my lips, “instead of making one of our own.”

Harry winked at me and nodded, throwing his arm around me and facing the stage. I slid my hand around his waist, letting my hand slip into his back pocket. While we continued to watch Stargazer, I caught a flicker of something going on to my right. That was when I saw Bret making out with Miss Cleavage. I nearly burst out laughing, grateful I didn’t have a beverage in my hand because I surely would have dropped it.

“What?” Harry asked.

I gestured to his drummer. “Look who found someone.”

Harry snorted and shook his head, returning his attention back to the band on stage.

“Are you still mad at him?” I asked meekly.

I watched Harry’s jaw harden before he blinked and muttered, “We’ll talk about it later.”

For a short moment, I wondered if there was more to the story that I was unaware of. Had Harry had a confrontation with Bret before? I knew that he considered Bret a flirt, but despite the fact that Harry’d had a few drinks, the debacle backstage seemed to come out of nowhere. He didn’t know anything about the evening before at the studio, did he?

I finished watching Stargazer’s set with my arm still around Harry. As they ended the show and the crowd cheered, Harry and I included, I happened to notice that Bret and the busty brunette were gone. Harry took my hand to guide me backstage again, where he returned the praise that Hunter had given him.

“Thanks, man,” he said, his long hair damp with sweat. “So are we ready to go back on the road, or what?”

“Yeah, you guys got a tour booked already?” asked Harry.

“We do,” Hunter nodded. “But I didn’t mean just Stargazer. I mean us. Both bands, just like before.”

“Seriously?” Harry’s eyes widened.

Hunter chuckled, turning to his manager. “Tell ‘em, Charlie.”

“Stargazer’s going on tour,” explained Charlie. “They’re booked for six months, possibly more. They just need an opening act.”

“Really? When?”

“First show is in Lakeland, Florida in three weeks,” Charlie added.

Harry looked from Charlie to Hunter who shrugged. “I know it might feel strange, or like a downgrade, Harry, since we opened for you last. But we'd love to have you on tour.”

I noticed Irving had joined the circle, though I’d missed his entrance.

“But…the album’s not done yet,” Harry pointed out.

“I think it’s pretty close,” Irving offered. “It should be finished in time.”

Harry looked between Mitch and Danny. “What d’you two think?”

“Hey man, I’m with you, whatever you choose,” said Danny.

“I think it’s a great idea,” added Mitch.

“Right on,” grinned Hunter. Rubbing his chin, he looked at Harry. “You may wanna do something about your drummer, though.”

Harry raised his brows in surprise. “Why?”

“Well, he was practically fornicating in the audience during our set,” Hunter said lightly, though I could tell from his eyes he was serious.

While I hadn’t seen Bret since the show had ended, I wondered where he’d gone off to.

Danny chuckled, “Seriously?”

“Yeah, man, you didn’t see him?” added Hunter.

“I saw him,” muttered Mitch.

Harry turned to me. “We just saw him snogging some chick.”

“Oh it was much more than that,” Hunter laughed. “Had her tits out of her shirt and everything.”

Harry scoffed. “Not like you haven’t had girls flash you before.”

“Harry, I don’t think that’s what he means,” interjected Mr. Irving.

I watched Harry’s expression fall as he groaned and ran a hand down his face. “Fuck. Where is he anyway?”

Mitch and Danny both shrugged as Irving patted Harry on the back.

“It may not be that serious yet, Harry. We just want to make sure the band is on the same page before going out on tour.”

“You’re not enforcing another no girls rule, are you?”

Mr. Azoff chuckled, surprising me and everyone else. “No, son. I promise.”

Before any of us could comment, a raucous noise sounded at the end of the hall, and a door swung open, slamming against the wall.

“Speak of the Devil,” I remarked as Bret stumbled out, his arm around Miss Cleavage, both clearly inebriated, if not more.

“Motherfucker,” Harry muttered, fists at his sides.

“Don’t, baby-” I protested, grabbing his arm when I saw him ready to lunge at his drummer.

“Hey, guys!” shouted Bret, making his way toward the group. “How’s it hangin’?”

Harry huffed. “You tell us.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“Where the fuck have you been?”

“Aw, y’know, nowhere. Just…spendin’ time with…shit, what’s your name again?” Bret addressed the brunette.

“Chelsea,” she laughed. “You know that!”

“Oh that’s right,” Bret nodded before acknowledging the group again. “Chelsea. Isn’t she somethin’?”

“She’s somethin’ alright,” Harry snarled.

I caught a smirk from Mitch just as Mr. Irving approached the duo.

“She’s a real peach,” he added. “Bret, can I have a word with you? In private?”

“What for?”

“Sweetheart?” Irving nodded. “Chelsea, is it?”

“Yeah.” She stuck out her tits again. Did this girl have no shame?

“Chelsea, doll, would you mind waiting by the bar? We’ll just be a few minutes.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure thing.”

Swinging her hips and smacking her gum, Chelsea strutted down the hall to the club, but not before making sure she turned to look at Harry. I caught her obvious, lusty gaze plain as day, but I figured there were bigger fish to fry.

“Gentlemen, if you’ll come with me,” requested Irving, gesturing to another door. “Harry’s band I mean.”

“Be right back,” Harry said, giving me a quick kiss.

“Alright, Sky,” Hunter raised a brow to me. “Looks like you may have to be the glue that holds this band together.”

“Me?” I shook my head. “I’m just Harry’s girlfriend.”

Hunter nodded with a laugh. “Yup. That’s a big enough job in itself.”

I was going to ask what he meant by his remark when Charlie asked him to go help pack up their equipment.

“See you later, Sky,” he said, leaving me alone in the hallway.

Deciding there was no use in me waiting there, I pushed the door open and made my way to the bar. Chelsea sat at the corner. Choosing the stool beside hers, I ordered a beer.

“Did you enjoy the show?” I asked as the bartender poured the beer from the tap.

It took her so long to look at me, I wondered if she heard me or was just choosing to ignore me.

“Are you talking to me?” Chelsea finally asked.

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Do I know you?”

“Um…yeah? You’re Chelsea, right? I just saw you backstage? With Bret?”

“So?”

“So…I’m Harry’s girlfriend. Sky.”

I extended my hand to be friendly. But Chelsea was having none of it. Instead she snorted.

“Girlfriend, right.”

“Well, I am. And…I was just trying to be nice.”

I considered getting up and moving, but I figured I’d done nothing wrong. So I stared straight ahead and sipped on my beer.

“There’s a weapon that we must use In our defense, silence…”

I sang along softly to the Go-Go’s tune that had become one of my favorites that year, but seemed extremely fitting as I ignored the huffs and glares coming from Miss Cleavage next to me. I noticed her stir her little cocktail with its little straw, sipping it moderately and deliberately, until she reached the ice. Setting it on the bar with the clunk, she finally addressed me again.

“Since when does Harry Styles have a girlfriend?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, he’s been known as a playboy since day one. Even that last girl he was seen with wasn’t serious. He said so in an interview.”

“Hmm,” I sounded before lifting my beer to my lips. “What interview was that?”

“I don’t remember. Circus or Rolling Stone, I think.”

“Well,” I shrugged, taking another sip. “I must have missed that one.”

Chelsea puffed out a breath and snarled at me. “You wish, you groupie!”

I laughed, suddenly thinking of Halo. And just like an angel sent down from heaven, Harry rounded the corner, his mouth curling into a smile.

“There you are!” he greeted, his hand quickly finding my back.

“Hi, handsome,” I smiled up at him. “You wanna join me and Chelsea here for a drink?”

With a smirk, Harry leaned forward and whispered, “No, I’m ready to take you home.”

“Oh,” I mouthed, my face suddenly flushed. “You don’t have to pack up?”

“Nah, the guys got it taken care of.”

With the biggest grin on my face, I slid off the barstool and took his hand.

“Take me home,” I begged softly, licking my lips. “Oh! Wait!”

Digging in my jeans pocket, I pulled out a twenty and laid it on the bar.

“Drinks are on me, Chelsea. Have a good night!”

“What was that for?” Harry chuckled as he guided me out of the bar.

“Nothing,” I shook my head. “How was the meeting?”

Harry groaned. “I’d rather not talk about it tonight.”

“Fair enough.”

I knew I had probably left Chelsea with a dropped jaw, but I didn’t bother to look. Not she, nor anyone else, was going to ruin what I had with Harry. He was mine, and I was his.

And we were madly in love.

“Doesn’t matter what they say In the jealous games people play…”

Songs mentioned:

Eagles - The Long Run

Cheap Trick - On Top of the World

The Go-Go's - Our Lips are Sealed

Taglist: @fkinavocado, @daphnesutton, @freedomfireflies

MASTERLIST | KO-FI | FEEDBACK

If you enjoy my writing, please consider joining my Patreon!

18 notes · View notes

artstar1997 · 10 months ago

Text

The main characters of my fairy AU, which is the adaptation of the Hidden AU and its collaboration story, Journey to Harmony are made by me and @georgi-girl. Each of the seven fairy tribes and subtribes has wings and antennae based on different insects or the wings are based on their elements (the country tribe as earth fairies have leaf or flower petal or fruit slice-shaped wings, the techno tribe as water fairies have fin-like wings, etc.) and the pop trolls as fairies are more of butterfly fairies while Cooper is a moth fairy, just like his parents and his tribe and Queen Rose and her tribe, the platinum trolls are dragonfly fairies. Their outfits are based on the fashion from the Middle Ages, though the fairies' clothes are made out of natural materials, such as leaves and flower petals.

The new Platinum leader and the fairy queen of the fairy kingdom, Queen Rosetta a.k.a Rose has dragonfly wings and antennae just like the members of her court, which is known for the use of light magic. She wears roses and rose petals in her outfits because the flowers match her personality and the rose symbolizes royalty, romance, love, beauty, and courage.

Queen Poppy, the older twin of King Peppy's twin daughters and one of Queen Celestia's wards has the antennae that she, Queen Celestia, and the members of the Snack Pack share because they came from the same court. During the group's search for the Pop court, Poppy acts as a trusted best friend for Queen Rose to rely on in lending a helping hand or wing because they have been inseparable at most times, especially during lessons. She shares with her boyfriend, Branch. Her wings are based on the king swallowtail and her outfits have camellias and their petals as skirts because the flower symbolizes beauty, grace, elegance, love, longevity, happiness, and good fortune,

Branch, on the other hand, is still the cautious and protective but talented butterfly. His skills in survival and protectiveness towards his friends allowed him to join the knights and earn his title as a sir. He and his brothers have the same monarch butterfly wings and his outfits were made of Mexican sage petals and leaves. The sage plant symbolizes bravery, esteem, domestic virtue, longevity, thoughtfulness, good health, and wisdom.

DJ Suki is a music-savvy fairy herself since fairies are known to be musically inclined and she was trained to be a troubadour ever since Queen Celestia took in the Snack Pack after they were separated from the pop fairies during their escape from the giants (the bergens). Sporting red lacewing butterfly wings and wearing clothes with lotus petals, I kinda match her with lotus flowers because they symbolize transcendence, purity, rebirth, and strength.

Cooper is the only moth fairy in the group and is known to work in the castle bakery with Legsly. He was aware that he had a different antennae shape and that his wings were based on a rosy maple moth but what he didn't know was that he was born a fairy prince. His outfits are made of morning glories, which match him perfectly because the flowers symbolize eternal love, rebirth, resilience, life, and unyielding love.

Smidge is a skilled flyer and fighter in her group and she is one of the transgender members. She is the strongest because she trained with the knights alongside Branch but, she tends to be more of a berserker. Her wings are based on an orange sulphur butterfly and her outfits are made out of red dahlias, which symbolize strength, power, perseverance, and prosperity.

Biggie is a big butterfly with a heart of gold. As an animal tamer and the caretaker of the Snack Pack, he takes care of them and keeps them safe with his bow and arrows but he owns a pet fox, whom he names Mr. Dinkles. He has blue morpho butterfly wings and his outfit is made out of pansy flower petals and leaves because it matches his gentle personality and the pansy symbolizes love, loyalty, honesty, devotion, sympathy, and care.

Guy Diamond is a transgender male but he is considered the most beautiful fairy. Sporting glitter on his pink-tipped satyr butterfly wings, he can emit fairy dust from his wake when flying. Queen Rose uses it for potions while Fuzzbert uses the dust for healing. As a new dad to the newborn baby Tiny Diamond, he tries his best to be a good example to his son. His outfits are made out of amaryllis lily petals, which match him because the flower symbolizes pride, strength, determination, beauty, and love.

Satin and Chenille, the fashion twins still love fashion designing and making clothes but their outfits are known among the younger generation of the nobility, the elite, and the wealthy class. They have matching purple emperor wings, cherry blossom outfits, and ponytails that face each other like a mirror, but the sleeves, personalities, and colors set them apart. Cherry blossoms match them because of their traits and the flower symbolizes beauty, passion, love, courage, rebirth, renewal, new beginnings, and the start of spring.

Fuzzbert, though mute, is a skilled healer among his teammates, which comes in handy because of the difficulty of their quest. Using his knowledge of potions and spells to cure his fellow fairies and help anyone in need. His wings are based on a species of a swallowtail butterfly and his outfits are made of sweet pea leaves, which symbolize blissful pleasure, good wishes, kindness, gratitude, and friendship.

Legsly works at the castle bakery with Cooper but she is mainly the most outgoing among the teammates. As a baker, she has a "happy-go-lucky" attitude with a liking for any "good things" and her cooking talent impresses both her friends and guests alike. Her dress is made out of the leaves and the flower of the daffodil, which symbolizes rebirth, new beginnings, hope, joy, and good luck.

33 notes · View notes

rin-rin-kururin · 1 month ago

Note

Actually... I'm curious do you have any ocs?

If so I want to know :3

I do have a few of my fictional worlds with ocs in them, but I have them mostly in written form. I think you might like the one with the fantasy setting. Disclaimer: I think of my worlds as if they were a videogame, so a lot of my explanation will make sense if you think of it as an RPG!

In short, it's about a party that tried to defeat the bad guy but eventually got stuck because of an impassable door. At least, that's the premise of it. In order to get this door open, they have to retrace their steps through different locations and search for clues. They are revisiting previous places from their journey while simultaneously retelling the story that happened there (through interactions of the party with each other or the world's reaction). The story expands on some side characters that were either a mini-boss or a guide before but were forgotten after their perspective zone was cleared, and adventures might even ask them for advice. The past resurfaces, the story thickens, the world actually gets bigger, and everything like that, but it only exists in my head for now ^^

As for the party, here they are:

✧ Hero Syndrome (he/him) The shiny knight is here to fulfill his duty to the country. Has an engagement on his mind but barely thinks about his fiancée (and it worries him). Modest, brave, too tense.

✧ Drowsy Outlander (she/they) Ever sleepy outsider with an aptitude for magic. They're dreamy and always half-asleep. In reality, she is just always squinting (in dire need of glasses). Peaceful, dozy, docile.

✧ Tricky Troubadour (any/all) An elf with a secret that might tarnish their reputation! He has an ability to boost up morale and protect her allies. Funny, charming, annoying.

(There are actually four of them but I'm not sure about how to describe them. Just keep in mind + 1)

There are a few interesting side characters that will come up later in the story (and I just like them, so I HAVE TO mention them):

❖ Mirror On The Wall Actually just a shapeshifting entity that takes on the form of whoever looks in the mirror. It loooooves to tease adventures, but it especially loves to annoy Hero guy (and I think of them as Link and Dark Link sometimes, if you get it). They're like a ghost living in a gloomy castle. I lovingly call it a doppelgänger (<33333).

❖ Knowledgeable Shopkeeper They're appearing throughout all locations and always raise questions about how they could possibly get into the last dungeon and sell their goods there (did they get a license from the Demon King??). They're breaking a fourth wall a little and amusing Outlander with this. (Some time later, after the end of the game, I think they hit it off with her, actually).

The thing is, most of the characters have at least a few things that they keep secret, and it's what makes them very aloof with each other. But after traveling together and forging bonds, they do start to open up. It's like support conversations from fire emblem where eventually all uncertainties will be cleared and secrets revealed. I haven't named them properly, but maybe one day I will.

#fifty stuff #honestly i have a hard time to keep their designs in mind #but if I have to say something specific #I guess hero guy has a very messy hair #outlander has closed eyes #troubadour is actually very genderfluid #and that is considering i haven't breached their actually interesting points: their secrets #they all have something on their mind #so yeah thank you for asking it did encourage me today to think about drawing them but I ended up making design for absolutely different oc #T_T #but it's fun ^^#(oh and all of them is like this meme “wow these people are so weird thank god I'm the only normal person here” but inverse)

5 notes · View notes

popentertainment-interviews · 4 months ago

Text

Stephen Sanchez

Traveling Troubadour

By Emma Fox

Since his hit single “Until I Found You” went Triple Platinum, generated over 2 billion streams, and made the Top 25 of Billboard Hot 100, Stephen Sanchez has proven himself to be quite the powerhouse in music. Additionally, after the release of his debut album, Angel Face, Sanchez sold out his first ever headline tour, earning acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, Vogue, Billboard, and more.

We got the chance to chat with Sanchez following the release of the highly anticipated Angel Face (Club Deluxe), as he anticipates his worldwide fall tour. He discussed influences in songwriting, the depth behind his lyrics, and what we can expect from him down the road.

When asked about his influences and inspirations, Sanchez gave us some insight into a more intimate side of his creative process. Sanchez spoke of the films that he takes inspiration from, specifically Lost in Translation.

He stated that love is a “wonderful escape from reality a lot of the time, and then love becomes real once you shake off all the clouds.”

Films similar to this one that truly align with his songwriting and storyline as an artist he said are very inspiring, reminding him of “that magic, but also that reality of heartache and of circumstance pulling two people away from each other”.

A lot of Sanchez’s music is known to tug at the heartstrings, and his songs carry a lot of emotional weight within their lyrics. Storytelling is something that Stephen Sanchez does like no other, and for him, it’s exciting to be able to write from real stories and real feelings that have happened in his life, but then to “hide behind a character so it feels like it lessens the blow of vulnerability”.

Sanchez’s album Angel Face follows the story of the fictional musician/character The Troubadour Sanchez, who blew up in 1958 with “Until I Found You” and fell in love with Evangeline in 1964. Angel Face serves as his “long lost debut” that has been unearthed 59 years later.

During our chat, Sanchez was asked about what advice he would have for one of

his listeners if they found their way into a forbidden romance just like Troubadour Sanchez, in order for them to achieve a storybook ending.

Sanchez laughed and responded, “Oh my god, don’t. Don’t do that. Don’t do any of what that character did.”

He continued, “Storybook endings, what even are those? Who even knows? To each their own.”

Finishing his answer with some solid advice, he told listeners to “pursue a thing that’s healthy. They want to know you. You want to know them, that’s it. You’re on the same page”.

As we look ahead and see what the future looks like for Stephen Sanchez, there’s a lot to look forward to with the upcoming fall tour. Sanchez’s first headline tour told the story of Troubadour Sanchez, where on stage Sanchez and his band played the ghosts of the characters existing in the album, haunting each venue and walking fans through the storyline.

This time around however, fans can expect to be taken further back and have the opportunity to experience “the real thing, as if you were back in the 50’s, actually seeing The Troubadour Sanchez and the Moon Crests live.”

The journey and growth of Stephen Sanchez has been an incredible one to watch, and his influence is only continuing to rise. His ability to transform a room, command a stage, and take you back in time with his nostalgic aesthetic, smooth vocal tones, and powerful and emotionally intense songwriting is something that is a true testament to Sanchez’s pure talent and potential. We are so excited to see what he has up his sleeve next!

youtube

#Stephen Sanchez #2024 #Music Interviews #Emma Fox #Angel Face (Club Deluxe)#Emily DiMarcangelo #Youtube

7 notes · View notes

dinnfameron · 1 year ago

Text

Make Up a Noah: It's Tourin' Time!

Today is the day!! It's Tour Day!

We made it, friends! I know I'm not alone in celebrating the obscure holiday that's now upon us: it's this guy's 2nd first time out!

(Well, technically it's the 2nd 2nd first time out, since the last 2nd first time at the Danforth... or maybe it's the 3rd 2nd first time, since he also... you know what? Doesn't matter. You get it.)

To anyone going to the show later: Congrats! I'm totally happy for you and not jealous at all!

Unfortunately, I won't be seeing everyone's favorite Torontonian troubadour for quite some time, so I've decided to keep making up Noahs until I decide to not make up Noahs anymore.

"But, dinnfameron," you ask, "isn't the point of a countdown to stop when the thing you're counting down to happens?"

I don't know, I'm not a horologist. You've probably noticed that I've been counting up instead of down throughout this entire journey. I have no clue how time works.

Anyway, Happy Day to us, and especially to this guy right here.

Make Up a Noah -- 20/???

#noah reid #make up a guy #make up a noah

47 notes · View notes

octopuscityblues · 7 months ago

Text

Kafkaryan, The Wrath Of Cod

June 2024 Progress Report

TLDR: Unfortunately we had to push back our planned release date again. We don't have a new date yet, but we're trying our best to bring you Octopus City Blues as soon as humanly possible. We're very sorry about that. The rest of the update will go over some of the things we've been working on and provide additional context for the delay.

Progress

Starting in April, Marina (benevolent tentacle artist) and I (Firas, malevolent snail) significantly changed the way we work. Previously, art and development were mostly done independently and we communicated on a weekly or biweekly basis. We switched to a virtual office kind of setup where we dedicate fixed hours to working together every day. It's been going great so far and we feel much more motivated and productive.

Our current target is the Robot Graveyard, the lawless wasteland at the base of Gold Tower. We're mainly working on the remaining interior locations such as the Conman's shop or the cyborg club.

By the way, we recently released yet another demo update, based on all the quality-of-life and interaction improvements made since the previous one. These include:

🦔 Kaf the Hedgehog is now 33% faster and has 100% more walking frames!

🖼️ Intuitive top-of-the-line settings menu to crank up your sim's colors to 11.

🎨 New text background colors to make your eyes bleed. From the grimy "Jungle" to the ominous "Caput Mortuum".

💬 Switch between the gossip and item menu modes like a pro using Q/E keys or the gamepad's shoulder buttons.

🎮 Say goodbye to gamepad confusion! The simulation will reliably remember the most recently used controller.

🍄 Beetles crave mushrooms. Drop the right item in the plaza and watch the little critters go!

😷 You no longer have to "touch" dirty objects or people to interact with them. Standing close by is sufficient.

🤖 Sacrificing Mom to science will pay off sooner.

🪲 And numerous other fixes, copy editing changes, and a host of new potential bugs for you to discover!

I'm also happy to present one of several music tracks that the newest addition to our team, Shannon (omnibenevolent troubadour), has been working on:

youtube

There's a lot more happening behind the scenes. For example, Julia (unambivalent wordsmith) went over and helped improve large portions of the script, while Karl (ambivalent doodler) is practicing card tricks.

The Delay

Octopus City Blues has had a long and rocky journey over the years, so I apologize if the following is too long and boring. Nevertheless, you all deserve an honest explanation for the delays. Back in late 2021 when I was pitching the project to the Midgame Fund, the plan looked something like this:

Early 2022: Demo play testing

Late 2022: Release of Act 1 in Early Access.

Mid 2023: Steam Next Fest demo

Late 2023 / Early 2024: Release of Act 2

Later in 2024: KS reward fulfillment, possible localization and console ports

After getting funded, the helpful investors at Midgame Fund advised against Early Access and recommended releasing both acts together. Much of 2022 was spent on discussions, planning, and extensive play testing that took place in two main rounds. The testing feedback showed us that we still had much to do, particularly when it came to guiding the players.

By early 2023 we were struggling to follow the original plan as we addressed all the testing feedback. That's why I decided to cut a lot of planned content and rewrite the story so that it no longer had two acts. The original acts were separated by a 10-year gap, which would've required a lot of art editing and writing completely new responses for every character.

The next play testing round coincided with the Indigo event. Even after all the changes made, some players were still struggling with certain parts or running into bugs. That's why we decided to participate in the October Steam Next Fest edition instead of the June one. The release date was pushed back to Q1 2024.

The Next Fest event itself was a great success. After years of neglecting marketing, we used 2023 to promote the project and make it more viable financially. On the other hand, the event left us with even more feedback, some of which we were still addressing in January (2024). The release date was pushed back to Q2.

In early 2024 the Q2 release plan was still feasible. However, things temporarily took a turn for the worse after our last update. The first roadblock was due to real life developments and personal circumstances that impacted the availability of key team members. Thankfully, everything is back to normal now.

A more general problem is that the more we get done, the more work we end up creating for ourselves. The complex branching quest design means that the amount of testing needed can grow exponentially. Automated testing and play testing rounds can only take us so far.

The next obstacle had to do with the 2023 rewrite. Taking a story with many characters and intertwined elements and completely rewriting major parts of it turned out to be much trickier than expected. Some major plot elements simply didn't work in the new framework, and I had to make additional changes to improve the story's overall pacing and consistency.

At first I thought we could still release the main parts, and then slowly restore some content after release. That would've meant early adopters and our biggest supporters wouldn't get the complete intended experience. There are also many more things we'd like to tackle after release (Kickstarter rewards, localization, porting) instead of adding more content.

To be clear, there are some things that we still plan to add after release (as free DLC). In particular, there are the arcade games and the quests related to them. While not part of the main story, they were in our original pitch (and much of the art is already done).

All of this brings us to our current plan. The story is still in one act, but some previously cut areas and quests will be restored. As mentioned in the previous section, we've adopted a new way of working since April and have been slowly adding the remaining areas and characters to the simulation. While things look promising, it's hard to tell what will happen tomorrow or if additional play testing will require even more changes.

OCB is something that particularly benefits from these play testing rounds, because the more we can anticipate the player's actions (e.g. trying to combine the knife and baby items), the more fun and immersive the experience feels. Obviously, we can never get rid of every bug or address all feedback before release. That's why we'll just have to find the right balance.

We still have to finish the following parts: Graveyard (in-progress), Big Beef, Turkeys, and the ending. Of those, Big Beef is the most involved one. I changed the planned release date on Steam to simply 2024 because that's our goal, but please keep in mind that it's not a release date either. We'll only announce a concrete release date once all of these areas are done and work primarily shifts to testing and polishing.

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read all of that! We remain as committed to this project as we were on day one, and we're genuinely trying our best as flawed and naively optimistic humanoids. We owe it all to your continued support and understanding.

#octopus city blues #pixel art #pixelart #gamedev #screenshotsaturday #indie game #news #update #Youtube

8 notes · View notes

princess-of-the-corner · 2 months ago

Text

Toontown: Corporate Clash Recap: Ye Olde Toontowne Sidetasks 2

As we’ve got two Sidetasks on Knight Knoll, let’s stop by there first.

Page Studying 101

To start this task, drop by “Barns and Nobles – Page Academy” and speak with Archduke Arthur, the Light Blue Bear.

“Why, young page, why has’t thee not clothed thyself in thy outfit?”

“The knighthood of Ye Olde Toontowne is a noble one. Thou art already slacking on thy lessons!”

“Silence the words thee tryeth to speaketh. These lessons art mandatory, as a resident of Ye Olde Toontowne thee surely knoweth of this.”

“Now shapeth up! Bringeth me the thread from many a stout Cog. I shall assisteth thee in providing thy outfit, before trouble overcomes thee.”

You need to defeat 30 level 6+ Cogs for your curriculum.

Once that’s done, turn your homework in to Arthur.

“Good, young page. These threads shalt serve thee well in thy training.”

“Strong to withstandeth the difficulties thee may face. But soft to comfort thee through them as well.”

“But one lasteth toucheth I wilt provideth thee on thy outfit.”

“Bring the strongest metal thee may findeth from the Cogs.”

“For I laideth my eyes uponeth thy Double Talker.”

“Possibly ones stronger than any thee has’t did endure before.”

“Then thee shalt beest ready young page.”

You just need to defeat 20 level 7+ Cogs, not just Double Talkers.

Do that, and you’re assignment is ready to turn in.

“Excellent work young page. Thee has’t madeth me proud.”

“Now thee may proudly weareth thy outfit of training. Which shalt only maketh thy riseth to knighthood even sweeter.”

“Good luck to thee on thy training, young page.”

“Waiteth, thou art not mine own young trainee…”

“I hath forgot I hath sent them out previously on a journey to rideth a doodragon!”

“Mine own fusty mind is fogging up in mine own elderly age…”

“Well, young Toon, thee may enjoyeth the pride of the young page.”

“May it provideth thee comfort throughout thy journeys.”

“Fare thee well, [Toon Name].”

You’re rewarded with 6,148 experience, 300 Jellybeans, and the Knight Outfit (Shirt, Shorts, and Skirt).

There’s one other Task on Knight Knoll:

Not-So-Tall Tales

Just go to Troubadour’s Tall Tales and speak with Thea Troubadour (a small, brown raccoon), to begin this task:

“Welcometh, young Toon.”

“Haveth thee cometh to beareth witness to some legendary tales from the troubadour?”

“There is one tale that cometh before many.”

“The tale…of the bawbling headeth.”

“Legend has it that there’s a secreteth to achieving the smallest of heads.”

“Thee shalt findeth this secret lies with the Micromanager.”

“Taketh this vial, and defeat many a Micromanager.”

“Capture it’s essence, and bringeth it on thy returneth.”

“The Troubadour shalt proveth that these tales art not tall at all.”

“In fact, those they’re quite small. ‘Tis the pointeth, really.”

“Now go!”

You need to defeat 15 Micromanagers to capture enough essence to fill the vial.

Bring the vial back for your prize.

“Now taketh this vial, and drinketh from it on thy owneth conviction.”

“Thee shalt findeth that whenever thee chooseth, thee may shrinketh thy headeth liketh the legend itself.”

“At which hour it works, maketh sure to spread word yonder that the troubadour tells the truth.”

“Enjoyeth thy new ability, young Toon.”

“Come visiteth the troubadour again in the future.”

“I shalt provideth even more legendary tales for thee to enjoyeth.”

“Safe travels.”

Thus, you have been rewarded with 6,032 experience, 300 Jellybeans, and the Small Head Cheesy Effect.

As well as the knowledge that smallness is an essence that can be extracted and transferred in this universe. What would happen if you extracted all the smallness from a single-cell organism?

Anyways, there’s only one Sidetask left in Ye Olde Toontowne:

Midlife Crisis

Just head on over to Wizard Way, enter the Middle Age Crisis Center, and speak with Youthful Yannis (a turquoise bear).

“Young Toon, harken to mine own plea.”

“Youthful Yannis hast not been feeling of the most spry condition as of late.”

“I needeth to feeleth the air beneath mine own wings.”

“To soareth as a bird.”

“Or as best as a beareth can.”

“Defeateth thy Cogs for me.”

“Showeth me the ways of youth.”

“Thanketh thee, kind Toon.”

He needs you to defeat 10 level 5+ Cogs.

Once that’s done, report back to him.

“Young Toon!”

“Youthful Yannis hast watchedeth thee from afar.”

“Calleth me inspired, [Toon Name]!”

“But I standeth here 'fraid.”

“For I laideth my eyes uponeth thy Double Talker.”

“It’s two heads remindeth me of tales from mine own youth.”

“Pleaseth, [Toon Name]. Rid these streets of thy Double Talkers.”

“Ridding the streets” basically just consists of defeating 5 Double Talkers. Anywhere. Including in Cog Buildings. So they don’t need to be on the streets…

But once you’ve done that:

“Thou filleth me with courage!”

“Bringeth me gags, [Toon Name]. I shalt fighteth thy Cogs!”

Just bring him ANY level 5 Gag, and he’ll be ready.

“Young Toon I thanketh yee!”

“I shalt fighteth thy Cogs with valor.”

“Thy Cogs shalt flee. Righteth into thy buildings!”

“Please, [Toon Name]. Taketh them down!”

Just take down 2 Three+ Story Cog Buildings, anywhere, and report back to Yannis to see how he fared on his end.

“I am proudeth of thee, young Toon.”

“But all this excitement makeseth Youthful Yannis grow tired.”

“Pleaseth, [Toon Name]. Cleareth thy street of strongeth Cogs.”

“I must recovereth from battle.”

So he needs you to pick up where he left off, and take out 10 level 5+ Cogs.

Report back to him once you are done.

“Goodeth work, young Toon.”

“I haveth learnedeth a lessoneth on this day.”

“Perhaps Youthful Yannis mayeth be old.”

“But even I can defeateth thy Cogs.”

“And remaineth in action!”

“But one last obstacle layeth in my path.”

“Thy Bloodsuckers.”

“Seeing them makeseth me fadeth away.”

“Perhaps it may happeneth to you too, young Toon.”

“Taketh them down, and seeth for yourself.”

So it seems that the Bloodsuckers are weakening him, somehow.

Take down 5, and you’ll see they didn’t make you fade.

Better check in with him.

“Thy don’t appeareth to have faded.”

“But I trust thee looketh in thy booketh.”

“Perhaps there mayeth be more to thine own eye.”

“Thanketh three for restoring youth in me.”

“Youthful Yannis thanks thee.”

“May you haveth good lucketh on your travels, young Toon.”

Ah, he was just setting up a joke about the Cheesy Effect!

Ahem, anyway, completing this task earns you 6,224 experience, 300 Jellybeans, the Transparent Cheesy Effect, and the Poetic Nametag Font.

With that, it’s time to head back to Toontown Central.

We’ve still got some Kudos Tasks to cover, after all!

Old time speak and doing errands for old men! My favorite things!(sarcasm)

#submission

2 notes · View notes

disneytva · 1 year ago

Text

Disney Network Highlights - January 2024

The Ghost and Molly McGee

Jinx vs. The Human World 13/1

The End - SEASON FINALE 13/1

Kiff

Kiff Is Good At Sports ; Mushroommate 20/1

Principal Helen ; Dial B For Butt 27/1

Spidey and His Amazing Friends

The Friendly Neighborhood ; Flight Of The Butterflies SEASON PREMIERE 8/1

Ock's Obey Ray ; Lemur At Large 9/1

Tree Trouble ; Stuck In Space 10/1

Antarctic Adventure; Let It Snowball, Let It Snowball, Let It Snowball 11/1

Bubble Trouble ; Rainy River Run 12/1

The Rhino And The Goose; Dog Vs Cat 19/1

Journey Through Zola; Villaintines Day 26/1

Playdate with Winnie The Pooh

Tigger And The Bouncy Ball 10/1

Piglet, Rabbit And The Picnic 18/1

Pupstruction

Valentine's Day Dogs; The Petsburg Power-Out 12/1

SuperKitties

Vanishing Valentines ; Golden Gift SEASON FINALE 19/1

Mickey Mouse Funhouse

There's Something About Teddy ; Finders Keepers? 5/1

Majestica's New Troubadour!; Minnie's Pod Mod 12/1

Low-Key Coqui ; Pinky And The Bees 19/1

Crystal Clearwater Vs. The Annoying Algae ; Trolland's Big Adventure! SEASON FINALE 26/1

#The Ghost and Molly McGee #Ghost and Molly McGee #Kiff #Disney Kiff #Spidey And His Amazing Friends #Spiderman #Playdate with Winnie The Pooh #Winnie The Pooh #Pupstruction #SuperKitties #Mickey Mouse Funhouse #Disney Channel #Disney Junior #Disney Jr

17 notes · View notes

sweetdreamsjeff · 1 year ago

Text

Jeff Buckley: The Lost Interview

In this previously unpublished conversation from 1994, captured just days before the release of ‘Grace,’ the mythic singer-songwriter pushes through self-doubt, professes his undying love for the Smiths and New York City, and interprets a dream wherein he critiqued a serial killer’s photography.

July 21, 2022 by Tony Gervino

In August of 1994, I interviewed the singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley for over an hour at the New York offices of Columbia Records. Other than pulling a few quotes for a regional music newspaper profile I wrote at the time, this conversation went unused. I put the recording in a box in my closet, where it remained for a quarter-century.

I went back over the transcript a couple of years ago and realized that our conversation offered a rare snapshot of the most pivotal moment in Buckley’s too-brief career. He hadn’t yet sat for many interviews and was trying to figure out his own narrative, just before he was to leave on a national tour that would make such quiet, thoughtful introspection a luxury.

The son of folk visionary Tim Buckley, he had made his mark in New York City as a solo artist in 1993, performing a suite of original songs and genre-spanning covers with only his guitar and multi-octave vocal range. The buzz didn’t really build; it seemed as if one day no one in the city’s music scene knew who Jeff Buckley was, and the next, everyone knew.

Prior to entering the studio to record his landmark debut album, Grace, which featured his most successful single, “Last Goodbye,” as well as his transcendent rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” Buckley mothballed his troubadour set. To help bring dimension to the music swimming around in his head, he recruited the collaborative working band of guitarist Michael Tighe, bassist Mick Grondahl and drummer Matt Johnson. He wanted his solo album to sound big, ambitious and genre-slippery as he headed to Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, N.Y.

Even though our meeting was less than two weeks before the album release, Buckley was still tinkering with the mixes on Grace, tormenting producer Andy Wallace with sonic flourishes and rewritten bridges, and hoping to squeeze every bit of inspiration out of himself before the tape stopped rolling. In the pre-streaming world, this was an unheard-of high-wire act for a debut artist. But for a young musician who was signed to Columbia Records after a prolonged bidding war, it indicated a bit of acquiescence on the label’s part. From what they’d seen of him, Buckley was a can’t-miss artist. He just needed time, which, tragically, he was ultimately denied. Jeff Buckley drowned in Memphis in May of 1997, just 30 years old.

I’ve edited this interview for length and clarity and removed some passages where I thought Buckley’s sarcasm could be misinterpreted, or where it spun off into tangents that ended with Buckley impersonating everyone from Paul McCartney to the French poet Baudelaire. He had the nervous energy of someone about to embark on a long journey, uncertain of its destination, and I wanted to ensure his answers would properly reflect not just his wit but his wisdom. ***** How does it feel to have to do interviews?

Well, at the outset I guess I figured why would anybody care? But I’m smart enough to know that people would want to talk about my music. I just didn’t think anyone would for a publication. But at this point the fatigue hasn’t set in, and no question is a stupid one. It’s still early.

[laughs] Mainly it’s helpful because I’m getting some ideas out about exactly what I think about some things. And the important thing in doing interviews is not to have any pat answers. That would make it unenjoyable for me. Like a … a murder suspect or something, in terms of having your story straight. Have you finished mixing the new album? No, I have one last day in the studio — one last gasp of creative breath before I have to go away. I’m totally pissed. Absolutely.

Did you write in the studio, or did you go in with the songs ready?

One of them was completely organized in the studio. But that was still prepared beforehand. A lot of stuff we’d done at the last minute because I was trying to get the right people to play with, and it took a while before I found them.

But that was only three weeks before I’d gone up to Woodstock to record and we hadn’t known each other that long, and the band material hadn’t developed as much. Some things were completely crystallized, and some things needed care, and they got it. I’m still not satisfied.

Let’s see: I get to go into the studio on Wednesday, the day before I leave and the night after I perform at [defunct NYC club] Wetlands. So I have one, two, three, four, five precious days to [work on the music], along with all the other stuff I have to do. I have to shoot some pictures, possibly for the album cover. Then at night I’m free to get these ideas together, and I’ll still have one last shot on two songs in particular. The producer [Andy Wallace] doesn’t even know what I want to do to this one song. [laughs] He’ll be horrified.

Have you played it out?

Uh-huh. There are just things I want to crystallize about it.

Is figuring songs out onstage a conscious effort on your part to fly or fail?

Yeah, because I love flying so much. But, really, it’s still a kind of discipline. I guess it’s an engagement. It’s not like having “song 1 to song 6 and then a talk.” I don’t know anybody who really does that. I know a lot of performers talk about not being so structured. … Sometimes you can see bands that have a set of songs, and that shit is dead. That … shit … is … dead.

When I perform, I’m working off rhythms that are happening all over the place, real or imagined, and it’s interactive. It’s got a lot of detail to it, so I can’t afford to tie it up in a noose, and put it in a costume that doesn’t belong on me. So yeah, it’s free but it has its own logic, and sometimes it completely falls flat on its face. But it’s worth the fall, sometimes. Because that’s life.

To me it makes sense to do things in that manner, because that’s really just the way life is when you step out of it and see that, like, your car has a flat and somebody smashed in your windshield and then, shit, you’re walking home and all of a sudden you run into somebody that turns out to be your favorite person for the rest of your life. It’s always … unfolding. You just have to recognize it, I guess. And that’s my philosophy, that I haven’t really thought about until you asked me.

Have you been a solo performer out of desire or necessity?

Both. I did it to earn money to pay rent in the place I was staying, and bills, and my horrible CD habit, and failing miserably all the time, always playing for tips and always just getting by — by the skin of my teeth.

To get this sound in order, you can have a path laid out in front of you, but if you don’t have the vehicle to go down the road you’ll never get to where you want to go. So I guess I was building the parts piece by piece or going through different forms, reforming them and trying out different ideas and songs.

How long have you been building these parts?

Some of them I wrote when I was 18 or 19, and some of them I wrote weeks ago, and some of them I’m still writing. [laughs] The rest of this album is kind of a purging, because the rest of the albums ain’t gonna happen like this. [points to chest] You’ll never see this person again.

Who and what are you going to become, Jeff?

I don’t know, just something deeper. Nothing alien, just something deeper. I’m just not satisfied. I’m really, horribly unsatisfied. Cause I kind of got an idea of where I want this thing to go. It’s still gonna be songs. I think about deepening the work that I do, and other problems I try to solve, like, “If I go to see this band in a loft, or if I went to see this band in a theater, and I wanted to be very, very, very enchanted and very engaged and maybe even physically engaged to where I’m dancing or where I’m moshing, what would that sound like? If I wanted to be cradled like a baby or smashed around like a fucking Army sergeant, what would that sound like?” I daydream all the time about it. And that’s sort of what I work toward. It’s more of an intimate thing.

In America the rock band is not an intimate thing, but in America soul bands are very intimate and blues bands are very intimate, like way back in the day, when people who invented blues were doing it. It’s all very interdependent and it’s all very … people had to listen to make the music. And it comes around in a lot of different ways. Things I’m doing now are pretty old-fashioned: I’m going on tour to little places to play small cafés. [He lays his itinerary out in front of us.]

What do you expect the reaction to be? You play New York City and, by now, the people here know your deal, but there are some cities where they’re not going to know.

That’s OK.

Will you tailor your performance to different tour stops? Does it change the way you perform?

Every time I perform it’s different.

How long have you been in New York City?

Three years. But I’ll always be here. I’ll always live here.

What is it about New York?

Everything. You know all the clichés: It’s the electricity, it’s the creativity, it’s the motion. It’s the availability of everything at any moment, which creates a complete, innate logic to the place. It’s like, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t have this now. There’s no reason I shouldn’t have the best library in the country, and there’s no reason why the finest Qawwali singer in all of Pakistan shouldn’t come to my neighborhood and I’ll go see him, and there’s no reason that Bob Dylan shouldn’t show up at the Supper Club.

There’s no reason that I can’t do this fucking amazing shit. And if you have a certain amount of self-esteem, it’s the perfect place because there’s so much. It’s majestic and it’s the cesspool of America. And there’s amazing poetry in everything. There are amazing poets everywhere, and some real horrible mediocrity, and an equal amount of pageantry. There’s also a community of people that have been left with nothing but their ability to put on a show, no matter what it is — whether it’s a novel or a performance reading on Monday night at St. Mark’s Church for 20 minutes. Where do you do the bulk of your writing?

Everywhere. You know what? Mostly it’s in 24-hour diners, on too much coffee. That’s an old Los Angeles thing.

How much does the location affect the writing?

To me music is about time and place and the way that it affects you. There’s just something about it. There’s just some spirit that somebody conjures up and then it floats out at you and helps you or hinders you throughout your life. It’s either Handel’s Messiah or it’s “All Out of Love” by Air Supply.

Music is just fucking insane. It’s everything. Music is like this: It’s always seemed to me to be one of the direct descendants of the thing in the universe that’s making everything work. It’s like the direct child of … life, [of] what being “people” is all about. It’s incredibly human but it touches things that are around us anyway. [pauses, then quietly] It’s hard to explain.

Give it a shot.

It gets into your blood. It could be [the Ohio Express’] “Yummy Yummy Yummy” or whatever. It gets in. It’s not like paintings and it’s not like sculptures, although those are really amazing and powerful. But I identify with music most.

And is live music the next degree of intensity?

Oh yeah, if they’re singing to me. You never hear it again, but you never forget it. I mean, you never forget it. It’s like the first time your mother cries in front of you. But I like making [music] and … I want the music to live live, even be written live, so it’s always forming, it’s ever unfolding.

The king of improvisation is [the late Qawwali singer] Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan — the most I’ve ever been filled with any performer’s energy. I have over $500 of his stuff. And I never got to see Keith Jarrett, but there was a time when he was my big hero for the same reason. Big, huge improvisation. Improvisation is something that I identify with.

Which of your new songs is your favorite? Is there one that you can’t wait to get to in your live set?

Not yet. I give each song pretty much the same attention, and I have the same reservations and the same carefulness about making sure I bring out its best. No favorites.

What’s a song by another artist that you wish you’d written, that completely devastates you?

Most of Nina Simone’s songs completely devastate me, although she didn’t write [most of] them. A lot of things that Dylan did are so impressionistic, even though his originals are supposed to be folky. Like “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”: If I was a woman and he sang that to me, I’d be like, “Whatever you want, Bob. You want casual sex whenever you want it and still be with your wife? I don’t care.”

I’d like to write something like “Moanin’ for My Baby” by Howlin’ Wolf, and I’d also like to write something like [Gerry and the Pacemakers’] “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” I have schoolgirl crushes on a lot of songs that never seem to go away. Lots of Cocteau Twins. That’s somebody I got to tell exactly what I thought of them.

Where were they playing?

In Los Angeles, a long time ago on the Heaven or Las Vegas tour. I’m immensely in love with their originality, their shyness. … But … um … the Smiths! [stands up abruptly, then sits back down] I wish I’d written half the fucking Smiths catalog. There are so many: “I Know It’s Over”; I wish I’d written “How Soon Is Now?” I wish I’d written “Holidays in the Sun” by the Sex Pistols. I could go on forever, and I know you don’t have forever.

Maybe sleep on it. I’m curious, do you sleep a lot? No, I don’t.

Is your mind constantly racing? Are you always just … fast forward?

Have you ever seen those film montages when a guy’s going crazy, and it just gets faster and faster and…

Yeah, sure, that’s exactly what I mean. It’s exactly like that. It’s like, I don’t want to miss a thing, and [I get the] feeling that I will miss something. But usually I’m wrong. [laughs] But when I do sleep, I sleep hard and have the best dreams.

Do you remember your dreams?

Sometimes, and they become the basis for a lot of my learning. That comes along with my development as a human being. Lately I’ve been having a lot of killer dreams — like a killer is coming after me or I have to confront a killer. And when a killer is coming after me, what am I going to have to do? To kill him.

Interesting. What do you think that means? That something in me is going to be murdered. That a psychic killer is coming. Actually, I met him. Sometimes I meet people inside of me that don’t like me; sometimes I meet people inside of me that want to make love with me more than anything; sometimes I meet the most bizarre animals and am in the most bizarre situations.

One dream, I met a serial killer who lived out in a small town in, like, Virginia. A small suburban town, very nice, white picket fence. And he lived in the town in a church with the pews taken out. And he was an artist.

You remember this much detail? Just wait. He was a very short young man, probably about 28 years old with thinning black hair that I think he was ashamed of. He also had all of these photos of these people mangled beyond belief, carved up, dissected alive. They were still alive in these photos, and there was a wall of all of these seductively beautiful, textured, processed black-and-white photos. One man had been made into a basket. One man had been totally deboned but still kept alive, and his skin had been made into a basket upon which his head stood, looking straight into the camera. And right before he died, this snapshot was taken. And this is what this guy’s job was. And my task in the dream, I was the person that saw this amazing horror and this amazing pain. The photographs were screaming, and all of this madness, all of this waste at the hands of this person with a warped soul.

The irony of the dream was that his self-esteem was nothing, and he was saying, “This sucks. This is horrible. I don’t even want to show you.” I was so afraid of him and wanted to keep him in the same place long enough for the police to get him and take him away — while not being killed myself. Obviously. [laughs] So in order to be cool I had to ultimately be compassionate and point out the details in the picture where I felt there was brilliance and really good workmanship — all the while feeling that I would vomit any second, all the while so scared I thought I would cry. And that was the dream.

Sometimes I have really rhapsodic dreams, and sometimes I have little bits of memory … but lately it’s been killer dreams, and the police almost don’t come in time, although they do come in time. And then I met a woman inside me that hates me. I met the girl, I met the person that doesn’t like me, and then I met this person who was so lascivious sexually that she masturbates publicly all of the time, like she’s fixing her hair. And she looks beautiful doing it and really great, but everyone’s around her and she’s practically naked. I’m pretty transfixed by [dreams]. I link them to the way I perform. I don’t see any separation, because when you sing there’s a psychic journey that happens.

Do you write a lot of poetry?

I garner my songs from my poetry. If anything looks like it’s vibrating, yeah. But it’s a raw thing.

Was the Live at Sin-é EP, released in November of ’93, supposed to hold people over until the album comes out?

No, it served that purpose, but no, it’s just because I love that place.

How often have you played there?

I’ve played there a lot. I played there for over a year. At first I couldn’t get a slot. Shane [Doyle], the owner, had too many demos to listen to. I gave him a demo and a review, which is something I never ever, ever fucking do: pay credence to any one journalist’s opinion. But this was a good review. [laughs] Some positive, some negative. Mainly the negative stuff was my fault. So I thought that maybe I could get a gig at this little place because I wanted to play in little places to establish my sound and do the work and learn how to sing the way I wanted to sing. Because I didn’t have any teachers. There were teachers around Sin-é to teach what I needed to learn, but Shane couldn’t be bothered.

Then somebody crapped out on a bunch of Monday nights and my friend Daniel Harnett got me in. He said, “I’m doing one, and so you can do one too.” I was like, “Wow, thank you.” As it turned out, that was it. Bang! I really worked my ass off to get that gig and get others and to make money. How did you hook up with Columbia Records? They came to me. I didn’t intend for them to. I was just making music. Were they the only label that came to you? Nope. I met Clive Davis. Shook his hand. I met Seymour Stein. Seymour’s at Sire; Clive is at Arista. A lot of people were interested. I met somebody from RCA. Peter Koepke at London. Were they in the audience at your shows? Then they’d come up to you afterward? Yeah, and I didn’t really like it. I didn’t like Clive showing up in a limousine on the Lower East Side, in a fine suit. Poor guy — it was so hot in that fucking room. This was Sin-é, right? Yep, you were there — like a fucking furnace. In the middle of the fucking summer. I had my shirt off; the guy’s still in his work clothes ’cause his life is fully air-conditioned.

Did you have any misgivings about signing? Of course I did. Being brought up around the music business in Los Angeles, you see the turnover of people being signed and dropped day after day after day, and it’s all written off as a tax loss. To the company, it’s no sweat off their nose.

But here in New York it’s more about the work, and you don’t get anywhere without the work and that’s what I was doing. But I had misgivings about the size of the places. I had misgivings about my deservedness, about how good I was. I had misgivings about who they thought I was and what they thought I was. And how I wasn’t what they thought. At all.

Which is? Don’t record companies think that every male solo performer with a guitar is the New Dylan?

No, they thought I was the second coming of Tim Buckley. [quietly] That’s what I thought they thought.

Is that a recurring worry of yours?

It was that as a child. But now I’m totally immersed in what I do. If someone asks a question about it, I just tell them as much truth about things as I know. I had no misgivings once I saw my first and only liaison to Columbia Records, [former head of A&R] Steve Berkowitz. He was there from a pretty early stage, just listening. Which is what he does. Because he loves music. And he’s smart. And he’s smart enough to work this fucking gig at Columbia and to do a good job. The personnel here [at Columbia] are what really changed my worries, but I’m really worried up until, like, now. How would you describe your sound? I can’t explain it because I’m actually confused. It’s not really a tremendous literary feat to describe it. It’s just an amalgam of everything I’ve ever loved and everything that’s ever inspired me. I’m using that now. How do the Columbia folks describe you? They don’t know. At a recent convention I played in Boca Raton for A&R folks at like 11 in the morning, the guy that introduced me said, “We really don’t know what this is. We don’t know what kind of record he’s gonna make. We just know he has to make it.” … a.k.a. “Introducing the boy genius…” I’m not a boy genius. I’m neither one, actually. But I’m aware that these people have to move units. I’m aware that this company, by inertia alone, has an agenda. That it can function without me, and I can function without it. But there’s a certain thing that I can’t have without it, and that’s making little plastic discs and traveling the world and being a musician, and they seem to want me. A lot. And I feel that where I’m going is worthwhile, that maybe when I get there this all will have been … whatever crappy shit I’ve ever done will be redeemed. Do you think you’ll ever get there? Sure. Or you’ll find me swinging from somebody’s dressing room [laughs] with a big blue arm holding a Jam tape.

#jeff buckley #jeffbuckley #Tony Gervino #The Lost Interview #TIDAL

10 notes · View notes

lemoncrushh · 9 months ago

Text

The Entertainer - Track 02 - Looks Like Rain

Summary: Set in the 70s, Sky Jones, a young woman from L.A., meets Harry Styles, an up-and-coming musician and frontman for the band Wildfire. Told in first person from Sky’s point of view, she shares her journey and what it’s like to fall for a rockstar.

STORY PAGE

Track 02 Word Count: 2.5k

“He likes you.”

“He does not.”

“Yes, he does.”

“Likes me. What are we, twelve?”

Halo scoffed. “Then why do you think he keeps coming over with Mitch?”

“For the free beer and pot.”

“Gimme a break, would you? He likes you.”

“He hasn’t even tried to kiss me, Halo!”

“Have you tried to kiss him?”

“No.”

“Why the fuck not?”

I stopped drying off the plate I was holding and gave her a dirty look.

“He sleeps on the couch.”

“So what? Go out there sometime and show him what he’s missing.”

I scowled, threw the dish towel on the counter, and walked out of the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Halo called. “We’re not done.”

“I am,” I plopped on the sofa and pouted.

“Sky,” Halo said, following me into the living room, “sometimes you have to make the first move if you wanna get laid.”

I looked up at her incredulously.

“Maybe I don’t wanna ‘get laid’,” I mimicked, using air quotes.

“Really? ‘Cause…he’s really fucking cute.”

“I know he is!” I shouted, throwing my head back and covering my face with my hands as I groaned.

“Then what’s the problem?”

I listened to my breathing until it slowed. Then dropping my hands, I opened my eyes and looked at Halo.

“He acts like I’m just one of the guys. We talk about music and all that, and honestly, I really love that, but…I just feel like he thinks of me as a pal.”

Halo glared at me for a minute before rolling her eyes.

“I still think he likes you.”

And with that she turned back to the kitchen to finish the dishes.

For the next two weeks, Harry spent more nights at my place than his own. I blamed it on the fact that Mitch was with Halo and that we’d stay up late and he didn’t feel like going home alone. But part of me wondered if there wasn’t another reason. I did consider Halo’s statement that Harry liked me, but I just couldn’t believe that was true. Not when he hadn’t done much more than lay his head on my shoulder. He did hug me after a show one night, but I chalked that up to joy and adrenaline.

One time when Harry stayed over after a night of beer drinking games, I woke up and had to pee really bad, so I tiptoed out of my room, sneaking a peek in the living room. I watched Harry sleep for a minute or two, admiring his calm face and the beauty of his shut eyelids before making my way to the bathroom. On my way back though, he stirred and rolled onto his side.

“Hi,” I heard him say, or at least I thought he did. I wondered if I’d imagined it when I whispered “hi” back, but got no other response, so I simply returned to my room and closed the door behind me.

The next Friday night, Wildfire was playing at The Troubadour. It was a big deal. Word had it that their demo was making the rounds and several record executives, producers and managers would be attending. Halo and I took on the job as honorary band promoters, which basically meant we were cheerleaders. It wasn’t hard to do. The band was on fire that night. I mean, they really lived up to their name.

I stood at the front, next to the stage, singing along to all the words since I knew them already. I caught Harry smiling at me a few times, which only made me all the more excited.

After the show, I followed Halo backstage where she was in Mitch’s lap within two seconds, even though he hadn’t even bothered to remove his sweaty shirt yet. I leaned against the wall trying my best not to watch them neck when I heard someone give a wolf howl behind me. Harry appeared with his arms held high, a beer in each hand.

“Rock and Roll!” he cheered. The rest of the band hollered.

“This is fuckin’ it, man!” exclaimed Lee. “That was the best show we’ve ever done! And at the fuckin’ Troubadour, man!”

The band continued to whoop and howl until Harry finally noticed me standing there, looking like a strange little wallflower with a crooked smile.

“Here you go, darlin’,” he held a beer out to me. “Let’s have a toast. To music. To this fuckin’…AMAZING BAND!”

Everyone cheered again and we clinked beer bottles, guzzling it down as fast as we could.

“Party at your place?” Harry raised a brow, pointing at me.

“Wh-well…I…”

“Yeah, let’s go!” squealed Halo, her arm around Mitch’s neck.

The rest of the crew followed them out of the dressing room, leaving me and Harry.

“I don’t think we have any more beer,” I commented.

Harry chuckled. “No worries, love. We’ll think of something.”

The party was in full swing before Harry even arrived. The band had to tear down and pack up their gear, so Halo and I stopped at the store and bought a few things. We didn’t really need to though. By the time we got home, a keg was being delivered. The rest of the band soon followed, but no Harry.

“He was talking to some guy when we left,” explained Lee. “He told us to go ahead, he’ll be along shortly.”

Shortly, however, turned into over an hour later. There was a loud bang at the door, and I rushed to open it, afraid it was a neighbor complaining about the noise, or worse, the cops. But it was Harry. He almost fell into me, his body swaying like a swinging door loose on its hinges.

“Hey!” he greeted with bloodshot eyes, his hand still on the door frame.

“Hey yourself,” I muttered, nearly catching him before I shut the door. He was clearly drunk. “How did you get here?”

“Don’t remember. Oh yeah. S’mebody gave me a ride.”

“And something else apparently.”

Harry held up a finger like he was going to protest, or at least explain himself, but then quickly dropped his hand. “Yeah.” Then he saw the display of liquor on the counter. “Oh hey, let’s do shots!”

“Um, Harry, I think maybe we should go this way. I can fix you some coffee. Or tea.”

Harry yanked his arm from my grasp and gave me a dirty look. I’d never seen him look at me that way before. It scared me.

“I said I want shots.” He walked around me toward the other side of the counter and began to pour brown liquor into a glass.

“But…don’t you think…”

Harry whirled around, stopping me in my tracks.

“Y’don’t fuckin’ own me! Alright? Y’don’t get to tell me what t’do!”

“O-okay.”

I couldn’t breathe for the lump in my throat as I watched Harry drink another shot, the alcohol not even affecting him. Then he grabbed the entire bottle and crossed the room. My chest felt like it was closing in, and I needed some fresh air. I made my way to the patio, shutting the sliding glass door behind me.

I took a few deep, much needed breaths as I stared out into the early morning sky. It wasn’t quite dawn yet, but the clouds told me there was most likely rain coming. Very fitting, because I felt like a big storm was brewing already.

I heard a burst of loud music and turned around suddenly to see Harry stepping onto the patio. He said nothing, merely glared at me, the sound of “Purple Haze” being muffled as he closed the sliding door. I stared at him as he stepped closer, gripping the handrail next to me. He swayed back and forth, and for a moment I wasn’t sure if he wasn’t going to try to jump over, throw up, or both.

“You okay?” I finally asked, my concern never faltering.

“Fine. Just needed some air.”

“Me too.”

We were both quiet until I took another deep breath.

“I like when the sky’s like this,” I commented.

“It’s grey,” said Harry sharply. “Looks like rain.”

“I know. That’s why I like it. It’s like my name.”

“I didn’t think that was your real name.”

I could detect the tone in his voice and knew without looking at him that he was not being curious, but rather mocking me. I played it cool.

“It’s not my birth name, no. But I think it fits me better than any other name I could’ve been given, don’t you? It’s because of my eyes,” I explained, turning to face him. I urged him to look at me…hoping he’d notice and give me one of his smiles that I liked so much. “The color of them. They’re like a cloudy sky just before the rain.”

Harry scoffed and shook his head. “Some lad you fancied told you that?”

I froze in my spot, simultaneously wanting to punch him and cry and run away. Why was he being so mean?

“No,” I replied, my bottom lip trembling. “Halo came up with it. I thought it sounded pretty.”

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to go inside.

I think if the door hadn’t opened a few minutes later, I would have eventually started crying. But I’d been trying to hold myself together, willing myself not to let some stupid guy get to me. Not some dumb musician who’d been sleeping on my couch and drinking all my beer. I wiped my eyes of the nonexistent tears and turned around.

“Oh, you scared me!” I exclaimed when I noticed it was Halo.

“Sorry. What are you doing out here?” She joined me at the railing, pretending like she was watching the clouds with me, but I knew better.

“Please don’t say I’m a hypocrite, Halo.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t be in there with him.”

“Who? Harry?”

I nodded. “He took something, I think. Before he showed up. He’s acting…different.”

“Really? What do you think he’s on?”

“I don’t know. But I don’t like him like that.”

Halo turned around, leaning her back against the railing. “Why would I think you’re a hypocrite?”

I side-eyed her.

“We smoke pot, Sky,” she rolled her eyes. “That’s not the same thing.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No. And we’ve done ‘shrooms a few times. It’s no big deal. Cocaine isn’t even a big deal anymore.”

“I don’t think he’s high on coke,” I declared. “He’s…kinda mean. I offered to make him some coffee and he told me I don’t own him.”

“So he’s being a dick tonight,” shrugged Halo. “He’s probably just high on adrenaline and being cocky.”

“No…it’s not that.”

Halo sighed, pressing her lips together.

“I don’t think Harry does hard drugs, Sky.”

I furrowed my brows. “How do you know?”

“I just do. Something Mitch told me.”

“Halo!”

She sighed again. “Okay. I gotta tell you something, but swear you won’t tell Harry I told you.”

“What is it?”

“Swear?”

“Okay, I swear!”

“Harry’s best friend, Simon, was Wildfire’s original lead guitarist. He died a year and a half ago. He overdosed on heroin.”

I dropped my jaw, speechless.

“Mitch said Harry took it hard, wouldn’t talk to anybody for nearly a month. He said he never did anything as hard as heroin, but he’s sworn off all hard drugs. Music’s most important to him, so he doesn’t feel like he needs that, you know?”

“Then why?” I wondered aloud. “Why is he acting like he is?”

“Maybe he’s just really drunk. Maybe some record exec bought him some drinks after we left and he’s toasted. Just…try not to take it personally, alright? He’ll sleep it off on our sofa and be the same ol’ Harry again tomorrow.”

I blinked hard, trying my best to understand and agree with her. She patted me on the arm and stood up straight.

“I’m going back inside, okay? Do you need anything?”

“No. I’m just gonna hang out here for a few more minutes.”

Halo gave me a tight, understanding smile and returned to the party. I sighed. Maybe she was right. It was nearly sunup and Harry would probably be crashed on my couch soon enough.

Deciding to rejoin the party myself, I opened the door and was hit with the smell of marijuana. It was a scent I knew all too well, and I found my tension easing up already. Most of the rest of the party was sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, a joint being passed around. Harry sat in a chair, his eyes heavy yet focused on something straight ahead - me. He looked like Jim Morrison sitting there, his arms slung over the arms of the chair, his hair falling around his face, framing it like some rock god. The radio played Gary Glitter and for a moment I was trapped in a fantasy in my head.

“We’ve been here too long tryin’ to get along Pretending that you’re oh so shy I’m a natural man doin’ all I can My temperature is runnin’ high”

“Hey mate,” I heard Deacon say. “You want another hit?”

“No,” replied Harry, his eyes still on me. Then he lifted his hand and pointed. “I want her.”

What? My eyes about popped out of my head as I felt everyone else’s eyes on me. A smirk grew on Harry’s mouth as he turned his hand over and beckoned me with his finger.

“Do you wanna touch (yeah!) Do you wanna touch (yeah!) Do you wanna touch me there”

No! I mean…yeah…I mean…

I shook my head, my hair falling over my eyes as I ran for my bedroom and slammed the door. I fell face down on my bed, Gary Glitter’s (and probably Harry’s) question ringing in my ears. And although I knew in truth that they weren’t, I could swear I heard the sound of everyone laughing at me.

I dozed in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours. I heard the front door closing a few times, people saying their goodbyes. I heard Halo knocking on my door.

“Sky? Sky! Please come out. Everyone’s leaving. Don’t you wanna say goodbye?”

“Sky! Please. If you’re not coming out, then let me in.”

“Okay, fine. Harry’s sorry. He says he’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sky? Are you asleep?”

I finally opened the door around seven in the morning to go to the bathroom. The inevitable rain had come and was pelting against the window and the glass door to the patio. Harry was sprawled out on the sofa, his bare feet hanging over the side as usual. And as usual, he looked peaceful. I took a detour to the kitchen and brought back a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin, leaving them on the coffee table.

When I awoke the next afternoon, Harry was gone, but he’d left me a note. At the top, he’d drawn three scribbly rain clouds.

Sky ~

I’m sorry. That wasn’t me. I’ll explain tomorrow.

H x

Songs mentioned:

Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze

Gary Glitter - Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah!)

Hope you enjoyed! Feedback is love x.