#but they totally hooked up in 2013

[immatureoldsoul]

Happy 50th Anniversary Buckingham Nicks!

[freebooter4ever]

ok i've been taking a break for the past half hour and doing research on the pens locker room, trying to figure out how i wanted to design my own version of geno's 'stall' (is that what it's called?). i love the circular shape it feels very king arthur

first, there isn't a lot of internet documented history on the various eras of the locker room design??? which seems sad

don't get me wrong the latest iteration is pretty epic but as far is i can tell, it hasn't changed much since at least 2013? i do not envy whoever is cleaning this place. thats a lot of sweat over the years.

second, im enjoying seeing little details that i had no idea existed, being a new fan and all. like the puck wins count???? crazy. these guys have a visual representation of how they're doing in the season right up there on the wall glaring judgmentally at them? im so glad im not in sports. i would not survive.

especially when the HISTORY of these pucks is on the walls.....like damn. talk about pressure. anyway 2011-2012 thats one of geno's best seasons right? :)

this is what I wanted. mesh, hooks, I need to figure out how i want to make this look cool.

i find it really funny and endearing that the thing these guys do to relax in down time is a playful version of their own job....

also im not sure about this like:

are they assigned a razor??? you get traded to the penguins and suddenly you're not allowed to use your fancy expensive specialized razor? is this a normal thing in hockey????? do they have group shaves for special events like the playoffs? hockey players are fascinating.

i dont know why but i never considered that the pens have actual lockers in addition to the little seats in the main locker room. this makes total sense. i dont know where i thought their clothes and stuff went. just disappeared into the ether i guess.

anyway definitely a necessity, the hot tub. it looks a little sad and lonely in this photo. it needs a hockey player in it.

racks and racks of gear???? again this makes total sense but never occurred to me. also maybe helps explain why geno likes to switch up gloves, look at all them, damn. i do wonder about helmets still - geno's looks so unique and he's been using the same design since at least 2009.

ok im guessing this is an away locker room and i have only one question: do they bring a little 'logo' carpet to roll out every time they go on the road? thats amazing.

if you read all that, nice! here's a shot of geno with his jock out:

very important locker room research. bonus the earliest pens locker room photo of geno i could find:

shy beautiful boy ^_^ (also he looks so young and vulnerable its hard to believe that even back in 2008/2009 he already had so much responsibility with so many grown adults making demands on his entire career)(like he went through all that AND is still playing in the league with three cups under his belt? thats fucking awesome)

[xxdreamersdesirexx]

Crash Into Me

Moira has finally made it as a rookie BSAA agent, and this was supposed to be a simple assignment. But nothing is ever simple when it comes to Leon Scott Kennedy. She hadn't met him before-- not directly-- but she comes face to face with the famous federal agent in an unexpected encounter that continues to escalate, in more ways than one.

AO3 Link

Rating: Mature (will be explicit) Status: In-progress

Tags: Hook-Up, Drunk Sex, Smoking, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Behavior, hook up turns serious, Rough Sex, Obsessive Behavior, toxic and trashy behavior, mission fic

*note: this was originally posted as x reader fic but I decided I liked it better in third person! 🙇 Thank you for understanding!

---

The first time Moira lay her eyes on Leon Scott Kennedy it was in the kitchenette of a BSAA safehouse in Sacramento California in 2013.

He was not supposed to be there.

He was draped over a kitchen chair, feet up with his boots on the table, and his leather jacket thrown carelessly over the back of the other chair. He had a mostly empty glass in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. There was a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the table in front of him.

It was not supposed to be there either.

Moira, however, was very much supposed to be there, much to her own annoyance. The mission, such as it was, was simply to check on the security of various safehouses in cities around the country, and report back to Chris if they needed re-equipping, or repair.

It was busy work. Or, it was supposed to be busy work. She hadn't expected any complications, and she was sure that Chris hadn't either, or he would have assigned someone else. This 'mission' was just supposed to give her something to do now that she'd officially completed her BSAA training. 

Technically she should have been a field agent already. She pretty sure someone pulled some strings to keep her out of danger and the idea rankled at the back of her mind as she stood there, watching Leon fucking Kennedy stare into space.

Yeah, somehow this was all her dad's fault.

"You aren't supposed to be here," Moira told him. It was her way of announcing her presence. 

"Chris let me in." He didn't look up at her , but he grabbed the bottle on the table. 

"Well that's a fucking lie. Chris sent me to check that the place was empty." She put her hand on her hip where her gun hung. It was nice, now, for it to feel like a reassurance instead of a terror. "You're lucky I recognize you, agent Kennedy."

"My lucky day," he drawled. He held up the bottle toward her. "Don't think we've met before– pour you a drink? You are old enough to drink, right, princess?"

"Hey fuck you, of course I'm old enough!" Moira glared hotly, self-conscious about her babyface and reputation as 'Barry's kid' in the presence of the older, and more famous agent. She swaggered deliberately over to the table, pulled out the other chair– the one with Leon's jacket on it– and sat down.

"Hey, hey, no need to get testy about it. I don't want Chris on my ass for boozing up an underage agent, that's all." 

He smiled smoothly at her, and poured more whiskey into the now-empty glass. He passed it across the table to her. And here I thought he might get me my own, she thought. But she picked it up anyway, and took a sip, well aware that over age or not she should not be drinking on the job.

"Yeah? But you don't mind Chris on your ass for fucking around in his safe houses?"

Leon shrugged, putting his arms behind his head and grinning at her. She could smell the whiskey on his breath from across the table mingling with the smell of cigarette smoke, and his leather jacket, and whatever cheap, musky cologne it is that he was wearing.

"What Chris doesn't know can't hurt me, right?"

"And you think you can, what, buy me off with a drink?" she demanded. She knocked back another long swallow of the liquor and felt it burn all the way down her throat. "It's not even a good drink. Chris is totally going to hear about this."

"Tch. Just my luck somebody comes to check on the place the one time I come to crash." He uncrossed, and recrossed his boots on the table.

"Don't you work for the government?" She put the glass down on the table, and leaned across toward Leon, scrutinizing him. He has a cocky, devil may care attitude, but underneath it she could tell there's something he's troubled about. What though, was impossible to know. But she'd heard stories about him. From Chris, and from Claire.

"Sure. And?"

"So don't they have their own safehouses for you to use?"

"Sure. And they're full of bugs and cameras and shit," Leon shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted to escape the panopticon for a little while."

"Fuck," Moire hissed, thinking about it. "They really have you pinned down like a bug under a microscope, huh, Kennedy?"

Moir watched his smile sour, and he licked his teeth in irritation.

"Wish you wouldn't put it that way," he said. He grabbed the glass from where Moirea put it, and drained it in front of her.

"Hey!"

"What, you weren't drinking it. If you want more, there's more." He grinned now, and took his feet off the table, leaning in toward her instead.

"I shouldn't be drinking on the job– and I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be either. Or smoking in here."

He took a long pull of his cigarette, and she watched his handsome lips wrap around the tip of it almost seductively.

"Smoking in safehouses is tradition, promise," he insisted. He pointed at her. "There's more in my pocket if you wanna light up with me."

"Are you still trying to buy me off?" Moira crossed her arms.

"Maybe," he agreed. "But I'm starting to get the sense that you're not a cheap date. What did you say you were here for, again?"

Her patience was already starting to thin as the man refused to take anything seriously.

"To check it over for Chris. Make sure the locks are in good condition, and there's still guns and ammo, and all that." She waved a hand and went to pat down the jacket, looking for Leon's cigarettes. The first thing that she found was, however, a condom. Her lips twisted in a half-disgusted, half unsurprised sneer.

Leon watched her pull it out, and grinned all the wider.

"Other pocket, princess. But you can give that over here."

She made a face, and slid it toward him, patting down the jacket once again until she found his cigarettes. The box was more than half empty but she pulled one out anyway.

"Okay, where's the lighter, then?" she demanded. He crooked two fingers toward her, beckoning her across the table. 

She leaned in, cigarette in hand.

He produced a lighter– an old metal flip style one– and flicked it open, lighting her cigarette for her. She put it in her mouth, and took a long puff. At least they weren't stale.

"Thanks," she murmured as the smoke curled up and around her head, joining the cloud that Leon had been producing. 

"No prob." She watched him lean on the table again, sucking on the dwindling end of the cigarette. "If you wanna just go, I can lock up here and check everything."

"What? No! I'm not going to leave it to you."

"You don't trust me?" He put his free hand to his heart, over the black t-shirt that covered his muscular frame. She couldn't help noticing how good he looked, even as he was heading straight for forty. 

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I sure as hell don't want to risk my agent status over it. If you're not going to leave, I'll just have to wait here until you do, and lock up then."

And probably tell Chris he needed to change the locks, she didn't tell him.

"Guess we're stuck together then," Leon purred. He grabbed a hold of the bottle of whiskey again and took a sip right from it.

"And all you're going to do is drink and smoke, I'm guessing?" Moire said, leaning on her hand.

"That was the plan," Leon admitted. "But now that you're here I've got some other ideas."

The way he looked at her when he said it sent a flush of heat through her face– and further downward. If wasn't suggesting what she thought he was suggesting then he really needed to learn to phrase things better.

But she'd heard a lot of things from Claire.

She moved to get up from the chair.

"I should go."

He stood too, and she felt a shiver go through her body.

"Hope you're not planning to drive after that whiskey."

"That's… none of your business," she insisted. She had driven. Her car was parked outside.

He shook his head.

"C'mon, kid, where's the harm?" He held the whiskey up again. "We can finish this off on the couch over there. More comfortable than the kitchen table, right?"

Moire moistened her lips thoughtfully. 

The idea was, admittedly, very tempting. Leon Kennedy was famous, amazing at what he does, and honestly, kind of exactly her type. Especially now that she could see that he absolutely had the disaster of a personality people whispered about, to go along with that pretty face.

A government agent hiding from fed tracking, and skipping off to smoke and get drunk in a BSAA safehouse. And now he wanted to screw around with her.

Chris definitely didn't send her on this mission to screw around with guys from other agencies. Or any guys. Or Leon Kennedy. Or to get drunk.

Not to mention the fact that her father would be pissed if he ever found out. 

The idea was thrilling, and dark.

Her resolve failed. 

She took a puff of the cigarette that had been dangling between her fingers.

"Alright, what the hell. The couch does sound more comfortable."

"I knew you'd see it my way." 

Leon stepped close, and scooped his heavy arm around her shoulders. Moira felt a shiver go through her at the warmth of his body and the smell of cheap cologne and whiskey, and cigarettes.

She let him pull her out of the kitchenette, and over to the couch.

[partiallypearl]

Halfway Gone

inspired slightly by the tags on this tumblr post. we never meet katie and kendall’s dad in the show, but i do remember seeing fan theories about him being a deadbeat. and well. i ran with that. title comes from halfway gone by lifehouse, which is a total knight family song imo.

tagging @selangkir @myloveforhergoeson @ceruleanmusings and @ithinkyouhealedmyheart

The first time Katie sees her dad as a 17 year old, she doesn’t know it’s him. They’re back in Minnesota for a benefit concert, one of the few times Big Time Rush has reunited since their official breakup in 2013.

She’s annoyed about having to leave Los Angeles, and she stormed out of the house, trying to get away from the petty argument she struck up with her mom.

She’s on the corner of University Ave and Dale St N, when she sees him. A man, tall with brownish blonde hair, and piercing green eyes.

His nose has the same hook as Kendall’s. He’s dressed in a suit. One of the ones that Griffin wears - an expensive brand.

He looks familiar, she thinks. Her eyes trail over his face, trying to figure out how. They cross to opposite sides of the road, and after she lands on the other side of the crosswalk, she watches as he makes his way north.

She doesn’t understand how significant this is until three weeks later.

*

Three weeks later, she receives a letter in the mail. They are back in California. She doesn’t think of anything as she grabs a butter knife from the kitchen drawer, and slices the seal open.

The letter drops out, along with a baby photo of her. She knows this photo. It’s one that her mom has a copy of in her wallet. Kendall has another in his baby box for her.

She’s tiny, maybe six months old. She’s sitting on the carpet of their old home, dressed in a frilly white and pink dress. She’s grinning at the camera. Kendall had told her that he was the one to take it. He said that she wanted to crawl into his lap but he distracted her so he could get the picture.

She stares at the picture for a moment before turning her attention to the letter. It’s written on loose leaf paper, clearly ripped out of a notebook.

Dear Katie, it starts. She scans the words, her eyes beginning to water up. It’s her dad writing, her brain informs her.

He’s asking about her. About how she is doing. About Kendall. About their mom. About how she likes California. If she misses him.

How can she? He left when she was barely a year old. She has no real tangible memories of him.

He’s just a name on her birth certificate. A figure in the back of some family photos. A glimpse.

She can feel one teardrop rolling down her cheek as she shoves the paper onto the table, grabbing the photo and placing it on top. She can’t look at it anymore.

She wishes she hadn’t in the first place.

*

A month after the letter, her mom gets an email. It’s from her dad asking if she received it. Katie isn’t there when her mom gets it, but when she gets back from school, Jennifer is sitting in the living room.

“Your dad sent you a letter?” She asks, as Katie struggles to get her Vans off. Katie shrugs, letting her hair fall over her shoulders as she finally gets her sneakers off, walking into the kitchen.

She opens the fridge, biting down on her lip to keep her mouth shut.

“Katie.” Her mother says, and she sighs, turning around to face her. “Yeah?”

“Your dad sent you a letter. And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to know.” A lie, and she knows it, her mom knows it too. Jennifer gives her the look she perfected with the boys, the one that shows that she’s not impressed and won’t be backing down about it.

“I’m your mother. I deserve to know if your dad is in contact with you.” Katie shakes her head.

“I’m not in contact with him. He sent me a letter. I did not reply.”

“Why not?” Jennifer asks, and Katie snorts. “I haven’t needed him since I was one. Why would I need him now?”

Her mom goes silent. Katie stares at her, then at her purple sock coloured feet. “He’s still your dad Katie.” Her mom says, sighing as she gets up and crosses over to Katie.

Her hands are cupping Katie’s face. Thumbs gently rubbing her upper cheek.

“If you want a relationship with him, I won’t be mad.” Katie shakes her head. “I don’t need one. I have you.” Jennifer sighs again, pressing a quick kiss against Katie’s forehead.

“I’ll keep his email for you. If you change your mind.”

The thing is, Katie already knows she won’t.

[grievedifferent]

kingdom hearts 358/2 days (1.5 remix, 2013) sentence starters. accepting !! // * @fairmuses

❝ this is such a great spot . . . how’d you find it ?? ❞ for Josh from either of my until dawn muses or the quarry! (i chose jess!)

❝ heh, pretty romantic, right? ❞ he queries. ❝ it's totally isolated ... mostly. so, we're basically all alone. ❞ his face becomes somber for a moment, indicating he's (essentially) just joking.

❝ i, uh, used to come out here a lot. with my dad. we used to practice lines. it was one of the only places i could get my first scripts right. i used to get way too nervous on set. so ... he would take me out here to clear my head. with the mountain being so close, we have a lot of access to the forests. sometimes, he'd bring his fishing gear out here, just by the river there, ❞ he says, pointing out to a clearing where the rocks create a junction to stand on, ❝ and he'd hook up a line while he'd have me run my parts. it was cool, y'know. we used to do that all the time. ❞ then he stopped acting —— in movies, at least. he's kept up a pretty consistent part as josh washington, movie mogul's prodigal son pretty well on the public front. privately? it's been a disaster.

ah, but jess doesn't need to know that. in fact, this is probably one of the first times they've actually been alone together. group activities have always been their thing. he moves to put a mischievous arm around her shoulder, motivating her to mind him to get a better view.

❝ see? all summer long, the salmon just flood the river. heh, my dad used to catch so much fish that we'd have to give it away to the neighbors. ❞

he laughs for a moment, remembering something only he can see between the two of them, and then sighs. he releases his temporary hold on her, shifting to cross his arms in new observance of her figure.

❝ maybe you and i could come down here sometime during the summer, eh? maybe do a little skinny dipping? when the fish aren't biting?? ❞

[beardedmrbean]

Chrissy Reifschneider had just left rehab to treat her heroin addiction in 2017 when she started taking tianeptine, popularly dubbed “gas station heroin." The 41-year-old from Alabama was struggling with low energy, so a family member who worked at a gas station recommended she try the pills. 

Within days, Reifschneider was hooked, and three dark years cruised by. Now four years clean, Reifschneider reflects on the deception that contributed to her tianeptine addiction and the overwhelming shame that followed. It's a trend that addiction medicine experts say shines a sobering light on the ongoing mental health crisis that's driving people to "easy" solutions amid widespread healthcare accessibility issues in the U.S.

“I thought well, I'm not sticking a needle in my arm, so I literally convinced myself that I wasn’t a drug addict until I realized I didn't recognize who I was anymore,” Reifschneider said. “It's crazy to think that these gas station pills just controlled me. I was ashamed because I'd rather people know I was shooting up heroin than actually spending all this time and money on over-the-counter (drugs).”

Tianeptine is prescribed as an antidepressant in some European, Asian and Latin American countries, but it’s not approved for any medical use in the U.S. Still, companies are marketing and selling tianeptine products as dietary supplements typically in pill and powder form, claiming it can improve brain function and treat depression, anxiety, pain and even opioid use disorder. 

Tianeptine has been banned in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee.

Reifschneider used to take five pills every four hours, which she said gave her enough of a “warm, fuzzy buzz” without making her feel clammy or nauseous, similar to the effects of doing too much heroin, she said. The brand she purchased recommends two capsules daily “or as needed,” and advises against exceeding three capsules in a 24-hour period. 

She started to lose her hair and lots of weight; had auditory hallucinations; developed paranoia surrounding electronics, at times using 10 cellphones at once; and began to convince herself that she was “better off dead.” Reifschneider would even chat with gas station employees about how dangerous the pills were: “I was silently crying out for help.” 

After several unsuccessful stays in rehab, Reifschneider quit “cold turkey” and entered a withdrawal state for the next six months, which she said felt similar to but lasted longer than her withdrawal from heroin and fentanyl. Today, she continues to “feel like a 15-year-old in my brain,” alluding to her debilitating memory problems. “It’s one of my more shameful things,” she said.

Poison control cases involving tianeptine have increased nationwide, from 11 total cases between 2000 and 2013 to 151 cases in 2020, the FDA says. Many poison control calls often involve severe withdrawal symptoms, such as agitation, vomiting and diarrhea, because people typically consume higher doses than those prescribed in other countries, according to a 2018 CDC report.

Dr. Holly Geyer, an internal medicine physician specializing in addiction medicine with the Mayo Clinic, said fear of withdrawal and the depression that follows can contribute to addiction to a variety of substances. 

“These often aren't people who are chasing a high. They're just trying to feel normal, and if there's a drug out there that helps them curb that appetite, they're probably going to take it until it as a solution becomes the problem,” Geyer said. “These people are trapped biologically, mentally and spiritually. It's a horrible situation to be in, and I can tell you tianeptine does not let them out of it.” 

Shame and stigma prevail among addiction recovery circles 

Since Reifschneider joined social media to share her tianeptine experience, neighbors and friends have confided in her with their own struggles with the supplement. “It was a very dark secret we all kept in our recovery circle because it was so shameful,” she said. “We all felt better about ourselves because we weren’t doing the worst of the worst.”

Aaron Weiner, an addiction psychologist, says that mentality is “completely reasonable” considering the stigma and “traditionalism” that still weighs on drug use in general. “There’s a very intense mental health burden in this country right now,” he said.

Tianeptine is marketed as a supplement, but it’s really an opioid receptor agonist. That means it binds to the same receptors in the brain that heroin, fentanyl and other opioids do, causing similar euphoric and addictive effects by hijacking the body’s dopamine system. So when people use tianeptine amid their recovery journey to cope with withdrawal or other lingering effects, judgment frequently follows.

“In a lot of recovery circles, the goal is complete abstinence from all intoxicating substances,” Weiner said. “In this scenario, some people may assume they’re substituting one drug for another, and say they’re not really sober.”

Similar judgment occurs among those taking FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone — some of which are opioids themselves. Mounting evidence shows that they reduce opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and block their euphoric effects, Weiner said, but don’t make people “high” or cause withdrawal when dosed properly. 

Although MOUD use has grown by more than 100% over the last decade, nearly 90% of people living with opioid use disorder are not receiving these medications, according to a 2022 study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. Experts say stigma is partly to blame. 

“One of the greatest problems we have in this country is that of stigma; we label people, then throw them out with their diagnoses,” Geyer said. “So when many of them turn to MOUD, they experience equal amounts of stigma and are led to think that no one could yell at them or be offended if they use supplements like tianeptine that they think are safer.” 

"It kills me to know this is still out there"

Reifschneider said she visited a doctor who specializes in addiction medicine two times for help to detox from tianeptine, but neither attempt was successful.

“The doctor had no idea what these pills were, but he wanted to help me because he could see my desperation,” Reifschneider said. “I was terrified to come off of them alone, so I didn’t know what to do.” 

She ultimately detoxed herself, but this lack of awareness and access to proper treatment, Geyer said, is what deters people away from evidence-based treatment and attracts them to the illicit market.

Data show that nearly 50% of counties in the U.S., don’t have MOUD medication providers and 32% don’t have any specialty substance abuse treatment programs at all. 

“There's not a whole lot of attention paid to tianeptine because it’s one of many drugs that you could find at gas stations these days that are not technically outlawed but certainly not beneficial,” Geyer said. “The big name drugs out there like fentanyl is where the money has historically been in this industry, so that's where most treatment approaches have focused.”

After years of rehab, Reifschneider said she wants to lay low and just live a normal life, but knowing that tianeptine is still being sold on gas station shelves weighs on her.

“I'm honestly grateful that there's been more awareness, but it kills me to know this is still out there,” she said.

[haveaclock]

(this was in my drafts, have it)

"Is the kind of person": Total Drama: Reboot edition yayyyy

I'll try to be versatile with characters but ranyebow man.. (platonic..of course)

btw..I haven't even watched the reboot (currently waiting for it to come in the u.s as of may 12th wait it's mother's day)

• Raj and Wayne are the kind of persons to be hooked on to Odetari, 6arelyhuman, Asteria, Lumi Athena , you name them (I'm still living on the 2000's cartoons.. 😞).. oh yea

creds: @goldfishontheceiling

-Raj: WAYNER!! ODETARI CAME OUT WITH A NEW SONG!!!

Wayne: DICE AND ROLL??

Raj: YEA.....

Julia: shut up

• Julia and Bowie are the kind of people to be enemies because if Fresh TV made them friends they'll be so unstoppable they'll cross dimensions maybe Amphibia's dimension

-oh and btw I'm very delusional about them

• Scary Girl is the kind of gal to not say "you'll never find the body"

it's "It's bold of you to assume that there even is a body to be found."

- aw man that's the only one I got for her

•Raj is the kind of person to be at one school since kindergarten it's one of those K-12 schools, and so he's like probably in the school band or something

-Raj is a trombone player fight me

Raj: Bowie you're holding the trombone wrong

Bowie: Sorry *adjusts*

Raj: you're holding it wrong

Bowie: sorry

Raj: try again

Bowie: ...okay

Raj: mmm try again

Bowie: Raj..

Raj: mm.. try again

Bowie: Raj I will stuff this trombone into your mouth if you ask me to try again 😃

-did anyone get the SpongeBob references..did anyone get the SpongeBob references..

• Wayne might be the kind of person Raj is in the previous one but I need to decide whether it is or it isn't

Hanukkah Dance is stuck in my head sorry

• Julia is the kind of person to believe in aura and in auras still

- I think she substitutes for the word ass because this is a kid show y'know..

- Julia: Bowie get your aura together..

Bowie: I thought you were already exposed

Julia: yea I know

Wayne and Raj are the kind of people to recognize 2018 YouTubers because when they were little tiny people they would watch "DRIVING TO [so and so] AT 3 AM"

- I bet they would have recognized Chase but they couldn't really do anything because they were on different teams belhh

Raj: bro..what if they drink the potion and then they become gay..

Wayne: crazy man..

*ding dong*

Raj: why did someone send me a package at 3 am

Wayne: what if it's a gay potion..

Raj: what 😰

Wayne: whatever you do don't drink it..

Raj: ...WAYNER..IT SMELLS LIKE CHAKOTRA..

Wayne: RAJIE NO DONT GIVE IN..

Raj: WAYNER.. IT'S CHAKOTRA..

Wayne: NO RAJ..

Raj: DAWG I'M GONNA OPEN IT

Wayne: NO-

-9 year olds..knee slappers.

-oh..and btw..I got chakotra off of google correct me if I'm wrong

•Raj is the kind of person to say "Gluteus Maximus" instead of ass Raj be normal

- Raj: Bowie did I ever tell you this one hockey team before Total Drama?

Bowie: No? But now I want to know :)

*I don't know anything hockey (YET) so pretend hes speaking okay okay*

Bowie: And you guys still won?

Raj: Yea! The Snow Owls are the best!! Go Snow Owls!!

Bowie: I wouldn't like that team if they played basketball..

Raj: yea..they were a real pain in the gluteus maximus..

Bowie: Raj what

• Priya is the kind of person to go to med school and go "yea no that term is wrong" or "y'know that's a symptom for cancer"

Raj: people who cheat are just one big pain in the gluteus maximus..

Priya: if you're saying that to substitute for ass btw your wrong

Raj: what..😦

•I feel like...I feel..I feel like Axel would be the kind of person to swear someone out in Spanish but either

1. Know perfect Spanish

2. Bring out random Spanish

Ripper is the kind of person to actually act old and ..older but was born in like 2013

-not that I'm saying he was

*1996 nostalgia*

"ah.ah..ah man! The nostalgia!!"

-okay you guys can jump on this

okay guess stay with me here..stay with me here..

Wayner..and the light skin stare..

okay I'm gone

🚪 🚶

[nicole-the-hololynx]

🌻

Did you know that a lot of the assets for the Special Stages in Sonic CD were completely redrawn for the 2011 remake to be 25% wider?

(Left: Original, Right: Remake)

There's actually a pretty good reason for this! The Special Stages in Sonic CD make use of the Sega CD's scaling capabilities, which let it rotate and scale graphics in a way not too different from Mode 7 on the SNES

HOWEVER, due to the Sega CD still needing to pass its graphics manually to the Genesis its hooked up to, this sort of effect takes up a lot of CPU time just from transferring graphics and the like! One trick Sonic CD uses to be able to display the stage at a decent framerate is to make sure it only uses up a portion of the total screen, but another optimization is to make the screen itself smaller!

The Special Stages run in a 256 pixel wide resolution mode (which makes the graphics look "squished" when looking at raw pixels. Notice the planet in the background!) as opposed to the usual 320 pixel wide resolution Sonic games tended to stick to (which makes a near-perfect 4:3 aspect ratio). Since the image would be drawn into a 4:3 CRT TV, it would stretch itself back to a 4:3 aspect ratio anyways, and so the graphics are drawn squished to counter that.

The problem. When using a modern display, stretching the graphics back to their 4:3 aspect ratio can result in nasty scaling artifacts, whereas displaying them using square pixels would result in the graphics looking too skinny. The solution? Just draw them all wider!

As a small bonus fact, Sonic 2's Special Stages also use this lower resolution mode. However, the 2013 remake fails to account for the aspect ratio squish at all, resulting in the special stages being noticeably skinnier there compared to the original....

[skullivan-the-dawg]

CHECKUP ASK How’re ya doin? Have you eaten or drank water recently? Anything you feel like ranting/rambling about? :3

I’m surprisingly good!! I’m drinking my “anxiety drink” (Coke Zero) BUT I did drink water!!

As for ranting…

I’ll do one of my favorite bands…

NSP BABY!!

In 2009, NSP (aka Ninja Sex Party) was formed by band members Daniel Avidan and Brian Wecht. They both play as characters (in order) Danny Sexbang and Ninja Brian. Danny Sexbang is an erotic idiot who is always trying to hook up with women in funny ways in ALL of the songs, while Ninja Brian is a homicidal murder. Their goal is to rock on with the power of comedy music (mostly about sex or dinosaur laser fights, you never know 🤷)

There are a total of 11 albums (4 of which are cover albums and 1/4 of those are a cover album of their old songs) so far. NSFW (2009), Strawberries And Cream (2013), Attitude City (2015), Under The Covers (2016), Under The Covers Volume II (2017), Cool Patrol (2018), Under The Covers Volume III (2019), The Prophecy (2020), Level Up (2021), The Very, Very, Very, Very Classy Acoustic Album (Also in 2021) and the upcoming album These Nuts (In March 2024).

All of their non-cover albums (so far) have hit #1 on the Comedy Album charts (and have reached #17 on the Billboard 200 around 2018). They’ve even performed on Conan (a late night show that ran from 2010-2021) with the song, Danny Don’t You Know (the BEST song in my opinion by NSP EVER, Cool Patrol) with the Cool As Heck Version (the censored version).

FUN FACTS!!!

Both members are in their 40s (Daniel being 45, and Brian being 48)

Brian does have a daughter!! The Game Grumps and NSP fans all call her Ninja Audrey :3 (She’s around 9)

Brian has a PHD in physics!!

Brian is also known as Trey Magnifique, another character that plays the saxophone

Daniel likes dinosaurs :3 (You can find it on dinodanny.com)

The band has been around for 14 years!! :0

TWRP is also a band that helps with NSP (they do most of the instrumentals) and Jim Roach (he’s the producer)

Brian also has a kids band with Jim Roach called Go Banana Go!

Both of them love New Jersey! (Brian was born in New Jersey, Daniel was born in Philadelphia)

Brian has also a podcast with Leighton Grey called Leighton Night With Brian Wecht.

The longest song they have is called The Mystic Crystal (13 minutes) and the shortest (not counting introductions, bits and outros) is Sex Training (1:44)

Daniel used to be in the bands The Northern Hues and Skyhill (Skyhill has had a comeback earlier this year, go check out their songs as well, they FUCKING rule!!!)

Both Brian and Daniel are also in the band Starbomb (THEY FUCKING RULE TOO) with Arin Hanson (also part of Game Grumps)

Danny Sexbang and Ninja Brian are also in In Space In Markiplier if you take a certain path

THANKS FOR READING THAT RAMBLE 😅🙏🏽

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Christmas Reruns 2023 Day 3: A Christmas Miracle (3/3)

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t!  One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies–Christmas is a big time for nostalgia.  A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns.�� So here you go!  Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Rating: G

Word Count: 2446

Other chapters: 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Notes:  Here’s the conclusion of A Christmas Miracle.  Once again, it was written in 2013 and fits within my A Wish Your Heart Makes universe.

“If you hadn’t cast the curse in the first place, dearie, Pan never would have had the opportunity to curse us the second time.” Mr. Gold hissed.

“Oh, that’s rich!” Regina said with a sneer, “considering it’s coming from the imp who provided me with the curse in the first place!”

Emma sat in her favorite booth at Granny’s and watched her adversarial family members face off. She was rather impressed. They’d remained civil for nearly two hours.

“Come on guys,” Mary Margaret said, walking up to Gold and Regina, her hand extended in a pacifying gesture, “let’s not argue. It’s Christmas!”

Regina turned on her. “Stay out of it, Snow. It’s all your fault anyway.”

“My fault?!” Mary Margaret yelled, her hands coming to rest on her hips.

“Don’t play stupid,” Regina sneered, “Or maybe you’re not playing.”

“Just a minute! You can’t talk to my wife that way!” David charged into the fight.

Regina rolled her eyes and turned back to Mary Margaret.

“Yes, Snow,” Regina continued, “if it wasn’t for your total inability to keep your mouth shut, we wouldn’t be where we’re at.”

“Where we’re at? Where we’re at?!” Mary Margaret fumed, “That's…that’s not even grammatically correct, let alone accurate!”

Emma rolled her eyes. They were arguing about grammar? It was definitely time to go get some air…before the magic started flying. She got to her feet, and wobbled for a second on her high heels. Why had she let Mary Margaret convince her to dress up? If she had to come to this party, couldn’t she have at least been comfortable?

Emma turned her back on the argument, on Neal and Henry talking in a booth on the other side of the diner, on Hook who had gone up to the bar for another drink. Pushing the door open, she stepped outside.

Hook looked up as he heard the bell over Granny’s door chime. He caught a glance of golden hair and a soft blue dress before the door closed behind Emma. The lass had been rather quiet since dinner; he wondered what was bothering her. It was obvious something was; something beyond the obvious awkwardness of this party.

The voices rose behind him, everyone trying to shout down the others. Something crashed against a far wall. He shook his head. Snow White really did see the world through rose-colored glasses. How on earth had she thought this group of people would have a good time together?

Hook took a final swig of the beer he was drinking, and then headed for the door. He had no wish to remain in what was turning into an all-out battlefield. Of course, the thought of spending some time alone with the lovely Emma, might have played a part in the decision as well.

Pushing the glass door open, Hook stepped outside. There she stood underneath the awning, shivering. Why hadn’t she grabbed her coat before she’d stepped out?

“It’s a bit cold to be standing outside love,” he commented, stepping up behind her.

“Yeah, well,” she answered, turning toward him, “it beats getting caught in the middle of World War III in there.”

He laughed and shrugged out of his coat. He draped it over her shoulders and was rewarded with one of her rare smiles. They stood there for a moment watching the snow gently fall through the dark, evening air. Hook caught strains of music coming from the convent; it seemed the nuns were ringing in Christmas with carols.

“Joy to the world the Lord is come…”

“It doesn’t look like Mary Margaret is going to be able to get in all the Christmas traditions she was hoping for,” Emma commented. “We didn’t get to the Christmas carol sing-a-long.”

“It’s a shame,” Hook commented, looking over at her, “that was the part I was particularly looking forward to.”

“Really?” she asked looking at him with skeptical eyes, “You want to sit around singing carols?”

“And why not,” he asked with a grin. “Some of the songs I have heard here in Storybrooke would be particularly appropriate to the evening at hand.”

“Such as?” she asked with a matching grin.

“When we finally kiss goodnight,” he sang in a soft baritone, “how I’ll hate going out in the storm, but if you really hold me tight, all the way home I’ll be warm.”

She rolled her eyes, but he saw the smile that draped her face. A moment later, she turned back toward the street with a dejected little sigh. They stood in silence for a minute. “…And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.”

“It’s really coming down,” she finally said looking up at the streetlight across from them.

“Aye,” he answered with a smile. “We’ll have a fine blanket come Christmas morning.”

“Great,” she said with a grimace. “Just what I wanted for Christmas.”

“Oh come on love,” he said, turning her back toward him. “Surely there was a time you liked snow.”

He expected a witty retort, but instead she dropped her eyes and turned back toward the street. “I do remember one day,” she finally responded. “I was about six. I’d been living with a foster family for almost three years. They were great; I really thought they would adopt me. One day, it was close to Christmas, I remember, my foster dad took my foster brother and me out to play in the snow. We made the biggest snowman I had ever seen. We made snow angels, had a snowball fight, the whole nine yards. Later, we went in and my foster mom had made us a big pot of hot chocolate.”

Emma fell silent, and Hook waited. He heard the pain in her voice and softly began rubbing her shoulder. She leaned into his touch. “…holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.”

“What then, love?” Hook asked after a moment. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“The next morning, my foster dad disappeared,” she answered, and he saw the tears in her eyes. “They never found him; no one knows what happened. Well, my foster mom kinda fell apart. She couldn’t afford to take care of two children, so it was back into the system for me.”

Hook closed his eyes. It must have been devastating for a little girl to lose the only family she had ever known. Turning her once more to face him, he wrapped her in a hug. She resisted for a moment, and then he felt her arms wrap around him.

“I think it’s time we make a new memory surrounding snow,” Hook said after a moment. She pulled away from him and looked questioningly up into his face.

“Yeah?” she asked, “and what would that be?”

Hook grinned. “Well, love. I propose we go play in the snow tomorrow.”

“Play in the snow?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, “Really?”

“Aye, lass,” he smiled at her, “We can bring Henry.”

“And what exactly would we ‘play’ in the snow?”

“First,” he answered, with a wicked grin, “We make a devastatingly handsome snowman with a hook. Then we make a beautiful blonde snow maiden looking adoringly up at him.”

“Are you sure the blonde isn’t rolling her eyes at him?” Emma asked with a grin. “Sounds more true to life.”

Hook put his hand to his heart and staggered as though mortally injured. “You wound me, lass.”

“Hmm,” she said grinning, “that might play to your advantage.”

“Aye? And how is that?”

“Well,” she said with a grin, “if you’re injured you’ll need someone to take care of you.”

Was the lady actually flirting with him? His grin blossomed into a full blown smile. She smiled back for a moment and then turned back to the street. He heard a defeated sigh.

“What’s troubling you, love?” he asked. She didn’t answer for so long he thought she was deliberately ignoring him. The nuns started up a new carol. When blossoms flowered ‘mid the snow…

Finally she turned back toward him. “It’s just…” she made a helpless little gesture with her hands. “I don’t know…Every single time it looks like things are starting to work out, like good is going to succeed, like the bad guys are going to get defeated, like we might get a bit of peace and happiness, something else happens. Someone casts a curse, or kidnaps a kid, or…”

“Or disappears sending you back into the system…or turns you in to the police for his crimes…or sends you off to another realm with no more protection than a seven-year-old lad so that you can come back and be the savior?”

“Yeah,” she said, and he saw the tears brimming in her eyes. One escaped and slid down her cheek. Raising his hand, he tenderly wiped it away.

“Emma, love,” he said, his voice going deep and gravelly, “I can’t promise you peace and happiness, but I can promise to always be beside you, helping you, protecting you and those you love. You need never fear I’ll abandon you.”

She whirled away from him and started pacing. The lass was seething. “Yeah?” she snarled at him. “I’ve heard that before. 'I love you, Emma.’ 'You’re like our own daughter, Emma.’ 'Let’s go to Tallahassee, Emma.’ 'We just wanted to give you your best chance, Emma.’ It’s crap! All of it!”

“You doubt me, lass? Even after Camelot?” he asked and was ashamed to hear the pain in his voice.

She stopped and looked back at him. The first Noel the angels did sing…

“No,” she finally answered, “the hell of it is that I don’t doubt you. You’ve proven again and again that you will do anything for me…even at your own expense. But Hook, you’re not indestructable. What if you disappear? Or are kidnapped? Or are killed?”

Hook’s heart swelled. That was real feeling in her voice. The lass was a lot further gone than she thought. He cupped her face with his good hand again.

“Love,” he answered meaning the word with all his heart, “as I said, I can’t promise you nothing terrible will happen, but for today, for this moment all is well. Perhaps, all one can do is create the good memories to be our solace in times of distress.”

She looked up at him for several moments and then slowly nodded, briskly swiping her hands across her damp cheeks.

“So about those snowmen…?” he asked playfully.

“Henry and I will be ready bright and early tomorrow morning,” She answered with a smile.

For the first time in nearly as long as she could remember, Emma felt hope. It was hope that she found shining out of Hook’s blue eyes as he smiled at her.

“I’ve got a gift for you, love,” Hook said, holding out a small, thin box.

“Oh,” Emma said ruefully, “Hook, I didn’t get you anything.”

He smiled gently. “It’s no matter, Emma. I have no need of gifts.” He held the box out to her again, and she reached for it automatically. Lifting the lid, she saw a silver necklace with an opal and silver swan pendant. Emma ran her finger over the jewel.

“It’s beautiful,” she said softly.

“Aye,” he answered looking at her. “It is beautiful, and strong and graceful. Much like you.”

She looked down and then met his eyes. “Is that really how you see me?”

“Aye, lass,” he said gently. “Indeed it is.”

Il est ne le divin enfant… It seemed the nuns had decided to venture into French carols.

“Thank you, Hook,” she said simply. “Well, I don’t hear any yelling, so that probably means they’ve either stopped fighting…or killed each other. Either way, I suppose we should go back in.”

“A moment more lass,” Hook said. That pirate grin of his was back.

“What?” she asked warily. She had come to know that tone in his voice, and it meant trouble.

“Well, love,” he said with a raise of his eyebrow, “I think it is only right that we follow holiday tradition.”

“Exactly what holiday tradition might that be?” she asked. He pointed to a spot over her head. She looked up and saw a sprig of mistletoe hanging right above the two of them.

“You’re terrible, you know that?” she asked with a smile and a slight shake of her head.

“Perhaps so,” he answered playfully, “but your mother has her heart set on her family following the traditions this year. What manner of a daughter would you be if you were to blatantly deny her greatest Christmas wish?”

Her breath caught and her heart began to pound. Well, why not?

“Well, in the spirit of Christmas tradition…” she said with a little wave of her hand.

He looked surprised for a moment, then the grin was back. She was determined she wouldn’t let his kiss affect her, she wouldn’t! Then his lips settled against hers and all rational thought fled. All that existed was this man and the sensations he aroused in her. Her arms wrapped around his neck. She tangled her fingers in his hair, pressing closer, closer. She could never be close enough. She blossomed for him like a flower in a spring rain. The kiss went on and on. It lasted forever; it ended far too soon.

Finally, with a groan, he pulled his lips from hers.

“Emma, love…” he breathed. She couldn’t say a word if her life were on the line. She was glad his arms were still around her because her legs felt like jelly. If he were to release her, she would melt into a puddle at his feet.

Hook took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the charming rogue was back.

“Well, love,” he said gently rubbing her back. “I had it on good authority that the last time was a one-time thing. It seems I’ve just experienced a Christmas miracle!”

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t pull away. Though it scared her half to death, she couldn’t deny it any more. Being in his arms felt like…home.

“Well, don’t get too used to it buddy,” she said. Her voice didn’t sound convincing even to her.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it, love,” he said with a raise of one eyebrow. “After all, I’d have to wait an entire year for another Christmas miracle.”

“Very true,” she said with a grin, “But there are a lot of holidays between now and then.”

He laughed. “I like the way you think, Emma. I like the way you think!”

NEXT CHAPTER-->

[timetoddddavis]

how would you suggest getting into ultraman? i see stuff you and others post/reblog and it looks cool, but it also seems, uh, all interconnected? and i dunno what a good jumping-on point is!

Hi!! Ok so Ultraman SEEMS really interconnected, and in some cases, it is! The first seven or so shows are all one continuity, and then Mebius shows up all the way in 2006 to be the capstone to that story.

It's also the case for "new gen" shows, those being Ultraman Ginga (2013) to Ultraman Decker (2022), where any Ultra from any era can kinda just show up for a few episodes!

But the extremely cool thing about Ultraman as a franchise is that even though these shows can call crossover, you REALLY don't have to have any extra knowledge to understand what's going on! In every case that I've seen, any reference to another show will be well explained, regardless of if you have any knowledge going in, or otherwise totally understandable. They work really hard to make Ultraman accessible for everyone, especially newcomers.

If you've watched any toku, I'm sure you've heard 'you can start anywhere, just pick one you like the vibe of!' and that's also true for Ultraman! Every show is a great place to jump in!!

For my personal picks, I should start by saying I've only watched one Showa Ultraman. Sorry Showa fans, I just haven't gotten there yet!! So these recs will be from recent series.

I think I would say Ultraman Orb is a great starting place. The overall story is one about the guy who is Ultraman, and the guy who is his nemesis, their very long journey towards self forgiveness and self empowerment, and the human woman who looks at a centuries long cosmic ballet of spite and hurt and says "no. you aren't nearly as scary as you think you are." I think it has a very accessible, relatable story!

My first was actually Ultraman Ginga, which is a VERY low budget, low key entry in the series. It's about being in highschool, and being friends, and also sometimes you are Ultraman. Ginga gets a bad rep in some circles that prefer more spectacle, but for me it was like, ok so this show was made for NO MONEY, but somehow even with very very little to work with, it got across the IDEAS of Ultraman so simply and so well that it hooked me on the whole franchise.

A third option would be Ultraman Mebius! "Davis you just said Mebius is a capstone to the first like 7 Showa Ultras" yes i know but Mebius is. So good. It's just bursting at the seams with love for the series, and totally understandable for a newcomer. It's the story of a very young alien coming to Earth with no knowledge or experience, and how he frankly fucks up?? But then about how he learns, and grows, and fucks up, and tries again, over and over.

Oh oh oh I would be remiss if I didn't say the current show, Ultraman Blazar, is not connected to any other show, and it's coming out Friday nights, and it's really good so far! It's all on the tsuburaya productions youtube, and simulcasts with both subs and a dub!

SO..... I hope that isn't too much information!! I could keep going, is the thing. Do you want more sympathy for the monsters? X! Do you want a story about fighting the stigma that you're inherently evil because of your birth? Geed! Do you want that same idea but made for no money and more about a found family? Mega Monster Battle! Do you like family shows? R/B! Do you want to watch one of the most influential pieces of Japanese pop culture from the last century? ULTRASEVEN. Do you just want to watch a movie? Revenge of Belial!

Have fun, and let me know if you find one that clicks with you!

[bisluthq]

I don’t think T/J could’ve worked without Kimye tho because if she didn’t want to run away, he couldn’t have done a “normal” celeb coupling with her at that stage in his career. He would’ve been another Dougie, maybe even less of one because they might not have ever been spotted together.

You think so? I think we would have to know how much Taylor liked Dougie, cause that didn't seem to last long right? And with Joe, she seemed to be quite obsessed with him in the beginning. Even with all the mess in her life then, they couldn't just stay casual. And Taylor seemed to hesitate a lot because of that. So if that wasn't a problem, would they have managed to just stay casual fuck buddies or it would still lead to a relationship anyway? Maybe it would just last less I suppose, cause she wouldn't have ran to London like you say. Maybe like she says on Glitch, they would see each other when both were in town and text in the meanwhile until both found someone else that is. Given the OG timeline though, I still wonder if she would have been ok with "sharing" him if that was that case.

Maybe with or without 2016 they would always end up in a relationship one way or another, but given core personality differences and values it would never be endgame anyway

Now, I know Taylor believes in all the destiny and soulmate thing but there's different types of soulmates. You can have more than one. Not all of them are love interests and not all of them are meant to stay in your life forever. I think that's the case here, they had to meet cause they had lessons to learn with each other and when those lessons were learned they couldn't work anymore

Dougie was around for a good few months. They got together(ish) in November 2013, his camp announced they weren’t together anymore in January 2014 (basically saying a PR friendly version of Matty’s unhinged emasculated by her thing like basically they said “our boy Dougie went on some dates but decided he just wants to be friends with her”) and then in March they were spotted on a date at a Fun. concert (sitting with just Lena who was at that point with Jack) and I think they were seen again in April but I can’t remember where and I’m lazy rn. Obviously not the grandest love story of our time but 6 months with half of it seemingly hidden on purpose is really not a total nothing either like Tom Odell.

Taylor was obviously smitten with Joe from when they met but she also didn’t do terribly much about it (unless they did hook up around April 29th which like idk I sorta feel like they might’ve based on the vibes I get from the song) until after Tom and Taylor gets smitten all the time (see: Enchanted). Joe was well on his way to being a Dougie but then imo he offered what she wanted post Kimye - so a normal life - and he hadn’t lived much of an abnormal life so that seemed cool to him because he liked her and then it worked for a while but they had their share of problems (because everyone does) and they didn’t work on theirs enough and then she blew up fame wise all over again but bigger than ever (or anyone ever tbh lol) and wanted the positive attention she was getting and he was like “this wasn’t the plan??” and it sucked a lot and she felt trapped and stuck and he was distant and she reconnected with Matty and eventually we got to Joever lol.

with different timing, I don’t think they’d have gotten to 6.5 years. And the only way imo they could’ve worked forever is if 1) they sorted at least some of their problems out 2) if Taylor had indeed started to fade post Lover like she’d expected and transitioned into indie but traditional indie not Swiftie Indie like now.

[jbaileyfansite]

Old Jonathan Bailey’s interview with the OxfordMail (2013)

BROADCHURCH star Jonathan Bailey has paid tribute to his former English teacher for inspiring his acting career. 

The 25-year-old former Oxford schoolboy, who played newspaper reporter Olly Stevens in the smash-hit crime thriller, also said reading his own local newspapers – the Oxford Mail and The Wallingford Herald – helped him prepare for the role.

Mr Bailey, from Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, near Wallingford, fondly remembers reading Shakespeare in the sixth form at Oxford’s Magdalen College School with Dr David Brunton, who died in March 2007 after falling from the tower of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin Church in High Street.

Mr Bailey, who is now playing Cassio in the National Theatre production of Othello, told the Mail: “He was a brilliant man who taught us Othello for A-Level. I’d read it out loud in class with him playing Iago, so it is a fitting tribute to a fantastic teacher that I’m now playing Cassio.”

In Broadchurch, the former Benson Primary School pupil worked opposite top actors including David Tennant and Pauline Quirke.

His character, a junior reporter for the fictional Broadchurch Echo, finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Mr Bailey said: “The Oxford Mail and The Wallingford Herald were of course my inspiration. Growing up in Benson I always read The Wallingford Herald – it was always on the kitchen table. The sense of community that is thrust into the home by local papers is so important.”

The ITV series drew in more than nine million viewers every week and had viewers on the edges of their seats until the murderer was revealed in the final episode, broadcast on April 22.

Filming for a second series is due to start next year.

Mr Bailey, who has also appeared in the popular Oxford detective drama Lewis, said: “In terms of Broadchurch’s success, I am totally shocked. It is great to be a part of something everyone wants to carry on watching.”

Mr Bailey’s father Stuart Bailey, former managing director of Rowse Honey in Wallingford, said: “We believe that it is important to follow your dream and are naturally very proud of Jonathan and what he has achieved. We were totally hooked on Broadchurch and looked forward to watching it every Monday evening.”

He added: “It is great that Jonathan was part of such a popular TV series and that Othello is proving so successful at the National.”

Alan Cooper, who has taught at Oxford’s Magdalen College School for 32 years, said: “Dr Brunton had a brilliant way of making Shakespeare come alive.He would be absolutely delighted. He was always very fond of Shakespeare.He would be thrilled that someone would be able to take that to the theatre.”

Of Mr Bailey, Mr Cooper added: “He is quietly successful. He clearly works hard and is very deserving of success.”

Source

[rimouskis]

Hi this is a manifesto about a band, their albums, and what love can mean in music. It's long. You have been warned!

X Ambassadors' new album Townie is such a delightful, welcome return to form for them as a band. Prior to Townie, their album The Beautiful Liar didn't land with me and sounded like a departure from their raw sound -- it was overproduced and packed full of sounds and beats and instrumentals that didn't sound like the organic band I knew and liked.

But it wasn't until I heard Townie that I realized it wasn't just the sonic experience I was missing... it was the lyrical throughlines of the rest of X Ambassadors' work, which were totally absent in The Beautiful Liar and come ROARING BACK in Townie.

Since their 2013 and 2015 EPs Love Songs Drug Songs and The Reason and first album VHS, X Ambassadors' story as a band has been about hometowns and what it means to outgrow them, leave them, hate them, and miss them. From the sound of a car turn signal in "Giants" (which laments the last of the hometown heroes) to the lyrics I hope we stay / thick as thieves / butter and bread / pillars of colonial homes in "Unconsolable", they were firmly situated in their suburban listlessness.

They integrated a literal Y2K time capsule into VHS, an album named for millennial childhood nostalgia. They begged for success and a way to escape where they grew up (boring, small, conventional) and they got it by the time they released Orion on 2019, which wrestles with them growing up and settling into adult problems but their home is still buried in the heart of them. I maintain that "WASTELAND" is their best song of all time because of how it captures the way their hometown has their hooks in them, and how they seek comfort in its hollowness. Like...

It's an acknowledgement that even after two EPs and an album about wanting to escape where you're from, you will always, forever be from there, and sometimes that's where you belong, even at your lowest.

The Beautiful Liar in 2021 was X Ambassadors' attempt at a concept album, and while I appreciate them having a vision and going for it, I simply don't think they're good at telling stories about fictional worlds and people. Even when they draw inspiration from their own lives (like the story of the blind girl), it isn't THEIR story, and their story is what makes them sound like X Ambassadors.

Townie is, as its name implies, is an unfiltered, echo-y, lament of failing and going back home. The production sometimes makes it sound like it was recorded in a garage, with ugly reverb and warbling sound levels. If VHS is the story of a hometown garage band trying to make it, Townie IS the album that band puts out. It's a distillation of the band's identity into sound. It IS them.

The lyrics of Townie are heartbreaking. They're about a 30something looking into the mirror and seeing his teenage self again. "Women's Jeans" aches about losing yourself. "Start a Band" is reaching a hand out and inviting your teenage self to do the thing that will save you: music. There's so much tenderness for oneself in the album, seeing the child within and wanting to save them, both back then and now. "Your Town" is a demand to remember your hometown, while "Sunoco" is that same teenage boy saying he's going to die in this town, and this godforsaken town will be what kills him (from "Smoke on the Highway"):

I hope I've made my case. The album bleeds this band's blood. It's perfect.

And, additionally, it unlocked something I've always been fussing at with this band but never really put words to until now: this band is about their hometown, but they're also about two brothers loving each other.

For context, the band's lead singer is Sam, and the keyboardist is his brother Casey, who has been blind since birth. Brotherhood and blindness have always been mainstays in their music, from the obviously titled "Brother," which references a lack of sight...

...to "Unconsolable" with its cane and hoping to stay thick as thieves, as the columns holding a house up...

...through the use of braille when talking about their album ORION, chiefly it's song "HOLD YOU DOWN," which remains one of my favorite love songs of all time:

[a tweet which translates directly to "i’ll hold y d{n”]

I've always understood the song to be a proclamation from Sam to Casey (the braille, the "holding" [he walks Casey onstage at their shows], the lights "going out," the "faceless" crowd, the fact that the music video for this song is just Sam and Casey on a piano as old home videos of their childhood play). But it wasn't until I listened to "Follow the Sound of My Voice" on Townie that I realized what makes this band X Ambassadors is the love songs on every album from Sam to Casey.

Forgive me for pasting half the lyrics here, but you NEED to see them:

It's a love song.

This is a love song from a brother to another. So many of their songs are purely love songs from Sam to Casey. It's beautiful. It's why their hometown matters. It's where they're from, where they grew up, what made them.

As someone with siblings, their stories hit me in a critical space that isn't touched upon by a lot of other music. Love songs aren't just about lovers. They're about the people you need, and sometimes, if you get lucky, that's your family.

Anyways, this is to say that you should give Townie a listen. I think you should start with this song, but really just start anywhere. Listen. Be held.

[lizardrosen]

inspired by @cleverclove 's multiverse of laerteses, here's mine, with relevant playlists by myself and the incomparable kylee @all-mimsy !

default laertes: when i don't have a specific production/verse in mind. unless stated otherwise, laertes is assumed to have dated or hooked up with hamlet at some point. this laertes wears his heart on his sleeve and lives his best life in france, fencing and smoking and going to protests. and then his life falls apart and he's an unstoppable force of nature, but he can be redirected. it's absolutely essential that he dies asking for forgiveness and not saying "the king's to blame". General Laertes: Youth To Itself Rebels (kylee)

luke thompson laertes: from the 2017 andrew scott hamlet, he's the brightest cutest ball of sunshine, and he scrunches up his eyes when he's embarrassed. gertrude was like a second mother to him and really helped him cope with his anger and grief when his own mother died. he and hamlet broke up because they each assumed that’s what the other one wanted. currently dating reynaldo but only when they're in france and they don't call it dating because they're both ridiculous. when he comes back to denmark his whole body trembles and he So Clearly wants to be doing anything else, so he shuts his eyes because it's all too painful. Reynaldo: By Indirections Find Directions Out (kylee) Laertes/Rey: Let Him Ply His Music (me)

edward bennett laertes: from the 2009 david tennant hamlet, he looks a little scowly and imposing but he’s really just a shy nerd goofball under the surface, and is absolutely terrible at being clandestine when he doesn’t want to be spied on. this is also the verse where I get most of my osric headcanons and characterization, and both of them have had a thing with hamlet at various points in the past. best universe is when they somehow figure out how to be a proper triad with actual communication skills. when he comes back to denmark he’s so cold and determined, but he’s also an open wound and claudius is completely willing to throw him under the bus. Osric: Bubbles Are Out (me) Hamlet/Osric breakup: All's Golden Words (kylee)

blc laertes: from the 2013 bethany lutheran college production, which also has my absolute favorite claudius (this is important). laertes starts out very soft and earnest, wearing soft nerd sweaters. when his father dies he has a total glow up and comes raging into the castle with a very hot determination. the chemistry between him and claudius is electric and claudius offers to sleep with him just to help him unwind and get out of his head for a bit, and later trusts him enough to tell him he killed his abusive brother. they both have way more feelings than they’re willing to admit, and after ophelia dies things get messy and sad. he says “the king’s to blame” hoping that claudius will run and save himself, but knowing that he won’t. your honor, I love them. Claudius: Bosom Black As Death (me) Gertrude: Imperial Jointress; Sometime Sister; Wretched Queen (me) Claudius/Gertrude: Delight & Dole (kylee) Fic Series: Put Me In Your Heart For Friend (me and kylee)

more specific AUs and canon divergences under the cut!

d&d au: an offshoot of bethany lutheran college, in which everyone multiclasses, and hamlet is the warlock of the Forbidden Graveyard which messes with the dead of all denmark. laertes makes his paladin oath identifying hamlet as his greatest foe and actually Kills Him Dead in the duel. he and gertrude both get poisoned but claudius doesn’t and stays by their bedsides healing them. meanwhile horatio has gone to wittenberg to resurrect hamlet, which messes with laertes’s paladin powers. he and claudius spend the first half of the campaign hunting hamlet down and fighting him, and the second half reconciled with him and fighting the far greater evils in the land. everyone gets to have a long domestic life, with claudius/laertes/gertrude all married and in love, and they have dogs and gardens and children!! D&D verse: When Churchyards Yawn (kylee) Claudius/Laertes: My Acquaintance Seal (me)

indirections verse: offshoot of luke thompson in which hamlet never returns to denmark. laertes is deeply, catatonicly depressed because he’s been robbed of his chance for vengeance and his whole family is dead. laertes believes he’s a poison who destroys the lives of everyone around him and tries to push rey away “for his own good” and says some incredibly cruel things but reynaldo is endlessly kind and patient with him and makes sure he stays alive — he finds the poison that laertes brought to kill claudius, and quietly gets rid of it so he won’t do anything stupid. it gets very dark and cuts very close to the bone, but eventually laertes starts to crawl out of the hole he’s in and relearns how to love himself and how to love reynaldo, and he proposes to him in a park! Playlist: Both Worlds To Negligence (me)

to this point I stand: offshoot of edward bennett in which hamlet never returns to denmark. if indirections is a slow drowning, then to this point is a flash flood. laertes throws himself into every bad decision he can find just so he won’t have to stay still or think about anything he’s lost. this laertes doesn’t think he’s a poison, he thinks the world is a poison and it’s taking things away from him to punish him specifically, but the truth is that he’s doing a lot of this to himself. osric provides him a temporary escape from the world, and finally challenges laertes to get it together. this laertes is also deeply depressed, but it doesn’t look like depression in the overwhelmingly apparent way luke thompson is depressed, but because he’s such an active disaster zone things escalate very fast and the catalyst to start recovery happens relatively sooner. Playlist: To This Point I Stand (me)

orphic journey au: offshoot of luke thompson in which reynaldo travels to the underworld and makes a deal to save laertes, and oops the terms of the deal mean laertes is in a three year long timeloop and isn’t allowed to talk about it to anyone! so he gets to try to fix things but he also has to experience many variations of the Tragedy of Hamlet. I’m keeping the details of this one very secret for now! Playlist: Orphic Journey AU (me)

roger guenveur smith laertes: from the 2000 campbell scott hamlet, he and his family are the only black characters in an elsinore that’s aggressively appearance-focused, with manners being everything. his father’s drilled into his head that he has to work twice as hard to get half as much and can’t afford to make any mistakes, so he’s incredibly restrained in a way that looks like he doesn’t have strong emotions, but he’s really just tamping them all down. I don’t really write or talk about this one that often but he’s very distinct from any other laertes so he deserves a mention. he and hamlet likely didn’t hook up but did share some reserved but intense kisses.

[mariacallous]

Americans bought an estimated 150m guns in the past decade, as a drumbeat of mass shootings and other violence has convinced more people that owning a gun for self-defense will make them safer.

In a country where the leading cause of gun death is gun suicide, public health experts say a growth in gun ownership is likely to lead to more deaths.

In the 10 years since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, the US gun safety movement has gained some political power, while the National Rifle Association has been weakened by internal disputes and legal battles. At the same time, overall gun ownership in the US appears to have grown.

People who choose to own guns are still a minority of the US population, with about a third of Americans saying they personally own a gun, and fewer than half saying they live in a house with a gun, according to survey estimates.

But the total number of American gun owners appears to have risen in recent years. One large survey conducted by Harvard and Northeastern University researchers estimates that the number of American gun owners rose by 20 million since 2015, from an estimated 55 million to 75 million people.

The number of Americans who choose to carry guns in public also appears to be rising, with 16 million people saying in 2019 that they carried a handgun at least once a month, and 6 million saying they did so daily, according to a new research study. That’s roughly double the number who said they regularly carried handguns in public in 2015.

Surveys over the past few decades show that an increasing proportion of Americans say they own a gun for self-defense, not hunting or recreation, said Deborah Azrael, a Harvard firearms researcher. In 2021, Gallup found, 88% percent of gun owners cited “crime protection” as their reason for owning a firearm.

Americans’ perception of the risk of crime and violence has often not lined up with reality: Gallup also found that, for nearly three decades, large majorities of Americans said almost every year that crime had risen nationally since the year before, even in the years when it was falling sharply. In 2013, Pew found that the majority of the public was simply unaware that the country’s gun homicide rate had fallen nearly 50% since 1993.

In the past three years, the coronavirus pandemic, nationwide protests against police violence and the insurrection at the US capitol supercharged US gun sales, with an estimated 5 million Americans becoming gun owners in 2020 and 2021, researchers found.

The top reasons for buying a gun early in the pandemic, according to a survey of California residents, were concerns about lawlessness, concerns about people being released from prison, the “government going too far,” and “government collapse.”

“When social problems happen, guns are one of the tools at the disposal of Americans”, and for many Americans, they are “a familiar tool”, Jennifer Carlson, a sociologist who studies US firearms culture, told the Guardian in an early 2020 interview, as gun sales surged. “If there’s a run on toilet paper, what’s going to be next? It’s just the prudent thing to get a gun.”

The majority of US gun owners are still white men, and the largest proportion live in the South, according to survey data. But research studies and gun industry sources agree that the demographics of gun ownership is shifting, with women estimated to make up half of new gun purchasers since 2019, and people of color making up nearly half, according to one major survey. Between 2019 and 2021, an estimated 5% of Black adults in the United States bought a gun for the first time.

Because of the political influence of gun rights advocates, there is no official government data on how many Americans own guns, or even exactly how many guns there are in civilian hands. Estimates range from 345m to 393m to more than 420m, according to the firearm industry trade group’s most recent data.

While there’s lots of interest in the eye-popping total number of guns in the US, “what matters is how these guns are distributed across people and households”, said Matthew Miller, a Northeastern University professor who specializes in firearm research, and what that distribution means for their increased risk of gun suicide, homicide or accidental injury.

His 2021 study found that a surge of gun buying before and during the pandemic meant that an additional 5 million US children now live in households with guns.

The best proxy for US gun sales over time is examining the number of federal criminal background checks conducted on gun sales by licensed firearms dealers. (In many states, individuals can sell guns to each other without any background check.)

Two widely cited estimates, both based on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ background check statistics, put the number of gun sales in the US since January 2013 at around 150m, though that figure is likely an undercount.

Because Americans can buy multiple firearms at one time with a single background check, and because some states also allow people with a concealed weapons license to buy guns without background checks, the actual number of gun sales in the past decade is almost certainly higher than 150m, said Mark Oliva of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group that estimates there were at least 152m guns sales since January 2013.

At the same time, the number of background checks over the past decade will also include some double-counting of the same guns re-sold between people, said Jurgen Brauer, the co-founder of Small Arms Analytics, a firearms data company. Brauer estimates that, by the end of December, the total number of US gun sales in the past decade will reach nearly 164m.

Gun deaths have been rising in recent years, with a stark 35% increase in the nation’s firearm homicide rate in 2020, but a study that examined the pandemic surge in gun sales and increase in gun murders at the state level found no evidence of a clear association.

There were nearly 21,000 firearm homicides and more than 26,000 firearm suicides across the US in 2021, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).