#c: peter shaw

[ddf-deepcuts]

[lichtecht]

#Bob is used to it #Justus still gets flustered every time #Jeffrey flirts back. hard. #Kelly does it back to him even after they break up #when he accidentally almost did it to Jelena she punched him in his dick

@icarusinthelabyrinth

Peter Shaw is the type of guy to (platonically) kiss all his friends

[bigmack2go]

Projecting onto my second favourite characters bc i dont wanna hurt my favourites like my life depends on it.

[lgbtqreads]

Reader's Guide: World AIDS Day 2023

Young Adult Another Dimension of Us by Mike Albo In 1986, Tommy Gaye is in love with his best friend, budding teen poet Renaldo Calabasas. But at the height of the AIDS crisis and amidst the homophobia running rampant across America, Tommy can never share his feelings. Then, one terrible night, Renaldo is struck by lightning. And he emerges from the storm a very different boy. In 2044, Heron High…

[demospectator]

The then newly-restored plaque in St. Mary’s Square honoring the “Americans of Chinese Ancestry” who gave their lives for America in its world wars, November 10, 2018. Photograph by Doug Chan.

The Last Full Measure: St. Mary’s Square Monument to the Fallen of Chinese America

In his book San Francisco Chinatown: A Guide to its History & Architecture, historian Philip P. Choy, shared his observations about the monuments in St. Mary’s Square as follows:

“Across from the statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen is a less imposing but more significant monument, with 97 names of Chinese American soldiers of our community, who made the supreme sacrifice in World War I and II. Every year on Veterans Day, the Cathay Post No. 384 and the VFW Chinatown Post march to the square to honor those who died for us, that they never be forgotten. This commemorative plaque and day of remembrance are more symbolic of Chinese America than Sun Yat-sen’s statue and the “Ten Ten” celebration.”

During the Second World War, thousands of young men and women enlisted or were drafted from Chinatowns, Japantowns (and concentration camps), Manilatowns, and other small communities across the country.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and researchers at the Oakland Museum, 13,499 Chinese American men fought in the armed forces. (Community estimates range as high as 20,000.) Approximately 75 percent served in the US Army, with ground units such as the 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions in Europe and the 6th, 32nd and 77th Infantry Divisions in the Pacific. A quarter of the total Chinese American personnel under arms served in the Navy. Still others served in specialized units, such as the all-Chinese American 1157th Signal Corps -- part of 14th Air Service Group that would join the fight against Imperial Japan in the China Burma India theatre of operations.

Group of Chinese recruits for the U. S. Navy taking their oath on top of a captured Japanese submarine, on Navy Day in San Francisco Chinatown, October 27, 1942. Associated Press photographer unknown (from the collection of the San Francisco Public Library). As written on the verso: ""A two-man Jap submarine, captured after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, T.H. [Territory of Hawaii], began its nation-wide tour in San Francisco Oct. 27. In Chinatown, Chinese recruits for the U.S. Navy lined up on the vessel and took their oath. It was part of Navy Day ceremonies."

The Chinese American men who served in the armed forces during WW II comprised 20 percent of all such men in the continental U.S. As historian Iris Chang would write decades later, “ethnic Chinese men gave their lives disproportionate to their presence in the country.”

As in many cities, the public spaces in San Francisco had included memorials to the fallen in America’s wars. On Memorial Day on May 30, 1919, city officials and thousands of spectators dedicated a 15-acre plot as the “Grove of Heroes,” in remembrance of the US dead and wounded in the First World War. In 1930, a sculpture originally created by M. Earl Cummings for the Pan Pacific International Exposition was acquired and installed in the meadow adjacent to the grove. The bronze figure holding a laurel wreath became known as the “Doughboy Statue,” and it is readily noticeable from the park’s John F. Kennedy drive and promenade. On Armistice Day (now known as Veterans Day), November 13, 1932, public officials assembled again to dedicate an 18-ton granite boulder (reportedly quarried from Twin Peaks) to commemorate US war dead. The monument, which was sponsored by the Native Sons of the Golden West, was inscribed with the names of 748 men and 13 women, all local soldiers and volunteers who died during the Great War.

The Doughboy Statue in the “Grove of Heroes” in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The plaque, sponsored by the Native Sons of the Golden West and inscribed with the names of US dead in two world wars, omits the names of non-white military personnel killed in the line of duty.

Although Chinese Americans had served and died in WW I, no Chinese names had ever been inscribed in any of San Francisco’s war memorial monuments from that era. Their omission was hardly surprising. The Native Sons of the Golden West had been founded in July 1875 as a fraternal organization "embracing only the sons of those sturdy pioneers who arrived on this coast prior to the admission of California as a state." In the 1920s, the Native Sons adopted a white nativist stance on public policy issues. President William P. Canbu of the Native Sons wrote that “California was given by God to a white people, and with God’s strength we want to keep it as He gave it to us.” The Native Sons openly opposed Chinese, Mexican, and Japanese immigration. At the outset of the Second World War, the organization waged an unsuccessful legal battle for Japanese Americans to be disenfranchised.

The size of the returning cohort of Chinese American men (and the few women) from the Second World War had been unprecedented, and they produced a transformative generation of determined civic activists in the postwar era. As was the case with many other communities of color in the country, Chinese Americans had to struggle for acceptance and civil rights. Community activists such as John C. Young, a retired colonel from the United States Army and World War II veteran, made it their mission to join the struggle for Chinese Americans’ civil rights and participation in mainstream society. Young’s family led that effort by example as one of the first Chinese families to buy a home in defiance of racially-restrictive covenants against homeownership in San Francisco’s Richmond District (See the story here: https://www.outsidelands.org/chinese-in-the-richmond-alfred-john-young-and-connie-young-yu.php)

Left to right: Janey Young Cheu, Connie Young Yu, Mary Lee Young, Lt. Col. John C. Young, and Alfred John Young in the Young family house at 674 37th Avenue, circa 1952. (Courtesy of Al Young)

With the onset of the Cold War and actual armed conflict on the Korean peninsula, Chinese American leaders sensed that the path toward progress and acceptance of Chinese Americans had been jeopardized by the People’s Republic of China’s deploying troops to support North Korea’s military against UN forces.

As a commander of the American Legion Post #384 (Cathay Post), John Young and his fellow veterans spearheaded a proposal to erect a war memorial to the fallen Chinese American Veterans of World War I and World War II.

In 1951, the same year in which the Native Sons added the names of 16 white members who had died in World War II to the plaque on the rock pedestal of the Doughboy Statue, Chinese American veterans’ proposal to honor their fallen comrades in Chinatown gained acceptance.

Members of the VFW Chinatown post and Cathay Post no. 384 of the American Legion huddle and review conceptual drawings for a St. Mary’s Square monument with San Francisco Mayor Elmer Robinson in the Mayor’s office in City Hall, c. 1951. Standing (left to right): Lim P. Lee, Peter H. Wong (unidentified veteran), Shaw Pange, Charles Leong, and Joseph Quan. Sitting: John C. Young, Mayor Elmer Robinson, and James Hall. Photographer unknown (from the collection of the late Col. John C. Young and his daughter Connie Young Yu).

Before 1951, a large and dramatic stainless steel statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, designed local sculptor Benny Bufano, represented the principal statuary in St. Mary's Square.

St. Mary's Square Nov 12, 1943. In this view of St. Mary's Square, looking north toward Old St. Mary's Church, members of San Francisco’s Chinese community bow before the statue of Sun Yat Sen on the occasion of Dr. Sun’s birthday. Among those attending the ceremony was Tse Kiong Sun, grandson of Sun Yat Sen. Photographer unknown (Courtesy of a private collector).

According to historian Phil Choy, the statue had been commissioned by the Chinese Six Companies to commemorate October 10, 1911, the day Dr. Sun's revolutionary party overthrew the Manchu government and established the Republic of China. As Choy wrote in 2012:

“For almost a century, October 10th, known by the Chinese as “Ten Ten,” was a major day of celebration in the community. Banners stretched across Grant Avenue. Organized by the Chinese Six Companies, drum & bugle corps and pupils from every Chinese language school dutifully paraded through the streets. Today the celebration no longer has 100% community support. Members of the Chinese Six Companies are divided; some still embrace the Kuomintang (KMT) Party of the former Republic of China (now the Taiwanese Government), while others support the People’s Republic of China.”

The efforts by the Chinese community’s veterans and supporters to honor the fallen of two world wars culminated in 1951 with the installation of the memorial plaque still seen today in St. Mary's Square. (A recounting of the memorial's dedication and other recollections by the daughter of one of the leaders in the effort to establish the monument, historian Connie Young Yu, may be heard here. (https://chiamgi.substack.com/p/col-john-c-young-profile?triedRedirect=true)

“Soldiers firing salute at dedication of memorial to deceased Chinese-American veterans at St. Mary's Square,” May 28, 1951. Mayor Elmer Robinson stands at center in dark suit. Photographer Unknown (Examiner Negative Collection / courtesy of a private collector)

A large crowd attended the dedication ceremonies for the Chinese veterans memorial at St Mary’s Square on May 28, 1951. An Army band is seated with musical instruments, and members of the Chinatown Boy Scouts troop appear in the right foreground. Photographer unknown (form a private collection).

Civic leader and president of the Wing Nien Soy Sauce Co. Col. John C. Young (ret.) speaks to the crowd assembled on May 28, 1951, for the dedication of the memorial to Chinese American service personnel killed during the First and Second World Wars. His speech to the crowd occurred in the presence of his former commanding officer, General Albert Wedemeyer, under whom Young served as a heavy weapons officer in the China-Burma-India theater of operations.

If the irony of Chinese Americans' entering the US armed forces during wartime was apparent, it was never expressed publicly by those who had served honorably. Native-born, as well immigrants ineligible to naturalize as citizens by punitive immigration laws, had answered the call to service for an America that had, for most of the previous century, robbed, murdered, burned, lynched, taxed, and excluded the pioneer generations, while building much of the political economy of the American West on the strength of Asian labor.

Veterans from Chinatown's American Legion Cathay Post 384 and VFW Chinatown Post 4618 assembled on Memorial Day 2016 in front of the WW I and II memorial plaque in St. Mary’s Square to commemorate the Chinese American fallen in all the nation’s conflicts and wars. Photograph by Doug Chan.

The numbers of Chinese Americans KIA and MIA from the world wars remain imprecise. The honored dead, including Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Francis B. Wai are, and will be, remembered in perpetuity for their extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty. For others, such as Lt. Kenneth Kai-Kee, the memories, grief and loss of those he left behind have already faded with the passing of family, friends, and loved ones.

The passage of time confers on community historians the duty to impart to each new generation the mission to remember the wartime sacrifices of Chinese America's sons and daughters. The debt to those who gave the last full measure of devotion must be honored in perpetuity.

Photograph by Doug Chan.

[bigmack2go]

Oooh ok lets see

5 Favourite Characters Poll (Tag Game)

I was tag by: @star-mum

Rules: make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite.

Thanks you so much for the tag

Tags <3: @meeks-beas @practically-an-x-man @outer-space-face @trashworldblog @mydearlybeloathed

[theantonian]

The Antonian Reading List

Mark Antony: A Life by Patricia Southern (Highly recommended!)

Mark Antony: A Biography by Eleanor Goltz Huzar (Highly recommended!)

The Life and Times of Marc Antony by Arthur Weigall (Recommended)

Marc Antony: His Life and Times by Allan Roberts (Recommended)

Marc Antony by Mary Kittredge

Antony & Cleopatra by Patricia Southern

Antony & Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy (By far the most negative book on Antony by a modern historian, the Cleopatra portion is better)

Mark Antony: A Plain Blunt Man by Paolo de Ruggiero (Recommended)

Mark Antony and Popular Culture: Masculinity and the Construction of an Icon by Rachael Kelly

Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor by Stephen Dando-Collins

A Noble Ruin: Mark Antony, Civil War and the Collapse of the Roman Republic by W. Jeffrey Tatum (Highly recommend!)

Mark Antony & Cleopatra: Cleopatra's Proxy War to Conquer Rome & Restore the Empire of the Greeks by Martin Armstrong

Actium and Augustus: The Politics and Emotions of Civil War by Robert Alan Gurval

The Roman Revolution by Ronald Syme (Recommended)

Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra by W. W. Tarn

Fulvia: Playing for Power at the End of the Roman Republic by Celia E. Schultz

Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt by Joyce Tyldesley (Highly Recommended!)

Cleopatra by Michael Grant (Highly Recommanded!)

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (Highly Recommended!)

Cleopatra - A Biography by D. Roller

Cleopatra and Antony by Diana Preston

Cleopatra by Alberto Angela (Recommended)

Cleopatra by Jacob Abbott

Cleopatra the Great by Joann Fletcher

Cleopatra and Egypt by Sally-Ann Ashton

Cleopatra and Rome by Diana E. E. Kleiner

Cleopatra Her History Her Myth by Francine Prose

Cleopatra Histories, Dreams, and Distortions by Lucy Hughes Hallett (Recommended)

Cleopatra’s Daughter Egyptian Princess by Jane Draycott

The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard (Good for beginners)

The Last Assassin: The Hunt for the Killers of Julius Caesar by Peter Stothard

Robicon by Tom Holland

Alesia 52 BC: The final struggle for Gaul (Campaign) by Nic Fields

Actium 31 BC: Downfall of Antony and Cleopatra (Campaign) by Si Sheppard

Pharsalus 48 BC: Caesar and Pompey – Clash of the Titans (Campaign) by Si Sheppard

Philippi 42 BC: The death of the Roman Republic (Campaign) by Si Sheppard

Mutina 43 BC: Mark Antony's struggle for survival (Campaign) by Nic Fields

The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry Strauss

The Battle of Actium 31 BC: War for the World by Lee Fratantuono

Rome and Parthia: Empires at War: Ventidius, Antony and the Second Romano-Parthian War, 40–20 BC by Gareth C Sampson

Rivalling Rome: Parthian Coins and Culture by Vesta Curtis

Classical sources:

Plutarch’s Lives

Cicero: Philippics, Ad Brutum, Ad Familiares

Appian, The Civil Wars

Dio Cassius, The Roman History

Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars

Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War

Livy, The Early History of Rome

Tacitus, Annals and Histories

Friction:

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra by Willian Shakespeare

All For Love or The World Well Lost by John Dryden

The Siren and the Roman – A Tragedy by Lucyl

Caesar and Cleopatra by George Berbard Shaw

Cleopatra (play) by Sardou

Antony by Allan Massie

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

I, Cleopatra by William Bostock

Cleopatra by H. Rider Haggard

Cleopatra by Georg Ebers

Kleopatra (Vol I & II) by Karen Essex

Last Days with Cleopatra by Jack Lindsay

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

When We Were Gods by Colin Falconer

The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough

Caesar's Soldier: Mark Antony Book I by Alex Gough (Ongoing series)

The Antonius Trilogy by Brook Allen

The Last Pharaoh series by Jay Penner

Throne of Isis by Juith Tarr

Hand of Isis by Jo Graham

Woman of Egypt by Kevin Methews

The Ides of Blood 01-06 (Comics)

Terror - Antonius En Cleopatra (Erotic yet pure love, Dutch comics)

Cleopatra - Geschiedenisstrip (Dutch comics)

Les Grands Personnages de l Histoire en Bandes Dessinees – Marc Antonie (French comics)

Les Grands Personnages de l Histoire en Bandes Dessinees – Cleopatre (French comics)

Les Grands Personnages de l Histoire en Bandes Dessinees – Julius Caesar (French comics)

Cléopâtre (French Manga)

 Ils Ont Fait L'histoire - Cléopâtre (French Graphic Novel)

[hpowellsmith]

my brother in law and i have made our ways through all of your available cog stories (you have become a household name); i wanted to ask if there are any choice of games or other interactive fiction you recommend? i saw you answered in 2020, but wanted to see if there's any more on your radar since then!

I have a bunch of links and recommendations over here including my top ChoiceScript games ever. And I am here to recommend lots more!

Please note that I have the time and energy to play very few games and a vanishingly small number of WIPs. This only a tiny snapshot of the amazing interactive fiction out there. Do check out IFDB, sub-Q, the IF Comp and Spring Thing archives, the Narrascope and AdventureX speakers and exhibitors, and the interactive fiction tag on itch.io.

More below because there are A LOT:

Here is a big bunch of ChoiceScript games that I had a great time with!

Choice of Broadsides by Adam Strong-Morse, Heather Albano, and Dan Fabulich

Choice of Romance by Heather Albano and Adam Strong-Morse (note that it is not romantic and is not a dating sim!)

A Crown of Sorcery and Steel by Joshua LaBelle

Blood Moon by @barbwritesstuff

Deathless: the City's Thirst by Max Gladstone

The Dragon and the Djinn by @atharfi

The Eagle's Heir by Jo Graham and Amy Griswold

Fine Felines by Felicity Banks

Hollywood Visionary by Aaron Reed

Nikola Tesla: War of the Currents by Dora Klindžić

An Odyssey: Shadows of War by Natalia Theodoridou

The Play's the Thing by Jo Graham and Amy Griswold

Rent-a-Vice by Natalia Theodoridou

Siege of Treboulain by Jed Herne

Stronghold by Jo Graham and Amy Griswold

Their Majesties' Pleasure by Leia Talon

Thieves Gambit: Curse of the Black Cat by Dana Duffield

Tower Behind the Moon by Kyle Marquis

Turncoat Chronicle by @zincalloygames

Weyrwood by Isabella Shaw

Visual novels:

Analogue: A Hate Story by Christine Love

Dream Daddy by Game Grumps (writers: Vernon Shaw and Leighton Gray)

EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER by Heather Flowers

Ladykiller in a Bind by Christine Love

Other IF-adjacent games with visuals that I have loved:

80 Days by inkle (writers: Jon Ingold and Meghna Jayanth)

Fallen London by Failbetter Games

Overboard! by inkle (writer: Jon Ingold)

Over the Alps by Stave Studios

Twines:

There are so many more that I've enjoyed but these were what popped into my head right now - this is one where it's essential to check out itch.io:

Anything by porpentine charity heartscape especially With Those We Love Alive and Vesp

16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds by Abigail Corfman

Cactus Blue Motel by Astrid Dalmady

Detritus by Maz Hamilton (published as Mary Hamilton)

Faith by @kithj

Invasion by Cat Manning

Human Errors by Katherine Morayati

If I Die, Consume Me by @fiddles-ifs

Mama Possum by Kevin Snow

Nine Months Out by @nellplays

Salvage by @atharfi

Tangaroa Deep by Astrid Dalmady

To Spring Open by Yoon Ha Lee and Peter Berman (as Two-Bit Chip)

Parser games:

The Boot-Scraper by Caleb Wilson

The Compass Rose by Yoon Ha Lee (note that I didn't finish this one because I am bad at puzzles)

Galatea by Emily Short

Gun Mute by C. E. J. Pacian (as above)

Laid Off From The Synesthesia Factory by Katherine Morayati

Lime Ergot by Caleb Wilson

Midnight. Swordfight. by Chandler Groover

Take by Katherine Morayati

Games made with other tools:

Cape by Bruno Dias (Raconteur)

Honeysuckle by Cat Manning (Texture)

Prospero by Bruno Dias (Raconteur)

I play such a vanishingly small number of WIPs that it's ridiculous but I did really enjoy what I played of these two and am looking forward to more:

Body Count (@bodycountgame) by @nellplays (Twine)

Chop Shop by Becky @losergames (Twine)

Fervency (@fervency-if ) by Niko Charos (ChoiceScript)

[skyetenshi]

Ich glaub, das hier ist Teil 7, der längste, der noch nicht mal vollständig ist? Lets go?

Oh und... 👉Teil 6

15:17 Uhr, Großraumbüro, Polizeirevier, Rocky Beach

Gerade dachte Smyth mal die Ruhe genießen zu können, während man Shaw mit anderen Aufgaben betraut hatte, da kam jemand Bekanntes zur Tür des Reviers rein: Skinner „Skinny“ Norris.

Er sah absolut unpassend in dieser Umgebung aus – zumindest ohne Handschellen und Polizeibegleitung. Ihm war das wohl auch bewusst, und er streckte trotzig das Kinn vor, während er betont lässig am Empfang lehnte. Die leise Frage der Kollegin konnte Smyth nicht hören, wohl aber die Antwort: „Ich will zum Supercop Shaw.“

Smyth, bereits dabei näher zu treten, hörte die Kollegin fragen: „Wie ist Ihr Name?“. Skinny zögerte merklich, schien dann aber zu denken, dass ihn schon genügend Polizisten kannten und das auch keinen Unterschied mehr machte: „Skinner Norris. Ist Shaw nicht da?“

„Worum geht es denn?“, fragte die Polizistin unbeirrbar.

„I c h m ö c h t e g e r n e m i t P e t e r S h a w s p r e c h e n.“, sagte Skinny langsam und deutlich, als hätte er es mit einem besonders begriffsstutzigen Kind zu tun. Smyth entschied sich dafür, sich selbst zu opfern: „Guten Tag, Mr Norris. Ich bin Officer Smyth. Viellicht erinnern Sie sich, dass ich dabei war als Officer Shaw Sie befragt hat.“

„Ja, ich weiß.“, sagte Skinny halbwegs höflich und scheinbar froh, dass jemand verstanden hatte, worum es ihm ging.

„Der Kollege Shaw hat gerade noch zu tun. Wenn Sie möchten können Sie gerne warten, oder ich kann Ihnen vielleicht helfen.“ Smyth ließ den abschätzenden Blick über sich ergehen. Schließlich seufzte Skinny: „Ich würde gerne warten.“

„Kommen Sie mit. Mr Norris.“, sagte Smyth. „Möchten Sie etwas trinken? Kaffee, Wasser?“

„Whisky habt ihr wohl nicht, was?“, fragte der junge Mann flappsig. Als aber keine Reaktion kam, sagte er: „Wasser bitte.“ Smyth lächelte leicht. So großmäulig er sich gab, so schnell verlor er den Wind aus den Segeln. Kaum hatte er das Glas Wasser und saß vor Shaws Schreibtisch erklang das ungleichmäßige Klicken, seiner Metallringe und schwarz lackierten Fingernägel gegen das Glas, als er nervös damit herum spielte.

„Wenn es etwas Dringendes ist, könnten Sie mich schon ins Bild setzten.“, bot Smyth an, hinterm eigenen Schreibtisch sitzend.

„Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob das was für die Polizei ist.“, gestand Skinny.

„Warum sind Sie dann hier?“, fragte Smyth direkt.

„Sie wissen doch wie Peter ist.“, sagte Skinny Augen rollend. „Kein Rätsel kann er ignorieren, keine Damsel in Distress, die er nicht retten will.“ Smyth war etwas überrascht von dieser Einschätzung. Vor allem weil Skinny Shaw sonst so kritisch gegenüberstand. Das mit den Rästeln war auch neu, nicht aber der offensichtliche Heldenkomplex, den hatte Smyth bereits oft genug in Aktion gesehen.

„Wer muss denn gerettet werden?“, fragte Smyth. Skinny verzog das Gesicht. „Ich weiß nicht mal, ob es so ist. Ich hab nur ein mieses Gefühl. Da ist dieses Mädel, sie ist 14 und eine Ausreißerin, wenn sich denn ihre Eltern scheren würden, wo sie ist.“

„Und was ist mit ihr?“, fragte Smyth.

„Verschwunden is sie.“, sagte Skinner. „Sonst ist sie immer zu uns gekommen, wenn was war. Anfang der Woche war sie mal wieder da. Stress mit den Alten dachte ich erst. Bis sie dann angefangen hat zu heulen und mir erzählt hat, dass sie schwanger is.“

„Von dir?“, fragte Smyth ernst nach.

„Sach mal hackts bei Ihnen? Ich hab doch schon gesagt, dass sie 14 ist.“, echauffierte sich Skinner. Fair enough, dachte sich Smyth. Aber Nachfragen musste trotzdem sein.

„Ziemlich jung für eine Schwangerschaft.“, meinte Smyth.

„Soll aber vorkommen.“, sagte Skinny düster. „Ihre Eltern könne sie das nicht sagen, die würden sie steinigen. Gläubige Menschen scheinbar. Oder einfach nur Arschlöcher...“

„Skinny, was machst du denn hier?", fragte Shaw plötzlich von der Seite. Smyth bemerkte, dass Skinny ordentlich zusammen gezuckt war, sich aber schnell wieder im Griff hatte. Er lümmelte in dem Stuhl und sah Shaw schief und trotzig an: „Hast doch gesagt, ich soll mich an dich wenden, wenn was ist.“

Shaw lächelte zustimmend und nickte: „Natürlich. Was ist los?“

Skinny seufzte und sagte dann schnell: „Hier die Kurzfassung: 14-jähriges Mädchen verschwunden, schwanger und ihre Eltern werden sich nicht darum scheren, wo sie ist. Nein, ich weiß nicht wer ihr Macker ist oder wie weit sie ist. Alle bekannten Freunde habe ich schon gefragt. Keine Spur. Nur ein ganz mieses Gefühl.“

Shaw setzte sich nachdenklich vor Skinny auf die Tischkante: „Warum hast du mich nicht angerufen, sondern bist direkt hier her gekommen?“

Skinny verzog das Gesicht: „Warum ist das wichtig? Mein Schrottteil von Handy ist mal wieder kaputt.“

Shaw lehnte sich vor und zog mit zwei Fingern den Kragen von Skinnys Lederjacke auf: „Und hat dein kaputtes Handy irgendwas mit dem Hämatom hier zu tun?" Smyth konnte überrascht einen Blick auf einen fast schwarzen Fleck auf Skinners Brust werden. Wie hatte Shaw das so schnell gesehen?

Skinny schlug Shaws Hand zur Seite: „Nein, das war mein Privatvergnügen.“

„Skinny.“, sagte Peter vorwurfsvoll. „Das sieht mir so aus, als hätte man dein Schlüsselbein angeknackst. Und das zu einer Zeit, in der du ratlos genug bist dich an mich zu wenden? Komm schon, Skinny, das kannst du doch besser.“ Shaw schien tatsächlich den richtigen Ton mit Skinner zu treffen, denn er knirschte mit den Zähnen: „Das Mädchen war bei uns in der Bauwagenkolonie. Eines Abends fangen die Hunde an zu kläffen und bevor wir wissen, was los ist, zerren irgendwelche dunklen Gestalten Nelly aus dem Bauwagen. Ich bin hinterher und habt mir eine gefangen.“

Peter nickte verstehend: „Hast du schon eine Ahnung, wer das war?"

„Ne, aber es war kein Teenie wie Nelly.", sagte Skinny düster. Auch Shaws Miene verdunkelte sich gleich: „Hat Nelly gesagt, dass etwa gegen ihren Willen geschah?“

„Nicht direkt. Sie wurde wohl gedrängt aber nicht gezwungen. Nicht dass das einen wirklichen Unterschied machen würde. Aber jetzt mit dem Baby, muss der baldige Vater wohl etwas unternehmen.“

„Glauben Sie, man wird ihr was an tun?“, fragte nun Smyth.

„Wer weiß. Wenn Nelly tot wär, kann man sie keine Aussage mehr machen, wobei dann wahrscheinlich immer noch DNA Spuren zu finden wären – solange es eine Leiche gibt. Wenn man sie hingegen dazu bringt das Kind zu verlieren und sie so sehr einschüchtert, dass sie nie wieder was sagt, wäre es für alle Beteiligten von Vorteil.“

„Außer für Nelly.“, merkte Shaw trocken an.

Skinny verzog unwillig den Mund: „Kannst du mir helfen?“

Shaw seufzte: „Ich schätze mal, du kommst zu mir, weil es keinen offiziellen Anlass gibt das Mädchen zu suchen.“

„Niemand außer mir und den Kids vermisst sie. Ihre Eltern wissen wahrscheinlich noch nicht mal, dass etwas passiert ist. Mir egal, ob du daraus eine offizielle Suche nach Nelly machen willst, oder deine beiden Schatten anrufst und ihr auf eigene Faust los zieht.“ Shaw nickte nachdenklich.

„Mir ist egal wer etwas unternimmt, ich weiß nur, dass Nellys Chancen um ein vielfaches besser stehen, je mehr Leute nach ihr suchen.“ Skinner hatte die Sache sich bereits gut überlegt. Und scheinbar gab es zwei Personen, die er zu Shaws engen Bekanntenkreis zählte und vielleicht auch helfen konnten.

„Da hast du recht.“, stimmte Peter zu. „Kennst du Nellys Nachnamen? Wenn nämlich nicht und du nur gesehen hast, wie ein Unbekannter ein junges Mädchen mit Gewalt entführt hat, dann ist das durchaus ein Grund Ermittlungen zu beginnen. Wir können ja ohne den Namen nicht einfach bei den Eltern nachfragen.“

Skinny zog die Augenbrauen hoch: „Ihr echter Name muss mir entfallen sein. Überhaupt nannte jeder sie nur bei ihrem Spitznamen Nelly.“

„Ich spreche mit Cotta.“, sagte Shaw. „Können Sie bitte die Aussage ins Protokoll aufnehmen?!“

„Ja klar.“, sagte Smyth bereitwillig. In diesem Fall hatte das entführte Mädchen eindeutig Vorrang. Und vielleicht verriet Skinner noch etwas mehr über die gemeinsame Vergangenheit.

„Alles noch mal von vorne erzählen?“, fragte Skinny ernüchtert nach.

„Jep.“, sagte Smyth. „Doch ein Kaffee?“

„Bitte.“, sagte Skinny.

„Möchten Sie auch eine Anzeige wegen dem Angriff stellen?“, fragte Smyth.

„Bringt ja nichts.“, murmelte Skinny.

Smyth rollte mit den Augen: „Wenn wir denjenigen finden, aber Nelly nicht aussagebereit ist, könnte es nützlich werden.“

„Fick mein Leben.“, murmelte Skinny besonders leise. „Ja gut ich möchte eine Anzeige aufgeben. Gegen unbekannt.“

Als Shaw wieder zu Ihnen stieß und erzählte, dass er bei Inspektor Cotta erreicht hatte eine umfassende Ermittlung zu beginnen, schien es für Smyth fast so, als wäre Skinny überrascht wie sehr man sich für Nelly ins Zeug legte. Oder das Shaw ihm tatsächlich half.

„Hallo Skinny.“, sagte Cotta, als er ebenfalls zu ihnen trat. Sogar der Inspektor schien Skinny von Früher zu kennen. Vermutlich aber nicht als Hilfesuchenden.

„Hallo, Inspector Cotta.“, sagte Skinny neutral.

„Wir müssen möglichst alle Kontakte von dem Mädchen haben.“, erklärte der Inspektor.

Skinny nickte und kramte in seiner Lederjacke. Er zog ein kleines Smartphone in einer golden glitzernden Hülle hervor. „Das ist im Bauwagen liegen geblieben. Ich kann es nicht entsperren, aber zu wem auch immer sie Kontakt hatte, sollte darin zu finden sein.“

„Das ist super.“, sagte Shaw. „Da haben wir eine gute Chance, Beweise zu finden.“

Skinny lächelte halbherzig: „Aber leider wird es uns nicht verraten wo sie ist.“

„Wir werden Sie finden.“, sagte Shaw aufmunternd und ganz und gar nicht dem folgend, was man in der Ausbildung lernte. Leere Versprechen zu machen konnte nämlich auch nach hinten losgehen. Skinny nickte verbissen.

Nachdem sie alles zu der Anzeige aufgenommen hatten und eine Durchsuchung der Daten auf dem Telefon angeordnet wurde, hatte sich Skinny verabschiedet in dem Versprechen Kontakte zu befragen, die für die Polizei zu lichtscheu waren. Shaw begleitete ihn noch zur Tür und kaum dass Skinny weg war tippte er eine Nachricht auf seinem Handy.

Smyth runzelte die Stirn. Einen Informanten vielleicht?

19:32 Uhr, vor dem Polizeirevier, Rocky Beach.

Bis zum Feierabend, dachte Smyth nicht mehr an all die ungeklärten Fragen um Shaw. Er machte seine Arbeit gewissenhaft und schnell wie immer und machte sich dann wie üblich Feierabend. Das einzige, das Smyth auffiel war, dass er vor dem Revier von Skinny erwartet wurde. Aber sie blieben nicht lange allein, denn ein weiterer junger Mann gestellte sich zu ihnen, der junge Mann von Schrottplatz. Just. Neffe von Titus Jonas.

Smyth hätte weitergehen sollen, nach Hause, ein Fertiggericht in die Mikrowelle schieben, einen alten Film streamen und gut wärs gewesen. Aber da stand das Rätsel in Form von einem Kollegen mit seinem mysteriösen Jugendfeind und einer weiteren Person, die Smyth soweit noch nicht einschätze konnte.

„Gibt es schon etwas Neues?“, fragte Smyth sich mental in den Arsch beißend.

Skinny rümpfte die Nase: „Nee. Nur ein Haufen Leute, die schwören, dass sie nichts wissen.“

„Wir sollten uns den Tatort ansehen.“, fragte der junge Mann namens Just.

„Da waren Kollegen schon“, sagte Shaw. „Aber wir können bestimmt einen zweiten Blick riskieren.“ Das sahen die Vorschriften bestimmt anders, andererseits war der Tatort, das Freeman-Gelände fast so etwas wie öffentlicher Raum.

„Wenn jemand noch eine Spur findet, dann die Superspürnasen:“, sagte Skinny ironisch. „Wo ist eigentlich mein alter Kumpel Stan Silver?“

„Arbeiten.“, sagte Just sehr kurz angebunden. „Aber er weiß auch Bescheid und hält die Augen auf.“ Smyth runzelte die Stirn. Wer zu Hölle war Stan Silver? Der Name war bisher noch nie vorgekommen im Zusammenhang mit Shaw. Vielleicht bestand der Zusammenhang auch nur zwischen Just und Skinny. Schwer zu sagen.

„Dann machen wir uns mal auf den Weg.“, sagte Shaw. Smyth fand sich selbst sagen: „Melden Sie sich, wenn sie was herausfinden:“ So viel zum wohl verdienten, ungestörten Feierband. Aber natürlich gingen verschwundene Kinder vor.

Smyth hörte am Abend aber nichts mehr von Shaw. Stunde um Stunde verstrichen, aber niemand meldete sich.

7:28 Uhr, Polizeipräsidium, Rocky Beach

Als Smyth am nächsten Tag zur Arbeit erschien, saß Shaw bereits über eine Akte gebeugt an seinem Platz. Seine Kaffeetasse war bereits wieder leer. Er war wohl schon länger hier. Frühaufsteher waren Smyth schon immer suspekt gewesen.

„Guten Morgen.“, sagte Smyth und warf einen Blick auf die Akte.

„Morgen.“, sagte Shaw kurzangebunden.

„Ist die Forensik schon fertig mit dem Handy?“, fragte Smyth überrascht.

„Nein. Ich habe einen Externen damit betraut, das Handy zu analysieren. Er ist wesentlich schneller. Mehrere Chats mit Schulfreunden und Internetbekanntschaften.“, erklärte Shaw.

„Keine Spur?“, hinterfragte Smyth. Shaw brummte: „Einer ist unter >Love< eingespeichert. Und die Chats lesen sich... naja sagen wir mal so etwas habe ich nicht mit 14 geschrieben, geschweige denn geschickt bekommen.“

Smyth hing die Uniformjacke über den Bürostuhl: „Was haben Sie dann mit 14 gemacht?“

„Hauptsächlich um mein Leben rennen und um Waffen kämpfen.“, sagte Shaw nebenbei in der Akte blätternd.

„Soll das eine Hunger-Games-Referenz sein?“

Shaw sah fragend auf: „Nein, wieso?“

„Äh schon gut.“ Smyth deutete auf die Akte. „Unanständige Texte?“

Shaw verzog das Gesicht: „Oh ja. Der Verfasser wollte Nelly immer wieder dazu drängen, sich heimlich mit ihm zu treffen. Keiner sollte davon wissen. Sie würden es nicht verstehen und nicht sehen wie reif Nelly doch schon ist. Alles Textbuch getreues Grooming. Liebesbekundungen und Geheimhaltungsschwüre. Nelly war aber nicht so auf den Kopf gefallen. Sie traf ihn nie allein, sondern hat sich nur an öffentlichen Orten mit ihm getroffen und klar gemacht, dass sie die Gespräche schätzt aber noch nicht bereit für Sex ist.“

„Das scheint sich ja geändert zu haben.“, bemerkte Smyth.

„Besser wäre es.“, sagte Shaw düster. „Wenn nicht... Die letzten Nachrichten lesen sich wie ein Thriller. Wo bist du? Warum meldest du dich nicht? Du bist nicht zu unserem Treffen erschienen. Betrügst du mich? Du warst nicht in der Schule, ich habe auf dich gewartet. Dann hat Nelly ihm geschrieben, dass sie schwanger ist und ab da wird es richtig krank. Lauter Anschuldigungen, dass sie nicht richtig verhütet hat. Und dann das Drängen zu einer Abtreibung.“

Smyth schluckte eine Welle von Übelkeit hinunter: „Wow, ich glaube, ich brauche keinen Kaffee mehr.“ Wenn Smyth das genauer betrachtete wirkte Shaw tatsächlich auch etwas blass: „Seien Sie froh nur die Zusammenfassung von mir bekommen zu haben. Es geht aber noch weiter. Nelly wollte nicht mitspielen und auch keine Abtreibung. Erst versucht der Typ sie zu überreden, dass sie noch zu jung sei und sich nicht mit einem Baby belasten wolle und als sie sich dann Nelly abmeldete mit der Nachricht, dass sie nachdenken müsse, gingen wüste Beschimpfungen und Bedrohungen los. Das Mädchen ist nicht zu Beneiden.“

Smyth sah sich die Protokolle des Chatverlaufs an. „Zeitlich kommt es ihn, dass sie nach ihrer Nachricht bald zu Skinner Norris gekommen ist.“

„Sogar ziemlich direkt, denn sie kommt eigentlich aus Santa Monica. Mit dem Bus oder oder Anhalter dauert es in etwa genau so lange wie sie gebracht hat, um bei Skinny aufzutauchen.“, sagte Shaw.

„Wissen Sie denn schon wer Nelly ist? Und ihre Eltern?“, fragte Smyth. Shaw sah mit einem unbewegten Blick auf: „Nein, sonst hätte ich die Eltern ja verständigen müssen. Ich weiß lediglich durch die Funkzellenabfrage, dass sie sich in den Wochen zu vor in Santa Monica aufgehalten hat. Bis ein genauer Name und ihre Familie gefunden wurde, wird es wohl noch etwas dauern.“

Smyth zog eine Augenbraue hoch. Shaw hatte keinen Tell, dass er log, außer dass er dermaßen gelangweilt aussah, als hätte er diese Frage schon tausendfach beantwortet.

„Glauben Sie, der Mann – der werdende Vater – kommt auch aus Santa Monica?“, fragte Smyth.

Shaw wog den Kopf hin und her: „Wahrscheinlich. Mein... externer Ermittler hat ein Täterprofil erstellt. Der Mann hat mehrfach versucht spontane Treffen einzuleiten, also weit können sie nicht von einander entfernt sein. Außerdem würde sie wohl kaum dort bleiben, wo sie ihm jederzeit über den Weg laufen könnte.“

Smyth warf einen Blick auf ein Handschriftlich verfasstes Täterprofil, das scheinbar mehrere Seiten umfasste mit Querverweisen zu den entsprechenden Chatstellen. Saubere Arbeit. „Dann sollten wir auch die Kollegen aus Santa Monica verständigen. Nicht, dass das Mädchen in seinem Keller sitzt und wir uns in Rocky Beach dumm und dämlich suchen.“, sagte Smyth.

„Das glaube ich nicht. Aus den Gesprächen geht hervor, dass er wohl noch bei seinem Eltern lebt und da wohl immer jemand Zuhause ist. Ein fremdes Mädchen würde denen wohl auffallen.“ Shaw rieb sich über die Augen. „Aber mit den Kollegen haben sie natürlich recht.“

„Dann schicke ich gleich ein Schreiben rüber.“, sagte Smyth. Wurde Zeit Shaw nicht alles alleine machen zu lassen.

„Skinny hat noch etwas gesagt, über dass ich nachdenke.“ Shaw lehnte sich in seinem Stuhl zurück: „Der Typ, der ihn angegriffen hat, war verdammt schnell und gut koordiniert. Und so wie Skinny Brust aussah, habe ich den Verdacht, dass er das professionell macht. Vielleicht ist es nur der Handlanger vom werdenden Vater, vielleicht der Vater selbst, aber vielleicht können wir die Suche damit eingrenzen.“

„Wie stellen Sie sich das vor?“, fragte Smyth ratlos. „Alle Männer, die irgendwann mal Kampfsport gemacht haben zu überprüfen. In Kalifornien?“

„Ein bisschen mehr haben wir schon. Es gibt verschiedene kleine Hinweise in den Chats. Der werdende Vater ist vorbestraft und geht nicht mehr zur Schule, scheint aber auch noch nicht zu Arbeiten. Selbst wenn der Kampfsporttyp nur ein Handlanger ist, ist er vermutlich im ähnlichen Alter.“, sagte Shaw. Smyth zeigte sich nicht beeindruckt: „Trotzdem ziemlich dürftig.“

Shaw runzelte unzufrieden die Stirn und griff nach seinem Handy. Während er jemanden anrief, stand er auf und ging in richtig Hinterausgang, wohin die meisten Raucher für die Zigarettenpause gingen. Smyth konnte gerade noch hören: „Hey Dritter, ich bräuchte deine Hilfe...“

War Shaw jetzt sauer? Oder hatte er irgendeinen Informanten? Aber welchen Informanten nannte man Dritter?

16:23 Uhr, am Rande des Einkaufsviertels, Rocky Beach.

Smyth starrte durch die Windschutzscheibe auf das Haus: „Okay, was machen wir hier?“

„Nachschauen, ob hier vielleicht Nelly ist.“, sagte Shaw.

„Wieso?“, fragte Smyth.

„Brauchen Sie jetzt nen Grund nach einem verschwunden Kind zu suchen?“, fragte Skinner Norris vom Rücksitz, wo er breitbeinig in der Mitte saß und sich natürlich nicht angeschnallt hatte. Smyth wusste nicht, ob man das als Mut oder Dummheit bewerten sollte.

„Einen Grund nicht aber sachdienliche Anhaltspunkte.“ Smyth war einen eisigen Blick nach hinten. Skinny rollte mit den Augen und stieg aus. Shaw versuchte es versöhnlicher: „Die Recherchen von einem Freund haben ergeben, dass diesem Haus verschiedene Kampfsportarten unterrichtet werden, aber gerade Sommerpause ist. Also sollte niemand hier sein.“

„Was das verschlossene Tor erklärt.“, sagte Smyth trocken. Shaw steig aus: „Wir können ja mal schauen, ob uns etwas auffällt.“ Etwas unwillig bei einer so nonexistenten Hinweislage stieg Smyth auch aus dem Auto aus und besah sich Haus, Zaun und Boden. Nichts was hier auffällig war.

Skinny scharrte ungeduldig mit den Schuhen im Staub: „Gehen wir jetzt rein?“

Smyth schüttelte den Kopf: „Ohne Durchsuchungsbefehl dürfen wir nicht auf das Gelände.“ Skinny verzog das Gesicht und sah zu Shaw, als würde er erwarten, dass dieser widersprach. Als das nicht passierte, stöhnte er genervt auf und starrte böse auf das Haus. Nach einem Moment hob er fragend den Kopf: „Aber wenn ihr eine verdächtige Person über den Zaun steigen sehen würdest, solltet ihr doch hinterher, oder?“

„Ja, schon.“, sagte Shaw. „Aber mit deinem Hämatom bei der Höhe-“ Skinny unterbrach ihn: „Ja, ja, sei mal Freund und Helfer und stell dich hierher. Leicht in die Knie gehen die Hände miteinander verschränken, festen Stand suchen. Gaaaanz toll. Und jetzt hop.“ Shaw hatte natürlich verstanden, was Skinny wollte sonst wäre das alles nach hinten losgegangen. Aber so machte er Skinny eine astreine Räuberleiter, sodass sich Skinny ohne Problem über den Zaun schwingen könnte. Und ohne seine verletzte Brust überanstrengen zu müssen.

Smyth blinzelte drei mal: „Kollege, ich glaube, Sie haben gerade bei einem Einbruch geholfen.“

„Da weiß ich nichts von.“, sagte Shaw ruhig. „Aber wir sollten der verdächtigen Person folgen.“'

„Sie meinen Ihrem Freund, der gerade eingebrochen ist?“, harkte Smyth noch mal nach. Shaw schüttelte den Kopf: „Als Freunde kann man uns wirklich nicht bezeichnen.“ Einsehend, dass nicht mehr Informationen kommen würden, betrachtete Smyth den hohen Zaun. Smyth selbst war bei Weitem nicht so groß wie Shaw und so kam die leise Frage: „....machen Sie mir auch ne Räuberleiter?“

Shaw grinste und stellte sich sofort in Position: „Sicher... allez hopp.“

„Wenn Sie mich fallen lassen, Shaw, verlassen Sie wieder den Innendienst.“ Smyth zeigte den besten drohenden Blick, der Kadetten und Verbrecher gleichermaßen einschüchterte. Shaw aber verdrehte nur die Augen: „Weniger quatschen, mehr hopp.“

Hopp.

Smyth stieg ergebend in die dargebotenen Hände und wurde überraschend sicher hoch gehoben. Gekonnt schwang Smyth ein Bein über den Zaun und sah runter: „Wie kommen Sie jetzt hoch?“

„Springen Sie erst mal runter.“ Shaw lächelte leicht, und als Smyth unten war, ging er zwei Schritte zurück und sprang mit einem einzigen Satz so hoch, dass er die Zaunkante erreichte.

„Angeber.“, murmelte Smyth.

Skinny lachte gehässig: „Sie haben ja keine Ahnung.“

„Könnten wir jetzt bitte ein Kind suchen gehen?“, fragte Shaw.

Smyth nickte kurz. Alles was passiert war und alle neuen Informationen müssten später sortiert werden. Vielleicht klärte sich ja schon etwas aus, sobald bekannt war wer Dritter war und wie der wiederum dieses Haus gefunden hatte. Und wer hatte das Täterprofil erstellt?

_____

tbc. Teil 8

(Weiter bin ich nicht gekommen, obwohl meine Ideen ein bisschen wild geworden sind. Wie man an diesem ziemlich langen Teil sehen kann.)

[cartridgeconverter]

Don Ottavio* Modern Prod Jobs Tierlist

* and Ottavio-like characters in adaptations

As far as I remember (although my memory has heavy biases), Ottavio seems to be the Don G character with the most random jobs assigned to him when in a modern day setting. It makes sense; in the original he’s nobility, and they don’t really work at all, so in a modern prod, they’ll assign him something to give him more character traits than “guy who likes his gf, like, THIS MUCH”.

Some of these are really bad though.

F:

Parking inspector (#UncleJohn, Toronto, 2014) For some reason, this adaptation changed Anna and Ottavio to be significantly poorer than Zerlina and Masetto. Why? I have no idea. Anna and the Commendatore get an okay lot, being Zerlina and Masetto’s wedding planners, but Ottavio is a particularly low-ranking cop. This is pretty irreconcilable with the text and the actual character, although it does make him look extremely pathetic.

D:

Soldier (Don Giovanni, Chicago Lyric Opera, various) I just find it really hard to believe that a soldier is so squeamish about killing.

C:

Unspecified white collar profession (various) Sometimes you just gotta put him in a nonspecific grey suit. Practical, but boring. Words that could describe the man himself?

B:

Architect (Don Giovanni, La Monnaie, 2020) I'm not really sure what them specifying his profession is supposed to do for the production, considering in practice he ends up being just Anna's boytoy and hot tenor eye candy, but this is a solid choice and I could see it happening.

Whatever tf Poodle Ottavio is doing (Don Giovanni, Salzburg Festival, 2021) Is he an arctic explorer with a dog for some reason? Is he a military captain? Is he a guy in a toga with four arms? Romeo Castelluci I demand answers

A:

Artist/poet and professional sillyboy (Shaw’s Man and Superman) Okay, Tavy Robinson is not really Don Ottavio. He’s a lot more naive and adorably stupid, but I put him on the list anyway. Because Tavy is so romantic and idealistic, this works for him pretty well, although I would object if this was used for an actual Ottavio.

Just some rich guy who doesn’t work (various) Probably the most logical updated version of his original character, since noblemen don't work and billionaires don't either. He wears classy grey suits everywhere because he can and so he can look as stylish as possible constantly along with his equally stylish wife.

Undercover cop (Peter Sellars Don Giovanni) Similar to Man and Superman, I consider the Sellars prod to be a completely separate story, but this choice works very well in the story it's trying to tell, and textually, it's not the worst either. Ottavio is trying to catch and kill a criminal, and he also achieves absolutely nothing. Peak American police behavior.

S:

I had a joke here about the La Monnaie 2014 Ottavio but honestly that production portrays this relationship in such a rapey way that I really don't want to mention it as a punchline. So pretend there's something actually cool and insightful here.

[identity-library]

Diverse Sexuality (TV Shows)

A:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013)

José "Joey" Gutierrez (Gay)

Marcus Benson (Gay)

All Saints (1998)

Charlotte Beaumont (Bisexual)

American Dad (2005)

Greg (Gay)

Terry (Gay)

Andor (2022)

Cinta Kaz (Unspecified WLW)

Vel Sartha (Unspecified WLW)

Arthur (1996)

Nigel Ratburn (Gay)

Patrick (Gay)

B:

Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Felix Gaeta (Bisexual)

Big Mouth (2017)

Ali (Pansexual)

Charles Lu (Unspecified MLM)

Connie LaCienega (Pansexual)

Elijah (Asexual)

Jayzarian "Jay" Bilzerian (Bisexual)

Jessica "Jessi" Glaser (Bisexual)

Matthew MacDell (Gay)

Maury Beverly (Pansexual)

Megan (Bisexual)

Mona (Bisexual)

Nadja El-Khoury (Lesbian)

Shannon Glaser (Lesbian)

Simon Sex (Bisexual)

Sonya Poinsettia (Bisexual)

Tyler Pico (Pansexual)

Bob's Burgers (2011)

Natalie "Nat" Kinkle (Unspecified WLW)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013)

Jenny Gildenhorn (Bisexual)

Jocelyn Price (Lesbian)

Kevin Cozner (Gay)

Raymond "Ray" Holt (Gay)

Rosalita "Rosa" Diaz (Bisexual)

C:

Chicago Fire (2012)

Clarice Carthage (Bisexual)

Darren Ritter (Gay)

Emily Foster (Bisexual)

Leslie Shay (Lesbian)

Chicago Med (2015)

Lawrence Dayle (Unspecified MLM)

Peter Kalmick (Unspecified MLM)

Terry McNeal (Gay)

Code Black (2015)

Carla Niven (Lesbian)

Malaya Pineda (Lesbian)

Noa Kean (Bisexual)

Community (2009)

Craig Pelton (Unlabeled MLM)

Frankie Dart (Unspecified WLW)

Craig of the Creek (2018)

Alexis (Pansexual)

Courtney (Lesbian)

George (Gay)

Jasmine Williams (Lesbian)

Kelsey Pokoly (Lesbian)

Laura Mercer (Lesbian)

Raj (Gay)

Secret Keeper (Gay)

Shawn (Gay)

Stacks (Lesbian)

Tabitha (Lesbian)

D:

Dead End: Paranormal Park (2022)

Barney Guttman (Gay)

Logan Nguyen (Gay)

Norma Khan (Bisexual)

Zagan (Pansexual)

Doom Patrol (2019)

Kay Challis/Crazy Jane (Lesbian)

Larry Trainor (Gay)

Dr. Who (2005)

Adric (Pansexual)

Bill Potts (Lesbian)

Canton Everett Delaware ||| (Gay)

Chris Cwej (Bisexual)

Clara Oswald (Bisexual)

Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw (Bisexual)

Heather (Lesbian)

Jack Harkness (Omnisexual + Polyamorous)

Jennifer "Jenny Flint" Scarrity (Lesbian)

Madame Vastra (Lesbian)

Melony "River Song" Pond (Bisexual + Polyamorous)

Nyssa of Traken (Bisexual)

Oliver Harper (Gay)

Olivia "Liv" Chenka (Bisexual)

Patricia Haggard (Lesbian)

Rogue (Gay)

Tania Bell (Lesbian)

Tegan Jovanka (Bisexual)

Toshiko Sato (Bisexual)

Yasmin Khan (Queer)

E:

Equestria Girls (2017)

Sunset Shimmer (Bisexual)

ER (1994)

Courtney Brown (Lesbian)

Kerry Weaver (Lesbian)

Kim Legaspi (Lesbian)

Maggie Doyle (Lesbian)

Sandy Lopez (Lesbian)

Euphoria (2019)

Cal Jacobs (Bisexual)

Elliot (Unlabeled MLM)

Jules Vaughn (Unlabeled WLW)

Nate Jacobs (Unspecified MLM)

Rue Bennett (Lesbian)

Ever After High (2013)

Apple White (Unspecified WLW)

Darling Charming (Unspecified WLW)

F:

G:

Glee (2009)

Adam Crawford (Gay)

Alistair (Unspecified MLM)

Blaine Anderson (Gay)

Brittany Pierce (Bisexual)

Dani (Lesbian)

David "Dave" Karofsky (Gay)

Elliott Gilbert (Gay)

Hiram Barry (Gay)

Kurt Hummel (Gay)

Leroy Barry (Gay)

Santana Lopez (Lesbian)

Sebastian Smythe (Bisexual)

Spencer Porter (Gay)

Grey's Anatomy (2005)

Amelia Shepherd (Bisexual)

Arizona Robbins (Lesbian)

Callie Torres (Bisexual)

Carina DeLuca (Bisexual)

Dayna Knox (Lesbian)

Eliza Minnick (Lesbian)

Erica Hahn (Lesbian)

Levi Schmitt (Gay)

Mika Yasuda (Bisexual)

Nico Kim (Gay)

Taryn Helm (Lesbian)

Teddy Altman (Bisexual)

H:

Harley Quinn (2019)

Basil Karlo/Clayface (Gay)

Edward Nygma/The Riddler (Gay)

Frank (Asexual)

Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn (Bisexual)

Leslie Wills/Livewire (Lesbian)

Mari McCabe/Vixen (Bisexual)

Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy (Bisexual)

Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Unspecified WLW)

Sylvester "Sy" Borgman (Bisexual)

Hazbin Hotel (2024)

Alastor (Aromantic, Asexual)

Angel Dust (Gay)

Charlotte "Charlie" Morningstar (Lesbian)

Cherri Bomb (Bisexual)

Husker (Pansexual)

Sir Pentious (Bisexual)

Vaggie (Unspecified WLW)

Valentino (Pansexual)

Vox (Bisexual)

Heartbreak High (2022)

Darren Rivers (Gay, Queer)

Donald "Ca$h" Piggott (Asexual)

Dustin Reid (Unspecified MLM)

Malakai Mitchell (Bisexual)

Missy Beckett (Bisexual)

Quinni Gallagher-Jones (Lesbian)

Rowan Callaghan (Bisexual)

Sasha So (Lesbian)

Heartstopper (2022)

Ben Hope (Unspecified MLM)

Charles "Charlie" Spring (Gay)

Darcy Olsson (Lesbian)

Isaac Henderson (Asexual, Aromantic)

Nick Nelson (Bisexual)

Tara Jones (Lesbian)

How I Met Your Mother (2005)

James Stinson (Gay)

Human Resources (2022)

Claudia (Lesbian)

Danielle (Lesbian)

Flanny O'Lympic (Bisexual)

Van (Lesbian)

I:

J:

K:

L:

M:

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (2015)

Alix Kubdel (Aromantic)

Caline Bustier (Unspecified WLW)

Gisèle (Unspecified WLW)

Juleka Couffaine (Unspecified WLW)

Marc Anciel (Unspecified MLM)

Max Kanté (Asexual)

Nathaniel Kurtzberg (Unspecified MLM)

Rose Lavillant (Unspecified WLW)

Zoé Lee (Unspecified WLW)

Modern Family (2009)

Cameron Tucker (Gay)

Gil Thorpe (Gay)

Mitchell Pritchett (Gay)

Pepper Saltzman (Gay)

Ronaldo (Unspecified MLM)

Mom (2013)

Bonnie Plunkett (Bisexual)

Ray Stabler (Gay)

Rudy (Bisexual)

N:

Nanbaka (2016)

Jyugo (Bisexual)

New Amsterdam (2018)

Elizabeth Wilder (Bisexual)

Iggy Frome (Gay)

Lauren Bloom (Bisexual)

Leyla Shinwari (Lesbian)

Martin McIntyre (Gay)

New Girl (2011)

Melissa (Unspecified WLW)

Reagan Lucas (Bisexual)

Sadie (Lesbian)

O:

P:

Peacemaker (2022)

Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (Bisexual)

Leota Adebayo (Lesbian)

Private Practice (2007)

Amelia Shepherd (Bisexual)

Q:

R:

Raising Dion (2019)

Kat Neese (Lesbian)

Roswell, New Mexico (2019)

Alex Manes (Gay)

Allie Meyers (Unspecified WLW)

Anatsa Mufaro (Unspecified WLW)

Blaire (Unspecified WLW)

Forrest (Gay)

Isobel Evans-Bracken (Bisexual)

Michael Guerin (Bisexual)

Shivani Sen (Unspecified WLW)

Runaways (2017)

Karolina Dean (Lesbian)

Nico Minoru (Bisexual)

Xavin (Pansexual)

S:

Safe (2018)

Pete Mayfield (Gay)

Saving Hope (2012)

Bree Hannigan (Lesbian)

Maggie Lin (Bisexual)

Sydney Katz (Lesbian)

Shadowhunters (2016)

Alexander "Alec" Lightwood (Gay)

Aline Penhallow (Unspecified WLW)

Magnus Bane (Bisexual)

Olivia Wilson (Unspecified WLW)

Samantha (Unspecified WLW)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)

Adora (Lesbian)

Bow (Bisexual)

Catra (Lesbian)

Double Trouble (Gay)

Entrapta (Bisexual)

George (Gay)

Glimmer (Bisexual)

Huntara (Lesbian)

Kyle (Bisexual)

Lance (Gay)

Light Hope (Lesbian)

Lonnie (Bisexual)

Mara (Lesbian)

Mermista (Bisexual)

Netossa (Lesbian)

Perfuma (Unspecified WLW)

Rogelio (Bisexual)

Scorpia (Lesbian)

Sea Hawk (Bisexual)

Spinnerella (Lesbian)

Station 19 (2018)

Amelia Shepherd (Bisexual)

Carina DeLuca (Bisexual)

Dayna Knox (Lesbian)

Eli Stern (Bisexual)

Emmett Dixon (Gay)

Maya Bishop (Bisexual)

Michelle Alvarez (Lesbian)

Nikki (Bisexual)

Pam Williams (Lesbian)

Travis Montgomery (Gay)

Steven Universe (2013)

Bismuth (Lesbian)

Dogcopter (Gay)

Harold Smiley (Gay)

Pearl (Lesbian)

Peridot (Asexual, Aromantic)

Ruby (Lesbian)

Sapphire (Lesbian)

Stumptown (2019)

Dex Parios (Bisexual)

T:

The Babysitter's Club (2020)

Dawn Schafer (Unlabeled WLW)

Janine Kishi (Lesbian)

The Magicians (2015)

Eliot Waugh (Gay)

The Owl House (2020)

Amity Blight (Lesbian)

Darius Deamonne (Gay)

Eda Clawthorne (Bisexual)

Gilbert Park (Unspecified MLM)

Harvey Park (Unspecified MLM)

Hunter (Bisexual)

Lilith Clawthorne (Asexual, Aromantic)

Luz Noceda (Bisexual)

Willow Park (Bisexual)

The Resident (2018)

Jake Wong (Gay)

The Rookie (2018)

Jackson West (Gay)

Gino Brown (Gay)

The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (2024)

Klak (Unspecified WLW)

Slug Girl (Unspecified WLW)

The 100 (2014)

Bryan (Gay)

Clarke Griffin (Bisexual)

Eric Jackson (Gay)

Lexa (Lesbian)

Nathan Miller (Gay)

Niylah (Lesbian)

Zev (Gay)

Titans (2018)

Tim Drake/Robin (Bisexual)

Total Drama (Franchise)

Bowie (Gay)

Raj (Gay)

U:

V:

W:

X:

Y:

Z:

#:

9-1-1 (2018)

David Hale (Unspecified MLM)

Evan "Buck" Buckley (Bisexual)

Henrietta "Hen" Wilson (Lesbian)

John Russo (Unspecified MLM)

Karen Wilson (Lesbian)

Michael Grant (Gay)

Tommy Kinard (Gay)

9-1-1: Lone Star (2020)

Carlos Reyes (Gay)

Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand (Gay)

[ddf-deepcuts]

[boydholbrookfanpage]

BHFP Masterlist / Mobile Links

PERMANENT HIATUS.

If you want to keep track of the gifs that I've made, I will be making a new "Gif Packs by Dax" profile that will be a sideblog to my new main page. My old blog @thepnwvarmints will be deactivated along with all of it's side blogs over time, this bein' one of those. Sorry, Boyd fans. Someone targeted my profile and Tumblr stopped approving my appeals, even though it wasn't explicit. Not much I can do other than move profiles. Take care and stay safe!

Much love...

-Dax

BHFP Gif Sets

BHFP Gif Packs

BHFP Edits

BHFP Pics

BHFP Icons / Avatars

BHFP Gif Icons

David Armstrong

Young Boyd Pics

Young Boyd Gifs

Gifs by Others

Gif Packs by Others

Edits by Others

Boyd Interview Gifs

Candid Boyd Gifs

Candid Boyd Pics

Boyd Holbrook Pics

Boyd Holbrook Vids/Clips

Gifs by Year of Boyd’s Career:

2007 ; 2008 ; 2009 ; 2010 ; 2011 ; 2012 ; 2013 ; 2014 ; 2015 ; 2016 ; 2017 ; 2018 ; 2019 ; 2020 ; 2021 ; 2022 ; 2023

Photoshoots/Stills by Year:

2002 ; 2003 ; 2004 ; 2005 ; 2008 ; 2009 ; 2010 ; 2011 ; 2012 ; 2013 ; 2014 ; 2015 ; 2016 ; 2017 ; 2018 ; 2019 ; 2020 ; 2021 ; 2022 ; 2023 … Unknown Year

Gifs by Character:

The Corinthian ; Steve Murphy ; Quinn McKenna ; Donald Pierce ; John McBride; Ty Shaw ; JJ Mackay ( Jack Jr ) ; Miracle Guy ; Kaden ; Mike Ferro ; Mohamed Lundy ; Skip Vronsky ; Billy ; Danny Maguire ; Amos Jenkins ; David ; Jeff ; Aaron ; Craig ; Peter Kristo ; Douglas Carey ; Tynan ; Mykail ; Young Donald Pierce ; Clement Mansell ; Luke Ford ...

Gifs by Episodes: [ Under Construction ]

The Sandman: Ep 1 ; Ep 2 ; Ep 3 ; Ep 7 ; Ep 8 ; Ep 9 ; Ep 10

Justified: City Primeval - Ep 1 ; Ep 2 ; Ep 3 ; Ep 4 ; Ep 5 ; Ep 6 ; Ep 7 ; Ep 8

Narcos: Season 1 - Ep 1 ; Ep 2 ; Ep 3 ; Ep 4 ; Ep 5 ; Ep 6 ; Ep 7 ; Ep 8 ; Ep 9 ; Ep 10

Narcos: Season 2 - Ep 1 ; Ep 2 ; Ep 3 ; Ep 4 ; Ep 5 ; Ep 6 ; Ep 7 ; Ep 8 ; Ep 9 ; Ep 10

The Big C: Season 2 - Ep 6 ; Ep 7 ; Ep 8 ; Ep 9 ; Ep 10 ; Ep 11

[fouralignments]

So did you ever wrote down where Peter was when Cuba happened. I know obviously Erik would never bring him on a dangerous mission. So...did they find a babysitter?

Just looking at what happened in Cuba dangerous is an understatement...Um I don't think I did. But I would assume he's still at the Mansion under guard someone has to be looking after the place. Growing up traveling with Erik, like Peter is used to being alone. It isn't like Shaw knows where they are.

As shown the crisis didn't really last all that long (the critical point where the Shaw and the X-Men came in was October 25ish). Speaking of which the X-Jet had to get there pretty damn quick from New York to Cuba its like an eight hour flight; I would say that they got there in under two hours.

Could you imagine like Peter sneaking his way on to the X-Jet and it was Peter who got shot in the leg and therefore no beach divorce? I don't know Charles loses his ability to walk b/c of a spinal degenerative disease or something and the stress of it all is what does it; stress like does bad things to the body and makes thing so much worse.

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume Nine, Number 10

Older, but not a bit wiser, the Hives return

Fall comes with its smell of maple in the leaves, its intimations of mortality and, this year, its share of unsettling events—war in the middle east, AI in everything and the murder of our beloved Bandcamp by capitalist privateers.  (We are not equating these things by any means.)  Like always, we turn to music, the annihilating blare of metal, the agile interplay of improvisation, the well-shaped contours of pop, depending on our individual tastes.  We hope you’ll find something to ease your own personal burden in all this as well.  Contributors include Bryon Hayes, Bill Meyer, Andrew Forell, Tim Clarke, Jonathan Shaw, Ian Mathers, Alex Johnson, Jennifer Kelly and Ray Garraty. 

Due to technical issues we're posting this in two parts, so don't miss the second one.

Ad Hoc — Corpse (Shame File Music / Albert’s Basement)

Ad Hoc was a Melbourne-based improvising unit, an experimental outfit that should have higher prominence. It only took 40-plus years, but Shame File Music and Albert’s Basement are finally spearheading a reissue initiative. Last year saw the arrival of the trio’s sole release, the hypnotic Distance cassette. It disappeared the moment it became available. Corpse documents an unconventional live performance from the group. They prepared their instruments (guitars, an EMS Synthi AKS synth and tape loops) for performance prior to the arrival of the audience and then shut off their amps. When all were seated, the trio turned on the amplifiers and unfurled an aleatoric blast of sound. The resulting music is far removed from the ambient tone clusters of Distance. The first piece shimmers in a way that calls to mind Matthew Bower’s Sunroof project, while the latter piece bathes in guitar noise so thick that it may have influenced The Dead C’s The Operation of the Sonne EP. Ad Hoc have today’s noisemakers beat: Corpse presents itself with a freshness that belies its 1980 provenance.

Bryon Hayes

Axolotl — Abrasive (Souffle Continu)

The French trio Axolotl existed for a few years in the early 1980s, and it reflects the aesthetic concerns of its time. Guitarist Marc Dufourd’s playing betrays some acquaintance with the work of Derek Bailey and Henry Kaiser, and the fibrous tones and agile exchanges between reeds players Jacques Oger and Etienne Brunet recall Evan Parker. All three double on electronics, hand percussion and utterances. These accessories, in combination with the concentration of the album’s 12 tracks, give the music a truculent attitude and just-the-facts brevity that brings to mind punk and post-punk. This may be free improvisation, but it is improvised from a point of view, and it’s that informed attitude that makes the album worth visiting nearly 40 years after its original release.

Bill Meyer

Will Butler + Sister Squares — Self-Titled (Merge)

Will Butler joins with Sister Squares — multi-instrumentalists Jenny (Butler’s wife) and Julie Shore, Sara Dobbs and drummer/producer Miles Francis — for their debut album. Bouncy, heartland rock garlanded with that 1980s Fairlight and Linn drum sound mixes with touches of art rock as Butler emotes wholehearted. The influence of the 20 years Butler spent with Arcade Fire is inescapable, but it feels like the quintet have also been listening to Billy MacKenzie (“Long Grass”) and Russell Mael (“Arrow of Time”) as well as Springsteen, Mellencamp and company. “Hee Loop” sounds like a mash of Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. The themes and emotions can be big in that Arcade Fire way that’s equal parts exhilarating and exhausting, but the album works best when the band dial down the melodramatic flourishes as on “Car Crash” and “The Window,” where Butler is right in your ear, tired, disillusioned, real. This is a record I wanted to like both more and less. For every heartfelt moment and interesting musical choice, there’s a cringe-inducing gestural overreach that makes you wince. A bit like his former band but with enough promise to persevere with.

Andrew Forell

Claire Deak — Sotto Voce (Lost Tribe Sound)

Melbourne-based composer Claire Deak’s last release on Lost Tribe Sound was 2020’s The Old Capital, a fantastic collaboration with Tony Dupé. In my Dusted review I said, “There’s so much wonderful stuff going on across these seven songs that it’s a delight to revisit.” As its title suggests, Deak’s solo debut, Sotto Voce, very much sits at the opposite end of the musical spectrum. This is subtle, minimal music that softly arises out of silence and speaks an elusive language. The background to the album’s creation is Deak’s exploration of the work of two women composers from the early baroque era, Francesca Caccini (1587–c.1645) and Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677). The dominant musical elements are strings, harp and voice, with other instruments coloring the edges of these understated, starkly beautiful compositions. Across the album’s 42 minutes the music feels, at times, to be battling the entropy of erasure, struggling to be heard amid the cacophony of these overstimulated times. For that reason alone, it’s necessary to invest your attention and listen closely. The experience is eerie and transportive.

Tim Clarke

Mike Donovan — Meets the Mighty Flashlight (Drag City)

On a musical Venn diagram showing the intersecting circles of garage rock, lo-fi, and psych, Mike Donovan has set up his sandbox. With Sic Alps he veered more noisy and lo-fi; with Peacers he favored a straight-ahead garage-rock sound. On this new record with Mike Fellows, AKA The Mighty Flashlight, Donovan steers in the direction of shambolic psychedelic-pop in the vein of the Olivia Tremor Control. (To anyone who knows and loves OTC, this is obviously a very good thing.) The splashy drums and percussion tracks feel like a gestural afterthought rather than a rhythmic backbone the songs are built around, and Donovan and Fellows steer these songs into some choppy, unexpected waters. Opener “Planet Metley” is the clearest and most successful distillation of their aesthetic, offering up a staggering range of ideas in under four minutes, stopping and starting erratically, the bass roving all over the fretboard. At the other end of the spectrum, “Laurel Lotus Dub” is the kind of experiment that sounds like it was more fun to create that it is to listen back to. Between these two extremes there’s the junkshop boogie of “A Capital Pitch,” which features the hilarious line, “Hanging out on the ramparts with some dickheads in black,” the concise drum-machine and organ instrumental “Amalgam Wagon,” and the plaintive, country-flavored “Whistledown.” Wherever Donovan roams it’s usually worth following, and Meets the Mighty Flashlight is a winning collaboration that fizzes with fun.

Tim Clarke

Everything Falls Apart — Everything Falls Apart (Totalism)

“Somn” means sleep, or more poetically death. It’s the title of six of the seven tracks from Everything Falls Apart, the self-titled album from the duo of Belgian bassist Otto Lindholm (born Cyrille de Haes) and English producer Ross Tones. Those titles (numbered six to 11) and the coda “Wonderfully Desolate” tell you only part of the story of the music the pair produce. Their conversation focuses on the nuance of the Lindholm’s double bass which Tones swathes in electronic effects, stretching notes and motifs into near drones in timbres that rise from the murk like lugubrious sentinels. This is seriously heavy music but the dynamism of the duo’s understanding and interplay distinguishes Everything Falls Apart. Whilst many of the pieces focus on stasis and decay, “Somn 9” is a desert storm with clicking percussion, almost didgeridoo like growls from the bass and screeching electronic noise. On “Somn 11”, deep bowed notes support Lindholm’s move through the registers as if shaking from fitful dreams into the morning light. “Wonderfully Desolate” is comparatively unadorned, a string quartet playing against the end times, shimmers of light through the cracks.

Andrew Forell

False Fed — Let Them Eat Fake (Neurot Recordings)

Is it accurate to call a band including members of legendary underground acts Amebix (Stig Miller), Nausea (Roy Mayorga) and Broken Bones (Jeff Janiak) a “supergroup”? It might help to note that Janiak has sung for Discharge since 2014, and Mayorga has done a couple stints as drummer for Ministry. All names to conjure with (though a few of us first encountered Mayorga as a teenager back in the 1980s Lehigh Valley hardcore scene, when he drummed for Youthquake; West Catty Playground Building forever, man). In any case, the players have pooled their talents to create this death-rocking, sorta goth, sorta post-punk record, and it’s a lot of grim, grimy fun. Most of the music is mid-tempo, grand and romantic in its gestures, but shot through with a crusty growl in the guitars and production tone. The best songs speed things up a bit; both “The Tyrant Dies” and “The Big Sleep” have compelling momentum, complementing the stakes of songs’ ideas. It's Armagideon Time, people. Here’s your soundtrack, from dudes that know.

Jonathan Shaw

Hauschka— Philanthropy (City Slang)

German composer Volker Bertelmann’s 15th album of prepared piano pieces under the name Hauschka is noticeably warmer than some of his previous works. Joined by Samuli Kosminen on percussion and electronics and cellist Laura Wiek, Hauschka continues his exploration of the rhythmic and timbral possibilities of his instrument. At times almost jaunty, there are echoes of Bertelmann’s previous experiments with melancholic atmospherics but the general tone here is welcoming and optimistic. Kosminen adds subtle effects which frame rather than obscure the piano. There’s a touch of Satie in Hauschka’s playful iconoclastic approach to the piano and his deceptively simple melodies, especially on “Loved Ones” where Wiek’s plangent cello lines sustain and decay over an allusive harmony that speaks both of innocence and experience. At the other end of the spectrum, the closing piece “Noise” builds abstract ambience from repeated piano notes, smears of cello and a quiet wash of effects as if the players are enveloped in a thick damp fog. A lovely album for both fans and newcomers.

Andrew Forell

The Hives — The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives)

There are usually going to be some questions when a band comes back with a new record after over a decade, maybe especially so with an act like Swedish garage/punk flamboyants the Hives; can they match the energy of their youth? Are they still willing and able to give us the old thrills? Or have they (and this is usually asked with a small, tasteful shudder of disgust) matured? It doesn’t take very long into first single/first track “Bogus Operandi” for the concerned listener to have reason for a sigh of relief. Anyone who used to (or still does?) blast “Main Offender” or “Hate to Say I Told You So” or “Walk Idiot Walk” should feel the galvanizing charge of a true, Frankensteinian resurrection once the riff hits. And across these not-quite-32 minutes (the brevity is also a promising sign) Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist and the boys kick up exactly the kind of racket you’d want from them, with tracks like “Trapdoor Solution” and “The Bomb” savoring the kind of gleefully dumb fun they’ve always provided (with a nice sideline in some of Almqvist’s deliberately, over-the-top awful narrators on “Two Kinds of Trouble” and “What Did I Ever Do to You?”). They even continue to throw out small, satisfying variations on the classic Hives sound like the brassy swagger of “Stick Up” and the surprisingly heartfelt thrash of “Smoke & Mirrors”. They may have killed off their “sixth member,” but the Hives are otherwise in rude health.

Ian Mathers

Islet — Soft Fascination (Fire)

The Welsh psych-electronic oddballs in Islet are on their fourth full-length now but show no signs of settling down. Soft Fascination is a bonkers mash up of dance pop, art song, hip hop, noise and folk. “Euphoria” floats a feather-light daze, a la Avey Tare, then punctures it the rat-at-tat of snare, the rifle shot rap repartee of Emma Daman Thomas. Gossamer textures of synth weave in and around the main action, snapping tight at intervals, like sails catching a hard wind. The whole thing is butterfly ephemeral with strong wires holding it up, a combination of daydream and architecture. “River Body,” if anything, tips even crazier, with its infectious sing-song, skip-rope vocals, its tootling toy keyboards, its blasts of noise and friction. And what can you make of “Sherry” which bucks and heaves and shouts out “Ay, ay, ay, ay,” like a lost Matias Aguayar cut? “Ay, ay, ay, ay,” indeed.

Jennifer Kelly

Jute Gyte — Unus Mundus Patet (Self-released)

Unus Mundus Patet is not the most dissonant or challenging record Adam Kalmbach has released during his 20-plus-year run under the Jute Gyte moniker. But neither is this black metal for the kvlt trve believers or for the hipster-adjacent sets, be they transcendental or ecstatic or blackgazy. The songs twist and turn in on themselves, always clear in their expressions of complex musical ideas, and also — somehow, someway — listenable and enjoyable. Avant-garde? Sure thing, and likely a much more authentic iteration of that phrase’s meaning than the music many other metal bands churn out under cover of high-minded beard stroking. See the by-turns undulating and fragmenting “Killing a Sword” or the trudging, vertiginous and then utterly thrilling “Philoctetes.” Jute Gyte doesn’t make music for the background, but if you can give these songs your full attention, you’ll be rewarded. Turn it up and open the portal into somewhere much weirder and more marvelous.

Jonathan Shaw

Danny Kamins / Chris Alford / Charles Pagano — The Secret Stop (Musical Eschatology)

Free improvisation may be a little sparser on the ground in the southern USA than it is in Chicago or New York, but The Secret Stop affirms the vigor of those who participate. Guitarist Chris Alford and drummer Charles Pagano play in New Orleans, and Danny Kamins is a saxophonist from Texas; this encounter took place in the Crescent City. As even players in places like the aforementioned northern cities or London will affirm, travel comes with this territory. Their interactions display a capacity to sustain balance when the energy is high and to back off when doing so will transform the music’s tension. Kamins intersperses long, coarse tones with emphatic pops, and Alford evidences a fluent stutter that suggests he’s spent a lot of time studying James “Blood” Ulmer’s sound grammar. Pagano’s cymbal sizzle and mutating not-quite-patterns provide both forward momentum and a framework within which the action occurs.

Bill Meyer

MIKE \ Wiki \ The Alchemist — Faith Is a Rock (ALC)

The long awaited collaboration between The Alchemist and MIKE took a sudden turn when they took on board another New York rapper Wiki who steals the show here. Both Wiki and MIKE were outcasts recording music in the vein of Earl Sweatshirt, even though MIKE was always a better version of Earl with only possibly a tenth of his fame. Knowing no rest, The Alchemist (that is his fourth collab this year) takes both MCs way out of their comfort zone, refusing to pander to the needs. MIKE and Wiki have to deal with The Alchemist’s fast and thick layered production, and it works for all of them. “Mayors A Cop” is a standout here, and Faith Is a Rock is one strong contender for the tape of the year.

Ray Garraty

Camila Nebbia — Una Ofrenda A La Ausencía (Relative Pitch)

The title translates as An Offering To Absence, which of course raises the question, what’s missing? Camila Nebbia is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but has seems to have spent a fair chunk of time moving around Europe in recent years, and is currently based in Berlin. She has a sizable discography, but this correspondent has not heard most of it, so let’s just focus on the album at hand. Its 16 tracks present three facets of her work — acoustic tenor saxophone, electronically adjusted saxophone and poetry — with the first method best represented. The unaccompanied saxophone performances reveal her mastery of both weight-bearing muscularity and adroit tap-dancing on the far side of the fences that confine conventional tonality. But when she layers long tones and feedback, Nebbia becomes a one-woman orchestra transmitting heavy Penderecki vibes. The one poem included, “Dejo que me lieve” (“I let it lie”), is recited in Spanish, and no translation is offered; perhaps home is what’s not there, so she needs to manifest it creatively?

Bill Meyer

[Continued in Part 2, because Tumblr decided we only get 10 audio links.]

[siena-sevenwits]

Thank you, @rowenabean, for tagging me to share twenty(-five) books dear to me. Insert ramble full of caveats and non-definitiveness, because I am an overthinker. But whatever. Let's do this. Here's what I got off the top of my head:

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

How a Book is Made by Aliki

Stalky and Co. by Rudyard Kipling

The Works of Shakespeare (but most especially "Henry V," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Richard III," and "Romeo and Juliet")

Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge

Five Children and It by E. Nesbit

Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey

The Man from Rocca Sicca by Reginald M. Coffey OP

The works of G. K. Chesterton (but especially The Ball and the Cross and The Napoleon of Notting Hill)

"The Man of Destiny" by George Bernard Shaw

Rosie Backstage by Amanda Lewis

Emily of New Moon and Emily Climbs by L. M. Montgomery

The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healey

The Iliad of Homer

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Works of C. S. Lewis (but especially The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, and The Chronicles of Narnia)

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

The Dialogues of Plato

The Works of Charles Dickens (especially David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, The Pickwick Papers. A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol... um, better reel it in here.)

The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson

The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy L. Sayers

"A Man for All Seasons" by Robert Bolt

The collected works of James Herriott and Gerald Durrell hiding in the cloakroom and holding out a single calling card in hopes of passing for one book.

No-pressure tagging anyone who's interested, but especially @informedimagining, @kindredspiritsnotsorare, @marietheran, @firefly-nightsky, and @mademoiseli.

Feel free to do 5, or 10, or 15, or whatever makes you happy.