#family man macca

[moonastroellie]

can you write some sfw trans ellie headcannons?? :) just stuff about her trans identity and discovery

Warnings: transgender!ellie, weed and alcohol usage, slightly depressing but not too sad, Ellie is a silly girl in this :3

(p.1)

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Trans!Ellie who came out to everybody and was surprised by their reactions, she was expecting more tears and possible rejection but that didn't happen, of course it wouldn't happen, Ellie was only surrounded by people who genuinely love her.

Trans!Ellie who started going to therapy to understand herself better, she had a lovely therapist called Rita.

"okay so, I came out to everyone! It was NOT the responses I was expecting" she says excitedly "were they bad or-?"

"No, it was amazing they all thought of me the exact same and I genuinely feel so... Happy? Different? I thought they would feel differently of me"

Trans!Ellie who's mental health got 30x better than before, she was happier, you'd see her more often, she'd hang out with you, Jesse and Dina more often and would actually enjoy herself.

Trans!Ellie who has defiantly had a few mental breakdowns about being trans and just in general having a hard time, even with therapy because that's just how it was sometimes, you'd hug her from behind as she sobs into your arm.

"Sometimes I just forget you don't care and that you don't see me any different" she sobs and you chuckle, slowly massaging her scalp and just letting her cry it all out and immediately after she'd feel embarrassed

"bro, it's okay, we all have our bad days- now shut the fuck up and listen" she shuts up and looks at you with a smile on her face "let's go get maccas, get stoned and play video games" she agrees fast

Trans!Ellie who is stoned off her tits and playing video games with you, before saying some of the most unhinged shit while playing the last of us "if Arthur was real.... Ohhh man" you chuckle out a 'what?'

"If he was real, I'd let him do me, I mean I'm lesbian but I don't care something about him" you laugh out loud, trying to contain yourself "ellie what the fuck?" she looks at you with red tinted eyes and laughs with you.

Trans!Ellie who goes to a party with you and her other friends, and gets a little bit too drunk and just starts yapping about the most random shit

"you wanna know how I found out I was trans?" she mumbles into your shoulder as Jesse drives Ellie and the rest of you guys home, you hum at her "drugs" Dina laughs so hard she thinks she pissed herself, "Oh babe, you're fucking funny" Dina chokes out between laughs

"you didn't think of me differently? I love you for that!" her voice is slurred and you massage her scalp as she laughs, "idiot" you mumble.

Trans!Ellie who was at a family event one time and announces to everybody in her family that she is trans and everyone congratulated her, hell, even Seth did.

"i'm glad you came out kiddo" tommy says, patting her shoulder.

a/n: SORRY IT IS SHORT!

[kraeki]

I need more Trent X Ibou content that handshake video was so cute. Actually, I wish I knew who and who are really good friends on the outside and what activities they do. Do they play video games together? Go out to eat? When I found out Trent goes to Mo’s house occasionally it was so heartwarming. I cannot wait for more non football media content this season. Hopefully more Bezzies and QnAs

I wonder about this stuff all the time too, there’s so much we don’t know!! I mean Mo and Trent have been at the club for years and we only just found out they’re friends at that level. Our guys are more private than many other footballers about their lives off pitch so we know so little!! I cherish every crumb we get. Off the top of my head some other random things we know:

Andy and Thiago’s (rip) families are friends, the families’ boxes were next to each other at Anfield

Dom and Ryan have played Call of Duty together

Curtis has been to Dom’s house

Dom has been to Trent’s house

Dom and Trent have been out for dinner together just them and then also with some Youtubers

Joe’s family is close with Virgil’s family, Joe’s son adores one of Virgil’s daughters

Ryan and Ibou watch anime together on the team bus

Caoimhin and Diogo are friends, they do a lot of betting between themselves

Andy and Trent are obviously great friends but Andy has said he doesn’t really go to Trent’s house. Maybe Trent is the one to visit him as Andy’s the family man - like with Mo

Trent has been to a Chris Brown concert with Andy but he also said he didn’t come with Andy. Idk his storytelling was confusing and I don’t fully remember.

Endo’s, Virgil’s and Mo’s kids all go to the same school

As seen in their barber’s post, Macca and Darwin have gotten haircuts together at Darwin’s house and Macca has also posted a picture with Darwin from one of their houses so they hangout for sure off pitch

The South American boys probably keep close in general. We’ve seen Lucho’s and Darwin’s kids play together

If you guys remember more random tidbits like this please tell me!! I love stuff like this

[jtl-fics]

HELP OMG THERES SM GOING ON

nicky claiming ff as his fav family member and gs as his second <3

kevin vs nutritionist the sequel

kevin vs aaron and by default all of ff's doctors about what ff should eat

and then neil taking ff's phone accidentally AHHH OMG LMAO i cant wait to see ff and ichirou's conversation sjdjdjjdjdj and not ichirou thinking ff is armed but in reality hes only armed with is maccas tou (which actually has proven to be a mighty weapon)!

Nicky is fully on the “Smithy is family of course. We have the same Granny” team. No one argues it, FF has to be family because they all have the same Grandma. Nicky gave up his bed for Grandma and emerged unglittered this is considered a minor miracle.

Kevin cannot believe such a reputable hospital has such a CHUMP as a nutritionist. GS has patted his face lovingly multiple times while she is making some clear broth and told him she will knit him to a chair if he doesn’t stop trying to add protein powder in Polish. Kevin, like a dog only hearing the tone goes a little gooey at being treated so nicely as Nicky wheezes in the background. Aaron asks if he’s ok and Nicky says cutting onions makes him laugh.

Neil is not a man who gives a shit about his phone. The one he got from Andrew met its end the summer after freshman year when he left it on top of the Maserati, it fell off, and Andrew ran it over. The coach has said if he breaks / loses one more he is just getting him a Nokia. That is the phone Neil has wanted all along. He only is not losing this one intentionally because Andrew won’t let him transfer his pics over to Andrew’s phone and there are some on his phone he truly treasures.

I am so excited to write the next bit. Ichirou’s POV on FF is just so funny to me. Like I said in a previous ask I see him as someone who prizes competence and I also think he is slow to change a first impression ;)

[uss-edsall]

My mother was not a saint.

She was bipolar. She smoke, she drank, she gambled. She had anger and anxiety issues.

She was human.

She smoke, but never in front of her children - the only reason I know about it is finding her on occasion in the backyard, calming her anxiety with nicotine, hastily hiding a cigarette underneath the toe of her shoe. She drank, but I don't think I can honestly say if I ever saw her drunk. She loved to gamble - she called it 'mummy's videogames' - and occasionally took a vacation explicitly to go to a casino; but she never took those vacations with her children along. When she was hungry, she'd get an extremely short fuse and bite someone's head off (usually my father's) for the most innocuous questions; we simply took it in stride and went "okay, let's go to Macca's." As for her anxiety issues, we simply tried to make it as quiet as possible for her in those moments.

I did not learn that she was a married woman (in an unhappy marriage) when my father met her and won her heart until two weeks after she passed. She had married the previous man entirely just to be the first in the family to get married, and regretted it almost immediately. Within months of meeting my father she divorced, and though it took a couple years, married my father. Only death tore them apart.

She adored music. She was an accomplished and excellent cellist. My childhood memories are filled with the sound of a rosin'd bow on the strings. Any time she needed a break, she'd set up her cello and play a song or two.

She was the most religious of us. Whereas my father would jokingly go "baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech ha-olam" before every single meal at the dinner table, just as a joke (which always made her laugh), she was the one who'd remember to get out the Shabbat candles on Friday. It was her who insisted we go to a synagogue for the High Holy Days. It was her who refused to go any further, when the temple removed the rabbi we liked and the cantor she loved.

The day before she died was Friday, Shabbat. A cantor we didn't know - who turned out to be close friends with my mother's best friend - came in with a volunteer choir of three. They sang the Shabbat prayers and Mi Shibeirach at her bedside. What followed them was a volunteer cellist, who turned out to have joined the sister symphony conducted by the same man as her own. He played for nearly forty minutes for her.

The next day, when she passed, she passed as one final Shabbat ended, candles lit by her bedside.

In her last anguished days she slept as peacefully as we could let her sleep, in a dying coma. We read out every message of well wishing, of every condolence, every memory shared. Every tear shed, every laugh, we held vigil, held watch over her. Her husband of so many years, her daughter, her son-in-law, her sisters, her best friend, our family friends, her mother... and me.

The last words she said to me before I left for work the day before she went to the ER for the last time were, "goodbye, I love you."

The last time I saw her, I kissed her pale cheek, hugged her still form, and whispered, "goodbye, I love you."

[formulalfc]

VVD is a serial cheater and has been cheating on Rike since his Celtic days, in fact the tabloids caught him coming out of a flat with a pornstar and it was a pretty big story. Every time he gets time off he goes partying in Ibiza - typically without his family, and you can guess what happens. He has a reputation of a good family man but it really isn't true, he's a good father but that's about it.

Trent tried to cheat on his ex Hannah Atkins with a British YouTuber’s (WillNE) girlfriend, Mia Mon by dming her.

Harvey and Curtis have both been spotted in "parties" aimed at footballers/other celebrities which are just events with lots of girls who are influences, models and the such, so that footballers can take them back home for sex. It's not confirmed they've cheated for sure, but why else would you go to these parties while you have a girlfriend?

Macca cheated on his girlfriend of around 10 years... with her best friend. He then left that girlfriend and is now dating the best friend.

There are also rumours of Salah cheating but I'm hoping and praying it's fake because nothing is very substantial, it's just speculation and rumours put together by people.

I'm sure there are some more, but these are the major ones. See, I think none of them are bad people - but they are footballers, and dumb as fucking rocks, and their wives/gfs all put up with them and some even allow their partner to sleep around as long as they stay with their partner. It's sad how almost every athlete is expected to cheat and then actually does it.

my mouth is agape

what the ever loving shit

i actually don't have words to say

i knew about the trent one and had heard bits about the virgil stuff but the rest i'm like absolutely gobsmacked really

wow

[immacaria]

My Favourite Things

Rules: There are no rules, just as many of my favourite things as I can remember

I was tagged by lovely @aquilathefighter and amazing @virgo-dream

Now, in no particular order, my favourite things:

1. My mom, my father and my twin ❤

2. My five beautiful online wives.

@arialerendeair @pintobordeaux @honeyteacakes @galacticstingray Otto, I love all of you so, so much. All of you are so important to me, you have no idea.

3. Writing

4. Reading

5. SLEEPING! GOD I LOVE SLEEPING!

6. The Dreamling Nation server

7. Studio Ghibli movies

8. The Sandman fandom

9. Hob's amazing phrase: "There's so much to live for"

10. Books

11. Music

12. Studio Ghibli movies

13. My friends

14. My cousin

15. Fluff and fics that romanticise life

16. MY LIFE (I'm alive, I'm breathing, I'm experiencing new things every day. How amazing is that???)

17. My cat, that cute menace

18. The 'I can do it ~ a playlist' I listen to every day

19. To be truly honest and highly selfish, my new mindset

20. My anger, it has protected me when I couldn't

21. My fluff blanket for keeping me warm at night and helping comfort me at any time

22. Food! Food is so good, man, eating is such a good thing

23. The Dreamling Nation coffee menaces that will give me a heart attack one of these days

24. Being known as Stitch 🥰

25. When people call me Macca

26. Mi hermana mayor @the-cloudy-dreamer! The most amazing, wonderful and kind online big sister of all

27. Auntie @mathomhouse-e!!!!

28. Every single day, even the bad days, because it means I'm still alive, I'm still here

29. Seeing my family and friends laugh

30. Love, all kinds of love

31. Being alive

32. Maurice, my mood octopus plushie. I love that little guy

33. Mócoca, my cow plushie

34. My cupcake fluffy blanket (which is different from the first one I mentioned, that one has flowers and hearts on it)

35. FOUNTAIN👏PENS👏ARE👏AMAZING

36. Driving and listening to music

37. Sleeping, sleeping is good and the more the merrier (I probably mentioned this already, but as I said, the more the merrier)

38. My laughter because it reminds me 1. There is good in the world and 2. I still know how to laugh and be happy

39. My pink headset, mouse, mouse pad and keyboard (See, Pinto, I have one and I use it, but, ehh, I don't write fast with it)

40. My twin's stories

41. My stepdad, for he made both my twin and my mom happy

42. My irl name

43. Making others happy

44. My younger sibling @firemandeanbuck because you, my dear, is bloody amazing

45. MY CHILD @yourlocal-charlatan

46. Others' happiness

...And I'm going to stop here because I could go on for days lmaoo. I tagged a lot of people already but I'm also going to tag @questing-wulfstan @lenreli @rooftopwreck @gabessquishytum @ferelden-loser @wintersmitth and @staroftheendless to do this. I love all of you ♥️

[blubushie]

I know your away right now so i dont expect an answer any time soon. I noticed that there's a way of shortening names and adding suffixes to them in australian slang. Are there specific rules to this? {I looked at your infodump masterlist and didn't find a link like this so sorry if you already talked about it}

Here are my questions:

What are the social expectations for the slang names? Who, in relation to the person whose name is being australiafied, uses them? Family and friends, or is it something anybody can do for anybody? Is it ok to use them in formal situations? Are there certain people where it is unacceptable to shorten their name?

Does it only apply to first names? Or can middle names and surnames be used? Is calling someone exclusively by their middle name or last name something people even do in australia?

Is gender taken into consideration? Is age?

Does it depend on the length of the name? Does the sound of the name affect the way it becomes australianified? Does it depend on consanants and vowels? Are there names too short to australianify? Are there names too long to australianify? Are there names that are impossible to australianify?

How would you shorten these names {you dont have to do all of them but i would like it if you did}?

Male names: Mark, Jack, Xavier, Silvio, Peter, Luc, Emile, Chuckie, Dave, Steven

Female names: Alice, Isabelle, Zehra, Yasmina, Saraphina, Simonne, Amy, Rebecca, Chantal

Thats it! Thank you and hope you had a good trip!

I have a post about how Australia adapts nicknames here! :]

As for your questions? Let's go!

Who uses nicknames?

Family and mates, but they're also used by coworkers in more casual work settings where you're generally mates with your coworkers, like trades or agriculture. You wouldn't call a stranger by a nickname.

Is it okay to use them in formal situations?

No, not unless you're very close with the person and you're alone. I would call my boss drover by his nickname but only when I was talking to him man-to-man and not as my boss.

Are there certain people where it's unacceptable to shorten their name?

No. Even our prime minister was called ScoMo (short for Scott Morrison), and by the press no less!

Does it only apply to first names, or can middle and surnames be used?

Nope! If your surname starts with Mc (like McDonald) then you will be called Macca or Mac. That's your nickname now and you're gonna hafta deal. Additionally if your hair colour is red you're gonna be called Blue as a joke. Or Red.

Is calling someone exclusively by their middle or surname something people do in Australia?

Only in formal situations ("Mr Carter") and/or if your surname is the root of your nickname, like in the case of Macca.

Is gender or age taken into consideration?

Not really! Hazza = Harry, but Shazza = Sharon.

Does it depend on the length of the name?

Nah. Generally shorter names are harder to abbreviate into nicknames though, so you'll often be called by a identifier instead. For the first few years of my life I was Blue because I was a strawberry blonde when I was that was often mistaken for a ranga. Part of the reason I was called this is because "Joseph" only has "Joey" and "Joey", which I went by (and still go by) more often than my full name, is already a nickname.

Does the sound of the name affect the way it becomes a nickname?

Not really.

Does it depend on the consonants and vowels?

Not in my experience. More just... what feels right? Hard to explain.

Are there names too long to make into nicknames?

Nah! The whole point is Aussies hate long words and love to shorten them.

Are there names that are impossible to make into nicknames?

Joey, apparently.

How would you shorten Mark, Jack, Xavier, Silvio, Peter, Luc, Emile, Chuckie, Dave, and Steven?

Marko/Marco, Jacko, Xavo, Silvo, Pete, Luca, Emile I don't reckon we'd shorten, Chuck, Davo, Stevo.

How would you shorten Alice, Isabelle, Zehra, Yasmina, Saraphina, Simonne, Amy, Rebecca, and Chantal?

Alice wouldn't be shortened, Isabelle would be Isa/Izzy/Belle/Bella, Zehra wouldn't be shortened I don't think (never heard the name before), Yazza, Sara, Simonne wouldn't be shortened I don't think, Amy, Becca, Chazza.

Thank you for the ask and the well-wishes! :]

[post-futurism]

ok i binged the bear and i have thoughts about it in comparison to the menu which everyone for some unfucking believable reason loves rn

like not to get heavy but the main character and his brother really reminded me of this guy i used to work with at maccas... like fulll trigger warning. but this guy kit was so great he was so funny and so charismatic and really got shit done while at maccas. i remember this one time it was fucking nuts the printer was printing out receipts like no tomorrow just like in the bear and we were just getting fucking pumped. i remember he took a quick break by going the short walk to the wash up sink, filling a bucket of water with ice and dumping it over his head. and then went back to the line and kept slamming out burgers. he was a fuckin machine. i knew he was doing drugs and shit most of the managers were. he was manager. he was 19. anwyay i found out a few years ago that he killed himself 🙁 it's fucked man like the hospitality industry and patriarchy and capitalism fucking kills. like ik he had shit going on in his own personal life bc his dad was a military man and i think that and the combination of having undiagnosed adhd and working in an environment like maccas and having a predaliction to taking drugs all were contributing factors to his OD but i do think that working in a fast paced fucking fucked up environment like maccas could have easily been one of the major factors to that. 

and it’s just like interesting i guess that the media lately has been making these shows like the bear and the menu that are about hospitality workers but done in different ways. full disclosure i really did not like the menu. like anya taylor joy beautiful as always little freaky looking alien love that bitch but her role as a sex worker was not enough to redeem the whole film imo. it’s just so wild to me that this film is getting the attention that it is when it’s a fucking fantasy. it’s a fantasy. the people who are in those positions... the hopsitality workers... i just could not believe for a second that any of those staff would have gone along with what the chef had envisioned because they too are part of the working class. they are not protected. the menu very much felt like it was written by someone who thought they were woke enough to see how hospitality staff were treated by the elite but lacked the empathy and real life experience of someone who had actually lived that. 

like the bear is a much more accurate portrayal of what it’s LIKE man. like it’s fucking like that!!!! and anyway it’s interesting that there’s this fascination i guess with hospitality staff as a topic of cinema. i think it was more accurately done in the bear than the menu in terms of like. what the workers would actually do. and i guess that the menu is getting more critic attention or whatever because it’s a psuedo horror and americans fucking love horror. they love that shit. they love gore and suspense and mind fuckery. and i wonder if that element was taken out of the menu somehow, would it still have had as much attention? like if it was a comedy like the bear would it have had as much award nominations or whatever idek if it has but people on tumblr talk about it like it does. 

i just like. i really felt like the menu was really unmoving. it was banal. it was a rich person’s persepctive of what it’s like to work in hospitality like some kind of fucking jerk off oh what if my chef wanted to kill me how hot kind of thing. in the end it doesn’t matter if you’re working at maccas or you’re working at a family restaurant or at a fucking high end restaurant on an island, the workers rights are still the same. you are still treated like garbage and you are still workign for shitty pay for shitty hours and you are still out there for some faux family loyalty you have for whoever is runnign that place as if they saved your fucking life. as if they have your best interests at heart and are gonna give you the world. 

like i don’t think the menu got that? like why. why would that chick think it was a brilliant idea for everyone to die. i just don’t. i don’t get it. it’s fucked but it’s inconceivable. for the menu to have worked better it should have gone into more of the motivations of the workers other than the chef because it just doesn’t work the way they showed it. the staff have literally everything to lose. the workers in the bear? they have worked there for years. michael was their family. they fucking loved that place. they put their sweat and tears into it. they are tied to it regardless of who died. whereas the menu was more about humanising the guests than the workers and that’s where they went really wrong. 

anyway i do think that the end of the bear was weak. they should have like idk. continued to struggle and potentially fold as a business and ultimately i think chefs have a better quality of life when they aren’t in a restaurant but like. i just cannot deal with the amout of people who are frothing over the menu like shut up. do three (3) shifts at mcdonalds and then we can talk. 

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Tuesday, 27 June 2023:

Wild Life (Deluxe Edition) Wings (Capitol) (reissue released in 2018, original album released in 1971)

This was the third album (the second album has yet to find it's way to my mailbox) I bought in the bizarre Sound of Vinyl sale I spoke about in the previous post involving The Jam's compilation Snap!. That sale involved upwards of 175 titles that were free of charge but for which the customer would have to pay shipping costs. The Jam's double album with bonus 45 cost a mere $8 and change to mail, but this double album (with no bonus 45) cost $10 and change.

So why am I buying a Macca album that I've never much cared (and truth be told, like so many other things in my collection, I once owned this back in the day)? Well, it wasn't because it was free. On 13 May I finally made my way through the massive book The McCartney Legacy Volume 1: 1969-1973 and boy, did I develop a taste for those early records of his that are discussed in detail within the book: 1970's McCartney, 1971's Wild Life and 1973's Red Rose Speedway. Even crazier is the fact just two weeks ago I watched the bonus Blu Rays in the Super Deluxe version of Red Rose Speedway because they included one television show I've not seen since it aired on TV and then another show that has never aired.

The first was the one hour TV special James Paul McCartney, a bizarre variety special that is corny beyond cornball. It aired in 1973 and featured the original members of Wings (the McCartneys, of course, along with Denny Laine, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell). The second special that McCartney devised and created that is just terrible to a certain degree: The Bruce McMouse Show. Both of these shows are discussed at length in the book. In Bruce McMouse, the premise is Wings are giving a concert (some of it is authentic, some of it obviously staged--Macca's phony introductions to the songs are colossally staged) and their music disrupts a family of animated mice living below the stage where Wings is performing.

This silly premise and show caused dissension in the ranks of Wings (McCullough and Seiwell were none too pleased with the fact they had to act with an imaginary animated mouse family). The animation is pure Saturday morning cartoons and the script (for the mouse family) is abysmal humor like you find in the worst of comedy television.

The live show, on the other hand, is fantastic. Wings is one rocking band. I believe the live show presented was from late 1970, perhaps very early 1971 and Wings is on fire. Denny Laine wears black nail polish (okay, on just one nail, but still), Henry McCullough is a hell of a live lead guitarist and at one point falls down on his back and rips out a guitar solo all while Denny Seiwell proves to be a magnificent drummer. (I ended up really liking the latter two musicians via the book's presentation, and ended up really disliking Mrs Macca.)

So what does that have to do with this album? In this concert they let loose with a live version of Wild Life that I simply got stuck in my head for one week! This is the only version of the song I've played (in my playing the three albums I mentioned, I cherry picked what I played and the title track of Wild Life was not one I played because I had yet to see The Bruce McMouse Show. When I saw this album offered for free on the Sound of Vinyl, I snapped it up after one day of deliberation. I plan on blasting the title track later this week!

Above you see the cover of the album with a hype sticker followed by the gatefold and then the back of the album cover. And man, is that not one of the worst haircuts McCartney suffered from back then? Did he invent the mullet?

Below you will see a close up of that hype sticker on the album cover. The second photo shows you the sticker that is on the back of the album which announces the tracklist.

This album comes with a booklet. Below is the cover of the booklet. That is a drawing Macca did of his vision of what the group looked like. The second photo is the back of the booklet.

I don't normally shoot photos of plain inner sleeves, but this album has an inner sleeve that mimics the original sleeve. It is certainly far different from the normal white inner sleeve as you can see.

When I bought this album I remember thinking these were the weirdest record labels I'd ever seen. I'm not claiming Macca was the first person to use photos on labels, but I certainly cannot recall any before although I'm certain there has to be some I have forgotten. Anyhow, the book I keep mentioning does a good job explaining why Macca opted for his labels to look like this and why he refused to allow the Apple logo on any of his first two post-Fabs releases (think Apple lawsuit and his abhorrence of Allen Klein). You make your claims for Lennon being the smart Beatle and the defacto leader and I'll make my claims for it being Macca. Anyhow, below are both sides of the labels for the first album, the album proper.

The second album is all outtakes, singles and single edits. It too is found in a yellow sleeve, so I didn't shoot a photo of that. But I did provide photos for both sides of the label.

[jobey-wan-kenobi]

Ooh, I'm enjoying your reactions to the album that I love to defend. Does it deserve my defense? Ehhh somewhat, but mostly I'm just contrarian.

But "No Reply" and "I'm a Loser" are indeed an awesome one-two start! I'm very weak for "No Reply." This whole album is great for John and Paul doing double... harmony? Not even harmony so much as instead of double-tracking John's lead vocals they have Paul track him instead.

I dig "Baby's in Black" but you are SHARP to pick up on the fact that they are cringe-ily in earnest about the narrator's self-pity party. Yeah, I don't think it's ironic. Lotsa songs from mid-century are like this tbh. I was just listening to the Classics IV's "Stormy" the other day and thinking the song is actually a total banger so long as you can overlook the speaker's self-centered man-angst. Very similar to "BiB." My girlfriend's suddenly depressed and this is a tragedy for... ME!

I honestly love "Rock and Roll Music." One of my favors covers from them. Chuck Berry and John Lennon, whatta pair. *covers eyes with my palm* But, well, whatever else they were, Chuck was a great lyricist and John can bloody well sing a song! I love how he preserves Chuck's trick of omitting the 'n' of 'rock n roll' at the end of each chorus. We've got rocks to roll! Ain't nobody got time for conjunctions! This one just has frenetic fun silly energy.

You continue to hit the nail on the head with the oddly vindictive/arrogant lines that kinda mar the vibes of "I'll Follow the Sun" and, later, "What You're Doing"! (Especially a shame because "What You're Doing" has a really cool sound and arrangement, I love listening to that one.) No surprise, they're both Paul songs! I think a lot of these moments of "... eurghh" you are registering come from Paul. His songs from the Sixties can be super passive-aggressive. I feel so bad for Jane Asher sometimes, Paul sounds like such an exhausting boyfriend. Otoh, you can salvage these songs by reflecting how well they predict his (much better justified!) sentiments when John and John's posse are horrid to him during the band's later break-up! Frankly I think '60s Paul is a recovering people-pleaser - he refrained from so much confrontation as a child dealing with his repressive family and sometimes abusive father - so we see in these songs that he's sort of "practicing" being able to set loving-but-firm boundaries with the people dearest to him. And sometimes the results are super cringe. But this practice did serve him well... and after being 'the jilted girlfriend' himself in the Lennon/McCartney divorce, you see a startling lack of this sort of low-key mean-spiritedness in his music in 1969 and beyond. Sorry, I've gone on a tangent. I've maybe spent too much time analyzing the Macca catalogue, lol. To get back on topic, "I'll Follow the Sun" is a song Paul wrote at like 14 or 15 iirc. Thus I gotta cut it some slack.

I also interpreted "Mr. Moonlight" as gay when I was a kid lol. This is a track most people agree is one of the worst in the Beatle catalogue. I will again be contrarian and say that I love the hollered cold open (MISTAAAAAAAAA MOONLIIIIIIIIGHT), very dramatic and as a performer that would take guts to do live! But I admit the song drags tragically from there. I think the muddy sound was George Martin's attempt to capture the sleazy Hamburg-nightclub-ness of this number for them but it didn't work at all.

"Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey" is two cover songs smushed together, although interestingly Little Richard was the one who smushed them together first. The Frankentitle was his idea (and I always liked it tbh). Accordingly this cover has big "cover of a cover" energy.

"Eight Days a Week" gets ripped as too "commercial." People who hate joy have to rain on the parade. :) I find the words and melody trite and annoying myself... but the sound is still so sunny and fine.

George's guitar sound in "Words of Love" is so neat!! Lovely little cover.

"Honey Don't" is one of my favorite Ringo covers. He's just fun ;)

Another fun fact, "Every Little Thing" was primarily written by Paul, but John gets lead vocals. That's pretty unusual in their songs. One of the few other examples is their very early Quarrymen-era rent-a-studio efforts, "In Spite of All the Danger." I wish they'd done this more often tbh. It's not that Paul can't sing, he absolutely can! But sometimes his songs sound so much better with a bit more of an "edgy" or "rough" voice. (I also think Rihanna killed "FourFive Seconds," for instance. It has a typical Old Paul bridge that always sounds so lame in his own tracks. But Rihanna pulled off that exact same compositional quirk so well!)

"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" is pretty catchy but I can't get over that title/chorus/lyrics lol. I don't object to their rockabilly/faux-country-and-western era at all but this Ain't It.

I'm so glad you mentioned the bass and drums on "What You're Doing," I like them too! They're cooking!

I don't mind the title of "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" but yeah, it's middling. Lotsa people dig it because George is supposedly the shy one and he supposedly pulls off an overwhelmed "aw shucks" everyguy performance here... I don't necessarily hear it myself.

Overall, it is a transitional album (from a band that had already been busy putting out two others that year, while conquering the world on tour and filming a classic movie!) No doubt. But it doesn't stand still - more of a "growing pains" album. They're gangly and awkward as they continue to grow at a tremendous rate! John's lyrics are improving in leaps and bounds, and Paul and Ringo are pushing ahead and making their rhythm section more innovative than before. George is the only one marking time, but to be honest if I had the choice to spend between spending autumn 1964 working on pop songs or romancing Pattie Boyd, I'd be locking down Pattie too <3

Thank you for sharing your reactions, I've been thoroughly enjoying digesting your album thoughts at the beginning of every month!

Beatles for Sale (1964)

What happens when you've used up an album's worth of original compositions and your schedule has been absolutely jam packed? If you're this band, ya release another album, naturally!

I'm a sucker for the Autumnal Aesthetic but these lads were not having a jolly time amongst gilded leaves! Featuring George's hair at peak Onion.

This one is infamously very Cover heavy, but does that really make it one of the weakest instalments? I've liked some'a their covers a lot, though the originals often outrank them with good reason. Let's see how the mixture here fares~

SIDE ONE

No Reply: It may reference that archaic device known to older people as a Telephone, but this number is shockingly timeless all the same! A jaunty song about a relationship that has either fizzled out, or the POV character has been cucked without a formal breakup. Even though it is about ghosting and resentment, it's got a great rhythm and energy to it, plus I'm also very fond of the "Your Face" version from the Anthology uploads.

I'm a Loser: Another oddly catchy song given the introspection and distinctly downbeat subject. There's something about how fun the music becomes at the chorus, peak juxtaposition~ Harmonica makes a bold return, too! It's one of the most dance-able depression songs so far!

Baby's in Black: A clear narrative is stated here, of the Singer lamenting that the object of his affections is busy grieving over someone else. I get the impression that the mourning is in fact literal, that the other beau is dead and buried, and that we ain't s'posed to side with the Main Character for being a self-centred berk about it (but some of the AHDN songs plant a seed of doubt for the Irony take, given how there's spite and selfishness in those...!). Anyway, the song itself is serviceable but not as notable as the prev numbers.

Rock and Roll Music: Ah, our first cover! It's good and well played but I don't think our lads really bring anything to the table that the Chuck Berry didn't already provide. I listened to that right after and neither version lights a fire in me.

I'll Follow the Sun: This has a very nice, mellow sound to it, but it has a bit of the snag I found on AHDN's 2nd side; that it seems to be a "You're gonna regret this" song. The reoccurring "But Tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the Sun" sounds optimistic and hopeful but when it's surrounded by the passive aggressive sentiment... I will say it's possible I've got the wrong end of the stick [The prev album was an Experience lmao], but it does seem telling that this original number is like, never Iconic lol

Mr. Moonlight: MISTAAAAAAHHHHHH. Another cover but idk the original. Sounds a little more gay than normal, if they're gonna personify The Moon as a guy and declare their love for him :v

Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey: I have a slight dislike of this just cause it took me longer to write the title out. So it's a cover, but of 2 songs mashed together? Paul is bringing his impression of a deeper voice and the instrumentation is very nice but eehhhh. It's not one I'm gonna go back to lmao

SIDE TWO

8 Days a Week: Finally some good fucking food!! A much needed injection of cheer, and while it seems the Bugs themselves didn't think that much of it sometimes a simple sweet song is a nice thing to boogie to.

Words of Love: Ah, Buddy Holly? Their idol and main reason for the Beatle moniker? Seems to be a decent cover of one of his numbers, while there ain't many lyrics the guitar and drums are very nice, though I could do without the clapping.

Honey Don't: Ringo's vocal return since With The Beatles! This song doesn't do much for me but the little flourishes thrown in like "Rock on George, for Ringo one time!" and fab guitar work have me smiling~

Every Little Thing: Annoyingly my brain keeps autofilling 'she does is magic' and then I find it harder to remember how this one sounds. But it's actually a stronger song on this here album, another Actually Pleasant one! The timpani has such a dramatic presence but for once I'm not concerned about the girl's safety like I am in other ones lmao

I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: This sad song is set to another jaunty rhythm that kicks into a higher gear for the bridge... hmm, seems to be the main thesis of this album, innit! Kudos for this POV feller to at least try being a bit more self aware. This ends a little bit abruptly, which makes it another shade different to I'm A Loser.

What You're Doing: "Oh babe you've crossed me and I'm gonna make a big deal about it in song form" song. I've heard lotsa these on this and the prev album!! But while I'm repeating the same sentiments about them doing that, I looove the guitar and drum work on this very mid lyrical assortment.

Everybody's Trying to be My Baby: Another tedious title! Another cover, too. George's only vocal on this one and I don't think it's great. I do like Rock and or Roll but the ones this album uses don't make a strong impression on me. Guitar good.

CONCLUSION

Best 3: No Reply, I'm a Loser, 8 Days a Week

Blurst 3: Kansas City/Hey [x4], What You're Doing, Everybody's [...] Baby

Overall Quality?: It took the 2nd side of the record for the first original song on the album to be energetic and sincere without slightly concealed bad vibes! That's pretty dang indicative of what the Burnout Album has to offer. There's a fair bit of mildly good Rock 'n' Roll, lotsa great instrument playing, but man oh man this isn't a Good Time Had By All.

But I must make clear that the good songs, are great! And some of the miseryfests are still catchy lol. Before I listened to all the songs I was ready to bat for this being an underrated gem, but hmmm, no actually it is a weak one. But I can give them the benefit of Early[ish] Day Feet Finding + HUGE MASSIVE PRESSURE being why it's a bit on the limp side. I felt more disappointed in A Hard Day's Night side 2 than with this, though my "C'mon dudes" reasoning is pretty much the same, and this has more Mid Covers.

🪲🪲🪲🪲

Well, after an underwhelming release like that and yet their fame continues to balloon bigger and bigger, would it be fair to say the Beatles needed Help!? ;3c

[thecoleopterawithana]

The Making Of ‘RAM’ (1971)

Paul: Linda and I were travelling through Scotland heading north from Glasgow. As I’m driving I’m just thinking — Linda often used to say she could see my brain working; my face would get a look on it, and that would just be me filing through ideas — and I just hit upon the word ‘ram’. It’s a strong, male animal. And then there’s the idea of ‘ramming’: of pushing forward strongly. 

[neutronice]

Home

Can you imagine Victor, scared out of his mind that he's about to lose Maccachin, that he left Yuuri alone, arriving in Fukuoka and there's Mari to pick him up.

He gets back to Yu-topia and Hiroko has made katsudon for him and she and Mari are apologizing for not watching as they rush to the vet.

When he gets to the vet there's Minako (because she's the most fluent in english) translating statement by statement what the vet says.

Maccachin is fine and heads home, leaving Victor to freak out about Yuuri at Rostelecom. Suddenly the Nishigoris have come over to ask if Victor needs anything, and they all sit and watch Yuuri's Rostelecom skate in the middle of the night together. Hiroko, Minako, Mari, and Toshiya all join them.

And Victor just thinks to himself... "when did i become part of this family?" all while the triplets are snuggled into him on one side and Macca on the other.

For a man whose family is never mentioned at all, whose company is snubbed even by his coach (Yakov ILY but you were a jerk at Beijing) traveling from where home technically is to Hasetsu, and realizing that now home is something different.

Home is where Yuuri is. Because that’s where family is too.

[mclennonlgbt]

Not to wear my tin foil hat too tight, but is it just me or is “Ballroom Dancing” queer coded af?

Hello! I never listened to lyrics of "Ballroom Dancing" too carefully, but thanks to you I did it and… holy crap! Yes, it's heavily queer-coded!

A bit of history: Ballroom culture, especially in New York, was inherently queer, African-American and Latino. In times when otherness wasn't acceptable, ballrooms were safe spaces. As Wikipedia says, "most participants in Ballroom belong to groups known as "houses," where chosen families of friends form relationships and communities separate from their families of origin, from which they may be estranged".

And now let's take a look on Paul's song lyrics: Macca informs us that his early years weren't very good. Of course, he has a fondness for them, but still believes that it's better now, because then "we used to fight like cats and dogs" (sounds like sounds like homophobia of society or displacing his own orientation, fighting with himself) and "I didn't cry if it hurt a bit" (again, internalized homophobia or fear that others will discover his queerness when he'll be "too soft"). But finally the breakthrough has come: "Ballroom dancing made a man of me". Could it be more obvious? The metaphor of finding "ballroom dancing" means finding a safe space where one is understood. It could also mean that Paul has finally accepted himself.

Of course, maybe Paul is not singing about himself. Maybe he's playing the role of someone else, such as a queer friend. Different interpretations are possible.

However... I suppose he's singing about himself. Why? Warning: speculation mode. IMO in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Paul became fully aware of his bisexuality and wasn't determined to hide it that much. Here are examples: - Excerpt from 1979 interview where Paul hints he was interested in boys in young age - Lyrics of "Tug of War" (1982) which can be interpreted as queer community fighting with bigotry, especially this excerpt: "In another world, in another world we could stand on top of the mountain with our flag unfurled, In a time to come, in a time to come we will bed dancing to the beat played on a different drum" - Lyrics of "Keep under cover" (1983) which are about hiding love from the world - Flirting with Russ Harty, an open gay man (1983): [x]

Thx for your ask!

[thecoleopterawithana]

Great discussion, very interesting points! It instantly brought to mind Harry Nilsson — John's mate during the Lost Weekend — and his wise assessment:

HARRY: I miss him very much. I’d like to say I was a very close friend. I wasn’t a very close friend – no one was a very close friend to John other than the Beatles. 

GIULIANO: Did he miss the Beatles? Was he mournful about what happened, over the, you know—?

HARRY: Someone told me a few minutes ago they saw John walking on the street [once] wearing a sign saying – a button, rather, saying ‘I Love Paul’. And this girl who told me that said she asked him, “Why are you wearing the button that says ‘I Love Paul’?” He said, “Because I love Paul.” [laughs] 

— Harry Nilsson, interviewed by Geoffrey Giuliano (17 February 1984). 

any man who met john lennon twice: 

I had a really deep meaningful connection with John immediately, we really recognised each other, I really got him and he got me, there was just something there, you know?  Paul was very boring/difficult, he wasn’t like John, he wasn’t on the same level, he didn’t really get John the way I got him; I don’t think they were close.

john lennon:

the person I actually picked as my partner, who I recognised had talent, and I could get on with, was Paul.  I would do anything for him, I think he would do anything for me.  I dug him. If I can’t fight with my best friend, who can I fight with?  He was and still is my closest friend, except for Yoko.  We really did need each other a lot. 

[annecoulmanross]

Top Ten Historical Figures Done Dirty by The Terror (2018)

So, we all know and love Dave Kajganich and Soo Hugh’s beautiful show, right? Of course. But it’s important to set the historical record straight, especially when there are real people’s life-stories and legacies on the line. 

(NOTE: this list is biased heavily toward upper-class individuals because the historical record does a better job preserving those voices for us. Was the real Cornelius Hickey as nasty a person in real life as he was in the show? Almost certainly not – which is why we’re given “E.C.” as a nod to the fact that we shouldn’t assume these characters represent real historical villains, even when the narrative makes them antagonists; HOWEVER, not everyone in the show was given the same courtesy as the OG “Cornelius Hickey.” Which is why this post exists – to show you the best sides of some people you might not otherwise appreciate for their full humanity. That being said, keep in mind the sources used – and, for instance, who has surviving portraits and who doesn’t.)

Thus, below the cut, I give you this list, (mostly) in order from #10 (honorable mention, only somewhat slandered) to #1 (most hideously maligned) – my list of characters from The Terror who deserved better. 

(Please don’t take this too seriously – I know there are reasons why choices had to be made in order to make this show work on television, and I do very much love the end product. But I also genuinely think it’s a good idea to remember the real people behind these characters, and think critically about how we depict them ourselves.) 

Bottom Tier – The Overlooked Men of the Franklin Expedition

#10. Richard Wall – & – John Diggle

We’re combining these two because they had a lot in common, historically speaking! Both were polar veterans, having served as a Cook (Wall) and an AB-then-Quartermaster (Diggle) on HMS Erebus under the command of Sir James Clark Ross in the Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843. Certainly we do get some good scenes with them in the show, but there was plenty more to explore there – for instance, Captain Ross was apparently so taken with Richard Wall that he hired him on as a private cook after the Antarctic expedition. (One imagines that Sir James may have regretted letting his friends of the Franklin expedition steal Wall out from under him.)

(If you want some more information on Diggle, the brilliant @handfuloftime​ found this excellent article on him – fun facts include the detail that Diggle’s only daughter bore the name Mary Ann Erebus Diggle.) 

#9. John Smart Peddie 

Now, I don’t think we should go as far as the Doctor Who Audio Drama adaptation of the Franklin Expedition, which makes Peddie into Francis Crozier’s oldest friend, someone “almost like a brother” to Crozier (no evidence of ANY prior relationship between the two existed, contrary to whatever the Doctor Who Audio Dramas would have you believe!) but Peddie probably earned his place as chief surgeon, however fond we may all be of the beautiful Alex “Macca” MacDonald, who was, in fact, the Assistant Surgeon, historically speaking. It’s hard to find information about Peddie, but someone should go looking! I want to know about this man! 

(If you want to know more about the historical Alexander MacDonald, there’s a short biographical article on him from Arctic that you can read here.)

#8 James Walter Fairholme

The only one of the expedition’s lieutenants who doesn’t really get any characterization in the show, which is a travesty! The historical Fairholme (pronounced “Fairem”) was, as they say, a himbo, and the letters that he wrote home to his father are positively precious. He loved the expedition pets (lots of kisses for Neptune!), and he needed two kayaks because he couldn’t fit into just one with his beefy thighs. Fitzjames loaned him a coat when all the Erebus officers had their portraits taken, and then called him a “smart, agreeable companion, and a well informed man,” and Goodsir singled Fairholme out as “very much interested” in the work of naturalist observations. Just a lovely young man who could have gotten some screen time, you know? 

(Also, as @transblanky​ discovered, four separate members of the Fairholme family gave money to Thomas Blanky’s widow when she was struggling financially in the 1850s, making them, combined, the most generous contributor to her subscription.) 

Middle Tier – Franklin’s Men Who Didn’t Deserve That

#7. William Gibson

Alright, I want to talk about how uniquely horrible the show’s William Gibson is: this is a character willing to lie and accuse his partner of sexual assault that didn’t happen. I get there were extenuating circumstances, but if I were a historical figure who died in some famous disaster and someone depicted me doing something like that? Let’s just say I’m deeply offended on the real Gibson’s behalf. 

What do we know about the historical William Gibson? Not much – but we know a little. Gibson’s younger brother served on an overland exploratory venture across Australia in the 1870s… from which he never returned. (God, the Gibson family had the worst luck?) This description of a conversation that young Alf Gibson had with expedition leader Ernest Giles only days before his death is VERY eerie: 

[Gibson] said, “Oh! I had a brother who died with Franklin at the North Pole, and my father had a deal of trouble to get his pay from government.” He seemed in a very jocular vein this morning, which was not often the case, for he was usually rather sulky, sometimes for days together, and he said, “How is it, that in all these exploring expeditions a lot of people go and die?” 

I said, “I don't know, Gibson, how it is, but there are many dangers in exploring, besides accidents and attacks from the natives, that may at any time cause the death of some of the people engaged in it; but I believe want of judgment, or knowledge, or courage in individuals, often brought about their deaths. Death, however, is a thing that must occur to every one sooner or later.” 

To this he replied, “Well, I shouldn't like to die in this part of the country, anyhow.” In this sentiment I quite agreed with him, and the subject dropped.

(From Giles’s Australia Twice Traversed which you can read here) 

Beyond that, one thing we do know is that William Gibson was probably friends with Henry Peglar – they had served on ships together before, and Gibson may possibly have been the poor fellow found cradling the Peglar Papers, according to researcher Glenn Stein. So we might imagine the historical Gibson as a much kinder man than the show’s depiction of him – this was someone who befriended the clever, playful Peglar we all know and love from the transcriptions of his papers, so full of poetry and linguistic jokes. It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to meet this real Gibson, who actually knew the Henry Peglar whom we love so well.

#6. Stephen Stanley

Look. There’s that one famous line in James Fitzjames’s letters to the Coninghams about how Stanley went about with his “shirt sleeves tucked up, giving one unpleasant ideas that he would not mind cutting one’s leg off immediately – ‘if not sooner.’” And certainly Harry Goodsir had some mixed opinions of the man, saying was “a would be great man who as I first supposed would not make any effort at work after a time,” and that he “knows nothing whatever about subject & is ignorant enough of all other subjects,” whatever…. that means…. 

But Fitzjames also had some rather nicer things to say about him, that he was “thoroughly good natured and obliging and very attentive to our mess.” Also, the amputation comment? Very likely had a quite positive underlying joke to it – Stanley may not have been much of a naturalist, but he was actually an accomplished anatomist, who won a prize for dissection in 1836, on account of his “bend of the elbow,” which was “a picture of dissection,” according to Henry Lonsdale, who also called Stanley his “facetious friend” and “a fine fellow” (Lonsdale 1870, pg. 159). So, the real Stanley probably was rather droll, but the perpetually cruel Stanley of the show misses some of the real man’s major historical virtues and replaces them with historically unlikely mass-mercy-murder. 

#5. John Irving

Now we’re getting into the territory of characters who did get some good development, but are missing a bit of historical nuance. As I’m sure many of you know, the historical Irving was indeed very religious, but the flashes of anger (i.e. against Manson) we see from Irving in the show don’t seem terribly consistent with the Irving depicted in this memorial volume, where John seems more like a quiet, bookish, mathematically inclined young man, with a self-deprecating sense of humor and a gentle sweetness. It’s really not at all far off from the version of Irving we see with Kooveyook in the show – I just wish we could have seen more of that side of Irving. 

Top Tier – The Triumvirate of Polar Friends

So, these three DO have many good things to recommend them in the show, but because I’ve done such deep research on them, it can be quite jarring to watch certain scenes in which they behave contrary to their historical personalities, and I find myself pausing when watching the show with friends or family to explain that NO, they wouldn’t do that! 

#4. Sir James Clark Ross

First thing – we LOVE Richard Sutton. He did a beautiful job with the material given to him. (This is true of all the actors on the list, frankly, but it’s doubly true here.) But that scene at the Admiralty where Sir James tells Lady Franklin “I have many friends on those ships, as you know,” to shut down her argument for search missions? At that time (aka 1847), historically, Sir James Clark Ross was actively campaigning for search missions, planning routes and volunteering his services in command of any vessel the Admiralty even vaguely contemplated sending out. You could see this real-life desperation in Sir James’s morose attention to his whiskey glass in that scene if you’re really trying, but I think the more historically responsible thing would have been to make vividly clear that James Ross risked life and limb, as soon as he possibly could, to try to rescue Franklin and Crozier and Blanky, men he’d known and cared about and bitterly missed – and, in the case of Crozier, “truly loved.” 

#3. Sir John Franklin

The historical Franklin had plenty of flaws – his contributions to British colonial rule certainly harmed no small number of people, and we should question the way that heroic statues of Franklin are some of the only memorials that serve to honor the lives lost on Franklin’s expeditions – especially considering the steep body count of not only Franklin’s final voyage, but his previous missions in Arctic regions as well. (DM me and I’ll scream at you about counter-monuments! Is this a promise or a threat? Who knows!) With that said, most contemporary accounts agree that Sir John Franklin treated his friends, his family, and those within his social orbit with kindness, and his cruelties were systemic, not personal. In this light, the image of Sir John viciously tearing into Francis Crozier’s vulnerabilities in the show feels very off. Though there was certainly some friction over Crozier’s two proposals to Sophia Cracroft, historically speaking, there’s no evidence at all that Sir John discouraged her from marrying Francis – Sophia may have had many reasons of her own (*clears throat meaningfully in a lesbian sort of way*) for not accepting any of the several marriage proposals offered to her (from Crozier as well as from others), and we ought to keep in mind that she remained unmarried all her life. The notion that the real Sir John would have considered Crozier too low-born or too Irish to be part of the Franklin family isn’t grounded in historical fact.

#2. Lady Jane Franklin

Again disclaimer: the real Lady Franklin left behind a legacy with much to critique. Those who rightfully point out the racism of her treatment of the young indigenous Tasmanian girl Mathinna should be fully heard out. Observations of her own contributions to imperialism are important and valid. Though I tend to see her feud with Dr. John Rae as somewhat understandable – given that Lady Franklin didn’t have the benefit of our hindsight knowing Rae was correct – the levels of prejudice that she enabled and even encouraged in the writing of Charles Dickens when he attempted to discredit Inuit accounts of Franklin’s fate are inarguably deplorable. These things being said, everything noted for Sir John re: Sophia Cracroft goes for Lady Franklin as well – there’s no reason to imagine a scene where Jane would bully Francis Crozier within an inch of his life, seconds after a failed second proposal, when, historically, Lady Franklin felt the situation was so delicate that it required the quiet and compassionate intervention of Sir James Clark Ross, a dearly loved mutual friend to all parties. Tension does not imply aggression; conflict is not abuse. We know this can’t have been an easy experience for the historical Francis Crozier, but the picture is a lot more complicated than what can be shown in one small subplot of a ten-episode television show. Because of this complexity, however, Lady Franklin’s social deftness suffers in the show. (I could also write an entire essay about Jane Franklin’s last shot in the show, at the beginning of Episode 9: The C the C the Open C – TL;DR is that framing is very important, and, at the very last moment, the show reframes Lady Franklin as a mutilated corpse, a speaking mouth without a brain, which is….. a choice.)

And, at number 1, the person done most dirty by The Terror (2018) is….

#1. Charles Frederick “Freddy” Des Voeux 

Look. I’m biased here because I am fed daily information about the historical Freddy Des Voeux from @frederickdesvoeux​ so I’ve become, I think understandably, a bit attached. 

But this is very plainly the clearest cruelty the show does to a historical figure – the historical Des Voeux was a very young man (only around 20 when the ships set sail) known always as “Frederick or Freddy” to his family, and described by all parties as bright and sweet – Fitzjames said that he was “a most unexceptionable, clever, agreeable, light-hearted, obliging young fellow, and a great favourite of Hodgson’s, which is much in his favour besides,” and described him cheerfully helping to catch specimens for Goodsir. Des Voeux is named “dear” by Captain Osborn in Erasmus Henry Brodie’s 1866 poem on the Franklin Expedition (43) and Leo McClintock reported the young man’s well-known “intelligence, gallantry, and zeal” in his 1869 update to his account of the Franklin Expedition’s fate (xlii). None of this is consistent with Des Voeux’s behaviour in the show, especially in the later episodes. 

To reduce Des Voeux to an easily-detested figure, over whose death one might cheer, is not a kindness – the creation of a narrative where his death is satisfying does damage to the memory of a real person, a barely-more-than-teenager who died in the cold of the Arctic and left behind only scraps of a shirt and a spidery signature in the bottom margin of a fragmentary document. 

Television shows may need their villains, but it’s important to remember that real life isn’t like that. Surely the historical Frederick Des Voeux was most likely not a perfect person, and, as an upper class officer contributing to a British imperial project, he does bear some responsibility for the harm done by the Franklin expedition, but it’s not accurate to assume he was any less worthy of sympathy than the other officers who considered him a friend – those men whom we now venerate, like James Fitzjames. So as far as I’m concerned, Freddy Des Voeux deserves at least as much consideration, care, and compassion from us. 

[lick-me-lennon22]

George caring for a sick Dhani 💜

(thank you to @pmak2002 for this request!! it was supposed to be just a blurb but I did a little research beforehand and it ended up pretty much becoming a whole fic 😅 oops... either way, I hope you enjoy this one! 💕)

When Dhani wakes up for school on Monday morning, he immediately knows something his wrong. His throat is sore, his nose is runny, and his muscles ache like nothing he's felt before. He painstakingly drags himself out of bed, clutching the sheet around him, and heads straight to his parents' bedroom where he finds his mum Olivia still in bed. Dhani notices that the bathroom door is cracked open and cautiously steps inside to find his father, George, brushing his teeth. "Dad..?" he says quietly, voice hoarse. George startles, turning around to see Dhani in his unfortunate state and spits his mouthful of toothpaste into the sink, letting the water wash it down the drain before turning the tap off. "What is it, my boy? You sound bloody awful..," he gently presses the back of his hand to Dhani's forehead to assess his temperature. "You seem to be running quite the fever, son- let's get you to the doctor, all right? Just let me finish up in here and I'll be right out to take ye" George says. Dhani nods weakly, coughing into his elbow, and shuffles out of the room. George jumps into action- he swishes and spits some mouthwash, changes out of his sleepwear into a button-up and jeans, and sprints to the car, his son following close behind him and hopping into the passenger's seat.

 

"This is ridiculous.." George mutters under his breath as he walks his son out of the clinic and gets into the driver's seat of his car. They had been able to see the doctor almost instantly upon arriving; he had taken some swabs, run a few tests, and determined that Dhani had contracted the flu: "He probably picked it up from school," the doc had said. When George had requested a prescription of some kind to alleviate his son's symptoms, the doctor simply shook his head: "I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for him. The flu's been going around at many schools, I've seen a lot of children this past week with the same complaints. As it stands, all I can tell you is to give him some over-the-counter medicine, bring him some saltwater to gargle for that sore throat, and be sure he gets plenty of fluids and bedrest." George tried to argue, stating that there must be something he can do to cure Dhani of his illness sooner- but as the doc's hands were tied and George didn't want to subject his son to more stress, he took Dhani by the hand and led him out of the office, through the lobby, and back to the car. "Alright, my boy," George sighs- "seeing that the doctor was no help whatsoever, we're headed straight to the drugstore for anything that'll help you feel better. Sound good?"

"Yeah Dad, sounds good" Dhani croaks out and smiles weakly, glad just to spend some time with his father. Being a famous musician and all, George isnt able to spend as much time with his son as he'd like to, a lot of it consumed by work and media-related endeavors. Dhani admired his Dad more than anyone else in his life and though they rarely got the chance to hang out nowadays, they were practically best friends and had formed a close bond throughout his childhood. George was always a fun parent, bringing his son along to festivals and such ("Don't tell yer mum," he'd say with a grin), and sticking up for Dhani to authority figures and even other kids at his school- he was fiercely protective of his boy. However, he was also a gentle parent who allowed Dhani the chance to explore and express himself, and had fostered a mutual respect between the two of them since his son was but a toddler.

"I'm pulling you from school for the whole week" "But what if I'm- *cough*- all better before then?" "Just in case, Dhani- it's not like you really need them and their indoctrination, anyway.." George grumbles, never having been a fan of traditional schools or their teachings. Dhani however has always cared about his grades and paid close attention to the lessons he's been taught, in spite of what his father thinks. "...Okay, Dad" he says meekly, wanting to protest but unwilling to sacrifice more quality time with his famous father. George pulls into the parking lot of the nearest drugstore and marches in, intent on gathering all the supplies his sick boy could need: tissues, lozenges, cough syrup, pain medication, ice packs, and even more tissues- 'just in case.' He makes his way to the checkout, queuing up, paying for the items and hauling his bags back to the car. He drives Dhani home as quickly as possible, carrying him to bed and tucking him in before calling and cancelling any studio time, interviews, or collaborations he'd previously planned. There's only one committment he can't cancel- dinner with Paul tonight for the first time in ages. George sets his son up with all of the remedies he'd bought and tells his wife Olivia everything about the situation, including the "unhelpful and useless" doctor they had gone to see. She of course agrees to care for Dhani, sending her husband on his way to dinner with one of his long-time best friends.

 

The following day George rises just before noon, having stayed up late to pal around with Macca. He runs the few errands on his agenda, including grabbing his family some lunch, and pulls into his driveway back home where he spots the vehicle of none other than Richard Starkey parked outside. He makes his way to his son's room to discover that Uncle Ringo had come to visit the sick young lad (having found out from Paul that Dhani had come down with a bad case of the flu), joking and cheering him up to distract him from his poor state. The two close friends chat for some time in the living room before Ritchie departs, Olivia checking up on Dhani in the meantime. George thanks his wife and dismisses her from her nurse duties, taking on the responsibility himself. He tiptoes to his son's bedroom cautiously and enterd to see that he's been tucked in, the ice pack George had picked up from the store the previous day resting on his forehead, half-lidded eyes trained onto the telly. "Dhani..?" "Oh- *cough*- hey, Dad"

George approaches the bed and sits down carefully, holding a paper bag out to Dhani. "I brought you a burrito- your favorite," he grins down at his son, who takes the bag: "Really? *cough*- Thanks Dad, you're the best!" he says, hands emerging from the blankets to tear into the treat. George stays sat on the bed, determined to spend time with his sick boy and make sure he knows how loved he is. Glancing around the room at the piano and guitars he's bought and played with Dhani, then back to the young man, Ringo's words from earlier echo in his mind: "He's growing up into such a wonderful lad. He's just like you, ye know- good looks and all."

Olivia had always said they were very alike, but he'd usually dismissed the observation... until now. George couldn't help but realize that they were right- though he was but eleven years old Dhani was already becoming a very talented and creative musician, having learned much about music from his dad. He'd certainly taken after his Beatle father in that regard, and they were in fact very similar- not to mention their near identical looks. Sharing his Dad with the world had been difficult and a bit isolating for Dhani despite his many school mates. He admired and looked up to George from a very young age, always striving to be just like him. As Dhani grew up before George's eyes, he became more and more like his father by the day and George was immensely proud.

His train of thought was broken suddenly when Dhani finished the burrito, crumpling the paper bag and tossing it into the bin. He landed the throw, earning a hearty laugh and a high five from his father. He closed his eyes and laid back, George stroking his hair gently, the two of them cherishing this moment of father-son love. "Are you gettin' sleepy, Dhani?" he asked tenderly- his son nodded in response, already drowsy despite the brightness of the late afternoon sun. "Tell you what- I'll play you a lullaby, that way you can rest easier and know that I'm here beside you." "Dad," Dhani chuckled, "aren't I a little too old for that?" he lied, secretly longing for the affectionate gesture. George grabbed his son's acoustic guitar from its stand and begin to tune it: "You're never too old for yer old man's love and attention, eh? Now you just relax, close your eyes, and rest." Dhani didn't protest any further, heeding his father's instructions with a soft smile on his face. With that, George began to play- he chose "Here Comes The Sun," fingers strumming the strings gently and with care, dedicating the sweet words to his beloved son. By the time he was finished Dhani was fast asleep- grin faltering as he drifted off, but still visible on his lips. George placed the guitar back on the stand gently, taking care not to wake the sleeping lad. He smiled to himself, tears welling in his eyes as he turned to admire his son's peaceful face. "I love you, my boy," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on Dhani's forehead before tip-toeing out of the room and shutting the door cautiously. Back pressed against the wooden door, George let his eyelids fall shut and sighed: "Sweet dreams, Dhani." ♡