#favourite; actually it may be if not the first bit of Who i ever saw then the earliest bit i remember seeing (not on first transmission tho

[rubra-wav]

Vox brainrot entry #1

(Part 2 fic)

A/N: I've been thinking about this all morning, and I want to talk about it and it's driving me crazy. I've never really ever shared anything like this ever, so I'm a bit nervous haha

CW: 18+ SFW - NSFW (marked as such), spying/voyeurism, gn reader

Disclaimer: This is purely fiction and is not to be applied to any real context. If someone is like this IRL, that is not okay.

- This man definitely watches you through whatever technology you have, and I refuse to believe anything less.

- In some fics, I've seen the reference to him spying on people through cameras but I mostly see it in yan AU fics where he is doing it to intentionally try to control and manipulate them. I think instead he does it because he's a pathetic simp. 💀

- Vox seems like he would be very much against directly pursuing anyone for romantic relationships due to how insecure he is underneath all of the egotistical bullshit he puts out at all times. This imo would manifest as also having a severe fear of rejection - especially if he does manage to get romantic feelings for someone else.

- Due to this, he spends a borderline obsessive amount of time watching the person he's attracted to without their permission as he's too chicken shit to seem *too interested* in them by actually asking them about their interests and things about yourself.

- At first it's just very rarely watching you - mainly after meeting up with you to see how you are after. He wants to see if you are happy or if you secretly hate the time you spend together with him because he is insecure as shit.

- It gradually becomes more and more frequent the more he falls for you, until it's a pastime watching what you're doing.

- He learns what your favourite things are, what you hate, what you do in your spare time, who your friends are, who your family are, etc. Etc. He knows just about everything you do in your free time.

- He will then use this information to try to get closer with you in everyday life.

- If you ask how he knows he will respond like he's just 'that good' at knowing what you like. You don't miss the way he starts sweating slightly as he's further prodded though.

- After you prod him for more on the subject he's going to be sitting in slight horror with his hands covering his face the second you leave.

NSFW starts below

- It also begins to extend to watching everything as well the more desperate he gets.

- For a while, he refuses to continue to watch you if you start to take your clothes off as he feels like that's crossing the line even with his tendencies.

- But a mixture of his desperation and craving to see that gets to him.

- The first time he watches you get undressed, he's flustered as all hell, brain telling him to switch the feed off while the other part of himself is absolutely screaming in excitement over seeing your naked skin slowly being revealed to him.

- It becomes an extremely shameful tendency after that as he begins to watch more and more as it drives him absolutely wild.

- I just have the mental image of him sitting in his studio after-hours and watching you pleasure yourself while he does the same. Him being embarrassed as hell, filled with self-loathing about it, but still desperate to continue watching you arching and letting out whimpers and moans of ecstacy.

- I feel like if he saw you after these sessions he'd not be able to hold it together as well as he usually does when you pry into something to do with him secretly spying upon you. He'd be smiling a tense smile, little animated sweat drops on his face along with light blue flush across his cheeks as he stutters with glitches while being questioned about why he was acting up.

- Giving you bullshit reasons in his normally cocky tone that were so obviously bullshit you don't even need to squint at them to tell.

- If you pry into it he may just start error-ing.

Someone needs to put me down about him.

- Afterwards, he'd probably be mortified in private. I can see him laying face down while blue screening on the floor of his room out of embarrassment whining with his ego in tatters about failing so badly to fully keep his 'extra-curriculars' under wraps in front of you.

[venerawrites]

This is my first time requesting for arcane but, can you write an Ekko x male! reader (fem or Gender neutral is fine if you can't write for male readers) where the reader is really sweet and gentle. They like to forage, bake/cook for Ekko, make toys for the kids of zaun, painting, drawing, and craft stuff like clay rings, mugs, pottery, and make clothes as well.

It can be an imagine or headcanons, I don't mind either way.

author's note: hi! I don't write male readers, but I do write gender-neutral so I hope that's okay! I actually thought this request was super cute and I loved the idea! Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for requesting!

Someone who is sweet and also artistic/crafty is going to be the perfect partner for Ekko. (Not kidding, this young man deserves all the love in the world!)

I imagine you being a part of the Firelights for a few years before Ekko gained the courage to ask you out.

Don't get me wrong, he had a crush on you way before that!

He saw something special in you the day you joined - the way you carried yourself, the little splatter of paint on your shirt, the big bag of art materials you brought with you, the way you warmly smiled at the kids and they took an immediate liking to you - it all made him look at you in a different light from everyone else.

However, having lost so many people in his life, he didn't want to risk catching feelings. So despite the initial attraction, he did keep his distance at first. He was a good leader, always making sure to check on you and ask how are you adjusting to the life as a Firelight, but he also always seemed to keep the conversations short and polite.

Ekko always had his eye on you - whenever he heard your melodic laugh or children screaming in joy (because they always did when you were around), his head whipped in your direction almost instinctively.

Because of your wide range of skills, especially when it comes to crafting things, it didn't take long for you to become everyone's favourite - you often build toys for the kids and played with them in your free time, which is why all of them got attached to you pretty quickly. When someone needed their clothes fixed or wished for a change of their usual 'uniform', they always came to you.

The man was a bit taken aback at first - he kept seeing everyone, including Scar, coming with new jackets, shirts, and even masks, yet he didn't seem to know how and where they got it from. Once he learned it was in fact you making them, he couldn't help but smile - so you were quite the crafty person, huh?

He came a few days later with his ruined jacket (he may or may have not actually ruined it on purpose), asking you to fix it. As he was the leader, you spent all afternoon sewing, so he could have it ready for the mission the next day. When you gave it to him during dinner, he was both surprised and also amazed - not only did you fix it quickly, but you also made it better by adding some details to it.

(Needless to say this became his favourite piece of clothing ever! It was also not the last time he came to you, asking you to 'fix' his clothes...)

That evening was the first time the realisation he might like you in a different way than every other member hit him like a ton of bricks.

And it did scare him! So much, so that he made it almost his mission to avoid you. Every time you entered a room, he quickly excused himself, and if by chance you caught him looking at you, he would quickly turn around, the tips of his ears going a few shades darker.

His plan didn't work that well, however, as you being one of the few people who can draw/paint, you were assigned to work on the wall mural. He had to supervise the work and therefore interact with you, and to be honest, it was quite awkward for a bit.

I imagine you would notice his weird behaviour, but would not address it as you were not sure why he was giving you mixed "hot & cold" signals. You would continue treating him like usual and eventually, after a few days of tense atmosphere between you (and also a bit of 'scolding' from Scar), he would apologize and actually relax around you.

Ekko is funny, loving, protective, kind, passionate, and a man that I cannot imagine anyone NOT falling in love with. So probably it did take you embarrassingly short time to catch feelings for him.

He may be a bit slow when it comes to his own feelings and emotions, but he is very good when it comes to reading everyone else's. So when you made him a special mug for his birthday and gave to him while your face looked like it was about to explode, he put 2+2 together.

This is when flirting Ekko unlocks and - PHEW! - this man has no mercy!

He loves to tease you just so he can see you as a flustered mess. While he is very confident as a leader and fighter, he still think it's unreal that you can catch feelings for someone like him - he comes with so much emotional baggage, that he cannot really understand what do you see in him.

(Not that he is complaining, because once he asks you out and you say 'yes', he doesn't plan to EVER let you go!)

Once you are together, he would always organise fun dates including crafting or making stuff - either he will teach you how to make tech stuff in his workshop or you will teach him how to make clay rings, dishes and pottery.

He loves how gifted you are and would often tease you by asking you: "Is there anything you can’t do?"

Very proud of you and the fact that you are his partner! He usually likes to keep his private matters to himself, but if he has a drink or two, EVERYONE is hearing about how skilled you are, how every body loves you (especially him) and how lucky he is to have you not only in his life, but also living in the Firelight base.

Speaking of living, despite the relationship progressing slowly, he would practically make you move in to his room just a few months after getting together. He loves going to sleep and waking up by your side and while usually you were staying with him only occasionally, he will have a long chat with you of the benefits to share a room.

"C'mon, don't you want to sleep in the leader's bed? Hey, hey, I'm kidding! But seriously, you come here almost every night and I do sleep better when you are by my side, so why not?"

Watching you interact with the kids in the base and even in Zaun has to be his absolute weak spot. He can never hide his smile and dreamy gaze when he watches you giving them new gifts/toys and he falls in love even deeper every time he sees you hug them and stroke their heads lovingly.

His other weak spot has to be your cooking! (The way to a man's heart is through his stomach after all!) He is pretty good cook himself, so dates in the kitchen are a pretty often occurrence for you.

Still, he can never match your skill when it comes to baking and desserts and he loves when you spoil him by making his favourite cakes/sweet food. He loves to watch you cooking, often sitting on the table and quietly sipping his tea, while observing you.

The Firelights love you as a couple and are happy it is you by Ekko's side - he suffered a lot and has been alone the majority of his life, so he deserves all the love and happiness you can offer.

cc artwork: Tekkon Kinkreet

[bibibbon]

*JJK LEAK SPOILERS, please ignore if you haven't seen them*

THE QUEEN IS BACK

I have seen the leaks and chapter translation and while yes the queen is back (I do have some concerns and problems with the way gege executed this)

It makes sense for nobara to come back and we have been teased from the begining that there was a clear chance that she could come back ever since she died. Nitta says that while she died and doesn't have a heartbeat she very much could be revived if she got help in time (and he literally suspended her condition at the moment)

The problem is that it took gege a really long time to actually bring her back or imply that she is alive, approximately 4 years and a 100+ chapters for her to come back.

Chapter 144 and chapter 210 were from yuji's perspective who didn't know nobara's fate and we never got actual confirmation of her fate (all we got was yuji missing her) in asking about her.

These are good moments in my opinion that definitely adds uncertainty and show how nobara's "death" has effected characters like yuji and even megumi (a bit).

However, the problem comes in from other characters. Were they aware of nobara's fate? Is that why they didn't comment on anything? Is that why we never saw maki's reaction to nobara's death? Or is that why we never saw Gojo ask about nobara after he escaped the prison realm? Or is that why we don't see much of the second years reactions about her in general? Is that why we never see yuji say her last words to others? In all honesty I can't help but almost feel like gege may of forgotten about nobara (and just brought her back because he remembered her and she is a fan favourite just like he did with Todo)

I have talked about the wasted potential of nobara's character here and the direction I think would of been suitable for her character.

I think we should of gotten more hints about nobara coming back and being alive in the manga (Iam aware some may say we have gotten clues but they're all in arts and not inside the manga) heck i think we should of gotten confirmation that she was alive and working in the background while the others thought that she was dead (I love a bit of dramatic irony within the story and it definitely adds stakes without having anyone dead)

Other than that I really enjoyed her first appearance around the characters specifically what she said to itadori and how it's a clear reference to when itadori first died and came back. I also enjoy the fact that we are getting to see her back and using her cursed technique however, i still hate the fact that she miraculously woke up 30 minutes ago when the plot needed her most (it would of been better if she woke up and went back to her home town found out something about her CT and done more self digging then came back to help with the fight after seeing mei mei recording it)

Lastly, my biggest worry is how gege is going to handle her character development (theres only 4 chapters left ) and tie in the loose ends like the thing about Jujutsu society hating women with scars and how nobara did value her beauty (jjk could very much delve into the insecurities she may have or her actually going back on the things momo told her and learning a lot more about intersectionality feminism instead of the girl boss one that she displayed earlier on in the story) I also think it would be interesting to handle nobara maybe feeling left out like shoko in her trio (and how that cycle might change)

[warden-melli]

honestly the leaks are a very bad thing. nintendo is infamous for its strict copyright so people are definitely getting sued or fired. And this might affect the way the next games due might develop, worst case scenario they're scrapped entirely or changed beyond recognition by gamefreak desperate to keep things new and subvert expectations. we got some cool beta content sure, but it's done more harm than good overall.

And as a Gen 2 lover who picked Cyndaquil as my starter in my first ever Pokemon game, I'm not looking forward to having to deal with endless memes and comments of "haha Typhlosion is a pedo" for the next few years to come.

As unpopular an opinion as it seems to be, I actually agree with you fully. I know most people are celebrating the leaks, but I think they have the very real potential to cause a lot of damage to the fandom, and possibly even the franchise as a whole. We can’t really know what Nintendo/Gamefreak will plan to do moving forward, but I agree, it’s potentially not good. It seems very likely that there will be pretty serious legal actions taken against whoever they decide to go after, and yeah, it’s also very possible this may affect game development plans, or future projects pretty drastically

The worst part of these leaks for me is definitely the massive amounts of misinformation they’re bound to spread. These leaks are entirely lacking in any context, further complicated (In the non Japanese fandom) by cultural differences and language barriers leading to major misunderstandings and flawed interpretations, many of which are being spread as “canon” information by large portions of the fandom. People are wrongly coming to conclusions that aren’t canon, from sources that were never intended to be seen in the first place, the content of which they have no way of correctly interpreting. It’s a shit show, honestly.

I also just feel weird looking at it. I briefly saw some unreleased concept art for PLA today, and while you’d think I’d be delighted, I just felt sick. I can’t really explain why I have had such a negative physical and emotional response to seeing (or even thinking about) any more PLA leaks coming to light, but I do. I’m terrified about a leak (regardless of whether or not it’s canon) absolutely destroying the game, or its characters for me. I literally don’t know what I’d do with myself. As sad as it is, that game is everything to me. It’s very literally 90% of what I think about and create. I want it to stay perfect forever, and I’m scared a leak could potentially take that from me

And I fully understand your frustration. I am a huge fan of both Mr Mime and Vaporeon, so I know what’s it’s like to have one of your favourites picked as the punchline of an unfortunate fandom joke, and then to have that joke subsequently ran into the ground. I love the cyndaquil line too, and had just chosen one as my starter in my latest PLA play through, just before the leaks dropped. It’s gonna be rough out there for a while I’m afraid, but hopefully it’ll blow over eventually. At least for the most part

After seeing the PLA stuff tonight I made up my mind. I blocked the leak tags and I’ve decided to completely avoid any leak content moving forward. If it’s bothering you too, maybe you should consider doing the same? At least until the fandom settles down a bit?

[randomreadingtimewithtsuki]

Hello, I saw that your requests are open and figured I'd send over this idea.

I was thinking maybe a short imagine or head cannons with Gray from fairy tail taking care of his S/o because they got sick and are just feeling shity (my current state).

Feel free to ignore if you aren't feeling it, but thank you in advance if you do choose to write it. Have great day and remember to drink some water.

Hello dear! I hope you are feeling better...

Thank you for being so sweet! i am trying my hardest to stay healthy!

I am so sorry for taking so long! I had some things at once happening!

Alas! I hope this is of your liking! Please let me know what you think!

Tsuki's note: I may or may not have based it from a personal expericience with high fever. high like 40ºc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

You almost never fell ill.

Actually, scratch that. You sometimes fell ill, but usually you could function just fine.

But this time? Oh boy, this time it hit you hard.

At first it started like any other flu or cold. But after a few days you quickly felt awful, with 0 energy and just... unable to think.

You were taken to the guild so Porlyusica could take a look at you.

She demanded you stay at the guild until your fever has gone down - you were severely confused and you made no sense when talking.

She also didn't want anyone seeing you for the time being - rest is important!

You were only allowed visitors after your fever has gone down and you were a bit more conscious of where you were.

It was then that Gray stood near you all the time.

He often used his ice magic to cool you down - not too much though!

The man also made it very clear you should rest, meanwhile he would talk to you about his last job.

Worry was written all over his face, so he annoyed the elderly doctor - if there was something he could do for you.

She said a very strong No. The only thing he could do for now is make you company and help lower your fever.

As you got better, Gray started bringing you some gifts, like your favourite chocolate, a flower you liked, and so on.

You also started chatting more! When he saw you giggling he felt so relieved!!

That man never left your side while you recovered.

It took a couple of days to be able to go home, but Porlyusica told you to wait a week to go back to getting jobs.

You were super bummed out.

Gray helped you get home and you also got some help from your guildmates to bring you supplies for the week.

As you lived alone, the guild had a spare key to your apartment.

That meant constant visit from many people.

But the one who came by more was Gray.

He check your temperature ever so often.

Made sure you had healthy food and something to pass time - a book, a puzzle, something.

He also made mental notes of how well you were improving!

Gray didn't go to any jobs until you got better.

He made sure to make you company whenever he could, but he tried to not be overwhelming - being sick drains out your energy!

He also got mad at Natsu when he suggested pestering you.

That poor boy was anxious 24/7. He didn't let you do the most mundane things - washing dishes? leave it to him. Cooking? he brought you something Mira made. A Walk? only when he is with you.

He only calmed a bit when you got annoyed at this overprotectiveness and did those tasks yourselves.

Even after you were all healed, Gray still kept an eye on you. Just to be sure.

All in all, Gray gets super worried when you are sick and he tries his best to make you feel better!

He also tries to not be overwhelming, but sometimes, his overprotectiveness get the best of him.

He will make you rest a lot and make sure you are well taken care of! Gray is a great nurse, when push comes shove!

---------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading!

[astonmartinii]

F1 ASKS!

i saw this tag floating around and wanted to let yall get to know me better since i’ve been doing this a while and have only really spoken in the form of authors notes! also im not going to tag anyone so just do it if you wanna!

who is your favourite driver?

i think for anyone who has read anything i’ve ever written it’s probably a bit obvious but max verstappen! what can i say little me was told we’re supporting red bull and here was this little charmer (emphasis on little who let that child get into an F1 car)

do you have other favourite drivers?

also based on my writing you can probably tell that my top three are max, charles and oscar! however, i will also say that alex is a close fourth for me (he’s also very nice irl). also as for retired drivers i think the mamma mia series is a bit of a spoiler but i love jenson, seb and kimi

who is your least favourite driver?

i used to say i didn’t dislike anyone on the grid - that was a lie. i’ll still write for anyone within reason but you can also probably tell with how in detail the back and forth is on certain pieces that i am really not a fan of sainz, actually people who get yelled at while i write them would argue it’s more than “not really being a fan of” but i am fake and i have maintained that if i meet him at silverstone (which i very nearly did last year) ill tell him im his biggest fan! also not the biggest fan of like pierre he’s just kinda there for me and a wee bit too cringey ALSO what you may not be able to guess from how i write him… im not really a fan of lando! ive really, really tried especially after his win but he just kinda rubs me the wrong way (i was immediately proven right with the trump comments lol). people say i should pull for him cause he’s from bristol which is where i live but he’s from glastonbury babe - also ive done a few swimming competitions at the school he went to a WOAH baby has so much money.

do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?

i mostly pull for drivers but like i guess i like red bull? well i did. i love max so i would follow him everywhere but i did like red bull as well as a team (i like alex, danny and checo so that also helps) but this whole protection of christian horner shtick is really disappointing so id say im a driver person.

if you like teams, who do you pull for?

like i said red bull were the team id pick if i HAD to follow a team - i support chelsea so i cant handle even more disappointment if i followed ferrari and also i only like charles there and they’re the source of all of his misfortune so …

how long have you been into F1?

so my family has always been into F1, my cousin karts and my uncle is a mechanic and makes karts on the side but i had always been more into football cause i could actually go to that with my dad - and also for young me who didn’t know what the fuck a strategy was it seemed kinda boring. but i’d say from maybe 2016ish i started watching it more regularly (hence the max stanship). my mum loves it and her first love in the sport was mark webber which is why we like red bull. but yeah i remember watching max’s first win and was like MUM I WANT THAT ONE (and i have technically met him? idk we made eye contact when his taxi nearly ran over my foot)

what got you into F1?

my mum! i love her and she’s just as much a passionate fan (and hater when appropriate) so it’s a nice thing to do together - especially because me and my dad are season ticket holders at chelsea so spend a lot of time together doing that so this is like my sport time with my mum (along with the olympics that’s our shit we’re very excited for the swimming). so i guess it was being around her watching it and listening to her and my dad argue about it! my mum is an ardent seb supporter and my dad is like a twitter account away from being in teamLH so canada 2018 (2019?) was VERY entertaining. also my uncle loves it so he likes that im proper into it (like have a sports journalism degree) and so we always chat about it - he’s trying to recruit me into motogp next

do you enjoy fanfic/RPF?

i mean i’ve written so much i must love it. lol jokes i do enjoy it and i feel like it helps me like people more (case in point: when i was trying to make myself enjoy the lando win i just read my own fics of him LOL)

but also its something fun to do that’s also creative and has helped me make new friends from all over

how do you view new fans?

ugh i hate the hate new fans get like not everyone can be born into loving a sport? if anything the more people that watch and love the sport the more money it’ll make? idk this whole superiority complex some fans have is just so unneeded for the sport and we all know why is majorly directed at girls. i do fear that some of the new fan behaviours could border on worrying - waiting outside hotels and ambushing drivers is stalking actually!

but overall im always happy to have new people in a sport - a bigger community is always good and new fans bring new perspectives which is good as older fans may just be desensitised to “normal” things in the sport but new eyes can remind them - hey halos are the best thing to happen to F1 and red flags in heavy rain are necessary.

if you could take over as any team principal for any team who would it be and why?

i know i previously dunked on ferrari but there needs to be an intervention because my girly max already has three championships and i need charles to get at least one so i can die happy - then ill move to mclaren, kick zak brown up the ass get a piastri championship and bounce (honourary race with willams or whatever team alex is with cause i need all three 2019 rookies to be race winners)

are your friends and family into F1 as well?

i feel like my other answers answered this but yeah! i also recently reconnected with an old primary school friend who is also really into it. i went to a sports uni so basically everyone there liked it as well (which means me and a friend did trek to the F1 arcade at 4am to watch aus 23 where she had a public meltdown over sainz (i enjoyed it)). also ive made a couple friends through working at races!

are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?

i always am! i am a year out of uni and working from home with all my home friends still at uni after taking gap years so i am big time lonely so always feel free to slide into my messages!

[timeagainreviews]

A Foot in Two Worlds: 73 Yards

My third-grade lunch buddy was a girl named Kendra. We used to love chatting about movies and television. My favourite topic was Batman. Hers was Full House. However, one morning, instead of gushing over Stephanie Tanner, she told me about a movie she and her brother had watched over the weekend. The movie was 1989’s “Clownhouse,” and she was a bit traumatised by it. And because of her vivid description, so was I. Honestly, I don’t remember anything past her saying “It’s about these kids who see clowns watching them through their windows,” because I never stopped thinking about that sentence, for years. While I’ve still never actually seen Clownhouse, nor do I experience coulrophobia, the idea of being watched from a distance still creeps me out. I still close the blinds at night.

Initially, I wanted to compare “73 Yards,” to something like “It Follows,” or even “The Immortal Snail.” Both scenarios entail being tracked by a slow but relentless pursuer who kills you if it ever catches up to you. But “73 Yards,” isn’t so much a story about being pursued. It’s about feeling watched. It’s about feeling judged. It’s about feeling abandoned. It preys on our fear of being the subject of gossip. That people could spread lies about us that scare away our loved ones. The fear that maybe they’re right. Maybe we don’t deserve love. It’s about the ambiguity that sits within our hearts. The liminal threshold between us at our best and us at our worst. But it’s not just about the wicked and the divine, but also body and spirit. A foot in both worlds.

Doctor Who currently has a foot in both worlds. The Doctor steps on a science fictiony land mine one week, and the next week he’s stepping on fairy circles. A recurring theme in this new season is “look before you leap.” Or ‘watch your step.” Ruby steps on a butterfly in the past and changes species. The Doctor steps on a land mine and almost dies. And now, the Doctor steps on a fairy circle and disappears. The Doctor is learning to have a healthy respect for the new supernatural powers coursing through the Whoniverse. At least he would if he remembered anything from this adventure. Not even Ruby will learn a lesson here, so was it worth it?

After last week’s “Boom,” I was game for whatever Russell T Davies had in store for the future. The trailer for “73 Yards,” gave us very little to go on, and in hindsight, it’s pretty easy to see why. This was a Doctor-lite episode and therefore not a lot of footage to share that wouldn’t also spoil this being a Ruby-centric story. But I was ready for it. Ruby has been suffering a bit from underdevelopment as a character. I even saw a Chibnall stan on Twitter saying so, which is quite extreme when you consider how underdeveloped Yaz was. In Ruby’s case, however, it’s hard to pinpoint what it is about her that’s underdeveloped. She’s got a great family dynamic. She’s nurturing. She plays in a band. But who is she? Like River Song before her, her character arc is starting to affect her character development. And my interest is waning.

After the Doctor steps onto the fairy circle and disappears, Ruby unsuccessfully tries the TARDIS doors. She then checks around the other side to see if he’s having a pee. This may be the first time the show has canonically mentioned the Doctor goes to the bathroom. It’s funny to think of the great Time Lord having a slash off the edge of a cliff. The Doctor seems to do a lot of important things on cliff edges these days. Failing to find the Doctor, it’s then that Ruby notices a strange old woman standing under a creepy old tree from 73 yards away making some sort of hand gestures. However, the closer she walks toward the woman, the further she appears away.

The mechanism of how the woman moves is hidden by editing, but it feels like something Ruby would notice quickly. I don’t imagine Ruby walking closer would cause the woman to start backing up physically like that Community episode where Professor Duncan got a restraining order on Chang and used it like he had force powers. Instead, they cut back to the woman and she’s simply further away. Ruby is conveniently looking for footing every time, so she fails to see this. But if you started walking toward someone and they started hovering backwards, wouldn’t you find that weird? It’s not like she doesn’t sense something weird pretty early on. She even asks the woman if the Doctor’s disappearance has anything to do with her. She even asks the hiker (yet another character played by Susan Twist) if she can see the old woman.

Something I found interesting about the Susan Twist scene was that whoever her character is, she’s not immune to the effects of the old woman. Either that, or she’s lying. Either way, it feels important that we were shown her having the same reaction to the woman as everyone else. If she’s a magical trickster, she’s not an invincible one, or maybe she’s not magical at all. We’ve learned very little about Susan Twist’s character(s), but this indicates that she’s not fully in charge of the situation if she can be scared off like that. What’s frustrating is that the first time a character looks at her and says “Hey don’t I know you from somewhere?” it’s in an aborted timeline. I would have expected the Doctor to have made the connection after the ambulance screens in “Boom,” matched the woman from Space Babies, but maybe he’s been distracted by clothes.

By this point in the episode, I’ve been fully drawn in. Ruby finds her way to the small village of Glyngatwg and a pub called “Y Pren Marw,” which translates to “The Dead Wood.” I thought this might have been a reference to the weird tree on the cliff, but the illustration on the pub sign looked more like an oak tree, so I doubt it. Another name they could have used for the pub could have been “The Gaslight Inn,” because man oh man did they gaslight the hell out of Ruby. They keep accusing her of thinking they’re yokels for asking pretty innocuous questions. Asking if you can pay with your phone is perfectly reasonable. There’s a chippy in my village that does the best fish n chips in the area, but I never use them because they haven’t got a card machine and I don’t carry cash. I don’t imagine the owner of the chippy goes home every night in his Fred Flintstone car because of it. Maybe they’re worried they really are yokels. Either way, five quid for a Coke and abusive staff? What’s their Trip Advisor score? Negative six?

The only non-yokel in the pub is Enid and that’s solely because she’s played by Siân Phillips, who could never be mistaken for common. She was easily the highlight of the episode for me, sitting elegantly at the bar in her fashionable hat. Of all of the patrons at the bar, she’s the one I believe would coin the Latin phrase “semper distans,” to describe the way the old woman follows but never approaches. If only she could have taught Isaac Newton the word “gravitas.” Beyond being incredibly rude, I rather enjoyed the patrons of Y Pren Marw. They reminded me of characters you would have found in classic Doctor Who. The pub scenes reminded me a lot of “The Dæmons,” or “Terror of the Zygons.” But more than anything, this episode reminded me of “The Stones of Blood,” wherein things start like folk horror and end in a more mundane setting.

After Ruby’s unwanted follower scares away one of the pub’s most faithful patrons, she’s forced to head back to London, which is about where the episode starts to lose steam. Up until that moment, I was expecting a sort of witch coven or worse to spring up in the sleepy village of Glyngatwg. I was ready to call it RTD’s best ever. But now we’re back in London where the biggest mystery is Mrs Flood, and she’s really only there to remind us she exists. But that’s not to say a piece of Glyngatwg didn’t leave with Ruby, and it’s not to say I disliked the story’s ending. But there was a noticeable drop in excitement the moment Ruby boarded that train.

I found it odd that Carla and Cherry were badmouthing the Doctor in his absence. Cherry was ready to jump his bones the last time they spoke and now he’s good for nothing. I get that they want to support Ruby, but like, what if he’s hurt somewhere? All I’m saying is that if I ever go missing, please don’t send Carla and Cherry to find me. After telling Carla about the old woman, Ruby’s deepest fears are realised. Like Susan Twist and Josh before her, talking to the old woman causes her to abandon Ruby. The look Carla gives Ruby from the cab as it drives away is the last way anyone would want to be looked at by their loved one. It wasn’t a look of fear, it was a look of disgust.

It’s that look of disgust that really started to make me think of another story from the Whoniverse- “The Curse of Clyde Langer,” a Sarah Jane Adventures episode written by Phil Ford. In it, Clyde’s name becomes cursed and anyone who hears or reads it becomes irrationally opposed to Clyde. His friends and family disown him and it’s Clyde against the world, which is wild because Clyde’s one of my favourite characters in all of Doctor Who. Who could hate that precious cinnamon roll? Even further, who could forget that episode? Well, it turns out Davies was kinda hoping the answer would be you. I’m not saying Davies is out of ideas, but he seems to be “remixing,” a lot of what has come before. More on that in a moment.

After losing her family, Ruby gets on with life, but not before being given a spark of hope in the form of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. We even learn some things about the old woman from Kate. We establish that yes, it is always 73 yards away. And no matter how close a person gets to her, she always looks as in focus as a person with 20/20 vision would see her from 73 yards. We also learn that the old woman’s “powers” work via headset, as Kate breaks contact with Ruby, leaving her devastated from losing yet another lifeline.

An interesting factoid about that scene is that Kate and Ruby were sitting across from “The House of Pi,” and Pi Day is the 73rd day of a non-leap year. Why do I know this? Because I went into a bit of a rabbit hole trying to learn about the number 73 yesterday. I looked into its mathematical significance. I learned it’s Sheldon Cooper’s favourite number. I looked it up in terms of numerology. I read the 73rd Psalm. There are 73 books in the Catholic Bible. But none of it felt significant. Then my dumbass googled whether RTD had explained the number, and he claimed it was as simple as going outside and measuring the distance from which people’s faces began to blur. Right. Well, that’s disappointing, albeit creative.

We’re treated to a montage of Ruby getting on with her life throughout the next couple of decades. Like the rest of us, her age starts to show itself with long hair and big glasses. I mentioned earlier that Ruby suffers a bit from a lack of character development and this montage does nothing to help that. She grows up into possibly one of the most boring people they could have made her. Her queer group of friends she has a band with seem to have disappeared. Her dating life is painfully heteronormative. She didn’t date a single woman throughout that time? She would have learned by now not to encourage her friends to talk to the old woman, and due to the perception filter, it’s not like anyone seemed to mind her anyhow. I’m just saying, if someone as normie as her started wearing a political shirt for the nuclear war-hungry Albion Party, I’d look at her and say ���Pssh. Figures.”

Speaking of the Albion Party, it’s time we started talking about Harold Saxon. Oh, sorry, I meant Roger ap Gwilliam. The episode implies that Roger is the trickster “Mad Jack" who had escaped the fairy circle after the Doctor stepped on it. But Davies is remixing the classics, or as LCD Soundsystem puts it- “Shut up and play the hits.” He even mistreats women in the same way as the Master. I took this to be Doctor Who’s flimsy attempt at a comment on the MeToo movement. It would work better if ap Gwilliam was more than a moustache-twirling miscreant. Especially because Ruby throws poor Marti to the lions by not warning her away from Roger. If this is a MeToo story, Ruby is an enabler, which is not a great look. But she apologises so I guess it’s ok. Don’t worry Marti, your trauma gets erased anyhow.

While the campaigners prepare for a press conference for Roger ap Gwilliam to announce that Britain has purchased Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, Ruby realises she’s out of time and needs to act now. Using her semper distans friend to her advantage, Ruby backs 73 yards away from Roger and sends him cowering and eventually resigning from his position as prime minister. Ruby expects this to be the end of the old woman, but she remains with her until the day she’s on her deathbed, at which point, the old woman changes from her perspective to Ruby’s. As the old woman, Ruby sees her young self and is able to call out to her and warn her about the fairy circle. That’s what happened, right?

Well, maybe? The biggest curveball comes in the form of the old woman herself. Because while Ruby does age to the ripe old age of 80, the actress playing her is Amanda Walker. The actress playing the woman is Hilary Hobson. Set pictures have also revealed Hobson in make-up that appears to be scarring going up the left side of her face. And those hand gestures of hers? Sign language. Eagle-eyed viewers have roughly translated her signing as “Bless you. Thank you so much, that's so kind of you. When you gave me that little thing, it was just so precious. How am I ever going to repay you? But we will think of something.” Perhaps this scarred woman is someone the Doctor and Ruby have yet to meet. Perhaps she repays them by warning them away from the fairy circle and saving both the Doctor and Ruby from a bizarre fate.

People seem divided by this episode in a major way, which is pretty normal for Doctor Who. But one of the more irritating takeaways I’ve seen is that the episode doesn’t make any sense. That’s only sort of true. There are some bootstrap paradox things occurring, which if you haven’t accepted as a reality of Doctor Who at this point, what are you even doing here? But what does the old woman say to Ruby? Where does the Doctor go? How does she travel back in time to the clifftops of Glyngatwg? Forgetting completely that we’re in a Doctor Who era which has introduced magic in a real way. But that’s a bit hand-wavy, can’t we do better? Well, they do mention that the TARDIS’s perception filter parked so close to the fairy circle might affect how people ignore the old woman. I liked this because it implies that the TARDIS and magic are somewhat compatible and therefore opens up new avenues for storytelling. You could also imply that if the TARDIS could affect the fairy circle, perhaps it can affect the TARDIS in turn. Maybe people reject Ruby because the warding spell placed on Mad Jack is affecting Ruby. Maybe Ruby needed to be in a position where she was so friendless that she would join the conservative party.

The episode may not have explicitly explained things, but it gives us enough of a vague framework to form an idea. As a fan of David Lynch, I am rather happy to exist in that liminal space. To straddle the cusp between the known and the unknown. It leaves an air of mystery, or as David Lynch would say “room to dream.” I will however slightly come down on the episode for its rather bland ending compared to its strong start. I don’t agree with the people who said it nosedives toward the end. But I would be lying if I said I lost a lot of interest the moment Ruby left Glyngatwg. Earlier, I compared the story to “The Stones of Blood,” but where the two stories differ is that when “The Stones of Blood,” changes its setting from the occult folk horror of the Cornish countryside, it replaces it with something equally strange.

That isn’t to say the jump to the year 2046 isn’t interesting. I’d be very curious to see how this story plays over the next few years. It acts as speculative fiction and the bizarre reality of speculative fiction is that it occasionally becomes mundane in hindsight. What once sounded unreasonable now feels painfully obvious. HBO’s “The Leftovers” hits different after the pandemic. Richard Kelly’s loony “Southand Tales,” feels tame after the 2016 election. Therein, I fear the day Roger ap Gwilliam becomes something more than a cartoonish depiction of British politicians. Partly because of the implied threat of nuclear devastation, but also because 2046 feels like a rather generous timeframe.

[r-aindr0p]

OHMG, Hello!

I just noticed your list of fandoms, and I saw IB, that's the first time one artist I follow that knows that game, If I may ask, who is your favourite character and ending?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa IB is like.... is my favorite horror rpg game of all times !!! Because idk... the first time I saw the game I was fascinated, like... The concept of a haunted art gallery, the roses, the characters, and the main theme omg....

I think I saw gameplay of it for the first time when I was bingewatching pewdiepie's horror rpg videos (started w/ his ao oni series) And idk if pewdiepie ever finished the game at the time but og boy I rushed to go get the game, unsure of what I was reding in the english instructions and managed to install and play it !

Since I had seen a bit of gameplay I was already prepared for a few stressful moments of the game well, that's what I thought at least.... Anyway, aside from the horrible horrible blue doll room with a timed event, loved the game especially the dynamic between Ib and Garry ! In tumblr terms, he's the first boyfailure character I experienced and I immediately loved him, his goofy purple hair, him hiding behind a child but kinda trying his best to be the adult of the situation.... I still love him dearly to this day... And that "hey macarons are good when we get out of here we could eat some !" conversation.... I.... That being said the optimal ending to me is when both Ib and garry make it out safely, and even better if it's the ending where Garry and Ib actually remember all the stuff they went trough... I get teary eyed thinking about it because so much nostalgia and attachment to the game hhhgsfhd.... Like... I don't mind mary (anymore, as a kid I hated her guts) but when she started plucking the petals from Garry's rose, I (at the time in middle school) just... I closed the game and straight up never opened it for at least two months straight, because I loved Garry so much it just fucked me up at that time. So yeah, safe Garry and Ib endings ! (sorry Mary, I never related to you in any way so I had a hard time sympathizing ) Little doodle of all the sillies ! I love this game but rarely do art of this game because I have such respect and love for it that I want to do (non shitpost) art that would match the level of admiration and awe I have for IB in my eyes

[nofomogirl]

Before the Beginning (part 2.3.)

Part 1.1. | Part 1.2. | Part 1.3. | Part 1.4. | Part 1.5. |

Part 2.1. | Part 2.2. | Part 2.4. |

Hello, it's been a while.

If you're jumping in the middle, hi, this is a series of posts where I discuss things I've noticed in the Before the Beginning scene and suggest how they might shed new light on other scenes from both seasons.

Today let's do our favourite thing, shall we?

Let's revisit the Bandstand Breakup again.

Right after Aziraphale and Crowley argue over the possibility of killing Adam, and Crowley turns to leave, there's this memorable exchange:

A: You can't leave, Crowley. There isn't anywhere to go. C: It's a big universe. Even if this all ends up in a puddle of burning goo, we can go off together. A: Go off together? Listen to yourself.

and ever since S1, we've been arguing about exactly what was stopping Aziraphale from taking Crowley's offer. Why, despite clearly finding the idea appealing, it just as clearly wasn't an option he would seriously consider. Was it more because he wasn't able to choose Crowley or because he wasn't able to abandon Earth?

There are many sound arguments to support both and, like most people, I used to believe the truth to lay somewhere in between.

But then S2 happened, the Before the Beginning scene happened, and the bomb was dropped that it might actually be the entire universe that was on a 6000-year deadline, not just Earth.

True, we don't know for sure which is it, and more importantly, which Aziraphale believes, but if we assume that to the best of his knowledge, the end of the world means the end of all material creation, then you have to admit it changes the scene quite a bit.

It means that running away with Crowley wasn't something the angel could technically do but just wouldn't, it was objectively not an option. If it was just like Death said - if Armageddon happens anywhere, it happens everywhere - Aziraphale was right - there wasn't anywhere to go - and Crowley was wrong - the size of the universe made no difference.

Now the big questions are (1) why Crowley would propose running away, and (2) why Aziraphale hasn't called him out.

Regarding the first one, I've offered some theories in part 2.2:

Crowley may actually be right, and it's Aziraphale who's misinformed

Crowley's knowledge of the universe's fate might have been erased from his mind

Crowley could have repressed the knowledge himself due to trauma

Please feel free to take your pick.

I've already confessed my personal HC is the last one, and I stand by it. There's just something about Crowley consistently refusing to consider the worst-case scenario and behaving like it isn't an option. Book canon explicitly called him an optimist but I don't think that's the reason in the show.

Back to question (2) then. If running away was objectively impossible, why haven't Aziraphale simply pointed it out?

If we look at just that one scene, it's not hard to explain.

A: Go off together? Listen to yourself. C: How long we have been friends? Six thousand years! A: Friends? We're not friends! We are an angel and a demon.

You know how it goes.

My point is, like most of us after S1, Crowley assumed it was the "together" part that was the issue and addressed it. In other words, Aziraphale got distracted by another touchy topic.

Easy.

But I'd like to offer another explanation: Aziraphale doesn't have it in him to break Crowley's bubble.

This is my HC right now and here's why:

Aziraphale did give Crowley the bad news once, the very same exact piece of bad news, before the beginning, and he saw what it triggered and where it eventually ended

Aziraphale generally isn't the kind of person who easily delivers hard truths

Aziraphale is uncomfortable with confrontations

Aziraphale understands the absolute horror that is his and Crowley's situation and understands that not thinking about it is often the only way not to lose their mind

That's it for today, thank you for reading! I know I'm posting less frequently right now - for some reason putting my thoughts into ordered words has become harder recently... But the thoughts are still there and so is the desire to share.

[gingermintpepper]

I spent something like six and a half hours in the hospital today so day 6 of my challenge is being further postponed but, in the lieu of not doing any drawing, I did end up rereading Ovid's Metamorphoses in between waiting and I just wanted to offer some of my favourite underrated bits.

Cadmus and Harmonia's twin transformations into snakes is so gentle? Cadmus goes first, transformed mid plea for his wife to caress him one last time before his face is completely covered in scales, then he rests gently between her boobs and wraps around her neck and shoulders like a big snake gorget. Harmonia follows him shortly and the two snakes intertwine with each other before gently slithering off into the bushes and I love that actually mwah mwah mwah (I also appreciate the sweet irony of Cadmus who slew a snake for his glory becoming a snake, toothless and gentle in the last of his days)

Everything about Perseus was hilarious. Like, I'm sorry - I've never done a lot of reading into Perseus but I did always remember the banquet massacre and the Andromeda rescuing and like, bro I know it's not meant to be funny but Perseus is funny. I think it's his politeness honestly? He goes up to Atlas and is like "hello kind sir, may I please stay a night in your lands? I've travelled an awful long way and I am weary and hungry. If you only accept noble guests, rest assured, I am of noblest birth and have completed the noblest of deeds. 🥺" and Atlas takes one look at him, has a That's So Raven vision about the one time Themis gave him a prophecy about a son of Jove stealing his apples and then told Perseus to kick rocks. So Perseus, like the well adjusted and noble individual that he is, turns Atlas into a mountain with Medusa's head. This is how a great many of Perseus' stories unfold. It is actually hysterical.

I am going to give a special shoutout to Athis and Lycabas who were two young lovers in attendance at Perseus and Andromeda's blood wedding. Athis died first - a skilled archer who never got to shoot and was burnt and bludgeoned across the face with a wedding brazier. When Lycabas saw that his dear friend's beauty was ruined, he picked up the fight against Perseus himself in Athis' name and was slashed to strips by Perseus' sword. Lycabas managed to drag himself over to Athis in his last moments and died beside him, so I thought that was a particularly touching bit of beauty in the otherwise extremely tragic blood wedding.

No one can ever make me feel bad for Niobe. In a lot of the Greek accounts I've read and heard, because they tend to be much shorter or references in a wider narrative, it's hard to really grasp how insanely disrespectful she was to Leto (not that her boasting she should be the goddess of motherhood to the actual goddess of motherhood isn't worthy of death and destruction enough) but Ovid really did go the extra mile to dig it home how far down her throat this lady put her foot because even at her sons' seven way funeral she did not stop boasting about how she was still glorious. I did find it interesting that the seemingly innocuous detail of Apollo killing off the boys first and then Artemis killing the girls was kept cross-culturally, I assume it's because boys were more auspicious than girls in both cultures.

The detail of Athena bonking Arachne constantly with a wooden box and her being transformed into a spider because she begged to not be bonked to death. Also very interestingly, in Ovid's account, it's not a clear victory for Athena against Arachne - she gets flustered at the depictions of her relatives' affairs and rips the tapestry up - the judges didn't actually get a chance to opine. This is in contrast to the contest the Muses sang about where their representative Calliope unilaterally won against the daughters of Pierus.

The account of Apollo and Marsyas was much shorter than I remember it being. I recall it being touted as one of the more vicious and visceral tales in Metamorphoses' collection but it included neither the details of Marsyas' contest against Apollo, nor Apollo's feelings (or even any dialogue from him!) throughout his peeling of Marsyas' skin. Instead it is wholly focused on Marsyas - on describing the physical gore of his exposed veins and contracting muscles and the grief of the rustic crowd as they mourned his loss - which is curious indeed since the entire theme of the poems of Book 6 is divine punishment and it is otherwise filled with rather full accounts of these contests and insults.

Byblis and Caunus made me want to reread Euripedes' Hippolytus for the twelve thousandth time. Caunus made the right call of course but I also very much hoped he would have a huge big speech about incest being bad instead of just smacking the messenger.

And lastly, for now, Jove's speech as Hercules lay burning atop his death pyre where he addresses the host of his gods and goes "Man, wasn't Hercules a great guy? Look, there goes all his mortal attributes burning away in the fire, now he is all my son and surely we are all in agreement that any divine son of mine deserves a place on Olympus :)" was very endearing. I always feel quite bad for Deianira because she truly didn't mean any harm by her gift and I've always wished for an account of Heracles/Hercules' death from her perspective. There could scarcely be a thing more awful, especially given how long and drawn out and incredibly painful Hercules' death was.

Lowkey, I want to take a day and compare Ovid and Euripedes' Medeas. They're both very different women and they both handle their situations very differently. Partially for my own vindication - I adore Medea and Jason equally and since popular fiction cannot speak about Medea without flattening her or making Jason completely monstrous, this is just one of those things I'll have to do myself sometime.

[maopll]

Happy to see requests are open again.

May I request Yuuji, Megumi and Gojo with a reader who's got a cursed technique that allows her to manipulate weather, the time of day and seasons?

One moment it's a hot summer day but with a tap of her foot, it turns into a cold winter.

At the tip of my fingers

| jujutsu kaisen !

⌗:, a/n: stronger than gojo reader? I'd fall for her if she was indeed there. I love power couple.

⌗:, warning: none

⌗:, pairings: yuuji, megumi & gojo w/ fem!reader

,,You never really thought cursed technique was anything special. sure you could manipulate weather according to your wishes but most people used you for that fact. so why is he surprised ?... main character moment lmfao

YUUJI

You never told him about your cursed technique and it never dawned upon him as well. so he was just as surprised and amazed like the other first years when he saw your sheer strength. the cursed spirit and you were fighting in a sunny place but a stromy scene was your best choice. thunders, rain and electrocution. what could be better than that? and ofcourse it instantly git exorcised. his jaw dropped to the floor. his girlfriend is so strong! he needs to get stronger too! and after seeing your power he just got this boost of motivation. I mean you are indeed his very source of motivation from the beginning.

whenever you two would go on dates, if it is ever raining or too windy, you would switch to a warm yet comfortable weather. when you two would be sweating, no worries the next moment gentle breeze is blowing to cool you two off. he especially loves seeing you dance in the rain with him when you would switch the weather to raining. its his favourite past time...maybe a hobby of his by now. he aspires to get stronger as he has a family he wants to protect...that he has to protect

GOJO

He was already the only person who was strong but when he saw your powers in action? damn looks likes match made in jujutsu. You two had known eachother for some time back when he was 17. you two were first years together taught by Yaga. he did like how you looked when he first met but when he saw you ruthlessly obliterate a Grade 1 cursed spirit without breaking a sweat? oh now he has a competition.

However, all in all, he truly liked how unique and beautiful your cursed technique was, being able to change weather and all that. One time sunny another time snowing. its mind blowing infact the two of you can actually use both of your cursed techniques to create a very formidable environment. his limitless and your cursed technique. now that he is now in love with you and an adult he looks back to those fond memories he made with you when you two were still learning. even now you two would goof around and have picnics just to spend time since both of you are quite busy. and he can't miss an opportunity to see his beloved girlfriend in a sun dress ;)

MEGUMI

He has already seen two powerful people in his team. Yuuji and gojo, and then you tagged along. although he did feel a bit inferior when he saw how effortlessly you managed to fight two to three cursed spirits at the same time. he thought he really wouldn't be able to do it and get on the same level as you. then you told your boyfriend who was almost about to back up that "ever heard of the phrase 'a fool will never know what he's capable of unless he tries it?' " now he has seen you angry but not annoyed. you knew how strong megumi was and he could be even stronger than this.

so you pushed him to daily training with you unless there were some missions. he did improve a lot after the rehabilitation chamber incident, and you helped him get stronger. he is really grateful to you for being there with him. he absolutely enjoys when you change the weather to snowing. you two make snowmans and have snow fights. although he doesn't have a favourite weather that you change the current weather to windy and snowing will always be his favourite. it just hits home to him, apparently. you never have any problems with your dates because you can just change the weather to a perfectly sunny one with just a snap of your fingers. you two even use a carpet to have magic rides during the middle of the night since you can manipulate weather you can also manipulate wind. ofcourse you can't forget to take his divine dogs on a night ride of the beautiful starry sky !

[riaaanna]

Queen Fanclub Convention 2023 Part 2: Sue Johnstone

I have returned! Following my first post on the Queen Fanclub Convention 2023 I will be posting a series of transcripts and insights from the guest panels and other experiences!

The first guest is Sue Johnstone who was Roger's friend from back in Cornwall and also started the Fanclub in its days of infancy. I know a lot of you will be skipping the Long Transcript so I'll put up some bits of interesting stories that should be highlighted up here! Many of these were also told in Queen in Cornwall in some form or another.

Highlights:

The Queen fanclub in the early days was run from the Kensington Market stall. Brian was the most enthusiastic about it and insisted that all letter responses for the fans are handwritten and personalized.

Back in Cornwall when Sue in a singing group for the church, Roger and the church school boys used to sit and wave from the balcony and sent down paper planes, making them laugh while they were singing.

Freddie once stayed overnight at Sue's house after a party. The next morning, Sue's father went upstairs and was baffled to find him curling his hair. At some point he also saw him doing his yoga up against the wall upside down.

Once after a Smile performance in Cornwall, Sue and the band (with Freddie) walked along the headland overlooking the sea where Brian could name all the stars. They also went into a cave where they sang echoing harmonies of the song Earth.

Sue still keeps in touch with Brian and Roger. Her conversation with Brian includes knee replacements and congratulating him on becoming Sir. Roger likes to steal cigarettes even when she sees him now these days.

The last time she saw Freddie was at Queen's 20th anniversary party. She brought us a picture (on top of page) of her, Freddie, and her sister Pat from that day - a really touching moment. (📸 shared by David Taylor)

One of my favourite things about the con was that the panel guests were so kind and down to earth. After their talk on the stage they sat on the table among the audience to drink and chat, which was so lovely. When it was all wrapped I wanted to say hi to Sue and she was so nice about it! (It took me a long time to brave up and come up to her after she finished chatting with everyone, and it was my friend Rob who convinced me to actually do it, so thank you Rob!) I got a selfie with her and she signed my programme! (click to enlarge).

Transcript is under the cut below. I used the help of an auto transcription service and edited it manually afterwards, which took so much more time than expected as I had to check my references. Pictures are sourced from the Fanclub and Rupert White / Queen in Cornwall.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so there are parts that I marked as "indistinct" and the accuracy may not be 100%. This wouldn't be their fault for not pronouncing it clearly, it would be mine for not catching it properly. There were words that I tried to guess based on context, marked with (?) at the end. I also tried my best to cross-check with other sources to ensure accuracy (in this case mostly Queen in Cornwall).

Enjoy!

Jim Jenkins (J): So, our first guest today is somebody that started all this off. 50 years ago, two friends of Roger’s, from Truro, Pat and Sue Johnstone, were asked by the band, or that's what we heard, to form a fanclub. It is my great pleasure to say we have one of those two sisters with us today.

It's really great to welcome, Sue Johnstone! So Sue’s come up and gonna talk to us, we're going to try and open a memory bubble. This is an event from 50 years ago. So I'll let Sue say hello to you all.

Sue Johnstone (S): Hello everyone, thank you so much for coming. This is the best time. It's so good to be here.

J: I'm going to start off with the first question for Sue. You started the Queen Fanclub nearly 50 years ago, in 1974.

S: Yup.

J: Did you ever think it would still be in existence in 2023?

S: I did not. I thought the band might be huge, but I was convinced they would be, but I don't, I didn’t think the fanclub would be. Although having said that, we had a lot of fans very quickly. As soon as the band had gone to Japan and so on, it really opened up. So we knew we were onto something special, and we had to set it up properly. Because we were doing it in the stall in Kensington Market, just handwriting everything, you know. And Brian insisted on that. It was Brian, really, that started the fanclub, he wanted it more than the others, really. And he used to come by and check all the letters, make sure we were actually handwriting them, you know. And doing as he wanted to do, keeping it as personal as possible. Which I think has paid off, you know, it's just brilliant. So, yeah. But longevity, no. I don't think we thought about next day, let alone 50 years.

J: It is really good. Okay, I want to take you back to the ‘60s. Back to Cornwall. You were a member of the Jayfolk band?

S: Yeah, absolutely.

J: Did you always want to be in music?

S: Well, I met Jill Johnson and her twin sisters at church, actually. I mean, I was one of four. I've got an elder brother, who's the oldest in the family, another sister, and then there was Pat and there was me. But by the time I came along, they just want to be out on a Sunday, so I had to go to church, you know, a lot. But we also joined the youth club, and it was just actually quite a good place to go. And the church school boys all came there because they were a Methodist school, and this was a Methodist church.

So they all sit in the balcony, and Jillian and I, and the twins, we do four-part harmony, (indistinct), every Sunday, you know. So that's how it started. I started singing with Jillian, and we were all Johnsons – I'm Johnstone, but they were Jillian, Janet, and Jennifer Johnson. So we called ourselves the Jayfolk. But Roger would always be in the balcony, and he used to send paper planes down to us (laughter) and be waving and making us laugh while we were singing, you know. I loved it, and I loved singing, and I loved harmonies, which is why I loved Queen. Their harmonies were superb.

J: So was Roger going out with Jill Johnson?

S: Not at that time, no, that came, it was about ‘65 I think? We went to a folk club, which was actually a guy called Dave Dowding, who was Roger's friend, his parents owned a farm, it was beautiful. In Kenwyn, in Truro, and you had to walk to get there, you know, all the way, and there was a large farm, and the folk scene was just starting up. My sister was into it, because she was five years older, I was the youngest, I'm the youngest out with Roger and everybody in fact, so I was about 13 or 14 at this time. And we went to the folk club, and Roger and Mike (Dudley) actually, who played the guitar on The Reaction, they were on bales of hay, everybody sat on bales of hay.

And yeah, we just got along, we started chatting, and then Jill and I had to get up to sing with her sisters, we did our set and that was it, Roger gave us a lift home – or someone did, I think it was him. And then Roger and Jill got together, they went to a fair in Truro, and they were together four years, but they always said there was three of them, it was always Roger, Jill and me. (laughter) Bit embarrassing, but yeah, Jill remembers it as being the three of us, you know.

J: Did you go to see The Reaction?

S: Oh yeah. They were great, yeah. And Roger was becoming, you know, he knew he was going to be a musician anyway, a good one. He just knew it. He was so into everything, he was into music, we all were actually. But I've had a bit of a mixed thing because pap was into jazz and then into folk, but mostly jazz. And my brother was in a skiffle group. My sister just had boyfriends, really, my eldest sister, but she wasn't that musical. But the rest of us were.

And my father was a piano player. He played piano accordion in a band when he was younger. And then we always had a piano in the house, we all wrote. And Dad did a little fumbling, you know, sort of... (imitates thrums on a piano) to the point where once when Freddie and Brian stayed, we all had a party at our house. And yeah, Roger and... not Roger – Freddie and Dad came together in the piano. It was brilliant. Brian on guitar. I was in another band then called Wizard, and there was a (indistinct) guitarist, he was there. And I remember we were all eating oysters, which he bought. And then we all sang, it was great.

But my father saw that, and he loved them, actually. He really liked the guys, you know. But he did come down one morning afterwards, and I think I've told you this before, and he said, “I've seen everything now!” And I said, “What's the matter, Dad?” He said, “He's up there curling his hair!” (laughter) “Is that so?” “I thought he was straightening it! I’ve seen it all now!” he said. And then Pat said Dad had gone upstairs as well, and Freddie was up, you know, doing his yoga up against the wall upside down. I mean, it was a bit much for my father, really.

But later on, when it was my 21st in London, they all came. We were living with a couple of Buddhists, actually, down in six couple of all places, they're working in Kensington Market. And we used to get a train from the market after the Greyhound pub, you know, and we'd fall asleep and end up wherever, you know. But we had a party there for my 21st, and the band all came on the train, and it was hilarious. Freddie and his, you know, cat and everything, (indistinct) it was so good. And they all stayed on this floor overnight with my Dad in the middle. (laughter) And he was like, “I don't think I'll be coming up again, my love.” (laughter) But no, we had some fun. They were lovely, though. They were all such nice people, you know. That made all the difference. They were so sweet, you know.

J: So Roger left Truro and went to London, and then you and Pat decided to move up to London.

S: Yeah, well...

J: No, Pat went first?

S: Pat moved to London already beforehand as a nanny, through a family in Ealing, and she lived up there a couple of years. We also had family in Paddington, my dad's brother, my cousins. So we used to go to London a lot. My father was a big fan of people like Tommy Cooper, and we used to go out and see shows. So I was familiar with London, but I didn't live there, but Pat had lived there, but came home when my mum got ill and stayed. So she gave up her job then. But after mum passed away, then Pat stayed a bit longer, but, you know, she was five years older, she needed to get up to – I just couldn't leave. Jillian had already left, but Jayfolk had broken up. Jill had joined The Famous Jug Band. She wanted me to go up to London with her, but I'd said no. And because of that, actually, we fell out. We didn't speak for 20 years. But she joined the band, and then she went to live in California.

But it was Roger that got us back together. He got her number and gave it to me. And it was Roger that kept in touch with me. He used to come back from London, always came to see me straight away. We'd go out for a drink or something. And he said, “Oh you've got to come up. You must come up. And we'll look after you. Don't worry about a thing. You'll be fine.” And so I did eventually. And it was Pete Bawden who ran PJ’s, the club, and my dad that drove me up.

And within 24 hours, Roger took me into Kensington Market, introduced me to everybody. And then upstairs, there was an employment agency. I got the employment. So I went up. He came with me. We went up and they asked me if I could type or what qualifications I had. And I said, “Oh, no problem, you know, anything you like.” I was thinking, (grumbles) “I don't just type at all.” And unfortunately for me, they gave me a test there and then, which was sort of (indistinct), and I was like this, (mimics funny typing) you know, not knowing what I was doing. And they said, “That was the funniest thing we've ever seen.” (laughter) “And the bravest.” They said to me, “We need a receptionist. Would you like to do it?” (laughter) So I ended up working as receptionist upstairs from the market. And eventually I got to know Hazel and Gaby, and worked for them in their store for years, actually. Just where the fanclub started in their store.

J: What were your impressions of the band when you first met, Brian, Roger – well not Roger because you know like, well Brian and Freddie?

S: They were kind, they were lovely, Brian was just so kind, and so caring, and lovely, lovely guy, and Freddie was Freddie, he just bowled you over, but he was also one of the sweetest kindest people I think I've ever met, he was wonderful, but later on when they became Queen I could understand why, because they literally acted like the Queen, because they had no money, ever, in their pockets. So they loved going out with Pat and I because we were working, you know, getting a bit of money together, and they go, (pats empty pockets) “Sorry darling, sorry…” When they were with me, you know, they never ever have any money, ever. And Roger kept stealing cigarettes even if I see him today. (laughter) So I’m just, “Hmm. Okay. Whatever.”

J: So when Roger went down to Truro with Smile, he was with Brian and Tim, what difference did you see in Roger with Smile compared to The Reaction?

S: Ooh, um, actually, they were very good, but I have to say, and I don't know if you're here today, Tim, but your voice was so good. Um, it blew a lovely way, Tim was an amazing singer, and so Smile was just, it was so good, Brian, great sound, lovely guitar, you know, Roger, amazing, everybody knew him anyway, and they were just really really good. So, what can you say, I mean, Reaction was great for their time, but Smile, and I mean, some of the earlier stuff that Tim wrote, you know, um, were just superb songs, lovely songs, so it was really good, they were very very good, and they played loads, and we went to every single gig for them.

We did, you know, we were very lucky, in Cornwall, unless you were into, you know, music or art, there was a lot of art going on, and there was a lot of hippie stuff, well, uh, beatnik(?) stuff going on, which Pat was more into than me, um, but there was nothing to do. There were no youth clubs, very rarely, you know, we had one at the church, but that was it. Um, so, there was nothing for kids to do, so we were so fortunate, and we were a unit, you know, we were a gang, we just went everywhere together, you know, and it was a really good, I mean, we, I have, you know, things go wrong in the family, obviously, but, you know, even the day that I'm done, you know, Roger was there, we went out, we went to, took me out, had coffee, you know, stayed with me all day, and, um, so, you know, they were kind, all of them, and we were a great unit. Loved it. We were so fortunate.

J: So Freddie used to come down to…

S: Yeah. We used to just hang around, yeah.

J: And you were in the audience with Freddie, watching Smile. What was Freddie like, was he itching to get up there or…?

S: You could tell he was, yeah. And he used to tell them things afterwards, “Well perhaps you should do it this way, darling.” He was very sort of like that, at the time. You know, he never changed really. But he was, as I say, he was really kind, so he wasn't sort of nasty to anyone or anything like that. He just wanted to be in it, you could tell. And I think at the time Tim was also getting into his graphics and art and maybe things were, I don't know why it sort of happened as it did, but Freddie was just, he used to just come down all the time and be around, so it was really good.

J: Did you ever see him in Ibex or Wreckage?

S: No, I don't think I did. I don't remember it. I mean, I started to get to know Pete Edmonds through Smile and everything, but when he would have been, you know, I've seen loads of photographs, so I sort of recognised him a bit, but don't think I have... Pretty sure I didn't, anyway. I don't remember it.

J: So when Freddie, and I don't know if this is true, I think I was told by someone but I'm going to get confirmation from you, that you were actually a part of the first people to know that he wanted to change the band name from Smile to Queen.

S: He did tell us early on, yeah. He told us – another crazy thing. We used to hitchhike up to London, which you could do in those days. Not safely, but my mum and dad didn't know it that way. We told him we'd been on the train and he'd give us the train money. And then we (mimics going off). Because it was the two of us, and it was always Pat and I, we sort of felt safe. We didn't really know about lorry drivers in those days. We weren't aware of the dangers. So we used to hitchhike up and they gave us a lift all the way, you know. And all the way to Hammersmith, which was brilliant. So we'd walk across the bridge and there we were in Barnes, in Ferry Road, where everybody was. And we'd just dive onto mattresses everywhere and think, right, that's where I am for the next week, or whatever.

But it was Freddie taking us to say goodbye. He walked us to the bus stop and he said, “I just must tell you this, dear. I've got a name for the band. I want to change it.” I said, “All right, what do you want to call it?” He said, “I'd like to call it Queen.” I went, “Oh, okay…” Now, those days, it was a long time ago. It was a little bit risqué, you know, but to say the least, really. So we just laughed and said, well, if he must, you know, I was thinking “The guys won't have that”. There's not many people who would call it Queen, you know. And anyway, it was fantastic. But by then, he also showed us that he'd done the whole Queen emblem thing, you know, which he designed. And so he was serious. There was no way it’d not been called Queen. And that was it. I mean, a few days later, there was Queen, you know, that happened straight away.

J: Did you ever go to any of the rehearsals of Queen?

S: I don't remember. I did go to Imperial College quite a lot.

J: Jimi Hendrix?

S: Yeah, some T-Rex, and all sorts of bands, they were all really great. But I don’t know if I saw them rehearsing. I don’t think I did actually.

J: When did you first see Queen?

S: Um, Truro

J: Truro, ah, the very first gig.

S: The very first gig.

J: (indistinct, speaking to audience) This would’ve been 27th of June, 1970.

S: It wasn't that one, though, it wasn't that one.

J: It wasn’t that one?

S: No, it wasn't. (Note: As you read, it was indeed that one.) It was in Truro City Hall, and the sound wasn't good, and it was Roger's mum's, I don't know, billed it or something, and they didn't like it, you know, you could tell they weren't happy about Queen at all. They billed it as Smile, and then they changed it to Queen. But it was good, you know, but it was their first ever gig. But I had seen Freddie before, now this is disputed by a number of people, but Pat and I remember, and I'm sure Pete Edmonds will as well, that Freddie took over one night in PJ's and just cleared the floor, he was fantastic.

And he played as Smile basically, and just took over, and he was strutting his stuff, you know, and he was absolutely brilliant. And I remember Pete Edmonds just dancing like a wild… in the centre of PJ's, which wasn't big at this time, and Pat and I just were in awe of it, we were just like, wow, that is incredible, you know. But other people say, didn't happen, but it did, didn’t it? That is one thing I'll never forget.

J: So you could see the potential in front of you.

S: Oh yeah, I don't think his voice was as good, it wasn't as good as Tim’s, it has to be said, and he was off key on a few occasions, but you know, the actual performance was what it was all about, it was really good.

J: Did you get to see Queen with all the bass players?

S: Well, I think I met one yesterday (Doug Bogie), (laughter) I mean I don't know, I probably did to be honest, I saw Queen before John joined, you know, so I did, but I don't really remember an awful lot about it to be perfectly honest, and I wasn't drunk or anything, it was just a long time ago, you know.

J: You’re very lucky you saw them with all the people...

S: I probably did, but I don't know. J: So I want to take you back to the Fanclub again. Is it true that Queen didn't want a fanclub? You said before Brian insisted… but why wouldn't he want a fan club if...?

S: Well… I don't know where that came from, to be perfectly honest, because all I know is that, from day one, Brian was the main instigator. He used to come into the store, sit there, read the letters. We were suddenly getting, like, they were being delivered all over London, even to our address in Greycoat Gardens(?), where we were living in Victoria, bag loads of stuff were coming in. And it was all from Japan, you know, they were massive in Japan, even in those days, you know. And then, a lot in Germany as well, and I got to know a few of the editors, so they would ring me and ask what the band were doing. So it kind of just built slowly.

But it was Brian, really, that wanted it. Yeah, and somebody had to do something, because these letters, you couldn't not answer them. And the Japanese fans always sent presents, so there was always little dolls, or, you know, all sorts of little gifts that they'd send. So we were like, I mean, my store was ridiculous, it would pile high, innit?

J: How did you get to start the Fanclub? Was it Trident or…?

S: The first place we moved to was Trident, yeah. So it was Trident Audio Productions in Wardour Street, next door to The Ship. And then there was a little alleyway and then Trident Studios was there. Yeah, so we moved in and we were on the ground floor and then there was a drum shop at the time. So we had all the drums in the front and then right at the back would be Queen Fanclub. And then we moved to another office later, upstairs. And then, you know, obviously they changed management, but at the time it was Jack Nelson. And yeah, it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Lovely day. I wanted still to do some singing, so I enrolled to, it's called City Knit(?), and it's for, but unfortunately it was an operatic club, so it's really not what I was looking to do.

But I did do some sessions at Trident, just to keep my hand in, but the only problem with it is you've got to pay your rent. And it wasn't paying rent, so I just kept working in the market, really. I made lifelong friends, you know, I really did. Hazel and Gaby, both have passed away now, but they were my longest friends, yeah, apart from Jill.

J: So when you left working for Queen, did you follow their career?

S: Yeah, to some extent, yeah, I worked at EMI, and EMI, they were signed to EMI. And one particular occasion when I was there, they sent me off to Amsterdam with the band. And I think we did some promotion or something over there. And Freddie asked me up to his room, and he had the top of the hotel, big, big room up there. And I sort of went up, and I thought, well, I wonder what this is about, you know. And it was about their contract coming up at EMI. So he was quizzing me about EMI records, you know. And at the time, EMI was just a happening company. It was absolutely brilliant. And we'd sign Kate Bush, and, you know, I was working on the Sex Pistols one week, and Kate the next, and, you know, it was just utterly brilliant. And I couldn't, you know, praise it enough.

So they did re-sign. So I think I had a hand in that, to be honest. I don't expect it was that big. I'm sure the accountants and what have you had a bigger hand than me. But Freddie was interested to know what I thought of the actual people and the running of the company and that sort of thing. I was seven years there, and I absolutely loved it. Yeah, I was in the press office to start with. And then, because of Queen, they asked me to join International. Because I knew all the editors. Because the band, you know, I got to know the editor of, like, German rock magazines, and all around the world, I knew all the editors. So that's why I went to International. And I carried on for 40 years in the music business.

J: Wow. And then you got invited to the 20th anniversary party, the Grand Show Hall.

S: Yeah.

J: You remember that?

S: Yeah, Tim was there, and he sat at a table with Roger, with Rod Stewart, running around like a mad thing. I remember Mary sitting on a sort of platform, and I was just staying there all evening, but not for me, the highlight, well apart from what you were going to show them in a minute, but one highlight for me was that Brian introduced me to Anita, and she was like, oh, I've heard all about you, and I thought, “Oh.” Really? “Yeah, you're from Cornwall, aren't you?” She gave big cuddles and everything, but then Brian said, oh, have you met Liza, and I said, no. Liza Minnelli. It was utterly brilliant. I was like, no, oh, hi. But again, she was all cuddles, and she was such –  oh, you were there, it was brilliant, wasn’t it?

J: Very much so. I'll remember it forever.

S: I don't know, she came up and said, “I think they’re great,” and I said, “Oh, you know, I think you're pretty good too, you know.” (laughter) Well, you say to her, you know, Brian's just, you know, a gentleman like that. I'm still in touch with Brian. We talk about knee replacements. (laughter) Yeah, it's kind of not the same sort of conversations as we used to have, but yeah, he's still, we do keep in touch, you know. Yeah, and I congratulate him on becoming a Sir, (indistinct). Things like that, yeah exactly.

J: So you brought us along a photo to show everybody that is special to you. Yeah. So if you’d like to explain it…

S: Oh yeah, that's Pat, Freddie, and me – I don't know if anyone can see it, this was at The Groucho the night that we were both there, Freddie obviously knew he was very ill and he was in a back room, sort of separated from the main group and Richard Young was a photographer, very big, sort of well-known rock photographer. He came up to us and said, “Do you want to come and see him, Freddie wants to see you.” “Where is he?” You know, and I did know he was ill, but it was still a shock.

J: That is Sue, our Fred, and that is Pat, the lovely Pat Johnson. So these two ladies, they're Pat and Sue, kicked all this off, what we're doing today. And I think that deserves a round of applause. (applause) So, thank you for the great stories today, even I first heard them a few years ago, which I always loved. (indistinct) I don't collect anything, but I collect stories.

S: (refers to Jim) The first member, amazing.

J: Oh, I was a pest, I was knocking on the door at Trident and saying, “I've come from Liverpool, can I come in and see you?” And Sue went, “Yeah! Why not?” And then, I was never away.

S: Did you come to John Reid’s office?

J: Yeah!

S: It was very flash. It was a big, big place, compared to Trident. It was, yeah. I mean Trident’s next to a pub. Tommy Cooper used to drink in that pub in Trident, you know, next to Trident all the time. You could hear him laugh, you know. It was so funny. When we first moved to John Reid’s office, the first day we walked in, Elton had pushed John down the stairs, and there were four flights of stairs, you know. And John came sort of tumbling down, you know. And we went, oh! And he went, “Who are you?” And I said, “I’m from the Queen Fanclub”. And he went, “What?” you know. Stuffed us in the basement. And that's where we stayed, yeah. But all the Rocket Records was down there, and it was just a hoot. It was brilliant. We had great times. And Elton's driver used to take us up to Queen gigs in his Rolls Royce and the movies. It was fun. Yeah, it was really good fun.

But, you know, Queen were getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And when we left, I mean, John Reid wrote in his letter that we knew too much about the band. That was a problem. So we were out, you know. He needed to control it everywhere. But for me, you know, I don't know how long we would have carried on as fan club secretaries, really. I don't know. We enjoyed it. But, you know, it wasn't such a great career for us. And EMI was fantastic. So I was kind of grateful in a way.

J: What's your most memorable memory of your time working with them?

S: We used to go to gigs all together, and David Bowie's gig was particularly good, well I got some pictures. I left them back, I didn't want to break them, I wasn't sure if I should, but I can show you another time through the usual. Cause Doug (Puddifoot) fully focused doing all the photos at that time. And he was Jillian’s cousin, so I knew him quite well. There's a camera from the BBC, and he did all the early Queen stuff.

And we used to all go together to see people like David Bowie. And I know (indistinct) will tell you there's the most beautiful photo of Bowie on stage. We used to get front row, you know. But yeah, the Finsbury Park gig I think was one of the most memorable things I've ever seen. It was absolutely stunning. It was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. And I went on to work for a long time in the business. I saw a lot of gigs, not just theirs, but it was definitely one of the best things ever. My 21st was a real pain, and I had to sleep with my dad on the floor. The parties in Cornwall that we had.

There’s one, actually, Tim might remember this, when we all went to St. Agnes - and I think they might have played there that night…

J: Driftwood Pub.

S: Yeah, and we all went walking along the headland that night, overlooking the sea, and it was pitch dark and the sky was clear and full of stars, and Brian could name them all. Just, “oh yeah, this constellation, this and that,” you know. Wow. And then it was covered in glow worms and - it was just spectacular. So we all wandered back down to the beach and went into this big cave that they had - I don’t know if it’s still there or if you’re still allowed to get into it, but we did. And, it was Planet Earth, Tim’s song, that we sang, in this cave, and the harmonies - I don’t know how many of us there were, but it was Roger, Brian, I think Freddie was there that night, there was me singing, Tim obviously, he was there, it was a Smile gig obviously at the time. And um, it was something I’ll never forget, it gives me goose-pimples now - beautiful sound, of all these harmonies and echoing in this cave. Wonderful. And one of my favourite songs, too.

J: Well that was funny, that was amazing, I don’t know about you guys, that was some great stories there. We really liked it. Thank you, Sue Johnstone! 

[warden-melli]

I remember how excited I was for X and Y to come out. I’d dreamed of a 3d pokemon game for as long as I could remember, and the hype leading up to those games being released was some of the best of any pokemon game ever. Fairy type, sylveon, character customisation and we all got to play it together for the first time. My favourite Pokémon of all time, Mewtwo, got TWO new forms via the most exciting feature I’d seen a Pokémon game add at that point, mega evolution! I couldn’t have been more excited

I saved for months and bought my 3ds (which I still have and use to this day. It’s pink a colour chosen specifically to be Sylveon themed) and went to the midnight launch. I picked my starter (A chespin I named Rook. Yes, I still have him too) and set off. X and Y was the game that got me into shiny hunting (chain fishing and the friend safari lol), and the meta. It was the first game I ever found pokerus, and it was so much fun relearning Pokémon types after the fairy shake up. Pokemon amie, the ghost girl, and whatever Sycamore and Lysandre had going on, I loved these games so much. They were even the first Pokemon games I got to use my new name in after coming out.

I played the game together with my friend, and as embarrassing as it is I actually cried at the end when Az was reunited with Floette. I remember feeling so overwhelmed (in a good way) during the end credits. I swear I’m the only pokemon fan who was glad that they never distributed Az’s Floette (even though it was found in the code) because I couldn’t stand the thought of the two being separated again

Tbh I even wonder if I’d have gotten so attached to Melli if not for X an Y and my fondness for Az. When I first saw him Melli’s hair reminded me a bit of Az’s, and with his height and flower theme I couldn’t help but think of Az more, and then I just kept finding more connections between the two. I may never have really paid much attention to him if not for Az, and that’s so funny to think about

I always felt like X and Y’s story wasn’t finished, and for years I’ve hoped they’d someday finish or expand on its story. There was so much left unexplained (ghost girl, letter, Zygarde) and I’ve spent a ton of time thinking about it over the years. I really hope that some of these questions finally get answers, and that just maybe we’ll get to spend some more time with King Az again. Up until now I thought it was me reaching or wishful thinking, but Kalos legends is real and it’s really happening and I’m so excited I haven’t stopped shaking since the announcement

[casualgay-mer]

Keymaster appreciation post

There's something to be said about his initial design and I will say this something. We are taking the original game as an example, but will touch on the remaster too.

The design

How the fuck did Poki do it? How can you make a character that looks like an absolute dork AND kinda intimidating at the same time? I tell you how, but before that - let's examine these two faces.

Unfortunately, Poki clearly had a trouble with the Keymaster staying on model, I call the first version "squarey" (you can see this version of his face during the first dialogue and during KM wait in the truck) and the second's "long-ey" (you can see this one everywhere else) but I will say that I generally prefer the second version - the long face one.

Why? The look is a bit more human and not "I don't have no fucking eyelids", the eyebrows are so much prominent, which adds to the look, and the bang is a bit longer.

So what's so cool and actually funny about his design?

He combines two archetypes: a general creep (sick (not in a cool way) eye and skin colors (dude may wanna check his liver tho), an indication of sunken eyes, the stache) and a coolass emoboy (this fucking haircut, smug talk, drama). Like these two guys fused together:

Like dude what the fuck

Also his skin color is fucking sickening you know why? Ever tried to rub your skin along - say - shoulder? Ever got these partricles of dead skin? Have you ever saw what color does it get, when you accumulate it enough in your hand?

That's right! They are morbidly greay-ishly green. Exact hue of his skin. THE DUDE HAS SO MUCH DEAD SKIN - ppls kinda shed - ON HIS BOD IT MIGHT AS WELL BE 20% of his body weight.

The voice/s

Original VA for Keymaster goes for a top notch mix of freako and smug. He sounds both flirtatious and a biiit unstable, like a person who tries their best to hit you up but clearly haven't slept for like 3 days - the tone and mannerisms are all over the place, the voice itself is the perfect balance of semi-deep and whispery. I love this performance - it confuses you into whether or not can you trust the guy . An original performance and the one to be respected.

(sorry for the little snippet of another voice at the end - this let's player doesn't know how to shut up and I am too lazy to record it again from a different source)

Russian VA for Keymaster - who based his performance off the original one - DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THAT HARD?? Dat voice is deep as FUCK, thicc even, you can't call the voice "thicc" but this one just IS. The whispery part is gone absolutely, KM sounds kinda normal even, but holy shit did the VA turned it up to 100. This one is a favourite of mine, absolutely. I don't even give a shit about what he says, this is some ASMR shit. Absolute 0 wonder why he tricked most of russian let's players into actually trusting him. The only criticism I may ha

English VA went to the opposite direction of the spectrum, he went all fancy kind of dracula over the top performance, kinda like, WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY and while he does sound unhinged, there is no doubt he's a sicko actually. That, or just a theater kid. But no shame on this actor tho, just bc I don't really like this particular performance, doesn't mean it's TERRIBLE ok?

Basicly I made a chart:

Go with your preference of choice, my dudes.

The personality and motives

Holy fucking shit so hear me out.

I don't like him around the fact that he's a flity pretty possible serial killer.

I like him for the fact of being RESENTFUL about it, possibly hating it about himself.

When he killed the pastor it clearly was made on impulse, and he hated it so much that he locked himself - and therefore Edna - up. Despite the smarts he's clearly impulsive in nature - like getting off to drive a Dr's car ABSOLUTELY NOT KNOWING HOW TO and ONLY THINKING AFTER THE FACT, there is like nothing going on in this head.

I am not excusing the guy's actions, but there is a big chance he just went a full on Sam Gordon just with no curse involved.

...

HOLY SHIT IS KEY MASTER A BLACK MIRROR REFERENCE

THE FIVE KEYS SAM HAS TO FIND, THE SURROUNDINGS, THE "OOPS FUCK I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL PPL I HAVE ISSUES I HATE MYSELF *commits a sewer side*" AND THE LOOKS?

Okay I am just overthinking it at this point. BUUUT THIS GAME WAS MADE IN GOOD OLD 2003 AND PRETTY BELOVED IN GERMANY AND WE HAVE WALKING REFERENCES LIKE PROFESSOR NOK SOOOOOOOO

...

So anyways.

The conculsion

Key Master is great not because he's your stereotypical mass murderer POS. There is a lot of unpack and a lot of empathy to be felt if you try to think on how come he ended up the way he did.

He actively hates himself and doesn't enjoy the way he is which is - unfortunately - preeeetty much deserved.

I will write more abt the dude later - especially on my fav theory that says he's not real

[symptomsofdeceit]

OMG I HAD A TERRIBLE MORNING, BUT THE MOMENT I SAW YOUR ANSWER I LITERALLY JUST STARTED SQUEAKING AND SCREAMING AND KICKING MY FEET. MY SISTER THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY 💥💥💥

ahEM- hello again :3 no need to apologise ❤️ I was thinking that tumblr just decided to eat my ask on dinner 🍽️ glad that it's not!!! I actually planning to plunge myself in your inbox and live here rent free now tehee :3 so I think I need some nickname so you could recognise me... may I be a yapping shrimp anon 🦐 ??? shrimps are silly AND I talk a lot, professional yapper at your service. also I made an OC for your game that is a funny cherry shrimp guy. would shrimp be an option for MC associated animal???? it's a shame that you can't send pictures as anon, I would love to show the dude to you. I think I got a bit of courage after all the time that have passed and your answer boosting it a lot!!!! be careful, I might send silly ask at any moment now 😈😈😈 I FINALLY DECIDED ON WHO IS MY FAVORITE. it's Nalis!! he's officially promoted to my babygirl now ✨✨✨ sorry Thaumo, you lost this battle. but I still love you pathetic little guy ❤️

HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE MORNING/DAY/NIGHT IDK WHAT TIME IS IT IN YOUR COUNTRY RIGHT NOW!!! thank you so much for answering :"3 ❤️✨ you're my favourite developer!! ALSO I WITNESSED THIS WHOLE MADNESS WITH TAMPON JOKES AND I LAUGHED SO HARD AT IT. Thaumo have no shame it's crazy 😭😭😭

That makes me so so happy to hear 😭💕💕 thank you!!!! Your first ask was so sweet it had me screaming & kicking my feet too 🤝🤝🤝🤝

I’m very happy to have you here as another rent-free & cherished resident of the inbox 🫶 & of course, yapping shrimp anon it is!

Someone else asked for a shrimp too so I’m adding one!! I haven’t decided what type of shrimp yet though, I’m still deciding on specific types for shrimp & shark.

I wonder if there’s a way for me to change the settings so people using anon can send images? I’ll look into it!! Seeing people’s different MCs makes me so happy, I’d love to see your shrimp MC. I’m also so happy to hear that you’ve gained some courage!! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )💕💕 I’ll look forward to hearing some silly asks from you in the future

Thank you for this ask as well, and I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/night too!! (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)💕✨ Being anyone’s favorite developer is wild to me and not something I ever expected, but it truly means a lot to me 😭💕💕

[episodicnostalgia]

Spider-man: The Animated Series, 111 (May 20, 1995) - “The Hobgoblin, Part One”

Teleplay by: Larry Brody Story by: John Semper Directed by: Bob Richardson

The Breakdown

Norman Osborn (of Osborn Industries) is sick of living under Wilson Fisk’s heel, so he does what any rational billionaire would do, and hires an assassin. But since this is a Spider-man cartoon, Norman also provides his hitman with a goblin-themed supervillain suit, plus an accompanying array of weaponry, all in keeping with the motif (ie, bombs shaped like pumpkins, a glider loosely fashioned after a bat, and also a laser gun for good measure).  Anyways his name is the Hobgoblin and he’s what this episode is all about.

The hit is meant to go down at a public event where Fisk will be doing some legitimate-businessman-things. Fortunately, Peter Parker is also in attendance as a press photographer, allowing him to save Fisk’s life with his spider-reflexes (Pete still doesn’t know he’s the Kingpin) before jumping into action as Spider-man.  The web-head’s interference doesn’t go over well with the Goblin, who demands more money to finish the job, but Norman ostensibly refuses out of short-sighted greed.  Predictably, that doesn’t also go over very well, so the Hobgoblin decides to get even by stealing/keeping Norman’s goblin-gadgets, and betraying him to…

…THE KINGPIN OF CRIME! So, Hobby heads over to Fisk’s place, and offers to double-cross Norman in exchange for… I can’t remember the specifics. Crime things?  *Checks notes* Yeah, Crime things. As his first assignment, Fisk sends Hobgoblin to kidnap Harry, Norman’s Son, [and Peter’s new roommate - more on that below] for ransom; and the price for Harry’s safe return? The Legal rights to ALL of Norman’s inventions, signed over to Wilson Fisk! Looks like the Kingpin has this one in the bag, except for one little hiccup…

For some reason Fisk refuses to pay for Harry’s abduction, and since Hobgoblin is apparently a man with only one tactic, he heads back over to Norman’s place and offers to double-(or is it triple?)-cross Fisk this time around. Naturally, Norman isn’t buying it, but then the Hobgoblin offers two compelling arguments.  1) “Why not?” and, 2) “give me some even more powerful weapons, please”, which is evidently all the convincing Norman needs to justify handing over the keys to an even larger/more powerful glider; Replete with heat-seeking missiles, projectile razor discs (anything to appease the almighty toy sales reps), and even a cutting-edge remote control! (oooOOOoooh)

Meanwhile, our friendly neighbourhood wall crawler has been busy trying to find Harry, and figures he might as well start by warning Norman, but he coincidentally arrives at Oscorp Industries mere seconds after the Goblin has acquired his new glider.  Since our hero doesn’t realize his adversary is actually in cahoots with Norman (again), another fight ensues, but this time Spidey is overwhelmed by the new enhanced glider jet, and just as he jumps for cover into an abandoned building, two heat-seeking missiles follow him inside and… BOOOM!

Welp! I guess that’s the end of Spider-man.

To Be Continued…

The Verdict

I have a bit of a soft spot for this episode, because it was also the first one that I ever saw.  You see, during the early years of my childhood, I lived in darkness and anguish because cable was too expensive (unlike streaming which has only grown cheaper, more accessible,  and increasingly easier to navigate), and thus many Saturday morning cartoons remained painfully outside my grasp.  The only ways to see new episodes of my favourite shows, were through the efforts of my very thoughtful Granny (who would tape what she could on video cassette), blockbuster rentals, and occasionally friends.  Tragically, Spider-man wasn’t accessible through any of these venues, but I was well aware of the show’s existence thanks to the Toys ‘R Us catalogue, and the weekly TV Guide, both of which kept me up to date on what was hot.  And so it would continue to be, until the glorious day when my parents finally did the right thing, and got a cable subscription (there was a promotion). Of course, you’d best believe that I’d done my research about exactly which programming would now be available to me, and Spider-man was one of the top shows on my hit list. On the first Saturday of my “cable-renaissance” I popped on the TV, and was greeted by ‘The Hobgoblin: Part 1.’  It was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Anyways, it’s a pretty dumb episode. Like, the Hobgoblin is extremely reckless, and his motivations are poorly defined. To be fair, his storyline was always messy and anticlimactic, even in the original comics, but that was mainly because the writers kept getting fired before anyone could resolve the story satisfyingly. Even then, the mystery built around character was rife with intrigue in the books, and there was always the sense that Hobgoblin’s story was building to something big.

This show had a real chance to do something a bit more intentional, but the one brief reference to Hobgoblin’s secret identity is almost thrown in as an afterthought.  Additionally, he doesn’t really seem to have any master plan other than committing acts of violence and betraying people for… profit, I guess? There’s just not a lot here to draw me in.

Obviously, if you’re a kid this is a rollicking good time with lots of flashy gadgets, and exciting action sequences. So, I guess at the end of the day the episode succeeds at what it set out to accomplish, and that’s fine.

2.5 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Thanks to this episode, I was briefly under the assumption that Hobgoblin had always been the OG Spidey-Goblin-Foe in the comics, with Green Goblin being introduced later on.  It’s an interesting choice to have Norman start out as the mastermind behind the Goblin before eventually adopting it for himself. Sadly, I don’t think this show ever did a whole lot with HG’s and Norman’s relationship, which seems like another missed opportunity, but I could be forgetting something.

Mark Hamill provides the voice work for Hobgoblin, but he mostly just copy/pastes his Joker voice from ‘Batman: the animated series. It’s serviceable, but I would have preferred something a little more original. But then a gig is a gig, and since he was probably hired FOR that voice, I can’t really blame him for leaning into it.

I find it kind of hilarious how much of a big deal Norman makes over the Goblin-Glider’s remote control.  Talk about the height of technology, amiright?  Man, Hobgoblin is gonna lose his mind when he finds out about blue-tooth-operated drones, roughly 30 years down-the-line.

I skipped past it in the breakdown, but midway through the episode Aunt May decides to visit Peter at his new place (Norman offers to pay for Harry’s condo if he can find a respectable roommate, and Pete fit the bill) when Hobgoblin interrupts to kidnap Harry with a gas bomb.  As a result, May is rendered unconscious for the rest of the episode, and taken to the hospital.  The Doctor explains that she’s experiencing an ‘extended form of seizure’, which is notably not how seizures work, meaning May Parker’s diagnosis is either medically significant (warranting further examination), or the result of malpractice. The American health-care system strikes again!  But seriously Pete, you need to get a second opinion.