#i have a big feeling that no way will be performed

[tswiftupdatess]

Taylor Swift talking about working on The Eras Tour, re-recording, performing with a broken heart and the joy and safety the Tour brings to fans at The Eras Tour Book:

“I'll never forget the call when I explained my idea of the concept for The Eras Tour to my team. At the time, I was working on the Midnights album and if we were to do what I've always done, I would've embarked on planning The Midnights Tour. But there's nothing I hate more than doing what I've always done.

“We're going to call it The Eras Tour and each album will have its own chapter, it's own world.” I told them that I want to fully commit to each era, musically, stylistically and aesthetically. They should feel like time capsules. If we do this right, I said, we can celebrate and honor both new fans and fans who have been here from day one.

It had been 6 years sice I'd toured. In those 6 years, a lot had transpired for me creatively. I release Lover, folklore, evermore, and eventually Midnights. In another real of my priorities was my passion project: re-recording my first 6 albums that were sold away from me by my former record label. Reclaiming my past made me fall back in love with it. Revisiting that past work made me want to honor it and honor what the fans had done for me with the Taylor's Version albums. And so the new albums and my re-records left me with the dilemma: HOW on Earth are we going to play all of this music live? I decided to create the longest, most ambitious show I'd ever even attempted. Averaging at 3 hours and 15 minutes, with 45 songs played. My goal was for every fan to leave that show knowing I gave them absolutely everything I had. I made a promise to myself to be physically and mentally tougher than I ever had been before. To be more disciplined and commited to my health, fitness, and stamina. Thankfully, I'm surrounded by my incredible crew, band, singers, and dancers who all matched my dedication to the massive scale and challenges of this show. We would go on to play this show in the pouring rain, in the blazing heat, in the thickest humidity, in the wildest winds, and in the bitter cold. We would do it if we were sick or exhausted or injured. We would do it with a broken heart. We do this because we love having the rare opportunity to create happiness and wonder up on that stage. We do it because we know it takes time and effort and money and energy to plan out coming to a concert. We do it because every friendship bracelet traded has the potential to become a new friend, and you never know what dreams can be sparked if we succeed in painting a dreamscape in every city we visit. We do it because people need an escape from how brutal life can be, and it is the honor of a lifetime to be that for them, if only for a night. And although we are all on our own in this big scary life, somehow it doesn't feel that way when we're singing the same words as 80,000 other people wearing glittery face paint. We do it because life comes in waves, in phases, in brilliant flurries of magical moments, and all of these things come together to create…Eras.

Here is the official retrospective of the most wondrouds tour of my life, my beloved Eras Tour.

See you next era..”

(November 29, 2024)

[lizardho]

I think the worst day I had as a missionary is hard to pin down – for comedy bad day stories, I like to talk about my cute companion who ripped three pairs of pants in one day because his ass was so fat. Literally, two in the morning, we missed 3 appointments in the afternoon because people kept cancelling on us, and we ended up far away from home visiting “Less Actives” in the downtown area. We find a family who says we can come in once their dad get home, and we sit down to wait for the dad to get in and RIIIPPP goes the third pair of slacks this man wore that day. I hand him my suit jacket and he wraps it around his waist like a bashful adolescent who just started his period at an inconvenient time. We catch a ride home on a bus and ended up home an hour early. He cried for like 30 minutes while stitching up his pants, and I got to rest a lot more than expected that day. We ordered a 4-cheese pizza and went to bed early that night, having walked probably 5-6 miles that day knocking doors and getting turned away.

Another bad day was the day the Mexico City Temple was re-opening. It was a funny experience for me because the evening before I was contacted by the Mission President and told that an elder in our district had confessed some serious sins to him and that those sins precluded him from going to the temple. The MP told me that nobody in this elder’s ward could get time off to babysit him so he was begging one of us – I didn’t want to go to the temple, it was a crappy way to spend a P-Day in my opinion, so I told the MP I’d do it. I spent the day eating popsicles and napping with an elder who, in between Bolis and naps, would shakily and tearfully confess that no fewer than half of his companions had secret phones they used to watch porn, hire prostitutes, and buy drugs. This was bewildering to me since I had been Trying So Hard my whole mission and had always felt inadequate, and these elders who were doing better than me and more respected than me were somehow out here fucking, doing drugs, and jorkin’ it.

I was actually in a “Punishment Area” at the time because in my last area one of my life-threateningly attractive companions had gone into the homes of widows to repair their electrical wirings (he was a trained electrician prior to going on a mission.) Being alone in the home of an 80-year-old widow with failing lights was “against the rules” to the extent that me mandaron a la goma, and some handful of guys I’d been told to view as role models were out here breaking actual laws and shit. Of course, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was in this area because of the Deep Evil that Lay Within My Heart (wanting to kiss Elder Electrician on his stupid himbo lips) but my MP could not have known that, just like he didn’t know that the guys he was making Zone Leaders were getting their dicks sucked and snorting cocaine. That honestly felt outrageous to me.

I feel like the stereotypical “worst day” of a mission is the last day – they take you to the airport in a big van, all melancholy and nostalgic. We sang on our drive to the airport – elders and sisters tearfully sang or hummed hymns together. I was deadpan the whole time, it was such a relief to be going home. For me the worst part of the day was the relief – the release of pressure. The pressure to perform, to be “on,” to be at your best, is omnipresent for elders. I was the only person flying to Phoenix, so for the first time in two years I felt a release from that pressure. Nobody was scrutinizing me, I no longer felt that every thought, action, and feeling was being evaluated and judged as a sign of my true character. It was hard to realize, a the pressure let up, that I had been holding all that weight for two years without knowing when it had started. I remember getting confused in Customs and needing someone who spoke Spanish to talk to me because I kept forgetting words in English. I remember getting home and my family waiting for me and feeling like it was all finally done, finally over, I could finally breath. It didn’t feel bad, but it did feel heavy. And it definitely was not the worst day of my mission.

The actual worst day of my mission, though, was about 5 months in. At the 6-month mark I was expected to make a long trip down to an area of town near La Basilica de Guadalupe to submit my visa paperwork, and the mission office had sent me an extra $500 MX to use for transportation costs. When I withdrew the money they had sent for the month, I noticed it was higher than expected. My companion, a senior companion and district leader, had the cell phone. He was talking to another elder while he waited for me to withdraw my monthly deposit. I approached and asked if I could use the cell phone to call the mission office, as I had questions. He said “no,” and ignored me. I waited until the conversation ended and asked again, and again, angrily, he said, “No.” I said “Elder, relax, I just need to call the mission office to see why they sent me more this month than usual.” His face turned red as he realized other elders were watching the exchange occur. He handed me the phone, I called and was told the money was for transportation costs, and laughingly returned the phone to my companion. He took it, told the other elders he needed to tie his shoe but they could head on over to the District Meeting, and waited until they were out of eyesight. Once that was done, he grabbed me hard by the wrist, dragged me into a hidden corner out of earshot from others, and said, “If you ever disrespect me or my authority again I swear to God I will kill you.”

I was actually shocked. This guy had spent the last month and a half being SUPER nice to me, so I thought he was kidding and I was just confused. I laughed and said “Haha, yeah, your authority over the cell phone is sacred,” and tried to walk away but he didn’t let go of my wrist. He pulled me back and said “I will literally slit your throat if you ever talk to me like that again. As senior companion my authority over YOU is sacred, and I will not let God be mocked by you.”

I realized that he was serious. Like, actually threatening-my-life serious. I could see it in his eyes, I could feel it in the way he squeezed tighter on my wrist. In actuality, the idea seems laughable now. The guy was absolutely chickenshit. He cried if his shits were too hard, he couldn’t end a human life, but I still didn’t let myself fall asleep first for the rest of our time together. And I still hid the two knives we had in a different area while he was showering the next morning.

If I’m being honest though, even that wasn’t the worst day of my mission. That was bad, and each subsequent time he told me he was going to cut my throat for minor infractions against his God-Given Authority Over Me (like not wearing a belt for morning scripture study, or not taking the path he thought was best to get to a lesson) was a bad day. Every P-Day where he read my emails over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t telling my parents about how he was treating me, every day he told me that the ward members would never believe me over him, every day he put me down in front of other elders and they laughed in agreement, every day he was in a bad mood and took it out on me was a bad day. But the worst day was the day I told the mission president about it. I told him about the threats to my life, his temper, his physical abuse, hiss manipulation and rule-breaking, and the mission president told me “The time to tell me this was 6 months ago. The time to forgive him and focus on your own failings is now.”

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as confused or betrayed as I did then. Like, man oh man, that was a rough thing to hear, but as the day went on I kept feeling more and more confused and scared – had I misinterpreted everything? Had I miscommunicated something in telling the story? Had I not been objective enough in recounting the threats against my life? Was it true that a senior companion actually had the authority to hurt me if I went against his authority? Was I wrong the whole time? I had no idea, to be honest, but it was bewildering.

Knowing now what I wish I had known then, I would have done things differently. But in the moment, on a mission, knowing that my biggest reason for going on a mission was the hope that the Spirit of God, which hymns told me burns like fire, would burn the faggot out of my heart. I think I felt like I deserved it. Like somehow that elder knew the evil I was hiding and felt compelled by God’s power to hurt me. I think that’s what made it so hard to defend myself in the moment – I did not have that problem with other elders. The companion who told me we were gonna wrestle to settle an argument lost three consecutive matches and pouted about it for like a week. The elder who threatened to punch me for making a joke at his expense got knocked on his ass just for raising his fist. But this elder got into my head first, and that made it hard to fight against it. Instead of fighting against it, I just silently lived with actual, verifiable, diagnosed, by-the-book, DSM-5-TR Posttraumatic Stress Disorder because I thought I deserved it. It took consistent supervision of my clinical work revealing countertransference with Male LDS clients (I consistently discussed addressing shame in a client’s presentation where no shame or discomfort had been reported), an awkward conversation with @inbabylontheywept after an even more awkward dinner with a cousin who vaguely reminds me of that companion, and a bad acid trip where I had visceral flashbacks to my mission, before I was able to realize that I was living with a pain that was as abnormal as it was unnecessary.

Even once I realized it, even once I got help, it was hard. I remember telling jokes about what happened to my therapist and seeing her jaw just…drop. She said she didn’t know it had been that dangerous for me. The session ended and he sent me the PCL-5 (a good, evidence-based, highly face-valid measure for PTSD) and some other measure for dissociative symptoms and I was like “Girl, I just took this class, I know what you’re trying to measure and this ain’t it.” I reported my symptoms accurately and was fully prepped to confront her the next session. She showed me my scores and the norms used, and I was like “Oh fuck, this looks really bad on paper,” and she was like “Yeah, I can’t imagine living like this” and I just sobbed for most of that session. We ended up doing 9 months of TF-CBT and ACT (largely because I am a terrible and uncooperative patient, realistically I think I could have been done in like 5-6 months if I wasn’t so stubborn) before I was discharged from treatment successfully.

The thing that was so weird about starting therapy for PTSD was that it made things feel worse for a while. I started taking edibles a lot more. I started behaving differently around family members and Mormons. I started being outright hostile to elders I could see. It took about 3 months before I could see the missionaries and not have an actual fight-or-flight response to their presence. I think the way I had made it a far as I did without getting treatment was by repressing the thoughts, feelings, and memories that made it all hurt, and a soon as I let them just be there it was like all the confusing aching hurt came back. The first few months of therapy were just spent expanding the amount of time I could feel that hurt before turning to other means (like dissociation, cannabis, repression, etc.) so I could actually address the experiences without crashing the rest of the day. It was hard. I know I ended several sessions sweating a LOT from the exertion it took to just let the feelings happen. By 6 months, however, I could go into a church building without blacking out from panic. By 9 months I could sit in the same room as elders without sweating and shaking like a chihuahua on Adderall. 3 months after therapy and me and my supervisors noticed that my work with Mormon men had improved substantially. 6 months after therapy and I was able to begin writing anonymous stories online. Now, about two years after completing therapy, I feel like I can talk about it without needing the cloak of anonymity, and that is empowering.

Again, I am not sure why I’m typing these stories out – they’re not fun to write, I don’t love that my family can find these posts, but I guess I just like to remind myself and others that it can always get better. That mind numbing platitude, the old thought-terminating cliché that “it gets better, just power through it” doesn’t give enough credit to how much it hurts to get through it, but it does get better. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The triggers can go away with time, great effort, significant expense, and a lot of discomfort. The world can feel safe again, the hurt can feel bearable, that nagging worry that I might have deserved this, or that I did something wrong, can eventually go away too. It’s not easy to do it, and I have an incredible respect for the patients of mine who can pull it off, but it is undeniably as doable a it is difficult. If this story resonates with anyone, if it feels close-to-home, if these experiences feel shared, just know that the relief I talked about can feel shared too. Know that it’s worth it to get the help, that you deserve the help, that you deserve to live a life that doesn’t hurt you, that you deserve to be a full person and not a living prison for the pain and memories. Know that healing yourself does not involve extending forgiveness to Them, whoever They are. That the pain you felt will not be made less important by making the pain less potent. Know that taking care of yourself now is, in a way, taking care of yourself then. And Please, with a capital P, take care of yourselves.

Thank you to my family, especially my immediate family (special shout outs to @flowerologists and @inbabylontheywept) for the support and patience with me as I dealt with this.

Thank you to my therapist, Jordin Borques, who I recommend highly to anyone seeking trauma therapy in Arizona.

Thank you to my wife, @cintailed, for being the push that got me into therapy, and for taking care of me at my worst and still being here with me.

Thanks to my mission president for being such a colossal disappointment to Christianity that my departure from the church was inevitable.

And a general thanks to the queers for being so cute and making life worth living, even on bad days.

[hotvintagepoll]

Edward Everett Horton (Holiday, Top Hat, Arsenic and Old Lace)—Edward Everett Horton was a character actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1923 and 1971 who excelled at playing nervous, tightly-wound characters encountering mishaps or otherwise out of the element. You only have to watch his world-famous double take to see why people kept hiring him as the nervous best friend of the main character, a put-upon suitor to a leading lady, or the person in charge of making sure the show was a big success. A 1940 article in Time Magazine stated that “In all his contracts, Horton includes an unwritten clause that he shall not be compelled to play a married man, kiss a woman, have any children.” This does not reflect the roles Horton actually played, either before or after 1940, but it does sum up his vibe pretty well, his vibe being “gay and anxious.” It’s a wonder he’s not already tumblr’s favorite character actor! In another article about a Broadway run of Springtime for Henry (a show that Horton toured around the country, to the tune of more than 3,000 performances in his lifetime) he’s described as having a “persimmon face, crow beak nose and scissor lips” which feels pretty “scrungly” even if, at six foot two inches, Horton doesn’t really fit the definition of “little.” He steals just about every scene he’s in, thanks to his excellent expressions and impeccable comedic timing, managing to be funny and believable. Or as Horton himself said “The reason people think I’m funny is because I remind them of someone they know. Somebody who probably annoys them considerably, but for whom they really have an affection”.

Ed Wynn (Mary Poppins, Babes in Toyland)—you cant have a scrungle if you cant have a dapper silly guy who' s floating on the ceiling ! now can you !

This is round 2 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you're confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Edward Everett Horton:

He was just perpetually anxious, and being around Fred Astaire trying to woo Ginger Rogers, or whatever Cary Grant was doing would make you anxious. I just feel delighted every time he graces my screen

i know he's already in but he's the funniest character actor who ever existed so have some additional propaganda for the most perpetually startled and put-upon and woe-betide-me crumpled napkin of a man to ever sigh beleagueredly on the silver screen. master of the double take, the triple take, maybe even the quadruple take. he's in SO many movies and he bumbles and scrungles his way exquisitely about all of them with the deft precision of his comic timing and the minute flicker of every facial expression. he's the odd little man i'm always happiest to see pop up anywhere. tends to play a charmingly ineffectual fussy bachelor in need of a tums who things are always happening to.

Ed Wynn:

[ideas-4-stories]

Cross Guild Romance prompt: Luffy and the Strawhats are sailing when this sudden and severe storm catches them. In the chaos Chopper goes flying overboard with some debris before anyone can grab him. Luffy and the crew get blown the other way and can only despair and hang on. Come morning Chopper wakes up not in the middle of the ocean but in Cross Guild’s hospital tent with Buggy, Mihawk, and Crocodile looming over him. Chopper thinks he’s gonna be tossed in the dungeons. Instead Mihawk basically takes full charge of him, taking care of him and knowing how beloved the little reindeer is from Zoro’s stories. Buggy and Crocodile are actually nice to Chopper too and spend time with him while they actually try to contact the Thousand Sunny with no luck thanks to signal interfere with the den dens. Mihawk is strict but not unkind, teaching Chopper about herbs and gardening and even some sword play. Buggy includes Chopper in the circus acts since he dances so well, and even Crocodile shows him the baby fruitwanis. Chopper is much liked in Cross Guild and he actually plays unintentional matchmaker for Buggy, Mihawk, and Crocodile. When they manage to finally contact Luffy and inform the Strawhats that they have their beloved doctor safe and sound, they all plan an epic reunion for Chopper, culminating in Luffy and the crew showing up when Chopper is performing on stage with Buggy. It’s an epic reunion of hugs, tears, relief and a bit of reconciliation for Buggy and Crocodile with the straw hats while Mihawk and Zoro get to reunite too. Everyone loves Chopper!

Oh, The Gods Above And Beyond, CHOPPER!!! Poor dude, who knows how long it took him to wash up on the shores of Karai Bari and he did it unconsciously as well clutching onto something that's very buoyancy in the water… You know I'm gonna go with the idea that Chopper was fiahed out of the sea from a Buggy Pirates boat, whether they meant to fish him out or it was a surprise. They rushed to their great glorious chairman as he would know what to do with the reindeer.

I would say it would make more sense if Chopper was asleep for a couple days so the boat can get back to land and let the Cross Guild leaders wonder what they’re gonna do with the reindeer.

Again poor Chopper, waking up in enemy territory is not a great thing to wake up too. Only to be shocked when Mihawk starts to feed him and reassures him that they will make sure Chopper gets back to his crew because when the little reindeer doctor was still sleeping, the trio made the decision it would be a good thing to stay on Luffy’s good side.

Love that Mihawk is doing most of the caring for Chopper, while Crocodile and Buggy would be giving Chopper sweets without knowing that each other are doing it as well. Chopper will be getting double cotton candy and he won’t say anything because Mihawk would definitely stop that (it’s up to you if Mihawk learns about the double dose of candy or not)

Mihawk teaching him about herbs and gardening is so cute! I’m thinking that sometimes Chopper will list off how these herbs could be used to heal and Mihawk is nodded, saying that interesting and jotting it down in a notebook. I can see Chopper holding a very small wooden sword that Buggy got his woodcarvers to make for the little doctor! Chopper is a number one hit just like their chairman to Buggy’s followers. They are definitely cheering him on and cooing when Chopper swears at them. Crocodile taking Chopper with him when he comes to check on his fruitwanis. Chopper is telling him how they are feeling and the big man is happy that his fruitwanis are happy! (Also love that Chopper is playing matchmaker, love that for him!)

I love the ending, truly goanna be a flashy great reunion party!

[the-cartoon-connoisseur]

Some thoughts on Ford and nightmares:

I imagine Ford has PTSD from his time with Bill and having to survive life in the portal (because how do you not after going through something like that), and as a result it’s not uncommon for him to have really vivid nightmares. If he gets a particularly nasty one that wakes him, no matter the hour he’ll throw himself into whatever his current project is and try to forget about it. It can also be disorienting to wake from a traumatic, high-intensity dream, so busying himself can be a way to get his head on straight. 

When these nightmares happen, I think he would keep them to himself. I don’t think he’d want to concern anyone, but also dreams related to trauma can be so personal and scary, it would just make him feel too vulnerable to tell anyone else about it. OR maybe he’s just so accustomed to having to go through things by himself that locking up the thoughts are just second nature for him. So instead, he just tries pushing it to the back of his mind where it eats away at him. 

The day after, Ford would be hard to reach. I think he’d have that look in his eye that says he’s in his head and not so much in the present moment. He may be shorter with people and more reactive to his environment. 

Maybe as a way to banish these unwanted thoughts, he paces around the perimeter of the shack, performing his own unofficial security sweep. Maybe he adds new measures of protection, even though they may be unnecessary.  I think it would aid as a distraction but also give him a little sense of control over how he’s feeling. 

Though an unhealthy reaction I could also see from Ford is staying up late to avoid going back to his dreams. I don’t think this is necessarily something he does consciously, but old habits die hard. Plus the less sleep you get, the less likely you’ll dream at all since REM sleep happens (typically) after an hour and a half.

He tends to suffer in silence, but I wonder at what point is the cross too big to bear? Maybe a week or two of experiencing back-to-back nightmares and sleepless nights begins to push him to his limits? Then what?

This is all just my personal headcanon, but I would love to hear what others have to say!

[mischivousvoid]

This might be a weird take, but I feel like people's recent hate of Ford and ignorance of Bills crimes in the GF fandom says less about the fandom and more about how well Ford and Bill are written.

It's a well-known fact that most people online can't comprehend complex characters. It's going to happen, like, everywhere. But why is there not as many people blaming or hating the complex character who actually is a villain of the story? The one objectively more in the wrong?(Y'know, Bill)

Because Ford feels real. Bill doesn't.

Bill is a supernatural entity that nobody expects to ever meet in real life, it's easy to disconnect from his flaws because he's a walking talking triangle. And most importantly, despite being openly evil, he's charismatic in terms of personality and stupidly entertaining to watch.

Not to mention that before the book of Bill, everyone was already blatantly aware of Bill being evil, what they discovered upon reading the book is the opposite - things that would make you sympathetic towards him, his hurt and inner thoughts, something people could relate to. So, of course people would focus on those more. And exadurate it. And frankly, it's exactly what Bill wants. He's manipulated everyone into liking him by showing this, because now he wants something from you, the reader. You're no longer the passive audience, Bill has reached to you directly and is trying to make a deal. He's performing for you specifically. "See, I ain't so bad:)". Obviously he kinda fails in his usual ways due to his misunderstanding of humans and emotional instability making him vulnerable. But ultimately, he still got what he wanted from some people...

Then what about Ford? Well, frankly I think the book of Bill pushed him more "in the front" and people have started to actually analyse his character rather than overlooking it on the surface level.

And discovered that, oh wow, Ford has flaws.

He's always had them, but they're hidden in his behaviour and the framing of the show that's seen through the eyes of Dipper and Mabel just doesn't paint him in negative light. And seeing as there isn't even that much of interactions between Mabel and Ford, it's more so through Dippers eyes, who deeply admires Ford. You need to dig to see the flaws and well people haven't collectively done so until now, focusing more on the characters with more screentime.

And now that they have it's like. "Oh wow, this guy is kinda... morally gray". And more importantly, they notices that he's self-centered(not selfish, self-centered, big difference!). Ford is stuck in his own head, he's distrustful and paranoid, he has unhealthy coping mechanisms. And it shows. He's not a blatantly terrible person, but he's made terrible choices and decisions and he's hurt people. And some of it is because he was manipulated and abused by Bill, but some is just because of his core flaw. The self-centeredness. It feels like Ford doesn't see past his nose, he deeply believes that everything revolves around him and the only truth is his truth. He needs to feel important, to matter. Desperately. It doesn't just mean that he sees himself as the hero, the saviour and the genius. It also means that in the low moments he sees himself as so much lesser than and that he's absolutely convinced everyone does. That he's convinced all his paranoia is at all times justified. He fundamentally cannot put himself in other people's shoes. And yes that hurts others, and it also hurts him because he jumps to the worst conclusions (such as about Stanley and his intentions) and he becomes convinced he has to be right.

Ford is also, and I'm sorry for saying this, questionably likeable. He's socially awkward and nerdy and many people like that, but it's just objectively not as charismatic. His attempts at being cool, are, well... dorky. And it's endearing in a way, but it's not raw charisma. It doesn't captivate and capture as many people as Bill's fun personality, it doesn't distract from who Ford is. And that's on purpose, because Ford's personality is real. And Bill is performing constantly as part of the act to conceal for bad he is.

If you've had the misfortune of meeting a master manipulator like Bill, oh boy am I sorry for you. But I bet for a very long time you were convinced that person is cool before you escaped them, the experience was almost surreal, right? You can swear they were so fun to hang out with, you didn't even notice when it's gotten so bad. Or maybe, you never even got close to them and on the surface they were just so fun and then you find out how horrible they are through the grape vine, and you ask yourself "wow, really, that guy?".

And truly, most people won't even meet a person like that.

But Ford? You've met a Ford.

In a way, at least.

You've definitely met someone who's so in their head they aren't always pleasant. And that guy doesn't care about appearances - he's not lying to you. Just doesn't see things in a different way. And they're open about it, they will tell you that they're right.

And I bet that, if you got close to a person like that, they unintentionally hurt you. They're not... all that, no. But they're dismissive. They don't understand. They hold grudges because they just can't believe your perspective, not even because they do not want to. They will fluctuate between never taking accountability and defending their actions to death and apologizing and agonising so much that you have to comfort them about their own mistakes because suddenly they're the worst person in the world and everything is their fault. And you know, it hurts. It hurts because you love them, because there's so many genuinely good things about them. But it's so mentally exhausting to keep up with their emotional issues that you slowly start resenting them anyway.

And if you have never gotten close to someone like that, perhaps if you didn't find a part of them charming immediately, you've still met them - you just found them mildly annoying. It's the "Um, actually" guy. The "correct your grammar and pronounciation" guy. Even if they're right it's just so. "God, they're a stuck-up asshole." Even if that's objectively not true because they volunteer to rescue kittens every weekend and have invented the cure for cancer.

And it's so much easier to dislike the real problem. You've never met a dimension destroying monster, nor someone who could control your body in a literal way, nor, you know, a "demon". (At least I fucking hope so?). You've met someone who didn't mean to hurt you but couldn't help it. You've met an annoying kinda stuck-up smart guy. And now you see that guy in Ford and you cannot unsee it and you're projecting your feelings.

[earlycuntsets]

image descriptions: "The giant Gerard Way clones vowed to enslave the earth" (gerard way) "trapped wind can be a nightmare" (amy lee) "fall out boy were proud to introduce a stereotypical frenchman to their lineup (fob) "by this point in the evening. the photographer was seeing double" (incubus) "jack white shows off his man boobs (jack white) "amy lee. but wheres her sporran?" (amy lee) "if I close my eyes real tight. I can pretend i'm still in blink 182" (+44) "this one goes out to good people at persil" (AFI)

"Anarchy in the USA. The world's biggest bands lay waste to Los Angeles

KROQ-FM RADIO in Los Angeles is the premier radio station in North America. If a band can get played on KROQ, then it's pretty certain they'll have a big hit on their hands. The station has helped launch the careers of Blink 182, Linkin Park and The Offspring among many others. And every Christmas time, bands return the favour by playing a (fairly) intimate concert for 6,000 fans, with all the proceeds going to charity. Sixteen years ago, when the first 'Acoustic Christmas' took place, the bands actually performed their sets in a stripped down acoustic setting, but slowly, that tradition has given way to full on electric sets that rock the pants off the crowd. And, as usual, Kerrang! was given access all areas to the hottest gig in town…

SATURDAY 5PM Rising emo pin-ups SAOSIN take the stage to a sparse crowd. Hardly anyone Is Inside the venue yet, but they shouldn't be too down-hearted. Linkin Park once played this slot. The following year, they were headlining.

5:30PM It seems unlikely a band with such a full-on rock 'n' roll reputation like WOLFMOTHER would even be awake at 5:30pm, let alone taking the stage. Yet the Aussie lads turn their infectious energy on to churn out new classic rock hits like 'The Joker And The Thief' and 'Woman'. Backstage, singer Andrew Stockdale chats with Hollywood socialite (and daughter of Rod) Kimberly Stewart in the hallway. The big-haired Wolfmother man is also seen drooling over his hero Billy Corgan. Corgan is not performing today - he's just hanging out, taking a much needed break from the new Smashing Pumpkins recording sessions.

6PM After the disappointment that was +44's album 'When Your Heart Stops Beating', the trio's performance tonight is a revelation. Astonishingly, drummer Travis Barker-whose right arm still hasn't fully healed from an injury sustained during the band's September video shoot-plays the entire set with one arm, without missing a beat. It's a jaw-dropping spectacle. Evidently, the band we witnessed playing their debut London gig back in October were only just finding their feet. Two months on, +44 are a sharper, more confident live act, with sparky anthems such as '155' sounding like the greatest songs Blink 182 never wrote. Don't write them off just yet…

7PM 30 SECONDS TO MARS 'Whoa, I can play guitar without even looking!never fail to make an eye-opening entrance. Tonight, the prog-influenced foursome race down the Then singer Jared Leto spends much of signature tune 'The Kill' in the crowd, running up and down the aisles, climbing onto the seats to share his microphone with the fans, and generally betraying the movie star charisma that has won over Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Diaz and Lindsay Lohan, among others. The lucky devil. At the end of the band's set, a flurry of cannons detonate a vast snow storm of white confetti. Magnificent. words and photos: Lisa Johnson

7:40PM FALL OUT BOY "We feel like losers," moans Pete Wentz as FALL OUT BOY take the stage. He's concerned that his band didn't really 'fit' on either night. Sandwiched between 30 Seconds To Mars and My Chemical Romance can be unnerving, but at least the dude got the chance to meet Jared Leto's ex-girlfriend Lindsay Lohan backstage. That's got to count for something. Whatever Wentz' reservations, Fall Out Boy triumph tonight. It's one of the first times they've had the opportunity to air songs from new album 'Infinity On High', and on this evidence, 'This Ain't A Scene It's An Arms Race' is set to replace 'Sugar We're Goin' Down' as FOB's key song. Fun, addictive, and outrageously catchy, the track prompts a massive crowd response, despite most people having never heard it before. The new album will be huge. Later, rumours fly over whether or not Wentz and Lindsay Lohan are an item. From Kerrang!'s vantage point, things certainly seem to be going well for Wentz. Lohan might well be his tonight-providing he can get her out of Foo Fighters' dressing room… [photographed - The venue and grunge legends: Dave Grohl and Billy Corgan]

8:15PM MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE explode onstage with typical flair and venom. the stage is still littered with the confetti from 30 Seconds To Mars' set. Gerard Way encourages the crowd to throw confetti snowballs at him, and a beautiful reverse snow flurry erupts towards the stage. Suddenly one aisles dressed in Santa Claus outfits. giant confetti snowball hits him right in the face. Gerard just laughs, and gives the thrower a congratulatory nod. This encourages a full-on snowball assault, until security intervenes and puts a stop to it. After the band's set, Billy Corgan is ushered into MCR's dressing room. This isn't Gerard's first Corgan encounter-he's never made any secret of his adoration of the Smashing Pumpkins man - but it is the first for the rest of the band. Mikey Way contains his excitement on the outside, but inside, he's overwhelmed. The bands exchange tales from the road, and discuss the perils of onstage missiles (a subject close to MCR's hearts ever since Reading 2006). "The worst is piss," Corgan says.

"Oh, yes, we know!" Gerard, Mikey and Frank chime in unison.

Then they swap piss-throwing stories for 20 minutes. It's a beautiful moment.

9PM Outside the venue, a massive rainstorm is raging. Inside, INCUBUS are performing an amazing set full of hits like 'Nice To Know You.' 'Wish You Were Here' and some songs from their newest release 'Light Grenades'. Singer Brandon Boyd literally falls into the crowd at the end of the set, arms outstretched, like a man giving the performance of his life.

Afterwards, Brandon is sipping wine with his buddies backstage, although bassist Ben Kenney can't join in the Christmas cheer: he's flat out on the couch, laid low by a vicious cold. In the crowded backstage hallways, David Grohl is delighted to run into Billy Corgan. "I had a baby! Want to see some photos?" Grohl asks him, and quickly whips out some pics of baby Violet to show off. Aww.

"We feel like losers." - pete wentz, fall out boy

9:50PM It's been an incredible year for AFI, and they're clearly in celebratory mood as they slay the masses with tracks like 'Miss Murder' and 'Love Like Winter.' Friends Joe Escalante and Dave Quackenbush from The Vandals, along with Jim Lindberg from Pennywise, have come to check out their best buddies' band. It serves as a reminder of just how far AFI have transcended their old school punk roots. Their new material shines through tonight, ditching the skuzzy riffs of old for gleaming hooks, fist-pumping singalongs, and, of course, the ever-more flamboyant overtures of frontman Davey Havok. Always enigmatic, AFI disappear from the site shortly after their set - although later that night we spy drummer Adam Carlson at a Hollywood dive bar, partying under the radar with some friends and who can blame him.

10:40PM The backstage party turns into a ghost town the once FOO FIGHTERS takes the stage. The band, including Foo veteran Pat Smear remain in sit-down acoustic form for the first portion of the nine song set which includes "My Hero" and ends with "Everlong". As Dave Grohl stands to perform "Everlong" the stage silently turns and there the rest of the band reappears with full electric setup. and pounds seamlessly into "All My Life" Tender moments include 'Times Like These,' 'Monkey Wrench', and what Grohl claims is their first ever live performance of 'Darling Nikki', a cover of a startlingly filthy Prince song about a masturbating female nymphomaniac. Ahem. There's no santa suits, no confetti, no dancers. But damn, the Foos own tonight. The 'buzz' acts right now might be the twin emo juggernauts of MCR and Fall Out Boy. But, on this form, Foo Fighters make those newbies look like mere pretenders to the throne. Awesome.

SUNDAY 6:35PM Just prior to ANGELS AND AIRWAVES taking the stage, Kerrang! arranges to introduce Panic! At The Disco to their all-time hero, Tom DeLonge. Since Panic! often cite Blink 182 as inspiring them to start a band in the first place, this promises to be a momentous occasion. The meeting takes place in the crowded hallway backstage, while the Panic! dancers hurriedly prepare for their performance. Tom speaks excitedly to the band, even inviting them to produce a line of shoes and clothing for his Macbeth clothing company. The encounter goes swimmingly, and -as if you couldn't tell from the saucers that replace the eyes of Ryan and Brendon as they chat to their idol - the Panic boys declare themselves 'stoked'. Pleased to be of service, chaps.

7:10PM Once PANIC! AT THE DISCO take the stage, they blow everyone away with their elaborate staging and dancers. The foursome are obliged to strip down their production for the intimate setting, but still, with just a fraction of the mayhem, the performance is topnotch, with the crowd going predictably apeshit for 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies'. Where on earth will they go next?

7:45PM EVANESCENCE's Amy Lee was nearly trampled by the Gnarls Barkley dancers in full elf costumes earlier in the evening (the men behind über- Crazy' were also on the bill today, weirdly enough). hit ' And she seemed unfazed by the numerous dressing room bust-ins that Tom DeLonge made to say hello. In fact, she appeared to be rather amused by his antics. "We don't really fit on this bill," Amy told the captive audience, and thanked the fans graciously for watching, before tearing into a full-blooded version of 'Call Me When You're Sober'. "Most of you probably don't know who we are." Which is being rather modest, since Evanescence have probably sold more records than most of the bands here combined.

8:25PM THE RACONTEURS are enjoying the stateside success of their track 'Steady As She Goes'. And tonight, Jack White is in high spirits. "It's Meg's birthday tonight-it's her 16th!" We think that might be a lie. Backstage, Meg White and Dave Grohl sit down for a lengthy chat about drums. We're sure it was fascinating.

9:45PM THE KILLERS' set is notable for finally laying to rest the supposed 'feud' between them and fellow Vegas natives Panic! At The Disco. Indeed, the Panic! boys make a point of planting themselves in some empty seats, watching The Killers' set with giant smiles on their faces. Well, it is Christmas, after all…

10:40PM FOO FIGHTERS return to play the same set as last night. But it's no less powerful the second time around. "Did you all enjoy The Raconteurs?" Dave Grohl asks the crowd, "Cause I pretty much think they're the best rock band around right now." And with that he launches into 'Skin And Bones' and the crowd explodes into anarchy.

01/2007 kerrang! #1141

[loweffortopinions]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Play Time: 70 hours and going because I like to hurt myself?

Platform: EA Pro Play 

Rating: 4/10

(Moved this Review from my other account because I can't mix art and text)

Environments 

I had a few oh, that’s pretty moments, but overall I found it hard to feel immersed. The cities are nice I guess and detailed, but they lack distinct, memorable qualities. 

A city like Minrathous has the potential to be an exciting showcase of magic woven into everyday life. Mages using spells to transport goods or to perform mundane tasks. I was also looking forward to see a clear divide between magic users and non-magic users, as previous games have implied that Minrathous is Ferelden in reverse. Instead, NPCs feel static, and there is nothing new or interesting done with the magic. For a place built up as legendary in previous games... Minrathous just doesn't deliver. Further, you only get to explore one district, so there is no contrast between richer and poorer areas. And Treviso? It's pretty... but I mostly remember pointy roofs and ziplines.

Character Design

Faces and hair are a big step up from previous games, and armors are varied and nice to look at. But it comes at the cost that it feels overdone, leaning into flashy, cartoony territory. I ran around in my starting armor for half the game because nothing really fit my character.

The companions suffer from this too to some extent. Darin’s open-chested armor seems impractical for a warrior, Neve, supposedly from Docktown, looks more like an aristocrat from Orlais than her background suggests. Bellara’s design is fine, but aside from her vallaslin, she doesn’t seem particularly Dalish. Emmerich and Harding look fine, especially in their camp outfits, which I prefer for most characters.

Combat and Gameplay 

I’ll be honest—I eventually turned the difficulty down to story mode just to get through the game. The combat didn’t do it for me: repetitive enemy hordes that seem randomly placed, limited abilities, and dodging and rolling mechanics that don’t feel very engaging.

Aside from a few setpieces and two boss fights, no encounter stood out. It’s not a particularly hard game, it just got tedious after a few hours.

Another complaint is that every class now feels overly magical. Since the lore around magic is such a key part of the series, this really rubbed me the wrong way. 

Story and World-Building 

Starting with the biggest issue: Veilguard’s main story is a weak.

In Inquisition, even if Corypheus wasn’t the most compelling villain, there was still a sense of growth as you built up your organization and connected with companions. In Veilguard, it feels like they stripped away what worked in previous games and just kept Corypheus. And the worst part? I miss Corypheus. At least he had a booming voice and some interesting lines. Veilguard has none of that.

The villains in this… honestly, where to start? Rather than feeling meaningful, they’re just names repeated so often it feels like the game worries I’ll forget them. Villains aside events unfold without much connection, leaving me questioning why things happen the way they do.

Why are we choosing these allies?

Why am I stuck doing busy work for them while the world is supposedly ending?

But who cares! It's not like your allies really matter. Rook is a one-man army after all. If we’d had them instead of the Hero of Ferelden, the Blight would’ve ended in Ostagar—and every named NPC would’ve survived, including whoever slay the Archdemon. 

Character and Companion Dynamics 

While presented as experts, they rarely get the chance to demonstrate their skills. Harding sometimes provides useful contacts, and Emmerich occasionally shows his abilities, but beyond that, companions often feel like tropes with minimal growth or depth.

For instance, one character is the “unwilling father,” but we never see him grapple with it genuinely—he just says it. Others are similarly shallow: the socially awkward “nerd,” the “noir detective” with a heavy burden, and the “tortured assassin” who doesn’t seem all that tortured. Insights rarely go deeper than quirks, like loving coffee or fish, which get mentioned repeatedly without further development. 

Previous games built strong, opinionated characters who added depth to the world, but here, companions are lacking. Banter is shallow, with little conflict or chemistry. I’ve never played a Dragon Age game where I wanted to skip side quests or companion quests, yet here, I actually did.

I honestly prefer Andromedas cast over this on. Never thought I'd say that but here we are.

Main Character and Roleplaying

Rook’s voice actor; I love em'... which only makes the limited dialogue options more frustrating. I tried to play Rook as a practical, no-nonsense character, but the writing kept steering me back to a softer, more agreeable tone.

If you’re aiming for a tougher or more forceful personality, you're out of luck. If you plan to play be prepared for Rook to come across as a diplomat. Further, you are forced to agree with everyone, and never get to question them or their motives.

So... maybe don't get this if you're into Baldurs Gate 3 and player agency?

Ending Words 

If you’re like me, and the highlights of previous games have been the banter, character depth, and exploring the world and lore, you’ll likely be disappointed. Honestly, I’d even recommend skipping it. Then again, I've seen people say the opposite. So what do I know?

No matter what you do, I’d suggest waiting for a sale. It’s not worth the full price. 

Extra shit

Combat and Gameplay 

There’s the matter of the quest marker, which gives you tunnel vision which distract you from the enviorments.

The loot feels out of place due to its flashy animation. I started skipping loot in certain areas because it felt inappropriate and slowed down the pacing.

You'll fast travel a lot. And I don't mean in a big open area. It's more of a design flaw: Fast Travel to the Lighthouse to talk to a companion. Fast travel to a location to start that companion's quest, walk to said spot to start the quest. Repeat 5 times.

Story and World-Building 

The ending to its credit, was nicely paced and visually strong. If the rest of the game had been more like that, it would’ve been a decent experience. 

The Shadow Dragons, the Crows, the Wardens—all these factions make sense to be here but do nothing meaningful for the story or the worldbuilding.

Even dramatic scenes lack memorable moments. For example, there is a prison escape that's visually pretty but otherwise lacks substance. The person you rescue has supposedly been there a year, but nothing about their appearance or behavior reflects this. There’s no memorable dialogue, nothing deeper—it’s all surface-level.

I personally think Bioware are cowards for only letting you side with an anti-slave organisation. Come on: This isn't the Teviner you've built towards for 3 games! *shakes fist*

[ladykailitha]

Spellbound Part 1

Normally I would post Caged Bird today, but this has a much larger backlog, sooo! Happy himbo witch time!

Summary: It's a quiet, idyllic life in the town of Hawkins. For everyone but Eddie Munson. You see, his look and cottage scream witch. The long, curly, dark curls, the black clothes, and dark and broody cottage all point to Eddie as a witch. But no. That title belongs to Steve Harrington down the way. In bright and cheery house, dressed in green and a sunny disposition. Things start turn in the town when Chrissy shows up on Eddie's doorstep thinking he's the witch.

~

Eddie Munson was everything one expected a witch to look like. He had long, curly, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He wore dark makeup and painted his nails black. In addition to the only color palette liked was reds and blacks, he wore lots of jewelry, including many things that people associated with witches like pentagrams, animal teeth, and beads.

The house he shared with his Uncle Wayne was light grey, ramshackle, little cottage with black roof, door, and trim. The front of the house was overgrown with vines and wild flowers.

So he really shouldn’t be surprised when people would knock on the door looking for a witch.

He opened the door with a sigh. “Can I help you?” he asked the stranger.

She was pretty thing, a little younger than him. She had bright green eyes and her strawberry blonde hair was neatly arranged on the top of her head. She wasn’t very tall, but her green dress gave her long lines.

“I need a love charm?” she asked with a blush. “I just want to know if the man my father wants me to marry is the right one, you know?” She twisted her handkerchief nervously in her hands.

Eddie sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The witch lives two houses down and across the street. Great big sign that reads: ‘Harrington Witchery, charms, curses, and wishes performed here’.”

She looked down the way at the bright yellow house surrounded by neat plants and the perfect ray of sunlight on the door and then back at him in confusion. The door opened and the witch stepped out. He had honey colored hair and hazel eyes. He wore bright blue robes today and had the sunniest smile.

Eddie could feel his face flush as the witch waved over at both of them.

“Here he comes,” he said with a pinch of dismay.

“Hi,” the witch said brightly. “Are you looking for the witch?”

The young woman looked back at Eddie and then at the witch. “Yes?”

“Fantastic!” he said beaming at her. “I’m Steve Harrington, witch extraordinaire. Please to meet you!”

“Chrissy Cunningham,” she said shyly. “I was wanting a love charm?”

“I’d be happy to help you with that,” he said putting his arm over her shoulder, “let’s leave the grumpy Gus to his music playing, shall we?”

Eddie huffed. “That’s Mr. Grumpy Gus to you!”

Someone smacked him on the back of the head. “Don’t you go antagonizing the man who makes my arthritis medicine, boy.”

Steve stopped and turned around. “When do you need a top off on that, by the way?”

“I’m running a bit low,” Wayne admitted. “It was bit rougher this week with that huge storm we had.”

Steve nodded. “I’ll be over with the packet after I’m done with Chrissy.”

“I’ll have the tea ready for you,” Wayne said with a fond smile.

~

Chrissy looked around the house as he led her through to the back of the house. It was neat and tidy with every clearly labeled in a neat cursive hand. There was something bubbling on the fire, but from the smell it was probably dinner and not a potion. She could smell the beef and vegetables.

There were two rooms off the one side and the privy to the other. It was everything the opposite you would expect of a witch’s house. The animals on the other hand fit. One was a raven sitting in the windowsill being fed by a beautiful woman dressed in a dark blue gown. The other was a Tortoiseshell cat with bright green eyes, who meowed at her and jumped away.

“Merlin!” Steve admonished. “Be nice.”

The cat stopped in its hasty retreat and meowed back at him.

“Well she can’t help that,” he answered as if he understood what the cat was saying. “Now, run along and actually catch the mouse that has been stealing your food.”

Merlin meowed again and was off.

“He’ll never catch that mouse,” the woman said.

The raven crowed, seemingly in agreement.

“Then you catch it, Circe,” Steve huffed, hands on hips. “I know you can and you complaining about Merlin’s abilities doesn’t catch the mouse any faster.”

The raven crowed and flew off, causing the woman to laugh. “She won’t catch it either.”

“Yes,” Steve agreed, “but with her it’ll be because she doesn’t like being told what to do and not because she can’t.”

Chrissy shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “So about that love charm?” she asked tentatively.

Steve jumped. “Oh! Oh my god! I got so wrapped up in familiar politics I nearly forgot you were there. Here, just let me...” he began gathering supplies.

Some twine, a bit of silk, some herbs and oddly a couple of flowers too. Ivy, lilac and pansy. He swiftly made them into a doll and handed it to her. “A lock of your hair, and snip of your petticoat will finish the job. Then whisper into its ear all the things you want in your true love. Then the next time you touch your betrothed, you will know if he is your true love.”

“That’s all?” Chrissy asked, staring down at the doll, no bigger than her palm.

“Yep!” he said brightly. “Robin will help you with the hair and petticoat. I’ll be in the front room preparing Wayne’s medicine.”

Chrissy blushed and nodded. Robin stood up and wandered over to the desk to grab the scissors.

“Are you a witch, too?” Chrissy asked as she held still for Robin to clip a bit of her petticoat.

Robin stood up with a smile. “Not yet, but I hope to be. Steve is teaching me. I’m still a little clumsy with the potions but I’m good with the herbs. Steve says that I could be a hedge witch!”

“Oh!” Chrissy cried. “I didn’t know there were different kinds of witch. What kind is Steve?”

“The tired kind!” Steve huffed from the front room.

Robin giggled. “Don’t make me laugh when I’m about to cut her hair!” she admonished.

Steve looked over his shoulder and gave her a completely unrepentant grin. Robin huffed and gently took a bit of curl from the base of her head near the neck. She took the doll back from Chrissy and tied both pieces to the doll.

“Now,” she said brightly, “just whisper all your wants and desires for a future soulmate. It’s actually good you’re doing it now. A lot of people do it as kids with childish hopes and dreams which isn’t great for adult relationships.”

Steve came into the room dusting his hands off on a towel. “That’s unfair,” he huffed. “It’s not childish, it’s childlike. And who knows love better than someone who hasn’t been taught to hate yet.”

Chrissy tilted her head to the side. “I think I’m with Steve on that one, Robin.”

“Yeah, well,” Robin said rolling her eyes and stepping back. “Doing it as a child hasn’t done Mr. Witch over here any good. He had his made by his mom when he was seven and fifteen years later, he still hasn’t found his true love.”

Steve threw the towel over one shoulder and put both hands on his hips. “I still maintain that it’s because I’m witch and can’t get out much that’s why I haven’t found them yet.”

“I still thi–” Robin began and then was cut off with a wave Steve hand. She glared at him.

“It won’t last very long,” Steve growled, “but long enough that Miss Cunningham won’t be here for that particular argument.”

“She thinks you’ve already met your true love?” Chrissy surmised.

Robin jumped up and down and nodded with a huge grin.

“Robin is operating under the delusion that the goth down the road is my soulmate,” Steve huffed putting his hands back on his hips. “Never mind, it’s a guy, he absolutely hates me because people keep mistaking my house for his.”

Chrissy blushed a deep red. “Yeah, sorry about that. But it’s the commonly held belief that witches are–”

Steve held up his hand. “I’m going to stop you there. I won’t gag you like I did Robin. But I don’t know where those ‘commonly held beliefs’ come from, but witches have never worn black or had black cats or flew on brooms. Hedge witches in particular favor nature’s colors of blues and greens and browns. But you’re all set to go.”

Chrissy recognized the dismissal that it was and turned to leave. She barely got a single step when she turned around.

“What about payment?” she asked, uncertain. “Surely you need something in payment.”

Steve’s eyes seemed to glow gold for a moment as he spoke. “There is no need to pay for a love charm, there being more love in the world is enough for the spell. And it is only spell that does so.”

“Your other charms and spells have payments?” she asked, now a little nervous.

“Most of them require a trade or a simple favor,” Steve said, seriously, “like running an errand for me. But if you ask for a potent charm, one would almost call a wish, that is all you will get from me. You’ll never be able to find my house ever again. You’ll see me around town and I can visit you. But you require some powerful magic, then that’s it. I will not be used to fix every problem you see fit.”

Chrissy gulped and nodded. She clutched the doll to her chest and ran off.

“Steve...” Robin said, darkly. “There was no need to frighten her.”

Steve leveled her with a glare. She backed off, hands in the air in surrender. He stomped back to his potion, the small cottage darkening with his foul mood. The raven flew into through the window and landed on his shoulder, rubbing her beak on his temple.

“I’m fine, Circe,” Steve mumbled, scratching the raven’s neck. “I think Merlin was right about her. She wasn’t here for a good reason. I think she just wanted to prove to everyone that Master Carver’s son isn’t her soulmate. I don’t think she’s actually interested in finding true love.”

The raven crowed and cawed.

“Of course you caught the mouse,” he huffed, gently shaking his head not to dislodge her from his shoulder. “What did you do with it?”

Circe cawed again and Steve laughed. “Of course you did. Merlin is probably pouting. He’ll play with its corpse once he’s done.”

The raven made a sound suspiciously like laughter and then flew away. Robin came up and put her hand on his shoulder and then pulled him into a hug.

“I heard what you told Circe,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “You’re right of course. Merlin, too. She was trying to hard to believe in your magic. She was just looking for an excuse not to marry dickface.”

“That’s Master Dickface to you,” Steve teased halfheartedly.

Robin snorted. “Yeah well. That’s probably the last we see of her. He’ll turn out to be her soulmate, she’ll be forced to marry him and she’ll live in the ivory tower the rest of her days.”

He let out a shuddering breath. “I’m heading over to visit Wayne to deliver his medicine. I’ll be back later.”

She grinned and jumped up and down. “Maybe the hottie gothy will be there and you’ll finally touch and it’ll be...” she clutched her hands together and batted her eyelashes, “true love!”

He pushed her off of him and wrapped up the blue packets of medicine. He paused for a moment and then took a jar of Mrs. Henderson’s homemade raspberry jam and added it to the basket.

Robin took a loaf of bread from the cooling rack and wrapped it up. “There you go, little yellow riding hood! Of to Wayne’s you go! Don’t let the big bad goth eat you!”

~

Tag List: TEN OPEN SLOT REMAINING

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

[pjsk-headcanons]

Social media usage hc's!

Ichika: totally a tumblr user. she's very active in the vocaloid fandom and sends memes in the leo/need groupchat. she would sent cute pictures and caption them "us <3" or some shit like that.

Saki: she definitely used tiktok, twitch and youtube a lot during her stay in the hospital. responsible for 90% of the links in the leo/need groupchat.

Honami: i dont feel like she would use much social media. maybe she made a few accounts to check the links others sent her, but otherwise she doesn't use them.

Shiho: she only uses youtube for bass and calligraphy-related stuff, as well as cute animal videos. that's mostly on tiktok tho. she would have a perfectly curated tiktok fyp.

Leo/need probably have a youtube, twitter and tiktok account, but only use them for promotion.

Minori: VERY active on tiktok. she had been posting since way before she joined mmj, but her account has only gained popularity recently. she sometimes gets haruka, airi and shizuku to feature in dance tiktok challenges with her.

Haruka: she doesn't have a public social media presence, but she does lurk a lot on her private accounts. she feels better when she can keep up with all the news. mainly twitter.

Airi: she's quite active on instagram, but doesn't use anything else often.

Shizuku: banned from all technology usage. i feel like we already know.

More More Jump have official instagram and twitter accounts, as well as youtube where they stream. mostly ran by haruka & airi, though minori likes to log in sometimes to respond to the comments (and probably shock them). they sign off each message with colorful heart emojis. very cute.

Kohane: doesn't use social media much. minori got her to record tiktoks together when they were still classmates, so now she also has a tiktok account. doesn't have a very curated feed, but does partake in scrolling sometimes.

An: watches a LOT of youtube & twitch in her free time. i dont feel like she would feel the need to use anything else tho.

Akito: that man is too committed to the grind to let social media have a hold on him. maybe a bit of youtube and a sports news twitter account, but in healthy amounts. he's too good for tiktok so he watches youtube shorts.

Toya: had no idea what a social media was for most of his life. he would be active on reddit though. an showed him twitch so now he partakes in watching some streams too.

Vivid BAD SQUAD wouldn't have an official social media presence. most of their fame outside vivid street comes from other people posting recordings of their performances.

Tsukasa: he doesn't use it at all. saki once showed him a few things, he tried it, went "you know what. i dont feel like this brings any value to my life" and stopped. we should all strive to be more like tsukasa.

Emu: solely a tiktok user. she sends wxs a lot of funny and cute tiktoks. also partakes in dance challenges sometimes, which gain her a surprising amount of popularity.

Nene: uses discord frequently for her game stuff. made her own tiktok account only to open all of the links emu sends her.

Rui: uses twitter, but realized very quickly that the constant drama isn't healthy for his mental state so now he just looks at the memes. nene makes fun of him for living in the twitter trenches.

Wonderlands x Showtime are tiktok famous. this hc mostly comes from that one tumblr art about tiktok famous wxs and ?!?!?! i absolutely agree! i hc this also was a big reason why they gained popularity so quickly. mainly ran by rui, with everyone frequently helping and giving ideas. they post a lot of skits and extra behind the scenes content.

Kanade: she doesn't seem like the person to use social media. she only has discord and her streaming services accounts, which she considers a chore to run.

Mafuyu: for obvious reasons, wasn't allowed to use social media. i don't feel like she would use it after running away from home either, since she's seen how much pain it brought to ena and mizuki. discord only.

Ena: her being very active on instagram is practically canon, as well as discord of course. i dont think she would use anything else though.

Mizuki: this girl has an account on EVERY social media platform ive mentioned. and probably a few more. she's very good with technology, and has definitely participated in at least one fandom.

Nightcord at 25:00 don't have any social media accounts, apart from streaming services of course. Partially to keep up the mysterious and anonymous image, but also no one could be bothered enough to run it.

woah how did this get this long??? im going to sleep now

- 🍔

‎

[undercoverdonderwolk]

Ok so I don’t have any insider gossip for you, but I have little tidbit that there’s a pundit that is absolutely adamant that Horner wanted daniel for the RBR seat and was pushing for it quiet heavily even after summer break. I don’t know what the ~vibes~ we’re closer to Singapore but it makes me wonder:

I feel like the power play of it all could be the reason that Horner is apparently just not looking at Lawson or Yuki at all. Like, stay with me, but let’s say Horner’s first choice (when it became clear he was coming back to RBR) was Daniel. Hence, them kind of rushing him back into the seat at AT. But of course we know, Marko wasn’t for it and Daniel’s form at the start of his VCARB stint didn’t help him. So, then Marko started pushing for Yuki and then later Liam, not necessarily to spite Daniel but to spite Horner (specifically).

Then, when it became apparent that Marko was gaining some traction back into the team, Horner knew he couldn’t just keep all his eggs in the Danny basket - and this is where he starts to more heavily publicly back Checo. He needed a failsafe. If he can’t have Daniel (and therefore Max) firmly in his corner then he can at least keep Checo in the seat and have his sponsors to ensure the team is being paid dividends - at least financially if not in terms of overall performance.

This is why I thin we’re seeing this push-pull narrative suddenly back in the media. An comes out saying Horner doesn’t rate Liam, Marko comes out saying Checo is “acting like he would drive for us next year”. It doesn’t make sense to anyone else why Checo even has a shot at staying in the team next year - but it’s because they haven’t paid attention to the chess game going on between Horner/Marko all year like we’ve had to.

Somewhere along the way, Horner lost, at least in some sense. I don’t know where exactly, but one of his plays obviously fell through and one of his pieces (Daniel) was just removed from the board. The only play he has left is Checo and the backing of the shareholders that might come with it (also, let’s not forget it was the shareholders that backed him after his harassment allegations). Because if Marko gets Checo out and Liam or Yuki in, then he has 2/2 drivers on his side and can make last power grab before his own contract is up in 2026. I think regardless, things are going to get messy on RBR next year and I’m so glad in hindsight that Daniel isn’t in the middle of it. But to me this is the scenario that makes the most sense.

My only Hang up still is Horner’s lack of long-term plan. Like, why is he going so hard for Checo when he’s almost guaranteed to be out by 2026? What happens then? Maybe he thought he would be in the same boat with Daniel regardless because I was always of the opinion Daniel wouldn’t be in the seat past 2026 anyway. Idk I just felt like he wanted one more year, one last hurrah and then he’s how out (so potentially 2024-2026 if he’d gotten the seat this year). Maybe Horner just feels like if he can keep Checo in one more year, Marko will leave anyway in 2026 and he can rebuild from there but I still don’t think - if Max stays in 2026 - it’s a guarantee Marko leaves. Which I think would be personally hilarious for moi…if Horner ended up with no Daniel, no Checo, no championships, just Marko and a junior that he didn’t want in the first place 😅

hellooooo! i've read this a few times now and it's p much exactly what i think!!!!! as for your question, i think he's going so hard for checo because he is all that he's got left right now. max, yuki and liam are all marko's guys. and i think horner thinks if he can just keep someone on his side with big money until 2026, then he has two more years to find a new guy...

[florianniss]

Here's some smut for your holiday enjoyment.

Dungeons and Drag Queens -

ratedE, identity porn, complete

It is Sunday. The food has been cleared, patrons long since gone. The tight-knit group of performers lounge around the table. Hair is let down, high-heeled shoes discarded. It’s a joyous atmosphere.

Robin is a hit. She laughs louder and harder than Steve has ever seen before, leaning against a pretty redhead who’s the stuck-up cheerleader type. A couple of hours spent watching a private show the Queens needed to test on an audience, however, has loosened her up. Her lipstick is smeared across her smiling face.

Steve stands by the bar near the stairs, watching his friend and her date bond with new friends. There’s something hopeful in the way they can be themselves here. Even the burly bouncers are enjoying the camaraderie.

“Steve,” Helen says, crooking a finger his way. “Don’t be afraid to wrinkle that fantastic suit. Come back to us.”

Steve smiles, feeling stiff, nervous. “I’m just fine right here.”

The whole table makes kissing sounds, mocking the way he’s so head over heels in love. It’s all in good fun; Steve knows they’re as happy for him as he is for himself. He’s just got to get past this waiting.

Steve glances at his watch and thinks about red scales on a mermaid dress, dangerous scarlet nails and an actual flaming throne for his Dragon Queen. It almost smoked them all out, but the effect was stunning and totally worth it. He’s kind of proud they’re taking his DnD campaign and turning it into a drag show.

He checks his watch again and does a quick calculation. They’ll have to take the highway to make it into the city in time. They’ve had these reservations for a while now, and the closer the date, the more and more anxious Steve becomes. He wants everything to be perfect.

The creak on the wooden stairs above him catches his undivided attention. One hand flies to the knot at his throat to straighten it, the other runs along the length to smooth it out. Stella tiptoes over and plants a wet one on the apple of his cheek, laughs, and then hands him a clean handkerchief.

“Oops! Wanna rub that off, Honey. Wouldn’t want anyone to get jealous.” And then, "Good luck!"

Steve hardy-hars at her and presses the cloth to his cheek, unworried about any jealousy, but concerned about lipstick on his white collar. He and Robin from JCPenneys put together a stellar look; it’s sex and confidence that he’s going for. Can’t afford to miss his mark.

Someone shorter than him appears on the final step and lifts the handkerchief out of his hand. Big brown eyes, dark, slicked-back hair. She’s dressed in a cornflower blue sundress that shows off her amazing legs and bare (bare!) feet, carrying a clutch purse in one bejeweled hand, a glittering gauzy scarf at her throat.

“Oh my god,” he says on a terrified inhale. 

She smiles shyly and touches the cloth to his cheek. Bare arms reveal clear, unmarked skin. She’s covered over her ink.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Steve says, weak in the knees at how lovely she is.

She laughs. Steve melts. “I wanted us to match.”

Catcalls erupt from the table, whistles and whoops and cheers. His date slots an arm through his elbow. Steve recovers and escorts her away.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Robin shouts. 

“That’s great advice! You should follow it!” Steve shouts back. The woman on his arm chuckles to herself.

The bouncer Steve head-butted once upon a time holds out a pair of sparkling strappy sandals. She takes them, holding tightly to Steve’s arm as she slides into them one at a time. He watches the graceful curve of her bare back as she bends over and has to close his eyes to stay focused.

Wayne’s bike awaits at the curb. It’s her virgin ride, the first other than the test drive up and down the driveway. The late afternoon is breezy, cooling fast. Steve holds out his leather jacket to keep her skin safe. He wouldn’t dream of taking her for a ride without it.

She helps Steve into his helmet, and he with hers. He thrills a little as she sinks into the seat behind him, as long, stockinged legs grip tightly around his own.

Steve risks temptation and runs an ungloved hand along the outside of her knee. It’s just as silky as he imagined. 

God, he’s the luckiest asshole alive.

She doesn’t distract him, other than the occasional squeeze of his elbow, her chin on the backside of his shoulder. Steve is glad because he doesn’t know what he’d do if she were to fondle the tightness of his crotch.

Steve straps the helmets and jacket to the bike while she watches, stunning smile on an amused face.

“I think we should work you into the show, somehow,” she teases. “Knight in Shining Armor that you are.”

Steve takes her hand and raises it to his lips; he’s liking this role he’s playing much more than he thought he would.

“Anything you desire, M’Lady.”

They are greeted with polite smiles, and Steve’s nervousness subsides again. Appreciative eyes linger on their joined hands, welcoming them, seating them, taking their orders without unsavory commentary.

“I think this might work,” she whispers conspiratorially, as if they’ve robbed a bank and gotten away with it. Her wine glass has a crescent-shaped lipstick smudge on it. One thumb runs seductively along the thin edge.

“Thought it would.” Steve absolutely did not. He is still terrified for his date; her heart must be racing just like his.

“It’s because of your James Bond vibe,” she continues, drinking him in once again. “People can’t take their eyes off you.”

Steve laughs quietly. He hasn’t noticed. He’s too busy watching her.

“Happy to be a distraction,” he says. She raises her fork to her mouth and Steve goes a little dizzy as her tongue pokes out.

God, he wants to be that fork.

They skip dessert and return to the bike, but something’s missing, and he says so.

“I want to take you dancing.”

She smiles, but it’s sad. “You think that’s a good idea?”

Her hesitation is understandable, and Steve doesn’t want to push things too far. It’s their first time out together, and he’s hoping for many, many more. Something primal inside of him wants to show her off, wants to flaunt her to the world, wants to shout that she’s his and nobody else can have her.

An idea presents itself, and Steve swivels his head, looking up and down the street. It’s fairly quiet, just the passing cars, and even that is few and far between. It’s Sunday, after all.

He turns the key in the bike and switches the radio on, tuning it until he finds something that will work. When he straightens and faces the love of his life, there’s a strange emotion on her face.

Steve slips a hand around her waist and pulls her in. “Would you like to dance?”

She melts into him, cheek on his shoulder, hair pushed up right into his nose.

He laughs. “That’s a yes.” 

They sway on the street. Steve closes his eyes and pretends they’re at some swanky, sweaty club. Pretends that they’re accepted the way they are, eyes passing over them like they’re just another couple in love.

It tweaks something inside his chest.

They decide to walk the three blocks to the hotel. Steve repositions the bike so it’s further off the street and up on its stand. He unfastens the packed bag. She holds a helmet under each arm, eyes shining with anticipation with what they’re about to do.

The reception inside the lobby is the same as the restaurant, pleasant smiles that flick over them nonchalantly. Steve recognizes that other people around them are staring, but they’re focused on him and not his date. Maybe he overdid it.

He doesn’t care. They’re opening the door to their room, and it’s cost him more money than he’s ever spent before. But as she closes and locks the door, draws the safety chain and turns to face him, Steve knows he will never deny her anything she wants.

He sets the bag on the floor and lifts a hand to take her scarf. She lifts her chin and looks away, and oh, the slide of pale blue fabric over her Adam’s apple makes him want to bite it. But he’s a gentleman, and he pushes that urge way down deep. Patient, he can be patient.

His date, however, cannot. She pushes him back against the wall with the palm of one hand and skewers him still with a look. The sound that comes from his throat is tortured, weak, and it’s not the way he wants to begin.

So he covers her fingers with his own and gently tugs them away. He gently brushes a stray strand of hair off her face and softly says her name.

“Nat.”

She smiles and the aggression subsides. “Biker Boy.”

Read on AO3

[bluwavez]

WAIT FOR IT: KIM DOWON IS THE FIRST K-POP IDOL TO TAKE ON BROADWAY WITH HAMILTON.

He Wants To Be In The Room Where It Happens. The Kpop Star's Second Debut Of 2016.

When Kim Dowon ranked 7th in The New Wave, his fans deemed it a miracle. While they never doubted his talents, they knew the judges didn't favor him for his age or appearance. Kim, turning twenty-one during the show's run, had been training for five years while focusing on singing, rapping, and dancing; he had begun developing a passion for musical theatre, learning the choreography to Newsies to impress the panel of judges during his trainee evaluations.

Growing up in lower-class New York City, Dowon, English name Dylan, would often sneak into numerous Broadway shows with his friends. "I still feel this way, but I always felt the ticket prices were way too high. I wanted to see Westside Story so bad, and my friend was like, "Why don't we just sneak in?" So that's exactly what we did." Ever since then, Kim's love for musicals has only grown.

When Dowon moved to Korea at age 15 to start his K-pop training, he got to do something he never thought he would ever get to do: Take an acting class. "My mom didn't make a lot of money, and the school I went to didn't have a good arts program. So, I really felt like the closest thing I could get to acting was either sneaking into shows or watching movies. When they told me I could take acting classes as a part of my training, I was like, "Really?!" my eyes got big, and I couldn't stop smiling. It was really exciting for me." Dowon would share during an interview with Cosmopolitan.

After DeepDive's lackluster debut, Dowon would be reached out to by none other than Alexander Hamilton himself — Well, his actor, Lin-Manuel Miranda. "I still have no idea how he got my email. Not my manager's, not my company's, no, my personal Gmail account," Dowon says, "He said he saw the video of me doing an In The Heights cover and wanted me to audition for a musical he was working on. I sent him back something like, "You know I'm in South Korea right now, right?" and he went, "It's nothing we can't work out. Send in an audition tape." and I mean...The rest is history."

Lin-Manuel Miranda would confess that he had watched every performance of Dowon on YouTube. "I don't know if it was his charming good looks or his crazy vocal ability, but I knew this was the guy I needed for Aaron Burr."

Kim Dowon, listed as Dylan Kim on Hamilton's Playbill, would be cast as Aaron Burr two weeks later and head off to New York to prepare for his Broadway debut.

Hamilton premiered on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in previews on July 13, 2016, and opened on August 6, 2016. 

Despite Dowon being the first and only K-pop idol to have a successful Broadway debut, his company was rather silent about it. They announced he would be joining the Hamilton cast and taking a hiatus from the group until the show's run ended, ending their comments on Dowon's Broadway debut despite his achievements during his time in New York. Dowon would open a personal Instagram account a week after the show's massively successful opening, making him the first member of DeepDive to do so. Still, it's not like the people following him knew him for his K-pop group — Oh no, that was Aaron Burr to them.

One of his achievements during his time in Hamilton was winning the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. He was the first and only artist under Angelico to win a Tony award. However, you wouldn't know this because his company did not acknowledge the achievement. During his acceptance speech, which he did in both English and Korean, he thanked his brothers Jisung, Noah, Woobin, Kiwoo, Woojin, and Finn for remaining by his side during this journey and the entire cast of Hamilton for taking him in during this time of his life.

Dowon gave his last performance in Hamilton on July 9, 2017. Tearfully, he told the crowd he wasn't sure when he would return to the stage, but he hoped they wouldn't forget him or the rest of the cast, whom he addressed as his family.

Dowon would return to Korea and DeepDive on August 17th, 2017. He has not performed in a musical since.

[delphiniumpacificguinevere]

Gosh, this is gonna be a long story… I mean really long…

Absolutely starting with T.H.White’s the once and future king. My parents were like changing working places in different countries all the time and so my siblings and I were usually went to international schools which were taught in English, u know, global language, and international schools in all countries teach in English. So back to about 7 one of my teachers (a very sweet British lady) gave me that White’s novel and I was just so into it. But then I’m started to focus on other stuffs and did not think about Arthurian for years.

The when I was like 13 or something(can’t remember lol) my family moved to the UK and my school was like spending the whole year teaching Le Morte D’ Arthur in Literature class, but what’s the most important for me is that, they adapted the book into a stage play (not a big one, just school show) and selected performers from among the students. Yes, and I have been chosen to cast Guinevere. (I still don’t know why my teacher choose me a new coming student and English is like my 3rd or 5th language, maybe just eney menny miny moe ur gonna be Guinevere in this show lol). I was under huge pressure but also very grateful for the trust so I was like “I’m gonna do this beyond just ok, come hell or high water”. I made the whole year absorbing all Arthurian sources as much as I could and I spent most of my time learning about Gwen (Obviously). I feel like I started to have a strong and deep emotion connection to the Camelot Queen and by the end of the show I felt like I wanted to cry so badly, I was so attached to Guinevere (it was really embarrassing i still can’t figure out what’s wrong with myself lol).

Yeah, I think this is where I really started to get into the Arthurian legend, I even think that liking it was the reason I chose to stay in the UK. (Yup, my parents have since happily gone on to work in other countries, but I said I don't want to wander around, I’m gonna stay here plz let me stay) Gosh, it's so convenient that if you live in the UK if you see a certain location of interest for Arthurian you can just go there and check it out…

btw my sister is also quite into Arthuriana (well, under my influence), but she’s pretty stick to Arthur & Guinevere, so every time u know when i say “aww i feel like Guincelot and even MordGuin is cute” she’s like “damn u…” lol, sisterhood<3

Plz ignore this part:

And thanks for the Isles of Britain to “adopt” me lol, feels like I'd be more likely to call the UK my home rather than others, as although I've lived in many countries (thanks to my parents? I guess I should be thankful? But I actually don’t really think so) I haven't grown attached to any of them probably because none of them have I lived for time long enough (even those where my ancestors came from, how to say this, like my lineage). Being mixed race identity crisis has always been a thing, even exacerbated by changing residence all the time in my childhood, so it really feels good to have a place a country to be called home u know… Seriously, in that way, Arthurian legend has changed my life (my saviour) (this sounds really really weird I know…)

Yeah i just yapped too much, ignore me plz… but this question just brought so many precious memories to me🥹… thx 4 this question for just be brought up🥺

arthuriana fandom. what was your FIRST introduction to arthuriana im v curious,,, like was it a book a movie word of mouth etc etc

[dailyloopdeloop]

DAY 75: onehat

[joshuamj]

In Time and Stars