#i'm also super rusty at any sort of writing so yeah

[siberian-khatru]

HAPPY 71ST BIRTHDAY TO GEDDY LEE!!!!!!

OH, and it's the 50th anniversary of Neil Peart joining Rush!!!!!

As with every year on their birthdays, I am doing my Rushathon, in which I attempt to listen to every single Rush album in chronological order from the debut to Clockwork Angels, and this year, in honor of this occasion, I will be live blogging the most formative albums of their career (imo)!!!! This will probably be the debut, Fly By Night, 2112, A Farewell to Kings/Hemispheres (probably in one post), Moving Pictures, Power Windows, Counterparts, Vapor Trails, and Clockwork Angels. Currently, I have started on the debut, and I will posting this after I finish the first one with a review of every single Rush song I listen to today!!!! So, the track list for the debut, which is famously the only album that doesn't have Neil on drums and lyrics, we have: 1. "Finding My Way"- What a goddamn opener!!! I mean, you can hear Robert Plant's influence on Geddy's vocals as he croons the high "oooh yeah"s, but what a way to start a career! I think it's nice that this and the final song on Clockwork Angels have this theme of "finding my way back home".

2. "Need Some Love"- This song certainly has a catchy chorus, but otherwise I don't think it stands out too much, other than continuing the vibe of the album. 3. "Take A Friend"- I like the concept of the song, even if some of the lyrics make me cringe a little ("Take yourself a friend/ whether woman or man"), but I can forgive those because Geddy literally had to write down the lyrics from the best of his memory the night before he needed to record the album because John Rusty ripped up the lyric sheets. 4. "Here Again"- Once again, not super fond of the lyrics, but Geddy's vocals on this track are just stellar, and the song reminds me of the post-battle section on "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" on the following album. It's got a nice, slow, heavy swing to it, and Alex's solo is extremely well-crafted. I think this song is sort of a precursor to a lot of their other work in the 70s. It's also the longest track on the album, coming in at 7 minutes and 34 seconds, 24 seconds longer than Working Man. 5. "What You're Doing"- Immediately I'm taken in by the riff, which is also inspired by Zeppelin, but it has a distinctively Rush tint. And even if the riff is inspired by British blues rockers, the singing doesn't seem to be on this track. And then there's the chromatic breakdown before it goes back into the chorus that is also reminiscent of what they would be doing on the next album on "By-Tor and the Snowdog". Already you can hear some of their prog tendencies! The solo is still definitely a bit of a Zeppelin-esque pastiche, but not a bad one. And I can also hear some other influences in the playing of the solo. 6. "In the Mood"- "Hey baby it's a quarter to eight/ I feel I'm in the mood" are lyrics Rush fans have been making fun of for decades, but despite the cringe lyrics, this is a very fun song! There's a reason why they kept it as a closer throughout the 70s. It's one of the simpler songs on the album, and by any other band, it would probably have been a hit. 7. "Before and After"- This soft opener with harmonics is sort of reminiscent of the ending of "The Necromancer" to me, another sort of look into the near future of their prog career. This song has a gorgeous opening, and I don't know I keep forgetting about it. The build into the main riff and verse is also just fantastic. There's this bit where Geddy and Alex drop out for a few seconds before coming back in with this heavy riff, and it's just sublime.

8. "Working Man"- This is the one that perhaps you've all been waiting for. This is the song that broke Rush over into America--- with some help from Donna Halper, of course! This song was played on almost every tour, and was the last song Rush ever played live together on August 1st, 2015. The riff is simply heavy, with lyrics pining for a better life. The song starts of slow, and slowly goes into a fast breakdown that seems to me to represent how life seems to slip right by as you get older. The song also just rocks. The breakdown has an amazing solo, some incredible bass playing (my biggest concern), and some solid time-keeping work from Rutsey (later improved upon by his successor, of course!). Stay tuned for Fly By Night!!!!

[bubski-mcboo]

Dreaming of a Jodie Whittaker/Sophia Di Martino Goddess.

Okay, so I keep having this recurring dream and I need to share it.

I'm about to start some sort of presentation to a very sparse classroom. The stuff I've studied never really required any presentations, so this was new territory for me.

The classroom I'm in looks vaguely like one that was in use at Bournemouth and Poole College, only it has no windows.

I'm getting super stressed out about the presentation, which I'm woefully unprepared for, so I go to an adjoining room to work on it.

It is a dorm room belonging to me, also with no windows and with American prison vibes, but not something I worry about.

Everything has a green tinge to it as if we're in the matrix or the good omens version of hell.

(For the record, I don't think you *can* upgrade perfection like Jodie Whittaker or Sophia Di Martino.)

Then an older (but stunning) woman with an athletic build and a blonde bob comes to calm me down. She's probably only thirtyish but I think I'm probably late teens/early 20s in this dream.

Even though awake me doesn't know her, dream me does. She's on the staff at this imagined educational facility, almost certainly a teacher/lecturer. So clearly, she is 10000% my type, like an upgraded Jodie Whittaker/Sophia Di Martino with a touch of authority.

I'm writing a supporting character who seems a bit like her actually, only she's a gardener, not a teacher. Maybe a "mentor" figure.

When I wake up, she's asleep, and suddenly I realise that I need to cook something amazing for this goddess who is asleep in my bed even though I've just come out of surgery (apparently. I've fully recovered IRL.)

Anyway, this woman is calming me down, and then I realise that the vibe here isn't professional, it's friendly. Then it morphs from friendly to intimate - but not exactly sexual, although that boundary is wafer thin. I get nervous for non-educational reasons, because this woman is waaaay out of my league, and yet she's giving me strong vibes. It's as if she thinks we're already in a relationship and forgot to tell me. Not that I mind.

At this point, that green tinge to everything is gone. She convinces me, without words, to snuggle down on my bed, and obviously, I'm super-duper okay with that.

So I vault into my kitchen, which is apparently joined by a window and not a door, just as Jodie Di Martino gets a phone call that sounds more like an alarm. The volume is so loud that I hear the entire conversation;

Phone: "Hello, we need your password to complete your request for - "

Blonde goddess: "Oh right, you still remember me from the tower-"

Phone: *interrupts with urgent yelling*

BG: "Yeah, yeah, it's *****" (a username I used at school)

It's at this point I wake up, feeling very concerned that I'd left this remarkable woman in a Fallout 4 sort of situation with sub-par food that I hadn't even had time to cook for her. My last sleepy thought is, "But she can look after herself," and a part of me knows that she can kick ass, even though I don't know how I know.

I don't find this strange, still intent on cooking for this wonderful woman; which tracks because its one of my love languages.

For some reason, I'm looking in the cupboard under the sink, which isn't somewhere I store food items.

The kitchen looks vaguely like my ex's parent's old kitchen (second boyfriend), except it looks rather rusty and abandoned.

I realise the only food I have is baked beans in rusty cans - the label on them is the old white "tesco value" brand which was a callback to impoverished living at the end of secondary school - though I've never let a kitchen nor tins of food go rusty like that. I suddenly felt like I was in a post-apocalypse situation

After waking up, I realise I've seen this woman before in many other dreams. Every time, she's pretty keen on snuggling even though that isn't a thing she generally does with people.

[marimostar]

Dororo Au Idea:

What if, instead of letting baby Hyakkimaru drown in the river, Daigo listened to his wife’s request, and let Nui No Kata hold him until he dies?

*This is all based on the concept that Daigo is a kinder man and Nui No Kata could move past her grief.

Except, he doesn’t die. Because he has such a strong will to survive, he manages to survive the first night and the next night. And for some reason, Daigo allows Nui No Kata to raise Hyakkimaru.

Hyakkimaru would have such a different life, where instead of being cast as the demon child, a cursed existence, he would be a martyr, a hero. He would be pampered beyond belief, servants waiting on him constantly, and guards constantly on watch.

Because Hyakkimaru is still a target. The demons still attack him, because after all, Hyakkimaru wasn’t supposed to survive the first night. It was the lute player priest who saved him the first time, and this time around, Daigo was the one who struck the first demon down.

And this is how Daigo knows that you can never trust a deal with demons. He knows that they will betray him at some point, so he raises both sons to be strong warriors. As toddlers they might have guards, but all too soon, they are trained in the sword and has slaughtered more monsters than anyone by the age of 10.

None of the outside world knows of this, because the last thing you want are potential allies and enemies knowing that you signed a deal with demons and that you have sons that are the target of monsters. Neither do the common people know this, because it would all be too easy for Hyakkimaru to be painted as a demon child, cause of all disaster and calamity. (Like can you imagine, walking to the market, and hear monster screams, like, oh, there we go, monster attack #13? No, the drama that would ensue, the court politics to stop the monster attacks, it is better to have a different story.)

Rather the common people hear that Nui No Kata has poor health and is resting in the country side, raising her two sons in peace, away from the court politics. Here only the most trusted and strongest servants watch over them, waiting for the demons to break their deal.

That occurs when Hyakkimaru turns 16, where Daigo dies on his birthday. Oh, they say that it was an accident, that it was bizarre, that Daigo dies on a hunting trip, but the family knows the truth. Figures out that it was demon Nokosaregumo, in how his retainers report that the sun was bright and the sky was clear before a sudden black cloud came and Daigo was zipped away, his horse only remaining.

Nui No Kata returns to the court palace, reigning as the new lord. They have been preparing for this day for years, and while she grieves her husband, she was ready, because she always knew that there was a price to be paid. She handles all court affairs and is ready for the beginning of the disasters that will fall upon her land.

Meanwhile, her two sons are beginning their journey across the lands, reclaiming back Hyakkimaru’s parts and slaying demons. Their identities are hidden as well as possible, because Nui No Kata really does not need neighboring lands to attempt to assassinate her sons at this point. They are accompanied by Mutsu and Hyogo, the two most trusted retainers.

And if they later pick up a cunning but kind child thief? Well, that’s just how life works, and Tahomaru is always welcoming people who can make his brother smile.

What about Jukai? Well, let’s be honest here, Hyakkimaru needs the best prosthetic doctor there is and that is Jukai. And well, if he hangs about their country home a little more than necessary to watch over the two boys, Nui No Kata has no disagreements there. (Because let’s face it, I did enough finagling to even get this to happen, I can’t also make Daigo a good father figure)

But yeah, have this alternate plot bunny instead, because while watching episode 12, it’s like, okay, if you can’t have Hyakkimaru killing demons and getting back his body, at the very least, you could have set it up so he lived a life of luxury instead of deciding to kill him??? So instead, have this, where the brothers can be brothers and Nui No Kata can be a doting mother to both sons, and after defeating all of the demons of the land and bringing peace and prosperity, we can imagine Lord Hyakkimaru of the Sekai Clan.

There would be countless years of peace, as who wants to mess with the man who had his ears, nose, limbs, and even his very skin taken by demons as a newborn but still had the overwhelming desire to live and survive? Who overcame all and defeated those very demons to reclaim his right to live? Who now reigns as Lord?

Like you might think that Hyakkimaru would be inadequate for court politics, but since he was raised by royalty, he would know how to write and read (ish), and he of course has his brother Tohamaru and his loyal retainers to watch his back. We’re set; we’re good. Ishikawa the land basically has years of unprecedented peace. 

[knickynoo]

So because at the end of the bttf telltale game, marty is surprised to find out that trixie is his grandmother, I'm assuming that he has never met her/didn't know that she was a musician.

What do you think would have changed if, in the lone pine time line she had been around and helped raise marty? Do you think the pinheads would have been more succsesful? Do you think that because Marty had someone encouraging from early on, he wouldn’t have build up a friendship with doc?

Hello, anon! You sent me this weeks ago; I apologize for not getting to it sooner. Also, I got your other ask that clarifies you meant "Twin Pines".

My memory of the Telltale game is super rusty, and I remember very little of the Trixie/Sylvia plotline. I do remember Marty being surprised that Trixie IS Sylvia, though! I assumed maybe he just hadn't seen any photos of his grandmother when she was that young? Or yeah, her being a singer became a big family secret that she hid for some reason.

I know that the novelization of the movie mentions her at one point when Marty is contemplating going into George's house. He decides against it because he's evidently very close with Grandma Sylvia and fears their connection is strong enough that even in 1955, she would somehow "sense" who he is, and it would scare her.

Of course, the movie itself makes no mention of her either way, but the idea of Twin Pines Marty having his grandmother be such a facet in his life is an intriguing one. So let's visit that world, shall we?

Grandma Sylvia helping to raise Marty in the original timeline. Hmm. That's especially interesting when considering how she would handle the influence of her son and her husband (who we know, in the world of the novel/movie is exactly like George). If she's anything like the Sylvia we met in the video game, she'd definitely intervene/try to mitigate George's tendency to be discouraging and give lousy advice. She'd be the one overhearing a father/son conversation and then pulling Marty aside and being like, "Don't listen to your dad. You go for that audition, Marty."

If she remained as musically inclined in her older age as she was in her younger one, I could see the Pinheads having more success, or at least that Marty wouldn't stay bummed out over a failure for as long. He'd run to her with his tales of woe, receive an immediate pep talk, and get that boost he needed to try again.

I'd like to say that his closeness with his grandmother wouldn't impact his friendship with Doc all that much. Sylvia would likely fill more of that nurturing, motherly role Marty would need, and be his source of encouragement music-wise, but he'd still need that male role model and just generally want a buddy he could hang out with. Because when it came down to it, spending time with your grandma--no matter how much you love her--can't compete in the same way as the local scientist who lets you assist in crazy science experiments and is always down for a nutritious dinner of burgers and fries. Marty would still be just as close to Doc.

In fact, I could see Marty feeling free to talk about Doc with his grandmother without fear of judgement or disapproval. I always imagined Twin Pines George and Lorraine as being less than thrilled about their son's friendship with the purported "dangerous" scientist and headcanon that Marty doesn't mention Doc a lot or even hides the fact that he's spending so much time with him. I think Sylvia would be more understanding, though. Not feed into the town rumors about Doc. Marty would probably even take her over to meet him, and she'd be happy that her grandson had found such a wonderful mentor and was getting to learn so much about science.

Now I'm sort of invested in this concept and kind of what to write a fic about it or something. Young Twin Pines Marty running away from home and fleeing to the safety of Grandma Sylvia--one of the only people who understands him. It'd especially be interesting to explore how Grandma Sylvia feels about Lorraine's drinking and the influence it has on her grandkids.

🤔

Thanks for the ask!

[thesupersecretbookstore]

This Week’s Expert Picks

It's been a long while since I have read any book straight through, left only to want more of the world it painted. The poems in Blazes by Zack Grabosky (Foundlings Press) are pictures of wonderfully complex worlds, characterized by the people who inhabit these worlds, and how the narrator witnesses the life within their eyes and struggles. Apparently, this book is a 'culmination of over 30 years of studying and writing poetry' and it definitely shows in the plunging depths of souls it dissects, as well as the sensual windows it uses to view everything it chooses to see. Blazes by Zack Grabosky came in the mail on Monday (it is now Friday), and I have immersed myself in the book's poetics (conservatively) half a dozen times. The words are reminiscent of Winesburg, Ohio and the wonder with which Zack writes reminds me of Breece Pancake. I encourage everyone to visit this world this outstanding poet has delicately captured with a rusty rake of autumn leaves in an endless backyard. RB

I know, I know--everyone has already told you to read Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino. Here's the thing: none of those people were me.

Do you wish you had the Movie Best Friend as a kid who was always getting you into trouble but only the trouble you were actually super interested in and then Movie Best Friend actually saves your life? You two happen to live close enough together that you can use flash light or tin can codes and you can ACTUALLY tell Movie Best Friend your way super darkest secrets? Think Now and Then or The Goonies? Yeah? Me too. Movie Best Friend is Jia Tolentino and in Trick Mirror she's telling you all the stories you've never heard.

Occasionally, okay, I'm a little hungry and I space out, but when she gets excited it would take an emergency to tear me away from her.

Here's another question for you: Did you once deny you were a millennial because the descriptions you heard straight up sounded like they were describing children and since you learned you actually are a millennial you've sort of worn it begrudgingly and defensively? Yeah, Jia Tolentino will make you goddamn proud to be a millennial. Because she is proud to be a millennial.

Okay, the content: In nine deeply personal, borderline obsessively researched essays Tolentino writes "reflections on self-delusion" (according to the subtitle). I think she writes the story of life as a millennial, except her takes are more interesting than the stories we tell ourselves in our heads (taking a nod from Thomas King, "the truth about stories is that's all we are"). And that's a blessing. We deserve to give ourselves more credit.

The highest praise I can give to any essay goes to "The Story Of A Generation In Seven Scams." I would also give unbridled praise to "We Come From Old Virginia," "Ecstasy," and "Pure Heroines."

This is a book of essays, so it's a low pressure read. Sit down with an essay a day and go on with your life. But you also get to go on with your life with these stories inside you.

Tolentino is obviously an excellent writer--I know you know because this book has been out for 13 months and no one will shut up about it--but her real gift is giving us stories that will stick with us, make us think, and make us live. SE

“Remote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target, purportedly using extrasensory perception (ESP) or "sensing" with the mind.” Whichever words you care to use, the science has been proven. This is an early look at the phenomenon, from famous author Upton Sinclair and with a foreword from Albert Einstein. Though many of these experiments were conducted at home, the research is there and is extremely unusual.

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This book is quite entertaining, it doesn’t read like a straightforward sort of novel, it more shows how Sinclair tester these theory’s with his wife (who was quite adept at remote viewing) and presenting the information. It’s a good look into early psych studies. Essentially the book is saying, we found this very interesting thing, no idea what it is, but check out our findings.

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The book definitely gets slow after a few chapters, but the information is there. The years following this there have been many breakthroughs in the science of remote viewing. The Alexandria Project is a fantastic example of what is possible, another big name is Ingo Swann who’s experiment sessions at Harvard are incredible. Because it is considered a pseudoscience, it is often ignored by academia. CJH