#incredible to think that some 60 years later

[greatmuldini]

Any household equipped to receive the television service of the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1954 would almost certainly have done so on a “table-top” set not unlike the moderately priced and now iconic “TV-22,” which featured a circular 9-inch Mullard “television picture tube” capable of displaying the 405 lines its electron beam had to travel to draw the “high definition” images coming from London’s Alexandra Palace or the Birmingham transmitter in Sutton Coldfield. First manufactured in 1950 by Bush Radio, then under the umbrella of the Rank Corporation, the Bakelite-clad receiver came with connections for a dipole aerial and AC mains power, and no option at all to change the channel. What today would be considered a serious limitation was in fact a pragmatic decision as long as the country's airwaves remained limited to a single channel. (The set would have been ready for three additional channels which were proposed but never implemented.)

Growing audiences and an expanding schedule forced the new medium to create new content if it intended to fulfil its mission as a public broadcaster to “inform, educate, and entertain.” While the BBC's radio service had famously been on the air since 1922 and earned its merits during the war, television remained for a long time an experimental technology of questionable utility. Early programming therefore relied heavily on the spoken word and the conventions of live theatre, including the singular, and ephemeral, nature of each performance: very little was pre-recorded (on film), and once a programme was broadcast it ceased to exist. Much of the BBC's live programming and even material recorded on tape is now lost; what we do have from the era before and just after the introduction of magnetic tape in 1956 was routinely filmed off the television screen in a process known as kinescoping. Preservation of its output did not rank among the BBC's priorities; recording everything on film would have required vast resources dwarfing the convenience of "canned" content: repeat showings on the BBC often meant repeat performances – bringing the original cast and crew back to the studio was, after all, a well-rehearsed operation and more efficient than any existing technology. Similar traditional arrangements continued well beyond the arrival of effective technical solutions.

The lack of definition, in every sense, at first prevented the new medium from being recognized as such not only by those who worked in it but also the sceptical consumers into whose living rooms the images would be beamed. The privacy of the viewing experience would prove decisive: like its theatrical rival, television was visual, and it was live. With radio it shared the spontaneity of the live broadcast and a large audience that would not need to come together in a single room. Film could offer none of the above, certainly not in combination, but where television (and radio) opted for intimacy on the small screen, film went big and promoted the communal experience – a very basic, fundamental division which remained in place for more than half a century and is only now being challenged by the most recent innovations in streaming and subscription services.

In 1954 the BBC, as the sole operator of the new technology in the United Kingdom, looked to other pioneers abroad for suitable formats with which to fill their expanding schedules. In the United States, commercial television was in full swing by the early 1950s, with major broadcasters such as NBC and CBS competing for viewers and, more importantly, advertising partners – sponsors in the terminology of the scheme developed for radio that had businesses pay for the right to name an entire programme (today's wealth of "archival" recordings from the era is a direct result of the legal requirement to provide proof to the customers that their money was well-spent). Here, too, tried and tested radio content was being adapted for television and, in the process, began to take on hybrid features. One promising concept on the CBS network that appealed to the BBC decision makers was a former radio show turned televisual experiment: You Are There fused (fictitious) contemporary radio reportage with historical re-enactments – easily done on radio but more challenging – and more rewarding – as a live spectacle for audiences to see. Not quite ready, in technical terms, to rival the offerings of the film industry but arguably an alternative to a night out at the theatre, the "night in" promised to become an event in its own right.

You Are There set out to transport the viewer back in time and to bring them face to face with historical figures, who are moreover prepared to pause and be interviewed by modern-day (all-male, often real-life) TV news correspondents. The deliberate anachronism of the programme, examining a fictionalized version of history with the most modern tools available and presenting it to the viewer in the privacy of his own living room was the message and the medium rolled into one: the historical subject under scrutiny was by no means chosen at random or pre-determined by the American creators; licensees around the world dramatized historical events from their own national perspectives. Only seven episodes were produced for the BBC in 1954, none of which exist today. Press reviews and summaries confirm the use of exterior location sequences pre-recorded on film to supplement the live performances in the Alexandra Palace studio, but we can only speculate on the precise treatment of each subject.

The series opened, appropriately, with the Charge of the Light Brigade in the year of its centenary, followed by the trials (and tribulations) of Mary Queen of Scots, Charles I, Captain Dreyfus, and Julius Caesar. Joining this eminent circle were, somewhat less obviously, the instigators of a minor mutiny, as well as a major figure, arguably, of the Anglo-Irish political struggle whose historical – and literary - significance has only grown since 1954. The Fall of Charles Stuart Parnell has inspired generations of writers engaged in the fabrication of alternate histories. The enigma of his personality, and the complex set of circumstances surrounding the events of 1890 continue to be explored in imaginary what if variations. You Are There, by contrast, portrays a moment in time that must contain a myriad of possibilities. [Part 1 of 2]

[dnd-smash-pass-vs]

Have you seen Dungeon Meshi? Laos is such a monsterfucker I can’t get over it. He asks one of his companions if it felt good to be caught by the tentacle-vine plant monster. He waxed poetic about how cool animal-hybrid monsters are. (I’m sorry if you don’t like a show or this feels irrelevant to your blog, but also I can’t tell my friends ‘hey I like this character because I also think it would feel good to be caught by the tentacle monster’)

Anyway he’s how I imagine this blog’s audience would approach an IRL dungeon expedition

Sorry to take this way too seriously, I mean no ill will. But I've been a MASSIVE fan of dungeon meshi for... oof, almost 7 years apparently, It's a perfect storm of everything I love with fantastic writing and characterization, and I don't think I could disagree with that more. I think you missed a primary running gag of the series. He keeps saying lines that, if anyone else said them would be sexual, but the people around him know he's just a super obsessed wildlife researcher. He does not want to fuck monsters, that's kinda the entire point. Like you need to understand that some biologists will happily and unnecessarily lick poison, get bitten, and pick up dangerous things without hesitation. It's not that they get off to poison play, it's that they love the topic so much that it's their life and they want to know every aspect. When he's zealously asking what it's like for the vine monster to grapple and stab you with seeds, he's saying that because he's just that into learning and wants the firsthand experience! He's here because he doesn't want to just read about his special interest, he wants to live it, be PART of the ecosystem!

...actually, incredibly relevant spoilers below for a monster later on (chapter 58-60, so likely end of this season or start of the next)

They later find straight-up succubi. Chilchuck talking about how they turn into your perfect match, you ALWAYS have to fight them as a pair or you're just screwed because of irresistible magic charming powers. One finds Laios alone...and he's completely unaffected, immediately chokes it and goes to kill it without any issue. The only hesitation is a bit of embarrassment that "Oh no, it misinterpreted my feelings as attraction, if the party finds this it'll lead to a HUGE misunderstanding. This could ruin my friendships, I need to immediately kill it and hide the body." That gives it enough time to convince him "hey, it's impossible to resist a succubus, so obviously I'm not a succubus right?" And it works because he knows that yes, nobody can resist a succubus charm. Except apparently him. Even trying again by combining his thoughts with his all time favorite monster didn't daze him like it did the others. It had to convince him that it could turn him INTO a monster, and that everyone else was ok with it too, to get him to hesitantly submit to being drained. They didn't have to reason with marcielle or chilchuck, but lust just didn't work with Laios, not as a person or as a monster. It's like how nobody gets panty shots except Senshi. it's a subversion joke. There are quite a few in this series, especially ones centered on Laios.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Madhabi Mukherjee (Charulata, The Big City, The Coward)—Madhabi Mukherjee is legendary for her nuanced and sensitive performances in some of the classics of Bengali cinema particularly her roles in Satyajit Ray's films

Angela Lansbury (The Harvey Girls, The Court Jester, The Manchurian Candidate)—The babe, the myth, the legend. In her own words her early hollywood roles were "a series of venal bitches" and they were all glorious. Half of them wanted to kill you and you probably would have thanked them. She even goes toe to toe with Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls! That said, she was chronically underused and misused during this era - she was just 36 when she was cast as Elvis Presley's mother in Blue Hawaii and a few years later commented that she'd played so many 'old hags' that most people thought she was in her 60s. She thought she was "all talent, no looks" but she was the full package! Post-1970 I hope we all know what an incredibly talented and compassionate badass she was, but I feel like not enough people know her early roles as a hot (often villainous) young thing.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Madhabi Mukherjee:

She played in some of the most critically acclaimed films in bengali cinema and she is an incredibly talented actress. Everybody should watch 'The Big City' she's so good in it!

Linked clip

Gifset 1

Gifset 2

Angela Lansbury:

"Angela Lansbury might not be where your mind goes first when you think of hot leading women, because she had a later career revival. But she began acting in the early 1940s after leaving London due to the Blitz. In the first couple decades of her film career she has an openness about her. She said she never really fit in with the Hollywood crowd and to me she gives off a friendly, untarnished vibe."

"Most of us know Angela Lansbury as old lady sleuth Jessica Fletcher, but it's important to know that she was smoking hot in her younger days as well as a damned fine actress. Although she didn't get lead roles until her early 40s, at 17 she was a supporting actress in films such as Gaslight (1944), National Velvet (1944), and The Picture of Dorian Grey, for which she won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress and was nominated for the Oscar. Even in her memorable performance as the manipulative mother in The Manchurian Candidate, she is listed as a supporting actress as she does not play the love interest. She was successful both on stage and screen, and won the Tony for her lead role in the musical Mame on Broadway in 1966. TL;DR While Angela Lansbury mostly played supporting roles in films before 1970, she had what it takes to be a leading actress, which we know from her success on stage and tv from the mid 60s onward"

"She looked like a princess but bit like a viper"

"Is there anything this woman couldn't do? Act in comedy and drama, sing, dance, be a wonderful human being - quite simply a true and wonderful lady."

"she is the fairytale princess of my dreams in court jester"

"god she had such an incredible career all throughout her life really but as a young lady she was just as incredible as she was in her later years. enchanting voice, amazing personality, and absolutely GORGEOUS. she lamented not having the looks to play leads in romance but that idea is so batshit because look at her??? she's one of the most terrific women of all time. also she's my grandmother's favorite actress and i truly get it"

[neuroprincess]

Bunny Ears and Chocolate - Ava Coleman/Female Reader

Ava Coleman/Female Reader

Summary: When another celebration arrives, you think it's going to be one more blank day, but an unexpected gift and a wonderful girlfriend prove otherwise.

Classification: Slight angst, Fluff

Warnings: Reference to a reader's unhappy childhood, Ava being a romantic baby

Note: I should have posted this at Easter, but you know me, I just found it in my archived writings

Word count: +2200

Unrevised

Growing up in a home that was considered unstructured and not at all affectionate deprived you of many moments that other children had throughout their lives: the tooth fairy didn't even bother to leave 5 cents for each tooth that fell out, Christmas didn't have the same sparkle as the TV commercials and Thanksgiving was always summed up in canned food, maybe a fight between your parents in the kitchen at the end of the night. It was no different with Easter, every now and then you'd get a cheap bar of chocolate at school or from some kind neighbor, you didn't even take part in a neighbourhood egg hunt. The whole process was a gray area between so many celebrations, weekends and holidays spent watching movie marathons with lots of popcorn and a pinch of loneliness by choice. 

It was like that for years, until you met Ava, who never cared about any of this before and you thought it might be a good match when you started dating. However, she had this, her parents were affectionate and gave the best moments that continue to be remembered fondly when each of these dates arrives. You like to hear her describe every toy she got from some distant relative and later exchanged for something more interesting with classmates, the weird casseroles grandma invented for dinner or when she bought the first make-up with the money the fairy, aka her mom, left under the pillow. Between laughs and jokes, she always looks forward to hearing your stories and can't hide disappointment when the subject is suddenly changed, teasing you a little, but giving up so as not to make you uncomfortable. Deep down, you start to care and feel envious of all the lost moments, all the things you can't have, the invisible, dormant childish wounds festering. Wounds set aside, especially when it comes to her work as a teacher at Abbott.

"Miss Y/L/N, how do we know if the butterfly is male or female?" one of the students asks, leaning over the table to get a better look inside the transparent box.

"Don't be silly, Kayla!" another replies, rolling his eyes, and does the same "They're all female."

"Actually, not all of them are female, dear." you stand between them and point to the insect that's emerging from its cocoon, weeks before you found a caterpillar in Barb's flower beds and it collected itself in the cocoon, which coincidentally ended up hatching on the last day of school before holiday "That's a monarch butterfly, if there are dark spots on the hind wings it's a male and if not it's a female."

"But it hasn't opened the wings yet." Kayla observes sadly, for a child minutes can seem like a real eternity "It's taking too long..."

"That's just it, hatching can take from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, each one has their own time."

"Just like the rest of us," she adds with a hearty smile.

"You all see how incredible metamorphosis can be?!"

A little animated chatter starts up as your class waits anxiously to watch it fully emerge from cocoon, most of them debating which names to choose and how they would take care of it, forgetting the little agreement they had made, you decided to let them enjoy the moment before scrapping the hopeful children's plans.

"I don't see any spots!" Carson shouts excitedly "We've got a girl!"

After a while, they agree on a name and end up naming her Lizzy - cute, short and pretty. In third period, your kids gather to release her into the playground, and you take advantage of the moment to explain the relationship between butterflies and Easter and all the meaning behind the beautiful transformation. 

"Miss Y/L/N..." Kayla calls out to you shyly as everyone gets ready for break, most of them already running, the girl puts her hands behind back and blushes approaching the table "I saved this one for you."

She holds up an Easter egg wrapped in fluffy colored paper, a bow adorning it and making the package more attractive. The girl stares at you with her eyes shining in anticipation as you fight back imminent tears, not something you expected to happen when you woke up in the morning. It's your first chocolate Easter egg in all your years of life, a small, innocent gesture from a schoolchild that makes the entire wall built up around commemorative dates and traditions crumble in seconds.

"Thank you so much, dear..." you accept the treat with a little uncertainty, hands trembling as you hold the candy "I..."

"I knew you'd like it, it's very good, I promise." she says cheerfully and leaves the classroom, as if she hadn't just made a grand gesture.

As soon as the girl leaves, the principal comes through the doorway with her usual cheeky grin and full of curiosity about your reaction, asking herself what she could have done to you, none of which comes close to the real thing. Her presence is barely noticed, not even when she closes the door after the room has emptied, your eyes fixed on the adorable wrapping, the colorful patterns and the generic but cute note wishing Happy Easter.

"Kitten..." she calls for the third time, worried "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was over the moon." you try to pull yourself together, compressing lips and bringing fingers to the corners of eyes, wiping your face "Hungry?"

"Just of you." Ava whispers seductively and takes two steps forward, standing inches away to steal a quick kiss "Now tell me what happened or I'll tickle the hell out of you." it's the kind of affectionate threat that doesn't make you laugh this time, it's a difficult topic to talk about, but maybe that's the time.

"Well, there's a reason I never tell holiday stories or have great comments for yours, I..." tears are there again, stronger and warmer, you take the candy to heart in search of comfort, the woman keeps quiet listening attentively "I never had any of that, my parents never gave a damn and I wasn't a demanding child."

"That?"

"Coins from the tooth fairy, nice dinners, Christmas trees, gifts and..." the Easter egg is raised with a certain pride, finally giving in to crying, tears of sadness and happiness mixing together "This! It's my first!" you finally admits, feeling a little childish at the thrill and excitement of something so small for an adult.

"Your first?" she is genuinely confused, staring at the simple candy, which for her has no great significance, then the realization of the fact hits her hard "Really?"

"Yes, one of my students just gave it to me." you whisper, feeling the tears wanting to come back again and a tight feeling in chest "I know, it's silly..."

"No, it's not, it's never silly, especially if it's something important to you." the woman responds quickly, wrapping arms around your trembling body and puts your head against her soft breasts, it's an intimate and comforting act "And if I'd known before, I'd have been the first person to give you a chocolate. And decorated the house last Christmas. Or better, I would have taken you to New York. I guess I just wouldn't have had a solution for the tooth fairy... but there are ideas on how to make up for it."

"God, you're the best girlfriend ever."

"Of course I am." Ava kisses your forehead and takes advantage of the position to slip her fingers under your shirt, lightly tickling the sensitive spots "So much so that I ordered tarts from that new store you mentioned last week."

She holds up the cardboard bag with the pretty logo and half a dozen tarts in various flavors. A delicious dessert for a pleasant shared lunch, which has become routine, a moment of peace to enjoy each other's presence in the busy and chaotic routine that is working in childhood education.

With a bag full of art supplies and a pile of exam papers in hand, you enter the apartment, struggling not to knock everything off the improvised jenga. Usually you would have the help of the tallest one, those long arms look so sexy carrying boxes full of children's books and covered in glitter, but after all that sugar and dough, she had to go home early with an stomach bug. Of course, in her pile there are one or two medicines and tea for her.

"Darling?" home is strangely dark, silent and there's no sign of your partner's vibrant personality "Ava? Are you feeling better?" you ask, starting to get worried, hurrying to turn on the light switches.

When the light turns on, you find yourself with one foot on what looks like a rabbit's footprint glued to the wood floor. Then another next to it, followed by another and another, the bags are abandoned at the entrance and the door closed. Step by step you reach the coat closet, where a chocolate bar is placed next to a card with the words "Our love is sweet as the place we started the day together... or as your coffee." handwritten in impeccable calligraphy. It makes you smile lovingly, she always jokes about the amount of cream you put in the liquid as you get ready for the morning, only to steal some of it with kisses. The fun mugs, perhaps one of the first things you bought when decided to move in together, hold truffles and the next tip. Seven cards later, almost every room explored and your arm full of candies, you finally reach the last place with the tip "No matter where we are, as long as we're together, we've found our home." and it's obvious that it's the master bedroom, where you love each other, talk about your days and plan the future, where you can strip away the burdens of everyday life and forget about the world.

"Do you like it, kitten?" the woman asks, coming up behind as soon as you open the door.

In the middle of the bed, there's a huge Easter basket of chocolates, from simple chocolate bars to decorated boxes of handmade truffles, with colorful wrapping and a giant bow, next to a big stuffed bunny, one of those fluffy ones that are too cute to resist hugging. A Happy Easter banner has been placed above the headboard and when turn around you let out a laugh when notice that the principal is wearing a fuzzy bunny ears, one up and the other down, a cute made-up nose.

"Welcome back, little baby!" she wraps her arms around waist and lifts you into the air, capturing your lips as she spins around.

"You... You did all this for me? Aw, that's so sweet and thoughtful."

"And all yours, I wanted to make your first official Easter something special." Ava puts you down and picks up a second bunny ear from the shelf, carefully placing it on your head "My cutie..."

"I'm literally speechless, all I can think about is how amazing you are."

"I know!" she jokes and leans in to give you another kiss "Sweetheart, you're a wonderful person and I'm sorry you didn't have any of these moments, but know that I'm going to make each of these dates unforgettable and unique, something of ours."

You stare at her in shock and feel your eyes sting, tears gathering at the edges of eyes, it's hard to control. This was the first surprise you've ever received in your life and certainly the best of all, every detail was thought of, planned and made especially for you, as well as the romantic touch she gave to every little and big gift.

"You don't have to do that..." you whisper, voice breaking with emotion, "I... You already do so much for me."

"I haven't even done half of what I want to do for you." your girlfriend smiles tenderly, her hand sliding gently across your cheek "You deserve the world and I'm going to do my best to give it to you."

"I don't even know how to thank you for everything." a feeling of being silly comes over you again, but it's quickly gone when you see the passionate smile on her plump lips "It's more than I could have dreamed of."

"You don't have to be thankful, baby, just enjoy it." she replies, lifting you onto her lap and standing face to face "Or enjoy it while you thank me."

Ava is funny and suggestive, walking slowly over to the bed, sitting there with you on her lap, surrounded by the candies and the cheerful decoration. She brings a hand up to yours, intertwining her fingers with yours. The comfortable silence is broken only by the soft sound of breathing and happy giggles.

"Shall we eat some chocolate and then watch a movie?" the woman asks, squeezing you a little tighter against her "We have the whole weekend to ourselves."

All you can do is nod, leaning in again to give her a kiss, this time slow and passionate, full of tenderness. She moans feeling your fingers tangle in the black strands, pulling her towards you and deepening the contact.

"I love you, baby." you whisper against her lips, knocking into the soft mattress.

"No more than I love you, kitten. You have no idea."

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[endlich-allein]

Till Lindemann from "Rammstein" turns 60

Good man

Von Flake Lorenz

3. Januar 2023

Till Lindemann, "Rammstein" singer and lyricist, turns 60. Congratulations from his longtime friend and keyboardist.

Actually, one would not have to wait for a milestone birthday to honor this wonderful person. You could just pause and pay homage to the force of nature on any other evening. It may also be that Till Lindemann's birthday this Wednesday is not true. Even when Bravo reported about Rammstein for the first time in the early 1990s, our dates of birth were completely out of thin air. We were way too old for the Bravo target group back then, so the editors simply made us a few years younger. That wasn't a problem because the internet was still empty.

We soon realized that it doesn't matter how old you really are. Much later, when Rammstein became successful, being old was even better. You can deal more calmly with all that nonsense and enjoy your happiness in peace. Also, a person's age is just in the eye of the beholder, at least I don't know anyone who would call themselves old. On the other hand, I can still remember how, as a young musician, I couldn't calm down when I found out that the guitarist in a band I was friends with was over 30 years old. "He can still make music?" I asked. Men over 50 were half-dead, bleating grandpas in ugly brown clothes, they were every teenager's natural enemy.

It's 1986. Till turns up the system. I'm worried: What will the neighbors think?

Till seemed old to me when I met him. That was in the mid-1980s in East Germany. Till was not only older than me, in contrast to me he was already really grown up. He lived in his own house while I was still in my parents' room and didn't even have a girlfriend. I saw Till for the first time in 1986 in a Schwerin club after a Feeling B concert. I immediately noticed him: Till was a tall, strong man who on the one hand exuded natural authority, but at the same time seemed very shy. We didn't hesitate when he offered to take us home with him. His house in the country near Schwerin seemed like paradise to me, it was incredibly comfortable, probably because he had set it up that way himself; he had knocked out the walls between the rooms and left only the half-timbering. The volume on his system was turned up to the limit, the Sisters Of Mercy screamed from the cheap speakers.

I had never dared to do anything like this in my life. What would the neighbors think? When I wanted to play a song on the piano in between, Till simply carried it for me to another room where it wasn't so loud. At some point we all fell asleep where we sat and stood, like in Sleeping Beauty, and when I woke up the next morning, I imagined what it would be like if you always lived like Till. I really liked this idea.

Of course, his life wasn't a one-stop party. He also lived in the house because the argument with his father, who was not exactly frail, had escalated beforehand. Till had hit his father, the children's book author Werner Lindemann, with such a punch that he flew into the strawberry bed. Then Werner Lindemann threw Till's things out of the skylight. Life in a sports boarding school and training as a carpenter in Rostock were no fun either. Later, as a single father, Till lived with his daughter Nele in his nest, which in turn probably saved him from being drafted into the army. Till always seemed and always seems in a good mood to me – a bit like Obelix, of course not in terms of stature, for God's sake, he looks more like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but in terms of personality he's more like Obelix. Always according to the motto: "Friends, I have a plan, let's go here and there and break everything to pieces!"

Practical: He could change a wheel on the Trabi without using the jack

When the wall was suddenly open, Till drove to Lübeck with a couple of friends and spent all the West money he had saved and exchanged on gummy bears. He sat in a doorway and ate them all. Of course, he also manages a wild boar – it was an advantage back then that he lived so close to the railway embankment. When a waiter asks Till if he liked his food, he usually replies: "Yes, thank you, it was plenty." Incidentally, he also shares Obelix's great love of small dogs. Since Till is with (allegedly) Francis of Assisi, who wrote: "The dog remains loyal to me in the storm, man not even in the wind."

And like Obelix, Till seems to have fallen into a magic potion, because he really has tremendous powers.

At that time he could change a wheel on the Trabi without using the jack. In the old days, when we had to work as stewards at an open-air festival, Till just banged his fist through a car window to hold the driver down.

If Till sees any body of water, he immediately plunges into it and plows through it like a motorboat. He tucks the boxes that we carry in the studio or in the rehearsal room under his arm alone.

If a door is locked somewhere, he just sticks me through a second-story window so I can open it all from the inside.

I've never met anyone who is so pragmatic about music and lyrics. Till would never have originally thought of becoming a singer. Although he observed that musicians in Schwerin had a hit with women and then played drums in a punk band - but in all those years I really never had the feeling that punk music particularly interested him. An effective and well thought-out stage show was always more important to him. For example, Till once put chickens in the bass drum and only pulled the cloth away after the first song, causing the animals to tumble across the stage.

Cheering crowds, prizes and honours: All of this actually leaves him completely cold

When Till was supposed to sing with us, it was very difficult for him at first, because as a singer you can't hide behind an instrument or another musician. Then he put on welding goggles so that he looked like a friendly insect. Till sang beautifully, deeply and soothingly. We stopped worrying immediately. Everything would be fine. We just needed good lyrics. So Till sat down to write them. He never pretends to be a great artist who needs to express his deep feelings. He prefers to think about what else can be lit on stage (like me). The concerts used to be a lot of fun. At that time we always looked for an attractive village inn first, in order to eat as much as possible. Only then did we set up our stuff and play.

Till loves women - and women love him. But how he manages to go through his life completely free of any affectation, even after 37 years, still arouses deep admiration from me. Cheering crowds of spectators, prizes and honors actually leave him completely cold. Organizing a party for our entire crew seems to be more important to him than any concert. Incidentally, he has renounced his rights as a lyricist for decades, so that all six of us at Rammstein earn exactly the same. In any case, Till has extended the life of the band, because money is usually the trigger for a breakup. He, on the other hand, has a very decisive influence on our band with his lyrics and his voice.

So we can still successfully defend our small East German village. By Teutates! May the sky never fall on Till's head!

(I'm not sure of this whole translation so feel free to correct me)

[ditto-not-on-discord]

in less than 60 days, It will have been a year since blaseball was suddenly canceled.

TRUST ME, THE OTHER TAGS WILL MAKE SENSE IN A LITTLE WHILE.

Blaseball, in its 2.867 Years of existence, was many things. but the easiest way to describe it is "Good". It had a very incredible fanbase that still kind of mourns the game to this day. the devs had a panel at GDC in 2022. It was nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Game Writing in 2021 and also the "Best Video Game" at The Hugo Awards in 2021. It won the Nuovo Award at the independent games festival in 2021. people could observe the games happening, gamble fake money, and also affect how the story and the characters would develop at certain points. It was a great game, that sadly was canceled because the cost that was needed to run the game was too high for the team at the game band to support, at least according to wikipedia. It being dead is also a major part in proving that there is no justice in the universe because of it not being here, yet SILENT HILL ASCENSION SOMEHOW HASN'T KICKED THE BUCKET YET.

Now for all Silent Hill fans who have blocked that game out of their memory, and for everyone who has no idea what Silent Hill Ascension IS, here is a refresher:

"Released" on October 31st, 2023 (which was already a bad day for me, but I am NOT getting into that), Silent Hill Ascension is an interactive thing (listen its not a tv show, and it isnt a video game. the developers say that its "the best of both", but lets be honest its more of the WORST of both) that is canon to the silent hill franchise.

people can observe the games happening, gamble fake money, and also affect how the story and the characters would develop at certain points. Yes, I know this sounds EXACTLY the same as what I described blaseball as, but thats because I purposefully oversimplified both games a bit. Silent Hill Ascencion has bland writing (so bland people even thought it was AI), all the mechanical depth of a bad mobile game, and all the horrible microtransactions (loot boxes, a season pass, and something else I will get into later) as well. Blaseball, as previously mentioned, was nominated for several story writing awards, had enough mechanical depth that some fans created a SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIVE TO ANALYZE IT, and at the time it died, NEVER had any micro transactions or a fee to enter.

Remember how both games use fake money? In Blaseball, those who were in the 1% of money havers had all their coins distributed to the other players. In Silent Hill Ascension, you can literally just buy so many "Influence Points" that you can manipulate the entire fucking story, and you can hoard them for as long as you fucking want. Also, Something else I want to mention: Literally nobody talks about Silent Hill Ascension because its so bad. hell, and those that do talk about it DON'T have anything good to say. very few people play it, and there are a shit ton of bots that the devs added so it feels like more people are actually watching. Silent Hill Ascension has reached lower lows than blaseball ever did, and is less than half a year old. So why the hell is it still alive, when a game that did its entire stick better is fucking dead. THE ONLY REASON I CAN THINK OF FOR IT BEING ALIVE IS BECAUSE ITS SUPPORTED BY FUCKING KONAMI.

There is no justice in the world.

[littlespoonevan]

Hi, can I please ask for some of the essays about the cemetery talk and what we were supposed to take away from that scene? If you feel inclined, that is 💕

well i don't know if i can write an essay exactly bc tbh i still don't know for certain what we're supposed to take away from that scene. but i do know the tone of it was completely different to anything we've ever seen for buddie before and it also lasted so much longer than most of their scenes have before??? like i just went back to rewatch it to refresh my memory and it's 3 minutes???? that is an incredibly long scene for two characters to have in an ensemble show when they're literally just talking and it's not strictly moving the plot forward

but to try and break it down a bit:

i find it fascinating the way eddie reacts to buck talking about natalia. that weary, almost irritated, "really?" when buck admits he'd met up with her followed by the "dating somebody you rescued, you know what never ends well." it's So Different to the snarky way he used to react to taylor. like when he'd make comments about taylor you knew he was mostly joking or at worst, just being a little bitchy. but he sounds genuinely frustrated when buck brings up natalia. the closest thing i can compare it to is that it's a more muted version of "his fiance's abby" and we know eddie knew how deeply buck was affected by losing abby so it feels a bit like eddie is potentially annoyed bc he knows buck will probably get hurt again???

then you have buck saying the whole "i think she sees me" bit which echoes so much of buck's overarching storyline and his struggle with love in the past. and i know some people call this eddie's 'oh' moment but i definitely don't consider it an "oh i'm in love with him" moment. i feel like it's more of an "oh he doesn't see that i see him too" moment, if that makes sense?? and i think there probably is a bit of frustration with that for eddie given that the will scene is eddie as loudly and demonstratively as he can saying "i see you" y'know? nevermind all the little ways he proves he knows buck

and tbh i think my favourite part of the scene is actually the last 60 seconds because first you have eddie saying "you haven't been the same since it happened, but then again how could you be?" and it's just!!! 1) it's literally him proving he does see buck and probably knows him better than anyone else and 2) there's a very subtle hint of realisation in his voice when eddie says "how could you be" as if he's been convincing himself buck is fine this entire time (maybe post-couch nap) only for him to now realise buck really, really isn't.

tHEN he says "you don't have to be anything for anybody" and it might be my favourite words to ever come out of his mouth tbh because it's just once again emphasising the gentle way eddie lets buck be?????????? "i had to do it" "i know you did", "you knew i wouldn't" "i knew you wouldn't". eddie is So Good at offering buck a reprieve whenever he needs one and he's usually the person best able to break through all the noise in buck's head to make him understand that he's fine just existing as himself.

aND THEN eddie makes the comment about how going through near death experiences change a person and all i can think about is how after eddie's near death experience he made the decision to tell buck about his will after keeping it a secret for a year and how he never actually answered buck's question about why he kept it a secret in the first place and i have to ask, eddie diaz what changed in you???????????

combine all of that with the fact their outfits mirror what they wore in 5x14 and the absolute irony of eddie saying dating someone on a call never works out only for him to pursue marisol two eps later and just- i don't know if they pivoted bc there was a fear season 6 would be the end of the series or if the last few eps were always supposed to go the way they did but this scene in 6x15 raises so many questions and i feel like i don't have the answers to any of them skjahd

[rebelsandtherest]

ok so i’m going to preface this ask by saying that the name alfred is given to the first born males on my dads side, so it’s a name near and dear to my heart, that said, there’s an angle i’ve never (or in all likelihood missed) seen between alfred and arthur. and i crave your opinions.

growing up i knew that the name alfred became popular in the victorian period since the english started looking into history and saw king alfred and decided he was pretty great. so i wonder how arthur felt, to see and hear his estranged sons name so often. of course he’s glad that his country’s putting some respect on king alfred, but i can see him calling someone named alfred by their last name to avoid saying it out loud. “alfred, lord tennyson.” “who?” “lord tennyson.” “not a fan.” the man’s conflicted and petty.

or it could be the opposite, it could remind him why he chose the name to begin with. imagine him overhearing a man in a pub proudly boasting about how fast his little alfie is growing, showing off a picture he keeps of the lad. and arthur can’t help but smile to himself and feel a wee bit envious. a few situations like that, and he’s tentatively writing formal letters that go unanswered. a few decades and a great rapprochement later he can finally say alfred out loud without tasting bile.

or he could be so far up his own ass that he doesn’t even notice the trend in names. idk. definitely drunkenly hums ‘what’s it all about (alfie)’ in the 60s.

Ooooh man this is a good question! Thanks for sending in the ask.

This became an immensely long reply with a bad history lesson included (because I'm relying on my ADHD memory and hoping it doesn't scramble itself between my brain and the keyboard), so... sorry about the length.

Anyway.

I think the Victorian revival of "Alfred" as a name would have affected Arthur in a few ways, but within his context, I imagine that those moments would be relative sporadic.

So a few things:

First: The name itself is Anglo Saxon—the original ash (Æ) was replaced with an A to fit contemporary English spelling, and it would have been pronounced a little different obviously, but it is remarkably unchanged for an early medieval name over 1000 years old. So Arthur is probably used to hearing the name at least once in a blue moon, and I doubt anyone was much confused when he gave the name—even if it wasn't in vogue at the time—to his firstborn.

Second: The Victorian age for Arthur was absolutely chock-full of wars, particularly wars overseas. Victoria was called empress for a reason, because she had a penchant for stealing other people's land and sovereignty. So whether Arthur was enthused by the nonstop action or not (I'd wager he was, most of the time), he was incredibly preoccupied and probably didn't have time to mope about his son, so if the name ever made Arthur think about Alfred, it would be a short-lived reverie.

Third: The Victorian era was a historically interesting time for UK-US international relations. Your average USA citizen probably didn't spare much thought for English subjects an ocean away, but, on the whole, white Americans remained enamored with England as the "mother land", were keen on trans-Atlantic commerce, and eager to prove themselves as equals to their allies in Europe. This didn't exactly work.

Even so, Britain and the USA continued to host a bizarre mix of cultural proximity and mutual contempt. Bad blood had gone stale by the beginning of Victoria's reign, but stale blood bred an enduring sense of pettiness, especially on the British side. Though the two nations' diplomatic and economic relationships were strong and well-maintained, events like the USA's rather embarrassing showing at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London were devoured by the British public in a feeding frenzy of schadenfreude that solidified a kind of national desire to dunk on Americans whenever possible.

While Brits still relish dunking on Americans, the early Victorian need to put America down as an economic and cultural peer began to shift, at least in some ways, in the second half of the 19th century. The American Civil War devastated the English economy, particularly of the northern half of the country which depended immensely on American cotton to fuel its textile industry. The entire war, its fallout, and notably the end of slavery in the USA, were all topics that British citizens would have seen daily in their newspapers, a source of interest and immense anxiety. By this point, Britain as a whole had forcibly been made aware of how, like it or not, the state of the USA's government and economy affected their daily life in ways too large to ignore.

Whilst America quite literally murdered itself over the problems it'd decided to ignore for a century, Britain and Europe were all deep in the industrial revolution—hell, it started in England, hence the textile mills. England and the young German Confederation were both heavy hitters in the game, and improvements to seafaring technology as well as Britain's relentless expansion across the globe was continuously bringing in new wares from all around the world for European industrialists to copy and mass produce. European trade and industrial competition was booming.

Meanwhile, America remained intensely focused on itself, and understandably so. With the absolute disaster of Reconstruction, westward expansion, industrial revolution, and lest we forget, a bloody parade of genocides and land wars, the USA had plenty to be worried about within its own (expanding) borders. It was not isolationist in the true sense, but was not exactly competing for European attention at the same levels at it had earlier in the century.

However, when the USA eventually gathered itself to take more of an international presence, it would do so in a way that would take the entire world by storm. The sheer speed, size, and production volume of American industries began to challenge their European competitors. If you were white and well-connected or just immensely lucky, this was the age when the American Dream was born. The US military had undergone immense expansion since the Civil War, and they went from having a young navy only just big enough to form a blockade to having a navy large enough to send a top-of-the-line fleet around the world with literally no other purpose but to flex in front of their allies (and enemies) not even 50 years later.

.....This has been a very long winded way to explain that, while the Victorian Era was the heyday of Arthur's imperialist dreams and victories, it was also the very nascent stages of Alfred coming into his own and more or less forcing himself back into dear old dad's life. Coming hot on the heels of Victoria, The American Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, and the Great Rapprochement were all just around the corner. These shifts of history—to say nothing of the quickly-approaching storm clouds of World War—would bring father and son back together and force them to mend their relationship, at least as much as they could.

I think, in the early Victorian age, when 'Alfred' came into vogue after so many centuries, a part of Arthur would hear it with a sinking feeling in his gut, because he was certainly old enough to have seen the future on the horizon. Maybe it wasn't clear, or concrete, maybe he couldn't put it into words. But he would know, in some instinctual sense, that Alfred's star was rising in more ways than one, and that he'd would need to brace himself and his empire for whatever came next. So sometimes, when he heard the name, some indistinct prophecies would flash before his mind's eye, filling him with ominous dread that he couldn't have named.

Sometimes, if he'd been drinking or just in a sentimental mood, he would hear the name and reminisce on both the King Ælfred, and the golden son who bore his name. He would wax poetic about his firstborn and all that he'd accomplished in his life—daring even, perhaps for the first time in his life, to praise Alfred's tenacity, conviction, and strength during his fight for independence. He would of course be mortified by the drunken memory the next day.

Sometimes, it takes him off guard and he turns his head, fully expecting Alfred himself—a toddler, a child, a teenager, a young man—to step through the door and greet him. It lasts only moments, and the empty feeling that follows usually sends Arthur directly into some mentally or physically taxing task, to avoid uncomfortable emotions.

But I think more than anything, the re-emergence of the name would make Arthur feel old. So very, very old, when he continuously, despite repeated embarrassments, pronounces the name in the way he learned as a boy, with the long-i ash sound that his people forgot to pronounce somewhere along the last century or ten. The very same pronunciation mistake he couldn't seem to stop making all those years ago, when Alfred was small, still learning English and fully convinced a boy could have two versions of a name.

The same pronunciation that, even today, would make Alfred's head twitch up, looking for his father.

[parachutingkitten]

No actually, time can't pass differently in the never realm.

Sorry Doc, but now that you're the one making lore tweets, you get the prolonged tumblr rants from me.

To be fair, he does seem to be handling things in a way I much prefer to tommy. Cryptic self deprecation at a (maybe?) mistake is always a better look than doubling down, so this is all incredibly light hearted, but here we go:

If time does in fact work differently, then I have to assume that means time is moving more quickly in the never realm. Zane gets sent to the Never-Realm, and in the time it takes for the ninja to follow, sixty years passes in the never. Great.

In show it seems like it takes maybe a day or two for the ninja to realize what's happened and follow after him. For some easy math, let's just round it out to about 6 days, meaning that each day in ninjago is a decade in the never.

Problem is, we see pix and wu waiting for the ninja to return. We have at least 2 incidents in ninjago taking place on separate days (The Absolute Worst and Kaiju Protocol), meaning at minimum, the ninja are gone for 2 days ninjago time, which would imply the ninja were in the never realm for 2 whole decades which... can not be true.

So, maybe I did some estimating wrong. What if it took the ninja a solid month to grieve their loss, and then realized there was hope and go after Zane? That takes the ratio down to about 2 years in the never for every ninjago day. 4 years is still an insanely long time which does not map up to what we see in the never realm. In MotM, the ninja refer to this and other missions as all happening within the span of "weeks", implying that not only do all these missions happen immediately back to back, but that their time in the never realm was no more than a couple weeks. Now, they may be referring to the time that passed in Ninjago alone, but the way it's phrased seems to imply the time experienced by the ninja themselves. It's phrased as a reminder that they haven't been home in a while, which they obviously wouldn't need to be reminded of, if they had spent more than a month or so away, nevermind 4 years.

But say that we assume the never adventure took place over the course of a full month in never time, the most I am willing to conceed before later statements don't make sense. That leaves us with a 1/15 ratio, meaning the gap between Zane being blasted away, and the ninja following after him is 4 years. That... can not be true. There is no chance it took Wu 4 years to go and visit aspheera for the first time. There is no way everyone looks the same, the team hasn't split up, and Pixal just happens to still be having plot relevant nightmares. There is no way the time skip between episodes 14 and 15 of season 11 is 4 times as long as between seasons 14 and 15.

All of this is not to mention, we're still using our extremely conservative estimate of the ninja being gone for 2 days ninjago time, which not only assumes that the absolute worst and Kaiju Protocol happen back to back, but also that the news broke to the papers that the ninja had left, it was printed, and a paper was discarded close enough to blow over prison walls, in less than a day.

So, unless "time passed differently" means that time literally started passing differently when the ninja entered into the realm, normalizing it to ninjago time... I do not see what this could possibly mean. We see a montage of time passing in episode 17 that shows us a day in the never is just about as long as we would expect, if not maybe longer. The only way I can think that this might make sense is if people in the never realm refer to a day as a year- meaning Zane was corrupted for maybe 2 months max. And that kinda undercuts the drama a bit, don't it?

Btw, any way you slice it, formlings definitely age differently. Akita's tribe gets frozen as winter comes to the never realm, when she's a child, and 60 years later, she is a teenager seeking revenge. Which for those who care (me, I'm saying this for me), means if you like the 'Lloyd has life extending Oni blood like his dad' HC, Akita may be a decent choice to ship.

I do appreciate his attempts to make this the canon answer, as it does feel less stupid than the time travel thing. The 60 year blast from tommy feels inherently random and without purpose, and so comes across as a plot hole filler more than anything else. Unfortunately, this explanation is pretty impossible unless you want to introduce some MAJOR time skips to the timeline, or change the 60 year timeframe all together.

Anyway, the consistent time difference is impossible, and Akita has a very long expected life span. Unless they explicitly decide to kill her off, there is no reason to believe she is dead.

[menonlywrestling]

Chile 2004

Spanish Luis (left) faces off against Mexican Juan (right).

These two have fought twice previously in tournaments, with one win each. They are both incredible technical wrestlers, who can give and receive massive amounts of punishment.

Juan, the more experienced wrestler, took the first win, three years ago, when he mostly dominated younger Luis in the second half of their match, getting a submission with a devastating long held choke sleeper/scissors combo on the ring floor.

Luis took a surprise win last year (he's been training hard and getting bigger, better and stronger all the time) when he managed to pin Juan in the closing minutes of their last match.

The thing is, the sex after both their matches was mind-blowing. Not the usual aggressive winner punish-fucking the loser. They had an incredible connection, staying in Juans hotel room, having sex for 12 hours. With lots of touching and kissing with moments of tenderness and laughter, in between all the fucking. Their mutual attraction was intense. They also put their gear back on and wrestled a bit on the bed both times too. Flexing and feeling each others bodies while they kissed and sucked, still in their gear. It was the best sex either of them had ever had, and they think about those times, and each other, often.

So, here we are, a year later and they face off again. You can see from their faces they're really happy to see each other, and cant wait to wrestle. Even the ref is picking up on their electricity.

They're not going to go easy on each other. They both want to win.

Match rules are first man to gain two submissions, two pins or a KO decides the winner. 60 minute time limit.

Luis gets a submission from Juan at the 20 min mark with a particularly nasty camel, punishing his pecs with some stiff blows and using Juans hair as leverage, really pulling him back into the hold.

10 mins later Juan pins Luis, and gets a submission from him after another 10 mins with an absolutely brutal long held over the shoulder back breaker. He gets a warning from the ref because he lifts Luis over his head then drops him onto his knee, after he submitted. He's pissed off about the hair pulling.

The match ends when one wrestler gets the final winning submission with a magnificent surfboard in the middle of the ring. Both men's huge rock hard hard-ons are straining under their singlets by this point.

A year after this match, Luis travelled to Mexico to visit Juan, and never left. They still live together and still wrestle as a tag team.

[86stagram]

🧀🐹💨brb 🙋‍♀️(Kunsei-ham's servant) Fresh fruits hamster (?)

My Pretty series life started with PriPara! I started watching anime first, and later started playing that game. subtitle from that time is '2014-2015 3rd live February' ; I remember getting the 'Valentine Zukyun skirt' 💖

I was familiar with PriPara than with Pretty Rhythm, but when there run I frequently used the QR codes from 'Fashionable items for use in PriPara : 1450'! I still keep both that & 2DS at home🏯 (2DS? You wanna know why? It's just little easier to scan QR codes on the 2DS than on the 3DS... and inexpensive)

The charm of clothing is what got me interested in Pretty Rhythm✨ But I didn't have much opportunity, I was very busy at the time...😢

I finished watching 'Rainbow Live' & began watch 'Dear My Future' in April! that's feel me so real & authentic anime...😭🙏(Tears of emotion and gratitude) ... some Japanese otaku use like 'real' or 'authentic' as a compliment, haha

Finally got around to watching DMF 11! There’s still a lot haha Sho... Someone Japanese said... 'ショウさん器が小(ショウ)さん' hahaha, yabai...🤣 He is small-minded. that's his one of charm. maybe🙄

and... I need to watch 'KinPri' because come the new movie in summer! I'm interested in that but I don't know past story yet. But I heard it's interesting! I haven't even finished watching all episode of the Pretty series yet, but I'm looking forward!

↓🎀Roni-ish coord (What do you think?)

Awww...

Bankrupt RONI... It's been 4 years and more since, but I still find painful emotions💔 Oh, RONI, with the brand's sleep, my PriPara dreams go to far way😭 I really hope they bring back the collaboration items from that time in adpara... no, no matter how much I wish, there are things which won't come true!

RONI's spirit lives in my heart, and I find joy in seeing Prizmmy☆'s members adorned in that designs at bonus footage👚👗🧥 kawaii✨

I'm planning to watch the DMF extras later because they're only on Blu-ray BOX. (Luckily, my family has that! Usually, I watch on streaming service. It's convenient, isn't it? Umm... That's it🐌😉)

🧡🐹🧡🐹🧡🐹🧡🐹🧡🐹🧡

( í Y ì )Gah! there are almost no SS of me wearing RONI at that time

I'm jealous!( í Y ì ) You guys have so many pic left

In case you were wondering, they are my friends(´Y｀) 🖤Xey 💜Suu 💚Refrain 🤎Netero!!! -with 3 exclamation marks

Netero!!!, her name means that 'go to sleep'💤 Her performance is incredible enough to knock out💤 : That's a setup for her character. and other name is meaningless. Umm... maybe

btw, the person who wrote this has many OCs. I've never seen anyone with more OCs than her. How many does she have❔❔❔🐹Let me see, maybe 60 over

~🎉~🎀~🔑~🐹~✨~🩰~💭

I will try challenge day by day!(日々精進) See you later!

[bygracealonegirly]

The anniversary of my brother's death is coming up, and 3 years later I'm shocked at how the grief can creep up and swallow me still. If I think about him more than in passing I still weep. I'm still overwhelmed by the absence of his belly laugh and mischievous grin. I still feel rage creep up when I think about how unfair it all is; his 3 young children were too small to have personal memories of him, and must subsist on what we show and tell them. His beloved wife only got 5 years with him total - some people get 60. Our view into God's plan is so narrow, I know, I really do, but still, why him?

CJ was something else. A real gen-u-ine cowboy. Tough hands, crinkly eyes, and an ever present grin. Quite the dancer. A heck of a card player. An even better choir singer. He was never short on jokes or belly laughs. The best darn bow hunting partner I'll ever have. And gosh he loved his wife; the sun rose and set on her from the moment they memorably met (she slapped his rear end on a dare during a rodeo and told him to quote "giddy up cowboy"; they were wed 18 months later). He was an incredibly doting father who insisted on doing the late night feedings because work kept him so busy in the daytime. And most of all he was a true Christian who shared God's Word with most anyone who would listen and loved his neighbors.

Every year I approach being older than he ever was. 24 years and 18 days, 6 hours and 32 minutes (I'm sure Mama knows the seconds.) It's unnatural to grow older than your big brother, and each of us younger siblings marches toward it; my sister surpassed him recently and fell into hysterics once she realized. The clock now looms over me like the shadow of death itself.

It was a farm accident. A freak thing. Everyone tried their best to save him; first his wife, then the neighbors, then local EMTs, a flight nurse and a paramedic, countless nurses and doctors and specialists from The Big City. They all wept with us as he took his final breaths, surrounded by more people than the hospital was technically supposed to let in. It took him an excruciatingly long time to pass on once support was pulled, and his heart only finally slowed and stopped when his wife assured him "I've got this CJ, don't worry, I've got the kids and the cows, you go on home now".

I can't even type that without shaking.

I hardly knew her before they wed, and not much more before he passed away. She became much more than the mother of my nieces in the wake of his death; she's well and truly one of the strongest people I know, and a true sister to me. I'll never be able to thank her enough for giving him peace enough to let go in his final moments. She's not much of a dancer or a card player, and she can't so much as hit the side of a broad barn with a bow, but I like singing with her in church, and she's helping me learn to quilt now.

I read somewhere that grief is just love with no place to go. So tonight as my throat aches with thoughts of CJ, I'll pour out some of this love. Into my dogs, my horses, my plants, my nieces, my sister-in-law, my sister-in-law's new boyfriend, and God, who I know is in control and has a Plan, who has overcome the grave, and whose will I submit to even if at this moment it's painful. Because I know He keeps His promises.

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

Ride on Cowboy, see you on the other side 💙

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

María Félix (Doña Barbara, La Mujer sin Alma, Rio Escondido, La Cucaracha)—Maria Felix is still possibly the most well-known Mexican film actress. She turned down multiple-roles in Hollywood and a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer in order to take roles in Mexico, France, and Argentine throughout the 1940s, 50s, 60s. She was so famous and so respected as a dramatic actress that she inspired painters, novelists and poets in their own art--she was painted by Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, Bridget Tichenor. The novelist Carlos Fuentes used her as inspiration for his protagonist in Zona Sagrada. She inspired an entire collection by Hermes. In the late 1960s Cartier made her a custom collection of reptile themed jewels. She considered herself to be powerful challenger of morality and femininity in Mexico & worldwide--she routinely played powerful women in roles with challenging moral choices and free sexuality. But even still, years after he death, she is celebrated with Google Doodles, and appearances in the movie Coco, and holidays for the anniversary of her death.

Marie Doro (Lost and Won)—I had never heard of this woman before the prelims a couple of weeks ago, but oh my GOD I have not been able to stop thinking about her since. Look at her!! She was often typecast as delicate, fragile types on stage and screen, but in real life she was "intelligent, an expert on Shakespeare and Elizabethan poetry, and possessed a penetrating humor and a sometimes acid wit"(!!!!) and known for bringing vibrancy and intelligence to all of her roles. Unfortunately most of her films have been lost, but she was considered a highly sought-after lead actress through the '20s, at which point she retired from acting. In her later years, she went back to school, taking university courses in theology, physics, metaphysics, and philosophy. She was also reportedly close friends with Maude Adams and Mercedes de Acosta, both known for their lesbian relationships, which has led some (me) (but also others) to speculate that she may have been lesbian or bi herself. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! She was Charlie Chaplin's first love! She was so beautiful??? I want her to recite poetry for me while we picnic in the park.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

María Félix:

She's Thee Hot Vintage Movie Woman of México. She's absolutely gorgeous and always looks like she's about to step on you. you WILL be thankful if she does.

"María Félix is a woman -- such a woman -- with the audacity to defy the ideas machos have constructed of what a woman should be. She's free like the wind, she disperses the clouds, or illuminates them with the lightning flash of her gaze." - Octavio Paz

María Félix is one of the most iconic actresses of the Golden Era of Mexican Cinema. La Doña, as she was lovingly nicknamed, only had one son, and when her first marriage ended in divorce her ex-husband stole her only child, so she vowed that one day she’d be more influential than her ex and she’d get her son back. AND SHE DID! María Félix rejected a Hollywood acting role to start her acting career in Mexico on her own terms with El Peñón de las Ánimas (The Rock of Souls) starring alongside actor, and future third husband, Jorge Negrete. She quickly rose to incredible heights both in Mexico and abroad, later on rejecting a Hollywood starring role (Duel in the Sun) as she was already committed to the movie Enamorada at the planned filming time. Of this snubbing she said, quote: “I will never regret saying no to Hollywood, because my career in Europe was focused in [high] quality cinema. [My] india* roles are made in my country, and [my] queen roles are abroad.” (Translator notes: here the “india” role means interpreting a lower-class Mexican woman, usually thought of indigenous/native/mixed descent —which she had interpreted and reinvented throughout her acting career in Mexico— and what abroad was typically considered the Mexican woman stereotype, with the braids, long simple skirts, and sandals. This also references the expectation of her possibly helping Hollywood in perpetuating this stereotype for American audiences that lack the cultural and historical contexts of this type of role which would undermine her own efforts against this type of Mexican stereotypes while working in Europe) She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world of her time by international magazines like Life, París Match, and Esquire, and was a muse to a vast number of songwriters (including her second husband Agustin Lara,), artists, designers, and writers. Muralist Diego Rivera described her as “a monstrously perfect being. She’s an exemplary being that drives all other human beings to put as much effort as possible to be like her”. Playwriter Jean Cocteau, who worked with her in the Spanish film La Corona Negra (The Black Crown) said the following about her, “María, that woman is so beautiful it hurts”. Haute Couture houses like Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Hérmes, among others, designed and dressed her throughout her life. She died on her birthday, April 8, 2002, at 88 years old, in Mexico City. She was celebrated by a parade from her home to the Fine Arts Palace in the the city’s Historic Downtown, where a multitude of people paid tribute to her. Her filmography includes 47 movies from 1942 until 1970, and only two television acting roles in 1970. She has 2 music albums, one recorded with her second husband, Agustín Lara, in 1964 titled La Voz de María y la inspiración de Agustín «The voice of María and the inspiration of Augustín», and her solo album Enamorada «In Love» in 1998. Her bespoke Cartier jewelry is exhibited alongside Elizabeth Taylor’s, Grace Kelly’s and Gloria Swanson’s. In 2018, Film Director Martin Scorsese presented a restored and remastered version of her film Enamorada in the Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Festival and Google dedicated a doodle for her 104th birthday. On august 2023 Barbie added her doll to the Tribute Collection.

Marie Doro:

Unfortunately nearly all of Marie Doro’s movies are lost, and I don’t know a lot about her, but as soon as I came across Marie for the first time, I fell in love with her. The early Edwardian era is my favourite decade for fashion, and Marie wears it all so well! In every photo she looks like an angel made out of porcelain, too perfect to be real. She was Charlie Chaplin’s first love, and he remained in love with her for years after their first encounter, and let’s be honest, who can blame him? He said about her in his biography:

‘She was so devastatingly beautiful that I resented her. I resented her delicate, pouting lips, her regular white teeth, her adorable chin, her raven hair and dark brown eyes. But, oh God, she was beautiful! It was love at first sight. At the theatre I would time the moment that she left her dressing room so as to meet her on the stairs and gulp 'good-evening.' When I met Marie Doro again, it was like the second act of a romantic play. After we were introduced I said: 'But we've met before. You broke my heart. I was silently in love with you.' Marie, looking as beautiful as ever, said: “How thrilling”.

Doro retired from filmmaking in the 1920s and became very reclusive after that, so unfortunately there’s hardly any footage of her to watch. I feel sad that more people don’t know who Marie Doro is, because she’s very important to me.

Linked gifset to see Marie in action

[ravensvirginity]

I won't lie, even as an atheist i am always completely confused by antisemitism in superhero fandoms. We most definetly wouldn't have modern superhero media without jewish men, while they were not perfect (it was the 40s-60s afterall, alot of stuff related to women and characters of color didn't age greatly), these days they make so much of modern pop-culture...it'd propably help if the movies (mainly Marvel) would stop ignoring characters jewish identity (Fantastic Four and X-men movies by Fox), toning them down as much as possible (Moon Knight) or christian-washing them (Scarlet Witch).

yeah, Jewish men literally made the comic book industry but of course their legacy hasn't really been honored. Modern comics in general are so soulless and any Jewish rep is there just to tick a box, at least in my opinion. Like in the Teen Titans Christmas special this year when they had a shot of the Tower decked out in Christmas decorations and then they had 2 tiny Hanukkah banners there just for no reason. Like why are they there?? As far as the comic presents, none of the Titans are Jewish, and the decorations didn't feel like a real Hanukkah decoration at all. It was just a diversity tick with no thought put into it.

I definitely agree that I wish comics would stop ignoring Jewish identity, and it would be great if there were just more Jewish characters in general. And if they do a Hanukkah special or whatever it would be awesome if they hired someone Jewish to write it.

Raven I think is an interesting example of comics being created by Jews - Marv Wolfman is Jewish, and though Raven is primarily Indian coded (mostly in an 80s cultural appropriation way, but I digress) she's also got some things about her that feel Jewish. Arella is an unconventional spelling of a Jewish name (Erela) and Rachel Roth (tho Wolfman isn't the one who gave her that name) is incredibly Jewish.

In the 80s comics Wolfman wrote, Arella's religion before coming to Azarath is unclear. Her birth name isn't Arella, but we don't know what it is beyond that. Raven is a character with a very strong conviction in her fictional, but very non Christian religion. In a way, she's both an antichrist and a Christ allegory (she dies for Trigon's sins, and is resurrected purified of evil to destroy him). She's just a mix of so many different things, and while I do think some of it could be more ironed out (like making her actually Indian instead of a white woman who's very clearly been inspired by Indian culture) I think for the most part these elements work together.

20 years later, Raven gets a reboot, and much of this is gone. Arella's birth name is Angela, and it's now canon that she joined a demonic cult to escape her Christian family. Raven still has a connection to Azarath, but this gets less and less prominent and in the current run, it's completely gone.

I think that even though the cult of Azar is not a real religion, so it's not like anyone was being represented by it, it's very frustrating that they got rid of it in favor of making Raven vaguely culturally Christian (and even outright Christian in the 2018 live action show). Christian homogeny comes for literally everything, even this comic book character's fictional religion that was once a central part of her character.

The weirdest part is Marv Wolfman's modern Raven solos only further reinforce her new Christian backstory, having her stay with her very Christian aunt's family and even having a storyline about pushing her to go to Mass on Christmas, despite him being Jewish himself. It's unclear how much of this was his own writing choices and how much was an editorial mandate, but it's weird.

This got kind of rambley but my main point is modern DC flattens out it's characters to insane degrees, and that includes things like unique religious practices, fictional and real. Everyone is just vaguely culturally Christian with no further thought given to what makes sense for the character, and any religious diversity (in the comics I have read) is almost entirely there just to tick a box with no real thought or depth put in.

[starclast]

About my experience with Scooby Doo

Okey, if you have seen some of my fanart carefully, you may have noticed that...I'm a Scooby Doo fan. And honestly: who isn't? No matter in what year you were born, you pretty much grew up alongside (at least) one of the many- MANY series and movies from the Scooby Doo franchise. So, even if you are not really a *fan*, you certainly know about this famous gang with a talking dog and the *meddling kids* phrase is probably stuck on your head. Aaand so, as a fan, I just wanted to talk about my experience with some of stuff from this franchise!!

To be honest, my first REAL interaction with the franchise is...pretty blurry. Like, I honestly cant remember which one was the true beginning!! O__O But still, I can say a couple of guesses. First, I own a vhs of the *first* and one of the best Scooby Doo movies in existence: Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. When I saw this movie for the first time I was confused about why they were separated and other things so...I think I wasn't really aware of the gang before that?? Still, I really enjoyed this movie and it remains as one my favorites till this day (P.S: And surprisingly, I didn't get scared at all!? :o)

My second guess is that I saw an episode of the old series (one from the 60s to 90s) on TV one day, though...I cant really say what episode exactly, hehe.

Still, I (kind of) remember when I saw the first live action Scooby Doo movies for the first time! I think...before I saw the first movie, I already watched a scene from the second one, specifically: the one where the gang is knocking at the door of the *villain*s haunted house. Buuut well, back to the first one! I saw (the full movie) on TV one day and I really, REALLY loved it! It had some kind of charm and atmosphere which I can't really describe, but it caught me immediately!! And ooh boy, the Latin Spanish dub was incredibly funny!! XD This movie also remains as one of my favorites of all time!

It took a couple of years (but not really too long) for me to see the second movie. I also liked it, but not as much as the first one, which is curious, considering that aesthetically, this movie is more Scooby Doo like than the first one. Oh, and as a side note! I didn't ship Shelma back then. Actually, I didn't ship anyone inside the gang. I mean, I saw Fred and Daphne kissing and all but I didn't think much about it =__=

Years passed and I grew up seeing all the Scooby Doo animated movies that came year after year. Back then there was also the *What's new Scooby Doo?* series (which theme song still remains in my head), but aside from one or two episodes which I was lucky to see on TV, I couldn't see much of it. That's why the movies were my only Scooby Doo related entertainment.

More years passed and then it came out: Mystery Incorporated, one of the best (if not the BEST) Scooby Doo series of all time. Sadly, I wasn't really interested in it back then. I was in my teen years and since I had *grew up*, it would be very childish of me to watch a Scooby Doo show now. Still, I was lucky enough to watch some episodes on TV. One of the episodes I saw featured Shaggy and Velma as a couple and then I was like *Wait- they can date??*. I stood silent for a few moments, then I was like *Cool* and kept viewing the episode like noting. I still didn't think much of it, but the vision I had of their characters had already changed a little.

Some time later, I found a place where they sold DVDs and along the many of them, I found one with Scooby Doo movies which I hadn't see before. I bought it and then I finally got to see movies like *Scooby Doo and the witch ghost* for the first time. A few months later, I also found two DVDs with the two seasons of Mystery Incorporated, so I said *why not?* and bought them. And Oh-MY, I LOVED IT!! Sadly, the episodes weren't exactly in order and the second DVD didn't have all the episodes of the second season so, I couldn't finish it, but still, it was worth it! here, I kind of started to actually ship Shelma.

Many-MAAAANY years later (now in college), I finally got the chance to see the series as it was supposed to be, and I just have to say: I loved it even more! Although the series itself *broke* the ship, I still liked it and couldn't *move on* from it as I was supposed to...and so, here I am, still shipping it!

Aand finally, we come to the fanmade live action Scooby Doo series. I never heard or saw anything about this project until last year, when I stumbled upon the pilot on Youtube. I was curious so I watched it. I didn't have any expectations, but I was gladly surprised with what I saw. I had such a good time that I immediately showed it to my friends! And still now, I'm eagerly waiting for the next episode! (...While creating my own fantasies already, as you know XD)

One thing I wasn't sure when I was first sawing the pilot, was about Chris Villain, who takes the role of Shaggy in this series. As he have said, he doesn't look like Shaggy at all (physically speaking, of course), so I was a little out of place at the start...But as the minutes passed, I got to care and actually SEE this version of Shaggy functioning (it even made me cry at one point for how rough his situation is TT w TT). Now, he is definitely my favorite out of the cast (about both, actors, and characters) and I'm excited to see what else will come across him ^w^/

So yeah, as you can see, I ship Shelma in almost all its forms. It may not be the *right* ship for a lot of people, but I still like them and think they can work together as long as someone cares to do them right.

EXTRA:

To be honest, I NEVER saw the TV movies before. If it weren't that one day I stumbled upon them out of pure luck, I would probably continue to know nothing about these movies. At first, I didn't want to watch them because...lets be real: it didn't look good to me. The cast, the scenery, even Scooby look kind of weird. But well, I decided to give them a chance anyway. The first one was okey, nothing really extraordinary, but enjoyable still. The second was...*particular* to say the least (so much that I had to close my eyes out of embarrassment sometimes). Still, it was nice to know this version of their characters because I think they would be funny to work with!

[weneverlearn]

Mary Weiss, me; outside Magnetic Field, Brooklyn, 2008 (photographer unknown)

Mary Weiss, R.I.P.

It was 2005, and I'd lived in NYC for less than a year. I somehow finagled my way into a listening party for the incredible new Rhino Records box set, One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost & Found. It was at some small event space in midtown, I don't remember what it was called. Cool joint though...

I felt a bit overwhelmed in this packed room of esteemed scenesters, aging industry big wigs, and the incredible original performers from the box set they were able to round up and sing a few songs.

Luckily the ever-fun couple of Miriam Linna and Billy Miller (Norton Records) were there, scanning the room with eyes as wide as anyone's, and the two introduced me to a few heps, like Richard Gottehrer -- the amazing producer/songwriter who sprung form the Brill Building and ultimately produced some of my faves, like Richard Hell, the Go-Gos, and Marshall Crenshaw, among many.

Then I saw Sune Rose Wagner, singer/guitarist of the Raveonettes, one of my newer faves of the moment, and he was crying. I'd interviewed him over the phone a couple years earlier for a Cleveland mag, so I re-introduced myself and asked what was wrong. We hugged. He said that earlier in the week they'd played and had all of their instruments stolen afterwards, and he was so distraught he was thinking about quitting music. I told him no way, maybe they'll find the stuff, etc... He kind of perked up, and then once the women started singing with a live band, his teary eyes started shining from the glow of the stage taking over the pretty dark room. These women -- and I can't remember which acts they came from, but they were all on the box set -- were resplendent in glittering dresses, hair done big, and smiles wider than 5th Avenue.

I saw Billy and Miriam again, and they were chatting with Mary Weiss lead vox/face of the Shangri-Las -- arguably one of the top three acts of the whole mid-60s "girl group" scene. I was introduced quickly, but I let them get at their convo as I assumed the Norton nabobs knew Mary from way back.

However, Billy comes up to me later and tells me he had never met her before, that she was his first female musical star crush, and he absolutely sounded like a 16-year old trying to cram his melting heart back into his chest. I was pretty floored myself -- I always loved the Shangri-Las from first hearing them slip out of oldies stations growing up to when I first started diving into girl group sounds as a record-amasing teen. They, the Ronettes, and Darlene Love were the cream of the dreamy crop in my book.

The whole night was not unlike making your way through a Shangri-Las compilation: every emotion possible heaving up and down, surrounded by sounds lilting, swelling, crumbling, but always with that Big Beat bubbling, ready to shove you out of the sadness...

After the news of Mary Weiss' sad passing yesterday, of course many acknowledged her teen stardom of the mid-60s; the influence of the Shangri-Las' street-tough image and emotions on the New York Dolls (who used Shangri-Las producer, Shadow Morton, for their second album) and much of the early new wave of the mid-70s; the respect of her keeping a singing career going through the years, and the glorious third act she had in the late 2000s with the help of Norton Records and the great album, Dangerous Game, where Weiss, in excellent voice, was backed by the rulers of garage pop of that era, the Reigning Sound.

No, it wasn't some top 10 album, but it just oozed with a kind of vintage-to-ever cool that is so rarely captured in a "comeback." (And it definitely got her press and new young fans.)

In fact I think that album, and especially that incredible Rhino box set, brought back that '60s malt shop-meets-back-alley girl group ouvre to a whole new generation.

This was not front page news. Nevertheless loads of acts like King Khan & BBQ, Peach Kelli Pop, Shannon & the Clams, Hunx and His Punx, the Vivian Girls, Baby Shakes, Black Lips, A Giant Dog, and even the re-emergence of Nikki Corvette and Ronnie Spector to the stage brought the cloud-bound reverb and scruffy riffs of vintage girl groups back to prominence in the underground garage rock scene. And again, due to their sounds and looks, the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes were the template.

It has since dawned on me many times that Mary Weiss -- and the Shangri-Las as a whole -- have a nearly singular place in R'n'R history. Considering the admittedly limited catalog of songs, their outsized influence has spread from radio hits in the '60s to the underground proto-punk not ten years later; to the CBGB scene; early '80s new wave and power pop shadow-pep (like Blondie, Go-Gos, and many more); Aerosmith covered "(Remember) Walking in the Sand," and others of the big coif/high dramatics of hair metal had some Shangri-Las DNA in the hair spray; from transgressive filmmakers like John Waters to drag queen blueprints; to 2000s female neo-soul hitmakers -- arising at the same time as the aforementioned garage pop underbelly -- and even up to the recent talk/sing busted romance stylings of mega-popsters like Taylor Swift.

I saw Weiss at a couple shows over the next year or so. She was always so excited and grateful for all the accolades and thanks people laid on her. She played a remarkable show in Brooklyn that Lee Greenfeld booked, at the Atlantic Antic street fest in September, 2007 -- right outside Greenfeld's madly-missed club, Magnetic Field. We felt the Antic gig would be the first of many, but there were just a few more local gigs, if memory serves.

Somewhere in 2008, at an A-Bones / Yo La Tengo show at Magnetic Field, I chatted with Weiss for a bit afterwards. I can't express enough how inspiring was her love of music and hanging out at a small bar with a bunch of music obsessives knocking back cheap beers. At the 1 a.m. chime, she kissed my cheek, I laid one on her's, I walked home, and I will assume that if there is a Heaven, that moment should get me into the meetings where they discuss how to improve Heaven. It's a cinch it's improved today.

Variety obituary here.

From obituary:

The group’s tough-but-vulnerable New York City teen image was genuine. “Overall, the girl groups had very sweet images, except for the Ronettes and the Shangri-Las, who had a tougher, harder attitude,” Greenwich told the website Spectropop in an undated interview. “By today’s standards, they were as innocent as the day is long. Back then, they seemed to have a street toughness, but with a lot of vulnerability. Mary Weiss [had] the sweetest long straight hair, an angelic face, and then this nasal voice comes out, and this attitude — the best of both worlds.

“In the beginning, we did not get along,” she continued. “They were kind of crude, with their gestures and language and chewing gum and the stockings ripped up their leg. We would say, ‘Not nice, you must be ladies,’ and they would say, ‘We don’t want to be ladies.'”

From Chapter 33 of The Downtown Pop Underground — order online, or from a local independent bookstore

THE SHANGRI-LAS’ INFLUENCE ON PUNK LOCATION Brill Building The Shangri-Las were one of the common musical denominators that Blondie shared, and Clem Burke explained the Shangri-La’s proto-punk appeal: “They had their black leather vests and their tight black leather pants, and they sang ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss.’ They sang about dirty fingernails, wavy hair, and leather jackets, and things like that.” The Shangri-Las cast a long shadow over glam and punk rock. The New York Dolls’ “Looking for a Kiss” borrowed the spoken word intro from their “Give Him a Great Big Kiss,” and another Dolls song, “Trash,” copped the campy “How do you call your lover boy?” line from “Love Is Strange,” a catchy 1956 hit by Mickey & Sylvia. The group’s final album, Too Much Too Soon, was produced by Shadow Morton, who had crafted the girl group classics “Leader of the Pack” and “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” for the Shangri-Las. As Burke recalled, “Bubblegum rock was part of the roots of the New York music scene. Some of the old-school guys like Richard Gottehrer or Marty Thau—who had some money and success in pop music—they understood the music because they were coming from that Brill Building mentality.” Thau was the New York Dolls’ first manager before McLaren took the job, and he had previously made a living as a record promoter for late 1960s bubblegum groups the 1910 Fruitgum Company (“Simon Says”) and the Ohio Express (“Yummy Yummy Yummy”). Thau recorded the Ramones’ first demos and released Suicide’s debut album on his independent label Red Star, and also formed the production company Instant Records with the old-school industry hit maker Richard Gottehrer. “Richie was part of that whole Brill Building rock thing,” Leon said, “which had a lot of nostalgia for us because we grew up with it on the radio when we were kids.”