#john morrison imagines

[nevereverafter45]

Never Ever After Masterlist

Pinterest

Playlists

More will be added once I find all my old google docs

Seth Rollins

Stronger Than Yesterday

Roman Reigns

I'm Yours

Dean Ambrose

Live Fast Die Beautiful

Drew McIntyre-

Trio of Angels

Shane McMahon

One For The Money (also a Randy Orton story)

John Cena

Never Ever After

Chris Jericho

Another Trip Around

Christian Cage-

State of Affair

The Miz/ John Morrison

Lessons That Are Meant To Be Learned

[lil-melody-moon]

"Ha ha, he bought a little!"

"Yes, he did"

"Woo!"

"This is the best part of the trip"

"This is the trip... t-the best part... I really like"

"What'd he say?"

[bootleg-nessie]

Rating band names based on their accuracy:

(I keep updating this list so check back later)

The Beatles: 3/10. None of these people are beetles, they’re just a bunch of fruity guys from Liverpool with matching haircuts

(Edit: changed from 0/10 to 3/10 because John Lennon beat his wife)

Pink Floyd: 4/10. There is not a single person named Floyd in the band, but some of the members do arguably look kinda pink

Nirvana: 10/10. Getting high and listening to Nirvana is roughly what I imagine actual nirvana to be like

Foo Fighters: either 0/10 or 10/10. I have never seen foo in real life so either they’re pretending to fight a problem that doesn’t exist or they’re doing an absolutely fantastic job of fighting it

The Eagles: 0/10. Same as the Beatles, there is not a single eagle in this band. The name is misleading and we have all been lied to

Queen: 6/10. Partial points for Freddie Mercury

Led Zeppelin: 0/10. I don’t think any of these guys have ever even seen a zeppelin, let alone one made of lead. A lead balloon would crash faster than my hopes and dreams

The Rolling Stones: 3/10. There is not a single stone in this band. Some points added because I’m pretty sure they rolled quite a few

U2: 0/10. Despite what the name says, I am not a member of this band

Metallica: 9/10. Naming a metal band “Metallica” is like naming your dog “doggy”

Red Hot Chili Peppers: 2/10. These guys are not chili peppers. They’re not even that hot, let alone red hot

Guns N’ Roses: 0/10. How the fuck could a gun or a flower play music

Backstreet Boys: ?/10. Depends entirely on their current given location

Simon and Garfunkel: 10/10. No notes

The Doors: 1/10. Jim Morrison is kinda shaped like a door tho

Chicago: 4/10. The number of people in this band does not come even remotely close to the population of Chicago. Points added because it originated in Chicago

Earth, wind, and fire: 2/10. This is even more innacurate than Chicago. Points added because wind instruments were often used

Def Leppard: 3/10. There is not a single leopard in this band. Some of the members are probably kinda deaf by now tho

The Beach Boys: ?/10. Accuracy depends entirely on location

The Black Eyed Peas: 6/10. Not sure what the hell an ‘eyed pea’ is but the black part is pretty accurate

Imagine Dragons: ?/10. Depends entirely on whether or not they’re thinking about dragons.

Cage the Elephant: 1/10. Why would you do that. Let the elephant go

Green Day: 0/10. They’re not even green

The Police: 0/10. There is not a single cop in this band

KISS: 5/10. I’m sure they probably kissed sometimes

The Monkees: 0/10. Are you fucking kidding me

We Butter the Bread with Butter: 8/10. I can’t verify this but I have no reason to suspect that they’d lie. Butter seems like the most logical thing to butter bread with

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: 0/10. I got really excited about the concept of a lizard wizard only to be let down. My disappointment is immeasurable

They Might Be Giants: 5/10. I googled everyone in this band’s height, the tallest guy’s only 6’1 so I wouldn’t exactly consider him a giant. Then again, I can’t really argue because the claim was only that they MIGHT be giants

The Presidents of the United States of America: 2/10. None of these people are Joe Biden nor are any of them former presidents. This is incredibly misleading. I’m pretty sure “Lump” was written about my first girlfriend tho so I’ll give them a point or two

Gorillaz: 2/10 Not quite but we’re kinda close genetically so I’ll give them partial credit

The Killers: ?/10. I have no way of verifying if they’ve actually killed before but the fact that they’re not in prison tells me probably not

The Offspring: 10/10. These guys are definitely somebody’s offspring

Arctic Monkeys: 1/10. They are neither monkeys nor are they from the arctic

Thirty Seconds to Mars: 1/10. It takes WAY longer to get to mars than that

Beastie Boys: 8/10. They’re pretty beast on the guitar

Jimmy Eat World: 1/10. Slow the fuck down Jimmy, you’re biting off way more than you can chew

Hole: 9/10. One point deducted because I’m pretty sure they had more than one hole

Rage Against the Machine: 10/10. They did exactly that

Alice In Chains: 0/10. This is illegal. Let Alice go

The Band: 10/10. This could not possibly be more accurate

Nine Inch Nails: 1/10. I can’t find any good pictures of their feet but from what I can tell their fingernails definitely aren’t nine inches long

Bush: ?/10. Not quite sure about this one, felt uncomfortable asking

The Who: 2/10. I’m not dealing with this “Who’s On First” bullshit

Radiohead: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a radio for a head

Queens of the Stone Age: 0/10. This band should be called “five random dudes from the modern era” but FRDFTMA is a bit of a mouthful

Soundgarden: 2/10. Sound does not grow in the garden

Sonic Youth: 5/10. They’re not exactly youth anymore but the sonic part checks out

Talking heads: 8/10. There’s more to the band than just a bunch of disembodied heads but the heads do tend to talk

The Cranberries: 0/10. Decent music but I only added them so that the Beatles and Freddie Mercury weren’t the only fruits on this list

The Wiggles: 8/10. They do tend to wiggle a lot

Blue Man Group: 10/10. Yep!

Weezer: 5/10. They all look like they definitely have asthma

Limp Bizkit: 3/10. While the visual image of baked goods playing the guitar is hilarious, Fred durst is not a biscuit. Points added because he probably has erectile dysfunction

Stone Temple Pilots: 0/10. None of these people are accredited as being licensed to pilot anything, much less an entire stone temple. Stone temples don’t need pilots anyways

Wasted Youth: 8/10. I guess it really kinda depends on how you frame it but yeah, they probably wasted a lot of it

Them Crooked Vultures: 3/10. These are people and not birds but Dave Grohl’s posture is kinda bad and John Paul Jones is so old that his neck kinda looks like a vulture’s so I added some points

Audioslave: 0/10. Slavery is illegal

Traveling Wilburys: 4/10. Sure, they traveled a lot but not a single one of those lying bastards was named Wilbury

D12: 6/12. There were only 6 people in this band

NWA: 10/10. I’m a little too white to safely comment on this one but I’d say they nailed it

Jet: 1/10. A real jet would be way too loud

Goldfinger: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a finger made out of gold

No Doubt: ?/10. I can’t really be too sure how Gwen Stefani felt but I think it’s probably a safe assumption that she had some doubts

The White Stripes: 3/10. I bet if you stripped them down naked and made them stand shoulder to shoulder and squinted really hard they’d probably look more like white stripes

Screaming trees: 3/10. They scream occasionally

Garbage: 2/10. I think they’re being a little harsh on themselves, their music isn’t THAT bad

Butthole Surfers: 5/10. Not even gonna touch this one

Megadeth: 3/10. To be fair, some of the former members are dead but only a little amount of death, not mega death

Dead Kennedys: 2/10. Last I checked Kennedy was still dead but neither he nor his clones are members of this band

Cake: 0/10. The cake is a lie

Cracker: 8/10. Most of them are

Tool: 7/10. I don’t know much about their music but they sure look like tools

Counting Crows: ?/10. Is this what emo kids do instead of counting sheep? Accuracy depends on whatever bird they happen to be counting at the moment

Dave Matthews Band: 10/10. It certainly is

Oasis: 1/10. Their music is the opposite of an oasis

Blur: 2/10. They are not that fast

Barenaked Ladies: 0/10. If I wanted to be this disappointed I’d reestablish a connection with my biological father instead

Meat Puppets: 10/10. Technically, aren’t we all?

Live: 8/10. Apparently they still do live shows but I deducted some points because I’ve only ever heard their music on Spotify

ABBA: 9/10. I’m still not giving any points to Guns N’ Roses but that’s mostly out of spite

5 Finger Death Punch: 8/10 I guess it probably depends on how hard you hit them but this seems to be the usual amount of fingers to punch somebody with

All American Rejects: 9/10. They’re all rejects from America so I don’t really see any issue with this

T. Rex: 0/10. Even if any of these people WAS a T. Rex I don’t think their arms would be long enough to play their instruments

Free: 0/10. Unless you steal their music, in which case it becomes a 10/10

The Strokes: 3/10. To my knowledge, none of them have had a stroke but I still added a few points because the name was probably accurate for other reasons

The Smashing Pumpkins ?/10. Another thing I have no way of verifying but this seems like a waste of perfectly good pumpkins

Therapy?: ?/10. The hell are they asking me for? I don’t know their medical history

Twenty One Pilots. 0/10. There’s only two of them and neither is a licensed pilot

Finger Eleven: 0/10. Leave the poor Stranger Things girl out of this

Fall Out Boy: 9/10. I conferred with an expert on this one who confirmed that they are in fact boys who had a falling out

Cream: 8/10. Considering this was the OG supergroup I’m sure a lot of people did in fact cream when their music came out

Edit: humans aren’t fucking monkeys. Stop saying we are

[twentyeightif]

The Invisibles: Issue 1 Page 18 (art by Steve Yeowell) ©Grant Morrison

"On October 9 1993, which would have been John Lennon’s 53rd birthday had the Arch-Beatle not been shot dead by Mark Chapman in 1980, I performed a ritual intended to incarnate Lennon as a god." - Grant Morrison

"I wanted to make a dedication at the beginning of what was a whole new life for me in many ways. I wanted to summon a spirit of pure psychedelic inspiration into a Lennon-shaped environment. I sought not to manifest the real man; the troubled, cruel and violent Lennon with his flaws and contradictions but instead evoke Lennon the twisted mystic, the pop star intellectual, the elemental Air of the four Beatles as stripped back to their cartoon archetypes.

To get in the mood, I wore a Paisley shirt, skinny jeans and Chelsea boots. I sat at the centre of a circle made of Beatles albums and had Tomorrow Never Knows playing on a loop. My new 12-string white Rickenbacker stood in for a wand. As sacrament, I took a microdose of LSD, not enough for a full-blown trip but sufficient to soften consensus reality.

People sometimes misunderstand when I talk about what happened that night – I was not possessed by the ‘spirit’ of Lennon. This was not a mediumistic example of ‘channelling’ the alleged dead. This was magic. Intention Willed into Form.

I altered the temple environment using sounds, smells and images as powerful triggers, to push out of my consciousness all associations that did not relate to Lennon.

This overload of environmental cues was organized or compressed by Will into a singular, visible compound idea of Lennon-ness, so that everywhere I looked reminded me of John Lennon, everything I heard was Lennon, until all other qualities the space around me may have once possessed were edited out and replaced by the Lennonsphere!

[...]

This total possession of the ritual space by a coherent manifestation what I was looking for and it expressed itself visually and audibly as a 4-foot tall head that fit inside my temple space but felt much bigger, made of thousands of intricate multi-coloured and chiming shards of what resembled musical notation as rotated through a higher direction – intense flashing colours, digital high fidelity, shimmering musical glissades and drones.

I bathed in an electric fluorescent creative kaleidoscope – searing yellows and electric pinks, UV blues – receiving a download of powerful effervescent excitement and creativity. It felt most like the imagined Lennon of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. A psychedelic god on acid.

[...]

As a more minor side effect of the ritual, I found myself with this song I’d strummed into life, composed almost automatically, complete with lyrics and music. It always sounded to me, at best, like a throwaway B-side from 1965 as imagined by the Rutles but that’s why I’ve always liked it. It’s a very authentic scribble of the moment…

It is emphatically NOT a communication from beyond the grave."

- Grant Morrison, "John Lennon Like You"

[dalekofchaos]

How do you fuck up a show about Boba Fett?

I will forever be baffled by how Filoni and Favreau botched Boba Fett's show nor will I ever forgive them for how they did Boba Fett dirty just to be used as a fucking stepping stone for Din and Grogu. Even worse is how Disney refuses to give Temuera Morrison the audience or time to grant him a season 2.

A Boba Fett show on paper should've been the easiest thing in the world. I already made a list of ways how season 1 could've been better. But here's a smaller list.

Boba Fett actually being a crime lord and acts like the ruthless bounty hunter only doing it on his terms

Give us flashbacks to Jango during the Mandalorian Civil War(bonus points. Jango killed Tor Viszla, but Deathwatch refused to give up the Darksaber. By rights Jango is the rightful ruler of the Darksaber and for that very reason is why the weapon is cursed with hints that because Boba is Jango's son, Boba Fett is destined to wield the Darksaber)

GIve us flashbacks of Daniel Logan during Boba's rise as a ruthless bounty hunter and you know, give us the cut Bounty Hunter arc via flashbacks

Keep the helmet on. He shouldn't even take it off for Fennec. If I wanted to see Temuera's face, I would advocate for a Captain Rex show. The mask IS BOBA'S FACE

Instead of being this dumbed down idiot who's more of a sheriff instead of a Godfather like criminal. Boba is 10 steps ahead of everyone. He knows how this game is played and will use the knowledge he's gained from his father and working with Jabba. Instead of being hunted down by the Syndicate, it's him hunting them down.

A good Boba Fett story is easy, it just needs proper execution.

He just needs to be a darker version of The Mandalorian. Instead of being on the run, he is hunting. Instead of showing mercy, he has little.

Where Din and Grogu are the heroes, Boba and Fennec are the clear seedier and morally grey figures.

Hell just make John Wick in space. Spice Syndicate gets ballsy and fucks up his little kingdom, so Boba Fett dons the helmet and doesn't take it off until he's dismantled the entire syndicate one boss per episode tracking them across their galactic network. And when the syndicate bosses thinks Boba's left them alive, Fennec is there to finish the job. Fennec's role is to assassinate targets that could cripple rival syndicates and enrich their own empire. You can have guest stars and cameos, which would be interesting to see pre-established characters react to his ruthless effective extermination. Hell, maybe some object so strongly they fight Boba Fett so the boss battle of an episode is against a good guy.

Or hell. If the rumors of Mace returning are true, maybe you could center the season around that. Mace Windu is Boba's Moby Dick and he's chasing him throughout the Outer Rim. But when he finds Mace, he's just a tired old man who cut himself off from the force after his failure. When the audience thinks Boba might forgive him and give up his vengeance, BAM! Boba shoots him dead. Boba has no mercy.

I mean this shit isn't hard to outline, which is why what we got was confusing.

Boba Fett in Mando was physically portrayed as even more of a threat than Din and took out SHIPS of stormtroopers single-handedly and morally he was honorable but still grey.

Now all of a sudden he's completely different. He constantly needs a bacta nap. He barely fires his weapons. He is easily duped by everyone. He wants to "rule with respect". He gets duped by everyone. And the out of place Mods.

You know what would've been an easy fix to all of this? No Din Djarin, no Grogu and it's all about Boba and Jango Fett.

Imagine instead of Din and Grogu. The Mandalorian was about Jango and Boba Fett. Jango is the Mandalorian and we see his back story and him training Boba.

It could’ve honestly been a generational story

S1: Jango story that fleshes out his time before the prequels to his death

S2: young Boba post prequels to his escape of the Pitt

S3 Boba’s journey post Pitt to after sequel timeline

[rhapsodynew]

#Music and Musicians

The greatest

rock keyboardists (Part 1)

The 100 Greatest Rock Keyboardists and Pianists according to the Digital Dream Door edition

Criteria: These keyboardists were chosen for their skill, creativity, influence, expressiveness, musical depth and enduring popularity in rock music. (Keyboards include organ, synthesizer, mellotron, electric and acoustic piano).

A post about the top 25 musicians in the ranking. At the end there will be a list of those who took places after 25..

Keith Emerson

(Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Nice)

Keith Emerson is just a wizard of synthesizers, Hammond organ and piano! He shocked listeners first in his band The Nice, and then in the supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Emerson is the most unusual keyboard player in rock music. His sound is often different from other musicians, and he goes beyond the usual standards.

Keith Emerson succeeded in everything: a rock adaptation of classics from Mussorgsky, and a reinterpretation of the works of Aaron Copland. And even your own compositions. The most important thing is that he always added something of his own, special, so that each of his songs becomes unique. If you listen to "Pictures at an Exhibition" or "Tarkus", you'll realize that it's all thanks to Keith Emerson.

Rick Wakeman (Yes)

Wakeman is a true creator from the keyboard world, a genius who came up with his own approach to playing the synthesizer and thus paved his musical path. Rick's undeniable technicality combined with his innovation in combining electronic keyboards and orchestra and eventually resulted in an unforgettable musical extravaganza.

Rick Wakeman started out playing keyboards on early David Bowie songs, then for the first time vividly demonstrated his talent in the band Yes, recording three albums with it, not counting a couple of others after his return (one, "Fragile", not from the very beginning, and the other two - the gigantic and monstrous "Close to the Edge"and "Tales From Topographical Oceans" - from beginning to end). However, Rick stayed in Yes for a short time, as he did not get along with the rest of the characters, preferring to eat chicken more on stage during their long concert losses. Around the same time, Wakeman even managed to record a couple of synthesizer parts for the Black Sabbath album "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". However, he revealed himself most fully further during the period of his solo work, each time never ceasing to surprise with more and more new discoveries.

Jon Lord (Deep Purple)

It is simply impossible to imagine Deep Purple music without John Lord's keyboards. Together with Richie Blackmore, they seemed to represent two independent musical principles, which were closely intertwined in almost every song and competed in the performance of their parts. But if Richie pressed with the pressure of riffs or the ferocity of solos, then John struck with the sophistication and ornateness of his Hammond organ playing.

The sound of his keyboards is definitely the benchmark for the sound of an electric organ in hard rock. Throughout his career (most of all, of course, during the time of the first Deep Purple line-up), Lord masterfully interweaved classical elements into his music, but also worked on his own unique style. And he did it more than successfully. It is unrealistic to listen to a song that Jon Lord took part in recording and not recognize his characteristic keyboards, even for those who are superficially familiar with music.

Ray Manzarek (The Doors)

Jim Morrison once said in an interview about his friend Ray Manzarek: if you want to see the main character in this band, then this is this guy; he is the real musical brain of The Doors. Indeed, if Morrison was the face of the band, its main poet, then Ray Manzarek was definitely the musical engine.

All the band's music was based on his keyboards. Not on guitar (with all due respect to Robbie Krieger), not on drums, but on keyboards. With his playing, Manzarek riveted from the very first seconds, and in terms of electric organ sound, he was probably the brightest figure of the 60s. His parts cannot be confused with anything else, moreover, there was no such unique keyboard player either before or after. His diverse playing could include both acid-psychedelic organ passages, about an eternity long, and light airy piano losses.

Ray's virtuosity is evidenced by the fact that at concerts, in the absence of a permanent bass player in the band, in addition to his main parts on the electric organ, he also led the bass part on the electric piano with his other hand. And this fact does not fit into my head.

Manzarek's long solos are generally a separate conversation. With their beauty, melodiousness and a certain hypnotic appeal, they have forever entered the golden fund of rock music heritage.

Later, the great improviser Ray Manzarek also played the Hammond C-3 organ.

Richard Wright (Pink Floyd)

The famous Pink Floyd keyboardist himself said to himself that he was self-taught and played the piano incorrectly, as it is "impossible" to play in professional circles. But what you definitely can't deny him is his own unique style. Probably, it was the lack of templates and frameworks that determined the formation of the sound characteristic of Rick Wright.

After all, who's to say that his musical contribution to Pink Floyd's work is bad? Yes, maybe Wright somehow interpreted the rules of keyboard playing in his own way. But his exquisite piano parts and beautiful synthesizer ripples are truly stunning! Not to mention that they have become an integral part of Pink Floyd's music.

Tony Banks (Genesis)

Genesis founder and keyboardist Tony Banks was behind many of its hits, playing in various genres such as progressive rock, pop and even classical music. Banks is known for using instruments such as Hammond organs, mellotrons, synthesizers, and pianos, each with their own distinctive sound, when Banks wanted to apply a different technique in his recordings and performances.

Starting with the first albums in 1969, he began using Hammond organs L-122 and T-102.

Billy Preston

Billy Preston is deservedly considered one of the greatest session keyboardists of the 1960s. American keyboardist, member of many solo and session projects with the most famous pop and rock artists since the 60s (with Ray Charles, Little Richard, Everly Brothers, The Beatles, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, The Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Elton John. Billy also took part in the recording of the legendary Beatles album "Get Back". Billy Preston was one of the first to use the Hammond B-3 organ, playing soul, funk, rock, rhythm and blues and gospel styles. He has released 23 solo albums since 1963.

Rod Argent (Zombies, Argent)

Rod Argent founded the English rock band The Zombies in 1962, and after its breakup five years later founded his own band Argent. He was one of the creative collaborators of "Zombies", playing an important role in the lyrics of their songs. Argent is known for his preferences in choosing instruments, including the mellotron, harpsichord and organ.

Prefers to use the Hammond B-3 organ. Rod Argent's Hammond playing in the 1972 composition "Hold Your Head up" was rated by Rick Wakeman as the greatest organ solo in history.

Steve Winwood (Traffic)

To be continued....

[sgiandubh]

No Liberace's smile

Warning: this will take forever to read. It didn't take forever to write or research, though. But since I will be gone tomorrow and back well, next Saturday, let it be done with a bang.

S the Actor. S the Entrepreneur. S the NYT (3x!) best-seller Writer. Coach S. S the Lover. S the Womanizer. S the Husband. S the Father.

Is something missing, in this deck of Happy Families?

S the (closeted) Gay, of course.

It doesn't really matter the man himself took the time to deny it loud and clear. Twice. This avatar, fueled by idiocy, hatred and ignorance, makes regularly the rounds, each and every time we dare to celebrate something, anything really. It serves three tribes and serves them well: the Congregation of Domestic Bliss (aka Taiters). The Data Lounge crowd. And the Disgruntled Harpies, who once were some of the most fervent Ginger Jesus worshippers, but whose hopes, dreams and trust wrecked on the shores of Quarantein Ha-wa-wee.

It is the proper of calumny to leave a pungent, persistent trail wherever it fumbles around. Calomniez, calomniez, il en restera toujours quelque chose, Beaumarchais once wrote. Calumny, calumny, something's gonna stick - in a very lazy, but dependable translation. This one is particularly vicious, because it sounds coherent: he trades in make-believe, lots of actors are, precedents exist. And my favorite: it explains everything (fun fact: it doesn't even start to cover the shitshow).

Four exhibits should put us out of this dumpster. Chronologically and comparatively:

Exhibit A: Rough Beginnings (2009)

This one is the most touted on Tumblr, by that horrible woman Queen Puff thought was the same person as Paul C. (and was probably wrong). In a nutshell, she was in London then, she often went to the theatre, she was in the know, fuck knows what else, but she has SOURCES, too: there is nothing straight about his bat.

I suppose this person must have watched Nicholas de Jongh's Plague Over England, a play essentially narrating a scandalous episode of John Gielgud's biography, with a heavy-handed focus on homophobia in Britain during the 50's.

He got naked on stage! He kissed a man! Oh, oh, oh... the rumor! the scandal! (insert domestic fire shrieks) My eyes! Quick, let's fetch the smelling salts! And chlorine! I need a good rinse!

You would imagine Sodom & Gomorrah Ltd on that stage, eh?

Tumblrettes United of the disgruntled sort, did your talkative friend ever show you this devastating Guardian chronicle, signed by their in-house critic, John M. Morrison on February 27th 2009 (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/feb/26/de-jongh-plague-over-england) ?

Should I sign it or use a pistol flare? It wasn't exactly scandalous, the only thing is the text was really, really piss poor. S is only gracing the above picture, hovering over the article: no mention of him whatsoever. Unlike Somerset 2019, a most Unremarkable Performance.

And S himself was very interested to explore precisely this kind of progressive-ish acting, as he clearly writes in Waypoints. This sounds legit - this is business, baby:

Exhibit B: Know your Classics, bi@ tches (2010)

*channeling Tears for Fears* Data Lounge, I am talking to you/[something, something]/These are the things I could do without...

Aside the already very, very tired stock stories purporting that "my dog's aunt knew Heughan and yeah, he was so, so, so gay I could cry", all you have (I checked!) is 1 (one) absolutely dubious BTS pic taken on the set of that terrible dud, Young Alexander, shot in Egypt, circa 2010. Prominently featuring S's waxed calves (see? gay AF!), an unbecoming, supremely effeminate white tunic and *gasp* a bong (no comments were made on that one, a pity). Yeah, you got it: I am writing and I am laughing at the same time. Freak.

How the hell do you want him to look but, pardon my French, queer as a three-dollar bill? You clearly have no idea about sexual ambiguity as social norm in Ancient Greece and also no clue about that fascinating Alexander himself, his life and his yeah, blatant, documented bisexuality.

Take one of the most interesting sources (yeah, only serious ones, with FACTS) of the Late Antiquity, a guy named Athenaeus of Naucratis. He left us The Banquet of the Learned, a fifteen-volume encyclopedic compilation on the pleasures of eating and drinking and doing it in style, along with some juicy gossip. For example, this (open in separate tab, it's worth it):

What do we read? Alexander's mom, dad and tutor (Aristotle, my favorite Greek philosopher, along with Diogenes) are worried he finally might not really be into women, after all. The future of the Macedonian Kingdom itself is at stake (that watery semen made me choke on my Coke) and this is a very serious affair of the state. The most cost-effective and discreet solution is to handsomely pay that Callixeina courtesan from (famous for pin-ups) Thessaly and be done with it.

Apparently, it worked, not without some resistance. If you ever have the curiosity to go on that (in)famous Wikipedia, you will find a whole page dedicated to Alexander the Great's personal life. It reads exactly like the ABC, do-re-mi summer soccer mercato, feat. the Fitness Harem. One of the major joys of Classical studies is to realize we really didn't invent anything new.

But I digress again, so onwards to ...

Exhibit C: Jobbing Actor on the Road, nothing straight about his Bat (2011-2013)

Once the Batman show is on world tour, things are looking a bit better and it is time to try and lockpick America. Still, the struggle is real:

Also, this:

This is something no one noticed. And this is very clear: how on Earth do you expect to commit to a relationship, any relationship, when your basic needs, according to Maslow's Pyramid (a roof, a job, a steady paycheck, etc), are not satisfied? What would you offer your woman? Your precarity? Your insecurity? Your fear and shame of the bailiffs? A pint of cheap Polish beer? A futon in Golders Green?

But let's conveniently not answer these questions. Let's pretend that poverty has no impact on one's sexual life or dating history. Let's just endlessly cackle and blather on a drunk tweet stating candidly - and perfectly truly - "there's nothing straight about my Bat". I hate to quote myself - for any good speaker, this is a defeat- but, LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE OF MORDOR:

Exhibit D: A French example - the case of Michel Serrault

The 1979 comedy La Cage aux Folles, later adapted for the US public under the name of Birds of a Feather (that Robin Williams/Nathan Lane forgettable gay movie) is absolutely representative for the live and let live French approach to homosexuality, ever since it was decriminalized by the revolutionary Penal Code of 1791. This is why I chose Michel Serrault, one of its two leads, to illustrate my Gay Anon post. Not to mention Serrault was a genius who could play absolutely anyone, from a retired hitman in Matthieu Kassowitz' Assassin(s) to Zaza Napoli.

This balding, ageing, cantankerous drag queen (sound is horrific, but you've got English subtitles - granted, you lose about 30% of the hysterical hilarity in translation, but it is what it is), as seen here in a domestic scene opposite her partner, played by notorious womanizer Ugo Tognazzi:

By the limp standards of Mordor, Serrault must have been a French LGBTQ+ institution, given his stellar, flawless acting, isn't it?

Incorrect, dolls. In his real, personal life Serrault was a devout Catholic, an exemplary father of two and a one-woman man. His wife, Nita Serrault, whom he met in drama school and never looked back.

It almost sounds like... but no, this cannot be..

The hard, gruesome life of shippers.

[half-dead-writer]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ℝ𝕌𝕃𝔼𝕊

𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔩

this is a fandom x reader type of blog

I post whenever I got motivation to do so

I don't close my inbox, feel free to request something

posts with NSFW will be properly tagged

𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖊

gender-neutral, (trans)masculine, nonbinary reader

poly relationships (character x reader x character)

fluff

specific scenarios

headcanons/imagines/fanfics (depends how much inspo I have)

smut (obviously with characters aged 18)

neurodivergent reader/reader with mental health disorders/substance use, etc. (I will mostly focus on character's opinion about it, unless it's something I'm personally affected by and can properly portray it)

fandoms and characters listed below

𝖜𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖊

feminine reader (if you request fem reader I will change it to gn)

pregnancy/proposals

idk what I'm comfortable writing yet so shoot your shot

x 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔑𝔬𝔱𝔢 Mello (Mihael Keehl), Matt (Mail Jeevas), Near (Nate River), L

x 𝔅𝔞𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔫: 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔢 𝔖𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 Joker (John Doe), Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot)

x 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱: 𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 ℌ𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫 Connor, Ralph

x 𝔖𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔉𝔞𝔠𝔢 Sal Fisher, Larry Johnson, Ashley Campbell, Todd Morrison

x 𝔖𝔠𝔬𝔱𝔱 𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪 𝔗𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔰 𝔒𝔣𝔣 Scott Pilgrim, Matthew Patel, Young Neil, Wallace Wells, Roxie Richter, Kim Pine, Gideon Graves

[ovwechoes]

DPS Boys & Headcanons!

It's finally arrived; each of the OVW DPS girls have plans to attend a concert, but who would they each go see? These are my personal headcanons (SFW)!

My post with my DPS female headcanons can be found on my profile! Any and all thoughts are welcome, and because this post is a littleee lengthy I've put it under the cut <3

Bastion: Bastion enjoys music, but not enough to bring him to a concert. He doesn't mind if Torbjorn or Brigitte invites him along, but he's too afraid of how busy concerts can be to attend incase it triggers his PTSD.

Cole Cassidy / Cassidy: Similarly to Ashe, he enjoys country music and would love to see artists such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Chris Stapleton. He would do anything to attend one of their concerts, even build his own time machine. He's not too picky though, and he's happy to see whatever band or whoever he can live as it's something he's always enjoyed (and probably always will, even if it's not with the deadlock gang anymore).

Genji Shimada / Genji: I can imagine Genji loves to indulge in music that blends classic japanese styles with pop, hip hop and jazz. He's an introvert by nature though, so it would have to take a lot for him to go to a concert and bring himself to see them with so many people around. Artists like Nujabes, Kitaro and Bonobo would most likely be at the top of his list for who he wants to see live. He appreciates artists who blend Japanese instruments with soothing rhythms and technological beats, it makes him feel as though he's seen through the music and it's something he values.

Hanzo Shimada / Hanzo: Alongside Genji, I can imagine he appreciates artists who are developing the sound of Japanese instruments and blending them with pop and other genres. However, I think he would lean more so towards traditional Japanese performances; it would bring him back to a time when he was younger and more innocent, and it would remind him of his life before the mistakes and choices he made changed everything. He would do what he could to watch Taiko Drumming performances live and to feel the music pound through his feet. I can imagine that he would also aim to go to musical adaptations of Japanese movies, like studio ghibli ones, to enjoy the musical aspect in person. It's something that would calm him and quiet the thoughts that plague his mind and remind him of his guilt.

Jamison Fawkes / Junkrat: I can imagine Junkrat is the type to listen to every genre; if something tickles his brain in the right way, he loves it. He especially would love punk rock, like The Offspring and System of a Down, but also anarchist artists who have politically charged lyrics like Rage Against The Machine. He'd do anything to see them live, and would probably pickpocket everyone there with him.

Gabriel Reyes / Reaper: Reaper is old school, he's an old man. He likes his metal music and his dark, moodly classics, such as Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot, Korn and Tool. He would be the type to stand in the crowd and watch the mosh pits happening, without really doing anything other than tapping his foot and drinking. He appreciates the music of course but in his own way that scares everyone off around him.

John Francis "Jack" Morrison / Soldier: 76: Jack's taste in music is definitely influenced by his upbringing in Minnesota; he loves blues, jazz and gospel music despite not being entirely religious (or as religious as he used to be, before the soldier program). As such, he would definitely try to see Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Count Basie at least one last time before anything happened to him and prevented him from doing so, even just for old time's sake and for nostalgia. He views them as traditional American musicians, and would do what he could to see them live (if he has the chance to of course).

Torbjörn Lindholm / Torbjörn: Torb would be the type to enjoy classic rock and alternative folk music; it's something you'd hear in his home constantly while he works. He's at an age where he's been to enough concerts, and doesn't feel the need to anymore especially when he has more work to complete with undoing the harm he believes he's caused (via the omnic wars). If he was asked if he could see anyone in an alternate universe without any limits, he would struggle to pick between Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Sabaton and Buddy Guy.

I hope these are accurate and if you have any opinions, please send them my way! My asks are open to anything and everything overwatch related <3

[mogwai-movie-house]

The Best Album Per Year for Sixty Years

No-one asked for it, of course, but I do like making lists, so here's me pondering what have been the best Long Players in the album artform the past 60 years. I originally tried to keep it to just one per year, but many years that proved impossible: when listing multiple albums I have tried ranking them with the one I feel narrowly edges out the others first, and I use lower case to indicate an album that is not at the same level as others on the list but was the best I've heard from that time.

Feel free to have fun with the list and make up your own.

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

1962 Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan 1963 The Freewheelin' - Bob Dylan 1964 another side of - bob dylan 1965 Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan 1966 Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys / Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan / Revolver - The Beatles 1967 Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles / The Velvet Underground & Nico / Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme - Simon & Garfunkel / Safe As Milk - Captain Beefheart 1968 Astral Weeks - Van Morrison / The White Album - The Beatles / Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel / We're Only In It For The Money/Lumpy Gravy - Frank Zappa 1969 Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones / Abbey Road - The Beatles / In A Silent Way - Miles Davis 1970 Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel / Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon 1971 Imagine - John Lennon / Blue - Joni Mitchell / What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye/ 2 - Moondog 1972 Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones / Discover America - Van Dyke Parks / Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart / Ege Bam Yasi - Can 1973 Raw Power - Iggy And The Stooges 1974 Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan 1975 Horses - Patti Smith / Discreet Music - Brian Eno / Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd / Velvet Donkey - Ivor Cutler 1976 The Ramones - The Ramones 1977 Low - David Bowie / New Boots & Panties - Ian Dury / Marquee Moon - Television / 77 - Talking Heads 1978 Music For Airports - Brian Eno / This Year's Model - Elvis Costello / Third (Sister Lovers) - Big Star / More Songs About Music & Food - Talking Heads 1979 Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division/ Fear of Music - Talking Heads / Into The Music - Van Morrison / Sheik Yerbouti - Frank Zappa / Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young 1980 Remain In Light - Talking Heads / Closer - Joy Division / One Trick Pony - Paul Simon / Common One - Van Morrison 1981 Faith - The Cure 1982 Thriller - Michael Jackson / 1999 - Prince / 4 - Peter Gabriel / Too Rye Ay - Dexys Midnight Runners / Big Science - Laurie Anderson / Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen 1983 Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits / Murmur - R.E.M. / Hearts & Bones - Paul Simon / Off The Bone - The Cramps 1984 Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution / Hatful Of Hollow - The Smiths / Various Positions - Leonard Cohen / Reckoning - R.E.M. / The Unforgettable Fire - U2 1985 Don't Stand Me Down - Dexys Midnight Runners / Rain Dogs - Tom Waits / Around The World In A Day - Prince & The Revolution / Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega / Hounds of Love - Kate Bush / Hunting High & Low - A-ha 1986 Parade - Prince & The Revolution / So - Peter Gabriel / The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths / Graceland - Paul Simon / Steve McQueen - Prefab Sprout / Blood & Chocolate/King of America - Elvis Costello 1987 Sign O The Times - Prince / The Joshua Tree - U2 / Strangeways Here We Come - The Smiths / Actually - Pet Shop Boys / Tango In The Night - Fleetwood Mac 1988 Irish Heartbeat - Van Morrison & The Chieftains / Green - R.E.M. / Viva Hate - Morrissey / The Serpent's Egg - Dead Can Dance / Surfer Rosa - Pixies / Naked - Talking Heads / Introspective - Pet Shop Boys / I'm Your Man - Leonard Cohen / Blue Bell Knoll - Cocteau Twins 1989 Disintegration - The Cure / Technique - New Order / Doolittle - The Pixies / Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan / Avalon Sunset - Van Morrison / Rei Momo - David Byrne / Behaviour - Pet Shop Boys / Candleland - Ian McCulloch 1990 Extricate - The Fall / The Good Son - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Songs For Drella - Lou Reed & John Cale / Jonathan Goes Country - Jonathan Richman 1991 Screamadelica - Primal Scream / Achtung Baby - U2 / The Bootleg Boxset - Bob Dylan 1992 It's A Shame About Ray - The Lemonheads / Henry's Dream - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Automatic For The People - R.E.M. / Good As I Been To You - Bob Dylan / The Future - Leonard Cohen 1993 Debut - Bjork / Dubnobasswithmyheadman - Underworld / Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair / Neroli - Brian Eno / Come On Feel - The Lemonheads / Zooropa - U2 / Vena Cava - Diamanda Galas

1994 Selected Ambient Works Vol. II - Aphex Twin / Toward The Within - Dead Can Dance / Let Love In - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Dummy - Portishead / Autogeddon - Julian Cope / Vauxhall & I - Morrissey 1995 Anthology - The Beatles / The Ugly One With The Jewels - Laurie Anderson 1996 Boys For Pele - Tori Amos 1997 Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - Spiritualized / The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan / Vanishing Point - Primal Scream 1998 Up - R.E.M. / I'm So Confused - Jonathan Richman 1999 Play - Moby / I See A Darkness - Bonnie Prince Billy 2000 XTRMNTR - Primal Scream / All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2 / The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem / Kid A - Radiohead / KY - Lemon Jelly 2001 Vespertine - Bjork / Love & Theft - Bob Dylan / No More Shall We Part - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 2002 The Eminem Show - Eminem 2003 Room On Fire - The Strokes / The Man Comes Around/Unearthed - Johnny Cash / The Wind - Warren Zevon 2004 Has Been - William Shatner / How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb - U2 / You Are The Quarry - Morrissey / The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom / Smile - Brian Wilson 2005 Another Day On Earth - Brian Eno / Le Fil - Camille 2006 Modern Times - Bob Dylan / Surprise - Paul Simon / Love - The Beatles 2007 for emma, forever ago - bon iver 2008 vampire weekend - vampire weekend 2009 No Line On The Horizon - U2 / The XX - The XX 2010 show me the face - michelle gurevich 2011 Angles - The Strokes / So Beautiful or So What - Paul Simon 2012 Life Is People - Bill Fay / Old Ideas - Leonard Cohen 2013 Comedown Machine - The Strokes / Crimson Red - Prefab Sprout 2014 Ghost Stories - Coldplay / 1989 - Taylor Swift 2015 ★ - David Bowie 2016 Lover, Beloved - Suzanne Vega / Stranger To Stranger - Paul Simon 2017 American Dream - LCD Soundsystem / antisocialites - alvvays 2018 music for installations - brian eno 2019 weezer (teal album) - weezer 2020 rough & rowdy ways - bob dylan 2021 happier than ever - billie eilish 2022 dragon new warm mountain i believe in you - big thief

[familyabolisher]

 February 2023 reading

Books:

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, ed. Eric A. Stanley

Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination

Jeff Vandermeer, Annihilation

H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds

Tom Stoppard, Arcadia

Essays, articles, and chapters:

John Hermann, The Junkification of Amazon

Peter Brook, 'Introduction,' from Reading for the Plot

Bertrand Cooper, Who Gets to Actually Create Black Pop Culture?

Tzvetan Todorov, Structural Analysis of Narrative

Domino Club, good writers are perverts

Courtney Desiree Morris, Why Misogynists Make Great Informants

Rita Felski, Context Stinks!

Bonnie Burstow, A Critique of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the DSM

Bret Devereaux, Collections: Teaching Paradox, Crusader Kings III, Part I: Making It Personal

Hayden White, The Historical Text as Literary Artefact

Jabeen Akhtar, Why Am I Brown?: South Asian Fiction and Pandering to Western Audiences

Karl Marx, ‘Chapter One: Commodities,’ from Capital: Volume I

Roland Barthes, ‘The War of Languages’ and ‘The Division of Languages’ from The Rustle of Language

[renee-writer]

The Heart Don't Lie Chapter 78

A/N Most of this chapter is the always amazing work of @omgbarbiegurl . Give her some love y'all.

AO3

A woman ran through the woods in a mad run, tugging her child behind her.

“Come on dear, we’re almost there!”

 

Fear was the driving force behind her midnight run, not normal fear, but pure unadulterated terror.

 

She turned quickly and then ran toward a hill.

 

“Mama Bees!” The child shouted.

 

“Yes darling, Bees. They will help us, don’t worry.”

 

Once the pair made it to the top of the hill, she looked out over the tops of the trees.

 

She could see light blooming in spurts. Their pursers were quickly coming upon them, she had to act now, or it would be the end of both of them.

 

She tugged the necklace from around her neck and wrapped it around her child’s neck.

 

“When you get to the other side, you tell anyone that speaks to you that you want to see Dr. John Morrison. You say that name over and over, nothing else, just that name. Do you understand?”

 

“Mama-”

 

“Shush! Repeat that name.”

 

“D-D-Dr. John Morrison.”

 

“Yes, his name is Dr. John Morrison. He will help you; just show him the necklace and tell him my name.”

 

“But you’ll come too!”

 

Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I’ll be with you, even if you can’t see me.”

 

She looked over her shoulder. It had to be now.

 

With a cry, she shoved her child against the large stones, not flinching when he disappeared.

 

“I love you darling.” She whispered softly as a large crowd descended upon her.

 

 

The child woke up at the bottom of a hill, a large man was standing over him.

 

“You alright there?”

 

The child blinked his eyes.

 

“Dr. John Morrison.”

 

“Who? What? Just say still, I called for help. You’ll be okay.”

 

“Dr. John Morrison.” The child mumbled as his eyes slid shut again.

 

He woke up again in a strange room with a woman in white fussing over him. There were strange and loud noises surrounding him.

 

The woman in white smiled at him.

 

“Hello sweeting, welcome back.”

 

“Dr. John Morrison.”

 

“Oh yes, you have been saying that name for a bit. He is coming, might take a bit but he is coming.”

 

“Dr. John Morrison, he’ll help.”

 

“Indeed he will poppet.”

 

The man known as Dr. John Morrison arrived a bundle of nerves.

 

He had no idea why a random young child was asking for him.

 

Unless it was something related to the…incident a few years back.

 

But it couldn’t be.

 

The ends of the Earth had been searched, and a trace had never been found.

 

But now…

 

He took a breath as stepped into the room that he had been directed to.

 

He didn’t speak, just stared.

 

At the child that seemed to be expecting him, waiting almost.

 

John smiled.

 

“Hello there, I’m Dr. John Morrison, you have been asking for me.”

 

The child nodded.

 

John stepped into the room and to a chair.

 

“And you are?”

 

The child smiled.

 

“Mathieu Andrew Morrison.”

 

He is dreaming about the past. A sigh at seeing his mama again. It is so real he can smell her scent, a type of floral, almost rose smell. He wakes gasping, understanding the message. He needs to talk with his father.

 

“You love her?” Andrew nods.

 

“I love her very much. More then I ever imagined loving anyone.”

 

His father smiles. The lad had been a shock. This son that he searched high and low for, not thinking to look in the past. Hearing his haunting tale and how his mama meet her end, it twisted his gut and made him more determined to see to the lad, protect him. Love now, that is one thing he can’t protect him from.

 

“The lass feel the same?”

 

“Aye father, she does. I know I am not her first love but I want to be her last.”

 

John smiles. Despite his rough start, the lad turned out brilliantly. Smart, sweet, compassionate, strong; he is all he can ask for in a son.

 

“Brilliant. Then you must tell her. Everything.”

 

“Father, I worry she will think me insane.”

 

“If she is the right one, she will accept it and you. You cannot enter into a marriage under the shadow of a secret this big.”

 

He knows he is right.

 

He had to tell Rose the truth about himself, it was just simply plucking up the courage to do it.

 

He didn’t want her to think he was crazy, or accuse him of putting on some show.

 

It was his Father that gave him the final push he needed.

 

“If you want to build a life with her, it can’t be on a foundation of lies. If she truly loves you, truly, she will accept all of you.”

 

It didn’t make It any easier though.

 

He decided to tell her as they sat in the Great Room at Lallybroch.

 

They were just having Tea and chatting when he set down his Teacup with a clang.

 

“Whoa easy there, that was my Great Great Grandmother’s Fine Bone China. Legend has it, she buried it away so the English couldn’t get it after Culloden. Then couldn’t find it, so she practically ripped the property up digging for it.”

 

“Clearly she did.”

 

“Nope! According to Legend, my Great Grandfather stumbled across it when he was just a wee laddie. He thought it was treasure and buried it under the house to find it again, and never did. Grandda was the one that finally found it when he decided to build a barn and had to dig up the area. Found it in the brown canvas bag tied up with rope to look like just a sack of something or other.”

 

They both laughed and he took her hand.

 

“What’s on your mind?” Rose asked gently.

 

“I wonder…would you ever want an engagement ring?”

 

“Hmmm, that would depend on who was offering.”

 

“If I should?”

 

“Then it would depend on the ring.”

 

“I want to offer you one, but before I do, I need to tell you something.”

 

“O-kay.”

 

Andrew cleared his throat.

 

“Well when I was a little lad, my Mam took me on a trip. We climbed this huge hill and all I heard were these loud noises, cries of pain and sorrow almost. The next thing I knew, I was falling down a hill. When I got to the bottom; my Mam picked me up, made sure I was okay, and then said: ‘This is our new home. People are going to seem strange here, pay it no mind and say nothing.’ So I didn’t.”

 

Rose sipped her Tea.

 

“Go on.”

 

“So we walked to this little town, maybe an hours walk from the stones. My Mam got a little Cottage and we lived there happily for a long time until she was accused of being a Witch. Then she ran with me…told me to ask for John Morrison…shoved me against these stones…found myself in a strange room…and then met Dr. John Morrison, my Father.”

 

Rose had not said anything, just sipped her Tea.

 

When he was done, silence filled the room, the only thing breaking it was the ticking of a Grandfather Clock from the hall.

 

Rose set down her cup and looked at him, an unreadable look on her face.

 

“Your Mother’s name, was it Laura?”

 

Andrew frowned. “Yes why?”

 

She didn’t answer, simply grabbed his hand, and drug him up the stairs to the second floor.

 

She took him to the end of the long hallway where dusty portraits sat on the wall.

 

“Give me a boost.” Rose ordered.

 

Andrew didn’t hesitate, he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted.

 

“I know you’re here somewhere, come on. Ah ha!”

 

She grabbed a portrait down, and when Andrew lowered her down, she shoved it in his face.

 

“Is this her?”

 

Andrew took a step back, blinking.

 

His Mother’s shy, sweet smile looked at him from the clearly antique painted portrait. In a brass name tag along the bottom of the picture was the name: Laura Ann Morrison.

 

Andrew nodded. “Y-Yes.”

 

“Come with me.”

 

She grabbed his arm and yanked him down the hallway to a door on the left, still holding the portrait.

 

Rose didn’t knock, or stand on ceremony. She simply opened the door and stomped in.

 

“Daddy, we have to talk.”

[music-addiction-disorder]

This official AI-generated Type O Negative video is as creepy and weird as you imagine...

Skulls, dead rock stars and a zombie Jesus Christ – Type O Negative return from the grave with the AI video for Halloween In Heaven.

If any band warrant an official AI-generated video, it’s Type O Negative. Not just because frontman Peter Steele is no longer with us, but because our soon-to-be machine overlords can have a lot of fun with the goth metal icons’ macabre sense of humour.

And so it proves with the video for the New Yorkers’ ‘new’ single Halloween In Heaven, taken from the recently reissued version of their 2007 swansong album Dead Again. 

The clip is a weird and frankly terrifying parade of images that leans heavily on skulls, dancing skeletons, a kind of zombie Jesus Christs, more skulls and some serious strange architecture, all with Type O’s signature green tint.

During the part of the song where Steele namechecks a run of dead rock stars – including Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham – AI naturally brings us slightly pyschedelic versions of the real life musicians.

A dead-eyed Steele himself appears at the end of the video, looking even more ominous than usual. Honestly, we’re a little bit creeped out, but we can't help thinking that the great man himself would have approved.

- METAL HAMMER -

[homosandhomies]

My favorite solo from each main character on glee (because why not)

SUE: Vogue. “WILL SCHUESTER I HATE YOU”

KURT: Rose’s Turn. Chris Colfer rarely got songs that highlighted ALL his vocal strengths. This song used everything. He had a strong head voice, an amazing mix, and he can EMOTE WITH EVERY INCH OF HIS LIFE. No wonder he got the Golden Globe.

QUINN: This Is A Man’s World. This scene is ridiculous, but out of context the song absolutely slaps. Diana can BELT and she deserved to do it more.

ARTIE: Stronger. Probably my favorite Britney song. Kevin ate. That is all.

PUCK: Only the Good Die Young. This song is so fun and I think Puck’s voice is very underrated. A good ol’ jam. Thank you for repping the Jewish community king ❤️

WILL: Sway. It’s a shame that we never talk about his voice because HOLY SHIT MATTHEW MORRISON IS INCREDIBLE. This man is so talented and we never acknowledge it because of Will Schuester’s shenanigans.

BLAINE: Somewhere Only We Know. You can hate Blaine all you want but you can’t deny the POWER of this song. The love in his eyes is sickening I am not okay right now

FINN: I’ve Gotta Be Me. Given the fact that Cory didn’t have any singing experience before, this song makes me so fucking happy because you can see how much he had grown as a singer, but also how proud he was of himself! Look at him go!!! (Bonus: If I’m bending the rules in terms of what qualifies as a solo I would 100% make his Paradise By the Dashboard Light. That was his undoubtedly his very best vocal performance. It’s SO FUCKING GOOD it makes me go batshit.)

RACHEL: My Man. “She may be difficult but boy can she sing.”

BRITTANY: Run the World. The dancing is definitely the more impressive part of this number, but it still sounds great! This song really highlighted Heather’s strengths, when most of her songs weren’t very memorable in my opinion.

MIKE: Cool. Maybe Tina should be a professional vocal coach because damn look at him go!! Idk why an Asian kid wanted to play the role of a leader of a white supremacist group but at least he sounds great 🤷‍♀️

MERCEDES: I Will Always Love You. Literally every single Mercedes song is perfect, so this was the hardest one for me. This means I had to base it on acting. And she DELIVERS here. It should be illegal to be this talented.

TINA: Because You Loved Me. The fact that this is one of TWO solos that Jenna actually got to finish infuriates me. She was ROBBED because she is an amazing singer.

SANTANA: Nutbush City Limits. LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, MISS NAYA RIVERA. HOLY SHIT. Finn saying before the song, “They say that true divas aren’t really mortal” is so true. This woman was an absolute icon and I will always be blown away by her talent.

JAKE: Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself). It’s so EARNEST and HEARTFELT and Jacob Artist popped off with the acting. And the falsetto!! God it’s just beautiful.

EMMA: Getting Married Today. This is a trio, not a solo, but it’s so fucking good that I HAD to do it. That is literally one of the hardest female songs on Broadway, and for some reason they had Jayma sing it even FASTER than the original version? I can’t imagine the stress of trying to do that, but she was perfect.

SAM: Copacabana. This is just a really fun song! Everyone’s having a good time and Chord sounds amazing.

RYDER: Your Song. This is my favorite Elton John song, and boy was it done justice. The acting is really good in this scene. The mix of anxiety and earnestness coming from Ryder is adorable. He had great chemistry with whoever that girl was. (On a storyline note, I hated how this all developed though. If it had gone my way, Unique would confess it was her, then Ryder would sing this directly to Unique.)

KITTY: Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours. I just really like this number. Obsessed with Becca’s high notes.

MARLEY: Wrecking Ball. The cheating storyline with Bree was so fucking stupid and shouldn’t have happened. That being said, Melissa ATE what they gave her and left zero crumbs. She really came in like a wrecking ball.

UNIQUE: I Know Where I’ve Been. THIS SONG MAKES ME GO FUCKING CRAZY!!! THE TRANS CHOIR!!!! THE ACTING!!!!! THE FUCKING HIGH NOTE!!!!!! IT’S JUST SO GOOD I CAN’T HANDLE IT!!!!!!! This is the best part of season 6, full stop. THE most underrated Glee song ever. I will not accept criticism towards this opinion.

[devoutjunk]

Novel Syllabus 2024

This coming year I think I'm going to be on here more often than I am on twitter or elsewhere, and as part of that, I'm going to start documenting the process of writing my novel more actively. I want to return to/resurrect the momentum and energy I had while writing the first draft and be more intentional about setting aside time to work, even when it's difficult. Below are my writing goals for the coming year as well as my reading list of texts for inspiration, genre/background research, comps, etc. Would welcome any suggestions of texts (any genre/discipline) pertaining to Antigone, death & resurrection, Welsh and Cornish myth and folklore, ecology & environmental crisis, and the Gothic.

Writing Goals

Reach 50k words in draft 2 overall

Finish a draft of Anna's timeline

Finish a draft of Jo's timeline

Polish & submit an excerpt for the Center for Fiction Prize

Reading

* = reread

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & The Apocalyptic

The Memory Theater (Karin Tidbeck)

Who Fears Death (Nnedi Okorafor)

Urth of The New Sun (Gene Wolfe)

Slow River (Nicola Griffith)

Dream Snake (Vonda McIntyre)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Marlon James)

Notes from the Burning Age (Claire North)

Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino)*

Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*

The Last Man (Mary Shelley)

The Drowned World (J.G. Ballard)

Strange Beasts of China (Yan Ge, trans. by Jeremy Tiang)

City of Saints and Madmen (Jeff VanderMeer)

Freshwater (Akweke Emezi)

The Glass Hotel (Emily St. John Mandel)

Pattern Master (Octavia Butler)

Sleep Donation (Karen Russell)

How High We Go in the Dark (Sequoia Nagamatsu)

The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)*

The Golden Compass (Phillip Pullman)*

The Green Witch (Susan Cooper)

The Tombs of Atuan (Ursula K. Le Guin)

Black Sun (Rebecca Roanhorse)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

Lives of the Monster Dogs (Kirsten Bakis)

Brian Evenson

Sofia Samatar

Connie Willis

Samuel Delaney

Jo Walton

Tanith Lee

Retellings

A Wild Swan (Michael Cunningham)

Til We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)

Gingerbread (Helen Oyeyemi)

Circe (Madeline Miller)

The Owl Service (Alan Garner)

Literary Myth-Making, Mystery, and the Gothic

Nights at the Circus (Angela Carter)

Frenchman's Creek (Daphne Du Maurier)

Possession (A.S. Byatt)*

The Game (A.S. Byatt)*

The Essex Serpent (Sarah Perry)

Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)

The Secret History (Donna Tartt)*

The Wild Hunt (Emma Seckel)

King Nyx (Kirsten Bakis)

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

The Lottery and Other Stories (Shirley Jackson)

Beloved (Toni Morrison)

The Night Land (William Hope Hodgson)

Interview with a Vampire (Anne Rice)*

Sexing the Cherry (Jeanette Winterson)*

Night Side of the River (Jeanette Winterson)

Bad Heroines (Emily Danforth)

All the Murmuring Bones (A.G. Slatter)

The Path of Thorns (A.G. Slatter)

Gormenghast (Mervyn Peake)

Prose Work, Perspective, and Stream of Consciousness

The Chandelier (Clarice Lispector)

The Waves (Virginia Woolf)*

The Years (Virginia Woolf)

The Intimate Historical Epic / Court Intrigues

Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)*

Menewood (Nicola Griffith)

Dark Earth (Rebecca Stott)

A Place of Greater Safety (Hilary Mantel)

Research

The Mabinogion (trans. Sioned Davies)

Le Morte D'Arthur (Thomas Malory)

The Collected Brothers Grimm (Phillip Pullman)

Angela Carter's Collected Fairytales

Mythology (Edith Hamilton)

Underland (Robert Macfarlane)

The Wild Places (Robert Macfarlane)

Wildwood (Roger Deakin)

Vanishing Cornwall (Daphne Du Maurier)

Lonely Planet: Guide to Devon & Cornwall

A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World (David Gessner)

The Lost Boys of Montauk (Amanda M. Fairbanks)

A Cyborg Manifesto (Donna J. Harraway)

A Treasury of British Folklore (Dee Dee Chainey)*

The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination (Eileen M. Hunt)

Antigone's Claim (Judith Butler)

Theories of Desire: Antigone Again (Judith Butler)

Ecology of Fear (Mike Davis)

[angstyandromanticwriting]

Ten random songs from my playlist and my favourite of them today, as I have not yet finished the next writing instalment/prompt:

1. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

2. Sandy - John Travolta (in/from Grease)

3. Winter - Birdy

4. Broken Strings - James Morrison

5. Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler

6. Drowned World - Madonna

7. La Isla Bonita - Madonna

8. (Everything I do) I Do it For You - Bryan Adams

9. Two Against Three - Daisy Jones & The Six

10. By Myself - Daisy Jones

My favourite today:

- By Myself by Daisy Jones (From Daisy Jones & The Six) - Enjoy! ❤️