#lou wales

[world-of-wales]

HAPPY 42ND BIRTHDAY TO HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES, WILLIAM ARTHUR PHILIP LOUIS ♡

Kensington Palace released a portrait featuring The Prince of Wales with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis taken by The Princess of Wales mark Prince William's 42nd birthday.

The portrait was accompanied with a personal message 'Happy birthday Papa, we all love you so much! Cx' || 21 JUNE 2024

[flavia-draws]

tia in the clouds

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Happy Birthday Boss Baby LouLou

Prince Louis is trending at #11 here in the US on Twitter.

One picture. No words.

Meanwhile her story from yesterday didn't even make a ripple.

[tracksuitponytail]

These fics made March 2025 so much sweeter. A huge thank you to all the writers and podfic creators in this fandom <3

🪻 And Then a Bit by @infinitelymint [E, 158k, fake relationship]

Take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

🪻 Sugar, Sugar by @parmahamlarrie [E, 25k, sugar baby/daddy, soulmates]

Meeting your soulmate was the most joyous event of one’s life… or at least, it’s supposed to be. Harry, in all of his 25 year old wisdom, was suspicious of the role fate plays in everyone's lives. He'd rather focus his time dating older men he meets off of a sugar baby website.

Louis isn’t waiting with bated breath for his soulmate either. He has more important things to worry about than love. Mainly, his career as a writer, publishing under a pseudonym. He spends most of the year buried under research and manuscripts, taking as much time as he would like, much to his publishers' chagrin. After receiving many millions after the death of his Aunt Ethel when he was young, he technically never has to work again. As far as soulmates go, he figures if it happens, he will be so old that he’ll be stuck in his ways. Or he’ll have grey eyes forever, he doesn’t fucking care. He can get his needs met through a sugar baby website.

🪻 saddle up by @eleadore [E, 2.6k, established relationship]

Harry likes to ride and Louis definitely isn't jealous of a mechanical bull.

🪻Half a World Away by @silverstuff50 [E, 9k, omegaverse]

Bothy: A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Scotland, Northern England, Ulster and Wales. They are particularly common in the Scottish Highlands, but related buildings can be found around the world (for example, in the Nordic countries, there are wilderness huts).

🪻Red by @disgruntledkittenface [E, 4k, exes to lovers, song fic]

Louis is wallowing after the breakup. He's never felt this kind of heartbreak before. All he wants to do is lie on his couch and listen to Taylor Swift alone. But when the pain is too much to handle on his own, he calls the one person who understands how this feels.

Inspired by Red (Taylor's Version).

🪻Habits by dead_tobeginwith / @dedtobeginwith [NR, 1.7k, monastery au]

Sex, food, friends, and growing things—vignettes of a simple little monastic life, because our bodies are ours to enjoy, now and always.

🪻Only by @allwaswell16 [E, 33k, soulmates au]

Although Louis Tomlinson lived most of his life on the most remote island in the world, now he’s ready to leave home, attend university, and maybe have a chance at finding his soulmate. Prince Harry Styles reluctantly leaves London for yet another diplomatic visit, this time to the tiny island of Tristan da Cunha.

Or the one where the electric touch of Louis’ soulmate isn’t enough to discount that he's a bit of a dickhead.

* podfics available *

🪻 (now I realize that the world outside) it's bigger than me by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [T, 3k, accidental coming out]

🎧 podfic via @podfic-pals

It starts with a phone call from Liam.

“Lou,” it sounds urgent, the way that Liam gets when he’s worried, and Louis sits up straighter, conditioned to that tone even when he had hated it the first few years in the band.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his brain immediately trying to play catch up, wondering where his keys are and if he can get away with leaving the house without a shower, because it doesn’t matter how long it’s been, it doesn’t matter how much physical distance there is between them, if any of his boys call and need him he’ll be there in a heartbeat. Or as soon as he can, at least.

“Did you mean to post that to your public account?”

🪻 through the jungle through the dark by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf [E, 12k, ex-friends to lovers]

🎧 podfic read by the author

Louis and Harry were best friends, until they weren’t. Five years after they last spoke they’re forced to drive cross-country to visit an injured friend. If they can’t get over the past, it will be a very long week together.

🪻 I'll Still Feel the Same Around You by @crinkle-eyed-boo [E, 2k, masturbation]

🎧 podfic read by PodBee

Louis finds the cure for his insomnia in the form of his husband.

🪻 Putting it in! by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou, BringMeADream / @whatagreatproblemtohave and chaotic_bells / @chaotic-bells [T, 2.9k, crack fic]

🎧 podfic via @podfic-pals

Liam has problems controlling his length, Louis has problems controlling his tongue, Harry is very protective over Louis' balls and Niall? Niall just really wants to have a foursome at the golf course.

Be sure to check the tags if there are any topics or tropes you prefer to avoid, and if you enjoy a fic, consider leaving kudos or a comment to show the author some love 💜

[3dprintcess]

Beautiful commissioned art by the wonderful @loulines. This is a moment from my Taskmaster mermaid AU fanfic "Fragile Life in Llyn Tegid" (also available as a podfic), where Alex is a marine biologist in 1970's Wales, and Greg is the mysterious monster living within the lake's depths.

Romantic, scary, some dramatic action hero behaviour, and a happy ending.

Look at the LIGHTING on this! And the gold speckles! Grueg's concerned expression! And the drifts of red algae! But also the lighting! Have I mentioned the lighting?! Lou was a delight to work with, genuinely.

[lemonlyman-dotcom]

Since we’ll be seeing Marjan’s parents meeting Joe in Mondays episode, I thought I’d share a bit from my fic love in a series of bursts & inches, which features Tarlos hosting a party at the loft for Marjan’s parents where they meet Joe for the first time 🥰

The loft smells like someone has been cooking for days when Carlos opens the door for them. The scents of garlic and onion mix with lemon curd and honey. A three-wick candle burning on the desk to the right of the door fills the living room with the scent of bergamot.

Carlos greets them with a warm smile, wrapping Marjan in a firm hug while chirping an, “hola, chica,” in her ear. He shakes her parents’ hands next, taking the tote bag full of snacks and gourmet chocolates from Marjan’s mom’s hands, before sliding the door closed behind them and ushering them into the living room.

Her mom is already straining her neck, looking around the loft for TK.

“Carlos,” she says. “I’ve heard so much about you from Marjan and your sweet husband.”

“Oh,” Carlos says bashfully before her dad cuts in to thank him for having them over for Eid.

All eyes turn to TK when he walks out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

“Oh you’re here!” He says brightly. “I was just putting Lou away in the bedroom.”

Marjan suppresses a laugh, knowing there must have been a fight between TK and Carlos leading up to that decision.

Her mom is across the room in an instant, wrapping TK in a tight hug.

“Oh TK, sweetheart. It’s so good to see you,” she pulls back to get a good look at his face, patting his cheek. “You look good. We were just meeting your handsome husband.”

A thousand watt smile crosses TK’s face as he looks up and makes eye contact with Carlos across the room. “He is very handsome, isn’t he?”

“Mmhmm,” she responds. “You look happy, honey. And you have such a lovely home. We owe you and Carlos congratulations, we were sad to miss the wedding.”

“Oh,” TK says, eyes finding Marjan’s dad. TK and her mom make their way towards the kitchen where the rest of the group is gathered around the island. “It’s okay, we’re just really, really glad Mr. Marwani is doing better.”

“Please, TK,” her dad says as he pulls TK into a hug. “Your family now. Call me Waleed.”

“How is your treatment going?” Carlos asks her dad after he releases TK from his hug and TK turns to pull Marjan in for an embrace.

“Oh, I have ups and downs,” he responds. “I’ll be on chemo for the rest of my life, but I’m very grateful that I’ll have one.”

There’s a knock at the front door and Marjan feels her hands begin to sweat. It’ll be Paul and Joe. She releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she feels TK’s hand squeeze hers.

“Let’s get the door,” he says.

As expected, Paul and Joe are standing on the other side of the door when it slides open. Paul has a large apple pie in his hands and Joe is holding a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers.

TK takes the pie from Paul and steps aside to let the men in. Marjan greets Joe with a quiet, “hi,” before gesturing for him to follow her into the living room where her parents are waiting.

“Mom, Dad,” she says with a voice that comes out much steadier than she feels. “I want you to meet Joe. My boyfriend.”

Marjan’s mom steps forward first, taking one of Joe’s hands. “It’s very nice to meet you, Joe.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Joe says, voice honeyed with genuine enthusiasm. He hands the flowers to her mom, who immediately buries her nose in them.

“We’re looking forward to getting to know you,” her dad says next. “I heard you're a physical therapist. Very interesting. You know, I’ve had this weird thing going on with my foot.”

“Okay,” Marjan laughs, feeling a bit of relief creeping in at her parents’ easy acceptance of Joe. She’s not sure what to do with all the anxiety that still plagues her nervous system. “Maybe we can get through dinner first before you start asking him to look at your janky foot, Dad.”

“Alright, alright,” her dad says, waving a hand in her direction. “But tell me son,” he continues, putting an arm around Joe. “Are you a football fan? I warn you, there is a wrong answer.”

Marjan laughs again and looks over to the kitchen where she’s met with three sets of eyes that immediately divert when she catches them.

Thanks for the tags @henrygrass @orchidscript @everlastingday @carlos-in-glasses @nisbanisba @bonheur-cafe @paperstorm @annoyingcloudearthquake @heartstringsduet

Tagging @emsprovisions @thisbuildinghasfeelings @whatsintheboxmh @carlossreaders @hereghostslive @laelipoo @futures-tense @chicgeekgirl89 @ladytessa74 @iboatedhere @alrightbuckaroo @tellmegoodbye @ironheartwriter @literateowl @the-126-family @firstprince-history-huh @eclectic-sassycoweyes @captain-gillian @welcometololaland @basilsunrise @lightningboltreader @liminalmemories21 @freneticfloetry @sapphic--kiwi @herefortarlos @filet-o-feelings @tinyluminaryzombie @kiwichaeng @guardian-angle22 @rmd-writes @reyesstrand @never-blooms @decafdino @certifiedflower @irispurpurea @rangersoup and OPEN TAG 🏷️

[trexalicious]

FAFO media! #media hypocrisy

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[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Princess of Wales and Lou Bugs | May 6 2023

[louisrarepairfest]

LOUIS RARE PAIR FEST 2024

A rare pair fest for all Louis Tomlinson rare pairs! Thank you to all of this year's amazing writers! Please remember to leave kudos and comments on these rare pair fics if you read and enjoy them! We'll be back in 2025 for another round! And a massive thank you to all of the rare pair readers as well!

M A S T E R P O S T

🫐 I regret you all the time by @disgruntledkittenface

[E, 3k, Louis/William Prince of Wales, fic post]

Louis’ friends don’t understand, and they wouldn’t even if he explained. But every time William texts, Louis drops everything to go see him.

🫐 I'm the Big Fish by @lululawrence

[NR, 5k, Louis/Pedro Pascal, fic post]

Pedro laughed with the man in front of him who… oh god. Was that Oscar Isaac? Louis wasn’t going to survive if he was left in this room with those two for long. He should probably make his exit, except then Pedro started doing some sort of freestyle it looked like while Oscar cheered him on. Louis couldn’t help but chuckle and was trying to hide his smile as he watched on when Pedro turned and looked directly at Louis, freezing when he did so. After an awkward moment at a party Louis wasn't actually invited to, Louis keeps running into the incredibly attractive Pedro Pascal. Somehow, it's Pedro who manages to make a fool of himself, causing Louis to grow increasingly more confused at his behavior while also feeling more drawn to him. Maybe someday they'll be able to manage a moment that doesn't end in one of them feeling the need to run from the room in order to escape the other.

🫐 Glitz, Glammer, Top Hats, Cigars and Suits by @rockstarlwt28

[NR, 3k, Louis/Yungblud (Dominic Harrison), fic post]

Based in the 1920s - Alternate Universe. When Isla found a love for the melody formed by a strumming of strings, Louis didn't expect to fall equally in love with his daughter’s guitar teacher, Dominic Harrison.

🫐 Spirits by itsraininginengland / @ilovellama14

[E, 4k, Louis/Oscar Isaac, fic post]

A one shot set in and Edwardian music hall. Prompt from and written for the Louis rarepair fest. This was a challenge and a pleasure to write. Edwardian music hall performer Louis Tomlinson meets the newest act in the show, the American magician Oscar Isaac. Romance, smut and a seance ensue. Also featuring best friend wing man Harry Styles.

🫐 Ci Ci Leu by persephoneflouwers

[M, 3k, Louis & Louis' band/crew, fic post]

Written for the prompt «bread van fic reimagined with all the guys in Louis’ band».

🫐 That's Happiness To Me by @louislittletomlintum

[E, 24k, Zayn/Liam/Louis, fic post]

“Seems we’ve got a little conundrum on our hands,” Louis murmured into Zayn’s ear, feeling his hands settle back on his waist and pressing a little closer. “Mm. Seems we do,” Zayn responded, and Louis liked to think his voice was at least a bit intrigued.Louis’ mind was whirring. He’d wanted to try and get with Liam tonight, but now a new, better idea was forming. Getting Liam with Zayn, if possible, would be something of a dream come true. It would maybe blow Liam’s tiny brain, but sometimes you had to make sacrifices for good things to happen. “Do you wanna try pull him together?” Louis asked Zayn curiously, grinning against his skin when he felt his hands grip tighter.

🫐 It’s a Craving Not a Crush by LetTheMusicMoveYou / @letthemusicmoveyou28

[E, 9k, Louis/Liam, fic post]

All around him, his coworkers have started pulling out their chosen lunches. And Liam does the same, reaching down to the backpack at his feet and pulling out the Tupperware of leftover spaghetti he’d packed this morning. When he sets it on the table he notices a little neon pink post it note on the lid that he didn’t remember being there before. Written on the note in messy scrawl it says: Have a wonderful day husband! Can’t wait to suck you off when you get home!! XOXO -Lou. Liam feels his face go bright red again as he hastily rips off the note and crumples it in his fist. He glances around the table, but thankfully no one seems to be paying him any attention. They’re all wrapped up in their own food items or listening to whatever their boss is talking about. (Or the one where Liam and Louis are best bros who end up getting married so that Liam has the insurance he needs to go to rehab. Now that he’s sober, they can get divorced. But do they want to?)

🫐 I want yesterdays love by edensrose / @holdingthornsandroses

[M, 4k, Louis/Dev Patel, fic post]

“We’re going on holiday before the term starts again,” Oli announces in their kitchen the day after the art opening. Louis looks up from his cereal bowl.“Who is we?” “I’ve rented us a cottage near the beach. Me, you, Calvin, Rick, and Dev.” Louis makes a noncommittal noise but can’t deny his heartbeat racing at the mention of Dev.

🫐 i tell myself i'm done with wicked games by haveufoundwhaturlookingfor / @sup3rbloom

[T, 5k, Louis/Michael Clifford, fic post]

Omegaverse: Alpha Louis has never questioned who he is, a strong, loving Alpha who defies stereotypes. When he meets Michael, a beta, he certainly doesn't expect to fall for him (and hard).

🫐 No More Days Alone by @signofcomfort

[M, 6k, Louis/Isaac Anderson, fic post]

Isaac finds himself lost amidst the tour but Louis is always there to find him.

🫐 To start again by @loretheloner

[E, 27k, Louis/Michael Blackwell, fic post]

Louis finds himself slowly falling for a bandmate again, despite Oli's warnings against it. Michael finds himself slowly falling for his boss and fighting against the ghost of Louis' past relationship. They find a way to start again. Or a canon compliant story that follows Michael and Louis from the summer of 2019 to June of 2024. Written for prompt SS of the Louis Rare Pair Fest 2024.

🫐 Snouts and Stouts by @turnyourankle

[T, 3k, Louis/Greg James, fic post]

A dog friendly brewery and a canine bakery should be a match made in heaven, shouldn't it? At a yearly canine festival, Louis discovers that Clifford has a thing for a certain bakery's treats.

🫐 I've drowned and dreamt this moment by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

[T, 2k, Louis/Zayn, fic post]

There has been a rivalry between them since they were young. Since the very start of their careers. It’s always been Louis and Zayn, the ones to watch. The ones to do battle and ultimately share the podium. They push each other to be better, is what the world says. They hate each other, is what Zayn and Louis say. And it all comes to a head in Val d’Argenton.

🫐 Countdown by @allwaswell16

[M, 2k, Louis/Tommy Shelby, fic post]

Tommy Shelby, pack alpha of the Peaky Blinders, has taken notice of The Garrison Pub’s new barmaid, an omega named Louis. A prequel to One

🫐 Flying Over on My Own Tonight by @haztobegood

[E, 1k, Louis/Jack Cochrane, fic post]

Louis is on his way to Monterrey, Mexico, where he'll headline Tecate P’al Norte music festival for the first time. A text from Jack makes the flight a bit more interesting.

🫐 Quite Like You by @reminiscingintherain

[M, 11k, Louis/Zayn, fic post]

Zayn rolled his eyes and let out a heavy sigh as he walked slowly across the room, swaying carefully to accommodate his large bump. “Your daughter’s playing football with my bladder, and using my kidneys for boxing practice,” he grunted out, flopping heavily into the armchair, letting his head rest against the back. “I can’t remember the last time I saw my feet, my back feels like it’s been inverted, and my hips are just completely fucked.” He rolled his head to look at Louis. “I feel incredibly far from gorgeous right now.” “Well, I’m telling you, I’ve seen you in many, many states over the years, babe, and this… this is definitely the epitome,” Louis murmured. Told in a series of flashbacks, the story of Zayn and Louis from children to parents.

[world-of-wales]

Kensington Palace released a new video to mark Mother's Day | 30 MARCH 2025

The video was accompanied by a personal message from The Princess of Wales -

Over the past year, nature has been our sanctuary. This Mother’s Day, let us celebrate Mother Nature and recognise how our bond with the natural world can help not only nurture our inner selves, but remind us too of the role we play within the rich tapestry of life.

C

[foreverinthepagesofhistoryy]

🎉 Happy 6th Birthday to Prince Louis of Wales, aka “Lou-bugs” 🎉

(Quick edit requested by @leonisandmurex (not my best work sorry)

[theroyalsandi]

Prince Louis 'Lou-bugs’ of Wales

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Prince Louis' Middleton Moment: The Bashful Laugh

[invisibleicewands]

“If It’s Not Grueling, It’s Not Worth It”: John Cale, in Conversation With Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen heard John Cale’s singular voice for the first time as a teenager in his bedroom in Port Talbot, Wales. “Someone cool must have given it to me,” he says of listening to White Light, White Heat for the first time. “I knew nothing about The Velvet Underground, I knew nothing about anything… Then I hear this voice on the song, ‘The Gift,’ and I’m like, ‘Hang on, that’s a Welsh voice.’” On his eighteenth studio album, POPtical Illusion, Cale, now 82 years old, is still possessed of that distinct, boundless instrument. Its emotional tenor, as Cale points out, is “snide,” and throughout the record, there’s an air of humor but also repressed rage boiling just beneath its poppy surface. The legendary musician wrote most of the album during the first Covid lockdown, averaging three songs a day. “I was really angry,” he told Sheen on a call earlier this month. “But I didn’t want the anger to really predominate.” To celebrate the release of Cale’s new album, the two Welshman delved into their respective creative processes, Cale’s relationships with Lou Reed and David Bowie, and the transformative power of public libraries.

MICHAEL SHEEN: How are you?

JOHN CALE: I’m good. I’m just delivering an album.

SHEEN: I’ve been thoroughly enjoying listening to it.

CALE: Oh, really?

SHEEN: Yes, they sent me a link.

CALE: That’s good.

SHEEN: It’s absolutely beautiful, John.

CALE: Good. Well, are you in Port Talbot?

SHEEN: I was in Port Talbot until the weekend. I’m in London for a little bit now. I’ve just finished doing a play. I’ve been playing Nye Bevan.

CALE: Oh, that’s great.

SHEEN: For the last three or four months, we’ve been at the National Theater here in London. Then we did a couple of weeks in Cardiff at the Millennium Center last weekend.

CALE: Who wrote the play?

SHEEN: Tim Price, the Welsh writer. It’s a new play directed by Rufus Norris.

CALE: Very good. Glad to hear you moving on. I’m trying to remember a photograph of him when I was growing up in Garnant and he was a political heavyweight.

SHEEN: Oh, yeah. He’d started off working down the mines. He was a draft door boy.

CALE: That’s right. 

SHEEN: Both of you had fathers who were miners.

CALE: Yes. My dad was a fitter. You know what a fitter is?

SHEEN: No.

CALE: A fitter is a guy who goes in and puts the wrenches and the bolts and everything together. He doesn’t go down shoveling coal or any of that. He just puts gear together.

SHEEN: Well, it’s funny, because listening to the album, I was reminded of a scene in Nye, where you see Bevan as a young boy going into the Tredegar Library. He had a terrible stutter, a stammer. The library gave him the opportunity to increase his vocabulary so he could use different words. Literally, libraries gave him power.

CALE: Listen, the library in Garnant gave me power. It was a little place stuffed with books, but they have these cards where, if you wanted a book that they didn’t have, you could fill out the form and they’d run off and get it. And not only that, they filled out forms for music. The music was attended to by the Marlborough-MA Public Library. If I put down Schoenberg, they would find the book.

SHEEN: Wow, that’s amazing.

CALE: I learned so much from that.

SHEEN: One of the most moving scenes in the play is this scene in the library because, of course, it gives Bevan his freedom. He’s able to talk. And on your new album, a line that really jumped out at me was on “Company Commander,” when you say “right-wingers burning their libraries down.” You think, “Here are the things that gave the working class in Wales power and now we’ve got people, as you describe, burning the libraries down.”

CALE: As a social activist, I’ve watched you approach that subject not just carefully, but penetratingly

SHEEN: Well, that line really jumped out at me. And I think the album is beautiful, disquieting, but I also found it incredibly moving at times.

CALE: Really?

SHEEN: Well, just seeing a song called “Davies in Wales,” immediately my ears pricked up, especially knowing that your name is John Davies Cale. I’ve listened to that a few times today. What was going on there?

CALE: It’s a laugh. You’ve got to have some of that in your life otherwise you’d die of boredom. “Shark-Shark” was one that really doesn’t have any sense to it at all. You just do it as a goof.

SHEEN: Am I right in saying that the very last word on the album is coal?

CALE: Code.

SHEEN: Code, right. See, my Welsh ears heard coal because I couldn’t help but be tempted into thinking of you floating down a river like a magical piece of coal, John. Is it too late to change it to coal?

CALE: For you? No.

SHEEN: But am I right as well in saying that in the space of a year you wrote over 80 songs and that this album has come out of that?

CALE: Yeah. The lockdown took over about a year-and-a-half ago and I just shut the door and took precautions and got on with some work. When I came out of that, there was an album already. At the end of the day, I had 80 songs. This is about finding poetry in the strangest places.

SHEEN: Did the lockdown color the nature of the songs in terms of their tone?

CALE: Yeah, I had a lot of energy. I was really angry. I didn’t want the anger to really predominate. It was really about trying to find out what else there was around you that you considered as part of your persona. If you’re writing lyrics, you start with a lyric and then you go to the music. Or you start with the music, then go to the lyrics. You really don’t want to obey too many of the laws of poetry and rhyme too much. You don’t mind tripping over your own shoelaces. Making mistakes is really important sometimes, and I’m still growing.

SHEEN: Have you carried on writing at that kind of pace since then?

CALE: Yeah.

SHEEN: Wow. That’s an extraordinary creative explosion. Is that just to do with the lockdown conditions or is it also where you were at in your life?

CALE: I think so, yeah. I’ve had enough of certain things. But the whole process welcomed me like, “Hey, why don’t you do this?” You find the rest of your ideas by rifling around all the ideas you’ve had to the beginning of that lockdown and eventually, you don’t have a lockdown.

SHEEN: Well, it clearly wasn’t a kind of creative or imaginative lockdown. Did you know they were always going to be for a solo album?

CALE: No, the collaborations happened on the first of the albums. The rest of it was just me playing with my instruments. I just had a pile of instruments in my studio and off I went.

SHEEN: But this album feels so crafted and so textured. It’s interesting you said that you were very angry because maybe that’s one of the “poptical illusions” of the album, because it doesn’t immediately feel like an angry album. It feels incredibly lush. Even at its most lush, it’s never comfortable. There’s always disquiet there. My hearing is getting worse, and I’ve never been able to hear lyrics very well, so I have to listen over and over to get to the lyrics. As I listened to the songs more and more, you do start to hear the anger. It’s so rich and lush and textured and yet there is a darkness in there as there always is in your work, John.

CALE: Yeah, I appreciate that. “Snide” is an appropriate word.

SHEEN: It’s a good word.

CALE: It’s handy.

SHEEN: We were at a very particular time when we were in those lockdowns. You start to think about the western world over the last 10 years or so, and not only were we in that bizarre situation of being locked up in our homes, but we were also at a time in the world where things were and still are obviously unhinged in all kinds of ways. Is that what was feeding that sense of anger that you were talking about?

CALE: Well, people don’t want to be lectured. You don’t want to say anything because then you’ve got the responsibility of answering the questions. You want to see if you can get away with as much humor as you possibly can.

SHEEN: That’s where snide comes in.

CALE: It’s a good to have a sense of humor with some snide.

SHEEN: Well, it’s funny you talk about your sense of humor. The very first time I heard your voice, I was a young teenager in my bedroom in Port Talbot. I had my first record player. My musical tastes were fairly conservative when I was younger. But somehow I’d got hold of White Light, White Heat. An older cousin must have given it to me or something. Someone cool must have given it to me. I put it on and I’m listening to this album and it seemed like the epitome of the exotic for me. It’s American, it’s the coolest thing ever. I knew nothing about Velvet Underground. I knew nothing about anything, really. Then I hear this voice on the song “The Gift”, and I’m like, “Hang on, that’s a Welsh voice!” I couldn’t believe it. That’s when I discovered you and who you were and where you’d come from and all that kind of stuff. But that dark humor, that was my first introduction to you and dark humor itself.

CALE: When we did that album, people were wondering, “What is this about? What are these guys doing?” I thought to myself, “I have to wait until the end of the album to have a clear idea of where I stood in the European world and where I did not stand in the European world.” Most of the songs on a lot of those albums were reflections of what I was missing about Europe. Those were a lot of loose songs, granted, but a lot of the songs I came up with at the end of that period, like “Paris 1919,” for instance, were written from California.

SHEEN: When you were in New York in the ’60s, did you feel like a European in America?

CALE: I did, but I didn’t have time for it. It’s a weird position to be in. You’re sitting in New York and you’re hanging out with Andy [Warhol] and the factory and all those other characters, all just amazingly brilliant in their own way and full of ideas and kind and gentle. It was a nonstop fountain of inspiration. What am I trying to say? It was an artistic revolution in New York. A lot of it probably came from the sexual revolution that was going on. There was so much of that going on. I was really interested in a very specific kind of music that happened to have been started in 1963 in Stockhausen. But all of a sudden, I was with LaMonte Young in California, where he was a jazz saxophone player. He was moving to New York and he was interested in totally different things about drones. He took that influence with him across the water. Then Viola Monte Young starts introducing droned violas to the Velvet Underground and we have modern music, essentially.

SHEEN: Part of your extraordinary career has been about connecting and working with younger artists coming up, whether it’s The Stooges or The Modern Lovers, right up to Kelly Lee Owens and Nirvana. How do you stay plugged into that? How do you watch out for what’s going on and see who you want to work with?

CALE: It’s pretty easy. It’s all over. With the new technology, you can’t avoid it.

SHEEN: But if you’re writing songs, how have you got time to listen to other people’s music as well?

CALE: That’s one of the problems. It’s just one of those things that you run into in life. You can’t do it all the time. You can’t do it for very long. But it’s just knowing what’s going on, where and when. But the other stuff is, I can just keep going. I’m not fragile yet.

SHEEN: No, you don’t seem fragile in any way, John. Although I have to say, in some of the lyrics and some of the music on this album, there’s a vulnerability there.

CALE: An important characteristic of your creativity is how fragile you are in the process. You reveal more of yourself in that way. I think revealing more of yourself has no limit. I think it’s something you’ve got to recognize in the process.

SHEEN: I was talking about this recently, but when I was a younger actor, I thought good acting was essentially about showing off. I thought it was about working out how to be really entertaining and clever and funny and smart. Then, as I got older, I realized that the more uncomfortable I was when I was acting, that’s actually where the good stuff is.

CALE: Yes, absolutely.

SHEEN: That’s where the magical pieces of coal are.

CALE: Don’t tell anybody.

SHEEN: So a lot of people came out of lockdown having watched a lot of box sets on TV. You came out of it with multiple albums and god knows how many songs. I don’t know about this album, but certainly on the last album, you have a song like “Night Crawling” where you’re going back over stuff with David Bowie. Was there a lot of that happening in lockdown as well? I don’t mean reminiscing in a nostalgic or sentimental way, but a sense of drawing from the past?

CALE: Only when I wrote the song. It was something that happened. I was a little embarrassed about having to have a character in my songs that you can really appreciate for other reasons. I was trying to be kind and generous about it.

SHEEN: You’re bound to be aware. If you are writing a song about something that’s happened to you, and it involves someone that everybody knows, there is an awareness of the weight of that, isn’t there?

CALE: Yeah. You try to be generous with everybody.

SHEEN: If it involves going back to working with Lou Reed and everyone else, do you feel a need to make it slightly more cryptic? 

CALE: That happened already. That’s part of history. I dealt with it and I’m satisfied with it. I’m glad that we wrote Lou’s Drella together. When we finished the whole piece, I said, “Lou, we’ve written all these songs and they’re all about all these characters that we know and we love and lived through. But you didn’t write a single verse about the Velvet Underground.” He went away and wrote one and came back.

SHEEN: Well, I suppose it’s difficult. If you’ve lived a life like you have lived and you’ve been around the people, it’s going to be difficult to write any song without somehow involving people that everyone knows in some way or another. Do you remember when I came to New York and when there was that exhibition about the Velvet Underground?

CALE: Yes, that’s right.

SHEEN: You were surrounded by people the whole time, so I didn’t want to bother you too much. But before I left, I wanted to come up and say hello. As I was with you, Laurie Anderson came up to us and I totally embarrassed myself by suddenly going, “Oh, ‘Superman’ was such an amazing song for me.”

CALE: She deserves it.

SHEEN: She quite rightfully paid me no heed and walked off.

CALE: Really? I’m surprised.

SHEEN: I felt so embarrassed.

CALE: No, she’s a kind soul. I’m glad you did it.

SHEEN: More and more now, actually, I feel like I want to tell people when they’ve had an amazing effect on my life. There’s so much shit in the world. There’s so much stuff that makes you feel shitty. And that’s another reason why I find listening to your new album moving, because you are one of those people for me. Are you going to be touring this album?

CALE: Yeah. It’s starting in January. I’m doing a couple of gigs in Mexico. It’ll be interesting now that they’ve got a new Prime Minister.

SHEEN: Indeed. Touring and playing live, is that something that has become more important to you, or maybe less?

CALE: Oh, it’s always been important. It’s been like a life-giving source. You get an audience out there. There’s nothing better than that.

SHEEN: Is it grueling?

CALE: If it’s not grueling, it’s not worth it.

[panelshowsource]

sorry i took a lil break from posting gifs and stuff, it was my birthday and then i went on vacation and then i went to the dentist and now it's father's day and asdfghjk real life whirlwind ugh i much prefer my internet bubble of self-indulgence!!!

anywayz i have still been working to keep my google drive updated and add a few new things :)

new have i got news for you

new i'm sorry i haven't a clue

standup specials by ardal o'hanlon, daniel sloss, fern brady, katherine ryan, romesh ranganathan, stewart lee

what's that lady doing? by lou sanders (audiobook)

mostly unrelated to britcom, i do have a googledrive linked on my main account and share films & tv there :) new series i added there that may be of interest is russell t davies' it's a sin

also want to shout out some things on the drive that i recommend or people may have missed!

with the taskmaster podcast wrapping up, there are tons of audiobooks in the books folder :')

for (mostly) wholesome buddy comedy stuff: dara & ed's road to mandalay and great big adventure, miles jupp and elis james travel wales, rob & rylan's grand tour, world's most dangerous roads (just watched the namibia episode with mike wozniak and ola labib and LMAO the concept of the show is just so bizarre i love it), not to mention the latest series of travel man!

campervan travel series british as folk with fern brady, ivo graham, and darren harriott

i have a feeling not every tm fan has seen the actual horne section tv show (+ the 2018 special) so here they are!

does anyone else miss charlie brooker as much as me... screenwipe rewatch marathon when?

[bharv]

why move into a chapel? what kind of chapel? how cursed a chapel are we talking here

SO it's a hot button topic to me!

Wales has a long history with nonconformist Christianity and chapels and meeting houses were often at the centre of communities, especially in small villages. And then as Christianity has dropped off a lot and many of these villages have less money they have been bought up to convert into houses, many by people who are using them as second homes.

There's even a TV show about it (though I respect these two more as 1. they are actually Welsh so understand the cultural significance of what they are doing and 2. they also want to create a pottery studio which will be lovely)

So I had already written a novella about a woman in the 1904 Welsh Revival and I had the idea that I might be able to turn it into a dual-timeline novel which is what I'm attempting - Lou and her wife Seren buy the chapel that the girl in the 1904 section attended fervently, and it becomes partly about Lou's feelings about her sexuality and her place in Wales as an English interloper and part about the history of Ellin, who was heavily impacted by the Christianity of the time.