#mark van hecke

[mychameleondays]

Violent Femes

London/Metronome 828 035-1, 1987

Originally released: April 13, 1983

[daily-dutch]

Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck & Fabio Jakobsen of The Netherlands and Soudal Quick-Step prior to the 92nd Baloise Belgium Tour 2023, Stage 4 a 172.6km stage from Durbuy to Durbuy on June 17, 2023 in Durbuy, Belgium. (Photos by Mark Van Hecke & David Stockman/Getty Images)

[marcelskittels]

Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates & Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck after the 107th Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour of Flanders 2023, Men's Elite a 273.4km one day race from Brugge to Oudenaarde on April 02, 2023 in Oudenaarde, Belgium. (Photos by Mark Van Hecke - Pool/Getty Images)

[twins-write]

Request Information

We write x reader and x OC stories/oneshots, so don't be afraid to give your character a name, unless you prefer it being the reader!

We typically write the reader as a female, but if you prefer gender neutral, let us know!

We generally write for male people/characters as well.

We write:

Fluff

Angst

Hurt/Comfort

Comfort

We do not write smut!

Feel free to send any request for one-shots/imagines, or if you have an idea for a mini-series, don't be afraid to suggest that as well.

If you request, there is no 100% guarantee that it'll be written, but we will definitely try our best to fulfill everyone's requests!

When something is requested, we will try to get to it as quickly as possible, but we are both full time students and play sports, so please bear with us!

We write for a lot of things, but here is the list if you want to go through it all! If you don't see a specific person/show or anything on the list, still feel free to request it. We might have accidentally left it out, but if not, we can still attempt to write that person for you!

You can submit requests by clicking the link at the bottom of this post or the link at the top of the blog, both will take you to a form to submit your request!

FULL LIST OF WHAT WE WRITE FOR:

Shows/movies:

13 Reasons Why

Clay Jensen

Justin Foley

911 (Lonestar and the original)

Eddie Diaz

Evan Buckley

Judd Ryder

Owen Strand

Paul Strickland

TK Strand

Wyatt Harris

American Horror Story

Jimmy Darling

Kit Walker

Kyle Spencer

Michael Langdon

Tate Langdon

Xavier Plympton

Attack On Titan

Armin Arlert

Jean Kirstein

Big Time Rush

Carlos

James

Kendall

Logan

Breaking Bad

Jesse Pinkman

Cobra Kai

Eli Moskowitz (Hawk)

Johnny Lawrence

Miguel Diaz

Robby Keene

Criminal Minds

Aaron Hotchner

Derek Morgan

Spencer Reid

Game of Thrones

Bronn

Jaime Lannister

Jon Snow

Robb Stark

Goosebumps

James Etten

Lucas Parker

Gossip Girl

Chuck Bass

Eric Van Der Woodsen

Nate Archibald

Grey’s Anatomy

George O’Malley

Mark Sloan

IT

Bill Denbrough

Eddie Kaspbrak

Richie Tozier

Jujustu Kaisen

Megumi Fushiguro

Satoru Gojo

Toge Inumaki

Yuji Itadori

Lab Rats

Chase Davenport

Marvel

Bucky Barnes

Deadpool

Druig

Loki Laufeyson

Peter Parker (Tom’s or Andrew’s)

Steve Rogers

Thor 

Wolverine

My Babysitter’s a Vampire

Benny Weir

Ethan Morgan

My Hero Academia

Denki Kaminari

Eijiro Kirishima

Hitoshi Shinsou

Izuku Midoriya

Katsuki Bakugo

Keigo Takami

Shota Aizawa

Shoto Todoroki

Takami Amajiki

NCIS (LA and the original)

Anthony DiNozzo

Eric Beale

G. Callen

Jimmy Palmer

Marty Deeks

Timothy McGee

Nerve

Tommy Mancuso

New Girl

Coach

Nick Miller

Schmidt

Winston Bishop

Now You See Me

Jack Wilder

Outerbanks

JJ Maybank

John B.

Pope

Rafe Cameron

Topper

Percy Jackson

Percy

Pretty Little Liars

Caleb Rivers

Holden Strauss

Jason DiLaurentis

Mike Montgomery

Noel Kahn

Toby Cavanaugh

Shadowhunters

Alec Lightwood

Jace Herondale

Simon Lewis

Shameless

Ian Gallagher

Kevin Ball

Lip Gallagher

Stranger Things

Dustin Henderson

Steve Harrington

Supernatural

Castiel

Dean Winchester

Jack Kline

Sam Winchester

T@GGED

Ash Franklin

Brandon Darrow

Trevor Askill

Teen Wolf

Derek Hale

Isaac Lahey

Scott McCall

Stiles Stilinski

Titans

Dick Grayson (Nightwing)

Gar Logan (Beast Boy)

Jason Todd (Red Hood)

The 100

Bellamy Blake

Jasper Jordan

Monty Green

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Ambrose Spellman

Harvey Kinkle

Nicholas Scratch

The Hunger Games

Finnick Odair

Peeta Mellark

The Maze Runner

Minho

Newt

Thomas

The Middle

Axl Heck

Sean Donahue

The OC

Luke Ward

Ryan Atwood

Seth Cohen

The Originals

Elijah Mikaelson

Klaus Mikaelson

Kol Mikaelson

The Outsiders

Darry Curtis

Dallas Winston

Sodapop Curtis

The Rookie

John Nolan

Tim Bradford

The Umbrella Academy

Five Hargreeves

The Vampire Diaries

Damon Salvatore

Jeremy Gilbert

Kai Parker

Stefan Salvatore

The Walking Dead

Carl Grimes

Daryl Dixon

Glenn Rhee

Negan Smith

Rick Grimes

True Blood

Eric Northman

Jason Stackhouse

Sam Merlotte

Twilight

Emmett Cullen

Jasper Hale

Paul Lahote

Seth Clearwater

Wizards of Waverly Place

Justin Russo

Real people:

5 Seconds of Summer members (all)

Ateez members (all)

Cody Fern

Jamie Muscato

Sam and Colby

Stray Kids members (all)

The Boyz (all)

Tomorrow x Together members (all)

Request form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdf15DK07JIGzKMNPC2FrEgP7ces4KfIxTngYcNwvmusaXxGA/viewform?usp=sf_link

[reogan]

Clean Slate

(Jenny Timeline Project Song-by-Song Analysis #1) (The Jenny Timeline Project is my attempt to figure out more about this album by doing casual literary criticism at it. It started with a post about the viewpoints of songs. The tag to follow or block if you care is Jenny Timeline. I welcome feedback if you see any of the holes in my interpretation.) This is a LONG post, fair warning.

The People: Obviously to those who know the earlier album, this song very directly overlaps with Color In Your Cheeks (All Hail West Texas). In that song, we specifically get a Woman from Taipei, a Man from Mexicali, and (less detailed) Folks from Zimbabwe, Soviet Georgia, East St. Louis, Paris, and Across the Street.

In Clean Slate, we see a Man from East St. Louis; a Breakaway Republic Dude; someone from Copiah, Mississippi; "You" from "home" with a plane change in Taipei. There may also be an additional person encapsulated in "This will be the last time that I do this, I'm pretty sure."

Overlap is clear in East St. Louis. The Woman from Taipei is likely "You" who changes planes in Taipei, though this fascinatingly opens up her/your origin point to be elsewhere ("skin the color of a walnut shell" (Color, AHWT) can narrow it down a little, but that's so hugely wide still that I wouldn't begin to try). Interestingly, the Breakaway Republic Dude is marked on the map in the official lyric video somewhere in Latvia or Lithuania (hard to tell with the size of the dot and the spinning globe), which broke away from the USSR in 91/90, but not Georgia, as referenced in Color.

The Place: In Color, "She" comes in on the red eye to Dallas-Ft. Worth (which is in East Texas, not West Texas as the album title would suggest). How far between that airport and "here" is completely untouched. "He" drives in from Mexicali, which means he first reaches Texas in the west.

In Clean Slate, the lyrics allow the house to be anywhere, but the bandcamp description does say it's Jenny's house in West Texas*. It's worth noting that a later song is Going to Dallas, which suggests that the singer does not begin in Dallas, despite the Woman from Taipei flying into that airport.

Color doesn't mention what "here" is. Personally, I used to hear it as a tavern-inn-heck-even-cafe place. Clean Slate is somehow more opaque. But liner notes and bandcamp make clear that it's Jenny's southwestern ranch style house.

The Time: Describing a Baltic state as a "breakaway republic" suggests that the USSR is still relevant, if failing or gone. This would be a Weird description in 2020. It would be Weird in 1960. Later evidence will place things somewhere after '85, and I like that. Give it a decade's wiggle room here, 1985-1995 where "breakaway republic" would still be apt. It helps that, though Georgia was next, Baltic states were the first to declare independence from the Soviet Union, making them stand out as breakaways.

Since Color mentions Soviet Georgia, that'll place it pre '91. The Song(s): Unusually, I think this analysis needs to include a second song beyond Clean Slate (Color, of course) given it's mighty parallels. We have no proof they're telling different facets of the same story, but I think it's not egregious if I suppose they are.

More than Color does, Clean Slate very explicitly makes it clear that these people are leaving behind everything. There's the leaving under the cover of night ("It's never light outside yet when they climb into the van"), the itinerant, brief stay ("rest until you're rested / climb back onto the caravan).

I would like to raise a reading to which I don't subscribe and which doesn't mesh perfectly with comments John has made, but which I find interesting. I think there's room to suspect that the Woman from Taipei is the Lodger. The use of the second-person pronoun in Clean Slate ("The house was almost full that day / We made a space for you"), which is the final person introduced before "this will be the last time that I do this I'm pretty sure" could suggest that the Lodger is this woman. This will also be a fun toy for the Lesbian Jenny squad. I don't buy it, chiefmost of all because John refers to the Lodger as "he" multiple times, though Death of The Author etc. etc.

In various interviews and in this album, we learn this place is a place for people to rest, hide, and catch their breath. The little epigraphs on the vinyl call it a "safehouse" which is such a beautiful thing. That adds a dimension of mutual don't-ask-don't-tell to the line "We let the silence that's our trademark / make its presence felt" (Color). A nice 'hey man, we don't know what you've been through, we don't know what you're going to do, but while you're here, you're cool.'

Later on, in From the Nebraska Plant, the narrator (Lodger?) says that "it wasn't in [Jenny's(?)] nature / taking in the strays" which I think is entirely wrong. He's very much mythologized her because that is her role. But in this song, I think it's Jenny's conviction which says "This world is sad and broken / gotta fix a crack or two." She is compelled to give aid. Given the references in this work to Seven Against Thebes, I'm interested in seeing whether we can apply the concept of hamartia to Jenny, and this compulsion is already a candidate for her tragic flaw. Let us name it Justice and deify Jenny as Nemesis in our further analyses.

The final refrain of Clean Slate says "Every endpoint fixed forever on the day its arc began." This is in line with oracular proclamation in Greek tragedy. We know what will happen. Oedipus was fated to marry his mother and kill his father, and we can be sure of that result. When Tiresias tells Creon his actions will doom his son, we can already plan Haemon's funeral. We are now entering the Tragic Zone, and it's going to be as the Oracle proclaims. *In the interest of being transparent to those who choose not to click the link, technically, it says it's Jenny's house and that a West Texas town is uncomfortable in it, but I don't consider it a grave liberty to then assume that her house is in that West Texas town rather than, say, Bergen County, New Jersey or something.

[hillbillyhippiemusicreview]

TAYLOR HUNNICUTT MAY BE ALL OR NOTHIN’ BUT LET ME TELL Y’ALL, SHE SURE IS SOMETHIN’

Reviewed by: Lyssa Culbertson

Taylor Hunnicutt Band at the Fennec in Birmingham, AL, Sept. 2022; photo by HHMR

The infallible southern wordsmith Brent Cobb once wrote a song he called “King of Alabama,” rightfully titled about the late, great Wayne Mills. Mills was undeniably the King of Honky Tonk, songwriting, and so much more in the Heart of Dixie in his heyday of playing his brand of country music, and his legacy lingers on still to this day. But if there is a king, there must be a queen, right?! Well, I would bet my bottom dollar that his protégé Taylor Hunnicutt will forever reign as the queen of Alabama, especially when it comes to honky tonkin’ and musically kickin’ a-double-s. She honed her talent on stages across the Southeast with the likes of Mills and other notable artists and in recent years has begun to break out into other markets where they just can’t get enough. Appalachia, Texas, and beyond—they’re all digging her vibe, and for good reason! I mean, how could they not with explosive vocals and a commanding stage presence like that?! I’ve often referred to her when trying to capture her essence in a few words to those unfamiliar as the musical spawn of Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, Alannah Myles, and Ronnie Van Zant but the honest to God truth is Taylor Hunnicutt is something magical all her own. A force to be reckoned with, no doubt. She can cook you up an exquisite Sunday dinner and fanagle home design better than Better Homes & Gardens, but she can also kick your tail and drink you under the table while crankin’ out a well-written song to boot as she brings a packed house down. With a smoky yet angelic vocal possessing a power summoned from the great beyond, she’s a multifaceted woman and artist who is everything you thought you’d get but nothing like you’d ever expect. Sweet like honey and full of grace with a healthy dose of sass, she is simply Taylor, a rare wildflower of a talent in a filed full of musical roses—and she and her band are about to take off like a bottle rocket that’s out of control…heck, they already are! Mark my words and either hop on and hold on for dear life or get out of the way, there’s no stopping the Taylor Train! Bottoms up!

Several years ago, Taylor released her debut EP, Flower in a Drought, and it was a solid peace of work that showed off her penchant for coy, tongue-in-cheek, yet deeply heartfelt songwriting alongside her impressive vocal range. It was a stellar introduction to the wholesome artist and musician she is, and undoubtedly one of our favorite pieces of work we’ve ever heard. Fast forward to present day, though, and it’s apparent over the past few years as they’ve traveled around, show after show, mile upon mile, that Taylor Hunnicutt and her band members (husband Josh McKenzie on lead guitar, Andrew Mohney on drums, Tyler Treadwell on rhythm guitar, and Young Ethan Perkins holding it down on bass) have undergone a musical renaissance of sorts—the music they’re putting out these days feels like, at least to the devoted listener (aka me), HOME. A Taylor Hunnicutt Band nirvana, so to speak. Purebred, authentic, genre-bending tunes that truly display who they are and where they’ve come from are what they’re all about! Two such offerings as of late are “All Or Nothin’” and “Trail of a Broken Heart,” which were released in August 2022 and March 2023, respectively. “All Or Nothin’” is a swampy, twangy, honky-tonkin’, rockin’ boot stompin’ barn burner that will be a permanent earworm inside your ear holes once you listen to it. “Trail of a Broken Heart” displays a bit of Taylor’s softer side well, as it bridges the gap between barroom ballad and a honky-tonk fueled soulful rocker quite well. Featuring her signature growl and impressive guitar riffs, it’s definitely one that will grip your heart and soul. Typically, I would go into more detail with vivid descriptions of the lyrical content of these songs; however, I believe their musicality and lyrical goodness are something you’ve just got to experience and feel for yourself. One listen and you’re hooked—proceed with caution, I tell ya! Not to mention, live shows are positively electric: Taylor uses her rowdy stage presence and undeniably emotive songs backed by the punches of her impressive vocal range and the sizzling talent of her backing band to get the crowd boot scooting till they’ve forgotten what ails ‘em. She’ll eat ya alive! Just joshin’ my friends—but seriously, run, don’t walk, to the nearest Taylor Hunnicutt show you can find because she won’t be mainly playing small, intimate stages for much longer. Case in point: she and the band are fixin’ to take the West Coast like a crimson tidal wave on their first major tour supporting Mike and the Moonpies this fall and Hillbilly Hippie Music Review is plum stoked for them—it couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of folks. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya….get out there and fall in love with their quirky personalities and eclectic sound like the rest of the country is more and more by the minute. I’m telling y’all—you won’t have a chance to get up close and personal and share a shot or ten and swap stories with her before too long! It’s well worth the experience from beginning to end, Hippie’s Honor ✌🏻😎🤞🏻.

(Tour poster from Taylor Hunnicutt Facebook)

Watch the music video for “All or Nothin’” below:

Here’s an acoustic take of “Trail of a Broken Heart”

[twoheartsoneclara]

2023 goals

idk i had lots of fun doing this in like what was it.  2020?  or something.  i don’t really have concrete goals for each category i’m just gonna have fun with it, the goals is mainly just a kind of name.  part of it is i’m going to try and write more reviews/critiques/etc. of the art i interact with, which i think is gonna be fun!  :)

books

van gogh: the complete paintings - walther & metzger (1 january - 22 january)

leave the gun, take the cannoli - mark seal (23-25 january)

the family (26 january - )

the lost spells - macfarlane & morris

anne of green gables - l.m. montgomery

anne of avonlea - l.m. montgomery

anne of the island - l.m. montgomery

anne of windy poplars - l.m. montgomery

20 love poems and a song of despair - pablo neruda

outlander - diana gabaldon

a tin box of matches - j.r. armstrong

hood feminism - mikki kendall

natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812: the journey of a new musical to broadway - steven suskin & dave malloy, various others

anne’s house of dreams - l.m. montgomery

films

the irishman (11-12 january) + the irishman: in conversation (12 january)

manglehorn (13-14 january)

mean streets (17 january)

puss in boots: the last wish (19 january)

mikey and nicky (25-26 january)

the mummy (24 february)

the mummy returns (28 february)

tv shows

superstore rewatch (may have started in december of last year idk - 6 january 2023)

a to z (6 january - 7 january)

drop dead diva (7 january - )

hunters s1 (12 january - 13 january)

the bear s1 (17 january)

columbo s1 (21 january - 25 january)

columbo s2 (27 january - 3 february?)

columbo s3 (3 february? - ah heck i don’t know sometime in february)

columbo s4 (idk sometime in february - 22 february)

leverage: redemption s2 (28 february - 2 march i think)

the mandalorian s3 (2 march -

abbott elementary s2 ( picking back up from last year, 3 march - )

andor s1 (picking back up from last year, 3 march - )

music

wednesday, 3 a.m. - simon & garfunkel (7 january)

the sounds of silence - simon & garfunkel (7 january)

parsley, sage, rosemary, & thyme - simon & garfunkel (11 january)

[consumare]

colors of the rainbow.

red. leather jackets, lollipop, bubblegum, hot chocolate, strawberries, sport cars, badass, chestnut hair, gives 0 fucks about others opinion, heartless, books filled with dark doodles, takes a lot of naps, ripped jeans, webtoon, unabashed flirting, hair flipping, still makes mixtapes, not a good example, brutally honest, irreversible tornadoes, chips, bad habits, knowing what’s wrong with one look, tousled hair, into natural products, doesn’t like when someone calls them cute, walking barefoot on concrete, attempts to avoid all the responsibilities, coca-cola, protective, new ideas, fuzzy blankets, honey brown eyes, horror movies, netflix, can be lazy sometimes, red, sarcastic, lace up boots, classical music, talks in sleep.

orange. has a million interests but bad at managing time, good liar, orange, astrology, outdoors, mischievous looks, friends with everyone, light brown hair, stronger than they think, holding hands at night, has snacks with them for unknown reason, would kill for the people they love, daydreaming, backward hats, unmade beds, loves art, looks mean but is actually very nice, organized playlists, tangled earphones, anime, iced lemonade, climbing trees, skateboarding, middle fingers, sarcastic, curious, wreck this journal, face masks, does yoga on daily basis, photography, dancing in the rain, steel blue eyes, horny 24/7, dried roses, cotton candy, self care guru, bad at cooking, freckles, remembering their dreams, into some kinky shit, interested in science.

yellow. likes picnics & roses, hidden birth marks, being honest, honey, pressed flowers, brown hair, spicy food, loves movie dates, chill but doesn’t take shit, listening to music from someone else’s earphones, sunshine, stuffed toys, doesn’t like loud sounds, cheek kisses, fashion, can be depressed when left alone, takes long walks, watches cartoons, thinks every animal is cute, bags with patches, olive green eyes, texts to ask if ‘u ok’ or ‘had a good day’, cat lover, flowers in their hair, peaceful being, collects & presses flowers, makes friends easily, whispering sweet words to small creatures, yellow, a sweet voice, hates cockroaches, loves the sound of ocean, feeling of sunlight hitting your skin, soft hair, keep tracks of things, never does anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

green. very patient, dark brown hair, sugar coated peanuts, vans shoe, self love, reading, clumsy, sarcasm, constant internal screaming, relaxed expression but a storm underneath, good at maths, kiwi, jean jackets, loaded heads & clear eyes, can tear you apart, book piles, early mornings, always mused to little things, soccer, plant parent, pocky, succulents, loves learning new languages, thick, getting into a drama, really good at reading people, has a bad temper if you cross them, stargazing, thoughtful words, charcoal eyes, cute jackets, pretty handwriting, listens to podcasts, green, smart, blooming flowers, balances work, freckled arms, always have good advice, feels like classic music & art, probably has owned the same jacket from last 10 years.

blue. can never make up their mind, not very patient, youngest in group, angel, falls in love easily, shy smiles, carnivals, big sweaters, watches sad movies late at night & then feels super guilty next day, sandy blond hair, hard working, sparkle in their eyes, still a child, fluffy pillows, scented markers, trips a lot, sweet to everyone, blue, addicted to games, freckles, asks a lot of questions, watches cartoon, they either eat everything or forgets to eat, hazel eyes, tries their best, a daydreamer & a night thinker, short as heck, spinning until they’re dizzy, cries easily, stuffed toys, cute, love museums, has a secret, avoiding their problems, can’t sit still, picks fight they can’t finish, is super sweet & soft, overemotional, literally the cutest.

indigo. knows when someone can’t be trusted, black hair, cold feet, feared, black & indigo, sensitive lips, chocolates, milk, mostly wears black, gets depressing thoughts but tries to be happy, sharp eyes, athletic, learning new languages, aces everything, blue eyes, dogs, agnostic, photo albums, focuses on details, kind, car rides, comics, soft aching hands, painting for hours, witty, protective, perfect person to cuddle with, do no harm but take no shit, tattoos, cold from outside soft from inside, piano, broken, clean white walls, extremely loyal, drinking water, headphones blasting music, draws a lot, your comfort person, amazing at sports, middle fingers, great cook, late night showers, laying down on concrete roofs to watch the stars, webtoons.

violet. fluffy pillows, laughs too loudly, wears pj’s anywhere anytime, moon, great cook, easily distracted, well moisturized, sunglasses, stuffed toys, noticed things that most people don’t, eye rolling, wants to stay young forever, takes pics of plants, light brown hair, sipping tea, mixes well with anyone, sarcasm, collects something, beautifully dangerous, bitch, goes with the flow, messy notes, stars, cotton candy, keeps up with trends, tips waiter generously, beautiful, cruising with the top down, grey eyes, sometimes lonely, no bad vibes, scented candles, loves gardening, great with kids, scary when angry, drinking out of painted tea cups, caring, homemade jams, pocket full of wonders.

[ask-the-reaper-conspiracy]

And thus the turn order is established. Until such time as something occurs to upset it, you’ll make your moves according to said order: Lord van Zieks will move first, Dr Wilson second, Judge Jigoku third, Inspector Gregson fourth, Dr Sithe fifth, and last but not least, Miss Brett sixth. After Miss Brett makes her move, Lord van Zieks will then have the chance to move again. Acting earlier and acting later each have their own advantages. Act first, you’re the first to put your ideas into practice and see what results. Act last, you’ve the chance to see all those results and adjust accordingly before making your move. Your moves can be whatever you want them to be. I’ll describe the environment as you experience it, you’ll choose how to interact with it in order to progress the story, and I’ll narrate how the environment responds to you. Sometimes you’ll need to roll your dice to see how your efforts turn out. I’ll tell you when. Unless I tell you otherwise, roll two of them and use the total. High rolls and low rolls will both produce interesting results. Failing at a task will not stop you dead in your tracks - it will change the direction of your story. You may pursue individual goals during the course of the game if you wish. I encourage you to do what interests you most. With that said, you are a team. The puzzles and challenges ahead are for you to conquer together: if one of you falls, the rest will also suffer. And so it begins. .....

Imagine for me: a chamber some twenty feet square, ten feet high, built of dark stone bricks and worn paving slabs, lit by torches flickering in wrought iron sconces. There you stand, all together. Behind you, a stone archway holds cold, inky blackness - and then, in the blink of an eye, nothing. Only the blank wall where once there was…an entrance? An exit? Neither, now. Ahead of you, set into the wall opposite the archway, stands a set of heavy double doors, made of aged wood and reinforced with iron bands. They are locked and chained shut. You can see the locks clearly in the torchlight. Six of them. The rest of the room is occupied by eight stone plinths. Each one holds one or more objects. From here you can see what they are: a battle-scarred shield, a bandolier of knives, a leather-bound tome, an engraved chalice, a huge studded club, a quiver of arrows, a sheathed sword, and a masterwork violin. The plinths appear to have markings on them, but they’re quite small; the light isn’t good enough to read them at this distance. There is also something engraved into the lintel above the doors. The locks, too, appear to be marked in some way. Again, closer examination is needed. My Lord van Zieks, you have the first turn. What would you like to do?

"Oh now, don't sulk, it's not so bad coming in last!"

"I'm not sulking, my good Doctor." "Only devoting my thoughts to understanding this game."

"Oh! ... Perhaps you will help me, then. It's unlike any I've seen yet."

"..... Yes, perhaps."

-

"Can't say I was expecting something like this, but what the heck." "As long as this game of pretend don't drag on too long, eh?"

-

"So this is what I'll be doing with my evening..." "Third place isn't too bad, right?" "Continue."

-

"Mm. I wonder if Maria would be interested in something like this." "Though it strikes me as being a bit too occult for my taste." "Still, I will play."

-

"Ah, I've played pretend many times with Barok when he was a boy, I can do this!" "Let's see now..." "Well, if we're in a strange location, the first thing I'd like to do is make sure I am armed." "So I will take that sword on one of the plinths."

—————–

Previous ask

Check this page for credits

[cynicalraccoon]

I can finally mark Dracula off my reading list. It was an okay read. In my opinion, the format of it being told through journal and diaries entries, and newspapers articles made it a bit of a slow read. It was different than what I'm used to reading.

Jonathan Harker and Mina were the best couple of this book. Smarts and courage all around. Their kid is going to be something else with those genes.

Dr. Stewart was a cool guy. A bit dramatic, but I'll give him a pass because he was grieving for Lucy for most of the book. Also a bit stupid to not tell anybody about the fang holes on Lucy's neck. That probably could've saved her a bit earlier.

As for Arthur, can't say much of him. He was an okay guy.

Morris did not deserve an ending like that. I was expecting him to fight Dracula, to be honest, but instead we got that ending for him. What the heck?

And Van Helsing...Dude could ramble like nobody else. But his intelligence was proved throughout the book. If he were younger, could probably see him being badass like the film adaptations view him as.

Now on to my rants. Warning, some spoilers for those who haven't read the book yet.

How the heck did they not make the connection to the bat that Morris shot at with Dracula after they just went over discussing him and his powers? I figured that would be a big clue that Dracula was about to make a move on Mina or spy on them. It took a mentally insane patient to tell them the big reveal about Dracula getting to Mina for them to figure it out.

Also, Mina, a kind of stupid move not to tell anybody about the nightmares or fog Dracula visiting you at night. Pretty sure that's also important because of the situation they were in.

Lastly, Dracula could've gone to any other woman instead of Mina to get his blood. Because they did not have security measures around and would've been vulnerable to his influence. I know he could have because he was eyeing another young woman when Johnathan saw him in the city. If he had, they probably wouldn't have caught on to him so fast. Or maybe they would have. I don't know. But it would've been a good distraction from Dracula.

All in all, the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Expecting a fight between Dracula and the group, but they killed him with a sliver of close call. Probably for the best. They would've gotten killed if Dracula woke up fully.

[daily-dutch]

Mathieu van der Poel of The Netherlands and Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 92nd Baloise Belgium Tour 2023, Stage 4 a 172.6km stage from Durbuy to Durbuy on June 17, 2023 in Durbuy, Belgium. (Photos by Mark Van Hecke/Getty Images)

[marcelskittels]

Fabio Jakobsen Baloise Belgium Tour 2023 - Stage 5 📸 by Mark Van Hecke/Getty Images

[pollywiltse]

Someone desperately needs to do something about the John André wikipedia article because it's getting all its information from biographies of Benedict Arnold, very basic and not necessarily accurate online articles, and once Sargent. (It has Flexner in the "works cited" section but since there are no footnotes that reference Flexner I'm not sure it counts as a "works cited".) Also the "Further Reading" consists entirely of the William Sterne Randall biography of Benedict Arnold and a book by Adele Gutman Nathan, and I'm not sure if it's the André book by her that I've read or a different one, but the one I read sucked. No Hatch, no Ronald (who is problematic but valuable, unfortunately), not even Tillotson. Heck, not even Van Doren. Consequently the information about most of his life is sparse, uncited (and has [citation needed] in a couple spots where YOU'D HAVE HAD A CITATION IF YOU USED A BETTER SOURCE), and often just slightly off.

Also, re the Benedict Arnold biographies, I don't care if the authors are real historians, you can't just blindly trust what people say when they're writing about someone or something that isn't the specific focus of their book - I've seen a very highly regarded art historian think the folk tale type "midwife to the fairies" (which is about a human who gets called out to help a fairy give birth) is the same as "the fairies' midwife" in Mercutio's speech in Romeo and Juliet (who is an actual fairy) and I've seen so many people who aren't experts in the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood specifically claim that Elizabeth Siddal died of tuberculosis that she caught while posing for Millais's painting of Ophelia it's not even funny (I don't have time to explain everything that's wrong with this). And then there was the historian who claimed that the term the "Gilded Age" was a later invention by people who were romanticizing the time period, because whatever actual serious newspaper that quoted her decided that if you were going to ask a historian about the late 19th century, hitting up someone who specialized in the Viking era was good enough. Though why she made shit up instead of looking it up or telling them to ask someone who cared about years later than, like, 1100 is a mystery. (The "Gilded Age" is from an 1873 satirical novel by Mark Twain and it was never complimentary because things that are gilded have a thin layer of gold on top but underneath are made of something that isn't valuable. I literally learned this in high school.)

Also whoever wrote the sentence about possibly the reason Clyde Fitch's play about André wasn't a success was because it portrayed him as a sympathetic character knows so little about how people saw André that they shouldn't be allowed to edit his wikipedia page. I don't care if that's also what the source they're quoting claims, it's a laughably stupid theory, especially for a play in 1905, unless maybe the first and only performance took place at the 125th Annual Meeting of the Rabid John Paulding Fanboys' Club.

[shamelessrabbithole]

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sct37f1XSM1auermq.mp4

CraveOnline: Are the party scenes like a party on the set?

William H. Macy: It’s a tight cast. John Wells is the smartest guy I ever met. He did great things. Mark Mylod directed our pilot. He directed the British version also. When we got there, there was no craft services. If you wanted something to eat, you walked onto set, used our kitchen. And there was as sign there, “Clean up after yourself,” and we had to. So no craft services, we had our kitchen. At one point in the middle of the week, they said, “That’s it for the afternoon. We got you a bunch of tickets, go play miniature golf. We’re sending you to miniature golf and there are some batting cages there.” So they hauled us over there in a van and the actor in me is thinking, “All right, what the heck is this? Am I supposed to do this in character? Am I supposed to develop my character? What horseh*t is this? What am I supposed to do.” Little Emma who plays my next to youngest daughter, was playing miniature golf and she couldn’t play to save her soul, so she’d hit it and say “Do over,” hit it again, “Do over,” hit it again, “Do over.” I’m sitting there and I’m thinking, “This is so boring.” Finally I just pushed her out of the way and I played through. When I got home, I though, “I think we did do some character work there.” We made fun of each other at the batting cages. I said, “No, you’re doing it wrong!” Then I tried to show them how to do it and I threw my arm out.

https://archive.ph/s77tN

But Macy himself, naturally, couldn’t be more different: He’s polite, enthusiastic about art and what it can give people, and was known for playing ukulele on set – between takes, of course.

“I play it quietly and gently so it doesn’t bother people,” Macy said, “I heard from a lot of people, including the producers, that it is so soothing. Just that sound wafting over the soundstage lowers people’s blood pressure.”

Macy, who introduced himself as “Bill,” has been singing the praises of his favorite instrument for years. Watch him on CBS This Morning in 2014, talking about the amazing instrument, and you can listen to him sing about “Wild Hogs” and roast his co-stars on “Oprah” four years earlier. He keeps eight just in his office, likes to write vulgar songs with titles like “You Don’t Know Where This Dick Has Been” and “I Love F**ked up Women” and even likes to leave them lying around his home: “If I walk by my uke on the couch,” he said, “I’ll play it for five minutes.”

https://archive.ph/Kgf4J

Emmy Rossum has revealed how cast members on the US remake of Shameless pass the time between takes: making up rude songs.

The 24-year-old, lauded for her angelic singing in The Phantom Of The Opera, said she and co-star William H Macy enjoyed composing naughty ditties during their downtime.

"Bill Macy brings his ukulele to set and we make up funny songs - dirty songs," Emmy laughed.

https://archive.ph/Vj5Nt

https://mshannahspannah.tumblr.com/post/131410562197/

Is it like theatre in this way? Where you have night after night and so you reach new planes and things get richer, or more layered?

Yeah, it's a learning curve. It's a joy. I know Frank, I know the other characters. We can build on our relationships. When you do a film, there is a race to create intimacy with the rest of your cast. Because it does count, it shows. You will go out drinking and carousing with a costar, and that shows on camera, later. In some inchoate, magical way, but it does show. We can count on that. I've got two kids and I'm the old guy, so I can't, but the rest of this cast, they come in howling every night about putting someone to bed or about somebody peeing on the sidewalk.

https://archive.ph/zoP7j

So how does the cast of Shameless bond together? What’s that high school like?

The rest of my cast goes out — I’m too old for that stuff! [Laughs.] But when we go to Chicago for the week, it’s all Sodom and Gomorrah. They walk in all bleary-eyed, and once they all lost their cell phones in a fountain. They couldn’t remember how, but all their cell phones were destroyed. They’re all in their twenties, so they’re just working hard, partying hard. It’s a good way to relax.

https://archive.ph/DRuoU

You're working with a young cast who play your family. How did you enjoy that experience?

They cast it so brilliantly, they're really crackerjack actors, all of them. Emmy Rossum is really the heart of our series, she's there first, she goes home last. It's funny how our relationship has evolved offstage almost identically to onstage. They hang out together as a cast. I don't go out with them, just as Frank doesn't hang out with them. I don't go out with them because to do what they do in one night would take me two weeks to recover, I'm so old. But I just adore them. I'm in for a ride, I think our series is going to be around for a while. Good grief, they'll be going to college by the time we finish, they'll all be grown-ups.

https://archive.ph/mPIAE

-🔍

Thanks 🔍. Based on all of this, what sort of light is Bill painted in for you? Do you feel he's the very nice patriarchal figure and mentor people make him out to be in interviews, or is he kind of an enabler? Standing by and watching his much younger castmates behaving recklessly, then adding to that atmosphere with his whiskey and off-color song lyrics? 😉 I'm just teasing you... but I am curious as to how you feel all of this correlates.

[kallisto-k]

could I get some "Wanna Let Me Into Your Coffin?" for WIP Wednesday? that is certainly one heck of a filename!

Sure! Thank you for the ask! 🖤 Haha yeah, I have some weird fic titles 😅 But they make me laugh and hopefully others too!

Turns out it wasn’t just chocolates and a card, there was a rose trapped under the windshield wiper of Eddie’s van. It had been spray painted black around the top which just made Eddie grin even if the paint was still a bit tacky and left a little mark on his van’s windshield where it’d been laid. Eddie plucked it off, glancing around to see if anyone was watching him as he rubbed one of the painted petals between his fingers and got a smudge of paint across his thumb and forefinger.