#my biggest artist bud

[drchucktingle]

trotting past this together

a few chuck posts are makin the rounds today which means i am getting the usual 'chuck is my favorite author i have never read' jokes.

i have talked about how i do not really like this comment as i think there is inherent 'not taking chuck seriously as a sincere and real human' to this. some say 'i do not like erotica' but chuck writes plenty of non erotica so really i think this frequent comment is a sort of subconscious 'i am a fan of the tingleverse but could never PROUDLY be fan who actually reads his queer neurodivergent work, my appreciation MUST have a sheen of irony or winking'. nobody would ever say to stephen kings face 'i love you i am your biggest fan OF COURSE I WOULD NEVER READ YOUR BOOKS YOU GET THOUGH IT RIGHT?' anyway, really consider why you say this to chuck.

REGARDLESS it is JUST FINE buds. we are all on our own trot. i do not hold it against anyone and i understand we have our own journey. i am expressing how it makes me feel but i do not hold it against anyone who says this i have nothing but love for you buckaroos.

ALL THAT SAID since i am getting swarmed with these comments today thought it might be a good opportunity to challenge this notion. i am ONLY POSTING THIS ON TUMBLR because i think this group especially understand supporting art and artists and especially outsider queer neurodivergent arts.

if you are one of these buds who has appreciated my trot for years and never bought a book, or have made these comments without really considering what you are saying over and over again, now it the moment to REALLY support chuck with preorder of camp damascus. i have talked about WHY this timing is important here.

bud to bud, if you have the means to trot in this way and have said 'chuck is my favorite author i have never read' then what better time for the two of us to trot past this block together. NO JOKE, if just one out of ten of my tumblr followers alone preordered camp damascus it would likely hit the national bestseller lists and alter this timeline in unfathomable ways (not the least of which getting to update cover of harriet porber with a 'from national bestseller' banner).

anyway buckaroos, thank you for listening. i appreciate you so much whether you enjoy reading my tinglers or comment 'favorite author i have never read.' you ALL prove love and i cherish our trot together.

PREORDER CAMP DAMASCUS HERE

[wandixx]

Greeting comrades,

I’m Wandixx, a history enthusiast, baby writer and budding artist. Grab your tea/coffee/juice or whatever else beverage you favor and let’s go!

I’m part of the DPxDC fandom so my fics are from here. And this list exists so we all can find anything on this blog, welcome!

Here is my AO3:

My finished fics/prompt fills:

“Blood Blossom”:

Desperate times require desperate solutions. When, after escaping GIW, Danny gets trapped by the Justice League, he has only one way to get out of it. Eating a Blood Blossom. (this one includes a sad and happy ending!)

“Contingencies”:

Danny lives with Bats and it all seems to go pretty well. Until they find his contingency plans, including ones against himself, that were just over glorified suicide to-do list. How the hell are they supposed to handle that (that’s a chunky boi, over 20k)

“Ghost of fries and hero of cookies”

Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay Or Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of a local hero? And he looked like he needed a bad day combo anyway. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, art AO3 link

“Reverse summoning”:

It’s always DC characters summoning Danny. How about we do this another way around? Danny was desperate for a mentor and help (and some cold medicine). How- What- Why is Wonder Woman standing in his bedroom? 

“Unknown, the Wandering Hero”:

Unknown was who Justice League called the friendly anonymous hero, who kept helping them with ghosts. Only one with powers working on them. It just turns out, they were much younger than everyone expected. Danny went through a lot lately and the less people knew who he was, the less likely he was to return to the operating table.

Stuff that I shared snippets of:

"Danny and Wally are chaos incarnate"

"Dani's dress-up game and Batman's rouge gallery" (also known as "serious chaos one-shot snippet")

"GIW made a lot of mistakes and the biggest one was going against Young Justice" part 1

"Danny, the Young Justice member" random ideas part 1, part 2

The stuff I have somewhere on paper and would love to share if asked.

Make yourself at home, and I hope you’ll like it here!

[gabessquishytum]

Penniless Artist Dream doesn't have a choice but to take a position as house staff/live-in tutor for Widower Hob's Robin/sell the last of his art supplies for the livery for the job, and while he knows he didn’t have a choice, working on anything not his art makes him very sad.

And he's convinced that Master Gadling (No, Dream is not going to call him Hob) only gave him the position out of pity - which Dream can't abide.

Hob thinks Dream is fantastic! A fantastic artist and person; and so good with Robin. Hob doesn't know how, but he's going to figure out a way for Dream to start doing his art again....Hob's okay if Robin becomes an artist. The finger paintings and hand turkeys that Dream has him making are so great! Hob has kept all of them.

I can't decide if this is Regency-y or Modern Times-y, because Robin+Dream Art would live in a place of honor on Hob's fridge; but Old Time-y Hob getting all the canvases framed at expense and put in places of honor all over the house,,,,,that's totally a thing too.

AND when Dream finally gets back to his art and does a best selling gallery series with Robin's little Gadling handprints all in them,,,Hob would give it to him soooooo good.

Omg. We absolutely need artist Dream with Hob as his patron!! And lil Robin as his biggest fan!! And hey, I cant resist a little regency au in my life *winks at @seiya-starsniper *

Dream is a good tutor, but Hob can see that he's an even better painter. He wants to see Dream thrive and flourish! And so he causally offers him a commission: he wants a painting of a particular view from one of his favourite spots on his estate. Dream is hesitant at first, but Hob persuades him gently. Robin is still quite little, so he doesn't need Dream to be teaching him all the time. Hob can take him out for rides and play with him while Dream works on his art! He's missed playing with his little man anyway, so really Dream will be doing him a huge favour. And so, mostly because the money is too good to resist, Dream gives in.

He paints a magnificent landscape and Hob gushes about how much he loves it. He hangs it in the most important place in the house and makes all his guests look at it. He offers Dream more commissions and Dream can't resist Hob’s puppyish enthusiasm. He paints and paints and teaches Robin at the same time, until the boy is quite the budding little artist. Hob is so proud!

He even suggests that they should send one of Dream’s pictures off to the royal exhibition in London. Dream is very hesitant but Hob is persuasive, and he's got nothing to lose: Hob is paying all the fees. Dream just has to wait and see. When they find out that Dream’s painting is going on display, Hob pulls Dream into his arms and squeezes him, practically lifting him off the ground! He can't wait to take Dream and Robin to see the exhibition! No doubt, he's got it bad for his artist.

They make love for the first night in Hob’s London home, trying to be quiet so nobody will hear. Dream puts his lovely slim fingers in Hob’s mouth and muffles his moans into Hob’s chest, both of them completely floating away on a wave of love and joy. Hob wakes in the morning to the sight of Dream, sketchbook in hand, drawing out his naked form. They're both covered in charcoal by the time they're finished.

Dream isn't exactly a roaring success in London, but he picks up a few commissions from those who saw his painting at the exhibition. It's a huge improvement on his former situation, and he has plenty of room to grow. Although it may be difficult to persuade Hob to let anyone else buy the paintings - he's a liiiiittle possessive. And he'll always worship everything Dream creates <3

[olderthannetfic]

I think the biggest benefit of fancy art school courses is the required critique element where you and your peers basically sit together and rip each others works to shreds (within reason, a good art school will teach you how to give proper critique as much as to receive it) because Holy shit. I used to be terrified of anyone seeing my work because what if they didn’t like it? What if I poured my soul into something and everyone thought it was trash? But going through that on a weekly basis, including for collaborative projects where I was being roasted over whether or not I had accurately and properly understood my peers requests of me was… life-changing, in a good way. I got thicker skin. I learned how to filter criticism to the stuff I could actually work on from it. I learned how to approach telling someone else their work might suck in a way where they could actually listen.

Art school isn’t the be all end all if you want to be an artist, but there’s something to be said for an environment where you and a bunch of other hobbyist 20 somethings who want to go pro someday and are all forced to be sorta mean to each other for ten minutes a week and forced to learn how to Deal With That in a way that just makes you wanna create even MORE artwork afterwards. Met some lovely professors there too who were very encouraging after the first critique “I’m never drawing again” breakdown responses half the students had.

--

If only they were all run well!

I think one thing brutal critique can also teach you is that good critique is an art form, and your classmates are often petty idiots expressing their personal feelings about you or the bad day they're having more than anything useful about your actual work. (A good professor will nip this nonsense in the bud, of course, but they don't always.)

The more important part is getting you out of the "But if I could just explaaaaain" mindset and into the "The audience doesn't care about my excuses" one, but recognizing that a lot of critique is just junk is valuable too.

[orbitalsockets]

Friendly reminder that you can accommodate things to make witchcraft easier. The only realm where it would be difficult to do so is high end ritualism, but for my pals with ADHD I don't recommend that route because the intense planning makes my executive dysfunction kick into overdrive. There's a reason Hundreds of cultures around the world have different practices requiring different effort across hundreds of years - What may work for one society may not or will not work for another, and that same practice applies to witchcraft on an individual level. With that, I want to share the biggest thing that's helped my brain:

I keep my grimoire digitally. I cannot tell you how many journals dedicated to the Occult I've kept over 10+ years and I have never completely finished one. I get too in my own head about how it should look, how I should format the pages, if I want to be more artistic or more plain in my pages, and I get so overwhelmed with choices and the fear that I'm somehow keeping it "wrong" that the journal ends up sitting on my shelf. Digitally, I use Evernote and keep my grimoire as a separate Notebook. My spells and tinctures/balms are kept as recipe cards, my notes are kept however I feel like doing them in that moment and I have the relief of knowing that if I want to change it, I don't have to start an entire new page or journal. I transcribed all of my journal pages over to the app and the sheer relief I've had in being able to have a more forgiving format of keeping my grimoire has made me feel so much more comfortable in my practice.

"Keeping a journal is more personal" so essays written in Word about deep rooted personal experiences aren't personal because they were written digitally? Of course not, that would be absurd. I comprehend that keeping a physical journal is supposed to hold more power and symbology for witchcraft, but you drain yourself of your power by repeatedly plunging yourself into stress over your Grimoire. Not to mention, if you're in the broom closet it's infinitely safer to go digital than to have a journal - Something that would have saved me a lot of grief as a budding teen witch had I not been convinced that I was less than others if I kept it on my phone or laptop.

With that being said, I don't think digital is better than physical journals or vice versa - I know what works for me may not for someone else and I don't judge that. I just know what's best for me and my brain and I've finally decided to listen to that instead of insisting to myself that it needs to be like everyone else despite no other part of my practice being held to the same standard in my mind. Do what's best for you, not what the internet is saying is the Only Way™ to do things.

[desire-mona]

dps boys (and keating's) favourite songs (aka me projecting because i love music) (also modern au because you cannot limit me to music before 1960 you just cant)

i made a playlist of all these songs in case you wanna give em a listen, you can find it here. if you totally disagree with me or wanna add more then absolutely let me know!

neil: talia - ride the cyclone (the musical)

yes i KNOW it's obvious to choose a song from a musical BUT. ride the cyclone is special, i think he'd really like the lack of an ensemble and enjoy the dark premise despite the comedic nature of a vast majority of the show. also i totally think his favourite performance would be by gus halper bc of the use of the projector. mischa or noel is definitely a dream role of his.

todd: vincent - james blake ('s cover, og by don mclean)

don mcleans lyricism is like catnip to poets and it has gone unacknowledged for far too long. a lyrically gorgeous, vaguely queer sounding song about a tortured artist, covered by someone with an ANGELIC voice. can you name anything more todd? not to mention the piano is so far beyond moving, nothing short of a masterpiece.

charlie: dear prudence - siouxsie and the banshees (again - a cover, og by the beatles)

firm believer that charlie was an avid beatles hater for a WHILE until eleanor rigby grew on him, much to his dismay. is now a casual beatles enjoyer, only due to the fact that their vocals annoy him. so a cover by siouxsie sioux (whom he most definitely has a crush on) is basically a blessing in disguise. loves the instrumentals, loves the vocals, loves all of it. insists that its better than the original and will ultimately die (correct) on that hill.

meeks: love on the line (call now) - her's

as much as i love and adore meeks, i have been loyal to my headcanon that he is an annoying music snob since day one. of course, this culminates in his favourite song being by THE indie pop/rock band that pretentious people love to bring up the death of. he is no exception, any time the band is mentioned he will without fail go "did you know that they died in a car crash?" either way, id be lying if i said this was a bad pick. the upbeat vibe mixed with the actual meaning of the song being about a guy wasting all his money on a sex hotline? it makes the whole song so fun, and thats right up his alley! super danceable too, which plays a huge part.

pitts: bad fruit - jean dawson

will mona ever shut up about jean dawson? signs point to no. anywho, if you've followed along with my pittsie musings then you KNOW that i consider pitts to be the most well versed music guy to ever step on welton academy campus. realistically, im sure his favourite song changes on a day to day basis, but he always comes back to this. jean dawson makes art that ive seen few do similarly, everything he brings to the table i find so incredibly unique and well crafted. definitely pitts' biggest music crush.

cameron: '39 - queen

absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, an extremely guilty pleasure. i take his parents as the type to ban queen in their household (for reasons that im sure youre able to pick up on) but i ALSO take cameron as a sucker for classic rock, match made in hell. of course, since brian may does the vocals on this song instead of freddie, he can listen on the dl and be fine. also, the concept of time travel in music is SO!!! INTERESTING!! would absolutely go on a 10 minute long tangent about the story and meaning of the song, which only mittsie would actually listen to.

knox: lavender buds - MF DOOM

fine, FINE. i'll give knox a proper headcanon, but i wont be happy about it. i think i would listen to MF DOOM a lot more if i was a former bully, but thats not actually based off anything so dont take that as an insult, avid listeners. honestly i dont really have an in depth explanation for this one, just look at the lyrics and youll understand.

(this repeats 3 times)

i also take him to be a big r&b/ blues enjoyer, also based off nothing at all, so the sample probably appeals to some sense of nostalgia.

keating: clair de lune - claude debussy

yes, even modern keating's fav song would be classical, you can rip that from my cold, dead hands. this song was based off the poem by the same title by paul verlaine, which i'll include because it is just so damn beautiful.

Your soul is a select landscape

Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go

Playing the lute and dancing and almost

Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.

All sing in a minor key

Of victorious love and the opportune life,

They do not seem to believe in their happiness

And their song mingles with the moonlight,

With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,

That sets the birds dreaming in the trees

And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,

The tall slender fountains among marble statues.

Paul Verlaine, 1869 (originally written in french, so this is a rough english translation)

now the song itself does SUCH a good job at capturing the beauty and moving parts of this poem, and it fits perfectly with a plethora of different emotions. i know without a shadow of a doubt that its his kryptonite. is that me projecting because i love this song and i love keating? absolutely, but i still think its true either way.

[starcrossedjedis]

Look, I never really got emotionally attached to Bridgerton as a show, which is also why I never went and read the books, but the sneaky peeks these days remind me how very attached I was to my three "Spinster Society" OCs and their storylines 🥹

Ms. Kitty Turner - illegitimate bastard daughter of the late Lord Bridgerton's brother, who - following a string of rather sad events - happened to grow up with her flock of picture perfect Bridgerton cousins.

When it's time for her cousin Daphne to debut, her cousin Anthony as new head of the family makes the decision not to let Kitty debut alongside his sister.

Worried both about what the merciless gossip machine of the ton might do to her and about what such a ruckus could do to Daphne's prospects, he thinks it best to keep her on the periphery of things.

Alas, Queen Charlotte has other ideas ("I believe we are missing a young lady today...") and commands Kitty debuts along with the others.

The young lady in question however is less than thrilled. She had been looking forward to spending the season in peace and with her two best friends. Learning that Poppy is in France and won't be joining them is bad enough, now she has to prance around like a show pony and make nice with spoiled young men who either wouldn't court her even if their life depended on it or who see her as nothing but an exotic notch to put on her belt.

And when it seems that the rakish Duke of Hastings is making the moves on her very innocent cousin, Kitty fears that this season she really has her work cut out for her...

(In which the scene in the maze really is just a misunderstanding and a certain someone declares his intention to marry a certain bastard in front of the Queen and a crowd of people expecting him to propose to The Diamond™️. Also no one is being raped in this one and pulling out is not contraception, thank you ☝️)

Ms. Poppy Featherington (yes, I know Poppy is also an abbreviation for Penelope shhhht 🤫) - the oldest Featherington daughter used to be her mother's favourite, mostly because the ton was certain that out of all the sisters she was the most likely to strike a notable match. Her mother even harboured hopes that she might be the one to finally tie that inseparable bond with the Bridgertons, when her eldest daughter stroke up a surprising friendship with the future Viscount.

But following her debut season - a season without a match, might we add - she did not return to the ton the following year, chosing instead to study in France, according to her mother.

When she returns for what is supposed to be the season of Miss Edwina Sharma, she is a changed woman - earnest and almost reclusive, without patience for her mother's meddling to intervene with Anthony's and Edwina's budding courtship and opening up only to her best friend Kitty - the new Duchess of Hasting - and her cousin Charlie.

But even they aren't privy to her biggest secret - and the real reason she was missing from the merry and the crazy of the ton for so long...

Mr. Charlie Featherington - cousin of the Featherington bunch, oldest member of the "Spinster Society" and a definite favourite of the ton in recent seasons.

Alas, where in the first few years people were aghast as to why someone like him - handsome and kind, with a sweet smiley and dreamy eyes - hadn't found himself a wife yet, more recently hushed rumours have been starting to circulate behind close doors as to why the young man might not be in a hurry to marry.

Benedict Bridgerton - fully occupied by his family's own dramas and scandals and thus blissfully unaware of most of the ton's secrets, lies and cause for rage - is happy to find a likeminded friend in passionate writer and artistic soul Charlie, as well as someone who is not afraid to be frank about his opinions on Benedict's art.

But soon Benedict sees reason to question Charlie's feelings for him - and yet more importantly, the way he feels about the sweet, young man who seems to be so utterly at peace with the implications of living out his days a "Bachelor".

[letterstomonkey]

I am Second

I am a hearth first and a threshold second.

I am a fire first and an Irish exit second.

I emanate warmth at first, with one foot crossing the threshold from the first posed question-

I’m gone in a second.

I didn’t know what a hearth was,

Until I knew, that blood too creates a spectacle of art upon my face,

I know a fireplace does not insinuate a warm place,

and an audience doesn’t imitate the heart-to-heart I always chase.

Artists don’t know anything, except for how to create space

To perceive and be perceived;

I am an artist second, and first

A literary receptacle, or

A candlelit canticle, or

A memory semantical; I am

A digression indigestible.

I’m fascinated by perspective, popcorn and rare pennies,

My grandma’s orange lilies, and your lack of spatial awareness around me.

I named a garden after myself, and I damned every root and bud yet to bloom to Eternal Internal suffering.

I read aloud my words, then cleanse my teeth with antifreeze,

I bake inedible pastries for the sake of constant fleeting company.

Fringe jacket sleeves depict perfectly

my fear of touching what is forbidden, not realizing until it is too late.

I love Christmas, for I specialize in giving my gifts away recklessly

Abandoning myself,

And I am at home because I know how to do something right when I am second.

I still need permission to enter a room first, I beg for mercy over every mess I make.

I keep my blinds closed, wondering how to be perceived, comfortably.

I keep my door closed, wondering

Who will be the first to leave with the best of me?

If my words are my favorite part of me, then

What am I worth when they’re working against me?

I never wanted to become wild, when

I was seeking forgiveness before permission,

I was spoken to like a child as

My seeking acceptance gave way to remission.

I’m a teacher’s pet, and I’m not sorry for that.

I love learning and I hate being my biggest distraction.

I was a teacher’s pet until they introduced me to fractions.

I wanted to be a teacher until they all

Reduced me to a distraction wearing jean shorts.

They spoke their intentions, and

Eventually I learned to savor such adult attention.

Why do we keep pretending to care about intentions?

How they litter tainted, moral principle remnants?

I still don’t know if I have ever been a good friend.

I have yet to remember not to reach for bread and butter across the dinner table

When I eat with my elbows on the table, I think of my grandmother,

how I love her without needing anything from her,

how I have come to accept people that do not accept me.

Morally obligated intentions haunt my ancestry, but lightning struck my family tree.

It ends with me.

[merylstreepsworld]

Ohh lovely! In that case, may I request headcanons on how Donna and (preferably) fem!reader got together? Maybe reader is a guest at the hotel or something like that. With reader having a huge crush on Donna if that's possible. :)

Certainly! Thank you so much for the request! If you have any more requests, feel free to drop them in my request box!

Here are headcanons about how you and Donna got together:

1. You, a guest at Donna's hotel on the picturesque island of Kalokari, first encountered Donna when checking in. Donna's warmth and welcoming smile instantly made an impression on you, leaving you with a fluttering heart.

2. It was practically love at first sight for you. Donna's radiant beauty and magnetic personality had you swooning, and you couldn't help but steal glances at Donna whenever you crossed paths.

3. You found any excuse to ask for Donna's assistance, whether it was with luggage or advice on where to explore on the island. Donna was always willing to help, and you cherished those moments.

4. Donna noticed your frequent visits to the hotel's common areas and bar. She often engaged in friendly conversations with you, learning about your interests and passions.

5. Over time, you and Donna discovered common interests, particularly a love for music. You bonded over your favorite songs and artists, and Donna even serenaded you with her beautiful voice one magical evening.

6. You started volunteering for small tasks around the hotel, like helping with decorations or organizing events, just to be closer to Donna and get to know her better.

7. You couldn't help but daydream about scenarios where Donna might return your feelings, and these daydreams often involved romantic walks on the beach, shared laughter, and heartfelt conversations.

8. Both you and Donna were hesitant to admit your feelings. You shared knowing smiles and lingering touches, but it took a heart-to-heart conversation for you to acknowledge the undeniable attraction between you. You would often blush or stutter in Donna's presence, making it apparent to anyone with a keen eye that they had a crush

9. Donna's friends and coworkers at the hotel would tease her about your infatuation, causing her to chuckle and playfully deny any knowledge of it.

10. Donna, while initially oblivious to your crush, began to sense your growing affection. She found herself looking forward to your interactions and appreciating your presence at the hotel.

11. The island's enchanting moonlit nights became the backdrop for your late-night strolls along the beach. Under the starry sky, you shared your dreams, hopes, and secrets, forging a deep connection.

12. It was during a starlit beach walk that Donna's hand slipped into yours, her fingers entwining with yours as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The connection between you both was undeniable.

13. One special evening, Donna invited you to join her for a private dinner on the terrace overlooking the sea. The intimacy of the setting allowed your feelings for each other to flourish, and a shared kiss under the moonlit sky sealed your attraction.

14. From that moment on, you and Donna became inseparable. You explored the island together, danced under the stars, and enjoyed each other's company in ways that made your bond unbreakable

15. Donna planned surprise romantic date nights for you, including candlelit dinners, stargazing on the beach, and even a private boat ride at sunset.

16. On a quiet afternoon, while watching the waves lap against the shore, Donna confessed her love to you. The words came naturally, as if they had been written in the sands of Kalokari itself. "I love you."

17. As your love deepened, you decided to make Kalokari your permanent home. Donna welcomed you with open arms, and together, you built a life filled with love, laughter, and unforgettable moments.

18. Sophie, Donna's daughter, was your biggest cheerleader. She encouraged your budding relationship and couldn't have been happier for her mom and you.

19. Together, you continued to explore the island, creating countless memories as you navigated the challenges and joys of your newfound relationship.

20. Deep down, you believe that Donna is the one who makes Kalokari the paradise it is, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

[get-back-homeward]

Now and Then Day

This sideblog began after watching Get Back nagged and nagged at me until finally I started to look closer at context relative to the Beatles discography and suddenly started experiencing these WAIT WHAT moments every day as what I thought I knew got turned inside out. The appeal was in looking at something you knew like the back of your hand from another direction and seeing/hearing something new you hadn’t seen/heard before. But I had no idea we’d get another song to add to the mix in 2023.

I knew Now and Then day would be an experience. I thought I’d have to wait the whole day before listening. But I got lucky and found a few minutes to listen to Now and Then when it was first released this morning. And inexplicably clicked to hear the remastered Love Me Do instead. I cannot explain my brain.

I then tried to start Now and Then and noped out before 15 seconds in. Too overwhelming. Not the right time. I was too rushed and needed more space to mentally prepare for it.

I caught NPR covering the Now and Then release today on my drive home. They had a Lennon biographer (I didn’t catch the name) reviewing the song. He said the song recalls John’s more delicate tunes like Beautiful Boys (sic) and mentioned John started the song in 1970.

Say what?!

Here I was late last night trying to nail down a better date for John’s demo than “late 70s”. Meanwhile, biographers are just here on national public radio pushing lies. Did he have ChatGPT write his comments?

Oh yeah, they also said it was created with AI no qualifier.🤦‍♀️

They played a few snippets of the song including one new piece not in the doc but refrained from playing it in full. It was mostly wrong Beatles facts all segment.

Trying the song a second time hours later, I got through it in one piece but was feeling abit 🥴 about it as a song itself. Having just listened to the original demo was probably a mistake, and I could hear all the seams and feeling the Frankenstein song effect.

Third attempt sounded more together, with the seams not quite as noticeable. I was prepared for the changes, the layering bits from other songs, and noted highlights of the instrumentals: the strings, George’s guitar bits, and Ringo’s flourishes. I love Paul coming through on the future tense certainty of “I will love you” (is that I Will?). Ringo’s shimmering effect choice (is it tams?) is such an entrancing closer. Giles’ score and Beatles recycled bits do mend the seams well once I stop thinking about them too much.

On fourth listen, my biggest notes are questioning why Paul’s harmony with John isn’t more distinct. He shows a lot of restraint here but maybe too much? Did Get Back get to him in other ways than the most obvious? Is he just self-conscious about his own voice? Or is it the limitation of the tech when it comes to harmony mixing?

The strings were what I was most worried about, but their entrance at the 1:15 mark really kicks it up a notch to transition into the singalong. Other standouts are 1:40 with George’s flourish and 2:29 peak with the guitar solo.

Lyrically, it’s the conditional and if I make it through it’s all because of you that haunts in layers of meaning both grim and cathartic that reverberate through time and space.

If John makes it through emotionally to 1980 and has a comeback? Congrats, bud you did it. But he’s stopped physically through no fault of his own. There’s the obvious mourning of that lost potential even 40 years later.

If this song this voice this message of John’s makes it through to 2023 and reaches the public? Well, success there, Paul’s tenacity saw it through with help from many friends. John’s voice and song lives on through Paul’s wish to conjure him by his side. On the Day of the Dead no less. I was reminded of the concept of tulpas today and was knocked back on my heels by the thought.

If John as an artist and Beatles as a band make it through so fans are still listening in 2023? This doubles as a bit of a fan love letter, and thank you for 60 years. Released on the day Beatlemania first appeared in black and white.

But then there’s also a reflector on this. Some original Beatles fans have aged with Paul and Ringo and others have not and aren’t here to share this like John and George. There’s grief and mourning from those still here about those lost, and the song acts as a catharsis. A kind of thank you to the band for being there for fans in good times and bad. The symbiosis of fame between a band and its fans across the decades.

It’s a lot.

I spent some time looking at the youtube comments on the song. Some original fans but many second and even third generation fans. And quite a few stories about a loved one who loved the band and recently passed away like this one:

And this:

But also in there are stories of catharsis and healing.

And many memories of the joy that Beatles music has brought to people’s lives. We all have these stories of how their songs weave into our own life. But it’s the joy that I keep coming back to as the secret sauce to the band’s earliest days. I often think of those early songs more in terms of feeling then anything, and it starts with the first single.

I love the Love Me Do remastering. That harmonica sounds so crisp. The bluegrassy harmonies have never sounded better. The ones on ple-ee-ee-ease still give me chills. Ringo’s drums moved forward in the mix to appreciate that driving beat just a bit more. I can hear the bass too. I can’t wait to hear what the other early Red album tracks sound like.

But next to Now and Then, I’m also looking at the lyrics like I never did before. Why give it another glance? Written by a 16 year old kid, it always sounded a bit juvenile and simple. But suddenly next to Now and Then, there’s a weight to it I never heard before.

Love, love me do

You know I love you

I’ll always be true

So please, love me do

It sounds like a promise. Now and Then is fulfillment of that always. It’s no longer just the whim of a kid. But rather the beginning of 7 decade devotional: To John, to the band, to fans, and reflected back again. The love is reciprocal from all sides.

How’s that for a WAIT WHAT moment? Paul turning the least likely song inside out and backwards. And he didn’t even add a lyrical middle eight.

[official-soulriders]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Pinned Post ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

woa how'd you do the sparkle thing??

It's easy, there's a website you can copy and paste them

Okay are the sparkles necessary-

I think they're fun, I don't see why not?

Guys, focus-

Oh, right. Halo, you wanna kick off introductions? This was your idea.

ok!

hi everyone, my name's Halo :) um, I'm from Jorvik! I live in Valedale and this is my horse, Buddy!

um, my pronouns are they/them

That all you wanna put?

yea

Alright, guess I'm up next. I'll try to keep introductions short too; my name's Alex, tech expert and lover of fun and chaos! And this bozo is my best bud, Tin-Can!

(She/her)

Hi everyone! I'm Lisa Peterson, up and coming music artist from Texas, but I live in Jorvik with my dad. This here is my horse and the namesake of my family ranch, Starshine!

(She/they)

Hi, I'm Linda! If you go to Jorvik High you might know me as the editor in chief of the JHS Gazette. This here is my horse and Jorvik's biggest glutton, Meteor:

(She/they)

My name's Anne Von Blyssen. If you're any amount of involved in Jorvik's dressage scene, you probably know who me and Concorde are already. I'd like to decline any questions about my disappearance a couple months ago, thanks.

(She/her)

Basically we're uh- I guess you could call us a riding club? We're dedicated to helping people around Jorvik! Kinda like charity work, I guess. But we also do fun, casual riding stuff too. When we aren't fighting off dark forces-

This blog was mostly an idea for Halo to make more friends, so they're probably the one you'll see on here the most- but you'll also hear from the four of us too, occasionally! We each have our own individual tags, too:

#🪐 speaks = Halo's tag

#⚡ speaks = Alex's tag

#🌟 speaks = Lisa's tag

#🌙 speaks = Linda's tag

#☀️ speaks = Anne's tag

(( OOC under cut ))

(( roleplay blog for the soul riders (including my OC) from SSO! i'm normal about them. my typical sso posting blog is @starbornsoulrider so go there if u wanna know more abt Halo! ))

RULES/INFO:

-light NSFW jokes are fine but nothing explicit.

-mun is an adult

-you probably know me from pkmn irl, so i just wanna say that even if you're a pkmn rp blog/any other kind of non sso rp blog you can still feel free to interact! i mean i might block for certain fandoms but i don't feel like listing them here

-magic anons are on, but depending on how I'm feeling i might delay answering them

-for ask games i kindly ask you to specify who you're sending an ask to! unless i specifically say im only doing an ask game for a certain character. otherwise i'll just pick one randomly

[maxicaiman]

hey! (evil)

so if i happened to want to get some tips on how to draw mechs,, could you spare a moment of your time to provide some small tips? i really wanna draw my partner's oc because hes SO COOL?? shoutout my boy tactic

-totally not october <3

Absolutely bud!! Shoutout to my wife (Tactic,,,, tactic is my wife,,,, guh)

The thing that helped me the most was learning the Transformers Animated style! My style is very cartoonish and with it being a cartoon it fit super well and helped me a ton

One of the biggest things is that robots are very shaped. Lots of squares especially. Just getting that shape language down will help a ton

Also like? Don’t worry about getting details down or making it look robotic necessarily. A lot of transformers artists will tell you that you don’t have to get every single detail down, and are absolutely fine with it as long as a character is recognizable. I tend to go a little more detailed than normal, but it’s not necessary at all

So yeah I’d suggest looking at the Transformers Animated, looking at screenshots and scenes and such to get the feel for robots down!! (Also you gotta show me when you’re done,,,,, show me my wife,,,,,)

[skiptomy]

Help a disabled trans person get back on their feet

Forcing myself to ask for help. It's really hard for me to do this cause I always feel like I've already asked way too much, but a few kind folks have suggested I do something like this, so I guess here goes nothing.

For more info about what's going on you can check out this post, but the tl;dr is that I'm flat fucking broke right now with no way to get extra income. A lot of my stuff is super old or super broken and at the point where I need replacements that I cannot afford.

So I guess here's a list of stuff, and general prices, though if anyone has better recommendations I'm super open. I'm limiting it to things I actively need rather than just things I want cause that obviously doesn't seem fair to ask folks for.

Bedding: at this point all my pillows are so old they are actively yellowing. My comforter is pretty stained and starting to tear up at the seams and whenever I come home from doing one of my dog sitting jobs I've noticed how much worse my allergies are. Fixing this will drastically help my lungs and sinuses, as well as help with joint support/comfort.

Allergy safe pillows: Usually between 8$-15$ x 2 at least, 4 preferred (joint support)

Cooling comforter: [link] 35$ plus shipping

Allergy safe mattress cover: Most I can find are between 30-50$

Cooling mattress pad: [link] 43$ plus shipping

Med support: This part is pretty self explanatory as to why I need them. But just in case you'd like to know; I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, fibromyalgia, chrons/ibs, asthma, pretty bad environmental allergies, as well as being recently diagnosed with ADHD/Autism. This leads to near constant pain, always constant fatigue, and just general bad vibes y'know? My body is essentially a poorly constructed ball joint doll that thinks it's funny to just sprinkle on the symptoms.

This one is just way easier to do as a wishlist, cause there's a LOT of things that could help and a lot of them are very expensive.

Work: I work as a digital artist, and the biggest thing I'm saving up for right now is a functioning PC, as my current computer continues to crash and is plagued with a whole lot of troubles and has never really had enough RAM to do what I need. Thanks to the incredible people in my life I have a little towards this already, as well as a big discount through one of my friend's jobs. The build that my tech buds and I worked out would suit my needs and keep me going for a good decade or so is about 1,400$. I've got 500$ towards it already that I refuse to touch for anything else (if it's not life threatening), and I'm trying my best to save up on the side, but bills and life keep making that very hard.

I've got Paypal, Venmo (just ask for QR), and Ko-fi.

I also do commissions but those are quite slow going right now because of all the aforementioned problems. But if you don't mind waiting a while (trying to catch up on older ones right now) you sure can put an order in.

If you are able to help, I cannot express how much that would mean to me. But I also completely understand if you can't. It's tough out there. Especially right now with everything going on. In any case, I wish you all the best, and thank you heartily for reading and sharing.

[meenawrites]

Trudy Parenting Spider

SOOOOO here are some random thoughts I had about Trudy figuring out parenting and she's going to go about it!

I 100% think that she just barely sees a tiny Spider outside, somehow having breached the airlock on his own. His little cheeks are puffed out and he's holding his breath and she realizes that this kid is going to be an absolute menace to her heart and his own safety. So when he's finally allowed to go outside because he can fit into an exopack, she fashions a kiddy leash or something for him because she just knows if she doesn't watch him for a second he'll go bounding into some cranny or another and get himself eaten by a palulukan or something. The Sully kids think the leash is hilarious but Jake having Lo'ak as a rascal and Kiri who just randomly wanders off something totally gets it and applauds her decision. He can't get Neytiri to agree to one for the kids though. 

Trudy couldn't help but coddle the kid in Spanish when he was a kid so he used to go around as a toddler mixing up English and Spanish as a toddler, then eventually English, Spanish, and Na'vi. As soon as she decides she whole-heartedly taking this kid as her responsibility, she decides to teach him Spanish. Spanish becomes a language that connects just the two of them and it creates a tight bond between the two. Spider thinks Spanish curses are funnier than English ones so he'll randomly curse in Spanish under his breath and Norm will be like "I don't know what that means, but I know it isn't appropriate, young man!"

I think Trudy's go-to when addressing Spider is "Kiddo",  followed closely by "Bud" or "Buddy", "Rascal". I have to assume she uses some Spanish terms of endearment as well, but I'm not as well versed in those seeing as I'm not Hispanic (though I do get looked up and down and immediately get spoken to in Spanish most of the time so I'm flattered). I think she'd try to stay away from terms like mijo (my son) for a bit because she's unsure whether she should be putting some that distance between them or simply doesn't want to encroach on his feelings about his mom, but at some point when he's older it kind of slips out and Spider almost cries (he totally does and Trudy does too).

I think she would probably sit and watch Grace's video logs with him or with him and Kiri when she joined in because Spider's a voracious learner and he loves watching Grace talk about the biology of Pandora and its interconnectedness. Trudy learns a lot about Pandora in this way as well, and she misses Grace a lot while she's watching them. 

Like I think I said in a previous post, I think she definitely helps Spider prank the scientists here and there and they both run away from the aftermath laughing maniacally. 

Once she realizes how much Spider wants his height to be measured like the Sully kids, she totally carves a pole out of some fallen wood and sets it up in the room that they share and starts marking his height and cooking him whatever he wants when she sees he's grown taller. 

I imagine they share a room mostly because there probably aren't that many rooms to go around and when Spider was little and after the McCoskers, she wasn't okay with leaving him alone at night and neither was he okay with being alone. I think eventually, if the construct of the base allows for it, they would have like knocked a wall down or something and expanded the room for both of them, maybe drawn a curtain in the middle for some semblance of privacy. 

In my characterization of Spider (which I revealed in the latest installment of my Spider Chronicles fic) Spider is a great artist and he's been drawing since he was little so Trudy definitely has like the biggest collection of Spider's drawings and keeps his old sketchbooks and stuff. She notices that a consistent topic of his drawings is Kiri and she only gets portrayed more and more beautifully as he gets better, and she thinks it's hilariously adorable. She worries a bit for him and his love for the Na'vi girl with him being human and all, but at the moment they're too young for it to matter and frankly she's not quite sure what to do about it, so she just teases him about it every now and then. 

Trudy would definitely teach Spider how to pilot her kestrel, and one of his favorite activities with her since he was little was flying with her. He becomes better than Norm at piloting eventually which he doesn't cease to remind him. 

I think Trudy knows what it's like as a kid to not really get much physical affection from your parents and being touch-starved and she recognizes the signs in Spider almost immediately. It's a lot worse after the McCoskers who didn't even speak to him, let alone hug him, so she starts communicating to him as best (and awkwardly) as she can that it's okay to ask for hugs or to hold her hand, or just generally ask for anything he needs from her. He doesn't really go for it at first and never initiates anything because he doesn't want to be a burden so she changes tactics and just kind of demands physical affection from him like, "hold my hand" or "Spider, I need a hug" , and he slowly gets more comfortable with just grabbing her arm or holding his arms out for a hug or just generally wanting to be held. 

I think Trudy's always worried whether she's doing a good job for this kid or if she's missing something vital so she does watch how Neytiri and some other Omaticaya parents interact and handle their kids and like actually takes notes. Neytiri's really unnerved by her less than subtle staring until she sees her notes one day or something and is endeared. She tells her she can just ask her whatever questions she has in like a very tsundere way. 

If you guys have any ideas or asks please let me know! I finally figured out how to add the ask me questions button online so hopefully that's there for you guys.

[frozenhi-chews]

Thinking about the fact I have always self shipped and self inserted myself into the stories and worlds of things I have enjoyed. I have pretty much always been a self shipper since I was 3 or 4. And like, why wouldn't you insert yourself into the stories and make friends with the characters you love? I thought everyone did that. I inserted myself into Pokemon, Portal 2, a silly game called Castaway 2 Spore, and a few others even before I was a teen. When I say Wheatley is my oldest F/O, I mean it. I had such a big crush on him when I was nine and its still here AUGH!!

It's kinda hard to not self insert myself into stories? Like, even if I didn't have a crush on anyone, I would still do it. Cuz again, who wouldn't?

I used to have a crush on Ink Sans, and he was my biggest crush for YEARS. (Imagine that, another UT-related character XD) I could probably look around in DMS, but if I had my notebooks of my old self ship art of him, i would share it. In fact, he's the first character i actively drew self ship art with. I was around 13-14 years old, Undertale had come out and the internet was going nuts about it (and sans), and i really liked Ink PFFT. I also was just starting to draw more around this time, and i literally had that "OH I CAN DRAW ANYTHING" moment. And so, without shame, but a LOT of flustering, I had drawn myself with Ink a LOT. Developing stories, even making a fankid at one point (Rip Kenzie, you will be missed). So even tho he isnt on my list anymore and i kinda outgrew him, he's still a comfort in being the first F/O i drew stiff with. Also i was a budding artist, having an artist F/O was amazing!!

Funny how he kinda disappeared, but Springs stayed. Probably to make room for the conman and cowboy pfft

So yeah, thats my self shipping origin story!!

[thedomesticanthropologist]

Hypothetically let's say Sivvus was getting a portrait done- is there anything thematically/aesthetically would he would specifically be drawn to? Favourite flowers, rooms/locations? Besides from something obscenely lavish and self-aggrandising, which seems like a fair assumption.

(I'd go ahead and just take initiative, but I can't think he'd think too fondly of the court painter misrepresenting him)

(ps I love your little corner of the internet! :])

Sivvus lives in the Spring Court of the Feywild, so think springtime! Fresh, new buds. His flowers are white apple blossoms, fresh growth and new life.

Where he lives it is always roughly high noon, and his magic that he uses is always infused with a glowing golden light. So though he is a druid, his spells are all gold even when he's summoning plants.

Sivvus' is 6 feet tall, and quite slim. His hair goes to/past his elbows. He always wears high necked clothing, and depending on the colour he's wearing the embroidery is always Gold or Silver. He tends to wear single colours, so if he's wearing robes in blue you won't find other colours involved except for the appropriate embroidery combination.

I very quickly pulled these reference images from Google images for where he lives, just to give a rough idea of his general/typical surroundings. Please don't reblog this as I do not have artist credit I just quickly snagged to help answer your question

All else fails think of Rivendell from LOTR ! That was my biggest inspo. Thank you so much for asking!!