#shining some light into kate and billy's lives

[hawkinspostbite]

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐈𝐈𝐈

Words: 4,110

MASTERLIST 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

A/N: I do not claim to, nor do I own Stranger Things; the concept, characters, plot, etc.

[ᴊᴀɴᴜᴀʀʏ 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟻]

On January 12, Carol threw a rager that had majority of the junior class in a funk for about a week. Since she was away for New Year’s, Carol wanted to make up for it by throwing a party to celebrate the new school semester. As if anybody was actually excited about going back to classes again.

Kate had helped Carol prepare for the party for at least a week. She endured a painful drive to Carmel, alone with Tina’s older brother - their alcohol supplier. As well as countless hours of babbling from her friends on what to wear and who to be with.

She just wanted this damn party to be over with.

Finally the night had come. Kate arrived at Carol’s at 7:30. Walking into the kitchen, she double-checked that all the drinks were cold, and had back-ups on hand. The music would be continuous all night, due to borrowing Tina’s 6-tape cassette player, and Tommy had come through earlier to set up the three kegs in the backyard.

Tina poured the girls each a shot of vodka. “Jesus Christ Carol, would you lighten up? This is a silly Saturday rager, not the Met Ball.” Kate handed her a cup. “Drink up sister.”

Around 8:00 people began to arrive, and by 9:00 the party was in full swing.

For the first hour, Kate had been on the lookout for her brother. He hadn’t been to a party since Halloween, but she could hardly predict what did anymore, so she didn’t know if he would show up or not. She remained in the kitchen, quietly watching over the alcohol.

Much to her dismay, Tommy had arrived late, and brought Billy with him. “Harrington, what’s happening?” Tommy strode up to her.

She grabbed two beers from the bin beside her, handing them to Tommy. He handed one to Billy before cracking his open. “Nothing much actually.” She flicked the water droplets from her hand onto the boys in front of her.

Tommy pouted. “No boys suiting the princess tonight?”

Kate sighed in annoyance. “Guess not Tommy. Carol's out back waiting for you. She couldn’t get the keg spout to work on the second barrel.”

“Son of a bitch.” Tommy muttered before going out the back door.

Billy stood in front of her, taking a sip from his beer.

A few moments later he followed Tommy.

About a half an hour later Kate had joined the vast majority of the party-goers in the backyard. Billy had began his keg challenge - in which he tried to see if anybody was willing to attempt and beat his very impressive record of forty-two seconds.

Nobody stepped up.

“I’ll give it a go.” Kate’s mouth worked before he brain could react. Her brother had set a record relatively close to Billy’s, so why couldn’t she give it a try?

“Alright, Harrington’s the only one with balls enough to try.” Tommy grinned. “Come here, I’ll lift you up.”

“No. Carol, Tina, can you guys do it?” Kate turned to look at her friends.

The pair stepped away from the crowd with smiles. “We’d be happy to.” Carol spoke.

“Girls support girls.”

Kate stepped up to the keg, placing her hands around the rim. Tina and Carol grabbed her legs and lifted her up. “Time starts now!” Tommy shouted, and the crowd began to count.

“One, two, three.” - What the hell was she doing? She didn’t even like beer.

“Nine, ten, eleven.” - Was she doing this to annoy Billy or to restore the Harrington name?

“Twenty, twenty-one.”

Her eyes darted over to notice Billy intently watching her.

“Twenty-six, twenty-seven.” - His hair looked really nice.

“Thirty.” - Why the hell did she just think that?

“Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six.” - Holy shit.

“Forty, forty-one.” - Just a few more seconds.

“Forty-four.”

She slapped the keg, coughing as the remaining liquid in her mouth spilled out, drenching the front of her shirt. The crowd was cheering. Carol grabbed her arm. “Holy shit, you just beat Hargrove’s record!”

Kate shook her head at her friends. “Never again.” She kicked the barrel. “Never let me do that again.”

She used her sleeve to wipe her chin. Billy walked up to her, holding out his hand. “Congratulations Keg King.”

She shook his hand. “I’ve always wondered what it was like to be king.”

“Would you like a beer to celebrate your victory, your highness?” She dropped her hand, the ground began to shift a little.

“Shush. Stop talking.” She took a few seconds to compose herself before going inside. “No more drinks for me. God, please.” She swatted at the bottle of beer Billy tried to hand her.

He sighed, placing it back in the bin. “You wanna get out of here?” He asked her, helping her to stand up a little straighter against Carol’s cabinets.

“I don’t like you.” She mumbled.

“Okay. That’s okay.” Billy placed an arm around her shoulders and began to lead her out to his car. He helped her into the back seat, and that was the last thing Kate remembered about that night.

The next morning Kate awoke, still in the back seat of Billy’s Camaro, but sans her shirt and shoes. Instead, her upper half was covered with Billy’s denim jacket. In front of her, Billy sat asleep in the drivers seat.

“Holy fuck!” She exclaimed, sitting up.

“What! What?” Billy awoke with a start, turning around to see what the problem was.

“I have no shirt on? Jesus Christ, turn around!” She shouted at him.

He quickly turned back around. “Where is my shirt? Why am I not wearing it? Hargrove you better start fucking talking or I am gong to loose my shit back here!”

“Its up here!” He grabbed her shirt from the dashboard and tossed it back at her.

She began to re-dress. “Why was I not wearing it?” She poked his shoulder. “You can look now.”

“You spilled beer all over it last night. When you beat me at the keg-stand. Do you remember anything?”

“Oh my god. Oh my god, did we sleep together? Please tell me we didn’t sleep together.” She buried her face in her hands.

“No. No we didn’t sleep together, you passed out in the back seat after I took your wet shirt off you.” He paused. “Wait, why are you so worried about having potentially slept with me?”

Her face dropped. “You’re an asshole.”

“So are you!”

“Excuse me?”

“You punched me in the face! You stabbed me in the neck with a needle! What do you mean you aren’t an asshole?”

Kate had to stop for a second before responding. She almost laughed. Here she was at 7AM, in the back of Billy Hargrove’s car, arguing with him. And he wasn’t acting like a total dick? Was it all a front?

“You’re right, you’re right. I did in fact punch you in the face.”

“…And stab me in the neck with a needle!”

“With good reason!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! You kicked my brother’s ass. You knocked him out! So we’re even.”

“Even?”

“Yes, even.”

“Not even, not even close.”

She grabbed her shoes from the floor and climbed into the passenger seat. “Can you please just take me home?”

Billy begrudgingly drove Kate to the end of her street. “Hey Harrington. I know a way you could even the score.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Go on a date with me.” Billy grinned.

“Oh you’ve got to be joking.” She placed her hand on the door handle. But Billy clicked the lock.

“Not joking.”

Kate sighed. “Fine. Fine! Tomorrow night, I will meet you at the end of your street at seven thirty, and then you can take us some place that nobody will see us. And then we can continue on with our lives.”

“Or not.”

“Hargrove, I swear-“

“Fine. Tomorrow night, seven thirty. It’s a date.”

“Fine.” She stepped out of the car. “Thanks for the ride. See you.”

“See you.” He grinned at her as he sped down the street.

The next night Kate kept her word and met Billy at the end of old Cherry Road at seven thirty. He was waiting in his car, music on full-blast. She smacked the window with her palm. “Open up? It’s freezing out here!”

The door unlocked and she climbed in. “Where to?” She asked.

“Someplace quiet.”

They ended up parking at the top of Satler’s Quarry, the radio on just low enough to be heard. “So….”

“The reason I brought you here is because you told me to take you somewhere nobody would see us.” Billy spoke.

“I thought you would take us somewhere in Carmel or something, not to the quarry!”

“Jesus, are you ever happy?”

Kate scrunched her nose up. “Very seldomly.”

“This can just be an unconventional date. One where we just talk.”

“Just talk? That’s it?” Kate reached over and placed her hand on Billy’s forehead. “You’re not running a fever.”

“What are you doing?”

“Just making sure you aren’t sick or possessed or something. Talking is fine.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to lean her back against the door. “Talk.”

“So tell me about your childhood?”

“Wrong. I have a few questions first.”

Billy rolled his eyes.

“Why do you hate Lucas? Is it because-“

“No, it isn’t because he’s black…”

“Then why do you hate him?”

“I don’t! I don’t hate him.” She cocked her head at him. “When I first got here I sort of hated everybody. I fucking love California, it’s the only place I know. And I didn’t want to move here, Christ, who would want to voluntarily live here?”

“No, I totally agree.”

“So I guess I figured that since I wasn’t happy, Max couldn’t be either… So I don’t hate Lucas. Just the idea of him.”

“Got it. Next question, are you really an asshole or is it all just an act?”

“What?”

“Your whole, persona-“ She motioned to him. “It screams “asshole”. But yesterday morning I think I may have met the real Billy.”

“How do you mean?”

“I don’t really think you’re an asshole, like you just said, you’re unhappy. People do things to piss other people off when they’re unhappy. - You don’t want to be in Hawkins so everybody in Hawkins has to suffer too.” Billy’s eyes traveled to look out the window. “Don’t tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“I’ve got you figured out.” She smirked. “Now. Ask me something.”

Kate and Billy spent their entire date asking questions about each other. And by the end of the night Kate believed she had found the real Billy. Or at least part of the real Billy.

The part of real Billy she had discovered was the complete opposite person she thought he was. The real Billy had a wicked sense of humor, was terrible at flirting, and had admitted that he knew he was a jerk.

Billy had believed that he had actually had a good time. For the first time since moving to Indiana, he had enjoyed spending time with someone.

Billy stopped at the end of Kate’s street. “Want to do this again sometime?” He asked.

Kate inhaled slowly, looking over at Billy. “Sure. Friday night good for you?”

“You’d be okay with missing Andy Wilson’s party?”

“I could honestly not care more about Andy Wilson’s party.”

“Then great, it’s a date.”

[ғᴇʙʀᴜᴀʀʏ 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟻]

Valentine’s day. Lover’s holiday, single’s day of solitude, and just another excuse for Tina to throw a themed party.

It was ten minutes before homeroom, Tina and Carol were following Kate down the crowded hallway towards her locker. As she opened it, a piece paper fell onto the ground.

“Awe, a love-note? From who?” Carol bent over to grab the paper but Kate snatched it before she could see it. “Hey!”

“It’s for me. I get to read it.” She turned her back to the locker and faced her friends. The Valentine was technically not a Valentine at all, but a piece of lined paper. A pencil-drawn heart on the front of it. She unfolded it.

𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘵-𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧. 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦? - 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳

Blush crept onto her cheeks. “Harrington, what’s on that note that’s making you blush so much?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

She stuffed the note into the breast pocket of her jean jacket. “Fine, don’t share. Come on.” Tina rolled her eyes and the three girls continued on with their day.

Later that night Kate found Billy at Tina’s party. - Behind the wall that connected the living and dining rooms. “Hey.” He handed her a cup full of liquid. She took a sip. Vodka-cran. Her favorite.

“Thanks for the note by the way.”

“How do you know it was me?”

Kate laughed. “You’re the only person I know that doesn’t know the proper times to capitalize letters.”

Billy touched his bottle to her cup. “I’ll cheers to that.”

“What?”

“You being right. Again.” The pair laughed. “Anybody suspect anything?”

“Nope. Carol and Tina were there when I read it but they didn’t see anything.” She turned around to peek out from behind the wall they were standing behind. “You wanna get out of here?”

“Don’t feel like talking much?”

“Not necessarily.” She smiled up at him.

Billy nodded, leaving the room. Kate waited quietly in her spot. “Yeah I’m not feeling too hot man, I’m gonna head home. See you.”

A few minutes later Kate came from behind the wall. “Hey Tina.” She walked up to her friend, coughing. “I don’t feel good at all. I’ve gotta dip.”

Tina placed her hand on Kate’s cheek. “Well you are a little warm.” She sighed. “Did you want to go upstairs in my room, take a little nap?”

“No!” Kate cleared her throat. “No, I just want to go home.”

“Do you need a ride or-“

“No. No ride, I’m fine Tina, really.” She smiled at her friend. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kate left Tina’s house and walked to the end of the block, where Billy was waiting for her. “What took so long?” He asked as she climbed into the passenger seat.

“Tina tried to get me to stay in her room but luckily I got out of that. Her mattress is uncomfortable anyway.” That made Billy chuckle.

“Quarry or the junkyard?”

“Not the junkyard.”

“Quarry it is.”

Billy and Kate drove to the quarry. Where they spent the rest of the night talking - sort of. They used their mouths, it just wasn’t for talking.

[ᴍᴀʀᴄʜ 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟻]

In March things got real. As real as a top-secret relationship, that wasn’t technically labelled a relationship can get.

Kate and Billy had their first fight.

It was a Friday night, and Billy and Kate were going to a bonfire at the old junkyard with the rest of their crew.

Steve was in Indianapolis with their parents, doing a job shadow.

Kate had spent the afternoon and evening at the Wheelers with the kids. The plan was for her to go right from Mike’s to the junkyard, but Max insisted that the boys show her how to properly play through a game of D&D, and now they had been playing for five hours.

The time was getting later and later, and before Kate knew it, it was eleven at night. Hop had picked up El and Will. And Kate realized that she now had no other choice but to stay over at Mike’s with the rest of the crew. She couldn’t possibly leave then, without looking suspicious.

So she accepted her fate, and settled in for the night.

The next morning she managed to slip out before any of the other kids woke up. She biked home, and let herself in the garage door. She went inside and was almost up the stairs before realizing that there was a person in her living room.

“Billy?” Billy was, in fact, sitting on her couch. “…How are you in my house?”

“Where were you yesterday?”

She narrowed her eyes at her. “At Mike’s. I’m not fighting about this.”

“I am.”

She turned to walk upstairs, Billy followed. “Max wanted to learn how to play D&D. Everyone knows my brother isn’t home, and it got so late that if I left they would all be suspicious. That’s it. That’s the story.”

Billy glared at her as she opened her bedroom door. He followed her inside, sitting down on her bed.

“And once again, how did you get into my damn house?”

“You left the sliding door unlocked.”

She sighed in annoyance. “Ah, ah, no!” Kate swatted at his thighs.

“What?” He got up.

“Don’t lay on my bed in outdoor clothes.” She smoothed out her comforter, shaking her head.

“Come again? I can’t lay on your bed in “outdoor clothes”?”

“No. No!” She went back to getting her clothes out of her dresser. “The bed is a sacred place. You only get into bed after you have been showered.” She turned to look at him. “And I know you haven’t showered.”

“How’s that?”

“You smell like a literal fire.”

“You’re insane!”

She groaned. “I am not insane unless diagnosed by a medically-trained professional!”

He stomped towards the door. “Oh don’t pull that nerdy bullshit with me. You’re acting crazy.”

“Billy, all I ask is that you don’t sit on my bed unless you shower! Why does that make me crazy?!”

“Because! It just does!”

“Get out.”

“Are you serious?”

“Billy, just get out! You said crazy, so I might as well act it! Goodbye!”

“You are ridiculous-“

“Goodbye! Billy!”

He groaned and slammed the door shut on his way out. Kate stood in her spot as she waited to hear the slam of the back door. After hearing him officially leave, Kate angrily continued on with her day.

Steve returned home that afternoon, to a silent house, save for Kate’s room. Playing a maximum volume was Motley Crue, as Kate laid on her bed, tiredly staring at the ceiling.

Steve knocked on the door, but the music was too loud. He opened it. “Hey, I’m back…” He scrunched his nose at the sight of his sister laying in her pajamas at 4PM. “Everything okay?”

Kate sighed, using her remote to pause the music. “Peachy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Peachy Steve!” She screeched, and Steve took that as his opportunity to leave her alone.

Kate spent the rest of her weekend alone in her room, listening to Motley Crue and contemplating everything. But mostly Billy.

On Monday, Billy approached her in the hallway before third period. She placed her hand on his chest, attempting to push him away. “We are not doing this here.”

“Yes we are.” He said through his teeth.

“Billy-“ He grabbed her arm and pulled her around an empty corner.

“Let me speak.” She huffed, tugging her arm away from him. “I’m sorry I overreacted about you not coming Friday night. I’m sorry I laid on your bed. And I’m sorry I said you were crazy.”

“And insane.”

“And insane.” He sighed. “Am I forgiven?”

Kate pursed her lips, contemplating being difficult or just agreeing with him. “I suppose.”

”But don’t forget the bed rule buddy.”

[ᴀᴘʀɪʟ 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟻]

Steve ruined April.

It was crunch-time for the seniors. Preparing for finals, last-minute committals to universities, shit like that. So it was only natural that Steve literally screwed everything up for himself, and coincidentally Kate too.

Steve failed to get into Tech. Tech! Granted, Steve wasn’t a genius, but he wasn’t a total dud either, so Kate was obviously floored when her brother revealed that he couldn’t even get into the local tech school.

But that wasn’t the only reason Kate wanted to kill her brother. The other reason was because of their dad. When Mr. Harrington found out that Steve had failed to get into Tech he was even more upset than Kate was. He had decided that since Steve wouldn’t be attending college, that his punishment would be a job.

A real job.

And lucky for Steve, the new Starcourt mall was opening soon, and there were tons of businesses hiring.

Unlucky for Kate, her dad decided to take this Steve lesson, and make it a Harrington-kids lesson, resulting in Kate also being forced to get a job. But over her dead body would she be caught having a job at the mall. So she opted for the Hawkins community pool instead.

The only positive to the whole “having a real job��� thing was when Kate interviewed with the pool manager, Alan, he liked her so much that he made her the assistant manager, earning her an extra 35 cents per hour.

Kate spent April earning her lifeguard certification, fighting with Steve, and silently plotting a way to kill her parents, out of sheer childish anger.

[ᴍᴀʏ 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟻]

“You’re joking right now.” Kate clenched her jaw as she watched Billy walk through the gates of the Hawkins Community Pool.

So much for laying low!

Alan had called the pool staff in for a pre-season meeting. But Billy had failed to mention that he was also part of the staff.

“What are you doing here?” She whispered.

“I’m a lifeguard now. Cool right?” He clicked his gum, smiling at Heather Holloway, who had just walked through the gate.

Kate elbowed his side. “Eyes here buddy.” He retrained his focus onto her. “I thought we were supposed to be playing it cool? Getting a job at the same place as me is literally the opposite of playing it cool!”

“Technically I’m sleeping with my boss… that’s cool.”

“Oh my god!” She slapped her forehead. This was hopeless. Above her, Billy was smiling wickedly. “Go over there and stand by Freddy. For real.”

He pouted, but did as he was told.

He behaved himself for the remainder of the meeting.

The pool officially opened on Memorial Day. Billy and Kate were the only two scheduled for the entire day, 11-7. They had hardly gotten to speak to each other that day, considering it was spent watching the town of Hawkins try not to drown.

Promptly at 7:00 Kate had made sure everyone was gone from the pool, and locked up the front gate. She had sent Billy to check the locker rooms while she closed up the register and front desk.

She went to sit down at the edge of the pool, sticking her feet in. Behind her, Billy cleared his throat. She turned to see him standing in his lifeguard uniform, grinning and holding two white plastic-wrapped popsicles in his hand. “Twin pop?”

He offered her a treat, and then took a seat next to her. Kate smiled and opened up the wrapper. “Banana… Where have you been hiding these all day?” Banana was her favorite.

“I snuck a little cooler in this morning. Got some beer too-“

“No. No, I want to remember this.” She smiled once again. “What kind do you have?”

“Cherry.”

“Ugh. You’re so predictable.”

“Banana is weird.”

“Whatever.” Kate rolled her eyes, looking at the water. “Thank you.”

Billy looked over at her, immediately overcome with the feeling of confusion. “For what?”

“For the popsicle… And everything else the past few months.”

“Are we even dating?”

“I don’t know…” Things became quiet. “Whatever this is though,-“

“It’s nice.” He grabbed her hand. “It’s nice.”

Billy nodded, squeezing her hand.

They sat in silence and ate their popsicles, and he never let go of her hand.

[ᴊᴜɴᴇ 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟻]

Steve graduated in June.

Kate planned a surprise graduation party for him, inviting all of the kids over to their house after the ceremony for cake, ice cream, and swimming.

After the graduation party summer was in full-swing.

Steve practically lived at the new mall, he and Robin were the only employees at Scoops Ahoy.

Being a manager meant Kate was at the pool almost every day, the only upside to that was the fact that she had managed to schedule herself and Billy the same hours so that when they were off, they were off together.

Dustin was off at camp, so the Harrington house was a lot quieter without it’s third inhabitant.

The rest of the kids managed to balance their time between screwing around at the mall, sneaking into the pool, and spending time kissing each other.

Kate had a firm belief that this summer was going to be different. She had a decent job, a “boyfriend”, and no parents to tell her what to do.

What Kate didn’t know was that summer was going to be extremely different. More different than she could ever want, or imagine.

[forlornmelody]

Jason Todd & the Library

And Ten-year-old Jason Todd stumbles into the library to get out of the rain. The streets aren’t so bad. Fewer rules. No shady foster parents to steel your meds or kick your ass for well, anything. And even the cops will leave you alone if you stick to the corners where their flashlights don’t shine. 

But the streets are hell when they’re wet. And something in the heaviness of those rain drops--the way they sting on Jason’s skin--tells him it’s freezing rain. And soon it’ll be snow. He still remembers what happened to Billy when he got caught out in a storm. Sure, he lived, but he lived without his left big toe.  

And so here Jason stands, his coat and his holey sneakers dripping water all over the tile floor. 

“Hi there!” Jason jumps, immediately looking for the exit. “Haven’t seen you around here before. Need a library card?”

Jason stares, pretty sure he’s about to kicked out. But maybe if he plays along he’ll at least get to thaw out a little. He nods.

“Name?”

Daring to step closer, Jason murmurs. “Jason Todd.”

She clacks on some keys. Susan, according to her nametag. “Address?”

Jason’s shoulders sink. Shit. 

“I can put in a P.O. Box?” She sinks too when he says nothing. “Or a shelter you stay in.”

“Mah Gunn’s.”

He hates that look of pity in her eyes as she keys it in. Jason gives her his age and a phone number and next thing he knows he’s holding in his hands a key to to the rest of his life.

It starts out simple enough. Jason discovers early that people, especially the librarians and the security guards, leave him alone if he has a book in his hands. He sets it aside as soon as their attentions’ elsewhere. But then he catches himself reading a line or two when they don’t look away fast enough. And then Jason has to know what happens next. And after that. 

Soon Jason’s read everything in the children’s section, and by spring he’s on to the teen room. The librarians always bring him the new arrivals, and even recommend books from the adult section if they think they’ll suit his taste. There’s a whole world inside Gotham Central.

Even Bruce Wayne’s library seems small in comparison. Bruce catches him staring at some of the first editions, and his first Christmas present from his latest (and last) foster parent is a copy of Shakespeare’s first folio. It’s worth more than Jason can really fathom, and a small part of him is tempted to sell it. But the way Alfred teaches him to don gloves and turn the pages one at a time makes him want to hold onto it. 

One day, years later, Jason returns to the Batcave. He can’t even remember why, and he’s stopped dead in his tracks.

“All the world’s a stage, and men and women merely players.” Her voice is soft but has perfect cadence, reverent as a priest in church. “They have their entrances and exits--”

“--And one man in his time plays many parts.” Jason finishes the line before he can stop himself, and he meets the eyes of one Cassandra Cain. Funny, he never heard her talk much, if ever. Never once took her for a fan of the bard.

Apparently Basil Karlo had been teaching her. Had been before Batwoman shot him. And killed him. Funny how Kate Kane gets to kill bad buys (even bad guys turned good turned bad again) but if Jason Todd does it he gets kicked out of Gotham.

Soon Jason’s spending more time in Gotham, more time in Wayne Manor. Less time getting on Tim’s nerves and under Bruce’s skin. Cass has impeccable memory, and sees light in Shakespeare’s words where Jason doesn’t. They start bantering lines from the sonnets in the middle of stakeouts, fights even. 

One night, it’s pouring rain, freezing rain, and soon it’ll be snow. And Jason takes one look at Cass and an idea forms in his brain. They split the roles between them, and Alfred joins in when they need someone to throw in a third line. Their audience includes most of the bat family present that night--Bruce, Kate, Dick, Babs, Tim, Stephanie, Damian, and Duke, and Ace the Bat Dog sleeping in front of the couch. There's a mountain of hats, fake beards and mustaches--Jason even throws on a dress at one point, but what’s Twelfth Night without a little drag? 

Taking a bow with Cass at the end, Jason wishes his ten-year-old self could see himself now. Later he dons the gloves and shows Cass the first folio, and the weathered library card still tucked inside--the barcode unreadable and the plastic peeling off.

“Yours?” Cass whispers. 

Jason smiles. “Yeah, mine.”

[toscrollperchancetomeme]

Lestat de Lioncourt - A playlist

So, guess who made a Lestat Playlist (like there aren't enough already) and decided to sit down for 4-6 hours to find some excerpt corresponding with each song? Featuring 80s and 90s music (clearly showing my age...) as well as many european songs and showtunes. Enjoy!

1. Cathedrals – Ramin Karimloo (Original by Jump, Little Children)

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome There is a feeling that you should just go home And spend the lifetime finding out just where that is

And that was not a good year for me. I was wandering aimlessly. I was sick of things. I was furious with myself that the „beauty“ of life wasn't sustaining me, wasn't making my loneliness bearable.

I wanted to join them. Always do want to join them and never do. „Go home,“ he whispered. - Prince Lestat

(I actually feel like there are quotes that would correspond to this song in every one of the books and indeed have not yet found any other song that captures the general spirit of The Vampire Chronicles as perfectly.)

2. Edge of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks

Well, I went today Maybe I will go again tomorrow Yeah yeah, well, the music there Well, it was hauntingly familiar Well, I see you doing what I try to do for me With the words from a poet and a voice from a choir And a melody, and nothing else mattered

He sat next to me, hugging me and asking me why I was crying, and though I couldn't tell him, I could see that he was overwhelmed that his music had produced this effect. There was no sarcasm or bitterness in him now. I think he carried me home that night. And the next morning I was standing in the crooked stone street in front of his father's shop, tossing pebbles up at his window. When he stuck his head out, I said: „Do you want to come down and go on with our conversation?“ - The Vampire Lestat

3. I ain't scared of lightning – Tom McRae

No I ain't scared of lightning And thunder never killed I was born in a summer storm and I live there still

I wasn't part of the world that cringed at such things. And with a smile, I realized that I was of that dark ilk that makes others cringe. Slowly and with great pleasure, I laughed.

And the labor that brought it forth was rapture such as I have never known. - The Vampire Lestat

4. Junge Roemer – Falco (Young Romans – Full Translation)

Don't ask for new old values See white light, see only feeling The night is ours till morning We play every game Don't ever let this journey end The doing comes only from the being Only from dimensions, that Are worth illusions and sensations Give me more, give me more, give me more...

... and again she laughed. „Ah, but we are splendid devils, aren't we?“ „Hunters of the Savage Garden,“ I said. „Then let's go into Paris,“ she said. - The Vampire Lestat

5. Running up that hill – Candy Says (Original by Kate Bush

If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, And I'd get him to swap our places, Be running up that road, Be running up that hill, Be running up that building,

„Not even with Nicolas?“ „No, god, no!“ I looked at her. She nodded slightly as if she approved of this answer. „Why not with Nicolas?“ she asked. I wanted this to stop. „Because he's young,“ I said, „and he has life before him.“ - The Vampire Lestat

6. Florence – Notre Dame de Paris (Full Translation)

The little things always triumph over the large And literature will kill architecture The school books will kill the cathedrals The Bible will kill the Church, and man will kill God This will kill that

„I never lived in it. I push against the glass. But how do I get in?“ „I can't tell you that,“ I said. „You have to study this age,“ Gabrielle interrupted. Her voice was calm but commanding. He looked towards her as she spoke. „You have to understand the age,“ she continued, „through its literature and its music and its art. You have come up out of the earth, as you yourself put it. Now live in the world.“ No answer from him. Flash of Nicki's ravaged flat with all its books on the floor. Western civilization in heaps. - The Vampire Lestat

7. Go your own way – Fleetwood Mac

Loving you isn't the right thing to do How can I ever change things that I feel

If I could maybe I'd give you my world How can I when you won't take it from me

You can go your own way You can call it another lonely day

„Keep your promise,“ she said. And quite suddenly I knew this was our last moment. I knew it and I could do nothing to change it. „Gabrielle!“ I whispered. But she was already gone. - The Vampire Lestat

8. Désenchantée – Olympe (Original by Myléne Farmer - Full Translation)

If death is a mystery Life isn't exactly tender If heaven has a hell Then heaven can still wait for me Tell me how to handle this headwind Nothing makes sense anymore, nothing's fine

Laughter. That insane music. That din, that dissonance, that never ending shrill articulation of the meaninglessness... Am I awake? Am I asleep? I am sure of one thing. I am a monster. And because I lie in torment in the earth, certain human beings move on through the narrow pass of life unmolested. - The Vampire Lestat

9. A kind of magic – Queen

The bell that rings inside your mind Is challenging the doors of time It's a kind of magic The waiting seems eternity The day will dawn of sanity

And quite completely I understood that it was looking for me, this sound, it was seeking me out.

Blood like light itself, liquid fire.

It seemed beneath the roar of the flow he spoke. He said again: „Drink, my young one, my wounded one.“ I felt his heart swell, his body undulate, and we were sealed against each other. I think I heard myself say: „Marius.“ And he answered: „Yes.“ - The Vampire Lestat

10. La quête – Bruno Pelletier (French version of „The Impossible Dream“ from Man of La Mancha)

To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest To follow that star Ooh, no matter how hopeless No matter how far

I would remain in New Orleans if New Orleans could only manage to remain. Whatever I suffered should be lessened in this lawless place, whatever I craved should give me more pleasure once I had it in my grasp. And there were moments on that first night in this fetid little paradise when I prayed that in spite of all my secret power, I was somehow kin to every mortal man. - The Vampire Lestat

11. Wicked Game – Chris Isaak

What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you

Yet Louis gained a hold over me far more powerful than Nicolas had ever had. Even in his cruelest moments, Louis touched the tenderness in me, seducing me with his staggering dependence, his infatuation with my every gesture and every spoken word. - The Vampire Lestat

12. Do I disappoint you – Rufus Wainwright

Do I disappoint you, in just being human? And not one of the elements that you can light your cigar on Why does it always have to be fire? Why does it always have to be brimstone?

„And suppose the vampire who made you knew nothing, and the vampire before him knew nothing, and so it goes back and back, nothing proceeding from nothing, until there is nothing! And we must live with the knowledge that there is no knowledge!“ „Yes!“ he cried out suddenly, his hands out, his voice tinged with something other than anger.

And then I sensed it. He was afraid. Lestat afraid. - Interview with the Vampire

13. Ordinary World – Duran Duran

What has happened to it all? Crazy, some'd say Where is the life that I recognize? Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday There's an ordinary world Somehow I have to find And as I try to make my way To the ordinary world I will learn to survive

I do not remember when it became the twentieth century, only that everything was uglier and darker, and the beauty I'd known in the old eighteenth-century days seemed more than ever some kind of fanciful idea. - The Vampire Lestat

14. I'm still standing – Taron Egerton (Original by Elton John)

And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use And did you think this fool could never win? Well look at me, I'm coming back again

But after the third night up, I was roaring around New Orleans on a big black Harley-Davidson motorcycle making plenty of noise myself. […] I was the vampire Lestat again. I was back in action. New Orleans was once again my hunting ground. - The Vampire Lestat

15. Catch my fall – Billy Idol

I have the time so I will sing, yeah I'm just a boy but I will win, yeah Lost song of lovers, fellow travelers, yeah Leave me sad and hollow out of words

It could happen to you so think for yourself If I should stumble, catch my fall, yeah

I've survived, obviously. I wouldn't be talking to you if I hadn't. And the cosmic dust has finally settled; and the small rift in the world's fabric of rational beliefs has been mended, or at least closed. I'm a little sadder for all of it, and a little meaner and a little more conscientious as well. - The Queen of the Damned

16. I want it all – Queen

I'm a man with a one track mind So much to do in one lifetime (people do you hear me) Not a man for compromise and where's and why's and living lies So I'm living it all, yes I'm living it all And I'm giving it all, and I'm giving it all

It is not enough any longer that my little rock band be successful. We must create a fame that will carry my name and my voice to the remotest parts of the world. - The Vampire Lestat

17. Let me entertain you – Robbie Williams

Hell is gone and heaven's here There's nothing left for you to fear Shake your arse come over here Now scream

I'm a burning effigy Of everything I used to be You're my rock of empathy, my dear

So come on let me entertain you

"I AM THE VAMPIRE LESTAT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I stepped way back from the microphone, and the sound was almost visible as it arched over the length of the oval theater, and the voice of the crowd rose even higher, louder, as if to devour the ringing sound. - The Vampire Lestat

18. La bien qui fait mal – Mozart l'Opera Rock (Full translation)

I can feel a violent urge I feel like I'm sliding towards the ground If I don't find out where this plague is coming from I adore having it under my skin Bewitched by mad ideas Suddenly all my cravings take off The desire becomes my prison Until I loose my mind

Yet I was in her arms in this chilling darkness, in the familiar scent of winter, and her blood was mine again, and it was enslaving me. When she drew away, I felt agony. - The Queen of the Damned

19. Tainted Love – Soft Cell

And you think love is to pray But I'm sorry I don't pray that way Once I ran to you Now I'll run from you This tainted love you've given I give you all a boy could give you Take my tears and that's not living, oh

„What do you think I am that I am so easily swayed? I was born a Queen. I have always ruled; even from the shrine I ruled." Her eyes were glazed suddenly. I heard the voices, a dull hum rising. "I ruled if only in legend; if only in the minds of those who came to me and paid me tribute. Princes who played music for me; who brought me offerings and prayers. What do you want of me now? That for you, I renounce my throne, my destiny!" What answer could I make? - The Queen of the Damned

20. Dancing in the Dark – Ruth Moody (Original by Bruce Springsteen)

They say you gotta stay hungry Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight I'm dyin' for some action I'm sick of sittin' 'round here tryin' to write this book I need a love reaction Come on now, baby, gimme just one look

"I want you to put the book aside and come join us," he said. "You've been locked in here for over a month." "I go out now and then," I said. I liked looking at him, at the neon blue of his eyes.

"Do you love me now?" I asked. He smiled; oh, it was excruciating to see his face soften and brighten simultaneously when he smiled. "Yes," he said. "Want to go on a little adventure?" My heart was thudding suddenly. It would be so grand if- "Want to break the new rules?" "What in the world do you mean?" he whispered. - The Queen of the Damned

21. I want you – Savage Garden

Oh, I want you, I don't know if I need you But oh, I would die to find out

"You don't think you'll be back?" he asked. "I think you will, whether I call or not." Another little surprise. A little stab of humiliation. I smiled at him in spite of myself. He was a very interesting man. "You silver-tongued British bastard," I said. "How dare you say that to me with such condescension? Maybe I should kill you right now."

I thought of David Talbot's face, and that moment when he'd challenged me. Well, maybe he was right. I'd be back. Who said I couldn't come back and talk to him if I wanted to? - The Queen of the Damned

22. Lay your hands on me – Bon Jovi

I'm a fighter, I'm a poet, I'm a preacher I've been to school, oh baby, I've been the teacher If you show me how to get up off the ground I can show you how to fly and never ever come back down

I sat down on the bed beside him. And then I bent down and kissed his face again gently, as I had in New Orleans, liking the feel of his roughly shaven beard, just as I liked that sort of thing when I was really Lestat and I would soon have that strong masculine blood inside. I moved closer to him, when suddenly he grasped my hand, and I felt him gently push me away. „Why, David?“ I asked him. He didn't answer. He lifted his right hand and brushed my hair back out of my eyes. „I don't know,“ he whispered. „I can't. I simply can't.“ - The Tale of the Body Thief

23. 20th Century Boy – Placebo (Original by T-Rex)

I move like a cat, charge like a ram Sting like a bee, babe, I wanna be your man, hey!

He drew back with a speed that astonished me, cleaving to the wall. „Don't do this, Lestat.“ „Don't fight me, old friend. You waste your effort. You have a long night of discovery ahead.“ - The Tale of the Body Thief

24. Way down we go – KALEO

Oh, Father tell me, do we get what we deserve? Whoa, we get what we deserve And way down we go

„In chains, to my friend and my scribe, I dictated these words. Come with me. Just listen to me. Don't leave me alone.“ - Memnoch the Devil

25. Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode

Reach out, touch faith

"Don't tell me," Gabrielle said slurringly, "that it's a matter of faith." She sneered and shook her head. "You come like doubting Thomas to thrust your bloody fangs in the very wound." "Oh, stop, please, I beg you," I whispered. I put up my hands. "Let me try, and let him hurt me, and then be satisfied, and turn away." - The Vampire Armand

26. Papillon – Editors

Darling Just don't put down your guns yet If there really was a God here He'd have raised a hand by now Now darling You're born, get old, then die here Well that's quite enough for me We'll find our own way home somehow

"And if I spill my blood down into this coffin now," Lestat asked her, "what do you think will come back? Do you think it will be our Louis that will rise in these burnt rags? What if it's not, chérie, what if it's some wounded revenant that we must destroy?" "Choose life, Lestat," she said. - Merrick

27. Sunday Light – Choir Boy

Why, why, why, are you silent on the ride home? I'd love to see the temple with you Heavenly and bright, golden angel twisted scathing You were one of us, one of us, one of us, you were one of us

"Then come, Little Brother, take me to where you want to talk," he said, and I felt the soft squeeze of his fingers on my arm. "Why are you so kind to me?" I asked him. "You're used to people being paid to do it, aren't you?" he asked. - Blackwood Farm

28. Für mich solls rote Rosen regnen – Hildegard Knef (It should rain red roses for me - Full translation)

It should rain red roses for me All wonders should encounter me The world should rearrange itself And keep its worries to itself

I want to be a saint. I want to save souls by the millions. I want to do good far and wide. I want to fight evil! I want my life-sized statue in every church. I'm talking six feet tall, blond hair, blue eyes- Wait a second. Do you know who I am? - Blood Canticle

29. Constant Craving – K. D. Lang

Even through the darkest phase Be it thick or thin Always someone marches brave Here beneath my skin And constant craving Has always been

I was hunting, thirsting though I didn't need to drink, at the mercy of the craving, the deep agonizing lust for heated pumping human blood. - Prince Lestat

30. Kalte Sterne – Jan Ammann (Cold Stars from the musical Ludwig² - Full translation)

Get up, ride home, on your horse, through your land Across the morning with your reins trailing behind you Build a castle like a dream, build it with mighty hands And it shall be named „future“

Build a castle like a dream Up from the ashes and close to the heavens Build a castle like a dream And realise the future as king

If we wanted to survive, if we wanted to inherit the millenia […] then we had to meet the future with respect as well as courage and count fear and selfishness to be small things. - Prince Lestat and the realms of Atlantis

31. C'est une belle journée – Mylene Farmer (Full translation)

I'm going to bed To bite eternity With my mouth wide open It's a beautiful day

And I felt the cold numbing shell of alienation and despair which had imprisoned me all of my life among the Undead – I felt that shell cracked, broken, and dissolved utterly into infinitesimal fragments. - Blood Communion

32. Princes of the Universe – Queen

Fly the moon and reach for the stars With my sword and head held high Got to pass the test first time, yeah I know that people talk about me, I hear it every day But I can prove them wrong 'cause I'm right first time

„I know that you meant full well to bring Rhoshamandes down, of course you did. But you had no way of knowing that you could. And no one would have predicted that you could. And with the willingness to die, you gave yourself over into his hands... and you disarmed him and destroyed him.“ – Blood Communion

And finally, because I can, a bonus track:

33. Primadonna – MARINA

And I'm sad to the core, core, core Every day is a chore, chore, chore When you give, I want more, more, more I wanna be adored

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

The Perfect Bad Boy (Pt. 05 of 18)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Reader

Word count: 2.8K

Summary: Working as a lifeguard in the Hawkins Community Pool, you try to fit in after moving from New York. Things were going pretty well when you notice you've been under someone's stare. Billy Hargrove, Hawkins' bad boy, has been staring at you since day one. You never intended to have anything to do with him, judging by the reputation he has. But Billy won't leave you alone, determined to show you his feelings are different this time...

As if your heart flooding you with confusing feelings wasn't enough, there are weird, strange animals lurking in the woods... But those have to be just part of the wild live of the woods surrounding Hawkins... Right?

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{Stranger Things Masterlist}

×

Would You Believe Me?

“When are you planning to tell me about this Billy?” Diane stands by the kitchen door frame, an eyebrow raised at you.

Taking another bite of your apple, you roll your eyes. “He's just a friend. I have nothing to say.”

“I know you, (Y/N). And I know you've been hanging out with him.” She comes to sit across from you at the table, and you feel like a child under her stare. Diane has always been your best adviser, the one you tell everything since you can remember. But you couldn't bring yourself to tell her about Billy yet. With Monica, you don't have a choice since you work with her, and she has been around when some stuff happened. But with Diane... You feel like it'll make things real.

You're just about to deny everything again when you remember how confused you are, how there's always a fight inside of you, between two different lines of thought, and suddenly you need Diane's opinion on it. “Billy is a friend.” It's different now, you're admitting it. “He... He offered me a ride home when my car wouldn't start and we stopped to eat tacos. A couple of days after he stopped by this snack bar I was with Monica's friends and... Well, he punched David in the face because he called me dumb.” The memory brings a smile to your lips.

“What?” My aunt smiles too. “I heard some kids talking about David being beat up but I'd never guess that. What else?”

“Uhm... He said he likes me that day.”

“Oh...” She mumbles, furrowing her eyebrows. “So Billy is interested in you.”

Shaking your head slightly, you look down. “He's as interested as he would be in any other girl, right?” Your voice is lower now. “Aunt, Billy is the perfect bad boy. He has the looks, the attitudes, the pretty face, the breathtaking body, and the long list of heartbroken girls.”

“Honey, haven't you heard?” Diane keeps her voice light, taking your hand over the table. “They say the perfect bad boy is bad with everyone except to his girl.”

“Well, I'm not his girl,” you mutter, not sure why saying this makes you feel sad. You shouldn't be so sad about something that's true, something that you made up your mind about. “We're bound to break apart.”

“(Y/N), you're a smart woman. You can read the signs and I trust you to choose what's best for you, as you always have. Even when it meant to leave New York behind and come to such a strange place.” Her eyes are like beacons, reassuring you. You wish she was your mother instead of Kate. “You'll know if you're meant to be with Billy or not. I trust you enough for that, as should you.”

“I love you, aunt.” You breathe out, standing up and hugging her. “Thank you... And not only for this, but for everything. For taking me in and for moving here with me.”

“It was a pleasure, honey. Both to come back to my hometown and to be with you.” Diane never had kids, and her husband died eight years ago. She's still young though, and you hope she finds someone. But until then, you're ok with being somehow her kid. “Now I gotta go. Have a nice day at work.”

“You too.”

Half an hour later you're at the pool, on your chair, eyes scanning the sea of people. The sun is shining bright, and the kids seem especially electrified today. Despite having a lot of people to watch over, you're getting bored by the second, finally understanding why Monica sometimes complains so much about this job.

Billy, as usual, keeps shooting you glances every now and then, winking and smiling when you look his way. After rolling your eyes at him for the hundredth time this morning, you turn your gaze at Monica, who has a meaningful smile on her lips. You get the feeling she'll never stop teasing you about it. Well, she will have to one day. 'We're bound to break', the sentence comes to your mind again, and you decide to let the hot wind blow it away. Mon has a weird expression on her face, which makes you furrow my eyebrows at her.

She then gestures at her eyes. 'Look', you read the word on her lips, just before she gestures at Billy.

That again. You don't want to stare at him. You know he's hot, you don't need to be constantly reminded of that. Running a hand through your hair, you force yourself to focus on the activity that gives you some money at the end of the month. You're not bored anymore, you're thankful you have something to keep your mind off things you certainly shouldn't be thinking about.

When your lunch break finally comes, you jump from your chair to the ground, making the way over Monica, touching her leg. “Hey, you. Lunch, c'mon. I'm starving.”

“I'm a good friend.” She simply says, not even bothering to look at you. Monica can be a freaking interrogation sign sometimes, and you're about to ask her what she means when you notice Billy, standing a few feet away. “I switched my lunch breaks with him.” She looks down, taking her sunglasses off. “You're welcome.”

“I hate you, Mon,” you mumble, sighing at the laugh that leaves her lips.

You have no choice but to walk towards Billy, trying to keep your eyes on his face. But you use the distance to take a quick look, just so you can tell Mon you did it and she'll stop bugging you about it. He's tall, obviously, way taller than you. So you have to look up not to have your eyes glued on his chest. The guy works out. A damn lot, you're sure, and his tan is perfect. It makes you wonder if he even tries because it doesn't seem like he does. Billy doesn't have to act, he just is who he is. No doubt why he had no trouble carrying that heavy backpack during the trail, his muscles look like stone, iron. Even though the small distance you can see how his chest moves when he breathes, and the well-defined muscles of his bare arms. But you're getting close now, so you avert your eyes.

“Was it your idea or hers?” You inquire as soon as you're walking side by side to the cafeteria.

“Mine. I asked her this morning and she accepted.” As you walk, you notice all the heads turning.

The boys look with either anger or envy, and the girls keep checking him out shamelessly. Even the married ladies don't seem to hide the lust in their eyes. You feel a little weird, suddenly so small and out of place. But you can't blame them. Billy is a hell of a view. “You ok?” He suddenly asks. “You tuned out for a moment.”

“Just thinking.” You reach the cafeteria and you get your lunch from the fridge, moving to the microwave.

“About what?”

“The stares you were getting while we walked over here.” It comes out abruptly, and you realize you're angry. Why are you angry? You can't be mad because people are staring, he's not yours.

“People always stare.” He says, coming to seat with you on the table next to the microwave. “But today is for a different reason.”

“Oh, of course.” You avoid his eyes, letting your hair down from the ponytail and detangling it with your fingers, just so you have something to do.

“You only notice half of what's going on around you.” You mumble as a response, not sure if there's anything else you can say. “I never spent this much time without going on dates, and I never spent this much time hanging out with the same girl.” Billy's lower voice slowly makes you raise your eyes, meeting his. “People are impressed. I am impressed.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It's been a while and I still want to be around you, to get to know you.” As he speaks, you look at the door, because you don't want anyone listening. It's bad enough that you'll end up telling Monica, which only makes you even more confused. You don't need someone else adding up to the mix.

'We're bound to break'. It comes to your head again. “How long do you think it'll last? You know you'll get tired of this little game you're playing, Billy.”

“From the bottom of my heart... I don't think I could ever get tired of you.”

The sudden beeps of the microwave make you jump up, thankful for it breaking through the atmosphere. You get your food and hand Billy his since he shoved it into the microwave with yours.

“Every time I see you it's like the first damn time. It took me by surprise too, believe me.”

“Just eat, Billy. Or it'll get cold.” A stupid thing to say since there's smoke coming from both your meals.

“If I find a way to prove you I'm not joking, that I mean every word I say when I say you're nothing like the other girls, that I'm being serious this time... Would you believe me?”

Holy shit, you need to get the hell out of this cafeteria. You don't want to listen, you want to be left alone until whatever is driving you towards Billy disappears. But can you do that? Stand up and walk away when you're right here with him, nobody else around... You don't think so. “I'd like to see what you would come up with.”

He takes a deep breath, resting his back against the chair. You can only watch as he takes one of his earrings off, doing the same with his necklace. “The hell are you doing, Hargrove?” You mumble, crossing your arms.

He gives a quick glance before focusing on whatever he's doing. He removes the pendant of the necklace, throwing it on the trash next to the fridge. You raise an eyebrow, your hunger momentarily put aside. Billy passes the silver chain through the tiny hoop of his earring, making a whole new necklace. The earring is kinda nice, and it looks badass on him. It has four black little stones and a metal piece at the end, which reminds you a claw.

Your eyes follow him as he stands up, walking around the table to stand behind you. You were just about to ask what he's doing when he puts the necklace around your neck. “Move your hair up, please.”

With wide eyes fixed on the light green wall across the cafeteria, you do as he says, feeling the cold metal against your skin. You're even more confused now. “Wear this every day, and I'll wear mine every day too.”

“Is it... Is it supposed to make people think I belong to you or something?” You burst out, still a little shocked, a little perplexed, trying to control the butterflies on your stomach.

“Then they'll think I belong to you too.”

“Just-just eat, Billy. Please.” You stutter, looking down at your food as your heart drums on your ears.

“And I making you nervous?”

Biting back a smile, you don't answer. You quickly search through your mind for anything else, just so you can change the subject. “I heard you study at Indianapolis University. The same I happen to have transferred to. Which course do you take?” That's good. You got your mind to function.

“Mechanical engineering.” He shrugs his shoulders when you raise your eyebrows. “I always liked cars, so it wasn't a difficult choice. What about you?”

“Biomedicine. I'm planning on specializing in Hematology and get a job on Hawkins National Hematology Lab.”

“So you plan on staying here?”

“Yes. I came to stay.”

There's a change in his expression, as it softens like he just realized something new about himself. A small, genuine smile breaks into his lips, beautiful lips. You were just about to ask what's on his mind when James, another lifeguard comes into the cafeteria and you decide to keep your mouth shut.

•••

When you walk out of the bathroom, still drying your hair with a towel, your eyes fall on the necklace lying on the nightstand, near your telephone. Sitting on the bed, you touch the earring, wondering if Billy is wearing his now. “What's happening to me?” You breathe out, throwing yourself down on the bed.

Your phone starts ringing, but you don't pick up. You know Diane will answer it downstairs. You hear her low voice coming from the living room, your eyes on the ceiling, and your thoughts revolving around him again.

Him.

You don't even need a name, he's the only guy you think about.

“Honey! It's Monica!” Your aunt yells.

“I'll pick up!” You shout back, moving up just to pick up the phone before lying down again. “Hi, Mom.” You hear the sound of the downstairs phone being put down as you speak.

“So. How was it?”

“Uhm... It was a lunch break. We had our breaks together and we had lunch.”

“Seriously? That was it? Don't you think I noticed something very unusual around your neck when you came out?”

Sighing, you let out a humorless laugh. Monica is very perceptive, the reason why she's coursing psychology. She's always paying attention to everything. “Mon...” It's almost like a cry.

“Talk to me, (Y/N).”

“I can't keep doing this.” You cover your eyes with one hand, and the image that immediately comes to my mind is him. “I'm... Scared.”

“What happened in the lunch break?”

“Billy said stuff, you know... That he won't get tired of me, that still wants to be around me...” Tossing around, you hug a pillow. “He took one of his earrings and made it into a necklace... He gave me and told me to wear it every day because he will wear it too.”

“(Y/N), I think Billy is falling in love with you.”

“No, Mon, I–”

“I've seen how he treats girls, (Y/N). He never acted like that. All day long I see them walking around the pool in the tiniest bikinis they have, but he never looks. He used to devour them with his eyes, but since that Monday, when you started working... His eyes are on you, on such a... Kind way. It's like he's someone else entirely.”

“I want to believe you,” you whisper, eyes focusing on the necklace. “What if we're bound to break?”

“Give yourself time, then. And give you both a chance. (Y/N), you need to stop overthinking and enjoy your summer. If you're bound to break, you'll know. But for now, enjoy the attention he's giving you. And if it doesn't work, at least you would have enjoyed it... I mean, you like being around him, don't you?”

“Way more than I should.”

“Then try living in the moment for a while. When it's time to think and make big decisions, you will make them.”

Nodding to yourself, you know she's right. If you keep overthinking, maybe you'll be the one to ruin everything. “You're right...”

“Now, you can either stay there or come with me, Chris and Jason to the mall. What will it be?”

Smiling, you stand up, already moving to chose what to wear.

An hour later you're at Starcourt Mall, completely reformed about a year ago, Monica tells you, after it was destroyed by an explosion. The place is very modern, but it's still very different from those in New York. But you like it, how lit up it is, and crowded. Families, teenagers, and kids, who pass by, running. You take in the lights, the laughers. Monica laughs at something Christopher says, his arms around her shoulders. Jason had to bring his two toddler siblings, so he's walking a few feets away, carrying the two years old Michael on his arms and holding Melanie's hand, who's the five years old.

“Hey. Have you crossed paths with David? After he had his ass kicked?” Chris asks.

“No. And I hope it remains that way.”

“It's a small town, you'll bump into him eventually. But I think he won't bother you anymore.” He says and Monica nods.

“Yeah...”

“You and Billy dating yet?” Jason asks, making it clear he was paying attention.

“Not yet,” Monica answers before you can say anything. Rolling your eyes, you decide not to say argue.

Blushing a little, you touch Billy's earring around your neck. A smile comes to your lips, and you hope he'll be wearing his tomorrow... It's stupid, but it kinda makes you feel closer to him, even though he's not here.

You decide to follow Monica's advice, but you'll still be careful. You can do both.

×

@chloe-skywalker @dpaccione @tilesandtokens

[lindacelestemonroe]

my lauren lopez character playlists!

i LOVE making these and at some point want to have one for every character but as it stands, i have 10! these are also changing constantly but here are the current tracklists :)

playlists include linda monroe, emma perkins, agnes florentine, emdroid perkins, tanya freemont, rory sampson, esther, lieutenant taz, zazzalil, & cynthia houston

click the section titles for the spotify links!

linda monroe

adore me - starkid productions

ex's & oh's - elle king

sex with a ghost - teddy hyde

charming - amber gray

someone gets hurt - taylor louderman

dark horse - katy perry

circus - britney spears

beggin for thread - banks

flood on the floor - purity ring

bad guy - billie eilish

i know what boys like - the waitresses

i kissed a girl - katy perry

me and my husband - mitski

ghost - halsey

heather - conan gray

sorry - halsey

bubblegum bitch - marina

superfreak - suprefreak

maneater - nelly furtado

agatha all along - wandavision

oh ana - mother mother

it's tough to be a god - annapantsu

world burn - taylor lauderman

killer queen - queen

toxic - britney spears

wiggle - starkid productions

emma perkins

new americana - halsey

get out - chvrches

chained to the rhythm - katy perry

jessie's girl - rick springfield

heartsign - purity ring

amber - 311

hey there delilah - plain white t's

superboy and the invisble girl - next to normal

begin again - purity ring

drugs - upsahl

verbatim - mother mother

cecilia and the satellite - andrew mcmahon in the wilderness

even the nights are better - air supply

bad at love - halsey

burning pile - mother mother

love song - 311

we come running - youngblood hawke

hey, soul sister - train

always the sun - the stranglers

everybody talks - neon trees

don't stop me now - queen

agnes florentine

lovegirl - jim and the povolos

valerie (feat. amy winehouse) - mark ronson

the beauty is - the light in the piazza

ily (i love you baby) (feat. emilee) - surf mesa

it's been a long, long time - harry james

i hear a symphony - cody fry

august - taylor swift

please notice - christian leave

ophelia - the lumineers

mr loverman - ricky montgomery

solar eclipse - jim and the povolos

space girl - frances forever

the moment - jim and the povolos

emdroid perkins

gasoline - halsey

the mother we share - chvrches

you should see me in a crown - billie eilish

circus - lindsay mendez

stranger than earth - purity ring

all mixed up - 311

hey ya! - outkast

stillness in woe - purity ring

meant to be yours - heathers

body - mother mother

girls on film - duran duran

livin' la vida loca - ricky martin

gasoline - leyla blue

another one bites the dust - queen

devil in me - halsey

arms tonite - mother mother

repetition - purity ring

space and time - 311

lofticries - purity sing

we are the champions - queen

tanya freemont

boy toy - the hot girls

wannabe - spice girls

don't you want me - the human league

girls just wanna have fun - cyndi lauper

tiptoe - boys world

lovefool - the cardigans

betty - taylor swift

what a shame - leyla blue

the benefits of being my man - mary kate wiles

woman (feat. the dap-kings horns) - kesha

video killed the radio star - the buggles

teenage dream - katy perry

material girl - madonna

donatella - lady gaga

rory sampson

hayloft - mother mother

pompeii - bastille

girls in bikinis - poppy

cuz i love you - lizzo

wake me up - avicii

dust hymn - purity ring

anna sun - walk the moon

radioactive - imagine dragons

bad blood - bastille

we didn't start the fire - billy joel

esther

ants marching - dave matthews band

just can't get enough - depeche mode

rebel yell - billy idol

uptown girl - billy joel

love shack - the b-52's

we built this city - starship

hotel california - eagles

africa- toto

welcome to the jungle - guns n' roses

o my heart - mother mother

just another day - oingo boingo

rosanna - toto

iris - the goo goo dolls

lay all your love on me - erasure

sharp dresed man - zz top

thunderstruck - ac/dc

gimme all your lovin' - zz top

life is a highway - rascal flatts

lieutenant taz

get back up - starship

make party - jim and the povolos

strike back - talkfine, starkid

suavemente - elvis crespo

galactic love - jim and the povolos

wrecking ball - mother mother

greased lightnin' - grease

99 luftballoons - nena

committed - jim and the povolos

karma chameleon - culture club

hit me with your best shot - pat benatar

living on a prayer - the lights

zazzalil

never gets old - jim and the povolos

dancing queen - abba

it's a beautiful day - michael bublé

cupid's chokehold / breakfast in america - gym class heroes

walking on sunshine - katrina & the waves

firebringer medley - starkid homecoming

come on eileen - dexys midnight runners

don't stop believin' - journey

i'm gonna be (500 miles) - the proclaimers

time warp - rocky horror picture show

kids - mgmt

cynthia houston

take me to church - hozier

a change of scene - mary kate wiles

eyes on the prize i - lauren lopez

she blinded me with science - thomas dolby

the sun always shines on t.v. - a-ha

hot n cold - katy perry

plastic hearts - miley cyrus

madness - muse

suburbia - pet shop boys

vienna - billy joel

tainted love - soft cell

missionary man - eurythmics

renegades - x ambassadors

a little respect - erasure

poker face - lady gaga

[staylavendertea]

more young avengers head canons cause its easier than actually trying to write these teens in fan fics

• i live for tommy and billy’s relationship as siblings and twins and tommy having someone like that and it helping him as a character ;; like we all know that “i don’t have feelings and i don’t hold hands” from mr speed, but then tommy totally trying to hide him balling his eyes out when billy asks him to be his best man and getting super emotional at billy and teddy’s wedding - and the first time holding his niece ;; give tommy domesticity and love 👏👏 he deserves it

• speaking of nerds, i’ve been imaging billy and teddy dates ,, i need grunge gay sipping on iced coffee with his skateboard strapped to his book bag holding his varsity jacket boyfriend’s hand whose trying to figure out directions ,, and on stormy rainy days they’ll just cuddle next to windows and play animal crossing together ;;

group movie nights 🍿🍿

since billy is the film major and nerd, eli most of the time puts him in charge of movie picking, does he pick horror movies thats gonna scare everyone? ofc ,,,

kate and cassie got put on popcorn and snack duty for like three weeks in a row cause they pick the best snacks ,,,

tommy and teddy usually end up knowing the end of all the movies unless they’re recent cause billy has forced them watch them with him at least once ,,,

a lot of the times nate and eli end up squished next to each other on a couch or chair and during horror movies they keep trying to practically throw each other onto the floor whilst also trying to hide behind each other - nate litetally trying to crawl behind eli when the main character gets possessed whilst simultaneously eli is trying to low key slide behind nate ,,,but it’s not just horror ofc - litetally watching the shining, little women, and scott prilgrim vs the world in the same night in that order

• nate tripping and tumbling over everything and anything is the mood and my favorite mood, him going immediately into survival mode the second anyone gets lost, his suruvial mode being with literally only a pocket full of fruit gummies and a single phone flashlight - billy tried to teach him to skateboard once ,,didn’t end well ,,,

•billy has totally cracked his skull open at least once, falling whilst skating, just a little bit of bleeding and some headaches and ow bright lights, gonna be fine, tommy’s text to the group chat when it happened “bee broke his head his whole ass skull went ka-thunk on the concert”

• kate and cassie practically living at each other’s houses, the type of kate getting to cassie’s house before cassie could get there, then climbing in through a window and napping on cassie’s bed

• once a month or every few weeks the group takes little trips out of the new york city area which means early sunrises and pretty skies whilst waiting at aboveline stations with mcdonald’s coffees and breakfast and they all sleepily leaning and sitting with each other ;;

some of my new ones, please do add your own !! i love seeing everyone’s creative brains come together 

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Roguish Women Part 7

Summary: Kate Rosseau is an American who fled to Paris to escape her past life. Now she's dancing and playing the part of a courtesan at the Moulin Rouge. There she meets Tommy Shelby who thinks she can be useful in expanding his empire. But has he been blinded?

Part 7: Some light is shed on why Kate is constantly on the run. 

           Grace was hunched over a ledger when Kate burst in through the doors. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” She remarked.

“I don’t have much time.” Kate glanced over her shoulder; afraid someone had followed her to the pub. “But I wanted to say my goodbyes to you in person and hoped that you would pass them along to the rest of the family.”

“Goodbyes? What on Earth are you talking about?” Grace looked alarmed.

“Really, I did quite enjoy our talks together. You helped the time pass by faster in this…wonderful city. And I wanted to warn you. Warn you that, Tommy.” Kate shook her head. “That isn’t a path you want to go down. Trust me I know what getting into this life entails. Once you’re in, you never get out of it. So, I’d run while you still have both legs.”

“Kate, sit down and talk to me, you’re about to faint!” Grace stood and pulled up a chair for her.

“I can’t stay, really I-”

The doors opened and Kate reacted instinctually. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at the doors.

Tommy put his hands up defensively. “I can’t walk into me own pub without getting shot?” He joked half-heartedly.

“Tommy, talk to her, she’s run in here talking nonsense.” Grace waved him over, her brow furrowed.

“What’s going on?” Tommy went to walk over but paused. He locked the doors behind him just in case there really was danger lurking around the corner.

“I need to leave,” Kate explained cryptically.

“Why?”

“Because I just do!” She huffed anxiously. “You take the information I gave you, free of charge. Forget about me and let me go on my way.” Her mind was racing. Where on Earth would she go? There were very few hiding spots she had left unless she ventured even further East. She wondered if Australia was far enough.

“Kate. What happened? Are you in danger?”

“Sit down.” Grace urged and placed a hand on Kate’s shoulder.

She hoped she wasn’t wasting precious time by sitting down. “I received a letter from an old-I don’t know how you would describe our relationship. Maybe an enemy, who cares. I received a letter from him and I know what he’s after.”

“What is he after?” Grace sat back down beside Kate.

“Me.” She swallowed and looked at her hands. “My father was in so deep in Boston. He had nothing left and the people he had taken money from were closing in on our family. So, he made a deal with them. Six months to get the money back in full, plus interest. If that failed, then I would be betrothed to the head of the family, Santo Leoni.”

“I’m guessing you skipped town before those six months were up,” Tommy said.

Kate nodded with a grim expression. “There was no point waiting around for my father to fail. Figures he wouldn’t put his own life on the line, rather he’d use his daughter as a bargaining chip. That’s the kind of man he was. I knew he’d never get the money so I left for France. Now Santo’s found out where I am.”

“How?” Grace looked to Tommy as if he’d have any answers.

She shook her head. “I haven’t the faintest. I thought I was in the clear a long time ago but I guess I’ve let my guard down too soon. I should’ve known he would catch up to my one of these days.”

“Well even if he knows where you are, it doesn’t matter.” Grace insisted. “He can’t force you to marry him.”

“Santo always gets his way,” Kate replied with a bitter smile. “So, I should be on my way before he catches up.”

“You can’t just run the rest of your life,” Grace argued. “Tommy, you have to do something.”

The Blinder paused, considering the consequences of pissing off an American mafia leader. He was chomping at the bit to claim his kingdom. Map out the territory that he could rule with an iron fist. But was he willing to go to bat for a young woman who had been promised to someone with more power than him? “No, Grace is right.” He spoke without really thinking. The war had subdued his good nature, the romantic in him that still believed in knights in shining armor. Men who saved the day, helping damsels in distress. But that part of him hadn’t been snuffed out completely. “You’re under the protection of the Peaky Blinders.” He said steadily.

Kate got a very bad feeling that started in the pit of her stomach and bubbled up to her throat. A sour taste spread across her tongue. She didn’t want to run across the globe for the rest of her life. Constantly looking over her shoulder in case there were enemies near. But would she risk the lives of people she knew very little of? People who had, in their own way, taken care of her? Putting them up as collateral when she was the one to blame for her circumstances. “If anyone was to get hurt because of me-”

“I think you’ll find that we’re very resilient.” Tommy interrupted. “As long as you live in Birmingham, no one will harm you.”

“Your confidence could be the end of you, Tommy Shelby,” Kate warned.

The man just shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two men stood outside of Kate’s apartment that night and the night after. Still, it didn’t feel like enough protection. She was grateful, but she knew that Santo didn’t like when people stood in his way. He had a tendency of thinking very little about human life. Those who didn’t matter to him were like gnats. Easily swatted down without a second glance.

The night after receiving the letter, Kate suffered a horrible nightmare. One she thought she’d escaped a long time ago.

Back in the alleyways of Boston. She carried only the bare essentials in a small bag. Nothing to weigh her down. She was only half a block from her flat when she heard a loud explosion. Fear told her to keep moving but she couldn’t help but look back. Her building was engulfed in flames. Other tenants started to scream as they became trapped in the inferno.

Over the chaos of shrieks and glass shattering, Kate heard his voice.

“Micina. Don’t make me come and hunt you down.” He called out into the night. “You can run to the ends of the Earth and I’ll still find you.”

Kate tasted ash on her tongue as she jerked awake. The echoing sounds of crying and his taunts flooded her. She hunched over her knees and rocked herself to try and comfort her anxious mind. Maybe Birmingham was the end of the Earth. And Santo had kept his promise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You don’t look well,” Grace commented gently.

Kate spent her time either in the betting shop or in the Garrison after getting the letter. That way, she always had a watchful eye over her. Tommy had his hands full with Kimber but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep his promise. Especially since Grace insisted that he step up and make sure the woman was kept safe.

“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Kate admitted.

“It’s alright to feel scared.”

She simply nodded and tried to put on a smile.

Grace yawned and went back to her ledger.

Kate propped up her feet on a nearby chair and leaned back a bit. “You don’t seem too well rested either.” She noted. "You've been yawning all day."

A hint of a smile crossed Grace’s face. “I suppose I didn't get much sleep either.”

Kate caught onto her coy nature. “Well, out with it. What were you up doing last night?” She coaxed.

The blonde woman laughed and shook her head, keeping her eyes down sheepishly. “I spent the night with Tommy.” She confessed.

Kate’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Yeah?” She nudged her friend’s shoulder playfully. “He wasn’t cold to the touch, was he? Still has a beating heart?” She teased.

“No, no, he was very…warm.” Grace’s fair cheeks began to blush at the memory of the night before. The way Tommy held her so tenderly. It was a far cry from the man he was on the streets.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” She noted. “It’s about time, don’t you think? What’s next, then?”

“Oh, I dunno.” Grace tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and tried to keep her eyes on her handwriting but couldn’t concentrate.

“Well, you’ll end up together don’t you think?”

The smile was torn from Grace’s lips. Her eyes stared blankly at the ledger beneath her hand. “No, no, I don’t think so.” She whispered somberly.

“Why?”

Grace stood up suddenly. “They’ll be here soon.”

Kate turned around in her chair. “For what?”

“They’re taking out Billy Kimber today.”

Italian: 

Micina: Little Kitty

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla​ @giftofdreams​

Masterlist

[therandombanjo]

Songs From 2019 (one per artist)

Another mixed bag of stuff i either enjoyed a lot, thought was excellent or interesting (regardless of taste… sort of), emerging artists to maybe look out for, and generally music that for whatever reason connected with me in some way, including the odd earworm i just couldn’t shake. Some artists are left off just to vary a little more from some other popular lists. Hope you enjoy some of this too and find something new to be taken by. Please do buy their music if you can and hopefully from a local independent record store if possible to support their work. There’s a spotify playlist (below) for easier listening but I’ve also posted a few links to extra things on some of them if you want to check them out.  Spotify:

(As ever…. as i don’t tumblr or blog or anything (besides this list), this won’t be seen by many (if any?) people so if you like it or think it’s of any worth in any way, please do share this along)

In Alphabetical order:

A.A. Bondy - Killers 3 Abdallah Oumbadougou - Thingalene Alasdair Roberts - Common Clay Alex Rex - Latest Regret Andy Shauf - Try Again Angel Bat Dawid - We Are Starzz Angel Olsen - All Mirrors        bonus. her collab with Mark Ronson “True Blue” Anne Müller - Solo? Repeat! Antoinette Konan - Kokoloko Tani Arthur Russell - Words Of Love Asmâa Hamzaoui and Bnat Timbouktou - Sandia Baby Rose - All To Myself BCI - Grateful Bedouine - When You’re Gone Benny The Butcher - Crowns For Kings      ft. Black Thought Ben Walker - Afon Better Oblivion Community Center - Chesapeake Beverly Glenn-Copeland - A Little Talk     (from a reissue of her 2004 record Primal Prayer) Bibio - Curls The Big Moon - It’s Easy Then Big Thief - a. Not    b. Cattails    (from 2 excellent albums released in the same year: “U.F.O.F” and “Two Hands”) Bill Callahan - a. What Comes After Certainty    b. The Ballad Of The Hulk Bill Fay - Filled With Wonder Once Again Bill Orcutt - Odds Against Tomorrow billy woods - a. Spongebob w/ Kenny Segal     b. Western Education Is Forbidden    ft. Fielded        (From 2 excellent records this year: “Hiding Places” with Kenny Segal, and “Terror Management”) Black Country, New Road - Sunglasses Blu & Oh No - The Lost Angels Anthem    ft. Kezia Bon Iver - Hey, Ma Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Beast For Thee Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman      (”supergroup” of the great Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D Johnson & Josh Kaufman) Brent Cobb & Jade Bird - Feet Off The Ground Brighde Chaimbeul -  O Chiadain an Lo Brigyn - Oer Brittany Howard - Stay High    (the video for this, with Terry Crews, is a delight) Bruce Hornsby - Voyager One    ft. yMusic Burd Ellen - Sweet Lemany Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett - Kestrel Caribou - You and I Caroline Polachek - Door Cate Le Bon - Daylight Matters Caterina Barbieri - Arrows Of Time Clairo - Bags Cochemea - Mitote comfort - Not Passing The Cool Greenhouse - Cardboard Man    (a pretty hilarious song about David Cameron) CRAC - You Can’t Turn Your Back On Me    (Unreleased old track from ‘76) Cross Record - PYSOL My Castle CZ Wang and Neo Image - Just Off Wave Damon Locks / Black Monument Ensemble - a. Rebuild a Nation   b. Power Daniel Norgren - The Flow Danny Brown - Dirty Laundry Daphni - Sizzling    ft. Paradise Daughter Of Swords - Fellows      (Mountain Man member Alexandra Sauser-Monnig’s 1st solo record) Dave - Psycho David Kilgour - Smoke You Right Out Of Here David Thomas Broughton - Ambiguity     (from the 15th anniversary reissue of his remarkable debut album, The Complete Guide To Insufficiency) Denzel Curry - RICKY Destroyer - Crimson Tide Dry Cleaning - Dog Proposal Dubi Dolczek - Do The Gloop Durand Jones & The Indications - Long Way Home Ela Orleans - The Season      (From 2012 but on a career retrospective, Movies For Ears, put out this year) Elkhorn - Song Of The Son Emile Mosseri - a. The Last Black Man In San Francisco b. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)    ft. Mike Marshall         (both from the wonderful score for the wonderful film The Last Black Man In San Francisco, the latter a cover of an old song sung here by the guy who sang “I Got 5 On It”!!) Erland Cooper - Haar Ernest Hood - Saturday Morning Doze        (from a re-issue of his “self-released proto-ambient masterpiece” in ‘75) Fat White Family - Feet Faye Webster - Room Temperature Fennesz - In My Room Fernando Falcão -  As 7 Filhas Da Rainha Sumaia     (reissue from ‘87) FKA twigs - cellophane Florist - Shadow Bloom Flowdan - Welcome To London Fontaines D.C. - Roy’s Tune Four Tet / KH - Only Human French Vanilla - All The Time Gang Starr - Family and Loyalty   ft. J. Cole Georgia - About Work The Dancefloor Girl Band - Shoulderblades The Good Ones - Will You Be My Protector?   (of Rwanda) Grand Veymont - Les Rapides Bleus       (of France) Gyedu-Blay Ambolley - Sunkwa     (of Ghana) Hailaker - Not Much HAIM - Summer GIrl Hana Vu - Actress Hand Habits - placeholder Hannah Cohen - Get In Line The Harlem Gospel Travellers - If You Can’t Make It Through A Storm Hayden Thorpe - Diviner     (Former Wild Beasts frontman’s debut solo record) Helado Negro - Running The Highwomen - Redesigning Women Hiss Golden Messenger - I Need A Teacher Holly Herndon - Frontier Homeboy Sandman - Far Out Hoops - They Say Hotel Neon & Blurstem - Language Of Loss House and Land - Rainbow ‘Mid Life’s Willows Ibibio Sound Machine - Wanna Come Down IDER - Saddest Generation The Innocence Mission - On Your Side International Teachers Of Pop - I Stole Yer Plimsoles    ft. Jason Williamson (of Sleaford Mods) Jacken Elswyth - The Banks Of Green Williow Jaimie Branch - nuevo roquero estéreo Jake Xerxes Fussell - The River St. Johns Jamila Woods - ZORA Jayda G - Leave Room 2 Breathe Jenny Hval - Ashes To Ashes       Jenny Lewis - Red Bull and Hennessy Jesca Hoop - Outside of Eden     ft. Kate Stables (of This Is The Kit) and Jesca’s 12 year-old nephew Justis. This live performance is so sweet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUPmE_hU7Ss Jessica Pratt - As The World Turns Joanna Sternberg - This Is Not Who I Want To Be Joan Shelley - Cycle John Blek - North Star Lady Jordan Rakei - Say Something        bonus. under his DJ pseudonym: Dan Kye - Focus Jo Schornikow - Incomplete Joseph Shabason - West of Heaven Julianna Barwick - evening Junius Paul - Baker’s Dozen Kali Malone - Spectacle Of Ritual Kate Teague - Sweetheart Kate Tempest - a. Firesmoke    b. People’s Faces Kelly Moran - Halogen (Una Corda)       (from a record full of all the bare piano parts she played for her prior record before all the editing and processing) Kim Gordon - Air BnB Kindness - Hard To Believe     ft. Jazmine Sullivan KOKOKO! - Buka Dansa     (Congolese collective upcycling discarded materials to make their instruments) Konradsen - Baby Hallelujah     (of Norway) Lambchop - Everything For You Laura Cannell - a. Sing As The Crow Flies     b. Flaxen Fields Laura Stevenson - Lay Back, Arms Out Le Groupe Obscur -  Planète Ténèbres Leonard Cohen - Happens To The Heart Leo Svirsky - River Without Banks Little Simz - 101 FM Lizzo - Tempo   ft. Missy Elliot Loren Conors & Daniel Carter - Departing Lou Roy - Bite Low Chord - Walkk Lower Dens - Galapagos Mahalia - What You Did    ft. Ella Mai Majja - Black James Dean Maria Somerville - This Way Maria Usbeck - Amor Anciano Mary Halvorson & John Dieterich - Vega’s Array      (Mary the recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant this year, because she is) Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan - IV Matana Roberts - As Far As The Eye Can See Meitei - Ike Melanie Charles - Trill Suite, No. 1 (Daydreaming/Skylark) The Menzingers - Anna Messiahs Of Glory - No Other Love      (from a collection of rare black gospel from the Midwest between ‘65-’78 put out on Tompkins Square) Mica Levi - a. Hosting     b. Lobo y Lady (from the excellent Colombian film Monos) Michael Abels - a. I Got 5 On It (Tethered Mix)    b. Pas De Deux (both from the terrific score to the excellent Jordan Peele film, Us) Michael Kiwanuka - Living In Denial Michael Nau - Poor Condition Mike Adams At His Honest Weight - Wonderful To Love Minor Pieces - Rothko      (duo of Ian William Craig & newcomer Missy Donaldson) Modern Nature - Footsteps Molly Sarlé - Twisted      (Mountain Man member’s 1st solo record) Moodymann - I’ll Provide Moon Duo - Stars Are The Light Moor Mother - After Images Moses Boyd - Stranger Than Fiction Moses Sumney - Polly Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron - Love Without Possession MSYLMA - Inqirad (Rihab-U Dhakir)     (Saudi Arabia) The Murder Capital - Don’t Cling To Life Nardeydey - Freefalling The National - Rylan   ft. Kate Stables (of This Is The Kit) The New Pornographers - Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - a. Waiting For You   b. Bright Horses   c. Night Raid Nivhek - After Its Own Death: Side A    (Liz Harris of Grouper) Noname - Song 32 Octo Octa - Move Your Body ODD OKODDO - Auma      (Kenyan/German duo) Øyvind Torvund - Starry Night      (Norwegian composer) Pet Shop Boys - Burning The Heather Petter Eldh - Fanfarum for Komarum II Porridge Radio - Give/Take PREGOBLIN - Combustion Purple Mountains - a. Snow Is Falling In Manhattan    b. All My Happiness Is Gone   c. That’s Just The Way That I Feel Quelle Chris - Obamacare Quinie - Whas At The Windy Rapsody - Ibtihaj   ft. D’Angelo & GZA Reb Fountain - Faster Rian Treanor - ATAXIA_A1 Richard Dawson - Two Halves Robert Stillman - All Are Welcome Róisín Murphy - Incapable Rosalía - Milionària Rosenau & Sanborn - Saturday Rozi Plain - Symmetrical Ruth Garbus - Strash Sam Lee - The Moon Shines Bright   ft. Elizabeth Fraser (of Cocteau Twins) Sam Wilkes - Run Sandro Perri - Soft Landing SAULT - Smile and Go Seabuckthorn - To Which The Rest Were Dreamt serpentwithfeet - Receipts    ft. Ty Dolla $ign Sessa - Flor do Real         (of Brazil) Sheer Mag - Hardly To Blame Shit and Shine - No No No No Sinead O Brien - A Thing You Call Joy Siobhan Wilson - Plastic Grave Six Organs Of Admittance - Two Forms Moving Sleaford Mods - Kebab Spider Slow Meadow - Artificial Algorithm Snowy - EFFED    ft. Jason Williamson (of Sleaford Mods) SOAK - Knock Me Off My Feet Solange - Binz Sophie Crawford - A Miner’s Life Squid - Houseplants         bonus. Their cover of Robert Wyatt’s  “PIgs..... In There at End of the Road Festival) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DktZtQbo-YU Stella Donnelly - Old Man SUSS - Ursa Major Swamp Dogg - Sleeping Without You Is A Dragg   ft. Justin Vernon & Jenny Lewis Tami T - Birthday  Tenesha The Wordsmith - Why White Folks Can’t Call Me Nigga Theon Cross - Activate     ft. Moses Boyd & Nubya Garcia Thom Yorke - Dawn Chorus Tierra Whack - Wasteland Tim Hecker - That World Tiny Leaves - Respair Toya Delazy - Funani         (of South Africa) Twain - Death (Or S.F.?) Twin Peaks - Dance Through It Tyler Childers - All Your’n Vagabon - Water Me Down Vampire Weekend - This Life Vanishing Twin - Magicians Success Velvet Negroni - Confetti Vendredi Sur Mer - Chewing-Gum      (of France) Victoria Monét - Ass Like That Vieo Abiungo - Cobble Together Visible Cloaks - Stratum      ft. Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano Warmduscher - Midnight Dipper Weyes Blood - Andromeda Wilco - Love Is Everywhere (Beware) William Tyler - Our Lady Of The Desert Willie Scott & The Birmingham Spirituals - Keep Your Faith To The Sky     (from a collection of obscure 70′s era gospel on Luaka Bop, “The Time For Peace Is Now - Gospel Music About Us”) Xylouris White - Tree Song Ye Vagabonds - The Foggy Dew Zsela - Noise

[we-are-all-of-legend-now]

The Island Of Misfit Toys Playlist

YouTube Playlist

Part One: Songs Featured In The Text

Part Two: Songs That Remind Me Of The Text* 

(*If a song matches a certain part in the text, it will be indicated, if not, it’s a general inspiration)

Ace Of Hearts - Zella Day

All Die Young - Smith Westerns

All The Stars - The Wailin’ Jennys

All The Way - Carolyne Neuman

All Through The Night - Sleeping At Last

Anchor - Mindy Gledhill

A Place You Like - Island

Arms - Christina Perri

Ashes Made Of Spades - The Rocket Summer

Away Frm U - Oberhofer

Barbies - P!nk

Beating Heart - Ellie Goulding

Believe In Dreams - Flyleaf

Be Still - The Fray

Blood And Bones - Kodaline

Brand New - Emilie Mover

Breathe - Rhodes

Breathless - Better Than Ezra

Bring Us The Sun - Ben Cocks

But Breathing - Defeater

Cancer - My Chemical Romance

Cast No Shadow - Oasis

Chain Breaker - Zach Williams

Come Out Of The Shade - The Perishers

Crash Into Me - Former Vandal

Daring To Be Different - Everlife

Diamond - Bandit Heart

Disaster Hearts - I Fight Dragons

Do Not Hang Your Head - Elizabeth & The Catapult

Don’t Go My Darlin’ - The National Parks

Dumb Stuff - Lany

Each Shallow Breath - Chase Coy

Everyone Falls - Beth Thornley

Fair Weather Friends - Johnny Cash

Fall For You - Leela James

Fallin’ For You - Colbie Caillat

Falling - Secrets In Stereo

Fall Into Me - Hey Monday

Fifteen - Foy Vance

Fingerprints - Eric Saade

Five - Sleeping At Last

Flying High - Jem

Forever - Matt Hires

Free Like You Make Me - Cary Brothers

Going To Be Wonderful - Tom Rosenthal

Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah) - Andy Grammer

Hallelujah - Gin Wigmore

Heart - The Pretty Reckless

Hear Your Heart - James Bay

Here I Am - Dolly Parton ft. Sia

He’s My Son - Mark Schultz

Hide Away - Hilary Duff

House Of Love - Catherine MacLellan

Hugging You - Tom Rosenthal

I Dare You - The XX

I Do Adore - Mindy Gledhill

I’ll Never Go Away - Erin McCarley ft. Gabe Dixon

I Still Breathe - Apollo Drive

It Keeps You Runnin’ - The Doobie Brothers

Jeanette - Chase Coy

Join The Club - Bring Me The Horizon

Keeping Me Alive - The Afters

Kind - Eisley

Lay It On Me - Vance Joy

Leaving Song - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Left To Dry - Shaimus

Let It Out - Tom Rosenthal

Let’s Run Away - Haley Reinhart

Light Me Up - Ingrid Michaelson

Live Forever - Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors

Long Time Coming - Oliver James

Look After You - Aron Wright

Look Through My Eyes - Everlife

Love Alone - Thriving Ivory

Love Is Stronger Than Death - The The

Love Won’t Sleep - Lostboycrow

Lucky - Kat Edmonson

Meant - Zach Winters

Medicine - The 1975

Million Dollar Secret - Lucius

My Aim Is You - Nikola Sarcevic

My Best Friend - Tim McGraw

My Heart - The Perishers

Never Let This Go - Paramore

Night Go Slow - Catey Shaw

Nobody Knows - Lostboycrow

No One’s Aware - Jack Savoretti

No Such Thing As Time - Elenowen

Only One - Smith Westerns

Our First Kiss - Billy Gilman

Out Of The Blue - Vertical Horizon

Parallel Lines - Future Reference ft. Aron Wright

Pluto - Sleeping At Last

Promise Keeper - Breaking Point

Raindrops - Maggie Eckford

Raining - Of Verona

Rare - Ruth B

Salt Skin - Ellie Goulding

Saved My Life - Fee Waybill

Save You - Simple Plan

Say Something - A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera

Send Me All Your Angels - Kris Allen

Side By Side - Sleeping At Last

Six - Sleeping At Last

Sleeping World - Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Soda - Nothing But Thieves

Some Kind Of Home  - Thriving Ivory

Someone  To Stay - Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Soon Goodbye, Now Love - Tom Rosenthal

Sorrowing Man - City & Colour

St. Jude - Florence + The Machine

Stone Of Suffering - Get Set Go

Summer - Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Surrender - Former Vandal ft. Tabi

Take These Things To Heart - Kyler England

Take Your Guess - Tom Rosenthal

Take Your Time - Cary Brothers

Teenage Sonata - Sam Cooke

Temptation - Moby

The One You Love - Passenger ft. Kate Miller-Heidke

The Projectionist - Sleeping At Last

There Is A Dark Place - Tom Rosenthal

The Stars Shine In The Sky Tonight - Eels

Thief - Our Lady Peace

Timebomb - Delta Spirit

Too Young To Feel This Old - You Me At Six

To The Grave - Bea Miller

Traveler - Lostboycrow

Twenty Twelve - Matt Maeson

Two - Sleeping At Last

Wait For You - James Lindsay

We Could Happen - AJ Rafael

We Found Each Other In The Dark - City & Colour

We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - Denmark + Winter

What I Needed - Erin McCarley

Whenever You Need - Jamestown Story

When I Go - Over The Rhine

Where I Can’t Follow - Amy Kuney

Wicked Game - Gemma Hayes

Wild Ones - You Me At Six

Wild Place - Glass Pear

Wish That You Were Here - Florence + The Machine

Without A Fight - Jame Floyd

Without You - AJ Rafael

Wonder - Lauren Aquilina

Won’t Stop Running - A Great Big World

You Ain’t Alone - Alabama Shakes

You And Me - Rosie Thomas

You And Your Heart - We The Lion

You Only Need You - Tom Rosenthal

You’re The One For Me - Delta Rae

You Will Find Me - Andrew Ripp

Part Three: Reader Recommendations

Agape - Bear’s Den

Castor And Pollux - Kathryn Calder

Diamonds - Ben Howard

Eastside - Benny Blanco ft. Halsey/Khalid

I’m Waiting Here - David Lynch ft. Lykke Li

Is There Somewhere - Halsey

Joyful - X Ambassadors

My Boy - Car Seat Headrest

Perfect - Ed Sheeran

The Funeral - Band Of Horses

Tokyo Narita - Halsey ft. Lido

With You - Tyler Shaw

You Are My Sister - Antony And The Johnsons

You Might Be The One - Greyson Chance

[fandomshatelgbtqpeople]

In her directorial debut, Janet Mock pulls together all of the strengths of Pose, delicately balancing the moments of lightness and darkness from a script co-written by her and Ryan Murphy with powerful visual storytelling. Her eye and style bring a sense of urgency but also a deeply intimate feeling to this episode. It might be her debut, but there’s prowess in every shot. Over the course of the episode, she gets to tackle a fight scene, two musical numbers, two ball sequences, and a whole lot of drama, humor, and emotion, and she does it all with style and substance.

“Love Is The Message” hooks from the very first scene. It picks up right where last week’s cliffhanger ends, with the confrontation between Angel and Patty. While the twist then hinted at melodrama—especially given that it was the last beat of the episode—it takes a much more nuanced and compelling turn here. Patty isn’t looking for revenge, doesn’t shift the blame from Stan to Angel. She just wants answers that she knows she can’t get from her lying husband, and Angel doesn’t hesitate to give them. Their conversation is sad and revealing, both of their wants and needs laid out plainly before them. They’re not exactly allies, but they aren’t enemies either.

Angel posits a hypothetical: Does Patty think he can love them both at the same time? That’s what she wants, his love and devotion. But she also expresses that she felt like a kept woman, knows that she was starting to associate all of her worth with his attention. These personal revelations on her part give new, deeper context to her relationship with Stan, crucially putting a fine point on the underlying possessiveness in his dynamic with her. Patty’s wants are parallel but still different: She, too, feels that Stan treats her like a doll, like her self-worth is tied up in his whims. She’s pretending that this is what she always wanted, but she isn’t so sure. Finally, Pose peels back the layers to Patty. Kate Mara and Indya Moore both turn in their best performances of the season so far in this scene. Moore’s delivery of “If you wanna see who I am, that’s the last place you should look” is awards-worthy on its own.

The dialogue throughout the episode is biting, and Pose’s deep ensemble brings it all to life, gives specificity and layered emotion to the words. Pray Tell is unraveling in the face of his boyfriend Costas’ steady health decline. He’s noticeably drunk at the balls, keeps playing the same song—“Love Is The Message”—on a constant loop. The youngins at the ball think it’s just an older guy being nostalgic, but of course Pray Tell is caught up in a nostalgia loop for deeper reasons. It was his and Costas’ song one summer, before the HIV epidemic, before Pray Tell had to bury so many friends and lovers. The song becomes his breakdown echo chamber, his desperate plea for the past and for hope. Billy Porter has served all different dynamics this season with his performances week-to-week, and his portrayal of Pray Tell’s spiral is visceral.

House of Evangelista attempts to intervene, but he can’t hear it from them, feels that they don’t know the true extent of his pain. This goes much deeper than a bender. He finds a glimmer of hope when a nurse in the HIV ward (played by Sandra Bernhard with a dependable level of spunk) suggests that he do something for the patients. He puts on a cabaret night, which gives not only Porter a chance to show off his pipes but Mj Rodriguez, too. Seriously, are there any limits to Rodriguez’s talents? She has easily been the breakout star of this show (which is not discrediting anyone else on the show—everyone is so good!), and her performance of “Home” just drives that home even more. It’s raw and magnetic and an instance when Pose’s long runtimes really works in its favor. This shouldn’t be truncated at all. It’s too powerful, too meaningful of a moment.

But it isn’t really until Costas begs Pray Tell to move on, asks him to grieve for one day and then remember how to live and love again, that he can truly pull himself out of the darkness. Costas’ death in the episode feels inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking. In fact, that’s what’s so devastating about the vibe in the hospital and Pray Tell’s interactions with Costas throughout: No one is getting better.

Pose, as usual, doesn’t lose itself in the darkness. It strikes a wildly impressive balance between showing the horrors and tragedy of this epidemic while also finding moments of hope, joy, and kindness. Even the sharp-tongued Judy offers a bit of light in the dismal setting of the hospital. And Pray Tell dresses up the rec room in a very believable and grounded way, doing the best he can with the little resources that he has.

Even Blanca’s little subplot with a smooth-talking guy named Darius has fun layers to it. Blanca’s number one priority is her house and her children, but of course she wants companionship, too. And when Darius comes in with his pick-up lines and flirtations, something flutters within her. But when the other girls tell Blanca he’s a playboy who they’ve all slept with (Trace Lysette has a super fun guest appearance here, and I hope we get to see more of her), she loses some of her giddiness. Blanca wants something real. Pose uses this seemingly small subplot to play with a lot of different things, including Blanca’s anxieties about having to disclose her status to potential sexual partners. The moment of her facing Darius and telling him that she doesn’t want to be anybody’s plaything at the end of the episode is a wonderful display of sisterhood. All the other girls, even Lulu and Candy from her rival house, stand by her side up against him. These little moments of sisterhood throughout Pose are magical and are deeply embedded in the show’s DNA. Even amid the darkness, a sense of family, love, and community shines through and carries these characters forward. Love is the message, indeed.

Stray observations

Billy Porter and Sandra Bernhard’s dynamic is just so good. I did get very nervous that Pray Tell was going to out Blanca’s status. The slow zoom-in on Pray Tell during his intervention monologue was just so powerful. Mock’s direction is phenomenal. I do finally like where Patty’s arc is going. The way she seizes control of her life feels organic and real. Stan and Matt’s office brawl could have been a bit shorter, but the way that Stan’s life is blowing up right now is admittedly engaging. The way he breaks down at the psychiatrist’s office and says he doesn’t know what he wants/wanted is convincing and more interesting than if he were to just start spewing excuses. I love Angel so much.

[aion-rsa]

UK Christmas TV 2020: Your Guide to This Year’s Festive Specials

https://ift.tt/370S3Dq

If you’re the kind of person who tuts at pre-December Christmas trees and moans about supermarkets simultaneously stocking mince pies and Halloween goodies (don’t cross the streams!) then look away now, there’s nothing for you here.

If, however, you’re the sort of person who’s gasping for end-of-year cheer like it’s the last bottle of Evian in a hot, empty desert, then step this way. We’ve collected up all the festive TV specials airing in the UK over Christmas 2020, so you can start mentally circling the ones in your personal schedule.

It being early, there are still announcements to be made, so check back here for updates. Ditto for official air dates and times, which are thin on the ground until the channels lock in their schedules. We’ll pop back and add those in as they’re confirmed.

Starting with our top five picks, here’s a list of everything on the way…

TOP FIVE PICKS

1. Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks

Companions Yaz, Graham and Ryan stumble upon a Dalek threat on Earth while the Doctor’s far away and locked up in space prison. How do you fight the Daleks without the Doctor? With the help of an old friend… Festive special ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ is written by Chris Chibnall and directed by ‘Spyfall Part 2’ director Lee Haven Jones.

Air date: TBC

2. Ghosts: Christmas Special

The Ghosts Christmas special is so good, there should be a new one every year. It’s Christmas in Button House and Mike is determined to give his visiting family the perfect Christmas, if they’ll let him. And if his other family – the houseful of historical ghosts only wife Alison can see and hear – behave. 1990s MP Julian is the Ebenezer Scrooge in need of a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas in this terrific family comedy.

Air date: TBC

3. Taskmaster: Christmas Special

We don’t yet know the identities of the five contestants competing in the very first Taskmaster festive special, but we know that they are all brand new to the 10-series comedy, and have been described as “experts in their respective fields”… Fingers crossed for Christmas-themed tasks.

Air date: TBC

4. His Dark Materials Season 2 Finale: Æsahættr

Technically, there’s nothing festive about His Dark Materials (unless the BBC/HBO adaptation takes a serious diversion from Philip Pullman’s books and throws in a few elves) but there’s something very childhood-bedtime and therefore quite Christmassy about this beautiful series. It ended strong in season one, and keeps getting better in season two. This finale is due to bring The Subtle Knife to a close, making way for the final part of the trilogy in the as-yet-unconfirmed (but come on, it’s happening) third season.

Air date: Sunday 20th December, 8.10pm, BBC One

5. Roald & Beatrix, the Tail of the Curious Mouse

From the producers of Sherlock and Dracula, this festive family comedy-drama promises to be something quite special. It reimagines the real-life meeting of two of the UK’s biggest names in children’s literature: Beatrix Potter (played by Dawn French) and Roald Dahl, back when Potter was a recluse and Dahl was a child. Expect puppetry, animation, a host of guest stars and voices, and lots of snow, from Inside No. 9 director David Kerr.

Air date: TBC

COMEDY

Motherland Christmas Special

Top BBC Two parenting sitcom Motherhood returns for a festive special ahead of its third series coming next year. You are cordially invited to Amanda’s annual seasonal soiree… Anna Maxwell-Martin, Diane Morgan, Lucy Punch and Paul Ready star.

Air date: TBC

Upstart Crow: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: a Lockdown Christmas 1603

The stage version of Shakespeare sitcom Upstart Crow fell foul of Covid-19 earlier this year, but that hasn’t stopped the team putting together this festive lockdown two-hander special, set in London during the plague, and starring David Mitchell and Gemma Whelan as Shakespeare and Kate.  

Air date: TBC

Not Going Out Christmas Special

Lee Mack’s long-running BBC One sitcom is back for another Christmas instalment, filmed under Covid-safe conditions this August. Expect a dedication to dearly departed cast member Bobby Ball.

Air date: TBC

Pandemonium

Katherine Parkinson and Alison Steadman star in this one-off BBC comedy about a family forced to cancel their dream holiday to California, who end up in Margate over the Christmas season.

Air date: TBC

Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown

Dawn French and James Fleet reprise the characters of Geraldine and Hugo in three 10-minute lockdown additions to The Vicar of Dibley canon, airing on BBC One after repeats of the original series (and then repeated later in one half-hour clump).

Air date: starts 7th December, BBC One.

Read more

Movies

The Best Alternative Christmas movies

By Mark Harrison

Movies

Reliving the joys of an 80s TV Christmas

By Jenny Morrill

King Gary Christmas Special

Tom Davis returns as Gary King, builder, father, B-B-Q haver, and lover of Terri (the brilliantly funny Laura Checkley) in the first ever King Gary Christmas special. Gary obsesses over making the Crescent’s Christmas lights shine brighter than any others, while Terri tackles their son losing the festive spirit, and Gary’s parents deal with some house guests from hell.

Air date: TBC

Birds of a Feather Christmas Special

Filmed under special Covid-19 regulations, this extended ITV comedy special sees Tracey and Dorien living together in lockdown, while Sharon is stuck on a cruise ship. Les Dennis guest stars.

Air date: TBC

Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Specials

Two new lockdown-themed instalments from Brendan O’Carroll’s comedy creation.

Air date: TBC

The Goes Wrong Show

This BBC comedy imported from the stage is fresh from its first full series and guarantees family fun. A nativity play from enthusiastic amateurs the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society? What could possibly go wrong?  

Air date: TBC

DRAMA

The Serpent

Jenna Coleman stars alongside Tahar Rahim in this eight-part globetrotting BBC-Netflix drama inspired by the real-life capture of murder suspects Charles Sobhraj and Marie-Andrée Leclerc.

Air date: TBC

The Pembrokeshire Murders

Luke Evans stars in this three-part ITV true crime drama about the search for Welsh serial killer John Cooper.

Air date: TBC

Call the Midwife Christmas Special

The circus is coming to town in the Call the Midwife Christmas special, and its ringmaster will be played by former Doctor, Peter Davison. Set in 1965, it promises to be the usual mix of heart-warming goodness and flinty eyed comment on the absolute golden necessity of the NHS.

Air date: 25th December, 7pm, BBC One

Black Narcissus

Gemma Arterton and Diana Rigg star in a new BBC three-part adaptation of Rumer Godden’s strange, atmospheric novel – famously adapted into a film in 1947 – about a group of nuns in a remote Himalayan outpost.

Air date: TBC

Bridgerton

Julia Quinn’s hit book series set in Regency-era London get the glossy Shondaland treatment in this Netflix series, which can be unwrapped on Christmas Day.

Air date: 25th December

CHILDREN’S

Worzel Gummidge: Saucy Nancy

Mackenzie Crook’s reimagined version of the children’s classic scarecrow stories continues with a new one-hour film, featuring Shirley Henderson as the titular Saucy Nancy (played by Barbara Windsor in the Jon Pertwee version), and Vanessa Redgrave.

Air date: TBC

Zog and the Flying Doctors

Continuing from last year’s utterly charming Zog, this is the fairy tale-bending story of a dragon, a princess and a knight, who all decide to choose a different path in life than the one set out for them. It’s the seventh Julia Donaldon/Axel Scheffler/BBC Christmas adaptation, and promises to be another funny, adorable half hour of TV.

Air date: 25th December, 4.55pm, BBC One

Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After

After last year’s Cinderella sequel from David Walliams and Sky One comes the ‘what happened next’ for panto classic Jack and the Beanstalk. Walliams and Sheridan Smith star in this comedy special. There’s a Hansel & Gretel: After Ever After next in the pipeline.

Air date: TBC

Quentin Blake’s Clown

Here’s another lovely half-hour of quiet time with the kids from Channel 4, from the same people who made previous years’ animations of children’s classics The Tiger Who Came To Tea and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. It’s the story of a discarded clown toy who comes to life and goes on an adventure to find a new home for him and his toy pals. Helena Bonham Carter narrates.

Air date: TBC

Christmas in Storyland

The CBeebies gang is back for another Christmas story featuring a cast of favourites, singing, dancing and interactive fun for little ones.

Air date: 12th December, CBeebies, BBC iPlayer

ENTERTAINMENT

Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas Special

Bob takes Paul up to his old stomping ground of Middlesborough to fish for grayling in the River Esk, while the pair hold a Christmas office party for two, and meet someone who works with people fighting loneliness at Christmas.

Air date: TBC

The Great Christmas Bake-Off

It’s cakes. At Christmas. Plus Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas larking about on the theme of cakes. Two brand new episodes will each feature the return of four bakers from previous series.

Air date: TBC

The Great Christmas Sewing Bee

The judges will be setting festive sewing challenges to competitors vying for the Christmas crown.

Air date: TBC

The Repair Shop at Christmas

Jay Blades and co. will be restoring cherished Christmas-themed items that have seen better days in this heart-warming word-of-mouth BBC hit.

Air date: TBC

Billy Connolly: It’s Been a Pleasure

To mark Billy Connolly’s retirement from stand-up comedy, ITV has put together a send-off featuring new filming with the man himself in his Florida home, and contributions from a host of stars.

Air date: TBC

The Story of SM:TV Live

A bit of cosy nostalgia here, as ITV stalwarts Ant, Dec and Cat Deeley revisit their time presenting children’s Saturday morning variety show SMTV: Live. Come for Wonky Donkey, stay for Friends spoof Chums.

Air date: TBC

Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime

Following the hit BBC Two series revisiting Michael Palin’s travel series, he’s back for a 90-minute festive special revisiting his trip through the Himalayas, with contributions from guest stars.

Air date: TBC

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As well as: Top of the Pops New Year and Christmas Specials. A Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Countdown. A Christmas Would I Lie To You? Festive editions of cookery shows from Jamie Oliver, MasterChef and Mary Berry, festive game shows from The Wall, The Wheel, and a new version of Blankety Blank hosted by Bradley Walsh.  

The post UK Christmas TV 2020: Your Guide to This Year’s Festive Specials appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2UTYZwr

[mixtake]

2019 according to mixtake

Aqui está a 13ª coletânea do ano! São 100 músicas, 7 horas e 10 minutos de som. No fim do post tem os links para download, stream no Spotify e pras edições dos anos passados.

Este ano tem

Artist : Song : Album A.A. Bondy : Killers 3 : Enderness Allah-Las : Prazer Em Te Conhecer : LAHS Amanda Palmer : Machete : There Will Be No Intermission Andrew Bird : Sisyphus : My Finest Work Yet Angel Olsen : Spring : All Mirrors Beirut : Landslide : Gallipoli Belle and Sebastian : I'll Keep It Inside : Days of the Bagnold Summer Better Oblivion Community Center, Phoebe Bridgers & Conor Oberst : Dylan Thomas : Better Oblivion Community Center Big Thief : Forgotten Eyes : Two Hands Big Thief : Cattails : U.F.O.F. Bill Callahan : 747 : Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest The Black Keys : Shine A Little Light : "Let's Rock" Black Rebel Motorcycle Club : Take A Pause By The Moon Bon Iver : Hey, Ma : i,i Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Bryce Dessner, Eighth Blackbird : Beast for Thee : When We Are Inhuman The Brian Jonestown Massacre : Tombes Oubliées : The Brian Jonestown Massacre Brittany Howard : Stay High : Jaime Bruce Springsteen : Western Stars : Western Stars Bruce Springsteen : Hitch Hikin' : Western Stars: Songs From The Film Calexico and Iron & Wine : Father Mountain : Years to Burn Car Seat Headrest : Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales (Live at O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, England) : Commit Yourself Completely Cigarettes After Sex : Cry : Cry The Cinematic Orchestra : Wait for Now / Leave the World (feat. Tawiah) : To Believe The Claypool Lennon Delirium : Blood and Rockets (Movement I, Saga of Jack Parsons, Movement II, Too the Moon) : South of Reality Courtney Barnett : Sunday Roast : MTV Unplugged (Live in Melbourne) | The Cranberries : All Over Now : In the End Crocodiles : Heart Like a Gun : Love Is Here The Cure : Burn (Live) : Anniversary: 1978 - 2018 Live In Hyde Park London (Live) The Cure : It Can Never Be The Same (Live) : Curaetion-25: From There To Here | From Here To There (Live) The Dandy Warhols : Be Alright : Why You so Crazy The Day : Island : Midnight Parade Death Cab for Cutie : Before The Bombs : The Blue EP Deerhunter : Futurism : Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? Devendra Banhart : Ami : Ma DIIV : Like Before You Were Born : Deceiver Echo And The Bunnymen : Ocean Rain (John Peel Session) : The John Peel Sessions 1979-1983 Edwyn Collins : It's All About You : Badbea El Mató A Un Policía Motorizado : El Perro : La Otra Dimensión Elbow : Empires : Giants of All Sizes The Flaming Lips : The Sparrow : King's Mouth Music and Songs Fontaines D.C. : Roy's Tune : Dogrel Half Japanese : All at Once : Invincible Ian Broudie : Got No Plans : Tales Told (Expanded) Ian Brown : First World Problems : Ripples Idles : Samaritans (Live at Le Bataclan) : A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live at Le Bataclan Idlewild : You Wear It Secondhand : Interview Music Iggy Pop : Loves Missing : Free The Jackets : Steam Queen : Queen of the Pill Jeff Tweedy : Landscape : Warmer Joe Jackson : Dave : Fool Josh Ritter : All Some Kind of Dream : Fever Breaks Karen O & Danger Mouse : Redeemer : Lux Prima L'Épée : Lou : Diabolique Ladytron : Tower of Glass : Ladytron Lambchop : Crosswords, Or What This Says About You : This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You) The Lemonheads : Straight to You : Varshons 2 Leonard Cohen : Happens to the Heart : Thanks for the Dance Liam Gallagher : Once : Why me? Why not Lloyd Cole : Violins : Guesswork Lower Dens : Young Republicans : The Competition Mac DeMarco : K : Here Comes the Cowboy Malcolm Middleton : Love Is a Momentary Lapse in Self-Loathing : Bananas Mark Lanegan : She Loved You : Somebody's Knocking Mavis Staples : We Get By : We Get By Mercury Rev : Big Boss Man (feat. Hope Sandoval) : Bobbie Gentry's the Delta Sweete Revisited Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier : Chansons D'Amour : Corpse Flower Moon Duo : Lost Heads : Stars Are the Light Morrissey : Morning Starship : California Son The National : Rylan : I Am Easy to Find Neil Young + Stray Gators : Out On the Weekend : Tuscaloosa Neil Young With Crazy Horse : Think Of Me : Colorado New Order : Disorder (Live at MIF) : ∑(No,12k,Lg,17M¡f) New Order + Liam Gillick: So it goes.. The New Pornographers : Colossus Of Rhodes : In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds : Bright Horses : Ghosteen Pedro the Lion : Leaving the Valley : Phoenix Pin Ups : Little Magic : Long Time No See Pixies : Catfish Kate : Beneath the Eyrie Purple Mountains : Margaritas At The Mall : Purple Mountains Ride : Clouds of Saint Marie : This Is Not a Safe Place Rocketship : City Fair : Thanks to You Sharon Van Etten : Seventeen : Remind Me Tomorrow Silversun Pickups : Widow's Weeds : Widow's Weeds Siskiyou : Unreal Erections /// Severed Heads : Not Somewhere Sleater-Kinney : Can I Go On : The Center Won't Hold Spiritualized : Angel Sigh (Alternate Mix) : Blue on Blue: Unreleased Mixes Demos & Outtakes 1990-1991 Sun Kil Moon : Couch Potato : I Also Want to Die in New Orleans Swervedriver : The Lonely Crowd Fades In The Air : Future Ruins The Tallest Man on Earth : Waiting For My Ghost : I Love You. It's a Fever Dream. Temples : You're Either On Something : Hot Motion Thom Yorke : Dawn Chorus : ANIMA Tindersticks : The Old Mans Gait : No Treasure But Hope Toy : Mechanism : Happy in the Hollow The Twilight Sad : VTr : It Won't Be Like This All The Time Ty Segall : The Arms : First Taste The Vacant Lots : Bells : Exit EP The Warlocks : Tribute To Hawkwind : Mean Machine Music The Who : Beads On One String : WHO Wilco : One and a Half Stars : Ode to Joy William Patrick Corgan : Fragile, The Spark : Cotillions Yann Tiersen : Closer : Portrait

DL ou ouça no spotify. Links para as edições passadas 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018

Para Lola.

jan.2020

[theartofdreaming1]

Past Semester’s Reading List

The past few semesters at university I didn’t get to read as much as I used to, so I decided to do something about that (and what better incentive than to post a reading list on tumblr? This has already worked out regarding my ff-reading habits ;) Here is a list of all the books (and books only - no comic books and no fanfiction included) I have read from October ‘16 until the end of March ‘17:

For summaries and my thoughts on these books,

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr:

Summary: “Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.”

Thoughts: There are so many books out there telling stories that take place during World War II. What really made this one stand out and catch my interest was the focus on science and love for science this particular novel has. The two main characters Marie and Werner are positively fascinated by it and Doerr really knows how to portray the beauty of science without becoming cheesy. Reading it gave me a ‘The Book Thief’-kinda feel (not only because of the same time the story is set in but also because of how the story is told). The frequent changes of perspectives and points in time throughout the book were sometimes a little difficult to follow but the story itself and the point when all these narratives finally come together definitely make up for that difficulty.

Animal Farm by George Orwells:

Summary: “'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.’ Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges... “

Thoughts: It was a very interesting read. And very, very frustrating (reading about the way Animal Farm was run, the use of propaganda, the sprouting of lies, changing rules to accomodate to the leader’s every whim; it made me very angry). Sadly enough, political stories like this seem to be forever relevant to our political scene.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:

Summary: “Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.“

Thoughts: Very funny, bizarre, and entertaining :) I had watched the movie based on the book before, so I kinda knew what to expect, but it was hilarious nevertheless (though I have to admit that I was sometimes a little irritated when the book would go off on a tangent - but this deviations never lasted for too long so it wasn’t so bad ;)

Love Poems by Pablo Neruda:

Summary: what the title suggests ;)

Thoughts: I liked this one a lot. I’m not gonna pretend that I completely ‘got’ the meaning of every single line in every single poem, but the way Neruda uses words would move me every time (you can really feel the power he embeds into his words). I also loved that this book had the Spanish and English version of the poems side by side, so I could practice my Spanish skills a little :)

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut:

Summary: “Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller - these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. Slaughterhouse 5 is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.”

Thoughts: The jumping between points of time can be a bit confusing at times and the parts dealing with the aliens from Tralfamaore need some getting used to, but over all I really enjoyed this book. It certainly has its fair share of sad and heartwrenching moments, but Vonnegut always manages to pull you out of these moments with his dry, dark humor, which helped me a lot in stomaching the WWII parts.

Drei Männer im Schnee (’Three men in the snow’) by Erich Kästner:

Summary: “Geheimrat Eduard Tobler, a man who owns factories, banks, warehouses and many millions, wins the second prize in a contest of his own company: a 10-day winter vacation at the Grandhotel Bruckbeuren. To the horror of his family, he decides to go on this trip as a poor man named “Schulze”.” The millionaire’s daughter calls the hotel behind her father’s back, warning the staff about the arrival of the fake poor man. Unfortunately, the Grandhotel’s personnel mistake the poor, currently unemployed, winner of the first prize for the undercover millionaire...

Thoughts: I have been reading this book every year for three years in a row now. It is fantastically funny, the dry wit of the main characters positively shining on every single page. Erich Kästner is a master of comedies of errors (he wrote the book “The Parent Trap” is based on) and this book is not an exception.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick:

Summary: “Twenty‑four‑year‑old grad student Lizzie Bennet is saddled with student loan debt and still living at home along with her two sisters—beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. When she records her reflections on life for her thesis project and posts them on YouTube, she has no idea The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will soon take on a life of their own, turning the Bennet sisters into internet celebrities seemingly overnight. When rich and handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck‑up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets—and for Lizzie’s viewers. But not everything happens on‑screen. Lucky for us, Lizzie has a secret diary.“

Thoughts: Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen book. I loved The Lizzie Bennet Diaries as a modern adaptation of the material. And of course I loved this book. I loved that it gave me an excuse to watch the Lizzie Bennet Diaries again (not that I need an excuse to do that ;) and I loved that this book filled in some gaps the videos could never fully cover. Plus, it was great to be able to catch glimpses of Lizzie’s most intimate and private thoughts again, because even though the videos definitely let you know a lot of Lizzie’s opinions and impressions, it didn’t fully reach the level of insight the original was able to grant you. Different forms of media just come along with different advantages and disadvantages... and books just win when it comes to that :)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling:

Summary: I don’t think Harry Potter needs to be summarized ;)

Thoughts: Well, I think it goes without saying that this book is magical ;) I had never read Harry Potter in English before, so that was a nice change (and I just adore these editions by Scholastic which totally are not the reason why I bought the American version instead of the British one) and despite having read these books sooo very often, it is always nice to return to passages and scenes that have been forgotten (for some insane reason): Neville fighting Crabbe and Goyle (’cause he’s “worth ten Malfoys”), Christmas at Hogwarts with the Weasleys (Fred and George constraining Percy with his own Weasley sweater, like with a straight jacket) and many more, small, but precious moments :)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling:

Thoughts: Of course, the second book is as brilliant as the first.  Also, is there anything better than reading about the most horrible Valentine’s Day ever, courtesy of none other but Gilderoy Lockhart, full with angry-looking dwarfs dressed as cupids and one very embarrassing poem about “eyes as green as fresh pickled toad”? No, didn’t think so ;)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling:

Thoughts: With the third one, more darkness is seeping into the books (not that the first two books, with special appearances by Voldemort, were ever completely free of any kind of darkness). We learn about the horrible dementors and about the Marauders (Map), see Harry spend time with Professor Lupin, wonder if Oliver Wood is trying to drown himself by taking a looong shower due to a lost Quidditch game and, a first, see a Hermione overwhelmed by her tons of school work. The books definitely matured with their characters (and readership) and it is positively awesome!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling:

Thoughts: The change of atmosphere really hits you in that book. Death Eaters attacking after the Quidditch World Cup, the quite dangerous Triwizard Tournament and the employment of famous Auror ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody makes you aware that the wizarding world by far isn’t as safe as it used to be. Also, we finally meet Bill and Charlie Weasley and learn about other European magic schools! And Hermione gets involved with S.P.E.W. (house elf rights)! Plus, we get fun moments with the Weasleys picking up Harry from the Dursleys and Fred and George working on their Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes^^

Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley:

Summary: “Batman is one of the most compelling and enduring characters to come from the Golden Age of Comics, and interest in his story has only increased through countless incarnations since his first appearance in 1939′s Detective Comics #27. Why does this superhero without superpowers fascinate us so much? Batman and Psychology examines the compley inner world of Batman and Bruce Wayne and the life and characters of Gotham City. What would Freud, Jung, and other professionals say about how childhood trauma spawned his life’s mission? Is Batman neurotic? Psychotic? Does he have PTSD, ODC, or any other mental illness? Why the mask, the bat, and the underage partner, Robin? What psychopathlogies lurk in the minds of supervillians like the Joker, the Riddler, Two-Face, and Catwoman? Are they really rogues and villians, or simply misunderstood victims of a heartless society? Do Batman and his foes depend on each other?”

Thoughts: The first time I read this book, I was in my last years of high school, trying to figure out what to do afterwards. This book and the psychology course I had been taking definitely factored into my decision to study psychology. It was great rereading it again now while I’m studying the very same subject (for one, because it is very interestingly and funnily written and two, because it was a cool feeling to read about certain psychological concepts and theories and be like “oh yeah, of course, that one” - it’s always nice to have some confirmation that you actually have learned something over the years ;)

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James:

Summary: “The year is 1803, and Mark Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet have been married for six years. There are now two handsome and healthy sons in the nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband Bingley live nearby and the orderly world of Pemberley seems unassailable. But all this is threatened when, on the eve of the annual autumn ball, the guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland. As it pulls up, Lydia Wickham - Elizabeth Bennet's younger, unreliable sister - stumbles out screaming that her husband has been murdered.”

Thoughts: And again, a book that is somewhat based on my favorite Austen book ^^ As a murder mystery, this book was quite different from the Pride and Prejudice I know and love (and from the genre I usually read)... But despite that, I thought it was an interesting read. It felt less sparkly and bright, but I liked that the reader gets more of an insight to Darcy’s view on the things happening and it was just fun and interesting to revisit Pemberly under such different circumstances.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde:

Summary: “In this classic 19th century comedy of manners, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrief masquerade under the name of Earnest in order to win the love of Gwendolyn and Cecily.”

Thoughts: I still haven’t watched the movie (because I didn’t want to spoil myself), so I didn’t know what to expect. I had only read ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Wilde before and I was quite glad that ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ was very different from that reading experience (I still think that the plot of that book was very cool and interesting but the seemingly endless description of everything nearly drove me mad). The characters are as wacky and witty as they come and the plot is just hilariously convenient and strange. Very entertaining ^^

Fallout (Lois Lane) by Gwenda Bond:

Summary: “... a contemporary reimagining of teenage Lois Lane. She and her family have lived all over, but now they’re in Metrolpolis for good, and Lois is determined to stay quiet. Fit in. Maybe make a friend. As soon as she walks into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind somehow, via the high-tech immersive video game they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving the mystery. But even she needs help sometimes. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a-friend, someone she knows only by his screen name, SmallvilleGuy...”

Thoughts: Oh man... I love this book soo much! The first time I got it, I read through it in a day! And now, while I was waiting for the second volume to finally be in stock again on amazon (wanting to read English/American books in Germany can be such a bother sometimes), I read it once more (and I just had bought it in February ^^;) It is so much fun: you get an awesome Lois who won’t let up until she gets her story and, more importantly, does what’s right. It’s also cool to get a glimpse of her family life as well as her chat conversations with SmallvilleGuy ;) Plus, the supporting characters are very interesting, too!

Double Down (Lois Lane) by Gwenda Bond:

Summary: “Lois Lane has settled in to her new school. She has friends, for maybe the first time in her life. She has a job that challenges her. And her realtionship... or whatever it is... is growing with SmallvilleGuy, her online ,aybe-more-than-a-friend. But when her friend Maddy’s twin collapses in a part of town she never should’ve been in, Lois finds herself emboiled in a dangerous mystery that pairs science and greed, politics and revenge, family and enemies...”

Thoughts: So much fun to get to revisit the characters again after a few weeks (in and outside the book)! I really enjoyed how the reader and Lois learn more and more about the members of the Scoop Team and the focus of this book on the sister-relationship between Maddie and Melody and Lois and Lucy. Also, the stakes were even higher in this book (taking on a mob boss? Lois really doesn’t know when to quit which is why we love her), though this time around Lois was much more comfortable and willing to involve her new friends (she is learning how to do the friends thing after all :) I can’t wait for the third book to be published!

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie:

Summary: “Peter Pan and Tinkerbell lead the three Darling children over the rooftops of London and away to Neverland - the island where the lost boys play. Magic and mischief is in the air but if villainous Captain Hook has his way, before long someone will be swimming with the crocodiles...“

Thoughts: It was certainly interesting to finally read this book and learn the ‘real’ story behind Peter Pan (not just the version I had in my head due to the cassette of the Disney movie version I used to listen to as a child). I found it quite trying to read though (maybe because English isn’t my mother tongue) and I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters (maybe because I’m too old ;) I will probably read this book again some day and maybe I will find it easier and more fun to read then - but not in the near future ^^;

If you’d like to know more about these books (and/or my thoughts about them) feel free to message me at any time! :)

The summaries are from the back of the books or amazon pages (I translated the summary of ‘Drei Männer im Schnee’  and added two sentences of my own, so I’m sorry for any mistakes that might’ve crept in).

[jazzworldquest-blog]

CANADA: Canadian Songwriters Honored In US-Based International Songwriting Competition (ISC)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Candace Avery

International Songwriting Competition

615.251.4441

press@songwritingcompetition.com

www.songwritingcompetition.com

Canadian Songwriters Honored In US-Based International Songwriting Competition (ISC)

Judges Include Lorde, Hardwell, Tom Waits, Nancy Wilson (Heart), Ziggy Marley, Kaskade, The Mavericks, Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks), Bastille, and More

April 18, 2018 -- The International Songwriting Competition (ISC is pleased to announce its 2017 winners. Created in 2002, ISC is widely recognized as the most prestigious and respected songwriting competition in the world and received more than16,000 entries from almost 140 countries. Prizes include more than $175,000 in cash and merchandise.

The Grand Prize winners this year are Nicholas Miller (better known as Illenium), Annika Wells, Kate Morgan, and Michael Biancaniello for the song “Crawl Outta Love Ft. Annika Wells." The Grand Prize consists of $25,000 in cash (USD) and over $35,000 in additional prizes.

Winners hail from all over the world (61% of this year’s winners come from outside the USA) and range from talented amateurs to seasoned songwriting veterans. The 23 categories include all genres of contemporary music, from Rock to Pop to Country to R&B/Hip-Hop and more.

Canadian songwriters fared extremely well in ISC, garnering four First Places and three Third Places. Canadian winners also received 39 Honorable Mentions.

“This marks the first time in the competition’s history that Canadian songwriters have scored four First Places in categories,” says Candace Avery, ISC Founder and Director. “It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to write great songs, and ISC is honored to throw the spotlight on these talented Canadian songwriters and their achievements.”

Over the years ISC winners have included: Vance Joy, Bastille, Passenger, Kate Miller-Heidke, Lindsey Stirling, Gotye, The Band Perry, Kasey Chambers, Lupe Fiasco, Rachel Bloom, Gin Wigmore, Kimbra, Gregory Porter, Kehlani, For King & Country, and many more.

For a complete list of ISC 2017 winners and to hear the winning songs, go to: https://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.

The complete panel of judges includes:

Recording Artists

Lorde; Tom Waits; Ziggy Marley; American Authors; Nancy Wilson (Heart); Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks); Booker T. Jones; The Mavericks; Sara Evans; Bastille; Keane; Hardwell; Danilo Perez; James McNally (Afro Celt Sound System); Billy Cobham; Gerald Casale (Devo); Natalie Grant Lee-Phillips; ; Krewella; Matt Nathanson; Amadou & Miriam; John Tibbs; Kaskade; John Mayall; Joe Louis Walker; Nicholas Gunn; Ashwin Batish; Lonnie Liston Smith; Walter Trout; Trilok Gurtu; Tommy Chong; and Tony Joe White.

Industry Executives:

Gregg Nadel (President, Elektra Records); Seymour Stein (Chairman/CEO, Sire Records); Daniel Glass (President, Glassnote Records); John Esposito (Chairman/CEO, Warner Music Nashville); John Burk (President, Concord Label Group); Ed Vetri (President, Wind-Up Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Steve Yegelwel (Sr. VP, Island Records); Nate Albert (Executive VP of A&R, Capitol Records); Jacob Edgar (Founder, Cumbancha); Aaron Bay-Schuck (President of A&R, Interscope Records); Mike Easterlin (President, Fueled By Ramen/Roadrunner Records); Josh Bailey (Senior VP of A&R, Word Entertainment); Gordon Kerr (CEO, Black River Entertainment); Richard Stumpf (CEO, Atlas Publishing); Steve Greenberg (CEO, S-Curve Records); Kim Buie (VP of A&R, New West Records); AJ Tobey (Head of A&R, Rough Trade Publishing); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Angel Carrasco (Latin Music Consultant); Julie Kertes (Editor/Manager, Hot Diggity Media); Laura Margolin (Publishing, Glassnote Records); Leib Ostrow (Founder/CEO, Music For Little People); Katherine Danes (Co-President, The Children’s Music Network); Claire S. Green (President, Parent’s Choice Foundation); Benjamin Groff (Founder, The Brill Building); Sas Metcalfe (President, Global Creative, Kobalt Music); Golnar Khosrowshahi (President, Reservoir Media Management); Carianne Marshall (Partner, Songs Music Publishing); Tamara Conniff (EVP, Roc Nation); Dara Frank (Head of Comedy Central Records/Viacom); Carl Caprioglio (Founder/CEO, Oglio Entertainment); and Elena Epstein (Director, National Parenting Product Awards).

ISC is sponsored by: AKG By Harman; Berklee College of Music; Celebrity Access; D'Addario; Dark Horse Institute; Disc Makers; Eventric; Gig Salad; JBL Professional by Harman; Lurrsen Mastering; Merch Cat; Musician Wellness; Musician’s Institute; ONErpm; PreSonus; SongU.com; Sweetwater Sound; PAWW Premium Sound; and Tunedly.

Entries are now open for the 2018 competition. For more information and to enter, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com.

For low-res photos of all winners, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners

For high-res photos, please contact Candace Avery at press@songwritingcompetition.com

The list of 2017 Canadian winners is as follows:

First Place Winners

“Knock On My Door“ – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) Carman, MB, Canada – Teen

Born in Morocco and raised in the Canadian prairies, Faouzia is a young artist who is wowing audiences and industry alike with her contemporary pop hooks and heart-wrenching lyrics, not to mention a voice that is truly distinctive with a huge range, taking on subtle trills and stylings. Her first single “Knock On My Door” found its way onto regular rotation at Canadian radio, and the follow up “My Heart’s Grave” is already seeing adds in both Canada and her native Morocco. Already a multiple award winner in ISC, as well as the Grand Prize winner of the 2017 Unsigned Only Music Competition, Faouzia is an up-and-coming artistic force whose star just keeps shining brighter.

“Sheep“ – Darrelle London Toronto, ON, Canada – Children's Music

A piano pop singer/songwriter, Darrelle London is known for her clever quirkiness and has performed at festivals such as Lilith Fair, Canadian Music Week, Pop Overthrow, and more. She was named the Toronto Lilith Talent Search winner and the BellMedia Emerging Artist. London has attracted some celebrity supporters along the way, including fellow Canadian songstress Chantal Kreviazuk who discovered her music and collaborated with her on several songs for London’s album Eat A Peach. The celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has also been a vocal champion of her music. Her latest album is a lullaby EP entitled Sing To The Moon.

“This Little Light“ – Jaylene Johnson Winnipeg, MB, Canada – Christian

Jaylene Johnson, is a singer/songwriter based in Winnipeg, MB. Her song, "Fallin'" took second place in the ISC last year in the Christian category. Her work has been heard on network TV shows including “Pretty Little Liars”, “So You Think You Can Dance”, and “Degrassi: The Next Generation”. Co-written songs have been recorded by artists including JJ Heller, Amy Sky, Brian Doerksen and Luke McMaster among others. Her most recent album, Potter & Clay, was nominated for a Juno Award, a Western Canadian Music Award, and several Covenant Awards. Two of her songs earned songwriting trophies at the Covenant Awards this year.

“Untouchable“ – Dylan Edward Roberts (King Dylan) Calgary, AB, Canada – Music Video

The winner of the Music Video category for his stop-motion animation video of the song “Untouchable,” King Dylan (the King didn't give himself that name - it was written in his high school yearbook) is best described as if Blink 182 had a lovechild with Eminem and Lady Gaga's backup dancers. This one-man machine has performed live for thousands across Canada and released a handful of albums and music videos. Previously he played bass guitar in the hard Rock band Broken Ride (Regional Radio Star winners 2013), performed in and produced the hip hop group The DC Show, and played piano for the band Lost In Film at CMW 2014. Dylan has also just finished a new full-length album featuring "Untouchable" and eleven other hard-hitting tracks. The award-winning video utilized over 4,000 photos of legos taken over the course of 450+ hours.

Third Place Winners

“Backroads” – Jimmy Zee (The Jimmy Zee Band) – Vanvouver, BC, Canada Blues

“Never Have Time” – Jared Salte, Bethany Salte (The Royal Foundry) – Sherwood Park, AB, Canada – Rock

“Tequila” – Johnny Simmen, Hunter Leath, Matt McGinn – Toronto, ON, Canada – Country

Honorable Mentions

“A Flat Miner” – Troy Kokol – Calgary, AB, Canada – Comedy/Novelty

“Ambition” – Soul – Toronto, ON, Canada – R&B/Hip-Hop

“Ask Too Much Ft. Spence Holden” – Spencer Heaslip, Spence Milne-O'Neil (Taabu) – Dundas, ON, Canada – EDM (Electronic Dance Music)

“Baby, I Understand” – Kat Goldman – Toronto, ON, Canada – Folk/Singer-Songwriter

“Beautiful Thing” – Aaron Buchholz, Ian Eskelin – Langley, BC, Canada – Christian

“Booger Song” – Tim Machin (Sing Along Tim And The Pacifiers) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Children's Music

“Campfire ” – Dinah Desrochers, Aaron Cadwaladr, Phil Wipper, Jocelyn Hallett (The Kerplunks) – Gabriola Island, BC, Canada – Children's Music

“Chills” – James Barker, Donovan Woods, Travis Wood, Gavin Slate (James Barker Band) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Country

“Ciento Viente” – Roman Smirnov – Newmarket, ON, Canada – Instrumental

“Don't Give Up” – Maggie Szabo, Stefan Lit, Chaz Mason – Dundas, ON, Canada – Pop/Top 40

“Eleven! ” – Dylan Bell, Ed Hanley, Suba Sankaran (Autorickshaw) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Children's Music

“Fall In Love Again” – Chris Graham, Mikalyn Hay (Xtro And Mikalyn Hay) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Teen

“Firetruck Firetruck” – John Donnelly (Rockin' Robin And The Magical Tree) – Delta, BC, Canada – Children's Music

“Freedom” – Ariana Gillis – Vineland, ON, Canada – Folk/Singer-Songwriter

“Gamblin Man” – Richard Tichelman – Surrey, BC, Canada – Teen

“Good Thing Go” – Powell Peebles, Brett Sheroky, Andy Wills (Powell Peebles) – North Vancouver, BC, Canada – Country

“House On Fire” – Don Oriolo, Jason Gleed, Chris Bolger – Toronto, ON, Canada – Rock

“I Don't Want To Lose You” – Luca Fogale – Burnaby, BC, Canada – Performance

“Knock On My Door” – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) – Carman, MB, Canada – Unsigned Only

“Lay It Down” – Jordan St. Cyr, Jaylene Johnson, Ben Calhoun, Taylor Watson – Niverville, MB, Canada – Christian

“Love It Up” – Tyler Lorette, Roberta Quilico – Courtice, ON, Canada – Performance

“Lowdown” – Matt Zimbel, Doug Wilde (Manteca) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Instrumental

“Move On Down The Track” – Spencer Mackenzie, Rich Mackenzie (Spencer Mackenzie) – Ridgeway, ON, Canada – Blues

“My Heart's Grave” – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) – Carman, MB, Canada – Pop/Top 40

“My Heart's Grave” – Faouzia Ouihya (Faouzia) – Carman, MB, Canada – Teen

“Nosotros” – Christopher Alexander Gaitan Valencia (Ness El Digital) – Montreal, QC, Canada – Latin Music

“Roses” – Gus McMillan, Robyn Dell'Unto – (Gus McMIllan) – Toronto, ON, Canada – AC (Adult Contemporary)

“Sanctuary City” – Cat Toren (Cat Toren's HUMAN KIND) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Jazz

“Sing For Kwanzaa” – Chris McKhool, Richard Bona (Sultans Of String) – Toronto, ON, Canada – World Music

“Summer” – Paula Eve Kirman – Edmonton, AB, Canada – Lyrics Only

“Temptation” – Debra Power – Airdrie, AB, Canada – Blues

“The Pee Song” – Jason Gleed (Redd Butts ) – Toronto, ON, Canada – Comedy/Novelty

“This Little Light” – Jaylene Johnson – Winnipeg, MB, Canada – Unpublished

“Three Words” – Sara Diamond, Austin Tecks, Noah Barer (Sarah Diamond) – Montreal, QC, Canada – Unpublished

“Unsure” – Sara Diamond, Austin Tecks, Noah Barer (Sarah Diamond) – Montreal, QC, Canada – Unsigned Only

“Untouchable” – Dylan Edward Roberts (King Dylan) – Calgary, AB, Canada – Unsigned Only

“What's A Boy Gotta Do” – Sean Thomas – Langley, BC, Canada – Teen

“When You Think No One Loves You ” – David Leask, Daryl Burgess (David Leask) – Mississauga, ON, Canada – Performance

“Worth It” – Wes Mason – Rockwood, ON, Canada – AC (Adult Contemporary)

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[londontheatre]

Sienna Miller and Jack O’Connell – Photo by Charlie Gray

Lisa Palfry (Big Mama), Hayley Squires (Mae) and Brian Gleeson (Gooper) with Richard Hansel (Doctor) and Michael J Shannon (Reverend) join the previously announced Sienna Miller (Maggie), Jack O’Connell (Brick) and Colm Meaney (Big Daddy) for the Young Vic production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof directed by Benedict Andrews. The younger members of the Company will be announced at a later date.

The twelve-week run in the West End at the Apollo Theatre begins previews on 13 July 2017 with press night on 24 July. The last performance is 7 October 2017. Set designs are by Magda Willi with costume designs by Alice Babidge, lighting by Jon Clark and sound design by Gareth Fry. Music is by award-wining composer and musician Jed Kurzel.

The truth hurts. On a steamy night in Mississippi, a Southern family gather at their cotton plantation to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. The scorching heat is almost as oppressive as the lies they tell. Brick and Maggie dance round the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage. With the future of the family at stake, which version of the truth is real – and which will win out?

Lisa Palfrey’s theatre credits include Junkyard for Headlong, Much Ado About Nothing for Theatre Clwyd, The Seagull for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, The Kitchen Sink for the Bush Theatre, Red Bud, Ingredient X and Under The Blue Sky all for the Royal Court Theatre, Festen and The Iceman Cometh both for the Almeida Theatre and Cardiff East and Under Milk Wood both for the National Theatre. Her film credits include Pride, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, House of America, Under Milk Wood and Guest House Paradiso. Her television credits include Hinterland, The Line of Duty, Green Hollow, Casualty, and Family Tree.

Hayley Squires’ theatre credits include The Pitchfork Disney at Shoreditch Town Hall and As Good a Time as Any at The Print Room. For the role of Katie in Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winning I, Daniel Blake she won the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, the Evening Standard British Film award for Best Supporting Actress and also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her other credits include Giantland, Away, Polar Bear, A Royal Night Out and Blood Cells. Her television credits include The Miniaturist, Collateral, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, The Commuter, Murder, Southcliffe, Complicit and Call The Midwife.

[See image gallery at http://ift.tt/1FpwFUw] Brian Gleeson was most recently seen on stage in The Weir at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. His other theatre credits include The Walworth Farce at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin and the Donmar Warehouse production of The Night Alive, which also ran at the Atlantic Theatre in New York. His film credits include Assassin’s Creed, The Flag, Tiger Raid, History’s Future, Standby, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Stay, Snow White and The Huntsman. His television work includes the lead role of Jimmy Mahon in the RTÉ series Rebellion, Quirke and Stonemouth. His film work due for release this year includes Steven Soderbergh’s feature film Logan Lucky, Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread.

Richard Hansell’s more recent theatre credits include Lazarus at the King’s Cross Theatre, the Young Vic’s production of A View From the Bridge which transferred to the West End and then to Broadway and Macbeth at the Trafalgar Studios. His other theatre credits include Tonight at 8.30 for Chichester Festival Theatre, The Madness of King George III at the Apollo Theatre, The Bridge Project at the Old Vic and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Troilus and Cressida for Shakespeare’s Globe, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, School for Scandal and Hamlet all for English Touring Theatre and A Patriot For Me and Two Gentlemen of Verona for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His television credits include And Then There Were None, Downton Abbey, Spooks, The Royal, Miracle Landing on The Hudson and E=MC2, and on film his credits include Shine, The Wolfman and Hamlet.

Michael J Shannon’s theatre credits include The Dining Room and The Glass Menagerie, both at Greenwich Theatre, Artichoke for the Tricycle Theatre, Totally Foxed at the Theatre Royal Bath, The Price at the Leicester Haymarket, The End of the World at Nuffield, Southampton, A Thousand Clowns at the Palace, Watford and A Delicate Balance at the Nottingham Playhouse. His television credits include We’ll Meet Again, Boston Legal and Brothers & Sisters.

For this Young Vic production, there are seats available at £10 for under 25s for each performance booked through the Young Vic Box Office. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is the Young Vic’s first production to debut in the West End and is presented by the Young Vic and The Young Ones. Previously the Young Vic have transferred A View from a Bridge, Golem, Romeo and Juliet, The Scottsboro Boys, Simply Heavenly, Tintin and A Doll’s House.

Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer prize winning play received its world premiere in 1955 on Broadway with Barbara Bel Geddes and Ben Gazzara as Maggie and Brick. The UK premiere, directed by Peter Hall, opened at the Comedy Theatre in 1958 with Kim Stanley and Paul Massie. The 1958 Academy Award nominated film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

Finn den Hertog is Assistant Director. He previously worked with Benedict Andrews on A Streetcar Named Desire.

Natalie Denton is Jerwood Assistant Director, supported through the Jerwood Assistant Directors Program at the Young Vic.

The Young Vic produces new plays, classics, forgotten works, musicals and opera. It co-produces and tours widely in the UK and internationally while keeping deep roots in its neighbourhood. It frequently transfers shows to London’s West End and invites local people to take part at its home in Waterloo. In 2016 the Young Vic became London’s first Theatre of Sanctuary. Recent productions include Simon Stone’s multi award-winning new version of Lorca’s Yerma which returns to the Young Vic with Billie Piper reprising her performance in July, the premiere of Charlene James’ multi-award-winning play Cuttin’ It and Ivo van Hove’s multi award-winning production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge (West End & Broadway transfers), as well as Horizons, a season of work exploring the lives of refugees. David Lan is Artistic Director, Lucy Woollatt is Executive Director. www.youngvic.org

About the Jerwood Assistant Director Program The Jerwood Assistant Director Program at the Young Vic supports directors in the early stages of their careers by providing a vital opportunity to obtain professional on-the-job development. The programme is supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation and was set up in 2010 to give emerging talent the chance to work alongside some of the most talented and experienced directors in the world. The partnership was set up in 2010 to give emerging talent the chance to work alongside some of the most talented and experienced directors in the world.

In 2014, the Program was expanded to include an international dimension, and this continues in 2017. The Program draws upon the vast expertise of our theatre colleagues across the world and will for the fourth time offer a professional practice visit to the seven Jerwood Assistant Directors. Travelling as a group to a major European theatre capital they will have the opportunity to see work and develop relationships with international practitioners with a view to generating new ideas and future collaborations.

The Jerwood Assistant Director Program has become a successful springboard. Past participants include: Sam Pritchard, who assisted Carrie Cracknell on A Doll’s House, appointed International Associate at the Royal Court. He will direct Pygmalion for Headlong in 2017; Craig Gilbert, who assisted Natalie Abrahami on Ah, Wilderness!, appointed New Works Associate at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and Kate Hewitt, who assisted Sacha Wares on Wild Swans, winner of the inaugural Royal Theatrical Support Trust Director Award in 2016. In the Young Vic 2017 season, Jerwood Assistant Directors will have worked on Young Vic productions including: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, See Me Now, Life of Galileo and Wings.

Jerwood Charitable Foundation is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of its funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information visit http://ift.tt/1qsP3BO

LISTINGS INFORMATION Theatre: Apollo Theatre, 31 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7ES Dates: 13 July – 7 October 2017

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