#small details like this connect him to rie

[levbolton]

Dude there’s no way you can put that into your mouth

[streetlights-was-taken]

wait. I suddenly had an extra idea for the epilogue of the syllables melt away omg.

I think I have all the pieces to finish this fic. I should probably jot this down...

(spoilers for the whole fic)

I've been building up in chapter 5 (unpublished as of this writing; yes, I know it has been two years, shhhh I promise I haven't forgotten it) all the relevant plot details like tsugumi phasing in and out of the UG on her own (thus requiring her to wear an accessory with a reaper's decal on it until she can control herself), hinting at rie's career and relationship with 777, neku's own growing career, and of course joshua trying to woo neku (and tsugumi) in the RG. along the way, I've been writing about neku's small interactions with the UG as well, including how he can still use pins in the RG (which, on a reread, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I already foreshadowed this in a previous chapter) and how he's taking an interest in the newer pins coming out (since pins do go in and out of fashion), and even plays with tsugumi using pins.

I already knew how the last three chapters will go. chapter 5 is more about the buildup of the plot/relationships and it's halfway done. chapter 6 ends the story with rie's concert, the revelation of tsugumi's parents and what their whole deal is (which, I think should be obvious already by chapter 5), neku landing his job in aftermath as creative director, and joshua establishing an RG identity so they can date like normal people.

okay, before we move on, checklist. what did the fic summary say again? neku...

learns how to cook? ✔️ (higashizawa taught him)

lands a stable enough job? ✔️ (in chapters 6 to 7)

rediscovers old friends? ✔️ (we already showed all his friends, the reapers, and even shooter makes an appearance in chapter 5)

resolves a dispute he has with an important partner? ✔️ (the speakeasy date)

falls in love? ✔️ (he has always been...)

possibly gets married? ❓

becomes a father? ✔️

and so we at last arrive at chapter 7, which is a long epilogue in joshua's pov. I say epilogue because I do think that the story ends in chapter 6, but I believe chapter 7 rounds it out and gives the story closure.

it's a time skip set maybe a year or two in the future. tsugumi goes to daycare now, or preschool, idk (and she meets rindo and friends there). joshua is still composer but now mingles with the RG more and has RG friends outside of neku. character growth, etc etc. and neku, of course, is the one to propose to joshua; thus, finally making a "life-altering decision" for him this time, instead of the other way around (yes, this is what I had in mind when I wrote joshua saying, "when the time comes when you want to make life-altering decisions for me for a change, well. I'll be here.")

this is quite different from how I imagined this fic would turn out when I first started writing it in 2014, but I do think this is the better progression of events.

anyway, the idea I had today that I wanted to add in the epilogue though is this: what if neku becomes a pin designer? gosh, that would be kinda cool actually. he still does his job in aftermath, being creative with musicians. but what if he now also has a side job of anonymously designing pins and distributing them in different shops? not just designing them visually, but also being able to configure how they work in the UG. in that way, he is able to help players in the UG and makes a name for himself as an anonymous pin artist in the RG. like, CAT has his murals, neku (still thinking of his pseudonym) has his pins.

and I just think: wow, that actually rounds out the story well. one of the things that is becoming apparent as I write chapter 5 is that joshua making an effort to connect with neku in RG terms endears him to neku. through this, joshua is no longer this untouchable, non-human deity. their relationship, in neku's eyes, is something that seems within reach now. tangible, and real.

but likewise, although neku rejected the offer to become conductor, he isn't fully divorced from the UG. and it's not like he wants to separate himself from it altogether. he just wants to live in the moment, live in the RG more. he fought for that, you know?

but I do think he'll try to help players when he can, so him being a pin designer is his way of compromising and being involved with joshua's world too. and that's what this fic is all about, right? joshua and neku finding a balance, learning about each other's worlds, being involved in it in their own ways. and isn't that what makes them the perfect parents for tsugumi? for someone who lives with one foot in the RG, and one in the UG?

man. I'm just... listen, I had this dialogue written out two years ago that I haven't been able to publish yet, but I always wanted to include it in the fic. the context here is that neku finally sees tsugumi phase into the UG and joshua has to tune her back to the RG. he then asks joshua why he thinks he (neku) can tune tsugumi on his own too.

joshua: I don’t think you [neku] can quite see the the whole of the underground like before, at least not without practice, but I can teach you. it’s a bit different when a human does it though, but sanae taught me. neku: he said that before. that you could see the UG even when you were alive. were you [a reaper baby too like tsugumi]...? joshua: no. I was completely human, and my parents were too, just like you are now. I was just always able to see it even when I was alive. perhaps I had an encounter with the supernatural when I was younger that opened my eyes, so to speak, but I don’t remember it. I think your ability opened up after your reaper’s game happened. which, as you recall, had very special circumstances that required you to exercise your imagination to your limits. tsugumi just naturally does it. perhaps it’s because she has been exposed to the underground since the beginning that, to her, it’s all the same reality.

just. when I think about this dialogue... everything falls into place now. though their circumstances are different, tsugumi could have had the same ability to "see the dead" like joshua. she could have grown up like joshua.

but neku and joshua are going to be there for her. they'll be there, to guide here through the RG and UG, because they both understand these planes of reality intimately, and soon she will too. and it will not be a curse to her. she will live a wonderful life indeed.

I know I'm really bad at updating this fic and I'm probably butchering the lore at this point (I still have not finished NEO........ I'm planning to do that one day, when the stars align). but I really do want to finish this someday. it's just such a fun and chill universe to write about.

[dustedmagazine]

Michael Rosenstein 2020: Seeking Sojourn

What was I doing in 2010? What was I listening to? Honestly, without doing some digging, nothing springs immediately to mind. I’m guessing that ten years from now, thinking back on 2020, that won’t be the case. In mid-March, my wife and I took off on our annual winter/early spring sojourn to Provincetown, Cape Cod. When we headed out, the state of the world was tenuous. But over the course of four days, we split our time between idyllic, cold walks on the Outer Cape beaches and tracking the pandemic slide into lockdown and mayhem. We came back home to an entirely different world which has continued to spiral and swirl. This was a year where I spent far more time walking in a woods near my house, searching out a pair of barred owls and their four fledglings than I did listening to music. Focus for listening has waxed and waned and online video streams just haven’t resonated with me. But still, music has brought me some sense of solace over the course of the last year.

AMPLIFY 2020: quarantine

Without a doubt, most of my listening over the year was spent following the AMPLIFY 2020: quarantine festival. Organized by Jon Abbey, who runs the Erstwhile record label along with musicians Vanessa Rossetto and Matthew Revert, the online festival kicked off on March 20 and ran through September 20, presenting 240 newly-recorded pieces and 80 hours of music by musicians from across the globe. Most were solo contributions, with seven “blind overdubs” where two musicians with established working relationships chose track lengths in advance and submitted their recordings which were superimposed with some light mixing by Taku Unami. While the pieces are all available as free downloads on Bandcamp, that only reveals part of the story. Over the course of six months, the Facebook group grew to 3000 members, acting as a virtual gathering place for online conversations and musings with countless posts a day. Additionally, Abbey tirelessly posted an ongoing playlist which he dubbed “atmosphere” with cuts that ran the gamut from Albert Ayler to Funkadelic to Keith Hudson to Al Green with an extra-heavy helping of DJ Screw. Just tuning in to those choices and jumping on conversations was enough to save some days.

While anyone following the Erstwhile label caught some memorable submissions by expected participants, the organizers and some guest curators had more in mind than that and sub-threads developed early on. Yan Jun recruited fantastic submissions from little-known musicians from China while also contributing two pieces of his own. In addition to delivering three strong pieces, Revert brought in an Australian contingent. Rossetto delivered a festival highlight with her piece “perhaps at some time you have acted in a play, even if it was when you were a child” while also inviting a wide network of sound explorers constructing intimate sonic investigations. Abbey himself cast a wide net, probing for both established and little known musicians who had caught his attention over the years. (I’ve known Jon for a long time and was honored to be amongst those invited, contributing a piece assembled from field recordings from my Cape Cod trip.)

A number of musicians who hadn’t put out solo recordings in years, some who hadn’t had any recent releases at all, were lured back, with highlights by Greg Kelley, David Kirby, Joe Panzner, Annette Krebs and Sean Meehan. There was also a somber thread of homages to musicians who died over the last year, starting with a dedication of the entire festival to Australian percussionist Sean Baxter as well as a stirring tribute to bassist Simon H. Fell by Rhodri Davies, a dedication to Keith Tippett by Mark Wastell, and pieces commemorating Cor Fuhler by Dale Gorfinkel, Marcus Schmickler, Jim Denley, Nick Ashwood (recorded with Fuhler shortly before his death), Clare Cooper and Reinier van Houdt (whose six monthly missives delivered throughout the duration of the festival are all well worth spending time with.)

I find myself still catching up on the overwhelming array of contributions but here are a small sampling that caught my ear, though if I were to assemble this list a week from now, the choices would certainly be different.

Zhao Cong – “Homework”

homework by Zhao Cong

Yan Jun’s choice of musicians from China was uniformly superb and all are worth checking out. But Beijing-based Zhao Cong’s entry, in particular, has continued to hang with me. Her piece, constructed from two bass guitars and objects with its scrabbled detail of electronic hum, grit and glitch shot through with ringing bass strings popped out on first listen and continues to deliver.

Rie Nakajima – “carpet”

carpet by Rie Nakajima

Nakajima’s approach to sound-making, utilizing motors, mechanical devices and found objects proved the perfect tonic for pandemic listening. Her piece for AMPLIFY was recorded in her home in London “with all familiar objects I have been using at home.” The percussive piece is shot through with timbral depth, clattering along with a barely-contained momentum. Her release Karu Karu for Café Oto’s digital Takuroku lockdown series is also well worth checking out. And while I tended not to connect with online video over the course of the year, I found myself returning to Nakajima’s seven days bird songs which unfolded over the course of a week, multiple times.

Ivan Palacký – “Sanctuary”

Sanctuary by Ivan Palacký

Czech-based Ivan Palacký’s “Sanctuary” hit early on in the fest and remained a favorite. Palacký spent the first day of quarantine exploring his flat with an electromagnetic sensor, capturing the buzzes and tremors of everyday electronic devices. A few weeks later, he pulled out three knitting machines which he contact mic’d and used to improvise with the electromagnetic recordings. Palacký deftly interleaved percussive patter with wafts of static, grit and crackles, creaks and sputters and resonant thrums into an immersive piece.

Martin Kay – “Bath Time (2nd Edit)

Bath Time (2nd Edit) by Martin Kay

Through the festival, a thread developed of the pieces constructed as sonic response to the physical surroundings of isolation. Moniek Darge's gutting “Quarantine Child,” assembled from interior recordings and the desperate wail of a child, Mark Vernon's “The Dominion of Din,” woven together from field recordings from outside his Glasgow flat, cataloging exterior sounds that have annoyed him over the years and Kate Carr’s haunting “on every stair another stairway is set in negative” recorded using an old reel to reel tape and instrument recordings captured in her bathroom are three. Martin Kay’s four-part “Bath Time” delves in to that personal, interior realm, composed from recordings made in and around his bathroom during the routine that developed with his daughter’s nightly bath. The use of shifting focus, natural resonances of the room, the tub and underwater recordings transform the private, domestic activity into an increasingly abstracted aural study.

Distant Duos

The Distant Duos project that Mary Staubitz and Russ Waterhouse embarked on was also instigated by a sense of lost community. But here, the strategies employed were markedly different. The two are immersed in the DIY noise/improv New England community, spearheading shows in basements, bars, galleries and ad hoc venues and collaborating with musicians from New Haven to Portland, Maine, with all stops in between. They’ve also been instrumental in developing a network of like-minded musicians and bringing travelers through, some who have become frequent visitors. Unlike the duos in AMPLIFY, Staubitz and Waterhouse curated the 78 sessions, inviting pairs of musicians with a simple strategy. “Two remote artists record five minutes of sound while thinking about the other artist, unable to hear each other. The two tracks are combined into one.”

Released in sets of five on Bandcamp, the first on April 30 and the last on December 9, these bursts served as vital postcards. For those of us based in New England, these were both bittersweet reminders of the pre-COVID world we frequented and exultant celebrations. As someone who organized shows with the two and often played on the same bills, these really connected. (I was asked to participate, paired with Worcester-based Abdul Sherzai.) Some of the duos were longstanding partnerships (Greg Kelley and Vic Rawlings have been working together for over a decade). Some were pairings of musicians who knew each other but had likely never played together. Some participants were drawn from the deep field of regional musicians while others were recruited from across the US and Europe. With only five minutes at play, these served as sketches, vignettes or rough drafts. But keen curation and Waterhouse’s astute mixing and mastering made these hold together. Like AMPLIFY, these periodic missives kept me going through the last year.

Flip through any of the contributions and you’ll find plenty to encourage further listening. This batch, culled from the October 28th releases, provides a glimpse into the broad crew of musicians pulled in and the diverse strategies they came up with.

Adam Kohl and Mickey O’Hara

Adam Kohl and Mickey O'Hara by Distant Duos

Western Massachusetts-based Kohl (better known musically as Arkm Foam) and Worcester-based O’Hara have been performing together for a while now, and experiencing their mix of low-fi cassette manipulation and laptop generated deconstructed clatter and glitch inhabit a performance space is enthralling. This brief snapshot serves as a succinct snapshot of one of their sets.

J​.​P​.​A. Falzone and Hali Palombo

J.P.A. Falzone and Hali Palombo by Distant Duos

This mashup between J​.​P​.​A. Falzone (part of the ensemble Ordinary Affects) and composer and visual artist Hali Palombo comes across as quavering pulsations dialed in from some ethereal transmission. Listening feels like one is tuning in to an hours-long broadcast of hovering tones and fluttering waves which fuse together into shuddering oscillations.

Henry Birdsey and Mary Staubitz

Henry Birdsey and Mary Staubitz by Distant Duos

Birdsey has been developing his micro-tonal musings as part of the duo Tongue Depressor as well as his solo releases under his own name and as S.T.L.A. while Staubitz jumps from the solo sonic onslaughts of Donna Parker to a wide-ranging array of ongoing and one-off collaborations. Here field recordings of rippling water and electric pops and crackles mix with shuddering overtones of bowed metal for an engulfing sonic snapshot.

Lexie Mountain and Angela Sawyer

Lexie Mountain and Angela Sawyer by Distant Duos

Baltimore’s Lexie Mountain and Boston’s Angela Sawyer have known each other for years, so it’s no surprise that their distant connection of broken electronics and found objects clicks so well. Here, everyday detritus is elevated to a compact improvisation imbued with skittering percussive tumult, whirrs and clatter.

New Releases

When I did carve out time to listen, here’s a few that stuck with me through the year.

Toshiya Tsunoda & Taku Unami – Wovenland 2 (Erstwhile)

Wovenland 2 by Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami

Working from basic field recordings, Tsunoda and Unami use the studio as an alchemical laboratory, delving into mixing and mastering tools to explore, process and transform environmental sound. In their hands, the digital artifacts of that process are as intrinsic to the results as the source material they have deconstructed. They sum it up succinctly. “Our goal is to focus on acoustic experiments. No more and no less.”

Here are some more that stuck with me in no particular order:

Rhodri Davies – Telyn Rawn (Amgen Records)

Judith Wegmann – Le Souffle Du Temps II - Reflexion (ezz-thetics)

Clara de Asís & Mara Winter – Repetition of the same dream (Another Timbre)

Takuji Naka/Tim Olive – Minouragatake (Notice Recordings)

Magnus Granberg – Come Down to Earth Where Sorrow Dwelleth –Revised version for sho, koto, prepared piano and electronics (Ftarri)

Tasting Menu – Mueller Tunnel (Full Spectrum Records)

Simon H. Fell & Mark Wastell – Virtual Company (Confront)

Xavier Charles & Bertrand Gauguet – Spectre (akousis)

Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Seymour Wright, Jean-Luc Guionnet – Solos (Remote Resonator)

Archival Releases and Reissues

Reissues continued to pour out from record labels. Some applied studio wizardry to revive and restore previously issued material and others dug out material from the vaults that rightfully deserves to be heard. But with touring opportunities gone, the ability to collaborate in person evaporated and the monthly boon of Bandcamp Fridays, many artists also took the opportunity to dig in to their personal vaults.

Gentle Fire – Explorations (1970-1973) (Paradigm Discs)

Explorations (1970 - 1973) by Gentle Fire

This one just hit in December but quickly shot to the top of my listening pile. Working in London in the early 70s, this little-known quintet of electro-acoustic pioneers worked at the edges of composition and improvisation, putting out a single, now impossible-to-find, LP performing graphic scores of by John Cage, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff (which, in itself deserves a reissue.) If they hit listeners’ radar at all, it was due to the fact that Hugh Davies was part of the group. This 3-CD box of previously unissued material is comprised of one disc of works by Wolff, Stockhausen, Brown, Cage and Ichiyanagi, another of their own compositions and a final disc capturing an extended improvisation. Five decades later, this stuff is still essential listening.

Rhodri Davies – Archif Series (self-released)

Archif #13: BMIC 17/09/1997 by IST

Currently at number 28 and counting, Davies dug in to his archives and unearthed a passel of gems, documenting live performances and studio experiments from 1995 through 2000. From solos to various group sessions, this is all music well worth spending time with. Particularly welcome are two releases by IST (Davies, Mark Wastell, and Simon H. Fell) and one by Assumed Possibilities (Davies, Wastell, Chris Burn and Phil Durrant). One hopes there is more to be unearthed.

Cor Fuhler Conundrom label

SLEE by Cor Fuhler

The sudden passing of Cor Fuhler was a tough one in a tough year. Whether as a pianist, instrument inventor or ensemble leader, Fuhler was always bristling with ideas. As part of a group effort, the discography of his Conundrom label is now available on Bandcamp with proceeds going to his estate.

Here are some others of note in no particular order:

Albert Ayler reissue series (ezz-thetics)

Phillip Wachsmann – Writing In Water (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Charles Mingus – @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (Sunnyside)

Voice Crack – Glasgow 20/11/1999 (scatter)

John Butcher – On Being Observed (Weight of Wax)

Derek Bailey and Mototeru Takagi – Live at FarOut, Atsugi 1987 (NoBusiness Records)

Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley – Birdland, Neuburg 2011 (Fundacja Słuchaj)

[kingedwardvi]

Calendar of State Papers Foreign: Edward VI 1547-1553

1549.

1548–9. Jan. 4. (Brabant style.) Antwerp. The Magistrates of Antwerp to the Lord Protector and the Council. Their intervention has been besought by James Van Maseyck and Hubert Calnwaert, their fellow-citizens, in behalf of their partner and other fellow-citizen, William Van Eertwyck, who has been arrested in London, and is in danger of his life for having in his possession letters of licence from his Majesty, ascertained to be forged, but which he purchased in ignorance thereof for the sum of 100 pounds of Flanders money from Bernard Rubiis, public money-lender here. Send herewith certified copies of the judicial proceedings against the said Bernard Rubiis, and requesting that suit against Eertwyck may be stayed, &c. [Latin. One page.]

---

Jan. 7. Antwerp. Batoryk [Borthwick ?] to the Lord Protector. Refers to some marriage and exchange of property. The French king makes certain preparations for the defence of Scotland. Propounds a plan for eradicating Papismus by transferring the Kirklands to gentlemen's hands. Intends to depart to-morrow, and to get favourable letters from the King of Denmark to the French King to deliver the gentlemen of the castle of St. Andrew's according to the promise made to them by the Prince of Capua. [One page and a half. Much effaced by damp.]

---

Jan. 10. Brussels. The Emperor Charles V. d notre tres chier et bien amé Messire Guillme Paget, Chev de lordre et Contreroler d' Angleterre. Credentials of M. Francis Vanderdilst, his Ambassador, on resuming his functions in England. [One page.]

---

Jan. 17. Augsburg. Same to King Edward VI. Supporting the claims of certain citizens of Lubeck for the value of a vessel impressed by King Henry VIII. during his war with the French King, and for which indemnity had been promised. [One page.]

---

Jan. 20. Instructions for John Dymock sent to the Duke of Lunenburg, the Count of Oldenburg, and others, for the purpose of levying more soldiers under Courtpening. His Majesty offers to bestow on the Duke and the Count a pension of 1,500 crowns each, and has taken the son of the former into his service, and to be trained in his Court, with a pension of 500 crowns. [Sixteen pages. Draft.]

---

Jan. 24. Bremen. The Senate of Bremen to King Edward VI. Their reply has been communicated in writing to John Brend, his Majesty's Ambassador. They will take care that none of their citizens shall supply the Scots with munitions or provisions; reserving, however, their traffic with Ireland. Request the loan for a few years of 5,000 or 6,000 talents sterling. [Latin. One page.]

---

Jan. 25. Brussels. Emanuel Philibert, Prince of Piedmont and Duke of Savoy, to the Lord Protector. Recommends the bearer, Aleram, son of Boarel, Marquis d'Ancise, one of his vassals, who desires to be employed in the service of the King of England. [French. Broadside.]

---

Jan. 31. Gaspar de Figueredo, Portuguese Ambassador, to the same. Complains that a person from whom he had hired a house will not give him possession, and requests his Grace's interference. [Latin. One page.]

---

Feb. 23. Paris.  Dr. Wotton to the same. On the 1st of this month the French Queen was brought a-bed of a fine boy. Hears that the King of Portugal, the Duke of Ferrara, and the Queen Dowager of Scotland are to be his sponsors; and that the King has sent expressly to the Emperor and the Bishop of Rome to intimate the birth. Monluc, who it is said is to be President of the Council in Scotland, has not yet left. M. de Thermes is here also, but reported as soon to go to Scotland, and M. d'Essé is to come home. 

Divers captains come out of Provence for Scotland. Pietro Strozzi is at the Court again. Hears that the French King has news of the safe arrival of the Provenceaux in Scotland, and that in the beginning of next March 2,000 more men are to be sent there. 

It is said that Berwick, which they reckon easy to be won, is to be besieged the first thing this year. Hears that the French King has renewed a league with the Swiss. Of late has been a great fray in this Court, connected with the rival claims of the families of De la Val and Andelot to the inheritance of certain estates, the particulars of which he gives at length. 

Had on the 11th received his Grace's letter of the 3d inst. Fitzgarret being still about the Court, the bearer of this, Henry King, brought the priest to him; what they have done and how they have sped, they can best declare to his Grace. 

Had spoken with Fitzgarret at his earnest desire; if his tongue and his heart agree, he is most anxious to return home. Trusts that his conversation with him may have somewhat confirmed him in that purpose, and he would fain it might be very shortly, for such causes as the said priest can declare unto his Grace. 

Fitzgarret himself says that undoubtedly the French King sends another aid to Scotland next month, and those that are to go are hasted to Brittany. [Three pages; partly in cipher, deciphered. Printed by Tytler, except the portion in cipher, Vol. i., p. 156.]

---

March 24. Hamburg. John Dymock to the Council. Has been requested by some Lords of this city to introduce the bearer, who seeks redress for articles taken from some merchants here by Sir Andrew Dudley, whose note of hand bears that they were taken for the King's use.

Unless this is seen to, does not see how he can procure any ships for the King's service, so many similar grievances being complained of. Enumerates the articles and the ships from which they have been taken. [Two pages.]

--- March 24. Hamburg. John Dymock to the Lord Protector. The Earl of Oldenburg will not serve for less than what he received from the French King, viz., 2,000 crowns for himself, and the same sum for the entertainment of 12 captains. Thinks the Earl of Mansfeldt and his son have persuaded him to this. Had been to the Duke of Brunswick at the castle of Harburg on the 18th; after much persuasion he agrees to serve for 1,500 crowns. Determined opposition to the Interim in these parts. Necessity for increasing the pay of the mercenaries. Question as to the transmission of horses and men to England. The city of Wittenberg and castle of Turgo have been delivered to King Ferdinand by Duke Maurice. [Four pages. Partly printed by Tytler, Vol. i., p. 161.]

--- 1549. March 25. Hamburg. Same to the Lord Protector and the Council. As to the seizure for his Majesty's use of a vessel laden with salt fish belonging to some merchant of the Hanse Towns. [One page. Much defaced.]

--- March 28. Hamburg. Same to same. Sends by a special messenger to ascertain their pleasure on the various points contained in his letters of 16th and 24th inst., and recapitulates at great length his interviews and negotiations as to supply of ships and men. [Six pages and a half.]

--- April 6. Westminster. The Council to Sir Philip Hoby. Had received his letters of 31st March and 1st and 2d April. Are much gratified by the Emperor giving licence for soldiers to enter the King's service, his evil taking of the Frenchmen passing through his pale, and his promises of support in case of any invasion by the French. 

Desire him to return their hearty thanks to the Emperor, and to ask if he will permit some of the soldiers to pass by four, five, or six, file a file, by land to Calais, where it is intended to employ them as occasion serves.

Also to thank Mons. D'Arras, Mons. Monfauconet, Mons. De Rie, the Ambassador from Florence, and others his Majesty's good friends and willers. Desire him to explain the cause of the wants of Boulogne and the disorders there, which are now all settled. 

Should liberty be given for the soldiers to pass by land, he is instantly to apprize Dymock. If Captain Ventura will serve the King on the same terms as other Italians, they are willing to treat with him for himself and 200 footmen. [Two pages. Draft.]

--

April 11. Bremen. John Dymock to Sir Philip Hoby, Knight and Ambassador for the King's Majesty in the Emperor's Court. Has received his letter of the 25th March. Has done all that in him lies with the Lords of Bremen and Hamburg, but at no hand can have grant for ships or liberty to bring strange vessels into their ports, so as to convey men to England. 

Has since then been to the Lady of Embden with like want of success, so that he has been unable to engage any soldiers, but he upholds them with good words until he can ascertain the pleasure of the Council. 

All fear that after the arrival of his son in Brussels the Emperor will attack these countries. The Rhinegrave has laboured much by the King of Denmark with the Lords of Hamburg and Bremen, and has threatened, that if they allow any men to be conveyed out of their rivers, both the King of Denmark and the French King will capture their ships wherever they find them.

By means of a merchant is to get four great ships, which shall go to the Elbe and wait there 20 days for whatever lading shall come aboard of them. Has also sent to Amsterdam to freight other four ships in like manner. Within the same space will see to collect his men, and with 20 small vessels have them all taken aboard at one tide. Can have horsemen enough, but their freight will be very chargeable; besides they will not serve under five dollars per diem for every horse and man. 

Requests him to write to the Protector to arrange for his drawing upon some merchant at Antwerp for 2,000l. sterling to be repaid there, as he fears he shall not have money enough to pay a whole month's wages, bounty, and victualling the ships, which will cost about 700l. or 800l. sterling. Farther financial details and suggestions. All the cities and towns here are busy fortifying themselves. Hopes he may come to a good end in this journey, as it is too weighty for one man alone to compass these things. [Three pages.]

---

April 17. [Westminster.]  The Council to Sir Philip Hoby, Knight and Ambassador for the King's Majesty in the Emperor's Court. Instructing him to communicate with the Emperor in regard to the suppression of a horde of pirates some 20 sail strong, composed of lawless men of all nations, who have been ravaging the coast of Ireland as well as spoiling some of the Emperor's subjects. In regard of the subsidy to his Majesty granted in the last Parliament, the subjects of the Emperor residing in England shall be treated as heretofore they have been under similar grants. [Three pages. Draft.]

--- April 18. Hamburg. John Dymock to the Lord Protector and the Council. Has received their letters of 25th March and 1st April. The soldiers cannot be conveyed to England in either of the ways which they propose. Neither can he get the ships for the Elbe, the Lords of Bremen having had knowledge of his design and stayed them. 

Can devise no manner of transport, unless they can have leave from the Emperor for the men to pass through the Low Countries, or arrest as many hoys on the Thames as will serve for the number of men, and send them on the Elbe or the Weser, when he will find means to ship them. If they desire to keep Duke Otho's men in their service, they must somewhat amend his son's living, or else help him out of debt and let him return to his father, as 500 crowns are not sufficient to maintain him in England. [Two pages.]

---- April 20. Antwerp. William Dansell to the Lord Protector. Sends packet from John Dymock at Bremen, who desires its instant despatch, and to know whether Dansell has orders to supply him with money for the King's service. Has provided such munitions as he had charge to do; and has acquired money sufficient to pay the King's debt, due on 20th May, at 13 per cent., without taking any goods with it.

If more money be wanted for his Majesty, he can procure to the extent of 100,000l. for 14 per cent., without taking any wares with it; this is not overmuch, as the Emperor himself even to his own subjects pays 15, 16, and often 18 per cent. [One page.]

--- April 24. Harburg. John Dymock to the Lord Protector. Letter of credence for Andries Ryenhorde, Chancellor to Duke Otho of Lunenburg, sent to England upon business of his master. [One page.]

--- April 25. Greenwich. The Council to William Dansell. Have received his letter of the 20th, and replied to Dymock by the inclosed. Lazarus Tucker has informed them by Bruno that he expects payment on the 15th of May, the day on which the money is due, or else that he shall have notice before then that the King will take longer day; wherefore desire him to arrange with Tucker for the continuance of the loan at 12 per cent. Decline to borrow more at the per-centage mentioned in his letter, and show how the Emperor's financial arrangements are made, in a manner very different from that of the King's Majesty. [Two pages. Draft.]

--- April 27. Hamburg. John Dymock to the Lord Protector and the Council. His difficulties are entirely from want of ships, which if he had, his men would be ready in ten days, and be embarked at one tide. Constant trafficking goes on between the Kings of France and Denmark, the Rhinegrave, and others. 

The post which he sent into Denmark to Sir John Borthwick has returned bringing back his letters, as Sir John had left the King's Court and gone to Sweden; but he has written to him by a post sent from the Lords of these cities to the King of Sweden, and is in expectation daily of a reply. 

The King of Denmark, being much ruled by his Councillors, who are all imperialists, will receive the Interim, and has written to the Lords of Hamburg that they should do the like. It is reported that the Duke of Wirtemberg has received the Interim, and his subjects have raised against him 16,000 men, who carry a black ensign, having on one side a crucifix and on the other a plough. Captain Hackford has sent to offer men on certain terms; if they accept them, they must order money to be sent from Antwerp. [Four pages.]

--- April 29. Greenwich. The Council to William Dansell. Inform him that Charles de Guevara, a Spaniard, has engaged to conduct hither 100 horsemen, to be at Calais by the 7th of June, and desire him to advance to the said Guevara a certain sum (left blank), taking security for its repayment in case the contract shall not be fulfilled. Also to pay to a certain Albanois in prest for him and other 30 Albanois an amount (likewise left blank). [One page. Draft.]

--- May 5. Hamburg. John Dymock to the Lord Protector and the Council. Has this day their letter of the 13th ult., the bearer having been fruitlessly detained at Brussels. Will do his best to procure the full number of 2,000 men, whom he will send by sea, having obtained the good will of the Lords of Hamburg to embark them within seven leagues of Hamburg, but they do not wish this to be known. 

Desires to know his Majesty's pleasure whether those sent by land shall remain at Boulogne and so on to Scotland, and whether the others shall go by ship to Berwick or Boulogne, because he hears that the French King will have to do with Boulogne this summer with a great company, only that the Emperor do let him of his pass. 

Brings with him a very good captain and a tall man as leader and governor of these men, in case anything should happen to Courtpening. Does not know what Courtpening means by allowing so many soldiers to come away daily, as they do; and those who come give such evil report of him, that all are loth to serve under him. 

Recommends that he and Mr. Brend should be written to. If his Majesty wants 300 horsemen well appointed to come by water, Anthony Rassow, Governor of one of Duke Ollof of Holstein's towns on the sea coast, will gladly serve on the same terms as Captain Hackford has, and asks three French crown on every horse till he arrives in England. Has paid Duke Otho of Lunenburg his half year's pension. [Two pages.]

---- May 6. [Hamburg.] Same to same. To the like effect, and almost in the same terms as the preceding letter. Courtpening much complained of, "for it is said that men there are more ordered like beasts than Christians, both in the scarcity of victuals and payment." The Duke of Holstein is named Hans, not Ollof. [Three pages, considerably injured.]

--- May 11. Hamburg. Same to same. Has received their letters of the 25th April. Because Sir Philip Hoby has only got passport for 500 men, Dymock has the good will of the Lords here to wink at his embarking his soldiers at Friburg, seven leagues hence. The name of the captain who is to accompany them is Walderdon. Hackford is well known here, and little esteemed but to be a great braggart. 

He has in his company under him the Earl of Ritburgh, whom Dymock knows very well to be a great mutineer; for he served before Boulogne with Eytel Wolff, and what ado he made there is not unknown to some of their Lordships. Has this morning been sent for to Lubeck, by one of the Lords there, because of the arrival at Holy-haven, eight leagues distant therefrom, of a large Scottish ship, with much munition and 80 men and a Lord, who is now in Lubeck, and intends to land all kind of munition for the wars. Wishes it were possible to disappoint him, both of his ship and his goods, with the help of the said Lords. [Two pages and a half.]

---

May 25. Greenwich. Minute of Council to William Dansell. Inform him that they have bargained with John Cooke for 500 quintals of saltpetre, and 1,000 harquebuses, after the Italian sort. Direct him to try the harquebuses, and, if found good, to pay Cooke on their arrival in England, as certified by Sir Michael Stanhope's letter to Cooke. [One page.]

--- May 25. Greenwich. Minute from Sir Michael Stanhope to Cooke. According to his letter of the 18th has moved the Protector, who directs that payment for the saltpetre and harquebuses shall be made to him by Mr. Dansell. Likewise for the "Colen cliffs," according as his Grace has written for the demi-lances; "those which be of the old form will do no man service, no man here will wear them, and therefore it shall be but loss to send them." Farther, with reference to the provision of bullion. [One page.]

--- May 25. Antwerp. William Dansell to the Lord Protector. Is much grieved to find by the letter of his Grace, sanctioned by the other Lords of the Council, that his doings should have been taken in such ill part when he considered himself rather entitled to thanks. Recapitulates his dealings with Lazarus Tucker, as certified by his letter of the 3d inst., and enters into full explanations as to the supply of money and delivery of the bullion purchased by Thomas Gresham and him from Tucker for the advantage of the realm, in refutation of the rumour in London alluded to in the Council's letter of the 17th. Refers to his letter of the 17th. The prices of various kerseys, lead, and bell-metal suggested to be sent, if the money payable in September is not to remain at interest for another year. The prices asked by Cooke for the saltpetre and harquebuses are higher than those for which the same are offered to Dansell. [Seven pages.]

(continues next)

[iiarchive]

Phoenix August 7th

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Please click ‘read more’ to view the details from the show! It WILL contain spoilers from the show!

‘Props’/Opening of the Show

Starts with what they are not going to do

Mentions ‘erotic role play’

Dan as a criminal, Phil as a policeman, voiceover of implied smut

Dan and Phil ‘strip’

Truth Bombs

Dan: whats hidden in their browsing history?

A: Where to buy fursuits, Evan Peters fanfiction (winner), what’s darker than black?

Phil: what form of torture would make them say anything?

A: Seductive cheese platter (winner), being in the sun, going back to the emo fringe

D&P: what would a documentary about their lives be called?

A: Trash (winner), a mistake tbh, the phandom menace

Ball & Mystery Box

Phil threw a ball into the audience to guess what was ‘inside’ the mystery box

Toliet paper, DanAndPhilCrafts bloopers, PINOF 1 bloopers

Dan VS Phil

Psychic Connections - hot things ;) (Dan said Phoenix, Phil said a microwave)

Phantastic Phacts

For Dan: What’s Phil’s least favorite shirt of Dan’s?

A: Potato sack (Dan got it right)

For Phil: When did Dan sign up for university?

A: 2008 (Phil got it wrong, he said 2009)

Dan, Phil, or a Rat?

Picture: Rat (Phil got it wrong, he said Dan)

Picture: Dan (Dan got it wrong, he said Phil)

D&P Dilemma

For Phil: Dan is on fire, but to save him Phil has to wear a cheese suit for a year. Phil said no.

For Dan: You get to meet Nick Jonas in London, but Phil can only say ladydoor for a year. Dan said he wouldn’t meet Nick.

Friendship Test loser - Phil (34 - 31, Dan is in the lead)

Wheel of Doom

Dan was sacrificed.  

Dan got hit in the head.

Good VS Evil

Dan - black plague, murder, slapping grandma

Phil - saving the bees, cold pillows, KPOP

Getting Deep

Q: Will you miss the tour bus?

A: this was there last night with the tour bus, so they said yes they would miss it. Dan said it had a nice aesthetic and lots of popcorn. They talked about how they have bus lag now (feeling like you’re moving when you’re stationary). 

Q: What is your favorite Shrek movie?

A: Phil said he’s only seen Shrek 1 & 2. He said he hasn’t seen Puss In Boots either. Dan tried to get him to say he’d watch all the Shrek movies on the flight to Australia. Dan said his favorite was 2, and that 3 was the worst.

Q: I’m a singer but I’m afraid to sing on stage help!

A: Dan and Phil said to just try it and start out really small. Even if they’re scared if it’s something the person really wants to do, they should go for it and try. Dan said that even starting it like a hobby, like Phil had, it still might work out. They also suggested covering their face on stage.

Golden II Awards

They wore glitter suits

Give fandom awards to the audience

Phil’s Diss Track

Lyrics to Phil’s Diss Track (fan cited/not official)

Dan on Piano

Dan plays a song on the piano

Has to do with him and Phil’s origin story

Phil interrupts by returning to his diss track momentarily

Lyrics to this part of the show (fan cited/not official)

Interactive Introverts Duet

Dan and Phil sing a duet with Dan playing the piano

About how they’re ‘Interactive Introverts’

Lyrics to this part of the show (fan cited/not official)

*Bonus*

Audience was named Sarah!

The fire alarm went off during the show. They went to invesitage and it was a false alarm, due to the smoke that comes out when the wheel appears on stage.

Dan kicked the flap and accidentally said fuck.

*Current pre-show/intermission playlist*

Thank you to Saundra (she/her) (@/toasthowelI), Rie (she/her) (@/capsrie), Ramisha (she/her), Dorie, Jay, Kai (they/them), Lauren (she/her), for your submission!