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xflixer7 · 5 months

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all of my yellowjacket headcannons (so far)

word count is like a trillion ok i’m not counting all this

lottie

she/her transfem! lesbian bottom (try to convince me otherwise)

-schizophrenic

-definitely has some type of ocd

-ptsd

started playing soccer when she was little

will actually go insane is you steal any of her clothes if you look at her she will actually be drooling with heart eyes

this girl is french and is HORRIBLE at it

plays piano

also knows violin because her parents made her take it doesn’t play is anymore though

lottie isn’t jealous but very protective of you

her favorite (modern!) singers are

-phoebe bridgers

-tv girl

-faye webster

-clairo

-#1 laufey fan on the world

unironically knows every katy perry song by heart because she used to be her favorite when she was little

her room is huge

likes putting her hair in pigtails

golden retriever girlfriend she’s so sweet to you and loves to spend time and money on you you guys always stay at her house would literally kiss the ground you walk on if you asked her too:((

also the worst cooker you ever met like how did you fuck up toast why is the smoke alarm going off??

favorite color is blue

lottie definitely has a hairstylist she goes too every month to get permed and there really close i can see her telling them about ALL the school drama

lottie wants write story’s when she’s older maybe romance or mystery idk but i can just imagine her having a typewriter and writing you story’s she has wanted to do it since she was a kid and is very passionate about it:((

what i think her favorite shows are:desperate housewives,american horror story,sailer moon

time burton enthusiast

so scared of horror movie like she will start crying

her favorite characters are:

-emily (corpse bride)

-bree (desperate housewives)

-starfire (teen titans)

always goes on and on about how she’s bubblegum and your marceline she LOVES adventure time

her favorite movie is bridge to terabithia

lotties favorite animal is a bunny and she really wants a pet bunny

BEGS you to give her your bra and your confused but you give it too her and she makes a bracelet out of it and wears it practically every day proudly

also think that lottie is a great artist? like sketching and painting wise

nat

SAY IT WITH ME transmasc! (he/they) definitely bi and a bottom why? because i say so

-depressed

-dyslexic

-ptsd

started playing soccer in middle school

LOVES christmas like has an unhealthy obsession with it

northern italian knows the launage pretty well also a great cook

wants to play electric guitar

his favorite (modern!) singers are

-tyler the creator

-radiohead

-alex g

-motley crue

-is so obsessed with mistki don’t even get me started

randomly painted his room black one day when he was bored

usually prefers his hair down

you give him haircuts he doesn’t trust anyone else someone definitely fucked up his hair once and he never went back

he’s stubborn black cat energy but he can be soft sometimes he hates being vulnerable around you

his favorite color is black or gray

just wants to be famous tbh but he wants to be in a band

what i think his favorite shows are:rick and morty,bojack horseman,shameless

LOVES horror movies and reality tv like 90 day fiancé and the kardashions

also likes claymation

his favorite characters are

-ash (fantastic mr fox)

-sidney (i am not ok with this)

-coraline (coraline)

his favorite movie is little miss sunshine

nat’s favorite animal is a panther he saw one in the jungle book when he was little and just thought it looked cool

always headcannoing characters as trans like finn from adventure time or jeff from clarence he’s so cute:((

nat skateboards too definitely not great at it but does it when he’s bored

jackie

(she/her) is just a bratty pillow princess lesbian you can’t fool me

-adhd asf

-neurodivergent for sure

-ptsd

started playing soccer because she was bored eighth grade tbh i don’t think she likes it as much as the others but she thinks it’s fun

always takes your hoodies fact

this girl is a vegetarian for sure

jackie is greek which is shocking to everyone

jackie is jealous always period

hey gays ass button ups bro

her favorite (modern!) singers are

-ariana grande her fav

-rihanna

-billie eilish

-harry styles

-lana del ray

pretty mainstream music taste

all pink room it’s very like coquette?

ponytail girl but also enjoys her hair down

is obsessed with you like unhealthy obsession always needs to be around you

favorite color is light pink duh

jackie gets perms so she really doesn’t care who does her hair

wants to be a makeup guiro or just stay at home honestly she hates working

what i think her favorite shows are:euphoria, grays anatomy,glee

i think she likes very drama files shows and will rant about tv show characters and there dynamics and why she think that there like that and etc for HOURS

ughhh jackie is such a girls girl like she is the friend who always has your back and has gum or a tampon for you she is the friend who would check you on your period

her favorite characters are:

-maddy (euphoria)

-regina (mean girls)

-amy (gone girl)

her favorite movie is DEFINITELY jennifer’s body

jackie is a cat lover and has 2 i can see her with a orange and a gray cat and they always fight

shauna

DEFINITELY bi (she/her) and i could see her as a switch?

-bipolar

-ptsd

joined soccer with jackie eighth grade

has like thousands of boxers

russian

knows how to play saxophone (she doesn’t even know how she learned she just did) she doesn’t own one though

so jealous but never says anything (this girl cannot communicate to save her life)

her favorite (modern!) singers are

-the cranberries

was so mad when they got popular on tiktok and had to let everyone know they where her fav since day 1 (everyone knew)

-suki waterhouse

-cigarettes after sex

-never got over halsey since 2017

-lady gaga

she honestly doesn’t care how her room looks but it’s never clean

doesn’t do anything with her hair really

writes you notes about how she appreciates you or how much she loves you cause it’s hard for her to tell you how she feels but she loves you so much:((

green is her favorite color

shauna’s hair may seem simple but she’s VERY picky about how it’s cut and is always worried there gonna cut it bad so she gets it cut like twice a year(she always ends up hating it)

she wants to be some sort of doctorate she’s fascinated by the human body so i can see her wanting to be a surgeon

what i think her favorite shows are:good girls, queens gambit,13 reasons why

her favorite characters are:

-velma (chicago)

-cassie (euphoria)

-susanna (girl interrupted)

her favorite movie is chicago (loves musicals)

a simple gal she really likes dogs

taissa

she/her lesbian switch

-ptsd

joined soccer in fifth grade

mixed (duh)

used to be in the marching band

her favorite (modern!) singers are

-bruno mars

(screams when i was your man and grenade in her car way too much)

-frank ocean

-post malone

(also screams his songs in the car)

-has a soft spot for shawn mendas has all of his albums

-really enjoys 60’s music so she really likes elvis

her room is pretty big too not huge on decorating

doesn’t care about hair like at all will wear a headband sometimes

a good girlfriend like if your cold she will give you her jacket type she has a temper never jealous either girlfriend material she’s the type you would want your kid to date y’know?

respectful to adults gets good grades and stuff

her favorite color is brown and everyone is like that’s weird and she is trying to convince them like “no guys it’s pretty hear me ou-“

cuts her own hair thinks it’s overpriced and dumb to have someone professionally do it

tai wants to be something important like president or some shit i can see her being a lawyer

what i think her favorite shows are:the umbrella academy,big mouth,skins

tai only watches skins and euphoria type shows because she loves the drama

her favorite characters:

-hermoine (harry potter)

-patrick (perks of being a wallflower)

-nadine (edge of seventeen)

her favorite movie is the 6th harry potter movie she also thinks it’s the most underrated

she likes tigers

van

she/her and lesbian switch

-anxiety

-ptsd

joined soccer in sixth grade

irish

plays the trumpet but is kinda embarrassed by it

her favorite (modern!) singers are

-nicki manaj

-fiona apple

-tori amos

-girl in red duh

-david bowie

-was ziggy stardust for halloween when she was 8

posters EVERYWHERE can’t convince me her room is not painted red

doesn’t care about hair either puts in a ponytail to keep it out of her face

is a great girlfriend all the same traits as taissa except not the best at school she’s honestly surprised she graduated

favorite color is red

her uncle cuts her hair for like five bucks out of his garage also i definitely think she used to have a bowl cut when she was little

doesn’t really care about money she just wants to be happy wants to own a record store or be a professional soccer player

speaking of records she definitely has a lot of collections like lowkey a hoarder…but her stuff is cool though! like funky pops hat wheels cd’s records etc

what i think her favorite shows are:beavis and butthead, avatar, south park

mostly likes adult animation

her favorite characters are:

-harley (suicide squad)

-ron (harry potter)

-beast boy (teen titans)

her favorite movie is the bee movie or lego batman there cinematic masterpieces

van likes pigeons for not particular reason she just thinks there funny looking

i can see van as a surfer too like her dad definitely is one also i can imagine her being really close with her dad and they have a local family business bakery:((

misty

she/her and idk her position or sexually like i genuinely have no idea

-autistic

-ptsd

always wanted to be on the team but knew she was bad at sports

german definitely

her favorite (modern!) singers are

-boy genius

-the beatles

-justin bieber

-pink

-melanie martenz is her favorite forever

light purple room has justin bieber posters everywhere

lowkey forgets she has hair whenever people comment on it she’s like “oh yeah!”

very obsessive of you and loves you almost too much sometimes you think it’s creepy but than your like “awww she’s so cute”

loves the color yellow

i can see her being a k-pop stan too

(her bias in bts is j-hope)

also is a famous editer on tiktok and no one knows😭her username is like “gxxbflix” or some shit

literally has had one haircut in her life like it never grows?

i see her as a pharmacist

what i think her favorite shows are:walking dead,mlp,monster high

i just think she really enjoys getting into all types of fandoms

has SO many online friends

definitely loves romance anime

plays clarinet

is in band

favorite characters:

-cruella (cruella)

-alice (alice in wonderland)

-edward (edward sciccor hands)

and mistys favorite movie is alice through the looking glass (because it shows the queen of hearts back story and misty loves her)

and misty likes birds duh

those are my headcannons for them i know it’s a lot but i’m obsessed ok send requests if you have any please

-🙈

#yellowjackets x reader #yellowjackets #lottie matthews #natalie scatorccio #jackie taylor #shauna shipman #taissa turner #van palmer #misty quigley #lottie matthews x reader #natalie scatorccio x reader #jackie taylor x reader #shauna shipman x reader #wlw

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directdogman · 2 months

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hi dogman! i just picked up dialtown recently and haven’t finished the game or started the dlc, (so this stuff might be answered later in the game and i just don’t know yet, sorry) but i do have a bunch of questions about the science of dialtown that have been plaguing me since i started the game:

are all the people of the dialtown universe (sans gingi ofc) still classified as human, or are they another species? object heads are implied (as far as i can tell) to be man made creations at some point, but no one but norm has an actual human head. have they mutated to only have object heads? are they born with object heads? if they are born with the ability to get an object head, are they born with no head, or does the doctor cut it off and install an object head, are object heads technological or biological (or magical)? are they biologically capable of changing their object head from birth? the objects are clearly still made of plastic/metal/glass etc, and they’re fully integrated with the “human” body systems- the ability to blush means blood cells circulate through the non-organic (non-meat?) parts of the head, and they can feel pain inflicted to the mechanical parts just as easily (shoutout to randy for being so unfortunate). so are the mechanical parts of the objects, like wires, integrated into the human parts of the body as well? are the object heads a completely scientifically separate thing to the actual body, like prosthetic? if so, how does blood and nerve pain transfer? where are their brains? is the canonical consciousness and memory of a person in their body, since their heads can be swapped (especially when most of the objects are not capable of storing memory at all?) furthermore, since the object heads can function like the objects they represent, do printers and typewriters require ink, or have they developed ink cartridges/sacs like cephalopods? similarly, are object heads with LCD displays (like cellphones, the teleprompter, TVs etc, if those even exist in this universe) bioluminescent and/or chromatophores, since they can light up (i think) and change color? if the object heads are mostly technologically developed, and Dialtown takes place in the present, why are most object heads deeply outdated technology (typewriters and analog phones, with the most modern tech being randy’s Nokia and Karen’s printer, both of which are still incredibly outdated?) are object heads considered a completely different technological process from the technology they resemble, or is this of a cultural anachronism, (like cpu mice being called mice because their cord resembled a tail, even though they no longer have the tail at all)? is it a cultural thing?

tl;dr: how does biology work in dialtown? people can change their heads if they want, but the objects are still treated like part of the person. are object heads at all a genetic feature of the people of dialtown, or purely a technological thing, or both or neither?

apologies if i’m looking into everything too deeply- but i am fascinated by the scientific and biological implications of object heads. also, the game is great. karen is the only printer i have ever loved.

are all the people of the dialtown universe (sans gingi ofc) still classified as human

Yes, to the point where flesh heads are considered an inhuman trait now. To the point where some beloved historic figures (like Washington) are often depicted with phone heads, despite never having one.

are they born with object heads?

They're born with an adapter, and the heads are added immediately after birth.

are object heads technological or biological (or magical)?

I'd argue they're technological and biological. It's a bit like asking if a hermit crab is biological or mineral.

[] parts of the head, and they can feel pain inflicted to the mechanical parts just as easily (shoutout to randy for being so unfortunate).

Our brains have no pain receptors, but the areas around them do, so brain swelling is indeed unbelievably uncomfortable. I see object-head pain as a similar phenomenon. It's the biological pieces that cry out when the mechanical parts fail.

if the object heads are mostly technologically developed, and Dialtown takes place in the present, why are most object heads deeply outdated technology

I've answered this question before, but the long and short of it is that most modern devices aren't easy to swap individual pieces out of, while older devices (with vacuum tubes and basic transistors) can be swapped out. Imagine having to replace your entire head every time something screwed up, or having to get your repairs from a single company who makes the device. You think dealing with Apple support is bad, imagine if you HAD to go to them for healthcare!

Also, there's a cultural inertia. Crown's memory being bricked meant that his plan essentially halted and it's not like anyone had the will/ability to continue it.

are object heads considered a completely different technological process from the technology they resemble, or is this of a cultural anachronism [] is it a cultural thing?

That's complicated and to answer this question completely, I'd have to delve deeper into the rationale of the Dialup affecting non humans. The answer is it's a bit of both.

but the objects are still treated like part of the person?

They're considered part of the person, though with the acknowledgement that they can be swapped out and aren't a part of the person anymore if lost. Like teeth for us.

are object heads at all a genetic feature of the people of dialtown, or purely a technological thing, or both or neither?

Head choices are cultural, and the only genetic link to headtypes is based on how genetics influence cultural norms. EG: the tendency to give people phones or typewriters depending on the gender given at birth.

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drconstellation · 5 months

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Brazil and The Dream of Escape

I was delighted to find in the Xtras that the machine created to be used by Furfur to use to find out how many demons Shax could requisition for storming the bookshop was inspired by the movie Brazil. This is another nod to Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who directed this film, and who almost directed the failed GO film in the 1990's.

I love this film. Always have. Yes, I was around when it came out in 1985. I'm that old. It's always been in my top 5 favourite films. And its totally relevant to Good Omens.

Brazil can be described as a dark dystopian story based on the novel 1984. It doesn't have a happy ending, but its funny, horrific, ludicrous, romantic and timelessly beautiful all at the same time. Its so iconic that when ever I see its influence in other productions its been unmistakable.

It stars Jonathan Pryce long before he was a James Bond villain or the head Sparrow in Game of Thrones, a comedic turn from Robert de Niro and a handful of other famous faces that you are bound to recognise, such Bob Hoskins, Ian Holm and Jim Broadbent.

Pryce, as Sam Lowry, lives in a world that is strictly controlled with paperwork that comes in multiple copies, where people are routinely arrested and tortured and a long running unexplained terrorist campaign sees bombs explode in the most random of places. Sam has dreams of a beautiful woman floating in the sky, and he is a sliver-armoured winged hero trying to rescue her. He eventually finds that she is real, and finds out her name through various means via his work and contacts. He tracks her down, but that is where it all starts to unravel as she is mixed up with an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

Its easy to see the common themes and elements that run through the film with GO: the desire to run away and escape (that doesn't work,) a totalitarian authority controlling the masses, propaganda, piles of paperwork, an undercurrent of rebellion, torture and abuse, forbidden love between classes, a villain hidden in plain sight.

There is an art deco aesthetic to the film that also carries over to other films and shows it has influenced, and the busy work floor scene that stops on a dime to watch the tv show de jour while the boss isn't looking is one of the highlights of the film.

It was a reference of this that caught my eye in the Cohen Brothers modern fairy tale The Hudsucker Proxy, where they copied the busyness of the work floor for their mail room scenes, but also the art deco aesthetic. That's another film that is always in my top five films, and could go a round of comparisons with GO - its got time stoppage, an angel appearance and a near-godlike manipulator.

It also appears, surprisingly, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The casino at Canto Bight is Brazil inspired, in the way its introduced to us, its decor and the music. I know some people hate this film because of what they did to Luke, but I love it, the whole thing is just utterly gorgeous to look at.

And if you've watched any of Loki recently, since S2 of that show finished not long ago, you would also seen some influence from Brazil in the retro look.

I love the classic art deco style. my grandparents had an art deco house that I spent many of my childhood hours in. The style itself is a clean, unadorned look, and often is meant to give a look of movement, speed or strength. A classic example of this is the Bentley, of course, which comes from the height of the art deco era in the 1930's.

Hell is the other place we see the Brazil influence in GO, where is looks like it's constantly several decades behind the times, with overhead projectors and manual typewriters and odd looking not-quite steampunk contraptions.

Brazil is available to stream on Disney at the moment, if you'd like to take a look. I highly recommend it, its one of those influential films that once you know it, you see its long reach in the most unexpected places.

#good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #shax #furfur #terry gilliam brazil #monty python #the bentley #art deco

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vickyvicarious · 6 months

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It was almost impossible to believe that the things which we had seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears were living truths. Every trace of all that had been was blotted out. [...] We were struck with the fact, that in all the mass of material of which the record is composed, there is hardly one authentic document; nothing but a mass of typewriting, except the later note-books of Mina and Seward and myself, and Van Helsing's memorandum. We could hardly ask any one, even did we wish to, to accept these as proofs of so wild a story.

I love the book ending by emphasizing the ambiguity of its own truth. We don't see this in Dracula Daily, but Stoker prefaced the book with a note that implies he knew the Harkers and they had shared this with him:

How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated, so that a history almost at variance with possibilities of later-day belief may stand forth as simple fact. There is throughout no statement of past things wherein a memory may err, for all the records chosen are exactly contemporary, given from the standpoints and within the range of knowledge of those who made them.

This note frames Stoker as merely an editor of a true account shared with him, rather than the author of a fictional work, which is a common trope for older fiction (though I think most often travel fiction, not horror). This is aided by the modern technology in the story, something he even emphasizes in his note here. Not that I'm saying people would really be likely to buy that it's real, but if they wanted to they could pretend they did.

But here at the end the characters admit that they could never prove their account. And they aren't really trying to do so for the wide world, but time makes it difficult even for them to fully believe what they recall happening to them. And we all know the power of the written word - to preserve events more firmly, yes, but also potentially to alter them (Jonathan's diary preserving memories he has forgotten vs. the Whitby headstone preserving a lie about the sailor's death). Without even primary sources for almost all of the book (in-universe; for readers of the novel, even if they bought into the fiction that it's a true account they wouldn't have access to any handwritten portions), it's up to the readers to decide how much trust they wish to place in the truthfulness of this tale. Both potential in-universe readers (explicitly and probably only ever intended for Quincey Harker) and us too.

If you begin with Stoker's note, it's extra fun because the novel starts by the (real) author asserting this is all factual and trustworthy, and ends with the (fictional) characters admitting it's mostly unprovable and people would have to just take their word for it.

#dracula daily #it's fun.#dracula meta

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chaotic-orphan · 1 year

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Dec. 27, prompt: family dinner

Ehehehehhehehe I love this one hero x villain yes please!! Also two posts in one day? It’s more likely than you think

@the-modern-typewriter @the-modern-typewriter-aesthetic

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hero felt like they were walking on the clouds when the villain asked them to family dinner over the holidays. Of course they said yes, they loved villain. Of course they wanted to spend the holidays with them and meeting their family was just a bonus.

That was until they were all sat down at family dinner.

The evening had been going so well.

Hero was cracking jokes with villain’s brother and mother, had engaging conversation with villain’s father about the current political climate of the city and had even dazzled villain’s sister, who owned a vineyard, with their wine knowledge.

Then villain’s father started talking about heroes, and the sorry state they had left the city in, and villain put their hand on hero’s and gently squeezed it in reassurance.

Hero of course, knew that villain’s father was in fact supervillain because villain and hero were open with each other from the beginning. No secrets, they had promised.

So when supervillain got to talking shit about specifically hero, hero was ready for it.

Villain however was not.

They had stood suddenly from the table, rocking the cutlery and nearly tipping the gravy boat, proclaiming: “you can’t shit talk Hero and be impressed with my date at the same time.”

That leads to now, where everyone was looking between Hero and Villain who was still standing, electricity sparking in their fingers.

Supervillain looked at hero and hero looked at villain, wanting nothing more than to kiss them for defending them and also slap them into next week because they had just revealed that they are in fact, Hero.

“What do you mean, Villain?” Supervillain asked then looked at Hero, “I’m sorry you’re not related to hero are you? Villain never told us.”

“No, no, no,” hero blushed, waving it away. “It’s nothing like that-“

“Actually it’s very like that,” villain said, practically seething. “Do you like my partner, dad?”

Supervillain blinked at villain. “Well, yes. I think they are quite charming and lovely, villain.”

“Thank you,” said Hero, almost gushing. “You’re too kind.”

“Not at all, you fit in so well with the family,” villain’s mom said with a kind smile and hero could feel their face going red. They reached up to cover their cheeks.

“Well, my partner is in fact, Hero. So if you hate hero, you also hate my partner. When you just said you liked my partner, dad. I will not sit at a table where you disrespect them.”

Hero blanched. Supervillain’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally at hero as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, slowly rose from the table and walked towards the kitchen.

“Villain, would you talk with me for a minute?” Supervillain asked, voice sweet as pie.

“If you insist.”

The table watched villain follow supervillain into the kitchen and supervillain close the door quite calmly.

Hero looked at the shocked faces of Villain’s mother, brother and sister and took a sip of wine, smiling at the sister.

“So is it hard to keep the grapes fresh all year round?” They said, trying to break the tension with a question. They didn’t however get an answer, as the sound of a quite loud argument from the kitchen was growing.

“YOU COULDN’T HAVE TOLD ME YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER WAS HERO BEFORE THEY CAME TO DINNER?! I JUST INSULTED ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE I LIKED THAT YOU EVER BROUGHT HOME! DID YOUR MOTHER AND I NOT RAISE YOU BETTER THAN THIS?! THEY MUST FEEL HUMILIATED! I AM HUMILIATED! THAT POOR HERO YOU GO OUT THERE AND YOU APOLOGISE PROFUSELY TO HERO AND YOU BETTER MAKE IT UP TO THEM OR SO HELP ME THERE WON’T BE A PLACE YOU CAN HIDE THAT I WON’T FIND YOU AND TEACH YOU A LESSON ABOUT MANNERS!”

The door to the kitchen opened and villain stood in the doorway, eyes low as they said “I’m sorry hero for not telling my parents about you.”

“Uhh—“

Supervillain walked out after Villain sat down, unbuttoning their suit jacket before they sat down at the table again.

“So sorry for my earlier comments, Hero. If I had known—“

“It’s alright-“ hero began but supervillain cut them off.

“It is absolutely not alright. You are too forgiving. Let me make it up to you tomorrow, hmm?”

“I’d like that,” said hero with a small smile.

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felizusnavidad · 9 days

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TTPD - my final thoughts

so... this album, according to taylor, came from a need to write. now i actually have the need to write this essay. it's an honest opinion, i gave it one last listen & i analysed all the lyrics. this is how i've spent my entire sunday. if you're a sensitive hardcore swiftie, don't even bother to read it. i've already lost a lot of followers because i was being honest lol. this is mostly for my friends, because they actually care about what i think. so i went through hell every song once again & those are my final thoughts (warning: i'm not being very nice & this is super chaotic & messy, but so is the album):

FORTNIGHT

super boring production & i usually love jack... i also can't believe it's the first single from this album? i like the music video tho. the b&w aesthetics are everything. she is kinda trying to sound like lana here, at least this was my first reaction when i heard this song. "i was a functioning alcoholic til nobody noticed my new aesthetic" - what the fuck does that even mean, i hate this line. "all my mornings are mondays stuck in an endless february" - i feel like she is trying to be poetic but this is such a weird line? kinda reminds me of how the first verse of "red" (the song) was a masterpiece, but she kinda got lost in the second verse, it's like trying to write as many metaphors as you can but they are just... not good. sometimes less is more. "i love you, it's ruining my life" - i love the way she sings this line & this line in general. i kinda like post malone in the outro (even tho i don't listen to his music). i don't give a shit about the lyrics to be honest, it's just not doing anything to me, i'm so indifferent (except those few lines i mentioned). overall it's a boring song & a skip for me. i tried to like it but i just... don't.

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

i don't hate this song, but i don't love it either. it has good moments. but it also has terrible ones. also, it's too damn long. i don't know. "you left your typewriter at my apartment, straight from the tortured poets department, i think some things i never say, like who uses typewriters anyway?" - i absolutely fucking love those lines, simple words, nothing "big" but i feel like this is what i love the most about taylor's songwriting - when she's not tying to be poetic & she is just writing simple things like that & i kinda love the way it rhymes, can't explain but this beginning is so good!!! "who's gonna hold you" - i love the way she sings this line. "we're modern idiots" - i also love this. "nofuckingbody" - sounds like something i would say so i'll take it. "you smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate, we declared charlie puth should be a bigger artist, i scratch your head, you fall asleep like a tattooed golden retriever." - & here we fucking go... i hate the way it doesn't rhyme? i usually don't mind it when things don't rhyme but somehow it really bothers me here? also this is such a terrible line & it ruins the whole song for me... i like the melody in the bridge tho & i kinda like how she mentioned jack there? i don't know why.

MY BOY ONLY BREAKS HIS FAVOURITE TOYS

i like the chorus? "once i fix me he's gonna miss me" - i know everyone loves that line but i don't??? i don't know, i just don't.

DOWN BAD

i kinda like the production. the melody is so great. "for a moment i knew cosmic love" - i just ADORE the way she sings it. "fuck it if i can't have him, i might just die, it would make no difference" - love it, so relatable. i don't have much to say about it but i like this song in general, it's not amazing, not a masterpiece, but i do like it & i will probably listen to it sometimes. maybe even add it to some of my playlists.

SO LONG, LONDON

beautiful intro, everybody say "thank you, aaron". i didn't love it on my first listen, it grew on me tho, i even love the production on this one now. it has simple lyrics, but it's beautiful. "so long, london, you'll find someone" - so simple & i love it. i love her voice in this song SO MUCH. "& i'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free" - i hate how much i relate. "i'm just mad as hell cause i loved this place... for so long..." - i had a mental breakdown today because of this one line. i can relate. also i think this is the best line in the entire song, at least to me.

BUT DADDY I LOVE HIM

nothing will ever save this song, even my boy aaron dessner. no, actually, the production is not bad, i have so many issues with the lyrics tho... "but daddy i love him! i'm having his baby! no i'm not but you should see your faces!" - i wanna die i wanna pretend i didn't hear it (also it's not only the fact that this line is fucking terrible, but the way she sings "his" - i don't even hear this word? the lyrics says it's there but i can't hear it? & it bothers me so much???). "stay away from her, the saboteurs protested too much" - is this line about us, the fans? the way i fucking laughed, this is embarrassing. (why is this song so long i hate it so much) ok, i hate how much i love the sound of the bridge because the melody is really really good there but the lyrics... "i'll tell you something right now, i'd rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this bitchin' & moanin', i'll tell you something about my good name, it's mine alone to disgrace, i don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing, god save the most judgmental creeps who say they want what's best for me, sanctimoniously performing soliloquies i'll never see, thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me and counteract the chemistry and undo the destiny you ain't gotta pray for me, me & my wild boy & all of this wild joy, if all you want is gray for me, then it's just white noise, & it's just my choice" - i'm sorry but the way i laughed I WANNA KILL MYSELF THIS IS TERRIBLE TERRIBLE I HATE IT SO MUCH SHE LITERALLY DIDN'T SAY THAT... wild boy, THIS IS SO STUPID OH GOD- i need therapy after listening to this song & i'm afraid she also needs therapy because this is just unhinged. i don't wanna talk about this song ever again, in a perfect world it doesn't exist. let's move on.

FRESH OUT THE SLAMMER

kinda nice melody, don't care about the lyrics at all because it's boring. also, why is she talking about marriage again, she is literally so desperate to get married it's almost scary. it feels like she doesn't even care who she's gonna marry, she just wants to get married, period. oh god.

FLORIDA!!!

i love the vibes, the production is FIRE! love love love florence in the second verse! "and my friends all smell like weed or little babies" - i know what she was trying to say, but i still hate this line lol it's so cringey. "well, me & my ghosts, we had a hell of a time" - love love love this line. ok, but to be fair, i don't know what this song is about, but i am vibing. i love it, it's good.

GUILTY AS SIN?

it grew on me, i love the melody, i love the production. i hate to admit it, because we all know what this song is about, but i actually genuinely love the lyrics. "oh, what a way to die" - love this line & the way she sings it. "i keep recalling things we never did, messy top lip kiss, how i long for our trysts, without ever touching his skin, how can i be guilty as sin?" - i hate myself, i love it so much, god help me. "i keep these longings locked in lowercase inside a vault" - as a lowercase girlie i had no choice but to love this line. ok, idc, i love this song, crucify me if you want.

WHO'S AFRAID OF LITTLE OLD ME?

i love the production, i think it's one of the best songs on this album. the way she screams "who's afraid of little old me?" - LOVE THAT. "well you should be" - love that, it's powerful. i love the entire bridge, it's so good, i just don't like the line "you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me", because wtf, is this about her childhood home? come on taylor, please, be serious. i think the way she sings "that i'm fearsome & i'm wretched & i'm wrong" is my favourite part of this song. i genuinely love it.

I CAN FIX HIM (NO REALLY I CAN)

i don't give a single fuck about this song, i just wanted to say the line "i can handle me a dangerous man" is so fucking stupid, now let's move on because i'm bored.

loml

she sounds really good in this one, i love the entire chorus, the way she sings "it's legendary", the way she sings "you told me i'm the love of your life" with sadness in her voice, i love it. somehow "if you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary" makes me think of "sometimes there's no proof, you just know" & i just made myself cry, idk. i hate "mr steal your girl" it sounds so bad in this song. bridge! so fucking sad!!! "it was legendary, it was momentary, it was unnecessary, should've let it stay buried" - i absolutely love this moment, probably my favourite part of the song. "you're the loss of my life" at the end... bro. it should be track 5.

I CAN DO IT WITH A BROKEN HEART

the post chorus, omg i hate the production, it makes me want to kill myself, it sounds so bad, omg. i genuinely wanna die. "lights camera bitch smile" - i hate it. "he said he'd love me all his life, but that life was too short, breaking down i hit the floor, all the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting more!" - i love this. i really do. the best part of the song for me. "i cry a lot but i am so productive, it's an art" - honey, no. this album is the best proof that it, in fact, isn't art. "cause i'm miserable & nobody even knows!" - but... we knew? (i can't stand this production for real) the ending, oh dear god i hate it so much, it sounds bad, it's terrible, taylor go to therapy because you're clearly not ok & it shows.

THE SMALLEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED

i don't have any thoughts on this song. it's boring & unnecessary, let's just move on (sorry aaron).

THE ALCHEMY

this is the worst song on the album (me about every song). "this happens once every few lifetimes" - taylor, honey, this happens to you with every single man. stop. get some help. all the football references make me want to kill myself, let's just skip it. it's boring anyway. i can't fucking listen to it. oh no, wait... "he jokes that it's heroin but this time with an E" - ???? even MY jokes are funnier. ok, i'm fucking done.

CLARA BOW

not a bad song but the "you look like taylor swift in this light" is so cringey to me. i hate it. it ruins the whole song for me. the production is really good tho, but i don't know. i'm so indifferent. i'm kinda disappointed with this one tbh.

THE BLACK DOG

it's a beautiful song. "old habits die SCREAMING!!!" - the delivery of this line, yes ma'am. "and i may never open the way i did for you" - i love it so much. also the lyrics in the entire song - so simple & beautiful, i love the storytelling here. the melody in the chorus is amazing. "and i hope it's shitty in the black dog" - yeah, me too. i love this song. it's so good & sad. one of the best from this album.

imgonnagetyouback

olivia rodrigo? hello? boring boring boring, i hate it

THE ALBATROSS

i love the production so much!!! i don't have much to say about the lyrics? i don't love it??? but it's fine i guess. but the production is really interesting, & sometimes that's enough to love the song. maybe it will grow on me. i like it now tho.

CHLOE OR SAM OR SOPHIA OR MARCUS

"if you wanna break my cold, cold heart" - i fucking love the delivery of this line, she sounds really good here & really sad. actually, the chorus is beautiful. "so if i sell my apartment, & you have some kids with an internet starlet, will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon?" - hello? maroon reference? ok i love this, i also love the way things rhyme in this part of the song. the lyrics is so simple & beautiful, once again, less is more. it's a great song.

HOW DID IT END?

the "oh-oh" in the intro, LOVE IT. i really love her voice here. "my beloved ghost & me, sitting in a tree, D-Y-I-N-G" - heartbreaking. & thanks for mentioning me in a song. "but i still don't know, how did it end?" - it kinda makes me think about all my relationships (not only with guys but also with my friends) & how sometimes you really don't know how it happened that they are no longer a part of your life. it makes me feel sad. i love the song.

SO HIGH SCHOOL

"touch me while your bros play grand theft auto" - oh my god. this is so bad. it's so bad. i don't like it.

I HATE IT HERE

INSTANT FAVE, SO RELATABLE, THIS IS MY SONG!!! "i hate it here so i will go to secret gardens in my mind people need a key to get to, the only one is mine" - me as fuck. that i can say for sure. "no mid-sized city hopes & small town fears, i'm there most of the year cause i hate it here" - the way i literally realized that this is where i spent my last year, it's almost scary but this song definitely goes to my "when the truth pops out" playlist. i'm gonna pretend the racist line in the second verse doesn't exist. "lunar valleys in my mind" - i fucking love this line. "i'm lonely but i'm good, i'm bitter but i swear i'm fine, i'll save all my romanticism for my inner life" - OH MY GOD. I WROTE THIS SONG. I SWEAR. i relate to this so much. i hate it here. i love this song.

thanK you aIMee

so at first i liked it but then i realized it's about kim kardashian & i actually hate it now, taylor, please, can we finally move on? it's been YEARS, imagine how tired we are.

I LOOK IN PEOPLE'S WINDOWS

the production is good, i love the repetitions of "out", "now" etc. not much to say about it, but it's kinda nice? it's so short tho.

THE PROPHECY

i absolutely love the production on this one, it reminds me of "augusta" by gracie abrams & i love this song so much (also produced by aaron). i love the chorus & all the rhymes here. i don't... love the song in general, but i like it & i think it might grow on me.

CASSANDRA

ok, you know what, it's a nice song, but i am so damn tired of hearing about the same thing over & over again... 2016 was eight fucking years ago, taylor wake the fuck up & move on??? I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT ANYMORE JESUS I AM BORED.

PETER

i am genuinely crying right now, because i only have one person in my mind when i'm listening to this song & the words "you were gonna come find me"... oh god (i've had one person in my life who said they were gonna find me one day when i told them i'm gonna leave this shitty town & move to the city of my dreams. they didn't find me tho. the biggest what if of my life. i wanna die right now). it's a good song. i actually love it, probably because it's so relatable for me.

THE BOLTER

i actually like this one. the production is great (good job aaron!), i like the lyrics, i relate to some of this, not gonna get into details tho. none of it is outstanding, but it's a good song. i'm just tired, this album is too damn long.

ROBIN

"way to go tiger" - i love the melody & the way she sings this line. it's such a sweet song & i just learned that robin is aaron's kid's name, i love it. it's nice. nothing amazing, not a masterpiece but i like it.

THE MANUSCRIPT

"if the sex was half as good as the conversation was" - i kinda love this line (no, we are not geting into the details of who this one is about. i just said i love this line). also what a way to end the album: "now & then i re-read the manuscript, but the story isn't mine anymore". i love it, because now these stories are ours. it's like i told bel on friday, i'm gonna make this whole damn album about me & my life.

if you made it to the end, congratulations. to conclude: taylor should have worked more with aaron, less with jack. i usually love jack, but this time i feel like i've heard it all before. i still think this is her worst album. it's too damn long (31 songs!!!). it has some of her worst lyrics ever. most of those songs were totally unnecessary. maybe the entire album was. i genuinely think she should just take a break. i am really disappointed with this album & i am mad as hell because i wanted to love it. well... i made my own version. i think i'm not gonna talk about this album anymore. i also think i need a break from listening to it because i am genuinely tired. bye.

#enjoy the essay #also: i'm sorry #gonna disappear now #ts #ttpd #why do you write like you're running out of time*

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anatrik · 12 days

Text

First thoughts TTPD:

What a lana x folklore girlie win this issss!

1.Fortnight is about matty?? HAHAHAHA also why did this make me think of when holt was going running with the ladies when he was in witness protection??? Crying. Fav line has to be they were supposed to take me away but they forgot to come and get me. So sad but also so cool in relation to her cancellation/return. 10/10

2. TTPD- not so hahahaha anymore IS THIS ACTUALLY A FUCKING MATTY HEALY ALBUM??? There was a typewriter at the 1975 show she performed anti-hero at? Unless its somehow about harry? Who else is tattooed on her roster??? Or is this about herself? Kinda feel like modern idiots/who’s going to decode is directed at us lol😂 9/10?

3.My boy only breaks his favourite toys- went in expecting mad woman rage. Pleasantly surprised. king of my heart to queen of sandcastles he destroys….DESTROYED ME. Are you fucking kidding me rn? Im caling it. Best song. Im crying at 7.30 am this is not funny anymore. Also THANK YOU FOR NOT SLANDERING DAD. I knew you wouldnt let us down like that. Also the chorus sounds like long story short😭 oh this is so sad. Once i fix me hes going to miss me? He was my best friend?😭 he runs because he loves me? Stopp😭😭 1000000/10

4.Down bad- ….aaaand we’re back to MATTY AGAIN? He does not deserve this spotlight but why are all the song so goood😭😭😭 is this why artists love to date problematic men? It unlocks some extraordinary potential? Crazy crazy girl😭 also stay down (bad) 🤌🏾 shes done it again 10/10 also for personal reasons i will be believing this is about joe in that Tom/Joe/met gala overlap period when she was photographed going to the gym a lot and that this is about all that yearning please let it be about that plesplesplesplesplesples also down bad waking up in blood staring at the sky…like i lost a twin is giving bigger than the whole sky🥺

5. So long, london- so so long long, lon-don DONE? ok miss girl😭 the hoax parallels😭 dont be undoing the song i was going to play at my weddddding what is wrong with you😭 my only one my smoking gun to two graves one gun youll find someone??? Also reminds me of la la land :/ how much sad did you think I had in me? You wrote hoax so a lot ok leave us alone. crying again. 10000000000000000/10 oh lol its a track 5 ofc it is😂

6. But daddy I love him- she really said if you ever liked, shared or even LOOKED at the ‘vivaa las vegas’ memes you cant come to the wedding and shes so real for it. Lfgggg. Ubothered unhinged uhmazing. Growing up precocious sometimes means you still hold on to that princess/quarterback wattpad fantasy AS IS YOUR RIGHT QUEEN GO THE FUCK OFF🥳 100000/10 calling out toxic fandom for the first time and we love to see it🫡 this is suchhhh a happy songggg you deserve ALL the chaos and revelry.

7. Fresh out the slammer- god she gets it. Like sure he was great and he is still my biological father and everything but as a decidedly melancholy person myself who has constantly had atleast one close friend in a deep depression I can see how all that heavy lifting can just get heavy at some point especially when youre a partner and their sole lighthouse in wtv storms be out there buffeting their mental health. Its not for everyone and thats so fair and so valid but so sad as well. 10/10 for the honesty.

8. Florida- she really said girlrot summer🫡 this is the lanaest song ever. So lucky one/nothing new coded. This will be the First song I repeat and then so long london. Aaaghhh how i love a self aware melancholic anxious little superstar. 90283749292/10 thank you for giving florence an entire verse whew. Little did you know your home’s really only a town you’re just a guest in is soooo going on my body forever

9. Guilty as sin?- honestly just fuck if it means we dont have to hear about how desirable ratty healy is man ffs. IThe only reason he looks so hot is bc hes forbidden. You have to trust me on this. He’s sooo mid JESUS. U cant be writing hozier lyrics about a man that hasn’t met a shower😭 1000000/10 writing. -16392992/10 content. Unrequited love/lust truly is the greatest weapon in a poets arsenal bc where is this energy in the joe songs binch?😭 this is such a teen in love with a 26 yo creep who called me so mature for my age mom you just dont get ittt anthem😂😂

10. Who’s afraid of little old me?- is a warning 😂 im so here for it. Like yes I still hate matty with all my heart and soul but yes I agree fans should not be allowed so much of an opinion on another persons life and yes I should be afraid (I am). She said aight love letter era over I AM WRITING YOU ALL HATE MAIL AND I’M HAND DELIVERING IT. Shes sooo done pretending to be the relatable girl next door when she’s anything but and is now reminding us of it and yes yes yessss girl OWN ITTTTTTTT. I’ve been saying for agesssss that there is a darkness under all that sunshine from where she clawed her way to the top and this is sooo vindicating. 10000000000000/10 favourite song ever. Mad woman wishes she was who’s afraid of little old me. I am unwell. I am in love. This is the Taylor Swift i stan. The marketing genius the calculating business woman the puppet master with narcotics in her songs thats why we sing along🫡 she so can handle a dangerous man

11. I can fix him (no really I can)- you cant.

12. loml- ofc. OFC. Its the saddest song of all time. OFC. Fuck offf ughhhh. 😭😭😭😭😭 its giving happiness. Its giving divorce. i am a child of a broken home now and my parents still love each other and hold so much regret still. What do i do with thissss? Im just a little girl taylorrr! 1002380292011010101/10 soo so gooood.

13. I can do it with a broken heart- first of all track 13. Love it. Second of all the upbeat barbieness of it all. Third of all I FINALLY PLACED IT. Shes in her unrelatable era. She is not your girl next door. You will never understand her life. She is as much a phenomenon as a person and we literally only see as much as she allows us to and honestly if i have to get put in my place theres noooo better way to have it done. Im having such a great time actually. 10 BILLION TRILLION OUT OF 10 you tellll em girl you FUCKING TELL EM.

14. Smallest man who ever lived- not going to speculate on who it is bc they clearly had a serious problem and its not a joke but damn :/ thats so sad :/ hope they get help? Didnt expect this to be what the song was about at all?

15. The alchemy- she said TRAVIS IS MY BOY WITH HER WHOLE CHEST😌 10/10

16. Clara bow- did she just name drop herself ? I was so right about unrelatable era. Also the Subtle nod to olivia/sabrina noted and appreciated. Lucky one/castles crumbling (mature version) fr fr. Solid legacy song.

17. The black dog- shared your secrets with and location is the same whiplash as a red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground with no one around to tweet it🤌🏾 joe songs hit so so different 😭😭😭 1000000000/10

18. imgonnagetyouback- the valiant roar was not so valiant and more of a mew i guess. 7/10

19. The albatross- oh this is the ONE. The album defining song for sureeee. Mad woman on coke. A rose by any other name is a scandal???? Thats my religion right there. Little last great American dynasty twist there at the end! Fuck yea. She does reallly try to warn the men in her life have to give her that. One gazillion/10

20. Clearly god has favourites and they are the ppl called chloe or sam or sophia or marcus😭 ALSO this song is about joe for sure. The internet starlet hasss to be delaney rowe!!!! It HAS TO BE. 10/10

21. How did it end?- shes back for the fans😂 plot twist the breakup is with yall🤌🏾 but yesss say it louder! One gasp and then how did it end. So good. 100/10

22. So high school- lmao aristotle grand theft auto ONLYY taylor swift man😭😂 you know what you want and boy you got her🫡🫡 11/10

23. I hate it here- mother’s having a mental breakdown kids yk the drill🤌🏾 10/10

24. ThanK you aIMiee- what better way to say fuck you to a hater than to thank her for jumpstarting your legacy my god!!! She is insane for this. The capitalisation is a bit petty tho ngl. 8/10

25. I look in peoples windows- once again I thank you for the kindness and respect shown to joe. Never doubted you but thank you nevertheless. 10/10 short as nice to have a friend but it didnt need to be longer.

26. The prophecy- its so sad and humbling to see even a woman at where she is having to beg for love bc that literally is the nature of love. Something humiliating, to have to beg for 🤷‍♀️ cards playing out like fools in a fable cursed like eve got bitten. No one writes like her damn. 10/10

27. Cassandra- very madeline miller on this one. Love love loveee modern takes on tragic greek women. 100/10

28. Peter- ah fuck. This one is going to hurt (it did). 1000000/10 my ribs get the feeling she did😭 all her joe related aches are so bone deeeep ugh. Promises oceans deep but never to keep😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 oh god it hurtsss it hurts it hurtss

29. The bolter- curious child ever reviled except by her father wow.

30. Robin- OMG! I needed this song growing up sooo bad. That way to go tiger felt so so warm like running into a kitchen after a day of being in the mud and u tell ur mum the silly things u did and shes genuinely interested and impressed by your smol victories. A bajillion/10

31. The manuscript- postmortem of every ex ever🤌🏾 love it.

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your-dankle-bloob · 2 years

Text

So, this might’ve been obvious to some, but I found something really interesting while digging around on Eggabell’s wiki page. Did you know that Bugsnax’s worldbuilding is very 60s/70s inspired? Let’s start with what I found on the wiki:

(photo from 1966)

After seeing this small tidbit it struck me that a lot of the theming and technology in the game is very 60s/70s-esque. For example:

Beffica’s phone seen in the end credits is a push telephone commonly used in the 70s. And,

Clumby’s office phone is a rotary phone stylistically similar to those found in the 1960s (rotary phones originate way further back, but the one seen here is relatively modern in appearance)

In the same picture we can also see in the background the radio is reminiscent of a transistor radio from the 1970s.

And throughout the game you can notice typewriters are commonly used by the grumpuses (Floofty has one in their hut in Snaxburg, and Jamfoot has one in the Triplicate Space. You can also hear typewriter sounds in the music used during interviews.) On this note, it’s also important to point out that newspapers are incredibly frequent in the game, and appear more vintage than modern due to the lack of color and general aesthetic:

(it’s also interesting to note that Snorpy has an obsession with radio waves rather than, say, idk, cell towers? A much more modern conspiracy focus?)

A modern and vintage newspaper for comparison:

(Going back to hat aesthetics for a minute, I wanna point out that the whole fedora with a PRESS note tucked into the band on the side is a VERY vintage depiction of journalists/reporters)

A lot of the gear used by the journalist have similarities to technology used around those decades as well:

The journalist’s snaxscope is very stylistically similar to a 1960s voigtlander camera:

Their tape recorder is a portable reel to reel tape recorder stylistically similar to those from the 60s-80s, albeit significantly downsized (it looks a lot like a mashup of a reel to reel and a cassette player):

And the snaktivator made and given to them by Floofty is reminiscent of the 50s-60s sci fi aesthetic (this could just be contributed to them being a nerd, but I thought it was interesting enough to be put on the list)

Something else small but worth noting is the boombox used by Cromdo and by Filbo during the parties is quite 70s-80s-esque, and the record player in Wiggle’s hut is, of course, a timeless commodity.

The final thing I wanna touch on is the reel to reel tape player used in Clumby’s office and in Lizbert and Eggabells hut:

Not only is it very vintage device (in fact, it’s more closely similar to ones predating the 60s than ones from the 60s-70s), it’s very important to note that all the reels, when projected onto the screens, are a yellowy monochrome instead of in color:

Of course, there’s some things that conflict with all this, such as the songs that Wiggle’s records reference being released in the 90s at the earliest, and Beffica’s entire way of speaking, but the fun of a fictional world is that you can add things like this just for the hell of it! I think Bugsnax’s worldbuilding is really interesting with all the vintage references paired with the much more modern ones. Also, let me know if there’s anything I missed - I’d love to see other oldies references in this game!

#bugsnax #worldbuilding #vintage #history #eggabell #clumby #the journalist #60s #70s #80s #vintage technology

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colleendoran · 9 months

Note

I went to a lot of comic cons in college. My impression was that most of the creators were… creatives. People that spend long hours in front of a drawing board or a typewriter, building worlds out of the aether that is their brain(s). That’s illustration to me. Physically manifesting the metaphysical, moment by moment. Picking the best moments for each beat of the story.

I -flat out- went to school to be a comic book artist. I just cannot fathom feeding my wife and my boys by manifesting the images in my head into a monthly income. But hey, that’s me. Your work is a continuous source of inspiration and joy for me.

My eldest son loves the power rangers. He he drew the green ranger in pencil on a canvas. He then painted the drawing with acrylic. He had a full-on meltdown when the painting didn’t look as good as he wanted it to look.

I sat with him and explained the process of creating comic book artwork. From blueline to publication. I spoke with him about the value of perseverance, and the value of using mixed media. He waited a day and then outlined his painting with Sharpie. He BEAMED with pride when he showed me the final product. Made me so, so happy.

Rodin was a hack. Dude had no deadlines, and no narrative outline.

Keep being awesome. You are an inspiration to me, to my boys, and to generations to come.

I am so glad you are encouraging your son to make art and enjoy it, and it is great that you find so much to appreciate in comic art and have so much respect for those who make it. We all truly appreciate it.

A few thoughts, if I may.

If you want your son to understand and appreciate mixed media, you might want to move him away from using markers like Sharpies.

If you are concerned about the longevity of the original art, I regret to inform you alcohol based markers such as Sharpies and Copics are not lightfast. That is to say, they fade on exposure to UV light. They do not use pigmented inks, they use dyes.

The fading may not happen today, it may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen sooner than you would like. Many well-known cartoonists who used Sharpies on their original comic pages, or did commissions sketches using them, have seen the art fade markedly (pun intended) over time.

Here's what that looks like.

This Klaus Janson commission has just about gone home to Jesus.

Try to switch to pigment based markers, such as those from Faber Castell, or go wild and learn to use a crow quill.

Also, while I truly appreciate your kind compliments, it's not necessary to do that at another artist's expense.

Rodin was the complete opposite of the definition of "hack".

A hack is a term originally used for one who works on tight deadlines to publisher specifications, and produces poor quality work.

That's not Rodin.

Rodin was a spectacular talent who earned his place in the canon. He came from humble beginnings and spent the first two decades of his career sculpting decorative architectural elements. He obtained his place as a fine artist after many years of struggle.

And even then, a fine artist often works to deadline, as there are salons and exhibit specs that must be met, as well as the requirements of patrons and clients, to say nothing of the grueling formal training aspiring artists were subjected to in the ateliers.

His work often contains strong narrative elements as well, as evidenced by his design for The Gates of Hell.

In fact, for most of the history of modern art, narrative elements were considered anti-art. As someone who prefers 19th century genre art, this attitude is bummerific.

The term "hack" comes from the 17th century term "Grub Street Hacks".

Back in the day writers did not get royalties. Bookstores usually published books and paid writers a flat fee and never another penny, which resulted in a lot of very broke writers, or writers who came from wealthy families who could afford to scorn the sordid topic of coin.

Grub Street was located in London where a lot of book publishers were housed next to brothels and flophouses. It's now known as Milton Street. This area was the location of the lowliest of the low publishing joints.

The great Samuel Johnson was once a Grub Street Hack.

I've just read the most wonderful book about Samuel Johnson which has many amazing details about the development of publishing. The Club: Johnson, Boswell and The Friends Who Shaped an Age. My highest recommendation, though some will be very upset by attitudes and behaviors toward the women in these men's lives.

Johnson, despite many years of poverty, was able to escape after his work eventually earned him a royal pension. When well-thought of creative people couldn't make royalties, they were supported by wealthy patrons and the royal pension system.

While I don't have a formal education, I spent many years doing research for auction catalogues and ghost writing articles about art history, which is why I am annoyingly pedantic about it all to this day.

#rodin #samuel johnson #comics #lightfast #hack #grub street hack

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get-back-homeward · 10 months

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The chapter of Royston Ellis meeting the Beatles is so wild.

He first hits on George at the Jacaranda. George responds to this with a casual “oh, you’d love my friends” and brings him to Gambier Terrace:

Also dropping into the Gambier Terrace pit was a special guest, Royston Ellis, “King of the Beatniks.” The bearded bard, who featured in TV documentaries and press articles whenever an offbeat teenage angle was needed, was in Liverpool to read his poetry at the university on June 24/25, and he swiftly found himself drawn into the Beatles’ company. The conduit was George, who (with nothing else to do while John, Stu and Paul were in school) was hanging around the Jac when the wandering coffee-bar poet traipsed in, drawn by hip radar to “the happening place.” Avowedly “trying everything,” Ellis was an active bisexual in this period of his life and he took an immediate fancy to George: “He looked fabulous with his long hair and matelot-style striped T-shirt, very modern, which is why I deliberately spoke to him. I was nineteen and he was seventeen and we clicked right away.”15

George took Ellis, his typewriter and his duffel bag back to Gambier Terrace to meet John and Stu. A rapport was quickly established and Ellis was invited to “crash” for a few days—yet another occupant for the filthy back room.

Then Ellis hits it off with John and Stu and wants them as a backing band:

Ellis says he developed a particular rapport with John and Stuart and that they discussed poetry, art and London. When he left, they spoke of doing it again sometime: “We were talking about how I wanted a band to come to London and back me on my Rocketry performances, and they were thrilled at the idea.” Art school studies finished the following Friday, July 1, marking the end of Stu’s fourth year and John’s third and last because the college was waving him goodbye. The exam results, when they came through on August 1, were just as expected: John failed and was out, Stuart passed the NDD, for which he received a certificate. The option was there for him to do a fifth year and attain the highest available qualification, the Art Teacher’s Diploma (ATD), akin to a degree and entitling him to become a teacher … but both he and John were pondering a period as prospectors, and doing something again with Ellis was a definite possibility.

So much so, Ellis is responsible for the first* two mentions of the band in the newspaper:

As for Ellis, so much was he enthused by the possibility of appearing with them again that he soon got the Beatles their first mention in a music paper. It was the July 9 edition of Record and Show Mirror, where a supercilious little article about “the bearded sage of the coffee bars” ended “he’s thinking of bringing down to London a Liverpool group which he considers is most in accord with his poetry. Name of the group? ‘The Beetles’”

….A born publicist, Royston Ellis knew how to manipulate a follow-up, writing a letter for publication that clarified a point in the first. He expressed his intention to find a group that would join him on TV appearances with Bert Weedon and the Shadows, and reiterated, “For some time I have been searching for a group to use regularly, and I feel that the ‘Beetles’ (most of them are Liverpool ex-art students) fill the bill.”

John and Stu decide to go to London on their own to join Ellis…but then chicken out:

By July 10, at the end of his three-year art school vacation, John had arrived at a key decision in his life: he would try to earn his living from the guitar. “I became a professional musician the day I got a red letter from the art college saying ‘Don’t bother coming back next September,’ ” he later said.31 Cyn would remember, “John decided that this [music] was very definitely the life for him. All the ideas that everyone else had for him of making an impact on the art world faded into the back of beyond with incredible rapidity, and with almost no regret at all. Aunt Mimi was distraught. Her view of his future couldn’t have been blacker at that time.”32

These events coinciding, it seems John and Stu decided to head south and hang out with Royston Ellis. Allan Williams is emphatic on the matter: he says John and Stu “split the Beatles and went down to London.”33 Norman Chapman would remember Stu asking him for a lift through the Mersey Tunnel one day so he (or he and John) could hitchhike to London—“They wanted to go down to London and become involved in this poetry-music scene.” Beat poets led a nomadic life by definition. Ellis lived for periods in all sorts of places, but his main base was still his parents’ house, at 31 Clonard Way, Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex, a pleasant detached villa with the name Denecroft. This was the address he gave John while staying at Gambier Terrace. When Ellis arrived home one day his mother said he’d missed a visit from his “beatnik friends from Liverpool.” He never knew how many or who had come, but—as insane as it appears—John and Stu (and/or as Ellis always thought—hoped—George) had hitched the best part of two hundred miles, taken the trouble of locating his house in leafy Metroland, not stayed or left a message and then gone home again, never returning or making further contact. It makes no sense, but there it sits, illogical and incomplete.

Allan Williams remembers them being “back in Liverpool within a week, because it didn’t work out,” at which point the Beatles “reformed” as if they’d never been away. With bookings only every Saturday, it’s conceivable they did all this without missing one, and perhaps that was always the intention. However, while three independent witnesses (Ellis, Williams and Chapman) all remember something happening, none of the Beatles ever mentioned it—though in their interviews they talked with candor about everything. So it must remain in doubt, an intriguing puzzle unlikely to be solved.

There are two additional curiosities that may or may not be incidental. One is that, in the last days of July, a group of Liverpool art school students, apparently including John and Stu, went to London (or tried to go) to see a Picasso exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Second, and most fascinatingly, a set of photographs taken at this very time (mid-July 1960) in Stu and John’s studio-bedroom-slum at 3 Gambier Terrace includes several people they knew but not John and Stu themselves—perhaps because they were on the Hatch End trip. It was published on July 24 in the national Sunday rag the People in a sensation-splash headlined THIS IS THE BEATNIK HORROR. It’s as if a man on a flaming pie was pointing down at Flat 3, Hillary Mansions, Gambier Terrace, Liverpool 1. In six months, three Beatles moved in and the fourth was hanging out, the nation’s best-known beat poet had come here to get them high, and now, when a Fleet Street journalist and photographer were looking to substantiate a load of old tosh about dirty beatniks—reportage that could have been cooked up anywhere in the country—they landed in Stu and John’s room.34

Though hugely amusing, the feature had one unfortunate side-effect: because the address was given (a “three-roomed flat in decaying Gambier Terrace in Liverpool”) and some of the occupants (“well-educated youngsters”) were named, the landlord gave the tenant, Rod Murray, notice to quit. On August 15, everyone—Rod, Diz, Ducky, Stuart, John and sundry other bodies who’d joined them—would be out on the street.

—Mark Lewisohn’s Tune In, Ch 15 (May 31–Aug 15, 1960)

And Lewisohn is just like yup nothing to see.

So what the hell happened here? Was it just a school trip? Or was it a deliberate split?

#royston ellis #beat poetry #beatniks #tune in #1960 #early liverpool #bug mysteries #i think about this once a week and just found the bit again #mine #mark lewisohn #reading tune in #prebugs #*i think they may have found an earlier mention since tune in printing #i have a june newspaper clip date in my timeline #john and stu #young george #june 1960 #queer bugs #reading riding so high #joe mentions the dates of royston’s liverpool university appearance #june 24 1960 and davies says the first beetles mention in the newspaper is june 11 #so theres some conflict there when was the first #just learned royston ellis died earlier this year #but kerouac website writers reached him in 2020 and he still claimed they got the BEAT ideat in the name from him #theyve got a clipping from june 5 with silver beetles #but lewisohn references a june 2 clipping with the A (beatles)#so thats too early for royston maybe they were deciding and flipflopping he helped settle on one i can see that #lalala i cant read its first mention in a music paper rather than a general newspaper

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open-to-the-sky · 9 months

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Cool people I follow: A guide for my friend

The Great Storytellers: (stories from their lives)

@gallusrostromegalus I feel like this person has lived their own version of the Odyssey. They have LORE, their parents have LORE, their DOGS HAVE LORE.

@thebibliosphere a romance novelist who lives in a cursed body in a cursed home.

@biggest-gaudiest-patronuses how am I supposed to describe this blob of pink slop? Amazing cursed writings and stories.

@bunjywunjy CURSED BIOLOGY!

@hellenhighwater a rare ADHD goblin who has no (evident) executive disfunction. Names all her pets after crimes.

@hedgehog-moss the adventures of the great escaping llama Pampe.

@tkingfisher Author of Digger, and so many other magical stories.

Wizard Roleplayers:

@wizard-council-bureaucrat

@evilwizard

@the-unseelie-court-official

Cool comics:

@yamujiburo writes a really cute and sweet Jessie/Delia comic! Featuring Ash's face-blindness.

@skycowboys so many kinds of pegasi !

@lxgentlefolkcomic the league of extraordinary gentlefolk! Cryptid Jonathan, slightly vampire Mina, Irene Norton (nee Adler) and her trophy husband, and Quincy Lives!

@linkeduniverse All the Links! what more could you ask?

@eldritch-anthology the DND adventures of an EXTREMELY NORMAL AND HUMAN teen as he searches for info on what who he is.

@pocketss goblin-core goblins

@fishtrouts Baby Dragons!

@pterribledinosaurdrawings self evident!

@thepigeongazette fun autobiographical comics!

@foxes-in-love So cute!

@figmentforms A Zelda/Ganon comic! Featuring Queen Zelda's adopted daughter Rinku (Link).

@thesuperheroesnetwork texts from superheroes!

Cool people (that have awesome advice that pertains to writing):

@blumineck archery guy!!

@howtofightwrite writing help for fights and so cool!

Writers: (stories not from their lives) (I hope)

@the-modern-typewriter writes really good stories about the dynamics between heroes and villains. Also wrote a lot of prompts before stopping and you can find them in the archive!

@microsff short but cool stories

@elsewhereuniversity so many cool stories and ideas, plus the adventures of the Archivist!

@unpretty Accountant by day, Certified Dick Wizard by night. Writing a really fun BOTW ~adjacent~ web novel, and has written many, many unhinged Batman fanfics. Highly recommend looking them up.

@caffeinewitchcraft Amazing short stories based on prompts!

@elidyce Also amazing short stories!

@marlynnofmany many Humans Are Space Orcs stories! and starting a novel on teachers at a magical school!

@yourheartonfire superhero stories!

@gingerly-writing more superhero stories!

@dduane THE Diane Duane.

#haha you can tell when I started running out of steam for descriptions #for new people

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blindbeta · 4 months

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Hello!

I’m writing a story (fanfic) featuring a blind character starting in the late 60s and am having a dickens of a time figuring out what technologies were available, when. Do you happen to know if that information is collected anywhere?

On a side note, trying to figure that sort of thing out on today’s internet really highlights how much of it is engineered to sell us stuff.

Thanks for being a great resource!

Researching Assistive Technology for the Blind for Stories Set in the Past

Here are some ideas that might help with researching for anyone writing stories that are not modern or fantasy.

Writing a story set in a different time can be challenging, especially because assistive technology for blind folks isn’t as widely discussed. It is easier to look up when color television entered family homes, but much harder to find a timeline of when exactly technology for blind people was invented or when techniques were more widely taught. At least, I have not been able to find a nice timeline myself and have instead had to search backwards. For example, if your character pours liquid into a cup, you can search for when liquid indicators were invented and where. I found this page with the following writing: “In the early 1960's he came up with the Say When, a compact, battery-operated device that hangs over a drinking cup and signals when poured liquid nears the top.”

If your story takes place in the late 60s, it is probably reasonable to assume this device may be available to your character. Additionally, the article I linked above mentions that the blind inventor, Tim Cranmer, according to this page here, was born in Kentucky and worked there, which means it is likely the liquid level indicator he invented was more likely available in the United States first. I am not sure how long it would take for an invention like that to spread to other blind communities around the world in the 60s.

You can do the same with technology like the Brailler, which would have been available in the 60s, while Braille displays were not. The previous link provided does include a timeline, although ot starts after the 60s, which is not helpful to you.

Your blind character in the 60s is more likely to have Braille books. The 1960s also saw the rise of cassette tapes, with the Listening Library as a major distributor of audio books by 1955. Your character could also listen to books on vinyl and cassette tapes.

When doing searches backwards, starting with when a particular device was invented, I find a lot of devices that were invented in Western countries. I would love to go more into non-Western blind inventors, but that may be for another time.

My advice is to reverse search devices you want to use and start by finding out when and where they were invented. You may also look into online spaces with older blind people who may be able to verify if a character using such a device at the time might be plausible. You may also search for videos to see if anyone has already collected helpful information.

As for writing, your character might have enough vision to write in large print. They may also be able to use a print typewriter with someone else proofreading.

Another technique I found was to research the history of blindness organizations. This page, while it suffers from some unfortunate ableist tones in the phrasing chosen by the writer, has a bit about the history of the Royal National Institute For Blind People. Researching the organization might help with figuring out what came from it. In this case, the page I linked mentioned distribution of Braille books and books in audio formats. You could probably do the same by researching schools for the blind around the area the story is set, as records might be accessible online or obtainable through staff. For example, students who ran school papers.

You can also research history of orientation and mobility or the history of canes to see what your character would likely use.

As for accessibility around the home or frequented areas, it may not be as different from today. Your character will still adjust lighting to a comfortable level. Your character might make a grocery list using a tape recorder or a slate and stylus. They might fold their money in a specific way for easy identification. They can mark specific bottles, buttons, or dials using any number of methods, including ink, tape, paint, stickers, etc. I have tried to research when bump dots were invented, but I came across websites trying to sell me bump dots.

Lastly, for fanfiction you might be able to get away with bending the timeline a bit. You can use notes to explain your researching and writing process to readers.

If anyone has resources to share, please feel free to do so.

#assistive technology #blind #ask #writing blind characters

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