#but also if I listed all my favourites we’d be here all day
Text
[ID: a reply from @thefairyinthebackyard saying “name sommmeee” End ID]
Thank you for encouraging me to talk about comics, one of my all time favourite things to talk about!
I can’t think of a better way to wrap up pride month than to share a few of my favourite queer comics:
Motor Crush
A sci-fi with bi/wlw main characters :)
O, Human Star
A sci-fi with mlm/trans characters
Across a Field of Starlight
A sci-fi (NOT a romance) featuring queer/nb/trans characters
Bitch Planet
Sci-fi with trans characters
On a Sunbeam
A sci-fi with wlw/nb characters
Cosmoknights
A sci-fi with wlw main characters
Snapdragon
A fantasy with wlw/trans characters
Beetle and the Hollowbones
A fantasy with nb/trans/wlw characters
Shadow Life
A fantasy with wlw main characters
Witch boy
A queer fantasy
Nimona
A queer fantasy with a gay main character
The Prince and the Dress Maker
Queer historical fiction
Boys Run the Riot
Contemporary fiction with a trans main character
The Magic Fish
Contemporary fiction featuring a gay boy
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
Contemporary fiction with queer and wlw characters
The Third Person
A memoire by Emma Grove (a trans woman)
They Called us Enemy
A memoire by George Takei (a gay man)
Spinning
A memoire by Tillie Walden (a lesbian woman)
Honourable mention:
Special Topics in Being a Human: a Queer and Tender Guide to Things I’ve Learned the Hard Way about Caring for People, Including Myself.
A queer self help/advice book that is half comics half prose.
#this list is organized by genre (not preference)#and is by no means comprehensive :)#according to storygraph I’ve read 93 queer books#considering only 11/168 books I read last year we’re not comics I think it’s safe to assume most of those 93 are comics lol#there are so many more that queer that even categorized that way in storygraph#but also if I listed all my favourites we’d be here all day#optimist.txt#not tf#(technically)#anyways! happy pride!!!#I hope y’all find some delightful queer comics to read :)#and as always if you have any recs I am always eager to hear them :)
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Top Nancy Drew cosy moments (part one, probably)
(i’m using the British spelling of cosy and you will simply have to make your peace with that)
So! Recently released from tumblr jail I was looking over my posts and I had a couple of Top Creepiest Moments. Maybe one day I’ll do a part 3, I probably could! But, part of the appeal of ND for me is how comfy the games feel, too. Cosiness here refers to the peace/comfort you find in certain scenes in the games - and for me, cosiness has a lil bit of excitement in it, too. This is not presented in any sort of chronological or numerical order, just thoughts as they occur. For me this is often related to sleep and hidden places, but I’d love to hear your favourite ND cosy spots, or if you disagree with any of these!
DED - The dorm and rec room
Despite moments of terrible fear (and that creepy banging bit in the middle of the night) I actually really like the lab in this game. The rec room and the bunkbed room nostalgically feel a little like Guide Camp for me (I mean, winter Guide Camp, when we’d stay in an indoor building with bunks and sofas and Activities).
WAC - More or less the whole building, I guess
Again, we have moments of peril in this building, but I kind of love the idea of bed/study/food all being in one place (I miss dorm living sometimes...) The mild peril of having to be in bed at a certain time is fun, as is having a little tuck shop*. I also love the library so close to the bedroom - heaven!
*your Britishism of the day - "tuck shop” refers to a little shop in some kind of institution (private school, hospital, Guide camp etc) that sells cheap snacks/sweets. I’m familiar with it through Guides, I did not go to private school, do not mistake me for some private school **** lmao. Also I’m Scottish not British, this footnote is already too long
CAR - the hotel
This is one of the least interesting locations in the game but: call me boring, but I fuckin’ love a good hotel where you feel SAFE and RESTED (as long as you remember to turn your goddamn iron off). I love this room, I love ordering room service, I love those cheeseburgers and milk.
CRY - the hotel you never see
This one is kind of cheating because I’m talking about something you never see properly. Nancy is stuck in a house (it’s not really a mansion?), but Bess is back in the hotel. I’ve never been to New Orleans (hopefully soon!) but the idea of a French Quarter hotel with a balcony?? where you can go shopping??? and have a bubble bath??? and it’s raining the whole time ASMR style and also you can nip over the road and get some jambalaya/visit a curiosity shop/crash a Krewe meeting? I LOVE it. I bet this hotel had kickass pillows and a whirlpool tub.
DDI - the Hot Kettle Cafe
ooooooh this is the best. Nancy’s accommodation here sucks (head to head with Katie? COME ON) but this game is cosy and nice overall. The music is a big part of this, and I think the cosiness is at its best in the Hot Kettle Cafe. I want to rock up here, get a blueberry muffin and some clam chowder, and relax in a corner booth for a full afternoon.
SAW - Yumi’s apartment
I did list this in my scary list, and the game as a whole is terrifying. BUT HEAR ME OUT - I love Yumi saying that she loves her first taste of independence, I love the compact size of the apartment, I love us crashing in, I love the little kitchen area, and I love Yumi’s bed and her wardrobe. I wish nothing creepy happened cos this was nice!
TRT - most of the castle
My fellow gamers who love snow will immediately guess this. There’s just something magical about being snowed in. Plus a nice room, a roraring fire downstairs, and an infinite supply of chicken drumsticks? Sounds GREAT
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
November 30, 2023
Well, I didn’t go to Avenue du Mont Royal. I felt like I was fading, as I finished dinner, and thought it was best to stick to close by where I was staying. This was one of these fateful decisions, or at least it was what shaped the night.
I started to walk back towards the AirBnb. Via Duluth, which has always been a favourite street to me—I thought I would go along it and then just end up back close to where I would fall to sleep. I had been meaning to stop at some place I’d passed on St-Laurent earlier, when I’d been dragging my bags up it, have a couple of beers and then go up to bed. But a couple blocks short of the Main, still on Duluth, I saw a second-floor-bar up inside on the building across the street. I stopped—because I was my first night in Montreal, so why pass by a fleeting inspiration? It won’t be this second ever again. So, across Duluth and up the stairs I went. Unlike the jazz place, there was still room. I got a seat at the bar, next to someone going over the draft of a story in French while sipping a wine. I got out the white sheets of my own draft, ordered a beer and set to get a head start on that project.
Got to the third page of what I’d brought to work on, while I was there. More than I expected to get done that first night, which was nothing. It got harder to work on it after I was done my second drink, but I was still more than satisfied. I sent my friend Matvey, who lives nearby in Vermont, a picture of the bar out of happiness, because we used to go to places like this.
Hey! Turns out Bar Suzanne (that’s the name of the place) is also Matvey’s latest favourite spot in town. Small world. He was quite happy when I sent him the picture, and he recommended I try the dumplings. I had already eaten, but what the hey, I’m in Montreal, so I tried them. They were good.
All this sounds silly and superficial, I know. but these things are draped in the emotions of a past. You have no idea what Montreal in general is draped in, for me. Everything in this city, down to the dust motes, is draped in all that for me. So I get a lot out of it past that layer I can put into words in a space like this.
I took his advice there and on where to go next—Big in Japan Bar, which is directly underneath where I’m staying—when I wasn’t even planning to go anywhere. This ended up shaping the entire night.
Big in Japan Bar looms large in memory. Nothing here is important but memory. I only when there once then, back in the Montreal phase of my life, but it does loom large. It’s important, is what I mean. Matvey showed it to me, that first and only time. How well do I remember it? I think he brought me there early one evening after we’d been on a long walk. The place would’ve had to have just opened that day. Matvey said you’d have to be early to avoid waiting in line outside. I listen to Charles Aznavour as I write this and something is thereby infused in it. La Boheme, if it matters, it is late and I am drunk.
Excuse the quality of this entry, because I wrote it drunk—even though I’m fixing it two days later, that is the context I found it in.
There wasn’t any line when I waltzed in this time: that might’ve been luck or it might’ve just been the eight years in between. That time, we sat down in the same seats I took this time. Or, roughly—but let me have the synchronicity.
Why is memory already so fragmentary? I want to remember details, but I have nothing I can call a narrative. I have flashes. I have snapshots.
But tonight: I order a champagne and the plate of artisanal chocolates, per Matvey’s recommendation, because he steers one in a good direction if you can handle the price tag. I finish that, get an impulsive martini, because the ingredient list is so odd (it has sake in it). It, unfortunately, just tastes like a martini. Something exotic on the nose, but still a martini. I would’ve left after that, except, as I was finishing it, the woman seated just across from me asked me what it was I was so intensely focused on.
I had had my nose in my notebook. Over the two drinks, I’d written a couple of little poems and the first notes of what became this entry you’re now reading. I tell her that. And we end up talking.
Justin and Diane: they were my company for the rest of the night. Sitting across from me, the two people other side of the flickering candlelight. The room fades to darkness as it passes behind them. I really had noticed them before—Justin was having beer, and seeing him have that made me aware of how much money I was spending on champagne and cocktails—but it hadn’t occurred to me that I might interact with them. I’m used to being an atom; it doesn’t occur to me that I’ll occur with anyone.
We all—the two other people nearby, over my right shoulder, eventually get roped in—start talking. The conversation is good. Since it’s clear I’m staying for longer now, I order a Manhattan, the other retro-classy choice, the sound of Otis Redding and an electric organ. Diane goes to Vancouver often, and likes the food there, and we talk about sushi on Robson St to the sound of Charles Aznavour—that is why he’s still in my life as I copy this out. She asks for recommendations and I give her some, off the top of my head. Because it is identical to the one she’s drinking from and because I’m distracting her, she picks up the candle’s glass and burns her hand. She flexes her hand against the heat in it and reaches for the glass with the other kind of flame, the one she can drink.
Justin hands me a two-panel dubble-dubble comic that has been ripped in two. He says the bartender gave it to him, and he asks me to explain it to him. It’s “Pud.” I remember “Pud.” Let’s see if I can remember the comic: first panel has our Pud filling a bubble bath, and he says he wants more bubbles. The next panel shows the outside of a house and bubbles are pouring out all the doors and windows. I had the two halves back to Justin and explain the joke is that he fills the bath too much and it consumes the whole house. It’s not really much of a joke, but I don’t say that. Diana suggests that it’s a pun on the name of the gum: double bubbles.
Haha. Ahaha ha. Ha. It’s a better joke than the comic could’ve come up with.
The music in that place is very good. Half of any place like that is the music. While I’m taking a moment of silence listening to that, the other two I mentioned are roped in properly. Zach and Brian. They ask for a poem, I wrote one. Here it is:
Brian and Zach
Eavesdropping
Got roped into the night
And we introduced each other
Humanity accumulates this way,
It forms clumps of event
And grows like that
And the night endures as an imprint
In ink of itself
And reclines in immortality there
Like the chipped and fading youth
Who live on the side of an excavated urn.
There it is, with very minor edits. Forgive me if it isn’t any good, I was several more drinks in by this point.
Everything past that point is going to be in flashes and fragments. It’s already a memory to me now, see, and I only have these notes in front of me to work with to build the narrative of it back up. You never do realize how fleeting a present moment is while it’s still the present, but it does hit you over the head when you’re trying to copy it all out in black and white like you were still there.
I asked Justin what it was like being a lawyer: he said that sometimes you feel like you’re fighting for something meaningful, fighting the good fight as they say, and that is the part that makes it worth it, and things click then; the other half of the time it feels like fighting for nothing. Like everything in the world, those two halves. I know those halves too. I tell him so.
The night is vanishing into smoke, like the day Charles G.D. Roberts wrote about that one old poem I forget the name of that I read that McGill once. Night is the day here. The whole world is smoke except for what we put into words and maybe even that. (See how drunk I am, scribbling this down? Or was—it’s really two days later, I’m recalling the smoke as best I can—but don’t think about that.)
What do you see when you blink?
This is a blink. All this is inside a blink. Tomorrow this will have been a blink, but look at all the population in it.
Diana asks for my impression of the two of them. I am on the spot, but I tell them. I am unusually honest, blame the drink, but I have nothing bad to say. I like Justin and Diane. I’ll keep my exact words between the three of us, because it was for them and not for all of you--but I said, more or less, that I thought they were honest and human.
Excuse me, for I am drunk.
The place is emptying out around us, and we’re still here. Never let anyone tell you that isn’t a good feeling, having the bar empty out around you as your night endures: we’re going to get to see if we outlive the candles.
The chanson continues; therefore life continues.
(There is an absurd amount of ice in the urinals here. They’re like American glasses of coca-cola.)
We all settle up, and our bills all come to the exact same amount. The bartender gets roped into conversation too, at this last moment. I think I may have given him one of my cards. He writes his name down on a napkin, as I put my coat on, because he’s the last person there whose name I don’t know. “Majd”—it means ‘Glory,’ he tells me. The three of us who’ve just paid up blow out the candles in front of us. I pick up the glass around the dead flame, hold it like something is in there.
Then we file out into the street. A man stumbles over from across the street, stares at us like he’s never seen people before. I give him a nod. Say goodnight to Justin and Diane, walk two doors over to the building I’m staying in—so much for an early night.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Deepriver
Thanks for answering a few questions for us guys; let us start with the project itself: Some may not be aware, but you've worked together in the past on Trance compositions; what brought the two of you to collaborate on something in the ambient sphere?
Joni - I think we were always both interested in exploring genres outside of trance. Ambient was something we were always talking about and were both inspired by. Jason of course, has also released more music in the genre, and I eventually ended up doing work in the genre as well, so it felt very natural to create a full album together like this.
Jason - Definitely. Even back when we were making trance, whenever we’d send references over or things to spark inspiration, most of the time, it was from the ambient and experimental genre. I specifically remember Brian Eno and Stars of the Lid were big favourites.
Eno and SotL are good signposts for sure. Eno has a wandering aesthetic, where as Stars of the Lid are masters at glacial paced ambient. The works on Volume One, to me, seem to have a sense of purpose, a traversing of something, slow soundtracks to grand actions. It's difficult to actualise but It seems like there is a form of exploration in the songs and a poignant endpoint to these explorations. I might be reading too much into the nature of the tracks but they surely aren't "ambient to have on in the background" nor "tranquil music to relax to". I am drawn to this sort of visceral ambient, which sort of demands listening. Was there conscious thought from the two of you to make the album more permeable?
Joni - I do think we made all the music on Volume One for conscious listening rather than something you'd have on in the background that melts away with everything else. Perhaps we didn't say or think it outright, but there was definitely intention and purpose with each piece. I like how they flow together in such a way that requires you to listen to each piece but also the album as a whole. I think I can speak for both of us in that we have always leandt more towards mood and feeling as the main focus of our music, and that sort of sound requires a more focused approach from the listener.
So why the name Deepriver? Is there some significance to the name?
Joni - We are both quite big cinephiles and love the work of David Lynch. “Deepriver” is a reference to that as “Deep River” is mentioned in at least two of his films, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. One of us suggested it as a project name, and it stuck. I know there is also a Deep River in Cape Town, but I can't remember if that at all influenced the name...
Jason - The Cape Town link is a complete coincidence. There’s a suburb here called Diep River. A few people have asked if it was named after that. It isn’t, but it’s a cool connection, I think.
Cinephiles eh? Many a musician has been influenced in one way or another by cinema. I can personally call out movies that have been of inspiration to a subset of my output. Care to share any influential movies or directors (other than Lynch of course)?
Joni - There are so many! Having known Jason for some time, we've touched on quite a lot of directors and films...and we still share tips and discoveries to this day. Just this week, we were discussing Cronenberg and Friedkin. We are also both big David Fincher fans (I think the music and mood in "Gone Girl," for example, is brilliant), as well as Bergman, Kubrick, Malick, Tarkovsky, Fellini, the list continues. But there are so many, it's hard to pinpoint...I could probably ramble for a whole day on this topic.
I feel like I can hear each of your input on Volume One. Maybe I'm off base, but the album has Threads (van Wyk) meets Rymd (Ljungqvist) feel. Were these songs written from previous uncompleted works that you each had that you then allowed the other to complete? Or was the album written from the ground up with the explicit idea of collaborating on something fresh?
Joni - I think that's a very good observation. It was mostly music we wrote from the ground up by sending ideas and pieces back and forth over many years. A few of the tracks were also from the "original" Deepriver project, which was very beat-centric. That music sounded a lot different from what you hear on Volume One. I'm very happy with what we achieved and how we managed to get it to where it is.
Jason - We had a completed version as far back as 2013, but it wasn’t quite there in terms of us wanting to release it. Over the years, we kept coming back to it. Once the beats and the heavier sounds came out, things started to come together. A big part of the process also came down to choosing which tracks worked together to form the album. The track count was huge, as you can imagine from around a decade of sending ideas back and forth, so getting it down to around the 40-minute mark was a bit of a challenge.
Yeah, when things are flowing it can be difficult to edit things down to the limitations of a LP pressing. I feel you did a really great job with that though. In regards to the LP pressing and specifically the art: how did you guys find and come to agreement on such an iconic cover image? Were you fans of Karen's work prior?
Jason - We discovered Karen on Instagram actually and reached out to her on there. After days of searching, her image “Scenic Elevator” caught my eye. I sent it over to Joni, and he agreed. We reached out to Karen, and she very kindly allowed us to use it.
Coming out of the gate with an album called Volume One implies there will be more volumes. What do you collectively think we might expect from the project in the future?
Joni - We have, as time permits, talked already about a follow-up and even exchanged some ideas. There might be another concept for that follow-up, and I'm sure we will manage to do it in a shorter time than Volume One!
Jason - I think so too. Further exploration of this sound is what you can expect.
Great news for n5 and fans of Volume One!
Volume One is out now: https://n5.md/318
#jasonvanwyk#ambient#ambient music#bandcamp#electronic music#experimental music#n5md#interview#learn more#neo classical#Spotify#Bandcamp
3 notes
·
View notes
Note
9, 11, 13, 17, 19 for seventeen :D! bc they are my favourite group after skz too so sjjsjsj
omg fellow stay carat!! 🤝👀✨ thanks for coming to play as well!! this got pretty long so i’ll throw it under the cut
9. Have they ever made you cry?
yes, several times actually HAHA the main instance i can think of is when i saw them in person for the first time at kcon 2019 in LA. before they even came on the performance unit did a special stage of highlight (which is one of my favorite songs fun fact) and i just broke down into tears. (my mom literally had to tell me to pull it together bc they weren’t even out yet and neither had skz yet so i was like crying and nodding saying i’d pull it together lol) the other two things i can think of are when i listen to smile flower or thanks, those two songs make me really emotional and i have such a deep connection to them but idr if i’ve cried bc of them or just got really emotional.
11. What do you love about this group?
what’s not to love? i think i really love the chaotic family vibes they have tbh HAHA going seventeen is one of my go-to things to watch when i’m sad, it cheers me up immediately. i love that they all just know each other so well like wow thirteen people who have been with each other so long is wild to think about actually. i think i also love their promise rings as well and how they have ring changing ceremonies, it’s so intimate and such a great way to express their friendship and bond. i love them overall, they used to be my top group before skz and i’ve just loved watching them grow from when i began to stan them. that got deep real quick but yeah i love them.
13. Who would be your best friend and why?
woozi tbh or vernon or minghao. they’re all lowkey and it works with me being a little louder but then i can also be lowkey too so we’d just chill haha
17. Favorite look from your bias?
*evil laughter* words cannot express how much black hair looks good on both of my biases ehe. the short undercut woozi had during home era really is my favorite also the coat in the mv *chef’s kiss* also curly gyu kinda wins for me i always want them to do this with his hair HAHA
19. Favorite choreo?
omg the hardest question for seventeen HAHA that’s honestly almost impossible for me i love all of their choreo so i’ll just list a few that i can think of immediately
don’t wanna cry
boomboom
getting closer
good to me
home
our dawn is hotter than day
left & right
lilili yabbay
highlight
send me a kpop group and a number from this list here
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
So like, this is the last thing I should be doing right now, because I have an in-person conference to go to next week and I don’t even have the paper written, and a fifty-item to-do list this week, but anyway.
One of the things that has to be done is, the blueberries are out. I won’t be back until the end of July, by which time they’ll most likely be finished, so the blueberries I pick this week are all the blueberries my mom will have for the year. I can’t do much about food prices, but I sure as heck can grab free food off the ground. Or cheap--we’ve also done twenty-eight litres of strawberries from the pick-your-own people. For her, for the winter. Not so much me.
The new job starts in October. In Germany. It will be the first time I’ve ever made a living wage. I already have an apartment. It’s not fancy, but it’s cheap, on campus, and all-inclusive.
Will is staying here. If he went with me, he’d lose his benefits. And of course I get paid enough to take care of the both of us, but having an income has been really good for his mental health.
We’d also lose our apartment here, and have to put our stuff into storage, and not only can he not handle that plus new city plus new language, but also we simply can’t afford to lose this apartment. Rental housing was always kind of tight in Espanola, and now the housing crisis has arrived. The price of a house has shot up $100 000 in the past year, and the “wanted to rent” ads are more numerous than the “available to rent” ones. Right now we pay very low rent for a 2-bedroom, and we can’t give that up.
It’s only for two years. We can still do date nights, albeit remotely. I’ll visit, and he can visit. He wants to go to Copenhagen.
My parents announced the new job with a notice in the paper. People have been helping me out by ordering cookies. It’s very kind of them, and at some times I am more keenly aware of this kindness than at others. (Some of them tell me I undercharge. But, like, a) with no professional qualifications in this I’d have some nerve charging professional prices and b) this is a depressed town and poor people still deserve something delicious.) It has occurred to me that I am as close as this town gets to a pâtissier. Not the only one, I hope.
Today someone from York e-mailed me and asked me if I had availability/interest in teaching in person. It’s one of my favourite courses, but I did have to say no. I mean, for one thing, Germany. For another, the commute from here would cost me at least $200 more per month than the job pays, and I absolutely cannot afford to live in Toronto.
So yeah.
Months ago, I think late fall/early winter, I looked up the symptoms of end-stage kidney disease for a fic, and a couple of the pages I went to listed the symptoms of earlier stages too, and one of them is foam in the toilet, especially foam that lingers after flushing. So then I noticed that I was seeing foam at my parents’ house. Last year my dad had had a couple of bladder infections that he never did bother getting treated, so I started pestering him to see a doctor. He started leaving blood on the bathroom floor, and he said he’d overtrimmed his toenails. He started getting back pain, and blamed it on whatever he had lifted that day. He started getting up to go to the bathroom every hour or so at night, and he said if he went to the doctor they’d tell him it was old man’s disease.
Finally, FINALLY it hurt him enough that he went to the doctor, and it turns out that he has aggressive bladder cancer. So far they don’t think it’s spread, but he’s gonna lose his bladder. I’m relieved that they’re taking care of it, but I’m still kind of steamed that he didn’t get it checked out earlier. And I know I’m being really insensitive, and, like, trying not to show it. But a big part of my mad is scared.
Spurred by this, Will finally went to the doctor about the gigantic weeping crusty sores he’s had all over his body for about a year now. Turns out it’s a super-rare reaction to the covid vaccine, a one-in-ten-thousand thing. He went into a database and everything, and now he has some ointment that seems to be helping.
Sarah and I leave here next Saturday for Glasgow. The earlier logistical concerns have been sorted out to the satisfaction and relief of all involved. My mom is driving us to Toronto. We fly out late Sunday afternoon, but figured that it would be wisest to arrive at the airport the night before, because we’ve heard horror stories about the delays and Sarah can’t sprint for the gate like we’ve heard of people having to. We will have snacks and books and masks. And then we arrive in England on Monday, and take the train to Glasgow on Tuesday.
We have tickets to see Phantom of the Opera in London before we head out. We couldn’t not.
I looked at the dates on things and realized I’ve been promising the new thing is “a couple of months from being done” for nearly a year now. It’s, um. Still not yet. I’ve had good reasons, but I’m kind of appalled at myself.
6 notes
·
View notes
Note
😭 ☀️ 📖 ☁️ for rehma!
(questions from here!)
😭 CRYING - what makes them cry? do they cry easily?
Already answered!
☀️ SUN - are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?
Rehma is a morning person in that she does not sleep well, generally. Too high-alert and too on-edge and too many bad dreams, so she is frequently a light sleeper and would often prefer to just get up and start her day as soon as possible.
First thing she does in the morning... drink water? I can project healthy behaviors that I keep meaning to follow onto my OCs, right? 😂 The real answer is probably fix her hair. She has a lot of it, it's got a lot of volume, and it becomes a tangled mess when she sleeps on it.
📖 OPEN BOOK - do they like reading? what’s their favourite genre?
I'm still not entirely sure of the extent to which Viera communities place value on literacy, but either way, yes! Rehma likes reading, potentially to cement the literacy she acquired later in life after leaving her home.
She will read magical texts given enough external incentive, but much of her thaumaturgy/black mage training was through practice and instruction rather than study, and while she finds magical theory extremely interesting, she finds the way most of those tomes are written incredibly dry and difficult to get through. I honestly think her favorite things to read are popcorn-type stuff - trashy romances, sensational mystery stories, that sort of thing. It helps that the language they use is usually pretty straightforward and non-esoteric.
☁️CLOUD - a soft headcanon
Rehma does a lot more hugging during emotional story moments in my head than the WoL does in canon (it’s like 99% for sure just a technical thing, physical contact between character models presents all sorts of complications). Yes, she is a reserved person, but she is also a very action-driven one, and hugs work well when words fail her. I would try to list all the prominent NPCs who’ve gotten a hug (or multiple) from her, but then we’d be here all day.
#asks#warlordfelwinter#oc: rehma noyhiri#long post#i honestly struggled with that last one a lot sdjhfkdjsf#it's so open-ended there were so many things i could say!!
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello, friend! For the gif ask game, questions 2, 3, and 8?
hey hey, Ben! thanks for resending this to your dumb-dumb friend 🙃💖
2. do you do something creative/related “irl” as well?
name an artsy/crafty hobby- I’ve probably tried it. I sew my own clothes sometimes, I ran an Etsy store at one point- until it took over my life & I decided I’d rather watch & GIF gays in my free time- etc., etc. I grew up in a very creative, artistic family & I’ve always loved working with my hands.
in the past year, I’ve gotten back into irreverent/sweary cross stitching & I’ve been slowly working on a wall tapestry/rug weaving kit from the 70s (& yeah- it’s very groovy 😎).
I also just finished making the main part of @flukenatouch’s birthday gift over the weekend & am just tagging her to torture her #friendship 😌
3. who/what inspires your graphics / gifs?
every single moot creator I follow inspires me in one way or another! if I started writing out that list, we’d be here all day- but I will if anyone’s really curious.
in terms of ‘what’, well-done angst never fails to inspire me. parallels & crackhead humor are also way up there.
8. your favourite graphic and or gif created by yourself?
y’all will probably barf if I answer this with the ITSAY/IPYTM tarot sets one more time, so I’ll highlight a poor little orphan BB edit (i.e. she flopped) I still really like instead.
ask me GIF questions
3 notes
·
View notes
Photo
21/05/2022-Post 1 of 3: Martin Down-The wildlife and story of the visit
We came to the brilliant Martin Down today one place we come every May often a few times as it’s so good for birds and butterflies at this time of year. And we were hit with a cloud of lepidoptera from the off as we walked along from the top car park. Dingy Skipper, Small Heath and Small Copper were sightings early on seeing the first two more this afternoon, as was bright and colourful Cinnabar moths I managed the ninth picture in this photoset of one. Then we saw an exquisite medium sized electric looking moth bounding through the air and saw it land briefly. We saw another further up too, an exceptionally beautiful moth to see and I thought it was a tiger moth. Two kind gentleman we got chatting to later on confirmed from my record shot it’s a Wood Tiger moth and they expressed how it was some find. So I was even more over the moon to see such a beautiful moth. A fantastic addition to my moth list an exciting new species for me. I have taken tiger moths to heart the past few years.
There were four butterfly targets we wanted to try and see today and also early on in the walk we spotted one, when with one of at least a couple of Brown Arguses we saw today my latest butterfly species seen prior to today at Lakeside on Tuesday, we saw the marvel of a bright shining Adonis Blue which I took the third picture in this photoset of. It was a pleasure to watch this butterfly settle and take in its pure beauty. One of my favourite butterflies seen so well in the precious sunlight today, and we saw a few more of them today it was a really good afternoon for seeing them. Later on when in the pit area below the hill fort we were excited to see a butterfly I only briefly saw last year and that was here on a later May day the same day I saw my first Adonis Blue of 2021, the other worldly Green Hairstreak. We got a very pleasant prolonged view of this little lime gem of a butterfly and really made out its beauty so well. Another smashing species to witness today. I took the fourth picture in this photoset of it.
Further up walking beside the ditch we were so lucky to see our third target today, perhaps the jewel of Martin Down’s crown the dazzling Marsh Fritillary. We saw one of this medium sized butterfly settled on the floor then it flew up and met another in the long grass. An honour to see this species as always. One more target remained and I was just feeling that little bit twitchy about it as I knew it’s season was getting on a bit. But we soon saw it to make it four of four targets seen today, when we came across a rustic butterfly good in the drier areas a Grizzled Skipper. We’d see one of the way back too getting some splendid views of it, with the sun a tad in and out it had its wings closed for a bit too which I’d not focused on or photographed before I don’t believe so this was good. A special butterfly to see which I took the seventh picture in this photoset of. My butterfly year list climbed to 23 competing well with my previous years at this stage and I feel somewhat up to date with seeing them given where we are in the season now.
It was a strong afternoon of beetles and other insects with species of the moment cantharis rustica soldier beetle at the place I first saw one last year about today, I have seen them so often and well this past week, Cryptocephalus aureolus leaf beetle which I enjoyed here last year including two mating possibly on a buttercup which I took the first picture in this photoset of, a bright emerald beauty, a black beetle and stepping away from beetles my first ever hairy shield bug also known as sloe bug were nice to see too. There was lots of fascinating cuckoo spit around today too which I took the second picture in this photoset of which will live long in the memory from today.
Supporting all this rich meadow life of course is the array of wildflowers and I saw many today. This was headlined by star of Martin Down the beautiful purple topped burnt-tip orchids a highlight here every spring. People have put circles of stones around them this year to alert to them and stop them being stood on which was great. I also liked seeing some other orchids pink ones I believe heath-spotted orchids I took the sixth picture in this photoset of one and key species I learnt here on the many spring visits last year common rock-rose my first this year and kidney vetch a star of our time in Pembrokeshire last month. Other flowers seen today was lots of bird’s-foot trefoil, mignonette, probable milkwort, lots of nice speedwell, daisy, buttercup, common vetch, herb-Robert as the fifth picture in this photoset shows and a bit of thistle starting to show colour which I took the tenth picture in this photoset of. There were nice bits of hawthorn in flower.
Martin Down wouldn’t be Martin Down without birds and a quartet of its stars shone today with Skylarks we saw flying over, Yellowhammer really well, Corn Bunting high on a bush and we saw and heard the loud wing beats of Grey Partridge flying. It was so good to see the latter here again this year one we have had a great few years for. There were some beautiful sun kissed views of this rich grassland haven today and some pretty sky scenes from some clouds. I did three Tumblr posts today to add some different photos to those I tweeted to reduce the amount I tweeted so my next post has ten landscape photos I took here today. A fantastic time here today, an integral moment in my butterfly year and an enjoyable time generally.
Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first of three of my favourite butterflies the Adonis Blue, Green Hairstreak and Marsh Fritillary this year, my first Grizzled Skipper of the year, my first ever Wood Tiger moth, my first ever hairy shieldbug, two of my favourite butterflies the Brown Argus and Orange Tip, one of my favourite moths the Cinnabar moth, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Small Blue, Small Copper, Dingy Skipper Brimstone and a white butterfly probably Large White giving me the most butterfly species I have seen at once so far this year, other nice moths, Cryptocephalus aureolus leaf beetle, cantharis rustica solider beetle, the other beetle, bee, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Skylark, Dunnock well, Linnets beautifully drinking well in a puddle at the car park, Blue Tit in the car park at the start, Chiffchaff, Rook, Magpie, Mistle Thrush and Grey Partridge.
#grey partridge#mistle thrush#adonis blue#marsh fritillary#leaf beetle#soldier beetle#wood tiger moth#brown argus#orange tip#small blue#green hairstreak#chiffchaff#grizzled skipper#23#butterflies#birds#bird#birdwatching#uk#speckled wood#small copper#hairy shieldbug#insects#moths#cinnabar moth#flowers#common rock rose#kidney vetch#vetch#herb-Robert
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box of the last 10 people that reblogged from you! 😌
Hi!! Sorry for how long it took me to get around to this but thank you! ♥️
(I’m going to sit here and struggle while I rethink my whole life)
This is in no particular order except for number 1 which is animals, any animal I love them! Mainly my doggo I’m not gonna lie but life would be so boring without the horses in the field or our cat friend and our doggos. It would be so bland without the sheep in the fields and the buzzards in the sky, the occasional wondering deer.
2 would probably have to then be the countryside! I live near the countryside and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else other than in the countryside lmao. Clearly I’m not a city person and nah it’s… why would anyone want to live there? But nah fr being able to go to the farm or just going to a field and laying down in it or even sitting on the side of the reservoir all day, it helps to get rid of my days worries. It’s good to clear the mind and that’s basically where I run to…peddle to, to clear my mind.
3 would definitely be friends and family, it would be hard to navigate through things without people by your side. My friends and I always have a good laugh and we do some stupid shit when we’re out and about lmfao we say some stupid shit too, but I have been in laughing fits and it’s always good to have one of those every once in awhile. Then personally my family has taught me a lot, my mothers uncle plays guitar and he is amazing on the guitar! My step dad literally knows everything and how to fix everything, so he tells me about all that stuff and shows me and teaches me how to do things which I love because I’m more practical, I like doing things with my hands whether that’s fixing something or just taking something apart for funsies.
4….video games 😎 nah but for real lmao where would I be without video games? I genuinely don’t know, probably living a miserable life. I’ve been playing video games all my life, my big brother had a ps1 when I was younger so we’d shared that. We also had a Nintendo DS and we had a ps2. We have all the PlayStations 💀 we ain’t no fakes 😤 but video games are another way to escape reality and responsibility, but also sometimes the story line is so good in a game. They definitely know how to toy with your emotions but that’s what makes them great! For a long time The Last Guardian was my all time favourite game, it was such a beautiful game and still is! But rdr2 took first place for me and no other story game I’ve played personally doesn’t live up to the beauty that is red dead.
5 I guess I’ll have to be cliché by here and say instruments and music 💀 look I just really like playing and if I didn’t have that I genuinely don’t know what I would do. I just like picking em up and playing something, when I’m on a loading screen for something I’ll grab my guitar and pick or strum a little something while I wait. I also like taking them apart and making adjustments to them and stuff like that so yea. Also is there anything better than late nights with some banging tunes? Also when I’m travelling whether that be long distance places or just to college, my music helps me take my mind of things and stops me from being too awkward 😅
#asks#thank you#I’ll probably just put this in my mutuals asks because I’ve had a load of strangers reblog from me and I’m too awkward#i don’t wanna pop up in their aks just cause they reblogged one thing from me 💀 that would be pestering
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Episode 175 - Revisiting Genres
This episode we’re talking about the very many genres we’ve read for the podcast…and which ones we’d read again! We discuss Jeff VanderMeer’s Zorro, Boat Fiction, We Have Always Hosted The Podcast, Bubble Gum Fiction, Cheese-based Erotica, whether the 1980s count as Historical Fiction, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards
Old Episodes
Episode 090 - Adventure Fiction
Episode 106 - Alternative/Alternate History
Episode 086 - American Gothic
Episode 143 - Amish Romance
Episode 160 - Biographical Fiction & Fictional Biographies
Episode 069 - Bizarro Fiction
Episode 094 - Chick Lit Romance
Episode 151 - Classics
Episode 053 - Comedic Science Fiction & Fantasy
Episode 110 - Comedic/Humorous Fiction
Episode 021 - Coming of Age
Episode 147 - Contemporary Fantasy
Episode 007 - Cozy Mysteries
Episode 127 - Crime Fiction
Episode 131 - Cyberpunk
Episode 025 - Detective Fiction
Episode 172 - Domestic Thrillers
Episode 041 - Dystopian Fiction
Episode 070 - Erotic Romance
Episode 135 - Erotica
Episode 037 - Experimental Fiction
Episode 045 - Family Sagas
Episode 002 - Gothic Literature
Episode 014 - Historical Fantasy
Episode 098 - Historical Fiction
Episode 001 - Historical Romance
Other Media We Mentioned
Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha (Here’s a time stamped link to the finals performance in a half hour video of the top 10 songs this year. I can’t link solely to the performance due to region locking, booooo.)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Wikipedia)
Marvel Snap (Wikipedia)
Far Cry (Wikipedia)
Tomb Raider (Wikipedia)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Wikipedia)
The Sandman (comic book) (Wikipedia)
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
My Macaroni And Cheese Is A Lesbian Also She Is My Lawyer by Chuck Tingle
Inheritance: A pick-the-path experience by Darrell Dennis, Daniel Arnold & Medina Hahn
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante || Talking Simulator (stream Matthew watched)
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Links, Articles, and Things
Hark! The Holiday Music Podcast
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 (Wikipedia)
World Goth Day (Wikipedia)
Just Plain Wrong
Bubblegum music (Wikipedia)
Episode 028 - Accidental Romance
Dairying and Cheese Erotica
12 Southern Gothic books by Authors of Colour
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
House of Cotton by Monica Brashears
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due
The House of Erzulie by Kirsten Imani Kasai
A Visitation of Spirits by Randall Kenan
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Cane by Jean Toomer
Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong
Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward
We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White
Give us feedback!
Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!
Join us again on Tuesday, June 6th we’ll be discussing the genre of Fantasy!
Then on Tuesday, June 20th we’re talking about how we’re bad at scheduling!
1 note
·
View note
Photo
2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?
Okay, so I plan for a lot, but the ones I’ve actually written fully fledged fanfictions for are: Harry Potter, Constantine (with fiercefray), Supergirl, Nightwing and Peaky Blinders. I have a bunch of unfinished ones as well, but yeah, there’s a lot.
My favourite to write for though? At the moment, possibly A Discovery of Witches; Peaky Blinders or I’m beginning to love working on Pennyworth. There’s also Nightwing.
12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?
Going off the above, (and I know it’s favourite not favourites, but I can’t pick and I’m sorry!) it’d be Alina; Luce, Stan and Hal; Hannah; and A.J. and Teddy.
As for why? Who knows, but I’ll try my best. Alina is very much her own person, she does what she thinks is right - usually without thinking first. Luce is adventurous and curious and doesn’t apologise for who she is; Stan is kind to a fault and always trying to look for the good in people; and Hal is a big softy even though his life has been somewhat hellish. Hannah is my newest love, and she’s a lot of fun to write for because she’s opinionated, can be a little harsh at times, but also she loves her friends more than anything. A.J. is a tough nut to crack, though there are flashes of her being adorable with those closest to her; and Teddy is just one of the genuinely nice characters I have and I love him for it.
17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.
So, fanfiction wise I’m actually pretty sucky with working on anything at the moment. But, so we don’t get bogged down in too much Peaky Blinders stuff, here’s a little line for Hannah in a Pennyworth idea I have:
‘No takesies-backsies, Pennyworth,’ she told him firmly.
Out of context, that is a complete mess.
21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?
So, there’s a lot of writers that I admire - like seriously, we’d be here all day if I did the whole list! But, somebody I have to mention:
fiercefray: She’s a wonderful creator and she knows how much I adored The Summoning.
49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?
I can’t remember the first fic I read, but knowing me it was Harry Potter - either Marauders or Weasleys, not sure.
0 notes
Note
Antalya is on my list! Any recommendations would be great 😁
Heyy I’ll tell you as much as I can!
It was a family trip so it was just trying new activities and sightseeing and this stuff. We booked a plan with a company so we’ll have stuff and tours to do across the week. I don’t remember the names of anywhere but I’ll just give you an idea of how a family trip can be like in Antalya, even if you’re not necessarily going with family members. Hope that helps!
We went to a pretty hotel in the middle of the city. Maybe it was because of the hotel location but there were much more people than I expected, mainly tourists as well. I visited in July 2019
The first day we went in the telefrique and it was a beautiful view, after that we just went shopping nothing special. There’s a nice leather place/factory as well it’s be nice to visit. On that day we also visited a place with a very pretty view and waterfall, over there you can just chill and eat, and also there was my first experience with the Turkish ice cream guys, if you end up going to turkey you HAVE to buy ice cream on them but you’ve gotta be patient😂
The second day we had a boat trip across a river or something like that, I barely can remember tbh but if you go in summertime there’ll always be boat trips!
One of the days we did a safari, probably the funnest day. We were a group of like 50-100 people, there were several families from all over the world who wanted to participate. To do this safari there were many cars that took us and toured us around the place. We ended the day in a nice lake all of us. It was very fun, especially that you don’t know the people and each family was from a different country. Very fun
I also remember that the final day we went on a boat, they basically take you on a small trip in the Mediterranean, then you arrive to a small island where you can swim and dive and whatever. They also had a mini day-party on the boat while returning back which was very fun. You also get to spend it with strangers since it’s on a boat full of them but you can also spend with your group alone ofc.
We also went to Land of Legends but it was during the day, maybe try it at night!
The rest of the time we either chilled at the hotel or went shopping, some times we just walked across the city to discover it. We’d usually do that at night when we return and wanna go out to have dinner. Also speaking of dinner, SO affordable! Obviously it depends on the place but most of the restaurants were so cheap compared to here, for examples our personal favourite was one 10 minutes away from our hotel on foot, we ordered 4-5 plates and meals with beer water and drinks in general (big portions) and the total was only $20. But again this was in 2019 so you never know if the prices have went up
So this is it I hope it was kind of helpful, obviously if you’re going with friends or maybe your partner the vacation would look different, but you can still get an idea!
on the boat I met two VERY hot french twins with their friend who’s also hot and I still remember them to that day
0 notes
Text
Top 5 most important games of my youth
I just reblogged a post about this but other people had their games listed so I didn’t wanna de-rail that post with long winded explanations behind why each game is important. Hence I’m doing it here! We’ll go chronologically:
1. Shadow the hedgehog (xbox) - I first got my xbox with a copy of Sonic heroes. While I played that game a lot, I played Shadow the hedgehog way more and there’s only a 1 year gap between their releases. I became a Sonic fan young and Shadow showed me that Sonic games could have more complex and darker stories. Looking back it has an “edgy for kids” aesthetic, so it’s no wonder why I loved it as an 8 year old. Shadow was important to me because it influenced my aesthetic. I wanted cool and edgy, I wanted story beyond the surface level, I wanted the things that came afterwards to have depth to them, which in turn influenced the films, shows, and games that I gave a chance vs the ones I didn’t.
2. Pokemon pearl (DS) - I owned pokemon fire red before this. However, I was too young to understand the different RPG mechanics and didn’t get very far in it. 1 day I let my cousin “borrow” it and my fire red cartridge was then lost to the sands of time. So Pearl comes out when I’m 10 years old, I need a new game to play for a long car trip down to London and I pick up Pearl. I think it’s safe to say that the pokemon game that comes out when you’re 10 is gonna be your favourite, you’re the prime demographic age. Pokemon was popular at my school, all my friends were playing it, buying cards for the TCG, and sharing in each other’s adventures through trading and battling. The lovely thing about pokemon back then that I think is somewhat lost now is that it was a social game. It encouraged you to go round to friends’ houses so you could play together, compare teams, help each other with full completion, etc. Pearl was important to me because it deepened my social links.
3. Smash bros brawl (wii) - All my friends who owned a wii had this game. Whenever we had a sleepover we would play this for hours. Brawl has to be the game I’ve objectively played the most, I’ve easily put over 3000 hours into this game! Now arguably it’s sequel, smash 4 wii u, could be considered more important as that’s when I started to get actually competitive with it. I was watching character guides online, learning techniques and terminology from the fighting game community, I even won £80 from winning a small tournament at play expo in Manchester one year! But the way I see it, none of that would’ve happened if I didn’t play Brawl first. Brawl was important to me because it helped me get better at competing. Brawl was THE game I poured my heart and soul into, constantly learning how to get better and strategize around characters’ strengths and weaknesses. It was the game that made me “git gud” so to speak.
4. Halo 3 (xbox 360) - I know I said chronological but here’s the thing, I didn’t actually play this game until 2009, after Brawl released, so that’s why it comes after Brawl. Also, I never owned this game, my best friend did. His parents bought him a 360 (because they’re middle class and could afford more than 1 console per generation) while I was stuck with my wii. Class warfare aside tho, whenever I went round to his house we’d usually play Halo together. Halo 3 was my first time doing a co-op campaign with someone; every other game I played that had multiplayer was competitive, so working together with someone was a refreshing change of pace, mainly because I used to lose a lot in versus games. We used to pull all-nighters playing this, it left me with a lot of good memories. As future Halo games came out my friend would buy them and we’d play through the campaigns together, as well as spend hours on custom maps and game modes. Halo 3 was important to me because it was the game I shared with my best friend. Even tho I never truly owned it, it was OUR game.
5. Virtue’s last reward (3DS) - While bored on holiday 1 year I download the demo of this game from the eShop. I liked what I played and coincidentally enough the next day I see it at a game shop for £15. I decide to take a chance on it and I’m so happy I did. I’m gonna say this point blank: VLR has the best writing in any piece of media I’ve ever experienced. It’s smart, it’s intriguing, it’s a story that can only work in the medium of video games and I find that fascinating! It’s a game that elevates it’s medium in a way that so few others have managed to achieve. On top of that it also talks about time travel in a way that made me see other time travel plots as no longer being paradoxical or having plot holes; like I said, it’s SMART! This game blew my 16 year old mind so god damn hard I actually joined a facebook group for fans of the franchise because I just NEEDED to talk about it with other people. Also it’s pretty hard to convince your friends to play an 80+ hour visual novel / puzzle game, especially when I felt like the only one in my friend group who owned a 3DS. VLR was important to me because of weirdly the same reason Shadow the hedgehog was important to me, it raised the bar for what a good story should be. It also showed me that I can get borderline life changing experiences from games without AAA budgets.
#causeknight#personal#top 5 games#shadow the hedgehog#pokemon pearl#Smash Bros#Halo#virtue's last reward
1 note
·
View note
Text
Ten highlights of my musical journey in 2022
Jan 26th Tom Robinson quoting my lyrics back to me
Remember party gate? We’ve changed PMs a couple of times since then, so it feels inconceivable that it was only in January this year that the stories about the Tories breaking lockdown rules and partying like there was no pandemic were all revealed. Anyway, Mintball (Sean Buckley) and I collaborated on a funky song satirising the government and rushed it out hoping we’d release it before Boris Johnson was forced to resign (in fact he clung on for months afterwards, but it felt like he had only days left).
Anyway, we got a good reaction to the song, even if it wasn’t as big as I may have hoped, and my favourite thing was when Tom Robinson tweeted this to me:
"We thought nobody would dob us in - we are the ones that call the tune"...
For such a legend of the music and broadcasting world to acknowledge your work and quote your lyrics back to you is a massive compliment and something I will always treasure.
youtube
19th March Solo gig Artefact - audience reaction
I’ve done three gigs supporting Grant Sharkey in total and this one at Artefact in the Spring was my last. We played in the back room with its perfect acoustics and got a full room of people - even running out of chairs, so some had to sit on a rather cold floor! Anyway, Grant had been talking about involving the audience, and I took this onboard, by not writing a set list, but putting the songs on cards and letting them choose which ones I sang and in what order.
I haven’t done it again since, but for that one, it really worked and did indeed break down the barriers between performer and audience. I also had a really powerful moment when performing one of my saddest songs as someone in the front row had tears streaming down her face! She loved the song and it touched something deep inside her, which was an amazing feeling. This was me before heading to the gig:
28th April Trace remix
Not long after the war in Ukraine started, things were looking bleak in the world, I was worried about my friends in eastern Europe and the possibility of Putin using nukes. I was also trying to find ways to help, so was about to drive to see some Ukrainian refugees when a message pinged to me from the Invisible Squirrel that he’d finished the remix of my track Trace.
I listened to it in the car on the way to transport clothes and support to some desperate people and was blown away by what he’d done. For a while, I felt the buzz and excitement of music in amongst all the gloom. It was special.
Watch the video for the song here:
youtube
30th April Reaching number one in the Cool Top 20
It’s lovely to be written, or talked about and I’ve had some great coverage this year, from being interviewed on Adrian Goldberg’s Brum Radio show and by Kirk on Duggystone Radio, a YouTube interview with Martin Holley and a great feature with Sam Lambeth in Louder Than War. To actually feature in a chart at number one is really amazing for me, though. I have great respect for anyone who gives up their time for free to do radio shows, podcasts or blogs for free in the name of promoting independent artists, and Cool Top 20, run by the wonderful Lean, is one of my favourite blogs, with a weekly chart that you can listen to as a playlist. I have discovered loads of brilliant artists through this blog, so to have been number one in their chart twice is pretty mind-blowing for me.
CoolTop20 has been updated! And here are our suggestions for the #festivalseason 2022!
Give them a listen here: https://t.co/WEuEyimuxk
The talented Shayan Regan is in our spotlight: https://t.co/n4ecaYi9Ux#cooltop20 #musicblog #NewMusicAlert #indiemusic
Enjoy the weekend! pic.twitter.com/LSbrNzsBiT
May onwards Rehearsing with Louisa and shaping our sound
Up until this year, I had been doing all my original music as a solo musician, which is great in many ways, because you can do exactly what you want with no compromising with band members and waiting for them to do stuff. I really wanted to add another element to my music, though and had missed that feeling of playing with someone else and bouncing ideas off them, so for a while I’d been trying to get Louisa to play fiddle and sing with me.
She finally agreed to start rehearsing with me in the spring and I have absolutely loved working with her on creating our sound as a duo. I have listened back to some of our rehearsal recordings in wonder - absolutely loving the combination of our two voices, or just her voice and my songs. It gives me such pleasure to play with her and we’ve had such lovely comments about how well we compliment each other at gigs that it feels to me like this was meant to be and I can’t wait to release some recordings next year. I really hope people will be as blown away by our songs as I am.
12th June Two artists doing covers of my songs
As I mentioned earlier, I love doing recordings of other people’s songs, so I have done covers of songs by independent, unsigned artists, such as Penfriend, The Heavy North and Sam Lambeth, as well as more established and famous ones. I also did a cover of a song by 3 Little Wolves of the single Fractured (a bit) and then was blown away when Paul reciprocated with a cover of 100 Doors. Check it out here:
After our mate @joe_peacock ‘s rendition of ‘Fractured (a bit), thought it was only fair we return the favour… here’s a little electric piano version of ‘100 Doors’ 🚪
If you don’t follow Joe already, check him out… he’s a great guy and the biggest genre-hopper we know 🐺🐺🐺 pic.twitter.com/t7F4AV1rqn
However, that wasn’t the only one. My first big single ‘Is not Everything Morbid?’ would not have sounded like it did without producer Joe Adhemar, but for him to then decide to record a cover, too, was incredibly humbling and flattering. As you can see from this, the single was largely his work in terms of the piano playing, anyway:
So...apart from getting the song title wrong (Is Not Everything Morbid), I had a go at performing @joe_peacock's track today. Warts n all, #murderedsongoftheday - Hope you like it https://t.co/rWwketqTOQ
19th July Releasing Mirror Neuron Generator - listening party
I guess you could say that this album was a bit of a risk. Having made some kind of name for largely guitar-based songs, I did an album with almost no guitars on it at all. The influences were more Prince and Prodigy than Pixies this time. Also, I went from having a talented producer (Joe Adhemar) making sure everything sounded right on the previous album to doing it all myself, apart from the final mixing and mastering. How would people react? Well, in terms of Bandcamp sales it was a complete flop. I hardly sold anything. This might be because I didn’t stagger the releases - it went onto streaming platforms on the same day and the incentive of a free lyric book and 3 extra tracks wasn’t enough to tempt people into paying for it. However, lots of people said nice things about the album and I did a pre-release listening party hosted in In Your Ears Radio to introduce all the songs, which was really fun to share the album for the first time and chat to people directly about the different themes in the album. You can read about that in this blog post here: https://at.tumblr.com/joeonmusic/mirror-neuron-generator-out-tomorrow/2w5uj7vg1nf8
6th August #MurderedSongOfTheDay meet up
I have no idea how many songs I’ve posted on this hashtag over the year, but it’s a lot. I love trying out different songs and I’ve done everything from Bernard Cribbins to Bjork, Buddy Holly to Bob Marley etc. In August, Stevie T arranged for the people who love sharing music on Twitter in this way to meet up at his house and all play together in person. It was a fantastic occasion and meeting Stevie and his family, Scott, Ady, Cathers, Ian and Rich was such a joy.
The only slight downer was those who couldn’t make it, especially James who was one of the original instigators of the hashtag and has such a fantastic voice, which I was looking forward to hearing live. We sang through the night and had a great time - lots of laughter and a real feeling of shared love for music.
Love version of Is Not Everything Morbid by the awesome @joe_peacock 👌 #MurderedSongOfTheDay #MurderedSongOfTheDayLive pic.twitter.com/R4TUcCmjb1
5th November Review of RHTP
I’m not sure if there is a right way to release singles. Most people put them out on Fridays to catch #NewMusicFriday fever on Twitter and some people go for long periods to promote them and get a buzz going, plus as many pre-saves as possible. I did neither of those - released it on Halloween, two weeks after uploading it and had a really long tricky name for this song, which I thought DJs would probably hate having to say! Nevertheless, it got a really good reaction. I was especially pleased with this Tweet from Top of the Radar, which totally made my day:
https://t.co/lCh9srx3so@joe_peacock is an artist with a unique style & twist on combining music with storytelling! Radioactive Hybrid Terror Pigs catches you from the second you read the title (I hear you nod) & I guarantee you'll be singing that line all the way through! #TOTR
November 17th Missed Trees playing to a sold out Kitchen Garden Cafe
Every gig I have played with Louisa has been special. Our first one at Artefact was small, but a lovely, intimate way to get started with playing our songs to people. The Warehouse Cafe is a special place for me, due to my connections to that building and the people there. We played to a good-sized crowd and there was a wonderful atmosphere. Our third gig was the most magical and introduced our music to a whole new audience of people who’d never heard us before.
Supporting Ellie Gowers was a brilliant experience and getting to see her perform afterwards was a treat in itself. We played a short set of our seven strongest songs and the reaction was fantastic. Kitchen Garden Cafe is an absolutely lovely venue for a gig (especially acoustic ones) and I hope we’ll be back there again very soon.
youtube
It’s been a great year full of highs and I feel very lucky to have found such a great community of new music enthusiasts to share this journey with. I’ll be doing plenty more in 2023, with the first releases from The Missed Trees and new solo single being finished for release as we speak and at least one album to come out. I hope you enjoy listening to it all as much as I enjoy making this music. Cheers - here’s to another year of fantastic musical adventures!
0 notes
Text
Broken
I once made a list once of five things you shouldn’t break. It was for fun, just a game to pass the time, but today I’m making another one of those lists. These are the five things that you should never break: your partner’s arm, your partner’s nose, his favourite coffee mug, nor should you break his trust. Especially when that partner is a homicide detective.
The day had started out innocent enough, until I had bumped the desk, sending the coffee mug and its contents tumbling to the floor. The smash was loud enough to silence the whole room and the glare that I got was enough to scrape the paint off the side of a barn.
That’s what I get for being partnered with the chief of detectives. You see, our department is small enough that the chief of detectives isn’t a cushy job like you might find in some cities. In this city, he works. And when I say he works, I mean he works. Overtime. He also not married which may have something to do with it.
The rumour is that his wife died a few years back from cancer and he threw himself into his work. I’m not married either, not anymore. bBut at least I like to take holidays. Oh and sick days. People around here are always complaining about how many sick days I take. My partner is fine with them because he knows the real reason behind all those days ‘off’.
Back to the coffee mug. I sighed as I bent down to clean it up. I said sorry and promised to replace it even though I later found out that it was a limited edition and they only made a hundred of them. Whoops. It was a bad omen for the day that we were going to have. Now, I have to say this outright. I didn’t intend, plan, or otherwise do anything to make this day happen like it did. Many people say that I did, but I didn’t. I swear.
The second incident occurred as we were getting out of the car for a routine traffic stop when I realized that the car we’d pulled over belonged to the friendly neighborhood mafia gang that I had been working undercover with. Now undercover is a bad word because I had grown up with them, they knew I was a cop, and they knew that I was probably spying on them for the police. But they also knew that they could count on me to give them a tip or two if the price was right.
I was kinda trapped between a rock and a hard place. Before I knew it, they had my partner’s arm twisted up behind his back, and his chest and face were hitting the hood of their car. I even heard the crunch of the bones snap. Twice it happened. The arm went first, and then the nose as he was smashed headfirst into the hood of the car.
I winced. I really wanted to go back to that moment where I was breaking that coffee mug. Instead, I took out my handcuffs and placed them on my partner, careful not the jar his broken arm more than was necessary. I knew right there that I had broken something else far more precious then a limited edition coffee mug. I had broken his trust in me. I’ll never forget that look in his eyes as they hauled him off in the back of their car to god knows where.
I wanted to take it back, but I had people counting on me for that money that working with the mafia provided. And in the end, what was one more crooked cop in this town anyways? The things we do for our kids, eh?
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
kittendew
Paris
wishingicouldfly
Wishing I Could Fly
elegantxdreams
Undying love
sumerus-little-sprout
Collei
tyblackthornlovebot
Couffie.