#also his audio play with Six is really good

[suguruplsr]

Agoraphilia

featuring.. Toji Fushiguro

✰ ✰ ✰ What's life like for Toji when he's dating a celebrity? A celebrity that just so happens to be you. And of course, life's nice.. but you just can't keep your hands off him. Who cares about paparazzi? Let 'em see.

,, model/influencer! Toji x fem actress reader , fluff + smut w/ small crack , based off “agora hills” by doja cat , toji is referred as a Zenin w/ small angst + comfort about it , PDA , dirty talk & pet names , mentions of sex in public places + limousine scene , mention of fans taking clips of you two kissing/ getting a bit touchy , choking , oral (f & m) , face fucking , riding + unprotected , clit licking , he spanks you once , reader wears makeup , you guys got recorded having sex (only audio + it was non-con) , exhibition kink (reader and toji aren’t that bothered abt anything at all) , it’s a lot pls lemme know if i missed smth <3

↬ 1K Event Masterlist

wc: 3.4k+

- divider @/benkeibear

Toji would say he has a good life. food, expenses always paid, access to practically everything in life, plus a big area to work out (his favorite), nice mansion, clothes, money, cars, and a lovely woman who is the love of his life, you. you’re quite the famous actor, making six figures and playing in multiple series that he makes sure to religiously watch. cuz’ he loves to see his woman on the big screen. and it’s not like he doesn’t work, mostly modeling and unexpectedly becoming an influencer, a good use of his name he’d say. posting workout videos and rating shit with his most honest opinions. there’s definitely complications of his most out of pocket opinions.

and perhaps there are a few things toji could say he doesn’t like about dating a famous person. like your fans. before your relationship was public, those damn losers had no restraints, trying to meet you in random places with any chance they had or getting touchy when you allowed hugs at meet and greets. he hates it even more when they try to touch you while you’re walking through the big crowds at events. like, let a woman be.

there’s other pet peeves, like nosy interviewers or weird directors you ended up working with, only to drop from their cast out of disgust. things any normal person would find annoying. the worst? pda. okay, it isn’t a pet peeve. but he wasn’t expecting someone as private as you to be all over him like you do. at first, he thought it was because maybe you just get bored out and about, but no. you just.. really fucking love him. and his dick of course.

“Somethin' different about you

Love it when he hit and smack too

Baby, let me lick on your tattoos”

“fuck, you’re wild.” toji grins against your lips, pulling away to adore the needy look covering your face. you two were laid in bed, him leaning on the headboard with you on his lap. a place you always find yourself at. you bit your lip, looking up at him with eyes full of want. “yea, just f’you though.” you didn’t understand the exact feeling you have for the large man. it’s more than just love. but it was something that you could only convey with physical affection most of the time.

you just need him, to feel him, to show him just how much you want him. you feel so comfortable with him. you two have been dating for over five months, already smothering each other in love in every way possible. “so corny baby.” toji, shakes his head, yet with an undeniable smile forming as you trace the tattoo that reached from his right shoulder up to his neck.

it was simple, a snake with an arrow shooting through it. you remember on a hot summer night, you two were laying in bed and just learning each other's bodies with small touches and kisses. you were on his chest when toji explained to you the meaning of his tattoo. rebirth and healing. to signify him not only getting away from the toxic environment of his family, but also healing from it. at that time, you didn’t know all the details. you knew what kind of people his relatives are, but to think they could’ve treated their kin in such ways broke your heart.

that day, you, drunkenly, swore to kiss and love that tattoo to hopefully give him the love he didn’t receive.

you still do.

“yea? you love me though.” you grin, making toji hungrily chase after your lips. it was messy, something you two love in your own way. raw and undefined as your lips lock perfectly. you hold onto his shoulders, him pushing you down into the duvet and towering over you. your eyes open slowly as he pulls away with a parting bite on your lips, so dreamily and entranced by him.

“damn right. can’t get enough of you.” he chuckles, sitting back to spread your legs. to think someone like him feels the same way as you. sometimes you think you’re too much, but he might argue the opposite. toji gives a small slap on your thigh, tugging away your panties to bless himself with the sight of your wet pussy. “can you eat me out t’night?” you whine, lifting your legs up as he gets comfortable between them.

his head disappears under, mouth muffled into your skin as he kisses your clit. “was plannin’ on it..” and he gives a fat stripe in your folds, causing you to gasp and lock your legs around his neck. he continues, amused with your ‘response’ and holding your thighs to pull you closer. he licks up and down, no care for your squirming and teasingly rolling the muscle around your bud.

“mm’yea love your big tongue toji~ wan’ it in me!” you whimper, tugging his hair and eliciting a guttural sound from him, his dick twitches in his sweats, tongue entering your pussy that welcomed him in with no qualms. the taste of your juices has toji moaning in your cunny. he gets sloppy, careless with his movements and flexing his tongue as deep as he can, kissing your folds periodically or opening his mouth wider to suck your clit and have you pull his hair harder.

“That's true that I like PDA, take it to a seedy place

Suck a little dick in the bathroom”

“you really into this?” toji grunts as you nod, keeping your crouched balance on your heels and unzipping his pants. amazing really, he thinks. you two were at some function hosted by a friend, snucked in a bathroom that someone is surely going to bang on if you two take too long. “yea, it's somethin’ we shouldn’t do. but fuck, you look so good.” you pout, fishing out his cock and kissing the tip. you don’t want to waste time, melting from the taste of his length and letting it sit on your tongue.

“really? shit.. c’mon baby, just get on your knees. i’ll get you a new pair of tights.” toji grits his teeth when you obey, giving your ‘thanks’ by taking his girth down your throat. you hold one of his thighs, other hand finding the base of his cock and jerking off what you couldn’t reach. it’s almost humiliating how quickly toji’s muscles are tightening, falling weak to the feeling of being so deep in your throat.

you let go of his cock, hands now clutching his thighs, and looking up at him all teary. he knows what you want, for him to just fuck your face and cum down your throat. he’s hit the fucking jackpot.

toji reached down with two hands, mindful of your hair that took so long to do and settling for grabbing the sides of your head. “want me to fuck your throat huh? yea ya do. gonna get rough baby.” he smiles, watching you get closer to him, wanting whatever he’s going to give you. he gives a low moan as he eases himself completely down your throat, you hollow your cheeks expertly, flush against his pubes before he begins moving.

he fucks your throat harshly, holding your head still as you moan around his dick. you look up at him through your blurry eyes, and he’s so handsome. jaw clenched with the veins in his arms popping, he gives one particularly hard thrust, slowing a bit and giving you time to actually suck his cock. the warm cavern of your mouth is just perfect, something that he could never want to get rid of.

“oh shiiit, fuck, fuck, fuck. fuckin’ love your mouth, gonna make me cum baby.” toji blabbers, groans filling the walls as you roll your tongue around him as much as you can. his voice, all deep and raspy, makes your pussy wet. closing your legs tight together and rubbing them to try dealing with the growing heat between your legs.

he pushes his hips forward, making you choke. “sorry baby, j-just gonna— fuck. gonna cum down this throat.” toji moans, looking down at your expression, he almost feels bad for the way he’s ruined your face. but he knows you love it, every single time. there’s loud wet sounds reverberating throughout the rest room. both of you hearing little ‘shlicks’ as spit drips from your lips and coats his cock. you squeeze your eyes tight as when he stops, your nails digging into the fabric of his pants while his dick basically quivers in your mouth.

you can hear the thick lump of cum before it pours down your tongue, pussy throbbing at the salty taste as the warm liquid slides down your throat until it turns into tiny little spurts. opening your eyes, you see toji’s head thrown back, body shaking in pleasure as he gives a drawn out moan. “d-definitely should do that often..” he mumbles.

“Who that man with the big strong hands On her ass in the club with the paps?" Baby, that's you”

‘whose the guy you were dancing with at the club in your recent post?’

you read the question aloud, already feeling giddy once you remember your activities over the weekend. “oh! that’s my boyfriend!” you grin, watching how the comments flowed faster through the insta live. it’s not like you hid him, if anything, you’re just always seen with him. but maybe he’s been mistaken for a bodyguard? you ponder. thinking about the recent comments and articles about you, they’ve never seen his face. well, at least not anywhere around you.

a damn shame. such a handsome man. your, handsome man.

‘yea who is he? he was so big lmao.’

“toji— wait!” you pause yourself before you let your big mouth rant, flipping the phone on the couch as you run through the house. you really hope that by some miracle they weren’t able to hear the name that slipped from your lips. considering you never really talked with the man about publicity, especially with all the extra things PR and management might force onto you.

shaking your head, you open the door of your gym room. if you could even call it just a room, toji was in the middle of his set of planks, headphones on and shirtless with a pair of baggy shorts. you almost let yourself get distracted, eyeing his sweaty form as you walk over to him. how the hell can he be so broad? well, you’re seeing in real time how he does it— but fuck, the mere structure of his neck and shoulders makes you want to wrap your legs around him.

“hey beautiful.” toji grunts, sitting himself up at the sound of his timer ringing through his ears. he slides off the headphones, grabbing the towel you hand to him and taking a sip of his water bottle. you stay silent, biting your cheek as you think about your next words. “what’s wrong?” he sighs, and you immediately cave, giving an exaggerated groan. “okay so maybe i may have just accidentally said you’re my boyfriend on live like three minutes ago and perhaps i could’ve just made a really really big mistake that i kinda want but i was just wondering—“

toji stands up with a chuckle, stopping your small rant with a pat on your head, hand moving down to hold your flustered face. “what’re you tryin’ to say baby?” “i was getting to that. but would you like, want to go public with me? like y’know.. actually tell people we’re dating..” you mumble, looking down as he shrugs. “i thought we already were since ya drag me practically everywhere. but go ahead. i don’t mind.” and you gasp, no way.

but it seems to be yes way from the kiss of affirmation toji gives you on your forehead before you run, more like slide, through your house in glee. getting back to your phone and confirming the wild comments that didnt stop.

“so yea, im dating toji zenin. y’know that hot guy from that one family..”

“Hot News! Actress [Name], popular for her character in — reveals that’s she’s dating the distinguished model, Toji Zenin, a workout influencer who is also a part of the well-known family—“ read more at…

“Front-seat chillin' with the window down I be ten toes down on the dash, gettin' fast food”

“that shit better be f-fucking soundproof..” toji groans as you shuffle his cock out his slacks. giggling with a sweet smile on your face that rivaled the dirty stuff you’ve whispered in his ear the whole ride. you have too much on your mind about your man to think about the partition separating you two from the driver. “it is.. maybe.” you mumur, mindlessly running your thumb along the slit of his cock. it glistened with pre, leaning towards you with small twitches as you greeted it with your lips.

you kiss the tip, purple lipstick stanning the lightly red muscle as you go further down. you have to remind yourself you can’t play with the hefty balls stuck in that stupid clothing, opting for simply pressing on them, knowing that was enough for him to shift, trying to feel the friction more. “fucker better not look at us weird— fuuuck baby, yea, just like that.” toji desperately wants to push your head further down as the warmth of your mouth envelops him.

you’re devilish. doing more that just sucking his cock and getting him off quickly. the image of him getting ready earlier was plaguing your mind, and even just the way he sat across from you ten minutes ago had you salivating. legs spread for freedom as his dark eyes watched you munch on the snacks left on the small table. you can’t get enough toji. but you damn sure are trying by bobbing your head up and down, not moving too fast, lips sucking tightly so he could hear the nasty sounds of spit.

“doin’ so good f’me. you can go a bit deeper, mhm, yea you can.” toji coos, placing a hand on the back of your neck, appreciating the show of your skin and running it comfortably. but it was so big for him to wrap it around your neck, choking you from behind and lifting your head up to see your fucked up face. or to push you further down, listening to the gurgling sounds as you choke on his length. “shit. that’s so hot baby.” he grunts, pulling you up for relief as you hiccup, clearing your throat and looking over at him.

you’re so gorgeous, he think— knows. the way your expensive ass make up was ruined, mascara and eyeliner smudged and he thinks some stained his pants too. but he could care less. especially from the way you kiss his jaw, him tilting it back further so you could paint it in little bits of purple lipstick that was left on your lips. “a few blocks away. please, lemme make you cum toji.” you whine, pouty lips meshing all over his skin as you move onto his lap, rolling up your dress.

thankfully, you were wearing a mini version of your sleeveless dress. allowing you to grind into his length, feeling the fat cock between your thighs. maybe you should post a small review to fashion nova later.

“baby.. fuck, don’t look at me like that.” toji grunts, falling victim to your puppy eyes as you eagerly move to align him with your hole. you take him in one go, both of you moaning as you fall onto his lap with a ‘plop!’. you love it, the familiar sensation of his dick molding your sweet insides, it’s like your comfort place. soothing you into placing your head onto his chest as your mind processes the feeling of him inside you. “makin’ me do all the work huh?” he scoffs, bringing his hands to your sides and starting to bounce you on his cock.

he didn’t have any remorse, you started this. he sets a quick pace that has you clawing his button up, each ‘plap!’ of your flesh meeting leads to his dick reaching up into your goey walls and hitting your g-spot. over and over again. “toji.. mm fuck, i love your dick..” you mumble, head tilting back with your tongue lolling out, too fucked out to even understand anything. only able to comprehend how good your man’s dick feels.

well at least the driver knows too?

“Hot News! Limousine driver goes viral for breaking the law and uploading an audio with the sounds of his clients apparently having sex in the back of the car. It’s not said who the people are, but fans suspect it might be—“ read more at…

“Hope you can handle the heat, put your name in the streets

Get used to my fans lookin' at you”

“baby they’re lookin’” toji groans, holding you tightly as you pepper his face in kisses, even daring to go lower to the skin of his neck that peeked out his collared shirt. “and?” you huff. you came to the airport to pick him up. and who were you to not love your man after nearly a month of being apart?

sure you could’ve waited, but fuck, you just missed him. “c’mon baby. i don't like those cameras on ya.” toji feels hot, something about knowing his woman having no care for the rest of the world does something to him. the clicks of cameras seemed infinite, and he almost felt bad for the bodyguards surrounding you two, keeping the phones and curious people at bay.

“just one more..” you mumbled into his skin, an arm reaching up around his neck and pulling him in. there was a loud sound of ‘aw’s and cooing as you two kissed. and despite his previous words, it edged toji on a bit, making him press further into you, leaning closer. his body trapped you, not letting you leave for air and keeping your lips locked. your tongues battled against each other, his winning and exploring your mouth so vigorously it made you whine against him.

as soon as your legs buckle, too hot and bothered from his actions, he pulls away, a string of saliva connecting your lips until he gives you one more quick n’ sloppy kiss. “we’re gettin’ out of here. fuckin’ wet arent’cha?” he whispers, grinning when you nod quickly, wrapping your arms around him as he picks you up.

the men in black surround you two through the paparazzi until you reach the designated ride. your head was tucked into his neck as toji throws the crowd a smirk, winking before shuffling you two into the car.

“Hot News! Famous actress, [Name], seen to be making out with her newly introduced boyfriend, the, Toji Zenin. is this a good pair? there’s already clips of—“ read more at…

“Fuck what they heard, I don't fuck with them birds

I'm a mean kitty, don't get stabbed with the rat tooth”

“shit baby. i think someone saw us last friday.” toji grunts, turning on the bed, phone in hand and showing your groggy self a video. it’s kinda blurry, the recorder whispering to themselves and getting a glimpse of you and toji sneaking away from a small secluded area. in the video, toji was close behind you, fixing the back of your dress as you fixed your messed up lip gloss. you only hum, reading the caption,

‘saw them at the VMA awards last week.. were they doing you know what? in public too?’

you grin up at toji, bringing a hand up to read through the comments. most of them were assumptions that you two did fuck. considering there’s already a few small infamous clips of you two kissing or getting touchy in public places. you notice that people mention it to be shameful, which you admit, it kinda is.

it’s only shameful if you feel shame.

“you don’t care huh?” “nah.” you giggle, watching him put away the phone before pulling you over onto his chest. you give a small yelp, looking down at his tired form and dragging your hands along his body. “why not baby? don’t you gotta rep? hope y’r not getting emails or stuff about this too..” he sighs, gripping the plush of your thighs and meddling with it as you lean down to kiss him.

“yea, but i don’t care. we still get offers, opportunities and stuff. everything’s well. soo..” you shrug, making him laugh as you grind on his chest. you two were barely clothed after your activities last night, your panties being the only thing keeping your cunt from his defined muscles. “you’re crazy.” and you grin, “your love’s got me lookin’ so crazy right now—” “oh hush, c’mere n’ kiss me..”

#jjk x reader #jujustu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk x fem!reader #jujustu kaisen #jujustsu kaisen x reader #jjk x you #jjk smut #toji fluff #toji x y/n #toji x you #toji smut #jujutsu toji #jjk toji #jujutsu kaisen toji #toji zenin #toji fushiguro #toji x reader #jjk x y/n #jjk x poc!reader #jujutsu kaisen smut #jujustu toji

[ryanguzmansource]

Full Audio Transcript (5.21.24)

Hey guys, welcome to I've Never Said This Before with me, Tommy Didario.

If you are not watching 9-1-1 on ABC, you are seriously missing out. The show is so phenomenal that it has been renewed for an eighth season and, my guest today—well, he is phenomenal as well. In fact, he is on my show because of you. I saw all of the tweets, the DMs, the emails—all of it so, like a genie in a bottle, your wish has been granted.

The talented actor Ryan Guzman stars in the smash hit firefighter drama series 9-1-1 and audiences fell in love with his character, Eddie, the moment he debuted in Episode 1 of Season 2. Man, he has become a staple on the show and fans have been rooting for Eddie throughout the years, and Ryan plays each moment of Eddie's journey with such care and vulnerability and truth.

We have a lot to cover today and I have a feeling you're going to really enjoy this fun but also personal and deep conversation. We do dive into some very serious mental health conversations, so after the interview, I will be providing resources for anyone struggling with their own mental health. This is one of the most powerful interviews I have ever done, and I really thank Ryan for opening up in the ways that he did today because I know that he is going to help so many people out there feel less alone.

So, let's see if we can get Ryan to say something he has never said before.

[INTRO MUSIC]

Ryan, my friend, how are you doing today?

I'm good, brother. How are you?

I'm good. I know you have been working your butt off. You were just saying you were filming all night. Are you exhausted or are you on adrenaline right now?

A little mixture of both. I got a little coffee pumped through my system. But yeah, I think I worked six out of seven days this last week. We've been doing around 14, 15 hour days. And I just got off last night around 1.30 in the morning. So got home around 2.30. But we're here. We're here.

Well, you were putting in the work. Congratulations to you on all of the success with this show. It's of course now on ABC. People are loving it. The numbers are going insane. And you've always been a fan favorite from day one. When you had that first scene of you putting that shirt on in slow motion and your body was glistening and Whatta Man was playing, people just fell in love with your character. But that's not just why they love your character. I mean, over the seasons, people have found you so relatable and and really, really are truly invested in the role that you play. Why do you think that is?

I like to say that, I mean, I try to play as grounded as I can, but I think the story itself is just the way Tim Minear writes the character. And I think he's always had a special connection with this kind of character. So, just indebted to how he writes and the connectivity between Eddie and his son. I mean, it's just like it pulls at the heartstrings, you know, and that's always been a fan favorite as well. So, you know, I'm living in gratitude for everything that's been written for that character and I try to do as much justice as I can.

Well, you're nearing the end of Season 7 and past seasons for you have been a bit heavier, a bit more intense. You've really gone through quite a lot of things that we'll touch on a bit later, which I know is also part of the reason why so many people relate to you. Are you enjoying this journey this season?

Yeah, you know what? I haven't really been able to kind of flex my humorous side and just kind of lightheartedness, kind of a vibe about Eddie, and I love that aspect of him. So while everybody else is kind of going through chaos, while Cap is going through chaos, Eddie is kind of, you know, trying to keep everybody together while, you know, Chimney and Hen be going at it during the tsunami and The Poseidon Adventure, Eddie is just, you know, being there for everybody as much as he can. So not to say that he's always going to be happy because Tim always has this thing about saying, you know, if I just let you guys be happy, then there'd be no story. You got to have some kind of drama. Nobody wants to show up just for people smiling all the time. But yeah, we've got some things in store for the rest of the season. And from what we've already shot, I've been super pleased about, you know, this new way of life for Eddie.

Like I said, the things you've gone through are intense throughout the years. Do you have any fear stepping into this role or any anxiety before you had to film some of those more intense scenes? Because it's a lot.

Yeah, you know what? Prior to 9-1-1, I might have had some fears about the depth of a lot of the things that we shot. I honestly didn't really call myself an actor until like maybe three and a half years ago.

No.

Yeah. I thought I was just fooling everybody, trying to get jobs and land the movies that I was getting. And then I think somewhere around the third season, a co-star of mine kind of, like, metaphorically slapped me in the face and said, you know, let's really get into this, man. You got some really good opportunity here. So that's when I started calling myself an actor. But to be honest, the depth of Eddie in the past three, four seasons has been amazing as just a class. It's been class for me. It's been an opportunity to flex these emotions that I don't get to flex in my day-to-day life and to access certain things and see how far can I push Eddie, how, you know, in the scene where Eddie is just losing his stuff and he's breaking everything in his house. Obviously, I've never done it in my house, but how do I get there? How can I allow the audience to feel what I'm feeling? And that task itself becomes a challenge. And I really [like] that type of challenge. So again, living in gratitude for all the little things that Eddie presents that, you know, I haven't really been presenting my own life.

So with that being said, is there a storyline that's particularly special to you for any given reason?

I kind of lean automatically towards the military/PTSD just because I have a cousin who served six tours and, you know, he shared with me—and I actually, oddly enough, during the episode of Eddie Begins, I brought him on as a military tech and he helped out everybody in the production. His name is Randy Hudson. I, you know, I love that guy to death—but, yeah, he's shared with me a lot of his issues that he's gone through and a lot of the obstacles he's gone through in his day to day life and what it's like to be a military vet coming back and kind of assimilating back into civilian lifestyle. So that storyline always kind of held a special place in my heart just because it was very close connected with me and my own family. And I always hope that, you know, I did it justice enough for everybody that has that story ingrained in them.

I think you definitely did. I saw a lot of comments when I announced you as my guest saying that that was a very meaningful part of your journey on this show. I'm so curious, you know, quite often in television it moves so fast, there's always rewrites or so much going on. Was there ever a story that you wanted to come to fruition that never did?

I hated the fact that we killed off Shannon so quick. I know she wasn't a very likable character for so many different reasons, but I always loved working with Devin. So I would love to explore a little bit more with that. But yeah, there's always beauty and chaos a little bit. So I would have loved the relationship, mother, father, parenting style aspect of Eddie's life to be a more explored, but unfortunately that can't happen anymore.

There's always so many things going on. I'm sure it's hard to fit them into each episode, and I'm sure things do have to get cut because major things keep happening episode after episode, one of them being recently, of course, Buck realized he's Bi and that's a storyline everyone's going crazy over. Did you see that coming? Were you like, I think one day this is going to happen for him?

Well, I mean, it's always kind of been in the ether. Everybody, you know, all the fans, you know, have their speculations about Eddie and Buck and, you know, for the longest time, I think Oliver and I again had lightheartedness to it. We always kind of like saw it as like, oh, at least they're so interested in our characters. Thank God they're interested in our characters. They're not ignoring us, and I don't know if either of us had a pinpoint, you know, idea on which character or if any character would actually lead in that way.

But again, all credit to Tim Minear. He's the one that knows the way. So he chose Buck's character to explore that route. And now seeing it happen in front of our eyes, it makes so much sense. And it just the way him, Buck and Tommy are getting together and the way they're exploring their own individuality and personality. It's beautiful to watch. I was very excited to see, you know, that episode specifically, just for the fact that it was such a moment between, you know, a friend and another friend who had held this huge secret. And how do you come out to your friend?

I had a friend, you know—because I know I've had this actually in my own personal life. I've said this in prior interviews—I had a friend who was deadly scared of coming out to me. And I realized that that moment itself wasn't so much the journey for me, you know, it was this hard journey for himself. And all I had to do was catch. I just had to be there for him, and I was like, that moment itself is so beautiful. I can't wait to do that scene. I can't wait to, you know, show the world like this is how you be there for your brother.

Wow, how cool that you could pull from your real life experience and make that scene even more special, which is why I think it came off so incredibly powerful. It really was so cool to see. And the reception has been absolutely incredible in terms of people feeling like, you know, they're seen through that character and it's on prime-time TV. And you don't see a ton of that, which is still kind of crazy. But, you know, and of course, there were some negative comments, which blows my mind. I mean, I'm sure that blew your mind, too, to see that because who cares, right?

Honestly, I've got this now filter for negative comments. They just kind of seep right through and I don't even hold on to anything. So all I've seen is really, really good comments.

And one of the best parts is actually I've gone to work and Oliver himself has been like telling me these stories of people saying, man, I did not have the strength to come out until way later on in my life. So I'm like, oh man, could you imagine 20, 30 years of holding on to this repressed thing and then it just eating away at you and not being able to say anything, even to the closest people and then seeing something on television to inspire you. That kind of thing is just like, whoa, okay, we're doing something much greater, much bigger than us.

He's not the only one inspiring its characters like you because you're showing, you know, what an ally means, and I think that's really cool to see this like macho, cool guy that's just like, cool, like who cares? And that's also equally as powerful and as important. Before we put a pin on this, you know, part of the conversation, you mentioned you never know what the writers are going to do, and I think there were talks at one point of possibly Eddie being the one to come out in some sort of way. Do you laugh and have fun with all of the fandom's obsession with you as Eddie and Buck getting together? Like, is that something you guys always are seeing and hearing? And I know everyone brings it up to you and it's something that's always looming. Like, how do you react to that? Does it ever get tiring for you?

Again, if the fans are interested, we're doing our job. So I love the love. And I mean, unfortunately, I'm not the one that writes it. So it's all up to Tim. But me and Oliver have a really good time with the fact that, you know, people are so invested into these storylines. And in fact, they're so invested, they're creating their own storylines. They're sending us clips and edits and videos. And, you know, every now and then, Oliver will show me something, I'll show Oliver something. Like, did we actually do this in a scene? Because they cut it so well together.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I think at the end of the day, you know, we just love the love. We're here to entertain and tell the truth. If it's true to the character, then yeah.”

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

You can't predict the future. Nobody can on this show. But if the opportunity one day happened to come your way where they were like, this storyline might be explored between Buck and Eddie, would you be open to that storyline in the future? I see you smiling. I see Oliver had the same reaction, a big ass grin on his face when I asked this.

Yeah, you know, like I said, it's got to live in the truth and I think right now we live in a moment—or me, I live moment to moment—so I love the fact that the biggest plot point between these two characters is one happens to be Bi, one happens to be Hetero, and they have this vulnerability towards each other. And that is the truth to me is it's the fact that you have such a safe space and it doesn't matter your sexuality, that you have a safe space to talk to this individual and he can fully accept you. If we can stay with that, then whatever happens, happens.

But I don't necessarily want to push the fact that because you're vulnerable, you have to be one way or the other in your sexuality. Then I would hate to have a lot of other men who are struggling mentally and not sure about, oh, do I even open up? Because will that make me something that I'm not? I would hate to push that narrative. So if we live in the truth, whatever happens, happens. And again, I'm here for it all.

Whatever happens, happens. That's a nice way to put it. And I agree with you. I think there's power in both. I think there's power in showing a strong friendship that you don't always get to see. And then there's power if something eventually does happen. So whatever happens, happens. I like that, man. What can we expect for the rest of the season with your characters? Anything you can tease? The finale is coming up. We have a couple more weeks. What can we expect?

What can we expect? Well, we can expect that Eddie's smiles might turn to frowns.

Oh no.

Or at least confusion, maybe. We'll start to see, you know, has he gotten past certain traumas? Or is he just kind of pushed them to the side and acting like they're not there?

You know, I have to say a lot of people are still holding on to hope that we're going to get that karaoke scene.

I mean, yeah, we had such a good time playing that karaoke scene, and it was kind of a let down a little bit to know that it wasn't going to be in there. But now, again, looking at the episode itself, as fun as it would be, the main story was Chimney. And the way Kenneth Choi played Chimney, and that episode specifically—I mean, I think he got, you know, performance of the week for that—it would have been a disservice to add, you know, a three-minute scene of us laughing and having a great time and being drunks and karaoke and take away from that performance. So I'm glad that Tim made that decision, and I don't know if he has any plans on showing that later on or whatnot or having some extended clip version, but I can tell you this much, everybody from the cast to the crew to the background had a wild and crazy time doing that scene.

And I think what I just heard you say is you might accidentally drop it on your Instagram very soon.

I might get fired if I do that.

All right. Well, we'll see. I'll talk to ABC PR. No problem. What do you want to see for season eight? Like, are you thinking about the future? Is there like, OK, if I can have my way, I absolutely want to explore blank.

To be honest, there's so much going at us so rapid, so fast paced at this moment. The scripts are getting handed in like quick as can be. So we have a moment's notice to kind of know what we're doing and where we're going with our character. From what I know, from what I've shot thus far, I think next season will literally be a refresh button to Eddie. And starting over in so many different ways, so many new ways in which Eddie has never explored and we've never seen Eddie explore. He'll be on his own in a lot of areas.

Speaking of that, I have to bring up season five, the mental health breakdown, man. That was intense. And a lot of people felt very connected to that. How was it stepping into that scene for you and that storyline? Because it's pretty powerful.

Thank you. Man, that was cathartic, to be honest. It was I've gone through my own mental health issues as far as like, you know, my own depression and anxiety, and, you know, I was raised in an age where men aren't vulnerable and aren't allowed to show feelings. So that kind of repression is like a ticking time bomb, you know, especially for a person in Eddie's life, or his lifestyle. So to kind of relinquish this boundary of who Ryan is and step into Eddie and just kind of just full-on dive deep into these this well of emotion, it was, it was almost like therapy. It was crazy because, you know, from the second they started to say rolling, it's like my—I started to, you know, start bawling and crying, and when Buck comes in and, you know, he's trying to check in on me and the whole room is just all scattered around and I'm losing it—it's just like there was no semblance of Ryan anymore. It was just all Eddie and he was just lost, and that's what it is.

It's like if I were to look at my son, you know, five year old son, that's kind of what we revert back to is just this child that is just so scared and not having any sense of direction and—or hope that anybody will ever love him or ever see him. And it's just these like, you know, existential fears that come out within those tears, and that was my goal to portray that whole scene and then the scene following it. So to get there was just let go, just let go.

Well, the work you did was clearly honest and raw and vulnerable. You can't fake the work that you did in that. And it was really a powerful man for many people to kind of go through that with you and for people who have had their own experiences. And you're right, like, I'm from an old school Italian family. And, you know, you grow up thinking men don't go through that and men don't show those emotions. So to have that on prime-time TV is huge.

Yeah, I hope that helped out a lot of people. I hope that people were actually able to see that and at least, you know, go to their best guy friend, and, you know, I think that's what really needs to happen. As far as men, we need to lean on each other. You know, women have their own issues and they have their certain way of connecting with each other, but there's a special connection that you can have with your brother. And I give so much credit to quite a few of my personal brothers—including my actual brother—for allowing me to run to them in my moments of need, in my moments of feeling lost. And them, you know, being men themselves, not having to say one thing to me.

Or they can just, you know, if they see me in a moment of, you know, deep into a problem, they have the ability to say, well, here's a solution. And since I'm, you know, of like mind, I can be like, okay, you know what? Thank you for giving me some kind of direction. So yeah, I implore all men out there to kind of at least have one or two in your corner, you know, because we can't get anywhere without community.

Absolutely. What have you most learned about yourself through playing this character for so many years? You know, you joined in season two. It's been a lot of years now under your belt. Have you thought about that? Have you learned anything through playing, Eddie?

I've learned a lot through Eddie. I've learned patience. He's a—you know, he has a sense of patience that I didn't have in the beginning even prior to being a father, you know, and then kids itself, they teach you how to be patient. So, yeah, I've learned how to be there as a father. Kind of oddly enough, it was just living as one onscreen prior to actually being one in real life, it gave me, say, practice. I get to practice on television what I get to implore with my own children. And, you know, even if it's the worst thing for Eddie, you know, and I see him doing something horrible, at least I come back home, like, well, that can't happen. I can't do that with my kids. So, yeah, and in so many ways, it's helped me grow as a man, let alone a father.

That's pretty awesome when you can take things away from your job like that and become a better person. I love that so much. Can you believe you've been on the show for so long now? Do you ever think like, damn, that's not normal. That's the rarity in the business. So is that a cool feeling for you?

Yeah, I literally just had that moment yesterday. We were filming a scene, all of us, the whole cast, and I'm sitting outside—I can't tell you the location, that's going to blow something—I'm sitting outside one of the sets and I just had that moment to myself. I'm like, oh my God, I'm actually here. How did I get so lucky to be on not only just a television show, the number one television show out there, where we're in our seventh season and we're creating numbers that people don't even get in their first season? So again, if there's a moment to tap into, let's get into that gratitude again and just be super thankful that I was lucky enough to land this.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

That is so cool, and that's why I have no doubt you'll continue having so much success in your career and in your personal life because you keep bringing up gratitude, and it's very evident that's something you lead your life with. And in fact, I saw a recent Instagram post where you give a beautiful tribute to Twitch, and you credit him with being able to form connection with people in your life now and to different things and places, and I thought that was such a beautiful way to show people that you're working on yourself and you're a work in progress and that he helps you kind of open your eyes. So that was a really cool moment for you to also reveal.

Thank you, yeah. Yeah, I believe so much of the world right now is showcasing a polished version of themselves. And to be honest, I did it myself for so long that I've become tired of it, and I would much rather get to the raw—the raw, the unfiltered, the, you know, the mess ups, the, you know—I've stuck my foot in my mouth too many times. I've done, you know, stupid things in my life, and I never want to present myself as a person that does everything great because there's so many things I suck at.

So I think there's an opportunity within that rawness to invite others to become raw themselves, and for us to see that, you know, we're not competing with each other, we're competing with ourself and our own image of ourself and friends like, you know, a brother like, like Twitch, you know, and—not understanding what he was going through and that lack of connectivity that I always, you know, felt but never acted on, which again, I felt imposter syndrome for so long of calling him my brother. It really struck a chord in me and now I can't go backwards. Now I'm propelled forward to be like, is this conversation authentic between us or are we just kind of saying what we have to say just so we can pass on to the next person and create whatever that is? And I'm not here for that. I would much rather have that depth and I'd much rather have that rawness.

Beautifully said and a perfect segue into what I want to finish this conversation with, which is based off the title of the show: I've Never Said This Before. So I'm wondering, is there anything that comes to mind that you want to share today that you've never shared before?

Uh. Huh. Yeah, you know what? I've been thinking about this for so long and there's so many things, you know, that come to mind. One specifically, and I've been hesitant to actually say any of this for so long because, you know, it's been years upon years.

About six and a half, seven years ago—and I've really never said this out loud, especially onto a public platform—I had my own mental health crisis and I tried at one point in time to take my own life. And luckily, it didn't work. Luckily, I got a second chance by the grace of God. And from that moment forward, I've taken each step as an opportunity to erase what got me there and build on what allowed me to live forward. So I would say that that moment itself, in addition to what happened to my brother Twitch, are probably the two biggest fundamental moments of my entire life and have allowed me to have a deeper sense of mercy and empathy towards every individual.

So I would implore that all men renounce this fact of, you know, you're a tough man, you have to hold all this in, but lean on your brother, really lean on your brother. And if your brothers aren't being there in the way they need to be, find some new ones. Because that's another thing, if you don't have the people that are conducive to a healthy lifestyle and you're keeping on to them because of loyalty, let them go. There's plenty of other people. There's people that have been through your situation before that are willing and more than willing, you know, to help. So yeah, that was a big one.

Man, first of all, thank you for sharing something so personal and close to your heart with me today. I feel honored that you did open up and share that. And I'm truly—God, this could be another half hour conversation, so I'll keep it short—but I'm truly grateful that you are spreading that message today for anybody listening because, you know, mental health is a crisis and I think people sometimes look at you, they look at me, they think everything's perfect. We are, you know, in this public space and what can be wrong?

And when you humanize real shit like that, it makes people feel less alone. And you got through it, you realize that wasn't the right way to go about it and your life forever changed for the better, and I'm truly grateful that you put that message out today because you have no idea how many people you're going to be helping with that. And I truly know that that's something that's not easy to get off your chest. And for that, I thank you and I know so many people will be thanking you, and I hope you feel kind of like a little bit of a weight lifted that you share that hopefully.

Yeah, it's kind of hard to understand what I'm feeling at the moment. But I hope in what you said is true. And I hope that, again, I would love to do more for mental health, especially for men, I mean, just in general, to be honest. But yes, I hope that there is a new wave out there that's kind of taking over that we can actually have some cohesiveness and connection, a true understanding of what connection is. Let's revisit that. So this issue isn't a common issue anymore. If we can take that down, then let's do it. I'm here for it.

Beautifully said, and thank you again for sharing that. I could talk to you for hours, especially leaving with that. I think you're such a cool person. And you watch people, I get to talk to people all the time. But this to me was a real conversation, and that's what I value. That's why I have a show called I've Never Said This Before, and I want to talk about the projects that the fans love, but also leave room to talk about things that matter. I don't think there's enough of that. So I truly thank you for hanging out, for coming on, for talking about the fun of 911, which we all love, and it's killing it in every way, but also sharing a little piece of you. I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I have.

Thanks for having me, my man. Yeah, I had a great time.

Thank you, and remind everyone where, how, when, all the things about your show.

Yes, please watch Thursdays at 8 on ABC.

All right, and stay tuned for the karaoke scene that you just promised you will be dropping.

Yeah, maybe when I'm fired again.

All right, man, until we meet again, take care.

All right, brother.

#ryan guzman #may 2024 #i've never said this before #transcribed #5.21.24

[erisweekofficial]

SURPRISE! 🔥❤️‍🔥

We are SO excited to have chatted with Matthew Bassett, the voice actor for Eris Vanserra in the Graphic Audio Production of the ACOTAR series.

Read below for an Exclusive Q&A with Matt ❤️

How long have you been voice acting? How did you get started in the voice acting industry?

I’ve only really worked with Graphic Audio for voice acting, and I’ve been in their roster of actors since 2012. I’ve been a stage actor (with a tiny bit of film) since 2003, and I’ve taught acting in the Washington, DC, area since 2012. When I moved to the DC area after graduate school and started working around here, a number of actors I liked and admired kept mentioning this company that provided steady work on fun material - westerns, fantasy, sci-fi. The comic book adaptations sold me, I’m a huge comics fan. Since 2012, I’ve played countless varmints, monsters, cads, aliens, superheroes/villains, and the occasional good guy. Along with Eris, my larger roles have included voicing The Homelander in all six volumes of GA’s adaption of The Boys graphic novels and Cullen in the World of Lupi series.

Can you describe the process for being selected for the role of Eris (or any other character)? Were there auditions, callbacks, or specific criteria that led to your casting?

Graphic Audio works like a repertory acting company, in that after your initial audition, they maintain your contact information for project directors to pull from when needed. I’ve done a lot of work with Colleen Delaney, director of the ACOTAR adaptations, including several longer character arcs in multiple series, so she thought I would be a good fit for Eris based on similar characters (rogueish, but with hidden depth that is explored over time) I’ve played elsewhere. I’m glad she did! Eris has been really fun.

How did you prepare for the role of Eris in terms of understanding the character's backstory, motivations, and relationships with other characters?

Graphic Audio does a fantastic job of preparing actors and directing us through performances. Colleen sent each actor a brief but rich character description, often quoting directly from the novels, as well as providing a plot description for each specific novel (necessary since the turnaround from offer to recording is very short). During our sessions, Colleen tells me everything I need to know about where Eris has been since the last scene/book and how his relationships have evolved. GA directors also read in as “scene partners,” which, considering they are all performers themselves, makes it very easy to react as I imagine Eris would.

Eris is a complex and morally ambiguous character. What aspects of his personality did you find most challenging to convey in your performance, and how did you approach tackling those challenges?

His vulnerability is very challenging. Eris has had a hard life, despite growing up with every privilege, which is difficult to convey. He hates everyone to some extent, but it all comes from how much he hates his family and himself. The scenes with Morrigan in particular take a while to record - he has all the feelings when talking to her, but he can’t show any of them.

Did you have any creative input into how Eris's voice would sound, or was it a collaborative effort with the production team and director? Were there any specific discussions about the character's vocal tone or style?

Definitely collaborative! His basic vocal character is very close to mine, with the musicality dialed up a bit so he can taunt everyone so well. Where my director really helps is pushing me to find the different levels to his interactions - when he’s teasing (often), when he’s antagonizing (mostly with Cassian), and when he’s speaking from his heart (VERY rarely, usually to or involving Morrigan).

What actors (voice, stage, film, etc) have inspired you? And did any actors or other characters help inspire your performance for Eris?

Hoo boy. Too many to list! For something like Eris, a lot of inspiration from Tom HIddleston’s Loki, Tom Cruise’s Lestat de Lioncourt, and anything Jeremy Irons has ever done. Characters that you can’t take your eyes off of, even as you want to beat the crap out of them.

Were there any specific challenges or unique aspects to voicing Eris compared to other characters you've portrayed in the past? How did you adapt your voice to capture his essence?

Y’know, for all the dirtbags, murderers, literal monsters, aliens, and villains I’ve voiced, Eris is the one with the biggest heart. The biggest challenge is allowing him to have a deep want, hidden from even himself, for some tenderness, the one thing he has been denied his entire life. A character like Eris is easy to just have fun with and play as a smug prick (which he is), but he has moments of aching loneliness that make him much richer. SPOILER: One of my most recent favorite moments was playing Eris’ surprise and gratitude when receiving a “made” dagger for safekeeping. Eris can’t fathom trusting anyone else with something so powerful and important, because he simply wasn’t shown that level of trust or respect. The moment took him by such surprise. It was great to let myself feel that in the playing.

Do you have any advice for aspiring voice actors who are considering pursuing a career in Voice Acting? Any tips for breaking into the business and honing their craft?

Train your voice! I received excellent vocal training as part of my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Acting at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I learned how to care for my vocal health, how to support with my breath, and how to modulate the dynamics of my voice for character differentiation as well as basic performance beats. You may not have the inclination for that level of training, but a regular voice lesson with a singing coach will give you similar techniques. In terms of breaking in: like anything of this nature, it’s relationships. Build a strong resume, but also build strong relationships with your collaborators and a reputation for reliability. Directors know that I’ll prepare so that I can make strong initial choices, but that I am more than happy to adjust my choices as needed to make the overall production its best.

#eris vanserra #eris acotar #pro eris vanserra #acotar #erisweek2023 #high lord eris #autumn court #autumn court heir #eris

[jokeroutsubs]

[ENG translation] Joker Out: We won't screw up

A radio interview with Bojan Cvjetićanin and Kris Guštin on the radio station called Radio Koper, from 01.01.2024. The interviewer and author is Iztok Novak Easy. You can read the translation below or listen to the audio in Slovene from the source.

~

['Carpe Diem' starts playing and continues to play in the background]

Interviewer: Hello, Bojan.

Bojan: Hello, dear friend.

Interviewer: And Kris.

Kris: Hi. It's good to see you here.

Interviewer: Thank you. How would you describe the year that just ended in a few sentences?

Bojan: In a few sentences? Yes, a year that changed our lives significantly and brought us closer to what we imagined our musical dreams to be.

Interviewer: What about you, Kris?

Kris: We have been using the word turbulent all day, today. In fact, it makes sense in at least two ways, because it has actually been very turbulent for us. Mentally and physically. We have also taken so many flights where we have experienced more turbulence than ever before.

['Carpe Diem' gets louder for a few seconds]

Interviewer: Moving on with this year. Eurovision, all the travelling that came before it, Stožice, the tour that followed, the recording in between, and so on. What would you put first? I'm asking you, Kris.

Kris: Even though we went to Eurovision this year, the main event for me was still the concert in Stožice. After all, we announced it a year before the event, which means half a year before we really even started to deal with Eurovision. For us, the whole year was split into before Stožice and after Stožice. Everything we were doing before Stožice was kind of leading up to it, so, once it happened, at least for me, it completely changed the shape of the year. So I have to say Stožice maybe even more than Eurovision.

Interviewer: What would you, Bojan, point out as the most valuable or what are the most valuable new pieces of knowledge or insights that you have gained this year?

Bojan: I would say the most valuable insight is that life on tour really requires a healthy rhythm. I would say that we very quickly realised that there is no room for hedonism or egocentrism on tour, and that it is an extremely complex machine that stops very quickly if the pieces start to fall apart. So the realisation that we, as a group, know how to work but also that we have to do so in harmony is the most valuable thing, I think.

Interviewer: I recently read that Eurovision fans awarded those who made an impact at this year's contest. You have become the kings of charisma. More than 50% of the votes. What is your comment?

Bojan: I mean, it's... not the kings of charisma, it's just the way this competition is, these titles in the end are more of a joke than for real. But it's absolutely wonderful that our name was even included in the five or six categories that were awarded. The fact that we won proves that this year we have been very much present in this Eurovision bubble. I would say that we were a very strong link among all the representatives of the countries at Eurovision. So there were a lot of good vibes and a lot of fun surrounding us. So it was nice that the listeners and the viewers picked that and, like you said, out of 80000 votes, more than 40000 were for us, so that is such a nice start to the New Year. And also, I would say, a very nice end to this Eurovision story.

['Carpe Diem' gets louder and it ends]

Interviewer: Your European tour is behind you. From Helsinki to Belgrade. A lot of sold-out concerts. I read a review of the Belgrade concert in Dom Omladine. All praises, Joker Out. A sociological phenomenon. The new Beatlmania* and so on. How do you manage to stay normal?

(*Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s.)

['Ne bi smel' starts playing in the background]

Bojan: I stand by the fact that all five of us are extremely down-to-earth and normal guys to begin with. That we have a very nice and safe community, waiting for us at home, watching over us and supporting us. That is, of course, our families, our friends and our team. So I would dare to say that we don't have a lot of room to screw up, because there are enough people around us who can grab us and hold us and bring us back down to Earth in an instant. So we don't have this tendency to suddenly become total jerks, but we are who we are and the moment we come back from the stage to the backstage, the gig is over and there is only genuineness left. I mean, on stage we're really totally genuine too, but still. We're on stage and it's a show. So yeah, I would say that we don't allow ourselves and others don't allow us to change who we are.

['Ne bi smel' gets louder for a few seconds]

Interviewer: Kris, Helsinki, The Hague, Wroclaw, Madrid, Barcelona, as I said Zagreb, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Rijeka too. Which would you say was the most emotional?

Kris: So I'll say this: it's really hard to pick one concert or one place that was really the best. Personally, I will say that Amsterdam was the most emotional experience for me, because it was the first time my Dutch family attending a concert of ours. Because before that, ok, they watched us at Eurovision, but after that performance, it's hard to really understand what we do besides that. They know that I do music, but they never really understood what I do until they came to the concert and saw their fellow Dutchies singing in Slovene for the whole concert, while they had never learned one song or a few words of Slovene in their whole life. And they were all enthusiastic until the end and it was a real honour to perform for them.

Interviewer: What about you, Bojan?

Bojan: I have to say that it was extremely emotional, in terms of the fact that we were totally shocked, that people were singing in Slovene in countries you wouldn't think of. I mean, let's say that the further north we went, the more and more it blew us away. As for me personally, perhaps the most heartfelt was in the countries of the region, so to say, the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

Interviewer: Your version of Đurđevdan in Belgrade went viral on tiktok. Was it spontaneous?

Bojan: Yes, totally spontaneous. When we went off stage Jure was feeling unwell and couldn't go back on stage for the encore and I took the acoustic guitar because people were screaming for the encore, and when I came on stage, I said, "Which one are we going to do?" and some of the fans in the front screamed "Đurđevdan" and I said "C'mon". And Đurđevdan was the final encore song. And it turned out to be a great moment.

[an audio recording of 'Đurđevdan' from the concert plays]

Interviewer: Did you notice any particularity, perhaps a difference, between the British organisers, the Spanish, the Scandinavian and those from what you called our former country? Maybe how you were treated by the media?

['Vse kar vem' starts playing and it continues to play in the background]

Kris: If we just focus on the organiser. Before we started our tours abroad, I had never come into contact with organisers. Here, in Slovenia, we treat everything a little differently. Maybe in Slovenia you have such organisers at Kino Šiška* because they are used to a lot of foreign performers. But things are different and I have to say that we have been lucky that we have been less and less involved with them because we have had a bigger and more experienced team around us who have been trained for abroad from before. So, I would say that things are a little bit better abroad. Far from Slovenia being pure chaos and wild, I somehow felt safer and more confident when I was doing concerts abroad, in terms of the performance itself. As far as the media is concerned, of course in Slovenia we were one of the most talked about artists, so we got a lot of attention that we might not have received abroad. Abroad, we had Eurovision media, maybe some national television. So, as far as some commercial networks are concerned, we are still getting there. On the other hand, in the Balkans, all of a sudden it was "wow". All of a sudden the tabloids asked 'What's up with the girls, where are they, where's the party?' and things like that. It's a completely different scene than in Slovenia.

(*Kino Šiška has been the central Slovenian institution of the contemporary concert scene since 2009, complemented by activities in visual and performing arts.)

Interviewer: Do you have anything to add?

Bojan: Yes, I do. Like Kris said, when it comes to organising concerts, things tend to really... the biggest difference is that when you look at the plan and the timeline that you get before the concert, that timeline really makes sense and is accurate to the minute and it sticks to what is written. But I would say that in the Balkans, this is quite impartial, but in the Balkans we were really, I would say, treated like kings. In all aspects. As for the media... At least for me, it was the first time in the Balkans that a music journalist came and asked questions with 100% respect. At no point in the interview was there any hint of cynicism, which is practically in every interview here in Slovenia. Whenever there is some success or praise, there is a small 'but' in the next sentence. There is always something negative to point out, while someone who has a positive attitude also writes a really 100% positive article. And if someone is negative, they write it negatively. So that really really fascinated me. I have to say that the interviews in the Balkans this year were also heartwarming.

['Vse kar vem' plays louder for a few seconds]

Interviewer: Talking about positive things, have you ever had a negative experience? Maybe one... Have you ever had a hard time recently?

Bojan: Yes, absolutely. I'll say it like this, this year we gave our all, everything we had. We didn't have an ounce of energy left, that we could have saved just in case, but we went 800% with our heads through the wall. In every situation. And it left an impression on us, because we were tired and I was so tired that it started to show in certain stressful situations that we weren't used to before. For example, the stage was 1000% the safest place for me, but then by the end of summer, ['Padam' starts playing in the background] when I experienced a panic moment on the stage that then lasted for the whole concert, it left a mark on me and that stress and panic still lasts, for almost half a year from then. So, it's not a joke, when they say that you have to take time for yourself and slow down once in a while. But here we are, that moment has arrived, thank god. Next week we're going to London for two months, where us five are going to make music in peace. Well, in between we're going to fly to two concerts but almost two months in peace. So, yes, I'm very excited for that time.

['Padam' gets louder for a few seconds and continues to play in the background]

Interviewer: Maybe it's important in regards to this: when things start happening like in your case the task of choosing the people to surround yourself with, it's very hard. How do you manage situations like this? Where did you draw the line? How did you choose the people who help you? The people, like you say, who watch over you?

Kris: In the past it was always like this that we started working with people with whom we naturally developed a bond. With whom we have developed trust before we started the business collaboration or rather business relationship. And that basically functioned really well until Eurovision, then our presence suddenly broadened from Slovenia to the whole of Europe and the whole world, and here what we know how to do, and what the majority of people from Slovenia know, it's not enough to properly tackle the market. So we had to make a few quick decisions, we had to welcome a few people from abroad to our team that we might not have welcomed so quickly in Slovenia. But we said that this is the moment, when we have to trust certain people to help us. We established that trust in advance as much as it was possible. Now we have in our team, for example, people we got to know during Eurovision with whom we have already developed a relationship but we are still developing it and waiting. At the same time we had to say goodbye to certain people in Slovenia, even those who were a part of our team from the very start, because our situation is drastically changing, because our schedules no longer align, in regards to life, ambitions and business. So for me one of the hardest things this year was that we had to say goodbye to people who were with us from the start, because we're moving forward.

['Padam' gets louder for a few seconds]

Interviewer: In March and April you have a new concert tour. Before that, Bojan, you said there will be time for creating.

['Sunny Side of London' starts playing in the background]

Bojan: Yes, next year will be a little experimental from all aspects, so, not just the concert aspect but also from the creative aspect. We'll be creating music abroad for the first time. So, the next two months in London are devoted to writing, making the songs, rewiring our brains.

Interviewer: In English?

Bojan: In Slovene, English and Serbo-Croatian language. Maybe another one, but for now these three are planned. English will dominate for sure but all three languages will be on the album. In March and a little bit of April, we're going on this one month tour. Then we're going to a studio in Germany for one month, where we'll record the album. That is the studio where we recorded 'Carpe Diem' so we're already used to it. We're planning to put the March tour to good use with trying out what we will write and play in our rehearsal space in January and February. So the March tour will be the most playful tour until now, because at each concert we'll try out two, three songs from the new album, at the next concert we'll play another one. So each concert will be actually different and a different experience for the fans and for us. After the studio we are going on a festival tour that will probably also be quite extensive. Then we will return back home at the end of summer and slowly release the album in October, which means another tour for sure and then it's happy new year and merry Christmas and here we are.

['Sunny Side of London' gets louder for a few seconds and continues in the background]

Interviewer: Earlier I mentioned Finland, where you were already during the last tour. One of the concerts is already sold out, as far as I know, in Helsinki. Can you explain this phenomenon? Finland? Is this that story that developed from Eurovision?

Kris: Yes, for sure. I think Finland was the first country ever where we got a golden record and it was for Carpe Diem. We learned about that on tour, when we were in Finland. No one exactly knows the reason why Finland stands out the most. It's definitely the fact that they are big fans of Eurovision, so more of them came in contact with us. Besides that, we had a nice friendship, or rather, Bojan did, with their representative. That gave us additional exposure in this country. But there is clearly something with us and our music that resonates with their ethos and despite all the exposure they had something to hold on to, once they got to us.

Interviewer: You were talking about the golden record. If I mention a few numbers now. Your former PR representative, booking manager, I don't know what else he was responsible for, we're talking about Gregor, of course, he mentioned 45 million streams on Facebook. Now there are more, for sure. Your fee was raised 30 times and it's going up. In short, there are a lot of numbers. What does this bring?

Bojan: This brings a lot of things. Now, in the music business it's common that when you have a bigger fee you have to make a bigger and better production. In the end, it literally comes to proportionally the same fee you had in the beginning, but with a bigger show. In regards to that, our life absolutely hasn't changed. Maybe I could say that it could have if we had stayed in Slovenia... I can say that for sure. If we kept doing concerts in Slovenia we could get more out of it, in a financial sense. In regards to all the other aspects, in other words, how inspirational is it for a musician in how much it fills you, it's incomparable. We don't do music because of money, if we did we would probably either do a different kind of music or do it in a different way. But what drives us, is creating and that new faces in the crowd sing. Especially now, when we started going abroad, it's something incredible. To listen, to see the crowds queuing to come to your concert.

Interviewer: Can you also comment on my question?

Kris: Half of people will always resent you for changing and the other half for staying the same. No matter what you decide and because I personally know that a musician needs to grow in their career, so then I'd rather see that half of the people resent us for changing than for staying the same.

['Demoni' starts playing loudly for a few seconds]

Interviewer: Okay, our chat was recorded at the time that we on Radio Koper realised that Carpe Diem was the most played song in this past year. I told you earlier that the second one was 'Novi val', last year at this time, it was the most played song too. The song that now has an English version, with the great Elvis Costello in the main role. I still don't get it how you managed to pull that off.

Bojan: We don't get it either, honestly. Elvis Costello is someone who was musically connected with the band literally from the start. So, when we first drew the line under this shagadelic rock'n'roll and we called our music this made-up genre it coincided with Elvis Costello, who was acting and singing in the Austin Powers movie, where "shagadelic" came from. So it's an unbelievable common thread that came full circle in the end. Elvis has, in his own words, co-authored with very few people, Paul McCartney is one of them. So, when he told me that he co-signed this song with me, I wasn't really able to grasp that.

Interviewer: Okay. You are a part of the new wave. You're inviting us to the carneval. Generation of love and hope and so on. You are a part of some kind of a new wave that happened several years earlier, the so-called new wave 30 or 40 years ago. You know that there's this phrase that embodied musicians who had changed our story as well, and I dare to say that it was part of the reason why many things unraveled the way they did, for the better. I have a feeling, that you are also, please tell us for all five of you, a part of this new wave that wants things to lead in a better direction.

Kris: I definitely count on all five of us knowing and understanding and feeling that we are a part of the new wave and if I connect to the previous question about Elvis, I think he felt it too. Because this is the bond that we have with him, besides all the surface level things, shagadelic and I-don't-know what else. The bond we have with him is that we both started creating in a vacuum of new music and we made something out of it and I think he could feel it even without beeing present on the Slovene music scene. And if he could feel it, we have to trust ourselves that we are doing something right and we're leaving something meaningful behind us.

['New Wave' plays in the background]

Interviewer: Bojan.

Bojan: We are... the five of us, young people in 21st century, we grew up with the notion that from what we learned from books, everything will be better, all the mistakes have already been made and the world learned something, and now we can flourish. And unfortunately, it is becoming clearer by the day that not only have we not learned from our mistakes, but the mistakes have clearly been learned by those who want to, I would say, take these mistakes to a higher level for future generations who will learn about them in textbooks. So after all the musicians, all the songs that were encouraging peace and love, we are clearly just another wave who can do the same. I hope and believe that for those who want to hear it, we can change their world view and can make their everyday better to a degree that they don't feel a need to share their wrath and indignation with others. In reality, times are stressful and horrifying and we can only make them better by a tiny smidge, and we can appeal to people to be a part of the new wave. I think that the most we can do is that people might be able to recognise within themselves that "maybe I can do this better, I can do it more nicely, and if we share music, if we share love, this new wave can wave stronger."

Interviewer: Good luck.

Bojan: Thank you very much.

['New Wave' starts playing loudly]

~

Transcript by a member of JOS, translation by @varianestoroff, marusapersic and another member of JOS, proofread by a member of JOS.

#joker out #bojan cvjetićanin #kris guštin #podcast #ENG translation #Radio Koper

[londonspirit]

NYCC Rant

I am soo pissed on behalf of our beautiful cast!

I mean, they KNEW they couldn't talk about their amazing show (and mind you, I TOTALLY support the strike, no questions asked!) but whoever thought playing a stupid game for the WHOLE FUCKING HOUR needs to be given a VERY stern talking to!!!

You have six amazing actors on that stage, all with a shitload of life under their belts (sorry, Con *cackles*) - you could've let them talk about ANYTHING, could've asked about basically EVERYTHING, and they could've still adhered to the strike rules and made it a fun panel!!! (Somehow this now feels like the con itself didn't trust that they would actually do this which makes me even more mad!!! They've been on the lines, they KNOW what can and can't go, no matter how badly they WANT to talk about OFMD! GEEZ!)

But you go and have them play a stupid game, where two of them barely understood a thing (and you didn't do jack shit about it), the questions were silly and boring (which Rhys actually pointed about because that man was (rightfully) ANNOYED AS FUCK!) and for those of us at home some answers weren't even readable because the camera person didn't know where to go first.

They all TRIED so hard to play along but it was just sooo embarrassing to watch, and I feel so soo sorry for everyone, the amazing cast on stage and the people in the audience. (Even worse for poor Matt to have his first convention be like THIS!) (Yes, i am VERY mad at the wealthy studio assholes who are not able to see that paying their artists a living wage would benefit EVERYONE *grrrrrr*)

There could've been sooo many other ways to run this panel and sadly they really fucked it up. (Right now watching DT who's just rambling along about pizza and bagels, audio books, his dogs and all the NOT SAG things he'd done, (while adhering to the rules!) which is adorable but also a very good example as to how to do SO MUCH BETTER!!! (but then again, that moderator was PREPARED!)

So yeah, that was a terrible disaster and an utter train wreck, and I can only hope every other con after this (while the strike's still ongoing) does better - for the sake of the cast AND the audience!!! NOBODY deserves this!!! /rant end

Please understand I am NOT mad at ANYONE striking - they are NOT at fault! It's the fucking greedy studio bosses who think they can get away with their sleazy shit!!! But I am sad that the convention people weren't able to come up with something less humiliating for a cast that deserve the fucking WORLD!!!

#personal #nycc 2023 #ofmd #our flag means death #im just soo mad at the con people for making this such a horrible experience for everyone (or most of them from what I can see) #my mood has been terrible all week (aside from Thursday) #and right now I wanna punch people! #i was soo looking forward to this and it was the most insane disaster since that MS/JA/JP Nerd HQ panel way back when #basically ruined my entire day #so yeah

[malleusarcanum]

⚠️: Field Trip

Ashton : These muscles are impatient, I'll blast this bus off if you don't hurry up!

Crowley: You can't fly if you don't spread your wings enough.

Ashton:....

Sam: My friends of the other side translated what this raven want to squawk. You can't rush things.

Ashton: I know that, not only my muscles are active, also my healthy brain.

Trein: Tardiness is unacceptable or if you want our campsite be positioned by others.

Lucius: Meowwwwww!!!!

*Crowley ignored the cat. When he's done with lifting his 5 suitcases he went to his seat beside crewel*

Crewel: You have to be fashionable most of the time, those suitcases can be exempted but that type of clothing *raised an eyebrow*. Atleast these puppies knows that.

Mc: Is he referring to us?

Epel: Looks like it, but I can't wait to arive already. Even my sleep never visited me last night. *Yawned*

Mc: You can sleep at my shoulder.

Epel: I don't think I need....*yawn* maybe a.... Little.....*fallen asleep*

Vil: I want also a beauty sleep beside a majestic flower *sparkled his eyes*

Mc:.....

Mc: Then open that window and throw yourself out, I'm sure there's a flower planted there.

Vil: *sulked*

Mc*sighed heavily*: fine, Take a nap then *pointed at it's shoulder*

Vil: Can't I sleep somewhere softer?

Mc: *annoyed* *flicked Vil's nose*

Vil: Ah?!

Mc: Shh-

Epel: *rubbed his eyes* Am I seeing things? Vil looks like a red nosed reindeer?

Vil: Good News baby potato, you're not

------------while others------------

Lilia: Do any of you left something?

Silver & Sebek: *thinked* Meh nothing

Silver: Why old ma-

Sebek: shoot?!!!!!!

*the bus shakes after sudden drift*

*teachers turned their heads to Sebek*

Crewel: what was that?!

Ashton: Give me 10 pushups!

Crowley: I'm afraid push ups are not allowed here...

Ashton: hmp

Trein: Explanation must be provided after that life threatening situation.

Lucius: meaw!

Grim: I hate this pussy cat *whispered*

Ace: I'm glad you despise yourself

Ortho: *behind them tapped an audio meme at his tablet* Nani?!

Grim: Funyahhhh?!!!!

Idia: *scrolling yuutube shorts, played a song accidentally*

so pack up, go home, you're through 🎶

How can I make a man out of you? 🎶

Grim: They're really testing my patience!! Nyarhghhh! *Can't attack, Deuce hugged him*

Sebek: Apologies, I somehow forgot something.

Crowley: is it important?

Sebek: Without it I'll never have a peaceful mind and despair may conquer through those dark nights.

Ruggie: nightlight?

Kalim: happiness?

Jack: courage?

Jamil: Revenge?

Crewel: puppy?

Silver: *realized something* don't tell me you really left it?

Sebek: *nodded*

Lilia: No! Not the crocodile plushie

Everyone:.....

*Back seats*

Floyd: One hundred and five

*one car passed*

Jade: *another vehicle passed* One hundred and six

Azul: can't you be quiet?!

Floyd & Jade: Boringggggggg

Jade: Oh! Look! That one looks like Azul. *Pointed at a billboard promoting takuyaki*

Floyd & Azul: Where?!

*Azul then looked sharply at jade*

Floyd: Check this out! He exactly looks like Sea Slug

Azul: *arranged it's glasses* precisely.

Jade: Is he trying to catch this bus

*Azul, Jade & Floyd smirked*

*watching "MALLEUS" running desperately*

Cater: I wanna take it a picture!*lifted his phone steadily*

Sebek: Who dares imitate young master? *Stood up joining at the back seat*

Trey: Even the details of Malleus's face is captured, well portrayed.

Rook: Roi du Dragon! you must see this fascinating being

Riddle: Sit down! We're still in a bus! *Stopped after sensing himself that wants to puke, face turned green*

Leona: I haven't felt Lizard's presence.

*Mc got curious also looked*

Mc: shut the motherf**ker?!

*Everyone turned to find Malleus's seat*

Crowley: STOP THE BUS!!!!!!!!!!!

#disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #twst funny #twst x reader #twst disney #twst malleus #twst Crowley #twst crewel #twst ashton #twst sam #twst trein #twst deuce #twst ace #twst grim #twst floyd #twst azul #twst jade #twst sebek #twst epel #twst rook #twst silver #twst lilia #twst leona #twst mc #twst cater #twst trey #twst ortho

[det-loki]

A messy collection of my thoughts and theories for episodes one and two of 'a murder at the end of the world' :

• starting off with The Doors, already a yes from me

• this is my, hmm, sixth rewatch of both episodes? maybe more? Anyway, darby is warm colors, bill is cool. love this detail.

• The Silver Doe, silver earrings. I'm convinced Darby's earring means something. I've seen others speculate that it's reference to a hourglass. it's also similar to the logo of Andy's company.

• We meet Bill in the motel room and that is when I immediately knew I was a goner for this story. sue me, Harris Dickinson is handsome. I also love his terrible haircut

• Harris and Emma's chemistry is INSANE

• "Lee. She doesn't need my help." Oh, but maybe she does Darby. I don't trust Lee's husband in any way, shape or form

• When Darby stumbles down the (poorly made) stairs and bill asks her if she's alright? listen, i love them a whole lot. even if it's common decency to ask

• creepy fucking basement.

• bill protecting darby. BILL PROTECTING DARBY!!!

• was bill shot? did the person shoot themselves?

• I feel like importance of tattoos and meaning might come into play (darby looking at crime scene photos but also bill's and darby's)

• also during the scene where darby is being messaged by Andy's assistant, someone on reddit theorized that the letters on darbys open tabs are a code. Maybe?

• The health check before boarding the plane is raising red flags for me. Mainly the cheek swab. I dunno

• Alice Braga! You gorgeous human

• Martin reading Darby's book right in front of her is a little bit strange for a multitude of reasons but I'm definitely reading too much into most of my thoughts about it

• Darby's attention to detail is so good and such a wonderful element, considering the storyline

• Grimes.

• The closeup on Martin's nightmare on the plane. Obviously a deliberate camera choice. But whyyyy

• Flashback to Bill in the bath. I assume it's after they were confronted with the gun. Bloody rags and dirty water, Bill seems physically okay. previous point, was he shot?

• "I think this is both too much and not enough."

• Camera/Darby lingers on fisherman.

• Ray makes me nervous

• Oxygen tank to Lee's room. Strange. Food to Lee's room that Zoomer accepts, strange. Lee cleaning up the broken glass and making eye contact with Darby. very strange.

• The deep fake talk with Oliver about how you can make anyone say anything will definitely come back later. isn't audio recorded in every room or did I misunderstood that in ep 2?

• Lee and Andy are not selling me on a happy marriage. Back to maybe Lee does need Darby's help.

• Bill appearing at dinner. Was he late or early? the way bill and darby look at one another make me melt

• Also, as Bill sits down, Sian says 'definitely not him' meaning Andy didn't invite him, Lee did. And we later learn that Lee and Bill knew eachother. (how tf did darby not know that if she is such a fan of Lee. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEANNN)

• The lighting plays a huge roll. The halos above Darby and Bill at dinner

• I too would choke after seeing bill again for the first time in six years

• Lee's toast, 'to finding a way out.' And then Andy saying, 'together.' ???

• Zoomer. Robot child? Bill's kid? strange little dude nonetheless. (Zoomer doesn't/can't eat. Lee and Andy looking at one another while Zoomer and Bill play. darbys smile as she watches them. then the face bill makes after zoomer is called to sit down. and the way he responds to question of how old he is???)

• The pool scene. These people are so cliquey. yuck

• Darby punching bill and then immediately asking him for a drink. I get it. Also the way he looked at her after she punched him. Lovesick.

• Bill telling her how he loved her book, oh my God. "Really tough and fragile at the same time" fucking incredible line.

• Bill and Darby flirting

• "I need to tell you something." Insert Jennifer Lawrence clip, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!

• Darby runs into Marius, the hotel manager when she goes to Bill's room. Suspect but maybe too obvious?

• Bill asking her to stay as he dies. Holding hands through the glass. Him smiling at her. It's all too much for me.

• So much blood for someone overdosing? Head wound.

Episode 2:

• Darby's book in Bill's room covered in blood. Is that Bill's copy or Martin's from the plane?

• Everyone is very insistent on getting Darby out of Bill's room.

• The tea going to Bill's room. More broken glass

• Lee comforting Darby is very nice

• Rohan (fisherman) is the only one visibly upset and reacting like a human being told about a death

• Andy and Sian are acting like Darby is overreacting about his cause of death

• Andy saying that bill wouldn't want them to go home and quit. Dude, you didn't know him. Kick rocks.

•  Again, Andy and Lee are giving me bad vibes. Lee fawns around him, he speaks over her/for her

• Lu Mei seems uncomfortable when she says she'll stay, seemingly intimated by Andy or fearful of his reaction if she did say she wanted to leave. Therefore I don't think anyone is comfortable going against him. Power imbalance. Darby seems to pick up on this

• Darby going to see Bill. Her frantically asking Ray questions with obvious answers but she craves the validation that she isn't wrong about what she suspects....I'm so sad

• Bill's tattoos are so interesting and I crave meaning

• "Someone killed you."

• My knowledge of injectable drugs all comes from 90s rock musicians, so take that as you will. The needle in Bill's room is the strangest thing I've ever seen. It looks like a diabetic tester needle. And no fingerprints.

• Lee also going to Bill's room. The plot thickens (I need to re-create her outfit in this episode it's so good)

• Is Lee telling the truth about what she was actually looking for? Also her giving Darby advice. I very much like them teaming up together

• "Don't get caught."

• Is it possible that Andy/the hotel is fielding the internet? like when darby can't look up a hack for the doorbell cam. is this an ignorant question? Perhaps.

• Darby and Bill flashback! when bill offers to come pick darby up and she immediately freaks out and runs away from the conversation...I have never felt more seen or understood. me too, girl, me too.

• Do Lee and Bill having matching line tattoos on their forearms???

• Happy birthday Darby 🥺🥺🥺

• 04/14/2017 Zoomer's birthday.

• Darby has doorbell cam footage. employees have towels. noted. David on a phonecall.  Bill 🥲 (not wearing his ring) Ziba hears something, looks frightened and leaves. Bill's door opens from in the inside, hallway wall is illuminated.

• Bill's smile when he meets Darby in person for the first time. I LOVE THEM!

• Creepy mask person, go away!

• the diner darby and bill meet at is called Ray's

• I believe in love at first sight because of them.

• Frank Ocean. That's all.

#a murder at the end of the world spoilers #a murder at the end of the world #bill farrah #darby hart #harris dickinson #emma corrin #brit marling

[sinni-ok-sessi]

Five ships in five fandoms

with thanks to @tallangrycockatiel for the tag

Well, there's the Enterprise, obviously, the Surprise, the Terror, the Indefatigable...

OK no, I will do this properly

1. Lin Chen/Mei Changsu/Xiao Jingyan (Nirvana in Fire)

Coming in first and surprising absolutely nobody! I am so very onboard with any and all permutations of the Greater Liang Polycule, but I have a special fondness for Guy Who Is Very Invested In Mei Changsu and Guy Who Is Very Invested In Lin Shu becoming jointly Guys Who Are Very Invested In Keeping This Idiot Alive In Spite Of Himself. Also I love angst and this ship offers the incredible buy one get one free deal of grief that your best friend now has someone else who knows more of his secrets and grief that your best friend is burning his life up in service of someone else, all turning on the fulcrum of a man who would probably just die on the spot if he let himself feel one tenth of the things he's been repressing for the last decade. Also, I love characters who won't say what they mean, so. You know.

2. Charley Pollard/Eighth Doctor (Doctor Who Big Finish Audios)

God, they're so weird about each other. It's not romantic but it's not not-romantic and also at one point they eat each other's corpse in an anti-time universe (I think? It's been a while since I listened to Scherzo) and I remember experiencing a lot of confusing and proto-aromantic feelings over them when I was seventeen, so they deserve a mention

3. Francis Crozier/James Fitzjames (The Terror)

YES I FEEL WEIRD ABOUT IT OK. Constantly I am playing this game with my brain where a fic can neither be too historically inaccurate nor too obviously Just Straight-Up RPF and let me tell you, this narrows my options considerably. BUT. Hhhh. The fact that they're doomed from the start. The way both of them, through sheer effort of will, put aside the selves they've been playing and better, truer people, in circumstances that really would have justified the opposite. They're doomed and they keep trying anyway. I'm going to go stare at a wall now and maybe bite something.

4. Kirk/Spock (Star Trek TOS)

I know, I know, I'm basic, but look, I didn't get an E in C4 maths because I was too busy writing k/s fic to revise to deny this truth of my heart now. What can I say, I love a man who is repressing a planet's worth of emotions at any given time. I love gentle bickering, I love putting your life in someone else's hands with absolute trust, I love this simple feeling. Ok, gonna go stare at a different wall for a bit now

5. Crowley/Aziraphale (Good Omens)

This one's dedicated to last summer, when I spent three months losing my goddamn mind, having been a casual Good Omens enjoyer for years at that point. I love all the permutations of these characters, but I do especially love watching Michael Sheen and David Tennant's faces do things. I think I mentioned before my love of characters who won't say what they mean, and I especially enjoy SIX THOUSAND YEARS OF IT AND COUNTING. Also, as someone who didn't so much break with the church as saunter vaguely away, GO fic sure does tap some long-buried part of my psyche.

~

I have all the object permanence of a concussed goldfish, so I'm almost certainly forgetting some personality-defining ship, but! I have done my best and no one should criticise me!

tagging @betweencrossedblades @trans-cuchulainn (you can count each tain recension as a separate fandom if you like), @cendiar , @bitterflames and anyone else who'd like to do it

#insert my usual disclaimer here that I don't have a moral issue with rpf but it is something of a squick for me personally #tag games

[johnandrasjaqobis]

okay time to actually make a proper post about this, hey u Neverafter fans, the season is over and was glorious and now. perhaps. you find yourself wanting more dungeons and dragons that delves into horror.

because come on, the death, the briars, the corruption, the chance for death at every turn, it's dope

may I then draw your attention to the Fool and Scholar podcast, d&d actual play, Dark Dice

Six travelers set out searching for a town's missing children. Their journey leads them into the ruinous domain of the Nameless God. Even if they do manage to return, they will never be the same.

like. holy shit my guys, Dark Dice is so good. Fool and Scholar has won a frankly insane number of podcast awards (including a fully Webby) for their shows, for everything from writing to music to sound design, and all of it shines in this podcast. Originally played as an ice breaker before the cast of another of their shows (The White Vault) met for a live performance, Dark Dice has taken on a life of its own and it is a masterpiece.

Travis, the DM/sound designer, edits the actual table recordings extensively to cut down on the slow moments (especially in combat) of doing math or rule clarifying for the new players, but leaves in the little bits of ridiculous table talk that can't be avoided even in a horror campaign. All npcs are fully voiced by other actors, longer bits of dialogue are sometimes rerecorded for better clarity, but the whole story is just as the game was played and it makes the show straddle the line between actual play and just a full on audio drama.

And as I said. good lord, this is a horror campaign.

There is not, I will note, nearly quite the levity that D20 brings, though imo that does make the jokes and ongoing bits all the funnier. The stakes are high -- higher than the characters have any concept of at the start -- and death is a very real threat at all times. Travis made his own critical hit chart to roll on that can have devastating consequences (because you might get an even better hit than you expected on an enemy with a roll, but they can also just as easily crit against you), there's a stress mechanic similar to Call of Chtulhu's that can steadily make the DM an unreliable narrator, have a character questioning what they're really seeing, even turning on the party, etc etc

anyway. Dark Dice is incredible. content warnings are included (and should be minded) at the end of every episode description wherever you happen to find the podcast. They have free transcripts for every episode on their Patreon. Jeff Goldblum (yes that Jeff Goldblum) plays with them in season 2 because Travis decided on a whim to write a nice email and then people just kept not telling him no.

Get your next horror dnd fix. Meet the absolute asshole that is The Silent One. Give Dark Dice a shot.

(and if you are perhaps into the idea of running this game yourself well, Domain of the Nameless God is currently under a revamp but should be available again soon, I have run it two times now -- two and a half if you include the speedrun that was absolute chaos -- and it is a deep and heartbreaking and immersive story to subject your table to)

#part of me wants to go more into some of the horror stuff but like......it's So Much going in blind #and i think it's worth it to just know it's Horror and see where Travis goes with that #neverafter #dimension 20 #dark dice #(pls message me if you want me to ramble about this more in detail i love this show so much)

[twoset-updates]

[100623 hong kong vip meet and greet audio recording + transcription]

link to recording: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV19h4y1G7zp/

transcription of Q&A section below:

notes:

transcription/translation has been done to the best of ability; some parts were unclear due to noise, slurred speech, etc. 

note that as there is no video, there may be missing context from facial expressions or gestures.

any participants’ names mentioned are not written here as we do not know how their names are spelt.

those asking questions are referred to as Q[number].

approximate time stamps have been provided at intervals.

minimally edited for clarity. (they say “um” way too often.)

00:19

Staff: So we’ll first start off with a Q&A session, and afterwards it’ll be a signing, of course, there’s... so I’ll give the floor to Brett and Eddy. Thanks.

Brett: Thank you, thank you. [away from the mic] Can you guys hear me? [into the mic] Do I need this? This is better?

Eddy: Hi. Oooh.

B: Okay, we can use the mic.

E: I wanna see if there’s autotune. [sings offkey]

B: That’s a A?

E: [sings note] That’s an A. [sings again] Anyone with perfect pitch? No? No? Okay. Oh, in the front, nice. [sings again] That’s an A, right?

B: That’s an A?

E: Just checking, nice, nice.

B: [sings note]

E: Sounded a little bit sharp.

B: [sings the same note in a lower octave]

E: That’s sharp.

B: That’s not an A. [sings again in a higher octave]

E: That’s an A, but it’s sharp.

B: A-sharp.

E: No, it’s not A-sharp.

B: Okay, I’ll stop embarrassing ourselves.

01:14

B: Well, everyone, thanks so much for coming. This, we’ve actually been in Hong Kong for a few days now, right?

E: Yeah.

B: Um, it’s been like, five days? Six days? Can’t remember. It’s been a– This whole week has been a blur, because we’ve been preparing for our very first concert—tomorrow—of the tour. And it’s actually a special one ‘cause it’s with the HKFO orchestra, right? And so there’s a lot of moving parts, and this week, I don’t know, Eddy, what has been your favourite part of food in Hong Kong, so far?

E: I don’t know, I think Hong Kong just has some of the best, you guys have some of the best food in the world.

B: I have to agree, like—

E: And it’s not just like, Hong Kong food, it’s like, all different cuisines. Like yesterday we had a buffet, and it was just like...

B: Everything was there.

E: All the different styles, I’m like...

B: We even had pizza. And it was pretty good.

E: Yeah, and we even had like chicken rice, and like, [quietly] to be honest, I think it was better than Singapore, but... [normal volume] Can I say that? [laughs] Yeah, so I think the food here’s been great. The weather’s nice, actually. I know people think it’s really hot, but, y’know, Australia and Singapore also get pretty hot, as well, so... We’re used to it, I think. Yeah. 

02:33

E: Um, so yeah, it’s been really crazy, and we’re really– we really want to– I can’t wait to show you guys the show, but we– we think we should keep most of it a secret. I am just curious though: okay, raise of hands, who here plays an instrument? [pause] Nice. Okay. Can I– I’m curious, who– Keep your hands up if you have done, like, a music exam before, like ABRSM. [pause] Nice.

Brett: [laughs]

E: I think you guys will enjoy tomorrow’s show, then, ‘cause it’s– we wanted to– it was inspired off, like, we want to make it kind of relatable to what it’s like being a music student growing up, but... Yeah, I don’t know if there’s anything you want to say before we go to Q&A.

B: [mic malfunctioning] Does anyone– [inaudible] Hello? Hello? [mic works again] Hello? I think I can– [quietly] I think I accidentally turned it off. [normal volume] Anyway.

03:33

B: Did anyone go to our last show?

Fans: No.

E: Oh, wow.

B: Well, no one– no one came back. [fans laugh] Well, this might be your first and last one, too! [laughs]

E: Oh, no.

B: No... Okay, no, it’ll be fun. We can’t say too much, but Eddy kind of hinted at what it might be like, so I think I’m super excited. It’s also like, when it’s the first show, it’s– we never really know what’s gonna happen, too. So it’s kinda just, we’re gonna get thrown into the stage, just see just (a) pit of people, and we’re gonna just go from there, see what happens.

E: Yeah. Um, I mean... Yeah, ‘cause it’s like, we try to come up with a script, and a storyline, right? And we put in, like, jokes that we think, or we hope, are gonna be funny. But again, like you guys will be the first ones to hear this. So I’m really hoping there’s not gonna be like, dead silence, just like, no one laughs at your joke—ugh, just die on the inside, right? Nah, I think it’ll be fine.

04:38

E: Should we open up for some Q&A?

B: Yeah.

E: I’d love to chat with anyone that has some questions. Okay, lady there in white first?

Q1: Actually I have two questions. Number one is, your YouTube channel has been established since 2014, and that time you came in that your dream is to bring classical music to more people, and continue to inspire the next generation. Now, I think your dream is come true, right? So, then, what’s your next career path? What will you do, say, after twenty years? Still the YouTuber? Or do a few, some music school to educate the young– [inaudible, fans cheering] Ling Ling School.

B: I don’t know, I think Eddy wants to become a TikToker next. [laughs] Just kidding.

E: I’m too old for that, man. [laughs]

B: That’s a really good question. I don’t know how to answer that. I think...

E: I think if anything, you should show them your, uh, Arigatou dance, that you’ve been practicing.

[fans cheer]

B: [laughs] Let’s not preempt anything for tomorrow.

E: [laughs]

Fan: We can sing it for you!

B: [laughing] Oh, no no no.

Q1: [inaudible] Professor in Hong Kong.

06:06

B: Oh, professor in Hong Kong. Okay, look, I think for– [sighs] it’s tricky, because if you asked us ten years ago, what we would do, and say, ‘Look, we’re gonna make YouTube videos, or do these skits online, or tour over the world,’ we wouldn’t have believed anyone, right? We wouldn’t know. And one thing is for sure, is we never really know what would happen in ten years. We can only kind of guess where we’re going, kind of like, which direction we’re going. 

And we’re r– Actually we’ve– First of all, we’re really fortunate to have people watch our content, and then doubly fortunate to have people also inspired to pick up an instrument. Like we’ve seen that countless of times, wherever we go. I don’t know how it happened; I think, maybe we’re just someone there that... I mean, when we were growing up, we were basically watching violinists like Oistrakh online—like, black and white. That’s all we had on YouTube. And I remember my lap—like my violin’d be on my lap, I was watching, (and I’d) like play (the violin), trying to copy the violinist. But there wasn’t actually any YouTubers, like, in those times.

07:10

But in the future, I think educators is also definitely something we wanna do. Definitely always trying to—what’d that say?—make the pie bigger, or something. Like, so more and more people can come into classical music. And I think, I feel like, it’s not just us, it involves a lot of– more people as well. So, more– I mean, the last three years, there’s been a lot more classical music content creators. Which is a good thing. We’re bringing into more awareness that classical music is something that is just generally good for us, yeah—all the practice we do. And it has– I think it has good value, since practicing, you know, hard work, discipline—these are the things that we learn being a classical musician. Um, yeah, hope that answered your question. Um, [laughs] I just–

07:52

Q1: And the second question is, so, will you have the pressure from like, negative comment? Especially when you have, sometimes, [unclear]. How do you handle the haters and release your tension?

B: Wait, I just heard, what did I– is it back pain? Or–

Fans: [laugh]

B: Oh, Blackpink! I heard back pain!

E: Yeah, my back’s a bit sore, like– [inaudible, fans laughing]

B: I legit heard back pain.

E: [laughs]

Q1: So, how do you handle the haters, and like, let it out?

E: [groans] I mean, do you wanna answer that one?

B: I mean, I get back pain.

Fans: [laugh]

E: Like I think... Let me quickly ask Paganini. Because it wasn’t us, so it’s Paganini that had all the haters. So now, I’ll quickly call Paganini. 

Yo man, Paganini, how’d you handle the haters? [pretending to be Paganini] I just flex on them with my Paganini 24 Caprices! [inaudible, fans cheering]

08:56

Um, I don’t know, I think... I remember very clearly that day that we posted the video. And the first one or two hours were just, like y’know, Twoset subscribers, fans, watching it. They were like, “Oh, this is so clever, this is funny,” right? And then I remember at the time, we posted around our, like, midnight. So I was like, “This is kinda too calm. It’s like the calm before the storm.” I was like, “I’ll try to go to sleep,” but I couldn’t sleep that night, I was just like, “I feel like something’s gonna go off.” But eventually, y’know, after lying in bed for one or two hours, I fell asleep. Then I remember [laughing] when we woke up—

B: [laughs]

E:—it’s like, all my phone notifications (going), “DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!” I was like, “Oh my god.” And then so I remember reading through (the notifications/comments). And, to be honest, it’s like we kind of– I mean, we know how the internet works, and we expected the possibility that this would happen. So when it did happen it was like, “Okay, fair enough.”

10:00

I think, the– I did think one thing that caught me off guard at the time was, I was shocked at how much they went not just at us. ‘Cause I knew they were gonna come for us and say things about [inaudible]. But I was shocked that they came for everyone we knew. So I remember at the time, we met, like, James Ehnes—that soloist—the week before. And they were like, threatening him. They were sending– and he– I remember he, like, messaged us, and he’s like, “Who’s Blackpink?” ‘Cause he had no idea, and we were like, “[groans] Okay.” So we had to explain all that. And I remember the time they were trying to cancel our Mendelssohn with the Singapore Symphony, and so that was a little bit, like, shocking.

10:47

Um, but I think, I don’t know ‘bout you, but for me, it’s like... it was like– Okay, so first of all, when all the hate started coming in, I remember thinking, first of all, a lot of it was, like, kind of not very... intelligent comments, right? It was just like, vomit emojis, and poo emojis. I’m like, “Okay, I haven’t really read anything that’s legitimate,” you know, so I’m like, “Okay, that’s okay.” But then, I remember, like, it was really interesting to see, during that time, my– our close friends really stood up for us. So I think that was really... thankful. I mean, ‘cause you still feel it, right? You know it’s gonna happen, you know it doesn’t make sense, but you still kinda feel like, “Whoa, what is–” There are these people telling us to, like, literally do all these bad things and stuff, right? So I think it was cool, just how, like, our friends supported us, and be like, “Oh, just don’t listen to them.”

11:46

And then, obviously, I remember there was, like, after six hours, then a bunch of positive– you know, a lot of Twosetters came to support and defend us again. And that really helped, seeing people, like, stand up for us. I think it was really funny too, like then– it became like a fan war, as well. Like, BTS ARMY people were standing up for us, and I was like– I don’t know, it became like a battle between them, and I was like, “I have no idea what’s going on, this, like, K-Pop thing,” but um, yeah.

12:17

I think, going back to your question, how do we handle the hate? I guess... yeah, like, it just helped having friends and knowing that– and having, like, fans support us. I think that was the most important thing. I think if everyone was telling us what we did was bad, then I’d probably actually have a existential crisis. But you know, we had friends that was like, “No, I think what you did was fine, don’t worry about fans”—like you guys, you know—“it’s okay.” And then, also just knowing– ‘Cause I think also knowing, deep down, I think what we did was, like, it wasn’t... wrong. Like, I think– I mean, come on, standing up with– The whole theme of the song is like, you have to, at a certain point, stand up for your own values, right? And so, deep down, I– we believed in what we were saying. And when we looked at the comments, no one made us change our mind, because every comment was just like, poo emoji, so I’m like, “Okay, I think we’re still in the right,” y’know, so... yeah. That’s my perspective, I don’t know about you.

13:25

B: Uh, I think I forgot everything, it’s just [inaudible, fans laughing]. No, okay. It’s the same, I– Look, “haters always gonna hate”, we all know that line. And that was definitely, like, the most we’ve ever gotten. And Eddy was right. I remember watching the video, also kind of lying in bed. I was thinking, “I should probably go to sleep, this video... took a while to work it out.” And nothing happened, I was like, “Oh wow! Eddy, I don’t think we went hard enough.” No, I’m just joking. I’m like– And we did have a lot of iterations of the...

E: The lyrics.

B: The lyrics. So the one that we put out was actually quite mellow, [laughs] [unclear] what we had. But we did think that our original one was too far, so we’re like, “Okay, no, let’s just turn it back.” But like, it’s just another... you know.

E: It wasn’t us, it was Paganini, by the way.

B: Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, it’s, uh, Paganini, yeah, yeah. And then Mozart kinda just pranked Paganini the whole time, too, so.

14:29

[staff speaking inaudibly]

Yes. Oh, okay, okay, okay, sorry. We gotta get on to the next question. So sorry, let’s get on to the next question. [Brett and Eddy talking at the same time, Brett laughs.]

E: Do you want to choose? [Brett speaks inaudibly] Um... I don’t know, you choose. I picked the one before.

B: White mask.

E: White mask? 

[some people speaking, trying to identify which person]

E: Okay, yeah.

Q2: Hello, Brett and Eddy.

B: Hello.

Q2: I’m [name], and I have been a fan since the Ben Lee video, in 2019, and–

E: Since which–?

Q2: The Ben Lee video.

B: Oh, Ben Lee video– [inaudible, fans laughing]

E: Sacrilegious.

Q2: And it’s really a dream come true, to get to meet you in person. And so I would like to ask, out of the many videos that you have made, except for those million (subscriber) drops, do you have any particular videos that you like the most, or you feel (are) very memorable?

E: Mm. Um, sorry, can I just check, uh–

[commotion, sounds like some kind of accident happened]

Someone: You okay?

Q2: Yeah, I’m okay.

15:43

E: Okay. Um, “out of all the videos which ones we feel are memorable”, is that the question, right? [pause] Okay, this is recent, like, just ‘cause it’s fresh off my mind, but actually the video we posted yesterday. I don’t know if you guys saw, it was really fun. But we got invited to a univer– our old university, to be adjudicators. That was really... it felt really special to us, because it was where we studied, and we both did the competition before. And, uh, I didn’t win it, so.

Fans: [laugh]

E: But now I’m the adjudicator, so I was like, y’know. But I think that was really fun. There’s so many that I really like. Have you guys seen the video with, um, where we spoke Chinese, and the two spoke Korean, Hyung and Angie? That was really funny. And like, “ddongssa”, and we thought that was rosin? I really like that one. I don’t know, Brett, do you have any that stick out for you?

16:49

B: Uh, for me– Okay, that adjudication video we did, posted a couple of days ago, was special. One that stuck out straight away was the Among Us video we did for the Mendelssohn octet. I don’t know if you guys seen that one. That was really fun, especially playing with other people, and trying to figure it out, all that stuff. So that was definitely special. And... what else is there...

E: We did a video with HKFO actually, this week. And that was a really fun one, so–

B: Oh, that was it, that was good.

E: I’m pretty excited for that as well. Yeah, so many (videos), I don’t know. It’s like, it’s been ten years of making videos, almost. I think this is our tenth year, right?

B: Yep, [inaudible]

E: Yeah, so um... yeah.

B: The back pain is real now.

E: Yeah, the back pain [inaudible]. Yeah. Any other questions? Uh, yes?

17:47

Q3: Actually, it’s you guys who inspired (me) to study music next year. And I have grant to study abroad, to UK, [inaudible]

E: Oh, nice. Exciting.

B: Oh, congratulations.

Q3: Thank you.

[fans clapping]

Q3: And I want to ask, what’s suggestion would you guys give to someone who’s going to study music?

E: Uh, can I ask what instrument you play?

Q3: Trombone and piano.

E: Trombone and piano... I don’t have– I don’t know trombone advice.

B: I’ve never heard of that combo before, trombone and piano. Do you– Do you have a– Do you have one that you like more?

Q3: I think trombone.

B: Ohhh......

Q3: ‘Cause, like, the ratio of female and male trombonist is, like, one to nine. So I–

E: One to nine?! Wow.

Q3: I’ve only met around, like, five female trombonist in Hong Kong. But, yeah, but imagine it’s like, 100 people who play that.

E: That’s true, I’m trying to think about all the orchestras we played in. How many female trombonists have we seen?

B: None.

[fans laugh]

E: Queensland Symphony was all guys. Sydney Symphony?

B: None. They’re all–

[fans laugh harder]

E: Wow.

B: They’re all, they’re all usually on french horn.

E: Yes, usually.

B: Female players usually play on french horn.

E: Or trumpet, [inaudible]

B: Or trumpet, yeah, trumpet and french horn. Trombone, wow, you’re a first, I guess.

19:17

E: Actually, can I ask? How do trombone players view tuba players?

Q3: Can you repeat that?

E: How do trombone players view tuba players? Is it kinda like violin and viola?

Q3: Yeah, it’s like violin but it’s– there will be a few notes in one position, and you need to memorise them.

E: Okay.

Q3: Yeah.

E: Interesting. Yeah, I don’t know. What advice would you give, going to study in the UK?

B: You gotta book out all the practice rooms in advance. I know a lot about students’ struggle with that overseas, like UK, or the US.

E: Oh, what school? Have you– do you know that?

Q3: Um, that is [name] School. It’s a girls’ college–

E: Oh wow.

Q3: –and I got the scholarship

E: Oh wow. ‘Gratulations.

B: Lowkey flexing. [laughs]

20:02

E: Um, I think... hmm... I don’t know, I don’t know how to give, like, advice very well, ‘cause I feel like advice is always best when it’s like specific to your situation, that’s why–

Q3: So like, what would you suggest to adapt to this new environment?

E: Oh, okay. Adapting to new– you mean, in a different country, or in like a music school?

Q3: Music school, yeah. And I think it works in different countries, as well.

E: Mm... I think, um... My mind’s blanking, [unclear]

B: There’s like, numbers coming out of his head. [high pitched calculation noise] [laughs]

20:50

Okay, I’ll say something. I think when you go– are you going by yourself?

Q3: Yes.

B: Okay, I think, first, definitely meet– you’ll meet a lot of people, right? And always try to get with the community there, the people around you. Because I think when we’re studying, the one thing that’s important is about the people you spent the time with, right? So all the musicians are there, they’ll make you practice, they’ll keep you kind of in check. It’s definitely important to kind of mingle with them, and– I assume you’re, might have to try and get used to the lifestyle there? I mean, I don’t know what the lifestyle is like, but I know that brass players also drink a lot. [laughs]

Q3: Stereotype!

B: [laughs] Sorry. And you’re doing two instruments as well, so definitely... This is like a Sophie question, ‘cause she plays violin and piano, quite well.

E: Yeah.

Q3: I played violin before but the teacher was–

B: Whoa.

Q3: –so weird, that playing the [unclear], like, throw the [unclear] or something, if I play wrong notes, yes.

B: Was your teacher a Blackpink fan? [fans laugh] Just kidding, just kidding.

21:54

Okay, like, look, yeah, I– look, you have to just go with the flow. I know definitely it’s going to be chaotic at the beginning, but just know, after a few months’ time you’ll start settling in. I know when I first moved to Sydney—this wasn’t studying, but when I went to play with the Sydney Symphony—it was very chaotic. Just– I checked my schedule, like, everyday, just trying to make sure I’m on time. But after a while you get used to the flow, and then I think your normal practice routine will be back. So just– if you– it might be stressful at the beginning, so it should be alright, eventually.

E: Yeah, I think it’s just really exciting.

Q3: Yeah.

E: Sounds like a really big step in your life, and just, I think, make the most out of it. I don’t– You seem like you know what you want. You seem... I actually don’t think there’s much advice, other than just to enjoy it as much as you can. You will look back when you’re our age, thirty, like us, going back to uni and be like, “Those were good days.” So yeah, have fun!

Q3: Thank you.

22:57

[inaudible speaking]

E: We’ll go for a few more questions? I think we’ll go for a few more questions, yeah. Thanks. Uhh, Brett, choose.

B: I don’t– uhh, one in blonde.

Q4: I’m so nervous, I typed the question down on my phone, so I will [inaudible]. Since you guys started running your YouTube channel as a hobby, and it turned into a second profession other than being a violinist, I want to know how do you keep the passion alive to work in this situation? Because I’m also turning my hobby as a kid, drawing, to my future career. I’m going to attend art school this year, and I got into my dream school this year! Hooray! Uh, and, so I just wanna know– uh, so I’m already starting to see drawing as a work that has to be done, and I lost the motivation to draw as passionately as before. So, how do you balance– how do you balance it? And how do you [inaudible]. Thank you!

24:01

E: That’s a great question. Brett? [fans laugh] You guys are asking some really difficult questions, actually. That’s a very deep, philosophical... I think we need Wise Yang Sensei, with the life advice.

“How do you keep motivated when your hobby becomes your work,” is your question, right? Um... I think, for... Okay, I think for us, it’s about remembering why, and not losing sight of that. So it’s like, why do you love doing what you do?

24:52

And because it’s... it’s tricky, right? Because we always have to balance things with, kind of, reality, you know? I can’t– Sometimes, once it becomes your work, you have to meet deadlines, you have to work with clients, and sometimes clients might want this or that. And, you know, it’s part of what it’s like to make it your work. But I think if it feels like you’re losing motivation, maybe it’s time to kind of– rather than facing outwards, kind of go back inwards, and reconnect with the reasons why you love doing this—like a “why do you think it’s a good thing”.

25:38

That’s been it for me. I think, like, for example—I said this all the time—like, with YouTube as well, it’s like, it’s easy to fall into that frame of, like, “Oh, as a content creator we’re just chasing views, and then making content.” And there’s definitely been times where we felt the pressure to just make a video to keep making videos, or to make sure we get views, ‘cause if we stop making videos then it’s the internet and people forget about us in two days, you know, things like that, right? 

But then, at the end of the day, it’s like... You know, we did take some time off, and that was scary at the beginning. And then we realised, “Oh, it’s okay, people are still here.” And over time, you kind of decide, “Well, okay, these are the type of videos that we do want to do, because we know we’ll genuinely have fun. And then some video ideas, we know, probably will get a lot of views, but it’s just not something we want to do.” And then so, we’re like, “Okay, y’know, might be a good video but we won’t do it.”

26:46

So, I guess it’s to strike that balance between the job, or what you have to do, and fulfilling what you want inside. And if you don’t feel good, always just to– it means the balance might be a bit too much that way, (so) just kind of (pull) back a little bit. I don’t know if that answers your question.

Q4: Yes, [inaudible].

E: Alright, thank you.

Q4: Thank you!

E: Do you have anything to add?

B: No, I think you answered the question.

[all laugh]

27:12

E: Sweet. Any more questions? Uhh, I saw you raise your hand? Yeah, in black.

Q5: Thank you, Brett and Eddy. What is the most significant critiques you received from your comments, and how do you take that and make improvements? Maybe each one of you?

E: Ooh.

Q5: Thanks.

B: Full of vomit emojis.

Q5: So Brett, you cannot say, “Eddy, you answer the question,” okay?

[all laugh]

E: That was a critique right there.

B: [laughs] Critique. Most significant critic– criticism.

E: I think the most significant critique on comments is, “Eddy, stop doing paper in scissors-paper-rock.” But I never learn from that—I keep doing it anyway. I don’t know, I feel like... I can’t actually think of any off the top of my head. Most comments I can think of have always been so positive. Um... Can you think of any?

B: I honestly can’t. I think– in terms (of) criticism, most significant criticism...

E: Gonna pull out the comments to our latest video.

B: Yeah... I–

E: [laughs]

28:31

B: I mean, when you say criticisms, without the “comment”, I start thinking about me being in my violin lessons—my teacher saying this and that. But in terms of online, it usually feels like... It’s actually just a lot of positive comments usually, honestly. I know a lot of people—you know, we have like, 100 positive comments, one bad comment—people are gonna zone in on that. But we’ve kinda gotten used to that? And we just been treating comments as a feedback, for us to see what people like, what they enjoy. And in fact, I’ve really enjoyed some of the comments people make. Like, they make really clever comments, or– things like that gives me a laugh. And that just keeps us going, doing our own thing. Um, and– I don’t know if there’s a specific one, but I also enjoy reading a lot of– ‘s not really criticism, but when people have a story to tell in their comments. Like what they went through, what they’re doing, how they got here, what things have been happening, you know—these things kind of help us– well, they inspire us to keep, kind of, doing what we do, so. I don’t know if I really answered that question, but yeah.

E: Yeah. Yeah, I can’t think of any negative comments of the top of my head as well, but I was just quickly scrolling through, just then. And there’s so many funny– you guys come up with the funniest comments. Someone was like, “If you can adjudicate slowly, you can adjudicate quickly,” ‘cause we took so long adjudicating that day. But yeah, I think that’s... yeah.

30:04

B: Are there any more questions? Uh, the pink.

Q6: Hello, Brett and Eddy, I specially flew here from Chengdu to see you, so I wanted to hear the both of you speak Chinese (Standard Mandarin)—

B: [groans]

Q6: I wanted to ask if you have any plans to tour Mainland China this year, and do you have anything you'd like to say to fans in Mainland China? Finally, I'd like to welcome you to Chengdu to look at pandas and eat hotpot.

E: Oooh, hotpot.

[B and E discuss inaudibly]

B: I only heard "eat hotpot".

Q6: Are there any cities you want to go to; any tour plans?

Someone: Any plans for tour in China?

Someone else: In Mainland China!

B: Oh, right!

E: Brett, I thought you were practicing your Chinese, why don't you understand?

Someone: And do you have any preference, for the cities?

31:08

B: Ohhh, okay okay. Do I have to answer in Chinese?

E: Yes, she said she wants to hear us speak Chinese.

B: Uhhh, I like to eat hotpot. I would like– I would also like to go to Ch– Chen...

Q6: Chengdu.

B: Chengdu.

E: Also, I want to—what was that city we went to last time—Guangzhou. We want to go to Guangzhou.

B: Oh, right. I forgot.

E: Yeah. We’re not sure, we were thinking we could do it next year, maybe, but the plans haven't been, like...

Someone(?): Confirmed.

E: Confirmed, yeah, we haven't confirmed them. We just have some ideas. Also, maybe Shanghai? I think Shanghai—

[fans cheer]

31:59

E: Oh wow, okay. Yeah. Because the both of us have been to Shanghai; Brett went with the Sydney Symphony.

B: No, it was to Beijing.

E: Oh, you didn't go to Shanghai?

B: We went to Beijing.

E: Oh, so it was Beijing.

B: Right. [fans laugh] Yeah.

E: Oh. Wait, so have you been to Shanghai?

B: Nope. [fans laugh] I want to go though.

E: I've been before, I joined a tour group with a friend. And I remember, was it Pudong, Puxi, or something? You know there's that river—

Fans: Huangpu River. [T/N: Pudong and Puxi are districts to the east and west of the Huangpu River respectively.]

E: Huangpu River. And so many people were taking wedding photos there! Everyone was—I remember there were weddings everyday. Yeah, there were like five people getting married, I'm like, holy moly. Yeah. So maybe Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou; we really want to go, yeah.

Q6: Is there anything you want to say to the fans (in Mainland China)?

E: Thank you for all your support, and we'll continue to practice 40 hours every day. Yeah, cool.

33:15

Like, it’s 5:10, maybe two, three more questions?

B: Okay.

E: Maybe it’ll go to 5:30 [inaudible]. Yeah, uh, few more questions, yeah.

B: Uh... okay.

Q7: Okay, I come from Guangdong, and I will [inaudible].

E: Oh, nice.

Q7: Yeah, and I will ask the third question from my friend, I’m a [inaudible]. She asked, is tomorrow allowed to take any pictures during the performance?

B: If you’re allowed to take pictures?

E: Taking photos during the performance...

B: I think so...?

Staff: Not during the performance.

B: Oh, okay. Yeah, not during the performance, but...

Staff: Afterwards.

B: But afterwards.

Q7: But afterwards. Okay, [inaudible], thank you.

34:06

B: Okay. Do you have another question? Uh... in the white [inaudible]. Yeah, third row, yeah, yeah.

Staff: Sorry, which one?

B: [unclear]

Q8: Uh, hi.

B: Hi.

Q8: I am [name].

E: Hello.

Q8: A casual question: so I am really into MBTI.

B: Oh!

Q8: So, I really want to–

E: Oh, I love MBTI too!

Q8: Yeah, yeah, I love– I really want to ask you guys, what is your latest MBTI test results?

E: Can you guess? What– Do you know what we are, in the past?

Q8: I? Uh, no, I think Eddy is E.

E: I’m E? Think I’m a E? Guess what we are!

B: Oh, if you know, don’t tell her! Just let her guess!

E: We’ve talked about it online before, so if you know, don’t tell her.

B: Don’t tell her, keep your mouth closed, keep quiet!

Q8: Yeah, but like, because MBTI changes, it always changes.

E: Oh, okay.

Q8: Yeah, so some– for some people it always changes, so I would really want to know that– did your MBTI change, of any sort?

35:04

B: Oh, I guarantee Eddy hasn’t changed. [fans laugh] It’s very potent. Okay, guess– do you want to guess Eddy’s first?

Q8: Uh, I?

B: Yep.

Q8: S?

E: Maybe? Just keep going– [unclear] it’s okay!

Q8: IS... F... Is it F? No, it’s T– No, I think it’s T. [laughs] Uh... IST... P?

E: ISTP? That’s not–

B: Pretty close!

E: That’s the yellow dude, right? ‘Cause I [unclear] their colours. Is it yellow, or is it blue?

Someone: Yeah, yellow.

E: Yellow, he’s yellow.

B: Yellow, okay.

E: ISTP... He’s the guy with the toolbox, I think... With the tools, the drill!

B: Yeah, the drill.

E: Yeah! Close, close—I’m actually a INTP.

Q8: Ahh, okay.

E: So I’m the purple scientist, who just like– yeah, just stays in my room and practice all day.

Q8: That’s good, that’s good.

36:12

E: Yeah. How about Brett? Can you guess Brett?

Q8: I... N...

B: [laughs] She’s on the spot.

Q8: Yeah, you put me on the spot!

B: IN...

Q8: FP?

B: Wow, you’re very close on both.

E: Close, close.

B: I’m actually ENFP.

Fans: Whoa......

B: Whoa, why is it like “whoa”?

E: You know what’s a really funny story about this, actually? Even Brett didn’t know he was extroverted, in the beginning. So when he first found out he was ENFP he’s like, “What?! I’m not extroverted!” And then our friend was like, “An introverted wouldn’t yell so loud.”

B: [laughs] I remember that.

E: Yeah, he was like, “What?! I’m not extroverted!”

B: Yeah, [unclear] “The introvert would not do that.”

E: Yeah.

B: And I think I was telling everyone I was...

E: You thought you were INFP, initially thought, too.

B: Yes, yeah. And I was telling everyone, I was like, “No, I’m introverted, I’m introverted!” And [unclear] was like, “...dude.”

E: [laughs]

B: “An introvert would not do that.”

E: Yeah. So you’re very close, actually, yeah.

Q8: That’s good, thank you–

37:20

B: What are– what are yours?

Q8: Oh, mine is–

E: Oh, I wanna guess!

Q8: Yeah, sure, guess!

B: [inaudible] gonna guess?

Q8: Yeah, I’m going to turn you back right on the spot!

E: Um... I think you are...

B: [quietly] How are you gonna guess?!

E: INFP.

Q8: No.

E: Aw, damn.

B: My turn, my turn. So I have one-in-fifteen chance.

E: Yeah.

Q8: Sixteen.

B: Sixteen?

Q8: Oh, no, sorry, fifteen, yeah, sorry.

B: No, one-in-fifteen, right? [to Eddy] You said INFP, right? No no–

E: Actually–

B: –no no no no no no no no let me– shhhh.

E: What colour do you think she is?

B: Uhh... ESFP.

Q8: Right. You’re–

[everyone cheering in shock]

38:08

E: Damn.

B: You know what gave it away?

E: What?

B: I think the way she dressed, it’s very outgoing. “Look at me, woo!”

E: ESFP... ESFP is the yellow one with brown [inaudible]

Q8: Yeah, it’s the Entertainer.

B: Wow...

E: Makes sense, makes sense. Nice.

B: Wow.

E: There’s uh, charades telepathy.

B: Do I get bubble tea?

E: [laughs]

Q8: Sure, sure! [laughs]

B: [laughs]

E: Nice.

Q8: Thank you!

E: Cool, thank you. That was a fun question.

B: [inaudible] we do one more question? Do we have time?

Staff: Maybe two more?

B: Two more, okay, cool. You can pick.

E: Um, alright. In the back, there?

38:51

Q9: Just a normal question: What’s your favourite movie, and why do you recommend it? Or which one do you think is the best use of classical music or violin?

E: Ooh, a movie.

B: That use–

E: Best use of classical music or violin.

B: Dude, that’s not a normal question, that’s a hard question. Whoa, that’s... Favourite movie...

E: That’s tricky. I’ll be honest, I don’t watch that many movies, so already that’s a bit hard for me.

B: Does anime count?

E: Yeah, I was gonna say, I watch anime. 

[fans say it counts]

E: Anime... but then there’s not that much anime with classical music. Obviously there’s Your Lie In April, there’s Nodame... They’re not really movies, they’re like series, right? What movie would you recommend, Brett?

39:59 

B: I’m still thinking, just– I’m not sure yet, I just– It’s– Okay. I have favourite movies. But the classical music part, it’s... I’m not sure I have one that sticks out.

E: Yeah.

B: But, uh... Grease– There’s always all time favourites, like the ones from... You guys know Inception? It’s been a while now, right?

E: Mhm. I like Inception.

B: The dream in a dream—that was pretty cool. In fact, actually, there was an anime that had that, called Paprika. Right, Paprika?

E: Mhm.

B: They had the same concept, with the dream in a dream. But in terms of classical music, I can’t really access that right away.

40:37

E: Yeah, nothing sticks out in mind, I just remember the bad ones, and like, not good ones. But, I mean—I actually haven’t watched this movie—I’ve heard The Pianist is really good. I’ve been meaning to watch it, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Apparently it’s really good, The Pianist.

B: Oh, The Pianist.

E: Yeah. But apparently, it, like, makes you cry. I hate watching movies that make me cry, ‘cause then I’m just like, a mess. The most recent movie that I watched that made me cry—have you guys seen Coco? (The) Disney movie? I know it’s not classical music, but it’s a very musical movie as well, and dude, that movie wrecked me. It was like, so sad, so.

B: I didn’t know that.

E: Right, ‘cause you think Disney’s like, just for little kids and stuff, but it was like, full deep. And it’s about music, and stuff, so. Yeah, that was a cool movie. I don’t know if that answers your question.

Q9: Did you guys watch the new Spider-Man movie?

B: Oh, I haven’t seen it yet.

E: Wait, which one is the new one? But is it the one with the three (Spider-Mans)?

Someone: Across the Spider-Verse, it’s the animation one.

E: Oh, no, I haven’t watched it. Is it good?

Q9: It’s really good.

E: Ooh, okay. Cool, we’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, thank you.

41:56

B: Oh, one more question. Uh... Okay, in the front.

Q10: Hi, I’m [name] and this my girlfriend, [name].

B: [laughs] You guys saw that? He just put his hands all like...

Q10: Well, we are both violinists, and we’ve been dating for, like, five months. And I just have one question, that, um... Do you guys, like, get competitive all the time?

B: Wait, wait a second. Is this– are you asking for a friend, or like...?

E:  Is this relationship counselling right now?

Q10: Friendship-wise, but like, do you get competitive all the time, and like, arguing who being the best– who being the better one? And if yes, how do you overcome it and deal with it?

B: So... does she ask?

Q10: I ask this question.

B: Ohhh.

E: Somehow I feel like the question’s not really about us.

[laughter]

 43:03

E: I don’t think we really do go competitive. Even like... okay, even back in uni, where we had some competitions where we’re against each other, we were never, like, competitive, you know? In the sense that we would still play for each other—like before our competition, we’d be like, “Hey, can you listen to my Mozart?” Or I’ll play my thing for you and just, you know, listen to each other, gives each other some feedback. I know there were definitely some students that were a bit more, like, weird about it. I remember, um...

B: Actually, for me it was similar. For the competitions, it was always about just making it through. Like, “Oh, you’re next, ohhhh.” I always thought about “Oh, who’s going first, who’s going second,” you know? And you can start playing these mind games with yourself.

E: Yeah.

B: So we don’t really get competitive. And honestly, I feel like I’ve never had the capacity to be competitive when I walk on stage. I just get really nervous, and I’m just trying to make it through the whole piece.

E: Yeah, same. It was almost like we’re both sharing the pain of going to this competition together, it’s like...

B: Yeah, but it’s not about us, so...

44:17

E: Oh yeah, that’s right, this question’s not about us. That is interesting though, actually. I have heard, you know, about musician couples. I don’t know, though. I don’t know what to say, Brett. Wise sensei, Yang-sensei. [laughs]

B: Okay, look—do you guys get competitive?

Q10: Sometimes.

B: Sometimes! Ohhh!

Q10′s girlfriend: Because we’re very, like, close in, like, level, and we’re gonna go to, like, university soon, and we’re both gonna study music.

B: Wait, so– but are you guys competing in the same university?

Q10g: Probably.

B: Probably? Have you got in the university yet?

Q10g: We have got in, and we both have full scholarships.

B: You both have full scholarships...

Q10g: And the same teacher.

E: Okay–

B: Whoa... Okay, this is– okay–

45:07

E: This is– okay, I have two ways of thinking about this, actually. I have the practical answer, which is interacting in normal day life. And then I have, like, the bigger picture—what I think about relationships.

So, I think, in life, meeting people that are genuinely close, that you form, like, life-long relationships with, is something that is so rare, and so meaningful. And that, to me, is always gonna be more precious than winning some competition. Like someone that you can trust, that you know that you guys will support each other. 

45:48

And so for me, like for people– like, for Brett, for example—like, I think it’s always that you should want the best for the other person, and you should also know that they want the best for you. And so, you know, if you see someone else exceed—even if, let’s say, for example, he won the Bach Prize and I didn’t, for example—even if in the moment I feel a little bit, like, jealous or envious—I’m not saying I did, I don’t remember how I felt, but if I did—I think at the end of the day, you should still commit. And there’s something you can practice, actually. Just practice being like, “No, I’m going to congratulate them, I’m gonna feel happy for them, because I want the best for them.” I think that’s really important, if you want to have a long–term– not even just relationship, like, a friendship, like a close friend, you know.

46:47

B: Yeah, I think you made a good point, like– Envy consumes you, if you’re not careful. Because it’s all inside you, you know. And there’s nothing to gain from envy—there’s literally nothing there, it’s just– you harm yourself inside. And it’s like Eddy said—yeah, envy happens? That’s why it’s one of—what’s that, like—seven deadly sins, or something. Like it happens, but it’s part of us to try and practice a way out of it, you know.

So you might feel it. It’s okay to feel it, you don’t have to be like, “I feel envy. Oh my god, I’m a bad person. Oh my god.” Just kind of be like, “Okay, well, it’s there, but I’m not gonna act on it. And I shouldn’t respond to it. I just look at it.” It’s like, “Oh, hi, envy. How’re you going? I’m going back to practice.” Just ignore it. And then, what Eddy said—it’s like, you practice congratulating the other person.

E: Mm.

B: So– and that’s– You’ll find that’ll help you in the long run, because then both of you, or who you’re congratulating, will help each other. And they say, “If you wanna go fast, you go by yourself; if you wanna go far, you work as a team.” So that’s really important.

47:52

E: Yeah. Even in the– I mean, even... Actually, that’s a really good point, right, like, when you’re young, it might feel like it’s just about who plays the best, who practices the most, who wins competitions. But actually, later, when you’re actually touring—and y’know, we meet a lot of soloists as well—who you know does matter a lot. And even if you’re the best player, if you just piss everyone off ‘cause you’re so competitive, no one will want to work with you. So that’s really important. Um, and–

B: He’s just– [laughs]

E: [laughs] Okay, but– [laughs] on a more day-to-day, practical level, I think—‘cause like, I have heard stories about this—I think the main thing is if someone else is practicing, don’t give advice unless they ask for it.

B: Oh yeah, don’t do that.

E: Don’t just walk into the room, be like, “Yo yo, I think your B-flat’s a bit out of tune, I think you should uh, work–” Like, don’t do that, don’t do that!

B: [laughs] [unclear]

48:53

E: It’s funny, though, ‘cause I’ve– we know, like, musicians that are musician couple—it’s a really common thing—and the insecurity... I have heard from– especially from couples where maybe one of them is more ahead in their career than the other one, it can feel like–

B: Or they’re in a string quartet.

E: String quartet is a big one as well. So, it’s– yeah, it’s not–

B: Oh, you guys in a string quartet?

E: Like it sounds funny, but it’s actually a tough challenge, and I hope– I wish you guys the best. Yeah.

Q10: Thank you.

E: Cool.

B: Alright, I think that’s it, right? Thank you, everyone!

E: Thank you, everyone, thank you!

49:34

Q&A session ends here. remainder of the video contains audio from the photo session, and op’s conversations, which will not be included here.

#twosetviolin #twoset violin #tsv in our eyes #tsv world tour #tsv in hong kong

[consanguinitatum]

David Tennant audios: Tuesdays & Sundays is an audio gem

As you all know by now, surely, I'm a David Tennant theatre buff, but right now I want to explore my other major passion with regards to his work: his audios. He's done a bewildering amount of audio work and a lot of it is really, really good. With that in mind, I'm going to concentrate on one of my absolute favorite David Tennant audio works: a 2003 audio entitled Tuesdays & Sundays.

Based on a true story of an 1887 series of events between a young woman named Mary Tuplin and her lover William Millman in Margate on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, Tuesdays & Sundays begins with the young couple's spirits as they "awaken into a void. As they question where they are, they recall and begin to relive the story which got them there: their giddy courtship and the overwhelming passions of first love, the pangs of a six-month absence, an unplanned pregnancy, and a guilty and shameful young man amidst a community in which respectability is of utmost importance. As they try to cope, to keep love amongst the fear and confusions of youth, these two spirits ultimately stumble upon their own tragic ending."

Sounds intriguing, yes?

Tuesdays & Sundays was originally a 45-minute play written by Canadians Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn. It was first performed in June 2000 in Edmonton, Canada, with the authors as the two principal characters William and Mary. Arnold and Hahn took the play on tours throughout Canada, Europe and the US and won many awards, including the Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding Fringe Performance.

In 2003, Arnold and Hahn were asked to adapt the play for radio; one for Canada's CBC Radio (which starred themselves) and once for the BBC. I spoke to Arnold about how the play got adapted, and he told me, “CBC Radio was the first to approach us about a radio version, and we performed it on CBC Radio with minimal adaptation. The Edinburgh Festival is where Sara Benaim of the BBC saw it, and asked about a radio adaptation for BBC Radio 4. We adapted the play accordingly, and…re-set it to [Tusket in] Nova Scotia, where there was much more Scottish settlement. Margate on Prince Edward Island was much more English. We made…the characters both immigrants from Scotland, which actually worked quite well.”

The BBC adaptation was broadcast on 16 June 2003 as the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon play and starred David as William and Claire Yuille (who later appeared in the first episode of 2010’s Single Father, credited only as a “Doting Mum") as Mary. And on top of all that, David and Claire also voiced all of the play's other minor characters!

Of David’s turn as the young William Millman, Arnold told me, “We were quite taken with his performance in it.” He added, “We were thrilled when we learned David Tennant would play (my role) William…and when we heard the recording on the BBC, it sounded fantastic.”

And it DOES! In my opinion, there are so many reasons why this play is stupendous. David and Claire are top-drawer. The dialogue is back and forth, breathless and imbued with teenaged giddiness, bullet-paced and conversational - both with each other and in asides to themselves - and it must've taken some doing for the two actors to get this pace down just right without running over the top of each other and blurring it into chaos. But instead, it creates a perfect tension-filled atmosphere that draws an audience in and makes this play a must-hear.

By this time I imagine you're wondering where you can hear or read this play. Well, here's a partial script. Here's the original Canadian radio broadcast at the Internet Archive (which is a great listen in and of itself) but, sadly, hearing David's version had become a bit more difficult. The Internet Archive had a copy once but it's been removed, and Arnold and Hahn's DualMinds website has almost 5 minutes of the play, but as it's based in Flash Player good luck getting it to work. But I won't tell if you won't tell - so go get it here while it's still available. ;)

Here's a cute little David in advertising for the play - and below, some other historical information about the events the play is based on. If you don't want to know anything about the play before listening to it (spoilers!) then don't look beyond this photo!

-----

The real Mary Pickering Tuplin was 17 years old when she was murdered, and her lover William Millman was convicted of the crime. Tuplin’s body was pulled from the Southwest River on July 4, 1887, just a short distance from where she lived with her parents in Margate. She had been shot twice in the head. Her body was weighed down with a heavy stone, and it was discovered she had been six months pregnant. Authorities separated her head from her body for forensic examination, and - bizarrely - it was never reunited with her body. It remained in the coroner's office, which eventually became a pharmacy. And there it remained until 2016, when it was finally reburied with the rest of her remains.

If true crime is your thing, you can access the entire report of the Tuplin-Millman murder trial, right here!

William Millman was convicted of Mary Tuplin's murder and was sentenced to hang. Despite the jury’s recommendation for mercy, he was hanged on 10 April 1888.

Many believe him innocent of the crime. Was he? It's highly unlikely we will never know.

#DavidTennant #DavidTennantAudios #Tuesdays&Sundays #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Here's a compilation I made of six different comedians (two per podcast) on three different podcasts saying something about different types of comedy, specially how it's different in Britain and American. Tumblr won't let me embed it even though I compressed it down to be under the max file size, so I'm using a Google Drive. It's just audio, but I made it a video instead of an audio file so I could add text to show what people and podcasts are playing at a given time.

I put those together and then I wrote down a bunch of thoughts about it, which I think start out somewhat coherent but get less so as I go along. It's a whole bunch of stuff I've been thinking about all shoehorned into one post just because they're all on a vaguely similar topic, like a hastily thrown-together Edinburgh show. The point is that I'm going to listen to Mike Birbiglia's albums. That's... that's the upshot. That's how all this started.

I found the chat with Hari Kondabolu especially fascinating, having heard a few of Hari’s comedy specials and albums, and heard him on The Bugle a lot over a bunch of years (also I saw his Problem with Apu documentary, everyone should watch that, and should know that he says all the time on The Bugle he doesn’t get royalties for it anymore so doesn’t mind how people find it, just watch it).

He’s an interesting presence on The Bugle, an outsider as an American, who was there from the very beginning of their reboot in 2016, so you can kind of watch him figure out what this is in real time. At first he audibly has no fucking idea what he’s signed up for, and as it goes along, you can hear him settle into an area of “Well I still don’t really understand why you’re doing this, but I see what it is now and have found a way to do my thing beside your thing and that’s fine.” That’s partly a reaction to Andy Zaltzman, because no one really knows what to do with Andy Zaltzman unless they’ve had a long time to get used to it (except for John Oliver, I’m pretty sure they just met at a student comedy gig in about 1999 and instantly said “Oh look, my comedy soulmate”). But some of it is also a reaction to the British stuff. The references to British politics and history that you get on a topical and political comedy show, and the way they approach all their material. I like hearing Hari Kondabolu on there, an outsider perspective who can pick it apart a bit.

So I found his Comedian’s Comedian podcast interview interesting – honestly the whole thing is worth a listen, even if you don’t really know Hari Kondabolu’s work, as a good analysis of political comedy and the mechanics of good comedy bits and British vs. American comedy and the comedy industry more generally. But for this post, my interest is the British vs. American stuff.

I cut out a big chunk of their Brit vs. American discussion on that episode, and put it in the video above. I debated how long to make the clip, to create what was meant to be a compilation of people discussing British vs. American comedy, and ended up leaving in some stuff that’s a bit off topic where they fawn over Daniel Kitson. I realize comedians fawning over Daniel Kitson is hardly such a rare and exciting event that it needs to be preserved, but I particularly enjoyed hearing Stuart Goldsmith and Hari Kondabolu do it, so I left it in when cutting out the clip. I’ve heard Hari bring up on a couple of other occasions, as well, that he’s wildly impressed and amazed by the Hotmail address.

Anyway though, the Kitson stuff aside, the clip from the Comedian’s Comedian podcast is mostly Hari Kondabolu and Stuart Goldsmith discussing how the Edinburgh Fringe Festival shapes British comedians’ careers into something different from what they are in America. They have to write a new hour every year, because there will be reviewers there who saw last year’s hour and will catch them out if they try to recycle material. Also because it’s a smaller country, so they can only tour one show in so many places before everyone’s heard it and they have to do a new thing. Hari Kondabolu is impressed with the work ethic but mildly horrified by the whole thing, and can point out some aspects of the system that people who are used to it just wouldn’t notice because they seem normal.

I think there are two major factors that mark out the Edinburgh-influenced British model of comedy  careering building as being different from, say, American stuff: the new hour every year and the way each hour has to be themed and coherent and structured and preferably built around some story or message. In Hari Kondabolu’s podcast episode he mainly talked about the new hour every year thing, but also briefly touched on the concept of themes. Stuart Goldsmith mentioned that tides seemed to be changing, as it used to be that themes would make you different and interesting, but not anymore, so they’ll become less common soon. I’ve just spent three weeks listening to 38 shows performed at Edinburgh 2023, and I can say, I’m pretty sure that prediction was inaccurate. Themes and throughlines abound, and I’m happy about that. I like a good theme.

I do think there are pros and cons to it, though, and Hari Kondabolu points out some significant cons. If you look at the list of shows by any British comedy who's been doing Edinburgh for a long time, there are going to be some filler years. Some years when they did a show just because it's a new year and Edinburgh is up there so they'd better write a show, even if they don't have much to say. Hari is right to say that British comedians work fucking hard to turn over a new hour every year, but that doesn't mean the quality will always be top-notch.

Also, themes can be limiting. I'm sure there are some themed shows out there that would be better if they were just freestyle, if the comedian let themselves say all their best stuff, rather than cutting good material due to not being on theme. Or adding weaker material because it is on theme.

So that’s an American going on a British person’s podcast to tell them how fucked up the British comedy system is. I’ve made this compilation to compare it to a British person going on an American’s podcast, in which the American thinks the British system is great and in fact what he wants to do as well. Nish Kumar on Mike Birbiglia’s podcast, from just a couple of years ago. It’s an interesting contrast. A couple of people have told me before that Mike Birbiglia is like a British comedian but in the form of an American person. Including @my-excellent-bicycle, who told me ages ago that he's very good, and I said I'd watch him, and then I didn't, so sorry about that. Absolutely no offence to any of the people who'd already told me about him, but I have to admit, when the "Mike Birbiglia is so cool, he's like an American who does British comedy" endorsement comes from Nish Kumar, that does mean a little extra. Enough so I have now downloaded Mike Birbiglia's stuff, will listen to it next.

I can't really speak to the accuracy of what Nish Kumar said in that clip, since I haven't yet actually heard Mike Birbiglia’s shows. But I see what Nish means. He means shows that are built around one topic and/or narrative and/or theme and/or message, and stay on that, or at least around it and vaguely adjacent to it, for an hour.

Later in the 2021 podcast episode from which I took that Kumar/Birbiglia clip, Nish mentioned that actually, even though this is a generally British thing to do, he personally doesn’t tend to do it much, and he’d like to do it more. That was true, as of then. I’ve heard Nish’s 2014 (might have been originally his 2013 show, actually, whichever one got recorded for the Soho Live thing on Amazon Prime), 2016, and 2019 shows, and none of them were all that structured. They were coherent, particularly the latter two, which stayed on the topic of politics. Even that earlier one had some throughlines and underlying bits that kept coming back. But he didn’t do a really carefully constructed narrative show until 2022, the one that just had a video come out, Your Power Your Control.

So I found it interesting to hear Nish Kumar in 2021, just before he wrote Your Power Your Control, say he’d like to do more narrative-type stuff. And then the next year, he did it. Good for him. Nish Kumar just did a new episode of the Comedian’s Comedian podcast as well – it was recorded very recently, to go with the release of his latest special – and in that one, he mentioned that he was pleased with the way he managed to Birbiglia-fy this show in a way he hadn’t done with previous ones, making it a structured narrative the way Mike Birbiglia does. But actually, the way most British comedians do, and apparently this one American guy that it’s time for me to check out.

Then I added a clip of David O’Doherty from a very recent podcast, in which he talks about getting backlash from Americans for not being what they expect, which is just a bunch of unconnected jokes. I added that clip to the conversation because he brings up Hannah Gadsby and Nannette, and I think that’s an interesting point.

Hannah Gadsby got a huge amount of backlash for Nannette, and most of it was misogynistic. Not all of it, I guess. I guess it’s technically possible for someone to just really not like Hannah Gadsby’s style of humour, and they hated Nannette for perfectly legitimate reasons. Just like probably, some of those people on those cesspits of toxicity that were those Josie Long-related comedy message board threads in 2007, just legitimately did not share her sense of humour. Maybe one or two of them. But mainly, it’s the misogyny.

However, DO’D makes an interesting point about Hannah Gadsby’s show. Most “Edinburgh hour”-style shows do not get as massively world famous as Nannette did. So they got hit with misogynistic backlash, but it was fueled by the fact that it was being seen by a lot of Americans who are not used to that type of comedy, and just don’t understand. They thought Hannah was taking the respectable genre of doing 50 punchlines in 20 minutes, and making a mockery of it. Just because it was the first time they’d seen a comedy show with some sad bits. They thought Hannah Gadsby was doing comedy wrong.

So many people – mostly American people – who saw Nannette didn’t realize that ending a show with 10-15 minutes of sad bits is so commonplace in certain comedy circles that it’s also common to make fun of it. You hear comedians all the time, make jokes about the standard hour that’s funny for a while and then has a sad bit. There’s even a term for it: dead dad show. A dead dad show isn’t just a show about a dead dad. It’s any show that’s funny for a while but also poignant and touching and sentimental and has sad bits at the end and wants to make you cry as well as laugh. People joke about it because it’s been done a lot, it’s been done in some hack ways and some bad ways, it’s also been done in some brilliant ways, it runs the gauntlet like anything else.

It’s fine for people to say they’re not into that kind of thing. But Nannette got so big that people who’d never heard of that genre started seeing it, and they had no idea what they were seeing. So that’s how they ended up saying Hannah is not a comedian, this isn’t comedy, Hannah tricked a comedy-expecting audience into seeing a one-woman show! How dare you bring trauma into a comedy show? As though comedians talking about trauma aren’t a dime a dozen in Britain and Australia.

And I think that has pros and cons too. I like a show that works some serious stuff in, that has some deep personal or political message. But also, sometimes, people have a point when they say a comedy show has focused so much on the personal or political messages/trauma dumping that it forgot to also be funny (not with Nanette, though, people forget that Nanette had lots of good jokes in the first 45 minutes, it was a funny show, people just watch clips that have been cut from the last little bit and are then say this so-called comedy show isn't funny). And I guess it's up to each individual comedy audience member how much humour they'll allow a show to sacrifice for other stuff before they get sick of it. How much sad stuff or angry stuff or introspective stuff or educational stuff or heartwarming stuff or philosophical stuff or narrative stuff a show can have at the expense of funny stuff, before they'll say, "Okay, I need more comedy than this in my comedy shows." But I think it's a pretty shallow view of what comedy can be if you're not okay with a show that has any of that other stuff.

I am conflating Britain/Ireland and Australia/NZ quite a bit in this post, and that’s because I think when it comes to this sort of thing, they’re very similar. I’m also conflating Canada and the US, because I think they’re similar, in that neither of have this tradition that I’m pretty sure developed at Edinburgh and MICF. And I’m not talking about any other countries because as far as my comedy knowledge goes, those may as well be the only ones that exist (sorry Anuvab Pal and Aditi Mittal, I do know a couple from India too, but as far as I can tell, the special type of comedy they do in India is “say some stuff and hope you don’t get arrested for it”).

There is an obvious reason for that: Australia has a festival that’s similar to Edinburgh. British and Irish (and Irish, sorry for having forgotten to add “and Irish” in the earlier bits of this post, I just saw Dara O’Briain’s newest special – called So Where Were We, just released by the BBC, by the way, I recommend it – and it’s chock full of trauma, proving the Irish can do dead dad/never met my dad shows with the best of them) comedians develop their careers around Edinburgh, and Australian/NZ comedians develop their careers around the Melbourne Comedy Festival. North America doesn’t have anything like that.

Obviously North America has yearly festivals too, but not ones that are so big that every single comedian in the area wraps their whole career around it. I think the only one big enough to do that around here would be Just For Laughs, but Just For Laughs isn’t nearly the same thing, since people have to audition for it. You can’t just set up a show and show up. People can’t start writing a show in September with the assumption that they’ll take it to JFL next summer, because unless they’re already very famous, they can’t be sure they’ll be accepted into JFL’s lineup.

I found the David O’Doherty clip interesting, as he lists storytelling shows as just one of the many things that are, in fact, comedy, but get called “this isn’t comedy” by mostly Americans on the internet. But also, it’s not like all Americans just do 50 punchlines in 20 minutes and that’s it. They do lots of stuff! They have alternative comedy there, and at this point I’m getting out of my depth, because I have a sort of idea in my head of what American alternative comedy means – the vague idea involves things like Eugene Mirman and Fred Armisen and Kristen Schaal and improv shows in New York – but I don’t really know what I’m talking about. This post would be better if I knew what I was talking about more.

I guess the basic rule I’m working with is: British/Irish/Aussie/NZ do a new hour every year and it has themes and throughlines and narratives and coherent structure and they workshop it all year and then take it to Edinburgh and then scrap all that material and do a new one. And American comedians just write one joke(/bit/funny story, not just the classic type of one-liner “joke”) at a time, and at any given time are performing the combination of their best crop of jokes, and whenever they write a new joke it replaces the worst one in their set, so they evolve that way. I’m trying to understand why that difference exists, and part of the problem with my efforts to understand that is I don’t really know what I’m talking about, and the other part of the problem is that stating the difference that way is a massive oversimplification. It’s difficult to understand why a phenomenon exists if that phenomenon doesn’t really exist in nearly as simple a way as I’ve stated it here.

I know there are exceptions to that rule I just stated, even though I’ve not listened to any Mike Birbiglia yet. For a really famous example, I watched John Mulaney’s new show Baby J earlier this year (fuck him for the Dave Chapelle thing, the divorce and addiction are his own business and people who don’t know him shouldn’t have tried to get involved in his personal life, but fuck him for the Dave Chapelle thing, I didn’t watch his new show in any way that could translate to view count/profit for him – but I did love all his previous shows and was curious about what’s in the new one so I watched it), and that was pretty much all around one story. Even Hari Kondabolu’s new-ish special has a little bit of a theme, about being political while having a kid. And there are plenty of others, so it’s not like this stuff doesn’t happen in America. And there are plenty of British comedians who just do one joke at a time.

I don’t know – I’m not completely making this dichotomy up, right? That’s why I made that compilation in the video at the top of this post. Other people talking about that thing I’m talking about and proving that it is somewhat based in reality. It would help if I knew more about American comedy. You can’t really compare British and American comedy unless you know quite a bit about both, and I don’t know nearly enough about American to really understand this.

That’s why I asked my brother about it the other night, because he’s been doing comedy in Canada for a long time and most of the comedy he watches/likes is American. I asked him if he knows what I mean when I talk about this dichotomy, and why it may or may not exist. And he didn’t really know what I’m talking about, which means 1) the difference is so significant that someone who mainly follows North American comedy doesn’t even know about the dead dad Edinburgh show so can’t compare anything to it, and/or 2) I didn’t explain it very well. Because we had a whole conversation where at some point I realized we were talking past each other. He was using the word “alt” a lot, and it meant one thing to him and a different thing to me, so neither of us really knew what the other was talking about.

That in itself is interesting to me, because it shows that comedy is too big to really make these generalizations. You can’t talk about “alt comedy” as a coherent thing, because it means wildly different things in wildly different places. You can’t talk about “British comedy” or “American comedy” because Britain and America both have a lot of people in them who all do wildly different things.

At some point in my conversation with my brother, I said that when I say storytelling comedy I mean “like the thing Mike Birbiglia does”, and he has seen some Mike Birbiglia but says he doesn’t think what he does is particularly different from what most American comedians do, and I couldn’t refute that because I haven’t actually heard Mike Birbiglia yet. All I could say on that was… well one time I heard Nish Kumar say Birbiglia is like a British comedian, so that’s probably true, right?

So I really don’t know what I’m talking about well enough to understand this, or even explain it. Then again, my brother told me that he thinks British comedians write regular jokes in a way that American comedians don’t, and I said no, I think of the opposite as being true, and when I asked him for examples of why he thinks British comedians are like that, he said Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais. So he may not know enough about British comedy to know what he’s talking about. Is it possible that no one knows what they’re talking about? That’s kind of interesting to me too, I assume anyone who actually does comedy must know everything about it. I mean, I try really hard to know about comedy, but I don’t know nearly enough about it to properly do it. So the people who do do it know way more than I do and understand everything. But my brother’s been doing it 13 years, had traveled to perform in the States and nearby cities somewhat often, never made enough money from it to quit his day job but has made quite a lot of money from it over the years, and he may also not know what he’s talking about.

At some point we got talking about recorded comedy, and he said when he listens to audio-only comedy, and then watches a video of those people, he’s often surprised because he was picturing someone young and hot but it turns out to be a balding man in his fifties. I said that often, I can hear hours and hours of audio-only comedy by someone, and have an image of them in my head, and then see a picture of them, and I’m always surprised by how different the picture looks. Because I’m always picturing a person in their forties or fifties, maybe a bit overweight, slightly balding if it’s a cis man, and then I’m often surprised to learn they’re actually around my age or younger (many exceptions there too, Kitson is currently mid-40s and balding but I tend to picture him the way he looked in 2003, though I’m sort of updating my mental image of him now). Which I’m pretty sure says something about the difference between the comedy I watch and the comedy my brother watches, that we have such different images in our head of the “default comedian”, what we picture when we don’t know how someone really looks.

This may or may not be related to the fact that my brother recently started putting clips of his own comedy on Tik-Tok, and has things to say about how the engagement is going that make me despair at the soullessness of humanity. So what does he know? At some point I worked out that when he talks about writing jokes in a classic way, he doesn’t just mean one-liners, he means anyone who actually writes their material instead of just doing crowd work and “comedian destroys heckler” videos for social media. Apparently doing anything besides that is old school now, and he thinks British comedians do more old school stuff than American comedians, and again, I despair at the soullessness of humanity. But to be fair to America, I’m sure there are plenty of soulless British comedians on Tik-Tok too.

That’s part of it though, isn’t it? That my brother thinks of Tik-Tok-type comedy as American and British comedy as stuff that doesn’t do that. You can’t cut out a clip of a good dead dad show and put those 90 seconds on social media. I mean, you could, and I guess some people do, but that’ll ruin it. The British Edinburgh hours need their context, the good ones aren’t nearly as good without it. But maybe American comedy can be clipped more easily, since it’s not written to all flow together. But also, British comedians cut bits of their show out all the time to shoehorn into their twenty seconds of screentime on a panel show. Stewart Lee had a whole thing about that like 15 years ago, how no comedian can be that funny if their set can be cut up for a panel show. But, you know, we can’t all be Stewart Lee (though it’s my understanding that many people have tried). I’m pretty sure this is the sort of thing Stewart Lee knows about, and has strong opinions about. That was my mistake, asking the wrong comedian. I asked my brother, I should have been asking Stewart Lee.

So I still don't have an answer to who invented the dead dad show. I mean, I think I might know that one, Russell Kane may have invented the shows about dead dads specifically. But I don't know how the storytelling comedy with sad bits and themes started, or why it took off in Britain/Australia and not in North America, or if it's even true to say that happened. I feel like Kitson invented it, because it feels a bit like Kitson invented everything, but I know he didn't. I feel like Stewart Lee knows who invented it - I don't feel like he invented it, because he's constantly talking about the alt-comedy godfathers (gendered term there, but they were mostly fathers and not mothers at that time, that is an issue) from the 70s and 80s on whose shoulders he stands. And I don't really know anything about those people, so that doesn't help.

There's a guy named Oliver Double and I think he knows. I just got paid again, my bank account is looking a bit more stable than it did a little while ago, I think I'm going to buy his books. I'm also going to listen to Mike Birbiglia, I'll let you all know if he knows anything. Maybe most people don't know anything. Maybe everything has a smaller cause than I assume and we'd all be living in a radically different comedy world if Russell Kane's dad were still alive. Maybe it's fine to think the British comedy style is to write classic jokes because Jimmy Carr tours arenas and therefore gets to be their representative. Maybe the storytelling/pure joke telling comedy dichotomy doesn't even matter anymore, it's all about the dichotomy between improvised stuff on Tik-Tok and anyone who actually writes material now. Maybe improv just means crowd work now? But I hope not.

...This was going to be a post about how Hari Kondabolu thinks British comedians should scrap the concept of "recycling material" being bad, and just tell their best jokes even if they don't all fit a theme. Then I had a conversation with my brother the confused me and now I don't know. Does anyone else know anything that they want to share?

[itsjellybone]

Ultimate Haunted House was such a devastating experience I completely forgot that we watched the disastrous debut of Silent Hill: Ascension this evening. The technological bugs seem to be wide and varied, but for me personally, the audio for the introductory tutorials(?) and explanations were overlaid with the “game” stream, making everything immediately overwhelming and incomprehensible. You would think this would be resolved by getting into stream early, but you are a fool! I DID get to stream early, and had to back out because those same introductory screens were then overlaid with the dev (I assume) preshow talk. A mess! I played (“played”) through the website, but I’m seeing people experience other bugs on app.

Also the story is an absolutely incomprehensible mess of quibi style scenes with minimal connective tissue, and the choose your own adventure element is monetized with fake currency called “inspiration points.” Each player is NOT equal in the vote for scene outcomes, if you buy more points you can put more into a decision to make sure it wins

There’s a season pass!

You get cosmetics for your completely arbitrary and baffling avatar (very ugly) (it does not have any use except that it can potentially make a cameo(??) in “game” scenes???) and completely atonal and sometimes simply inappropriate emotes for the unmoderated in-game chat. I turned off the chat whenever it made an appearance, but I read that the word “kill” is censored in chat. Somebody pointed out that chatters aren’t allowed to say “kill” on the decision about whether a character believes her dad(?) killed his wife or not.

The ui is overwhelming at any and every moment, and it just looks like a cheap mobile game? I suppose it’s not really surprising from the company that microtransactioned additional save slots, but it still managed to surpass my expectations (negative). They’re so busy tripping over themselves to demand money they forgot to make a sellable product!

The qte section came on out of nowhere, completely divorced from the narrative section— not just in gameplay (which they did not explain before it started or allowed viewers to prepare for), but also the scene was….impossible to place in any sort of context?

It’s really only worth examining as a Silent Hill property for its disastrous Konami influence. The only consistent thread tying Silent Hill games together was tone (and then reference to the first 3 games for every release after The Room), and at least in this INTRODUCTORY EPISODE(!) they have neither tone nor reference! Until the bizarre otherworld qte segment I guess.

Bizarre, absurd experience. If it wasn’t so exhausting, I’d almost think it would be funny to see where it goes first-hand, but EVERY DAY? FOR SIX MONTHS?? I expect the audience dropoff will be swift and vicious. I’ll admit it! I’m delightfully anticipating the backlash from high profile silent hill fans (the kind who explore development more than lore).

I feel for the devs though. Apparently a lot of them are refugees from the Telltale layoffs, and given Konami’s history and the product as it released today, development seems nightmarish. It looks like there were about 3 different studios (for various aspects of the development?) involved, and I have to wonder how the communication and workflow worked out between them all. The results suggest….not well. I assume they really tried to make something good, and I’m sorry it turned out this way. It’s important to keep that human element in mind. (That doesn’t mean anybody should put any money into this oh my god please)

#silent hill #silent hill ascension

[theultimatenonbinarynerd]

Doctor Who: The Sirens Of Time Review

Introduction

And here we have my first deep dive into the main range. Did it deliver? Absolutely for the most part. I'm really impressed that despite the first set of audios releasing 1999 they still hold up as decent listens. I have some Nicholas Briggs novels on my tbr so listening to Sirens Of Time was a brilliant chance to get a feel for his writing and it's a very good vibe I'm getting. This multi Doctor Story was very bold for being Big Finish's first ever Doctor Who release but the risk payed off for the most part.

It felt like the Classic Who version of Day Of The Doctor better fleshing out these three Classic Doctor's. Still on 1 in regards to my Classic Who watch but this was a really good way to get a feel for the other Doctor's and I liked how they all clashed in respective ways. Five is the nice awkward one, Six is the stubborn one and Seven is the traumatised wizard trying to hold the group together. Peter Davison, Colin Baker And Sylvester McCoy play their chemistry together really well. I also love how we got to know The Doctor's separately in single episodes before they all teamed up in the final part.

Was a bit off putting it being companionless but extra characters would have made this convoluted story even more convoluted then it already is. The sound design added to the while eiree listen and despite it being two hours long it felt like ages to listen too. Despite having not seen much off it I still could believe that I was watching an episode of Classic Who. It was tense and the cliffhangers had me on the edge of my seat. It shows me that Big Finish were definitely the right people to trust with the Doctor Who licence. Maybe I'm too generous but there haven't been any real stinkers for me yet.

So let's get on with the review....

What I Liked

As mentioned in the introduction The Sirens Of Time perfectly pays tribute to Classic Who with its structure of a full on screen story arc. It's also very brave and bold in the story it tells the listener.

I loved the aesthetic and feel of this audio. 1999 and the audio still holds up aesthetically, as with other Big Finish audios I can easily close my eyes and picture what's happening on screen. What was happening was really dark too. It's formated exactly like Classic Who and stays true to the shows style. Like I said I haven't seen much of Classic Who but through the writing you can tell how much respect Nick Briggs and the rest of the Big Finish team have for the source material. This story felt like the Classic Who version of Day Of The Doctor with the high stakes to save Galifrey and all of time itself. I also love how the full audio is split into several different parts and that it uses each part to build and introduce each Doctor before they all come together. It also means that as a result its a great jumping on point for new listeners. If your new to Big Finish and want a taster this definitely is the story to start with.

Secondly I need to praise the creativity and bravery. Doctor Who hasn't done much adult or dark content due to constraints but The Sirens Of Time goes wild and that is its strength. No confined by TV ratings. Nick Briggs and the team are able to pull off a truly fantastic time whimey story that really explores the time travel aspect of the show and the butterfly effect. Without spoilers I can say that it really expands on The Doctor's character and shows that he isn't always right. It also has a villian that's really compelling, the villians motive is really basic but the methods and means they use to get what they want is super dark and disturbing. Your on the edge of your seat the entire time praying all The Doctor's will be okay and that everything will be okay in the end.

Finally the sound design. Considering the fact that this is one of Big Finish's oldest Doctor Who audios it's really impressive how well it manages to still hold up. Released in 1999 and its still brilliantly edited together. It felt like I was watching a serial of Classic Who. I was very immersed and able to easily visualise the story in my head as I listened. The sound scapes are perfectly designed by Nicholas Briggs allowing you to feel immersed in the location, when your on Galifrey you feel like your on Galifrey. When your on a planet with quick sand, it feels like your on a deadly planet with quick sound. It's not a hundred percent perfect but it's really good for its time. It shows the potential to grow Big Finish has and it has indeed. The Sirens Of Time is worth if for the sound alone.

It's fantastic 👏 and made excited to look at other main range stories.

What I Disliked

As its the very first Doctor Who audio produced by Big Finish its not perfect but it's still very enjoyable. More like an 8/10 for me but I enjoyed it more than other people. They are more like nitpicks but still valid ones.

In two hours a lot of things happened and the set up was well done but I think it happened to rapid for me. I'm use to the normal landing place let's explore formula but instead nearly five minutes in we're head first into the action and considering the fact that it's 2 hours I wish there was room to breathe. It also would have helped if we get proper build up to Five being separated from his companions instead of it happening off audio. With 2 hours it really felt like there should have been more time to breathe with each Doctor instead of diving head first into an action packed timey whimey plot.

Another thing is that I feel while we got to explore The Doctor's flaws as a whole, the stakes were mainly high for only Five. He was a punching bag for the whole story and as a result it left no chance for Six and Seven to get their own angst defining moments. Give the timelord a break he was two other incarnations to explore. With him being the Punching Bag it kind of felt like he had nothing to do and no purpose to being there other than exposition. I still liked Five in this story though don't get me wrong.

Conclusion

Overall I'm now committing myself eventually to the main range at least the first 50 and then I I might buy some of them in the future as it seems like a reasonable good range to sink my teeth into based solely on listening to The Sirens Of Time and Phantasmagoria. I'm generally blown away and it shows the high standards that the Big Finish team have. I can't wait till I can get to the Davison, Baker and McCoy eras of the show.

I'm really getting use to this episodic format and it's really entertaining to listen too. There's definitely gonna be more intresting original villians and big plot twists to come. I only felt a little bad for what happened in the end but Sirens Of Time does a really good job at balancing showing The Doctor's strengths and flaws. It's a really decent start. I also loved exploring all the different settings despite no visuals.

I'm so excited to dig into more Big Finish next year and be blown. I plan to listen to Zagerus next year and I've heard that's weird. Every Doctor seems to have something different to offer which is absolutely thrilling.

Highly recommend giving this one a listen for free on Spotify. The first 50 main rages are on Spotify for free so do give it a go if you can't afford to buy audios.

Bonus:

On my Storygraph @melsage1823 I am doing a public listening challenge with Big Finish prompts to make my first year of listening easier and more fun. Which I might bring back next year.

Basic prompts of listening from Doctor's 5-12 excluding War and Ten. With some bonus prompts of course. Its been really entertaining filling these prompts as I go along.

Feel free to join if you want to

Here's the link:

Until the next review whovians! 😀

-Melody-

They/Them

#doctor who #big finish #big finish review #the monthly range #doctor who audios #fifth doctor #sixth doctor #seventh doctor #classic who #big finish main range #doctor who big finish #Spotify

[littlenighttales]

Spoilers for The Sounds of Nightmares (E3).

Okay

Spoiler warning over

The Theater of the Mind

(Live typing as I listen here, will keep later edits in parenthesis)

The nightmares are a reality.

Guys. Fellas. Friends. Amigos.

The very first few seconds basically says we are all right. The nightmares are both real and nightmares. Noone just straight up gets vanquished into the shadow realm as she sleeps.

Seems that the Signal Tower’s corruption has tunneled across time and space into the real world, growing strong enough to teleport kids into it. Maybe adults are doomed to become residents?

This means Six, Mono, everyone else probably had a happy life, and that unholy abomination took it from them. But then, what are the odds that this would happen to siblings? We see siblings in the LN comics.

Also Noone thinks Otto is her friend ;w;

Oh. The innocence….

It’s going to be really bad if (when) Otto turns out to be a baddie.

Noone’s dreams are… kind of depressing. Imagine that. Nightmares. Depressing.

The idea of growing up makes her sad (this comes up more than once) after she plays with one of those potty training dolls. She got bored fast. Fear of growing up is a bit common in kids that are traumatized. Noone is under 10, I figured most likely around 6-8.

Speaking of dolls, I’m pretty sure that doll is a demon.

Noone’s seemingly interested in jewelry. She kind of abandoned the doll in favor of jewelry and it up and dipped while she was gone.

Sounding like the dolls are kids, kind of like the Nest. (This part was wrong, which is good considering the one Noone played with started leaking what sounded like blood from the audio.)

She goes to see a movie in her dream. One with unicorns. She seems to like those, meaning Noone would get along with my Frisk for sure!

The audience in this theater, she realizes, aren’t people, but mannequins. (Might be worth mentioning the hospital mannequins and the old LN2 cut concept art of Mono and Six sneaking by an army of distracted ones?)

Then the Ferryman appears with the scent of the sea.

Noone doesn’t really remember much more about the Ferryman, so Otto just flips the heck out- definitely a bad therapist at a minimum. They’ve got to pause for a second, I think a break happens here. After that break, Otto apologizes and Noone continues.

Also demonic PA and an Eye. So a theater/mall version of the Eye Tower, sounding like?

Noone- which is pronounced Noon- is nicknamed “No One” which is how I first pronounced it when I first saw it written.

The Theater seems lonely? That’s kind of sad. But it seems a bit concerned for Noone? Forgot to mention, the theater is in a mall. So it’s really an Eye Mall. It’s lonely. Kind of reminds me of Mono… maybe the Signal Tower is lonely, too? (Oh… oh no. Guys, what if this WAS Mono talking? Somehow controlling the eyes in the Mall as an extension of himself? Could explain the arguing that it did with itself. Excuse me while I go cry all of the tears at this idea regardless.)

The Mall seems to want to protect Noone from the Ferryman.

Noone’s not a fan of the fame from being cured, which I mentioned before (I think in my E2 review.)

At the end, Noone asks “do I have to go back to my room?”

So, she’s still in a hospital maybe? Mental institute? If this is the case, could all the kids in LN have some mental health/nightmare issues?

(Otto does seem to have some personal motives. Like… he wants to protect Noone (“This time I will protect you”), maybe he sees her as a daughter figure? Projecting CiCi onto her? But it also feels like he’s using her to find his own daughter- which is entirely understandable! Knowing your child was kidnapped by a lovecraftian horror would be devastating emotionally and mentally.)

(I’ve also begun to wonder, could Six be CiCi? Could Six be sharing these “nightmares” with other kids? Maybe the Maw, the Nest, and the City, etc aren’t her dreams, but Mono’s, RK’s, and Rain’s? If Six is CiCi, then perhaps six was just her patient number? All she remembered being called? Mono could be a similar case. That is, assuming they were all put into a similar ward.)

#little nightmares au #little nightmares spoilers #spoilers #the sounds of nightmares #episode 3 #the theater of the mind

[rottenraccoons]

Oh Tumblr, my beloved hellsite <3

One of you lovely nonnies asked us here at Rotten Raccoons if we would be willing to introduce ourselves and we drafted up a lovely little introduction post, queued it, and then the queue ate the post. So here's attempt #2 to introduce ourselves with who we are, what we do, and which Obscura boi is our fave ❤️

Hello hello, I'm Tobi, the one behind Cirrus and Francesco's routes! I do the writing and scripting for them with occasional assistance from Violet. Is hard to choose a favorite but [redacted] does make me swoon. And admittedly I have a soft spot for my own sadistic creation, heheh

Hi, I'm Yamiochi🦝 mostly handling business, accounting side of Rotten Raccoons. My favourite is Cirrus. I can't hide the Gap Moe（ギャップ萌え）between the perfect clergyman's appearance and that personality. Besides that, silver/white hair + long hair characters are my personal favourites.

Hello! I'm Ræ! (pronounced R-eye), I'm the project planner and junior BG artist at Rotten Raccoons. All of our boys are great, aren't they? I especially adore the spunky types, so Kier makes my heart pitter patter. Also his freckles… so cute!

Howdy! I'm Mugi, the lead artist 👩‍🎨✨ I think most people already know, but my fave boi is Cirrus. He's beautiful, he's charming, he's... Spicy 🔥 Of course I love all of our bois in their own unique ways 💖

I'm Cajsa and I'm the music/audio person 🪗 I'm a sucker for Cirrus. I'm not sure how I feel about the hanky spanky but when he gives me that vicious smile I might just agree to anything......

And I'm Violet! I write Keir and [redacted]'s routes and finagle with the code to make the game go brrrr. I'm also the social media raccoon, so I'm technically the one writing most of the stuff you see on Twitter and Tumblr. I try not to play favourites with the boys, but also the first time I saw Francesco's design I died and went to heaven, and I love me a polite young man, and he blushes so good... Yeah.

And a little bonus: one time I asked DALL-E to draw me a vintage movie poster with six raccoons in a trenchcoat. It didn't really understand what I was asking, but honestly

this kicks ass. This is how I imagine us all the time now.

#obscura vn #rotten raccoons #asks #about us