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musicforastylesrestaurant · 6 months

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Santa’s Grotto.

my masterlist || ask me anything <3

my blurb masterlist is here!

authors note - long hair harry makes me feral ngl, so enjoy him taking his son to go and see santa:)

word count - 1.3k

in which, harry takes his two year old son, sebastian, to go and see santa because your at home sick from the flu, but it doesn’t go aswell as he hoped seeing as all little kids appear to have a phobia of the man dressed in red.

At eighteen, Harry Styles embraced the profound reality of parenthood when his son, Sebastian Robin-Edward Styles was born. Sleepless nights became a routine as Harry devoted himself to the care of his newborn. The dim glow of nightlights and lullabies filled the early hours, creating a tender atmosphere of fatherly dedication.

The exhaustion was palpable, yet Harry wouldn't trade those sleepless nights for anything. Each bleary-eyed moment was a testament to the deep love he felt for Sebastian. The bond forged during those quiet hours of feeding, soothing, and comforting became the foundation of an unbreakable connection.

Harry often looked back on those moments when he spent time with his now two year old son, who was turning more and more into a close friend of his as the minutes of the day ticked by.

In the heart of the bustling mall, Harry stood patiently in line at Santa's grotto, his two-year-old son, Sebastian, cradled in his arms. The air was filled with the warm scent of cinnamon and the soft murmur of excited chatter as families eagerly awaited their turn. The line snaked around, adorned with festive decorations that captured Sebastian's wide-eyed attention.

Harry's long hair served as an unintentional playground for his son, who gleefully tugged at the strands while fixating on the mesmerizing twinkling lights overhead.

As they edged closer to the front, Harry observed the diverse array of families sharing in the holiday spirit. Laughter and anticipation filled the air, creating a joyful atmosphere that enveloped both father and son.

Sebastian, blissfully unaware of the world beyond the enchanting lights, continued to marvel at the vibrant surroundings, his tiny fingers entangled in Harry's locks.

The anticipation heightened as they approached the entrance to Santa's magical realm. Harry, with a loving smile, gently adjusted Sebastian in his arms, ensuring the little one had the best view of the enchanting scene.

The elves, adorned in festive attire, orchestrated the seamless flow of families, adding to the enchantment that surrounded them. As they neared the front of the line, the duo's excitement mirrored that of the other children and parents, all eagerly awaiting their moment with the jolly man in red.

As Harry and Sebastian reached the front of the queue, a friendly elf with a sprightly demeanor greeted them.

"Well, hello there! Looks like we've got a special visitor today," the elf exclaimed, a twinkle in their eye.

Sebastian, however, suddenly grew shy, burying his face in the crook of Harry's neck, his tiny hands clutching onto the strands of his father's hair.

Harry chuckled warmly, gently coaxing Sebastian to face the friendly elf. "S’okay, buddy. S’nice elf just wants t’say hello."

He lifted Sebastian slightly, revealing a bashful smile on the toddler's face.

The elf, undeterred by Sebastian's shyness, continued to engage them, "Santa's been eagerly waiting to meet you, little one. What's your name?"

Sebastian mumbled a soft reply, his words muffled by the safety of Harry's neck.

The elf, playing along, nodded with exaggerated excitement. "Ah, Sebastian! That's a fantastic name for someone about to meet Santa. I bet you've been a good little helper this year, haven't you?"

Sebastian, gaining a bit more confidence, peeked out from his hiding spot and shyly nodded.

Harry joined the conversation, appreciating the effort to make Sebastian feel comfortable.

"He's been such a good boy, especially with all the twinkling lights and holiday cheer around here." Harry answered, brushing some of his son's curls out of his face.

The elf grinned, "That's wonderful to hear! Santa loves hearing about good boys like Sebastian. Well, it won't be long now before you get to share all your wishes with him."

As they chatted, the atmosphere in Santa's grotto remained festive and lively. The elf skillfully transitioned the conversation to holiday traditions, asking Harry and Sebastian about their favourite parts of the season.

Harry shared stories of their family traditions, and before they knew it, it was time to approach Santa's chair.

The elf gestured toward the magical seat, "Sebastian, are you ready to meet the big man himself?"

As Harry and Sebastian entered Santa's tent, a festive air surrounded them. The scent of evergreen and cinnamon filled the space, and the anticipation was palpable.

Santa, with a hearty chuckle, welcomed them, "Ho, ho, ho! Well, hello there! Who do we have here?"

With a gentle smile, Harry bent down to encourage Sebastian onto Santa's lap. However, as Sebastian neared the red-suited figure, he clung tightly to Harry, his eyes wide with trepidation.

"S’okay, Seb. Santa's a friend," Harry reassured, attempting to ease his son's nervousness.

Sebastian, unconvinced, buried his face in Harry's shoulder, his tiny hands gripping onto his father's shirt. Santa, with a twinkle in his eye, chimed in,

"Ah, a little shy, are we? That's perfectly normal. How about we start with a high-five?" He extended a gloved hand toward Sebastian, hoping to initiate a connection.

Despite Santa's friendly gesture, Sebastian's anxiety escalated, and a whimper escaped him. Harry, now kneeling beside Santa's chair, continued to comfort his son,

"S’alright, buddy. Y’don't have t’do anything y’not comfortable with. Santa understands." However, as the tension lingered, Sebastian's anxiety reached its peak, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Santa, ever understanding, offered a warm smile, "No need to worry, little one. Sometimes meeting new friends can be a bit overwhelming. How about you tell me what you want for Christmas?”

In a last-ditch effort to salvage the moment, Harry took a seat on the chair next to Santa, with Sebastian on his lap. However, Sebastian, caught in the throes of a full-blown meltdown, wriggled and squirmed, attempting to escape the clutches of the man in the red suit.

The cheerful atmosphere of the grotto seemed to fade as Sebastian's desperation escalated.

Harry, his patience wearing thin, held onto his son, attempting to soothe the uncontrollable distress. The once-anticipated visit to Santa's lap had turned into a struggle, and Sebastian's tears mirrored the disappointment in the air.

The twinkling lights and festive decorations, which had captivated Sebastian earlier, were now lost in the midst of his overwhelming emotions.

Despite Harry's attempts to offer comfort, Sebastian's distress showed no signs of abating. The scene unfolded like a poignant tableau of a well-intentioned holiday moment gone awry.

The contrast between the joyful ambiance and Sebastian's emotional turmoil painted a bittersweet picture, one that highlighted the unpredictability of childhood emotions in the face of holiday expectations.

With Sebastian in the midst of a tearful meltdown, Harry looked apologetically at Santa, a mixture of frustration and regret etched on his face. "M’sorry. M’thought he'd be excited, but it seems like s’all a bit overwhelming f’him."

Santa, with a warm and understanding smile, nodded reassuringly. "No need to apologise,. Happens more often than you might think. Children, especially the little ones, can find meeting Santa a bit overwhelming. It's all part of the holiday experience."

In a gesture of comfort, Harry gently lifted Sebastian from his lap, cradling him in his arms. The tears continued to flow, and Sebastian sought solace in his father's embrace, burying his face in Harry's neck.

The soft strands of his long hair became a source of comfort as Sebastian clutched onto them, the rhythmic playing a small distraction from the overwhelming emotions.

Harry, his heart heavy with empathy, whispered reassurances to his son, "S’okay, buddy. Everything s’okay."

He swayed gently, attempting to ease Sebastian's distress. The bustling grotto faded into the background as the connection between father and son took center stage, the soothing hush of whispered comforts filling the air.

Sebastian's cries gradually softened, but he continued to hold onto his father, finding security in the familiar embrace. Harry, understanding the need for patience, remained steadfast, allowing the moment to unfold naturally.

Feeling the weight of Sebastian in his arms, Harry looked down at his tear-streaked face and whispered, "Shall we go home and see Mummy?"

Sebastian, still clinging to his father, nodded in response, his small thumb finding its way into his mouth. The simple gesture revealed a longing for the familiar comfort of home and the soothing presence of his mother.

With a shared understanding, Harry began to make his way out of the festive grotto, holding Sebastian close. The twinkling lights and holiday cheer gradually faded as they exited, leaving behind the whirlwind of emotions that had marked their encounter with Santa.

As they stepped into the crisp winter air, Harry tightened his grip on his son, ready to bring him back to the warmth and familiarity of home.

Sebastian's thumb remained in his mouth, a silent signal of the need for reassurance and comfort. Harry, with each step, whispered words of comfort, promising the solace of home and the embrace of Mummy waiting there.

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cerastes · 3 months

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So, Tekken 8. I'm pleased with the direction it has fundamentally taken. In general, high profile fighting games have taken a far more welcoming approach towards newcomers, which is much needed and has thankfully gotten pretty good results so far: Street Fighter 6, for example, went lengths to provide a good, welcoming experience for new players, Granblue Rising retains its beginner friendly nature while expanding on systems to give it more depth at a higher level without stopping to be a fundamentally simple and 'easy' (but fun) fighting game with gorgeous flair, and Tekken 8 is following on the same road. It did this to some degree with Tekken 7, but Tekken 8 definitely goes a step further.

In general, Tekken 8 is much better geared towards user experience and perception than Tekken 7 was. I was a bit surprised to hear about friends that never really deal with Ranked in any game ever, tell me they were queueing up to climb the ladder. I started playing Tekken 8 a few days ago, and when I hopped into Ranked, I noticed small changes that carry a big impact with them in the UI, particularly in the loading screen pre-fight: What it shows.

So, in Tekken 7, you can see both players' Tekken Power, total wins as the character, rank, the results of their last 10 games, their 3 highest player tendencies, and personal match-up win and stage win rates.

That is a lot of information, and you'd usually think "more information is better, right?", I think in this case it was a double edged blade, however: If you're a newer player who's gotten wiggity washed four games in a row now, with your 13 total wins and 9k Tekken Power (or Prowess, as it was in 7) and your B/C/C tendencies, and get matched up a guy with a rank you've never seen before, with over 10 times your Power, triple S+es, 2.3k wins, on a 7 win streak... Well, you're probably going to be more than a little intimidated before the game even starts. For a lot of people, understandably, this immediately becomes the moment of "holy shit, I'm about to get ragdolled", so you go in with a different mentality than you might go against someone whose stats you don't know. Some people don't get affected by this, but a lot of people do, especially curious people that are trying to get into the games and might get put off when they mentally lose before the fight even starts.

In contrast, the Tekken 8 loading screen offers less information, but it's a far better user experience:

3 highest Tendencies, Tekken Power, Rank, and that's it. There's other stuff like console or PC, area, but it's otherwise a lot more laconic. And this works better! You just know their Power, their tendencies, their rank, and that's that. In the actual fight, you can see their current win streak, but no one can see if you or the opponent has 8 loses in a row. You don't know if they have 100 wins or 6000 wins, and so, you don't really think about it, you just go and fight. And if you lose, it's a world of difference to be "ok I got outplayed, that was some solid play from them" than it is to be "ok, yeah, they had ten times the amount of wins than I have lifetime games of Tekken, this was inevitable". So you can go and fight and win and keep playing. The user experience is much better.

I also really appreciate Arcade Quest: It's basically a short, very interactive tutorial: Instead of going through hours of dry tutorialing, a more inductive style like this is far better for newcomers, it's got basic, colorful characters, lots of tutorials peppered in throughout its run time, and a friendly coat of paint so you can get acquainted with the different systems at a nice pace: Your initial opponents are pushovers, letting you get a feel for movement and attacking, then you reach the third or so arcade, and your tutorial guy goes "hey, I heard they defend really well here, and they like opening you up with lows, let's learn how to deal with these" and you get your tutorials on how to open up opponents as well as dealing with lows, and then you fight the people in that arcade and it's mostly opponents like Law, Lili, Bryan, Dragunov, who have snake edges (strong low sweeps that offer good oki or launch for air combos, depending on whether its a counter hit or not) and their AI is specially geared to using these lows, as well as having better defense against highs so you use throws or lows. It's less a story mode and more a series of flavored tutorials, and I think it's really good for a game to have to ease players into the game's meatier systems.

The high level good ass Tekken is all there, it's just, there's a far more concise way of getting there for people that didn't grow up playing these games or had the raw gumption to deal with the sometimes Spartan fighting game community standards for onboarding. It's not a dirt road leading to the beach anymore, they paved it nice and easy so more people can get there, at their own pace, whether it be speeding there on a car, or through a nice leisurely stroll. It's something that I can appreciate both as someone who grew up in arcades playing fighting games with randos and regulars, and as someone that loves good, welcoming, efficient game design and wants more people to discover the joy of the fighting game.

#tekken 8

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steveinscarlet · 21 days

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Another vintage Kerrang article for your delectation. This one is loooong. Text below the cut...

THEY'RE ALL concerned and they all want answers. Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, hauling ass down Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, in a sparkling silver Corvette, certainly does. So does Blackfoot mainspring Ricky Medlocke, a recent unexpected apparition within the Marquee's glistening vaults. So does just about everyone I've met in the course of recent field-trips. They're all wearing that 'there but for the grace of God' look and they all want to know. So do I...

"Every time you speak to Rick on the phone you come away with a big grin on your face because he's in such good spirits. He's handling it better than I thought he would. He's matured 10 years overnight. He's totally accepted the fact that he's only got one arm and he's being very realistic about coming back into Def Leppard. He's mad to go for it, though, and we're mad to let him try."

That drummer Rick Allen will try, however, isn't in doubt. He's adamant about it and Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott is equally adamant that the band will give him their unrestrained support. As they've said all along, the decision is totally his "We aren't trying to show off or get sympathy," spells out Joe, "it's just the way we are. Def Leppard is simply five lads - we could have been a football team, we could have been international bank robbers. Rick's a mate, and just because he's had an accident doesn't mean he can't still be in the band. If he physically can't do it then obviously there's going to be problems, but with the technology available today I don't see why he can't play snare drum with his left foot, say. And if he can do that, and maybe have tom tom fills already recorded on a trigger, then the kit would look exactly the same. "Bill Ludwig, who builds Rick's kits, actually got in touch with him as soon as it happened, and it seems that there's a lot of one-arm drummers, guys who came back from Vietnam, y'know. The thing is, they tend to play Holiday Inns and places that like that; it's a different approach to drumming. Rick has a very John Bonhamish style - I mean, the quy doesn't need monitors, he's ridiculously loud! - and he'd never be able to do with one hand what he did with two for an hour and three quarters. It would kill him! So he's gonna need the technology. It's just down to whether he can accept the fact that there are gonna be people in the crowd trying to peer through the cymbals to see a plastic arm. He'll have to wear a shirt now, whereas before he'd always go bare-topped..."

THE DETAILS of the car crash that removed 21- year-old Rick (temporarily at least) from the Leppard ranks have been pretty well documented, grabbing column inches in the Nationals and beyond. The bare facts seem plain enough: at 12.50pm on New Year's Eve, while driving his Corvette along the A57 from Sheffield to his parents home in Dronfield (Derbyshire), Rick was involved in an incident which sent his car spinning out of control, turning over several times, injuring his female passenger and removing his left arm in the process. He remembers what happened vividly, and really can count himself fortunate to be alive. When the debris from the accident was examined it was found that the top half of the steering wheel had been bent back, Rick's particular power clearly preventing the steering column and dashboard from crushing against his chest. But why did it happen?

Picking through the events with Elliott it soon becomes obvious that the whole story is a little more complex than yer typical life-in-the-fast-lane pile up. Think about it...

When you're young and successful, with a streamlined US car and a female companion to match, it can sometimes sting the nasal membrane of the folks you've abandoned to a dole queue existence in your humdrum hometown rut. People have been known to glow green with jealousy, and on New Year's Eve people have been known to take a drink. Sometimes even a life...

"Yeah," says Joe quietly. "There was another car involved in the accident."

Mucking Rick around, you mean?

"That's right. But the people have denied it and there's nothing we can do. The coppers have interviewed them but it's no good I'd love to go round and kill 'em!"

Joe takes a moment to collect his thoughts, then continues... "The arm was placed in a bucket of ice gathered from all the houses nearby and Rick was in hospital (the Royal Hallamshire) within 19 minutes, which is unbelievable. He underwent an 11-hour operation; his arm was back on by ten to one the following morning, but infection set in and after three days they had to take it off.

"His nerves are still alive, though. They've got them wrapped up like spaghetti, and it's possible to have them connected up in a way that can give movement to a prosthetic arm. So the Steve Austin 'Six Million Dollar Man' thing is not beyond the realms of possibility one day. Rick still feels his arm because of the nerves."

When did you hear what had happened?

"I heard at about ten to four the same afternoon and I couldn't believe it. I cried like a baby for about three hours - my face was hurting. Peter (Mensch, manager) rang and said, 'Rick's had an accident, his arm's off, but they've sown it back on'. I've heard of that working before but unfortunately it was torn off, not cut off, so everything snapped and stretched in different places, which made it more difficult."

How soon after the accident did you visit Rick in hospital?

"I saw him two days after it happened... it was the worst experience I've ever had... but he was walking a week earlier than expected and telling the nurses to f**k off after three days because he was fed up having his bandages changed. He sounds in fine form now and wants to get back; drumming's all he's ever done, and he's done it very well."

"It's just up to him if he can stand the strain. I mean, he's going to go through some crap. He's not had it yet, but he's gonna suffer from depression; bad depression. He's being very realistic about it, though. He said to me, 'When it comes, it comes.' He wants to come out here to Holland but he knows he can't."

Presumably he won't be ready to play a part on the forthcoming tour?

"No, and he knows that. Somebody will guest with us until we know the result of Rick's convalescence." Would you consider using two drummers on any subsequent tours?

"Possibly, yeah, and Rick could do specific bits. We've definitely thought about that, but he's got a lot to learn first. I mean, there's certain things that are now a fact of life. If Rick wants to wear baseball boots, for example, he's gonna have to wear Velcro ones. And he's probably gonna need press-stud trousers. He's got to learn to bath himself even..."

"The thing is, at the moment his right arm doesn't work. The ball is smashed so they've had to pin it. He's got a six inch pin as big as a poker in there. Imagine if your elbow was sown to your hip; well that's all the movement he's got. I guess he's a bit of a mess, though mentally he's the best he's ever been."

What would happen if Rick returned to the band yet clearly wasn't cutting it? Would you have to tell him? "No, because he'd know himself. He's said that to me on the phone. He's being realistic- if he can't do it he can't, but he's definitely gonna try. There'll come a time when Rick will say, I'm ready, and we'll get together in a rehearsal room for a month and see what he does. He'll either turn round and go

'Yes!' and we'll go 'Yes!', or else he'll say 'Sorry, I'm not coping with it.'

"The important thing is that he tries, otherwise he'll never know, and that would be awful. I know he'd rather fail than not try at all. Besides, it's no big secret that we use drum machines on the records so, whatever happens, he could still be involved on that side. We would just take a session drummer out on the road."

"At the moment, we're trying not to get too depressed about the whole situation, but we were mega-depressed at first. I was in a real state, like a zombie for five hours, and for quite a time after I just didn't want to get into a car. I know it's daft, but it's true

A BONHAM of the biscuit tins, a Titan of the tupperware, since the age of 11 Rick Allen has thought of little outside of drums and drumming. At the moment he's at home, probably watching Cheech & Chong videos on the new system bought for him by Phonogram Records. But chances are that his thoughts are elsewhere, no doubt wafting with the music around the booths and corridors of Wisseloord Studios near Amsterdam, Holland, where Leppard are recording their fourth, as yet untitled, LP. As always, he's with his colleagues 110 per cent (for now it can be in spirit only), a continued commitment that should spur him on through the tough weeks and numerous hospital visits ahead.

Prior to the accident, he'd laid the groundwork for eight backing tracks, and the remaining two songs on the album were always destined to feature a less human touch, the band specifically wanting a more clinical punch, so there's no problem on that front. As for his work on backing vocals, well, Elliott can easily deputise in that department, leaving Rick free to concentrate on the speediest recovery possible and, as Elliott puts it, "Learn to live again. He's having all these drums built and a special car designed, all sorts of stuff..."

All things considered, '84 certainly wasn't an easy year for Def Leppard, a rude awakening for an almost unbroken streak of good fortune. First longstanding associate 'Mutt' Lange proved unable to produce the new LP, likewise his replacement Jim Steinman (though for different reasons - read on!), and then came The Accident, which instantly eclipsed all previous hassles, reducing apparent mountains of doom and dismay to easily skirted molehills. But, if anything, adversity has caused the four active members of the Leppard clan to virtually graft respective beaks to the grindstone in a collective consummate effort to make their next album their best.

The band's first LP, 'On Through The Night', produced by (Colonel) Tom Allom, took a mere 18 days to record and remains something of an embarrassment in Elliott's eyes (someday he'd like to remix it and touch up a few of the vocal parts), while the second, 'High 'N' Dry', with Lange now at the helm, was laid down in three and a half months, including a month's pre-production, bang, bang, bang, 'Mutt' clearly wanting to capture the excitement generated by these 21-year-old 'let's go for its'. But 'Pyromania' now that was a different story, with band and producer (Lange again) making a conscious decision at the outset to pin back the ears of a generation with something of genuine lasting quality; an attempt to update the glories of Queen's 'Sheer Heart Attack' and 'Night At The Opera' LPs...

They went for it in a big way and 10 months later came up trumps, creating a slice of history that many have doubted they'll be able to top; an album that left the whole of the music industry wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and caused bands both big and small to almost instantly re-assess their directions and aims. A (hard) labour of love still selling around a thousand a week, it broke taboos and set fresh standards right down the line.

"Hopefully, it'll be an Heavy Metal 'Sergeant Pepper...'," says Elliott, "who knows, but we've got to do more. It'd be tragic if our best album was our third and we end up doing 17 LPs."

Whatever the next album sounds like, however, Joe's convinced that it's gonna be slated by the press. He's resigned himself to the fact (not having heard the record beyond a few notes ricocheting out of the studio doors, I really can't comment), but, along with bassist Rick Savage and guitarists Steve Clark/Phil Collen, he's ploughing on regardless, helping to create something different to 'Pyromania' in content yet as good, if not better, overall.

"Since 'Pyromania' we're two years on technically," he explains. "The Fairlights are better, the keyboards are better and the microphones are better. And we're two years more experienced, of course. Actually, we keep putting on 'Pyromania' and listening to it back-to-back with what we've done; you have to imagine it without the mix, but it's definitely up there to my ears."

JOE ELLIOTT leans forward in the chair, tucks a fold of his rather battered dressing gown tight against private parts and pours himself another glass of one cal Coke. This for the moment is home, and has been since the middle of August: a simple hotel room in Holland ten minutes drive from the studio complex. Originally, the band were due to play the 'Mick Wall Festival' in Rio, but they eventually decided against it on grounds of not wanting to interrupt recording. So while certain jammy so-and-so's were sunning themselves on the Copacabana sands (maaaan!!), Elliott and co, tax exiles all, were trudging across frozen lakes, wrapped up tight against temperatures of 25° below! Still, there's always next year And if nothing else, in their present position the four are conveniently cut off from all domestic distractions. Through the hotel room window I can see Dirk, Elliott's treasured Renault 12 (and centrespread star of Kerrang! 79), basking quietly in the hazy sunlight, the central motif on an idyllic pastel canvas shaded only by the distant foghorn fuming of an adrenalised Peter Mensch. Somewhere, behind closed doors, he's informing an unfortunate Halfin that a five-piece outfit close to the latter's wallet have been 'stiffing' horribly in the South, and he doesn't mean Torquay! Let's just say he's on form...

Later, on the flight back to London, having persuaded Mensch to fund my purchase of a duty free Sony Walkman in tasteful pink, I tentatively suggest that the forthcoming Leppard biography should be titled 'Me & My Whine'...

"OH, YEAH, DAAAN-TAY!!" he snaps, blood vessels popping like balloons, "AND HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO THINK THAT ONE UP???"

Back to business...

"We've always upheld the theory," theorises Joe as things quieten down, "that we don't want to put out a record every nine months. We'd much rather put out a record every two to three years that's of real good quality

"When we started this album 'Mutt' was involved; we did pre-production with him in Dublin, Ireland, which is why we've put him down again on the songwriting credits. It's an honesty thing with us. He doesn't write anything as such; the six of us just sit round a table with a piece of paper in front of us and guitars turned down really low, then whoever chucks in an idea - be it Rick or 'Sav' or me or 'Mutt' - we play with it."

"Steve, for example, will come up with an idea and 'Mutt' will say, 'Change that round', 'Use this', 'Do it in another key', ' or whatever. It just creases me up to think that there are some people out there who look at us and say, 'Ha! They can't write their own songs', which isn't true at all. And even if it was, I'd much rather be involved with an album that sold six million copies co-written with a producer than one that sold 200,000 copies that wasn't."

Surely helping with the arrangements and so on is part of a producer's job, though "Yeah, right, but it's almost as if it's some kind of crime to let your producer be involved. That's what a producer's there for - to kick you up the arse and bring out the best that you can do. We encourage 'Mutt' to be involved and we repay him by sticking his name on the songwriting credits. Who cares! It's only a bloody song anyway..."

Isn't it true, though, that a lot of producers are really just glorified engineers and can't make the extra step up to that level of involvement?

"Yes, that is true, but 'Mutt's an exception anway because the guy's a musician, he's been an engineer since he left school - he's been doing it for 17 years and he's only in his early thirties now and he's also a brilliant singer and great songwriter, so you've got everything going for you! Whereas an engineer will be able to tell you if something's out of tune, 'Mutt' can go further than that and say, 'It doesn't feel right' or 'Sing it this way, shape your mouth like this, let's alter the phrasing'. "With most engineers, if it's in tune and it's what you want then it's a take, and that's all their job is, because if it's that way round it's normally the band who are producing, the way we are with this album. I noticed in Kerrang! it implied that Nigel Green is now producing – he's not, we are. Nigel's assisting." "Actually, he's worked with us on our last two albums, though not as main engineer. Mike Shipley was always our main engineer. Nigel's as good as Mike, it's just that at the time he was involved in other projects; so when Mike took a holiday or went to the dentist Nigel would come in. We've never worked with him on a long term basis before but we do know him."

What happened with 'Mutt' Lange, though? As I understand it, he originally agreed to produce the album as well as help out on pre-production...

"Yeah. In fact, he was still going to do it last February. We started with pre-production, as you've mentioned, but it soon became obvious that 'Mutt' was in no state to see the whole thing through. The Cars' album ('Heartbeat City') nearly killed him; our last album nearly killed him, and the Foreigner record ('IV') the same. I think he's just reached the stage now where to attain certain standards you're talking about grafting for a long time."

"The way we worked on 'Pyromania', for example, we were doing 20 hour days and the guy was sleeping on the couch in the control room. You just can't do that forever, so for the sake of his health he made a wise decision not to do our album. At the time, we were panicking; we thought, 'Oh, Christ!', cos things had all been planned. It wasn't a case of us being afraid of what the album would sound like if 'Mutt' wasn't there, it was simply the availability of other producers that we were concerned about. With top people like Ted Templeman, Mike Stone or Trevor Horn, you've got to book 'em years in advance, you can't just get in touch two weeks before you want to start..."

"Actually, we did approach Templeman just to see how much he wanted, and I don't think he was too keen to do it; he put in such a ridiculous money offer that no band in the world would have accepted it! But then we really wanted somebody a bit different, anyhow. We were interested in the people I've already mentioned initially because we thought, well, these are the names that we've listened to, Bob Ezrin, y'know. But then we started to think about people like Alex Sadkin, who we found was doing the new Foreigner album ('Agent Provocateur'). Trevor Horn would have worked with us in England, but Chris Thomas (Roxy Music, Procol Harum) turned us down flat - he obviously doesn't like us. We actually tried to get Phil Collins, who was interested but tied up with the latest Clapton LP ('Behind The Sun')."

So you were looking at people outside the world of heavy rock...

"Yeah, we were looking at up and coming producers like Terry Manning, who's engineered for ZZ Top, and Steve Lillywhite, who's yet to do a hard rock album but possibly could do a good one. Some of us were interested in him, some of us weren't. I like the fullness of Simple Minds' 'Sparkle In The Rain' LP, it's brill, but sounds are really no problem for us now, we can get good sounds; the thing we always like to have is musical input, and that's where we thought Steinman would come into his own. I mean, the guy's a good songwriter and he's had a hell of a lot of success with what he does."

He worked on the last Billy Squier album, 'Signs Of Life', with Tony Platt, didn't he?

"Yeah, well, he 'navigated' it is what Squier says. We thought, OK, we'll get the sounds and let him do the producing, but it turned out that Jim wasn't really what any of us thought he would be. In fact, I wonder how he's ever got a production credit on anything - especially with Squier, the kind of ego he's got. I can't understand why he even let Steinman's name appear on his album cos we're not putting it on ours."

What was the problem with Steinman then?

"Ahh... I wouldn't be lying if I said that you could have done it as well. I mean that. The guy just sat there reading 'Country Life' all day and going, 'Yeah, yeah, that sounds good', when it plainly wasn't. He's simply not used to recording the way we record. When we said, 'Listen, this is the way we work, you'd better get used to it', he tried and he couldn't. He just could not hear if something was wrong."

Were your standards too exacting for him, do you think?

"Possibly, yeah. It sounds strange to say that, though, cos to me those standards are normal. Doing 'Pyromania' was like going to college; I've grown up listening to things a certain way. As far as I'm concerned, getting the timing, the tuning and the feel spot on is the usual way to work, but Jim Steinman for all his reputation - could not hear it."

"After a while, we just thought, well, this is silly, we're wasting our time and money and wasting his time, though we weren't too bothered about that cos he wasn't too bothered about the project. I honestly don't think he was doing it for any reason other than credibility in the States. "We'd say, 'Right, we start at 12', and he'd wander in at 3.30. We'd stay till 12 or one in the morning, then he'd go back to his hotel and start writing songs for his own future projects, and he'd be up till nine o'clock doing that. So when he finally got round to us, he'd only had five hours sleep. he wasn't there half the time. I mean, he was there in body but not in mind. We found more and more that we were doing the work, which was fine, we didn't mind doing it, we just thought, why the hell should we be giving this guy so many points and so many dollars to sit there reading 'Country Life'!"

So how much did you manage to accomplish with Steinman?

"We did about eight backing tracks and scrapped them; almost everything has been done again. And even the things that went down were our decision Steinman never overruled us on anything. If he said a certain take was good and we said it was bad, we'd do it again."

Who was actually getting the sounds at this stage?

"Us and Neil Dorfsman, Steinman's engineer. He was good, actually, cos he was doing all the work. Jim was the ears of the partnership, but the ears were plugged up, I think..."

"Y'know, it annoys me intensely when a producer walks into a control room and says, "This carpet has got to go!' Sod the desk, that's not important. An SSL desk, 150,000 quid's worth of equipment, and the carpet's got to go! He even had the carpet changed in his hotel room. The guy was living in a suite while we were happy in rooms with a fridge and a cooker. Obviously, we paid for it all..."

"And the food! He went out to the North of Holland and had a 12 course meal! Which is fine, that's his personality, but when somebody walks into a studio and says the carpet has got to go... if I'd been there I'd have decked him. Seriously. Who gives a flying s**t what the carpet looks like!"

How long did Steinman last, then?

"Oh, we dumped Jim about November, we gave him a fair chance. We thought, well, alright, we're doing the spadework, what he might consider the boring side of the album, let's see what he's like on vocals, maybe that's his strongpoint. He did tell us that he spent something like five weeks trying to get Meat Loaf to sing one line, so we thought, OK, the guy's definitely got stamina."

"But when it came to doing vocals with me, it was exactly the same situation as with the backing tracks - everything was my decision. He'd say, 'Yeah, that's good', and I'd go, 'Jim, it's f**king useless!' I'd run out of breath at the end of a line cos I wasn't quite familiar with what I was singing, and he'd say, 'It's got a bit of feel'. Isn't that pathetic?!"

"I mean, Steve and Phil wanted to get rid of him two weeks after he was here. But I just kept saying, 'Give the guy a chance, blah, blah, blah' made meself look a right arsehole. But it was only fair to let him get to the vocal stage of things."

"Anyway, when Steinman went we all sat down and asked Mensch to sort out which other producers were available. We put down everybody we thought might be good. Mike Shipley couldn't do it cos he was off co-producing the new Loverboy album, so we just suggested Nigel. We were doing a better job than Steinman, so we thought, well, what's the point getting in another producer? We send 'Mutt' the odd tape now and then and he sends it back saying, 'It sounds brilliant to me', which shows that we can do it, so we are."

Has having Phil Collen involved from the start of this album (he became a Leppard member during the recording of 'Pyromania', replacing guitarist Pete Willis) made things different in any way?

"Yeah, it means that the songwriting's changed a little; Phil's input is better than Pete's ever was. Steve will always be the major songwriter, I think, but he's really encouraged Phil a lot. He doesn't just sit down and say, 'I want to write all the songs', stuff like that. In fact, everything that Steve's written, he's written with Phil in the same room... Phil's probably involved in eight of the 10 songs on the album."

And what about 'Sav'? He writes too, doesn't he?

"Yeah, but 'Sav's weird; I can't get to grips with him sometimes. More than anyone else in this band he likes your Journeys and your Bryan Adams, occasionally even the odd Duran Duran song, yet he was the one who came up with 'Stagefright' and 'No No No'. And on this new album he's got a number called 'Ring Of Fire' - not a cover of the famous Johnny Cash song! which is an uptempo, thrash, crash, Metal job. He just never writes like the people he listens to."

Will Steve and Phil be sharing the guitar breaks on the new LP?

"Oh yeah, 50/50, right down the middle. Actually, they argue about who's gonna do 'em; not in the sense of, 'I wanna do this', but Phil's telling Steve that he should do a certain solo and Steve's saying, 'No you do it, it's more up your street'. I remember hearing stories about KK (Downing) and Glenn (Tipton) from Priest not talking to each other for four months at a time, but it's the other way round with Steve and Phil. The only thing they argue about is who's gonna buy the drinks!"

What about you, though? You play a bit of guitar...

"Badly!"

...have you written anything on the new record?

"Er... I did come up with some stuff but I don't think it got used. I wrote little bits on the last album, but my main worry is obviously melodies, lyrics and vocals."

"Sometimes, though, we'll have a vocal line and work the backing around that. We've got this one new song, 'Armageddon It', which is Piltdown, just two chords all the way through; it's based around a tongue-in-cheek vocal thing."

Is it a 'Rock Of Ages' type number?

"I suppose it is a bit, yeah. The vocals come out from all over the place once it gets going. It's just a totally stupid lyric... like 'Rock Of Ages', just a piss-take of ourselves, though not mocking the fans in any way."

"And then there's 'Ring Of Fire', which I've already mentioned. It's actually about an Indian meal, the day after, but nobody would ever know that... well, they will now!"

When you're writing lyrics, do you ever think about how the song will work live?

"Not really, no. Obviously, a number like 'Rock Till You Drop' is a stage song, and the same with 'Stagefright', but I've never consciously sat down and thought, well, I'd better come up with two songs about 'Rock This Place To The Ground', or whatever, and one meaningful one about Vietnam, and another about a vigilante in New York. They just turn out that way. You do it in moods. I was probably watching something about Vietnam on TV and 'Die Hard The Hunter' (from the 'Pyromania' LP) came out, and I'd probably been to see 'Deathwish' when I wrote 'Billy's Got A Gun' (also on 'Pyromania'). I can't remember, I just do it."

"I actually wrote 'Photograph' (ditto) while I was sitting on the bog. I was stuck for a chorus and I had a picture of Marilyn Monroe staring me in the face... Bob's your uncle!"

When you made the decision to go for something extra with the 'Pyromania' album, were you confident that you could pull it off?

"We were confident, yeah, very confident, because 'Mutt' was producing. We just had so much faith in the guy and in return he had total confidence in what we were doing. We didn't see how we could go wrong, though Mensch was tearing his hair out when we were nearly a million pounds in debt and the record company were drumming their fingers waiting. I think we had to sell 1.2 million copies of 'Pyromania' to break even, we were in a real big mess..."

"I mean, I nearly had a nervous breakdown, I just couldn't handle it. I was going through so much crap towards the end - do it again, do it again... I got what a lot of singers get, 'Lastitis', which comes from the pressure of finishing. We went through a lot of hell on that record..."

Including, of course, the slightly wobbly exit of young Mr Willis...

"Yeah, but in all honesty I think that did us more good than anything. The thing is, you sometimes take situations for granted and then all of a sudden something like that happens and it's like, wow, it's different, there's only four of us, he's gone, really gone. I mean, Phil joined the day after, but then he almost joined back in '81."

"I tried to get him cos we were having trouble with Willis in America. I rang Phil up and said, 'Can you learn 16 songs in two days?' He said, 'I'll try', but that was just totally out of desperation, there's no way he could have done it. However, when Pete started to act in the studio like he did on tour, which was making Keith Moon look like a bloody vicar, it was time for him to go."

Why doesn't he get some help?

"Well, I think he's beyond help, to tell the truth. He doesn't even realise he needs it, he doesn't accept he's got a problem, though the guy's been in hospital twice as a result of drink and drugs. He had a collapsed liver or something, and epileptic fits, God knows what."

That hasn't happened to the rest of you, though, and you're all the same age, you've all worked your way up together...

"No, it's just him. Pete's always had something to prove, y'see, probably because he's a midget. The guy thought he was 10 feet tall when he was pissed and he'd be taking on people as big as you it didn't work. He was like a gigantic ball and chain around our ankles..."

THE LATEST whisper on Willis is that he's currently swanning around the environs of Sheffield, complete with Rolls Royce and minder, recounting tales of some hush-hush supergroup he might be throwing in his frets with. Elliott finds it hard to take the whole thing seriously, and I think it's fair to say that the recording of album number four is proceeding all the smoother for the wee man's absence.

Already, a number of lead vocals are complete, and the band (employing two studios simultaneously) are steadily piecing together their ten new songs, ready to convince a waiting world that Life After 'Pyromania' does exist.

So what's on the boil? Well, in no particular order, there's 'Armageddon It' and 'Ring Of Fire', already mentioned, 'Excitable', 'Gods Of War', 'Fractured Love', 'Don't Shoot The Shotgun' (Stonesy, I'm assured), 'Animal', 'Love Bites' (a ballad), 'Run Riot' and the enticingly handled 'Women', all proudly produced by the Leppard members themselves, who, without the invaluable 'Mutt' Marten to administer the prods, are taking great and serious pleasure in booting each other up the bum! "Actually, I never envisaged us producing ourselves," admits Joe, "I thought it might be the one thing that would lead to us falling out. It's always been dead important to us that Leppard is a friends situation; we want to keep the element of why we started. Five mates who can still go into the same bar and look each other in the face after seven years. Happily, that's the way it's remained, and producing ourselves is working really well..."

The new album, which now looks set to be mixed by Lange in the UK, an added bonus, should be available by August, after which the band plan to tear up the tarmac on a world tour of, well... y'know. The idea, it seems, is to blow away the studio cobwebs with about eight shows in Ireland, some in smaller places, then steer a course for the UK, perhaps for a September stint (the British dates have already been put back four times!) of 20 or so gigs. A headline appearance at Wembley Arena isn't too far off for the boys, according to Queen's Brian May, a staunch Leppard supporter, but this time around I reckon they'll settle for something a little more cosy.

Next tour, though Europe too seems odds on to cop a visit, particularly as 'Pyromania' has now shifted over 100,000 copies in France and is making a late burst for the tape in Scandinavia as well. Business in Germany, however, remains a little slow, and as for Holland... well, now we're talking about a massive 639 units shifted. Still, at least it means the band don't have to worry about being recognised. Def what?!

By December Leppard should be into America, after which it's likely they'll travel to Japan, though probably not Australia, that stage of the tour having lost them around 60 grand last Feb. Indeed, all in all, their schedule will be less arduous than last time, including more days off to recover and recharge. The band should certainly feel healthier as a result, but then with the Rick Allen episode having shocked the Leppard camp into a highly body-conscious state, that's the way things are heading anyway "I don't want to waste away and vegetate," explains Joe. "I'm 25, I'm supposed to be at the peak of my fitness; I'm supposed to be Glenn Hoddle but I wasn't. I'd run a mile and be out of breath. Now I can run a six minute mile, no trouble, and I do half an hour's worth of exercises every day. 'Sav', Phil and myself all go jogging too - we take less for granted now than we did before..."

#the bit about Steve and Phil writing together 🥹#def leppard #magazine scan #my scans

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dg-outlaw · 1 month

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Shuffle your favourite playlist and post the first five songs that come up. Then copy/paste this ask to your favourite mutuals <3

Getting to this a bit late because some life stuff has happened recently.

From my JaySteph playlist: a random mix of songs that give vibes for either Jason Todd or Stephanie Brown, the both of them, the other Batfam members, or just inspire scenes or a mood for living life and/or fighting crime in Gotham.

All These Things That I've Done - The Killers Such a Jason coded song, especially at the end with the lyric, "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" as I see it as Jason's fuck you to Bruce and the Robin plaque calling him a 'good soldier'.

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival Just a fun song that I could see as a teaser for some big bad on the way at the end or beginning of a story. Also, I HC that Jason likes classic rock thanks to Alfred, Willis, or maybe even Roy.

Come Around - Rosi Golan Definitely one of those songs that queues up in the background of some CW-style romantic scene between Jason and Steph, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. P.S. via the YT comments this was on 'One Tree Hill' back in the day, so my CW vibe was correct.

Broken Bones - Kaleo Another Jason song that gives off a lone gunman vibe that I feel Jason has sometimes, especially after some shit has gone down and he's riding out of Gotham, alone again.

I'm So in Love with You - Jill Andrews (fet. Seth Avett) If you've read any of my JaySteph stuff (or have just seen anything from me), you've likely figured out that I'm a softy and I like a slow burn, so yeah... more love songs.

#honestly this only just scratches the surface of the playlist #the rest is just a crazy ADHD chaotic mess #one minute I'm sad or thinking about some romantic scene and the next it's time to kick some ass or be mad at Bruce #jason todd #red hood #stephanie brown #batgirl #spoiler dc #jaysteph #batfam

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that-one-random-writer · 1 year

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Chasing you Chapter 1 {Complete}

Summary: Jake retires from the military honorably. He steps into a new roll, ready to settle down in his hometown of Texas. He is placed on your shift. Your current relationship is stable until the dust settles, revealing cracks in the foundation.

Warnings: Cursing, violence, police experiences based on truth, accurate on most accounts of law enforcement, it might get gory at times. Be aware of blood, drugs, and all things law enforcement. Smut eventually. A/N may have my true experience attached if you're interested. All real names redacted. Y/n used once.

Next chapter || Masterlist

Whispers went around the department. There was a new guy starting today. The women in the office were saying he was fine as hell, and the men were saying he was just a pretty boy who thought he could handle this.

You sat back in your seat. You texted James, your boyfriend. 'Can you get milk and eggs on your way home? We're out.' James agreed with a thumbs up emoji.

You had just started your shift. It was opposite to your boyfriends now. You were on the night shift, twelve hours of complete bullshit. The dark night hid some of the worst people. The FNG, fucking new guy, didn't know what he was getting himself into.

On queue, the FNG walked into the squad room. He sat in the squad room next to Grant, the corporal that had been there for a while now. Everyone quieted down, looking at the new guy. "What's up, man? How'd you like that OC spray?" Grant had been the first to speak up. He volunteered some at the law enforcement academy, and he was supervising the pepper spray training to make sure no one got injured. You swore up and down, and the man just enjoyed them withering in pain.

"Man, fuck that shit. I took a shower that night, and it started back up." The gorgeous man chuckled. Clapping his hand to grants in a shake. He leaned back in his seat.

You remember the OC spray. You've used it a small handful of times. You opted for the taser more often. Electric currents were much less likely to blow back onto you. The spray had thirty seconds of calm, then the fire would set in burning your eyes, nose, mouth, throat, neck, anything it came in contact with would be in a constant state of hell burning through your soul. Water tended to reactivate it after it wore off. There was a twenty-four period of chance it would reactivate, dragging you through hell all over again. You'd rather have your toenails ripped off than ever go through that again.

All the men in the room laughed at the man's misfortune. "Yeah the sadistic fucks don't warn you about the water..." Rastley, a fellow officer, chimed in.

Everyone settled into their seats as the sergeant walked in. "Im sure everyone has noticed the new officer on duty." He paused, pulling out papers that were for the new payroll. He passed them around the room for everyone to fill out. "This is Seresin. Jacob is your first name, right, and your badge number?" Sergeant Valley looked up at Seresin. "Just Jake, sir. Number 267"

Sgt. Valley nodded and looked back around the room. "Jake Seresin 267." He wrote down the new information on a notebook page with his shifts names and numbers. "Everyone go around the room and introduced yourself"

"Norman Grant 298, I'm your corporal." Grant was an older man with dark chocolate skin. His hair had been shaved completely bald. He was in the army before settling back a few towns over from his hometown. His body was still in great shape for his age.

"Walt Rastley 245" He was a younger man. He was in his mid twenties. His hair was a bright blonde in a neat gel combed style. His body was in top physical performance.

You sat up slightly as the attention turned to you. "Y/F/N Monroe 251" You nodded at Seresin. His eyes met yours with a nod and a smile in your direction. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of green. They looked familiar. You were in a relationship, but that didn't mean you couldn't appreciate a nice-looking man for what he was, and he was definitely something worth looking at.

His attention turned to the next man to speak. "She's my 'Marilyn'." You rolled your eyes playfully at the next officers comment. Everyone chuckled at the statement.

"He tries to make everyone believe he's my Kennedy. Right, Mr. President?" You added jokingly, pressing your lips together in a mocking smile.

"Hey, a man can dream." He puts his hands up in defense, then relaxes back in his seat. "Liam Kennedy 232" Liam was a Kennedy looking man. His hair was also perfectly gelled but had a chocolate brown color. Your relationship was platonic and playful, and you would call him one of your best friends on the shift. He turned his face back to you and wiggled his brows playfully at you.

The other officers on shift introduced themselves. Twelve officers in total were on the shift, including you. You were the only female on shift. That was normal. Every shift had one female, and because of short staffing, most couldn't afford to have more than that.

"Seresin, you will be riding with Mr. President Kennedy here." Sgt rolled out a big barrel laugh.

"That name doesn't sound as sweet coming off your lips, sarge." Kennedy matched the laugh. Leaning into the side of his chair.

"You will be riding with him for the next couple shifts. He will be your FTO for now. I will let you know when that changes. Everyone else, same positions as yesterday." Sgt valley walked around and placed his on Kennedy's shoulder, squeezing. This wasn't the military. Law enforcement was much more smooth and less formal. There was more under the wire talking. Kennedy knew what Sgt was telling him. He was saying without words. 'Give the new guy a warm welcome to hell'

"Yes, sir" Seresin nodded and grabbed his bag. Everyone else watched the clock tick.

"Eh, if we release early, then maybe they will pay it back, and we can get an early breakfast. Dismissed." The officers walked out to their cars five minutes earlier than normal. Settling in the seats of the patrol cas, starting up and testing the sirens, lights, and all the bells and whistles.

You sat down in your seat. You were parked next to Kennedy. Once you both finished testing, you looked over at Kennedy. "I'm going past Churchill Road." You were in the same zone as Kennedy.

You backed up and started driving to your post. Once you made it, you drove around the area. "251 to dispatch I'm 10-8." You heard chatters confirming and marking you as in service from dispatch, then the officer you took over from called back he was 10-7. Leaving his location and out of service in the area.

You drove around watching cars slow down when they saw you. It was funny to watch people get flustered without even seeing their body movements.

Your tag reader started signaling you to a car. You shifted behind the car and turned on your siren and lights. The car started speeding up. You groaned. "So it's gonna be that kind of night." You clicked your radio. "251 to all units. I'm 10-80 with a white accord. Be advised that he is heading east bound on Oak Thorn towards you 232. Dispatch can you run the plate number Charlie, Romeo, India, Victor, 347" You were currently chasing the accord as it sped through the highway.

Dispatch ran the plate through the system and found a frequent flyers name. "Dispatch to 251. It's under Jordan Barn." You groaned even louder. This isn't his first time by any means, and he tended to get aggressive. "232 can you 25. Requesting back up east bound of Oak Thorn." You called for assistance through the radio.

Kennedy watched your location and turned in your direction, hitting his radio. "Im en route to you, eta four minutes." Kennedy turned on his lights and rushed to your side of the zone. "Did you catch all that?" He asked his rookie passenger.

Seresin nodded. His heart started to pump a burst of adrenaline through his limbs. "Your Marilyn found trouble..." He started. Kennedy chuckled swiftly making turns and weaving through traffic. Seresin continues, "She's chasing a white accord east bound on Oak Thorn. The tag is registered to a Jordan Barn."

Kennedy was about a minute out from the chase. "You're gonna catch on quick. Watch out for Barn, he is a firecracker. Man's a drug dealer with an attitude problem."

"Noted." Seresin watched ahead seeing lights in the distance.

"I'm behind you 251." Kennedy called out over the radio to you.

You had been devising a plan while he took his four minutes to get to you. "251 to 298." You paused, waiting for Cpl Grant's go-ahead to be called over the radio. You then continued. "The accord isn't going to stop. It doesn't look like anyone else is in the vehicle. Requesting to do a pit maneuver."

Grant was on the other side of town pulling over a mini van that had a taillight out. He waited before exiting his vehicle, calling back over the radio. "If you have back up, then go ahead and run it. 245, go ahead and head over that way if you're not 10-6. They may need the backup." Grant exited his vehicle and walked to the window. "Did you know your light is out in the back, ma'am?"

Rastley called over the radio. "10-4 I'm en route 251. Eta eight minutes."

You started back your radio traffic. "10-4 298" you paused briefly, acknowledging Rastley. "232, you ready."

Kennedy confirmed over the radio. "10-4" Kennedy looked over to Seresin. "When we get out, you make sure you have your gun ready. If it's Jordan, he is normally armed he hasnt fired yet, but if he sees an opportunity, he's going to take it."

You grabbed the wheel of your car and accelerated pushing just past his back bumper. You nipped at it. His car spun around to a stop. You ripped your car around, pushing into the back tailgate, blocking his exit. Kennedy pulled into the front. Blocking his exit the other way. All three officers exited the patrol cars. "Get on the ground! Get on the ground!" Kennedy yelled out to the suspect. His gun was drawn.

Jordan Barn pulled his gun out and waved it around at the officers. "I ain't going back. You ain't taking me no damn where."

You held your ground with your gun drawn, not pulling any closer to him. "Jordan put the gun down."

Jordan spun his eyes around. "You ain't going to take me you stupid bitch." Jordan had his weapon pointed towards you but then dropped it by his side still holding it. He couldn't admit defeat but knew he was cornered.

That's it. Keep talking. Your mind racing with the adrenaline. Jordan had his back to Seresin and Kennedy. You kept your eyes on Jordan but could see them move in to disarm him. You had to keep his attention on you. "Jordan, I'm hurt by that. I thought you got clean." Kennedy glanced into the truck not seeing anyone else in the car hiding.

Before Jordan could respond, he was disarmed and tackled by Seresin. Kennedy pulled out his cuffs, pinning them tightly behind his back. Kennedy started patting him down, checking for more weapons, but being careful of needles. The instant the gun was thrown from his hand, you ran to the tossed weapon and secured it.

"I got it." You placed the weapon on the hood of Kennedy's car. Seresin and Kennedy picked up the man and pushed him in the back of their car when they knew he was clear.

"We're going to take him to the jail, gotta show the rookie. First, you owe me one. Second, search the car, and if you find anything, call me. I'll add it to the charges." Kennedy walked to the driver's side door and got in. Seresin got in his side, and they took off after you picked the gun back up.

Rastley pulled up right as the pair took off. He stepped out if the vehicle. "Shows over?"

You nodded. "He had a gun. It's Jordan so you know somethings in here. You can help me search if you want."

Rastley nodded. "You know I love a search." You both opened the doors a stench filled your nose. "Damn something died in here." His nose scrunched up.

You sifted through the items both of you were careful about needles. "I got about ten needles over here. Nothings in them" You collected them in an evidence bag knowing there was remainders still in the bottom.

"Nothing over here." You pulled back the carpet and found a box. "I think I got it." You opened the box to find heroin. "Yup I got it. That's a trafficking charge. Jesus, go grab your scale."

A/N: Some radio traffic may not be 100 percent accurate. I worked in the jail, so we didn't use ETA(estimated time of arrival) or a lot of the 10 codes.

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cookiesandbiscuits · 2 years

Text

Obey Me! Demon Bros React to a GN!MC Who is A Popular Comic/Manga Artist

A/N: Ayo! This is my first time making a headcanon so you could tell that I'm quite nervous about this. Idk if someone had already made this hc but it's stuck in my head that I can't focus on other stuff. Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy reading this!

Summary: How would the demon bros react if they discovered that MC is a popular comic/manga artist in the human world.

Genre: Fluff

Warning: I got too eager to make this and it got a bit lengthy (esp. Levi's part) (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

MASTERLIST

Lucifer

He already knows that you were a popular comic/manga artist the moment he read your file.

But he had no idea that you were THAT popular.

One time he went to a comic con with you to show his support, and a lot of people lined up in front of your table in a snap just to get their copy signed. He couldn't even tell where the long queue ends.

He doesn't read comics/mangas so he doesn't know how your works became so popular in the human world.

So he decided to read some of your works to understand the hype.

He was surprised. He now knows why your comics/mangas were successful. The story of your works was well-written and the art style is really good. And he enjoyed reading it, though he wouldn't tell you that.

He felt proud of your accomplishments and the fact that your talents are recognized by the world.

He is now one of your fans. His pride wouldn't let him admit it tho.

Mammon

I have a feeling that he would know after seeing your name in an article online about popular comic/manga artists.

He'll barge into your room and start saying things like "Why didn't ya tell me you're a popular comic/manga artist up in the human world? You're supposed to tell me things like that, remember? Since I'm your first man and all."

He'd then ask you things like "How much do ya earn per work?" or "Are ya planning to team up with someone? If ya like I could team up with you."

"Sorry, Mammon. But I don't have plans in collaborating with other artists yet."

He'll give you a dejected puppy look.

He's sad that you don't plan to collaborate with him, but he'll still support you. He IS your first man after all.

He would read all of your works starting from the first one until your most recent work.

Congrats, you've got another fan of your works.

Even though you don't accept collaboration requests yet, he would give you ideas for your ongoing work. This helps you a lot in making your newest work's story/plot.

Acknowledge him in your newly released work and he'd be over the moon.

Leviathan

He would know your not-so-secret secret in one of the comic cons he was attending.

He's going on for days talking about this manga that he started reading and how it's so well-done and how he's been looking forward to meeting the artist behind it in the comic con he'll be attending next Saturday.

He even suggested that you should start reading the series with him. Little did he know that you were the artist behind the manga he was talking about.

Imagine the surprised look on his face when he saw you in the comic con, sitting with a table in front of you and a pen in your dominant hand while smiling at him.

Realization hit him. You were the artist who made the manga he so much enjoys. Wait, if you were the artist behind the manga he was reading, then--

Levi.exe has stopped working.

He doesn't know how to react to the truth bomb you just dropped in front of him. He felt like his soul had just re-ascended to the Celestial Realm.

Marry him now.

"Umm, Levi" you waved your hand in front of his face. "Do you want me to sign your copy?"

Your question snapped him back to reality.

"Y-yes, please!" His hands shook from nervousness and shock, and a shade of red had spread across his face and ears.

"I'm glad you liked my series. I appreciate it."

The poor snek boi's heart just stopped.

When you two got home from the convention, he straight up went inside his room and locked himself up.

Remember how he acted around Simeon when he discovered that he's the author of TSL? Yeah, he's giving you the same treatment now.

It took him a while before he started acting normal around you again.

Sometimes though, you could see him being star-stricken with you.

Satan

"Oh, cool."

That was his reaction until you told him the title of your most recent work and its synopsis. Which included two of his favorite things in the three realms-- cats and mystery stories.

If he doesn't have a plan to read it before, he has now.

He is in awe of how well-written the story is and how your art style contrasts the theme of the story.

He would definitely tell you his opinion about it after he finishes the whole series in record time.

If you'd like, he could help you write a sequel to it. Heck, he already has an idea of what the story should be about.

Asmodeus

He would know your profession when he accidentally saw your drafts scattered on your study table.

"Oh, hon... why didn't you tell me that you're a comic/manga artist? Your art style is really good."

He'll give you a lot of compliments after this.

Not surprised when he discovers that your works are very popular in the human world. (He discovers this with the help of Levi). Who in their right minds would dislike a work as good as yours?

Expect that your works would be trending in Devilgram a few days later. Courtesy of yours truly.

He feels that your works should also be recognized in the Devildom, just like his beauty.

He's careful not to post major spoilers after Levi nagged at him nonstop when he accidentally posted one online.

Would ask you to make a comic about himself.

Beelzebub

"Oh, cool." (2)

He's not particularly interested in reading comics/mangas but he will support you nevertheless.

He volunteered to be your bodyguard when you told him you'll attend a fan meeting arranged by the publishing house next week.

He's worried for your safety. He knows how chaotic it can be when meeting your fans. He already has experience with rogue fans.

When you're in a rush of meeting a deadline and you can't afford to join them for dinner, he will be the one who would bring your dinner to your room. You can't work with an empty stomach, after all.

He's totally a keeper.

Belphegor

"Oh, cool." (3)

He may seem to not pay attention whenever you talk about your job but believe me, all of his attention is on you.

He doesn't have the motivation to read all of your works but he'll still be one of your biggest fans.

He has a favorite among all of your works. You'll sometimes see him reading it over and over again if he's not sleeping.

When he's in the mood, he'll even help you proofread the chapter you're currently working on. He doesn't care if it spoils him in the process.

If the chapter you're currently working on includes things about astronomy, he'll gladly help you with it.

#obey me #obey me headcanons #obey me shall we date #obey me x reader #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me fluff #cookie writings

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glowingbadger · 1 day

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Hii, congrats on 2000+ followers! Not nearly enough Yuri Leclerc content out there, your blog got me through some tough times 🫡. You've already written a lot of alphabet stuff for him though, so could I maybe interest you in K, U, and Y for Sebastian sdv? ty <33

Aww I'm glad to hear that- and I know I have a Yuri prompt or two in my queue still, so there's more to look forward to! In the meantime, let's talk SDV~

Alphabet prompts - Sebastian (SDV)

K (kink), U (unfair), Y (yearning)

NSFW 18+

Kink: this may come as a surprise, but I actually feel Sebastian is somewhat vanilla, but very romantic, in his own quietly sensual way. He won't ever let on in public, but when you're alone together, he just loves to be touching you as much and as often as possible, so while it's not a "kink" per say, his style is to really loose himself in sensation with you. That said, he does get turned on if you share his cigarette, light your own with his, or even take his from him playfully and either steal a drag from it or put it out so you have easy access to his lips (the latter especially if you're trying to help him quit)

Unfair: Sebastian may talk big and make a bit of a show of teasing you, but when really pressed- when you look up at him with your face flush and your lips pouting and your eyes pleading -he simply can't help but crumble. He can keep it up for a little bit, denying your release the first time you start to get close, or whispering that he needs you to be good and ask nicely first. But it really doesn't take much to break his resolve. Ultimately, the satisfaction of hearing you gasp his name while you cling to him and cum hard just for him is far more rewarding than tormenting you.

Yearning: Sebastian definitely has a healthy libido, especially once he's with you. While in the past he could certainly enjoy a rare hookup here and there, and of course got himself off when the urge struck, he's so much more motivated and finds the sex so much more fulfilling when he has you. All of the unique little things you do when he gives you pleasure just make him want to see it all over again, and he'll find himself idly fantasizing about how your legs wrapped around his hips, until he starts getting restless with the desire to have you again.

#sebastian #sebastian sdv #stardew valley #sebastian stardew valley #sebastian x reader #stardew valley x reader #sdv #stardew valley smut #stardew valley headcanons #alphabet prompts #smut prompts #not sfw

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flowarts-collection · 11 months

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This blog is intended to be a collection of all juggling/flow-arts/circus related related content on tumblr, with a minimum of commentary and other posts. All body types, skill levels, & identities are welcome here.

Feel free to submit your posts, new and old (send us a link as an ask, and we'll reblog it! If you've got a bunch of posts, send us your tags and we'll reblog them all!) If you'd prefer us to not reblog your posts, let us know and we'll delete them.

If you'd be willing to help find and queue posts, send and ask! We'd appreciate it!

Tags:

#tumblr practitioner -- the post was posted by the person performing

#fire -- fire!

#flashing -- video or gif that contains more than usual amounts of flashing

#poi spinning, #fan, #hoop, #double hoop, #rope dart, #juggling, #leviwand, [more to be added] -- the style of prop used

If anything seems mistagged, let us know! :) Currently, I'm only including video/pictures of IRL people, not drawings or text-based discussion.

(currently run by: @kaiasky. yell at me if there's issues)

#flow arts #hooping #poi spinning #fan dance #hoop dance #fire spinning

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theponyarchive · 10 months

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Announcement

I submitted this as a feedback ticket, but I have no faith left in Tumblr so this will likely be my sign-off.

The recent changes to both web and mobile have effectively rendered Tumblr unpalatable and borderline unusable. The "new" twitter-style interface for web is absolutely atrocious. Does not scale the UI with screen resolution so 60% of my screen is wasted. Even with all that wasted space, the activity and message popouts open OVER THE DASH. Have to continue to snooze the blatant data-theft tool that is Tumblr Live every seven days even though there is no chance I will EVER use it. New mobile lightbox finally got the fix to allow double-tap to zoom, but is still unusable because after you've zoomed in, if you accidentally scroll too far and start to swipe to the (absolutely useless and unwanted) "related content", then you can no longer single tap to hide the UI. So much for being able to read the text or see the details for which I needed to zoom in to begin with. All of these changes keep coming rapid fire while there is still little to no progress being made on things that users actually want: a usable search function, proactive action on bots, proactive action on hate speech. Also while all of this is going on, someone(s) in your moderation and review team is singling out trans women's posts/pictures as "mature content" regardless of how G-rated the actual content is. I'm in my second year of paying for ad-free. I'm not even halfway through the second year but I'm basically writing it off as a loss. I've set my queues to all run dry in about 7 days and then all my blogs will go silent. I'll check back in a week but my hope that ANYTHING will move in a positive direction is very low. I've been an account-holding Tumblr user for 9 years, and I was here just looking for a year or more before that. I came here to escape the toxicity of fan communities elsewhere and even though there's plenty of that here, it's so much easier to not see it with the chrono-dash, functional blocking tools, etc. Tumblr is the only "social media" I still use and if nothing changes then I guess I'll finally be free. I don't want to have to leave. I liked it here, but you have gone too far.

My queues will all run out in 7-8 days (probably 9 for @i-like-thing because I can't set the queue to more than 50 posts a day). If by some miracle this actually ends up getting a response from @staff and things improve, I might be back, but as I said, I have no faith left.

It's been a fun 9 years of colorful ponies, outer space adventures, cute animal friends, and assorted shitposting. Maybe I'll see you out there!

Mod P

#tumblrpocalypse 2023

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toomuchracket · 1 year

Note

per the last ask (I’m a different anon) maybe birthday party verse! Matty and reader take a trip to celebrate a publication of hers and they rent a car (maybe a vintage convertible like in that one music vid) and matty is looking all classic driving reader down pch on their way to dinner and so it’s kind of a mix of sunshine baby/golden/style and then after dinner they decide to take a dip in the ocean 😌

gonna change the location of this because i had an idea about it anyway but it's a similar vibe!! so i think that the holiday starts in paris - you've been asked to do a little talk and a signing of your most recent book at the shakespeare and company bookshop, which is a huge fucking deal and something you're so so excited about, and naturally matty's glowing with pride and goes to paris with you. and you have a few days there before your event, just reminiscing on the last time you were there with your friends, and visiting museums and doing a bit of shopping. matty's in extra-proud boyfriend mode and attempting to buy you everything your eyes linger on for more than a second "as a well-done! a little treat!"; at the event itself (which he's already given you flowers for), he's watching you from the edges of the crowd, totally in awe of you (someone snaps a pic of him smiling at you like you hung the moon and tweets it, someone else tweets to say that they spoke to him and he literally just gushed about you for five minutes straight lol), and he almost cries after he cheekily queues for you to sign his copy of the book, because you address it to "the love of my life" and kiss the page to leave a lipstick mark on it for him lol.

anyway, i think at dinner afterwards, you probably say something like "god, i really don't want to go home in two days" and matty just beams and goes "well, good, because we're not", and then he reveals that he's booked a cottage somewhere in bordeaux for the two of you to stay in for the next week - you're immediately so so excited, and then you're like slightly panicked because "i didn't bring enough clothes!", and matty laughs like "well, now you'll need to let me take you shopping, sweetheart, yeah?" and you roll your eyes but you do let him buy you armfuls of new sundresses the next day lol. and the day after shopping, you and matty have a two-hour long train journey to bordeaux - which is spent listening to an album together and eating sweets lol - where there's a car waiting for you outside; a classic red vintage convertible (like the one from that clip of matty in l.a.), which matty is SO smug about. you tease him about it a little, like "you're sure you can drive on the opposite side of the road?" and "this is so new wave cinema of you. you've got postmodernism brainrot, baby", but that's just to distract yourself from jumping his bones because jesus christ he looks so hot driving with his sunglasses on and his hair all curly and messy (you take like 455883 pics of him like this. new lockscreen material for certain). i think you probably get lost a couple of times on the way to the cottage - you're responsible for navigating with the map and it's in french, for fuck's sake lol - but neither of you mind, because it's just so perfect driving through the french countryside with the wind in your hair and the sun on your faces. and the week is like the total antithesis to your busy time in paris; you just laze about in the sunshine, smoking and fucking (lol) and eating good food (but you both do end up getting inspired and writing some stuff for your respective next projects lol), before getting a little bit dressed up in the early evenings to tour some of the MANY vineyards nearby, having dinner and getting pleasantly tipsy on red wine. the very last night, you go to the vineyard where That Wine, the one you guys bonded over and love sharing, is made. and maybe, just maybe, a certain question is popped... idk! who's to say? regardless, it's perfect <3

#mads muses #mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #into the birthday partyverse

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bananakarenina · 7 months

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20 questions writer meme!

Tagged by the wonderful @breakaway71! A little Friday night break to help me jumpstart some writing, hopefully?

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 26

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 219,077

3. What fandoms do you write for? Julie and the Phantoms, though I have a CW Nancy Drew fic percolating!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

our hearts can speak ourselves unseen (first collab with @where-you-go, peterpatterlina + modern cyrano de bergerac)

complications you could do without (remix of crescent moon, peterpatterlina)

for love's sake only (the fake marriage historical/regency au, rulie)

want your midnights (the OG! new year's eve 1994, hint of peterpatter)

heaven above and closer (the other collab with @where-you-go, the 90s road trip coming of age au, julie x luke x reggie x bobby, willex)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Oh gosh. i try, for real, y'all. i often put it off because i want to get a good grade in commenting/responding, which is something real you can achieve, and then i end up not doing it at all. but i love each and every one i receive! i'm just so inconsistent about actually replying.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? hmmmmm. excellent question; even if i write angst i tend to veer toward a happy or at least hopeful ending (example: leave the light on)

actually you know what, heart like a wheel is probably the angstiest if you think about it. it's just that the main character doesn't know it, lol.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? oh gosh. i love a happy ending, so pick one. they're mostly all varying degrees of happy, lol

8. Do you get hate on fics? i have been very lucky so far in that i don't get outright hate, no.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? it's not the thrust (heh) of what i write, generally, but i have: for love's sake only and its sequel, to love's self alone, are both in the vein of a paperbook romance and are written as such. i do have a carrie x reggie smutfic in the queue though...

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? i can't say that i have! i might nod to another fandom but full crossovers seem so ambitious to me--two different worlds to track, two styles of story. i love reading them, though!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? if i have i'm not aware of it...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? i have not!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? @where-you-go are now on our third collab (she, through some sorcery and witchcraft, got me to round robin on a luke x bobby fake dating story one week on here, and we're expanding it to a full fic, hopefully out before the end of the year!) and @daintyduck99 and i have put on that old song, aka the "i can't believe you married a rodeo cowboy" au, also hopefully coming soon! also maybe i'll poke @breakaway71 again about some dialogue i sent her ;)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? i am a proud multi-shipper and you can't make me choose lololol

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? lol is "all of them" a valid answer? kidding. i have been struggling with getting over the finish line with WIPs this year so.

16. What are your writing strengths? dialogue, def. that's my theatre training/playwright classes coming through. i can always tell when i'm tired because my drafts devolve into dialogue only, haha.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Oh gosh. endings! i can never seem to wrap things up in a snappy way! also lately stakes. like figuring out what the characters have at stake to lose in terms of the story.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? i'll do it sparingly but i generally avoid whole conversations. my grammar in spanish is terrible and that's the only other language i'd feel comfortable writing any dialogue at all in. maybe i'd ask family about tagalog.

19. First fandom you wrote for? oh man. hahahahahahahaha the real answer might be "self-insert o-town fanfic in which my friends and i fell in love with the band members"? but i think it might be gilmore girls. i do want to archive all my ff.net and livejournal (well, the stuff i can find :( ) things so you may see them on an ao3 near you

20. Favorite fic you've written? oh gosh. i love them all because they're mine! maybe for love's sake only because it really feels like i finished a full novella with that one. or heart like a wheel because i love tertiary character explorations. or want your midnights because it started this whole thing. see, i can't choose. don't make me

Tagging @innytoes, @jmrothwell, @daintyduck99, @invisibleraven, and anyone else who sees this and wants to participate in the fun!

#writing games #tag games #myfic #ourfic

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fur-claws-and-eyeballs · 8 months

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Seriously though, now I can't stop thinking about an 1880s-1910s Lost Boys AU.

Specifically, again, where Max owns/operates the resort, and the Boys live in the caves and haunt the grounds.

And Lucy is maybe a widow? (I like it better than divorce for this era anyway...her dead husband can still be an unlikeable dick, as a treat) Anyways, she's a newly single woman, with two boys to care for all by herself. She's got what her husband left to them, but not much else. (Michael tries to help. She wishes he could continue his education, but they can't afford it. So he takes on some manual labor jobs to help support them.)

Maybe Lucy's dealing with the stress of losing her husband and her father in quick succession? Or maybe her father just sends her to the resort to recover from her loss and the stress of trying to support her boys. (Like he's got money that she wouldn't directly accept, or maybe he's influential in town and is able to get her in as a favor because this resort is swanky...and maybe he knows that the whole place is crawling with well-off bachelors and widowers, *wink wink*)

So here Lucy is, recovering from a Victorian-style nervous breakdown, living the high life in a gorgeous seaside resort, and then Max, the owner of all people, this suave mysterious man starts piling on the charm.

Then you've got Michael, who is still just as sullen and bullheaded, on the cusp of manhood. Probably had a girl he was courting back in Phoenix. But he's the "man of the house" now, and he's had to help support his mother and younger brother. He comes to Santa Carla to ensure his family arrives safe and sound, but Max invites him to stay as well. "Take a load off, son. You could use a break after working so hard to care for your mother." (Queue Lost Boys shenanigans)

But also, poor Sam, is devastated that he can't afford to wear the latest fashions, and at having to leave his books back in Phoenix or something. Maybe he meets the Frog brothers while they’re sneaking into the resort grounds, because they’re convinced that all of the nighttime parties are covers for vampire activity. (Make it the year 1897 or later and maybe this version of the boys’ “Vampires Everywhere!” is just Bram Stoker’s Dracula.)

But I don't know how I would want it to end. This story could go either way. Is it a Brady Bunch style happily ever after? I feel like I see so few fics where Max is the good guy, it would be interesting to explore…

Or does it end similar to the movie? Like is Max still the sinister manipulator? Are the Lost Boys still the villains?

What if Lucy doesn’t learn that Max is a vampire until after they are already married since that stuff would proceed so quickly back then. Kill the master vampire then inherit his swanky resort afterward and never have to marry again, lmao. (In this version, the quake doesn’t sink the hotel)

Or maybe this story is set in 1906, leading up to the quake, and instead of ending the story covered in Max ashes in Grandpa’s house, we end the story fallen into the caves covered in Max’s ashes, like, “now what?”

IDK, it sounds fun, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin writing in this era.

#writing prompt #fic ideas #the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #text post #writing #fanfiction

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garaksapprentice · 8 months

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Review: the Daedalus Falcon e-spinner

Originally posted on my blog: https://garaksapprentice.blogspot.com/2023/09/review-daedalus-falcon-e-spinner.html

(There's a ton of photos in this one and much as I love you all, I cannot brain moving them all over here. So if you want all the pics, please check the blog.)

I confess, this is a departure from my usual "let's do things with the least amount of money we can get away with" style. In my defence, I strive to be frugal rather than cheap. I don't mind spending the money to get a good quality, durable product, if it's something I know will get a lot of use. An e-spinner definitely fits that category for me, for several reasons.

One, I fall well on the frog hair end of the spinning spectrum, something most traditional wheels just aren't designed to accommodate. I actually found it faster (and easier on my legs) to use a spindle for the kinds of fine, high-twist yarns I prefer to spin. But, there are limits to how fine I can comfortably go on a spindle - anything past about 50 WPI and I have to concentrate just on the spinning. Not good when you typically use a spindle on the go.

Two, I have a lingering knee injury that doesn't like the treadle action of most spinning wheels (something I find hilariously frustrating given I ride a cargo bike anywhere I can't take the train).

Three, I spin mostly to weave. Much as I love spinning, I like it to end eventually so I can move onto the weaving part of the equation.

After three straight months of research, the Daedalus Falcon came out as the hands-down winner for my goals of speed, fine yarn, and product durability.

Why Daedalus?

Daedalus manufacture high-end e-spinners and spinning accessories. All their products are designed to need little to no maintenance, and to last 20+ years - they're seriously well put together.

They make five different e-spinners to suit just about any spinning preference, from super bulky art yarn to ultra fine frog hair. The Falcon is specifically designed for production spinning of fine yarns - it can reach speeds of 4,200 RPM, over twice what I could get from my Ashford Traditional wheel.

Ordering

I'll be honest, I spent a long time thinking about which model, and whether to order a Daedalus at all. These beauties are high-performance machines built to last. But, that means they come with the price tag of a high-performance machine. Plus currency exchange. Plus postage. (Yikes.) In all, I spent just under AU$2,000 on my Falcon set-up (I ordered three extra bobbins at US$90 and some yarn control cards for US$24).

At the time I ordered (November 2022), there was an estimated wait time of 12 months or more. Luckily for me, if not my bank account, Daedalus expanded their production capacity over the 2022 Christmas break. I reached the front of the Falcon queue in June 2023 (seven months from sign-up). At the time of writing (September 2023) there is no queue for the Falcon, and the Daedalus team are working to banish their waitlists completely.

The package

My Falcon came party disassembled, cradled in bubble wrap. (I wasn't thinking about writing a review when I ordered it, so I didn't take pictures.) The flyer assembly was individually wrapped for transport, as were the speed controller, inverter, cables, and welcome pack/spares bag.

The inverter is a standard laptop style pack. It comes with a US-ended jug plug, but that's easy to change out for whatever your local plug end is. I dove into my box of spare cables and leads and had a compatible jug plug in less than two minutes. If you don't have a box of old computer cords lying around, what century did you time travel from plan ahead and buy a new one.

Importantly, the inverter outputs 15 volts! Make absolutely sure that you've got the right one when you go to spin! Most laptops nowadays run on 20 volts - you don't want to damage the motor by running it faster than it's designed for.

{pic on blog}

The extension cable for the speed controller, and the power end on the motor itself, is some non-standard end that I've never seen before. (It's probably very common among people who know things about electronics; I'm not one of them.) It's similar to USB-A connectors in that the ends are directional; if you don't get them the right way up, they won't connect. The cord itself has a protective, braided outer and feels very sturdy.

From top to bottom: the outside of both ends, the female end, and the male end.

The Instructions

The guidebook (also available as a PDF on their website) is beautifully designed, and clearly written. The parts diagrams are clearly photographed and labelled. I've found the instructions easy to follow, even with a scattered brain.

It includes:

getting started

fine tuning the tension

how to use the speed controller

a page of "handy tips"

how to change the bobbin

an RPM speed table

changing settings in the speed controller menu

maintenance

flat packing for travel

the Daedalus battery (purchased separately)

Daedalus' social media and contact details

The first page has a QR code that takes you directly to the Daedalus YouTube channel, where you can find videos on how to assemble and disassemble each model. My one quibble here is that the QR code takes you to the channel as a whole, rather than to the specific playlist for the model you bought. The videos themselves are short, to the point, and well shot with clear lighting and narration.

Also, the manual states that the speed controller has been limited to 50% max speed in the settings - mine wasn't. I've seen other folks on social media also say their controller wasn't speed limited for this model, so it's something to watch out for.

About that battery

Daedalus offer a battery bank that's designed to work with all their e-spinners (yay!). Unfortunately, due to issues with postage, they don't mail them outside the continental US (boo!).

While their website does say that they'll help you find a compatible battery that you can purchase in your country, this is complicated by the part where all their stuff runs on 15 volts. In Australia at least, 15v battery banks with a standard laptop cable input simply don't exist. I spent six weeks trying to find somewhere to buy a battery - I eventually gave up due to my brain frying any time I tried to look at listings.

While I'd like the option of a battery eventually (it would be much easier to set up in the back yard that way), for now I've made peace with needing to lug extension cords anywhere I want to spin.

Spinning Experience

So far I've only spun commercially prepared wools, so this won't be a thorough review of the Falcon's performance over a variety of fibres and preps. (I'll attempt that later, when I get the chance. And finer wool cards.)

Noise

It's quiet. Really quiet. At least two people at every guild meeting I've taken it to have commented on how quiet it is. Most of the noise comes from the flyer rotation, and considerably less from the motor. I'm quite sensitive to noise, especially higher pitches, so I was concerned about this. Luckily it hasn't been an issue. (If you're the sort of person who can hear electricity, it may bother you. I've lost that mysterious ability as I've aged, for the most part, so I can't say for sure.)

I have noticed that the noise changes/gets louder at speeds above about 70% - again, this is simply due to the fact that the flyer is turning at ~3,000+ RPM. At worst I have to turn the laptop up slightly to better hear the video I have playing. The breeze off the flyer sure helps with air circulation on a warm day, too.

Threading

The size of the hooks (loops, really) and the inner part of the orifice make threading a breeze. I do occasionally struggle with very fine, high twist threads, especially when I'm rethreading after a break. That's partly finding the right angle to hold the thread at so that it catches in the hook, and partly my fingers not always co-operating.This is the position I find works best for threading the orifice.

I wouldn't want to try it with a non-Daedalus orifice hook, though - there's quite a bend in the hook, and it's there for good reason. Luckily the Falcon body has magnets on it to always keep your hook nearby.

The magnets + hook combo is great for holding the end of the thread when you're not spinning, too. I just wrap it around the middle of the hook a few times and stick it back on the magnets.

Take-up and tensioning

The take-up is wonderfully light, and can be ridiculously fine-tuned to match what you're spinning. When take-up drops below an acceptable level (once or twice per layer of bobbin filling), a tiny adjustment (less than a quarter turn) is usually enough to get things back on track.

I've filled four part-bobbins so far (two I'm still working on, one I ran out of fibre), at ~65 WPI, 45 WPI, and ~85 WPI. On each empty bobbin, I started with the spring completely compressed and the cord just barely tight/without slack. It took a few minutes of trial and error with each fibre to dial in the correct tension, but once I did, it was basically hassle-free for each spinning session thereafter.

That being said - I found correct tensioning quite tricky to dial in at first, because the hook and dial had shifted on their arms during shipping. If you put your wheel in something to travel with and find the tension is all screwy next time you go to spin, that's something to look at.

This circumstance isn't covered in the guide book, so it took me a while to work out why my "maximum tension" on the dial still wasn't enough to draw on the yarn I was spinning (it only became apparent about a third into the bobbin). Once I realised that the tension dial had rotated on the shaft in transport, I was able to reset it by simply rotating it back to a more vertical position.

{pic on blog}

This is an extreme example, but both the tension dial and the spring hook opposite it can rotate like this if you're not careful.

Starting/Stopping

At first I didn't think I'd need the foot pedal extension cord - surely I'd just be able to bop the controller on and off with my hand while I was spinning?

I was quickly disabused of this notion partway through my second bobbin. When things go wrong while spinning a 60 WPI single at 2,500 RPM, they go wrong fast. Being able to turn the Falcon off with my foot, while frantically trying to salvage whatever's gone wrong, is essential.

A really nice bonus to the foot pedal is that I'm not stuck in one position while spinning - I can sit, stand, rock from side to side, even crouch or kneel. I have back and shoulder problems and an old knee injury, so being able to freely change posture is a godsend for keeping my muscles happy.

And the soft stop/start - oh. my. Dog. I did not realise how much nicer my wheel spinning life could be. A soft stop is built in to spindle spinning by default, and I genuinely didn't realise how much I missed that on a wheel until I started spinning on the Falcon. I sing its praises whenever the thread breaks - the end stays loose and easy to find on top of the bobbin. No matter how gently I tried to stop my treadle wheel, more often than not the thread end would be buried somewhere in the hills and valleys on the bobbin, and there would be much swearing during retrieval.

Bobbin size

Daedalus advertises the Falcon bobbin as holding "two ounces (60 g) of 30 WPI singles". After plying a couple of bobbins of sock yarn with it, I would call this a conservative estimate. I managed to fit 70g of a 32 WPI, two-ply yarn on one bobbin - and it wasn't even well packed!

I've included a couple of in-progress bobbin shots, and what the singles on them currently measure/weight, below. None of them are even close to full, unfortunately - this is the order I spun them in, and right now I need to concentrate on the last one since it's due by December.

{pics on blog}

Sliver from Bendigo Woollen Mills. ~75 WPI, 31g. 19.5 micron merino top from Nundle Farms. ~82 WPI, 29g. Handpainted 20 micron merino from Kathy's Fibres, ~82 WPI, 12g.

Final thoughts

This powerhouse is not for everyone. It's made for a specific purpose, and it fulfils that purpose beautifully. But it would probably suck at doing things it's not designed for.

While I'm sure you could spin 20 WPI or even 10 WPI singles with it, it won't do the job as well as an e-spinner designed for that. The other Daedalus offerings are worth a look, if you're not as into spinning frog hair as me.

But if you have a deep, abiding love for spinning lace-weight and finer yarns, this is an e-spinner worth looking at. Expensive though it was, it's one of the best fibre-related purchases I've made. (It easily beats the sewing machine and the overlocker combined.)

I'm definitely an outlier here - I have the not-at-all-typical goal of one day having a completely hand-spun, handwoven, and hand-sewn wardrobe. As such, production spinning is my jam - I want fine, high-twist yarns, that commercial mills simply can't replicate. And I want them as fast as my skills will let me go. With that in mind, the Falcon makes complete sense for my spinning goals.

Obligatory disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with Daedalus, and this post isn't sponsored (not that I'm against that, mind. This apprentice has to eat). All opinions are my own.

#review #spinning #daedalus #e-spinner #espinner #fibre crafts #fibre arts

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