#uhhh what do humble people do? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jacksdinonuggets · 2 months

Text

~ T r a u m a ~

Summary:Lucifer is trying to spend some time to get to know Vaggie but she ends up in littlespace so Lucifer takes care of her.

It was rough keeping a big secret from Charlie. Even though she accepted her now and they were on good terms, things were still very stressful. Her wings contributed to that factor as well. They reminded her of what she did before Charlie found her and it gave her a lot of guilt. A few panic attacks later, she decided to talk about it to Charlie one day, hoping that she’ll feel better.

“Maybe you should talk to someone about this,” Charlie suggested, “I’m not exactly qualified and there aren’t many therapists in hell, but maybe you could talk to my dad,”

“Why Lucifer?” Vaggie asked, a little bit nervous. She didn’t exactly want to talk about all this heavy shit to her girlfriend’s dad. What if she makes herself look bad and he’s unaccepting of them? He did know she was an exorcist but never knew why she fell in the first place. It was too heavy to talk about in their little time together.

“Well, he’s also a fallen angel, he might understand how it feels,” The princess prompted.

Vaggie bit her lip, wondering what she should do. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, she sighed and agreed.

A day or two later, Vaggie stands in front of Lucifer’s room. It was just one of the nicer hotel rooms, so it wasn’t supposed to be as intimidating. But it was. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

“Mr Morningstar?” She called out, slowly opening the door and entering. He had one of the suites so she assumed he was just in one of the bedrooms.

“Ah, Maggie! Good to see you!” He popped up to her side and gave her a hug. She flinched, but then relaxed.

“It’s Vaggie, Sir,” She calmly corrected him.

“Vaggie, got it. Anyways, what brings you to my humble abode,” He asked, leading her to the kitchen area where he poured himself a glass of water.

“I- uhhh, I was hoping to talk to you about something,” She nervously looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact. She really didn’t want to make this more awkward and terrifying than it already was.

“Oh, alright, let's sit then,” he walked over to the couch and gestured a hand to the one in front of it so they sat facing towards each other.

“So, I- Uh, Charlie wanted me to talk to you about some struggles I’ve been having that have to do with being a fallen angel,” she began, “I don’t even know how to start,”

She thought about it for a second and took a deep breath.

“What do you do when… you feel so ashamed for being an angel that you think it would be better if you were gone?”

“That’s a tough question. Mind telling me why you feel ashamed first?” he asked. He would probably have to tell Charlie about these thoughts. It definitely wasn’t healthy.

Vaggie’s memories and reasons why she was guilty flashed in her head. The people she’s killed. The souls lost. It's all her fault.

“I- I- I-,” She stuttered.

“Hey, it’s okay, take a deep breath,” he instructed. After she took a couple, she felt a bit calmer.

“I was an exorcist for years. I killed so many and hurt many more. I lied to Charlie, I lied to my friends, I even lied to myself. I kept saying that it was okay but it wasn’t! Nothing is okay! I’m not fucking okay! I’m a murderer.…” she confessed. He sucked in a breath but she wasn’t done.

“I wasn’t even punished! I- I deserve to feel hurt and pain. I deserve agony but no one will give it to me. My stupid wings are a constant reminder of the monster I am,” She began to stumble on her words as her lip began to quiver. She’s held so much in that she was an absolute mess now that she was talking about it. It made her headspace immediately fall like a bag of sand being thrown off a cliff.

Before she knew it, she started crying, sobbing even. Lucifer got really worried and moved to sit next to her. He wrapped his arms around her shaking body. She was very much ugly crying. The hiccuping, hyperventilating kind too. Why was he giving her comfort. He should be upset with her.

“Vaggie, you don’t deserve any pain. You’ve changed. You’re not deserving of a punishment anymore. You deserve comfort and help,” He told her in a calm, gentle voice. It was quite nurturing too.

Being a caregiver, he could notice easily when a headspace dropped and he could tell hers went deep down fast. He gently pulled her into his lap and began to rock her, trying to calm the baby down.

“Shh, shhh, you’re okay, we all forgive you, shh, shhh,” He spoke soothingly into her ear.

He made a rubber duck appear and held it in front of her.

“Look! It’s a ducky!” he sqeaked it, trying to get her attention. She looked up at it, still crying but not as many hiccups. Lucifer moved it around and made little quacking noises to entertain her. It seemed to help.

He gave the ducky to her once she stopped crying. She immediately tried to put it in her mouth.

“Ah, ah, ah, you don’t know where that’s been,” he took it out of her mouth and made a pacifier appear in her mouth. She sucked on while playing the rubber duck.

He lifted her up and placed her on the second couch. He snapped his fingers and her clothing changed. She was now in a thick diaper and onesie. Lucifer had babysat enough times to know what clothing helped her feel safe.

He brought her over to the bedroom and laid her down in bed before he took off his shoes and climbed in too. She seemed very clingy so he definitely would need to cuddle with her.

She snuggled up close to him as he massaged her scalp. He felt bad that she had to deal with all of this guilt. It was upsetting to say the least. Even though they weren’t very close, he still cared and worried about her.

He felt content once he heard soft snoring coming from the girl. It was a peaceful sight, knowing that she was no longer fighting her inner demons. He slipped out of the bed without waking her up and went back into the small living room area.

He brainstormed what kind of toys Vaggie would like. He wanted to make sure she had something to do when she woke up. After summoning a couple of blocks, a shape sorting game, and setting up a cute purple tent and filled it with a bunch of pillows and blankets, he sat on the couch and scrolled on his hellphone. He contemplated calling Charlie but he didn’t want her to think he wasn’t good enough to take care of Vaggie.

He sat there for a while until a scream erupted from the bedroom. He shot up and scrambled towards the sound. He followed it and opened the door. The sight he was greeted with was sad to say the least. The poor girl was shot up in bed, bawling while clutching the blankets. He could easily see sweat beads rolling down her forehead too. Using context clues, he realized that she must’ve had a nightmare.

“Sweetie,” he sat down next to her on the bed. He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead, waiting patiently for her to calm down. He wiped away her tears and held a tissue to her nose, which she blew into, clearing her sinuses. She cried for a minute or two until she was feeling a bit better.

Lucifer summoned a bottle filled with cold water and pulled her into his lap. A diaper change was in order afterwards but for now, he fed her the water, knowing that it would help. Once she finished it, she mumbled a “t’ank you,”

“You’re welcome, Little ducky. Do you want to talk about your bad dream?” Lucifer asked.

“Dun wanna think about it,” She told him. “Scary,”

“It’s okay, baby, you don’t need to talk about it. I have a small surprise for you but do you need any help getting your diapy changed?” He asked. She nodded, feeling way too small to do it herself.

He laid her down on the ground and began to make quick work of the change. Vaggie played with a small fidget cube so it wasn’t so overwhelming. Once he was done and taped everything up, he carried her on his hip into the living room where watched her play with blocks and sorting games.

Lucifer never realized how intense her trauma was. He was glad that he now knew so he could prepare for any future mishaps. It made him determined to be the best caregiver ever. He would make the small and scared fallen angel feel happy with herself again.

#agere writing #agere fanfic #age regression #sfw agere #hazbin hotel agere #sfw littlespace #little!Vaggie #cg!lucifer #hazbin hotel fanfiction #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel age regression #hazbin hotel #age regression writing #age regression fic #regressuary #sfw diaper wearing #sfw padded agere #ageredips #sfw agere diapers

53 notes · View notes

rakkuntoast · 1 month

Note

I saw you like doing propaganda for the colorzas, but I am willfully uninformed about the besides seeing some fanart, where could a humble crow learn more about them?

HI YES there is a carrd with info of what you need to know about each one of them (minus cumza since Uhhh yeah death of the creator we as a community should reclaim him)

there is also philzaverse in Twitter which is one of the original creators of the colorzas and the colorzas section in the Fandom (derogatory) philza wiki :3. if you're looking for specific fanart follow @/qloof, we love qloof here

also fletcher yellowza beloved

#ask tag #anon #philza #colorzas

28 notes · View notes

lynxgriffin · 9 months

Note

You seem to be a humble person in spite of your success, so I’ll ask, how do you not let success “go into your head”? Over the years, I’ve seen many creators have a negative behavioral shift or believe they’re immune to consequences upon reaching it, which is what I’ll like to avoid.

Uhhh oh man, I dunno!! That's definitely something I want to avoid, too! Especially over things as small-scale as fandom stuff!

I think some of it might be that I'm just...too old for that? I think it might be easier to be susceptible to that kind of reactive negativity when you're younger and really defensive of your identity. I'm pretty sure I was worse about it when I was younger, anyway. Then again, the internet was also a really different place when I was younger, too.

Although if you're worried about that for yourself, I'd just recommend:

Keep in mind the things you're worried about are probably not that important in the grand scheme of things

Keep plenty of people in your life (especially IRL friends) who are willing to be honest with you and call you out when your behavior is cruddy

Recognize that you can't please everyone, and you have to decide what sort of criticisms are even worth spending your time on

Remind yourself that you're a human being that always has room to improve!

#ask lynx stuff #more context is also always a helpful thing too

71 notes · View notes

whumping-valentine · 4 months

Text

🦌 Fawn and Hunter - Part 3 🦌

"Restless Nights"

Content: Paranoid whumpee, fear of being SAed, uhhh idk this is mostly setup for the next chapter which will be much more whumpy.

1,100 words

(Not) continuing on with my part-a-day challenge (to the fullest) but I'll try to get a part out on the regular! Congrats, you now know what I'm like as a content creator! Rule of thumb, if I ever say "I'll try to—" or "I will be—" you can count on me to never deliver!

However, in my own defense, I've been working my job a shit ton recently, and am also working on a 12 book series, and also working on the series for Valentine that I'll be posting here, and drawing a lot, so I'm pretty busy, lol. But as always, excuse my writing quality for this mini series, I just shit these out into Google Docs and then copy and paste them here.

With that said, I humbly bring you all part 3! The next part is where the whump is really gonna start coming through, so stay tuned for that (and the eventual off-the-rails plot I thought of at 3 am while trying to sleep)

Fawn was in a state of shock, and they knew it, too. They didn’t feel very much besides the anxiety that coursed through their veins. They should be frightened, and feel disgusted. They should be crying, and panicking, and trying to find a way out. Yet all they could do was sit up right on the old dirty mattress, hugging their knees to their chest as they stared into the pitch black darkness of Hunter’s basement.

Eventually they fell back against the mattress, hands over their chest as their heart beat wildly, yet they felt nothing. Not even tired. Sleep was nowhere near on their mind. All they could think about was their own stupidity. How they managed to walk right into a psychopath’s literal trap. Thoughts of the future wavered through their mind, and none of the scenarios were favorable.

Were they going to be killed? No, Hunter alluded to it, but said they were too pretty, whatever the hell that means. Was that really the only thing keeping them alive? What if they accidentally piss them off? What if they grow bored of them? But… What do they even want with them in the first place? Something nice to look at? A pretty pet? Where they going to be raped? They didn’t even want to consider the thought.

Fawn couldn’t hear a single sound other than the sound of their own breathing and heartbeat. They couldn't even see their own hands in front of them. There were no windows, no connections to the outside world. It was sensory deprived hell, and as the minutes ticked away they felt like they were going insane.

They couldn’t take it anymore, and sat up, slowly getting up to stand on their one good foot. They wobbled and felt weak, but once they got their footing they slowly hopped to where they saw the light string. Reaching out blindly in the darkness, they felt it in their hands, and pulled it. A click rang through the air, and the basement was illuminated, albeit dimly, but they could at least see.

The basement was full of all kinds of clutter, like tools, weapons, boxes, taxidermied animals, bones, fur rugs, and mounted animal heads. There were a bunch of spiders, cobwebs, and cockroaches scurrying around. Good thing they weren't afraid of bugs. At least they had some company.

The mattress was torn and covered in blood and dirt. Lots of dried blood, actually. How many others were here before them? How many others spent their last nights on this same, tattered bed? It all felt too surreal. It couldn't be real. This was a horror movie, or a true crime documentary in the making, and they were the next subject. Why them of all people? Life isn't fair.

They began to carefully and quietly sift through the various things Hunter kept down there. Looking through the boxes, opening drawers, peeking behind furniture. Inside a metal cabinet were multiple folders and papers. The papers being....

...Missing posters?

First came confusion, then came the wide eyed terror and the sinking of their heart. In shock their shaking hands dropped the papers, and when they got their bearings, picked them back up, examining them.

There were some from different places, but most of them came from the same nearby town that Fawn had just moved to. They could recall seeing some of them around town, or in newspaper ads. Even conversations with the locals about how people often go missing... The oldest one of the bunch was ten years ago. The most recent was only from 6 months ago.

Fawn felt sick to their stomach. Asking how many people were here before them was supposed to just be rhetorical.

Fawn grabbed a knife that was sitting on one of the tables, and turned out the lights. It was old and rusted, but just having a weapon in their hands at least gave them the illusion of safety. They clutched it tightly in both of their hands, sitting on the mattress. They were restless and anxious, with their wide eyes staring towards the door in darkness. They could hear the floorboards creak above them, and they hoped and prayed Hunter wouldn't come back down the stairs.

Especially if they thought they were asleep.

Though much like Fawn, Hunter wasn't able to rest their eyes, either. However, while Fawn's may have been from fear, Hunter was far too excited. They tossed and turned, but all they could think about was their latest victim. When they remembered they had a bag with them that they removed, they jumped out of bed immediately.

Moonlight was shining through the trees, seeping into the decrepit cabin through cracked and boarded up windows. Hunter went to the kitchen and picked Fawn's bag up off of the floor, curious to rummage through their things.

It was filled with snacks and water bottles. There was a change of clothes, a pocket knife, a book on plant identification, binoculars, and finally, they hit the jackpot. A phone with no passcode! Just who was their little Fawn, really?

Their lockscreen was a photo of two cats cuddling, looking like they took it themself at a shelter. Much to Hunter's dismay, it didn't seem like they had any social medias, but they did have lots of things in their gallery!… though they were mostly just photos of animals. They couldn't find a real name or anything that was truly personal.

It wouldn't matter much even if they did have socials, because there was no signal out here. It wouldn't connect to the internet. Maybe they had something in their calendar?... no, nothing. No birthdays or events, except for some things relating to the Animal shelter.

Their phone was so void of anything that it was almost frustrating. Either they didn't use technology much, or they had absolutely nothing going on in their life besides their volunteer work. I mean, they didn't even have a passcode, Hunter was disappointed, to say the least.

A weak knock coming from the basement door startled them out of their dissatisfaction.

"Uhh… Hunter?" A meek, muffled voice called.

"What?"

"I… have to pee."

"Okay."

"I need a bathroom."

"No you don't. You have a change of clothes right here, you can change in the morning."

"What?!" Fawn was appalled, "But—"

"You should be happy you're alive and shut up. Piss on the floor and go to bed."

"But—"

"Piss on the floor and go to bed." Hunter repeated, much more stern. It was silent for a moment before quiet thumps could be heard limping down the stairs. Poor injured thing.

Hunter had a feeling this recent capture was going to be quite an interesting one. They listen well enough, but don't seem to really grasp the situation they've found themself in. It wasn't a worry, that just meant training them was going to be all the more enjoyable.

Hunter smiled.

They were going to have fun tomorrow.

#fawn and hunter #whump #whump blog #whump community #whumpblr #my writing #whump writing #whump series

22 notes · View notes

tamaruaart · 3 months

Note

YOU

Grant us your oc’s delicious lore, anything that comes to mind first-

Ah tysm for asking

(btw I apologize for this being long af 😔)

So I feel like I should prep this by saying before I figured out about LMK I was super into OPS's jttw series. So I made Zhao with the context of the book, and the book doesn't sugar coat things so Zhao's backstory is a bit uhhh, mature? There's no nsfw stuff but there is a lot, lot, loottt of angst (even though the backstory is kinda "simple"), so forgive me :'(

I did change up her backstory a bit for the LMK version because it is a kids show and I don't feel like the creators would stick with the dark tone of the original. Whenever I write OCs for sertant shows I try to write it with the context of "How would the creator tackle this if my oc was a Canon character?" Yk? You don't write a depressed, emo, Greek hero for a light hearted magical girl show.

So ye, this first segment will be her JTTW backstory sum-up and I'll note what is changed in the LMK version at the end👍

JTTW/original backstory(this is long, read at your own risk)-

-Zhao wasn't raised in the best household.. Not only was her father a total womanizer with 3 wives (at the time of her birth, by now he has 7) and who knows how many mistresses, but her elder family member were pretty verbally abusive. I mentioned before but Xiaotian and Biao-Qi (Zhao's father and grandfather) wanted Zhao to be born as a male because in their clan its essential for the first born of every generation to be a boy, so when they found out about Zhao being a girl they were really salty and thought of her as "The disgrace" of the family. (hence why Zhaoyan is a name generally given to Chinese boys, which yea Xiaotian is the type of douche-bag to chose the name of the child at the start of his marriage without the mothers approval)

-Zhao was the one basically raising her younger siblings because her parents couldn't be bothered to, Pangfua (Zhao's mom) couldn't even bare to look at Xiaotian's face so the last thing she cared for was some random children of him and his mistresses, and Xiaotian's other wifes didn't really care for the children either. However, Zhao ADORED her siblings because she was always good with little kids. But as time went on and on, with so many children coming in to the household she started getting tired, but what could she do? At the time she was barely a teenage girl, if she complained to her father she could legitimately be at risk to lose her head. Like I said, Xiaotian couldn't care less about Zhao, he doesn't give a damn if she likes taking care of her siblings or not.

-Eventually Zhao grew too tired of her family, and decided to leave. This might seem selfish but holy frick, the girlie felt like a maid, and it's not like she doesn't care for her family, it's that they couldn't care less about her. All of her siblings were old enough to take care of each other and the other family members treated them well, why shouldn't she be able to "go live her own life"?

- The first place she went was to a temple dedicated to the Chinese tiger spirit- Hu Ye. The reason she went to him specifically was because he was sort of the protector/symbol of Zhao's family (for context think about how Apollo was the protector of the Trojans in the Iliad), she prayed to him all night, she asked humbly to become a Jade Maiden that serves Guan Yin (because that was probably the best option. Also just so you have context- Hu Ye blessed the girls in Zhao's family with a healing gift. So basically they could heal any illness, wound, missing limb etc...). But to her surprise Hu Ye saw what she did as "unforgiving". You shouldn't leave your family who loves you so much, not cool >:( (cut him some slack tho, whenever to family would worship him they would make them self's seem like the most perfect people ever). And so in short he gave her flaming orange hair so she never forgets that she is a Tiger Maiden (bcz orange=tigers and he just be petty like that bro).

-Eventually she went to the woods but she was found by Lánhūa- a forest spirit. Lánhūa took pity on her and decided to take her in as one of her nymphs. Because Zhao had the healing gift she was a great addition to the palace Lánhūa lived in, Zhao was always the one making sure everyone was healthy and the worst someone suffered was a common cold, and even those wouldn't last long.

-However one day while she was collecting fruits for the palace she stumbled upon a strange noise near a mountain, she went to check what it was and wouldn't you have guessed its good ol' Sun Wukong. The pair fairly quickly became friends, Zhao would often tell him stories and keep him company and Sun (who was under that damn mountain for 346 years by the time he and Zhao met) would listen and tell her his life stories.

-At the early stages of the jttw Monkey actually did try and convince Zhao to come with him and the other pilgrims, she would be the one taking care of Tripitaka and making sure he stays healthy. Zhao refused at first but after some time she agreed. Her and Tripitaka were very close because they were both kinda the "sane ones" of the group and Zhao took her position very seriously. Sanzang eventually noticed that this was a bit weird considering how layed back the other pilgrims were, so he confronted her and Zhao opened up to him. And that's how I'd show her backstory in the book.

So in short: Girl leaves abusive family and prays to god, god makes her a ginger and she gets adopted by a hot forest spirit. A monkey befriends her and convinces her to give free health care to his friend **emotional**

Holy crap that took so long to write/ Notes on how her backstory would probably be changed in the lmk version:

In the lmk version I think they'd tone down how bad her family was just a bit, again it is a kids show. I think the start would generally be the same but that Hu Ye would grant her wish. But instead of a disciple for Guan Yin I think they'd change it into a Peach Maiden, so that she could meet the brotherhood and befriend Wukong like she did in the original backstory. They'd probably remove Lánhūa as well (because she is a very minor character in Zhao's backstory). So yea in short of what I think the creators of LMK would do with her character: -Hu Ye grants her wish of becoming a Peach Maiden. -Orange would be her natural hair color(bcz tigers woo). -I honestly think they'd give her a sort-of survivor's guilt because of the whole "leaving your family" thing instead of "Ama give u tiger hair so you never forget how you left your family >:(" -She meets the brotherhood through their lil' rebellion -Healing powers would probably be toned down a bit so there's still some risk

So ya-

Again thank you SO much for the question and thank you for coming to my Ted talk

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #lmk oc #jttw oc #lego monkie kid oc #monkie kid oc #journey to the west #oc lore #I'm sorry this is so long lol

9 notes · View notes

kiigan · 28 days

Text

canon questionnaire.

what made you pick up this character?

Itachi was actually my first ever rp muse! Allllllll the way back when, when we didn't even know the truth about the massacre and Pein was only a silhouette and believed to be Minato but actually called Uzumaki Arashi. Good ol' days. But also - I picked him because I was just so drawn to his backstory, or lack thereof. At the time we only knew he was Sasuke's older brother who apparently had gone psycho out of the blue, and I just had this hunch that there had to be more about that mess. Also because, honestly, do you realize how cool Itachi's first appearance was.

how did you get into this franchise/fandom?

I got into Naruto because my first boyfriend was a big fan and introduced me to it lmao. And then I introduced my best friend and we started writing together just for funsies, and then suddenly our whole group of friends joined in and it became a glorious mess and so much fun.

what’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

I mean... it's the typical shonen anime? So it provides super cool battles and action sequences, as expected. But, not to be biased, I totally am the Akatsuki are one of the coolest antagonist groups ever created. I put them on legendary levels such as the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball.

what’s the worst thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

Probably the ungodly amount of fillers. I understand why they happen but, personally, I would much rather wait and go for a few months without content than to be presented with low-effort ideas and plots that, often, only ruin the pacing and even provoke continuity errors. And I gotta say, Kishimoto's treatment of female characters is questionable at best.

what’s the best thing about the fandom?

The fandom itself! Fandoms are what we make of them, and especially on a website such as tumblr where you are responsible for curating your own dashboard experience (...if we do not count the stupid tumblr ads and recommendations). Meeting new people with similar interests, the possibility to make friends that live literally on the other side of the world, getting to write with super talented people that develop your own muse so much, watching people get passionate about their muse(s) and creating such wonderful headcanons and metas.

what’s the worst thing about the fandom?

Again, the fandom itself. There are nice people and toxic people everywhere and that's unavoidable. In my humble opinion, what matters is to focus on the good ones.

what’s the best thing about the canon you are writing?

Itachi's whole story breaks my heart. At the same time, there is A LOT about him that was never disclosed in canon (even with the Shinden novels) and I love to explore those parts. I love to imagine stuff like what would his hobbies be, how would he react to [insert situation], how would he get along with [insert character] if they met. One of my favorite things, at the moment, is to create headcanons for my post-war verse and to create my own canon about how Itachi would adapt to things such as now being practically blind, having to properly monitor his illness, his thoughts and emotions about returning to Konoha, how to try to fix things with Sasuke, etc etc - it's been so much fun!

what’s the worst thing about the canon you are writing?

Uhhh nothing really? I mean, there are the general issues about Naruto as a whole, but regarding Itachi specifically I can't really think of any huge problems right now. Other than him being dead T-T

have you tweaked the character from canon? if so, what did you tweak?

No and yes. No, because I try my best to be as in-character as possible and to be faithful to Itachi's nature as a character. But, yes, because I write a lot of canon-divergent verses and those obviously require adapting. Even in purely canon settings, I'd say I tweak some stuff in that, for example, I love writing Itachi as a quirky child (and then teen and adult) and as a very caring and nurturing person, even when he cannot openly show it. It's totally fine if not everybody agrees with my interpretation but, to me, it makes a lot of sense and gives me a lot of joy to write.

are there some things you dislike about how the show/series/etc. portray the character you have picked up? if so, what?

I wouldn't say I dislike... but also because, all in all, Itachi doesn't have much screen time lol. So there isn't much of a chance for Kishimoto to screw him over. I would, however, have loved a chance to see Itachi ponder on the circumstances that led to the massacre - for example, does he grow to regret his choice as he gets older? He does this reflection a bit when talking to Naruto during the Edo Tensei period, but that wasn't enough for me damn it! Also, while we're here, I'm gonna be forever salty that, in that same period, we were denied a chance for Itachi to reunite with Kisame and with Shisui.

what would you say is the most unique trait about your character?

Itachi has a lot of idiosyncrasies, which is one of the reasons why I love him. Little quirky nerd weasel~ Perhaps the most unique trait, however, is his idealism. He was severely traumatized by the third war and that is the basis for his idealism but, at the same time, he truly believes in what he preaches. He truly believes that he can get strong enough to make this world a better place and this is the sort of undying motivation to do good that, for example, I only see in Shisui. Of course, a lot of other characters have their own strong motivations (Naruto himself being the easiest example), but these two Uchiha idiots are mostly the ones who commit to the there's some good in this world and it's worth fighting for mindset.

are there any other characters from the franchise you’d like to play?

On discord, I have written little bits and pieces of Kimimaro, Temari, and Rock Lee.

are there some characters from the franchise you can’t stand?

I can't stand Danzo for all the obvious reasons, but that's also exactly why I love him as a villain. And, um... the same applies to Hiruzen, in a way. I do believe that Hiruzen is a man with good intentions, but he always falls victim to his own passiveness. The way Itachi goes to him after having literally just murdered his parents and traumatized his little brother for life and all Hiruzen can say is I'm so sorry this happened. Hiruzen is just a gutless Danzo, resting on the laurels of the whole Will of Fire spiel.

what are your thoughts on the canon ships for the character, if any?

Honestly, I'm not even sure if Itachi has a canon ship? Izumi is supposed to be his girlfriend but at the same time it can easily be taken as Izumi having an unrequited crush. Personally, I think they are very cute together but I would have loved to see more development other than to make it like "let's give Itachi a gf because he's cool and needs a girl to dangle as a trophy".

what is your personal ship bias for your canon character?

I am dying on the Kisame/Itachi hill and unapologetically so. Their bond is so special and precious to me, the way they grow from not-so-veiled death threats upon first meeting to genuinely respecting each other. The way Kisame, known as the Monster of the Bloody Mist, lets this scrawny Uchiha kid take the lead and trusts him without reserves. The way Itachi cares, even if he must keep up his detached psychopath persona, and keeps Kisame out of harm's way whenever he feels a battle won't go in his favor. THEIR MATCHING RINGS, IN BOTH THE FINGER POSITION AND THE SYMBOL MEANING. And the way Itachi is literally what Kisame thinks of as he's about to offer himself to his sharks. All of this is so *CLENCHES FIST*

are there any ships you can’t stand, why?

...Um. Sasuke/Itachi.

how long have you been writing the character?

Technically, for almost two decades. Not continuously so. If we are talking about this blog only, then it's been since January 2024.

should people get into the franchise you're writing from, yes or no?

I mean, sure? If they like the franchise and have characters they would like to write? I don't see why not.

if you could sum up your character with one sentence, what would it be?

I already did it above, so: Little Quirky Nerd Weasel

which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?

I have a few, actually! For some examples: "Gasoline", by Halsey, "Second Chance", by Shinedown, "The World of Mercy", by DIR EN GREY (this one is particularly👌👌👌for my villain verse). I think they're very Itachi-coded in both lyrics and melody. And, of course, the song in my pinned post: "Scarlet", by Yamaoka Akira. This song is peak Itachi vibes, especially when you look into his eyes. And, uh. Generally, almost all DIR EN GREY songs inspire me a lot to write his replies, because a lot of them are also the songs that I started writing him to, all those years back.

tagged by : @sagemom ♡ tagging : if you're reading this you're tagged by default~

#[dash games]#[ooc] i hope itachi is having a good day #[queued post]#long post

4 notes · View notes

melodyofthevoid · 7 months

Note

hello it's me, annonymous person coming at ya once again.

no "annonymous" is not a typo, i was actually born with two n's protruding from my knee; which is why they called me double n's nnonymous sometimes back in my town, "totally anonymous city." it has a massive sign that says that so people will know at first glance it is anonymous.

anyways i see you are looking forward for the knowledge and wisdom of the anonymous people once again, and request a humble homage, of which i shall of course humbly deliver once more, my people always aim to please.

okay well, aside from a handful group of us we call "jeremie's", we don't talk about them and we always apologize for their existance.

so!

uhhh..... hmmm.. uhhh i don't actually know you, totally, so... hold on...... i uh.... fuck, why is tumblr so confusing to use?... well as jk simmons from portal 2 said: "an evening at the improv."

aha! okay according to your.. ehhh "masterpost" your name is melody, pretty cute name that's a charm, i guess; and you have... a few links that might help you, or well, me or whomever, to navigate around here.

awww well, that's really swell and considering of you to consider that considerable and helpful guide, i like you already!

and uhhh.. you have an ao3? the fuck's that? morse code? ah well whatever, uhhhhh... you have a kofi? as in, coffee? oh well i imagine you must make pretty good coffee, warm and dear hearts are often infectious like that. and you have, a royalty au arc, wait no.. two actually, there's two of them now. and uhhh lemme just get in there for a sec and.... oh! invader zim! i loved this show as a kid! and... why are they wearing dresses? and trapping themselves in mirrors? and... wtf why are they tall for some reason, why does dib have trauma? dib doesn't have trauma right? what the fuck why are they kissing? enemies don't do that? do they? wait.. really? who in the absolute fuck is this veiny green bitch.. zib? wait...... this guy's real? WHAT THERE'S COMICS OF INVADER ZIM? WHAT HOW HAVE I NEVER KNOWN THIS WHATHEACTUALFU-

anyways, i completely thank you for notifying me of the existance of more content of my childhood show! and also being a source of unofficial content of my childhood show aswell! it's as much of a fever dream as the real deal, it's one of the reasons i enjoyed the show so much as a kid, completely out of left lane; freedom of expression and such.

okay so, uhhhh... ocean idiots! lets see this one, i'm already excited considering the quality of your previous work!

hmmm...... woah! this is great! a pirate adventure where they... oh my word there's a massive eel thing! and... oh... everyone's dead... she's alone... and... oh! she's talking to the moon goddess! maybe there's hope and- oh... nevermind... pirate girl's conditions are getting worse... water powers tho? that's really sick as hell actually that's- oh... her arm fell off..... oh wait actually she can regrow her arm! she's part water goddess now! and- oh.... people are hunting her down now... oh! omg shark pirate girlfriend! that's- oh.... she gave her a scar and her girlfriend left..... her condition is reaching it's climax and..... i..

....it was already over when it started......

...

this is phenominal! holy hell! and here i was last month or so, thinking i was talking out of my ass when i said you were a well and just person with a undeniable prowess with the arts! nah i was dead set bullseye the moment those words left my mouth!

fucking wicked great job me.

this has been an interesting experience! it's been really nice *actually totally* seeing from you! because once again, i need to clarify. i am indeed, an annonymous person, and i have never been an ocean idiots fan until now! totally! completely and utterly! we'll meet again.... uh... melody? was it? idk, but this has been more than a pleasure!

ciao!

I’m going to be completely honest I have no idea how to react to this.

#thank you? I think?#melody rambles

7 notes · View notes

lucysarah-c · 1 year

Note

You asked asks, here's an ask:

Argentine!Levi/AoT HC 😂

Ever since our first chat the concept has been turning in my head...

Uhhh hahahaha XD amazing Let me think..

Mate addict, that for you. You ask him what he want to eat and he answers Mate. But those mate addicts that measure the temperature, the yerba has to be on 45 degrees, etc.

100% the cebador of the team, he takes his mate everywhere.

Strong defender of public stuff yet the first one who picks up fights in public transport if someone puts loud music.

Worked at a security in clubs while studying for a career at UBA.

I bet that he referred to Erwin as "Facha pero buena muchacha" a couple of times.

Can't stand Mili-Pilis or Tinchos and gets each time that he has to make fun of Chetos from Nordelta.

Isn't into football for real but he played a lot as a kid because he lived in a villa and it was one the only activities he could do while his mother was out working. Now he's always invited to play by his friends but he goes only if it's necessary someone new, he's not that much into it.

BUT HE'S AMAZING AT IT, those Ackerman genes babyyyyyy. Plus we know that Argentina has a history of amazing football players who are short from humble families.

He's such a %dia dude lmao, he buys the most fucked up not known brands because he's a cheap ass and he's proud of it.

Those people who are always finding new random jobs to work at. I feel that at one time his mother couldn't afford some stuff he was offered to go to a "military school" (liceo militar) and he went simply because his mother was worried about the environment ruining him on getting into drugs. But he has no intentions to follow the military career.

100% the guys who does everything on his hand for his mom.

Kenny is into weird corruption ship from the government and Levi doesn't even what to answer his calls.

People from his villa respect him and his mom, one time someone tried to rob him. Once they found out it was him, they were like "uhhh sorry bro,"

Those are the ones I could come up with.

20 notes · View notes

lamarckianenterprises · 10 months

Text

Sucks to be Me But I'm built Different Now

My work got accepted in a Litmag (technically a Zine, CoinOperated Press to be precise) for the first time today, and outside of being thoroughly excited to announce that my humble flier will be included in their next Zine, Dungeons and Dragons Part 2. (Learn more about it on the following link)

I just want to say that looking back, I think a lot of my opinions about my own creative work is based off of like, no one really praising me for my writing. Like I didn't keep writing because people said that I was doing great or good or was talented or whatever, I kept writing because I wanted to get to that point, in spite of the lack of praise not because of it.

Hell, my mother was basically radio silent on my writing after noting that my very first work, the weird fugue state nanowrimo novel that's lost to the sands of time was, and I'm quoting here, "At least he has good grammar." Admittedly I kinda avoided showing her stuff after that, but still.

Outside of her and my even less present father there was my brother who was barely present in my teenage years, and so I basically had jack all for validation outside of an RPing community I immediately antagonized by being an attention seeking edgy teenager who fired out a self insert the GM immediately recognized somehow.

So while it gave me an easy way to keep writing and a sense of community which genuinely helped me practice and learn the craft among other things, it also meant that I didn't really get praise? Or when I did it was from someone close enough to me personally that my brain could immediately dismiss them and their opinions as being invalid as they are tainted by other people's impressions of me as a person.

I think the one bit of praise I registered as genuine was when people said they had fun in the complete mess of a Shadowrun world plot I ran in that RP which is really just a high I've been chasing ever since with every tabletop game I have ever run.

And I couldn't rely on internal validation either because I spent literal years thinking that I was somehow getting worse over time because for some fucking reason I measured that shit based off of output as in the amount of words and paragraphs written down on (virtual) paper as opposed to like, actual quality.

And how hard it was to write, which uhhh, honestly writing has never really gotten easier for me, like I am far more aware of what constitutes 'good' writing now, but it's not like the actual process has gotten much easier, and honestly as the years went on I ended up constraining my own creativity more in vague pursuit of 'better, more respectable and praiseworthy writing'.

Which meant that on top of the tyranny of time eating away at my ability to remember how difficult it was to write in the first place, I had a growing list of hangups and fears that meant that I could always refer back to some past paragraphs I think are real zingers and go, "Damn, where did I go wrong? How am I worse than I use to be?" while ignoring the veritable sea of word vomit, every little thing I did to piss other people off, and the fact that I unironically just naturally obtained more responsibilities as I grew up and obtained a job that slowly crushed my will to live that just made it harder to sit down and write LMAO.

Now I'd love to say that I've thrown of all of my chains, learned to write the proper way, and focused my life entirely towards mastering the craft without interruptions, or that this one acceptance has fulfilled my lifelong desire for validation from a complete stranger once and for all.

Really all I have to say about all this is what you read at the top, "man it sucks to be me but I'm built different," I am in more ways than one no longer the same man who started writing just to have something to do in November, nor am I the man who sat down and chose to make himself when told to make absolutely anything he could want to be.

But then again I am the woman who started whooping and whollering and going, "OLE OLE OLE" and praising God after reading this so like, maybe I'm not that different after all.

#writing #on writing #writer things #journaling #creative writing

7 notes · View notes

rushingheadlong · 2 years

Text

Tim Staffell Live Talk - May 2022 - Transcript

On May 20, 2022 Tim Staffell gave a 40-minute live talk (and performed with Paul Stewart) ahead of a Bohemian Rhapsody screening at The Exchange in Twickenham. This is a transcription of that event.

Huge thanks to Ribbit London for recording the original audio, and to @riaaanna for sharing it with me so I could write up this transcript!

------------------------------------

[Transcriber Notes: Tim has a slight stutter and speaks with a lot of disfluencies (restarting sentences in the middle, using “um” and “uh” a lot, etc.). I tried to strike a balance between a literal transcription and cleaning this up for ease of reading. Most of the stutters have been omitted, but I kept in any disfluencies that didn’t interfere too much with the flow of what was being said.]

Jim the Emcee: You’ve got an amazing screening tonight. I’m going to keep this bit really short so they can fit in as much as they can. Once again, Tim Staffell and Paul Stewart!

(Audience applauds.)

Tim Staffell: Thank you, Jim. You’ll know this…

(Tim and Paul play “Doing Alright”. Audience applauds.)

Paul Stewart: Thank you.

Tim: Well, of course that song features in the movie. And, um, and I know that Queen themselves recorded it in the early days. I used to think that, perhaps, the… It featured on their first album, I know, I used to think perhaps the reason for that was because when they were coming up to recording their first album they didn’t have enough material, so they decided, “Oh, well we’ll use one of the songs-”

Paul: This is going to be a theme for this evening, maybe. He’s going to distance his own ability and go, “Oh, humble me”...

Tim (talking over Paul): No, no, no, no, no. I really-

Paul: …and I’m saying, because it’s a fucking good song.

(Tim and audience laughs.)

Paul: Which you wrote with Brian, right?

Tim: Yes, it’s true. I really thought, you know, I really thought… I really thought, oh they’re bound to have said, “Oh we’ve only got eleven tunes. What can we do for the twelfth one? Well uhh, uhhh…”

Paul: “What’s that one, been rattling around-?”

Tim (laughing): Yeah, what’s that one been rattling around! So I- You know- But actually it’s crazy because it’s done extremely well and it features in the movie, and I find myself in this latter stage of- late stage of my life with a degree of scrutiny that I wasn’t expecting at all.

To fill you in on that, I was always surprised that when Queen biographies existed - and there have been several of them - and articles that occurred in the early days they always gave me a name check, and I wasn’t quite sure… I always felt mildly embarrassed at that, and the reason was because, you know, I’m- one is aware of all sorts of big-name bands - I mean there were very few that were as big as Queen, I appreciate - but even so, you know, one is still aware of all sorts of big bands but you don’t know the history of those bands. And I always used to think, “Well the history of Queen is exposing me! Why? I- I-”

Paul: Well, well but okay, here he goes dissing himself again, right? (Laughs)

Tim (over Paul): No, no, no, no-

Paul: No, it’s because you were really important to the growth of them. Right from the beginning, with Smile, and Brian and Roger and you, I mean god’s sake-!

Tim: Well it is true- it is true that people have ascribed the eventual sound of Queen as having its origins in the work of Smile. And I suppose I agree with that, although I wouldn’t want to base my own career on it, in case it wasn’t right. But I suppose the Smile album does contain in it the embryonic roots of Queen.

Paul: Yeah but- Yeah but bringing it right up to the- up to now, we’re all going to see this movie tonight - which is a great movie, if you haven’t seen it already you’re gonna really enjoy it… Yet it may well be that several of you have seen it several times…

(Laughter and “Yeah!” from the audience.)

Paul: Umm… How did, how did your involvement in it come about then, Tim? What- I mean-

Tim: Well- Well I mean, I’ve tried to keep a respectful distance from them over the years but I knew the Queen movie was happening. And the last I heard of it, it was- Sacha Baron Cohen was involved and I remember thinking to myself, “Oh, god, how’s that gonna work?” Because I mean I was never- to be honest with you, I was never a big fan of his. I didn’t respond much to the Ali G, uh, thing, cop comedy, and I didn’t actually respond very well to… What’s that- What’s that guy? Borat?

Paul: Borat.

Tim: Borat. Yeah, I- (disgusted noise)

Paul: Anyway, anyway…

Tim: I used to have to turn the telly off because I was embarrassed! But um, but then suddenly Brian phoned me up in 2018 and said, “Well we have a small section in the album- in the movie, which details the Smile- the original Smile, um, thing.” And it’s just a gig, you know, a small gig and this scene is that Freddie, played by Rami Malek, um-

Paul: Brilliantly.

Tim: Brilliantly. Had come- Comes and sees Smile, and of course it’s a bit of artistic license. It didn’t really happen because, as you all know, Freddie and I were good mates at Ealing College and we used to go to each other’s gigs all the time. So, um, so the epiphany that he had going down to the bar in the beginning of the film was- is- that’s artistic license.

But what Brian said was they were having some trouble in achieving an authentic 70s vibe for the sound of the band. And they were trying to hybridize it by using stuff from earlier recordings, from the Queen recordings, and Jack Roth - who’s Tim Roth’s son, who played me in the movie - he was singing it perfectly adequately, in fact perfectly well, but it just wasn’t- it didn’t… It didn’t have that kind of visceral 70s quality, so I-

Paul: That rough, rough…

Tim: Yeah so I assumed that Brian had just said to Roger, “Who do we know who’s a bit rough who’ll come and do this?”

(Paul and audience laughs.)

Tim: So anyway they phone me up and I went to Abbey Road Studios and recorded it, and I didn’t even know whether I could hack it. Um, but-

Paul: But it was good. And Brian asked you to play bass.

Tim: Brian asked me to play bass.

Paul: Yeah, yeah. Which you did.

Tim: Which I did.

Paul: And it’s all kept in the movie, right?

Tim: Yeah, yeah it’s in the movie. And, uh, and I’m very, very grateful.

Paul: But, now we have to look really a long way back, to when you - and I, ‘cause I went to the same school - I was in a band called The Others which was the school band- one of the school bands that we had back then at Hampton School down the road here. So some of the Yardbirds came from that school, and a guy called Murray Head, and also one Brian May. And you and Brian played in a band called 1984!

Tim: Well there were two school bands. I mean during that period- I have to say that I know it’s a poncy private school now but it was-

(Audience laughs.)

Tim: For eighteen years it was a state grammar school.

Paul: Yeah, it was.

Tim: And during that period of time I got a scholarship because my dad was poor, and me mum was poor-

Paul: Didn’t cost anything, by the way, excuse me-

Tim: No, didn’t cost a thing.

Paul: So how come you got a scholarship then?

Tim: What?

(Paul and audience laughs.)

Tim: No I just passed me 11-plus and they said, “You’ll do! You’ll do!” And so anyway… And then of course I blew it. And then I just- you know, I just became a long-haired rockstar at school.

So 1984 and The Others were the two school bands at the time. The difference- The main difference between them was that 1984 was largely a covers band, and The Others were an absolutely authentic 60s R&B band and they were running on the same tracks as the Stones were. And we aspired to be The Others. 1984 aspired to be The Others. And, you know, and Paul has- Paul has got such prominence in this story that I’m just delighted to have suddenly met him five or six years ago and found that we- we’re still-

Paul: We’re still in love.

(Tim and audience laughs.)

Tim: We’re still the schoolboys that we used to be! And, um-

Paul: And actually I have- I have- because I do remember Brian at school, and I remember we used to have kind of in break time, we used to have like “guitar-in’s” kind of, and he would demonstrate and he would always be the fastest and smoothest guy on the- on the guitar. But I do remember he had really, really short hair.

(Audience laughs.)

Tim: Ohh, yes.

Paul (over audience laughter): And he had the most massive ears. I don’t know how they are now, because I haven’t seen them in fifty years, right, his ears. But he was a- he was always a very cool guy and a really bright- he was always so bright.

Tim: Wasn’t it- I don’t mean any disrespect by this, but I remember someone said about Prince Charles, and I’m thinking about Brian as I say this, he said, “Oh yeah he looks just like a Volkswagen with the doors open.”

(Paul, Tim, and audience laughs.)

Tim: But so- Yeah well Brian was- I think Brian was- and I firmly believe he was the quintessential nerd.

Paul: He was.

Tim: And I think he still is. Because when I talk to him about, you know, astronomy - because I was always an armchair astronomer myself. I’m just as interested in astronomy, but I don’t have the academic underpinnings that Brian has - but Brian and I are able to converse about astronomical things-

Paul: For about two minutes, right?

Tim: For about- Yeah, until he leaves me behind. But I do know stuff! I honestly know stuff! I do, I promise, I promise!

(Audience laughs.)

Paul: Anyways, so- So! School- school finished and you decided that was enough, and you had your long hair and you decided to go to art college…

Tim: Brian went to Imperial College.

Paul: Yeah.

Tim: I went to art college but we did- But Brian was a mate. Brian used to come over to my house. I used to go to his house. We decided that we would stay together musically. And so that’s when we decided-

Paul: And then you decided to form- where you had a four or five piece band you decided to make it a trio.

Tim: Because we dug Jimi Hendrix and we dug Cream and we dug, uh… Well I mean you could even say The Who were a trio because, you know, Roger Daltrey was only the singer. I’m sorry Roger, but you know musically speaking they were a trio. Guitar, bass, and drums. And that’s what we wanted to be and we wanted to sing harmonies… We wanted to be an intelligent, heavy trio.

Paul: So this is you and Brian, but you didn’t have a drummer.

Tim: We didn’t have a drummer.

Paul: So what happened then?

Tim: Well we got a dustbin and uh…

(Paul and audience laughs.)

Paul: And what was his name?

(Tim and audience laughs.)

Tim: No we put an ad on the students’ union notice board in Imperial College for a drummer. And Roger turned up. Roger was a- I think he was at King’s College Hospital doing dentistry. I mean, I may have gotten some of this wrong but- and some of you guys may well have- be able to say, “No, you’re wrong! You’re wrong! You’re wrong!” But, um, and I’m sorry if that’s the case because I- my memory is, you know, god it’s such a long time ago…

Roger came down to a flat in I think Addison Gardens, was it? In Shepherd’s Bush. With his drums and he set-up and he played and we- our jaws just went clunk ‘cause they hit the floor because he was such a flamboyant player and we hadn’t seen anybody that skillful who was able to- There was this great thing he used to do. He used to stand on the bass drum pedal, hit the crash cymbal, and then hold it tight to stop it ringing. So it’d be [imitates drum noise]. And Brian and I- I think Brian and I compared notes afterwards. We went, “Wow!”

Paul: “That’s all we need. We just need-”

Tim: “We just need that!” Yeah. And of course Roger could sing and that was the-

Paul: Yeah, that’s right.

Tim: That was the- that was the…

Paul: So… So then you formed Smile.

Tim: Yup.

Paul: And you were still at college and you had this friend that you met that had a band, right? And his name was Freddie…

Tim: Freddie was- Freddie and I were in the same group at college, at Ealing Art College, doing graphic design. People often say, “Look, yeah but you know you could tell that he was special then, couldn’t you?” But actually, no, you couldn’t.

Paul: That was one of my questions.

Tim: Because we were all- We were just all aspirational teenagers. Well we weren’t… We were teenagers. Yeah, we were aspirational late teen hopefuls. All of us were. We all had plans. Freddie’s plans were obviously instinctively better formed because I think, you know, as time went on and as- before we graduated I think it became apparent that Freddie’s plans were forming in his head. You know I- if I’d bothered to pay attention at that time I’d have realized that he was much more focused than I was.

Paul: You know one of the things that I kind of recall from that, compared to how it is nowadays - I mean over the last few decades - is I don’t think any of us thought that we were going to be like massive stars and own loads of money and go on international tours… It kind of didn’t quite happen yet. Just starting to happen, wasn’t it?

Tim: Well…

Paul: Maybe Freddie had a vision…

Tim: Well except that I-

Paul: Maybe it’s just me.

Tim: Except that, um, that I do remember Freddie saying a couple of times, “I’m going to be a superstar, darling!”

(Audience laughs.)

Paul: Yeah.

Tim: And you know a lot of us in the class would probably say, “Yeah, sure you are, Freddie. Sure you are.”

Paul: But he was.

Tim: But we were proven wrong. And I think, you know-

Paul: Big time.

Tim: What we didn’t… What we didn’t- Because I think we were all- Those of us who were musicians, I think we were all competent but I don’t think we understood the value of presentation in quite the same way that he did. And history shows us that he developed it to a higher standard than-

Paul: Almost anybody else.

Tim: Almost anybody, you know?

Paul: Almost anybody else, in my opinion. And he was a great songwriter, I mean really. And a great performer and a fantastic showman, right?

Tim: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Paul: I mean he could put all three those things together, and you got the makings of this movie, right?

Tim: I mean people have often said to me, “Look, you know, weren’t you jealous?” And I say, well, I was envious. I wasn’t really destructively jealous because the point is I knew damn well that I was never that sort of performer. I could not do that. I was self-conscious, I was- I was confident that I was a reasonable musician but I was not confident enough to strut my stuff the way Freddie did. I mean-

Paul: So actually, I wanted to- I wanted to ask you this because I know you well enough, ‘cause you know I’ve known you for quite a few years now, more years than-

Tim: To call me an idiot, yes.

(Audience laughs.)

Paul: I mean a lot of bands that have made it, made it, made it have had casualties on the way. People who didn’t quite… They were fired just before the band made it and so they-

Tim: Yeah, yeah.

Paul: And a few of them are bitter and twisted, and you know they sue for a share of the spoils and all that kind of stuff. And I don’t see you in that light whatsoever. You are not that kind of person. And you, of course, made the decision on your own back to leave Smile because it didn’t suit what you wanted- It wasn’t your dream, right? It was maybe more Brian’s and Roger’s dream, you know…

Tim: Well…

Paul: And you had another dream.

Tim: Well to be honest with you I’m still waiting for the lawyer to get back to me.

(Paul, Tim and audience laughs.)

Paul: That ruins the magic.

Tim: No I tell you what… I’m just checking where we are with this… What happened was that I left because I’d actually- the point is I’d started to meet up with other musicians on a casual basis - well not so much casual just slightly jamming basis - and I was beginning to be seduced by this side of music that was completely different, which- It was like- It was blues and jazz in the sense that you could play a song one night and then you could play it the next night completely differently! And I rather liked that. I rather liked that improvisational approach to music. It meant that it was very, very difficult to refine songs to their best presentation but it was actually a lot of fun.

And I got- And then at that point I went to the States. Soon after- the minute I left Smile I went to the States for about four or five months and I played with a load of musicians there and they were all playing- improvising, you know, solos and improvising songs and I just kind of fell in love with that approach. And so when I came back to England I just searched out that kind of player.

Paul: Yeah, yeah.

Tim: And I think I’ve remained that way ever since. It’s not a recipe for success, unfortunately.

Paul: Well I mean it can be. I mean Hendrix didn’t do too badly, you know…

Tim: True, true. Very true.

Paul: But- but Queen’s inimitable style is very much more structured.

Tim: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

Paul: The songs are very well-structured. And I just want to say this, because I don’t know that Brian gets all the credit he’s due for being the guitarist that he is, actually. He’s a very fantastic guitarist, you know. And in a structured environment it’s quite difficult to recognized somebody who’s just going to go off on one like Hendrix would have done, but Brian is a fantastic player.

Tim: Yeah, no, he is. He’s an extraordinarily good player.

Paul: And he’s such a good guy!

Tim: Yeah, yeah.

Paul: He’s a genuinely nice man, you know, and you don’t get that combination too often.

Tim: No, no. No he’s- like I say, he’s still the lovable nerd that he always was. You know you could tell, he redid his PhD, he’s well into the stereo… stereoscopy, is it called? With the 3-D? You know he has other interests, he has- he’s a wildlife champion, I mean you know…

Paul: And he’s just produced another album, right?

Tim: I think it’s a reissue, isn’t it?

Paul: Is it? Is it? Oh, yeah, I don’t know…

Tim: I believe…

Paul: And they’re just about to go on tour. Anybody going to see them? One or two, yeah, good.

Tim: Yeah.

Paul: Yeah, excellent. Okay, so!

Tim: So, um, why don’t we- Look I tell you what, look, I have this- I have three CDs to give away of mine, which Jim has somewhere, I’ve given them to Jim, and now you- They’re really good for resting coffee cups on.

(Audience laughs.)

Tim: So, um, but I have three seat numbers here and if you’re fortunate enough to sit in these seats you will be the recipient of a wonderful coffee cup holder. Coaster.

Paul: Signed!

Tim: Signed, by the way, yeah! So only have cold drinks, or otherwise the writing will smudge.

(Audience laughs.)

Tim: Okay, so, my first choice is seat B12 qualifies for a CD.

(Audience murmurs.)

Paul: Are you there? Oh, wow!

(Paul, Tim and audience applaud.)

Tim: And also- also if you fold the booklet up, it’ll go under the leg of a rickety table as well.

(Audience laughs.)

Tim: And the next one is seat number E4.

Paul: E4!

(Paul, Tim, and audience cheer and applaud.)

Tim: And finally…

Paul: A1?

Tim: No, no!

Paul: No.

Tim: That’s you! Cheeky monkey. Finally�� J22.

(Paul, Tim, and audience cheer and applaud.)

Tim: Excellent, thank you very much! We’re going to continue with- of course, we’re running out of time, predictably. We’re going to run through a tune of mine which is- we’re talking about emotional stuff. This is a tune basically for people who are in prison. It’s called “Love of the People”.

(Tim and Paul play “Love of the People”. Audience applauds.)

Tim: Thank you!

Paul: Great song. Which album was that on?

Tim: Since… I suppose really I never- When I left Smile and I moved on I stayed as a musician for about six years, and then I think my wife started to exert pressure to earn…

Paul: Maternal instincts.

Tim: Yeah, so that was part of it as well.

Paul: You had four children!

Tim: Yeah, I had four kids. Yeah they- But I clearly had to- I mean a lot of you probably know this, I clearly had to change careers. So I went back to what I used to do initially which was graphic design and then I ended up- I got working in TV special effects. And in fact you probably know that I was the chief model maker on Tommy the Tank Engine-

(Audience cheers.)

Tim: - for the first series, and then continued working in film and TV commercial right up to 2000.

Paul: That’s a- That’s a serious career, that’s like 40 years…

Tim: It was the best fun I ever had, to be honest with you! I mean special effects is just such fun! You won’t believe it! And I mean I did a lot of animation, you know, stop frame animation as well. I mean, I just- it was, as a consolation prize for having been a failed musician-

Paul: Well!

Tim: -I couldn’t have wished for better!

Paul: There we go, okay then.

Tim: But the thing is I kept playing, and when I retired- during the years that I retired I decided to go back to it. And I’ve made three albums now. Four albums! Well, now, Paul we’ve got this- there’s an album- Someone’s- One of you lucky people has got hold of “How High” which is the album I did with Paul. And there are two other albums of mine, and in fact I just finished-

Paul: You’ve just finished another one. Just-

Tim: I’ve just finished-

Paul: -this week, you’ve finished mastering it.

Tim: Finished mastering my third solo album this week.

Paul: And what’s it called? What’s it called?

Tim: The album’s called “Wayward Child”.

Paul: Ah, yeah.

Tim: And-

Paul: And when- when and where can we get it?

Tim: Uh, it- Well I’m not sure yet, but within three or four months it’ll be available on Spotify.

Paul: Okay.

Tim: So all the other stuff is available on Spotify if you’re interested. I think I’m a good songwriter.

Paul: Yeah.

(Audience applauds.)

Tim: It’s important- It’s important to me. I mean, I’m a serious songwriter. Nevermind whether I’m good or not, but I’m serious about it. So, you know, with a bit of luck one or two of them songs might be pretty good.

Paul: I mean you’re one of the guys, ‘cause again I know you quite well, who… You feel something, something’s going on in your life, and a way of processing it and expressing it is to write a song about it. And that’s how a lot of your songs are, actually.

Tim: And it is true to say that when I left Smile, one thing I never dropped was the fact that I am hardwired to write songs. Even in, you know, even in all the other- even in the career and everything like that, I’ve always written songs. You know? And, um…

Paul: What’ve we got- How are we for time? Because we don’t want to interfere with the movie…

Tim: Don’t want to interfere with the movie… It’s two minutes past eight.

Paul: Shall we do one more- one more tune?

Tim: Yeah, let’s do another tune. We could do, uh… Well let’s do “Redwood”, do you think?

Paul: Yeah. Which is one of mine.

Tim: Yeah, we’re gonna do a- Having said I’m a good songwriter, we’re now going to do one of Paul’s.

(Audience laughs.)

Tim: Because Paul is a good songwriter too, and this needs to be public knowledge. So I hope you enjoy this song. I want you to tell everybody about it.

Paul: Yeah, yeah. It suddenly occurred to me, and I’d read something about in the late 19th century up to present day, apparently, the redwood trees in California, and they’re like a mile high and they’re beautiful, beautiful examples of, you know, of wild tree life, right? And what happened once they started chopping them down, chopping them up into sections, and shipping them out of California down through Arizona, New Mexico, chopping them up for firewood and flogging them. I mean, can you believe it? And I mean now it’s very important that those things are protected, but back in the early 2000s there was a Redwood League created to protect the redwood trees. And this is a little bit of a reference to that. I thought it was just disgusting.

(Tim and Paul play “Redwood”. Audience applauds.)

Paul: Thank you.

Tim: Well I think we’re just about at the end now folks so, I mean, enjoy the movie! We all know it’s great, I mean… The word is that they’ve done a cracking job of condensing 15 years into two hours, and although there may be some things that aren’t strictly accurate in terms of historical veracity-

Paul: The spirit-

Tim: The emotional content is maintained, and the emotional integrity is maintained. And I was proud to be involved with it, frankly. So do enjoy it.

Paul: Thank you very much, Tim Staffell. And thank you for coming tonight!

(Audience applauds.)

Jim the Emcee: Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Stewart and Tim Staffell. Thanks guys, thank you, thank you very much, thank you… We’ve got a really short interval because it’s quite a long film, so as my mate says…

(Recording ends.)

#tim staffell #queen band #brian may #roger taylor #freddie mercury #smile band #paul stewart #bohemian rhapsody #text #long post //#tim

53 notes · View notes