#(though the 2nd to last paragraph is.. not great

[birkinist]

i have only been consuming jesse spencer media for the last few days. here is me, ranking from 1-16 every movie/show he has been in.

this does not include:

- any theatre he has ever made

- the script & queer fish (couldnt find them to watch)

- voice acting (will do a separate one for that thing)

16th:

blue heelers — lee cruickshank

minor role only. show wasn’t particularly interesting either and to be completely honest i don’t even recall seeing him once

15th:

skum rocks! — david lockhart

another minor role. also a documentary and those are not my favorite

14th:

tell-tale — lover

minor role pt. 3

13th:

time trax — young billy

felt like i was watching cp when this came on. plot is interesting but there is no good reason for having a 15 year old naked half of the time and a goofy voice.

12th:

winning london — lord james browning jr

i didn’t enjoy this solely because it’s based around chasing british boys 😭 not my type of movie

11th:

lorna doone — marwood

slight minor role but he does fine to be fair. doesn’t appear much neither is importantly and the show is boring to be honest

10th:

neighbours — bill kennedy

classic 👍

9th:

curse of the talisman — jeremy campbell

this was cute, even though it does not have great quality i liked jesses role in this

8th:

chicago fire; etc — matthew cassey

i absolutely despise this show but i gotta give it props for how much jesse appears in it

7th:

this girl is in trouble — nicholas feinstein

it was okay. i like his acting here mostly but the movie isn’t very great

6th:

uptown girls — neal fox

having him compared to morrissey is the funniest shit ever. props for this

5th:

stranded — fritz robinson

i would probably like this movie more if i didnt watch it in 360p

4th:

swimming upstream — tony figleton

really REALLY well produced movie and great acting from him. absolute banger sortof shit youd see winning an award

3rd:

flourish — eddie gator

absolute masterpiece, although i think people dont get it. having him be delirious and american will be hilarious forever

2nd:

death in holy orders — raphael arbuthnot

crazy queerbaiting between him and peter. literal religious yaoi. jesse so pretty and gay he acted out a role in which the character is described as pretty and appealing to men three different paragraphs (book).

1st:

house md — robert chase

cant complain about eight seasons straight of jesse. first media i watched from him too so it will always have a special place in my heart.

—

of course i could go into detail but i dont really think none of you wanna see me talk about that. besides movies i consumed an insane amount of interviews and info about him. call me the #1 jesse spencer fan (he would hate me)

[horizon-verizon]

I’m genuinely still wondering how the writers took one look at F&B and went “the stepmother and her stepdaughter should totally be in love” like seriously not hating, how’d they even get to that conclusion ? They genuinely thought “maybe Alicent started romancing Rhaenyra when she was 16 and Rhaenyra 7 ?”

They didn't genuinely think that Alicent and Rhaenyra were besties in canon, they understood it was always a parent-child/step-relation and that Alicent was 10 or so yrs older than canon!Rhaenyra. It's just that they decided to run with a change between the two bc--Miguel Sapochnik's wife? suggested--that this relationship would be less "sexist" than the Wicked Stepmother trope that defined, is when an older woman jealously plots and/or tries to either kill or depower her more beautiful or desireable, "innocent" stepdaughter. Traditionally.

The issues with this thinking is that:

They replaced Alicent's characterization with a 15 year old who gets sexually abused for years, and before that forced to "seduce" the king by her own father.

Alicent is far less ambitious, driven, consistent, and intelligent than bk!Alicent, and i refer esp to her in episodes 8-9 in the last three adjectives but you can kinda also trace it to at least the 2nd episode when she's peaking to Rhaenyra. On the whole, her ambition has also been easier to disguise as her desire for "peace" when it's really just the status quo so that she can feel that she's been part of a great exchange--her suffering for her higher place as a Queen. Could have been good in a sense, if only again, she had been intelligent.

So they really didn't make that much of an improvement on the "less/no-sexism" front, and I say this bc the transition from who alicent was to what we see in the show is where the sexist rationale lies [next paragraph]. And there is a reason why wicked stepmothers are still relevant...because women absolutely will turn on children or abuse them for power or to ensure their own children's survival, no woman was a feminist, and Alicent in the show ends up still harassing and abusing Rhaenyra anyway! Any and all tropes with female protagonists/antagonists in past stories and fairytales or myths can be sexist according to how it's handled. Finally, Rhaenyra is not a perfect example of an "innocent" princess in the traditional Wicked Stepmother trope because she has sex outside of marriage and she rides a dragon--dragons are usually positioned as one the side of "evil" in Western patriarchal tales.

Some argue that HotD's dynamic is better or better conveys the message of the story bc they think that this whole "women-are-peacemakers-for-war-mongering-violent-men" is itself not sexist [rhaenyragendereuphoria]. Bc it still denigrates ambitious women, or ambition and assertiveness in women, to make the implication that to be violent or just actively go after that which has been socially kept from you based on your gender is absolutely unethical. Or that this element has no ethical value in itself.

Espe when we see how Targ women have been sidelined & abused for years until the Targs lose their dragons--Rhaenyra's Syrax was very fertile during her happy years and though men can ride dragons, we tend to see more laying or more dragons/bigger dragons in the earlier part, more female-friendly part of Targ history when they were still in their process of assimilation--and lose their weapon against the Others until Dany reawakens them.

It undervalues how Rhaenyra was Alicent's victim and how she was a victim of green misogyny in her usurpation, how it is the greens' fault how there was ever a war in the first place, how they are the ones who would be willing to risk a war to obtain power and hypocritically upend "social order" by going against the King's word. To diminish this fact and to argue "two canons" or "unreliable sources" is also to argue that F&B is not a narrative framed with GRRM vs Gyldayn, and thus there IS a certain narrative through-line or truth aside from Gyldayn's purpose and to ignore how history treats women, how GRRM already describes what sort of person Rhaenrya is so you can rewrite her "ult-femme" pride into a much more apologetic, friendless persona.

Yes, GRRM is describing the horrid effects of war and how this particular war devastated the country...that doesn't mean that misogyny wasn't a defining element as to how that war happened or that defiance is a necessary thing to witness in a female character with the society we have in Westeros. This is itself another trope designed to make women bear the responsibility of a man's violence through bio-essentialism, even with Viserys & Jaehaerys not wanting war bc even Jaehaerys at many points was willing to use force to enforce his own will, authority, etc. whereas Viserys could have done well to put his foot down in certain times...why not Rhaenyra when she is forced to face the consequences of these two men's policies or actions?

This all goes for Alicent, too, why not TELL A HUMAN TRUTH and show how a woman determined to use patriarchal principles to uplift herself and her kids in a world where she'd expect to only have higher positions through marriage? She'd still be evil because she's directly mistreating and plotting against a child into her teenhood, but she'd be more understandable simultaneously. As it is, Alicent's fakeness in the show is more intolerable bc w/o Rhaenyra's fire the writing is constantly giving us the impression that Alicent had "good" reason to hate Rhaenyra for being herself or trying to gain a bit of agency. And it's in of itself a total lie on their parts, a bad-faith manipulation or a misunderstanding. That Rhaenyra' issue was her having "bastards", not the misogyny against her. The showrunners themselves have said how different Rhaanyra's kids look diff from Laenor, using the Velaryon's skin to "make it obvious" when that was never the actual concern or thing that mattered! to courtiers and to the scheming Alicent, yes, but not the philosophical core of this story!

Here is a reblog/post by @xenonwitch about how HotD is written in the male gaze and how Alicent ended up the way she is.

[king-of-colors]

happy birthday jeremy jordan!!

because it's his birthday, i drew jay gatsby climbing back over the fence after only tea. because i thought it was funny and it turned out better than i expected. colored version and uncolored.

also this. rip the quality (i traced the set pieces on the side and his silhouette guys, no i'm not that good at drawing)

now i'm going to yap about jeremy for far too many paragraphs, feel free to scroll past lmao

some of this may be inaccurate or out of order (or incoherent) because, honestly, i don't remember all the details of my jeremy journey (instinctively went to type 'jordan'-)

okay, so, although i've only known who he is for about seven months, i guarantee that watching hazbin hotel is one of the best decisions i could've ever made. because then i learned about jeremy, fell in love with his voice, then watched newsies. and so my love for musical theater was born and now i'm a complete and utter theater nerd (as many people who know me can tell you lmao).

because i have far too much free time, i will now construct a vague timeline of when i watched/discovered things jeremy's in. like i said, far too much free time.

i watched hazbin on april 1st and 2nd, binged it pretty fast lmao. completely didn't know beforehand that it was a musical, so that was a nice surprise. and, yeah, this lucifer guy, love him to death (haha). then this video popped up on my youtube home page, and i really like hazbin, so sure why not.

fast forward a bit, i looked at jeremy's imdb or wiki page and wait- huh? he's in tangled the series?? (which is actually a really funny coincidence, because a few years back, early on during the pandemic, i watched the first episode of tts. which is indeed the one with varian. so i'd actually heard him before). so i figured, why not watch that, i know jeremy jordan has a great voice.

sometime around here, i start watching yt vids of jeremy's performances. she used to be mine, it's all coming back to me now, all those. also gave the english concept album of death note a listen, since i'd seen it on jeremy's wiki page.

it's the end of april now, and i'm going somewhere with no wifi for a little over a week, so i download tts. (funny story, i accidentally didn't download the last two episodes, so i started s2, and was just confused. like huh?? i didn't see that happen.. my dumbass didn't realize that i was missing episodes until i was like a bit into s2. tragic)

few days in, i remember that i actually have newsies downloaded somewhere, and hey isn't jeremy jordan in that? (recognized it from aforementioned yt vid on hazbin actors) so i watch it and fuck yeah that was pretty good, loved the set especially.

(here's when i added santa fe to my playlist. before i watched newsies, actually.)

fast forward through may (honestly, may was a blur lmao). i finished tts, was briefly obsessed with wicked, discovered a few more projects jeremy was in (lsoh, b&c), found out he could've been in the greatest showman, watched la la land, finally gave chappell roan a listen. stuff like that.

june (and also july)! and, what's this? the great gatsby? (the first three releases) loved past is catching up to me, didn't realize roaring on was noah ricketts, etc. then the bonnie & clyde proshot (i managed to find a slime on yt, unfortunately it got deleted. i do have it downloaded if anyone wants it)

august. watched the last five years (i didn't know it was told backwards from her perspective and forward from his because i didn't read the summary. do you know how confused i was 💀)

september! one of the best months of my life ngl. saw the great gatsby on the 13th (and hamilton on the 25th). saw the whole cast except for noah ricketts (dan rosales was brilliant though). it was amazing bro, no other notes really. when i first saw him on stage, i nearly died, and then he started singing and i actually did /pos. everyone was so good, i can't even

and, yeah, here we are.

i don't know why i decided to make this post help 😭

if you read all this, thank you? i guess?

have a nice day and, idk, stop scrolling tumblr, take a break

[greycappedjester]

I know it’s a lot of characters to sort but if you don’t mind sharing, where would you say the people in the DA fall in the spectrum of trust and fondness for Headmaster Ukai? On one side we have Oikawa who definitely does not trust or seemingly like him, and then we have Noya (I think?) who suggested the name Ukai’s army so he probably has some degree of trust/fondness for him. Where do most of the characters fall within that scale?

Oooh good question! I'd say it's currently*...

*in the 5th story for people who come across this post later. Since this list will certainly change

Least Trust:

1.) Oikawa-he doesn't trust practically anyone rn outside of his small group of friends and he especially doesn't trust people in authority and 2x especially anyone who was involved in the last war. Oikawa lives in rage and is definitely curently #1 to Stab an Authority Figure in their Sleep

2.) Daishou-this is definitely a lot less than Oikawa but I'd still say he'd be next in list sicne he is 1.) a Slytherin who aren't the most trusting bunch to begin with, 2.) raised around Uncle/Minister who never trusted Ukai and would likely let some of that slip, 3.) Knows how much of a fake his Uncle/Minister is and likely thinks Ukai as the other major war general hero is much the same

3.) Iwaizumi-oddly not because of that thing with the 2nd Task but that didn't help. Nah, Iwa-chan still definitely holds a grudge about that thing with Oikawa and the veritaserum from the begginning of 4th...even tho technically Oikawa took that by semi-choice

4.) Kuroo-similar to Daishou, he's way too familiar with politicians with fake public faces. Nothing really aganist Ukai in particular, just not big on public people who everyone seems to praise (which Ukai definitely was as a war general hero before this year with all the bad press aganist Hogwarts)

Ambivalent Range ie The I'm Just Not That Trustfull Bunch:

5.) Mika-matches up with Daishou in that she's not too trusting of anyone who technically has powr over her (by being her Headmaster)

6.) Yaku- Teenage Curmudgen(TM)

7.) Tsukishima- Teenage Misanthrope (TM)....ranks more trusting than Yaku since Tsuki's experience with Minister last year made his ostensible rival (the Headmaster) look better by comparison

8.) Makki & Matsu- Come On We're Still Slytherins Duo....really it's just that they have a bone deep rebellious streak and a long history of pranking

He's Alright, I Guess? Range:

9.) Kenma- Has genuinely never thought of the Headmaster much

10.) Ennoshita- Headmaster's way better than the Minister...2nd least trusting of the Crows so he sitll holds some resentment because of how the werewolf stuff was handled in 3rd story but likes that the Headmaster was able to keep it a secret from the press and student body

11.) Amani- Is a pretty friendly person in general

12.) Shimizu- Certified Teacher Friend (in a good, non-suck up way). I mean, come on, she's been a library assistant for forever. She was 100% the kid on the playground who would rather sit by the tachers and read quietly (this was me in elementary btw). She desn't really know the Headmaster but has genrally positive feelings towards the Hogwarts faculty

13. ) Yamaguchi- 3rd least trusting of Crows, too much time around Tsuki. Still has complicated feelings about 3rd story stuff. Pretty similar to Ennoshita, but Yamaguchi was raised more in the wizarding world so still has more of the Ukai-Great-War-General vibes

14.) Kageyama-Wait, what does this have to do about Quidditch?

Yes, I like Him Range:

15.) Yachi- "While there are some things I feel complicated about [insets paragraph] I also accept that human beigns are naturally flawed and that becasue he also did many good things like [inserts multiple paragraphs], I generally feel that our Headmaster is a good person though subject to human flaws as we all are" (Questioner has long since tuned out). Basically, Yachi's a good egg who recognizes flaws but aslo that everyone's a bit complicated

16.) Daichi-Genuinely appreciative of everything he's done for Asahi to let him attend and cover up aspects of what happened in 3rd.

The You Could Stab Me And I'd Say "Hey, You Dropped Your Knife" Crew....ie the just really trusting in genral bunch

17.) Bokuto- :)

18.) Hinata- :) (Oikawa voice in the background): He drugged you and left you in a forest! Hinata: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Headmaster is a Badass! Group/ Most Trusting and Genuinely Admire Him:

19.) Lev-Dude, Headmaster Ukai fought aganist the Giant! He's Awesome (But Scary)

20.) Tanaka- complicated family history which makes him greatly look up to a hero of the war who put a lot of Ghosts behind bars

21.) Asahi- Is very appreciative of Ukai for letting him attend Hogwarts and helping him with all the necessary paperwork

22.) Suga-Is so adamantly aganist his family's legacy that it fuels a bit of a blind side of viewing Headmaster's faults. He really does have some very secific blinders that come on when it comes to his family legacy. Overly trust figure of the oposite side is likely one of them.

23.) Noya- 2x admiration since Ukai also helped his uncle get in when he was a student and then helped Asahi and just in general has been just very cool about helping students of various creature legacies (like veelas, werewolves, dhampir, etc) into Hogwarts. Also Ukai's a war hero

Bonus:

Akaashi-who needs trust when I've got foresight?

In other words, Akaashi's too weird on what "trust" as a concept even is to put him on this list. How do you view trust when you genrally know for a sorta-fact how people will behave?

[mulling-over-milgram]

My current Remi theories

Agghhh I’m very late….but here we go ^^;

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡༻ੈ✩‧₊˚₊

TIMELINE SPECULATION

Okay so first of all again starting with a timeline. Now Remi’s recordings seem like they could be over the course of multiple years? So since as far as I’m aware we don’t know what year tsumigram takes place I’m going to be referring to the first paragraph of recording one as year 0001 and then if I believe the year changes 0002 so on and so forth so keep in mind I’m not actually referring to the real life years 0001 , 0002 , 0003 ect ect.

“Summer is ending. Let's stop already, how long are we going to chew on this cold food?” End of august

“Spring is ending. We part and come back together, this must be a form of true love for you; though as for me, I'm not so sure.” End of may

“Winter is ending. Closeness never matters; they switch their opinions in an instant, and always, always, always, always choose someone else instead.” End of February

“Autumn is ending This was a game of play-pretending for everyone but me; right, I wanted a place I and others could belong to, but as I've seen through lies, I'm burning down the theatre..” November/December

“Summer is ending. You simply disappeared without a word; I didn't care, did I care? Too many people, I get lost.” End of August again

Now there are two interpretations since the memories from this recording if my research is correct :

-1) the memories take place over the corse of five years which explains why we start in august the 8th month of the year and then go to the 5th , 2nd , 11/12th and finally back to 8th assuming the recordings are chronological then this is the only answer that really makes sense

-2) the alternative would be that the paragraphs are in reverse order so then you’d go 2>5>8>11/12>8

but I personally lean more towards them being in chronological order because there feels like a progression. In paragraph one Remi asks the other why they are still in this relationship? The relationship to borrow Remi’s metaphor had gone cold then in the next paragraph they seem to be on better terms but still not great then 3 we are back to the relationship being strained and getting worse…it won’t make alot of sense for us to start with “you simply disappeared” and end with “how long are we going to chew on this cold food? = how long are we going to prolong this dying relationship?

The only thing really giving me pause is that its such a long time. 5 years! Remi is 18 thats just under 1/3 of her life time…it makes me feel like I’ve made some mistake in my research….

moving onto the second memory

“Year by year, I look back and feel all the same, let me out of this, let me out of this loop! I wonder what kind of person I used to be before. Is it your fault? Changing me so much. Cherry blossom petals, a wave of crystal water covering my ankles, tender girly laughs from all sides.” CHERRY BLOSSOM’S SAVE THE TIME LINE YET AGAIN :D because cherry blossoms were blooming that places this paragraph around late March and early April.

“Ah, my first ever wish made on New Year night was to meet a true friend. I imagined my own friends, and this is how I became a writer, slowly but surely. I met real friends to grow up with, slowly but surely, but all of them were condescending, and I got trapped in a small box of expectations. “ because its new years eve December 31st

“Warm snowflakes falling from the night sky, the stars are never seen in the city; I watch myself looking up from the sidelines, holding onto the lantern as my last hope.” Now personally I interpret the warm snow flakes line as describing the stars rather than actual snowflakes as warm snowflakes is a contradicting description and the fact the next line literally talks about the stars with that in mind the lantern is the only clue as to wear to place the memory now I’m not fully sure on this but the main Japanese lantern related thing I could find was Toro Nagashi now I’m a little iffy on this since from my research Toro nagashi is mostly about the dead and guiding dead souls but I did see a few places mention wishes “Toro Nagashi is a summer tradition in which people make wishes and float paper lanterns down a river” again I’m really not sure about this but its the best connection I could find so far…this slots (assuming the toro nahashi connection is correct) this memory at the 13th - 16th of August or July.

“Running through a chilly meadow, sun rising and I hold your hand, catching lavender clouds as I stay at home.” Chilly = cold // cold = autumn? September December???

“You're squeezing something heavy with your hands, water covering your eyes, so you can't see what's there; sun’s warmth is on your back, a chill feeling spreading over the body.” Warmth = summer???

I’m quite shaky on alot of the conclusions but my overall interpretation of the time line is.

The trial starts possibly some time in December due to 003’s birthday being soon after T1 starts???

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡༻ੈ✩‧₊˚₊

FULL TIMELINE THEORY

0001 / august / ?? Summer is ending. Let's stop already, how long are we going to chew on this cold food?”

0002 / march / April / ??

“Year by year, I look back and feel all the same, let me out of this, let me out of this loop! I wonder what kind of person I used to be before. Is it your fault? Changing me so much. Cherry blossom petals, a wave of crystal water covering my ankles, tender girly laughs from all sides.”

0002 / may / ?? “Spring is ending. We part and come back together, this must be a form of true love for you; though as for me, I'm not so sure.”

0003 / February / ??

“Winter is ending. Closeness never matters; they switch their opinions in an instant, and always, always, always, always choose someone else instead.”

0003 / December / 31st

“Ah, my first ever wish made on New Year night was to meet a true friend. I imagined my own friends, and this is how I became a writer, slowly but surely. I met real friends to grow up with, slowly but surely, but all of them were condescending, and I got trapped in a small box of expectations. “

0004 / August / ??

“Warm snowflakes falling from the night sky, the stars are never seen in the city; I watch myself looking up from the sidelines, holding onto the lantern as my last hope.”

0004 / September / ??

“Running through a chilly meadow, sun rising and I hold your hand, catching lavender clouds as I stay at home.”

0004 / december / ??

“Autumn is ending This was a game of play-pretending for everyone but me; right, I wanted a place I and others could belong to, but as I've seen through lies, I'm burning down the theatre..”

0005 / august / ??

“Summer is ending. You simply disappeared without a word; I didn't care, did I care? Too many people, I get lost.”

0005 / August / ??

“You're squeezing something heavy with your hands, water covering your eyes, so you can't see what's there; sun’s warmth is on your back, a chill feeling spreading over the body”

0005 / December / ??

milgram

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡༻ੈ✩‧₊˚₊

THOUGHTS ON HER CRIME

Now moving on to what I think remi’s crime is…..I have not idea! That is the reason why this is so late because I am completely lost on what it could be :)

clearly remi was in some sort of unfulfilling relationship were she felt she was giving more then taking , felt neglected and like it was dying for a long while before it actually ended. So her victim is probably that person?

as for the description

“You're squeezing something heavy with your hands, water covering your eyes, so you can't see what's there; sun’s warmth is on your back, a chill feeling spreading over the body.

It's not the time to listen to yourself. It's never the time, remember?

Your knees and hands seem to hurt, but you keep on pushing, can't give up — now or never”

ummm it kinda gives me the vibes of drowning? Like keep pushing = keep pushing the head under water??? Water coving her eyes could be because she’s also under water…? But I feel like “something heavy with your hands, water covering your eyes,” thats gotta be tears right? Like yes it could be a large body of water was involved if so probably the one implied here “a wave of crystal water covering my ankles,”

Her murder location does look like a lake surrounded but trees to me? But that could just be the distortion. That what go me started down the whole drowning train of thought.

(Gorgeous diagram I know)

but just overall I don’t have a strong theory (this seems to be a reoccurring theme….)

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡༻ੈ✩‧₊˚₊

RECORDING/UNDER COVER IMAGES

Once again moving on. Time to tackle these two images , her memory recordings and her undercover.

Starting with the memory recording this is alot more abstract then hotaru’s so I feel like the symbolism in it can be read into more. Remi is in space and I feel like space is probably a metaphor for her relationship. Space is cold and a vacuum you can’t speak or be heard in space (without special equipment and the whole no speaking thing is more that if you open your mouth you die and boil/freeze alive but lets put the logistics to the side for a minute) she is surrounded by other planets (possibly reproductive of the other people like the other people implied by lines like “ tender girly laughs from all sides.” / “I wanted a place I and others could belong to” / always choose someone else instead“ ect) and how planets and other celestial objects go in set orbit going round and around on the same path could be seen as similar to how remi describes the relationship “So tiring. I need to break the cycle.” There’s falling star’s in the bg which could refence wishing stars or possibly the concept of star crossed lovers? Or wishing

I attempted to map the planets from the art to our solar system which again not sure if its ment to be our solar system or just a general space setting but if it is our solar system then perhaps we could read into the fact that in this context remi would be on the outer side of the solar system far away from the sun and in the colder part of the system.

unrelated observations that the shape on the side kinda looks like a wave or maybe thats just my conformation bias talking…?

And this art could also possibly reference a magical girl transformation ??? I feel like I’m reaching to much with those last two points tho…

As for the undecover frame we have already seen remi liken her relationship to food “Let's stop already, how long are we going to chew on this cold food?” So relationship metaphor???

there seems to be strawberries in the picture which according to google in japan has symbolism of love and is a gift on valentines day in japan….? it is also apparently a symbol of the goddess Venus which links it back in with space but idk

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡༻ੈ✩‧₊˚₊

MY CURRENT THOUGHTS ON VOTING

I really don’t feel like I know enough to vote her anything….? I went with victim in the end because I didn’t really feel like I had any strong concussion on her situation but I feel like I gotta be missing something cuz it was 50% predator when I originally wrote this section.

[amaiguri]

Yssaia

⚜️NaNoWriMo WIP 2024⚜️

"All promised heroes burn. Who are they now?"

In a world of fated heroes and abyssal machines -- born both of Kings and Philosophy --, a burned assassin girl must find new purpose when the War ends.

Untitled Yssaia Game will someday become a narrative-focused, hand-drawn adventure. Navigate an assassin through her delicate, brutal world after the War annexed her homeland. Delve deep into political dealings, your past trauma, and the Abyss beneath the world.

...but for today, it's still just a very large Reedsy document, some art, and a handful of songs.

🏆THE CHALLENGE'S OBJECTIVE🏆

This NaNoWriMo, I just want to write every day. I don't have the time or breakneck pace to do the traditional 50k words. I also want to log my progress cuz every year, I don't journal as much as I should and every year, I regret that. My memory and sense of time is better when I journal. So, we gotta get back into it, once again.

In terms of my current progress, there are about 245k words in this wip -- though it has multiple story arcs. We'll see what the market says to do with it, as we get closer to video game form... I have done a round or two of editing maybe? It doesn't feel like it but I also spent since February of last year editing. I thought it was going to take a month. It did not. 😭😭😭 Now, I am back to drafting -- thank God. Right now, I'm drafting a story arc about my protagonist struggling with her new relationships, falling into old toxic patterns, and discovering the enemies of her enemies -- the Gods.

🧑‍🧑‍🧒CHARACTERS🧑‍🧑‍🧒

Yssaia is multi-POV and has a lot of perspectives with unequal time. If I were a perfect creator, I'd give them increasingly equal time throughout the work -- and end the story with characters taking turns between paragraphs in the battle against the Gods. This is all part of a giant experiment in which I fight against Great Man History. We'll see if it works lol cuz it sounds insane but that's legitimately why I'm showing so many different perspectives.

Naturally, there are many more characters and POVs than the ones pictured here.

The characters all have a lot of anime influence -- not just in their visual language, but also in their characterization -- but they also take a lot of influence from those Literary Fiction short stories I had to read in college. They're all written in a retrospective first person and verb all their nouns and have some sort of linguistic quirk for their POV. I mean like "One POV has 2nd person" kind of quirk. I love playing with form. I don't WANT you to feel like my work is super easy to read -- I want you to THINK about it.

🌩THE GODS OF YSSAIA🌬

The currently fighting Gods of Yssaia are basically representing Connection, Conquest, and Despair. Something something thematic arguments for a modern age but ALSO "use the power of friendship to kill God." The Gods all have what I like to call "humansonas" (think like the Christian Jesus) whom are represented below:

🗺THE WORLDBUILDING🗺

I have been working on Yssaia since 2018, so the worldbuilding has only gotten deeper and deeper. While the shape of the world and the general cultures have remained the same, they've all gotten a lot more nuance and geographical fidelity and also, conlangs: I have conlangs for every culture in the language and I'm very proud because language and power is one of the themes I like to play with. Yes, that's an IB thing. If you're interested in worldbuilding or conlanging, I actually run a worldbuilding YouTube channel so come check it out.

But if I had to summarize it, my world building is "Fantasy 1880s-1910s with a melancholic but whimsical feel and cute eldritch horrors. All the cultures are a mixture between Asian and Western cultures" (like Chinese Vikings, Japanese French-Mafias, Communist Grecoromans, and Slavic Indians, etc.) I have endeavored to ensure there is something about each culture that is "my favorite" -- ama about my worldbuilding 🥺💜

Follow for Part 2, when I talk about the game design someday!

[spider-xan]

I found it interesting from the first Insomniac artbook how the Sable troopers had more grounded and realistic armor/tech designs compared to the final game's more sci-fi look. I also found interesting the concept art of Peter in normal clothes confronting Sable troopers in the FEAST shelter, and what looked like Martin Li having kidnapped and filming Norman in a warehouse. For the 2nd book, all that stood out was how Venom was way smaller.

Yeah, I'm still going through the art book for the first game, which apparently also got a script book, and there is so much interesting content in the way of concept art and commentary that really shows the creative thought process behind how they designed the characters and scenes, even minor characters who just exist for Spider-Man to beat up as low-level villains - and there isn't really that level of detail and enthusiasm in the art book for the second game, even though I'm sure the creative team loved what they did and obviously put a lot of thought and creativity into the game, so I'm not sure why so little of it made it into the book? Like, on the art side of things, there was the art blast on Art Station last year, but that understandably didn't come with much commentary by the writers and narrative directors.

I really do think corporate saw the financial success of the first game and interfered more than they should have while being motivated by immediate profits bc we know the game itself was rushed by corporate pushing the developers to get the game out by the holiday season, and even though this art book got delayed from April to June, it feels rushed and lacking too, even if it's still very nice overall.

But yeah, like, while I didn't expect detailed commentary about characters who already appeared in the first game, I was disappointed there was so little about the new characters, who already didn't get characters bios in the game bc Insomniac dropped that feature for some reason, and at this point, I don't think they are going to add them in a future update, despite the demand for them.

Like, I love the two page spread of clothing designs for Harry, but I was disappointed there was very little text about his characterization and writing choices beyond a brief note about making him relatable with casual clothes like Peter, but higher quality to show his wealth - that's interesting, I love reading about how fashion reflects and reveals characterization, but there's so much more that could be included like the first art book and wasn't; same with Felicia, like, there's nothing there about her characterization and it's just a few notes about adding fur to her costume in the sequel game, and obviously, I love this version of Curt, but the Lizard aside, as Curt, he gets like, one page of designs and one short paragraph and a footnote about why he basically looks like a regular guy, which, again, gives some insight into his characterization, but on a superficial level.

And it's wild bc all three of these characters are more complex and integrated into the story (if you include the first game's DLCs for Felicia bc yeah, she was mostly an extended cameo in the sequel) than, say, Electro and the Rhino, who are great characters, but not especially complex and just show up for boss battles, but they got short essays about the writing and creative process behind their characterizations while Harry, Curt, and Felicia just get a few sentences about their clothes and maybe a note or two about their writing choices.

[catre33]

My favourite books in my personal library: (in completely random order)

The Little Prince by Antione de Saint Exupery. 111pg

'The little prince lived alone on a tiny planet no larger than a house. He owned three volcanoes, two active and one extinct. He also owned a flower, unlike any flower in all the galaxy, of great beauty and of inordinate pride. It was this pride that ruined the serenity of the little prince's world and started him on the interplanetary travels that brought him to earth, where he learned, finally, from a fox, the secret of what is really important in life.'

OH, my heart-. This absolute journey of a story is impossibly dear to me. I always pull it out when I need a reminder to grow old, but never grow up; and how stupid grown-ups can be. I've read this at least 7 times and watched the corresponding movie at least 5 times. It puts such a thrilling perspective on things I have had to fight with myself whether it should go in the fantasy or philosophy section. Sometimes we all need to remember how simple the world really is.

High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle 351pg

'Liv Kellerman has just left her cheating husband and--more tragically--their fabulous duplex with its Empire State Building views. Now Liv--alone for the first time in her life with few marketable skills, and crammed into a crumbling "fixer-upper" in Greenwich Village--is contemplating her next move...'

This book is HILARIOUS. I read it during my first and only trip to The Big Apple and finished it in the hotel room on the 2nd day (if I remember correctly). High Maintenance made the trip so much more thoughtful, and the people-watching much more interesting. People-watching in New York is already AMAZING, but I was able to better imagine the story behind the dude doing pull-ups on the street lamp (no joke). And it honestly made me think more than it made me laugh.S

tonewords, A Ghost Story by Pam Conrad 130pg

'The first time Zoe met Zoe Louise, Zoe was four years old. Zoe Louise was more than one hundred. From that day on--living in the same house, separated by a staircase and a century--Zoe and Zoe Louise have been an important and permanent part of each other's lives. Now Zoe is older. And although Zoe Louise never grows up, she is changing in dreadful, frightening ways. Time is running out for Zoe's best friend--and Zoe is the only one who can help her. To do so, she must travel back one hundred years in time and somehow alter the past. But in changing the past, must she also change the present? If she saves her friend's life, will she lose Zoe Louise forever?'

Stonewords is an annual fixture in my life. Though it doesn't in my book classify as a thriller it's still a ghost story and my favorite thing to read late on Halloween night. It's also one of the only books that use theoretical time travel that I will tolerate (mainly because it doesn't try to explain it away but rolls with the ideas). The character development is refreshing, as it is not in the ways you would originally expect.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown 489pg

'An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries...unveiled at last.'

This book is an absolute constant stream of 'I should have seen that coming!!!' I mean, are you kidding me?! Twists and turns left and right, never quite knowing where you are for a couple of paragraphs, and riddles hidden in the page headers! And an absolute wonder as a mythology lover having grown up in a Mormon household. The recognition of pagan beliefs and traditions that have become such essential parts of Christian culture is incredible. The Da Vinci Code rivals Good Omens as my favourite book of all time.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King 323pg

'Is it okay to hate a dead kid? Even if I loved him once? Even if he was my best friend? Is it okay to hate him for being dead? Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone--the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?'

This was a surprisingly recent read; and though it took a little bit to get into it, I was entranced. It was really just an erratic puzzle coming together much slower than I would have liked it to, and it was terribly easy to relate to Vera's desire to please be ignored. I have to be honest; I grew as a person, reading this book. You get to know the dead kid more than you think you would. It is altogether nowhere near what I expected, and more than I thought I'd ever need.

Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell 579pg

'Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta takes an assignment in New York City, where an injured patient in Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric prison ward has specifically asked for her. While Scarpetta examines him, she listens to one of the most bizarre stories she has ever heard. Oscar Bane says his injuries were sustained in the course of a murder...that he did not commit...' (the blurb is paraphrased as it is the longest blurb in history sorry)

Not only is this book written by one of my favourite milfs, but there is also a very homo romantic subplot that I could not get enough of!!! (pg354 AAAH!!!) Scarpetta and everyone around her had me hooked from the first words (which were 'Brain tissue'). There is nothing I could do while reading this but live the plot. The incredibly emotive writing dragged me along for a rough but worthwhile ride.

Frogkisser! by Garth Nix 372pg

'Poor Princess Anya. Forced to live with her evil stepmother's new husband, her evil stepstepfather. Plagued with an unfortunate ability to break curses with a magic-assisted kiss. And forced to go on the run when her stepstepfather decides to make the kingdom entirely his own. Aided by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischievous wizards, Anya sets off on a Quest that, if she plays it right, will ultimately free her land--and teach her a thing or two about the use of power, the effectiveness of a well-placed pucker, and the finding of friends in places both high and low.'

I bought this book from an elementary school book fair when I was maybe 10 years old, and it must be one of my most 'loved' paperbacks with all it's been through. It has been in the hands of family and friends and calls me out in ways I will never admit. Frogkisser! is a beautiful story with the perfect doses of snarky and silly weaved throughout every character. I used to know the plot so well that I would open to a page at random and read it just to cheer myself up. Now it's a nostalgic symbol of my childhood; not just of the good parts, but a basis of the good parts.

Skellig by David Almond 182pg

'Michael was looking forward to moving into a new house. It was all going to be wonderful. But now his baby sister's ill, his parents are frantic, and Dr. Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless. Then one day he steps into the crumbling garage. What is this thing beneath the spiderwebs and dead flies? A human being, or a strange kind of beast never seen before? The only person Michael can confide in is his new friend Mina. Together they carry the creature out into the light, and Michael's world changes forever.'

This was also a very recent read and oh my goodness gracious aGnES NUTTER, WITCH! I didn't know what to do with myself after it. I... I can't even explain it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to read this book for the first time. I was helpless in dreaming of angels and owls and clay and death and life and everything in between. I could never possibly do Skellig justice, so I'll leave it at this. Read it, and you'll know what I mean.

Notes: Good Omens is not listed here as it lives in my schoolbag, not my personal library. Coincidentally, all books listed were paperbacks LMAO

[your-kneecaps-are-mine-now]

!!The Magnus Archives S3 SPOILERS!!

To start, the spoiler warning, ^ obvy. But if you don't want any spoilers please don’t read. This is a mid to late s5 listeners thoughts, no grantee that this is just s3 spoilers. IM BEING SEREOUS! 

You have been warned.

Okay, I’ve had time to think about my recorder theory,(See This post) so you’re gonna get a little deeper dive on that now that I’ve established the base for the idea. Fyi, skip to the 2nd to last paragraph for a shorter version of the long bit.

As I mentioned previously, I believe the recorders are Eye aliened but not affiliated. By this I mean in the way Breekon and Hope are Stranger aliened. If you don’t recall or missed it in MAG 128: Heavy Goods(Transcript) Breekon tells his story. BREEKON: “We started in a plague.” “But with the circus, we were among our own kind at last.” The two have been pretty heavily implied to have never been human. They “stared", probably, during one of the black plague out breaks in Europe. If we assume that they didn’t “come to be” specifically in London and assume they wandered over to London(they might have I cant remember, its been a while since I’ve listened to that episode) then the earliest they could have “started” is somewhere around 1347(the start of the first BIG bubonic plague outbreak in Europe) or later, as the last outbreak ended in 1665. “The last bubonic plague outbreak was the Great Plague of 1665, which resulted in the deaths of 100,000 Londoners in just seven months.” (Source1)(Source2) If we go of of this info even if they “started” at the later date that still makes them OLD, OLD. This isn't a deep dive on those two though so we’re moving on. The point of that, though, was to display how old/long lived these things can be. If we refer back to MAG 111: Family Business(Transcript) GERRY: “I always think it helps to imagine them like colours. The edges bleed together, and you can talk about little differences: “oh, that’s indigo, that’s more lilac”, but they’re both purple.”(tbh I love this explanation of the powers the best) With these things on the table we can get to our point.

I believe the tapes are Eye aligned like Breekon and Hope are Stranger aliened, they feel most comfortable around their respective, chosen, powers but still do things for, and interact with the other powers frequently. Due to the bleeding colors theory we know that no power can truly be separate. I think that the recorders are the ears of all the powers but most fond of, and accessible/accessed, by The Eye. I believe that most of the other powers don’t want to/or care to reach out to the recorders because they see the collection/listening of knowledge an Eye exclusive.

Anyway, that’s what I think. If I do any more “deep dives” like this it will probably be on something else (TMA ofc). Feel free to interact w/ this post however you like. But do share your thoughts and feelings on this idea. Also, if you have any theories I’d love to hear them (they don’t have to be about the recorders). I do know that most of my theory's are wild shots in the dark and based off of throw away lines or evidence but I like to make them any who. <3

[ghoooooooooooooooost]

i had to reread n edit this before posting like i was going over an essay jesus christ ((tristamp spoilers))

tldr; i was honestly disappointed but i still don't think it was completely awful + i hope if they do a 2nd season it's better *wants to see milly*.... fuck the director though

EDIT!!! 2nd season was confirmed so you can ignore the points where i question if it will happen lol

EDIT 2 actually idt i'll watch the 2nd season... for reasons that just hit me so.... + fuck night*w as well

most of this was written before the finale eek

the major problems were that the pacing was soooooo weird n some of the changes (both story wise and design wise) they made were questionable esp towards the latter half

my positive points:

i do still think individual eps at the first half were really good

i loved the animation + how they used colors

the backgrounds are cool

the artstyle shift in wolfwood's flashback was cool

i've always been "ok" abt vashwood honestly (sorry) but i will acknowledge they were very yaoiful here. i saw a person who didn't ship vashwood say the ep in tristamp where they literally just met made them ship it which was really funny bc how did that change your mind so fast

i'm ngl the milly + eriks name drops made me *JAWDROP* but that's something that only matters to ppl who watched/read the ogs first

my negative points (uh oh):

white washed wolfwood (+ his skintone is soo inconsistent in merch)

they gave vash no room to breathe n he doesn't get big sillay moments after ep 3

^ this is true for every character except i guess roberto? more on roberto later

^^^ goes with the previous too points but it felt like they were way too focused on the drama n sadness without enough (long lasting) happy or hopeful moments to contrast or balance it out overall - to the point were the characterization of our main cast suffered for it bc there wasn't enough there with them to make that properly work. and THEN the silly moments ended up suffering too bc they start feeling out of place. the drama beats kept happening one after the other at breakneck speed without breaks, messing up the pacing as well (i can kinda blame this at least partially on the fact they only had 12 eps when the og was 26 eps but i've watched plenty of 12 ep series with great pacing so i don't really know what happened here?)

i disagreed with this at first, but the lore with vash being front-loaded really did hurt the story a bit in the long run. obviously they did still spread the full details out over the course of the show but it was :\

specific to "the running man"- it's my fav ep tbh but it was strange how all the townsfolk were partying w the nebraskas with no indication they'd arrest them after they did so much damage n vash didn't even get to fix the damaged plant?? so why were they so joyous when the initial problem wasn't solved?

roberto.... was such a weird character... he managed to be both a dick n a guy w no personality, he was there to give exposition + attempt to be funny? n then die. also the marketing staff fucking hates him he's never in any merch wtf ((edited after the finale: well now we know he wasn't meant to replace milly (i had a whole paragraph complaining abt that lol) + now i feel like they added him just to kill someone other than wolfwood off))

i can't speak much on elendria bc i had so much trouble reading trimax forever ago that i never retained anything abt her other than she's trans, but everything involving her in tristamp felt strange/ like it didn't work. i have essentially same feeling about livio here. they threw legato to the side??

what the fuck was the thing with the plants towards the end. it just hit me what the hell

minor nitpicks:

i miss the old anime's ost :( tristamp's ost isn't bad by any means n there are tracks that i really like it's just idk man. especially with the the op song, i couldn't get myself to not skip the op SORRY. could you imagine how hype it would've been if a new rendition of H.T. or NO-BEAT started playing

i'm fine with stamp vash's design (blasphemous i know) but man would'n've one of his og coat designs worked well in 3d? i feel like it would've ((added after the finale: the new coat did look nice in black + they brought back his old hair in the last ep tho so. MAYBE... IN SEASON 2.... CLASSIC COAT....? *delusional*))

NO LOVE & PEACE?!?!?!?!

one of my nitpick points was that they technically didn't give vash the black hair bc i really wanna see it animated one day but assuming they are teasing a season 2 maybe they will eventually. but then how...?

[crochetysquare]

Jester’s Hat Pattern

I meant to post this on New Year’s Day. Oops. Hello, all 5 followers that aren’t bots! I typed that sentence and realized I haven’t been checking for bots in my sideblog. To be fair, I haven’t been doing a great job of posting to my crochetblr at all since I started it. Let this be the beginning of a year of more-or-less monthly patterns! More updates on the quilt! More one-off posts! This is the year of crochet!

Some of you may have noticed that I changed this blog's title last year. I felt that "NotUrGrannySquares" didn't fit me. I didn't really like it at the beginning, but it's the all I could think of (and it wasn't too creative, since I only spelt it "Ur" because "NotYourGrannySquares" was taken--not to mention, there are plenty of patterns out there with similar names). As I began to collect a few pieces from my mom and grandma for my quilt, I felt more at odds with the blog name: these are my granny's squares! I posted this one a while ago, but the other two from her are waffle stitch samples. One is incomplete, using a merino wool yarn, and the other she fished out of the kitchen when I asked if I could incorporate the wool one into the quilt, and it’s clearly a polyester because it’s slightly melted in the center where it had been holding hot things. I’m obsessed with the texture that’s resulted.

I landed on “crochety” because I’ve described myself as a crotchety old man, the word “crotchety” shares origins with the word “crochet,” and I liked how Dictionary.com defined it.

crotchety adjective 1. given to odd notions, whims, grouchiness, etc.

I am given to odd notions and whims. That’s the whole thesis of my quilt, isn’t it? That’s why I haven’t been posting patterns. When I’m crocheting, I’m crocheting. I can’t stop every row and write down what I did. Worse, I can’t write it down and then rewrite it in a text document. I tried to teach myself coding last year because I was told it’s “just logic,” and being logically minded, I should be good at it. The thing is, it’s also typing, and I fucking hate typing. (You’re looking up at the past 4 paragraphs skeptically. This is different. Just trust me that it’s different. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the pattern and how poorly I’ve cleaned it up because something about typing shit like, “Ch 3, turn, sk 1st st, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next sc, sc 15, ch 2, sc in next sc, sc 15, ch 3, turn, sk 1st ch, sc in sc in sc in sc in sc in next st and to end,” just itches my brain so uncomfortably. Crocheting is so intuitive for me, and translating it from the physical realm to the written kills me. It’s like when I would finish my geometry proof before everyone else, and the teacher would suggest I help the kid next to me, but I couldn’t put it into words. I don’t know, dude, you just put the things where they go. Just put the hook through the correct stitch. Just make it the shape of one third of a jester’s hat. That’s how you make a pattern. Just do the thing that obviously you should do. This is why I like diagram crochet patterns more, which I would like to get into on here in the future. However, this pattern reflects the madness that is my brain trying to type up patterns. When I started this blog, I thought I would do a bunch of patterns like that, maybe with a horror narrative evolving around the monotony and the separation between typography and craft, and then I realized how much tongue in cheek patterning that would require. Hmm. Maybe someday, though.)

So anyway, this is NOT your granny’s pattern because I bet she has better discipline than I do. She would have cleaned this pattern up to the necessary bits. I’m too damn crotchety for that.

All 3 panels will follow this pattern. I used (most of) 3 skeins of Buttercream Luxe Craft 100% Wool yarn. It is yarn weight 5, recommending 6.0mm crochet hooks, and for once I did what I was told.

It appears that Joann has rebranded it to Knit & Crochet, but it also seems I have moved to an area with mediocre Joanns which carry neither. Which is whatever; I have gift cards to better yarn shops.

You can follow the same scheme of adding stitches with different starting row counts. This ended up being a little more than 25 inches in circumference, which made it just a bit too big for me. I rolled up the brim on the underside when I wore it, which worked fine for me and my 21 inch head since it’s a nice thick yarn.

Key I'm using US terms. ch = Chain sc = Single crochet sk = Skip sc2tog = single crochet 2 together That's all you need. It's easy peasy, you got this, gorgeous.

Ch 31. 1. skip 1st ch. sc 30. ch 1, turn. 2-10. sc 30, ch 1, turn. 11. sc 30, ch 2, turn. 12. sk first ch, sc in second from hook. sc across. Ch 2 again! and turn. 13. sk first ch, sc in second, sc 16, ch 2, sc in next stitch and to end. (32 total, 16 on each side. We're gonna stop keeping count, though. I didn't, and it turned out just fine. You'll be fine, as long as all your panels are Shaped.) Ch 2, and turn. 14. Sk first ch, sc in second, sc 17. In 2 ch space {sc, ch 2, sc}. Sc to end. Ch 2, turn. 15-16. You know what you're doing. Sc to that chain space, and sc, ch 2, sc, and keep going. Ch 2, turn. 17. Now it switches up, but not really. Sk first ch, sc in second. Sc to 2ch space {sc, ch 2, sc}, sc to end. NOW. Chain 3. Turn. 18. Sc in second and third ch from hook. sc to chain space {sc, ch 2, sc}, sc to end. Ch. 3. 19. NOW it switches up. Sc in second and third ch, sc across. You hear me? Single crochet across! Skip that chain space entirely this time 'round! 20-22. In 20, you add the ch space in... um. shoot. This is why people keep track of stitches. Add the ch space above where it was in 18. IDK, you got this. ch 3, turn. 23. Hey, just skip that ch space again, okay. Don't argue (you can argue, change the pattern, idgaf). Ch 3, turn. 24. sc in second and third ch from hook, sc 31, ch 2 without skipping, sc 32. Ch 3, turn. 25-27. Same as 20-22. 28. Do that thing where you omit the ch space. Or don't. I'm not your mother. 29-30. Same as 20-22 and 25-27. 31. This is ittttttttt! Single crochet until that 2 chain space where I need you to use that one stitch in the key you forgot about? The sc2tog? Keep sc'ing to the end and fasten the fuck off, you did it.

Now you just have to do that two more times and probably in different colors. Maybe if you're fancy you could do stripes. Row 31 should have 92 stitches, but, like I said in Row 13, as long as it's Shaped, you're honestly good. As longs as the Shapes are Basically The Same, you are grooving.

Sew them up. I slip stitched them together because I'm more comfortable with a hook than a needle (and I think it looks nice). Don’t forget to affix something that jingle jangles. 🃏

[lovethesagefan]

FOR THE CHILDREN!!!

I think I, and so many teachers, put up with all the crap from the bureaucrats and the low pay is for only one reason...the children. Teachers love what they do so much that they are wiling to be denigrated by society when athletes, and many of them do deserved it, get a boatload of money and are celebrated for their skills. Yet, teachers do the hard work day in and day out of trying educate the masses.

Today in my journey, the one thing on my mind was...the children. I soften my anger with the school because of the children. They are doing something that is old. They are putting glue on their hands to only peel it off. I told them that is so 1970s. I actually did that in 5th grade at Park Street Elementary School! For whatever reason, putting these pimple medication "stars" on their face. I thought they were regular stars I would put on students' paper. If you look at the picture, one student gave me a "star" to put on my face. I wore that star on my nose all day. I think I am on the downhill slide of being accepted by the children.

I have forgotten how dramatic 7th graders can be. It is days like to day makes me wish that I was in a classroom filled with high schoolers. They engaged in a lot of back and forth nonsense. I had a child who was just talking out during the lesson which was going over the code of conduct. I had to have a conversation about his behavior. Then a child who has given me the most trouble came to me....ME because she didn't like one of her teachers. Child, you don't even like me! She had a change of heart because after our row, I told her the next day we would start out fresh. You see, as a person of faith, I believe in 2nd chances. My problem is I may give too many chances for change. And now that I am where I am supposed to be, she is better. Maybe it's because I am not the main teacher. Anyway, she not as abrasive as she was when I was teaching ELA.

My work with the children has expanded to children who I do not come in contact on a regular basis. I saw a child sitting outside the classroom. A child needs to be in the classroom. There had been some type of altercation with teacher and he got put out. Now I could and should have ignored him because it wasn't my business, but I spoke to him. I found out the reason. Part of the problem was the teacher was calling him by his last name! Lord! Help me!! So I spoke with him. Then I had him to follow me to the office while we talk. By the time we got back, he realized that he should apologize and that being called by his last name isn't that disrespectful. I told him when I started teaching 7th grade I called all my student by their last name with Mr. or Ms. in front. The teacher wouldn't let him back in which bothers me, but I can't do adults, though I have been in that situation. LOL! So the students came into my class and sat at my desk. When the day ended, we went to speak to the teacher and he apologized. He promised to start fresh on Monday. I hope the teacher will do the same.

When I get some money I am supposed to go out to find a medium upper hoodie for a student who says he does have one. I am supposed to be trying to get something for some other student. I can't remember. The need is so great. It always has been.

This last story is last because it is so sad. We were going over the Student handbook and we were discussing gangs. Without being prompt, this young man asked to be recognized and he stood up in front of the class and made an impassionate plea for his classmates to not join gangs. He kept repeating his message. He talked about rappers and their "gang" signs. "Don't do it!, he said. I was almost in tears. This young man has seen some stuff. I could tell. I wanted to give him a hug. This is why teachers deserve NBA or NFL pay. We are tasked with not only teaching ABCs, Algebra, good health, writing paragraphs, what the insides of a frog look like, or even what is the capital of Alberta. We are tasked with molding and shaping a new generation. We can't solve all their problems. We can't solve even half of them.

Teachers are burning out faster than a raging forest fire in July in California. Some of the teachers who are coming into the profession are not the best because the best are choosing other paths. The ones who are coming in are not staying. Technology is here to stay but we are losing that "personal" touch.

I can be made at coworkers, but I can't be mad, for an extended time, at students. We are living at a time where you would think children are living lives that are great, but that isn't true. Homelessness and hunger are rampant. School is the only place they can get two free meals 5 days week. School is the only place where hopefully they feel safe. School is the only place where they can see Mr. Norah put a star on his nose. Why? The answer is...FOR THE CHILDREN!

[mionemymind]

And there goes Season 2 hopefully this won’t be as long as the last one.

Have to say Carlos is my number one right now and I definitely don’t see that changing. Come on, him celebrating he’s first podium appearance in F1 was so cute. Just seating and waiting all awkward like, then getting to celebrate with he’s whole team was just great feels all around. Totally loved it.

Felt really sad for Hamilton about that though. But wow ur right he’s the GOAT, like how was he sick and not feeling well but still did better than 2 of the best drivers. Learning Mercedes’ team history and about Niki was really enjoyable, showing how important u can be to a team even when ur gone was very touching.

I have very much changed my whole stance on Verstappen I absolutely adore him, he’s drive to be the best is so fun to watch. Watching Ferrari literally beefing with each other was hard to watch. And though I love Max, I cannot seem to find Red Bull at all likable I don’t know why. Maybe it was how they went about the situation with Gasly. I really like him and that felt a little cruel. Like I get it if u can swim don’t jump in, but he did get he’s when he got 2nd in that last race. He also won for Anthoine, which was an incredibly heartbreaking moment. Just so utterly tragic.

This is just my opinion here but it feels like Daniel leaving Red Bull might have been one of his worst decisions for his career. I get he wanted a new start but I don’t think it was a good choice but that’s just my opinion.

Over all this season had some really amazing and fun things to watching. And some sad and emotional stuff too. Here comes season 3

PS Are u sure it’s okay for me to recap every season and give my thoughts. I feel like these may be to long and I don’t want to pressure u into thinking that u have to respond cause really u don’t have to.

-S

S, you literally sent me a thing about season 1 yesterday, how did you finish so quickly?!

Also Sainz in McClaren was one of my favorite eras. Like Carlos and Lando are one of my favorite pairings currently. Their friendship means a lot!

And while I love Verstappen, Hamilton in his prime was the goat. While I can still see Verstappen getting to that level, it's going to be a while to reach that much success.

But I'm glad you came around with Max. I stay trying to defend him. But there's this quote that Toto Wolff says about "that they are little traumatized kids, that they were left in a go kart in the rain to kind of, to drive around, fearful, and so you have to manage and cope with a lot of psyche" and I think about that a lot

And Redbull is very cut throat. Like they do not care for a sob story, they will fire you if you don't perform and that's what kind of sucks because it creates such a toxic environment but that's unfortunately F1 culture.

And I agree with you S! Ricciardo leaving was the worst thing he did. And to spoil it, I don't think he's gotten better ever since.

And I'm MORE than fine with you sending an essay to me. Don't over think it. Send me paragraphs on paragraphs and I promise I'll read it all. Plus it's what I asked for so I'm glad you're delivering it.

Can't wait to see what you think about season 3. Here's another Carlos gif!

(Gif Credit to @smithrowed)

[gracefulweather]

Happy 2-year friend-versary to my fave, Sherrie! 🩷🩵💙💜 Even though our messages have evolved from live chats everyday to paragraph messages every few days, I’m always grateful to have you as my bestie from 10,000 miles away! I can confirm that the Canadian trip from 2022 is still very much my personality! 😂😂😂 And I still get oddly excited when I see things related to Canada (or more specifically, Toronto and Montreal) because they all just remind me of you!

It’s been so great to see you grow in the last year as well! It makes me so happy to see you do well and be living life well (those holidays and concerts!). 🥺🥺🥺 Wishing you always the best of luck in everything that you do!

Although you barely hear me complain about That Project ™️ anymore, you have now graduated to hearing me complain about That Flaky Project Manager ™️ so thank you for always putting up with my work stories! 🤣 I hope my work stories continue to be a source of entertainment to you and perhaps they’ll also be writing inspo for you! 🫠🫠🫠 I will also always think it’s funny that now you know so much about me that you even know the people around me despite having never met them yet! (And to be perfectly honest, some of my in real life friends also know you as The Canadian Friend ™️! 😂😂😂)

Every year, I’ll wish that we’ll meet up again in real life soon and this year is no different! 💖💖💖

Also even though we have less time (?) to be as delulu as before (?????), I have still found screenshots to summarise our 2nd year of friendship! 🥺🥺🥺

HAPPY 2ND FRIENDVERSARYYYY NATTTT!!!! 🥰💖💞💝❣️💓 i know i'm SO late to answer this (sorry!!) buuut guess that also reflects the way our lives have changed since we first started talking 🥹 i miss our 8 hour daily chats, being endlessly delulu together, and ofc making up the funniest scenarios to fuel that delusion (did you know???? that mingyu was gonna visit the cn tower on the same day as us??? and then fall in love ofc!!)

it's been great to see you grow over the years too and i'm definitely honoured to be your character development friend!! i love hearing your work stories from analyzing all of That Manager's behaviours to gossiping about how Flaky Manager might've met his gf, and everything in between! it's also been great to live vicariously through your concert reviews and fun moments with besties, so even though we're at the opposite ends of the world, it's so comforting to know that i have such a close bestie <3

and ofc your canada trip can still be your personality!! meeting up was such a once in a lifetime thing that i'll never thought get over it either bc who knew it'd happen? and even after it did, it still feels surreal??? (just like the entire face the sun album and be the sun tour did? yeah that). truly the stars aligned for that and i'll forever be grateful to have such an amazing experience!!

now just waiting for the day i get to do my dream trip to australia and visit you!!! 🤞 and of course let me dig through my screenshots folder for some material that we can laugh about again!! they're different from last year's although my humour is still very much the same bc i did initially pick out some screenshots that i realize i already sent last year then had to change them up HAHA. it's ok i have a massive folder so here are some more but unfortunately they're all old!! which means we definitely need another live texting delulu session sometime soooon <3

throwback to your ex-fav meme 🥰 HAHAH

[ajoytobeheld]

(untitled)

May 2nd, 2011

paragraph i

And so the album’s recording is finished, and we find ourselves back in the UK, for the most part. Neil and Tom have stayed on in Figueres and Barcelona for a couple of days to see the sights and cleanse their minds, but the rest of us flew back from Girona, to Bristol airport this morning. A simple, successful journey, marred only by the ever dependable RyanAir charging us an extra 35 Euros for carriage of Harriet’s violin.

paragraph ii

It’s a weird thing, completing an album. I’m now back in sunny (no really, sunnier than Spain) Midsomer Norton, and led on my bed, listening to rough mixes of our new songs and trying to decide which novel to start reading next. A month ago I was in this same spot, having written barely a single lyric and feeling like the world was going to end. I find writing a very therapeutic thing. I’ve always left writing lyrics until the last minute. If I ever sit down and attempt to write a song when I don’t ‘have to’, I feel incredibly pretentious and aware of myself. I want the urge/necessity to write to control me, rather than me attempting to control it.

paragraph iii

It’s fair to say we are all proud and excited with the results of our last month’s endeavours.  I can honestly say the band has never been as close knit and united as we are right now, and I have never enjoyed my band mates’ company (and John Goodmanson of course) as much as this. I think this, our fourth  album, is going to display the confidence we now have, and we’re pretty much willing to take on the world.

paragraph iv

It’s an appropriate time to thank Turnstile Music and Wichita Recordings for the support they continue to show us. I think there is a misjudgment amongst a lot of music fans, perhaps a lot of you reading this, that indie label = good, major label = bad. But it’s a lot less black and white than that. These are not good labels because they’re independent, but because they are good people. Good people with integrity and who appreciate their acts, as musicians, and as friends. We go into the studio knowing they have the faith in our ability and creative vision to create something special. I’ve friends signed to indie labels who don’t have that. Who’ve been sent back to the studio to try something different, or been told their work’s not up to scratch. That’s no way to create any sort of art, and knowing that Turnstile and Wichita, Alun and Mark, are always going to be on our side, makes us a better band than we would be otherwise.

paragraph v

Inevitably, questions now start to be asked re: album release date/details/title/artwork, etc. All I can say on this is “please be patient”. We’ve still to mix the record, master it, do artwork, decide on final tracklisting (we’ve recorded more songs than we think we need). I assure you the record will be with you this year though. In the meantime, we knuckle down with Heat Rash #2.  We’ve already got some great stuff sorted for it.

paragraph vi

And me, well, I feel a bit empty now I’ve got all this stuff off of my chest and onto record. I’m gonna be waiting for the u21 Championships and Copa America. I’m gonna read a million books, save some money, start rewatching the Office US from the start, kiss some girls, try to start a club night in Bath and become a tumblr sensation.

paragraph vii

I am so proud to be in a band with Tom, Neil, Ellen, Rob, Jason, Harriet and Kim. I feel ten times stronger when I’m with them. This is our best album so far, on every level. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

fin

G

[fantastickkay]

Album Review of the Week: Paramore - This Is Why (2023) ☆☆☆☆

Paramore's long awaited return (after their 2017 album, After Laughter) has finally arrived, once again they have made an existential crisis sound like fun! They promised a return to their punk pop roots, and I do believe they delivered.

The album opens with This Is Why. The chorus is strangely addicting but I cannot help but feel as though Hayley's vocals are far too reminiscent of her recent solo debut. Personally, I prefer the live version - at least how it was performed on Jimmy Fallon's late night show. Even with that, it was a very strong lead single and made for a great appetizer for what was to come!

The News served as the second single, as well as the second track. It has the same aggressively cacophonic chorus, but the verses are punched up a bit compared to the previous track. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this song, I know I can, of the need to know but the desire to live a peaceful life. Those 2 things don't exactly go together when you're talking about keeping up with the news!

Running Out of Time is the star of the show and golden child for me. The first time I heard it, I was almost surprised and had a handful of thoughts and feelings. It was so odd to hear her voice so soft, especially on a Paramore track. Then, when I heard her voice again as the background, it also felt a little weird as usually the guys are at least doing background vocals. The music video made it all make sense and click for me, and now it's one of my favorite singles of the year! I absolutely love the vocals all throughout and I, indeed, do always feel as though I am running out of time.

C’est Comme Ça is another really really interesting track. Verses are spoken word, and very cheeky, while the chorus is extremely striking with crazy yet fun-to-imitate vocals. It almost leaves me speechless, making for quite a short paragraph!

Big Man, Little Dignity is a nice song, but to be honest it is definitely one of the more boring tracks in my opinion. I like it, but there isn't a whole lot to say.

Then, we punch it back up again with You First. This is my favorite non-single track. It has a thoughtful message, which again plays into my own thoughts and worries, with another interesting melodic delivery. It's also probably the first real punk/pop song (I'm not an expert at genres, don't come for me) on the album which is great.

Figure 8 is also really good, but it is very similar to the previous track so it doesn't stand out to me as much.

Liar reminds me a lot of Lana Del Rey, it is slow and has a hauntingly beautiful vocal delivery. I definitely look forward to having this on my autumn playlists.

Crave is another one with a personally relatable message about wanting to be in the moment so bad you tend to miss it sometimes. Looking forward to the memory instead of savoring the fact that it is happening right now! Love the vocal delivery in the chorus.

Thick Skull is a little slow for my taste, it is a little reminiscent of Weezer somehow. I may be relating it to Say It Ain't So. It is interesting that Thick Skull is the first song they wrote for the album and This Is Why is the last, when they are reversed on the album order. (This is from the video uploaded to accompany the album upon release to Spotify)

Overall, this is a really great album and while it comes in a little short at 10 tracks, it makes good use of the time and space it does occupy. P.S., I'll be seeing them on August 2nd, so very excited for that!