#Big Video Machine reviews

[inf3ct3dd]

ellie headcanons pt.5!!!

warnings: nada

content: loser!ellie x reader headcanons

authors note : ellie dug a hole into my skull and moved in

⁃ against bags for no reason. like her pockets are constantly full of things. random receipts, money, headphones, EVERYTHING. she takes her pants of and they jingle cuz they're filled with COINS.

⁃ knows how to do a back bridge and just HAS to let everyone know. you're watching tv and she's just on the floor like "look"

⁃ i feel like shes the type of person to just start fully eating an orange in the middle of class. like ur listening to the teacher talk and you're just hit by the most aggressive wave of CITRUS from behind you

⁃ constantly fighting the air... like she's just in the kitchen punching and kicking at NOTHING just because. she's always coming up to you and like take punching you and doing her own sound effects like “PWAH PWAH WAM WAPOW"

⁃ jar hoarder 😞😞 every time you buy anything that comes in a jar she's keeping it. literally won't let you throw them away!!! you guys don't even have cups anymore, its just jars and mugs.

⁃ speaking of mugs, ellie has just as many stupid mugs as she does stupid tshirts. absolutely has a lot of garfield mugs be she LOVES GARFEILD

- would buy a dry-erase board for your fridge and leave u little notes and drawings

⁃ "Every single time I see you, I become horny like a triceratops" with a little drawing of a triceratops"

⁃ breaks into incoherent ramblings when shes sleepy... like insane hypotheticals

"what if our bed just completely exploded right now"

⁃ whenever ur on facetime and it gets quiet she just breaks out into song. not even like good, trying singing but BAD SINGING.

⁃ she does that whenever it's quiet !!!

⁃ is listening to music CONSTANTLY. her headphones are actually attached to her ears like all DAY she's listening to something.

⁃ HATES THE BIG LIGHT (iykyk) she lives for low/ natural lighting definitely has so many lamps and led lights

⁃ can never sit normal.... like she is not beating the gay ppl sitting weird allegations she sits so ODD

⁃ will spend literal hours in the pool. doing flips, pretending to be a mermaid, 'making up' her own tricks, she lives for it & !!!

⁃ refuses to dress right for the weather. it'll be like 90° outside and shes in a whole hoodie and jeans.

⁃ has the WEIRDEST subway order. probably puts banana peppers on her shit 😭😭 she swears its the best thing ever

⁃ love's campy comedy movies, esp lesbian ones and horror movies (but im a cheerleader, bottoms, scary movie, etc) also def loves coming of age movies

⁃ has a letterbox account and makes extremely thought provoking reviews

literally her

⁃ always taking candids of you, and they're literally her favorite pictures

⁃ every time she sees two things next to eachother she's like "oh my god it's literally us!!"

⁃ one time she crashed her car and it literally fully flipped over and she just crawled out of the trunk and called you like "you would NOT believe what just happened to me."

- absolutely a waffles girl she needs the texture she likes the CRUNCH

⁃ but like she also loves bacon pancakes. like she's obsessed w adventure time and she makes bacon pancakes ALL THE TIME and she sings the song while she makes them

- eats trail mix like all day....she buys the giant jars and you make fun of her cuz she "likes eating nuts"

⁃ the most secret swifty ever. like she refuses to let it be known but she fully sobbed when she listened to folklore for the first time

⁃ obsessed w those baby sensory videos. like she will literally be entertained for hours

⁃ LOVES the lego movies, esp lego batman

⁃ the MOST honest shit talker ever like you'll be like "yeah she's just a really bad person" and she'd be like "she's also like disgustingly hideous...

⁃ her search history isn’t even weird or gross its just…random. like she’s definitely googled “how do cotton candy machines work” before

⁃ family guy enjoyer.....

⁃ her cf story is like insanely long n its filled w random memes she reposts and insane ramblings

taglist!!!! if ur name is crossed i can't tag u :((

@syrenada @dinaissoprettyoml, @kingofmylastkiss @as2rid @greencacty @melissabarrerass @bratydoll @lov3lylotus @forelliesposts @echostinn @f3r4Ifr0gg3r @r3wbeef @leatheredhearts @mousymaven @mina-281@princessguardian444 @calystas-morning-tea @horror-whoree @slutshies @bearieio @mag-mfm @bubs-world @paran0id0blivi0n @sawaagyapong @bbygrIshelbs @gayh0rr0r @p|9ys @ellieslilsIvvt @dollietes @elliesmellsbadd @ibloom4u @ddreabea @beestar120 @brunettedolls-blog @girlwonderchloe @elliesgflol @maris-koffin @emonopolyman @iloveeyousblog @fr3sh-tragedies @ilovaffles @certifedcrybunny @elleatethat @baldph0bic @clouded-whispers @4rt3m1ss @saggykneecaps @swtsuna @ellesslutt @minixmel @yuyans-stuff @owmoiralover @thecowardwrites @lunascerebro @elliestrwbrry @iwantsoda @teeveegirl @dinasmoon @urnewghostfriend @k3ym4ra @bratzboydoll @ungodlyvenus @lav3nd3rhaze @scokslvoer @iloveunrealpeople @realwinehouse @nehemiahlicious @onedeaddreamer @teawithnosugar @r4t1ku5 @villainousbear @mentallymarriedtonatasharomanoff @gay4tiddies @uraesthete @lil-elliesgf @neighborhood-houseplant @sagessensationalstuff

[no-where-new-hero]

omg I need your thoughts on the terminally o line author culture bc ngl it makes my eye TWITCH, there are authors I deliberately avoid even tho I've heard their stuff is good bc they're like that 🙈

HHHHH oh good lord, okay, from how I see it, there are two angles on this, both aggravating and sad: the official decree one and the spontaneous ecosystem one.

The officious one is that the nature of publishing nowadays demands an author have an online presence. You need Twitter/X. You need to let every potential reader know your book is coming out. You need engagement through reviews and pre-orders incentives (if you buy now you’ll get a special keychain!!) and word of mouth assurances from your peers that yes your book is as cool as you say it is. You need a newsletter with links (more buying! more voting on lists that are simply popularity contests!) and promises you’re still working on the next thing, don’t forget about me in the morass of everyone else doing the same thing. You need an Instagram and TikTok now to post pretty pictures and videos because one or two authors made it big off this kind of promotion and now everyone thinks it’s the ticket to the bestseller list (sadly, it seems to be working). You need an OnlyFans (a joke but I do recall a twt spat that was a joke/not joke about how rupi kaur will always be more beautiful than her critics and people who took issue with the conflation of beauty with talent). At the end of all this, you’re basically an influencer, a content creator creating content for the content you should be focusing on creating, the finished novel. And the novel itself seems to be disappearing behind the masks used to promote it (fanfic-style tropes, moodboards, playlists, memes) until I now no longer trust the book that I’ll pick up to have any resemblance to the enticements that brought me here. I’ve seen an author or two complain about the stress all this self-promotion generates, but it’s become such an entrenched part of the industry, I think people just accept it. And thus spend too much time online hoping that if they tweet just a little more, produce just one more reel, maybe that’ll be the difference between a sale and no sale.

The other side of this, distinct but obviously connected, is the ecosystem created by this panic of being perpetually visible coupled with the fact that so many of the new authors came of age during the rise of internet fandom culture. That opinionated community mindset that blurs the line between anonymity and friendship is the lens they bring to their own work. I mean, it makes sense I suppose—if you love yelling about characters and words, why wouldn’t you do that once you start to produce your own? This really came home to me hearing about that reviewbombgate “scandal” and how people involved were in reylo circles and that was used to provide receipts. You’re interacting with your readers and peers about your intimate work but they are also all strangers. They will not always give you the benefit of the doubt, and now—as opposed to the past when maybe the worst that could happen was a handful of bad reviews in newspapers—you will either be tagged in hate reviews, sub-tweeted, explicitly called out, demanded to atone for your sins. It’s no longer the morality of consumption but the morality of production. Of course, the easy answer is just log-off, touch some grass. But that can work only when you and everyone else are separated by anonymous accounts or when you have no platform to maintain. As an author trying to make your livelihood from this, suddenly it’s do or die. We’re in a strange moment of authorship bringing the Internet’s echo-chamber and claustrophobic into the real world (this is a lie: publishing now is no longer the real world. But it looks like it) and thus you can kind of no longer escape things.

Will the average reader who isn’t aware of all these machinations care about reviewbombgate? Would a reader browsing at Target think about the controversies around Lightlark? Very likely not. But the impression I’m getting more and more is that the average reader isn’t the one buying all the books. Or shall we say—a bestseller’s status relies on bookstore stock. Bookstore stock is only huge when they know a book will be a good investment. They’ll only know a book is a good investment if it and its author has street cred based on booktokkers, bookstagram, bloggers and reviewers (have you noticed how many books out these last maybe 1-3 years have these kinds of accounts thanked in the acknowledgments? Yeah), and THESE are also chronically online people who will Know. And decide the cast of fate.

Honestly, @batrachised, I see why you avoid these kinds of writers, though I wonder how long it’ll be before the disease becomes epidemic.

[bogkeep]

[now entering: the OPINION ZONE]

the way i feel about Booktok(tm), as a phenomenon, or maybe more as a weird miasma that is seeping through every bookstore i enter, is that we don't see eye to eye. i'm sure it's got a lot more variation and diversity than whatever weird takes bubble up to the surface for my tiktok-less self to stumble upon - mostly i just feel like my motivation for reading books is different than theirs. there is the occasional overlap in the Books I Enjoy / Big On Booktok venn diagram (which makes me feel very weird about those books but that's for me to sort out), but i cannot personally Trust a booktok recommendation, if that makes sense. either way, it's none of my business what other people like to read, and i think me and booktok can peacefully coexist in each our own spheres. (if all of this is completely incomprehensible to you i salute you and envy your peace of mind.)

anyway, a very fascinating discussion that keeps showing up recently is the phenomenon where popular booktok influencers admit to skipping paragraphs that are too long, or only reading the dialogue of a book, or performing shock at a printed book containing Too Many Words Per Page. what fascinates me is not so much that it is happening (though it DOES fascinate me), but how much people reacting to this struggle to explain exactly Why it's so aggravating.

like, i feel like the obvious takeaway is that these people are monetizing their alleged joy of reading, and then... don't? even like to read? that the consumerist aesthetic of Being A Reader is more profitable on a video platform than doing the due diligence of reviewing books properly? that the content machine marches on and if you're too slow you'll fall behind??

INSTEAD the discussion seems to center around the good old "oohh nooo people read BAD BOOKS instead of GOOD BOOKS and IT'S IMPORTANT TO CHALLENGE YOUR BRAINNN or else the MEDIA LITERACY....." and i'm sorry but i think this has been a moral panic for as long as we've had literature. media literacy has never had a golden age that i'm aware of. there's always been trashy romances that authors pump out on the monthly for easy consumption. capitalism is gonna value profit over quality for as long as it's in charge. people who read for fun are gonna read what they're gonna read, and they're gonna read it in the way they enjoy reading. i agree that reading Good Books is deeply fulfilling! but that is my personal and subjective experience that not everyone is going to share.

i think the reason i feel weird about the insistence that you Must, at least occasionally, Challenge Yourself while reading is that... i'm exhausted in my brain. too exhausted to challenge myself for fun. maybe it's a burnout thing. i really really get looking at a paragraph and finding it simply too much to absorb right now. my main method of getting through books these days is in audio format, even if i would personally prefer to read them visually (they'd stick to my brain better, i would see how names are spelled, sudden POV switches between paragraphs would be less confusing). but reading a book in text form is taking me weeks at best - unless it's a special kind of book that i can't help but devour immediately, sleep schedule be damned (which is another toll to pay). some books are just too complex and need too much focus for me to enjoy right now, so i keep having to goldilock my way to what feels Just Right. some books, i'm sure i'll get back to later. some i've made my peace with never picking up despite the fact that they feel Obligatory (my apologies to lord of the rings. i've Tried and i just can't do it). so like i GET IT. sometimes reading is too much.

what i Wish the discussion was more about, was instead finding ways to read that's enjoyable for you. there is literature and screen plays that are Only Dialogue. there's graphic novels. there's audiobooks and e-readers that let you change the font sizes. there's lots and lots and lots of fanfiction that's literally just banter and smut. there's no shame in reading what you enjoy! there's no shame in spending months on the same book! but i suppose it's not as ~Aesthetic~ as purchasing 10 editions of the same book series on amazon dot hell!!!!

[missredherring]

Develop

Joel Miller x Female Reader

Rating: R

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: one-sided feelings. unspecified age gap. stalker behavior. a dash of voyeurism? female masturbation.

Summary: Your fingers freeze on the mouse when you get to the last pictures of the final roll of film. You scroll through, eyes straining to understand what the thumbnail is showing you. 

It looks like Joel had an adult sleepover of his own.

A/N: This came from @psychedelic-ink and the idea that Joel has a collection of dirty pictures. Thank you @johnwatsn to the moon and back for being an amazing beta.

A little thrill zips through you when you see the name on the blue and white striped envelope on the counter. You crane your neck to see if he’s still in the store, but you only see a pair of broad shoulders and curly hair walking out the door.

There, filling out the request form printed on the front of the envelope in neat and legible handwriting, is his name, contact information, and print order.

Joel Miller.

The envelope is slightly larger than a 5x7" print so it can fit the two offered print sizes and negatives easily. It can begrudgingly fit an entire disposable camera, maybe two with seams near bursting, but not the four that Joel had left in a line under the envelope. You smile at his thoughtfulness. Other customers toss them on the counter without a care, but his are lined up neatly with the envelope resting on top. Had he looked around for a rubber band to keep them together? You’re disappointed at the missed opportunity for small talk, but there’s always a chance you’ll be working when he picks his order up. 

You get to work, cracking open the plastic case of the disposable cameras like crab shells. Four rolls of film go into the processor, unspooling and revealing their secrets. Usually he brings in one or two every couple of weeks. They’re filled with things like his daughter’s soccer games, family cookouts with who you think is his brother: they have the same eyes and nose. Sometimes they’re pictures from jobs he does. You don’t know anything about construction, but you think he’s good at what he does. The lines are clean and the structures look solid.

The machines run through their functions and your computer screen steadily fills with thumbnails of pictures as each negative is scanned. It looks like his daughter had a sleepover. There’s picture after picture of faces too close to the lens. Red eyes and toothy grins take up the frame. An impromptu concert with music video dance moves frozen in time, and peaceful faces peeking out of sleeping bags. It looks like a nice time, making you remember sleepovers of your own, and the fuzzy feeling you usually get when looking over Joel’s pictures warms you almost as much as the heat coming from the machines.

Your fingers freeze on the mouse when you get to the last pictures of the final roll of film. You scroll through, eyes straining to understand what the thumbnail is showing you. 

It looks like Joel had an adult sleepover of his own.

Included in your job description as a photo technician is the duty of reviewing photos that people want prints of and deciding if they were too adult in nature to print. That meant no nudes or anything illegal in nature. Thankfully, it’d never been an issue baring the few rolls of film that showed up after an annual biker rally. 

Objectively, these photos aren’t anymore risqué than a boudoir photoshoot. It’s hard to be objective right now. 

Some of the lines are blurry from the camera being operated with one hand. A woman in lingerie pushing up her chest with her arm, just the hint of a coy look on what you could see of her face. The last two are different. The angle, the perspective, and the photographer has changed. 

The lace of the lingerie teasing the curve of a hip and a hand, big and rough-looking, resting just where the line of fabric gives way to skin. The indent of his fingertips just beginning to show as they press down. 

The woman’s face. Her lips are plump and open like she’s waiting for another kiss. Large glassy eyes don’t look back at you from the lens. Instead they’re looking just off to the side, where he must be. 

A man’s hand. It has to be Joel’s; you recognize the fading bruise on his thumbnail from when he handed over his disposable cameras last time. His hand is cupping her jaw, tilting her face to the side just so. Like he was directing her to the perfect pose for this picture. 

Your mind has turned to static. Before you can form a coherent thought, your finger twitches, increasing the print count for the last photo, and before you can cancel it the order is starting, the printer rumbling to life. 

You know you shouldn’t have done it. It’s an invasion of privacy. It’s against the rules. It’s probably illegal. It’s just not right.

The picture, still hot off the rollers, is shoved into your purse like the contraband it is. 

***

You’re too old to be sneaking things into the apartment like this, but it feels like there’s a giant sign pointing right to your purse that tells everyone what you did. You shove it under your mattress and try to forget about it. You can’t. It feels like hiding a dead body. A tell-tale heart under your mattress that beats along with throbbing in your pussy. 

It’s a slip of paper. Nothing. But as you lay in bed that night you swear you can feel it. It makes you feel silly, like the princess and the pea, but you don’t remove it. You don’t have to.

The tableau is seared into your mind’s eye. Showing the negative image on every blank surface you look at. You can’t stop thinking about it, wanting it.

You want to be the one his hands are on. So you touch yourself to that fantasy, and it’s so strong, the closeup of his hands so detailed, that you’re close to coming in minutes. 

You shouldn’t be doing this, but you don’t care about wrong or right; you just want Joel Miller to fuck you. The thought, blunt and delicious, spurs you on and you come, turning your head to your pillow to muffle the whimper that escapes you.

The endorphins rush through your body, and there's some satisfaction from coming, but the ache, the want, is still there as you clench around your own fingers. 

Crossing your arm over your chest, you cup your own face with a trembling hand in the same way Joel had in the picture. Tracing the curve of your lip, you press down, as if admiring the darkened hue.

Did he turn her head just for the camera? Was her pulse hammering in her ears so loudly that she couldn’t hear the crank of the film advancing or the click of the shutter? Did she smile at him after? Did he call her his good girl? Did he call her his "Baby," “Sweetheart,” or “Darlin'” in that southern drawl? Yea, you like that one.

“Look at me, Darlin’.”

Wind, wind, wind. Click.

You imagine it’s his weight on the mattress that makes you shift. The way he’d keep himself back, maybe even still wearing his jeans and nothing else. The bulge in those jeans would be evidence enough of his desire, even if you couldn’t see his face, partially covered by the camera. 

You widen your thighs and lift your hips to him; to his touch and to his view. Your hand goes back down to your pussy and you start touching yourself again, opening the swollen lips for him. The cum makes everything slippery and you know you must look a mess. Spread open and on display for a phantom photographer. Would the flash catch it and make it shine?

Would he want a picture of this moment too? A keepsake from a night of passion. When memories and sensation fade, would he take the picture out and remember you fondly? Would he touch himself while he looked at it? Remembering how you felt? The softness of your skin, the taste on your tongue, the heat of your pussy. Would he be careful not to cover the glossy paper with his cum so it wouldn’t stain? Or would he like that so much he’d do it again on purpose. Covering your image in his cum just like he had covered your body that night. He wouldn’t have had enough wits about him to take a picture of that. 

Your entire body tightens up as you continue to press against your clit, circling and circling, pushing into overstimulation as one orgasm rolls into another. “Joel.” His name echoes in the room and the climax feels better this time.

You go back and forth on whether you want to be the one to hand him his completed order before you fall asleep. 

[queer-ragnelle]

Best of Ladies of the Lake

Seeking recommendations for media featuring the Ladies of the Lake?

Here’s a curated collection of Retellings, Films, TV shows, and more ordered alphabetically by Lady and oldest to newest. Each recommendation comes with a brief synopsis and review containing mild spoilers.

All PDFs link to my Google drive, videos to MEGA drive, and can be found on my blog. Each passage adopts the unique spelling of character names as used in the media.

🌊 More Best of Masterposts 🌊

Lady of the Lake

Books

The Chessboard Queen by Sharan Newman

Guinevere Evermore by Sharan Newman

Possibly my favorite version of the Lady. Nameless despite all her subjects having names, including Nimuë. She kidnaps Lancelot, then kidnaps a wetnurse & brother for him too. Lancelot is her “toy” & between her & the wetnurse, messes him up beyond recognition, even though the Lady claims to love him. In the third book, she gives Morgan a place to stay & remain eternally youthful. They realize the horror of their actions, the Lady gave Merlin Excalibur/scabbard to give Arthur, Morgan stole scabbard, now their sons Lancelot & Mordred are fighting on opposite sides of a war Arthur can’t win.

Movies

Excalibur (1981)

The Lady appears briefly to issue a repaired Excalibur to Arthur who broke it by using it to chat & wrongfully defeat Lancelot. She wears a beautiful sequins dress & she's so otherworldly with the green lighting & eerie music.

TV Shows

The Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949)

The Lady helps Galahad escape Merlin’s machinations while on his quest to recover Excalibur. She pops up throughout the show to offer guidance & advice.

The Legend of King Arthur (1979)

The Lady appears to bring Arthur across the lake & receive Excalibur. She doesn't speak which makes her very strange & her hair is decorated in cattails. She returns twice, once to bring Merlin to the afterlife & again to receive Excalibur from Bedivere.

Merlin (1998)

Coolest Lady—she wears shimmering white and floats above the lake like a ghost, fish swim around her throat like a necklace & the numbers dwindle as her power weakens throughout the show. She gives Merlin cryptic guidance & causes problems seemingly on purpose.

Nimuë/Ninian

Books

The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle

The Story of the Champions of the Round Table by Howard Pyle

The Story of Sir Launcelot and his Companions by Howard Pyle

The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur by Howard Pyle

Nymue is the head of all the Ladies of the Lake & the one who guides Arthur across the lake to get Excalibur. Ironically she is not the hand that reached out of the water. She later kidnaps baby Launcelot & raises him in the Lake Kingdom. She has a sort of rivalry with Vivien, who curses Gawaine, which Nymue releases him from. After Ettard’s rejection of Pellias, Nymue marries him. Nymue is also the one to lead Galahad to his shield just as she outfitted Launcelot for knighthood before him.

Bedivere: The King's Right Hand by Wayne Wise

Nimué is a little girl rescued by Bedivere from a battle. She can foresee everyone's deaths & freaks them out. She only comes in near at the end but I like that Bedivere is her big bro & Merlin is afraid of her, as he should be. She eventually joins Vivienne & Morgan in Avalon for training as a Lady of the Lake.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

Nimue is an honorary member of the Round Table as a replacement for Merlin. She is present throughout the entire story & uses magic to fight on the battle field along side the knights. She gets her own flashback chapter to explain her backstory & why she sealed Merlin away. Her romance with Collum was cute.

Movies

Merlin and The Sword (1985)

The movie is a frame story which opens with Ninian & Merlin trapped together for eternity in a cave beneath Stonehenge. In Medieval times, Ninian is rescued from evil knights by Pellinore & brought to court because her father is too ill to present her himself. She quickly develops a relationship with Merlin beginning first with divination but progressing to learn his most powerful magic. Morgan imprisons & tortures Ninian’s father to extort her to get Merlin’s most powerful magic, her she accurately binds them both into the cave forever.

TV Shows

Merlin (1998)

My favorite Nimue ever. She was a very unique accent & alluring acting. She first meets Merlin when they’re both teenagers, no questionable age gap. They come together again many years later when she helps him escape Vortigern’s prison. After she is burned & scarred by a dragon, she stays in Avalon with the holy people where Merlin visits her sometimes. They get their happily ever after when they’re old!

Video Games

Sonic and The Black Knight

In this alternate universe, Amy Rose takes on the role of Nimue to give Sonic the sword he’ll need to defeat corrupted King Arthur. She guides him on his quest & at the end, unites her magic with the Knights of the Round Table to help defeat Merlina.

Vivian

Books

The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle

The Story of the Champions of the Round Table by Howard Pyle

The Story of Sir Launcelot and his Companions by Howard Pyle

The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur by Howard Pyle

Vivien is an enchantress taught magic by Morgana le Fay whilst on the Isle of Avalon. Vivien successfully beguiles Merlin & traps him. She returns later to tempt Percival while on Grail Quest & puts a curse on Gawaine.

Bedivere: The King’s Right Hand by Wayne Wise

Vivienne is the old leader of all the Ladies of the Lake in Avalon. I like how powerful & well respected she is throughout the book. Didn't care for the ending at all where she facilitates Morgan/Arthur marriage, but everything before that is solid.

Movies

Sword of Lancelot (1963)

Vivian is a handmaiden that travels with Guinevere from Cameliard to Camelot. She becomes romantic with Mordred & helps him spy on Guinevere & Lancelot while spreading gossip among the ladies.

Lancelot du Lac (1970)

French film adapting the Vulgate. Viviane has raised Lancelot from his infancy & brings him before the King & Queen to be knighted. She also has her handmaiden Saraide from the Vulgate as well. They wear pretty blue gowns except when they bring Lancelot to the surface everyone in the party wears white.

Camelot (1998)

Vivian is the head of the Isle of Avalon where Merlin brought Arthur to be raised. She introduced Morgause to Arthur & they eventually marry. She also helps Lancelot & Guinevere conceal their affair from Meleagrants who caught them together.

TV Shows

Starz Camelot (2011)

Vivian is the first person that Morgan recruits after deciding to employ more women. She is not a true Lady of the Lake here but acts as Morgan’s messenger, handmaiden, & confidant. She has cool face tattoos & a gorgeous wardrobe. It was compelling to see she let Igraine escape against Morgan’s wishes, allowing a glimpse into her conscience.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (March 17-23, 2024)

Mere days to go before a new Godzilla movie... didn't we just do this?

Before we welcome that latest entry, let's look back on one that just commemorated its golden anniversary. With Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla turning 50 on March 21, every member of Toho's Big Five has now hit the half-century mark. The company didn't mark the day itself with much; as has become typical, the celebration of Mechagodzilla (and presumably King Caesar) will be spread throughout the year. I wrote a bit about the magnificent machine, who I consider the best Godzilla antagonist, here. The film itself is one of Teruyoshi Nakano's masterpieces, an onslaught of animated rays and gorgeous explosions. The humans are forgettable, but they keep the pace brisk—and the alien commander Mugal is almost as devilish a villain as Mechagodzilla itself, especially in the English dub. Speaking of that dub, you can watch a video breaking down the entire voice cast here, thanks to the tireless work of the Save All Dubs! group.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #6 finally gets to the good stuff, with Lex Luthor piloting Mechagodzilla and commanding an army of Titans to raze Metropolis while the heroes counter with not one but two giant robots. It doesn't quite measure up to the Godzilla: Rulers of Earth finale, but like that double-sized issue, it required two artists (Christian Duce joined by Tom Derenick) to draw all those characters, and the results are impressive. The story hasn't grown any more complex, but I'm at least interested to see how it all wraps up.

In other Godzilla comic news, a Godziban manga by Sakuju Koizumi has started up, hosted by Telemaga, a tokusatsu-focused Kodansha site. The first installment was pretty short, so I'm guessing these'll be updated weekly. It isn't the first comic version of Godziban, as one called Godziman ran during the 1st Season, but this one's actually illustrated.

Tokyo's Ikebukuro district made Godzilla the honorary chief of police on March 16 to take part in a parade promoting traffic safety. The stunt made international headlines and generated no small amount of angst over Cop Godzilla. I think Gamera would've been better-suited to this campaign myself.

Here's the trailer for Season 2 of Chibi Godzilla Raids Again, revealing Gabara, Gigan, and Titanosaurus's designs. Looks as funny as the first one. Maaya Uchida, who sang the ending songs in SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon, will voice Chibi Minilla. It's gone weirdly neglected by English Godzilla social media accounts, but X user @MakoMattari translated it.

The Music Box Theatre in Chicago has a Godzilla program for the ages scheduled for June 7-13, in honor of his 70th birthday. There's not a weak day on the schedule, but the clear highlight is a 24-hour marathon of the entire Showa series on the 8th, which I don't think has ever been attempted before.

G-Fest has also started announcing guests: Ayako Fujitani (Asagi in the Heisei Gamera trilogy) and Rie Ota (Baragon in GMK), both first-timers. Frankly, they could carry the con themselves if they have to; not sure who I'm more excited to meet!

[smute]

inspired by my tags ⬆️ on this poast:

LAUNDRY STRIPPING

basickly laundry stripping is an old (ish) tiktok trend that for some reason has started appearing on my dashboard recently.

it involves soaking your clean laundry in a bathtub with hot water and a solution of borax, baking soda, and detergent, and the idea is to "deep-clean" your clothes removing detergent, fabric softener residue, body oils that have collected on your clothes over time, and other grime. the viral videos all show tubs full of opaque brownish gray water.

HOWEVER! the implicit (or sometimes explicit) message that "your washing machine isn't actually cleaning your clothes 🙀🙀🙀" or more bluntly, "your clean clothes are actually FILTHY!😵" borders on fear-mongering imo which is the part that really pisses me off. i've seen people blame everything from big detergent to fast fashion, and many people seem to swear by laundry stripping as a necessary practice, so i am here to debunk it. i am the debunker.

now i am become debunker, the debunker of bullshit.

✂️hyperfocus kicked in so the rest is under the cut✂️

TL;DR:

laundry stripping can technically help, but it only addresses a symptom rather than the cause of the problem. generally speaking, it is unnecessary if you wash your laundry correctly.

but many people don't.

so let's review:

I. AVOID UNNECESSARY ADDITIVES

softeners (including dryer sheets) and perfume (those scented pearls of waxy stuff) fuck with the properties of textiles (both natural and synthetic) and they can build up on the fibers. THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY AN ISSUE, in fact, it's what they're designed to do, but over time it can make fabrics feel less fluffy, it stops cotton from absorbing moisture (especially bad for bedding/towels), and it messes with functional fabrics (active wear etc).

if you really really want to use fabric softener, try limiting yourself to shirts and stuff. dont use it for underwear, and definitely dont use it for bedding and towels. also, try using less of it/don't use it for every load.

II. AVOID OVERDOSING

if you use too much laundry detergent, there's a chance that some of it will be left behind on your clothes even after the final rinse cycle. it can also make your clothes feel sticky and irritate your skin. more importantly though, IT WILL BUILD UP IN YOUR MACHINE, which not only damages seals and gaskets and wears out the motor, it also encourages the growth of bacteria and mold.

this is an easy fix though. apart from the fact that washing machines, like all appliances, need to be cleaned regularly, you can easily tell if you're overdosing by looking at and feeling your laundry at the end of a cycle. if there are any suds left or if the fabric feels slippery, put it through another rinse cycle and try using a little less detergent next time.

III. KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT CYCLE AND TEMPERATURE

your washing machine has multiple settings for a reason. DON'T use the same one for everything all the time and DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE HOT WATER SETTING. please please PLEASE wash your towels and bedding at higher temperatures.

okay, so afaik many american washing machines use lower temps because they depend on an external hot water source. according to google, the "hot water" setting on american washers can mean anything over 130°F (55°C), which is the minimum temp i would recommend for bedding and towels. (obviously mind the instructions on the tags, but tbh if a cotton pillowcase or towel can't be washed at hot temps, dont even buy it).

european washers usually have a built-in water heater and allow you to select a specific temperature, including a 95°C (203°F) cycle. USE THAT. i know, i know, every detergent brand has jumped on the climate change marketing bandwagon and tells you to conserve energy because their super duper laundry sauce can remove stains at ice cold temperatures, but that's exactly the problem. as a rule: the higher your water temperature, the less you depend on aggressive additives to clean your laundry. and if you have a washer that can do 95°C/203°F, it's probably a front loader and quite energy efficient to begin with.

like i said, 60°C/140°F is the minimum i would recommend for bedding/towels as well as for washcloths, cleaning rags, dish towels, etc. but do try to make use of the 95°C/203°F cycle occasionally. 60°C/140°F is also good for underwear and things that are actually dirty.

the 40°C/104°F cycle is totally fine for most other things, and if you're washing delicates or things that are just "worn" rather than dirty/sweaty/stained you can definitely do 30°C (86°F). google says this would be the "warm water" setting on american washers (=generally between 90°F/32°C and 110°F/43°C).

and tbh if it's your jam, feel free to do 20°C/68°F (="cold water") for those things. BUT NOT FOR BEDDING AND TOWELS

IV. SO WHAT ABOUT LAUNDRY STRIPPING?

you can do whatever you want forever. if your clothes feel sticky and not clean and you think you may have been overdosing your detergent or if you use a lot of fancy additives because you like mixing colorful things and miss making potions on the playground (no judgement btw) go ahead and try it.

one thing i want to say though is that in 90% of the videos i've seen about laundry stripping, the murky brown water is literally just DYE. 🥴 scorching hot water alone is more than enough to make textiles bleed color.

borax is also an irritant and laundry soaked in such a concoction is not something i would handle with my bare hands (if borax was legal in germany lol). hell, most detergents can irritate your skin, so if you decide to strip your laundry with this method, please use gloves.

V. A BETTER ALTERNATIVE

this is based on personal experience btw, im not just talking out of my ass. if you've been using a lot of additives and your clothes don't feel clean or smell weird even when they're freshly washed, try the following troubleshooting steps:

CLEAN YOUR WASHING MACHINE

DO NOT USE BLEACH AND VINEGAR! oddly enough, this seems to be the number one recommendation on many websites, but mixing bleach and vinegar creates POISONOUS CHLORINE GAS! 😐 both things can also potentially damage rubber seals/gaskets. instead, try the following:

start by manually cleaning the parts of your washing machine that are accessible from the outside. remove the detergent drawer/dispenser compartment, take it apart, and clean it with warm water. use a bit of dish soap and a sponge or an old tooth brush to get rid of stuck-on gunk.

wipe down the rubber gasket around the lid/door. this is just to remove any gunk or lint stuck in there so water should be enough, but you can use a bit of dish soap if you like

find the filter on your machine, take it out, clean it with a paper towel, and rinse it off

finally, run an empty cycle at the highest temp but add one or two tablespoons of natron/baking soda instead of laundry detergent

repeat as needed

REMOVE FABRIC SOFTENER RESIDUE FROM YOUR CLOTHES

tbh i hesitate to call it "residue" because coating the fibers of your clothes is literally the whole point of fabric softeners, but that's exactly why they can be problematic.

most fabric softeners are hydrophobic, so water alone won't do anything. instead, try soaking your clothes in lukewarm water with dish soap, which also works great for removing fabric softener stains, or simply put them through a cycle with dish soap instead of detergent. (please don't use too much though because it can produce a lot of foam🫧)

AVOID COMMON MISTAKES

try to remember the basic tips from above going forward:

avoid unnecessary additives (fabric softener, dryer sheets [the same thing basically], and laundry perfume)

less is more. don't use too much detergent. pods are gimmicky and fun and very convenient, but they don't give you much control over the amount. for liquid detergent and washing powder, stick to the instructions. also, detergent pods are a major source of microplastics.

choose the right cycle and water temperature.

VI. SECRET BONUS TIPS

not directly related to laundry stripping but useful to keep in mind:

don't overstuff your washing machine, and if you do half a load/a smaller load, adjust the amount of detergent accordingly.

if you use a tumble dryer, CLEAN THE FILTER AND LINT TRAP AFTER EVERY SINGLE LOAD FOR GOD'S SAKE. not only is it kind of desgostang to let all that hair and lint accumulate, it's also a fire risk 🔥 additionally, clean the internal filter as well as the vent hose regularly, and check for lint in the less accessible areas and behind/underneath the dryer.

don't leave zippers unzipped, but DO leave buttons unbuttoned.

this one is hard, i know, but try not to leave wet laundry in the machine for hours and hours. set a timer. not only will your clothes be wrinkly, they will also develop a funny smell very (and i mean very) quickly. if a load has been in there overnight, it probably needs to be washed again.

additionally, leave the lid/door open after a cycle to allow moisture to escape and to prevent mildew in your washing machine

finally, and i know this is gonna be controversial, but SORT YOUR LAUNDRY! 😭 it's the one necessary step that allows you to use the appropriate cycle/water temperature for different loads. color bleeding is not the only concern here, and you absolutely do not have to wash all colors separately, but separating whites from darks WILL preserve their color without the need for bleaching/lightening agents. general rule: separate whites from darks and bright colors. separate delicate fabrics from heavy denim. group things by cycle/temp. combine things like bedding and towels, or underwear and sweaty/stained clothes, and group semi-clean stuff that only needs a cold wash. i swear it's not as complicated as it sounds.

ok rant over 💕

sources: personal experience, my mom, research and critical thinking skills

[imanes]

good evening Imane, different anon but I wanted to ask if there is a specific brand of matcha/hojicha you like? I actually like hojicha more so any insight into what brand and how to best brew it would be very much appreciated. perhaps even your preferred way to make the cold foam/cream top? I know these things can be googled but I remember you would share recipes or cooking tips in passing a few years ago and I always found your approach to food and drink so helpful

good morning! i always love talking about food and drinks so thank u for not googling it hahaha. i placed my last order of matcha (and first of hojicha) at iro matcha, but I think it's a belgian brand, so I don't know how accessible it would be for you! the most important part is that the hojicha is powdered, because you can also find it in loose leaf form and it wouldn't give you the same taste/consistency. i always look at online reviews and i prefer to order from websites that also offer ceremonial matcha powder.

in terms of how to brew it, i only ever make lattes with it and i do it in the same way as my matcha: around 3g of hojicha powder (using the traditional bamboo spoon) in a bowl, a bit of hot water at 75 to 80°C, whisk it (with a bamboo whisk), pour it in a cup and add foamed oat milk to finish it off. sometimes I'll add a little bit of honey after I'm done whisking it with the hot water because it tastes really good when it's sweet <3 i don't know if it's the best way to do it but it gives me the same result as what i order at cafés!

for a cold foam, i use a french press (tutorial here). i know some people use heavy cream and a mini electric whisk but with the french press you can use any type of milk you want, the process will add enough air to foam it. you can also add a little bit of vanilla bean extract or pumpkin puree to make dupes of the special foams you find at cafés. and then for a hot foam i just use the spout on my coffee machine! i actually want to change my coffee machine because a barista told me that the best spouts have three little holes to make very fine foam whereas mine is just one big hot air spout so i can never make latte art :( anyway that was a tangent but i'd love to be a barista fr

finally omg thank you for putting up with me for so many years akjlfkgj it's true that it has been a while since i shared my cooking/baking/drinking. i had a little food trauma episode over a year ago but i got over it now. I'll go back to sharing more <3 might try video form as well for fun drinks

[tsunflowers]

review corner nonfiction edition

I learned a lot about the nesting habits of sea turtles from christine figgener's "my life with sea turtles." that's bc it's hard to study anything else about sea turtle lifestyles since they're out in the ocean the rest of the time. ms figgener is arguably the person who started the plastic straw panic of the past ten years by posting a video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up its nose. she's been working with sea turtles in Costa Rica for most of her professional life so she has a lot to say about them but also a little about the outdated colonial thought that pervades the conservation world and the poor treatment of women in science. if you have any interest in sea turtles check it out. my two semi-joking complaints are that her combination of science and memoir is pretty clumsy in a funny way and for some reason she describes people coming together to protect turtles as "dumbledore's army"

also we have to talk about how big leatherback sea turtles are. wtf

"ice" by amy brady is a really good book about a somewhat strange subject. ms brady tracks the history of commercial ice use in the United States, from the first guy to make an ice machine down in florida to the utah olympic oval where 100 world records in speed skating have been set. I don't think about ice much beyond putting it in my drinks but this book has opened my mind to its fascinating history and many uses. a guy named frederic tudor tried to sell ice from boston to the Caribbean in 1806 but everyone there was like wtf and he had to give it away to cafe owners for free to convince them their customers would like cold drinks. modern cocktail geeks are making their own ice in huge blocks and chipping it down to get the exact right size and shapes for their drinks. therapeutic hypothermia and cryosurgery use ice in medicine, medicinal hypothermia since the late 1930s. plus there's the fact that even people who study ice don't entirely understand the properties that make it so slippery. I really recommend this book to learn the surprisingly crazy history of ice

[weekendviking]

Researching stuff.

Adding links here to methods for finding out things, because on the modern internet, actually finding out accurate information is now uniformly obfuscated by the relentless enshitification of search functions, proliferation of search engine optimised content mills, nation state level intentional misinformation and propaganda programs, and of course, these days, all the crap sources above are endlessly enriched by the output of generic Large Language Model plagiarism statistical bullshit engines, both image and text (And video and Bot and so forth).

Finding academic and peer reviewed Journal Articles - they haven't quite fucked google scholar yet, so it's better than the enshittified google or bing or <insert enshittified search bar embed here> whatever.

So I generally hit up Google Scholar for whatever subject, author name, paper title or similar that I've gleaned from whatever article or mention or wikpedia page sparked my interest. Often that gets me what I want, as there's often a link to a pdf of what I need within those search results. Yay.

If that doesn't work, then I start escalating, usually via the methodology here described at Logic of Science's blog:

They wrote it down so I don't have to. Excellent. Although some of the links in there have degraded. So the main ones I'll put here:

And then there's the pirate nuclear option, Sci Hub. Because it makes the big publishers and corporates really angry, don't use sci hub from a work or academic 'net access environment. Also it necessarily moves around a lot, so I generally search up where is sci hub now, to avoid going to a link that's expired or may now be a honeypot/trap:

Also, look out for content mill generated fake journals. I usually check here:

The other thing that's getting harder is finding out whether an image is misattributed or just plain fake. So right click and save the image, and then go to images dot google dot com, which is nowhere near as good as it used to be, but still not entirely enshittified, and click on the wee camera icon to the right and upload the image, and look through the results. What you find is _All_ the places that have posted that image, page after page of them. Scroll through - click on the ones that seem to be the oldest, check who's posting them. What you often find with viral outrage images is that they are _not_ what you think, especially if the image is a bit old, a bit bitrotted, or there's something else wrong - the clothing isn't right for the country/culture/time being outraged about, or something like that. Sometimes you find out that it's true, but most of the time you find out that it's wrong, that someone has just done a quick search for an image that roughly matches the outrage or the politics they want to push, added some outragey comments, and shared it, and enjoyed their flamey fire. I've been doing this for decades, ever since I started using a browser capable of image searching, mainly because I was outraged at people posting fake geology memes. But it works just as well on finding anything else.

And of course, if it's to a website, see if the wayback machine still has it cached:

[kimberlyannharts]

LAST TIME ON RANGER ACADEMY - Dark Specter has taken over the school! And we can't use this as an excuse for free vacation time because if he gets out he'll take over the universe or whatever. Have we seen this before?

Hope comes in the form of Zilan's anti-Dark Specter machine, but a corrupted Mathis has sabotaged it in a fun little prank. That's probably not as funny as they thought it was.

It's Ranger Academy #12!

= Another instance in how Ranger Academy handled the whole Dark Specter corruption plot than Darkest Hour - dear god I wish Aisha had gotten even a tenth of this much emotion when she saw Rocky and Adam were corrupted

= Well sounds a lot easier than going to a Zeo Crystal Planet in another dimension

= Nika's kind of hilarious btw he's only just gotten back in contact with his old friend and they're trying to save the universe from a Dark Specter takeover and he won't stop flirting with that friend who's still grieving his dead boyfriend. He's been waiting to shoot his shot for over ten years

= Rhianth legitimately looks like he got barbecued here but it's fine. He's too hot to die

= Don't get me wrong Lindy/Sage is superior but Sage/Kartyr is also good if I had to pick a het ship. Pink/Green always gets me, man

= My friends and I saw you across the bar and we're coming to kick your ass (we're all underage)

= I still can't believe THIS book gave us Dark Specter's classic design for his final stand rather than the 2016 series. With very passing day I hate the Evil Radiant Red design more and more

= Also him saying "it's allowed me to become more concentrated" kind of supports my theory that Dark Specter existing here is due to him reforming in some kind of regenerative cycle, and he's still in his "early stage"

= Sage: you think you're so evil? We all have MENTAL ILLNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

= That staff becoming a bow is a good twist

= also yeah yeah Dark Specter got taken out too easily whatever, it's still better than the main series

= Headmaster you truly did nothing for me ever. Nothing for anyone, really

= so as I said in my notes, I think this is supposed to answer that the face we saw in the Green tube were most likely Zilan and Tashi's spirits, but not fully-formed. I guess it was just a little confusing due to them appearing as a big head, and Sage saying "is that me??" - I feel that would have made more sense if Sage and Zilan were legitimately brother and sister and you could connect the dots that they looked alike because of that relation (they already look super similar, so why not just take that extra leap. It would also explain why Sage's parents were there and why Zilan was THAT protective of her)

= also live Sage reaction

= Unfortunately now you're gonna have to listen to Green Ranger teachers, and do you KNOW how crazy those guys are???? Ziggy one day and Riley the next. Major whiplash

= GAY PEOPLE ARE SO ANNOYINGGGGGG

= also "maybe it's time I retired!" Nika, you're like.....thirty. Actually wait, I totally understand him

= I'm kind of mourning the fact that we'll never see Nugget Zord come to pass

= But anyway, the end!!!! Goodbye, Ranger Academy. Video review to come....soon

[kfkr1ze]

[002-A24] Eat, Laugh, Launch

Summary — ✈︎The egg-rocket launched by Akuta and the others ate up all the rain clouds, and now the sky is cleared up. The stalls at the festivals are flourishing, and the club members work together to provide hospitality to the guests.

Characters— ✈︎ Ushio, Nanaki, Kiroku, Akuta, Muneuji

Location: Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in Shodoshima

Kaede: Uwah〜 There's so many people! All the tourists seem to be gathering around!

(Everyone started to gather around right in time for the festival… I’m glad everything ended up working out.)

…Hm?

Customer A: Excuse me, I’d like the 3 pack of your baby castellas that come with the special syrup.

Ushio: Alright, please give me a moment…!

Customer B: I’d like a 5 pack over here!

Ushio: O-Okay, right away…!

Customer C: OMG! I’m so happy! This special syrup tastes super good! I wanna take a couple as a souvenir! Hey mister, could I get a 10 pack please〜?

Ushio: Gh…! Uh…! Okay!

Kaede: Wow. The crowd's growing so fast…

Nanaki: Right? It's been like that ever since the start of the festival. 

Kaede: Nanaki-kun and Kiroku-kun! Good work today!

Kiroku: ……You…too……。

Nanaki: Umm, Chief. If you want… If you don't mind… We could lend a hand.

I was thinking of helping out with Kurama’s stall. At this rate, the customers will get bored having to wait around. 

Will that be okay in terms of our points?

Kiroku: ……I’ll……do my……best.

Kaede: Eh!?

(Nanaki-kun and Kiroku-kun both offered to help out by themselves…)

…Of course it's fine! If you need any help, feel free to ask me anything! Let’s do our best giving hospitality!

「OMOTENASHI BATTLE」

Kaede: Thank you both for helping us give hospitality! The customers looked really satisfied too! Right, Ushio-kun?

Ushio: …Well, it went way faster than it could've if I was by myself. It's only natural for that to happen with more people…

………

…Thanks for helping me out. Here, it's something for the trouble.

It's the baby castella we were selling at the stall. 

Kiroku: ……He’s giving……A gift……

Nanaki: Let's hope it doesn't magically start raining again. … Thank you for the food. 

Munch munch……!?

It's delicious…

Ushio: … Hm.

Nanaki: The moment it entered my mouth, the aroma flooded my senses. The mellow taste of the syrup felt like I was in the middle of a meadow…

Before you can even savor the taste, the sweet sponge of the cake lightly touches on your tongue. It feels like flowers starting to bloom…

Both feelings are in a wondrous state of harmony; one which you can't achieve without the perfect proportion of the otherーー It’s an amazing combination of both sweet and salty flavors that evoke an almost nostalgic feeling…

What the hell… I could hear Jim Hen’s[1] guitar solo start playing in my head before I could even swallow the first bite…

Kaede: Wow, amazing! Nanaki-kun, you’re really good at doing food reviews!

Nanaki: Ah, no, it just… tasted too good…

Kiroku: ………

Kaede: (Kiroku looks really focused while he's eating… Cute.)

Oh right, Ushio-kun.

Ushio: What.

Kaede: The ladies who set up the baby castella machine were praising you. They were saying that if you bought all the ingredients but only forgot the syrup you should've just told them.

They said that it was the first time they ever had such delicious sweets. They wanted to say thank you.

Ushio: … I was just doing my job.

Kaede: (He says that, but his cheeks are turning red. He's getting embarrassed.)

ーーEveryone did a really good job today. The fireworks were amazing, and both the tourists and the locals were super happy with the result. The festival was a big success!

Nanaki: And the music?

Kaede: Of course it was amazing too! They said that it was far better than any sound they ever used before, and the music was popular amongst both younger and older people!

Nanaki: Really!?

Kaede: Yes really. The video of the performance already got uploaded. The sync with the fireworks was really amazing. The view count is really good too.

Nanaki: I see!

Ah, I mean. …I did my best. Yes.

Kaede: Kiroku-kun’s lantern is also really popular too. Since it's cute, but also a bit frightening, it's naturally attracting a lot of attentionーー

Kiroku: ……Eh……?

Kaede: The place in front of the lantern is a really popular photo spot. A lot of people seem to be posting pictures they've taken with it on social media.

Kiroku: R……Really…? But… it's… not…… finished……

Kaede: Being unfinished isn't as bad as you think it is.

Kiroku: ………

Kaede: Luckily, thanks to the sunny weather, a lot of people came to the festival, so the organizers were happy. Everyone looked like they were really enjoying themselves and Iーー I… I was really… moved…

Ushio: … Surprisingly, for an adult, you're a real crybaby y’know.

Kaede: S-Sorry. I think a bit of the sea breeze got in my eye.

(Anyways, everyone’s hard work finally paid off. And it’s all thanks to that kidーー)

Akuta: ‘Sup! I’m here to win all the Kurodemy Director’s Awards! [1]

Muneuji: Good work, everyone.

Kaede: Akuta-kun and Muneuji-kun! Good work today!

Akuta: Ah〜 Those takoyaki were super good! The okonomiyaki is cooked perfectly, and the oden is packed full of flavor〜! Street food is just the best!

Nanaki: Sigh… Saku-chan-sensei even told us that we were gonna be eating at the afterparty, yet you still filled yourself up on food… Did you forget?

Akuta: Nah〜 I remember pre・tty・well〜　I didn't buy anything! Every time I passed a stall, the owners were just giving stuff to me free of charge!

Ushio: You must've been staring with big ass eyes, like a starving puppy begging for food.

Kiroku: Isotake… definitely has…… a face that…… makes me want…… to give him…… food…

Muneuji: Everyone was very kind, so we didn’t want to refuse any offerings given to us. I did tell Isotake that he should’ve saved the food for later though.

Kaede: He just couldn’t resist huh…

Akuta: It’s ALLL good! My stomach is infinite, like a black hole! I’ve only filled like 10% of it!

Sakujiro: Ah, so everyone is gathered up. It’s about time we head off to the restaurant. The one we visited when we first came here that served delicious Hishio-don.

Kaede: Since we’re leaving Shodoshima tomorrow, let’s all eat together this time.

Akuta: Hi・Shi・O!! Hi・Shi・O!!

Kiroku: ………

Nanaki ＆ Ushio: ……… (Nods)

Muneuji: So, everyone is coming?

Kiroku: …… It looks… like it… but...

Muneuji: ………

Ushio: ………

Kiroku: …… Are you two… ok…ay…?

…… You shouldn’t… fight……

Akuta: What’s up what’s up? You’re gonna give me half of your Hishio-don, Kiroku?

Seriously? YAYY! Thanks a bunch!

Kiroku: ……!? That’s wroーー

Akuta: Ehh, you said you’re gonna give me your side of miso soup too? You’re seriously the best Kiroku! Thanks thanks～～～！ 

Kiroku: ……I didn’t… say……

Kaede: (Those two don’t seem to be on the same wavelength at all but…)

Anyways, let’s go!

Nanaki: When you say you launched itーー you mean you launched that egg!?

Akuta: Yeah! It went off like BOOM!

Kaede: Hm? What did?

Nanaki: Oh nothing, we’re talking about a movie.

Keep your voice down.

Muneuji: We negotiated these terms with the egg.

Nanaki: You managed to communicate with it? That egg… It didn’t seem  like it was a living thing though. 

Muneuji: I don’t believe it had any biological reactions. But, it did feel like it had its own will. 

Akuta: Maybe it’s like a communication thingy from the aliens? Maybe they’re controlling it with a remote or something, like a toy car〜!

Nanaki: So where’s the egg now?

Akuta: We searched for it around the mountain buuut… We couldn’t find it at all!

Muneuji: I believe it might’ve exploded into bits and pieces.

Nanaki: Uwah… Seriously…?

Akuta: Weeell! I don’t think that’s true! If it’s that egg, I’m sure that we’ll meet it again. 

At leastーー That’s the kinda feeling I get.

Nanaki: That’s some confidence you got there from only your gut feeling… but whatever. In any case, let’s not tell Kinugawa-kun about any of this.

He got really attached to that egg. He’d probably get super upset if we told him it exploded or something.

Muneuji: Agreed. Let’s just tell him that it returned back to the sea on its own.

Previous — ✈︎ Masterlist — ✈︎ Next

Notes — ✈︎

A reference to Jimi Hendrix!

[thrown-away-opinions]

So I made the mistake of watching the hbomberguy plagiarism video. I don't know why, because I kinda hate him and his entire shtick and his entire sanpaku-eyed desperate style of presentation that screams "please think I'm smart and that I am a moral cool guy who does good things!"

Anyways, the dumb fuck kinda missed the mark by a mile and the urgency and drama he tries to invoke amounts to being very angry that some people have made careers out of regurgitating other people's work. There's a few reasons why, but let's set this right up front: Yes, plagiarism is bad. It's a terrible thing to steal someone else's work, pass it off as your own, and then try to weasel out of it when caught. It's also an extremely stupid thing to do, especially if your job is writing reviews or giving your own opinions on some piece of media and plagiarism leads to reciting factually incorrect information.

That said, there's a few assertions and implications in this retardedly long video that stuck out to me and I want to talk, at length, about them. That these people have made a lot of money and are therefore bad. That citations or crediting sources would have changed something. That people careers have been damaged or somehow denied big piles of money because they were plagiarized.

Making a lot of money seems more like a vague sort of "rich people bad" but it's such a hollow assertion to make. Youtube financially incentivizes content creation or a certain type, quantity, and regularity. The algorithm is a slot machine. Ad revenue is just money on the table, and if someone disables the ad revenue on their videos, youtube runs ads anyways and the channel just doesn't get any of the money generated. As for stuff like patreon and parasocial simp behavior, you can't really stop people from doing what they want with their money. Hasan Piker became a millionaire because retards like throw money at him to watch other people's youtube videos and occasionally say the dumbest shit imaginable. If we could stop people from watching, let alone financially supporting dipshits, we would, but we can't. Being mad that they're making money from is just petty, especially if the implication is that being rich makes someone evil and bad, but at the same time, wishing that other people whom Hbomberguy ideologically jive with should be the rich ones instead. It's moronic.

It sounds reductive to just say "don't hate the player, hate the game" because the sort of shameless scumbags who will eagerly plagiarize and openly steal other people's work are detestable. I don't want the takeaway here to be that I think they are harmless or absolved of guilt. The problem is simply something far larger than youtube or social media. It's something that is not caused by the temptation of getting easy money from stealing ideas, but something that is inherent in the sorts of opportunistic scumbags that have always existed all throughout human history. Trying to shame them or expose them can only accomplish so much when they are already shameless to begin with.

Moving on to the value of citations, aside from being a genuinely nice and professional thing to do, it would not meaningfully change the profitability of content mill channels who largely use other people's work to rapidly produce videos faster than a real writer/researcher could script them. At most, it would add a slight bit more runtime and put more text in the very easy to ignore "about" section of a video, which would never get seen by 99% of viewers. Trying to impose some sort of labor speedbump by demanding citations and credits won't meaningfully stop these people from profiting off other people's work at a speed honest creators couldn't match anyways because they've been burdened by a sense of self-respect and honesty.

Furthermore, properly cited credit will not divert viewers and fans towards monetarily supporting the sources, nor encourage the diehards on patreon to stop donating. Youtube will still give the payout for the views and clicks and engagement on a video that can be 100% regurgitated, copied content, cited or not, regardless.

Additionally, the reasons people watch certain youtubers and types of content is often totally divorced from any thoughts about academic ethics. Most of the time, the audience doesn't even care because that doesn't even factor into their enjoyment of some background noise video or hearing a youtuber they like talk about something they might be mildly interested in.

Not to mention that there are countless successful youtubers who making a living reading reddit posts, reciting lore from fan wikis, reading 4chan greentexts in funny voices, or just "reacting" to other people's videos, just literally reading things other people have written word for word. This is content that is both directly cited and stuff that has no author to credit or cite at all but is still stolen. Despite knowing the content is stolen, uncited, plagiarized, etc, people watch them anyways and ad revenue payout happens regardless. There's functionally no difference, credited or not, but one is seemingly permissible because it's open about using other people's writing or research or ideas.

Is it a huge fucking problem that is turning the internet into a terrible place? Absolutely, but it wouldn't make a fucking difference if they cited the content they were reposting, because the core problem is actually the way youtube and other social media sites tell people they'll pay them for generating that sludge content, even if it's stolen, reposted, or purposefully made in a way to abuse the algorithm.

The last point I feel like covering is the idea that the specific plagiarists are denying money and career advancement to others by stealing from them. The implication being that because someone thinks the guy who makes awful video essays about Disney and Queerness who lifts his scripts almost 100% from books he never credits, the writers of those authors are being denied money and their careers as "voices of the queer community" or whatever, have been kneecapped because one other guy took all the credit. Implying that they would be the recipients of all the success, money, and career growth that Queer Plagiarist man, and others, have gained if they hadn't be plagiarized from.

This is moronic for a number of reasons, most of which I've already discussed. The most obvious reason being that they are often competing in completely different areas. The audiences giving clicks and views to the plagiarist aren't making the choice between purchasing a book or watching a youtuber. Published books aren't listed in youtube searches or recommendations.

People can both read books and watch youtube videos, if they want, but clicking on a youtube video isn't at all the same as shopping around to decide which creator is the most ethical and deserving of any sort of financial compensation. Even if the books were cited and listed, at most it amounts to a few sales, if any. However, the supposed outrage is the lack of citation and credit, not that we should be demanding promotion and advertising from youtubers or that every quotation or idea lifted from someone else needs to come with a proportional amount of reimbursement

If it's an article instead, like the case with the 'Man in Cave' video, there's nothing being sold and and the youtuber's career maintains the same trajectory, even if clearly cited and credited, still gains the same audience, the same patreon donors etc. At best, the article might get a few more clicks, so the outrage there is that some clickbait factoid site like Mental Floss didn't collect more ad revenue of its own, which is especially interesting since most of what Mental Floss does is repost articles from other sites with a little link at the bottom that shows you they didn't write shit. Fancy that.

But there's also this direct assertion that other people making similar content about, for example, queerness in Disney media are being denied the fame and success they rightfully deserve because someone else got more popular by being a plagiarist. While there may be a finite amount of time in the world for people to watch youtube videos about stupid bullshit, it is not so finite that it is an all or not situation. People can subscribe to more than one person about a given subject. One person being successful through plagiarism does not exclude anyone else from also being successful on their own merits. If they aren't successful, you can blame the algorithm, lack of interest, or the quality of their actual work.

A similar implication is that if someone were properly recognized for their work through being credited on a video that gets millions of views, that more job offers or interviews or some kind of improvement to their general socioeconomic status would be dropped in their lap. That may be true in matters of outright content theft where a relatively unknown creator loses all views and clicks on something that got stolen by a bigger channel, but not when we're talking about someone who already had a book publishing deal or peer reviewed research.

This kind of echoes the first point about money, but with popularity instead. Impotently whining that someone else got famous when what he wants is for someone better, less objectionable, to get the popularity... and I think that's what's really at the core of hbomberguy's stupidly long video (and this stupidly long rant). He only wants people he likes to be successful and is upset that he can't take that away from them. Plagiarism is just a convenient moral cudgel to wield and a convenient way to whip up his simple minded fans into another witch hunt.

If you go and check Internet Historian's latest video, you can see a significant amount of dislikes, and the comments section is full of people screaming about plagiarism and Tommy Tallarico, who was another target of hbomberguy's obnoxiously elaborate bullshit previously. There's no chance in hell that these people are actually outraged that mentalfloss wasn't properly credited, but they love that sensational self-righteous high they get from joining the latest angry mob whipped up by famous internet smart guy and maker of pretentious videos, hbomberguy.

Now, where does that leave us after all of that shit I just wrote? Well, if there's anything to take away, it's to understand that there are shameless, opportunistic scumbags out there who are constantly looking for their chance to exploit a system for personal gain. Not just on youtube, but everywhere. Crypto. Life coach sigma male shit. Politics. Twitter engagement farming. etc etc. As long as their behavior can be rewarded, they will continue doing it. So get better about spotting it and learn to block, filter, and excise it from whatever feeds you use and expect the same of your friends.

When it comes to the creators you follow, hold certain standards, but know that there is a limit to the moral purity you can expect from them. For most of the big ones out there, the goal is to make money. You can demand proper citations and such from all of them, but then they'll go and take a sponsorship deal from Established titles or Better help or some NFT scam, and that's exponentially worse than presenting information in a way that may making the audience incorrectly assume they've done exhaustive research on a topic when they're just quoting someone else.

And lastly: stop watching Hbomberguy. He's a sanctimonious retard.

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Amy Rigby

Photo by Bert Eke

The singer-songwriter Amy Rigby got her start in the late 1980s and early 1990s in spry, New York-based country throwback groups Last Roundup and The Shams. Starting with 1996’s Diary of a Mod Housewife, Rigby has steadily released solo work that can break your heart with the contagious ache in her dry, distinctive voice or make you laugh out loud at the concussive put-downs she doles out. Rigby has a particular knack for turning the quotidian mythic and reminding us that the mythologized are ultimately just some guys. The music has remained rooted in country, but not confined by it. Hers is a guitar-forward style that can incorporate the bright highs of acoustic pop rock, crunchy roadhouse grooves, R&B, and even jazz. Alex Johnson, in his review of Rigby’s most recent release, Hang In There With Me, called the album “tough, witty rock and roll…[that] catalogs a lifetime of drags, uncertainties and disasters, but returns, again and again, to the people, moments and experiences that make it worthwhile, or bearable enough.”

Here are some things that Rigby has been listening to lately.

Warmduscher — “Eight Minute Machines”

Discovered via an online review of their Brooklyn show last year, one that made me want so badly to be sweating in a crowd with this band onstage.

Amelia White — “Get To The Show”

One of my Nashville pals and I love this track from her latest album. Amelia is always out working and rocking, written with the great Gwil Owen… Sometimes I really do miss Nashville!

Daniel Romano — “Impossible Green”

You know when you discover an artist and think wow, this kid’ll go far, then realize they’ve been at it for years, made tons of records, play all the instruments, write, sing and tour their ass off? That’s how it is for me with Daniel Romano. This track comes from his 2017 album Modern Pressure.

Gina Birch — I Play My Bass Loud

Gina’s debut solo album came out just a year ago — I’ve been a fan since hearing the Raincoats in the late 1970s and getting to see them live when they came to NYC back then. She’s one of my heroines for being an artist and uniquely herself in whatever it is she does — music, video, painting. The bass and her opening line: “Sometimes I wake up, and I wonder — what is my job?” Pure Gina/genius!

Wreckless Eric — Inside The Majestic

He’s my husband and labelmate so what the hell — this is from his most recent album Leisureland. People know Eric for his voice and lyrics and guitar, but this is an instrumental track that’s just glorious. I want to see the movie it soundtracks, or at very least a choreographed dance routine with Eric at the piano in a tuxedo.

Michele Stodardt — “These Bones”

A big attraction for me with the Magic Numbers was Michele Stodart’s bass playing and cool vocal contributions, love hearing and seeing her do her solo thing.

Meshell Ndgeocello — The Omnichord Real Book

For the last dozen years, I was bartending/selling books at a small shop in New York’s Hudson Valley. The first time Meshell came in I was tongue-tied, knowing her as a bass playing legend and poet, and thought if she lives here, it’s kind of the center of the universe, right? I really hope to see her play live sometime.

TBHQ — “Planet of Pain” from TBHQ

A radio host on a show I guested on was playing this great track when I walked in. “I really like that,” I thought, and then realized it was my daughter Hazel Rigby who records under the name TBHQ. She’s been performing and recording for years, often instrumental/noise but her voice and lyrics are so wise and honest.

Dory Previn — “The Comedian”

There’s never been anyone like Dory Previn, the pain and ridiculousness of being a human so acutely depicted in song. There’s a new documentary about her, On My Way To Where, by my friend Julia Greenberg with animated segments by Emily Hubley, just making its debut out there. She had a fascinating, fruitful, difficult beautifully productive life and I can’t wait to learn more about her.

Mary Timony — “Dominoes” from Untame The Tiger

Love everything about Mary Timony’s latest solo album Untame the Tiger — the songs, the guitar playing, her voice, the cover!

Swamp Dogg — “Synthetic World”

One of my favorite tracks of all time. Jerry Williams (Swamp Dogg) is still out bringing his music to the people. I’m looking forward to seeing the new documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted — there’s just nobody like this guy.

[freckliedan]

Hi!!! I just wanted to talk about how Dan and Phil as a brand is so relatable to neurodivergents in the way that they've been treated recently. So DnP built their careers off of being "weird" and "quirky" and socially awkward. That was Their Thing. Dan spoke for years about being violently bullied (quotes such as "being punched in the head by dickheads" stand out as a pre-BIG example of just how violent it got at times), Phil had the Why I Was a Weird Kid series, they both were frequently talked about as being "weird" and "awkward" by other YouTubers - they WERE the "weird" ones of the vlog group. The ones that awkward teens could relate to. Unfortunately, this got the attention of the #imsoquirky crowd who talks like they're experiencing all of these things while also being the same people who would mock me for my autism.

And that's the crowd now saying Dan is too old to be posting catboy photos or saying that the two of them "give the ick now, idk why." And I just can't help but notice how much I relate to that as an autistic and ADHD person. So many times over the years, I've made "friends" who were slightly into my interests, but then got weirded out by how hard I went into them. I think what we're seeing is the same thing happening to Dan and Phil. Drawing cat whiskers on your face to answer questions? Well that's "so cute and quirky"!! (/s). But actually playing as Catboys in JRPGs, dressing up in cat ears, making animal noises (which the two of them always did but ig this group overlooked), etc? Well that's "too far" and "so weird."

I think Dan especially got hit with this because he has more subscribers. When he talks about being bullied, most people can relate to that. But then when he goes and honks a horn in a game repeatedly (which tbh I've done before myself, very ADHD coded of him) or talks about hiding behind vending machines to avoid talking to people, that is suddenly "too annoying/weird" for some of the audience that got into him for his "relatably weird" content.

Sorry this is such a long ramble, but basically Dan and Phil have accidentally become the perfect examples of how kids with autism/ADHD/social pragmatic disorder/nvld/dyspraxia *insert other neurodivergencies that can cause atypical socialization* are treated. People might find your initial "quirkiness" relatable because everyone feels awkward or socially anxious at times, but it's when they see that you are Actually Just Like That and it's not to be #relatable that they turn on you and start saying that you're "too much" and "too weird."

Dan and Phil were the "weird" ones of the British vlog scene, and those of us who tuned into the younows or watched their older videos knew this, but someone who only subbed after watching a meme review or the two of them playing undertale might have assumed that they were the "right" kind of quirky/weird.

This is probably incoherent, but I hope you get what I mean.

this isn't incoherent! just such a well thought out ask i don't have anything to add. there's really specific ways i'm comfortable talking abour dnp + neurodivergence & neurodivergence in general so it's not something i've ever done super in depth posts abt!

i've actually gotten a few really lengthy asks like this over the last few weeks, so this is to you and to my other askers: i really appreciate that folks want to share their ideas with me but sometimes i genuinely don't have enough to contribute in response to add on to what's being said! and that makes it pretty impossible to answer asks like this.

so this is to everyone: feel free to @ me in the replies on your posts! (doing that leaves things cleaner than @ ing in the body of a post, which in my experience means folks are more likely to engage, if that's what you're looking for). especially loop me in about dnp + neurodivergene or dnp + gender!

this isn't a promise i'll rb or even see things, this website's functionality is shit, but like. it's actually way easier for me to see and support than if yall are sending me essay length anons, and this way i + others can find more people who share the same opinions as us! make ur own posts & ppl will follow u i prommy

[brilla-brilla-estrellita]

Crafting Wings

I finally remembered today that tumblr is a blog, and that in addition to whatever fandom nonsense I reblog, I can also post bloggy things on it. Obvious, right?

I am making a set of dragon wings for an event coming up in mid-June. They are of course inspired by Simon Snow and will be red dragon wings (though the pattern I bought from them is technically for a wyvern). I'm hoping that posting progress updates here will help me stick to it and actually get it done in time. I'm breaking it down into teeny tiny easy peasy steps and only looking at the very next step to try to keep the overwhelm and executive dysfunction at bay. This is likely to lead me down a path of "If I'd thought about it earlier, I could have..." But you know what? I always end up there anyway.

So first, I spent a long long long long long (long long long...) time trying to decide how to make these wings. I really wanted articulated wings, bonus if I could move them without obviously pushing or pulling or something. But looking at how people had made that happen was overwhelming. They require so much time and skill and I am prone to procrastination and crying and quitting when I mess up. I finally settled on this DIY Mechanical Wing kit by Chimera Wings. That would give me the frame for the wings, but they also have a sewing pattern (with printed AND video instructions) to make the covers for them!

This is what the contents of the kit looked like when I got it:

And this is the completed build! I almost didn't post this because I don't like the way I look, but you know what? Fuck that. I built something cool (using very simple, easy-to-follow instructions, sure) and I don't want to have to find a better fancier more flattering way to film that, so. I'm getting over it.

You can tell that I kinda struggle with the wing on my right side. I clearly need to stretch my arms out before wearing these. Truly. I tried it after I stretched and it's no big deal. Or maybe I'll add some sort of pulley after all. (HAH. Like I'll have time for that.)

Otherwise, the kit and wings are fantastic. It was so easy to put together and they feel very cool to wear. I should probably go write them a review...

I didn't actually takes pics of the next step, but I printed out the pattern on regular 8.5x11 paper and taped it together. It... was not very well done, but I'm hoping I got it close enough to not have messed up the pattern dimensions. After taping and then cutting out the completed pattern, I could move on to working with actual fabric!

I'm making a mock-up out of old sheets first because I have never once done any sewing project successfully the first time. I decided to mock-up only one wing instead of both, so this will surely be my downfall when I move onto the real deal.

The next two pictures are the front and back pieces for a single wing. I decided to cut them separately instead of at the same time by folding the fabric in half because every time I do more than one layer at a time, at least one of the layers comes out real fucked up. I blame being a lefty in a right-handed world. Scissors are of the devil.

The next step was to make buttonholes that are actually strap holes. I have a little baby basic machine, and it has some limitations. I discovered one of these limitations during my buttonhole test runs. As you can see, the machine-provided "buttonhole" stitches are just... lacking. I messed with a screw that controls the length of these stitches, but for some reason it can only be used to balance out the stitch lengths, not make them overall longer or shorter. I have no control for generally change stitch length. I only have the options presented to me on my stitch chooser knob. Alas, I have less than optimal buttonholes.

Pictured above: (Left) One very sad buttonhole test. (Right) A second buttonhole test in which one side is almost respectable and the other should be ashamed to call itself a buttonhole stitch.

Finally, I gave up and balanced the stitch lengths and just went with it. When I do the real deal, I will likely go use my friend's much fancier machine. For the mock-up, this is sufficient. The next three pictures show, with increasing zoom and blurriness, the completed buttonholes.

I am intentionally using very bright, contrasting thread so that when I inevitably fuck up, I can hopefully see the point of fuck up more clearly so as to rectify it on my next attempt.

And that brings us up to speed! Next Step: Pin the pieces together. That's it. That's the whole step. How many days will it take to overcome executive dysfunction and do it? Only time will tell.

As long as I can remember to update regularly, future posts should be quite short.