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popculturebuffet · 3 months ago

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X-Month: X-Men Blue Origins: Kurt has Two Mommies (Patreon Review for Brotoman.EXE)

Hello all you happy muties and welcome back to Mutant Month! And it wouldn't be mutant month without a look at the Krakoan age, the previous era of x-men that sadly just ended.

So quick recap: Krakoa was a living island the x-men lived on for the past 5 years, an island nation that offered them peace, security and immortality. This sadly could not last as status quos in comics do not last nor do dreams: So late last year at the third hellfire gala all hell broke loose: Orchis, a secret shadowy enclave of humans being manipulated by robots for their own ends, launched an attack, poinsing the life saving drugs krakoa had used to barter and killing everyone present at the gala who wasn't a mutant to frame them, while then tricking charles xavier into making everyone walk into a portal.. that lead to some limbo dimension instead.

The X-Men and associates resisted thanks to something Xavier had taught and passed on, something Al Ewing had came up with in his run on New Avengers and brought with him when he came onto the x-side of things, the red triangle protocol. Basically you focus on a red triangle to block out a psycic attack. SO the x-men and allies they presumibly taught it too resisted and went underground.

So the x-men were scattered to the winds leading to a bunch of mini series leading into the end of the era. And one of those is one of the most delightfully batshit and brilliant ideas of the krakoan age: The Uncanny Spider-Man. Ladies, gentlemen, and my nonbinary folks... Kurt Wagner.. was spider-man.

Uncanny Spider-Man was the third and final part of Simon Spurrier's trilogy of x-men books. Spurrier had previously worked on the awesome and underated X-Men Legacy, following Xavier's son legoin in the wake of Charles death and fleshing out Legion tremendously.

So unsuprisingly while Kurt was the main character of this , trying to find a spirtual way forward for a mutantkind that had put a stopper in death, Legion was the deutragonist, following kurt every step of the way and helping him found their own religion/way of life, the legion of x. This eventually collapsed thanks to david having to take his girlfriend and leave reality to escape a witch after his soul, while Orchis made Kurt into a monster man that killed people and not taking that well being who he is, Kurt vanished.

So he became a spider-man. It was with Peter's full approval, as Kurt needed to hide and like any good spider-man Kurt swung around, had fun and dodged his problems till they came down on him.

And during all of this, dodging his angst, dating silver sable, and other stuff.. Mystique came back, having escaped the gala but in a barely coherent state. And it's here our story picks up.

X-Men Origins Blue is a one shot taking place during uncanny, with the comic itself pointing out exactly where. And as the title suggests it gives the REAL origin of nightcrawler... or rather his birth.

Nightcrawlers origins are a complex topic I don't know enough about, but Chris Claremont's intent for them was made clear the second he brought Mystique over from Ms Marvel to the X-Men comics with days of future past: Kurt noted they looked similar.. and she brushed it off.

Then.. this wasn't adressed for some time until his excalibur run from what I could dig up (and parts I hadn't gotten to) where it was finally confirmed. So far so simple. Thing was Chris.. intended for Mystique to be not his mom.. but his biological father.

See Chris was progressive for his time when it came to queer characters, having a LOT of friendships that had sapphic overtones. It never felt like he was intentionally queerbaiting, merely that he coudln't do anything because JIm Shooter was gay. And while some you could debate he made his otp obvius: Mystique, mistress of shapeshifting and her lover, friend and confidant Destiny, a precog. He did everything he could to make it clear these two were a thing.

So it's not a suprise his plan was to have Myistque shapeshift into a man to impregnante Irene. Granted the time scale given her age dosen't completely add up, but honestly the idea is so audacious and brilliant i'm willing to ignore it. People saying "Well irene was too old" clearly forget this universe is fucking weird and that, as many on reddit pointed out, they knew sinister.

It's even less suprising Edittorial said fuck no because gays, and tried to give Mystique a case of the not gays forgetting.. she's bisexual. Even Claremont had that in mind as when Destiny was dying she left Mystique in forge's care having a vision of them together. He also wrote Kitty Pryde as bisexual and that later became canon.

So time passed and as far as I can tell there wasn't a clear winner for Kurt's dad. So enter Chuck Austen. For those of you who are bilsfully unaware of this guys existance and thus didn't want to reflexively go numb with terror at the mention of his name, a primer: Chuck Austen wrote Uncanny X-Men during Grant Morrison's legendary run on New X-Men and proceded to write the worst run in x-men history. That's not hyperbole and having recently read most of the 90's x-men comics to filll that gap in my history, it's not a high bar to clear.

Austen's run includes: A plot by the anti mutant church of humanity to install nightcrawler as pope then fake the rapture, mutanting Juggernaughts hetero lifemate black tom into a plant monster they only stopped by having leftover member from the previous run stacey x use her phermone powers to get him horned up, angel getting healing blood and being made a literal angel, angel's healing blood making him immune to aids which is brought up for no specific reason, Angel having aerial sex with a minor right above her poor mother, and Havok's relationship with Polaris being broken up because a nurse's psycic son got the two together while Havok was in a coma.

I.. I wish i'd made all of this up but no. He also killed off two beloved gen x characters, Skin and Synch, for no adquate reason. This isn't as wacky as the rest of that, but it's still a noticable fuck you. How he got away with this while Grant Morrison was chased out I don't know. I just.. don't know

SO you may be asking/dreading "What.. what else did he do to kurt?" and the answer? He took a mutnat famed for being one of the most kind , loving beings in the marvel universe who just so happened to look like a demon.. and made him half demon. He introduced Kurt's father Azazel who you may remember from First Class where he wasn't a demon nor kurt's dad. Both improvments. Yeah so we got a whole story I haven't forced myself ot read yet that spits on the characters concept and generally sounds awful and like a bargin bin version of Raven's arc from New Teen TItnas

Azazel was largely ignored for good damn reason till Jason Aaron brought him back and decided since he for whatever reason couldn't retcon him out to make the best of a bad situation: he made Azazel into a pirate who was stealing souls from heaven, forcing Kurt to summon his friends as a crew to have a pirate fight with his dad. I swear to god this will be covered some pirate month.

This helped a little but Aaron leaving the x-side of things and no one wanting to touch this left Azazel in the wind. So with the x-men at their peak and Myistque and Destiny at the center of things after she finally brought the latter back, the time seemed right ot finally fix this. So the question is simple: how do you fix the origin to it's original form while accounting for the demon man retcon and the baron introduced Mystique cucked. The answer is convoluted, fun and mildly beautiful and it's under the cut

We begin with atiny gremlin resembling an albino nightcrawler recapping where we're at up to this point, which i've already covered. The little guy is kurt's tiny friend that talks to him during his solo and narrates the recap for us. I'll also let him explain who he is

Fair enough. I also love the tone our little narrator keeps. Winking and nodding to the fact that while part of the narrative of Uncanny it's also a standalone mostly there for the retcons it's about to do and Spurrier's clearly aware plenty of future fans will read this on marvel unilimited or pick up the issue simply FOR this one reason.

So at this point Kurt is trying to comfort his mother whose lost in the memory of loosing her baby and this being Mystique is waving a pistol around at people. Kurt tries to help by giving her the version they both know: While Mystique and Destiny were firmly together for most of their very long lives, meeting in the 1900's with Mystiques past before that a giant question mark, they were on and off for a variety of reasons from normal couple issues to the simple facts of their powers: Raven is a shapeshifter meaning she's often living a whole other life that can't always acomedate the love of her life and Destiny being a precog means sometimes she has to go off and do shit to make sure things go the right way. So while they were wives for lives, they also had a very open marraige, with Raven taking partners for lonliness, to get by what have you and vice versa.

One of these was Christian Wagner, Kurt's alleged dad and a eurpoean count Raven hooked up with soley for money's sake and being a sexist dick, it wasn't easy. So she cheated on him with Azazel because sexy devil man, had his child and had to abandon kurt.. only.. the story isn't making sense to her and her head is hurting. After another round of his mommy waving a gun in his face, Kurt decides to cut the thing with the hopesword.

Thankfully Marvel knew this might be a lot for people reading Uncanny at the time and explained it in an article. Which is good for me as I haven't reread legion of x and forgot how the hell all this happened. So Nightcrawler's stepmom whose magic made mutants into rampaging monsters to help Orchis plan, Kurt included, hence the spider-man getup, and turned Kurt's hope into a sword that his friends made sure he got back.

Said sword is the hope of posisblity what can be and Kurt hands it to his mom in the hopes it'lll help her mind.. and not cut him in half. Lucky for Kurt he has a long history of taking a bet on someone everyone else says to run the fuck away from and it works.

So we get the FULL story and the full retcon of what happened, keeping Count Wagner and Azrael, but reframing it.

So like I said the two had an open marraige, with the two open to date whoever provided it benefitted them as a couple. Hence count wagner: he was rich, full of himself and has the kind of vibe that just screams "I cum in two minutes", so while obnoxious, he was easy enough to put up with as the long con was worth it and it was easy enough to get Irene in as her bang maid since Count Wagner really wasn't paying any attention to the house as long as it didn't cost him anything.

Instead of the torrid affair it was portrayed as in the past, Raven frames it as.. honestly way more realistic for how the characters are played in most comics not written by the nightcrawler pope guy.

It didn't help she sensed Raven was growing distance, figuring he was her fairwell gift. Raven's exact words. Which honestly satan's dick isn't the worst farewell gift but... get her a demon who can perform at least Irene sheesh.

Turns out though Irene had other plans.. she wanted to make a baby just the two of them. And I love Marcus To's art in this issue in general, beauitful, heartbreaking, well done, especially since as the one handling the present day wraparound he has to carry a LOT of emotion as the wraparound is mostly talking.. granted Kurt is wearing a spidey suit so only his eyes can emote for most of it but still. But I love this panel after she gives the reveal, as Raven sokes int he emotions

I also like the charcterization of Raven: Spurrier and To don't forget that Raven. .is a bad person. While I saw a complaint or two on reddit in doing research, honestly.. it dosen't sugarcoat it. She talks about the men she dated as toys she broke, waves a gun around and is harsh with Kurt, who she later reveals once she got the memories back she knew was her baby boy. Raven is a pragmatic person who wants whatever the hell she wants and will steal and kill to get it. Yet this tale.. still works. Just because a person is awful.. dosen't mean they can't love and just because neither Raven nor Irene is a good person... dosen't mean they don't deserve a child made of love. There were other births but this was thehirs.

Raven is also recast as nonbinary, saying the only real diffrence between genders is those who can be who they are and those denied the right and Raven Darkholme is who she is. I also find Kurt's inital bafflement that 'but your both women" hilariously naive for a man who was spending his time being a spider-man while palling around with what he knew deep down was the conciousness of one of his best friends pretending to be gremlin him, while wilding a sword made of pure hope.

The comic does retcon Mystiques abiliteis; she CAN change her dna. She dosen't often becasue she dosen't WANT to but given how she can fool any scanner imaginable this makes perfect sense. Her power isn't mimicking apperance.. it's altering her genes. We get a file page from Dr. Nemisis, an immortal mutant nazi hunter who played a supporting role in both previous spurrier nightcrawler books and who fleshes this out more. She's near omega levels. Omega is a term that was just vauge shorthand for "really powerful" that kept being used way too often, and which Jonathan Hickman helpfully redefined so it was still useable, but also limited it to a handful of mutants: any mutant whose power has no upper limit. The only reason he can't formally classify her as omega as he dosen't know if she could mimic x-genes or change her own. Basically a way that leaves the door open to that but dosen't shove it too open as it was clear Spurrier didn't really have time to get into this concept and left it for future writers to do more with.

So after a brain headache, Mystqiue presses on: she immediately dumped Azazel, who took it with a lot of bitch crying and "I'M DUMPING YOU YOUR NOT ME" nonsense as you'd expect.

Christian was less easy at first: while Raven grew a bump to match his , the Baron wanted a dna test. Which given Raven used a bunch of male dna she had lying around including his could've been bad. Thankfully Baron Incel walked in on them and honestly in other circumstances i'd feel bad; Raven cheated on him, was using him for money and slits his fucking throat.. but given he both calls them Sapphic Harlots, in what given the floating timeline would've been the early 90's, planning to have them WHIPPED for it...

So they go through with the pregnancy with Raven pretneding to both be her pregnant self and the baron, dismissing the staff and generally enjoying the process. She also keeps the prengancy belly even when not in public at times... to carry the prengancy with her wife. Awww. And I like this a lot.. is it idealized.. yeah. But again a bad person CAN be happy. Evil can love. Raven being terrible dosen't mean she can't genuinely have cared.

So the baby comes and the doctors.. arne't exactly impressed.. raven though

There are so many little touches to this I didn't notice the first time I read it... but this one is so damn good. The "see me".

Sadly this didn't last as naturally the doctors of 1990 in a small villiage weren't ready for sapphic mutants and their elf child so they attacked. The setup is as it was many times and showed up in x-men the animated series, evolution and others: nightcrawler is born, and the poor boy is, like too many mutants hated and feared just for being born. So Raven flees while Irene stays behind saying she'll be fine. And it's that last part that flips the script. Raven leaves her baby boy.. but unlike the past where she threw him away , choosing his life over hers.. she simply left him. That simple. She left him at the base of a tree to go save irene.. only to find as she said, she'd left. And when Raven returns.. Kurt is gone.

Kurt tries to comfort her in the present taking off the mask.... but she knows already. Kurt does see this as a possible new beginning because.. he's Kurt Wagner. He sees the good in people even after the many horrible things his mom has done. Mystique however sees it as the past: it was a lifetime ago, theyg rew apart and what's really important is seeing this memory through.

So a few years of in her words sex, violence and nihilism that meant nothing thorugh the pain later, Raven catches up to her wife in the usual way

Yeah the story dosen't really let Irene get away with things easy either. They only reconcile, and then only barely, because Destiny basically waves Rogue in front of her face and forces her to adopt the daughter Raven always wanted. I do like how the narrative dosen't cheapen her adopting Rogue either: While Destiny does again essnetially go "here's another child to raise", when confronted with what the pimps and pushers might do to this poor child , despite all the hate and needed explinations.. Raven's first insitnct.. is to comfort Rogue. She's still fucking pissed, at her worse.. but she sees a child lost due to her gift, needing her and ignores her pain to help.

So Destiny explains once their alone and Rogue is getting so me much needed sleep now happily adopted. Turns out the reason Kurt was abandoned.. was fate. And these retcons are the parts where the issue reaches a bit for me. The rest is fine: that Mystique did love her son once, as while her abandoning him is somewhat in character, her having genuinely loved him and given him away not because she wanted to but because Destiny played it that way feels more in character with who she's become, the more nuanced character versus the pure evil she could be at times especially in the late 2000's and 2010's.

This though.. is reaching. So Azazel of all people would've conquered thew orld, which I call bullshit on as while he was portrayed as a genuine threat, and admittedly I haven't read the draco because if i'm going to do it i'm damn well going to get some content out of it and possibly money, he was never.. this level. And sure he could purely focus on it but.. dr strange existead at this point. The idea he needed to be distracted isn't terrible but I don't buy from the story set up he needed that to be stopped. It's servicible enough but dosen't feel valid.

The second part is more... iffy. Kurt needed to grow up hated nad feared , left with Margalai and growing form his pain. That feels very chosen oney and I don't like it. Kurt is who he is not due to fate but who he is. Thankfully what saves this from being pure garbage.. is the reactions of mother and son to it. Kurt is broken up, not wanting ot think he's bound to fate this tightly and just a puppet on invisible strings, while Raven.. nearly chokes irene scremaing MY SON IS NOT A TOOL OF FATE.

So Irene knowing they can't go on like this decides to mindwipe the whole stuff, something Raven agrees to but unlike irene she wants to remember Kurt's her son. Unforutnately they went to Charles Xavier for this and he warns her what her mind might do and wipes his own mind. Because he can do that. This is flimsy, but it makes sense and while Raven blames charles saying he made her hate her child, it was her own brain doing that. He warned her it might happened and as usual she didn't listen.

But she's more upset that in her rage and need to move on she let herself forget breaking down.. and as usual kurt forgives her

It's pwoerful words.. and the truth. Destiny may of seen how things were going.. but Kurt isn't who he is because of some fated path. As much as I hate that chosen oney framing, the comic does a good job making it clear that whatever Destiny saw.. Kurt is his own man.. and he's a man who wants the mom he never really had back. So the two forge an uneasy possible future, walking off.... tommorow is another day.

And so far this has stuck. Irene got restored too not wanting it at first but accepting kurt once she did get her memories properly restroed, and while both left, it wasn't to just abandon their kids, but simply because of that whole fate thing combind with being wandering soles. Plus it's easier for them to show up later in uncanny than have them in the cast from day one. Raven and Irene wander, it's what they do. So for now Kurt seems to be joining the cast of Uncanny X-Men while Myistque is getting her own mini up to some mysterious gameplan. But wherever they go... Kurt now has two mothers who love him.

X-Men Blue Origins is a fantastic issue packed with tons of fantastic emotoinal artwork, great writing and a really compelling wraparound as our heroes go through this story and find the truth. It also does the best it can to stand alone while not ignoring the story it's part of and nicely implements an idea decades in the making. This CAN go wrong as just because a great writer came up with it dosen't mean it's.. good as claremont also had some less stellar concepts, see x-men forever for that. Another sword of damocles over my head for another day. It's a great issue and well worth checking out on Marvel Unilmited or if you find it in a back issue bin or online or whatever and a gloriously gay idea executed at long last.

Next Time: We close out the month with a list! My top 12 x-runs! From factors to men it's the best of x

#x-men blue #x-men #mystique #raven darkholme #irene adler #destiny #mystique x destiny #nightcrawler #kurt wagner #azazel #comics #krakoa #fall of x #simon spurrier

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intoxicatingimmediacy · 4 months ago

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clipping. – “Run It”

Give clipping. credit: The Daveed Diggs-fronted noise-rap trio was way ahead of the curve on remaking J-Kwon’s “Tipsy.” Three years ago, clipping. did their own version of “Tipsy,” the 2004 J-Kwon party-rap classic, for our very own ’00s covers compilation Save Stereogum. Earlier this year, clipping. gave a wide release to their cover. The next thing we all knew, “Tipsy” formed the spine of Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” one of this year’s biggest hits. Today, clipping. have a new single. I don’t know how any ascendant country-pop stars will take inspiration from this one, but maybe they’ll find a way. Right now, clipping. are working on following 2020’s Visions Of Bodies Being Burned the second in their horror-inspired two-album series, with a new project that has rap and cyberpunk overtones. That new record will be out next year, and they’ve just shared an early taste with “Run It,” which is not a Chris Brown cover. Instead, it’s a fast, physical rap attack. On “Run It,” Daveed Diggs goes into athletic overdrive, rapping over a pulshing, clanking, extremely fast beat from his bandmates Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson. The track’s smears of digital noise sometimes cohere into Detroit techno riffs. This is a good one — a track that keeps all the prickly intensity of clipping.’s music without getting so extreme that you couldn’t play it on your headphones while you’re on the treadmill. In the quick-cut Lawrence Klein-directed video, secret agents tail clipping. through DC, Berlin, Prague, New Delhi, Bangkok, and Seoul, on some Jason Bourne/Carmen Sandiego shit.

#bill hutson #jonathan snipes #daveed diggs #clipping.#clipping

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odinsblog · 10 months ago

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For a very long time mainstream media has been conflating the word “moderate” with the word “conservative,” and moving the Overton Window further to the right.

And at the same time, the words “leftist” and “radical” and “extremists” are also being conflated, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Liz Cheney is not a moderate. Chris Christie is not a moderate. Nikki Haley definitely is not a moderate. I guess it’s nice that they are finally calling out Trump, but they all voted for Trump (twice!) and none of them are good people. (How do I know they aren’t good people? Because they spent most of their adult lives and careers supporting harmful conservative policies that intentionally target women and poor/Black/disabled/LGBTQ people to harm.)

The same goes for pundits like Ana Navarro and the other MSNBC “former” Republicans and Republican strategists who don’t like Trump anymore, but are still “proud conservatives.” They support most of Trump’s policies even if they don’t support Trump anymore. And Nikki Haley has even said that if the choice in November comes down to Biden or Trump, she believes that it’s who is Biden the bigger threat to America. (source)

And Nikki Haley has repeatedly said that she would pardon Trump, so that’s another big NOAP for me.

Look, I understand that neoliberals and conservative leaning Democrats have a tendency to kick left + kiss right, but people have GOT to learn that just because a conservative might occasionally do something right, like oppose Trump, that does not magically transform them into good people™ worth elevating or supporting.

One last thing: I’ve seen a lot of Biden supporters get all caught up in their feelings because Jon Stewart made fun of (gasp) Biden’s age. Listen: WE are not the ones who are in a cult! It is 100% okay for voters to joke about and criticize people in power. It’s MAGA who cannot criticize their dear leader, remember? It's the other guys, THE CULTISTS, who cannot accept even the lightest of criticisms.

“But Republicans will use it against us”

Yes, Republicans will use anything and everything against us, whether we said it or not. That’s what they dO. They lie, make shit up and try to use literally anything—true or false, good or bad—against non-Trump supporters. Being good and honest and not saying anything Republicans disagree with will not gain you any votes with Republicans.

Look, Idgaf about what Republicans and other people on the right think. About anything. Idc. Idgaf. Their opinions don’t matter and they aren’t going to change who I vote for in November 2024. I’m not worried about trying to change their hearts and minds, because they’re heartless and mindless.

At the end of the day, I dO think that msm tends to run with rightwing narratives, but once again, none of that foolishness will change my vote.

Put your grownup pants on and don’t get caught up in the drama.

#politics #nikki haley #republicans #donald trump #moderates #overton window #desi lydic #the daily show #centrism #centrists

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kryptonbabe · 27 days ago

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Kitty and Logan go to Japan and I have no fun, a review

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (1984) by Chris Claremont & Allen Milgrom

This last image I think perfectly encapsulates what this mini-series really is. Kitty Pryde is in the title of it, she's right in the middle of the action, but she's phasing, the action is actually done by others, she's a part of it, she's maybe changed by it, but not in a significant enough way. While I was briefly excited by the first issue, which is basically a solo Kitty issue, and how her increasingly reckless choices take her so far from home, things took another turn pretty soon, by the second issue Kitty is quite literally stripped of her agency and turned into a blank canvas to be trained and groomed by another character. What started as a girl's journey to save her dad and find out who she is without the X-Men and without her relationship with Colossus, suddenly becomes a second part of the Wolverine in Japan miniseries from 1982, and don't get me wrong, that series is great and I love Logan, but this should not be exclusively about Wolverine. And in a way it isn't, at least not in a fulfilling way, the Wolverine plot feels weightless while Kitty's story feels unfocused, her journey to affirm her own identity is muddled by how often the antagonist and Wolverine influence her. At some point she decides to go by a new codename: Shadowcat and that's pretty much the most significant change her character goes through in this series, despite all the traumatic things that happened to her. There are a few iffy aspects of the art and some creepy overtones to the relationship between Kitty and the villain, which arguably, when it comes to older comics, I'm often inclined to try to understand the historical context, but in this case... the creepy things just feel somewhat pointless to the overall story, there's not much that is done with them, so really, what is the purpose? I still enjoyed reading the first issue and half of the second, but this will be a storyline I'm willing to forget, and I don't think it will make much difference in the end

This is the first story arc written by Claremont that I didn't like ever since I decided to read Uncanny X-Men in chronological order. I'm a fan of his work and his creations, his sci-fi and fantasy reference and overdramatic narration, and even when I disagree with some of his choices, the man always balances things by writing interesting and fulfilling character journeys and plots (his work with Ororo and Illyana is just amazing stuff). While this series is far from remarkable it doesn't change how I feel about these characters in the long run

#review #comics #kitty pryde #wolverine #shadowcat #logan howlett #x-men #uncanny x-men #chris claremont #allen milgrom #comic book review #comic review #marvel #marvel comics #text #reading log

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burlveneer-music · 15 days ago

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ganavya - Daughter of a Temple - another of this year's bounty of excellent spiritual jazz albums, with a stellar cast of guests performing a slate of Coltrane covers (John *and* Alice) and originals

Described by the Wall Street Journal as “one of modern music’s most compelling vocalists,” New York-born and Tamil Nadu-raised singer and multi-instrumentalist ganavya shares an ambitious new album, "Daughter of a Temple", via LEITER. The album follows her performance at SAULT’s acclaimed live debut in London in 2023, where, according to The Guardian, her “voice had a delicate emotive heft that could turn stoics into sobbing wrecks.” Her first single for LEITER, "draw something beautiful," was released earlier this year in July. For "Daughter of a Temple", ganavya invited over 30 artists from various disciplines to a ritual gathering in Houston. The results—an innovative and deeply moving blend of spiritual jazz and South Asian devotional music—were initially recorded by Ryan Renteria and then further edited and mixed by Nils Frahm at LEITER's studio in Berlin in 2024. Daughter of a Temple includes the voices, sounds, efforts, and prayers of: ganavya (voice, double bass, kalimba), esperanza spalding (double bass, voice), Vijay Iyer (piano), Immanuel Wilkins (saxophone, voice), Shabaka Hutchings (wind instruments, voice), Wayne Shorter (voice, beads, bell), Carolina Shorter (voice, beads), Ganesan Doraiswamy (voice), Vidya Doraiswamy (voice), Charles Overton (harp, voice), Peter Sellars (voice), IONE (voice), Rajna Swaminathan (voice, mrudangam, kanjira), Kweku Sumbry (percussion, drums, voice), M.S. Krsna (guitar, voice), Bindhumalini Narayanswamy (voice), Rasika Shekar (flute, voice), Shanta Nurullah (sitar, voice), Viktor Laurent Ewing Givens (voice, dance, ritualist), Chris Sholar (electronics), Darian Donovan Thomas (violin, electronics), Jiordi Rosales (cello, voice), Eden Girma (voice), and brontë velez (voice, dance, prophesy). The gathering-at-large in Houston included the presences, dances, efforts, and prayers of: Alyssa Simmons (event production, voice), Andrew Wilson (textile - making of prayer clothes, voice), Amir George (cinematography), Anya Yermakova (piano, choreography, dance), Cean Geronimo (food, voice), Charlotte Brathwaite (stage direction, voice), Frewuhn (voice), Joy Harjo (voice), Larry Blumenfeld (voice, movement), Lucía Martinez (movement, voice), Michael Ewing (event production, voice), Ricky Weaver (photography, voice), Ryan Renteria (sound engineer), Shelly Travis (event production, voice), Shireen Hamza (movement, voice), Terence Price II (cinematography), and Zahra Baker (voice). All music produced by Ganavya Doraiswamy. Additional production by esperanza spalding, Rajna Swaminathan, Ryan Renteria, Nils Frahm and Felix Grimm. Mixed by Ryan Renteria, additional mixing by esperanza spalding and Nils Frahm. Recorded by Ryan Renteria at Moore’s Opera House, Houston, Texas. Mastered by Zino Mikorey, vinyl cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle. Tracks 1, 2, 6, 8, 9: Licensed courtesy of Jowcol Music / Universal Music Publishing. Tracks 2, 6 by Swamini Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. Tracks 1, 8, 9 by John Coltrane. Cover image by Ricky Weaver, design by Studio Torsten Posselt.

#Bandcamp #ganavya #jazz #spiritual jazz #metitative #female vocal #2024 #leiter

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amphibious-thing · 2 months ago

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"Raine and Lister had established nicknames for one another, Raine being “Liz,” and Lister being Lister or “W.” In 1808, Raine wrote to Lister: “But I have every possible confidence in my lovely W and this will support me. I will always tell thee every thought, and every remnant of desire, and will not my W do the same?” “W” was short for “Welly,” a nickname for Field-Marshall Arthur Wellesley (made the Duke of Wellington in 1814), who participated in the military conquest of India. This is one of the few references to Raine’s colonized Indian background, and its erotic overtones—the idea of British-born Lister conquering Indian-born Eliza—"

~ Interpreting the Thin Archive: Anne Lister, Eliza Raine, and Telling School Tales by Chris Roulston

That's certainly a choice...

#anne lister #eliza raine

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tetw · 4 months ago

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11 Classic Articles Chosen by The Lazy Reader

The Lazy Reader is a great new narrative nonfiction newsletter that launched in early 2024. Subscribers get a weekly roundup of the best new journalism every Monday, plus a themed reading list of classic articles every Thursday. We've been enjoying their picks, so we asked them to put together a list of their all-time favourite articles:

Ground Control to Mr. Meline by James Ross Gardner - A teacher fell victim to a family secret and became the symbol of a flawed judicial system. What his students did next was out of this world.

The School Beneath the Wave by Richard Lloyd Parry - The unimaginable tragedy of Japan’s tsunami.

The Case of the Missing Chacmools by Geoffrey Gray - What happened after Carlos Castaneda died in 1998 -- a tale of murky financial dealings, sex, possible foul play—and one death-defying supernatural being.

The Mastermind by Evan Ratliff - He was a brilliant programmer and a vicious cartel boss, who became a prized U.S. government asset. The story of an elusive criminal kingpin.

A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite by Adam Higginbotham - The race to stop one of history’s most bizarre extortion plots.

Insatiable by Andrew Chapman - When my Crohn’s disease took away food, it took what it means to be human.

The Hero of Goodall Park by Tom Junod - Inside a true-crime drama 50 years in the making.

Hannah and Andrew by Pamela Colloff - In October 2006 a four-year-old died mysteriously of salt poisoning. His foster mother, Hannah Overton, was sent to prison for life. But was she guilty, or had the tragedy claimed its second victim?

The Eider Keepers by Devon Fredericksen - An age-old tradition in Norway illuminates the bonds between wild ducks, wild places, and the people who care for both.

The Truth About Organic Milk by Annie Lowrey - Cows are suffering on even the most “humane” dairy farms

The Pentagon's Secret Anti-vax Campaign by Chris Bing and Joel Schechtman - The U.S. military launched a clandestine program amid the COVID crisis to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation – putting innocent lives at risk.

For loads more reading recommendations straight to your inbox, sign up to The Lazy Reader newsletter here.

#articles #longform #journalism

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buddiebeginz · 9 months ago

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I just want to say if you're following me for 911/Buddie I don't plan on posting much Buck/Tommy stuff. This isn't anything against Buck or what's going on with his story right now. I've wrote posts myself talking about how I know that Buck having this journey and this relationship with Tommy before Eddie is important. Still I'm not a multishipper I'm here for Buddie first and foremost and I want to see the guys end up together eventually.

The issues I have with Buck/Tommy and the reason I plan on avoiding them isn't even really a shipping one so much as it's how parts of fandom are responding to them. It's literally only been a few days and already I've seen tons of posts, comments, tweets, fanfiction, tiktoks, etc being anti Buddie. I just came across a fic last night that was about how Eddie treated Buck awful (used him for sex) and then Tommy came along to be the best boyfriend ever.

I'm just not here for the way people are treating Buddie and Eddie. I also don't like how people keep saying Buck's story is more important than Buddie. All of it is important. Buck, Eddie, Buddie, Buddie and Chris (as a family) all of their stories and what they mean for incredibly needed lgbtq represention are important.

I'm so thankful that 911 is doing a bi storyline with a character like Buck (one I relate to a lot) but the fact that I still want to see them follow through and extend that to Eddie and Buddie doesn't mean I'm trying to take anything away from Buck's journey.

We've never really had a same sex slow burn story like this and especially not with characters like Buck and Eddie. Older queer characters who are figuring out their sexuality later in life. Who are also raising a son together. Who don't fit into some preconceived mold of what it means to be queer. Having Buddie be canon would be groundbreaking it’s own way and if they follow through on this story I believe it has the power to really change media in some ways. I think them doing Buck's coming out storyline is already doing that. It is basically unheard of for a primetime show like 911, with a character like Buck who was basically written to appeal to straight men and women to now come out so late in the shows run. The show is taking a risk and will be taking an even bigger one to make Buddie happen but that's why they need to follow through on it.

I'm not going to apologize for wanting all of the stuff we've been hoping and begging the show runners and networks to give us for 6 seasons. It is possible to care about more than one thing. I can wholeheartedly love and relate to and support Buck's journey while still wanting to see Buck and Eddie together and definitely still want to see Eddie's coming out story too.

I'm also tired of seeing people outside of the Buddie fandom say Buck and Eddie are too good of friends to "ruin" with making into a couple. That Buck and Tommy should be endgame so Buck and Eddie can stay friends. Fact is Buck and Eddie have never been just friends. If you look at how Hen and Chim and Athena and Hen and any other friendship on the show is they're not written the same at all. They don't have the same kind of depth and definitely don't have the same romantic and sometimes sexual overtones that Buddie's does. We obviously need more male friendships in media but Buddie isn't about two guys who are just friends, it's about two men who have loved and supported one another for six years and we're about to watch that love turn into something even more profound in the coming seasons.

So yeah I probably won't post much about Tommy but if I do I'll try and tag anything as b*ck t*mmy for bl. The other reason I probably won't post about them is that it feels like every space in our fandom is getting swallowed up by this ship. It's just frustrating when all of the tags are full of Buck/Tommy.

I'm not trying to hate on people who ship them. I think everyone should be able to multi ship if they want or just ship whatever ships they like. I've been hated on many times for ships I like. But I do think those of us who just love Buddie shouldn't have to see Buck/Tommy 24/7 and definitely shouldn't have to see anti Buddie stuff.

I also want to say don't let anyone make you feel like shit if you're not super into Buck/Tommy. You can still love Buck and support him without gushing over him in a relationship with someone else. I hate when fandoms get this crowd mentality where if you think any differently you're told you’re a bad person. Just remember that the story the show is telling is leading towards Buddie canon eventually. So people can be excited over Buck and Tommy for now if they want but it’ll be Buddie in the end.

Also if you have Buddie or Eddie gif requests please let me know. I really want to see Buddie and Eddie back in the tags.

#911!#buddie #b*ck t*mmy for bl

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sweatertheman · 9 months ago

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Ralsei is gay? On what grounds? Most people ship him with Kris, and they're non-binary.

...ohhh! I know what it is.

Profiling.

Ralsei isn't traditionally masculine, but is male, so people are likely to associate him with being gay because it's assumed that gay men are more feminine. This combined with people shipping Krisei, and Kris' gender being an issue when it shouldn't, which is also a profiling issue, since Kris sounds like Chris, which is a traditionally masculine name.

This may also be part of why people are quick to label Susie as a lesbian, despite not seeming to like Noelle more than any of her other friends. Susie is very masculine, but is female. Deep voice, big and strong, likes to fight, talks about being a king, stuff like that. Since people tend to assume that masculine women are lesbians, people see Susie and assume that of her. This combined with Noelle's crush being so intense that any scene with her and Susie in it immediately has romantic overtones despite the abscence of any romance.

Profiling like this is a useful but dangerous tool. While it does allow us to make fast judgements about the world, it also sometimes allows us to make judgements too fast, to where we skip over important details. Like news stories about children working to pay off other students' lunch debt. When the story is presented as wholesome and heartwarming, without good media literacy, you might not notice that it's actually fucked up for a child to have to go to work so that his friends can afford to eat lunch. Without good media literacy, you just take the emotional signposting on the surface and don't engage critically with the text. While not assuming a character's gender and sexuality isn't especially important, it can help you to build useful skills for navigating the real world.

This isn't to say that Ralsei and Susie aren't gay, because there's no way I could know that for sure at this point, and there's nothing wrong with believing they are. But, at this point, any judgements of sexuality are only headcanon. Things we believe to be true without substantial backup from canon. It's important not to rely too much on profiling and emotional signposting, because it leaves you open to being taken advantage of in the places it really matters.

#deltarune #ralsei #susie deltarune

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nancydrewwouldnever · 2 years ago

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The good thing about a long commute is that it leaves you with plenty of time to think, so you can really pick at those things in the corner of your brain.

I’m about to half-assed pop psychology all over this crap.

So, yesterday was really interesting from a picking apart Chris Evan’s subconscious kind of an angle. I don’t want to look at the still photos montage. I only want to think about the first and third posted video – the mouth video and the Mario Kart video.

We now know from the scare video dump in January and this dump yesterday that there’s a lot of material floating around out there on cell phones. (But, yeah, we already guessed that, didn’t we.) So, we have to really start finely parsing why a person would choose two videos as bizarrely uncomfortable as those he posted to try to sell a “serious love story” on the holiday for the serious love story. Because neither of those videos sold love or even affection – they sold the subtext of disdain.

When you both say in a video you post “you’re not going to like this” or write “she hates this, but I find it funny,” you are communicating an inherent lack of respect for the person you are showing as the subject of said videos. There’s no way you can look at either video and not see that in some way Alba is being portrayed, whether intentionally or not, as somehow inept or incompetent, hapless or helpless. She “doesn’t know what to say” or do in the first one; she is being put physically in a position which has inherent sexualized overtones from porn culture. He is physically holding her down, to a certain way of thinking. In the second video she struggles to play a video game originated before she was ever born(!), and he finds this ineptitude to be hilarious. From my way of viewing, as the audience, I don’t find either video to be indicative of cute couples’ behavior behind the scenes, but rather of an older dominant male putting a younger more inexperienced female into shaming/ridiculing situations. And then blasting those situations to the world via social media.

Why would you ever make those choices for those videos, knowing you probably have others to choose from that show situations far less riddled with open-ended interpretation. (Let’s be real, he could have shown them skiing at Okemo, not much subtext there.)

This is where we get into the pop psychology angle, which I’m probably just going to massacre, but oh well. We all started musing about that “I hate myself” quote the minute we read it in SMA. Now, I invite you to think about the psychology concept of projection.

I think that self-hatred and self-loathing he holds is far deeper and far more insidious than any of us can comprehend. I’ll give him some credit, he’s done a somewhat good job of covering it up and still having career success even while dragging it around.

But it’s bad, and I think he directs a lot of it into his interpersonal relationships with women.

That self-hatred and self-loathing is what keeps him from having true long-lasting and healthy romantic partnerships. He subconsciously detaches parts of it from himself, through his insecurities, and projects those insecurities onto his partner. Therefore, he’s already given himself an out for why the relationship will fail, but it’s not on him, because he’s projected it onto them. However, it is always on him, even if he can’t see that, because he’s never working on the actual root cause of why everything doesn’t work, doesn’t fit, doesn’t fulfill his intense emotional lacks: because he’s never acknowledged that there is some intense trauma there somewhere that set this self-hate and self-loathing into action, and that it needs to be brought into the light with therapy and worked on. Nothing will change until that happens.

Instead, the subconscious cycles and patterns are self-perpetuating, so he will continue to search out situations which feed the cycles. Ergo, always someone he can project onto, not someone self-realized enough to be the kind of person who could actually help him come to terms with his own trauma.

So, whatever this toxic situation with Alba is, it is even more toxic because it serves his subconscious need to project all his own insecurities onto her. And she’s in no way capable of stopping that, because she just doesn’t have the life or relationship experience to do so. So, I postulate that what you see in those two videos, that’s him projecting his own self-disdain, self-ridicule, and immaturity onto her in a situation he has perfectly created for it. If you’re watching those videos and you feel like Chris is viewing her through a lens of shaming or derision, know it’s not just her: he’s viewing himself the same way as well.

So, I’ll end by paraphrasing a great line from Hamlet: Get thee to a nunnery. (Apt, given Chris also has a really off-the-rails Madonna/Whore complex.)

Chris – get thee to a psychoanalyst’s couch.

(Freud's actual couch.)

#random musings #albagate

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