#Gloria and the wolves

[oddlittlestories]

Midnight Burger spoilers ahead. I think some of you House MD folks might actually enjoy it so mind the post

Thinking about how Caspar’s choice to launch Ava into space changes his trajectory so much. It’s that violent reaction to needing consistency that opens him up to the possibility of change. That he’s the only one who could’ve helped Ex and also the one least likely to help her and most terrorized by her existence.

Thinking about how via Ex, the Leifs, Ava and a couple other things, we have explicit statements of how stuff for Our crew is changed vs in other timelines.

That your worst decision could be your best catalyst. That the dynamics you thought were set in stone might be clay after all. That people will surprise you, and you’re a people.

That leaps of faith are, well, kind of everything.

[lysscomplicated]

Outside, night.

A girl stands in a blue hoodie and jeans, ignoring the suburbia around her to stare at the clear, starry night. She looks up, peacefully.

Girl (loudly): MAN IT SURE WOULD SUCK IF THE TEMPORAL ANOMALY KNOWN AS THE MIDNIGHT DINER CAME AROUND. IT SURE WOULD BE BAD IF THE POINT OF NULL ENTROPY DROPPED RIGHT INFRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE. MAN, I DO HOPE IT DOES NOT HAPPEN!

[coffee-fueled-art]

totally didn't forget to post these or anything

i submitted some character designs to the StoryCo for Midnight Burger's multi-media project and completely forgot to post them. These designs are based purely on vibe, voice, and whatever descriptors I could find in the show.

yes. yes I am hyperfixated. You can thank my mom, she introduced me to the show.

[starclast]

Legendary dog features ⚔🐕🛡

[desertbled]

pictures that wolf keeps in his wallet ft. @waruins

[galarglory]

🎤🎤

Song Association

Running with the Wolves by AURORA

Go row the boat to safer grounds But don't you know we're stronger now My heart still beats and my skin still feels My lungs still breathe, my mind still fears But we're runnin' out of time (Time, ah) All the echoes in my mind cry There's blood on your lies The sky’s open wide There is nowhere for you to hide The hunter's moon is shinin' I'm running with the wolves tonight

Neath the Grove is a Heart by Yaelokre

How do I begin when the roof is ever changing? In the grove is a heart that's still in slumber You can remain, will you stay and tell a tale Would you want to tear it down, to see better? Foolish dreamer bе awakened Do not walk to wherе you were, to where you're staring Listen to the willow, listen to the sound Listen to my voice, you should hear me now Be still, be steady, and be

[artidepressants]

rlly wanted to do a halloween piece but i only found the time now so just pretend it isn't december <3

theres also a companion fic to this if ur into that

[inahallucination]

For the 'controversial dps headcanons': I ship Ginny with Tina and Meeks with Gloria. I feel like Chis and Ginny are genuinely just friends. Tina, a wlw with an obsession with literature, was totally making fun of Charlie in her head during the 'made up poetry' scene and went to the cave just to keep Gloria company. Also, Gloria did date Charlie for a while, but just enough to get to know Meeks. More about tinny: they attend the same school and they became friends because of the theater club: Tina is working backstage and Ginny, of course, as an actress. It's a bit messy, but that's it, probably not even that controversial? I don't know really.

idk if its controversial but its one hell of a fic concept

i do like tina knowing about literature tho

[voluptuarian]

another thing that's weird about adults who make an identity out of reading children's books is what they hold up as representative of the values they find in YA/young reader's fiction. They typically bring up wish fulfillment fantasy, morals and clear cut lessons, adventure stories with mild peril, strong centering on friendship and found family, and stories that make them "feel good" and are extremely light on genuinely challenging themes or ethically dubious situations.

Meanwhile when I was neck-deep in YA as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s this was the kind of stuff I was reading, other kids were reading, and that was winning awards, being highlighted on shelves and recommended by librarians:

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, in which a teenage boy survives a plane crash and is stranded in the Canadian wilderness and forced to survive on his own for months. He is ultimately rescued but is permanently altered by the experience. His navigating the drama of (I believe either currently separating or recently divorced) parents is also a major plot element.

Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski, where real-life wars have been eradicated and instead are fought virtually, (inspired, if I remember correctly, by the disastrous results of a previous nuclear conflict) by specially chosen champions who are trained in combat strategy from childhood. Throughout, the three child champions are forced to question and push back against what the government has told them is the truth as well as against their own prejudices, including toward one of their own who is considered a "mutant" due to his dwarfism; it also details the grueling hours-long "war" in which the kids watch thousands of little 3D soldiers get blown up and dismembered and leaves them feeling genuine guilt for participating in.

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, which focuses on a teenage Inuit girl who is orphaned, forced into marriage and sexually assaulted, then runs away and ends up lost in the Arctic and survives by befriending and living with a pack of wolves.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, in which the heroine lives with her parents on a failing farm as the Dust Bowl is beginning, accidentally sets her pregnant mother on fire resulting in her mother's lingering death and the death of her baby, and the girl herself being permanently maimed, after which she and her father become estranged and she eventually tries to run away.

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene, which follows a young Jewish American girl on the WWII homefront who befriends (and falls in love with) a German POW, and when he escapes, hides him in her home for months; eventually the prisoner is caught and killed and the girl is sent to prison after being ostracized from the community and disowned by her parents.

The Ramsey Scallop by Francis Temple, where the heroine, engaged since childhood to her current fiance, is sent on a pilgrimage with him as way of working out his trauma from serving in the crusades. Neither of them feels ready to get married and the fiance is dubious about doing much living at all, but they're able to get to know each other and build trust on the road. It's been ages since I read it but I'm pretty sure there's a scene where a hot single guy who helps patch up an injury she sustained then offers to have sex with her, which she decides to turn down.

Music of the Dolphins by Karen Hesse, where a feral child who has been raised by a pod of dolphins is rescued and taken to a center for rehabilitation. The whole thing follows her progress at understanding to how to be human, and eventually her decision to reject it all and go back to her dolphin family.

The Last Book In the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, whose hero is a teenage orphan living in a purposely abandoned dystopia, ostracized by his community for being epileptic, whose only friends are an old man who is the last literate person in the community and a monosyllabic feral child. The split between the have-nots and the haves, who live in sheltered futuristic cities, and discussion of privilege (one of the main characters is a girl from the cities who comes out to do charity work in the dystopian district) are major themes, and violence is a regular occurrence, including toward the finale when the boy's mentor is murdered by a mob while he watches.

(And of course there's Among the Hidden and its sequels by Margaret Peterson Haddix which I never read, but my sister did, and I know at some point a whole bunch of child characters are massacred by the government because it upset my sister so badly she cried.)

And I couldn't forget The Dear America series, which includes:

character who is finishing high school as the Vietnam War begins and watches her social circle split nastily over the issue, lives through classmates and friends getting drafted, and ends up working at a hospital as volunteer where she is assigned to help disabled veterans

character whose mother (and I think siblings), as well as numerous fellow travelers die while traveling alongside her on the Oregon Trail, and later accidentally poisons to death several of her friends after picking a look-alike plant for their dinner; only one survives, who she eventually marries

character who is kidnapped by a local native tribe and eventually adopted, then marries a fellow captive, only for him and other friends and family to be killed when the tribe is attacked by Europeans, putting her into a total crisis of identity and conflicting loyalties

character who is taken from her tribe to be put in residential school, during which she is forcefully acculturated, severely bullied by another classmate, and a childhood friend of hers is accidentally buried alive

multiple books about immigrants in the 1800 and 1900s which highlighted struggles with poverty, cultural pressures, and prejudice; one of them follows a pro-union factory worker who watches as multiple friends die in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and another whose father imports her to America at 13 to marry a coal miner

most of these stories emphasize the young protagonist ending up in situations were they are either on their own, or so alienated from the adults around them that they might as well be. The protagonists have to assume the adult duty of taking care of themselves, but also of thinking for themselves and making their own decisions and judgements about their lives and the world.

they are also going through big changes, often ones created by their parent's decisions, and which they frequently dislike or are straight up Bad for them. This contrasts with later, when the protagonists are able to make decisions for themselves-- often this comes through hardship and abandonment, but ultimately allows them to control their narrative going forward.

the setting and events are often harrowing, deeply unpleasant, and put the protagonist and their friends in danger of victimization by forces around them. Obviously this is exciting for kids to read, but it also allows them to see someone their age on their own, entering into Adult situations and taking on that role. It's also a break from the overtly positive or cartoonishly (but usually un-seriously) bad circumstances that dominate younger kids fiction and an introduction to the idea that life is just terrible most of the time, sometimes massively and unbelievably so. (It's going from the early childhood story of Madeline's thrilling adventures escaping forced labor in a factory, to the older kid's or YA story of seeing the protagonist work at one day after day, getting injured, having friends get sick, and then watching a girl's scalp get ripped off by the machine, something which creates not excitement but genuine horror and sympathy.) These plots also allow adolescents a chance to experience Big Emotions (like the ones they're about to fall head-first into themselves) in a stable, safe way. All of this aims to create a bridge from the juvenile reality to the genuine, adult one. Trite moral lessons are dispensed with in favor of allowing the child to go out and start thinking for themselves. And especially in stories like the Dear America books, it allows a look at things that happened in the past that we have, or should learn from, but also allows for a fuller emotional, ethical, and empathetic development.

often the introduction of sex is part of the story, from initial experiences of attraction (and the resulting self-consciousness, jealousy, etc.) but also sometimes actual sexual experience. Especially in the historical stories, marriage is also frequently part of the story-- either again, as a fantasy introduction to adult experiences, or as a realistic detail separating a child's historical experience from current ones and creating a better understanding of the hardships historical people went through.

and most include some form of rejection of prevailing authority and thought. Instead of blindly "doing what your parents tell you to" these protagonists must do what they think is practical or ethical. The boy in Hatchet cannot wait for an authority figure to guide him, he must figure out how to survive entirely on his own, while the kids in Virtual War are old enough to begin questioning the entire structure they've been raised in, and to develop empathy for figures that structure has deemed outsiders; the heroine of Music of the Dolphins decides the entire experience of being in human society is not for her, and returns to living with animals.

So these books offer harrowing circumstances, protagonists who are isolated literally or through moral or political alignment, and who must learn to live on their own and make decisions for themselves, often in defiance of prevailing attitudes. They usually emphasize finding one's place (even if that place is completely alone and unsupported), fostering understanding and sympathy with others, even with people who are considered "undesirable," who are different, or who have behaved badly to you in the past. And they frequently involve violence, budding sexuality, exploitation and abuse by authority figures/structures, and a heaping helping of death, including the deaths of beloved friends and family members. What is "feel good" and "unchallenging" about that? And like, I can't speak for what YA is bringing to the table now, but these people are overwhelmingly adults, they were reading YA at around the same time I was, I don't think it would be possible for them to have somehow missed the plethora of books with these hallmarks. So where did they get this idea that YA is some land of comfort where no complicated idea can ever reach you? Even Harry Potter is full of them, and we know they read that!

[hotvintagepoll]

How are the more recent Dracula castings affecting the movie?

When we last left off, Jimmy Stewart (Jonathan) had just beheld Mary Philbin (the agonized woman) getting eaten by wolves. (this being a vintage film we do not actually see her get eaten. we are given a haunting image that subtly conveys her getting eaten which is somehow ten times worse). He stares, shocked and bereft, out his lonely black-and-white window in Castle Dracula. The movie has gotten very solemn and a little bit artistic.

SMASH CUT to Omar Sharif (!!) and Leonard Nimoy (?????) on board the Demeter! Omar Sharif makes total sense for this role and is conveying responsibility, stoicism, nobility. Leonard Nimoy is thanking god and his agent that he finally got onto a film that doesn't have him in the pointy ears. (he is still contractually obligated to call the strange cargo they have on board "fascinating.")

Back in England, our heroines Setsuko Hara (Mina Murray) and Judy Garland (Lucy Westenra) are sitting by the seaside cemetery, enjoying the ramblings of old seaman Mr. Swales. because Mr. Swales is played by Ed Wynn, this is less "crusty old sea man giving bram stoker's idea of a British dialect" and more "the movie is suddenly produced by Disney in the 1960s and everyone is having a GRAND time because this man is Silly™." his various tales of suicides, deaths at sea, child abuse, and familial hatred are all suddenly very harmless and cute and Setsuko Hara is wondering where all the Technicolor came from.

Back in Hell on the Demeter, the movie is sliding back into black and white as the fog gets thick and the crew is picked off one by one. Omar Sharif is shooting for an Oscar with this one. He is terrified stoicism personified. Leonard Nimoy has hit his stride and is doing that brand of feverish madness the amok time fans know so well. We catch a shot or two of Gloria Holden's Count, but she is mostly veiled in mystery.

In Whitby, a plucky reporter sees a ship coming in: Ethel Waters is on the case! You know if anybody is going to book it on to a ship with a corpse tied to it (rip Omar) with 0 issues, it's going to be her. She's after a story, by god, never mind that mysterious dog!

Speaking of that mysterious dog, it's headed up the hill toward the cemetery. Boy, I hope it doesn't run into Mr. Swales. Seeing an Ed Wynn character get killed off in gruesome fashion this early in the movie would be a pretty horrifying tonal switch! I'm sure he'll be fine though, the movie seems so lighthearted and comedic now :)

[ananxiousgenz]

"i'm standing here in the middle of this weird place with you. I choose this." followed shortly after by "gloria's making stew for the k-pop wolves right now" is the true caspar midnightburger experience

[deconstructthesoup]

Okay, now that I'm OFFICIALLY all caught up, random things I like about Midnight Burger:

When I first heard the name "Zebulon" I thought it was a weird alien name, but nope. I looked it up. That's an actual real Biblical name and it's the best. Also, Zeb and Effie are so incredibly lovely and I never expected to love them as much as I did.

Ava is my aspiration, and her energy is absolutely going into at least one of my many mad scientist characters.

Casper's story almost made me cry. I knew from the minute we met him that he was gonna have some sort of backstory and I was proven right.

Leif is the most chaotic bisexual genius madlad ever and we love to see it. "Showtime" is now going into my vocabulary, EXACTLY how he pronounces it.

Gloria got lost in an alternate dimension full of wolves and proceeded to not only adopt the wolves, but name them after members of BTS. I think that's what really cemented my love for her, honestly.

Clementine ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and hurled it into the sun. She made herself the narrative and was still doomed by it. With that in mind, Shel's story is also one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever heard.

The Ex is girlfriend goals and I love her so much

[lovingthewildlife]

Reader x Leman Russ

I couldn't get this stupid meme plot thing out of my head and now I'm inflicting it on the rest of you. But hey, if you enjoy oral then I guess this is for you and me both! It's a named character, hope that doesn't put anyone off.

It was never supposed to be this dangerous. There was a Primarch with them. The great and noble Leman Russ. No one who had any common sense in them would ever think that he could be bested. But the demon hoard had them surrounded and the Wolves were on the back foot as the Sisters did their all to support and scrambled to aid. Those with Psyker abilities were creating trenches to better push away the enemy.

Gloria swung her axe in an arc, pivoting as she activated the sonic vibrators that would make it easier to penetrate flesh and send their enemies scattering before them. Her skirts were tattered and her leg muscles were screaming at her to stop and rest but she couldn't. Blood dripped down her thighs, streaking the pale flesh and occasionally flicking off when she gathered enough energy to quicken her pace and throw off her latest combatant.

Turning her head, she could see that some of the men were falling to their knees, struggling to get up. The hopes of the men were dying as their fellows had to continue to fall back. She heard the struggled screaming of her Lord and twisted, horror infusing her when she saw that three of the things had him pinned down and he was grappling to get up, twisting to keep himself from being pinned with a blade or claw.

Her mouth was dry and her eyes widened, her jaw trembling slightly. He couldn't stay down. He was the mightiest of them all. He was the one she chose to follow. When she was given the choice she had jumped aboard his ship with no second thoughts and he had accepted. Her now brothers needed him to get up. She needed him to get up!

"My Lord!" Gloria let her voice raise up in desperation, no wavering to her tone, only that utter need to have him hear her and listen. She needed to tell him to get up!

"IF YOU FIGHT THESE CREATURES I WILL SIT ON YOUR FACE!!!"

One slice was all it took to take down all three of the things pinning him. Her eyes widened as her cheeks flamed with sudden shock. Leman Russ charged back into battle with a renewed furry and she abruptly turned to smack down another enemy. She didn't know what had put that thought in her head, but it worked.

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

When the battlefield was cleared of enemies and they were gathering the wounded, Gloria smiled slightly when she saw that there were none dead amongst their fighters. Some gathered close to the standard bearers and regained some strength while others immediately began to help the wounded back to the base. Flicking away some of the blood, she did her best to clean her axe before setting it on her back and starting to go help.

She started to at least. Her hand was grabbed before she was more than five feet away from her small squad. Turning, she looked up at the Primarch and froze when he stared down at her.

"You meant what you said?" He asked with no preamble.

A Sister did not spread falsehood. She did not back down. Lifting her chin slightly, she cleared her throat.

"I meant it, my Lord."

Her hand was squeezed, lightly, as he knew how much stronger he was than the rest of them. His teeth were more like fangs when he grinned at her and began to lead her away. There were several others on the transport that would take them to their home away from home and none of them seemed interested in looking at anything but her and their Lord.

She kept her eyes ahead of her, looking unaffected as he settled her on his lap and ran his fingers up and down her thighs. His face pressing against her neck and pushing down the high collar of her robes so he could lick away the sweat there. Hesitantly at first, she returned the small gestures, touching his hand and arm and then cupping his head to hold him close when she tipped her head to the side and he found the sensitive spot close to the nape of her neck in the back. His lips and tongue were soft against her, insistent and tugging with a tender suction, but it was his teeth that had her shuddering as he bit her hard enough to leave bruises.

Her body shook slightly when the doors of the transport opened and the others made way for them so they could get off first. Everyone would have heard her scream so they knew what was going to happen. It should have embarrassed her at least a little but she couldn't find it in her to care much.

When they reached his room, he stripped himself bare of his armor but left his trousers on. When she started to do the same, however, there was an almost manic light in his eyes as he pulled her hands away from her stays and drug her onto the bed with him. His eyes darkened when he fingered the ripped sections of her skirt and with only a small effort he shredded it the rest of the way to make the long fabric into little more than a loin cloth that he could push aside.

She caught her breath when he made himself comfortable and quickly arranged her so she could look down at him as he enjoyed her. Her fingers caught the plush of the pillows he rested back against and held tightly to them when his fingers jerked her underwear and snapped the gusset in twain, exposing her to his eager mouth.

Perhaps she should have remembered his upbringing before she uttered the desperate words. Perhaps she should have been more hesitant on the ride over.

His hands gripped her ass and yanked her down on his mouth so he could eat her like a man starved. Her eyes widened when the flat of his tongue drove into her and slurped, working across her sex and stroking her lips as his jaw adjusted and he moaned gratefully as she began to twitch on her 'throne'. Looking down into his eyes, she wanted to remain aloof like she so often was. Her jaw clenched and she held her breath as her head tipped back.

So he helped her to grind her hips down against him, seeking her clit and sucking on it in between flicks of his tongue. His strong hands massaging her ass and thighs, keeping her firmly in place. Moving her just where he wanted her so he could get any little droplets of moisture that her pussy produced. She couldn't help but snap her head down to look at him then and she made a strangled sound when his fingers teased her opening briefly before his tongue struck home again.

Panting softly, her eyes couldn't pull away from him and she moved with his hands then, easing herself back and forth and little when he teased her folds and flickered his tongue on her clit before kissing and sucking it gently. That was the only place he was gentle, it seemed. The man was bound and determined to tongue fuck her into oblivion. She wasn't sure if it was punishment for screaming at him or a reward for him for surviving.

"My Lord." She gasped, her hips grinding down eagerly.

He didn't pull away to respond, only held her closer and swept his tongue in quick circles that had her inner walls clenching on him. Her hands gripped his hair as she tried to hold him in just one place but he shook his head and continued his feast. He gave her a small mercy of a single digit seeking upwards inside her and her back arched sharply as she came with his lips on her and his name on hers.

[triangulum-theory]

Headcanons I've been cooking;

-the paradise theater doing a mystery science theater 3000 bit most days (I'm like 90% sure that its basically the equivalent in their multiverse anyway, oops)

-frank and clementine still tries to keep contact and make visits if even possible anymore. June likes to receive letters and postcards as a loose penpal relationship as proof of their "mad lib situation"

-I feel robbed that June and Ava didn't interact much, they'd have so much fun and nobody would be able to handle these bar buds. Never mind theres probably a reason why these two aren't allowed in a bar together, but I love their raw chaos and hijinks would definitely go on

-Gloria makes the storage closet her room at first but when Caspar gets back, he gives her the main office since she's da b0ss now, she still spends a lot of time camping with her bts wolves making stew for them, its her own therapy

-Leif putting together a game console for the gang when theyre bored, Caspar is the best at retro games surprisingly aside from the fact hes been asking for a pinball machine forever, everyone cracks old man jokes. Mostly David and Ava, his biggest hecklers <3

-eventually they begin to cultivate a small arcade, leif fixes up a few machines for the diner (its free) kids across the cosmos go 'you mean you have to play the game with your hands?? Its like a baby's toy :/" caspar is flabbergasted, Leif just shrugs and goes "i warned you bro" and does more Leif shit

-David plays cod on their designated staff console in the office space in their down time between shifts. Feet kicked up and the lazy fan blowing, do you see my vision? this is the most important highlight so far

-David used to stream sometimes on earth in LA for funsies now and then during lockdown when he wasnt up for running out at night vandalizing the blank canvas known as the streets

-he still talks to his mom and plays catch up even from space despite the time it takes to send messages. David continues to find her drunk calls entertaining (canon anyway) Caspar doesn't really drink alcohol and is worried about the loss of control, I think hes just anxious and insecure about it.

*I don't really think caspar was much of a dick when he drank raising david, he probably was a rambling annoying dad with a shitty attitude that was hard to tolerate. like, okay, old man, we get it the world sucksss stop being so sad and let's play legos and not roleplay the state of the economic decline about it (shh, I'm not projecting gay son and drunk well meaning dad dynamics)

-Ava peer pressures Caspar *only* for celebrations anyway

-micheladas for everyone the next day, some sweet hair of the dog when the various drank theyre able to get their hands on is too much to cope with the next day if they still even have moonshine to spare left

-Leif stocks up on so much fucking hash whilst in Pasadena (as one does stuck in shitty corners of California for hangovers, generalized depression, and dread. hence all the alcohol mentions I'm not promoting alcoholic diner dwellers I swear-) which tbh parallels the way Ava stocks up nicotine from ye old moonshiner imo

Idk I have more I might add and tack on later I love these doofuses

[schismusic]

SCHISMUSIC'S YEAR-END LIST OF BEST MUSIC 2024 NO CLICKBAIT NO VIRUS

This year was spent mostly on giving some time to stuff that I hadn't listened to on release, or that I'd actually listened to in the past but hadn't quite given my full attention. If I had to name names, I'd have to mention Drain Gang (specifically E by Ecco2k) for the first category, and Killing Joke or early Sunny Day Real Estate for the second one. It has still been a long year full of events and releases, some of which I have discussed in the past on this blog – you'll know them when you see them, or link to the main post for more in-depth opinions – and as such it feels appropriate, now more so than last year, to cook up a best-of year-end list.

I don't intend to exactly tie into any specific hype cycle, but neither will I be entirely out of hype in general. The idea is, these are records released in the year 2024 I've spent a lot of time with, usually not in a begrudging way for the most part. That is basically the sole principle by which a record gets picked for this list, because I don't really have the authority to evaluate records any other way. I just listen to a bunch of shit and if I like it, it's great for me and much less great for you, what can I say.

Pyrrhon - Exhaust

Nothing to do with the zeitgeist, nothing to do with good manners and common sense; it's death metal but played with as much boiling rage as any given band on AmRep in the '90s, entirely written and recorded live – which helps the single songs stay solid, consistent, eyes-on-the-prize, no-nonsense.

Tracks that hit like a jackhammer:

Out of Gas

Concrete Charlie

Not Going to Mars

Ulver - Liminal Animals

Third pop record (if we're only counting full lengths, which we shouldn't, since Sic Transit Gloria Mundi back in '17 was as much a certified banger as Assassination) by the Wolves of the North. This one benefits from a slightly less postmodern outlook and approach than the last two (or three), which makes it especially better than Flowers of Evil, and feels animated by a genuine sense of terror.

Tracks that spent a lot of time in my queue for a bunch of reasons:

The Red Light

Nocturne #1

Ghost Entry (honorable mention for the simple-yet-stunning Autechre remix)

Rude Cinno - Bassa qualità

This is, partially, shameless self-promotion, considering Rude Cinno have been more active as publicity agent for my own band than we ourselves were. This being said, the record is actually very good, sporting a very clear Sleaford Mods influence but playing the interesting card of Emilian folk music and dialect interspersed throughout the record. The result is a cute retrofuturist approach that makes it sound like William Gibson grew up in Castel Maggiore.

Tracks that made me laugh a bit, cry a lot, think very hard:

Curati

Titolo mancante

Miglior tempolinea

Sunrise Patriot Motion - My Father Took Me Hunting in the Snow

This record was already discussed in my worried music post, so that's a more in-depth treatment of it. For the purposes of this post, suffice it to say that this up-and-coming Noughties revival has, if anything, one good thing: the revelation that nu-metal in the right hands can be more of a toolbox than a music genre or a set of conventions. This and the sheer quality of the recorded performances (Andy Chugg on vocals especially shines with his anguished, horrified, eldritch yelling) simply tramples all criticisms.

Hard to pick any standout tracks, since this is a very short EP with two dungeon synth interludes out of four tracks. Works better in tandem with Sunrise Patriot Motion's first LP.

Resfeber - domani il sole

Deeper shade of shameless self-promotion here, in that Rebecca, singer for Resfeber, is also the singer for NUMBERS and the Operators, but the tracks featured here are more than competently written, arranged and played. Smooth jazz-funk that feels natural and lived in, elegant and direct. Short and sweet. (v)incenso, as a title, made me laugh quite a bit, and fortunately I do quite enjoy the track.

Shellac - To All Trains

Let's be real: this would have made this list even if it sucked royally. It does not suck royally, to no one's surprise. It sounds like a Shellac record (that is, it sounds great), it's played with consummate savoir-faire if not straight up somewhat bothered, it's got that ironic thing that Shellac as a band have been masters of since the very first seven-inch records. I don't think it would be warranted of anyone to ask anything more than this.

Tracks that made me realize these guys had still got it:

Scrappers

Chick New Wave

I Don't Fear Hell (RIP)

HONORABLE MENTION: Charli xcx - Brat

The entire media/publicity operation around this record has been played so much and for so long that it's impossible to cut it any slack at all by now (admittedly, not entirely through Charli or her own PR entourage's own faults). The remade record with the guests is impossibly bad and useless. The record's merch utilises the meme so much that it becomes absolutely tedious if not actively enraging if not shameful, plain and simple. The music takes the liberty to utilize a sound palette that's been pioneered by trans and nonbinary creatives – in Charli xcx's own music as well, sure – and then takes that sound palette to write a ballad about marrying a man and having children. The true miracle amidst all of this mess is that if you absolutely ignore all the noise around it and go back to the record, and by that I mean the actual recorded music, all of this ceases to be a problem when the record works as intended (usually during the noisiest, messiest bits of it all). RIP SOPHIE <3

AOTY: Ben Frost - Scope Neglect

On the nineteenth anniversary of his early breakthrough Theory of Machines, after A U R O R A yet again took the world by storm ten years ago and after 2017's The Centre Cannot Hold had some of the critics merrily proclaim that Ben Frost had "already given what he had to give", this guy comes out and at least tries to redefine his own main sound palette. I mean, realistically this all ties extremely well in his established MO so far – Steel Wound was heavily guitar based, Theory of Machines ostensibly and repeatedly sampled Swans, By the Throat translated black metal aesthetics into a heavily organic form of dark ambient that had more in common with John Carpenter's The Thing than it did with Transilvanian Hunger or any Burzum release, A U R O R A took that same sonic violence and applied it to the sounds of the hippest dancefloors on the Internet. This is really just the next logical step: Greg Kubacki's guitar work, on paper quite in line with what he usually does with Car Bomb, sears and maims throughout the whole forty-minute runtime and firebrands every second into the listener's brain. The electronic backdrop (as well as Liam Andrews from My Disco, offering his bass guitar for bludgeoning purposes) recontextualizes the whole affair from simple heavy onslaught into levels of aural violence that feel quite literally reality-bending while listening.

[richincolor]

Mid-Autumn and Mooncakes

With the Mid-Autumn Festival coming up at the end of September, mooncakes have been on my mind. Several conversations have revolved around the festival and food in my real life and on social media so I started wondering if there were YA books for that. And yes indeed, here are a few books featuring the moon or mooncakes that I've read or have on my TBR.

Retellings Related to the Moon

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan Little, Brown Books For Young Readers

Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.

Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.

As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love… but time is running out, and fate will have its way.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan Harper Voyager

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang'e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm. Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

Mooncakes 

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu Oni Press [Jessica's Review]

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao Viking

Liya and Kai had been best friends since they were little kids, but all that changed when a humiliating incident sparked The Biggest Misunderstanding Of All Time—and they haven’t spoken since.

Then Liya discovers her family's wishing lantern store is struggling, and she decides to resume a tradition she had with her beloved late grandmother: secretly fulfilling the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky. It may boost sales and save the store, but she can't do it alone . . . and Kai is the only one who cares enough to help.

While working on their covert missions, Liya and Kai rekindle their friendship—and maybe more. But when their feuding families and their changing futures threaten to tear them apart again, can they find a way to make their own wishes come true?

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee Underlined

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn.

Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons.

In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems.

Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?