#Godwin Swift

[streetsofdublin]

GULLIVER MURAL BY MEAGHAN QUINN

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin on 30th November 1667 and was given over to a nurse to be minded in England. He did not meet his mother again until he was 21 years old, this was not unusual in those days.

JONATHAN SWIFT LIVED FOR A WHILE IN TRIM COUNTY MEATH Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin on 30th November 1667 and was given over to a nurse to be minded in England. He did not meet his mother again until he was 21 years old, this was not unusual in those days. The cost of his education was funded by his uncle Godwin Swift. He was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin where he…

[avelera]

"Weirdness", Decency, and the Historical Echoes of Walz's tide-turning call-out of MAGA

At the risk of writing a high school paper about American politics in 2024, I think there's a historical echo that I'd like to add to the conversation of why Walz calling MAGA people, "weird" seems to finally armed Democrats with a line of personal attacks against MAGA that resonates with voters and seems to have overall broken the spell on this, well, weird behavior by them.

I think the one line of discussion that I haven't seen explored as to why the "weird" attack seems to be working to call out this aptly-named behavior by the far right in America is its similarity to the end of another far right movement in America: McCarthy's Red Scare.

It is popularly attributed that the moment, the quote, that brought about the end of the Red Scare was this:

"Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Special Counsel for the U.S. Army Joseph N. Welch confronting Sen. Joseph McCarthy (source)

Many historical accounts will say this is the moment the spell broke with McCarthy. That this is the moment when Americans looked around like the naval officer at the end of Lord of the Flies and basically said, "What the hell is going on here?"

I think Walz's "weird" quote is this moment.

I've been waiting for this moment to occur with MAGA for some time. It did indeed feel as if no amount of pointing out the lunacy, the absurdity, of the movement was enough. I think other commentators might be right when saying that appealing to how dangerous they are, how scary they are, wasn't working. I could speculate on a variety of reasons for this, like that people like to be part of the winning side and being "scary" can feel good. Or that because of Godwin's Law it's nearly impossible to impress upon people how serious and swift the rise of fascism can be even when it's right in front of you, because no one wants to believe that "our sort of people" would do that sort of thing.

But calling out the MAGA movement as "weird" seems to be working because it echoes Welch's "decency" attack. It is treating childish behavior with the response it deserves. It's huff of exasperation, it's the admonishment of the social choir saying, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you care about other people's personal lives so much? Why the hell are you trying to ban books like the Nazis did? Why are you going after women and immigrants and trans kids? Why can't you just be a good neighbor and leave people alone? At long last have you no sense of decency?"

We're tired of it. The MAGA movement has gone too far beyond the wishes of the moderate "silent majority" (such as it is and that's its own topic of debate) and is now obsessed with its own culture war issues that have grown increasingly detached from anything anyone really cares about day to day except for their die hards. And those die hards are so out of touch they don't realize it happened.

If I may end on one last rumination, I think that part of the reason the MAGA movement has lost touch is because of Trump's skill at marketing. Now, I loathe pretty much every aspect of the man, I struggle to think of any point on which I don't, but there is one thing, one thing I'll give him credit for which is being an arguably generational talent at marketing, branding, and self-promotion. He's good at getting his name on things and making them all about him (before he inevitably runs them into the ground).

But the thing is with marketing, you do a thing called A/B testing. You see which message resonates the most. And if a feel-good ad gets you 30% response and a misogynistic ad gets you 60% response, you go with that misogynistic one because the numbers support it (I actually saw this happen with an ad campaign so it's based on personal experience).

Now, if you notice that 16 year old boys really like your product and if you sell to them, you move more product, even if you lost the interest of everyone else, you're still doing a good job at moving your product (see Hollywood for the last few decades). Because a large, certain audience is better in marketing than trying to achieve broad but tepid appeal.

But the thing in politics is that you actually do have to expand your appeal. You have to get over 50% in the US. That means expanding the coalition, appealing to more people. But that runs counter to the way a lot of product marketing would work, where you'd single out your best audience and market aggressively to them because you'll get a better return. That, I think, is why Trump risks losing the middle even as he has the right locked down. He is a marketer, not a politician. He has his reliable audience. But that reliable audience isn't enough to win office. It's just enough to get reliable buyers of his product. And he doesn't know how to expand beyond them.

To bring this all back to "weirdness" and "decency", I think this too plays into what we're seeing. The MAGA movement has turned in on itself through its constant marketing to itself, always seeking a bigger outrage, a bigger sequel to bring people to the theater. That has put it out of touch with the wider mainstream. It's made them weird, a weird subculture within America that is not in touch with what most people want out of their government.

At least, that's what I hope. We'll find out in a few months now, won't we?

[idkyetxoxo]

Two | Allure | The Last Kingdom

"What do you know about Freyja?"

"Enough to know that she is the cause behind such unparalleled beauty,"

<- prev || masterlist || next ->

───☆⋅☾⋅☆───

Hild stood beside me, offering quiet prayers, as Uhtred and Finan solemnly dug up Gisela's body. Tears streamed down Uhtred's face as Gisela's body was engulfed in flames. I held him close as he mourned the loss of a woman so deeply cherished.

Beocca eventually approached Uhtred to discuss the grave we had just disturbed, and I joined them. Despite the circumstances, Uhtred insisted on expressing his remorse and offered his apologies.

However, the peace was short-lived as Brother Godwin, driven by arrogance and bigotry, began disparaging Gisela, labelling her a pagan whore unfit for blessed ground. His disrespectful words cut through the sombre air, provoking my ire.

"Shut your trap, you pathetic excuse for a man. You've got bigger worries than your endless whining, like the fact that you're as useless as your withered limbs" I snapped, the sharpness of my tone cutting through the tension. Aelswith gasped audibly as I offered her a mocking curtsy.

When Godwin persisted in his insults, Uhtred finally snapped, striking him down in a fit of rage, unintentionally killing him. Alfred's men moved to seize Uhtred, but he managed to flee the hall, with me hot on his heels as an "oh shit" slipped my lips.

Alfred's command echoed through Winchester, ordering the city to be locked down and Uhtred to be brought to him. Outside, the tension thickened as Steapa's presence loomed near. Yet, Finan and Sihtric stood firm, denying him entry.

As I stepped outside, Hild entered, exacerbating Steapa's frustration. "Uhtred!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the air. I feigned irritation, covering my ears dramatically.

"Shh, shh, shh, you're annoying our little devil," Finan quipped, gesturing towards me with a knowing smirk and a finger over his lips. "Uhtred, don't make me step on your Irishman," Steapa persisted, his words heavy with veiled threat.

"That's not nice," I rebuked, my tone laced with sarcasm, "you could do so much more than just step on him," I teased, meeting Steapa's narrowed gaze with a mischievous twinkle in my eye.

I trailed my finger teasingly across his chest, meeting his eyes with a sultry stare as I slowly bit on my lower lip.

His discomfort was palpable, his grip tightening as he squirmed. With a swift movement, he grabbed my hand and pushed me away, a mix of annoyance and uncertainty flickering across his features.

"You're no fun, big man," I grumbled, shooting Sihtric a wink as he bristled. With a flirtatious gesture, I blew Steapa a kiss before following Beocca and Aethelwold back toward the house, leaving Steapa to stew in his annoyance.

As we entered the house, tension thickened in the air, spurred by Uhtred's terse warning to Skade "I will kill you if you speak again." I couldn't help but find amusement in the situation, a flicker of a smirk gracing my lips as I glanced at Skade, whose expression betrayed a mixture of defiance and irritation.

Alfred's demands unfolded as expected, he wanted Uhtred to swear an oath to Edward. Beocca interjected, reminding Uhtred of the opportunities Alfred had afforded him in Wessex, emphasizing the weight of the choice before him.

Reluctantly, Uhtred handed his weapons off to Finan and Sihtric, signalling his intent to comply with the king's summons. As he informed Steapa of his decision to go peacefully to the king, a sense of unease settled over the room.

"Uhtred, what are you doing?" I couldn't help but voice my concern, meeting his desperate gaze. There was something in his eyes, a silent plea hinting at unforeseen consequences.

──☆⋅☾⋅☆──

Outside, I paced restlessly, my impatience evident as we waited on Uhtred. "Stop that, it's distracting," Sihtric grumbled, and I paused momentarily before resuming my restless pacing.

"You're pacing like a caged animal," Sihtric remarked with a mocking sneer, his voice dripping with disdain "And you're talking like an imbecile," I shot back.

"Save your wit for someone who cares to hear it," he retorted, his eyes narrowing into a glare. "I'll save it for when I need to remind you of your place," I snapped, my words slicing through the atmosphere.

Uhtred's arrival interrupted the exchange, his presence commanding attention and quelling the venom that had momentarily permeated the air.

As we mounted our horses and prepared to depart, I couldn't ignore the visible signs of Uhtred's discomfort. "Uhtred, you're injured," I gasped, concern etched into my voice as he grunted dismissively, brushing off the notion with a wave of his hand.

Skade, ever the cunning manipulator, continued her sinister game, weaving tales to ensnare Uhtred further. "Should you continue to deny me, you will remain cursed," she hissed, her words dripping with malice. I couldn't help but exhale loudly, exasperated by her relentless manipulation.

"You're sounding increasingly desperate," I retorted, meeting her sneer with a defiant gaze. "Go ride alongside Sihtric and annoy him," I ordered, nudging her horse forward with a forceful gesture.

"He's just as desperate as you, wasting all his silver on women who don't want him," I added, throwing a sly wink in Sihtric's direction as he rolled his eyes.

Turning to Finan and Uhtred, I listened as Finan voiced the question burning in all our minds. "Why isn't she dead yet?" he demanded, his voice tinged with frustration. Uhtred's response was cryptic yet revealing, hinting at forces beyond our comprehension.

Despite the urge to lash out at the absurdity of the situation, I maintained my composure, the weight of our predicament settling heavily upon us as we rode on.

──☆⋅☾⋅☆──

Uhtred's condition worsened with every passing moment, a growing worry gnawing at my heart. When he vomited and tumbled from his horse, it was the final alarm bell, jolting me into action. With a surge of urgency, I reined in my own mount, sprinting to his side in a whirlwind of concern.

"She is squeezing the life from me," Uhtred said, his voice strained with pain. I shook my head firmly, pressing a calming hand against his chest. "You are going to be just fine. We'll get to Brida, she'll know what to do," I reassured him, my voice laced with determination as I glanced between Finan, Osferth, and Sihtric.

Despite my attempts at reassurance, the worry in my eyes betrayed the facade of hope. We all knew Uhtred's condition was dire. Taking a moment to gather ourselves, I quickly prepared a bowl of broth, passing it to Osferth to bring to my ailing brother.

"He's going to be fine, right?" Finan's voice trembled with concern, his worry noticeable. "He is strong. He will be just fine, he's a Ragnarsson, it's in our fate," I replied, offering him a weak smile. 

"So you didn't inherit the strong quality then?" Sihtric's jest sliced through the tension, drawing an irked scowl from me.

"Sleep with one eye open, rat, maybe I'll have to show you just how vicious I can be," I shot back, my tone sharp as I pivoted toward Uhtred's side.

"God, she was truly created by Freyja herself," Finan mused as I stepped away, his admiration laced with a reverent tone. 

"What do you know about Freyja?" Sihtric's astonished query lingered in the air as I walked off, his gaze fixed on my departing silhouette, taking in every movement.

"Enough to know that she is the cause behind such unparalleled beauty," Finan sighed, redirecting his focus to the horses. "That she is," Sihtric murmured in solemn agreement before joining Finan, a contemplative expression etched across his features.

──☆⋅☾⋅☆──

Gratefully, Brida arrived at our camp and guided us toward Dunholm.

"Ragnar!" I exclaimed with unbridled joy as I leapt into his arms, allowing him to twirl us in a circle before gently setting me down.

"Any of these men giving you trouble?" Ragnar inquired, casting a casual glance toward the group. I feigned contemplation for a brief moment before shaking my head. 

"Hmm," I hummed playfully, "You know well and good that no man would even dare to give me trouble," I answered, falling into step beside him as we walked, eager to catch up.

It took time, but Uhtred eventually recovered from his sickness, and Skade was securely locked away with a Nithstong buried opposite her to nullify her powers.

We gathered in the grand hall, nursing drinks and engaged in conversation while Cnut questioned Uhtred about his reputation. 

"Cnut, if you're questioning him, then you're questioning me," I remarked absentmindedly, spinning a dagger between my fingers.

I knew all too well that Uhtred didn't particularly enjoy the nickname Dane-slayer.

"We all know questioning me never ends well," I added with a grin, landing the dagger into the wood of the table inches away from his hand.

"I never understood how she's related to you two," Brida commented, settling beside us and gesturing between Ragnar and Cnut. "The gods knew they had to bless our parents with at least one decent child," I quipped, smirking as Ragnar tossed a piece of bread in my direction.

"Truly, the gods were weaving mischief on the day she graced us with her presence" Ragnar chimed in, prompting me to throw the bread back at him.

"Come, Brida, let's pay a visit to the little witch. I'm tired of gazing at these heathens," I declared, pulling her up as we strode towards the cell. 

"She is powerful," Brida remarked as we approached the cell door. "She's nothing but a fluke," I retorted, peering inside to see Skade grumbling in her cell.

"Oye, Jackdaw, wake up and do your job," I ordered, nudging the sleeping Dane, who grumbled as he positioned himself back in front of the cell.

I smirked at Skade, blowing her a kiss as she snarled in response.

"I have also been cursed," Brida confided as we began to walk back. "I cannot bear children," she continued, and a frown creased my brow at her words. "I'm sorry," I offered sympathetically, stopping her from walking but she casually brushed off my concern. "Do not worry, I am content enough with Ragnar," she assured, and I smiled.

"I'm glad," I began, sincerity lacing my tone. "If he ever wrongs you, you tell me, and I'll ensure he regrets it," I vowed, prompting her laughter as we returned to the hall.

"It will draw many Danes," Ragnar remarked as Brida and I settled back into our seats. "What will?" I inquired, seizing Cnut's drink and taking a sip myself.

"Alfred without Uhtred," Ragnar explained, and I turned to Uhtred, eyebrows raised in curiosity. Clearly, we had missed a significant portion of the conversation

"If Uhtred is to truly be a Dane then he must undo the past and destroy Alfred" Brida supplemented.

From the expression on Finan's face, it was evident that he did not endorse the idea in the slightest. However, I tabled the matter for the time being, aware that a more extensive discussion would unfold later.

The night carried on with an abundance of ale coursing through everyone's veins, fostering an atmosphere of revelry.

As a game unfolded, so did the tension and teasing between Sihtric and me.

With each toss of the small pebble into the cups of ale, our taunts flew across the table like arrows in battle, adding an extra layer of amusement to the spirited contest.

With a sardonic smirk, I raised my cup, the glint of defiance dancing in my eyes. "Careful, Sihtric. I wouldn't want to bruise that delicate ego of yours any further," I taunted, my voice dripping with venom as I prepared for my next shot.

Sihtric's response was swift, his retort sharp and cutting. "Ah, so the little devil fancies herself a competitor now? Pity you've always been better at running your mouth than skill," he jabbed, his words like daggers aimed at my pride.

As Uhtred and Ragnar observed the intense exchange between Sihtric and me, a subtle yet unmistakable tension lingered in the air, charging the atmosphere with an undercurrent of intrigue and rivalry.

Their eyes met in a silent exchange, speaking volumes without the need for words. Ragnar's brow furrowed slightly, his gaze flickering between Sihtric and me as if deciphering the hidden dynamics at play.

"Are they...?" Ragnar's voice trailed off, his words laced with curiosity as he sought Uhtred's perspective on the matter.

Uhtred shook his head with a knowing grin, dismissing any notions that Ragnar might have entertained. "No they've always been like this," he replied, his tone light yet tinged with a hint of mischief.

Despite Uhtred's reassurance, Ragnar couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the verbal sparring between Sihtric and me than met the eye. Nevertheless, he accepted Uhtred's explanation with a nod, content to leave the matter be for the time being.

As the game continued Ragnar's mind occasionally wandered back to the subtle nuances of our interaction, pondering the complexities of friendship, rivalry, and perhaps even a hint of unspoken attraction that lingered beneath the surface.

"Keep dreaming, Sihtric it's the closest you'll ever get to victory," I fired, my tone laced with icy disdain as I released my next pebble with calculated precision.

Sihtric's laughter echoed through the hall, a mocking symphony that grated on my nerves like sandpaper. "Victory? You wouldn't know victory if it struck you in the face, little devil," he jeered.

As the game raged on, so too did our verbal onslaught, each taunt and insult fueling the flames of our rivalry.

"Game, now drink," Sihtric taunted with a smirk, his eyes dancing with mischief as he threw the final pebble with ease. With a roll of my eyes, I reached into the cup, retrieving the winning pebble with a flick of my fingers.

Raising the cup to my lips, I tilted my head back, allowing the liquid to cascade down my throat. Some of it escaped, trickling along the contours of my chin before tracing a tantalizing path down the curve of my neck, disappearing into the valley between my breasts.

As the cup met the table with a resounding slam, I wiped the remnants of the drink from my mouth with the back of my hand. 

Glancing up, I couldn't help but notice Sihtric's unwavering gaze fixed upon me. His eyes lingered on the escaped ale, following its trail as if ensnared by its journey down my chest, a mixture of fascination and desire evident in his gaze.

───☆⋅☾⋅☆───

medieval beer pong anyone 😝😝 ALSO thank you for all the support on the first part I'm so grateful but also kinda nervous now because I don't want to disappoint with the rest of the parts 😭

[jtophat]

My Ponyboy Curtis playlist because I love it, I listen to it quite frequently even when I’m not writing stuff involving him, and want to share it.

Fast Car- Tracy Chapman

Imagine- John Lennon

Dark Days- Punch Brothers

Mama Tried- Grateful Dead (The song is originally by Merle Haggard but I listen to the Grateful Dead version)

East Side of Sorrow- Zach Bryan

hope ur okay- Olivia Rodrigo

Renegades- X-Ambassadors

Everybody Wants To Rule The World- Tears For Fears

Boy In The Bubble- Alec Benjamin

Uptown Girl- Billy Joel

Everybody Knows- Sigrid

Friends In Low Places- Garth Brooks

Winter’s Come and Gone- Charles Wesley Godwin (Song originally by Gillian Welch but I feel like this version fits Ponyboy better)

teenage dream- Olivia Rodrigo

Youth- Daughter

Teenage Dirtbag- Wheatus

Friend of the Devil- Grateful Dead

You’re On Your Own Kid- Taylor Swift

Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles

Tomorrow Will Be Kinder- The Secret Sisters

My reason/analysis for each song is below:

Fast Car- I think the desperation for a better life but the cycle of how life can drag you down and make you live the same lives as the people is something that can relate to Pony. I feel like, deep down, he probably has a fear that things may not work out for him as well as people hope and that he may end up living the same kind of life as the rest of the people in his neighborhood which is why I also think it’s a great song to choose to have as the opener for the playlist. I know Luke Combs has a cover of this song and that it may be the more masculine take on it but I feel like the way Tracy Chapman sings it just has so much heart that it really works for Ponyboy. And plus, Tracy Chapman is my favorite artist so I had to go with her version.

Imagine- I think the song has a bit of a daydreamy kind of vibe that can represent how Ponyboy is described as having his head in the clouds. The song is also a call for peace and unity among people and asks them to imagine a world where what divides them no longer exists which is something that I can see Ponyboy longing for.

Dark Days- The song is about how love getting people through difficult times which is something that I think really works for the Curtis brothers because no matter what they love each other and will do whatever they can to help each other, especially after their parents die.

Mama Tried- I think the song works really well for the vibe of the gang as a whole even if it’s something that may directly relate to Ponyboy. And even if Ponyboy doesn’t get into much trouble I’m sure that he gets into more than his mother would have wanted for him (especially after goes on the run for Bob’s murder)

East Side of Sorrow- I think there is so much about the song that relate to so many people in the story but I’ll try to keep my analysis limited to Ponyboy. I think while when song talks about fighting a war that you don’t even know what your fighting for works well for the metaphorical war between the Greasers and the Socs in the books. It’s been going on long before Pony and will continue long after him and no matter what he will never fully understand it even though he too participates in it. “I lost friends in the August heat” I feel really relates to Johnny and Dally’s death, because it was probably about that time that the book takes place. And when the song talks about losing someone in the waiting room and that the doctor did all the could it really brings home the point about Johnny’s death. The song then mentions walking around the Tulsa streets while feeling fucked up which represent Pony’s depression after the death of Johnny and Dally and how he was aimlessly going through life. I also like how the song specifically refers to the east, and of course the Greasers live on the East side of Tulsa. The song then also talks about the sunrise as a symbol of optimism for the future and the sun imagery really works for Ponyboy. After all, sunrises can’t really be that different than sunsets for him.

hope ur okay- I feel like this is how Ponyboy will look back on the people he knew in Tulsa once he finally moves away. I also like how the song references a towhead blonde which is also similar to how Ponyboy describes Dally.

Renegades- I feel like this song really works for Johnny and Pony running away from Tulsa. Even though it’s a bit optimistic for the events in the book, I still feel like it also works for their friendship too.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World- I feel like Ponyboy would really dig the instrumentals of the song and the references to well, people wanting to rule the world works for the story in an odd way that I can’t quite explain. But the vibe of it just really works

Boy In The Bubble- I feel like the beginning of the song is really reminiscent of how Ponyboy and the rest of the gang will get jumped by Socs but in the end where it discusses the home life of the person who attacked the singer represents Ponyboy gaining an understanding of how things are rough all over Tulsa and that even Socs have problems

Uptown Girl- I feel like once Ponyboy starts liking girls (if he does even like girls because I’m not entirely convinced that boy is straight) he would mainly have a thing for Soc girls. The song is about a lower class boy wanting to get with an upper class girl which is what I can see for Ponyboy in the future.

Everybody Knows- The Greasers have the cards stacked against them and everybody knows this, especially Ponyboy.

Friends In Low Places- I was debating between this and Heathens but this won because it’s country (I feel like the gang would really like country music) and the friends in low places is an obvious reference to the gang. I also think that in a way it shows how Ponyboy is out of place in his classes because he’s a Greaser and there are a lot of Socs in them.

Winter’s Come and Gone- I love the outdoorsy vibe of the song and think that Pony would too. I also like the lyrics “so long now I’ve been out in the rain in snow” because I think it can work as a really interesting way of portraying the gangs struggles and how Ponyboy doesn’t feel like he entirely fits in.

teenage dream- Ponyboy really hates it when people refer to him as being a kid which is a sentiment that I think this song shares. I also think it has a slight desperation to be taken seriously which is something that I also think that Ponyboy relates to.

Youth- It only loosely relates but has lyrics like “if you’re still breathing your the lucky ones” which in a way works because it shows that even things are tough, as long as you’re still alive you’re pretty lucky. Because, as we see in the novel, Greasers tend to die young so those of them who still able to keep on living are pretty lucky.

Teenage Dirtbag- I feel like the title of song is probably a bit about how Ponyboy feels about himself. I also think that song relates a bit to teen who are bit more into counter culture/ may get into a bit more trouble which I think works really well with Ponyboy.

Friend of the Devil- From the title alone I think it works. Ponyboy is friends with a lot of troubled people, and some of them, like Dally, some people probably consider a bit devilish. The song as a whole may not perfectly work with Ponyboy but I feel like the vibe of it does

You’re On Your Own Kid- I feel like this is really a Ponyboy in twenty years looking back at his life/childhood kind of song. And also shows how at the end of the day, and even though the gang wants to help him, the only person who is truly looking out for him is himself. He’s not like the rest of the gang. He’s on his own.

Here Comes The Sun- The song has a really optimistic tone has promises of a better future. It also has a lot of sun imagery

Tomorrow Will Be Kinder: The song is hopeful for a future that is better than the present. I think that is the kind of sentiment that Ponyboy holds onto throughout life, especially during his childhood. I think if he doesn’t develop that kind of outlook he will probably be depressed for most of his life.

Some my analysis for this stuff is better than others and not all songs directly relate to Ponyboy, or even the gang/Greasers, but I think the vibe for each song works.

[bracketsoffear]

Vast Leitner Reading List

The full list of submissions for the Vast Leitner bracket. Bold titles are ones which were accepted to appear in the bracket. Synopses and propaganda can be found below the cut. Be warned, however, that these may contain spoilers!

Abedi, Isabel: Forbidden World Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Asimov, Isaac: Nightfall

Borges, Jorge Luis: El Aleph Bradbury, Ray: Kaleidoscope Bradbury, Ray: No Particular Night or Morning

Caine, Rachel: Weather Wardens Clarke, Arthur C.: Maelstrom II Clarke, Susanna: Piranesi Coates, Darcy: From Below Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Curtis, Wardon Allan: The Monster of Lake LaMetrie

Foster, Alan Dean: He

Gardner, Martin: Thang Godwin, Tom: The Nothing Equation Gonzalez, J.F.: Clickers Gorky, Maxim: The Song of the Stormy Petrel Grant, Mira: Into the Drowning Deep

Hawking, Lucy and Stephen: George's Secret Key to the Universe Hardinge, Frances: Deeplight

Inglis, James: Night Watch

King, Stephen: The Jaunt

Lewis, C.S.: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Liu, Cixin: The Dark Forest (Three Body Problem Book 2) Lovecraft, H.P.: Dagon

Macfarlane, Robert: Underland Marquitz, Tim and Nickolas Sharps, ed.: Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters Melville, Herman: Moby Dick Mortimore, Jim: Beltempest

North, Claire: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Oesterheld, Héctor Germán: El Eternauta

Poe, Edgar Allen: A Descent into the Maelström Pratchett, Terry and Steven Baxter: The Long Earth series Purser-Hallard, Philip: Of the City of the Saved...

Reed, Robert: An Exaltation of Larks Reisman, Michael: Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper

Sanderson, Brandon: Firefight Seuss, Dr.: Horton Hears a Who! Simmons, Dan: The Terror Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver's Travels

Tennyson, Alfred: The Kraken Tolstoy, Leo: War & Peace

Verne, Jules: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Abedi, Isabel: Forbidden World

"Reginald has gained a dangerous power. He can shrink anything he likes. And he wants nothing less than the world's most famous buildings. The originals in miniaturized form, of course. Gradually he builds up a huge landscape in his cellar. But Reginald has overlooked something, or more precisely someone. Otis was locked in the Statue of Liberty and Olivia had fled from the police into the famous Berlin department store KaDeWe, when suddenly at night the buildings shrank. Now the children are the size of a fingernail... While they fight for their lives, chaos breaks out in the world outside: where have the monuments gone? And who has stolen them?" Vast stuff: Otis' fear of heights is a huge plot point and he was born on a plane. While Olivia wants to become a pilot. Many scenes of being in high places and terrified, and focus on being very small in a big world.

Spoilers: This book contains two Djinns one that can change the sizes of things one that can make them small and one that can make them big. But they are running out of magic fuel so staying small is the big fear of the characters.

Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The series swings wildly between cosmic dread and comedy, from the insignificance of the Earth's destruction to the chaotic results of the Infinite Improbability Drive to the very notion of the Total Perspective Vortex, the story hammers home again and again the infinitesimal nature of our existence in the vastness of the universe.

***

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy": Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe": Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

"Life, the Universe and Everything": The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky- so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish": Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

"Mostly Harmless": Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

The incomprehensible vastness of the universe is a theme repeated throughout the 'Trilogy". Notable examples include the guide initially describes Earth as 'harmless", after being stranded there for several years, Ford revises this to "mostly harmless". The Total Perspective Vortex, a machine that extrapolates a model of the entire universe, along with a microscopic dot labeled "you are here" this sense of perspective destroys the victim’s mind.

Asimov, Isaac: Nightfall

Lagash's six suns means an Endless Daytime, except for once every 2,049 years, when five suns set and the only sun left in the hemisphere is eclipsed by the moon. The scientists are trying to prepare civilization and themselves for the upcoming nightfall, but when it does occur, no-one is prepared for the thirty thousand stars that suddenly appear in the night sky. This leads to the far more devastating revelation how tiny and insignificant they are by comparison.

"Aton, somewhere, was crying, whimpering horribly like a terribly frightened child. 'Stars — all the Stars — we didn't know at all. We didn't know anything. We thought six stars in a universe is something the Stars didn't notice is Darkness forever and ever and ever and the walls are breaking in and we didn't know we couldn't know and anything —'"

Borges, Jorge Luis: El Aleph

In Borges' story, the Aleph is a point in space that contains all other points. Anyone who gazes into it can see everything in the universe from every angle simultaneously, without distortion, overlapping, or confusion.

Bradbury, Ray: Kaleidoscope

First published in the October 1949 edition of Thrilling Wonder Stories this describes a scene where a spaceship is hit by a meteor and torn apart – ejecting the crew into space. Each astronaut flies off on his own trajectory, hurtling to his doom. For a time they can all communicate through their helmet comms, but slowly, as the separation becomes millions of miles apart, they wind up as solitary figures, alone with his thoughts.

Bradbury, Ray: No Particular Night or Morning

This story takes place during a long interstellar journey. The destination and purpose of the journey are unclear. There are many men (it seems only men) on a large ship. Among them are friends Hitchcock and Clemens. Hitchcock begins to struggle with the idea that there is anything that exists outside of him, that none of it can be proven to exist. Clemens tries to argue with him until Hitchcock is finally treated by the ship’s psychiatrist with the captain’s knowledge, but to no avail. He finally dons a space-suit and leaves the ship. Over the radio he can be heard muttering about how even his own body does not exist.

At one point, Hitchcock is asked why he wanted to go on this journey in the first place. Was he interested in the stars? In seeing other places? In travel? He responds that “It wasn’t going places. It was being between”

Caine, Rachel: Weather Wardens

A speculative fiction series about the secretive bureaucracy that controls the weather. Consequences of this include severely pissing off Mother Earth, sentient storm fronts, and falling from great heights. Often.

Clarke, Arthur C.: Maelstrom II

This short story revolves around an astronaut named Cliff Leyland drifting in a low orbit around the moon after an accident with his capsule's launch. Much of his time is spent waiting to see if he can be rescued and reunited with his family, or is doomed to crash and die.

Clarke, Susanna: Piranesi

Piranesi lives in a place called the House, a world composed of infinite halls and vestibules lined with statues, no two of which are alike. The upper level of the House is filled with clouds, and the lower level with an ocean, which occasionally surges into the middle level following tidal patterns that Piranesi meticulously tracks. He believes he has always lived in the House, and that there are only fifteen people in the world, all but two of whom are long-dead skeletons. The status that decorate the halls and walls of the House are all gigantic and the halls themself are immense and bigger than what any human would be able to build on their own.

Coates, Darcy: From Below

"No light. No air. No escape. Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, a graveyard waits... Years ago, the SS Arcadia vanished without a trace during a routine voyage. Though a strange, garbled emergency message was broadcast, neither the ship nor any of its crew could be found. Sixty years later, its wreck has finally been discovered more than three hundred miles from its intended course...a silent graveyard deep beneath the ocean's surface, eagerly waiting for the first sign of life. Cove and her dive team have been granted permission to explore the Arcadia's rusting hull. Their purpose is straightforward: examine the wreck, film everything, and, if possible, uncover how and why the supposedly unsinkable ship vanished. But the Arcadia has not yet had its fill of death, and something dark and hungry watches from below. With limited oxygen and the ship slowly closing in around them, Cove and her team will have to fight their way free of the unspeakable horror now desperate to claim them. Because once they're trapped beneath the ocean's waves, there's no going back."

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

This epic poem of a sea voyage beautifully encapsulates the horrors of the ocean, from the terrific force of horrific storms and whirlpools to the unsettling infinity of life, both beautiful and strange, that inhabits the depths below. Most of all, however, it shows the horror of being stranded at sea as the ship is becalmed in the doldrums.

"Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. The very deep did rot: Oh Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea."

The crew perish one by one, apart from the narrator. He, by killing the albatross, invoked the wrath of the sea. He alone must live on while the others are permitted to escape in death.

Curtis, Wardon Allan: The Monster of Lake LaMetrie

The story of Dr. James McLennegan and his sickly companion Edward Framingham who travel to a lake high up in the Wyoming mountains. When they reach the lake, McLennegan discovers it is home to an Elasmosaurus which attacks him, but he manages to kill it and removes the brain. Shortly afterwards Framingham seemingly commits suicide and McLennegan decides to place Framingham’s brain into the body of the Elasmosaur, as one does. While this works for a bit, the remainder of the story explores the horror of scale as Framingham's inability to adjust to his new size results in him snapping and devouring his now-insignificant former friend.

Foster, Alan Dean: He

A short story detailing an oceanographer's encounter with the last megalodon, a colossal shark that has lived for millions of years. He is feared by all other creatures and the sight of him installs a primal terror in humans.

Gardner, Martin: Thang

https://vintage.failed-dam.org/thang.htm The titular creature is large enough to grasp Earth between two fingers. It clears off all water and ice before chewing the planet, core and all, before it, in turn, is also eaten by a planet-eater eater.

Godwin, Tom: The Nothing Equation

A short story about how being stationed alone in an empty section of space drives a man mad. Like stories about lighthouses, but bigger. Short enough to link a complete ebook.

Gonzalez, J.F.: Clickers

"Phillipsport, Maine is a quaint and peaceful seaside village. But when hundreds of creatures pour out of the ocean and attack, its residents must take up arms to drive the beasts back. They are the Clickers, giant venomous blood-thirsty crabs from the depths of the sea. The only warning to their rampage of dismemberment and death is the terrible clicking of their claws. But these monsters aren't merely here to ravage and pillage. They are being driven onto land by fear. Something is hunting the Clickers. Something ancient and without mercy."

Basically, kaiju crabs invade the land -- because they're fleeing from something even bigger.

Gorky, Maxim: The Song of the Stormy Petrel

"A short poem, text can be found here. It describes the storm, vast and careless masses of water, roaring and ruthless skies, and a mighty storm petrel fearlessly taking on both elements. it even dares the tempest to get more intense, as all other oceanic forms of life (seagulls, grebes, a penguin) hide in horror before the face of the storm. stormy petrel in russian (буревестник), if translated literally, means 'the announcer of the storm'. there is a short old cartoon which depicts how this poem would function as a leitner, although the cartoon is very comedic and lighthearted. unfortunately, i wasn't able to find a version with english subtitles, but i think it would be clear just from the visuals"

Grant, Mira: Into the Drowning Deep

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy. Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

Hawking, Lucy and Stephen: George's Secret Key to the Universe

The space aspects of it, as well as the fact that a character gets trapped in a black hole at one point, gives off Vast vibes to me. Synopsis for more info: The main characters in the book are George Greenby, Susan Bellis, Eric Bellis, Annie Bellis, Dr. Reeper, and Cosmos, the world's most powerful computer. Cosmos can draw windows allowing people to look into outer space, as well as doors that act as portals allowing travel into outer space. It starts by describing atoms, stars, planets, and their moons. It then goes on to describe black holes, which remains the topic of focus in the last part of the book. At frequent intervals throughout the book, there are pictures and "fact files" of the different references to universal objects, including a picture of Mars with its moons.

Hardinge, Frances: Deeplight

"In the old days, the islands of the Myriad lived in fear of the gods, great sea monsters that rose up from the Undersea to devour ships and depopulate entire islands. Now, the gods are no more. They tore each other apart in an event known as the Cataclysm. Fragments of their bodies (known as godware) are dredged up and sold. Hark and his best friend Jelt are petty criminals. When they embark on a dangerous scavenging expedition, they stumble across a strange, pulsing piece of godware and things begin to go very, very wrong."

Gods, the ocean depths, and poverty all play into the themes of insignificance in this novel.

Inglis, James: Night Watch

Concerns an interstellar probe which is still functional when our Galaxy is dying. The story ends with the community of probes launched by various races and drawn together by the fact that very few stars are still shining, setting out on the long voyage to a distant and still-young galaxy as the last star of our galaxy burns out behind them.

King, Stephen: The Jaunt

“As a family prepares to be "Jaunted" to Mars in the 24th century, the father entertains his two children by recounting the curious tale of the discovery and history of this crude form of teleportation. He explains how the scientist who serendipitously discovered it quickly learned that it had a disturbing, inexplicable effect on the mice he "sent through"—eventually concluding that they could only survive the "Jaunt effect" while unconscious. That, the father explains, is why all people must undergo general anaesthesia before using the Jaunt.

The father spares his children the gruesome semi-apocryphal account of the first human to be Jaunted awake, a condemned murderer offered a full pardon for agreeing to the experiment. The man "came through" and immediately suffered a massive heart attack, living just long enough to utter a single cryptic phrase: It's eternity in there...

The father also doesn't mention that since that time, roughly thirty people have, voluntarily or otherwise, jaunted while conscious; they either died instantly or emerged insane. One woman was even shoved alive into eternal limbo by her murderous husband, stuck between two jaunt portals. The man was convicted of murder; though his attorneys attempted to argue that he was not guilty on the grounds that his wife was not technically dead, the implications of the same argument served to secure and hasten his execution.

After the father finishes his story, the family is subjected to the sleeping gas and Jaunted to Mars. When the father wakes, he finds that his inquisitive son held his breath in order to experience the Jaunt while conscious…Hair white with shock, corneas yellowed with age, clawing out his own eyes, the boy reveals the terrible nature of the Jaunt: "Longer than you think, Dad! It's longer than you think!"”

Lewis, C.S.: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

"The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World."

I mean it's a story about trying to get to the end of the world. What's more Vast than that?

Liu, Cixin: The Dark Forest (Three Body Problem Book 2)

I considered other books in the series but this book more than the others deals with the impact of discovering there is other life out in the universe and the distance between worlds as humanity learns an alien fleet is approaching earth at near-light speed. This book is both vast in the scale of the universe but also on a time scale as it covers the 400 years between the fleet’s departure and arrival at earth.

Lovecraft, H.P.: Dagon

Link

The narrator tells of being on a cargo ship that was captured by a German sea-raider in the Pacific. He would eventually escape and drift until he found himself a “black mire”, which was full of rotting fish and more foul stenches. The things that he witnesses in the vast expanse drive him to madness, and eventually he kills himself rather than face the creatures he witnessed there.

Macfarlane, Robert: Underland

A series of essays on "deep time" - that is, viewing the world over timeframes of billions of years, rather than the shorter timeframes we live within & understand. It is essentially the vastness of time. This concept stretches eons into the past and future and is very daunting to read about. The essays all revolve around things underground and often focus on how they're so much larger than us, existing far before us and stretching far beyond.

Also there's a chapter where the author talks about a calving glacier he saw surge upwards hundreds of feet from the sea, unbelievably huge. He recounts how the ice at its base hadn't seen sunlight in eons, and had never even been seen by human eyes, it was so ancient - it then sank underwater again, to once more be hidden. And if that doesn't sound like the origin of a vast avatar idk what does

Marquitz, Tim and Nickolas Sharps, ed.: Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters

From the forward: "Enter Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters. This collection of Kaiju shorts continues the traditions begun by Kaiju pioneers, bringing tales of destruction, hope and morality in the form of giant, city destroying monsters. Even better, the project was funded by Kickstarter, which means you, Dear Reader, made this book possible. And that is a beautiful thing. It means Kaiju, in pop-fiction, are not only alive and well, they’re stomping their way back into the spotlight, where they belong. Featuring amazing artwork, stories from some of the best monster writers around and a publishing team that has impressed me from the beginning, Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters is a welcome addition to the Kaiju genre and an anthology of epic proportions. My inner nine-year-old is shouting at me to shut-up and let you get to the Kaiju. So, without further delay, let’s all enjoy us some Kaiju Rising."

Notable for the fact the majority of the stories within are downer-ending horror short-stories versus more upbeat monster-fighting ones. Several also tackle concepts of an unstoppable, implacable force, themes of religious horror, and other Vast-aligned concepts.

Melville, Herman: Moby Dick

Okay so Ahab is Hunt, but the thing he's hunting is 1000% Vast. The book is very detailed in its descriptions of the enormity of whales and of the sea. Also, Moby Dick is basically outright stated as being God.

***

We all know what The Whale is about. Ahab has beef with Moby Dick, so he vows to hunt it. This is a particularly intelligent, huge whale that everyone advises to steer clear of, and possibly an allegory of God. The book itself is large, it's 135 chapters and a lot of pages and for some reason mandatory reading in some schools. It's a classic and rightfully so. Trying to read it in one sitting is like trying to hunt the proverbial whale, a foolish endeavor no mortal man should attempt. Infinity is best consumed one day at a time, and so is the book. Otherwise you'll drown in (mostly descriptions of) whales.

***

Man attempts to fight a giant whale that apparently is representative of the unfathomably great and terrible power of nature/fate/God, and thus almost everyone on his crew ends up drowning.

Mortimore, Jim: Beltempest

Synopsis: "The people of Bellania II see their sun, Bel, shrouded in night for a month following an impossible triple eclipse. When Bel is returned to them a younger, brighter, hotter star, it is the beginning of the end for the entire solar system...

100,000 years later, the Doctor and Sam arrive on Bellania IV, where the population is under threat as disaster looms — immense gravitational and dimensional disturbances are surging through this area of space.

While the time travellers attempt to help the survivors and ease the devastation, a religious suicide-cult leader is determined to spread a new religion through Bel's system — and his word may prove even more dangerous than the terrible forces brought into being by the catastrophic changes in the sun... "

Why it's Vast: The main conflict revolves around the massive natural disasters caused by changes to the Bel System's sun. Moons are ripped from their orbits, gravity waves create planetary earthquakes, and the void of space is rocked by solar flares. In response to these unstoppable disasters, a religion springs up in worship of the star -- as Simon Fairchild noted, religion was once a strong vector for the Vast, though it wasn't explored in much depth within the podcast.

North, Claire: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

"The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" is about the titular protagonist Harry August. He is born, he lives, he dies... Except he does this a lot more than most regular people. Harry is a kalachakra (or ouroborus, the names are used interchangeably), a member of a select few people who, upon dying, simply return to when they were born with all the memories and knowledge of their past lives. This is all well and good until, while on the deathbed of his eleventh life, Harry is warned by a little Kalachakra girl that the world is ending, and he must stop it from doing so."

Vast realised in endless lives of the characters stretching before them till infinity. Vast realised in the perfect endless memory of the main character and some others. Vast realised in eternity.

Oesterheld, Héctor Germán: El Eternauta

Juan Salvo, the inimitable protagonist, along with his friend Professor Favalli and the tenacious metal-worker Franco, face what appears to be a nuclear accident, but quickly turns out to be something much bigger than they had imagined. Cold War tensions, aliens of all sizes, space―and time travel―this one has it all.

Poe, Edgar Allen: A Descent into the Maelström

Inspired by the Moskstraumen, it is couched as a story within a story, a tale told at the summit of a mountain climb in Lofoten, Norway. The story is told by an old man who reveals that he only appears old—"You suppose me a very old man," he says, "but I am not. It took less than a single day to change these hairs from a jetty black to white, to weaken my limbs, and to unstring my nerves." The narrator, convinced by the power of the whirlpools he sees in the ocean beyond, is then told of the "old" man's fishing trip with his two brothers a few years ago.

Driven by "the most terrible hurricane that ever came out of the heavens", their ship was caught in the vortex. One brother was pulled into the waves; the other was driven mad by the horror of the spectacle, and drowned as the ship was pulled under. At first the narrator only saw hideous terror in the spectacle. In a moment of revelation, he saw that the Maelström is a beautiful and awesome creation. Observing how objects around him were attracted and pulled into it, he deduced that "the larger the bodies, the more rapid their descent" and that spherical-shaped objects were pulled in the fastest. Unlike his brother, he abandoned ship and held on to a cylindrical barrel until he was saved several hours later when the whirlpool temporarily subsided, and he was rescued by some fishermen. The "old" man tells the story to the narrator without any hope that the narrator will believe it.

Pratchett, Terry and Steven Baxter: The Long Earth series

Blueprints for an easily to build device that allows people to "step" into a nigh infinite series of alternate earths get published online. The series deals with the exploration of these alternate earths, and the way their existence and accessibility changes human society over the next 50 or so years. The earths next to our own are similar to ours except that there are no humans, but further earths diverged from our own earlier in geological history; millions of earths away are worlds where the KT extinctions never happens, billions of earths away there are worlds where jellyfish live in the sky. It's emphasized throughout the books that all of these earth's are entire planets with billions of years of history that no one will ever fully understand because there's just too much space.

Purser-Hallard, Philip: Of the City of the Saved...

It's set in a city where every human or descendant of humanity who has ever lived has been reborn all at once, and the book makes sure you understand the scope of that. To pull out a few statistics, the city is the size of a spiral galaxy and has a population of a hundred undecillion - or 1 followed by 38 zeros. There's a watchtower at the city's centre which is the width of a continent and the height of one astronomical unit (the distance of Earth to the sun), and a city council ampithetre the size of a gas giant. When I think of a book emphasising physical vastness, I think Of the City of the Saved, because it doesn't just gloss over the size and call it incomprehensible, it makes sure you begin to grasp the scale of things. And that every character in the book is just one person on that scale.

Reed, Robert: An Exaltation of Larks

The book shows the heat death of the universe, where the stars have long since burned out, and stellar formation ceased, leaving behind a dark, cold, and empty universe. Time travelers from the end of time have steadily been working their way back to the Big Bang to prevent this gradual death from happening by turning the universe into an effectively Perpetual Motion Machine that expands, contracts, and expands again.

Reisman, Michael: Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper

A boy inadvertently discovers the book that controls the laws of physics and learns to play with gravity and velocity, which on multiple occasions results in him taking an uncontrolled fall into the sky.

Sanderson, Brandon: Firefight

This is the second book in The Reckoners Trilogy, which is about the eponymous group hunting Epics--people who were granted superpowers by the mysterious red star Calamity, but also turned evil and destroyed society as we know it.

In this one, the Reckoners go to Babylon Restored, a.k.a NYC. The city was flooded by the hydrokinetic Regalia, killing thousands and leaving the survivors to inhabit the rooftops of the sunken buildings. Regalia has immense control over water, able to manipulate it on both a mass scale and in a more precise way to attack with tentacles and create clones of herself. Most terrifyingly, she can see out of the surface of any exposed water--which means almost nowhere in Babilar is safe from her eyes.

The fact that the city is flooded is especially problematic for protagonist David, who can't swim and discovers he has a fear of drowning--especially after he is nearly executed in this way. To make matters worse, the Reckoners' base of operations is an underwater bunker with a window open to the water. This culminates in him facing his fear in attempt to save his love interest by shooting at the window to get out of the bunker. While Regalia saves him for her own ends, she also reveals something even more grand and incomprehensibly terrifying--Calamity itself is sapient and apparently malicious.

Seuss, Dr.: Horton Hears a Who!

Hey kids! Take a minute to think about what would happen if the whole planet existed on a single speck of dust, and how easily everything you know could be eradicated by complete cosmic accident!

Simmons, Dan: The Terror

Being trapped in the Arctic? Not just in the Arctic but in the middle of an ice sheet on the ocean? With the only land being a 3 day trek away? So all you can see before you is open plains of snow and ice and knowing underneath you is also the cold, uncaring, freezing ocean? That's not even taking into account the monster hunting you and your men is easily the size of 3-4 polar bears

Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver's Travels

Plays a lot with perspective -- Gulliver is a giant on one island, and an ant on another. There's also an island that flies and blots out the sun to conquer the lands below it.

Tennyson, Alfred: The Kraken

Link to the poem

Vivid imagery of deep-sea colossi and the enormous weight of the ocean and eternity.

Tolstoy, Leo: War & Peace

real world leitner - inspires dread and fear in the hearts of millions of russian high schoolers with its enormous page count, oppressively large cast of characters and incomprehensible fragments of french inserted directly into the narrative

Verne, Jules: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Themes of insignificance and descriptions of colossal terrors abound.

[jackatlas]

midnight rain x jack atlas fr

i pondered this so much that i wrote a fucking fic about it so here you all go: miss jack atlas is midnight rain by taylor swift coded.

read on ao3 | tip me on kofi | send more drabble ideas!

Jack knew this was how things had to be. She had made sacrifices in the name of her title – the King of Riding Duels – and Rex Godwin had promised that they would pay off.

Yes, abandoning her best friend, who she may have felt frustration with but never would intentionally harm, was classed as a necessity. Sure, nobody had told her to steal Yusei’s D-Wheel, nor Stardust Dragon – not directly at least.

They were her keys to a better future, and she had been promised that those who loved her would understand.

They had to understand.

The duel circuit had worn her down, the burden of a title settling into her spine. Guilt gnawed at her flesh, and she found herself painting a smirk on every evening before an appearance, if she wasn’t doing something worse to perk her up. It worked, and the world thought she was happier than ever.

They didn’t think she spent evenings in her penthouse, staring across the waters wondering if she had made the right decision. The thought burned at her throat. Had she made the wrong choice?

She would swallow the anxiety down with expensive wine and remind herself that she did this for herself. It didn’t matter what anyone thought. Besides, she thought Yusei couldn’t have stayed mad. Maybe him and Crow were impressed, proud of her: maybe they understood.

The thought tended to bring her some form of comfort, at least. That was, of course, until face-to-face with the man who still haunted her two years later and realised...

He didn’t understand.

No, Yusei was the same as he has always been. And when Jack looked in the mirror after their duel, she realised she could barely recognise herself anymore.

If he had asked her to come home, she would have. That thought scared her more than anything else.

[rook2020-fanworks]

Chapter Update!

I‘ve actually added several chapters since my last post, but I’m not on Tumblr often. My bad! I thought I’d share a humorous snippet today, featuring Lucy fighting a mercenary.

"You chose the wrong guy to try to seduce!" he declared as he stomped towards her, knife raised to take her out in one savage blow, seeing no reason to hold back on account of her being a woman. Let no one ever say he didn't treat everyone equally.

To his amazement, she blocked his strike with little effort, causing his knife to fling away, crying out, "Who says I'm trying to seduce you?" before delivering a swift kick towards his groin.

Seeing the ease in which she'd deflected that blow, Godwin instinctively knew he wanted to avoid that incoming kick at all costs, and pushed her away as he retreated a fair distance from her feet. He eyed her more critically, rightfully assuming her change in attire had something to do with that enormous strength. While he calculated his next move, she shook out her hand, the one she'd blocked with, and pulled out a long whip.

She was muttering to herself as she pulled the whip taut between her hands.

"Seriously, even though I definitely was not trying to hit on you, I can't believe you wouldn't fall for my stunning good looks. What the heck is wrong with you bad guys anyway?! Is there some weird standard of sex appeal I'm not aware of? Freakin Gray attracts more men than I do!"

"What?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I can totally see the appeal. If I was a guy, I'd probably switch sides for him too, but Natsu and I have a chemistry, dammit!"

"The Hell are you going on about, lady?!"

"I'm talking about how this right here," she said as she gestured towards herself, "constantly goes over the heads of dimwits who don't know how to appreciate true beauty!"

Please follow the link above to read the rest of this chapter🤠

[alphacrone]

WRITING TREATS YES PLEASE

what a cute little ghostie!! happy halloween! this is the intro to a fic i still would like to finish one day maybe where lucy gets possessed by something ancient and evil during a joint case with the kipps krew (also my OG love for lucykat definitely shines a little in this snippet lol)

-

“Tony.” 

“Kipps.”

Despite the unsteady truce Lockwood & Co. and Fittes found themselves in, the tension between the two boys tonight was palpable. As autumn faded into winter, the outbreaks around London seemed to grow worse. Every agency in town found themselves swamped with jobs and it was starting to take its toll. George was running on an hour of sleep and had already dropped the bag of chains on Lucy’s foot twice; Lucy herself was still sore from running a solo job in Lewisham the night prior, where she’d nearly toppled backwards out a window when Skull decided to spook her from her backpack. And Lockwood-

Well, he was still washing mud from behind his ears from a rather disastrous meeting with Flo two days before. To Flo’s credit, she’d warned him that the dock worker he was meeting didn’t take kindly to posh little brats in tight trousers. Lucy wasn’t even clear how any of that led to them finding a source, but apparently they had succeeded in the end. 

All that to say, no one was in top form that evening. Even Skull was pouting silently from his place in Lucy’s bag, miffed that Lucy had scolded him for nearly killing her. So while the chance to work such a large job as this—multiple teams investigating multiple sources—was nothing short of a boone, the proximity to their former rivals put Lockwood & Co. on edge. 

Kipps’ eyes shifted from Lockwood to Lucy, and Lucy found herself looking away quickly. Things between them had been left at such an awkward place the last time they spoke—Kipps had admitted to her that his sight was going, signaling the swift end to his career as an agent. Before then, he’d tried to poach her and ask her out in one conversation, and Lucy was frankly unsure how to even speak to him properly after all that. 

Her eyes ended up meeting Kat Godwin’s instead, which wasn’t much better. She and Kat had an odd sense of kinship, being strong listeners and the only girls on their teams, but that was where any goodwill ended. Kat was acerbic, prideful, and deadly with a rapier; in another life, they might have been friends, but in this one they dug under each other’s skin with sharp words and passing sneers. 

Instead of her usual smug smirk, however, Kat was giving her something of an appraising look. Perhaps she’d heard of Lucy’s heroics with the bone glass and Joplin. Perhaps she wondered why Lucy would choose not to join her team. 

Or, perhaps, she was simply taking in Lucy’s soot-stained clothes. She’d slept too late that afternoon to do laundry and had to settle for yesterday’s romper and jacket. Lockwood had teasingly called her Cinderella on the way over until George had told him to shut up. 

“As you know,” Kipps said, breaking the silence first. “The client, Mr. Windermere, has asked our two teams to handle this stretch of tunnel between Whitechapel and Liverpool Street. The Post Office is hoping to revitalize its private railway system again and our work is essential for that to happen.” 

“Why does a post office need its own underground?” Lucy asked. “It closed down for a reason, didn’t it?” 

“It closed shortly after the problem reached London,” George said, just as Bobby Vernon tried to speak. “At the time, it wasn’t a priority, so they switched to a team of lorries instead. As for why now, well. It appears Fittes and DEPRAC are considering it for the transportation of sources. There’s a station in Clerkenwell, close to the furnaces.”

��So, what?” This time it was Kat who spoke up. “They plan on having us drop off sources in the mail? How’s that safer than hand-delivering it ourselves?” 

“They plan on establishing drop-off center along the tunnel route,” Bobby cut in before George could. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how long wait times at the furnaces are these days.” 

Kat nodded, satisfied with this answer. Lucy, however, didn’t quite buy it. She glanced sideways at Lockwood, but he was focused on the tunnel before them. “George, the lining along this tunnel–what is it?” 

“Iron,” George said. “By all accounts, it should keep Visitors out.” 

“Or keep them in,” Lockwood murmured. His hand moved instinctually to his rapier hilt. “Well,” he said after a moment. “What fun! We’re likely the first people to explore this place since it closed.” 

“Any word on what’s down here?” Ned Shaw asked as we ventured further in. George and Lucy busied themselves by pulling glowsticks from their packs and dropping them along the path to illuminate where they were going and where they’d been. 

“The crew who opened up the entrance thought they heard a little girl,” Kipps said, raising a torch as the tunnel grew darker. “But they were probably just spooked. Might be nothing down here, with all this iron around.” 

“Or something very, very strong,” Kat said ominously. 

“Ooh, don’t say that,” George whined. “You’ll jinx it.” 

The girl is right, Skull whispered. It is strong.

[darael]

Look, I am not going to say that this is untrue, or that it's okay if it is true, but in general you should not trust ANYTHING coming out of the Daily Mail. The Mail is the leading right-wing hack newspaper in the UK. The Mail supported Hitler right up until Britain declared war, and that's not me triggering Godwin's Law because it's not a comparison, it's literal historical fact. The Mail is a leading vector for the spread of overt bigotry against queer people, brown people, and especially immigrants of all kinds. It also wants its readers to believe that all young people (defined, approximately, as anyone younger than the reader) are stupid, incapable of logical thought, and destroying the world.

The Mail has also been amplifying climate-change denialism as recently as THIS YEAR, lest you thought there was any sincerity to this criticism. They're publishing it because they believe it will make people angry and because they think Swift is a threat to their politics (because she's not overtly a fascist and a lot of people like her, especially among demographics that old white conservatives expect to agree with them and that don't).

So. Maybe she is a climate criminal. I wouldn't be surprised; she's very rich and most of the rich are. But before you get mad at her specifically, check with a source that is not the Daily Mail, and also ask why they are suddenly pretending they care about the climate. They may be trying to distract you from something that would otherwise seem more important.

Then get mad at her; she's still a billionaire after all.

imagine being that fucking rich and that fucking careless.

[theirishaesthete]

A Swifte Burial

Located beside a now-disused church and within an old graveyard at Castlerickard, County Meath is this curious limestone pyramid, each of its steeply pitched sides carrying a raised diamond. One of them carries the name Swifte, indicating that the monument commemorates a member of the family of that name, possibly Godwin Swifte who died in 1815 and owned a property in this part of the country,…

[spangledmystars]

My DnD characters! First, Henry "Hank" Godwin" created in 2019

Lawful Good Fighter/Paladin

The first son of a renowned general and a powerful wizard, upon their deaths by the hands or political maneuvering he and his baby sister were raised by the local frost giants. The Giants' leader being sworn brothers with their father, the Godwin kids were raised alongside the other children of the village, where he picked up a passion for cooking, monster slaying, and putting smiles on peoples' faces

Suzan "Suzie" Godwin created 2019

Chaotic Neutral Rogue/Wizard Unlike her brother, Susan Godwin was blessed with swift feet, ambition, a drive for power, and a INT/WIS above 8. Growing up on the shorter side in a village of frost giants would make anyone else develop a sense of non-conformity, and possibly isolated. However, her unique talents were praised wholeheartedly, as she and her brother were always beloved members of their adoptive family. However, seeing the world outside of her loving home become more war-torn, more chaotic, and those she felt responsible for the destruction of her home spread across the land filled her with an anger that was far from righteous. Walking the thin line between thoughts of a greater cause and bloody vengeance, Susan gathered a cabal of others that had lost everything by the continent spanning war, she formed The Thieves Guild; an organization that, below the surface of crime, actively operates to cause the downfall of those who stole the lives of so many innocent people

[huggybearluvr]

lemonade and americano for jamie drysdale please 💗

Americano:

The deal, Elle Kennedy, I can totally see College Jamie falling for his tutor!!!

Lemonade:

Mine - taylor swift

If I could Fly- One direction

Hardwood floors - Charles Wesley Godwin

[chaosandcrimson]

Multimuse blog for @cyberplex. Penned by Anna.

Akira 'Kyra' Kitagawa | 27 | FC: Shioli Kutsuna - [ BIO ]

Amirah 'Ames' Shehadi | 25 | FC: Jihane Almira - [ BIO ]

Beatrix 'Trixie' Vos | 28 | FC: Lili Reinhart - [ BIO ]

Carrie Bachman | 22 | FC: Alisha Newton - [ BIO ]

Cinder Glass | 28 | FC: Imogen Poots - [ BIO ]

Constance 'Connie' Bishop | 42 | FC: Gemma Chan - [ BIO ]

Cornelia Belmont | 32 | FC: Sasha Luss - [ BIO ]

Danica 'Danny' Rossi | 29 | FC: Sarah Grey - [ BIO ]

Emmeline 'Mel' Devereux | 21 | FC: Minnie Mills - [ BIO ]

Evangeline 'Eva' Cruz | 27 | FC: Liza Soberano - [ BIO ]

Freja Bjurström | 30 | FC: Frida Gustavsson - [ BIO ]

Gabriela Dantes | 25 | FC: Becky G - [ BIO ]

Helena Montgomery | 21 | FC: Ciara Bravo - [ BIO ]

Irena Harker | 54 | FC: Rachel Weisz - [ BIO ]

Jacqueline 'Jackie' Porter | 26 | FC: Lana Condor - [ BIO ]

Jessica 'Jess' West | 29 | FC: Katherine McNamara - [ BIO ]

Julie Dantes | 23 | FC: Natalie Alyn Lind - [ BIO ]

Karma Jones | 26 | FC: Phoebe Dynevor - [ BIO ]

Keaton Ryan | 26 | FC: Carlson Young - [ BIO ]

Kerime Sakarya | 26 | FC: Hande Erçel - [ BIO ]

Lenore 'Nora' Chase | 39 | FC: Anna Kendrick - [ BIO ]

Lucia 'Luz' Martinez | 27 | FC: Daniela Nieves - [ BIO ]

Marisol de la Luna | 20 | FC: Isabela Merced - [ BIO ]

Minnie Dantes | 28 | FC: Dove Cameron - [ BIO ]

Nadia Calhoun | 30 | FC: Pinar Deniz - [ BIO ]

Pandora Chernykh | 30 | FC: Summer Bishil - [ BIO ]

Phoebe Lupin | 36 | FC: Amanda Seyfried - [ BIO ]

Quinta 'Quinn' Brody | 36 | FC: Jacqueline Sato - [ BIO ]

Rhiannon Bowen | 29 | FC: Suki Waterhouse - [ BIO ]

Roxanne 'Roxy' Flockton | 25 | FC: Kaylee Kaneshiro - [ BIO ]

Ruby Villanueva | 27 | FC: Maris Racal - [ BIO ]

Safiya Godwin | 33 | FC: Greta Onieogou - [ BIO ]

Samantha 'Sam' Bennett | 36 | FC: Candice Patton - [ BIO ]

Scarlette Leong | 31 | FC: Chloe Bennet - [ BIO ]

Stephanie 'Stevie' Sinclair | 32 | FC: Taylor Swift - [ BIO ]

Thalia Belmont | 24 | FC: Sarah Michelle Gellar - [ BIO ]

Umbra | 34 | FC: Eiza González - [ BIO ]

Valeria 'Val' Dutton | 24 | FC: Maia Reficco - [ BIO ]

Virginia 'Ginny' Bennett | 20 | FC: Mia Isaac - [ BIO ]

Whitney Wainwright | 35 | FC: Lily James - [ BIO ]

Xenon Luxe | 27 | FC: Janella Salvador - [ BIO ]

Zarina West | 29 | FC: Katherine McNamara - [ BIO ]

[pumathoughts]

Super Wild-card Weekend Rundown

It’s that time of year again, NFL Playoffs! We begin as always with Super Wildcard Weekend, here is my rundown of all the games:

NFL Super Wild-card weekend: Jan. 13, 14 and 15

NFC

(7) Green Bay Packers at (2) Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox

These are 2 teams with different expectations on the season. Jordan Love has played well and the Packers the last 2 games of the season played good defense and got the most out of their young core to make the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys are Super Bowl or bust, CeeDee Lamb is arguably the second best WR in football and the defense overall is a take away machine. The Cowboys I think will try to pressure Love into bad throws, and be opportunistic in creating take aways. This to me is the Cowboys game to lose, only question is can Tony Pollard get going in the run game because he is the home run threat on the ground in space. Green Bay went on a 3 game win streak to end the season and Dallas leaving a lot to be desired to end their season. Dallas won impressively in week 14 against Philadelphia, then a bad loss to Buffalo, another loss to Miami, an illegal touching penalty win against Detroit and a dismantling of Washington to maybe get right? The Cowboys are the better team and they are home. Even with the struggles Dallas should get past the Packers and into the Divisional round.

(6) Los Angeles Rams at (3) Detroit Lions

Sunday, 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC

This one is going to tug on the heart strings. Matt Stafford returns to Detroit to face his old Lions and frankly the Rams might spoil Detroit’s first home playoff game in ages. The Rams are a hot team coming into the playoffs, 7-1 since a week 10 bye, only loss was an overtime loss to Baltimore in week 14. Puka Nacua came out of nowhere and is shattering expectations. He and Cooper Kupp are a formidable duo at WR, and Kyren Williams has brought stability to a ground game that have made the Rams a really tough matchup for anyone and unfortunately it has to be the Lions. I want good things for Detroit, and they deserve to go far in the playoffs. I just don’t see how a defense that is susceptible to the pass can slow down this Rams passing offense. The Lions will have Sam LaPorta but not at 100% which could hinder what the Lions do passing the ball. The 2 headed monster at running back in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs is what the Lions need to control this game. The biggest X factor is how aggressive will Dan Campbell be? Hopefully just enough to get the win, but this is Jared Goff’s chance for redemption. He was traded for Stafford but not only that the Rams GAVE a first round pick just to get rid of him. I want Detroit to win this game because I like feel good stories but the Rams seem to have put it together at the right time and I think will spoil the party in Detroit.

(5) Philadelphia Eagles at (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Monday, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN+

The Eagles are dragging their asses into these playoffs. Rumors are swirling Nick Siriani might lose his job if the Eagles piss this one away. Crazy to think a team a year removed from a Super Bowl appearance would fire the coach but this is a crazy world we live in. The Eagles also get dealt another low blow by stud WR AJ Brown likely being out for this game due to a knee injury. The hits just keep coming. The Buccaneers on the other hand haven’t been spectacular but haven’t been average. 5-1 in their last 6 to close the season and Baker Mayfield might have found a home in Tampa Bay. Mayfield had 4,044 yards 28 TDs and 10 INTs on this season. Tom Brady last year for these Bucs had 4,694 yards 25 TDs and 9 INTs. The Bucs I think have a better chance to win this game because of the weapons at receiver. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin should give Philly all they can handle. The Eagles need to get D’Andre Swift going to take the pressure off of Jalen Hurts. For the Eagles to win they have to establish the run and control clock. I think the Eagles are desperate enough to win this game but it will be closer than people think.

Bye: (1) San Francisco 49ers

AFC

(5) Cleveland Browns at (4) Houston Texans

Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC

To me this is the most intriguing matchup of the playoffs. The upstart Texans and CJ Stroud against the resilient Cleveland Browns. The Browns are the first team in NFL history to win at least 10 games in a season with four different quarterbacks earning at least one win, according to OptaStats. They’re also the first team to make the playoffs after starting four different quarterbacks, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Joe Flacco is a timeless wonder, and survived a tenure with the New York Jets, EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE. But Cleveland with a steady hand at QB and a stout defense get a rematch with a team they creamed in week 16 BUT CJ Stroud is playing this time. I thought CJ Stroud should’ve been the number one overall pick in the draft but Bryce Young gets to fall on the sword and waste away in Carolina while Stroud thrives. Stroud threw for over 4000 yards and had 25 TDs. Impressive for a team that had 2 wins last season. DeMeco Ryans has transformed this team into one who believes in itself and they are young and growing together. Even Buffalo Bills cast off Devin Singletary took over the starting RB spot and is the steady hand in the backfield. Tank Dell being hurt is a loss but the Texans have other playmakers that have carried them to this point. I like Houston to shock the world and Beat Cleveland at home to advance.

(6) Miami Dolphins at (3) Kansas City Chiefs

Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET on Peacock

Now there is a joke in here somewhere involving Swifties and Peacock…I’m not the one to make it, but there has to be. Now for those of you wondering as you see above it says this game is on Peacock. Yes, Peacock is a streaming service by NBC Universal. Yes, this is streaming ONLY. Yes, the NFL is a money hungry organization that does what it wants and will continue to do so until the end of time. So, get ready to pay $5.99 for this game or just hope a friend or family member has it. ANYWAY, this game is more about 2 teams who are not where everyone thought they’d be. The Chiefs are just reaping what they sewed by not upgrading at WR. This group leads the league in drops. Taylor Swift has garnered a lot of attention and I think it has somehow manifested itself into affecting this team. The Chiefs just don’t have that same mojo this year. Travis Kelce is having his worst statistical year in what feels like forever. If KC survives this game they are likely going on the road to play what would be Patrick Mahomes first ever road playoff game. The Dolphins again fail to reach expectations this season. Did you know they scored 70 points on Denver this season? That was a different time. The Dolphins are “the greatest show on surf” but have been hobbled as of late. Tyreek Hill has been hurt, Jaylen Waddle has been hurt, and the speed the Dolphins were killing people with has been somewhat neutralized. Miami squandered a golden opportunity win the AFC East and to get the 2 seed in the playoffs, all they had to do was win 2 of their last 3. They got waxed by Baltimore at home, and Buffalo beat them for the division and the 2 seed. Ouch. My wife tells me Mike McDaniel is a player’s coach, I say he can’t close. The temperature is expected to be around minus-2 degrees with a wind chill approaching -30, according to the National Weather Service. If that projection remains to be then this will become the coldest game that the Dolphins have ever played in. The Dolphins have lost 10 straight games when the kickoff temperature is 40 degrees or below. With all the struggles this season I think the Chiefs will win this game by the slimmest of margins because of Isiah Pacheco.

(7) Pittsburgh Steelers at (2) Buffalo Bills

Monday, 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS (Postponed due to weather)

We all know my feelings on the Buffalo Bills, I love and hate them all at the same time. But what really grinds my gears is everyone acting like the weather is a real advantage for the Bills. It’s projected to be 40MPH winds, and somewhere between 1-3 feet of snow. I don’t know if you know this but Pittsburgh plays in cold weather too. As does Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New England, Jets, Giants, Baltimore, Washington, Green Bay, and other cold weather teams who play outside. Let’s stop pretending Buffalo weather is different. Cold is cold, snow is snow. The new stadium should be a dome, not have an overhang that causes wind confusion. Who know what else causes wind confusion? A DOME! ANYWAY, this game is moved to monday because of the weather but is a classic Bills trap game. The Steelers are currently a +10 point spread for this game (take the points). The Steelers and Mason Rudolph have found their stride on offense after a tumultuous season the Steelers made their way to the playoffs. They don’t turn the ball over and they don’t commit penalties. George Pickens is my player to watch because he’ll either have a huge day or not be heard from. The Steelers will be able to establish the run but if the Bills can keep a lid on the receivers the Bills will have a great chance to win this game. The Bills problem will be can they get points when points are there to get? The Miami game left potentially 21 points on the field with 2 Josh Allen INT’s and a James Cook fumble all in the redzone. Josh Allen catches a lot of shit for his turnovers, but the national narrative that he’s a liability for his turnovers in outlandish. In his first 6 seasons he has 102 total turnovers, 78 being interceptions. Did you know Peyton Manning and Jameis Winston have 111 total turnovers in their first 6 seasons? In their first 6 seasons Peyton Manning had 110 INT’s, Winston and Eli Manning had 88, Jay Cutler had 86, and Matt Stafford had 85 INT’s. Gun Slingers through INT’s, shit happens. But to lay it all on Josh Allen like he’s a turnover machine is asinine. Josh Allen is the solution to the problem of not having truly elite weapons around him outside of Stefon Diggs. The Bills will win this game if Diggs can get loose and get chunks of yards and you get James Cook in space. The defense needs to keep a lid on the speed of the Steeler receivers. I think the Bills get the win by a field goal.

Bye: (1) Baltimore Ravens

[tomorrowedblog]

Friday Releases for December 8

Friday is the busiest day of the week for new releases, so we've decided to collect them all in one place. Friday Releases for December 8 include Poor Things, Leave The World Behind, The Boy And The Heron, and more.

Poor Things

Poor Things, the new movie from Yorgos Lanthimos, is out today.

From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

Leave The World Behind

Leave The World Behind, the new movie from Sam Esmail, is out today.

A family’s getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices — and two strangers appear at their door.

The Boy And The Heron

The Boy And The Heron, the new movie from Hayao Miyazaki, is out today.

A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.

There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.

A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

Eileen

Eileen, the new movie from William Oldroyd, is out today.

Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counselor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.

A Creature Was Stirring

A Creature Was Stirring, the new movie from Damien LeVeck, is out today.

Faith (Chrissy Metz) keeps her troubled teenage daughter on a tightly controlled but illicit pill regimen in order to ward off a terrifying affliction. But after a Christmas burglary, their dark family secret may finally be exposed.

Fast Charlie

Fast Charlie, the new movie from Phillip Noyce, is out today.

Charlie Swift is a fixer with a problem: the target he’s whacked is missing his head and the only way Charlie will be paid is if the body can be identified. Enter Marcie Kramer, the victim’s ex-wife and a woman with all the skills Charlie needs.

Lord of Misrule

Lord of Misrule, the new movie from William Brent Bell, is out today.

Directed by William Brent Bell, LORD OF MISRULE follows Rebecca Holland (Tuppence Middleton), who has recently taken over as priest of a small town. When her young daughter Grace (Evie Templeton) goes missing at the local harvest festival, a desperate search begins. The closer they edge towards finding Grace, the more secrets emerge from the town’s dark past. Soon, Rebecca must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to rescue her daughter from the grip of evil.

Merry Little Batman

Merry Little Batman, the new movie from Mike Roth, is out today.

This Christmas, Damian Wayne wants to be a Super Hero like his dad—the one and only Batman. When Damian is left home alone while Batman takes on Gotham’s worst Super-Villains on Christmas Eve, he stumbles upon a villainous plot to steal Christmas and leaps at the chance to save the day.

Culprits

Culprits, the new TV series from J Blakeson, is out today.

Three years ago, Joe was recruited by notorious British criminal Dianne Harewood to join her crew and take part in a high-stakes crime – one that promised to make Joe rich and provide him with a brand-new life. And now, his dangerous past is about to catch up with him. When a killer starts targeting the crew behind the crime, Joe realizes that the only way to keep his family safe is to return to London, make contact with his old gang, and track down Dianne.