#I have old original works I could use as the backdrop so I think I could cobble something together

[kingofanemptyworld]

before I get too ahead of myself with a writing project I likely should not be getting invested in… does anyone know any stories (web novels, manga/manhwa, fic) where the MC transmigrates into a fanfic of a story they’d read? because I think it could get very fun and meta and delightfully tropey, so like if it already exists I wanna read it and if it doesn’t I’m… very tempted to write it

[trikis-turntables]

Out of morbid curiosity i went to look at the new story in Dislyte with Sachiko and holy shit. Which fucken hack wrote this? I'm not spoiler tagging this cause really, it's not worth the effort.

I kind of???????Man.

It felt like someone read the original story and wrote a petty rewrite that blatantly shows their biases for and against certain characters.

Like the biggest issue was defo the Gaius plot twist he got actually done dirty?? Idk i feel like its a problem with the isekai/transmigration genre as a whole but you don't innovate by subverting subversions. You just end up going back to stereotypes. OG!Gaius was a subversion of the whole "Stoic Highly Decorated Man in Position of Power that doesn't look like he belongs" and then he proves time and time again that he's approachable and loves and cares for people so deeply that he'd maintain an image of himself (his display of medals--that garners negative comments about his character being prideful, mind you) just on the rare occasion that it could provide some comfort to the people he's helping. He lives eVERYDAY, trying to live up to Hannah's memory. This is a man that misses burnt peach pie because his wife made it for him. In the new storyline..he's just a transcendent obsessed, power hungry bastard. None of the character nuance.

And then Abigail and Alexa. I hate that they're not allowed to just be morally grey characters. New update makes them "acceptably" morally grey which IMO just flattens their characters. "Yes, a female character can be morally grey if they are your allies." Like fuck right off lmao. What's that??? The central intrigue of Abigail's personality is her ruthlessness contrasted with her softness for the few (few) people she actually cares about. It's literally her song. Roses in the snow.

And ugh. I hate the new "human"-ist moral of the Unknown Story. The fun part of the original Dislyte story was that people *dont know* what to think about Esper powers. Like Miracles are Dangerous, that's been established. Miramons are unknown beings that tend to cause mayhem and destruction. But on the espers' side? We run the gamut of characters seeing their powers as a source of good-- that because they gained powers they can better help and protect others (Tang Xuan, Li Ling, Ahmed, Bardon etc); to characters that hate their transformation because it turned them into monsters or changed their appearance in such a way to cause them great discomfort and body dysphoria (Nu Xi, Brewster, Heng Yue) and so many more that are ambivalent or have other things to worry about. And the central interest of their humanity *was* that contrast of perspectives. Shadow Decree was interesting as a unit because their mission statement was "Esper Acceptance" and that can mean both "we should understand how espers works so we should research it" to "live and let live" to "Esper Supremacy". Like remember when the story used to show the dichotomy of the glitz and glam of the Esper Union against the backdrop that many common folk and non powerful espers discriminated against Espers? That's the subversion. To flatten the message to "we must save the humans!!" and "esperification unilaterally corrupts and makes people go power hungry" is a 12 year old's idea of writing and nuance because it /ignores/ that people can have different perspectives over the same thing.

And haaaah. Like if anything that dislyte is good at, its in making characters that at least a few people will care about even if theyre mentioned shortly. That's just how strong the personalities are in this game. But it's kind of telling that I've seen no fanart or writing of Sachiko at all. Berenice, for how much I did not vibe with her or care about her in the story is beloved by even more people than I can count. (Also just petty sidenote: when a 'soft' female character gets 'corrupted' by power, and also the trope of female character having to be "saved" by ...getting mcfucken murdered by the masc main character)

But I think it's just sad that they cared so little for the new story that they couldn't even come up with a name for the Miracle. Unknown Miracle? You didn't even want to know your own story, man.

[agentgrange]

Hey, I know the core Delta Green team’s politics aren’t all great, but I feel like the take that the take that their work is pro surveillance state is pretty uncharitable. I feel like a core theme of the modern setting is that the horrible actions of agents defending against the unnatural aren’t justified, and you can pretty easily draw that over to real world actions of our government “protecting” us from criminals and terrorists not being worth the human cost of the war on drugs and the war on terror.

I'm definitely a lot more cynical toward ArcDream for a few perhaps overly-specific reasons, and I've struggled to find a way to concisely articulate this vibe I've had about it. I think I'd like to do a more detailed breakdown /retrospective series on the more recent campaign and scenario guide to really get into the weeds of it.

The short of it is that you aren't wrong, but I think a lot of modern Delta Green's issues with the security state comes from this uniquely American idea of being "apolitically anti-authoritarian, anti-big government." It never makes the leap to being anti-imperialist or understanding how all these post-9/11 systems were just the mechanisms of global intervention and counter-insurgency turning inward. Having high speed low drag operators from the Program salting the Hindu Kush canoeing the Kandahar Giant in between skirmishes with the Taliban is badass, but spying on Americans or having those same teams operate domestically is bad. There are things that we do over there that we shouldn't be doing to American citizens over here.

Add to that the fact that the differences between the Outlaws and the Program, which could be fertile ground for saying something interesting, mostly comes down to "do want to play the old way like the 90s version where you have a shoestring budget or do you want to be a kitted out marauder with close air support?" It feels like there's an ideological contradiction at the heart of Delta Green that should imply nuance, but when you go looking for it you'll be hard pressed to find much substance-- hell at times it goes out of its way to distance itself from any idea of a real political conspiracy. Its a game about government conspiracies, that seems embarrassed to talk about government conspiracies. They just want to use it as an aesthetic backdrop to tell a story set in the mythos where you can blow up a Shoggoth with an AT4

Look, I don't need every piece of media to conform uniquely to my personal politics for me to enjoy it. But for me Fall of Delta Green feels like it walked away with all the more interesting ideas that made the original 90s game compelling, and demonstrates a more clear picture than modern DGs amorphous "spying is bad but so are terrorists and political extremists are also bad. The system is flawed but also you have to work within the system to save the world." Fall of Delta Green revolves around this central idea of "yeah you are a piece of shit, and all this shit catches up to you in 1970. But for 10 years you can do whatever you think you can get away with so don't even bother taking your foot off the gas." It tells you, very explicitly, how the story ends and what all this interventionism is heading towards before you even start the game. Add to that Fall of Delta Green's Grant-Morrison-esque off the rails worldbuilding about syndemes that's not afraid to get really high concept and... I don't know. I just prefer it more, personally.

[wromwood]

So, the production of The Importance of Being Earnest that I was in is now over. Honestly, it was kind of a mixed bag of an experience. It definitely wasn't the most positive experience I've had as an actor in a show. I won't get into all of my frustrations here (and if anyone from that show happens to see this post, I had no issues with my fellow actors! They were all awesome and I'm glad I got the chance to work with them), but I want to vent about something that I was reminded of today.

Our production put a modern spin on the show. While we didn't change any of the dialogue, the director chose to frame the play as a reality TV show. The manservants of the show (Lane, whom I played, and Merriman) were turned into directors and sound guys for the production. We added in a few silent roles as well: a cameraman, an assistant, and a makeup artist. It was a cool idea, and I like how it worked with the old material.

Sadly, this meant that Lane, Merriman, and the silent roles were overlooked at times. In some ways, this makes sense. Lane and Merriman only have a dozen or so lines each, with Lane originally absent in acts 2 and 3 and Merriman absent in act 1. The silent roles are, of course, silent and were invented specifically for our production. They couldn't be highlights in the original show either.

But our version of the show actually increased the workloads of myself and the actor who played Merriman. We sort of switch roles throughout the show. In Act 1, Lane is more of a director while Merriman is a boom operator. In Act 2, Merriman is more of a director while Lane is the boom operator. In Act 3, Lane and Merriman are constantly present on the sidelines, watching everything in a slightly offstage spot while one of the silent roles is the boom op. This means that for at least one act, someone is almost CONSTANTLY onstage as the boom op, walking around with arms raised and calculating where to stand so that they don't get seen by the camera guy.

Speaking of which: the cameraman. Our camera guy might have been a silent role, but his work was honestly one of the biggest parts of the show. He was constantly on stage throughout ALL three acts, his footage was streamed live on three different monitors, and the director made him do so much kneeling that his knees literally started to hurt. He may not have had lines and was invented especially for our show, but I see him as at least as important as Lane or anyone else in the cast.

... which makes it even more frustrating how overlooked our roles were. The actors for Lane (that's me), Merriman, the cameraman, and the other silent roles weren't shown on our flyers. The entire "cast" is present, but only the cast of the reality show (i.e. named roles who aren't "crew"). They aren't even really in costume! But because they're the stars of our show, they're the ones who get to be featured in our advertising. The crew don't even get a small reference of any kind. This was especially frustrating because we ALL did a picture day shoot. I dressed in black for that just like everyone else! We all took an actual group photo together (which was only used for a few seconds at the end of our shows), and then took individual photographs before a blank backdrop. Those individual photos were then edited together to make the group flyer photo, so it was a surprise to all of us that not everyone was included.

Well, it could've been worse, I hear you saying. After all, at least they can make up for it by featuring our photos next to our names in the program, right?

THINK AGAIN! Not only did they not put photographs next to our program bios, but they didn't even print our BIOS either. Instead, they provided a QR code in the program that you had to scan to get to the bios in the first place. Yes, technically, this means that the bios were accessible, but only if you had a phone on you and could be bothered to take the extra steps. We were also not informed about this and were unpleasantly surprised when we saw the programs finally printed out. One of my fellow actors even remarked that they printed everyone's bios in a previous show that this establishment put on, and that was a director's showcase.

Finally, something happened today that I couldn't help but think made this situation feel all the more heartless. (I am dramatically paraphrasing the show here, but my point still stands) Today, we were sent a surprise: the footage that the cameraman took during one of our shows was actually saved, and now it's being shared with all of us. We can actually see the footage that was broadcast to the three monitors we had set up. There was no true "pro-shot" scheduled for our show, nothing that saved the show in its entirety. This is, aside from anything the audience recorded on their own devices, the only saved footage we have of our acting.

... and I already know that it excludes nearly all of the crew and silent roles.

Like all reality shows, the cameras aren't on all of the time. There are moments in the show where the camera gets put down or covered. While I've only skimmed through some of the footage so far, I already know which moments involve the cameras going dark. Guess which moments those are.

Yup, they're the crews' moments! Without going through all this footage myself yet, I know that there's MAYBE one moment where crew members are certainly visible: one part in act 3 where some of the crew is running in and out of a doorway. When it comes to visible acting, nothing else - when we're setting up, working, or speaking - is truly documented. There's only muffled audio from a covered camera. This may be better than nothing, but compared to all of the camera time that the reality show "cast" got, it really stings.

I don't want to sound petty. I know why the "crew" doesn't show up in the video, and the production did provide us all with ONE decent memento: someone came in during a dress rehearsal to photograph us doing a run, so I and the other "crew" have some good shots of us doing our stuff.

But I think the rest of our treatment, of us being overlooked, stings so much because, well... this isn't the first time I've been a "background" or "chorus" role. I've been a sailor in HMS Pinafore. I've been Franz in Sunday in the Park with George. I've been a small contributor before. But in those productions, I still felt valued. If we could film our entire show, we did our best to do so. When we printed our programs, everyone's bios were listed. When we made flyers or pamphlets, we either just used a logo, or put a cast picture (with EVERYONE) on the other side. I was a small piece, but I was a piece nonetheless. I was a star in a constellation. I was tiny, but I was seen.

In The Importance of Being Earnest, I felt like I did a job. I got onstage when I needed to, did my best to make an impression, and then left it to the people that the audience came to see. When we told you "Come see our show!", we only showed the big faces. Yes, I promise I'm also in the show. Yes, I promise I matter to the story. I'm Lane! You know, Lane?

... I know, I'm ranting. The experience wasn't all bad. I do think people liked my performance. Hell, this probably isn't the first time an actor played Lane and was therefore promptly excluded from advertising and hype. But I do think that a well-run theater group can make everyone feel celebrated and important, no matter how small their role is. I think it's telling that I didn't feel like that in this group.

[catgirl-frostmoon]

Memories Come in on Little Cat Feet

@fyeahghosttrick  it be the #ghost swap and it be for you, @katecattus​ I ended up following three of your prompts (mostly by accident, mind you XD). Here they are: Prompt #1 Anything on how Yomiel met Sissel, could be at any point in their lives, any situation, just give me a first spark that attracted them to each other Prompt #2 I don’t get tired of Yomiel in prison, so anything on that note, be it a story or an art would be nice Prompt #3 The main cast interacting with Yomiel post canon. Make it an accident or something planned, apologetic on one or both sides, but something with a feel-good vibe And here’s the Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48004426 ____

It has been said that 'the fog comes in on little cat feet'; perhaps that is why your thoughts came in like fog, a gradual build-up of emotions and memories.

That's when I met you, old friend.

I had ransacked your body, claimed it as my own. I had pitter-pattered those little cat feet - no, little kitten feet, given how small you were (as small as you are now, because I took away your ability to grow up) - off in search of food, of water, of comfort and 'home'. All I could hear originally were your base thoughts: 'I need food', 'I'll die of starvation', 'it's just so cold', and 'I'm lonely'. 'I'm lonely, lonely, lonely, abandoned by all those who might love me.' (I was so lonely, too. That's almost certainly what drove us together.)

So I took you out, traveled away from the corpse I didn't realize was mine, and gathered you food, and gathered water water, and gathered even the occasional appreciative human. In those days, as you slept on the brink of consciousness and I had forgotten my own twisted existence, life was vaguely peaceful, a sort of fuzzy cohabitation where neither party was truly in their best minds. And then I found her, dangling down from our ceiling, and everything I had forgotten came rushing back.

All the memories of yours that had crept in like mist, the immediate recollection of who was in front of me - they made me realize that I was somehow in someone else's body, rummaging around a house I just traveled to on subconscious instinct alone, parading around some cat while my own body was gods-know-where and my fiance was, well. I don't even remember what happened directly afterwards; I know I retrieved my corpse at some point and had puppeteered it back home, but how exactly I did that has only gotten fuzzier over time. Despite the whole "taking over your body" thing, I still had yet to fully absorb the implications of my abilities, or my state of being, because wow, who'd have thought that the lack of feeling was some weird side effect of being a walking corpse and not just an awful trauma response? All I know is that a few days later, I was somehow taking care of the starved kitten I accidentally saved, adopting a name for you I never thought I'd use again.

…I think it was that convergence of memories that netted you the name Sissel."

And so, the ghostly black cat who moved as though he was transient, blue mist - he blinked back, his fur rippling against the blood-red backdrop. "I see."

 (I'm fighting the urge to facepalm, Sissel, because that was a non-response if there ever was one.)

"Yes, well," a slight bristle here, a twitchy whisker there, "I'm not sure if I have any good responses to this." (I can't mess up on my words here…!)

"Cat got your tongue?"

"...."

"...still," the man-formerly-in-red-but-now-currently-in-pink spoke with an-almost smile, a sight more common as each day in the new world passed, "thanks for listening. You and the other Sissel check up so frequently that I can almost push past the leftover despair." And with that, his not-quite-smile darkened with melancholy, a much more familiar sight. "Almost."

And so, in lieu of a response, Sissel leaned himself into Yomiel's shoulder; an ethereal feeling, as everything in the ghost world is, but a comforting touch nonetheless. "Then," with a patented cat smile, "I'll just keep asking you questions until you can truly smile. Okay?" And without waiting for a response, the mental link ended, the world no longer painted in hues of red, a ghostly black cat no longer (visibly) gracing his presence.

"I'll hold you to it."

[amedamnee-m]

1983

⏤𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴: Years after missing her senior prom, Clara gets a second chance when her best friend organizes a retro-themed celebration. As old feelings resurface, she reunites with her high school crush, Adam, for the night she never had—but always dreamed of.

⏤𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: Romance, Short Story

⏤𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 985 words

⏤𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: N/A, this is a clean short story

************************************************************************

A single sparkle of a runaway glitter speck disappears under the engine red of my lipstick. I give my lips a few more audible pops in the rearview mirror. My forehead, down to the high of my cheekbones, shimmer as if it were contour against the rounded pink blush of the apples of my cheeks. Clashing it is, with the bold, bright green eyeliner and thick black false lashes.

“Should I tease my bangs some more?”

“No, hunnie, it’s already going to take a week to wash out those three cans of hairspray.” Malik pops a bubble with his chewing gum between his own, black-painted lips. “I’ve got your hair as voluminous as it’s going to get.”

I give my crimped hair one more glance over in its high-side ponytail before nodding, “Okay, let’s go.”

Getting out of the car, I run my sweaty hands down the black velvet of the bodice of my dress. I give my off-shoulder, deep green puffed sleeves a quick fluffing. I couldn’t help but admire the black lace that trimmed them, matching the high-low hemmed skirt. The perfect dress, even back then it would have been. 

“You nervous?” Malik raises a brow.

“No,” I say, blowing out a puff of air. “I’m just bubbling over with excitement.” I clasp my lace-gloved hands.

Malik’s eyes softened, taking my laced hands in his. “Remember, this is just another firm celebration, not your actual senior prom.”

I curtly nod. “Don’t worry, I know.”

“Good.” His smile flashes. “Let’s get moving then. I’m dying to know if the spiked punch is as good as Debbie says…”

I hook my arm with Malik’s, the steady click-clack of my heels steadying the beat of my heart as we approach the entrance to the event center. Shimmering neon pink and green cobwebs glow from the blue hue of the black lights in the windows. We pass through the arch adorned with orange, purple, and black balloons into a vast open floor sprinkled with metallic confetti. Colorful laser lights bounce off the pumpkin lantern-shaped disco balls hanging over the center of the dance floor. Fog swirls around my coworker’s feet as they dance to Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” pulsing through the speakers. 

Malik throws his head back with laughter. “Hunnie, you’re goin’ to catch flies like that.”

I snap my mouth shut, shaking my head. Everything around me was just bringing that teenager inside up to the surface. I couldn’t help but gasp and squeeze his arm tighter when my eyes landed on the photo station. The dark backdrop sports a haunted abandoned house with a graveyard as its front lawn. More colorful glittery cobwebs decorate the edges.

Just then, the original “Sweet Dreams” begins to play through the DJ’s tall black speakers. I spin on my heels, coming face to face with Malik, my eyes wide, matching the grin that’s plagued my face since walking in.

“This soundtrack is perfect!”

“Mhm…Thank your premium, Spotify.”

“I don’t have a premium account?”

“You do as of last week,” he smirks.

“How…?” I wave it off. “You know what? I don’t even care. This is amazing. My old high school could never.”

Malik nods. “You closing that deal gave us the budget for this. And I love you, but I am so tired of hearing about your missed chance at going to prom, so I put all this together just for you.”

I felt a pinch in my chest, “Awe, Malik…”

“Listen, after everything you’ve done for this firm and most importantly for ME, as a friend…I felt you deserved this second chance.”

“Oh god, I think I’m going to cry…”

“Don’t you dare!” he joins in, fanning his hands at my eyes. “I worked too hard on this look!”

“Clara…?”

I freeze, my heart palpating. Are there defibrillators in this building? I know that voice. The deep timbre of the man I had crushed on all through my high school years. The man I was finally going to have a chance with. Only when he showed up to pick me up for senior prom was my house long empty. Where I had to up and move to go take care of my grandmother, who had fallen sick. There wasn’t even a note left with an explanation.

“Second chances…” Malik winks at me before sauntering off in his silver tux towards the cauldron-shaped punch bowl.

Slowly, I turn around, my eyes locking with his like magnets. His light blue eyes, a striking contrast against his ebony slicked-back hair and velvet tuxedo. I expected to find disdain or disappointment, but not the weight of their attentiveness soaking me in, as if I might not be real before him.

“I didn’t think you could get more beautiful.”

 I look away, heat flushing my cheeks. “Adam…I’m sorry. I should’ve called.”

Adam gives me a gentle smile, reaching out to give my elbow a light squeeze, “It’s alright…” He looks past me, his soothing voice calming the deep thrumming within my bones, “A little birdy filled me in on the missing pieces.”

Warmth fills my heart, knowing Malik was this little birdy. What I did to deserve a friend like him, I’ll never know. Adam straightens his spine before extending his large hand to me. “What do you say? Would you like to make the memories we never got the chance to make before?”

I bite down on my bottom lip to keep my smile from splitting my face in two. I slide my hand into his warm one, my voice a little breathless. “Yes, please.”

Adam’s eyes never leave mine as he guides me to the dance floor. “Every Breath You Take” by The Police begins to fill the air around us as the world dissipates, with my head lying against his chest and his chin resting atop my head. The steady beat of my heart syncing with his.  

[mariacallous]

Promise Edwards, a single mother of three living in Laurens, South Carolina, spends her spare time passing QR codes out to schools, churches and members of her local community. Scan one, and you'll be led to an online document full of LGBTQ+ resources across the state — which Edwards hopes to expand to a nationwide list by 2024. 

The heart-shaped codes — on stickers, embedded in keychains, printed on T-shirts and more — are sometimes adorned with sparkles or owls because, according to Edwards, they were "Jacob's favorite thing."

Edwards, known as Aunt Lulu to 18-year-old Jacob Williamson, welcomed the newly out teen into her home after he was kicked out of his own. 

"The day after he moved in with me, he said, 'I'm trans, and I go by he/him and I want to be called Jacob,'" said Edwards, whose mother had been Edwards' childhood best friend. "I said, 'OK. I love you,'"

"He was only allowed to be himself for 28 days."

Four weeks after Williamson went to live with Edwards in June, he went missing after going to meet up with online friends for the first time. 

Edwards had begged him not to go, even asking her boss to change his shift at the Waffle House where they both worked to make scheduling harder — but Jacob was unconvinced. He shared his location with Edwards through an app, got in the car and left.

It was the last time Edwards would see him alive. 

After she could neither get in touch with him nor see his updated location, Edwards reported him missing and spent the next four days talking to law enforcement, hanging posters, and frantically searching for Williamson. She knocked on doors, passed out flyers and posted online — but to no avail. 

His body was discovered by police on the side of a South Carolina road — just three days before Edwards' 37th birthday.

Williamson was at least the 14th trans person murdered in the U.S. in 2023, against a worrying backdrop of statistics that show trans people are more at risk than ever, despite only making up an estimated 0.5% of the U.S. population.

Data compiled shows 320 trans and gender-diverse people were reported murdered between October 2022 and September 2023, according to nonprofit Transgender Europe, though actual numbers could be even higher. 

Ninety-four percent of the victims were trans feminine people or transgender women — meaning they were not assigned female at birth — and three-quarters were younger adults, between the ages of 19 and 40.

"Most victims were Black and trans women of colour, and trans sex workers," stated the report, its Nov. 13 publication intentionally coinciding with the start of Trans Awareness Week. 

The week culminates each year in Trans Day of Remembrance, which was founded on Nov. 20, 1999, by trans advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith, to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman who had been killed the year before. The vigil honored Hester and the deaths of all the other trans people who had been lost to violence that year, according to GLAAD.

"It's a day to honor and remember the folks that have died, but it's also a chance for us to reckon with, where do we go from here?" said Arielle Rebekah, communications consultant at the Transgender Law Center. 

"Every day is the day to think of a way forward," they said.

Mariah Moore, the co-director of policy and programs at the Transgender Law Center, agreed and reflected on how imperative it is for allies to show up for trans people. 

"A lot of folks are very vulnerable and feel alone and isolated," she says. "You could change the trajectory of someone's life by simply saying something — letting them know that they have someone ... that is also standing beside them, willing to fight for them." 

In addition to her work at the Transgender Law Center, Moore is also one of the co-founders of an organization called House of Tulip, which was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and works to find long-term housing solutions for trans and gender non-conforming people in Louisiana, where she is based.

"The goal is to help folks build a stable foundation so that they can have access to the futures that come so easily to others," she says, adding that the organization is a shining reflection of successful "coalition work;" identifying a cycle and working to fill a need by collaborating with others and sharing knowledge and resources. 

In the U.S., 586 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year alone, and aim to restrict or completely ban access to gender-affirming care, rid trans youth of the ability to participate in sports, arts and clubs — and in more extreme cases, even threaten parents with child abuse charges for affirming their kids' gender identities.

In the current tenuous political climate, the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth is worsening, according to the results of a national survey by The Trevor Project, which found that 41% of LGBTQ+ young people had seriously considered suicide in the past year. Additionally, youth who are transgender, nonbinary and/or people of color reported higher rates of suicidal ideation than their cisgender and White peers.

"I feel that Jacob was not targeted because he was trans, but yet, he was targeted because he was trans," says Edwards. "These people preyed on the fact that Jacob was partially out; that Jacob was ostracized from his family; that he had nobody but me and my family."

Since Williamson's murder, Edwards says that while many in her life — including close friends and family — have turned their backs on her, the trans community has embraced her with open arms as she continues to fight for justice for Jacob.

"I really just wish we could have had this support when Jacob was alive," she said. "And we probably wouldn't even be talking right now." 

But further data from The Trevor Project provides a glimmer of hope for others within the trans and gender non-conforming community: youth who reported gender-affirming school and home environments reported significantly decreased rates of suicidal ideation — with actions as small as being addressed by their correct pronouns, having access to gender-neutral bathrooms or being able to wear gender-affirming clothing making a noticeable difference.

As Rebekah puts it, "Even in the face of this violence, we are thriving."

"Yes, we might be under attack," adds Moore. "But guess what? We've also fought back. And we're winning." 

Each year, though violence against the community soars, young people are increasingly identifying as trans and seeing themselves reflected in culture, including in film, television and literature. Transgender Day of Visibility is even now recognized by the White House.

"My life is great," says YouTube star Eden Estrada, also known by her online alias, Eden the Doll. "I had a hiccup, but my life is good."

In August 2020, video depicting a violent attack on Estrada and two of her friends was posted online, where it quickly went viral and became national news overnight.

While waiting for an Uber in Los Angeles, Estrada alleges that the trio was beaten and robbed, with one of Estrada's friends knocked unconscious in the fray. The LAPD later investigated the incident as a hate crime.

"I'm grateful to be alive," says Estrada. "I've been through something traumatic, but I came out of it really, really, strongly."

Estrada is now happily engaged, has a flourishing career and in her own words, is "over" what happened to her. But reflecting on Trans Day of Remembrance, she recognizes this could have been a different story.

"This day, it could be about me," says Estrada. "Something worse could have happened to me that day."

Estrada said that she uses this day not only to reflect on loss, but to reflect on the LGBTQ+ figures who paved the way for trans people today — people like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Erica Andrews, she said, adding that she also uses this day to reflect on past versions of herself as well.

"I think it's remembering where you started, where you're at and where you're going," she said.

Rebekah feels similarly about Trans Day of Remembrance, which they say is an opportunity to elevate stories of trans joy and triumph.

"People need to see that trans folks are also changemakers; are also leaders; are also successful across all fields, across all industries, across all areas of life."

When asked how she will be spending Trans Day of Remembrance, Moore says, "I need to take time to really mourn some of the folks that I've lost recently, and just take time for myself as a Black trans woman... honor myself and the work that I'm doing."

"I think this year, I need some time for me."

It has been nearly five months since Williamson's body was recovered. 

The two people he went to meet that day were both arrested and charged in his death, but that's not enough for Edwards. "These people still get to talk to their families on Christmas," she said.

"And we don't."

She says she will be keeping Williamson's memory alive on Trans Day of Remembrance by hanging Christmas decorations at the site where his body was found and attending an event in honor of the day at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where she has been invited to speak.

While Williamson and at least 319 others who have been lost to violence this year will be in hearts and minds on Trans Day of Remembrance, Moore points out that countless trans people have also been lost to lack of basic resources like housing, healthcare and food.

"It's important that we uplift those stories and use Trans Day of Remembrance...to let folks know that trans people are loved and have people fighting for them," she adds. "Don't be silent when you see injustice is happening."

Edwards believes Trans Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to provide support in death for trans loved ones that they may not have had in life, and bring attention to the fact that nobody is above experiencing loss.

"It means awareness that this actually happens to people that we know and we love," she says.

But more than anything, Edwards hopes wherever Williamson is now, on this day and all days, that he is at peace.

"He had a life full of conditions," she says. "I hope that where he is, he feels love. Unconditional love." 

[fayesdiary]

WiP Wednesday

Got tagged by @danganronpa-21 for this! It got me to write a whole chapter after months, so thank you :D

This chapter is part of my Veyle rebuilds Gradlon story. Originally it was meant to just be a scene, but then... I got carried away😅

It also contains some big but hopefully vague enough to @bluescreenl 's fic Defective, you should really check it out!

Speaking of, I tag them, @good-beans and @felikatze to do this if you want to :D

Veyle remembered Timerra once explained to her how Solmic funerals worked, which as was typical for the queendom, was vastly different from how the rest of Elyos did things.

Rather than burying the dead in somber farewells like she was used to see, most residents of Solm choose to burn them instead, the huge bonfire used for the creation serving as a backdrop for a party in their name, as their cinders scattered to the wind.

"It's to make sure their spirit is set free." Timerra continued. "You can't go on whatever journey's up next having to carry that old body around, after all!"

"Oh! So the reason there weren't that many Corrupted in Solm was…"

"Yup! Can't have a lot of undead trapped in their old bodies and forced to do Sombron's bidding if there's no body to corrupt to begin with! It wasn't the reason we cremate the dead to begin with, but it sure has been helpful, don't you think?"

"But… why the party, then? Aren't you sad that your loved ones have died?"

"Well duh, of course we're going to miss them. But I'd rather remember someone close to me remembering what they loved instead of just getting sad about it, you know? They're just going in the afterlife or whatever is up next before me, but it's not like I'm never going to see them again." Then, realizing something, Timerra added. "So you'd better not be all mopey at my funeral! I want my friend to have a great time and not be miserable because I went up ahead!"

…Oh. That's right. Veyle was going to outlive Timerra by a lot, no matter what. Like all of her friends.

" I… I'll try. Thank you, Timerra." Veyle replied, with a sad smile.

As she, her siblings and the Winds set foot in the dark halls of Gradlon Temple once more, Veyle thinked Timerra might have been more right than she realized.

Compared to the last time they were here, the place was eerily quiet without the sounds of fighting, the grunts of the Corrupted and Corrupted Lumera's insults at everyone who would dare take her away from her beloved child. Most of which were directed at Veyle herself.

And yet, Veyle could have sworn to have heard whispers from the moment they entered, as long as seeing some indistinct figures.

The same figures Veyle vaguely remembers seeing sleeping in the halls back when she still lived here.

It took her some centuries after leaving to realize they weren't sleeping at all.

She hates that she can't recall her siblings' names and faces. One of the most common things she heard people say is that the dead aren't truly gone as long as they're remembered, and yet here they are, restless and forgotten by everyone, including her own family.

Veyle, too young to have even known them.

Alear, who forgot everything about their past.

Nel and Rafal, who not only are from another Elyos so they never knew them, they had to forget that the people they were forced to fight to the death.

"No matter the world, this place will always be a cesspool like no other." Rafal said.

"Veyle, if I may? There is something I want to check."

"Of course. Lead the way."

It was weird how the temple was somehow more unsettling without any Corrupted hunting them down.

They entered a medium-sized room with a series of castle beds, who all looked worn down and resembling slabs of stone more than a place to sleep. From her time wandering the world Veyle learned to make due sleeping anywhere vaguely comfortable..but even she had absolutely no intention to try those. Right away, Rafal began looking under the beds, searching for something.

“Why did you two want to come this room?”

Nel took a deep breath.

“This was where our room was, back in our world.”

Veyle’s eyes widened.

“You don’t think… there was a version of you two here too?”

“It’s a possibility. The Alear from the past looked shock to see Rafal and I, and this world’s Sombron seemed to recognize me.”

“I knew it.”

Everyone turned to look at Rafal, who had moved one of the beds while they were talking, revealing a small hidden crawlspace beneath it.

“What is that?” Veyle asked

“My secret sweet stash. I used to hide the sweets I gathered in our missions here, away from any greedy hands… as well as Father’s eyes”. Rafal muttered. Veyle could have sworn he shuddered for a moment.

“I always wondered where the sweets you shared with Nil and I came from. Now I finally know.” Nel chuckled much to her brother’s chagrin.

“Regardless, this proves your theory right, sister. But I have no doubt in my mind our selves in this Elyos have long been nothing but dust.”

Nel closed her eyes. “I see.”

“Are you two alright?” Veyle asked, worried about her older siblings.

"Yes. This just proved our suspicion, nothing more."

"..the us in this world must be nothing but dust now. Not like it ever mattered beyond our selfish want for closure."

"Rafal…"

Veyle couldn't help but wonder what the two were thinking about. Whenever the Winds talked about her late self from the other world, she always felt a strange pit in her stomach. Maybe Rafal and Nel felt the same.

"Enough feeling nostalgic. It's not as if this place holds any good memories anyway. Let's just do what we must."

"Right." Veyle nodded. She had everyone come here for a reason, after all.

"Zelestia? Could you give everyone their crystals, please?"

"Certainly." Zelestia took a handful of strange crystals out of her bag and started handing them over to everyone.

"Lady Veyle already mentioned this before we departed, but be very careful with those crystals. To give them that much destructive power we had to make them extremely volatile. That is to say, any hit or fall could set them off and if that happens…" Zelestia made the sound of an explosion while stretching her arms out to prove her point. Gregory gulped nervously in response.

"Make sure to place them at an appropriate distance between each other so that they'll all activate in a chain reaction. Once you're done, return to the throne room. …I want to make sure you all evacuate before I proceed."

"Are you going to be alright?" Nel asked, worried.

"Yes. The spell will take a little while to activate, and I can run pretty fast when I want to." Veyle responded.

"Everyone, we'll meet at the Throne Room. If you find any Corrupted or other threats, alert everyone. And again please be careful with the crystals! ..sorry I couldn't make them safer. I'm not as good at magic crafting as I should yet and Zelestia could only help so much. And no, the ghosts aren't threats."

And with that, everyone split into groups.

Veyle was about to leave to place her crystals in her designated area when…

Veyle…

"Huh?" She turned around to see two ethereal figures and yet more vivid than all the other ghosts, even if their faces were still unclear. They merely turned to point at a nearby room.

"Yes. I'll go check it out before we leave." She nodded before heading there.

She couldn't turn a request from her late siblings, after all.

"Good, you're all here." Veyle said after reuniting with everyone else at the throne room.

"Veyle? Where did you get those?" Nel asked. Her sister was holding a bag of seeds in her left hand and a sword on her right.

"I found them in one of the bedrooms. …our siblings wanted me to take these with us before we free them from this place." Veyle muttered. Everyone fell silent.

"Mauvier, I'm entrusting these to you. We are going to bring them home."

"Yes, Lady Veyle."

"Thank you. Now, I am going to cast the spell. Everyone, you need to evacuate from here."

"Just be careful, sister."

Veyle nodded before watching everyone head out of the temple.

Once she was sure to be the only alive presence left, she turned her gaze towards the throne where Papa once stood.

She knew what she had to do. But she'd be lying to herself that burning another place to the ground after her other self did so to the port town in Firene didn't make her shiver.

Then she shook her head.

"No. This is different." 

The port was a place of innocents. This temple was a monument to all of Papa's - No, Sombron's - atrocities, and as long as this place stood the wound he inflicted on Elyos would never truly heal.

…and her siblings would never be able to leave this world and rest.

With renewed determination, Veyle took out the tome she specifically prepared for this, and casted the largest fireball she ever made in her entire life.

The fireball lazily floated in place, but Veyle knew that in a matter of minutes it would explode, triggering in turn the explosive crystals she and the others had placed all over the temple and causing a chain reaction that would cleanly bring all of Gradlon Temple down.

Now that her job was done, Veyle began running out of the temple as fast as she could and watching the affair with the others.

It was time for a Solmic funeral they would never forget.

Shortly after reuniting with her group Veyle watched Gradlon Temple explode and collapse within itself, going down in flames. Even she didn't quite know how she was feeling, watching the flaming ruins of the place she once regrettably called home.

She knew this was just the beginning. She may have cauterized Sombron's biggest wound on this world, but there was plenty to be done yet to reshape Gradlon into the land she wanted it to be.

But the young queen wasn't deterred. She had all the time in the world and there were plenty of people by her side.

"Thank you again for planting these flowers with me, Alear."

"They're from our siblings, right? It was the least I could do."

This was the first time Veyle ever gardened with her sibling. Something about it made her feel at peace.

"When I asked Céline which types of flowers they were she said these seeds grow best in temperate climates. Like Firene… or Lythos."

Veyle was genuinely impressed that they managed to grow them in Gradlon.

"They wanted to be here all along…"

"I think that's why they asked me to take the seeds with me. They remembered us, Alear. All of us."

"If only we had gotten to know them… Still, I can't believe you talked to actual ghosts, Veyle. You could give Ivy a big scare with that." Alear smiled.

"I didn't really talk to them much, but I wasn't scared." Veyle continued. "I was just… really sad."

"They're here now, at least. I'm sure they're watching over us even as we speak." Alear smiled.

"I hope they like the garden we made for them!"

Veyle felt really proud of her work. The light-colored flowers bloomed gracefully in the cold green of its dedicated garden in the Somniel, and it made both siblings feel at peace with themselves.

In the following centuries, these flowers could be found growing all over Gradlon. Many of them are said to have been planted by the Fell Queen herself.

"Lady Veyle? What brings you here?" Pandreo asked, surprised.

"Hello, Pandreo. May I ask you a favor? I'd like you to bless this."

"A sword?"

"I found it the other day in Gradlon Temple." Veyle nodded. "It was from one of my late siblings."

"...I see. Not that I don't appreciate you visiting, Lady Veyle, but why did you come all the way to Solm just to bless this sword?"

"When I handed Alear this sword, they acted… strange. The look on their face reminded me of when we saw them in the past."

"I see. Did it bring some painful memories?"

"Not quite. They did say they felt a strong knot in their throat, though."

"Hmmm…."

"Anyway! I wanted to keep the sword in the Somniel as a memento, but they said they felt the owner would have hated it. …that they would rather have it be used and see the world, free. So… here I am."

"You thought to have the sword be given a Solmic blessing to make sure it'd know the joy of freedom? That's quite clever, Lady Veyle! I'll make sure to give it the greatest blessing Solm's ever known!"

"Thank you so much, Pandreo!" Veyle beamed.

"But in return I insist you join tonight's party. We gotta celebrate the blessing and you and the Divine One getting to know their family more, after all!"

"Oh, certainly! Awoooooo!"

The Grave of the Fell.

Built atop where the old Gradlon Temple by the Fell Queen herself, it is a giant grave covered in flowers.

Ever since the official refounding of Gradlon, every year there has been a joint festivity between the Divine and Fell religions to mourn all of the Fell Children who perished in the first war against Sombron.

Whereas the Divine Faith focused more on the atrocities they were forced to commit by their father, the Fell Faith viewed it as a reminder of their bloody past that must never be repeated, as the guardians of Elyos.

But both of them always emphasized their senseless, gruesome demises at the hands of their own father.

The Divine One and the Fell Queen knew that better than anyone, which is why every year they go to that grave to pay their respects.

The incision marks:

"A monument to all the Fell Children who met their untimely demise at the hands of Sombron.

May their senseless loss of life always be remembered, so that their tragedy will never be repeated.

Fell Queen Veyle

Divine Dragon Alear

Fell Guardians Nel and Rafal

"

[secretlywritingstories]

My horse's stables have been sold. It's been a long time coming really. They announced to us just over a year ago that they would be selling and now the time has come. But even with the long warning, it feels abrupt and it's messing with my head when I think about it too much.

It was one of the first things I saw this morning when I opened my eyes. Maybe that's on me checking my email that early, but usually it's comments from AO3 greeting me and those are wonderful to wake up to. This was not really.

And it's generally good news. It'll be another family who'll live there. The mother is a rider too, and they want to continue hosting boarder horses. So, it's entirely possible that I can keep Moneypenny in the stable that has been her home for the last 15 years and the place that has been my escape from the world just as long.

Ownership shifts on the 1st of December, which is sooner than I would like. They are going to renovate the stables, which they have been direly needing, but that also means temporary displacement of the horses. I don't know how they're going to go about it all. I don't really know what I am going to do about it.

It's still early days. The contract was signed just last night. The current owners and the new owners will have several meetings over the coming weeks to sort things out. And the riding tack shop is staying for the moment and the family are probably keeping their own horses (five horses, most of them youngsters and one sold abroad) on the property until they find somewhere new.

They strive to make it a smooth transition and it'll probably be fine. I am still facing the choice as to whether I want to look for somewhere else to board Moneypenny or I am going to stick around in the stable under new ownership. I don't love either option, but I do like the idea of staying in the familiar, if I can.

I love the nearby forest, I know every nook and cranny of the stable and the rest of the property. It's comfortable and easy. Moneypenny shares a field with another boarder, so she also has her usual partner if that person decides to stick around. She might. We're from the same riding school originally, and she moved her (old) horse to the stable just a handful of months after I moved mine.

Maybe it'll be good. We've been stuck in a weird transitional period where most of the boarders moved, we had a couple of temporary ones come in but the stable that at most housed over 30 horses went down to under 10. It didn't affect me that much because I was just hanging out with my horse, but there was a sense of life and community lost.

It might get restored now with new owners, a renovated stable and presumably new boarders coming too. I want to meet the owners to make my own judgements, but I am leaning towards staying. Change is such a bitch and anything with Moneypenny in particular makes me flare up so easily.

Spending time with her in comfortable and safe surroundings have always been something I run to whenever things get too overwhelming, whether with school, work og just inside of my own head. And this stable has been the backdrop of it for a decade and a half. A lifetime really. And Moneypenny is happy there. She could be happy elsewhere too, I know it. She's much less fussy than her owner.

And I'm happy for the old owners. I want them to have the freedom not to constantly have to take care of a stable. It's endless work. Day in and day out. I could not do it. I hope the new owners will be a breath of fresh air and bode good things ahead.

Change is coming, whether I want it or not. And it's healthy enough to be shaken up sometimes. Even if it makes me want to thrash around and pout.

[aranict]

Book asks! 9, 12, and 19 please :D

OOooh that was a hard one!

Wall of text incoming :D

9.if u were stuck on an island and could only have three books w u what would they be? (series would be counted as one cuz as i said so)

The Coldfire trilogy by C.S Friedman

Havenstar by Glenda Larke

Deathless by Catherynne Valente

Those books mean a lot to me, to be fair they are the only books I went back to  re-read right after I finished them. Each one has a different appeal, either due to its story, or its characters. 

Coldfire is a masterpiece of how to write a dark fantasy tale with The Most Memorable Villain (™) in the genre, whose moral decline goes far more than the lust for power; Tarrant is an once hailed saviour, a killer, a martyr, a master of demonic forces and unimaginable powers, who yet manages to have such a strong presence in the world, that even the main hero - Damien, the equivalent of the upright cleric of light - is drawn to. Damien’s own change of beliefs and attitude to him towards the series is beautifully executed and more importantly, believable ; in the end of the series, they are both changed, moved by their respective rigid values and beliefs, into camaraderie and understanding. Even if the book shows its age sometimes- its 34 years old by now -  its flaws can be overlooked in favour of the fantastic worldbuilding and the memorable main characters.

Havenstar is perhaps the most underrated standalone novel I have ever read. Again , published in the early 90s and relatively unknown, it has one of the most original concepts regarding the impact of magic and such forces - magic is chaotic, unpredictable, and seemingly controlled by demons, having disastrous effects when used without care.  The land itself is changed, where magic is present in abundance, with magic users being hunted as servants of the dark. People rely on mapmakers who can see and chart the ever changing landscape to travel  - people like the main protagonist, who takes it upon her to pick up her father’s work in mapping out the unstable wild lands. Keris is forced in one such journey to work with a man who is bound to the dark - Davron, a magic user, who represents the evil she has been taught to hate all her life. Only things are not what they seem, and Keris comes to understand that what she has been shown about magic is not quite true, and to see the plight of a persecuted people first hand, which helps here to grow out of her taught prejudices and narrow mindedness of the society she has been brought up in. Keris and Davron’s gradual transition from hate to understanding and eventually, to something more, is a masterfully told enemies-to-lovers story, which again, puts newer works on the genre to shame. I could go on and on about this book, but I would rather you just read it instead :)

Deathless is… I don’t really know what to say about this book, it walks the fine line between genre fiction and literary fiction, the prose is a work of art in itself, a lyrical, dark fairytale inspired by the Russian folklore of the Tsar of Life and Death. I do not think that I have read a love story more profound, more memorable, than that of Marya and Koschei; their love is something terrible to behold, bound to surpass the bounds of life and death. A fairytale told in the age where magic dies, the a dark , twisted story with the backdrop of the political turmoil and wars of the 20th century. It just something that you have to read :)  

“I do not tolerate a world emptied of you.” :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

12.a book/book series u wish u could read for the first time ever again?

I think that I would want to re-read the Malazan Book Of the Fallen series again, and re-live all the beautiful, tragic, heart-wrenching moments of this epic like the first time. It’s the pinnacle of epic fantasy for me, the kind that you cannot really describe in a short summary. It has the right amount of action, character development, insane lore and magic - think D&D but in a more mature setting. Gods walk the earth, magic tears the realm and the sky, legions battle impossible odds…It’s military fantasy, at its best, with politics, power plays between gods and mortals and flawed, tragic characters. Add to that the masterful writing of Steven Erikson, who writes a D&D fantasy like it's a Greek tragedy, and come on, what’s not to like?

Provided, they are difficult books. There is a lot of philosophy and symbolism thrown in and the prose is quite heavy, but… it’s beautiful :)

19.a book u came across randomly but ended up loving it?

Ok, a really random read that I actually enjoyed quite a lot was Anthony Ryan’s  A Pilgrimage of Swords. Although I’ve read quite a lot of Ryan’s works, I found this novella by chance while browsing books on the kobo store. It is not a full length novel but it’s exceptionally good, reads a lot like a D&D party adventure , a party of people thrown together on a quest. However, this is Ryan we’re talking about, so the worldbuilding is terrific, and the main character , the Pilgrim,  is just a chef’s kiss kind of morally grey character, who is equal parts intimidating, sarcastic, utterly likeable.  :) 

Thanks for tagging me!!!

[manysmallhands]

My Favourite Songs of 2023 part 1: 40 - 31

The route to this post has not been the smoothest. I've been working on this list since the end of November but I got Covid a few weeks ago and so writing became impossible for a while. Given the amount of time that's passed between then and now, it's become clear to me that some of my choices would be different if i did them over again. However, I am sticking to my original version of the list, a few ups and downs notwithstanding. This is because of one reason and one reason only: I am lazy and I don't want to do it again. My apologies to Troye Sivan and Baby Queen, who i'd probably have found places for amongst others. I can only imagine the streams these artists will lose by not being covered in my blog posts and I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me.

However! Every song here is still a banger and, even if I think there might be one or two that are better, surely that only adds to the fun of speculation: Which could it be? Which ones would I have left out? Don't imagine it's definitely the songs with the lowest numbers: my method of ranking is fairly haphazard and I might go so far as to say that these numbers are a load of old bollocks. Still, I've enjoyed myself writing this and, given the infinitesimal number of people who will read it, that is surely the thing that counts. I'm posting the songs in rounds of ten cos that's all that Tumblr will let me embed at a time. Let's go!

40. Girl Ray - Everybody’s Saying That

Girl Ray’s disco turn has in all truth been a bit ropey but Everybody’s Saying That is the best exception, all Nile Rogers shimmer and effortless Studio 54 cool. Poppy Hankin chimes in with the self confidence of the misfit (“Everybody’s saying that you could’ve done better but I really wanna end up with you!”), striking out with winningly frank charm against a backdrop of glittery nightlife

39. En Attendant Ana - Fools And Kings

En Attendant Ana’s third LP was a surprise critical hit but it was the more delicate songs which really stood out for me. Fools And Kings in particular ditches the jangly mathrock approach for a gentler, almost old style RnB feel, as Margaux moves to a more human level lyrically. I don’t think there’s another moment across the album nearly as touching as when she sings “Are you OK y’know?”, a question that we'd all benefit by hearing from time to time.

38. Cassö, RAYE, D-Block Europe - Prada

This thumping remix of DBE and RAYE’s Ferrari Horses takes the original understated vocal performances and hammers at them with a full range of doofs, bleeps, icy synths and the general sense of being in the middle of a cocaine heart attack. The result was wedged in the top 3 for weeks this autumn and, while doomed never to top the charts, it still feels as bracing as the first time I heard it.

37. Maple Glider - Dinah

Maple Glider is one of the new breed of folky singer songwriters but Dinah in particular has the same light as air charm as the sweetest kind of indiepop. Lyrically though, the song tells a much darker story, a tale of sexual abuse in the church where the ingenuousness in her voice underlines the deeply uncomfortable places that it goes. There's an obvious sense of queasiness in that contrast but Dinah's tuneful charm manages to hold it all together.

36. Dimension - DJ Turn It Up

I’ve spent a lot of the last 6 months listening to Radio 1 and this sort of 90s style rave banger is the kind of thing they play a lot. DJ Turn It Up has stuck with me more than most though: maybe that's cos it was the one of the first that I heard, or possibly because of the way the vocal is used as a kind of rhythm track rather than the focal point, relying on the song's musical hooks and twitchy energy to wind up the listener. Whatever it is, DJ Turn It Up slaps: do as the lady says.

35. Talib Kweli/Madlib - Marathon Thru Babylon

Following on from last year’s excellent Black Star reunion (also produced by Madlib), Kweli’s solo project was just as good, with Marathon Thru Babylon providing one of the highlights. Madlib’s signature of grainy old soul samples and booming beats underpins Talib and Mechell Ndegeocello as they trade verses on the nature of time and its malcontents and throw in some conspiracy theory for good measure too. Mechell’s wake up sheeple ending may prompt me to crack a smile but in truth it all just adds to the song’s murky charm.

34. Charli XCX - Speed Drive

One could make the case that Speed Drive has been phoned in a bit - trashy lyrics, yet another interpolation - but every time Charli says “HOT!” it probably makes me happier than I’ve been during any other song this year. The general impression I get from Speed Drive is that, not only would Charli and Barbie be fantastic pals, but also that I will cheerfully listen to any old bollocks that she puts out these days.

33. Free Love - Open The Door

The Glasgow duo probably have fewer listeners than anyone in this list but they sounded like the band who were enjoying themselves the most in 2023. While their Insides album was a more eclectic mix overall, Open the Door sticks close to a Jean Michel Jarre-like template of the future, all laser shots and weird analogue FX, while Suzi Cook’s smartly accented vocals managed to keep an indie vibe within its razor sharp pop hooks.

32. Miley Cyrus - Used To Be Young

Miley doing this kind of “looking back at my misspent youth” song aged 30 feels enjoyably transgressive in its own right but Used To Be Young is so much more than just its brilliant concept. A melodramatic power ballad with some fine turns of phrase, Miley stick two fingers up at the finger waggers and nails some genuinely colossal moments (her yelling of the title at 2.37 must surely become a karaoke staple) as the idea of Miley as ageing rock legend comes off as a surprisingly viable concept. 

31. Lana Del Rey - The Grants

There’s a gospel feel to the opener on Lana’s excellent Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard album, switching between a gloomy tone and something more redemptive as she contemplates reaching across the great divide. The effect is as uplifting as anything she's ever done, capturing that classic Lana space between the heartfelt and theatrical to create a secret third emotion that intensifies the whole idea. It’s another variation on her standard trick but what can I say, I remain easily pleased.

More tomorrow, if i get my act together.

[ageless-aislynn]

Rules || Share 10 facts about yourself and tag 10 other blogs! I want to get to know my mutuals, and the people I follow a little bit :) The facts can be about anything! 

Tagged by @mrtobenamedlater, thank you!

1. I vid by using a lot of line-of-sight, meaning I find the beat I want the action to match on the audio line and line it up that way. I, of course, also watch the video/audio preview window but, for fine tuning the beat use, I rely on line-of-sight to get things hitting when I want it to. Hopefully. 🤞😣🤞😂

Here, have a random cap of “Like Ghosts” (John/Kai, Halo) as it was in progress. 😉

2. Once I finish my WIPs, I plan on taking a sabbatical from writing. I’m honestly not sure for how long, I’ll have to see how I feel when I get there. Right now, that means, over on the Halo side of the Field of WIPs, finishing “15 Minutes” and “Recreation” and, for the Flash, “The Price,” “Guardian Angel”, “Split” (temp name for final fic in the Ghost of Eobard Thawne series) and whatever I can come up with for the final Snowells Week for this year. 

3. I now have way more games in my Steam library than I’ll ever play in my life.

This is mostly because of how I like to play. I like to get to know a game, to become familiar and comfortable with it. This is why the Halo MCC was perfect for me: I can replay something like Reach a million times and either do exactly what I usually do and STILL have something unexpected happen or I can try out something totally new and different. Like, I had no idea for the longest time that you can save the Troop ‘hog on ONI: Sword Base, the one that drives across the way and gets blown up by the Wraiths as soon as the door opens when you pick up the target locator. But you can TOTALLY save it (with the Acrophobia skull and a plasma pistol 😉) and drive it all of the way through the rest of the mission with a full load of 3 marines and Kat along with you until you reach the elevator section! It will be on fire the entire time but its health is fine, it’s all just cosmetic. So I always save the Troop ‘hog now, unless I have a reason to need a Warthog with a turret on it. I love my Flamin’ Troop ‘hog! I named it Trooper because I’m original and unique. 😎👍

If I have to not save them, I always dramatically exclaim, “NOOOO, MAH BOYS!!!” when Trooper goes boom. 😭😭😭 We also pause to acknowledge Trooper’s destroyed shell when we return to the base later. 😥😉

Anyway, playing like this means I’ll replay one game over and over and, with long games, well... I can spend a LOT of time on them, rather than “one and done” playthroughs and move on to the next one. I just find this more fun than always learning something new. 🤷‍♀️

4. I wish I could take good photos of my action figures but I have a lack of decent light, a serious need for a tripod or something to steady my camera and I could definitely use some cool or interesting backdrop/dioramas. 😕

5. Speaking of action figures, my Master Chief in his Olaf bathrobe is one I’m always going to keep right next to me. I think of him as my Cozy Chief, lol.

6. This is my most popular vid on Youtube. It’s 14 years old and was a request.

7. I think this is a GIF I’m going to get a lot of use out of

I feel like I buffer a lot these days, lol!

8. I listen to a lot of ASMR and I highly recommend it if you have trouble sleeping, need something to listen to while you work or study that is “background noise-ish” or if you have anxiety. If you’ve tried before and didn’t like it or didn’t find it helpful, I also really recommend trying different types. There’s tapping, scratching, mic noises, nature sounds, no talking, whispering, fast, slow, roleplays... Honestly, it’s kinda endless at this point, lol! Headphones recommended as well to get the best effect, IMO. Oh and an ad blocker because there’s nothing worse than drifting to sleep at long last and then HERE, BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!! blares you back awake. 😱🤬😉

9. This is the most recent Barbie I bought. She’s sooooo pretty and has a real, knitted sweater!

(Barbie Extra #20 😉)

My mom and I started collecting Barbies in the last year of her life and it makes me feel closer to her, especially if I find something I know she would’ve liked or if I get a great deal on something. Or whenever I find a Barbie shoe pack, lol. I can still hear her telling me, “We need more shoes! Barbie never has too many shoes!” and those are some trufax right there. 😉

10. I’ve struggled to find interesting answers for this that I haven’t told you over and over before. So in lieu of a (nonexistent 😛😉) cool final fact about me, here’s a hug to carry you on your way today.

Tagging: anybody who’d like to do this *boops your nose politely* 😉🤗💖

[elysiuminfra]

hi anon i love you. thank you for thisi question (i just woke up) you have no idea how excited i am to talk about this. had to make a post since it didnt wanna publish ur ask :( in the ideal world AMPHIMAL (all capitals for silly) is a 14 episode 2D animated tv show (heavily inspired by gennedy tartakovsky's work - particularly with samurai jack and primal, as well as mike mignola's work on hellboy) (AND SERGIO PABLOS!!) (wait edit: AND the old animated batman movies) HOWEVER. i have had many many thoughts about its ACTUAL format as a webcomic. i think it works best in this format cause the internal dialogue is important and you'd lose that in a show (i have many many thoughts about how media format influences tone/overall storytelling) particularly i'd like to execute it as a webcomic set with unconventional format - im very inspired by indie comics such as quinn - a horror webcomic made by moby, tumblr linked here, an artist who's work ive followed for a while and who's work first piqued my interest in breaking "traditional" webcomic format. yugo limbo and mike mignola (there he is again!) are also huge inspirations. (and another webcomic im too embarrassed to say) im in love with the  idea of using the website itself as a backdrop for your visuals - it would be a mix of script, prose, intermingling with cinema-like stills as visuals - this is because traditional comics are difficult for me, i THINK in camera angles and shot layouts, not necessarily comic panels. i also plan on having annotations throughout the story, for secrets and descriptions of certain era-specific objects as fun optional facts - although when i actually put it all together on a website, this feature could be toggled. ideally it would be non-intrusive - think the note system from pentiment. the biggest inspirations i draw for AMPHIMAL though is Hellboy full stop in terms of palettes, visuals, and style. i plan on further solidifying and developing the "look" of amphimal as i do more research on victorian cultural and architecture motifs (they don't even know about the henry jekyll architecture associations) and also because i am the world's most unnecessarily detail-oriented person. my current work reflects moreso how i plan on amphimal looking when its published, with stark shadows, black shapes taking forefront, limited and striking palettes with heavy emphasis on color, shape, and object motifs. i am putting an unnecessary and frankly embarrassing amount of thought into literally every single detail (AND striving for semi-historical accuracy) (which is extremely difficult due to the lack of primary sources / bias in papers and the lack of accounts of certain aspects of victorian life, such as lgbt history and london’s underbelly of the era. particularly because many primary accounts are rife with racism, bigotry and inaccuracies - and they don’t paint a complete picture, so much of what i show WILL be speculation and not historically accurate) as for SCRIPT? behind the scenes its pretty rough - i have my charts and notes, but they're all pretty disorganized and i don't think i could share them without 1. spoiling a LOT of stuff (it doesnt differ from the original plot in any way, it just has far, far more depth into the characters - and some stuff i want to keep a secret!) 2. exposing just how deranged my note-taking skills are. amphimal currently exists only in pages and charts and key visuals i've made for myself that i MUST compile in a clean format for personal use (and sharing among those who can take peeks behind the scenes) as for key points oh boy. my favorite chapter and the one i'm most excited to write is utterson's search and first meeting with hyde. second favorite is utterson's scenes involving lanyon's death (he does die in amphimal, that i'm not changing - i thought about it at first but scrapped it) these moments show off utterson's character at key points OUTSIDE of jekyll (an absolute necessity!) - and he is, by far, my favorite protagonist out of all my projects. and i love him your honor ANYWAY ummm i dont really have much else to write other than thank u for sending this question!!! artistic format / experimentation is one of my favorite things to talk about. as for WHEN amphimal is gonna be a thing, it'll be in the future when i'm in a better living situation (and when the full amphimal theory bible is compiled - i'm obsessed with consistency between scenes and background motifs, so this will work as a reference for me once the project gets started however this will and is currently taking a LOT of research) ETA? later. possibly next year if i'm not too busy adjusting to the city im moving to. dont know yet but it'll happen. i'll make amphimal before i die promise because if i dont my spirit will never sleep peacefully

[risu5waffles]

And i will walk TEN miles, and i will walk just TEN miles more.

Hot off the grill and fresh on the slab, got another ten up for your perusal.

It's self-indulgent, i know, to put my own stuff in the archive, but <shrug> i went and did it anyway? It's weird going back to my old stuff, and not just because it's from The Before, although that is absolutely a part of it. You can see from Osaka Hanami (花見大阪風) that we covered way back in episode 13, and from the bits i've shown from the new level (still in progress!), there's a definite theme i'm working out of my system, and that theme is i really, really like hanami. But also, i look at bits, and am just like "why did you make these choices? Why do it like this?" This is, i think, the first explicit reference to Yokaihama, which would later become the backdrop to my first review show, and it already feels overthought-out in the worldbuilding. i spent a lot of time thinking about Yokaihama, even if i felt, in the end, that i'd written myself into a corner making a setting i really didn't feel comfortable telling the story of. i wish i could actually go into create mode for this one (there's some bit of Marvel kit stuff that's locking me out of it). i'd love to see the actual guts of the oni fight at the end, because i totally didn't know what the hell i was doing, but it still managed to turn out ok? Also, there's a sticker switch in there that was originally a shout-out/collab wiv creator Enoch_Root, the sticker for which i do not have any more, and i have no idea what it actually triggers. Mystery! But also a warning against using custom stickers to gate off bits/modes of your levels.

This is a nice enough level if you can get past the presentation being pretty pants. Some of the gameplay bits are nice; i particularly liked the bit wiv the rocks being pushed out? The way they're an obstacle when you first encounter them, as they can slow you down and get you caught out by the wall, but when you loop underneath they become hazards, as their being pushed out from above can knock you into the slime? The two part nature of that bit, i really like that. i liked that there are a few secrets for you in there too, and i realize i missed a couple, watching through it now. The reverse slime waterfall bit is a whole mess tho'. The way the killzone is just the very top, so you can wind up launching into it, and then getting stuck. i imagine it's on some timed piston, but i wonder if it wouldn't work better as a destroyable block wiv a mover attached, just to keep the player from getting at it before it's reset.

People really seemed to like this one, and i don't know why? i mean, nothing against the level, it's decent enough, uses a bunch of Shardinators, which i think are neat, like potatoes. The gameplay is fun enough, tho' i wouldn't say it has a great flow to it. The checkpoints are kinda awful, so that's a bit of a point against. Too many power-ups used too little, as well, but i'm always a bit of a hardass about that. But the point of confusion to me is the video did well, compared to my usual numbers. Like, if you just looked at the name and thumbnail (i picked the nicest one i could get, but i mean, visually it's just ok), would this one really attract your eye if you weren't already invested enough in LBP to watch an archive video? Maybe the algo was just being kind.

i really wound up liking this one. It's very LBP1, in the best sense of the usage. i love all the little creature work going on, and none of the swimming bits were overbearing in their length. i'm watching it now, and i love that they accidentally put the sticker switch on the rock, and not the bananas. This race is decent too, not very challenging, but nice and smooth flowing. Yeah, this one's a keeper. Is it the best of the best? Probably not, but it's definitely good.

We talked about this on Friday, and it's still pretty meh.

i like this one a fair bit. It looks on the surface to be set up as a HARD(tm) level, but it feels, ultimately, like it falls on the gentler side of that scale. There's enough challenge to make a low- or medium-skill player sweat, but nothing that feels like it'll get too frustrating. i think that's pretty great, really. Bring that "hey! i did it!" feeling to folx who don't have split-second reflexes. Maybe some of them will like it enough to go that route and build those reflexes up, and some will just have a happy memory of clearing something that gave them a hard time.

This is another one that looks more difficult than it really is, even if it doesn't quite manage the gameplay balance as well as Pink Death. i really liked the aesthetic gimmick of parts being in space, and parts being in ship or on planet; it gave the creator a little more wiggle room to be creative wiv presentation. i would have liked if they'd played a bit wiv gravity in the external sections, but i do know that can be a bit of a pain to build things around. i'd actually like to come back to this creator and try some of their other races on stream one of these days; i feel like they could be a good time.

Another one where you can really feel the LBP1, tho' i don't think it quite manages to have the charm that The Amazon does up list. The raising the waterlevels mechanic is well-handled, tho', and i appreciate that it's a thing through the castle bit, not just a one-off. The boat was kinda cute, too. Kind of a shame this one only managed to get three players on the scoreboard (and one of them being me, a whole thirteen-ass years after publish), it's definitely disappointing to put work into a level, and not see it get any love. Who knows, maybe the creator will see this video some day, and know their work lives on? That'd be nice.

Oh my gawds. When i say i was hot about this level, i am not joking. i had to stand up and take a quick walk around my room. It's the "this level is just to get me the LBP2 plat" combined wiv the "play this level you won't regret it. :)" on the title page. Like, i feel like i got rooked. If they'd been upfront, i wouldn't have been so cheesed. If they'd given us a little something, even if it wasn't a level-level, but some tossed together gallery, i wouldn't have been so cheesed. But to make it sound like there's a level, and then spawn us on the scoreboard, and thank us for helping them get their plat? Uh-uh. No ma'am. Fuck that noise right into the sun.

Now, this level this kind of level is distinctly my toast and my jam. The aesthetic? This is LBP2 era presentation at exactly its "this will please risuko to no end" best. Linda, up front? Yes. Give me your slightly wonky puppets. Give them to me. The gameplay is challenging, but not unfairly so (i definitely could have played better, but i ask you to be gentle, i usually record these in my one hour of functionality before i have to get ready for work, so i tend to rush a touch more than i really ought). i appreciate that none of it is based on any fiddly mechanics that inevitably get busted in the physics changes from translation of LBP2 into LBP3 (there are a few i've played where you can clearly see how it would work, but now it doesn't, and it's hella frustrating). It's a real shame that the series this is a part of is unfinishable. The second chapter is mostly fine, but one of the boss phases has had something go sideways. The hazards still spawn, but whatever is visually representing them either hasn't, or is stuck invisible for some reason. You can still beat the boss, since the checkpoint is infinite life, but it's kind of annoying. The big problem is in the third chapter, where you get half way through or so, and some sequence just doesn't trigger, so the block you need to get on to progress never drops. We did that one on stream, and i was so disappointed.

--------------------------------------- So, that's our ten. Some real good ones in there. Tomorrow's level, spoilers, is also a real winner, so there's that to look forward to.

i've somehow managed to ruck up my right hip, where i can't rotate it out wivout pain? Which is a real problem. i'm a fidgetty sitter, big shock, i know, but my two most comfortable positions are either crosslegged, or left knee up, right knee out (i sit on the floor because, c'mon, you've seen my apartment. What you saw, in the video? Literally all of it aside from the bathroom. There is no space for chairs or sofas), so those are two natural positions that everytime i slide into wivout thinking it's just "ope, that's not happening." There's probably some stretching that'll help, but good luck getting me into a new habit.

Got a bunch of work done on the level cutscene the last few days, and i think it's ready to go into the level proper. So this means just tying it to the drop, and then sorting how to get the player from the top of the tower down to where the scoreboard is[*], and those will be the last real big pieces of the level to be done. There's still a bunch of fiddly decorative/environmental stuff, and playtest run throughs just to make sure that everything's done right, but we're past the last really big hurdle to getting this finished. i don't want to set a release date, but it would be really nice to get things done around my birthday. That would be cool.

[*] there are a couple of ways we've already kicked about getting it done, but the easy way (giving the player something to grab/ride that will take them straight down) might not be the most fulfilling way (letting them run through the destroyed section themselves, which would be neat, but would require extra set-up and testing to make sure there's actually a viable and fun route after the ArchEYEve destroys half the platforms).

[itstremmy]

What can I say except that Tears of the Kingdom was an absolute masterpiece 😭 I originally wasn't the biggest fan of Breath of the Wild as I saw it as this huge sandbox but with little substance. Albeit I was in a very different place in life last time and my taste in games was quite different. Breaking away from the traditional linear format of the games that preceded it, Breath of the Wild really did seem like it was going in a new route simply just to keep itself fresh whether or not it succeeded or not. According to reviewers, fans, and critics, it was a smash hit... and yet, I felt empty.

This was the backdrop for every piece of news about Tears of the Kingdom that came out, each new trailer, every Nintendo direct where even things were speculated to be talked about. I just was't that excited, until the final trailer that highlighted just how different this go around truly was going to be.

I was gifted the game so I already felt like I was going into the new title without much to lose, and from the outset I was like, "okay, more of the same. Sky islands, that's new. Building things, could be fun but I won't engage much with it. The Depths? Pfff... it's just dark uninteresting land down there." Oh, how wrong I was.

What I had underestimated was the amount of time I was going to have after getting a complicated wisdom tooth procedure done that left me not only in pain, but home for a week and unable to sleep. What followed was an adventure that I'll remember for a lifetime.

Be it mapping out the Depths, battling colossal beasts like the Gleeoks, searching every nook and cranny of Hyrule above and below for the various outfits, solving each temple's multi-layered puzzles... the list goes on and on, but whatever it was that I did I just felt like I was discovering new secrets and creating new memories.

Zelda's tear memories were one of the first hooks that grabbed me, which then culminated in this overwhelming gut punch to my nostalgia when Link climbed onto Zelda's dragon form to pull out the Master Sword. There was a sense of grandeur, of tales as old as time, and it truly felt like I was living "the legend" portion of The Legend of Time.

I had grown up with Link and Zelda. Both the series and myself came into this world in 1987. I have memories of my sister showing me the gold Nintendo cart as a kid and thinking that it was a special game since it was made out of solid gold! I recall so freshly to mind playing Ocarina of Time as I entered middle school, coming home from a midnight launch in my college days to pop in Twilight Princess on the Wii's release, and playing the Minish Cap which was left in the lost and found area of one of my old jobs while I worked the night shift. I have so many memories of life with Link at my side. And now at 35 years old, with so many adventures under my belt, every reference, every musical motif that Tears of the Kingdom presented me, I felt as if all those other journey's had helped me to appreciate just how something can become mystique with time. How Link can transcend timelines, lore, so-called canon, and make me feel like I had gone on all those quests myself.

The ending was beautiful, to say the least. Link's dive into the very depth's of hell... climbing, spelunking, traveling further and further into the core of the world. The Zonai backwards music playing so eerily as I approached Ganondorf, only for him to surprise me with battle mechanics that mirrored my own. And as one twist led us from the center of the world to high above Hyrule, my soul sang, I felt like a kid again. Zelda in her dragon form remembered who I was with what little memory still remained from thousands of years of soaring the skies, and with her aid I defeated Ganondorf, saved Hyrule, and created a new legend once again.

After 190 hours, collecting every outfit, defeating all the Gleeoks, solving all the Shrines, and saving the world, I can confidently say that this was one of my favorite games of all-time.

Thank you to Nintendo for crafting a legend of a game.

Happy to draw Zelink as a commission <3 my forte

[papillon82fluttersby]

Famous Five Art Nostalgia #LC24

Introductory post

Introduction to ‘Les Cinq’

‘Les Cinq’ Masterpost

🐺🏗️💥 Les Cinq contre le loup-garou

Original publication date: 1985 (France), never published in the UK

(Original cover by Annie-Claude Martin, 1985)

This is the last book in the continuation series written by Claude Voilier, and it has quite an odd theme compared to the other volumes in the series, with its backdrop of environmentalism versus industrialism. Not something I expected to find in a Famous Five book!

Without further ado, let’s see what awaits our protagonists for this last adventure, Famous Five vs the Werewolf.

~~~~~~

Plot summary:

(Disclaimer: All provided translations are my own.)

The Five are spending the summer holidays at Kirrin Cottage. An individual calling himself the Werewolf is making headline news by violently opposing the many new hotels, supermarkets, leisure facilities and amenities that are being built in the area in order to attract tourists, whom he calls ‘foreigners’. He threatens to attack both the developers and the construction sites. The Five agree with the underlying message, as it is indeed a shame when a natural spot is being defiled by modern buildings, but disapprove of the Werewolf’s violent methods. So they set about unmasking this individual, not to hand him over to the police, but to talk them out of their violent actions.

As part of their intimidation campaign, the Werewolf notably kidnaps a wealthy local farmer, Pierre Lacaut, who was planning to sell part of his land to a property developer. Lacaut reappears a couple of days later, claiming to have been abducted by a man wearing a werewolf mask, then held prisoner in a cellar without eating or drinking, before being left on a deserted road. The Werewolf threatened to attack his family and Lacaut now renounces to sell his land.

Elsewhere, a hotel complex is being built on what used to be a communal meadow, and the Werewolf sets about vandalising the site at night, stealing tools, slashing the truck tyres and sabotaging the machinery. The police set up a watchguard, appointing ‘Old Man Mailloche’ for the task, a retired postman whom the Five are friendly with. Days pass with the Werewolf avoiding the now-guarded site and focusing his efforts on other locations, until one night the future hotel blows up in an explosion; Mailloche later reports that he's been drugged and woke up in a nearby field after the events.

(The children help Mailloche recover after being assaulted)

[TRANSLATION: Narrator: The following night, a plastic charge blew up the hotel where Mailloche was working as a watchguard. Anne: How fortunate that you were not injured! Mailloche: Perhaps, but what an affront to me! That wretched Werewolf must have slipped me a sleeping pill. I was half asleep when I saw a man with a werewolf’s head dragging me across the moor... in a wheelbarrow*!] [*Note: This explains Dick’s hilarity in the illustration above – he’s picturing Mailloche in the wheelbarrow.]

The Five try to track down where the Werewolf could have procured his mask, but don’t find any promising leads. They also wonder where he got hold of such explosives. Mailloche suggests that they could be remnants from WW2, as a local guy named Jérémie, who owns a hardware store, is famous for being descended from a former Resistance fighter. Other possible suspects are Victor Pivert, a retired history teacher who loves nature and leads a very solitary life; Ms Robineau, a spinster who’s hostile to any form of innovation; and the Colombet twins, two young bullies who enjoy messing around.

The Five find a way to search the hardware store's cellar, where they think the explosives might be, but their search turns up nothing. On Mailloche’s suggestion, the children investigate an isolated shack that belongs to Jérémie. They find a lighter marked with the initials ‘P.L.’ and deduce that this is where Pierre Lacaut was locked up. Lacaut recognises his lighter, but is reluctant to say anything else for fear of reprisals. The Five tell the police about their find, but when Jérémie is interrogated, he gives a solid alibi. The children are ultimately rebuked for their suspicions.

(A Clue™!)

[TRANSLATION: Narrator: Tim rushed to a door at the back of the hut. After lighting a match, the Five saw that the room was empty... except for one shiny object on the floor: a lighter... Dick: P.L. George: Pierre Lacaut! Narrator (second panel): Ten minutes later at Pierre Lacaut's... Lacaut: I can't deny that this lighter belongs to me. But I have nothing more to say.]

Next, the Five turn their investigations to Victor Pivert, who does seem to hate nature being destroyed for the sake of so-called progress. The children keep an eye on him over the next few days, but when another building site explodes while Pivert is at home, they have to remove him from the list of their suspects.

The children then visit Ms Robineau, offering their help with running a stall at the fair over the next weekend. Ms Robineau turns out to be an eccentric person with a very upbeat personality. During the fair, a business developer is attacked and spectacularly tied up to the church bell’s chain while being made to wear a werewolf mask. This incident exonerates Ms Robineau, who was at her stall the whole time.

(Shenanigans at Ms Robineau’s!)

[TRANSLATION: Narrator: It was a merry band that went to ring the bell at Ms Robineau's house. The "gentle dragon" accepted the Five's offer of service. Ms Robineau: And your dog can chase those who’d to leave without paying... Ha, ha, ha! Narrator (second panel): Ms Robineau, wanting to pet Tim, sprawled out. Narrator (third panel): Tim, excited, finished his antics on a cactus. Tim: Kaiii!]

The Five turn to the last suspects on their list, the Colombet twins, who are a pair of bullies with a very nasty streak. While keeping watch at night, the children see the twins leaving their house on the sly. They follow the suspects into the forest only to see the twins setting some snares – they’re just poachers! Disappointed with this turn of events, which sees all their suspects gone, the Five take petty revenge on the twins for their ill manners.

(As a revenge for their earlier misdemeanours, the Five give a good fright to the twins in the forest)

[TRANSLATION: Narrator: The Colombet twins ran off. George: I think they're too chicken to be the Werewolf.]

After a relaxing day away from their investigation, the Five go to the building site of a future supermarket, which the Werewolf had threatened to attack. Just as they arrive to the location, they see Old Man Mailloche approaching stealthily. They follow him to an old cemetery, where he enters a disused vault. Deep inside the vault, the Five find Mailloche puttering about in what amounts to be a weapons cache, muttering about his misdeeds – he is evidently the Werewolf. When the Five call him out, Mailloche starts getting defensive, but then confides in the children.

The story concludes on a moderation tone: many of the worst industrialists’ endeavours have been stopped by the Werewolf’s activism, and the local population will stand up to avoid further shameless defiling of their environment. But also, progress brings good things and should not be held back entirely. Balance is key!

~~~~~~

Cover art through the ages:

(Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list; sometimes the dates are difficult to pinpoint; and I have purposefully not included editions that re-used similar cover art, with differences only in layout and font style.)

(Original cover by Annie-Claude Martin, Hachette, 1985)

(Paul Gillon, Hachette, 1993 – in the vault)

(Frédéric Rébéna, Hachette, 2015 – trouble on a construction site!)

~~~~~~

Thanks for reading!