#In my owie ow ow era

[oplishin]

Incredible how much periods can suck in every possible way

[sunburnacoustic]

Track 3 of the US promotional Cave EP that Maverick sent out to radio stations in the US and Canada in late 1999/early 2000.

It's a recording of Unintended from a live acoustic radio session Muse did for KCRW radio in Santa Monica, CA in August 1999, one of their earliest US gigs. This EP only contains Muscle Museum and Unintended, but more songs were played on this session: Falling Down, Overdue, Sunburn and Uno.

Matt sounded kinda nervous on this recording, which I suppose is fair enough given how this session is from before the album came out, before they'd ever properly toured the US, before the massive support slots for RHCP and Foo Fighters that gave them so much confidence in performing and expressing themselves live! Matt's guitar part on this version of the song is also a little different, and he makes a tiny mistake at the start (within the first 30 seconds), he misses a note, and you can hear him just nervously giggling after that. Still, ever the professionals, Muse just carry on without missing a beat, they don't restart the song!

Also god, Matt's falsetto is unreal.

[charliespringverse]

iwbft – monday: a brief summary of my annotations

all highlighted quotes: 101

· ouch/ow/owie: 1

· real/felt/relatable/so true: 4

· aroace: 3

· ☹/☹☹/☹☹☹: 5

They usually just found me annoying, because once I start talking about The Ark, or anything really, I find it kind of hard to stop. — i often reference my jimmy kinnie shit but like,,, angel

I love my real name, but Angel feels like a part of me now. I'm just not used to hearing it in real life. — jay vibes

'And you must give me some writing material, boring girl!! Love you xx' — she took u up on this x

They seem connected. Like the Beatles on Abbey Road, or a group of toddlers holding hands on a preschool trip to the park. — the latter is closer to the truth

The girls. Our girls. — "our girls" vs "our boys" :(

Rowan, the tallest, is to my left with a hand on my shoulder. Lister is to my right, his hands in his pockets. We never really discussed this. It's just what we do now. — does lister keep his hands in his pockets bc he doesn't feel as connected ?

Fortunately for us, I'm excellent at faking being okay with things, even when inside my brain there is a tiny screaming gnome who is definitely not okay. — iconic line

I think he's attractive. Sort of averagely spaced out facial features. That haircut that all the lads are wearing nowadays. Bit like he was designed in a lab. I don't know, really. He looks like the sort of person I should think is attractive. — the a in lgbtqia+ stands for angel rahimi

Not miserable old Radiohead. — boooo rare angel L

'I mean, I guess it's unusual to be into that sort of music, but, you know, it's better than being too obvious.' — fuck off back to ur bucket hat

I say, upbeat as possible, 'Hi, you all right?' — p. 27 !! (note: page 27 is where angel mentions hating when ppl say 'you all right?' as a greeting)

I say this all with a laugh but I do actually wish people thought we were a rock band. We're a rock band. Electropop at a stretch. I'm not a music snob. Shut up. — me in my 5sos era c. 2014

You can tell he gets a little nervous at events like these. — "a little nervous" yeah?

'Not because you think he's attractive...?' — men (derogatory)

[fisherrprince]

hello! I know you said you don't read fics a lot, but do you have any union x fic recs? My brain is spinning missing link and I need Something for it to chew on,,

scrambles down the hallway SMACK slams into the door skitters to open the door fumbles it trips into the room

read anything by @corishadowfang rjght now (specifically dandelion seeds and on the edge of daybreak)

but I also really enjoy this one (unfinished, but very very cute! I’m so fond of it. there are turtles. First chatfic I’ve read that feels Good to read), this one (ouchie but also AUGH so sweet!!, not khux-era it’s chirithy and ven specific), and! This one (OOF OUCH OWIE OW OUCH. OW. you like the final fight against ephemer and skuld right)

[a-z0-9-i-n-gram-completionist]

1:    0 1 2 4 8 9 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z    32/36    (26/26)    (6/10)

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4:    1842 1908 abdo able ably acce acin acru acti actu adep ages ainf ajor akes akin alis allo alls ally almo alog also amil ampl anal anat ance ands andu aneo ange anim answ ants anus aped appa appe area aren arge arki arks arly arms arou arra arsa arte arti arts ased aske atar ated ater athe atid atio ativ atom atte atty atur avit awar aybe babl back ball base bdom bear bedd behi belo betw beyo biof bitt blog bodi body bone boun boyl brat brev bsta bula burr bute call cavi ccen ccyx ceed cent ceps cept cher chiu cial cien ciet cing cles cloa clus cocc comp conn cons cont cosu cret crib crum ctio ctua ctus cula cuta dard ddar deal deed denb denc deos depo dept desc dfis died dies diet ding disp dnes does dome domi dors dula duri eaki eall ears eart ebra ecia ecre ecti ectu edda edin edis eedi eein eems efer egio ehin eing eith elat elet elop elow elvi emal emel emen emor empl emur enbo ence endi ends engt engy enhn enop enor enti entl entu enve eous epos epti eque eral eran ered eres erio erly ermi erru erse ersi erte erti erto erus escr espe esti esty etal etat eton etwe ever evic evid ewha excl exem exte extr exus eyon fami fatt fema femo femu fest fibu fied fift find firs fish form foss frac frog from furt fuse gely geme gest gica gion gird glan glue gold gona gous grea grou gyst hape have head hear heir here hert herz hese hich high hims hind hing hips hird hite hium hnac hole hoto houg hroa hume hyme hymu iall ibed ibio ibul ibut ical icep icks icky icul idea iden ideo ides idfi ienc iety ifes ifie ifth ight ilar ilia illi imag imal imil imse inal incl inde infr ings inky inse insi inst inte into ints inuo iofi ions ious irdl irst isch ishe isop ispo issu ists ites ithe itio ittl itty ivel join jori just juts kele king kink kive knee know ksch land larg larl late lati latu lden legs leng leta leto lexu liar lier life lifi litt llie llow lmos loac logi logo lond loos lope lops lowe lowi lung lusi lvic lymp lypm mage majo make male mall many mark mass mati mayb mely meno ment meru meta mewh mila mili mina mite moot mora most moun mous mple mpli mpri msel murs musc must mygo naci nads nali nalo nato nboy nclu ndee nder ndin ndne ndon ndul nect neit neou ness next nfro ngem ngth ngys nhna nima nnec nopt norm nost note noxi nsec nseq nsid nsis nste nswe ntai nter ntin ntio ntly ntri ntua nuou nusu nvel oaca obab occy ocee ocie odie oesn ofib ogic ogou oint olde olog omat omen omew omin ompr onad ondo only onne onse onsi onta onti ontr oolo oose ooth oped oper opte oral oria orit orma ormo orsa oses osit osso oste osto osty osus otal oted othe otic ough ound ount oups outs ower owin oxio oylo pare part patt pear peci pelv perl phot pica pine plex plif poin pose posi post ppar ppea ppos pred pris prob proc prop pter ptid pubi quar quea quen ques quit ract rain rang rans rapp rate rath rawr rdle real reat rect redi refe regi rela reme rent rest rete reve revi rgel rges rial ribe ribu righ ring rior rise rity rkiv rksc rmat rmit rmou roat roba roce rogs rope rost roun roup rowe rpri rran rrou rrow rruc rsal rsed rsio rstl rteb rter rthe rtic rton ruco sacr sacs sals same save sche schi scie scle scri scul secr sect seei seem self sequ shap shes side sidf simi sion sist siti sits sive size sked skel skin smal smoo soci soft some sopt sori spec spin spos sque ssor ssue stan stea ster stic stin stio stly stom stot stud styl sual subs such supp surp surr swer syno tain take talk tanc tane tars tata tead tebr tend tera tere teri term tern than that thei them ther thes they thig thin thir this thou thro thus thym tibi tica tick ticu ting tinu tiny tion tips tiss tive toma tomy tons tota toti trem trib tsid tter ttle tual tuat tudi ture turn twee tyle typi uall uart uate ubis ubst ucos udie ueak uenc uest uite ular ulat umer unde undi undn ungs unus uous uppo urin urns uros urpr urro urth uscl uscu used usio usiv usua utan utsi velo vely verr vers vert very vice vide vill vity ware ween well were wers what when whic whit whol wing with xclu xemp xiou xten xtre ygol ylou ymen ymph ymus ynos

yond ypic ypmh ysto zool    815/1679616    (813/456976)    (2/10000)

5:    abdom accen acing acrum actio actua adept ainfr ajori aking allow almos alogo amili ample analo anato andul aneou angem anima answe appar appea arent argel arges arkiv arksc aroun arran arsal arter artic asked atars atera ather ation ative atomy atter ature avity aware bably balls based bdome bdomi bedda behin below betwe beyon biofi bitty bodie bound boylo brate brevi bstan burro cally cavit ccent ceedi centu cepti cherz chium ciall cienc ciety cloac clusi coccy compr conne conse consi conta conti contr cosus crete cribe ction ctual cular culat cutan ddard denbo dence depos descr dfish dings dispo dness doesn domen domin dorsa dular durin eakin eally earts ebrat ecial ecret ectio ectus eddar eding edisp eedin eeing egion ehind eithe elati eleta eleto elope elops elvic emale emely ement emora empli emurs enboy endin ength engys enhna enopt enorm entio ently entua envel eposi eptid equen erans erest erior ermit erruc ersed ersio erteb ertic erton escri espec estin estio estyl etata etons etwee evers evice evide ewhat exclu exemp exten extre eyond famil fatty femal femor femur festy fibul fifth first fishe forma fosso fract frogs furth fused gemen gical girdl gland golde gonad great group gysto haped heart herto himse hnaci hough hroat humer hymen hymus ially ibiof ibula ibute icall iceps icept icula ideal idenc ideos idfis ience ifest ified ilarl iliar illie image imila imsel inali inclu indee infro insec insid inste inter inuou iofib irdle irstl ischi ishes isopt ispos issue ither ition ittle ively joint jorit kelet kinky ksche lands landu large larly later lativ latur ldenb lengt letal leton lexus lifes lifie littl llier llowi lmost loaca logic logou londo loose loped lower lowin lungs lusio lusiv lymph lypmh mages major makes marks matid matio maybe menop menti merus metat mewha milar milia minal mites mooth moral mount mplex mplif mpris mself muscl muscu mygol nacin nalis nalog natom nboyl nclus ndeed nding ndnes ndula necti neith neous nfrog ngeme ngyst nhnac nimal nnect nopte normo nosto noted noxio nsect nsequ nside nsist nstea nswer ntain ntere ntinu ntion ntrib ntuat nuous nusua nvelo obabl occyx oceed ociet odies ofibu ogica ogous oints olden ologi omati omewh omina ompri onads ondon onnec onseq onsis ontai ontin ontri oolog operl opter orial ority ormat ormou orsal ositi osits ossor oster ostot ostyl other otica ounde oundi oundn outsi owers owing oxiou oylou paren parti patte pears pecia pelvi perly photo pical plexu plifi point poses posit poste ppare ppear ppose predi prise proba proce prope ptera pubis quart queak quenc quest quite racti rainf range rathe reall rectu redis refer regio relat remel rentl resti rever revic rgely rgest ribed ribut right rkive rksch rmati rmite rmous robab rocee roper rosty round roups rower rpris rrang rroun rrowe rruco rsals rsion rstly rtebr rther rtica rticu rucos sacru scher schiu scien scles scrib scula secre seein seems seque shape sides sidfi simil sists sitio sivel skele small smoot socie somew sopte soria speci spine spose squea ssori stanc stead steri stick sting stion stoma stoti studi style suall subst suppo surpr surro swere synos tance taneo tarsa tatar tebra tendi tends teral teran teres terio termi their there thert these thigh thing third thoug throa thymu tibio tical ticks ticky ticul tinuo tions tissu tomat total totic treme tribu tside ttern tuall tuate tudie turns tween typic ually uarte uated ubsta ucosu udied ueaki uence uesti ularl ulatu umeru under undin undne unusu uppos uring urost urpri urrou urrow urthe uscle uscul usion usive usual utane utsid velop verru verse versi verte verti vicep viden video villi wered which white whole xclus xempl xious xtend xtrem ygold ymeno ynost ypica ystom zoolo    622/60466176    (622/11881376)

6:    abdome abdomi accent action actual ainfro ajorit allowi almost alogou amilia amplex analog anatom andula aneous angeme animal answer appare appear arentl argely argest arkive arksch around arrang arsals articu atarsa ateral athert ations attern bdomen bdomin beddar behind betwee beyond biofib bodies boylou brevic bstanc burrow cavity ccentu ceedin centua ceptid cially cience cloaca clusio clusiv coccyx compri connec conseq consis contai contin contri cribed ctions ctuall cularl culatu cutane denboy deposi descri dfishe dispos domina dorsal during eaking ebrate eciall ecrete ection eddard edings edispo eeding either elativ eletal eleton eloped emoral emplif enboyl ending engyst enhnac enopte enormo ention entuat envelo eposit equenc eresti ermite erruco ersion ertebr ertica escrib especi esting estion estyle etatar etween everse evicep eviden exclus exempl extend extrem famili female femora femurs festyl fibula firstl fishes format fossor fracti furthe gement girdle glands glandu golden gonads groups gystom hearts herton himsel hnacin humeru hymeno ibiofi ically icepti icular idence idfish ifesty ilarly illier images imilar imself inalis inclus indeed infrog insect inside instea intere inuous iofibu irstly ischiu isopte ispose jority keleta keleto kscher landul largel larges latera lative lature ldenbo length letons lifest lified little llowin logica logous london lowing lusion lusive majori marksc mation menopt mentio metata mewhat milarl miliar minali mplexu mplifi mprise muscle muscul mygold nacing nalogo natomy nboylo nclusi ndness ndular nectio neithe nfrogs ngemen ngysto nhnaci nnecti nopter normou nostot noxiou nseque nsists nstead nswere nteres ntinuo ntribu ntuate nusual nvelop obably oceedi ociety ofibul ogical oldenb ologic omatid omewha ominal ompris onnect onsequ onsist ontain ontinu ontrib oologi operly optera ormati ormous ositio ossori osteri ostoti ostyle otical ounder oundin oundne outsid oxious parent partic patter pecial pelvic plexus plifie points positi posits poster pparen ppears predis probab procee proper pteran quarte queaki quence questi ractio rainfr rangem rather really rectus redisp region relati remely rently restin revers revice ribute rksche rmatio rmites robabl roceed roperl rostyl rounde roundi roundn rowers rprise rrange rround rrower rrucos rtebra rtical rticul rucosu sacrum scherz schium scienc scribe scular sculat secret seeing sequen shaped sidfis simila sition sively skelet smooth societ somewh sopter sorial specia sposes squeak ssoria stance sterio sticks sticky stomat stotic studie sually substa suppos surpri surrou swered synost taneou tarsal tatars tebrat tendin terans terest terior termit therto though throat thymus tibiof ticall ticula tinuou tissue tomati totica tremel tribut tually tuated tudied typica uarter ubstan ucosus ueakin uestio ularly ulatur umerus unding undnes unusua uppose urosty urpris urroun urrowe urther uscles uscula usivel usuall utaneo utside velope velops verruc versed versio verteb vertic viceps vicept videnc videos villie xclusi xempli xtendi xtends xtreme ygolde ymenop ynosto ypical ystoma zoolog    446/2176782336    (446/308915776)

7:    abdomen abdomin accentu actuall ainfrog ajority allowin alogous amiliar amplexu analogo anatomy andular angemen answere apparen appears arently arksche arrange articul atarsal atherto bdomina beddard between biofibu brevice bstance burrowe ccentua ceeding centuat clusion clusive compris connect consequ consist contain continu contrib ctually cularly culatur cutaneo denboyl deposit describ dfishes dispose dominal ecially ections edispos eedings elative eletons emplifi enboylo engysto enhnaci enopter enormou entuate envelop eposits equence erestin ermites errucos ertebra ertical escribe especia etatars eversed eviceps evicept evidenc exclusi exempli extendi extends extreme familia femoral festyle firstly formati fossori fractio further glandul goldenb gystoma himself hnacing humerus hymenop ibiofib iceptid icularl idfishe ifestyl imilarl inclusi infrogs instead interes iofibul ischium isopter isposes keletal keleton kscherz landula largely largest lateral ldenboy lifesty llowing logical lusivel majorit marksch mations menopte mention metatar milarly minalis mplexus mplifie muscles muscula mygolde nalogou nboylou nclusio nection neither ngement ngystom nhnacin nnectio noptera normous nostoti noxious nsequen nswered nterest ntinuou ntribut ntuated nusuall nvelope nvelops oceedin ofibula oldenbo ologica omewhat ominali omprise onnecti onseque onsists ontinuo ontribu oologic opteran ormatio osition ossoria osterio ostotic oticall ounding oundnes outside parentl particu pattern peciall plified positio posteri pparent predisp probabl proceed properl pterans quarter queakin questio raction rainfro rangeme redispo relativ resting reverse revicep rkscher rmation robably roceedi roperly rostyle rounder roundin roundne rrangem rroundi rrowers rrucosu rtebrat rticula rucosus science scribed sculatu secrete sequenc sidfish similar skeleta skeleto society somewha soptera special squeaki ssorial sterior stomati stotica studied substan suppose surpris surroun synosto taneous tarsals tatarsa tebrate tending teresti termite therton tibiofi tically ticular tinuous tomatid totical tremely tribute typical ubstanc ueaking uestion ulature undness unusual urostyl urprise urround urrower uscular usculat usively usually utaneou veloped verruco version vertebr vertica vicepti vidence villier xclusiv xemplif xtendin xtremel ygolden ymenopt ynostot ystomat zoologi    297/78364164096    (297/8031810176)

8:    abdomina accentua actually ainfrogs allowing amplexus analogou angement answered apparent arkscher arrangem articula atarsals atherton bdominal biofibul brevicep burrower ccentuat ceedings centuate clusivel comprise connecti conseque consists continuo contribu culature cutaneou denboylo deposits describe disposes dominali edispose emplifie enboylou engystom enhnacin enoptera enormous entuated envelope envelops eresting errucosu ertebrat escribed especial etatarsa evicepti evidence exclusiv exemplif extendin extremel familiar formatio fossoria fraction glandula goldenbo gystomat hymenopt ibiofibu icularly idfishes ifestyle imilarly inclusio interest iofibula isoptera keletons landular ldenboyl lifestyl lusively majority marksche menopter metatars mplified muscular musculat mygolden nalogous nclusion nections ngystoma nhnacing nnection nopteran nostotic nsequenc nteresti ntinuous ntribute nusually nveloped oceeding oldenboy ological ominalis onnectio onsequen ontinuou ontribut oologica opterans ormation ossorial osterior ostotica otically oundness parently particul pecially position posterio pparentl predispo probably proceedi properly queaking question rainfrog rangemen redispos relative reversed reviceps revicept rkscherz rmations roceedin rounding roundnes rrangeme rroundin rrucosus rtebrate rticular sculatur sequence sidfishe similarl skeletal skeleton somewhat sopteran speciall squeakin stomatid stotical substanc surprise surround synostot tatarsal terestin termites tibiofib ticularl toticall ubstance unusuall urostyle urroundi urrowers usculatu utaneous verrucos vertebra vertical viceptid xclusive xemplifi xtending xtremely ygoldenb ymenopte ynostoti ystomati zoologic    189/2821109907456    (189/208827064576)

9:    abdominal accentuat analogous apparentl arkscherz arrangeme articular bdominali biofibula breviceps brevicept burrowers ccentuate centuated clusively connectio consequen continuou contribut cutaneous denboylou described dominalis edisposes emplified engystoma enhnacing enopteran enveloped errucosus ertebrate especiall etatarsal eviceptid exclusive exemplifi extending extremely formation fossorial glandular goldenboy gystomati hymenopte ibiofibul inclusion interesti isopteran ldenboylo lifestyle markscher menoptera metatarsa musculatu mygoldenb ngystomat nnections nopterans nostotica nsequence nterestin oceedings oldenboyl onnection onsequenc ontinuous ontribute oological ormations ostotical particula posterior pparently predispos proceedin rainfrogs rangement redispose revicepti roceeding roundness rrangemen rrounding rticularl sculature sidfishes similarly skeletons sopterans specially squeaking stoticall substance surroundi synostoti tatarsals teresting tibiofibu ticularly totically unusually urroundin usculatur verrucosu vertebrat xclusivel xemplifie ygoldenbo ymenopter ynostotic ystomatid zoologica    112/101559956668416    (112/5429503678976)

10:    abdominali accentuate apparently arrangemen articularl bdominalis brevicepti ccentuated connection consequenc continuous contribute engystomat enopterans especially etatarsals exclusivel exemplifie formations goldenboyl gystomatid hymenopter ibiofibula interestin isopterans ldenboylou markscherz menopteran metatarsal musculatur mygoldenbo ngystomati nostotical nteresting oldenboylo onnections onsequence ostoticall particular predispose proceeding redisposes reviceptid roceedings rrangement rticularly stotically surroundin synostotic tibiofibul urrounding usculature verrucosus vertebrate xclusively xemplified ygoldenboy ymenoptera ynostotica zoological    60/3656158440062976    (60/141167095653376)

11:    abdominalis accentuated arrangement articularly breviceptid connections consequence engystomati exclusively exemplified goldenboylo hymenoptera interesting menopterans metatarsals musculature mygoldenboy ngystomatid nostoticall oldenboylou ostotically particularl predisposes proceedings surrounding synostotica tibiofibula ygoldenboyl ymenopteran ynostotical    30/131621703842267136    (30/3670344486987776)

12:    engystomatid goldenboylou hymenopteran mygoldenboyl nostotically particularly synostotical ygoldenboylo ymenopterans ynostoticall    10/4738381338321616896    (10/95428956661682176)

13:    hymenopterans mygoldenboylo synostoticall ygoldenboylou ynostotically    5/170581728179578208256    (5/2481152873203736576)

14:    mygoldenboylou synostotically    2/6140942214464815497216    (2/64509974703297150976)

Why are rain frogs so round? What's /inside/ of them around such an itty bitty skeleton?

So it turns out this is a really interesting question.

The first thing we must be aware of is that rainfrogs as we see them in videos of them squeaking are not quite the same shape as they are when at rest:

[x]

But you are quite right, they are very round. This is exemplified by the skeletal photo you refer to:

[X]

So what are we seeing?

Well, firstly, note that the body cavity in these frogs actually envelops the femurs, such that only the tibiofibula (fused in frogs) and the tarsals and metatarsals are outside the body. The arms are quite similarly enveloped, but a bit of the humerus does extend outside the body cavity too. This predisposes them to a rounder body shape.

Next, note the ilia - the U-shaped bone in the pelvic region. These in some breviceptid frogs are synostotically fused with the sacrum - that is to say, they are bound by bone-based connections to the bow-shaped vertebra at their tips. This whole joint seems to be quite smooth, and as a consequence, the back of the frog is quite smooth. The other thing we can see here is that the urostyle (i.e. the frog version of a coccyx) juts quite far beyond the ischium and pubis. This extends the body cavity beyond the hips. Note also that the pelvic girdle seems to be largely below the spine, rather than the typical position for frogs behind it and continuous with it. This makes the legs sit below the spine, rather than at its end, enhnacing the vertical roundness of the animal.

Next, let’s talk some soft tissue. Now, I’m not as familiar with soft-tissue in frogs as I am their skeletons, so you’ll have to bear with me a bit (rawr). Beddard (1908!!) studied the soft tissue of Breviceps verrucosus Rapp 1842. It seems that the majority of the body of these frogs is actually muscle. Beddard noted that muscles join the leg at the knee that extend into the body cavity, such that the inclusion of the thigh in the body cavity is further accentuated by musculature. The rectus abdominalis muscle is unusually large, extending from the lower abdomen up and around the sides of the body. Indeed, this large size appears to be the pattern with all of the major muscles, though in the throat the typical arrangement of large and small muscles is somewhat reversed. On the lateral side of the head, there is a substance that is not muscle, but appears to be loose tissue in which sits what is apparently the thymus gland.

There is a very large gap between the end of the urostyle and the anus (one fifth of the total length of the frog), in which there are almost no muscles, save for the one surrounding the lower cloaca. On either side of this area, between the posterior-most muscles of the thigh, lie two large ‘lymph-hearts’, as described by Beddard. These are between one quarter and one third of the total length of the frog. A further lypmh-sac sits between these lymph-hearts and the skin of the femoral region, and they are thus probably analogous to the femoral lymph-sacs of other frogs.

I find it interesting that Beddard (1908) did not mention any glandular formations in the dorsal region. As is evidence from many images (see below), these frogs are able to secrete a white, sticky, noxious substance from their skin (which they actually have to use during amplexus, as the male is too small relative to the female to mount her properly, and so he sticks himself to her with his glandular glue… kinky).

[x]

These glands do not apparently take up a great deal of the cutaneous tissue, and so I suppose are of no consequence to the size of the frog, especially relative to its enormous muscles.

The diet of these frogs consists almost exclusively of hymenopterans and isopterans (ants and termites). Neither of these insect groups are particularly fatty, so it is little surprise that their bodies appear to contain no large fat deposits - fatty bodies extend from the gonads up to the lungs and heart, but these comprise only a tiny fraction of the frog’s mass, and don’t contribute to the round shape. Instead, their bodies are extremely muscular, allowing them to be adept burrowers, ideal for their fossorial lifestyle.

So TL;DR: rain frogs are little balls of muscle (maybe the largest muscle mass relative to body mass of any vertebrate? science just doesn’t know).

Ref:

Beddard, F.E. 1908. On the Musculature and other Points in the Anatomy of the Engystomatid Frog, Breviceps verrucosus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1908:11-41 [x]

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 09 first part

(Masterpost) (More Canary Funsies)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode features so many eternal minutes of zombie shambling that I thought I could fit everything into a single post. HA HA HA HA nope. 

Zombie Temple

The trio do their best to fend off the not-zombies in the temple. Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he can’t go carving them up because they’re not actually dead, and drops a callback to their very first meeting at the gate of Cloud Recesses, when Wei Wuxian caught his attention with his pillowy lips comment on the not-dead cultivator. 

Lan Wangji: You said it in that golden moment that will be seared into my memory for eternity, where I heard your voice and laid eyes on your angelic face and lost my heart forever, remember? Come on, babe, it was our very first zombie! How baked were you?

Wei Wuxian: I jerk off to the sword-fighting memory, not the zombie memory, you weirdo.

Nie Huaisang’s fear of the definitely not undead has apparently gotten him the rest of the way over his fear of Lan Wangji, because he’s now yelling “Lan-Xiong!” right along with “Wei-Xiong!” as he struggles. Note that although he later mentions that his fan is made of some fancy metal, we don’t see any evidence that he wants to fight with a fan any more than he does with a blade. I don’t hate anyone’s fan-fighting NHS headcanon, but my take is that he just isn’t a physical fighter, and that’s ok. 

This is a good time to remember that our entire experience of the Nie clan so far in this story is 1. Clever but hopelessly combat-unready tiny artiste Nie Huaisang 2. Quietly helpful, absurdly pretty sidekick Meng Yao. 

We don’t know yet that Nie Huasang’s gege and Meng Yao’s sugar daddy is literally the toughest motherfucker in the entire cultivation world. But his friends do! Which makes me love these dynamics even more, because not one of them criticizes Nie Huaisang for being the person he is. 

(more after the cut!)

Never Let Me Go

This scene is where Wei Wuxian gives his tacit consent to being used as the eventual agent of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance....ok not really.

But he does make it clear what Nie Huaisang should do when he’s in a pickle. And NHS doesn’t forget things.

Priorities 

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji isn’t nearly as patient as Wei Wuxian, and he drops a silence spell on Nie Huaisang basically out of annoyance. It’s not like they’re trying to be sneaky. 

Lan Wangji: How about you have an exquisitely crafted ceramic cup of shut the fuck up?

Flute Girl

Wen Qing comes to the rescue by summoning all of the not-zombies, who happen to be her extended family, to come toast some marshmallows. 

She’s another person who unwisely demonstrates, where Wei Wuxian can hear her, the power of flutes over zombies. 

This move doesn’t seem to do anything important but it looks cool. 

Brother Dynamic: Bad. Really Bad. 

Jiang Cheng shows up in the temple and trolls everyone, because this is a great time for childish antics. Wei Wuxian is super happy to see him and runs over to hug him, which earns him a shoulder slam. 

This is a regular part of their body language with each other. Wei Wuxian covers his hurt reaction very, very quickly, with a smile that doesn’t involve very much of his face. 

Ow

Wei Wuxian is so good at pretending his feelings aren’t hurt, he probably convinces himself. 

Then he gives a too-honest answer when Jiang Cheng accuses him of...daring to enjoy himself, basically.

That’s more truth than Jiang Cheng was looking for, and he raises a hand to Wei Wuxian, who hides behind Nie Huaisang. This move is interesting because on one level it’s just clowning; obviously Nie Huaisang can’t protect WWX from anything, and WWX doesn’t need protection from Jiang Cheng. 

WWX can easily beat JC in a fight, as he’s let us know before. On another level, this retreat signals WWX’s harmlessness, his childlike-ness, in a semiotic dance that has been playing out for over a decade between the brothers.  NHS is taking on Jiang Yanli’s role in the choreography, this time.   

All of this troubling hostility doesn’t make Jiang Cheng a bad person. He’s young and he’s still under his parents’ control and subject to their abuse at home. It takes time to develop mindfulness about this stuff and learn to treat people beneath you differently than the way you are treated. 

Jiang Cheng isn’t ready for that yet, any more than he is ready to say out loud that he cares about his brother. 

Leave My Boyfriend Out of It

This interaction is noteworthy for Wei Wuxian defending Lan Wangji to his brother, before Jiang Cheng even has a chance to blame Lan Wangji. 

Wei Wuxian says that following Lan Wangji was his own idea, and then gives LWJ the sweetest, warmest smile.

Lan Wangji also gets a pair of totally unearned, delighted smiles of thanks from his two besties when he lifts the silence spell on Nie Huaisang. 

Being mildly dickish all the time works out fine, I guess, if you only make friends with people whose brothers are legendary grouches.

Grilling Wen Qing

Wei Wuxian finally decides he’s had enough of Wen Qing’s crap, and gets slightly aggressive in questioning her.

He’s not actually roughing her up but he is approaching her as a near-enemy for the first time, rather than as someone who wants to be her friend. Once Wen Qing tells him what’s up and agrees to a sort of temporary alliance, he goes back to being his normal slightly awkward self with her. 

I don’t romance-ship WQ and WWX, except maybe as corpse-mountain era FWB, but I do like their chemistry. And their friendship is really refreshing and interesting, based on sharing goals and working together, not on emotional intimacy. It’s nice to see people with a lot of barriers around their hearts, building a strong, trusting bond without having to actually open up very much.

The idea of perfect sharing between people is a nice one, but it’s pretty alien to many of us who are recovering from trauma, or people who just aren’t wired that way, and it’s good to see other models of friendship and love. 

Wei Wuxian, at Lan Wangji’s direction, parts the Red Sea drops a cage on the other 3 cultivators before going to hunt the dire birdy.  

Jiang Chang is, predictably, pissed off about it, in spite of Wei Wuxian’s “you’re good at this” parting words, and says, according to the subtitles, “you bastard!”

“Bastard” is a pretty specific epithet, in English. In the current century, it’s generally used to mean “asshole,” more or less. But it still does carry the meaning “of illegitimate birth,” and since The Untamed is often concerned with legitimacy it seems pretty strong for JC to use with someone who is rumored to be his own Dad’s by-blow. 

Let’s have a look and see what he really is calling him... 你混蛋 =  Nǐ húndàn = “you bastard” per Google translate. Wow, Jiang Cheng, you really went there, huh. 

Wen Granny

Wen Qing and the others in the golden cage watch as the not-zombies try half-heartedly to get to them. Wen Qing is super sad about it, as opposed to the two guys who are just annoyed (Jiang Cheng) or scared (Nie Huaisang).

The first time I saw this, it was just - oh, Wen Qing sympathizes with this poor random woman, she feels bad about what's happening, this is to show us she has a heart.

Now though --  that's HER granny. Maybe not her bio-grandma but clearly a granny of her clan, who she knows well, who later cares for A-Yuan when he's a child, so may very well have cared for A-Qing and A-Ning when they were small, too. Owie.

Dire Bird Hunting

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian run off to hunt the smoke bird together. They are quickly trapped in cool-looking fog. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

They spend some time being confused and also being peak Wangxian 1.0 as they help each other out. 

Lost in the fog and unable to summon talismans, Wei Wuxian is mainly about checking on Lan Wangji, making sure he’s ok, making sure he’s near.  He doesn’t spare any worry for himself.

(We get a rare instance of seeing an actually glowing sword here, instead of just having a character say “I saw the beams of swords!” to save money on VFX.)

Lan Wangji, meanwhile, understands the mental attack they are under, explains it to Wei Wuxian with only a little snark about Wei Wuxian’s overly busy mind, and teaches him how to handle it.

Lan Wangji is super disciplined in mind, body, and sword - his fight moves don’t change, really, throughout his life, but he gets better and better at execution. Wei Wuxian isn’t exactly undisciplined, but he’s super creative and busts out a new skill in nearly every encounter. Lan Wangji sees this and is learning to make use of it.

After Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian overcome the confusion that is blocking his talisman use, he tells him which talisman to use. 

This isn’t a talisman that LWJ uses himself, it’s just that he’s paying very close attention to WWX’s battle moves, and has a great memory, so he knows which ones will work. In a pretty short timespan he’s moved from thinking like a solo swordsman to thinking as part of a team with a broad range of battle skills. Very soon, he’ll be starting to use Wei Wuxian’s talismans himself. 

WWX takes a hit from the flying death chain, but uses it to his advantage, as in so many encounters. He’s not just self-sacrificing--he is definitely that--but he’s also a chess player, knowing how to use a sacrifice or an injury to his advantage. Cue Lan Wangji being worried for the entire rest of his life.

Part Two is here!

[lenasai]

Hi there do you have any fanfictions preferably from ao3 about blaseball that someone who doesn't know anything about it could read and enjoy? :> don't got the time to get into it proper atm but wanna boost yalls content

sure thing! i had to do a bit of digging because a lot of the blaseball works i read assume some level of prior knowledge (stuff the average blaseball fan might be familiar with, but might be a little hard to understand if you're just dipping your toe in.) it also doesn't help that i didn't make an ao3 account until i...you know, actually wrote something to publish there back in october - that is to say, a lot of blaseball fics i have read are not in my history at all and i can't find them easily at the moment

generally speaking, given the temporary nature of the short circuits test seasons (each one lasted two weeks and introduced brand new players every time, with far less complicated game mechanics than the expansion era), many fics in the blaseball: short circuits tag are character studies and stories that focus on events that are a little easier to understand without a lot of blaseball knowledge

i also enlisted the help of some friends who write blaseball stuff and asked them to link some stuff they would suggest to people who weren't as familiar with the mechanics of the game! i have read all of these and i recommend them.

ghosts in your blood (by Woosh_Official) is one of those short circuits stories, about two new york millennials players named sophia. the characters are described in detail in the beginning notes so you know who's who.

brand new city (by Moondragon8) is about another short circuits mills player - quite a few of my friends are mills fans, so it makes sense lmao

i don’t know what to do (about this dream and you) [by jordankennedy] is a cute little fic about some players from the main timeline. no actual blaseball takes place here, just a guy with a gay crush talking to his teammate about said gay crush

the author above also wrote plainly speaking, sonic and the black knight isn’t as bad as everyone says, which...ow, oof, owie, my heart. okay there's a liiiiiiiittle bit of exposition at the beginning that if you really need it, can be explained by this wiki article, but it's mostly just the characters hanging out and getting ice cream. gets way sadder when you learn one of the characters did not make it out of season 14 (that's not a spoiler for the fic, that's something that actually happened to the character after the events of the fic.)

is this why it's called "getting fired" (by quantumducky) is an exploration of what happens to players who die...except this time, the person who died isn't a player, but commissioner parker macmillan iii, who actually died in canon. he was incinerated in a trial that took place on the blaseball discord. this probably sounds wild to someone who isn't involved with blaseball, but i assure you this was a real thing that happened (and it also has its own wiki article if you're interested!)

finally, cyndakip wrote a lovely series about polkadot patterson - while i have not read all of the fics, i can say there are some that wouldn't be too hard to understand without knowing who the player is or what happened to them during their blaseball career

i might as well add something i've written here as well. i write a lot of short poetry, but out of all the longer things i've written, the merry exit (un?)memorial dimension traveling club is probably the one that does not require as much explanation. merry exit was a short circuits seattle garages player who was chosen to charge the microphone and then disappeared as a result. this is about them meeting a version of themself that appears in an example tutorial game, which has a very different outcome from what actually happened. (also worth mentioning: a "basher film" is a blaseball-themed horror film. i mention this because one of the characters really likes basher films.)

anyway thanks for your patience while i consulted the blesties for help, have fun reading! 💜

(also if you find you have any questions, feel free to ask! i love explaining blaseball to people)

[womenlovingworms]

S3E11,12,13 (Su’Kal, There Is A Tide...,That Hope Is You Part II)

i am generally Loving the soundtrack

grey?? grey i want to see my boy

ohh the queer found family...

GRAY

even knowing about gray i would have a very hard time not reacting to adira talking to air

tilly's hair going all over my beloved

DILITHIUM!

"the life sign" is ??

GRUDGE

i guess these doctors also have to be vets

i dont WANT them to have to make a hard call

tilly and michael i love them

humans are still superstitious in the future and im so glad

bajoran culber and trill micheal...

THATS A HUMANMAN

oh thank GOD they gave culber the earring I am pleasently surprised

that's saru again I swear

michael will see a chance to play hero...

now that's a monster

also michael with the spots... pretty...

creecher :)

nooooo

i like that everyone is clever

i take that back did yall not realise what was happening

The Tune?

everone needs to stop being mean to my girlfriend

PLEASE skip freud

did He cause the burn

sing the lullaby sing the lullaby

YES

oh he did

poor thing

idiots

reno and adira going rogue fuck yeah

i love them all

i like osyra

There is a tide

tilly!!

what is the computer up to with the charlie chaplin

grudge secure :)

damn that's one way of doing it!

dont like this man

james corden?? /j

save your breath

why is everyone into opera n the future

disabled villain?? really??

book and michael are really good

DONT TAKE THE KNIFE OUT YOU FOOL DID STARFLEET TEACH YOU NOTHING!!!

i Want to believe that she she is truly here to talk

dont understand how coms work but okay

im so glad they know morse

I dont even trust future lie detectors

eli asfddg

this would be great if it happens...

thats not how OH COOL antennae work?

adira child!!!

this doesnt seem tenable she’d suffocate and freeze

forgot the andorian was still here

ds253

What is she planning!

15 years? hh i guess that makes sense... feels empty

paul is Very Good

neck pinch

Zimmerman part seven

sceince man

oh andoriaan? please use they

no it cant be made right

RYN

NO

bamf tilly

two pistols?

robit??? oh! fren! ahhhh 🥺

ROCK ON

that hope is you pt 2:

ignominious? words man

oh theyre not lookin so hot!

oh this hurts my entire heart

adira?? where is my partner...

ADIRA!

oh that's quite the alien!

vulcan grey!

who they can see!!!!

meet the parents (well, parent)

voyager j!

the looping camera angles are mildly confusing

this man sucks

full on fuck this fuck you transformation

barely convincing stage slap

jj abrams aesthetic here

oh teamwork :)

?

they don't even know that his child is in that nebula!

this did not make sense why did micheal ask that maybe i’m just not tracking

robots in the theme song !

why are star trek evil so touchy

sure can rule over the dead!

no no win situations they say to a kirk era fleet officer

oh this poor poor kid

gratuitous torture scenes my most hated

Quarantine activated

popsicle my beloved. this is unrelated.

tilly and michael :)

grey pointie :)

trauma metaphor

where are they in the ship??? its very cool though

owie!

owo.... gowo!!

yes robot save her! is she even a real robot ora hallucination

damn

no insulting grudge!

gotta clean guts from inside the ship?

i miss the cramped jeffries tube feel

michael??

yess girl!

where are the regulators being beamed to??

owo!!!! she's alive!!!!!! thank gd

oh the poor robot oh no

ooooeeeoo

go book go!

leap of faith and the musci

culber

oh... ow...

who is booker

we deserve a soft ending my love

how does he know what the burn is??

all here!

star trek is beautiful actualy

ROBOT ALIVE AGAIN

oh! trill!

sahill!! i like him

CAPTAIN burnham

oh these uniforms Suck but thank goodness that adira gets to wear one

gelato

rebuilding... hope again

LETS! FLY!

[wolfgabe]

Oddworld Soulstorm and the Epic exclusivity problem

Now just to make it clear now this is not a hate post on Oddworld Inhabitants or the Epic Store but I feel this is something that needs to be explained and saId so here goes

So it recently has come to my attention the PC version of Oddworld Soulstorm will be an Epic Store exclusive. Yes while I can understand OWI’s decision to an extent, I I believe now is a good time for me to go into detail on why I feel all this rampant exclusivity hoarding from Epic is quickly becoming a serious problem for the PC market in general.

Okay lemme first explain my current pc gaming setup which consists of just two platforms. The first is steam where I get the majority of my PC games and the second is GOG which I set myself up with recently to better satisfy my retro PC gaming interests. Between these two storefronts I felt relatively confident all my PC gaming needs were satisfied as pretty much any game on PC I was interested in I could generally find on Steam if that wasn’t the case there was GOG which is great if you are into older PC games in particular. It never felt like I was really missing out on anything in general nor did it feel like I was being punished for choosing one platform or the other. But now we have the Epic Store which at times I cannot help but feel is being used by Epic as a means to punish Steam users in particular outright through their rampant buying of exclusivity which brings me to one of my main issues with the Epic Store in that it is starting to feel like freedom of choice on PC no longer matters. To understand why I feel freedom of choice is key in the PC Market, lets take a look at Microsoft who as of late has been taking more steps to get many of their Xbox exclusives on more platforms as a way to expand their audience. Cuphead for example is readily available on the windows store but there is nothing stopping you from purchasing the game through steam and they even offer it on GOG if you would prefer to get the game DRM free. The point is Cuphead is not only on PC for those who do not own an Xbox console but PC users also have the added freedom of being able to get the game on their preferred storefront of choice. Microsoft could have easily just kept Cuphead and the rest of their Xbox games on PC exclusive to the Windows Store but they actually respect the customer’s freedom of choice which is ironic considering how in the 90s they got a lot of flak for being highly anti consumer.

Now I have seen people complaining about exclusives but to be straight I don’t really mind console exclusives as their primary purpose understandably is to give consumers an added incentive to invest in that particular platform. This has long been one of the key staples of Nintendo’s continued success as they possess some of the most valuable IPs in gaming which give people a reason to invest in Nintendo platforms because that is the only place where you can play those games. To break it down in general most console exclusives tend to fall into three main categories. The first is the first party games which are primarily developed by the platform holder’s in house teams i.e pretty much  almost every Nintendo game in general. Next we have the second party titles which are not developed in house but usually by an external studio that is owned by or has ties to the platform holder which constitute the majority of Playstation and Xbox’s own exclusive titles and to an extent a lot of NIntendo’s recent games which are often farmed out to external studios an example being the recent Luigis Mansion games which have been handled by Next Level Games. Another example would be Rareware during the SNES and N64 era due to Nintendo having a significant stake in ownership of the company Last we have the third party exclusives, these are generally the result of a deal between the developer and the platform holder such as the Persona series other times its the result of the platform holder offering to assist in funding and publishing the title i.e Nintendo and Bayonetta 2. In some cases third party exclusives may be timed exclusives in that they are only exclusive to that platform for a limited time frame before being released on other platforms.

Now looking at the Epic Store you start to notice that really the majority of its exclusives tend to fall into just two categories either being paid for by Epic or in some cases Epic literally mandating exclusivity just to allow the game to be sold on their store. What makes this particularly worrisome is the fact a lot of the games Epic has acquired the exclusivity to have roots in crowdfunding which more often than not has led to people who have backed the game being screwed over entirely on certain platforms with Shenmue 3 being the most glaring example of this. Paid exclusivity is just something I feel that does not belong in crowdfunded or kickstarter games in general period. Like imagine with Shovel Knight if you backed the game for PC and found that now the game will be Wii U only because Nintendo offered Yacht Club a mountain of cash. You would understandably feel both cheated and betrayed because you backed for so long is now going to be locked to a platform you had no interest in to begin with.

Back to my previous point when a third party game is console exclusive it is generally because the developer has determined that particular platform is the most suitable for their games primary audience or it is because the devs and the platform holder manage to reach a deal designed to benefit both parties as well as the consumer. Bayonetta 2 being Wii U exclusive was largely due to Nintendo offering to help publish the game because no on else would really. This is why the Bayonetta series going forward has largely become Nintendo exclusive because the series owes much of its continued existence to Nintendo. With the Epic Store a lot of the games that are exclusive really feel like they have no reason at all to be Epic Store only. With the Epic Store exclusivity feels less like an added incentive and more like a punishment for non Epic Store users as well as a means to try and mask the stores own inherent problems.

This brings me to my next main point in that Epic has given people relatively little reason to want to invest in their platform outside of exclusive games. When you compare the  Epic Store to Steam and practically every other PC storefront the numerous flaws and shortcomings quickly become apparent. I am fairly certain most people are readily familiar with the horror stories about the Epic Stores horrendous security holes as well as Epic’s connection to Tencent a shady Chinese corporate entity, but what I find most baffling is why Epic somehow expected to seriously compete with Steam when their storefront does not even have a fraction of the functionality and features that have largely been a staple of every other PC storefront for years. Imagine how it must feel for someone who has bought all the Borderlands games on Steam only to be forced to abandon all their friends to play Borderlands 3 on a platform that is not even capable of something as simple as creating friends lists. Coupled with the fact that Epic apparently cannot even manage their own store sales properly and you can clearly see why a good majority of people would prefer not to give Epic their money.

It’s pretty easy to forget Steam’s beginnings were relatively humble compared to the digital distribution behemoth it is today, When steam initially launched in 2003 it was little more than a glorified matchmaking portal for Valve’s own games. When you look at the Steam’s history and evolution you see that Steam did not become what it is today through exclusivity hoarding or trying to punish devs and players for choosing other platforms. Steam became what it is today because it grew and evolved with what the PC gamer wanted. This brings me to the problem I believe that most people have with the Epic Store in that it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be what the gamer/consumer wants. Instead what the Epic Store has amounted to so far is essentially Epic attempting to steamroll its way into the PC distribution market through paid exclusivity and punishing people who choose Steam as their primary platform on PC. I do not mind the idea of multiple storefronts on PC and I do believe competition is necessary for a healthy market. But I strongly believe Epic has no right to proclaim they are fighting Steams monopoly when Steam never really was trying to be a monopoly to begin with along with the fact that almost everything Epic has done with their store front over the past year or so has been the exact opposite of pro consumer.

Back to Soulstorm, while yes I can understand that Oddworld Inhabitants would likely need some financial assistance to complete their game I cannot help but feel there are plenty of other people or publishers they could have easily partnered with that did not involve restricting the availability of the PC version of Soulstorm. While I am not angry with Oddworld Inhabitants, I still consider this move highly self defeating in a way as they may have effectively self sabotaged their own game’s sales potential as well as alienated a good chunk of their fanbase by allowing their game on PC to be locked to a storefront a good majority of people hate for very good reason. I won’t be surprised at all if this ends up backfiring on Epic in the end as the Epic Store exclusivity has simply served to push more people toward the Playstation version of Soulstorm based on a lot of reactions I have seen so far.

[charliespringverse]

iwbft - friday: a brief summary of my annotations

all highlighted quotes: 111

· ouch/ow/owie: 4

· real/felt/relatable/so true: 3

· aroace: 0

· ☹/☹☹/☹☹☹: 6

'I'll never forget what dear old John Lennon said: — we dont compliment wife-beaters here, dot

I've still got The Ark. — have u tho

Juliet was upset? Even after our big argument? I thought that was it for our friendship. — that's some bpd style thinking babes x (note: i 1. have bpd and 2. don't think fereshteh does, i just found it funny bc i'm p sure i've had this exact thought)

The idea that I had in my head. It was all something I'd just . . . fabricated. To make me feel a bit better about myself. So I had something to just... believe in. — oooo parallels

he sings - words I don't know, and a tune that goes somehow perfectly with the chords Rowan is making up on the spot - 'to Saint Peter he will tell: One more soldier reporting, sir. I've served my time in hell.' — listerrowan cowriting era?

'You've got a wet face,' he says. He walks up to me and starts dabbing my face with another paper towel. — playing the rowan role...............

'Do you ever imagine what would happen if we just ... ran away?' asks Lister, suddenly. I glance at him. He's looking at the window too. — nsync

God, I could do anything right now. — king u r so not thinking straight ♡

D'you have friends around you? People to support you?' I mumble something about being fine and close the door. Enough of that. — he hates that ppl don't see him as human but rejects it when they do because he barely knows how to Be human anymore ☹

It's not a crush. Not infatuation. I mean love in the 'I will think about you every day for my whole life' sense. Love, like the desperate ache to hold on to something useless, even though you know that if you threw it away, nothing would change. — *p.311

We catch eyes across the aisle and both laugh at the same time. The sound echoes around the empty church. — i love when they get to just be people ☹

'Are you talking about Jimmy or are you talking about me?' I ask. — i think they've got far more in common than either of them are ever likely to realise, at least until they're a long way past it

Strange how comforted I feel just holding it. Strange how I feel so much for one simple object. Even if I threw it away, nothing would change. — p.293 Jimmy + the knife the same as angel + the ark, once again tying those two things to the wider theme of faith

[charliespringverse]

iwbft — tuesday: a brief summary of my annotations

all highlighted quotes: 136

· ouch/ow/owie: 12

· real/felt/relatable/so true: 5

· aroace: 2

· ☹/☹☹/☹☹☹: 9

Rowan is on his front, one arm slung over Jimmy's chest. Jimmy's head is tilted ever so slightly towards Rowan. — i've woken up like this with at least half my friends

The shipping itself isn't a major inconvenience to any of us. If anything, it keeps the fans interested. They think Judgement Day will eventually come and there'll be a big reveal that Rowan and I are secretly in love. There won't. We're not. — @larry shippers in the year of our lord 2023

It's always sort of been Rowan and Jimmy, plus Lister. We still love him of course. But that's just the way it is. — PAIN (note: this is all caps, huge, and triple underlined)

'I talk about The Ark all the time. I don't know why this was a surprise.' 'Fereshteh, it was a little bit of a surprise to me too.' 'Why?' 'I suppose... I suppose I never thought you actually cared about this band that much.' — parents vs actually listening to and validating their interests (failed, always)

Juliet chuckles weakly and looks away. I know she's had some bust-ups with her parents in the past. — understatement of the millennium

I'm an optimist. I like to believe that love exists. — it Does it just isn't always romantic/sexual. but it exists So Much

'I feel bad... feeling so happy when they're probably upset,' — ur so close to getting it queen

'Can't we just go home?' Lister mumbles. 'No,' she says. — foreshadowing innit

Rowan and I follow him immediately, like there's a string attaching us — ... invisible string addition to the folklore trilogy?

Lister tells us to go away, but Rowan just walks up to him and starts rubbing his back as he throws up. — ♡ listerowan bestieism

There's a big window on one side of the bathroom. Big enough to climb out, probably. We're on the ground floor. We could just climb out and run. Get up and go. — FORESHADOWING INNIT

Being trans has been a pretty you can big part of my life so far, thanks, but that shouldn't be particularly relevant here, in an interview about our music. — u can Never escape other ppl's obsession w ur transness

Dave laughs and says again, 'Now that's honesty.' — FUCK YOU DAVE (note: this is all caps, huge, and quadruple underlined)

I ask God to give me a bit of extra patience. Because every time Mac speaks, I sort of want to put an entire bag of cotton wool in his mouth. — what God is for x

Being a male fan of obscure old bands is, for some reason, more acceptable than being a female fan of a twenty-first-century boy band. — (also the obscure old bands are rarely that obscure. they're one direction for old white men)

They know exactly who they are. They put it in their blog about' page, they put it in their Twitter bio. I never know what to put in my Twitter bio so I usually just put an Ark lyric in there. — and when u enter ur confident aro-ace era? what then?

I like to think God does have a plan for everyone. But I also think there's too much shit in the world for all these plans to be perfect ones. Or maybe God doesn't have time to write a plan for everyone. And some of us are just trying our best and getting it a bit wrong. — i think this is why faith doesnt work for me

Everything's still there, though. My journals, my guitar, my main laptop, my childhood teddy bear, and the knife that Grandad gave me when I was sixteen. — now i want to know what he would admit to in one of them essentials interviews

It'd be useless as an actual weapon, since it's completely blunt - you can run your finger along the edge and not even get a scratch. — hhhh foreshadowing innit ☹

Not that he particularly goes seeking it. Everyone just wants to be friends with Lister Bird. — and yet he cares most abt getting closer to the two he shouldn't have to try for ☹

David [Tennant] thought she wanted a selfie, when in fact she was just trying to find the nearest toilet. — iconic

'Now, there'd better be some fucking Capri-Suns somewhere around here.' — me @ every function

When they were together they both seemed to stop worrying about everything else in their lives - Rowan was no longer an overworked band boy and Bliss was no longer a struggling student. They were just together. — ☹ justice for laimondi

Then he leans in and presses his lips against mine. Oh. Okay. Fine. This is fine. Can't say I realised this conversa- tion was going in this direction, but fine. — BAD (note: this is all caps, huge, and double underlined)

'But we're gods, Jimmy. What's better than that?' — pain. suffering. agony. heartache. torture, torment, anguish.

Holding it makes me feel real. It reminds me that I was born. That my life is something other than this birdcage I'm trapped in. Isn't it? Isn't it? — has his therapist ever discussed depersonalisation with him?