#I’m proud of my audio choice

[yaoigoddess9158]

Had an idea and then it died but at least I got a storyboard for it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was going to add the text and transitions later but I didn’t even have enough motivation to do that so you get what you get Ig TvT

(Pretend that I got to the wind animation part and it doesn’t look stupid)

(Also, extra points if you can read my handwriting. My friends say it’s horrendous so…)

[jokeroutsubs]

📝ENG Translation: Elle Men Special: A Fashion Odyssey with Kris Guštin

Article written by Ajda Gregorc, published in the November/December 2024 ELLE Slovenia Magazine. Print and digital versions of the magazine are available for purchase.

Scans and English translation by @kurooscoffee, review by @weolucbasu and a member of JokerOutSubs, proofread by IG GBoleyn123.

Full article translation, scans, and Spotify link are under the cut 👇

🎧 Article available in audio form on Spotify.

Elle Men Special: A Fashion Odyssey with Kris Guštin

With Kris Guštin, the music author and guitarist of Joker Out, we escaped to another side of music, and with that, to his other passion. We talked about style and everything connected to it. There will also be no shortage of this in the band's third album, titled 'Souvenir Pop', which is released on the 15th of November—one week after the issue of Elle you’re holding now. How perfectly synchronised we are!

PHOTOS URŠA PREMIK, STYLING ALENKA BIRK

At Ljubljana’s Moderna Café, on a fresh but lovely autumn Tuesday, when everyone’s still at work or in school, he arrives in a dark green jacket with a checkered pattern, awesome trousers, and her necklace. This time, the menu is not serving music and life, but matcha and "all things fashion." I’m in a regular trench coat and a white T-shirt, but luckily he doesn’t judge people by their style—instead, the style might be what piques his interest to converse, if it's good, of course. Besides, he's the one being interviewed. So, let’s begin! AJDA GREGORC

Interviewer: When did you first discover your personal style or the field of fashion? Was it in childhood or a bit later?

Kris: I roughly divide my life into two periods: before I first held a guitar, and after. When I really got into playing and ventured into music, my world opened up in all areas. Discovering fashion definitely falls into this second period, so the post-high school era. To be completely honest, my style in high school wasn’t something I’m particularly proud of today. (laughs) My girlfriend and I still have a photo of me wearing cargo pants and a black sweater, which is a proof she truly loves me, since that look was far from the best choice. (laughs)

When did it evolve from just a aesthetic impression to self-expression?

My first contact with fashion as a form of art or expression was during our band's first music video or fashion shoot, when I realised that this is also something you need to consider as a musician. At first, it seemed to me like a fairly peripheral element, but as our career developed and we met new people who gave us more insight into this, I began to understand its significance, what I could personally gain from it, and what we as a band could gain. This quickly developed into standard practice. I was increasingly exposed to fashion; we had more and more costume rehearsals and stylings, and two years ago, we even got our first proper stylist. And then I really committed to it—at around nineteen or twenty. Before that, my philosophy was always to "just wear whatever I first find in the closet," but then I shifted to "I'll wear things that would make me stand out from others". But this process was a long one.

So, your style development with the band inspired your personal growth too? I’ve always wondered if a young person is compelled to mature in every area when so many 'big things' happen all at once, as they did for you.

Maybe you do "grow old" in terms of personality sooner. Yes, at first I wanted, and still want, to primarily express the difference or uniqueness that I feel inside myself through music, but then I discovered that this goes very much hand in hand with fashion, so I started looking for my expression there as well. Today, it's almost an equally important part of my day.

Which fashion ideas or directions attract you? You’ve probably encountered a lot of inspiration during your travels on tour, right?

Definitely, but speaking purely origin-wise, I think I’m just like any other rock musician—we draw from the rock aesthetic of the ’60s and ’70s, which was also very "in" when my fashion awareness was born. Back then, around 2016 to 2018, here were a lot of flamboyant shirts on the music scene, with a slight hippie influence, which was the starting point. Only later did I start getting interested in slightly more modern clothes. When I was younger, I found myself in street fashion, that sort of Eminem-esque, hip-hop vibe, so very baggy clothes, which I then began to reject when I made the shift toward the ’60s and a slightly psychedelic aesthetic. It makes perfect sense, as humans tend to jump between extremes. When I had worked through that style, I started discovering the aesthetics of the ’80s and late ’90s, which was also reflected in music at the time. The best example that comes to mind is Dua Lipa’s previous album, which was in the style of the “new ’80s,” and the fashion matched that as well. Today, the early 2000s style has come back, but I haven’t fully decided whether I like it or not. As a musician, I was, of course, initially inspired by other music groups. Arctic Monkeys were a big inspiration for us both musically and visually, as was the whole British rock scene, including bands like The Kooks and Oasis. That entire aesthetic has always been strongly present with us. I doubt there’s a single inspiration board at our shoots that doesn’t include a photo of one of those bands or, for instance, the Beatles. And that aesthetic has always been close to my heart, too.

Rockers have always been associated with more masculine fashion elements, while in recent years, many male musicians have been experimenting with more feminine style elements (for example, Harry Styles and Lenny Kravitz). David Bowie was already the one who back then started to blur these fashion boundaries. You, too, wear such pieces and dare to stand out with them.

It happened quite naturally, as the stylists we worked with always chose slightly more “unmanly��� clothing for me. This doesn’t necessarily mean women’s clothing, but rather somewhat more androgynous pieces, which I quickly embraced. I found them interesting and appealing because there’s a lot of fresh expression in that style that I don’t find in traditional men’s clothing, though I don’t want to overdo it. I also started experimenting with them personally, choosing many more varied colours. For a while, I was very fond of pink, and lately, I’ve been playing around with orange. On the cover of the album 'Demoni', I wore an orange-pink sweater.

Are we, as an audience here, already mature enough for a musician to present his feminine side through fashion? Does that require courage?

It does, there will always be people who won’t understand you. But for me, when it comes to the stage or a shoot, I’ll wear anything, and if I feel good in it, I don’t worry about what someone thinks. When I walk around "in civilian clothes," however, especially in Ljubljana, I am still aware if I’m dressed somewhat "untraditionally." There’s a certain boundary that I still need to break within myself. On stage, it’s easier because it’s not necessarily a hundred percent my expression; I’m playing a certain character, but personally, sometimes I do need some courage to show up in a particular style. However, the awareness of being different is stronger in Ljubljana than in other parts of the Western world. For example, I never felt that way in London, but still, our capital isn’t the worst when it comes to this.

Speaking of influences, what about other artistic or cultural movements?

I love art deco, the aesthetics of the '20s and '30s, though it doesn’t influence my daily life. In terms of photography, Damon Baker’s black-and-white style is beautiful. The vintage camera aesthetic has recently won me over, which will also be reflected in our band. Musically, over the past year, I’ve been listening to old Italian chansons and older French music, chansons as well, so I’m clearly feeling very retro this year. (smile)

Will the third album visually stand out from the previous ones then?

Yes, it will be very different. In the last two, we used a lot of colours, but there won’t be as many in this one.

Style can be an excellent tool for expressing an artist's authenticity, but with increasing success, the artist can also become its slave; the line is thin. Do you ever feel the pressure of having to express your fashion style in your private life as well?

No, I’ve never felt like my style owns me; it’s always been the opposite. I’ve always felt like I want more, like I want to dress even better than the day before, especially when it comes to my music career. Perhaps style only hangs over my head a bit when I have no inspiration and would rather wear sweatpants on an ordinary, relaxed day. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but then I do think about what would happen if I ended up somewhere in the middle of the city dressed like that.

It seems that Joker Out has developed a distinct style despite outside influences.

Yes, today we are already very complete in our style. Others have definitely had an influence on us, and I think it’s great that each of them tried to express themselves through us – it was interesting to experience how Joker Out was seen by Ponorelli, and how Andraž Drobnič or Karlo Kirri did. Of course, there is a difference in this, but it also aligns with the development of our music and aesthetics, so all these influences are very welcome.

How much of your personal fashion identity is therefore reflected in Joker Out?

Maybe, as someone who is not an external observer, I can't answer that, but I can say that I was always one of the first to give feedback to the stylist when we were creating our outfits, approving moodboards, and so on. So, I have definitely shaped our style in a direction that suits me. On certain "blind stylings," when we just dressed up, I quickly threw something on myself and then helped look for pieces for the other band members.

What about this photoshoot, where Alenka Birk took over the styling? Did you let her take the lead with her tactics, or did you collaborate on fashion choices? How did the communication go?

I didn’t know Alenka, who, by the way, is an excellent stylist, before. She was recommended by Urša (the photographer, ed.). Later, she confided in me that she had also worked with my father. Alenka focuses on elegant men's fashion, which is a departure from this more fluid fashion; and this suited me because I had never really been photographed in a men's suit, jacket, and tie. I wanted to try something new. I hadn’t seen the outfits before the day of the photoshoot when we met in her small studio in the morning. There were nine of them in total, and we only swapped out a piece or two in at most three of the looks.

This is more of an exception than a rule in fashion photoshoots. Does that mean you felt good in them?

Yes. In some more so, obviously, but in others, you have to trust the people you're working with. When I first look in the mirror, I always keep in mind that if something isn't optimal, it doesn't mean it won’t work well on camera. Even if the pants are too short or creased, it's still worth photographing them, because the photo can be edited later, whereas on stage, it's a different story, and everything has to already be perfect in the mirror. Working with Alenka was very simple; we clicked really well, and I will definitely work with her again.

How linked are your confidence and the way you feel on stage with your styling?

Very connected. As a musician, you want to enjoy yourself as much as possible on stage, and the people who come to listen to you and pay for the ticket deserve to see you at your best, which means you have to feel good in every aspect.

You recently attended Ljubljana Fashion Week. Which of the local fashion designers do you like to follow?

As far as the Slovenian fashion scene is concerned, I’m still quite the beginner, so I only knew the designers we had worked with. This was my first time visiting the Fashion Week.

Which shows did you watch?

On the first day, all of them. I didn’t like everything, but what stuck in my mind was Sarivalenci¹ with their somewhat "country club", Lana Del Rey vibe, and golf moment. I also really enjoyed the Belgrade Fashion Week, as there was an obvious Balkan touch, which I would love to see more of in Slovenia.

¹Sarivalenci is a Slovene high fashion brand created by fashion designer Sari Valenci.

You are a fan of vintage clothes and second-hand shops. What do these pieces have for you that new ones don't?

Honestly, I don’t know if there’s an objective explanation why. I started getting into it because it was popular, and at the same time, it gives you the feeling of getting a more unique piece. At the same time, you're shopping sustainably and not contributing to the production of unnecessary new textiles on Earth, which is great, but I would be lying if I said that’s my main motivation. What I like the most is the experience of "flipping" through clothes, where each piece is different, like a treasure hunt, compared to regular stores where you "flip" through the same clothes in different sizes.

Did your mum, who comes from the Netherlands where people have been aware of this for many years, introduce you to this concept?

I wouldn’t say we talked much about it at home, but I literally lived it. This is probably true for Slovenians in general – almost all the clothes I had as a child were from older peers, or I would take something from my dad, too. When I was done with wearing the clothes, my brother would wear them too. Every piece of clothing that came into our house was passed around, which is a great practice, and it’s still like that today. My sister "stole" half of my sweaters, my mum sometimes takes something too, Maks borrows jackets from my dad, which I’ve also done myself. It's like we all share one big closet! (laughs)

So you have influenced each other’s style in your family, or rather, you still do so? Who has otherwise had the most influence on your style in the past, and who does today?

I don’t remember ever looking at my parents as role models in this regard, as I didn’t really think about it back then, but they definitely influenced me, at least subconsciously. When I see how my mom dresses today, I see parallels with my own style, so she probably did influence me, perhaps more than my dad. As for street style, which I mentioned at the beginning, it might have been inherited from my uncle, my aunt’s husband from the Netherlands, who wore loose sweaters and listened to hip hop. My mum also had an uncle from the Indonesian side of the family, whom I never met, but he was very eccentric. Some of his clothes made their way to us over the years, and when I looked at these pieces in the closet, I was fascinated by how they reflected his personality. Asian fashion became a bit closer to me because of this, and I might even explore it someday.

The heart necklace you wear all the time, even today, is from your girlfriend. Do you ever dress your girlfriend or does she dress you?

My girlfriend is very fashion-oriented and has played a big role in my fashion development. She has always encouraged me when I tried new clothes that, at the time, seemed more radical to me. In this way, she partially shaped me. We also really enjoy shopping together. She dresses me more often than I dress her, which means I ask her for opinion. There have also been times when we’ve dressed the same when it comes to basic pieces; we’ve never really styled each other, but there will probably be time for that in the future.

Where do you like to go for vintage pieces in Ljubljana? Did you find any gems while on tour across Europe?

Textile House Vintage Shop is, in my opinion, by far the best in Ljubljana. The next one is Humana on Stritarjeva street, where I find something every now and then. Abroad, we’ve visited many vintage shops in Dublin, Paris, and London. In the latter, I always go to Brick Lane, which is a street with vintage shops in the east side of central London, where the more hipster area starts. The downside is that it quickly becomes quite an expensive experience.

What kind of information can you deduce about a person based on what they’re wearing? Who, in your opinion, is truly well-dressed?

A person’s style is never a reason not to engage in conversation with them, but it is a very strong stimulator of my interest in that person. If I think someone is really well-dressed, I automatically assume they might think similarly to me and be interested in the same artistic, musical, or visual directions, so I’m more eager to talk to them. However, I’ve often met people who didn’t seem interestingly dressed, and later realised they were amazing people, even if they dressed completely casually.

Your audience expresses itself very differently in terms of fashion, as your parents also mentioned in a recent interview for Elle. How do you as a band perceive this?

Yes, what they meant was that it is no longer the case that you have to be "appropriately" dressed for a rock concert. When we observe the audience from the stage, I would say that the most typical thing for our time is that we are no longer genre-bound. Not just musically, but also in terms of fashion. 30 or 40 years ago, you would see people at a rock concert in leather jackets, black shoes, and jeans, and that was it. Today, you have flamboyant outfits with blue and green hair in one corner, gothic style in another, and of course, people in simple t-shirts and pants somewhere in the middle. And no one feels like they don’t belong; everyone sings our songs, and that’s really nice.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

❗Please do not repost without credit, and if you quote, please link back to this post!

[formleadsfunction]

Balence/Brnucci stellar combustor arc fancam dot mp3, except I had to make a video out of it because tumblr wouldn't let me upload an audio file, presumably because it didn't appreciate my song choice

this means I had to fight with both audacity which doesn't like me very much AND a video editing software I downloaded specifically for this, please appreciate this

song: Baptized by Fire by Spinnerette | lyrics

transcript under the cut

Austin (as Jesset): You won’t even say the names of the people we lose.

-

Ali (as Broun): I just wanna get out. All I wanna do is go. [exhausted laugh] I don’t—care about the people here—

[song starts]

-

-

Austin (as Gucci): Why do you act like you care about me?

Ali (as Brnine): [muttering] Oh my god.

Austin (as Gucci): ‘Cause you don’t.

Ali (as Brnine): How can you say that?

Austin (as Gucci): You like the patronage. You’ve always liked the patronage.

-

Ali (as Broun): I don’t... wanna see another sunset ever again.

-

Ali (as Brnine): I’m gonna do it.

Austin (as Gucci): [muffled] No. [laughs humorlessly] Brnine.

Ali (as Brnine): We’re gonna do it.

Austin (as Gucci): No.

Ali (as Brnine): I’m gonna do it.

Austin (as Gucci): No. No.

Ali (as Brnine): I’m gonna turn the sun back on—

Austin (as Gucci): You’re gonna turn—

Ali (as Brnine): —and it’s gonna be okay, and they’re not gonna come kill you—

Austin (as Gucci): You’re gonna go turn on the sun.

Ali (as Brnine): Yeah, and people are gonna look at the sky, and know that we can do that.

Austin (as Gucci): You’re gonna go capture the Stellar Combustor.

Ali (as Brnine): Yeah. I’m gonna turn it off.

Austin (as Gucci): We can’t stop you from doing this. I can’t talk you down.

Ali (as Brnine): No.

-

Ali (as Brnine): Should I have ever left home?

-

[a beat of silence for the lyrics: Sailing into the sun / I’ll be baptized there]

-

Austin (as Gucci): You know, they used to put people in these bombs. The, the, the Rapid Evening. This group that used to be part of Stel Kesh, they were like, um—they were like space police? And they would put two people wherever they thought there might be so much trouble that they’d have to blow the whole thing up. And there’d be someone who was holding the detonator, and there’d be somebody else who was the bomb. They had roles, they were in contact, they had intense trust. One person was there to get as much information as they could about what the situation was. One person was there to take action on the ground when they could help keep things from needing to be exploded. Primary and Satellite.

And, I, it’s stupid, but—[laughs softly] when I first started learning about this place, I got it in my head that you and me were like a Primary and a Satellite, the person who could like, be on the ground and get things done, and the person who could see everything. [seething] And I’d excised the bomb from the equation. But here we are, and you’re gonna go climb into the bomb.

-

Ali (as Brnine): I don’t doubt that you care about me. That’s why I don’t ask.

Austin (as Gucci): [strained, soft] I’m going to hold my breath. Like I always do with you.

-

[a beat of silence for the lyrics: I’ll be sailing on / I’m gone, I’m gone / I’ll be sailing on / I’m going into the sun]

-

Austin (narrating): And you hear it from Phrygian, the Stellar Combustor as a thing has been shut down in the Divine Principality.

-

Ali (as Brnine): We have to… we have to let them know that we’re the ones who bloodied their noses.

Austin (as Gucci): Twice.

Ali (as Brnine): Yeah.

Austin (as Gucci): Bloodied their noses? You cut off their heads.

-

Austin (narrating): The knife goes in.

-

Austin (as Gucci): I didn’t know we could cut their heads off.

-

[a beat of silence for the lyrics: Compass needle breaks / Like the heart I gave to you]

-

Ali (as Brnine): It’s been five years. And… I’ve spent my time feeling bad about it. [holding back tears] I think if Valence saw me now, part of them would be proud of me, and I’m happy enough with that.

[drjemmanugent]

OKAY SO IM NOT A SPOILER FREE BLOG

I respect everyone’s choice to wait for thursday and y’alll have my admiration for your sheer STRENGTH! (how do you do it!?)

if you don’t want spoilers for polin, bridgerton S3, etc., that is totally OKAY ☺️ so please scroll on by. i don’t want to ruin anything for you friend 🥰

BUT-

if you are okay with spoilers, like yours truly-who likes to absorbs everything at once and then shamelessly binge watches again and again, come on in! 😉

so today netflix released the orchestral list for S3 part 1.

out of all the songs, many seem to find “give me everything” by pitbull totally bizarre and I will say too, its definitely out there for a choice. (jealous on the other hand is gold and so colin-coded, but that’s another post). could “gme” be a dancing scene, a montage, a running-to sequence…?? who the heck knows! the only thing on the TUDUM website that inidcates anything about ut is that it will be in ep4…

so i looked for the song version and its a pleasant surpise tbh, the melody and everything really does fit bridgerton 🤣

so for the SPOILER, final warning, i think i found out what the melody will be a background to… i “stumbled” upon a leaked audio for what seems to be the carriage scene (c:apaperpop on TT) OH MY PEARLS and you can hear the beginning strings of the melody behind their words. FOR THE CARRIAGE SCENE

IM ded

no, im still alive but im barely breathing

it’s a choice…

but WHAT A CHOICE and it makes sense?? wot? i think…

the build up the song has, plus the emotions in the scene… i need CPR

anyways, thats all… it might not be much but i’m pretty proud i managed to find this out while on my lunch break from work, if i do say so myself… and i do, so toodaloo 😘

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 3rd November ✨

🌲 @hellofromthehallowoods (171) we are so back, babeeey!!!!! I have such complicated feelings about (new) Riot and her (their? her?) name! I love that she is groundskeeping again and I hope she finds a way to forge a new path without worrying too much about the legacy of the previous Maidstones. I’m going to say this now, because I might never feel compelled to say it again: Poor Valerie. I can’t imagine. Omg Diggory being so uncool about Percy and his new partner is giving me life. S5 queer drama let’s GO. 

🧳 Travelling Light @monstrousproductions (38) AAAAAAAAH MY BOY!!!! MY SWEET SWEET BOY!!!!!!!!!!!! He’d BETTER make that breakfast appointment or I swear to all the gods in all the galaxies!! Also, I’m not being funny, but The Traveller would 1000% be getting seduced by Scarry if they’d travelled on the Guillemot. I’m so sad that the season is ending soon, I’m not ready ☹️

🦋 @remnantspod (15) I was SO proud of myself for working out who the Apprentice was mere minutes before it was revealed in canon. Well done me, I guess. Now I know exactly who to stick in the middle of the red-string board! I still feel that Sir is an angel but have even less clue what is going on here. Is Perry here to work through it all and atone? Is it a punishment? Now he knows, can he make different choices?? I can’t wait to find out.

🗺 @tales-from-the-low-city (12) This episode took such a sinister turn and the music was sooo good. Something really is happening in The Low City and I’m scared! 

🍾 @ameliapodcast (31) I dove back in to a comfort show and was so glad I did. Amelia never disappoints with its silliness and shenanigans and it was just what I needed to cheer me up this week! 

I’m so excited for more listening next week! Can’t wait for more Hallowoods, to catch up with the first episode of the long awaited Waiting For October @monkeymanproductions and the newest scares from @thewhitevault! Have a good one!! ✨

[opuntie]

Statement of Hazel Rutter regarding a fire in her childhood home. Original statement given August 9th, 1992. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist. Statement begins.

Hello, John.

Apologies for the deception, but I wanted to make sure you started reading, so I thought it best not to announce myself.

I’m assuming you’re alone; you always did prefer to read your statements in private. I wouldn’t try too hard to stop reading; there’s every likelihood you’ll just hurt yourself. So just listen.

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Coming! Hang on a second. Hello? Barry? Adam? Can you believe this is happening? I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs, Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. You got lint on your fuzz. Ow! That's me! Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! Hey, Adam. Hey, Barry. Is that fuzz gel? A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around The Hive. You did come back different. Hi, Barry. Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. Hear about Frankie? Yeah. You going to the funeral? No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp under the circumstances. Well, Adam, today we are men. We are! Bee-men. Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive City graduating class of 9:15. That concludes our ceremonies And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick our job today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. Wonder what it'll be like? A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to The Hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! That girl was hot. She's my cousin! She is? Yes, we're all cousins. Right. You're right. At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. What do you think he makes? Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. What does that do?

Catches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it.

Saves us millions.

Can anyone work on the Krelman?

Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones.

But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot.

But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life.

The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that.

What's the difference?

You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years.

So you'll just work us to death?

We'll sure try.

Wow! That blew my mind!

"What's the difference?"

How can you say that?

One job forever?

That's an insane choice to have to make.

I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life.

But, Adam, how could they never have told us that?

Why would you question anything? We're bees.

We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth.

You ever think maybe things work a little too well here?

Like what? Give me one example.

I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about.

Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach.

Wait a second. Check it out.

Hey, those are Pollen Jocks!

Wow.

I've never seen them this close.

They know what it's like outside The Hive.

Yeah, but some don't come back.

Hey, Jocks!

Hi, Jocks!

You guys did great!

You're monsters!

You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it!

I wonder where they were.

I don't know.

Their day's not planned.

Outside The Hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what.

You can't just decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that.

Right.

Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime.

It's just a status symbol.

Bees make too much of it.

Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it.

Those ladies?

Aren't they our cousins too?

Distant. Distant.

Look at these two.

Couple of Hive Harrys.

Let's have fun with them.

It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock.

Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom!

He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me!

Oh, my!

I never thought I'd knock him out.

What were you doing during this?

Trying to alert the authorities.

I can autograph that.

A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades?

Yeah. Gusty.

We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow.

Six miles, huh?

Barry!

A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it.

Maybe I am.

You are not!

We're going 0900 at J-Gate.

What do you think, buzzy-boy?

Are you bee enough?

I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means.

Hey, Honex!

Dad, you surprised me.

You decide what you're interested in?

Well, there's a lot of choices.

But you only get one.

Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day?

Son, let me tell you about stirring.

You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around.

You get yourself into a rhythm.

It's a beautiful thing.

You know, Dad, the more I think about it,

maybe the honey field just isn't right for me.

You were thinking of what, making balloon animals?

That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger.

Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey!

Barry, you are so funny sometimes.

I'm not trying to be funny.

You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer!

You're gonna be a stirrer?

No one's listening to me!

Wait till you see the sticks I have.

I could say anything right now.

I'm gonna get an ant tattoo!

Let's open some honey and celebrate!

Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"!

I'm so proud.

We're starting work today!

Today's the day.

Come on! All the good jobs will be gone.

Yeah, right.

Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal…

Is it still available?

Hang on. Two left!

One of them's yours! Congratulations!

Step to the side.

What'd you get?

Picking crud out. Stellar!

Wow!

Couple of newbies?

Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready!

Make your choice.

You want to go first?

No, you go.

Oh, my. What's available?

Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think.

Any chance of getting the Krelman?

Sure, you're on.

I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out.

Wax monkey's always open.

The Krelman opened up again.

What happened?

A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one.

Deady. Deadified. Two more dead.

Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life!

Oh, this is so hard!

Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler.

Barry, what do you think I should… Barry?

Barry!

All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine…

What happened to you?

Where are you?

I'm going out.

Out? Out where?

Out there.

Oh, no!

I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life.

You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello?

Another call coming in.

If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today.

Hey, guys.

Look at that.

Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday?

Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted.

It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up.

Really? Feeling lucky, are you?

Sign here, here. Just initial that.

Thank you.

OK.

You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain.

So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats.

Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us.

Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada!

That's awful.

And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans!

All right, launch positions!

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!

Black and yellow!

Hello!

You ready for this, hot shot?

Yeah. Yeah, bring it on.

Wind, check.

Antennae, check.

Nectar pack, check.

Wings, check.

Stinger, check.

Scared out of my shorts, check.

OK, ladies,

let's move it out!

Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers!

All of you, drain those flowers!

Wow! I'm out!

I can't believe I'm out!

So blue.

I feel so fast and free!

[chemicallywrit]

It’s Audio Drama Sunday and this week was full of bangers! This list is not comprehensive but it is what stuck out this week. Let’s goooooooo

🔥 The Heart Pyre continuously leaves me with the perfect impression of being in middle school reading under my desk. It’s so good it feels like I’m getting away with something. Maybe it’s because Rena is such a relatable protagonist. She’s just a normal girl! She’s just a little teen! What is she supposed to do! And that makes her even more heroic. As always, the choice this week was impossible and I can’t wait to see how it shakes out. Also, Logan And Finn Should Kiss 2k24. @theheartpyre

🗡️ SIDEQUESTING 😭 This episode is so SWEET. I love when Rion grows a little—Sidequesting is episodic and doesn’t lend itself to like, substantial character development. That is fine; it’s not the point of the show. It makes the moments Rion does grow, though, stand out like little jewels. This episode shone. @sidequestingpod

��️ Palimpsest is doing its slow burn thing, referencing itself over again as its name suggests it will do, and in this story, I am Very Concerned About That Man Lenore Married. He is condescending and dismissive and he is isolating her, and I DO NOT TRUST HIM.

📼 Within the Wires—oh my gosh, I literally screamed when the canned noises stopped. What is your game, Tony? What do you want with Brian?

🅿️ Podcube was short this week—Podcube is always short—but this episode had me cracking up at work. I love that this team manages to find new conflicts somehow. Man vs man, but they’re assassins and one of them is convinced the other is in love with the target. Why does this work? Why is this so funny? Please listen to Podcube. @podcube

🩸 Hemophobia continues to make my skin crawl. This episode reveals that the characters are Church of Christ, which, for those who don’t know, means they have a really specific set of beliefs about baptism that I KNOW are going to be perfect fodder for the Horrors. And yet it’s all so normal so far. Creepy. Oh, another thing this episode does is portray with perfect gut-wrenching clarity how strange and awful it us to be a devout teenager, and in like, four different ways. Incredible work.

🎣 Eeler’s Choice has some FANTASTIC sound design this episode as Ran comes into their own as a storm chanter—FRICK. I am worried about them. And their new ship. Please be careful and don’t get eaten by fungus. @eelerschoice

✨ Stories from Ylelmore is brand new and SO GOOD, oh my gosh, I am in love with the earnest delivery, the characters who are absolute BABIES, the genuine fascinating mystery. I can’t wait for more. @storiesfromylelmore

🍔 Midnight Burger’s THREE HOUR FINALE brought us home with Clementine. It wasn’t what I expected, and I think that’s kind of Midnight Burger’s MO. The fact that the tone of the dialogue, that the characters themselves, are so cynical and hard—it will trick you into believing that it’s a cynical show. Maybe it is! But it also fights over and over again for the idea that things can be fixed, that love matters, that you can save people and you have to try, you always have to try. And sometimes you win. And that’s how the universe is meant to work. It kills me every time. Also, shoutout to Alan Burgon, always the best, who I love to hear doing his actual accent. @midnightburgr

🐦‍⬛ Leaving Corvat. Oh my word. It’s a wellness cult. Sleeper’s in a wellness cult. I am really pleased with the development his character’s showing, being decisive and brave.

🍵 Gastronaut is going some places and I am OBSESSED. The relationship between Oscar and Polity is everything to me, and the fact that Oscar has gotten to the point where he refuses to ignore his responsibilities, he refuses to leave people behind—he is sometimes stupid, but he is trying and I’m proud of him.

🧟‍♂️ We are getting to the final episode of Precious Cargo in the Dead and y’all….it’s gonna get juicy. I’m not exaggerating, one of the zombie actors used watermelon to get things sounding juuuuust right. Our next story might be even better, too, I can’t wait to show you.

Thank you for reading! If you like what I do, buy me a ko-fi!

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, July 25th

XANDER: You gotta have something. (Looks at Buffy) Gotta be with movin' forward. BUFFY: (like a proud little kid) Like a shark. XANDER: Like a shark with feet and ... much less fins. SPIKE: (like a proud little kid) And on land! GILES: Very good!

~~Restless~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Death Reborn by Anonymous (Darla/Drusilla, T)

apocalypses and tacos by Anonymous (Fred/Faith, E)

wonder, still i wonder... by guin_ramble (Buffy/Giles, E)

Husband Hunter by simple_nothings (Buffy/Giles, T)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Plus Jamais, Chapter 13 by Wencel (Buffy/Angel, Wednesday crossover, T (in French))

hit rewind, Chapter 67 by untiljanuary (Buffy/Spike, M)

The Family Business, Chapter 25 by lou1spr1nce (Ensemble, multiple crossovers, T)

Autobot Meets Vampire, Chapter 7 by Philister (Faith, Transformers crossover, M)

A Reincarnation in Sunnydale, Chapter 41 by DracoRim98 (Buffy/Angel, M)

In the Company of Witches and Slayers: Chapter 110 by VladimirHarkonnen (TheLightdancer) (Willow/Tara, E)

Thirty Minutes or Less, Chapter 9 by Geliot99 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Waiting for You, Chapter 14 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Over the Hills and Far Away, Chapter 4 (complete!) by Rea (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

What She Deserves, Chapter 2 by flootzavut (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

The Buffybot Falls In Love, Chapter 1 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Buffy by Grayson R. Aveyard (worksafe)

Comic manip: rewatching buffy vs dracula and spike saying drac owed him money gave me moonknight vibes so by morguemoss (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy sketch by Dangerous-Ask694 (worksafe)

[Recs]

Vid rec: Take Me To Church by Afterthebattle (Buffy/Spike) recced by operasanna

Vid rec: buffy+spike; we both still believe [season7] by misstheSlayer recced by spuffylife

[Community Announcements]

Last Day Of Round 1 Of The Regular WIPBB Artists Claims at wipbigbang

[Fandom Discussions]

does anyone have thoughts on this the wish - fool for love parallel ["death is (y)our art"] by chasingfictions

thinking about how spike and his shitty poems would have done numbers on insta by gingerteaonthetardis

How does “the father will kill the son” actually help Sahjahn achieve his objective of getting rid of Connor? by nicnacsnonsense

Randomly thinking about Buffy’s season 1 statement, “I’m 16. I don’t want to die.” And season 2 statement, “You have a choice. It’s not a good choice, but it’s a choice” by reality-schmality

I would watch a show where an Incan mummy gives kisses of death to stay alive by redhatmeg

The romantization of vampires in Lie To Me by redhatmeg

I love that Buffy is kinda protective of Giles [in The Dark Age] by redhatmeg

Buffy: Sometimes I wish to go back to the times when everything was normal by redhatmeg

Ted is such a unique episode by redhatmeg

"Slayer? Here, kitty, kitty!" by agirlinsearchof

Y’all remembering this scene where Giles and Ethan are having drinks at a pub? by amourcafecreme

It'd be cool if Wolfram and Hart had a lawyer at the Initiative by anonymous and riley-summers

I’m so glad they didn’t just use Spike as a one time villain in buffy by anonymous and sadisticretrieverbf

Are Slayers always an only child? by nightshade

Xanya and Money in S6 by Holden Norgorov

Buffy and Angel, slayer and champion by CanIBeAnne

Buffy's costume from HIM will be auctioned off in August by flow

One Of my Few Pet Peeves With the Show [the spell system] by Silent_Torches

emotional spike [in Lovers Walk] by user294859382

Favourite vampire universe between Vampire Diaries, Buffy/Angel and True Blood. Why/why not? by No-Translator-2144

What's your favourite Buffy Summers being Buffy Summers quotes? by Ardjc87

Where to go next? by alljuggledup

Angelus x Buffy by bangeldreamer

The first song we here in the Bronze: Spring Monkey - Believe by Nervous-Apricot4556

One of my favorite shows of all time by alexsolren

The print above Giles’ Fireplace by Final-Vehicle9023

Wesley and Angel by hereforbooksandshows

These two [Statler and Waldorf] are watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What would they be saying? by MonsterTournament

So what do you think of Dawn's relationship [with Xander] in comics? by Morena1188

Spike's Behavior by Aromatic-Emotion-637

Question about 7x1 Lessons by HardBoiledOne

Buffy comment forums on AV Club - all disappeared by Geeta25

giles and joyce together by user294859382

"So Angel lives in LA and Buffy lives in... Wisconsin?" by doometteowo

Weird Crush [on cave!Buffy] by Organic_Individual52

OMWF & Hush. Thoughts? by You_were_myth-taken

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[winged-golden-wanderer]

———

[ATTACHED: Another audio clip. You can hear the sound of rain chucking down and the of footsteps hastily trekking through mud, before a door creaks open and the crashes and booms of the thunderstorm are drowned out.

???: Hey, Mr. Egawa. I’m here to collect those eggs you’ve been stashing for us.

You recognize that voice. It’s the guy Goldie had been eavesdropping on before. His name was… Donte, right?

Egawa: Donte! I- I didn’t think you would be here until tomorrow! I’m sorry, the eggs-they’re all being stored in the back-

Donte: I’m aware. I’ve already sent some men to gather them into the truck. Decided I might as well come to collect your semi-weekly payment early, while I’m in the neighborhood. Police have caught onto our activity in the area, so we’re rolling out pretty soon.

Egawa: Oh. D-Do I have to be worried…?

Donte: No. You’ve had no direct involvement in anything we’ve been doing around here, so you aren’t anyone they’re likely to target.

Egawa: That’s a relief…

Egawa: Donte?

Donte: What.

Egawa: I… just wanted to thank you again. For helping me leave Rocket. Even if I can’t relieve myself of my ties to them completely, it’s better than nothing…

Donte: It isn’t a problem. As long as you keep collecting more eggs for us, you’ll be free to keep running this little daycare business of yours.

Egawa: R-right…

Egawa: …I- I still feel bad, though. Separating the eggs from their mothers when they’re this young, never informing the trainers that their Pokémon became parents…

Donte: …I’ve already told you. The Pokémon that hatch from the eggs will be raised properly within Team Rocket’s care facilities.

Egawa: …That doesn’t mean you aren’t going to turn each of them into brutal fighting machines, though.

Donte: …

Egawa: I’m… sorry. I know there’s nothing to be done now. If I could go back, I would’ve never agreed to something like this in exchange for my freedom- but I suppose I made my choice, and trying to go back on it would only end in dire consequences.

Donte: …Yes. It would.

A heavy silence fills the room.

Egawa: …Aside from all that, though- how are you, Donte? You must be well on your way to becoming an executive soon.

Donte: Yes. Ariana and Archer have been pleased with my work so far, and are still discussing it. Nonetheless, I see a promotion in my near future.

Egawa: It’ll be well deserved. Who knows? Maybe you can make things better. Or slightly more bearable.

Donte: …Perhaps. But I’m afraid that when I become an executive, I will not be permitted to be as lenient as I have been with everyone so far.

Egawa: …Right…

Donte: …

Egawa: …I’m sure your sister would be proud of you.

Donte: …Hardly. She ditched, remember? She sees Rocket as nothing but scum now.

Egawa: Still… I think she would admire your attempts to fix things. Back in my day, Team Rocket used to be like a family, not-

Donte: It doesn’t matter. Those days are gone. She’s gone.

Egawa: …

Egawa: Sorry, I just…-

Donte: Have a good night, Mr. Egawa.

A set of footsteps draws closer.

Donte: …You again. The kid from Mt. Moon.

Goldie: Uh-

Donte: What are you doing here?

Goldie: Hiding… from rain… got lost…

Donte: Of course you did… dumb gym challenger kids, never checking their maps…

Donte: The Daycare-worker here has spare rooms you can stay in for the night. He can give you directions to the next city in the morning when the storm’s cleared.

Without another word, he shoves past them, and you hear him exit through the door. There’s silence for a moment after he closes it, before you hear Goldie hurriedly follow after him.

Donte: What-?

Goldie: Why in Rocket?

Donte: …Excuse me?

Goldie: You in Rocket. But nicer than others. Helped me when grunts took Lizzie. Said would stick up for bridge guy. Why?

Donte: Kid, what on earth are you-

Donte: …Look, I’m not “nice”. No one in Rocket is. We hurt people to get what we want, and all that matters to us is power and money. What I care about is efficiency, and rising up the ranks. And a lot of the time, that involves not making the same arrogant, careless decisions my moronic higher ups make.

Donte: I thought I told you to stay out of Rocket’s business, anyway.

Goldie: But why?

Donte: Why what?

Goldie: Why Rocket want power?

Donte: Uh, because we’re selfish? I don’t know what else to tell you, kid. Humanity is just shit like that, if you’re gonna get anywhere in life you oughtta get used to it.

Goldie: But you’re not…

He just scoffs at that.

Donte: Kid, you don’t know anything about me. Now go back inside before you catch your death out here, and maybe form a better sense of judgement while you’re at it.

You hear him walk off, and the audio ends.]

———

//ooc here’s some art to go w/ this post. Donte face reveal!

[rubykgrant]

(it wouldn't be an interview with a Q and A! Enjoy Sarge being Sarge~)

Q- What did you know about Blood Gulch before you arrived there?

A- I knew it had BLOOD in the name, which was a fitting title for my red-blooded Red Team. I knew there was an opposing Blue Team waiting for us. I knew we had to guard our flag, and kill anything that wasn’t Red, or the approved affiliated colors. I knew… this was supposed to be a special assignment, pretty top-secret, and I wasn’t supposed to discuss that fact with anybody not in-the-know. I guess that was one of the ways the UNSC tricked us all into keeping quiet about what was going on, so nobody would realize it was all just- just a big simulation. Oh, well. Hindsight, 50-50.

I knew I was supposed to have two soldiers with me from the get-go, but there was some kinda mix-up. Figures Grif would be late, but you’d think Simmons would try to be on time! Which for him, is 20 minutes early! So, I had some time to m’self at the base for a while. No big deal, I kept busy! Found some spare parts and a robot kit at the base, and with a little imagination, duct-tape, and Chemical X, Lopez was born!

Q- Did you have a particular purpose or goal in mind when you first created Lopez?

A- Eh, just wanted to make a decent soldier in case the human ones I got stuck with were lack-luster… I might have had a real premonition about that. Though, I did remove a lot of the restrictions on Lopez’s programming. Laws of robotics be damned, my boy was gonna be able to advance his own internal processing capabilities without limits!

Huh. Come t’think of it… I’m not sure if he was ONLY loyal out of obligation to follow orders… the robot kit didn’t have the usual virtual locks built in, I guess because it was meant to be a spare for the computer ghost who forgot he was a computer ghost. The robot would have needed to accommodate for the decision-making of an AI like that. And if I turned off all the protocols that contained the advancements of internal capabilities…

I, uh. Might have accidentally made a robot with free will, but I never TOLD him he had free will. So he didn’t know he had free will.

Q- That’s certainly an unusual situation… did you decide to name your robot before or after he was completed?

A- During. Half way through, I just thought- this thing needs a name. Lopez was the first one that popped into my head… I helped out at a livestock show as a kid. NO, I wasn’t a judge, I made that part up, sue me. I just made sure the animals had plenty of food and water. The man who was the ACTUAL judge, he was named Lopez. Used to let me grab a free Yoo-Hoo from the fridge in the office. If I hadn’t gone into the army, I would’ve liked to maybe do what he did. Anyway, I was feeling sentimental that day, named my robot after a good guy. Sue me!

Q- Then, it had nothing to do with the communication settings for the robot?

A- No… that was an accident. Hey, wait! Even if there was a problem with the voice chip, the fact that I took off all the limitations and program locks- Lopez should have been able to change the settings on his audio functions at any point! He knows how to repair that kinda thing too, he’s done it for our radios and communicators! Has he been speaking Spanish this whole time BY CHOICE!?

…

… I’m so proud… without anything stopping him, Lopez is just naturally ornery and obstinate… but he’s still loyal even when he’s not forced to follow orders… now, that’s a REAL RED!

Q- Since you value unconventional qualities in members of Red Team, do you still consider Grif, Simmons, and Donut “lack-luster”?

A- That’s not a fair question. What am I, on trial here?

Q- We can skip that if you want… would you rather talk about-

A- Fine, fine, ‘ya twisted my arm! Simmons is… good at agreeing with me. Except for when he doesn’t. Which is… perhaps occasionally a positive trait. To question authority. Except for when it isn’t. Like when it’s MY authority. Except… when I am, perhaps occasionally, WRONG. That boy really stuck to his guns during the whole “Blue Team Tank” incident. Could’ve just nodded his head and dropped the subject when I wouldn’t listen, but he didn’t. Simmons went and proved the Blue Menace was still a threat by finding the tank and defecting to join Blue Team, fought us as a one-man army, and then when he came back, he tried to take over and bury me alive. Like a good and proper Red!

Donut is good at being reliably unpredictable. He’s like a secret weapon. He’s stronger than people think, he’s smarter than people think, and he’s a lot more vicious than people think… and I’m not just talking about his talent for insulting poor interior design. He’s also infinitely more annoying than you’d think it was possible for one person to be, but Donut found a way. That boy is a very… unique brand of chatter-box. Nobody else knows what to do with somebody like that, which is why he’s perfect for Red Team!

Grif is.

Grif… is good at...

He’s very...

Grif is very Grif.

Q- Grif is very Grif?

A- Yes.

Q- Is that… a compliment, or an insult?

A- Yes.

…

… alright, listen. Grif is… good at… NOT dying. Even against all odds, and my best efforts to use him as a human-shield, or moving target, nothing has managed to actually kill him. Which has turned out to be a GOOD thing. In general, because this means we’re better than the Blues. But it is also… fortunate… that Grif in particular is still around. Because of. Reasons.

Ugh, I might have to take a break, go wash my mouth out with soap.

[shazzaofdoom]

I am having Magnus Thoughts (tm) and I will once again make it everyone’s problem. (Spoilers ahead, mostly for Master of Prospero and Morningstar, but also just in general.)

The thing is, it makes me feral how Magnus the Red: Master of Prospero is basically an elaborate set-up for a Trolley Problem.

So, the trolley problem! I’m not going to explain it all here, but broadly it’s a thought experiment that asks: Is it better to take action to save many lives, even if your action makes you directly responsible for the death of a few? Or should you avoid actively causing death, even if through your inaction you allow the deaths of many? There are a few different versions with fun little twists, and it’s meant to make you reflect on the nature of moral reasoning. (Wikipedia it if you need more information.)

The Trolley Problem is not a comfortable choice. Sometimes there’s no clean distinction between good and bad: they come parcelled together, and you have to live with a stain on your conscience either way. On Morningstar, Magnus has to reckon with this discomfiting truth, and it is crucial to what he does after Master of Prospero, and so in turn how that feeds into his choices later in the Heresy. It also highlights aspects of his character that are often flattened together under the label of ‘arrogance’. So I am going to unpack this a bit, because when I woke up this morning my brain said I had to.

Master of Prospero touches on the discomfort Magnus feels about massacring innocent refugees from Morningstar so that they can’t spread across new planets and potentially destroy those as well:

‘There is one last dark deed before us.’ (p193) - Magnus knows it is not a noble act: though it is in the name of saving countless lives, it is not the act of a saviour.

‘I am sure,’ said Magnus. ‘Throne, I wish I was not.’ (p196) - Yes, he’s confident that this must be done, but he’s not comfortable with it: the lesser of the two evils is still evil. But it is still lesser as well, and a non-decision is also a decision.

‘I still hear the dead of Morningstar screaming’ (p199) - Bro :(

And the depth of his discomfort becomes starkly apparent in the audio drama Morningstar when it is revealed that Magnus has psychically altered the memories of his entire legion so they don’t remember being party to the Morningstar massacre. That’s, like, so incredibly messed up. But also incredibly interesting, because it shows the extent to which Magnus really can’t cope with the decision he made to turn around and kill thousands upon thousands of helpless people who were counting on him (among others) to save them. (I mean, fair. That's a big yikes.)

He says a couple of interesting things in this regard:

“I sought to spare all my sons the awful burden of that terrible necessity. But not a day goes by when I do not regret what we had to do to the people of that world” (14:18)

“For what father does not desire to spare his sons pain? I never told you because I knew how you would look upon me forever after, knowing what I had done” (14:47). 

First off, it’s pretty obvious that Magnus never really came to terms with the decision he made on Morningstar. He feels continued regret, and he’s really not proud of it. But on top of this, he didn't want to burden his legion with the ‘terrible necessity’ they were party to. So, his solution is to erase the memory of Morningstar from their minds (/facepalm). In doing so he can feel some relief: he suffers his own guilt for Morningstar, but not the guilt of burdening his legion with his decision - he is the only one who carries the weight of responsibility.

(Also, I will just point out though that it seems like Magnus has a general tendency to treat his legion like ducklings rather than, y’know, genetically engineered supersoldiers. I’m thinking specifically of p72 of Master of Prospero, where Magnus and the lads are trying to find survivors from a massive earthquake: “The Thousand Sons formed up on their primarch and Magnus did his best to shield them from the psychic horror and grief of the city’s people”. ) 

Anyway. This all illustrates what I think is a core dynamic of Magnus’ character. Of course, we have the old familiar flaw, trotted out for every character analysis: ~* arrogance *~ clapclapclap good job everyone we have summarised the large red man in one word, let’s all go home. Except this only goes halfway, and is missing the extent to which empathy or fellow-feeling or concern for others… something of that sort is often a significant motivator for Magnus. 

And before anyone accuses me of being a soppy apologist, I think this is important because it can be found at the root of a lot of his problems that he brings on himself (smh ilu, you disaster). It’s not a redeeming quality, because he tends to do a bad job of it. It’s the ol’ tragic flaw: too much of a good thing (caring) can be bad (whoops, accidentally sold my soul to Tzeentch). 

Oughhhh, ok, the Tzeentch thing is a pretty good illustration of this dangerous combination, even if it’s purposefully a bit vague in canon. It’s often pointed at as an illustration of arrogance, and fair enough: the big man thought he could outfox some kind of eldritch deity. The peak of hubris, sure. No arguments here. But, like. Remember why he did it. Remember that he wasn’t selling his eye/soul/whatever for ultimate power. It wasn’t for personal gain. He wanted the lads to stop exploding into tentacle monsters. That’s the Magnus contradiction right there: arrogant enough to think he can get away with saving people, and cares enough to massively overreach in his decision-making. (God, he’s so interesting, I want to crumple him into a ball and scream.)

His caring and his ego are two sides of the same disaster coin. Narratively, ‘care’ is often depicted as a weakness that can be exploited - not just in Warhammer, but in a lot of stories. What you care about is where you are vulnerable. Magnus is no exception - his desperation to save his legion made him vulnerable to temptation. But, it’s important to remember that the act of caring and power are also intimately linked: being cared for often correlates with vulnerability, and by implication it is likely that whoever has the power to care for you has power over you. (This is where we get problems with paternalism - and what is the Horus Heresy if not a series of dad-based problems?) In the end, it was the decision-making power that Magnus asserted over the fate of his legion that kind of, y’know. It didn’t go well. Arguably.

So, I do think that first and foremost, Magnus’ central problem is that he believes his own hype. Whoaa, the most psychic guy Prospero has ever seen!! Whoaaa, a Son of the Emperor!1! But flattening that out to simple ‘arrogance’ misses a crucial facet of this: yeah, he thinks he knows better than everyone else, but also he has read his Spiderman comics. He knows what comes with great power. Importantly, he also feels the weight of that great responsibility in an acutely personal manner. Not just as a leader who occupies a position of power that allows him to get things done, and not just as a representative of the Imperium, but as someone who can directly intervene to save people. 

(And like, as an aside, I know Master of Prospero is set up to kind of be this ‘oh, Magnus is more interested in excavating shit than saving the people’, but like. Damn, having that information sooner might have been useful. Work smarter, not harder. I’m an apologist about this very specific thing. Anyway, I always thought that was a bit weird, cos it does seem like Magnus is generally pretty into saving squishy little mortals, as we are about to see.)

Um, anyway, this is why Perturabo is a great foil to Magnus in this story. While Magnus is out doing his thing, Pert is in the fortress, saddled with doing all the maths and organising needed to get the Lux Ferem off the ground. When it goes wrong he stands there and goes ‘Well, fuck. Can’t do shit about that >:(’ (entirely reasonable, tbh, no criticisms here). Meanwhile Magnus has determined that he can do something about it (maybe) and is putting himself (and the lads) directly underneath a crashing starship (smh ilu, you disaster). 

Some important bits about saving the Lux Ferem:

On p132, Phosis T’Kar asks Magnus if they really can save the ship from crashing on the city, and he replies ‘I truly don’t know… But nor can I simply leave the tens of thousands of people aboard the Lux Ferem and in Calaena to their doom.’

Then after saving the Lux Ferem and being unconscious for a day and a half, Magnus says ‘I had to do something… I could not stand by and let so many die’ (p147). (Oh my god, I love narrative irony and I want to tear my face off). 

(He also says something similar on p150 of Fury of Magnus, after saving the civilians in the Observatory: ‘All I knew was that I couldn’t allow them to perish in the fire when I could save them’.)

Importantly, while he was going tearing underneath the belly of this whole-ass falling sky city, he’s thinking to himself on p133:

Had the Emperor ever dared so greatly? Perhaps, but He rarely spoke of the full extent of His reach. Would Magnus be the first of the primarchs to eclipse his father’s deeds?

Magnus tried to dismiss the thought as fleeting arrogance, but a thorn of it remained lodged in his heart. And who would blame him? What son did not aspire to be more than his father?

Which is the crux of his particular fucked up Molotov cocktail: The care says ‘you cannot stand by where you can intervene to prevent suffering’, and the ego says ‘you, and you are alone, are possessed of the unique genius to do this’. 

The thing is, if you genuinely believe you have the personal power to do (almost) anything, then (almost) everything feels like your personal responsibility, and I think Magnus feels that keenly. If he has the power to save the Lux Ferem, then he must. If he has the ability to save his legion from anguish, then he must. If it is within his grasp to project himself across space and head off a whole lot of nastiness, then… ok you get the picture. 

Magnus feels he is standing at the trolley lever, choosing to move it or not: if he chooses inaction when he could have acted, then the outcome is also his responsibility. He moves it when he believes the other track will be better, but the reality is, none of the tracks are really palatable. (And of course, the horrible flipside of this is when the Space Wolves hit Prospero and Magnus actually did try ‘not pulling the lever’.)

In the skies over Morningstar, Magnus the Red made a choice he couldn’t cope with, because not making the choice was even worse. And it’s so interesting.

[purple-ravaged]

Hi! I just watched your "It's been so long" animation!

I wanted to share a short opinion about it, because I love it and i was rewatching it this whole day every time I got a free moment of piece.

1. It's so good. And your choice of the song AND this exact part of the song is 🎂🍻💐

2. I LOVE the way Red Hood smiles at the very end just before the explosion (the blinking scene with Bruce Wayne's hand trying to reach Jason in present and in the past).

3. Is the soundtrack at the end (when the song part ended) from UtRH movie or just similar "sounds of tossing around some wood or something" to imitate?

4. Here's also a different batman animation video but with the whole song. A very different tone, too, in my opinion (and different part of the story; great nonetheless, of course).

As someone who's not very familiar with FNAF I like your video a bit more, because to me, it implies Batman seeing Red Hood as the abomination that he has to put down but can't because he:

"Your sweet little eyes, your little smile is all I remember,

Those fuzzy memories mess with my temper."

and because I'm listening this song for the first time (English is not native language and I've never ever interacted with FNAF fandom), from the short piece you used in your video I thought the song was about a parent whose child became a murderer/monster and something very bad happened that either killed the son later or killed the son in his parent's eyes. So, to simplify, I'd say I thought the motive was "my son is a monster and I can't fight him or truly hate him because I still think of the past, so I'm grieving his past self" or something similar.

So when I've listened to the whole song (including the mention of the real villain: "man behind the slaughter") and read the story behind this song a bit, I realised it's still very fitting, just very, very differently from the separated part you used.

5. So I guess I just wanted to say thank you for using this exact part, it helped me to formulate my old dusty feelings from Under the Red Hood comic arc into words in my head. Bro, so cool. Great animation!!!

lmao I spent so much time trying to find the exact audio you used instead of the original song or some wrong cover.

Hopefully Tumblr won't eat my ask haha. Happened before.

HI!!! thank you so much for this feedback i’ll try to respond to it the best i can haha! that animation has always been my precious little baby i’m so crazy proud of it.

the song isn’t a cover or anything but a slowed down version of the original! i chose to only use that specific verse because it just fits jason and bruce so perfectly. a HUGE part of both the comic and the movie is that while bruce does mourn the death of jason and what he has become, he doesn’t let that get in the way of the fact that the red hood goes against everything he stands for as batman. the fact that the red hood is jason “doesn’t change anything at all.”

and it is SO cool to me how you interpreted the song differently because of the way i used it! it would make sense for joker to be “the man behind the slaughter” but i didn’t want the animation to be about him at all but about jason and bruce. i find red hood to be just as interesting (maybe more interesting) as joker when it comes to villains batman has to defeat!! because red hood challenges batman’s ideals down to the very core and it’s just so so cool. your interpretation of my animation is completely right! it isn’t about batman vs joker but bruce vs the red hood. and when i say bruce vs the red hood i mean physically but also intrinsically

and the sound at the end of the video was taken directly from the movie! it’s the explosion that plays when the warehouse exploded at the beginning of the movie (what killed jason) the wood sound you hear is pieces of the shed falling to the ground. i also used audio at the end of the movie when jason says “this is the best day of my life” after the lyrics “those fuzzy memories mess with my temper”

TYSM FOR THIS RESPONSE!! i plan on doing future jason todd animations/animatics to add to my collection.. possibly something with the song 10 feet tall by cavetown?? or look what you made me do by taylor swift?? it’s a work in progress haha

[keeperoftinyarmy]

I have two levels of thought, for JK as an individual and JK as an artist. I'm not trying to trash him but I'm just trying to get my thoughts straight and seek your opinion because I feel a bit betrayed.

Now as an artist, I've always thought JK has great potential as a soloist. However so far, all his three singles released during solo era are pretty generic. I think its fine to like them but I expected better from him. I mean I'd expect this sort of music from a BP band member, not someone from BTS. As for the payola, I personally don't care even though I'm shocked about the extent of payola he's getting. I just can't take his achievements that seriously because of them though. And other people might find it hard to digest because it goes against things BTS preached as a band.

The thing that gets is me mad is that if they have this much capacity then everything I saw during Face - forget paid radio spins but just sending the audio to radio, the splitting of the streams by Spotify, the issues with the D2C web store, the issues with Hanteo - were all wilfully ignored by Hybe. But that has nothing to do with JK.

So anyway his songs and his choice to go for payola - I think it's fair to criticize JK on that but they have nothing to do with Jimin.

But there's just one thing thats genuinely made me question what JK is doing as a friend to Jimin and as individual. And that is the extended parallels between elements of Like Crazy and Seven. I say parallels because I don't want to say the c-word but that's what it is. Why are the concept photos, outfits, styling, and dance moves so similar between two songs that have no relation to each other. When I saw the concept photos, I wrote it off as a coincidence, but now with the choreography I find it hard to do that again. And JK has seen the LC dance - he watched it right on live so I can't pretend the hybe choreographer just gave him this dance and he didn't know anything. I just can't reconcile it in my head. I feel sad.

I respect your opinion and thank you for sharing it with me. I’m going to assume this isn’t a shade attack on Kookie and respond.

I will honestly say Seven is the first JK solo song I’ve really liked….except for My You. And that’s totally fine, every song is not for every person. It doesn’t change how talented JK is or how much I want him to succeed.

Payola… that’s a loaded word and we don’t know that happened. What I see are deals and connections and different modes of marketing than BigHit has used in the past. I’ve thought since Like Crazy and PD Bang house hunting in LA that BigHit was set on fully understanding how to create a huge hit in the US market - for JK’s release but also for future BTS releases. This is a business…a business that wants to make money and expand …so figuring out how to get to the top of Billboard should be their priority. I think they had a plan for Seven and Face’s success surprised them. I don’t think they hated it because their stock rose but I do think they continued their plan for their western push. Was Jimin’s album a casualty of that? Seems like but I don’t know. I’m proud of Face still doing well despite the challenges. Jimin’s next project will probably get even more internal support because of it.

Now…the part about the concept similarities…

Going from years of evidence from video, articles and the guys’ mouths Jimin and Jungkook are really close. That means they are discussing their work with each other. That means that any similarities between Face and Seven are fully known and approved by the two of them. Because if Jimin had an issue with Seven’s concept he would have spoken up…and no way JK would have done it if Jimin were upset by it. And I’d bet all my money on that fact.

I don’t think it was copying I think it was a deliberate connection maybe even a collaboration of sorts. I feel like there’s a thread between the two purposely put there by the artists.

This should not be a surprise to anyone that follows BTS…jikook often match and have similar ideas.

[lightning-macrine]

Fuck it, OFMD E-sports/gamer/streamer AU + Valorant headcanons (ft. The rest of the Revenge crew):

Ed is a popular streamer under the user “BlackbeardX0” who is most known for his Valorant streams. He duos with Izzy (username “BasilicaHandsX0” – yes he made it so he was matching with Ed), who isn’t a streamer but has a lot of fans within Ed’s Twitch community because basically everyone but Ed can see that Izzy is absolutely smitten with him and wanna see how that trainwreck ends.

Louis is a big fan of Ed’s streams and in the midst of the divorce™️, Stede starts watching them with him to try and connect more with him. He instantly falls in love with Ed and gets the wild idea to reach out and sponsor him and fund his professional ESports team with his vast fortune, despite having NO idea what actually goes on in any of the games.

Izzy is skeptical (duh, who wouldn’t be?) but Ed is so fascinated by Stede’s email that he agrees to meet him for a quote on quote “business meeting”. They hit it off and so The Revengers (yes I’m mixing up OFMD and Thor: Ragnarok together it just works okay??) are born.

Stede and Izzy fall in hate at first sight but Ed needs Izzy on the team because half his amazing strats and moves all rely on Izzy being able to do his thing as support/healer so Stede has no choice but to let him join. However, because of Izzy’s overall attitude (read: toxic af) they don’t actually have other people who play with them regularly enough to join the team immediately (there’s Jack aka. “CalicoJackA$$” but he’s a bit of a wildcard and gets banned allll the time) so Stede has to venture out and find people to fill the roster. This is where the rest of the Revenge crew come in.

He finds Oluwande and Jim, a pair of up and coming Valorant streamers to join the permanent roster, and they recommend Roach who mostly does cooking streams but is also a top OP crutch player and so they have their full roster. On the bench they have Buttons, Wee John, Ivan, and Fang.

On the promotional/social media/technical side of the team they have Lucius (graphics and socials), Frenchie (sound and IT), Black Pete (editing and IT), and the Swede (HR).

Without further ado, (some, not all) my Revenge Crew Valorant headcanons:

Ed:

Yoru main

Loves a good fuckery using the teleports and fake teleports

A clutch god

Relies a lot on Izzy to heal/rez him when he tries new strats and set-ups

Usually proposes which site to push and what strat to use

Forgets to comm sometimes but when he does they’re pretty good

Izzy:

Sage main

A shameless pocket for Ed if he demands it (which is a lot of the time)

Not afraid to scream at his duelists (never Ed though) if they aren’t clearing site or protecting him during plant

Can clutch up every now and then, won’t be happy about it though

The epitome of the “a single mom who works two jobs” audio

Can be really toxic on comms or chat, has been penalised/banned several times because of this. He does not care. Will do it again.

Overall good comms, but he always sounds angry when he does

Jim:

Omen main

A sneaky bitch

WILL knife you from behind when you least expect it

A GOD at flanking and playing for picks

Will hold angles/be a rat if provoked enough

Actually knows how to use Omen’s teleport

Sometimes forgets to use their smoke (Olu has to remind them)

Proud owner of the RGX butterfly knife

Is a bit of a slow starter so tends to get underestimated a lot but once they know your movements you’re toast

Only comms after they’ve died

Oluwande:

KAY/O main

The perfect all-rounder, amazing comms and game sense

King of Assists

Can sometimes get distracted by Jim but overall it works out most of the time

Can switch to Brimstone if extra smokes are needed

Roach:

Chamber main

OP crutch

A one-tap demon

Will destroy enemy team morale with a cig hanging out the side of his mouth

Not the best team player, will bait you and is not sorry for it (he might apologise if he loses after baiting you, which is very rarely)

Trolls in All chat a lot

Terrible comms, he doesn’t know the name of anything

Will get straight up toxic if up against another Chamber

Buttons:

Cypher main

Knows something we don’t

Is actually…really good, infuriatingly good

Knows all the wildest set-ups for trips and camera

Has the weirdest comms though

Can clutch up every now and then (the moon needs to be in the right phase)

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 19th November ✨

Happy Audio Drama Sunday!! I had such a busy week again but spent most of it thinking about the end of Wolf 359 🥲

🦀 @thesiltverses (36) Jesus Christ, this episode made me feel tooo many things.I was genuinely unsettled by this newly introduced God and that terrible feeling of waiting for the inevitable to happen, whilst also being so invested in the blossoming relationship. And the sound design was absolutely popping OFF. God, the last 30 seconds? Someone resuscitate me. Incredible choices were made and the pay off was heart breaking. 

��� @monstrousproductions (2) Travelling Light continues to be so, so lovely for the ears! Even so early on, the world-building is so accomplished and I want to live there 🥺 Our traveller seems like such a sweetheart and I’m looking forward to finding out who they help next!

🌒 Moonbase Theta, Out (@monkeymanproductions) Aaah Ahnung! What a beautifully told and crushingly hopeful story of her time in the North. Her and Elio’s relationship is so sweet as well! And it’s good to see that there’s hope for even the most devious of bastards. I can’t wait to hear the Q+A and the special announcement! 

🤴@itmeblog InCo (S2 24-26) My favourite little prisoner is doing such a good job of keeping his mouth shut. Proud of you, Hatov. I’d get you a hammock anytime. 

 💫  I finished Wolf 359 this week and oh my goddd, they really saved all the best twists until last, didn’t they. I completely understand why this is so many people’s most favourite audio drama of all time. The characters, the plot, the comedy, it’s got everything. Listening really made me want to be better at everything from a creator point of view and I love feeling inspired like that!! 

⚓️ @eelerschoice (4) Aaah, I had such a good time eeling this week! I love the magic in this show and the consequences of using such magic feel so real! I can’t believe we’re halfway through, I don’t want it to end! 

❤️‍🔥I started The Love Talker this week. I’m usually a bit wary of horror that centres violence against women (a certain Stephen King burned me a few too many times) but I’m interested to see where this goes! It’s so, so strange to hear W Keith Tims as this awful, malevolent character after being using to hearing him as The Book of Con’s Simon!! 

Have the best of best weeks!! 🥰

[shibaraki]

monty V_V

transferring to a different university next semester and i’m excited and i know it’s gonna be a better choice for me , but the cost LMFAO it’s soooo much more than the one i’m attending rn i’m actually gonna throw up i’m rocking backing forth with that one audio “i’m never gonna financially recover from this” on loop in my brain

hi baby!!! I’m really glad you’re excited actually. it can be super daunting to transfer but it’s good you know what is best for you and I’m proud of you!!! lol I feel u about the student debt though. sometimes I look at mine and it makes me want to go OFF THE GRID FR