#Jacob D Smith

[youronebraincell]

They look like a gay girlband in cosplay. I love it

[tenaciousarcadeexpert]

list of young actors of color who deserve to have more recognition and opportunities as actors like Glen Powell, Jacob Elordi, Timothee Chalmet etc. It would be refreshing to see more of these talented and underrated actos of color in lead roles, whether in action and sci fi blockbusters, even rom coms

*Note, the list consists of actors born within the 90s-2000s. This might not be a complete list so whoever sees this is welcome to add more actors that I missed. I might update this post from time to time

basically a sequel to this post dedicated to young actresses of woc

Manny Jacinto: It's a crime that he's not cast as a male romantic lead in rom coms. He was so talented in the acolyte and he deserved the same career Glen Powell has. It's a crime he's not in more projects as a lead

Rege Jean Page: he's born in 1988 but I had to include him as he deserved the same roles and opportunities as his co worker Jonathan Bailey. He still deserves a career outside of bridgerton

Caleb McLaughlin: It's very telling how he's not in a lot of other projects (major blockbusters) out of the rest of the young and mostly white cast in stranger things

Ncuti Gatwa (he deserves the same appreciation and opportunities David Tennant and Matt Smith got post Doctor Who)

Danny Ramirez

Anthony Ramos

Rish Shah

Charles Melton (it's a crime he didn't get an Oscar, here's to hoping he gets more major roles)

Ross Butler (Look at him, let him play an action hero)

Ryan Potter

Justice Smith

Archie Madekwe

Jacob Batalon

Dev Patel

Mena Massoud

Mason Gooding

Darren Barnet

Justin Chien

Xolo Maridueña

Justin H Min

John Boyega (still deserved better than the way lucasfilm and star wars sidelined him in favor of A*am D*iver)

Aryan Simhadri

Jose Andres Rivera

William Gao

Tyler James Williams

Ramy Youssef

RJ Cyler

Dallas Liu

Victor Alli

Archie Renaux

there's more but unfortunately, tumblr has a 30 gif limit

[haggishlyhagging]

The book list copied from feminist-reprise

Radical Lesbian Feminist Theory

A Passion for Friends: Toward a Philosophy of Female Affection, Jan Raymond

Call Me Lesbian: Lesbian Lives, Lesbian Theory, Julia Penelope

The Lesbian Heresy, Sheila Jeffreys

The Lesbian Body, Monique Wittig

Politics of Reality, Marilyn Frye

Willful Virgin: Essays in Feminism 1976-1992, Marilyn Frye

Lesbian Ethics, Sarah Hoagland

Sister/Outsider, Audre Lorde

Radical Feminist Theory –  General/Collections

Freedom Fallacy: The Limits of Liberal Feminism, edited by Miranda Kiraly and Meagan Tyler

Radically Speaking: Feminism Reclaimed, Renate Klein and Diane Bell

Love and Politics, Carol Anne Douglas

The Dialectic of Sex–The Case for Feminist Revolution, Shulamith Firestone

Sisterhood is Powerful, Robin Morgan, ed.

Radical Feminism: A Documentary Reader, edited by Barbara A. Crow

Three Guineas, Virginia Woolf

Sexual Politics, Kate Millett

Radical Feminism, Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine, and Anita Rapone, eds.

On Lies, Secrets and Silence, Adrienne Rich

Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals, Marilyn French

Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, Catharine MacKinnon

Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression, Sandra Bartky

Life and Death, Andrea Dworkin

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga, eds.

Wildfire:  Igniting the She/Volution, Sonia Johnson

Homegirls: A Black Feminist Anthology, Barbara Smith ed.

Fugitive Information, Kay Leigh Hagan

Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black, bell hooks

Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, bell hooks

Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot, Pearl Cleage

Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes, Maria Lugones

In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, Alice Walker

The Whole Woman, Germaine Greer

Right Wing Women, Andrea Dworkin

Feminist Theory – Specific Areas

Prostitution

Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution, Rachel Moran

Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy, and the Split Self, Kajsa Ekis Ekman

The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade, Sheila Jeffreys

Female Sexual Slavery, Kathleen Barry

Women, Lesbians, and Prostitution:  A Workingclass Dyke Speaks Out Against Buying Women for Sex, by Toby Summer, in Lesbian Culture: An Anthology, Julia Penelope and Susan Wolfe, eds.

Ten Reasons for Not Legalizing Prostitution, Jan Raymond

The Legalisation of Prostitution : A failed social experiment, Sheila Jeffreys

Making the Harm Visible: Global Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls, Donna M. Hughes and Claire Roche, eds.

Prostitution, Trafficking, and Traumatic Stress, Melissa Farley

Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography, Christine Stark and Rebecca Whisnant, eds.

Pornography

Pornland: How Pornography Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, Gail Dines

Pornified: How Porn is Damaging Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families, Pamela Paul

Pornography: Men Possessing Women, Andrea Dworkin

Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality, Gail Dines

Pornography: Evidence of the Harm, Diana Russell

Pornography and Sexual Violence:  Evidence of the Links (transcript of Minneapolis hearings published by Everywoman in the UK)

Rape

Against Our Will, Susan Brownmiller

Rape In Marriage, Diana Russell

Incest

Secret Trauma, Diana Russell

Victimized Daughters: Incest and the Development of the Female Self, Janet Liebman Jacobs

Battering/Domestic Violence

Loving to Survive, Dee Graham

Trauma and Recovery, Judith Herman

Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men, Lundy Bancroft

Sadomasochism/”Sex Wars”

Unleashing Feminism: Critiquing Lesbian Sadomasochism in the Gay Nineties, Irene Reti, ed.

The Sex Wars, Lisa Duggan and Nan D. Hunter, eds.

The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism, edited by Dorchen Leidholdt and Janice Raymond

Sex, Lies, and Feminism, Charlotte Croson, off our backs, June 2001

How Orgasm Politics Has Hijacked the Women’s Movement, Sheila Jeffreys

A Vision of Lesbian Sexuality, Janice Raymond, in All The Rage: Reasserting Radical Lesbian Feminism, Lynne Harne & Elaine Miller, eds.

Sex and Feminism: Who Is Being Silenced? Adriene Sere in SaidIt, 2001

Consuming Passions: Some Thoughts on History, Sex and Free Enterprise by De Clarke (From Unleashing Feminism).

Separatism/Women-Only Space

“No Dobermans Allowed,”  Carolyn Gage, in Lesbian Culture: An Anthology, Julia Penelope and Susan Wolfe, eds.

For Lesbians Only:  A Separatist Anthology, Julia Penelope & Sarah Hoagland, eds.

Exploring the Value of Women-Only Space, Kya Ogyn

Medicine

Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers, Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English

For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts’ Advice to Women, Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English

The Hidden Malpractice: How American Medicine Treats Women as Patients and Professionals, Gena Corea

The Mother Machine: Reproductive Technologies from Artificial Insemination to Artificial Wombs, Gena Corea

Women and Madness, Phyllis Chesler

Women, Health and the Politics of Fat, Amy Winter, in Rain And Thunder, Autumn Equinox 2003, No. 20

Changing Our Minds: Lesbian Feminism and Psychology, Celia Kitzinger and Rachel Perkins

Motherhood

Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, Adrienne Rich

The Reproduction of Mothering, Nancy Chodorow

Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace, Sara Ruddick

Marriage/Heterosexuality

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Adrienne Rich

The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality 1880-1930, Sheila Jeffreys

Anticlimax: A Feminist Perspective on the Sexual Revolution, Sheila Jeffreys

Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, Michele Wallace

The Sexual Contract, Carol Pateman

A Radical Dyke Experiment for the Next Century: 5 Things to Work for Instead of Same-Sex Marriage, Betsy Brown in off our backs, January 2000 V.30; N.1 p. 24

Intercourse, Andrea Dworkin

Transgender/Queer Politics

Gender Hurts, Sheila Jeffreys

Female Erasure, edited by Ruth Barrett

Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds, Cordelia Fine

Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference, Cordelina Fine

Sexing the Body: Gender and the Construction of Sexuality, Anne Fausto-Sterling

Myths of Gender, Anne Fausto-Sterling

Unpacking Queer Politics, Sheila Jeffreys

The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male, Janice Raymond

The Inconvenient Truth of Teena Brandon, Carolyn Gage

Language

Speaking Freely: Unlearning the Lies of the Fathers’ Tongues, Julia Penelope

Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary, Mary Daly

Man Made Language, Dale Spender

Feminist Theology/Spirituality/Religion

Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation, Mary Daly

Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism, Mary Daly

The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, Marija Gimbutas

Woman, Church and State, Matilda Joslyn Gage

The Women’s Bible, Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Pure Lust, Mary Daly

Backlash

The War Against Women, Marilyn French

Backlash, Susan Faludi

History/Memoir

Surpassing the Love of Men, Lillian Faderman

Going Too Far:  The Personal Chronicles of a Feminist, Robin Morgan

Women of Ideas, and What Men Have Done to Them, Dale Spender

The Creation of Patriarchy, Gerda Lerner

The Creation of Feminist Consciousness, From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy, Gerda Lerner

Why History Matters, Gerda Lerner

A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft, ed.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches, Ellen Carol Dubois, ed., Gerda Lerner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Suffragette Movement, Sylvia Pankhurst

In Our Time: Memoirs of a Revolution, Susan Brownmiller

Women, Race and Class, Angela Y. Davis

Economy

Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women Are Worth, Marilyn Waring

For-Giving:  A Feminist Criticism of Exchange, Genevieve Vaughn

Fat/Body Image/Appearance

Shadow on a Tightrope: Writings by Women on Fat Oppression, Lisa Schoenfielder and Barb Wieser

Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West, Sheila Jeffreys

Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, Jean Kilbourne

The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf

Unbearable Weight:  Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body, Susan Bordo

The Invisible Woman:  Confronting Weight Prejudice in America, Charisse Goodman

Women En Large: Photographs of Fat Nudes, Laurie Toby Edison and Debbie Notkin

Disability

With the Power of Each Breath:  A Disabled Women’s Anthology, Susan E. Browne, Debra Connors, and Nanci Stern

[indigenous-character-tournament]

Indigenous Character Tournament

Round 1

The bracket was randomly generated with minor tweaking to balance it out since there are so many characters. Ties are allowed only when there is an exact 50/50 and in that case, the characters will move on as a team. Propaganda is allowed and encouraged! The polls of each bracket will last one week! Below are the match-ups in case it is hard to read the bracket! :)

Voting will start Monday, May 8th at 6:00 P.M. EST! The polls will be released in waves.

Bracket A

Eliza Maza (Gargoyles) vs Willie Jack (Reservation Dogs)

Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs Kamakiri (One Piece)

Joseph (Blood Quantum) vs Fuzzy Mac (Grace Beside Me)

John Redcorn (King of the Hill) vs Clinton Skye (FBI: Most Wanted)

Travis Manawa (Fear the Walking Dead) vs Jessica Keynes (Miraculous Ladybug)

Artemy Burakh (Pathologic) vs Nakamura Kotan (Yuusha Dan)

Delsin Rowe (Infamous: Second Son) vs Moana (Moana)

Pike Dexter (Big Eden) vs Naru (Predator)

Victor Joseph (Smoke Signals) vs Volo (Pokemon Legends: Arceus)

Prince Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke) vs Kurapika Kurta (Hunter x Hunter)

Naranpa (Black Sun) vs Kirikou (Kirikou and the Sorceress)

Fredzilla (Big Hero 6) vs Margaret Kohere (Apex Legends)

Wyper (One Piece) vs Jenna Begay (Echo Project)

Kronk (The Emperor's New Groove) vs Rock (Nanbaka)

Ka'kwet (Anne with an E) vs Akita (Ninjago)

Tanis (Letterkenny) vs Caitlin (Mohawk Girls)

Bracket B

Asirpa (Golden Kamuy) vs Asterix (Asterix the Gaul)

Little Strongheart (My Little Pony) vs Atticus O'Sullivan (The Iron Druid)

Makoa Gibraltar (Apex Legends) vs Joss (Blood Quantum)

Kenai (Brother Bear) vs Ratonhnhaké:ton (Assassin’s Creed III)

Miyax/Julie (Julie of the Wolves) vs Massai (Fortnite)

Anna (Mohawk Girls) vs Princess Maya (Maya and the Three)

Izel (Onyx Equinox) vs Mercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson)

Charles Smith (Red Dead Redemption 2) vs Dr. Joshua "Strongbear" Sweet (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

Lady Silence/Silna (The Terror) vs Dedue (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Koen West (Cleverman) vs Hau (Pokémon Sun and Moon)

Elora Danan Postoak (Reservation Dogs) vs Iduna (Frozen)

Zia (Mysterious Cities of Gold) vs Knuckles Thrash/Harley (Sleepless Domain)

Carlos Oliveira (Resident Evil series) vs Nainoa Flores (Sharks in the Time of Saviors)

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs Little Creek (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)

Asta Twelvetrees (Resident Alien) vs Hototo (Appare-Ranman!)

Bracket C

Nate Kinski (Neighbours) vs Usui Horokeu/Horohoro (Shaman King)

Reki Kyan (SK8 the Infinity) vs Waruu West (Cleverman)

Mugen (Samurai Champloo) vs Sitka (Brother Bear)

Samantha Black Crow (American Gods) vs Sasappis (Ghosts CBS)

Nina Aroyo (A Snake Falls to Earth) vs Malakai Mitchell (Heartbreak High)

Echo Reverie (Friends at the Table) vs Nuna (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)

Margu (Klaus) vs Raúl Cocolotl (Wendell & Wild)

Huā Chéng (Heaven Official's Blessing) vs Leilani (Indivisible)

Elatsoe Bride (Elatsoe) vs Tao (Mysterious Cities of Gold)

Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs Jesse Cosay (Infinity Train)

Kalgara (One Piece) vs Molly Mabray (Molly of Denali)

Miko Kalani (Barbie) vs Tom Evans (Captain Canuck)

Nani Pelekai (Lilo & Stitch) vs Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Smoke Signals) vs Fiza (Daevabad Trilogy)

Tikal the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Greiger (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Maya Lopez/Echo (Marvel comics) vs Bear Smallhill (Reservation Dogs)

Bracket D

Chakotay (Star Trek: Voyager) vs Piper McLean (Heroes of Olympus)

Emperor Kuzco (The Emperor's New Groove) vs Denahi (Brother Bear)

Ricky Baker (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) vs Kristoff (Frozen)

Serapio (Black Sun) vs Boy (Boy - 2010 film)

Inkarmat (Golden Kamuy) vs Geronimo Jr. (Cyborg 009)

Tanigaki Genjirō (Golden Kamuy) vs Betty (Infamous: Second Son)

Pacha (The Emperor's New Groove) vs JJ Jacobs (DImension 20)

Kaya'aton'my (American Girl) vs Danielle Moonstar/Mirage (Marvel comics)

Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Sacagawea (Night at the Museum)

Débora (Cidade Invisível) vs Matthew Carver (Kagagi)

Papa-Capim (Turma da Mônica) vs Professor Kukui (Pokémon Sun and Moon)

Tainá (Tainá uma aventura na Amazônia) vs Nuna (Indivisible)

Ken Hotate (Parks and Recreation) vs Nizhoni (Race to the Sun)

Revali (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) vs Daunis Fontaine (Firekeeper's Daughter)

Korra (The Legend of Korra) vs Ch'ah Toh Almehen/Namor the Submariner (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Tye Longshadow (Young Justice) vs Lilo Pelekai (Lilo & Stitch)

[walker-extended-universe]

Walkerverse Character Tier List

Hello Walker Family! I'm here announcing the beginning of the Walkerverse Character Tier List series!

I've created a list of characters from Walker and Walker: Independence to put in a tier list ranking. I will be releasing a series of polls with all these characters (including pictures and brief reminders of their roles) to determine which Tier List ranking they get. Whichever option from S to F gets the most votes will become the official ranking of that character.

Here is the criteria I used to select the characters I'm putting in the poll series:

They must have a name on the imdb page

They must have a minimum of two appearances

I have to remember them, regardless of their appearance count

Single appearances that were special/memorable will also be included (ex: Uncle Willy, Minnie Jayne)

The rankings will be as follows:

S tier: Best character in the show, love them with all my heart, they can do literally nothing wrong

A tier: Beloved blorbo, one of my favorites, I'd want to be friends with them if they were real

B tier: I like them, but I have my critiques. A good character that I mostly enjoy

C tier: Mid character, not the biggest fan of them but I won't complain when they show up

D tier: I don't like them. I have many criticisms of their actions and personality. I may even dislike whole episodes because of them

F tier: Literally the worst character in the entire show. Hate them. Much dislike. I fastforward over them on rewatches.

I currently have pictures (for the poll and the complete tierlist that I will link when it is public) for 39 of the 120+ characters I put on the list, so that's where I will be starting. I will include the full list of all the characters from both shows below the cut along with the taglist.

The first poll will go up on Monday, September 23rd! Can't wait to see what you guys think!

@theladywyn, @jaredwalkertexasranger, @laf-outloud, @aborddelimpala, @mysterybeau, @sweet-sammy-kisses, @kickingitwithkirk, @rhl74, @peachparakeet, @dumb-fawkin-bitch, @loveforwomenstuff, @low-soduimfreak, @ihavepointysticks, @waywardmaslow, @arte-mishuntress, @the-slythering-raven, @deeranger, @duo-kun, @inafieldofdaisies, @not-your-housekeeper98, @nancymcl, @sammysnaughtygirl

Walker:

Cordell Walker

Liam Walker

Abeline Walker

Bonham Walker

Stella Walker

August Walker

Larry James

Trey Barnett

Geri Broussard

Cassie Perez

Micki Ramirez

Colton Davidson

Ben Perez

Dan Miller

Denise Davidson

Emily Walker

Todd

Gale Davidson

Stan Morrison

Clay Cooper

Clint West

Kelly James

Kevin Golden

Isabel Munoz

Bret

Trevor Strand

Ruby

Detective David Luna

Julia Johnson

Hoyt Rawlins

Twyla Jean

Sadie Yoo

Witt

Connie

Faye

DJ James

Keesha Barnett

Carlos Mendoza

Officer Randall

Dr. Adriana Ramirez

Sean

Serano

Earl

Mercedes Ruiz

Miles Vyas

Coach Bobby

Principal Heaney

Byron Santos

Garrison (GM)

Nate Smith

Tessa Graves

Crystal West

Cali

Rita

Lana Jones

Tommy Adams

Jaxon Davis

Grant McLawson

Neo

Mike

Horace

Alma Munoz

Fenton Cole

Shannon

Lorezno Munoz

Snyder

Oswald

Marv Davidson

Jim

Mr. Golden

Spider

William

Owen Campbell

Minnie Jayne

Maybelline

Mehar

Henry

Becca Furgeson

Joanna Rawlins

Cole Tillman

Rebecca Tillman

Walker: Independence:

Abigail Walker

Hoyt Rawlins

Kate Carver

Tom Davidson

Augustus

Calian

Kai

Lucia Reyes

Shane Davidson

Hagan

Chief Taza

Francis Reyes

Luis Reyes

Ruby

Nascha

Ethan (Pinkerton Detective)

Salty Dog

Molly Sullivan

Anna Maria Reyes

Cordell the Horse

Burlesque Dancers

Teresa Davidson

Matthew

Jacob

Otis Clay

Martha Sullivan

Griffin

Liam Collins

Eli McDowd

Charlotte “Charlie” Collins

Gil Santiago

Randall

Lily

Stella Rawlins

Wordell Calker

Olivia

Topsannah

Amos Acorn

Parker Briggs

Judge Parker

Kirby Smith

Andrew Jones

Judge Carter

[todaysdocument]

Discharge Petition for H.R. 7152, the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Record Group 233: Records of the U.S. House of RepresentativesSeries: General Records

This item, H.R. 7152, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, faced strong opposition in the House Rules Committee. Howard Smith, Chairman of the committee, refused to schedule hearings for the bill. Emanuel Celler, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, attempted to use this discharge petition to move the bill out of committee without holding hearings. The petition failed to gain the required majority of Congress (218 signatures), but forced Chairman Smith to schedule hearings.

88th CONGRESS. House of Representatives No. 5 Motion to Discharge a Committee from the Consideration of a RESOLUTION (State whether bill, joint resolution, or resolution) December 9, 1963 To the Clerk of the House of Representatives: Pursuant to Clause 4 of Rule XXVII (see rule on page 7), I EMANUEL CELLER (Name of Member), move to discharge to the Commitee on RULES (Committee) from the consideration of the RESOLUTION; H. Res. 574 entitled, a RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H. R. 7152) which was referred to said committee November 27, 1963 in support of which motion the undersigned Members of the House of Representatives affix their signatures, to wit: 1. Emanuel Celler 2. John J. Rooney 3. Seymour Halpern 4. James G Fulton 5. Thomas W Pelly 6. Robt N. C. Nix 7. Jeffery Cohelan 8. W A Barrett 9. William S. Mailiard 10. 11. Augustus F. Hawkins 12. Otis G. Pike 13. Benjamin S Rosenthal 14. Spark M Matsunaga 15. Frank M. Clark 16. William L Dawson 17. Melvin Price 18. John C. Kluczynski 19. Barratt O'Hara 20. George E. Shipley 21. Dan Rostenkowski 22. Ralph J. Rivers[page] 2 23. Everett G. Burkhalter 24. Robert L. Leggett 25. William L St Onge 26. Edward P. Boland 27. Winfield K. Denton 28. David J. Flood 29. 30. Lucian N. Nedzi 31. James Roosevelt 32. Henry C Reuss 33. Charles S. Joelson 34. Samuel N. Friedel 35. George M. Rhodes 36. William F. Ryan 37. Clarence D. Long 38. Charles C. Diggs Jr 39. Morris K. Udall 40. Wm J. Randall 41. 42. Donald M. Fraser 43. Joseph G. Minish 44. Edith Green 45. Neil Staebler 46. 47. Ralph R. Harding 48. Frank M. Karsten 49. 50. John H. Dent 51. John Brademas 52. John E. Moss 53. Jacob H. Gilbert 54. Leonor K. Sullivan 55. John F. Shelley 56. 57. Lionel Van Deerlin 58. Carlton R. Sickles 59. 60. Edward R. Finnegan 61. Julia Butler Hansen 62. Richard Bolling 63. Ken Heckler 64. Herman Toll 65. Ray J Madden 66. J Edward Roush 67. James A. Burke 68. Frank C. Osmers Jr 69. Adam Powell 70. 71. Fred Schwengel 72. Philip J. Philiben 73. Byron G. Rogers 74. John F. Baldwin 75. Joseph Karth 76. 77. Roland V. Libonati 78. John V. Lindsay 79. Stanley R. Tupper 80. Joseph M. McDade 81. Wm Broomfield 82. 83. 84. Robert J Corbett 85. 86. Craig Hosmer87. Robert N. Giaimo 88. Claude Pepper 89. William T Murphy 90. George H. Fallon 91. Hugh L. Carey 92. Robert T. Secrest 93. Harley O. Staggers 94. Thor C. Tollefson 95. Edward J. Patten 96. 97. Al Ullman 98. Bernard F. Grabowski 99. John A. Blatnik 100. 101. Florence P. Dwyer 102. Thomas L. ? 103. 104. Peter W. Rodino 105. Milton W. Glenn 106. Harlan Hagen 107. James A. Byrne 108. John M. Murphy 109. Henry B. Gonzalez 110. Arnold Olson 111. Harold D Donahue 112. Kenneth J. Gray 113. James C. Healey 114. Michael A Feighan 115. Thomas R. O'Neill 116. Alphonzo Bell 117. George M. Wallhauser 118. Richard S. Schweiker 119. 120. Albert Thomas 121. 122. Graham Purcell 123. Homer Thornberry 124. 125. Leo W. O'Brien 126. Thomas E. Morgan 127. Joseph M. Montoya 128. Leonard Farbstein 129. John S. Monagan 130. Brad Morse 131. Neil Smith 132. Harry R. Sheppard 133. Don Edwards 134. James G. O'Hara 135. 136. Fred B. Rooney 137. George E. Brown Jr. 138. 139. Edward R. Roybal 140. Harris. B McDowell jr. 141. Torbert H. McDonall 142. Edward A. Garmatz 143. Richard E. Lankford 144. Richard Fulton 145. Elizabeth Kee 146. James J. Delaney 147. Frank Thompson Jr 148. 149. Lester R. Johnson 150. Charles A. Buckley4 151. Richard T. Hanna 152. James Corman 153. Paul A Fino 154. Harold M. Ryan 155. Martha W. Griffiths 156. Adam E. Konski 157. Chas W. Wilson 158. Michael J. Kewan 160. Alex Brooks 161. Clark W. Thompson 162. John D. Gringell [?] 163. Thomas P. Gill 164. Edna F. Kelly 165. Eugene J. Keogh 166 John. B. Duncan 167. Elmer J. Dolland 168. Joe Caul 169. Arnold Olsen 170. Monte B. Fascell [?] 171. [not deciphered] 172. J. Dulek 173. Joe W. [undeciphered] 174. J. J. Pickle [Numbers 175 through 214 are blank]

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 40, 2024

Impact of Extracellular Current Flow on Action Potential Propagation in Myelinated Axons. Abdollahi, N., & Prescott, S. A. (2024). Journal of Neuroscience, 44(26), e0569242024.

Prefrontal coding of learned and inferred knowledge during REM and NREM sleep. Abdou, K., Nomoto, M., Aly, M. H., Ibrahim, A. Z., Choko, K., Okubo-Suzuki, R., … Inokuchi, K. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 4566.

Distinct basal ganglia contributions to learning from implicit and explicit value signals in perceptual decision-making. Balsdon, T., Pisauro, M. A., & Philiastides, M. G. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 5317.

Hebbian priming of human motor learning. Bjørndal, J. R., Beck, M. M., Jespersen, L., Christiansen, L., & Lundbye-Jensen, J. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 5126.

The well‐worn route revisited: Striatal and hippocampal system contributions to familiar route navigation. Buckley, M., McGregor, A., Ihssen, N., Austen, J., Thurlbeck, S., Smith, S. P., … Lew, A. R. (2024). Hippocampus, 34(7), 310–326.

Ouvrai opens access to remote virtual reality studies of human behavioural neuroscience. Cesanek, E., Shivkumar, S., Ingram, J. N., & Wolpert, D. M. (2024). Nature Human Behaviour, 8(6), 1209–1224.

Two distinct networks for encoding goals and forms of action: An effective connectivity study. Di Cesare, G., Lombardi, G., Zeidman, P., Urgen, B. A., Sciutti, A., Friston, K. J., & Rizzolatti, G. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(26), e2402282121.

Conductance-based dendrites perform Bayes-optimal cue integration. Jordan, J., Sacramento, J., Wybo, W. A. M., Petrovici, M. A., & Senn, W. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(6), e1012047.

Subpopulations of neurons in the perirhinal cortex enable both modality-specific and modality-invariant recognition of objects. Lim, H.-Y., & Lee, I. (2024). PLOS Biology, 22(6), e3002713.

Hippocampal and orbitofrontal neurons contribute to complementary aspects of associative structure. Lin, H., & Zhou, J. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 5283.

A vast space of compact strategies for effective decisions. Ma, T., & Hermundstad, A. M. (2024). Science Advances, 10(25).

The direction of theta and alpha travelling waves modulates human memory processing. Mohan, U. R., Zhang, H., Ermentrout, B., & Jacobs, J. (2024). Nature Human Behaviour, 8(6), 1124–1135.

Mental navigation in the primate entorhinal cortex. Neupane, S., Fiete, I., & Jazayeri, M. (2024). Nature, 630(8017), 704–711.

Low and high beta rhythms have different motor cortical sources and distinct roles in movement control and spatiotemporal attention. Nougaret, S., López-Galdo, L., Caytan, E., Poitreau, J., Barthélemy, F. V., & Kilavik, B. E. (2024). PLOS Biology, 22(6), e3002670.

Striatal Dopamine Contributions to Skilled Motor Learning. Phillips, C. D., Hodge, A. T., Myers, C. C., Leventhal, D. K., & Burgess, C. R. (2024). Journal of Neuroscience, 44(26), e0240242024.

Visuo-motor updating in individuals with heightened autistic traits. Pomè, A., & Zimmermann, E. (2024). eLife, 13, e94946.3.

Spindle-locked ripples mediate memory reactivation during human NREM sleep. Schreiner, T., Griffiths, B. J., Kutlu, M., Vollmar, C., Kaufmann, E., Quach, S., … Staudigl, T. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 5249.

Disruption of dopamine D2/D3 system function impairs the human ability to understand the mental states of other people. Schuster, B. A., Sowden, S., Rybicki, A. J., Fraser, D. S., Press, C., Hickman, L., … Cook, J. L. (2024). PLOS Biology, 22(6), e3002652.

A prefrontal motor circuit initiates persistent movement. Wang, Y., & Sun, Q.-Q. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 5264.

Decomposition of an odorant in olfactory perception and neural representation. Ye, Y., Wang, Y., Zhuang, Y., Tan, H., Zuo, Z., Yun, H., … Zhou, W. (2024). Nature Human Behaviour, 8(6), 1150–1162.

[ladzwriting]

Honestly, Ladz, I'm scared to read fealty even though I bought it. I feel like I'll become obsessed and then want something similar

I am so flattered by this; thank you so much!!

In terms of becoming obsessed and wanting more, there are minimum 7 more volumes to write (it takes a long time to stop a forever war while preserving a vestigial empire, who knew!). But in the interim of me writing them, I have a carefully curated to-read list for the different aspects of FEALTY that you like most.

NON-FICTION (also featured in the back of the book)

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich (2017)

God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volumes 1 & 2 by Normal Davies (2005)

Revolutionary Russia, 1891 - 1991: A History by Orlando Figes (2015)

Queer Gothic by George Haggerty (2006)

Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith (2016)

VAMPIRES

Hellsing by Kouta Hirano (1997 - 2008)

Monogatari by nisiOisin, illustrated by Vofan (2005 - Present)

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi, illus. Yoshitaka Amano (2005 - Present in English)

A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante (2023)

Ossuary by T.D. Cloud, illus. by Ambi Sun (2023)

Unholy with Eyes Like Wolves by Morgan Dante (April 2024)

Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright (August 2024)

SLAVIC POLITICAL FANTASY

Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski (2020 in English)

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid (2021)

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector (2022)

SLAVIC FICTION

Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin (2011 in English)

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczyk (2022 in English)

GENERAL POLITICAL FANTASY

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (1946)

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (1950)

Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake (1959)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (2001)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth J. Dickinson (2015)

GOTHIC FICTION

tbh Mervyn Peake's books also work for this category

The Monk by Matthew G. Lewis (1796)

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (2022)

The Lord of Astiigos by Soren Häxan (2023); please note: there is an update coming in the next few months

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (2023)

BLURBER BOOKS

(if not in previous sections)

Little Death by Pom Poison (2022 - Present)

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock (2023)

A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert (2023)

All Tomorrow's Photos Duology by S.S. Genesee (2023)

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Bloodborne (2015), especially Castle Cainhurst

Fire Emblem Three Houses (2019), the Black Eagles house

I think this is most of it!! I have read and reviewed most of these on my blog, where you will find things like content and trigger warnings.

Hope this answers the questions and please take your time! FEALTY is a dense, gory book with a lot happening both politically and interpersonally, so don't feel bad about taking time to get into it.

It took me a few years from purchase to actually reading Mervyn Peake's work, for example, and it absolutely came at the right time for me.

I hope this answers the ask!

[dear-indies]

hiya! 🧡 could i please get some help in finding some fc's of color who have resources playing a vampire? (who aren't from interview with the vampire, bc its gonna be an iwtc-centered oc) if not, just fc's you think would be great vampires! a woc is who i'm leaning towards, but im down for anyone of any age! thank you so much 🫶🏼

Angela Bassett (Vampire in Brooklyn) African-American.

Jacob Batalon (Reginald the Vampire) Filipino.

Kim Ji Woong (The Blood) Korean.

Michael Malarkey (The Vampire Diaries) part Palestinian.

Sisi Stringer (Vampire Academy) African Australian.

Rutina Wesley (True Blood) African-American.

Ami Tomite (Tokyo Vampire Hotel) Japanese.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Day Shift) Chinese / White.

and then:

Shohreh Aghdashloo (1952) Iranian.

D. B. Woodside (1969) African-American.

Gina Torres (1969) Afro-Cuban.

Hu Bing (1971) Korean.

Mahershala Ali (1974) African-American.

Daniel Wu (1974) Hongkonger.

Florence Kasumba (1976) Ugandan.

Omar Sy (1978) Mauritanian / Fula Senegalese.

Nonso Anozie (1979) Nigeiran - isn't a vampire in this but has the vibe in Dracula.

Maggie Q (1979) Vietnamese / White.

T'Nia Miller (1980) Afro Jamaican - is a lesbian.

Angelica Ross (1980) African-American - is trans.

Rami Malek (1981) Egyptian 12.5% Greek.

Fawad Khan (1981) Pashtun and Punjabi Pakistani.

Miyavi (1981) Japanese / Korean.

Riz Ahmed (1982) Pakistani.

Mahesh Jadu (1982) Bihari, Gorakhpuri and Kashmiri Indo-Mauritian.

Dichen Lachman (1982) Tibetan / German.

Kim Jae Wook (1983) Korean.

Cara Gee (1983) Ojibwe.

Florence Faivre (1983) Thai / French.

Nathalie Kelley (1985) Argentinian, Peruvian [Quechua, possibly other].

Amar Chadha-Patel (1986) Punjabi and Gujarati Indian.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph (1986) African-American.

Jodie Turner-Smith (1986) Afro Jamaican.

Michaela Coel (1987) Ghanaian - is aromantic.

Lewis Tan (1987) Singaporean Chinese / White.

Desmond Chiam (1987) Chinese Singaporean.

Jim Sarbh (1987) Parsi Indian.

Anna Diop (1988) Senegalese.

Aiysha Hart (1988) Saudi Arabian / White.

Gregg Chillin (1988) Armenian and White.

Christina Chong (1989) Hongkonger / White.

Katy M. O'Brian (1989) African-American and White - is a lesbian.

Hannah John-Kamen (1989) Nigerian / Norwegian.

Steve Noh (1990) Korean.

Kim Yong Ji (1991) Korean.

Jennifer Cheon Garcia (1992) Korean / Mexican.

Jenny Zeng (1993) Chinese.

Song Kang (1994) Korean.

Jaz Sinclair (1994) African-American / White.

Ryan Destiny (1995) African-American.

Yumi Nu (1996) Japanese / White.

Wang Zi Yi (1996) Chinese.

Havana Rose Liu (1997) Chinese / White - is pansexual.

Lauren Tsai (1998) Taiwanese / White.

Here you go! Please let me know if you want something more specific.

[uwmspeccoll]

Shakespeare Weekend

The ninth volume of The works of Mr. William Shakespear: in ten volumes published in 1728 by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) and Dr. George Sewell (d. 1726) for Jacob Tonson (1655-1736), is considered a supplementary volume added to the collection in the second edition. As previously mentioned, Volume 9 includes the additional booksellers of C, A. Bettesworth, and F. Clay, in Trust for Richard, James, and Bethel Wellington. Scene divisions, stage directions, dramatis personae, and full-page engravings by either French artist Louis Du Guernier (1677-1716) or Englishman Paul Fourdrinier (1698-1758) precede each play. 

The volume contains seven plays; Pericles, Prince of Tyre, The London Prodigal, Thomas Lord Cromwell, Sir John Oldcastle, The Puritan, A Yorkshire Tragedy, and Locrine. Thematically the plays span genres ranging from comedy, tragedy and history, but they all share the same underlying question over authorship. The plays were originally attributed to William Shakespeare due to “Written by W.S.” appearing on the title pages of early quartos. Scholars have since argued that the “W.S.” could alternatively credit dramatists and Shakespeare contemporaries Wentworth Smith or William Sly, and historians now attribute Sir John Oldcastle and A Yorkshire Tragedy to prolific Jacobean playwright Thomas Middleton. 

Except it's not the last volume, there's one more supplemental volume left that we'll look at next week!

View more Shakespeare Weekend posts. 

-Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

[dickfuckk]

A list of season 2 cast and crew members, confirmed and speculated

I will try and keep this updated

Not counting the obvious ones

Please note that this is a list of both cast and crew members, so PAs and such are also included and not just actors

Also if you're interested: on my bts instagram I only follow people who have worked on season 1, and people I suspect worked on season 2. So feel free to go through the list of people I follow if you're into that

A

Aaron Morton (Camera) - he’s listed on the very last picture as the camera-man

Adam Stein(Writer)

Alan F. (English solider)

Alexandria S.

Alison Telford (Casting)

Alistair Gregory - from this tweet so uncertain, but followed me back on my bts instagram account so seems to have some interest in ofmd

Amy Barber (Sound department)

Amy Tunnicliffe

Amanda Grace Leo

Amanda M. (Wedding guest)

Andrea Basile (Costume)

Andres Gomez Zamora (Visual effects)

Andrew DeYoung (Director) - I don’t remember if there was any other reason than the fact that he was in Aotearoa during filming

Andy McLaren (senior art director)

Andy Rydzewksi (Cinematographer)

Angelina Faulkner (Sound department)

B

Blair Nicholson (Camera)

Blair Teesdale (Camera)

Brad Coleman (Visual effects)

Brad McLeod (Special effects)

Brian Badie (Hairstylist)

Bronson Pinchot (“Torturer”)

Bryn Seager - I don’t remember why but I follow him

Bryony Matthew (Food stylist)

C

Caleb Staines (Camera)

Chantel Partamian (Visual effects)

Colin Elms (Art department)

Colin Rogers (Sound department)

Cora Montalban (Makeup and/or hairstylist) - I believe she was tagged in an instagram story once, and she’s followed by a ton of cast and crew members

Corrin Ellingford (Sound department)

Corey Moana (Camera)

Corry Greig (Art department)

Coti Herrera (Prosthetics/Makeup)

D

Damian Del Borrello (Sound department)

Daniel Fernandez (Spanish priest)

Danica Duan (Assistan accountant)

David Boden (production manager)

David G. (Stand in)

David Rowell (Financial controller)

David Van Dyke (Visual effects)

Dennis Bailey (Hairstylist)- Leslie revealed that he’s there.

Dion Anderson (Rescue diver)

Don A. (Swampy Town folk)

Donna Pearman (Assistant accountant)

Donna Marinkovich (set decorator)

Doug McFarlene (Pirate)

Duncan Nairn (Visual effects)

E

Eliza Cossio (Writer)

Erroll Shand (Prince Ricky)

Esther Mitchell (Camera)

F

Fernando Frias (Director)

G

Gareth Van Niekerk (Sound department)

Gary Archer (dental prosthetics)

Gemma Campbell (Visual effects)

Grant Lobban

Greg Sager (Safety manager)

Gregor Harris (Camera)

Gregory J. Pawlik Jr. (AD)

Gypsy Taylor (Costume designer)

H

Haroun Barazanchi (Set designer)

Harry Ashby (AD)

Helene Wong (Voice work)

I-J

Jacob Tomuri (Stunts)

Jaden McLeod

James Crosthwaite (Set decorator)

Jamie Couper (Camera)

Jason Samoa, possibly spotted on location

Jemaine Clement, pretty sure this is only based on his friendship with Rhys and Taika tbh

Jes Tom (Writer)

Jessica Lee Hunt (Makeup artist) - followed by a ton of crew and cast members and I believe she’s been tagged in instagram stories and such

John Mahone (Writer)

Jonathan Bruce (Sound department)

Jono Capel-Baker (Groom)

Jonno Roberts didn’t get the role from his audition, but could still have gotten a different role - hung out with Ruibo

Judah Getz (Sound department)

Julia Huberman (Sound department)

Julia Thompson (Costume)

Justin Benn (Republic of Pirates Town)

K

Karl L. (Action extra)

Kate Fu

Kate Leonard (Casting)

Kathleen Zyka Smith (“Red Flag”)

Kosuke Iijima (Fabricator/Sculptor?) - due to interaction on this post

Kris Gillan (Fabricator/Sculptor)

Kura Forrester - followed by quite a few cast and crew members, but I don’t remember if there was anything else to it

L

Laura Stables (SFX makeup artist)

Leanne Evans (Art department)

Lee Tuson

Leslie Jones (Spanish Jackie) - she’s spoiled this so many times, but gjfhdks

Leyla - followed by a lot of cast and crew members, don’t remember if there was more to it than that

Lindsey Cantrell (Set decorator)

Louis Flavell Birch (Blue coat)

Luke V. (Stand in)

[breaniebree]

Kismet Characters & Trees Part One:

Patrick Finnigan (1938) MUGGLE m. Maureen O’Connolly (1942) GRYFFINDOR (1965): 1. Kathleen “Katie” Finnigan (1967) GRYFFINDOR m. Jason White (1965) NA(1997): a) Saoirse Kathleen White (4 January 1998) NA  2. Darcy Finnigan (1974) HUFFLEPUFF m. Penelope Clearwater (1976) RAVENCLAW (2008): a) Norah Shay Finnigan (7 September 2005) HUFFLEPUFF— father is Jonathan Pepper (1973) RAVENCLAW — m. Jake Longbottom (7 September 2005) HUFFELPUFF (2030): aa) Deanna Shay Finnigan (31 January 2026) — father is Edward Crabbe (27 September 1997) SLYTHERIN — m.  Jackson Sirius Black (22 October 2026) GRYFFINDOR (2055): i) Norah Edwina Black (2060) HUFFLEPUFF bb) Jude Neville Longbottom (21 June 2033) HUFFLEPUFF cc) Anna Darcy Longbottom (19 April 2036) RAVENCLAW 3. Seamus Finnigan (12 October 1979) GRYFFINDOR bf. Dean Thomas (16 September 1979) GRYFFINDOR

Merrick Thomas (1926) GRYFFINDOR m. River Smith (1935) RAVENCLAW (1958): 1. Sunshine "Sunny" Dusk Thomas (1961) GRYFFINDOR affair with Kellan Jabari Morgan (1947) NA a) Dean Merrick Thomas (16 September 1979) GRYFFINDOR bf. Seamus Finnigan (12 October 1979 (GRYFFINDOR) 2. Meadow Moonlight Thomas (1962) RAVENCLAW (d. 1997)

Neville Longbottom (28 July 1980) GRYFFINDOR m. Hannah Abbott (19 April 1980) HUFFLEPUFF (2002): 1. Jacob “Jake” Franklin Longbottom (21 January 2007) HUFFLEPUFF m. Norah Finnigan (7 September 2005) HUFFLEPUFF (2030): a) Deanna Shay Finnigan (31 January 2026) HUFFLEPUFF — father is Edward Crabbe (27 September 1997)— m. Jackson Sirius Black (22 October 2026) GRYFFINDOR (2055): i) Norah Edwina Black (2060) HUFFLEPUFF b) Jude Neville Longbottom (21 June 2033) HUFFLEPUFF c) Anna Darcy Longbottom (19 April 2036) RAVENCLAW 2. Ava Alice Longbottom (1 July 2008) m. Gideon Weasley (19 August 2004) GRYFFINDOR (2029): a) August “Auggie” Gideon Weasley (5 July 2033) HUFFLEPUFF b) Caleb Neville Weasley (11 June 2035) RAVENCLAW c) Reed Jacob Weasley (15 March 2037) GRYFFINDOR

Thank you to @ellieoryan7447 for taking the time and effort to create these.

[best-supermassive-character]

Hello and Happy Holidays :D

Now that the Supermassive Pairing Tournament is over, I'm happy to share all votes each pairing got :D

Laura Kearney x Max Brinly: 1.826 (245+195+237+357+258+299+235)

Ryan Erzahler x Dylan Lenivy: 1.597 (217+192+197+585+252+154)

Jamie Tiergan x Erin Keenan: 1.528 (202+119+248+423+236+222+78)

Josh Washington x Chris Hartley: 1.511 (1.314+77+120)

Sam Giddings x Hannah Washington: 1.423 (215+109+199+729+171)

The Curator x Dr. Hill: 1.318 (199+108+565+446)

Rachel King x Clarice Stokes: 1.253 (123+97+151+773+109)

Jason Kolchek x Salim Othman: 1.183 (185+142+209+647)

Laura Kearney x Travis Hackett: 1.179

The Curator x Player: 1.131 (312+102+717)

Emma Mountebank x Abigail Blyg: 1.092 (147+78+752+115)

Emily Davis x Jessica Riley: 1.091 (152+92+241+441+165)

Ashley Brown x Jessica Riley: 1.054 (160+136+142+590+26)

Matt Taylor x Jessica Riley: 1.005 (185+116+160+544)

Conrad x Brad Smith: 982 (107+65+168+258+223+161)

Nick Kay x Salim Othman: 818 (23+30+219+546)

Becky Marney x Felicity Graves: 806 (488+157+161)

Beth Washington x Sam Giddings: 728 (126+136+173+293)

Mike Munroe x Jessica Riley: 701 (116+124+180+281)

Fliss DuBois x Julia: 651 (157+94+400)

Laura Kearney x Hannah Washington: 559 (100+104+150+205)

Laura Kearney x Kaitlyn Ka: 512 (217+140+155)

Jeff Whitman x Marie Whitman: 391 (140+81+170)

Kate Wilder x The Curator: 387

Dylan Lenivy x Chainsaw: 374 (164+56+154)

Mark Nestor x Kate Wilder: 343 (88+103+152)

Dar Basri x Eric King: 334 (115+70+149) + Josh Washington x Jessica Riley: 334 (115+44+175)

Emily Davis x Ashley Brown: 311 (175+78+58)

Nick Kay x Jason Kolchek: 287 (194+93)

Kate Wilder x Jamie Tiergan: 257 (66+147+44)

John x Angela: 230 (106+124)

Nick Kay x Salim Othman x Jason Kolchek: 222 (81+141)

Ashley Brown x Chris Hartley x Josh Washington: 220 (170+50)

Emma Mountebank x Kaitlyn Ka: 219 (68+70+81)

Emily Davis x Sam Giddings: 194

Conrad x Fliss DuBois: 193 (123+52+18)

Alex Smith x Julia: 192 (109+55+28)

Chris Hartley x Ashley Brown: 183

Daniel x Taylor: 162 (127+35)

Hannah Washington x Jessica Riley: 161 (41+97+23)

Beth Washington x Laura Kearney: 159 (120+39)

Tanya Clarke x Vince Barnes: 149 (107+42)

Hannah Washington x Emily Davis: 147 (114+33)

Conrad x Josh Washington: 131 (108+23)

Eric King x Nick Kay x Rachel King: 127 (76+51)

Max Brinly x Laura Kearney x Travis Hackett: 124

Hannah Washington x Ashley Brown: 118 (89+29)

Kurum x Balathu: 110 (45+65)

Kaitlyn Ka x Ryan Erzahler x Dylan Lenivy: 108

Matt Taylor x Ashley Brown: 105 (91+14)

Brad Smith x Fliss DuBois: 103

Adam Jones x Jonathan Finn: 96 (76+20)

Granthem Du’Met x Kate Wilder: 92 (81+11)

Joseph Lambert x Amy Lambert: 83

Mike Munroe x Jessica Riley x Emily Davis: 79

Joe Roberts x Charlie Anderson: 72

Nick Furcillo x Abigail Blyg: 69

Kate Wilder x Shelby: 65

Eric King x Nick Kay: 61

Conrad x Brad Smith x Fliss DuBois: 57

Sam Giddings x Jessica Riley: 56

Kate Wilder x Erin Keenan x Jamie Tiergan: 55

Jacob Custos x Nick Furcillo: 51

Emma Mountebank x Kaylee Hackett: 49

Nathan Merwin x Joey Gomez: 48

Mark Nestor x Kate Wilder x Jamie Tiergan x Erin Keenan: 47

Rachel King x The Ancient One: 45

Kate Wilder x Julia: 42

Nick Kay x Rachel King: 41 (18+23)

Kate Wilder x Erin Keenan: 38

Brad Smith x Dylan Lenivy: 36

Erin Keenan x Rachel King: 34

Beth Washington x Emily Davis: 26 + Danny x Olson: 26

Conrad x Beer x Rachel King: 24 + Granthem Du’Met x Jamie Tiergan: 24

Granthem Du’Met x Erin Keenan: 21 + Kate Wilder x Michelle Morello: 21

Salim Othman x Dar Basri: 20

Tabitha Milton x Taylor: 19

Mark Nestor x Joseph Morello: 18

Abraham Alastor x Tabitha Milton: 17

Conrad x Jacob Custos: 16

Lady Bradshaw x Ellis van Huyten: 14

Charlie Anderson x Hodgson expedition: 10

Revenant Carver x Judge Wyman: 9

Thank you for doing these tournaments <3

Omg, thank you for doing these things! They are so interesting to look at

[likeclarabow]

2023 Books Read

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield (Dec 31-Jan 2)

See You Yesterday - Rachel Lynn Solomon (Jan 2-Jan 3)

All Dressed Up - Jilly Gagnon (Jan 4)

She Gets the Girl - Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick (Jan 5-Jan 6)

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (Jan 6-Jan 10)

Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier (Jan 10-Jan 13)

Greywaren - Maggie Stiefvater (Jan 14-Jan 16)

The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber (Jan 17-Jan 22)

By the Book - Jasmine Guillory (Jan 22-Jan 24)

Portrait of a Thief - Grace D Li (Jan 25-Feb 4)

Pride and Prejudice (reread, audiobook) - Jane Austen (Jan 31-Feb 6)

Macbeth (reread) - William Shakespeare (Feb 6-Feb 10)

Normal People - Sally Rooney (Feb 18-Feb 22)

All the Dangerous Things - Stacy Willingham (Feb 23-Feb 25)

The Diary of Mary Berg - Mary Berg (Feb 17-Feb 27)

The Witch Haven - Sasha Peyton Smith (Mar 4-Mar 11)

Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Feb 26-Mar 12)

The Witch Hunt - Sasha Peyton Smith (Mar 19-Mar 22)

Jonny Appleseed - Joshua Whitehead (Mar 19-Mar 28)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie (Mar 25-Mar 29)

Last Violent Call - Chloe Gong (Mar 30-Apr 1)

Beartown - Fredrik Backman (Apr 1-Apr 4)

People We Meet on Vacation (reread) - Emily Henry (Apr 5-Apr 7)

Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka (Apr 8)

Kiss Her Once For Me - Alison Cochran (Apr 8-Apr 10)

If You Could See the Sun - Ann Liang (Apr 11-Apr 15)

Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie (Apr 15-Apr 19)

The Appeal - Janice Hallett (Apr 19-Apr 20)

The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf (Apr 20)

Molly of the Mall - Heidi L.M. Jacobs (Apr 21-Apr 22)

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein - Kiersten White (April 23-Apr 25)

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (April 26-Apr 28)

Happy Place - Emily Henry (Apr 29)

Us Against You - Fredrik Backman (Apr 30-May 3)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (May 3-May 5)

Juniper and Thorn - Ava Reid (May 6-May 10)

Meet Me at the Lake - Carley Fortune (May 11-May 12)

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (May 12-May 19)

Anne of Green Gables (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 19-May 22)

Anne of Avonlea (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 24-May 26)

Anne of the Island (reread) - L.M. Montgomery (May 26-May 30)

The Winners - Fredrik Backman (June 2-June 6)

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (June 7-June 8)

Peril at End House - Agatha Christie (June 9)

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B (reread) - Sandra Gulland (June 11-June 12)

Tales of Passion Tales of Woe - Sandra Gulland (June 13-June 14)

The Last Great Dance on Earth - Sandra Gulland (June 14-June 15)

Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi (June 15-June 18)

Crooked House - Agatha Christie (June 22-June 24)

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen (June 20-June 30)

I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys (June 30-July 1)

Pageboy - Elliot Page (July 2-July 4)

This Time It’s Real - Ann Liang (July 6)

The Last Word - Taylor Adams (July 6-July 7)

The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur (July 7-July 8) 

The Guilt Trip - Sandie Jones (July 8)

Camp Zero - Michelle Min Sterling (July 8)

The Berry Pickers - Amanda Peters (July 8-July 9)

Family of Liars - E. Lockhart (July 9-July 11)

The Last House Guest - Megan Miranda (July 11-July 12)

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride - Roshani Chokshi (July 14-July 21)

Rolling in the Deep (audiobook) - Mira Grant (July 20-July 21)

Wunderland - Jennifer Cody Epstein (July 21-July 23)

The Stationary Shop of Tehran (July 24-27)

Yellowface - R.F. Kuang (July 27-July 29)

These Violent Delights - Micah Nemerever (July 29-Aug 3)

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë (Aug 3-Aug 5)

Begin Again - Emma Lord (Aug 6-Aug 8)

Medicine Walk - Richard Wagamese (Aug 8-Aug 12)

419 - Will Ferguson (Aug 16-Aug 19)

Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead (Aug 21-Aug 24)

Ballet Shoes (reread) - Noel Streatfeild (Aug 25-Aug 26)

Songs for the Missing - Stewart O’Nan (Aug 28-Aug 31)

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight - Kalynn Bayron (Sept 1-Sept 2)

I’ve Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella (Sept 2)

The Adult - Bronwyn Fischer (Sept 3)

Nine Liars - Maureen Johnson (Sept 4-Sept 6)

Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan (Sept 6)

The Honeys - Ryan La Sala (Sept 15-Sept 19)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne (Sept 12-Sept 20)

Beowulf - Unknown (Sept 8-Sept 21)

The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side - Agatha Christie (Sept 21-Sept 25)

Better Than the Movies - Lynn Painter (Sept 26-Sept 30)

Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer (Oct 4-Oct 7)

And Don’t Look Back - Rebecca Barrow (Oct 7)

Hallowe’en Party - Agatha Christie (Oct 8-Oct 9)

Cannibal Island - Nichlolas Werth (Oct 9-Oct 22)

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Oct 17-Oct 22)

Stalin’s Nomads: Power and Famine in Kazakhstan - Robert Kindler (Oct 16-Oct 24)

Six of Crows (reread) - Leigh Bardugo (Oct 25-Oct 30)

Crooked Kingdom (reread) - Leigh Bardugo (Nov 3-Nov 7)

Sadie (reread) - Courtney Summers (Nov 9-Nov 10)

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells (Nov 6-Nov 13)

Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Nov 6-Nov 13)

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 11-Nov 15)

Good Girl, Bad Blood (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 15-Nov 18)

As Good as Dead (reread) - Holly Jackson (Nov 20-Nov 23)

Red White and Royal Blue (reread) - Casey McQuiston (Nov 25-Dec 5)

The Secret History - Donna Tartt (Dec 18-Dec 22)

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth (Dec 24-Dec 25)

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett (Dec 25-Dec 27)

Murder in the Family - Cara Hunter (Dec 28)

Three Holidays and a Wedding - Uzma Jalaluddin, Marissa Stapley (Dec 29)

The Book of Cold Cases - Simone St James (Dec 30-Dec 31)

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 03/08/2024 (Post Malone/Luke Combs, Central Cee, Calvin Harris/Ellie Goulding)

For a fifth week, Sabrina Carpenter remains atop the UK Singles Chart with “Please Please Please”, and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, lesbian sex, confusion

Rundown

As always, we start the episode with our notable dropouts, those being songs that exit the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40 and first of all, that Eminem album really crashes out this week as both “Habits” featuring White Gold and “Brand New Dance”, only lasting a single week, make their exit. As for the rest, well, Charli xcx switches out “Girl, so confusing” - helped by its Lorde-featuring duet version - with another song we’ll get back to, but other than that, we say farewell to “the boy is mine” by Ariana Grande (also helped by a remix with Brandy and Monica), “Addicted” by Zerb, The Chainsmokers and Ink, “Illusion” by Dua Lipa, “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay and, though it’s not notable, just for fun, we say goodbye to a brave soldier, “Pink Lemonade (Str8 Reload)” by LeoStayTrill. Song of the Summer indeed.

One thing you may notice this week is that older songs had a particularly nice lift, and this shows in our re-entries, as other than Ariana Grande’s “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” returning to #66, we see a massive resurgence for *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye”, so massive and manufactured that the song now claims to be “from” the Deadpool and Wolverine soundtrack. Yeah, okay, Justin, anything to recover your world tour. Timberlake’s boy band debuted at a #3 peak with the song in 2000, with the #1 on that week also being a debut for Madonna’s derided cover of “American Pie”. “Bye Bye Bye” only lasted 10 weeks on the chart but definitely made itself a cultural staple due to its ear-worm chorus and iconic music video, leading Anne-Marie to interpolate it in her #3-peaking “2002” from 2018. That song’s uninterrupted five-week run at #3 saw #1s from Calvin Harris, Jess Glynne, Clean Bandit and George Ezra pass it by, and I reviewed all of that back when I was just starting. The *NSYNC hit is back thanks to the release of the aforementioned superhero movie that has high enough praise on aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes as well as genuine fan push evident from how high this song is, that it might help the declining Marvel universe. Why am I pretending to care about that?

As for our notable gains, we see plenty of hefty boosts this week for “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” by Luke Combs at #56 off of the continued success of its film, Twisters, “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat at #55, “You & Me” by Disclosure featuring Eliza Doolittle at #51, “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish at #45, “The Door” by Teddy Swims at #25, “Move” by Adam Port, Stryv and Malachiii at #18, “Apple” and “360” by Charli xcx at #14 and #12 respectively (more on her later) and finally, making their first entry in the top 10 for whatever reason, BL3SS, CamrinWatson and bbyclose - all clearly household hitmakers - are at #7 with “Kisses”. The song’s not bad at all, but I just never would have expected it to be this successful, even if ACR might be paying it some favours.

As usual, our top five should look pretty standard, aside from a decent jump for Dasha as the already long-lasting top 10 “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” - yes, it’s been renamed for easier clicks - is up to #5. Otherwise, we’re all familiar with “Stargazing” by Myles Smith at #4, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish at #3 and “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan reaching a new peak of #2, and of course, Sabrina at the top. What should be much more interesting though is our mixed batch of fascinating new song a bit lower down on the chart, which we’ll have to get through now.

New Entries

#71 - “Gold Mine” - Aitch and D-Block Europe

Produced by AoD and Jacob Manson

Damn, what other way to start an episode is better than to begin the new entries with my boys Young Adz and Dirtbike Lb? …and some white guy. Okay, Aitch isn’t awful and has displayed a degree of personality over the years - though not often as a lead artist - but one thing I’ll never care to hear from him is relationship drama, especially with one of the laziest beats I have ever heard on this show. A singular acoustic guitar line that already cuts out abruptly is then cut in a rush that makes it sound like flipping paper, then we have some of the cheapest trap drums available - I hate that snare - and it’s way too stagnant to go for the West Coast swagger it clearly attempts, though Aitch’s personality-void vocals aren’t helping matters. For some reason, Youthful Advertisements, going for a sing-songy flow and incomprehensible sense of flow on the chorus, is way louder than everything surrounding him and decides to croon about having his tongue in a woman’s ass - classy - whilst Dirtbike Lb seems to not understand he’s on a relationship song until the end of his verse. Aitch is the only one on topic, but he’s my least favourite presence on here - it’s insane just how better this nearly objectively terrible beat sounds with Dirtbike on it instead of Aitch. There are some vaguely cool lines but nothing special, and his flow isn’t new for him, but there’s something so effortless and liquidy to how Dirtbike appears on a track nowadays that appeals to me. And yes, though this may not be the song for it, I agree that I hope the situation in Palestine turns around. I have no faith that it will and whilst this is a throwaway line in an otherwise unrelated song, it should show how much the youth care about the genocide that a pop-rapper is bringing it up so casually. Wait, isn’t this an Aitch song?

#67 - “Lonely Road” - mgk and Jelly Roll

Produced by SlimXX, BazeXX, Charlie Handsome and Travis Barker

Okay, I’ll bite: who’s this new, abbreviated figure of mystery who goes by the simple three litters, mgk? I wonder who could be hiding behind there. Jokes aside, it makes perfect sense for Machine Gun Kelly to take his awkward, triple-barrel name and shorten it down to what everyone was calling him anyway - especially for him, as his name is long enough for it to be very noticeable in Spotify and YouTube titles. Hiding as “mgk” makes it much clearer and easier for you to see “Jelly Roll” on the title for this YouTube video, which could be obscured if he used his full name, which would be a massive turn-off for any Jelly Roll fans with taste. Given that Mr. Jelly has songs with Falling in Reverse and HARDY, I would assume this is not an issue, but part of me does find it amusing how this guy had a song with Eminem just three weeks back and is now hopping on to duet with mgk.

This is actually Jelly Roll’s first time charting and whilst he has a history in underground country rap, he’s recently brought a belting presence to country and rock stations in the US through his rougher but mostly accessible country rock and soul tracks that have gained him a slow-burn following Stateside, yet - perhaps unsurprisingly - he’s yet to crossover to the UK. We love our big, gruff rock belter guys though so I don’t supect it’ll be long, and this track seems to be the UK’s first taste of the J-Man. Is it a good first impression? Well, given the Travis Barker production credit, this seems to be more the first impression for whatever mgk’s next album will be but unfortunately, if you thought that maybe country and rock would be safe from nostalgia-bait sampling, you will be devastated to know that our story starts in 1971.

John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is one of the most iconic country songs of all time. Whilst Denver always associated himself with Colorado, the ode to West Virginia became so famous that it’s now one of their state anthems. A pop song becoming raised to even that standard is really honourable, though perhaps expectedly, the late Denver’s version never crossed over to the UK charts, though it has of course appeared in various alternate versions because everyone and their mother has covered it… and I mean everyone and their mother: literal mother Olivia Newton-John took it to #15 in 1973 (the #1 was “Blockbuster” by the Sweet) and a mother to many online, Lana Del Rey, covered the song just last year as a way to signal the start of her country era. The West Virginia anthem didn’t return to the charts until it found its way there in the year 2000 in possibly the most bizarro world way: Melky Sedeck sang a brief parody of the song in the bridge to Wyclef Jean’s hilarious #3 hit “It Doesn’t Matter” featuring, of all people, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The #1 the week of its peak was Modjo’s “Lady (Hear Me Tonight)” but please, I beg of you, take a listen to that batshit song that to this day, is the highest-charting rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in the UK and I’m not even joking. The next year, a Dutch Europop group Hermes House Band would make a more standard cover that peaked at #7 in 2001, whilst the #1 was Daniel Bedingfield’s “Gotta Get Thru This” and the #2 was “Murder on the Dancefloor” - funny how those things turn out - and another straggling cover by the Revellers hit #86 the week before. Now, once again, Denver’s anthem is back on the UK Singles Chart thanks to… Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker. 2024, ladies and gentlemen.

Now, you may be wondering: was all that background history worth it for mgk and Jelly Roll? And the obvious answer to that is, “No, but it was more interesting than telling you the obvious fact than an mgk song sucks, right?”. Turning “country roads” into “lonely road” in the intro of the song, pushing the chorus ahead to catch your interest due to the sample, is just pathetic and cynical in a way that I should probably expect mgk to be now, but still hits a sour note, especially given the verses seem to use reference humour - except without the humour - to rock bands like Taking Back Sunday and The Devil Wears Prada who are… decidedly not country, these are punk bands. The Taking Back Sunday reference made me sigh and nearly turn it off, but when the fake snap beat came in, I knew that this was going to a bro-country-rap fusion that, surprisingly for two people who came up in rap, is surprisingly awkward! I like Jelly Roll, but I’d prefer if mgk weren’t showering his echoed backing vocals behind him for no reason, let alone that shitty trap beat, but that southern, gritty texture in his voice is at least much more preferable to mgk’s nasal drawl. I honestly think the song if it were just Mr. Roll and the female backing vocalists would be somewhat salvageable… oh, what am I kidding? A country-rap-rock hybrid interpolation of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” produced by Travis Barker is horrible basically on principle. There’s some comedy in it, I suppose, but it’s otherwise a gross attempt at a monogenre comeback for a guy who’s not respected in a single one of the scenes he’s fusing together… and I’m starting to think he doesn’t respect any of those genres either, because this is sad.

#63 - “365” - Charli xcx

Produced by A.G. Cook and Cirkut

It’s… kind of weird that this is charting, right? It’s a tad extraneous: a book-end song intended to close off the BRAT album by calling back to its opener and most successful single, “360”. Charli will have a fuller song debut next week as Billie Eilish cameos on the new version of “Guess”, so this’ll be one week where “360” essentially deposits two similar but not identical spaces on the chart. That’s not to say “365” isn’t good or is just a remix because that is far from the case. After a rollercoaster array of different beats, hooks and emotional progression, we return to the glitchy buzz of “360”, one that’s almost quaint by the end of the record, with the “bumpin’ that” mantra ending each line in what is essentially a singular, continuous verse building up for the whole song, with the funnelling switch early on bringing a thundering bass and acidic rhythm to the song that separates it absolutely from “360”, if the new inclusions of less playful or even likeable lyrics, painting the image of the “it girl” from that first track being way too far gone, didn’t already do that for you. The original song takes a lot of restraint to make it an opener that doesn’t alienate you with its sonic palette, whilst bringing you some signature ugliness in the back of the mix, but Cook goes fully wild on here, especially in that disgusting drop by the end that drowns out every melodic element, filtering it behind a slodging hardcore bass that eventually fuses with the vocal lead to an unrecognisable, inhuman slush… yet Charli still gets the last laugh, even in pitch-shifted form, reminding you at the last second that she’s still “bumpin’ that”. It may not make much sense as a single, which it isn’t trying to be, but it’s a brilliant production and inspired way to close the album. Sure, it wouldn’t resonate nearly as much if it weren’t for the fact that “360” existed, but that’s so much of the song’s appeal in its distortion and looping of some of that track’s core elements, so “365” doesn’t really need to stand on its own… and given “Guess” is coming, probably for a top 40 placement, I doubt it will need to stand on its own on the charts for very long.

#53 - “Sailor Song” - Gigi Perez

Produced by Gigi Perez and Noah Weinman

Gigi Perez, according to her website, is on tour in October and is signed to Interscope. She… she doesn’t tell me anything else, what’s the point of even having a website nowadays if it’s only links to your social media accounts and music videos? We don’t even get a bio, but thankfully on Spotify, she gives us this detailed description of her music and her backstory. It reads, ahem, “Sims 2 emo lesbian love story but in the medium of music”. So… Little Miss Buzzwords here actually went semi-viral back in 2021 with the sleeper hit “Sometimes (Backwood)”, which boasts over 100 million streams on Spotify and is a largely structureless, lo-fi song, wherein the vocal mix echoes itself into crossing gender boundaries a little, whilst also telling a full story of a relationship, singing about some of what made them work, what made them break up, and the sexually-charged intro the song’s subtitled after. I’m not that big of a fan of the song’s undetailed writing or demo flavour, but I can see the appeal, even if her vocals on that track are really not great, but it is a debut and it shows some ambition and a unique sound that I figured would be expanded upon in “Sailor Song”, released a year after her debut EP, and yes, this is more like it.

Weinman brings a cleaner production to Perez’s acoustic racket, with a warped jazz sample occupying the back of the mix, smoothly texturing the fast-paced indie guitars and that wonderful falsetto chant in the intro that is incredibly catchy in itself without even getting to the verses. “Sailor Song” is similar in tone to the first part of “Sometimes”, being an awestruck sex song where, in her unique, imperfect vocal recording and tone that reminds me of maybe a Left at London, but many others I can’t quite put my finger on right now, she gets down and dirty with a girl that reminds her of Anne Hathaway. For a song without much in the way of bass or production, there is a swagger and groove to it that makes the sexual lyrics not come across as awkward as they could have, with that chorus not only giving a wistful touch through the clever ending lyric, “I sleep so I can see you ‘cause I hate to wait so long”, but also justifying the “sailor” comparison by getting pretty raunchy, including blasphemy and admitting that she’s covered in, well, glistening girl juices… on the second chorus, it’s the other way around, in a subtle twist of perspective. The general tone of secrecy surrounding their rendezvous is emphasised by how she may burst into a louder delivery but it’s tempered with softer crooning, even if it’s the same lines being sung, and frankly, it’s been a while since I’ve heard a sex song this poetically written whilst still getting as horny as it does. I’m surprised I like it as much as I do but this is a brilliant song and I hope that within the recent wave of sapphic pop songs led by Chappell Roan, that the charts can find a place for this too.

#42 - “Somedays” - Sonny Fodera, Jazzy and D.O.D

Produced by Sonny Fodera and D.O.D

I see that Mr. Fodera actually produced this one, or at least didn’t forget to add himself to the production credit on Spotify like on “Mind Still”. Regardless, this seems to be a new trio assorted through recent UK chart recurring characters, particularly in EDM, with Fodera joined by fellow house producer D.O.D, whose work I consistently enjoyed and can be seen on best hits list for last year, as well as Irish singer Jazzy who may have surpassed her sketchy breakout with Belters Only in the eyes of the public but has yet to prove herself as much of interest outside of being a relatively anonymous dance-pop vocalist for me. As far as this goes, she doesn’t need to be much more, as that is exactly her role, even if it could have been played by the marginally more interesting Clementine Douglas, who co-wrote the song, and sadly, this is very much a generic house-pop song, fine-tuned to fit all audiences. It’s got flat yet anthemic pianos in the pre-drop, a rote four-on-the-floor beat, even flatter future house bass synths as a lead for much of the build and enough reverb to mean amateur remixers only need to put “(slowed)” above this one, yet despite that, the drop still lands on a weirdly dry, anti-climactic note. The composition is fine, it’s sequenced as you’d expect a song like this to be, and Jazzy’s performance is okay even if that lead vocal reminds me of Flo Rida’s “I Cry”, almost distractingly so. It’s just that it’s all so processed that it’s hard to fish much personality out of me for me. I kind of like the farty bass they introduce in the final drop but not only is it not exactly atypical for this song of song but it’s also too little, too late. Sure, it’s serviceable, but when EDM, including house-pop, has been breaching more genre boundaries and delivering great pop music over the past couple years on the UK charts, including from people involved in this very track, I don’t think I’ll settle for the more generic leftovers. Sorry.

#36 - “Free” - Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding

Produced by Calvin Harris

If this song debuted nine spots higher, I’d be five pounds richer. Anyway, this is the latest collab between the duo of Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, coming really not that long after “Miracle”, and going for a… surprisingly very different approach, probably because Harris already rettried the formula with Sam Smith on “Desire”. Instead, Harris goes for an anthemic piano hardcore track that I felt the need to check WhoSampled for since it is so clearly referential, if not a straight throwback, to that era of 90s breakbeat rave with diva vocals. What’s wonderful about this modern revision, however, is not just the inclusion of webby synths to elevate the song to cosmic textures amidst the piano stabs but also how much Goulding is not a diva. She doesn’t belt as much as she careens smoothly through the mix, becoming a very breathy presence as she holds that “free” in the chorus, taking it to a really interesting, nuanced delivery that could have just been held in one note but was taken to more interesting levels, similar to how she could have punched in “free” to the “when I’m with you, I…” take but let herself fall short of the full line to not only get a more organic take but also to ensure the resolve of that line, when it’s finally completed, hits satisfyingly. Goulding brings a really unique and subtle approach, furthered by the lack of much in the way of lyrics, that textures Harris’ always top-notch production. The actual lengthening of the “free” vocal in the drop to hold the note before breaking down in a glitchy stutter behind the pianos and drums is a sick way to distinguish the chorus from what follows, and whilst I’m not exactly a fan of the muddier mix the factorial drums take in the verse afterwards, especially given the subtle, angelic melodies are the best asset this song has so covering them doesn’t do wonders, I appreciate the risk taken in regards to the progression of the song. It has a build-and-drop structure, but the two parts play off of each other and are placed within a more nuanced composition instead of just being there for clubs’ sake. What I’d really love to hear, however, are some remixes as, to my surprise, none exist yet for this song! Extended, five to eight minute edits of the fantastic foundation this song lays down, by other producers and DJs in breakbeat scenes, could turn what is a good song executed carefully but not perfectly, into something I adore if you bring the right guys on, especially if the remixers can trace their roots back into those classic 90s rave scenes. For now, this is good, but it can - and knowing Calvin Harris, probably will - be expanded upon into something genuinely transcendent with a little time and care.

#34 - “gen z luv” - Central Cee

Produced by Ambezza and Peter Iskander

…Excuse me? Are we doing this? Sigh, okay. The increasing memefication of a clearly talented and interesting Central Cee into a zoned-out crossover novelty rapper digs him deeper into mediocrity every time he releases some new gimmicky single, and “gen z luv”, as you may expect from its title, is no exception. It’s not just “gen z luv”, it’s “FYP love”, “IG love” and God, I have never felt older listening to a song. Hell, I feel second-hand embarrassment for Cench as whilst I’m sure the millions and easy access to Ice Spice helps for now, but if I were 40 years old looking back at my life accomplishments, and I saw “gen z luv”, I think I’d rediscover my relationship with the big guy upstairs. There’s a certain ugliness to parading the idea of having kids with his current relationship when he just ditched his long-time partner, who he previously referenced in “Doja”, for a viral pop-rapper, especially when above this garish production mixing cheap, muddy loops with half-finished drill percussion and an almost eerie key note reminiscent of Kanye West’s “Say You Will” more than anything actually loving or “Gen Z” for that matter.

The line “Usin’ words [that are] not my usual language” may be more telling than Cench thinks. He’s basically just rapping buzzwords and trendy phrases in about as smooth a way as someone in a board room taking algorithmic phrases they see spread on TikTok and Instagram would - for someone who is seemingly a part of the generation he’s “celebrating” on this song, there’s a lot of “how do you do, fellow kids?” energy to how he constructs the bars. A few highlights include that in the chorus, he bemoans that people call their love “childish”, and that he must agree because she’s his “baby” - gross! - and that he starts the first verse by basically giving a middle finger to the audience that he started out with, by saying “My crisis ain’t from cost of living”… man, fuck off. More than anything, this song just renders as sad and boring, but maybe I’m just not in tune with the youth of today or something because I saw how people older than me reacted to mid-2010s trap with a similar distaste. Cench just finds new ways to disappoint me and alienate anyone who either doesn’t understand or doesn’t give a shit about the kind of social media “aura” he surrounds himself with. When it comes down to it, this debuted lower than it should have for Cench. People want to hear bars, man. I don’t know what this really qualifies as but I’m damn sure a lot of the audience for his harder street drill cuts, or even a more general audience who found him through “Sprinter”, won’t care for this one at all, if it’s not just genuinely incomprehensible for them. And yes, I’m very much included in that last section.

#26 - “Guy for That” - Post Malone featuring Luke Combs

Produced by Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome and Hoskins

Posty’s fishing for another hit through the third of these country duets, this time with American megastar Luke Combs, who has charted decently in the UK before with his “Fast Car” cover. As I said before, the UK may not like country music too much, but it likes its big, gruff, rough-and-tumble singer-songwriters, and Combs fits that bill more so than, say, Morgan Wallen. Combs’ more homegrown and honest position in country worried me as it could be less of a neat fit for Post, who even in his country songs has his foot clearly embedded in the pop rock sphere, and yeah, this is evidently his weakest country track yet. This is Post’s third ode to bromance in this album cycle - which is of note when there’s only been three singles - but the detailed lyrics here give it an edge that not only is reminiscent of the same 90s and 2000s country he has in his “country forever” playlist on Spotify but also places it even further into Luke Combs’ territory. He’s been writing about fatherhood recently, so it’s fully in his wheelhouse to evoke the dad trope of having a “guy for that” - a friend you can call up or drive to for each and every little problem he may have. However, this may be Post’s least convincing performance thus far, as he stumbles on the wordiness of the verses and practically murmurs some of the chorus which fills so many words in and is so unnecessarily lengthy that it honestly confused me… and that’s because it tacks on relationship drama to the song for no real reason. Post hasn’t got a “guy for” fixing his relationship, but this seems so pointless when it’s only part of a song mostly preoccupied with listing near-comical situations. This sitcom of a song has Post so desperate to prove his fumbling warble over honestly stale country pop that he refuses to even let the fiddles have room to breathe - what does that tacked-on post-chorus riffing do other than muddy the momentum of the track, which is barely there in the first place?

Even Luke Combs performs bizarrely here as whilst his vocal tone makes more sense, he’s talking about knowing a guy who has a time machine and flexing about his brand new AP watch... what?! You’re Luke Combs, is that supposed to be a brag rap? I can accept being silly but when it comes in tiny flashes in an otherwise stale song, it stands out as tonally unfitting or just desperate. The duo really took the 2000s country pop throwback to its slightest detail as well, as unsubtle Auto-Tune is quietly smothered on some of Combs’ overly patched-up vocal. Why get Luke Combs on to practically take over the track, which ends with some cinematic petering off instead of an actual bridge or narrative resolution where the two can display any chemistry, if you’re going to take the soul out of his performance?

“I Had Some Help” was catchy enough to convince me somewhat on Post’s reinvention but the two following singles have demonstrated some wide open holes in how he approaches this genre, and how awfully the guest vocalists have been implemented. Part of that may be Louis Bell, whose production is fine but he and Post have yet to write any of these songs to have any impact or feel like anything more than a simple, breezy sing-a-long you don’t like but put up with when it plays on the radio during a road trip. Post’s uniquely ambivalent take on the country genre clearly comes from his history in pop-rap, but the last-minute clean-up has been slowly wearing thinner as more music from this album is released, and I am honestly worried that this upcoming album, which I was excited for previously, will end up just as faceless and subtly dysfunctional in the mode it wants to perceive itself in as this track was, purely for the sake of pushing Post headfirst into a trendy movement whilst sticking with songs short enough to gather virality, jeopardising the genuine chance it has to tell a story. I don’t like this song at all, and it has me really concerned if this malformed “duet” is what ends up being the last-ditch attempt at not having the Morgan collab overshadow the rollout entirely.

Conclusion

Yeah, it’s obvious who’s getting Worst of the Week here, though Central Cee’s “gen z luv” has genuine challenge from the Dishonourable Mention, “Lonely Road” by mgk and Jelly Roll. There was a lot this week that was pretty bad, though, but at least it was in an interesting way this time around, and there was a lot to balance it out: Charli xcx gets Best of the Week for “365” whilst Gigi Perez is trailing close behind with “Sailor Song” as the Honourable Mention. As for what’s on the horizon, Charli of course is coming with Billie but the rest may be a bit of an unexpected jumble of tracks - I can pray for Jamie xx and The Avalanches but it’s more likely we see some bubbling under songs get a good week to break through. For now though, thanks for reading, long live Cola Boyy and I’ll see you next week!

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

This episode of Abbott Elementary was wild xD it was amazing lol!

I loved the relay :D so proud that our babeys won, they rarely get a win (and usually just get out down by other schools) so I'm really proud of and happy for them :)).

Speaking of, Jacob!! An icon :D. I love how much he put into planning the field trip, how dedicated he was, and how everyone appreciated it :')). I love him so much your honor 😭❤️❤️.

UAAGHGHHHHH ABOUT JANINE AND GREGORY!!! Y'all I do not deserve this xdd. I get that it's a slowburn but it's gonna kill me 😭 xD. I mean honestly I don't even want them to be together yet I just want them to KNOW yk? But then there's probably be an awkward stage so aehhh you know xD. Anyway, still, getting to see them all happy and chill and getting to know each other (even more) was so great :')). They're so sweet and cute, I love them <3 🥰.

Also Mr. Johnson's storyline was wild xD. I'm happy for him that he got his keys unloaded but my gosh o.o bro went through it, and put Ava's bathroom through it 💀 xD. Kinda deserved though she's been hiding that for a w h i l e lol. Love that nothing in this show is ever really thrown away and forgotten about :D. Although Mr. Johnson's building key was kinda the first, if not the second xD. Anyway lol, cool detail :D.

I loved this episode! I thought it was great :)). Silly with a bunch of sweet moments and a win for the Abbott gang 🥰😌. I'm sure Janine and Gregory will get it figured out eventually :'DD. Even if not for a while longer yet xd. And again, I just love that Gregory didn't care about Manny :). Go off sir <3. Anyway, I love them all so much :DD 🥰🥰🥰❤️🥰.

So yeah! That was Abbott Elementary, Season 3, Episode 14: Smith Playground. See you next time for Abbott Elementary, Season 3, Episode 15: Party :D!

Bye y'all!!