#Jay FETCH! (Season 5)

[cursedbanalities]

Trophy (Horror Fiction)

Index

TW: Blood

A cloud of mist pours out The Hunter’s nose as he sighs, idly sitting in his hunting blind. Watching, waiting, for anything to come by.

The Hunter has had a rough season. He had visions of grandeur all of last summer: thinking about the 30-point buck he’s going to bag, envisioning its head hanging over his fireplace; the year’s supply of venison that he and his family will happily eat, turning it into roasts, burgers, jerky, anything! Now that autumn’s come and gone, and the hunting season is almost over, The Hunter itched for anything to walk by his blind.

Looking at his wristwatch, it’s 5:30 pm. He’d been out in his blind for over twelve hours and nothing had come by. In previous seasons, he’d hear birds chirping, the caws of ravens, and the songs of blue jays calling out to each other. This season, though, nothing. Occasionally, The Hunter would hear the sounds of leaves scuffling around the blind, only for it to just be the wind or his imagination. For twelve hours, it’d been him sitting in a small wooden shack fueling the wood stove for heat, chewing tobacco, and thinking about that stupid comet that had ruined everything for him.

The month prior, right at the start of the season, a green comet appeared in the sky over The Hunter’s town. It stayed there for most of the night, before gradually dissipating by morning. Since then, there have been no animals in the woods for him to shoot. And people have gone missing; about a dozen of them just in November, and all of them in the stretch of woods The Hunter is currently in. The police and the Department of Natural Resources have attributed the missing persons to possible bear attacks or carelessness while in the forest. It’s all bullshit, and the people of The Hunter’s town know it. There hadn’t been a bear sighting in this area in half a century, and black bears aren’t known to be particularly violent, either. Nobody’s been found, so it’s hard to say what it could be.

The news also scrambled to explain the comet, saying that it was some form of aurora borealis. They had some scientists citing the high amounts of electromagnetic energy in the sky at the time, plus the fact that it was isolated over that specific area. The Hunter didn’t really understand that science-y mumbo-jumbo, though. He doesn’t care if it’s a comet or some sort of “aurora boring-whatever.” He just wants his trophy buck.

The Hunter pulls a granola bar out of the lunchbox his wife packed him. It’s one of the organic ones with dried cranberries and whole almonds and peanuts. It’s not one of his favorites, but she says it’s good for him. He’s bored, anyway. Chewing on the granola bar, hard from the cold December weather, he remembers something: there actually has been a body found.

Allegedly, the person who found the body took a photo and anonymously posted it online. The sheriff’s office hasn’t released anything official about the body or who found it, so there was still a debate on the legitimacy of the photograph.The only reason The Hunter saw it was because of the disappearances killing his business as a taxidermist. People don’t tend to go hunting when there’s mention of a bear in the woods, no matter how far-fetched. The Hunter’s co-worker was going through his social media feed on a particularly slow day when the photo popped up, and dared The Hunter to look at it.

The photo was of a naked man lying on the ground face up. His mouth was open with bared teeth and wrinkled lips. The body was atrophied; no fat, muscle tissue, or organs were left. Even his eyes were gone, giving him the appearance of a fleshy skeleton with the black void of his empty eye sockets still piercing the soul of whoever looked into them. On his chest, just below his protruding ribs, a large disk of skin was missing, exposing the spine beneath. Because of how strange the corpse was, The Hunter couldn’t help but laugh when he first saw it. He called it fake. It was probably just some artist online who heard about the disappearances and wanted to scare people.

A rustling of leaves and a slight crunch of snow in the distance causes The Hunter's eyes to jolt to the blind’s window, and he sits as still as possible. His half-eaten granola bar still in his hand, he does a quick visual sweep of the forest clearing in front of him. He hears the sound again:

Krrish crunch

Krrish crunch

The Hunter let out a slight gasp as a young buck stepped out from behind a row of trees, about forty-five feet away from his blind. A six-point rack, kinda scrawny, but The Hunter was elated. This was what he was waiting for! He quickly shoved the granola bar in his mouth, chewing it as he slowly leaned over and grabbed his rifle, taking off the scope cap and flicking the safety off. He raised the gun, firmly planting the stock into his shoulder, and waited. The buck walked further into the clearing before it stopped, sniffing at something on the ground. “This is my chance!” thought The Hunter as he moved his finger to the trigger. He zeroed in on The buck’s heart and lungs, aiming his rifle just to the side of its shoulder. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. The only thing The Hunter heard is his heart beating.

Bum-bum

Bum-bum

A scream echoed through the forest, startling The Hunter causing him to jump and pull the trigger.

BANG!

The shot went wide, hitting the buck in its stomach. It let out a grunt and sped off into the forest, blood gushing from the hole the bullet tore in its abdomen.

“Damnit!” The Hunter exclaimed, rushing out of his blind and towards where he shot the deer. Thankfully, the snow on the ground makes it easy to track; streaks of dark red lead into the woods. Chuckling, thinking to himself that his luck has finally changed, The Hunter cocks his bolt-action rifle and loads a bullet into the chamber, closing it with a schick-shrink! He walks towards the edge of the clearing before hesitating. The excitement of the buck made him forget about how dark it was, as the sun began its slow descent into the horizon. Maybe he shouldn’t risk it. If there was a bear in the woods, he didn’t know if a bolt-action rifle would be enough to defend himself. The only other weapon he had was a wood ax he kept in his blind and that’s barely anything, so why take the chance?

“Fuck it,” The Hunter thinks. He just wants— no, needs a trophy. Something to make this waste of a season worthwhile. Besides, he had a flashlight with fresh batteries. It should last him at least an hour or two. The Hunter packed some chew into his mouth, gripped his rifle tight, and stepped into the forest.

The Hunter hiked deep into the woods; following the trail of blood down hills and across creeks. The buck was lasting longer than The Hunter thought, but figured it’s too late to turn back now, so he trekked onwards. The woods were silent. The only sounds were the soft crunch of snow under The Hunter’s boots. He continued onward, and doubt began to build. He started thinking about the scream that made him miss; and he couldn’t tell specifically if it was a human or animal. It sounded like a man screaming, but guttural and deeper than any human he’s heard before. It was echoing, so he wasn’t able to hear where it was coming from. He only knew that it came from deep in the woods.

Maybe he shouldn’t have done this. The woods were starting to get to him. The creaking of trees in the wind sound like whispers in his ear, and his footsteps seem to pound like drums despite his efforts to step lightly. He couldn’t help thinking about the dead body that was “found.” The atrophied and skeletal body, flesh stretched over the bones as though it had been sucked dry. The Hunter spits his chew out onto the ground and shakes his head. “Damnit, let’s just find this friggin’ deer.” The Hunter thought. He tried to push the image out of his head and continued walking.

The sun set as The Hunter continued through the woods, so he pulled out his flashlight and flipped it on. The beam of light illuminated the forest as he waved it around, when The Hunter heard a twig snap behind him. Whipping around, he pointed the flashlight in the general direction of the noise and started sweeping it in front of him. At one point, he saw some sort of creature crouching beside a tree. It had pale skin and arms too long for its body, and its four-fingered hand was laid on the tree trunk. An oblong head rested on its shoulders. The Hunter passes over the pale silhouette with his flashlight, before doing a double take and flicking the flashlight back.

It was gone. He waited a few moments longer in the dead silence of the woods, before The Hunter rubbed his eyes and continued tracking the deer. It’s probably just his mind playing tricks on him, anyways.

The deer tracks continued for a while longer, coming to an end with a large puddle of blood. The snow was stained a deep, dark crimson, glistening from The Hunter’s flashlight. He scratched his head. “Where the hell did that stupid buck go?” he thought. Scanning the flashlight around the area, he saw a body beside a tree. It’s a ways away from the blood puddle, about forty feet, with a set of four-toed tracks leading towards the body. It had brown fur, with antlers sticking out from behind its body. The Hunter smiled. He found his buck.

The Hunter ran up to the buck’s body, adrenaline pumping, ready to start dragging it back to his blind. It was weird that the body was so far away from the blood puddle, and he wasn’t sure what the tracks leading up to the deer corpse was, but The Hunter didn’t care. His buck fever was running high, and he needed to get that deer back to his shop. When he got to the body, though, he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at the body, dumbfounded.

The buck was skeletal, as though it had been rotting for months and all of the muscle and fat had wasted away. The skin and fur pulled tight, showing the protruding rib cage and hip bones. Just like the picture The Hunter saw, its eyes were missing; filled with the same black void that stares at The Hunter. There were two holes in the body: one from where his bullet went through, and the other just below the buck’s ribcage, exposing the spine beneath.

Breathing heavily, The Hunter turned away from the buck, enraged. It’s ruined! He can’t mount this bag of bones over the fireplace! “What a fuckin’ waste of time,” he thought, ready to go home and give up for the rest of the season. He starts walking back, focusing on his trail of footsteps. On the edge of his peripheral vision, he sees the pale silhouette from before.

A paroxysm of fear gripped The Hunter, freezing him in place. Gripping his gun tight, he slowly raised his flashlight from the ground and towards the figure. That same creature, with arms too long for its body, stands crouched over thirty feet away from him. It’s hairless and pale, with skinny muscular arms and legs. The creature’s bloated stomach is the largest part of it, protruding out a couple of feet from its body with a slight red tinge. It looked almost simian. Though, the head was what The Hunter was trying to decipher: it was like a mosquito, with a large proboscis hanging dangling out of an opening in its face where a mouth would be. A row of eyes wrapped around its head, and two diagonal slits run long ways down its face. They opened and closed with each breath the creature took, spewing mist with every exhale.

It started to walk toward him. Its knuckles dragged through the snow, and its distended stomach swayed with each step. The creature was fifteen feet away. It was almost double the size of The Hunter. The rows of eyes around its head were of different sizes and different from one another: some were watery and yellow, and others were black like a deer. Some were almost human, and The Hunter can’t help but stare at them. The creature is almost on top of The Hunter now, looking down at him. Its proboscis is wet with blood and some sort of mucus, dripping off of it in sticky strands. It starts to raise its arm and scream, deep and guttural. The Hunter snaps out of it, quickly raising his gun and pulling the trigger.

BANG!

***

The creature stares at The Hunter blankly as he mounts its head over his roaring fireplace. He steps back and admires his handiwork with his hands on his hips. Its bald head shines in the orange-yellow firelight of the living room, and its flaccid proboscis drapes over the fireplace mantel. The Hunter’s wife sits on their couch with a glass of wine in her hand. She stares at the pale head that’s taking up space in their living room.

“So… what is it again?” asks The Hunter’s wife, sipping at her moscato.

“Yeah, I don’t really know,” says The Hunter, still gazing into the creature’s eyes. “What would you call it?”

His wife scoffs. “An eyesore.” She chugs her cup.

“C’mon, it’s not an eyesore!” The Hunter says with a chuckle, before shrugging and saying: “Okay, maybe a little. But it’s a trophy. It’s my trophy.” He sits down on the couch next to his wife, not paying attention to her as she gets up and walks to the kitchen to refill her glass, muttering under her breath. He doesn’t think about the lack of disappearances in the weeks since he killed the creature, either.

He keeps staring at his new trophy, looking at the way the light glints in its glass eyes. He lets out a contented sigh and sinks into the couch. Large snowflakes fall outside as The Hunter basks in the fireplace’s heat, as well as the visage of his new trophy.

[[Let me know what you guys thought of this story!! I wrote this in 2023 for a creative writing class. So much has happened since then, yet when I read it I can still feel how I felt when I wrote it. It’s crazy how words can do that (even if it *is* me reacting to myself 😬)]]

[[See ya next time!! 💜]]

Index

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

Cole my favorite human ninja! Finally after fiddling around I decided on my design for Cole, and idk if it's just me but I loved his longer hair style so I'm keeping it! Also I think it'd be interesting if Cole straightened his hair when he was younger. I know someone with textured hair who did ballet/dance for a while and he was either told to keep his hair super short or straighten it and gel it down so I thought it'd be an interesting thing to throw in for younger Cole's design since he was a dancer for a while.

So I will never get over how I wish they explored his backstory more in the show honestly I wish they explored most of the ninjas back stories more cause them kids had some pretty fucked up childhoods even before they became ninja (except for Jay he seemed like he was doing okay (?) he didn't know he was adopted yet and Ed and Edna have only ever been shown as really sweet so). Like Nya and Kai grew up with no parental figures, Lloyd went to Darkly's and then wound up on the streets for a while, Zane watched his father die and then got memory wiped, and Cole's a whole other mess.

Like His mother died when he was what like 5/6 years old (the Ninjago timeline is nonexistent) his father neglected him after her death leaving him to take on all chores and tasks in the house and the only way his father would only pay attention was if he was doing dance. Then he failed a extremely complex dance move as a child and in the episode The Royal Blacksmiths it seems as if his father liked to remind him of this, in that episode Cole also says that he's not a good dancer but we know that he got into the Marty Oppenheimer School for Performing Arts.

Now being a performing arts school that we can assume is a boarding school since Cole's father seems unfazed that he's not coming home, it's probably a pretty nice school. Not to mention boarding schools are private, hard to get into and sometimes even by invite only, this means Cole likely had to at least be talented enough to get INTO the school. Judging from how Cole's father talks to him (and the other ninja during practice) in the episode Royal Blacksmiths it wouldn't be to surprising if Cole only THOUGHT he was bad, I mean he successfully does the triple tiger sashay by the end of the episode after seemingly being out of practice for years, so I don't think it would be to far fetched to say that he was actually pretty good at dance.

As another fun fact apparently Cole may have taught Lloyd a bit of dance for agility/flexibility training which I think is really fun (it's mentioned in a book idk if it's cannon but it's fun to imagine it is!). Also I love the Royal Blacksmiths episode as a queer person cause it's literally a stereotypical coming out episode but like as a ninja and it never fails to make me laugh.

I think Cole's relationship with his father is really interesting because we see him I'd say the least out of all the Ninjago parents, like seriously I'm pretty sure we see more of Maya who was assumed dead for 6 1/2 seasons (that's probably 17-18 years in cannon) than we see of Lou. Now I'm pretty sure a good chunk of people I've seen talk about him are pretty split on whether or not he's a good or bad parent/if him and Cole are on good terms, in my opinion I don't really think he's a very good parent, we know for a fact he was neglectful while also putting a lot of pressure on Cole when he did dance, as for anything else we're really only able to infer and idk I just feel like he's not that great of a parent.

Now this is more my opinion just based off what we see of him, I don't think Cole and his father are all that close since unlike other parents such as Ray, Maya, Ed, Enda and even Misako we rarely if ever see him in the background congratulating the Ninja after a battle or helping them after a loss, in fact he actually just straight up doesn't go to Nya’s eulogy (which is in line with his character since it's been said he's not good with dealing with grief but it's still pretty shitty to do) I don't think Cole hates him or anything but I don't think that they're close or talk all to much even without the whole merge situation. 

Anyways I've spent way to long rambling about this but yeah, again this is just my opinion! I love love love this Lego show and Cole is one of my favorite characters and I'm glad in DR he's getting more attention, in fact a lot of the ninja are (minus Jay) while also allowing the new elemental masters develop which is just so fun to watch!

Hope y'all have a great day/night PEACE OUT!

[hi-im-greenjunipertree]

"This place is eerie..."

I'm back again with another thing haha

[bitchmilsky]

ive probably posted abt this before but... i miss fetch :(

[theblipster]

best of 2020.

sorry abt the late post. might get back to Tumblr, who knows? for now, here's what I thought was the best stuff from the worst year. c

movies.

Small Axe (Mangrove / Lovers Rock / Red, White & Blue / Alex Wheatley / Education) // dir. Steve McQueen

Da 5 Bloods // dir. Spike Lee

First Cow // dir. Kelly Reichardt

The Forty-Year-Old Version // dir. Radha Blank

Bacurau // dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelles

David Byrne’s American Utopia // dir. Spike Lee

Soul // dir. Pete Docter, Kemp Powers

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm // dir. Jason Woliner

Time // dir. Garrett Bradley

Kajillionaire // dir. Miranda July

Boys State // dir. Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine

The Vast of Night // dir. Andrew Patterson

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom // dir. George C. Wolfe

Tigertail // dir. Alan Yang

His House // dir. Remi Weekes

The Assistant // dir. Kitty Green

Possessor // dir. Brandon Cronenberg

Palm Springs // dir. Max Barbakow

The Trip to Greece // dir. Michael Winterbottom

She Dies Tomorrow // dir. Amy Seinmetz

albums.

Lianne La Havas // Lianne La Havas

Untitled (Black Is) // SAULT

RTJ4 // Run the Jewels

It Was Good Until It Wasn’t // Kehlani

SAWAYAMA // Rina Sawayama

Future Nostalgia // Dua Lipa

Women In Music, Pt. III // HAIM

R.Y.C. // Mura Masa

Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez // Gorillaz

Circles // Mac Miller

Ungodly Hour // Chloe x Halle

We Will Always Love You // The Avalanches

INDUSTRY GAMES [EP] // CHIKA

Alfredo // Freddie Gibbs x The Alchemist

2017-2019 // Against All Logic

A Written Testimony // Jay Electronica (& Jay Z)

color theory // Soccer Mommy

græ // Moses Sumney

how I’m feeling now // Charli XCX

Black Habits // D Smoke

What’s Your Pleasure? // Jessie Ware

Punisher // Phoebe Bridgers

Dinner Party [EP] // Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper & 9th Wonder

The Slow Rush // Tame Impala

Chromatica // Lady Gaga

folklore // Taylor Swift

A Beautiful Revolution // Common

Fetch the Bolt Cutters // Fiona Apple

UNLOCKED [EP] // Denzel Curry x Kenny Beats

It Is What It Is // Thundercat

Limbo // Aminé

Shabrang // Sevdaliza

After Hours // The Weeknd

Shore // Fleet Foxes

We’re New Again // Makaya McCraven x Gil Scott-Heron

FOREVER // Starchild & the New Romantic

songs // Adrienne Lenker

Heaven to A Tortured Mind // Yves Tumor

Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able [EP] // Black Thought

There’s Only Being Yourself // Radiant Children

songs.

“Bittersweet” // Lianne La Havas

“Ooh La La” // Run the Jewels f. Greg Nice & DJ Premier

“circle the drain” // Soccer Mommy

“Do It” // Chloe x Halle

“WAP” // Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion

“Wildfires” // SAULT

“Gospel For A New Century” // Yves Tumor

“Guilty Conscience” // 070 Shake

“CROWN” // CHIKA

“Bad Friend” // Rina Sawayama

“Freeze Tag” // Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Phoelix

“forever” // Charli XCX

“Toxic” // Kehlani

“BALD!” // JPEGMAFIA

“The Pink Phantom” // Gorillaz f. Elton John & 6LACK

“Garden Song” // Phoebe Bridgers

“Cut Me” // Moses Sumney

“Savage [Remix]” // Megan Thee Stallion f. Beyoncé

“Good Morning” // Black Thought f. Pusha T, Swiss Beatz & Killer Mike

“Time (You & I)” // Khruangbin

“Gasoline” // HAIM

“The Box” // Roddy Ricch

“Ghost of Soulja Slim” // Jay Electronica (& Jay Z)

“WAKING UP DOWN” // Yaeji

“hand crushed by mallet [Remix]” // 100 gecs f. Fall Out Boy, Craig Owens & Nicole Dollanganger

“Lost In Yesterday” // Tame Impala

“Don’t Start Now” // Dua Lipa

“Take Care In Your Dreaming” // The Avalanches f. Denzel Curry, Sampa the Great & Tricky

“anything” // Adrienne Lenker

“Comeback” // Carly Rae Jepsen f. Bleachers

“Dior” // Pop Smoke

“Laugh Now Cry Later” // Drake f. Lil Durk

“BLACK PARADE” // Beyoncé

“Deal Wiv It” // Mura Masa f. Slowthai

“Black Qualls” // Thundercat f. Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington & Childish Gambino

“SUGAR [Remix]” // BROCKHAMPTON f. Dua Lipa & Jon B

“Something to Rap About” // Freddie Gibbs f. Tyler, the Creator

“Spotlight” // Jessie Ware

“Better Than I Imagined” // Robert Grasper f. H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello

“Delete Forever” // Grimes

“minding_my business” // Knxwledge f. Durand Bernarr & Rose Gold

“Tape” // Starchild & the New Romantic f. Toro y Moi

“Blinding Lights” // The Weeknd

“DIET_” // Denzel Curry x Kenny Beats

“Hit Different” // SZA f. Ty Dolla $ign

“Rain On Me” // Lady Gaga f. Ariana Grande

“The Gates” // Aesop Rock

“Lose Your Love” // Dirty Projectors

“Gaslighter” // The Chicks

“say the name” // clipping.

television.

I May Destroy You (HBO)

Industry (HBO)

The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)

The Mandalorian (Disney+)

Tales from the Loop (Amazon)

The Boys (Amazon)

High Fidelity (Hulu)

P-Valley (Starz)

Ozark (Netflix)

Tiger King (Netflix)

Nate (Netflix)

Fargo (FX)

Insecure (HBO)

Lovecraft Country (HBO)

Betty (HBO)

Devs (FX)

Big Mouth (Netflix)

[onlyangelhales]

okay heres a far fetched theory for 8x07

voight gets shot, maybe that’s the mid season finale, and then he dies.

why would i suggest that?? no offense but what does this man have left?? all his story line is now is running the intelligence unit now and we don’t even see him that often imo. i feel like its time for this dude to retire and give his place to jay + PD hasn’t killed anyone of significance since season 5 so we’re overdue

[makkoskafanfic]

Small Fandom! Rec list

I have the bad habit of removing stories from my AO3 Bookmarks list when I think I won’t want to re-read them again, and then when I of course do, I struggle to find them. I’ve been trying to find some I’ve read ages ago in small fandoms and thought others might go “oh I never even realised there’s a Man in Black fandom out there, I’ll check this one out.” My definition of a small fandom here is less than 500 fics on AO3, but most of these have a lot less (under 100) actually.

Probably more will come to mind, and I’ll add them to this list then. If you have any small fandom stories you’d like to rec, please do! 

 Enjoy.

Warning: all of these fics are Explicit or Mature in rating.

1. Ozzie Puts the Ass in Astronomy by Seanbiggerstaffrox - People of Earth

I consider People of Earth a very under rated and under the radar series. I personally was very sad when it got cancelled after Season 2. Characters are diverse without you feeling they are like that because the creators thought that to be a trending thing. It’s a satire, yet all these people of earth and the aliens too are very relatable. This fic gives me all the feels I needed to feel for the relationship of Ozzie and his lizardman boss. Warning for interspecies/alien sex. 

2. What Falls Away by sinemoras09 - Seirei no Moribito | Guardian of the Sacred Spirit

Guardian of the Sacred Spirit is one of my favorite anime and Balsa is likely my favourite anime heroine and I don’t understand why it’s not super popular. Balsa is strong and just right, but she also has a soft side. She is the female character we are missing not just from anime but from stories in general. This one explores her and Tanda’s relationship. Warning for het (the only non-slash fic on this list) 

3. im·por·tune by spock - Hail Caesar!

I can’t say Hail Caesar! was a particularly favourite movie of mine, but I enjoyed it well enough, and as it happens with these things I checked out if it has any fanfics written to it. I wasn’t prepared to find this gem. I probably would have forgotten about the whole movie by now, if not for this story. Hobie and Laurence Laurentz are such an unlikely pair, and they fit so perfectly together. 

4.  once you get the feeling it wants you back for more by spock (again) - Men in Black

I did say Men in Black fandom, didn’t I? I just made the mistake of googling when the first movie was out, and yes, that was ‘97. Still, if you have any memory of Agent Jay and Kay, just read this one. It’s beautiful. Warning for Kay being a total jerk. 

5. Devotion and Delivery by Nia_dAstarte - Green Book

Once again, might not be me favourite movie ever, but I what the plot lacked, the characters and acting made up for. This fic just takes that not too far fetched step of what if, and gets the boys together. 

6. Nice Work If You Can Get It by astolat - Asimov Robot series

Look, I grew up on reading and re-reading Asimov books, and I always just loved Donovan and Powell in I, Robot. It’s a revelation when as an adult you realise others liked them as well, and liked them enough to get them together in a fic. This is funny and it fits the light-hearted and robot-centric originals. Just they have sex, which for whatever reason was missing from Asimov’s writing. 

7. C/Fe by Dorinda - another one for Asimov Robot series

Did Daneel  and Elijah ever gave you the Feels? I definitely loved them to bits. Many-many years later, re-reading The Robots of Dawn I realised just how gay they are together. If a robot can even be gay. Warning: for sex with a humanoid robot, but Daneel is more human than most humans in Asimov’s books, so that’s okay.

[tabloidtoc]

People, April 19

Cover: Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley -- love, family and giving back

Page 3: Chatter -- Thandiwe Newton on using her birth name years after it was misspelled in her first acting credit, Barack Obama on daughter Malia and Sasha being embarrassed by him, Martha Stewart on the reaction to her viral pool selfie, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt on raising daughter Lyla with husband Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lopez teasing her favorite cookie recipe, Chris Hemsworth on bulking up for parts

Page 4: 5 Things We're Talking About -- Ariana Grande joins The Voice, Michael Strahan minds the gap, Brad Pitt is sharing the tea, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively battle over beanies, Rege-Jean Page exits Bridgerton

Page 7: Contents

Page 8: StarTracks -- stars' best friends -- Prince Harry hit the beach to play fetch with his rescue dog Pula in Santa Barbara

Page 9: Rachel Brosnahan took a break from filming season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel to pet a pup who passed by the set in NYC, Mariah Carey celebrated Easter with two of her dogs

Page 10: Famous Families -- Amy Schumer masked up to play with son Gene at the NY PopsUp festival at Astoria Park in NYC, Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren celebrated Easter with their three children Haven and Honor and Hayes, Beyonce posted a rare selfie with her and Jay-Z's oldest daughter Blue Ivy, Victoria and David Beckham got in the Easter spirit with children Brooklyn and Harper and Romeo and Cruz, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and fiancee Brittany Matthews celebrated their first Easter with daughter Sterling Skye

Page 11: LeBron James deemed his youngest child daughter Zhuri his workout partner when she joined him in the gym for some flexing, Kate Hudson relaxed in the tub with her daughter Rani Rose

* First Look -- inside Angelina Jolie's scorching return to the big screen -- in the upcoming thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead, Angelina returns to action as a smoke jumper who encounters a traumatized 12-year-old boy played by Finn Little who needs her help

Page 12: Inside Robert Downey Jr.'s modern mansion -- for the spring issue of Purist magazine, Robert and his producer wife, Susan, opened their doors to give a tour of their futuristic Malibu home -- their Binishell, a type of of energy-efficient, dome-shaped house, sits on seven acres and runs on wind turbines and a solar-generated water system that reduce energy consumption

Page 13: StyleTracks -- bold and bright at the Screen Actors Guild Awards -- Viola Davis, Mindy Kaling, Jamie Chung, Helen Mirren, Kaley Cuoco, Kerry Washington

Page 15: Tiger Woods' car crash -- new questions, tough recovery

Page 16: Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley take their love on vacation

Page 18: Heart Monitor -- Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker heating up, Lily James and Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman new couple, Michael Buble and Luisana Lopilato happy anniversary, Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess getting serious

Page 19: Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin horsing around

Page 20: Brandi Carlile shares her struggles

* Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli had an emotional homecoming on Easter weekend after he was released from federal prison

Page 21: Blake Shelton looks back on 20 years of fame

Page 22: Jeannie Mai and Jeezy's backyard fairy tale wedding in Atlanta

Page 29: Passages, Why I Care -- Robert Irwin is helping the planet by being an advocate for Prince William's Earthshot Prize

Page 31: Stories to Make You Smile - Aimee Takaha of Aimee's Farm Animal Sanctuary in Arizona is offering cow-cuddling sessions for those who miss hugs during the pandemic, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Carolyn and Kelly Gay re-created their original wedding photos

Page 33: People Picks -- Law & Order: Organized Crime

Page 34: Them, Spy City, Rhiannon Giddens -- They're Calling Me Home, Q&A with David Alan Grier

Page 36: The Serpent, One to Watch -- Mortal Kombat's Lewis Tan

Page 37: The Nevers, Iyanla: Fix My Life

Page 39: Books

Page 40: Cover Story -- Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisely -- you have to focus on the love and laughter -- after a pandemic year that sidelined their careers, the singer and actress found joy in family time and purpose in giving back to their community

Page 46: Inside the sparkling, rainbow-filled world of JoJo Siwa -- she began as a kid who loved dance, then found fame on reality TV and YouTube and built her brand to mogul status. That was all before she came out as LGBTQ. She's just getting started

Page 52: Double Talk -- Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer's 25-year friendship -- long before they were famous, the two stars forged a deep personal bond. After more than two decades, the finally got to work together

Page 56: The Lost Kitchen's Erin French turning a painful past into a delicious new life -- addiction and divorce nearly cost her everything, but now she's running one of the most loved and hardest-to-book restaurants in America

Page 60: Solving a 40-year-old murder mystery -- justice for Helene Pruszynski -- four decades after a young woman's brutal rape and murder, new DNA technology leads to her killer

Page 62: Emily VanCamp -- growing up on TV & finding love -- how the busy actress, now costarring on both The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and The Resident, still makes time for what matters most: her family

Page 64: My Mother, Eartha Kitt -- 12 years after the entertainer's death, her daughter Kitt Shapiro reveals a mother like no other: fierce, fabulous and a fighter at heart

Page 69: Why I'm Helping Others Get Vaccinated -- fighting for my patients -- Detroit nurse Monique Morris almost died from COVID-19, and now she's doing her part to help put an end to the pandemic

Page 70: Earth Day Special -- a room-by-room guide to saving the planet -- combating climate change is a daunting challenge, but these small fixes around the house can make a big difference. Plus, inspiring stories of four everyday environmental heroes

Page 73: Jerome Foster II, rallying youth against climate change

Page 74: Katharine Hayhoe, bringing moms together

Page 76: Laura Turner Seydel, carrying on a family tradition

Page 78: Carl Smith, fighting to save his home

Page 88: One Last Thing -- Catherine Zeta-Jones

[kushblazer666]

this is the kind of thing i would post if there were something extremely wrong with me

Here is my list for the Top 75 albums of 2020. Despite what some people say, it was not a bad year for music.

75. Rory Ferreira – Purple Moonlight Pages

74. Lady Gaga – Chromatica

73. HMLTD – West of Eden

72. 070 Shake – Modus Vivendi

71. Amaarae – The Angel You Don’t Know

70. Nubya Garcia – Source

69. Bartees Strange – Live Forever

68. Beatrice Dillon – Workaround

67. Dan Deacon – Mystic Familiar

66. Taylor Swift – Evermore

65. Big Sean – Detroit 2

64. Jyoti – Mama, You Can Bet!

63. Beabadobee – Fake It Flowers

62. Coriky – Self��titled

61. William Basinski – Lamentations

60. LEYA – Flood Dream

59. Little Dragon – New Me, Same Us

58. Natalia Lafourcade – Un canto por México

57. The Smith Street Band – Don't Waste Your Anger

56. B.C. Camplight – Shortly After Takeoff

55. Napalm Death – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism

54. Stephen Malkmus – Traditional Techniques

53. Medhane – Cold Water (He’s Cancelled btw)

52. Neil Young – Homegrown

51. Clipping – Visions of Bodies Being Burned

50. Black Dresses – Peaceful as Hell

49. The Strokes – The New Abnormal

48. Norah Jones – Pick Me Up Off the Floor

47. Angel Olsen – Whole New Mess

46. Deerhoof – Future Teenage Cave Artists

45. Tame Impala – The Slow Rush

44. Headie One – Edna

43. Childish Gambino – 3.15.20

42. Code Orange – Underneath

41. Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You

40. Jay Electronica – A Written Testimony

39. The Flaming Lips – American Head

38. Touché Amoré – Lament

37. Grimes – Miss Anthropocene

36. Lomelda – Hannah

35. Lil Uzi Vert – Eternal Atake

34. Jeff Rosenstock – No Dream

33. Caribou – Suddenly

32. Chris Stapleton – Starting Over

31. Mac Miller – Circles

30. Megan Thee Stallion – Good News

29. Soccer Mommy – Color Theory

28. Run The Jewels – RTJ4

27. Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

26. Deftones – Ohms

25. Chloe X Halle – Ungodly Hour

24. The Weeknd – After Hours

23. Jessie Ware – What's Your Pleasure?

22. Mystery Jets – A Billion Heartbeats

21. Yves Tumor – Heaven to a Tortured Mind

20. Open Mike Eagle – Anime, Trauma, & Divorce

19. Freddie Gibbs – Alfredo

18. Lianne La Havas – Self–titled

17. Dogleg – Melee

16. HAIM – Women in Music, Pt. III

15. Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways

14. Thundercat – It is what it is

13. Taylor Swift – Folklore

12. Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

11. Fleet Foxes – Shore

10. Charli XCX – How I’m Feeling Now

9. Rina Sawayama – Sawayama

8. Adrianne Lenker – songs/instrumentals

7. The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You

6. Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher

5. Moses Sumney – GRÆ

4. Creeper – Sex, Death & the Infinite Void

3. Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud

2. Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters

1. Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately

Other Great Albums

U.S. Girls – Heavy Light

Bombay Bicycle Club – Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

Moodymann – Taken Away

The Soft Pink Truth – Shall We Go on Sinning So That Grace May Increase?

The Microphones – Microphones in 2020

Róisín Murphy – Róisín Murphy

Bill Callahan – Gold Record

Mr. Gnome – The Day you Flew Away

Giveon – Take Time

Tennis – Swimmer

Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red

Denai Moore – Modern Dread

Polo G – The Goat

Yo la Tengo – Sleepless Night

Illuminati Hotties - FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You've Been Waiting For

Dance Gavin Dance - Afterburner

[thethetartarpits]

TOP 50 Albums of 2020

1)    Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter 2)    Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters 3)    Tame Impala – The Slow Rush 4)    Lianne La Havas – Lianne La Havas 5)    Jay Electronica & JAY-Z – A Written Testimony 6)    Tim Heidecker & Weyes Blood – Fear of Death 7)    The Weeknd – After Hours 8)    Mac Miller – Circles 9)    The Lemon Twigs – Music for the General Public 10)  Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud 11)  HAIM – Women in Music Pt. III 12)  Dawes – Good Luck With Whatever 13)  Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman 14)  Theo Katzman – Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe 15)  Blu & Exile – Miles 16)  Margo Price – That’s How Rumors Get Started 17)  Jeff Rosenstock – NO DREAM 18)  Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure 19)  Sam Sparro – Boombox Eternal 20)  Kylie Minogue – DISCO 21)  Taylor Swift – folklore 22)  The Strokes – The New Abnormal 23)  Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Reunions 24)  Ariana Grande – Positions 25)  The Flaming Lips – American Head 26)  Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now 27)  Busta Rhymes – Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God 28)  Jonathan Wilson – Dixie Blur 29)  Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez 30)  Hunny Gale – Pitfruit 31)  Nas & HIT-BOY – King’s Disease 32)  Thundercat – It Is What It Is 33)  Fleet Foxes – Shore 34)  Big Sean – Detroit 2 35)  SAULT – Untitled (Black Is) 36)  The Avett Brothers – The Third Gleam 37)  Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher 38)  Kevin Morby – Sundowner 39)  Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo 40)  Yves Tumor – Heaven To A Tortured Mind 41)  Rufus Wainwright – Unfollow the Rules 42)  Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways 43)  Run the Jewels – RTJ4 44)  GLOWth – GLOVID-20 45)  Chris Stapleton – Starting Over 46)  Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately 47)  Soccer Mommy – color theory 48)  Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia 49)  Lil Uzi Vert – Eternal Atake 50)  Rina Sawayama – SAWAYAMA

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

Hey, I’ve finally gotten another step in my Ninjago watch!

Before I go through the season, there are some reasons why it’s taken so long to get to Possession.

1. Mum’s course I mentioned before is due to be handed in by tomorrow, so it’s been a bit hands on deck for her. Naturally, this means I’m being pulled in more to help.  2. The reason I started this was because I wasn’t able do my own work so had a lot of time to use up. Well, in the past week, it went from “oh you can’t work from home” to “you could but your smart card is at work and we won’t let you in so you’ll have to reject it” to “actually we can totally Indiana Jones it, here’s some WARs”, so I’m actually working again, so this will probably be a lot slower to go through. 3. Honestly, Tournament of Elements took a bit of wind out the sails. I mean, it was such a slog to go through, I was hesitant to do that again in a hurry if Possession ended up being a rinse and repeat of that.

But today, I’ve finally gotten through the season and...it’s serendipitous that this features the Elemental Master of Wind because this really was a second wind. I said that perhaps with it parring down the cast to a central focus that it would improve the quality over Tournament of Elements and that seems to have been the case. Let’s go through the points.

-I have barely anything bad to say about the characterisation of any character, main or side. Like, this season was mostly on point. I guess the main ninja were a touch on the mean-spirited side at the start, but this get smoothed out by the plot advancing. Jay could also get a little obnoxious at the start, but this was balanced out by him sassing out Wu for his absolute failure to disclose Morro’s existence anyway. -Of course the standout character is Nya, what with her whole sideplot and ending up a water-based BAMF in the ending. -The events of the Dark Island part of season 2 makes Kai’s fear of water and inability to swim jarring at first (because he swims just fine there), but I guess this was a change brought on by Rebooted’s soft reboot.  -Even Lloyd has his moments even though at this point his character feels fairly weak since the show is pretty much just interested in his status as this really powerful hero. But his moment to reconcile his grief with his dad is done nicely, and makes a better sendoff than season 4′s.  -Ronin’s good but that one moment was pretty uncomfortable. Thankfully due to circumstances it didn’t actually happen which prevents it from pushing it over. -But can I talk about the fact the show seems to expect you to have seen media outside of the show to understand his debut? When the ninja talk about Ronin as an old annoyance, I was like “man, you really think I played Shadow of Ronin, huh”. It would have been a shaky assumption in 2015 because the 3DS wasn’t exactly a big hit. But five years later, when the 3DS is nigh obsolete and I haven’t used mine in ages? It doesn’t help that the game is actually technically non-canon, only happening in vague.  -Morro is probably the best villain of the old stuff so far. I don’t care if he’s this edgy teenage bad boy that younger fans tend to veer to, his biggest strength is that despite him being another conqueror and having a lot of power, he still comes off as very human. He still has attitude quirks (like being a bit casual in places), he treats his minions different to any other villain so far, he makes mistakes and has slip-ups, and the conflict felt more like an actual to-and-fro as opposed to one side completely dominating over the other requiring some deus-ex to balance it (even season 1 had this issue, lest we forget how the ninja failed to secure a single thing in their fetch quest). Thus, when Morro is faced with his mortality and finally sees what Wu was trying to teach him, it feels like that would be a natural conclusion to his arc. -So Kai and LLoyd’s dynamic is good, it’s a callback to Kai’s development from season 1 where he got over himself and dedicated himself to looking after Lloyd (I mean, the episode itself fell a bit like an asspull, but S2 and S3 stuck it as a recurring theme), but what surprised me is that there’s actually relatively little of it in the season. There’s a bit at the beginning, then it tapers off until like the third to last episode. The way people talked about it made it seem like this big recurring arc but it’s not.  -Kai and Nya get surprisingly little throughout Nya’s actual training arc. You’d think Nya training to be the water ninja would be a bigger deal for Kai. They remember to give us a good dollop of it in the finale though.  -Can I take an aside to talk about Kai and Cole’s dynamic again? After S1 had such a good thing between them, I thought it was going to drop off entirely. S2 seemed to make good on that...but then S3 brought it back, albeit a bit more reserved. Even S4 had the same level. Why bring it up now? Because S5 turns it up to the point where it was one of the dominating dynamics outside of all four ninja together. And yet I have never heard this referred to by anyone. What, if two characters aren’t explicitly honed in on for interaction (ie Cole and Jay’s whole drama thing, Cole and Zane in S4/S8...I can’t think of any I’ve seen that don’t involve Cole yet), then it’s just pushed to the wayside? No wonder S13 seems to have decided that it finally needs to be addressed after the last two joint seasons focused on Jay and Nya then Kai and Nya.  -Speaking of, Jay and Zane actually get a cute dynamic going, albeit not as pronounced. Jay and Nya is surprising neglected, only getting some visual cues in the ending. Then again, I guess that’s what the next season is for.  -This season is not actually dark to be honest. There’s a couple of points where it drifts into that territory, but one moment is the climax which is typical for a kids show, and the other I guess is Cole’s thing (although the next episode took the edge out of that). That being said, kudos to them for sticking out the change to the status quo so it isn’t just a one season gimmick.  -Season 5 really said “That green ninja jealousy from S4 was shit so we’re just going to ignore it”. While I still have an issue with it as above, this is a relief. -Pacing here is fine, I have no issues with for once. 

So overall, Possession is a pretty good season, I can see why so many consider it one of, if not, the best. My only real beef with it is that the secondary dynamics (outside of the four ninja but within the general team) end up surprisingly underutilised. Otherwise, the only other barrier it has with me is just my preference for more light-hearted affair than this season’s fairly middling (but not dark) tone, but it’s so competently done that it still manages to outpace seasons that do hit that tone.

I would have to see S11 again to see how I’d stack it up to this, but my current season ranks are as follows;

S12>S11>=S5>S1>S2>S4>S3

So, next time I watch again, it’ll be one of the more marmite seasons in the pack; Skybound. One of the coolest season names, but can it continue Possession’s quality?

For now though, I have a whole thing lined up gushing about Prime Empire’s thematic roots because Prime Empire is amazing. And also I’ll have a (probable) season finale to watch and S13 leaks to look for. 

[stereostevie]

The Rap Grammy Nominations Are Weird As Hell | Nov 25, 2020 11:12 AM BY TOM BREIHAN

The very first time that the Grammy Awards recognized rap music, it was an utter fiasco — a clear case of an aging pop-music establishment failing to understand this vital new youth music that had sprung up and rewritten the rules. For the 1989 awards show, the Grammys added one rap category, Best Rap Performance. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince won it for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” beating out LL Cool J and Salt-N-Pepa and Kool Moe Dee and JJ Fad. The show didn’t deign to recognize Public Enemy, N.W.A, EPMD, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Eric B. & Rakim, or Ice-T, all of whom had released classic albums within the voting window. The award wasn’t televised, and most of the nominees, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince included, skipped the show, attending a “Boycott The Grammys” party instead.

Since that night, the history of rap at the Grammys has been a series of baffling, embarrassing decisions. It’s Steely Dan winning Album Of The Year over The Marshall Mathers LP. It’s Gretchen Wilson winning Best New Artist over Kanye West. “It’s weird and it sucks that I robbed you.” It’s also a history of rappers getting angry over the Grammys: “I never let a statue tell me how nice I am,” “You think I give a damn about a Grammy?” In 2019, Drake showed up to accept Best Rap Song. In his acceptance speech, he talked about how the Grammy voters weren’t necessarily the right people to define rap success. The broadcast cut him off mid-speech. Earlier this year, Kanye West, a man who once cared more about Grammy Awards than anyone else not named Neil Portnow, tweeted a video of himself pissing on one of his Grammys. (The Grammys still nominated West this year, for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.)

Yesterday, the Grammys nominated Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist’s Alfredo in the Best Rap Album category. That’s great! Freddie Gibbs is a great underground rap success story, a guy who bet on himself and kept doing great work in his own lane even after multiple major-label situations fell apart. Gibbs has never made a hit song in his life, and he’s gotten himself into a position where he doesn’t need to make hit songs — where he can just follow his instincts and keep his own style intact. Alfredo isn’t my favorite rap record of the year. (Even in the field of Alchemist-produced 2020 rap albums, I’d give the slight edge to Boldy James’ The Price Of Tea In China.) But the nomination for Alfredo is still a very cool surprise, the kind of thing that I would’ve never expected to see from the Grammy nominating committee.

And yet Gibbs’ nomination doesn’t exactly announce a new golden age of Grammy rap consideration, a time when Recording Academy voters are finally figuring out how to approach the genre. Instead, his nomination points toward something else: An institutional recognition of middlebrow, middle-aged, respectable rap music.

All of this year’s Best Rap Album nominees are Black men between the ages of 35 and 47. The oldest nominee is Nas, who is now on his fifth Best Rap Album nomination and who has never won the award. (The Best Rap Album Grammy didn’t exist in 1994, when Nas released Illmatic, but there’s no way in hell that Nas would’ve won it anyway. The Academy would’ve given the award to Coolio’s It Takes A Thief or something.) The youngest nominee is D Smoke, a former high school Spanish teacher who is also the brother of the TDE R&B singer SiR. D Smoke made his way into Grammy contention after winning the first season of Rhythm + Flow, the Netflix rap-competition show. (Two of the three judges from Rhythm + Flow, Cardi B and Chance The Rapper, have won Best Rap Album themselves. T.I., the other judge, has been nominated three times and never won.)

D Smoke isn’t exactly a revered or popular rapper, and I have’t seen anyone calling his perfectly-OK album Black Habits a masterpiece, though the man has certainly done better than anyone could’ve expected from a rap reality-show winner. But D Smoke raps exactly like a diet version of Kendrick Lamar, so his nomination works as a clear indication that the Grammy voters really, really wish they had a Kendrick album to nominate. D Smoke is also up for Best New Artist, alongside fellow rappers Chika, Megan Thee Stallion, and (I guess) Doja Cat. Presumably, Megan’s Good News would also be nominated if it had come out early enough to be eligible. Meanwhile, Chika hasn’t released an album, and Doja Cat is nominated in the pop categories, not the rap ones.

Instead, then, we’re looking at five guys hovering around the age of 40, all of whom are respected technicians with boom-bap inclinations. Jay Electronica, who’s nominated for A Written Testimony and who should probably be considered the front-runner, is technically a New Orleans native, but nobody thinks of him as a Southern rapper. (Jay-Z is all over A Written Testimony, to the point where anointing Jay Electronica feels a bit like throwing awards love to Jay-Z in a year with no Jay-Z album.) All the albums up for Best Rap Album are, at the very least, solid. A couple of them, Alfredo and A Written Testimony, are very good. But this is still a remarkably stodgy list — one that shows that the whole middle-aged respectability fetish that’s long plagued the Grammys is now embedded in its rap voting wing.

Freddie Gibbs and Nas and Jay Electronica and D Smoke and Royce Da 5’9″ are all gifted rappers who have done great work. Most of them could justifiably be considered legends. But none of them really show the world where rap music is, let alone where it’s going. By recognizing those albums, the Grammys have pointedly elected not to recognize something like Lil Baby’s My Turn, which is probably 2020’s most popular album in any genre and which is also a fine example of the 808-heavy depressive melodic-goo rap music that currently dominates the genre’s mainstream.

Other hugely popular, artistically important albums are also absent: Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake, Roddy Rich’s Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, Polo G’s The Goat, Gunna’s Wunna, Rod Wave’s Pray 4 Love. Instead, the rap albums getting nominated are the 2020 equivalents of the Steely Dan album that famously beat Eminem. That’s not an indictment of the nominated albums. It’s an indictment of the stuff the Recording Academy values. It’s also a cautionary look of how things might look if the Recording Academy ever gets its way, if rap comes to rely on accepted ossified skill-sets instead of its current state of constant, furious stylistic evolution.

As someone who’s around the same age as this year’s Best Rap Album nominees, I’m not all that amped to see emotionally troubled, pill-gobbling 20-year-olds dominating rap music. But those kids are crucially moving the genre past whatever old men like me might want it to be. Fortunately, there’s at least one Grammy category that has done a pretty good job capturing where things are right now, and that’s Best Rap Song. The list of nominations there — Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture,” Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” Drake’s “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” — isn’t necessarily perfect, but it’s a fairly accurate representation of the kind of rap that moves people right now. I don’t know why the division between the Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song nominees is so stark. Maybe it’s a signal that the album is increasingly irrelevant. Maybe it reflects two different voting bodies. Either way, it’s striking.

Look, the Grammys are weird. They are always going to be weird. Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters should’ve been the biggest lay-up in the world, but it isn’t up for Album Of The Year. Instead, the Academy’s voters went for Coldplay and Jacob Collier and a deluxe edition of a Black Pumas album that didn’t even come out in the eligibility period. “Rockstar” and “Savage” are both up for Record Of The Year, but Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding is the only album that’s even rap-adjacent that’s nominated for Album Of The Year this year. I thought for sure that Lil Baby’s My Turn would be the token rap album that would inevitably lose to Taylor Swift. Instead, we didn’t even get one of those, and My Turn got snubbed even in its own category. Nothing makes sense.

But this year’s Best Rap Albums nominations still show a weird alignment between Grammy Voters and a certain streak of real-hip-hop rap conservatism. Watch out for that. Nothing good, except maybe a Freddie Gibbs Grammy win, will come out of that.

FURIOUS FIVE

1. Roc Marciano – “Downtown 81” It’s not on streaming services yet, but Roc Marciano’s new album Mt. Marci is out in the world now, and it is marvelous. (I can’t tell you whether the digital download is worth the $40 that Marci is charging on his website. Make your own financial decisions.) Right now, the only song out for general consumption is one of the few that Marci didn’t produce himself. (It’s a Jake One beat.) But otherwise, “Downtown 81” is exactly the sort of laid-back, intricately worded deadpan splendor that you can expect to hear on the LP, whenever it goes wide. So maybe that’s worth the price of a full tank of gas.

2. Meek Mill – “GTA” (Feat. 42 Dugg)

Meek Mill released his Quarantine Pack EP on Friday, and the track currently getting the big push is the downbeat Lil Durk collab “Pain Away.” But the real thrill here is in hearing Meek and 42 Dugg getting bracingly urgent over a Detroit-ass bassline.

3. Chief Keef & Mike Will Made-It – “Status” Sosa and Mike Will have evidently chosen to name their new song after this column. Gentlemen, I see this tribute, and I appreciate it. I love you too.

4. Willie The Kid & V Don – “Mother Of Pearls” (Feat. Eto) This is pretty.

5. Statik Selektah – “Play Around” (Feat. Conway The Machine, 2 Chainz, Killer Mike, Allan Kingdom, & Haile Supreme)

Once upon a time, maybe 13 years ago, I was apparently such a recognizable and influential part of the New York rap press that Statik Selektah noticed me at an MOP show, introduced himself, and tried to get me to listen to his mix CD. All these years later, Statik is a globally acknowledged boom-bap specialist with enough juice to put three of the world’s greatest middle-aged rappers on a track together. I’m proud of Statik. I bet he gets nominated for a Grammy someday.

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

hmm.. hey, would it be too much to ask for just like a bunch of random facts about your changeling!jim that havent been said? i Love him and i want More Of Him

5 fun facts that have been shared about him, but which could be missed since they aren’t in the text of the story: 

1. Jim cries when watching Lilo and Stitch because he relates deeply to Stitch - a manufactured ‘monstrosity’, feared and hated and cast aside, who ends up on Earth and gets adopted into a human family. 

2. Shortly after James Senior left, Barbara caught Jim eating eggshells and thought he was developing pica. She warned him about the salmonella dangers of raw egg residue on the shells, and made him see a therapist. He got sneakier about eating them after that. 

3. Jim brought the fifth-birthday bike kit to the Janus Order headquarters and “banished it to the Darklands” - tossing it, piece by piece, into the Fetch. 

4. Jim is more attracted to trolls than to humans. 

5. Jim was originally going to be a matchmaker, as part of his desire to “get the fleshbags to enjoy life while they can”, but this idea got scrapped early on in his character development. (It still kind of comes through in him ‘encouraging’ Barbara and Strickler to get together, but that’s a scheme for her added protection, not matchmaking for its own sake.) 

25 fun facts never previously publicly revealed: 

1. Back in the Darklands, Jim had a reputation for being a good scavenger. Changelings on the surface who remember him from the Darklands are not surprised he likes cooking, and feeding people, because of how good he was at scavenging for food and how surprisingly willing he was to share.

2. Jim loves soft things. Changelings in the Darklands sleep together in a pile for warmth and he liked finding soft things to bring into the pile. 

He used to sneak into the Nursery to steal extra blankets from the supplies. The goblins chased him off the first few times but started ignoring him once they realized he wasn’t going after the cradles themselves.

3. Jim speaks goblin, well enough to recognize that the goblins in the Darklands and the goblins on Earth have different regional dialects. (He only speaks Darklands-goblin but they are close enough to be mutually understood.)

4. Jim was kidnapped in the last raid before the Gumm-Gumms were trapped in the Darklands. He can infer from how back his memories go that he must have been taken in one of the last raids - he can’t remember a time the Gumm-Gumms weren’t trapped in the Darklands - but he doesn’t know which one specifically.

5. Whenever Jim found books that were sent through the Fetch, he traded the book and a copious amount of flattery to bribe Dictatious for a reading lesson. That’s how Jim was able to read some of A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore on his own, without the Amulet translating, and how he was able to later compare Blinky’s and Dictatious’ teaching styles.

6. “Hit ’em in the Dictatious!” is a Changeling combat move wherein one strikes one’s opponent in the mouth and gronk-nuks at the same time. Jim coined the term in a moment of frustration, saying he’d like to hit Dictatious in the Dictatious if he could get away with it and then explaining the puns involved (dictation, referencing Dictatious’ excessive talking, and, well, the dick joke in his name), and the other Changelings loved it.

7. Nomura and Jim knew each other in the Darklands before either of them were assigned a Familiar.

8. Jim’s hair used to be dark blue (like Troll Jim in the show), but it turned black when he was tied to his Familiar. It is common for Changelings to experience minor cosmetic changes like that during the binding process.

9. He doesn’t actually look like Troll Jim from the show. There’s a resemblance but there are differences. (The audience gets a full description of what Changeling Jim looks like once Barbara sees him transform.)

10. Before they get Familiars, Changelings don’t have names. Gumm-Gumms call them “Changeling” or “Impure” or some variant of “hey you there”. 

If unnamed Changelings address each other directly, they use nicknames or say “Imp”, which becomes inappropriate once they do have names. (It was a major and deliberate insult when Otto called Not Enrique ‘Imp’ in Season Two; Otto was basically saying Not Enrique wasn’t worth planting on the surface and didn’t have a name yet.) 

Jim’s nickname, because of how he always brought soft things into the sleeping pile whenever he could, was ‘Cuddles’.

11. One of Jim’s dearest and most secret ambitions is to climb onto AAARRRGGHH’s back and take a nap in his fur. He’s pretty sure AAARRRGGHH would say ‘okay’ (at least before AAARRRGGHH found out about Jim being a Changeling) but never had the nerve to ask.

12. Jim is allergic to soy in his troll form, but not in his human form. Even he doesn’t know this yet, because he’s only eaten soy occasionally and only ever while humanoid. It’s not a deadly allergy but it is alarming and unpleasant.

13. Jim has memorized the personal scents of all of Nana Domzalski’s cats, so that if he sneaks out to hunt, he won’t eat one of them.

14. Jim is the reason the Lakes have never had a squirrel or raccoon nest in their attic. It’s not really an attic so much as a crawlspace between the ceiling and the roof, but the only access point from inside is a trapdoor in the ceiling of Jim’s closet, and he’s gone up there to ‘take care of’ squirrel or raccoon problems before Barbara can notice them.

15. When Jim was a newly-planted Changeling, he got curious whether any iron could transform him or if it had to be a gaggletack, so he snuck down to the kitchen late one night - figuring if Barbara or James caught him in troll form he could convince them it was a dream - and touched the cast iron frying pan. It did nothing. 

(Because I wanted him to be able to use cast iron cookware, and as a fun reference to how, in the novel that inspired the series, it was actually the horseshoe shape rather than the iron that disrupted the glamour - one Changeling gets exposed by being forced to touch a horseshoe-shaped emblem painted on a football helmet. No Lucky Charms cereal for them!)

16. Jim visited the Arcadia Oaks headquarters of the Janus Order for the first time within a week of being planted on the surface. The goblins led him there.

17. After James left, Jim hauled most of the blankets and sheets down to the laundry room, opened all the windows, set up a bunch of fans all blowing at full power, and washed everything he could get his hands on, to purge James’ scent from the house. 

Barbara noted this was odd, but Jim seemed to be channeling his grief and anger in a non-harmful way and she was too emotionally exhausted to interfere with anything that wasn’t dangerous, so she let him do it. 

Jim also insisted he and Barbara sleep in the living room for the next several days. She thought it was because he was scared she would disappear too, but it was actually to give time for James’ scent in the bedroom to fade, so Barbara wouldn’t be coming downstairs in the morning smelling like James hadn’t abandoned them. Jim would have liked her to just get a new mattress, but recognized this wasn’t financially viable with Barbara suddenly the sole breadwinner with med school tuition and a mortgage and bills to pay.

18. Jim has read most of Barbara’s medical textbooks. He doesn’t understand a lot but he had picked up on some of it.

19. Jim can use his cellphone to check on Jay-Jay, by switching the camera to the ‘selfie’ setting. Spitting on just the lens or the screen when the camera is facing the other way doesn’t work, but when the camera faces backwards, that makes it ‘close enough’ to a mirror for the spell to take effect. 

It does not work with his computer camera. Jim’s hypothesis is that the selfie camera on his phone allows him to spit on both the camera lens and the screen at the same time. 

With careful experimentation, Jim has confirmed he can take pictures of Jay-Jay this way, and use the ‘video’ setting to get audio. He can even film Jay-Jay if he has his phone on ‘video’ to begin with and starts recording after the spell takes hold; if he starts recording before, it just shows Jim’s own face. 

If he zooms in close, spits on the phone, and then zooms out, he can see a bit of the Nursery surrounding Jay-Jay, though not well due to the light conditions.

20. Jim always intended to give Jay-Jay back to Barbara someday. 

His original plan, back when he thought Gunmar would farm the humans instead of wiping the species out, was for Jay-Jay to be returned as a bribe/reward for Barbara’s good behaviour as she provided medical care for the human livestock. 

(Obviously the main reward would be ‘not getting eaten herself’, but Jim’s plan to sell this idea to Gunmar was that Jay-Jay would be a hostage who could be eaten as punishment if Barbara stepped out of line without actually costing them a doctor.) 

Ideally, she would apprentice Jay-Jay and teach him to become a doctor as well, so he never would get eaten and so that, once Barbara was too old to practice medicine, she could still be kept alive as a reward/hostage for Jay-Jay’s good behaviour. 

Jim would lose his human form but still have the Changeling immunity to sunlight, so he didn’t see this affecting him negatively. 

He hoped returning her biological son would speed up Barbara forgiving him for his role in subjugating her species, which Jim could admit to himself was probably something she’d be upset about.

21. Barbara or Toby being eaten by a troll is literally one of Jim’s worst nightmares. He doesn’t have that dream often but it always leaves him very clingy the next day to whichever of them he dreamed was eaten.

22. Jim will put mild sedatives in Barbara’s food and turn off her phone once she’s asleep when he thinks she’s working too hard, or if he needs to sneak out on her night off. She’s perpetually mildly sleep-deprived, so it doesn’t actually take much to knock her out.

23. The reason Jim dresses all in blue, even though he associates the colour with danger (because of Gunmar and the Nyarlagroths), is because he thinks it makes him look intimidating.

24. It is very important to Jim that AAARRRGGHH gets to stay a pacifist. It’s not just because he’s scared of AAARRRGGHH; it’s because Jim doesn’t like fighting, but, between his Changeling past and his Trollhunter future, he doesn’t feel he has the option of being a non-combatant, so someone like AAARRRGGHH having the choice to not fight becomes an emotional substitute (projection? I’m not sure I’m using that term correctly) for Jim himself being able to stop fighting.

25. Jim is convinced the reason Blinky keeps saying “Great Gronka Morka” is to keep himself from saying “gronk-nuks” in moments of frustration instead, like if a human said “balderdash” instead of “balls”.

[hi-im-greenjunipertree]

"We don't talk about Ruff"

Cast in this pic (from left to right):

Shreya = Isabela

Emmie = Luisa

Julia = Mirabel

Taylor = Dolores

Jay = Camilo

UPDATE: I actually don't know who would play Pepa and Felix, so I just put random dog characters there as placeholders for the AU. Also Ruff is Bruno now bc it made more sense the more I thought about it! (shoutouts to @jmoneydollarsign for inspiring me to make this change! ^_^)

also here's a version without the Noise filter and "VHS" effect:

[brookston]

Holidays 10.15

Holidays

Blind Americans Equality Day

Breast Health Day (EU)

Cayenne Festival (French Guiana)

Coup d'État Anniversary Day (Burkina Faso)

Day of Merriment (Republic of Molossia)

Fete Nationale de l'Evacuation (Evacuation Day; Tunisia)

Global Handwashing Day

”I Love Lucy” Day

International Archeology Day

International Day of Older People (Australia)

International Day of Rural Women (UN)

King Father’s Commemoration Day (Cambodia)

Mahakiki (Hawaiian New Year Season begins)

Mertz of All Possible Mertzes

Mother’s Day (Malawi)

My Mom Is a Student Day

National Aesthetician Day

National Cherish Black Women Day

National Grouch Day

National HSA Awareness Day

National Latino AIDS Awareness Day

National Pug Day

National Shut-In Visitation Day

National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka)

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (Canada, Italy, UK, US)

Pynkalycious Day

Rainbow Pickling Day

Rectification Day (Burkina Faso)

Sewing Lovers’ Day

Shwamae Su’mae Day (Wales)

Teachers’ Day (Brazil)

Twist and Shout Day

White Cane Safety Day

World Students’ Day (India, UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Champagne Day

Dine With TV Dinners On the Floor Night

National Cheese Curd Day

National Chicken Cacciatore Day

National Lemon Bar Day

National Mushroom Day

National Red Wine Day

National Roast Pheasant Day

National Shawarma Day (Canada)

3rd Saturday in October

Bridge Day (West Virginia) [3rd Saturday]

Frabjous Day [3rd Saturday]

I Love Yarn Day [3rd Saturday]

International Independent Video Store Day [3rd Saturday]

International Repair Day [3rd Saturday]

International Sloth Day [3rd Saturday]

National Bridge Day [3rd Saturday]

National Fetch Day [3rd Saturday]

O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships [3rd Saturday]

Sweetest Day [3rd Saturday]

Feast Days

Bruno of Querfurt (Christian; Saint)

Cúan of Ahascragh (Christian; Saint)

Dragonbunny (Muppetism)

Equirria (October Equus, sacrifice of a horse to Mars; Old Roman Empire)

Feast of the Three Noble Ladies (Ancient Egypt)

Hobbes (Positivist; Saint)

Hospicius (a.k.a. Hospis; Christian; Saint)

Ides of October (Ancient Rome)

Ludi Capitolini (Jupiter games; Ancient Rome)

Poetry Day (Ancient Rome)

Richard Speck Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Teresa of Ávila (founded Reformation of the Barefoot Carmelites; Christian; Saint)

Thecla of Kitzingen (a.k.a. Tecla; Christian; Saint)

Yet Another Noodle Day Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White (Children’s Book; 1952)

Curb Your Enthusiasm (TV Series; 2000)

The Dragon Reborn, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1991) [Wheel of Time #3]

Elvis’ Christmas Album, by Elvis Presley (Album; 1957)

Fight Club (Film; 1999)

The Fires of Heaven, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1993) [Wheel of Time #5]

For Once in My Life, by Stevie Wonder (Song; 1968)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, by Elton John (Song; 1973)

Good Golly Miss Molly, recorded by Little Richard (Song; 1956)

The Great Dictator (Film; 1940)

The Heart of Saturday Night, by Tom Waits (Album; 1974)

Heidi (Film; 1937)

I Love Lucy (TV Series; 1951)

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (Film; 2019)

La Mer, by Claude Debussy (Symphonic Suite; 1905)

The Lion King (Broadway Musical; 1997)

Lord of Chaos, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1994) [Wheel of Time #6]

Nowhere Boy (Film; 2010)

Power Windows, by Rush (Album; 1985)

RED (Film; 2010)

Rock Me Amadeus, by Falco (Song; 1985)

Rudy (Film; 1993)

Sabrina (Film; 1954)

Slip Sliding’ Away, by Paul Simon (Song; 1977)

Surfing with the Alien, by Joe Satriani (Album; 1987)

Team America: World Police (Animated Film; 2004)

Tupelo Honey, by Van Morrison (Album; 1971)

Today’s Name Days

Theresia (Austria)

Rezika, Tekla, Tereza, Terezija, Valter (Croatia)

Tereza (Czech Republic)

Hedevig (Denmark)

Eda, Ede, Hädi, Häidi, Heda, Hedi, Hedvig, Heidi, Heivi (Estonia)

Helvi, Heta (Finland)

Thérèse (France)

Aurelia, Franziska, Therese, Theresia (Germany)

Loukianos (Greece)

Teréz (Hungary)

Teresa (Italy)

Eda, Ede, Hedviga, Jadviga (Latvia)

Domantė, Gailiminas, Leonardas, Teresė (Lithuania)

Hedda, Hedvig (Norway)

Brunon, Gościsława, Jadwiga, Sewer, Tekla, Teresa (Poland)

Terézia (Slovakia)

Teresa (Spain)

Hedvig, Hillevi (Sweden)

Lucian (Ukraine)

Essence, Terence, Teresa,Terrance, Terrence, Terri, Terry, Tess,Tessa, Theresa, Trace, Tracey, Traci, Tracy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 288 of 2022; 77 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 41 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Gort (Ivy) [Day 15 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Júyuè), Day 20 (Xin-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 20 Tishri 5783

Islamic: 19 Rabi I 1444

J Cal: 18 Shù; Threesday [18 of 30]

Julian: 2 October 2022

Moon: 69%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 8 Descartes (11th Month) [Hobbes]

Runic Half Month: Wyn (Joy) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 23 of 90)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 21 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 10.15

Holidays

Blind Americans Equality Day

Breast Health Day (EU)

Cayenne Festival (French Guiana)

Coup d'État Anniversary Day (Burkina Faso)

Day of Merriment (Republic of Molossia)

Fete Nationale de l'Evacuation (Evacuation Day; Tunisia)

Global Handwashing Day

”I Love Lucy” Day

International Archeology Day

International Day of Older People (Australia)

International Day of Rural Women (UN)

King Father’s Commemoration Day (Cambodia)

Mahakiki (Hawaiian New Year Season begins)

Mertz of All Possible Mertzes

Mother’s Day (Malawi)

My Mom Is a Student Day

National Aesthetician Day

National Cherish Black Women Day

National Grouch Day

National HSA Awareness Day

National Latino AIDS Awareness Day

National Pug Day

National Shut-In Visitation Day

National Tree Planting Day (Sri Lanka)

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (Canada, Italy, UK, US)

Pynkalycious Day

Rainbow Pickling Day

Rectification Day (Burkina Faso)

Sewing Lovers’ Day

Shwamae Su’mae Day (Wales)

Teachers’ Day (Brazil)

Twist and Shout Day

White Cane Safety Day

World Students’ Day (India, UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Champagne Day

Dine With TV Dinners On the Floor Night

National Cheese Curd Day

National Chicken Cacciatore Day

National Lemon Bar Day

National Mushroom Day

National Red Wine Day

National Roast Pheasant Day

National Shawarma Day (Canada)

3rd Saturday in October

Bridge Day (West Virginia) [3rd Saturday]

Frabjous Day [3rd Saturday]

I Love Yarn Day [3rd Saturday]

International Independent Video Store Day [3rd Saturday]

International Repair Day [3rd Saturday]

International Sloth Day [3rd Saturday]

National Bridge Day [3rd Saturday]

National Fetch Day [3rd Saturday]

O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships [3rd Saturday]

Sweetest Day [3rd Saturday]

Feast Days

Bruno of Querfurt (Christian; Saint)

Cúan of Ahascragh (Christian; Saint)

Dragonbunny (Muppetism)

Equirria (October Equus, sacrifice of a horse to Mars; Old Roman Empire)

Feast of the Three Noble Ladies (Ancient Egypt)

Hobbes (Positivist; Saint)

Hospicius (a.k.a. Hospis; Christian; Saint)

Ides of October (Ancient Rome)

Ludi Capitolini (Jupiter games; Ancient Rome)

Poetry Day (Ancient Rome)

Richard Speck Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Teresa of Ávila (founded Reformation of the Barefoot Carmelites; Christian; Saint)

Thecla of Kitzingen (a.k.a. Tecla; Christian; Saint)

Yet Another Noodle Day Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White (Children’s Book; 1952)

Curb Your Enthusiasm (TV Series; 2000)

The Dragon Reborn, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1991) [Wheel of Time #3]

Elvis’ Christmas Album, by Elvis Presley (Album; 1957)

Fight Club (Film; 1999)

The Fires of Heaven, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1993) [Wheel of Time #5]

For Once in My Life, by Stevie Wonder (Song; 1968)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, by Elton John (Song; 1973)

Good Golly Miss Molly, recorded by Little Richard (Song; 1956)

The Great Dictator (Film; 1940)

The Heart of Saturday Night, by Tom Waits (Album; 1974)

Heidi (Film; 1937)

I Love Lucy (TV Series; 1951)

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (Film; 2019)

La Mer, by Claude Debussy (Symphonic Suite; 1905)

The Lion King (Broadway Musical; 1997)

Lord of Chaos, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1994) [Wheel of Time #6]

Nowhere Boy (Film; 2010)

Power Windows, by Rush (Album; 1985)

RED (Film; 2010)

Rock Me Amadeus, by Falco (Song; 1985)

Rudy (Film; 1993)

Sabrina (Film; 1954)

Slip Sliding’ Away, by Paul Simon (Song; 1977)

Surfing with the Alien, by Joe Satriani (Album; 1987)

Team America: World Police (Animated Film; 2004)

Tupelo Honey, by Van Morrison (Album; 1971)

Today’s Name Days

Theresia (Austria)

Rezika, Tekla, Tereza, Terezija, Valter (Croatia)

Tereza (Czech Republic)

Hedevig (Denmark)

Eda, Ede, Hädi, Häidi, Heda, Hedi, Hedvig, Heidi, Heivi (Estonia)

Helvi, Heta (Finland)

Thérèse (France)

Aurelia, Franziska, Therese, Theresia (Germany)

Loukianos (Greece)

Teréz (Hungary)

Teresa (Italy)

Eda, Ede, Hedviga, Jadviga (Latvia)

Domantė, Gailiminas, Leonardas, Teresė (Lithuania)

Hedda, Hedvig (Norway)

Brunon, Gościsława, Jadwiga, Sewer, Tekla, Teresa (Poland)

Terézia (Slovakia)

Teresa (Spain)

Hedvig, Hillevi (Sweden)

Lucian (Ukraine)

Essence, Terence, Teresa,Terrance, Terrence, Terri, Terry, Tess,Tessa, Theresa, Trace, Tracey, Traci, Tracy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 288 of 2022; 77 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 41 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Gort (Ivy) [Day 15 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Júyuè), Day 20 (Xin-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 20 Tishri 5783

Islamic: 19 Rabi I 1444

J Cal: 18 Shù; Threesday [18 of 30]

Julian: 2 October 2022

Moon: 69%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 8 Descartes (11th Month) [Hobbes]

Runic Half Month: Wyn (Joy) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 23 of 90)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 21 of 30)