#Ye Ballade of Patrick

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics:

1. Writings from Lovecraft's political magazine, The Conservative.¹

2. St. Armand's² now rare study of Howard & the Decadent Movement.

3. What we imagine HPL's life to have been like...

Sigh.

4. One of the many zines dedicated to every facet of Lovecraft's life & works.

5. Collection of the letters of 2 writers: one was the creator of Conan,³ the other created Cthulhu.

Two intellectual properties that should be enemies of each other...

I mean, Conan's gotten rid of a lot of mystic monsters but, Cthulhu is a creature of a different kind altogether!

Just hoping for an adversarial 'team up' here...

1915: HPL Output.

Intro: A rather crude & bigoted 'satire' where rebellious Irishmen meet some Germans, celebrate by drinking to- gether & threatened to slander the British Empire of their day.

This poem just happened to be print- ed - in Howard's Conservative - at the same time as the Easter Rebellion,⁴ when some Irish Republicans & some Germans tried to overthrow English rule in Ireland.

The Work: "(The) Ballade of Patrick Von Flynn" by Lewis Theobald, Jr.⁵

Quote:

"Germanis ipsis Germaniores."⁶

Text:

Attend you all my wondrous tale & I will tell to you, Of how an honest Irish- man⁷ into a Prussian grew.

(It) was (almost) 20 years ago I left my native bog, To seek in these majestic States⁸ a place to earn my grog.⁹

Sure, work was easily found for me, For I'm a clever man. I earned so much, I soon could buy my whiskey by the can.

With half a dozen other licks,¹⁰ a merry drinking crew, I used to hang around shebeens¹¹ & curses Old England blue!

Just why I hate the Englishman, I don't remember quite, But Jimmy Dugan's grandad says they've never used¹² Ireland right.

Sure all they ever done for us was civilize¹³ our land, (Yet) we've no use for sober laws, but all for freedom stand.

How glad will be the... day, When England last draws breath, And good Old Ireland shall be free - to drink herself to death!!

Now comes (a most) cruel war, with Germans running loose,... Here's... to them to make a stir¹⁴ (&) give (England) some more abuse!

(We) Irish... love (not the) Dutch,¹⁵ (were) siding with Germany, 'Cause she hates... England as (much) as... we!

...The Kaiser¹⁶ treat(s) us worse than England (has) ever done, But..., if we used England right - we'd lose our sweetest fun!

...Something in the Irish heart... never bows to rules; As (duty?) calls, we teach our sons sedition¹⁷ in the schools.

Last night, the Germans... all gathered in a hall, With... flags above the stage & (the) Kaiser on the wall.

I don't know what they wanted, but so far as I could see, They were (sent? by) the Kaiser & enjoined¹⁸ "neutrality."

They... denounced the President & cursed... Yankee laws, For being too (biased)... to help the German cause.

Footnotes:

1. The Conservative (1915 to 1923) was HPL's own amateur journal, which he edited & published sporadically.

However, many articles in it were actually written by others.

Inside, it included politics, poetry, social commentary, short stories & literary criticism.

Yet, Lovecraft's brand of conservatism bears little resemblance to today's treasonous scene.

Instead, Howard was calling for a revival - a return to the wellspring which 1st inspired Western culture.

HPL's magazine coincided with the 1st world war & the Russian Revolution.

For Lovecraft & his fellow writers crude nationalism & socioeconomic politics weren't the solution they sought.

Rather, they wanted an end to chaos - thru racial division, cultural imperial- ism & a strong sense of morality.

Howard was, at the time, against democracy & liberalism.

HPL's ideal state was a return to the aristocratic values of earlier times - with England as the main culture...

So, The Conservative now stands as a record of Lovecraft's worldview.

And, as a narrow glimpse into early 1900s America.

2. Professor Emeritus Barton Levi St. Armand wrote H.P. Lovecraft: New England Decadent (1979) to offer insight into the history of HPL related scholarship & Howard's roots in the decadent movement of 1800s Europe.

3. Conan, it's thought, lives in the ancient past of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Both story cycles share eldritch monsters & deadly magic - both being very dangerous to normal humans!

Things like Lizard/Snake Men, Dagon, Old Ones, etc are mentioned by both writers.

Yet, Conan kills a lot of these powerful creatures & magicians!!

In fact, Conan is such a badass, that he rudely mocks these evil beings - as he's killing them!!!

4. The Easter (Week) Rebellion/Rising (April 24 to 29, 1916) tried to establish an Irish Republic - while the U.K. was fighting in WW1.

Most of the fighting took place in Dublin, with street battles & long range sniping in different parts of the city.

The rebellion was put down by the larger forces & heavier weapons of the British army.

485 folk were killed, most being civilians & British personnel...

16 rebel leaders were executed.

5. This was 1 of Lovecraft's many pen names.

But, the name seems based upon a real person!

Lewis Theobald was an English textual editor & author known for his work on Shakespearean editing, seven classic translations, some literary satire & play writing.

He was also a plagiarist...

6. Latin "For the Germans themselves, the Germans."

I'd guess that this meant "Germans only wanted other Germans in Germany."

Of such selfish dreams, were so many monstrous crimes built...

7. Ireland ("Eire" locally), as a self- governing dominion (the "Irish Free State") was born in December of 1921.

It took until 1937, for its leaders to pass a new constitution - giving itself more political power over itself.

Then, in 1949, it legally left the British Commonwealth & became its own, true nation - the Republic of Ireland.

8. The United States, that is...

9. Grog originally referred to a daily ration of - diluted! - rum given to sailors of the British Navy in the 1700s.

It was given as a boost to Navy men to fight off the doldrums (calm, wind- less parts in the Equator) of long sea voyages.

Grog, eventually, was made up of rum, gin or whiskey with sugar, lime & water.

10. Knowning the petty meanness of Howard's satires, he must have meant the slang "someone who's been totally overcome, defeated or conquered!"

11. A shebeen, in Ireland, is an illegal (unlicensed & disreputable) working class place that sells alcoholic liquor.

12. Here, HPL means "treated." As in "the Irish were not 'treated' well..."

13. To civilize another nation is here used as in "to bring a people 'up' to a more advanced level."

This, of course, means that the Irish were viewed as a wild & unrefined barbarians!

In truth, they were followers of the older Celtic culture from Europe.

14. Stir, in this case, means "an event that causes a disturbance."

15. The Dutch are people from The Netherlands.

Holland isn't their nation's name! Just two Dutch provinces go by the place names of North & South Holland...

I think I know why Lovecraft hates the Dutch.

These folk, in Howard's time, were thought to have risen from a mixture of Frisian, Saxon & French peoples.

And, we know how HPL believed in 'racial purity'...

The mixing of 'races' is still seen as an abhorrent 'crime' in racist circles.

In fact, the Dutch are now thought to come from a mixture of native folk & German populations!

But, it's now known that rare Paleo- humans were first found living in Spain - around 3 million years ago...

16. Kaiser ("Emperor") was the title of German rulers from 1871 to 1918 - 3 men in all.

17. Sedition is "speaking or organizing things towards a rebellion against an established government."

This includes "subversion of a nation's constitution" & "inciting discontented people to establish an insurrection."

Gosh.

And they say you can learn nothing from history...

18. To enjoin is to "teach" or "urge someone to do something."

In this case, they want the Irish to declare themselves neutral & not help the British militarily.

Strangely enough, as a legal term, it can mean the opposite, "to prohibit" or "ban something" thru a legal order.

Next: Part 2.

[ofgentleresolve]

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[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) 1993

"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" is a song written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by American rock singer Meat Loaf. The song was released in August 1993 as the first single from the singer's sixth album, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993). The last six verses features English singer Lorraine Crosby, who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud" in the album notes. While visiting the label's recording studios on Sunset Boulevard, Crosby was asked by her manager Steinman to provide guide vocals for Meat Loaf, who was recording the song "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". Cher, Melissa Etheridge and Bonnie Tyler were considered for the role. The song was a commercial success, however as Crosby had recorded her part as guide vocals, she did not receive any payment for the recording but she receives royalties from PRS. Crosby did not appear in the Michael Bay-directed music video, where model Dana Patrick mimed her vocals. Meat Loaf promoted the single with American vocalist Patti Russo performing the live female vocals of this song at his promotional appearances and concerts.

The power ballad was a commercial success, reaching number one in 28 countries. The single was certified platinum in the US and became Meat Loaf's first and only number one and top ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. It also became Meat Loaf's first and only number one single on the UK Singles Chart, and was the best-selling single of 1993 in the UK. The song earned Meat Loaf a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo.

American film director and producer Michael Bay directed the accompanying music video for "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". The cinematographer was Daniel Pearl, particularly known for filming The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1973. Pearl says that this video "is one of my personal all-time favorite projects… I think the cinematography is pure, and it tells a story about the song." The video is based on Beauty and the Beast and The Phantom of the Opera. Bob Keane did Meat Loaf's make-up, which took up to two hours to apply. The make-up was designed to be simple and scary, yet "with the ability to make him sympathetic." The shoot went over budget, and was filmed in 90 °F (32 °C) heat, across four days. The video, which was the abridged seven-minute version of the song rather than the twelve-minute album version, was put into heavy rotation on MTV.

Meat Loaf appeared in over 50 films and television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. His film roles included Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Robert Paulson in Fight Club (1999).

"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" received a total of 77,7% yes votes!

[omegalomania]

trying to put something together, do you have any examples of the the rest of the guys in fob supporting pete? or your favorite things theyve said about him?

i've assembled a compilation of fob just generally being super protective of each other over here, but ur in luck cause i was actually trying to assemble other instances of the other guys sticking up for pete specifically because a lot a lot a lot of preh interviews usually had some question along the lines of "aren't you guys so jealous of peeeete" to which they unfailingly always said "um, no?" and i always thought that was very sweet. if you want more fodder for this you can look up basically any group pre-hiatus interview, esp ioh and folie eras. you'll see lots of drama-mongering headlines that imply the other guys are jealous of all the attention pete gets when the interviews themselves make it clear that's not really the case.

here are some of my favorite instances of the other guys sticking up for him, in the press and just in general. not specifically what you were asking about but along the same lines so i hope it helps

nervousbreakdance answering a tumblr question from brendonspube: What was your reaction to finding out Pete showed his doodle on the Internet?

He didn't show it. Someone hacked his phone. My reaction was disgust at the total lack of privacy/decency. It was fans who did that. At the time I thought to myself "With fans like this, who needs fans?" Pete actually quit the band briefly over it. And was inconsolable. For like weeks. He didn't leave his house. It was really dark. I was very angry at the people who did it, but I learned to get beyond it and understand/forgive that curiosity could drive people to do such unreasonable things.

Yes, he took a picture of his penis. To send to his girlfriend. Millions of people take racy pictures every day. They just don't have their phone's memory hacked and it's contents displayed for millions of people to see.

Sorry if I sound mad. Not mad at you, just mad at culture for treating him so unfairly about it. It was none of anyone's business and people shouldn't have been so awful to him about it.

From AP magazine, 2008: Stump, particularly touched by a rare ballad, perks up. "That says something about Pete Wentz. The Pete Wentz you read about isn't empathetic enough to write a record from the perspectives of his best friends. This Pete Wentz did that. Where's that story?"

"Don't print that," mumbles Wentz. "I don't want to be empathetic."

Stump doesn't want to let it go. "I'm going to say something about Pete that's never made it into a printed interview because it must not be that interesting, but it is the fucking truth," the singer declares. "The thing about Pete is that people have always watched him and given him attention, and you have two options as far as how you are going ot handle that. Either you are going to totally shut off, or you are going to occasionally say you'll smile for [the cameras]. He does both. Before he was 'Pete Wentz, Rock Star,' people just paid attention to him.

"A lot of the time I'm around this dude, he's very shy," Stump continues, turning to address Wentz directly. "But I get the impression that you don't really like attention that much, but you face it. So the one time you smile for the camera, people go, 'Oh, he's a fucking ham.' That's one of the things that's really frustrating." He turns back to address AP. "It's not even something Pete has control over, the stuff that gets thrust on Pete, like the greatness or shallowness of Pete Wentz. He's neither, he's just Pete. And I think that's one of the huge things about the band. We don't rule. We don't suck. We're just a band."

From Kerrang: If you want to see Patrick Stump - who is much feistier and more outgoing than the media ever paints him as - get irritated, there are two conversation points that are guaranteed to do the job. The first is to lay into Wentz, and the second is to talk about Stump and Wentz in a way that suggests that you believe they are the Stump and Wentz that the press has them pegged as - the 'geeky, placid, talented one', and 'the arrogant, power boy, fame whore'.

Stump's speech will alter, losing its friendly sing-song lilt, peppered with amusing vocal impressions to fatten up the anecdotes he shares, to a super-fast, exhausted but precise flow, scattered with lines like, "here's the thing..."

"The most frustrating thing about celebrity is the assumption that you know somebody based on what you've read about them," he sighs. "People have ideas of who we are but they're not always accurate. I've become, like, the shy guy, but when I'm an asshole that gets ignored. But when Pete's shy or really sweet, that gets ignored. I'm misleadingly articulate but I'm easily the least well-read of anyone in the band by a long shot. But there's something about this character that people see - they see my glasses or something - and they assume that I'm a mad scientist.

"It's real easy to make characters," he says. "I watch the character of Pete Wentz and I get defensive. Things are made up, things that he had nothing to do with..." His voice trails off.

"It makes me mad," he says, curtly, and pauses.

"Here's the thing," Stump continues again, the words firing out of his mouth faster now. "The Pete that they made up, yeah, I don't like that Pete. I don't like the fake Pete but that's not Pete at all."

Do you like the Patrick that they've made up?

"I don't really read a lot of his stuff," he whispers from under the brim of his cap. "He's not the most interesting to me.

"People talk about how bands break up as their egos get bigger or whatever, but if anything, Pete and I are better than ever," Stump adds. "Pete and I diffuse each other in a lot of ways and we're astoundingly similar guys. I'm just as crazy as he is - there's been a lot of to-do made about him being crazy - and he's just as meticulous, orderly and polite as I am."

So you have a dark streak like Pete?

"Of course. That's the funny thing, people attach to Pete's dark side but he's the funniest and most excitable guy. He's probably, per hour, per day, more pleasant to deal with than I am."

From an October 2008 interview with chorus.fm née absolutepunk:

What’s one thing you think people most misunderstand or misinterpret about you and/or the band?

I think they really don’t understand Pete. I’ve heard a lot of really awful, negative things said about Pete, and it’s like, “Dude, you don’t even have a clue how honest and real that guy is” for the amount of crap that people talk about him. Pete said it, and it’s true, they make you into a wrestling character. And it’s also like reality TV editing. It’s really easy to cut somebody in rolling their eyes when that might not have even happened next to the thing that it’s being shown next to. Honestly, I don’t know, that’s one thing that bothers me a lot. 

And then I’ll hear things from people where it’s like, “Oh your band’s great but I hate your bass player” and I’m like, then you just said you hate our band cause I don’t fucking care. He’s my best friend. Obviously he’s still in the band for a reason, it’s not like I’m waiting for someone to go “Oh yeah, you know, Pete sucks” and I’ll go like “Yes! Thank you, now he’s totally fired!” No, he’s my best friend and he’s absolutely important. He’s invaluable. I wouldn’t be here without him. I’ll hear things like, “Your voice is great but Pete’s really lame” and it’s like, well, Pete’s the only guy who got me to sing. I wasn’t a singer until Pete saw it in me. So I don’t particularly see value in me being a singer but he does and he’s always my cheerleader, trying to keep me going. So I am the musician I am pretty much because of Pete. And I’m not even saying I’m that great a musician. I’m saying if there’s anyone that thinks I am, all the thanks goes to Pete. So that’s one thing that bothers me a lot and I don’t think people really understand fully.

From an October 2008 interview with chorus.fm née absolutepunk: Do you or any of the other members ever feel a sense of jealousy towards Pete? 

No, we’re pretty defensive when it comes to the way he’s been portrayed. Pete’s my best friend, I was the best man at his wedding, I love that man to death. I’d take a bullet for him. But, I hate the way that the Pete Wentz that actually exists never gets covered, it never gets spoken of. There’s so many accusations that are so ridiculous about the guy that are taken as the gospel—people just assume that he posted pictures of his penis on the internet. That is the stupidest fucking thing thing I’ve ever heard. Why on earth would you ever do that? His parents were gonna see that, come on. Have some common sense. He is actually a human being. Would you want your penis all over the internet? Probably not. He probably doesn’t either. 

This is another little interesting factoid about Pete: he quit the band. I had to talk him back into the band after those pictures got out. It nearly broke the band up he was so devastated. He had to claw his way back up from massive depression to even make fun of it.

Anyway, no, we are not jealous of him. If anything, I would want people to know the real Pete Wentz. I get the impression that people don’t really want to know him, because he’s not the bad guy on the reality show. He’s the most loyal guy I know, to a fault actually. He’s one of those guys who will never stand against his friends. Here’s an analogy. If he’s gonna make some money off shoveling coal, he’s gonna bring his friend on with him, and his friend is gonna shovel coal. If the friend’s not good at shoveling coal, Pete will shovel more coal to make sure that guy gets his share, even if the guy is doing terrible work. The guy could sit down, relax, and open up a book, and Pete’s still gonna be shoveling coal for that guy. He is the most loyal guy I know. He reminds me a lot of the portrayal of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys just in the way that in Jersey Boys, and I don’t know if this is the true story, one of the other singers in the Four Seasons racks up this huge gambling debt and Frankie Valli is like, “We’ll pay for it, we will never ask for it back, we’ll just pay for it, he’s just gotta not do it again,” and that’s the kind of guy Pete is. I will never be jealous of him.

From AP Magazine #223: "Everyone forgets what they do in their own bedroom, in their own time," explains Stump. "I was never pissed at Pete for being Pete in his own time. I am pissed at whoever stole that picture and leaked it, and for being such a douchebag and having no sense of decency or privacy."

From Spin magazine in December 2005: "I think there would be resentment toward Pete from the other three," says Janick [Fueled by Ramen founder]. "I mean, how could there not be? But I've never seen it. It seems that they're a really tight unit."

Says Hurley: "[Pete's] the most loyal dude on earth. He's never done anything that we're not a part of." Trohman agrees: "He's a Type A personality and has a lot of leader qualities. Plus, we knew he was just better at that [business] stuff."

From Inside Entertainment in 2007:

Pete, you're dating Ashlee Simpson. How hard is it to deal with all the extra attention from your relationship? Pete: I mean, how crazy is it that you're dating some person, but then how much crazier is it that you're in love with that person? You want them at your shows, to come and do things with you, but because of who they are, that's all people focus on. I try not to do things that are detrimental to my band but it's just unfortunate because the two clash. Joe: The rest of us in the band know that whatever comes out of the media frenzy, that people attach to Pete and his girlfriend, it isn't something perpetrated by Pete. I mean, we'll do interviews and people will ask stupid, inane questions.

What kinds of questions? Joe: Like, "Are you writing a new record? Is it going to be about Ashlee?" And it's like, "Yeah, dude, that's totally what it's going to be about. That's why we started this band, just so Pete could meet Ashlee." He loves his girlfriend, it's as simple as that. But we're just regular dudes and we just like doing our band. We didn't do this to run around and be like Pete and show our pee pees to everybody. Pete: [Laughs] Joe: We started this to be a band. The best thing about doing this band is we've got to a level where we can focus on more important issues.

Tweet from Andy @FUCKCITY before he got his own Twitter, when fans were criticizing Pete about the hiatus during early 2010:

everyone stop attacking pete. that pisses me off-a

From AV Club in June 2007:

AVC: The cult of personality around [Pete] could sink another band. How does Fall Out Boy deal with that?

PS: The thing is that we know each other very well. Pete's probably my best friend in the world; I think he understands me better than a lot of people, and I understand him better than a lot of people. And that's the way we get over it. If they make you into a wrestling character, into that great mythical kind of bad guy, it's really easy for people to make you into something, to decide who you are. At the end of the day, the Pete that I read about, yeah, I don't like him 'cause I've read he's a total dick. But the thing is I actually know Pete Wentz, and he's a really good guy, he's a really quiet guy, he's a really polite guy. He's a really mellow, honest, loyal guy. He's not this cold-hearted mogul. It's the funniest thing; if Pete Wentz really cared about money, he'd probably make more. He wastes and loses more money than anybody I know—he gives it away. At any rate, whatever, I don't want to gush about him, but that's how we overcome that whole cult of personality. At the end of the day, they deify you or demonize you, but you're really just some guy.

[swearphil]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about. tagged by @reasonandfaithinharmony! thank you, friend!

buckle up, friends, because I somehow posted 98 gif sets this year and it's probably going to be 100 sets by the end of the year tbh. that number sounds so ridiculous. it's all your faults because part of the reason why I made so much was because I felt so encouraged and loved by the people I've gotten to know and know better this year, so thank you.

I started trying to put all the sets in a post and that just got overwhelming for me to look at so we're doing my top favorites with some fun statistics at the end. I think it'll come as no surprise that I mostly made rwrb and heartstopper sets this year, so I decided to do my top 5 rwrb sets, top 5 heartstopper sets, and top 10 miscellaneous sets.

top 5 rwrb sets

page to screen ripped pages: this is the first set I made after the movie was released. I worked on it for hours and really enjoy how it turned out. the text placement was what took the longest. I knew what words from each passage I wanted to highlight so it took some rearranging to make sure those were visible.

acd x all american bitch: the idea for this came about when casey posted an instagram story of GUTS and songs that correspond with their characters. I love me some bi coloring, so using that for this set was really fun!

firstprince x wildest dreams: I don't know what it is about this set that makes me love it so much. I think it's the shade of pink and then the light orange from the text.

henry "that is him, part and parcel": I adore henry and bea and that's all I have to say about this set.

firstprince x exile: I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the tags for this one and I am not sorry at all for the pain I have caused. I got the idea for this set after sending @kiwiana-writes the fake fic title "I gave so many signs" and they wrote a heartwrenching summary. I immediately wanted to do something with it!

top 5 heartstopper sets

moments of healing: day two of heartstoppercentral's pride celebration for this year. putting this together made me really emotional. I'm so grateful for alice and these moments of communication we get on the show.

imogen x ballad of a homeschooled girl: yes, I did intentionally use colors on the lesbian flag for this set. it was actually going to be purple at first to match the GUTS album but I didn't like how it looked. I tried pink, liked it, wondered what color worked with pink, and thus the color palette was born!

narlie x brighter than sunshine: day 3 of heartstoppercentral's pride celebration. as schitt's creek fans know (and as a couple people pointed out in the tags), this is the song that plays at the end of "Meet the Parents." I think I knew right away I was going to use this song for this day of the event.

narlie x fearless (taylor's version): I still can't believe I made this set. it's something just last year I would have deemed too complicated. I'm proud of myself for this one.

charlie standing up to ben: this set idea was suggested by @swiftlythebest. idk if this was intentional on alice's part, but I really enjoy how charlie says similar sentiments in both episodes. like "leave me alone" -> "I don't want to see you ever again."

top 10 miscellaneous sets

alexis rose + "destined to be on fire": I can't believe how much I've grown as a gif maker over the past three years and this set shows that growth. I also adore alexis and her journey.

david/patrick open mic: I made this set once I got back home from seeing noah in concert. I was truly close to tears during the concert when I realized I was watching him perform a song from a show I have loved for three years.

david/patrick relationship dynamic: @reasonandfaithinharmony @roseapothecary and @rmd-writes are to thank for this set coming into existence. the fact that I had so many scenes to choose from shows that this truly is david and patrick's dynamic.

schitt's creek + barbie posters: I knew right away what kind of barbie david and alexis were going to be.

GUTS + favorite lyrics: god I really love this set. the typography? the coloring? I really outdid myself.

the good witch + ages: another set I just absolutely adore. I love the shades of pink I used. also, maisie, thank you for including consecutive years in the album because it really would have bugged me if they weren't lol

danandphilgames + fuck land: my url becomes relevant again! if you told me at the start of this year that the gaming channel would be back, I would not have believed you.

calliette x love affair: I really love the overlays for this one. it just ended up working well on its own with little manipulation from me. the song is from the end of the last episode. it worked great for the antagonists event!

ellie x you're on your own, kid: I had this idea for a few weeks before I actually got around to making it. I remember being worried and surprised that no one else that I saw did a set with this song.

vampire by olivia rodrigo: the lyric "bloodsucker, fame fucker" really did something to me.

fun statistics: out of the 98 sets I made

39 are rwrb

34 are heartstopper

8 are schitt's creek

6 are music artists

5 are dan and phil

4 are the last of us

1 is tarlos

1 is calliette

32 use taylor lyrics

tagging (no pressure of course!) @roseapothecary @swiftlythebest @rmd-writes @leclercpiastri @mulderscully @victoriaspriing and if anyone else wants to do this, feel free to say I tagged you!

[sgiandubh]

Sunday sounds: Welcome home

This very recent piece of news, courtesy of The Guardian, brought today's sounds as a natural choice (yes, Sunday sounds are going to also be a sort of fixture on this page): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/18/death-masks-recreate-face-of-bonnie-prince-charlie. And I have to say casting got it rather right with Andrew Gower. Mark me, hehe.

Óró, sé do bheatha 'bhaile literally means welcome home and before its incarnation as one of the legendary Irish Civil War songs, it was one of the Jacobite ballads, directly linked to the Third Rising, Culloden and all the rest that keeps us busy and involved in here.

The Dubliners' version is not my favorite (in my book, Derek Warfield hits the right energy), but it is the closest one to the old Jacobite tune the Victorians dutifully rediscovered around 1855, combining it with the now classical Patrick Pearse lyrics. And yes, I have listened very carefully, albeit with absolutely nothing under my belt than my enthusiasm (and certainly no damn Gaelic proficiency).

[megumishotgf]

kpop groups class 1-a listen to because i said so

here are some of my headcanons detailing what kpop groups some of the 1-a students would listen too!!

also i’m terribly sorry for the inactiveness. got diagnosed with autism and dropped out of uni (i’m so much happier now) and am going to pursue my art dreams.

masterlist

: ̗̀➛ kyoka jirou

jirou loves day6! prefers k-rock over k-pop but still knows all the best hits of each year. her expert knowledge mainly focuses on second generation groups. it’s as if she’s been spending years preparing for a pop quiz on this. other artists she likes include the rose, xdinary heroes and rolling quartz. she loves boy groups and girl groups equally.

: ̗̀➛ tenya iida

this man is a stan of snsd. tenya is a very cultured man and generally gives me second gen stan vibes. he truly believes ‘into the new world’ changed the trajectory of his life and had the biggest cultural impact of any piece of media in this century. tenya will write an essay arguing this. he also appreciates exo and shinee! hates superjunior (as he should) but hearing lucifer gets his hips shaking side to side.

: ̗̀➛ momo yaoyorozu

momo loves classical and instrumental music (her spotify wrapped is just studio ghibli soundtracks) but she can appreciate the occasional k-pop song. she loves female soloists in particular! think iu, taeyeon, chungha, ailee… she knows how to appreciate beautiful female vocals. also has a strong affinity for k-drama soundtracks. the ones with special idol features - you know what i’m talking about. slow, romantic ballads. shows jirou all her favourite ones (jirou thinks they’r kind of boring but listens just for her girlfriend).

: ̗̀➛ izuku midoriya

izuku loves bts because of the messages in their songs. he finds their story so inspiring. izuku relates to the fact that they built up their legacy from the ground up with nothing but hard work, and that they were ignored for so long. definitely listens to spring day and young forever when he is sad and just sobs (just like me fr). if you knock on his dorm and ask if he’s okay, he will squeak out a response insisting he’s fine. but you can still hear him sobbing into the pillow during the pauses before the next queued songs play. oh and izuku’s bias is namjoon because of how well spoken and intellectual he is, but he admires all members for their passion. oh and and ochako introduced him to twice!! he loves how cheerful their music is.

: ̗̀➛ ochaco uraraka

now, uraraka has devoted her life to twice. she is a diehard twice fan. but she is poor and her only album was a gift from kirishima and she treasures it. her favourite era was dance the night away and her bias is jihyo (this is so intellectual of her). carries a photocard in her phone case. class 1-a surprise ochako with tickets to see them live on one of her birthdays (they piled up all their money) and she just started floating towards the ceiling in shock. then she cried there

: ̗̀➛ mina ashido

mina is in love with ateez!! she loves to learn their dances and appreciates their high energy. also thinks they are the most beautiful men to grace this earth (this is facts). her bias is yeosang. she knows every choreo and it always looks incredible. for school festivals, mina will gather some of her classmates and force them to learn complicated dance choreo to perform in front of everyone. this year it was o.o by nmixx.

: ̗̀➛ shouto todoroki

shouto undoubtedly listens to loona and is not afraid of admitting it. it’s like the patrick bateman meme - he walks with zero emotion but hi high is blasting in his headphones. however does not know their names, or at least he cannot put name to face. but yes he knows their whole discography. bought an album once and he was shocked at how many inclusions there were (he was expecting just a cd). eventually discovers the loona universe and fan theories and for a week straight it was all shouto spoke to his friends about. they got so annoyed they blocked the word loona from their social medias temporarily so it wouldn’t set him off on a spiral.

: ̗̀➛ katsuki bakugo

hmm.. katsuki loves dreamcatcher. this man has got superior taste. i feel like katsuki would mainly listen to rock music and hip-hop. so other artists he may appreciate are dean, dpr live and epik high. but sometimes you can hear red velvet coming from his dorm and if you question him about it he will scream at you (if it plays when katsu is drunk you can even catch at a peek at him doing the choreo when he thinks no one is looking).

: ̗̀➛ eijiro kirishima

also a cultured man as kirishima is a fan of twice. he joins the girls when they had ‘girly’ sleepovers and learns the dances from them (this headcanon applies to all their ‘girls night’ sleepovers. kiri makes them so much fun). this is especially fun during award shows, where they all gather around a laptop, eyes wide and glossy as they wait for their favourite groups to hopefully be announced as winners. definitely films the dances on tiktok and also shows them to katsuki later. based on mina’s recommendation, he would probably listen to ateez too!

: ̗̀➛ denki kaminari

i sense a neverland. this man is obsessed with (g)-idle. denki has a crush on soyeon (he is me). denki cried when soojin left (i did too) but will take this to his grave. also loves stayc. he most certainly owns a few albums. he prefers girl groups over boy groups because he is a bit of a perv (sorry denki i love you!!). but also because denki believes girl groups have superior music. his most played song of all time is tell me by the wonder girls.

[quatregats]

WIP guessing game! slang, slander, slay

These are truly making me dredge through every draft of every ill-advised fic that I have ever written, apparently I only use like three words 😅

I couldn't find a single use of "slang" in anything which I'm deeply disappointed in myself for...faking the being attuned to linguistic factors for attention I guess...

SLANDER

From a very random draft of The Creative Endeavor AKA 4-3-3 AKA my modern Aubreyad football AU (the normal kind of football not the American kind in case the 4-3-3 does not immediately ring bells) - this is from about two years ago, and I promise I have learned to write them better in the interim:

“Hmm,” Stephen said, raising his eyebrows. “Well, that certainly explains why you were comparing him to a weasel.” “I hope you're not offended. It was the first animal that came to my mind.” “No, no. Better Mustela nivalis, whose crimes are based in true animosity, than, say, the unjustifiable slander against snakes. But you were saying something about Harte, I believe?”

SLAY

From like, the first draft of my very strange Stephen/Jack "Famous Flower of Serving Men" crossover. Yes like the folk ballad. Don't ask, it will not get any clearer, but I'm unsurprised that this word showed up in it since it shows up in the original song

Late that night, a band of brigands set forth from the back gate of the royal castle. It was a company of the worst sort of men—thieves and murderers who would slay a sleeping babe without the slightest prick of conscience. They had received their orders from the upstart lord: do away with the bastard child, and they would be rewarded generously.

Thank you for putting me through my paces!

(Also side note but if the actual first draft of 4-3-3 were typed in a document and not like 100+ pages of handwritten scrawl I might be able to answer way more of these. Alas it is not :/, it remains in the notebook, untyped, but that's how Patrick O'Brian would have wanted it.)

[indie-bard-maiden]

~Black Crescent Bay~

(the mermaid/siren/pirate descendent story, apart of my short story collection 'The Ballad of Hollowfaye' also available to read on wattpad)

Patty Dean (the descendant of a cruel Pirate Lord) is being targeted by a clan of mermaids. They came for his brother last year and would've come for him too if he hadn't already been dragged to the icy depths of Black Crescent Bay by a Siren, Alix Kane. Now he needs to find her again. He needs to understand. But is it too late? Has he already fallen under her spell?

Genre: Past vs Present

Word Count: idk???

(PART 1)

PAST:

Patty's brother, Elliot, threw a Halloween party every year, and it was always bigger than anything Hollowfaye had ever seen. There were no invitations—you were allowed to come if you brought alcohol or weed. Patty didn't need an excuse to get wasted beyond comprehension, but this party fit the bill every time.

It was the only rule, but somehow he still ended up barring people from entering unless they stopped fucking around. For some reason everyone thought he was going to be more lax with the rule now that Elliot was away at college.

Usually they were the people that insisted on bringing rocks and spices from their kitchen—blessed crystals and charmed herbs, as they usually insisted upon calling them.

The barring wasn't going so well.

Alix Kane, some goth girl that too believed in blessed crystals and charmed herbs, was begging to be let in, and Patty, after he'd drunk a little too many, couldn't stop from laughing hysterically in her face.

His friends were around, so he couldn't help it. He was the funny guy, the one people were always waiting to make an asshole out of himself. When they weren't waiting for that, they were waiting for this party.

So you see his obligation, yes?

Alix, however, was in a foul mood, and she wasn't much up for laughing. She stared at him with narrowed icy blue eyes and pursed black lips—lipstick, he'd hoped.

"Look, it's the same rule it's always been, Al: No alcohol, No entry."

She jabbed the crystal into his stomach with ferocity, and it tickled more than anything.

"I'm telling you, Pat, these crystals will clear your mind; these herbs will release you from evil. All much better prizes than beer."

He was getting annoyed with her then. People with actual party favors were forming a line behind her, all waiting to get on his Uncle's boat. He didn't have time to explain that it just wasn't happening.

"You keep 'em then, if you really care about them that much." He looked behind her, signaling he was done, "Linus, are those brownies I see?" He didn't even know if the kid was Linus.

He was still watching Alix out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to leave. But she still stood, waiting.

"You think evil isn't everywhere, Patrick? You were born from evil, your father's entire bloodline is filled with nothing but thieves, rapists, and murderers."

He ignored her. He knew what she was talking about. His Great-Great-Great-Great-Great (give or take a few million Greats) Grandfather was Patrick 'Black Pat' Dean, the sailing master of the 'Phantom Queen' before he murdered the captain with his bare hands and became anointed as: notorious murderer, pillager, rapist, and Captain of the Phantom Queen.

He died young, 24, but thanks to his many, many forced conquests, he had a number of children up and down the East Coast.

More children than gold, his uncle often said (he had a lot of gold), and the only reason he and his mother could afford this boat, and Black Crescent Bay and the cabin sitting above it, was because their bloodline was the most legitimate.

Black Pat had married his Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother, Lorelai, when she was just sixteen. They 'd had three kids—which in Pat's opinion, was three too many—by the time he abandoned her to write his history in the golden age of Piracy. He'd only returned to her after his legs got eaten off by a tiger shark, with a dead crew and a ship full of gold and jewels.

Patty didn't know what any of that had to do with getting into a party though.

"You're welcome to come next year, Al. Remember to bring some smokeable herbs though."

He turned back to her after letting Linus pass by them after having the slightest whiff coming from his Tupperware in waves. She stood there, stiff and stricken, not staring at him but through him, eyes bulging out of her skull.

The whole thing gave him chills. A second longer of this, and he was going to lose his cool.

But then she shook her head and reached for his hand. He'd been expecting a beg or something. He'd never seen her put on a show, but he figured she wasn't above it, especially for the biggest party in Hollowfaye to date. But she didn't beg. She interlocked their fingers and he lurched forward at her strength.

"Death is all around you, Patrick. You're stained with it." Her voice was misty and colder than the sea breeze around them. Her ice blue eyes glowed like starlight, moved like the pulse of the tide.

Before he could tell her she should leave, she pressed her black lips onto his. They were hot like balls of flame, and they blistered his lips—the sizzling and popping of the skin made him flinch back but it wasn't backward that he went. She pulled him forward and before he could grab ahold of anything, she was tripping him with her barefoot and pushing him off the other side of the pier.

His muscles seized and tensed against the wrath of the frigid water. He sank immediately. His arms stayed flat and straight; his legs side-by-side. With all his might, he tried to fight, but something was keeping him from doing so. Like there was an invisible wall he couldn't force himself through.

And then a voice—a voice he'd heard before— so familiar he knew it like his own, kissed his skin and wrapped him in silk blankets, warming him from within, 'Pat...' he waited, totally and earnestly consumed, '...stop fighting it. Stay here and be free with me.'

Elliot.

He listened for a second, almost as if it was a reflex, but then reality hit him and he shook his head violently.

It took a whole second for him to realize he was going to die. He sank and he sank. But he didn't die.

A shadowy figure pulled him free of the warm silk he was entangled in, and as soon as he was back on the pier—freezing cold and shivering—he sputtered the salty water out of his lungs.

He expected to see Alix, waiting with a stark-white smile and glacial blue eyes. She wasn't there. Only the people waiting in line remained.

"She just tried to fucking kill me." Was all he could force out through his vibrating teeth.

His best friend, Sol, was drenched and shivering beside him, while Sol's girlfriend, Litha was bumbling over swears as she jumped off the side of the boat with a handful of blankets for them. She wrapped a stack around Sol and a stack around him, attempting to wipe away all the salty-water.

"You stupid fuck." Sol was breathless, and the icy waves had beaten his face blue, "What the hell was that?"

This pissed off Patty. He hadn't done it himself. That bitch pushed him in! He could've died, and now he was being blamed for it?!

"Where is she?" He tried to stand, his anger overcoming him, "Al! Alix Kane!" He wailed like a man possessed.

Sol shoved him, trying to get him to shut up, but it didn't work. Nothing worked until he slapped his hand over his mouth and forced silence upon him.

"Dude! Just shut up! Shut up for a second!" Patty did, only so Sol would pull his hand away, but it remained firmly in place. Not until Patty looked him in the eye did he remove it.

He spoke slowly and calmly--as if Patty was a stupid kid, "You tried to push her, Pat, but you fell."

He narrowed his eyes and thickly swallowed the residual sea grime on his tongue, "She kissed me and then she pushed me in—" he turned to the crowd, he was sure she was there, he could feel the lingering chill of her presence, "you psycho bitch!"

Litha hushed him and bundled him tighter with the blankets. "Be quiet." She whispered so the crowd couldn't hear.

Patty glared up at her. She was acting like she was his mother again. He hated when she did that.

Sol shook his head, teeth clattering, lips turning blue, "People are going to think you're crazy, man, so just be quiet."

Patty couldn't believe his ears. He was the victim of an attempted murder! Everyone was acting like he hadn't just been pulled from the icy depths of the bay.

"She pushed me, Sol. You saw it, you were right there."

He stared down at him cooly, shivering and shushing him simultaneously, not giving him any validation, "I was right there, Pat... And that's not what I saw... Just shut up until the police get here."

"The police?" His heart jumped.

His uncle was the chief of police, but that didn't mean things were easier for him. In fact, it made things harder. The one allowance he was given was this stupid party, and that was with the promise that none of the kids would be driving home under-the-influence.

How could he possibly control what these other idiots decided to do?

Patty knew that as soon as his uncle arrived that he was going to flip his shit and then these Halloween parties would be something of the past.

"Where's Alix?" He repeated through clattering teeth.

Sol shook his head, "She ran. You scared the shit out of her. You scared the shit out of me too; you looked like..." He trailed off.

"What?" Patty tried to sit up, but Sol held him down.

"Stay. You could be hurt." Litha, Sol's girlfriend, grabbed him by his shoulders, giving him a gentle squeeze. Patty rolled his eyes and slapped her hands away.

The crowd of students waiting to go inside quickly dispersed after hearing that the police were going to show up. Linus didn't even leave the brownies. Soon the boat itself was empty. The only people that remained on the pier were the three of them.

"I didn't push her." Was all Pat could think to say. He knew he hadn't.

Sol and Litha exchanged a glance before he looked down at him, his eyes flickering between his before he nodded slowly, "Okay..."

He was looking down at him like he'd just hit his head, and he began to wonder if he had. It all happened so fast. When his uncle finally arrived with the sirens blaring and the red and blue lights reflecting off the water and the coastal shop windows, he had to explain what had happened to the best of his ability.

He could feel Sol beside him not believing a word that was coming out of his mouth. It was maddening. He knew what had happened. But that didn't matter. It wasn't what he was there for.

"You think I give two shits about your dumbass falling in the water—something's happened. Your mother needs you home." He gave Sol a stern glare with his black beady eyes. "You two, get home. NOW!"

"Does Elliot know?"

His uncle didn't answer the question. Just lowered his voice, "Don't make me tell you again."

So, he'd gone home... The news wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting. His mother wasn't mentally sound, in and out of therapy and group therapy and meetings and doctors appointments since he and his brother were just kids, and he'd been expecting this to be one of her episodes.

Sometimes she'd unplug the fridge in the middle of the night because she thought the rumbling electricity was a parasitic demon laying eggs in their food. They'd starve until his uncle would stop by after she'd not answered any of his calls. It usually took days... Once, it even took weeks; the only way they'd survived was because Elliot had snatched them double lunches when the teachers weren't  looking.

She was put on heavy medication then. Sometimes it worked, other times her morose kept her hostage in her bed.

He wasn't expecting the problem to be Elliot. Nobody knew what had happened and nobody could ask Beth, their mom, because most of the time, she couldn't answer coherently.

What the official police report said—and his uncle later repeated through a vein-strained neck—was that Elliot was drunk, fancied some sexy relaxation with his girlfriend, Freesia or Hibiscus or something, in the hot tub and had fallen asleep. They got into an argument, she left, and he stayed in the water. Mom found him facedown hours later, chlorine-marinated and wrinkled like a raisin...

He was in a coma for a few weeks after that. A part of Pat thought he'd pull through. They'd pulled through so many other things together. He'd stayed at the hospital as often as he could. He wanted to be there when he woke up so he could be the first to tell him how stupid he was.

This wasn't one of those times though. One night while Pat slept, Elliot's brain died and so he did too. Nothing good ever happened at that clinic, nothing. He didn't know what to believe because he didn't trust anyone. He didn't even trust himself, how could he? Especially after what had happened with Alix Kane.

When things were starting to get normal for him at school again—when the teachers stopped pitying him, instead focusing it on the Vespers again because their death cycle was every six months—he decided he'd find her and ask her about what really happened that night.

But nobody knew who she was.

"Alix... Kane...?" Sol had raised an eyebrow at him, "Maybe she goes to Bellevue?"

He rolled his eyes, thinking he was joking, "She sits behind us in Folkore of the Masses."

But he just stared at him.

NEXT PART AVAILABLE╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ HERE

BACK TO MASTERLIST? CLICK ╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ HERE

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to like, reblog, and/or comment if you liked or hated it. Spill the tea. Share your thoughts directly with the source (me.)

[kingofthewilderwest]

Hi, in the HTTYD episode "Tone Deaf", you had mentioned that Smotlouts song was a ripoff of a similar song (repetitive melody with increasing pitch). What is the artist/song title of the song that Snotlout was imitating? I remember hearing this on a radio station and have been unable to identify it. Thank you.

Hey there! I'm stoked about this because you're sneaking into my passion for folk music! Be prepared to get 500% more information than you needed! ;)

For starters, I'm glad good search engines exist to refind what you were referencing. In this 2016 post about Tone Death, I commented Hiccup's song started melodically similarly to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," while later elements of the song sounded familiar, but I was unable to place it. I'm still unable to place it, though it sounds like another old-fashioned band tune.

Since you mentioned a repetitive melody with increasing pitch and that matches When Johnny Comes Marching Home, I'm assuming that's what you were thinking about!

I don't mind that RTTE 'used' When Johnny Comes Marching Home. It wouldn't be a ripoff in my book. It makes music in RTTE boringly unoriginal, but composers closely mirror songs (especially folk songs) constantly, and a composer would know that, if he modeled something off a famous melody like When Johnny Comes Marching Home, it'd be noticed.

I'm not going to assume knowledge or nationality here, though I know many folks online will be well-acquainted with the song. So I'll start by saying there's no artist particular to it. There's technically not even one concrete title since it's a folk song from the United States Civil War, and as with all folk songs, that means variation, variation, variation. As a child, I learned it as The Ants Go Marching One by One! There's another children's variation, The Animals Went in Two by Two.

I have to nerd out and blab on the song since your ask gives me the excuse!

Irish-born immigrant Patrick Gilmore, one of the most well-known bandleaders of his time, is said to have composed When Johnny Comes Marching Home, with lyrics, in 1863 while serving the Union in the US Civil War. It was published on September 26 under the pseudonym Louis Lambert. The song became popular with both Unionists and Confederates, as it sang about the desire to see soldiers return home. However, Gilmore acknowledged he'd adapted an older melody. Where this older melody came from, though, isn't clear-cut.

The best claims I've seen point out the tune was published in July 1863 as Johnny Fill Up the Bowl, arranged by J. Durnal. Well, where did Durnal arrange it from? I've read Johnny Fill Up the Bowl was a popular drinking song with soldiers. But that's not the origin point, either.

There's a branch of this folk tune that's Irish, Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye, published contemporarily to When Johnny Comes Marching Home. (Hmhmhmhm Gilmore was Irish.) This publication was in 1867 by Joseph B. Geoghegan. I read that was originally under a different melody, though I couldn't find a scan of the sheet music to verify that with my own two eyes.

Tracing the song back further isn't as certain. Folklorists have pointed out melodic similarities to John Anderson, My Jo. That came from Robert Burns circa 1789, but even he was placing lyrics to an earlier melody. His poem was a polite change from bawdy lyrics that existed previously - a song running back to at least 1630. There are tons of variant titles to John Anderson, My Jo, and there are reportedly about forty variations to the tune (everywhere from Sweden... to Wales... to the USA's Johnny).

Going further back then that, there's less consensus. One scholar has suggested a connection to The Three Ravens, which was first referenced in print in 1611, but would be even older than that. Another song that's been proposed is I Am the Duke of Norfolk or Paul's Steeple, first put to print in 1651, but possibly arising from an event that occurred in 1561. Presumably a ballad arose within a week of a fire that burned down a steeple at Old Saint Paul's in London.

Of course, if you listen to something like Paul's Steeple, it's quite different from Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye - but that's the nature of centuries-long folk song evolution, where new sounds, shifting melodies, different lyrics, and more spawn across generations. It's like languages... Old English ain't intelligible to today's English, but there's a direct chain of evolution linking back.

As an American, I can say When Johnny Comes Marching Home is one of the most ubiquitous folk melodies around me. Its references typically retain military connotations -- to give one example, in Guns N' Roses's Civil War.

If you heard it recently on the radio, that's heckin' cool! I know that this song keeps appearing and reappearing in pop culture in different iterations. I'm so removed from pop culture I have no idea what you might've heard that's recent. Maybe now that you know it's citing When Johnny Comes Marching Home helps! Best of luck finding what you heard.

[lafcadiosadventures]

Madame Putiphar Readalong. Book Two, Chapter XXVI, second half.

Pastel Hued Rococo Horror

"La femme d’un charbonnier est plus estimable que la maîtresse d’un Roi.", original illustration by Michele Armajer, second edition of Madame Putiphar.

Putiphar is wrong in her perhaps Rousseaunian suppositions. In Patrick’s case, not all loves are brothers. To prove her wrong he “treats” her with a long and minute translation of the Irish song into french. It is not a love song, but a war ballad (and, it’s a real song, @sainteverge found the original lyrics and you can read them in their translation) it is a long, long history ballad about scottish and irish clans, so long that when Patrick is finally done translating dinner is served. (Nothing against the song itself it’s just hilarious how much of a reach pompadour had to make to fool herself into thinking it was a love song, but admittedly, horniness is a hell of a drug) I can imagine Pompadour desperately trying and failing to bring the mood back to sexy. Her chance finally springs up when dinner is announced and she can bring Patrick’s attention to her outfit

Pomps appologizes for feeling “too lazy”to dress properly, she is still wearing her sheer white robe de chambre, a so called laisse-tout-faire -> don’t need to spell out what is that “tout” which the crotchless, petticoatless and drawersless robe allows to do here. (Borel’s narrator plays the puritan apologizing for mentioning such impudic garments, but he has to, because, in a way that single word sums up the decadence of a whole epoch or something (Borel mentions two linguists here: Pierre Borel, and Ménage. This is fun because Borel has a witty and contrived way of saying the meaning of the expression is obvious: laisse-tout-faire is not a word that will torture the pierre borels and menages of the future, Borel scribbles, while he crafts words and expressions that will indeed torture future translators and linguists. in the best possible ways.)

So: once dinner is announced, they leave the boudoir and step into another room whichis a puzzle in itself. What is it? A salon? A bedroom? Another boudoir? The room is filled to the brim with all kinds of furniture, beds, bookshelves with the latest Enlightenment hits, sofas, a table. The bric-a-brac makes it almost impossible to walk around the table, the rococo horror vacui becomes an impediment to circulation, almost as if it’s designed to trap Putiphar’s intended sacrificial lambs after an intoxicating meal. (only now Patrick begins to envision that Putiphar has some projects for him, yes, even after all her writhing, boob groping and verbal insinuations. He finally notices that he is physically trapped as well. Her plans are basically abduction and sexual assault) There are also no visible doors since they are all covered with gobelins. And even if he could physically escape, he thinks, he could never run away from her resentment. He realizes like Cellini before him, that the queen/pompadour’s sex is a trap where both sleeping with her, or rejecting her are deadly choices, because the power imbalance is too vast. (Patrick has more moral concerns than Cellini, who is basically his diametrical opposite)

Patrick suddenly begins to notice he needs to sit down because he has had too much to drink, and that he is not only trapped, but utterly alone with her. He is scared and disgusted with her secret plotting, and feels guilty and stupid for having accepted her invitation. Feeling tired, heavy, intoxicated and scared, weighted down too by the realization that all his possible choices are potentially deadly, and that he cannot physically leave the horror-vacui roccoco funhouse death trap, he lets Fate chose for him. He will rely on his instinctual responses and puts himself in the hands of God. (or his conscience)

The castle and the witch are trying to eat Patrick alive, Putiphar is in full fledged Hansel and Gretel witch mode, she is pumping wine and aphrodisiacs into Patrick, who drinks and eats as little as he can without being overtly rude. The arousal he felt at the beginning of the chapter is totally gone. Her lies and intentions to get him by force and treachery disgust him. Yet he shows himself bold and spontaneous. This slightly offends her, since she can no longer attribute his codlness to shyness or inexperience. It’s a masks off moment for both of them.

(in terms of form of the novel, Borel includes some Spanish expressions here like vino rancio, and alcahueta. Spanish culture shows up in the form of something delicious, the wine, that Patrick manages to resist, which shows his strength, and to name the royal pimp, perhaps with a less decorous word than what he could have afforded to include in french? Like his use of carajo in Champavert, but not foutre/vit, for example)

She still hopes to seduce him though, she tries the method she uses on Pharao. Like a character in Crébillon’s The Sofa, where a monarch forces guests to tell him stories, (just like in the 1001 nights, but more relevant to our novel about the crimes and power abuses of the powerful, just like the king and Pompadour had Sartine did as we will see) She instead forces dirty gossip of the royal family and all the courtiers into Patrick’s ears. (Borel beings up a connection between the royal pimp, the “alcahueta de la corte” La Gourdan, and Sartine, the head of the secret police. This is historical fact, some of the police reports are still existent, what is questioned and possibly a myth is that Pompadour started this not to control the other courtiers, but to incite a sexual partner that was increasingly harder to please, which sounds of course, too naif to be real. (I’ll include bellow a letter on Gourdan which I’d wager is one of Borel’s source for all of this)

It’s fascinating that, in complete accordance to the rumours, these sexual stories have both an erotic and a punitive function, the courtiers use them for their own amusement, but they also have their pimps work closely with cops to ensure they can wield power through them. (They are basically fapping to police reports. Allegorically fascinating and disgusting) But the stories lack their desired effect. Patrick is neither aroused or amused, he is disgusted. She orders more champagne, but Patrick says he’s not a drinking man. It would be “monstrous” of him not to have any vices, she claims, lacking “passion” would make him inhuman. (note here, how a man who lacks addictions/inclinations that are deemed perverse and thus condemned, because that’s the way Pompadour frames it, is someone who she cannot subjugate by the sartine/gourdan method)

Patrick enjoys things but is addicted to none, and has none of the modern “vices” he doesn’t gamble, he can drink, dance and go to the theatre but he wouldn’t die if he had to do without those things. He is not an addict, he cannot be trapped by vicies like the courtiers The King, Pompadour, Sartine and la Gourdan surveil. Pompadour grows impatient: "Who do you love?", she asks. "I love women". And she continues her guessing game, and is so vain that when Patrick claims to love one women above all the others, who is young, beautiful and noble, she calls him a flatterer since she thinks he means her. Putiphar wants to take Debby’s ring (an old and austere relic) from him and give him a shiny new one. He refuses it since he loves Deborah, she calls her cruel, but insists on the gift, and in making him her lover. He still refuses, he cannot have two loves. He cannot divide the same love in two either (the literary/cultural theme of carnal versus holy love, divided between the angel in the hearth and the mistress) as Pompadour suggests. But Patrick still rejects her. She is indeed insulted by that open refusal, and by Patrick’s mention of Love, that is not what she wants from him. In her rage, she remembers the ace up her sleeve, which she was willing to forget if Patrick had flattered her and accepted to become her lover and her plaything: The murder conviction, his status as a fugitive from the Law. The die is cast. Left with nothing to lose, Patrick dares recall that Pompadour’s father is also someone who evaded the law, but thanks to her power and status, all of that was forgotten. The chief difference is Patrick is actually innocent, but he has no powerful protectors, (and in fact was incriminated by aristocrats) so he’ll have to pay for the crimes of another, while Pompadour’s father was indeed guilty, but given his status he’s safe from the law (once again, the theme of the law as definitely not blind and equal for all) Outraged, Putiphar calls for her men, but Patrick has the last laugh:

“Woah there! messieurs, calm down! Please wait, I still have a word to say to madame,” shouted Patrick! and, taking from the bookshelf a volume of the New Eloisa, he flipped a few pages, and added: “This word I have to say is not mine, it is that of the citizen of Geneva; here it is: “A coalman’s wife is more estimable than a king’s mistress.”

 (tr. by sainteverge )

When the lackeys attempt to grab him, Patrick draws his sword. He leaves the palace in his own terms. His attempt at bonding with the aristocracy are forever broken, since it was impossible to have them without degrading himself. It was required of him to cheat on his wife, to have sex against his wishes, to renounce to his citizenship, to adapt his tastes and opinions to those of the ruling class, to accept surveillance by Sartine, and so on. Patrick will probably not survive this book, but he values his integrity higher than his mere survival. He starts (like many other Romantic characters), his own glorious defeat arc, a kalos thanatos, death before living by rules that rot the soul.

***

Here’s an annex on La Gourdan by Théveneau de Morande, (apparently a french spy and blackmailer himself, living in London in the 18th c) found in his compilation of Gourdan’s correspondence for the Jean Nourse 1784-1866 London edition. I would wager Borel read this, not only it is cited in most papers on this subject, and the dates match, but also Morande calling Gourdan The Priestess of Cytherea, -a less popular name for Aphrodite that Borel uses in this very novel- makes me extra confident in this conjecture. Relevant quote on Sartine’s gazette and spying in the high class brothels here:

“(...)il faut que vous sachiez, mylord, que les lieux de débauche de cette capitale ne sont pas simplement comme nos bagnos à Londres : ils sont ici d'institution politique. Celles qui y président, par essence espionnes de la police, tiennent un registre exact de toutes les personnes qui viennent chez elles, et entrent à cet égard dans les détails les plus particuliers qu'elles peuvent apprendre. Vous sentez combien ils doivent être amusants. C'est sous le feu roi, et surtout à la fin de son règne, que cet historique du libertinage de la capitale était fort recherché. On assure que le magistrat chargé de cette partie en dernier lieu (Sartine, according to the footnotes) donnait une attention particulière; qu'il occupait journellement un secrétaire de confiance très-intime à rédiger de ces divers matériaux une gazette galante et luxurieuse, et que le monarque et sa maîtresse (Pompadour) en faisaient leurs plus chères délices. Le lieutenant de police d'aujourd'hui n'a pas cet avantage. Le jeune prince, ami des moeurs, rejetterait avec indignation une chronique aussi scandaleuse; il rougirait des turpitudes qu'on y dévoile. Mais ces archives d'horreurs et d'infamies n'en subsistent pas moins, comme pouvant servir à diriger le ministère dans quantités d'opérations sourdes, à lui fournir le fil de beaucoup de choses et le secret de presque toutes les familles. La dame Gourdan, par l'étendue de son commerce et par ses pratiques distinguées, devait être plus recommandable qu'une autre au gouvernement. C'est ce qui excite la curiosité des amateurs, soit pour découvrir dans son journal bien des gens qu'on ne se doutait pas d'y trouver, soit dans la crainte de s'y voir inscrits eux-mêmes. De quelque manière que le procès tourne, on espère, au surplus, qu'une femme aussi importante ne sera que suspendue dans l'exercice de son ministère et qu'elle le reprendra incessamment. On sait qu'elle a déjà réclamé les bontés des personnages en place les plus éminents ; on dit même Pompadour qui, pour dissiper l'ennui de son auguste amant, avait imaginé cette gazette(...)”

There's also this article on Pompadour and the court's policing of sex, and sexual rumours as a political tool to manipulate the public opinion. It covers some of Borel’s sources (La Bastille devoilé), some of the rhetorical strategies he uses in this chapter, like orientalizing the french despot.

(also thanks to this article I learnt that Les bijoux indiscrets is an allegory of all that policing of sex at Versailles. That makes young Diderot's choice of an oriental setting less about exotism and fantasy -although that is definitely there- and more about making the analogies with the french court less obvious >_>)

@counterwiddershins

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics: A bit of Dark Humor, only some of it being Lovecraftian.

No commentary needed...

1915: HPL Output - Part 2.

Intro: Continuation of Howard's "(The) Ballad of Patrick Von Flynn", which was 1st printed in HPL's political mag The Conservative - in 1916.

Text:

Then they started (upon) England & my heart beat quick with pride, As about "...British perfidy"¹ they babbled & they lied.

I thought we Irish could invent the rankest Billingsgate,² But wondrous are the fishy yarns these Dutchmen³ can relate!

My friends that had come with me were so moved with martial ire, (That) they (crowded) round (a) rusty stove to argue & perspire.

I grew so patriotic that I took my hat in hand, And shouted " (Salute the) Kaiser and the dear old Fatherland!"

Be that we'll lick (those) Brits within a fortnight⁴ sharp, And join in one triumphant flag, the eagle & the harp!⁵

Then all began to fraternize; Mc Nulty & von Bohn, O'Donovan & Hunster- berg, von Bulow & Malone.

In Bacchic⁶ bonds our pact we sealed; in harmony serene, We sang at once "Die Wacht am Rhein"⁷ & "Wearing of the Green."⁸

Old von der Goltz picked up a brogue;⁹ in Dutch young Dooley sang; Amid Prussian & Hibernian¹⁰ strains the ancient rafters rang!¹¹

Now all at once, a magic... crept into my bones, And my... voice burst forth - in Prussian tones!

I felt a strange sensation & in fancy (I) seemed to see, Instead of dear old Shannon's¹² banks, the gently rippling Sprec.¹³

No, not the Spree¹⁴ (do) I mean, but that which... flows, Through (the) Deutschland('s)³ grassy leas,¹⁵ where war & culture grows.

(Alas!)¹⁶...Where am I now? (And) what conflict am I in? Do I belong in Dublin¹⁷ town or back in Berlin?¹⁸

A week ago my son was born; his christening not far off; I wonder will I call him Mike or Frederick Wilhelm Hoff?

(It's) hard indeed for one like me to know just where (I'm) at; I wonder if my name is Hans or if it('s) still Pat?

But let me bore you all no more; the proper course is clear. I'll slander¹⁹ England all I dare & reason never hear.

A loyal 'neutral' I shall be in all my words & work, And never speak except to praise the Dutchmen & the Turk!²⁰

Footnotes:

1. Usually means someone who's "deceitful" & "dishonest."

But, it can also be somebody so dangerous they are "treasonous" & "disloyal."

2. Once, the name of the world's largest fish market - which was in London from 1850 to 1873.

Being that Lovecraft hated seafood, I imagine that he's going for the "foul" stench of such a place.

3. Dutchmen once described any folks from Germany, Switzerland, Austria & the Low Countries - Luxembourg, The Netherlands & Belgium.

Now, it's the preferred term for people from The Netherlands alone.

Dutchland once referred to Germany only.

Now, it's used to describe speakers of the Germanic languages - Germany, Flanders, Austria, Switzerland & The Netherlands.

4. A fortnight means a period of "14 nights" or "2 weeks."

This is because the Anglo-Saxons counted time spans by "nights."

5. The German eagle is a symbol of the sun, the life force & the highest God.

Strangely enough, the German coat of arms uses a black eagle with a red beak, tongue & feet on a golden background.

As for the Irish harp flag, it's a symbol of resistance to British rule since the 1800s.

Strangely enough, it was seen as such a powerful emblem - that the British actually banned it for a time!

6. Bacchic is anything related to Bacchus, the Greek god of wine!

This ancient god was worshipped with drunken orgies.

So, It's not surprising that this god is mentioned.

In its original form, "Ye Ballade" is written as if the narrator is pretty drunk!

7. "Watch on the Rhine" is a patriotic German song written in 1840 by M. Schneckenburger.

It was originally inspired by an earlier poem, "Rheinlied" written by N. Beck- er in the same year.

Generally, "Watch" is sung to music composed 7 years after its writer died!

8. "Wearing of the Green" is an Irish street ballad lamenting the repression following the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Its lyrics claim that "they are hanging men & women for the wearing of the green."

"Wearing green" supposedly made one invisible to leprechauns!

Since its original writer is unknown, the best known version is from play- wright Dion Boucicault.

These lyrics were 1st found in his 1864 play "The Wicklow Wedding."

9. Brogue has 2 different meanings from 2 older words:

A. The "outdoor shoe" or "boot" mean- ing is from the Old Norse brog, "leg covering."

B. The "accent" meaning is from Irish barrog, "speech impediment."

Nowadays, it refers to a distinct local accent - especially an Irish or Scottish one.

10. Hibernia is the Latin name for Ire- land but, it was taken from old Greek geographical accounts.

During his exploration of Northwest Europe, Pytheas (Greek sailor) knew Ireland as Ierne.

Tacitus (Roman historian) is the 1st to use Hibernia.

This spelling was influenced by Latin Hibernus, "wintry land."

11. Rafters weren't people sailing down rapids - at this time.

Instead, the rafters here are sloped beams that transfer the roof's weight on to the load-bearing walls.

This allows buildings to remain stable & withstand wind & snow loads.

That they "rang" only means that they "echoed" the song being sung by the Irish men.

12. The Shannon is the largest river in the British Isles.

It's name is shared with the Shannon Pot (a large pool), far in the North of Ireland - where it begins its South bound journey.

Strangely enough, the "Pot" is actually connected to other pools in the area - via Shannon Cave system...

The story is that Sionnan (the "wise" goddess) lifted the cover off a well - which promptly erupted!!

Then, the new river flowed on South, dividing Ireland in two!

13. Sprec seems to refer to the Old English ("Anglo-Saxon") word of ge- sprec, "the power of speech!"

This describes cheerful people who make jokes, trying to make others feel comfortable.

14. The Spree is the main German tributary flowing North into the larger Havel River.

Strangely enough, just above the city of Spremberg, the Spree splits into 2 temporary streams!

In Berlin, the Spree is part of the local trade network.

15. A lea is an "open area of grassy land" better known as "a meadow" or "a field."

16. Alas means "an expression of pity, sadness", "disappointment", "regret" or "concern."

17. Dublin ("black pool") is the capital of Ireland. It's nicknamed "The Pale (City)" & "The Big Smoke."

This city has long traditions of literary & cultural history.

Weirdly enough, Dublin holds 2 types of mummies!

There's preserved bog bodies & Saint Michan's 800 year old mummy, who reaches out of his coffin - to shake your hand!!

18. Berlin (West Slavic "swampy?") is the capital of modern Germany.

It's nicknames are "The Grey City" & "Athens on the Spree."

Weirdly enough, Berlin hosts plenty of strange things to do - from guided ghost tours to museums of unheard- of 'things' & even off-menu cocktails!!

19. "Lies told to damage anyone's or anything's reputation."

Here, Britain's reputation is called into question.

Weirdly enough, that's all that the narrator plans on doing!

It's as if the Irish were unable to even plan & mount any other kind of violent resistance...

But, of course, we know that Howard was trying to put everyone (who wasn't Anglo-Saxon) down - to fit into his 'race's' created caste system.

20. During WW1, Turkey was under the control of the Ottoman Empire - which sided with the Central Powers.

In the early years of the WW1, Turkey fought defensive battles to strangle the Russian war effort & tie down British troops & war materials.

The Ottomans did this because the Central Powers promised them control over some Russian territories.

But, they lost their gamble & the war.

The Turkish fought & won a war of independence in 1919, concluding the end of the Ottoman Empire.

After a few changes in government, the Republic of Turkey was born on October of 1923.

Criticism: < "Hybrids & Hyphenates" by Rob Brown.

Lovecraft was a writer whose political & social commentary have become foder for learned discussion.

For anyone who's interested in Ho- ward's personal writings, they're full of problematic bigotry & imperialistic politics.

Both permeate most of HPL's works.

Although, most of his personal aspirations came from classic English masters, Lovecraft was widely read enough to have perused thru various translations of ancient thought.

Among them, some 'fantastic' Irish literature.

Yet, Howard would only highly praise the Anglo-Irish writers, loyal subjects of the British Empire!

Cultured folk set apart from the lower- class Irish immigrants that HPL knew in his native Providence.

One particular nasty bit of work, was Lovecraft's racist poem "Ye Ballade of Patrick Von Flynn" by Lewis Theobald, Jr - one of Howard's many pen names.

HPL wrote it in a mocking & drunken 'Irish' slang.

In it, Lovecraft accused the Irish of colluding with the enemy Germans!

Further, Howard presents the Irish as an inferior & traitorous working class!!

"Ye Ballade" is an example of HPL's jingoistic attitude towards everyone who wasn't of White Anglo-Saxon lineage.

Only minorities who were culturally indoctrinated in Anglo-Saxon mores were acceptable to Lovecraft.

Otherwise, even honest Irishmen de- served to be mocked...

End.

[a30somethingslookatpopculture]

Top 10 Holiday Themed Horror Movies

(In no particular order)

Any holiday goes! With the exception of one, I will be avoiding more than one film from a franchise. Because otherwise, I could just fill this list with Friday The 13th films and call it a day. But the one I am making an expectation for is self explanatory, as it's COMPLETELY different from the rest of the series.

Friday The 13th

Yes, it is holiday themed in name only, but hey, any excuse for me to watch slasher films every F13, i’m in! There’s nothing I can say about this film that I haven’t said a thousand times before. It is my favorite movie of all-time

 My Bloody Valentine (OG)

Hearts ripped out & sent in heart shaped Valentines with fun poems…A killer who emerges on February 14th to kill those who have parties that day? Sign me up! This one required just a little bit of internal debate, because I thoroughly enjoy the remake as well. But I ultimately decided on the original. I am an 80s Slasher movie junkie! That being said, I love the look and feel of this film more. The spx are so fantastic that even the director threw up at the sight of one of them. That’s pretty awesome to me!  I also love the authentic look of the mine (coal mining means a great deal to me). The laundromat scene is probably one of my top favorite horror movie scenes. And shoutout to “The Ballad of Harry Warden” that plays at the end, too! It’s a bop! (Gosh, am I old for using that term? lol)

 Halloween III: Season Of The Witch

To me, this is the ultimate Halloween movie! It captures both the spooky, horror atmosphere as well as the commercialism of the holiday. And a bonus, the masks are modeled after classic Halloween figures.

Halloween 

It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare! Halloween is the better movie, I just have a soft spot in my heart for III. Again, there’s nothing I could say about 1978’s Halloween that hasn’t been said before. It is probably THE holiday movie of all holiday movies.

Gremlins

As much as I love Christmas, most films I wait until December to watch. But Gremlins is one that I can watch at any time of the year, and I'm always down for it. I adore it! It captures the feel of Christmas so perfectly. Snowy landscapes, the decor, caroling Mogwai/Gremlins, kills using Christmas items, Gismo is even given as a Christmas present! 

Black Christmas

This is one of the earliest Slasher movies, starring the great Margot Kidder. It takes the classic killer calling from inside the house trope and makes the most magical time of the year scary. There’s nothing I can say about this one that hasn’t been said before. It’s well worth the watch! 

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Another Christmas one, because how could I not? This time, Santa is our killer. Sort of. It’s very festive and has some gory-good kills! Here’s looking at you, antler scene! 

Leprechaun

The great Warrick Davis is a cunning and witty leprechaun in this one, who kills for his gold. It’s a fun St. Patrick’s Day watch each year that's full of laughs (any of the films really, but especially this one). And hey, we have to thank this movie for jumpstarting Jennifer Aniston’s career! 

Trick 'r Treat

This one tells five separate but interconnected stories on Halloween night. Each spooky, and fun in their own way. But little “Sam”, a supernatural trick or treater, is the real star of the film. He‘s there to enforce the “rules of Halloween” with his candy themed weapons! He’s oddly adorable. 

Happy Death Day

Groundhogs Day…but on your Birthday? What a wonderful idea! Add in being killed over and over again on your special day. What a wild concept. 

Honorable Mention: My Bloody Valentine (Remake), Thankskilling, Valentine, Jack Frost, Krampus, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jaws - those two totally count in my mind lol

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Duran Duran - The Chauffeur 1982

Rio is the second studio album by English band Duran Duran, released in 1982. A new wave album with musical elements such as dance and synth-pop, Rio is mostly composed of fast, upbeat numbers, with a couple slower synthesiser-based ballads. The cover artwork, painted by Patrick Nagel and designed by Malcolm Garrett to resemble 1950s cigar packaging, is considered one of the greatest of all time.

Duran Duran shot music videos for many of the album's tracks, all of which helped spearhead the 1980s MTV revolution. Accompanied by three worldwide hit singles, Rio peaked at number 2 in the UK and remained in the chart for 110 weeks. Initially unsuccessful in the US, the album was remixed by Capitol Records to better match American radio at the time; the remixed album spent 129 weeks on the Billboard chart, reaching number 6.

Rio initially received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, who commended the melodies but disparaged the lyrics. Retrospective reviewers consider Rio timeless and the band's best work, praising its instrumentation and band performances. With the album, Duran Duran were forerunners in the Second British Invasion of the 1980s, helping ensure the success of other English artists throughout the decade, and along with Culture Club and Spandau Ballet created a teen frenzy similar to Beatlemania during the first British Invasion of the 60s. Rio has since made appearances on best-of lists and has been reissued several times.

"The Chauffeur" was created on the spot in the studio. During downtime, Nick Rhodes retreated to an auxiliary studio room with Blauel, their tape operator, and crafted a track using keyboards, synthesisers, the sound of an ice cube cracking and a conversation about nature for extra effects. Simon Le Bon accompanied him with lyrics he'd originally written as poetry in 1978, and adding a melody on an ocarina. The final track features no contributions from the three other band members. An acoustic version (Blue Silver) was recorded without Rhodes, which appeared as a B-side to "Rio". The keyboardist later quipped, "I guess that was my punishment for have created an entirely electronic track."

"The Chauffeur" received a total of 64,6% yes votes! Previous Duran Duran polls: #21 "The Wild Boys".

[glorf1ndel]

3, 4, & 5 for the book asks?

3. What were your top 5 books of the year?

5. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins: I only ever read the first Hunger Games book, but I saw all of the movies, so I was excited for this one. I love a villain origin story. The symbolism and character development in this book were really fun and well-executed.

4. Making It So, Patrick Stewart: Captain Picard is one of my fictional heroes, so of course, I had to read the memoir of the man that brought him to life. It was really interesting to find out more about Sir Patrick's journey to becoming an actor!

3. The Soul of an Octopus, Sy Montgomery: The book that started my love for cephalopods. This is a compelling book if you love animals or are fascinated by animal biology.

2. The Book of Joy, The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams: Who knew that two important world figures had such a meaningful friendship? I loved reading this series of conversations between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. A way to learn more about their philosophies of joy and to better know them as humans.

1. Dawn, Octavia Butler: This book is insane. Will warn that it goes to dark places, but if you love science fiction that focuses on culture clashes and painful, codependent, difficult interpersonal dynamics, Dawn is IT. I can't wait to read the sequels.

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Yes, Octavia Butler! I had tried reading The Parable of the Sower years ago and couldn't really get into it, but I LOVED Dawn. Bloodchild, a collection of short stories that I also read this year, is equally excellent.

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Nonfiction and memoir! Chalk it up to all those books about cephalopods and the deep ocean. XD

[earlgreytea68]

Pete with the musical backpack really said "I am going to pull his pigtails following him around serenading him with cheesy love ballads played way too loud, my love language today is being annoying :)"

On a related note i never found out what happened to that backpack so i always assumed Patrick went van days levels of feral and destroyed it

I feel like Pete's love language on many days is being annoying and this is why it's a good thing Patrick can decode this love language. And also why sometimes even though he can decode the love language Patrick still used to have to punch Pete sometimes.

Am I absolutely obsessed with the way Pete crowds into him singing a love song and Patrick just half-heartedly places his arm against Pete's abdomen to keep him away lol yes, I am

I assume Patrick destroyed the backpack and then tracked down whoever gave it to Pete and destroyed them as well tbh