#anyway. love citing pages <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[bookwyrminspiration]

hey did Fitz take home Ms Stinkbottom after the search of Candleshade in Lodestar or am I misremembering for maximum angst?

Alas, you are misremembering. Fitz is the one who had hold of the letter Gisela left for Keefe, but they actually didn't find Mrs. Stinkbottom then--and they didn't take her when they followed the starstone Marella gave them later and saw Mrs. Stinkbottom in Cassius's bed

Keefe himself went back for her in Nightfall. He went back to get something green to wear from Candleshade and grabbed her while he was there (p. 110-111) :)

[yourfavoritehouseplant]

I watched James Somerton's final video, and all I got was this 6 page document

As soon as I learned his final unreleased video was on Revolutionary Girl Utena, I knew I had to hate watch it. I didn't know that I'd spend the following 4 hours making a comprehensive doc on everything I hated about it. But here we are.

The TLDR (is this too long to be a TLDR?)

The intro section, as well as Part 2, are directly plagiarized from wikipedia. The rest is unclear.

He makes a “haha this show is so weird right guys” joke 10 different times

He reads Anthy as so emotionally stunted she literally has to be taught how to think for herself, and believes that being the rose bride makes her feel good

He says that his reading is ‘vastly different” from the rest of the community, before boldly stating that this is because he sees it as a “deeply allegorical and symbolic story”

He sees the sexual abuse as “not to be taken literally”

Insists that the show be separated into parts that are strictly literal and strictly allegorical for the entirety of parts 3 and 4, before making the contradictory move of analyzing characters as allegories during part 5

The only characters that get dedicated sections are Akio and Dios, who he doesn’t believe are the same person. 

He says Dios gets his powers by “deflowering women”

He calls Akio, known child predator, a chaotic bisexual

Uses 14 year old SA survivor Anthy’s passive personality to make a joke about her being a bottom

His final point is that Utena was the real prince all along

There are no citations

Anyway, full version for people who hate themselves under the cut. With time codes, because I cite my sources.

Part 1: Intro

This entire section is almost exclusively quoted from the Wikipedia article for Revolutionary Girl Utena. Words have been changed, but the order at which certain topics come up is not. Highlights include:

0:56 In his introduction of Be-Papas, lists the founding members in literally the exact same order as Wikipedia.

1:40-2:00 His list of Be-Papas previous works is lifted entirely from wikipedia, only with the words changed. This leads to a strange moment at 1:52 where he claims Be-papas ‘lent their talents to’ Neon Genesis Evangelion, a show which started production at least a year before Be-papas was founded. On the wikipedia article for Utena, this is instead referring to the previous work of Shinya Hasegawa and Yōji Enokido

4:23 he uses a quote by Yūichirō Oguro describing the production as a “tug of war”. He seems to have lifted this in its entirety from Wikipedia, as he does not cite the actual source it is from (the box set companion book, btw)

As for James Somerton originals, at 0:44 he claims that out of all magical girl series,”none to my knowledge have been more discussed and dissected than the 1997 series Revolutionary Girl Utena” He will go back on this at 5:05, where he states that “Sailor Moon takes the lion’s share of discussion” in regard to influential magical girl anime

Part 2: Part 1

(At least I know I’m not funny, unlike James Somerton)

Speaking of which. Here is every single time he makes a “wow this show is sooooo weird you guys” joke: 6:00, 8:50, 10:40, 10:58, 13:46, 17:07, 24:16, 30:34, 41:19, 48:01

Here’s every time the punchline to the joke is the existence of Nanami, a character who he otherwise completely disregards: 10:56, 12:05, 16:22, 42:40

6:16 Claims that the “Apocalypse saga” and “Akio Ohtori saga’ are two names for the same several episodes, depending on the release. This is untrue. Instead, different releases either only have the Apocalypse saga, or split the episodes into an Akio Ohtori saga and then the Apocalypse saga. 

7:58 Claims Utena intervening on Anthy’s behalf begins the first duel. While this happens in the movie, Touga intervenes in the scene he uses clips from (like literally right after the shot he uses in the video). Utena only gets drawn into the duels when Wakaba’s love note to Saionji is posted. Youtuber Noralities’ Utena video also gets this wrong, which makes me wonder if this was copied.

9:09 Claims Akio’s “End of the World” moniker is actually more closely translated to “Apocalypse”. In reality, the translation moves away from a more apocalyptic reading, with 世界の果て (Sekai no hate) apparently translating closer to “the furthest reach of a known world” or “edge of the world”. (Love the implications of this translation, but I digress)

9:10 As can be assumed from the previous point, this means I can’t find any sources that point to them not using the title “apocalypse” for religious reasons

10:10 Uses Anthy’s extreme passivity under her Rose bride persona to make a top/bottom joke. I’m gonna repeat this in case you’re just skimming. He uses a trait that likely stems from years of abuse, (possibly exaggerated by the persona Anthy uses to manipulate people), and uses it to call her a bottom. 

He also just doesn’t seem to understand how the whole point of Utena constantly telling Anthy that she's just a normal girl who should make more friends is framed as Utena imposing her will on Anthy, just as much as the previous Engaged have done. 

11:54 Apologies in advance for my most “um, actually!” point yet, but technically his statement that Anthy stops being host to the Sword of Dios is wrong. Akio literally pulls a sword out of her chest in the final duel. It's a more evil-looking sword of Dios, granted.

13:02 !!! CANTARELLA SCENE ALERT !!! He interprets it as them fighting over Akio?? Which like. I will allow people to have their own interpretations of vague and symbolic scenes. I will. I swear. This is not technically incorrect. It just makes me want to eat my own intestines.

14:44 Bad Anthy take #1: He states Anthy “is emotionally stunted to the point where she needs people to make decisions for her because she does not know how to think for herself” This ignores several moments of Anthy clearly making her own choices throughout the show, including the suicide attempt Somerton mentions about a minute prior. This also strips Anthy of what little agency she has throughout the story, usually exerted through messing with Utena or Nanami. (The fact that she repeatedly makes choices that contribute to her own abuse is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting parts of her character, and it's a shame that Summerton’s ‘reading’ of the story completely disregards that)

Additionally, he once again reads Utena ‘urging Anthy to think for herself” in the first arc as an unambiguously good move, and not as something critiqued in the show.

14:52 Summerton reads the Swords of hatred as symbolizing men’s hatred specifically. Again, I’m trying not to completely disregard differing interpretations to a show like Utena, but this feels very simplistic, especially considering the harm we see aimed towards Anthy by other women

16:42 Here he claims that his reading of the story seems to be “vastly different” from the bulk of Utena discourse. What is this reading? That the show shouldn’t be read literally. Or, in his words, “[we can interpret] Revolutionary Girl Utena as a deeply allegorical and symbolic story about the struggles of coming of age amidst widespread institutional corruption in a high school and which describes a passive culture of inaction in regard to brazen instances of domestic exploitation in which there is not only a question about the caporeality of the events transpiring but also which events can be taken for granted and which events are meant to signify abstract sociological institutions.” The idea that he believes this is in any way a new reading of the material honestly baffles me.

Part 3: Part 2

17:48 through 18:50 differently quotes the Wikipedia article for postmodernism. He even makes a joke at 17:55 about Wikipedia. Please kill me. 

The first three themes he lists at 19:11 are just the three main themes listed on the Revolutionary Girl Utena Wikipedia page. What was that about a “vastly different” reading, James?

You’re gonna have to take my word for it, but this section is so short because it's just him talking about the various ways the story can’t be taken literally. He does, ironically, call this a hot take.

Part 4: Part 3

Here’s where the reading falls apart folks

At 23:15, he states that some things in Utena are allegorically coded, while others are to be taken literally. This is true. However, he seems to take this to mean that some parts of the show are Strictly Literal, while others are Strictly Allegorical for things going on in the Literal World. 

This is apparently why he prefers the Anime to the Movie, where there basically is no separation between the Literal and Allegorical

This take is bizarre to me for several reasons, but here is my favorite. At several points, he mentions how Revolutionary Girl Utena is a work of Magical Realism. Magical Realism is literally defined by its blending of the “literal” and “allegorical”, the mix of fantastical elements in a mundane, realistic setting. This idea of the impossibility of a blurred line, that Utena must either have lore where the magic is all real and means nothing, or dedicated allegory segments quarantined from the rest of the story, is contrary to the very idea of Magical Realism.

I can’t help but wonder if Somerton took his mentions of Magical realism from a previous work, due to how little it is consistent with his final argument. Either way, this section suggests a great lack of creativity in his analysis, a shame for such a creative work.

24:36: Shiori slander, for those who care

After this he gets really worked up about people assuming symbolism in everything, even when the author ‘doesn’t make it clear something is symbolic’. He shuts down a reading of a shot in the Lord of the Rings. Miley Cyrus is there? Very The Curtains Were Blue of him. 

28:22 Claims that Wakaba is the key to telling where the Strictly Literal segments end and the Strictly Allegorical segments begin. He states that, under this lens, deeply personal moments of character suffering such as all of the sexual abuse and Anthy’s suicide attempt (which he literally cites) should be read as symbolic and be “approached with uncertainty rather than confusion”. (28:24-29:13)

This also somewhat falls apart when you consider Wakaba is the jeep in the movie's car chase

And then he rants about people not liking his Attack on Titan video for a bit. Since its potential symbolism also doesn't follow hard enough rules to be symbolism. Once again, the separation of “fact vs allegory” I haven’t watched AOT, so that's all I’ll say.

Part 5: Part 4

Thank god this part is short. Much like Dios’ on-screen presence.

32:55 Makes the extremely bold claim that Dios is not Akio. As in, never even became Akio. because Dios is Strictly Allegorical.

Just to be a pedant, this is pretty explicitly disproven in the show

Confusingly, both earlier and later he will address these two as the same character. 

33:04 he also explains the root of Akio’s name in a tone that suggests this is supplemental information and not like. Literally something he explains out loud in the show?

Part 6: Part 5

This section is nearly entirely about Akio Ohtori. I would like to note that him and Dios are the only characters with dedicated segments.

38:30 The part where he states that Dios gets his powers from deflowering women.

38:46 Claims, once again, that Akio’s abuse of Anthy “may not be literal”. 

38:59 “the instance of exploitation here is used because assault has deep roots as indicating that akio's gender is the source of his imbalance”  THE ASSAULT IS ABOUT AKIO NOW???

39:45 Bad Anthy take #2: “Anthy’s conformity to the Rose bride is based around the fact that she feels good being subservient because this is the only thing in her life that has ever brought her any kind of positive reward”. This is a direct quote. Anyway, I can’t think of any instances in the show where Anthy’s subservience gives her a positive reward, except maybe when she’s intentionally using it to manipulate others. As for her feeling good being the rose bride. She tries to commit suicide. Dude.

Side tangent, but isn’t this exactly what Akio says during the final 2 episodes? That Anthy enjoys being a witch? Is the main villain, who consistently says things during that very episode that are blatantly false, our source of information for this take? I guess so, since this is the dedicated Akio section.

At 40:20 he decides to introduce the concept of Anthy, Akio, and Utena as stand-ins for wider concepts, which is antithetical to his approach in analysis beforehand

Part 7: Part 6

42:40 he finally acknowledges that he’s been spending too much time talking about Akio, and literally no time on characters like Nanami

46:10 states that Utena’s exclusive motivation “is to protect Anthy from the predatorial intentions of the other dualists”, which disregards the fact, which she states herself, that she was largely participating in the duels and protecting Anthy to feel like a prince

48:04 The part where he says that Akio has ‘chaotic Bi vibes’ in regards to him sleeping with Touga, who is 17 and implied to be a long-term victim

Part 8: Part 7

54:01: His concluding point is that Utena was the real prince all along. 

In true Somerton fashion, the video then ends over a scrolling wall of patrons, with not a single citation in sight.

[clockwork-ashes]

All You Have Is Your Fire - Part XVI

Find all previous parts on Ao3 :)

Summary: 'I can hear your heart beating through the stone.' For the briefest of moments, Lucien wondered if his mate would know exactly when his heart’s steady rhythm came to a sudden stop.

Note: A huge thank you to the lovely @bettdraws who deserves all the credit for the post that inspired me to start writing this :) Another huge thank you to everyone reading! ALSO please look at this post, I gasped it's so lovely. All of @teddyhoneybear's moodboards are stunning <3

Tag List: @anishake / @nocasdatsgay / @mybestfriendmademe / @talibunny30 / @halfbutneverwhole / @wishfulimaginings / @goldenmagnolias / @emmers-bens123 / @cauldronblssd / @xirose / @rarephloxes / @thehighlordishere / @the-darkestminds /

Witches and Their Source of Power…

Elain read the chapter title with a sigh, closing the ancient book and setting it on the low table, deciding she would revisit the text again in the morning. At some point, the words had started to lose much of their meaning, each paragraph making less sense than the one that had come before. 

Elain clenched her eyes shut as shadows danced along the sides of her vision, citing her lack of sleep for the tricks her mind had been playing for the last few pages. She had no one to blame but herself for the sleeping arrangements anyway, stubborn as she had been to give Lucien the bed and commit to her choice. 

As Elain adjusted her position in the armchair, tugging the blanket around her shoulders so that she could rest her head against her pillow, she was glad Lucien had stepped out of their shared chambers for a moment. Elain had spent the entire day with him, and she loathed to admit how awfully nice it had been.  

Lucien had shown her around the Forest House, the memory of his hand on the small of her back as courtiers had walked by replaying in her head every time she had a moment to herself. She could barely stand to look at Lucien without feeling the sudden urge to simply touch him,

Elain shook her head at the thought, attempting to push Lucien from her mind. Instead, she considered the Lady of Autumn’s book. Being a witch in Prythian seemed to have many meanings, some more negative than others. In Autumn, their reputation was generally good, Elain was surprised to find, but she was growing frustrated as the pages went on and she could relate to nothing within them. 

Elain wondered if she should ask Eris about getting her a book on seers, but thought better of it immediately. Eris would ask too many questions, and Elain had yet to see the Autumn heir since the celebration Beron had thrown to lift Lucien’s exile.  

She would see Eris at dinner the next day, Elain remembered. Lucien had told her about their invitation to join the High Lord for a meal, quickly declaring he had to speak with his brother before leaving Elain alone in their rooms. Lucien had not expressly told her which of his brothers he had meant to find, but Elain figured the most likely option was Eris. She furrowed her brows, tilting her head to watch as the shadows along the carpeted floor flickered strangely in the light of the dying fire. 

Elain was nervous about having to spend more time with Beron Vanserra and his sons. She did not know what to expect, and she assumed that Lucien was just as worried about how the night’s events would unfold. She hoped to fall asleep quickly, and that no dreams would wake her, so that she could be well-rested. Elain knew she would have to play her part perfectly, that the smallest misstep could have disastrous consequences. 

Just as Elain’s eyes began to droop shut, she felt a shiver travel along her spine. Instinct had her jolting upright, the room seemed dark, her hands clenched into tight fists as she searched for whatever threat her body was warning her about. 

Elain blinked as shadows seemed to slither on the floors, as they darted down the walls and collected in a spot next to the open window. In her panic, Elain grabbed the object nearest to her, the golden candelabra on the coffee table heavy in her small hands. 

I will not scream. 

Elain silently vowed, determined to handle whatever might be coming her way without assistance. She stayed tucked against her armchair, raising her makeshift weapon as the shadows slowly took shape.

The darkness took the distinct form of a man, and Elain yelped embarrassingly in recognition as his facial features became clearer. 

Elain had never seen a phantom, although she had read about the creatures. If she had not known better, she would have assumed that Azriel was one such monster. She could see right through him, the carved pattern of the window sill filtering through his shadows, like he was in the room, but somewhere else at the same time. There with her, but not entirely. 

“Oh gods,” she mumbled, kicking at her blanket, eyes widening in disbelief. She put the candelabra down with a resounding thunk, her words a hiss so that no one else could possibly hear. “Az, what are you doing here?” 

Had she been in Velaris, Elain would have rushed to pull a robe over her sleeping clothes, but the ones in Autumn were modest. The material was thick, meant to keep her warm as the sun fell and the temperature dropped. She still felt an embarrassed blush creep its way onto her cheeks. 

“Were you…” Azriel’s voice was barely above a whisper, it rattled like dead leaves in the wind, odd and unnerving. “Were you going to hit me with the candlestick?”

Elain was close enough to Azriel that she could have touched him if she wished. “You can’t be here,” she stated, anxiety leaking into her tone. “Why are you here?” Elain knew the answer to her question, but she listened closely as the shadowsinger responded. 

“Rhysand and Feyre could hardly come themselves,” his lips tilted up at the corners as he continued, “and Nesta was moments away from storming Autumn to check on you.” 

“Well, I’m fine,” Elain snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose, quickly swallowing any of her frustration. “Tell everyone I’m fine.” 

Azriel frowned, his shadows whirling at his shoulders, nearly blocking him from sight. “We got your letter—”

“But you didn’t believe me?” Elain interrupted, fighting the urge to cross her arms. She had written days before and given her note to Cora who she hoped might be able to pass it to Eris. Elain was careful not to alert anyone of what she was planning in case they thought she might run off, especially since Beron believed that she was staying in Autumn with the Night Court’s knowledge.

Azriel shook his head sharply. “Of course we did,” he reassured. “We just don’t like—”

“What’s done is done,” Elain interrupted once more, her voice easily cutting off his throaty rasp. She had said the same words to Lucien when he had questioned her decision to come for him, although it felt like a lifetime ago. “Me and Lucien are handling it, so unless you’ve come with advice, I don’t want to hear about whether or not you like any of my choices.”

For a moment, it was as if the world had stopped spinning. The silence was heavy, the tension between her and Azriel thick. She had had a complicated history with the Illyrian, but enough years had passed, and his friendship was important to her. Elain hoped at the very least he would understand where she was coming from. 

With a sigh, Azriel said, “Right, of course.” He looked at her with furrowed brows, an unspoken apology in his eyes. “You’ve been alright?” 

Elain’s shoulders dropped in relief and she realised how tense she had been. “Lucien has been a perfect gentleman, so tell everyone not to worry.” 

“I think we’re all more worried about his family than we are him, Elain.” 

She waved a hand in Azriel’s direction as if to say she did not care. “Nothing I can’t handle,” she said with a shrug. She hoped desperately that Azriel could not read just how scared the High Lord of Autumn made her. 

Azriel raised a dark brow, his expression knowing. “And the wedding plans?”

Elain groaned in response, toying with the laces of her sleeping gown. “If anything, Rhysand can always winnow me away right before we say our vows.” 

“Not funny,” Azriel said with a smile. His shadows frantically rushed to envelop him, and Elain wondered if they could sense someone approaching. “I should go,” he said, confirming her thoughts. 

“You shouldn’t have come at all,” Elain clipped, taking a few steps back as more shadows whirled past her bare feet. 

Azriel ignored her comment. “Good luck, Elain. We’ll see what we can do on our end.” His form became more faint as he spoke. 

“Stay out of Autumn,” Elain warned one last time, eyes never leaving the shadowsinger. 

Azriel gave her a little bow of his head and she waved in response, a dark cloud covering him entirely. “And Elain?” She hummed, ears straining to hear him. “If you want to keep up the act, the bed should really smell like both of you.” 

Azriel disappeared suddenly, no trace of his visit left behind, and Elain could do nothing but stare at the empty space where he had just been. Almost as if she were in a trance, Elain faced the bed with wide eyes. 

Lucien always made the bed perfectly, covers tucked into place neatly, pillows organised. She walked slowly to the one side, her fingers trailing along the thick fur blanket. Elain could hear her own heartbeat, blood rushing to her ears as she gripped the edge of the covers. Her knuckles were white around the fabric and Elain had to remind herself to stay calm. She pulled the sheets loose, flipping them over to reveal the comfortable mattress beneath. 

Elain closed her eyes, knowing that she would lose her nerve otherwise. It was better that Lucien was not there to watch, she thought, blowing a stray curl away from her face. 

“Fuck,” she mumbled as she laid down, “fuck me.” If Nesta and Feyre could hear her now, Elain thought, they would surely think she had gone completely mad. Her behaviour was improper, and entirely out of character, but she could not be bothered to care. 

In the bed, Lucien’s scent was overwhelming, just as she had feared. Instead of cringing away, like she had expected, Elain simply tucked her face deeper into the pillows, unable to stop herself from breathing in. 

He is mine. 

Elain was so tired, she did not even take the time to examine the possessive thought. For the first time since she had arrived in Autumn, Elain was comfortable. Her body was instantly grateful, relaxing quickly, eyes falling shut easily.

Elain could feel sleep claiming her, slowly but surely. She barely stirred as the door to the suite opened and she became aware of Lucien’s presence. When he paused at the foot of the bed, Elain tried to pretend she was asleep, but when he whispered her name, he captured her attention fully. 

“Get into bed, Lucien,” she simply mumbled, hoping he would not ask any questions.

“With you?” He whispered back, sounding unsure of himself. 

“D’you see another bed in here?” she responded. Lucien said nothing in return, but Elain heard his footsteps as he made his way to the bathroom, and she heard them once more as he approached the opposite side of the bed. 

When the mattress dipped with his weight, Elain felt a strange sense of triumph at how little effort it took for Lucien to simply listen and accept the decisions she made. 

Lucien stayed on the edge of the bed, frozen in place for longer than Elain figured was normal. When the time stretched on, she lazily opened an eye to look at him. His broad back was to her, the shirt he wore pulling across his shoulders. 

“We can share,” Elain said softly. “There’s more than enough room on the bed, and it doesn’t have to mean anything.” 

Lucien did not look towards her, but Elain could hear the smile gracing his features as he spoke. “Guess I won’t have to worry about my virtue?” 

Elain snorted, unladylike but uncaring. “Our scents haven’t mixed,” she added, hoping that would be explanation enough for her sudden change of heart when it came to her sleeping on the armchair. 

Lucien’s back straightened, like he had just realised their mistake. “And the dinner tomorrow…” 

“Exactly,” Elain wondered how they had both missed such a small but vital detail. She was even surprised that Cora, or even Eris, had yet to mention it. Perhaps the scent of the mating bond had been enough to redirect everyone’s attention, Elain considered. 

“I like the way you think, Elain.” His tone suggested he was so impressed with her that she decided not to mention Azriel’s influence. 

“Did you speak with Eris?” She mumbled, still wanting confirmation that she had been correct in her assumption. She shut her eyes as she felt Lucien shift. 

Getting under the covers and adjusting the pillows, Lucien’s warmth was like that of a fire as he lay down next to her. Even with her eyes closed, Elain knew that he was near, the distance between them small. She felt a warm blush travel from her neck to the tips of her pointed ears, knowing that sharing a bed with a man she barely knew was improper. “Eris was with Callum.” Elain hummed softly and he continued. “They both had some good advice,” he admitted, and she could tell he had not been expecting it. 

Elain yawned, exhaustion taking over. “Tell me in the morning,” she murmured, opening her eyes to find Lucien entirely too close. She wanted to rake her fingers through the dark red strands of his hair, to tuck her face into the crook of his neck. 

My mate. 

“And move, just a little,” Elain added, her words a breath. Unthinking, the pull of the bond clearly affecting her ability to be reasonable, she pressed her palm to his chest. She felt him tense beneath her touch, he was solid muscle under the thin fabric of his sleeping shirt, leaving very little to the imagination. Elain was glad for the darkness, knowing in the light he would have been able to see her blush. 

Elain could have moved her hand quickly, but she chose not to. She felt his heartbeat just beneath the pads of her fingers, letting her hand linger for a moment. “Good night, Lucien.” 

Elain did not hear his response, instead her mind was fixed on the steady beat of his heart, the sound a comfort as she eased into a dreamless sleep.

[cicerfics]

31 and 42 for Bond or Q please 💜

31. If they had a tumblr what would it look like?

Q: A comprehensive list of 'tech doesn't work like that!!' moments from mainstream media, along with EXHAUSTIVE explanations of why this particular Hollywood scene is TOTALLY impossible/implausible.

Bond: ~Vibes~. Aesthetic blogger. Artsy shots of different locations around the world. Nature pictures. Beautiful sunsets and birds soaring majestically over the ocean. Zero text.

42. 3 comfort items

Q:

-A threadbare stuffed cat that he's had since childhood. Shh. Don't tell! Bond only gets to meet this cat after they've been dating for like six months, and Q preemptively tells Bond that if he makes any jokes about it, he (Bond) will be exiled to the couch for the next 6-8 business weeks.

-Some type of leaf collection Q made as a child. It was probably a school project. Students were asked to collect like 20 different leaves, press them, and label them. Q did 100 different types of leaves, and wrote detailed descriptions underneath about the genus, the tree's role in their biome, etc. etc. He put sooo much effort into it. Too much, probably. The teacher was like, "Haha, maybe calm down a little? Meanwhile, I probably need to speak to the headmaster about skipping you ahead a few more grades??" The other kids probably made fun of Q for being a tryhard. Q didn't care! He loved collecting those leaves and making his little booklet!! He's still proud of it!!

-A photo album containing pictures of every pet he's ever had. Per my animal-rescuer-Q headcanons, he's had at least 15. Most have since passed on to the other side, but Q still treasures his memories and pages through the photo album very often.

Bonus: A postcard Bond sent him once, ages ago. He'd been flirting with Q outrageously, right before heading off on a mission. Q rolled his eyes and firmly turned him down. Bond pouted. Q cited regulations. Bond argued that life was short (especially his!) and Q was being really dumb by refusing to let Bond take him to bed, just because of some nonsensical MI6 rules. Q argued that insults to his intelligence were not the most compelling prelude to a seduction he'd ever heard, and for heaven's sake, hadn't Bond ever considered poetry? Bond made a joke about blunt instruments (wink wink!) and said he didn't know any poetry anyway. He went off on his mission. But a week after he left, Q got a postcard from Bond. It was a painting of a huge, glorious sun. On the back, Bond had copied out some verses (including the last few lines!) from To His Coy Mistress.

Bond:

-An old arithmetic textbook published in the 1940s. It belonged to his father, and he used it to teach tiny!James math. Bond can still smell his father's cologne whenever he so much as looks at that book.

-His father's straight razor.

-His oldest and most decrepit pullover which is soooo comfy and broken in exactly right.

Bonus: A tiny origami frog. Once, Bond woke up in Medical (horribly injured and after being unconscious for nearly 24 hours) and found Q sitting beside his bed. Q had turned to origami to self-soothe, and he had feverishly created a menagerie of tiny animals while he sat vigil at Bond's bedside. Q quickly swept all the animals away when he saw Bond was awake, but Bond stole one. He keeps it safely tucked away in his flat (even though he'd like to carry it with him as a talisman), just for the reminder that somebody cares about him enough to sit at his bedside.

[ultraviolet-cello]

Yo what's up it's me, ya boi, [horrendous infection that knocked me down for a couple days]

Anyway I'll be catching up episodes 3 4 and 5 tomorrow/day after, but for now I just wanna do my thing with ep 6. 6&7 are possibly some of my favourite episodes in Tristamp, so I'm hyped to show off my theories/details about them.

Once again spoilers for Trimax [HEAVY spoilers in this case, we're talking about Legato and Razlo]

TL;DR there's something fucked up with Tristamp Livio and by extension Razlo, and I need more of them all the time.

@tristampparty I'm back in the game!

So a lot of these theories and details will link to episode 7 :]

So of note in this scene is (obviously) Wolfwood's weird red eyes which. Pretty cool ngl. But I do think there's something to be said about the way he pauses and carries the Punisher in this scene; there's a pretty popular theory that Wolfwood gets extremely overstimulated when he takes a vial and the way he pauses and wobbles with the Punisher here is, for me, more evidence for the list.

Also that they won't give this man a CAR. Give him a Thomas or something??? I think it speaks to the dehumanization of Wolfwood by EOM that he doesn't seem to get to use transport like a normal person - always set to wander the desert, because he can survive that! Not like a normal person, of course. Only the Punisher is inhuman enough to do that.

I'll have what he's having [I love that Nightow's wanted poster gets in the magazine despite being. Yknow, 30 $$]

I'll talk about this more when I actually get round to analyzing episode 5, but Roberto calling out Vash's not-being-human and then immediately going "well I'm not risking my life for that" is interesting because he's, well, a reporter. It speaks to his experience that he's not willing initially to chase down something that could be a big scoop. But also,,,, Vash looks like. 20. Roberto is probably about in his 30s-40s, which means he's probably heard of Vash since childhood [Since Tristamp Vash has a much longer reputation history than Trimax/98]. I really wonder what Roberto thinks of that; did the picture not come as a shock to him, or did he already know? Does part of the reason he keeps letting himself be talked into following Vash stem from a lifelong curiosity? Much to think about.

This plant HAUNTS me. Why does she have such a different tank? Used to power the Ion Cannon, maybe, but there's the possibility people adjusted it so she can better power the sandsteamer and that's,,,, There's a complicated relationship between humans and plants (obviously), but little implications like those adjustments make me go !!!! [My friend @millions-dykes has a Plant Engineer oc, Enigma, who focuses on that concept. She's very cool]

LIVIO SIGHTED. Let me get this out of the way quickly, but y'know that panel that is often cited as inspiration for Tristamp Livio's design? Yeah that's. That's Razlo.

Which is really fucking funny to me because it's foundational to Tristamp Livio - love that for him, but trimax Livio specifically does not wield Punishers, and the page that this appears on is when Razlo is getting Livio to tell him he's the strongest (Which then goes into this training flashback montage page which is Razlo-centric). Which again, extremely funny to me.

Not necessarily analysis, but something all iterations of Trigun do great at is a sense of Scale. The sandsteamer is massive, yes, but so is the desert. There's some great shots with the moons later on, which I love as well.

Wolfwood really doesn't try and keep it secret, huh? I mean, in every iteration Vash Knows[TM], but tristamp Wolfwood in particular just,,, doesn't keep the secret. I wonder what other conversations they've had, when Wolfwood realized Vash knew.

Being always able to see Wolfwood's eyes gives him a layer of emotion that I really like - Trimax Wolfwood is a little more reserved, because he's more developed, further layered into those coping mechanisms and repressions that make up his character. Tristamp Wolfwood hasn't quite had that yet, and it's reflected in his design. It's sick as hell

Time for me to be so normal about Livio and Razlo ^_^ so I've built up a bit of a study case on the differences in when Livio or Razlo are fronting [Trimax], and once you start looking into paneling and shit it's Very apparent! Which is cool! And I'm starting to build up one for Tristamp Livio, which,,, well, you'll see. Anyway take note of his movements here - slow, even footsteps and steady guns.

The mask here is. Also a red flag for something being Off. The eye moving independently suggests that either they have some Weirder Than Usual Body Stuff going on, that Trimax Livio and Razlo can do that and nobody comments on it because they're being polite or - My theory - the mask having those electrical components are embedded somewhat in Livio's face. I will explain in just a second.

Livio as a kid being so upset about his parents interests me - In Trimax, Razlo kills Livio's parents because Razlo was formed as a protective alter due to heavy childhood abuse, and Livio doesn't seem too upset by that specifically, more just being,,, alone. I wonder what happened with their parents in this specific timeline, or if Razlo just hasn't presented yet.

Now I've uh. Kinda semi-intentionally blocked out some stuff I've read in the Bible, but I do remember someone being crucified upside down. St Peter that was it! I don't remember anything else but I'm sure people more well-versed in the Bible will have some imagery to point out lol

Legato's outfit seems a touch inspired by that one July flashback in Trimax. Which, given that Tristamp is a leadup to July, is a nice touch!

Legato might be a bit protective of his hair. Can't imagine why.

On a more serious note, it makes sense for Legato to have such a protectiveness around his body and physical appearance, especially if Knives had an influence in it.

sands undertal

I really do wonder what Legato's ability is in this. Like unless they retrieved Vash's arm from the. Wherever it got sucked into when it was amuptated they can't go the 98 route. But the wire explanation of Trimax also doesn't quite seem to fit. Something new, maybe. Could be related to Plants!

I wonder if Vash here is thinking about Rollo. That Wolfwood was willing to kill Rollo out of mercy, and he's going to do it again to Livio. Except this time, Wolfwood knows Livio. Vash doesn't know Livio, but Wolfwood does and it's going to hurt Wolfwood if Vash lets him carry on with this. So he goes to save Livio, and save Wolfwood as well. Similar to Trimax, where Vash kills Legato to save Livio as a remnant of Wolfwood's memory, Vash here could be protecting Livio to protect Wolfwood.

Okay here's where my crack theories come in. So I do think that Razlo is elbowing his way into front about here, not even necessarily because Livio is getting his ass handed to him, but because of the mask. He's probably not fully There, because the progressing fighting style continues in Livio's movements, but the eye changes are. Well, it's Livio and Razlo you can never be too careful.

So Livio hits the mask here and is down for the count for. A Bit. What's important here to me is that the mask does of course have an electrical component. Now, what would that be for? Well, gathering that Livio seemingly has a bit of trouble after this (early episode 7, this is a two parter theory), that the mask is used by EOM to force a switch remotely. After the mask seemingly malfunctions, we get a lot more Razlo-esque movements and traits in episode 7 before Livio seems to come back in and have his little meltdown.

It links in with both dehumanization of neurodivergent people (In this case, a system) and the usage of Razlo and Livio by EOM. Razlo's very often portrayed as Big Scary Murder Alter by EOM for scare factor, whereas when we get a bit more into Razlo's head in the Elendira fight we see a bit more what he's actually like - protective alter groomed into assassinhood by Chapel - and lends more understanding to the character. EOM being able to force trigger a switch would be viscerally horrifying for that loss of autonomy theme in a way that speaks to many neurodivergent people. Thanks for coming to my ted talk????

[lacewise]

Reposting to my blog: Needle Lace Resources

Disclaimer: if you are a beginner, you can absolutely use a piece of paper, any threads you have on hand, and a stitch guide and end up with a good result. However if you want to have more control over your work (especially tension) or make larger pieces (or, god forbid, matching ones), you will quickly outgrow this setup. Most of the resources I recommend are specifically geared for beginners who want to become intermediates, and not absolute beginners. To address that, I spend a lot of time (in all my posts) explaining why the obvious shortcuts are more cut than short. So when you see links to my page, expect that in advance.

If I strike you as overly pedantic, just think of it as me desperately trying to project information back to my past self.

Book Resources and Reviews

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/731564386254258176/heres-a-list-of-all-the-needle-lace-books-i-have (book list)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/731585929588948992/the-lace-guild-books-review (book reviews, still in print)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/732288716382552065/alright-pat-earnshaws-book-needlelace-this-is (book review, out of print)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/731216166444531712/i-know-that-a-lot-of-people-do-not-like-reading (explanation on why I recommend needle lace books—they have lots of diagrams and often better explanations of lace traditions if you’re looking to recreate something specific)

Resource Guides

https://www.tumblr.com/learning-needle-lace/681193878741729280/intro (comprehensive, uses the same materials I use when planning and practicing projects—unfortunately requires level of comfort with internet archive)

https://www.tumblr.com/learning-needle-lace/690860721418944512/hey-wondering-if-youve-ever-come-across-some (reticella specific)

https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/topic_lace.html (I also like messing around with this archive but wouldn’t recommend it to beginners because it’s a mess) (the entire weaving archive: https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/weavedocs.html )

Video Tutorials

https://youtu.be/bNxdoB9dpkI?si=gbkeu9ciHoZjjJWd (THE video tutorial series for learning needle lace, I have a meme recommending this—it’s perfect)

https://www.tumblr.com/pseuddamntired/768441288185069568/needle-lace-resources (great list of needle lace video tutorials, I’ve never seen several of these or many of the websites before)

https://www.sewhistorically.com/how-to-make-venetian-needle-lace/ (cites information from the Victorian era, which means some of the background is inaccurate, but does give a better idea of how the lace itself is worked)

https://pysankigirl.wixsite.com/graceslace/copy-of-videos (reticella specific, I love these tutorials because the voiceover helped me with many, many things—but the pixel count is basically 11)

Tumblr Tutorials (We Are Not Experts)

https://www.tumblr.com/learning-needle-lace/691216149779808256/close-ups-of-the-other-3-tear-drops (stitches adapted to aemilia ars)

Note: my tutorials are more “why you don’t do this” then “how to do this” because there are so, so many reasons to use stiffener behind your work (which is why pre-poking holes to guide your needle through the outline is recommended)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/732026951071596544/part-1-completing-your-setup-aemilia-ars (my tutorials part one—I don’t know how helpful they will be, this focuses on getting started in aemilia ars and why things are done—aemilia ars is uniquely fiddly and the structure itself is what’s keeping it together… good luck) (also note that I don’t use diagrams or enough pictures of work in progress—I need to fix that)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/732035947737333760/part-2-tacking-threads (I use “tacking down stitches” and “couching” interchangeably here but technically tacking is for aemilia ars for “this is extremely fiddly” reasons—since ground laces usually have more filling stitches, they need more support—anyway this recommendations on tacking/couching threads themselves—also don’t use synthetic threads for couching stitch. I haven’t tried it myself but I bet I can predict the results)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/732103763408617472/part-3-ground-lace-setup (ground lace tutorial part 1—I realize my numbering system was weird but I worked from geometric lace onwards deliberately because some of the logic of working ground laces comes from their differences to punto in aria)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/732192250737590272/through-the-horror-of-seeing-people-put-a-target (tacking down ground lace specifically—if you watch the videos on reticella you will find out that there are two ways to work reticella and I barely understand one—I make the outline as I go, but you can also put the outline down first)

https://www.tumblr.com/lacewise/732274532925194240/wait-i-do-have-something-to-say-about-the (this is really only applicable for crochet thread sizes 10-50ish but it’s a good starting guide for beginners and explains why the couching threads need to be a regular distance away)

Let me know if I’ve missed anything or there’s something I need to clarify. A lot of stuff just doesn’t make sense until you do it yourself so I *heavily* recommend the Michael Dennis video tutorials.

I do love alternative resources but oh my god is that the quickest way to run into problems you don’t understand. Which is why I recommend research via books. (I would like to document that stuff via blog posts and videos myself but unfortunately that takes time and understanding I don’t yet have.)

[take-a-cchonce]

Be My Valentine - 1

Do It Day by Day

(T) 750 words

WW2 AU Soldier!Louis Tomlinson x Doctor!Harry Styles (1/3)

Tw implied time period accurate homophobia

It had become a habit. He would light up a candle, reading through the poem he was on a couple of times before blowing it out, laying there in the dark as he went over the rest, turning the pages unnecessarily. The words were printed into his memory by how much time he spent recalling them throughout the day. 

OR

Louis is enlisted for the army, and Harry's book of poems is the only thing keeping them connected.

A/N: Hello!!! This was a fun fest for me to do. Difficult, yes. I had less than 14 days to write 14 fics because I had to get them up before I went on vacation. But fun. The next 14 posts are scheduled, so if I don’t reply, that’s why. 

Anyways this is part of a little 3 part ww2 AU miniseries within this fest. The rest are unrelated drabbles. I hope you like these!

This one is for Akeyla, of course. Thank you for this fest, love!

Title from Louis’ ‘Two of Us’ 

Louis gave Harry a curt nod, nails digging into his palms as he gritted his teeth tinto a forced smile, sighing as the younger man disappeared into the crowd.

 

He climbed up the ramp of the ship, saluting when he saw the Lieutenant-Colonel. He tried to focus on the conversation, doing his best to not let his mind wander back to what could have been the last kiss he would ever share with Harry. His hand automatically clutched at the small parcel stuffed in the inside pocket of his overcoat. 

He shook his head and cited the cold when he was asked about it.

That parcel was going to be the only thing that kept him sane, he thought bitterly, not that any of the others would even try to understand. For now, all those poems were just theirs.

Harry clenched his fists, doing his best to not to turn around, not wanting Louis to see the tears prickling his eyes. He hated all of it. He hated the war. He hated Louis having to enlist. He hated that he would get by in a hospital. Sure, it did not mean that he wasn’t at risk, but atleast, on paper, they wouldn’t be shot at on purpose.

For some reason, Louis being signed on as Captain simply because of his family’s influence didn’t sit right with him. As much as he wanted to believe that he wouldn’t have to be on field as much, that he could be commanding his platoon from base, Harry knew. Harry knew his husband well enough to know he would never sit back.

Just thinking of Louis as his husband made him choke up, eyes stinging again as he boarded the ramp to the part of the ship where all the RAMC officers were. He tried to take part in the conversation, but found his mind wandering. He quickly rushed out, standing at the prow of the ship, doing his best to convince himself he couldn’t spend too much time worrying about the what ifs in this scenario. 

He just had to keep doing it day by day, as Louis always told him. He shut his eyes as he remembered the poems he had written for him, gripping the railing tight enough for it to dig into his fingers. He kept his other hand firmly on the compass Louis had given him, gripping it as though it would guide him home.

It was hard. Louis saw Harry a lot. He would be around the barracks, the medical supplies being stored in the room right next to where he would sit every morning. 

He could tell Harry saw him too, but he always pointedly looked away, as though he couldn’t bear to hold eye contact with him. Louis wasn’t sure why, but it stung. If it wasn’t for the book, he was sure he would’ve gone up to him and confronted him, rules go to hell.

But he couldn’t be that inconsiderate. That would be putting not only him, but Harry at risk and that was the last thing he wanted. So for now, he settled for leafing through the poems, going one a night as Harry had made him promise, rereading the previous ones before starting a new one.

It had become a habit. He would light up a candle, reading through the poem he was on a couple of times before blowing it out, laying there in the dark as he went over the rest, turning the pages unnecessarily. The words were printed into his memory by how much time he spent recalling them throughout the day. 

He never allowed himself to think about how much he missed Harry, or how long it would actually be until they could be together, just them, again. He thought back to one his favorite lines from Harry’s book of poems. It was something he had told Harry many times when he got anxious before their departure. He loved how Harry had used it, and just thinking about those times brought tears to his eyes as he quickly darted to his room, digging into his nightstand for the book.

You once told me - “Don’t give up,  You can do it day by day,”  Diamonds they don’t turn to dust, Or fade away.

He clutched the parcel close to him, trying not to make any sounds as he wiped his tears away. That’s all he could do for now. Take it day by day. They would be together again. They would never fade away.

A/N: Reblogs are always appreciated 💕

[lotus-pear]

Okay I really did my best to power through the last week of content in your page but I think I only got 90% of it liked. Here are my reactions:

1) Oh! The skk artists have become friends, yay!

2) Wow the pookie infestation is getting pretty out of control

3) The skk hater seems to have the hits for Lotus

4) Oh they’re cheating on Sabh0

5) Oh now you two are getting married

6) yOU’RE PLANNING IT?!

7) art is super cute, makes me imagine Kunikida running after Dazai and then someone showing Atsushi a picture of Dazai getting selfies with his glasses

8) Glad to see you’re in high spirits! Hope you’re having a lovely time off the cite too ❤️❤️❤️

9) CAN I BE INVITED TO THE WEDDING-

nah not the week in review for my blog that's crazy💀 anyway i think sab is like cancelling our wedding fsr bc she asked dazai anon and we broke up????? anyway it's whatever. it's fine. wishing them nothing but the best. not jealous in the least. not one bit.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

The worst recipe for Kimchi I've ever seen.

So I'm a food nerd, if the love of Anthropology of food isn't self-evident enough in the 50 page doc on the history of food and food Anthropology based on Subsistence. lol

And I'm a super food nerd when it comes to kimchi. I've tried almost all the varieties of vegetables one can kimchi and learned their mush points. And this, by far is one of the worst recipes of kimchi I've ever, ever read. And being a food nerd, I'll break it down for you.

Don't worry, it's not made by a Korean--it's made by someone white, but I am Korean. And before someone chases me down, "You're an adoptee" I grew up in Korea for the first 5 years and have been tracking down Eomma's kimchi recipe after I semi-remembered the flavor. TT Covid stopped me from going overseas to test it out.

I know when you think of kimchi, you most likely think of the spicy cabbage variety, but I'll inform you that I've made a lot of types of kimchi. I made the Dae Jang Geum Kimchi after a lot of research and digging around. I made kimchi in plastic that never turned out well. I've taken out ingredients and put them back in. I've made kimchi out of different vegetables, and I famously got cited by my own city for making Eomma's kimchi, which BTW, has raw clams and mussels in it.

I've made monk Kimchi too, and gave those tips off to Maangchi.

I'm like kimchi geek over here. I can tell you all different facets of kimchi. Maybe because I tend to hyper focus on things, and I definitely hyperfocused on kimchi.

So I definitely can say the above is not kimchi.

Let's define Kimchi:

Kimchi is an aerobic lacto-fermetation process that is usually balanced with a protein in order to preserve mainly vegetables/vegetation, but sometimes seafood or other seafood matter.

Why is this not a kimchi?

1 Chinese cabbage

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2.5cm/1in piece ginger, grated

2 tbsp fish sauce (optional)

2 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce or chilli paste (see below)

1 tbsp golden caster sugar

3 tbsp rice vinegar

8 radishes, coarsely grated

2 carrots, cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated

4 spring onions, finely shredded

Chinese cabbage is not the same as napa. Chinese cabbage is longer than napa. Does it look similar, yes. Have I attempted to make kimchi out of it yes. Did it have the same properties? No.

But forgive the white person for not knowing that. Chinese cabbage has more water content than your average large head of Napa.

3 Garlic cloves is laughable. It won't preserve for a year like kimchi is supposed to.

1 thumb of ginger? No. No. No. That's not enough.

The fish sauce is not optional. You need that to even out the lactobacilli. If you're not going to use fish sauce, then up the protein content with barley. I really do swear after messing up kimchi on purpose the fish sauce does have a FUNCTION not just a taste.

BTW, more than fish sauce goes into kimchi, though. Usually depending on the region you might get shrimp paste, mussels, clams, crab, octopus, squid, oysters. These pretty much ceviche in the liquid over time.

My favorite is Eomma's recipe with katuggi. ^^;; But I suppose that would anger both my parents. Hers I'm fairly sure had mussels, clams and maybe crab? And yellow corvina fish sauce.

Anyway... Sriracha is made up of red jalapenos, which do not belong in kimchi. Kochu is special. BTW, this already has sugar in it. Kochu is designed to stain on purpose. See the slurry portion below.

golden caster sugar isn't something that came about until industrialization.

rice vinegar is a totally different process of fermentation than kimchi. It won't render the same results.

European radishes don't belong in kimchi. Have I tried it? Yes. Did I regret it? 100%. TT There isn't really a substitute for Mu. Daikon is a distant second. European radishes are when you're dying in a desert and there is a gun to your head to make the kimchi with them and you have no other choice. Get this: Koreans who moved to Brazil, rather cut out the radish component completely, use European cabbages than use European radish. It's just nasty to bite into as a kimchi. Mu has less water content and is far denser than your average daikon and definitely over European radish. I'd choose watermelon radish over European radishes. (Have I made that into kimchi? Yes.)

Carrots do sometimes go into kimchi, but I don't think that's why it's there. This is more a Jeolla thing though.

You're not supposed to shred green onion for any dish I know... and I'm thinking of things like pajeon and green onion soup. Where is the slurry? ALL Korean Kimchi has a slurry, if it has sweet rice flour, whole wheat flour or Barley flour. It has to have a slurry. The slurry has a function. It's there to make sure the ingredients distribute evenly.

Lactobacilli aren't going to act in ONE day. This brings the health benefits of kimchi.

The food science:

Since the majority of Korean fermentation lives on the wild side and likes things like air and sun, often the "weird" ingredients in kimchi that foreigners hate are there to MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DIE when you eat it. Stop trying to cut it out without understanding its function.

Got it? Now stop doing this crap and actually understand the food science of things like the anti-bacterial properties of garlic. How lacto fermentation is good for you, so you don't leave it out for only one day.

Koreans boast their heads off about the health benefits of kimchi as passed down from our ancestors for thousands of years. Why mess with a good thing without understanding why our ancestors made it that way?

[madebypointlesswords]

just for funsies: books im currently reading

I cannot, for the life of me, read just one book at the time. I've tried multiple times and I just can't. It's most likely my untreated ADHD but oh welllll, have fun with my silly little books and go right ahead and judge my taste in the tags <3

The Iliad, Homer

Honestly such a fun book. I'm reading it very slowly though, because I want to savour each sentence. It's a thrifted version that someone else annotated and I got it for like, 7 euros? The annotations are very cute and fun to read while reading the actual book and it made me consider doing the same (annotating a book and then donating it to thrift so some random stranger can delight in my silly thoughts). Achilles is a bit of a dick but I like him that way. Diomedes is my absolute favourite (together with Patroclus).

This is the edition I have

1984, George Orwell

This book was an impulse buy from my favourite bookstore. I'm enjoying it thorougly, and I mainly bought it because I was going to see a play inspired by it that week and planned to read it first. I got through 50 pages. Orwell's style is a delight though, I have no notes. I'm currently like, one quarter into the book.

My edition (I'm looking for Animal Farm in the same style. I know it exists I just keep finding other ones and it irks me.)

Good Omens, Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Tumblr (and my best friend @mairrion) convinced me this year to watch Good Omens right when season 2 came out. I curse you all for the brainrot you have given me. Literally why did you have to do this to me. I bought the book very recently (this monday) and I'm 1/5 into the book. The writing is honestly so fun and I've laughed several times out loud on the bus while reading. Definitely recommend this to new (or old) fans of the series.

I got the edition with Crowley on the cover (they didn't have Aziraphales version but I still would have gotten Crowley's anyway). Mine's a tad different: the letters are golden, Terry is mentioned before Neil is, and Crowley's wine isn't red. Oh and there's a sticker advertising the series.

Little Thieves, Margaret Owen

Oh my god this book is fun. Delicious characterisation. Wonderful dialogue. Stunning worldbuilding. Honestly I am so angry at myself for not being able to read this cover to cover. Why am I LIKE this. The cover is also so extremely pretty what the fuck.

Just look at this

Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky

This book is a banger. It annoys me that I can't read it in one sitting. Because I genuinely LOVE it but I just fucking can't. I love it when Dostoevsky takes a break from the plot to remind us as readers that Raskolnikov is, in fact, very much a pretty boy. Peak comedy right there.

I got the Wordsworth classics edition because it was only 4 euros at my favourite bookstore again (i apologise this is the best picture I have)

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry, C.M. Waggoner

I got this book today from one of my best friends and I've read only one chapter but holy hell I am hooked. This is amazing. This is fun. This is exactly what I want. Chaotic, sapphic and unhinged slightly evil women are my drug of choice and this is a heroin shot. Live laugh love Dellaria Wells.

also look at the pretty cover mmmm

The Darkening Age (The Christian Destruction of the Classical World), Catherine Nixey

My first non fiction book I think. Nixey's writing is exquisite and I am loving this book with all my heart. It's educative, interesting and just overall, a wonderful experience to read. I do encourage everyone to take it with a grain of salt, but the author has many, many cited works, so I'm not saying that you have to be overly critical of every sentence, just that the author is (just like any other human being) a bit biased.

btw the cover is pretty too :) but I just can't find a picture of it.

[the-hopefulpenguin]

Commentary on this exchange from The Isoru Airlift?

Excerpt from Princess Ursa’s Remarks to Republic City Press Corps:

“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United Republic in opposing abuses of human dignity and defending the rights of citizens, wherever they may be. But we cannot send Fire Army troops into the Earth Kingdom. To do so would revive the memory of the Hundred Year War, fuel the grievances which empower warlords and genocidaires, and undermine any hope of a lasting peace.”

—

Republic City Gazette: Fire Nation Refuses Military Support to Isoru Evacuation, Citing Escalation Risk

Yue Bay Times: BETRAYAL! Fire Nation Princess Stabs Brother in Back

Star of Teyana: FINE, WE’LL DO IT OURSELVES: Sixteen retired officers make the case for the war, exclusive on page 3.

The Times of Caldera: United Republic, Fire Nation, “Shoulder-to-Shoulder” for International Peace, Says Princess Ursa

Equality Now: Arrogant Fire Nation Once Again Abandons United Republic

—

Iroh,

You won’t be surprised to hear I’ve been following the news closely. I think I can help.

A. Sato.

Isoru! The fic I really ought to get back to and a setting I am keen to talk about, so thank you for the ask! There’s a few different components in this, so apologies if the reply rambles a little.

First, ref: Ursa’s remarks, I think there’s some commentary on both the context of including it, and the content too. On context, I wrote this with a bit of an eye towards the sort of role a member of the Fire Nation royal family might have in a crisis situation. My sense was that while Ursa is not a professional diplomat, as a very visible symbolic representative of her country, she has particular utility in public diplomatic efforts (this leaves aside the liaison value-add of her brother being the UF military C-in-C, of course). Hence, it felt appropriate to have a major intervention in the narrative come via comments to press.

Regarding the context of her remarks, the language is quite modern/real world in some respects (“We therefore, here in Britain, stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends” to quote Tony Blair), but the sentiment is linked into the LOK world-state. I think the Fire Nation, while far from abandoning the military instrument of national power, has huge sensitivities regarding deployment of ground troops into the Earth Kingdom. This is both a cultural piece, but also political; leaving aside the textual comments Ursa makes about their reception in the EK, there are likely domestic revanchists in the Fire Nation who would be emboldened.

Also – the reference to abuses of human dignity is a stealthy shout-out to the Conventions on the Protection of Innocents and Respect for the Dignity of the Human Person (also known as the Cranefish Conventions), from another one of my fics.

Second, the newspaper headlines; I love newspapers very much! The thinking here is to represent a spectrum of opinion – of course The Times of Caldera dodges the whole issue and notes only the joint resolve of the two nations, while the Gazette is an even-handed broadsheet. Equality Now is particularly interesting (I think, anyway) because it references a broader headcanon I have that the Equalist movement had strong nationalist shades, focusing its ire on foreign benders. And Star of Teyana being militaristic is a reference to some of my thinking on the United Forces’; Teyana is a major base for them.

Last, with Asami! So the Airlift was initially envisaged as part of a series of stories called ‘Sato’s War’ which was predicated on the assumption of Asami Sato becoming heavily enmeshed within the United Forces’ and Kuvira’s efforts to manage conflict in the Earth Kingdom* - with all the moral peril and interesting high-tech shenanigans involved. In general, I think she is the sort of woman who wants to solve problems, particularly technical ones, and whether one is an Irohsami shipper or not, she definitely has a working relationship with Iroh in any event.

*Chapter 3 of the story would feature Asami flying on a secret diplomatic mission to Kuvira to request her army supports United Forces troops cut off in Isoru; in my notes, I have a line from Iroh where he muses that Asami “has a face which could launch a thousand ships; no doubt her words could re-route an armoured brigade.” On a less self-indulgent note, I think there is some rich story-telling material in the connection between Kuvira and the United Forces during the timeskip which would be great to unpick.

Thank you again for the ask!

[mycological-mariner]

What are your thoughts on traditional Cornish food?

Good question. :,)

I think that it’s rather fascinating that clotted cream has a Protected Designation of Origin and pasties have a Protected Geographical Indication — which is to say, unless they meet specific criteria and are made IN Cornwall, they cannot be considered genuine Cornish pasties. Say you popped down to one of the chains and bought yourself a cheese and onion pasty. It is, technically, NOT a real pasty. Historic Cornwall has a whole page on this. However there’s still a bunch of traditional pasty shops. And for clotted cream, well. You need it for cream teas otherwise it’s just tea.

I originally had a much longer post but had trouble finding down citations and, because I have a memory like a sieve, certain things I can’t tell you if I learned them from an archival site or from a man down the pub telling me about the local history.

A special shout-out to hevva cake, though. Again, a very fascinating history. But half of what I know is from the many wonderful Cornish heritage institutions and museums, the other half is an old person telling me about their grandfather. Both of which I value highly. Though it does make citing tricky.

But if you’re asking me what I think about traditional Cornish food from someone who eats it? I love it. I can only have a tiny slice of hevva cake like every 3 months as it induces hibernation. Pasties are delicious (properly made!) and truly will fill you for a long, long time. Then again, I am weak. There’s also stargazy pie, which I have not tried but would very much like to. I love fish pies. Please, go look up a picture. I so badly want to ask a friend to show me how to make them…

Anyways. This post has got me wanting a pasty at 1am.

[a-womans-rhetoric]

hi! idk if you still check this blog or anything but i'm losing my mind.

its a long story but i'm three credits away from finishing my english literature degree and this last class that i'm working on is "Writing and Money" and it's taught by a rhetoric and composition professor so we're looking at money and capital and how people use and write about money using rhetorical analysis and largely bourdieu's ideas about the forms of capital.

anyways for the first project we have to analyze a text using textual and contextual rhetorical analysis a la selzer and we're highly encouraged to write/create our final product using something other than the standard essay format. i've been going back and forth for a long ass time on what format to use and finally this morning had the idea of writing a tumblr post or maybe even making a whole blog dedicated to my project/analyzing youtube essays. that's when i realized i never even looked up contrapoints on tumblr and then your blog came up!! and im screaming because i had literally almost the exact same idea!

anyways im sending this message to you in part to cover my ass against any possible allegations of plagiarism. i briefly scrolled through your blog and i didn't see anything about the video(s) that i'm analyzing ("what's wrong with capitalism," maybe just part one but also part two possibly) and i'm not going to look any further at your blog to avoid getting and/or accidentally using any ideas that are not my own. from what i (briefly) saw though your blog looks awesome! and im feeling really inspired to finish this damn project finally so thank you for that!!

This is such an awesome message to receive!

I've let this blog go stagnant ever since I finished the project, but I think it's crazy that I was in your exact position over 3 years ago! Non-standard analysis formats that can still obtain the complexity of traditional essays are so fascinating. There's also a fun little parallel in how contrapoints uses a non-nonstandard format herself (video-essays) to make her rhetoric both more accessible and entertaining. Love that this helped you feel inspired to do the same!

Feel free to go through this blog as much as you'd like for any ideas or post formats you might want to experiment with and feel free to quote or link me on your blog if you'd want to cite anything! And that goes for anyone who finds this page and wants to use it for the same purpose. :)

[demonsfate]

I feel like Tekken 4 having Heihachi be the final boss again was because that game was trying to back to being normal-ish, thus Orge and everything Devil is only mentioned, and in the case of the Devils, only seen in Kazuya and Jin's arcade endings.

And with the roster, were it me, I'd have Anna, Bruce, Gun Jack, and Kunimitsu be part of the returning cast, since I think the game would only need one more column to have it feel fuller to where the random select icon is in the middle, and out of them (except Anna who I'd have from the start to fully switch the roles with Nina of who gets unlocked), one could be an extra unlockable to make up for shifting the random select icon to the middle as it'd be a 5X5 box instead.

Granted I don't think there's much to go with in terms of known concept art and the unused names like Sugar McGregor, with the only one we have some idea behind is Dean Earwicker as the original name for Steve before they changed it, so I can't just say "new character here too".

As for Bosconovitch in Tag Tournament, I assume him and Dr. Abel were going to share a slot like Angel/Devil and Alex/Roger, and play the same but adjusted since "the lying down on the floor or only ducking when stood up before falling" gimmick of Bosconovitch would have been annoying to Arcade players who didn't get it, but I imagine they were cut because Dr. Abel had no reason to fight where Bosconovitch was just a joke playable initially, and because Dr. B's combat data was never in the arcade version of Tekken 3 which Tag 1 was based on, so he got cut because the time needed to implement him.

Though I would have loved if the PS2 version included him and the Tekken Fighters, but Tag 1 as a whole is weird anyway given they use the Tekken 1 & 2 Nina/Anna voice for Angel when she got a unique voice for the PS1 release of Tekken 2, thus my theory of not having the stuff to implement console stuff into an updated arcade release.

That cooooould be true considering Tek4 was doing a few New Things. (Such as the terrain being at different levels). Buuuut... Tekken 1 was really the only "normal-ish" one with a Normal Boss. Tekken 2, we immediately get a devil as the last boss, who we can play as along with an angel. I believe the team said they threw in bears and devils because they wanted to be "fun" and differentiate themselves from Virtua Fighter. So, having zany characters and bosses feels a bit more established for the IP. Buuuuuuuut. Also considering how all of Tek4's levels were very grounded in reality, that also supports the idea that they just wanted a "normal" boss for the game. But as I've pointed out, the exclusion of mainstays like Anna, Jack, and Armor King also feels like they're evidence that something happened during development - either budget or time restraint issues. So who really knows about that... it's why I'd like to learn more about the development process! The Cutting Room Floor doesn't have much info on the games even when compared to the Sims console games, which have a lot more interesting stuff on the pages.

All the websites I've visited cited Sugar as Steve's original name. As well as one being "Ryan Lewis," which was for Steve, too. WHICH I would've found to be funny given Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Just how there are two other very Brazilian female names, which were pretty evident they were Christie's original names, too. And Violent who was gonna be called Benjamin for some reason...?

Yeah, that makes sense. But regardless, it would've been interesting to see other nonfighter characters like Dr. B, Abel, Sebastian, and Jane all be in the roster of a future Tag game. Of course, modern fighting games rarely have huge rosters anymore due to the strain of them. (Making sure every character is balanced and fun to play as, etc) But would've been fun to see just a Tag roster that's JAM PACKED with characters! Even if some would've been silly, It would've been entertaining regardless!

[harbingrs]

I actually got off-topic on my last post. What I originally meant to talk about was the fact that my abuse is supposedly 'unrealistic', but it only takes one look at some of these Wikipedia pages and it's right there.

The irony is that everyone has probably heard of at least one news story re: these practices. But when it happened to someone you know, suddenly that's unrealistic (because you feel uncomfortable about it).

Anyway, I wish I didn't feel like I had anything to prove, but here are screenshots from the Attachment Therapy Wikipedia page - substantiating the physical practices AND the kind of demonisation behind it

Obviously heavy content re: abuse below the read more

The principles / background:

Attachment therapy is primarily based on Robert Zaslow's rage-reduction therapy from the 1960s and 1970s and on psychoanalytic theories about suppressed rage, catharsis, regression, breaking down of resistance and defence mechanisms. Zaslow, Tinbergen, Martha Welch and other early proponents used it as a treatment for autism, based on the now discredited belief that autism was the result of failures in the attachment relationship with the mother.

Matthew Speltz of the University of Washington School of Medicine states that the roots of attachment therapy are traceable to psychologist Robert Zaslow and his "Z-process" in the 1970s. Zaslow attempted to force attachment in autistic children by creating rage while holding them against their will. He believed this would lead to a breakdown in their defense mechanisms, making them more receptive to others.

Zaslow thought attachment arose when an infant experienced feelings of pain, fear and rage, and then made eye contact with the carer who relieved those feelings. If an infant did not experience this cycle of events by having his fear and rage relieved, the infant would not form an attachment and would not make eye contact with other people. Zaslow believed that creating pain and rage and combining them with eye contact would cause attachment to occur, long after the normal age for such developments.

Holding therapies derive from these "rage-reduction" techniques applied by Zaslow. The holding is not used for safety purposes but is initiated for the purpose of provoking strong negative emotions such as fear and anger.

Speltz cites child psychiatrist Martha Welch and her 1988 book, Holding Time, as the next significant development. Like Zaslow and Tinbergen, Welch recommended holding therapy as a treatment for autism. Like Tinbergen, Welch believed autism was caused by the failure of the attachment relationship between mother and child. Mothers were instructed to hold their defiant child, provoking anger and rage, until such time as the child ceased to resist, at which point a bonding process was believed to begin.

The physical practices:

(1) therapist 'forces control' by holding (which produces child 'rage'); (2) rage leads to child 'capitulation' to the therapist, as indicated by the child breaking down emotionally ('sobbing'); (3) the therapist takes advantage of the child's capitulation by showing nurturance and warmth; (4) this new trust allows the child to accept 'control' by the therapist and eventually the parent.

Attachment Therapy almost always involves extremely confrontational, often hostile confrontation of a child by a therapist or parent (sometimes both). Restraint of the child by more powerful adult(s) is considered an essential part of the confrontation." The purported correction is described as "… to force the children into loving (attaching to) their parents; … there is a hands-on treatment involving physical restraint and discomfort. Attachment Therapy is the imposition of boundary violations – most often coercive restraint – and verbal abuse on a child, usually for hours at a time; … Typically, the child is put in a lap hold with the arms pinned down, or alternatively an adult lies on top of a child lying prone on the floor.

Cline's privately published work Hope for high risk and rage filled children also cites family therapist and hypnotherapist Milton Erickson as a source, and reprints parts of a case of Erickson's published in 1961. The report describes the case of a divorced mother with a non-compliant son.

Erickson advised the mother to sit on the child for hours at a time and to feed him only on cold oatmeal while she and a daughter ate appetizing food. The child did increase in compliance, and Erickson noted, with apparent approval, that he trembled when his mother looked at him.

Cline commented, with respect to this and other cases, that in his opinion all bonds were trauma bonds. According to Cline, it illustrates the three essential components of 1) taking control, 2) the child's expression of rage; and, 3) relaxation and the development of bonding.

The psychological stuff & demonisation:

In contrast to traditional attachment theory, the theory of attachment described by attachment therapy proponents is that young children who experience adversity (including maltreatment, loss, separations, adoption, frequent changes in child care, colic or even frequent ear infections) become enraged at a very deep and primitive level. This results in a lack of ability to attach or to be genuinely affectionate to others.

Suppressed or unconscious rage is theorized to prevent the child from forming bonds with caregivers and leads to behavior problems when the rage erupts into unchecked aggression.

Such children are said to fail to develop a conscience, to not trust others, to seek control rather than closeness, to resist the authority of caregivers, and to engage in endless power struggles. They are seen as highly manipulative and as trying to avoid true attachments while simultaneously striving to control those around them through manipulation and superficial sociability.

Such children are said to be at risk of becoming psychopaths who will go on to engage in very serious delinquent, criminal, and antisocial behaviors if left untreated. The tone in which the attributes of these children are described has been characterized as "demonizing"

The Attachment Disorder Symptom Checklist includes statements about the parent's feelings toward the child as well as statements about the child's behavior. For example, parental feelings are evaluated through responses to such statements as "Parent feels used" and "is wary of the child's motives if affection is expressed", and "Parents feel more angry and frustrated with this child than with other children". The child's behavior is referred to in such statements as "Child has a grandiose sense of self-importance" and "Child 'forgets' parental instructions or directives".

Children are labeled as "RADs", "RAD-kids" or "RADishes". They are seen as manipulative, dishonest, without conscience and dangerous. Some attachment therapy sites predict that attachment-disordered children will grow up to become violent predators or psychopaths unless they receive the treatment proposed. A sense of urgency is created which serves to justify the application of aggressive and unconventional techniques. One site was noted to contain the argument that Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, and Jeffrey Dahmer were examples of children who were attachment-disordered who "did not get help in time". Foster Cline, in his seminal work on attachment therapy, Hope for High Risk and Rage Filled Children, uses the example of Ted Bundy.

[athena14044]

@dino-doodles I was just going to reply but I simply had too much to say now that I've had time to stew about it so fuck it. reblog.

cw for fatphobia, eating disorders

so I read slott's great lakes avengers miniseries from 2005 because it happened to be in a squirrel girl collection I was reading. now, one of the gla characters is, of course, big bertha, whose mutant power is that she can control her body fat (the marvel wiki says mass but it means fat). now this has always seemed to me a little. hmm. bc whoa a fat woman and her secret identity is a model she's so skinny normally and her power is presented as bizarre and vaguely useless like all the other members of the gla and also holy shit the way she's drawn sometimes. I wouldn't exactly call it outright malicious? but as a fat woman it definitely makes me distinctly uncomfortable

so anyway, issue 3 of slott's gla opens with her announcing that to "get rid of the extra bulk" she has to vomit. and then she does. you can look at the panel if you want but I'm not going to put it here and I'm going to refrain from describing it because jesus.

I sat there in horror for a moment because what. what the fuck do you mean this woman's superpower is bulimia. what the actual fuck. then I went to investigate.

AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, slott created this little tidbit of information. I briefly looked through all of her (13) appearances prior to this series, and did not see this in evidence anywhere. most of the time you're not actually seeing her transform but there is one instance where in one panel she's fat and in the next one is skinny which seemed to me like an artistic continuity error. (this was a deadpool comic and god the other horrors i witnessed watching deadpool interact with her. that's not the point.)

the marvel wiki does cite as an additional source for this information the "official handbook of the marvel universe master edition #3," from 1990 which I was not able to find online anywhere (that's kind of a lie I was able to find a cbr file that I was not able to open bc I draw the line at downloading an additional app to open a sketchy file from the internet for this).

regardless, even if the official handbook does list that she gets rid of the extra mass by vomiting, it doesn't appear in an actual comic book until slott. it would be like slott to read something in an official handbook that never appears in an actual comic book and then put it into his comic book just so he could be like "wow look guys I pay attention to the official handbook I'm such a nerd I love continuity," either not considering or flat out disregarding the fact that BULIMIA AS A SUPERPOWER is FUCKED UP and DOES NOT HAVE TO BE INCLUDED JUST BECAUSE IT SAYS SO IN THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE MASTER EDITION #3 FROM 1990 AND LITERALLY NOWHERE ELSE BEFORE HE CAME ALONG

Either way, this is not a fact of her powers that appears anywhere in an actual comic book pre-slott. ON TOP OF THAT, as a narrative device he has squirrel girl's squirrel sidekick monkey joe make fourth-wall breaking jokes throughout the miniseries, and on this page monkey joe says: "Bulimia is never funny! Good gravy what were they thinking? Want to complain? [Marvel's address]"

This is a common problem of his, downplaying the fact that he's being fatphobic/misogynistic/etc. by lampshading it. "wow it's so fucked up that someone wrote that" ignoring the fact that it most certainly did not have to be written like that, but it was because he only cares about shock value. (this happened all the time in his she-hulk series and it makes me so mad). here he goes even further by preemptively mocking the people who might be (reasonably, rightfully) upset by it by making them seem like uptight whiners who can't take a joke and are going to run to marvel editorial to complain.

2005 was a bad time to be a woman in a marvel comics, particularly if you were written by dan slott. add this to his list of crimes.

dan slott my despised. im going to kill him with my bare hands.