#buff Bryan

[crappyyuki]

TheFamousFilms doodles!

I can’t stop drawing this guy. He’s kinda my favorite. By a lot. So here’s more Fnaf!Bryan doodles!

An au. But with a bit of canonicity? I don’t really know how to explain it.

It’s technically canon that Bryan has survivors guilt. Duh. My guy killed all of his friends in a single night and was only able to save one. And said one died in the end (but not in this au :D) Bruh. Who wouldn’t be traumatized?

And to put more insult to injury, he basically gaslit himself into thinking that said friends weren’t dead. For a year. By hanging out with clones. Clones. And he only came to accept that fact after the clones died. Like bro, he willingly chose to believe that living (he practically lived in that park in S2) with cop outs was better than, y’know, grieving.

He needs therapy. A lot.

But yeah. This is a canon divergence where Bryan never died. But did something stupid anyway. That’s not the point though. These doodles focus on how he acts in this au (hopefully I got the cold attitude down with that one pose XD) and his crippling guilt. So. Yeah.

Also buff Bryan for life. My guy broke a stone counter with barehands. Don’t tell me he ain’t packing some muscles.

And a personal headcanon of mine? Pigpatch was the one that trained him :)

(If you see it, you see it. Hint: put the brightness to max. I’m sorry for your eyeballs.)

[longing-for-rain]

Ember Island Players…Racist Caricatures or Meta Commentary?

This episode was supposed to be a fun filler episode to recap the events of the show in a silly way before the series finale, but it’s managed to become arguably one of the most controversial episodes in the fandom. Over the years, Aang’s possessive behavior towards Katara has been rightfully criticized, but there are always people who attempt to justify everything Aang does.

Apparently, the latest iteration of this is the claim that—wait for it—we should be sympathetic towards Aang and give him a pass in The Ember Island Players because he felt “emasculated” due to the supposed “feminization” of his culture.

I’ve been called racist for saying this is a reach, but it’s more than a reach. It’s an entire acrobatics routine; a level of media illiteracy that shows a lack of understanding of the point of that episode.

Yes, Aang’s character is portrayed in a silly, mocking way. So are all of the other characters. That’s the point; the episode was a filler, a gimmick, and the underlying comedy is the fact that all of the characters are reacting to exaggerated, one-dimensional versions of their own personalities.

For example:

Katara is portrayed as an “overemotional crybaby” in her own words, and is constantly giving motivational speeches and crying

Sokka’s “comedic relief” archetype is played up to the point his lines are just corny one-liners

Zuko is portrayed as an angsty, whiny pretty-boy who acts like a bratty asshole at all times

Toph is a huge buff guy (although in this case, it’s a play on how her character was originally going to be a “jock” type male character)

As for Aang? He’s portrayed as unserious, goofy, and childish. Which—just like all the others—is a jokey exaggeration of his childish demeanor and nature. He’s not even alone in taking offense to his portrayal. All of the characters aside from Toph hate their characters for largely the same reason. They’re being confronted with aspects of themselves that make them insecure. For Aang, it’s his immaturity—and specifically his fears that he’ll be rejected by Katara.

As for why Aang is played by a woman? Well, we don’t actually have to wonder about that, because the creators themselves answer this question in the episode commentary.

Bryan: “It's sort of a self-referential joke. Whenever you do a animated show, they usually want to cast, uh, women...who are, like, in their thirties to play boys, because you never know how long the show is gonna go on, and, you know, as Jack mentioned earlier, boys' voices start cracking.” (source)

Wow, imagine that! An inside joke about the cartoon industry in a show’s meta-episode dedicated to making fun of itself? Impossible!

I’m serious though. The episode transcript is right here. Point me to where exactly there is even the slightest hint of anyone bringing up Aang’s culture and tying his childish behavior to it.

That’s right; it isn’t there. Because that wasn’t the point. Aang’s anger did stem from feeling emasculated, but it had nothing to do with culture and everything to do with his own misogynistic attitudes. He was offended at his portrayal on an individual level. I’m not denying that the issue of oppressive nations using femininity as an insult against men of colonized nations is a very real issue, but that was never a theme present in this episode. We don’t see Aang expressing anger towards the Fire Nation, nor do we see him mention anything about culture. What we see is Aang, individually, feeling insulting that his actor is female and Aang being angry at Katara, individually, because the play suggested she felt more attracted to Zuko than him.

Trying to downplay Aang’s behavior and suggest we coddle him despite his atrocious treatment of Katara is a disingenuous reading of the episode.

Why are you reaching to make an excuse for Aang when if you’re really taking the “the point of the episode is that the play is racially demeaning the characters” angle…and why are you not bringing up Sokka? He’s portrayed as a dumb oaf who is always talking about eating meat. There is a much stronger argument to be made there about caricatures, but Sokka isn’t threatening anyone’s ship so apparently nobody cares.

And while we’re talking about caricatures, how about this crap?

Sorry, Aang stans, but this show and Aang’s character aren’t the enlightened portrayals of anti-colonialism and groundbreaking activism you think they are. It’s pretty clear from the context and the episode itself what the intention here was. It is poorly aged comedy from the early 2000s written by white Americans. And we will continue to critique that, thanks.

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

WALWORTH STILSON

The Writers of Knickerbocker New York is an essay on the Knickerbocker Group of writers by American essayist Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916). The Knickerbocker Group included such writers as Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryan, James Kirke Paulding, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Joseph Rodman Drake, Robert Charles Sands, Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, and Nathaniel Parker Willis, all of whom are discussed in Mabie's essay, which was published in 1912 by The Grolier Club of New York in an edition of 303 copies.

For the publication, the Club commissioned American artist Walworth Stilson (1874-1962) to produce these eleven wood-engraved head and tail pieces for each of the book's chapters. Surprisingly little is known about Stilson and his career beyond his immediate family, his 2-year attendance at the Detroit School of Art, his work as an illustrator only up to 1912, a studio fire some time before 1925, and his death in 1962; a remarkable lack of information for a man who lived to be 88 years old. Still, we find these engravings to be quite charming.

Our copy, another gift from our friend Jerry Buff, who is also a Grolier Club member, bears bookplates from two other notable collectors:

The American adventurer and book collector Cortlandt F. Bishop (1870-1935);

and Harold Hugo (1910-1985), longtime administrator and president of the Meriden Gravure Company and a board member of the Stinehour Press since its founding in the 1950s. Hugo's bookplate is a wood engraving by noted South African-born British calligraphic wood engraver Leo Wyatt (1909-1991), who has signed the plate.

View more posts with books donated by Jerry Buff.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[misadventures-with-rob]

A better look at Melvin, Buff and Max.

Text and image(s) (unless otherwise specified) ©Copyright 2023/2024 Rob Bryan.  "No copyright/intellectual property infringement intended." (Fair use is claimed.  Original photo, art or character rights are reserved, & belong to their respective owners.) Credit is given where possible.  Sharing permitted with credit line. Documented permission is required for commercial use. Disney characters ©Disney.

[sivyera]

my MLP headcanons!

(I'm gonna use them on my other mlp posts)

! PICS OF THEIR FACES THAT I'M GONNA USE ARE DRAWN BY CLOIIIIII ! I don't know if she has tumblr or not but her insta, tiktok and twitter is @cloiiiiii ! I just love her drawing and I think she made them look so cool and that's just how I imagine them as humans.

none of those pictures are mine!

⤷ AJ

lesbian, she/her

makes apple cider, apple pie and bread for her friends

her hat was actually her mom's

listens: Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Luke Bryan, Toby Keith, Sam Hunt, Brad Paisley, Bernadette Peters, Dolly Parton

wears suits to formal events

she has trouble asking for help but if she does ask you for help, she trusts you with all her heart

mom friends type

strong af, like buff type of body (like Rhea Ripley)

loves sunrises

early bird

play a guitar

tomboy

closet:

face claim:

body type:

⤷ Dash

lesbian, she/her

tomboy

also wear suits to formal events

plays electric guitar and drums

loves energy drinks (monsters)

gamer

likes spicy food

skater girl and she is really good at skating

she loves showing off

collects sneakers

writes songs but never show/play them to anybody

loves running and sometimes she runs at the very morning

bad sleep schedule

listens: AC/DC, eminem, my chemical romance, the offspring, imagine dragons, kordhell, NF, girl in red

dog person

athletic strong

closet:

face claim:

body type:

⤷ Rarity

bi, she/her

she's constantly questioning her sexuality (between bi and a lesbian)

loves shopping

sometimes using pinterest for clothing inspo

loves getting her nails done

loves romantic movies

loves doing her make-up and loves doing make_up to her friends or makeovers

loved Bratz when she was little

makes clothes for her friends when they want something specific they can't find in stores

loves necklaces

obsessed with skin care

cat person

listens: lady gaga, MARINA, Poppy, Britnes Spears, Doja Cat, ariana grande, nelly furtado, madanna

closet:

face claim:

body type:

⤷ Twilight

bi, she/they

OCD

drinks a lot of tea and coffee

has bad sleep schedule

loves reading

big harry potter fan and owns a ravenclaw scarf

loves astrology

everything has to be perfect, tidy and clean, unless she's studying at that moment she doesn't care about anything

loves chocolate croissant

hates PE

pear body type/shape

loves comedy movies or movies based on true events

sometimes she doesn't know what sleep and rest means it :|

loves AJ's bread

listens: mother mother, penelope scott, beach bunny, cavetown, mitski, twenty one pilots, MARINA, arctic monkeys, olivia rodrigo

closet:

face claim:

body type:

⤷ Pinkie Pie

pansexual, she/they

eats a lot of candy

donuts are her favourite

uses a lot of emojis

ADHD

loves to draw

very creative

watches anime

good with kids

loves stickers

tries different hairstyles all the time

doesn't like cold colours

loves painting rocks

drink chocolate milk

loves AJ's apple cider

listens: bambee, the living tombstone, nightcore reality, katty perry, pharrell williams, gwen stefani

closet:

face claim:

body type:

⤷ Fluttershy

pansexual, she/they

loves tea, hates coffee

vegetarian

,, :3 ''

loves stuffed animals and has a lot of them

her fav animals are rabbits and frogs, but after all she loves all kinds of animals

social anxiety

loves sweets

her fav flower is daisy

healthiest sleep schedule of all girls

sometimes watch anime with pinkie

likes chocolate cake

owns funny socks and kinda collects them

listens: clairo, mxmtoon, melanie martinez, chloe moriondo, olivia rodrigo, cavetown, olivia o., naikho

closet:

face claim:

body type:

I HOPE YOU LIKED IT GUYS!!

[vhyrel]

Bryan is here! I’m a Bryan main since Tekken 3 (my first Tekken and childhood)

I made notes about him for my Tekken art.  I like his new voice actually. His muscles and overall figure don't seem that buff compared to other T8 characters (the small waist is still here!). His eyes also seem more (ice) blue.

The new scars look badass, but I can't help but wonder what he has been through to get those... They seem so harsh. Now he can be friends with Kazuya... Scar friends?  He's wearing snake pants, which I totally love on him (Snake-Eyes!).

I am grateful to mister Harada for adding him and for following me on Twitter. It is truly an honor.

omg the waist... ♡ I want to draw him.

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

DOROTHY STRATTEN

DOROTHY STRATTEN

1960-1980

            Dorothy Stratten (Hoogstraten) was a Canadian Playboy model (1979-1980) who also dabbled in acting.

            Stratten, 20, was murdered by Paul Snider on 14 August 1980. The couple’s relationship came to an end and a divorce was to proceed. Paul lured Dorothy to his home and told her it was so they could ‘discuss their divorce’.

Paul was living with his private investigator Stephen Cushner who wasn’t home at the time of her murder.  Stephen came home and found Paul’s bedroom door was closed. Hours later Stephen went into Paul’s room and discovered the bodies of both Paul and Dorothy. Paul had assaulted Dorothy before he took her life and then took his own.

Dorothy met Paul in 1977, Paul, 26 worked at a club and worked as a pimp. Dorothy, 19, was photographed in the buff by Paul who sent her photos to Playboy. In 1978, the couple married in Las Vegas and lived in Los Angeles.

Hugh Hefner encouraged Dorothy to get into acting, she first appeared on the TV series, Fantasy Island. Hefner witnessed Paul’s disturbing behaviour and warned Dorothy that she should break up with him. Paul was toxic so Dorothy broke up with him and started seeing director Peter Bogdanovich, she filed for divorce and moved in with Peter. Paul who was controlling and abusive, had his private investigator follow her.  

Peter wrote the memoir Killing of the Unicorn Dorothy Stratten (1984). Hefner accused Peter of preying on Dorothy’s young sister, Louise, 13. Peter denied this even though in 1988, Peter, 49, married Louise, 20 – they divorced in 2001.

Bryan Adams dedicated his song The Best Was Yet to Come (1983) to Dorothy.

#dorothystratten

[valleygirlfag]

Yall, Thor from the get down, Noah LeGros, is not only super buff and covered in tattoos now but also he's Zach Bryan's guitarist????? Was anyone gonna tell me that omg

[bluemoonbabes]

Time Gone By

Debris fic. Bryan introspection New Year’s Edition.

It’s New Year’s Eve. The Kazemis’ house swarms with agents and techs and scientists and everything in between, trickling in from Orbital, piling themselves into the living room, meandering along the snack buffet, roving between people and pets. Bryan is the corner, is always in the corner because that’s where he’s safe, back against the wall, no one behind him, everyone in front of him, everyone where he can see. No one to catch him off guard. He’s got some buff, untouched drink in a candy red cup, some beer he grabbed just to hold something, to give his hands something to do, something to center himself on. Beer from that shitty gas station just down the street in a candy red cup just like last year. At least it’s something.

Tonight, though, is mildly pleasant. That’s the best way to put it, standing against the wall and watching the party, beer untouched, always untouched in a crowd like this (inebriation terrifies him, the lack of autonomy, the lessened reaction time, the lessened awareness). Maddox, Tom, Muntz, Alvin, and Lester all throng together in the dinning room, dispersed in various seats that are always being taken and then left and then taken, murmuring between each other things that Bryan’s too far away to hear. There’s one window in the dinning room, and two ways out into the adjoining rooms.

Kazemi and Claire and April have taken to the buffet of snacks spread out among the kitchen (one window above the kitchen sink), chatting as the pick and sniff and judge and taste. Bryan learns a lot being the fly on the wall, every conversation drifting his way, drawn to every little movement. Like how Rachel’s husband wants to get another cat, how Claire’s thinking about going back to college though for what yet she isn’t sure, and how April had the absolute funniest run in with this random stranger in a coffee shop a couple days ago that was such a coincidence.

The front door is clear. Bryan can sprint to it in an instant, that or one of the windows on either side of it. A roar of laughter snatches his eyes to the living room, where Finola and Hamid and Reed and Brandt dip and weave and shimmy and shake as they dance to the music, a collection of drinks in hand. Finola has wine, Bryan thinks, spotting the bulbous glass half-full with the sort of quartz-like color of white wine. They’re in front of the tv, which Bryan is near, against the living room wall, as it bubbles out song after song, songs that are light and groovy, dancing music with a base that rumbles in his chest. But it’s okay tonight. He can tune it out. He has the energy to spare.

He really is mindless tonight, isn’t he? All base instinct, absorbed in the vibrancy before him as Niels and Grace and Gibson come in from the backyard (one door out, two more windows), making some loud comment about how they were freezing their tits off and then promptly going for the alcohol. It’s as much as his brain can process right now, the music and the murmuring, the movement and momentum, but it’s not too much, lingering right at the perfect capacity, consuming his conscious yet not shredding it.

Kazemi hands out champagne flutes, and Bryan just watches her, watches as she weaves between people, making comments as she disperses the drinks. He takes his with a quiet thank you, voice cut, drowned out as the party consumes him, too invaded with what goes on to be much of a conversation. It bubbles, the champagne, a pale gold liquor that mutters to him in a cold, clear glass. His knees are starting to hurt with how long he’s been standing, and tomorrow morning he knows he’s going to wake up a being of nothing but bruise, but that’s tomorrow. Tonight, Finola is walking up to him, a soft smile on her face, her wine glass traded out for the champagne flute.

“How are you doing?” She asks.

Bryan returns that smile, soft and gentle and endeared, because she’s the only one who ever asks. The only one who tries to understand instead of taking the first assumption their brain sputters out. The only one who he isn’t terrified to exist with.

“I’m okay,” He says, “Just hanging out.”

Because that’s the only way he can really put it, isn’t it? Not actively engaging but passively enjoying, watching the people around him, as Kazemi’s catch jumps up onto the kitchen island, and listening, listening as someone shouts out ‘fifteen seconds’.

Finola nods and then the countdown starts, someone shouting out a ‘ten’ and then ‘nine’ as more people join in, ‘eight’ as the entire party catches on, ‘seven’ as it echoes through the living room, ‘six’ as it rattles the house, and then Finola joins in too

“Five!”

And suddenly, Bryan is still.

New Year’s Eve. In five seconds, this year will end, gone to the grave, tucked away for eternity, nothing but a memory as they’re thrust into the next year, only one year, so fleeting. Weren’t they just here celebrating the previous New Year? Or what that two years ago? Or three? Are years really this short?

“Four!”

Time starts to blur after a while. After his brain is rattled by IEDs, after gunshots and shouting chase him down, after the sun beats down on his back for hours and burns his skin, after dust and blood stain his skin, no wash enough, not even now, still slick and warm beneath his fingers. Time starts to loose meaning after the nights spent as days in a land he can only remember, as a car backfires and suddenly there are bullets shooting at him, as he starts to loose touch with himself, floating through life partially out of his own body because if he’s too conscious of it then there’s too much pain, too much freedom for his brain, too much input from the world, too much, too much, too much.

And now he’s going to loose another year.

“Three!”

But at least he got the year.

Asalah didn’t.

Carlotta Orlov didn’t.

Kieran Vandeburg didn’t.

Those farmers from Nebraska didn’t.

Kurt and Clara Cox didn’t.

Luke and Liam Packard didn’t.

George Jones didn’t.

And suddenly the room feels so much more empty than it should, because now Bryan’s aware of just how many aren’t here. Even Asalah, who’s haunted him for years now, painted in his nightmares, clinging to his wrist, hidden in his pocket. Even she still stings, the world around him just a little colder and little more empty than it should be. She should be here, not him, standing in the light as they cry out for the New Year. But then again, this isn’t the first New Year she’s missed. Nor will it be the last. Bryan can only hope that she’s helping the others get through it too, the agony of missing New Year’s as they reside in a place where time doesn’t exist. Or maybe they’re fast asleep, unaware of time at all.

How peaceful that would be. To be so unaware of time. Of the seasons changing. Of how it reminds him of every thing he’s lost, every thing he’s failed, every thing he could never live up to. At least then the pain would stop.

“Two!”

Finola bumps his shoulder.

The world may be a little colder, but it isn’t cold. Maybe a little emptier, but not empty. Not when she stands beside him, the light of the sun itself, beaming at him with freckled cheeks and beautiful eyes. He’s not so alone, as much as his brain tries to trick him into thinking he is, not so isolated, not with Finola here, like glue to keep his feet tacked to the ground and head on his shoulders and brain in the present.

Bryan turns to the party as a whole, the people packed into the living room, shouting together, glasses raised, his coworkers alight as they creep steadily closer to the New Year. And staring at the party, staring at the future, there is a sort of lift off his chest. A sort of acceptance, dare he say a spark of hope. Yeah. Hope. Because he’s not alone. For the first time in a long time, he’s not alone, and staring into the not yet told abyss of the future, he’s not scared. He’s almost excited.

He made it another year. He survived another year, even when all odds were stacked against him. He survived another year through the hell of the Debris. Survived another year even when his PTSD never thought he could, even after the days spent in bed sick and hurting because of how raw it’s worn his body, even after the hospital trips and Orbital scans and blood given to the Debris. He survived another year. So it’s not so sour as it had been the year before. The year before, his survival meant nothing, just that he was continuing, a cog in the machine, just going through the motions until he couldn’t. But it means something this year, in this moment, after months spent across country to contain the Debris, after months spent fighting to bounce back from injuries and missions gone wrong, after months spent with Finola, the closest friend he’s had in years, the only person who means something to him.

For once his survival matters.

“One!”

Bryan looks at Finola, so beautiful, and maybe he didn’t just survive. Maybe he did a little more than that, because she’s gazing at him, bright-eyed, beaming, beautiful. Maybe she’s the hope he feels now, heart fluttering in his chest, the future an abyss for them to carve into shape together.

So he joins in this time

“Happy New Year!”

Bryan leans in close and snakes his arm around her waist, holding her gaze, asking,

“May I?”

Finola’s beaming smile turns into a toothy grin, and then her arm is around his neck, and then her lips are on his, pressing into him, slipping into place, warm and soft and everything he had hoped she would be. She parts, but her arms are still around his neck, over his shoulders, gazing into his eyes, and hers are so brown, so beautifully brown like gemstones.

“Happy New Year, Bryan,” She says.

And then he hears it, sung among the crowd, floating above their heads. Auld Lang Syne. And as it floats, ringing out through the room, Bryan sees someone leave, some one in dark blue and gray worn pale by wind and wear. Asalah. She doesn’t turn to look at him. Just leaves quietly, slipping out and away, no more to say, no more to do, just leaving into the bliss of a tranquil night, where she joins with several others. A little boy. A few people dirtied up and sweaty from a long day’s work. A couple strolling down the street. Two brothers bumping each other’s shoulders. An older man who hobbles his way on.

Bryan just watches them, quiet, passive, accepting as he bids them one last goodbye, one final tear, one final farewell.

Auld lang syne.

And then he lets them be, lets them on their way, lets them rest. The road splits here, where Bryan must go a different way, where it continues on for him, where must keep going even if it’s not so fair, and he returns to Finola.

He grins, “Happy New Year, Finola.”

And for once, for once Bryan means it, because for once, for once the New Year means something for him. A mark of achievement. A mark that he’s survived. That he’s alive, still human and still moving. For once the New Year matters. For once he matters.

He kisses Finola again.

[crappyyuki]

oh my god i binged all of ith and im OBSESSED???? you have me hooked oh my god. i NEED to know more im so obsessed

Buff. Lefty is proud. Pigpatch trained him during the whole Twisted fiasco. And Jon is scared.

He broke a stone counter for gods sake!

I imagined Pigpatch as his trainer since the episode where Lefty made him keep Bryan away so they could copy Chucky Cheese's pizza portrayed him as a tough guy with a kind heart.

Bryan is short but he could carry Jon—who is taller than him—with ease.

The buff thing is an excuse for me to make him do stunts he shouldn't be able to do. Like lifting animatronics. Breaking stuff. Scaling walls. Jumping over buildings. The Twisteds overall made him a more active person against his will. But I will say, not all that strength is his :)

[siriusleee]

22, 23, and 25, for the ask game.

22. description of crush.

5'10" beard, red head. annoying. kind of buff. never shuts up.

23. fear(s)

dying. flying out of a car window when i'm driving over a bridge and the window is rolled down. snakes.

25. role model

khloe kardashian - i look up to her humor. also i am the khloe kardiashian sister to my kim k and kourtney sister. dolly parton - her dedication to literature in the rural south. megan thee stallion - because she's one of the few cool as fuck famous people from texas. zach bryan - he is a literature god, and i look up to writing like him. even though he writes music, i want to make people feel the same way his music does.

[bihanspookies]

Okay I finally finished watching story mode and I gotta ask: wtf is with some of these character endings LMAOO

Spoilers below cut

WHY IS KAZUYA A SNEAKERHEAD

WHAT THE HECK WERE PAUL, LAW AND HWOARANG DOING IN BRYANS ENDING

Juns ending almost made me cry l m a o

Reina being Heihachi’s daughter is…. Shocking but not surprising. Truly this man is just sticking his wiener in everything

Idk who’s ending it was but whoever had Steve get BUFF AS HELL?? Looking like a muscle head???

AND ALSO!!!

Are Claudio and zafina dead

Im going from jumping to commanding the Lars x Alisa train

Also I hate Paul’s hair in this one 😭

Edit: tekken wiki says zafina and Claudio aren’t dead so 😗✌️

[misadventures-with-rob]

When I went in May of 2023, I got to see, for the last time, Bear Country Jamboree. Oddly enough, my favorite thing wasn't a bear, but the trophy mounts, Melvin, Buff and Max.

Text and image(s) (unless otherwise specified) ©Copyright 2023/2024 Rob Bryan.  "No copyright/intellectual property infringement intended." (Fair use is claimed.  Original photo, art or character rights are reserved, & belong to their respective owners.) Credit is given where possible.  Sharing permitted with credit line. Documented permission is required for commercial use. Disney characters ©Disney.

[embarrassedanon]

Home Alone

A clerical error left Bryan as the sole inhabitant of a double-occupancy student apartment his senior year. He had grown used to having his own place and the simple pleasure of being an at-home nudist. When his dream job offer fell through and he realized he had to move back in with his parents and little sister he mourned the lost privacy more than the lost revenue. Bryan lived for the nights when his parents worked late and his sister went out with her friends so he could saunter around the house in the buff. There was no more chilling sound than the keys in the lock letting him know that his family was home early and he was moments away from being caught with his ass out...literally. 

[farsouthproject]

Books of the Year 2023

Strange, but as usual, I didn’t think I’d read so many books this year. Then I count them up and get to thirty-eight. Not bad. Jon Fosse novels were a stand-out at the beginning of the year.. At the end of 2022 I’d read the first two volumes of Septology and was then was gifted the one volume version. Trilogy and Aliss at the Fire followed. Interesting how trends in my reading continued from the previous year: a couple of Denis Johnson books, one a reread, the other one I’d missed when it came out. Reread Mary Gaitskill. Spent less time with the Beat Reading Group but I joined in with Interzone and Kerouac’s Doctor Sax; in addition I reread Burroughs’ Last Words.  Dipped into Tanizaki again with Seven Japanese Tales that had some great stories – notably The Bridge of Dreams. Pushkin Press put out a short story collection - The Siren’s Song – that showcases three of Tanizaki’s early works. A little poetry in troubled times was welcome in Philip Gross’s Deep Field. On the noir front, The Cage by Kenzo Kitakata gave me a lot of insight into ordinary Japanese supermarket business and a parallel insight into the Yakuza world. I followed up with Ashes, his Yakuza story of a ‘dog’ rising through the ranks of a crime family. Andrew Nette’s Orphan Road was trip into the past with reverberations in the present: an unsolved heist story with a gothic twist. Gary Chance, the main character from his previous novel Gunshine Coast goes on a dangerous peregrination through the Melbourne underworld and beyond.  

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker was a delight recommended by Val in Seattle. I was deeply impressed by the ambition and prose style of When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut. I was a bit disappointed by his follow-up The Maniac. The final section on AI was excellent, so no complaints. Whenever a Pascal Quignard volume comes out, I’m excited: The Fount of Time was no exception. I was completely absorbed by Jeremy Cooper’s Brian that delved into the mind of a lonely bookkeeper who becomes a film-buff. Cooper has an unsentimental compassion for Brian’s social awkwardness, his ordinariness and a deep respect for his knowledge of Cinema. A masterpiece even? Maybe so.

Septology – Jon Fosse (trans. Damion Searls)

Trilogy – Jon Fosse (trans. May-Brit Akerholt)

Aliss at the Fire – Jon Fosse (trans. Damion Searls)

Interzone – William Burroughs (reread)

Doctor Sax – Jack Kerouac (reread)

Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs

Deep Field – Philip Gross reread

Bad Behaviour – Mary Gaitskill reread

The Name of the World – Denis Johnson reread

Angels – Denis Johnson

The Kingdom of this World – Alejo Carpentier (trans. Harriet De Onis)

The Year of Living Dangerously – Christopher Koch – more depth after seeing the movie.

Brian – Jeremy Cooper

When We Cease to Understand the World – Benjamin Labatut (trans. Adrian Nathan West)

The Maniac – Benjamin Labatut

O Caledonia – Elspeth Barker

Selected Poems – George Barker

By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept – Elizabeth Smart

Seven Japanese Tales – Junichiro Tanizaki  (trans. Howard Hibbert)

The Siren’s Lament – Junichiro Tanizaki  (trans. Bryan Karetnyk)

Noir

The Cage – Kenzo Kitakata (trans. Paul Warham) – chance find on the library shelves

Ashes – Kenzo Kitakata (trans. Emi Shimokawa)

The Dark Room – Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (trans. John Bester) – following on from Japanese Film Festival showings of the films of Ko Nakahira.

The Strangers in the House – Georges Simenon (trans. Robert Baldick)

Black Wings has my Angel – Elliot Chaze – chance find on the library shelves

He Died With His Eyes Open – Derek Raymond – recommended by John L Williams

How the Dead Live – Derek Raymond– recommended by my mate John L Williams

Orphan Road – Andrew Nette – a great heist story set in Melbourne

Nonfiction

Kazuo Ohno’s World from Within and Without – Kazuo Ohno and Yoshito Ohno (trans. John Barret with Toshio Mizohata)

Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Grey Grits – Bruce Baird

Antonin Artaud: Selected Writings – Susan Sontag ed. – (trans. Helen Weaver)

Maya Deren: Choreography for Cinema – Mark Alice Durant – an excellent biography

Getting Carter – Nick Triplow – a great biography of Ted Lewis and the Birth of British Noir

Time Within Time – Andrey Tarkovsky (trans. Kitty Hunter-Blair)

Fassbinder: Thousands of Mirrors – Ian Penman – personal essays time and cinema

Unclassifiable

The Fount of Time – Pascal Quignard (trans. Chris Turner) – Inimitable and Brilliant.

[danwhobrowses]

TK decided since NXT were throwing everyone and their uncle into tonight that he'll just throw in a murder grandpa for a buy in, shades of when he did Bryan vs Suzuki when Rampage was on at the same time as Smackdown. Plus he also announced 30 minutes ad free.

For all that's said and done, fans are winning for this, but imo even if NXT beat Dynamite in the ratings if it's a small margin then AEW still win; because if you need John Cena, Asuka, Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Paul Heyman, the Judgement Day (since Dom is NA champ again) and rumors of the Undertaker to buff up NXT against a Dynamite card TK has at his disposal on the regular (maybe minus a title match) then it's still pretty embarrassing.